1. International Day of Women and Girls in Science celebrated on 11 February.

• International Day of Women and Girls in Science is celebrated on 11 February every year to promote the participation of women and girls in science.
• According to the United Nations, less than 30% of the world's researchers are women.
• The day's purpose is to promote full and equal access to participation in science for women and girls.

2. India to host COP13 UN Summit on conservation of migratory birds from Feb 17.

• The 13th Conference of Parties (COP) of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), is going to be hosted by India during 17 to 22 February at Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
• As the host, India shall be designated the President for the next three years. The Government of India is Signatory to the Convention on Conservation of Migratory Wild Animals since 1983.
• The theme of CMS COP13 in India is, “Migratory species connect the planet and we welcome them home”. The CMS COP 13 logo is inspired by ‘Kolam’, a traditional artform from southern India.
• The mascot for CMS COP13, “Gibi - The Great Indian Bustard” is a critically endangered species which has been accorded the highest protection status under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

3. Fifth edition of Joint Military Exercise “Ajeya Warrior-2020” between India and the United Kingdom.

• Fifth edition of Joint Military Exercise “Ajeya Warrior-2020”  between India and the United Kingdom will be conducted at Salisbury Plains, United Kingdom from 13 to 26 February 2020.
• The exercise will comprise of 120 soldiers each from Indian and United Kingdom Army.
• The aim of this exercise is to conduct company level joint training with emphasis on counter terrorists operation in Urban and Semi Urban areas. The exercise is conducted alternatively in the United Kingdom and India.

Foot Notes:
About UK
Capital: London
Currency: Pound sterling
Prime minister: Boris Johnson

4. Indian Army, firm developed  world’s cheapest gun shot locator named as “Parth”.

• 'Parth' gunshot locator device developed by the Army's College of Military Engineering jointly with a private firm costs much cheaper than the imported ones.
• The device costs around Rs 3 lakhs, and if inducted, would replace a similar imported item which costs around Rs 65 lakhs.
• The device can locate the exact location of a bullet from a distance of 400m and will help to locate and neutralize terrorists faster.

5. Kaamya Karthikeyan becomes youngest girl to climb Mt Aconcagua.

• Mumbai-Girl “Kaamya Karthikeyan” became the youngest girl in the world to summit Mount Aconcagua.
• Mount Aconcagua at 6962-meter, is the highest peak in South America. Kaamya had summited Ladakh's 6,260 metres Mt. Mentok Kangri II, under extreme cold weather conditions on August 24, 2019.
• Kaamya is studying in 7th standard at Navy Children School in Mumbai.

6. Hyderabad Metro Rail becomes 2nd largest metro network in India.

• Hyderabad Metro Rail, the world’s largest public-private partnership project, is now the 2nd-largest operational metro network in the country covering 69.2 km.
• With the launch of another 11-km stretch, Hyderabad Metro Rail has become the second-largest metro rail network in the country after Delhi.

Foot Notes:
About Telangana
Chief Minister: K. Chandrashekar Rao.
Governor: Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan.
Capital: Hyderabad.

7. African Union summit held in Addis Ababa.

• The 33rd African Union (AU) summit was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The theme of the summit was "Silencing the Guns: Creating conducive conditions for Africa's development".
• The summit highlighted three challenges namely eradicating poverty, tackling the climate crisis and silencing guns in Africa.
• The Democratic Republic of the Congo will replace South Africa as AU chair in 2021.The African Union is a continental union consisting of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa.

Foot Notes:
Headquarters: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

8. Solar Orbiter launches on historic mission to study the sun's poles.

• The European-built Solar Orbiter spacecraft launched towards the sun to take a unique look at their blazing poles.
• The 1,800 kilograms spacecraft lifted off atop a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, USA.
• Solar Orbiter is a collaboration between the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA. The mission is expected to return unprecedented data and images, as well as our first views of the sun's polar regions.

9. BSNL, Air India, MTNL highest loss-making PSUs in FY19; ONGC most profitable: Survey

• ONGC, Indian Oil Corporation and NTPC were the top three profitable PSUs in 2018-19, whereas BSNL, Air India and MTNL incurred highest losses for a third consecutive year, according to a survey tabled in Parliament.
• The top three profit making PSUs including Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Indian Oil Corporation and NTPC contributed 15.3 per cent, 9.68 per cent and 6.73 per cent, respectively to the total profit earned by all profitable CPSEs.
• Total income of all CPSEs during 2018-19 stood at Rs 24,40,748 crore compared to Rs 20,32,001 crore in 2017-18, showing a growth of 20.12 per cent.

10. Kerala to host global meet on climate change, ocean health.

• ClimFishCon 2020, a three-day international conference on the impact of climate change on ‘hydrological cycle, ecosystem, fisheries and food security’ will begin in Kerala on 12 February.
• More than 300 delegates from 12 countries including scientists, researchers, administrators, policymakers, academicians, and entrepreneurs will participate in the event.
• Fishers, aqua farmers, students and other stakeholders will also attend.
• The conference is organised jointly by the CUSAT School of Industrial Fisheries and the Department of Fisheries, Kerala.

Read More:

Current Affairs 10 February, 2020

Current Affairs 08-09 February, 2020

Current Affairs 07 February, 2020

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