1. Financial closure of Arun-III hydropower project inked b/w India and Nepal.

• The Arun-3 hydropower project, the largest Indian-backed project in Nepal, secured NPR(Nepaleses rupee) 100 Billion for the 900 MW (mega watt) hydropower project being built on the Arun River in Nepal’s Sankhuwasabha District.
• India’s Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN) Arun-III Power Development Company, the developer of the Arun-III hydropower project has signed the financial closure of the project with 7 banks in Kathmandu, Nepal.

Foot Notes:
About Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN)
Headquarters: Shimla, Himachal Pradesh
Chairman and Managing Director: Nand Lal Sharma

About Nepal
Capital: Kathmandu.
Currency: Nepalese rupee.
President: Bidhya Devi Bhandari.
Prime Minister: Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli.

2. Railway Line between India and Bangladesh project to End by 2021.

• The 15.6km long railway line between Agartala, India(Tripura)-Akhaura in Bangladesh will be completed by September 2021, these railway routes will improve connectivity between Indian Railways and Bangladesh Railways and will boost trade between the two countries. The project started in January 2010 during the Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheik Hasina’s visits to India.
• The railway link connects Gangasagar in Bangladesh to Nischintapur in India and from Nischintapur to Agartala railway station in Tripura, India. The Minister of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) is bearing the cost for laying the track on the 5.46km Indian side and the cost of laying the 10.6 km-long track on the Bangladesh side is being Funded by the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India.

Foot Notes:
About Indian Railway Construction Company Limited (IRCON International Limited)
Headquarters: New Delhi, India
Founded: 1976
Managing Director (M.D) & Chairman: S.K. Chaudhary
Parent Organization: Ministry of Railways.

About Bangladesh
Capital: Dhaka (Largest city in Bangladesh)
Currency: Bangladeshi Taka
Prime Minister: Sheikh Hasina Wazed.
Founder: Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

3. Uttarakhand’s iconic Lakshman Jhula to be replaced by India’s first Glass floor bridge.

• Uttarakhand government has cleared the design of a glass floor suspension bridge, the first of its kind in the country, to be built across Ganga River in Rishikesh, Uttarakhand as a replacement to iconic Lakshman Jhula which was closed in 2019 due to safety reasons. It has been in place for 94 years. The glass floor suspension bridge design is prepared by Public Works Department (PWD).
• The floor of the bridge is to be made of 3.5 inches thick toughened transparent glass, which is capable of bearing a load of more than 750 kg per squaremetre at a stretch. The bridge will be built parallel to Lakshman Jhula with a total width of eight metres.

Foot Notes:
About Uttarakhand
Capital: Dehradun
Chief Minister: Trivendra Singh Rawat

4. U.S. announces launch of International Religious Freedom Alliance.

• United States (US) launched the 27-nation International Religious Freedom Alliance, which will try to adopt a collective approach in protecting and preserving religious freedom across the world. It was announced by US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo.
• More than eight in ten people in the world today live in a place where they cannot practice their faith freely. So in order to provide them religious freedom, this alliance has been launched.

Foot Notes:
About US
Capital: Washington, D.C.
Currency: United States Dollar
President: Donald Trump

5. Govt data: $118.3 billion received in remittances since 2018-19.

• Indian govt. has released data of remittances received in the country since April 2018- September 2019. As per the report around 13.62 million Indian nationals are staying abroad & around $118.3 billion has been received as remittance.
• The foreign countries in which a large number of Indians were living include Nepal, the Middle East region, the UK(United Kingdom), the US(United States), Malaysia and Germany.
• As per data of the Reserve Bank of India(RBI), $76.4 billion was received as remittances during 2018-19 while $41.9 billion was received during 2019-20. Indians involved in financial irregularities with the banks & those under criminal investigation since 2015 are 72.
• Indians caught in Pakistan: An estimated no. of 275 Indians including fishermen are estimated to be in Pakistan’s custody as prisoners. There is also issue of 83 missing Indian defence personnel, including prisoners of war.

Foot Notes:
About Reserve Bank of India (RBI):
Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra.
Formation: 1 April 1935.
Act: Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934.
Deputy Governors: 4 (BP Kanungo, N S Vishwanathan, Mahesh Kumar Jain, Michael Debabrata Patra).

6. Diplomat Philip Barton Appointed as Britain’s New High Commissioner to India.

• The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) of Great Britain announced that it has appointed Philip Robert Barton KCMG OBE (Knight Commander order of British Empire) as its new high commissioner of Great Britain to India, He will Replace Sir Dominic Anthony Gerard Asquith KCMG and will take charge on Spring Season.
• Currently Barton serving as Director-General, consular and Security at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
• He also served as British High Commissioner for Pakistan between 2014 to 2016, he also served as the acting Chairman of the Joint Intelligence committee from 2016-2017.

Foot Notes:
About Kingdom of Great Britain
Queen: Queen Elizabeth-II
Currency: Pound Sterling
Countries: England, Wales, Scotland.

7. Tidjane Thiam resigns as Credit Suisse CEO after spying scandal.

• Tidjane Thiam (57), a French-Ivorian banker has resigned chief executive officer (CEO) of Swiss bank Credit Suisse Group AG following a spying scandal.
• The board of directors (BOD) of the bank unanimously accepted Thiam’s resignation & also appoints Thomas Gottstein as the new CEO.

Foot Notes:
About Credit Suisse
Founded: 1856
Founder: Alfred Escher & Allgemeine Deutsche Credit-Anstalt
Headquarters: Zürich, Switzerland

8. IIT-H finds molecule to cure rare ALS neurodegenerative disease.

• Researchers from IIT-H, Telangana (Indian Institute of Technology- Hyderabad) had found a molecule called “AIM-4” that can help in the treatment of rare neurodegenerative disease called “Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis” (ALS) known as “Lou Gehrig’s disease”.
• ALS is a neurodegenerative disorder that severely affects voluntary movement of muscles & leads to paralysis and death. ALS occurs due to changes in specific genes & caused by factors such as smoking, exposure to toxins, metals and pesticides.

Foot Notes:
About IIT-H (Indian Institute of Technology- Hyderabad)
Founded: 2008.
Motto: Inventions and Innovations.
Director: Budaraju Srinivasa Murthy.
Chairman: B.V.R Mohan Reddy.

9. Rohit Rajpal to continue as India’s Davis Cup captain 2020.

• All India Tennis Association (AITA) announced Rohit Rajpal will continue as India’s non-playing Davis Cup captain 2020, in the selection committee meeting held at New Delhi, India.
• India will travel to Croatia for their next tie on 6th and 7th of March, 2020. Zeeshan Ali will be the coach of the team.

Foot Notes:
About Davis Cup

1. The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men’s tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) & Kosmos Holding, contested between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format.
2. The present champions are Spain, who defeated Canada and won the Davis cup for the 6th time in 2019.

Founded: 1900.
Founder: Dwight Filley Davis.

10. Jammu & Kashmir admin renames PHE & IFC department as ‘Jal Shakti Dept’

• The Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) administration renamed Public Health Engineering and Irrigation and Flood Control Department (PHE & IFC) as the ‘Jal Shakthi Department’.
• The Administrative Council meeting was met under the Chairmanship of Girish Chandra Murmu, Lieutenant Governor of J&K, sanctioned the implementation of the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) to achieve 100% coverage of piped water supply by December 2021.

Foot Notes:
About Jammu & Kashmir (J&K)
Capital: Jammu (winter capital), Srinagar (summer capital).
Districts: 20.
National Park (NP): Dachigam NP, Kazinag NP, Kishtwar NP, Salim Ali NP.

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