2nd & 3rd February 2020 Current Affairs

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2nd & 3rd February 2020 Current Affairs
2nd & 3rd February 2020 Current Affairs

National Affairs

Task force constituted by Government of India to restrict Novel Coronavirus

A task force has been constituted by the Government of India to restrict the Novel Coronavirus outspread in India. Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Minister of State for Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy and Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri are the members of the task force.

Madhya Pradesh grabs first position for implementation of PMMVY

Madhya Pradesh has bagged the first position for the implementation of Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana. Union Minister of Women and Child Development Smriti Irani presented this award to Madhya Pradesh at a function in New Delhi.

Indore district has also bagged the first place for better performance of the scheme. AIR correspondent reports that the main objective of the Matru Vandana Yojana is to provide incentives of five thousand rupees for the loss of wages of working women and to ensure their proper rest and nutrition during pregnancy. The payment of the incentive amount is deposited directly into the bank account.

International Affairs

Bangladesh: PM Sheikh Hasina inaugurates month long Ekushey Book Fair

Ekushey Book Fair is the biggest and longest book fair of Bangladesh. It is organised every year in February commemorating the martyrs of the language movement during which eight people laid down their lives on February 21, 1952 for establishing Bangla as the official language of the then East Pakistan. A minute’s silence was observed before the inaugural ceremony to pay respect the martyrs of the language movement.

The Prime Minister presented the Bangla Academy literary award 2019 to ten eminent poets and writers on this occasion. She also unveiled the cover of a book ‘Amar Dekha Naya Chin’- The New China as I saw, written by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Prakash javadekar inaugurates World Sustainable Development Summit (WSDS) 2020 in New Delhi

Shri Prakash Javadekar, the Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) was inaugurated a 3-day long World Sustainable Development Summit (WSDS) 2020 based on the theme “Towards 2030 Goals: Making the Decade Count” at India Habitat Centre in New Delhi from 29-31 January, 2020.

The summit was organized by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), a research institute specializes in the fields of energy.

Maldives rejoins the Commonwealth

The Maldives has once again become a member of the commonwealth of nations.The Commonwealth Secretary-General, Patricia Scotland, confirmed Maldives reinstatement into the organization as its 54th Member state.

The Commonwealth of Nations is a political association of 54 member states, mostly former territories of the British Empire. The Maldives withdrew from the Commonwealth on 13 October 2016.

State Affairs

Madhya Pradesh

3-day Narmada Mahotsav was celebrated on Madhya Pradesh (MP)

In Madhya Pradesh (MP), Bhopal, 3-day Narmada Mahotsav was celebrated on 31st January to 2nd February 2020, on the plains of Amarkantak, MP, on the occasion of Narmada Jayanthi. Narmada: The Narmada is a major source of drinking water, irrigation & hydroelectricity for Madhya Pradesh & Gujarat.

Among 3 days of celebration one day will be reserved for all women activities under the theme of “Beti Bachao- Beti Padhao”.

About MP:

  • Chief Minister : Kamal Nath.
  • Governor : Lal Ji Tandon.

Maharashtra:

‘Kala Ghoda Arts Festival’ begins in Mumbai

India’s largest multi-cultural street festival ‘Kala Ghoda Arts Festival – 2020 (21st edition) begins in South Mumbai, Maharashtra.

The theme for 2020 KGAF is “Past Forward”. The Objectives of the festival is to “physically upgrading the Kala Ghod sub-precinct and making it the Art District of Mumbai”.

Punjab:

Online lottery scheme sales banned by Punjab govt to check illegal sales

The govt of Punjab has banned the sale of all types of online lottery schemes under section 5 of the Lotteries (Regulation) Act 1998 in order to check for illegal sales. The act will not only check illegal lottery business but will also boost Punjab’s tax and non tax revenue.

The Punjab cabinet gave its approval to prohibition of sale of computerised & online lotteries & online scheme tickets promoted through the internet by any state in India or by a foreign country.

About Punjab:

  • Capital- Chandigarh.
  • Governor- Vijayender Pal Singh Badnore.

Ranks & Reports

Sri Lanka ranks first in Breast Feeding support Policies and Programs

Sri Lanks has been ranked first in a new survey conducted by the World Breastfeeding Trends Initiative (WBTi) on Breast Feeding support Policies and Programs. Sri Lanka scored 91 points out of 100 and got the green color code and hence become the first country to achieve the “Green” nation status in supporting breastfeeding women.

About Sri Lanka:

  • Currency: Sri Lankan rupee.
  • Prime minister: Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Appointments

Deepa Malik elected India’s Paralympics Committee President

India’s lone woman Paralympic medalist Deepa Malik, 49 years old,Sonipat from Haryana, was elected as President of the Paralympic Committee of India. He was the successor of the acting interim president Gursharan Singh.

She was also awarded with Padma Shri award, Rajiv Gandhi khel Ratna Award & also won silver in the IPC World Championships in 2011 in shot put F 52-53 event and also bagged silver in discus (F 52-53) and javelin throw (F 53-54) events in 2108 Asian Games in Indonesia.

Govt appoints M Ajit Kumar as chairman of CBIC

The government on Thursday appointed M Ajit Kumar as chairman of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC). The new Chairman’s immediate responsibilities will include accelerationg the Goods and Service Tax (GST) revenues and to deal with the changes introduced in customs duties in the Union Budget for 2020.

The CBIC is the apex body for administering the levy and collection of indirect taxes of the Union of India.

Mohammed Tawfiq Allawi appointed as new PM of Iraq

Mohammed Tawfiq Allawi, 65 years old, was appointed as the Iraq’s new Prime Minister (PM) by its President Barhim Salih. He was the successor of Adil Abdul-Mahdi who resigned in November 2019 due to anti-government protests.

Allawai was appointed as New PM after long protests, in which more than 480 had died & more than 30000 have been wounded since the rallies began in October,2019.

The Protests were against state corruption, unemployment, low wages, Anti-American sentiment, Anti-Iranian sentiment and poor public services.

About Iraq:

  • Capital- Baghdad.
  • Currency- Iraqi dinar.

Honors & Awards

Vinod Shukla bags first Mathrubhumi Book of the year 2020 Award

Noted Hindi-poet-novelist Vinod Kumar Shukla(83 year) has bagged the inaugural Mathrubhumi Book of the Year 2020 award for his translated book ‘Blue Is Like Blue”.

The Stories in “Blue is Like Blue” has been translated  into English by Arvind Krishna Mehrotra and Sara Rai. The Award is given by Kerala based Malayalam Newspaper Mathrubhumi to the best fictional work released in the previous year.

Agreements

India and Maldives inks 4 MoUs to establish Addu tourism Zone

India & Maldives signed 5 MoUs (memorandum of understanding) to establish Addu tourism Zone on 5 islands of Addu Atoll in Maldives with a project cost of $2.49 million. In addition, an MoU to set up a bottled water plant at Hoarafushi, an inhabited island in Maldives was also signed.

The MoUs were signed by the High Commissioner of India Sunjay Sudhir, Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdulla Shahid and Addu City Council.

About Maldives:

  • Capital– Male
  • Currency– Maldivian rufiyaa

Sports Affairs

Novak Djokovic Wins the men’s singles title of Australian Open 2020

A Grand Slam tennis tournament was held from 20 January – 2 February 2020 at Rod Laver Arena, a multipurpose arena located in Melbourne Park, in Melbourne, Australia.The tournament marks the 108th edition of the slam and the 52nd edition in the Open Era.

Serbian tennis star, Novak Djokovic has won the men’s singles title of Australian Open 2020. He defeated Austrian tennis star Dominic Thiem in five sets to successfully defend his Australian Open men’s singles title in Melbourne, Australia. This was his 8th title win in the Australia Open.

Rubigula state bird of Goa declared as official Mascot for 36th National Games in Goa

The Flame-Throated Bulbul or Rubigula bird the state bird for Goa, which is officially declared as the Mascot for the 36th National Games going to held in Panaji, Goa.

The Mascot was unveiled by the Union Minister of State Independent Charge for Ministry of Sports and Ministry of Youth Affairs and Minister of State for Ministry of Minority Affairs Mr.Kiren Rijiju  and the Mascot has been designed by Sharmila Coutinho (Goa based Artist). Chief Minister of Goa Pramod Sawant also present in the unveiling ceremony.

About Goa:

  • Capital- Panaji
  • Chief Minister- Pramod Sawant
  • Governor- Satya Pal Malik

Important Days

World Wetlands Day 2020 was observed on February 2

World Wetlands Day (WWD) was observed to spread awareness and to conserve the wetlands all over the world.

Theme: “Wetlands and Biodiversity”.  The theme highlights the importance of biodiversity conservation, which conveys nearly 40% of the world’s plant & animal species live or breed on wetlands.

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