Daily Current Affairs: February 20, 2021

Daily Current Affairs (February 20, 2021) like many other sections is inevitable and this also helps to score in the Banking awareness, Static GK, and Financial Awareness sections. Remember, Banking Awareness, and Static Awareness Questions are asked from the General Awareness section. This will also help you to ride your preparations for the forthcoming exams.

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Important Days

World Day of Social Justice- February 20

• World Day of Social Justice is celebrated globally on February 20. The day is recognizing the need to promote social justice, which includes efforts to tackle issues such as poverty, exclusion, gender equality, unemployment, human rights, and social protections.
• Theme 2021: “A call for social justice in the Digital Economy.”

National News

Union Minister Harsh Vardhan addressed the inaugural ceremony of the 3^rd India Tourism Mart

• Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Harsh Vardhan virtually addressed the inaugural ceremony of the third India Tourism Mart, organized by the Federation of Associations in India Tourism and Hospitality (FAITH).
• India has embarked on the world’s largest immunization programme against COVID. The virtual event was attended by over 250 delegates from 60 countries.

Union Minister Harsh Vardhan launches Intensified Mission Indradhanush 3.0

• The Union Minister launched the IMI 3.0 portal and released the Operational Guidelines for IMI 3.0 and the awareness material/IEC package developed as part of the campaign.
• The Intensified Mission Indradhanush 3.0 was conducted in pre-identified 250 districts/urban areas across 29 States/UTs in the country. IMI 3.0 will be the children and pregnant women who have missed their vaccine doses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah attended the programme ‘Shauryanjali’

• A committee has been constituted under Prime Minister Narendra Modi to mark the 125^th birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, which will bring a big change in the country.
• Union Home Minister Amit shah attended the ‘Shauryanjali Programme’ which is a tribute to icons of Bengal at the National Library here and motivated youth to read about the life of Netaji.
• He also inaugurated an exhibition showing the indomitable courage and valour of the revolutionaries of Bengal.

Agri ministry gets DGCA nod to use drones for yield estimation in 100 districts

• The agriculture ministry has been permitted to use drones for remote sensing data collection under Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY).
• The Ministry of Civil Aviation and Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has granted conditional exemption for Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) usage to the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (MoAFW).
• This will allow MoAFW to use drones for remote sensing data collection in agricultural areas of 100 districts of the country for gram panchayat level yield estimation, under PMFBY.

Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar inaugurated Atal Paryavaran Bhavan

• Union Minister for Environment, Forest, and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar inaugurated the Atal Paryavaran Bhavan at Lakshadweep.
• He stated that the excellent improvement of the nation might be realised by guaranteeing nature’s safety as desired by the folks.

International News

Pakistan to register Himalayan pink salt as Geographical Indications

• The precious salt is extracted from the Salt Range in Punjab which extends along the south of the Potohar Plateau and the north of the Jhelum River.
• A Geographical Indication tag is a sign used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess origin-based qualities and reputation in the region.

Banking and Economy

SBI Payments launched the YONO Merchant app to boost digital payments infra

• SBI Payments, the Subsidiary of the State Bank of India (SBI) is launched YONO Merchant App to expand the digitization of merchant payments in the country. Aiming to enable millions of merchants through mobile-led technology to accept digital payments, SBI plan to deploy low-cost acceptance infrastructure across India.
• Merchants will now be able to turn their NFC (Near-field communication) enabled Android smartphones into payment acceptance devices through a simple mobile app.

Bank of Maharashtra and Vayana Network tie-up for channel financing

• Bank of Maharashtra entered into a strategic partnership with fintech company Vayana Network to offer channel financing services for MSMEs.
• Vayana is India’s largest supply chain financing platform offering financial support to MSMEs

Arun Kumar Mehta launches e-Kuber payments system launched in J&K

• Jammu and Kashmir rolled out the e-Kuber payments system of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Financial Commissioner (Finance) Arun Kumar Mehta launched the new system in presence of General Manager, RBI Jammu, Sandeep Mittal, and Director General Accounts and Treasuries, Finance Department, Mahesh Dass.
• e-Kuber- E-kuber is the core banking solution of the RBI that gives a high degree of access to commercial banks and other institutions to their current account with the RBI.

Science and Technology News

Nitin Gadkari launches Go Electric campaign to boost adoption of electric vehicles in India

• The Central Government launched the. Nitin Gadkari, Minister for Road Transport & Highways, and the Minister of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises announced the Go Electric campaign to boost the adoption of electric mobility vehicles in the country.
• The campaign will help in reducing the import dependency of the country in the coming years and be an important step towards a cleaner and greener future.

India successfully test-fires Helina, Dhruvastra anti-tank guided missiles in Pokhran

• The Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) successfully carried out joint user trials of indigenously developed Helina and Dhruvastra Anti-Tank Guided Missiles (ATGM) from the Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) in Pokhran.
• Helina is the Army variant and Dhruvastra is the Air Force variant of the ALH.
• It is one of the most advanced anti-tank weapons in the world. Now, the missile systems are ready for induction.
• These are third generation, Lock-on-Before-Launch (LOBL) fire and forget ATGMs that can engage targets both indirect hit mode as well as top attack mode.
• The system has the all-weather day-and-night capability and can defeat battle tanks with conventional armour as well as with explosive reactive armour.

Patanjali’s Coronil, 1st ‘proof-based drug to fight COVID-19, gets govt nod

• Coronil has now received certification from Ayush Ministry as per World Health Organization (WHO) certification scheme.
• Coronil has received the Certificate of Pharmaceutical Product (CoPP) from the Ayush section of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization as per the WHO certification scheme.

ISRO on a mission to support to space start-ups and take them to higher biz orbit

• ISRO has embarked on a mission to take startups in the space sector to a higher orbit with a string of initiatives to help them realize their business potential. It is keen on formulating an exclusive space startup programmes.
• SEED (Space Entrepreneurship & Enterprise Development) is conceived as a competitive early-stage encouragement programme to startups and MSMEs (Micro, Small, Medium Enterprises) keen on developing products/services in-focus areas of interest to ISRO with the space agency helping them to use its facilities.

Israel begins developing an advanced anti-missile ‘Arrow-4’ system with the US

• Israel has begun developing a long-range ballistic missile interceptor, named Arrow-4, together with the US. The Israel Missile Defense Organization, in the Directorate of Defense Research and Development of the Defense Ministry, and the US Missile Defense Agency, have commenced the development of the Arrow-4 system.
• Arrow-4 will be “the next generation” of Israel’s multi-layered defence doctrine to intercept missiles in the atmosphere and space.

Israel:

• Capital: Jerusalem
• Currency: Israeli Shekel
• Prime Minister: Benjamin Netanyahu
• President: Reuven Rivlin.

Indian Navy Ship Pralaya Arrives in Abu Dhabi, UAE to participate in NAVDEX 21 and IDEX 21

• Indian Naval Ship Pralaya arrived at Abu Dhabi, UAE to participate in the NAVDEX 21 (Naval Defence Exhibition) and IDEX 21 (International Defence Exhibition).
• INS Pralaya, the second ship of the indigenously built Prabal Class Missile Vessels, was commissioned in the Indian Navy in 2002. The 56 m longship, displacing about 560 T is capable of speeds in excess of 35 knots and is fitted with an impressive array of weapons and sensors. These include a 76.2 mm medium range gun, 30 mm close-range guns, chaff launchers, and long-range surface to surface missiles.

Sports News

Manika Batra won Women’s Singles Title for the Second Time in National Table Tennis Championship

• National Table Tennis Championship Manika Batra lost the first two games in the final but staged a turnaround and won the next four games to defeat Reeth Rishya.

Books and Authors

Union Home minister Amit Shah unveils book on CRPF’s history

• Union Home minister Amit Shah released a book titled ‘Rashtra Pratham – 82 Varshon Ki Swarnim Gatha’ (Nation First – The Golden Story of 82 Years) chronicles the history, evolution, and achievements of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) from its raising in 1939 to the present day and hoped that it would inspire the newly-inducted personnel of the force in the years to come.

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Daily Current Affairs Quiz – February 20, 2021