• National

Government Launches ‘Womaniya on GeM’ Initiative

• Government e Marketplace (GeM) has launched “Womaniya on GeM”, an initiative to enable women entrepreneurs and women self-help groups (WSHGs) to sell handicrafts and handloom, accessories and many other products.
• The initiative seeks to develop women entrepreneurship on the margins of society to achieve gender-inclusive economic growth.
• Government e-Marketplace is a 100% government owned company set up under the aegis of Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

• International

Greek defence minister announces resignation over Macedonia vote

• The Greece Defence Minister ‘Panos Kammenos’ has announced his resignation from Alexis Tsipras’s coalition government.
• The Minister had announced his resignation ahead of an upcoming parliamentary vote to end a 27-year name dispute with Macedonia.
• For the Greeks, Macedonia is the name of a history-rich northern province that was the cradle of Alexander the Great’s ancient empire.

• International

Macedonia Renamed As ‘The Republic of Northern Macedonia’

• The Parliament of Macedonia has passed the resolution to amend the constitution of the country to rename it as the Republic of Northern Macedonia.
• The name change will help resolve a decades-long dispute with neighboring Greece opening the way for Skopje to join NATO and the European Union.

• Economy and Business

Ananth Narayanan Steps Down as Myntra-Jabong CEO

• Ananth Narayanan has stepped down as CEO of Myntra and Jabong to pursue external opportunities.
• Amar Nagaram has been named as Head, Myntra and Jabong, reporting to Kalyan Krishnamurthy, CEO of Flipkart Group.
• Amar, who recently moved to Myntra from Flipkart, has been with the group for around seven years and has played a pivotal role in making shopping accessible and affordable on connected devices.

• Sports

Stephen Constantine steps down as coach of the Indian football team

• Indian football team head coach ‘Stephen Constantine’ (56-year) has decided to step down after the team’s shock 0-1 defeat to Bahrain.
• India conceded an injury time goal through a penalty to lose 0-1, which led to its exit from the showpiece Asian Cup 2019.
• Constantine, who had earlier coached India from 2002 to 2005, was handed over reins of the team again in 2015.
• He guided India to the Asian Cup after a gap of eight years.

• Sports

Shakil Ahmed Sets World Record in Indoor Rowing

• Asian Cup gold medallist Shakil Ahmed has set up a world record in indoor rowing by completing 1 lakh meters in above-40 years category in Kolkata.
• Shakil began his record-setting indoor rowing feat in Salt Lake stadium complex and achieved the milestone of covering 1 lakh meters of simulated distance in 10 hours.

• Awards

PM Narendra Modi receives Philip Kotler award

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has received the first-ever Philip Kotler Presidential award at his residence in New Delhi.
• PM Modi has been awarded for his outstanding leadership for the nation.
• The Award focuses on the triple-bottom-line of People, Profit and Planet.
• The Philip Kotler Presidential Award recognises and celebrates achievements of organisations, marketing teams, and individuals in different industries around the world.

• Appointments

ICICI Bank Appoints B Sriram, Rama Bijapurkar Independent Directors

• Private sector ICICI Bank inducted former SBI Managing Director B Sriram and management consultant Rama Bijapurkar on its board as independent director.
• Both are appointed for 5 years, subject to the approval of shareholders, ICICI Bank stated in a regulatory filing on stock exchanges.
• Sriram retired as the managing director of IDBI Bank in September 2018. Prior to IDBI Bank, he was the managing director of SBI.

• Important Days

India celebrates 71st Army Day today

• Today, 71st Army Day is being celebrated formally with an annual parade at the Cariappa Parade Ground in New Delhi.
• Army Day is celebrated on 15th January every year to mark the day when (then) Lieutenant General KM Popularly known as “Kipper”, KM Cariappa was the first Indian commander-in-chief of the Indian Army.
• The day is celebrated to pay homage, salute to the courageous and brave Indian soldiers who have been sacrificing their lives for protecting the country.
• Three Service Chiefs General Bipin Rawat (Army Chief), Sunil Lanba (Chief of the Naval Staff) and Birender Singh Dhanoa (Air Chief Marshal) paid tribute at Amar Jawan Jyoti (India Gate) in Delhi.

• Obituaries

Senior Congress leader Shivajirao Deshmukh passes away

• Senior Congress leader and former chairman of Maharashtra Legislative Council Shivajirao Deshmukh (84-years) passed away in Mumbai due to illness.
• Deshmukh had served as the Revenue Minister in the Vasantsada Patil government from 1976-85.

• Miscellaneous

World's largest religious and cultural human congregation ‘Kumbh Mela’ begins in UP

• The World’s largest religious and cultural human congregation “Kumbh-2019” has begun at Sangam at Prayagraj, Uttar Paresh (conclude on 4th March 2019).
• The first bathing was taken by saints and seers of different Akharas.
• More than one lakh twenty thousand toilets have been erected for making Clean Kumbh.
• Twenty-one Snan Ghats have been set up for bathing.
• The whole Kumbh area is divided into 20 sectors and 9 zones for keen vigil by sector & zonal magistrates.
• Forty police stations, 58 police outposts including three women police station are erected where more than 20 thousand security personnel are deployed.