World Leprosy Day

World Leprosy Day

World Leprosy Day is observed internationally every year on the last Sunday of January to increase the public awareness of the Leprosy or Hansen's Disease.

This date was chosen by French humanitarian Raoul Follereau as a tribute to the life of the Mahatma Gandhi who had compassion for people afflicted with leprosy.

It is one of the oldest recorded diseases in the world. It is an infectious chronic disease that targets the nervous system, especially the nerves in the cooler parts of the body:the hands, feet, and face.

Theme 2020 :“Leprosy isn’t what you think”

Pittsburgh Open 2020

 The Pittsburgh Open 2020 is the 2020 edition of the Pittsburgh Open squash tournament which took place from January 22 to 26, 2020 in Pittsburgh .

The tournament is part of the PSA World Tour Bronze category and is endowed with $ 52,500 in prizes.

The table is composed of 24 participants including eight seeded and two wild card  entries

In the final, the  Fares Dessouky won against Saurav Ghosal

the prize money was $ 52500

Joao Vale de Almeida appointed as the First ambassador of European Union to United Kingdom

Joao Vale de Almeida appointed as the First ambassador of European Union to United Kingdom

Portuguese diplomat Joao Vale de Almeida is set to serve as the EU's top envoy in London after the UK leaves the bloc, EU authorities have said. The diplomat has represented the EU in Washington and at the UN.

Vale de Almeida was born in Lisbon in 1957 and has studied history in his native Portugal. He also worked as a journalist before joining the European Commission in 1982. According to his biography, the diplomat worked as the chief of staff and main adviser to Jose Manuel Barroso between 2004 and 2009, while Barroso was serving as the head of the EU Commission.

In 2010, Vale de Almeida became the EU's first ambassador to the US, where he helped launch the talks on TTIP (Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership). He then served as the bloc's ambassador to the UN between 2015 and 2019.

62nd Annual Grammy Awards

62nd Annual Grammy Awards 

Record of the Year
"Bad Guy," Billie Eilish

Album of the year
"When We All Fall Asleep Where Do We Go," Billie Eilish

Song of the year
"Bad Guy," Billie Eilish O'Connell & Finneas O'Connell

Best new artist
Billie Eilish

COUNTRY
Best Country Solo Performance
"Ride Me Back Home," Willie Nelson

Best Country Duo/Group Performance
"Speechless," Dan + Shay

Best Country Song
"Bring My Flowers Now," Brandi Carlile, Phil Hanseroth, Tim Hanseroth & Tanya Tucker, songwriters (Tanya Tucker)

Best country album
"While I'm Livin',"Tanya Tucker


RAP
Best rap album

"Igor," Tyler, The Creator
Best Rap Performance

"Racks in the Middle," Nipsey Hussle Featuring Roddy Ricch & Hit-Boy
Best Rap/Sung Performance
"Higher," DJ Khaled Featuring Nipsey Hussle & John Legend

Best Rap Song
"A Lot," Jermaine Cole, Dacoury Natche, 21 Savage & Anthony White, songwriters (21 Savage Featuring J. Cole)
R&B
Best R&B Performance
"Come Home," Anderson .Paak & André 300

Best Traditional R&B Performance
"Jerome," Lizzo
Best R&B Song
"Say So" — Pj Morton, Songwriter (Pj Morton Ft. Jojo)
Best Urban Contemporary Album
"Cuz I Love You (Deluxe)," Lizzo

Best R&B Album
"Ventura," Anderson .Paak
POP
Best Pop Solo Performance
"Truth Hurts," Lizzo
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance
"Old Town Road," Lil Nas X Featuring Billy Ray Cyrus

Best Pop Vocal Album
"When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?," Billie Eilish
Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album
"Look Now," Elvis Costello & The Imposters

Best Comedy Album
"Sticks & Stones," Dave Chappelle
LATIN
Best Latin Pop Album
"#ELDISCO," Alejandro Sanz

Best Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album
"El Mal Querer," Rosalía

ROCK
Best Rock Performance
"This Land," Gary Clark Jr.
Best Metal Performance
"7empest," Tool
Best Rock Song
"This Land," Gary Clark Jr., Songwriter (Gary Clark Jr.)
Best Rock Album
"Social Cues," Cage The Elephant
ALTERNATIVE
Best Alternative Music Album
"Father of the Bride," Vampire Weekend

AIIMS doctors conducted workshop for Maldivian doctors on Image Guided Therapies

AIIMS doctors conducted workshop for Maldivian doctors on Image Guided Therapies

A team of specialist doctors from All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi conducted a Continual Medical Education (CME) workshop on Image Guided Therapies for Maldivian doctors in Male on Monday.

The first Joint Working Group under the MoU held early this month prioritized capacity building and training of Maldivian doctors by Indian specialists.

India and Maldives have a long tradition of partnership in the health sector including in the area of capacity building and training of specialist doctors. The first visit by the team from AIIMS has identified several areas of cooperation.

These areas include workshops, use of telemedicine facility, training of technicians and collaborative research projects between AIIMS and the Maldivian health sector.

India had pledged line of credit worth $.1.4 billion  for economic and infrastructure development in Maldives   in 2018 end

The World Economic Forum announced the appointments to its board of trustees

 The World Economic Forum  announced the appointments  to its board of trustees

Kristalina Georgieva and Patrice Motsepe join the World Economic Forum Board of Trustees

Kristalina  Georgieva, Managing Director at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Patrice Motsepe, Founder and Executive Chairman, African Rainbow Minerals (ARM), will join the Board of Trustees of the World Economic Forum.

Kristalina Georgieva has been Managing Director at the IMF since October 2019. Previously, she served as Chief Executive Officer at the World Bank, and as Interim President of the World Bank Group. She also served as European Commission Vice-President for Budget and Human Resources

Patrice Tlhopane Motsepe is a South African mining businessman and billionaire of Tswana descent. He is the founder and executive chairman of African Rainbow Minerals, which has interests in gold, ferrous metals, base metals, and platinum.

International Day of Education

International Day of Education

International Day of Education is an annual international observance day held on January 24 and is dedicated to education.

 On December 3, 2018, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution proclaiming January 24 as International Day of Education, in celebration of the role of education for bringing global peace and sustainable development

The theme of the International day of education in 2020, “Learning for people, planet, prosperity and peace”, emphasizes the importance of education for sustainable development and focuses on inclusive and equitable education for all

Oldest ever mushroom fossil discovered

Oldest ever mushroom fossil discovered

Researchers have discovered the oldest ever mushroom fossil to be identified, a finding which pushes back the time when the fungal organisms first appeared on the Earth by about 300 million years. According to the scientists, including those from Universite Libre de Bruxelles in France, the oldest confirmed mushroom fossil until now was dated to 460 million years ago. 

In the current study, published in the journal Science Advances, researchers found fossilised remains of microscopic mushroom parts called mycelium in rocks whose age is between 715 and 810 million years. The scientists said these rocks were found in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and likely formed in a lagoon or coastal lake environment.

Putting the discovery in perspective, the researchers said, this was a time in the Earth's history when life on the continents' surface was in its very infancy.

While previously discovered mushroom fossils were identified based on the morphology of organic remains found in rocks using corrosive acid compounds, this method damaged the chemistry of the fossils, and only allowed analysis of the microscopic structures. In the current study, the scientists used multiple molecular analysis techniques at a microscopic scale with which they could study the chemistry of organic remains in the site, without corrosive chemical treatment.

Isro unveils Vyom Mitra half-humanoid that will travel to space

Isro unveils  Vyom Mitra half-humanoid that will travel to space

Female humanoid ‘Vyom Mitra’ will accompany 3 Indian astronauts for Gaganyaan mission.

Isro on Wednesday unveiled Vyom Mitra, a ‘half humanoid’.

Vyom Mitra gets her name from two Sanskrit words — Vyom meaning Sky; Heaven in Sanskrit and Mitra, meaning friend.

She will fly on board the first two “unmanned” flights of the mission. Only the third Gaganyaan flight will have a human crew.

The prototype of the humanoid, scheduled to ride into space later this year or next year ahead of the Indian crew as part of ‘Gaganyaan’ programme, is designed at Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvanantha-puram.

Along with Vyom Mitra, GSLV (Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle), modified to hold the orange capsule with three crew members, was also on display.

Isro has developed and demonstrated key technologies such as having an operational launcher with a 10-tonne payload capability to lower orbit, demonstration of mission design and management, and recovery system like space-qualified parachutes.

Former FM Elyes Fakhfakh named PM-designate of Tunisia

 Former FM Elyes Fakhfakh named PM-designate of Tunisia

Tunisia's President Kais Saied has named former Finance Minister Elyes Fakhfakh as Prime Minister-designate.

Elyes Fakhfakh is a Tunisian politician. He served as the Minister of Tourism and, starting on 19 of December 2012, as the Minister of Finances as well, under Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali

Tunisia is a North African country bordering the Mediterranean Sea and Sahara Desert.

President: Kais Saied Trending
Capital: Tunis
Currency: Tunisian dinar
Official language: Arabic

Jacqueline Williams of Jamaica becomes the 1st woman third Umpire in men’s T20I

Jacqueline Williams of Jamaica becomes the 1st woman third Umpire in men’s T20I

Jacqueline  is a Jamaican cricket umpire.

She stood as an umpire in the 2015 ICC Women's World Twenty20 Qualifier tournament.

In 2016, she became the first female umpire to stand in the domestic 50-over competition in the West Indies, when she was one of the on-field umpires between Trinidad & Tobago and ICC Americas in the 2015–16 Regional Super50 tournament.

During the 2016 ICC World Cricket League Division Five tournament in Jersey, she was the third umpire during the fixture between Oman and Nigeria on 22 May.

Her colleague, Sue Redfern, was one of the on-field umpires, meaning that it was the first time two female umpires had officiated in a men's match in an ICC tournament

In January 2020, Williams was named as the third umpire for the first T20I between the West Indies and Ireland, becoming the first woman to officiate as a third umpire in a men's international cricket match

World Economic Forum

The World Economic Forum, based in Cologny-Geneva, Switzerland, is an NGO, founded in 1971.

The World Economic Forum is the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation.

The Forum engages the foremost political, business, cultural and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas.


US President Donald Trump, teen climate activist Greta Thunberg and Uber boss Dara Khosrowshahi are among the guests.

Headquarters: Cologny, Switzerland
Founder: Klaus Schwab
Founded: January 1971
Leader: Klaus Schwab

9th International Children's Film Festival began in Kolkata

The 9th International Children's Film Festival began  in Kolkata today with the screening of Aizaz Khan directed Hamid.

About 250 films from 45 countries will be screened in the week-long festival. 

the National Award winner Children actor, Talha Arsad Rishi will inaugurate the festival. 

Ten venues in the city have been selected for the festival.  Besides the screening of films, an exhibition on the children's film festival will also be organised.

Ukraine PM Oleksiy Honcharuk resigned

Ukraine PM Oleksiy Honcharuk resigned

In Ukraine, Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk tendered his resignation to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy today after less than six months in the role.

The former lawyer and deputy head of the Prime Minister's office became Ukraine's youngest-ever head of government at the age of 35 when he took on the role in August of last year.

Ukraine is a large country in Eastern Europe

Capital: Kyiv
Currency: Ukrainian hryvnia

World's oceans warmer in 2019 than any other time in human history

World's oceans warmer in 2019 than any other time in human history

The world's oceans were the warmest in 2019 than any other time in recorded humanhistory. This was disclosed by a study published in the journal Advances inAtmospheric Sciences. The researchers noted that the year 2019 broke theprevious records set in prior years for global warming, and the effects arealready appearing in the form of more extreme weather, rising sea levels andharm to ocean animals.

The study also found that the past ten years have been the warmest on recordfor global ocean temperatures, with the last five years holding the highestrecord.

An associate professor at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Lijing Chengsaid, the amount of heat that has been put in the world's oceans in the past 25years equals to 3.6 billion Hiroshima atom-bomb explosions.

The international team of 14 scientists from 11 institutes across the world,call for action to reverse climate change. According to the researchers, humanscan work to reverse their effect on the climate, but the ocean will take longerto respond than atmospheric and land environments.

The researchers used a relatively new method of analysis to account forpotentially sparse data and time discrepancies in instruments that werepreviously used to measure ocean warmth, especially from the ocean surface to2,000 metres deep.

The newly available data allowed the researchers to examine warmth trendsdating back to the 1950s.

India will host SCO heads of government meeting

India will host SCO heads of government meeting

For the first time, India will host the annual meeting of council of heads of government of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the grouping's Secretary General Vladimir Norov said on Monday.

Usually, the heads of government meeting of the SCO is represented by foreign ministers while a number of countries send their prime ministers also.

India has always been represented by the external affairs minister in the heads of government meeting while the SCO heads of state summit is attended by the prime minister.

 India became a full member of the the China-dominated grouping in 2017 and New Delhi's entry into it increased the bloc's heft in regional geo-politics, besides giving it a pan-Asian hue.

India was an observer at the SCO since 2005 and has generally participated in the ministerial-level meetings of the grouping which focus mainly on security and economic cooperation in the Eurasian region.

Along with India, Pakistan was also granted membership of SCO in 2017.

The SCO was founded at a summit in Shanghai in 2001 by the presidents of Russia, China, Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. India and Pakistan became its members last year.

2019-2020 Supercopa de España

2019-2020 Supercopa de España

The 2019–20 Supercopa de España was the 36th edition of the Supercopa de España, an annual football competition for clubs in the Spanish football league system that were successful in its major competitions in the preceding season

In February 2019, it was announced that the competition would be changed from a two-team format to four teams, which would include a semi-final round.

The semi-final round was played on 8 and 9 January 2020, and the final was held on 12 January; there was no third-place game.

The final was contested between Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid and was won by Real Madrid 4–1 on penalties, following a 0–0 draw after extra time, to win their 11th Supercopa de España title.

Dates: 8 Jan 2020 – 12 Jan 2020
Location: Saudi Arabia
Teams: 4
City: Jeddah

Robert Abela elected as new PM of Malta

Robert Abela elected as new PM of Malta

Malta's governing party has elected a new leader and prime minister to replace Joseph Muscat, who had resigned 

Robert Abela won the Labour Party leadership contest with 57.9% of the vote

Robert Abela is a Maltese lawyer and politician, currently serving as the 14th Prime Minister of Malta.

Malta is an archipelago in the central Mediterranean between Sicily and the North African coast.

Capital: Valletta
Currency: Euro

World Future Energy Summit will begin today in Abu Dhabi

World Future Energy Summit will begin today in Abu Dhabi

The World Future Energy Summit will begin today in Abu Dhabi.

33,500 participants from 170 countries and 800 specialist exhibitors are expected to attend the four-day annual event.

The theme for this year's summit is "Rethinking Global Consumption, Production, and Investment."

World Future Energy Summit is the Middle East’s largest future energy and sustainability event.

Held annually at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre, the 2020 edition includes exhibition and forum programmes across five main pillars: energy, solar, water, waste and smart cities, hosting an unrivalled gathering of top-level government and business leaders.

The event is starting to set an example for best practice, supporting the circular economy through recycling, and acting to remove single-use plastics from the event.

Also held alongside the World Future Energy Summit are the Climate Innovations Exchange, ‘CLIX’ for short and the Future Sustainability Summit.

The event will showcase 42 of the world’s most disruptive innovations, selected from 1,402 global submissions from 128 countries, related to the future of energy, food, agriculture and sustainability in space.

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen won second term

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen won second term

Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen secured a landslide victory in presidential elections

 As per official results, Tsai was ahead with 57 per cent, more than eight million votes last evening.

Tsai Ing-wen is a Taiwanese politician and professor serving as the president of the Republic of China, commonly known as Taiwan, since 20 May 2016.

she is the first woman to be elected to the office, Tsai is the seventh president of the Republic of China under the 1947 Constitution

Taiwan, officially the Republic of China, is a state in East Asia. Neighbouring states include the People's Republic of China to the north-west, Japan to the north-east, and the Philippines to the south

Capital: Taipei
Currency: New Taiwan dollar

World Hindi Day

World Hindi Day is celebrated every year on 10 January. Its objective is to create awareness for the promotion of Hindi in the world and to introduce Hindi as an international language.

The Embassy of India abroad celebrates this day exclusively.

Lectures in Hindi on various subjects are organized in all government offices. In order to develop and propagate Hindi in the world, the World Hindi Conferences were started and the first World Hindi Conference was held in Nagpur on 10 January 1975, hence this day is celebrated as 'World Hindi Day' is

Former Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh had announced on 10 January 2006 to be celebrated as World Hindi Day every year [3]. Since then, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs had celebrated World Hindi Day for the first time abroad on 10 January 2006.

The aim of World Hindi Day is to create awareness for the spread of Hindi in the world, to introduce Hindi as an international language, to create an atmosphere for Hindi, to create affection for Hindi, to create awareness for the condition of Hindi And Hindi has to be presented as the world language.

Jasbinder Bilan won UK award

Jasbinder Bilan won UK award

jasbinder Bilan, a schoolteacher who writes in her spare time, has won the Costa Children’s Book Award for Asha & The Spirit Bird, a tale set in the Himalayan foothills where the author was born

Jasbinder and the winners of the other four categories novel, first novel, biography and poetry who all win £3,000 are now considered for the £30,000 Costa Book of the Year which will be announced on January 28.

There has been one other Indian winner before Kishwar Desai,  who won the first novel category for "Witness the Night"  in 2010.

Former PM Zoran Milanovic won Croatia presidential polls

Former PM Zoran Milanovic wins Croatia presidential polls

Former Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic,  has won Sunday's presidential runoff, defeating the incumbent conservative leader.

Milanovic, the Social Democrat candidate, took 52.7 percent of the vote, while President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic,   garnered 47.3 percent

The turnout was about 55 percent.

Zoran Milanović is a Croatian politician who is the President-elect of Croatia, due to take office on 19 February 2020. He previously served as Prime Minister of Croatia from December 2011 to January 2016.

Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, on the Adriatic Sea.

Capital: Zagreb
Currency: Croatian kuna

UAE Cabinet approved issuance of 5-Year multi-entry tourist visa

UAE Cabinet approved issuance of 5-Year multi-entry tourist visa

The UAE Cabinet has approved the issuance of a five-year multi-entry tourist visa for all nationalities visiting the country. The decision was made during the Cabinet's first meeting of 2020. 

The move comes in a bid to support the UAE's tourism economy, and affirm the country's position as a global tourist destination.

the country receives 21 million tourists annually and their aim is to establish the country as a major global tourist destination.

The decision is also likely to benefit the lakhs of expat population staying in UAE.

P Magesh Chandran won 95th Hastings International Chess title

P Magesh Chandran won 95th Hastings International Chess title

India's P Magesh Chandran lifted the title in the 95th edition of the prestigious Hastings International Chess Congress at  Hastings in England.

He remained unbeaten in all the nine rounds. The 36-year old Grand Master with a FIDE rating of 2479, finished in clear first place with 7.5 points from nine games after securing a 33-move draw in the final round yesterday against compatriot G A Stany, also a Grand Master. He beat fellow Indian GM Deep Sengupta in the eighth round.

Stany took the sixth place with 6.5 points while India's woman GM R Vaishali obtained six points to finish 10th. Two other Indians Deep Sengupta finished 13th and Swayam Mishra 14th with identical six points.

France's Romain Edouard, who was the only player to end the tournament a half-point behind Chandran, took the second spot. Four players shared third to sixth places with 6.5 points. 

Chandran, who currently lives in North Carolina, USA and has a chess academy, said he plans to play more events this year. The Indian had become a GM in 2006 and moved to the US for higher studies at the University of Texas.

India recorded highest number of babies born on New Year's Day

India recorded highest number of babies born on New Year's Day

An estimated 67,385 children were born in India, the highest number of births recorded worldwide on New Year's Day according to United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) .

the UN children's agency said 392,078 babies were born globally on New Year's Day and India ranked on the top with 67,385 births.

According to the UN agency, over half of the births have taken place in eight countries.

Neutral pronoun 'they' has been voted as Word of the Decade

Neutral pronoun 'they' has been voted as Word of the Decade

Neutral pronoun 'they' has been voted word of the decade by US language experts, beating out other contenders.

They prefer the plural neutral pronoun to bypass using the pronouns "he" or "she".

The recognition comes after US dictionary Merriam-Webster in December named "they" as word of the year.

The American Dialect Society had previously named "they" word of the year in 2015.

The world Braille Day is being celebrated on 4 January.

The world Braille Day is being celebrated on 4 January.

The day is marked remembering the birth anniversary of Louis Braille, the inventor of Braille - for people with visual disabilities. Louis Braille was born on 4th January 1809 in the town of Coupvray in northern France.

At the age of just 3, he lost both his eyes in an accident. This resulted in the invention of the language of 6 dots- which is popularly known as braille.

 World Braille Day is on 4 January and celebrates awareness of the importance of braille as a means of communication in the full realization of the human rights for blind and visually impaired people.

 The date for the event was chosen by the United Nations General Assembly via a proclamation in November 2018

The first World Braille Day was celebrated on January 4, 2019.

Hillary Clinton appointed as new chancellor of Queen's University Belfast in Ireland

Hillary Clinton appointed as new chancellor of Queen's University Belfast in Ireland

Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been appointed the new chancellor of Queen's University in Belfast, Ireland.

Clinton, who has been a regular visitor to Northern Ireland going back to the first visit of President Bill Clinton in 1995, becomes the university's first female chancellor.

She will serve as chancellor for a five-year term

The position of chancellor has been vacant since the death in 2018 of Thomas J Moran, chairman, president, and chief executive of Mutual of America Life Insurance Company.

Pacific Island nation Palau bans ‘reef-toxic’ sunscreen

Pacific Island nation Palau bans ‘reef-toxic’ sunscreen

Palau's pioneering ban on "reef-toxic" sunscreens takes effect today. The tiny Pacific island nation introduced strict environmental measures.

Palau is renowned for its marine life and is regarded as one of the world's best diving destinations. But, the government is concerned this poses an environmental cost.

President Tommy Remengesau said there was scientific evidence that chemicals found in most sunscreens were toxic to corals.
      
From New Year's day, any reef-toxic sunscreen imported or sold in Palau will be confiscated and the owner will be fined. Along with the ban, Palau's much-touted marine sanctuary came into effect on January 1.

This closes 80 per cent of its exclusive economic zone to fishing and other marine activities including mining and shark finning.

It follows Palau's establishment of the world's first shark sanctuary in 2009.

ICC has planned to scrap five-day Tests from 2023

ICC has planned to scrap five-day Tests from 2023

Cricket's apex body, the International Cricket Council, plans to scrap five-day Tests from 2023. The ICC could make four-day Tests mandatory from 2023 as part of the World Test Championship, primarily to free up the crowded calendar.

Tests have been played over five days through most of their 140-year history. England has backed the plan.

A spokesperson of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said, it could provide a sustainable solution to the complex scheduling needs and players' workloads. BCCI President Sourav Ganguly has said, it was too early to make a comment on the matter.

Last week, Cricket Australia's chief executive Kevin Roberts emphasised the need to seriously consider the matter. A four-day Test is not a new concept. The last such Test was played between England and Ireland earlier this year. South Africa and Zimbabwe too played one in 2017.