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- Dev Patel named Best Supporting Actor at BAFTA Awards 2017
Indian-origin British actor Dev Patel has took home a BAFTA Award for the Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Lion a film about an Indian boy which also got the Best Adapted Screenplay honour. The winners for the 70th British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Awards were announced at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
2. La La Land wins 5 awards including Best Film at BAFTA Awards
Musical “La La Land” won big at Britain’s main film awards as it scooped the prize for best film, while Emma Stone and Damien Chazelle picked up awards for best actress and best director respectively. It won five gongs in total to keep its hot streak in the movie awards season going before the Oscars later this month, as it also picked up awards for cinematography and original music.
3. ISKCON’s mid-day meal scheme bags quality award
International Society for Krishna Consciousness’s (ISKCON) food relief foundation ‘Annamrita’ has bagged the IMC Ramakrishna Bajaj National Quality award. ‘Annamrita’, which provides food to over 12 lakh students daily through its mid-day meal programme across India, has bagged the award in the NGO category for second time in a row.
4. Zoom Air the new Indian airline starts service
India’s latest private airline, Zoom Air, will start daily scheduled operations on the Delhi-Kolkata-Durgapur-Delhi sector from February 15. The same will be extended to Amritsar in the afternoon, followed by Delhi-Surat-Bhavnagar-Delhi, an evening service.
The airline becomes India’s 10th scheduled carrier for domestic skies presently, with others being Air India, Air India Express, Jet Airways, Jetlite, Indigo, Spicejet, GoAir, Vistara and Air Asia India.
4. Three new districts to be formed in West Bengal
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has said Jhargram, Kalimpong and Asansol would be soon declared new districts. The proposal has already been approved by the cabinet and the new districts would be announced as soon as the Calcutta High Court gives its nod.
5. Sachin Tendulkar adopts another village for transformation
Indian cricket icon and Rajya Sabha MP Sachin Tendulkar is set to adopt Donja in Osmanabad (Maharashtra) under the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojna. Tendulkar has sanctioned over Rs 4 crore from his MPLAD fund for development of Donja. The amount will be spent on development of a new school building, a water supply scheme that would provide potable water to each household, concrete roads and a sewage line attached to the same
6. 2nd edition of International Spice Conference to begin at Thiruvanantapuram
Second edition of International Spice Conference was inagurated at Thiruvananthapuram. The Conference is hosted by the All India Spices Exporters Forum (AISEF) which represents about to 80% of spices exports from India in association with Cochin Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Spices and herbs are opening up huge opportunities in food and beverages, medicine and cosmetics
7. India’s first floating elementary school opens in Manipur
Loktak Lake, the largest freshwater lake in the country, has now become home to first of its kind Loktak Floating Elementary School. Situated about 50 km from Imphal, the school will not only cater to the need of the children but for the illiterate adults as well.The school will be accommodating around 25 students and two teachers from the community. The honorarium of the volunteers will be sanction by the PRDA, under the project called ‘Empowering vulnerable local communities for sustainable development
8. The wettest place in the world is in Meghalaya
The village of Mawsynram in Meghalaya receives 467 inches of rain per year. One of the most fascinating and beautiful features in the region are the “living bridges” spanning rain-soaked valleys. The state of Meghalaya, India, reportedly the rainiest spot on Earth.
9. Glasgow university offering course on Star Wars philosophy
A university in the UK is offering a new course to explore the deeper meanings of the epic sci-fi film series that has enthralled the audiences for decades. The day-long open access course by the University of Glasgow in the UK – Star Wars and Philosophy: Destiny, Justice and the Metaphysics of the Force – will be held on May 4.
10. Michael Flynn resigns as US National Security Advisor
President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, Michael Flynn, resigned after revelations that he had discussed U.S. sanctions on Russia with the Russian ambassador to the United States before Trump took office and misled Vice President Mike Pence about the conversations.
Flynn’s resignation came hours after it was reported that the Justice Department had warned the White House weeks ago that Flynn could be vulnerable to blackmail for contacts with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak before Trump took power on Jan. 20.
11. Steven Mnuchin appointed as Treasury Secretary in Trump’s Administration
The U.S. Senate is expected to confirm former Goldman Sachs banker and Hollywood financier Steven Mnuchin as Treasury secretary returning a Wall Street veteran to the top U.S. economic and financial job for the first time in eight years.
Mnuchin’s appointment to Treasury signals the Trump administration’s trust in bankers and other senior business executives after Democrat Barack Obama launched his presidency with career regulator Timothy Geithner running Treasury and a mandate to rein in Wall Street for its role in the 2007-2009 financial crisis.
12. Tehmina Janjua became Pak’s first woman foreign secretary
Career diplomat Tehmina Janjua was appointed as Pakistan’s first woman foreign secretary. Foreign Office said that Janjua will replace outgoing foreign secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry. Tehmina Janjua will assume the post of Foreign Secretary in the first week of March 2017.
13. Countdown of ISRO’s PSLV C-37 carrying record 104 satellites begins
The 28-hour countdown for the launch of a record 104 satellites by India on board a single rocket from the spaceport of Sriharikota, about 125 kmWorld’s first commercial flying car opens for sale. India will become the first country to script history if it succeeds in launching the 104 satellites in a single rocket.
The countdown for the launch of PSLV-C37/Cartosat2 Series satellite mission began at 5:28 am soon after the Mission Readiness Review committee and Launch Authorisation Board gave its approval for lift off, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said.
14. New bird species found in Nepal
A new species of birds has been discovered in the high mountainous region of Nepal, bringing the total number of avian species in the Himalayan country to 866. A Rufous-tailed Rock Thrush (Monticola saxitilis), considered an autumn passage migrant bird species in Pakistan and India, was first seen and photographed by an expedition last year near the Shey monastery within the Shey-Phoksundo National Park.
15. L&T and MBDA Missile Systems Forms JV to Develop Missiles in India
Engineering conglomerate Larsen & Toubro Ltd has said it will form a joint venture (JV) with France’s MBDA to develop and supply missiles and missile systems to the Indian armed forces. MBDA is jointly held by Airbus Group, BAE Systems and Leonardo and has expertise in developing all kinds of missile systems.
In the joint venture, L&T MBDA Missile Systems Ltd, L&T will hold 51% while MBDA will control 49%. Both parties declined to share details of investments that will go into the joint venture.
16. Joe Root appointed as new captain of England’s Test team
Alastair Cook stood down as England’s Test captain. Joe Root has been appointed as his successor.Root does not have a great deal of captaincy experience. Much has been made of his performance as captain when Yorkshire failed to defend to defend 472 against Middlesex at Lord’s in 2014.
17. 1st ITTF World Tour event in India starts in New Delhi
India is all set to host its first ever ITTF World Tour event from February 16-19, making the USD 120000 tournament also the biggest in terms of prize money outside the World Championships bracket. India last hosted an International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) event of this stature before the 2010 Commonwealth Games here but that offered USD 100000 prize money.
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Also Read The Current Affairs For February 12 & 13′ 2017
