| 1. Every year on 20th February, Social Equality Justice day is observed. |
| · “Workers on the Move: the Quest for Social Justice”, is the theme of World Day of Social Justice 2018. |
| · It is a day recognizing the need to promote efforts to tackle issues such as poverty, exclusion and unemployment. |
| 2. Mandarin as one of the official languages of Pakistan, has approved a motion to declare by the Pakistani Senate. |
| · In view of ties between Pakistan and China, the motion said the step was necessary. |
| · Punjabi, which is widely spoken in Punjab province of Pakistan, Pashto and many other native languages have not been declared official languages of the country. |
| 3. Two–day Uttar Pradesh Investors’ Summit 2018, will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. |
| · President Ram Nath Kovind will be present at the closing ceremony, while the PM will inaugurate the summit on February 21. |
| · Uttar Pradesh Government organised the event to showcase the investment opportunities and potential in the state. |
| · As country partners for the event Seven nations – Finland, Netherlands, Japan, Czech Republic, Thailand, Slovakia and Mauritius have been identified. |
| 4. Approval for creation of National Urban Housing Fund (NUHF) for Rs.60,000 crores has given by the Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. |
| · In Building Materials and Technology Promotion Council (BMTPC) this fund will be situated, an autonomous body registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. |
| · 39.4 lakh houses under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) has sanctioned by the Ministry so far. |
| 5. During the visit of Prime Minister of Israel Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu to India, the Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its ex-post facto approval to an Agreement on Film Co-production between India and Israel signed, in the presence of both the Prime Ministers in Hyderabad House in New Delhi on 15th January, 2018. |
| · Co-production of an Indian film with an international party means that Indian producer can access international funds and can collaborate on the script, talent and distribution at international level. |
| 6. By using cultural forms, a Sanskriti Mahotsav “Swachhagrah – Bapu ko Kaaryaanjali” is being organized to celebrate the creative and cultural industries in Varanasi and to focus attention on the need for Swachhta on the 21st and 22nd February, 2018 at the Man Mandir Ghat and Assi Ghat in Varanasi. |
| · For conservation and protection of the river and the ancient city, the Mahotsav will integrate the tangible and intangible heritage along the river-belt and will see the engagement of the academia, artists, artisans, writers, poets, environmental and cultural forums on the use of cultural expressions. |
| · It will be steered by school-children affiliated to Ministry of Culture, Government of India’s Interpretation Centres through exhibitions, songs, puppetry, nukkad nataks and folk dances. |
| · Performances on the theme of ‘Swachhagraha’ presented under the rubric of ‘Swachhagraha: Bapu ko Karyanjali’ will be the focus of the two-day event. |
| 7. Shri R.K. Singh, Union Minister of State (IC) for Power and New & Renewable Energy, inaugurated the ‘International R&D Conclave’- two-day conference on Emerging Opportunities and Challenges of R&D in Indian Power Sector in New Delhi. |
| · Central Electricity Authority (CEA) organised it. |
| · Shri Singh stressed upon the need of a dedicated R&D department in CEA to coordinate the research in power sector, in his address inaugural. |
| 8. The Reserve Bank of India has constituted a five member panel under former board member Y H Malegam, In the wake of the Rs 11,300 crore fraud at the Punjab National Bank. |
| · The Panel will look into the wide divergence by banks in asset classification and provisioning and reasons for frauds. |
| 9. An agreement to collaborate in developing futuristic technologies such as artificial intelligence / IoT and jointly create a 5G test bed have signed by State-owned telecom firm BSNL and Japan’s NTT AT along with their Indian partner Virgo Corps. |
| · With the vision of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to collaborate on the next generation technologies, the agreement is in line. |
| 10. At the age of 82, renowned cardiologist and Honorary Dean of the Bombay Hospital, B K Goyal passed away in Mumbai’s Breach Candy Hospital. |
| · By the Government of India, he was awarded the Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan. |
| · The Jaipur-born doctor authored a book, Heart Talk, besides having more than 50 publications in various Indian and globally recognized journals. |
| · The All India Medical Council proposed his name for the post of President of India, in 2012. |
| 11. To make it more users friendly, the Union Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare have launched six new features of National Agriculture Market (e-NAM) Platform. |
| · The six new features are e-NAM Mobile App, BHIM payment facility, new and improved Website with eLearning Module, MIS Dashboard, Grievance Redressal Management System for Mandi Secretaries and Integration with Farmer Database. |
| 12. On 21 February, the International Mother Language Day (IMLD) was observed across the world to promote awareness of linguistic, multilingualism and cultural diversity. |
| · This year it is the 18th anniversary of IMLD. |
| · The theme of 2018 International Mother Language Day is ‘Linguistic diversity and multilingualism count for sustainable development‘. |
| · It seeks to highlight importance local languages that transmit cultures, values and traditional knowledge for promoting sustainable futures. |
| · Observance of this day also supports target 6 of Goal 4 of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which states that ensure that all youth and a substantial proportion of adults, both men and women, achieve literacy and numeracy. |