Notes:
In the month of February, it was reported that six female elephants and a calf were found dead in the Karlapat wildlife sanctuary, Odisha.
Recently, a three-member Central team found the decomposed carcass of an elephant calf near the wildlife sanctuary, making the number of elephant deaths in the sanctuary seven. It is said that the spread of haemorrhagic septicemia (HS) is the reason for the elephant deaths.

Notes:
‘Yudh Abhyas’ is a joint military exercise between the Naval forces of India and the United States. The 16th edition of the joint exercise began on February 8.
The closing ceremony of the ‘Exercise Yudh Abhyas-20′ was held at Mahajan Field Firing Range, Rajasthan. The aim of the exercise was to focus on counter terrorism operations under the mandate of the United Nations.

Notes:
The national anthem was played inside the Nagaland state assembly for the first time, almost 60 years after Nagaland attained statehood.
Nagaland was accorded statehood on December 1, 1963, and it was the 16th state of the Indian Union. Though playing the national anthem is not mandatory in state assemblies, the practice is usually followed in many states.

Notes:
International Mother Language Day is celebrated every year on February 21. The theme for this year is “Fostering multilingualism for inclusion in education and society”.
In 1999, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) had declared 21st February as International Mother Language Day. It was on the same date, Bangladesh fought for their Bangla language, which transformed into a language-based national movement.

Notes:
Russia has recently registered the first case of a strain of bird flu virus named A(H5N8) being passed to humans from birds.
The company has reported the matter to the World Health Organization (WHO). Recently, the outbreaks of the H5N8 strain were reported in several countries- Russia, Europe, China, the Middle East and North Africa in recent months but only in poultry so far.