Venkaiah Naidu to inaugurate classical Telugu centre in Andhra's Nellore

Shankar School of Banking January 20 , 2020 359

NATIONAL NEWS

Venkaiah Naidu to inaugurate classical Telugu centre in Andhra's Nellore

  • Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu is scheduled to inaugurate a new Centre of Excellence for Studies in Classical Telugu in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh on January 21.
  • The establishment of this Centre at Nellore would facilitate to focus its activities for the development of this rich classical Telugu through Research, seminars, debates and various activities.
  • The Centre of Excellence for Studies in Classical Telugu (CESCT) which is under the Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL), Mysore has been shifted to Nellore, Andhra Pradesh which was earlier functioning from Mysore.                           

Delhi CM launches 'Guarantee card' ahead of Assembly Polls

  • Aam Aadmi Party national convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal launched party's Guarantee Card ahead of upcoming assembly elections in the national capital.
  • He said in the coming 5 years, AAP will ensure 24 hours drinking water supply to every household and pollution-free Delhi. He also said students will be given free bus services and affordable homes will be provided to the needy.

Bengaluru comes up with Centre for Excellence in Blockchain Technology

  • Bengaluru has come up with a Centre for Excellence in Blockchain Technology. This technology helps in enhancing transparency and trust in e-Governance system by allowing all stakeholders benefit from shared learning, experiences and resources.
  • Set up by the National Informatics Centre, the Centre for Excellence would help to bring a revolutionary change in the lives of the people by delivering e-governance services effectively through the data-centric model.

President Kovind launches Pulse Polio Programme for 2020

  • President Ram Nath Kovind launched the Pulse Polio Programme for this year by administering Polio drops to children below five years at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
  • Mr Kovind launched the programme on the eve of the National Immunization Day which will be observed tomorrow.
  • Under this programme, over 17 crore children of less than five years of age across the country will be administered polio drops.
  • Polio booths have been set up across all states which will remain open from 9 am to 4 pm tomorrow. The programme is a part of immunization drive of the Central Government to sustain polio eradication from the country.

NITI Aayog and UT of Ladakh sign MoU to promote development in Ladakh

  • NITI Aayog and Union Territory of Ladakh sign MoU for Development of Infrastructure Projects in Ladakh. It was signed between NITI Aayog Senior Adviser Dr Yogesh Suri and Adviser to the Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh Umang Narula. The agreement was executed in the presence of NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant.
  • Under this agreement, NITI Aayog will be supporting the UT's administration through its key initiative 'Development Support Services to States for Infrastructure Projects (D3S-i)’. In an important initiative to promote the development of key infrastructure sectors in the newly constituted Union Territory of Ladakh.
  • NITI Aayog will identify high-impact projects, it will expedited project implementation, addressing structural-level issues and creating unique models of development for the Union Territory of Ladakh.
  • The main purpose of D3S-i projects is creating PPP (Public Private Partnership) projects. In 2018, phase I of the project was completed. In phase I, 10 projects were selected from 400 projects that were submitted by the states. In phase II, that was completed in the year 2018-19, the selected projects entered transaction stage.

DV Sadananda Gowda launches APNA UREA – SonaUgle” brand of HURL

  • DV Sadananda Gowda Chemicals and Fertilizers Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda today launched the APNA UREA - Sona Ugle brand of Hindustan Urvarak and Rasayan Limited (HURL) at a function in New Delhi.
  • HURL is Joint Venture Company promoted by the three Maha Ratna Companies - Coal India Limited, NTPC Limited and Indian Oil Corporation Limited.

APPOINTMENT

Arjun Munda becomes President of suspended AAI

  • Union Minister Arjun Munda was elected as President of the suspended Archery Association of India (AAI) in its much-delayed elections. The elections were held as per the Delhi High Court order.
  • The two factions clashed for the first time in the presence of a World Archery (WA) Observer in Kazi Rajib Uddin Ahmed Chapol. 
  • Mr Munda had a smooth sailing as he beat his rival B V P Rao by a margin of 34-18 votes. Munda's entire panel secured majority share of votes and were elected for a full tenure of four years.
  • A three-time Jharkhand Chief Minister, the 51-year-old Munda is a hugely popular tribal leader who also runs an archery academy which was instrumental in the rise of former world number one Deepika Kumari.

AWARD

Dhaka International Film Festival Award

  • The Iranian film ‘Castle of Dreams’ directed by Reza Mirakarimi won the Best Film Award in Asian Competition section of the 18th Dhaka International Film Festival (DIFF) which concluded on Sunday. The film also won the Best Director Award.
  • Information Minister of Bangladesh Hasan Mahmud gave away the award carrying prize money of Tk 1 lakh, a citation and crest in the closing ceremony held in Dhaka.
  • In the Asian Competition segment, Sri Lankan director Prasanna Vithanage’s film ‘Children of the Sun’  won Special Jury Award.
  • Best Actress Award went to Arezoo Ariapoor, Ferestha Afshar and Hasiba Ebrahimi for their acting in Afghanistan-Iran-France joint venture film ‘Hava, Maryamk, Ayesha’ while the Best Actor Award went to Lousie Abuel for his acting in the film ‘Edward’.
  • In Bangladesh Panorama Section, ‘No Dorai’ directed by Taneem Rahman Angshu bagged the Best Film Award.
  • Indian film ‘Finally Love’ directed by Anjan Dutt bagged Best Audience Award in Cinema of the World Category.
  • A total of 220 films from 74 countries were shown during the nine-day long festival which began on 11th of this month.
  • The Dhaka International Film Festival (DIFF) is being organized by the Rainbow Film Festival since 1992 with support from Bangladesh government and many other organizations including the High Commission of India, Dhaka.
  • The theme of this year’s festival was ‘better film, better audience, and better society.’

Govt awards over Rs 2000 cr for completing Z Morh tunnel

  • A Concession Agreement for completing the 6.5-kilometre long Z-Morh tunnel in Jammu and Kashmir was signed today in New Delhi.
  • Under the agreement, the two-lane bi-directional tunnel with parallel escape tunnel will be completed in 3.5 years at a cost of 2379 Crore rupees.
  • The project includes construction, operation and maintenance of the tunnel with approaches on NH-1 at Srinagar-Sonmarg-Gumri Road from 61 kilometres to 89.30 kilometres on Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer Annuity basis. Z-Morh Tunnel will provide all-weather road connectivity to Sonmarg tourist spot in Jammu and Kashmir.

SCIENCE AND TECNOLOGY

India successfully test-fires K-4 ballistic missile

  • India has successfully test-fired a 3,500 kilometre range nuclear capable missile that can be launched from a submarine. The test of the K-4 ballistic missile was conducted off the Vizag coast in Andhra Pradesh.
  • With this test, India has moved one more step towards the induction of this ballistic missile on the INS Arihant class of nuclear submarines.
  • The missile was developed by Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO).
  • The three-metre-tall missile carries a nuclear warhead of over one tonne with a circular error probability far lower than that of Chinese ballistic missiles. Only the US, Russia and China have submarine-launched ballistic missiles of 3,500-kilometre range.
  • The submarine-launched ballistic missile is the most important part of the air, land and sea nuclear triad and is at the front of India’s second-strike capability.

SPORTS

Ratchanok Intanon lifts Indonesia Masters 2020 title     

  • Thailand's Ratchanok Intanon lifted the Indonesia Badminton Masters 2020 women's singles title after defeating Carolina Marin in the summit clash on Sunday.
  • Intanon defeated Marin 21-19, 11-21, 21-18 in one hour and twenty minutes long match.
  • The clash went into three-games and both the shuttlers tried their 100 per cent to turn things in their favour. Despite losing the first game, the Spanish shuttler made a comeback in the second game and claimed the game by 21-11. Intanon won the match by claiming the third game by 21-18.

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