DAILY UPDATED CURRENT AFFAIRS: 16.02.2020 TO 18.02.2020 .12.2018 NATIONAL India plan to get Peninsular.2018 & Air Defence Command by next 2021, theatre commands by 2022 In order to deal with future security challenges, India‟s first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General BipinRawat has proposed.11.2018 Peninsular Command by merging Western and the Eastern Command of the Indian Navy, which will spread from the Sir Creek near the Arabian Sea to the Sundarbans in the Bay of Bengal. It will be under the operational control of the Navy Chief and will have air assets and support from the army. This tri-services Peninsular Command will be responsible for dealing with maritime security challenges in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). It will be rolled out by the end of 2021. 4th National Conference on PMFBY in Udaipur, Rajasthan 4th National Conference on Review of Implementation of Pradhan MantriFasalBimaYojana (PMFBY) held in Udaipur, Rajasthan. It was inaugurated by Sanjay Agarwal, Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare. Organized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, the conference saw the participation of 140 members representing different states, banks, insurance companies, RBI (Reserve Bank of India), NABARD (National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development). PMFBY provides a comprehensive insurance cover to farmers against failure of the crop. It was formulated in line with One Nation–One Scheme theme by replacing earlier two schemes National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (NAIS) and Modified National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (MNAIS) by incorporating their best features and removing their inherent drawbacks (shortcomings).Currently, the scheme has three active participants namely the state government, banking sector and the insurance sector. Bihar to get north India‟s first bird ringing station and MoU inked in Gujarat Bihar becomes North India‟s first “bird ringing station” for observation, monitoring & research on migratory birds and 4th state in the country after Tamil Nadu (Chennai), Rajasthan (Jaipur) and Orissa (Bhubaneshwar). The bird ringing station will be at Bhagalpur, Bihar, located close to the Ganges & is known to be a favorite destination of migratory birds. This will be the first bird-ringing station in the country to be set up with support of a state government & it is one among the only three breeding places of Greater Adjutant across the world, the other two being in Assam and Cambodia. Delhi-based IGIA becomes 1st single-use plastic-free airport of India According to the GMR Group-led Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL), Delhi-based Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) has become the 1st airport in India to be completely free of single-use plastic usage. It is in line with India‟s target to abolish all single-use plastic from India by 2022. UP become 1st in India to enforce Performance regulation act 2019 for Power department In order to provide timely and hassle-free service to electricity consumers, the Uttar Pradesh (UP) state Government led by its Chief Minister (CM) Yogi Adityanath has implemented the Performance Regulation Act 2019 for the power department. Consumers will now get financial compensation for delay in resolving their complaints by the department. 80% Indian bird species population on decline in past 5 yrs: State of India‟s Bird 2020 report According to the „State of India‟s Bird 2020: Range, trends and conservation status‟ report launched at the 13th Conference of Parties (COP) of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals which is taking place in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, around 80 % among 146 species of birds population in India has been on decline in the past 5 years with close to 50% declining strongly & Just over 6% are stable and 14% increasing. 17th edition of Bio Asia 2020 began in Hyderabad, Telangana 1441, Opp. IOCL Petrol Pump, CRPF Square, Bhubaneswar-750015 1 Ph. : (0674) 6556677, 8093556677. Web :www.vanik.org, E-mail : [email protected] DAILY UPDATED CURRENT AFFAIRS: 16.02.2020 TO 18.02.2020 17th edition of Bio.12.2018 Asia 2020, Asia‟s largest Biotechnology and Life Sciences Forum with the theme of „Today for.2018 Tomorrow‟ has commenced in Hyderabad, Telangana. Switzerland is the partner Country for 2020 as part of the annual tradition & around 40-member team comprising .11.2018industries, academia and start-ups from Switzerland participated in this event.Assam, Kerala, Odisha and Gujarat were the partner states. 1st -ever Global investors summit 2020 will be held in Jammu & Kashmir The Union Territory (UT) of Jammu and Kashmir‟s (J&K) administration is set to host 1st -ever Global Investors Summit-2020 in the capital cities of Srinagar and Jammu in the month of April 2020 with the aim to attract investment and industries to J&K. Centre renamed IDSA as „Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses‟ Central Government has renamed the „Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses‟ (IDSA) located in New Delhi as „Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses‟ to “honour the legacy” of late Defence Minister, Manohar Parrikar. Mobile App”Yodhavu” Launched in Kerala to Combat Drug Menace Kerala Chief Minister PinarayiVijayan launched a mobile app named ”Yodhavu” (Warrior), through which the public can inform police about drug abuse and its distribution The app has been introduced by the Kochi city police, as part of efforts to curb the growing menace in the State. INTERNATIONAL 2020 UN Climate Summit „COP26′ to be held in Glasgow, UK The 26th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 26) to the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ) is scheduled to be held from 9-19 November 2020, at Glasgow‟s Scottish Events Campus (SEC)in Scotland under the presidency of the UK (United Kingdom) government. UNFCCC, the UN‟s climate body, holds an annual summit known as a COP, attended by national ministers and heads of state. All of the world‟s nations are „parties to the Convention‟. UAE become 1st Arab Nation to issue license to operate a reactor at its Nuclear power plant The United Arab Emirates representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency Mr. Hamad al-kaabi announced that the National Nuclear Regulator has issued an Operating license for a reactor at its Barakah nuclear power plant and becomes the 1st arab country in the world to operate a nuclear power plant. Indian-origin UK Minister Alok Sharma to lead UN Climate Summit COP26 Indian-origin UK Minister Alok Sharma has been appointed as the new President of the 2020 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26). COP26 is the 26th United Nations Climate Change conference scheduled to be held in Glasgow, Scotland from 9 to 19 November 2020 under the presidency of the UK government. 3rd Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety to be held in Stockholm The third edition of the Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety will be held in Stockholm, Sweden The theme of conference is Achieving Global Goals 2030. The event is being co-sponsored by the Government of Sweden with support from World Health Organization. BANKING AND ECONOMY RBI conducted 3- year Long Term Repo Operations (LTRO)‟s for Rs.25,000 crore The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has started the first tranche of Long Term Repo Operation (LTROs) by conducting a three-year issue worth Rs 25,000 crore for which it received bids of more than Rs 1.944 lakh crore. The RBI released “Statement on Developmental and Regulatory Policies” which stated about Long Term Repo Operations (LTROs) for improving monetary transmission. It is aimed at providing cheaper money to banks at the repo rate so that it can be used to boost credit growth. RBI decided 1441, Opp. IOCL Petrol Pump, CRPF Square, Bhubaneswar-750015 2 Ph. : (0674) 6556677, 8093556677. Web :www.vanik.org, E-mail : [email protected] DAILY UPDATED CURRENT AFFAIRS: 16.02.2020 TO 18.02.2020 to conduct Long Term.12.2018 Repo Operations (LTROs) for one-year and three-year tenors for up to a total amount of Rs..2018 1,00,000 crores at the policy repo rate. It is aimed at providing cheaper money to banks at the repo rate so that it can be used to boost credit growth. RBI.11.2018 decided to conduct Long Term Repo Operations (LTROs) for one-year and three-year tenors for up to a total amount of Rs. 1,00,000 crores at the policy repo rate. Simply, RBI is injecting Rs 1 lakh crore into the banking system through auctions with long term maturity periods (compared to one day repos) of 1 year and 3 year. LTRO is in addition to the existing LAF (Liquidity adjustment facility) and MSF (Marginal Standing Facility) operations. World Bank inked $ 450 mn loan with India for groundwater management The Government of India (GoI) and the World Bank(WB) have inked a $ 450 million (mn) loan agreement to support Atal BhujalYojana (ABHY) – National Groundwater Management Improvement Program that will be implemented by the Ministry of Jal Shakti in the states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Haryana, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh (UP) and cover 78 districts. The main aim of this agreement is to stop the decreasing level of ground water in India and strengthen the institutions related to ground water. RBI board recommended aligning accounting year with fiscal year from 2020-21 The Central Board of Directors of the RBI (Reserve Bank of India) at its 582nd meeting recommended aligning the financial year of RBI, currently July-June, with the government‟s fiscal year (April-March) from the year 2020-21. Now, the proposal is sent to the government for its approval. Moody‟s lowered India‟s GDP growth estimate for 2020 to 5.4% from 6.6% Moody‟s Investors Service, an American credit rating agency,has lowered India‟s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth estimate for the current financial year (2019-20) to 5.4% from 6.6% and the next financial year (2020-21) growth rate estimate to 5.8% from 6.7% .