Daily Current Affairs 20 February 2020 for Banking/Insurance/SSC and other related exams.
NATIONAL NEWS
Andhra Pradesh CM Jaganmohan Reddy launches Nadu-Nedu scheme
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy launched Nadu Nedu (meaning ‘then and now’ in Telugu) scheme in all government hospitals to help improve the health conditions of the people of the state.
- Andhra Chief Minister also launched the third phase of ‘Dr YSR Kanti Velugu’, which is a programme initiated with the aim to provide basic health facilities to all citizens.
Government to facilitate doubling of milk processing capacity to 108 million tonnes by 2025
Union Government will facilitate doubling of milk processing capacity from over 53 million tonne to 108 million tonne by 2025.
- In India milk production is growing by 6.4% during the last 5 years and has increased from 146.3 million tonnes (mt)in 2014-15 to 187.7 mt in 2018-19. About 54% of milk produced is marketable surplus and remaining 46% is retained in villages for local consumption. Out of the marketable surplus available with farmers only 36% is handled by organised sectors evenly shared by cooperative and private sector.
SC grants women right to permanent commission and command in Indian Army
In an important step towards granting women the right to serve in the military on equal terms with men, the Supreme Court granted women the right to “permanent commission” (PC), and the right to command.
- This opens the doors for women to command military units, such as logistics, signals or engineer regiments, thus placing them in the position of leading bodies of 500-600 men in combat support duties.
Shri Ramayana Express train from March 28
Indian Railways has launched a special tourist train — Shri Ramayana Express — from New Delhi, which will start plying from March 28.
- The train will ply from Delhi’s Safdarjung railway station. People can also board the train at Ghaziabad, Moradabad, Bareily, and Lucknow.
- The tour is 16 nights and 17 days wherein the tourists will be visiting the places included in the Ramayana Circuit of India.
Cabinet nod to revamp Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana
The Union Cabinet has has approved the revamping of Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) and Restructured Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme (RWBCIS) to address the existing challenges in the implementation of Crop Insurance Schemes.
- As per the decision, certain parameters or provisions of the ongoing schemes of PMFBY and RWBCIS will be modified, while the allocation of business to the insurance companies will be done for three years.
Ministry of Textiles organises Kala Kumbh- Handicrafts Thematic Exhibition in New Delhi
The Ministry of Textiles organized “Kala Kumbh” exhibition in New Delhi. It is an exhibition to promote Geographical Indication (GI) craft and heritage of India.
- The exhibitions are planned in various major cities like Bengaluru, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chennai. The exhibitions are sponsored by the Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts (EPCH).
Uttarakhand CM inaugurates drone festival
The second Drone festival was inaugurated by the Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat at IT Park in Uttarakhand.
- The purpose of organizing this festival was to make people aware of drones. The festival saw about 200 participants from 22 states.
Cabinet approves second phase of Swachh Bharat Mission (Rural)
The Centre approved the second phase of Swachh Bharat Mission (Rural), Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pet project focussed on sustainability of ODF and management of solid and liquid waste.
- The second phase will be implemented on a mission mode between 2020-21 and 2024-25 with an estimated central and state budget of Rs 52,497 crore
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
India jumps five ranks to 35th in Worldwide Education for the Future Index 2019
India jumped five ranks to 35th with a total score of 53 in the Worldwide Educating for the Future Index (WEFFI) 2019, as per a report published by The Economist Intelligence Unit. The theme of the index is “From Policy to Practice”.
- Finland has been ranked at the top of the index.It was followed by Sweden at second position and New Zealand at third position.
- The bottom three nations in the index were Kenya (48th), Nigeria (49th) and the Democratic Republic of Congo (50th).
Hindi is 3rd most spoken language in the world with 615 million speakers after English, Mandarin
Hindi is the 3rd most spoken language of the world in 2019 with 615 million speakers. The 22nd edition of the world language database Ethnologue stated English at the top of the list nowith 1,132 million speakers. Chines Mandarin is at the second position with 1,117 million speakers.
- Bangla has been ranked as the 7th most spoken language of the world. Bangla has 228 million native speakers.
IISc ranks 16th among top 100 universities of emerging economies
The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) has ranked 16th in the the top 100 Times Higher Education’s (THE) Emerging Economies University Rankings 2020. The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) emerged as India’s top-ranked institution followed by the Indian Institute of Technologies (IITs)
- A total of 56 Indian universities appear in the full ranking of a total of 533 universities across emerging economies of the world. This year marks only the second time that 11 Indian institutions have held top 100 positions since the ranking began in 2014.
- The other universities included in the Institutes of Eminence scheme that appear in the top 100 mark the biggest improvers in the ranking with IIT Kharagpur moving up 23 places to 32nd, IIT Delhi improving by 28 places to joint 38th and IIT Madras climbing 12 places to joint 63rd.
BANKING & FINANCE
Gujarat govt partners with SBI to facilitate MSME loans
The Gujarat government signed an MoU with State Bank of India (SBI) to facilitate approval of loans to entrepreneurs in the MSME sector with ease and within a short time-frame
- As per the MoU, the top public sector lender will provide working capital to entrepreneurs seeking to start new micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) within a short time -frame after providing theoretical approval within 15 days of making an application.
ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS
Twitter acquires Chroma Labs
Twitter announced that it is acquiring Chroma Labs, the company behind the Chroma Stories app
- The team will join Twitter’s product, design, and engineering teams to “give people more creative ways to express themselves on Twitter
SPORTS
India set to host 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup
India is set to stage the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women’s Asian Cup in 2022 after being recommended as hosts for the tournament.
- The AFC Women’s Football Committee chose India, which will hold the FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup later this year, ahead of Chinese Taipei and Uzbekistan.
APPOINTMENTS
Ashraf Ghani wins second term as Afghanistan’s President
Ashraf Ghani was declared the winner of Afghanistan’s presidential vote after five months of delayed results and bitter dispute. But the announcement threatened to tip the country into a full-blown political crisis on the cusp of a U.S. peace deal with the Taliban.
- The election commission said Ghani garnered 923,592 votes, or 50.64%, in the troubled election that took place last Sept. 28. The country’s chief executive, Abdullah Abdullah received 720,841 votes, or 39.52%
Supratim Bandyopadhyay appointed PFRDA chairperson
Supratim Bandyopadhyay was appointed as chairman of the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority, the regulator for promotion and development of an organised pension system to serve the old age income needs of people on a sustainable basis.
- He was working as Member (Finance) in the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA).
Sanjay Kothari next CVC, ex-IAS officer Bimal Julka to be CIC: Officials
Sanjay Kothari, the Secretary to the President, has been selected as the new Chief Vigilance Commissioner by a high-powered committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
- The committee has also chosen by a majority decision, former Information and Broadcasting Secretary Bimal Julka, currently serving as an Information Commissioner, as the new Chief Information Commissioner in the Central Information Commission.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Pakistan successfully tests air launched cruise missile Ra’ad-II
Pakistan conducted a successful flight test of the air launched nuclear-capable cruise missile Ra’ad-II with a range of 600 km, significantly boosting the military’s “deterrence capability” on land and at sea.
- The Ra’ad-II weapon system is equipped with state-of-the-art guidance and navigation systems ensuring engagement of targets with high precision.
GRSE delivers 4th anti-submarine warfare corvette to Navy
Defence PSU Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Lt delivered its fourth anti-submarine warfare stealth corvette to the Indian Navy.
- Kavaratti was the last in the series of four anti- Submarine Warfare Corvettes (ASWC) built by Kolkata-based GRSE under Project 28.
- The first three ships of the series –– INS Kamorta, INS Kadmatt and INS Kiltan — were delivered earlier, and form an integral part of Eastern Fleet of the Indian Navy
OBITUARIES
Veteran Kannada actor Kishori Ballal passes away
Veteran Kannada actor Kishori Ballal, who had acted in over 75 movies across different languages and left an indelible mark with her role in Shah Rukh Khan-starrer “Swades”, died. She was 82.
- She was honoured with the ‘Best Supporting Actor’ award at the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards in 2005 for her performance.
Veteran journalist M S Mani passes away
Veteran journalist and Chief Editor of ‘Kala Kaumudi’ daily M S Mani passed away due to age-related ailments. He was 78.
- He started his career in 1961 as a staff reporter at ‘Kerala Kaumudi’ and within a year was posted in Delhi as the Parliament correspondent.
- He extensively covered Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha for many years and in 1965, returned to Thiruvananthapuram and took over key editorial responsibilities of ‘Kerala Kaumudi’ along with his father Sukumaran.
IMPORTANT DAYS
World Day of Social Justice
The United Nations’ (UN) World Day of Social Justice is annually observed on February 20 to encourage people to look at how social justice affects poverty eradication. It also focuses on the goal of achieving full employment and support for social integration.
- The theme of World Day of Social Justice 2020 is “Closing the Inequalities Gap to Achieve Social Justice”.