1) Brazilian President J. M. Bolsonaro to be India’s 71st Republic Day Chief Guest
•President of Brazil Jair Messias Bolsonaro will be the chief guest at the 71st Republic Day Parade at Raj Path, New Delhi on 26 January. This will be the third time that India has invited a Brazilian leader as the chief guest at the country’s Republic Day event. New Delhi had invited Fernando Henrique Cardoso for the celebrations in 1996 and hosted Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva as a guest of honour in 2004.
2) 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.
3) Mukhyamantri Krishak Durghatna Kalyan Yojana launched by UP Govt
•Uttar Pradesh Government has launched Mukhyamantri Krishak Durghatna Kalyan Yojana. This scheme will provide financial assistance to the family of farmers who die or become handicapped while working in fields. UP government has also decided to implement Mukhyamantri Paryatan Samvardhan Yojana to boost tourism in the state.
•The scheme will also include the Bataidars, who work in the field of other persons and share the crop after it is harvested. The scheme will cover farmers and their family members in the age group of 18-70 years. Mukhyamantri Paryatan Samvardhan Yojana one tourist point will be developed with a fund of 50 lakh rupees in each and every assembly segment of the state.
4) 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.
5) “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.
Chairman and the composition of the National Startup Advisory Council?
•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.
•The nominees of the related ministries, departments and organisations, not below the rank of joint secretary will be ex-officio members of the National Startup Advisory Council.
6) 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.
Impact of the decision:
•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.
7) SC sets up committee to Draft Legislation on Mediation
•The Supreme Court has set up a committee to firm up draft legislation to give legal sanctity to disputes settled through mediation. The panel, to be headed by mediator Niranjan Bhat. The other members of the panel, appointed by the Mediation and Project Conciliation Committee (MCPC) of the Supreme Court, included Justice K Kanan, former ASGs AS Chandok and PS Narsimha, senior advocates Sriram Panchu and JP Singh, and senior mediators Susheela S, Sadhna Ramchandran, Laila Ollapally, and Anil Xavier.
8) President Kovind presented the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar 2020
•President Ram Nath Kovind presented the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar, 2020 at Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi. The Bal Puraskar is given by the government every year to recognize the exceptional achievements of children in various fields. These fields are innovation, scholastic achievements, social service, arts and culture, sports and bravery. This year 22 children who were selected for National Bravery Awards also received the awards from the President.
9) 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.
10) 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.
