Naval Air Station (NAS) Shibpur was commissioned as INS Kohassa by Admiral Sunil Lanba, PVSM, AVSM, ADC, Chairman COSC and Chief of the Naval Staff, on 24 January 2019. INS Kohassa has been named after a White-Bellied Sea Eagle, which is a large bird of prey endemic to Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Sultan Abdullah of Pahang state has been elected the new king of Malaysia, after the shock abdication of the previous monarch Sultan Muhammad V. Malaysia has an unusual constitutional monarchy, where the top job of being a King rotates between nine hereditary state rulers every five years. These 9 state rulers in every five years vote for which of them should next take the throne. These 9 rulers come from 13 states of Malaysia of which 4 are governors from the remaining four states.

Flipkart co­founder Sachin Bansal has pumped in nearly %u20B9 150 crores in ride­hailing platform Ola, according to documents %uFB01led with the Corporate A%uFB00airs Ministry.

Union Minister of Commerce and Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu, on Tuesday, unveiled a new national air cargo policy aimed at ensuring efficient flow of goods across India, facilitating all indigenous export and import of goods, and making India a transit cargo hub.

Nobel laureate James Watson, co-discoverer of the DNA helix and father of the Human Genome Project, has been stripped of honorary titles at the laboratory where he worked for four decades, following "reprehensible" remarks on race and ethnicity.

Former Finance Secretary Ashok Chawla has resigned as chairman of The Energy Resources Institute (TERI).

The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved the setting up of three All India Institutes of Medical Sciences in Jammu and Kashmir and Gujarat. These will be in Samba in Jammu at a cost of %u20B91,661 crore, in Pulwama in Kashmir at a cost of %u20B91,828 crore, and in Rajkot, Gujarat, at a cost of %u20B91,195 crore.

The institutes will be set up under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana, the government said.

The Vatican has launched an athletics team with the aim of competing in international competitions. So far there are 60 members of Vatican Athletics -- the first Sports Association constituted in the Holy See -- which includes nuns, priests, Swiss Guards, museum workers, carpenters and maintenance workers.

Parliament passes Bill to provide 10% quota for poor. Parliament cleared the Constitutional Amendment Bill guaranteeing 10% quota in education and employment for economically backward classes.

Source: Google

Four men accused in the theft of Big Maple Leaf Gold coin from the Berlin museum are put on trial. Three of the suspects broke into Berlin's Bode Museum through an upstairs window and used a ladder, wheelbarrow, and rope to extract the coin from the bulletproof glass, the fourth suspect was a guard at the museum and stands accused of helping them.

The Big Maple Leaf (BML) is one of six gold coins each weighing 100 kilograms. They were produced by the Royal Canadian Mint (RCM) in 2007, at their Ottawa facility where the first BML produced remains in storage. On 27 March 2017, one of the coins was stolen from a Berlin museum.

A Big Maple Leaf measures 3 centimeters (1.2 in) thick and 53 centimeters (21 in) in diameter and is 999.99/1000 pure. The obverse of the BML shows Queen Elizabeth II.

In the early hours of 27 March 2017, a Big Maple Leaf was stolen from the Bode Museum in Berlin, Germany. The coin has never been found and is believed to have been broken up into little pieces or melted and sold on.

Playback singer P. Suseela has been chosen for the Harivarasanam award instituted by the Kerala government.

Navy to set up new air base in Port Blair in the strategically located Andaman and Nicobar islands and is named as INS Kohassa. "The base, INS Kohassa, will be commissioned by Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba on January 24," spokes person Capt. D.K. Sharma said. It will be India's fourth air base and the third naval air facility.

Sheikh Hasina takes oath as Bangladesh%u2019s Prime Minister for a record fourth term and third consecutive term. Ms. Hasina was first elected Prime Minister in 1996 and then again in 2008 and 2014.

Gruh Finance, the affordable housing finance arm of mortgage lender HDFC, will be merged with Bandhan Bank.

The Lok Sabha on Tuesday passed a bill that allows regulated use of DNA technology to establish the identity of certain de%uFB01ned categories of persons, including o%uFB00enders, suspects, and undertrials.

Infosys chairman Nandan Nilekani will head a %uFB01ve­member committee set up by The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to suggest a strategy for deepening of digital payments in the country.

Hindi literary magazine Hans launched the %uFB01rst edition of English translations of selected works from its earlier editions at the World Book Fair at Pragati Maidan, Delhi.

Gita Gopinath became the first woman to occupy the top IMF post as its chief economist by joining International Monetary Fund.

Mallya became the First person to be declared a fugitive economic offender(FEO) by the special court hearing cases under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act (FEOA). The FEOA, which became law on July 31, 2018, allows for declaring a person as an o%uFB00ender after an arrest warrant has been issued against the individual and the value of offences exceeds Rs 100 crore or when a person a fugitive economic offender (FEO) refuses to return to the country to face prosecution.

Mallya became the %uFB01rst person to be declared a fugitive economic o%uFB00ender(FEO) by the special court hearing cases under the Fugitive Economic O%uFB00enders Act (FEOA). The FEOA, which became law on July 31, 2018, allows for declaring a person as an o%uFB00ender after an arrest warrant has been issued against the individual and the value of o%uFB00ences exceeds %u20B9100 crore or when a person a fugitive economic o%uFB00ender (FEO) refuses to return to the country to face prosecution.

The leaf fossil was found in the Gurha lignite mine in Bikaner. Fossilised leaf is one of the most recent %uFB01nds throwing light on India's past. The leaf fossil is the %uFB01rst of Dioscorea yams from Asia and hints at a Gondwanan origin to these plants, claim scientists.

Malaysia's king, Sultan Muhammad V abdicated his throne in a historic first. No Malaysian monarch has ever stepped away from the throne since the country gained independence from the UK more than 60 years ago.

China's space probe Chang'e-4 lunar launched in December made the 'soft landing' on the far side of the moon and sends images. The moon is tidally locked to Earth, the moon rotates at the same rate as it orbits our planet, so most of the far side or "dark side" is never visible to us. Several previous spacecraft have seen the far side, but none of them has landed on it. China has named it as 'Yutu 2'

The RBI has appointed an eight member expert committee headed by former SEBI chairman U.K. Sinha to comprehensively review and propose long term solutions for revival of the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector. June 2019.
Among the terms of references, the RBI said the panel would review the current institutional framework in place to support the MSME sector, and examine the factors affecting the timely and adequate availability of finance to the sector.

Cricket coach of Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod kambli and many such named cricketers died at his residence on 2nd January. He was honoured with Drona-charya award in 1990 and Padma shri in 2010. "Achrekar sir taught us the virtues of playing straight and living straight. Well played, Sir, and may you coach more wherever you are" was quoted by Tendulkar

Source: Google

Public broadcaster Prasar Bharati on December 24, 2018, has decided to close down All India Radio%u2019s national channel and its regional training academies in five cities located at Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Shillong and Thiruvananthapuram as part of %u201Ccost-cutting measures%u201D. Launched in 1988 in Hindi, Urdu, and English, it broadcast from 6.50pm to 6.50am.

Government has amalgamated three regional rural banks (RRB) %u2014 Punjab Gramin Bank, Malwa Gramin Bank, and Sutlej Gramin Bank %u2014 into a single RRB with e%uFB00ect from January 1.

New Airport at Orvakal in Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh is ready to operate in few months, the trial run of the Orvakal Greenfield airport was conducted successfully. The airport was developed by the Andhra Pradesh Airports Development Corporation Ltd.

Archaeological Survey of India(ASI) after 2015, added 6 new monuments to the national list declared as protected and important in 2018. The six monuments are: The ancient Neemrana Baori (Alwar district, Rajasthan), Group of Temples at Ranipur Jharail (Bolangir, Odisha), Vishnu Temple (Kotali, Pithoragarh district, Uttarkhand), High Court Building (Nagpur, Maharashtra) and, 2 Mughal-era monuments(Haveli of Agha Khan and Hathi Khana, Agra). It is to be noticed that in the year 2016 and 2017 no monument was added by ASI. The list was presented on December 24, 2018.

The Union Home Ministry has approved a Uttar Pradesh government proposal to rename Allahabad as Prayagraj. The new name will soon start to appear.

The U.S. and Israel officially quit the UN%u2019s educational, scientific and cultural agency (UNESCO).

Life Insurance Corporation of India MD to has been given the additional charge of the chairman after V.K. Sharma retire. He will hold the post till new face is selected for the post, fresh selection of Interviews are scheduled on 4th January.

Yogi Aditya-nath government in Uttar Pradesh has decided to set up "temporary" shelter homes for cows across the State but the costs will be borne by the public in the form of additional "cow welfare cess" on excise items. Government has decided to take 0.5% as "gau kalyan cess" from various departments.

World welcomes New Year 2019 with fireworks, celebrations and wishes.

Source: google

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik launched KALIA scheme to accelerate agricultural prosperity and to reduce poverty in Odisha. KALIA stands for 'Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation' and it was announce on December 21. The scheme is said to benefit farmers by providing them financial assistance of Rs 5000 for their Rabi and Kharif season each.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced a scheme for farmers. Under the scheme the State Agriculture Department will offer farmers financial assistance of Rs 5000 for their Rabi and Kharif season each.

Smriti Mandhana was adjudged the Women%u2019s Cricketer of the Year as well as the Women%u2019s ODI Player of the Year by the ICC.

Foreign tourists can now directly fly to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands as the government has designated Port Blair airport as an authorised immigration check post for entry into and exit point from India. The Superintendent of Police (CID) of the Island has been designated as the %u201Ccivil authority%u201D for the immigration check post at Port Blair airport.

Ben Elliot, the nephew of Camilla the Duchess of Cornwall and wife of heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles, was appointed to the one-
year voluntary role of Food Surplus and Waste Champion by Environment Secretary Michael Gove.

Saptak begins its 39th Saptak Annual Music Festival 2019. It will be held from 1st to 13th January 2019 in Ahmedabad. The Saptak Annual Festival of Music is an annual thirteen-day Indian classical music festival held in Ahmedabad, India. It is organised by Saptak School of Music and takes place January first to the thirteenth every year, and is attended by hundreds of people.