Daily Current Affairs, 29th January 2019

1) Data Protection Day: Jan 28

•The Council of Europe had launched a Data Protection Day to be celebrated each year on 28 January, the date on which the Council of Europe’s data protection convention,known as “Convention 108”, was opened to the signature.

•Data Protection Day is now celebrated globally and is called Data Privacy Day outside Europe. The data protection convention, which is the only international treaty in this field, is being updated to ensure that its data protection principles are still in line with today’s needs.

2) Odisha Announces Jiban Sampark Project

•Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has announced “Jiban Sampark” project in partnership with UNICEF India to generate awareness about the development and welfare initiatives of state government among the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups of the state. The announcement was made after Patnaik inaugurated the annual tribal fair popularly known as “Adivasi Mela”.

•The Jiban Sampark’s focus areas will include skill development, empowering communities, cooperation, and innovation among the groups of 75 tribal communities in the country, 13 Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups residing in remote and far off areas of 12 district in Odisha.

3) Uttarakhand’s First Tulip Garden In Pithoragarh

•Uttarakhand’s first tulip garden will come up over 50 hectares of forest land in Pithoragarh district at a cost of Rs 50 crore. The state government has obtained the Centre’s nod for development of the garden.

•To be developed by the ONGC, under its corporate social responsibility programme, the proposed tulip garden will be the country’s second after the one located in Srinagar (J&K). It has been selected under the State Government’s ‘13districts, 13 new destinations’ scheme, to attract more tourists to the district.

4) India, China Sign Protocol For Exports Of Indian Tobacco Leaves To China

•India and China have signed the protocol for exports of Indian tobacco leaves to China. The protocol was signed during the recent visit of Commerce Secretary, Dr. Anup Wadhawan to Beijing.

•Dr.Wadhawan also had the bilateral meeting with Vice Minister of General Administration of China Customs, Zhang Jiwen for examining market access and quarantine issues for India’s agriculture and allied products.

5) Pakistan Appoints Its First Ever Female Hindu Civil Judge

•Suman Kumari has become the first Hindu woman to have been appointed as a civil judge in Pakistan after passing an examination for induction of judicial officers. Kumari, who hails from Qambar-Shahdadkot, will serve in her native district.

•The first judge from the Hindu community was Justice Rana Bhagwandas, who served as the acting chief justice for brief periods between 2005 and 2007.

6) India Replaces Japan To Become Second-Largest Crude Steel Producer

•India has replaced Japan as the world’s 2nd largest steel producing country, while China is the largest producer of crude steel, accounting for more than 51% of production, according to the World Steel Association. The global steel body, in its latest report, stated that China’s crude steel output jumped 6.6% to 928.3 million tonnes in 2018 from 870.9 MT in 2017.

•China’s share increased from 50.3 percent in 2017 to 51.3% in 2018. India’s crude steel production in 2018 was at 106.5 MT, up 4.9% from 101.5 MT in 2017. Japan produced 104.3 MT in 2018, down 0.3% compared to 2017.

7) Poonam Khetrapal Singh Re-appointed Regional Director Of WHO South-East Asia

•Poonam Khetrapal Singh has been appointed Regional Director for World Health Organization South-East Asia, for a second five-year term. The WHO Executive Board unanimously endorsed Dr. Khetrapal Singh, who was earlier also unanimously nominated by 11 Member countries of the Region for another five years.