WHO officially names Coronavirus disease as “Covid-19”
The World Health Organization (WHO) has officially named the disease caused by the new coronavirus as “Covid-2019“. The new name “Covid-2019” has been taken from the words “corona”, “virus” and “disease”, with 2019 representing the year in which it emerged. The word coronavirus refers to the group of viruses it belongs to. The naming of the disease was done as the researchers were calling for an official name of the disease to avoid confusion and stigmatisation of any group or country.
The virus was also designated as SARS-CoV-2 by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses.
Medical devices to come under CDSCO’s purview from 1st April
The government on Tuesday issued a final notification to consider all medical devices as drugs, bringing them under the purview of the drugs regulator and tightening regulations for them to improve safety and quality.
According to the notification by the ministry of health and family welfare, all medical devices, including implants and contraceptives, will be brought under the lens of the Central Drugs and Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) in a phased manner starting 1 April.
Delhi Election Results 2020 Updates: AAP gets 62 seats, BJP 8
In Delhi Assembly Election, Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party scored a landslide victory. This is the second time in a row as Aam Aadmi Party swept aside both BJP, which was again restricted to a single digit and Congress which could not win a single seat. In the 2015 Assembly Election, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had won 67 seats out of 70. BJP has won eight seats, five more than the 2015 assembly election. However, the party managed to increase its vote share by over 6% from the last elections. 0.5% (approx) voters pressed the NOTA (None of the Above) button.
Aam Aadmi Party’s Sanjeev Jha records the biggest victory margin of over 88,000 votes from Burari Assembly/Vidhan Sabha seat. Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal won the elections from New Delhi while Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia from Patparganj Assembly/Vidhan Sabha seat.
Mr. Kejriwal thank the people of Delhi for reposing their faith in Aam Aadmi Party for the third time. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that “This is the victory of the people who consider me as their son and voted for us”. He said, “This is the beginning of a new kind of politics”.
Party wise Vote Share in Delhi Assembly Results in 2020 (in %)
Chief of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Arvind Kejriwal to take oath as the Chief Minister of Delhi on 16 February in Ramlila Maidan, New Delhi.
Ground Water Act-2020 approved by UP Government
The Uttar Pradesh government has given its approval to the Ground Water Act-2020. The Ground Water Act-2020 has been approved with an objective of improving the falling groundwater level in the state. In order to achieve this aim, the state cabinet chaired by the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath approved the Ground Water Act-2020.
13th edition of ESPNcricinfo Awards 2019 announced
ESPNcricinfo (sports news website) announced the 13th edition of the Annual ESPNcricinfo Awards 2019. The awards were presented under 12 categories & selected by a jury comprising former cricketers, ESPNcricinfo senior editors, writers & global correspondents.
Captain of the year award: Eoin Joseph Gerard Morgan was named as the ‘captain of the year’ for leading England to win the World Cup Title against New Zealand.
Here is the list of winners of ESPNcricinfo Awards 2019:
| Sl. No. | Category | Winner |
| 1. | Captain of the year | Eoin Morgan (England) |
| 2. | Test batting performance of the year | Kusal Perera (Sri Lanka) |
| 3. | Test bowling performance of the year | Kemar Roach (West Indies) |
| 4. | ODI batting performance of the year | Ben Stokes (England) |
| 5. | ODI bowling performance of the year | Matt Henry (New Zealand) |
| 6. | T20I batting performance of the year | Gleen Maxwell (Australia) |
| 7. | T20I bowling performance of the year | Lasith Malinga (Sri Lanka) |
| 8. | Debutant of the year | Jofra Archer (England) |
| 9. | Women’s batting performance of the year | Meg Lanning (Australia) |
| 10. | Women’s bowling performance of the year | Ellyse Perry (Australia) |
| 11. | Associate batting performance of the year | George Munsey (Scotland) |
| 12. | Associate bowling performance of the year | Bilal Khan (Oman) |
India out of US’ developing nations list for trade benefits
The US removed India from its list of developing countries that are exempt from investigations into whether they harm American industry with unfairly subsidised exports. The United States Trade Representative (USTR) eliminated a host of countries including Brazil, Indonesia, Hong Kong, South Africa and Argentina.
NSG organises 20th International Seminar against terrorsim at Manesar, Haryana
“Comprehends the Evolving Contours of Terrorism & IED Threat-Wayahead for the Security Community” at Manesar, Haryana. The seminar was inaugurated by the Minister of State for Home Affairs, G. Kishan Reddy. Senior Police and security officers, and delegates from various countries are participating in the Seminar. A wide spectrum of Counter Terrorism and Counter-IED issues in wil be covered in the two-day seminar.
During the seminar, the MoS for Home Affairs appealed to the Global community to join hands to form a united front against the common enemy i.e. terrorism. He also emphasized the importance of improving the Improvised Explosive Device (IED) detection and to enhance our capabilities to prevent such attacks. He also presented the Counter-IED Innovators awards and released the 30th volume of “The Bomshell”.
National Water Conference held in Madhya Pradesh
National Water Conference was held in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. The Conference was inaugurated by Chief Minister Kamal Nath. The importance and revival of traditional water sources, right to water, river rejuvenation campaign in Madhya Pradesh and many other related topics are being discussed during the four sessions of the conference. The experts discussed that water conservation technological development should be included with traditional means to solve the growing water crisis.
Kerala to host global meet on climate change, ocean health
ClimFishCon 2020, an international conference on the impact of climate change on ‘hydrological cycle, ecosystem, fisheries and food security’ will begin in Kerala on 12 February.
More than 300 delegates from 12 countries including scientists, researchers, administrators, policymakers, academicians, and entrepreneurs will participate in the event. Fishers, aqua farmers, students and other stakeholders will also attend. The conference is organised jointly by the CUSAT School of Industrial Fisheries and the Department of Fisheries, Kerala.
FIH names Lalremsiami as 2019 FIH Women’s Rising Star of Year
The International Hockey Federation has named Indian striker Lalremsiami as 2019 FIH Women’s Rising Star of Year. Indian forward player Lalremsiami was awarded after beating Argentina’s Julieta Jankunas and Frederique Matla of the Netherlands in the contest in which she recieved 40 per cent of all the votes cast.
Lalremsiami’s game was recognized first time in the wider hockey consciousness during the Hockey Women’s World Cup held in 2018 where she was one of the stand-out players of the tournament. She made her debut in 2017 in a test series against Belarus. She has been the top goalscorer twice in her career, first in a test series against Korea in 2017 and then against the Spain in 2019. She belongs to Mizoram.
ICC penalizes 3 Bangladesh and 2 India U-19 cricketers
The International Cricket Council has penalized three Bangladesh as well as two Indian U-19 cricketers. The players have been sanctioned by ICC for violating the Code of Conduct for players. ICC found them guilty of the Level 3 breach during the U-19 World Cup finals between India and Bangladesh, held in South Africa. ICC found them guilty as they were involved in an exchange of words with some pushing and shoving on the field after the final match.
World Unani Day celebrated globally on 11th February
The World Unani Day is celebrated globally on 11th February every year. The World Unani Day is celebrated globally to spread awareness about health care delivery with the help of Unani system of medicine through its preventive and curative philosophy.
The World Unani Day also marks the birth anniversary of great Unani scholar Hakim Ajmal Khan. Hakim Ajmal Khan who was one of the founders of the Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi, was an eminent Indian Unani physician. He was a versatile genius, a great scholar, a social reformer, a noted freedom fighter, a Unani medical educationist and founder of scientific research in Unani System of Medicine.
National Productivity Day observed globally on 12 February
National Productivity Day is observed on 12 February annually. The day is celebrated by the National Productivity Council (NPC) to promote productivity culture in India.
National Productivity Council (NPC) under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry Government of India is a premier institution for propagating productivity movement in India. NPC works for providing solutions towards accelerating productivity, enhancing competitiveness, increasing productivity. The seven days period from 12th February to 18th February 2020 as “Productivity Week” throughout the country.
1st Jerusalem-Mumbai Festival to be held in Mumbai
The first ‘Jerusalem-Mumbai Festival’ will be held in the Mumbai, Maharashtra. This festival is organised to showcase the special links between the two cities and to promote ties between India and Israel. Famous Israeli cinema, The Mossad, will be screened at the festival in the presence of the movie director Alon Gur Arye.
The two-day festival will promote artistic cooperation in the fields of culture, such as culinary art, music and dance. The event is also an opportunity to promote collaborations between Jerusalem and Maharashtra in the cultural domain and will serve as another milestone in the growing partnership between the two countries.
TRIFED organizes workshop on “Van Dhan and Entrepreneurship Development”
The Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED) has organized the workshop on “Van Dhan and Entrepreneurship Development” under the Ministry of Tribal Affairs in New Delhi. The workshop on “Van Dhan and Entrepreneurship Development” was inaugurated by Union Minister for Tribal Affairs, Arjun Munda.
During the workshop, the Tribal Minister stressed upon the Pradhan Mantri Van Dhan Yojana (PMVDY) which aims to use the tribals’ traditional knowledge and skills along with add branding, packaging and marketing skills to optimize their income through a market led enterprise model by setting up of Van Dhan Kendras (VDVKs). It is an initiative which targets the livelihood generation for tribals by harnessing the wealth of the forest i.e. Van Dhan.
Elephant and Indian Bustard to be included in India’s global conservation list
India to include the Asian Elephant and the Great Indian Bustard in the list of species that merit heightened conservation measures. The list will be debated at the 13th Conference of Parties (COP) of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), an environment treaty under the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Along with these, seven species that include Dugong, Whale Shark, Marine Turtle (two species), have been identified for preparation of Conservation and Recovery Action Plan.
The COP is scheduled to be organised from February 17 to 22 in Gandhinagar, Gujarat. here are 130 parties to the convention and India has been a member since 1983.
