IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF FEBRUARY 21st, 2019
IMPORTANT CURRENT
AFFAIRS OF FEBRUARY 21st, 2019
1. (21st February) is International
Mother Language Day.
a.
This day is observed to promote awareness of linguistic and
cultural diversity and multilingualism.
b.
First announced by UNESCO on 17 November 1999, it was formally
recognized by the United Nations General Assembly in its resolution
establishing 2008 as the International Year of Languages.
c.
February 21 was specifically chosen to mark the day in 1952 when
students demonstrated for recognition of their language, Bangla as a national
language in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh).
d.
Theme of International Mother Language Day 2019 :“Indigenous languages
matter for development, peace building and reconciliation”.
2. Prime Minister Narendra
Modi arrived in South Korea on a 2-day visit.
a.
As part of the global celebrations of the 150th birth
anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, Modi unveiled a bust of Mahatma at
the Seoul Campus of Yonsei University.
b.
Modi will hold bilateral talks with South Korean
President Moon Jae-in and receive the Seoul
Peace Prize in recognition of his dedication to international
cooperation, global growth and human development.
3. US President Donald
Trump has signed an order to create a Space Force, as the
new branch of the military.
a.
Under the Space Policy Directive-4, the force would
have "both combat and combat support functions to enable prompt and
sustained offensive and defensive space operations", the memo signed by
Trump read.
4. US President Donald
Trump's administration is launching a campaign to end the criminalisation
of homosexuality globally.
a.
Homosexuality is illegal in more than 70 countries, including
eight countries where it is punishable by death.
5. In Nepal, a
month-long 'Festival of India' began in Kathmandu to familiarise the new
generation of the country about the similarities between the two countries.
a.
Nepal's Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation
Rabindra Adhikari and Indian Ambassador to Nepal Manjeev Singh
Puri jointly inaugurated the event.
b.
The festival, organised by the Indian Embassy
and Swami Vivekananda Cultural Centre, is being held in Kathmandu and
other major cities of Nepal from February 19th to March 21st.
6. Uttar Pradesh Chief
Minister Yogi Adityanath launched Scheme for Adolescent Girls (SAG) today.
a.
The scheme focuses on girls aged between 11 to 14 years who have
left studies and will take steps for proper nutrition and special care for
them.
b.
The state government also decided to observe Adolescent girls
day on 8th of every month at Anganwadi centres across the state.
c.
State Government will also launch Nutrition Campaign for the
adolescent girls on 8th March.
7. The Ministry of Home
Affairs today approved the entitlement of air travel on Delhi-Srinagar, Srinagar-Delhi,
Jammu-Srinagar and Srinagar-Jammu sectors to the personnel of Central
Armed Police Forces (CAPF).
a.
The decision will benefit 7,80,000 personnel of the CAPFs.
8. Prime Minister Narendra
Modi today inaugurated a supercomputer named 'PARAM
Shivay' of 833 teraflop capacity built for ₹32.5
crore, at
IIT-Banaras Hindu University.
a.
The supercomputer was built under the ₹4,500-crore National Supercomputing
Mission (NSM), under which
73 supercomputers would be installed.
9. Kerala Chief
Minister Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated the induction event of India's first
humanoid robot 'KP-BOT', gendered female, into the Kerala Police
force at the rank of Sub-Inspector.
a.
The robot, equipped with facial recognition technology, will
work at the police headquarters' front desk.
b.
It will perform functions including greeting visitors and
guiding them to appropriate sections.
10. India and Saudi
Arabia today signed 5 Memorandums of Understanding
(MoUs)/Agreements during the visit of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed
bin Salman.They are :
a)
MOU on investing in the National Investment and Infrastructure
Fund between the Government of the Republic of India and the Government of the
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
b)
MOU on Cooperation in the field of Tourism between the Ministry
of Tourism of the Republic of India and the Saudi Commission for Tourism and
National Heritage of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
c)
MOU between the Government of the Republic of India and the
Government of Saudi Arabia for Cooperation in the Field of Housing
d)
Framework Cooperation Program between Invest India of the
Republic of India and Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority of the Kingdom
of Saudi Arabia on Enhancing Bilateral Investment Relations
e)
MoU for Cooperation on Broadcasting between Prasar Bharati, New
Delhi, India and Saudi Broadcasting Corporation (SBC), Saudi Arabia for
Exchange of Audio Visual Programme.
11. French aerospace
giant Safran Aircraft Engines announced it would build a new
plant in Hyderabad to make parts for the LEAP turbofan engine from CFM
International.
a.
Safran will invest €36 million (₹290
crore) in this
new plant, which will cover 1.4 lakh sq ft in the Special Economic Zone of
GMR.
b.
The construction is set to begin in June.
12. The Ministry of External
Affairs (MEA) today announced that Saudi Arabia is
going to invest $100 billion in India and called it
"a huge vote of confidence in the Indian economy."
13. Bollywood film producer
and father of filmmaker Sooraj Barjatya, Raj Kumar Barjatya,
has passed away.
a.
He oversaw the production of films like 'Hum Aapke Hain
Koun..!', 'Vivah', 'Prem Ratan Dhan Payo', and 'Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon' among
others.
14. The Supreme Court today
appointed its former judge Justice DK Jain as the 1st
Ombudsman of the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) to
resolve disputes under the cricket board's new constitution.
a.
He will decide quantum of punishments for KL Rahul and Hardik
Pandya over their comments on women in 'Koffee with Karan'.
15. South African
conglomerate Naspers-owned online payments service provider PayU has
appointed former Reliance Payments co-chief executive Anirban
Mukherjee as its India CEO.
a.
Mukherjee is going to replace Amrish Rau, who is
transitioning into Naspers' Head of Financial Technology Partnerships and
Investments role.
16. Sports Minister
Rajyavardhan Rathore inaugurated the International Shooting Sports
Federation (ISSF) World Cup in New Delhi today.
a.
Various events in the world cup will start from February
23rd and end on the 27th.
b.
The ISSF World Cup is crucial for Indian shooting as it has 16
quotas up for grabs for Tokyo 2020 Olympic qualification.
c.
Hosts India is fielding a 23-member squad with 11 shooters in
the non-competition Minimum Qualification Score category.
17. New Zealand has clinched the
three-match ODI series against Bangladesh.
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