Current Affairs Daily Digest – February 18 2019
1. Sushma Swaraj Addresses Indian Community in Bulgaria, Pays Floral Tribute at Gandhi Statue
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has hailed India as a land of opportunity and invited the diaspora living in Bulgaria to invest in the country and participate in its transformative journey.
Addressing the Indian community in Bulgarian capital Sofia , she lauded the diaspora for its commendable role in boosting bilateral ties. Mrs Swaraj reached the European country yesterday on the first leg of three-nation tour including Morocco and Spain.
She is the first-ever Indian External Affairs Minister to visit the Balkan nation.
2.Gayle to Retire From ODIs After 2019 World Cup
Veteran West Indies batsman Chris Gayle will retire from One-Day International cricket after this year’s World Cup in England and Wales. The 39-year-old opener is set to play his first international since last July against England .
Post the 2015 World Cup, the big-hitting southpaw has played only 15 ODIs including the World Cup Qualifiers last year in Zimbabwe.Gayle is second on the highest run-scorers for the Windies in ODIs after Brian Lara, having scored 9,727 runs in 284 matches. He holds the record for the most ODI hundreds by a Windies batsman, having registered 23 hundreds along with 49 half-centuries.
3.IAF Carries Out Vayu Shakti Exercise at Pokhran
The Indian Air Force carried out a mega exercise involving almost all variants of its fighter jets and attack helicopters, in a fire power demonstration near the border with Pakistan. The exercise came two days after 40 CRPF personnel were killed in a suicide attack in Kashmir’s Pulwama by Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed.
In the Vayu Shakti exercise, the IAF showcased fire power capability of indigenously-developed platforms like Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas, Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) and efficacy of the Akash surface-to-air missile and Astra air-to-air missile.
The IAF also deployed the upgraded MiG-29 fighter jet in an air-to-ground role during the exercise. A total of 137 aircraft including Su-30s, Mirage 2000s, Jaguars, Mig-21 Bison, Mig-27, Mig-29, IL78, Hercules, AN-32 aircraft participated.
4. Naidu inaugurates Millennium Tower I in Vizag
Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu inaugurated the 10-floor Tower-1 of the Millennium Tower at Rushikonda in the city. This is one of the major projects contemplated by the TDP to promote Visakhapatnam as a destination for investment in IT and ITES.
The Tower-1 was built in an area of four acres with an investment of ₹145 crore. It has a built-up space of two lakh sft and 1.5 lakh sft for parking. Four floors with an area of one lakh square ft of built-up space has been allotted to Conduent, a global leader in digital interactions with operations in 35 countries. For six months, the allotment will be free. It will be given the remaining four floors shortly.
5. Swiss actor Bruno Ganz, who played Hitler in Downfall, passed away
Bruno Ganz, the Swiss actor who portrayed Adolf Hitler in Oscar-nominated film Downfall and the kindly grandfather in Heidi, died of cancer at his home in Zurich aged 77. Ganz had been active in German language theatre, film and television for more than 50 years and was the holder of the Iffland-Ring, the most important award for German-speaking actors.
Born to a Swiss mechanic father and a northern Italian mother, Ganz grew up in Zurich and decided to become an actor after a friendly lighting technician allowed him into a local theatre. In the early 1960s, Ganz left Switzerland to work in theatre in Germany, and from the 1970s onwards he acted at the Berlin-based Schaubuehne theatre.
6. Governor of West Bengal, H.E. Shri Keshari Nath Tripathi Launches Book Dedicated to Swami Pragyananandji at the Kumbh Mela
Famous Industrialist and Philanthropist Mr. Dinesh Shahra’s book, ‘Simplicity & Wisdom’ was launched at Parmarth Ashram in Kumbh Mela. The book is dedicated to Late eminent Vedanti Swami Pragananandji. The book was formally launched by ‘His Excellency’ Keshari Nath Tripathi Governor of West Bengal, and Swami Chidanand Saraswati, Head of Parmarth Ashram. Also, present on the occasion were Chief Administrator of Mela N. Sawant, Hon’ble Justice (Retd.) Arun Tondon, DIG K.P. Singh and many other dignitaries.
This book is primarily aimed at offering saintly wisdom and guidance to lead a content and happy life.
7. Sudanese refugee wins major human rights award
Abdul Aziz Muhamat, a Sudanese refugee who has been held in Australia’s notorious offshore Manus Island processing centre for over five years, has won the prestigious Martin Ennals human rights prize, the UN refugee agency UNHCR has said.
It is the first time that the major prize has been awarded to an individual focused on refugee issues and who has been a victim of human rights violations by a Western democracy.
Muhamat, from the Zaghawa ethnic group of Darfur, in north-western Sudan, was granted refugee status in early 2015 but has been detained on Manus Island, Papua New Guinea since 2013 as he has not found a host country, according to the Swiss-based Martin Ennals Foundation.
8. De Goede and Van Doren named Players of the Year in 2018 FIH Hockey Stars Awards
The Netherlands’ Eva de Goede and Arthur Van Doren of Belgium have been revealed as the FIH Players of the Year in the 2018 Hockey Stars Awards, the International Hockey Federation (FIH) has announced.
Female Player of the Year Eva de Goede, 29, was one of the superstars of the all-conquering Netherlands team that dominated the Vitality Hockey Women’s World Cup London 2018 in July and August last year, having been a consistently brilliant midfield performer as the Oranje stormed to the title. It was a second successive World Cup title for the 200-capped De Goede, who also captained the Netherlands team that stormed to victory at the Wanglibao Champions Trophy 2018 in Changzhou, China.
De Goede received almost 29 percent of a closely contested vote, taking the crown ahead of compatriots Lidewij Welten and Xan de Waard as well as Spain’s Georgina Oliva and Stacey Michelsen of New Zealand.
9.India’s First District Cooling System To Be Built In Amravati
CM Chandrababu Naidu to lay stone for India’s biggest district cooling system in Amaravati
First of its kind in the country, the district cooling system will help save 40 per cent of the energy currently being used.
First of its kind in the country, the district cooling system will help save 40 per cent of the energy currently being used. All government, residential and commercial buildings in Amaravati will be supplied chilled water through this system’s pipelines.
The APCRDA plans to make all buildings in the new capital green-rated. In this regard, the corporation will enter into an MoU with a Zurich-based organization for construction of energy efficient residential buildings which have below 2,000 W of energy consumption.
10. Sunil Chhetri given first ever Football Ratna Award
The 34-year-old Padma Shri Sunil Chhetri was conferred the first ever Football Ratna honour by Football Delhi, the association governing the sport in the city. Football Delhi president Shaji Prabhakaran, himself a former player of repute and administrator at the All India Football Federation and FIFA, presented the award to Chhetri.
On the occasion, Football Delhi also honoured Shubham Sarangi, youth player from Delhi who is currently the player of Delhi Dynamos squad for ISL.
11.Govt gets Rs 10,000 crore from additional offering of Bharat-22 ETF
The government has raised Rs 10,000 crore by additional offering of Bharat-22 Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) on Thursday. The additional ‘on-tap’ offering of Bharat-22 ETF was opened for a single day with a base issue size of Rs 3,500 crore and an option to retain over-subscription.
The issue was over-subscribed 10 times and received bids for Rs 4,00,000 crore till 7pm. Bids will pour in till 8pm, the Finance Ministry said. The Bharat-22 ETF issue received overwhelming response from all categories of investors including retail investors. The Government has decided to retain approximately Rs 10,000 crore as its divestment proceeds..
12.Andhra farmers with less than 5 acres land to get Rs 9000 under Annadata Sukhibhava scheme 2019
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu announced Rs 9000 each to the farmers with less than 5 acres land under Annadata Sukhibhava scheme 2019.Earlier in the day, the Chief Minister laid a foundation stone for the Muktyala Lift Irrigation Project and addressed students and farmers.
Under Annadata Sukhibhava scheme 2019, an amount of Rs 9,000 will be given to the farmers having land less than 5 acres. This will be in addition to the Rs 6,000 announced by the Central government.”
Farmers having land more than 5 acres, will be given Rs 10,000. This will be solely by the state government, as the Centre is not giving any aid to farmers having land more than 5 acres.
13. SBI launches Nayi Disha for employees to maintain work-life balance
The nations largest lender State Bank has begun a massive employee engagement programme to ensure its 2.6 lakh-strong staff does not work mechanically and is sufficiently motivated to take on newer challenges that the future will throw up.
The programme christened Nayi Disha or the new path focuses on work-life balance and also involves the staffs immediate family members, also giving them the ability to inform the bank if an employee is not able to leave work on time.
14.Boxing great Mary Kom named brand ambassador of PUMA
Six-time world women boxing champion MC Mary Kom was named as a brand ambassador for global sportswear giant, PUMA for a two-year period. ‘Magnificent Mary’, as she is popularly known as, will be PUMA India’s new ambassador for the company’s women’s training category and shall represent the brand in marketing campaigns in the country.
According to a statement, the association has been facilitated by IOS Sports and Entertainment Pvt Ltd, which exclusively represents Mary Kom. A champion boxer and a super mom, Mary Kom is a role model to millions of women in India. She will lead PUMA’s #DoYou conversation that aims to motivate women across the nation to be strong and accomplish their goals.
15. RBI to pay Rs28,000 crore as interim dividend to govt
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said it would give Rs28,000 crore to the Union government as interim dividend. The decision was taken at a meeting of the RBI’s Central Board in New Delhi.
“Based on a limited audit review and after applying the extant economic capital framework, the Board decided to transfer an interim surplus of Rs280 billion to the Central government for the half-year ended December 31, 2018,” the RBI said in a statement.
This is the second successive year that the RBI will be transferring an interim surplus.
16.Pakistan confers highest civilian award Nishan-e-Pakistan on Saudi Crown Prince
Pakistan conferred its highest civilian award Nishan-e-Pakistan on Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman for his “outstanding support” in reinvigorating the ties between the two countries. The award was presented by Pakistan President Arif Alvi at a special ceremony held at the President House in Islamabad.
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, members of prince Salman’s delegation, diplomats, senior officers and Cabinet ministers attended the ceremony.
17. Indian Oil signs first annual deal for US oil, to pay $1.5 billion
The country’s largest refiner Indian Oil has signed its first annual deal to buy US oil, paying about $1.5 billion for 60,000 barrels a day in 2019-20. Indian Oil is the first state-owned refiner to buy US oil under an annual contract.
18. UpGrad & IIIT-B launch a Hybrid PG program in Data Science
UpGrad, in collaboration with IIIT Bangalore, is launching a hybrid 11-month PG program in Data science. Along with 1-1 mentorship from industry experts and 360 degree career support, the program will include 100+ hours of offline classroom sessions at IIIT Bangalore campus in addition to 400+ hrs of online lectures. Early applicants into the program can also earn RS30,000 scholarship.
19.Canon wins Caledonia Novel Award 2019
American author Dakota Canon has won the Caledonia Novel Award 2019 with her unpublished novel The Unmaking of Eden. The Caledonia Novel Award is an international, Edinburgh-based award for unpublished and self-published novelists in any genre for adults and YA. This year saw more than 350 entries submitted from 31 different countries.
Canon won £1,000 and a trophy specially designed by Edinburgh artist Astrid Jaekel.
20. Swachhata Excellence Award 2019
AMRUT cities and Municipal Corporationsof Raigarh, Ambikapur and Kumbakonamhavebagged the first, second and third prizes respectively of Swachhata Excellence awards 2019. Nagar PalikaParishadJashpur Nagar, Malappuram Municipality, and Nagar PalikaParishadSurajpurhave claimed the prizesin the category of Statutory Towns.
For Million Plus Cities, Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation has been awarded with first prize. For Aspirational Districts, Chas Municipal Corporation has been awarded with a consolation prize.
A total of 40 awards were distributed to the Area Level Federations (ALFs), City Livelihoods Federations (CLFs) and Urban Local Bodies (ULBs). 28 ALFs received Swachhata Excellence Awards, out of these 13 ALFs were conferred first prize of Rs. 2 lakh each, 10 ALFs were given second prize of Rs. 1.50 lakh each and 1 ALF was given third prizes of Rs. 1 lakh. Besides 4 ALFs received consolation awards of Rs. 1 lakh each. 4 CLFs received national awards, out of which 1 CLF was conferred first prize of Rs. 2.50 lakh, 1 CLF was given second prize of Rs. 2 lakh, and 2 CLFs tied in third position, received Rs. 1.50 lakh each.
This year the event formed part of the ShehriSamridhiUtsav, an initiative organized by MoHUA during the first two weeks of February, during which a number of activities and events have been organized at the City, State and National level.
