Notes:
Election Commission of India (ECI) will take over the Chair of the Forum of the Election Management Bodies of South Asia (FEMBoSA), for the year 2020.
ECI hosted the 10th Annual Meeting of the FEMBoSA forum in New Delhi recently. During the Annual meeting, an International Conference was also organised on the theme ‘Strengthening Institutional Capacity’. ECI is also set to renew the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for cooperation in the field of election management with the Election Commission of Afghanistan. The forum was established in 2012 with an aim of sharing experiences of the Election commissions and experts.

Notes:
India has been ranked at the 80th rank among 180 countries and territories in the Corruption Perception Index (CPI), which is prepared by the non-profit organisation Transparency International.
The Corruption Perception Index was recently released during the Annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos. It ranks 180 countries and territories across the world, by their perceived levels of corruption prevailing in public sector, according to experts and business people.
Denmark and New Zealand have been placed at the top spot. India was given a score of 41 and was placed at the 80th rank, similar to China, Benin, Ghana and Morocco in the same rank.

Notes:
Union Tribal Affairs Ministry of India has proposed 6th Schedule Area status to the Union Territory of Ladakh. The Union Tribal affairs Minister Arjun Munda recently announced that the ministry has sent the proposal to the Union Home Ministry to declare the sixth schedule area status to Ladakh.
In the scheduled areas which are declared under the sixth schedule, self-rule is emphasised and the tribal communities are granted significant autonomy and powers to tribal communities to make their own laws. They will also receive central government funds for social and infrastructure development of tribal areas. The sixth schedule status has been conferred to the states of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram.

Notes:
USA’s second seed Fabiano Caruana clinched the title of the ‘Tata Steel Masters chess tournament’ with a record-winning score of 10 points from 13 rounds. He was assured of the title even before the final round. Only Garry Kasparov (1999) and Magnus Carlsen (2013) have won the tournament by scoring 10 points since 1980.
Current World champion Magnus Carlsen finished second in the tournament. Indian Grand master and five-time Viswanathan Anand settled for the sixth place with 6.5 points from 13 rounds.

Notes:
The 155th birth anniversary of the great Indian freedom fighter Lala Lajpat Rai was observed on January 28 across the country.
He earned the titles of ‘Punjab Kesari’ and ‘Lion of Punjab’ for his ideology of nationalism and freedom. He was part of the nationalist trio of Lal-Bal-Pal, which comprised of Lala Lajpat Rai, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, and Bipin Chandra Pal. The trio advocated Swadeshi movement to use Indian made goods across the nation and to boycott imported goods. He was brutally injured during the protest against Simon Commission and died shortly from a heart attack.

Notes:
The 12th National Conference on Safety in Mines was recently inaugurated in New Delhi, by the Minister of State (I/C) for Labour and Employment Shri Santosh Kumar Gangwar. The Labour Ministry has introduced ‘Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (OSH) Code’ in Parliament, under which annual health check-up of mine workers and safety standards are ensured.
The National Conference on Mine safety was first organised in the year 1958 after an explosion in Chinakuri Colliery in Eastern India. The two-day Conference will review the status of safety and availability of measures to improve the working conditions in mines.

Notes:
The country’s first governmental waste to energy plant is commissioned by the Indian Railways in Bhubaneswar under the East Coast Railway zone.
The plant has a waste-handling capacity of 500 kilogram per day and it has been constructed in just three months at an installation cost of Rs 1.79 crore. The plant uses a patented technology called ‘Polycrack’, which converts multiple feed-stocks into hydrocarbon liquid fuels, gas, carbon and water. The plant is commissioned at Mancheswar Carriage Repair workshop, from where the waste is collected and fed to the plant.

Notes:
Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa has been named as the new Prime Minister and interior minister of the Gulf nation, Qatar. The emir or the reigning monarch of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani has appointed Sheikh Khalid as the new head.
The new Prime Minister took oath of office in a ceremony attended by the Emir and deputy Emir of Qatar, Abdullah bin Hamad Al Thani. After the former Prime Minister Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani submitted his resignation, the emir has named his trusted adviser, Sheikh Khalid as the successor.

Notes:
e-commerce major Flipkart said it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Gujarat state Handloom and Handicrafts Development Corporation (GSHHDC) for promotion of local handicrafts.
The pact is part of the Samarth initiative of Flipkart, which aims at assisting local artisans, weavers and craftsmen to access the global market and establish their business on the Flipkart Marketplace. Under the recent agreement, eligible sellers of the state will receive training and incubation support from Flipkart in many fields including business insights, dedicated seller support and warehousing.

Notes:
Nepal recently organised the highest altitude fashion show event at 5340 metres height at Kala Patthar, near the Everest base camp. With this, the country has set a Guinness World Record for the highest altitude fashion show event ever held.
The Mount Everest Fashion Runway was organised in association with the Nepal Tourism Board. It is also a part of the ‘Visit Nepal Year 2020 campaign’ held by the country’s Tourism Board. The event was organised to raise awareness about climate change and to promote sustainable fashion.