Delhi Public School Agra

(Under the aegis of the Delhi Public School Society, East of Kailash, New Delhi)

Current Affairs (January)

PM Modi went on a two-day official visit to Kolkata on January 11

and 12, 2020. During this visit, the Prime Minister dedicated three
colonial buildings to the country. During the visit, the Prime Minister
will dedicate Old Currency Building, Metcalfe House, Belvedere
House and Victoria Memorial Hall. The buildings were renovated
by Ministry of Culture. The ministry is also working on developing
other iconic buildings and cultural spaces in Mumbai, Delhi,
Ahmedabad and Varanasi.

Virat Kohli on Friday(10 January) added another feather to his already-

illustrious cap as he completed 11,000 runs in international cricket
across formats, during the ongoing third and final T20 international
against Sri Lanka in Pune. He is the second Indian captain after
Mahendra Singh Dhoni to score 11k runs in all three formats combined.

On January 7, 2020, the International Meteorological Organisation released its

“State of Climate Report” for the year 2019. According to the report, the climate
change has claimed 1,659 lives in India in the year 2019. 2019 is the seventh
warmest year since 1901. .

On January 6, 2020, the National Stock Exchange (NSE) knowledge Hub

was inaugurated. The hub will assist insurance, banking and financial
services. The hub has adopted the latest technology of Artificial Intelligence.

According to the recent census at the Bhitarkanika National Park, the population
of salt water (or estuarine) crocodiles have increased to 1,757 as compared to
1,742 in 2018.

In January 2020, a turtle rehabilitation Centre is to be set up in Bihar’s

Bhagalpur forest. The centre will shelter more than 500 turtles.

The Indian Space Research Organization signed a pact with Indian

Institute of Astrophysics to establish an optical telescope under
“Project NETRA”. The organisation also tied up with NIT-
Karnataka to set up a regional academic centre for space to
promote research and development.
 The current world population is 7.7 billion (April 2019). According to the United Nations,
the global population is to reach 10 billion by 2050 and therefore the food production
should increase by 70%. Vertical Farming is the process of growing agricultural crops in
vertical stacks in door, in a controlled environment. It uses the same amount of water as
that of regular farming.

On January 3, 2020, the US army killed Iran’s most powerful military

commander General Qasem Soleimani. He was killed at Baghdad
airport. In a drone strike held by the US force at Baghdad airport, the
Iranian Commander was killed along with other Iran supported militia
heads. Under his leadership Iran had expanded its military presence in
Syria and Iraq.

The Wildlife Institute of India (WII) is to conduct Asiatic Lion Census in

May 2020. The Institute will use 10,000 cameras to conduct the census. In
2015, the WII counted 523 lions in Gujarat. It is expected that the numbers
have risen phenomenally and the population must have crossed 1,000.
The census is to adopt the technology of National Tiger Conservation
Authority.

FAMOUS PERSONALITY BRAHMAGUPTA

Brahmagupta was an Ancient Indian astronomer and

mathematician who lived from 597 AD to 668 AD. He was born in
the city of Bhinmal in Northwest India.Many of his important
discoveries were written as poetry rather than as mathematical
equations! Nevertheless, truth is truth, regardless of how it may
be written.He wrote four books about astronomy and
mathematics, the most famous of which is Brahma-sphuta-
siddhanta .He said solving mathematical problems was
something he did for pleasure.He was the first person in history to
define the properties of the number zero. Identifying zero as a
number whose properties needed to be defined was vital for the
future of mathematics and science. He defined zero as the
number you get when you subtract a number from itself. He said
that zero divided by any other number is zero. He was the first
person to discover the formula for solving quadratic equations.
Brahmagupta argued that the Earth and the universe are round and not flat. He was the first to use mathematics
to predict the positions of the planets, the timings of the lunar and solar eclipses