Daily Gk 21st Feb 2019

Current affairs for FCI,CWC,SSC CGL,UPSC,AFCAT,SBI PO/Clerk 2019

National:

4TH India-Asean Expo Summit on 21 – 23 February 2019 in New Delhi

·        The 4th India-ASEAN Expo and Summit will be held on 21-23 February, 2019 in New Delhi. This is a flagship event of Department of Commerce, being organised with FICCI to carry forward the momentum and to further strengthen India-ASEAN relations under the Act-East Policy.

·        The 4th India-ASEAN Expo and Summit, 2019 will build upon the success of the previous edition of ASEAN-India Business and Investment Meet and Expo which was held in 2018 as a precursor to India-ASEAN Commemorative Summit.

Operation Digital Board launched to provide better digital education

·        Government has launched Operation Digital Board on the lines of Operation Blackboard to provide better digital education in schools.

·        Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar said, under the initiative, seven lakh classrooms of 9th, 10th and 11th standards and two lakh classrooms of colleges and Universities will be equipped with digital boards in the next three years.

PM Modi arrives in Seoul on a two-day visit; to receive Seoul Peace Prize

·        Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Seoul on a two-day visit to South Korea. Mr 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.

·        At present bilateral trade is around 21 billion dollars and is targeted to reach 50 billion dollars by 2030. Another important aspect is the strengthening of Cultural relations which speaks volumes of India's soft power.

Cabinet approves construction of Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System

·        Union Cabinet has approved construction of Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) covering a distance of 82.15 kilometers.

·        The completion cost of the project will be 30,274 crore rupees. It will provide much needed additional public transport infrastructure and address traffic congestion in the  NCR region.

·        It comprises two corridors of total length of over 28 kilometres.

·        The corridor first will be from Motera Stadium to Mahatma Mandir and corridor second is from GNLU to GIFT City.

DPIIT launches second edition of States’ ranking on Startup initiatives

·        After the successful first edition of States’ Startup Ranking in 2018, where 27 States and 3 Union Territories participated, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) released second edition of Startup Ranking for 2019.

·        The Startup Ranking framework aims to rank the States/UTs for establishing a robust ecosystem for supporting Startups.

·        The framework also encourages States and UTs to identify, learn and replicate good practices from each other.

·        The Ranking Framework 2019 comprises of 7 pillars and 30 action points. The pillars will assess States’/UTs efforts across institutional support, simplifying regulations, easing public procurement, incubation support, seed funding support, venture funding support and awareness and outreach related activities.

Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad to Inaugurate VIVID 2019

·        “VIVID-Vision Insight and Voices as India goes Digital”- the District Informatics Officer (DIO) meet, is being organised by National Informatics Centre (NIC) on 21st and 22nd February, 2019.

·        The meet is held as an initiative to interact with the DIO’s and to share their experiences as well as contribution, as digital change-makers at the grass-root level in the States.

Patnaik launches Kalia scholarship for farmer’s children

·        Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik unveiled a scholarship programme for the children of the beneficiaries of the Kalia scheme.

·        Kalia scholarship or 'Kalia Chhatra Brutti' will ensure that not a single eligible child of Kalia beneficiaries aspiring for technical and professional education.

International:

Nepal: Month-long Festival of India begins in Kathmandu

·        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.

·        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.

Business & Economy:

Vijaya, Dena merger with BoB effective from April 1

·        Bank of Baroda said the merger of Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank with itself would be effective from April 1 as per the scheme of amalgamation approved by the government.

·        Besides, the board of the bank fixed March 11, 2019, as record date for issuing and allotting equity shares of the Bank of Baroda to the shareholders of Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank.

Govt to infuse Rs 48,239 crore in 12 public sector banks

·        The government has approved recapitalisation of Rs 48,239 crore in 12 public sector banks in this fiscal to help them maintain regulatory capital requirements and finance growth plans.

·        The government will infuse over nine thousand crore rupees in Corporation Bank and six thousand 896 crore rupees in Allahabad Bank.

Saudi Arabia to invest 100 billion dollars in India

·        Saudi Arabia will invest 100 billion dollars in India in range of areas including energy, refining, petrochemicals, infrastructure, agriculture and manufacturing.

Science & Technology:

Scientists discover massive mountains under Earth’s crust

·        Scientists have discovered massive mountains in the Earth’s mantle, an advance that may change our understanding of how the planet was formed. Most school children learn that the Earth has three layers: a crust, mantle and core, which is subdivided into an inner and outer core.

·        While that is not wrong, it does leave out several other layers that scientists have identified within the Earth.

Sports:

Rajyavardhan Rathore to inaugurate ISSF Shooting World Cup

·        Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Rathore will inaugurate the International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) World Cup in New Delhi.

·        Various events in the world cup will start from February 23rd and end on the 27th.

Miscellaneous:

Commerce Minister launches ‘SWAYATT’ on GeM

·        Union Minister of Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu, launched SWAYATT in New Delhi.

·        SWAYATT is an initiative to promote Start-ups, Women and Youth Advantage Through eTransactions on Government e Marketplace (GeM).

·        This will bring together the key stakeholders within the Indian entrepreneurial ecosystem to Government e-Marketplace the national procurement portal.

International Mother Language Day being celebrated today

·        International Mother Language Day is being celebrated.

·        The day is observed on the 21st of February every year to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism.

·        Since 2019 is also the International Year of Indigenous Languages, the theme of this year’s Mother Language Day is Indigenous Languages as a factor in development, peace and reconciliation.