Daily Current Affairs, 24th January 2019

1) National Girl Child Day: 24 January

•National Girl Child Day is celebrated in India on 24 January. Women and Child Development Ministry celebrated the National Girl Child Day 2019 at Pravasi Bharti Kendra, New Delhi. The programme also observed the anniversary of Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) Scheme.

•The theme of National Girl Child Day 2019 was “Empowering Girls for a Brighter Tomorrow” and celebrating with objectives of generating awareness on the issue of declining Child Sex Ratio (CSR) and create a positive environment around valuing the girl child. A booklet on “Innovations under BBBP” will also be released on the occasion.

2) International Day of Education: 24 January

•Today (24th January) is International Day of Education. On 3 December 2018, the United Nations General Assembly adopted with consensus a resolution proclaiming 24 January as International Day of Education, in celebration of the role of education for peace and development.

3) Piyush Goyal Named Interim Finance Minister

•Piyush Goyal has been named the interim Finance Minister and interim Minister of Corporate Affairs during Arun Jaitley’s indisposition. Goyal will retain his existing portfolios of coal and railways.

•Union Minister Arun Jaitley, 66, had left for the United States for a regular medical check-up. Jaitley will be designated as a minister without a portfolio during his period of indisposition.

4) 2nd World Integrated Medicine Forum 2019 Held In Goa

•Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for AYUSH Shri Shripad Yesso Naik, inaugurated the 2nd World Integrated Medicine Forum 2019 on the ‘Regulation of Homeopathic Medical Products; Advancing global collaboration’ in Goa. The organizers of the forum are the Central Council for Research in Homeopathy, under the Ministry of AYUSH.

•The themes of the forum are: Regulatory collaborations, Converging on minimum regulatory & legal standards, Advancing safety and quality standards, Regulatory trend towards standardization and minimizing complexity, Recognizing homeopathy as a distinct holistic medical system and Veterinary Homeopathy.

5) Global Investors Summit Held In Chennai

•Tamil Nadu Government organised the 2nd edition of Global Investor summit in Chennai. The state government would soon unveil e-vehicle policy to give a boost to electric vehicles manufacturing in the state.

•In the opening ceremony, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was the chief guest. She assured the Centre’s fullest cooperation to the state in its march towards progress. Tamil Nadu government has allocated nearly Rs 75 crores to conduct the event.

6) PM Modi Launched Pravasi Teerth Darshan Yojana

•Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Pravasi Teerth Darshan Yojana under which a group of Indian diaspora will be taken on a government-sponsored tour of religious places in India twice a year.

•The first batch of 40 Indian-origin people are at the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas and from here they will begin their tour. They will be taken to religious places of all major religions in India and the government will bear all the expenses including the airfare from their country of residence.

7) Venezuela Breaks Off Diplomatic Ties With The US

•Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has announced that he is breaking off diplomatic ties with the United States after his American counterpart Donald Trump recognized Opposition leader Juan Guaido as the South American country’s interim President.

•Nicolas Maduro gave all US diplomatic staff in Venezuela 72 hours to leave the country. The Venezuelan President accused the US government of attempting a coup d’etat.

8) 3 Indian expats From UAE Win Prestigious Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award

•Three Indian expats from the UAE are amongst those who won the prestigious Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award the highest honor conferred on Indian diaspora. President Ram Nath Kovind conferred the award on Girish Pant, Surender Singh Kandhari and Dr. Zulekha Daud and other awardees at the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) Convention in Varanasi.

•Girish Pant, a social worker has been instrumental in rescuing several Indian sailors stranded in UAE waters. Surender Singh Kandhari, chairman of the Gurudwara Guru Nanak Darbar Sikh Temple, is a philanthropist, businessman and a long-term Dubai resident. Dr  Zulekha, founder and chairperson of Zulekha Healthcare Group, who came to the UAE in 1964, is believed to be the first female practicing doctor in the country.