NATIONAL AFFAIRS
10L people have been rewarded under Digi Dhan Yojana:
Addressing the nation in the 29th edition of radio programme ‘Mann ki Baat’, PM Narendra Modi said that under the Digi Dhan Yojana, 10 lakh people were rewarded. “Under this Yojana, over 100 winners have received Rs.1 lakh as reward.”More than 4,000 businessmen have received Rs. 50,000 as reward“.
Chandigarh might face total liquor ban from April 1:
As the Supreme Court judgement banning liquor shops along state and national highways takes effect from April 1, all liquor shops in Chandigarh might face closure. On record, all major roads in Chandigarh are listed as state highways and fall under the judgement. The categorisation was done two decades back so that the Union Territory administration could maintain the roads.
Aadhaar linking must for PDS in Karnataka:
Below poverty line and above poverty line families in Karnataka will not get their monthly ration under the Public Distribution System (PDS) from April 1, if they fail to link the Aadhaar number with the Food and Civil Supplies Department. The Centre has set June 30 as the deadline to link Aadhaar with ration cards.
All popular colas banned at 300-odd railway stations by the Western Central Railways of India:
The Western Central Railways of India – constituting three divisions, namely Bhopal, Jabalpur and Kota – has banned the sale of all colas in over 300 of its stations.” This verdict was administered when the health certification on these cold drinks was found to have expired, and now, there is speculation that these drinks contain metals like cadmium and chromium.
INS Viraat to be decommissioned on March 6:
INS Viraat, the second aircraft carrier in the Indian naval fleet, will be decommissioned on March 6. INS Viraat holds a Guinness world record for being the oldest surviving aircraft carrier. It was first commissioned in the Indian Navy in 1987 after serving the United Kingdom’s Royal Navy for 27 years.
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
Iran tests missiles in naval exercises:
Iran’s Navy has test fired the latest versions of the Nasir and Dehlaviyeh missiles during military exercises in the Gulf. “The latest naval cruise missile called Nasir was test-fired during Velayat 95 naval manoeuvres in the southern waters of the country,” said by Defence Minister Hossein Dehghan.
EU member states approve visa-free travel for Georgia:
European Union member states approved visa-free travel for Georgia, after agreeing safeguards to prevent any upsurge in arrivals from the former Soviet satellite. Georgia, along with much larger Ukraine, has been urging the EU to grant visa-free travel so as to show its citizens that close ties with Europe can deliver concrete benefits.
China to build first underwater platform in South China Sea:
China will build its first long-term underwater observation platform in resource-rich South China Sea, where it has territorial disputes with many south-east Asian countries including Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.
The platform aims to observe underwater conditions in real time. This will be done with the help of Shanghai’s Tongji University and the Institute of Acoustics,” Wang Pinxian, an academic at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).
BANKING & BUSINESS
Dena Bank rolls out RFID-enabled cards to serve valued clients better:
Dena Bank has introduced RFID-enabled banking cards whereby a branch/relationship manager can identify a valued client entering a branch with the card. Once the client enters the branch, complete information about him/her will pop up on the manager’s desktop.
This will help the branch staff to take care of the customer’s needs and offer services quickly without any delay. The RFID card is being introduced in select branches, and Dena Bank JVPD branch (Mumbai) is the first branch to be enabled with RFID technology.
Air India’s new fuel-efficient Airbus A320 Neo takes flight:
Government-run Air India has put into operation its newly-leased Airbus A320 Neo with its maiden flight arriving in Chennai from New Delhi. The first A320 Neo aircraft with 161 passengers on board touched down at the Chennai International Airport from the Indira Gandhi International Airport.
Bharti slashes roaming costs amid battle with Reliance Jio:
Mobile subscribers of India’s largest telecom operator Bharti Airtel are in for a far simpler roaming experience when they travel within and outside the country from April, with the company scrapping the high charges levied on voice calls, SMS and data services when users leave their home networks.
For international travellers, call charges have been reduced by up to 90% to as low as Rs.3 per minute and data charges by up to 99% to Rs.3 per MB across popular roaming destinations.
Paytm E-Commerce unveils Paytm Mall:
Paytm E–Commerce announced the introduction of its new Paytm Mall application on Android. Paytm Mall aims to offer a combination of Mall and Bazaar concepts to Indian consumers. “Only trusted sellers passing strict quality guidelines and qualification criteria will be allowed on the ‘Mall’. All products listed on the mall will also go through Paytm certified warehouse.
SEBI to tighten algo trading rules:
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) plans to further tighten the regulations for algorithmic trading to minimise instances of misuse of such systems that can be used to execute complex trading strategies at a very high speed.
SEBI chairman U.K. Sinha said that while India was one of the few countries in the world to regulate algorithmic trading — popularly called algo trading — the market watchdog is looking to further strengthen the norms to minimise instances of lash crashes.
India, third biggest source of spam:
About 20% of all spam emails in the fourth quarter of last year, distributed ransomware Trojans. Kaspersky Lab says the volume of spam emails in 2016 increased to 58.31% of overall email traffic, up from 3.03% in 2015.
The US remained the biggest source of spam (12.08%), with second place taken by Vietnam (10.32%), and India in third (10.15%). Germany continued to be the country hit most by malicious mailshots (14.13%). Then came Japan (7.59%) and China (7.32%).
L&T Infra Debt to raise Rs 2,500 cr to refinance projects:
With refinancing of infrastructure projects gathering steam, L&T Infra Debt Fund (L&T IDF), a refinancing unit, is raising about Rs 2,500 crore through debentures to provide liquidity for road and renewable energy projects.
Rating agency CRISIL has assigned “AAA” rating for the proposed bond offering, giving refinance support to operational projects like roads, power, renewable energy, ports and airports segment.
APPOINTMENTS
Gopal Baglay assumes charge as new MEA spokesperson:
Gopal Baglay has been appointed as the new spokesperson of the Indian foreign ministry. Baglay has served as the deputy high commissioner to Islamabad. Gopal Baglay, who headed the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) division dealing with Pakistan, assumed charge as Ministry spokesperson. He was succeeded Vikas Swarup who was appointed as India’s High Commissioner to Canada.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Organ-on-a-chip mimics the heart:
Scientists have created a three-dimensional (3D) organ-on-a-chip that can mimic the heart’s amazing biomechanical properties and could help in studying cardiac diseases, screening and development of drugs.
“We created the I-Wire Heart-on-a-Chip so that we can understand why cardiac cells behave the way they do by asking the cells questions, instead of just watching them,” said Professor John Wikswo, from Vanderbilt University in the U.S.
Mapping dolphin proteins may benefit human health:
Mapping all the proteins found in the dolphin genome could pave the way for finding a new way to treat some common diseases that affect humans, say researchers. A genome is the complete set of genetic material present in an organism. “Dolphins and humans are very, very similar creatures,” said by Ben Neely of the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
SpaceX to send two people around the moon who paid for a 2018 mission:
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk revealed that two people have paid for a private mission around the moon, tentatively set for launch in 2018 with the private company’s yet untested Falcon Heavy rocket. The passengers will be flown to space in a Dragon 2 spaceship, launched by SpaceX’s in-design Falcon Heavy rocket. The two people will begin training for space this year and will need to clear certain health tests.
Japanese scientists develop a new flexible material which is tougher than steel:
Scientists have created a highly flexible material that is tougher than steel, by combining hydrogels with woven glass fibre fabric, which may have a wide range of potential applications. Researchers from Hokkaido University in Japan focused on creating a reinforced material using hydrogels.
BOOKS & AUTHORS
Amarinder Singh’s biography, ‘The People’s Maharaja’, was released:
Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh’s biography, ‘The People’s Maharaja’, was released The authorised biography of the erstwhile scion of Patiala royalty, authored by Chandigarh-based writer Khushwant Singh, heds a new light on the sequence of events that led to the 1984 army action at Golden temple in Amritsar.
AWARDS
Meghalaya’s root bridge nominated for award:
Meghalaya’s root-bridge has been nominated for the prestigious National Innovation Foundation award for grassroots innovations and outstanding traditional knowledge, community-driven innovation by forest dwellers in the southern slopes of the State.
Padmakar Shivalkar, Rajinder Goel to get C K Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award:
Former left-arm spinners Rajinder Goel and Padmakar Shivalkar alongwide former women’s cricketer Shanta Rangaswamy are set to be accorded the Lifetime Achievement Award in the upcoming BCCI Annual Awards 2016-17, set to take place on March 8 in Bengaluru. Rangaswamy is the first Indian Woman cricketer to compile a hundred – scoring it in Dunedin against a formidable New Zealand side in 1977.
HISTORICAL FACTS OF THE DAYS
National and International Polar Bear Day celebrated on February 27th:
National Polar Bear Day, also known as International Polar Bear Day is observed on February 27th. International Polar Bear Day is organized by Polar Bears International to raise awareness about the impact of global warming and reduced sea ice on polar bear populations.
National science day – FEB 28:
National Science Day is celebrated all over India with great enthusiasm on 28th of February every year in order to commemorate the invention of the Raman Effect in India by the Indian physicist, Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman on the same day in the year 1928.The theme this year is ‘Science and Technology for Specially Abled Persons’.
SPORTS
Ankur Mittal strikes silver; Jitu, Heena win gold in test event:
Indian shooter Ankur Mittal clinched the silver medal in double trap after Heena Sidhu and Jitu Rai had combined to win the mixed doubles gold in air pistol, an event that is being recommended for the next Olympics in Tokyo in 2020.
Dominic Thiem wins Rio Open for eighth ATP singles title
Austrian Dominic Thiem secured his eighth professional title with a 7-5, 6-4 win over Pablo Carreno Busta in the final of the Rio Open. Second seed Thiem, who became the favourite after top seed Kei Nishikori was knocked out in the first round, did not lose a set the entire tournament.
Anirban Lahiri finishes T-11 at Honda Classic, Fowler secures 4-shot win:
Anirban Lahiri carded 71 in the final round to finish tied 11th, with a five-under-par 275, at the $6.4 million Honda Classic. American Rickie Fowler, with a similar final-round card, scored his fourth PGA Tour victory with 12-under-par 268.
Virat Kohli named captain of the year, Ben Stokes best batsman at tenth annual ESPN cricinfo Awards:
India Test skipper Virat Kohli has been named ‘Captain of the Year’ at the 10th annual ESPNcricinfo Awards. Kohli led India to nine wins out of 12 Tests in the year gone by Englishman Ben Stokes won the ‘Test Batting Performance of the Year’ for his incredible counter-attacking innings of 258 runs off 198 balls against South Africa in Cape Town.
Mohamed Hussamuddin Wins Silver at 68th Strandja Memorial Boxing Tournament:
Mohamed Hussamuddin lost a closely-contested final to settle for a silver medal as India signed off with three medals at the 68th Strandja Memorial Boxing Tournament in Sofia, Bulgaria. Hussamuddin was beaten 2-3 by Ukraine’s Mykola Butsenko in the bantamweight (56kg) final.
Russia’s Sochi hosts Winter Military World Games:
Military teams from around the globe are participating in the World Winter Games being held in the southern Russian city of Sochi. International Military Sports Council, which is among the world’s largest sporting committees, is organising the games. Over 400 military athletes from 26 countries will compete in seven disciplines, which include the biathlon, alpine skiing and indoor climbing.
OBITUARY
Welsh rugby international Elli Norkett dies in crash:
A woman who died in a crash in Neath Port Talbot has been named as Wales rugby international Elli Norkett. Miss Norkett, 20, from Llandarcy, Neath, had been the youngest player in the 2014 Rugby World Cup. She died in a two-car collision on the A4109 Inter Valley Road, between Banwen and Glynneath.
