NATIONAL:
1. National Science Day: 28th February
The National Science Day is celecrated with different themes every year. In 1999, the theme was ‘Our Changing Earth’, in 2000 it was ‘Recreating Interest in Basic Science’, in 2005 it was ‘Celebrating Physics’, in 2010 the theme was ‘Gender Equity, Science & Technology for Sustainable Development’, in 2015 the theme was ‘Science for Nation Building’ and this years theme is ‘Science and Technology for Specially Abled Persons’.
India celebrates National Science Day every year on February 28 since 1928 to mark Indian physicist Sir Chandrashekhara Venkata Raman’s discovery of the Raman Effect for which he was later awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1930. On this day, school and college students exhibit various science projects in their respective institutions and prizes are awarded also awarded to them. Other activities that take place on this day includes speeches by the Minister of Science and Technology, live projects, radio-TV talk shows , exhibitions based on different concepts and themes and many more. To celebrate the discovery of the Raman effect, celebrations take place at the Radio Astronomy Centre (RAC) Ooty, the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) at Khodad, Pune, Maharashtra which is world famous for its telescopes that operate at low radio frequencies by the NCRA (National Centre for Radio Astrophysics) under the Department of Atomic Energy.
The National Science Day is celecrated with different themes every year. In 1999, the theme was ‘Our Changing Earth’, in 2000 it was ‘Recreating Interest in Basic Science’, in 2005 it was ‘Celebrating Physics’, in 2010 the theme was ‘Gender Equity, Science & Technology for Sustainable Development’, in 2015 the theme was ‘Science for Nation Building’ and this years theme is ‘Science and Technology for Specially Abled Persons’.
2. Haryana Launches Online Sex Ratio Monitoring System For Panipat
•The Haryana government has set up an online system for Panipat to monitor the sex-ratio in the district as part of the ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ programme.
•The system, called the sex ratio monitoring dashboard, will have the data of child sex-ratio collected from all villages by the Health and Women and Child Welfare Departments every month.
•It will also have the data on critical villages where more attention was required towards skewed child sex-ratio and steps needed to taken to set up the efforts accordingly. The dashboard had been developed in association with National Informatics Centre (NIC) as a pilot project.
•The dashboard is also proving to be an effective tool for enhancing ground-level coordination between the Health and Women and Child Welfare Departments.
3. Antyodaya Express flagged off
•Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu flagged off the country’s first Antyodaya Express.
•Tejas and UDAY Express will be launched soon.
•Antyodaya Express is a long-distance, fully unreserved, superfast train service, for the common man to be operated on dense routes. Antyodaya Express will have facilities like Cushioned luggage racks which can serve as seats Additional hand holds in doorway area, J-Hook near longitudinal luggage racks, Multiple Unit cables at both ends of the coach, Vestibuled ends for internal movement of the passengers, Potable Drinking water dispenser, Mobile charging points, Fire Extinguisher with anti-theft lock, FRP (Fibre Reinforced Plastic) Modular Toilets, Pleasing interior colour scheme, Toilet Occupation indication display board, LED Lights, SS Slip-free flooring at Doorway & Gangway, Anti-Graffiti coating for exterior painting, etc
4. Kabir Bedi appointed honourary brand ambassador of Sightsavers
•Noted film actor Kabir Bedi was appointed as the honourary brand ambassador of Sightsavers, a global organisation working to prevent avoidable blindness.
•Sightsavers with its presence in several nations across the world as well as 13 states in the country needs all the support in its endeavour to help eradicate blindness which is avoidable if treated in time
•Six blind girls from Madhya Pradesh, who had participated and won medals in the 5th National Blind and Deaf Judo Competition held in Gurgaon in January, were felicitated by Bedi and and SY Quraishi, honourary chairman of the India chapter of the organisation and former Chief Election Commissioner of India.
5. Virat Kohli named captain of the year at ESPNcricinfo Awards
•India Test skipper Virat Kohli has been named as the ‘Captain of the Year’ at the 10th annual ESPNcricinfo Awards.
•Kohli led India to nine wins out of 12 Tests in the year gone by.
•Englishman Ben Stokes won the Test Batting Performance of the Year for his incredible counterattacking innings of 258 runs off 198 balls against South Africa in Cape Town.
•Stokes team-mate Stuart Broad’s 6 for 17 in the third Test ensured a series victory for England and fetched him the Test Bowling Performance of the Year award – for the second year running.
•Sunil Narine was awarded the ODI Bowling Performance of the Year award
•Bangladesh left-arm fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman took away the T20 Bowling Performance of the Year award
6. Kalinga Lancers beat Dabang Mumbai to clinch maiden Hockey India League title
•Last year’s finalists Kalinga Lancers made amends to lift their maiden Hockey India League title, defeating Dabang Mumbai 4-1 in the final
•Dabang Mumbai, who were leaders at the end of the league stage, could not find their best as Kalinga Lancers emerged victorious to claim the purse of Rs 2.5 crore. The runners-up received Rs 1.25 crore.
•Kalinga Lancers skipper Moritz Fuerste of Germany, who has won three Olympic medals, converted two penalty corners and the team’s Australian import Glenn Turner scored a field goal to seal the issue. A field goal gets two points.
•Fuerste and Turner also finished as the league’s joint highest scorers with 12 goals each in as many matches.
