Current Affairs - February 28, 2018 Current Affairs

A NITI Aayog official has announced that, Nandan Nilekani will assist the government in developing IT infrastructure for National Health Protection Scheme (NHPS). The National Health Protection Scheme (NHPS) aims to offer medical cover for up to Rs 5 lakh to more than 10 crore poor families.This will cover up to 40 % of India's population. In 2018-2019 union budget, an initial corpus of Rs 2,000 crore has been allocated for NHPS. Nandan Nilekani is the former Chairman of UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India). He is also a member of the GST return simplification committee. The premium on insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh under NHPS has been decided at Rs 900-1,000 per family annually.

India comes up with best ever performance at the 69th Strandja Memorial Boxing Tournament in Bulgaria. At Sofia, the country ended with a whopping 11 medals - five from men and six from women boxers. Overall, the contingent clinched two gold, three silver, and six bronze medals. Vikas Krishan, who claimed a gold medal in 75 kg category, was also adjudged the best boxer of the event, a first for an Indian. Another Gold medal was clinched by Amit Panchal.

Tennis legend Roger Federer became the most decorated winner in the history of Laureus World Sports Awards after he won twin honors at the 18th edition of the awards ceremony in Monaco. It was his sixth award. The awards include the Sportsman and Comeback titles. American tennis great Serena Williams won the Sportswoman of the Year Award following her Australian Open success, her 23rd Grand Slam title. Serena is now the most decorated female Laureus Award winner with five Laureus statuettes.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani released 'India 2018' (English Version) and 'Bharat 2018' (Hindi Version). The books are published by the Publications Division. The book available in both print and online versions. It is an exhaustive publication dealing with all aspects of the country's development. With its latest edition, the book has entered into its 62nd year of publication.

Siemens India has commissioned a first-of-its-kind Medium-Voltage (MV) training lab at INS Valsura, Gujarat, for the Indian Navy. The MV training lab was inaugurated by Admiral Sunil Lanba, the Chief of the Naval Staff, on 24th January 2018. This MV lab facilitates Indian Navy officials to train, manage and operate modern equipment of Indian Navy without going to the field. This lab will be utilized for first stage training of naval personnel on Medium Voltage Power Generation, Protection & Distribution and MV Drives & Motors. Siemens supplied Motors & Converters, Medium Voltage and Low Voltage Switchboards and automation systems for the facility.

8th edition of Indo-Seychelles joint counter insurgency/counter terrorism exercise, named 'Lamitye' began on February 24, 2018 in Seychelles. 'Lamiye' means friendship in Creole (local dialect). 'Exercise Lamitye' is conducted biennially with an aim of enhancing cooperation and interoperability between Indian Army and Seychelles People's Defence Forces. Indian contingent to 8th edition of 'Exercie Lamitye' comprises four officers, five Junior Commissioned Officers and 36 army personnel from other Ranks.

The Union Government is going to roll out Galvanizing Organic Bio-Agro Resources Dhan (GOBAR-DHAN) scheme. It was first announced by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley during his 2018-19 budget speech. The scheme focuses on managing and converting cattle dung and solid waste in farms to the use composition. It will also help in keeping the village clean while increasing income of farmers and cattle herders.

M. Subbarayudu was appointed the next Ambassador of India to Plurinational State of Bolivia. M. Subbarayudu is an Indian Foreign Service Officer (IFS) of the 1994 batch. He is currently the Ambassador of India to Lima. His residence is in Lima. He has been concurrently appointed the next Ambassador of India to Plurinational State of Bolivia. He will soon take up this new assignment.

National Science Day (NSD) is celebrated every year on 28 February. The theme of NSD-2018 is "Science and Technology for a Sustainable Future". NSD is celebrated to commemorate the discovery of the 'Raman Effect', which led to Sir C.V. Raman winning the Noble Prize. The theme has been chosen for the purpose of raising public appreciation of the scientific issues involved.

Jammu & Kashmir State Government constituted the State Council for Promotion of Urdu Language (SCPUL). Objective behind setting up this council is to promote J&K's official language (Urdu). SCPUL would be headed by the Education Minister of Jammu & Kashmir State Cabinet, while vice-chancellors of all central and state universities in J&K, administrative secretaries of finance, school education, culture and law departments; secretary of the J&K academy of art, culture and languages would be the official members. J&K State Finance Minister, Haseeb Drabu has stated that Rs. 2 crore has been set aside for this Council.

India ranked 47th out of 86 countries on the Inclusive Internet Index by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), which was commissioned by Facebook. Sweden took the first place, followed by Singapore and the US. The scores on the index, which covered 91% of the world's population, is based on the scores of Availability, Affordability, Relevance and Readiness categories.

At 19 years of age, Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan is set to become the youngest captain in the history of international cricket. The World's No.1 ODI and Twenty20 International bowler, Rashid will lead Afghanistan after regular skipper Asghar Stanikzai was diagnosed with appendicitis. Rashid is also the youngest player to be ranked No.1 in the ICC's Player Rankings across formats.

Dr. Satya Pal Singh, the Union Minister of State for Human Resource Development (Higher Education), led the Indian delegation at the 20th Conference of the Commonwealth Education Ministers (20CCEM) in Nadi, Fiji during 19-23 February 2018. The theme of the Conference was "Sustainability and Resilience: Can Education Deliver?" The purpose of the conference is to discuss solutions to some of the Commonwealth's most pressing education challenges, including low enrolment rates in preschool, primary and secondary schools, low adult literacy and persisting gender disparities in education.

National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), India has retained its 'A' status of accreditation with Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI) for the fourth consecutive term of five years. GANHRI, is a global network of national human rights institutions (NHRIs), the administrative bodies set up to promote, protect and monitor human rights in a particular country. GANHRI was formerly known as the International Coordinating Committee of National Human Rights Institutions. GANHRI accreditation confers international recognition and protection to the NHRI of a particular country. 'A' status accreditation is given to those NHRIs, which are found fully compliant with the UN mandated Paris Principles. Any NHRI getting 'A' status accreditation can participate in the work and decision-making of the GANHRI.

Sagar Chaya Vanchar, director of Marathi film 'Redu' (Radio), has bagged the prestigious Aravindan Puraskaram for the best debutant director of 2017, instituted in memory of iconic Malayalam filmmaker late G Aravindan. The award, comprising a cash prize of Rs 25,000, a memento and a citation, is instituted by the Chalachitra Film Society. The expert panel observed that Vanchari's film expresses the ripples and changes that resulted in the life of a rural Konkan village during the seventies after the arrival of a radio in the hamlet. The award will be presented on March 15, 2018, on the 27th death anniversary of Aravindan.