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• As per Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, India will host the 14th session of the Conference of Parties to United Nations Convention to combat Desertification (UNCCD) in 2019 to address the issues of land degradation and desertification.


• The event will be participated by more than 100 countries and it is likely to be held in the month of October, 2019.


• UNCCD COP-14 aims to showcase the India’s commitment to achieve land degradation neutrality by 2030.

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• Union Tourism Minister K. J. Alphons, co-chaired the 7th Meeting of Tourism Ministers of ASEAN-India with Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Viet Nam, Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Thien. The Meeting was held in Ha Long City in Viet Nam.


• The Meeting was also attended by the Tourism Ministers of Brunei Darussalam, Combodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.


• Tourism Ministers welcomed the decision of ASEAN-India Informal summit which was held on 15 November 2018 and lauched ASEAN-India Tourism Cooperation Year 2019. Earlier Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi also proposed to designate 2019 as the ASEAN-India Tourism Year.


• During the meeting, ministers noted the improved tourism performance of ASEAN and India in 2018 with the increase of 7.4 percent in arrival of tourists in ASEAN and India. The Preliminary number of tourist arrival stands at 139.5 million.

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• The US has discussed potential missile defence cooperation with India, and said in its '2019 Missile Defence Review' (MDR).


• Also MDR added that "This is a natural outgrowth of India's status as a Major Defence Partner and key element of our Indo-Pacific Strategy". Russia, China, Iran and North Korea were described as "current and emerging missile threats" to the US.

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• The UN Security Council has condemned "in the strongest possible terms" Thursday`s car bombing at a police academy in the Colombian capital of Bogota, which caused heavy casualties.


• The members of the Security Council expressed their deepest sympathy and condolences to the families of the victims.

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• Finance Ministry started ‘Know Your Budget’ series to educate people on Twitter about the importance of Union Budget and its making.


• The series contains definitions of various terms used in the budget.


• The series began with explaining the terms: Union Budget and Vote on Account.


• The government on February 1, 2019 would unveil the interim Budget for 2019-20.

• Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities organized the 2nd regional conference at Nehru Centre, Mumbai, on a scheme titled ‘Deendayal Disabled Rehabilitation Scheme (DDRS)’.


• The conference consisted of Programme Implementing Agencies (PIAs) from the Western Region of the country which further would culminate in a National Conference in New Delhi.


• The Regional Conference was organized in order to disseminate the provisions of the revised scheme (2018) and to create better linkages between the department, agencies and stakeholders associated with the scheme.


• The western states concerned were, namely, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Goa and two Union Territories i.e., Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu.

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• The 4-day 2nd World Orange Festival commenced in Nagpur, the city of oranges, for the first time.


• The festival will also showcase and brand the exquisite fruit in order to boost its export.


• The festival is bring presented by UPL and hosted by Maharashtra Tourism.

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• Union Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre announced that Nashik in Maharashtra will be the site of the country’s second defence innovation hub after Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu.


• It was announced at a defence industry stakeholders meeting in Ojhar, Nashik.


• This is in line with the Defence Ministry’s target of making the country among the top five arms exporters by 2025.


• By that timeline, India aims to achieve annual arms exports of Rs 35,000 crore.

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• Uttar Pradesh became the third state after Jharkhand and Gujarat to approve the 10 per cent reservation for economically backward among upper castes in jobs and educational institutions.


• The Approval was given in a meeting headed by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Yogi Adityanath.


• The Reservation for the poor among upper castes came into effect on 14th January 2019, when Parliament passed “The Constitution (124 Amendment) Bill 2019”.

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• Two Commemorative coins in the denomination of Rs 100 and Rs 5 were released to mark the 102nd Birth Anniversary of late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.G. Ramachandran.


• Commemorative coins were released by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam.


• A 66 feet wide and 52 feet tail “Dr MGR Centenary Arch” which was constructed near Marina Beach was also unveiled.

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• Dr. C.S. Mohapatra, Additional Secretary, Department of Economic affairs, Government of India and Mr. Katsuo Matsumoto, Chief Representative, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) signed the Loan Agreement under Japan’s Official Development Assistance Loan Program in New Delhi.


• Loan Agreement was signed for Development of Chennai Peripheral Ring Road (Phase 1) for JPY 40.074 billion (Rs. 2470 Crore).


• Program for Japan India Cooperative Actions towards Sustainable Development Goal in India for JPY 15 billion (Rs. 950 Crore).


• Chennai Peripheral Ring Road (Phase 1) project aims to meet the continuously increasing traffic demand in Chennai metropolitan area.


• The second project which is ‘Japan India Cooperative Actions towards sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)’ aims to contribute the promotion of SDGs especially in social development by supporting the efforts of Indian Government in strengthening the Policy Framework and Implementation mechanism.

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• Reliance Industries Ltd Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani group companies Reliance Retail and Reliance Jio Infocomm would jointly launch a new e-commerce platform in the country.


• Gujarat would be the first state to get it in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

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• India’s richest man Mukesh Ambani said his company Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) will roll out its e-commerce platform to as many as 1.2 million retailers and store owners in Gujarat, as part of a massive nationwide plan that analysts said could pose a challenge to Walmart Inc.-controlled Flipkart, Amazon.com Inc., and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd-funded Paytm Mall.


• Reliance Jio and Reliance Retail will launch a unique new commerce platform to empower and enrich our 12 lakh small retailers and shopkeepers in Gujarat, which are part of the over 3 crore community in India,” Ambani said at the inaugural function of the Vibrant Gujarat Global summit in Gandhinagar.

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• The Hockey India announced that striker Rani Rampal will lead the 18-member Indian women’s team for the season opener tournament in Spain starting 26 January 2019.


• Besides, goalkeeper Savita was appointed as the vice-captain of the Indian Women Hockey team for the tour.


• Throughout the tour the Indian Hockey team which is coached by Sjoerd Marijne is set to play four matches with Spain and two matches against the Women’s World Cup runners-up, Ireland.

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• India defeated Australia in the third ODI at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) to win the ODI series by 2-1 and became the first Visiting team to win bilateral series across the three formats against Australia in Australian soil.


• Indian team lead by Virat Kohli also became the first ever Indian side to win bilateral ODI series in Australia.


• Yuzvendra Chahal was given the player of the match award whereas Veteran Player M. S. Dhoni was honoured with Player of the series award.


• Earlier, India defeated Australia by 2-1 in the test series for the first time.


• Cheteshwar Pujara was awarded the Player of the series in Test Series against Australia.

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• Indian female wrestler Vinesh Phogat, who hails from Haryana, became the first Indian athlete to receive a nomination in the prestigious Laureus World Comeback of the Year Award.


• She was nominated due to her comeback after battling a long injury lay-off to win a gold medal at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games and Jakarta Asian Games.


• Besides her, US Tour Championship winner Tiger Woods, Canadian snowboarder Mark McMorris, American alpine ski racer Lindsey Vonn, Japanese figure skater Yuzuru Manyu, and Dutch para-snowboarding star Bibian Mentel-Spee have also been nominated for the same.


• The deserving winner would be presented the award in Monaco, France on the 18th of February 2019.

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• Chief Minister of Haryana, Shri Manohar Lal Khattar announced “Shaurya Award” to students in the name of 71 state police force martyrs who laid down their lives while maintaining law and order and protecting society since the formation of state in 1966.


• A prize money of Rs. 11,000 will be given to students for courageous deeds every year in a village block where school is located under this award.


• The announcement was made by Manohar Lal Khattar at the first state level function at National Police Memorial in New Delhi.


• Chief Minister, Mahohar Lal Khattar also released a book titled “Martyrs of Haryana Police” which highlights the heroic deeds of the police personnel.

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• Justice Asif Saeed Khosa who is known for his habit of citing works of literature in his judgements took oath as the 26th Chief Justice of Pakistan in a ceremony held at the President’s House, Islamabad.


• Justice Khosa, 64, was administered oath by President Arif Alvi, in the ceremony which was also attended by Prime Minister Imran Khan, judges of higher courts, ministers, diplomats, civil and military officials, lawyers and foreign guests, including from India.


• He will serve as the top judge of Pakistan for nearly 337 days and is scheduled to retire on December 21, 2019.


• Because of his habit of citing works of literature in his judgements, he is known as the “poetic justice” and is regarded as Pakistan´s top expert in criminal law.


• Some famous judgements of Justice Khosa include overturning of the death penalty of Asia Bibi, a Christian woman jailed for blasphemy and disqualification from politics for life to the former prime minister Nawaz Sharif after corruption allegations in 2017 in the landmark Panama papers verdict.

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• Justice Asif Saeed Khosa who is known for his habit of citing works of literature in his judgements took oath as the 26th Chief Justice of Pakistan in a ceremony held at the President’s House, Islamabad.


• Justice Khosa, 64, was administered oath by President Arif Alvi, in the ceremony which was also attended by Prime Minister Imran Khan, judges of higher courts, ministers, diplomats, civil and military officials, lawyers and foreign guests, including from India.


• He will serve as the top judge of Pakistan for nearly 337 days and is scheduled to retire on December 21, 2019.


• Because of his habit of citing works of literature in his judgements, he is known as the “poetic justice” and is regarded as Pakistan´s top expert in criminal law.


• Some famous judgements of Justice Khosa include overturning of the death penalty of Asia Bibi, a Christian woman jailed for blasphemy and disqualification from politics for life to the former prime minister Nawaz Sharif after corruption allegations in 2017 in the landmark Panama papers verdict.

Source: Cick Here

• Raja Krishnamoorthi, a Democratic lawmaker, has been appointed as a member of a Congressional committee on intelligence.


• He is the first South Asian to serve in the powerful body tasked to strengthen U.S.’s national security.

Source: Cick Here

• Japan launched the Epsilon – 4 rocket carrying 7 satellites developed by private sector companies and Universities from the Uchinoura Space Center in Kagoshima.


• The cost of launch which is roughly USD 50 million was borne by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to promote and encourage space exploration by private sector in Japan.


• The Epsilon series was developed in a bid to put small satellites into orbit at a low lost.

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• Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Mary Oliver died at her residence in Hobe Sound, Florida due to a disease caused lymphoma at the age of 83.


• She was critically acclaimed for her rapturous odes to nature and the animal life.


• Mary Oliver wrote more than 15 poetry and essay collections.