January 2019

1) The Union Minister of Railways and Coal, Piyush Goyal has been awarded the Carnot Prize
2018 for the transformational changes brought by him during his tenure as Union Minister of
Power.
The Carnot Prize is the annual recognition by the US-based Kleinman Center for Energy Policy for
distinguished contributions to energy policy scholarship or practice. The prize has been named
after French scientist Sadi Carnot, who in 1824 published Reflections on the Motive Power of
Fire, which became the basis for the second law of thermodynamics.

2) Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the National Salt Satyagraha Memorial at Dandi in
Navsari district, Gujarat. The memorial is conceived as an experiential journey recreating the
spirit and the energy of the 1930 Dandi March led by Mahatma Gandhi and 80 of his fellow
Satyagrahis

3) January 30 is celebrated as Martyrs Day to honour the brave martyrs of India who have
sacrificed their lives for the country.March 23 which is the death anniversary of Bhagat Singh,
Shivaram Rajguru and Sukhdev Thapar is also celebrated as Martyrs Day in the State of Punjab.

4) UNESCO has declared 2019 as the International Year of the Period Table of Chemical Elements
to commemorate the 150th birthday of the periodic table of chemical elements. The Periodic
table of the Chemical elements was first published by Russian scientist Dmitry Mendeleev in the
year 1869.

5) The Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC India) has elected Punit Goenka MD
and CEO of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL) as the chairman

6) The central banks of the UAE and Saudi Arabia will launch a common digital currency called
Aber. Aber will be used for financial settlements between the two countries through Blockchains
and Distributed Ledgers technologies.

7) The Beating Retreat Ceremony marks the conclusion of Republic Day celebrations. Through
this ceremony, the defence forces which had come to the national capital to be a part of
Republic Day celebrations are sent back to their barracks by the President. The Beating Retreat
Ceremony is held every year on January 29th at Vijay Chowk. Traditionally the bands of the
three wings of the military, the Indian Army, Indian Navy and Indian Air Force, and pipe bands
from the Army participated in the Beating retreat ceremony. From 2016 bands of the Central
Armed Police Forces and the Delhi Police are also participating in the event

8) The Africa Centre for Climate and Sustainable Development was inaugurated by the Italian
Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte at Rome. The centre has been opened by the Italian government
in association with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Food and
Agricultural Organisation (FAO)

9) Corruption Perceptions Index of Transparency International ranks countries and territories

based on how corrupt a country’s public sector and judiciary are perceived to be by experts and
business executives

The Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index make the following observations:
Denmark is the world least corrupt country scoring 88 out of 100 points. Denmark is followed by
New Zealand and Finland. Somalia has been ranked last with a score of 10 behind South Sudan
and Syria.
India’s score has been marginally improved 41 from 40 in 2017. India’s ranking increased from
81st in 2017 to 78 in 2018.

10) The Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change has submitted the affidavit with
the findings of the first Survey of Elephants in Captivity to the Supreme Court.
Findings of the Survey
The Survey was undertaken after the order of the Supreme Court which had asked the Union
Government to identify elephants in captivity and whether their owners have an ownership
certificate while hearing a writ petition filed by Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre. The
findings of the Survey are: There are 2,454 elephants in captivity across the country of which 560
are in possession with forest departments and 1,687 with private individuals. 664 of the total
captive elephants in the country are without ownership certificate while there are 85 in zoos, 26
in circuses and 96 in temples. 58 per cent of all captive elephants is concentrated in two states:
905 in Assam and 518 in Kerala.

11) Pradhan Mantri – Jan Arogya Yojana (PM JAY) is a scheme of the government under
Ayushman Bharat
Under the PM-JAY scheme about 10.74 crore poor will have health benefit cover of Rs Five Lakhs
per family per year at free of cost.

12) lokpal

13) The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has asked for a performance guarantee of Rs 10 crore
each from the governments of Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh expressing dissatisfaction over
the cleaning of river Yamuna.

14) The government of Uttar Pradesh has approved the construction of the Ganga Expressway.
The government has said that it would be the longest expressway in the world. This 600km
Ganga Expressway would be constructed at an approximate cost of Rs 36,000 crores over 6,556
hectares of land. The expressway starting from Meerut will pass through Amroha, Bulandshahr,
Badaun, Shahjahanpur, Farrukhabad, Hardoi, Kannauj, Unnao, Rae Bareli, Pratapgarh before
reaching Prayagraj

15) The Election Commission of India has sought an amendment to the Representation of People
Act 1951 to prevent print media, social media and other digital platforms from carrying political
advertisements in the last 48 hours before the polling begins(silent period)

Section 126 of the Representation of People Act 1951 prevents electronic media from airing any
political advertisements in the silent period . The Election Commission of India has written to the
Union Ministry of Law suggesting to extend the provisions under Section 126 to digital and print
print media as well. The Commission has sought inclusion of ‘print media’ and ‘other entities’
within the ambit of Section 126 (1) (b). The other entities would refer to all social media formats.

16) The second edition Pariksha Pe Charcha 2.0 was held on January 29. On this occasion, Prime
Minister Narendra Modi interacted with several students, parents and teachers from across the
country and shared his personal experiences with the young audience. During the interaction,
Prime Minister interacted with students, parents and teachers and responded to their queries on
a host of subjects related to examinations particularly, dealing exam-centric anxiety. The event
was held at Talkatora Stadium in Delhi

17) The International Holocaust Remembrance Day is celebrated every year on January 27.
January 27 marks the anniversary of the Allied liberation of the Auschwitz death camp in Nazi-
occupied Poland, where an estimated 1.1 million people died, including 1 million Jews.

18) The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) had launched Swasth Bharat Yatra
to amplify its Eat Right India initiative. The Yatra saw the participation of around 2.5 crore people
across various States and UTs. It also led to the creation of 21,000 local ‘Eat Right Champions’
who would sustain this movement in the future.
19) Fast Bowler Mohammed Shami has become the fastest Indian to claim 100 wickets in One-
day Internationals. Mohammed Shami achieved this feat in his 56th ODI game. Mohammed
Shami’s wicket number 100 was New Zealand opener, Martin Guptill. Before Mohammed Shami,
the record was held by Iran Pathan who had reached the 100-wicket mark in 59 ODIs

20) India will preside and host the G20, or Group of 20 nations meeting in 2022.

The 2019 G20 Osaka summit was the fourteenth meeting of the G20, a forum of 19 countries
and the EU that together represent most of the world economy. It was held on 28–29 June 2019
at the International Exhibition Center in Osaka.

As of 2017 there are 20 members of the group: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the
European Union, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia,
South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Spain is a
permanent guest invitee.

21) Australia celebrates 26th January as Australia Day which marks the landing of the First Fleet,
a convoy of 11 ships carrying convicts, at Port Jackson in 1788. It also marks the founding of the
colony New South Wales.
It is said that there are two Australia’s, one is the land occupied for more than 50,000 years by
Indigenous people before the arrival of the First Fleet, and second is the Australia that was
colonised in 1788. The colonisation of Australia led to disastrous consequences for the
indigenous population. On 26th January 1938 Aboriginal people gathered in Sydney to mark a
‘Day of Mourning’ to protest against the callous treatment of our people by the white men
during the past 150 years. In 2008 then-prime minister Kevin Rudd formally apologised to
Australia’s Indigenous communities over historic government policies of forced child removal
and Indigenous assimilation. There are now demands to change the date since the Australia Day
should bring the country together not divide Australia.

22) The Indonesian Masters Badminton Tournament 2019

Women’s Singles: Saina Nehwal (India).
Men’s Singles: Anders Antonsen (Denmark).
Women’s Doubles: Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi (Japan).
Men’s Doubles: Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo (Indonesia).
Mixed Doubles: Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong (China).
The tournament was held at the Istora Gelora Bung Karno in Jakarta, Indonesia. from 22 to 27
January 2019 offered a total purse of $350,000

23) The first-ever International Day of Education was celebrated on 24 January 2019 as per the
resolution passed by the United Nations General Assembly on December 3rd 2018 to celebrate
the role of education in development
The International Day of Education demonstrates the world’s political will towards providing
quality education to all and achieving sustainable development by 2030.

24) India’s fastest indigenous train, Train 18 named as Vande Bharat Express will ply between
Delhi and Varanasi. Train 18 is an indigenously developed world-class train under Make in India.
The 16-coach train has been built completely in India by Indian engineers in a span of 18 months
at the Integral Coach Factory, Chennai.
Vande Bharat Express is the energy efficient and the first locomotive-less train in the country and
will be fully air-conditioned. These trains run on electric traction like Metro trains and will start
replacing the Shatabdi Express fleet from next year.
The fares in these world-class trains are 40-50 per cent higher than the Shatabdi Express. The
train will cover 755 km distance in eight hours with stoppages at Kanpur and Prayagraj. It would
be the fastest train on the route.
The new train provides number of features to enhance passenger comfort which include inter-
connected fully sealed gangways, automatic doors with retractable footsteps, onboard Wi-Fi and
infotainment, GPS-based passenger information system, modular toilets with bio-vacuum
systems, rotational seats which can be aligned in the direction of travel (available only in the
executive class), roller blinds and diffused LED lighting and disabled-friendly toil.

25) The government of Uttarakhand has obtained the permission to develop the tulip garden
over 50 hectares of forest land in Pithoragarh district at a cost of Rs 50 crore. It will be the
second Tulip garden in the country after the one located in Srinagar of Jammu and Kashmir. The
Tulip Garden will be developed by ONGC

26) Chief Minister of Goa Manohar Parrikar inaugurated the “Atal Setu” on the Mandovi river in
Goa. It is a four-lane 5.1-km long cable-stayed bridge connects state capital Panaji with north
Goa.
River Mandovi, also known as Mahadayi or Mhadei river is regarded as the lifeline of Goa. Owing
to the differences over the sharing of the river water among the states of Goa, Karnataka and
Maharashtra, the union government has constituted Mahadayi Water Disputes Tribunal to
examine the claims made by the states.

27) The British government has announced a research project, South Asian Nitrogen Hub to
study nitrogen pollution in India and South Asia. The project led by UK’s Centre for Ecology and
Hydrology will partner with 50 organisations from the UK and South Asia. The Indian Institutions
partnering the study are
National Institute of Oceanography
Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha
University Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology
Jawaharlal Nehru University
Aligarh Muslim University National Physical Laboratory
TERI University
The project aims to study the impact of different forms of nitrogen pollution, particularly looking
at nitrogen in agriculture in eight countries of South Asia which includes India, Pakistan,
Bangladesh, Nepal, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Maldives.
Gases like Ammonia and nitrogen dioxide can aggravate respiratory and heart conditions.
Nitrous oxide is a greenhouse gas that depletes the ozone layer

28) The word Nari Shakti is chosen as the word of the Year 2018 by the Oxford dictionaries. The
announcement regarding this was made in the Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF).
The Oxford dictionaries have cited following reasons for choosing Nari Shakti as word of the
year:
There was a large spike in the use of word Nari Shakti in March 2018 around the Government of
India’s Nari Shakti Puraskar (Women Power Award) held on the International Women’s Day.
Two major decisions of the Supreme Court contributed to Nari Shakti’s prominence in 2018. One
was a ban on ‘triple-talaq’ and second, the taking down of a rule that disallowed menstrual
women entry to the Sabarimala temple in Kerala.
In 2017 Oxford dictionaries for the first time had announced the Hindi word of the year. Aadhaar
was declared as the word of the year in 2017
Jaipur Literature Festival is described as the greatest literary show on Earth. JLF brings together a
diverse mix of the world’s greatest writers, thinkers, humanitarians, politicians, business leaders,
sports people and entertainers on one stage to champion the freedom to express and engage in
thoughtful debate and dialogue.

29) The Winners of Australian Open, nicknamed as the happy slam

Women’s Singles: Naomi Osaka of Japan.
Men’s Singles: Novak Djokovic of Serbia.
Women’s Doubles: Samantha Stosur of Australia and Zhang Shuai of China
Men’s Doubles: Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut of France.
Mixed Doubles: Czech Republic’s Barbora Krejcikova and Rajeev Ram of the US.
Novak Djokovic of Serbia become the first man to win seven titles at Australian Open.
The victory of Naomi Osaka of Japan cements her place as number one women singles player of
the world.

30) Bharat Parv is a five day event hosted as part of Republic Day celebrations. Bharat Parv
organised at Red Fort, Delhi aims to generate a patriotic fervour and promote the rich cultural
diversity of the country.

31) DSC Prize for South Asian Literature was presented by eminent writer Ruskin Bond to Jayant
Kaikini and translator Tejaswini Niranjana for No Presents Please. It is an English Novel translated
from Kannada Work of Jayant Kaikini by Tejaswini Niranjana. For the first time the award was
being given to a translated work and the jury wanted to recognise the outstanding contribution
of Tejaswini Niranjana, the translator. The novel presents illustrate life in Mumbai with the
Mumbai City presented as a protagonist of a coherent narrative
32) India has successfully flight tested Long Range Surface-to-Air Missile (LRSAM) from a warship
off Odisha coast. The LRSAM successfully destroyed a low flying aerial target. This paves way for
its deployment in the armed forces.

33) India’s highest peacetime gallantry honour, Ashoka Chakra was awarded to Lance Naik Nazir
Wani posthumously. The award was presented by President Ram Nath Kovind was received by
Wani’s wife and mother at the Republic Day celebrations held at Rajpath. Lance Naik Nazir Wani
also holds the distinction of being the first Kashmiri to be conferred the Ashoka Chakra.

The Ashoka Chakra (alternative spelling: Ashok Chakra) is India's highest peacetime military
decoration awarded for valour, courageous action or self-sacrifice away from the battlefield. It is
the peacetime equivalent of the Param Vir Chakra (PVC), and is awarded for the "most
conspicuous bravery or some daring or pre-eminent valour or self-sacrifice" other than in the
face of the enemy. The decoration may be awarded either to military or civilian personnel.

34) The government of Uttar Pradesh celebrated UP Divas for the first time on 24th January 2019

35) Jan 26 2019 - Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose
Museum, Yaad-e-Jallian Museum (museum on the Jallianwala Bagh and World War I), the
Museum on 1857- India’s first war of Independence, and Drishyakala-Museum on Indian Art
within the Red Fort complex.

36) The 2019 Bharat Ratna award has been bestowed upon former President Pranab Mukherjee,
Nanaji Deshmukh and singer Bhupen Hazarika. Nanaji Deshmukh and singer Bhupen Hazarika.
Nanaji Deshmukh and singer Bhupen Hazarika were awarded Bharat Ratna posthumously

37) The government of India has announced the Padma Awards 2019. The 112 prominent
personalities honoured with the Padma Awards include comprises 4 Padma Vibhushan, 14
Padma Bhushan and 94 Padma Shri Awards.

38) Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) has launched the Kalamsat-V2 from Sriharikota
space centre. It is the lightest satellite to be ever built and launched into orbit and it is also Isro’s
first launch of a satellite built by a private firm. The satellite is being built by students belonging
to Space Kidz India, a Chennai-based space education firm. The satellite cost 1.2m Indian rupees
and was built during the span of six days. The Satellite was launched using Polar Satellite Launch
Vehicle (PSLV) – a four-stage rocket

39) Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Aparna Kumar who is on deputation to Indo Tibetan Border
Police (ITBP) become the first woman Indian Police Service (IPS) and ITBP officer to successfully
conquer the South Pole.
40) The Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Limited (GCMMF) has launched Amul
Camel Milk in selected markets of Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad and Kutch in Gujarat.

41) India is celebrating 9th National Voters Day on 25th January 2019

42) The ICC awards 2018 list:

Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for ICC Cricketer of the Year: Virat Kohli
ICC Men’s Test Player of the Year: Virat Kohli
ICC ODI Player of the Year: Virat Kohli
ICC Emerging Player of the Year: Rishabh Pant
ICC Associate Player of the Year: Calum MacLeod
T20I Performance of the Year: Aaron Finch
ICC Spirit of Cricket award: Williamson
Umpire of the Year: Kumar Dharmasena
Fans’ Moment of the Year: India’s victory in the Under-19 World Cup

43) National Girl Child Day (NGCD) is celebrated in India on January 24th with an aim to raise
awareness about Child Sex Ratio (CSR) levels and promote the empowerment of girls.
The theme of National Girl Child Day-2019 is “Empowering Girls for a Brighter Tomorrow”
The International Day of the Girl Child is observed every year across world on October 11

44) Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways, Shipping Shri Nitin Gadkari inaugurated a
1210-meter span-bridge over the river Ravi in district of Jammu and Kashmir.

45) The earlier national awards for children have been revamped as Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya
Bal Puraskar. An additional component of bravery has also been added. The categories under the
Pradhan Mantri National Children Awards are:

Bal Shakti Puraskar (erstwhile known as National Child Award).

Bal Kalyan Puraskar (erstwhile known as National Child Welfare Award).
The awardees were chosen by the National Selection Committee under the Chairpersonship of
Smt Maneka Sanjay Gandhi, Minister of Women and Child Develoloment

46) The World Health Organisation (WHO) list of 10 global health threats lists 10 issues which
demand immediate attention from WHO and health partners in 2019 has been released. They
are:
Air pollution and climate change
Noncommunicable diseases
Global influenza pandemic
Fragile and vulnerable settings
Antimicrobial resistance
Ebola and other high-threat pathogens
Weak Primary Health Care
Vaccine hesitancy
Dengue
HIV

47) US-based Indian poet Ranjani Murali received the ‘Woman’s Voice Award’ at the Apeejay
Kolkata Literary Festival (AKLF). The award carries a cash prizeof Rs 1 lakh apart from a citation.

48) The states of Tripura, Manipur and Meghalaya celebrated their 47th Statehood Day on 21st
January. The states of Tripura, Manipur and Meghalaya became full-fledged states on January 21,
1972.

49) The Delhi High Court has allowed the release of the movie ‘72 Hours – Martyr who never
died’. The film was based on the life of the 1962 war hero Rifleman Jaswant Singh Rawat.
Jaswant Singh Rawat was posthumously awarded the Maha Vir Chakra for gallantry during the
1962 war. The family members of the Rifleman Jaswant Singh Rawat had sought a stay on the
release citing it intrudes their privacy.

50) The Union Minister for Railways Piyush Goyal has instructed the caterers at Varanasi and Rae
Bareli stations to use terracotta-made kulhads, glasses and plates. The Kulhads are all set to
make a comeback after they were first introduced during UPA 1, later to be brushed aside by
plastic and paper cups

51) India has an open door policy with Nepal and Bhutan. Indians don’t require a passport to
travel to either of these countries. Indians can enter these countries by showing any of the
acceptable photo identity documents like Passport, Voter Id etc.
As per new norms, Indian can travel to Nepal and Bhutan by producing Aadhaar as Identity proof
but this is only for those Indians aged under 15 and over 65years

52) Rio de Janeiro has been recognised as ‘World Capital of Architecture’ for 2020 by The United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation(UNESCO).

53) The Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman inaugurated the 426.60 m long Pre Stressed
Concrete Box Girder type Diffo bridge over Diffo river on Roing – Koronu- Paya road in Arunachal
Pradesh. The Diffo bridge will provide for uninterrupted access between Dibang Valley and Lohit
valley region of Eastern Arunachal Pradesh together with providing an all-weather road to our
troops deployed on the China border. The construction of the Bridge was undertaken by the
Project Udayak of the Border Roads Organisation.

54) A volcano has erupted on Kuchinoerabu Island of Japan. The eruption occurred on Mount
Shindake. Mount Shindake had experienced explosive eruption in in 2015. Japan’s
Meteorological Agency has alerted people for volcanic rocks and pyroclastic flows.
55) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami released two commemorative coins in the
denominations of Rs 100 and Rs 5 to mark the 102nd birth anniversary of DR M G
Ramachandran. The first sets of coins were received by Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam

56) G77 is a coalition of 134 developing nations (including China) at the United Nations.
Traditionally G77 speaks with a single voice before the 193-member General Assembly and also
at all UN committee meetings and at international conferences.
The G77 grouping considers China as the member state. China is providing consistent political
support to the G77 and even makes financial contributions. But it doesn’t consider itself as the
member of the group. Hence official statements of the G77 are delivered in the name of the
Group of 77 and China

Palestine has taken over the chairmanship of G77 from Egypt

57) Satyarup Siddhanta, 35-year-old Kolkata mountaineer has set the world record of youngest
to climb 7 highest volcanoes, 7 highest mountains in 7 continents in 7 years. He is also the first
Indian to conquer the seven mountain peaks and seven volcanic summits.
Highest Mountains scaled by Satyarup Siddhanta
Mount Everest (8,848 m) – Nepal
Mt Aconcagua (6,961 m) – Argentina
Mt McKinley/Mt Denali (6,194 m) – USA
Mt Kilimanjaro (5,895 m) – Tanzania
Mt Elbrus (5,642 m) – Russia
Mt Blanc (4,808.7 m) – France
Mt Vinson Massif (4,892 m) – Antarctica
Puncak Jaya/ Carstensz Pyramid (4,884 m) – Indonesia
Mt Kosciuszko (2,228 m) – Australia
Seven volcanic peaks scaled by Satyarup Siddhanta
Ojos del Salado (6,893 m) – Chile
Mt Kilimanjaro (5,895 m) – Tanzania
Mount Elbrus (5,642 m) – Russia
Mount Pico de Orizaba (5,636 m) – Mexico
Mt Damavand (5,610 m) – Iran
Mt Giluwe (4,368 m) – Papua New Guinea
Mt Sidley (4,285 m) – Antarctica

58) Sanrakshan Kshmata Mahotsav (SAKSHAM) Vans was flagged off by Union Minister of
Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan to promote and create awareness among
people on the need of oil and gas conservation for the future and the methods to do it.

59) The Union government has announced the winners for International Gandhi Peace Prize. The
awards were announced for the years 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 fter the gap of four years.
The government has announced the names of Vivekananda Kendra in Kanyakumari (2015),
AkshayaPatra Foundation and Sulabh International (2016), EkalAbhiyan Trust (2017) and Yohei
Sasakawa (2018) for the International Gandhi Peace Prize.
Yohei Sasakawa, chairperson of Nippon Foundation and World Health Organization goodwill
ambassador was awarded for his contribution towards eradicating leprosy

60) The Global Risks Report 2019 of the World Economic Forum (WEF) describes changes
occurring in the global risks landscape from year to year and identifies global catastrophic risks.
The top-five risk trends identified by the Survey are changing climate; rising cyber dependency;
increasing polarisation of societies; rising income and wealth disparity; and increasing national
sentiment.

61) The Supreme Court Collegium is the panel of judges vested with the responsibility of
appointments and elevations of Chief Justices and judges of the Supreme Court and high courts
of the country.
62)
The world’s first television channel dedicated to human rights was launched in London by the
International Observatory of Human Rights (IOHR). It would be a web-based channel

63) The International Space Station is a habitable artificial satellite, in low Earth orbit. The ISS
maintains an orbit with an altitude of between 330 and 435 km (205 and 270 mi) by means of
reboost manoeuvres and circles the Earth in roughly 92 minutes and completes 15.5 orbits per
day
The ISS programme is a joint project between five participating space agencies: NASA (United
States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA (Japan), ESA (Europe), and CSA (Canada).
The SpaceX cargo craft departed from the International Space Station after its successful mission
to deliver scientific equipment and other supplies.
The SpaceX-CRS-16 Dragon is a Commercial Resupply Service mission to the International Space
Station launched by NASA. The NASA had contracted this mission to SpaceX for launch.

64) The Hindu Literary Prize 2018 was awarded during The Hindu Lit for Life 2019. The winners
under different categories are mentioned below:
English writer Neelum Saran Gour, author of Requiem in Raga Jankibagged The Hindu Prize 2018
for Fiction.
Activist Manoranjan Byapari, author of Interrogating my Chandal Life: An Autobiography of a
Dalit, bagged The Hindu Prize 2018 for non-fiction.
The Hindu Young World-Goodbooks Award for Best Book Fiction to Venita Coelho for Boy No: 32
A Brush with Indian Art of Mamta Nainy received The Hindu Young World-Goodbooks Award for
Best Book Non-Fiction.
Vinayak Varma’s Angry Akku received The Hindu Young World-Goodbooks Award for Best Picture
Book: Story
Rajiv Eipe’s Ammachi’s Amazing Machines received The Hindu Young World-Goodbooks Award
for Best Picture Book: Illustration

65) The traffic police authorities of Pune are planning to introduce a robot named ‘Roadeo’
which would move around city roads, functioning as a quasi-traffic policeman and cautioning
commuters about traffic rules and offences.
Roadeo consists of 16-inch LED display to showcase traffic rules and other important messages
such as ‘Wear a helmet’, ‘Do not jump the signal’ and others. The Hands of the Roadeo is also
engineered to move and show stop signs to vehicles. Roadeo is also equipped with a siren, skid-
steering wheels and obstacle-detection sensors.

66) The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has given its approval for the
Sita Rama Lift Irrigation Project of Telangana.
The Sita Rama Lift Irrigation Project aims to divert Godavari river water to irrigate 2.72 lakh
hectares in three districts of Bhadradri Kothagudem, Khammam and Mahabubabad districts of
Telangana.

67) President Ramnath Kovind has given the assent to the 124th constitutional Amendment Bill
(which is now Constitution 103rd amendment Act) providing 10 per cent reservation for
economically weaker sections.
Gujrat has become the first state to implement the 10% quota reserved for people from
economically weaker sections proposed under the 103rd constitutional amendment act.

68) India celebrates Army India on January 15. Army Day is celebrated to salute the valiant
soldiers who sacrificed their lives to protect the country and its citizens.
It is in recognition of Field Marshal Kodandera M. Cariappa taking over as the first Commander-
in-Chief of the Indian Army from General Sir Francis Butcher, the last British Commander-in-Chief
of India, on 15 January 1949.
Rise of Women Power
For the first time in the history of Indian Army, Lieutenant Bhavana Kasturi will lead the Indian
Army’s Service Corps (ASC) contingent and Captain Shikha Surabhi, a female officer, will be
leading the Army’s Daredevils Motorcycle Display team comprising 33 men riding nine bikes in a
pyramid formation
Indian Army traces its origin to the Military Department which was created within the
Government of the East India Company at Kolkata in the year 1776. Motto of Indian Army is
service before self

69) Prime Minister Narendra Modi was awarded first ever Philip Kotler Presidential Award. Philip
Kotler Presidential Award aims to spread examples of individuals and companies who create an
innovative culture for the economic, social and technological advancements of an industry or a
country.
Philip Kotler, a professor of marketing at Northwestern University, Kellogg School of
Management is also known as ‘Father of Modern Marketing’. The Philip Kotler Presidential
Award is constituted to honour mastery in the field of marketing and management.

70) The government of Puducherry has decided to ban the production, sale and use of single-use
plastic products from March 1.

71) Renowned writer Namita Gokhale was awarded Sushila Devi Literature Award for her work
“Things to Leave Behind”. Sushila Devi Literature Award is constituted by Ratanlal Foundation.
The award recognises the Best Book of Fiction Written by a woman author.

72) Nirbhaya Fund was announced by the government of India in the 2013 Union Budget. The
fund was established to support initiatives by the government and NGOs working towards
protecting the dignity and ensuring the safety of women in India.
Sakhi centre or One Stop Centre (OSC) is a fully sponsored scheme of Central Government. These
centres are set up through the Nirbhaya Fund under the National Mission for Empowerment of
women by the Ministry of Women and Child Development.

73) Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley and Union Minority Affairs Minister Shri Mukhtar Abbas
Naqvi inaugurated Hunar Haat exhibitions in New Delhi. Hunar Haat plays an important role in
national and international branding of the heritage of master artisans in India.

74) A private members bill, Right to Disconnect Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha by MP
Supriya Sule. The bill empowers the employee with the right to not respond to employers’ calls,
texts or emails after office hours
France has already provided Right to disconnect since 2017 in companies with more than 50
employees with an aim to re-build the boundary between profe
Even Spain has a similar law which provides Right to Disconnect without any minimum employee
criterion.
German automobile maker Daimler had taken this bold step of introducing software that
automatically deletes any emails you get while on vacation, back in 2014

75) The Parliament of Macedonia has passed the resolution to amend the constitution of the
country to rename it as the Republic of Northern Macedonia. The renaming is in line with a
landmark agreement with Greece to end a decades-long dispute.
After a lot of negotiations, an agreement was reached between Greek prime minister Alexis
Tsipras and his Macedonian counterpart Zoran Zaev. The agreement is famously referred to as
the Prespa Agreement.
As per the agreement the Republic of Macedonia would be renamed as the Republic of North
Macedonia. The language of the country would be referred to as Macedonian and its people
known as Macedonians (citizens of the Republic of North Macedonia).

76) The Chief Minister of Sikkim Pawan Kumar Chamling has announced the One family one job
scheme to provide employment to the youth of Sikkim. One family one job scheme entitles one
government job for every family in the state

77) India celebrates National Youth Day on January 12 to commemorate the birth anniversary of
Swami Vivekananda.
His works include Jnanayoga’, ‘Bhaktiyoga’, ‘Rajayoga’, ‘To the youth of India’. He also founded
the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission. Swami Vivekananda’s speech at the
Parliament of the World’s Religion at Chicago is cherished even today. He is credited with raising
interfaith awareness and bringing Hinduism to the status of major world religion in the late 19th
century.

78) The National Wildlife Board has given its approval for the Trishna Gas project of ONGC which
falls in the Trishna Wildlife Sanctuary in the Gomati district of Tripura. ONGC has discovered 10-
12 gas bearing wells in the Trishna Wildlife sanctuary

79) Prime Minister Narendra Modi released a Rs 350 commemorative coin and stamp on Guru
Gobind Singh to mark the 350th birth anniversary.

80) The Union Cabinet has approved India’s Currency Swap Agreement with Japan. A Currency
swap agreement is a foreign exchange agreement between two parties to exchange a given
amount of one currency for another and, after a specified period of time, to give back the
original amounts swapped.
The currency swap facilities make it easier for India to pay for its imports. This aids in addressing
the challenge of depreciation.

81) The government of West Bengal has decided to exit from the Centre’s ambitious Ayushman
Bharat- Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana (PM JAY) since the centre is unilaterally taking
important decisions and is projecting the scheme as of central scheme rather than centrally
sponsored one

82) The two new AIIMS for Jammu and Kashmir, one each for Jammu Region and Kashmir Region
was announced by the Prime Minister under the Prime Minister’s Development Package and the
AIIMS in Rajkot, Gujarat was announced by the Finance Minister in his budget speech.

83) The Henley Passport Index measures the access each country’s travel document affords. The
Rankings of the jurisdictions based on the rankings in the Henley Passport Index are:
The top 5 positions are held by Japan (190 countries), Singapore, South Korea (189), France,
Germany (188), Denmark, Finland, Italy, Sweden (187), and Luxembourg, Spain (186)
The bottom 5 positions are held by Eritrea (38), Yemen (37), Pakistan (33), Somalia, Syria (32)and
Afghanistan, Iraq (30).
India jumped two positions from 81st in 2018 to 79th this year.
84) The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) has released the Democracy Index which ranks 167
countries by 60 indicators across five broad categories. The categories considered for the index
are electoral process and pluralism, the functioning of government, political participation,
democratic political culture and civil liberties.
The index classifies each country either as a full democracy, flawed democracy, hybrid regime or
authoritarian.
Australia and New Zealand are the only “full democracies” in the entire Asia-Pacific region
Eight countries Algeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Timor-Leste, Ethiopia, North Korea, Laos,
Nepal and Sri Lanka which have the word “democratic in full titles were not fully democratic.
India was at the 41st place with a score of 7.23/10 and was placed in the flawed democracies
category.
1 Norway 9.87
2 Iceland 9.58
3 Sweden9.39
4 New Zealand 9.26
5 Denmark 9.22

85) The Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Gangajal Project. The project aims to
improve water supply to the city of Agra

86) The Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh, Pema Khandu inaugurated India’s longest single-
lane steel cable suspension bridge over Siang River in Upper Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh.
Key Facts about the Bridge. The bridge is 300-metre-long and is also known as byorung bridge.

87) Every year 10th January is celebrated as World Hindi Day to create awareness about the
language of Hindi across the World and to present Hindi as an international language.
How it is different from Hindi Divas?
Every year Hindi Divas is celebrated on September 14th because it was the day Hindi was
recognised as an official language

88) The High Court of Kerala has set a seven-day notice period for political parties and
individuals to call for hartal and general strike in the State.

89) Khelo India Youth games 2019 are being held at Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in
Pune. Previously called as Khelo India School Games, it has been now renamed as Khelo India
Youth Games.

90) Gita Gopinath has joined International Monetary Fund as its chief economist. She is the first
woman to occupy the post of chief economist of IMF

91) The Airports Authority of India has banned the single-use plastic items at its 129 airports
across the country.
92) The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of USA has discovered a new
planet. It is the third new planet discovered by the NASA mission, Transiting Exoplanet Survey
Satellite (TESS).
The new planet HD 21749b is outside our solar system and orbits a dwarf star 53 light years
away. HD 21749b orbits a bright star in the constellation Reticulum.

93) A memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been signed between Indian Highways
Management Company Limited (IMHCL) and leading Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) like BPCL,
HPCL and IOCL for sale of FASTags through their petrol pumps.
FASTag is an electronic toll collection system operated by the National Highway Authority of India
(NHAI). FASTag enables automatic deduction of toll charges and lets you pass through the toll
plaza without stopping for the cash transaction.
FASTags are linked to a prepaid account from which the applicable toll amount is deducted
automatically. FASTag employs Radio-frequency Identification (RFID) technology.

94) A five-year study by researchers Sangita Mitra (National Biodiversity Authority, Chennai) and
Mahua Roy Chowdhury, (a marine biologist from the University of Calcutta, West Bengal) has
been published in the Journal of Threatened Taxa. The research has found that raising water
salinity level is threatening the habitat of Gangetic river dolphins.
Gangetic Dolphins are the only surviving freshwater dolphin in India. It is the National Aquatic
Animal of India. The IUCN status of the Gangetic Dolphin is Endangered.

95) Prime Minister Narendra Modi has laid the foundation stone for the Mandal Dam Project on
the North Koel River. The Mandal Dam Project would be boon for the states of Jharkhand and
Bihar.

96) The United Nations observed the first official World Braille Day on 4th January to create
awareness about the importance of Braille for approximately 1.3 billion people living with some
form of distance or near vision impairment. Louis Braille was born in France on 4 January 1809.
The World Braille Day is celebrated on his Birth Anniversary.

97) China’s Chang’e 4 probe spacecraft has become the first spacecraft to land on the far side of
the moon. For the first time, there would be soft-landing on the far side of the Moon. China’s
mission consists of a static lander and rover. The rover will touch down on the Von Kármán
crater, located on the side of the Moon which never faces Earth.

98) Kathak exponent Anindita Neogy Anaam has been honoured with the prestigious National
Nritya Shiromani award

99) The Parliament has given its approval for the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory
Education (Amendment) Bill, 2018.
100) Stubble burning in states such as Haryana and Punjab is a major cause of air pollution in
north India in October and November. The stubble burning is one of the main reasons for the
higher level of pollutants in the air in the National Capital Region. The Central government has
initiated steps to reduce and eradicate the stubble burning in the neighbouring states of NCR

101) The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has declared 6 monuments as Monuments of
national importance in 2018
Old High Court Building in Nagpur, Maharashtra
Haveli of Agha Khan in Agra
Haveli of Hathi Khana in Agra
Neemrana Baori in Rajasthan’s Alwar district
Group of Temples at Ranipur Jharail in Odisha’s Bolangir district
Vishnu Temple in Kotali, Pithoragarh district, Uttarkhand.

102) Scientists from the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati, have developed a paper kit to
test the freshness of milk and determine how well the milk

103) The Union Home Ministry has approved the proposal of the Uttar Pradesh Government to
rename Allahabad as Prayagraj. The government of Uttar Pradesh has said that it is restoring the
original name of the city. The government states that the city was rechristened during the reign
of Mughal Emperor Akbar. Akbar called the city Illahabas, meaning the abode of God.
Before renaming by Akbar, the city was known as Prayag. Medieval texts, including Akbar’s court
historian Abul Fazl, called the city as Piyag.

104) Japan has announced its decision to withdraw from the International Whaling Commission
(IWC). The withdrawal would enable Japan to resume commercial whaling activities.
Japan has said that it would undertake commercial whaling from July 2019 limited to Japan’s
territorial waters and exclusive economic zones. As per the announcement, Japan would not
undertake whaling activities in Antarctic waters or in the southern hemisphere.
Japan has said that since most whale species are not endangered and that eating whale is a part
of its culture, Japan has been forced to withdraw from the IWC. With the withdrawal Japan joins
Iceland and Norway in openly defying the organization’s ban on commercial whale hunting.

105) The government of Pakistan has decided to launch Panda Bonds to raise loans from Chinese
capital markets. Launching of Panda Bonds is part of Pakistan’s plans to move towards giving the
Chinese currency, a status at par with that enjoyed by the US dollar.
Panda bonds are Chinese renminbi-denominated bonds from a non-Chinese issuer, sold in the
People’s Republic of China. The first two Panda bonds were issued in October 2005 on the by the
International Finance Corporation and the Asian Development Bank on the same day.
The Philippines issued its inaugural Panda bonds in 2018. It was the first ASEAN member to issue
Panda bonds
February 2019

1) Tata Steel has been recognised as one of World’s Most Ethical Companies by the Ethisphere
Institute for 2019. Tata Steel has got the recognition eight times in the ‘Metals, Minerals and
Mining’ category. The other Indian company to find a place in the list of World’s Most Ethical
Companies 2019 is Wipro.

2) The Chief Minister of Assam Sarbananda Sonowal has announced a PRANAM Commission to
look after the issues related to the Parents Responsibility and Norms for Accountability and
Monitoring (PRANAM) Bill. The bill makes it mandatory for state government employees to look
after their parents and unmarried differently abled siblings who do not have their own sources
of income.

3) The Union Minister for Railways Piyush Goyal has announced the creation of new railway zone
for Andra Pradesh, Southern Coast Railway Zone to be headquartered in Visakhapatnam.

4) The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu K Palaniswami has unveiled MGR Centenary Arch on Kamaraj
Salai of Chennai

5) The Union Minister of Human Resources and Development Prakash Javadekar launched the
Scheme for Higher Education Youth in Apprenticeship and Skills (SHREYAS) programme to
provide industry-specific apprenticeship opportunities to fresh graduates.

6) International Court of Justice (ICJ) has advised the UK to return the Diego Garcia (Chagos
Islands) to Mauritius as rapidly as possible. The ICJ has said that Britain must give Mauritius
control of the Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean. The advisory has been issued by the ICJ
on the request of the resolution passed by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to look
into the issue.
7) The Infosys Foundation has constituted Aarohan Social Innovation Awards to reward
individuals, teams or NGOs developing solutions for the social sector

8) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has removed three banks, Dhanlaxmi Bank, Allahabad Bank
and Corporation Bank from the PCA framework by moving them out of its weak-bank watchlist.

Earlier in the year, the RBI had removed the Bank of India (BoI), Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) and
Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) from the PCA framework. With the removal of Allahabad Bank
and Corporation Bank from the list, five PSBs which includes United Bank of India, UCO Bank,
Central Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank and Dena Bank remain under the PCA framework

9) Eminent Indian playwright Mahesh Elkunchwar has been chosen for META(Mahindra
Excellence in Theatre Awards) Lifetime Achievement Award 2019. Mahesh Elkunchwar is also a
recipient of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship. He has over 30 plays and essays to his credit
including works like ‘Sultan’, ‘Holi’, ‘Garbo’, ‘Yatanaghar’, and ‘Atmakatha’.

10) The Oscar Award list for the year 2019 is listed below

Best Actor in a Leading Role— Rami Malek, Bohemian Rhapsody.

Best Actress in a Leading Role — Olivia Colman, The Favourite.
Best Director — Alfonso Cuarón, Roma.
Best Picture — Green Book
Animated Feature Film —Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey,
Rodney Rothman

11) The Union Minister of Railways Piyush Goyal has launched Rail Drishti dashboard. It
encompasses all the digitisation efforts in Indian Railways and promotes transparency and
accountability.

12) Union Minister for Textiles Smriti Irani inaugurated the ‘Titanwala Museum’ in Bagru that
showcases the Chhipa community’s Bagru hand-block printing. Bagru printing is one of the
traditional techniques of printing with natural colour followed by the chippas of Rajasthan. The
Bagru hand-block printing has a history of over 1000 years

13) Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the National War Memorial adjoining the India
Gate in New Delhi. The memorial honours the fallen soldiers after Independence. The memorial
comprises four concentric circles, namely ‘Amar Chakra, Veerta Chakra, ‘Tyag Chakra’ and
‘Rakshak Chakra’. The National War Memorial will have a new ‘eternal flame’, the existing eternal
flame at the Amar Jawan Jyoti built in 1972 in honour of soldiers who lost their lives in the 1971
India-Pakistan war will continue as it is
14) A major fire has broken out in the Bandipur Tiger Reserve and National Park in
Chamarajanagar District of Karnataka

15) POSHAN Abhiyaan (National Nutrition Mission) is a flagship programme of the Ministry of
Women and Child Development. The Mission is aimed at improving the nutritional status of
Children from 0-6 years, Adolescent Girls, Pregnant Women and Lactating Mothers in a time
bound manner during the next three years beginning 2017-18.

16) For the first time, India would be attending the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)
Foreign Ministers Meet. But India’s entry into the organisation has been blocked by Pakistan.

17) The government of Himachal Pradesh has made an announcement regarding the
announcement of Monkey as Vermin for the period of one year in 11 districts of the state.
Vermin refers to pests or nuisance animals which spread diseases or destroy crops or livestock.
In India Section 62 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 empowers the states to send a list of wild
animals to the Centre requesting it to declare them vermin for selective slaughter.

18) The government of Gujarat has launched the second edition of the water conservation
scheme Sujalam Sufalam Jal Sanchay Abhiyan

19) The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has suspended all discussions with India
regarding hosting of global sporting events in the backdrop of denial of visas to the two Pakistani
Shooters. The Pakistani shooters were supposed to participate in the 25m rapid fire pistol event
in the ISSF World Cup which was a qualification competition for the Tokyo Olympic Games to be
held in 2020.

20) The Chennai Spartans have won the inaugural Pro Volleyball League Title. Chennai Spartans
defeated Calicut Heroes 15-11, 15-12, 16-14 in the summit clash. As a result of the winning the
Pro Volleyball League Title, Chennai Spartans have also qualified for this year’s FIVB Asian Men’s
Club Volleyball Championship. The inaugural session saw six teams competing for the title. The
teams are:
Ahmedabad Defenders
Calicut Heroes
Chennai Spartans
Black Hawks Hyderabad
U Mumba Volley
Kochi Blue Spikers

21) Beresheet (Hebrew: ‫)בראשית‬, which means "in the beginning," was a private mission to the
Moon by Israeli non-profit SpaceIL.The project is the first privately backed lunar lander mission.
Beresheet successfully reached the Moon, but crash-landed on 11 April 2019.
Landings on Moon
The first landing on the moon was made by Soviet Union with Luna 2 in 1959. Three years later,
the United States landed Ranger 4 on the moon. Both Luna 2 and Ranger 4 were hard landings
where the craft crashed into the moon. The first “soft landings” wherein the spacecraft made
controlled descents to the lunar surface for both US and Russia came in 1966. The third country
to do a soft landing on the moon was China in the year 2013 with its Chang’e 3.

22) The Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) has been honoured with the prestigious ‘FICCI CSR
Award’ for Women Empowerment.

23) The government of Madhya Pradesh has launched the Mukhyamantri Yuva Swabhiman
Yojana to provide employment for youth

24) Dr Divya Karnad, Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies at Ashoka University has been
awarded the prestigious Global Future For Nature Award 2019 for her work on marine
conservation. The other recipients of the Global Future For Nature Award is awarded for the
year 2019 are: Fernanda Abra (Brazil) and Olivier Nsengimana (Rwanda).

25) The Defence PSU Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) has unveiled the Atmospheric Water Generator
(AWG) at the Aero India 2019. The Atmospheric Water Generator would generate water straight
from the humidity present in the atmosphere through a novel technology

26) Actress Kareena Kapoor Khan has been appointed as an ambassador of Swasth Immunised
India campaign.

27) Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been honoured with the Seoul Peace Prize.

28) US defence giant Lockheed Martin unveiled the F-21 multi-role fighter jet at Asia’s biggest air
show Aero India-2019. Lockheed Martin will manufacture the plane in collaboration with Tata
Advanced Systems under India’s flagship programme Make in India.

28) The 4th India-ASEAN Expo and Summit was inaugurated by Union Minister for Commerce
and Industries, Suresh Prabhu. The summit will be held between 21-23 February 2019 in New
Delhi.

29) The North-Eastern States of Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram celebrate Statehood Day
celebrated statehood day on February 20. Mizoram and Pradesh celebrated the 32nd and 47th
Statehood Day respectively.

30) Union Human Resource Minister, Shri Prakash Javadekar launched Operation Digital Board to
leverage technology to boost quality education in the country
31) The Aero India 2019 was inaugurated by Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman at the
Yelahanka Air Force Station in Bengaluru. The Aero India 2019 will be held for 5 days from
February 20 to 24 and each day of the five day air show would have a special theme. Day one
would be Inaugural Day, the theme for day two and three is Start-Up Day and Technology Day
respectively Day, Day four would be Women’s Day and day five Public Day. The Aero India 2019
has a tagline “The Runway to a Billion Opportunities” and has a logo inspired by the Tejas Light
Combat Aircraft (LCA)

32) President Trump has signed a directive to create a Military Space Force. The directive orders
the Pentagon to establish the Space Force as the sixth branch of the United States military, to go
along with the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard

33) 150 students of Srilanka from all 25 districts were awarded the prestigious Mahatma Gandhi
scholarships for study in India

34) Awardees of Laureus World Sports Awards 2019

Sportsman of the Year: Novak Djokovic, (Serbia) Tennis.
Sportswoman of the Year: Simone Biles (USA) Gymnastics.
Comeback of the Year: Tiger Woods (USA) Golf.
Breakthrough of the Year: Naomi Osaka (Japan) Tennis
Team of the Year: France World Cup Team (France) Football
Lifetime Achievement Award: Arsène Wenger, France.
Sport For Good Award: Yuwa (NFO from India).

35) The government of Odisha has launched the KALIA Chhatra Bruti scholarship for the children
of farmers

36) The 7th National Photography Awards were presented by Union Minister of State (IC) for
Information & Broadcasting Col. Rajyavardhan Rathore. The seventh edition of National
Photography Awards was organised at National Media Centre in New Delhi.

The theme for the Professional category was “Women-led Development” and theme for
Amateur category was “Fairs and Festivals of India”. The winner’s list is enlisted below:
Lifetime Achievement Award – Shri Ashok Dilwali.
Professional Photographer of the Year – Shri SL Shanth Kumar.
Amateur Photographer of the Year – Shri Gurdeep Dhiman.

36) The 79th Indian History Congress (IHC) will be held at Barkatullah University in Bhopal
Madhya Pradesh from February 26

37) Dr G C Anupama has been elected president of the Astronomical Society of India (ASI).
38) India, Argentina Sign MoU for Co-Operation in Nuclear Energy

39) Belgium’s Elise Mertens has claimed the biggest title of her career by beating top seed
Simona Halep of Romania 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 to win the Qatar Open (Tennis)

40) A mega exercise, EXERCISE VAYU SHAKTI-2019 involving 140 fighter jets and attack
helicopters, in a firepower demonstration was held close to the border with Pakistan at Pokhran
in Rajasthan to display Indian Airforce Strength

41) The Raigarh Municipal Corporation of Chhattisgarh has won the “Swachhata Excellence
awards 2019”. The municipal corporations of Ambikapur of Chhattisgarh and Kumbakonam of
Tamil Nadu have bagged the second and third prizes respectively as part of the Shehri Samriddhi
Utsav

The Shehri Samriddhi Utsav was organised by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs

42) The US president Donald Trump on 15th February 2019 had declared a national emergency
to fund the US-Mexico border without congressional approval. This step has been described by
the Democrats as unconstitutional and they have vowed to challenge it.

43) India and Sweden signed a security protection agreement that will enable the two countries
to share classified information with each other. The agreement was signed during the visit of the
Indian Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to Sweden

Sweden is a Scandinavian country with capital at Stockholm and currency Swedish krona

44) The government of Karnataka had amended the rules to give primacy to Kannadigas in jobs

45) Flight Lieutenant Hina Jaiswal broke the glass ceiling and became the first woman flight
engineer of IAF which was till now an exclusive man’s club. A flight engineer is a member of an
aircraft’s flight crew and requires special skills for constantly monitoring and operating its
complex systems

46) Swachh Shakti is a national event which aims to bring in to focus the leadership role played
by rural women in Swachh Bharat Mission

47) Sunil Arora is the current 23rd Chief Election Commissioner and the two Election
Commissioners are Ashok Lavasa and Sushil Chandra.

48) The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced that its Mars Mission,
Opportunity has come to an end. This marked the conclusion of the 15-year saga. The decision
to end the mission was made after all the efforts to restore contact with the Opportunity Mars
rover didn’t yield desired results

49) The Central government has increased the minimum selling price (MSP) of sugar by Rs. 2 per
kg to Rs. 31

50) India’s First District cooling system will come up in Amravati, capital of the Andhra Pradesh
with the help of UAE-based international cooling provider. District cooling systems produce
chilled water, steam or hot water at a central plant and then pipe that energy out (either
underground or over rooftops) to buildings for air conditioning, space heating and water heating.
As a result, these buildings don’t require their own chillers, air conditioners, boilers or furnaces.

51) One day after the Pulwama terror attack on 14th February, 2019, India has taken a stern step
of withdrawing the Most Favoured Nation or MFN Status of Pakistan. This move would enable
India to increase customs duty on goods coming from Pakistan. The MFN status is given under
WTO’s General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). It is given to an international trade
partner to ensure non-discriminatory trade amongst all the members of WTO

52) The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) every year
celebrate February 13 as the World Radio Day.

53) Minister of State for AYUSH, Shri Shripad Yesso Naik launched the e-Aushadhi portal for
online licensing of Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani and Homoeopathy drugs

54) The World Sustainable Development Summit 2019 was inaugurated by the Vice President of
India, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu in New Delhi. The World Sustainable Development Summit 2019,
organized by The Energy and Resources Institute – TERI.

55) BAFTA Awards

Best Film: Roma

Leading Actress: Olivia Colman, The Favourite
Leading Actor: Rami Malek, Bohemian Rhapsody
Director: Alfonso Cuarón, Roma
Animated Film: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

56) GRAMMY Awards

Record of the Year: THIS IS AMERICA.

Album of the Year: GOLDEN HOUR.
Song of The Year: THIS IS AMERICA

The Big Three major music awards given each season are the American Music Awards (held in
the Fall), the Grammy Awards (generally held the week after the NFL's Super Bowl), and the
Billboard Music Awards (held in the Summer).

57) Prime Minister Narendra Modi served the three billionth meal of Akshaya Patra, an NGO that
works with the government on Mid-Day Meal Scheme (The Mid-day Meal Scheme involves
provision of lunch free of cost to school-children on all working days.). The Prime Minister
Served the food to about 20 schoolchildren who are the beneficiaries of the mid-day meal
scheme at the Vrindavan Chandrodaya Mandir campus in the holy city of Vrindavan. Akshaya
Patra Foundation is a Bengaluru-based not-for-profit organisation Funded by International
Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON).

58) The Legislative Assembly of Rajasthan passed the Rajasthan Panchayati Raj (Amendment)
Bill, 2019 and the Rajasthan Municipality (Amendment) Bill, 2019 to end the minimum education
criterion for panchayat and civic polls candidates.

59) The Art and Culture Minister of Goa, Govind Gaude has announced that Ghumot, an
indigenous earthen drum will soon be notified as a heritage instrument of Goa. Ghumot is an
indigenous earthen drum fashioned as a designed clay pot, with the skin of the monitor lizard
stretched taut across the pot’s mouth, forming a drumhead. Ghumot is a percussion instrument
widely played during Ganesh Chaturthi Aarties. In recent years attempts were made to revive the
heritage instrument of Goa by replacing monitor lizard(endangered wildlife species) skin with
the skin of a she-goat

60) Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has released a publication titled
“India – Spearheading Climate Solutions” on 12 February, 2019. This document mentions India’s
key actions taken towards combating and adapting to climate change.

61) Indian historian Sanjay Subrahmanyam has won prestigious Dan David Prize of Israel for the
year 2019 for his work on inter-cultural encounters between Asians, Europeans and people of
North and South America during the early modern era. Sanjay Subrahmanyam shares the award
in the category of ‘past time dimension’ with Prof Kenneth Pomeranz of the University of
Chicago

62) Mega Food Park is a scheme of the Ministry of Food Processing (part of the Government of
India) with the aim of establishing a "direct linkage from farm to processing and then to
consumer markets" through a network of collection centres and primary processing centres.[1]
Its purpose was to increase processing of perishables from 6% to 20% and to increase India's
share in global food trade by at least 3% up to year 2015.

63) The Sarthi Sandesh Vahini vehicles were flagged off by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi
Adityanath. The Uttar Pradesh state family welfare department has initiated the Sarthi Sandesh
Vahini mission to spread awareness regarding family planning in urbans and rural areas
64) The seventh annual World Government Summit is being held in Dubai (UAE). The World
Government Summit is a forum dedicated to shaping the future of governmants

65) India’s export to China is expected to reach an all-time high in the financial year 2018-19

66) The first batch of four Chinook military helicopters manufactured by the American aerospace
major Boeing has arrived at the Mundra port in Gujarat

67) Abu Dhabi has included Hindi as the third official language to be used in its courts, alongside
Arabic and English

68) The Asiatic Lion Conservation Project was announced by the Centre and the Gujarat
government at a cost of Rs 97.85 crore

69) The government of Meghalaya has decided to rename the Dikkibandi stadium after P A
Sangma (former Speaker of the Lok Sabha and former Chief Minister of Meghalaya)

70) February 10, 2019, was celebrated as the first World Pulses Day (such as Dried beans)

71) PM Narendra Modi laid Foundation Stone for the Sela Tunnel Project in Arunachal Pradesh
across Sela Pass. Sela Pass is a high-altitude mountain pass located on the border between the
Tawang and West Kameng Districts of Arunachal Pradesh.

72) The Union Government has announced the Great Indian Bustard (GIB) as the mascot for the
13th Conference of Parties (COP) of the UN Convention on the conservation of migratory species
(CMS) to be held in Gujarat next year.

73) During the ongoing visit of the Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali, the Foreign Minister of
Bangladesh, India and Bangladesh signed a MoU for training 1800 Bangladesh Civil Servants.

74) The Jammu and Kashmir government ordered the creation of a separate administrative
division for Ladakh region. The State of Jammu and Kashmir had two administrative divisions of
Jammu and Kashmir earlier. Ladakh would be the third administrative division

75) The Helicopter-launched anti-tank missile Helina was successfully test fired from the
Integrated Test Range in Chandipur in Balasore district of Odisha

76) The government of Assam has announced a new scheme called Arundhati to provide gold at
free of cost to the brides. Under the scheme, the government of Assam aims to provide 1 Tola
Gold, at about Rs 38K as on today, to brides belonging to all such communities of Assam where it
is customary to provide gold at the time of the wedding
77) The defending champions Vidarbha won the 85th Ranji Trophy title. The defending
champions defeated Saurashtra by 78 runs in the final. Aditya Sarwate of was Vidarbha was
declared man of the match for his 11 wickets in the match and 49 runs in Vidarbha’s second
innings which helped Vidarbha clinching the title for the second time

78) India’s communication satellite GSAT-31 was successfully launched from the Spaceport in
French Guiana. GSAT-31 was launched from the launch vehicle Ariane 5 VA-247

79) Father Franois Laborde a 92-year-old priest from Bengal was conferred with Légion
d’Honneur (Legion of Honour) in recognition of his work for specially-abled and destitute
children through the organisation called Howrah South Point. The honour has already been
bestowed upon film maestro Satyajit Ray and actor Soumitra Chatterjee

80) Macedonia takes a major step on road to NATO(North Atlantic Treaty Organisation)
membership. The conflict over the name with Greece had become a damper in its membership
to NATO. With the conflict with Greece taken to logical end with the conclusion of Prespa
Agreement, Macedonia has signed accession papers with NATO

81) The Parmanu Tech conference was organised by the Ministry of External Affairs and
Department of Atomic Energy (DAE).

82) India is now the second largest consumer and importer of the LPG in the world after China.
The flagship scheme of the government Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) has made a
significant contribution towards enhancing the penetration of LPG

83) Know India Programme (KIP) is a flagship initiative for Diaspora engagement. The programme
aims to familiarize Indian-origin youth (18-30 years) with their Indian roots and contemporary
India

84) Pradhan Mantri – Jan Arogya Yojana (PM JAY) is a scheme of the government under
Ayushman Bharat to reduce the financial burden on poor and vulnerable groups arising out of
catastrophic hospital episodes and ensure their access to quality health services.
Implementation of PM JAY

85) The recent crisis haunting Venezuela is Who is the President? European Union, Australia, US,
New Zealand have recognised Juan Guaidó, the opposition leader as the president. Juan Guaidó,
the opposition leader, has said that President Nicolás Maduro is illegitimate and has asserted
himself as Venezuela’s interim president

86) The government of Thailand has approved the proposal to name Siamese fighting fish as the
National Aquatic Animal. The Siamese fighting fish is commonly known as betta
87) The State Bank of India’s UK head Sanjiv Chadha has been honoured with the ‘Freedom of
the City of London’ award in recognition of his contribution to promoting the bilateral relations

88) The Sentinelese Tribe are indigenous people inhabiting North Sentinel Island in the Bay of
Bengal in India and are considered one of the world’s last uncontacted peoples. They are
considered as Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG. The Sentinelese tribe is at the verge of
extinction. The 2011 census estimates their numbers at a mere 50

89) The disaster relief exercise ‘Exercise Rahat’ will be demonstrated in Jaipur, Kota and Alwar in
Rajasthan on Feb 11-12

90) The Madras High Court has ruled against negative marking in competitive examinations
saying they are bad in law. The Madras High Court ruled not to give negative marks for wrong
answers and directed the CBSE to communicate the order to the National testing Agency which
conducts the JEE (Main) exam

91) Azim Premji Chairman of Wipro Ltd will be felicitated with the Ernst & Young Lifetime
Achievement Award. Ernst & Young, famously known as EY is a multinational professional
services firm and is one of the “Big Four” accounting firms(KPMG, Ernst & Young (EY), Deloitte
and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC))

92) The Road Safety Week was initiated by the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways with an
aim to raise public awareness about traffic rules and ultimately reduce casualties due to road
accidents. India is celebrating the 30th Road Safety Week from 04th February (Monday) to the
10th February (Sunday)

93) Renowned Filmmaker from Manipur Aribam Syam Sharma has decided to return his 2006
Padma Shri award in protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016.

94) The Election Commission of India will be issuing Braille voter slips for the visually impaired
and blind voters in the Lok Sabha elections due this year

95) The 22nd All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS

96) India’s One-day International (ODI) captain Mithali Raj has become the first woman to play
200 ODI matches with her appearance in the match against Newzealand

97) Behrouz Boochani, an Iranian asylum-seeker detained in Papua New Guinea under Australian
asylum laws has won the Victorian Prize for Literature. Behrouz Boochani was awarded for his
work “No Friend But the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison"
The Australia Detention Policy deports asylum-seekers who try to enter the country by boat to
Manus Island or Nauru in the Pacific for processing, with those found to be refugees barred from
resettling in Australia

98) World Wetlands Day was celebrated on February 2nd with the theme of “Wetlands and
Climate Change.

World Wetlands Day is celebrated on 2 February 1971 to commemorate the signing of the
Convention on Wetlands, called the Ramsar Convention at the Iranian city of Ramsar on the
shores of the Caspian Sea. The two-fold objectives of the Ramsar Convention are Conservation
and sustainable utilization of wetlands and stop the encroachment and loss of wetlands

99) IPS officer Rishi Kumar Shukla has been appointed as the chief of the Central Bureau of
Investigation (CBI) for a fixed tenure of two years.

100) The study published by the Researchers of the Washington University of the US published in
the journal Science has found that sleep deprivation may increase the risk of developing
Alzheimer’s disease

101) Tau is a protein routinely released during waking hours by the normal business of thinking
and doing, and then the release is decreased during sleep allowing tau to be cleared away. Sleep
deprivation interrupts the normal cycle As a result, tau protein will build up and it is more likely
that the Tau protein will start accumulating into harmful tangles

102) Gaganyaan which is India’s first manned space mission has been accorded highest priority
by ISRO and the plan is to have the first unmanned mission in December 2020 and second for
July 2021. The manned mission will happen in December 2021. The Gaganyaan project is headed
by R. Hutton, who was the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) Director

103) The Lithium-ion cell technology has been developed by Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre
(VSSC). After the successful deployment of indigenous lithium-ion batteries in various missions
of ISRO, the VSSC will now transfer the technology to the industries to establish production
facilities for producing lithium-ion cells to cover the entire spectrum of power storage
requirements of the country.