Current Affairs Current Affairs February 2020

 China has joined India and United States in putting Pakistan on Grey list of the FATF (Financial Action Task Force). Both China and Saudi Arabia have joined US, India and other European countries sending stern messages to Pakistan against its actions of terror funding money laundering
  • Highlights
A Plenary session of the FATF is to be held in June 2020. China, Saudi Arabia and Turkey were the three countries that supported Pakistan against FATF move in putting Pakistan under Grey List. Now Turkey and Malaysia are the only supporters. 12 out of 39 votes are required to move out of FATF list which Pakistan will not be able to. Pakistan is currently on Grey List of FATF and with its major supporters withdrawing their backing, Pakistan will continue to remain on FATF Grey list. Pakistan was put on the list in June 2018. It was given a plan of action which the country was supposed to complete by October 2019. Failing of which will place it under black list.
  • FATF Grey List and Black List
The FATF is a Paris based organization that combats terrorism funding and money laundering.
  • Grey List
The countries that are not safe and are supporting money laundering and terror funding are included in the list.
  • Black List
The countries that is uncooperative tax havens for terror funding. They are also called Non-Cooperative Countries or Territories (NCCTs).
  • Countries currently in Black List and Grey List
The lists now have been renamed to “Call for Action” and “Monitored Jurisdiction”. The Call for Action countries or the Black List Countries include Iran and North Korea. The Monitored Jurisdiction or Grey List include Iceland, Ghana, Botswana, Syria, Yemen, Pakistan, Mongolia and Cambodia.

  Symposium on Emerging Opportunities for Indian Textiles and Crafts was held in New Delhi. The symposium was chaired by Union Minister of Textiles and Women and Child Development Smriti Zubin Irani. Senior officers of the Ministries of Commerce & Industry and Textiles, representatives of Export Promotion Council (EPCs), buying offices and buying agents participated in the symposium. They participated in the symposium to discuss the business opportunities emerging in view of the present scenario of ‘CORONA VIRUS” in China. The Union Minister of Textiles Smriti Zubin Irani stressed on the need of diversification of the present opportunities along with increasing domestic capabilities. She also stressed on making India a leader in textiles sector. The symposium was organized by Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts under the aegis of Ministry of Textiles, Government of India.

  GoI will be set up Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) by the first week of April 2020. The CCPA to be set up under the Consumer Protection Act 2019, will address issues related to consumer rights, unfair trade practices, misleading advertisements and impose penalties for selling spurious and adulterated products. CCPA will be formed under the aegis of the authority and it will carry out inquiries in matters related to unfair trade practices and misleading advertisements.

  Seminar on Indian Defence Equipment was organized in Dhaka by the High Commission of India in Bangladesh. 12 Indian firms participated in the Seminar on Indian Defence Equipment. Objective of the seminar was to pursue further cooperation between India and Bangladesh in the field of defence technologies. The seminar also provided a great opportunity to defence manufacturers from India in building partnerships with Bangladesh.

 “Run for India Tea” has been organized in collaboration by Tripura Tea Development Corporation (TTDC) and Tea Board of India in Tripura. The event has been organized to further promote and popularise Tripura tea alongside India tea and to boost the tea industry in the state. TTDC is also planning to expand tea supplies through fair price shops across the state. “Run for India Tea” event was followed by a colourful tableau procession which featured the participation of large number of tea workers wearing traditional dresses. 6,885 hectares of land in Tripura is covered under tea cultivation constituting 58 operational tea gardens among which 42 gardens are owned individually, three are run by Tripura Tea Development Corporation (TTDC) and 13 are operated under cooperative societies.

  Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju unveils the 5 host cities for the FIFA Under-17 Women’s Football World Cup 2020 which begins on 2nd of November 2020. The matches of the world cup will be held in five cities including Ahmedabad, Bhubaneswar, Guwahati, Kolkata and Navi Mumbai. The finals of the tournament will be played on 21st of November at Navi Mumbai. The cities will play host to 16 teams which will compete across 32 matches to lift the coveted title. The official slogan – Kick Off The Dream – was also unveiled during the event.

  The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has received the Asian Football Confederation’s “Grassroots Charter Bronze Level” membership. This will allow the national body to promote its basic-level events as AFC recognised. 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. In 2013, AIFF had achieved a podium finish for its work at the grassroots levels along with Japan and Vietnam. In 2014, AIFF received President Recognition Award for grassroots football alongside Philippines and Tajikistan.

  India will host 2021 Junior Men’s Hockey World Cup. The International Hockey Federation (FIH) announced this at Lausanne in Switzerland. The competition will be played towards the end of 2021. This is the second time that India will be hosting the prestigious tournament, having staged it in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh in 2016. The junior men’s World Cup will see 16 teams compete for the title, out of which six will be from Europe, four from Asia, including hosts India, two from Africa, two from Oceania and two from Pan America. Out of the 16 teams, the six European teams, who have already qualified for the event in India, are Germany, England, Netherlands, Spain, Belgium and France, as they secured their berths through the European Continental Championships which were held in 2019. Reigning champions India had defeated Belgium 2-1 in the final match of the 2016 edition at the Major Dhyan Chand Stadium in Lucknow, which saw them lift their second-ever FIH Junior Men’s World Cup. India had also hosted the FIH senior men’s Hockey World Cup in 2018 at the Kalinga Hockey Stadium, Bhubaneswar.

  The Delhi International Airport Ltd has declared “Indira Gandhi International Airport” of Delhi as India’s first single-use plastic-free airport. The CII-ITC Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development has certified Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) as single-use plastic-free airport. The CII-ITC Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development lauded DIAL for its successful voluntary implementation of measures to make IGI Airport’s as India’s first single-use plastic-free airport.

  The Ministry of Textiles organized “Kala Kumbh” exhibition in New Delhi. It is an exhibition to promote Geographical Indication (GI) craft and heritage of India. The exhibitions are planned in various major cities like Bengaluru, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chennai. The exhibitions are sponsored by the Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts (EPCH). The GI tag is used on handicrafts which correspond to a specific geographical location or origin (e.g., a town, region, or country). As of August 2019, 178 GI handicraft products were registered from all over India.


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