CURRENT AFFAIRS FEBRUARY 2020 02-02 TO 08-02 2020 Important Current Affairs for IAS, SSC, Bank, RRB and Other Government Exams WITH SYNOPSIS www.exambazaar.com/current-affairs Current Affairs Digest Feb 2020 https://www.exambazaar.com/current-affairs APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGNATIONS 04 Feb Realty ace Sandeep Mathrani is WeWork CEO 04 Feb Anil Ambani's sons quit Reliance Infra board in less than six months 06 Feb CEO of Microsoft's LinkedIn business is being replaced Ryan Roslansky. 06 Feb World Bank chief economist Pinelopi Koujianou resigns 07 Feb In political triumph, Trump acquitted of all impeachment charges 07 Feb Cognizant's D'Souza signs off, Bali to join as independent director 08 Feb Philip Barton appointed Britain's new High Commissioner to India 08 Feb Credit Suisse CEO Thiam resigns following uproar over a spying scandal AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS 02 Feb Sports Kenin beats Muguruza to win Australian Open women's title 03 Feb Sports Australian Open | Rajeev Ram, Joe Salisbury clinch men's doubles title 03 Feb Sports National table tennis championship | Harmeet Desai tames Manav Thakkar for maiden title 04 Feb People RBI Chief Das is Central Banker of the Year 05 Feb Sports Mirabai betters her own national record, lifts 203kg to win gold in Nationals 06 Feb Sports National Weightlifting Championships: Rakhi Halder wins 64kg gold 07 Feb Sports Pardeep betters own record to clinch 102 kg gold at nationals 08 Feb Sports Divyansh, Saurabh win gold in the InterShoot international competition Read Current Affairs With Synopsis on https://www.exambazaar.com/current-affairs EXAM PREPARATION RESOURCES: Free Question Papers | EQAD - Free Daily Practice | Preparation Strategies | Best Coaching Classes 2 Current Affairs Digest Feb 2020 https://www.exambazaar.com/current-affairs 1. National GOVERNMENT POLICIES & SCHEMES 02 Feb For every rupee in government kitty, 64 paise come from taxes According to the Union Budget 2020-21, goods and services tax collections will contribute 18 paise in every rupee revenue. POINTS TO NOTE Corporation tax will contribute 18 paise to each rupee earned. The collection from borrowings and other liabilities will be 20 paise, while income tax will yield 17 paise to every rupee collection. The government intends to earn 10 paise from non-tax revenue like disinvestment, 7 paise from Union excise duty, 4 paise from customs duty and 6 paise from non-debt capital receipts out of every rupee collection. On the expenditure side, the biggest outlay component is the states' share of taxes and duties at 20 paise, followed by interest payment at 18 paise. Expenditure on central sector schemes will be 13 paise, while the allocation for centrally-sponsored schemes will be 9 paise. 02 Feb Budget 2020 | Finance Minister proposes ‘taxpayer’s charter’ to boost trust The charter, which would enumerate taxpayer’s rights, would be incorporated in the Income Tax Act through suitable amendments. POINTS TO NOTE The charter, which would enumerate taxpayer’s rights, would be incorporated in the Income Tax Act through suitable amendments. A provision for e-appeal has also been included as part of the drive to impart greater efficiency, transparency and accountability to the assessment process. With the aim of doing away with human interface from the system, the e-appeal scheme, on the lines of e-assessment scheme, would help in “eliminating the interface between the Commissioner (Appeals) and the appellant in the course of appellate proceedings to the extent technologically feasible. Read Current Affairs With Synopsis on https://www.exambazaar.com/current-affairs EXAM PREPARATION RESOURCES: Free Question Papers | EQAD - Free Daily Practice | Preparation Strategies | Best Coaching Classes 3 Current Affairs Digest Feb 2020 https://www.exambazaar.com/current-affairs 05 Feb 'Vivad se Vishwas' scheme offers fair deal to settle past direct tax disputes: CBDT chief In case it is just the interest and the penalty which is in dispute, the taxpayer will have to pay 25 per cent of the disputed amount till March 31, and subsequently, it will be 30 per cent. POINTS TO NOTE Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Chairman P C Mody on Tuesday said the direct tax dispute resolution scheme offers a fair deal to settle pending tax disputes as he urged people to come forward and avail the plan. In the "Vivad se Vishwas' scheme taxpayers whose tax demands are locked in dispute in multiple forums can pay due to taxes by March 31, 2020, and get a complete waiver of interest and penalty. If a taxpayer is not able to pay within the March 31 deadline, he gets a further time till June 30, but in that cas,e he would have to pay 10 per cent more on the tax. COMMITTEES & MEETS 06 Feb DCGI approves restricted use of anti-HIV drugs for novel coronavirus Apex health research body Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) had sought an emergency approval from the DCGI for the usage of two medicines. POINTS TO NOTE Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) had sought an emergency approval from the DCGI for the “restricted use” of the combination of two medications — lopinavir and Ritonavir India has reported three confirmed cases of nCoV so far from Kerala. A Group of Ministers (GoM) has been formed to review, monitor and evaluate the preparedness to contain the deadly nCoV infection in the country. DCGI stands for Drug Controller General Of India OTHERS Read Current Affairs With Synopsis on https://www.exambazaar.com/current-affairs EXAM PREPARATION RESOURCES: Free Question Papers | EQAD - Free Daily Practice | Preparation Strategies | Best Coaching Classes 4 Current Affairs Digest Feb 2020 https://www.exambazaar.com/current-affairs 04 Feb India evacuates Maldivians, Bangladesh citizens from Wuhan as part of neighbourhood first policy China not only took four days to allow permission for evacuation but also reportedly expressed displeasure over the advisory India issued this asking its citizens to refrain from travelling to China in view of the novel coronavirus outbreak. POINTS TO NOTE Foreign Minister of Maldives, Abdulla Shahid expressed gratitude to Prime Minister Modi and External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar for rescuing Maldivians from Coronavirus hit Wuhan province of China. A total of 647 Indian citizens including 282 students have been evacuated by special Air India flight from Wuhan. Total of 7 Maldives Citizens have been evacuated from China by the Indian forces. Corona Virus outbursted in Wuhan province of China and till then 350 have died due to it. 04 Feb Kolam contest enters Asia Book of Records A 'kolam' drawing contest in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu has made it into the Asia Book of Records. Hundreds of students created 510 unique 'kolams', the traditional art of designs done with powder. POINTS TO NOTE The record was set by the Avinashilingam Institute for Home Science and Higher Education for Women. The event was organised by The Hindu Group and Tata Tea Chakra Gold The designs for the kolams were chosen by the university from 1,302 submissions. 10 designs selected in The Hindu's kolam contest were also recreated by the students. 05 Feb Ministry of Culture developed three Virtual Experiential Museums These museums are Man Mahal at Varanasi, Ajanta Caves at National Musuem, Delhi and Humayun Tomb in Delhi. POINTS TO NOTE As of 2016 Ministry of Culture was given the task to develop at least 50 Virtual Museum. Ministry of Culture also proposes to set up a National Virtual Experiential Site Museum at Vadnagar, Gujarat. Ministry of Tourism under its schemes of ‘Swadesh Darshan’ and ‘Development of Iconic sites’, has developed tourism infrastructure at various heritage destinations. The primary objective is to develop the identified destinations as benchmark tourist destinations in terms of comprehensive development of infrastructure & services. Read Current Affairs With Synopsis on https://www.exambazaar.com/current-affairs EXAM PREPARATION RESOURCES: Free Question Papers | EQAD - Free Daily Practice | Preparation Strategies | Best Coaching Classes 5 Current Affairs Digest Feb 2020 https://www.exambazaar.com/current-affairs 2. International OTHERS 02 Feb Budget 2020: Non-taxpaying NRIs to be taxed in India, says FM The Union Budget 2020 has now proposed to introduce a deeming provision that every Indian citizen who is not liable to tax in any other country, by virtue of his domicile or residence, shall be deemed as a resident of India. Consequently, his global income would be taxable in India. POINTS TO NOTE At present, if an Indian or a person of Indian origin managed his stay in India such that he remained a non-resident in perpetuity, he was not liable to pay tax on his global income in India. Tightening the residency provisions, the Budget also proposed to reduce the period of stay in India to 120 days from 182 days earlier for persons of Indian origin (PIOs) to be categorised as non-resident Indians (NRIs). The Budget also proposes to rework the definition of "not ordinarily resident" in India, if the individual has been a non-resident in India in 7 out of 10 previous years preceding that year. Earlier for an individual to be considered "not ordinarily resident", he/she had to be a non-resident in India in 9 out of 10 years. The new provision will adversely impact High Networth Individuals using the domicile mechanism to evade tax globally. 03 Feb Somalia declares massive locust infestation a national emergency The locust swarms are the result of extreme weather swings, and Somalia's declaration the first country in the region to do so is aimed at boosting national efforts in tackling the hungry insects. POINTS TO NOTE The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has termed the locust emergency of Somalia as “worst situation in 25 years” in the Horn of Africa.