1) International Day of Education celebrated globally on 24th January
•International Day of Education is celebrated globally on 24th January. The first-ever International Day of Education was celebrated on 24 January 2019 as per the resolution passed by the United Nations General Assembly on December 3rd 2018 to celebrate the role of education in development.
•International Day of Education 2020 theme is ‘Learning for people, planet, prosperity and peace’. The theme highlights the integrated nature of education, its humanistic aims, as well as its centrality to our collective development ambitions.
2) India celebrates National Girl Child Day on 24th January
•India celebrates National Girl Child Day every year on 24th January. The day aims to focus on the inequalities faced by girls, to promote the education, health & nutrition of the girl child, and to spread awareness about the rights of a girl child. The day was observed for the first time in 2008 as an initiative by the Ministry of Women and Child Development and the Government of India.
3) India’s 1st Mahatma Gandhi convention centre opens in Niger
•India’s first Mahatma Gandhi convention centre opens in Niger. Union External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and President of Niger Mahamadou Issoufou 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.
•The convention centre has been designed as a spacious, modern and eco-friendly facility, including a 2,000 capacity Plenary Hall, to witness high-level and wide-ranging participation from African Union member states and other high-level conventions.
4) Russia will be focal theme country in IKBF 2020
•The 44th International Kolkata Book Fair (IKBF) will be held from 29th January to 9th February 2020. Russia will be focal theme country of the 44th edition of the International Kolkata Book Fair.
•The theme gate will be a replica of the iconic Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. International Kolkata Book Fair is the world’s largest non-trade book fair, Asia’s largest book fair and the most attended book fair in the world. 20 countries will participate in the 2020 edition of Kolkata International Book Fair.
5) ISRO unveils ‘Vyommitra’ half-humanoid robot for Gaganyaan Space Mission
•Indian Space agency Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has unveiled ‘Vyommitra’ or “friend in the sky” a half-humanoid robot for Gaganyaan Space Mission. The half-humanoid robot ‘Vyom Mitra’ will be placed in the first unmanned mission under ‘Gaganyaan’ is capable of conversing with astronauts, recognising them, and responding to their queries.
•ISRO will send two unmanned missions before the Ganganyaan mission. It will monitor how the human system will behave in the environment control life support system. The robot introduced itself as:” Hello everyone. I am Vyom Mitra, the prototype of the half-humanoid, been made for the first unmanned Gaganyaan mission.
6) RBI cancels Certificate of Authorisation of Vodafone m-pesa
•The Reserve Bank of India has cancelled the Certificate of Authorisation (CoA) of Vodafone m-pesa. This cancellation is done after its voluntary surrender of authorisation. Now Vodafone m-Pesa cannot continue to transact the business of issuance & will no longer have the right to provide payment facility as a prepaid instrument (PPI). Vodafone Idea in 2019 has decided to close m-pesa vertical after the closure of Aditya Birla Idea Payments Bank Limited (ABIPBL), with which it was being merged.
7) Katerina Sakellaropoulou becomes 1st woman president of Greece
•The Parliament of Greece elected Katerina Sakellaropoulou as the country’s first female president. Sakellaropoulou received the support of 261 MPs in the 300-seat Parliament, including the support of members of the ruling New Democracy Party.
8) India ranks 51 in EIU’s Democracy Index 2019
•12th edition of the “Democracy Index 2019: A year of democratic setbacks and popular protest”, released by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). The world’s biggest democracy India slipped 10 places in the 2019 global ranking to 51st place. India is included in a flawed democracy. Norway tops the list with a score of 9.87 while North Korea is at the bottom with 167th place with 1.08 points.
•According to the index, Pakistan is at the 108th position on the list. Similarly, Sri Lanka is ranked 69th, Bangladesh 80th. China fell to the 153rd position in 2019 with 2.26 points. It is close to the bottom position in the global ranking.
•As per the report, India’s democracy scores have declined due to lack of civil liberties, especially the removal of Article 370 from Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) and the enforcement of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) 2019.
9) Reliance Jio becomes 1st Telecom to launch UPI Payments Feature
•Reliance Jio becomes the 1st telecom operator to facilitate UPI payments feature through its platform. It has launched the feature on the MyJio app rather than its wallet app, JioMoney. This Reliance Jio will now compete with other private UPI payment providers such as Paytm, Google Pay and PhonePe. The users cannot use their existing UPI ids to avail this service. Instead, they will have to create a new JIO UPI Id.
10) ‘Women with Wheels’ service launched at Indira Gandhi International Airport
•‘Women with wheels’, a unique taxi service has been launched at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi. The ‘Women with wheels’ taxi service is an initiative by ‘Sakha cabs’. The taxi service will be only available for the female commuters and will be driven by women drivers only. The entry of men in the cab will be allowed only if they are accompanied by a woman or women. The ‘Women with Wheels’ service can be availed by the female commuters for any part of Delhi.
