Current Affairs January 2020 - Places in NEWS
1 - 107th Indian Science Congress held in Bengaluru
The 107th Indian Science Congress (ISC) was held at the University of Agricultural Sciences in Bengaluru. The theme of the event was “Science and Technology: Rural Development”. The aim of the summit was to bridge the gap between farmer and tech-developers.
During the inauguration of the 107th Indian Science Congress, PM Narendra Modi launched the Indian Science Technology and Engineering Facilities Map (I-STEM) Portal. The portal has been designed to be the gateway for researchers to locate a specific type of facility they require to conduct their research and development work in India.
2 - MECOS-3 held in Kochi, Kerala
The third international symposium on marine ecosystems – challenges and opportunities (MECOS-3) was held in Kochi, Kerala. It was organised by the Marine Biological Association of India. Eminent marine scientists, oceanographers, fisheries researchers and marine biotechnologists from across the globe participated in the event.
The meet focussed on the UN’s sustainable development goal-14 (life under water), development of small-scale fisheries, recent developments in aquaculture, eco-labelling and green fishing technologies.
3 - South Asian Trade and Travel Exchange Expo 2020 held in New Delhi
The 27th edition of South Asian Trade and Travel Exchange Expo (SATTE) 2020 was organised in New Delhi so as to build new business partnerships and hence was an important place for the promotion of tourism. The three-day expo was witnessed by 1,050 exhibitors, 200 foreign buyers from over 50 + countries and 500+ domestic hosted buyers from 104 Indian cities.
SATTE 2020 delivered an exciting line-up of conferences to enlighten the industry by addressing the challenges faced and opportunities that Indian tourism offers.
4 - Raisina Dialogue held in New Delhi
India's flagship global conference on geopolitics and geo-economics, Raisina Dialogue, was held in New Delhi. The fifth edition of the prestigious event was jointly organised by the Ministry of External Affairs and the Observer Research Foundation.
The theme for this year was 21@20: Navigating the Alpha Century.The three-day conference saw the participation of 12 Foreign Ministers, including from Russia, Iran, Australia, Maldives, South Africa, Denmark, Uzbekistan and the EU.
5 - Sardar Patel’s Statue of Unity placed in ‘8 Wonders of SCO’
Shanghai Cooperation Organisation included India's 182-meter-tall Statue of Unity in the 8 Wonders of SCO’ list. The 'Statue of Unity’ is the world's tallest statue and monumental tribute to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, independent India's first home minister as well as deputy prime minister.
Other 7 wonders include
Kyrgyzstan — Lake Issyk-Kul
The Golden Ring cities of Russia
Po-I-Kalan Complex in Uzbekistan
Tamgaly Gorge in Kazakhstan
Mughal Heritage in Pakistan
Navruz Palace in Tajikistan
Daming Palace in China
6 - Lucknow hosted the 7th Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Conference 2020
Commonwealth Parliamentarians (CPA) from the largest democracy in the world gather at the India Regional Conference which was held for the first time in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. Over 100 Commonwealth Parliamentarians from across India have renewed their focus on Parliament’s role in the sustainable development agenda and reaffirmed their commitment to democracy at the 7th CPA.
In the two-day conference, discussions included increasing the efficiency of the people's representatives and improving the standard of the House's meetings. The CPA India Regional Conference brought together Speakers and Members of Parliament from the national Parliament of India.
7 - 9th International Children's Film Festival held in Kolkata
The 9th International Children's Film Festival was held in Kolkata with the screening of Aizaz Khan directed Hamid and the closing film is Alfons Jitterbit - Countdown to Chaos. About 250 films from 45 countries were screened in the week-long festival.
The special sections at the festival included Twilight Films, Literature & Cinema, Masters & The Kid, Retrospective, Fairy Tales, World Cinema, Indian Panorama, Looking Back (Bengali), Documentary & Shorts.
8 - 'Bharat Parv 2020' held at Red Fort
Bharat Parv 2020, a festival to celebrate the spirit of India, was held at Red Fort ground in New Delhi from 26-31 January, 2020. The objective of Bharat Parv is to encourage people to visit different tourism places of the country and to inculcate the spirit of ‘Dekho Apna Desh’.
The theme of this year’s Bharat Parv is 'Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat' and celebrating 150 Years of Mahatma Gandhi.
9 - Mumbai International Film Festival
The oldest international event for non-feature films in South Asia, the Mumbai International Film Festival for Documentary, Short Fiction & Animation Films, was held in Mumbai. It was the 16th edition of the biennial festival.
The coveted Dr. V Shantaram Lifetime Achievement Award was conferred on Dr. S. Krishnaswamy, one of India’s most senior and active filmmakers, for his lifelong, invaluable contribution to non-fiction filmmaking. It carries a cash award of 10 lakh rupees, trophy and a citation.
10 - 3rd Global Potato Conclave
The 3rd Global Potato Conclave was held in Gandhinagar, Gujarat from January 28-31. It was organised by Indian Potato Association (IPA) in collaboration with Indian Council of Agricultural Research(ICAR), New Delhi, and ICAR-Central Potato Research Institute, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh and International Potato Center (CIP), Lima, Peru.
Gujarat is one of the leading producers of Potato in the country. In the last eleven years alone, while the area under potato in India, has increased by 19%, it has increased by about 170% in Gujarat.
11 - 10 more wetlands from India get the Ramsar site tag
Ramsar has declared 10 more wetlands from India as sites of international importance. Maharashtra got its first Ramsar site —Nandur Madhameshwar. Punjab which already had three added three more Keshopur-Miani, Beas Conservation Reserve, Nangal. Uttar Pradesh with one Ramsar site has added six more—Nawabganj, Parvati Agra, Saman, Samaspur, Sandi and SarsaiNawar.
With this, the numbers of Ramsar sites in India are now 37 and the surface area covered by these sites is now 1,067,939 hectares. The Ramsar Convention is one of the oldest inter-governmental accord signed by member countries to preserve ecological character of their wetlands of international importance.
12 - India’s first war memorial for animals to be set up in Meerut
A first of its kind war memorial for animals is being planned in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh. Government has planned animal war memorial at the Remount and Veterinary Corps (RVC) Centre and College in Meerut. India's first war memorial will include service animals with more than 300 dogs, 350 handlers and a few horses’ mules.
It is similar to that of National War Memorial in Delhi and is dedicated to the heroics of animals who have helped the army in counter-insurgency operations in Kashmir and in the battlefield during the Kargil War.
