Important Current Affairs of February 29, 2016

IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF FEBRUARY 29, 2016

• February 28, 2016 was the National Science Day.
• On this day, the nation pays tributes to the legacy of the great scientist, Dr C V Raman, who brought Nobel Prize in Science to Asia and India for the first time for his ground-breaking achievement of the Raman effect.
• Professor Raman disclosed this discovery to the world on 28th of February, 1928 and he was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1930.
• In 1986, The National Council for Science and Technology Communication (NCSTC) had urged the Indian government to declare February 28 as National Science Day.
• Themes of National Science Day
• 2011 : “Chemistry in Daily Life”.
• 2012 : “Clean Energy Options and Nuclear Safety”.
• 2013 : “Genetically Modified Crops and Food Security”.
• 2014 : “Fostering Scientific Temper and Energy conservation”.
• 2015 : “Science for Nation Building”.
• 2016 : "Scientific Issues for Development of the Nation"
• First President of Republic of India, Bharat Ratna, Dr. Rajendra Prasad's Death Anniversary was observed on 28^th February 2016 .
• President Pranab Mukherjee has inauguratedIndia's first "Gender Park" in Kozhikode, Kerala.
• The main aim of the park is to promote research and other initiatives to facilitate complete gender equality.
• Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) has directed all its schools to hoist the national flag at a prominent location on their campuses daily. 
• KVS, which runs over 1000 schools in India and abroad, is chaired by Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani. 
• As per a study by the University of Toronto, thenumber of male smokers in India rose by 36% in 17 years, from 79 million in 1998 to 108 million in 2015. 
• This represents an annual average increase of 1.7 million. In 2010, around 10% of all deaths in India (around 1 million) were caused by smoking.
• Oscar-winning sound designer Resul Pookutty and his team won a Golden Reel Award for the documentary film 'India's Daughter'. 
• They won this award in the 'Best Sound & Music Editing: Television Documentary Short Form' category. 
• Three Indian beaches have been named among the Top 10 in 'Asia’s Travellers’ Choice Award-Winning Beaches’ by travel website TripAdvisor. 
• Goa's Agonda and Palolem beaches were ranked fourth and eighth respectively whileRadhanagar Beach on the Havelock Island in the Andamans has been placed at rank ten. 
• Note : No Indian beach was named in the world's top 10.
• Indian Cricketer Sachin Tendulkar has joined ICC and UNICEF’s ‘Team Swachh’ initiative to build a social movement for sanitation and toilet use, aiming for an open defecation-free India.
• Sachin, who is the Goodwill Ambassador for South Asia, will be joined by other cricketers for the initiative, which will lend support to the Government of India’s ‘Swachh Bharat’ Mission.
• The Indian Railways is set to lay 7 km of tracks every day in 2016-17 as against an average of 4.3 km per day in the last six years, as part of its capacity augmentation plan. 
• Note :  The Railways is expected to lay 13 km per day in 2017-18, and 19 km per day in 2018-19.
• According to the US Treasury Department, India hiked its exposure to US government securities by nearly $34 billion to touch $116.8 billion in 2015, up from $83 billion in 2014. 
• This comes against the backdrop of the global economy witnessing uneven growth trends in 2015. 
• Note : China remained the largest holder of US government securities worth $1.246 trillion.
• Former CAG Vinod Rai was On February 28, 2016 appointed first Chairman of the Banks Board Bureau, which will advise the government on top-level appointments at public sector lenders and ways to address the bad loans problem among other issues.
• Important Note : ICICI Bank's former Joint Managing Director H N Sinor, Bank of Baroda's former CMD Anil K Khandelwal and rating agency CRISIL's former chief Rupa Kudwa have been appointed as Members of Banks Board Bureau.
• Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik was On February 28, 2016 elected as the President of Biju Janata Dal (BJD) for the 7th consecutive term. 
• He is the founder president of the party, which was formed after the death of former CM Biju Patnaik in 1997.
• On the eve National Science Day On February 28, 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that a Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) will be set up in India to study gravitational waves. 
• Note : Physicists have recently discovered gravitational waves, a theory first predicted by Albert Einstein in 1916.
• China will launch its second space laboratory, Tiangong 2, into Earth’s orbit in the third quarter of 2016. 
• The country also plans to launch its Shenzhou 11 spacecraft, that will carry two astronauts, in the fourth quarter to dock with Tiangong 2. 
• Note : China had launched its first space laboratory, Tiangong 1, into orbit in 2011.
• Drug firm Aurobindo Pharma has received tentative approval from the US health regulator for itsRitonavir tablets used for treatment of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection.
• International Boxing Federation’s (IBF) super bantamweight world champion Carl Frampton has defeated World Boxing Association’s (WBA) super bantamweight world champion Scott Quigg. 
• Note : Frampton now holds both the IBF and WBA super-bantamweight titles after winning the 12-round-bout. 
• British national newspaper, The Guardian's Tom Jenkins was named as the Sports Photographer of the Year at the 2015 Picture Editors’ Guild awards.