Deepak Bhardwaj = Cleared 6 Government Jobs

FULL CA – FEB 2020

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SUMMIT/EVENTS/CONFRENCES ETC

DELHI  New Delhi - International Judicial Conference 2020 - “Judiciary and The Changing World”, THEME - “Gender Just World” (Delhi se nyas hoga)  New Delhi - 1st Artificial intelligence summit, RAISE 2020- ‘Responsible Artificial intelligence (AI) - for Social Empowerment’, summit - April 11-12 - by the Government of India along with Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) (Delhi – artificial intelligence se bhara pada hai)

 New Delhi - National Conference on Coastal Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience (CDRR&R) (Delhi me baithkr coastal areas ki risk dekhege)  National Organic Food Festival for women entrepreneurs - New Delhi  Portugal - India's partner country at the Technology Summit 2020 to be held in Delhi  20th ‘Hunar Haat’ 2020 held in New Delhi  Amit Shah inaugurated two-day BIMSTEC ‘Conference on Combating Drug Trafficking’, in New Delhi from Feb 13 – 14, 2020

NORTH AND WEST  Noida, Uttar Pradesh (UP) - international conference on “Ensemble Methods in Modelling and Data Assimilation (EMMDA) 2020” - organized by NCMRWF (Noida me modelling ke bahut methods hai)  63 feet Pancha Loha Statue of Pt Deendayal Upadhyaya – Varanasi  Mega industrial exhibition Engiexpo 2020 – Gujarat

 The 13th Conference of Parties (COP) of the Convention on the conservation of migratory species of wild animals (CMS) – Gandhinagar  23rd National conference on e-Governance 2020 held in Mumbai - Theme “India 2020: Digital Transformation”, organised by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) along with Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India, in association with Government of Maharashtra.  First ‘Jerusalem-Mumbai Festival’ will be held in Mumbai on Feb 15 & 16, 2020  Five day 11th edition of the Biennial Mega Defence Exhibition “DefExpo 2020” held in Lucknow, UP from Feb 5 – 9, 2020 - Main theme was “India: The Emerging Defence Manufacturing Hub” with focus on “Digital Transformation of Defence”. This expo is also termed as “Mahakumbh of defence manufacturing companies”. The last two days of the expo was opened for public. - 1st India-Africa Defence Ministers Conclave 2020 held in Lucknow, UP 5th India-Russia Military Industrial Conference (IRMIC) in Lucknow; 14 MoUs signed

- UK-India Defence Industry Forum held in Lucknow, UP - Bandhan, DefExpo 2020: The MoU signing ceremony held - Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) launched “Sharang” the 155mm artillery gun with 36 km range and handed over a model to Chief of Army Staff (CoAS) Gen Manoj Mukund Naravane.  MP CM Inaugurates National Water Conference at Bhopal  Theme of “Kaushal Ko Kaam” at India Gate Lawns, Rajpath, New Delhi. The Union Minister for Railways, Commerce and Industry, Shri Piyush Goyal, the Union Minister for Minority Affairs, Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and the Union Minister for Urban Development (Independent Charge), Shri Hardeep Singh Puri inaugurated the festival.

SOUTH  Bengaluru International Exhibition Centre - World Productivity Congress (WPC) - May 2020, Theme- “Industry 4.0 – Innovation and Productivity” (bengaluru ke log world me sabse jyada productive hai)  BioAsia 2020 forum – Hyderabad, Theme - Today for Tomorrow

 Kambala is a traditional sport of Karnataka  4th EAS conference on maritime security cooperation 2020 – Chennai

EAST  First ever 'North East India Fund Fest’ – Guwahati  Tripura celebrating its first ever hornbill festival  Gulmarg - National Winter Games  2nd BIMSTEC Disaster Management Exercise-2020 held at Bhubaneswar, Odisha; inaugurated by Naveen Patnaik

INTERNATIONAL CENTRAL AND MIDDLE EAST ASIA  G20 Finance Ministers & Central Bank Governors Meet - Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - 22-23 February 2020, theme - “Realizing Opportunities of the 21st Century for All” (G20 ke bankers ko RIHA (sounds like riyadh) kiya gaya)

 Addis Ababa - The 33rd African Union (AU) Summit

NEARBY INDIA  South Asia Regional Initiative for Energy Integration (SARI/EI) and US AID – organized - Conference on Enhancing Energy Cooperation in the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) region - held at Dhaka (US ne South asia region se jabardasti (Energy ke sath) Dhakka (dhaka) de diya )

EUROPE  Westlessness - theme of the 56th Munich Security Conference (MSC) 2020 Global Conference on Road Safety - Stockholm

 Kerala Police - 112, the pan-India number of the Emergency Response Support System (ERSS), for police, medical and fire emergencies (finally kerala ne bhi 112 man liya)  Yodhavu mobile app to combat drug menace – Kerala  Kerala - will set up 1,000 ''Kudumbashree'' hotels to provide subsidised meals at Rs 25  Kochi, Kerala to hosts Intl conference on Climate change & Ocean health “CLIMFISHCON-2020”

Andhra Pradesh  Andhra Pradesh - launched educational schemes called ‘Jagananna Vasthi Deevena (JVD)’ - aims to improve the gross enrolment ratio in higher education (andha jagan study (education) ka deewana hai)  Nadu-Nedu scheme for modernising hospitals - Andhra Pradesh  Chintalapudi Lift Irrigation Scheme - Andhra Pradesh  AP govt - MoU with 11 agri institutions to help farmers through technology & sustainable increase in farmers’ income using organic and natural farming processes. As a part of this, 11,158 Rythu Bharosa Kendras will be set up across the state by June 2020

 first Disha Police Station of Andhra Pradesh was inaugurated in Rajamahendravaram

Telangana  National Cyber Research, Innovation and capacity centre - opened at Central Detective Training Institute (CDTI) - in Hyderabad, Telangana State (Hyderabad me cyber research ki jarurat hai)  The Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), Hyderabad - launched - 3 warning systems (Ocean aspas na hote hue bhi centre khol diya)  Amazon will set up two data centres in Telangana with USD 1.6 billion investment  Hyderabad Metro Rail - become the country’s second largest operational metro project

Karnataka  Lithium reserves of 14,100 tonnes in Mandya area of Bengaluru  Bidar - new airport of Karnataka

Tamilnadu

 Tamil Nadu - declared Cauvery delta as Protected Special Agriculture Zone  Kavalan SOS - police app of Tamil Nadu  Tamil Nadu CM Inaugurates Salem Cricket Foundation (SCF) cricket ground in Salem

West Bengal  Indian Railways - launched - “Restaurant on Wheels” at Asansol Station, West Bengal (W – wheels, W – west bengal)

Maharashtra  Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) - established - world’s largest airport-based temperature controlled facility - the ‘Export Cold Zone’ - for processing and storage of agro and pharma products (Mumbai – largest – temperature based controlled facility)

 Government Medical College in Maharashtra's Latur will be named after Vilasrao Deshmukh  Mumbai to get India’s largest air quality monitoring network BMC will develop an air quality monitoring network across 90 locations in Mumbai, Maharashtra.

Gujarat  Gujarat - MoU – SBI - to provide working capital to MSME entrepreneurs within 15 days

Madhya Pradesh  Madhya Pradesh - 1st state to launch Unified Vehicle Registration Card (MP - UV)  Madhya Pradesh tops the list for outgoing patients under PMJAY-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana according to National Health Authority (NHA)

Haryana

 Manohar Lal Khattar - announced - will provide Rs. 6 crores for the players who bagged gold medals, Rs. 4 crores for the silver medallist and Rs. 2.5 crores for the bronze medallists at the Olympics Games.  Atal Kisan Majdoor Canteens in the ‘mandis’ and sugar mills - to provide affordable, cheap meals to farmers and labourers for Rs 10 per plate  free travel facility up to 150 km to girl students in the ordinary buses of Haryana Roadway.  Haryana Launches Rs.1500 crores Mukyamantri Parivar Samridhi Yojana financial assistance of Rs.6000 to the families below the poverty line  Haryana Government launched ‘Reading Mission’ To inculcate reading habits among students. The mission has been launched based on the Central Government’s “Reading Mission -2022”.

Punjab  Ambala, Punjab bus stand was renamed after Sushma Swaraj

Delhi  To ensure safety and security of people travelling in cabs, the Delhi Police along with Uber -Himmat plus app  Indira Gandhi International Airport - India’s first single-use plastic-free airport

Uttar Pradesh  CM Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (CMAPS) and the Yuva Udyamita Vikas Abhiyan (YUVA) - Uttar Pradesh  Kashi Mahakal Express will run between Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh  Microsoft - third India Development Centre (IDC) – Noida  Ground water act 2020 approved by Uttar Pradesh cabinet  “Operation Nakail” for Auto-rickshaws in Ghaziabad to bear 4-digit number unique number aim to curb crime  UP Govt - MoU - eGov Foundation - for State-wide Implementation of Municipal Financial Accounting Platform  Board Exam 2020: UP Govt launched toll free helpline numbers for students  1800-180-5310 and 1800-180-5312.

Bihar  Bird ringing station - will be established in Bihar  Pyaar ka Paudha campaign - to promote the practice of planting trees - Bihar  Bihar govt - launches `Pyaar ka Paudha` campaign - to promote the practice of planting trees

Assam  Gyan Deepika Scholarship scheme – Assam

Meghalaya  World’s largest species of Cave Fish - discovered - Meghalaya’s Jaintia Hills - by a team of experts from UK (United Kingdom), Switzerland, and India

Manipur  Manipur - launched the 'Anganphou Hunba' programme

 Manipur Chief Minister, Nongthombam Biren Singh launched “Anganphou Hunba” (Sowing of First Crop Paddy) programme at Arapti Mayai Leikai in Imphal East

Tripura  Tripura - released a new variety of rubber (RRII 429) resistant to diseases, low temperatures

Himachal Pradesh  Himachal Pradesh - 1st state to have 100% LPG coverage

Jammu and Kashmir On the first anniversary of the Pulwama attack, the CRPF has inaugurated a memorial at Lethpora camp, Srinagar

GOVT SCHEMES + OTHERS NATIONAL NEWS INCLUDING

 4th anniversary of Shyama Prasad Mukherji National Rurban Mission (SPMRM) which was launched on 21 February 2016  Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) - 1st government entity to adopt centralised invoicing platform, TreDS (Trade Receivables electronic Discount System)  Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) - approved Rs 162 crore under Operations Green - for the stable supply of TOP (Tomato, Onion & Potato) crops.  Government - approved a total of 32 projects under ‘unit’ scheme of Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana (PMKSY)  Shri Arjun Munda, the Union Tribal Affairs Minister - launched - Programme for Capacity  Building of ST Representatives in Local Self Governments in - Bhubhaneswar, Odisha, also launched “1000 Spring Initiatives” - for improvement of tribal communities and an online portal on GIS based Spring Atlas  Union Food Processing Industries Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal - Launched – Market Intelligence & Early Warning System (MIEWS) - will monitor the prices of TOP Crops (Tomato, Onion & Potato)

 Shri Injeti Srinivas, Secretary of Ministry of Corporate Affairs - inaugurated - SPICe+ web form (Simplified Performa for Incorporating Company Electronically Plus) - replaces SPICe (Simplified Performa for Incorporating Company Electronically) form  Apiary on Wheels - A concept for Bee Keeping -designed by Khadi and Village Industries Commission  Maha Chakri Sirindhorn who visited the Indian Military Academy in Dehradun recently is the Princess of Thailand  India and Portugal - MoU - to develop a world-class National Maritime Heritage Complex (NMHC) at Lothal  Richard Branson - approached India - to establish a hyperloop transportation system between New Delhi and Mumbai  Government will launch Tilhan Mission to make the country self-reliant in Oilseed  India will switch to the world’s cleanest petrol and diesel i.e Euro-VI grade fuel from April 1  Election Commission of India + IIT Madras - to work on a new technology for voting  CREDAI Awaas mobile application - In order to connect home buyers and developers by CREDAI  The government has unveiled SUTRA PIC - to research on ‘indigenous’ cows  Rename ‘The Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses’ (IDSA) after Manohar Parrikar

 As per Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare Second Advance Estimates for crop year 2019-20, the total food grain production in the country is estimated at record 291.95 million tonnes as compared to the production of food grain of 285.21 million tonnes in 2018-19.  Dr. Harsh Vardhan along with Norway’s Minister have jointly inaugurated the ‘India-Norway Task Force on Blue Economy for Sustainable Development  Increase of milk processing capacity to 108 million metric tonne (MT) from 53.5 million metric tonne by 2025.  MSME launched a National Level Awareness Programme (NLAP) 2020 - to spread awareness, among students of colleges and educational institutes, about the schemes & activities  The central Government has come up with a 20-20 model under Smart City Mission to pair top 20 cities with the bottom 20 cities.  NPCI launches UPI Chalega  AICTE banned all the government & private universities to offer both PGDM and MBA courses simultaneously.

 Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA), has launched, two Assessment Frameworks, viz. Ease of Living Index (EoLI) and Municipal Performance Index (MPI) 2019 to assess quality of life of citizens in 100 Smart Cities and 14 other Million Plus Cities.  Municipal Performance Index 2019 - Under this, the ministry will assess the performance of municipalities based on five parameters - Service, Finance, Planning, Technology and Governance.  Ease of Living Index (EoLI) 2019- It will facilitate the assessment of ease of living of citizens across three pillars: Quality of Life, Economic Ability and Sustainability which are further divided into 14 categories across 50 indicators.  Sum of Rs 6,717.18 crore released under Amended Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (ATUFS) between FY16 and FY20  Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) under the Ministry of Commerce & Industry has notified Quality Control norms for LPG (Liquefied petroleum gas) Rubber Hose to be effective from August1, 2020  LPG coverage reached 96.9 % as on Jan 1, 2020: Dharmendra Pradhan

 Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs pairs up 20 best performing smart cities with poorly performing 20 cities  Under the mission, 100 selected smart cities have identified 5151 projects worth Rs 2,05,018 crore. As per the internal rankings, 20 best performing cities are – Ahmedabad, Varanasi, Ranchi, Udaipur, Nagpur, Bhopal, Surat, Kanpur, Visakhapatnam, Vellore, Tiruppur, Vadodara, Nashik, Agra, Dehradun, Davanagere, Kota, Pune, Indore, and Amravati.  NIFM, Faridabad renamed ‘Arun Jaitley National Institute of Financial Management’  Union Minister of Human Resource Development, Ramesh Pokhriyal “Nishank”, Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare, Dr. Harsh Vardhan jointly released curriculum for School Health Ambassador Initiative under Ayushman Bharat’s School Health Programme (SHP) during an occasion in New Delhi.  India bans E-Cigarettes on Flights and Airports - offenders will be sentenced into prison upto one year and also a fine of Rs. 1 lakh. In case of repeat offenders, jail term is increased to 3 years with Rs. 5 lakhs fine.  Cabinet approvals - Rs 2500 crore as capital Oriental Insurance Company Limited (OICL), National Insurance Company Limited (NICL) and United India Insurance Company Limited (UIICL).

Cabinet nod to changes in Vivad se Vishwas Bill to reduce tax litigations MoU b/w India & Iceland - for sustainable development in fisheries Approval for amendment of agreement with Sri Lanka on double taxation, financial evasion prevention  Highlights of Sri Lankan PM Mahinda Rajapaksa visit to India from Feb 7-11, 2020 India & Sri Lanka agreed to strengthen cooperation to combat terrorism, boost trade and investment  INS Jamuna initiated Joint Hydrographic Operations off Sri Lanka  The Anti-hijack exercise was conducted to create a mock situation using a naval Dornier aircraft by INS Dega, (a naval air station of the Indian navy) at Visakhapatnam Airport  Two Institutions, The Pravasi Bharatiya Kendra and The Foregin Service Institute have been named after former Indian Diplomat Sushma Swaraj for her Invaluable contribution in Public Service.  Union minister Jitendra singh launched the Centralized Public Grievance Redress And Monitoring System (CPGRAMS) reforms, an 7.0 version aimed to reduce the grievance disposal time and improve the quality of grievance redressal.

 Gandhinagar railway station in Gujarat to be the 1st in India to add 5-star hotel above the tracks: VK Yadav - to give passengers the experience of world class facilities. This will be the first experiment in India. The hotel, being built by the famous hotel chain Leela Group, could be completed by December 2020.  According to the Vikas Sheel, the Joint Secretary in Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Tuberculosis (TB) notifications to the government has been increased to 38%, up from 17.36 lakhs in 2017 to 23.98 lakhs in 2019  Vietnam’s Vice President visited India from Feb 11 – 13, 2020; holds bilateral level talks with Venkaiah Naidu  Govt amends Arbitration and conciliation act 1996 for making arbitration user friendly  Nitin Jairam Gadkari, the union minister for Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) flagged off ‘Apiary on Wheels’ in in New Delhi in the presence of Shri Vinai Kumar Saxena, Chairman of Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC). Apiary on Wheels is a unique concept for easy maintenance of BeeBox and migration of live colonies, designed by KVIC.  15th finance commission forms 5-member panel led by NK singh on defence & Internal security fund The panel will comprise the following members: AN Jha, member of the 15th Finance Commission

Ajay Bhalla, Secretary of Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) Ajay Kumar, Secretary of Ministry of Defence T V Somanathan , Expenditure Secretary  Nitin Gadkari inaugurated first inter-city electric bus service in between Mumbai (Maharashtra) and Pune (Maharashtra) - manufactured by Mitra Mobility Solution, covers a range of 300 kilometre on single charge  Jitendra Singh, Union Ministers for State, Public Grievances and Pensions, mentioned that Government of India (GOI) has allocated 2 AIIMS (All India Institute of Medical Sciences) for Jammu & Kashmir(J&K) - one in Jammu & other in Kashmir. Jitendra Singh also mentioned that 9 medical colleges have also been sanctioned in J&K in addition to the 2 AIIMS.  Assam - best practices in budget formulation BY Transparency International  Nitin Gadkari has launched Khadi wrist watches manufactured by Titan  SAMPRITI-IX will be held between India and Bangladesh  Mascot of the Goa 2020 National Games - Rubigula  Kalka-Delhi Shatabdi to become to have aircraft-style bio-vacuum toilets

 Union government has announced to establish 100 more airports by 2024  Third private train of the IRCTC would run between Indore and Varanasi  Ministry of Labour and Employment - launched the ‘Santusht’ portal  ₹6,000-crore for Ujh multi-purpose project - Kathua district of Jammu & Kashmir  G-20 Presidency in 2022 - India  India – 40th - Intellectual Property Index  UAE - discovered a natural gas field dubbed as Jebel Ali field  Karanj - third Scorpene submarine - will be delivered to the Indian Navy by Dec  Newspaper “Mooknayak” , which completed 100 years, was started by B R Ambedkar  India and Maldives - five MoUs - for establishing the Addu Tourism zone in five islands of Addu atoll  Department of Science and Technology (DST) is digitally reconstructing the Poompuhar port city of Chola Dynasty  Babenco: Tell Me When I Die(From brazil) - ‘Golden Conch Award for Best Documentary Film’ at the Mumbai International Film Festival 2020

 JSR Dynamics - indigenous air to ground missile “Khagantak” - strike range of 180 km  Ministry of MSME has launched a new scheme called SFURTI  Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) - manufacture light utility helicopter (LUH)  Alliance Air, a subsidiary of Air India, to fly on international sectors between India and Sri Lanka  Pravasi Bhartiya Kendra has been renamed after Sushma Swaraj  President Ram Nath Kovind has presented President’s Colour to INS Shivaji  Fifth edition of joint military exercise ''Ajeya Warrior 2020'‘ will be held between India and United Kingdom  The Northern Coalfields Ltd (NCL) has set up a research and development centre SARAS for development in coal mining  Hunar Haat - organised across the country by Ministry of Minority  National Institute of Financial Management (NIFM),Faridabad will be renamed after the name of Arun Jaitely  Facebook - launched the ‘We Think Digital’ program - to provide digital literacy to women  Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) of Jharkhand will merge with the BJP  Ek Bharat Shreshth Bharat Campaign, Ladakh along with Jammu and Kashmir has been paired with Tamil Nadu

Punjab -- Andhra Pradesh. Uttarakhand -- Karnataka. Himachal Pradesh -- Kerala. Delhi -- Sikkim. Rajasthan -- Assam.  India banned export of all kinds of personal protection equipment  UDAN marked 250th route through Bhubaneswar-Varanasi daily flight  73.47 Lakh people trained under Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana from 2016-20 as on January 17,  India & Norway signed 4 MoUs in field of research, higher education  APEDA-CFTRI - MoU - for Liason Office in Guwahati - to Promote Food Processing & Organic Agri Exports in North-East States  Greenbone Sustainable Resilience data: Maharashtra tops States hit by global medical data leak  PM Modi announced 15-member trust named ‘Sri Ram Janma Bhoomi Tirtha Kshetra trust’ for Ayodhya temple  Only 7 in 100 anganwadi beneficiaries are in urban areas

 India signs 1st ever term contract with Russia for Importing Russian Crude Oil  Around 38 Cr bank accounts opened under PMJDY till January 2020: Finance ministry  FICCI & Central Asian countries jointly launches India-Central Asia business council in New Delhi  Financial closure of Arun-III hydropower project inked b/w India and Nepal  Railway Line between India and Bangladesh project to End by 2021  Uttarakhand’s iconic Lakshman Jhula to be replaced by India’s first Glass floor bridge  In a first IAF’S AN-32 aircraft landed at Leh with indigenous bio-jet fuel  NASA decommissioned its Spitzer Space Telescope after 16 years  IIT-Madras develops new AI tech to convert speech Impaired Humans Brain Signals into Meaningful Language  IT department introduced e-calculator to compare due tax under new and old regime  World’s largest solar telescope Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST) reveals never-before-seen images of Sun’s turbulent surface  60-year-old Mo O’Brien becomes world 1st deaf person to row across Atlantic Ocean  Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg nominated for Nobel Peace Prize 2020

 MoFPI sanctioned 39 Mega Food Parks & 298 Integrated Cold Chain Projects under PMKSY(Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana) - aims to prevent post-harvest losses of horticulture and non-horticulture produce through creation of cold storages/ primary processing/ and transportation facilities across the country  MSME - new scheme SFURTI - to set up traditional industries clusters - “Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of Traditional Industries”(SFURTI) - Financial support will be given to set up traditional industries clusters viz. Khadi, Coir & Village industries clusters. - Rs 2.3 crores has been sanctioned for the SFURTI scheme in the budget 2020 - Objective is to set up Traditional industries in India in a period of 5 years and make the industries more profitable.

INTERNATIONAL

 Mongla port belongs to Bangladesh

 Sweden’s Riksbank - begun testing world’s 1st digital version of a currency, by digitising Swedish Currency Krona into e-krona  United States - launch of an International Religious Freedom Alliance - 27 countries  Arun - largest hydropower project of Nepal  World’s first bulletproof helmet has been developed by INDIA  Botswana will start auctioning of elephant hunting licences ending ban imposed in 2014  Syria’s Idlib province has received additional USD 30 million for the humanitarian operations from United Nations’ (UN) Central Emergency Response Fund  Treating female genital mutilation annually costs $1.4 bn globally: WHO  Indian Institute of Management Bengaluru secured third rank in Global MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) Business School Rankings 2020 - topped by HEC Paris, France followed by Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, United States (US) at 2nd place.  5th Edition - Indian Army and United Kingdom(UK) Army - AJEYA WARRIOR-2020 - conducted at Salisbury Plains, United Kingdom(UK) - from February (13 to 26) 2020.

 India stands 17th on a list of countries at risk of importing coronavirus, Thailand tops: Study  33rd edition of African Union (AU) Summit 2020 held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia  President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa - newly elected Chairperson of the African Union for one year.  43rd Governing council meet of IFAD 2020 with Theme - “Investing in sustainable food systems to end hunger by 2030” was held at FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) headquarters in Rome, Italy from February 11- 12, 2020.  International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) stated that the sequences of climate change and it’s impacts on agriculture will push around 100 million people to poverty by 2030.  IISS Study: World Defence spending rose by 4.0% in 2019; India ranked 5th & US tops  IISS annual “Military Balance” report states that global spending on defence hiked by 4% percent in 2019, showing largest growth in 10 years (2010-2019).the world’s biggest defence spenders are United States (US), China, Saudi Arabia, Russia and India.  GSM Association (Global System for Mobile Communication) has cancelled the MWC 2020 (Mobile World Congress) to be held in Barcelona, Spain due to Coronavirus outbreak.

 United Kingdom - launched 4 million pound (about Rs 37 crore) Innovation Challenge Fund in India  Maldives – a member of the Commonwealth of nations again  2019 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report: India’s Observer Research Foundation ranks 27th; CEIP, US tops the list  Counterpoint data: India surpassed US to become 2nd largest smartphone market globally; China tops  Acccording to a recent report by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation(IHME): 14% of India’s under-five aged deaths were due to pneumonia  One in 10 Indians to have cancer in their lifetime: WHO report  Bhutan ends free entry for Indian tourists - daily fee of Rs.1200 ($17) for “regional tourists” from India, the Maldives, Bangladesh from July 2020.  India slips to 40th rank on GIPC’s 8th International Intellectual Property (IP) Index for 2020, US tops

BANKING, FINANCE AND ECONOMY RBI IN NEWS

 RBI - proposed - new method of calculating India’s growth through a Dynamic Factor Model of calculating GDP, using 12 indicators - Working Paper titled “Nowcasting Indian GDP growth using a Dynamic Factor Model”  RBI - directed - all banks to link all their new floating rate loans to medium enterprises with an external benchmark effective from April 1, 2020. The external benchmarks include Reserve bank’s repo rate, Treasury bill (T-bill) yields of 3 months or 6 months /any other benchmark published by the Financial Benchmark India Private Ltd (FBIL). The banks will have to reset the external benchmark every 3 months.  RBI - lifted the ban on Bandhan Bank - to allow it open new branches without prior permission provided 25 % of the total banking outlets to be opened in rural areas where banking facilities are not available.

OTHER BANK NEWS

 HDFC bank + IndiGo - to launch co-branded credit card ‘Ka-ching, with Mastercard

 Microsoft + State Bank of India (SBI) - to train differently abled people to find jobs in the banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) sector. In the first year – 500 differently abled youths will be upskilled.  Fiscal deficit reached 132.4 % of budget estimate for 2019-2020 till December: CGA  NSO revises India’s GDP growth rate for 2018-19 to 6.1% from 6.8%  Fitch forecast India’s GDP growth to 4.6 % for FY20 & 5.6 % for FY 21  Bank credit up by 7.21%, deposits up by 9.51% in the fortnight ended January 17,2020: RBI  Amazon India + Eastern Railways - to set up kiosk at Sealdah railway station in Kolkata  Unemployment rate in India was 6.1% in 2017-18 as per new PLFS(Periodic Labour Force Survey)  Govt data: $118.3 billion received in remittances since 2018-19  FICCI projected India’s GDP growth rate – 5%  ‘iBox’ – ICICI  Moody’s - 4.9% - India’s GDP growth in Fiscal Year 2020  Bank of Baroda + CARE Ratings - to assess the credit quality of SMEs  BoM & SBI were only PSBs rated ‘good’ in digital transactions in Dec 2019

 Paytm unveils all-in-one QR, PoS device and merchant SDK(software development kit)  RBI hikes Insurance cover on bank deposits to Rs 5 lakh from Rs 1 lakh  Digital transactions through IMPS, UPI and BHIM at record high in January 20201  Reliance general insurance introduces comprehensive health insurance plan “Infinity”

ECONOMY ETC

 NABARD - granted a sum of Rs 400.64 crore to J&K under its ‘Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) - for boosting rural infrastructure.  Nirmala Sitharaman - unveiled - Enhanced Access and Service Excellence (EASE 3.0) - agenda and roadmap for FY21 for PSB’s transformation into digital and data driven NextGen banking  RuPay debit card under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) has reached 29.14 crore  ADB - secured Rs 850 crore (about $118 million) - from a new issue of offshore Indian rupee-linked 10-year bonds

 Bharti AXA General Insurance - 1st non-life insurer in India to use WhatsApp for deliver policy & renewal documents  Finance Secretary Shri Rajiv Kumar - inaugurated - ‘Baroda Startup Banking’ service  Government has decided to include - non-scheduled urban & district central cooperative banks in Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE), Credit Linked Capital Subsidy Scheme (CLCSS) & Interest Subvention Scheme  FDI policy - amended by Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) - to allow 100% FDI for insurance intermediaries  According to the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) of Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance, fiscal deficit of the country reached 128.5 % of the estimate for the whole year at the end of January 2020  SEBI tighten the eligibility rules for investment advisors with the intention of protecting the interests of investors. It has also decided to set a upper limit on their fees & proposed a fee of 2.25% of assets under management (AUM) / an amount of ₹75,000 per annum.  ADB approved $2 million fund amount to combat COVID-19

 PFRDA doubles minimum net worth for pension fund managers to Rs 50 cr from Rs 25 cr  Union Ministry of Finance has notified ‘Printing of One Rupee Currency Notes Rules, 2020’  It shall be rectangular 9.7 x 6.3 cms, with its paper made of 100% (cotton) rag content. Colour - pink green  The public sector banks’ (PSBs) bad loans trimmed to ₹7.27 lakh crore at the end of September 2019 in comparison to ₹8.96 lakh crore at the end of March 2018.  Induslnd Bank records highest growth in brand value among Top 500 Banking Brands 2020  Odisha MSME Dept - MoU - HDFC Bank - to boost startups  SEBI constituted municipal bonds development committee headed by Sujit Prasad  Retail inflation rises to 7.59% in January 2020; industrial output declines 0.3% in December 2019: NSO data  Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is going to conduct the Financial Literacy Week (FLW) 2020 from February 10 – February 14, 2020 based on the theme “Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs)”.  BSNL, Air India and MTNL saw highest losses for 3rd consecutive year, ONGC most profitable: DPE survey  ONGC(Oil and Natural Gas Corporation), Indian Oil Corporation(IOC) and NTPC(formerly known as National Thermal Power Corporation Limited) were the top three PSUs with profits in 2018-19

 Facebook launched “We Think Digital” Programme to provide digital literacy training to 1 lakh women across 7 states, including Uttar Pradesh (UP), West Bengal & Bihar. It has been launched in partnership with National

Commission for Women (NCW) and Cyber Peace Foundation.

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AWARDS, PERSONS IN NEWS Appointments

 Ms. Padmaja - High Commissioner of India to the Republic of Vanuatu (Padma - van)  Jawed Ashraf - next Ambassador of India to France (france JA)  Abhishek Singh - next Ambassador of India to Venezuela (Abhishek van me baith)

 World’s oldest leader Mahathir Mohamad (94) - resigned as Malaysia’s PM (Maha - mala)

 Faure Gnassingbe - re-elected - Togo’s President (Fau - To)

 SEBI chairmen Ajay Tyagi - 6-month extension  Sumant Kathpalia - MD &CEO of IndusInd Bank  CMD of NewSpace India Ltd (NSIL) - G. Narayanan  CMD of GAIL (India) - Manoj Jain  GoAir CEO - Vinay Dube  Supratim Bandyopadhyay - chairman of the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) (PENSION BAND (Bandyopadhyay) kardi)  Nritya Gopal Das - president of the Ram Janmabhoomi Teertha Kshetra Trust  President of the COP 26 by the United Kingdom - Alok Sharma  CMD of Air India - Rajiv Bansal  Finance secretary - Debasish Panda  Sanjay Kothari - Central Vigilance Commissioner

 Director of cricket of the United Arab Emirates - Robin Singh  President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants (ICAI) for the year 2020-21 - Atul Kumar Gupta  Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa - President of Portugal  Barun Mitra - Secretary , Department of Justice in the Ministry of Law and Justice  Sanjeev Razdan – CMD of the Pawan Hans  Ajay Patel - President of All India Chess Federation  Kareena Kapoor Khan - brand ambassador of brand Imara  Rishi Sunak - UK's new finance minister  Former Karnataka Legislative Council Chairman - D. Manjunath  Kolkata's first cabaret dancer - Arati Das  Well known film historian and noted cricket journalist - Raju Bharatan  Rishabh Pant - Jindal South West (JSW) Steel brand ambassador.  K Parasaran - head of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teertha Kshetra  American astronaut Christina Koch - successfully spent 328 days in the space

 Kaamya Karthikeyan - youngest girl in the world to summit Mt Aconcagua  Sabine - author of the storm ‘Ciara’  Pullela Gopichand -1st Indian to receive International Olympic Committee’s Coaches Lifetime Achievement Award  Indian hockey players Lalremsiami & Vivek sagar wins FIH women and men’s rising star of year 2019  13th edition of ESPNcricinfo Awards 2019: England’s Eoin Morgan named captain of the year  South Indian Bank bags 6 Awards at IBA Banking Technology Awards - held in Mumbai  BioAsia 2020 announces Genome Valley Excellence Award  Dr. Carl H June will be awarded for his work in immunotherapy, research in development of CAR-T (Chimeric Antigen Receptor- T cells) for treatment of cancer & commercialization of world’s first FDA (Food and Drug Administration, United States)- approved gene therapy.  Dr. Narasimhan has been selected for his new vision in the pharmaceutical business in digital technology and healthcare.  India’s renowned Feminist scholar & activist Gita Sen wins Dan David Prize 2020

 India’s President Shri Ram Nath Kovind awarded President’s Colour to Indian Naval Station Shivaji, Lonavala, Maharashtra.  Rajendra Indraman Singh and Dr Sohini Sastri won Indian Achievers Award 2020  DMart’s Founder Radhakishan Damani becomes India’s 2nd richest person after Mukesh Ambani - Damani has a net worth of $17.8 billion.  Prasar Bharati Chairman A. Surya Prakash gets retired  ISRO space scientist G Narayanan becomes chairman of NSIL (New Space India Limited)  CARE (Credit Analysis and Research Limited) Ratings Chairman - S B Mainak resigned  Vinay Dube appointed as CEO of GoAir  Overview of 92nd Academy awards 2020 (Oscars 2020) held in Los Angeles, US American actor Joaquin Rafael Phoenix (45) - best actor American actress, Renée Kathleen Zellweger (50) - best actress award for “Judy”.  Oscars 2020 winners : Best picture – Parasite.

Best actress - Renée Zellweger, Judy. Best actor - Joaquin Phoenix, Joker. Best director - Bong Joon-ho, Parasite.  Director General (DG) of Geological Survey of India (GSI) - Mondreti Sridhar  Gopal Baglay - High Commissioner to Sri Lanka  Ajay Bisaria - High Commissioner of India to Canada  Vinay Mohan Kwatra - Ambassador of India Nepal

 CEO of International Business Machines (IBM) - Arvind Krishna  United Nations (UN) Resident Coordinator in Thailand - Gita Sabharwal  2019-2020 PEN Gauri Lankesh Award - Yusuf Jameel  Chairman of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs - M. Ajit Kumar  Mohammed Tawfiq Allawi - Prime Minister of Iraq  CMD of Coal India Ltd - Pramod Agrawal

 Prince Charles - launched the children's protection fund - focussed on reducing the exploitation of children in India  BCCI inducted Madan Lal, R.P. Singh & Sulakshana in Cricket Advisory Committee  Albin Kurti - new PM of Kosovo  Jeff Weiner - Executive Chairman of LinkedIn  Philip Barton - Britain’s New High Commissioner to India

BRAND AMBASSADORS AND CEO, MD ETC

 Lifelong Online brand ambassador for its fitness category - Milind Soman  Lotus Herbals Brand Ambassador - Jacqueline Fernandez

AWARDS/RECOGNITIONS

 Hrithik Roshan - Best Actor in Dadasaheb Phalke International Film Festival 2020 45 Copyright © 2020 BANKERSHALA (spread the knowledge) - All Rights Reserved– DEEPAK BHARDWAJ = CLEARED 6 GOVERNMENT JOBS

 An eleven-year-old Ms Jiya Rai from Mumbai - fastest special girl to create a world record in solo swimming event, swam from Elephanta Island to Gateway of India at a distance of 14 Km  Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw CMD of Biocon - EY Entrepreneur of the Year award for 2019  Indian Railways Customer grievance portal - “RailMadad” - National e-Governance Awards  ESPN Multi-Sport Annual Awards 2019 - PV Sindhu & Saurabh Chaudhary - Sportperson of the year Female & Male, respectively  Padma Shri awardee Manoj Kumar felicitated by London’s World Book of Records - for his contribution to Indian cinema  first Indian to win the “Player of the Year for 2019” by International Hockey Federation (FIH) - Manpreet Singh  Dan David Prize - fields of population policies - Gita Sen  Laureus World Sportswoman - Simone helep  65th Amazon Filmfare Awards 2020: Best Film- ‘Gully Boy’. Best Director Zoya Akhtar for ‘Gully Boy’.

Best Actor In A Leading Role (Male)- Ranveer Singh for ‘Gully Boy’. Best Actor In A Leading Role (Female )- Alia Bhatt for ‘Gully Boy’. Lifetime Achievement Award- Ramesh Sippy. Excellence In Cinema- Govinda. Gully Boy has created history by winning the most number of Filmfare awards, beating the previously held record of Black  Brand Ambassador of Mobile Premier League (MPL) - Virat Kohli  Central Banker of the Year 2020 Asia-Pacific – Shaktikanta  CavinKare Pvt Ltd brand ambassadors – Akshay Kumar and Ileana D’Cruz  Ayurveda Ratan Award 2020 in Brussels - Partap Chauhan  Telecom Person of the Year for 2019 - Ram Sewak  International Gandhi Award for Leprosy for the year 2019 - Dr N.S. Dharmashaktu  Amulya Mica - Most Promising Brand 2019 -7th MSME Excellence Award, New Delhi  Actress Waheeda Rehman - MP govt’s Kishore Kumar Samman 2018

 Delhi’s DTC - Road Safety Award 2018-19; Nagaland State Transport won under Hill category  73rd BAFTA 2020 in London, UK: ‘1917’ - best film award  Big Bang Boom Solutions - SKOCH Award  Rishabh Pant - brand ambassador of JSW Steel  Kohli most-valuable celebrity 3rd time in a row; Akshay, SRK in top 5 in Duff & Phelps’ celebrity report  Odia and English writer Manoj Das - to receive Mystic Kalinga Literary Award

ACQUISITIONS/MERGERS/MOUS

 NTPC to acquire North Eastern Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO)  Department of Telecommunication (DoT) - given FDI approval - for the merger of India’s largest mobile tower company Indus Towers with Bharti Infratel.  Cipla acquires 4 key brands from Wanbury for up to Rs 88.60 crore  CCI approved joint venture between Mahindra & Mahindra and Ford Motor

 Adani Transmission sold 25.1% stake in arm AEML to QIA for Rs 3,220 crore  IOC – acquires - minority stake in Israeli battery developer Phinergy  Cognizant Tech - Acquires - EI Technologies and Code Zero Consulting Companies  French Energy major Total - acquire - 50% in Adani’s solar portfolio - for $510 mn  DoT okays merger of Bharti Airtel, Tata Teleservices  Emami Group Signs Pact with Nuvoco Vistas for selling of its 100% stake in Emami Cement

MOU's with Other Country

 India and Myanmar - MoU - for regular passenger bus service between Imphal and Mandalay  India - 14 MoUs - Russia - during the DefExpo 2020

MOU’s between Organizations

 NTPC - MoU - CPCB (Central Pollution Control Board) - to provide financial support for installation & commissioning of Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations (CAAQMS)  NITI Aayog’s Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) - with NASSCOM - to launch AI-based module including AI kits across 5000 Atal Tinkering Labs. This will make available technologies to school students

SPORTS NEWS

CRICKET  ICC test rankings for Test batsman: Steve Smith tops  Bangladesh won the U-19 World Cup  Naseem Shah - youngest player from Pakistan to take a Test hat-trick  Kushal Malla - youngest cricketer to score a half-century in international cricket  David Warner - won the Allan Border Medal for the third time

 ICC Men’s test rankings 2020: Kohli continues at No.1, Babar azam moves up two places to 5th - Among Indian bowlers, Jasprit Bumrah is at 6th, Ravichandran Ashwin at 8th and Mohammed Shami Ahmed is at 9th rank.  ICC women’sT20I rankings 2020: Smriti mandhana reached 4th place - Harmanpreet Kaur holds the 9th position in this list of batsmen.Batting ranking: New Zealand batsman Suzannah Wilson “Suzie” Bates - first place. Bowling: Australia’s Megan Scutt ranks first & India’s Poonam Yadav slipped six places to drop out of the top 10 and now remains in the 12th position.  Australia - ICC Women's Championship trophy - 2nd time ❖ women's - The Belinda Clark Award went to Ellyse Perry

HOCKEY  India - will host the Men's Hockey Junior World Cup in 2021  Haryana – WON - 10th Hockey India Senior Women National Championship 2020  Lalremsiami - 2019 FIH Women’s Rising Star of the Year  54th All India Bombay Gold cup hockey championship 2020 - Indian navy wins - Mumbai, Maharashtra

FOOTBALL  India - will host the 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup  India will host the FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup 2020: Kick Off the Dream

TENNIS  Maria Sharapova has announced her retirement  ITF women’s tennis event 2020 in Thailand: India’s Ankita Raina wins 18th career doubles title  American tennis player Abigail Spears (38 years) - 22 month doping BAN  Bengaluru Raptors - Premier Badminton League (PBL) 2020 title

CHESS  Indian Grand Master - D.Gukesh - won title at 34th Cannes open 2020 chess

SHOOTING  2022 Commonwealth Archery and Shooting Championships - Chandigarh, India to be held in January 2022

WRESTLING  2020 Asian Wrestling Championships - New Delhi - February 18 to 23 - China barred - Japan topped - India - 3rd with 20 medals  New Delhi - Asian Wrestling Championship 2020

BOXING  Russia will be the 1st country to host the new format of AIBA, Team World Cup 2020  Boxer Amit Panghal ranks world No. 1 in IOC’s ranking for Olympic qualifiers - 52kg weight category  India boxers - 5 medals - 64th “Bocskai Istvan Memorial” boxing 2020 held in Debracen, Hungary Gaurav Chauhan-91Kg-Silver Jyoti Gulia-51 Kg-Silver

Manisha-57 Kg-Silver PL Prasad-52 Kg-Silver Sachin-57Kg-Bronze

SNOOKER  Aditya Mehta - National Snooker Championship – held at pune ❖ In the women snooker finals, Karnataka’s Vidya Pillai won the title

OTHERS  Shri Kiren Rijiju, Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports - inaugurated - Khelo India Winter Games (KIWG) - Ladakh at Leh  77th Senior National Squash Championship in women's category - Joshna Chinappa  TATA Steel PGTI Players Championship 2020 – Mane  United by Emotion - motto of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics

 NADA – banned - javelin thrower Amit Dahiya  Anna Korakaki - first woman to ever start the Olympic Torch Relay  Niket Dalal - first-ever blind athlete to finish an Ironman triathlon 70.3 in Dubai  20 years old, American-born Swedish pole vaulter Mondo Duplantis breaks pole vault world record with 6.17m jump  Inaugural National winter games 2020 to be held in Ladakh and J&K’s Gulmarg

OBITUARIES

 NASA mathematician - Katherine Johnson - US (United States). Her life was portrayed in the movie “Hidden Figures” (kath - math)  Sudhakar Krishna Rao, Chaturvedi - a Centenarian Vedic Scholar and Freedom fighter – at the age of 122 in Bengaluru, Karnataka (sudh - ved)  Shadakshari Settar - a famous Historian, Linguists – Karnataka 55 Copyright © 2020 BANKERSHALA (spread the knowledge) - All Rights Reserved– DEEPAK BHARDWAJ = CLEARED 6 GOVERNMENT JOBS

 Former TERI chief - R.K. Pachauri  Sonam Sherpa - lead-guitarist of music band Parikrama  Kannada actor - Kishori Ballal  Larry Tesler - creator of Cut, Copy, Paste and Search  Roger Kahn - American author of The Boys of Summer

 Padma Shri awardee & well-known Hindi Novelist - Giriraj Kishore  Famous Philosophical Author & RSS veteran - P Parameswaran  Famous journalist - Nandu R Kulkarni - was the bureau chief of the Kolkata- based newspaper “The Statesman”  Padma Shri awardee & Fashion designer - Wendell Rodricks passed away at 59 - was born in Goa  Nobel Prize awardee & Former TERI, IPCC chief - Rajendra Kumar Pachauri  Veteran social activist and feminist writer - Vidya Bal  Padmashri awardee & Eminent Punjabi novelist - Dalip Kaur Tiwana  Famous Punjabi writer - Jaswant Singh

 Author - Mary Higgins Clark, known as ‘Queen of Suspense’  Kenya’s longest serving Ex-President - Daniel Moi  Famous Hollywood Actor - Kirk Douglas  Famous cricket journalist & film historian - Raju Bharatan

 Former Karnataka Minister - C Chennigappa – Bengaluru  Krishna Bose - former Lok Sabha MP – Kolkata (bose - MP)  Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak, former President of Egypt

IMPORTANT DAYS

 India’s First Protein Day - February 27, 2020, theme - ProteinMeinKyaHai  National Science Day (NSD) - Feb 28, 2020  Rare Diseases Day - February 29, 2020

 NASA-funded Catalina Sky Survey (CSS) Astronomers - discovered 2nd moon of the Earth “Dubbed 2020 CD3”  World Day of Social Justice - 20 February 2020  Soil Health Card Day - 19th Feb 2020  World Pulses Day - 10 February India hosted the UN World Pulses Day celebrations in New Delhi: The event was organized by National Agricultural Cooperative Federation of India Ltd. (NAFED) in collaboration with Global Pulse Confederation (GPC).  National Deworming Day - February 10  Safer Internet Day - February 11, 2020  International Day of Women and Girls in Science - February 11, 2020 - Theme: “Investment in Women and Girls in Science for Inclusive Green Growth”.  World Unani Day is observed to mark the Birth Anniversary of Hakim Ajmal Khan  Darwin Day - 12 February  National Productivity Day - February 12, 2020  International Darwin Day - February 12, 2020

 World Radio Day - February 13  National Women's Day of India is celebrated to mark the Birth Anniversary of Sarojini Naidu – Feb 13  February 15 - World Pangolin Day & Madhya Pradesh radio-tags first-ever Indian Pangolin  World Leprosy Day 2020 - 30 jan  World Wetlands Day 2020 - 2 February  World Cancer Day 2020 was observed on February 4, Theme - I Am and I Will  International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation - 6 February, Theme: Unleashing Youth Power.

COMMITTEES/ REPORTS/MEETINGS

 IRDAI – 9 member committee - led by Mr. G. Srinivasan - to examine the possibility of allowing life insurers offer indemnity-based health policies  Haryana - best state in DBT payouts in 2019-20, West Bengal - worst

 As per “Wordline India Digital Payments 2019” report by Worldline India - Bengaluru accounted for the highest number of digital transactions in India in 2019, Among states - Maharashtra topped. UPI - fastest payment mode to hit 1 billion monthly transactions  As per NITI Aayog 2nd progress report on (POSHAN) Abhiyaan - “Transforming Nutrition in India: Poshan Abhiyan” , 1 in 3 of Aadhaar-based payments (28% of 31.29 lakh) for Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) was credited to a wrong bank account  Fifteenth Finance Commission has formed a 5-members panel on defence & internal security under chairmanship of - N K Singh  SEBI - municipal bonds development committee - headed by Sujit Prasad  Hindi is the third most spoken language of the world in 2019 with 615 million speakers  As per US-based think tank World Population Review, India has become the fifth largest Economy in the world with a GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of $2.94 trillion overtaking the UK (United Kingdom) and France in 2019.

 The Times Higher Education Ranking – titled “The Emerging Economies University Ranking 2020” - 11 Indian Universities were included in the top 100, 30 Universities of China in the top 100. The Indian Institute of Science was ranked 16th  According to the report, “A future for the world’s children?” - by the WHO, UNICEF and The Lancet medical journal - India ranks 77th in terms of Sustainability Index and 131st in the Flourishing Index - Norway tops the list of Child Flourishing Index.In Sustainability Index, Burundi secures top spot

INDEX

 As per Hurun Global Rich List 2020 - India - ranked 3rd. Jeff Bezos is the richest, Mukesh Ambani - 9th  35th – India - in the Worldwide Educating for the Future Index (WEFFI) 2019

STATE WISE RANKING

 As per 1st edition of NCAER Land Records and Services Index (N-LRSI 2019-20) released by the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) - Madhya Pradesh (MP) - best performing state in terms of digitising land records with the score of 74.9, Union Territory (UT) of Ladakh – bottom  As per “2019 World Air Quality Report-Region & City PM2.5 Ranking” compiled by IQAir AirVisual, India ranked 5th as the most polluted country in the world and topped in an annual list of cities with the worst air quality in the world. Bangladesh emerged as the most polluted country for PM2.5 exposure. 21 out of top 30 most polluted cities during 2019 are located in India. Bahamas ranked 98th as the cleanest country. World most Polluted Cities 2019 (PM2.5): Ghaziabad. World Most Polluted Capital Cities 2019 (PM2.5): Delhi  CSIR - first in the Nature Ranking Index-2020

Festivals

 Losar festival - Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh

 Khargone, MP - “Nimad Chilli Festival 2020” or ‘Mirch Mahotsav’ organised by Madhya Pradesh Government  Naga tribes of Manipur - seed sowing festival ‘Lui-Ngai-Ni’ - Ukhrul, Manipur, theme - “Oneness through Culture”

DEFENCE/EXERCISES

 Indradhanush – V 2020: India-UK bilateral Air exercise - Hindan, Uttar Pradesh  Joint military exercise between India and Bangladesh “Sampriti-IX” – Umroi, Meghalaya  Defence PSU Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd (GRSE) has delivered its fourth anti-submarine warfare to the Indian Navy - INS Kavaratti  Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has provided the Indian Air Force with 83 Tejas fighter aircrafts at a reduced cost of Rs 39,000 crore  First integrated tri-services command which will be headed by Air Force Officer

BOOKS

 Mr. Manmohan Singh - released the book “Who Is Bharat Mata” - penned by Professor Purushottam Agarwal  Vice President released the book ‘A Child of Destiny’ an Autobiography by Prof K. Ramakrishna Rao  Dharmendra Rai, Mind Map & Brain Literacy trainer launched his book “The Thin Mind Map”  A book “Messages from Messengers” by Priti K Shroff launched in Mumbai  Haryana CM released book titled “A Commentary and Digest on the Air, Act 1981” - written by Dr K K Khandelwal and Apoorva Kumar Singh  Pop singer Lord J launches his Autobiography Book “Lord J: Lord of Anonymity”  Milind soman - author of the book - Made in India  Bad Man is an autobiography - Gulshan Grover

SCIENCE/TECH

 Indian leopard population declined by 75-90% as per study conducted by scientists from the Centre for Wildlife Sanctuaries (CWS), Bengaluru, Karnataka and the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) Uttarakhand, Dehradun.  NCL sets up R&D centre (Science and Applied Research Alliance and Support) in collaboration with IIT (BHU)- Indian Institute of Technology (Banaras Hindu University), Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh (UP)  Indian Army Major Anoop mishra develops world’s 1st bulletproof helmet that can stop AK-47 firing  Astronomers discover monster galaxy XMM-2599 from early universe  Indian Army & Private firm developed the World’s Cheapest Gun Shot Locator “Parth” - Major Anoop Mishra displayed the Parth gun shot locator at DefExpo 2020 held in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh (UP). Parth gunshot locator costs around Rs 3 lakhs which is less than the imported ones, which costs around Rs 65 lakhs.  Iran unveils new ballistic missile ‘Raad-500’  DRDO developing a new ballistic missile Pranash with striking range of 200km, advanced version of Prahaar, with the strike range of 150Km.  Union Minister of Coal & Mines Shri Pralhad Joshi launched Web Portal for Star Rating of Mines in India

 U.S. approves sale of Integrated Air Defence Weapon System to India - for an estimated cost of USD 1.867 billion  Ananth Technologies, HYD first Indian private firm to build foreign-owned satellites  NASA’s ‘SuperCam’ to study mineralogy of Mars during Mars 2020 rover mission  US scientists discover the newborn massive planet closer to earth called “2MASS 1155-7919 b” - 330 light-years from Earth  79-million-year-old fossils of new Thanatotheristes found in Canada  “Thirumathi Kart”, an e-commerce mobile application - by NIT, Tiruchi - for promoting products developed by self-help groups (SHG) was launched in Tamil Nadu.  The Union Labour Minister Shri Santosh Kumar Gangwar - launched “Santusht” mobile app for the benefit of ESI beneficiaries

IITs in news

 IIT Madras & AIIMS Mangalagiri, Andhra Pradesh - to collaborate for patient safety, quality healthcare delivery

LOANS ISSUED BY BANKS

 The Indian government + World Bank - USD 450 million loan agreement - to arrest the country's depleting groundwater levels - to support Atal Bhujal Yojana (ABHY)

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