KERALA

Kerala govt declares coronavirus as state calamity

The Kerala government on Monday declared novel coronavirus epidemic as a “state calamity” with a third student testing positive for the infection in the state.

The government has declared the epidemic as a “state calamity” to take all necessary steps to ensure the outbreak is effectively controlled.

INTERNATIONAL

World Day on Social Justice: 20 February

World Day of Social Justice is an international day observed every year on 20 February.

The day recognises the need to promote social justice, which includes efforts to tackle issues such as poverty, exclusion, gender equality, unemployment, human rights, and social protections.

On this day, many organisations, including the United Nations, the International Labour Organization and American Library Association (ALA), make a statement on the need for social justice for people.

The idea of celebrating this day is to emphasise the idea of working towards improved society by promoting social justice.

Theme: “Closing the Inequalities Gap to Achieve Social Justice”

India overtakes UK & France to become 5th largest world economy

India has emerged as the fifth-largest world economy in 2019, overtaking the UK and France, as per a report by US-based think tank World Population Review.

India’s economy is the fifth-largest in the world with a gross domestic product (GDP) of $2.94 trillion, overtaking the UK and France in 2019 to take the fifth spot.

The size of the UK economy is $2.83 trillion and that of France is $2.71 trillion.

India’s service sector is the fast-growing sector in the world accounting for 60 per cent of the economy and 28 per of employment.

Hindi is the 3rd most spoken language of the world

The 22nd edition of the world language database Ethnologue reported that Hindi is the 3rd most spoken language of the world in 2019.

Ethnologue stated that over 615 million people speak Hindi across the world.

English at the top of the list with 1,132 million speakers.

Chinese Mandarin is in second position with 1,117 million speakers.

Bangla has ranked as the 7th most spoken language of the world with 228 million native speakers.

United by Emotion has been chosen as the motto of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics

Tokyo 2020 organizing committee announced the motto for the year’s Olympics. The motto for Olympics 2020 is “United by Emotion”. The motto reflects the universal values and unifying power of sport. The 2020 Summer Olympics will be held from 24 July to 9 August at New National Stadium, Tokyo, Japan.

The motto emphasizes the power of sport to bring together people from diverse backgrounds of every kind and allow them to connect and celebrate in a way that reaches beyond their differences.

The official motto of the games is “Citius, Altius, Fortius” (meaning Faster, Higher, Stronger). Also, every city is at the liberty to choose its own motto.

NATIONAL

India jumps five ranks to 35th in Worldwide Education for the Future Index 2019

India ranks 35th in the Worldwide Educating for the Future Index (WEFFI) 2019, as per a report published by The Economist Intelligence Unit.

The country ranked 40th with an overall score of 41.2 across categories in 2018.

The index assesses countries based on their abilities to equip students with skill-based education.

Finland was at the top of the index followed by Sweden.

Govt to launch Tilhan Mission to boost oilseed production

The government will launch the Tilhan Mission to make the country self-reliant in oilseed production.

The announcement was made at an occasion of Soil Health Card Day. Soil Health Card Day was celebrated all over India on February 19, 2020.

Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said, the government is seriously working on enhancing the oilseed production in the country.

The government has also decided to create 10 thousand Farmers Producer Organisation (FPO) across the country for which an assistance of over 6,000 crore rupees will be provided.

GoI to double the Milk Processing capacity

Government is planning to facilitate the doubling of Milk Processing capacity from 53.5 million MT to 108 million MT by 2025. In the last 5 years, milk production is growing to 6.4% in India. It has increased from 146.3 million MT in 2014-15 to 187.7 million MT in 2018-19.

Special programmes have been launched to improve the quality of milk by providing required testing facilities at the village and dairy plant level for safe human consumption.

BS-VI to be rolled out on 1 April, GoI speeds up the process

The Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas & Steel Dharmendra Pradhan reviewed the preparations and instructed the implementing officials to speed up the efforts for the implementation of BS-VI on 1 April 2020. The aim is to achieve the commitments made at COP-21. The move also aims to improve the ease of living for citizens. The move will be implemented with the spirit of the Government to dedicate “HarKaamDeshKeNaam”.

The Supreme Court has decided that no BS-IV vehicle will be sold the nation over with impact from 1 April 2020. BS-VI grade fuel is comparable with Compressed natural gas (CNG) in terms of providing clean energy. BS-IV contains 50 parts per million (ppm) sulphur whereas BS-VI grade fuel only has 10 ppm sulphur. BS-VI will bring PM in diesel cars down by 80% when compared to BS-IV. BS-VI will bring down nitrogen oxides from diesel cars by 70% and in petrol cars by 25%. It is expected to bring down sulphur level by 5 times from the BS-IV levels. This will go a long way in mitigating the problem of air pollution and improving air quality.

Srinagar to host 2020 Global Investors Summit

Srinagar is to host a three-day Global Investors’ Summit 2020 for the first time. The objective of the summit is to invite investments to the newly formed Union Territory (UT) of Jammu and Kashmir.

The aim of the Global Investors’ Summit is to exhibit investment opportunities that are available in the Jammu & Kashmir in different sectors including horticulture & post-harvest management, tourism, film tourism, Mulberry production for silk, Agro and Food Processing, Health & Pharmaceuticals, Manufacturing, IT/ ITes, Renewable Energy, Infrastructure and Real Estate, Handloom and education.

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