Source: Click Here

• The death toll from the novel coronavirus surged past 900 in mainland China, overtaking global fatalities in the 2002-03 SARS epidemic, even as the World Health Organization said the outbreak appeared to be stabilising.


• With 91 more people dying in Hubei, the province at the centre of the outbreak, the toll is now higher than the 774 killed worldwide by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

Source: Click Here

• Switzerland voted strongly in favour of a new law against homophobia in a referendum in the face of strong opposition from the populist rightwing Swiss People’s Party (SVP).


• Final results showed 63 percent voted in favour of widening existing laws against discrimination on ethnic or religious grounds to include sexual orientation.

Source: Click Here

• A US envoy warned Israel not to declare sovereignty over West Bank land without Washington’s consent, pushing back against calls for immediate action by ultra-nationalists within Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition.


• U.S. President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace plan, unveiled on Jan 28, envisages Israel keeping key swathes of the occupied territory where Palestinians seek statehood. But the question of timing has opened up a rare rift between the allies.

Source: Click Here

• The White House will unveil a budget proposal that drops the Republicans’ long-term goal of eliminating the federal deficit over the next 10 years, US media said.


• The budget proposal, expected to be released, will instead target closing the deficit by 2035, the Washington Post reported, citing an internal summary.


• President Donald Trump’s administration had sought to eliminate the fiscal gap over a decade, but the president has recently shown little interest in tackling growing government debt, the newspaper said.

Source: Click Here

• The Supreme Court will hear a case to stop involvement of children and infants in demonstrations.


• The court had taken suo moto cognizance of the issue after the death of an infant in Shaheen Bagh, where protests are being held for almost two months over Citizenship Amendment Act or CAA.


• A four-month-old baby had passed away in his sleep on the night of January 30 after returning from Shaheen Bagh where his parents had taken him during the anti-CAA protest.

Source: Click Here

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Assam's Bodoland region last week, days after the historic Bodo peace deal, came as the ruling BJP sought to capitalise on the moment and drum up support for the citizenship law in the region.


• On his first trip to a region consumed by protests against the CAA, protests that have forced his party into an uncomfortable position in the North East, he used the occasion to try to persuade people that the CAA was not bad for them.

Source: Click Here

• ''Parth'' gun shot 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.

Source: Click Here

• The landmark railway line, connecting the northeastern region with Bangladesh, will be ready by the end of 2021, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said.


• Mr. Singh said when the construction of the railway line, between Agartala in Tripura and Akhaura in Bangladesh, will be completed, it will pave the way for running the first train from the northeast to Bangladesh on the eve of the 75th year of India''s independence in 2022.

Source: Click Here

• About 7,000 elementary teachers across Maharashtra are set to lose their jobs for failing to comply with the additional requirement of clearing teachers eligibility test (TET) in time.


• Vacating an earlier interim stay, the Bombay High Court last week allowed the state government to go ahead with implementing its policy, making clearing TET mandatory for elementary teachers – teachers teaching standards I to VIII.

Source: Click Here

• Jharkhand Parliamentary Affairs Minister Alamgir Alam has assured the para-teachers that the state government would initiate steps, as per guidelines, to meet their demands.


• The para-teachers have been demanding among other regularisation of their service and wage hike since 2018.

Source: Click Here

• Japanese conglomerate SoftBank is considering buying a minority stake in Mahindra Electric Mobility, according to a report in the Business Standard.


• The two companies have begun preliminary talks for an alliance, the report suggests.

Source: Click Here

• India skipper Priyam Garg termed the three-wicket Under-19 World Cup final defeat to Bangladesh as "it not being their day".


• India were bowled out for a paltry 177 but had Bangladesh in trouble with leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi bowling a superb spell riddled with googlies to reduce them to 102/6 at one stage.


• But skipper Akbar Ali's unbeaten heroic 43 helped them get past the line via DLS method as rain stopped play towards the end.

Source: Click Here

• Inter Milan moved top of Serie A after storming back from two goals down to snatch a 4-2 win over AC Milan in a pulsating derby at the San Siro.


• Inter Milan pull level on 54 points with Juventus, who lost 1-2 at Hellas Verona on Saturday, but are ahead of the champions on goal difference thanks to a thrilling second half turnaround after Ante Rebic and Zlatan Ibrahimovic had put Milan 2-0 up at the break.

Source: Click Here

• South Korea just took over the 2020 Oscars. Well, a Korean movie did. Parasite — the black comedy class satire from writer-director Bong Joon-ho — won the biggest award of the night, Best Picture, in addition to wins for best director (Joon-ho), best screenplay (Joon-ho & Han Jin-won), and best international movie.


• With four honours, Parasite also had the most Oscars at the 92nd Academy Awards, followed by the likes of the one-shot-like war epic 1917 (3), the Christian Bale, Matt Damon-starrer adrenaline rush Ford v Ferrari (2), the Joaquin Phoenix-starrer DC origin movie Joker (2), and Quentin Tarantino's nostalgic Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2).

Source: Click Here

• HDFC Bank has appointed Anjani Rathor as its new Group Head - Digital Banking. Rathor has been designated Chief Digital Officer (CDO), and will be responsible for taking the Bank’s digital transformation journey to the next level, the private sector lender said in a statement.

Source: Click Here

• Veteran writer and academician Giriraj Kishore passed away on Sunday at his residence here following a prolonged illness. He was 82-years-old.


• A Padma Shri awardee, Giriraj had written ‘Pahla Girmitiya’. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath condoled the death of the acclaimed author.