weekly current affairs from 13th to 20th January

15^th January is celebrated as Indian Army Day

Indian Army Day is observed on January 15^th in India every year.This year 72^nd Army Day is being celebrated across the country. This day is celebrated every year to commemorate the day when General (later Field Marshal) KM Cariappa took over the command of Army from General sir F R R Bucher the last British commander-in-chief of Indian Army post Independence.
The Army Day is celebrated at all Army Command headquarters to honour our country’s soldiers who set the greatest example of selfless service and brotherhood, and above all, love for the country. The Indian Army is one of the most powerful militaries of the world, competing with superpowers like the US, Russia and China.
The motto of the Indian Army is ‘service before self’ and its mission is to ensure national security and national unity, defend the nation from external aggression and internal threats, and maintain peace and security within its borders.salute to the brave soldiers, who risk and sacrifice their lives to protect us. Even the Prime Minister of India Lal Bahadur Shastri in 1965 had given the slogan like “Jai Jawan Jai Kisan”.
Indian Army has responded to a wide array of national security challenges that are becoming more complex and multi-dimensional and demand utmost dedication, the highest level of proficiency and resilience in dealing with them. Indian Army has the dedication to the motherland by being effective responders during calamities and through the contributions to-wider nation building. Indian Army enjoys a distinctive pride of place in the national mind space.

Nitin Gadkari presenting the National Highway Excellence Awards 2019

Union Road Transport and Highways Minister, Nitin Gadkari presenting the National Highway Excellence Awards 2019 in New Delhi. This award is instituted in the year 2018, National Highway Excellence Awards aim to recognize the well-performing companies in the field of construction, operations, maintenance, toll collection and road safety on National Highways.

The 7 categories of the awards are

1) Excellence in Project Management

2) Excellence in Operation and Maintenance

3) Excellent in Toll Management

4) Excellence in Highway Safety

5) Innovation

6) Outstanding work in challenging conditions

7) Green Highway

Indian lawyer Harish Salve appointed as Queen’s counsel

Indian lawyer Harish Salve was appointed into Queen Elizabeth ii’s counsel of senior advocate. He has been appointed as Queen’s Counsel for the courts of England and Wales. His name featured in the list of silk appointments released by the UK ministry of justice on January 13. Salve and other appointees will be formally appointed as Queen’s counsel on March 16 2020. The title of Queen’s counsel is awarded to those who have demonstrated particular skill and expertise in the conduct of advocacy.
Harish Salve did his LLB from Nagpur University and began his career with JB Dadachandji & Co. in 1980. He was designated as senior advocate by the Delhi High Court in 1992. Salve was called to Blackstone Chambers in 2013. He had represented India before International Court of Justice in Kulbhushan Jadhav extradition case.

Noted writer Vasdev Mohi to be honoured with 29^th Saraswati samman

Noted Sindhi writer Vasdev Mohi will be honoured with 29^th Saraswati samman. He has been selected for his short stories collection-Chequebook, published in 2012. This short stories talk about the agonies and sufferings of marginalized sections of the society. He has authored 25 books of poetry stories and translations. He has also received the Sahitya Akademi Award.
Saraswati samman a literary recognition given annually by the KK Birla foundation. Saraswati samman carries a cash award of 15 lakh rupees, a citation and a plaque. Besides the Saraswati samman, two other awards have been instituted by KK Birla foundation- the vyas samman (for hindi works by Indian Citizens) and Bihari Puraskar (for Hindi/Rajasthani works by Rajasthani writers) a literary and cultural organization.

Henley Passport Index 2020 has been launched

Henley Passport Index has been launched. The ranking report is based on data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), a trade association of some 290 airlines, including all major carriers. The Henley Passport Index includes 199 different passports and 227 different travel destinations.

Important Key Points: Henley Passport Report 2020

The list is topped by Japan. Japan has been topping the Index for three years continuously. Japan can access now almost 191 countries.

Japan was now followed by Singapore, Germany and South Korea.

The Indian Passport ranked 84^th, along with Tajikistan and Mauritania in the world’s most powerful passport index 2020,which is dropped by 2 places as it ranked 82^nd in 2019.

At present Indian citizens can access only 58 destinations in the world without obtaining prior visa.

Afghanistan was among the worst performers in the list with the ranking of 107^th.

Serbia is the only European country to which Indian passport holders can travel visa free.

The top 10 most powerful passports for 2020 are Japan, Singapore, south Korea, Germany, Italy, Finland, Spain, USA and UK,Luxembourg and Denmark.

The document which has opened the door to the largest number of new territories in ten years is the UAE passport, which is placed 18^th in the ranking and allows easy access to 171 countries.

What is Henley Passport Index?

The Henley Passport Index was launched in 2006 with the aim of providing a global picture of freedom of travelling. The Passport Index includes Visa-Frees score, world Openness score, welcoming score and global mobility score. When these scores are high, the passport index is also high and such a passport is said to be highly powerful.

Global Risks Report 2020:Important Highlights

The World Economic Forum has released the “The Global Risks Report 2020”. The Global Risks Report 2020 is the 15^th edition of the WEF’s Global Risks Report prepared in partnership with Marsh & Mclennan and Zurich Insurance Group.

Here is the list of top 10 risks by likelihood (stated by multistakeholders)” and top 10 risks by impact( stated by multistakeholders)” to be faced by the world in 2020.

S.No. Top 10 risks by “Impact” S.No. Top 10 risks by “Likelihood” 1 Climate action failure 1 Extreme Weather 2 Weapons of mass destruction 2 Climate action failure 3 Biodiversity loss 3 Natural disaster 4 Extreme weather 4 Biodiversity loss 5 Water crises 5 Human-made environmental disasters 6 Information infrastructure breakdown 6 Data fraud or theft 7 Natural disasters 7 Cyberattacks 8 Cyberattacks 8 Water crises 9 Human-made environmental disasters 9 Global Governance failure 10 Infectious diseases 10 Asset Bubble Weekly One Liners 13th to 19th of January 2020 3 | Here is the complete list of Short-Term Risk Outlook (stated by multistakeholders): S.No. Short Term Risk Outlook 1. Economic confrontations 2 Domestic political polarization 3 Extreme heat waves 4 Destruction of natural ecosystems 5 Cyberattacks: infrastructure 6 Protectionism on trade/investment 7 Populist and nativist agendas 8 Cyberattacks: theft of money/data 9 Recession in a major economy 10 Uncontrolled fires

ICC Awards 2019: Check complete list of winners

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced the list of winners of its annual awards of 2019.

Below is the complete list of winners of ICC Men’s cricket Awards:

No. Award Award Winner 1 Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for Best Cricketer of the Year Ben Stokes (England) 2 Test Cricketer of the Year Pat Cummins (Australia) 3 ODI Cricketer of the Year Rohit Sharma (India) 4 T20I Performance of the Year Deepak Chahar (India, for taking 6 wicket haul conceding 7 runs vs Bangladesh) 5 Emerging Cricketer of the Year Marnus Labuschagne (Australia) 6 Associate Cricketer of the Year Kyle Coetzer (Scotland) 7 Spirit of Cricket Award Virat Kohli (India, for stopping the fans booing Steve Smith during India-Australia Match at the Oval) 8 David Shepherd Trophy for Umpire of the Year Richard Illingworth 9 Fans’ Moment of the Year 2018 India wins U19 Cricket World Cup 2018.

ICC has also announced its test team of the year(Team as per batting order): Mayank Agarwal, Tom Latham, Marnus Labuschagne, Virat Kohli(captain), Steve Smith, Ben Stokes, BJ Watling(wicketkeeper), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Neil Wagner, Nathan Lyon.

ICC has also announced its ICC ODI Team of the year(Team as per batting order): Rohit Sharma, Shai Hope, Virat Kohli(capt), Babar Azam, Kane Williamson, Ben stokes, Jos Buttler(wicketkeeper), Mitchel Starc, Trent Boult, Mohammad Shami, Kuldeep Yadav

Below is the complete list of winners of ICC women’s cricket awards

S.No Award Player

1 Rachael Heyhoe Flint Award for ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year EllysePerry(Australia)

2 ICC Women’s ODI Player of the Year Elysse Perr(Australia)

3 ICC Women’s T20I Player of the Year Alyssa Healy(Australia)

4 ICC Women’s Emerging Player of the Year Chanida Sutthiruang (Thailand)

ICC has also announced the ICC Women’s T20I Team of the year(Team as per batting order): Alyssa Healy(wk), Danielle Wyatt, Meg Lanning(captain), Stefanie Taylor, Ellyse Perry, Deepti Sharma, Nida Dar, Megan Schutt, Poonam Yadav.