1. 50th Annual Meeting of World Economic Forum begins in Davos.

• The 50th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum, a congregation of rich and powerful from across the world, opens in Davos, Switzerland.
• Commerce and Industry Minister will lead the Indian delegation to the WEF. Besides, over 100 CEOs, political leaders including Union Ministers and Chief Ministers will take part in the 50th edition of the annual event.
• The welcome message was followed by the annual crystal awards and this year's recipients included celebrity film star Deepika Padukone.

Foot Notes:
Commerce and Industry Minister: Piyush Goyal

2. Prince Harry, Meghan Markle sign formal deal to exit from royal family.

• Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, have signed up to a formal exit deal from the royal family.
• It will see them forsake their His and Her Royal Highness (HRH) titles and will no longer receive UK taxpayers' funding for their duties. The deal, which comes into effect by spring in a few weeks' time, means the couple will no longer be representing the Queen in an official capacity.
• Queen Elizabeth II said the agreement followed months of discussions and was a constructive and supportive way forward for her grandson and his family.

3. Haryana Assembly ratifies 126th Constitutional Amendment Bill.

• The Haryana Assembly ratified the 126th Constitutional Amendment Bill, passed by the Parliament in December last year.
• Earlier, Uttarakhand, Maharashtra and Bihar Assemblies had ratified the Bill, which was introduced in the Lok Sabha by Union Minister of Law and Justice Ravi Shankar Prasad on December 9, 2019.The Bill amends provisions related to reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs).
• The Constitution provides for reservation of seats for SCs and STs and representation of the Anglo-Indian community by nomination in Lok Sabha and Legislative Assemblies of states.This has been provided for a period of 70 years since the enactment of the Constitution and will expire on January 25, 2020.The Bill seeks to extend the reservation for SCs and STs by another 10 years till January 25, 2030.

Foot Notes:
About Haryana
Capital: Chandigarh
Governor: Satyadev Narayan Arya
CM: Manohar Lal Khattar

4. Iranian Film ‘Castle of Dreams’ gets Best Film Award at Dhaka International Film Festival.

• The Iranian film ‘Castle of Dreams’ directed by Reza Mirakarimi won the Best Film Award in Asian Competition section of the 18th Dhaka International Film Festival (DIFF).
• The film also won the Best Director Award. Information Minister of Bangladesh Hasan Mahmud gave away the award carrying prize money of Tk 1 lakh,  a citation in the closing ceremony held in Dhaka.
• Indian film ‘Finally Love’ directed by Anjan Dutt bagged Best Audience Award in Cinema of the World Category.The theme of this year’s festival was ‘better film, better audience, better society’.

Foot Notes:
About Dhaka
Dhaka is the capital city of Bangladesh

About Bangladesh
Capital: Dhaka
Currency: Bangladeshi taka
Prime minister: Sheikh Hasina

5. Congress leader Shamsher Singh Surjewala passes away.

• Veteran Congress leader Shamsher Singh Surjewala has passed away following prolonged illness.
• Surjewala, father of party leader Randeep Surjewala, breathed his last at the AIIMS hospital in Delhi. Shamsher Surjewala remained a five-time MLA and one-time Rajya Sabha MP.
• He was also the former president of the Haryana Congress and a former minister.He was the president of the Haryana Krishak Samaj and fought for farmers rights.

6. Start Up India-first time in Republic Parade; Indian Navy to showcase its tableau.

• The Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) operating under Ministry of Commerce and Industry is to showcase tableau on Start Up India at the Republic Day Parade to be held at Rajpath, New Delhi. The tableau is to be held under the theme Reach for the sky.
• It is with the same theme the Indian Navy week was celebrated. It will showcase the fire power of Navy in all three dimensions namely sub-surface, surface and air.
• The Kalvari class submarine, Harpoon missiles, MiG 29K fighter jets are to be part of the Tableau.

Foot Notes:
Chief of Indian Navy: Admiral Karambir Singh

7. Claims against India under Bilateral International Treaty dismissed.

• The Bilateral International Treaty organization, an international arbitration tribunal recently dismissed all the claims against India.
• The claims against India was brought the organization by private firms in Cyprus and Russia. The claims were under Agreement between Government of Russian Federation and Cyprus for promotion and protection of investments. The claims have now been dismissed completely.
• BIT is an agreement that was established for FDI(Foreign direct investment). It allows countries to set up rules for investments between each other. The treaty is the successor of the 19th century friendship, commerce and navigation treaty.The first BIT was signed between Pakistan and Germany.

8. Uttarakhand becomes first state to implement agricultural land leasing policy.

• Uttarakhand has become the first state in the country where the government has made a policy to lease agricultural land. In lieu of giving land on a 30-year lease, the concerned farmer will get the rent for the land.
• In the hilly areas of the state, the obstacles of leasing land for farming, agriculture, horticulture, herbs, off-season vegetables, milk production, tea plantation, fruit hybridization and solar energy has been removed with this step.
• After getting approval from the Raj Bhavan, the state government has issued its notification. Now any institution, company, firm or NGO can take farm land on lease in villages, leasing a maximum of 30 acres of land on lease for 30 years.

Foot Notes:
About Uttarakhand
Capital: Dehradun
Chief minister: Trivendra Singh Rawat
Governor: Baby Rani Maurya

9. Hyderabad becomes most dynamic city in the world, tops JLL City Momentum Index 2020.

• Hyderabad secured the first place in the list of the world's most dynamic cities. Jones Lang Lasalle (JLL) has recently released the city momentum index that comprised of 129 cities across the world. JLL evaluated 129 cities and selected Hyderabad as the world’s most dynamic city.
• Top-20 dynamic cities in the world: Hyderabad, Bangalore, Ho Chi Minh City, Nairobi, Chennai, Delhi, Ha Noi, Manila, Silicon Valley, Schengen, Chongqing, Pune, Wuhan, Dubai, Hangzhou, Calcutta, Shanghai, Riyadh, Austin, Mumbai.
• There are seven Indian cities are present in the top-20 cities. Bangalore ranked second in this index while Chennai secured fifth and Delhi got the sixth position.

Foot Notes:
About Jones Lang LaSalle(JLL)
Headquarters: Chicago, Illinois, United States
CEO: Christian Ulbrich
Founder: Richard Winstanley

10. IMF reduces Indias economic growth forecast to 4.8 percent.

• The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has reduced India's economic growth forecast to 4.8% for the current fiscal year. The decline is due to the crisis in the non-banking financial sector (NBFC) and weak rural demand. It has also cut the world's growth estimate.
• The IMF projection, 1.3% points lower than its earlier estimates, is less than the 5% projected by the official advance estimates. The IMF projected India's economy to grow by 5.8% next year. It is 1.2% points less than its earlier forecast.
• The IMF estimated world economic growth at 1.9% for 2019, 0.1% point lower than its earlier forecast.

Foot Notes:
About IMF
Managing Director: Kristalina Georgieva
Chief Economist: Gita Gopinath

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