• Britain’s Prince Charles has unveiled a new children’s protection fund for India as part of British Asian Trust, the charity founded by him in 2007 to fight poverty in South Asia.
• Popular American singer Katy Perry has been named as the ambassador of the new fund, which will be focused on reducing the exploitation of children by 50 per cent in India over 10 years.

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

• Curt Bergfors Foundation of Sweden has created two USD 1 million prizes - Food Planet Prize - for solutions to feed billions of people, as climate change threatens the world’s food supply and a growing population requires sustainable food systems.
• Two Food Planet Prizes will be awarded annually, one to “an existing scalable solution for sustainable foods”, the second for “innovative initiatives that could transform the global food sector”.

Oscar 2020

• The 92nd Academy Awards (Oscars)  ceremony took place at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, California on 9 February 2020. Oscar Awards are given by the US Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
• The first non-English language film ‘Parasite’ directed by Bong Joon Ho, won the best picture award.

Major Awards/Winners

• Best Actor: Joaquin Phoenix – Joker
• Best Actress: Renée Zellweger – Judy
• Best Director: Bong Joon ho – Parasite
• Best Picture: Parasite
• Best Supporting Actor: Brad Pitt in “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”
• Best Animated Short: Hair Love
• Best Original Screenplay: Parasite
• Best Documentary: American Factory
• Best Cinematography: 1917
• Best International Feature Film: Parasite

• The Chief Minister of Assam Sarbananda Sonowal was conferred Dr Syama Prasad Mukherjee Award 2020, instituted by India Foundation, an independent research centre focussed on the issues, challenges and opportunities of the Indian polity.

• Five-time grand slam winner Maria Sharapova of Russia has announced her retirement from tennis.
• She won five Grand Slam (Women Singles) titles — two at the French Open and one each at the Australian Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open.

• The first Khelo India University Games was held in Bhubaneswar, Odisha.
• Panjab University, Chandigarh took home the champions trophy-winning 46 medals (17 gold, 19 silver, and 10 bronze).
• Savitribai Phule Pune University, Maharashtra claimed the second position with 37 medals (17 gold, 11 silver, and 9 bronze) and Punjabi University, Patiala secured the 3rd position with 33 medals (13 gold, 6 silver, and 14 bronze).

• Union Territory of Ladakh hosted the inaugural Khelo India Winter Games, at Leh. A total of three winter sporting competitions were held – Open Ice Hockey Championship, Figure Skating and Speed Skating.
• The second leg of the Khelo India Winter Games will be held at Kongdori, Gulmarg from 7th till 11th March and will have participants competing in Alpine Skiing, Cross Country Skiing, Snow Boarding and Snow Shoeing events.

• The 2020 Australian Open was organized at Melbourne Park.
• It was the first Grand Slam of the year.
• This was the first edition of the Australian Open with GreenSet, a hard surface produced by GreenSet Worldwide.
• GreenSet is a brand of acrylic hardcourt surface made of layers of acrylic resin and silica on top of an asphalt or concrete base, for permanent facilities, or on top of a wooden platform, for venues with occasional use.

Winners

• Men’s Singles: Novak Djokovic (Serbia) successfully defended his title by defeating Dominic Thiem (Austria) to win the tournament for a record-extending eighth time.
• Women’s Singles: Sofia Kenin (USA) won her first Grand Slam title, defeating Garbine Muguruza (Spanish-Venezuelan). Kenin became the first American woman, other than Serena Williams, to win the Australian Open women’s singles title since Jennifer Capriati in 2002. This was the first Australian Open final in the Open Era to be contested between two players ranked outside the top ten.

• National men’s Hockey team captain Manpreet Singh became the first Indian to win the International Hockey Federation’s (FIH) Player of the Year award, capping a memorable 2019 season in which he led the side to Olympic qualification.
• Besides Manpreet, young midfielder Vivek Sagar Prasad won the FIH Male Rising Star of the Year award, while striker Lalremsiami bagged the 2019 FIH Women’s Rising Star of Year recognition.

• The Laureus World Sports Awards is an annual award ceremony honouring individuals and teams from the world of sports along with sporting achievements in the previous year. It is presented by the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, Berlin.

Noted Awardees 2020

• Laureus World Sportsman of the Year: Lewis Hamilton ( British Formula 1 Driver) and Lionel Messi (Argentine Footballer)
• Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year: Simone Biles (American Gymnast)
• Laureus Best Sporting Moment: ‘Carried on the shoulders of a nation’ – Sachin Tendulkar (Indian Cricketer)
• Laureus Lifetime Achievement Award: Dirk Nowitzki (German Basketball Player)