• National

Operation Digital Board Launched by HRD Ministry

• The Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry launched Operation Digital Board on the lines of Operation Blackboard to provide better digital education in school.
• The government has aimed at equipping 9 lakh classrooms in schools and colleges across the country (7 lakh classrooms of 9th, 10th and 11th standards and 2 lakh classrooms of colleges and Universities) with digital facilities for teaching by 2022.

• International

Argentina becomes 72nd country to join ISA

• On 18 February 2019, Argentina became the 72nd country to sign the Framework Agreement of the International Solar Alliance (ISA).
• The agreement was signed on the sidelines of the official three-day visit of Argentinian President Mauricio Macri to India.
• The International Solar Alliance (ISA) is a group of 121 solar resource-rich countries with headquarters at Gurugram in Haryana.

• Economy and Business

EPFO Hikes Interest Rates on EPF by 0.1%

• Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation has hiked interest rate on employees’ provident fund to 8.65% from 8.55% for the 2018-19 fiscal year.
• The announcement was made by Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar.
• The proposal would now go to the Finance Ministry for approval, Gangwar said after the CBT meeting.
• The Central Board of Trustees (CBT) headed by Labour Minister is the apex decision making body of the EPFO which finalises rate of interest on PF deposits for a financial year.

• Sports

Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Rathore inaugurates ISSF Shooting World Cup

• The Union Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Rathore has inaugurated the International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) World Cup in New Delhi.
• The ISSF World Cup is crucial for Indian shooting as it has 16 quotas up for grabs for Tokyo 2020 Olympic qualification.
• India is fielding a 23-member squad with 11 shooters in the non-competition Minimum Qualification Score category.

• Appointments

Senior IPS officer Anuj Sharma appointed Kolkata Police Commissioner

• The West Bengal government has appointed Additional Director General (ADG) of West Bengal Police (law and order) Anuj Sharma (IPS officer-1991-batch) as the new Kolkata Police Commissioner, replacing Rajeev Kumar.
• Earlier, Rajeev Kumar was transferred as ADG & IGP of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

• Appointments

SC Appoints Former Judge Justice D.K. Jain as BCCI Ombudsman

• The Supreme Court appointed a retired judge of the court Justice D.K. Jain as the first ombudsman under the new BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) Constitution approved by the court in a judgment.
• Bringing a quietus to the quibbling between the Committee of Administrators (CoA) which runs the BCCI and the State bodies that form the Board, a Bench of Justices S.A. Bobde and A.M. Sapre decided to take things into their own hands on the advice of amicus curiae and senior advocate P.S. Narasimha.

• Appointments

PayU India appoints Anirban Mukherjee as CEO

• PayU India appointed Anirban Mukherjee as Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
• He will be responsible for all the operations and business lines of PayU India.
• He will now report to Laurent Le Moal, CEO, PayU Global.
• He was the co-CEO of Reliance Payments Solutions Limited.
• PayU is an online payments service provider.

• Important Days

International Mother Language Day being celebrated today

• International Mother Language Day is being observed every year on the 21st of February (since February 2000) to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism.
• The theme of this year’s Mother Language Day is ‘Indigenous Languages as a factor in development, peace and reconciliation’.

• Obituaries

Veteran Film Producer Raj Kumar Barjatya Passes Away

• Veteran Bollywood producer and father of filmmaker Sooraj Barjatya, Raj Kumar Barjatya passed away in Mumbai.
• He was popularly and affectionately known as Raj Babu and helmed several Bollywood hit films including ‘Hum Saath Saath Hain’, ‘Hum Aapke Hain Koun’, ‘Vivah’, ‘Prem Ratan Dhan Payo’, ‘Main Prem Ki Deewani Hoon’ among others.
• All these films were directed by his son Sooraj.

• States

‘KALIA Chhatra Bruti’ Scholarship Launched In Odisha

• ‘KALIA Chhatra Bruti’ scholarship for the children of farmers benefited under the KALIA scheme was launched by the Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in Bhubaneshwar, Odisha.
• It aims at providing financial assistance for technical and professional education to farmers’ children by creating a provision for the State government to bear all expenses involved in various levels of education.
• The scholarship shall be sent directly to the bank accounts of students who require it via. DBT (Direct Benefit Transfer).

• Miscellaneous

‘Simplicity & Wisdom’ authored by Mr. Dinesh Shahra launched

• West Bengal Governor ‘Keshari Nath Tripathi’ and Swami Chidanand Saraswati (Head of Parmarth Ashram) have jointely launched book ‘Simplicity & Wisdom’ at Parmarth Ashram in Kumbh Mela, Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh.
• The book authored by famous Industrialist and Philanthropist Mr. Dinesh Shahra(Chairman of Ruchi Group).
• The book aims at guiding towards saintly wisdom and leading a content and happy life.

• Agreements

MoU Between Environment Ministry and University of British Columbia on Forestry Science

• An MoU was signed between Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) and University of British Columbia (UBC), Canada for next 10 years in New Delhi.
• Both institutions shall explore opportunities for future collaborations in the field of forestry science through their respective organizations.
• The MoU will help in exchange of students, researchers, and faculty, developing research projects, livelihood opportunities and augment income of the forest-based communities and also assist the industries to optimize the utilization of forest-based resources with access of technology to different stakeholders by the respective organizations.