January 31 Current Affairs

By
Gayathri
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  1.  PM Modi Launched 1st Khelo India School Games
  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the first Khelo India School Games at Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in New Delhi. The Khelo India programme has been introduced to revive the sports culture in India at the grass-root level.
  • Talented Under-17 players identified in priority sports disciplines at various levels by a High-Powered Committee will be provided annual financial assistance of Rs. 5 lakh per annum for 8 years. The Khelo India School Games are being held from 31st January to 8th February 2018 in New Delhi.
 Takeaways
  1. Union Minister of  State ( I/C) Youth Affairs and Sports- Rajyavardhan Rathore.

2. Melbourne To Host Final Of 2020 World T20

  • Melbourne Cricket Ground will host the final of both the men’s and women’s World Twenty20 when the tournaments come to Australia in 2020.
  • It will mark the first time the tournaments are held as stand-alone events in the same year in the same country. The women’s final will coincide with International Women’s Day (8th March).
 Takeaways

  1. Australia Capital- Canberra
  2. Currency- Australian dollar.

3. Google Introduces A New App Named “Bulletin”

  • Google has introduced a new app named “Bulletin” that allows anybody to submit stories for and about their communities. This is a free, lightweight app for telling a story by capturing photos, video clips and text right from your phone, published straight to the web.
  • The app is made for contributing hyperlocal stories about your community. The application has been launched as a limited pilot project and is available in Nashville, Tennessee and Oakland, California.
 Takeaways
  1. Google CEO- Sundar Pichai
  2. Parent organization- Alphabet Inc.,
  3. Headquarters- The USA.

4. INS Karanj- Third Scorpene Class Submarine Launched By Indian Navy

  • Indian Navy launched ‘INS Karanj’, the third of the six indigenous Scorpene-class submarines. The submarine, equipped with superior stealth features and precision-guided weapons, has been built at Mumbai’s Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited.
  • Admiral Sunil Lanba, Chief of the Naval Staff, was the chief guest on the occasion. The submarine has an overall length of 67.5 meters and a height of about 12.3 metres.

 Takeaways

  1. The first Scorpene-class submarine was INS Kalvari.
  2. The second Scorpene-class submarine was INS Khanderi.

5. Axis Bank Launches 4th Edition Of “Evolve”

  • Private sector Axis Bank launched the fourth edition of ‘Evolve’ in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. It is an annual multi-city knowledge series for Bank’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) customers. The current edition of ‘evolve’ is titled as “Transform your Family Business into your dream company”.
  • It will empower the SMEs to understand the winning strategies and best practices that have helped some of the leading family businesses in India grow into the reputable enterprise. This edition will span across 30 cities.

 Takeaways

  1. Axis Bank CEO and MD- Shikha Sharma
  2. Head Office- Mumbai.

6. Sharath Kamal Wins Table Tennis Nationals Championship

  • Sharath Kamal beat top-seeded Anthony Amalraj to win the men singles title for the eighth time, equalling the feat of Kamlesh Mehta in the 79th edition of the 11Even Sports Senior Nationals in Ranchi, Jharkhand.
  • Suthirta Mukherjee from West Bengal emerged the new women champion, beating Hyderabad Nationals winner Manika Batra.

 Takeaways

  1. Sharath Kamal is from Tamil Nadu.

7. India’s Crude Steel Production Rises 6.2% To 101.4 MT In 2017

  • India has overtaken the US to become the world’s third-largest steel producer and the country is now looking to bag the second spot from Japan. Country’s crude steel production grew by 6.2% to 101.4 million tonnes, MT, in 2017 compared to 95.5 MT in 2016, according to the report by World Steel Association.
  • Japan, the second largest global steel producer, witnessed a negative growth as steel output declined by 0.1% to 104.7 MT in 2017 from 104.8 MT in 2016. China remained the world leader by producing 831.7 MT in 2017, up 5.7% from 786.9 MT in the year-ago period.
 Takeaways
  1. Mr Birender Singh is Union Minister of Steel of India.

8. India Ranks 6th In The List Of Wealthiest Countries

  •  India has been ranked sixth in the list of wealthiest countries with the total wealth of 8,230 billion US dollars. The list was topped by the United States of America, according to a report by New World Wealth.
  • India was the best-performing wealth market globally in 2017 as its total wealth swelled from 6,584 billion dollars in 2016 to 8,230 billion dollars in 2017, registering a 25% growth.

 Takeaways

The top 3 countries on the List are 

1. The United States of America (64,584 billion US dollars).
2. China (24,803 billion US dollars).
3. Japan (19,522 billion US dollars).

9. Environment Minister Harshvardhan Launches PetaFlop Super Computer

  • Environment Minister Harshvardhan launched a 2.8 PetaFlop capacity high-performance computer system ‘Mihir’ in Noida. The system will be able to predict weather and climate accurately. This will be helpful in addressing the various issues of agriculture operations and fishing in the country.
  • The system will help the department in predicting severe climate-related calamities and warnings for fishermen. With the launch of the system, India has joined the elite 30 member group of countries which have this advanced technology.
 Takeaways
  1. Union Minister of Earth Sciences Dr Harsh Vardhan has recently dedicated India’s fastest and first multi-petaflops supercomputer named ‘Pratyush’ to the nation in Pune.

10. Government Signs $250 Million Loan Agreement With ADB

  • The Asian Development Bank and the Indian Government have signed a 250 million dollar loan to finance the construction of over 6 thousand 2 hundred kilometres all-weather rural roads in 5 states viz Assam, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY).
  • The program is aimed at improving rural connectivity, facilitating safer and more efficient access to livelihood and socio-economic opportunities for rural communities through improvements to about 12 thousand kilometres Rural Roads across the 5 States.
 Takeaways
  1. Founded on 19 December 1966 ADB has its Headquarter in Manila, Philippines.
  2. President of ADB is Takehiko Nakao.

11. You can get a clear view of today’s bigger, redder supermoon from this place in Chennai

  • The second total lunar eclipse, the supermoon will appear bigger and redder on January 31. The Birla Planetarium will have seven telescopes to give a clearer view of the super moon. Though the supermoon occurs once a year and the blue moon occurs more than once a year, the combination of lunar eclipse, blue moon, and supermoon occuring together was reportedly last seen 38 years ago. Lunar Eclipse

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