Daily Current Affairs, 18th January 2019

1) 2nd World Orange Festival Begins In Nagpur

•The second World Orange Festival has begun in Nagpur. The festival, while offering its famed oranges to the world, will also showcase and brand the exquisite fruit in order to boost its export. Agricultural experts and scientists from various countries will participate in the workshops and guide farmers.

2) Suresh Prabhu Inaugurates 10th Edition of India Rubber Expo 2019

•Union Minister for Commerce and Industry, Suresh Prabhu inaugurated the 10th edition of the India Rubber Expo – 2019 in Mumbai.

•The three-day event being held at the Bombay Exhibition Centre is one of the most anticipated events in the rubber industry’s calendar.

3) Dr. Jitendra Singh Inaugurated UNNATI Programme of ISRO in Bengaluru

•Minister of State in Department of Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh inaugurated the UNNATI (Unispace Nanosatellite Assembly & Training) programme organized by ISRO in Bengaluru, Karnataka. 

•UNNATI, a capacity building programme on Nanosatellite development, is an initiative by ISRO to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first United Nations conference on the exploration and peaceful uses of outer space (UNISPACE-50).

4) Dr. Rattan Lal Honoured With 2019 Japan Prize

•The Japan Prize Foundation announced India born professor Dr. Rattan Lal, University Professor of Soil Science at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, U.S.A, as the recipient of the 2019 Japan Prize for his contributions in the field of “Biological Production, Ecology”.

•Dr. Yoshio Okamoto was announced to be the recipient of the 2019 Japan Prize on of “Materials and Production” field. Each laureate will receive a certificate of recognition and a commemorative gold medal. A cash award of 50 million Japanese yen(approximately $450,000 USD) will also be given to each prize field.

5) GDP To Be A Tad Higher To 7.5% In FY20: India Ratings

•India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra), a Fitch Group Company, estimated India’s GDP growth could touch 7.5 % in the financial year 2019-20 as against 7.2 % during current fiscal i.e. 2018-19.

•India Ratings believes investments are slowly but steadily gaining traction with gross fixed capital formation growing 12.2 % in FY19 and projected to clock 10.3 % in FY20.

6) The Global Risks Report 2019 Released By World Economic Forum

•The World Economic Forum released the 14th edition of its annual Global Risk Report,2019. The report’s findings are based on the annual Global Risks Perception Survey, in which nearly 1,000 decision-makers from the public sector, private sector, academia, and civil society assess the risks facing the world.

•The report was released ahead of the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos. Trade tensions, cyber and technological threats, rising geopolitical and geo-economic tensions, and environmental degradation dominated the list.

7) Reliance Retail, Jio to Launch New e-Commerce Platform

•Reliance Industries Ltd Chairman and managing director Mukesh Ambaniannounced that 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. The announcement was made at the inauguration of the three-day Vibrant Gujarat summit. The new e-commerce project would empower 1.2 million shopkeepers in Gujarat.

8) Vinesh Phogat Becomes First Indian Athlete To Be Nominated In Laureus World Comeback of Year Award

•Ace Indian female wrestler Vinesh Phogat has become the first Indian athlete to receive a nomination in the prestigious Laureus World Comeback of the Year Award. She has been nominated alongside US Tour Championship winner Tiger Woods, who won his first tournament in five years.

•The 24-year-old Vinesh from Haryana made a sensational comeback after battling a long injury lay-off to win a gold medal at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games and Jakarta Asian Games.

9) India 1st Away Team To Win Bilateral Series in All Formats in Australia

•India defeated Australia in the third ODI today to clinch the three-match series 2-1. With this, India became the first visiting side to win a bilateral series (two or more matches) in all three formats in Australia. India registered their first Test series win in Australia earlier this month, while they won a T20I series on Australian soil in 2016.