Current Affairs Daily Digest – February 06 2020

1. RBI releases bi-monthly policy: Repo rate unchanged

Reserve Bank of India released its bi-monthly monetary policy. The apex bank has kept the policy repo rate unchanged. It remains at 5.15%.nThe Monetary Policy Committee that meets once in two months under the chairmanship of its Governor has made the following observations

• The inflation has increased and the unusual price hike in onions has been the main reason behind price rise. The Retail Inflation has increased from 4.6% in October to 5.5% in November. It increased further to 7.4% in December 2019. It is the highest since July 2014.
• The Committee estimates CPI for Q4 of the Financial Year 2020 at 6.5%. For Q3, it was at 3.2%.
• The Reverse Repo Rate under the Liquidity Adjustment Facility remained unchanged at 4.9%
• The Bank Rate and the Marginal Standing Facility Rate stood at 5.4%

2. President awarded the International Gandhi Awards for Leprosy

The President of India Ram Nath Kovind presented the International Gandhi Awards for Leprosy to Dr. N.S. Dharmashaktu under the Individual category and The Leprosy Mission Trust under the institutional category on 6 February 2020. Government’s measure on leprosy – Government has accomplished levels of leprosy elimination defined as less than one case per ten thousand population.

3. Rakhi Halder won gold at Senior Womens National Weightlifting Championships

Rakhi Halder of Bengal claimed gold in the 64kg category of the 35th edition of the Senior Women’s National Weightlifting Championships at Khudiram Anushilan Kendra in Kolkata. She lifted 93 kg in snatch and 117 kg in clean and jerk on 5 January 2020. She lifted 10kg ahead of Harjinder Kaur of Chandigarh, her rival.

4. India ranked 40th in the International IP Index

India ranked 40th on a global International Intellectual Property (IP) Index. It was released by the Global Innovation Policy Center (GIPC) of the US Chambers of Commerce. GIPC conducted the survey for 53 countries.

India scored 38.46% (19.23 out of 50) in 2020. It 2019, it scored 36.04% (16.22 out of 45). As per the report, India has shown improvement in terms of scores when it comes to the protection of IP and copyright issues.

5. Cabinet approved amendments to bring cooperative banks under RBI regulation

The Union Cabinet approved the proposal to amend the Banking Regulation Act. The move comes after the Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) Bank crisis. The amendment will bring the cooperative banks under the regulatory mechanism of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

6. Salmara Mankachar district received National Award for implementing Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana

The district of South Salmara Mankachar of Assam won National Award for implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana under the category of State/Union Territory having a population of more than one crore. The award was conferred by the Union Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Irani in a prize distribution meeting held at New Delhi.

7. India International Seafood Show to be held in Kochi

Ministry of Commerce and Industry is conducting the 22nd edition of India International Seafood Show (IISS) 2020 in Kochi from 7-9 February 2020.
Organizing Team: The three-day event is organized by the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA), under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry in association with the Seafood Exporters Association of India (SEAI).

8. Cabinet approved 2020 IIIT Laws Amendment Bill

The Union Cabinet chaired by PM Narendra Modi approved the Indian Institutes of Information Technology Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2020. The Bill will approve the formalization of IIITs at Agartala, Bhagalpur, Bhopal, Raichur, and Surat. The institutions will now be covered under the IIIT (PPP) Act, 2017.

9. Cabinet approves the setting up of Vadhavan Port in Maharashtra

The Union Cabinet led by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave its in-principle approval to set up a Major Port at Vadhavan near Dahanu in Maharashtra. The total estimated cost of the project is Rs.65,544.54 crore. Vadhavan port: ? The Vadhavan port will be developed on the landlord model.

10. International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation is observed on 6 February

International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is observed on 6 February. The day is observed to end the practice of FGM. It creates awareness about FGM which is a violation of the human rights of girls and women.

Theme:
The theme for the International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM for the year 2020 is “Unleashing Youth Power: One decade of accelerating actions for zero female genital mutilation”.

11. Pink City-Jaipur receives World Heritage Certificate from UNESCO

Pink City of Rajasthan, Jaipur, received World Heritage Certificate from the UNESCO. The UNESCO Director General Audrey Azoulay visited India to present the certificate.

Jaipur is known for its palaces, architecture, forts. The architecture in the city reflected inclusion of Mughal, Persian and Hindu designs. In order to preserve this cultural mixture of the city, UNESCO and the Rajasthan Tourism Department have signed an agreement.