India stands 77th in the WHO-UNICEF –Lancet Report.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Riek Machar as First VP of South Sudan.

• Rebel leader Riek Machar, has affirmed as the first vice president of South Sudan.
• He has become the Vice President for the transition government which will serve for a period of 36 months.

India stands 77^th in the WHO-UNICEF –Lancet Report.

• The WHO and UNICEF along with Lancet has convened a commission to study about the health and future of every child and adolescents worldwide.
• The commission included 40 more experts in child and adolescent health all over the world.
• The report shows that children of Norway, Korea and the Netherlands has got the best survival in their countries, while Central African Republic, Somalia, Niger, Chad and Mali providing the worst space for children future.
• India secures the 77^th position in the sustainability Index among the 108 countries that has been assessed and is at 131^st rank in the assessment of the best chance at survival and well-being of children.

NATONAL NEWS

“Ore Beneficiation Plant” was instigated in Rajhara.

• Union Minister for Steel and Petroleum & Natural Gas, Mr. Dharmendra Pradhan has laid foundation stone for the ‘Ore Beneficiation Plant’ at Rajharamines of Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP).
• He leads the way along with the Chairman of Steel Authority of India Ltd. (SAIL) Mr. Anil Kumar Chaudhary and other senior officials of SAIL and BSP.

First edition of Khelo India University Games in Odisha.

• The first edition of Khelo India University Games at Cuttack in Odisha was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
• With this establishment of Khelo India University Games India enters the League of countries where university games are organized.

DoT inaugurates the “5G Hackathon” event.

• The Department of Telecommunications (DoT), has initiated the event named “5G hackathon” to identify and stimulate the ideas related to the 5G domain in India.
• The event mainly focusing on advanced ideas in the workable 5G products and solutions.
• Hackathon spreads over three phases beginning from 21^st February 2020 which will be concluded on October 16^th 2020.
• Winners will share a prize money of ₹2.5 Crore with the support given by Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Industries and stakeholders.

Amarjeet Sinha, Bhaskar Khulbe appointed as the advisors for Prime Minister.

• Retired IAS officers Amarjeet Sinha and Bhaskar Khulbe has been appointed as the advisors of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
• The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointments in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO).
• The both were appointed under a contractual basis for a period of 2 years.

Union Defence Minister inaugurates Thal Sena Bhawan in Delhi Cantt.

• “Thal Sena Bhavan” a new Army Headquarters has been inaugurated by the Union Defence Minister Mr. Rajnath Singh in Delhi Cantt.
• This multi-storeyed new Army Headquarters Building will be setup at Manekshaw Centre, spread over an area of 39 acres almost 7.5 lakh square meters.
• It is proposed as a Green building, adopting Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment (GRIHA) norms.

IRCTC launches AI upgraded Chatbot for customer services.

• Artificial Intelligence based “ASKDISHA” chatbot, mainly to settle the queries of the customers via internet, was launched by the Indian Railways Catering & Tourism Corporation Limited (IRCTC) in October 2018.
• Initially the chatbot was launched in English language, now in order to strengthen the customer services platform IRCTC has now powered voice enabled ASKDISHA to have conversation with customers in Hindi language also in the e-ticketing site of IRCTC.

Chitra Bharati Film Festival held at Gujarat University in Ahmedabad.

• The three day long Chitra Bharati Film Festival (CBFF) was held at Gujarat University in Ahmedabad.
• The 3^rd edition of the CBFF was first established in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, in 2016 and second at Delhi’s Siri Fort Auditorium in 2018.
• The festival was inaugurated by Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and Bollywood filmmaker Subhash Ghai.

'Historical Gastronomica - The Indus Dining Experience' exhibition.

• A distinctive exhibition named “Historical Gastronomica - The Indus Dining Experience” is being hosted by the National Museum in New Delhi.
• This exhibition recreating the Ancient Food History of India will last till 25^th of February.
• The exhibition is jointly organised by the National Museum and One Station Million Stories pvt ltd (OSMS).

ECONOMIC AFFAIRS

Tata engineering signs pact with HDFC bank.

• HDFC Bank has tied up with the Tata engineering to be a chosen financier for the Indica car.
• This pact involves the management and maintenance of collection details between the dealer and the manufacturer.
• With signing this pact, the private sector bank becomes the 3^rd institution to join the preferred financier category for the Indica.
• The first two financiers are namely Tata Finance and ANZ Grindlays.

SPORTS NEWS

P V Sindhu- ESPN's Female Sportsperson of the Year.

• World champion badminton player P V Sindhu has won the ESPN’s Female Sportsperson of the year award for the third consecutive time.         The winners list
• ESPN's male Sportsperson of the Year award         - Saurabh Chaudhary.
• Courage award for being inspirational                      - Sprinter Dutee Chand.
• Comeback of the Year award                                    - Ace chess player Koneru Humpy.
• ESPN's Emerging Sports Person of the Year award - Wrestler Deepak Punia.
• Coach of the Year award                                           - Chief National Badminton Coach Pullela Gopichand.
• Moment of the Year award                                        - Sindhu’s first indian winning the World Championship in badminton.
• Team of the Year honour                                           - Manu Bhaker-Saurabh Chaudhary.
• Para-Athlete of the Year award                                 - Manasi Joshi.
• ESPN's Lifetime Achievement award                        - Hockey legend Balbir Singh.