current affairs 28th FEBRUARY 2022

 

CURRENT AFFAIRS SNIPPETS

 

 28th February 2022

 

National News

 

. Madhabi Puri Buch named as first woman chief of SEBI 

Former ICICI Banker, Madhabi Puri Buch has been appointed as the new Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) chairman, replacing Ajay Tyagi. She is the first woman chief of SEBI and also the first non-IAS to head the regulatory body.  She has over three decades of experience in the financial markets and was SEBI whole-time member (WTM) between April 5, 2017, and October 4, 2021. During her tenure at SEBI, she handled portfolios such as surveillance, collective investment schemes and investment management.

Samiran Gupta to head public policy for Twitter in India

Samiran Gupta will lead microblogging platform Twitter’s public policy and philanthropy efforts in India and South Asia. Prior to joining Twitter, Gupta was the head of stakeholder engagement in South Asia for ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers).  Gupta was associated with The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), a non-profit organisation. He served there for seven years. He was also briefly the firm's head of stakeholder engagement for the South Asia market.  The news of the appointment comes almost a year after the former Public Policy Director for India and South Asia Mahima Kaul resigned.

Ministry of Education launches Bhasha Certificate Selfie campaign

The Ministry of Education has launched a campaign titled ‘Bhasha Certificate Selfie’. The aim of this campaign is to promote the Bhasha Sangam mobile app, launched by the Ministry under the aegis of Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat to encourage cultural diversity and promote multilingualism.  Bhasha Sangam mobile app was launched on October 31, 2021, by Minister of Education and Skill Development Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, to lay emphasis on the promotion of Indian languages.  The app has been developed by the Ministry of Education and MyGov India and allows users to learn 100+ sentences of daily use in as many as 22 scheduled Indian languages. The ‘Bhasha Certificate Selfie’ initiative is encouraging people to upload their selfie with the certificate using the hashtag #BhashaCertificateSelfie.

Cochin Airport to become power-positive with new solar plant

The Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) is set to commission a 12 MWp solar power plant on March 6 near Payyannur in Kannur district of Kerala. With the commissioning of the new solar power plant, CIAL will get the status as a power positive airport, from its current status of being a power-neutral airport.  In 2015, CIAL became the world’s first airport to be fully powered by solar energy. The power plant boasts of 12 megawatt capacity on a 35-acre land where CIAL introduced a concept of terrain-based installation where the geographical characteristics of the area are retained and no changes are made in the gradient of the land.

International News

 

 

 

President Zelenskyy signs application for Ukraine to join European Union

short by Ridham Gambhir / 10:27 pm on 28 Feb 2022,Monday

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday signed an application for Ukraine to join the European Union. Earlier today, Zelenskyy had urged the EU to allow Ukraine to gain membership under a special procedure immediately amid the Russian invasion. "Our goal is to be with all Europeans and, most importantly, to be equal...I am sure we deserve it," he said.

New Development Bank 1st multilateral agency to open office in Gift City

New Development Bank (NDB) will become the first multilateral agency to open an office in the Gujarat International Finance Tech City (Gift). New Development Bank (NDB) has received the approval for the same and will open the office in May 2022 in GIFT City.  The Indian office will help identify suitable projects and try to create a pipeline of potential financing for the bank. NDB also expects to partner with the newly launched National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development (NBFID) to support crucial infrastructure projects in India.  NDB was set up by the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) with the objective of mobilizing resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects in the BRICS as well as other emerging markets in 2014. It became operational in 2015 and is headquartered in Shanghai, China. All the founding members equally own the bank.

Canada approved world’s 1st plant-derived COVID-19 vaccine

Canada became the first country in the world that has authorized the use of a plant-based COVID-19 vaccine. The two-dose vaccine of Medicago Inc. (a biopharma company owned by Mitsubishi Chemical and Philip Morris), can be given to adults who are aged between 18 to 64, but little data is available on the shots received by people aged 65 and above.  The decision to authorize the vaccine was based on a study conducted on 24,000 adults that showed the efficacy rate of the vaccine is 71% at preventing COVID-19 – although the tests were conducted before the omicron variant emerged.  Covifenz is the name given to this vaccine. Canada agreed to buy 20 million doses of this plant-based vaccine, with an option to purchase 56 million additional doses.

Schemes News

Mansukh Mandaviya launched the “ICMR/ DHR Policy on Biomedical Innovation

For medical professionals, scientists, and technicians in medical, dental, and paramedical institutes, the Union health ministry has launched the ICMR/ DHR Policy on Biomedical Innovation and Entrepreneurship.   By promoting the Government of India's Make-in-India, Start-Up-India, and Atmanirbhar Bharat initiatives, it would assure multidisciplinary collaboration, promote start-up culture, and establish an innovation-led ecosystem at medical institutes across the country."  Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, speaking at the policy launch. "This Policy will ensure multi-disciplinary collaboration, promote start-up culture, and develop an innovation-led ecosystem at Medical Institutes across the country by promoting Make-in-India, Start-Up-India, and Atmanirbhar Bharat initiatives. This policy is in line with Prime Minister Harper's motto of "Innovate, Patent, Produce, and Prosper."

Banking, Business and Economy

 

Burman family makes offer to buy additional 26% stake in Eveready

short by Ashley Paul / 11:20 pm on 28 Feb 2022,Monday

Eveready's single-largest investor Burman family on Monday said it made an open offer to buy an additional 26% stake, or 18.9 million shares, for ₹604.76 crore in Eveready Industries Ltd. The mandatory open offer under the takeover regulations was made as the Burmans acquired an additional 5.26% share of Eveready for ₹122.30 crore, taking their total shareholding to 25.11%.

 

NSE, BSE starts T+1 Stock Settlement From February 25

India has become the second country after China to implement the T+1 stock settlement mechanism in a phased manner from 25 February. The system will be starting with select stocks and then gradually adding others to the fold.  Instruction regarding this was issued by SEBI on January 01, 2022. Before this, the settlement period of stocks in India was T+2, i.e. two days after the actual buy/selling of stock.  T means the trade/transaction day i.e. the day on which stock is brought/sold. and here T+1 means that the actual stock settlement will happen on the next day i.e +1 day. Ex: You buy a stock on Monday, you will get it in your Demat account Tuesday.

Important Info:

SEBI introduced the present T+2 settlement in April 2003. Before that settlement of T+3 was followed by stock exchanges.  Stock exchanges like BSE and NSE have selected, the bottom 100 stocks based on market cap that will be settled using the T+1 mechanism starting February 25.  Thereafter, 500 more stocks will be added every last Friday of subsequent months, until every stock is placed under the new settlemen
TikTok now allows 10-minute-long videos on the app

short by Pragya Swastik / 10:46 pm on 28 Feb 2022,Monday

TikTok has started rolling out the ability that allows users to upload videos that are up to 10 minutes long. TikTok, which began as a 15-second video app, has been gradually increasing the maximum time limit for videos and last increased the limit to 3 minutes in July 2021. Owned by Chinese internet conglomerate ByteDance, TikTok remains banned in India.

t system.

 

 

Sports News

Wushu Stars Championship: India’s Sadia Tariq wins Gold in Russia

Indian Wushu player Sadia Tariq has won a gold medal in the junior tournament at the Moscow Wushu Stars Championship 2022. The 15-year-old Sadia Tariq hails from Srinagar in Jammu & Kashmir.  The Wushu Stars Championship is being held in Moscow, Russia from February 22 to 28. From India, 38 players, including 23 junior and 15 senior participated in the championship.  Earlier in the day, former Sports Minister and Athens Olympics medalist Rajyavardhan Rathore took to social media and laud the gold-winning effort from Sadia. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also took to social media to wish the young Wushu champion.

Singapore Weightlifting International 2022: India secures 8 medals

India concluded its campaign at the Singapore Weightlifting International 2022 with eight medals, including six golds and a silver and bronze each.  Each of the eight Indian lifters who registered for Singapore International won medals and secured their spots at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, scheduled to be held in July-August.  India now has total of 12 weightlifters qualified for the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham.

Rafael Nadal wins Mexican Open 2022

In tennis, Rafael Nadal (Spain) beat British number one Cameron Norrie 6-4 6-4 to win the singles title of Mexican Open 2022 (also known as Acapulco title). This is the 91st ATP title of his career and the third title of the season.  This is the fourth time that Rafael Nadal has won the Mexican Open title, after winning the previous ones in 2005, 2013 and 2020. Men’s double title winners are Feliciano Lopez (Spain) and Stefanos Tsitsipas (Greece).

Important Days

World NGO Day 2022: 27th February

World NGO Day is celebrated every year on 27th February in several countries across the world. Non-Governmental Organizations or NGOs work in the upliftment of society.  It is an international day to recognise, celebrate and honour non-government and non-profit organisations and also those who contribute their time and efforts in making society a better place to live in.  World NGO Day aims to create awareness about the sector and encourage people across the world who work in the sector for a good cause. One interesting fact about World NGO Day is that the Government of each country, appreciate these people working selflessly in their official state languages.

Polio National Immunization Day 2022 observed on 27th February

In 2022, the Government of India has organised the Polio National Immunization Day 2022 (NID) (also known as ‘’Polio Ravivar”) on February 27, 2022, to give two drops of oral polio vaccine (OPV) to every child in the country under the age of five.  Over 15 crore children will be covered under the drive across all 36 States and UTs in 735 districts. The National Polio Immunization Drive for 2022 was launched by Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Dr Mansukh Mandavia on February 26, 2022.  In India, one nationwide NID and two Sub-National Immunization Day (SNIDs) for polio is held every year to maintain population immunity against wild poliovirus and to sustain its polio-free status.  India was removed from the list of polio-endemic countries in 2012 and in 2013 the entire Southeast Asia Region was declared Polio free.  The last case of wild poliovirus reported in India was on 13th January 2011.

 

National Science Day 2022: 28 February

The National Science Day is celebrated on 28 February each year in India to spread the message about the importance of science in the daily life of the people. On this day, Sir CV Raman had announced the discovery of the Raman Effect for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1930.  The government of India designated 28 February as National Science Day (NSD) in 1986. The National Science Day theme for 2022: ‘Integrated Approach in S&T for Sustainable Future’. The day also commemorates the discovery of the Raman effect.

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