IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS
OF FEBRUARY 27th, 2019
IMPORTANT
CURRENT AFFAIRS OF FEBRUARY 27th, 2019
1.
France is working on a proposal to ban chief of the UN-proscribed
Jaish-e Muhammad (JeM) Masood Azhar after it assumes
the Presidency of the powerful UN Security Council in March.
a. The rotating
monthly Presidency of the 15-nation UN Security Council (UNSC) will go from
Equatorial Guinea to France on March 1.
b. Important
Points to Note :
i) The
Pakistan-based JeM claimed the responsibility of the heinous
suicide attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on
February 14 in which 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were
martyred, sparking outrage in India.
ii) Following the
incident, India bombed and destroyed JeM's biggest training camp in Balakot in
Pakistan's restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, about 80-km from the Line of
Control yesterdat, killing a "very large number" of terrorists,
trainers, senior commanders and groups of jihadis who were being trained for
fidayeen action.
iii) The facility
at Balakot was headed by Yousuf Azhar, the brother-in-law of
the JeM chief.
2.
At the Russia-India-China Foreign Ministers meet in
China, India's representative Sushma Swaraj said
Pakistan denied knowledge of Pulwama attack instead of acting against
Jaish-e-Mohammed even after calls by international community.
3.
United States today firmly asked Pakistan to take
meaningful action against terrorist groups operating on its soil and
underscored the importance of avoiding escalation at any cost after India
targeted terrorist camp in Pakistan.
a. US Secretary
of State Mike Pompeo in a telephonic conversation with the Pakistan Foreign Minister
Shah Mahmood Qureshi called for avoiding military action.
4.
Sampriti 2019, a joint military exercise between India and Bangladesh will
be conducted at Tangail in Bangladesh from Saturday.
a. The 14-day
exercise will be the 8th edition of the exercise which is hosted alternately by
both countries.
b. Aim of
Sampriti 2019 : To strengthen and broaden the aspects of inter-operability and
co-operation between the Armies of both countries.
5.
Nation paying tribute to martyr Chandrashekhar
Azad (23rd July 1906 – 27th February 1931) on his 89th
Death Anniversary today.
a. He was a
great Indian freedom fighter who was involved in Kakori Train Robbery,
the attempt to blow up the Viceroy's train, and the shooting of
Saunders at Lahore to avenge the killing of Lala Lajpat Rai.
b. He was
the mentor of Bhagat Singh, another great freedom fighter.
c. After the
independence, to commemorate Chandra Shekhar Azad, Alfred Park
(Allahabad), where Chandra Shekhar Azad shot himself was renamed Chandra
Shekhar Azad Park.
6.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled the world's
largest Bhagavad Gita at ISKCON temple in south
Delhi's East of Kailash.
a. The sacred
book, which has 670 pages, weighs 800 kg and
is 2.8 metre tall and 2 metre wide (when
closed).
7.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has issued
notification to provide 10 percent quota for weaker sections in
general category in jobs and educational institutions.
a. The
reservation is meant for individuals whose annual earning is
below 8 lakh rupees and who possess less than 5 acres of
agriculture land.
8.
Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal had launched
the PRANAM Commission, a panel set up to look after the issues
concerning a PRANAM Bill, for protection of parents of state
government employees.
a. PRANAM - Parents
Responsibility and Norms for Accountability and Monitoring
b. It is
an effort to protect elderly parents of government employees in their times of
need.
c. Note : PRANAM
Bill, which was approved by the cabinet last year, makes it mandatory for
state government employees to look after their parents and unmarried Divyang
siblings who do not have their own sources of income.
9.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) today announced that the Allahabad
Bank, Corporation Bank and Dhanlaxmi Bank have
been removed from the Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) framework.
a. The RBI will
continuously monitor the performance of these banks under various parameters,
it added.
b. Note : Under PCA,
banks are restricted from lending until they improve their capital ratios,
reduce bad debt and become profitable.
10. The RBI today
proposed that at least 50% of compensation of senior officials of private and
foreign banks, including whole time directors and Chief Executive Officers,
"should be variable".
a. It further
suggested that variable pay should be capped at 200% of fixed pay.
b. Employee
Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) should be included as a component of variable
pay, it added.
11. The Defence
Acquisition Council (DAC) today approved the acquisition of Defence
Equipment worth ₹2,700 crore.
a. Approval for
procurement of 3 cadet training ships for the Indian Navy to
provide basic sea training for officer cadets was granted.
b. The meeting
of the council, which is the highest decision-making body for defence
purchases, was chaired by Defence Minister Nirmala
Sitharaman.
12. Gautam
Adani's Adani Group has won bids to operate all 6
airports put up for privatisation for the next 50 years.
a. Adani emerged
as highest bidder for Guwahati airport today, while it
won rights to run Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Lucknow,
Thiruvananthapuram and Mangaluru airports
on Monday.
13. Kotak
Mahindra Bank has increased its Foreign shareholding limit to 45% from
the existing 43%.
a. This comes
amidst an RBI directive asking the private sector lender to reduce its CEO Uday
Kotak's stake in the bank to 15% by March 2020.
14. India successfully
test fired the short range Quick Reaction Surface-to-Air Missile
(QRSAM) from a test range along the coast of Odisha.
a. Developed by
the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO),the
missile has a strike range of 25 km to 30 km and has a capability of engaging
multiple targets.
b. Note : The
indigenously developed QRSAM will replace
the 'Akash' missile defence system which is on its way out
due to technological obsolescence.
15. Nigerian
President Muhammadu Buhari has been
re-elected for a second four year term.
a. He defeated
his main rival, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar with a margin of around
four million votes.
b. Buhari has
been lauded for his progress against the insurgent group Boko Haram, which has
killed more than 10,000 and displaced millions.
16. Amazon has named
former PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi to its board, making her
the 5th female in the 11-member board.
a. Earlier this
month, Amazon named former Walmart executive Rosalind Brewer as
director.
17. Former
England cricket team captain Sir Alastair Cook officially
received his knighthood from the Queen at a ceremony in the
Buckingham Palace today.
a. With this,
the highest run-scorer in Test cricket for England, has became the 11th
Englishman to be knighted for services to cricket.
18. Former Sri
Lanka Cricket captain Sanath Jayasuriya has been banned
from cricket for 2 years.
a. In a
statement, the ICC said Jayasuriya admitted to breaching two counts of the ICC
Anti-Corruption Code.
