India ranks 63rd in the Ease of Doing Business Index

NATIONAL NEWS

India Pharma & Medical Device 2020 Conference to be held at Gandhinagar.

• A 3-day conference & Exhibition is organised by the Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers in collaboration with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry- FICCI.
• The conference is given a name as India Pharma 2020 & India Medical Device 2020, and will be held at Gandhi Nagar, Gujarat from March 5-7, 2020.
• The theme of the conference is “India Pharma: Meeting Challenges of Affordable and Quality Healthcare and India Medical Device: Promoting Affordable responsible and Quality Medical Device for Universal Health Care”.
• The event will be inaugurated by the Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers, Sadananda Gowda.

61^st National Exhibition of Art and National Kala Mela held in New Delhi.

• The 61^st Lalit Kala Akademi annual awards were conferred to 15 artists by the President of India, Ram Nath Kovind.
• Along with which, the 61^st National Exhibition of Art and National Kala Mela was inaugurated by the Union Minister of State for Culture and Tourism, Prahlad Singh Patel in New Delhi.
• The objective of the National Exhibition of Art, 2019-20 is to felicitate the works of art of excellence in terms of material application and aesthetic appeal.
• The 61st National Exhibition of Art will be concluded on 22^nd March 2020 and the Kala Mela concludes on 9^th March 2020.
• FACT: Chairman of Lalit Kala Academy - Dr. Uttam Pacharne.                                                                                                                                                 Lt. Governor of Delhi - Anil Baijal.

Scientists from DRDO & IIT Delhi receives National Award.

• Female scientists from the DRDO and IIT Delhi has been given the National Award for their Excellence in Application of Technology for Societal Benefits by the President of India.
• Dr. Shweta Rawat – who is from the Defence Institute of Physiology and Allied Sciences (DIPAS), DRDO, Timarpur, Delhi developed female distinct Full Body Protector for the safety of Female troops deployed in riot control actions.
• Dr. Shalini Gupta – who is from the Department of Chemical Engineering IIT Delhi, developed a technology named SeptifloTM.
• FACT: Chairman of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) - G. Satheesh Reddy.                                                                                      Chairperson of IIT,Delhi - Kumar Mangalam Birla.

Cabinet approves MoU signed between India and Côte d’lvoire in the field of health.

• The Union Cabinet has approved the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of India and the Ministry of Health and Public Hygiene of Cote d'lvoire, a west African Country.
• The MoU was signed on the cooperation of the two countries in the field of Health and welfare.
• FACT: Union Minister for health and family welfare - Harsh Vardhan.

Pragyan Conclave 2020 conducted by the Indian Army at New Delhi.

• A two-day Indian Army International Seminar called the “PRAGYAN CONCLAVE 2020” is being organised by Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS) kick-started on 4^th March 2020 at Manekshaw Centre, New Delhi.
• The seminar is based on the ‘Changing Characteristics of Land Warfare and its Impact on the Military’ in the coming future.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Sri Lanka to lead science, technology and innovation sector in BIMSTEC

• Sri Lanka will lead the Science and Technology and innovation sector in BIMSTEC.
• The decision was concluded during the 20th Session of the senior officials’ meeting chaired by Sri Lankan Foreign Secretary Ravinatha Aryasinha in Colombo.
• BIMSTEC nations - Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand.
• BIMSTEC headquarters – Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Seema Verma to be the key member of coronavirus task force in US.

• Indian-American health policy consultant Seema Verma has been appointed as one of the key members in the Coronavirus Task Force by US President Donald Trump.
• The task force led by Secretary, Health and Human Services Alex Azar, was created by President Trump on January 30 to combat the deadly virus that emerged in China.

World Bank announces to provide $12 bn to the Nations affected by COVID-19.

• World Bank reveals providing of $12 billion as an assistance to the countries affected to tackle with the outbreak of COVID-19.
• The fund is mainly to provide fast and an effective action that responds to all the affected country’s needs.
• FACT: President of World Bank - David Malpass.

ECONOMIC AFFAIRS

India ranks 63^rd in the Ease of Doing Business Index

• India has grown up its ranking in The Doing Business Report (DBR), 2020 released by the World Bank every year from 142^nd rank in 2014 to 63^rd rank in 2019.
• India has moved to 14 places among the 190 countries to attain the 63^rd position in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Index.
• This was achieved by the reform measures and some state reform action plan taken by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), in States and Union Territories (UTs).

SPORTS NEWS

Badminton Asia Championships venue to move to Manila, Philippines.

• Badminton Asia Championships which was planned to be conducted at Wuhan in china is now been changed to Manila, Philippines.
• The Asia Championships will be held in Manila from 21st of April.
• The changes come from the novel coronavirus outbreak from Wuhan.
• The Badminton Asia Championships is a tournament organized by the Badminton Asia to crown the best badminton players in Asia since 1962.

Sunil Joshi named as the BCCI's selection committee chairman.

• The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) named Sunil Joshi as the new chairman of the National selection committee.
• Former India spinner Sunil Joshi will replace MSK Prasad to become the new chairperson.
• FACT: President of BCCI – Sourav Ganguly.

ICC Test rankings: India continues to be at No 1 spot.

• India has retained its number one spot and captain Virat Kohli remains at the second position in the batting category in the ICC test Rankings.
• Australian player Steve Smith remains to be at the 1^st position in the batting ranking, where Virat Kohli in the second position and Australia's Marnus Labuschagne in the third spot.
• Shafali Verma has gained the top spot in the ICC women's T20 International rankings.
• FACT: ICC Chairman – Shashank Manohar.

68th All India Police Athletic Championship started in Haryana.

• The 68th All India Police Athletic Championship-2019 kick started at Bhanu in Panchkula District of Haryana.
• Union Minister of State for youth affairs and Sports, Kiren Rijiju inaugurated the meet at Basic Training Centre of ITBP.