1.Neutral Pronoun ‘They’ Voted Word Of The Decade
- Neutral pronoun ‘they’ has been voted word of the decade by US language experts.
- “They” is used in English by a growing number of non-binary individuals, people who do not identify as either male or female.
- They prefer the plural neutral pronoun to bypass using the pronouns “he” or “she”.
- The selection of “they” is an indication that how a personal expression of gender identity has become an increasing part of our shared discourse.
- The recognition comes after US dictionary Merriam-Webster in December named “they” as word of the year.
- The American Dialect Society had previously named “they” word of the year in 2015.
- Other contenders in the decade category included #BlackLivesMatter, #MeToo, climate, emoji, meme, the opioid crisis and woke.
2.Uttar Pradesh Became 1st State To Shortlist Migrants For Citizenship
- Uttar Pradesh (UP) became the 1st state in India to conduct an exercise to shortlist migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan for eligibility under the new Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) 2019.
- This exercise will also eventually identify the people living illegally in UP.
3.Chandigarh Railway Station Is Fifth In The Country And First In North India To Inaugurate Navigation Facilities For Visually Impaired
- Navigation facilities for visually impaired was inaugurated in Chandigarh railway station in Punjab.
- It is fifth in the country and first in North India to have this facilities for visually impaired.
4.Zo Kutpui Festival Organised In Mizoram
- Mizoram State Government is organising Zo Kutpui festival across 10 states in the country and also in countries such as Myanmar, US and Bangladesh.
- Highlights The first edition of the festival is to begin in the city of Vanghmun in Tripura.
- The festival will then move to other states having Mizo population.
- By conducting such as festival, the Mizoram Government is trying to unify the Mizo population in the country and also across the world.
- The event will host performances of several Mizo tribes.
5.ISRO Launches Massive Human Space Flight Centre In Challakere, Karnataka
- ISRO proposed 2,700 crores of infrastructure plan to construct Human Space Flight Infrastructure Centre.
- The facility is to be set up at Challakere, Chitradurga district of Karnataka and is expected to become operational in three years.
6.Global Drosophila Conference Held At Pune
- Fifth Asia Pacific Drosophila Research Conference was held at Pune.
- It was organized by the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research.
- The conference is held twice a year.
7.Indian Bank Signed MoU With TN’s WEWA To Provide Credit For Business Establishments
- Indian bank has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Women Entrepreneurs Welfare Association (WEWA) of Tamil Nadu (TN) to provide training and credit linkage to its women entrepreneurs to establish business.
- The Indian bank will provide loans to the WEWA members at discounted rates
8.CSC Inks Pact With Paytm Payments Bank For Sale Of FASTags
- Common Service Centres (CSC) e-Governance Services India has signed a memorandum of understanding with Paytm Payments Bank Ltd (PPBL) for sale of FASTags.
- The agreement will facilitate the sale of PPBL FASTags through the last mile network of 3.6 lakh CSCs, helping realise the government’s vision of cashless and smooth transit at all toll plazas across the country.
- FASTags which work on Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology have been made mandatory at toll gates on national highways.
- The FASTag process allows toll payments directly from the prepaid or savings account linked to it, thus doing away with the need for waiting in queues, saving time and fuel.
9.RevFin And PNB MetLife In Tie-Up To Offer Life Cover
- India’s leading Digital lending startup, RevFin has joined hands with PNB MetLife India Insurance Company to offer protection to the RevFin’s customers by bundling life insurance cover on their loans.
- This insurance covers loans up to 3 lakh for a period of 3 years.
- The collaboration will help PNB MetLife to reach out to unbanked areas & drive greater financial inclusion in the country by securing the families of the borrowers against loan repayment in case of unfortunate death of the borrower.
10.IRDAI: Health Insurance Cover In The Name ‘Arogya Sanjeevani’ Mandatory For Insurance Companies
- Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has mandated all the health and General Insurance Companies(GICs) to offer 1st of its kind standardised health insurance products (SHIP) in the name “Arogya Sanjeevani” policy with effect from April 1, 2020.
- All the health products offered by those companies will be succeeded by this name.
- It is to be noted that no health insurance companies will mention any other name other than the standard name of Arogya Sanjeevani in any of the documents.
- Under the Arogya Sanjeevani plan, the minimum sum insured will be Rs. 1 lakh while the maximum sum insured limit will be Rs. 5 lakhs (in multiples of 50,000).
- The health insurance plan should be offered with a policy term of one year.Eligibility: Any person aged between 18-65
11.AI Powered National Stock Exchange Knowledge Hub Inaugurated In New Delhi
- National Stock Exchange (NSE) knowledge Hub was inaugurated.
- The hub will assist insurance, banking and financial services.
- The hub has adopted the latest technology of Artificial Intelligence.
12.Indian Girl Sucheta Satish Wins Global Child Prodigy Award 2020
- A 13-year-old Dubai-based Indian girl Sucheta Satish has won the 100 Global Child Prodigy Award in Delhi.
- She was awarded for singing in most languages during one concert and the longest live singing concert by a child.
- Global Child Prodigy Award is a platform to showcase the talent of children in dance, music, art, writing, acting, modelling, science, sports etc.
- The award is supported by Dr APJ Abdul Kalam International Foundation and Oscar Award-winning music producer AR Rahman among others.
13.Aayushi Dholakia Becomes Miss Teen International 2019
- Aayushi Dholakia has bagged the title of Miss Teen International 2019.
- She also bagged the titles of Best in National Costume Award and Best in Speech Award.
- Girls from 22 countries participated in the event to win the coveted title. Yessenia Garcia from Paraguay and Anicia Gaothusi from Botswana became the First and second Runners-Up respectively.
- Miss Teen International is the world’s oldest running teen pageant.
- Thu Phan from Vietnam was adjudged Miss Teen Asia, Maria Luisa Piras from Italy bagged the title of Miss Teen Europe, Anicia Gaothusi from Botswana won Miss Teen Africa and Alessandra Santos from Brazil became Miss Teen America at the event.
14.Indian Sports Ministry Gave ‘In Principle’ Approval To Hold Shooting And Archery In 2022 CWG
- Sports Ministry has given ‘in principle’ approval to hold the Commonwealth Games shooting and archery events in India.
- These events will be held under the aegis of the Commonwealth Games (CWG) Friendship Program in March 2022.
- year CWG has decided to exclude Shooting event in 2022 CWG but Indian Olympic Association (IOA) was against the decision.
15.India’s Star Batsman Rohit Sharma Lays Foundation Of International Cricket Stadium In Hyderabad, Telangana
- India’s star batsman, Rohit Gurunath Sharma has laid the foundation of Cricket Stadium and Training Center at ‘Heartfulness Institute’s headquarters in Hyderabad, Telangana.
- The cricket stadium has been named as “Rohit Sharma Cricket stadium” by spiritual guru Kamlesh Patel.
16.63rd National Shooting Championship Competitions 2019 Held In Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh
- The 63rd National Shooting Championship Competitions (NSCC) 2019 in Small Bore Rifle & Pistol events (including Para events) was held at Shooting Academy Shooting Ranges, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh (MP)
- It was jointly organized and conducted by the National Rifle Association of India(NRAI) &MP State Shooting Academy.
