National News
- World Environment Day is a UN Environment-led global event, the single largest celebration of our environment each year and is celebrated by thousands of communities worldwide.
2. PM Flags Off Palace Queen Hamsafar Express in Karnataka
ii. The train between Mysuru and Udaipur will act as a backbone of tourism, an employment generating industry. He also dedicated to the nation, the electrified Mysuru-Bengaluru Railway Line and announced two more infrastructure projects for the region.
- Karnataka CM- Siddaramaiah, Governor- Vajubhai Vala.
- The Union Minister of Railways of India is Piyush Goyal.
3. Aga Khan’s 11-Day Visit to India Begins
- Aga Khan became Imam (spiritual leader) of the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims on 11 July 1957 at the age of 20.
- He is the 49th hereditary Imam of the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims.
4. Important Cabinet Approvals- 20th February 2018
ii. The Cabinet has approved-
(a) Proposal for Mahanadi Water Disputes – Constitution of a Tribunal under Inter-State River Disputes Act, 1956 – request from State of Odisha.
(b) India-Morocco Cooperation Agreement in Railway Sector. The Cooperation Agreement will enable technical cooperation in the following areas:-
- Training and staff development;
- Expert missions, exchange of experience and personnel; and
- Mutual technical assistance, including exchanging of experts.
(c) Agreement between India and Israel on Film Co-production
(d) New Bill to ban Unregulated Deposit Schemes and Chit Funds (Amendment) Bill, 2018.
(e) Silkyara Bend-Barkot Tunnel in Uttarakhand as part of ‘Chardham Mahamarg Pariyojana’.
- DRDO- Defence Research and Development Organisation.
- DRDO Chairman- S Christopher, Headquarters- New Delhi.
International News
8. Singapore to Impose Carbon Tax From 2019
ii. Finance minister Heng Swee Keat stated that the tax would be levied on all facilities producing 25,000 tonnes or more of greenhouse gas emissions a year.
- Singapore ranks 26th out of 142 countries in terms of emissions per capita based on the latest International Energy Agency data.
Banking/Business/Economy News
10. Fitch Places PNB on ‘Rating Watch Negative’ With Downgrade Possibility
ii. The Viability Rating measures credit worthiness of a financial institution and reflects the likelihood of the entity to fail, as per Fitch.
- PNB is also likely to get an additional Rs5,400 crore from the government by end-March 2018 under the government’s recapitalisation agenda.
- PNB Chairman- Sunil Mehta, Headquarters- New Delhi.