Current Affairs February 2020

Current Affairs 2020

Current Affairs February 2020 Date – 25 February 2020 Government installed 10 lakh smart meters under SMNP Government has successfully installed 10 lakh smart meters across India, under the Government of India’s Smart Meter National Programme (SMNP). These smart meters, operational in Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana and Bihar, aim to bring efficiency in the distribution system leading to better service delivery. The programme is being implemented through Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL). The smart meters are operational in Bihar, Delhi, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh. The aim of the programme is to bring efficiency in the distribution system leading to better service delivery. In every substation, the capacity of the solar power plants ranges from 0.5 MW to 10 MW. The programme is being implemented through Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL).

The SMNP aims to replace 250 million conventional meters in India with smart meters.

Trump becomes 3rd US President to visit Taj Mahal Donald Trump becomes the 3rd US President to visit the Taj Mahal. He visited Taj Mahal with his wife Melania Trump during his two-day state visit to India. He visited India in 2000. Also, in 1959, then US president David Dwight Eisenhower had visited Taj. Taj Mahal is located in Agra, Uttar Pradesh. It is a mausoleum of white marble. It is situated on the banks of the river Yamuna. Taj Mahal was built by the Mughal emperor Shahjahan in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal. The construction of the Taj Mahal was carried out from 1631 to 1648 AD and was completed within a period of 17 years. It is famous for its unique layout, perfection in symmetry and inlay work. It was declared a centrally protected monument of national importance in December 1920. The Taj Mahal stood as one of the Seven Wonders of the World. In 1983, it was added on the list of World Heritage Sites.

Adline Castelino won LIVA Miss Diva Universe 2020 Adline Castelino won the LIVA Miss Diva Universe 2020 title. She was crowned by Vartika Singh, Miss Diva Universe 2019, at an event held on Mumbai. The event was held on 22 February. Castelino was followed by Aavriti Choudhary of Jabalpur. The jury included 2000 Miss Universe and Mentor Lara Dutta, Miss Supranational 2019 Anntonia Porsild, Designers Shivan & Narresh, Nikhil Mehra and Gavin Miguel, Yami Gautam and veteran actor Anil Kapoor.

Current Affairs 2020

Adline Castelino is from Mangalore. She will represent the country at Miss Universe 2020. Aavriti Choudhary is from Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh. She graduated with a degree in business administration from Prestige Institute of Management And Research in Indore. She will represent India at Miss Supranational 2020. LIVA Miss Diva was initiated in 2013. It is headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. LIVA Miss Diva Universe 2020 is the 8th edition of the Miss Diva contest held on 22 February 2020. The event was presented by Malaika Arora Khan and Sachin Kumbhar. This was the first edition of Miss Diva under Liva Fluid Fashion.

Hrithik Roshan won Best Actor award for his film Super 30 Hrithik Roshan won the Best Actor award for his film Super 30 at the 10th Dada Saheb Phalke Film Festival 2020, Delhi NCR, India. Hrithik enacted the role of a math teacher named Anand Kumar who lives in Bihar in this film. Anand gives free education to the unprivileged students to help them ace the IIT-JEE exams in the movie. Full list of winners:

 Best Film - Super 30  Best Actor - Hrithik Roshan  Most Promising Actor - Kiccha Sudeep  Best Actor in Television Series - Dheeraj Dhoopar  Best Actress in Television - Divyanka Tripathi  Most Favourite Television Actor - Harshad Chopda  Most Favourite Jodi in Television Series - Sriti Jha and Shabbir Ahluwalia (Kumkum Bhagya)  Best Reality Show - Bigg Boss 13  Best Television Series - Kumkum Bhagya  Best Playback Singer Male - Armaan Malik

Sharath Kamal, Sathiyan won silver at Hungarian Open Indian men's doubles pair of Achanta Sharath Kamal and Gnanasekaran Sathiyan clinched a silver medal at the 2020 ITTF World Tour Hungarian Open in Budapest. Kamal and Sathiyan defeated top seeds Ho Kwan Kit and Wong Chun Ting of Hong Kong 3-2 in the semi-finals. This is the second time Sharath Kamal has won a medal from the tournament. He has won bronze with Manika Batra in mixed doubles. Result:

 Men's singles: Japan Tomokazu Harimoto  Women's singles: Japan Mima Ito

Current Affairs 2020

 Men's doubles: Germany Benedikt Duda, Patrick Franziska  Women's doubles: Japan Miu Hirano, Kasumi Ishikawa NABARD sanctions over ₹400 cr to boost infrastructure in J&K

National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has sanctioned an amount of 400.64 crore rupees to UT of J&K during the current financial year for giving boost to the infrastructure in the rural areas. The funding is a part of the NABARD’s ‘Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) - Trench XXV’ which aims at augmenting rural infrastructure. Earlier in 2020, NABARD has sanctioned Rs.209.87 crore for the construction of 82 rural roads and 3 bridges. A road length of 291kms has been proposed to be constructed benefiting 9.15 lakh people in 19 districts of UT of J&K. The construction of roads and bridges will provide all-weather improved connectivity to 461 remote villages.

A sum of Rs.143.66 crore has been sanctioned for the implementation of 38 water supply schemes. The schemes are expected to benefit over 3.54 lakh people across 86 villages in 17 districts of UT of J&K. Similarly, NABARD has also sanctioned an amount of Rs.47.11 crore towards improving the Animal and Sheep Husbandry sectors.

National Integration Camp is held in Sikkim Ek Bharat Shresth Bharat programme of Indian Government aims to establish cultural exchanges between people of different regions to further human bonding and a common approach to nation building. Sikkim state Director of Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan and nodal officer for Ek Bharat Shresth Bharat Shibashish Banerjee highlights the significance of the programme and the National Integration Camp to be held in Namchi, South Sikkim. The aim of Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat camp is to promote the spirit of national integration through engagement between all states and union territories. National Integration Camp will be held from 24-27 February. It showcased the vibrancy of India's diversity. The theme of the camp is Ek Bharat-Shreshth Bharat. A variety of participants were present at the NIC as representative of the country's core strength. Visitors to enjoy Sikkim's natural beauty, pollution-free environment and minimize their footprint on the environment. Sikkim paired with Delhi under Ek Bharat-Shreshth Bharat. A dance performance themed Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao by participants from Delhi.

Government approved the 22nd Law Commission for 3 years

Current Affairs 2020

Government has formally approved the twenty-second Law Commission of India for a period of three years. The law commission will provide a recommendation on different aspects of law, to the government, which are entrusted to the Commission for its study and recommendations, as per its terms of reference. Members of the Commission The 22nd Law Commission will consist of:

 a full-time Chairperson- The chairperson is usually is a retired Supreme Court judge or a retired chief justice of a high court)  four full-time Members (including Member-Secretary)  Secretary, Department of Legal Affairs as ex-officio Member  Secretary, Legislative Department as ex officio Member  part-time Members (not more than five)

Roles of Law Commission:

 Law Commission does research in law and review of existing laws in India for making reforms therein and enacting new legislations.  It will undertake studies to bring reforms in the justice delivery systems for elimination of delay in procedures, speedy disposal of cases, reduction in the cost of litigation, etc.  It will provide a measure that is necessary to harness the law and the legal process in the service of the poor.  The commission will revise various Central Acts of general importance so as to simplify them and remove anomalies, ambiguities, and inequities.

Payments for maternity benefit scheme credited to wrong account One in three Aadhaar-based payments for the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY), the Centre's maternity benefit scheme, was credited to a wrong bank account. This is the second report released by GoI on the implementation of Poshan Abhiyaan. The report stated that 28% of all Aadhaar-based payments, of 31.29 lakh, are credited to different bank accounts than what had been provided by the beneficiaries. For better comparison and analysis, the States were divided into large and small categories. It causes dissatisfaction among beneficiaries, which needs to be addressed on an urgent basis.

It stated that 66% of the direct benefit transfers were based on Aadhaar. Out of 5,525 beneficiaries, only 60% were aware of the receipt of the benefits and the bank accounts to which the money was transferred. The report analyzed the States and Union Territories (UT) across four themes namely service delivery and capacities; governance and institutional mechanism; strategy and planning; and programme activities and intervention coverage.

Current Affairs 2020

Meeting to review the progress of works sanctioned under Institute of Eminence Scheme Union Minister of Human Resource Development (HRD) has chaired a high-level meeting to review the progress of the Public and Private institutions which were considered to be given the status of Institutions of Eminence (IoE) on 24 February. The approval of the status is upon the advice of the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the Empowered Expert Committee under the leadership of N. Gopalaswamy. The focus of the government under the IoE Scheme is to provide quality education to the students of the country in the areas of research and innovation. The institutions that are recognized under the Scheme works to improve their position in global rankings and to make these institutions, the centres of excellence at a global level. The meeting reviewed the status of infrastructure and human resources in these institutions. The Ministry of HRD assured to extend maximum support to the institution for high-quality teaching and research and for the advancement of knowledge. In order to make it world-class teaching and research institutions, it will invite Nobel laureates, academicians, professors, foreign faculty, etc to visit Indian educational institutions to enlarge and deepen the interface of India's institutions of higher learning and globally recognized institutions of academic eminence.

MoU signed between NMCG, SPMG-UK, ICT to renovate Ghat at Badrinath A tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed among the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), State Program Management Group-Uttarakhand (SPMG-UK) and Indorama Charitable Trust (ICT) in Delhi on 24 February. The MoU aims to work together to renovate or develop the Ghat at Badrinath and Ghats and Crematoria at Gangotri in Uttarakhand. The total cost for the project is Rs.26.64 crore. The Detailed Project Report (DPR) was developed by M/S WAPCOS, a Government of India Enterprise. The activities under the project will include the construction of Bathing Ghats and Crematoria, repair and modernize the existing Ghats and Crematoria Providing public amenities on Ghats, Bank erosion protection works, Operation & Maintenance (O&M) for 5 years. The Clean Ganga campaign was taken up in Mission Mode since Prime Minister Narendra Modi led Government assumed office in 2014.

Current Affairs 2020

The Mission is about to be completed but the Namami Ganga Mission is an unending process. Indorama Group provided financing for the project under the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative. Naval special child felicitated for creating world record in open water swimming Ms Jiya Rai, an eleven year old daughter of Madan Rai, Master Chief at Arms II, posted in INS Shikra, created a world record on 15 Feb 20 by becoming the fastest special girl to swim 14 Km in open water. The VI standard student of Navy Children School (NCS), Mumbai swam from Elephanta Island to Gateway of India, a distance of 14 Km in 03 hours 27 minutes and 30 seconds. The solo swimming event was conducted under the supervision of Swimming Association of Maharashtra, an authorized body of Swimming Federation of India. She is studying VI standard in Navy Children School (NCS), Mumbai. She created a world record on 15 February 2020 by becoming the fastest special girl to swim 14 Km in open water. She swam from Elephanta Island to Gateway of India, a distance of 14 Km in 3 hours 27 minutes and 30 seconds (03:27:30). The solo swimming event was conducted under the supervision of the Swimming Association of Maharashtra, an authorized body of the Swimming Federation of India. Jiya was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Delay in Speech when she was 2 years old. The water therapy developed a passion for swimming in her. Her achievement was qualified to be registered in Asia Book, India Book of Records, and Limca Book of Records for the youngest and first special girl in the world.

MCA Secretary inaugurates SPICe+ web form Secretary of Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) Injeti Srinivas has inaugurated a new company incorporation "Spice+" Webform on 24 February. It is a part of a comprehensive package to make life easier for someone starting a business. The move is in line with India's Ease of Doing Business (EODB) initiatives. Spice+ form will replace the existing Spice form. The form offers 10 services by 3 Central government Ministries & Departments namely the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Ministry of Labour & Department of Revenue in the Ministry of Finance and Maharashtra State Government. It will save many procedures, time and cost for Starting a Business in India. It will be applicable for all new company incorporations. The form has at least five new formalities including Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) and professional tax registration, the opening of bank account and GST registration.

Current Affairs 2020

SPICe+ will reduce the time taken for the process and the cost of registering a company that was estimated at around 4 hours in December-January. It has been estimated that on average, the name reservation takes around 3 hours. Vishwakarma Awards 2019 Union Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' presents Vishwakarma Awards 2019 to the winners in New Delhi. It was organized in the All India Council for Technical Training. 23 groups were awarded the Chatra Vishwakarma Awards (CVA). Six institutes were awarded the Utkrisht Santhan Vishwakarma Award (USVA). The award recognizes college students who have good potential and are an asset to the nation. Vishwakarma Awards was instituted by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) since 2017. The awards were instituted for the growth of society by means of the stakeholders of its accepted institutes. The Awards are aimed to motivate younger people and inspire leaders and organizations.

 Class-I: Chhatra Vishwakarma Awards (CVA) is conferred for Excellent Progressive Staff (for College students & Mentor).  Class-II: Utkrisht Sansthan Vishwakarma Award (USVA) is conferred for exemplary Institutional intervention. The award will boost the efficiency of their particular domains resulting in vital contributions in the direction of the expansion and growth of the Nation as an entire. The winners were chosen based on the theme "Methods to improve the revenue of Village". Indian Society of Technical Training (ISTE) and Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) of NITI Ayog agreed to collaborate with AICTE for the Vishwakarma Awards 2019.