Saurabh Chaudhary wins gold in men’s 10 m air pistol at 63rd National Shooting Championship

1.World Braille Day: 04 January

The world Braille Day was celebrated on 04 January.The day is marked remembering the birth anniversary of Louis Braille, the inventor of Braille – for people with visual disabilities.

Louis Braille was born on 4th January 1809 in the town of Coupvray in northern France.

At the age of just 3, he lost both his eyes in an accident.

This resulted in the invention of the language of 6 dots- which is popularly known as braille.

2.Neutral pronoun ‘they’ voted Word of the Decade

Neutral pronoun ‘they’ has been voted word of the decade by US language experts, beating out other contenders.”They” is used in English by a growing number of non-binary individuals, people who do not identify as either male or female.

They prefer the plural neutral pronoun to bypass using the pronouns “he” or “she”.

The recognition comes after US dictionary Merriam-Webster in December named “they” as word of the year.

3.India ranked 34th on world travel, tourism competitiveness index

According to WEF report, India has moved up six places to rank 34th on world travel and tourism competitiveness index.India’s ranking improved from 40th to 34th, the greatest improvement over 2017 among the top 25 percent of all countries ranked in the report.

Spain held on to the top spot in the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) latest Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report (TTCR), which ranked 140 countries on their relative strengths in global tourism and travel.

Spain was followed by France, Germany and Japan, with the United States replacing the UK in the top five.

4.WB Govt to provide holy water of Ganga Sagar through an app

West Bengal Government has decided to provide holy water of Ganga Sagar on the occasion of Makar Sankranti.The people who desire to have holy water may apply through the designated app of the Mela.

Only courier charges will be taken for this purpose.

The Ganga Sagar Mela will take place on the 14th of January this year in West Bengal.

5.Kolkata Police to start third edition of ‘Sukanya’ project

Kolkata Police will start the third edition of its ‘Sukanya’ project to provide girls studying in schools and colleges in the city with self-defence training.The third batch of ‘Sukanya’ will start at 100 city-based schools and colleges situated in Kolkata Police jurisdiction.

Girl students of VIII, IX, XI and girls studying in the first year at educational institutions in this area will be part of it.

Sukanya is an initiative of the Kolkata Police’s Community Policing Wing to provide self-defence training to girl students of city-based schools, colleges and universities.

6.Adani Ports to acquire a 75% stake in Krishnapatnam Port

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone on announced its decision to acquire a controlling stake in Krishnapatnam Port Company Limited (KPCL) in what would be the largest acquisition in the port sector in India.The Gautam Adani-led company will buy a 75% stake in KPCL at an enterprise value of Rs 13,572 crore after prolonged talks to obtain the all-weather port in Andhra Pradesh.

Located at Krishnapatnam in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh, north of Chennai, the port was developed in 2008 by CVR Group, which continues to own a majority stake.

With Krishnapatnam, Adani Ports now has 12 ports and terminals across the country.

7.4th All India Police Judo Cluster Championship 2019

The 4th All India Police Judo Cluster Championship 2019 was inaugurated in New Delhi.The 5-day sporting event will draw to a close on the 7th Jan.

The sporting event is organized by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).

Previous editions of the cluster have been organized by Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), West Bengal Police and Odisha Police in 2016, 2017 and 2018 respectively.

8.Iran names Esmail Qaani as new Commander

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei named the Deputy Head of the Revolutionary Guards’ foreign operations arm Esmail Qaani to replace Qasem Soleimani as its commander. Qaani is one of the most decorated commanders of the Guards during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.

Soleimani was killed in a targeted U.S. drone strike on 3 January 2020 in Baghdad, Iraq.

9.Irfan Pathan announces retirement from all forms of Cricket

Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan announced his retirement from all forms of Cricket.Irfan, who has been out of favour from the Indian team for a few years now, made his Team India debut at the age of 19 in 2003.

He last played for India in October 2012.

He played 29 Tests, 120 ODIs and 24 T20Is.

He was part of the victorious Indian team at the 2007 World Twenty20 and was the man-of-the-match in the final against Pakistan.

10.Saurabh Chaudhary wins gold in men’s 10 m air pistol at 63rd National Shooting Championship

Ace shooter Saurabh Chaudhary has won the men’s 10 metres air pistol gold at the 63rd National Shooting Championship in Bhopal.The 17-year-old from Uttar Pradesh shot a classy 246.4 to finish on top.

Second-placed Sarabjot Singh of Haryana was well behind with a score of 243.9, while world number two Abhishek Verma settled for bronze in a high-quality final.

Abhishek and Sarabjot together won the team gold for Haryana.