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1. 28 February known as National Science Day in India
28th February is celebrated as National Science Day in India but do you know why and for what the day is celebrated as National Science Day. I am sure you must have heard about the Indian scientist Sir Chandrasekhar Venkat Raman. On this day in 1928, he discovered the phenomenon of scattering of photons which was later known as the ‘Raman effect’ after his name. After two years in 1930, he received the Nobel Prize for this remarkable discovery and was the first Nobel Prize for India in science.
- National Science Day is celebrated every year in India to mark the discovery of their famous event.
- In 1986, the National Council for Science and Technology Communication (NCSTC) asked the Government of India to nominate 28 February as National Science Day, which was the then government accepted and declared 1986 as National Science Day. The first National Science Day was observed on 28 February 1987.
2. 27 February as World NGO day
World NGO Day is observed on 27 February every year globally.
- The aim of World NGO Day is to encourage people to actively engage in NGOs and encourage greater synergy between NGOs and both the public and private sectors.
- In 2010, 12 members of the Baltic Sea NGO Forum were properly identified by the nations.
- In 2014, European Union leaders, the United Nations, the United Nations, and international organizations were considered the day for the first time.
3. MasterCard CEO Ajay Banga is to step down
MasterCard CEO Ajay Banga will step down early next year and will be succeeded by Chief Product Officer Michael Maybeck.
- While Ajay Banga, who took over as CEO in April 2010, will become executive chairman, Miebach will take over as the company’s president on March 1.
- Banga, who took over the reins of the company just after the financial crisis of 2008–09, has seen the payment processor revenue triple during his tenure.
4. Carbon found in Yongal Blue Hole is 8,000 years old
More than 8,000 years old carbon has been found inside the world’s deepest blue hole le Yongle Blue Hole (YBH) ‘which was recently discovered in the South China Sea.
- Blue holes are marine caverns that are filled with water and form after the dissolution of carbonate rocks, which are usually under the influence of global sea-level rise or fall.
- Such concentrations of carbon, typically found in deep-sea pores such as YBH, provide a natural laboratory to study carbon cycling and potential mechanisms governing it in marine cyclone systems.
- YBH has a depth of 300 meters, deeper than the deepest blue hole ever recorded, Dean’s Blue Hole in the Bahamas, which had a depth of 202 meters.
5. RBI lifts ban, allows Bandhan Bank to open branches
The Reserve Bank of India allowed Bandhan Bank to open branches without its prior approval, removing the ban imposed on the lender to reduce the promoter’s ownership to less than the mandatory 40%.
- Bandhan Bank’s current promoter stands at 61% which is still above the regulatory ceiling.
- Bandhan Financial Holdings Limited is the holding company and promoter of Bandhan Bank. Its holdings were diluted from 82% to 61% following the acquisition of Gruh Finance last year.
- The RBI first hit a heavy blow on Bandhan Bank on September 28, 2018, which included the salary of its founder-cum-managing director Chandra Shekhar Ghosh at the September 2018 level.
6. Jawed Ashraf elected India’s next envoy to France
Diplomat Jawed Ashraf has been selected as the next Ambassador of India to France.
- Ashraf is a 1991-batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer.
- He is currently serving as Indian High Commissioner (IHC) to Singapore and is expected to take up the assignment shortly.
- A career diplomat, High Commissioner Ashraf joined the IFS in 1991.
- Ashraf has served as Joint Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office under former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh before and after then Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
7. Sharapova states goodbye to Tennis
Five-time Grand Slam winner Maria Sharapova, one of the world’s most recognizable sportswomen, has 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 completed 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.
8. MP became the first state to launch a unified vehicle registration card
In India, Madhya Pradesh becomes the first state to introduce the unified registration card.
- It also grows up as the second state to launch the unified driving license after Uttar Pradesh.
- MoRTH had issued the guidelines to bring regularity in driving licenses and vehicle registration cards across the country in March last year.
- The new cards will have more detailed information printed on both sides of the cards.
MoRTH: Ministry of Road Transport and Highways
9. Haryana leads in Direct Benefit Transfer payouts
Small states like Haryana & Uttarakhand appeared as the best states in ratings prepared by the Centre regarding Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) payouts.
- New Union Territories (UTs) of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) and Ladakh have notched up an impressive show, while West Bengal appeared as the worst.
- The ratings have listed states according to Direct Benefit Transfer payouts compared to their population.
- Many states like West Bengal do not implement many central schemes which include subsidies
- The central DBT scheme reports as many as 439 schemes run by 56 ministries and departments and more than Rs 2.25 lakh crore was paid out in the country in the present financial year.
10. Microsoft, SBI associate hands to train differently-abled people to find jobs
Microsoft has affirmed a partnership with SBI to train differently-abled people to find jobs in the BFSI sector which include banking, financial services, and insurance sector.
- More than 500 differently-abled youths will be upskilled in the first year of the collaboration.
- The SBI Foundation and Microsoft will create an artificial intelligence-driven market that will enable the BFSI industry to easily connect with different people for upskilling and employment opportunities.
11. Cibil elects in HDFC Bank’s Rajesh Kumar as MD, CEO
TransUnion CIBIL Limited, which is the largest credit information bureau, has bee elected Rajesh Kumar of HDFC Bank as its new managing director and chief executive.
- Kumar replaces Satish Pillai, who has gone on to become the president of the Asia region business of the US-based company.
- Prior to joining CIBIL, Kumar was the group head for retail lending and risk at HDFC Bank.
- In his role as MD and Chief Executive, Kumar continues to support the domestic finance industry and consumers by ensuring that CIBIL will be responsible for moving the business of India to the next stage.