This year the theme is Cooperatives For Climate Action. It was chosen to address the threat of greenhouse gas emissions and global warming and to support Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 13 on Climate Action. The main focus will be on the contribution of cooperatives to combating climate change.

Maldives separated from the Commonwealth about three years ago on the issue of human rights. The Maldives seceded from the Commonwealth due to its lack of progress on democratic reforms. The Maldives requested the Commonwealth to let them rejoin the group.

National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), an umbrella organisation for operating retail payments and settlement systems, has approved part of the banks request to remove interchange fees on Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and RuPay card transactions as long as the merchant discount rate (MDR) remains zero. In contrast, it still reviewing other fees like payments service provider (PSP) fee and switching fees as it is concerned that the decision will obstruct its revenues and PSPs like PhonePe & Google-Pay.

India observes Martyrs’ Day every year, to pay homage to honor the sacrifices made by Mahatma Gandhi and countless other brave Indians. This year India is observing the 72nd death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

World Leprosy Day is observed internationally every year on the last Sunday of January to increase public awareness of the Leprosy. This year theme of World Leprosy Day 2020 is “Leprosy isn’t what you think”.

According to the survey “Transparency In Budgetary Process Report 2.0.” conducted by Transparency International’s India (TII), Assam tops in the ranking of best practices followed by states in budget formulation with a score of 70. Assam is the only state out of 29 states and 2 UTs (Union Territories) to publish a citizens budget in the public domain and also to conduct budget awareness campaign across 17 districts. Assam was followed by Andhra Pradesh-AP (2nd with the score of 67) & Odisha (3rd with the score of 66).While Meghalaya ranked bottom with the score of 21. Along with Meghalaya, Manipur, Punjab and Maharashtra were figured at lower positions.

According to the Economic Survey 2019-20, about 2.62 crore new jobs were created between 2011-12 and 2017-18. About 1.21 crore jobs were created in rural areas, while 1.39 crore jobs were created in urban areas.

China has announced that it is to launch its Mars probe in July 2020. The spacecraft will be launched onboard the Long March-5 Y4 carrier rocket.

The 2019-20 recipient of the PEN Gauri Lankesh Award for Democratic Idealism is Srinagar journalist Yusuf Jameel.

The MPC is headed by the RBI Governor. The present Reserve Bank of India governor is Shaktikanta Das.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed Rs 1-crore fine on HDFC Bank for violating know-your-customer (KYC) norms in 39 accounts, which were used for bidding in an initial public offering (IPO). Transactions carried out through these accounts were found to be disproportionate to the declared income of the customers The penalty has been imposed under the provisions of section 47 A (1) (c) read with section 46 (4) (i) of the Banking Regulation Act 1949, taking into account the failure of the bank to adhere to the aforesaid direction.

The International Summit on Women in STEM “Visualizing the Future: New Skylines” was held at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. The summit was organized by the Department of Biotechnology.

The 44th edition of International Kolkata Book Fair 2020 (IKBF) has commenced at Central Park Mela Ground in SaltLake, Kolkata , West Bengal with Russia as a “Focal Theme Country”.

The Economic Survey 2019-20 has projected the GDP Growth rate to be 6% – 6.5% in fiscal year 2020-21.

India successfully test-fired the K-4 nuclear-capable submarine-launched ballistic missile from Visakhapatnam coast, Andhra Pradesh. The missile has a range of around 3,500 km.

Indian women’s team captain Rani Rampal became the 1st-ever hockey player worldwide to win the prestigious ‘World Games Athlete of the Year’ award 2019.

Exercise SAMPRITI is an important bilateral defence cooperation endeavour between India and Bangladesh and will be the ninth edition of the exercise which is hosted alternately by both countries

Digital transformation provider Tech Mahindra has set up a dedicated Google Cloud Centre of Excellence (COE) in Hyderabad to drive the digital transformation of enterprises globally. The COE will help enterprises to move critical workloads to Google Cloud, develop their Artificial Intelligence (AI) and data analytics solutions, and improve workplace productivity. Present CEO of Tech Mahindra is C. P. Gurnani.

Uttar Pradesh Government has launched Mukhyamantri Krishak Durghatna Kalyan Yojana which will provide financial assistance to family of farmers who die or become handicapped while working in fields.

NASA (National Aeronautics & Space Administration) and ESA (European Space Agency) will jointly launch a new spacecraft- “The Solar Orbiter Spacecraft” to take first pictures of Sun’s north and south poles. It’s outlay is $1.5 billion. The spacecraft will be launched from Cape Canaveral, United States (US) on Feb 7, 2020 on a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V Rocket.

Abortion limit increased from 20 to 24 weeks, Cabinet approves changes. The Union Cabinet today approved the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill, 2020 which proposed extension of the upper limit for abortions to 24 weeks from 20 weeks.

Nepal has set an all-new Guinness World Record for the highest altitude fashion show event.

Mahatma Gandhi’s Martyrdom day is observed annually on January 30. He was killed by Nathuram Godse on this day in January 1948. This year India is observing the 72nd death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

Indian cyclist Esow Alben has bagged a gold in the men’s Keirin individual event of the Six-Day Berlin Tournament.

Beating the Retreat ceremony celebrated on 29 January every year at the historic Vijay Chowk in New Delhi. This ceremony includes a performance by the bands of three wings of the military, The Indian Army, Indian Navy and Indian Air Force at Raisina Hills, Vijay Chownk in New Delhi. The ceremony traces its origins to the early 1950s when Major Roberts of the Indian Army indigenously developed the unique ceremony of display by the massed bands. It has emerged as an event of national pride.

Thespian Sanjna Kapoor was awarded the French honour of Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres’ (Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters)  for her outstanding contribution to theatre.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired the 32nd interaction through PRAGATI – the ICT-based, multi-modal platform for pro-active governance and timely implementation

For the 2nd time, India to host Barca Academy Cup – Asia Pacific 2020, hosted by Barca Academy, scheduled to be held in Gurgaon, Haryana from January 30 -February 2, 2020, which will see the participation of more than 650 football players from 7 countries (India, Australia, Turkey, China, Singapore, Japan and Spain).A total of 48 teams will play in 4 categories namely under 9(U-9), U-11, U-13 and U-15.

Chandauli district of Uttar Pradesh (UP) has topped the list of aspiring districts in December 2019 with the score of 57.6. It was followed by Balangir district of Odisha in 2^nd (53.9) and YSR district (formerly known as Kadapa District) of Andhra Pradesh in 3^rd place (65.2).