INTERNATIONAL
- February 21 – International Mother Language Day
- The International Mother Language Day (IMLD) was observed across the world on 21 February to promote awareness of linguistic, multilingualism and cultural diversity. This year it is the 17th anniversary of IMLD.
- The observance of this day signifies importance of mother language as the greatest weapon to express one’s feeling. Mother Language of one country is the sign of independence of that country. 2017 Theme: “Towards Sustainable Futures through Multilingual Education”.
- The IMLD assumes special significance in Bangladesh where scores of people (activists), mostly students and teachers of the Dhaka University, were mercilessly shot down by the Pakistani army in 1952. The activists had protested against imposition of Urdu as the national language side-stepping Bengali – their mother tongue and the protest came to be known as Language Movement.
NATIONAL
- BHARAT QR
- India has reached a new milestone in cashless transaction by launching BharatQR, the world’s first interoperable payment acceptance solution. This is the second big ticket initiative from the Centre, after BHIM, towards pushing digital transactions.
- Quick Response Code (QRCode) is a two-dimensional machine-readable unique pattern that contains information on a specific task.
- In case of retail payments, QR code eliminates the need of a Point of Sale (PoS, or card swipe) machine for carrying out electronic transaction. If the merchant and the customer are using the same payment application, such as PayTM or a bank’s app, then the customer can scan the merchant’s QR code to make the payment.
- BharatQR code is an interoperable payment acceptance solution. Even if the merchant and customer are on different payment platforms, BharatQR will enable payment from one to the other. This means that merchants need to display only one QR code instead of multiple ones for different payment platforms. It has been jointly developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), Mastercard, and Visa, BharatQR code would require.
- It is ideal for small roadside merchants who find it tough to invest in point-of-sale terminals for card payments. For them, BharatQR is an asset-light and cheap payment solution. There is no need to invest on a terminal hardware.
- Kashmir to observe 2017 as the ‘Year of Apple’
- J & K Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has declared 2017 as ‘Year of Apple’ in a major bid to promote the famed Kashmiri apples in domestic and foreign markets.
- The Chief Minister launched the High Density Apple Plantation Scheme in Srinagar.
- These high-density plants will be routed through J&K Bank along with the subsidy.
- Jammu and Kashmir is the largest apple producing State in India at 11.2 metric tonnes, which accounts for 71% of national production.
- India beat South Africa in final of ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier 2017
- India has defeated South Africa by one wicket in the final match of ICC Women World Cup Qualifier 2017 held at Colombo, Sri Lanka. India achieved the target of 245 runs on the last ball of the 50th over.
- Both women teams already have booked their berths in 2017 ICC World Cup. India was only unbeaten team in the tournament.
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