Current Affairs - February 8, 2020 Current Affairs

The fifth round of India-Russia Military Industrial Conference (IRMIC) was conducted on the sidelines of Defexpo-2020 at Lucknow on 6 February 2020. The conference was co-chaired by Indian Defence Secretary Dr. Ajay Kumar, and Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of Russian Federation Mr. Oleg Ryazantsev. 14 MoUs were exchanged between the Russian Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and the Indian companies during the conference.

Ease of living index (EoLI) and Municipal Performance Index (MPI) 2019 have launched by the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs. The indices designed to assess the quality of life of citizens in 100 Smart Cities and 14 other Million Plus Cities.

Lucknow hosted the 5th India-Russia Military Industrial Conference. The India-Russia Military Industrial Conference was attended by over 100 Russian and over 200 Indian industry leaders. The conference was held on the sidelines of the Defence Expo 2020 taking place in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. Indian & Russian companies signed Memorandum of Understanding under the Make in India initiative and will boost the high level strategic and real technological partnership between the two countries.

NASA's Christina Koch returns to Earth after 328 days aboard the International Space Station; had broken record for longest spaceflight of 9 days by a female held by another NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson.

International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is observed on 6 February. The theme for the International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM for the year 2020 is "Unleashing Youth Power: One decade of accelerating actions for zero female genital mutilation". The theme focuses on mobilizing youth around the eliminations of harmful practices including FGM.

The United States on announced the launch of a 27-nation International Religious Freedom Alliance, which will try to adopt a collective approach in protecting and preserving religious freedom across the world.

Britain's Prince Charles unveils a new children's protection fund for India as part of British Asian Trust, the charity founded by him in 2007 to fight poverty in South Asia. Katy Perry as the ambassador of the new fund, which will be focussed on reducing the exploitation of children by 50 percent.

Kirk Douglas, one of the last surviving movie stars from Hollywood's golden age, whose rugged good looks and muscular intensity made him a commanding presence in celebrated films like "Lust for Life," "Spartacus" and "Paths of Glory," died at his home in Beverly Hills, Calif. He was 103.

In 2020 GIPC's IP Index, India's position has downgraded to 40th rank in comparison to 36th position out of 50 countries in 2019. The index has been topped by the United States (US) followed by UK (United Kingdom), Sweden, France and Germany.

The minister of State for Labour Santosh Gangwar said that the unemployment rate in the country as per a new survey was 6.1 percent in 2017-18. The way our government is functioning, employment opportunities are being created and the youths are getting jobs also.

Sports Authority of India (SAI) and Hockey India announced the establishment of the High Performance Centres in seven places across the country to provide state-of-the-art facilities to junior and sub-Junior players. The move was aimed at grooming young talent in view of 2024 and 2028 Olympic Games.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman introduced a bill in the Lok Sabha to provide for a mechanism to settle disputed tax cases to the tune of ?9.32 lakh crore.

Odia & English writer Manoj Das wins Mystic Kalinga Literary Award (Indian and Global Languages) in Bhubaneswar.

Emami Group will sell its cement business to Nirma group arm for Rs 5,500 crore. The Kolkata-headquartered conglomerate announced on that it has entered into a binding agreement with Nuvoco Vistas, part of the Nirma Group for divesting its 100% equity in Emami Cement for an enterprise value of Rs 5,500 crore.

DRDO's High Energy Materials Research Laboratory (HEMRL) signed a Technology Development Contract with Rosoboronexport Russia. It was signed during the DefExpo 2020 in Lucknow. The contract aims for the development of a spectrum of high energy materials required for missiles, rockets, and guns.

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs is set to launch the new company incorporation form "Spice+". This is a part of a comprehensive package to make life easier for someone starting a business. It will be launched on 15 February 2020.

Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) flagged off the first direct flight from Bidar airport to Bengaluru in Karnataka on 7 February 2020. The flight operation was inaugurated by Chief Minister of Karnataka, Shri B.S. Yediyurappa, and Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation and Bidar MP Shri BhagwanthKhuba.

For the first time, Nepal has announced that it will count a "third gender" category in its next population census. The country decided to count lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people as a minority group that can be allocated to government jobs and education.

India and the United Kingdom are expected to sign a government-to-government agreement on jet engine technology development. The announcement was made by the UK Minister for Defence Procurement James Heappey on 6 February.

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) signed an MOU with Israel-based defense electronics company Elbit Systems on 6 February 2020 during the DefExpo 2020. The MoU aims to promote and market the Digital Head-Up Displays (HUD) units.