1: The Presidential elections of Afghanistan won by Ashraf Ghani

• The independent Election Commission of Afghanistan has announced Ashraf Ghani as the winner of the Presidential elections of Afghanistan.
• He has won the Presidential elections of Afghanistan for the 2nd time. He defeated his closest opponent Abdullah Abdullah after winning the 9,23,592 votes or 50.64% of the total votes

2: Bangladesh to sign Free Trade Agreement with Nepal

3: Bezos Earth Fund launched by Jeff Bezos to combat climate change

• The “Bezos Earth Fund” has been launched by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos
• The fund will aim to help preserve and protect the natural world against the climate change.
• He has committed to contribute $10 billion through the fund

4: Pakistan to remain on the FATF Grey List

• The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has decided to keep Pakistan on the FATF Grey List till June 2020
• The decision was taken during the group’s meeting and plenary in Paris.
• The anti-money laundering watchdog decided to keep Pakistan on its Grey List for failure to curb transfer of funds to terror groups Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed and others.

5: “Ra’ad-II” an air-launched cruise missile was successfully tested by Pakistan

• The flight test of the air-launched cruise missile Ra’ad-II has been successfully completed by Pakistan
• Ra’ad-II missile having a range of 600 km, is aimed to be attached with Mirage aircraft or F-16 fighter jets of the Pakistan Air Force

1: Arvind Kejriwal takes oath as CM of Delhi

• Arvind Kejriwal takes oath as Chief Minister of Delhi for the third consecutive time in Ramlila Maidan
• Mr. Kejriwal had earlier taken the oath of Chief Minister in 2013 and 2015 in the Ramlila Maidan

2: PM Modi to inaugurate UN Convention on Migratory Species

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the 13th Conference of Parties (COP) of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) at Gandhinagar, Gujarat
• The theme of the Conference is “Migratory species connect the planet and we welcome them home.”

3: Donald Trump to inaugurate world’s largest cricket stadium in Ahmedabad

• The World’s Biggest Cricket Stadium, the Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad renamed as the Sardar Vallabhbhai Stadium will be inaugurated by US President Donald Trump during his visit to India
• The stadium has a capacity of 1.10 lakh people

4: Delhi’s IGI Airport has become the first single-use plastic-free airport of India

• “Indira Gandhi International Airport” of Delhi has been declared by the Delhi International Airport Ltd as India’s first single-use plastic-free airport
• The airport is also certified as single-use plastic-free airport by the CII-ITC Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development

5: The constitution of “22nd Law Commission of India” receives Cabinet’s approval

• The constitution of “22nd Law Commission of India” receives Cabinet’s approval
• The commission will function for a duration of 3 years from its date of inception
• This Commission will be responsible for giving recommendations on different aspects of law which are entrusted to it

6:2nd phase of Swachh Bharat Mission Grameen gets Cabinet’s approval

• The 2nd Phase of the Swachh Bharat Mission Grameen has received the Cabinet’s approval
• The 2nd phase will last till 2024-25 and ensure that everyone uses a toilet
• The 2nd phase of the mission has a total estimated budgeted financial implication of 52 thousand 497 crore rupees and would focus on “Open Defecation Free Plus (ODF Plus)”

7: Namaste Trump Event: All You Should Know About It

• The President of the United States (POTUS) Donald Trump is arriving on a two-days visit to India on 24th February 2020
• He will be accompanied by the First Lady of the United States Melania Trump along with other US delegates.
• As a welcome gesture, the Government of India is hosting an event named as ‘Namaste Trump’ at Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad, Gujarat and is expected to be similar to the ˜Howdy Modi’ event which was held last year in Houston, US

8: India to switch to world’s cleanest diesel and petrol from April 1

• From 1st of April 2020, India will be switching to the world’s cleanest petrol and diesel as the nation is heading towards transitional shift from Bharat Stage-IV grade to Bharat Stage-VI grade
• The BS-VI grade has only 10ppm of sulphur and its emission standards are as good as that of CNG

9: Gold reserves found by GSI in Sonbhadra district of Uttar Pradesh

• The Geological Survey of India (GSI) has found gold reserves in Sonbhadra district of Uttar Pradesh
• These reserves are estimated to be around 3000 tonnes which is almost five times of India’s present gold reserves. The newly found reserves are valued at Rs 12 lakh crore

1: 5-day working week for Maharashtra govt employees

• The Maharashtra government has announced 5-day working week for state government employees
• The decision was taken at the state Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. The new system will be applicable from February 29 onwards

2: Pyaar ka Paudha’ campaign launched by Bihar govt

• ‘Pyaar ka Paudha’ (a plant of love) campaign has been launched by the Bihar government’s Department of Environment and Forest in Patna
• This campaign is a small effort will be a big step towards making the Bihar land green

3: PM Modi launch 50 development projects worth over Rs 1200 crore in Varanasi

• These projects include a 430-bed super speciality Government hospital, a 74-bed psychiatry hospital and Centre for Vedic Research at Kashi Hindu Vishwavidyalaya (BHU), at BHU
• PM Modi will also inaugurate the Chaukaghat Lehartara Overbridge in the city which will ease the traffic near the railway station
• PM Modi also flagged off the Kashi Mahakaal Express to link Varanasi, Ujjain and Omkareshwar and dedicated to the nation the Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Memorial Centre.
• At Pandav area of Chandauli district, Prime Minister also unveiled the 63 feet Statue of Pt Deendayal Upadhyaya. This is the largest statue of the leader in the country

4: India’s tallest pier bridge built by Northeast Frontier Railway in Manipur

• India’s tallest railway pier bridge which is 100 m tall has been constructed by the Northeast Frontier Railway Construction Organisation
• The bridge has been built across Makru river in the Tamenglong district of Manipur. The bridge has been constructed at the cost of Rs 283.5-crore

5: Atal Kisan Majdoor canteens to be openend by Haryana Government

• The Atal Kisan Majdoor canteens will be opened by the Government of Haryana across the state
• These canteens aim to provide affordable and cheap meals to farmers and labourers at a concessional rate of Rs 10 per plate in all mandis and sugar mills

ISRO to launch 10 Earth Observation Satellites in 2020-21

• The Indian Space Research Organisation has revealed in its annual report for 2019-20 that it will launch 10 Earth Observation Satellites in 2020-21
• The 10 earth observation (EO) satellites will include categories such as the first Geo Imaging Satellite, GISAT-1 along with three communication satellites and two navigation satellites

1: NADA bans Haryana’s javelin thrower Amit Dahiya for 4 years

• The National Anti Doping Agency (NADA) has imposed a ban of 4 years on Haryana’s javelin thrower Amit Dahiya
• He has been banned for avoiding sample collection and for his attempt of trying to cheat officials during the 2nd National Javelin Throw Open Championship 2019 held at SAI Centre in Sonipat
• The Anti-Doping Disciplinary Panel (ADDP) of the National Anti Doping Agency (NADA) took the landmark decision of banning the player for 4 years

2: Delhi host Asian Wrestling Championship 2020

• Asian Wrestling Championship 2020 starts in New Delhi. It will be held at the KD Jadhav Hall of Indira Gandhi Stadium
• The event will have a total of 30 weight classes, 10 each in Freestyle Men, Women, and Greco Roman

3: United by Emotion’ chosen as Tokyo 2020 Olympics motto

• The Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee has revealed the official Games motto: “United by Emotion”
• 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

4: Koneru Humpy wins Cairns Cup chess tournament

• India’s Koneru Humpy wins Cairns Cup chess tournament held at St.Louis, US (United States)
• She won the title after finishing 6 points off 9 rounds

5: India to host FIFA U-17 Women’s Football World Cup 2020

• Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju has unveiled the 5 host cities for the FIFA Under-17 Women’s Football World Cup 2020 which includes Ahmedabad, Bhubaneswar, Guwahati, Kolkata and Navi Mumbai

6: India to host the Junior Men’s Hockey World Cup 2021

• The Junior Men’s Hockey World Cup 2021 will be held in India as per the announcement made by International Hockey Federation (FIH) at Lausanne in Switzerland
• This is the second time that India will be hosting the prestigious tournament which was held in 2016

1:Shri Badrinath and Shri Kedarnath temple committee launches its web portal

• Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat launched the web portal of Shri Badrinath and Shri Kedarnath temple committee
• The web portal has been developed by Uttarakhand state National Informatics Centre

2: South Central Railways zone becomes 1st in India to have energy-neutral stations

• The Indian Railways South Central Railways (SCR) zone has become the 1st zonal railway in the country to have functional “energy neutral” railway stations on the network.
• The South Central Railways has converted a total of 13 railway stations into “energy neutral”stations, which is the highest amongst all the zones across the Indian Railways network

3: Pinarayi Vijayan launches “Yodhavu” mobile app to combat drug menace
4: Ambala City bus stand to be renamed after late Sushma Swaraj

• The Haryana government has decided to rename the Ambala City bus stand after former Union minister late Sushma Swaraj
• The bus stand will now be called ‘Sushma Swaraj Bus Stand’. It is a mark of tribute to Swaraj, launched on 14 February, the birth anniversary of the leader, who was born in Ambala Cantt

5: Radhakishan Damani becomes India’s 2nd richest person

• Avenue Supermarts, which is doing business as D-Mart, founder Radhakishan Damani has now become the 2nd richest Indian after Reliance Industries Ltd chairman Mukesh Ambani, with a net worth of $17.8 billion

7: GoI renames IDSA as ‘Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses’

• The Union government has decided to rename ˜The Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses’ (IDSA) as ‘Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses’
• The decision has been taken to honour late Manohar Parrikar, former defence minister and Padma Bhushan awardee

8: Services of Kashi Mahakal Express begins from Varanasi

• The services of Kashi Mahakal Express i.e. the 3rd private train of Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) begins from Varanasi
• The train service will link the three Jyotirlinga: Omkareshwar near Indore, Mahakaleshwar, in Ujjain and Kashi Vishwanath in Varanasi. This is also the first overnight journey train run by IRCTC

1: 9th World Pangolin day 2020

• World Pangolin Day is celebrated on the 3rd Saturday of February. This international effort raises awareness about pangolin species and mobilizes various stakeholders to speed up conservation efforts
• The 9th World Pangolin day was observed on February 15, 2020

2: Arunachal Pradesh celebrates Statehood Day on 20th of February

• The 34th Statehood Day was celebrated by Arunachal Pradesh on 20th February 2020
• On this day the state became the full-fledged state in 1987
• It was known as the North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) till 1972 but gained the status of Union Territory on January 20, 1972

3: 20th February globally observed as World Day of Social Justice

• 20th of February has been observed globally as the World Day of Social Justice with the theme for year 2020 as “Closing the Inequalities Gap to Achieve Social Justice.”
• The ILO Declaration on Social Justice for a Fair Globalization was adopted by the International Labour Organization unanimously on 10 June 2008.

4: 21st February globally observed as International Mother Language Day

1: Saurav Ghosal and Joshna Chinappa Clinched 77th Senior National squash championships

• Saurav Ghosal and Joshna Chinappa won the 77th Senior National squash championships in Man’s and woman’s category respectively in Chennai
• The top-ranked Indian players justified their billing to bag the men’s and women’s titles for a record 13th and 18th time respectively

2: India to host AFC Women’s Asian Cup in 2022

• India to host the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women’s Asian Cup in 2022, as per the announcement made by Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
• D Y Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai, Trans Stadia Arena in Ahmedabad and Fatorda Stadium in Goa have been selected to host matches

3: Ross Taylor becomes world’s first cricketer to play 100 matches in all 3 formats

• Ross Taylor has reached the landmark feat during the first international cricket match of India and New Zealand bilateral test series started at Basin Reserve in Wellington
• He has become the first player in the cricketing world to play 100 matches in all the three formats of the game i.e. One Day International matches, T20 International matches and Test matches

1: Vinay Dube becomes GoAir new CEO

• GoAir has appointed Vinay Dube, the former chief executive officer (CEO) of Jet Airways, as its new CEO
• He will be responsible for the management of the airline and also for meeting the goals and long-term growth objectives of the company
• The budget airline did not have a CEO since the departure of Cornelis Vrieswijk in March last year

2: Australia appoints Barry O’Farrell as new high commissioner to India

• Barry O’Farrell has been appointed by Australia as the next high commissioner to India
• He will succeed Harinder Sidhu as the high commissioner to India

3: Sanjay Kothari appointed as new Central Vigilance Commissioner

• Sanjay Kothari has been appointed by a high-powered committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the new Central Vigilance Commissioner
• He was currently serving as the Secretary to the President. In other appointments, Bimal Julka has been appointed as the Chief Information Commissioner in the Central Information Commission

4: Bhaskar Khulbe & Amarjeet Sinha have been appointed as Advisers to PM

• Retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers Amarjeet Sinha and Bhaskar Khulbe have been appointed as the Advisers to Prime Minister Narendra Modi by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet
• The appointment of the retired administrative officers as the Advisers to Prime Minister will be on contractual basis

1: India signs USD 450 million loan agreement with World Bank

• The Goverment of India has signed USD 450 million loan agreement with the World Bank
• The loan agreement of USD 450 million aims to support the national programme “Atal Bhujal Yojana (ABHY): National Groundwater Management Improvement Programme”.
• It will help the Union Government to curb the country’s depleting groundwater levels along with strengthening of the groundwater institutions

2: SBI signs MoU with Govt of Gujarat to facilitate MSME loans

• The government of Gujarat has signed an MoU with State Bank of India (SBI) which aims to facilitate approval of loans to entrepreneurs in the MSME sector with ease and within a short time-frame
• As per the MoU, the bank will provide theoretical approval to the project within 15 days of making an application

3: HDFC Bank ties up with Mastercard & SAP concur for spending management services

20th Laureus Awards 2020 announced in Berlin

• The Laureus World Sports Awards is an annual award ceremony honouring individuals and teams from the world of sports along with sporting achievements throughout the year
• It was established in 1999 by Laureus Sport for Good Foundation founding patrons Daimler and Richemont

1: India to have 1st “Integrated Tri-services Command” by year 2020

• The Chief of the Defence staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat has announced the plan of establishing the first Integrated Tri-Services Command
• The Integrated Tri-Services Command will be responsible for handing the air defence of the entire country. The command is expected to be established by June 2020. The planned Integrated Tri-Services command will be headed by an Indian Air Force (IAF) officer

2: Dhaka hosts the Seminar on Indian Defence Equipment

• The High Commission of India in Bangladesh organized the Seminar on Indian Defence Equipment in Dhaka which was attended by 12 Indian firms
• Aim of the seminar was to pursue further cooperation between India and Bangladesh in the field of defence technologies

Moody’s cuts India’s 2020 GDP growth forecast to 5.4%

• Moody’s Investors Service has cut India’s 2020 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth forecast to 5.4% from 6.6% and the next financial year (2020-21) growth rate estimate to 5.8% from 6.7%
• According to Moody’s, due to the spread of novel coronavirus outbreak in China, worldwide growth will be affected and hence India’s economic growth recovery will be slow

1: Difficult Dialogues 2020 began in Goa

• The 5th edition of Difficult Dialogues began in Panji, Goa. Difficult Dialogues (DD) is an annual forum examining issues of contemporary relevance in South Asia
• Difficult Dialogues 2020 will focus on the “State of Law”

2: 3rd Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety 2020

• The 3rd edition of the Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety will be held in Stockholm, Sweden on February 19-20, 2020
• The Third Global Ministerial Conference (Ministerial Conference) aims to reach high-level consensus for continued global road safety targets and collaboration up to 2030. The theme of the two-day conference is Achieving Global Goals 2030

3: All India Conference of CAT 2020 held in New Delhi

• The conference was attended by Judicial and Administrative Members from all 17 Benches of CAT from across the country, members of the CAT Bar Association and eminent Jurists, who deliberated on key issues related to the functioning of the Tribunal and priorities for 2020
• The Conference was presided over by Union Minister for Law and Justice, Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad

4: “Chintan Shivir” held in Gujarat

• “Chintan Shivir” was held at Kevadia in Gujarat and was chaired by the Union Minister of Coal and Mines Shri Pralhad Joshi who stated that India will put an end on importing thermal coal by the Financial Year 2023-24

1: Mickey Wright the legendary golfer passes away

• Mickey Wright, the Legendary women’s golfer who won 82 titles of Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Tour during a professional career lasting from 1954 to 1969, passed away
• She represented the club 247 times, including a victory in the FA (Football Association Challenge Cup) match against Sheffield
• She was also awarded an Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2019 New Year Honours

2: V L Dutt former FICCI president passed away

• V L Dutt, the former Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) president has passed away
• He headed the federation in 1991-92 and also served as the chairman of the India Vietnam Joint Business Council of FICCI

3: Computer scientist Larry Tesler passed away

• Larry Tesler, the computer scientist who introduced the cut, copy and paste commands passed away
• The concepts he introduced were instrumental in the development of text editors and early computer operating systems

Hindi becomes 3rd most spoken language in the World

• Hindi has become the 3rd most spoken language of the world in 2019 with 615 million speakers while English stood at the top of the list with 1,132 million speakers as per the 22nd edition of the world language database Ethnologue.
• Chinese Mandarin stood at the second position with 1,117 million speakers

Prakash Javadekar releases reference annuals ‘Bharat 2020’ & ‘India 2020’

• Prakash Javadekar, Information and Broadcasting Minister has released the Reference Annual Bharat 2020 & India 2020 in New Delhi along with the E-version of the year books
• The books carry exhaustive and comprehensive information about the country and the activities, progress and achievements of various Central Government Ministries