Current Affairs Daily Updates: 4th and 5th February 2017

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Current Affairs Daily Updates: 4th and 5th February 2017

APPOINTMENTS
Vikram Limaye named new MD & CEO of NSE
  • The National Stock Exchange (NSE), India's largest stock exchange by turnover, named Vikram Limaye, Managing Director of IDFC, as the new Managing Director.
  • The board of directors of NSE, chaired by former finance secretary Ashok Chawla, cleared the decision.
  • He will fill the post vacant after the resignation of Chitra Ramachandra.
  • NSE is in the process of going public. It has already filed for its IPO and it likely to hit the market by March.

Anushka Sharma appointed ambassador of Swachh Bharat campaign
  • The Union Urban Development Ministry has appointed Bollywood actress ‘Anushka Sharma’ as the new female ambassador of the ‘Swachh Bharat Campaign’.
  • She will highlight the women-centric aspects of open defecation in the rural and semi-rural area.
  • Anushka will join the campaign with Amitabh Bachchan, who is also the brand ambassador of this campaign.
KPMG India appoints Arun Kumar as Chairman and CEO:
  • Leading professional services firm KPMG India has selected ex-US govt official Arun M Kumar as its new Chairman and CEO.
  • Kumar, whose five-year tenure has begun from Sunday, succeeds Richard Rekhy.
  • He had earlier served as Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Global Markets and Director General of the US.
Anand Kumar Gupta takes over as director commercial at NTPC
  • Anand Kumar Gupta has taken over the charge as director commercial at NTPC
  • As director commercial, he will be responsible for the activities relating to commercial, international and domestic business development and consultancy business of NTPC.
  • He also headed business development department of NTPC and plant operations & maintenance at power stations.
Top Indian diplomat re-appointed to UN Joint Inspection Unit
  • Achamkulangare Gopinathan, a top Indian diplomat, has been re-appointed by the UN General Assembly to the Joint Inspection Unit, the only independent external oversight body of the UN system.
  • Gopinathan, along with Sukai Prom-Jackson of Gambia, Jean Wesley Cazeau of Haiti and Nikolay Lozinskiy of Russia were appointed members of the Joint Inspection Unit for a five-year term beginning January 1, 2018.
  • The Joint Inspection Unit is the only independent external oversight body of the United Nations system mandated to conduct evaluations, inspections and investigations system-wide.
  • Gopinath’s re-appointment follows his nomination by India and endorsement as the sole candidate of the Asia-Pacific Group.
AWARDS AND HONOURS
SpiceJet bags 3 Asian awards
  • Budget carrier SpiceJet has bagged three awards at the Asia One Awards held recently in Singapore.
  • Besides, winning the 'Asia's Greatest Brands - 2016' award, the Gurugram-based airline's chairman and managing director Ajay Singh and chief financial officer Kiran Koteshwar were also honoured with the title of the 'Global Asian of the year' and 'Asia's Greatest CFO 2016' awards.
Alastair Cook awarded Order of the British Empire:
  • England Test captain Alastair Cook has been honoured with Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE). 
  • He was awarded the CBE at the Buckingham Palace by Prince Charles. 
  • Cook is the only England player to have scored over 10,000 runs in Tests and has also led England in the most number of Tests. Cook said, receiving the CBE was a very proud moment for him, his family and friends.
Lucideus wins Best IT Startup of India award
  • An IT risk assessment and digital security services provider startup company Lucideus has bagged the government’s ‘Best IT Startup of India’
  • Lucideus is behind the security for BHIM (Bharat Interface for Money) app, an Aadhaar-based mobile payment platform.
  • The company bagged the award under the IT and ITES (IT-Enabled Services) category at the National Entrepreneurship Award 2016 organized here by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.
BANKING AFFAIRS
RBI to soon put new Rs 100 banknotes in circulation
  • The Reserve Bank will soon put into circulation new Rs 100 banknotes which will be similar to the design of the ones in Mahatma Gandhi Series-2005.
  • The Reserve Bank will shortly issue Rs 100 denomination banknotes in the Mahatma Gandhi Series-2005, bearing the signature of Dr Urjit R Patel, Governor, Reserve Bank of India," RBI said in a notification.
  • The year of printing '2017' will be on the reverse of the banknote.
  • All the banknotes in the denomination of Rs 100 issued by the Bank in the past will continue to be legal tender, RBI added.
HDFC Bank increases cash transaction fees on savings a/cs
  • In a bid to discourage cash transactions, the country’s second-largest private sector lender HDFC Bank has decided to steeply increase the fees for savings account holders on a slew of activities involving cash.
  • HDFC Bank has decided to steeply raise the charges on certain transactions, capping cash component in others and also introducing charges on certain transactions from 01st March 2017.
  • The bank has capped the third-party transactions at Rs. 25,000 a day, reduced the number of free cash transactions at branches to four from five earlier and also raised the fee for non-free transactions by a steep 50 per cent to Rs.150.
BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC AFFAIRS
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Presents Demonetisation Bill in Lok Sabha
  • The Specified Bank Notes (Cessation of Liabilities) Bill, 2017 was introduced in the Lok Sabha on February 3, 2017 by the Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
  • The Bill provides for holding, transfer and receiving of old Rs 500 and Rs 1000 currency notes, which were demonetized after November 8, 2016, as a criminal offence and punishable with a minimum fine of Rs 10,000.
  • It seeks to replace the ordinance on demonetization announced by the government in December 2016.
  • The bill mentions that the demonetisation decision of the union government was based on the recommendations of the RBI’s central board as an effective measure to eliminate unaccounted money and fake currency notes from the financial system.
Google sells satellite imaging business Terra Bella to Planet Labs:
  • Alphabet Inc’s Google said on Friday it would sell its satellite imaging business, Terra Bella, to Planet Labs, a San Francisco-based private satellite operator founded by former Nasa scientists.
  • As part of the deal, Planet Labs will acquire the Terra Bella business including the SkySat constellation of satellite.
  • Google had acquired Terra Bella, originally known as Skybox Imaging, for $500 million in 2014.
LIQVD ASIA launches online exhibition portal-ExFirst.com
  • LIQVD ASIA, a digital marketing agency, launched India's First Ever Online Exhibition gateway - ExFirst.com in collaboration with iKarmik.com.
  • It will be an open platform where an exhibition from any industry can be conducted by any organization.
  • To kick-start the initiative, the first exhibition will feature select designers and brands from the Fashion, Lifestyle and Luxury industry.
  • It will be an upscale, online fashion exhibition providing a concise mix of carefully curated collections ranging from Bridal wear to casual wear.
  • The collections will range from affordable hi-street (Rs. 5000 onwards) to exclusive high-end couture, costing a few lakhs.
  • ExFirst.com boasts of star designers including the likes of Masaba Gupta, Rocky S, and Rohit Bal among others. Along with these stalwarts, the portal will also showcase a number of young and talented designers.
DEATHS
Former CBI director Joginder Singh passes away
  • Former Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) director Joginder Singh passed away after a prolonged illness. He was 77.
  • Singh, who was the CBI director for between 1996-97 was an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer.
  • He has been serving as an Independent Non- Executive Director of Sunil Healthcare Ltd. since January, 2000.
IMPORTANT DAYS OBSERVED
World Cancer Day 2017
  • The World Cancer Day (WCD) is observed every year on 4 February across the world to raise awareness of cancer and to encourage its prevention, detection, and treatment. 
  • The tagline (theme) between 2016 and 2018 World Cancer Day is“We can. I can”. 
  • It reflects on what everyone can do to raise awareness of cancer and asks to take pledge and action in fight against cancer. 
  • Special three-year campaign for the World Cancer Day 2016-2018 seeks to explore how everyone- as individuals or as a collective – can do their part to reduce the burden of cancer globally.
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
Mexico, Turkey agree to speed up negotiations for free trade agreement
  • Mexico and Turkey have agreed to speed up negotiations for a free trade agreement in the wake of protectionist threats from US President Donald Trump.
  • Both countries have agreed to give a faster impetus to the search for an agreement.
  • He also proposed to strengthen the MIKTA forum, a political and trade forum that includes Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea, Turkeyand Australia.
  • US, Canada and Mexico are preparing to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) as demanded by Mr Trump, who calls the pact a catastrophe for his country.
Iran Bans U.S. Wrestlers to Compete Freestyle World Cup
  • Iran government on February 3, 2017 banned the United States wrestlers from participating in the freestyle World Cup to be held in February 2017 as a counter-move against President Donald Trump’s executive order suspending visas for Iran.
  • This decision is seen as the first step by Iranian government in response to Trump’s executive order banning visas for seven Muslim-majority countries.
  • The World Cup competition is scheduled to be held from February 16-17 in the western Iranian city of Kermanshah, Iran.
The world's most valuable brands revealed
  • Google has snatched Apple’s title as the world’s most valuable brand, ending the iPhone maker’s five-year reign.
  • The monetary value of Google’s brand rose by 24 per cent last year to $109.5bn, propelling it to the top spot for the first time since 2011.
  • Apple’s value fell from $145.9bn in the previous year to $107.1bn.
  • The study of 500 brands deemed Amazon the third most valuable.
India together with Norway Develops Body to Accelerate Research for Epidemics:
  • A Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) has been set up by India and Norway to speed up the research and development for epidemics.
  • The body was created after the World Health Organization published a document titled ‘An R&D blueprint for action to prevent epidemics- funding and coordination models for preparedness and response’ and asked all the member nations to develop research and development plan to deal with epidemics.
  • The body will make the list of the diseases against which vaccines are most feasible. This will overcome the barriers for development of vaccines.
NATIONAL AFFAIRS
Gujarat Technological University Sets Up Centre Of Excellence In Automation Technologies
  • India’s first Centre of Excellence in Automation Technology was inaugurated by the Gujarat Technological University at its campus at Vishwakarma Government Engineering College in Ahmedabad on February 3, 2017.
  • The center has been funded by a German technology major, Bosch Rexroth. The excellence centre has four laboratories including Pneumatic Lab, Hydraulic Lab, PLC Lab, Robotic & Mechatronics Lab and Sensor Lab.
  • The centre was inaugurated by Bosch Rexroth managing director, Hans Bangert jointly by the Gujarat government’s minister of state for higher and technical education, Jayadrathsinh Parmar.
Cancer research centre set up in Noida
  • On the eve of World Cancer Day, a Centre of Integrative Oncology was inaugurated in Noida.
  • Dr Ajit Sharan, the secretary of the ministry of AYUSH and Dr Saumya Swaminathan, the secretary of the Department of Health Research at National Institute of Cancer Prevention Research (NICPR) inaugurated the facility.
  • The first idea of a collaboration of AYUSH and NICPR was given by a team of scientists from the United States of America.
  • This collaboration will definitely lead to the development of novel drugs for cancer prevention and management.
  • There is also a strong need to interpret ayurveda in the language of modern medicine and treatment, which will lead to an increase in credibility and possibility of a joint research (in the field of medicine)
Kiren Rijiju Inaugurates Programme on ‘Inner Strength and D isaster Resilience’
  • Kiren Rijiju, Minister of State for Home Affairs inaugurated the programme on ‘Inner Strength and Disaster Resilience’ on February 3, 2017 in New Delhi. The programme was organised by National Disaster Response Force (NDRF).
  • The Minister stressed NDRF force to focus on mental fitness along with physical fitness.
  • NDRF is India’s professional emergency force to tackle disaster. It has become one of the dedicated forces in the country both in India and abroad.
  • NDRF has so far saved more than 5 million lives. Besides, it also educates people on how to tackle disasters. Over 47 lakh people have been trained as of now.
Rail Museum celebrates 40th anniversary:
  • The National Rail Museum in New Delhi celebrated its 40th anniversary on 01st February 2017. 
  • The museum, which houses a large collection of life-size rail exhibits, allows visitors to take a tour on a toy train. 
  • Its attractions include the saloons of the Maharajas of Indore and Mysore and Fairy Queen, the oldest working steam locomotive still in operation.
Bihar Introduces Third Gender Category in Board Exams
  • The Bihar government has introduced the transgender as a third category to opt for and appear in the Board exams conducted by the Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB).
  • It is for the first time that the Board will conduct the exams for the transgender category in 2017 after it was recognized by Supreme Court in 2014.
  • According to the Board officials, total 18 students have been enrolled this year to appear in the exam. It includes 10 students of Class 12 students and 8 students Class 10.
UIDAI clamps down on 50 fraud sites offering Aadhaar services:
  • In a massive crackdown on unauthorised agencies offering Aadhaar-related services illegally and charging excessive money from the public, UIDAI has got shut down 12 such websites and 12 mobile apps available on the Google Playstore.
  • The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has further directed authorities for closure of another 26 such fraudulent and illegal websites and mobile applications. 
  • “Some websites and mobile apps were luring citizens to share their basic information and Aadhaar number under the pretext of getting them Aadhaar card or offering other Aadhaar related services
'Chinnamma' Sasikala to be next Tamil Nadu CM:
  • AIADMK general secretary VK Sasikala was on Sunday elected as legislature party leader by MLAs during a party meeting.
  • Later the party announced, "Chinnamma all set to become the Next Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu."
  • Tamil Nadu CM O Panneerselvam has submitted his resignation.
Govt forms panel to improve Haj policy, look into subsidy issue:
  • The Centre has formed a six-member committee to give a report on ways to improve India's Haj policy and also look into the issue of subsidy to the pilgrimage in light of 2012 Supreme Court order on gradually reducing and abolishing it by 2022. 
  • Former Consulate General of India (CGI), Jeddah, Afzal Amanullah has been appointed as convener of the high-level panel, Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs (Independent Charge) Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told reporters in New Delhi that the committee will submit its report in a month or two on how India's Haj policy can be improved and how the pilgrims can get maximum concessions.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS
Iran tests missile and radar systems:
  • Iran is holding a military exercise to test its missile and radar systems. 
  • The move comes a day after U.S. President Donald Trump's administration imposed sanctions on Tehran for a recent ballistic missile test. 
  • The United States sanctioned 13 individuals and 12 entities related to Iran's missile programme.
NASA’s Juno spacecraft completes fourth flyby of Jupiter:
  • NASA’s solar-powered Juno spacecraft completed closest flyby of Jupiter mysterious cloud tops for the fourth time. 
  • All eight of Juno’s science instruments were switched on during the flyby. During its closest approach it was roughly 4,300 km above Jupiter’s cloud tops and travelled at a speed of about 208,000 kmph. 
  • Currently, Juno is locked in a 53-day orbit around Jupiter.
  • Juno was launched in August 2011 to study Jupiter’s composition and evolution. It’s the first solar power spacecraft to orbit Jupiter and second after Galileo.
SPORTS AFFAIRS
India beat Pakistan to top pool in Asian Junior Squash
  • Indian Squash Team outclassed Rival Pakistan 2-0 in the lost in the second round match of Pool A at the 18th Asian Junior Team Squash Championship 2017 in Hong-Kong on February 2, 2017.
  • Earlier in the Day India beat Iran 3-0 while Pakistan beat Korea 3-0.
  • In the first match Indian Senthilkumar Velaven beat Pakistan’s Mehran Javed 3-1 and I the second round Abhay Singh outclassed Abbas Zeb 3-0 to clinch the tournament.