Hello and welcome to exampundit. Here are the important Current Affairs Today 22nd January 2020. These are important for the upcoming Exams. Candidates who were preparing for the examination can use these current affairs and also you can download the same as PDF.
Current Affairs Today – 22nd January 2020
NEWS AT A GLANCE
- The Telecom department of India has approved the Bharti Airtel Ltd to increase Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the company to 100%.
- Adani Capital Private Ltd has acquired Essel Finance’s micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) loan business.
- External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and President of Niger Mahamadou Issoufou on Tuesday jointly inaugurated the first convention centre established in Africa by India to honour the memory of Mahatma Gandhi.
- 7 airports across India start thermal screening of passengers arriving from China and Hong Kong.
- The Government of India has created “National Startup Advisory Council“.
- Uttar Pradesh Government has launched Mukhyamantri Krishak Durghatna Kalyan Yojana.
- Reading of the Preamble of the Constitution has been made mandatory for the Maharashtra schools by the government of Maharashtra.
- The Maharashtra government is to make it mandatory to teach the Marathi language in all schools in the state irrespective of mediums of instructions.
- Bangladesh today launched the e-passport facility for its citizens. Inaugurating the facility of e-passport in Dhaka
- The Hazrat Shahjalal International airport at Dhaka has started screening the passengers for the SARS like virus coronavirus in view of the outbreak reported from China.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair the 32nd interaction through PRAGATI platform in New Delhi.
- The Union Minister of State (I/C) Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region, Dr. Jitendra Singh inaugurated India’s first global Mega Science Exhibition “Vigyan Samagam” at National Science Centre, New Delhi at 21 January 2020.
- According to World Gold Council(WGC) report title “World Gold Outlook 2020”, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has been ranked 6th in the largest buyer of sovereign gold abroad.
- Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited has partnered with online bus ticketing platform redBus to start carpool service for train passengers.
- The Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Indore has signed an memorandum of understanding with the Uttar Pradesh Police.
- Indian Navy signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Geological Survey of India (GSI) on 21 January 2020.
- India and Brazil will be signing a Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) during the visit of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro as the Chief Guest of the Republic Day celebrations from 24-27 January 2020. Around 20 agreements are to be signed.
- The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) between India, Tunisia, and Papua New Guinea.
- Paralympian Deepa Malik and wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt are among the new inductees in the government’s All India Council of Sports (AICS).
- President Ram Nath Kovind presented the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar, 2020 at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
NEWS IN DETAILS
BUSINESS AND ECONOMY
Telecom department approves FDI limit in Bharti Airtel to 100%
- The Telecom department of India has approved the Bharti Airtel Ltd to increase Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the company to 100%.
- The approval from the Telecom department will enable Singtel or Singapore Telecommunications Ltd to increase its stake in Bharti Airtel Ltd.
- Singapore Telecommunications Ltd currently owns 35% stake in Bharti Airtel.
- This approval will also enable Bharti Airtel company to raise more capital as per its requirement.
- It also opens the door for the Indian telecom operator to raise more funds from other foreign investors.
Extra Shots:
Bharti Airtel Limited, also known as Airtel, is an Indian global telecommunications services company based in Delhi, India. It operates in 18 countries across South Asia and Africa, and also in the Channel Islands.
- CEO: Gopal Vittal
- Founder: Sunil Bharti Mittal
- Parent organization: Bharti Enterprises
Essel Finance’s MSME lending business acquired by Adani Capital
- Adani Capital Private Ltd has acquired Essel Finance’s micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) loan business.
- Adani Capital has secured a loan book of around Rs 145 crore through the acquisition. After the acquisition, Adani Capital Private Ltd is targetting to gradually expand its geographic presence in central and east India.
- Adani Capital Private Ltd is the the non-banking financial company (NBFC) arm of Adani Group.
- Adani Capital Private Ltd focuses on small and micro-entrepreneurs across 4 verticals namely farm, primarily tractor loans, commercial vehicle loans for both new and used vehicles, MSME loans and for supply chain.
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Adani Group is an Indian multinational conglomerate headquartered in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. It was founded by Gautam Adani in 1988 as a commodity trading business with the flagship company Adani Enterprises Limited. Gautam Adani is the chairman.
- Headquarters: Ahmedabad
- Founder: Gautam Adani
NATIONAL CURRENT AFFAIRS
India opens its first Mahatma Gandhi convention centre in Niger
- External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and President of Niger Mahamadou Issoufou on Tuesday jointly inaugurated the first convention centre established in Africa by India to honour the memory of Mahatma Gandhi.
- The establishment of the Mahatma Gandhi International Convention Centre (MGICC) is a landmark for India-Niger friendship, as also a symbol of India’s firm commitment towards Africa.
- It is the first centre to be established in Africa by India to honour the memory of Mahatma Gandhi whose 150th Birth Anniversary was observed last year.
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Niger (Capital/Currency): Niamey/ West African CFA franc
- President: Mahamadou Issoufou
India start thermal screening of passengers arriving from China and Hong Kong
- 7 airports across India start thermal screening of passengers arriving from China and Hong Kong.
- These airports are Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Cochin.
- Ministry of Civil Aviation has directed for all logistics support and arrangements to be made immediately with regard to screening of passengers arriving in India from China including Hong Kong.
- All passengers and crew who are healthy should be allowed to continue their onward journey.
- If the ill passenger or crew member is confirmed as a probable case of Wuhan Corona Virus, public health authorities should be notified about the contacts using the Passenger Locator Form.
“National Startup Advisory Council” created by Government of India
- The Government of India has created “National Startup Advisory Council“.
- The council is being set up to advise the central government to create a strong ecosystem to nurture innovation and start-ups in India.
- The Commerce Minister will be the chairman of the National Startup Advisory Council.
- The council will also constitute the non-official members to be nominated by the Government of India.
- The non-official members will include the founders of successful start-ups, veterans who have grown and expanded their companies in India and the individuals who are capable of representing interests of investors into start-ups.
- The tenure of the non-official members will be for a period of two years.
STATE CURRENT AFFAIRS
UP Govt launches Mukhyamantri Krishak Durghatna Kalyan Yojana
- Uttar Pradesh Government has launched Mukhyamantri Krishak Durghatna Kalyan Yojana.
- AIM: to provide financial assistance to family of farmers who die or become handicapped while working in fields.
- Government has also decided to implement Mukhyamantri Paryatan Samvardhan Yojana to boost tourism in state.
- The scheme will cover farmers and their family members in the age group of 18-70 years and will be implemented from 14th September last year.
- For the first time, the scheme will also include the Bataidars, who work in the field of other persons and share the crop after it is harvested.
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Uttar Pradesh:
- Capital: Lucknow
- Chief Minister: Yogi Adityanath
- Governor: Anandiben Patel
- State formed in: 24 January 1950
- Literacy Rate: 67.68%
- Nation Park: Dudhwa National Park
Maharashtra Govt. makes Preamble reading mandatory in Maharashtra schools
- Reading of the Preamble of the Constitution has been made mandatory for the Maharashtra schools by the government of Maharashtra.
- The Maharashtra government has mandated the reading of Preamble of the Constitution after prayer in all primary and secondary schools in Maharashtra.
- The above decision will be implemented from 26 January 2020 through a programme “Sovereignty of Constitution, the public interest of all”.
- According to the programme, in every school of Maharashtra, the Preamble of the Constitution will be read by all in a group before the beginning of the classes.
- The decision has been taken to make everyone aware and understand the basic principles and the importance of the inclusiveness, justice, equality, liberty and brotherhood mentioned in the Preamble of the Constitution.
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Maharashtra:
- Capital: Mumbai
- Chief Minister: Uddhav Thackeray
- Governor: Bhagat Singh Koshyari
- State Formed in: 1 May 1960
- Litracy Rate: 82.34%
- National Parks: Chandoli National Park, Nawegaon National Park, Gugamal National Park, Pench National Park, Sanjay Gandhi (Borivilli) National Park, Tadoba National Park
- Wildlife Sanctuaries: Amba Barwa WLS, Bor WLS, Great Indian Bustard WLS,
- Lonar WLS, Melghat WLS, Gangewadi New Great Indian Bustard WLS, etc.
Maharashtra to make Marathi mandate in all schools in the state
- 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. The draft bill in this connection is being prepared.
Marathi language-Mandatory:
♦ The Maharashtra government is to frame a law in next month’s Assembly session.
♦ The state is to make it mandatory to teach the Marathi language from Class 1 to Class 10 in all schools irrespective of media of all instructions.
♦ There are 25,000 English medium schools in the state and the number is increasing.
♦ The government aims to carry out all its business in Marathi.
♦ It also stated that files without notings in the state language will not be accepted.
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Maharashtra:
- Capital: Mumbai
- Chief Minister: Uddhav Thackeray
- Governor: Bhagat Singh Koshyari
- State Formed in: 1 May 1960
- Litracy Rate: 82.34%
- National Parks: Chandoli National Park, Nawegaon National Park, Gugamal National Park, Pench National Park, Sanjay Gandhi (Borivilli) National Park, Tadoba National Park
- Wildlife Sanctuaries: Amba Barwa WLS, Bor WLS, Great Indian Bustard WLS,
- Lonar WLS, Melghat WLS, Gangewadi New Great Indian Bustard WLS, etc.
INTERNATIONAL CURRENT AFFAIRS
PM Sheikh Hasina launches e-passport facility in Bangladesh
- Bangladesh today launched the e-passport facility for its citizens. Inaugurating the facility of e-passport in Dhaka
- Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said that e-passport is a gift to the nation in the Mujib centenary year.
- Bangladesh has setup 69 passports offices in 64 districts, 33 immigration check-posts and passports and visa wings at 75 missions abroad.
- The e-passports will have an embedded chip in them which will contain the bio-metric data of the passport holder, photograph and other information contained in the passport.
- It will also include digital security features in it.
- Introduction of the e-passport will help control the fake passports in the country.
- Government hopes that the e-passports will increase the acceptability of the Bangladeshi passports across the world and it will also ease immigration process globally.
- Bangladesh is the first country in South Asia and 119th country in the wold to provide e-passport facility.
- According to the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), over 490 million e-Passports are in circulation in the world.
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Bangladesh (Capital/Currency): Dhaka/Taka
- Prime Minister: Sheikh Hasina
Dhaka Airport start screening passengers over coronavirus
- The Hazrat Shahjalal International airport at Dhaka has started screening the passengers for the SARS like virus coronavirus in view of the outbreak reported from China.
- The airport authorities started screening of all the passengers who travelled to China in the last two weeks and report flu like symptoms.
- In case of symptoms, they will be reported to the institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) in Dhaka for further tests.
- The airport will provide the travelers from China a health card to contact the IEDCR if they have fever within 14 days from arrival.
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Bangladesh (Capital/Currency): Dhaka/Taka
- Prime Minister: Sheikh Hasina
SUMMITS AND CONFERENCES
32nd PRAGATI platform meeting chaired by PM Modi today
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair the 32nd interaction through PRAGATI platform in New Delhi.
- PRAGATI is the ICT-based, multi-modal platform for Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation.
- This platform was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 25th March 2015.
- It is an integrating and interactive platform aimed at addressing the common man’s grievances.
- PRAGATI also helps in simultaneously monitoring and reviewing important programmes and projects of the Centre as well as projects flagged by various State governments.
Dr. Jitendra Singh inaugurated Vigyan Samagam Exhibition in New Delhi
- The Union Minister of State (I/C) Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region, Dr. Jitendra Singh inaugurated India’s first global Mega Science Exhibition “Vigyan Samagam” at National Science Centre, New Delhi at 21 January 2020.
- It will be be held from 21 January to 20 March 2020 in New Delhi.
- The details about the exhibition, projects, and schedule are available on the Vigyan Samagam website www.vigyansamagam.in and on the mobile app Vigyan Samagam.
- The exhibition is jointly organized Department of Science and Technology (DST), Ministry of Science & Technology, GoI and the National Council of Science Museums (NCSM) under the ageis of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE).
RANKS AND INDICES
RBI ranked 6th in buying gold abroad in World Gold Council report
- According to World Gold Council(WGC) report title “World Gold Outlook 2020”, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has been ranked 6th in the largest buyer of sovereign gold abroad.
- RBI purchased 25.2 tonnes in first 10 months of 2019 to hedge government’s sovereign gold bond issue.
- RBI (Reserve Bank of India) currently holds 625.2 tonnes of gold, forming 6.6% of its forex reserves.
- The central banks of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Poland bought more than India in 2019.
- In 2019, Uzbekistan and Venezuela sold 16.6 tonnes and 30.3 tonnes of gold.
- The performance of gold in the market in 2019 was best Since 2010.
- It rises by 18.4% in United States dollar (USD)terms in 2019.
Extra Shots:
RBI: The Reserve Bank of India is India’s central banking institution, which controls the issuance and supply of the Indian rupee.
- Founded: 1 April 1935, Kolkata
- Headquarters: Mumbai
- Governor: Shaktikanta Das
- Deputy Governors: B P Kanungo, M K Jain, N S Vishwanathan, Michael Debaprata Patra
AGREEMENTS AND MOU SIGNED
Hyderabad Metro partners redBus to start carpool services
- Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited has partnered with online bus ticketing platform redBus to start carpool service for train passengers.
- The facility aims to provide end to end connectivity to daily commuters in an affordable manner. The service will be offered through “rPool”.
- rPool is an in-app ride sharing service provided by redBus.
- Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited will also provide space inside the station premises to rPool for setting up of kiosks for customer service, apart from parking facilities for ride givers on rPool, for easy pick-up and drop of commuters.
UP Police to get ‘mob management & communication’ training from IIM Indore
- The Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Indore has signed an memorandum of understanding with the Uttar Pradesh Police.
- The MoU states that IIM Indore will provide effective communication and crowd management training to the Uttar Pradesh Police personnel.
- The training will be useful for the circumstances where police force faces the situation of controlling and managing the crowd which can be done with the help of effective communication, hence avoiding any kind of violence or damage of public property.
- As per the agreement, police personnel will also receive training in the data analysis, traffic management, use of artificial intelligence & social media management.
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Uttar Pradesh:
- Capital: Lucknow
- Chief Minister: Yogi Adityanath
- Governor: Anandiben Patel
- State formed in: 24 January 1950
- Literacy Rate: 67.68%
- Nation Park: Dudhwa National Park
Indian Navy signed MoU for offshore Data with GSI
- Indian Navy signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Geological Survey of India (GSI) on 21 January 2020.
- The MoU was signed by Commodore AA Abhyankar, who heads the Indian Navy’s Oceanology and Meteorology Directorate and Shri N Maran, Deputy Director-General of GSI.
- The MoU aims to ensure the sharing of seabed sediment data, products and expertise for Naval Application in Meteorology and Oceanography.
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Geological Survey of India (GSI): GSI functions under the Ministry of Mines. It is one of the key national survey organizations of India.
- Established on: 1851
- Headquarters: Kolkata
- Director-General: S. N. Meshram C.G.S.
India, Brazil to sign Bilateral Investment Treaty and Strategic Action Plan
- India and Brazil will be signing a Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) during the visit of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro as the Chief Guest of the Republic Day celebrations from 24-27 January 2020. Around 20 agreements are to be signed.
- The two countries aim to upgrade the strategic partnership with an action plan.
- The Strategic Partnership Action Plan will serve as an umbrella agreement for the plans the two countries will make in order to increase defence cooperation, technology sharing, and a logistics agreement.
- Also, the Bilateral Investment Treaty is expected to take the partnership between the countries to the next level
- The countries are committed to foster economic growth in both countries.
Cabinet approved MoUs signed between India, Tunisia and Papua New Guinea Electoral Commission for elections
- The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) between India, Tunisia, and Papua New Guinea.
- The MoU aims to boost India’s international relations.
- The Election Commission entered into Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) with the Independent High Authority for Elections of Tunisia (ISIE) and the Papua New Guinea Electoral Commission (PNGEC) for elections for cooperation in the field of electoral management and administration.
- The MOUs aims to promote bilateral cooperation.
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Tunisia (Capital/Currency): Tunis/ Tunisian dinar
- President: Kais Saied
Papua New Guinea (Capital/Currency): Port Moresby/ Papua New Guinean kina
- Prime Minister: James Marape
SPORTS CURRENT AFFAIRS
Paralympian Deepa Malik and wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt inducted in AlCS
- Paralympian Deepa Malik and wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt are among the new inductees in the government’s All India Council of Sports (AICS).
- It is an advisory body to the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports which was formed in 2015 by the Sports Minister Sarbananda Sonowal.
- Some other renowned new entrants in the Council are former shooter Anjali Bhagwat, footballer Renedy Singh, and mountaineer Bachendri Pal.
- Senior India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has also been inducted in the council.
- The Council is an advisory body for implementation of policies, matters relating to the promotion of inclusiveness in sports with special focus on women, differently-abled, tribals etc.
AWARDS
President Kovind confers Rashtriya Bal Puraskar awards to children
- President Ram Nath Kovind presented the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar, 2020 at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
- The Bal Puraskar is given by government every year to recognize exceptional achievements of children in various fields.
- These fields are innovation, scholastic achievements, social service, arts and culture, sports and bravery.
