Current Affairs - February 24, 2020 Current Affairs

The mega event Namaste Trump is to be held at cricket stadium Sardar Patel Stadium, also known as Motera Stadium, in Ahmedabad on 24 February 2020.The Donald Trump Nagarik Abhivadan Samiti (Citizen Felicitation Committee for Donald Trump) will organize the high-profile public event which will feature cultural performances.

Vice President of India M. Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated the 2nd Edition of Exhibition and Conference on Agri-technology & Innovation at Prof. Jayashankar Telangana State Agriculture University in Hyderabad on 22 February 2020.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh laid the foundation stone for construction of a new Army headquarter building in Delhi Cantonment. Christened 'Thal Sena Bhawan', the complex will be spread over nearly 39 acres.

International Judicial Conference was held in New Delhi on 22 February. The conference was addressed by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. The topic of the one-day conference is "Judiciary and The Changing World". Also, the theme of 'Gender Just World' was introduced at the conference.

Ministry of Railways upgraded services of Artificial Intelligence (AI) based ASKDISHA chatbot to converse with Railway customers in the Hindi language. It aims to resolve queries of railway passengers over the internet pertaining to various services offered.

Former Prime Minister of India Dr Manmohan Singh on February 23 released the book 'Who is Bharat Mata' by Prof Purushottam Agrawal and its Kannada translation 'Yaaru Bharat Maate?' by Prof K E Radhakrishna. The book has been published by Swapna Book House, Bengaluru in association with Delhi Karnataka Sangha.

Haryana state government is to open Atal Kisan-Majdoor canteens in all mandis and sugar mills across the state. The announcement was made by Governor Satyadeo Narain Arya at the Budget Session of State Assembly which commenced in Chandigarh. The aim of the move is to provide affordable and cheap meals to farmers and labourers at a concessional rate of Rs.10 per plate.

The Dadasaheb Phalke International Film Festival Awards 2020 were held in Mumbai. Actor Ravi Dubey served as the host of the evening and many celebrities attended the glamorous event from the film and television industry. Best Film Award was won by Super 30.

President Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated the fourth edition of The Huddle, The Hindu's annual thought conclave, at the ITC Gardenia in Bengaluru. The keynote address will be delivered by the former Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, Ranil Wickremesinghe.

The US-India Business Council (USIBC) has appointed Vijay Advani as new Chair of its Global Board of Directors. Prior to this, he served as Executive Chairman of the Board in January 2020. The council also announced two new members of the Global Board of Directors Lockheed Martin International Senior Vice President Tim Cahill and GE South Asia President & CEO Mahesh Palashikar. US India Business Council (USIBC) represents top global companies operating across the United States, India, and Indo-Pacific.

Retired IAS officers Bhaskar Khulbe and Amarjeet Sinha has appointed as Advisors to Prime Minister Narendra Modi 21 February 2020. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the appointments in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) in the rank and scale of Secretary. The appointments were made on a contractual basis initially for a period of two years, or until further orders.

Academic-turned-politician, Krishna Bose, passed away in West Bengal due to cardiac arrest. She was 89 years old. She served as a Member of Parliament elected from the Jadavpur constituency in West Bengal as an All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) candidate. Krishna Bose: Krishna Bose was the daughter-in-law of Subhash Chandra Bose's elder brother Sarat Chandra Bose. She taught at the City College in Kolkata. She was elected to the Lok Sabha thrice.

The fourth Anniversary of the launch of Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission (SPMRM) was observed on 21 February 2016.The scheme was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The aim of the vision is to deliver catalytic interventions to rural areas on the threshold of growth.

Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) celebrated the first anniversary of the new Central Sector Scheme on 24 February 2020. The Central Government has released more than Rs.50850 crores so far. The total number of beneficiaries covered under the scheme, based on estimates of the Agriculture Census 2015-16, is about 14 crores.

Union home minister Amit Shah held extensive discussions with his Maldivian counterpart Sheikh Imran Abdulla during which they discussed about ways to further strengthen the ties between the two countries. Abdulla is on a four-day visit to India.

The Northeast Frontier Railway (NF) Construction Organisation has built India's tallest railway pier bridge across river Makru in the Tamenglong district of Manipur. India's tallest pier bridge is 100 m tall. It is equivalent to a 33-storey building.

The government is planning to make Chhattisgarh a steel hub of the country. The announcement was made by the Union Minister for Petroleum, Natural Gas and Steel Dharmendra Pradhan during his two-day visit to Chhattisgarh.

The Maharashtra state government has launched a special drive to destroy the centre that cultivates the centres of the exotic Thai Mangur fish. The decision was made at a meeting which was held between fish traders and officials of the Maharashtra fisheries department headed by Minister Aslam Shaikh after a detailed review of the situation.

Country's first floating jetty inaugurated in Panaji, Goa on the banks of Mandovi river by Union Minister of State for Shipping Mansukh Mandaviya.

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Palakkad, is to set up a Centre for Research and Education in Data Science (CREDS) on its campus at Kanjikode, Kerala. CREDS will be established with an aim to provide quality education and research. It also aims to develop data science and artificial intelligence (AI).

The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) of India approved the procurement of 24 MH-60R multi-role helicopters from the US. The cost of the acquisition of the helicopter is $2.6bn. The helicopters will be given to the Indian Navy and will be done through the US foreign military sales (FMS) programme.