Which country received the Award of Excellence for 'Best in Show' at the New York Times Travel Show 2019?

India and Sri Lanka signed an MoU to provide modern infrastructural facilities to Swami Vipulananda Institute of Aesthetic Studies of Eastern University in Batticaloa district of Sri Lanka. The project involves refurbishment of the auditorium and construction of a modern building complex with recording cum editing facilities and supply vehicles to the institute through a grant of over 27 crore Sri Lankan rupees from the Government of India.

The Global Innovation Policy Center (GIPC) of the US Chambers of Commerce has recently released its International IP Index for Year 2019. In it, India has moved up 8 places to rank 36th among 50 economies in the 2019 Index.The improvement reflects important reforms implemented by Indian policymakers towards building and sustaining an innovation ecosystem for domestic entrepreneurs and foreign investors alike. The report also focuses on thorny issues. According to the report, the key problems in India include barriers to licensing and technology transfer, strict registration requirements, limited framework for the protection of bio-pharmaceutical IP rights, patentability requirements outside international standards, lengthy pre-grant opposition proceedings and previously used compulsory licensing for commercial and non-emergency situations. The index ranks countries based on 45 indicators covering patent, trademark, copyright and trade secrets protection.

The Lok Sabha passed the 'DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill, 2019' on 8 January 2019. It seeks to provide regulation for the use and application of DNA technology for the purpose of establishing the identity of a certain category of persons. The bill also seeks to establish a 'National DNA Data Bank' and 'Regional DNA Data Banks'.

India is likely to surpass the United Kingdom in the world's largest economy rankings in 2019, to become the world's fifth largest economy, according to a report by global consultancy firm PwC. PwC's Global Economy Watch report projects real GDP growth of 1.6% for the UK, 1.7% for France and 7.6% for India in 2019.

The Union Cabinet approved the 3 MoU's between India and Saudi Arabia. The Union Cabinet approved the MoU between India and Saudi Arabia on establishing a mechanism for Investment Infrastructure in India. The MoU provides for engaging with the institutions of Saudi Arabia to attract potential investment into the infrastructure sector of India. The aim is to boost the infrastructure development in India, creating more jobs, growing ancillary industries and finally lead to the growth in GDP and overall economic prosperity.

Nilambar Acharya, Nepal's former law minister,was appointed as Nepal's ambassador to India in Kathmandu. Nilambar Acharya's oath of office position was administered by President Bidya Devi Bhandari in Kathmandu. The position of Nepalese ambassador to India was vacant after Deep Kumar Upadhyay resigned in October 2017.

Union cabinet approved the sanction of Rs 4315.15 crore for the 158 Central Educational Institutions (CEIs) for implementation of reservation in admission to students belonging to Economically Weaker Section (EWS). The Rajya Sabha on January 9 approved amending the Constitution to provide 10% reservation to general category poor in jobs and education, with the government terming the landmark move as "slog over sixes". The quota will be over and above the existing 50 per cent reservation to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes (OBCs). With the approval of the Cabinet, over 2 lakh additional seats will be created in 158 Central Educational Institutions (CEIs) across the country to implement 10% reservation for the Economically Weaker Section (EWS). while 1,19,983 additional seats will be created during 2019-20 academic session, 95,783 seats will be added in 2020-21.

In a bid to strengthen Indo-French ties, India has been designated as the guest of honour at the Paris Book Fair in 2020, while France will be the guest country at the New Delhi World Book Fair (NDWBF) in 2022. The announcement was made by the nodal agency - National Book Trust (NBT) - in a statement on Friday. The Livre Paris (Paris Book Fair) will take place from March 20 to 23, 2020.

India was ranked 16th in the world in terms of highest number of impacted species in biodiversity-rich zones (also known as hotspots) due to human actions. In India, 35 species affected on an average in biodiversity-rich zones. Malaysia ranks first among countries with highest number of impacted species (on an average 125 species). Southeast Asian tropical forests - including those in India's Western Ghats, Himalaya and north-east - are among the 'hotspots' of threatened species.

Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft banned by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in the Indian airspace from 1600 hrs IST or 1030 UTC 13th March 2019. The airlines affected by this are SpiceJet which has 13 jets of the model 8 variant and Jet Airways which has 5 jets of this variant.