Current Affairs – February 2020 Current Affairs ─ February 2020 This is a guide to provide you a precise summary and a huge collection of Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) covering national and international current affairs for the month of February 2020. This guide will help you in preparing for Indian competitive examinations like Bank PO, Banking, Railway, IAS, PCS, UPSC, CAT, GATE, CDS, NDA, MCA, MBA, Engineering, IBPS, Clerical Gradeand Officer Grade, etc. Audience Aspirants who are preparing for different competitive exams like Bank PO, Banking, Railway, IAS, PCS, UPSC, CAT, GATE, CDS, NDA, MCA, MBA, Engineering, IBPS, Clerical Grade, Officer Grade, etc. Even though you are not preparing for any exams but are willing to have news encapsulated in a roll, which you can walk through within 30 minutes, then we have put all the major points for the whole month in a precise and interesting way. Copyright and Disclaimer Copyright 2020 by Tutorials Point (I) Pvt. Ltd. All the content and graphics published in this e-book are the property of Tutorials Point (I) Pvt. Ltd. The user of this e-book is prohibited to reuse, retain, copy, distribute or republish any contents or a part of contents of this e-book in any manner without written consent of the publisher. We strive to update the contents of our website and tutorials as timely and as precisely as possible, however, the contents may contain inaccuracies or errors. Tutorials Point (I) Pvt. Ltd. provides no guarantee regarding the accuracy, timeliness or completeness of our website or its contents including this tutorial. If you discover any errors on our website or in this tutorial, please notify us at [email protected] i Current Affairs – February 2020 Table of Contents Current Affairs ─ February 2020 ........................................................................................................................ i Audience........................................................................................................................................................... i Copyright and Disclaimer .................................................................................................................................. i Table of Contents............................................................................................................................................. ii APPOINTMENTS .......................................................................................................................... 1 AWARDS ..................................................................................................................................... 7 BILLS AND ACTS......................................................................................................................... 13 BOOKS & AUTHORS ................................................................................................................... 15 COMMITTEES ............................................................................................................................ 17 DEATHS ..................................................................................................................................... 19 DEFENCE ................................................................................................................................... 25 ECONOMIC ............................................................................................................................... 30 ENVIRONMENT ......................................................................................................................... 40 FINANCE.................................................................................................................................... 43 IMPORTANT DAYS ..................................................................................................................... 47 INTERNATIONAL ........................................................................................................................ 54 MISCELLANEOUS ....................................................................................................................... 65 NATIONAL ................................................................................................................................. 68 PERSONS IN NEWS .................................................................................................................... 85 ii Current Affairs – February 2020 PLACES IN NEWS ....................................................................................................................... 87 REGIONAL ................................................................................................................................. 91 REPORTS ................................................................................................................................. 102 RESIGNATIONS & RETIREMENTS ............................................................................................. 105 SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY ........................................................................................................ 108 SPORTS ................................................................................................................................... 112 UNION BUDGET 2020-2021 .................................................................................................... 126 HIGHLIGHTS OF ECONOMIC SURVEY ....................................................................................... 129 iii AppointmentsCurrent Affairs – February 2020 1. Center appointed M Ajit Kumar as Chairman of CBIC The Government of India appointed M Ajit Kumar IRS (C&CE 84) as Chairman of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC). M Ajit Kumar is a 1984 batch IRS officer hailing from Kozhikode. M Ajit has experience of working as Directorate of Vigilance in New Delhi; Directorate of Revenue Intelligence in Mumbai; Principal Chief Commissioner of GST Zone for Tamil Nadu and Puducherry and Principal Chief Commissioner of Customs zones in Chennai. He was honored with World Customs Organisation certificate of merit for the year 2019. 2. Ajay Bisaria appointed as India’s next Ambassador to Canada India's High Commissioner to Pakistan, Ajay Bisaria was appointed as the next High Commissioner of India to Canada. Prior to this appointment, he was serving as High Commissioner of India to Pakistan. Ajay Bisaria replaced Vikas Swarup. Recently, Pakistan urged India to recall its envoy due to rising tensions between India and Pakistan after New Delhi scrapped Article 370, a constitutional provision that granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir. Taranjit Singh Sandhu was appointed as the next Indian ambassador to the United States. He replaced Harsh Vardhan Shringla. 3. Gopal Baglay appointed as India’s next Ambassador to Sri Lanka Gopal Baglay appointed as the next High Commissioner of India to the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. He will replace Taranjit Sandhu. Prior to this appointment, he was serving as Joint Secretary in the Prime Minister's Office. Baglay has held many key positions including spokesperson of the MEA. 1992 IFS officer Baglay has served as Deputy High Commissioner of India to Pakistan and handled sensitive PAI (Pakistan-Afghanistan- Iran) division in the MEA. 1 Current Affairs – February 2020 4. Karen Pierce appointed as Britain’s next ambassador to U.S. Britain appointed its current United Nations envoy Dame Karen Pierce as the next ambassador to the United States. She became the first woman to hold the position. Pierce joined Foreign Office in 1981. She has been posted to Tokyo, the Balkans and Geneva. She served as the UK’s ambassador to Afghanistan in 2015 and 2016. Britain's previous ambassador to US, Kim Darroch, had resigned in 2019 over his controversial comments on US President Donald Trump in leaked diplomatic cables. 5. Rajiv Bansal appointed as CMD of Air India The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Rajiv Bansal as the Chairman and Managing Director of Air India for a second time. Bansal is a 1988- batch IAS officer of the Nagaland cadre and is currently the Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. Mr Bansal replaced Ashwani Lohani. Bansal was in August 2017 named as Air India's interim CMD for three months. The government has announced 100% stake sale of the debt-ridden national carrier. 6. Rear Admiral Puruvir Das assumed charge as the Flag Officer Commanding Gujarat Naval Area Rear Admiral Puruvir Das, Nau Sena Medal took over the reins of the Gujarat, Daman and Diu Naval Area from Rear Admiral Sanjay Roye, Vishisht Seva Medal as its fourth Flag Officer Commanding. In a career spanning 30 years, he has held numerous specialist, staff and operational appointments. The Navy gives very high priority to the frontline state of Gujarat; due to its strategic location, vast coastline and economic importance for India. The FOGNA is responsible to the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Naval Command for all Naval operations in Gujarat, Daman and Diu Naval Area. 2 Current Affairs – February 2020 7. Rear Admiral Sanjay Vatsayan took over as Eastern Fleet Commander The command of the Eastern Fleet was handed over to Rear Admiral Sanjay Vatsayan, NM by Rear Admiral Suraj Berry, AVSM, NM, VSM. The Eastern Fleet comprising of frontline warships of the Indian Navy are deployed across the indo-pacific region to safeguard the nation’s maritime interest.