Important Current Affairs 25th February 2020

NATIONAL NEWS

Elections for 55 Rajya Sabha seats Will be on March 26, Schedule released:

• The Election Commission of India (ECI) announcing the schedule of polling for 55 Rajya Sabha seats spread over 17 States set to be vacated in April will be conducted on March 26. According to the schedule for the elections, the notification would be issued on March 6, the last date of filing of nominations would be March 13 and polling would be on March 26, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The votes would be counted at 5 p.m. on the same day.

National Cyber Research Centre : inaugurated by Union Minister:

• Union Minister of State for Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy inaugurated National Cyber Research, Innovation and Capacity Building Centre at Central Detective Training Institute (CDTI) campus located at Ramanthapur in Hyderabad.

• Reddy pointed out the need for such a centre with the proliferation of Information Technology in our lives. The Government has anticipated cyber threat and has taken several landmark steps in the recent past. A dedicated division was created in October 2017 under the Ministry of Home Affairs, for addressing the cyber security threat in the country.

• The Minister stated that CDTI is one of the seven verticals under Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) and highlights the growing relevance of continuous research and innovation in the fight against cyber crime.

• The Minister also stated that the MHA is also working on setting up Regional Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (R4C) in the States. It is in collaboration with I4C to further strengthen the cyber combat capabilities of the nation. CDTI Hyderabad will prove to be a central hub for entire South India. he added.

First Anniversary of National War Memorial:

• On 25th February 2020, India observed the first anniversary of the iconic National War Memorial. Get full details here.

• As a part of the main ceremony, Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat will honour the fallen soldiers today along with veterans from all three wings of armed services.

• CDS Gen Bipin Rawat will lay wreaths and pay homage to the fallen soldiers. Since its inauguration last year, around 21 lakh people have visited the memorial with over 5,000-7,000 people foot-fall at the monument every day.

 ‘UPI Chalega’: NPCI launches campaign for payment mode to gain currency:

• The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is keen to further popularise its flagship Unified Payments Interface (UPI), which has clocked over 100 crore transactions per month.

• While UPI has already shown robust growth, Rai stated, the objective is to reach out to the next set of users, across geographies, and encourage them to switch from cash. With this in mind, NPCI, along with payment service providers, has co-created an industry campaign ‘UPI Chalega’, to promote it as an easy, safe and instant mode of payment.

• The campaign is aimed to guide users towards the right use of UPI and help create a habitual change, to use UPI in their daily lives. The campaign also focusses on the safety aspects while transacting on UPI-enabled apps.

• The number of UPI transactions touched 130.5 crore last month, and the total amount transacted was at an all-time high of ₹16-lakh crore. As many as 144 banks are on the platform.

• The findings of a pre-campaign study conducted among 12,800 people in four zones, across 36 centres, showed a 60 per cent awareness of UPI, Rai stated.

• She added that early adopters of UPI have come from across geographies — metros and smaller cities — and now the idea is to push it to the next set of users.

• Launched in 2016 as a means to boost digital payments, UPI allows users to transfer money on a real-time basis, across multiple bank accounts, without revealing bank account details to the other party.

About NPCI:

• The National Payments Corporation of India is an umbrella organisation for operating retail payments and settlement systems in India.

• Headquarters: Mumbai

• Founded: 2008

• Non-Exe Chairman : Biswamohan Mahapatra

• MD & CEO :Dilip Asbe

BANKING, FINANCE AND ECONOMICS

 NABARD sanctions Rs 400 Cr to boost rural infra in J&K:

• The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) recently sanctioned over Rs 400.64 crore for infrastructural development of rural areas of Jammu & Kashmir.

• The funding will be provided under Trench XXV of the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) of NABARD.

• The project includes the construction of roads and bridges which would provide all-weather connectivity to over 450 remote villages of the Union Territory of J&K.

• An amount of 66 crore rupees has been sanctioned for implementation of 38 water supply schemes. The sanction includes augmentation of 27 existing water supply schemes and construction of 11 new water supply schemes.

• These water supply schemes are aimed at providing safe and potable drinking water to rural households. The schemes will benefit over 3.5 lakh people across 86 villages in 17 districts.

About NABARD:

• National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development is an Apex Development Financial Institution in India. The Bank has been entrusted with “matters concerning Policy Planning and Operations in the field of credit for Agriculture and other Economic activities in Rural areas in India.

• Headquarters: Mumbai

• Agency executive: Harsh Kumar Bhanwala (Chairperson)

• Formation: July 12, 1982

ACQUISITIONS, MERGERS, BUSINESS AND MOU’S

India and US have expanded defence cooperation with defence deals worth USD 3 billion:

• India and the United States finalised defence deals worth $3 billion on February 25, 2020. The deals were signed after delegation-level talks between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and visiting US President Donald Trump. The deals are expected to enhance the joint defence capabilities between the two countries.

• The US President made the announcement in a joint statement with PM Modi on Day 2 of his maiden visit to India. Donald Trump said that India has agreed to purchase USD 3 billion worth advanced American military equipment including Apache and MH-60 Romeo helicopters, which are the finest in the world.

• Trump also stated that the US makes the greatest weapons ever made including planes, ships, missiles, rockets, air defence systems, armed and unarmed aerial vehicles and that the nation is now looking forward to providing India with some of its best and most feared military equipment.

Two key defence deals

India and the US finalised two key defence deals on February 25. The deals are as follows:

o Procurement of 24 MH-60 Romeo helicopters by India for $2.6 billion.

o Procurement of six AH-64E Apache helicopters at a cost of $800 million.

AWARDS AND RECOGNITION

Adline Castelino wins Miss Diva Universe 2020:

• Adline Castelino has been crowned as the winner of LIVA Miss Diva Universe 2020 competition. She was crowned by Vartika Singh, the winner of the previous edition at an event held in YRF (Yash Raj Films) Studios, Mumbai, Maharashtra. She hails from Mangalore, Karnataka. She will go on to represent the country at Miss Universe later this year.

• Aavriti Choudhary of Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh crowned as LIVA Miss Diva Supranational 2020 and was crowned by his predecessor Shefali Sood. She will be India’s contender for Miss Supranational pageant 2020.

Dadasaheb Phalke International Film Festival Awards 2020:

Complete List of Dadasaheb Phalke International Film Festival Awards 2020 Winners:

S. No.	Award	Award Winner
1	Best Film	Super 30
2	Best Actor	Hrithik Roshan (Super 30)
3	Most Promising Actor	Kiccha Sudeep
4	Best Actor in Television Series	Dheeraj Dhoopar
5	Best Actress in Television	Divyanka Tripathi
6	Most Favourite Television Actor	Harshad Chopda
7	Most Favourite Jodi in Television Series	Sriti Jha and Shabbir Ahluwalia (Kumkum Bhagya)
8	Best Television Series	Kumkum Bhagya
9	Best Playback Singer Male	Armaan Malik
10	Best Reality Show	Bigg Boss 13

SPORTS

Commonwealth 2022 : India will host Shooting and Archery Championships:

• India will host the Commonwealth Shooting and Archery Championships in January 2022. The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) announced this decision after the Executive Board meeting in London.  The two events will be held in Chandigarh in January 2022, while the Birmingham Commonwealth Games is scheduled from 27th of July to 7th of August, 2022.

• The decision is being considered a big win for India after IOA  threatened to boycott the 2022 Birmingham Games for dropping shooting from the roster in July last year.

ICC bans Omani player Yousuf Abdulrahim Al Balushi for 7 years:

• The International Cricket Council (ICC) banned Oman player Yousuf Abdulrahim Al Balushi from all forms of cricket for 7 years. The player has been reprimanded for breaching the ICC’s Anti-Corruption Code as he was found guilty for breaching various counts in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup qualifiers 2019.

• Al Balushi breached Article 2.1.1 of the Anti-Corruption Code: being party to an agreement or effort to fix or contrive in any way the result, progress, conduct or any other aspect of matches. Besides, he also breached Article 2.1.4, Article 2.4.4 and Article 2.4.7: All relating to corrupt practices.

Important

a. Chairman of ICC: Shashank Manohar;

b. Chief Executive: Manu Sahney;

c. Headquarters: Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

OBITUARY

Former Lok Sabha MP Krishna Bose passed away:

• She was the wife of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s nephew Sisir Kumar Bose. She joined politics in the mid-1990s. She was close to Trinamool Congress chairperson and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

• Krishna Bose was elected from the Jadavpur Lok Sabha seat in 1998 and 1999 on TMC ticket. She was elected from the same seat on a Congress ticket in 1996. During her time in the Lok Sabha, she was the Chairperson of the Committee on External Affairs and served as a member in several other important committees. She was the chairperson of the Netaji Research Bureau.

Katherine Johnson, legendary NASA mathematician, dies at 101:

• Katherine Johnson's calculations helped NASA to take humans into space. She was also portrayed in a Hollywood film 'Hidden Figures.'

• Katherine Johnson was an American mathematician, who passed away on February 24, 2020. She was 101. Katherine was famous NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) mathematician who led the American space agency to a new height.

• Her calculations related to space travel played an important role in transporting humans to space. Katherine was one of the first women scientists of NASA who helped humans to reach space. It is believed that the Americans were able to overtake the Soviet Union in the space race because of her contributions.

• Katherine Johnson was a part of NASA's computer pool. This pool was a group of mathematicians. NASA carried out its first successful space mission with the help of data created by this group. Katherine was one of the black women who worked for NASA. She started her career as a teacher.

• Born in 1918 at West Virginia, Katherine was curious to learn math from an early age. According to Katherine’s biography published by NASA, she was one of three black students selected to integrate West Virginia's undergraduate colleges. She did the mapping of the moon before the 1969’s landing and helped to bring Apollo-13 astronauts back to the Earth.