Daily Current Affairs, 28th February 2020 - VISION

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Friday, February 28, 2020

Daily Current Affairs, 28th February 2020






1) National Science Day celebrated on 28th February across India
•National Science Day is celebrated all over India on 28th February. On this day, Sir CV Raman had announced the discovery of the Raman Effect for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1930. Government of India designated 28 February as National Science Day (NSD) in 1986.

•The theme for this year’s National Science Day is ‘Women in Science’. This theme has been chosen for the purpose of increasing public appreciation of the scientific issues involved. The main event of the National Science Day will take place at the Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi. President Ram Nath will be present at the event.

•On this occasion, President Ram Nath Kovind will present awards for science communication as well as for women scientists. A total of 21 awards will be given which will include National Science and Technology and Communication Awards, Augmenting Writing Skills For Articulating Research awards and National Award For Young Woman Showing Excellence Through Application Of Technology For Societal Benefits.

2) India’s first ‘Protein Day’ being observed on 27 February
•Right to Protein, a national-level public health initiative has launched India’s first ‘Protein Day’ on 27th February. The aim of the day is to draw public attention, raise awareness, and educate India on the health benefits of protein.

•The theme of India Protein Day 2020 is set to act as a reminder for all Indians to daily ask themselves and others “ProteinMeinKyaHai”. The key objective through the day’s activities and beyond will be to spread more knowledge about protein and bring about a behavioural change by persuading Indians to eat adequate protein in every meal – at least a quarter of a plate.

•Globally many countries recognize February 27 as Protein Day and from this year India will also join this movement. A nationally celebrated Protein Day will encourage Indian citizens at large to learn and know more about different types of available sources of plant and animal protein and their importance in daily meals for better nutrition and health.

3) Ravi Shankar Prasad inaugurates BSNL FTTH in Dehradun
•Union Communications-Electronics IT Law and Justice Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad inaugurated BSNL FTTH and WiFi services at Jolly Grant Airport in Dehradun. Free WiFi facility will now be available to passengers at Jolly Grant Airport. Travellers coming from India and abroad will get better facilities through these services. Uttarakhand has a special place for tourism. The first time all users will get 100 MB data-free. Customers of other networks will not face any network problems with the WiFi facility.

•There are currently 30,000 WiFi hotspots operating across the country. Which is being tried to increase further. Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited provides this service through the optical fibre to urban and rural areas across the country. Through this service, every area gets the benefit of super-fast internet connectivity.

4) Sri Lanka withdraws from UN Rights Resolution




•Sri Lankan Government formally notified the United Nations that it will withdraw from the UNHRC (United Nations Human Rights Council) resolution for investigating alleged war crimes. The case was dealing with a decade-old clash with Tamil separatists.

•The UNHRC resolution 40/1 was co-sponsored by Sri Lanka and 11 other countries. The main aim of the resolution is investigation of war time violence against Tamil Tiger rebels. The Tamil Rebels were demanding separate homeland. They were claiming that they were ethnic tamil minority and hence are eligible for separate homeland.

5) Finance Secretary launches Baroda Startup Banking in 15 cities
•Finance Secretary Rajiv Kumar inaugurated “Baroda Startup Banking”. It is an initiative aimed at making the Bank of Baroda (BoB) a preferred banking partner for the start-up community and establishing connect with at least 2,000 start-ups over the next two years. The initiative was launched simultaneously across 15 cities in the country.

•It will include 15 Baroda Startup branches that will offer a bouquet of tailor-made banking products and services that have been designed keeping in mind the unique and specialized banking requirements of start-ups.

•The products include customised current accounts, state-of-the-art payments gateways, corporate credit cards, corporate salary accounts and credit facilities apart from other existing products of the bank. In addition to end-to-end banking solutions for start-ups, the bank will also ensure that it meets the ancillary needs of start-ups by partnering with marquee service providers to assist start-ups by way of cloud credits, mentorship, co-working space, legal/accounting services and other support services.

6) Rajnath Singh inaugurates new Helicopter Production Hangar at HAL
•Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated the new Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) Production Hangar at Helicopter Division in Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) Complex at Bengaluru, Karnataka.

•LCH is a 5.5-tonne class combat helicopter designed and developed by HAL. It is powered by two Shakti engines and inherits many technical features of the Advanced Light Helicopter. LCH has the distinction of being the first attack helicopter to land in forwarding Bases at Siachen, 4,700 mts above sea level with 500kg load.

•India has made significant progress towards manufacturing military equipment indigenously under the ‘Make in India’ initiative. The defence industry plays a major role in the economic development of the country. Defence Public Sector Undertaking (DPSU) that has helped India leapfrog six places to become the fifth-largest economy in the world.

7) Xiaomi to bring ISRO’s NavIC technology to smartphones in 2020
•Chinese tech major Xiaomi will bring ISRO’s Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System, NavIC technology to its smartphones. The capability has been currently enabled by Qualcomm Technologies Inc on several of their Qualcomm Snapdragon Mobile Platforms and will be made available across multiple Xiaomi smartphones in India.

•Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC) is the regional geo-positioning system designed in India by ISRO to provide accurate positioning in India and around the Indian mainland. It is considered to be at par with US-based GPS, Russia’s Glonass and Galileo developed by Europe.

•The implementation was possible after R&D efforts from Xiaomi for software along with ISRO and Qualcomm’s efforts. NavIC is designed to provide accurate positioning in India and 1,500km around the Indian mainland. The system comprises 7 satellites, 3 of which are in geostationary orbit over the Indian Ocean and 4 in geosynchronous orbit. NavIC is capable of providing location positioning accuracy better than 20 metres.

8) Aadhaar-enabled Payment System rolled out by Airtel Payments Bank
•The Airtel Payments Bank has launched the Aadhaar-enabled Payment System (AePS). The facility has been launched by the payment bank at over 2,50,000 banking points across India. After the launch of AePS, the customers of any bank with Aadhaar-linked bank accounts will be able to do financial transactions at the designated banking points of Airtel Payments Bank. It will also allow the Airtel Payments Bank’s customers to do financial transactions at any AePS enabled bank. With the launch of the system, the Airtel Payments Bank will be able to service customers of any bank who have an Aadhaar-enabled bank account and hence, head towards the Government of India’s vision of financial inclusion.

9) Raja Ravi Varma Award 2020 conferred
•The Raja Ravi Varma State Award was conferred on veteran painter from Kalaburagi, Prof. J.S. Khanderao (for the year 2019) and senior artist from Mumbai, Vasudev Kamath (2020). The award carries a cash prize of Rs.10,000 and a citation. Raja Ravi Varma State Award was instituted by Karnataka’s Shri Ravivarma Art Institute.

•Prof. J.S. Khanderao was awarded for his art that defines the history of human culture as the art is a form of human expression. The painting dates back to the ages of primitive times. The art form has undergone rapid transformations over centuries. Vasudev Kamath was awarded for his more expressive form of art.

10) NTPC signs MoU with CPCB to set up air quality monitoring stations
•The NTPC Ltd has signed an agreement with the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). According to an agreement, NTPC Ltd will provide financial support of Rs 80 Crore for installation and commissioning of Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations (CAAQMS). A total of 25 Air Quality Monitoring Stations will be installed across six states and three Union Territories. The states include Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Tamil Nadu. The three Union Territories includes Daman & Diu, Dadar & Nagar Haveli and Andaman & Nicobar Islands.

•The Air Quality Index will be evaluated for the respective cities with the help of data collected from these air quality monitoring stations.