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- Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 'Gangajal Project' in Agra on 9 January 2019. The programme will provide a supply of better drinking water which will benefit the residents as well as tourists. Gangajal project aims to bring 140 cusecs of Ganga water to Agra. He also launched civic projects worth Rs 2,980 crore in Agra.
- India's longest 300-meter single lane steel cable suspension bridge was inaugurated by Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu. The bridge across the Siang river at Yingkiong in Upper Siang district has been named Byorung Bridge. It is built at a cost of ₹48.43-crore provided by the DONER (Department for Development of North Eastern Region) Ministry. The Bridge will reduce the distance from Yinkiong to Tuting by almost 40 km.
- The Cabinet Committee on Appointments has now posted Alok Verma as Director-General, Fire Services, Civil Defence and Home Guards, for the remaining period of his present term that ends on January 31. He has been removed as CBI Director and the Additional Director M. Nageswara Rao has again been appointed interim CBI Director. The CVC was of the view that Mr.Verma's conduct in the case was suspicious, and there was a prima facie case against him. It also felt that the entire truth would come out if a criminal investigation was ordered.
- World Hindi Day is celebrated on January 10 every year, marking the anniversary of first World Hindi Conference which was held in 1975. The first World Hindi Conference was inaugurated by the then prime minister Indira Gandhi. World Hindi Day was first observed on January 10, 2006. World Hindi Day and National Hindi Diwas are completely different. National Hindi Diwas is celebrated every year on September 14. On that day in 1949, the constituent assembly adopted Hindi, written in Devanagari script, as the official language of the Union. While the focus of the World Hindi Day is to promote the language at the global stage.
- The Union Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD) has launched an online campaign, '#www : Web- WonderWomen'. The purpose of the campaign is to discover and celebrate the exceptional achievements of women, who have been driving positive agenda of social change via social media. The Ministry in collaboration with Twitter India and Breakthrough India (a human rights organization) has started this campaign. It aims to recognize the fortitude of Indian women stalwarts from across the globe who have used the power of social media to run positive & niche campaigns to steer a change in society. This Campaign will recognize and acknowledge the efforts of these meritorious Women. The Campaign invites entries from across the world till 31st of January 2019.
- Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has announced that India has allowed an Iranian bank, Pasargad Bank, to open a branch in Mumbai. The move is aimed at circumventing US trade and investment sanctions as India builds a strategic port in the West Asian country.
- According to the Henley Passport Index, India jumped two positions from 81st in 2018 to 79th in 2019. Japan retained its top spot as the world's most travel-friendly passport. China jumped almost 20 places in just two years, from 85th in 2017 to 69th this year. The Henley Passport Index is based on data provided by the International Air Transport Authority (IATA) and covers 199 passports and 227 travel destinations.
- The First 'National Consultation on Child Protection' for 2019 was held at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi under the Chairmanship of the Secretary, Ministry of Women and Child Development. The meeting was organized to follow up on the exercise of monitoring of the CCIs by States/UTs, to deliberate upon various aspects of child protection and to take stock of the efforts made by States/UTs regarding improvements in the Child Care Institutions.
- The University Grants Commission (UGC) has approved a list of journals, in that the UGC has decided to establish a Consortium for Academic and Research Ethics (CARE). The good quality Research Journals in disciplines under Social Sciences, Humanities, Languages, Arts, Culture, Indian Knowledge Systems etc., will be maintained by CARE and referred to as 'CARE Reference List of Quality Journals'. This will be used for all academic purposes.
- The Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) ruled government has recently decided to include UBI in its manifesto ahead of 2019 state assembly polls and aims to implement the scheme by 2022. If everything goes according to the plan, it will be the Indian first state to roll out UBI scheme aimed at providing a fixed monthly income to residents irrespective of their economic, social status. The Universal Basic Income (UBI) is a programme for providing all citizens of a country or other geographic area/state with a given sum of money, regardless of their income, resources or employment status. The main idea behind UBI is to prevent or reduce poverty and promote equality among citizens. As per Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN), the essential principle behind UBI is the idea that all citizens are entitled to a livable income, irrespective of the circumstances they're born in.
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