Current Affairs Daily Digest – February 24 2020
1. Artificial Intelligence based Chatbot ASKDISHA launched by the Railways
The Indian Railways recently launched Artificial Intelligence based chatbot called “ASKDISHA”. The chatbot will interact with the Railway customers in Hindi language resolving their queries.
The Chatbot was initially launched in 2018 in English. Now, the chatbot has been empowered to converse in Hindi. The bot handles more than 3.000 inquiries. There are further plans to launch the chatbot in more languages.
2. ICMR Report says Delhi and Ahmedabad tops in added-fat consumption
The Indian Council of Medical Research conducted study on the food habits of the citizens of the country. The study said that vegetarians consume more fat than that of non-vegetarians. Also, among the metropolitan cities of India, Delhi and Ahmedabad topped the list in average consumption of added fat.
3. US to sign peace deal with Taliban forces to end war in Afghanistan
The US President Donald Trump recently announced that the United States of America will sign a peace agreement with the Taliban forces on February 29, 2020.
The US and the Taliban forces are to sign peace agreement to end the war of 18 years in Afghanistan. After the agreement, 12,000 US troops that are currently deployed in Afghanistan are to return to US.
4. US surpasses China to become India’s top trading partner
The United States has surpassed China to become India’s top trading partner. According to the Commerce Ministry data, the bilateral trade between the US and India stood at nearly 88 billion dollars in 2018-19 fiscal. During the period, India’s trade with China was at 87.1 billion dollars.
Similarly, during April-December 2019-20, the bilateral trade between the US and India stood at 68 billion dollars against a nearly 65 billion dollars trade with China in the same period.
5. Riek Machar swears in as first vice president in South Sudan
In South Sudan, rebel leader Riek Machar was sworn in as first vice president. The rebel leader returns as first vice president in a transition government which will serve for 36 months.
Four other vice presidents from the current regime and other opposition groups will also form part of a bloated government of 35 ministers, in addition to 550 lawmakers.
6. Govt aims to make Chhattisgarh a steel hub of the country: Dharmendra Pradhan
Union Minister for Petroleum, Natural Gas and Steel Dharmendra Pradhan has said that the government aims to make Chhattisgarh a steel hub of the country. Talking to media persons in Bhilai city today, Mr. Pradhan said that the steel industry has an important role to play in making India a five trillion dollar economy.
7. Table Tennis: Sharath-Sathiyan win silver at Hungarian Open
The Indian table tennis pair of Achanta Sharath Kamal and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran clinched a silver medal in the men’s doubles event at the ITTF World Tour Hungarian Open, after losing 1-3 in the finals to Benedikt Duda and Patrick Franziska of Germany. The Indians entered the summit clash after stunning top seeds Kwan Kit Ho and Chun Ting Wong of Hong Kong in the semis, but were unable to keep their momentum going as they lost 5-11, 9-11, 11-9 and 9-11 in four games.
8. Gukesh becomes India’s youngest ever Grandmaster
Gukesh has become India’s youngest GM at 12 years, 7 months and 17 days. With this achievement, Gukesh has overtaken Praggnanandhaa who held the record at 12 years and 10 months. Gukesh will next be participating at the Gibraltar Masters to be held from January 21 to 31.
9. NITI Aayog organizing Sustainable Development Goals Conclave 2020
NITI Aayog is organizing Sustainable Development Goals Conclave 2020: Partnerships, Cooperation and Development of North Eastern states- in Guwahati, Assam. The inaugural session will be held on Monday evening in presence all Chief Ministers of North Eastern states among others.
10. India to host Commonwealth Shooting and Archery Championships in January 2022
India will host the Commonwealth Shooting and Archery Championships in January 2022. The medals from the two events will be counted for ranking of competing nations at the Birmingham Games. However, the medals will be added to the final tally one week after the conclusion of the Games.
11. Ladakh all set to host first-ever Khelo India Winter Games
The Union Territory of Ladakh is all set to host the first-ever Khelo India Winter Games. In the presence of Ladakh Lieutenant Governor R K Mathur, Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Kiren Rijiju will inaugurate the games on Tuesday, 25th Feb at NDS Indoor Ice Hockey Rink in Leh.
12. Central Excise Day observed on February 24
Central Excise Day is celebrated every year on February 24 across the whole India to encourage the employees of excise department to carry out the central excise duty all over India in better way in order and even to prevent the corruption in goods manufacturing business as well as implement other rules to carry out best possible excise services.
