International · 5 NPC: It refers to the National Productivity Council. NPC is an autonomous,...

1 www.civilserviceindia.com


African Union (AU) summit:

The African Union (AU) is a continental union

consisting of fifty five member states which is

located on the continent of Africa. The AU was

announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya,

on 9 September 1999 with an aim for the

establishment of the African Union. The bloc was

founded on 26 May 2001 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

It was launched on 9 July 2002 in Durban, South

Africa. The objective of the AU was to replace the Organization of African Unity (OAU), established

on 25 May 1963 in Addis Ababa by 32 signatory governments. The OAU was disbanded on 9 July

2002.

The most important decisions of the AU are made by the Assembly of the African Union, a semi-

annual meeting of the heads of state and government of its member states. The AU's secretariat, the

African Union Commission, is based in Addis Ababa. The largest city in the AU is Lagos, Nigeria, while

the largest urban agglomeration is Cairo, Egypt.

Recently, the 33rd edition of the African Union (AU) summit 2020 was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The summit 2020 was held with the theme "Silencing the Guns: Creating conducive conditions for

Africa’s development".

The two-day leaders’ summit was attended by more than 35 heads of state and the government

officials from across Africa as well as representatives of regional and international organizations.

They focused on ways to end the regional violence, including the conflicts in South Sudan and Libya.

During the summit, President of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa took over the chair of African Union

(AU) from Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. United Nations Secretary General Antonio

Guterres also announced that the world body will provide full support for the AU’s “landmark

initiative” of silencing guns to combat 3 most urgent challenges to be addressed in Africa which is

eradicating poverty, tackling the climate crisis and silencing guns.

Coronavisrus:

It is a deadly virus that originated in a Wuhan food market and

spread across the world.In total more than 68,000 people has

been infected in China, with the death toll standing at 1,665. It

has crossed the number of deaths caused during the SARs

outbreak. It was detected in 2019 but soon became a global

concern when it started spreading at an alarming number of

people. Outside of China there have been more than 500 cases in

nearly 30 countries. Four people have died in France, Hong Kong,

the Philippines and Japan.

International


Recently, the World Health Organization (WHO) has officially named Coronavirus as COVID-19. It is a

short form for the virus where ‘Co’ stands for corona, ‘VI’ stands for the virus, ‘D’ stands for disease

and numerical ‘19’ stands for the year it was detected.

World Radio Day:

World Radio Day is celebrated on 13th of February each

year. The date marks the establishment of United Nations

Radio in 1946. The Day was decided by UNESCO on 3

November 2011 during its 36th conference. The first World

Radio Day was celebrated in 2013. It is celebrated to raise

greater awareness among the public and the media of the

importance of radio. The radio day is also a way of educating people, providing information, and

promoting freedom of expression across cultures. Vintage radios served their purpose during times

of peace and war.

Recently, the 9th edition of the World Radio Day was celebrated on February 13 to celebrate radio

as a medium of entertainment and information and the mode of communication. The theme of this

year's World Radio Day is 'Radio and Diversity'.

The objective this year is to encourage the decision makers to establish and provide accessibility to

information through radio. It also aims to enhance the networking and international cooperation

among broadcasters. On this day UNESCO has appealed to radio stations to uphold diversity, both in

their newsroom as well as on the airwaves.

In India Radio broadcasting started in the early 1920s and in 1923, the first programme was aired by the Radio Club of Bombay. Lord Irwin, then Viceroy of India, inaugurated the Indian Broadcast Company (IBC) in Bombay. All India Radio (AIR) is one of the largest radio networks in the world. It was founded in 1956. Until 1993, AIR was the only radio broadcaster in India. FM broadcasting began in July 23, 1977, in Chennai. Radio City Banglore was the first private FM radio station that started on July 3, 2001. In India, private FM is not allowed to broadcast news. World Unani Day:

The World Unani Day is celebrated on 11th February every year. The

Day is celebrated globally to spread awareness about health care

delivery with the help of Unani system of medicine through its

preventive and curative philosophy. This day is also celebrated to the

birth Anniversary of Hakim Ajmal Khan.

He was an Indian Unani Physician and a social reformer. He was a

versatile genius who was also a noted freedom fighter, a Unani

medical educationist and founder of scientific research in Unani

System of Medicine. He was one of the founders of the Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi. He was a

descendant of one of the line of physicians called the Rais of Delhi who came to India during reign of

Mughal Emperor Babar. His grandfather Hakim Sharif Khan was a physician to Mughal Emperor Shah

Alam.


Unani Medicinal system: Unani medicine is a system of alternative medicine. It originated in ancient

Greece but is now practiced primarily in India. It involves the use of herbal remedies, dietary

practices, and alternative therapies, Unani medicine addresses the prevention and treatment of

disease.

International Day of Women and Girls in Science:

The day is observed globally on the 11th of February

annually. The United Nations in December 2015, adopted a

resolution to celebrate February 11 as the International Day

of Women and Girls in Science. The day is celebrated with an

aim to recognize the critical role of women and girls play in

science and technology. The day was celebrated in 2016 for

the first time. The idea behind this day is to ensure equal

participation and involvement of women and girls in the

fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics

(STEM).

The theme of 2020 is 'Investment in Women and Girls in Science for Inclusive Green Growth.' The

theme focuses on the empowerment of women and girls giving them equal access and motivating

them to opt for science.

World Pulses Day:

The day has been proclaimed on February 10 of each year

since 2019 by the General Assembly of the United Nations on

December 20, 2018. World Pulses Day is a designated United

Nations global event to recognize the importance of pulses

(chickpeas, dry beans, lentils, dry peas and lupins among

others) as a global food. Pulses are healthy, nutritious,

protein-rich, nitrogen-fixing legumes alive. World Pulses Day is a great opportunity to heighten

public awareness of the nutritional benefits of eating pulses. The day is also a recognition of the

decisive role that pulses can play in achieving the far-reaching universal and transformative goals

and targets of the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, a plan of action that

seeks to strengthen universal peace.

https://www.civilserviceindia.com/


NPC:

It refers to the National Productivity Council. NPC is an

autonomous, multipartite, non-profit organization and

has been registered under the Societies Registration Act

XXI of 1860. It functions under DIPP (Department for

Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade), Ministry of

Commerce & Industry. It was established by the Ministry

of Industry, Government of India in 1958. NPC is also a

component of the Tokyo-based Asian Productivity

Organization (APO). NPC works for providing solutions towards accelerating productivity, enhancing

competitiveness, increasing productivity ensuring better quality. It also has representatives from

technical and professional institutions including members from local productivity councils and

chamber of commerce on its governing body. The Chairman of National Productivity Council is

Guruprasad Mohapatra and the Director-General of National Productivity Council is Arun Kumar Jha.

Recently, NPC celebrated National Productivity Day. This day is observed on 12 February every year.

The main objective of NPC is to promote productivity culture in India. The seven day period from

12th to 18th February 2020 is celebrated as “Productivity Week” throughout the country.

National Deworming Day:

The National Deworming Day (NDD) is observed

globally on 10 February annually. The objective of

the day is to deworm children and adolescents to

reduce the prevalence of parasitic worms in the

intestine. The first National Deworming Day in

India was observed on 10 February 2015.

Recently, on 10 February 2020 India celebrated

National Deworming Day with an aim to spread

awareness about the problem and treatment of

intestinal worm infections in all children. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare initiated the

observation of the National Deworming Day.

Children and adolescents in the age group of 1 to 19 years are being administered a single dose of a

safe medicine Albendazole in all states and Union Territories on the occasion.

National


National Women's Day:

India celebrated National women's Day on the 13th of

February to celebrate the 141st birth anniversary of

Sarojini Naidu.

She was a freedom fighter and the first women

governor of India United Provinces, the present Uttar

Pradesh. Sarojini Naidu Born on February 13, 1879 was

also known as 'Bharat Kokila', the Ningtingale of India

because of her poems which were not only globally famous but also played a vital role during the

freedom struggle till 1947. She actively participated in the Indian National Movement for the

independence of the country. Apart from her dedicated political career, Sarojini Naidu is widely

known for her poetry which included both children's poems and others written on more serious

themes including patriotism, romance, and tragedy. Some of her famous literary works are Golden

Threshold published in 1905 was her first collection of poems, The Bird of Time: Songs of Life, Death,

and the Spring, The Sceptred Flute: Songs of India, Allahabad: Kitabistan and the Indian weavers

among others.

India-Iceland:

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi

approved a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between

India and Iceland in the field of sustainable fisheries development.

The MoU will not only strengthen the existing friendly relations

between India and Iceland but will also enhance consultation and

cooperation on Fisheries including consultation on bilateral issues.

According to the agreement - facilities for the exchange of scientists and technical experts and their

proper placement, especially in areas of estimating Total Allowable Catches in offshore and deep-sea

areas will be created; information of scientific research literature, scientific experts in the field of

fisheries will be exchanged.

The agreement aims to promote processing and marketing of products from high seas fisheries for

entrepreneurship development.

India-Srilanka: The Union Cabinet, On February 12, 2020, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri

Narendra Modi gave its nod for signing and ratification of the protocol to amend the DTAA (Double

Taxation Avoidance Agreement) between India & Sri Lanka for the avoidance of double taxation and

the prevention of financial evasion with respect to taxes on income.

Under the amendment, updation of preamble text and inclusion of Principal Purpose Test, a general

anti- abuse provision in the DTAA will result in curbing of tax planning strategies which exploit gaps

and mismatches in tax rules.

The existing DTAA between India and Sri Lanka was signed in January 2013 and entered into force in

October the same year. As both Indian and Sri Lanka are members of major multilateral


organizations such as OECD, G20, BEPS therefore it is essential for both the countries to implement

the minimum standards under G-20 OECD BEPS Action Reports in respect of their DTAAs.

India is a signatory to the Multilateral Instrument (MLI where as Sri Lanka is not so the amendment

of the India-Sri Lanka DTAA is required to update the Preamble and also to insert Principal Purpose

Test (PPT) provisions to meet the minimum standards on treaty abuse under Base Erosion and Profit

Shifting (BEPS) Project.

National Workshop on e-office: Recently:

The Union Minister of State for Development of North

Eastern Region (I/C), Prime Minister’s Office, Personnel,

Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space Dr

Jitendra Singh inaugurated National Workshop on e-office in

Parvasi Bhartiya Kendra, Chankyapuri, New Delhi. He also

launched the Centralized Public Grievance Redress And

Monitoring System (CPGRAMS) Reforms at the event.

The main objective of the Workshop is to create a nation-wide momentum for the creation of e-

Office across the State Secretariats.

Delivering the Key Note address at the National Workshop on e-Office, DR Jitendra Singh said that

public grievances has increased from 2 lakh in 2014 to 19 lakh at present with more than 95 percent

disposal of cases. The Government of India in 2019 has received 18.7 lakh public grievances and

disposed 18.1 lakh of them.

CPGRAMS: It refers to the Centralized Public Grievance Redress And Monitoring System. The

CPGRAMS aligns with the Government of India’s vision of “Minimum Government-Maximum

Governance”. Many States have pursued digitalization of files and creation of Digital State

Secretariats. The 7.0 version of CPGRAMS has mapped the last mile grievance. The mapping has not

only saved the time of officers but also has improved the quality of disposal of cases.

Many States including Odisha with OSWAS, Rajasthan with RaajKaaj and Andra Pradesh with e Office

have pursued digitalization of files and creation of Digital State Secretariats.

Coal Ministry:

The Ministry of Coal is an Indian government ministry. It is

headquartered in New Delhi. The Minister responsible for

the Coal Ministry is the Cabinet Minister Mr Pralhad Joshi.

Recently, Ministry of Coal (MoC) launched NIC developed

web portal for star rating of coal mines to promote the

green, safe and sustainable coal mining practices in India

with the help of technology. The online web portal ‘Star

Indian policy News


Rating of Coal Mines' was launched by the Minister for Coal, Mines and Parliamentary Affairs, Shri

Pralhad Joshi in New Delhi. This web portal will provide star rating of coal mines. The mines with

highest star rating score will be awarded in a public ceremony. An official certificate to all the mines

mentioning their star rating will also be issued by the Coal Controller’s Organization.

According to the new system, the mines scoring between 91% and 100% will get 5 star, below 91%

and above 81% will receive 4 stars, 71 to 80% will get 3 stars, 61 to 70% will get 2 stars, 41 to 60% 1

star, mines that score from 0 to 40% will get No star on the portal. The Star Rating Policy for Coal

Mines in India has been formulated by the Ministry of Coal. The coal mines will be provided with

login id to self evaluate themselves by submitting required documents.

This policy assesses the Mines on 50 evaluation parameters (in case of Opencast Mines) and 47

evaluation parameters (in case of Underground Mines) under 7 modules .

India and Portugal:

India and Portugal signed 14 agreements to boost during the State

visit of the Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa. The

agreement was signed after detailed high-level talks between

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Portuguese President

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa in New Delhi to to boost cooperation in a

range of areas including defence, investment, transport, ports,

aerospace and scientific research, culture and industrial and

intellectual property rights and yoga. Agreements were also signed on developing a world class

national maritime heritage complex at Lothal. The Government of India (GoI) has also allocated

funds for this joint venure.

India and Portugal share a very special relationship as both the countries enjoy 500 years of shared

history and are closely tied together through Goa and Mumbai, through our culture, language and

kinship.

OneWeb company:

It is a UK based company. The company is

headquartered in London, England. The CEO of

OneWeb company is Adrian Steckel.

The UK-based OneWeb company start-up is

building a mega-constellation in the sky to deliver

broadband internet to all corners of the globe. It

has sent 34 satellites into orbit on a single Soyuz

rocket, from Baikonur port, Kazakhstan. The

Science and Technology


company seeks to have the full network in operation by the end of 2021.

The company seeks to have the full network in operation by the end of 2021. Its intended goal is to

provide internet services to "everyone, everywhere" delivering much-needed connectivity to rural

and remote places as well as to a range of markets including aero, maritime, land mobility, cellular

backhaul.

This is the 50th Soyuz mission conducted by Arianespace and the company plans to perform 19 more

medium-lift Soyuz from three spaceports by 2021.

Baby Giant Planet:

The scientists from Rochester Institute of Technology

has discovered the nearest-known ‘baby giant planet’

which is named as “2MASS 1155-7919 b”. The data

from Gaia space observatory was used by the

scientists to find the baby giant planet.

This massive newborn planet is closer to Earth and is

located in the Epsilon Chamaeleontis Association. It

lies only about 330 light-years from our solar system.

This planet which has only ten times the mass of Jupiter orbits a star that is about 5 million years old.

The discovery offers an exciting new way to study how gas giants form.

The findings were published in Research Notes of the American Astronomical Society.

Apiary on Wheels:

Apiary on Wheels is a holistic approach to address the

challenges faced by the beekeepers. It is a platform to carry

20 Bee Boxes from one place to another without any

difficulty. The vehicle has 2 large wheels on either side of a 4

separate compartments to place the boxes. It is designed in

such a way that it can easily be connected with tractors or

trolleys. It is connected with a solar panel system that

automatically triggers a fan inside the compartment as soon

as the temperature reaches 35-degree centigrade or above. Cooling with the help of solar panels

and sugar drips with zero risks to the lives of bees.

Recently, Union Minister of Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Nitin Gadkari

flagged off 'Apiary on Wheels' on 13 February. The concept designed by the Khadi and Village

Industries Commission (KVIC) was launched as a part of National Honey Mission launched in 2017. It

aims to addresses the challenges faced by the beekeepers. The mission since its launch has been

training beekeepers, educating unemployed youths, distributing bee boxes in order for them to earn

extra income through beekeeping activities at their doorstep. Under the mission, KVIC provides

training and awareness to Bee farmers.


World Pangolin Day:

The day is celebrated every year on the third Saturday of February.

The World Pangolin Day is marked by several organizations all over

the world including United Nations Environment Programme.

Recently, on the 15th of February 2020 the world is celebrated the 9th

edition of the annual World Pangolin Day. The day aims to raise

awareness about these unique mammals and speed up conservation

efforts. Pangolin numbers are rapidly declining in Asia and Africa.

Pangolins: Pangolins or scaly anteaters are mammals of the order Pholidota. They have large,

protective keratin scales covering their skin; they are the only known mammals with this feature.

They live in hollow trees or burrows, depending on the species. Pangolins are nocturnal, and their

diet consists of mainly ants and termites, which they capture using their long tongues.

The animals are trafficked mainly for their scales, which are believed to treat a variety of health

conditions in traditional Chinese medicine, and as a luxury food in Vietnam and China. Trafficking of

the pangolin is also done for medical and spiritual belief use in Africa.Pangolins are protected under

CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species). In India they are protected under

Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972. They are listed under Schedule I of the act. The IUCN Red List puts

the Indian Pangolin under Endangered category.

As Pangolins numbers are declining greatly, for the first time,the Madhya Pradesh Forest

Department along with the NGO Wildlife Conservation Trust has radio-tagged Indian Pangolins to

learn their about their ecology.

PNAS:

It refers to Proceedings of the National Academy of

Sciences. PNAS is one of the world's most-cited and

comprehensive multidisciplinary scientific journals. It

is the official journal of the National Academy of

Sciences, published since 1915, and publishes original

research, scientific reviews, commentaries, and

letters. PNAS publishes science news, Commentaries,

Perspectives, Colloquium Papers, podcasts, and

profiles of NAS members.

According to the recent study published in the journal PNAS, humans altered Himalayan glacier long

before people arrived. The byproducts of burning coal in Europe in the late 18th century made their

Environment & Climate News


way to the Dasuopu glacier which is about 10,300 kilometres from London, the birthplace of the

Industrial Revolution. The Industrial Revolution was a revolution in the use of energy adding that the

use of coal combustion also started to cause emissions that might be the reason they were

transported by winds up to the Himalayas.

International research team that travelled to Dasoupu in 1997 analysed one core taken from there

for 23 trace metals. According to them, Dasuopu which is at 7,200 metres above sea level, is the

highest-altitude site in the world where they have obtained a climate record from an ice core. It is

located on Shishapangma, Central Himalayas, Tibet. It is one of the world’s 14 tallest mountains,

which are all located in the Himalayas.

Pullela Gopichand:

He is a former Indian Badminton player. He founded the

Gopichand Badminton Academy in 2008. He has been

instrumental in shaping the careers of Saina Nehwal

(Bronze medalist in 2012 summer Olympics), PV Sindhu,

Kidambi Srikanth, Parupalli Kashyap among others.

Gopichand had won the All England Badminton

Championship in 2001 and received Government of

India’s Arjuna award (1999), Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna (2001), Padma Shri (2005), Dronacharya award

(2009) and Padma Bhushan (2014).

Recently, India's chief badminton coach Pullela Gopichand has been given an honourable mention at

the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) Coaches Lifetime Achievement Awards 2019. He is the

1st Indian coach to be honoured with this Lifetime award by the Olympics Committee.

IOC: It refers to International Olympic Committee. It was founded in 1894 in Paris, France. It is

headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland. The current President of International Olympic Committee

is Thomas Bach.

Sports News



Salem:

It is here that the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Edappadi

Palaniswami inaugurated the Salem Cricket Foundation (SCF)

cricket ground in Valapadi. The ground was built on behalf of

Salem Cricket Foundation. Former BCCI president N Srinivasan

and TNCA president Rupa Gurunath along with cricketer Rahul

Dravid were also present on the occasion.

Manpreet Singh:

He is the Indian National Hockey team captain since 2017. Since

then, he has played over 260 matches for the national team.

Manpreet Singh has successfully led India to victories in FIH Series

Finals and FIH Olympic Qualifiers in 2019. He represented India at

the Olympics previously at the 2012 London Olympics and 2016

Rio Olympics.

The Indian men's hockey team captain Manpreet Singh was named Player of the Year for 2019 by

the International Hockey Federation (FIH). He a midfielder and he has become the first Indian to win

the accolade since the awards were introduced in 1999. He beat competition from Belgium's Arthur

van Dorren and Lucas Villa of Argentina, who came second and third. Indian midfielder Vivek Sagar

Prasad was awarded FIH’s Rising Star of the Year (male) award and striker Lalremsiami won the FIH

Rising Star of the Year (female) 2019 award.

FIH: It is an acronym for the International Hockey Federation. FIH is the governing body of indoor

field hockey and field hockey. It is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland. The organization has

conferred the Player of the year award to men and women since 1998. The young category of the

honorary award was added in 2001.

Amit Panghal:

He is the world silver-medalist who became the first Indian to claim a

silver medal at the world championship after notching up a gold at

the Asian meet.

He has been ranked number one by IOC's Boxing Task Force rankings

for Olympic Qualifiers in a 52 kilogram category. The list was released

by the International Olympic Committee's Boxing Task Force today ahead of next month's Olympic

Qualifiers.

National Snooker Championship:

Aditya Mehta and Vidya Pillai has won the National Snooker Championship. The

National Snooker Championship was held in Pune, Maharashtra. Aditya Mehta

defeated the world champion Pankaj Advani to win the men’s title of the


National Snooker Championship. He represented the Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB). He

defeated Pankaj Advani with a score line of 6-2.

Vidya Pillai of Karnataka defeated Amee Kamani of Madhya Pradesh to win the women’s title of the

National Snooker Championship. She defeated Amee Kamani with a score line of 3-2 to defend her

senior ladies snooker title.

Pole Vault:

Pole vaulting is a track and field event in which a person uses a long

flexible pole (which today is usually made either of fiberglass or

carbon fiber) as an aid to jump over a bar. Pole jumping competitions

were known to the ancient Greeks, Cretans and Celts.

Sweden’s Pole Vaulter, Armand Duplantis has broken the Pole Vault

World Record which was set by Renaud Lavillenie of France. Renaud Lavillenie had set the previous

world record of 6.16 metres in February 2014 in Donetsk, Ukraine. Armand Duplantis broke the

world record with a jump of 20 feet 2.9 inches or 6.17 metres at Copernicus Cup in Torun, Poland.

Kaamya Karthikeyan:

She is a 12 year old Indian class VII student. She has becomes

youngest girl in the world to climb Mt Aconcagua. She, on

February 1, 2020 unfurled the tricolour on the mountain peak.

Mt Aconcagua is the highest peak in South America and outside

of Asia. She summited Argentinian mountain which is 6962

meters tall.

She has also scaled the highest peaks in Africa, Australia and Europe in the past, which includes two

peaks with heights of over 6000 meters above the sea level.

South Indian Bank:

South Indian Bank Limited is a major private sector

bank. It is headquartered at Thrissur in Kerala,

India. It was founded in 1929. South Indian Bank

MD & CEO os the South Indian Bank is V.G.

Mathew.

Recently, South Indian Bank bagged two awards at the Banking Technology 2019 awards. The

awards were instituted by the Indian Banks’ Association. This event was held in Indian Bank

Association’s 15th Annual Banking Technology Conference, Expo and Awards held in Mumbai,

Economic News


Maharashtra. The South Indian Bank won in the ‘Most Customer-Centric Bank Using Technology’

category and runner up in the ‘Best Payments Initiative’ category amongst small Banks’.

GoI:

It refers to the Government of India. GoI will soon release a new

one rupee currency note in India. The Union Ministry of Finance

notified ‘Printing of One Rupee Currency Notes Rules, 2020’ vide

Gazzette Notification G.S.R. 95(E) dated February 7, 2020. “The

One Rupee notes shall be printed at the note printing presses for

issue under the authority of Government of India for circulation.

The notification has several details of one rupee notes to be

printed under the authority of the Government of India for circulation. These include details about

the colour, design, standard weight, dimensions etc.

History of currency note in India: Currency notes were introduced in India in 1861, and the one-

rupee note was introduced by the British on November 30, 1917. According to the Reserve Bank of

India’s (RBI) website, the printing of this note was first stopped in 1926 because its printing was

costlier than its value. After that, its printing was resumed in 1940 which continued till 1994. It was

ragain eintroduced in 2015 after a gap of 22 years.

Atul Kumar Gupta:

He is commerce and a law graduate who has served the chartered

accountancy profession for about two decades. He was the Vice

President of Institute of Chartered Accountants (ICAI) for the term

2019-20.

Atul Kumar Gupta has been elected as the new President of the

Institute of Chartered Accountants (ICAI) for the year 2020-21. Nihar

Niranjan Jambusaria has been elected as the Vice President of the ICAI for 2020-21. They both were

elected at a meeting of the central council in New Delhi.

Sushma Swaraj:

She was an Indian politician and a Supreme Court lawyer. A

senior leader of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), she served as the

Minister of External Affairs of India in the first Narendra Modi

government (2014–2019). She was the second woman to hold

the office, after Indira Gandhi. She was elected seven times as a

Member of Parliament and three times as a Member of the

Legislative Assembly. At the age of 25 in 1977, she became the youngest cabinet minister of Indian

Person in News


state of Haryana. She also served as 5th Chief Minister of Delhi for a short duration in 1998. She was

called India's "best-loved politician" by the US daily Wall Street Journal. She passed away on August

6, 2019 due to cardiac arrest at the age of 67 years. She was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, India's

second highest civilan award, posthumously in the field of public affairs in 2020.

Recently, the Central government renamed Pravasi Bhartiya Kendra in New Delhi as Sushma Swaraj

Bhawan and Foreign Service Institute to Sushma Swaraj Institute of Foreign Service to honour of the

legacy and decades of public service of the former External Affairs Minister. It was announced by the

Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on the eve of the birth anniversary of Mrs Swaraj.

Gita Sen:

She is the Director of the Ramalingaswami Centre on Equity and Social

Determinants of Health at the Public Health Foundation of India. She is

India’s pioneering feminist scholar and an activist and has combined her

35 years of academic career with policy advocacy and activism, helping

to shape the global paradigm shift on population and development.

She has won the prestigious Dan David Prize 2020 in present category.

She was conferred with the prestigious award for her hard work in the

fields of women’s rights, reproductive and sexual health and poverty eradication. Gita Sen shares her

prize with women’s health rights advocate Debora Diniz of Brazil

Dan David Prize: The award is given by Dan David Foundation which is headquartered at Tel Aviv

University, Israel. It is awarded annually in 3 categories which is past, present and future category.

This award carries prize of US$ 1 million. The award recognizes individuals or organizations, for their

outstanding contributions in the fields of science, technology, culture or social welfare, for

expanding the knowledge of the past, enrich society in the present, and promise to improve the

future of our world.

BioAsia 2020:

BioAsia is an annual biotech and life sciences forum of the Telangana state

government, which is scheduled to be held from February 17 to 19, 2020 at

Hyderabad.

Recently, American immunologist and oncologist Dr. Carl H June and

Novartis CEO Dr. Vasant Narsimhan have been announced as the winners of

Genome Valley Excellence Award by BioAsia 2020. They will be presented

this award for their contributions to life sciences at a function organized by the Telangana

government annual global biotechnology & life sciences forum.

Dr. Narasimhan has been selected for his new vision in the pharmaceutical business in digital

technology and healthcare. He also worked in the development of 20 novel medicines, including

advanced cells, gene therapy as well as vaccines and also worked on the public health issues

particularly in developing countries.


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.

Genome Valley Excellence Award: The award was instituted in 2004 to recognize and honour

eminent individuals & organizations for their exceptional contribution to the life science research &

public health. The Government of Telangana presents this special award to eminent leaders every

year after a careful examination and technical consideration by the reputed jury committee

appointed by it.

Rishi Sunak:

He is an Indian-origin British politician. He is the son-in-law of

the Indian-origin politician and Infosys co-founder Narayan

Murthy. In 2015, Rishi Sunak was elected to represent

Richmond in Yorkshire, the constituency previously held by

William Hague, a former party leader.

Recently, he has been appointed as United Kingdom’s new

finance minister. He has been appointed as the Chancellor of the Exchequer in Boris Johnson’s

cabinet. He will be replacing Sajid Javid.

Delhi Election Results 2020:

In Delhi Assembly Election, Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)

scored a landslide victory for the second time in a row. AAP swept

aside both BJP, which was again restricted to a single digit and

Congress which could not win a single seat.

Aam Aadmi Party’s Sanjeev Jha records the biggest victory margin of over 88,000 votes from Burari

Assembly/Vidhan Sabha seat. Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal won the elections from New Delhi while

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia from Patparganj Assembly/Vidhan Sabha seat. Chief of Aam

Aadmi Party (AAP) Arvind Kejriwal is set to take oath as the Chief Minister of Delhi on 16 February in

Ramlila Maidan, New Delhi.

Vadodara:

It is a large city in Gujarat. It is here that the 6th edition of

the mega industrial exhibition ‘Engiexpo 2020’ is being

organized by Federation of Small Scale Industries (FSSI).

The event is being organized from February 15 to 17, 2020

to promote ‘Made in India’ products. Over 10,000

Places in News


industrial products will be showcased in more than 300 stalls. Several companies from Uzbekistan

are also participating in the exhibition.

FSSI: It refers to Federation of Small Scale Industries. It is headquartered in Vadodara, Gujarat. The

current President of FSSI is Dhankesh Patel.

NIFM:

It refers to the National Institute of Financial Management,

Faridabad. NIFM was established in 1993 as a registered society

under the Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance,

Government of India. It is a Center of Excellence specializing in

capacity building of professionals in the fields of Public Policy,

Financial Management and other governance issues for

promoting highest standards of professional competence and practice. It is responsible for the

training of officers of various Finance and Accounts Services recruited by the Union Public Service

Commission (UPSC) as well as the officers of Indian Cost Accounts Service (ICoAS). The Union Finance

Minister is the president of the NIFM society.

Recently, the Central Government has decided to remane NIFM as as the Arun Jaitley National

Institute of Financial Management (AJNIFM). Renaming was decided by the Government of India

(GoI) so as to align the vision of the Institute for the future with the vision and contribution of Late

Jaitley.

Late Shri Arun Jaitley was the former Union Finance Minister of India and a Padma Vibhushan

awardee. He had played a stellar role during his career as the Union Minister for Finance and

Corporate Affairs during the period May 26, 2014, to May 30, 2019.

UP Cabinet:

The Uttar Pradesh Council of Ministers is the council in 17th Uttar

Pradesh Legislative Assembly headed by Chief Minister Yogi

Adityanath since 19 March 2017. As per the Constitution of India,

the Uttar Pradesh Council of Ministers, including the Chief Minister,

can have maximum 60 members. Currently there are 47 Ministers.

Along with the Chief Minister, 25 are Cabinet ministers, 9 are State

ministers with Independent charge and 13 are State ministers. Anandiben Patel is the present

Governor of Uttar Pradesh.

Recently, the Uttar Pradesh (UP) state Cabinet, chaired by its Chief Minister(CM) Yogi Adityanath has

approved the Ground Water Act-2020. The Ground Water Act-2020 has been approved with an

objective of improving the falling groundwater level in the state.

Under this new Act, one has to register with the state records before installing submersible pumps

either off-line or on-line. Online registration facility will also be available.

The farmers and domestic users need not pay any fee.


The cabinet has made it mandatory to install rainwater harvesting system in the buildings of all

private and government schools and colleges through this act.

Registration is mandatory for boring companies along with the information update in every three

months.

The act also provides for strict punishment and penalty against those who pollute the groundwater

through boring pipes.

Manipur:

Manipur is a state in northeastern India. Its capital city is Imphal. It is

bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the

south, and Assam to the west. Myanmar lies to its east. The Chief Minister

and the Governor of Manipur are N. Biren Singh and Najma Heptulla

respectively.

Recently, the Chief Minister of Manipur N Biren Singh launched ‘Anganphou Hunba’ (Early Paddy

Crop) programme at Arapti Mayai Leikai in Imphal East. The State government has planned to

provide irrigation water by the Minor Irrigation Department to places having adequate arable land

and many farmers. The Government of Manipur has also taken up steps to produce sufficient

quantity of fishes by providing loans to 800 selected fish farmers. The State Government seeks to

save around 400 crore rupees spent every year in importing fishes from outside. Van Dhan Yojana

too is being implemented in the hill districts to save horticultural products. The scheme will be

introduced in the valley districts.

The Union Cabinet: The Union Council of Ministers exercises executive authority in the Republic of

India. It consists of senior ministers, called 'cabinet ministers', junior ministers called 'ministers of

state' and, rarely, deputy ministers. It is led by the Prime Minister. A smaller executive body called

the Union Cabinet is the supreme decision-making body in India. The prime minister and ministers of

the rank of cabinet minister can only be the members of the Union Cabinet in accordance with

Article 75.

The approvals given by the Union Cabinet recently are:-

Vivad Se Vishwas bill, 2020:

The Vivad Se Vishwas bill which aims to provide for resolution

of disputed direct taxes, was introduced in the Lok Sabha on

February 5 by the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman during

the Budget 2020-21. The vivad se vishwas scheme is similar to

the 'Indirect Tax, Sabka Vishwas' scheme, which was

introduced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman during her

maiden budget presentation in 2019.

India polity


Recently, the Union Cabinet approved to make the required changes in the Direct Tax Vivad se

Vishwas Bill, 2020. The bill has been amended to increase its scope to cover litigations pending in

various debt recovery tribunals (DRTs).

Pesticide Management Bill 2020:

Union Cabinet has approved the Pesticide

Management Bill 2020. The bill seeks to regulate the

sale of pesticides and provide compensation to

farmers in case of losses due to spurious pesticides. It

also seeks to promote organic pesticides. The main

aim of the bill is to replace the Insecticides Act, 1968.

The bill seeks to advertise standards by supplying

information regarding the pesticides available in the

market in a digital format.

Most of the pesticides that are used in India are hazardous according to the classifications of the

World health Organization (WHO). Only 40% of the pesticides are registered while 60% is

unregistered and are very harmful.

Major Ports Authority Bill 2020: The cabinet has given its approval to Major Ports Authority Bill 2020

that will be introduced in Parliament to replace the existing regulations under a 1963 law. The Bill

seeks to enhance overall efficiencies of the ports was cleared by the Cabinet. Shipping Minister

Mansukh Mandaviya said that there have been many changes in the way ports are operated since

the 1960 and public-private partnership (PPP) model was also being used so the bill will provide

dispute resolution mechanism and the 12 major ports in the country will have more autonomy to

make decisions.

India's 12 major ports are, Deendayal (erstwhile Kandla), Mumbai, JNPT, Marmugao, New

Mangalore, Cochin, Chennai, Kamarajar (earlier Ennore), Paradip and Kolkata (including Haldia), and

V O Chidambarnar, Visakhapatnam.

Cabinet Approval: The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has given

its in principle approval for capital infusion for three Public Sector General Insurance Companies,

namely, Oriental Insurance Company Limited (OICL), United India Insurance Company Limited (UIICL)

and National Insurance Company Limited (NICL). The Cabinet has allowed a capital infusion of 2,500

crore rupees in three Public Sector General Insurance Companies. The decision has been taken in the

wake of the critical financial position and breach of regulatory solvency requirements of these

companies to meet the solvency ratio criteria of IRDA (Insurance Regulatory Development

Authority).


INS Shivaji:

INS Shivaji is an Indian Naval station located in Lonavala,

Maharashtra, India. It houses the Naval College of

Engineering which trains officers of the Indian Navy and the

Indian Coast Guard. It was commissioned on 15 February

1945 as HMIS Shivaji. It is located close to the Bhushi Dam.

The establishment has rendered 75 years of glorious service

to the nation by imparting training in engineering discipline

to personnel of Indian Navy, Coast Guard, other sister

services and friendly foreign Countries. The current commander is Commodore K Srinivas.

Recently, the President of India Ram Nath Kovind presented ‘President’s Colour’ to the INS Shivaji at

a ceremony in Lonavala, Maharashtra on the occasion of Platinum Jubilee of this premier training

establishment. The Presentation of Colour or Standards by the Supreme Commander of the Armed

Forces is an acknowledgement of the unit’s meritorious service.

It is now the premier technical training establishment of the Indian Navy with the motto Kar-masu

Kaushalam. The establishment has trained more than two lakh officers and sailors, both Indian and

International, since inception. All courses conducted at INS Shivaji are recognized by the All India

Council for Technical Education (AICTE).

IADWS:

It refers to the Integrated Air Defense Weapon System. IADWS

includes air defence weapon systems, AMRAAM missiles,

NASAMS-II, surface-to-air missiles, radars among others.

Recently, the United States (US) has approved the sale of an

Integrated Air Defence Weapon System to India. The estimated

cost of IADWS is $1.867 billion. the IADWS will help India

modernise its armed forces and to expand its existing air

defense architecture to counter threats posed by air attack. This will also contribute to India's

military goal to update its capability while further enhancing greater interoperability between India,

the US and other allies.

The deal is expected to be sealed during President Trump's visit to India.

India and UK:

India and the United Kingdom conducted their 5th

edition of joint military exercise ‘Ajeya Warrior-2020’ at

Salisbury Plains of central southern England to train

troops in counter insurgency and counter terrorist

operations. The first edition of the exercise was held

from 2005.

The main aim of the exercises is to conduct training of

Defence


troops in counter insurgency and counter terrorist operations in both urban and semi-urban areas.

The Indian contingent was welcomed by Brigadier Tom Bewick, Commander of UK 7 Infantry Brigade

in its opening ceremony.

The exercise will comprise of 120 soldiers each from Indian and United Kingdom Army which will be

culminating with a 72 hours joint exercise. The exercise will focus on the joint operation by soldiers

during conduct of counter-terrorist operations.

Ajeya Warrior 2020 can be termed as the shining example of long-standing strategic ties between

India and United Kingdom.

DRDO:

It is an acronym of Defence Research & Development Organization

of India. DRDO is an agency of the Government of India which works

under the Ministry of Defence. It has a network of laboratories

engaged in developing defence technologies covering various fields,

like aeronautics, armaments, electronics, land combat engineering,

life sciences, materials, missiles, and naval systems. It was founded in 1958 and is headquartered in

New Delhi. Its motto is बलस्य मूलं विज्ञानम्; meaning "Strength's Origin is in Science". The current

DRDO Chairman is G Satheesh Reddy

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has started developing a 200-km

strike range tactical ballistic missile named ‘Pranash’.

Pranash Missile is a surface-to-surface ballistic missile which will be of use for the Air Force and

Army for destroying enemy targets at short ranges. It is a solid-propellant surface to a surface missile

which can travel at the speed of Mach 2.

The missile is an advanced version of the 150-km strike range Prahar missile which was being

developed for tactical missions.

Dharmendra Rai:

He is a mind mapping & brain literacy pioneer. He has a world

record of conducting more than 380 mind mapping seminars in

under 10 years. He was also the first person in the world to talk on

TEDx on Creativity & Mind Mapping.

Recently, “The Thin Mind Map Book” authored by him was

launched. The book aims to give people an experience in mind mapping and making them expert

through reading and doing all the experiential exercises mentioned in the book.

Art and Culture


Hornbill Festival:

It is the first ever Hornbill festival of Tripura that was

celebrated in Agartala. Chief Minister (CM) Biplab Kumar

Dev inaugurated the festival at Baramura hill (in western

Tripura).

The festival is named after the Indian Hornbill, the large

and colourful forest bird which is displayed in the folklore

of most of the tribals in northeast India, usually takes place in the first week of December every year

since 2000 at Naga Heritage village Kisama, about 12 km from Nagaland capital Kohima.

The aim of the festival is to conserve the striking forest bird “Hornbill” and to boost the livelihood of

the people through tourism.

Cha Chai Artwork:

It is an artwork of Joana Vasconcelos (Portuguese artist)

at National Museum in New Delhi. It is a wrought-iron

sculpture which is shaped like a tea-pot. The 'Tea-Pot'

and its iron-railings represent the bridge between urban

and rural landscapes. The installation by Vasconcelos

represents the tradition of serving tea in Portugal that

originated in the 17th century.

Recently, the Union Minister for Culture & Tourism

Prahlad Singh Patel and President of the Portuguese

Republic Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa jointly inaugurated the Cha-Chai artwork. India and Portugal are

collaborating to develop various cultural projects in India.


Date post:	20-Aug-2020
Category:	Documents
Upload:	others
View:	0 times
Download:	0 times

International · 5 NPC: It refers to the National Productivity Council. NPC is an autonomous,...

Documents