Current Affairs Today 29th January 2019 | Current Affairs News

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Daily Current Affairs PDF of 29th Jan 2019

CURRENT AFFAIRS: IMPORTANT DAYS

Data Privacy Day

• Data privacy day observed on January 29
• The Council of Europe is celebrating this year the 13^th edition of Data Protection Day
• The purpose of Data Privacy Day is to raise awareness and promote privacy and data protection best practices
• The day was initiated by the Council of Europe to be first held in 2007 as the European Data Protection Day
• Data Protection Day is now celebrated globally and is called the “Privacy Day” outside Europe

CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL

GST on Haj reduced from 18% to 5% 

• GST on Haj has been reduced from 18 per cent to 5 per cent and this will significantly lower the air fare thus saving Haj pilgrims’ 113 crore rupees this year
• For the first time since the independence that 2,340 women from India will go on 2019 Haj without Mehram

India’s 1st Geographical Indication Store opened in Goa

• Union Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu inaugurated India’s 1st Geographical Indication (GI) Store at Goa International Airport in Dabolim
• The store is located on the first floor on Departure Terminal, and jointly set up by Airports Authority of India and The Cashew Export Promotional Council of India
• Currently there are 270 GI registered products in the country
• Products from the self-help groups, artisans and farmers’ produce will be also displayed on the airport at a concessional rate

Western Railway provides segways to RPF personnel to enable stricter patrolling

• The Western Railway has provided segways, the two-wheeled, self-balancing and battery powered electric vehicles, to the Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel deployed at major railway stations in Mumbai
• The vehicle will help the RPF in keeping an eye on every nook and corner of the railway stations, specially on long platforms, this is the first of its kind initiative by the Indian Railways

Train 18 named Vande Bharat Express 

• India’s first indigenously built engineless semi high speed train, Train 18, has been named Vande Bharat Express
• The train is set to run between Delhi and Varanasi at a maximum speed of 160 kmph
• The 16 coach train, built in 18 months at a cost of Rs 97 crore by the Integral Coach Factory, Chennai, is regarded as a successor to the 30 year old Shatabdi Express.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: INTERNATIONAL

Dubai airport retains its position as world’s busiest airport in 2018

• Dubai International Airport has retained its position as the world’s busiest airport for the fifth consecutive year in a row in 2018
• Indian travellers emerging as the largest source of traffic for the airport, accounting for more than 12.2 million travellers. Most of them coming from the Indian cities of Mumbai, Delhi and Cochin.
• The annual customer tally at Dubai’s main transit hub increased by 1 per cent to 89.1 million last year from 88.2 million in 2017
• The number of flights fell 0.3 per cent to 408,251 during 2018 while the average number of passengers grew slightly by 1.3 per cent to 226 people per plane

US imposed sanctions on Venezuela’s state owned oil group

• The Trump administration imposed sweeping sanctions on Venezuelan state owned oil firm PDVSA
• Aimed at severely curbing the OPEC member’s crude exports to the United States and at pressuring socialist President Nicolas Maduro to step down

CURRENT AFFAIRS: STATE

Andhra Pradesh government to provide 100 units free power to MBCs

• Andhra Pradesh government will provide 100 units free power to the Most Backward Classes (MBCs)
• The government give aid of up to Rs 15 lakhs for foreign education of BCs, also setting up a JyotibaPhule memorial centre with Rs 100 Crores, and set up 69 new gurukul schools in addition to the existing 106 gurukul schools

Uttarakhand’s first tulip garden in Pithoragarh

• Uttarakhand’s first tulip garden will come up over 50 hectares of forest land in Pithoragarh district at a cost of Rs 50 crore
• The garden to be developed by the ONGC, under its corporate social responsibility programme (CSR) in over 50 hectares of forest land near Chandak hill top
• The proposed tulip garden will be the country’s second after the one located in Srinagar (J&K)

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced “Jiban Sampark” project

• Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced “Jiban Sampark” project in partnership with UNICEF India to generate awareness about the development and welfare initiatives of state government among the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups of the state
• The announcement was made after Patnaik inaugurated the annual tribal fair popularly known as “Adivasi Mela” the annual event which has 180 stalls to showcases tribal market, food, agriculture produces and forest products
• “The Jiban Sampark’s focus areas will include skill development, empowering communities, cooperation and innovation among the groups of 75 tribal communities in the country, 13 Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups residing in remote and far off areas of 12 district in Odisha

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING AND FINANCE

DHFL raises Rs. 1,375 crore via securitisation financing

• Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd has raised Rs. 1,375 crore from funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management
• P. Oaktree is a leading global alternative investment management firm with assets under management of about $124 billion
• DHFL intends to further reduce its real estate project finance exposure through more such transactions in the future

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BUSINESS

Kia Motors India set to begin trial production

• Kia Motors is eighth largest automotive company in the world
• Kia Motors, the South Korean global automotive major, is all set to commence trial run of its $1 billion greenfield plant in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh
• The company’s first car from the plant, SP2i, a sports utility vehicle showcased at the Auto Show as a SP concept, is poised to be rolled out by July this year for sale in India
• Kia motors along with the auto ancillaries from South Korea is one of the largest Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in India in automobile sector. The Greenfield facility will have installed capacity of 300,000 vehicles annually from day one

CURRENT AFFAIRS: APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGNATION

Poonam Khetrapal Singh re-appointed Regional Director of WHO South-East Asia

• Poonam Khetrapal Singh has been appointed as Regional Director of World Health Organization South-East Asia, for a second five-year term
• The WHO Executive Board unanimously endorsed Dr.Khetrapal Singh, who was earlier also unanimously nominated by 11 Member countries of the Region for another five years.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: AWARDS AND HONOURS

SAG – Screen Actors Guild Awards 2019

• “Black Panther” took home the top award for best performance by a cast in a motion picture at the 2019 Screen Actors Guild Awards
• On the TV front, “This Is Us” nabbed the ensemble award for drama,
• While “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” won the comedy prize.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: RANKING

India replaces Japan as second largest steel producer

• According to World Steel Association (worldsteel) India has replaced Japan as world’s second largest steel producing country
• China is the largest producer of crude steel accounting for more than 51 per cent of production
• “India’s crude steel production in 2018 was at 106.5 MT, up by 4.9 per cent from 101.5 MT in 2017
• Japan produced 104.3 MT in 2018, down 0.3 per cent compared to 2017

CURRENT AFFAIRS: OBITUARIES

Former Defence Minister George Fernandes passed away

• Former Defence Minister and Anti-Emergency Crusader George Fernandes passed away
• Fernandes held the defence ministry portfolio from 2001 to 2004 under the AtalBihari Vajpayee led NDA government. Apart from defence, he also held the portfolios of communications, industry and railways under various governments
• He was a key member of the Janata Dal and later founded the Samata Party in 1994, which later merged with Janata Dal (United)
• He also held the portfolio of Union railways minister from 1989 to 1990 under the leadership of the then Prime Minister VP Singh
• He was elected to the Lok Sabha 9 times and once to the Rajya Sabha

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