Top GKToday’s News Headlines-7 February 2020

February 7, 2020

Here are Top GKToday’s News Headlines for February 7, 2020

President presents International Gandhi Awards for Leprosy to Dr N S Dharmashaktu (Indian nomination-individual category) and the Leprosy Mission Trust (institutional category)
Philip Barton appointed Britain’s new High Commissioner to India
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh holds talks with his Madagascan counterpart Lt Gen Rokotonirina Richard in Lucknow
Indian firm JSR Dynamics launches indigenous 180 km strike range air to ground missile Khagantak
First India-Africa Defence Ministers’ Conclave held in Lucknow
India-Russia Military Industrial Conference (IRMIC) held in Lucknow
J&K administration renames Public Health Engineering & Irrigation and Flood Control Department (PHE&IFC) as ‘Jal Shakti Department’
Glass floor bridge to replace Lakshman Jhula over Ganga in Rishikesh that was closed in 2019
Odia & English writer Manoj Das wins Mystic Kalinga Literary Award (Indian and Global Languages) in Bhubaneswar

RBI opted for a status quo on benchmark interest rate in its sixth bi-monthly monetary policy statement, 2019-20.
Policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) unchanged at 5.15%.
Consequently, the reverse repo rate under the LAF remains unchanged at 4.90%
Marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate unchanged at 5.40%
All six members of Monetary Policy Committee vote in favour of maintaining status quo on interest rate
Accommodative stance to revive growth maintained; inflation to remain elevated in short-run
GDP growth for 2020-21 fiscal pegged at 6%
Retail inflation projection revised upwards to 6.5% for January-March quarter
Pricing of loans by banks for the medium enterprises to be linked to an external benchmark effective April 1
Time for restructuring of GST-registered MSME loans extended till December 2020, from March 2020 at present
RBI to periodically publish a composite ‘Digital Payments Index’ (DPI) from July 2020
DPI will capture the extent of digitisation of payments

India International Seafood Show (IISS) being organised by MPEDA and SEAI in Kochi from February 7 to 9; theme: “Blue Revolution – Beyond Production to Value Addition”
MPEDA: Marine Products Export Development Authority, SEAI: Seafood Exporters Association of India
Emami Group sells cement business to Nirma Group for Rs 5,500 crore
Mercedes-Benz launches luxury multipurpose vehicle V Class Marco Polo at Rs 1.38 crore

US President Donald Trump acquitted of all impeachment charges by Republican-majority Senate
US launches 27-nation International Religious Freedom Alliance aimed at protecting and preserving religious freedom across the world
NASA’s Christina Koch returns to Earth after 328 days aboard the International Space Station; had broken record for longest spaceflight of 9 days by a female held by another NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson
Kirk Douglas, American actor, producer and director, dies at 103
International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation observed on February 6; theme: “Unleashing Youth Power: One decade of accelerating actions for zero female genital mutilation”

Rohit Rajpal to continue as India’s Davis Cup captain
Sports Authority of India, Hockey India launch High Performance Centres in 7 places across the country