The Daily Brief – 18th January 2019

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1. The Global Risks Report 2019 of the World Economic Forum (WEF) describes changes occurring in the global risks landscape from year to year and identifies global catastrophic risks. The report also examines the interconnectedness of risks and considers how the strategies for the mitigation of global risks might be structured. The top-five risk trends are changing climate; rising cyber dependency; increasing polarisation of societies; rising income and wealth disparity; and increasing national sentiment.
2. The Union Finance Ministry has started the Know Your Budget series on Twitter to educate the general public about the budgetary process. It is a fortnight series which explains the importance of Union Budget and its making. In the first series of tweets under the Know Your Budget fort-night series, the Ministry has made tweets to explain the Union Budget and Vote on Account.
3. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has imposed a penalty on the Chemists and Druggists Association of Baroda (CDAB) after it found it to be in contravention of the provisions of the Competition Act, 2002. The move was undertaken after a complaint was filed with the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission (MRTPC) in 2009 alleging that the CDAB has indulged in restrictive trade practices.
4. The Election Commission of India on January 16, 2019 launched Voter Awareness Forum (VAF) in New Delhi. Similar VAFs were launched by the Chief Electoral Officers in the state capitals and by District Election Officers in the districts simultaneously. The VAFs are informal forums aimed at generating awareness around the electoral process through activities like discussions, quizzes, competitions and other engaging activities. The key objective of the Voter Awareness Forums is to promote informed and ethical electoral participation, beginning from the first step, which is voter registration.
5. National space agency, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on January 17, 2019 launched the UNNATI (UNispace Nano-satellite Assembly and Training by ISRO) programme at the U R Rao Satellite Centre, Bengaluru. UNNATI is a capacity building programme on nanosatellite development. ISRO will launch a student satellite called ‘Kalamsat’ and an imaging satellite known as ‘Microsat-R’ on January 24, 2019, marking the first launch of the ISRO in 2019.

   

6. Indian mountaineer Satyarup Siddhanta on January 16, 2019 became the world’s youngest mountaineer to climb the seven highest peaks and volcanic summits across all continents after conquering Antartica’s highest point Mount Sidley. With this feat, Satyarup also became the first Indian to conquer the seven mountain peaks and seven volcanic summits. He successfully climbed Mount Everest in 2016.
7. The Ministry of Finance on January 16, 2019 constituted a Group of Ministers (GoM) on issues relating to lottery. The GoM was constituted in pursuance of the decision of GST Council taken in the 32nd meeting held on January 10, 2019 at New Delhi. Secretary of the GoM shall be Manish Sinha, Joint Secretary (TRU-II), CBIC.
8. The Women and Child Development Ministry have shortlisted 26 children for the national award in 2019 for their bravery, social service and exceptional achievement in the fields of innovation, sports and arts. The Committee also finalised the names of two individuals and three institutions for Bal Kalyan Puraskar.
9. Union Minister for Commerce and Industries, Suresh Prabhu inaugurated the 10th edition of the India Rubber Expo – 2019 in Mumbai on January 17, 2019. The Minister said that the rubber industry will continue to grow faster, create more employment opportunities, increase exports and add to the economic output of India. The India Rubber Expo is Asia’s largest rubber expo. The event offers a unique opportunity for Indian companies to meet and collaborate with overseas companies.

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