Current Affairs - February 9, 2020 Current Affairs

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray presented an award to senior journalist Dinkar Keshav Raikar for his contribution to journalism. Raikar, currently consulting editor of Lokmat group, was conferred with the lifetime achievement award instituted by the Mantralaya and Vidhimandal Vartahar Sangh.

The Reserve Bank of India released the 6th bi-monthly monetary policy statement for 2019-20 on 6 February. The Monetary Policy Committee which was led by Governor Shaktikanta Das from 4-6 February. The Central Bank has kept the repo rate unchanged at 5.15%.The reverse repo rate was decided to remain unchanged at 4.90%. RBI is to maintain an accommodative policy stance to ensure that inflation remains within the target. GDP growth forecast for the financial year 2020-21 has been projected at 6%.

Rohit Rajpal will continue as India's non-playing Davis Cup captain while veteran Leander Paes, too, has retained his place in the six-member squad picked for the tie against Croatia next month. Zeeshan Ali will be the coach.

Haryana Govt. launches 'Mukhya Mantri Parivar Samridhi Yojna'; Rs 6,000 per year will be given to families having an annual income below Rs 1.80 lakh and land holdings up to five acres.

President Ram Nath Kovind presented the International Gandhi Awards for Leprosy to Dr N S Dharmashaktu under the Indian nomination (individual) category and the Leprosy Mission Trust under the institutional category.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh expressed confidence that the country will achieve the target of five-billion-dollar worth of defense exports by 2024. The MoUs signed by us will strengthen the defense industrial base and will prove beneficial for the country. Around 200 agreements have been concluded in this Defexpo and described it as historic.

The 1st ever India Africa Defence Ministers Conclave was held at Lucknow, India, in conjunction with DEFEXPO INDIA on 6th February 2020, co-organised by the Ministry of Defence. This is the first in the series of Pan Africa events at the Ministerial level in the run-up to India Africa Forum Summit IV.

Fashion show "Naturally North-East: The Naga Narrative", curated by noted fashion designer Ritu Beri was held at Surajkund Mela in Haryana.

Botswana holds first auction since 2014 for big game hunters to kill 70 elephants. Botswana, home to the world's largest elephant population, on February 7 was set to hold a major auction for big game hunters to kill 70 elephants, the first since scrapping a hunting ban last year.

Digital payments in India have been growing rapidly. The Reserve Bank shall construct and periodically publish a composite "Digital Payments Index" (DPI) to capture the extent of digitisation of payments effectively from July 2020.

The ballistic helmet has been developed under project Abhedya by Major Anoop Mishra who has also developed a full-body protection bulletproof jacket which can withstand even sniper rifles.

The CPI-M-led LDF government unveiled an initiative of setting up 1,000 ''Kudumbashree'' hotels to provide subsidised Kerala meals at Rs 25 while presenting its budget for 2020-21 on February 7.A typical lunch now costs anything above Rs 50 and for the common man, the announcement means he will have to shell out less money.

India on a new tactical ballistic missile capable of striking targets at a range of 200 km, two top government officials. Defence Research and Development Organisation. The surface-to-surface missile developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation named Prakash, the first official cited at a military systems exhibition organized by the Department of Defence Production that seeks to project India as a hub for global defence manufacturing.

The Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) along with the Central government is to take up the upgradation and modernization of 25 fishing harbours in the country. The estimated outlay of the project is Rs.2500 crore. The aim of the project is to increase the value addition of marine products which was around 5% in India compared with 50% in South East Asian countries.

Glass floor bridge to replace Lakshman Jhula over Ganga in Rishikesh that was closed in 2019.Movement of pedestrian and vehicles was stopped on Lakshman Jhula on July 12, 2019, after a technical team found it unfit and since then, residents and tourists have been highly inconvenienced.

In a major boost for Make in India, an Indian firm JSR Dynamics came up with its indigenous 180 km strike range air to ground missile Khagantak at the ongoing Defexpo-2020.

Career diplomat Philip Barton has been appointed as the High Commissioner to India by the British government. He will succeed Dominic Asquith. The appointment will be effective from Spring 2020.

The Jammu and Kashmir administration accorded sanction to renaming of the Public Health Engineering and Irrigation and Flood Control Department as the 'Jal Shakti Department'. TheAdministrative Council, which met under the chairmanship of Lt Governor G C Murmu, also accorded sanction to the implementation of the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) and roadmap to achieve 100 per cent coverage of piped water supply by December 2021 across the UT.

India's trade in China decreased from USD 89.71 billion in 2017-18 to USD 87.07 billion in 2018-19. India's imports from China declined from USD 76.38 billion in 2017-18 to USD 70.32 billion in 2018-19, and our exports grew from USD 13.33 billion in 2017-18 to USD 16.75 billion in 2018-19.

Veteran cricket journalist and writer on film music Raju Bharatan died following a prolonged illness on February 7. He was 86 and is survived by his daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren.