Latest Current Affairs – February 09 2018
1. PepsiCo CEO Nooyi becomes ICC’s 1st independent female director
PepsiCo Chairman and CEO Indra Nooyi has been appointed to the ICC Board as the organization’s first independent female director..
Indra is a global business leader, consistently ranked by Fortune Magazine among the World’s Most Powerful Women.
As Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo, Indra is responsible for a global food and beverage portfolio that includes 22 brands generating more than $1 billion each in annual retail sales, including Quaker, Tropicana, Gatorade, Frito-Lay and Pepsi-Cola.
2. HDFC Bank appoints Rakesh Singh as private banking head
Private sector lender HDFC Bank has announced appointment of Rakesh Singh as private banking head. He will continue to head the bank’s investment banking, capital markets and financial institutions businesses.
Private banking is wealth management service of the bank catering to High Net Worth and ultra-HNW individuals, families and establishments, who aim to successfully manage and grow their wealth.
3. Kerala tops Health Index, Uttar Pradesh worst performer
Kerala has topped the Health Index report prepared by NITI Aayog while Uttar Pradesh appeared at the bottom among larger states, though it has shown improvement in the recent past.
As per the index report for large states, Kerala was followed by Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat. Besides Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar and Odisha are among the states that performed poorly in the health index.
According to the index, among large states, Jharkhand, Jammu & Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh are the top three ranking states in terms of annual incremental performance. Among small states, Mizoram ranked first, followed by Manipur and Goa.
4. Defence ministry appoints panel to expedite capital acquisition for armed forces modernisation
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has constituted a 13-member advisory committee to monitor and expedite capital acquisition projects for the modernisation of the armed forces.
The defence ministry stated that under the terms of reference of the committee, it has to undertake an independent review and check the status of ongoing critical projects worth more than Rs 500 crore. The committee would suggest measures to improve the capital acquisition process.
The ministry stated that the Raksha Mantri’s Advisory Committee on Ministry of Defence (MoD) Capital Projects (RMCOMP) had been appointed to expedite capital acquisitions to bolster the preparedness of the armed forces. The committee will be headed by Vinay Sheel Oberoi, former secretary in the government.
5. Rk singh launches ASH TRACK mobile app for better management of fly ash
Union Minister of State (IC) for Power and New & Renewable Energy, Shri R.K Singh, launched a Web based monitoring System and a Fly Ash mobile application named ASH TRACK.
These platforms will enable better management of the ash produced by thermal power plants by providing an interface between fly ash producers (Thermal Power Plants) and potential ash users such as – road contractors, cement plants etc.
6. SCR becomes 1st rail zone with 100% LED lighting at stations
The South Central Railway (SCR) has become the first railway zone in the country to complete 100 per cent LED lighting at all the stations under its jurisdiction.
The SCR has been on the forefront of adopting energy conservation measures. It has attained the status of becoming the first zone in the Indian Railways to complete 100 per cent LED lighting in all the 733 stations under its jurisdiction.
7. “Swachh Bharat Sanitation Park” inaugurated in Delhi
The Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, in collaboration with the Environmental Sanitation Institute and Tata Trusts, has developed a Sanitation Park which was inaugurated in the Capital by Union Minister, Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Uma Bharti.
The Sanitation Park was developed at CGO Complex in New Delhi with an objective to create awareness on various safe technological options. The Park demonstrates various options pertaining to toilet technologies and solid and liquid waste management technologies, with a brief description of these technologies.
8. India ranks 44 of 50 nations in intellectual property index
India has increased “substantially” its score in the International Intellectual Property (IP) Index, ranking 44th among 50 nations, but it needs to take additional and meaningful reforms to complement its policy, the US Chambers of Commerce stated in a report.
Last year, India ranked 43rd out of 45 countries in the Index. The US tops the list with 37.98 points, followed by United Kingdom (37.97) and Sweden (37.03).
9. RBI to set up ombudsman for NBSCs
The Reserve Bank of India wants to further tighten the regulations around the Non Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) by setting up an ombudsman for these entities.
The ombudsman scheme, which will be operationalised by end of this month, will be addressing the customer grievances in the NBFC segment.
Till now, for consumer complaints, the RBI had made it mandatory for all the the NBFCs to have a grievance redressal officer, whose name and address has to be put up in the offices of the NBFCs.
10. Inauguration of Integrated Automatic Aviation Meteorological Systems (IAAMS) At INS Garuda
Rear Admiral RJ Nadkarni, VSM, Chief of Staff, Headquarters, Southern Naval Command inaugurated the ‘Integrated Automatic Aviation Meteorological System (IAAMS)’ at INS Garuda on 09 February 2018.
INS Garuda is the fourth air station to have been installed with this integrated system. IAAMS is an ambitious project of the Indian Navy to modernise the Meteorological infrastructure of the nine Naval Air Stations.
The IAAMS project at INS Garuda will give a major fillip to aviation safety through automation of weather monitoring process.
11. China to reopen Nathu La pass for Mansarovar yatris in India
China has confirmed “resumption” of Kailash Mansarovar Yatra through the Nathu La route. Kailash Mansarovar yatra via Nathu La was not undertaken last year after the Chinese government cited “unfavourable conditions” to ensure the safe and smooth conduct of the yatra on this route.
12. Noted Odia litterateur Chandrasekhar Rath passes away
Eminent Odia author and poet Chandrasekhar Rath passed away at the age of 89. He was nominated for a Padma Shri this year for his contribution in Odia literature.
13. Actor John Mahoney Passes Away
John Mahoney, the gravel-voiced, Tony Award-winning, British-born actor who came to embody all-American grass-roots fatherhood on the hit sitcom “Frasier,” died in Chicago. He was 77.
