FEBRUARY

MISCELLANEOUS

Ø  Avani Chaturvedi creates history becomes first Indian woman to fly fighter aircraft solo

Ø  Flying officer Avani Chaturvedi scripted history by becoming the first Indian woman to fly a fighter aircraft solo. She flew a MiG-21 bison in her first solo flight from Jamnagar base of Indian Air Force (IAF) in Gujarat. Flying officer Avani Chaturvedi belongs to the first batch of female pilots, besides Flying officer Bhawana Kanth and Flying officer Mohana Singh, who were inducted into the Indian Air Force fighter squadron in 2016.

Ø  Sanjiv Bajaj named as EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2017

Ø  Business consultancy firm EY named Bajaj Finserv’s Sanjiv Bajaj as the entrepreneur for 2017. Sanjiv Bajaj will now represent India at the EY World Entrepreneur of the Year award (WEOY) in Monte Carlo. The company also conferred E. Sreedharan, who spearheaded metro projects in Delhi, Kolkata, Kochi, and Lucknow, with the lifetime achievement award. The awardees were selected by a nine-member jury led by Sun Pharmaceuticals’ managing director Dilip Shanghvi.

Ø  PM Modi opens ‘biggest party office in world’

Ø  Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the BJP’s new headquarters on Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg, spread over 1.70 lakh square feet. According to the BJP Chief, the building is bigger than the office of any political party in the world. The new headquarters is fitted with the latest communication technologies and has a spacious social media office.

Ø  Amazon Dethrones Microsoft as Third Most Valuable Company

Ø  According to a report in The New York Post, with a market cap of $702.5 billion, Amazon has become the third most valuable company in the world, racing past Microsoft, which has a market cap of $699.2 billion. Apple and Alphabet stand ahead of Amazon as the most valuable companies in the world.

Ø  Wipro among 135 most ethical companies in world

Ø  Tata Steel and Wipro are the two Indian companies that have been named by US-based Ethisphere Institute in the list of World’s Most Ethical Companies for 2018. The think tank has honoured 135 companies from 23 countries and 57 industries. Notably, Tata Steel and Wipro are receiving the award for the sixth and seventh time respectively.

Ø  Andhra’s Chandrababu is richest CM in India

Ø  Andhra Pradesh’s Chandrababu Naidu is the richest Chief Minister in India with declared assets worth over Rs177 crore, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) stated. Naidu is followed by Arunachal Pradesh CM Pema Khandu with assets worth over Rs129 crore and Punjab’s Amarinder Singh with Rs48 crore. Tripura’s Manik Sarkar with Rs26 lakh is the CM with lowest declared assets.

Ø  Rohan More becomes 1st Asian to swim across Ocean Seven

Ø  Pune-based swimmer, Rohan More became the first Asian as well as the first Indian to swim across the Ocean Seven. He is the youngest to complete it. He swam across the Cook Strait between North and South Islands of New Zealand in 8 hours and 37 minutes. With this, More becomes only the ninth person in the world to complete it. He has received the Tenzing Norgay Award from the Indian Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. The award, also known as the National Adventure Award, was presented by President Ram Nath Kovind.

Ø  Mumbai 12th richest city globally

Ø  India’s financial capital Mumbai, with a total wealth of $950 billion, has been named among the top 15 wealthiest cities globally, while New York topped the list. Mumbai which also features among the top 10 cities in terms of billionaire population is the home to 28 billionaires. Going forward, Mumbai is expected to be the fastest growing city in terms of wealth growth over the next 10 years.

Ø  PM Modi conferred with highest Palestinian honour

Ø  In a special recognition of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s contribution to relations between India and Palestine, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas conferred the “Grand Collar of the State of Palestine” on him after the conclusion of the bilateral meeting. The Grand Collar is the highest order given to foreign dignitaries- such as Kings, Heads of State/Government and persons of similar rank.

Ø  Over 2000 people play Shankh at Rajim Kumbh Mela to create world record

Ø  A record was set on the second day of Rajim Kumbh Mela in Chhattisgarh after over 2,100 saints and locals blew ‘shankh’ (conch shells) together. Golden Book of World Records certified the record. Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh had inaugurated Rajim Kumbh Mela and Ganga Aarti performance at banks of river Mahanadi in Gariyaband’s Rajim.

Ø   Intel sets a Guinness world record with 1,218 drones at 2018 Winter Olympic Games

Ø  The opening ceremony of the Winter Olympic Games 2018 saw a record-setting performance of 1,218 drones (unmanned aerial vehicles), flying in sync to create huge formations of various Olympic sports and the iconic Olympic rings. This record was set by Intel. The drones set a world record for the ‘most unmanned aerial vehicles airborne simultaneously,’ which was previously held by 500 drones during a 2016 performance in Germany.

Ø  Eight year old Indian origin girl enters UK Math Hall of Fame

Ø  Sohini Roy Chowdhury, eight-year-old Indian-origin schoolgirl has entered the UK’s Mathletics Hall of Fame, an online mathematics-based competitive tool aimed at primary school pupils. She made it into the top 100 World Hall of Fame after solving mathematical puzzles with speed and accuracy. New Delhi born Sohini joined the competition this year as a student of Nelson Primary School in Birmingham.

Ø  Guinness World Record attempted for playing Ice Hockey at highest altitude

Ø  To set a record in the Guinness book for ice hockey on the world’s highest altitude, an international level tournament was organized at recently built international standards open ice hockey rink at an altitude of 4371 meters above the sea level at Chiba Kargyam in Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir. Five international teams from USA, Germany, Canada, Slovakia and Russia and a local team participated in the tournament. It was jointly organized by the Hockey Foundation, USA, Ladakh Winter Sports Club and Lalok Winter Sports Association.

Ø  Dubai retains rank as World’s Busiest International Airport in 2017

Ø  Dubai International Airport has held on to its No 1 ranking as the world’s busiest airport for international travel, after seeing around 88.2 million passengers in 2017. Dubai International Airport first surpassed London Heathrow as the world’s busiest airport for international traffic in 2014. It has maintained the title ever since, with some 90 airlines flying into Dubai, a gateway for East-West travel.

Ø  Forbes releases its first-ever cryptocurrency rich list

Ø  Business magazine Forbes released its first-ever Crypto Rich List, comprising 20 wealthiest people in the cryptocurrency space. The list was topped by Ripple Co-founder Chris Larsen, who is estimated to have a crypto net worth of $7.5-8 billion. He is followed by Ethereum Co-founder Joseph Lubin ($1-5 billion) and Founder of cryptocurrency exchange Binance Changpeng Zhao ($1.1-2 billion).

Ø  Indian princess gets Royal Mail stamp

Ø  Indian princess Sophia Alexandra Duleep Singh has been honoured with a Royal Mail stamp of the UK to mark the centenary of the suffragette movement. Sophia, the daughter of Maharaja Duleep Singh, is the only woman to have one of the eight stamps to herself. The image on the stamp shows her selling copies of a Suffragette newspaper in 1913.

Ø  Nancy Pelosi made history of delivering longest 8 hour speech in American Senate

Ø  Nancy Pelosi, Democratic Minority Leader, delivered her speech for more than eight hours in American Senate. The House Historian’s Office confirmed the lawmaker’s record of longest speech to the media. The previous record of longest speech dates back to 1909 when a Missouri representative, Champ Clark, spoke for 5 hours and 15 minutes against a tariff overhaul. Nancy Pelosi’s speech was ended in 8 hours and 5 minutes.

Ø  THE World Rankings 2018: More Indian Universities in Asia’s Top 200

Ø  Only two Indian institutes have featured in the top 50 Asian institutes in recently released TIMES Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings for educational institutes in Asia. The two institutes that have made their way to top 50 are Indian Institute of Science (29th rank) and Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (44).

Ø  Mumbai Airport becomes World’s Busiest Single-Runway Airport

Ø  Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International airport of Mumbai sets record with 980 flights in 24 hours or almost one flight every minute. With this, the Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International airport bettered its own feat of 974 flights in 24 hours, recorded in December 2017. While Gatwick, the U.K.’s second-largest airport, remains the most efficient single-runway airport in the world.

Ø  After 154 years, Nepali tea receives international trademark

Ø  Nepalese tea has finally received an international trademark, over a century-and-a-half after cultivation began in the country. Nepali tea producers used to export tea with the respective companies’ names or logos. Now, the tea will be sold in the international market with a common logo, which represents the national identity.

Ø  A hill on Mars is named after Kalpana

NASA named seven hills on planet Mars after the seven crew members, including India-born astronaut Kalpana Chawla, of the Space Shuttle Columbia who lost their lives while returning from their mission. The crew died when the space shuttle disintegrated on re-entering Earth’s atmosphere on February 1, 2003. The 16-day mission was dedicated to research in physical, life and space sciences.