Current Affairs 27th February 2019

Current Affairs 27th February 2019 - Important Points

• IAF jets destroy Jaish terror camps across LoC on - 26th February 2019
• NDMA to conduct national workshop on heat wave risk reduction starting from - 27th February 2019
• Rail Drishti Dashboard launched by - Railway Minister 
• Titanwala Museum in Rajasthan inaugurated by - Union Textiles Minister
• Houses built under Indian Housing Project handed over to - Legatees
• New campus of Centre for Marine Living Resources & Ecology Initiated in  - Kerala
• CIPET centre in Tripura Initiated by -  Union Minister D.V.Sadananda Gowda

Current Affairs 27th February 2019 - Details

IAF jets destroy Jaish terror camps across LoC on - 26th February 2019

In reprisal to the deadly Pulwama terror attack, the IAF fighter jets crossed the LoC in the early hours of
February 26th, 2019 & attacked Jaish-e-Mohammed terror camps in POK- Pakistan occupied Kashmir.
This was confirmed by the Indian Foreign Secretary, Vijay Gokhale during a press conference in New Delhi on the similar day. The Foreign Secretary informed that India has struck the biggest training camp of Jaish-e-Mohammed in Balakot.
Main Highlights

• As per to sources, the IAF utilised Mirage-2000 jets to drop 1000 kilograms of laser-guided bombs resulting a projected casualty of 200-300. 
• In the intelligence led operation, India hit the biggest training camp of JeM in Balakot.
• In the operation, a great number of Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists, trainers, senior commanders & groups of jihadis who were being trained for fidayeen activities were reportedly abolished. 
• The attacked facility at Balakot was led by Maulana Yousuf Azhar who is the brother-in-law of Masood Azhar, chief of Jaish-e-Mohammed.
• In totality, it has been reported that above 2 camps of the JeM were demolished & after the arrival of the Pakistan air force, the Indian jets returned. However, the Indian foreign secretary has assured the attack on only single Jaish-e-Mohammed camp.

NDMA to conduct national workshop on heat wave risk reduction starting from - 27th February 2019

The National Disaster Management Authority- NDMA, would be conducting a 2-day national workshop on heat wave risk reduction in Nagpur from February 27th-28th, 2019. The workshop has been planned in association with the Maharashtra Government.
The workshop goals to sensitise the states to the necessity of preparing & implementing specific heat action plans. Heat wave has arisen as one of the major unadorned weather events around the sphere in recent years.
Climate change is pushing temperatures higher and also upsurging the frequency &  strictness of heat waves. India too is experiencing amplified instances of heat waves every year.
The National Disaster Management Authority has been closely associated and working with the susceptible states to decrease the adverse effects of the heat waves.
Important Highlights

• During the workshop, some of the most susceptible states, which have done a praiseworthy job in mitigating the effect of heat waves, will share their experiences & best practices to benefit other shareholders draw lessons.
• The workshop will also deliver an opportunity for community capacity building & mindfulness generation among susceptible populations. 
• It will also debate the integration of long-term heat risk lessening measures into developmental plans and climate change adaptation.

Rail Drishti Dashboard launched by - Railway Minister 

The Union Minister of Railways Piyush Goyal has released Rail Drishti dashboard. It includes all the
digitisation efforts in Indian Railways & encourages transparency & accountability.
Rail Drishti Dashboard

• The URL ID of the dashboard is raildrishti.cris.org.in.
• The Rail Drishti Dashboard brings data from various sources on a single platform & permits access to important statistics & parameters to every resident of the nation.
• The Rail Drishti Dashboard can be accessed using a desktop or laptop/mobile phone/tablet & the app is mobile optimized for comfort of practice of the public.
• The Rail Drishti Dashboard will deliver every kind of data related to railways anytime, anywhere to
  everyone.
• The Rail Drishti dashboard efforts promoting transparency goals to empower the residents with the data regarding the working of the Indian Railways.

Titanwala Museum in Rajasthan inaugurated by - Union Textiles Minister

Union Minister for Textiles Smriti Irani initiated the “Titanwala Museum” in Bagru that displays the Chhipa community’s Bagru hand-block printing.
Recognizing the effort of Suraj Narayan Titanwala, who accepted the initiative of forming the museum, the Union Minister for textiles informed that the museum is an example that art & culture are not reliant on the government for being nurtured/preserved.
Bagru hand-block printing

• Bagru printing is one of the old-style techniques of printing with natural colour trailed by the chippas of Rajasthan.
• The Bagru hand-block printing has a history of more than 1000 years.
• The fabric is 1st soaked in Fuller’s earth & then dished into turmeric water to get a yellow colour shade.
• Then the dyed fabric is printed with the beautiful designs also known as blocks.
• Block printing is a labour-intensive process which needs a lot of skilfulness, time & patience of artisan.
• The teak-wood wooden blocks are utilised for printing the design which further is soaked in oil overnight and  further is washed before using them.
• The cloth to be printed is dipped in the mixture of clay & other chemicals to make the fabric soften & then dried before utilised for printing. After printing, the cloth is left for drying in sun for a final touch-up.

Houses built under Indian Housing Project handed over to - Legatees

More than 150 houses, constructed by India under the Indian Housing Project in Sri Lanka were given to legatees. The houses were given in a special ceremony at Bridwell Estate in Bogawantalawa, Hatton. The ceremony was witnessed by Sri Lankan PM Ranil Wickremesinghe & Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Taranjit Singh Sandhu.
Indian Housing Project in Sri Lanka

• The Indian Housing Project is sponsored by the Government of India & executed via MoU with the
  Government of Sri Lanka.
• The project was started in June 2010 & is being executed full-grant assistance from the Indian government making it one of the largest grant assistance projects ever undertaken by India abroad.
• India is undertaking this project through 4 executing agencies including UN-Habitat, International Federation for the Red Cross &  Red Crescent Societies in association with Sri Lanka Red Cross, the National Housing Development Authority of the Government of Sri Lanka & Habitat for Humanity.
• The project is executed using the homeowner-driven methodology. Legatees nominated via transparent process on the basis of clearly defined & impartial criteria will undertake the building/repair of their houses with essential technical assistance & support provided by the implementing firms.

New campus of Centre for Marine Living Resources & Ecology Initiated in  - Kerala

Union Minister for Earth Sciences, Dr.Harsh Vardhan initiated Atal Bhavan,  which is the new campus of
Centre for Marine Living Resources & Ecology, at Puthuvype, Cochin, in Kerala.
CMLRE 

• The Centre for Marine Living Resources & Ecology under the Ministry of Earth Science is establishing, co-ordinating & encouraging ocean development activities in the nation including mapping of the alive resources, formulating inventory of commercially useable living marine resources, their optimum use through ecosystem management & Research & Development in basic sciences on Marine Living Resources & Ecology.
  Mandate of CMLRE
• To progress management strategies for marine living resources via Ecosystem monitoring & modelling efforts.
• Evolving, co-ordinating & executing time targeted national/regional R&D programs in the area of marine living resources & ecology via effective use of Fishery & Oceanographic Research Vessel Sagar Sampada.
• Consolidation of investigation on marine living resources & Ecology including the foundation of an information centre for storage & dissemination of data to end operators.
• Co-ordinating the national programs linked to Southern Ocean Living Resources.

CIPET centre in Tripura Initiated by -  Union Minister D.V.Sadananda Gowda

Union Minister for Chemicals & Fertilizers D.V.Sadananda Gowda initiated the centre of the Central
Institute of Plastic Engineering &Technology- CIPET in Tripura. The Central Institute of Plastic
Engineering &  Technology in Tripura would generate 1500 skilled workers every year.
Central Institute of Plastic Engineering & Technology

• The CIPET was recognized in 1968 with the help of UN Development Program at Chennai. The institute was formed to develop manpower in different disciplines of Plastics Engineering &  Technology as no such institute happened in the nation.
• Central Institute of Plastic Engineering &Technology is working under the Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers & is focused on Skill Development, Technology Support Services, Academic & Research (STAR).
  Functions of CIPET
• Central Institute of Plastic Engineering & Technology renders Technology Support Service in the fields of design, tooling, plastics processing & testing and  QA in India & overseas.
• Central Institute of Plastic Engineering &Technology is at the vanguard of fortifying the technological capabilities & has been continually building capacities &  calibre & skill sets to fulfil the developing & evolving requirements of the industries.
• Central Institute of Plastic Engineering & Technology works in close connection with industries to execute its initiatives in the areas of Polymer & allied industries in accord with the environmental policies.

Central Institute of Plastic Engineering &  Technology is HQ at Chennai & has centres at Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Aurangabad, Agartala, Baddi, Balasore, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chandrapur, Chennai, Dehradun, Gurgaon, Guwahati, Gwalior, Hyderabad, Hajipur, Haldia, Imphal, Jaipur, Kochi, Lucknow, Madurai, Murthal, Mysore, Raipur, Ranchi, Valsad & Vijayawada.