Current Affairs Jan 2016 - Important Days

News 1 - World Braille Day Observed on 4^th January.

04-Jan − Like every year, 4^th of January was observed across the world as the World Braille Day to honor the birth anniversary of Louis Braille. He is credited with inventing the Braille language which helps blind people to read as well as write. NGOs and various organizations work together on this day to raise awareness about the indifference towards blind people and to help them be equal with the rest of the people.

News 2 - World Hindi Day Celebrated on 10^th January.

10-Jan − The 11^th World Hindi Day was celebrated on the 10^th of January 2016. The main objective of this day is to promote the use of Hindi language across the globe.This day is celebrated to mark 14th September 1949, on which the Constituent Assembly adopted Hindi written in Devanagari script as their Official Language of the Union. The focus of this World Hindi Day is the promotion of this language at the global level.

News 3 - 12^th January Celebrated as the National Youth Day; marks the Birth Anniversary of Swami Vivekananda

12-Jan − The 12^th of January was observed as the National Youth Day across India. It also marks the 153^rd birth anniversary of India’s foremost social reformer and philosopher, Swami Vivekananda. He is a role model for the Indian youth. Every year this day is celebrated as the National Youth Day since the 12^th of January, 1985 in recognition of Swami Vivekananda’s ideals and teachings.

News 4 - The 68^th National Army Day celebrated by Indian Army on 15^th January.

15-Jan − The National Army Day is celebrated every year on the 15^th January. India this year celebrated the 68^th Army Day. This day is celebrated to memorialize the day, when Lieutenant General (later Field Marshal) K M Cariappa took over as the first Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army from General Sir Francis Bucher, the last British Commander-in-Chief on 15 January 1949. On this occasion, General Dalbir Singh, Chief of the Army Staff, awarded fifteen Sena Medals (including five posthumously) for individual acts of Gallantry and thirteen COAS Unit Citations to mark the occasion.

News 5 - International Kolkata Book Fair held from Jan 27 till 7^th Feb.

18-Jan − The 40^th edition of the International Kolkata Book Fair – the world’s largest non-trade fair started on Jan 27. Kolkata’s love affair with books is known all over. The organizers will also organize a ‘heritage walk’ that takes the visitors through the 39-year-old journey of this fair. A mobile app has also been developed to guide the visitors with the location of the book stalls.

News 6 - The 9^th National Girl Child Day celebrated on 24^thJanuary.

24-Jan − The 9^th National Girl Child Day was observed on the 24th January, 2016 to spread awareness against the inequalities faced by the girl child. It was initiated by the Government in 2008.

The main objectives are:

It is celebrated to increase the awareness of the people.
Offer new opportunities to the girl child in the society.
Remove all the inequalities faced by the girl child.
To work towards improving the child sex ratio.

News 7 - The 6^th National Voters’ Day observed with theme Inclusive and Qualitative Participation.

25-Jan − The 25^th January, 2016 was celebrated as the 6^th National Voters’ Day (NVD) throughout the country by the Election Commission of India. The theme was ‘Inclusive and Qualitative Participation’. The occasion also marked the release of a book titled Belief in the Ballot written by Chief Election Commissioner Dr. Nasim Zaidi. Our President, Pranab Mukherjee gave away Awards for the Best Electoral Practices to Chief Electoral Officers, District Electoral Officers, SPs and the other Officers who were involved in election management.

News 8 - The International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust.

27-Jan − The International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust was observed on 27^th January 2016 across the world. On January 27 each year, the United Nations (UN) remembers the Holocaust that affected many people of Jewish origin during World War II. The theme for the year 2016 was The Holocaust and Human Dignity.

News 9 - The 30^th of January celebrated as Anti-Leprosy Day.

30-Jan − Anti-Leprosy Day was celebrated on 30^th of January 2016 throughout the nation. Every year, this Anti-Leprosy Day is observed on January 30 to coincide with the Martyrdom Day of Mahatma Gandhi. The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee, in his Anti-Leprosy Day message said that we should make every possible effort to spread awareness about leprosy, its treatment, care and rehabilitation of its patients.