Current Affairs Daily Digest – February 27 2019
1. Assam CM inaugurates PRANAM Commission
Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal inaugurated the Assam Employees Parents Responsibility and Norms for Accountability and Monitoring (PRANAM) Commission.
PRANAM bill, which was approved by the state cabinet last year, is first-of-its-kind bill in the country which makes it mandatory for the employees of the State government to look after their parents and unmarried divyang siblings who do not have their own source of income.
If any such complaint of ignorance of old parents by a state government employee is reported to the commission than 10 percent, or 15 percent in some cases, of the employee’s salary will be deducted by the government and paid to the aggrieved parents or divyang siblings.
2.Govt releases passenger charter specifying rights of air travellers
Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu released the passenger charter which specifies rights of air travellers . The charter states that if a domestic flight is expected to be delayed by more than six hours, then the airline will offer an option of alternate flight to the passenger within that time, or it will refund the full price of the ticket.
It also said that if a passenger is informed of flight cancellation less than two weeks before departure, the airline must offer an alternate flight to passenger or refund the ticket completely.
The charter states that at the time of booking, the airline must clearly indicate the amount of refund money that will be given to passenger in case of cancellation.
3. DAC approves acquisition of defence equipment worth Rs 2700 cr
The Defence Acquisition Council has approved the acquisition of defence equipment for about 2700 Crores rupees. The approval include acquistion of three Cadet Training ships for the Navy, which will provide basic sea training to officer cadets including women officer under trainees.
The ships will be capable of undertaking Hospital Ship duties, providing Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief, undertaking Search and Rescue missions and Non-Combatant Evacuation Operations.
4. Sanath Jayasuriya banned from cricket for two years
Former Sri Lanka Cricket captain Sanath Jayasuriya has been banned from cricket for two years. ICC said Jayasuriya admitted to breaching two counts of the ICC Anti-Corruption Code.
Sri Lankan cricket has been under investigation by ICC for last few years and Jayasurya was served a notice a few months back. He served as chair of the selection committee during 2016-17 during which team performance dipped and has remained uneven since then.
5. Jitendra Singh presents National e-Governance Awards 2019
Minister of State in Prime Minister’s Office, Dr Jitendra Singh presented National e-Governance Awards, 2019 in New Delhi. The awards are given every year to recognise and promote excellence in implementation of e-Governance initiatives. He gave the award in six categories.
The initiative seeks to disseminate knowledge on effective methods of designing and implementing sustainable e-Governance initiatives. It also recognizes initiatives in Start ups, Academic Research Institutions as well as initiatives in adopting emerging technologieS.
6. NASA’s new mission to study space weather from ISS
NASA has selected a new mission that will help scientists understand and, ultimately, forecast the vast space weather system around our planet.
The Atmospheric Waves Experiment (AWE) mission will cost $42 million and is planned to launch in August 2022, attached to the exterior of the Earth-orbiting International Space Station (ISS), the US space agency said in a statement on Tuesday.
From its space station perch, AWE will focus on colourful bands of light in Earth’s atmosphere, called airglow, to determine what combination of forces drive space weather in the upper atmosphere.
7. Randeep Hooda wins silver at National Equestrian Championship
Actor Randeep Hooda won the silver medal at the National Equestrian Championship (NEC) and called it a proud moment. On the work front, the “Sarbjit” actor was last seen on screen in “Baaghi 2”. He will next be seen in “Dhaka”.
8. Hurun Global Rich List 2019
The ‘Loong Palace Hurun Global Rich List 2019’, which lists the richest individuals across the globe having a net worth of $1 billion, reports that the number of individuals featured in the 2019 edition has decreased by 224 to 2,470 from 2,694 in 2018.
Jeff Bezos of Amazon retains the top spot in list with his personal wealth up a staggering $24 bn to $147 bn. Bezos has created $100 bn of wealth in three years, earning the equivalent of ‘a Bill Gates’ in just three years.
Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Industries broke into the top ten in the world for the first time after a $9 bn, or 20%, surge in his wealth to $54 bn. The only Asian in the top ten, Ambani’s wealth is based on telecom, retail and energy, and bucked the poor stock market trend in India in the last year.
9. India-Bangladesh joint military exercise ‘Sampriti 2019’ in Tangail
A joint military exercise Sampriti 2019 between India and Bangladesh will be conducted at Tangail in Bangladesh. It will be the eighth edition of the exercise which is hosted alternately by both countries.
The Defence Ministry said, the 14-day exercise is aimed to strengthen and broaden the aspects of inter-operability and co-operation between the Armies of both countries. The exercise will involve tactical-level operations in a counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism environment under the UN mandate.
10. IDBI Bank announces appointment of director
IDBI Bank announced that the Board of Directors at its meeting held on 25 February 2019 has appointed Hemant Bhargava as the Non Executive Non Wholetime Chairman of IDBI Bank for a period of three years or till he continues as the Chairman-in-charge & MD of LIC, whichever is earlier as per the approval dated 22 February 2019 received in this regard from Reserve Bank of India.
11. Petroleum Minister gives Rs 34 cr of IOC for clean Ganga movement
Petroleum Minister Dhramendra Pradhan gave 34 crore rupees of Indian Oil Corporation for clean Ganga movement. After receiving the grant , Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said, nearly 40 Ganga tributaries will be cleaned.
The Minister said, government has been able to get rid of paper and pulp industry wastage. nearly one crore people have contributed to clean Ganga movement. Speaking on the occasion, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said, a large number of highways is being constructed in India.
12. Rajnath Singh chairs high level security meeting in Delhi
Home Minister Rajnath Singh chaired a high level security meeting in New Delhi. National Security Advisor, RAW Chief, Intelligence Bureau chief, Home Secretary and other senior officials attended the meeting.
The meeting assumes significance in the backdrop of pre-emptive air strikes yesterday on terror camps in Pakistan.
13. Nigerian Prez Muhammadu Buhari re-elected for second term
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has been re-elected for a second four year term. The country’s Election Commission said, 76-year-old Buhari defeated his main rival, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar with a margin of around four million votes. Abubakar’s People’s Democratic Party has rejected the result.
14. Bharti Airtel partners with Nokia to automate data centre network
Finnish telecommunication giant Nokia said Bharti Airtel would deploy solution from Nokia’s Nuage Networks to upgrade its data centres. Nuage Networks is a Nokia venture focused on software-defined networking solution.
Airtel will deploy Nuage Networks VSP (virtualised services platform) solution in 15 circles (service areas) in the northern and southern parts of the country to automate its data centre networks.
Once deployed, the Nuage Networks VSP solution will allow Airtel to provide new services, including Voice over LTE (VoLTE) and Mobile Edge Computing (MEC). The move gains significance in the backdrop of Bharti Airtel preparing the networks for new technologies like 5G and Internet of Things (IoT).
15. ISSF World Cup: Manu Bhaker, Saurabh Chaudhary win gold in 10m Air Pistol Mixed Team
Manu Bhaker and Saurabh Chaudhary clinched the gold medal in the 10m Air Pistol Mixed Team event at the ISSF World Cup in New Delhi . Ranxin Jiang and Bowen Zhang of China won silver while the Republic of Korea pair Minjung Kim and Daehun Park got the bronze.
Manu and Saurabh combined to shoot a total of 483.4 points in the final.The pair had earlier equalled Qualification World Record and also set a new Qualification World Record Junior by shooting 778 points.
The other Indian pair of Heena Sidhu and Abhishek Verma failed to qualify for the final, shooting a total of 770 points.
16. Odisha cabinet approves State Film Policy 2019
With an aim to promote Odia films and create a conducive eco-system for production of films in the region, Naveen Patnaik-led state cabinet gave its nod to the Odisha State Film Policy-2019. The policy will promote quality Odia films, facilitate film tourism in the state, establish Odisha as a destination for film shooting and improve screen density in the state.
To enhance the ease of filming and facilitate the development of related institutions, the Odisha State Film Policy 2019, it is proposes to implement a single window approval process for shooting of films in Odisha.
The state government will also provide an assistance of Rs 10 crore to the first three big-budget Hindi or international language films having a minimum budget of Rs 50 crore, the first Film City Project in Odisha will be eligible for a capital investment subsidy upto Rs 30 crores, land for film city, cinema hall, and multiplexes will be allotted at concessional rate as per the provision of industrial policy resolution 2015 or as per the guideline fixed by the government from time to time.
17. Shri M Venkaiah Naidu Launches BIMTECH Director Dr. H Chaturvedi’s Book on ‘Quality, Accreditation & Ranking’ at New Delhi
Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu launched the book titled ‘Quality, Accreditation, and Ranking – A Silent Revolution in the Offing in Indian Higher Education’ edited by Education Promotion Society for India’s (EPSI) Alternate President Dr. H Chaturvedi in New Delhi.
On this occasion, the UGC Chairman, Dr. DP Singh, and Management Guru Padma Shri Dr. Pritam Singh were present as the guest of honor. The book launch function was organized by EPSI, BIMTECH and Bloomsbury Pvt Ltd.
18. IWAI signs MoU with Indian Oil on fuel needs for national waterways
Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) and Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for jointly developing infrastructure for fuels, lubricating oil, LPG, Natural Gas and any other related fuel and gas for meeting the requirement of National Waterways.
The MoU will provide for an understanding over general modalities of mutual cooperation leading to addressing futuristic demand of any form of energy for Inland Waterways and associated services. It also covers development of infrastructure for receipt, storage, dispensing and supply of fuels, lubricating oils, Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) (for domestic & commercial use), Natural Gas (NG) and any other related fuel and gas.
19. Indra Nooyi joins Amazon Board of Directors
PepsiCo’s India-born former CEO Indra Nooyi has joined Amazon’s Board of Directors, the online retail giant has announced. Nooyi, who stepped down as CEO of Pepsico in October last year, is the second women of colour to be added on the Amazon’s Board of Directors.
20. PM Modi launches Khelo India App
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Sports Authority of India’s (SAI) first-of-its-kind mobile application, ‘Khelo India App’ in order to create awareness about sports and fitness in the country.
The application, developed by SAI as part of the Khelo India Scheme, aims to further the Prime Minister’s vision to develop the sporting ecosystem in India and turn it into a global sporting superpower in the years to come.
The application has three unique features that will make it convenient for youngsters to take up sport and also help to identify potential champions among children, across the country. The three sections are as follows:
1. How to play: In this section, the user gets information about the basic rules and regulations of 18 sports disciplines.
2. Where to play: This section includes an exhaustive repository of data of sporting facilities across the country where an interested youngster can pursue a sport, in his or her hometown.
3. Get fit: Fitness assessment of children is the most dynamic feature of the APP which will help to map the basic fitness levels of kids starting as early as 5 years for all school going children in India.
