[GKmojo] February 200 File

Important Days of February

• World Cancer Day: 04 February 2020

Theme: I am and I Will (for 2020-21)

• World Pulses Day: 10 February 2020

• World Day of Social Justice: 20 February 2020

Theme: Closing the Inequalities Gap to Achieve Social Justice

• International Mother Language Day: 21 February 2020

Theme: Languages without Borders

• National Science Day: 28 February 2020

Theme: Women in science
National Science Day is celebrated in India on 28 February each
year to mark the discovery of the Raman effect by Indian physicist
Sir C. V. Raman on 28 February 1928. For his discovery, Sir C.V.
Raman was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1930.

Books in News
• Death-An Inside Story by Jaggi Vasudev

• Dharmendra Rai's book "The Thin Mind Map Book"

launched
"The Thin Mind Map Book" authored by a mind mapping & brain
literacy pioneer Dharmendra Rai, was launched recently. 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.

• Vice President releases the book ‘A Child of Destiny’

The Vice President of India Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu
released a book titled ‘A Child of Destiny’ an autobiography penned
by Prof. K. Ramakrishna Rao. K. Ramakrishna Rao was an
Eminent Scholar, Author, Researcher, Scientist and Gandhian.

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New Appointments

• Chief Vigilance Commissioner: Sanjay Kothari

• Chief Information Commissioner: Bimal Julka

• Sunil Gurbaxani appointed as new MD and CEO of

Dhanlaxmi Bank
The appointment of Sunil Gurbaxani as managing director and
CEO of Dhanlaxmi Bank has been approved by the Reserve Bank of
India (RBI). The appointment has been made for a period of three
years. Gurbaxani is presently working with Axis Bank.

• The Presidential elections of Afghanistan won by Ashraf

Ghani

The independent Election Commission of Afghanistan has announced

Ashraf Ghani as the winner of the Presidential elections of
Afghanistan. He has won the Presidential elections of Afghanistan for
the 2nd time. He defeated his closest opponent Abdullah Abdullah
after winning the 9,23,592 votes or 50.64% of the total votes.

• Vinay Dube becomes GoAir new CEO

GoAir has appointed Vinay Dube, the former chief executive officer
(CEO) of Jet Airways, as its new CEO. He will be responsible for
the management of the airline and also for meeting the goals and
long-term growth objectives of the company. The budget airline
did not have a CEO since the departure of Cornelis Vrieswijk in
March last year.

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 • Rajiv Bansal becomes new CMD of Air India

Senior IAS officer Rajiv Bansal was named the Chairman and
Managing Director of national carrier Air India. He succeeds
Ashwani Lohani. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet
approved his appointment as CMD of Air India. Bansal, a 1988
batch officer of the Nagaland cadre, held the post of Additional
Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.

• Rishi Sunak appointed as UK's new Finance Minister

Rishi Sunak has been appointed as the Finance Minister of the

United Kingdom. He will replace Pakistani Chancellor Sajid Javid.
Now three Indian origin Members of Parliament are a part of
Britain's most diverse cabinet led by UK Prime Minister Boris
Johnson. Along with Rishi Sunak, Priti Patel has been appointed as
the Home Minister and Alok Sharma has been appointed as the
Business Secretary in the British Cabinet

Important Awards and Honours

• Pullela Gopichand honoured with lifetime achievement
award by IOC

The Chief National coach for the Indian Badminton team Pullela
Gopichand honour with Coaches lifetime achievement award by
International Olympic Committee’s (IOC). He is the 1st Indian
coach to be Honoured with this Lifetime award by the Olympics
Committee.

• 92nd Academy Awards (Oscars)

Best Picture- Parasite directed by Bong Joon-ho
Best Director - Bong Joon-ho for Parasite
Best Actor - Joaquin Phoenix for Joker
Best Actress - Renee Zellweger for Judy
Best Animated Film - Toy Story 4
Best International Feature Film - Parasite (Korean) directed
by Bong Joon-ho

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 Most nominations - Joker (11)
Indian entry in the International Feature Film category - Gully Boy
(Hindi) (Not nominated)
From this year Best Foreign Language Film category has been
changed to Best International Feature Film.

• Dadasaheb Phalke International Film Festival Awards

2020 announced

Dadasaheb Phalke International Film Festival Awards 2020

announced in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Actor Ravi Dubey served as
the host of the event. Hrithik Roshan bagged the Best Actor award
for film “Super 30”.
S.
Award Award Winner
No.

1 Best Film Super 30

2 Best Actor Hrithik Roshan (Super 30)

• 65th Amazon Filmfare Awards 2020: Check Complete

List of Winners

The 65th Amazon Filmfare Awards 2020 hosted in Awesome

Assam on 15th February 2020. The event was hosted by Karan
Johar (film director), Bollywood actor Vicky Kaushal and Varun
Dhawan. Zoya Akhtar’s Gully Boy’ won Best Actor and Actress
trophy.

Check the complete list of Bollywood celebrities, who won big at

the 65th Amazon Filmfare Awards 2020-

1. Best Film- ‘Gully Boy’

2. Best Director Zoya Akhtar for ‘Gully Boy’
3. Best Film (Critics)- ‘Article 15’ (Anubhav Sinha) and ‘Sonchiriya’
(Abhishek Chaubey)
4. Best Actor In A Leading Role (Male)- Ranveer Singh for ‘Gully
Boy’
5. Best Actor (Critics)- Ayushmann Khurrana for ‘Article 15’
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 6. Best Actor In A Leading Role (Female)- Alia Bhatt for ‘Gully Boy’
7. Best Actress (Critics): Bhumi Pednekar and Taapsee Pannu for
‘Saand Ki Aankh’

• India's pioneering feminist Gita Sen wins Dan David

Prize 2020

Indian feminist scholar, activist Gita Sen has won the prestigious
Dan David Prize 2020 under “present” category. She has worked
hard in the fields of women’s rights, reproductive and sexual health
and poverty eradication. Sen is the director of the Ramalingaswami
Centre on Equity and Social Determinants of Health at the Public
Health Foundation of India.

Dan David Prize given by Dan David Foundation (headquartered at

Tel Aviv University, Israel) this award carries prize of US$ 1
million for achievements having an outstanding scientific,
technological, cultural or social impact on our world. Each year
fields are chosen within the 3-time dimensions – Past, Present and
Future.

Sports affairs

• FC Goa has become 1st club from India to qualify for AFC
Champions League
FC Goa has become the first Indian club to qualify for the Asian
Football Confederation (AFC) Champions’ League group stage. FC
Goa sealed the top spot in the Indian Super League (ISL 2019-20)
standings, finishing as the league’s table-topper after beating
Jamshedpur FC 5-0 in an Indian Super League match.

• AIBA World Cup 2020 to be held in Russia

Russia will host the International Boxing Association (AIBA) Team

World Cup 2020. The tournament will be coinciding with the 75th
anniversary of the victory in World War II under the motto
“Boxing for peace”. This format is expected to make boxing more
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 attractive to spectators and sponsors.

• 1st Khelo India University Games launched by PM

Narendra Modi

1st edition of the Khelo India University Games was launched at

the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium at Cuttack, Odisha by Prime
Minister Narendra Modi through video conferencing. The
tournament will feature the participation of about 3,400 athletes
from 159 universities across the country across 17 disciplines.

• Goa 2020 National Games unveils Rubigula as mascot

Rubigula, Flame-Throated Bulbul unveiled as the official mascot
for the Goa 2020 National Games.

• ICC U-19 World Cup 2020

Host country: South Africa
Held from: 17 Jan 20 to 09 Feb 20
No. of countries: 16
Winners: Bangladesh
Runner-up: India
Player of the series: Yashasvi Jaiswal (India)
Most runs: Yashasvi Jaiswal
Most wickets: Ravi Bishnoi

• Australian Open 2020

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 Title Winner Runner-up
Novak Dominic
Men's
Djokovic Thiem
Singles
(Serbia) (Austria)
Garbine
Women's Sofia Kenin
Muguruza
Singles (USA)
(Spain)

• ESPN SPORTS AWARDS 2019

Female Sportsperson of the Year 2019: P V Sindhu (Badminton)
Male Sportsperson of the Year: Saurabh Chaudhary (Shooting)
Courage Award: Dutee Chand (Sprinting)
Comeback of the Year: Koneru Humpy (Chess)
Emerging Sportsperson of the Year: Deepak Punia (Wrestling)
Coach of the Year: Pullela Gopichand

• Maria Sharapova announces retirement from tennis

Five-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova has announced

her retirement from tennis. The Russian won her first Grand Slam
at Wimbledon in 2004 aged 17 and completed the career slam, all
four major titles, by winning the French Open in 2012.

• India to host FIFA U-17 Women’s Football World Cup

2020

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 Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju has unveiled the 5 host
cities for the FIFA Under-17 Women’s Football World Cup
2020 which includes Ahmedabad, Bhubaneswar, Guwahati,
Kolkata and Navi Mumbai.

• 20th Laureus Awards 2020 announced in Berlin

The Laureus World Sports Awards is an annual award ceremony

honouring individuals and teams from the world of sports along
with sporting achievements throughout the year.
Laureus World Sportsman of the Year: Lewis Hamilton and
Lionel Messi
Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year: Simone Biles

• Saurav Ghosal and Joshna Chinappa Clinched 77th Senior

National squash championships

Saurav Ghosal and Joshna Chinappa won the 77th Senior National
squash championships in Man’s and woman’s category respectively
in Chennai. The top-ranked Indian players justified their billing to
bag the men’s and women’s titles for a record 13th and 18th time
respectively.

Economics, Business and Banking affairs

• JSW Steel allowed by NCLAT to acquire Bhushan Power

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal has allowed the Rs
19,700 crore resolution plan of JSW Steel to take over the bankrupt
Bhushan Power and Steel.

• India becomes 5th largest economy

As per the “World Population Review” report, India overtakes

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 United Kingdom and France to become the 5th-largest world
economy in 2019. India’s economy is the fifth-largest in the world
with a gross domestic product (GDP) of $2.94 trillion.

• US becomes India’s top trading partner, surpassing

China

The United States has surpassed China to become India’s top

trading partner. According to the Commerce Ministry data, the
bilateral trade between the US and India stood at nearly 88 billion
dollars in 2018-19 fiscal. During the period, India’s trade with
China was at 87.1 billion dollars. During April-December 2019-20,
the bilateral trade between the US and India stood at 68 billion
dollars against a nearly 65 billion dollars trade with China in the
same period.

• HDFC Bank launches co-branded credit card with IndiGo

HDFC Bank joined hands with the country’s largest airline IndiGo
to launch a co-branded credit card, which will effectively work like
a loyalty programme for the carrier. Its first travel credit card
named ‘Ka-ching’- powered by Mastercard.

• India ranked 3rd in Hurun Global Rich List 2020

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 Hurun Report has released the Hurun Global Rich List 2020. The
Hurun Global Rich List 2020 is a ranking of the US-Dollar billionaires
in the world. The 9th edition of the Hurun Global Rich list ranked
2,816 billionaires from 71 countries and from 2,182 companies.

Here is the list of top ten people in Hurun Global Rich List
2020:
Wealth Main Country of
Rank Name
(US$bn) Company Residence

1 Jeff Bezos 140 Amazon USA

Bernard
2 107 LVMH France
Arnault

3 Bill Gates 106 Microsoft USA

Berkshire
4 Warren Buffett 102 USA
Hathaway

Mark
5 84 Facebook USA
Zuckerberg

Armancio
6 81 Zara Spain
Ortega

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 Carlo Slim
7 72 America Movil Mexico
Helu & family

8 Sergey Brin 68 Google USA

9 Larry Page 67 Google USA

Mukesh
9 67 Reliance India
Ambani

9 Steve Ballmer 67 Microsoft USA

Here is the list of top ten countries in Hurun Global Rich List
2020:

Rank Country Number of Billionaires

1 China 799

2 USA 626

3 India 137

4 Germany 122

5 UK 119

6 Russia 91

7 Switzerland 88

8 Brazil 69

9 Thailand 57

10 France 51

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 • Shaktikanta Das named best central banker in Asia
Pacific
The Reserve Bank of India governor Shaktikanta Das has been
named the ‘Central Banker of the Year 2020’ for the Asia-Pacific
region by financial intelligence magazine The Banker. He won the
accolade for bringing in measures to tighten the rules around
NBFCs and the award is presented to the bankers who have “best
managed to stimulate growth and stabilise their economy,”
according to The Banker.

National affairs

• The railway station in West Bengal at which Indian Railways has

launched its first restaurant on wheels for railway passengers as
well as for citizens of the city: Asansol

• The station at which Indian Railways has launched first ever Fit
India Squat machine which dispenses free platform tickets to those
who perform 30 squats in 180 seconds: Anand Vihar

• The theme of 13th Conference of Parties (COP) of the Convention

on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals held at
Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar: Migratory species connect
the planet and we welcome them home

• India to switch to world’s cleanest diesel and petrol from

April 1

From 1st of April 2020, India will be switching to the world’s

cleanest petrol and diesel as the nation is heading towards
transitional shift from Bharat Stage-IV grade to Bharat Stage-VI
grade. The BS-VI grade has only 10ppm of sulphur and its
emission standards are as good as that of CNG.

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 • Losar festival celebrated in Himachal Pradesh

Losar festival was celebrated at Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh.

The festival is celebrated on the 1st day of the lunisolar Tibetan
calendar also called Tibetan New Year. Losar is a festival in Tibetan
Buddhism. Prayers were offered at Dorje Drak Monastery in
Shimla. Cultural events were held in different parts of the state as
the Tibetan community celebrated the festival.

• ISRO to launch Geo Imaging Satellite “GISAT-1”

The Indian Space Research Organisation will launch the Geo

Imaging Satellite “GISAT-1”. GISAT-1 will be launched by
Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-F10) from the
Second Launch Pad of Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR,
Sriharikota. The launch of GISAT-1 has been tentatively scheduled
at 17:43 Hrs IST on March 05, 2020.

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 • India ranked 77th on Sustainability Index

According to the report commissioned by the World Health

Organization (WHO), UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the
Lancet medical journal and backed by United Nations, India has
been ranked at 77th position in the Sustainability Index 2020 and
131st on the Flourishing Index 2020.

• 2nd phase of Swachh Bharat Mission Grameen gets

Cabinet’s approval

The 2nd Phase of the Swachh Bharat Mission Grameen has received
the Cabinet’s approval. The 2nd phase will last till 2024-25 and
ensure that everyone uses a toilet. The 2nd phase of the mission has a
total estimated budgeted financial implication of 52 thousand 497
crore rupees and would focus on “Open Defecation Free Plus (ODF
Plus)”.

• Delhi’s IGI Airport has become the first single-use

plastic-free airport of India

“Indira Gandhi International Airport” of Delhi has been declared

by the Delhi International Airport Ltd as India’s first single-use
plastic-free airport. The airport is also certified as single-use

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 plastic-free airport by the CII-ITC Centre of Excellence for
Sustainable Development.

• Kerala High Court bans all forms of strikes in schools,

colleges

The Kerala High Court recently passed an order and banned all
types of political movements in the college and school premises.
Banning various forms agitations like gherao and sit-in in the
campuses, the High Court also said no one can be persuaded to
participate in such protests.

• Sreekar Prasad enters Limca Book of Records for editing

films in 17 languages

Sreekar Prasad, a veteran editor has entered the Limca Book of

Records for ‘films edited in the most number of languages. Sreekar
Prasad has received the certification from the Limca Records for
editing films in 17 languages. The 17 languages include: English,
Hindi, Punjabi, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil, Odia,
Sinhalese, Bengali, Assamese, Nepali, Pangchenpa, Karbi, Mishing,
Bodo, and Marathi.

• 6th Coast Guard Offshore Patrol Vessel “VAJRA”

launched

The 6th Coast Guard Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) “VAJRA” has
been launched in Chennai. The Coast Guard’s Offshore Patrol
Vessel is expected to strengthen the efforts Indian Coast Guard in
securing the vast coastline of over 7500 km, including an exclusive
economic zone (EEZ) of over 20 lakh sq kms.

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 • Harsimrat Kaur Badal launches MIEWS Portal for
Monitoring prices of TOP Crops

Union Minister of Food Processing Industries Harsimrat Kaur

Badal has launched the– Market Intelligence and Early Warning
System (MIEWS) Web Portal. The portal can be accessed at
http://miews.nafed-india.com. The MIEWS Dashboard and Portal
is a ‘first-of-its-kind’ platform for ‘real-time monitoring’ of prices
of tomato, onion and potato (TOP) and for simultaneously
generating alerts for intervention under the terms of the Operation
Greens (OG) scheme.

• India-UK joint Air Force Exercise Indra Dhanush

Exercise 2020 began

The 5th edition of the Exercise Indra Dhanush 2020 commenced

on 24th February. It is a joint air force exercise between Indian Air
Force (IAF) and British Royal Air Forces (RAF) has commenced at
Air Force Station Hindan in Uttar Pradesh (UP).

• As per World Steel Association data, India became the

second-largest steel producer of crude steel after China
2019, by replacing Japan.
India’s crude steel production in 2019 was at 111.2 MT, an increase
of 1.7 per cent from 109.3 MT in 2018. China remains number one
with 996.3 million tonnes in 2019. The United States and Russia
rank fourth and fifth respectively.
Here is the list of Top 5 Crude steel producers in the world in 2019:

1. China 996.3 mt
2. India 111.2 3 mt
3. Japan 99.3 mt
4. USA 87.9 mt
5. Russia 71.6 mt
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 • Radhakishan Damani becomes India’s 2nd richest person

Avenue Supermarts, which is doing business as D-Mart, founder

Radhakishan Damani has now become the 2nd richest Indian after
Reliance Industries Ltd chairman Mukesh Ambani, with a net
worth of $17.8 billion. He has left behind many heavyweights to
acquire the coveted spot including the likes of philanthropist Shiv
Nadar, banker Uday Kotak, and industrialists Gautam Adani and
Lakshmi Mittal.

• Donald Trump to inaugurate world’s largest cricket

stadium in Ahmedabad

The World’s Biggest Cricket Stadium, the Motera Stadium in

Ahmedabad renamed as the Sardar Vallabhbhai Stadium will be
inaugurated by US President Donald Trump during his visit to
India. The stadium has a capacity of 1.10 lakh people. Sardar
Vallabhbhai Stadium emerged as the World’s Biggest Cricket
Stadium after the previous 53000-seater Motera Stadium was
demolished back in 2015.

• BioAsia Summit 2020 begins in Hyderabad

The Government of Telangana hosting Bio-Asia Summit 2020 in

Hyderabad between February 17, 2020, and February 19, 2020.
The main objective of the summit is to explore the capabilities of
Life Science Companies and their investments. The theme of the
Summit is Theme: Today for Tomorrow.

• 5-day working week for Maharashtra govt employees

The Maharashtra government has announced 5-day working week

for state government employees. The decision was taken at the
state Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Uddhav
Thackeray. The new system will be applicable from February 29
onwards.

Employees working for the Government of Maharashtra presently

get second and fourth Saturdays off every month. There are over
20 lakh officers and employees in government, semi-government
and local bodies in the state.

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 • Delhi Election Results 2020 Updates: AAP gets 62 seats,
BJP 8

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

scored a landslide victory. This is the second time in a row as Aam
Aadmi Party swept aside both BJP, which was again restricted to a
single digit and Congress which could not win a single seat. In the
2015 Assembly Election, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had won 67
seats out of 70.
BJP has won eight seats, five more than the 2015 assembly
election. However, the party managed to increase its vote share by
over 6% from the last elections. 0.5% (approx) voters pressed the
NOTA (None of the Above) button.

• Ground Water Act-2020 approved by UP Government

The Uttar Pradesh government has given its approval to 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. In order to achieve this aim, the state cabinet
chaired by the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath
approved the Ground Water Act-2020.

• Tripura organises its 1st-ever "Hornbill Festival"

The 1st-ever Hornbill festival of Tripura was celebrated in Agartala.
The aim to conserve the striking forest bird "Hornbill" and to boost
the livelihood of the people through tourism. Chief Minister (CM)
Biplab Kumar Dev inaugurated the festival at Baramura hill (in
western Tripura).

The "Hornbill" festival, 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.

• India’s 1st glass floor suspension bridge to be built in

Rishikesh

The Uttarakhand Government has approved the design of a glass

floor suspension bridge, the first of its kind in the country to have a
floor made of toughened transparent glass. This bridge will be built
across the River Ganga in Rishikesh. The bridge is as an alternative
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 to the iconic Lakshman Jhula, almost 94 years old, which was
closed in 2019 due to safety reasons. The bridge design has been
prepared by the Public Works Department (PWD).

• NCL establishes R&D centre 'SARAS' for sustainable coal

mining
The Northern Coalfields Ltd (NCL) has established a research and
development centre, named 'Science and Applied Research
Alliance and Support (SARAS)'. This research and development
centre focuses on the sustainable model for development in coal
mining. The R&D centre will be the centre of excellence,
infrastructure up-gradation and IT initiatives for the subsidiary of
the Coal India Ltd.

NCL has come up with a unique concept/model 'SARAS' to ensure

advance preparation with current and future challenges of the
mining sector.

• India ranks 40th in Global Intellectual Property Index

2020
India has been ranked 40th out of 53 countries on a global
intellectual property index 2020. India was placed at 36th position
among 50 countries in 2019. India's score, however, increased
from 36.04 per cent (16.22 out of 45) in 2019 to 38.46 per cent
(19.23 out of 50) in 2020, a 2.42 per cent jump in an absolute
score.

The US, UK, Sweden, France and Germany remained the top five
economies on the intellectual property index in 2019 retaining
their spots from the last year. The index was released as part of the
annual report prepared by the Global Innovation Policy Center
(GIPC) of the US Chambers of Commerce.

• Disha Police Station inaugurates in Andhra Pradesh's

Rajamahendravaram

YS Jaganmohan Reddy, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh

launched the first Disha Police Station in Rajamahendravaram city.
Disha Police Stations are model stations aimed at rendering speedy
justice for female victims of Sexual assault (rape), Sexual
harassment and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences
(POCSO) Act, 2012.

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 • 'Pink City' becomes certified UNESCO World Heritage
City
Jaipur "The Pink City" has been certified by the United Nations
Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) as the
World Heritage site. The certification was done by the UNESCO
Director General Audrey Azoulay during an event held in Jaipur,
Rajasthan. As part of certification, the World Heritage City
certificate was handover by UNESCO Director General to Minister
of Urban Development Shanti Dhariwal.

The certification of Jaipur "The Pink City" as the World Heritage

site is expected to boost the tourism sector of the state of Rajasthan
and also intends to the development of Western Rajasthan for
tourism with the support of UNESCO.

• Union Cabinet clears the setting up of Major Port at

Vadhavan
The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has
given its in-principle approval for setting up a new Major Port at
Vadhavan near Dahanu in Maharashtra. The new Major Port will
be established on the basis of land lord model. The projected cost
of the Vadhavan Port is over Rs 65,000 crore. After the
development of this new Major Port at Vadhavan in Maharashtra,
India is expected to enter the list of countries with top 10 container
ports in the world.

For the implementation of the project, a Special Purpose Vehicle

(SPV) will be formed along the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust
(JNPT) which will act as the lead partner with equity participation
of 50% or more. This SPV will be responsible for the development
of the port infrastructure, including construction of breakwater,
reclamation with the establishment of connectivity to the
hinterland. All the business activities will take place under the
public private partnership (PPP) by private developers.

• Madhya Pradesh wins award for implementation of

PMMVY

Union Minister of Women and Child Development Smriti Irani

presented the award to Madhya Pradesh Minister for Women and
Child Development Imarti Devi and Principal Secretary Anupam
Rajan for the implementation of Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana
Yojana in the state of Madhya Pradesh. The state has bagged the
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 first position for the implementation of Pradhan Mantri Matru
Vandana Yojana. In Madhya Pradesh, more than 14,55,000
beneficiaries have subscribed to the Pradhan Mantri Matra
Vandana Yojana.

• 1st indigenous bio-jet fuel aircraft of IAF landed

successfully in Leh

The AN-32 aircraft of Indian Air Force powered with 10% blend of
bio-jet fuel took off and landed successfully in Leh airport. This is
the first time; both the engines of an aircraft are powered with bio-
jet fuel. The bio-jet fuel is manufactured from “Tree-Borne oils”.
The raw materials for the oil are grown and procured from
Chhattisgarh tribal areas. This will help in reducing India’s
dependence on crude oil imports and also will assist in reducing
carbon emissions.

International affairs
• WHO officially names Coronavirus disease as “Covid-19”

The World Health Organization (WHO) has officially named the

disease caused by the new coronavirus as "Covid-2019". The new
name "Covid-2019" has been taken from the words "corona",
"virus" and "disease", with 2019 representing the year in which it
emerged. The word coronavirus refers to the group of viruses it
belongs to. The naming of the disease was done as the researchers
were calling for an official name of the disease to avoid confusion
and stigmatisation of any group or country.
The virus was also designated as SARS-CoV-2 by the International
Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses.

• Sri Lanka withdraws from UN Rights Resolution

Sri Lankan Government formally notified the United Nations that

it will withdraw from the UNHRC (United Nations Human Rights
Council) resolution for investigating alleged war crimes. The case
was dealing with a decade-old clash with Tamil separatists.

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 • Mastercard CEO Ajay Banga to step down

Mastercard Chief Executive Officer Ajay Banga will step down at

the start of the next year and will be replaced by Chief Product
Officer Michael Miebach.

• Egypt former President Mohammed Hosni Mubarak

passes away

Egypt’s former President Mohammed Hosni Mubarak passed

away. He ruled the country for 30 years. After almost three
decades in power, Mubarak was forced to resign on February 11,
2011, following 18 days of protests around the country.

• POTUS in India: Events of 24th February 2020

President of the United States (POTUS) Donald Trump has arrived

in India on 24th February 2020. He was accompanied by the First

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 Lady of the United States Melania Trump. With this, Donald
Trump has become the first serving US President to visit Gujarat.

• The NASA astronaut who has returned to Earth from International

Space Station after spending 328 days thus breaking the record for
longest stay in ISS by a woman (Peggy Whitson - 289 days):
Christina Koch

• UK's start-up launches 1st big batch of satellites

The UK-based OneWeb company has sent 34 satellites into orbit
on a single Soyuz rocket, from Baikonur port, Kazakhstan. The
aims are to have the full network in operation by the end of 2021.
This is the 50th Soyuz mission conducted by Arianespace, as the
company plans to perform 19 more medium-lift Soyuz from three
spaceports by 2021. Its mission was to drop its satellite batch into
one of 12 planes planned for the constellation.

• Maldives becomes 54th member of the Commonwealth

Maldives has returned to Commonwealth after its exit in 2016 and

hence, has become the 54th member of the global body. The
inclusion of Maldives into Commonwealth become effective from
one-minute past midnight on 1 February just after the exit of
United Kingdom from the European union. The Commonwealth
secretary general Patricia Scotland announced the re-joining of
Maldives in the Commonwealth after ensuring Maldives' alignment
with the values and principles of the Commonwealth and the
consultations with the other Commonwealth nations for Maldives'
readmission. Maldives became a member of the Commonwealth
for the first time in 1982.

• 33rd African Union (AU) summit held in Ethiopia

African Union (AU) summit 2020: The 33rd edition of the African
Union (AU) summit was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The 33rd
edition of the African Union (AU) summit was held with the theme
"Silencing the Guns: Creating conducive conditions for Africa's
development".

All the best by GKmojo

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