Joint IAF – RAF EX Indradhanush – V 2020

1.World NGO day: 27 February

World NGO Day is an international day annually observed on 27 February.The purpose of World NGO Day is to encourage people to be actively involved in NGOs and encourage more synergy between NGOs and both the public and private sectors.

In 2010, 12 members of the Baltic Sea NGO Forum were officially recognized by the nations.

In 2014, the United Nations, European Union leaders and international organizations marked the day for the first time.

2.Carbon as old as 8,000 years found in Yongle Blue Hole

Carbon more than 8,000 years old has been found inside the world’s deepest blue hole ‘the Yongle Blue Hole (YBH)’ which was recently discovered in the South China Sea.Blue holes are marine caverns filled with water and are formed following dissolution of carbonate rocks, usually under the influence of global sea level rise or fall.

Such concentrations of carbon, usually found in deep marine holes like YBH, provide a natural laboratory to study carbon cycling and potential mechanisms controlling it in the marine ecosystem.

YBH has a depth of 300 metres, far deeper than the previously recorded deepest blue hole, Dean’s Blue Hole in Bahamas, which had a depth of 202 metres.

3.3, 000 kilometre long power grid from Myanmar-Thailand to India: BIMSTEC

Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is working on connecting about 3,000-kilometre long power grid from Myanmar-Thailand to India.This was announced by the Energy Adviser to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh Dr Tawfiq-E-Elahi Chowdhury while inaugurating the energy conference of BIMSTEC in Dhaka.

The grid connectivity would ensure better capacity utilization by complementing member country’s demand and supply situation.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) are interested in investing in BIMSTEC regional power grid.

BIMSTEC countries had signed a Memorandum of Understanding for establishing a regional power grid in 2018.

BIMSTEC is a regional grouping with seven countries from South and Southeast Asia including Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand , Nepal and Bhutan.

4.Corona Virus : Air India evacuates 119 Indians stranded onboard Diamond Princess

Air India has evacuated 119 Indians stranded on board Diamond Princess cruise ship off Japan coast due to novel Coronavirus.An Air India flight carrying 119 Indians and five foreign nationals from Sri Lanka, Nepal, South Africa and Peru landed at Delhi Airport from Tokyo.

All passengers were under quarantine onboard the cruise ship due to COVID-19.

On 3 February 2020, 3,711 passengers and crew were quarantined by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare after a passenger on the ship tested positive for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

This was the largest coronavirus outbreak on a cruise ship.

5.Joint IAF – RAF EX Indradhanush – V 2020

The Indian Air Force (IAF) and Royal Air Force (RAF) of UK jointly commenced the fifth edition of Ex Indradhanush at Air Force Station Hindan.The focus of this edition of the exercise is ‘Base Defence and Force Protection’.

This theme is of significance considering the recent threats to military establishments from terror elements.

These exercises would include para drops from C-130J aircraft, tactical insertions by Mi-17 V5 helicopters and use of various airborne sensors.

6.International Conference on Standardisation of AYUSH Terminologies ‘ICoSDiTAUS-2020’ concludes in Delhi

ICoSDiTAUS-2020, the two-day International Conference on Standardisation of Diagnosis and Terminologies in Ayurveda, Unani and Siddha Systems of Medicine concluded in New Delhi.It concluded with adopting the “New Delhi Declaration on Collection and Classification of Traditional Medicine (TM) Diagnostic Data”.

The sixteen countries came together for the cause of Traditional Medicine at this conference.

ICoSDiTAUS-2020 is the biggest ever international event dedicated to standardisation of Diagnosis and Terminologies of Traditional Medicine in terms of the broad level of participation covering virtually all the continents.

The New Delhi declaration emphasised the commitment of the countries to Traditional Medicine as a significant area of health care.

7.Delhi airport ranks highest in duty-free revenue per passenger

The duty-free revenue per passenger for Indira Gandhi International Airport is highest in India at 10 to 11 dollars per passenger.According to a report by Knight Frank India, retailers do two times the business compared to some of the most successful city malls.

The share of non-aeronautical revenue of the joint venture airport in New Delhi is at 70 per cent, well above the global average of 40 per cent.

8.RBI lifts ban, allows Bandhan Bank to open branches

The Reserve Bank of India allowed Bandhan Bank to open branches without its prior approval, lifting a ban imposed on the lender for failing to reduce promoter ownership below the mandated 40%.Bandhan Bank’s current promoter holding at 61% is still above the regulatory ceiling.

Bandhan Financial Holdings Ltd is the holding company and promoter of the Bandhan Bank. Its holding was diluted to 61% from 82% after the acquisition of Gruh Finance last year.

RBI first came down heavily on Bandhan Bank on September 28, 2018, including a freeze on its founder-cum managing director Chandra Shekhar Ghosh’s salary at the September 2018 level.

9.Jawed Ashraf appointed India’s next envoy to France

Diplomat Jawed Ashraf has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to France.Ashraf, a 1991-batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer, is currently serving as Indian High Commissioner to Singapore and is expected to take up the assignment shortly.

A career diplomat, High Commissioner Ashraf joined the IFS in 1991.

Ashraf served as Joint Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office under former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and then Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

10.Sharapova says goodbye to Tennis

Five-time Grand Slam winner Maria Sharapova, one of the world’s most recognisable sports women, announced her retirement from tennis.The Russian won her first Grand Slam at Wimbledon in 2004 aged 17 and completed the career slam, all four major titles,  by winning the French Open in 2012.

In 2016, she served a 15-month ban after testing positive for meldonium.

After returning from her ban in 2017, Sharapova struggled to recapture her best form and suffered from a number of injuries.

She has dropped to 373 in the world, her lowest ranking since August 2002, and has lost in the first round of her past three Grand Slam tournaments.

11.Famous NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson has passed away

Katherine Johnson, a ground-breaking black NASA mathematician whose life was portrayed in the movie Hidden Figures passed away.Johnson’s calculations helped put the first man on the Moon in 1969.

She was little known until the Oscar-nominated 2016 movie that told the stories of three black women who worked at NASA.

Her math talents later helped determine the trajectory of the Apollo 11 flight that landed Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the Moon in July 1969.

US president Barack Obama presented Johnson with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the country, in 2015.