Current Affairs - January 13, 2020 Current Affairs

India recently attended the Hormuz Peace Initiative that was held in Tehran. The initiative aimed at stabilizing one of world's busiest shipping lanes, the Strait of Hormuz amidst US-Iran tensions. It was attended by leading trade partners of Iran namely China, Oman, India and Afghanistan.

Uttar Pradesh State government is to set up a zoological garden in Gorakhpur, UP. The zoo is to be named after the socialist and freedom fighter Shaheed Ashfaqullah Khan.

Rohan Bopanna in partnership with Wesley Koolhof of Netherlands beat Luke Bambridge and Santiago Gonzalez 3-6, 6-2, 10-6 to win the first doubles title of the season, in the $1,465,260 ATP tennis tournament in Doha, Qatar.

Union Steel Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has unveiled Mission Purvodayain Kolkata on January 11 and said that the eastern belt has the potential to add over 75 percent of the country's incremental steel capacity envisioned by the National Steel Policy.The mission will drive India's march towards five trillion-dollar economy set by the government.

Several Hollywood celebrities such as Joaquin Phoenix, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Susan Sarandon appeared at the January 10 "Fire Drill Fridays" event, a weekly climate action protest organized by actress Jane Fonda in Washington, DC.Actor Martin Sheen, known for his work in the likes of Apocalypse Now and The West Wing, who inspired the most, quoting Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore during his speech to the crowd's present.

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has announced 4 airports in India have received international recognition for reducing carbon emission. The airports had adopted the grading system in 2018 as per ACI. Four AAI airports - Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport, Kolkata; Biju Patnaik International Airport, Bhubaneswar; Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport, Varanasi and Trivandrum International Airport.

As a measure to promote Ek Bharat Shreshth Bharat, the Uttar Pradesh State government organized various programs in the State. Many schools and colleges of the state are organizing events for the purpose.

China and Pakistan had launched a naval drill in North Arabian Sea called the Sea Guardians. The aim of the drill is to increase inter-operability between the two navies. On January 10, 2020, India deployed its INS Vikramaditya in North Arabian Sea where the exercise is being held.

While conventional sodium sulphur batteries require very high temperature (300 degree C) for operation, researchers at the Indian Institute of technology (IIT) Madras have designed a new sodium sulphur battery that can be operated at room temperature.

The birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda also called Swami Vivekananda Jayanti is celebrated every year on 12 January. He was born on 12 January, 1863. The government had decided to observe it as National Youth Day because the philosophy of Swamiji and the ideals for which he lived and worked could be a great source of inspiration for the Indian Youth. He had given speech at the Parliament of the World's religions in Chicago and glorified India's name.

Wings India 2020 is a flagship event of Indian Civil Aviation industry which will be organized at Begumpet Airport in Hyderabad from March 12-15. The theme of this year is 'Flying for All'.

Incumbent President Tsai Ing-wen won the 2020 Taiwanese presidential election with her Democratic Progressive Party and was re-elected to a second term with 8.17 million votes (57.1 percent). This is the first time a candidate in a Taiwanese presidential election received over 8 million votes.

In yet another achievement the district headquarters has been chosen for setting up of the biggest silk rolling unit in Asia. Maharashtra-based Indo Rama Synthetics (India) Limited propose to set up the unit in Siddipet, Telangana.

Youth Affairs & Sports Ministry and UP Govt. jointly organized National Youth Festival in Lucknow on January 12-16. Theme: 'Fit Youth, Fit India'

The Gujarat Agro Industries Corporation (GAIC) will import water-soluble fertilizers from China. So far, the state agency has imported 300 tonnes.The GAIC agency will import, pack and sell the water-soluble fertilizers to farmers. The new fertilizers have been named AGRO.

Chinese health authorities reported that a new virus implicated in a pneumonia outbreak was identified in the city of Wuhan, China. The researchers discovered that the new strain of the virus is that of the coronavirus. Coronaviruses infects the respiratory tract.

India opener K L Rahul retained his sixth position while captain Virat Kohli moved up a place to ninth in the batting chart of the ICC T20I players rankings released on January 11.The ICC T20 rankings were updated after the conclusion of the three-match series between India and Sri Lanka, which Kohli's men won 2-0.

His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said of Oman passed away on 10 January 2020. He was 79 years old. He was the Arab world's longest-serving ruler. The cause of death has not been confirmed. His cousin and former culture and heritage minister Haitham bin Tariq Al Said have been sworn in as his successor.

The former parliamentarian Gopinath Gajapati Narayan Deo passed away on 10 January 2020. He died due to prolonged illness. He was 76 years old.

The State government has decided to give free laptops to over a lakh student of first grade government colleges from January 12. Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa will launch the free laptop distribution programme on the day of Swami Vivekananda Jayanti at the Sri Kanteerava Indoor Stadium, Bengaluru, by symbolically presenting laptops to a few students. Later, laptops will be distributed to all first-year degree students at government first grade colleges.