Current Affairs January 2020 Part II

This is the current affairs for January 2nd week from 8 to 14, 2020.(daily updated)

• Australia proposes to cull thousands of wild camels due to a shortage of water to satisfy its needs. As a result of heavy drought, camels are roaming the streets and entering homes in search of water. The killing will take place in Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankuntjajara, a place in Southern Australia.
• Indian weightlifter Sarbjeet Kaur has been banned for four years in connection with a doping case. 
• SBI launched a Residential Builder Finance with Buyer Guarantee in order to guarantee the completion of projects in connection with SBI Home Loans. 
• A joint naval exercise between China and Pakistan which is the sixth between them took place in the Arabian Sea. The drill is named Sea Guardians-2020 drill which is set to boost the military cooperation between two nations and also to enhance all-weather strategic co-operative partnership. The drill also focuses on building a safe maritime environment between the two nations and to deal with maritime terrorism and crime.
• Toni Kroos scored an Olimpico goal (goal scored directly from a corner kick) in the 15th minute of the semifinal football match between Real Madrid vs Valencia in the Spanish Sup Cup.
• Susses Royal brand of Prince Harry and Meghan got its approval from UK Intellectual Property Office. The brand includes printed matter, clothing, campaigning, charitable fundraising, education, and other social activities and services

  

  Image Courtesy: gettyimages

• China banned foreign textbooks in its original and translated form in primary and junior high schools. However, the Chinese Education ministry has exempted high schools, vocational colleges, and universities.
• House of Commons in England approved the Withdrawal Agreement bill authorizing the nation's departure from the European Union.
• Shane Warne's green cap was sold at auction to help affected by bushfires for a record one million Australian dollars.
• Supreme Court passed orders in petitions challenging internet suspension in Jammu & Kashmir following the scrapping of Article 370 status. As per the order, internet services are an essential feature of the right to free speech and can only be suspended by providing reason and duration. SC held that mere expression of dissent or disagreement against any government actions cannot be cited as a reason for suspending the internet.
• Kerala's State Transport Authority has decided to give a uniform color to Tourist buses registered in the State. Water container vehicles will be given a blue color.
• Kolkata Port Trust has been renamed as Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Port by PM Modi. This happened in an event held in Netaji Indoor Stadium marking 150 years of the Trust.
• Texas became the first State in USA to refuse accepting refugees which were permitted by the executive order by Trump administration. Texas happened to be the largest recipient of refugees in US. 
• Oman's longest-serving ruler Sultan Qaboos bin Said died. His cousin Haitham bin Tariq al-Said became his successor.
• China Independent Film Festival established in 2003 and conducted 14 sessions has ended after showing around 1000 films and documentaries. It was established in Nanjing city.
• World's largest radio telescope was officially opened for operations by China. It is named Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) which has the size of 30 football fields. It is also called "Sky Eye" in China.
• Kerala State Youth Commission has scheduled to conduct a state-level Adalat to address various issues faced by the transgender community.
• As per the recently released National Crime Records Bureau Report, Kolkata makes the top position in the list of nation's safest cities to live. Hyderabad, Pune, and Mumbai follow it.
• Tsai Ing-wen won the Presidential election by defeating Han Kuo-yu.
• Manmad and Bhusawal railway stations in Bengaluru get Artificial Intelligence Facial recognition technology set up to identify criminals using the existing crime database.
• The Union Home Ministry of India issued notification so as to bring the Citizenship Amendment Act into effect from January 10, 2020.
• In the capital of Philippine, Taal volcano erupted which may also trigger a Tsunami. Several people were evacuated. Taal is one of the smallest active volcanoes. It sits in the middle of a lake. In the past five centuries, Taal has erupted more than 30 times.
• China commissioned its first fourth-generation guided-missile destroyer named Nanchang in the port city of Qingdao.