Current Affairs for NIACL AO Main Exam: 30th January 2019

“Black Panther” took home the top award for best performance by a cast in a motion picture at the 2019 Screen Actors Guild Awards. On the TV front, “This Is Us” nabbed the ensemble award for drama, while “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” won the comedy prize. The award ceremony was held at the Shrine Auditorium in LA.

The 25th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards took place at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. Megan Mullally hosted this year’s SAG Awards, which handed out trophies in 15 film and TV categories, including the marquee Ensemble awards. The guild rolled out the silver carpet tonight at the Shrine for the anniversary gala.

West Indies captain Jason Holder has become the first player from the country in 45 years to top the list of all-rounders in the International Cricket Council Test Player Rankings after slamming an unbeaten double-century that helped script a memorable 381-run win over England in the first Test in Bridgetown.

Former Defence Minister George Fernandes passed away in Delhi at the age of 88. Fernandes also served as the Railways Minister in former Prime Minister VP Singh’s government. His last stint as a parliamentarian was as a Rajya Sabha MP between August 2009 and July 2010.

Poonam Khetrapal Singh has been appointed Regional Director for World Health Organization South-East Asia, for a second five-year term. The WHO Executive Board unanimously endorsed Dr. Khetrapal Singh, who was earlier also unanimously nominated by 11 Member countries of the Region for another five years.

Nepal batsman Rohit Paudel has become the youngest male cricketer to score an international fifty at the age of 16 years and 146 days, breaking Sachin Tendulkar’s previous mark. He is also the youngest man to score a one-day international half-century, beating Shahid Afridi, who smashed a 37-ball century in an incredible first inning against Sri Lanka aged 16 and 217 days. Indian legend Tendulkar scored his maiden Test fifty when 16 years and 213 days old.

India’s Kartik Sharma won the New South Wales men’s Amateur Golf Championship in Australia. Kartik notched up a magnificent win over Australia’s Nathan Barberie in the scheduled 36-hole final to emerge as champion.

Union Minister for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi stated that GST on Haj has been reduced from 18% to 5% and this will significantly lower the airfare thus saving Haj pilgrims’ 113 crore rupees this year. Mr. Naqvi also stated that for the first time since the independence 2,340 women from India will go on 2019 Haj without Mehram.

Nepal batsman Rohit Paudel has become the youngest male cricketer to score an international fifty at the age of 16 years and 146 days, breaking Sachin Tendulkar’s previous mark. He is also the youngest man to score a one-day international half-century, beating Shahid Afridi, who smashed a 37-ball century in an incredible first inning against Sri Lanka aged 16 and 217 days. Indian legend Tendulkar scored his maiden Test fifty when 16 years and 213 days old.

The Council of Europe had launched a Data Protection Day to be celebrated each year on 28 January, the date on which the Council of Europe’s data protection convention, known as “Convention 108”, was opened to the signature. Data Protection Day is now celebrated globally and is called Data Privacy Day outside Europe. The data protection convention, which is the only international treaty in this field, is being updated to ensure that its data protection principles are still in line with today’s needs.

A 5.1-km long cable-stayed “Atal Setu” on the Mandovi river in Goa, a third such bridge to connect the state capital with North Goa, was opened to the public by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari.

Uttarakhand’s first tulip garden will come up over 50 hectares of forest land in Pithoragarh district at a cost of Rs 50 crore. The state government has obtained the Centre’s nod for development of the garden. To be developed by the ONGC, under its corporate social responsibility programme, the proposed tulip garden will be the country’s second after the one located in Srinagar (J&K). It has been selected under the State Government’s ‘13districts, 13 new destinations’ scheme, to attract more tourists to the district.

India and China have signed the protocol for exports of Indian tobacco leaves to China. The protocol was signed during the recent visit of Commerce Secretary, Dr. Anup Wadhawan to Beijing.

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has announced “Jiban Sampark” project in partnership with UNICEF India to generate awareness about the development and welfare initiatives of state government among the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups of the state. The announcement was made after Patnaik inaugurated the annual tribal fair popularly known as “Adivasi Mela”.

Suman Kumari has become the first Hindu woman to have been appointed as a civil judge in Pakistan after passing an examination for induction of judicial officers. Kumari, who hails from Qambar-Shahdadkot, will serve in her native district.

A 5.1-km long cable-stayed “Atal Setu” on the Mandovi river in Goa, a third such bridge to connect the state capital with North Goa, was opened to the public by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari. Ailing Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, Union AYUSH Minister Shripad Naik also attended the event to inaugurate the four-lane bridge which at 2.5 lakh tonnes is equivalent to the weight of 570 Boeing aircraft.

India has replaced Japan as the world’s 2nd largest steel producing country, while China is the largest producer of crude steel, accounting for more than 51% of production, according to the World Steel Association. The global steel body, in its latest report, stated that China’s crude steel output jumped 6.6% to 928.3 million tonnes in 2018 from 870.9 MT in 2017.

India received the Award of Excellence for ‘Best in Show’ at the New York Times Travel Show 2019, the largest travel show in North America. India was honoured during the Closing Bell Ceremony at the New York Stock Exchange.

India has replaced Japan as the world’s 2nd largest steel producing country, while China is the largest producer of crude steel, accounting for more than 51% of production, according to the World Steel Association. The global steel body, in its latest report, stated that China’s crude steel output jumped 6.6% to 928.3 million tonnes in 2018 from 870.9 MT in 2017.

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik inaugurated the Adivasi Mela-2019 in Bhubaneswar. The annual event, which has 180 stalls this year, will continue till February 9.