Daily Current Affairs, 15th February 2020

1) ISRO G Narayanan to head space PSU NSIL

•Veteran space scientist G Narayanan has been named the chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation’s newly formed commercial entity New Space India Ltd (NSIL). He was earlier working as deputy director (systems reliability and quality assurance) at the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC), a Thiruvananthapuram-based unit of Isro that designs, develops liquid propulsion stages for launch vehicles.

•Narayanan, who hails from Kerala’s Palakkad, had earlier worked as first secretary (space) at the Indian embassy in Paris. An alumnus of the College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram, Narayanan joined Isro in 1983.

•NSIL was set up on March 2019 to meet the ever-increasing demands of the Indian space programme and commercially exploit the emerging global space market. It will also manufacture the small satellite launch vehicle (SSLV) or mini-PSLV in collaboration with the private sector and help in the production of the polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV) and other space-based products through the industry.

2) Rajiv Bansal becomes new CMD of Air India

•Senior IAS officer Rajiv Bansal was named the Chairman and Managing Director of national carrier Air India. He succeeds Ashwani Lohani. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet approved his appointment as CMD of Air India. Bansal, a 1988 batch officer of the Nagaland cadre, held the post of Additional Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.

Other Appointments:

•Rajiv Ranjan has been made Secretary of Fisheries in place of Rajni Sekhri Sibal, who is retiring this month.

•Pawan Kumar Agarwal, CEO of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, has been named Secretary, Consumer Affairs.

•Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) Usha Sharma has been moved to the Department of Youth Affairs as Secretary.




3) India’s pioneering feminist Gita Sen wins Dan David Prize 2020

•Indian feminist scholar, activist Gita Sen has won the prestigious Dan David Prize 2020 under “present” category. She has worked hard in the fields of women’s rights, reproductive and sexual health and poverty eradication. Sen is the director of the Ramalingaswami Centre on Equity and Social Determinants of Health at the Public Health Foundation of India.

•Dan David Prize given by Dan David Foundation (headquartered at Tel Aviv University, Israel) this award carries prize of US$ 1 million for achievements having an outstanding scientific, technological, cultural or social impact on our world. Each year fields are chosen within the 3 time dimensions – Past, Present and Future.

4) BioAsia 2020 announces Genome Valley Excellence Award

•BioAsia 2020 has announced the Genome Valley Excellence Award. American immunologist and oncologist Dr. Carl H June and Novartis CEO Dr. Vasant Narsimhan will be presented this award for their contributions to life sciences. The function will be organized by the Telangana government annual global biotechnology & life sciences forum.

•Dr. Carl H June will be awarded for his work in immunotherapy, research in development of CAR-T (Chimeric Antigen Receptor- T cells) for treatment of cancer & commercialization of world’s first FDA (Food and Drug Administration, United States)- approved gene therapy.

•Dr. Narasimhan has been selected for his new vision in the pharmaceutical business in digital technology and healthcare. He also worked in the development of 20 novel medicines, including advanced cells, gene therapy as well as vaccines and also worked on the public health issues particularly in developing countries.

5) Bank of Russia gives license to GIC Re for reinsurance business

•India’s reinsurance company, General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC Re) has received the license from Central Bank of the Russian Federation (Bank of Russia) to commence reinsurance business in Russia. The license enables the subsidiary to commence transacting domestic and international reinsurance business in Russia based on the capital invested by the Corporation.

6) Kiren Rijiju announces Ladakh and J&K will host Khelo India Winter Games 2020

•Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju has announced Khelo India winter games 2020 which will be held in the Union Territory of Ladakh later this month followed by a similar event in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir in March.

•The Khelo India Ladakh Winter Games will feature an open ice hockey championship, figure skating and speed skating and the competition will be conducted at the block, district and UT levels with the expected participation of about 1700 athletes.

•The competitions of the Khelo India J&K Winter Games will be held at Kongdori, Gulmarg in four age categories for both boys and girls. Athletes in the age categories of 19-21 years, 17-18 years, 15-16 years and 13-14 years can compete in alpine skiing, cross country skiing, snowboarding and snowshoeing.