Daily Current Affairs 15th February, 2020

Daily Current Affairs 15 February 2020 for Banking/Insurance/SSC and other related exams.

NATIONAL NEWS

Nirmala Sitharaman unveils Rs 102 lakh crore of infra projects for next 5 years
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman unveiled Rs 102 lakh crore of infrastructure projects that will be implemented in the next five years as part of the government’s spending push in the infrastructure sector.

• The projects identified are in sectors such as power, railways, urban irrigation, mobility, education and health.
• It will help make India a USD 5 trillion economy by 2025.

Board exams 2020: UP govt launches toll-free helpline numbers
The Uttar Pradesh government has launched toll-free helpline numbers 1800-180-5310 and 1800-180-5312 to solve the queries of students ahead of the Board examinations that are scheduled to begin next week.

• The helpline numbers will remain active from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. In case, students have any queries regarding the board exams they can connect to the helpline numbers.

“Arth-Ganga” will channelize economic activity along the banks of Ganga River
Minister of State for Shipping (Independent Charge), Chemical, and Fertilizers, Mansukh Lal Mandaviya said that Special focus on developing inland waterways will result in four-fold cargo volume increase on Ganga, while the ‘Arth Ganga’ project will boost economic activities along its bank.

• Cargo volume under this initiative also increased from 30 lakh tonnes to 70 lakh tonnes and vessels inflow from 300 to 700.
• It will improve ‘Ease of Living’ and ‘Ease of Doing Business’.

President of Portugal Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa arrives in New Delhi on a four-day visit
President of Portugal Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa arrived in New Delhi on a four-day visit to India.This is President Marcelo’s first visit to India. The last visit by a President of Portugal to India was in 2007.

• The visit will provide an opportunity for the two sides to review progress in various sectors of bilateral relations and pursue new avenues of cooperation and exchange views on international issues of common interest.

India, Portugal sign MoU to develop National Maritime Heritage Complex at Lothal
India and Portugal signed an MoU to develop a world-class National Maritime Heritage Complex (NMHC) at Lothal in Gujarat.

• The MoU will pave the way for cooperation between the two countries for showcasing common Maritime Heritage.

Portugal to be India’s partner country at Technology Submit 2020
President Ram Nath Kovind announced that Portugal will be our partner country at the Technology submit 2020 to be held in Delhi

• India will also organise the Youth Hachaton in Portugal later this year.

‘Engiexpo 2020’ held in Vadodara, Gujarat
The sixth edition of the mega industrial exhibition ‘Engiexpo 2020’ is held in Vadodara, Gujarat .

• The three-day mega exhibition will be organised by the Federation of Small Scale Industries (FSSI), to promote ‘Made in India’ products.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

INS Jamuna progresses joint hydrographic operations off Sri Lanka
Indian Navy’s Sandhayak class Hydrographic Survey Ship, INS Jamuna (J16), commanded by Captain HA Hardas, arrived Colombo, Sri Lanka.

• The ship has been deployed to Sri Lanka based on a mutual agreement to carry out Joint Hydrographic Survey off the South West Coast of Sri Lanka

BANKING & FINANCE

Odisha MSME Dept signs MoU with HDFC Bank
In a bid to strengthen the startup ecosystem in the state, the Odisha government signed a memorandum of understanding with HDFC Bank Ltd.

• According to the agreement, the startup units will be able to showcase their products to stakeholders while the lender will extend incubation and acceleration support to the firms banking with them

GIC Re gets license from Bank of Russia for reinsurance biz
General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC Re) has received license from Bank of Russia to commence reinsurance business in Russia.

• The license enables the subsidiary to commence transacting domestic and international reinsurance business in Russia based on the capital invested by the Corporation.

SPORTS

Amit Panghal ranked No 1 by IOC’s Boxing Task Force rankings for Olympic Qualifiers
World silver-medallist Amit Panghal has been ranked number one in the 52 kilogram category for Olympic Qualifiers, making him the first Indian pugilist in over a decade to achieve the global top position in the category.

• The list was released by the International Olympic Committee’s Boxing Task Force. The rankings took into account the last two world

Gulmarg all set to host five day National Winter Games from March 7
World-famous Ski destination Gulmarg is all set to host a five-day national winter games event from 7th March under the banner of Khelo India.

• There will be 30 events under five major activities- snowboarding, snow skiing, cross country, snow show in which 800 players from across India would participate.

Indian hockey captain Manpreet Singh named Player of the Year 2019 by IHF
The Indian men’s hockey team captain Manpreet Singh was named Player of the Year for 2019 by the International Hockey Federation.

• Manpreet, a midfielder, became 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.

APPOINTMENTS

S B Mainak resigns as CARE Ratings chief
S.B. Mainak has resigned as chairman and independent director of the well known credit rating agency, Care Ratings Ltd.

• The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) had asked for his resignation over the IL&FS controversy.

Isro veteran G Narayanan to head space PSU NSIL 
Veteran space scientist G Narayanan has been named the chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation’s newly formed commercial entity New Space India Ltd (NSIL).

• Narayanan was earlier working as deputy director (systems reliability and quality assurance) at the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC), a Thiruvananthapuram-based unit of Isro that designs, develops liquid propulsion stages for launch vehicles.

Govt appoints Rajiv Bansal as Air India CMD amid privatisation process
In between the privatisation process of Air India, the government appointed Rajiv Bansal, an additional secretary with the oil and gas ministry, as the new boss of the state-owned airline.

•  He will replace Ashwani Lohani, the current Chairman & Managing Director (CMD), who didn’t agree to extend his one-year contract, which expired on February 11.

GoAir appoints aviation veteran Vinay Dube as Chief Executive Officer
GoAir’s Board of Directors have approved the appointment of aviation veteran Vinay Dube as Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

• As the CEO, Vinay will report to the Chairman, Managing Director and the Board. He will be responsible for the management of the airline and also for meeting the goals and long term growth objectives of the company.

AWARDS

Indian scholar Gita Sen wins prestigious Dan David Prize
India’s pioneering feminist scholar and activist Gita Sen, has won the prestigious Dan David Prize for her expansive work in the fields of population policies, reproductive and sexual health, women’s rights, poverty, labour markets and global governance.

• The internationally renowned Dan David Prize annually awards three prizes of $1 million each to globally inspiring individuals and organisations, honouring outstanding contributions that expand knowledge of the past, enrich society in the present, and promise to improve the future of our world.

OBITUARIES

RK Pachauri, who led Nobel-winning climate panel, dies at 79
Indian environmentalist Rajendra Kumar Pachauri, under whose leadership a U.N. climate change panel shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, passed away after recent heart surgery. He was 79.

• He chaired the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change panel from 2002 until he resigned in 2015 after an employee at his research firm accused him of sexual harassment.

Click here to read Daily Current Affairs