- Hindi is the third most spoken language in the world with 625 million Speakers. English is at the top with 1,132 million speakers followed by Mandarin with 1117 million speakers.
- From April 1, 2020, India will shift to Euro-VI emission compliant from Euro-IV grades that is being followed now. This means that India will shift towards more clean form of fuel. Euro norms refer to the permissible emission levels, for both petrol and diesel vehicles, which have been implemented in Europe. However, the government in India has adopted the Euro norms for available fuel quality and the method of testing.
- External Affairs Minister Dr S. Jaishankar inaugurated the India Pavilion at the Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale) 2020.
- Pakistan test fired 600 km range Ra’ad II missile successfully on land and at sea. The missile range has been upgraded from 550km in 2017 to 600km. It is important for India to closely monitor such advances as New Delhi is roughly 430km from Lahore.
- India and Norway jointly inaugurated a Task Force of Blue Economy for Sustainable Development. They also launched a new collaboration of Integrated Ocean Management and Research at the meet
- The 15th Finance Commission has set up an 8-member group led by ITC chairman and managing director (MD) Sanjiv Puri to recommend measurable performance incentives for the states, so as to promote exports & also to encourage the concerned crops to ensure replacement of more imports and to boost the agricultural exports. The committee will submit its recommendations within 3 months.
- The Pakistan High Commission has issued visas to a group of Indian Hindu pilgrims for visiting Katas Raj temples in Chakwal city of Pakistan’s Punjab province from February 19 to 25, 2020, these visit governs under The Pakistan-India Protocol on visits to Religious Shrines (1974) signed by both the countries.
- Government of India (GOI) recently (Feb 2020) announced that they are working towards completing the Asia’s largest bi-directional Zojila Tunnel without cost escalation.
- Agricultural Minister Narendra Singh Tomar announced that Government of India is to launch “TILHAN MISSION” to boost the oil seed production. The The announcement was made at an occasion of Soil Health Card Day.
- Andhra Pradesh state government has recently launched a scheme named ‘Nadu-Nedu’, for modernising hospitals
- As per the ‘State of India’s Birds Report 2020’, Indian Peafowl species showed a big increase in population.
- The Worldwide Education for The Future Index (WEFFI) 2019 ranked India in 35th position, whereas in 2018 it was ranked 40th position. The WEFFI report is created by The Economist Intelligence unit and commissioned by Yidan Prize foundation. The index is topped by Finland, followed by Sweden in second place and New Zealand in third place.
- The 22nd Law Commission will be constituted for a period of three years from the date of publication of its Order in the Official Gazette. It will consist of:
- a full-time Chairperson;
- four full-time Members (including Member-Secretary)
- Secretary, Department of Legal Affairs as ex-officio Member;
- Secretary, Legislative Department as ex officio Member; and
- not more than five part-time Members.
The Commission was originally constituted in 1955 and is re-constituted every three years
- The Times Higher Education Ranking was released in London. The ranking was titled “The Emerging Economies University Ranking 2020”.
Around 11 Indian Universities were included in the top 100. However, China had more Universities than India in the ranking. Around 30 Universities of of China were in the top .
