1. WHO calls for USD 675mn in donations to fight novel coronavirus.

• The World Health Organization has called for 675 million US dollar in donations for a plan to fight the novel coronavirus, mainly through investment in countries considered particularly "at risk".
• WHO chief “Tedros Adhanom” said at a news conference in Geneva that they are launching a strategic preparedness and response plan and requesting 675 million dollar to fund the plan for the next three months.  Mr Tedros said 60 million US dollar of the funds would be for WHO operations while the remainder would go to countries requiring assistance to guard against the deadly virus.
• WHO was sending 500,000 masks and 40,000 respirators to 24 countries from its warehouses in Dubai and Accra.Tedros also hailed a 100 million dollar donation from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced earlier for virus testing, treatment and vaccine research.

Foot Notes:
About WHO
Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland
Head: Tedros Adhanom
Founded: 7 April 1948

2. India becomes second largest steel producer of Crude Steel.

• As per World Steel Association data, India became the second largest steel producer of crude steel after China in 2018 and 2019, by replacing Japan. India’s crude steel production in 2018 was at 109.3 MT, an increase of 7.7 per cent from 101.5 MT in 2017.
• China remains number one with 920 million tonnes of production in 2018 and 996.3 million tonnes in 2019.
• The United States and South Korea rank fourth and fifth respectively.

Foot Notes:
Minister of Steel: Shri Dharmendra Pradhan

3. New academic year in schools to start from April instead of June Gujarat.

• Gujarat Government has announced to start a new academic year in schools from 20th April 2020 instead of June first week. The students will need to go to school for 13 days after annual examinations, followed by summer vacation. At present, the schools observe the summer vacation immediately after the annual examinations.
• The new academic year is in line with CBSE schools. According to the new academic year, the annual examinations and results will be completed by 20th April.
• The new academic year will start from 20th April and Schools will remain open till 3rd May.  As per the new schedule, the summer vacation will be from 4th May to 7th June.

Foot Notes:
About Gujarat
Capital: Gandhinagar
Governor: Acharya Devvrat
Chief minister: Vijay Rupani

4. International Seafood Show in Kochi will be held from 7-9 February 2020.

• The Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA), under Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India, in association with the Seafood Exporters Association of India (SEAI), is organizing the 22nd edition of India International Seafood Show (IISS) 2020 in Kochi from 7-9 February 2020.
•  The theme of this year’s seafood show is “Blue Revolution- Beyond Production to Value Addition”.Over 200 exhibitors, 350 stalls and more than 5000 delegates, including foreign delegates, are expected to attend the three-day event at Kochi.
• The delegates include seafood processors, buyers and stakeholders, from other related sectors, representing firms in India and abroad. IISS 2020 will highlight the technological advances and sustainable practices followed in the seafood processing sector in India.

5. Flipkart shuts down fashion portal Jabong, to focus fully on Myntra.

• E-commerce marketplace Flipkart is downing shutters on Jabong and the portal is now redirecting the users to the Myntra website.
• Walmart-owned Flipkart had acquired Jabong for $70 million in 2016. Earlier in July 2019, Flipkart had said that it had started to cut a significant chunk of its marketing expenditure in Jabong and redirecting its users towards Myntra by providing discounts.
• Flipkart had acquired fashion e-commerce platform Myntra in May 2014. Soon after the Walmart acquisition in November 2018, Flipkart merged both Myntra and Jabong.

Foot Notes:
About Flipkart
CEO: Kalyan Krishnamurthy
Founded: October 2007

6. LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner stepped down after 11 years.

• LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner is stepping down after 11 years at the helm of the popular professional social networking company owned by Microsoft.
• He will be replaced in June by Ryan Roslansky, a senior vice president in charge of product who has been at LinkedIn since before the Microsoft acquisition.
• During Weiner’s tenure, LinkedIn’s revenue increased to more than $7.5 billion in the trailing 12 months from $78 million. Microsoft acquired LinkedIn for $26 billion in 2016.

7. Rakhi Halder bags gold at Senior Women's National Weightlifting Championships.

• In Senior Women's National Weightlifting Championships, Rakhi Halder of Bengal has bagged gold in the 64kg category of the 35th edition of the event in Kolkata.
• Though way short of her personal best, Halder lifted 93 kg in snatch and 117 kg in clean and jerk to clinch the gold medal. She was 10kg ahead of her nearest rival Harjinder Kaur of Chandigarh.
• Ranked 19th in the Olympic qualifiers list, Halder had produced a personal best of 218 kg at the Qatar International Cup last year to win the bronze medal. At the Commonwealth Championship in June 2019, Halder who is also an Indian Railways employee had clinched the gold with a total lift of 214-kg.

8. Jagmohan Dalmiya's son Avishek becomes youngest CAB president.

• Former BCCI president late Jagmohan Dalmiya's son Avishek became the youngest president of Cricket Association Bengal after being elected unopposed.
• Avishek Dalmiya, 38, was holding the post of joint secretary before his elevation. BCCI president Sourav Ganguly's elder brother Snehasish Ganguly, a former Bengal left-hander, is the new joint secretary.
• Avishek has become the 18th president of CAB. The CAB president's post was lying vacant after former India captain Sourav Ganguly took over the reins of the BCCI.

9. Sambo Lapung sets national record Weightlifting Championship.

• Service lifter Sambo Lapung set a new national record of 188 kg here in Khudiram Anusilan Kendra on without a mistake on his way to the gold medal in the men’s 89 kg at the National Weightlifting Championships.
• Lapung, who won the 81 kg silver medal last year, increased to 145 kg and took a lead of 1 kg over R.V. Rahul in snatch. He later broke the 187 kg record on his last attempt to add 333 kg.
• Lapung, from Arunachal Pradesh, a former national champion weighing 69 kg, won a national title after four years.

10. Romania’s pro-EU government falls after 3 months.

• Romania’s pro-European government collapsed in a parliamentary no-confidence vote after only 3 months in office. A total of 261 of 465 MPs voted in favour of a motion against the minority government led by Ludovic Orban.

Foot Notes:
About Romania
President of Romania: Klaus lohannis.
Currency of Romania: Romanian leu
Capital of Romania: Bucharest.

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