• The Non-proliferation Treaty is an international treaty signed in 1968 and came into force in 1970.
• The five permanent members (P5) of the UN Security Council issued a statement on the successful 50 years of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) which came into force on March 5, 1970.
• The treaty defines nuclear-weapon states as those that have built and tested a nuclear explosive device before 1 January 1967; these are the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, and China.
• The other nuclear armed states—India, Israel and Pakistan have not joined the treaty. Further, North Korea and South Sudan have also not signed the treaty.

• It is an exoplanet (planet which orbits a star outside the solar system) named Wasp-76b where they suspect it rains iron instead of water.

• The government has notified hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial drug, under Schedule-H1 to regulate and restrict the sale and distribution of the drug.
• The Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945, under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, provides for classification of drugs into different schedules.

• The study of fossil shells of Torreites sanchez, an extinct mollusk species of rudist clam that lived during the Cretaceous period, some 70 million years ago, Earth spun 372 times a year 70 million years ago compared to the current 365.This means the day was 23½ hours long compared to 24 hours.
• The mollusk used to grow fast laying down daily growth rings. The rings allowed the scientists to determine the number of days in a year and more accurately calculate the length of a day 70 million years ago.

• Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has released draft EIA notification.
• It proposes an update to Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) notification of 2006.
• The current EIA specifies a “minimum of 30 days” for people to respond. The draft EIA notification gives a “minimum of 20 days” of notice period.
• It also requires that the public-hearing process be wrapped up in 40 days, as opposed to the existing norm of 45 days.

• The United Nations Commission on the Status of Women has adopted a political declaration to reaffirm the 1995 Beijing Declaration to achieve gender equality.
• Beijing Declaration: It was a resolution adopted by the United Nations (UN) at the Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995. 
• Commission on the Status of Women (CSW): The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) was established in 1946 as a functional commission of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). It is the principal global intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women.

• 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.