• National

Atal Tinkering Lab Handbook released

• NITI Aayog’s Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) released the book named ‘Atal Tinkering Lab Handbook – Nayee Dishayen, Naye Nirman, Naya Bharat’ on 11 January 2019.
• The Handbook captures the experiences of the young innovators of the country with the Atal Tinkering Lab.
• The AIM is the Government of India’s flagship initiative to promote a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in the country.

• Economy and Business

Sino-Indian Digital Collaboration Plaza launched

• The Union Government has launched the Sino-Indian Digital Collaboration Plaza (SIDCOP) to bring Indian IT companies and Chinese enterprises closer to each other on a single AI enabled platform.
• This is a partnership by National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) with Municipal Governments of Guiyang and Dalian.
• SIDCOP, which is a boundary-less marketplace offers this opportunity for Chinese enterprises in order to assist them in operational optimization and adopting industry best practices in business solutions.
• This platform could be useful to connect with top providers from India and help Chinese enterprises source the right solution providers for their projects.

• Sports

Egypt to host 2019 Africa Cup of Nations

• According to Confederation of African Football (CAF) President Ahmad Ahmad, Egypt will host the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations between 15th June and 13th July 2019.
• The CAF executive committee preferred Egypt to South Africa as a replacement for original hosts Cameroon.
• Cameroon was dropped due to delays in preparations and concerns over security.
• Egypt only entered the running to host the Cup of Nations when fellow north African country Morocco announced they would not bid to do so.

• Sports

Albie Morkel Retires from All Forms of Cricket

• Albie Morkel, the South African all-rounder, announced his retirement from all forms of cricket.
• Morkel, who played for close to 20 years of professional cricket, made his first-class debut for Easterns against Northerns in the 1999-00 domestic season.
• Morkel earned a call-up into the South African ODI set-up for the series against New Zealand in 2004 after snaring 12 scalps in List A games in the 2003-04 season.

• Awards

Nepal Army Chief conferred honorary rank

• On 12 January 2019, President Ram Nath Kovind conferred the honorary rank of General of the Indian Army to General Purna Chandra Thapa, the Army Chief of Nepal.
• He was honoured with honorary rank of General of the Indian Army for his military prowess and contribution to fostering Nepal’s long and friendly association with India.
• He became Nepal Army Chief in September 2018.

• Awards

Adi Godrej Conferred ICSI Lifetime Award

• Industrialist and Godrej Group Chairman Adi Godrej was conferred the ICSIs Lifetime Achievement Award for ‘Translating Excellence in Corporate Governance into Reality’.
• The awards were instituted by The Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI), which is celebrating its golden jubilee.
• The 18th ICSI National Awards for Excellence in Corporate Governance were bagged jointly by Cipla Ltd and Dabur India Ltd and five others: ACC Ltd, Hindustan Unilever Ltd, Indian Oil Corp, Tata Metaliks Ltd and Indian Hotels Co Ltd.

• Appointments

TCS appoints Daniel Hughes Callahan as Independent Director

• India’s largest IT services company Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has appointed Daniel Hughes Callahan as an Additional and Independent Director for a period of five years.
• He was the Chief Administrative Officer (CEO) and Head of Operations and Technology at Citi group and was a member of Citi’s Operating Committee until November 2018.
• Callahan has broad experience in driving strategic change across large global organisations and dealing with multiple stakeholders in local and national governments and regulatory bodies.

• Resignation

Ashok Chawla Resigned as NSE Chairman

• Ashok Chawla resigned as chairman of the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd (NSE) with immediate effect “in light of recent legal developments”.
• Chawla’s resignation came on a day the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) told a special court in Delhi that it has obtained the sanction of the ministries concerned to file charges against him and four other former bureaucrats in the Aircel-Maxis case.

• Important Days

National Youth Day being observed today

• National Youth Day (Yuva Diwas) is celebrated in India on 12th January on the birthday of social reformer, philosopher and thinker Swami Vivekananda (156th).
• According to Ramakrishna Mission, the theme for 2019 is “Youth and Nation Building”
• Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das has unveiled the tallest bronze statue of Swami Vivekanand at Ranchi Lake.
• Renowned sculptor and a recipient of Padma Bhushan Ram V Sutar has designed the 33 feet bronze figurine at a whopping cost of Rs. 15 crores.

• States

‘Ama Ghare LED’ scheme launched in Odisha

• The government of Odisha launched the ‘Ama Ghare LED’ scheme on 11 January 2019.
• Under the scheme, about 95 lakh families in the state will each get four LED bulbs free of cost.
• The LED bulbs (9-watt each) will be distributed to the beneficiaries registered under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) and the State Food Security Scheme (SFSC).

• States

Urea fertilizer prices reduced by 11% in UP

• The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has reduced the prices of urea fertilizer by 11% in the interest of the farmers.
• The decrease in prices of Urea is due to the reduction in additional VAT levied on natural gas.
• Now, the bag of 45 kilograms of urea will be available at the cost of Rs. 266.50 instead of Rs. 299.
• 50-kilogram Urea bag will cost rupees 295. Our correspondent reports that this is an important step in the direction of the government’s effort to double farmers income by 2021.