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CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL
Southern Railway has bagged the number one position for cleanliness
- The Southern Railway has bagged the number one position for cleanliness in the country
- This achievement was under the category of other than Premium Category trains in the recent Trains Cleanliness Survey conducted by IRCTC on all India level
- During the year 2018, Southern Railway’s gross earnings also stood at more than six thousand crores rupees which is almost 10 per cent higher than the last year earnings
- Southern Railway has also introduced 54 trains over past four years
| USEFUL INFO |
| Southern Railway Headquarter | Chennai |
| Southern Railway General Manager | R.K. Kulshrestha |
PM Modi laid foundation stone for AIIMS Madurai in Tamil Nadu
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for All India Institutes of Medical Sciences, AIIMS at Madurai in Tamil Nadu
- Narendra Modi also inaugurated the Super Speciality blocks of government medical college hospitals in Madurai, Tirunelveli and Thanjuvar built at a total cost of Rs.450 crores contributed by the Centre and Rs. 85 crores contributed by the State
- Modi also inaugurated 12 Passport Seva Kendra across Tamil Nadu
- The Institute is to be built within 45 months at an allocated budget of Rs. 1,264 crores
- AIIMS, Madurai will be a 750 bedded hospital with 30 Emergency/Trauma beds, 75 beds in the ICU & Critical Care unit, 215 beds in Super Specialty unit,will also offer 100 MBBS seats.
| USEFUL INFO |
| Tamil Nadu Capital | Chennai |
| Tamil Nadu Chief Minister | E. Palanisamy |
| Tamil Nadu Governor | Banwarilal Purohit |
PM Modi dedicated Kochi Refinery project to Nation
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated the Integrated Refinery Expansion Complex of BPCL in Kochi to the nation,
- The integrated refinery is a modern expansion complex and would transform the Kochi Refinery as the largest PSU refinery in the country with world class standards
- Modi also inaugurated Mounded Storage Vessel at IOCL LPG bottling plant in Kochi, Kerala
- Mounded Storage Vessel, IOCL LPG Bottling Plant has a total storage capacity of 4350 MT
- He also laid the foundation stone for a petrochemical complex at the refinery and a skill development institute at Ettumanoor.
| USEFUL INFO |
| Kerala Capital | Thiruvananthapuram |
| Kerala Chief Minister | Pinarayi Vijayan |
| Kerala Governor | P. Sadasivam |
CURRENT AFFAIRS: INTERNATIONAL
Pakistan government declared sugarcane juice as the “national drink” of the country
- Government of Pakistan has declared sugarcane juice as the nation juice of Pakistan
- The announcement came after the government conducted a Twitter poll where people were asked to decide on the country’s national drink with two other options orange and carrot besides sugarcane.
| USEFUL INFO |
| Pakistan Capital | Islamabad |
| PakistanCurrency | Rupee |
| PakistanPrime Minister | Imran Khan |
CURRENT AFFAIRS: STATE
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari inaugurated AtalSetu in Goa
- Union Minister Nitin Gadkari inaugurated four-lane, 5.1 kilometre long “AtalSetu”, the third Cable Bridge across river Mandovi in Panaji, Goa
- The bridge is a joint venture between the GSIDC (Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation) and Larsen and Toubro
- Atal Setu Bridge is the third longest cable stayed bridge in the country.
- The construction lasted over four and a half years, having started on June 14, 2014, total worth of the project is over 600 crore Rupees
| USEFUL INFO |
| Goa Capital | Panaji |
| Goa Chief Minister | Manohar Parrikar |
| Goa Governor | Mridula Sinha |
Madhya Pradesh government launched Employment scheme for urban youth
- Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath announced the launch of the ‘Yuva Swabhiman Yojana’ for youths from the economically weaker sections in urban areas
- Under this scheme, 100 days of employment will be provided to youths from economically weaker sections in urban areas. They will also be given skill training
| USEFUL INFO |
| Madhya Pradesh Capital | Bhopal |
| Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister | Kamal Nath |
| Madhya Pradesh Governor | Anandiben Patel |
Kerala to launch ‘Pravasi Dividend Pension Scheme’
- The Kerala government will soon launch a ‘Pravasi Dividend Pension Scheme’ to provide regular pension to Non Resident Keralites on a onetime payment of Rs 5 lakh
- There are 2.1 million migrants from Kerala across the world whose estimated total annual remittances to the state has been found to be Rs 85,092 crore,
- Investments ranging from 5 lakh to Rs. 50 lakh being deposited as a whole or as six instalments paid within three years
- Each beneficiaries will be entitled to receive pensions ranging from 5,000 to Rs. 50,000 every month, three years after the final deposit has been made at a dividend rate of 12%.
| USEFUL INFO |
| Kerala Capital | Thiruvananthapuram |
| Kerala Chief Minister | Pinarayi Vijayan |
| Kerala Governor | P. Sadasivam |
‘Operation Olympics’ commenced in Kerala
- Operation Olympics’, an expert programme to train atheletes in 11 disciplines has commenced in Kerala
- The Kerala sports department and the state sports council are preparing the 123 athletes, who are participating in the programme, for the Olympics
- The objective of ‘Operation Olympics is to provide international standard training with the help of eminent trainers from both India and abroad
- The programme includes expert training in athletics, boxing, cycling, swimming, shooting, wrestling, badminton, fencing, rowing and archery
| USEFUL INFO |
| 2020 Summer Olympics | Tokyo, Japan |
| Summer Olympics Official mascots | Miraitowa |
| Paralympic mascot | Someity |
CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING AND FINANCE
Growth to remain in 7-7.5% range in next few years: PM advisory panel
- The Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, headed by NITI Aayog Member Bibek Debroy stated that India’s economic growth is expected to remain in the range 7-7.5 per cent in the next few years
- The growth rate can be easily increased by 1 per cent by addressing structural problems through reforms
- The Central Statistics Office (CSO) in its latest forecast pegged the growth at 7.2 per cent for 2018-19
- The EAC-PM is an independent body constituted to give advice on economic and related issues to the Government of India, specifically to the Prime Minister.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: COMMITTEE
IRDAI sets up a panel to identify systemically important insurers
- Insurance regulator Irdai set up a panel to identity domestically systemically important insurers (SII) and put in place an enhanced regulatory framework for them
- The committee headed by Pravin Kutumbe, Member Finance & Investment, Irdai, has been asked to submit report in six months
| USEFUL INFO |
| IRDAI Headquarters | Hyderabad |
| IRDAI Chairperson | Subhash Chandra Khuntia |
CURRENT AFFAIRS: AWARDS AND HONOURS
Nari Shakti Is Oxford Dictionary’s Hindi Word of the Year 2018
- Nari Shakti (women empowerment) has been chosen as the Hindi word of the year 2018 by Oxford Dictionaries
- The Announcement was made during a session at Jaipur Literature Festival which is being held at Diggi Palace in Jaipur
- The word was selected by the Oxford Dictionaries (India) with help of a panel of language experts
- In 2017, Oxford Dictionaries had chosen ‘Aadhar’ as the word of the year.
D N Chakraborty gets Assam Republic Day journalism award
- Assam government has conferred the Republic Day Journalism Award 2019 to veteran journalist and former editor Dhirendra Nath Chakraborty
- Chakraborty, former Editor of DainikAsom, DainikJanambhumi and Ajir Batori group of newspaper, has been honoured for his lifelong contribution to journalism in the state
- The award comprises Rupees one lakh in cash, a citation, the Assamese ‘xoraai’ (the bell metal memento presented as an honour), ‘jaapi’ (headgear) and an angavastra
- In last two previous years, this Award was presented to senior journalists Late Radhika Mohan Bhagawati and KanaksenDeka
Tamil translation of French book wins Romain Rolland Book Prize for literary translation
- The Tamil translation of Andrei Makine’s “La vie d’un homme inconnu” (The Life of an Unknown Man) was awarded the second Romain Rolland Prize for literary translation at the Jaipur Literature Festival
- The book was translated by S R Kichenamourty, former head of the French department of Pondicherry University
- The book is published by Kalachuvadu, a publisher of Tamil modern classics and contemporary fiction writing
- The short list included Malayalam translations of “Rvolutiondans la Rvolution” (Revolution in the Revolution) and “La Peste” (The Plague) by RgisDebray, and Albert Camus, respectively.
- Award includes an invitation to the Paris Book Fair 2019 for the publisher of the work and an invitation for the translator to attend a one-month residency in France.
- India will attend Paris Book Fair as the Guest of Honor. It will be held at March 2019 which brings together publishers and provides them with the opportunity to communicate about their profession.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: MOBILE APP AND PORTAL
Roshni an Android Mobile app developed by IIT Ropar helps the visually impaired recognise Indian currency notes
- The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Ropar, has developed an app to help the Visually Impaired recognise currency notes
- “Roshni” was the first Android app that worked successfully with new INR currency notes
- The app can recognise both old and new notes and gives audio information as to which note you are holding in your hands.
- The user has to bring the currency note in front of phone camera and the app would provide audio notification intimating the currency notes denomination to the user
- The app, developed by Dr Puneet Goyal, assistant professor and his students Mandhatya Singh, Joohi Chauhan and R Ram
CURRENT AFFAIRS: RANKING
India ranks sixth in GDPR readiness index: Cisco
- Around 65 per cent of Indian businesses and organisations are better prepared for the European Union’s (EU) General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), making India the sixth best prepared nation to deal with the new data privacy regulation which all organizations operating within the European Union and European Economic Area are mandated to comply with
- The rankings were part of the ‘Data Privacy Benchmark Study’ for 2019 put out by technology giant Cisco
- As per the report 59% of organizations across the world reported meeting all requirements or most of the requirements, 29% expect to do so within a year while 9% will take more than a year.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: DEFENCE
Ministry of Defence Launched ‘RDP INDIA 2019’ Mobile App
- As a new initiative in sync with the Digital India campaign of the Government, Ministry of Defence had launched a mobile app ‘RDP India 2019’ on the Republic Day,
- With the intent of making available the highlights of the Republic Day event, not only to the spectators at Rajpath, but also to the general public all over the world.
- This app contains information about the Parade on Rajpath, New Delhi, including Order of the March, details of the tableaux presented by different States and Ministries, children cultural performances, fly past and names of recipients of Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar 2019.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: SPORTS
Novak Djokovicbeats Rafael Nadal to win his 7th Australian Open title
- Novak Djokovic defeated Rafael Nadal to win his 7th Australian Open Men’s Singles title at Melbourne
- World No.1 outplayed the second-ranked Nadal 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 in a largely one sided match
- In Women’s Singles, Japan’s Naomi Osaka clinched her maiden Australian Open Grand Slam Singles title in Melbourne
- Osaka defeated Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic 7-6, 5-7, 6-4 in the summit clash
| Player | Country |
| Novak Djokovic | Serbia |
| Naomi Osaka | Japan |
Saina winsIndonesia Masters after injured Marin limps out of final
- Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal won her first Indonesia Masters title after three-time world champion Carolina Marin limped out of the final due to a leg injury.
- The Spaniard was leading 10-4 in the first game,after she retired with injury.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: OBITUARIES
Oscar winning French composer Michel Legrand passed away
- The French composer Michel Legrand, who won three Oscars during a career spanning more than half a century, has passed away
- Legrand won his first Academy Award in 1969 for the song “The Windmills of Your Mind” from the film “The Thomas Crown Affair
- After that, he won Oscars for his music in the 1972 film “Summer of ’42′” and “Yentl” in 1984