NATIONAL UPDATES:
1. Medical devices to come under CDSCO’s purview
from 1st April: The Government of India has decided to consider
all medical devices including implants and contraceptives as “Drugs”. The
notification regarding the re-categorization was issued by the Ministry of
Health and Family Welfare. With the implementation, all the medical devices
will come under the purview of the Central Drugs and Standard Control
Organization (CDSCO). The re-categorization will be implemented from 1st April
2020 in the phase manner. The re-categorization will enable the drugs regulator
“CDSCO” to tighten the regulation to improve the safety and quality.
Note: Union
Minister of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare: Harsh Vardhan.
2. Delhi Election Results 2020 Updates: AAP gets
62 seats, BJP 8: In Delhi Assembly Election, Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam
Aadmi Party scored a landslide victory. This is the second time in a row as Aam
Aadmi Party swept aside both BJP, which was again restricted to a single digit
and Congress which could not win a single seat. In the 2015 Assembly Election,
the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had won 67 seats out of 70. BJP has won eight seats,
five more than the 2015 assembly election. However, the party managed to
increase its vote share by over 6% from the last elections. 0.5% (approx)
voters pressed the NOTA (None of the Above) button.
3. Ground Water Act-2020 approved by UP
Government: The Uttar Pradesh government has given its
approval to the Ground Water Act-2020. The Ground Water Act-2020 has been
approved with an objective of improving the falling groundwater level in the
state. In order to achieve this aim, the state cabinet chaired by the Uttar
Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath approved the Ground Water Act-2020.
4. NSG organises 20th International Seminar
against terrorsim at Manesar, Haryana: National
Security Guard (NSG) has organised the 20th International Seminar on
“Comprehends the Evolving Contours of Terrorism & IED Threat-Wayahead for
the Security Community” at Manesar, Haryana. The seminar was inaugurated by the
Minister of State for Home Affairs, G. Kishan Reddy. Senior Police and security
officers and delegates from various countries are participating in the Seminar.
A wide spectrum of Counter Terrorism and Counter-IED issues in wilbe covered in
the two-day seminar. He also presented the Counter-IED Innovators awards and
released the 30th volume of “The Bomshell”.
5. 3-Day global meet on climate change ‘ClimFishCon
2020’ to be held in Kochi: A three-day international
conference titled ‘ClimFishCon 2020’ to deliberate on the impact of climate
change on ‘hydrological cycle, ecosystem, fisheries and food security’ will be
held in Kochi, Kerala from February 12 to 14, 2020. It has been organized by
the CUSAT School of Industrial Fisheries in collaboration with the Department
of Fisheries, Kerala. Theme: Climate Change-Effective Adaptation for a Secure
Future. More than 300 delegates from 12 countries including scientists,
researchers, administrators, policymakers, academicians, and entrepreneurs will
deliberate on strategies to: (1) deal with climate emergency and changing
hydrological cycles; (2) preserve the ocean and other aquatic biodiversity; (3)
build a circular and blue economy
6. National Productivity Day: 12th February: National Productivity Day is being observed on 12th February annually
to increase the productivity culture in India. It is celebrated by the National
Productivity Council (NPC), under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry
Government of India is a premier institution for propagating productivity
movement in India. NPC works for providing solutions towards accelerating
productivity, enhancing competitiveness, increasing productivity.
Note: Chairman
of National Productivity Council: Guruprasad Mohapatra; Director-General of
National Productivity Council: Arun Kumar Jha.
7. Elephant and Indian Bustard to be included in
India’s global conservation list: India to
include the Asian Elephant and the Great Indian Bustard in the list of species
that merit heightened conservation measures. The list will be debated at the
13th Conference of Parties (COP) of the Convention on the Conservation of
Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), an environment treaty under the United
Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
Note:
Headquarters of United Nations Environment Programme: Nairobi, Kenya; Director
of United Nations Environment Programme: Inger Andersen.
8. UP Govt launches toll free helpline numbers
for students: Uttar Pradesh Government has launched toll-free
helpline numbers (1800-180-5310 and 18001805312) to solve the queries of
students ahead of the Board Examinations starting next week. Experts of
different subjects including English, life sciences, geography, general
science, Hindi, Sanskrit, chemistry will be available on call on these numbers.
The helpline numbers will remain active from 8 am to 8 pm.
9. Union Cabinet approves changes in 'Vivad se
Vishwas' Bill: Union Cabinet has approved changes in the Direct
Tax Vivad se Vishwas Bill, 2020. It seeks to increase its scope to cover
litigations pending in various debt recovery tribunals (DRTs). It was proposed
to cover tax disputes pending in Income Tax Appellate Tribunals, High Courts
and the Supreme Court. Union Cabinet has given its in-principle approval for
capital infusion of 2,500 crore rupees in three Public Sector General Insurance
Companies.
INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:
1. WHO officially names Coronavirus disease as
“Covid-19”: The World Health Organization (WHO) has
officially named the disease caused by the new coronavirus as “Covid-2019”. The
new name “Covid-2019” has been taken from the words “corona”, “virus” and
“disease”, with 2019 representing the year in which it emerged. The word
coronavirus refers to the group of viruses it belongs to. The naming of the
disease was done as the researchers were calling for an official name of the
disease to avoid confusion and stigmatisation of any group or country. The
virus was also designated as SARS-CoV-2 by the International Committee on
Taxonomy of Viruses.
Note: WHO
Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland; Director general: Tedros Adhanom.
OTHER UPDATES:
SPORTS
1. Vivek Sagar Prasad and Lalremsiami Win FIH
Rising Star of the Year Awards 2019: Vivek Sagar
Prasad and Lalremsiami have won the FIH Rising Star of the Year Awards 2019 in
the male and female category respectively. The award is given by International
Hockey Federation for players in the field of Hockey. Lalremsiami is the first
woman from India to win this award while Vivek is the first male player from
India to win this award.
2. ICC penalizes 3 Bangladesh and 2 India U-19
cricketers: The International Cricket Council has penalized
three Bangladesh as well as two Indian U-19 cricketers. The players have been
sanctioned by ICC for violating the Code of Conduct for players. ICC found them
guilty of the Level 3 breach during the U-19 World Cup finals between India and
Bangladesh, held in South Africa. ICC found them guilty as they were involved
in an exchange of words with some pushing and shoving on the field after the
final match.
The list of
punished players includes Towhid Hridoy, Shamim Hossain and Rakibul Hasan of
Bangladesh, and Akash Singh and Ravi Bishnoi of India. The Bangladesh
cricketers were handed six demerit points as per the ICC code of conduct. While
Indian players were penalized with five demerit points for the post-match
incidents.
BUSINESS AND ECONOMY
1. India out of US’ developing nations list for
trade benefits: The US removed India from its list of developing
countries that are exempt from investigations into whether they harm American
industry with unfairly subsidised exports. The United States Trade
Representative (USTR) eliminated a host of countries including Brazil,
Indonesia, Hong Kong, South Africa and Argentina.
The US removed
India from the list on account of it being a G-20 member and having a share of
0.5% or more of world trade. The move has cast a shadow on India being able to
restore preferential benefits under the Generalised System of Preference (GSP)
as part of its trade talks with the US, as only developing countries are
eligible for it. India’s share in global exports was 1.67% in 2018. In global
imports, it was 2.57%.
Note: Capital
of the USA: Washington, D.C.; President of USA: Donald Trump.
AWARDS AND HONOURS
1. 13th edition of ESPNcricinfo Awards 2019
announced: ESPNcricinfo (sports news website) announced the
13th edition of the Annual ESPNcricinfo Awards 2019. The awards were presented
under 12 categories & selected by a jury comprising former cricketers,
ESPNcricinfo senior editors, writers & global correspondents. Captain of
the year award: Eoin Joseph Gerard Morgan was named as the ‘captain of the
year’ for leading England to win the World Cup Title against New Zealand.
Here is the
list of winners of ESPNcricinfo Awards 2019:
|
Sr. No.
|
Category
|
Winner
|
|
1
|
Captain of the year
|
Eoin Morgan (England)
|
|
2
|
Test batting performance of the year
|
Kusal Perera (Sri Lanka)
|
|
3
|
Test bowling performance of the year
|
Kemar Roach (West Indies)
|
|
4
|
ODI batting performance of the year
|
Ben Stokes (England)
|
|
5
|
ODI bowling performance of the year
|
Matt Henry (New Zealand)
|
|
6
|
T20I batting performance of the year
|
Gleen Maxwell (Australia)
|
|
7
|
T20I bowling performance of the year
|
Lasith Malinga (Sri Lanka)
|
|
8
|
Debutant of the year
|
Jofra Archer (England)
|
|
9
|
Women’s batting performance of the year
|
Meg Lanning (Australia)
|
|
10
|
Women’s bowling performance of the year
|
Ellyse Perry (Australia)
|
|
11
|
Associate batting performance of the year
|
|
|
12
|
Associate bowling performance of the year
|
Bilal Khan (Oman)
|
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