Current Affairs Daily Digest – February 09 & 10 2020
1. Ek Bharat Shreshth Bharat Campaign began on 10 February
Ek Bharat Shreshth Bharat Campaign began on 10 February across India. It was organized by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry. The campaign functions under the idea of a cultural connection between different regions.
The aim of Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat is to promote the spirit of national integration through engagement between all states and union territories.
2. NASA sends a Solar Orbiter probe to map poles of the sun
The US space agency NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) are sent a new probe toward the Sun to map its poles. The aim is to help researchers grasp how the sun’s vast bubble of energy affects Earth and humans in space.
3. African Union summit was held in Addis Ababa
The African Union (AU) summit was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Heads of state and government officials from across Africa gathered in the summit. The theme of the summit is “Silencing the Guns: Creating conducive conditions for Africa’s development”.
Highlights:
- The focus of the summit was to end regional violence, including the conflicts in South Sudan and Libya.
- The summit highlighted three challenges namely eradicating poverty, tackling the climate crisis and silencing guns in Africa.
- AU announced that it is to host two summits in May on conflict resolution and on implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area.
- The Democratic Republic of the Congo will replace South Africa as AU chair in 2021.
4. Researchers found Pangolin as the host of CoronaVirus in China
Chinese researchers who conducted the investigation on the animal origin of the deadly coronavirus outbreak in China found that the endangered pangolin may be the reason for the outbreak. Scientists at the South China Agricultural University found the genome sequences of viruses in pangolins to be 99% identical to those on coronavirus patients. The scientists conducted tests on more than 1,000 samples from wild animals.
5. Rajasthan govt to create separate identity card for the transgender community in the state
Rajasthan state government has announced that it is to connect the transgender community with the mainstream society. It is to provide separate identity cards for transgenders in the state. The announcement was made by the Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Master Bhanwarlal Meghwal.
6. Karen Pierce appointed as UKs ambassador to the US
Dame Karen Pierce has been appointed Britain’s ambassador to the United States. She became the first woman to hold the position, the most prominent in the diplomatic service. She is currently serving as the UK’s permanent representative to the United Nations. She will replace Kim Darroch who had resigned in 2019 over his controversial comments on US President Donald Trump in leaked diplomatic cables.
7. India, Sri Lanka to strengthen cooperation to combat terrorism
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi held talks with his Sri Lankan counterpart Mahinda Rajapaksa on 8 January during his state visit to India. The leaders discussed covering a range of key bilateral issues, including trade, defence and security, and the island nation’s Tamil population.
India-Sri Lanka ties:
- The two countries agree to deepen cooperation to combat terroris
- They discussed the joint projects in Sri Lanka apart from deepening trade, investment, and people-to-people ties.
- PM Modi reaffirmed that the new lines of credit (LoC) announced in 2019 will strengthen development cooperation between the two countries.
8. Corona Virus Ranking: India ranks 17 in importing Corona Virus
The researchers of Robert Koch institute in Germany and Humboldt University have founded mathematical model to predict global spread of novel corona virus cases. India was ranked 17th in the ranking system. So far three cases have been reported in Kerala. They are all from Kerala.
9. Parth: World’s Cheapest Gun Shot Locator developed by Indian Army
The Indian Army’s College of Military Engineering with a private firm developed the gun shot locators called “Parth”. These are much cheaper than the ones imported. The device was showcased at DefExpo 2020.
10. Kaamya Karthikeyan: Mumbai Girl becomes the youngest to climb Mt Aconcagua
Kaamya Karthikeyan became the youngest girl to climb the highest peak in South America, Mt Aconcagua. Kaamya Karthikeyan is a Class VII student studying in Navy Children School. She has set the record of become the youngest in the world to summit the highest peak of the Andes Mountain Range, Mt Aconcagua. She has also summited Mt Mentok Kangri II in August 2019.
11. Best Performing Smart Cities paired up with least performing to work as SISTER CITIES
The Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has paired up 20 best performing smart cities with least performing cities. They will work as “sister cities”.
The best performing cities include Tiruppur, Nagpur, Bhopal, Ranchi, Kanpur, Surat, Indore, Vellore, Vishakhapatnam, Varanasi, Vellore, Nashik, Vadodara, Pune, Kota, Davangere, Dehradun, Udaipur, Amaravati and Agra.
12. National Conference on E-Governance held in Mumbai; National E-Governance Awards presented
The 23rd National Conference on E-Governance was held in Mumbai to transform governance using digital technologies. The conference adopted Mumbai declaration. Delhi, Chandigarh and Daman and Diu emerged as the leaders in delivering e-governance services among Union Territories. Among the states, Haryana and Rajasthan emerged as leaders.
13. Oscars 2020: Joaquin Phoenix wins Best Actor, Renee Zellweger bags Best Actress award
At the 92nd Academy Awards, Joaquin Phoenix won the Best Actor award for Todd Phillips-directed Joker. The Best Actress award was won by Renee Zellweger for Judy. This is Phoenix’s fourth nomination and first Oscar win. In his speech, the actor talked about animal cruelty and world peace.
14. DoT approved the merger of Tata group with Bharti Airtel
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) approved the merger of the consumer mobile operations of the Tata group with Bharti Airtel. The final approval comes over two years after the companies had announced their plan to merge businesses.
15. First-ever Hornbill Festival Begins In Tripura
The first-ever hornbill festival in Tripura began on Saturday with an objective to raise awareness among people for conservation of the bird and to showcase biodiversity in the state. Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb inaugurated the two- day festival at Barmura Eco-park, an abode of the ‘oriental pied hornbills’ in West Tripura district.
16. Hunar Haat inaugurated in Indore, Madhya Pradesh
Governor of Madhya Pradesh Lalji Tandon has inaugurated Hunar Haat in Indore. Union Minister of Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi was also present on this occasion. Hunar Haat is being organized till 16th February 2020. Governor stated that India is a country of diversity with every region having different art, culture, language, costumes. This Unity in Diversity is the identity of India. Every corner of the country has a legacy of arts/crafts.
17. Bangladesh beat India to win maiden Under-19 World Cup
Bangladesh beat India by three wickets to win maiden ICC U-19 World Cup cricket title by Duckworth-Lewis method last night in South Africa. In a low-scoring final, Bangladesh first restricted India to a meagre 177 in 47.2 overs and then did well enough to score a revised target of 170 in 42.1 overs.
18. Haryana thrashes SAI to win 10th Hockey Senior Women National C’ship
Haryana thrashed Sports Authority of India (SAI) 6-0 to win the 10th Hockey India Senior Women National Championship 2020 (A Division) title at Kollam. Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy beat Hockey Maharashtra 2-1 in the third-fourth place play-off match.
19. Veteran RSS pracharak P Parameswaran passes away
P Parameswaran, one of the senior-most ‘pracharaks’ (Promoter) of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and former leader of the erstwhile Bharatiya Jana Sangh, passed away, Sangh Parivar sources said. He was 91.
The founder-director of the Bharatheeya Vichara Kendram took his last breath at 12.10 am while undergoing Ayurvedic treatment at Ottappalam in Kerala’s Palakkad district, according to the sources.
20. National Deworming Day is observed on february 10
Every year February 10 and August 10 is observed as the National Deworming Day (NDD). The day aims at eradicating intestinal worms also known as Soil-Transmitted Helminths (STH), among children in the age group of 1-19 years.
According to the World Health Organisation, about 241 million children in India in the ages of 1-14 years are at a risk of parasitic intestinal worms or STH. This means, India accounts for approximately 28 per cent of the total number of children globally estimated to be at-risk of STH infections.
21. Religare group to sell equity in health insurance arm to Kedaara group for Rs 400 crore
Religare Enterprises Ltd (REL) said it will sell part of stake in its health insurance subsidiary Religare Health Insurance Company Ltd to the Kedaara group for Rs 400 crore.
REL has entered into a binding agreement with a Kedaara group entity, Trishikhar Ventures LLP, which is a private equity investment firm for investments in its health insurance subsidiary Religare Health Insurance Company Ltd (RHICL), it said in a release.
22. Indian Army Major develops world’s first bulletproof helmet against AK-47 bullet
An Indian Army Major who had developed a bulletproof jacket for protection against sniper bullets, has now developed a helmet which is claimed to be first such in the world that can stop an AK-47 bullet round from a distance of 10 meters.
23. Singareni CMD N Sridhar receives Bharatiya Mahantam Award at Bangkok
Singareni Chairman and Managing Director N. Sridhar received the prestigious Bharatiya Mahantam Puraskar 2019-20, at the 13th Asian Business and Social Forum conference held at Bangkok, Thailand under the auspices of the AsiaOne magazine.
24. Maharashtra tops India’s first ever ranking of States on Justice delivery
India’s first ever ranking of States on their capacity to deliver Justice to citizens, announced here, lists Maharashtra at the top of the 18 Large and Mid-sized States (with population of over one crore each), followed by Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Haryana. The list of seven Small States (population less than one crore each) was topped by Goa, followed by Sikkim and Himachal Pradesh.
25. Orson Bean, actor and guest on TV game shows, dies at 91
Orson Bean, a familiar face on TV game shows and series from Hollywood’s Golden Age to Netflix, was fatally struck by a car evening while walking across a busy boulevard in Los Angeles, police said. Bean, 91, was walking off the crosswalk when he was struck by a vehicle and fell, then was struck by a second vehicle, police said.
26. PFRDA doubles minimum net worth for pension fund managers to ₹50 cr
The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), the regulator of the National Pension System (NPS), has doubled the minimum net worth criterion for pension fund managers to ₹50 crore from the ₹25 crore stipulated earlier. Existing pension fund managers must comply with this requirement within such time as the PFRDA stipulates.
