Daily GK Updates - 22nd February, 2020

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Gold reserves found by GSI in Sonbhadra district of Uttar Pradesh: The Geological Survey of India and the Uttar Pradesh Directorate of Geology and Mining have discovered two goldmines with around 3,350 tonne gold ore in the Naxalite-affected Sonbhadra district of Uttar Pradesh. This gold deposits is around five times the current gold reserves of India, which is around 626 tonne, and estimated at Rs 12 lakh crore. The Gold deposits have been found at two places namely Sonpahadi and Hardi field. The estimated gold deposits at Sonpahadi is 2,943.26 tonnes, while 646.15 kilograms in Hardi field.

2. National Museum Inaugurates Exhibition Titled ‘Historical Gastronomica– The Indus Dining Experience’ in New Delhi: The National Museum in New Delhi is hosting a unique exhibition on India’s ancient food history titled “Historical Gastronomica – The Indus Dining Experience” from 19 to 25 February 2020, that goes back to more than 5000 years ago. ‘Indus Dining Experience’ has been organised jointly by the National Museum and One Station Million Stories (OSMS). The first of its kind exhibition demonstrates how the first humans evolved due to food habits, learnt to distinguish edible from non-edible substance, food processing techniques and related architecture of the Harappans. One of the main attractions of this exhibition is, recreation of food of the Indus-Saraswati Civilization by National Award-winning Chef Sabyasachi Gorai.

3. North East Sustainable Development Goals Conclave 2020 to be held in Assam: The North East Sustainable Development Goals Conclave 2020 will be held in Assam from February 24-26, 2020. The theme of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Conclave 2020 is Partnerships, Cooperation and Development of North Eastern States. The three-day event is being organised by the government think-tank Niti Aayog in association with the North Eastern Council, Government of Assam, Tata Trusts, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS).

4. Bhaskar Khulbe and Amarjeet Sinha Appointed Advisors to Prime Minister: The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the appointments of retired IAS officers Bhaskar Khulbe and Amarjeet Sinha as Advisors to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Both the Indian Administrative Service officers are appointed in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) in the rank and scale of Secretary. Bhaskar Khulbe is an IAS officer from 1983 batch from West Bengal cadre and Sinha is also from the 1983 batch but Bihar cadre. They both are appointed on contractual basis initially for a period of two years, or until further orders.

5. Union Ministers Smriti Irani and Harsimrat Kaur Badal Inaugurates Organic Food Festival: The Union Minister for Food Processing Industries, Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Union Minister for Women and Child Development and Textiles, Smriti Irani jointly inaugurated the Organic Food Festival in New Delhi to be held from 21 to 23 February 2020. The Organic Food Festival would provide an opportunity to women entrepreneurs for capacity building and economic empowerment The festival, spread over an area of 6,000 sqm of space, is first of its kind event where more than 180 women entrepreneurs and self-help groups are participating from over 25 States and Union Territories with very interesting products on display from across the country. The festival is being organized by National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management (NIFTEM) with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) as the Industry Partner.

6. Mahant Nritya Gopal Das elected as President of Ram Mandir Trust: The first meeting of the Ram Mandir Trust to oversee the construction of Ram temple (in Ayodhya) was held in New Delhi. The 15-member trust was formed in adherence to the Supreme Court verdict on the Ayodhya dispute in November 2019. Nripendra Misra will be the head of the temple construction committee. Mahant Nritya Gopal Das was elected as the president of the Trust whereas Champat Rai would be the general secretary.

Note: UP Present CM: Yogi Adityanath, Governor: Anandiben Patel.

7. Tripura Tea Board organizzes ‘Run for India Tea’ event: Tripura hosts the “Run for India Tea” which was organized in collaboration by Tripura Tea Development Corporation (TTDC) and Tea Board of India. The event aims to further promote and popularise Tripura tea alongside India tea and to boost the tea industry in the state. The event was followed by a colourful tableau procession which featured the participation of large number of tea workers wearing traditional dresses.

Note: Chief Minister of Tripura: Biplab Kumar Deb; Governor of Tripura: Ramesh Bais.

8. Indian Railways Launches HRMS Mobile App for its Employees: In order to bring transparency in the administrative functioning of the Indian Railways, Shri Vinod Kumar Yadav, Chairman of Railway Board has launched HRMS Mobile App, for all the employees of Indian Railways. The HRMS Employee Mobile App has been designed and developed by Centre for Railway Information System (CRIS). It will act as a single window communication system between Railway employees and Administration. The app will enable the employees to see data related to their service as well as communicate with administration for any changes, if required.

9. Department of Telecommunications launches '5G Hackathon': The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has launched ‘5G Hackathon’ in association with government, academia and industry stakeholders to shortlist India’s focused cutting edge ideas that can be converted into workable 5G products and solutions. The 5G Hackathon is open to developers, students, start-ups, SMEs, academic institutions and registered companies in India and NRIs. Winners of the various phases will share a total prize pool of 2.5 crore rupees. The 5G technology provides quantum leap over 4G in terms of speed, spectrum efficiency and connection density.

Note: The DoT is a department of the Ministry of Communications of the executive branch of the Government of India.

Dhotre Sanjay Shamrao is Minister of State for Communications, Electronics & Information Technology.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Bangladesh Observes Language Martyrs’ Day ‘Amar Ekushey’ on 21 February 2020: On 21 February every year, Bangladesh observes the Shaheed Dibash known as ‘Amar Ekushey’ across the country to pay tribute to the martyrs of language movement. The day is observed to commemorate the martyrs, of the language movement, who were killed in firing by the Pakistani police on 21 February 1952 for establishing Bangla as the official language of the then East Pakistan.

2. Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar Steps Down, to Remain in Caretaker Capacity: The Prime Minister of Ireland Leo Varadkar has tendered his resignation on 20 February to President Michael Higgins. However, Leo Varadkar and his government will continue to carry on their duties until successors have been appointed. Varadkar is Ireland’s first openly gay leader, as well as the youngest person to hold the office at 38 years age.

Note: Capital of Ireland: Dublin; President: Michael D Higgins; Currency of Ireland: Euro

3. Myanmar Prez U Win Myint will be on 4-day State Visit to India: President of Myanmar U Win Myint will be on a four-day State Visit to India from 26th Feb 2020. U Win Myint will be accompanied by the First Lady Daw Cho Cho. The visiting dignitary is expected to visit Agra and Bodh Gaya following his official meetings in New Delhi

4. World Thinking Day: 22 February: World Thinking Day is celebrated annually on 22 February. The day is celebrated by Girl Scouts, Girl Guides and other girl groups to set aside a day for girls all over the world to think of each other, and to give thanks and appreciation to “sister” Girl Scouts and Girl Guides. World Thinking Day Theme 2020: Living Threads.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS

1. Ross Taylor Becomes First Cricketer to play 100 International Matches in all 3 formats: Veteran New Zealand batsman Ross Taylor made history on 21st February 2020, as he became the first-ever cricket player in the world to play 100 matches in all three formats of the game. The 35-year-old right-handed middle-order batsman achieved the feat in Wellington on 21 February, in the first Test against India at Basin Reserve, which happened to be his 100th Test for Kiwis. He played his 100th T20 International against India in January 2020 and has also played 231 ODIs for New Zealand. He is already his country’s leading run-scorer in Test and ODI with 7174 and 8570 runs respectively.

2. Drass Red lifts 2020 Ladakh Winter Sports Carnival: In Ladakh, Drass Red lifted 2020 Ladakh Winter Sports Carnival, Junior (Under-18) Ice Hockey and Skating Championship by Defeating Drass Winter Games Association, by 4 -0. The Carnival was organized by Kargil Ice and Snow Sports Club in Collaboration with Letsleh.com from 15th to 20th February at Ice Hockey Rink of Kiss Club at Biamathang, Kargil in which six teams participated.

BANKING AND FINANCE

1. RBI Approves Appointment of Sunil Gurbaxani as MD and CEO of Dhanlaxmi Bank: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved the appointment of Sunil Gurbaxani as Managing Director and CEO of Dhanlaxmi Bank. Currently Gurbaxani is working with Axis Bank. Sunil Gurbaxani will be appointed for a period of three years from the date of taking charge.

AWARDS AND HONOURS

1. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw wins EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2019: Dr. Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Chairperson and Managing Director, Biocon, has been named as the EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2019 on 19 February 2020, at the 21st edition of the EY Entrepreneur of The Year India awards. She will now represent India at the EY World Entrepreneur of the Year Award (WEOY) in Monte Carlo from 4–6 June 2020. Godrej Group Chairman Adi Godrej was conferred the Lifetime Achievement Award. Winners were also announced over nine other Categories for the Entrepreneur of the Year Program.