Current Affairs

  Oscar-winning French composer Michel Legrand has passed away aged 86. During a career spanning more than half a century, Legrand won three Oscars. His first was in 1969 for the song ‘The Windmills of Your Mind’ from the film ‘The Thomas Crown Affair’. This was followed with Oscars for his music for ‘Summer of ’42’ in 1972 and for ‘Yentl’ in 1984. Legrand wrote over 200 film and TV scores, as well as songs.
Source- AIR World Service

  Former South Africa all-rounder Johan Botha has announced his immediate retirement from all forms of Cricket. Botha played for South Africa in 5 test matches, 78 one-day internationals, and 40 T20 Internationals from 2005 to 2012. Botha captained the Proteas in 10 ODIs and took the team to the No. 1 ranking after they defeated Australia 4-1 in Australia in 2009.
Source: News On AIR

 Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah was elected as Malaysia’s new king by the members of the country’s royal families. The 59-year-old was earlier appointed the Sultan of the Malaysian state of Pahang. He replaced Sultan Muhammad V of Kelantan, who stepped down recently, making it the first abdication in Malaysia’s history.
Source- India Today

 IndiGo owner InterGlobe Aviation has appointed Ronojoy Dutta as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company with immediate effect. The company has also approved the appointment of Meleveetil Damodaran, the Independent Non-Executive Director, as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Company. Ronojoy Dutta will remain as the company CEO for the next five years. Ronojoy Dutta, 67, has done BS Mechanical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology and MBA from Harvard Business School. He was a co-founder and Managing Director of ACO Investment, renowned investment advisory firm in the field of aviation and infrastructure.
Source: Business Today

 The government has instituted an annual award titled Subhash Chandra Bose Aapda Prabandhan Puraskar. It will be announced every year on 23rd January, the birth anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. The Award carries a certificate and a cash prize of 51 lakh rupees. This year, 8th Battalion of National Disaster Response Force located at Ghaziabad has been selected for the Award for its commendable work in disaster management. The award has been instituted to acknowledge the contribution and selfless service of organizations and individuals to humanity in the aftermath of any disaster.
Source- AIR World Service

 The Telangana government has decided to form a ‘State Tiger Protection Force’ to save the Big Cat population in the State. The State Forest Protection Committee headed by Chief Secretary S K Joshi took the decision to form the STPF. The 112-member-armed STPF will be headed by an Assistant Conservator of Forests to protect the tiger population in Amarabad and Kawal Tiger Reserves. The State and Central government will share the cost of the force on 40:60 basis. Fund amount of 2.25 Cr was also sanctioned to protect the tigers and to prevent forest fire accidents. The Committee decided to act tough against those felling forest trees and committing other related crimes.
Source: Economic Times

 25 January is celebrated every year as National Voters Day to spread awareness about the necessity of voting and to encourage young generation towards the voting rights. National Voters Day Theme 2019 is “No Voter to be left behind”. This is the ninth year of celebrating National Voters Day. 25th January is the foundation day of the Election Commission of India (ECI) which came into existence in 1950. This day was first celebrated in 2011 to encourage as much as young voters to take part in the electoral process. Earlier the eligibility age of the voter was 21 years but in 1988 it was lowered to 18 years.
Source: News On AIR

 The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has successfully test fired Long Range Surface to Air Missile (LR-SAM) from naval warship INS Chennai.The test was conducted off the coast of Odisha. The LR-SAM hit a low flying aerial target during the test.
Source- Press Information Bureau (PIB)

 The Indian Space Research Organisation successfully launched the PSLV C 44 carrying Kalam sat and imaging satellite Microsat R. The rocket precisely injected the Microsat R in its designated orbit. The satellite was launched from the Sathish Dhawan Space Centre Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. 
Kalamsat is a ten cm cube weighing one-kilogram communication satellite with a life span of two months. With this launch, India becomes the first country to use the fourth stage of a space rocket as an orbital platform for microgravity experiments.
Source- ISRO

 Eminent Hindi author and essayist Krishna Sobti passed away in Delhi. She was 93. She was a recipient of many coveted awards like Sahitya Akademi, Jnanpith awards and was also offered Padma Bhushan, which she had declined. Some of her celebrated works include Daar Se Bichhudi, Mitro Marjani, Zindaginama, Dil-o-Danish, Badalom ke Ghere, Ai Ladki and Gujarat Pakistan Se Gujarat Hindustan. Several of her works have been translated into other Indian languages and also in Swedish, Russian and English.
Source- The Hindu


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