Daily Current Affairs 19 February 2018

Daily Current Affairs 19 February 2018: Your guide for daily General Knowledge Preparation

Dear Readers,

This post contains important current affairs of 19 February 2018. It includes all Major National, International, Business and Sports related current affairs of 19 February 2018. A brief explanation of every current affair is provided to further enhance your general knowledge. Once you have gone through these current affairs we would recommend to you to try 19 February 2018 Current affairs test.

National News

1.Assam is worst in maternal mortality rate(MMR).

Assam is at the bottom of the list in MMR with a figure of 300 against the national average of 167.
The fund spending under National Health Mission(NHM) is just 13.58%for 2017-18.

2.Chandrayaan-2 to be launched in April 2018.

The ISRO is planning to launch Chandrayaan-2 Mission around April 2018. Chandrayaan-2 is the country’s second mission to the moon.
Chandrayaan-2 is a challenging mission as for the first time we will carry an orbiter, a lander and a rover to the moon.

3.The next Chairman of ICHR will be Arvind Jamkhedkar.

Arvind P Jamkhedkar, archaeologist and historian, will be the next Chairman of the Indian Council of Historical Research(ICHR).
He will replace Prof. K Sudershan Rao.

4.India’s first Artificial Intelligence Center will be in Mumbai.

The Maharashtra government will be setting up an institute for artificial intelligence(AI) in Mumbai which will be the first in the country.
CM Devendra Fadnavis will unveil the plan for the institute during the Magnetic Maharashtra Summit and at the Global Economic Conference in Canada in March 2018. Maharashtra has already become the first state to unveil a FinTech Policy.

International News

1.UN Secretary-General offers condolences over Iran plane crash.

Antonio Guterres, the UN Secretary-General, offered his condolences to the kin of those killed in the Iran plane crash.
The UN statement read, “The Secretary-General extends his heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims & to the people and the Govt of the Islamic Republic of Iran”.

2.Canadian PM Trudeau visits Akshardham Temple.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited the Akshardham Temple in Gujarat’s Gadhinagar with his family.
He also visited the Gandhi Ashram where he described it as “a beautiful place of peace, humility and truth”.

3.Mr Zarif terms Netanyahu’s warning as a ‘cartoonish circus’.

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel PM, warned that he was ready to go to war if Tehran continued to entrench itself in Syria.
Iran foreign Minister, Mohammed Javad Zarif, dismissed the warning saying it was a cartoonish behavior and did not even require a response.

4.Reason behing govt ignoring Canadian PM.

Canadian PM Justin Trudeau is the only world leader who didn’t get a red carpet welcome on his arrival in India under PM Modi’s regime.
Two of Trudeau’s cabinet ministers had made pro-Khalistan comments, which irked the govt. Also, Punjab CM wasn’t given permission to meet Trudeau in Amritsar.

Business News
1.IFC and PNB arm ties up to raise $800 million for affordable housing.

PNB Housing Finance Ltd has tied up with International Finance Corporation(IFC), part of the World Bank Group, to raise $800 million for green and affordable housing in India.
IFC is in negotiations with property developers to assist the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana(PMAY) from the demand and supply sides, the person said, requesting anonymity.

2.Milkbasket has been recognized as the ‘Startup of the Year’ 2017.

Milkbasket, India’s first and largest micro-delivery platform, has been recognised as ‘Startup of the Year’ 2017 at the 7th Small Business Awards held in New Delhi.
The startup of the year is dedicated to young SMEs, aged 7 years or less, with great potential; to become big in local/international markets.

3.Sanjiv Bajaj has been named as Entrepreneur of the Year 2017.

EY, Business Consultancy firm, has named Bajaj Finserv’s Sanjiv Bajaj as the entrepreneur for 2017. He will now represent India at the EY World Entrepreneur of the Year award(WEOY) in Monte Carlo.
E Sreedharan, who spearheaded metro projects in Delhi, Kolkata, Kochi and Lucknow with the lifetime achievement award.

4.‘If I Were Indian, my life would be spent in traffic’: Branson.

During India visit, Virgin Group Founder Richard Branson said that he sat in the Indian traffic and it wasn’t a pleasant experience.
Branson-backed company Virgin Hyperloop One has proposed India’s first operational Hyperloop route between Mumbai and Pune by 2025.

Sports News
1.Christian Coleman broke the 20-year old record in the 60 meters sprint.

After registering a timing of 6.34 seconds at the US Indoor National Championships in Albuquerque, Christian Coleman broke the 20-year old world record in the 60 metres sprint.
Former American sprinter Maurice Greene had held the record of 6.39 seconds.

2.Saumya B, race walker broke the national record by 12 seconds.

Delhi-based Saumya B broke the national race walking record by 12 seconds, winning the women’s 20 km event at the National Championships.
She also qualified for the upcoming Commonwealth Games in Australia. Trailing after 19 laps out of the 20, Saumya overtook Olympian and then national record holder Khushbir Kaur in the last lap.

3.Kohli only Indian player to hit hundred on World Cup debut.

Team India Captain Virat Kohli is the only Indian cricketer to score a century on World Cup debut.
Kohli achieved the feat by slamming 100*(83) as a 22-year-old against Bangladesh in India’s World Cup opener in 2011.

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