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• Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose was born on 23 January, 1897 in Cuttack, Orissa. He was one of the most prominent Indian freedom fighter.


• His army was known as Indian National Army (INA) or Azad Hind Fauj. He also led an Indian national force from abroad against the Western powers during World War II.

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• Zimbabwe's president said "unacceptable" violence by security forces will be investigated after a days-long crackdown on economic unrest, while a doctor said the 12 documented deaths and more than 300 people wounded are likely "are just a fraction of the actual victims."


• President Emmerson Mnangagwa called for a national dialogue among political parties and civic leaders, even as arrests continued.

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• The U.S. Justice Department said it will pursue the extradition of the chief financial officer of China’s Huawei Technologies Co Ltd’s, arrested in Canada in December.


• The United States has accused Meng Wanzhou of misrepresenting the company’s links to a firm that tried to sell equipment to Iran despite U.S. sanctions. The arrest soured ties between Canada and China, which subsequently detained two Canadians and sentenced a third to death.

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• The Taliban have launched a major attack on an Afghan military compound in central Maidan Wardak province, officials have said, with some putting the death toll at more than 100 people.


• The Incident at a campus of the National Directorate of Security (NDS) is the latest in a series of deadly attacks in recent months by the Taliban, which has seized control of about half of Afghanistan.

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• The government, acting through the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers, has decided to establish a committee under NITI Aayog, that will be tasked with recommending price controls and monitoring the prices of specific drugs and health products to ensure their affordability.


• The Standing Committee on Affordable Medicines and Health Products (SCAMHP) which will be headed by a NITI Aayog member (Health) will be the recommending body to National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA).


• The committee will also include the chief economic adviser, besides secretary, department of health research, director-general of health services, vice-chairperson, National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM) and joint secretary, department of industrial policy and promotion.


• The NPPA has a range of functions relating to the implementation of the Drugs Prices Control Order (DPCO)-1995 ranging from setting prices, enforcement, use of powers in public interest, price approvals etc. for the drugs mentioned in the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM).


• At present, the health ministry prepares the list of drugs eligible for price regulation. The Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) then incorporates NLEM into Schedule 1 of the Drugs Prices Control Order (DPCO). Following this, NPPA fixes the prices of drugs in this schedule.


• Medicines and devices listed under NLEM must be sold at the price fixed by NPPA, while those on the non-scheduled list are allowed a maximum annual price hike of 10%. More than 750 formulations are currently on India’s list of essential medicines.

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• Nitin Gadkari to inaugurate first inter-state bridge in jammu and kashmir. It was built at a cost of Rs 150 crore in a span of three and a half years linking areas of Katthua district with Punjab.


• The bridge also called as Keediyan-Gandiyal bridge is 1.2 km-long on the river Ravi.


• With this bridge opened for people ,the travel distance between the two inter-state destinations of Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab is decreased.

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• The 4th International Exhibition & Conference on Steel Industry, India Steel 2019 Exhibition and Conference was organised by Ministry of Steel in association with Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) at NSE Complex Goregaon, Mumbai.


• The theme of the event is “Balancing Steel Demand & Supply Dynamics: Building a New India”.


• The three-day event provided an opportunity for all the stakeholders to deliberate and identify ways to contribute towards building a robust road map for the further growth of the steel sector.


• The biennial event will see over 250 exhibiting companies from 15 countries, over 200 International buyers and more than 10 thousand business visitors both from India and abroad.


• A Reverse Buyer Seller Meet (RBSM) is also planned during India Steel Expo 2019 where more than 300 Foreign Buyers from Africa, CIS, Middle East, Developing Asia including SAARC and other important regions will be invited and hosted by the FICCI.


• The India Steel-2019 is part of series of initiatives to develop a globally competitive steel industry in line with National Steel Policy (NSP)-2107 which envisages production of 300 million tonnes of steels by 2030-31.


• India has become the second largest producer of crude steel during 2018. Besides the country is also the largest producer of sponge iron in the world and the 3rd largest steel consumer in the world after China and USA.

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• Assam Cabinet headed by Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has approved 10 per cent quota for the economically weaker sections of the general category in government employment and government education institutes.


• The cabinet also approved the guidelines for disbursement of ₹5,000 each to five lakh farmers of the state under the Mukhya Mantri Krishi Sa Sajuli Yozana for purchase of farm tools and implements.


• In another decision the Cabinet approved a loan amount of ₹95 crore under Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) from NABARD, in-order to construct and strengthen embankments, dykes and other infrastructure across the state.


• Furthermore the cabinet also approved incentives for government doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers under Ayushman Bharat & Atal Amrit Abhiyan.


• The Assam Cabinet decided that, 20 per cent of the total amount for government hospitals implementing these schemes has been earmarked for the purpose of incentivizing Government Health workforce.

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• Andhra Pradesh government decided to give only five per cent reservation to the economically weaker sections (EWS) under the Centre’s 10 per cent quota, setting aside the rest to the upper caste Kapus in its capital city Amaravathi.


• The cabinet also approved the decision of doubling welfare pensions given under the NTR Bharosa Scheme. Pensions of Rs 1,000 and Rs 1,500 will now be doubled to Rs 2,000 and Rs 3,000 respectively.


• The cabinet also decided to provide exemption of life tax for autos and quarterly tax for tractors and motor vehicle tax arrears.


• To provide reservation to this community, Naidu formed a committee under Justice Manjunath in 2016, but didn’t get approval from Modi government.

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• The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India organised an Insolvency and Bankruptcy Awareness Programme at Vadodara, Gujarat.


• It is organised in collabration with three Insolvency Professional Agencies, namely, the Indian Institute of Insolvency Professionals of ICAI (lead partner), the ICSI Institute of Insolvency Professionals, and the Insolvency Professional Agency of Institute of Cost Accountants of India.

• INSEAD business school in partnership with Tata Communications and Adecco Group released the 6th edition of Global Talent Competitive Index (GTCI) 2019 which stated that India has moved up one position to rank 80th on the Global Talent Competitive Index 2019 ranking.


• The report, suggested that India’s biggest challenge is to improve its ability to attract and retain talent and there is a need to address its poor level of Internal Openness in particular with respect to weak gender equality and low tolerances towards minorities and immigrants and its disappointing showing in lifestyle indicators.


• The top 5 countries in the index included Switzerland followed by Singapore, the US, Norway and Denmark.


• At 45th position in overall ranking, China emerged as the best performer among the BRICS countries.


• The survey measures how countries and cities grow, attract and retain talent, ranking 125 countries and 114 cities across all groups of income and levels of development.

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• According to a report released by India Rating, India’s fiscal deficit may go up to 3.2 per cent in Financial Year 2020 due to populist schemes like farm loan waivers and other financial support schemes which may be announced before the forthcoming general elections.


• Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala are most susceptible to see an increase in debt in Financial Year 2020.


• States’ revenue account may clock an aggregate deficit of 0.5 per cent of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) in FY20 due to higher growth in revenue spending than revenue receipt.


• Earlier a fiscal deficit of 2.8 per cent was forecasted by India Ratings in FY19 mid-year forecast.


• The Announcement of Farm loan waivers by Madhya Pradesh, Chhatisgarh, Assam & Rajasthan and Financial assistance schemes for marginal farmer by Odisha, Jharkhand and Telangana contributed significantly to the increased fiscal deficit forecast.

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• The International Cricket Council (ICC) announced the Men’s Test and ODI teams of the year with Virat Kohli as the Captain of both teams following his brilliant performance in 2018 as a Batsman as well as a Captain.


• The Test team of the year is as follows: Virat Kohli (India), Rishabh Pant (India), Jasprit Bumrah (India), Kane Williamson (New Zealand), Henry Nicholls (New Zealand), Tom Latham (New Zealand), Dimuth Karunaratne (Sri Lanka), Jason Holder ( West Indies), Kagiso Rabada (South Africa), Nathon Lyon (Australia) and Mohammad Abbas (Pakistan).


• The ODI Team of the year is as follows: Virat Kohli (India), Rohit Sharma (India), Kuldeep Yadav (India), Jasprit Bumrah (India), Joe Root (England), Jonny Bairstow (England), Jos Buttler (England), Ben Stokes (England), Mustafizur Rahman (Bangladesh), Ross Taylor (New Zealand) and Rashid Khan (Afghanistan).


• Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah are included in both ODI and well as Test team of the year.

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• US Open 2018 winner Naomi Osaka defeated world number seven Elina Svitolina in the Australian Open 2019 quarter-finals to win her 12th straight Grand Slam match.


• The 21-year-old world number four clinched the match 6-4, 6-1 in 72 minutes. In the semi-finals, Osaka will face the winner of the quarter-final match between Serena Williams and Karolina Pliskova.

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• The Vice president of India Shri M Venkaiah Naidu presented the 2nd Chhatra Viswakarma Award to Students and their mentors and Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana Yojana (SAGY) awards to institution at an event organized by All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) at New Delhi.


• The theme of 2nd Chhatra Viswakarma Award was ‘Empowerment of villages through technologies’ whereas the theme of Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana was “Developed Village – Developed Nations”.


• The Chhatra Viswakarma Award Awards were given to encourage the young students to come up with novel ideas in order to improve the life of people in villages.


• Under Sansad Adarsh GramYojana, College of Technology and Engineering Udaipur, Rajasthan got the first prize.


• Sethi Sahib Memorial Polytechnic College, Tirur, Kerala got the 2nd prize and Indian Institute of Food Processing Technology, Tamil Nadu got the third prize.

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• The International Cricket Council (ICC) announced the 2018 Men’s Awards after a competitive year of matches across all formats. Women’s awards were already announced on 31st December 2018.


• 21-year Old Wicket keeper batsman, Rishabh Pant was named the “International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Emerging Player of the year” for his brilliant performance in Test Cricket in 2018.


• Rishabh Pant scored 537 runs including a century and two fifties in Tests in 2018. He also claimed 40 catches and two stumpings in 2018.


• Rishabh Pant became the first Indian Wicket-keeper to score a century in Australia after his unbeaten 159 runs knock in fourth Test Match against Australia.


• He has also equelled the record for the most catches taken in a Test match with 11 catches against Australia in December 2018.

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• The Top US Diplomat for European affairs, Wess Mitchell, has resigned, according to his resignation letter seen at a time of strains in the trans-Atlantic relationship over U.S. President Donald Trump's policies.


• There were no obvious signs that Mitchell, a former policy analyst on central and eastern Europe, was resigning out of protest against Trump administration policies.

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• Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu launched the book ‘Universal Brotherhood Through Yoga’ in New Delhi.


• The book is compiled by Bharatiya Sanskrit Pitham.

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• On January 22, 2019, Former India hockey player Raghbir Singh Bhola, a two-time Olympic medallist, has passed away aged 92.


• In 2000, he was honoured with the Arjuna Award for his achievements in hockey.