Daily Current Affairs, 15th January 2020

1) Indian Army Day: 15 January

•Indian Army Day is observed on January 15 in India every year. This year 72nd Army Day is being celebrated across the country. This day celebrated every year to commemorate the day when General (later Field Marshal) KM Carriappa took over the command of Army from General Sir F R R Bucher the last British Commander-in-Chief in 1949 and became the first Commander-in-Chief of Indian Army post Independence.

•The Army Day is celebrated at all Army Command headquarters to honour our country’s soldiers who set the greatest example of selfless service and brotherhood, and above all, love for the country. The Indian Army is one of the most powerful militaries of the world, competing with superpowers like the US, Russia and China.

•The motto of the Indian Army is ‘service before self’ and its mission is to ensure national security and national unity, defend the nation from external aggression and internal threats, and maintain peace and security within its borders. Salute to the brave soldiers, who risk and sacrifice their lives to protect us. Even the Prime Minister of India Lal Bahadur Shastri in 1965 had given the slogan like “Jai Jawan Jai Kisan”.

•Indian Army has responded to a wide array of national security challenges that are becoming more complex and multi-dimensional and demand utmost dedication, the highest level of proficiency and resilience in dealing with them. Indian Army has the dedication to the motherland by being effective responders during calamities and through the contributions to wider nation-building. Indian Army enjoys a distinctive pride of place in the national mind space.

2) ‘Parshuram Kund Mela’ begins in Arunachal Pradesh

•The famous Parshuram Kund Mela begins in Arunachal Pradesh. Parshuram Kund is a Hindu pilgrimage centre situated on the Brahmaputra plateau in the lower reaches of the Lohit River. Thousands of pilgrims visit the place in winter every year, especially on the Makar Sankranti day for a holy dip in the sacred kund which is believed to wash away one’s sins.

3) India-Bangladesh Information and Broadcasting Ministers’ Meet 2020

•The India-Bangladesh Information and Broadcasting Ministers’ Meet 2020 was held in New Delhi. India’s Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Prakash Javadekar and Bangladeshi counterpart Muhammad H Mahmud were representing their respective countries in the meet. The meeting was concluded with the signing of some MoU’s between the two countries.

•During the meeting, the two ministers signed MoU for content exchange programme between Prasar Bharati and Bangladesh Radio Betar. According to the MoU, Indian content will be aired on Bangladesh Radio Betar and reciprocally All India Radio will air content of Bangladesh Radio Betar.

•India’s National Film Development Corporation and Bangladesh’s Film Development Corporation has also signed MoU to jointly produce a film as the biopic of Bangladesh’s first president Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The biopic will be based on his life and his works and will be directed by the noted Indian Director Shyam Benegal. The biopic is planned to be released in March 2021 on the occasion of centenary celebrations of Banga Bandhu. Bangladesh will also celebrate “Mujib Year” from March 17, 2020 to March 17, 2021 to commemorate the centenary year of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

•During the Meet, India also announced to extend its support for the establishment and development of ‘Bongobondhu Film City’.

•The above MoU’s are expected to cement the existing relations between the two countries and to take the development in the two countries to an advance level.

4) National Highway Excellence Awards 2019

Union Road, Transport and Highway Minister, Nitin Gadkari presenting the National Highway Excellence Awards 2019 in New Delhi. This award is Instituted in the year 2018, National Highway Excellence Awards aim to recognize the well-performing companies in the field of construction, operations, maintenance, toll collection and road safety on National Highways.




The 7 categories of the award are:

1) Excellence in Project Management
2) Excellence in Operation and Maintenance
3) Excellence in Toll Management
4) Excellence in Highway Safety
5) Innovation
6) Outstanding Work in Challenging Conditions
7) Green Highway

5) M S Swaminathan honoured with ‘Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu National Award’

•Famous Agricultural Scientist Dr M S Swaminathan was honoured as the first recipients ‘Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu National Award for Excellence’ for his distinguished contribution to the field of agriculture. The Award instituted by the Muppavarapu Foundation was announced recently during its 10th-anniversary celebrations in Hyderabad. This award carries a cash prize of Rs. 5 lakhs and a citation.

•Dr Swaminathan as the “Father of the Green Revolution in India and the Doyen of Agricultural Science”. He has been playing a pioneering role in the advancement of agriculture and improving the lives of the farmers.

•Along with Dr Swaminathan, Dr Gutta Muniratnam also was chosen for ‘Muppavarapu National Award for Social Service’’. Gutta has been awarded for his contributions in improving the quality of life of people through social service.

6) Capt Tania Shergill to become 1st Woman to lead R-Day contingent

•Indian Army Officer Captain Tania Shergill, an officer with Army’s Corps of Signals, will be the first woman parade adjutant for the Republic Day parade. A parade adjutant is responsible for the parade. Captain Shergill is an electronics and communications graduate. She was commissioned in March 2017 from the Officer Training Academy, Chennai.

7) British Indian yoga boy Ishwar Sharma wins ‘Global Child Prodigy Award’

•A 10-year-old British Indian yoga boy Ishwar Sharma wins Global Child Prodigy Award. He was chosen from the UK for the awards which honour child prodigies from across 45 countries and 30 different categories such as palaeontology, biking, choreography, fitness and martial arts etc.

•Ishwar Sharma also has the skill to chant up to 50 shlokas from the Vedas and ‘Bhagavad Gita’ and practices yoga. Sharma, originally from Mysore, has participated in over 100 yoga events across the UK and worldwide.

8) Puri, Odisha recieves Swachhata Darpan Awards 2019

•Puri, Odisha has been awarded for its initiatives for plastic waste management with the Swachhata Darpan Awards 2019. The award ceremony was held during the Open Defecation Free Sustainability Workshop held in New Delhi. The workshop was organised by the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DDWS) and Ministry of Jal Shakti.

•The Puri District of Odisha has been awarded for successfully managing the plastic wastes in the district with its effective policies by engaging the people of the town through awareness programmes, hence keeping the town’s environment pollution free.

•The Swachhata Darpan Award 2019 was presented by Indian Bollywood actor Aamir Khan to Puri Municipality Additional Executive Officer Saroj Kumar Swain.

9) Anand Prakash Maheshwari to head the Central Reserve Police Force

•Anand Prakash Maheshwari has been appointed to head the world’s largest paramilitary force “Central Reserve Police Force“. The Indian Police Service officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre Anand Prakash Maheshwari has been appointed as the Director General of the Central Reserve Police Force. The decision of the appointment was taken due to the retirement of former DG of CRPF, Rajiv Rai Bhatnagar.

•Anand Prakash Maheshwari has assumed the charge of DG of CRPF and take over from the Director General of Indo-Tibetan Border Police, SS Deshwal, who was earlier given the additional charge of DG of CRPF. Anand Prakash Maheshwari was presently working in the Ministry of Home Affairs as Special Secretary of internal security.

•The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) which was raised as the Crown Representatives Police (CRP) in 1939 under the British empire was renamed as CRPF post independence in 1949.