Current Affairs - January 8, 2020 Current Affairs

Innovation Awards Presentation Ceremony will be held on the 8th of January. These awards will be conferred at the 12th edition of Global Intellectual Property Convention in New Delhi.

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on January 6 inaugurated National Stock Exchange (NSE) Knowledge Hub, an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered learning ecosystem that will assist the banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI) sector.

On January 6, 2020, the National Stock Exchange (NSE) knowledge Hub was inaugurated in New Delhi. The hub will assist insurance, banking and financial services. The hub has adopted the latest technology of Artificial Intelligence.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has proposed a Rs.2,700 crore master plan to create a top infrastructure that will house its young Human Space Flight Centre (HSFC). The HSFC was formally announced in January 2019. It currently works from a temporary place at the ISRO headquarters, Bengaluru, Karnataka.ISRO has announced to set up India's world-class facility for training astronauts in three years at Challakere in Chitradurga district of Karnataka.

Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) MLA Rabindra Nath Mahato was on January 7 unanimously elected as the Speaker of the Jharkhand Assembly.Chief Minister Hemant Soren proposed Mr. Mahato's name for the post which was seconded by JMM MLA Champai Soren during the second of the three-day session of the Assembly.

The Mizoram State Government is organising Zo Kutpui festival across 10 states in the country and also in countries such as Myanmar, US and Bangladesh.The first edition of the festival is to begin in the city of Vanghmun in Tripura. The festival will then move to other states having Mizo population.

On January 5, 2020, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) released its report on sugar intake of India. The intake was measured in grams per day.According to the study, sugar intake was the highest in Mumbai. Mumbai reported 26.3 g/day followed by Ahmedabad at 25.9 g/day.

At the 2020 Golden Globes, Tom Hanks received the Cecil B. DeMille Award.The 77th Golden Globe Awards presented to the winners in Beverly Hills, California (US).

The CISF will observe 2020 as the 'year of mobility' that will have a special focus on creation of more residential units and implementation of various welfare measures for the troops. CISF Director General (DG) Rajesh Ranjan said this while addressing jawans and officers of the over 1.62-lakh personnel force over a country-wide webcast facility on the occasion of new year.

The 11th biennial edition of DefExpo India- 2020 is to be held from 5-8 February 2020 in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. The preparations were reviewed by the Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on 5 January 2020. It is expected to be the largest exhibition for the world's defence companies to display their land, sea and air capabilities at a single exhibition.

The 17-year-old ace shooter from Uttar Pradesh Saurabh Chaudhary has won the men's 10 metres air pistol gold at the 63rd National Shooting Championship in Bhopal on 4 January 2020. Chaudhary shot a 246.4 to finish on top. Sarabjot Singh of Haryana secured second and scored 243.9 and Abhishek Verma won bronze in a high-quality final.

An expedition to promote the maritime heritage of India and to spread awareness about Coastal Security amongst the coastal communities in Maharashtra, was launched by the Indian Navy. The expedition will be held until January 11.

On January 5, 2020, Iran had completely withdrawn from JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) nuclear deal. The announcement came after the US troops killed General Qassem Soleimani. In 2018, the United States walked away from the nuclear deal. However, the other participants such as Russia, China, European Union, France, Germany and UK tried to keep the agreement alive. According to the deal, Iran curbed its nuclear programme in exchange to relief from sanctions.

Former Karnataka Governor TN Chaturvedi passed away on 5 January 2020. He was 90 years old. He was appointed as the 14th Governor of Karnataka in 2002 by the NDA government headed by Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) on January 6 said all room air conditioners should have a default temperature of 24 degrees Celsius. This means that when the room air conditioner is switched on, it will start at 24 degree Celsius.

Kolkata Police has started the 3rd edition of 'Sukanya' project. The project aims to provide self-defense training to girls studying in schools and colleges in the city. The third batch of 'Sukanya' started at 100 city-based schools and colleges situated in Kolkata Police jurisdiction.

Two ships of the Royal Navy of Oman (RNO) arrived in Goa to participate in the 12th edition of the Indo-Oman bilateral naval exercise 'Naseem-Al-Bahr'. 'Naseem-Al-Bahr' (or sea breeze) is a naval exercise between the Indian Navy and the RNO, being conducted since 1993.

Magesh Chandran, the 36-year old Grand Master with a FIDE rating of 2479, remained unbeaten and finished first with 7.5 points from nine games. India's P. Magesh Chandran remained unbeaten in nine rounds to win the title in the 95th edition of the prestigious Hastings International Chess Congress in Hastings, England.

India has ranked 34th in the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI) of the World Economic Forum for the year 2019. In 2013, India ranked 65th. WEF analyzed 139 countries and scored each according to three sub-indices: (1) Regulatory Framework (2) Business Environment and Infrastructure (3) Human, Cultural, and Natural Resources.

Navigation facilities for visually impaired was inaugurated at Chandigarh railway station in Punjab on 5 January 2020. This facility has been introduced by the Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation through Bengaluru-based NGO Anuprayaas.