1. Ashok Chawla takes charge as NSE Chairman

(i) The Securities and Exchange
Board of India has approved the appointment of Ashok Chawla, former head of
fair trade watchdog Competition Commission of India (CCI), as the Chairman of
the National Stock Exchange.

(ii)  He will hold the post till March 27, 2019. A seasoned
civil servant, Chawla retired as CCI Chairman in January 2016 after heading the
body for nearly five years. He has also served as Finance Secretary and Civil
Aviation Secretary, among other posts.

2. World’s biggest aircraft Antonov An-225 Mriya lands in Hyderabad

(i) The world’s biggest cargo
aircraft Antonov An-225 Mriya recently made its first landing in India at Hyderabad’s
Rajiv Gandhi International Airport en route to Perth, Australia.

(ii) Antonov An-225 has double the
wing area of a Boeing 747. Generally, only the nose gear of an aircraft is
steerable. On the An-225 there are 20 steerable wheels, four in the nose gear
and 16 at the rear of the 28-wheel main gear. This feature renders it highly manoeuvrable.
It is 43.32 m long and 6.4 m wide.  

(iii) Note: Antonov, Ukraine-based
leading transport aircraft designer and manufacturer, has signed a strategic pact
with Reliance Defence Ltd. for assembly and manufacture of aircrafts based on
Antonov platforms in India for commercial and military markets.

3. Space scientist UR Rao to be conferred IAF Hall of Fame Award

(i) The International
Astronautical Federation (IAF) will honour renowned space scientist Prof U R
Rao with the 2016 ‘IAF Hall of Fame Award” for his remarkable contribution
to the progress of astronautics.

(ii) Rao is the first Indian to be
chosen for this honour which recognises individuals for their contributions to
the progress of astronautics and the Federation.

(iii) A former chairman of ISRO, under
Rao’s leadership, starting with the first Indian satellite ‘Aryabhata’ in 1975,
more than 18 satellites including Bhaskara, APPLE, Rohini, INSAT-1 and INSAT-2,
among others were designed and launched.

(iv) In 2013, he became the first
Indian inductee to the Satellite Hall of Fame, Washington. In 2005, he also received
the Theodore Von Karman Award, which is the highest Award of the International
Academy of Astronautics.

4. Fatma Samoura is first woman Secretary General of FIFA

(i) In a historic move, FIFA has
appointed Fatma Samoura, a FIFA named a Senegalese UN diplomat as its first-ever
female secretary general.

(ii) Samoura, who has worked on
humanitarian crises with the UN for 21 years, is presently based in Nigeria for
the UN Development Program.

(iii) Former secretary general Jerome
Valcke of France, was sacked in January and banned from football for 12 years due
to misconduct in television deals and World Cup ticket sales.

(iv) FIFA President Gianni Infantino
also announced the appointment of Canadian soccer federation chief Victor
Montagliani as the new president of the North and Central American and
Caribbean football confederation (CONCACAF).

5. ICC Cricket Committee reconstituted; Anil Kumble is chief

(i) While, former Indian captain
Anil Kumble has been re-appointed as the chairman of ICC’s cricket committee
while former wicket keeper has been taken aboard as a member along with Sri
Lanka’s former skipper Mahela Jayawardene.

(ii) The new members have been included
in the panel in order to add more cricket experience.  

(iii) Current Test captains have
elected Dravid and Tim May (former Australia off-spinner) as current player
representatives. Former Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara, who held the post, has
completed his three-year term.

(iv) Three-time ICC Umpire of the
Year title winner, Richard Kettleborough, has been elected as umpires’ representative
in the committee, replacing Steve Davis, who retired last year. Commentator
Ravi Shastri has been appointed as the media representative of the panel.

6. Vijendra Singh wins 6th pro fight

(i) Indian boxer Vijender Singh has
bagged his sixth consecutive win in the professional arena by outpunching Poland’s
Andrzej Soldra.

(ii) The Olympic bronze medallist
had won all his previous pro bouts via Technical Knockouts as well. His last
fight, against French boxer Matiouze Royer, was the longest of his fledgling
pro career as it lasted five rounds.

7. Cabinet approves National Intellectual Property Rights Policy

(i) Laying the roadmap for
intellectual property rights in India, the Union Cabinet has approved the National
Intellectual Property Rights Policy.

(ii) The Policy recognises the
abundance of creative talent in India, and the need to tap into and channelise such
talents toward a better future.

(iii) Some of the salient
objectives of the Policy are:

a. To create public awareness
about the economic, social and cultural benefits of IPRs across sections of
society.

b. To have strong and effective
IPR laws, which balance the interests of rights owners with larger public
interest.

c. To strengthen service-oriented
IPR administration.

d. To strengthen the enforcement
and adjudicatory mechanisms for combating IPR infringements.

e. To strengthen and expand human
resources, institutions and capacities for teaching, training, research and
skill building in IPRs.

8. World’s oldest person dies in New York aged 116

(i) Susannah Mushatt Jones, the world’s oldest person, has died in
New York at age 116.

(ii) Jones became
Guinness World Records’ official oldest person when 117-year-old Misao Okawa
died in Tokyo in 2015.

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