Hindi is 3rd most spoken language in the world with 615 million speakers after English, Mandarin

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1.Bangladesh to sign Free Trade Agreement with Nepal

Bangladesh and Nepal have agreed to sign a Free Trade Agreement to enhance trade between the two countries.Bangladesh has also agreed to allow Nepal to use it Saidpur airport located in its northernmost district of Nilphamari close to Nepal.

Bangladesh exports commodities worth $38 million to Nepal and imports goods worth around 18 million dollars.

Talking to media persons The Nepal Foreign Minister expressed the hope that Nepal will be able to provide 500 MW of hydroelectric power to Bangladesh once the Indian Company GMR completes its project in Nepal.

2.Sub-group of terror financing watchdog FATF recommends continuation of Pak in ‘Grey List’

A sub-group of the global terror financing watchdog FATF recommended the continuation of Pakistan in the ‘Grey List’ for its failure to check terror funding.The decision was taken at the meeting of the FATF’s International Co-operation Review Group (ICRG), held at the ongoing Paris plenary.

The final decision will be taken when the FATF takes up issues concerning Pakistan.

The FATF meeting is being held a week after an anti-terrorism court in Pakistan sentenced Hafiz Saeed, the mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai attack, to 11 years in two terror financing cases.

Pakistan was placed on the ‘Grey List’ by the FATF in June 2018.

3.Ashraf Ghani secures 2nd term as President of Afghanistan

In Afghanistan, the Independent Election Commission announced that Ashraf Ghani has won a second term as President of the country.However, his closest opponent Abdullah Abdullah has refused to recognize the results and declared himself winner potentially endangering peace negotiations with the Taliban.

Ghani garnered 9,23,592 votes, or 50.64 percent of votes that took place 28th of September last year.

Meanwhile, the Taliban has also rejected Ghani’s win.

It has posed a question to a US Peace Plan that calls for a reduction in violence after an expected agreement to be signed on 29th of this month between Washington and the Taliban.

4.EAM to inaugurate Indian Pavilion at 70th Berlin International Film Festival on Feb 20 in Germany

External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar will inaugurate Indian Pavilion at the 70th Berlin International Film Festival  at ‘Berlinale-2020’ in Germany.The festival will be held till 1st of March. India Pavilion will provide a platform to popularize Indian cinema in the overseas market and facilitate new business opportunities.

Information and Broadcasting Ministry in collaboration with Confederation of Indian Industry, CII is participating in the event.

This year for the festival, three Indian feature films, as well as one short documentary film, have been selected.

These are Pushpendra Singh’s Laipla Aur Satt Geet, Prateek Vats’ Eeb Allay Ooo!, Akhsay Indikar’s – Sthalpuran and Ekta Mittal’s short documentary – Gumnaam Din.

5.Hindi is 3rd most spoken language in the world with 615 million speakers after English, Mandarin

Hindi is the 3rd most spoken language of the world in 2019 with 615 million speakers.The 22nd edition of the world language database Ethnologue stated English at the top of the list with 1,132 million speakers.

Chinese Mandarin is at the second position with 1,117 million speakers.

Bangla has been ranked as the 7th most spoken language of the world.

Bangla has 228 million native speakers.

Ethnologue brings out an yearly database of living languages of the world since its establishment in 1951.

6.IDSA to be renamed as Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses

The Union Government has decided to rename the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, IDSA as Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses.The decision has been taken to honour the commitment and legacy of late Manohar Parrikar.

It will align the vision and aspiration of the premier defence institute with the contribution of the former Defence Minister and Padma Bhushan awardee.

He was Defence Minister from 9th November 2014 to 14th March 2017.

An autonomous body under the Ministry of Defence, IDSA was established as a registered society in New Delhi in 1965, dedicated to objective research and policy relevant studies on all aspects of defence and security.

7.Highest ever Budget for Uttar Pradesh of over Rs 5 lakh crore tabled in State Assembly

The Uttar Pradesh Government presented the state’s largest ever annual budget in the State Legislature.The budgetary demands of 5 lakh 12 thousand 860 crore rupees was tabled in Assembly by Finance Minister Suresh Khanna in the presence of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

This is the fourth budget presented by the Yogi Adityanath Government.

There are new schemes of 10 thousand 967 crore 87 lakh rupees included in the budget.

A fund of three thousand 300 crore rupees has been given for Piped drinking water in Bundelkhand and Vidya area.

An amount of 510 crore rupees has been allocated for the development under Purvanchal  Nidhi and Bundelkhand Nidhi.

The government has emphasized on Metro Rail transport and 844 crore rupees have been given for Agra, Kanpur and Gorakhpur projects.

The government has allocated 5 ,791 crore rupees for the Swachh Bharat Mission.

8.CBRI Roorkee organises workshop on post-earthquake reconstruction at Kathmandu

Central Building Research Institute (CBRI), Roorkee organised a workshop on the post-earthquake reconstruction of schools and other educational facilities in Nepal at Kathmandu.The workshop was aimed to provide best practices for delivering End to End construction management at all stages of the project including pre-construction, construction and post-construction.

It will pave the way for effective project implementation covering the aspects of Project Execution Guidelines, Good Construction Practices, Monitoring and Reporting to achieve the best quality of construction.

The government of India is supporting the reconstruction of 70 schools and one library as part of its post-earthquake assistance in the education sector.

CBRI Roorkee is providing Design Supervision and Project Management Consultancy Services for the reconstruction of 70 higher secondary schools in seven districts of Nepal.

9.Sunil Kumar wins gold in 87-kg Greco Roman category in Asian Wrestling Championships

Greco Roman wrestler Sunil Kumar opened India’s medal account in the Asian Wrestling Championships at New Delhi by winning a Gold.The seasoned grappler beat Azat Salidinov from Kyrgyzstan in the final of the 87 kg category.

Sunil Kumar had reached the final by a victory over Kazakh opponent Azamat Kustubayev to finish the semi-final bout  12-8. 

Last year also, Kumar had made it to the final and ended with a silver medal.

10.AIFF receives ‘Grassroots Charter Bronze Level’ membership of AFC

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has received the “Grassroots Charter Bronze Level” membership of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).The Asian sports governing body has confirmed this in a letter to the AIFF General Secretary Kushal Das.

This declaration accords AIFF the right to promote its grassroots events and activities with the support and recognition of the AFC in accordance with the applicable terms of the AFC Grassroots Charter.

11.Sachin Tendulkar’s 2011 world cup moment becomes Laureus best sporting moment

Sachin Tendulkar being carried on the shoulders of his teammates following India’s world cup triumph in 2011 was voted as the Laureus best sporting moment in the past 20 years.Former Australian captain Steve Waugh presented the trophy to Tendulkar, after Tennis great Boris Becker announced the winner at a ceremony.

First held in 2000, the Annual Laureus Sports Awards honour the greatest and most inspirational sporting triumphs of the year.

On the 20th anniversary of the awards, the Laureus sporting moments award allowed people to vote for the most inspiring sporting moment of the past 20 years.

12.Greatest woman golfer, Mickey Wright dies at 85

Mickey Wright, often described as the greatest woman golfer of all time, died.Her haul of 13 major victories included four US Women’s Open titles and four US Women’s PGA Championships. 

Wright had accumulated 82 titles of Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Tour titles during a professional career which stretched from 1954 to 1969.

She won the 1954 World Amateur Championship before turning professional the following season.

Her retirement in 1969, which came at the relatively early age of 34, shocked women’s golf.