Daily Current Affairs 19th February, 2020

Daily Current Affairs 19 February 2020 for Banking/Insurance/SSC and other related exams.

NATIONAL NEWS

Finance Commission expert group on agri exports to be headed by Sanjiv Puri
The 15th Finance Commission decided to set up an eight-member high level expert group headed by ITC chairman Sanjiv Puri to recommend strategies and measures to increase farm productivity and boost exports.

  • The panel will recommend measurable performance incentives for States to encourage agri exports as well as to promote crops to enable high import substitution within 3months.

4th National Conference on PMFBY held in Udaipur, Rajasthan
The two-day long 4th National Conference on Review of Implementation of Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) held in Udaipur, Rajasthan.

  • The conference includes participation of around 140 members representing different states, banks, insurance companies, RBI, NABARD, among others.

Bird ringing station to come up in Bihar; MoU inked in Gujarat
Bihar is set to have a bird ringing station, devoted to observation, monitoring and research on migratory birds — the fourth such facility in the country and the first to be set up with the support of a state government

  • So far, there were three bird ringing stations – at Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and Orissa. The Bihar government will spend Rs 5 crore for the new project.

Delhi’s IGI Airport becomes first single-use plastic-free airport of India
The GMR-led Delhi International Airport Ltd has said that Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport has become free of single-use plastic usage. 

  • The CII-ITC Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development, that supports the business community towards achieving sustainability has certified DIAL for its successful voluntary implementation of single-use plastic-free airport measures within IGI Airport’s operations.

India to get Air Defence & Peninsular Command by 2021, theatre commands by 2022
The air defence command is to be rolled out by the beginning of next year and the Peninsula command by the end of 2021,said by Chief of Defence Staff Gen Rawat.

  • India will have two to five theatre commands along the borders with Pakistan and China
  • India is also looking at setting up a separate theatre command for Jammu and Kashmir

IDSA renamed Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses
The Union government has decided to rename well-known think tank Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) as ‘Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses’.

  • The decision has been taken to honour the commitment and legacy of the late Manohar Parrikar.
  • The Defence Minister chairs the executive committee of the institute’s society.

Ganga Kayak Festival organised in Uttarakhand
The eighth edition of Ganga Kayak Festival was inaugurated by MLA Vinod Kandari in Devprayag, Uttarakhand.

  • The festival is jointly organized with Uttarakhand Tourism Development Council and The Adventure Sports Society is witnessing participation of 45 male and 6 women athletes from Russia, Australia and Nepal.

Motera Stadium to be world’s largest cricket stadium
The Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI) confirmed that Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad will be the world’s largest cricket stadium with a sitting capacity of more than one lakh spectators.

  • The Motera Stadium will dislodge Australia’s Melbourne Cricket Ground as the wold’s largest stadium.


BANKING & FINANCE

RBI to sync its accounting year with govt’s fiscal year from 2020-21
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will aligning the financial year of the RBI, currently July-June, with the government’s fiscal year (April-March) from the year 2020-21 — a move that may put an end to the practice of the exchequer getting interim dividend from the central bank. The decision was taken at a meeting of the RBI’s central board held in New Delhi.

  • With this move, the central bank will do away with nearly eight decades of practice. The RBI, which was established in April 1935, used to follow January-December as its accounting year before it was changed to July-June in March 1940


BUSINESS & ECONOMY

Fiscal deficit will be reduced to 3.5 percent of GDP in 2020-21, says Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that the most significant aspect of her budget this time is a realistic estimation on the score of revenue generation, spending and borrowings.

  • Invoking the escape clause to take a 50 basis points leeway, she noted that the fiscal deficit will be reduced to 3.5 percent of GDP in 2020-21.

Jeff Bezos launches $10 billion fund to combat climate change
Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon and the world’s richest man, said he was committing $10 billion to a new fund to tackle climate change.

  • The initiative, called the Bezos Earth Fund, will begin giving out grants this summer. The $10 billion commitment constitutes less than 8% of the world’s richest man’s estimated $130 billion net worth.

India becomes 5th largest economy, overtakes UK, France: Report
India emerged as the world’s fifth largest economy with a GDP of $ 2.94 trillion by overtaking the UK and France in 2019, says a report.

  • A US-based think tank World Population Review in its report said that India is developing into an open-market economy from its previous autarkic policies.
  • The report further said that in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms, India’s GDP (PPP) is $ 10.51 trillion, exceeding that of Japan and Germany. Due to India’s high population, India’s GDP per capita is $ 2,170 (for comparison, the US is $ 62,794).

Police, Uber launch Himmat Plus app at IGI airport for passenger’s safety
To ensure safety and security of people travelling in cabs, the Delhi Police along with Uber launched the Himmat Plus app at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport.

  • In case of an emergency, the police headquarters will receive the real-time location of a driver or a rider through this app so that a PCR van can be assigned to provide assistanc


SPORTS

FIFA U-17 Women’s Football World Cup to be hosted in 5 cities in November
Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju launched an event in New Delhi to unveil the five host cities for the FIFA Under-17 Women’s Football World Cup which kicks off on 2nd of November this year.

  • Official tournament slogan is ‘Kick Off The Dream’.
  • The matches of the world cup will be held in five cities including Ahmedabad, Bhubaneswar, Guwahati, Kolkata and Navi Mumbai

Sunil Kumar wins gold in 87-kg Greco Roman category in Asian Wrestling Championships
Greco Roman wrestler Sunil Kumar opened India’s medal account in the Asian Wrestling Championships at New Delhi by winning a Gold. The seasoned grappler beat Azat Salidinov from Kyrgyzstan in the final of the 87 kg category.

  • Arjun Halakurki lost his semi-final bout 7-8 against Iran’s Pouya Mohammad Naserpour in 55 kg category. He will now be up against Korea’s Donghyeok Won in the bronze medal playoff.


OBITUARIES

Hall of Fame golfer Wright passed away 
Hall of Famer Mickey Wright, the only Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) golfer to hold all major titles at the same time, died. She was 85.

  • Wright won 82 tournaments, second only to compatriot Kathy Whitworth (88), and claimed 13 majors in a career that stretched from 1955 until retirement in 1969 because of foot problems.

Greatest woman golfer, Mickey Wright passed away at 85
Mickey Wright, often described as the greatest woman golfer of all times, died at Florida in the United States at the age of 85. Her haul of 13 major victories included four US Women’s Open titles and four US Women’s PGA Championships.

  • Wright had accumulated 82 titles of Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Tour titles during a professional career which stretched from 1954 to 1969.


IMPORTANT DAYS

Soil health card Scheme Completes 5 years
The International year of soils was celebrated in 2015 the same year India’s unique programme of soil health card was launched on February 19 by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on 19.02.2015 at Suratgarh, Rajasthan.to assess the nutrient status of every farm holding in the country.

  • The objectives of the Soil Health Card scheme are to issue soil health cards to farmers every 2 years so as to provide a basis to address nutritional deficiencies in fertilization practises.


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