Current Affairs - January 24, 2020 Current Affairs

The upgraded 155 mm artillery gun Sharang was successfully test-fired at the Long Proof Range (LPR) of Ordnance Factory Khamaria in Jabalpur district of Madhya Pradesh. The gun, indigenously upgraded from 130mm to 155mm/45 calibre, has a striking range of 39 kilometres.

Australia has conferred its highest civilian honour, the Order of Australia honour, on Biocon founder Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw for her contribution towards advancing the country's relationship with India.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Nepali counterpart KP Sharma Oli jointly inaugurated the second Integrated Check Post (ICP) at Jogbani-Biratnagar, built with Indian assistance to facilitate trade and people's movement.

Union Government has appointed veteran sports administrator Vijay Kumar Malhotra as President of All India Council of Sports (AICS).With this he became first President of AICS and was given an equivalent rank of a Minister of State (MoS) in the Union Council of Ministers.

The Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) operating under Ministry of Commerce and Industry is to showcase tableau on Start Up India at the Republic Day Parade to be held at Rajpath, New Delhi. The tableau is to be held under the theme "Reach for the sky".

Subhash Chandra Bose Jayanti is celebrated on 23 January 2020. The day marks the 124th birth anniversary of Bose. Subhash Chandra Bose's birth anniversary commemorates his contribution to India's struggle for independence.

Indian pugilists pick six medals at Nation's Cup. Cologne World Cup gold medallist M Meena Kumari, along with three of her teammates, picked up silver medals at the 9th Nation's Cup Boxing Tournament for women that was held in Sombor, Serbia.

India slipped 10 places to 51st position in the 2019 Democracy Index's global ranking, according to The Economist Intelligence Unit, which cited "erosion of civil liberties" in the country as the primary cause for the downtrend.India's overall score fell from 7.23 in 2018 to 6.90 in the Index that provides a snapshot of the current state of democracy worldwide for 165 independent states and two territories.

Uttar Pradesh state Government has launched Mukhyamantri Krishak Durghatna Kalyan Yojana. The scheme was launched after the cabinet meeting which was held on 21 January 2020. The announcement was made by the Uttar Pradesh's Power Minister Shrikant Sharma.

Guyana on January 22 took over the chairmanship of the Group of 77 (G77) for the year 2020. At a ceremonial meeting to mark the formal handover, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Al-Malki, whose country chaired the group for 2019, passed the gavel to Moses Nagamootoo, Guyana's prime minister.

The Ministry for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare organized the first National consultative workshop on Strengthening Agri-Logistics in the e-National Agriculture Market (e-Nam) in New Delhi on 21 January 2020. The workshop aimed to strengthen agriculture and the rural economy as it will strengthen India to face challenges victoriously.

This year, the number of people registered as unemployed is expected to rise to 190.5 million up from 188 million in 2019, ILO said in its annual World Employment and Social Outlook report.At the same time, the UN body stressed that some 285 million people worldwide are considered underemployed, meaning they either work less than they want to, have given up searching for work or otherwise lack access to the labour market.

PM Shri Narendra Modi-led Union Cabinet approved the Agreement between India and the Federative Republic of Brazil on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters has to be signed. The Agreement aims to enhance the effectiveness of both the countries in investigation and prosecution of crime through cooperation and Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters.

Uttarakhand has become the first state in the country where the government has made a policy to lease agricultural land. Now any institution, company, firm or NGO can take farm land on lease in villages, leasing a maximum of 30 acres of land on lease for 30 years.

The Indian Navy has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Geological Survey of India (GSI) for sharing seabed sediments data, products and expertise regarding naval application in meteorology and oceanography.

A swanky USD 56 million convention centre, the first such hall established in Africa by India to honour the memory of Mahatma Gandhi, has been inaugurated in Niger's capital by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Nigerien President Mahamadou Issoufou.

France is to train Indian flight surgeons to enable them to monitor the health of astronauts selected for the human space mission Gaganyaan. The announcement was released on 21 January 2020.

Sri Lanka topped on breastfeeding rate according to a new survey conducted by the World Breastfeeding Trends Initiative (WBTi). The survey was taken among 97 countries globally.

With confidence of CEOs over worldwide economic growth hitting rock bottom, India is their fourth choice after the US, China and Germany as only 9 per cent in a global survey for their companies' growth prospects.

The Maharashtra government is to make it mandatory to teach the Marathi language in all schools in the state irrespective of mediums of instructions. The announcement was made by the Industries Minister Subhash Desai on 21 January during an interaction organized by the 'Mumbai Marathi Patrakar Sangh'. The government will enact a law during the next Assembly session in February 2020.

Crisis-hit realty firm Unitech's newly appointed chairman and managing director (CMD) Yudvir Singh Malik assumed office.The central government has superseded Unitech's board on Supreme Court's direction.