Current Affairs Quick Recap – February (Week III)

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February 22, 2016

CURRENT AFFAIRS – FEBRUARY WEEK III

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Awards and Honours

1) ‘The Revenant’ scooped the best film, best actor and best director awards at the 69th edition of the biggest film awards outside the U.S.
2) ‘Nagaland is changing, But…’, a film on conservation efforts by villagers has won the Golden Beaver Best Film Award in the institutional category at this year’s 6th National Science Film Festival in Mumbai.
3) A total of 15 cities from across the country were felicitated by the central government for their good work in different areas of sanitation.
4) President Pranab Mukherjee conferred Infosys Prize 2015 on six winners in New Delhi.
5) Taylor Swift has taken home the 2016 award for Album of The Year at the 2016 Grammy Awards for her 2014 album 1989.
6) Fashion designer Manish Arora has been conferred with the Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur (Knight of the Legion of Honour), France’s highest civilian honour.
7) Renowned Indian lyricist Sameer Anjaan has entered the Guinness Book of World Records for writing lyrics to the most number of Bollywood songs.
8) Robin Chaurasiya, an Indian teacher who runs a non-profit school in Mumbai for girls from the city’s red light areas has been named in the top 10 short-list for a global prize for teachers.
9) The World Press Photo of the Year honors the photographer whose visual creativity and skills made a picture that captures or represents an event or issue of great journalistic importance in the last year.
10) Renowned Indologist Professor David Shulman has been awarded the prestigious Israel Prize for his breakthrough studies in fields like religion and philosophy.
11) Bethesda’s Fallout 4 has won Game of the Year at the DICE Awards, the equivalent of the Oscars of gaming.
12) National Award-winning Malayalam film “Ottaal” has been named as the Best Film by children’s jury at the 66th Berlin International Film Festival.
13) Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s magnum opus Bajirao Mastani, starring Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone swept the Zee Cine Awards 2016, winning awards in as many as 10 categories including the Jury Award for Best Film, Best Actor and Best Director and Best Actress (Viewers’ Choice).

Appointments

1) Dr. Vilas A Tonapi has been appointed Director of Indian Institute of Millets Research (IIMR), Rajendranagar.
2) Senior IRS officer Jayant Misra has been appointed as Director General of Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI).
3) The Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley inaugurated the Non Tax Receipt Portal (NTRP), developed by the Office of Controller General of Accounts (CGA).
4) West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra has been named the new chairman of the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers on Goods and Services Tax (GST).
5) Bollywood actress Kajol and Shashi Shekhar Vempati, who heads an online media company, were appointed as part-time members of the Prasar Bharati board which runs public broadcasters Doordarshan and All India Radio (AIR).

Banking and Economy

1) Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitely said that the government will soon announce a series of major banking reforms, including lowering its stake in state-owned banks to 51 per cent.
2) UB Group holding company United Breweries (Holdings) Ltd said that Punjab National Bank has declared the company as a “willful defaulter”.
3) Banking Giant State Bank of India (SBI) has launched a new initiative called ‘Japan Desk’, a first-of-its-kind initiative to facilitate Japanese corporates looking to invest in India with banking and advisory services.
4) The World Bank has decided to lend support to the Rajasthan government on energy reforms.
5) Aditya Birla Nuvo, one of the eleven entities that have received in-principle approvals from the RBI to set up payments banks, said it has incorporated a new subsidiary for the same purpose.
6) The government is looking at providing banking services in every village of the country by leveraging technology and the network of Common Services Centres (CSCs).

National Round-up

1) Apple is setting up its first technology development center outside the US, in Hyderabad, India.
2) SnapBizz Cloudtech Pvt. Ltd, which devises technology for grocery stores, said it raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Ratan Tata, chairman emeritus of Tata Sons Ltd.
3) According to Monster Salary Index (MSI), Information Technology sector is the highest paying sector in India with a median gross hourly salary of Rs 346.42, while those in the manufacturing sector get paid the least at Rs 254.04.
4) The policy envisages increasing exports from the current 27% to 40% of production while increasing share of domestic production in India’s demand from 60% to 80%, thus making India a net exporter of capital goods.
5) India said it may seize Vodafone Group Plc’s assets in the country if the company doesn’t pay a disputed Rs.14,200 crore tax bill that’s still undergoing international arbitration proceedings.
6) The government of India has increased the PF interest rate to 8.8 per cent for the ongoing financial year ended March 2016 from 8.75 per cent earlier.
7) Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari launched a dedicated website to the union government’s Maritime India Summit 2016 to be held in April at the Ports and Shipping seminar at Make in India (MII) Summit.
8) Hyderabad based packaging material maker Bollant Industries has raised an undisclosed funding from Ratan Tata.
9) The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given its approval to the Agreement for collaborative activities to be signed in the area of Traditional Medicine between Ministry of AYUSH, Government of India and the World Health Organization, Geneva.
10) BAE Systems has announced selection of Mahindra as its India partner for the nearly $700 million deal for the supply of 145 M777 Howitzers.
11) Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting Arun Jaitley released ‘Bharat 2016’ and ‘India 2016’ year books.
12) The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave its approval to amend section 11 of the Delimitation Act, 2002 and section 9 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950.
13) Cricket Legend and Rajya Sabha MP Sachin Tendulkar’s autobiography, Playing It My Way, has entered the Limca Book of Records in the category of best-selling books across both fiction and non-fiction categories with 1,50,289 copies sold on order subscriptions.
14) Government of India has approved eight highway projects worth Rs 6,000 crore for six states – Punjab, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Odisha.
15) Union Minister of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Sushri Uma Bharti will inaugurate “Jal Manthan -2″ on February 22, 2016 New Delhi.
16) Dissident Congress leader Kalikho Pul, 46, has sworn in as the ninth Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh with the support of 18 rebel Congress MLAs, and two Independents and 11 BJP MLAs who gave outside support.
17) The Public investment Board has approved the Rs 800-crore proposal from India Post for setting up a payments bank and it will be placed before the Cabinet within a month for final approval.
18) Indian Railways may introduce train hostesses on soon to be launched Delhi-Agra Gatiman Express, the first train in India to run at a speed of 160 kmph.
19) Public sector oil major ONGC has approved Rs.3,104 crore additional investment for drilling of wells and creating surface facilities to produce 5.1 MMSCMD (million metric standard cubic metres per day) gas from gas fields in Tripura.
20) Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the ambitious ‘Rurban Mission’ for developing 300 villages across the country as urban growth centres amid his assertion that his government is for the poor, dalits and other oppressed.

International Round-up

1) The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) will launch a sleek, 132-foot unmanned ocean drone from Portland, OR, testing its abilities over a succeeding period of 18 months.
2) An Australian company unearthed a massive 404-carat diamond in Angola valued at as much as $14 million.
3) The Sindh Assembly of Pakistan has passed the Hindu Marriage Bill 2015, thus becoming the first province in the country to allow the minority community to register their marriages.
4) The Union Cabinet was apprised of the BRICS memorandum of understanding on cooperation in the fields of science, technology and innovation signed last year.
5) China has deployed surface-to-air missile launchers on an island in the South China Sea.
6) The first freight train to resurrect the ancient Silk Road route arrived in Iran from China.
7) Google’s balloon-powered high-speed internet service known as ‘Project Loon’ began its first tests in Sri Lanka.
8) A team led by an Indian-origin scientist in US has discovered a new kind of 2D semiconducting material for electronics that opens the door for much speedier computers and smartphones that consume a lot less power.
9) US President Barack Obama has signed legislation imposing new sanctions against North Korea in response to Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile tests.
10) China is to ban foreign firms from “online publishing” under new rules issued this week, as the country increasingly seeks to minimize Western influence.
11) The International Monetary Fund its board re-elected Managing Director Christine Lagarde to a second five-year term, starting on July 5.
12) David Cameron said that he had reached a deal to give the UK “special status” in the EU.
13) Faustin Archange Touadera, a former prime minister and maths teacher standing as an independent, has been elected president of the Central African Republic.
14) North Korean state media has confirmed that the country has a new military chief following earlier reports in Seoul that the former holder of the post had been executed.

India and the World

1) The Seventh Joint Military Training Exercise between the Indian Army and the Seychelles People’s Defence Forces (SPDF) – LAMITYE 2016, will be conducted at Seychelles Defence Academy (SDA), Victoria, Seychelles from 15 February to 28 February 2016.
2) Indian Railways has joined hands with Sweden for technical cooperation in rail sector to run goods trains in cold conditions.
3) As part of the ongoing India-Myanmar defence relations, Navies of the two countries have conducted IMCOR along the Maritime boundary since 2013.
4) A 12-member team of the Indian Army is participating in the “Cobra Gold” multilateral exercises being hosted by Thailand, along with its counterparts from China and Pakistan.
5) India and Armenia have signed an agreement for cooperation in the agriculture sector.
6) Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli have jointly inaugurated a power transmission line from Muzaffarpur (India) to Dhalkebar (Nepal).

Science and Technology

1) India has successfully test fired its indigenously developed Prithvi-II missile from Chandipur off the Odisha coast.
2) Scientists claim to have developed the world’s first wireless flexible smartphone that allows users to feel the buzz by bending their apps.
3) Japan has successfully launched a jointly developed space observation satellite tasked with studying mysterious black holes.
4) France’s Parliament has overwhelmingly approved a three-month extension of its state of emergency imposed after deadly attacks around Paris in November, even as rights groups said it undermines fundamental freedoms.
5) TAL Manufacturing Solutions, a Tata Group company, is expected to launch first ever India-made robot before May 2016.
6) The Space Applications Centre (SAC) of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and space flight laboratory (SFL) of University of Toronto’s Institute for Aerospace Studies are collaborating on developing the Next Generation Earth Monitoring and Observation and Aerosol Monitoring (NEMO-AM) satellite.
7) A team led by an Indian-origin scientist in US has discovered a new kind of 2D semiconducting material for electronics that opens the door for much speedier computers and smartphones that consume a lot less power.
8) Microsoft has officially rolled out its group video calling feature in Skype after a very long wait.
9) The Union Minister for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences and Vice President, CSIR Dr. Harsh Vardhan dedicated Systems for Detection of Adulteration and analysis of Milk.

Sports Point

1) Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza and her Swiss partner Martina Hingis extended their winning streak to 40 after clinching the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy.
2) The Indian under-19 cricket team’s quest for an unprecedented fourth World Cup title ended in disaster as the West Indies out—witted the Rahul Dravid-coached side.
3) Indian Railways has won The National Chess team Championship for the first time.
4) Rio Haryanto will become Indonesia’s first Formula One driver after signing a deal with Manor Racing.
5) Brendon McCullum has blasted the fastest century in Test history, a 54-ball effort that broke the record jointly held by Viv Richards and Misbah-ul-Haq.

Important Days

1) February 21 – International Mother Tongue Day

Obituary

1) Popular southern composer Rajamani has passed away at the age of 60 due to sudden cardiac arrest.
2) Renowned short story writer and novelist Akbar Kakkattil (62) passed away in Kozhikode, Kerala.
3) Former UN Secretary General Boutros Ghali, a veteran Egyptian diplomat who helped negotiate his country’s landmark peace deal with Israel, has died at the age of 93.
4) Veteran Hindustani classical vocalist Ustad Abdul Rashid Khan passed away in Kolkata due to old age problems at the age of 107.
5) The novelist and intellectual Umberto Eco has died aged 84.
6) Harper Lee, the author of the classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird, has died in her hometown of Monroeville, Ala.
7) Renowned singer Bhubaneswari Mishra passed away in New Delhi following a cardiac arrest at the age of 67.

Snippets From States

1) The Food Processing Sector in Jharkhand, the first Mega Food Park in the State promoted by M/s. Jharkhand Mega Food Park Pvt. Ltd. has been inaugurated Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Union Minister of Food Processing Industries at Village Getalsud, District Ranchi.
2) Global computer giant Oracle is planning to set up a campus in Bengaluru and start an initiative to help more than half a million students in India develop computer science skills.
3) Punjab government would soon ink an MoU with British Pig Association (BPA) to develop and promote piggery on the latest and scientific lines in the state.
4) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa announced that senior citizens over the age of sixty could travel for free on government buses starting February 24.
5) West Bengal government has launched the Utkarsh Bangla Scheme with an aim of providing vocational training to school dropouts.

Tit-bits

1) Air pollution kills more than 5.5 million people around the world each year, with over half of those deaths occurring in fast-growing China and India.
2) For the first time, India has participated in the Cobra GOLD 2016 multilateral exercise hosted by Indonesia after 12 member Indian Army delegation joined it.
3) E-commerce giant AMAZON on 17 Feb 2016 announced the launch of ‘Amazon Tatkal’, an initiative that enables small and medium businesses (SMBs) to go online and sell products on Amazon.
4) Saying ‘hello’ online in Sindhi just got easier as Google Translate will now speak Sindhi. Along with Sindhi, Google has introduced 12 other new languages— Amharic, Corsican, Frisian, Kyrgyz, Hawaiian, Kurdish (Kurmanji), Luxembourgish, Samoan, Scots Gaelic, Shona, Pashto and Xhosa.

Don’t judge people before you truly know them

A 24 year old boy seeing out from the train’s window shouted…
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“Dad, look the trees are going behind!”
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Dad smiled and a young couple sitting nearby, looked at the 24 year old’s childish behavior with pity, suddenly he again exclaimed…
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“Dad, look the clouds are running with us!”
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The couple couldn’t resist and said to the old man…
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“Why don’t you take your son to a good doctor?”
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The old man smiled and said…
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“I did and we are just coming from the hospital, my son was blind from birth, he just got his eyes today.”
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MORAL