CURRENT AFFAIRS DAILY DIGEST

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1. Kohli named captain of the year at ESPNcricinfo Awards

India Test skipper Virat Kohli has been named as the ‘Captain of the Year’ at the 10th annual ESPNcricinfo Awards. Kohli led India to nine wins out of 12 Tests in the year.

• Englishman Ben Stokes won the Test Batting Performance of the Year for his incredible counterattacking innings of 258 runs off 198 balls against South Africa in Cape Town.
• Quinton de was voted the ODI Batting Performance of the Year.
• Sunil Narine was awarded the ODI Bowling Performance of the Year award
• Carlos Brathwaite received the T20 Batting Performance of the Year award.
• Bangladesh left-arm fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman took away the T20 Bowling Performance of the Year award
• Mehedi Hasan Miraz, one of the brightest young stars of Bangladesh’s national team, was declared Debutant of the Year.

2. Nand Kumar Sai sworn in as NCST Chairperson

Senior tribal leader from Chhattisgarh and ex parliamentarian Nand Kuamr Sai assumed charge as the chairman of National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) in New Delhi.

NCST was established by amending Article 338 and inserting a new Article 338A in the Constitution through the Constitution (89th Amendment) Act, 2003. By this amendment, the erstwhile National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes was replaced by two separate Commissions namely- (i) the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC), and (ii) the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) w.e.f. February 19, 2004.

3. Vikas Swarup appointed as new MEA Spokesperson replacing Gopal Baglay

Indian Foreign Service officer Gopal Baglay will replace Vikas Swarup as the official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs. Swarup was on February 16 appointed as the Indian high commissioner to Canada.

Baglay, a 1992 batch IFS officer, has earlier served as deputy high commissioner to Pakistan. He was also a press counsellor at the Indian embassy in Kathmandu, as well as director in the external publicity division of the ministry of external affairs

4. Haryana Launches Online Sex Ratio Monitoring System For Panipat

The Haryana government has set up an online system for Panipat to monitor the sex-ratio in the district as part of the ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ programme. The system, called the sex ratio monitoring dashboard, will have the data of child sex-ratio collected from all villages by the Health and Women and Child Welfare Departments every month. The dashboard had been developed in association with National Informatics Centre (NIC) as a pilot project.

5. Government Issues Sovereign Gold Bonds 2016-17-Series IV

Praising National Stock Exchange (NSE) for its efforts so far for the Sovereign Gold Bond scheme, the Finance Ministry has written to this bourse urging it to actively create awareness among investors even for the upcoming fourth series. The fourth series of gold bond scheme will open and close on March 3. The bonds will be issued on March 17.

6. Suresh Prabhu flags off first Antyodaya Express between Ernakulam, Howrah

Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu flagged off the fourth Humsafar class of trains and the first Antyodaya class of trains through video conferencing from Rail Bhawan.  The country’s first Antyodaya Express to be launched. Antyodaya Express is a long-distance, fully unreserved, superfast train service, for the common man to be operated on dense routes. He also launched the following two policies:

• New Catering Policy 2017.
• New partnership in Parcel Business with Department of Post.

7. 28 February: National Science Day

National Science Day 2017 in India will be celebrated on 28th of February. 28th of February, 1928 was the great day in India when an invention in the field of Indian science was completed by the famous Indian physicist, Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman.

To commemorate and honor this event always in the future, 28th of February was asked to the Indian Government to designate as a National Science Day in India by the National Council for Science and Technology Communication (NCSTC) in the year 1986.

The theme of the year 2017 is “Science and Technology for specially abled persons”.

8. Liquor ban to be implemented in Chandigarh from April 1

The Union Territory of Chandigarh could face a complete liquor ban including in restaurants, shops and hotels.  The decision came following Supreme Court’s December 2016 verdict which ordered the closure of liquor shops on state highways and national highways. The apex court had set April 1 as the deadline to ensure all such shops on all highways are shut. The licenses of liquor shops on highways won’t be renewed after April 1.

9. 1st Integrated Heliport of India launched at Rohini in North Delhi

Pawan Hans Limited, a Public Sector Undertaking of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, India’s first heliport has been inaugurated in north Delhi’s Rohini.  Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju inaugurated the heliport. The heliport has a terminal building having capacity of 150 passengers, four hangars with parking capacity of 16 helicopters and nine parking bays. It also has a maintenance, repair and overhaul facility. Pawan Hans Ltd Chairman and Managing Director B P Sharma

10. EA Secretary states from 1st of July 2017 GST to be implemented

Goods and Services Tax (GST) will be implemented from July 1, 2017, Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das said. Das said that GST will be a reality soon as all states were on board and this, in turn, will unleash the growth potential of the economy. The GST, which will replace a myriad of consumption taxes, could be a “game-changer” over the medium term as it would reduce tax cascading and boost India’s competitiveness, investment and job creation.

11. Tata Communications partners with HPE for roll-out of LoRa network

Tata Communications is partnering with Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) to support the roll-out of the former’s Internet of Things platform, the LoRa network. The company will also work with HPE to provide a range of domestic and cross-border IoT connectivity and management services, particularly for applications requiring elements of mobility, such as connected cars, fleet management and transportation services.

12. Apollo Munich and Dena Bank Enters Into Bancassurance Tie-Up

Standalone health insurer Apollo Munich Health Insurance said it is expanding its footprint across the country with bancassurance tie-up with state-owned Dena Bank. Under the tie-up the bank will distribute customised Apollo Munich Health insurance and personal accident policies to the bank’s 20 million customers nationwide

Apollo Munich Health has developed specialised health insurance solutions with distinctive benefits and an uncomplicated application process, exclusively for Dena Bank customers.

13. Inter-disciplinary standing committee been appointed to review cyber threats by RBI

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to set up an inter-disciplinary panel on cyber security to examine various threats and suggest measures to deal with it. The panel will review the threats inherent in the existing or emerging technology on an ongoing basis. Besides, it will also study adoption of various security standards/protocols and also act as interface with stakeholders. The committee will suggest appropriate policy interventions to strengthen cyber security and resilience.

14. UK-India Year of Culture 2017 hosted by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace

Queen Elizabeth II hosted a reception in Buckingham Palace to celebrate 2017 UK-India Year of Culture. The Queen had extended an invitation to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for this reception. Prime Minister Modi nominated a delegation led by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to represent him at the reception. The reception was attended by close to 200 eminent persons from the cultural arena including sports, theatre, dance, films, art, design, food etc.

15. Iran and Russia Agrees Roadmap to Jointly Produce Nuclear Fuel

Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation (AEOI) said that Russia and Iran have reached an agreement to jointly produce nuclear fuel. A preliminary agreement with Russia on the joint production of nuclear fuel was reached during the nuclear negotiations between Iran and the major world powers in 2015, Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of AEOI

16. India & Ukraine to strengthen bilateral cooperation through Cinema

India and Ukraine have agreed to strengthen the bilateral cooperation between the twocountries through the medium of Cinema. The cooperation would be worked out through a policy and institutional framework to showcase films through the medium of Film Festivals and utilizing the Film Facilitation Office platform established by India.

The screening of films with subtitles was also discussed in order to reach out to people. These issues were discussed during the meeting between Shri M Venkaiah Naidu, Minister for Information & Broadcasting and Ukrainian delegation led by Mr. Iurii Artemenko, Member of the Parliament of Ukraine and Chairman of the National Council of Television and Radio Broadcasting of Ukraine in New Delhi.

17. Aarun and Alwin won gold at 2017 Uganda International Series men’s doubles

Indian shuttlers Tarun Kona and Alwin Francis won the men’s doubles gold at the 2017 Uganda International Series in Kampala, Uganda. The 2017 BWF Season is the overall badminton circuit organized by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) for the 2017 badminton season to publish and promote the sport. Besides the BWF World Championships, BWF promotes the sport of Badminton through an extensive worldwide program of events.

18. ISSF World Cup Men’s Double Trap silver medal won by Ankur Mittal

Ankur Mittal, the 25-year old clinched silver in the men’s Double Trap event at the ISSF World Cup in New Delhi. Ankur, whose father Ashok Mittal and elder brother Ajay Mittal are also shotgun shooters, lifted the gloom in the Indian shooting fraternity after overcoming a stiff challenge to add to the bronze won by Pooja Ghatkar in 10m air rifle on the inaugural day of the top-notch event.

19. Former Union Minister P Shiv shankar Passes Away

Former Union Minister P. Shiv Shankar passed away. He was 89. In his political career spanning over three decades, Shiv Shankar served as External Affairs and Human Resource Development Minister. He first became Governor of Sikkim in 1994 and later was shifted to Kerala in 1995.

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