Current Affairs January 2020 - Miscellaneous

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet approved the proposal of Ministry of Home Affairs for extending the deputation tenure of IPS Abhinav Kumar, Inspector General, Border Security Force (BSF), up to June 27, 2021, in relaxation of IPS Tenure Policy.
Indian Railways has renamed its security force RPF (Railway Protection Force) as Indian Railway Protection Force Service.
India's gold imports fell about 7%, to 20.6 billion dollars during April to November 2019-20.
Reserve Bank of India bought 10,000 crore rupees of long-term government securities and sold 8,501 crore rupees of three short-term bonds.
Pragati Maidan Metro station was renamed as Supreme Court Metro Station.
The Appointments Committee of Cabinet has approved the reappointment of Vinod Kumar Yadav as Chairman, Railway Board for a period of one year.
The Union Ministry of Science and Technology have awarded Swarna Jayanti Fellowships to 14 scientists to pursue basic research in frontier areas of science and technology.
Senior Nationalist Congress Party leader and former MP, D P Tripathi passed away in Delhi.
The 5^th Ice Hockey Association of India (IHAI) National Ice Hockey Championship -2020 has begun in Leh, Ladakh.
The Wildlife Institute of India (WII) is to conduct Asiatic Lion Census in May 2020. The Institute will use 10000 cameras to conduct the census.
National Human Rights Commission, NHRC, India has taken suo motu cognizance of media reports about the death of more than 100 children at a government run hospital in Kota district of Rajasthan.
Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) leader and Nagaland Assembly Speaker Vikho-o Yhoshu passed away.
“Lawn bowls” and “cycling” will be included in the 3^rd edition of Khelo India Games. The two games will be included in the event for the first time.
President Ram Nath Kovind laid foundation stone to Lakshadweep's first Super Specialty Hospital at Kavaratti.
World No.1, Youth Olympics champion and Asian Games gold medallist, Saurabh Chaudhary won the men’s gold in 10-metre air pistol in the 63^rd National shooting championship.
The Journalists’ Day was celebrated on 6^th of January in the state of Maharashtra. It is celebrated in the memory of late thespian journalist Balshashtri Jambhekar.
ASCEND 2020 Global Investors Meet was held in Kochi with the aim of lending pace to the Ease of Doing Business in the state.
The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) will observe 2020 as the 'year of mobility' that will have a special focus on creation of more residential units and implementation of various welfare measures for the troops.
India's P Magesh Chandran lifted the title in the 95^th edition of the prestigious Hastings International Chess Congress at Hastings in England.
The 5^th Asia Pacific Drosophila Research Conference was held at Pune and it was organised by the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research.
India’s leading Digital lending startup, RevFin has joined hands with PNB MetLife India Insurance Company to offer protection to the RevFin’s customers by bundling life insurance cover on their loans.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has enabled select banks in India to offer round-the-clock (24×7) trading in the Indian rupee to allow Indians to safeguard their foreign exchange (Forex) risks at any time.
Indian women weightlifter Sarbjeet Kaur has been banned for 4 years from the sport by the National Anti Doping Agency.
Three Colonial structures re-dedicated to Kolkata.
India erects “steel fence” across Pakistan, Bangladesh border.
Union Minister for Communications, Electronics and Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad inaugurated the submarine cable works on laying between Chennai – Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
The Ukrainian aircraft “Boeing 737” boarding 176 people crashed in Tehran, Iran.
The Cabinet approved conferring the status of Institution of National Importance to a cluster of Ayurvedic institutions.
Securities and Exchange Board of India stock market regulator has deferred the deadline to 1^st April 2022 for the separation of the posts of Chairman & Managing Director or Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for 500 listed companies.
In a major landmark for indigenous Indian aviation, the naval version of the Tejas light combat aircraft (LCA) made a successful short landing with arrestor wires on the Shore Based Test Facility (SBTF) in Goa.
Postal Ballot facility has been made available for the Super Senior Citizens (over 80 years of age) and PwDs in the Delhi Assembly Election.
Alok Kansal, a senior officer of the 1983 batch of Indian Railway Service of Engineers (IRSE), took over the charge as General Manager of Western Railway.
The famous Parshuram Kund Mela was celebrated in Arunachal Pradesh.
Union Minister of State for Culture and Tourism Prahlad Singh Patel launched exhibition titled Indian Heritage in Digital Space and a two day long first international heritage symposium in Delhi.
The fifth edition of Science Film Festival of India (SCI-FFI) 2020 was held in Panaji, Goa.
The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) celebrated its 15^th Raising Day.
India’s first-ever, global Mega-Science exhibition, ‘Vigyan Samagam’, was held in New Delhi. This was fourth such exhibition after being organised at Mumbai, Bengaluru and Kolkata.
The Department of Biotechnology organised an International Summit on Women in STEM – “Visualising the Future: New Skylines” at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi.
Meghalaya celebrated the 48^th anniversary of statehood day on 21^st January with cultural fanfares immersed in remnants of the ‘Hill State Movement’ that led up to the declaration of Meghalaya as a separate state in the year 1972.
Puducherry Chief Minister Narayanasamy launched the Intensified Pulse Polio Immunisation (IPPI) programme in the Union Territory.
Vinesh Phogat won her first gold medal of the 2020 season at the Rome Ranking Series while teen sensation Anshu Malik settled for a silver in 57kg competition.
Union Minister for Heavy Industries Prakash Javadekar inaugurated ELECRAMA 2020, the flagship showcase of the Indian electrical industry, in Greater Noida.
Sania Mirza and her Ukrainian partner Nadiia Kichenok have won the women's doubles title of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) International trophy at Hobart in Australia.
In Assam, the militant outfit National Democratic Front of Bodoland signed a tripartite Suspension of Operarion Agreement with the Centre and the Assam Government.
'Women with wheels', a unique taxi service has been launched at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi.
Maharashtra Government has made the reading of the Preamble of the Constitution mandatory for the Maharashtra schools.
Indian airports have started thermal screening of passengers arriving in India from China and Hong Kong to stop the Corona Virus spread in India.
The Bilateral International Treaty organisation, an international arbitration tribunal recently dismissed all the claims against India.
Union Minister Arjun Munda was elected as President of the Archery Association of India (AAI).
Eminent journalist and chairman of “The Hindu Group” N Ram honoured by Kerala Media Academy.
In a major push to development in Jammu and Kashmir, around 1,256 projects worth 2,280 crore rupees financed under J&K Infrastructure Development Finance Corporation, are being completed by end of March 2020.
Himachal Pradesh celebrated its 50^th Statehood Day. It was on this day in 1971 when Himachal Pradesh was carved out as the 18^th State of the country.
Defence public sector undertaking (PSU) Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) is set to deliver anti-submarine warfare stealth corvette INS Kavaratti to the Navy.
The Union Minister Piyush Goyal announced that Indian Railways will run 100% on electricity by 2024.