National Affairs
22nd edition of India International Seafood Show (IISS) 2020 commenced in Kochi, Kerala
A 3-day long 22nd edition of India International Seafood Show (IISS), 2020 based on the theme “Blue Revolution- Beyond Production to Value Addition” has commenced at Hotel Grand Hyatt in Kochi, Kerala. The show is being organized jointly by the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) under Ministry of Commerce and Industry & the Seafood Exporters Association of India (SEAI).
It is a biennial show, this time being held in Kochi after 12 years, its 21st edition was held in Goa in January 2018.
About SEAI:
- Formation– 1973
- Headquarters– Kochi, Kerala
‘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.
About Rajasthan:
- Chief Minister: Ashok Gehlot;
- Governor: Kalraj Mishra;
- Capital: Jaipur.
India becomes second largest steel producer of Crude Steel
As per World Steel Association data, India has surpassed Japan in terms of annual steel production, becoming the second-largest producer of crude steel in the world, after China.
India produced 111.2 million tonnes of crude steel in 2019. In 2019, Japan (99.3), the United States (87.9) and Russia (71.6) rank third,fourth and fifth respectively.
Steel is a deregulated sector, the Government does not set any annual targets for steel production.
Ministry of Corporate Affairs to launch Spice plus form
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs is set to launch the new company incorporation form “Spice+”. This is a part of a comprehensive package to make life easier for someone starting a business. It will be launched on 15 February 2020. The new form will reduce the time taken and the cost of registering a company that was estimated at around 4 hours in December-January.
There are two parts in Spice+ form:
1) The first one deals with name registration
2) The second part for a bouquet of services, including incorporation, issue of Primary Account Number (PAN) and Tax Deduction and Collection Account Number (TAN)
About Ministry of Corporate Affairs:
- Minister of MCA: Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman
- Minister of State of MCA: Shri Anurag Singh Thakur
International Affairs
U.S. announces launch of International Religious Freedom Alliance
The United States (US) launched the 27-nation International Religious Freedom Alliance, which will try to adopt a collective approach in protecting and preserving religious freedom across the world. It was announced by US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo.
Among the prominent countries to join the alliance are Austria, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Israel, Ukraine, the Netherlands and Greece.
About United States:
- Capital– Washington, D.C.
- Currency– United States Dollar
- President– Donald Trump
India, UK to partner on developing jet engine technology
India and the United Kingdom are expected to sign a government-to-government agreement on jet engine technology development. The announcement was made by the UK Minister for Defence Procurement James Heappey.
Both India and the UK are exploring various options for collaboration on joint defence projects. The UK has initiated to set up joint technology development for sixth-generation fighters which can go into India’s fifth-generation Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft.
NASA astronaut Christina Koch returns to Earth after record-setting stay in space
NASA’s astronaut Christina Koch returned from space to Earth safely yesterday. Koch returned after an 11-month mission, breaking the world record for the most time spent by a woman in space.
Koch has spent 328 days on International Space Station ISS, surpassing the previous record of 289 days held by fellow American Peggy Whitson. Koch’s medical data will be especially valuable to NASA scientists as the agency draws up plans for a long-duration manned mission to Mars.
About NASA:
- Headquarters- Washington, D.C., United States(US).
- Founded – 29 July 1958.
- Founder- Dwight D. Eisenhower.
State Affairs
Karnataka launches Janasevaka Scheme
The State Government of Karnataka launched Janasevaka scheme. The Government aims to provide doorstep government services under the scheme. Also, it intends to digitize several services and make these services easily available to the citizens through the scheme.
The Cost of the service is Rs 115. This amount does not include the cost of documentation. The scheme is to be implemented in Bengaluru. Depending on the work load, it is to be extended to the rest of Karnataka.
About Karnataka:
- Chief Minister – Sri B. S. Yediyurappa
- Governor – Shri Vajubhai Vala
- Capital – Bengaluru
Gujarat: New academic year in schools to start from April instead of June
Gujarat Government has announced to start new academic year in schools from 20th April 2020 instead of June first week. Following this decision, the students will need to go to school for 13 days after annual examinations, followed by summer vacation. At present, the schools observe the summer vacation immediately after the annual examinations.
According to new academic year, the annual examinations and results will be completed by 20th April.The new academic year will start from 20th April and Schools will remain open till 3rd May. As per new schedule, the summer vacation will be from 4th May to 7th June.
About Gujarat:
- Chief Minister – Shri Vijaybhai R. Rupani
- Governor – Shri Acharya Dev Vrat
- Capital – Gandhinagar
Banking Affairs
RBI to conduct “Financial Literacy Week 2020”
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will conduct the “Financial Literacy Week 2020″ from February 10 to February 14, 2020. The theme of the Financial Literacy Week 2020 is “Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs)”. This year India’s central bank is focusing on the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. The Financial Literacy Week 2020 will aim to aware people about the formalisation, collateral free loan, discounting of receivables, rehabilitation of stressed units and timely repayment.
About RBI:
- RBI 25th Governor: Shaktikant Das;
- Headquarters: Mumbai;
- Founded: 1 April 1935, Kolkata.
Awards & Honors
Padma Shri awardee Manoj Das to receive Mystic Kalinga Literary Award
Famous Odia and English writer Manoj Das, 85 years old, will receive Mystic Kalinga Literary award– Indian and Global languages, during the 4th edition of the 2 day Mystic Kalinga Festival (MSF) which commences in Swosti Premium, Odisha, Bhubaneswar on February 8 & 9, 2020.
Mystic Literary award has been instituted to recognize and celebrate inspiring writers, poets and performers.
President of India presents International Gandhi Awards for Leprosy 2019
The President of India, Ram Nath Kovind has presented the International Gandhi Awards for Leprosy for the year 2019 to Dr N.S. Dharmashaktu under the Indian nomination (individual) category and the Leprosy Mission Trust under the institutional category in New Delhi.
Summits & Conference
5th India-Russia Military Industrial Conference in Lucknow
The fifth India-Russia Military Industrial Conference was held on the sidelines of the ongoing Def Expo 2020 in Lucknow; Over 100 Russian and over 200 Indian industry leaders participated in the conference.
14 MoUs were signed between Indian and Russian companies under the Make in India initiative. The MoUs were related to production of different defence equipment such as parts of T-72, T-90, radar systems, ASW Rocket launchers and 3D modeling.
“Central Asia Business Council” launched in New Delhi
The “Central Asia Business Council” was launched in New Delhi. The event was organized by Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) and addressed by India’s External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar. This was the first instance when the business chambers of all five Central Asian states i.e. Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan, were brought together by India to push trade and investment partnership.
Sports Affairs
Rohit Rajpal to continue as India’s Davis Cup captain 2020
All India Tennis Association (AITA) announced Rohit Rajpal will continue as India’s non-playing Davis Cup captain 2020, in the selection committee meeting held at New Delhi, India.
The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men’s tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) & Kosmos Holding, contested between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format.
For  Online Test Series | Click Here |
To Subscribe  Youtube | Click Here |
To Join Whatsapp | Click Here |
To Join Telegram Channel | Click Here |