Army Chief General Bipin Rawat has been named the country's 1st Chief of Defence Staff (CDS). CDS will function as a single-point advisor to the govt on matters related to the military & will focus on better synergy between the Army, Air Force & the Navy.
CDS will be the Permanent Chairman of Chiefs of Staff Committee.
Kerala achieved the first rank in the NITI Aygo’s composite SDG Index with a score of 70, followed by Himachal Pradesh (69). India is the first country in the world with a government-led, sub-national measure of progress on Sustainable Development Goals.
Andhra Pradesh, Telangana & Tamil Nadu- 3rd position (67).
Union Minister for Environment, Forest & Climate Change-Prakash Javadekar released the biennial “India State of Forest Report”, published by Forest Survey of India. Total forest & tree cover rises to 24.56% of the total geographical area as per 16th ISFR.
Karnataka is the top state showing increase in forest cover.
Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri launched Biometric enabled Centralised Access Control System (CACS) & ‘e-BCAS (Bureau of Civil Aviation Security) Project Training Module. CACS project is aimed to digitize the employee movement process at the airports.
Main Aim-enhance security & ease of doing business at airports.
University of Agricultural Sciences, Bengaluru is gearing up to host the 107th Indian Science Congress from 3rd to 7th of January. PM Modi will inaugurate the conference to be attended by over 15,000 delegates. General President of the ISCA -K S Rangappa.
ISCA has introduced a mobile app called "ISC 2020 UASB".
The last date for the mandatory linking of the PAN card with Aadhaar has been extended till March 2020. The earlier deadline was December 31. This is the eighth time that the CBDT has extended the deadline for individuals to link their PAN with Aadhaar.
PAN is a 10-digit unique identification alphanumeric number.
HDFC Life Insurance, one of India's leading private life insurers has partnered with Paytm to enable customers of Paytm to purchase insurance products from HDFC Life. HDFC Life has been doing strategic partnerships across industries to have a wider reach.
Paytm President-Amit Nayyar.
The famous 11-day long ‘Dhanu Jatra’, considered as the largest open-air theatre of the world begins at Bargarh, Odisha. It is about the episode of Krishna and Balaram's visit to Mathura to witness the Dhanu ceremony organized by their uncle King Kansa.
Dhanu Jatra got National Festival status in November 2014.
6500 athletes from 37 teams will take part in the 3rd Khelo India youth games in Guwahati beginning from 10th of January. Lawn ball and cycling will be included in the Khelo India for the first time. Total of 20 competitions will be held at 11 venues.
CM Sarbananda Sonowal has launched the torch relay of the event.
Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has withdrawn its threat to boycott the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham over Shooting's exclusion. It also announced that the country will bid to host either 2026 or 2030 edition. CGF President-Dame Louise Martin.
CGF-Commonwealth Games Federation.
Nagaland Legislative Assembly Speaker Vikho-o Yhoshu passed away at Mumbai hospital. He was 69. Yhoshu was diagnosed with lung cancer and was undergoing treatment. He was elected as the Speaker of the 13th Nagaland Legislative Assembly in March 2018.
Governor of Nagaland and Meghalaya- R N Ravi.