Current affairs notes on 23/02/2019-28/02/2019

1.Israel's first moon lander, the 585 kg "Beresheet" ("Genesis" in Hebrew), was launched atop a Falcon 9 rocket from the private US-based SpaceX in Florida, United States. At a cost of USD 100 million, it is the lowest-budget spacecraft to ever undertake such a mission.

2.Virtual Experiential Museum (VEM) is inaugurated at Man Mahal by PM Narendra Modi, a centrally-protected observatory under the Archeological Survey of India. 

3.President Ram Nath Kovind gave his assent to the amendments to the Indian Stamp Act, 1899,which were introduced in the Parliament as part of the Finance Act 2019. These amendments have been introduced to regularise the system of levying stamp duty and to help in curbing tax evasion. 

4.Acclaimed actress Kareena Kapoor Khan has become the brand ambassador of the Swasth Immunised India campaign to spread awareness among parents about child vaccination.

5.External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has been invited to deliver an address at the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Abu Dhabi. This is the first time that a leader of the non-Muslim country has been invited to the OIC conference.

6.The Asian Hockey Federation has honored Indian skipper Manpreet Singh with the 2018 Player of the Year award. Women team's striker Lalremsiami has bagged the Rising Player of The Year prize.

7.The New Bilaspur-Manali-Leh railway line will be the world's highest railway line, which will consists of total 30 stations. It will lie along the Indo-China border & is expected to be completed by the year 2022.

8.Amitabh Bachchan is the WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Hepatitis in South-East Asia Region.

9.J P Nadda, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare inaugurated the '4th Global Digital Health Partnership Summit' in New Delhi.

10.American biographical comedy-drama film "Green Book" has won the Best Picture at 91st Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles,Filmmaker Alfonso Cuaron won Best Director Oscar for 'Roma',  'Roma' also won Oscars in the Best Foreign Language Film and Best Cinematography category.

11.2018 International Gandhi Peace Prize was given for Japan's Yohei Sasakawa for his contribution in Leprosy Eradication in India and across the world.

12.The book titled “ India in Distress” has been authored by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee,

13.Afghanistan has recently launched new export route to India through the strategic Chabahar Port of Iran to boost regional connectivity.The Iranian port provides easy access to the sea to Afghanistan and India has helped developed this route to allow both countries to engage in trade bypassing Pakistan.

14.India-Bangladesh Joint Military Exercise 'Sampriti 2019' begins in Tangail Bangladesh.

15.In Rajasthan, Union Textiles Minister Smriti Irani has recently inaugurated the 'Titanwala Museum' in Bagru that showcases the Chhipa community's hand block printing.

16.The Afghanistan cricket team has created history by posting the highest-ever T20 international score at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium.

17.National Science Day is celebrated across India on February 28. Famous Indian scientist Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman or CV Raman discovered the Raman Effect on this day in 1928.Theme for the National Science Day is 'Science for people and people for science'.

18.Union Minister Nitin Gadkari announced that India has decided to stop the flow of its share of water to Pakistan..Under the Indus Waters Treaty, India shares water of the Beas and Sutlej rivers with Pakistan.

19.The 16th edition of BioAsia 2019 Asia's largest biotechnology and life-sciences forum was conducted in Hyderabad, Telangana. 

20.Velayat 97 is a navy drill being conducted by Iran. It aims to evaluate the navy’s equipment, practice launching weapons and enable the troops to gain readiness for a real battle.

21.To provide an assured income support to the small and marginal farmers, the Government has unveiled the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN). Under this programme, vulnerable landholding farmer families, having cultivable land upto 2 hectares, will be provided direct income support at the rate of Rs. 6,000 per year.

22.African cheetahs would be translocated in India from Namibia and would be kept at Nauradehi wildlife sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh.

23.India has successfully test-fired two indigenously developed Quick Reaction Surface-to-Air missiles (QRSAM) from a test range off the Odisha coast. It is capable of hitting the low flying objects.

24.The Inclusive Internet Index, commissioned by Facebook and conducted by The Economist Intelligence Unit, Sweden has topped the rankings followed by Singapore and the US. India has been ranked 47th.

25.“South Coast Railway (SCoR)”- a new Zone of Indian Railways headquartered at Visakhapatnam.

26. India’s first Indigenous Semiconductor Chips by Bengaluru based semiconductor company “SIGNALCHIP” for 4G/LTE and 5G NR MODEMs was recently unveiled.

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