Daily Current Affairs Capsule 19th February

2019

1. Rajnath Singh launched pan-India number 112 for women safety

Home Minister Rajnath Singh launched Emergency Response Support System (ERSS) in 16 states and Union

territories for women safety.

Persons in distress can dial a pan-India number: 112.

Under this system, all the states have to set up a dedicated Emergency Response Centre (ERC).

A citizen may Press the power button on a smartphone thrice quickly to activate a panic call to ERC.

In case of a feature phone, long press on number 5 or 9 on the phone keypad will activate the panic call.

2. 10-day long Taj Mahotsav began

The 10-day long Taj Mahotsav started on the theme of “Parampara”.

The Mahotsav is inaugurated on February 18 at Shilpgram, near the Eastern gate of "Taj Mahal" by UP

governor Ram Naik and the closing ceremony will be held on February 27.

Handicraft fair, food stalls and cultural programmes will be organised during the Mahotsav.

About 325 legendary artisans will participate from different of the country and show their exquisite

work of art.

3. Bhopal to host ‘Indian History Congress’

The Congress government in Madhya Pradesh has decided to host the 79th Indian History Congress (IHC) in

Bhopal.

The 79th session was earlier supposed to be held at Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) from

December 28.

The three day convention will begin in the city on February 26.

The IHC is the largest professional and academic body of Indian historians with over 10,000 members.

It was established in the year 1935.

4. PM Modi flags off 1st ever diesel to electric conversion locomotive

Indian Railways has created history by converting a diesel locomotive into electric locomotive for the first time

in the world.

This all new converted energy-efficient electric locomotive has been flagged off by PM Narendra Modi

in Varanasi.

It has been converted to electric locomotive by the Diesel Locomotive Works (DLW) in Varanasi.

Diesel Locomotive Works has converted two WDG3A Diesel Locos into a Twin Electric WAGC3 loco

of 10,000 HP.

It is a complete ‘Make in India’ initiative, the conversion is an Indian R&D innovation for the entire

world.

5. Textiles Minister lays Foundation Stone of Hastshilp Complex

Union Minister of Textiles, Smriti Zubin Irani, laid the foundation stone of a Hastshilp Complex in New Delhi.

The Bhawan will be named Deen Dayal Antarashtriya Hastshilp Bhawan.

The awardee artisans will be allocated space for marketing their products, on rotation basis, and

preference will be given to Divyang artisans.

Hastshilp Bhawan will have dormitory facilities for handicrafts artisans who will come from all across

the country.

There will be a separate research wing and research will be carried out on endangered crafts and new

and emerging handicrafts products and markets.

6. Infosys launches InfyTQ app for engineering students

The country's second-largest IT services firm Infosys launched the 'InfyTQ' app.

It is a digital platform to offer learning and engagement experiences to engineering students in the

country.

InfyTQ is a free platform open to all engineering students in their third and fourth years across India.

The platform encourages holistic development by imparting technical as well as professional skills,

helping them become industry-ready.

7. RBI to give Rs 28,000 cr to Centre as dividend

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will pay Rs 28,000 crore as interim dividend to the government.

This money will help the Centre meet its revised budget estimates that include an allocation for the first-

ever income transfer to farmers.

With this interim transfer, the government will get a total Rs 68,000 crore from the central bank in the

current fiscal.

The RBI had transferred Rs 40,000 crore to the government in August 2018.

This will be the highest receipt from RBI in a single financial year for the government, exceeding the Rs

65,896 crore it received in FY16 and Rs 40,659 crore in FY18.

8. Jitendra Singh wins National Race Walking Championship

Jitendra Singh Rathore claimed the top honours in the men’s 50km race walk competition at the 6th National

Open Race Walking Championships that concluded in Chennai

The Rajasthan athlete clocked a time of 4:23.23. and beat out Gujarat’s Joshi Sagar who registered

4:24.21 to take the silver medal

The National Open Race Walking Championships were meant to serve as an opportunity to qualify for

the Athletics World Championships to be held in Doha in September this year

Suraj Panwar of Uttarakhand won the boys 10km race.

The gold medal in the girls 10km race was clinched by Roji Patel of Uttarakhand.

9. Climate scientist Wallace Smith Broecker passes away in New York

Climate scientist Wallace Smith Broecker, who popularised the term "global warming" has passed away in New

York.

Broecker brought "global warming" into common use with a 1975 paper that correctly predicted rising

carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere would lead to pronounced warming.

Broecker was also first to recognize what he called the Ocean Conveyor Belt, a global system of ocean

currents circulating water and nutrients.

He was known in science circles as the "Grandfather of Climate Science"