News Digest: February 24-March 2, 2019

February 24

• Teenager Saurabh Chaudhary smashes world record, clinching gold in International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup, securing India’s 3rd Tokyo Olympics quota. The 16-year-old claimed the top honours in men’s 10m air pistol event in New Delhi.

February 25

• Indian Grandmaster Abhijeet Gupta lifts the Cannes International Open trophy.
• Guneet Monga’s India based film ‘Period. End of Sentence’ bags Oscar for Best Documentary Short Subject category. Rami Malek gets Best Actor while Olivia Colman clinches Best Actress. Green Book wins Best Picture award. Filmmaker Alfonso Cuaron wins Best Director for Roma.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicates to the nation National War Memorial, near India Gate in New Delhi.

February 26

• India conducts airstrike on biggest terror camp of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) at Balakot in Pakistan; Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale asserts that large number of JeM terrorists, trainers and senior commanders eliminated in the non-military pre-emptive action.
• Former Sri Lanka Cricket captain Sanath Jayasuriya banned from all cricket for two years for breaching ICC Anti-Corruption Code.

February 27

• One Pakistan Air Force fighter aircraft shot down by Indian Air Force in which engagement India lost one MiG 21, while the Pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan went missing in action. Pakistan claims he is in their custody. Indian Government says Pakistani planes unsuccessfully attempted to attack military posts.

February 28

• The US and North Korea fail to strike deal at Hanoi summit.
• Supreme Court stays its order directing 21 states to evict 11.8 lakh illegal forest dwellers whose claims over the land have been rejected by the authorities.

March 1

• Indian Pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan returns home, from Pakistan’s captivity