Important current affairs of 01 January 2019

This post contains important current affairs (National, International, Business and Sports) of 01 January 2019.

• A 'bancassurance' pact was signed between State-owned Allahabad Bank and SBI Life Insurance to sell the policies of the insurer from over 3,238 branches of the Allahabad Bank. The agreement is considered as one of the largest Bancassurance partnerships in the country. The agreement was signed in the presence of Allahabad Bank Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mallikarjuna Rao and SBI Life MD & CEO Sanjeev Nautiyal.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Varanasi and Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh for one day. He attended the One District, One Product Regional Summit at Deendayal Hastakala Sankul in Varanasi. Here he laid foundation stone for 14new development projects worth around 98 crores. Also, in the event, loans worth Rs. 2000 crore were disbursed.
• The High-Level Committee (HLC) chaired by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh approved additional assistance of Rs 1,146.12 crore from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) to Tamil Nadu, which was affected by cyclone 'Gaja' recently. The Central government had released assistance of Rs 353.70 crore from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) as an interim relief to the state. Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Union Minister for Agriculture Radha Mohan Singh and Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog Dr Rajiv Kumar are the members of the HLC.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Varanasi and Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh for one day. In Varanasi, he launched the System for Authority and Management of Pension (SAMPANN) software which is developed to ease the problems of pensioners.
• An exhibition titled 'Dandi Yatra' was inaugurated in New Delhi on 29 December 2018. It was organised by the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA). The exhibition is part of the celebration of the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. The exhibition showcases the unseen drawings of artist Chhaganlal Jadav and also the masterworks of NGMA's collection of contemporaneous artists.
• The Congress-led Madhya Pradesh Government announced that it is going to create an Adhyatmik Vibhag (spiritual department) by merging several existing department. The proposed Adhyatmik Vibhag (Spiritual Department) going to be formed by merging Dharmik Nyas Evam Dharmasv Department (Religious Trust and Endowment Department), Anand Vibhag (Happiness Department) in addition to the Directorate of Religious Trust and Endowment, Madhya Pradesh Teerth Evam Mela Pradhikaran and Rajya Anand Sansthan.Madhya Pradesh had become the first state in the country to create Happiness Department.
• The Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India has released a booklet titled "A Handbook for Students on cyber Safety" to inform the school children about the different aspects of cyber safety. The booklet aims to create awareness among citizens especially students about cyber threats and provides details about the various safeguards that can be adopted by the children in order to protect themselves from cyber grooming. The booklet also deals with the problem of cyber bullying, identity theft, cyber grooming, email fraud & job fraud and guides the citizens about the various safeguards to avoid such threats.
• The Gajraj Corps (IV Corps) is a military field formation of the Indian Army, created in 1961. Lt Gen Manoj Pande took the command of the Indian Army's Gajraj Corps on 30 December 2018. He replaced Lt Gen Gurpal Singh Sangha. Prior to this, he was the Chief of Staff in Headquarters Southern Command.
• The Deen Dayal Veterinary University in Uttar Pradesh proposed to set up the first goat fertility lab in the state under Rastriya Krashi Vikas Yojna at the cost of Rs 22 crore. The University has entered into a contract with Pradeshik cooperative Dairy Federation for marketing. Rastriya Krashi Vikas Yojna or National Agriculture Development Programme is a State Plan Scheme of Additional Central Assistance launched in August 2007 as a part of the 11th Five Year Plan by the Government of India. It aims to achieve 4% annual growth in agriculture through development of Agriculture and its allied sectors.
• Veteran actor-writer Kader Khan passed away in Canada at the age of 81. Kader Khan made his acting debut in 1973 with Rajesh Khanna's "Daag" and has featured in over 300 films. He wrote dialogues for over 250 movies. Before becoming an actor he had written dialogues for Randhir Kapoor-Jaya Bachchan's "Jawani Diwani". As a screenwriter, Khan frequently collaborated with Manmohan Desai and Prakash Mehra.

• Portuguese airline 'Hi Fly' introduced single-use plastic free flight on 29 December 2018. The flight took off from Lisbon to Natale, Brazil, without a single piece of single-use plastic on board. There were no plastic cups, plastic silverware, plastic cocktail stirrer, and plastic food containers.
• Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Government of India announced that Mr. Y.K. Sailas Thangal who is the ambassador of the India to the Republic of Cote d' Ivoire has been concurrently accredited as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Liberia with residence in Abidjan. Y. K. Thangal, IFS Officer of 1996 batch was appointed as the Ambassador of India to Republic of Cote d' Ivoire on 14th September 2018. India is represented in Liberia through its embassy in Abidjan (Ivory Coast) and an active honorary consulate in Capital of Liberia, Monrovia since 1984. 
• Three Indian-origin women scientists Onisha Patel, Devika Kamath and Asha Rao are among the 60 Superstars of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics) list awarded by Australian government. Under the initiative, due to gender gap in STEM courses, the government there is planning to train these scientists for one year to become influencers for female students.

• 21 years old Indian wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant became the 1st ever player to take 20 catches in a Test series by surpassing former cricketers Naren Tamhane and Syed Kirmani who had recorded 19 catches in 1954-55 and 1979-80 respectively. Pant achieved the feat to take 20 catches in just 3 matches whereas Naren Tamhane and Syed Kimani took 19 catches in 6 and 7 matches respectively. Rishabh Pant took 11 catches 6 in first innings and 5 in second innings against Australia in the 3rd Test Match to break the record of fellow wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha who took 10 catches in a match.

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