Current Affairs Daily Digest – February 15 2020
1. Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju Announces Khelo India Winter Games in Jammu and Kashmir
Union Territory of Ladakh will host the inaugural Khelo India Winter Games later this month, followed by a similar event in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir in March, Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju. The sports ministry will fund both the Khelo India Winter Games in Ladakh in the third week of February and Jammu and Kashmir in the first week of March.
2. India first inter-city electric bus service between Mumbai and Pune launched
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari launched India’s first inter-city electric bus service between Mumbai and Pune. Planning to extend these services in other parts of Maharashtra and adjoining states in the near future.
The 43-seater capacity luxury electric bus is capable of operating within a range of 300 kilometers on a single charge and would be administered twice daily between the two cities.
3. National Conference on Policy Framework for Skilling of Women and Children was held in New Delhi
National Conference on Policy Framework for Skilling of Women and Children was held on 14 February in New Delhi. The Ministries of Women & Child Development (WCD) partnered with Skill Development & Entrepreneurship to enable and empower the women and youth of India with skilling in every segment where India is competent to make a mark. The announcement was made by the Union Minister of WCD and Textiles Smriti Zubin Irani.
4. India attends Munich Security Conference in Germany
Munich Security Conference is being held in Germany between February 14, 2020 and February 16, 2020. The Conference was attended by External Affairs minister Jaishankar representing India. The Minister met his counterparts of Georgia, Portugal and Lithuania on the sidelines of the conference. The minister his Portugal Counterpart as a backdrop of its President visiting India.
5. Antarctica recorded the hottest temperature of 20.75 degrees Celsius
World Meteorological Organization announced that for the first time in record Antarctica has recorded its hottest temperature ever, 20.75 Degree Celsius. So far, the highest was 18.3 Degrees Celsius that was recorded in January 1982.
6. Vinay Dube appointed as GoAir CEO
Wadia group-promoted GoAir said it has appointed Vinay Dube as the airline’s Chief Executive Officer. Till now, Dube was serving as an advisor to the carrier, a role which he took up after quitting the defunct Jet Airways in May last year.
7. Boris Johnson appoints Alok Sharma as UK’s business minister, COP26 president
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has appointed Alok Sharma as his new business minister, the governmnet said in a statement. Sharma, 52, was also appointed as the minister in charge of the UK’s COP26 climate change summit. He was previously secretary of state for international development.
8. India, Portugal sign 14 pacts
India and Portugal exchanged 14 agreements and understandings in a number of key areas, including maritime, intellectual property rights, aerospace and scientific research, as President Ram Nath Kovind hosted his Portuguese counterpart Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa in New Delhi.
Kovind received Sousa at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on his first state visit to India. Kovind said Portugal-India relations are very special and the two countries enjoy 500 years of shared history.
9. Common portal for health insurance claim settlements on the cards
The settlement of health insurance claims could soon be a matter of a few clicks, as the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai ) is planning a common portal for the process.
The insurance regulator is seeking to bring all stakeholders in the health insurance space — insurers, the insured, as well as hospitals — under one roof with an aim to standardise the claim settlement procedure and ensure payment in a time-bound manner, T L Alamelu, member (non-life), Irdai, said on Friday.
