• National

Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu Presented Chhatra Vishwakarma Awards and SAGY Awards

• The Vice President of India M. Venkaiah Naidu presented the 2nd Chhatra Vishwakarma Awards to students and their mentors and Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY) Awards to institutions at an event organized by All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) in New Delhi.
• The awards challenge young students to come up with novel ideas that have a great potential to impact life in villages through technological interventions at the grass root level.
• Expressing his agreement with Mahatma Gandhi’s statement that ‘the future of India lies in its villages’, the Vice President said that the development of villages is an essential precondition to the development of the nation.
• Naidu also stated that educational institutions must re-orient their curriculum to ensure that students spend time in rural areas, interacting with people and understanding their problems.

• International

Christophe appointed as PM of Burkina Faso

• Burkina Faso’s President Roch Marc Christian Kabore appointed Christophe Dabire as new Prime Minister on 21 January 2019.
• Dabire was previously Burkina’s representative at the eight-nation West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA).
• Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in Africa.
• Burkina Faso’s capital is Ouagadougou and its currency are West African CFA Franc.

• International

Aadhaar cards now a valid travel document

• Aadhaar cards are now valid travel documents for Indians under 15 and over 65 years travelling to Nepal and Bhutan.
• Indians other than those in the two age brackets will not be able to use Aadhaar to travel to Nepal and Bhutan.
• Indian citizens going to Nepal and Bhutan don’t need a visa if they have a valid passport, a photo identity card issued by the government of India.

• Economy and Business

WEF’s annual meeting begins in Davos

• The World Economic Forum’s (WEF) 49th annual meeting began on 22 January 2019 in Davos, Switzerland.
• The main theme of the meeting is ‘Globalisation 4.0: Shaping a Global Architecture in the Age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution’.
• Several topics will be discussed such as the future of the economy, environmental issues, the digital economy, media freedom, and data governance.

• Sports

Virat Kohli named Captain of ICC's Test, ODI teams of Year

• The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced the men’s Test and ODI teams of the year.
• Virat Kohli (30-years) has become the first player to win the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for ICC Cricketer of the Year, as well as the ICC Men’s Test Player of the Year and the ICC ODI Player of the Year awards.
• Kohli has also been named the captain of ICC’s Test and ODI teams of 2018 for a fabulous run in international cricket.
• Kohli scored 1,322 runs (average: 55.08) in 13 Tests with five hundred during the calendar year while in 14 ODIs he amassed 1202 runs (average:133.55) with six centuries.
• In the last calendar year, skipper Kohli scored more than 2,500 runs in both formats of the game combined with 11 centuries.

• Awards

President Ram Nath Kovind Confers Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar 2019

• The President of India, Ram Nath Kovind conferred the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar 2019.
• The awards were presented to 26 shortlisted awardees including one joint award for National Child Award (now renamed as Bal Shakti Puraskar) under the category of innovation, scholastic, sports, art and culture, social service and bravery.
• Under National Child Welfare Awards category, 2 individuals and 3 institutions were awarded.
• The names of awardees were finalized by the National Selection Committee under the Chairpersonship of Minister of Women and Child Development, Maneka Sanjay Gandhi.

• Defence

Indian Navy begins coastal defence exercise off the Indian coast

• The largest defence exercise coordinated by Indian Navy, ‘Sea Vigil’ has begun in entire 7516.6 km coastline and exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of India.
• It will involve all 13 coastal states and union territories along with maritime stakeholders including fishing and coastal community.
• It’s a build-up towards the major theatre-level tri-service exercise TROPEX conducted by the Navy.
• Sea Vigil and TROPEX together will cover the entire spectrum of maritime security including the transition from peace to conflict.

• Obituaries

Lingayat seer Shivakumara Swami passes away

• Renowned Lingayat seer Shivakumar Swami (111-year) popularly known as ‘walking God’’ passes away due to age-related complications at Tumakuru, Karnataka.
• Shivakumara Swami joined the Siddaganga Mutt in 1930 and became the head of the Mutt in 1941
• Shivakumar Swami supervised the growth of Siddaganga by expanding the number of educational institutions of the Mutt from 4 (in 1940) to over 70 at present in Karnataka.

• Obituaries

Nagendra Jamatia passed away

• Nagendra Jamatia, the tribal leader who brokered peace with insurgent outfit Tripura National Volunteers (TNV) in 1988, passed away on 21 January 2019.
• He was the leader of the Tripura Upajati Juba Samiti, which is now known as the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura.
• He is known for his success in bringing TNV leader Bijoy Kumar to negotiate the peace accord with the government of India.

• States

Odisha Government hikes Old-Age Pension

• The Odisha Government has announced a hike of Rs 200 per month in the social security pension under Madhu Babu Pension Yojana (MBPY).
• It will come into effect from 15th February 2019.
• The Madhu Babu Pension Yojana (MBPY) is a pension scheme under the Department of Social Security and Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities for the disabled, old age persons in the state of Odisha.
• The Scheme was instituted by merging the two pension schemes i.e. namely, Revised Old Age Pension Rules, 1989 and Disability Pension Rules, 1985.

• Miscellaneous

Jallikattu event enters world record

• A grand ‘Jallikattu’ (bull-taming) event held in Tamil Nadu on 20 January 2019 entered the world record for the maximum number of bulls released into the sporting arena.
• The bull taming sporting event saw the participation of 1,354 bulls and 424 tamers.
• Jallikattu is typically practised in Tamil Nadu as a part of Pongal celebrations.

• Agreements

India & China sign protocol for tobacco export

• On 21 January 2019, India and China signed a protocol to export Indian tobacco leaves to China.
• The protocol was signed by India’s Commerce Secretary Anup Wadhawan and Zhang Jiwen, Vice Minister of General Administration of China Customs (GACC).
• GACC is responsible for examining market access and quarantine issues for India’s agriculture and allied products.