VINTAGE

IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF FEBRUARY 28^th, 2019

              IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF FEBRUARY 28^th, 2019

1.    (Last Day of February) is Rare Disease Day.

a.    This day aims to raise awareness about relatively unknown diseases and their impact. 

b.    Started as a European event, over 80 countries across the world have joined the campaign. 

c.    Note : According to the World Health Organisation, a disease found in less than 6.5-10 people per 10,000 people is defined as rare.

d.   Theme of Rare Disease Day 2019 : 'Bridging health and social care'.

2.   U S President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un met each other on in Hanoi, Vietnam, beginning the 2nd summit between the two countries. 

a.    The White House has said that no agreement has been reached with North Korea after the second summit.

b.    In a statement, the US said that the two leaders had a "very good and constructive meeting" and their teams "look forward to meeting in the future".

c.    Trump said that the summit with North Korea failed to reach an agreement due to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's demands to lift all US-led sanctions. 

3.   In a significant gain for India in its push to isolate Pakistan internationally on the issue of terrorism post-Pulwama attack, China and Russia agreed for a closer policy coordination to eradicate the breeding grounds of terrorism.

a.    Their commitment came at the conclusion of the Russia, India and China Foreign Ministers' meeting at Wuzhen in the east Chinese city.

b.    In a joint communique, the three nations said, extremist groups cannot be supported and used in political and geopolitical goals.

c.    External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj along with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and their Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov called on the international community to strengthen UN-led global counter-terrorism cooperation by fully implementing the relevant UN Security Council (UNSC) resolutions.

4.   External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will reach Abu Dhabi this evening to take part in the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) meet. 

a.    The plenary session of the OIC is scheduled tomorrow, where India has been named as the “Guest of Honour”. 

b.    This is the 1st time that India will participate in the OIC meet.

c.    During the two-day conference, which coincides with the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the OIC, the foreign ministers will discuss a range of issues regarding peace and stability in the Muslim world, as well as the integration and cooperation among the OIC members.

5.   Mauritius has won a case against Britain at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) involving decolonisation of the strategically important island of Diego Garcia, which is home to a US military base. 

a.    Britain must give Mauritius control of the Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, the ICJ said today.

6.   India has been ranked 47th in the overall "Inclusive Internet Index 2019" score, a Facebook-led study has revealed. 

a.    According to the Inclusive Internet Index (3i) prepared by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) for Facebook, there are demonstrable benefits from comprehensive female e-inclusion policies, digital skills programmes and targets for women and girls to study science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

b.    The 2019 Index evaluated 100 countries, representing 94 per cent of the world’s population and 96 per cent of global GDP.

c.    Top 3 in Inclusive Internet Index 2019 

i)     Sweden 

ii)   Singapore 

iii)  US

7.   Today (28th February 2016)  is National Science Day.

a)   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 1st time for his ground-breaking achievement of the Raman effect.

b)   Professor Raman disclosed this discovery to the world on 28th of February, 1928 and he was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1930.

c)   In 1986, The National Council for Science and Technology Communication (NCSTC) had urged the Indian government to declare February 28 as National Science Day.

d)   Theme of National Science Day 2019 :  "Science for people and people for science"

8.   Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu today released the Passenger Charter which specifies rights of air travellers, at an event in New Delhi.

a.    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. 

b.    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.

9.   The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is going to launch an electronic intelligence satellite 'Emisat' for the DRDO in March. 

a.    ISRO will also launch 28 third-party satellites and will demonstrate its new technologies like three different orbits with a new variant of 'Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle' rocket in March. 

10.               Indian Air Force pilot Abhinandan Varthaman, taken captive by Pakistan yesterday, will be released tomorrow as a "gesture of peace", Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan has declared.  

a.    Important Details to Note :

                            i.    Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was captured yesterday after an aerial combat between Indian and Pakistani fighter planes.

                           ii.    Before his capture, he shot down two Pakistani pilots and hit an F-16 jet, said the government.

11.               Eminent Indian playwright Mahesh Elkunchwar has been chosen for META Lifetime Achievement Award 2019. 

a.    META - Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards

b.    The award would be conferred on March 12 during the Mahindra Theater Festival.

12.               Southern Coast Railway will be a new zone of the Indian Railways. 

a.    Railway Minister Piyush Goyal announced this yesterday. 

b.    This new 18th railway zone of the country will be headquartered at Visakhapatnam ( Andhra Pradesh). 

c.    Note : This new zone will comprise the existing Guntakal, Guntur and Vijayawada divisions that currently fall under the South Central Railway.

d.   From now on wards, the South Central Railway will then consist of the Hyderabad, Secunderabad and Nanded divisions.

13.    Reliance Industries' 61-year-old Chairman Mukesh Ambani is the world's eighth-richest person with a net worth of $54 billion, as per Hurun Global Rich List 2019. 

a.    Ambani is the only Asian among the top 10. 

b.    Amazon's Jeff Bezos topped the list with $147 billion wealth, followed by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett with $96 billion and $88 billion wealth respectively.

14.    Indian traders will export raw sugar to Iran for the 1st time in at least five year.

a.    Iran sells oil to India in exchange for rupees but it can only use those rupees to buy Indian goods, so Iran is going to import as much as 400,000 tonnes of raw sugar from India in 2019.

15.    The Income Tax Department today announced that it will only issue refunds via e-mode into bank accounts of taxpayers, linked with PAN, beginning tomorrow. 

a.    Those who have not linked their PAN with their bank account should provide it to their home bank branch and also validate this over the e-filing website of the IT Department. 

b.    The bank account could be either savings, current, cash, or overdraft.

c.    Note : Till now, the department used to issue refunds to taxpayers either in their bank accounts or through account payee cheques, in a case-to-case basis depending on the category of taxpayers.

16.               The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Bank of Japan have signed a Bilateral Swap Arrangement (BSA). 

a.    The BSA provides for India to access 75 billion US dollars whereas the earlier BSA had provided for 50 billion dollars. 

b.    Note : India can access the agreed amount of 75 billion dollars for its domestic currency, for the purpose of maintaining an appropriate level of balance of payments or short-term liquidity.

17.    The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and  Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) have signed an MoU to collaborate in the area of food and agriculture.

a.    The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) have agreed to collaborate in the area of food and agriculture. "Both the sides agreed to collaborate and work together on mutually agreed areas of agri-foods, medicinal and aromatic plants, nutraceuticals, precision agriculture, big data analysis, use of artificial intelligence, genetic modifications in cotton, application of sensors in agriculture, post-harvest management and agricultural mechanisation," ICAR said in a statement.

18.               Dr. K. J. Srinivasa has been appointed as the next High Commissioner of India to the Cooperative Republic of Guyana.

a.    Presently he is working as Consul General, Consulate General of India, Johannesburg, 

19.    The National Book Trust (NBT) has appointed educationist and author Govind Prasad Sharma as its new Chairman.

20.    Retired Admiral Michelle J Howard, who was the 1st woman to become a four-star admiral in the US Navy, has been elected to IBM's Board of Directors.

21.    World's largest planemaker Boeing today nominated former Indian-American US envoy to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, to its Board of Directors. 

22.               India's Saurabh Chaudhary and Manu Bhaker won Gold Medal  in the 10m air pistol mixed team event in Shooting World Cup in Delhi today.