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Current Affairs January 25, 2020

Current Affairs Headlines: January 25, 2020
1. Dept of Biotechnology holds international summit on women in STEM in New Delhi

2. India’s first e-waste clinic opens in Bhopal
3. Government sets up 10 chairs to encourage women in research activities on National Girl
Child Day, January 24, 2020
4. West Bengal leads in vegetable production, Andhra Pradesh tops in Fruits in 2018-19:
Horticultural production data
5. India supplies 30k doses of Measles and Rubella vaccine to Maldives within 72 hours
6. NIRDPR ties up with UNICEF, Hyderabad (Telangana) field office to establish ‘communication
resource unit’
7. Highlights of 50th WEF annual meeting 2020 held in Davos, Switzerland
8. WEF: Survey on trust on climate science & 1st positive impact rating 2020 launched
9. Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina launched e-passport in Dhaka; South Asia’s 1st and 119th e-
passport in the world
10. Overview of External affairs Minister Jaishankar’s 3-day visit to Niger & Tunisia
11. European Commission, Council presidents sign Brexit agreement
12. Pakistan may be out of FAFT’s “Grey List” by February 2020
13. Western Union joins hands with Airtel payments bank & Airtel Africa for money transfer
service
14. India & WB signed $210 million loan pact for Maharashtra’s Agri & Rural Transformation
Project
15. IndusInd Bank launches asset management platform “PIONEER”
16. WEF appoints IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva and ARM chairman Patrice Motsepe to its board
of trustees
17. CEC Sunil Arora takes over as the new chairman of FEMBoSA
18. Pakistan successfully launched ballistic missile “Ghaznavi”
19. Nitin Gadkari launches ‘GATI’ web portal to monitor 3 lakh crore rupees project
20. ZSI documents another new snake eel species “Ophichthus kailashchandrai” in Odisha
21. ICC Test ranking Virat Kohli tops the list with 928 points
22. Former Minister of Odisha, Jagannath Rout passes away at 78
23. Former Rajya Sabha MP Melhupra Vero passed away at 88
24. Minority Affairs minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi’s new novel ‘Balwa’ to be released
25. 10th National Voters’ Day is observed on January 25, 2020
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NATIONAL AFFAIRS
Dept of Biotechnology holds international summit on women in STEM in New Delhi
On January 24, 2020, The Department of Biotechnology under the aegis of Ministry of Science & Technology
has organized a 2-day long International Summit on Women in STEM–“Visualizing the Future: New
Skylines” at the India Habitat Centre in New Delhi with the aim to increase the participation of women in
STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) field for development of scientific career.
Key Points:
i.The summit saw the participation of around 350 people across the world from different fields including
scientists, socialists, entrepreneurs, researchers, teachers, and students.
ii.A number of sessions and interactive discussions such as mechanisms of leadership building, empowering
women through networking, career opportunities & interactive exercises were held with renowned women
senior scientists.
iii.This summit will offer a good platform for young students & researchers to interact with leaders in the STEM
fields to explore future study and career interests.
About Ministry of Science & Technology:
Founded– May 1971
Headquarters– New Delhi
Union Minister– Harsh Vardhan
India’s first e-waste clinic opens in Bhopal

On January 24, 2020 India’s first e-waste clinic was opened in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. The e-waste clinic
was inaugurated by C K Mishra (Secretary to the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate change,MoEFCC).
The e-waste clinic was jointly set up by the Central Pollution Board Control -CPCB and Bhopal Municipal
Corporation -BMC.
Key Points:
i.The e-waste clinic is a 3-month project and if the project becomes successful then it will be established in
other parts of the country also.
ii.The process includes segregation, processing, and disposal of waste from both household and commercial
units.
iii.The electronic waste will be collected door to door or could be deposited directly at the e-waste clinic while
CPCB will provide technical support.
iv.The e-waste clinic consists of low floor bus and TV is installed displays documentary films on
“Environmental damage caused by e-waste”.
v.Chairperson of the CPCB SPS Parihar, principal secretary of the environment department Malay Shrivastav,
commissioner of the Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) Vijay Dutta were present in the occasion.
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About MadhyaPradesh (MP):

Capital- Bhopal.
State Animal- Barasingha.
State Tree- Banyan tree.
State fruit- Mango.
Chief Minister (CM)- Kamal Nath.
Governor- Lalji Tandon.
Government sets up 10 chairs to encourage women in research activities on National Girl Child
Day, January 24, 2020
January 24, 2020, is celebrated as the “National Girl Child Day” under the Ministry of Women and Child
Development. The Ministry announced an initiative called “Establishment of Chairs in the Universities in the
name of eminent women” which encourages women to carry out research activities.
Key Points:
i.This initiative was launched under the assistance of University Grants Commission (UGC) to inspire women to
achieve their goals and to motivate young girls towards higher studies.
ii.The 10 chairs will be set up by UGC for five years. They are named after the Devi Ahilyabai Holkar (for
Administration), Mahadevi Varma(for Literature), Rani Gaidinliu(for Freedom Fighter North East), Anandibai
Gopalrao Joshi(for Medicine and Health), M S Subbulakshmi(for Art), Amrita Devi (for Forest and Wildlife
conservation), Lilavati(for Mathematics), Kamala Sohonie (Science), Lal Ded ( Poetry and Mysticism) and Hansa
Mehta (for Educational Reforms).
iii.Each chair will be given Rs 50 lakh each for a year with a total expenditure of Rs 5 crore per annum for a
period of five years.
About:
National Girl child day- January 24
West Bengal leads in vegetable production, Andhra Pradesh tops in Fruits in 2018-19:
Horticultural production data
On January 20, 2020, According to the State-wise horticulture production data released at a conference
organised by the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, the state of West Bengal (WB) has been at the
forefront of vegetable production in 2018-19 (3rd advance estimates), where the production of vegetables
was 29.55 million tonnes (MT). It was followed by Uttar Pradesh –UP (27.70 MT) and Madhya Pradesh (17.77
MT).
Fruit crops Production:

Andhra Pradesh (AP) continued to hold the top spot in fruits with 17.61MT in 2018-19.It was followed by
Maharashtra (10.82 mt) and UP (10.65 mt).
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Key Points:
i.West Bengal’s share in total vegetable production is 15.9 % of the country’s total vegetable production.UP
accounted for 14.9 % of the total vegetable production, 9.6% of Madhya Pradesh, 9% of Bihar and 6.8 % of
Gujarat.
ii.In the previous crop year 2017-18, West Bengal stood 2nd with production of 27.7 million tonnes. At that
time Uttar Pradesh was at the top with a production of 28.8 million tonnes.
iii.The total area under vegetable cultivation rose to 10.10 million hectare (mh)in 2018-19 from 6.74 mh in
2004-05.The area under vegetable production was 10.10 mh in 2018-19.Whereas, area under fruit crops
cultivation during 2018-19 was 6.65 mh.
iv.The production of vegetable rose to 185.88 tonnes in 2018-19 from 101.25 mt in 2004-05, while the fruit
production accounted 98.58 mt.
About Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare:
Founded– 1947
Union Minister- Narendra Singh Tomar
India supplies 30k doses of Measles and Rubella vaccine to Maldives within 72 hours
On January 23, 2020, the Government of India (GoI) has supplied 30,000 doses of Measles and Rubella (MR)
vaccine within 72 hours on the emergency request of the Maldives government. These vaccines are supplied by
Serum Institute of India Private Limited, Pune, Maharashtra.
Key Points:
i.Though Maldives have eradicated Measles in 2017, it has detected four positive cases a week back, so the
outbreak vaccines are sent on the emergency request.
ii.In June 2019, during Prime Minister’s (PM) visit to the Maldives, Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was
signed by India and Maldives on Health Co-operation.
iii.In 2014, India has also sent fresh water to the Maldives during water crisis and immediate assistance have
also been sent during tsunami stuck to maldives.
AboutMaldives:
Capital- Male
Currency- Maldivian rufiyaa
President- Ibrahim Mohamed Solih
Minister of Health Maldives- Abdulla Ameen
Indian Ambassador to Maldives- Sanjay Sudhir
NIRDPR ties up with UNICEF, Hyderabad (Telangana) field office to establish ‘communication
resource unit’
On January 24, 2020, National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj (NIRDPR),an
autonomous organization under the Union Ministry of Rural Development has entered into the partnership
with UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund), Hyderabad (Telangana) field office to set
up ‘Communication Resource Unit’ (CRU).
Key Points:
i.The CRU will function as an institutional mechanism for providing Social and Behavioural Change
Communications (SBCC) support to national flagship programmes of the State & central Government such as
POSHAN Abhiyaan, National Health Mission and Swachh Bharath Mission among others.
ii.At present CRU functions in 3 states of Andhra Pradesh (AP), Telangana and Karnataka with the aim to help
strategic communication needs of different government departments (such as Women Development and Child
Welfare, Health, Rural Development, and Education) via consultations, technical support and, capacity building.
iii.Dr. Gyanmudra, professor and head, Centre for Good Governance and Policy Analysis (CGG&PA), NIRDPR is
leading the CRU, which is equipped with a skilled workforce to help development, rollout plans, capacity
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building and developing IEC (Information Education and Communication) material, etc.
About National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj (NIRDPR):
It is located in Hyderabad in Telangana state. In addition to the main campus at Hyderabad, this Institute has
North-Eastern Regional Centre at Guwahati, Assam.
About United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF):
Formation– 11 December 1946.
Headquarters– New York City, USA
Executive Director- Henrietta Holsman Fore.
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
Highlights of 50th WEF annual meeting 2020 held in Davos, Switzerland
The 50th edition of the 2020 World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting was held in Davos-Klosters,in
Switzerland from January 21-24, 2020. The theme for the year 2020 was “Stakeholders for a Cohesive and
Sustainable World”. The WEF summit aims to engage world leaders to collaborate for global, regional and
industrial development etc. The highlights of the summit in detail are as follows:
New Releases & formations at WEF:

New Internet security principles:
On January 23, 2020 the World Economic Forum (WEF) has announced new internet security
principles which will help nearly 1 billion users. The principles have been developed by a group of leading
ISPs(Internet Service Providers) and multilateral organisations.
Key points:
i.These new principles will combat highly vulnerable cyberattacks and protect those 1 billion internet
consumers spread in 180 countries.
ii.Impact of Cyber attack: The cyber attack of malicious activity online would cost the global countries an
estimated amount of $6 trillion in 2021.
iii.New principles functions: These new principles by default, will ask the ISPs to protect consumers from
cyberattacks and also to respond to known threats. Further ISPs will be needed to work more closely
with manufacturers, vendors of hardware, software & infrastructure to increase the levels of security.
iv.The new security principles will be endorsed by major ISPs like BT, Deutsche Telekom, Du Telecom, Europol,
Global Cyber Alliance, Internet Society, Korea Telecom, Proximus, Saudi Telcom, Singtel, Telstra etc.
1st ever public blockchain based platform launched:
At the WEF, the 1st ever public blockchain track and trace platform built to help businesses respond to the
demands of customers for ethical and environmentally friendly products.
Phase: This platform would highly be a safe collaboration provided by WEF and 1st movers Everledger, the
International Trade Centre (ITC) and Lenzing Group.
• Currently working in pilot basis, call to pilot and co-design the second phase will be Asia Pacific
Rayon (APR), EVRYTHNG and PlataformaVerde.
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Blockchain for customers: It has been estimated that 90% of people/consumers like big brands. Despite
blockchain providing sustainability, private blockchains however do not address customer transparency
demand. Thus customers had to rely on blockchain solution providers.
1st global consortium for digital currency governance formed:
1st global consortium was formed and it works on designing a framework for digital currency
governance that also includes stablecoins. The consortium aims to increase access of financial system through
policy solutions being both inclusive and interoperable.
Key Points:
i.This blockchain consortium will have leading companies, financial institutions, govt. representatives,
international organisations etc in making them work together for digital governance. The core of this initiative
will be on efficiency, speed, transparency.
ii.A set of guiding principles will also be co-designed to support public and private organisations to explore
more opportunities in the field of digital currencies.
Agreements and MoU signed in the WEF:
India joins founding member of WEF reskilling initiative:
The republic of India has joined as a founding govt member of the WEF’s ‘Reskilling Revolution’. It is an
initiative which aims to provide better jobs, education, skills and jobs 1 billion people by 2030. It initiative also
aims to provide new skills to workers for the 4th industrial revolution.
Key points:
i.Foundings members: Apart from India, the founding member countries include Brazil, France, Pakistan, the
Russian Federation, UAE(United Arab Emirates) and the US(United States).
ii.Business partners: Some of the business partners of the initiative includes, Salesforce, ManpowerGroup,
Infosys, LinkedIn, Coursera Inc. etc.
iii.By 2022, 42% of the core skills that are required to perform existing jobs are expected to change as per
report titled ‘Jobs of Tomorrow: Mapping Opportunity in the New Economy’ by the WEF. it also estimates that
• By 2022, 133 million new jobs will be created to meet the 4th industrial revolution demands.
Interpersonal skills and skills related to sales, human resources, care and education will be of high
demand
• 96 jobs across 7 professional clusters were reported to be fast emerging.
• The jobs of the future are set to grow by 51% upto 2020 providing 6.1million job opportunities
globally.
• over 415 private sector companies pledged to provide more than 14.5 million career-enhancement
opportunities for American workers over the next 5 years.
O.P Jindal Global University signs MoU with University of Zurich:
The O.P Jindal Global University (JGU) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the University of
Zurich (UZH) in Switzerland for mutual cooperation in higher education and research. The MoU was signed
by JGU Vice Chancellor C. Raj Kumar and the President of the UZH, Michael Hengartner.
Key Points:
i.JGU is situated in Sonipat, Haryana. It was the youngest university in India and in the world to have been made
to the QS (Quacquarelli Symonds) World university rankings 2020.
ii.JGU is also the only Indian private university in the top 150 ”young” universities in the world in the QS Young
University Rankings 2020.
Madhya Pradesh made investments worth Rs 4,125 cr at WEF:
Madhya Pradesh(MP) govt has made investments worth Rs. 4,125 crores at WEF from various
investors. The investments were mainly on food and renewable energy sectors.The MP govt. Chief Minister
Shri Kamal Nath Singh along with other officials held discussions with potential investors.
Key Points:
i.Investors: Daawat Food Ltd, which has a plant in Mandideep, near Bhopal, MP received Foreign Direct
Investment (FDI) worth Rs 125 crore from Saudi Arabia Agriculture and Livestock Investment Company
(SALIC).
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ii.Wind projects in MP: 2 central wind projects of capacity 325 MW(Mega Watt) were approved by SoftBank
Energy (Japan) and another by Actis (England).
iii.690 acres of land is already available at 9 different places in MP and will be set up as data centre business.
Nearly 75% of the rebate in the cost of setting up units on government land may also be given to interested
companies as part of the investment.
Karnataka pacted with WEF for ‘Centre for internet of ethical things’:
The govt of Karnataka signed a pact with WEF to start “Centre for Internet of ethical things”. The centre will
provide competitive and a level playing field for investors and industrialists.The centre will also keep a check
on misuse of artificial intelligence (AI) and enhance ease of doing business.
Key Points:
i.Signatories: Madhya Pradesh State Industry Minister Jagadish Shettar;Chief Secretary TM Vijaya Bhasker and
Industries Secretary Ramana Reddy were also signatories to the informal pact.
ii.IoT: Internet of Things (IoT) is a technology term used for the linkage of data, sensors on devices and
machines and analytics on a platform.
Malaysia govt agency pacted with WEF to focus on drones:
The Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) signed a pact with WEF to focus on drones. The aim of the
pact was to co-design and pilot policy principles. Through this pact, the risks from drones will also be mitigated.
MDEC will also specifically work with WEF’s Aerospace and Drones portfolio as part of the collaboration.
Key Points:
i.The global drone services market is expected to reach $63.6 billion by 2025 as per Drone Service Market
report and also the Asia Pacific region is also expected to grow at the highest Compound annual growth rate
(CAGR) during the same period.
Awards and Honours:
Tata Steel Kalinganagar honoured:
The Tata steel Kalinganagar (TSK) in Jajpur district of Odisha, was honoured at the WEF 2020 for its recent
admittance to the Global Lighthouse Network(GLN) of WEF. The GLN is a group of corporations aiming to
apply the 4th industrial revolution technologies. The award was given to Tata Steel’s Chief Executive
Officer(CEO) and Managing Director(MD) TV Narendran.
Key Points:
i.In 2019, TSK became the 1st and only Indian manufacturing plant that was included in the WEF’s Lighthouse
Network. It is also to be noted that Tata Steel’s IJmuiden plant in the Netherlands is already a member of this
network.
ii.Tata Steel Kalinganagar: TSK was commissioned in 2016 and was spread over 3000 acres. TSK is the largest
single-location greenfield steel project in India.
26th Crystal award honoured to Deepika Padukone:
Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone was honoured with 26th Crystal award 2020. The award was given to
honour her for her campaigning to raise awareness on mental health.
C Vijayakumar, CEO, HCL Technologies named chairman of World Economic Forum’s IT Governors
Community
Chief Executive Officer of software exporter HCL (Hindustan Computers Limited) Technologies, C Vijayakumar
has been named the Chairman of the IT industry Governors community of the World Economic Forum, which
convenes CEOs of global technology companies.
Indian delegations in the summit:
i.Piyush Goyal led Indian delegation:
The Indian delegation to the WEF summit was led by Union Minister of Commerce (MoC) Shri Piyush Goyal.
Shri Goyal also participated in an informal WTO (World Trade Organization) ministerial gathering.He also held
a meeting with CEO (Chief Executive Officers) of companies, attended round table conferences on ‘Accelerating
Investments in Indian Railways’.
• Indian delegation: Some of the members of the Indian delegations include Union Minister of
State(MoS) for Shipping and Chemical and Fertilizers, Mansukh Laxmanbhai Mandaviya; and Chief
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Ministers of Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh; Finance Minister of Punjab, and the IT(Information
Technology) Minister of Telangana.
ii.Mansukh Mandavia’s participation:
Shri Mandavia had bilateral meetings with Minister of Qatar, Deputy Prime Minister of Belgium and Secretary
General of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) Kitack Lim. He along with Shri Goyal, attended
meeting with CEOs
• Mahatma Gandhi bust to be set up: After obtaining consent from Shri Mandaviya, a bust of
Mahatma Gandhi has been decided to be set up at the headquarters of IMO in London coinciding
with Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary.
iii.O P Jindal Global University VC at WEF summit:
The Founding Vice Chancellor of O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU), Dr. C. Raj Kumar, attended the WEF summit
and held talks on 3 separate sessions. It is also to be noted that Kumar was the only Vice Chancellor from India
invited to speak at WEF.
iv.ASHA at WEF 2020:
Entrepreneur, investor, philanthropist and founder of Motwani Jadeja Foundation Asha Jadeja Motwani has
come up with a new initiative named ‘ASHA’ at WEF 2020 inorder to lead India’s contribution towards
addressing global challenges.
• The ASHA initiative is led by Motwani Jadeja Foundation and Motwani Institute for Thought
Leadership in Innovation (MITLI). The global think tank MITLI was for the first time introduced in
the forum.
About World Economic Forum(WEF):
Headquarters- Cologny, Switzerland
Founder- Klaus Schwab
Founded- January 1971
Motto- Committed to improving the state of the world.
WEF: Survey on trust on climate science & 1st positive impact rating 2020 launched
The 50th edition of the 2020 World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting was held in Davos-Klosters,in
Switzerland from January 21-24, 2020. The theme for the year 2020 was “Stakeholders for a Cohesive and
Sustainable World”. During the summit two survey reports were released. The survey report in detail are as
follows:
World losing trust in climate science;Indians tops trust chart:

The new public opinion poll was published in the WEF. It called for climate education and urgent upskilling. As
per the opinion poll, it was found that the global public started losing trust level in climate sciences. In
Contrast, Indians were the most trusting people in this regard. 86% of Indians trusted scientists on climate
science.
The chart was topped by Indians and Bangladeshis. Russia and Ukraine were laggards at both counts.
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Public opinion poll:

i.Toppers in trust: India was followed by Bangladesh (78%), Pakistan (70%), China (69%) and Turkey (69%)
in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th rank respectively.
ii.Poll preparation: The poll was prepared in collaboration with SAP and Qualtrics. The survey was conducted
to more than 10,500 people from 30 countries that accounted for around 76% of global population. The
findings were finally presented in 2 parts.
iii.Region wise trust analysis:
• North America: 1/5th of North Americans expressed ‘little’(12%) or ‘no’(6%) trust in climate
science.
• South Asia: The South Asian adults expressed ‘little’ trust at 4% and ‘no’ trust at 2%.
iv.Global warming cause: More than 2/3rd of the people in the survey agreed the cause of global warming
was due to human activities.
v.A specific platform was launched to focus on upskilling and reskilling. This platform will enhance many
opportunities to 1 billion people and will provide decent jobs in the next 10 years.
Trust poll rank:
Rank Country
1 India .
2 Bangladesh.
3 Pakistan.
1st edition of Positive Impact Rating 2020 launched:
The 1st edition of Positive Impact Rating 2020 was launched at the WEF. As per the rating, 2 Indian business
schools, Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Bangalore in Karnataka and XLRI (formerly Xavier Labor
Relations Institute) – Xavier School of Management, in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand have been included in the top
30 list.
Positive Impact Rating(PIR) 2020:
i.Positive Impact rating 2020: In the ratings, IIM Bangalore was placed in ‘transforming schools’ category
(level 4) and XLRI was placed in ‘Progressing schools’ category (level 3) for the rating.
ii.Rating purpose: The business schools have been rated to measure how much they contribute to solve
societal challenges by providing relevant research results etc.
iii.Business school ratings: A total of 51 business schools participated in the rating. No school made it to level
5 category which has the highest priority. The schools were rated based on 5 levels and are also grouped under
the 5 categories. 21 schools were grouped in level 3 while 9 schools were grouped in level 4.
The 5 levels are as follows:
• Level 1- Beginning.
• Level 2- Emerging.
• Level 3- Progressing.
• Level 4- Transforming.
• Level 5- Pioneering.
iv.Top business schools: Some of the top management institutes include institutes in the likes of London
Business School (UK), Esade Business School (Spain), Eada Business School Barcelona (Spain) and Edhec
Business School (France).
v.Positive Impact Rating: The rating was initiated in 2017 to support change in business school sector. The
activities are supported by WWF(World Wide Fund) Switzerland (Environment), Global Compact Switzerland
(Business) etc. Click here to know more.
About Switzerland:
Currency- Swiss franc.
Capital- Bern (De Facto).
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Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina launched e-passport in Dhaka; South Asia’s 1st and 119th e-
passport in the world
On January 22, 2020, Prime Minister (PM) of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina Wazed has launched e-passport in
Dhaka, Bangladesh as Mujib Century year gift to the country. Bangladesh is the first country in South
Asia and 119th countries in the world to have an e-passport facility. Malaysia is the first country in the world
to launch this facility in 1998.
Key Points:
i.This e-passport consists of embedded chip which contains biometric data, digital Photograph and signature of
the passport holder which will help to control fake passports in the country.
ii.Bangladesh has set up 69 passports offices in 64 districts, 33 immigration check-posts and passports and visa
wings at 75 missions abroad across the country.
iii.According to International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), 490 million e-Passports are present
around the world.
About Bangladesh:
Capital- Dhaka
Currency- Bangladeshi taka
President– Mohammad Abdul Hamid
Overview of External Affairs Minister Jaishankar’s 3-day visit to Niger & Tunisia
External Affairs Minister(EAM) of India Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar has paid a visit to two
nations Niger & Tunisia.This is his 1st visit to the African continent after becoming Foreign Minister.
EAM Jaishankar’s visit to Tunisia(22-23, January 2020)

India signs MoU with Tunisia to set up ICT center in Tunis
The Government of India (GoI) India has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Tunisia, a North
African country for the setting up of a ‘India- Tunisia centre for innovation in information and
communication technologies (ICT)’ in Tunisia. It was signed by of India to Tunisia, Mr. Puneet R. Kundal &
Mr. Mohamed Ali Nerjri, Chief Executive Officer(CEO) of Smart Tunisian Technoprks in the presence of
Jaishankar & acting Tunisian Foreign Minister Sabri Bachtobji.
Key Points:
i.The ICT set up will support business acceleration and enhance interactions between innovation and
entrepreneurship ecosystems between both the Nations.
ii.Both the sides also discussed 4th edition of India-Africa Summit 2020 (IAFS-IV), which scheduled to be held
in India in September 2020. The 3rd edition of the Summit was held in (IAFS-III) New Delhi from 26–30
October 2015.
iii.The meet also discussed preparations for an upcoming 13th session of the Indo-Tunisian Joint Committee &
different aspects of bilateral cooperation &a stock of regional and international issues of common interest.
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India & Tunisia aims to expand bilateral economic ties, to work closely in multilateral forums
EAM S Jaishankar & hisTunisian counterpart Sabri Bachtobji discussed the matters on expanding the bilateral
economic cooperation and agreed to work closely in multilateral forums.
EAM Jaishankar’s visit to Niger (20-21January 2020)
EAM S Jaishankar visited Niamey, Republic of Niger. He also met President of Niger, H. E. Mahamadou
Issoufou & both the leaders jointly inaugurated the Mahatma Gandhi International Convention Centre
(MGICC).
The detail of this article is given in the link below,
https://affairscloud.com/current-affairs-january-23-2020/
About Tunisia:
Capital– Tunis.
Currency– Tunisian dinar.
President– Kais Saied.
About Niger:
Capital– Niamey.
Prime Minister (PM)- Brigi Rafini.
Currency– West African CFA (African Financial Community) Franc.
European Commission, Council Presidents sign Brexit agreement

On January 24, 2020, The Presidents of European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen & the European
Council, Charles Michel, have signed the Brexit deal agreed in the month of October 2019 .
Key Points:
i.It will be placed before the European Parliament on 29 January,2020 for approval. Then the Diplomats from
European Union (EU) member states will give written approval to the agreement on 30 January,2020. This will
ensure Britain’s separation from the European Union in the prescribed manner from midnight on 31
January,2020.
ii.This will bring to an end 47 years as a member of the pan-European partnership.
iii.After Brexit,the 28 member states will come down to 27, but the withdrawal deal provides for an 11-month
transition period for Britain until the end of 2020.
iv.The 27 member states include, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia,
Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands,
Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden.
About Brexit:
It is the word coined by merging the words Britain and exit. It is the shorthand way of saying that Britain is
leaving the EU.
About European Union (EU):
Motto– “United in Diversity”
Administrative centre– Brussels,Belgium
It is a political and economic union of 28 member states that are located primarily in Europe.
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About European Commission:

Established– 16 January 1958
Headquarters– Brussels, Belgium
About European Council:
Headquarters– Brussels, Belgium
Founded– 2009
Pakistan may be out of FAFT’s “Grey List” by February 2020

On January 23, 2020, the Asia Pacific Joint Group, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) international
cooperation review group meeting was held in Beijing, China which states that Pakistan has 75 percent
chances of exiting ‘Grey List’.
Key Point:
i.In 2018 June, Pakistan was placed on the ‘Grey List’ by the FATF and it may exit from ‘Grey List’ in the next
FATF meeting which is to be held on February 16, 2020, in Paris, France.
ii.Pakistan needs 12 votes out of 39 to exist from the ‘Grey List’.
iii.According to the last meeting of FATF, Pakistan has got support from China, Malaysia and Turkey.
About FATF:
The Financial Action Task Force is an intergovernmental organisation established in 1989 to develop policies to
combat money laundering and terrorism financing of its member countries. It contains 37 Nations, two regional
oraganisation, and Indonesia as observer. The present President of FATF is Xiangmin Liu from China.
BANKING & FINANCE

Western Union joins hands with Airtel payments bank & Airtel Africa for money transfer
service
On January 22, 2020, Western Union Company, a leader in cross-border, cross-currency money movement
and payments, has partnered with India’s largest integrated telecommunications services company, Bharti
Airtel’s 2 arms– Airtel Payments Bank & Airtel Africa Plc, to enable millions of latter’s customers in India to
receive international remittances in their bank accounts & and Mobile Wallets across 14 countries in Africa.
Key Points:
i.Airtel Payments Bank customers will be able to direct a Western Union money transfer into their bank
accounts 24/7 via their app in real-time. It will also allow Airtel Payments Bank customer to withdraw money
from its authorized 5 lakh outlets.
ii.In collaboration with Airtel Africa, this will enable over 15 million Airtel Money mobile wallet users in
Nigeria, Uganda, Gabon, Tanzania, Zambia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Madagascar, Kenya,
Congo, Niger, Tchad, Rwanda and Seychelles to simply get any money transfer received from across the world
into their wallets.
About Western Union:
Founded– 1851
Headquarters– Denver, Colorado, United States(US)
President & CEO– Hikmet Ersek
About Bharti Airtel:
Founded– 7 July 1995
Chairman– Sunil Bharti Mittal
About Airtel Payments Bank Limited:
Founded– 2017
Headquarters– New Delhi India
MD &CEO– Anubrata Biswas
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About Airtel Africa:

Founded– 8 June 2010
Headquarters– Delhi
CEO– Raghunath Venkateswarlu Mandava
India & WB signed $210 million loan pact for Maharashtra’s Agri & Rural Transformation
Project
On January 24, 2020, the govt of India, Govt of Maharashtra and the World Bank(WB) signed a loan
agreement of $210 million for Maharashtra’s Agribusiness & rural transformation project. This project will
help the farmers in Maharashtra to take part in competitive agriculture value chains, enhance agribusiness
investments thereby increasing productivity of commodities. All 36 districts of Maharashtra will be
implemented with the project and would benefit nearly 1 million farming households.
Key Points:
i.loan Agreement signing: The agreement was signed by Shri Sameer Kumar Khare, Additional Secretary of
the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance (MoF) on behalf of Indian govt while from the WB side,
it was signed by Mr JunaidKamal Ahmad, WB’s Country Director (India).
ii.Project agreement signing: The project agreement was signed by Shri Eknath Dawale, Secretary of the
Department of Agriculture, Government of Maharashtra & by Mr. Junaid Kamal Ahmad of WB.
iii.This loan is from the WB’s International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) has a grace
period of 6 years and a maturity period of 13.5 years.
About International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD)
Headquarters- Washington, D.C., United States(US).
Founded- 1944.
Parent organization- World Bank Group.
IndusInd Bank launches asset management platform “PIONEER”

On January 24, 2020, IndusInd Bank Limited , one of the leading Private Sector Banks of the country , has
launched the asset management platform under the name ‘PIONEER’ Banking. Through this, services will be
provided to high net-worth customers of IndusInd bank. Along with this, specially tailored banking services will
also be offered, which will suit the needs of valued consumers.
PIONEER customers will get the following benefits and privileges:
• The bank will not charge on Non-Maintenance of Minimum Balance
• PIONEER customers can get a benefit to link up to 10 family members & Business accounts and
extend the same benefits to all of them.
• They are allowed to access exclusive PIONEER ‘Lobbies’ that have been designed to enable them to
undertake personal & bank-related meetings.
• They can avail free doorstep banking of up to Rs. 4 Lakh per day at no extra cost.
• PIONEER customers will not be charged for transactions taken through the NEFT (National
Electronic Funds Transfer) or RTGS (Real-time gross settlement) platforms.
• No Transaction Charges on requests pertaining to checkbooks, demand drafts (DD), passbooks,
statements, alerts, or TDS(Tax Deducted at Source) certificates.
• They can also avail Complimentary PIONEER World Debit card, Card Holistic Wealth Management
Services & Lifestyle benefits (Such as BookMyShow vouchers, discounts at Marquee restaurants,
premiere hotels,etc).
About IndusInd Bank:
Founded– 1994. Headquarters– Mumbai, Maharashtra
MD & CEO– Romesh Sobti
Consumer Banking Head– Mr. Sumant Kathpalia
Tagline– We Make You Feel Richer
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APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

WEF appoints IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva and ARM chairman Patrice Motsepe to its board
of trustees
During the 50th edition of World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting 2020, which was held on January 21
to January 24, 2020, in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, the WEF has appointed International Monetary Fund (IMF)
chief Kristalina Georgieva and African Rainbow Minerals (ARM) founder and Executive Chairman, Patrice
Motsepe to its board of trustees.
Key Points:
i.Kristalina Georgieva serves as the IMF Managing Director since October 2019. She also served as the
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at the World Bank, and as Interim President of the World Bank Group and also
served as the European Commission’s Vice-President for Budget and Human Resources.
ii.Patrice Motsepe, founder of ARM had placed in “100 Greatest Living Business Minds” in 2017 Forbes
Magazine.
About IMF:
IMF is an international organization headquartered in Washington D.C, United States. It contains of 189
countries which are working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate
international trade and to promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty
around the world.
CEC Sunil Arora takes over as the new chairman of FEMBoSA

On January 24, 2020 India’s Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sunil Arora took over as the new Chair of
the Forum of the Election Management Bodies (EMBs) of South Asia (FEMBoSA) for the year 2020 during
the 10th annual meeting of FEMBoSA held in New Delhi. Sunil Arora succeeds K.M. Nural Huda, CEC of
Bangladesh. FEMBoSA is a regional association of Election Management Bodies (EMB) of SAARC (South Asian
Association for Regional Cooperation) countries and has 8 members.
Key Points:
i.Mou (Memorandum of Understanding): Election Commission of India (ECI) renewed Memorandum of
Understanding on “Strengthening Institutional Capacity” for cooperation in the field of election management
with the Independent Election Commission of Afghanistan.
• The poll panel also signed an MoU with Independent High Authority for Elections (ISIE) of Tunisia
for cooperation in the field of election management.
ii.Work Plan for 2020: “Use of Technology in Elections”–The EC calls for members to undertake projects &
initiatives on various aspects of use of technology in elections and submit their report on their experiences and
challenges at the next FEMBoSA meeting.
iii.Election commission of India (ECI) established the Indian International Institute of Democracy and Election
Management (IIDEM) in June 2011 (to promote people’s participation, develop stronger democratic
institutions, etc.,)
iv.The last annual meeting of FEMBoSA was held in Dhaka, Bangladesh in September 2018.
15 | P a g e
v.Other launches: CEC Sh Sunil Arora along with the two Election Commissioners Sh. Ashok Lavasa and Sh.
Sushil Chandra and Secretary-General, ECI Sh Umesh Sinha launched the 10th issue of ECI’s magazine – ‘VOICE
International’ which carries articles on the theme of “Innovative Methods of Voter Registration”. The 4th Issue
of the magazine “My Vote Matters” was also released on the occasion. A web portal on Association of World
Election Bodies (A-WEB) was also unveiled. IIIDEM will host A-WEB Centre for documentation, research and
training for sharing the best practices and capacity building of officials of A-WEB members. The Commission
also released “ICT 2020; a compendium of 20 Apps for Election”.
About FEMBoSA:
FEMBoSA was established at the 3rd Conference of Heads of Election Management Bodies of SAARC countries
in 2012.
SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) countries:
Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are the member countries
of SAARC.
Established- 8 December 1985.
Headquarters- Kathmandu, Nepal.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Pakistan successfully launched ballistic missile “Ghaznavi”
On January 23,2020 The successful training launch of nuclear-capable surface-to-surface ballistic
missile(SSBM) ‘Ghaznavi’ was held in Islamabad, Pakistan.The Ghaznavi missile strike targets upto a range
of 290 km (kilometers).
Key Points:
i.Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of Pakistan’s army mentioned that the Training launch
was part of Field Training Exercise of Army Strategic Forces Command.
ii.The launch was witnessed by Lieutenant General Nadeem Zaki Manj (Director General Strategic Plans
Division), Commander Army Strategic Forces Command, senior officers from the Strategic Plans Division, Army
Strategic Forces Command, Scientist and Engineers of the strategic organisations.
iii.In November 2019, Pakistan had carried out a successful training launch of ballistic missile Shaheen-I which
was also an SSBM.
About Pakistan:
Capital– Islamabad.
Prime Minister(PM)- Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi.
President- Arif-ur-Rehman Alvi.
Currency- Pakistani rupee.
Nitin Gadkari launches ‘GATI’ web portal to monitor Rs 3 lakh crore rupees project
On January 23, 2020, Nitin Jairam Gadkari, Minister for Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has launched
an online web portal ‘GATI’, on the pattern of portal ‘PRAGATI’, the portal used by the Prime Ministers’ Officer
(PMO) for monitoring projects, during the two-days long review meeting of National Highways Authority
(NHAI)-Ministry projects in Manesar, Haryana. GATI will be used to monitor around 500 projects of Rs 3 Lakh
Crore.
Key Points:
i.The portal has been created by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) which can be accessed from
the NHAI website. The contractors and concessionaires can raise any project related issues on the portal. The
issues raised in the portal will be monitored by the team of NHAI offices under the Ministry of Road Transport
and Highways.
ii.The meet saw the participation of Minister of State (MoS) Road Transport and Highways Vijay Kumar Singh,
Official from MoRTH, NHAI, National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL),
16 | P a g e
and state authorities.

About Ministry of Road Transport and Highways:
Founded- July 1942
Minister- Nitin Jairam Gadkari
About NHAI:
Founded- 1988
Headquarters- New Delhi
ENVIRONMENT
ZSI documents another new snake eel species “Ophichthus kailashchandrai” in Odisha
On January 23, 2020 The new snake eel species residing in the Bay of Bengal has been discovered and
documented by the Estuarine Biology Regional Centre (EBRC) of the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) at
Gopalpur-on-sea in Odisha. The new marine species have been named as Ophichthus kailashchandrai to
honour the vast contributions of Dr. Kailash Chandra (Director of Zoological Survey of India) to Indian animal
taxonomy.
Key Points:
i.Ophichthus kailashchandrai is the 8th species of the Ophichthus genus found in the Indian coast and the 5th
new species discovered by Gopalpur ZSI in the last 2 years.
ii.Dr. Anil Mohapatra, scientist at Gopalpur ZSI and his associates Swarup Ranjan Mohanty and Dipanjan Ray of
the Bajkul Milani Mahavidyalaya, West Bengal & Subhendu Sekar Mishra of the marine fish section of ZSI,
Kolkata identified Ophichthus kailashchandrai completely as a new species after detailed study.
iii.Zootaxa, an international scientific journal for zoological taxonomy acknowledged the new marine snake eel
species.
iv.In 2019 two new species of marine eel – Gymnothorax andamanensesis & Gymnothorax smithi were been
discovered by this ZSI centre.
About ZSI (Zoological Survey of India):
Objective- To promote the survey, exploration and research of the fauna in India.
Founded- 1916.
Headquarters- Kolkata, West Bengal.
Director- Dr.Kailash Chandra
17 | P a g e
SPORTS
ICC Test ranking 2020: Virat Kohli at top spot in batting list; India tops team ranking
On January 24, 2020 International Cricket Council (ICC) had released the ICC test ranking in which India is at
the top with 120 ratings. Indian Cricket team Captain Virat Kohli remains top in the ICC Test player ranking for
batsmen with 928 points.
ICC test batsmen ranking:

i.Virat Kohli tops the list with 928 points. Australia’s Steven Smith occupies the second spot with 911 points
followed by Australia’s Marnus Labuschagne with 827 points.
ii.Cheteshwar Pujara is at the 6th position with 791 points and Ajinkya Rahane at 8th with 759 points.
iii.The top ten is rounded off by Kane Williamson of New Zealand on fourth, David Warner of Australia on fifth,
Babar Azam of Pakistan on seventh, Joe Root of England on ninth and Ben Stokes of England on tenth spot.
ICC test team ranking:
i.India tops the list with 120 ratings followed by Australia with 108 rating is on the second spot and New
Zealand with 105 rating occupies the third place.
ii.South Africa is on the fourth, England on fifth, Sri Lanka on sixth, Pakistan on seventh, West Indies on eight ,
Bangladesh on ninth and Afghanistan on the tenth place.
ICC test bowler ranking:
i.Australia Pat Cummins tops the list with 904 points followed by Neil Wagner of New Zealand with 852 points
and Jason Holder of West Indies with 830 points.
ii.India’s Jasprit Bumrah, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Shami are in sixth, eighth and tenth positions.
ICC Test All-Rounder ranking:
i.West Indies Jason Holder tops the list with 473 points followed by Ben Stokes of England with 411 points at
2nd rank and India’s Ravindra Jadeja with 406 points at 3rd position.
ii.India’s Ravichandran Ashwin is at fifth position with 308 points.
TOP 3 Batsman:
Rank Name
1 Virat Kohli (India)
2 Steven Smith (Australia)
Marnus Labuschagne
3
(Australia)
18 | P a g e
OBITUARY
Former Minister of Odisha, Jagannath Rout passes away at 77
On January 24, 2020 Senior Congress leader and former Minister of Odisha, Jagannath Rout has passed away
at a private hospital in Bhubaneswar, Odisha due to cardiac arrest. He was 77.
Key Points:
i.He has won the Dhamnagar constituency election in Bhadrak district, Odisha in 1980, 1985, 1995.
ii.He also served as the Odisha’s Minister of Industry from 1989-1990, as the Minister of Health and family
welfare from 1995-1998 and as Minister of Urban Development from 1998-1999.
Nagaland’s first MP to Rajya Sabha & Padma Shri awardee Melhupra Vero passed away at 86
On January 24, 2020, Melhupra Vero, Former Rajya Sabha MP(Member of Parliament) passed away in
Dimapur, Nagaland at the age of 86. He was the 1st person from Nagaland to become a member of the Rajya
Sabha(Upper House). Vero was a member of the Upper House of Parliament for 2 years from 1964 to 1974.
Born in 1934, he hailed from Runguzu village in Phek district, Nagaland.
Honours:
i.The Government of India awarded him the 4th highest civilian honour of Padma Shri, in 2006, for his
contributions to society.
ii.On October 1,2015, the Government of Nagaland honoured him during the International Day of Older Persons
celebrations.
Key Points:
i.He was elected to Nagaland Legislative Assembly (NLA) from Phek constituency in 1974.
ii.In 1989 he was elected to the state assembly from Chozuba seat and became a Nagaland cabinet Minister.
iii.In 1995 he was appointed as the chairman of the Liaison Committee of Naga Hoho and also became the first
president of the Naga Hoho from 1998-2004.
BOOKS & AUTHORS

Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi’s new novel ‘Balwa’ to be released
The Union Minister for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi will soon release his Hindi novel Balwa, a
fiction story based on the happenings in India in the 1990s. It will be published by Diamond Pocket Books.
Key Points:
i.The book revolve the concepts of society misleding by religious, political and administrative machinery.
ii.Also, Naqvi has written a Hindi novel ‘Raj Lila’, which based on the story of tribal woman’s struggles & Cyber
Supari will also be released soon.
19 | P a g e
IMPORTANT DAYS
10th National Voters’ Day is observed on January 25, 2020
On January 25,2020 10th National Voters’ Day (NVD) was celebrated across the country over 10 lakh locations
(including Polling Stations, District and State headquarters). President Ram Nath Kovind was the Chief Guest of
the National Voters Day organized by Election Commission of India (ECI) at Manekshaw Centre, New Delhi.
NVD 2020 theme was ”Electoral Literacy for Stronger Democracy” to focus on voter education & renewal of
citizens’ faith in the electoral process.
The National Voters’ Day was being celebrated since 2011 to mark the Foundation Day of the ECI which was
established on 25th January 1950 and completes 70 years of its journey.
Key Points:
i.Aim: The main purpose of the celebration to encourage, facilitate and maximize enrollment especially new
voters.
ii.”Belief in the Ballot-II” an anthology of 101 human stories about Indian elections developed by ECI in
collaboration with Publications Division, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting and book “The Centenarian
Voters: Sentinels of our Democracy” were launched by Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and were
presented to Hon’ble President Kovind.
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Current Affairs January 25, 2020

1. Dept of Biotechnology holds international summit on women in STEM in New Delhi

India’s first e-waste clinic opens in Bhopal

About MadhyaPradesh (MP):

Fruit crops Production:

New Releases & formations at WEF:

World losing trust in climate science;Indians tops trust chart:

Public opinion poll:

EAM Jaishankar’s visit to Tunisia(22-23, January 2020)

European Commission, Council Presidents sign Brexit agreement

About European Commission:

Pakistan may be out of FAFT’s “Grey List” by February 2020

BANKING & FINANCE

About Airtel Africa:

IndusInd Bank launches asset management platform “PIONEER”

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

CEC Sunil Arora takes over as the new chairman of FEMBoSA

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

and state authorities.

ICC test batsmen ranking:

BOOKS & AUTHORS

Good Luck with Your Exams!!!

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