Current Affairs Current Affairs January 2020

 The New Delhi World Book Fair organized by the National Book Trust is being held for 42 years now. The trust is an apex body of Government of India functioning under Ministry of Human Resource Development.
  • Highlights
The World Book Fair is to be held between January 4, 2020 and January 12, 2020. The fair is organized jointly by National Book Trust and India Trade Promotion Organization. More than 800 exhibitors and 40 foreign exhibitors are to participate in the fair. The fair also acts as a gateway to the intellectual world of South Asia. The theme of the fair is
  • Significance
The fair promotes readership policies and also supports the markets in neighboring countries. The fair is important for the Indian market as India is the third largest market for English publications with more than 12,000 publishers. The fair also attracts investors from other countries like USA, Japan, Bangladesh, France, Italy, Malaysia, Nepal, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Singapore, Germany and Sri Lanka.
  • National Book Trust
The Indian Publishing House founded in 1957 functions under Ministry of Human Resource Development. It publishes reading material in several Indian languages that includes children books and new-literates. The Headquarters of the trust is located in New Delhi.

 Ministry of Commerce and industry has announced that 371 items from China will get strict restriction from March 2020. The move aims at curbing imports of non-essential items such as plastic goods, toys, furniture, sports.
  • Highlights
The rules are to be framed by the Ministry in coordination with BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards). Though the rules focus on Chinese imports, it will also be applicable to Indian producers in order to make the regulations WTO-compliant. Currently there are 370 standards for imports. India’s plan is to increase the it to 5000 in the second phase. The move will help boost the local industries and help Indian consumers get quality products. The non-essential commodities imports include petrochemicals, chemicals, heavy industrial products, steel products, telecommunication, electronics, etc. Apart from trade relation with China, India is also concentrating on FTA (Free Trade Agreement) with ASEAN, Japan and South Korea that enjoy free access to Indian markets. The step is being considered to boost domestic goods.
  • Significance
The imports from China that are categorized as non-essential amount to 4 trillion USD. Also, trade deficit with China is widening and it currently stands at 553.6 billion USD. The step will help in reducing India’s dependence on China and will also help in curbing low quality imports from China. This is the main reason why India refused to join RCEP.

 In the honor of 200th birth anniversary of Florence Nightingale, the World Health Organization designated the year 2020 as the “Year of Nurse and Midwife”.
  • Highlights
This year, WHO is to focus on nursing and midwifery in order to achieve Universal Health Coverage. The organization is leading the development of “World Nursing Report” that is to be launched in 2020. The report is first of its kind. The year is being dedicated to the midwifery as well as WHO is also a partner of The State of the World’s Midwifery Campaign. WHO is to launch the reports prior to 73rd session of WHO which is to be held in Geneva between February 3 and 8, 2020.
  • Florence Nightingale
Florence Nightingale was an English Social reformer born in 1820. She organized camps for wounded soldiers and also served as a manager of nurses during the Crimean War. She was called “The Lady with the Lamp” for making rounds on wounded soldiers. Also, the International Nurse Day is being celebrated in her honor. Every year, the day is celebrated on May 12. The day is celebrated by the International Council of Nurses.

 Chief Executive Officer of “Khelo India Games” has announced that “Lawn bowls” and “cycling” will be included in the 3rd edition of Khelo India Games. The two games will be included in the event for the first time. The 3rd edition of the tournament will be held in Guwahati, Assam in January 2020. Athletes from all over the country will be coming to Guwahati for the Khelo India Youth Games.
Source: The News On AIR

 The ISRO Chairman announced that the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will establish a 2nd launch port in Thoothukodi district in Tamil Nadu. This launch port will be used exclusively to launch small satellite launch vehicles. The launch port will be established in 2300 acres. He announced that the process of Astronaut selection is over for India’s 1st manned mission to outer space i.e. “Gaganyaan” to be launched by 2022. The ISRO Chairman also announced that the Government has approved the Chandrayaan–3 mission to the moon, comprising of a lander and a rover.
Source: The DD News

  Bengaluru will host the 107th edition of the Indian Science Congress. It will be the ninth time the city will host the annual convention. University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS), Bengaluru will host the event. The congress has chosen ‘science and technology: rural development’ as its theme for the 107th edition. A Farmer’s Science Congress will take part in it for the first time, hence providing a platform for innovative farmers. There will also be a ‘Women’s Science Congress’, ‘Children’s Science Congress’, ‘Science Communicator’s Meet’, and ‘Science Exhibition: Pride of India’. The convention will see the participation of over 15,000 delegates, including 8,000 students from across the country and 74 scientists from abroad.
Source: The Hindu

  The Election Commission of India has launched a Political Parties Registration Tracking Management System (PPRTMS). The system enables the applicants to track the status of the applications for the party registration. The Commission has also amended the guidelines for registration which came into force from 1st January 2020. Under the new guidelines, the applicants applying for the party registration from 1st of January 2020 will be able to track the progress of applications and will get the status through SMS and e-mail. An association seeking registration has to submit an application to the Commission within a period of 30 days from the date of its formation. This should be done as per the guidelines prescribed by the Commission in exercise of the powers conferred by Article 324 of the Constitution of India and Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951. The status can be tracked through the Commission’s portal “pprtms.eci“.
Source: The News On AIR

  President of Nepal launched the “Visit Nepal Year 2020” during the ceremony held at historic Dasaratha Rangashala in Kathmandu. Mythical creature Yeti has been selected as mascot of the campaign. The ambitious campaign is aimed to promote tourism in Nepal and to attract 2 million tourists in 2020. The Visit Nepal 2020 campaign was launched in all the seven provinces of Nepal. Nepal is one of the World’s fascinating tourist destination and the government has a goal of making tourism one of the key pillars of the Nepali economy.
Source: The DD News

 The Pacific nation of Palau has become the first country to ban sun cream which is harmful to corals and sea life. The ban prohibits sun cream containing any of the 10 ingredients which includes oxybenzone and octinoxate, that absorbs ultraviolet light. A lagoon in Palau’s Rock Islands is a Unesco World Heritage site. Palau is renowned for its marine life and is regarded as one of the world’s best diving destinations.
Source: The BBC News

  Umaro Cissoko Embalo has won the Guinea-Bissau‘s presidential election. According to the National Electoral Commission of Guinea-Bissau, Umaro won the presidential election with 53.55% of votes. He will replace the incumbent President Jose Mario Vaz.
Source: The Aljazeera


You need to login to perform this action.
You will be redirected in 3 sec spinner