Important Current Affairs 27th January 2019

National News

India's fastest indigenous train renamed as Vande Bharat Express 
•    India's fastest indigenous train which will run from Delhi to Varanasi has been named as Vande Bharat Express.
•    Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off the semi high-speed train soon.
•    It is a train built completely in India by Indian engineers in a span of 18 months and it is an example that it is possible to make world-class trains under Make in India.
•    The 16-coach train has been built by the Integral Coach Factory, Chennai and cover the distance in 8 hours.
•    It will have two executive chair cars and it will have a superior quality of air suspension for the comfortable journey of the passengers.

Bharat Parv showcasing spirit of Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat begins at Red Fort 
•    Fourth edition of Bharat Parv, showcasing the spirit of Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat began at Red Fort in Delhi
•    It will continue till 31st of this month. The five-day event is a part of Republic Day Celebrations and the objective of this festival is to generate a patriotic fervour and promote the rich cultural diversity of the country.
•    The major highlights of this year's Bharat Parv are the replica of the Statue of Unity and a Gandhi Gram in which 10 painting artists will create paintings on the theme of 'Ideology of Mahatma Gandhi'.

Union Minister Gadkari inaugurates Atal Setu in Goa
•    Union Minister Nitin Gadkari today inaugurated four-lane, 5.1-kilometer long “Atal Setu”, the third Cable bridge across river Mandovi in Panaji, Goa.
•    Expressing happiness over the completion of the bridge, Chief Minister of Goa Manohar Parrikar said they should be positive about every development project.
•    This is the third bridge across Mandovi River. This bridge would overcome the bottlenecks and curb traffic jams at Panaji Circle and Panaji entrance. It is reported that about 66,000 vehicles use this route every day.
 

International News

Climate march held in Belgium for urgent action to prevent global warming 
•    At least 70,000 people braved cold and rain in Brussels yesterday to demand the Belgian government and the European Union increase their efforts to fight climate change.
•    The event has been described as Belgium's biggest climate march ever.
•    Trains from across the nation were so clogged that thousands of people did not make the march in time.

UAE, Iraq discuss methods to counter extremism and terrorism 
•    UAE and Iraq have discussed methods of countering extremism and terrorism, in addition to a number of issues of mutual concern during a meeting in Baghdad.
•    The first meeting of the UAE-Iraq Political Consultative Committee was held at the level of senior officials of the foreign finistries of both countries.
•    Khalifa Shaheen Al-Marar, Assistant Foreign Minister for Political Affairs, who chaired the UAE side, stressed the importance of this round of consultations to enhance aspects of joint cooperation between the two countries.
 

Sports

Kartik Sharma wins New South Wales men's Amateur Golf Championship 
•    India's Kartik Sharma won the New South Wales men's Amateur Golf Championship in Australia.
•    Kartik notched up a magnificent win over Australia's Nathan Barberie in the scheduled 36-hole final to emerge as champion.
•    He had been selected to represent Indian Golf Union for three events in Australia.
•    Kartik had also won the Indian golf union western India amateur golf championship 2018.

Djokovic beats Nadal to win his seventh Australian Open title
•    Novak Djokovic defeated Rafael Nadal to win his 7th Australian Open Men's Singles title at Melbourne
•    The resurgent world No.1 outplayed the second-ranked Nadal 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 in a largely one-sided match. 
•    With this, Djokovic has surpassed American legend Pete Sampras to elevate himself to outright third on the all-time Grand Slam title leaderboard.

Indonesia Masters: Saina wins after injured Marin limps out of final 
•    Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal won her first Indonesia Masters title after three-time world champion Carolina Marin limped out of the final due to a leg injury.
•    The Spaniard was leading 10-4 in the first game at Jakarta today when she developed an injury in the knee.