Today’s top news: 16 Feb
1. Happy Basant Panchami: One of the most vibrant festivals of India, Basant Panchami is celebrated in the beginning of the spring season. The word ‘Basant’ means spring season while ‘Panchami’ refers to the fifth day of the lunar fortnight.
2. An earthquake of magnitude 4.1 was reported near Portblair in Andaman and Nicobar island on Monday evening. The earthquake struck at 7:23 PM IST at a depth of 10 km from the surface.
3. PM Modi handed over a ‘chadar’ to Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi that will be offered on his behalf at the shrine of renowned Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti . The shrine at Ajmer is one of the holiest Sufi shrines
4. Supporting Farmers Not A Crime”: Arvind Kejriwal On Disha Ravi’s Arrest: 21-year-old eco-activist Disha Ravi saying the move by the Delhi police was an “unprecedented attack on democracy”. The Bengaluru resident was taken into custody on Saturday for her role in the “Toolkit” case.
5. Priyanka Gandhi Demands Release Of Activist Disha Ravi In “Toolkit” Case.
6. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said The government is “looting from the public” and is helping in the development of only “two”, in a fresh attack on the centre as the price of each domestic LPG cylinder was hiked by Rs 50 in Delhi.
7. Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has tested positive for coronavirus, hours after he fainted on stage during an election rally in Vadodra , and was flown to Ahmedabad to be admitted to a hospital. He has mild symptoms.
8. To prevent the spread of coronavirus, the Gujarat government on Monday extended till February 28 the night curfew in four major cities of the state- Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara and Rajkot. 12am to 6 am instead of the earlier 11 pm to 6 am.
9. The Finance Ministry has decided to infuse Rs 3,000 crore capital into the state-owned general insurance companies in the current quarter.
10. Siddique Kappan, the Kerala journalist arrested on his way to Hathras in Uttar Pradesh to report on the alleged gang-rape of a Dalit woman, has been granted bail by the Supreme Court for five days, with conditions, to visit his 90-year-old mother.
11. The Union Textile Minister, Smriti Irani, has launched the commercial Jute seed distribution scheme on February 15, 2021.
12. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday virtually launched the ”Maa” scheme under which her government would provide a meal at a nominal cost of Rs 5 to poor people.
13. The Health and Family Welfare Department of Odisha has announced recently to established a COVID-19 Warrior Memorial in Bhubaneshwar.
14. Fifteen labourers were killed after a truck overturned in Jalgaon, Maharashtra : President Kovind Condoles Loss Of Lives In Road Accident In Maharashtra. PM announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh each to the families of those killed.
15. Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait on Monday hit out at Haryana Congress leader Vidya Rani over her remarks about distributing liquor to the protesting farmers, who have been camping at several border points in Delhi for more than 80 days.
16. The Punjab State Election Commission on Monday ordered repolling at three booths of the Municipal Councils of Patran and Samana in Patiala. The repolling will be held on February 16 from 8 am to 4 pm, and counting will take place on February 17.
17. Businessman and Bollywood actor Sachin Joshi was taken into custody by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with an alleged money laundering case involving Mumbai-based Omkar Realty group.
18. Actor Sandeep Nahar, who was seen alongside late Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput in ‘MS Dhoni: The Untold Story’ and with Akshay Kumar in ‘Kesari’, has allegedly died by suicide on Monday (February 15, 2021).
19. The Satish Dhawan nanosatellite will be launched on February 28 by the polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV). SpaceKidz India has developed the nanosatellite.
20. UP Police Recruitment 2021: The Uttar Pradesh Police Recruitment Board (UPPRB) will soon release the notification for recruitment in 9534 vacancies to the post of Sub Inspector (SI) Civil Police (Male/Female), Platoon Commander/Sub-Inspector Armed Police (Male) and Fire Service Second Officer (Male) on the official website – uppbpb.gov.in.
21. PM Modi, handed over the indigenously- developed Arjun Main Battle Tank (Mark 1A) vehicles to Army Chief General MM Naravane.
22. Government to start administering COVID-19 vaccine to 3rd prioritized group of people above 50 yrs from next month.
✈️INTERNATIONAL NEWS
1. India’s maiden human spaceflight module ‘Gaganyaan’ will be launched after the second unmanned mission planned in 2022-23.
2. The Serum Institute of India will ship the Oxford University/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to Canada in less than one month, Serum’s chief executive said.
3. External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar on Monday said a closer India-Japan partnership is most natural and has had a central place in India’s modernisation and development efforts.
4. The complete disengagement at the Pangong Lake in eastern Ladakh as agreed between India and China last week is expected to be over by end of this week.
5. The 10th round of military talks, which was agreed to happen 48 hours after complete disengagement will happen, expectedly next week. The talks will focus on disengagement on Gogra, Depsang, and Hot Spring.
6. External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar on Monday pitched for connectivity from “The Arabian Sea to the South China Sea” even as India and Japan work together in tandem. Speaking at an event in Guwahati.
🌎WORLD NEWS🌍
1. Russia has launched a new progress cargo ship into orbit in February 14, 2021. The cargo ship was launched in order to deliver the cargo to the seven crew members in the International Space Station (ISS).
2. More than 2000 Rohingya refugees sent to newly developed Bhashan Char relocation centre in Bangladesh.
3. The Rohingya refugees reached the Bhashan char island in the afternoon after covering the distance from Patenga at Chattogram in about 3 hours by four naval ships.
4. The first day of the spring called ‘Pahela Phagun’ was celebrated in Dhaka despite the continued shadow of Corona pandemic in the country.
5. In a tragic incident, at least 60 people died and several others went missing after a boat carrying around 700 capsized in the Congo river in Mai-Ndombe province on Monday
6. British PM Boris Johnson faces mounting pressure to lift all Covid-19 lockdown restrictions
7. Mohamed Mahmoud Al Khaja sworn in as UAE envoy to Israe
Sports:
1. INDIA VS ENGLAND
2nd Test,
Anthony De Mello Trophy, 2021, February 13, 2021
ENG 53/3 (19) ,
134/10 (59.5)
IND 286/10 (85.5) , 329/10 (95.5)
2. India set a victory target of 482 runs for England in 2nd Test in Chennai