Current Affairs - January 30, 2020 Current Affairs

Essar Oil (UK) Ltd operates the Stanlow refinery announced the appointment of Mark Wilson as its new Chief Executive Officer. A Wilson was previously with BP plc of the UK, where he held several senior leadership positions.

Renowned Indian environmental economist and UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Goodwill Ambassador Pavan Sukhdev won the 2020 Tyler Prize. He won the Nobel Prize for the environment for his groundbreaking green economy work. He acknowledged for his work on bringing the economic consequences of environmental degradation and loss to the attention of corporate and political decision-makers.

Nepal offered to play the role of a mediator between India and Pakistan to resolve any problem. The country said that it is important for the two countries to have a dialogue to resolve their issues. Nepal also stated that if necessary, it plays the role of a mediator too. Nepal's initiation to resolve issues between India and Pakistan comes as India has been distancing itself from the SAARC in the last three years.

Ganga Yatra under NamamiGange mission begins on 27 January from Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh. The yatra was launched by the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Uttarakhand CM Trivendra Singh Rawat and Union Minister Sanjeev Baliyan from Bijnor.

Farmer Chinthala Venkat Reddy won the Padma Shri award from Telangana. The awards were announced by the government on 71st Republic Day. He was awarded for attaining an international patent for his technique in soil swapping and soil fertility. He is the first independent farmers in India to win the international patent for the technique.

Senior diplomat Taranjit Singh Sandhu appointed as India's Ambassador to the USA the Ministry of External Affairs. Taranjit Singh Sandhu Sandhu, a 1988-batch Indian Foreign Service officer, is currently posted as High Commissioner of India in Sri Lanka. He replaces Harsh Vardhan Shringla as India's envoy in Washington. Shringla named as India's next foreign secretary.

The Union Government planned to install 175 Giga Watt renewable energy by 2022 to build a healthy planet with a less carbon-intensive economy. Pradhan Mantri KisanUrja Suraksha Evam UtthanMahabhiyan Pradhan Mantri KisanUrja Suraksha Evam UtthanMahabhiyan, PM-KUSUM scheme government, empowers the farmers to be the producer of energy.

Ministry of Jal Shakti - the union government's new initiative Jal Jeevan Mission.The Functional Household Tap Connection (FHTC) to every rural household by 2024, has been adjudged the best tableau, jointly with the NDRF tableau. Defence Minister Shri Rajnath Singh awarded the best tableau award to the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) tableau in a gracious and befitting ceremony.

Vakrangee Limited appointed Mr. Ramesh Joshi (EX-RBI & EX- SEBI ED), a veteran with over 40 years of experience as the Non-Executive Chairman of the company.Mr. Dinesh Nandwana appointed as executive chairman as the Managing Director and Group CEO in place of Mr. Anil.

Britain unveils a new 50 pence coin minted to mark the country's departure from the European Union who bears the inscription Peace, prosperity, and friendship with all nations and the Brexit date of 31 January 2020. The three million of the coins be distributed from banks, post offices, and shops.

The Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdelaziz Al Thani named as the new Prime Minister.

Alok Kansal appointed as the General Manager of the Western Railway (WR). Kansal is a 1983-batch officer of the Indian Rai way Service of Engineers (IRSE). Kansal was working as the principal executive director, civil engineering (Planning) at Railway Board. Central Rai way (CR) General Manager Sanjeev Mittal was holding the additional charge as WR GM. The post held by Anil Kumar Gupta, who retired in November 2019.

Agni Sapkota was elected as the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the lower house of Parliament in Nepal. Being the senior-most candidate of the house, Sapkota was elected unopposed.His name was proposed by Subhash Chandra Nembang of the Nepal Communist Party.

Government appointed L V Prabhakar as managing director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Canara Bank. The appointment will be effective from 1 February 2020. He will hold the position till he attains the age of superannuation on 31 December 2022 or until further orders.

Ace Indian cueist Pankaj Advani on January 28 claimed yet another Senior National Billiards Championship title with a 5-2 win over Sourav Kothari in a pulsating final. After losing the first frame in the best-of-9 150-up tie, Advani bounced back with breaks of 95 and 151 to go 2-1 up.

Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), a Swedish research institute, reported that China ranked as the world's second-largest weapons manufacturer, behind the US.China ranked ahead of Russia, from whom the country used to buy many weapons.

The 22nd meeting of the Central Zonal Council is progressing at Raipur, the state capital of Chhattisgarh. The Central Zonal Council comprises of four states. The issues related to security, law, and order, infrastructure-related matters like roads, transport, water, industries, and power along with various issues between the center and member states and inter-state disputes are discussed.

IT services major Tech Mahindra to set up a dedicated Google Cloud Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Hyderabad. Aim To drive the digital transformation of enterprises globally. It will provide enterprises with access to the technology and services and deliver solutions to help them move critical workloads to Google Cloud, develop their Artificial Intelligence (AI) and data analytics solutions, and improve workplace productivity.

The Assam Power Generation Corporation Ltd (APGCL) has announced that it is to set up a waste-to-energy plant in Assam. The facility will be established near the proposed integrated solid waste management facility (ISWMF) of the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) on the campus of the old Chandrapur Thermal Power Plant.

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi attends the National Cadet Corps Rally in Delhi. Prime Minister inspected the Guard of Honour and reviewed the March Past by the various NCC contingents and also from Cadets from other friendly and neighboring countries.