February 28 – Current Affairs Quick Gyan

Dear Friends,

Welcome to the Quick Gyan (QG) Section of D2G. QG is just a glimpse of what happened today all over the world.

Only For Serious Candidates : We strongly recommend you to read the Current Affairs in detail. For your convenience, we have provided quick links under the updates. Make use of it.

Always Keep Yourself Updated!!!

AWARDS AND HONORS

Resul Pookutty wins Golden Reel Award

Oscar-winning sound designer Resul Pookutty has won the award for best sound for documentary “India’s Daughter” at the coveted Motion Picture Sound Editors’ 63rd annual Golden Reel Awards. The Oscar-winning sound engineer said he is the first Asian to win the coveted award at the 63rd Golden Reel Award from the Motion Picture Sound Editors’ (MPSE) of US for best sound. The government had banned the film from public screening/airing in the country. Dedicating the award to the 23-year-old paramedic student who was brutally gangraped on December, 16 2012 following which she died, Pookutty said the film “India’s Daughter” is the true spirit of the youth of the nation. He said the film recognises the entire spirit of the youth who protested against the inhuman treatment being meted out to girls and women.

Quick Link – Golden Reel Award

APPOINTMENTS

Sachin joined UNICEF’s ‘Team Swachh’ initiative

Rajya Sabha MP and Cricket Legend Sachin Tendulkar has joined ICC and UNICEF’s effort to build a social movement for sanitation and toilet use, thereby leading to an open defecation-free India. The UNICEF and International Cricket Council (ICC) have come together by launching Cricket for Good with the aim of leveraging the vast reach and power of the sport. ICC and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)’s ‘Team Swachh’, a nationwide initiative in support of the Government of India’s ‘Swachh Bharat’ Mission, will be launched with the upcoming World Twenty20 and will tap into the power of cricket to spread the movement for sanitation in the country irrespective of class, gender, age, region and religion.

Quick Link – Sachin in Team Swachh

Vinod Rai named Chairman of Banks Board Bureau

Former CAG Vinod Rai has been appointed as the first Chairman of the Banks Board Bureau. The Bureau will advise the government on top-level appointments at public sector lenders and ways to address the bad loans problem among other issues. Besides, ICICI Bank’s former Joint Managing Director H.N. Sinor, Bank of Baroda’s former CMD Anil K Khandelwal and rating agency CRISIL’s former chief Rupa Kudwa have been appointed members. The bureau has been set up at a time when public sector banks are grappling with a huge problem of bad loans with their collective gross NPAs (Non Performing Assets) approaching Rs. 4 lakh crore level.

Quick Link – Vinod Rai as Chairman of BBB

INDIAN AFFAIRS

President inaugurates India’s first Gender Park & Muziris Heritage Project

President Pranab Mukherjee inaugurate India’s first “Gender Park” in Kerala. The 24-acre park will promote research and other initiatives to facilitate complete gender equality. The Department of Social Justice of the Kerala government in cooperation with academia and civil society has been instrumental in creating this common platform to address various gender issues. A gender institute in the park would focus on learning, research and capacity development, as part of supporting the efforts of the state and central governments in ensuring an inclusive, discrimination free society. The institute would cover issues pertaining to all three genders as per the 2015 gender and transgender policies of the state government.

Quick Link – Gender Park

Ratan Tata invests in home rental startup

Top industrialist Ratan Tata has invested an undisclosed amount in home rental company NestAway Technologies. This is Tata’s eighth personal investment in a startup in 2016 so far. He has invested in over 20 startups. NestAway turns unbranded, unfurnished houses into fully furnished and managed apartments and provides them at affordable prices to verified tenants. So far, the startup has provided quality rental homes to about 5,000 tenants across six cities. Until recently, NestAway counted working professionals who are single among its target audience, but now it has also forayed into the family segment. NestAway was founded by Amarendra Sahu, Smruti Parida, Deepak Dhar and Jitendra Jagadev in January 2015.

Quick Link – Home rental company

Three from India among Top Ten Beaches

According to the latest survey by Travel website Tripadvisor, India has three of the top ten beaches in Asia favored by travellers. The beaches are Agonda, Palolem (both in Goa) and Radhanagar on the Havelock Island in the Andamans. Travellers’ Choice Award-winning beaches were determined on the quantity and quality of traveller reviews and ratings on the TripAdvisor website gathered over a 12-month period. This year’s awards honour 343 beaches, including the top 10 in the world and lists for Asia, Africa,  Australia, the Caribbean, Central America, Europe, South America, the South Pacific, the UK and the US. Three of India’s beaches have featured in the list of top 10 beaches in Asia.

Quick Link – Top 10 Beaches

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

Ireland’s ruling coalition ousted by voters

Ireland’s ruling coalition was ousted by voters angry at the country’s uneven recovery, leaving Prime Minister Enda Kenny facing the unpalatable prospect of trying to secure a deal with his biggest rival. His government appeared to be the latest victim of European voters’ growing antipathy to mainstream politics, hit by a backlash against years of austerity and a perception that Ireland’s poor are not benefiting from the fastest economic growth in Europe. Exit polls suggested the only viable option may be a problematic alliance of old rivals Fianna Fail and Kenny’s Fine Gael – although even their combined support was set to fall below 50 percent of the vote for the first time. If neither side is able to form a government, however, fresh elections would have to be called.

Quick Link – Ireland’s ruling coalition

FOREIGN RELATIONS

PM Narendra Modi to visit Belgium, US, Saudi next month

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to Saudi Arabia as part of his three-nation trip from March 30 during which he will also visit Washington to attend Nuclear Security Summit (NSS). Starting his visit with Belgium on March 30 for India-EU Summit, Modi will travel to Washington for NSS from March 31 before his two-day bilateral visit from April 2 to Saudi Arabia. He will hold talks with the Saudi leadership on key regional and bilateral issues, including trade and energy. His visit, which comes nearly six years after last Prime Ministerial visit to Riyadh, assumes significance given the current regional situation and strained ties between SA and Iran, another strategically important country for India.

Quick Link – PM’s Next Visit

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

NASA invites India to jointly explore Mars

Charles Elachi, director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory or JPL, a part of NASA and an institution better known for piloting most of the American planetary exploration efforts with rovers like Curiosity, says India and the US could jointly explore Mars and even invited India to send astronauts to the Red Planet. In future, India and the U.S. could jointly explore Mars and who knows an Indian astronaut could also head to the Red planet on a joint mission. India’s maiden mission to the Red Planet, Mangalyaan, has opened the eyes of the world on ISRO’s capabilities at undertaking low cost, high value inter-planetary mission.

Quick Link – Explore Mars

Aurobindo Pharma gets USFDA nod for HIV Drug

Drug firm Aurobindo Pharma has received tentative approval from the US health regulator for its Ritonavir tablets used for treatment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Established in 1986, Aurobindo Pharma is present in semi-synthetic penicillins and therapeutic segments such as neurosciences, cardiovascular, anti-retrovirals, anti-diabetics, gastroenterology and cephalosporins, among others. Infection results in the progressive deterioration of the immune system, breaking down the body’s ability to fend off some infections and other diseases. AIDS (Acquired immune deficiency syndrome) refers to the most advanced stages of HIV infection, defined by the occurrence of any of more than 20 opportunistic infections or related cancers.

Quick Link – USFDA


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