1. Army day observed on 15 January

• Army Day is celebrated on 15 January every year in India, in recognition of Field Marshal Kodandera M. Cariappa's (then a Lieutenant General) taking over as the first Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army from General Sir Francis Butcher
• It is in recognition of Field Marshal Kodandera M. Cariappa taking over as the first Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army from General Sir Francis Butcher, the last British Commander-in-Chief of India, on 15 January 1949.
• Army Day is used to develop the art of encouragement in the people to fight for the country in the critical times.

2. Bengaluru Raptors win Premier Badminton League

• Bengaluru Raptors edged the Mumbai Rockets 4-3 to win their maiden Premier Badminton League title.
• World No. 18 Anders Antonsen lost narrowly to the Bengaluru skipper Srikanth when the two faced off in that battle at the beginning of this week.
• Bengaluru Raptors have become the fifth team after Chennai Smashers, Delhi Dashers, Hyderabad Hotshots and Hyderabad Hunters to win the title.

3. PM Modi Wins First Ever Philip Kotler Presidential Award For "outstanding Leadership And Selfless Service".

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi  received the first-ever Philip Kotler Presidential award, which focuses on the triple-bottom-line of 'people, profit and planet'. It is an award which is offered annually to the leader of the nation.
• Modi was selected for his "outstanding leadership and his selfless service towards India, combined with his tireless energy has resulted in extraordinary economic, social and technological advances in the country".
• The Philip Kotler Presidential Award is constituted to honour mastery in the field of marketing and management.

4. Former chief statistician TCA Anant assumes charge as UPSC member

• Former chief statistician TCA Anant  assumed charge as a member of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), which conducts the prestigious civil services examination to select the country's bureaucrats.
• Anant was appointed Chief Statistician of India-cum-Secretary, the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, in June 2010 for five years.
• The commission has a strenth of 10 members. After Anant's appointment, the commission still has one more vacancy of member.

5. India’s largest startup ecosystem inaugurated in Kerala

• India got its largest startup ecosystem  when Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated here a 1.8-lakh-square-feet facility housing incubation set-ups across a string of segments in modern technology.
• Overall the Kerala Government is working for the state to have a total area of 2.3 crore sq ft of IT space (up from 1.3 crore sq ft last year).
• The opening of the new complex at the Technology Innovation Zone (TIZ) is a major step towards achieving the objective .

6. Puducherry govt to ban single-use plastic products from March 1

• Chief Minister V Narayanasamy said  that the cabinet has decided to ban production, sale and use of single-use plastic products in the Union Territory from March 1.
• He said a massive drive would also be launched to create awareness among the merchants and the public on the necessity of the ban.
• The neighbouring Tamil Nadu government had in June 2018 announced that it would ban the use of plastic items including non-biodegradable carry bags from January 1, 2019, to “gift a plastic-free state to future generations”.

7. Govt. to launch an end-to-end prediction system for predicting thunderstorms/lightning by April 2019

• Last year during the pre monsoon season a series of thunderstorm/dust storm affected the northern states and claimed about 200 lives. In view of this the India Meteorological Department will be implementing an end-to-end prediction system for predicting thunderstorms/lightning by April 2019.
• All these observatories are expected to be established by end of 2020. On the specific request from Kerala Government, IMD will be installing 100 new Automated Weather Stations including rain-gauges to monitor weather activities in the state.
• These new tools will help IMD to disseminate forecasts and warnings on time and more effectively to the users and the new website and mobile Apps will be ready for launch by June 2019.