January 26-28, military brass, attended the celebrations. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa's presence

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1 January 26-28, 2019 Nation celebrates its 70 th Republic Day with grand military parade The nation celebrated its 70 th Republic Day on 26th January with a grand military parade and exhibition of its history, cultural diversity and strategic weaponry at Rajpath in New Delhi. Thousands of spectators, including foreign dignitaries and the country's top political and military brass, attended the celebrations. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa's presence as Chief Guest was significant in view of the parade highlighting Mahatma Gandhi's contribution to India's freedom struggle. Gandhiji had joined the struggle after a 21-year stay in South Africa. India's fastest indigenous train Trian 18 renamed as Vande Bharat Express India's fastest indigenous train which will run from Delhi to Varanasi has been named as Vande Bharat Express. Briefing media in New Delhi on 27 th January, Minister for Railways Piyush Goyal said, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off the semi high-speed train 1

2 soon. He said, it was named Train 18 and now it has been given a new name after taking suggestions from the general public. Ministry of Defence launches RDP INDIA 2019 app with R-Day highlights As a new initiative in sync with the Digital India campaign of the Government, Ministry of Defence had launched a mobile app 'RDP India 2019' on the Republic Day, with the intent of making available the highlights of the Republic Day event, not only to the spectators at Rajpath, but also to the general public all over the world. Nari Shakti is Oxford Dictionary s Hindi Word of the Year 2018 On 26 th January, the Oxford Dictionaries announced Nari Shakti as the Hindi Word of the Year. The Hindi Word of the Year chosen every year, in many ways, reflects the conversations, ethos of a particular year. 2

3 Southern Railway adjudged number one for cleanliness The Southern Railway has bagged the number one position for cleanliness in the country. The Divisional Railway Manager Shirish Kumar Sinha said, this achievement was under the category of other than Premium Category trains in the recent Trains Cleanliness Survey conducted by IRCTC on all India level. SR HQ: Chennai Madya Pradesh launched employment scheme Yuva Swabhiman Yojana for urban youth On 26 th January, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath launched Yuva Swabhiman Yojana for youths of the weak section in urban areas of Madhya Pradesh. It aims to provide employment to the youth belonging to the weaker section of the society mainly in urban areas of the state. 3

4 Kerala Government launches a Pravasi Dividend Pension Scheme to provide regular pension to Non Resident Keralites on a one-time payment of Rs.5 Lakh On 25 th January, Kerala s Governor P. Sathasivam in his address to the state assembly announced Kerala government will soon launch a Pravasi Dividend Pension Scheme to provide regular pension to Non Resident Keralites. This scheme is a part of welfare measures towards Pravasi Malayalis. Operation Olympics Commences in Kerala On 25 th January 2019, An expert programme Operation Olympics managed by Kerala s Sports Department and State Sports Council was commenced to train 123 athletes in 11 disciplines for 2020 Tokyo Olympics. 4

5 IRDAI sets panel headed by Pravin Kutumbe to identify systemically important insurers A panel is all set by Insurance Regulatory Development Authority of India (IRDAI) headed by Pravin Kutumbe, to identify domestically systemically important insurers (SIIs) and an augmented regulatory framework is logically established in this regard. HQ: Hyderabad Chairman: Subhash Chandra Khuntia Roshni, an Android app developed by IIT Ropar helps the visually impaired to recognize Indian currency notes On 24 th January, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Ropar, has developed an app Roshni that would help the Visually Impaired to recognize currency notes. The app can recognize both old and new notes and gives audio information as to which note you are holding in your hands. This app was launched in Chandigarh. Roshni is the first Android app, which recognizes INR currency notes. 5

6 Pranab Mukherjee, Bhupen Hazarika, Nanaji Deshmukh awarded Bharat Ratna Former President Pranab Mukherjee was on 25 th January conferred with the highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna. According to a statement issued by the Rashtrapati Bhavan, late Assamese singer Bhupen Hazarika and late social activist Nanaji Deshmukh will also be awarded with the Bharat Ratna, posthumously. Pranab Mukherjee, 83, served as the President of India since 2012 to Bhupen Hazarika, one of the most popular regional singers and someone who is synonymous with the Assamese identity, had earlier been awarded with Padma Shri, Padma bhushan, and Dada Saheb Phalke Award among others things. Meanwhile, social activist Nanaji Deshmukh was conferred with the award for his contribution to the nation. Overview of Padma Awards-2019 On 25 th January, President of India Ram Nath Kovind announced Padma Awards, which is the highest civilian Awards in the country. The Padma Awards are conferred under 3 categorized viz- Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Sri. President Ram Nath 6

7 Kovind has approved conferment of 112 Padma Awards including one duo which is considered to be one award. The Padma Awards consist of 4 Padma Vibhushan award, 14 Padma Bhushan Award and 94 Padma Shri awards. PADMA VIBHUSHAN: S.No Name Field State 1. Ms. Teejan Bai Art-Vocals-Folk Chhattisgarh 2. Shri Ismail Omar Guelleh (Foreigner) 3. Shri Anilkumar Manibhai Naik 4. Shri Balwant Moreshwar Purandare Public Affairs Trade & Industry- Infrastructure Art-Acting-Theatre Djibouti Maharashtra Maharashtra For Full list of Padma Awardees: Padma Awardees 2019 No Presents Please by Jayant Kaikini wins the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2018 No Presents Please, a collection of short stories by Kannada writer Jayant Kaikini, translated into English by Tejaswini Niranjana, was announced the winner of the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature in Kolkata. 7

8 Indonesia Masters: Saina wins after injured Marin limps out of final Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal won her first Indonesia Masters title after three-time world champion Carolina Marin limped out of the final due to a leg injury. The Spaniard was leading 10-4 in the first game at Jakarta on 27 th January when she developed an injury in the knee. Novak Djokovic, Naomi Osaka win their titles in Australian Open 2019 Novak Djokovic defeated Rafael Nadal to win his 7 th Australian Open Men's Singles title at Melbourne. The resurgent world No.1 outplayed the second-ranked Nadal 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 in a largely one-sided match. With this, Djokovic has surpassed American legend Pete Sampras to elevate himself to outright third on the all-time Grand Slam title leader board. Earlier, In Women's Singles, Japan's Naomi Osaka clinched her maiden Australian Open Grand Slam Singles title in Melbourne yesterday. Osaka defeated Petra Kvitová of Czech Republic 7-6, 5-7, 6-4 in the summit clash. With this, Osaka became the first Asian player to achieve the world number one ranking. 8

9 Nepal s Rohit Paudel breaks Sachin Tendulkar s international record Young Nepal batsman Rohit Paudel on 26 th January surpassed Sachin Tendulkar to become the youngest male cricketer to score a halfcentury in international cricket. Rohit Paudel smashed his maiden One Day International fifty at the age of 16 years and 146 days. Tendulkar scored his first Test fifty when he was 16 years and 213 days old. Pakistan government declares Sugarcane juice as 'national drink' after Twitter poll Pakistan Govt. has declared sugarcane juice as the "national drink" of the country after a poll on Twitter, according to a media report. The government conducted a poll on Twitter at which people were asked to decide the national drink of Pakistan. Options including orange juice, sugarcane juice and carrot juice were given in the poll, the Nation reported. Around 81% selected the option of sugarcane juice. 9