Daily Current Affairs, 26th February 2019

1) PM Modi Inaugurated 40-Acre National War Memorial in New Delhi

•Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated a new National War Memorial, situated in the India Gate complex in New Delhi, to the nation. He lit the flame positioned at the bottom of the stone obelisk to pay homage to the soldiers who died in the line of duty.

•The National War Memorial, spread over 40 acres in the India Gate complex behind the canopy, is dedicated to soldiers killed during the Indo-China War in 1962, Indo-Pak Wars in 1947, 1965 and 1971, Indian Peace Keeping Force Operations in Sri Lanka and in the Kargil Conflict in 1999, and also those in the UN peacekeeping missions.

2) President Conferred ‘Gandhi Peace Prize’

•President Ram Nath Kovind conferred the Gandhi Peace Prize for 2015, 16, 17 and 18 at a function in Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi. The award comprises a cash award of one crore rupees, a citation in a scroll, a plaque and a traditional handicraft item.

•Here are the awardees that were facilitated at the occasion:

1. For 2015: Vivekananda Kendra, Kanyakumari was given the award for its contribution in Rural Development, Education and Development of natural resources.
2. For 2016: Jointly to Akshaya Patra Foundation for its contribution in providing mid-day meals to millions of children across India and Sulabh International for its contribution in improving the condition of sanitation in India and emancipation of manual scavengers.
3. For 2017: Ekal Abhiyan Trust for its contribution in providing Education for Rural and Tribal Children in remote areas pan India, Rural Empowerment, Gender, and Social Equality.
4. For 2018: Japan’s Yohei Sasakawa for his contribution in Leprosy Eradication in India and across the world.

3) India-Bangladesh Joint Military Exercise ‘Sampriti 2019’ in Tangail

•As part of the ongoing India Bangladesh defence cooperation, a joint military exercise Sampriti-2019 will be conducted at Tangail, Bangladesh from 02 March to 15 March 2019.

•Exercise Sampriti-2019 is an important bilateral defence cooperation endeavour between India and Bangladesh and this will be the eighth edition of the exercise which is hosted alternately by both countries.

4) Lifetime Achievement Award For G.R. Karthikeyan

•G.R. Karthikeyan, father of India’s first Formula One driver Narain Karthikeyan,was honored with the Lifetime Achievement award at the FMSCI annual awards function. FIA president Jean Todt was the chief guest and handed over the awards.

5) Indra Nooyi Joins Amazon’s Board of Directors

•PepsiCo’s India-born former CEO Indra Nooyi has joined Amazon’s board of directors, the online retail giant. Starbucks executive Rosalind Brewer has also joined the Amazon Board. Ms. Nooyi will be a member of the audit committee.

•She was Pepsico CEO from October 2006 to October 2018, where she also served as the Chairman of its board of directors from May 2007 to February 2019.

6) Sri Lanka Becomes The First Ever Asian Team To Win Test Series In South Africa

•Sri Lanka cricket team became the first Asian side to win a Test series in South Africaafter winning the series by 2-0. This was Sri Lanka’s sixth series in South Africa and their first win. Kusal Perera was given the Man of the Series award. Before Sri Lanka, only Australia and England have defeated South Africa in a Test series at home.