“State of the World’s Children Report 2019” of UNICEF

1.Covid-2019 is official name for disease caused by new coronavirus says WHO

The World Health Organization (WHO) says the official name for the disease caused by the new coronavirus is Covid-2019.It comes after the death toll from the virus passed one thousand. Tens of thousands of people have been infected.

The word coronavirus refers to the group of viruses it belongs to.

Researchers have been calling for an official name to avoid confusion and stigmatisation of any group or country.

2.Storm Ciara kills at least seven people in Europe

At least seven people have died across Europe as storm Ciara moved east after first sweeping across Ireland and the UK.Transport shut down and schools were forced to close across Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.

Dutch authorities reported traffic jams of more than 720km across the country.

France’s Mediterranean island of Corsica recorded winds of more than 220km/hour, as heavy rains, powerful winds and flooding spread across the continent.

Wind speeds of up to 200 km per hour were also recorded in northern Italy, Poland and Sweden.

3.World Unani Day: 11 February

World Unani Day is observed every year on 11 February.This day is celebrated every year to mark the birth anniversary of great Unani scholar and social reformer Hakim Ajmal Khan.

He was an eminent Indian Unani physician who was a versatile genius, a great scholar, a social reformer, a noted freedom fighter, a Unani medical educationist and founder of scientific research in Unani System of Medicine.

He was one of the founders of the Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi.

The main objective of World Unani Day is to spread awareness about health care delivery through the Unani system of medicine through its preventive and curative philosophy.

The Unani system of medicine originated in Greece. Its foundation was laid by Hippocrates.

4.National Productivity Day: 12 February

National Productivity Day is observed on 12 February annually to increase the productivity culture in India.It is celebrated by the National Productivity Council (NPC).

National Productivity Council (NPC) under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry Government of India is a premier institution for propagating productivity movement in India.

NPC works for providing solutions towards accelerating productivity, enhancing competitiveness, increasing productivity.

The seven days period from 12th February to 18th February 2020 as “Productivity Week” throughout the country.

5.Aam Aadmi Party returns to power for 3rd consecutive term in Delhi

The Aam Aadmi Party has come back to power in Delhi for the third term, winning Assembly elections with a thumping majority of 62 out of 70 assembly seats.This is for the second time that the party has swept the election-winning more than two-third of the seats.

In 2015 the party had won 67 seats.

The Bharatiya Janata Party has won 8 seats, five more than the last assembly.

Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal dissolved the Sixth Legislative Assembly of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. A new order will be issued for the formation of the Seventh Legislative Assembly.

6.“State of the World’s Children Report 2019” of UNICEF

As per UNICEF’s State of the World’s Children Report 2019, the Under 5 Mortality Rate in India is 37 per 1,000 live births against Global average of 39 per 1,000 live births in 2018, which translates to more than 8 lakhs under 5 deaths in India.As per the Sample Registration System (SRS) 2010-13 report of Registrar General of India, major causes of child mortality in India are: Prematurity & low birth weight (29.8%), Pneumonia (17.1%), Diarrheal diseases (8.6%), Other non-communicable diseases (8.3%), Birth asphyxia & birth trauma (8.2%), Injuries (4.6%), Congenital anomalies (4.4%), Ill-defined or cause unknown (4.4%), Acute bacterial sepsis and severe infections (3.6%), Fever of unknown origin (2.5%), All Other Remaining Causes (8.4%).

As per the UNICEF 2019 report, Globalization, urbanization, inequities, humanitarian crises and climate shocks are driving unprecedented negative changes in the nutrition situation of children around the world.

The Government of India has launched POSHAN (Prime Minister Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nourishment) Abhiyaan, to address malnutrition challenges in India by engaging all the important stakeholders in a convergent approach.

The goals of POSHAN Abhiyaan is to prevent and reduce stunting, underweight and low birth weight by 2% per annum and the reduction of anemia by 3% per annum.

7.India includes elephant, bustard in global conservation list

India will be moving to include the Asian Elephant and the Great Indian Bustard in the list of species that merit heightened conservation measures.The list will be debated at the 13th Conference of Parties (COP) of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), an environment treaty under the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

The COP is scheduled to be organised from February 17 to 22 in Gandhinagar, Gujarat. There are 130 parties to the convention and India has been a member since 1983.

8.National Water Conference in Madhya Pradesh

The Madhya Pradesh capital Bhopal hosted the National Water Conference being held.The Conference was inaugurated by Chief Minister Kamal Nath.

The importance and revival of traditional water sources, right to water, river rejuvenation campaign in Madhya Pradesh and many other related topics are being discussed during the four sessions of the conference.

9.India out of US’ developing nations list for trade benefits

Ahead of President Donald Trump’s visit on February 24-25, the US removed India from its list of developing countries that are exempt from investigations into whether they harm American industry with unfairly subsidised exports.The United States Trade Representative (USTR) eliminated a host of countries including Brazil, Indonesia, Hong Kong, South Africa and Argentina.

The US removed India from the list on account of it being a G-20 member and having a share of 0.5% or more of world trade.

India’s share in global exports was 1.67% in 2018. In global imports, it was 2.57%.

10.India’s Lalremsiami named as 2019 FIH Women’s Rising Star of Year

India forward Lalremsiami has been named as the 2019 FIH Women’s Rising Star of the Year by the International Hockey Federation. 19-year-old Lalremsiami took the prize ahead of Argentina’s Julieta Jankunas and Frederique Matla of the Netherlands.

The player from Mizoram got 40 per cent of all the votes cast.

Lalremsiami first came into the wider hockey consciousness at the Hockey Women’s World Cup in 2018 when she was one of the stand-out players of the tournament.

11.Gulmarg all set to host five day National Winter Games from March 7

World-famous Ski destination Gulmarg is all set to host a five-day national winter games event from 7th March under the banner of Khelo India.Khelo India is an initiative of the Government of India to strengthen the sports ecosystem by encouraging mass participation and promotion of excellence.

There will be 30 events under five major activities- snowboarding, snow skiing, cross country, snow show in which 800 players from across India would participate.

While on the side-lines, snow cycling and other games will be held for the local children.