1. India And Cambodia Ink 4 Agreements
- India and Cambodia signed four agreements in the field of cultural exchange, an exchange line of credit of $26.9 million, memorandum of understanding to cooperate in legal matter and an agreement on prevention of human trafficking.
- The documents were exchanged in presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and visiting Cambodian PM Hun Sen following delegation-level talks between the two countries. New Delhi has agreed to set up a centre of IT excellence in Cambodia.
- Cambodian Capital- Phnom Penh
- Currency- Cambodian riel
2. Himachal CM Launches ‘Shakti’ App For Women’s Safety
- The Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, Jai Ram Thakur launched the ‘Shakti’ app for women’s safety in the state. The app, which comes with a panic button, was developed by the National Informatics Centre (NIC) of the Himachal Pradesh government.
- It would be available in both Hindi and English languages and would not require internet connectivity. The main objective of the launch of the app and the helpline is to fight crimes against women in the state.
- Himachal Pradesh Governor- Acharya Dev Vrat.
3. Importnt Days in January 28
- National immunization days
- Data Privacy Day
- World Leprosy Day
4. Education is wealth of nation, says economist Surjit Bhalla
- “Education is a dominant influence in the growth, individual incomes and fortunes and misfortunes of a country,” Mr. Bhalla said
- Ms. Shaw pointed out that only 0.69% of the GDP is spent on scientific research. “It’s the lowest in BRICS and ASEAN countries. If India wants to move the needle, it will need to double or treble this. Only research-based education model will create wealth,”
5. Modi government to set up social media communication hubs in districts
- The tool should act as the guiding tool for the ministry to understand the impact of various social media campaigns conducted on various schemes run by the government
- It has to give location-based insights, measure the effectiveness of hashtag campaigns, needs micro-level categorisation for mentions around topics, which, in turn, should help in efficient decisionmaking by identifying the key problem areas,” states the tender document.
6. ICICI Pru AMC to shut 2 schemes
- “We are currently in the process of winding up ICICI Prudential’s PMS schemes — PIPE and Smallcap Portfolio Series I,” Nimesh Shah, who is the managing director and chief executive of the fund house said in a statement.
- “We are in a situation where the valuations are very rich and too much money is chasing very few quality small cap companies,” he said. Currently, ICICI Prudential PMS manages investors’ funds to the tune of ₹4,000 crore while overall, the fund house has assets under management of over ₹2.93 lakh crore
7. Defence Minister Sitharaman gives away Republic Day Parade 2018 best contingent & tableau awards
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman gave away the Republic Day Parade 2018 best contingent and tableau awards at a function organised in Delhi Cantt.
- Among the three Services, Punjab Regiment Contingent was awarded the best marching contingent while Indo-Tibetan Border Police awarded the best marching contingent among the para-military and other auxiliary forces.
- Out of 23 tableaux participated in this year Republic Day Parade, the tableau from Maharashtra depicting coronation of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj won the first prize, while tableau from Assam depicting traditional masks and sastras bagged second and Tableau of Chhattisgarh,depicting Ramgarh’s ancient amphitheatre was awarded third prize
8. Asha Bhosle to get Yash Chopra memorial award
Bollywood playback doyenne Asha Bhosle will be given the ‘Yash Chopra Memorial Award’.
- She will be the fifth winner of the award. Previous recipients are Asha Bhosale’s elder sister and Bollywood playback singer Lata Mangeshkar, and actors Amitabh Bachchan, Rekha, and Shah Rukh Khan.
9. Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi wins US Documentary Grand Jury Award
A film on the life of Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi has won the US Documentary Grand Jury Award at the Sundance Film Festival being held at Park City in Utah.
- The documentary, titled ‘Kailash’ has been directed by debutante Derek Doneen. It traces the journey of Satyarthi and his efforts to eliminate child trafficking and child labour.
- The film has been produced by Davis Guggenheim and Sarah Anthony, and co-produced by Purnima Raghunath
10. Australian Open 2018- Complete List Of Winners
- The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually in Melbourne Park, Australia. First held in 1905, the tournament is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events of the year – the other three being the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open. The 2018 Australian Open is the 106th edition of the tournament. The tournament is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF).
- Roger Federer was the defending champion and successfully defended his title, defeating Marin Cilic in the final. In women’s’ single, Caroline Wozniacki became the first Danish player to win a Grand Slam singles title, defeating Simona Halep in the final .
11. Eminent agricultural scientist Kalkat passes away
Eminent agricultural scientist and Padma Bhushan awardee Gurcharan Singh Kalkat has passed away. Kalkat was actively involved as an agricultural scientist during the Green Revolution in Punjab in the 1950s and 1960s to make the country self-reliant in foodgrain.