• National

ICAR Launches National Agricultural Higher Education Project (NAHEP)

• Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has launched the National Agricultural Higher Education Project (NAHEP) to attract talent and strengthen higher agricultural education in the country.
• It is inaugurated at the fourth Convention of 2-day “Agrivision-2019” organized by Vidyarthi Kalyan Nyas in Pusa, New Delhi.
• This project (Rs 1100 crore) is to be funded by the World Bank and the Indian Government on a 50:50 basis.
• To enhance the participation of students in agricultural business, READY (Rural Entrepreneurship Awareness Development Yojana) is also provided to the students.

• National

National Salt Satyagraha Memorial Inaugurated at Dandi

• In commemoration of the 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi dedicated grand and iconic ‘National Salt Satyagraha Memorial’ constructed by the Central Public Works Department at Dandi, Gujarat to the Nation.
• This prestigious work entrusted to CPWD by the Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India has been completed by the dedicated team of CPWD in 20 months’ time well within the sanctioned amount of Rs. 72.23 crores.

• International

UAE & Saudi central banks launch common digital currency called 'Aber'

• The central banks of the UAE and Saudi Arabia have launched a common digital currency called “Aber”.
• It will be used in financial settlements between the two countries through Blockchains and Distributed Ledgers technologies.
• It will establish an additional means for the central financial transfer systems of the two countries and enable banks to directly deal with each other in conducting financial remittances.
• Both the United Arab Emirates Central Bank (UAECB) and the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA) are studying the impact on the improvement and reduction of remittance costs and the assessments of risks.

• International

Dubai Airport Retains Top Position as World’s Busiest Airport

• Dubai International Airport (DXB) retained its position as the world’s busiest airport for international customer numbers for the fifth consecutive year with annual traffic for 2018 with Indian travellers emerging as the largest source of traffic for the airport which registered a record footfall of over 89 million.
• It overtook the crown of the world’s busiest hub for international travel from London’s Heathrow in 2014.
• The Dubai International Airport (DXB) was opened for civil aviation in July 1937.

• Economy and Business

India Improves Global Corruption Ranking

• India improved its ranking by three points to reach 78th rank in the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) released by Transparency International.
• China and Pakistan lagged far behind at 87th and 117th rank, respectively.
• According to the index, Denmark is the least corrupt country followed by New Zealand.
• Somalia, Syria and South Sudan are the most corrupt countries in the world.

• Sports

Jean-Luc wins round-the-World Sailing Race

• French sailor Jean-Luc Van Den Heede (73-years) has won the round-the-world yacht race after 212 days alone at sea without modern instruments.
• He became the oldest to complete the 30,000-mile Golden Globe race.
• 19 sailors who started out in July 2018, only 5 were still in the race.
• The race involves solo sailors navigating with a sextant and paper maps and communicating only occasionally with the outside world via short-wave radio.

• Appointments

Dilip Sadarangani Appointed as Chairman of Federal Bank

• Kerala based private sector lender Federal Bank has appointed Dilip Sadarangani as the part-time chairman.
• The appointment of Sadarangani, who has been on the bank’s board since 2013, has been cleared by the Reserve Bank.

• Important Days

Anti-Leprosy Day being observed today

• The ‘Anti-Leprosy Day’ being observed every year on the Martyrdom Day of Mahatma Gandhi to make people aware of the real need to fight the infectious disease.
• A campaign Leprosy Awareness Campaign ‘Sparsh’ has been organized in all the Gram Sabhas throughout the country by the Central Leprosy Division of the Health Ministry.
• The campaign carries important information about the disease to help affected people.
• It includes free of cost multidrug therapy that is available at all government dispensaries, health centres, and hospitals to provide complete treatment.

• Important Days

Mahatma Gandhi’s 71st death anniversary

• India is paying homage to Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi on his 71st death anniversary on 30th January, 2019.
• He was assassinated by Nathuram Godse on this day in 1948.
• The day is also observed as Martyrs’ Day.

• States

Telangana to set up 'Save Tiger Protection Force'

• The Telangana government has decided to form a ‘State Tiger Protection Force’ to save the Tiger (Big Cat) population in the State.
• The STPF armed (112-member) will be headed by an Assistant Conservator of Forests to protect the tiger population in Amarabad and Kawal Tiger Reserves.
• The State Forest Protection Committee headed by Chief Secretary S K Joshi took the decision to form the STPF at its meeting.
• The Committee decided to act tough against those felling forest trees and committing other related crimes.

• States

Maharashtra govt launched a special scheme to curb infant deaths

• The Maharashtra government has launched a special scheme to curb infant deaths.
• The scheme is applicable only for the first child and will benefit around four lakh women across the state.
• Each kit (Cost around Rs. 2000) contains a blanket, a small mattress, a towel, a thermometer, baby oil, shampoo, toys, nail-cutter, gloves, socks, among other things.
• Child Development Minister Pankaja Munde distributed baby-care kits to the children born in primary health centres and government hospitals.

• States

Alphons inaugurated tourism project in Sikkim

• Union Minister for Tourism K.J. Alphons inaugurated first “Development of North East Circuit” project in Gangtok, Sikkim on 30th January 2019.
• This project was sanctioned under Swadesh Darshan Scheme by the Ministry of Tourism in June 2015.
• Swadesh Darshan Scheme is one of the flagship schemes of Ministry of tourism for development of thematic circuits in the country in a planned manner.

• States

Nitin Gadkari to Inaugurate Projects in Bihar

• Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways, Shipping and Water Resources, Nitin Gadkari will inaugurate several road and river projects in Bihar on 30 January, 2019.
• He will inaugurate two national highway projects in Raxaul and four national highway projects at Bagaha in Bihar.
• The minister will also initiate the development of 300 km long river route from Hajipur to Triveni Ghat.

• Miscellaneous

India signs an agreement with OECD

• The Union HRD Ministry signed an agreement with Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on January 28, 2019.
• This agreement was signed for India’s Participation in the Programme for International Student Assessment- PISA 2021.
• The schools run by Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS), Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS) and schools in the UT of Chandigarh would be participating.