1. Govt approves constitution of 22nd Law Commission.

• Government has formally announced the constitution of the 22nd Law Commission.
• The law panel advises the government on complex legal issues and has a term of three years. With the president giving his nod for the creation of the Law Commission, the government will now appoint a chairperson to head the panel and other members.
• The chairperson usually is a retired Supreme Court judge or a retired chief justice of a high court. Union Cabinet had last week given its nod to reconstitute the panel.

2. First anniversary of the iconic National War Memorial observed on February 25.

• The first anniversary of the iconic National War Memorial in New Delhi is being observed on 25 February.
• The National War Memorial commemorates the soldiers who made supreme sacrifice during the Counter Insurgency Operations and Peacekeeping Missions.
•  More than 25 thousand soldiers of the Indian Armed Forces have laid down their lives to defend the country's sovereignty and integrity. For the first time Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid homage to the fallen soldiers at the National War Memorial instead of the Amar Jawan Jyoti on Republic Day this year.

3. Government amended provisions of Arms Act, 1959 and Arms Rules, 2016.

• Government has amended provisions of the Arms Act, 1959 and Arms Rules, 2016 to increase the number of firearms that can be kept by shooters and enhanced quantity of ammunition fixed for practice for the year.  The Home Ministry said, shooting is an important Olympic sport in India and Indian shooters have excelled in international competitions.
• The Ministry has made provisions to provide adequate firearms and ammunition to the shooters for their practice. As per the new rules, now international medalists and renowned shooters are allowed to keep additional weapons up to a total of twelve under the exempted category, which earlier was seven.
• Through the amendments it has also been clarified that no license is required for Indian citizens for acquisitions, possession of small arms falls under the category of curio.

4. NABARD sanctioned over Rs 400 cr to boost infrastructure in J&K.

• National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has sanctioned an amount of over 400 crore rupees to the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir during the current financial year for giving boost to the infrastructure in the rural areas.
• An amount of 143.66 crore rupees has been sanctioned for implementation of 38 water supply schemes. The sanctioned includes augmentation of 27 existing water supply schemes and construction of 11 new water supply schemes.
• These water supply schemes are aimed at providing safe and potable drinking water to rural households. The schemes will benefit over 3.5 lakh people across 86 villages in 17 districts.
• An amount of 47.11 crore rupees has been sanctioned towards improving the Animal and Sheep Husbandry sectors.
• A road length of 291 kms will be constructed benefiting 9.15 lakh people in 19 districts of UT of J&K. The construction of roads and bridges would provide all weather improved connectivity to 461 remote villages.

Foot Notes:
About NABARD
Founded: 12 July 1982
Headquarters: Mumbai
Chairperson: Harsh Kumar Bhanwala
Formation: July 12, 1982

5. Andhra Pradesh CM launched 'Jagananna Vasthi Deevena' scheme to provide financial assistance to students.

• Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy launched yet another scheme named after himself, called 'Jagananna Vasthi Deevena'.  Under this a financial assistance of Rs 2,300 crore would be provided to students pursuing various post- intermediate courses to meet hostel and mess expenses.
• In all 11,87,904 students pursuing ITI, polytechnic, under-graduate and postgraduate education would benefit from the scheme. The total Rs 2,300 crore would be distributed to students in two installments, in February and July every year, and credited directly into the bank accounts of the students' mothers.
• While ITI students would get Rs 10,000 each, polytechnic students would get Rs 15,000 and under-graduates and post-graduates Rs 20,000 each.

Foot Notes:
About Andhra Pradesh
Capitals: Amaravati, Hyderabad
Governor: Biswabhusan Harichandan
Chief Minister:Yeduguri Sandinti Jaganmohan Reddy

6. RBI's released new motto 'cash is king, but digital is divine'.

• With 'cash is king, but digital is divine' motto, the Reserve Bank on said its endeavour will be to make digital payments a divine experience for the users.
• RBI has observed over Rs 3.5 lakh crore reduction in the notes in circulation (NIC) post demonetisation.
• NIC increased at an average rate of 14 per cent between October 2014 and October 2016.
• Assuming the same growth rate, NIC would have been Rs 26,04,953 crore in October 2019.
• NIC, however, was Rs 22,31,090 crore, indicating that digitalisation and reduction in cash usage helped reduce NIC by over Rs 3.5 lakh crore.

Foot Notes:
About RBI
Headquarters location: Mumbai
Founder: British Raj
Founded: 1 April 1935, Kolkata
Governor: Shaktikanta Das

7. ICC bans Oman player Yousuf Abdulrahim Al Balushi from all forms of cricket for 7 years.

• The International Cricket Council (ICC) has banned Oman player Yousuf Abdulrahim Al Balushi from all forms of cricket for seven years for his involvement in trying to fix matches.
• Al Balushi accepted four charges of breaching the ICC Anti-Corruption Code.   The charges are all related to the ICC men's T20 World Cup Qualifiers 2019 held in the United Arab Emirates.

Foot Notes:
About ICC
Chairperson: Shashank Manohar
CEO: Manu Sawhney
Headquarters: Dubai, United Arab Emirates

8. India will host the Commonwealth Shooting and Archery Championships in January 2022.

• India will host the Commonwealth Shooting and Archery Championships in January 2022.The medals from the two events will be counted for ranking of competing nations at the Birmingham Games. The medals will be added to the final tally one week after the conclusion of the Games.
• The two events will be held in Chandigarh in January 2022 while the Birmingham Commonwealth Games is scheduled from 27th of July to 7th of August , 2022. India also received wholehearted support from the International Shooting Sports Federation and World Archery, the global governing bodies of the two sports.

Foot Notes:
Commonwealth Shooting and Archery Championships Hosting city: Chandigarh
Year: 2022
Commonwealth games hosting city: Birmingham,United kingdom

9. Vice-President releases book  “Death - An Inside Story” authored by Sadhguru.

• Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu released book 'Death - An Inside Story' authored by Sadhguru, Founder of Isha Foundation.
• The Vice-President was the chief guest at the 26th Maha Sivaratri celebrations at Isha Yoga Centre. Jaggi Vasudev who is generally referred to as Sadhguru, is an Indian yogi and author.

10. Riek Machar swears in as first vice president in South Sudan.

• In South Sudan, rebel leader Riek Machar was sworn in as first vice president.
• The rebel leader returns as first vice president in a transition government which will serve for 36 months.
• President Salva Kiir hailed the official ending of the war and said peace was now irreversible as the new unity government was formed after more than a year of delays.

Foot Notes:
About South Sudan
Capital: Juba
Currency: South Sudanese pound

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Current Affairs 24 February, 2020

Current Affairs 22-23 February, 2020

Current Affairs 21 February, 2020

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