Source: Cick Here

• Iran announced that it will be launching a 3-day annual navy drill named “Velayat 97” in the Gulf and the Indian Ocean, including a sensitive global shipping route, with an aim to evaluate the equipment of the navy, practice launching weapons and enable the troops to gain readiness in battle.


• It will be held in the waters of Strait of Hormuz, Makran coast, Oman Sea and the north of the Indian ocean and will cover an area of 2 million square kilometres for 3 days.


• It will showcase Iran’s submarines, warships, helicopters and drones and will also include missile launches from the vessels.

Source: Cick Here

• A state of emergency was declared in Sudan by its President Omar al-Bashir. The government was dissolved at both the cabinet and local levels.


• It was due to continuous protests by the general public since 19 December who were furious by the mismanagement of the nation’s economy and wanted the leader to step down.


• He has appointed 16 army officers and two security officers as new governors for the 18 provinces of the country.

Source: Cick Here

• President Ram Nath Kovind gave his assent to the amendments to the Indian Stamp Act, 1899, which were introduced in the Parliament as part of the Finance Act 2019. These amendments have been introduced to regularise the system of levying stamp duty and to help in curbing tax evasion.


• For the stamp duty rates, the duties levied by Maharashtra will be taken as a benchmark as the state accounts for 70% of the total collection.


• They propose creation of a legal and institutional mechanism which will enable states to collect stamp duty on securities market instruments at one place by one agency(through the Stock Exchanges or Clearing Corporations authorised by the stock exchange or by the Depositories).


• They also propose a mechanism for appropriate sharing of the stamp duty with relevant state governments on the basis of state of domicile of the buying client.


• There’s also a proposal to create a Coordination Council under Article 263 of the Indian Constitution by a separate order/notification of the President of India for the enactment of the Act.


• This system is expected to do away with the practice of tax evasion completely and will also lead to minimisation of cost of collection and enhancement of revenue productivity.

Source: Cick Here

• An Interactive Forum between Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) of India and Russia was held in Bengaluru and was addressed by Union Minister of Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu for working to address and resolve trade and investment issues to facilitate and increase private sector cooperation.


• India has already announced setting up of a fast track, single-window mechanism for Russian companies which would be chaired by Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) Secretary.


• This mechanism would be in addition to the Russia Desk that had been set up to promote Russian investment in India.


• SMEs being less informed about the schemes that exists in both the countries, a need to curate a digital bridge between the economies so that SMEs can benefit from it was addressed.

Source: Cick Here

• The “National Conference on Logistics Policy: Context, Issues & The Way Forward” was held in New Delhi from 19th to 20th February, 2019.


• Union Minister of Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu, addressed the first stakeholder consultation on the draft logistics policy prepared by the Department of Logistics of the Ministry of Commerce & Industry.


• He also launched the SAFAR Mobile App, on this occasion.


• It will help to gauge the actual issues faced by transporters on the road.


• It will track the incidence of a number of parameters faced by transporters and automatically record the location of the issue.


• Transporters, truck drivers, and general public may use the app for reporting their logistics issues to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.


• The app is available in 8 languages.


• Special Secretary, Logistics, N. Sivasailam, said that the logistics business in the country is worth USD 160 billion and is growing at 7% – 8 % every year and the main objectives of the policy are to reduce logistics cost from 14% to 10% of GDP, create additional 10-15 million jobs in the sector, become a single point for all logistics & trade facilitation and reduce losses in agriculture to less than 5%, by facilitating agri-logistics in the country.

Source: Cick Here

• Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Yogi Adityanath launched a scheme for adolescent girls aged between 11 to 14 years, who have left their education and will take steps to provide them proper nutrition and special care.


• UP Government decided to observe 8th of every month as Adolescent Girls Day, at Anganwadi Centres across the state, and Nutrition Campaigns will be organized for these girls on that day.

Source: Cick Here

• The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) formed a 4-member committee, headed by income tax commissioner Sanjeev Sharma, to look into the matter of taxation related pain points and submit its final report and recommendations by mid-March.


• It will tackle the issue by addressing some current pain points and recommending some steps borrowed from international best practices.

Source: Cick Here

• The Finance ministry expects three to four more lenders to come out of weak bank list of the Reserve Bank in the next six to eight months on account of improvement in financial health amid capital infusion and falling bad loans.


• The Recent capital infusion of Rs 48,239 crore in 12 public sector banks (PSBs) will help Corporation Bank and Allahabad Bank to come out of the Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) framework in the next few weeks.

Source: Cick Here

• Afghanistan registered the highest ever total in T20I history after scoring 278/3 in 20 overs against Ireland in Dehradun.


• The previous record for the highest total was set by Australia, who registered 263/3 in 20 overs against Sri Lanka in 2016. Afghanistan openers Hazratullah Zazai and Usman Ghani recorded the highest ever T20I partnership (236 runs).

Source: Cick Here

• Commonwealth Games 2014 gold medallist Apurvi Chandela broke the women's 10m Air Rifle category world record to clinch India's first gold medal at the New Delhi World Cup.


• The 26-year-old finished with a total of 252.9 points, breaking the previous world record (252.4 points) achieved by China's Ruozhu Zhao at Changwon World Cup in 2018.

Source: Cick Here

• Ashoka University teacher and Wipro Sustainable Fellow, Divya Karnad became the First Indian Woman to be honoured with the “Global Future of Nature Award” for her work on marine conservation.


• She is the second Indian to receive this award after Dr. Charudutt Mishra.


• The award is given to 3 people annually, and this year it was given to Olivier Nsengimana and Fernanda Abra along with Divya Karnad.

Source: Cick Here

• India’s Mohd Mushtaque Ahmad was elected Vice-President of the Asian Hockey Federation(AHF) and Asima Ali was elected as the Executive Committee member, for a 4-year term in Gifu, Japan.


• Mushtaque Ahmad is currently serving as the President of Hockey India, while Asima Ali is the Vice-President of the national federation.

Source: Cick Here

• Well-known Telugu filmmaker Kodi Ramakrishna, best known for directing memorable films such as “Ankusam”,”Ammoru” and “Arundhati” among others passed away in Hyderabad. Ramakrishna made his directorial debut with 1982 Telugu romantic comedy “Intlo Ramayya Veedhilo Krishnayya” with megastar Chiranjeevi.


• Having predominantly directed films in Telugu, Ramakrishna also made films in Kannada and Tamil.

A. Madhya Pradesh B. New Delhi C. Gujarat D. Odisha Answer: B

A. New Delhi B. Maharashtra C. Uttar Pradesh D. Karnataka Answer: A

A. Afghanistan B. Saudi Arabia C. Iran D. Iraq Answer: B

A. China B. Nepal C. Pakistan D. Iran Answer: C

A. Nepal B. China C. South Korea D. UAE Answer: C

A. Pune B. Varanasi C. New Delhi D. Lucknow Answer: B

A. Madhya Pradesh B. Maharashtra C. Uttar Pradesh D. Odisha Answer: C

A. Jharkhand B. Odisha C. Punjab D. Haryana Answer: A

A. Karnataka B. Odisha C. Kerala D. Telangana Answer: C

A. Telangana B. Maharashtra C. New Delhi D. Odisha Answer: C

A. Odisha B. Maharashtra C. Telangana D. New Delhi Answer: D

A. Mumbai B. Incheon C. Seoul D. Suwon Answer: C

A. Beijing B. Thimphu C. Mumbai D. Kathmandu Answer: D

A. Japan B. China C. France D. Russia Answer: B

A. Nepal B. India C. France D. Australia Answer: D

A. Israel B. Iran C. India D. France Answer: A

A. Gree Electric B. Alibaba C. Changhe D. Meituan-Dianping Answer: D

A. China B. Pakistan C. India D. Iraq Answer: C

A. Gangtok B. Chennai C. Mumbai D. New Delhi Answer: D

A. Chris Gayle B. Virat Kohli C. MS Dhoni D. Steve Smith Answer: A

A. Sania Mirza B. Virat Kohli C. MS Dhoni D. Mary Kom Answer: D

A. Acharya Singh Vrat B. PB Acharya C. Uma Nath Singh D. Biplab Dev Answer: C

A. Ram nath Kovind B. Smriti Irani C. Narendra Modi D. Arun Jaitley Answer: C

A. Pune B. Noida C. Gurugram D. Chennai Answer: C

A. Won B. Dollar C. Krone D. Euro Answer: A

A. USA B. Australia C. Austria D. Germany Answer: D