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Daily Current Affairs of 1st March 2019

International Current Affairs

Today (1st March) is Zero Discrimination Day.

This is an annual worldwide event that promotes diversity and recognizes that everyone counts.
This day urges people to join together against discrimination and celebrate everyone's right to live a full and productive life with dignity.
Theme for Zero Discrimination Day 2019 : 'Act to change laws that Discriminate'.

Thailand's military-appointed Parliament has unanimously passed a controversial cybersecurity law that will enable surveillance of its citizens.

It could enable internet traffic monitoring and access to private data without a court order.

Indian Border Security Force (BSF) and Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) a 3-day ‘Mainamati Maitree Exercise 2019’ as a part of ‘Confidence Building Measures’ between the two border guards.

The exercise was named after a hill range situated 8 km west of Comilla township in Bangladesh, which is home to an ancient Buddhist archaeological site in the region.
Objective of Mainamati Maitree Exercise 2019 : To plan and conduct anti-smuggling and anti-criminal activity related operations .
Aim : Achieving better joint operational efficiency and border management in the area of responsibility of respective BSF and BGB Battalions participating in the joint exercise.

National Current Affairs

Union Cabinet today approved the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2019.

It'll benefit SCs & STs in promotion in service and extend reservation of up to 10% to Economically Weaker Sections in education and public employment.
Additionally, persons residing near International Border will be brought under the ambit of reservation at par with those in areas adjoining Actual LoC.

The Cabinet also approved the promulgation of an ordinance which allows children to exit Aadhaar on attaining 18 years of age.

The Lok Sabha had passed a bill for the purpose on January 4 but it's pending in Rajya Sabha.
The ordinance also allows voluntary use of Aadhaar as identity proof for opening bank accounts and obtaining SIM cards.

The Election Commission (EC) today announced that the Photo voter slip will no longer be used as a 'stand-alone identification document' during elections.

The decision has been taken as the photo voter slip does not incorporate any security features and can be misused.
The EC has also listed 11 documents for identification including driving licence and PAN.

Science & Technology

On the National Science day, the Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister, Prakash Javadekar launched STARS – Scheme for Translational and Advanced Research in Science to fund science projects.

The ministry has approved funds worth Rs 250 crore for the scheme.
These funds will be utilised to sponsor about 500 science projects.
The selection of these projects would be done on the basis of competitions.
The project will be coordinated by the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore.

People in News

Air Force pilot Abhinandan Varthaman, captured by Pakistan has been handed over to India.

Pakistan has announced that Varthaman was being released as a "gesture of peace".
Varthaman's MiG 21 was shot during an aerial combat between India and Pakistan on Wednesday morning.
He has been in Pakistan since then.

Banking, Business & Economic Affairs

The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) today launched its own digital payment aggregator titled 'IRCTC iPay'.

With iPay, passengers will not need any third-party platforms as it will provide payment options like credit card, debit card, unified payment interface and international card.
This will help reduce the gap between IRCTC and banks which will eventually lead to substantial reduction in payment failures.

Tata Steel has been recognised as one of World’s Most Ethical Companies for the year 2019 by the Ethisphere Institute, a global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices.

Awards & Honors

PM Modi confers Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prizes for Science & Tech for the years 2016, 2017 and 2018 in New Delhi.

About the Prize :

The Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize is the most coveted national recognition bestowed upon young scientists and engineers to honour their research and developmental work in India.
It was first instituted in 1957 to honour the eminent scientist Dr Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar who was also the founder Director and the chief architect of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, CSIR.
It is awarded annually for notable and outstanding research, applied or fundamental, in Biological Sciences, Chemical Sciences, Earth, Atmosphere, Engineering Sciences, Mathematical Sciences, Medical Sciences and Physical Sciences.

Winners :

A total of 11 scientists were given the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for the year 2016.

The awardees include Dr Rishikesh Narayan of Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru and Dr Amalendu Krishna of Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai.

10 scientists got the prize for 2017.

Some of them are, Dr Deepak Gaur of Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi and Dr S Suresh Babu of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre.

There were 13 prize winners for the year 2018.

Some important names are : Dr Amit Kumar of IIT, Delhi and Dr Nitin Saxena, IIT, Kanpur.

Recent Committees in News

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) today announced a Task force to examine issues related to offshore rupee markets and recommend policy measures to ensure stability of the external value of the domestic currency.

The 8-member task force will assess the causes behind the development of the offshore rupee market and study the effects of the offshore markets on the rupee exchange rate and market liquidity in the domestic market.
Head of this Task Force : Usha Thorat (former RBI deputy governor)

Books & Authors

Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thaawarchand Gehlot launched the 2nd Edition of Indian Sign Language (ISL) Dictionary in New Delhi.

The dictionary is brought out by Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre (ISLRTC) under the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities.
The Dictionary includes 6000 words under the categories of academic, legal, medical, technical and everyday terms.
Note : The first edition of the dictionary with three thousand words was launched in March last year.

New Appointments

Eastern Air Command chief Air Marshal Raghunath Nambiar was appointed as the new chief of Indian Air Force's sword arm Western Air Command.

He is credited with shooting five of the eight Laser Guided Bombs on Pakistani positions from his plane during the Kargil war.
He flew the Mirage-2000 in combat during the Kargil war.

Air Marshal R D Mathur assumed charge of the Eastern Air Command of the Indian Air Force, today at Shillong, as its Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief.

An alumnus of St Joseph's Academy, Dehradun, Mr Mathur had joined the National Defence Academy in 1978 and was commissioned into the fighter stream of the Indian Air Force in June 1982.
He has commanded a frontline fighter squadron and an airbase in the western sector.
He is a Qualified Flying Instructor and Instrument Rating Examiner with over 5000 hours of flying experience on a variety of fighter aircrafts, trainers and helicopters.
For his distinguished service, he was awarded the Vishisht Seva Medal in 2003 and Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 2014 by the President of India.

Sports Current Affairs

Australia won the two-match T20I series against India, registering a whitewash on Indian soil for the first time in history.

Prior to the series, Australia had played 25 series across formats (including one-match series) in India dating back to 1956.
Australia were led by Aaron Finch in the series.

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