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Current Affairs Capsule – February 16, 2020

February 16, 2020
Posted by: Team CP
Category: Current Affairs Capsule

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Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari will represent India at the 3rd High Level Global Conference on Road Safety for ‘Achieving Global Goals 2030’ that is scheduled to be held on 19th February and 20th February, 2020 in Stockholm, Sweden. The two-day conference aims to bring road safety on the global agenda and renew the world community’s commitment to safer roads. It is a follow up to the 2nd High Level Global Conference on Traffic Safety – Time of Results in 2015 in Brazil.
The Government of India on 17th February, 2020 signed a $450 million loan agreement with the World Bank to support the Atal Bhujal Yojana (ABHY) – National Groundwater Management Improvement Programme. The scheme will be implemented in the states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Haryana, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh and cover 78 districts. The programme aims to arrest the country’s depleting groundwater levels and strengthen groundwater institutions.
Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office Jitendra Singh announced that the Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh will soon be covered by the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) at the annual conference of CAT in New Delhi. The CAT so far had jurisdiction only over central services issues in Jammu and Kashmir. CAT was established on 1st November, 1985. Currently, the CAT Chairman is Justice L. Narismha Reddy.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched 50 development projects worth over Rs.1,200 crores in Varanasi on 16th February, 2020. It is his first visit to Varanasi, his Parliamentary constituency in 2020. He released the translated version of the Shri Siddhant Shikhamani Granth in 19 languages and a mobile app of the Granth. Then, Mr. Modi visited Padav area of the Chandauli district, where he inaugurated the Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya Memorial Centre and also unveiled the 63 feet statue of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya. Later, he flagged off the Mahakaal Express to link Varanasi, Ujjain and Omkareshwar.
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is planning to launch ten Earth Observation Satellites into space in 2020-21, as per the annual report of ISRO for 2019-20. The launches include the first ever Geo Imaging Satellite GISAT-1. As of now, 10 national earth observation satellites, 18 communication satellites and 8 navigation satellites are actively serving the nation. The Union Ministry of Finance has allotted the highest-ever budgetary outlay of Rs 13,480 crores for ISRO to accomplish its 36 missions in the upcoming year 2020-21.
Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat is aiming to set up the first integrated tri-services command by June 2020, which will be headed by an Indian Air Force (IAF) officer. The aim is to combine the resources of the three services under one command and activate it to protect the air space of the country. Each service has its individual air defence set-up. The air defence command would integrate the air defence and assets of the Army, Air Force and Navy and jointly provide air defence cover to the country.
The first consignment of Nagpur oranges was flagged off to Dubai on 13th February, 2020 from Vashi, Navi Mumbai. The Orange city of Nagpur will be developed as Orange cluster on the lines of industrial clusters developed in different parts of the country to boost domestic manufacturing and promote exports. As part of this initiative, Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) has been made the nodal agency. In the state of Maharashtra, around 40 hectares of land is under cultivation of Nagpur oranges. The international trade in 2018 for orange was USD 10.18 billion. India produced 8,781 thousand tonne of orange in 2018-19 (orange includes Mandarin, clementine).