Daily Current Affairs of 27th February 2017
International Current Affairs
- Today (Last Day of February) is Rare Disease Day.
- This day aims to raise awareness about relatively unknown diseases and their impact.
- Started as a European event, over 80 countries across the world have joined the campaign.
- Note : According to the World Health Organisation, a disease found in less than 6.5-10 people per 10,000 people is defined as rare.
- Theme of Rare Disease Day 2017 : research
- World Bank CEO Kristalina Georgieva is on the official visit to India.
- This is her first official visit.
- During this visit, she will meet senior policy makers and inspect projects assisted by the multilateral agency.
- She is scheduled to meet Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis and RBI Governor Urjit Patel.
- In Mumbai, she will also visit the operations of the World Bank-supported suburban rail system and a school serving low-income households.
- She will be accompanied by Annette Dixon, World Bank Vice President for South Asia.
- Queen Elizabeth II today hosted a reception at Buckingham Palace to launch the UK-India Year of Culture 2017
- Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is representing the Indian government.
- Former cricketer Kapil Dev, musician Anoushka Shankar and actors Kamal Hassan and Kunal Nayyar were also present.
- US President Donald Trump's administration is considering to withdraw the country's participation from the UN Human Rights Council over its alleged inefficiencies and anti-Israel behaviour.
- Hungary has started building the second fence along its border with Serbia to stop migrants from freely entering the country.
- The decision has been criticised by human rights groups.
- Hungary earlier built a border fence at its borders with Serbia and Croatia in 2015.
National Current Affairs
- Today (28th February 2016) is National Science Day.
- On this day, the nation pays tributes to the legacy of the great scientist, Dr C V Raman, who brought Nobel Prize in Science to Asia and India for the first time for his ground-breaking achievement of the Raman effect.
- Professor Raman disclosed this discovery to the world on 28th of February, 1928 and he was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1930.
- In 1986, The National Council for Science and Technology Communication (NCSTC) had urged the Indian government to declare February 28 as National Science Day.
- Theme of National Science Day 2017 : ‘Science and Technology for Specially Abled Persons’
- Thiruvananthapuram has been ranked first among the 21 Indian cities that were tested on urban governance parameters, according to the latest survey by Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy.
- Pune and Kolkata were respectively ranked second and third in the survey.
- Mumbai bagged the fourth spot while Delhi was ninth in the list.
- Chandigarh was ranked the lowest.
- Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapati Raju today inaugurated India’s first integrated heliport in Rohini, New Delhi.
- The ₹100-crore project, built by Pawan Hans Limited, will feature nine parking bays, and an air-conditioned passenger terminal which can hold up to 150 people.
- The heliport is expected to reduce congestion at New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport.
- India's largest paramilitary force, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), has been rendered without a regular chief after its Director General (DG) K Durga Prasad retired without a successor being named.
- However, the Home Ministry has issued an order giving CRPF Additional DG Sudeep Lakhtakia an additional charge of the post of DG till the appointment of a regular successor.
Awards & Honors
- Former Indian women's cricketer Shantha Rangaswamy has become the 1st female cricketer to be nominated for the BCCI Lifetime Achievement Award.
- Rangaswamy will receive the award at the BCCI Annual Awards 2016-17 on March 8.
- Note : She was the first Indian women's cricket team captain and the first woman cricketer to win the Arjuna Award.
Science & Technology
- INS Viraat, the second aircraft carrier in the Indian naval fleet, will be decommissioned on March 6, Vice Admiral Girish Luthra announced today.
- Important Points to Note about INS Viraat :
- INS Viraat holds a Guinness world record for being the oldest surviving aircraft carrier.
- It was first commissioned in the Indian Navy in 1987 after serving the United Kingdom's Royal Navy for 27 years.
- The Indian Air Force is preparing a security web with the Israeli SPYDER air defence missile system on the borders with Pakistan to tackle any aircraft, cruise missile or drone that tries to violate Indian airspace.
- SPYDER is a low-level, quick reaction missile to neutralise hostile targets up to 15 km away and at heights between 20 and 9,000 metres.
- NASA has kick-started a study to understand the feasibility of manned missions into deep space, farther than the Moon.
- With an aim to launch two astronauts by mid-2019 in a 70,000-km-orbit around the Moon, the study will assess the pros and cons of adding crew to a deep space mission, giving critical insights on future manned missions to Mars.
New Appointments
- The Ministry of External Affairs has appointed the 1992 batch Indian Foreign Service officer Gopal Baglay as the new MEA Spokesperson.
- He has replaced Vikas Swarup, who has been appointed as the Indian High Commissioner to Canada.
- The Spanish government has appointed a 'Sex Tsar' to combat Spain's falling birth rate.
- Senator and demographics expert Edelmira Diz, has been appointed as, is tasked with drafting a strategy against imbalances and identifying the reason behind the declining birth rate.
- Note : In 2016, Spain reported more deaths than births for the first time since World War II.
Sports Current Affairs
- Indian shuttlers Tarun Kona and Alwin Francis have today won the Men's doubles title (Gold) at the 2017 Uganda International Series today.
- India's Jitu Rai won the Bronze medal in the men's 10-metre air pistol event at the International Shooting Sport Federation World Cup in New Delhi today.
- Important Note : Earlier, Jitu had won the gold medal in the 10-metre air pistol mixed event alongside Heena Sidhu.
- Indian shooter Ankur Mittal won silver in the men's Double Trap event at the ISSF World Cup in New Delhi today.
- Military teams from around the globe are participating in the World Winter Games being held in the southern Russian city of Sochi.
- International Military Sports Council, which is among the world's largest sporting committees, is organising the games.
- Over 400 military athletes from 26 countries will compete in seven disciplines, which include the biathlon, alpine skiing and indoor climbing.
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