Current Affairs Weekly Roundup: February 3rd Week (15 - 21st)
APPOINTMENTS
- Vikas Swarup Appointed as India's High Commissioner to Canada. He replaced Syed Akbaruddin (appointed as permanent representative of India to UN).
- France’s Jean-Pierre Lacroix (56) was appointed as Under-Secretary-General for the United Nations peacekeeping operations. He will succeed Herve Ladsous, who will step down in March 2017after six years of service.
- The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the proposal of the Department of Financial Services (DFS) for the appointment of Sunil Mehta as non-executive Chairman of Punjab National Bank (PNB).
- US President Donald Trump has appointed Lt Gen Herbert Raymond McMaster as his new National Security Advisor following the ouster of Michael Flynn last week.
- Shurhozelie Liezietsu (81), the president of Naga People’s Front (NPF), has been chosen as the new Chief Minister (CM) of Nagaland in place of T R Zeliang who resigned on February 19, 2017 under intense pressure from agitating tribal organizations.
AWARDS AND HONOURS
- Surender Verma a Hindi scholar received VYAS Samman 2016 for his novel - Kaatna Shami ka Variksha (2010)
- South Indian Bank (SIB) was awarded with ISO 27001: 2013 certification for its Information Security Management System (ISMS). The certification process involved an extensive audit, conducted by British Standards Institution (BSI) against the criteria set out by the ISO 27001:2013 standards on various domains of IT functions.
- Melody Queen Lata Mangeshkar was honoured with the ‘Legendary Award’ 2017 by Brand Laureate. She was bestowed with this award for her immense contribution to Hindi film music.
- Shah Rukh Khan will be honoured with the 4th National Yash Chopra Memorial Award-2017 on February 24. The award commemorates the director-producer by honouring excellence in various spheres of cinema like acting, music etc.
- Two Indian films bagged top honours at the annual 67th Berlin International Film Festival. They are Newton and Short film Aaba.
- The world greatest sprinter ‘Usain Bolt’ has won the 'Sportsman of the Year' trophy while gymnast ‘Simone Biles’ clinched the top honour in the women's category at the Laureus World Awards at a ceremony held in Monaco.
- Simone Biles, an American artistic gymnast, has won the Laureus World Sports Awards for Sportswoman of the Year 2017 at a ceremony in Monaco.
- The All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) of Delhi has won the first prize for maintaining high standards of sanitation and hygiene under the Government's “Kayakalp” awards and got a cash reward of 5 crore rupees.
- Indian professional hockey player Sandeep Singh has been honored with an Honorary Doctorate Degree by Desh Bhagat University, a private educational institution in Amloh, Fatehgarh Sahib District of Punjab.
- The Mangalore-based public sector lender, Corporation Bank has won the ‘National MSME Excellence Award 2017’ at a function in New Delhi for playing constructive role in the MSME sector.
BANKING AFFAIRS
- RBI has allowed multilateral FIs (Financial Institutions) to invest in masala bonds. This allows multilateral agencies like ADB, NDB etc. to invest in these bonds.
- Airtel Payments Bank and Mastercard, a leading global payments and technology firm have launched India’s first online debit card along with a prepaid card, both accessible via the Myairtel App.
- Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) launched of mobile wallet ‘Oriental Batuaa’ on the occasion of its 75th Foundation Day. The bank also launched two new cards, RuPay based Platinum international debit card with airport lounge access and Oriental Prepaid Card, a RuPay card for individuals and corporates.
- HDFC life has launched “Pragati” a traditional life insurance plan that has been specifically designed to empower low income families.
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has increased the gold loan limit for RRBs (Regional Rural Banks) to Rs. 2 lakh from the current Rs. 1 lakh to help the farmers and artisans.
- Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) has launched of mobile wallet "Oriental Batuaa" on the occasion of its 75th Foundation Day. The bank has also launched two new cards RuPay based Platinum international debit card and Oriental Prepaid Card a RuPay card for individuals and corporates.
BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC AFFAIRS
- Reliance, Dassault formed a joint venture for Rafale fighter jets. The Joint Venture has been named as Dassault Reliance Aero-space Limited. It will be setup of Dhirubhai Aerospace Park at MIHAN, Nagpur.
- US based defence technology and research firm Raytheon Company has signed MoU with Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Sons to co-produce Stinger air defence missile components in India.
BOOKS AND AUTHORS
- The HarperCollins Publishers India has announced that Hema Malini: Beyond the Dream Girl, will be released on the 69th birthday of the dream girl. The authorised biography is penned by a senior journalist and author Ram Kamal Mukherjee.
- The book “Jobless Clueless Reckless” has been authored by Revathi Suresh. It’s a novel about teenagers that gives an insight into what happens in the minds and lives of teenagers in an upper middle class, urban society.
- The book “Every Time It Rains” has been authored by Nikitha Singh. It is the sequel of author’s “Like a Love song” , in which Mahi and Laila were the protagonists with the story from Mahi’s perspective.
DEATHS
- Veteran journalist T V Parasuram passed away in the US due to age-related illness. He was 93.
- Former MP Jambuvantrao Dhote passed away in Yavatmal district of Maharashtra due to heart attack. He was 83.
- Former Chief Justice of Supreme Court Altamas Kabir passed away in Kolkata. He was 68.
- Popular Hindi novelist Ved Prakash Sharma passed away in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh. He was 62.
- Celebrated Bengali singer Banasree Sengupta passed away in Kolkata following protracted illness. She was 71.
IMPORTANT DAYS OBSERVED
- The World Day of Social Justice is observed every year on February 20 to recognize the need to promote efforts to tackle issues such as poverty, exclusion and unemployment.
- International Mother Language Day (IMLD) is a worldwide annual observance held on 21st February to promote awareness of linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism. The theme of 2017:"Towards Sustainable Futures through Multilingual Education".
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
- Free trade deal with Canada approved by European Parliament. It was known as CETA (Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement). It will eliminate almost all trade tariffs between the European Union and Canada.
- 2017 Economic Freedom Index was released. India ranked 143 out of 186 economies. India's rank in 2016 was - 123. 6Index was released by 'The Heritage Foundation', USA.
- The Hindu Marriage Bill 2017 passed in Pakistan’s Senate. It is to regulate marriages of minority Hindus in Pakistan. It also set minimum legal age of marriage at 18 years for oth boys and girls.
- The annual Cobra Gold joint military Exercise commenced in Chonburi Province of Thailand. It is jointly hosted by the US and Thailand. It is one of Asia’s largest multinational drills.
- India has sanctioned a soft loan of $340 million to Nepal for various infrastructure development programmes. Under these programmes, Mahalaki bridge and 15 roads will be constructed in various parts of Nepal.
NATIONAL AFFAIRS
- Five New Judges appointed to Supreme Court. They are Sanjay Kishan Kaul, S. M. Mallikarjuna Gouda, Navin Sinha, Deepak Gupta and S. Abdul Nazeer.
- The Union Cabinet has approved the signing of Air Service Agreement (ASA) between India and Rwanda.
- Middle Income Group scheme (MIGs) was introduced by Supreme Court for providing legal services to the middle and relatively lower income groups.
- Kalimpong - A new district of West Bengal. It is the 21st district of the state. It was separated from Darjeeling.
- India and France have signed a purchase agreement for the supply of 36 Rafale Jet Flights for € 7.87 billion in last month.
- Human and Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar has made Aadhar Manditary for students to avail benefits of scholarships.
- Indian cricket icon and Rajya Sabha MP Sachin Tendulkar has adopted Donja in Osmanabad (Maharashtra) under the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojna. It is second village adopted by him, first was Puttamraju Kandriga in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh.
- The UNESCO (United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization) had organised the two-day Nature Fest at the World Heritage Site Great Himalayan National Park (GNHP) at Sairopa in Kullu district, Himachal Pradesh.
- Around 209 MoUs were signed between different companies at the Momentum Jharkhand, a two-day global investors summit held in Ranchi, state capital. Due to these MoUs, investment worth 3 lakhs, 39 thousands and 87 crores rupees will come in the state.
- The Indian Panorama Film Festival has started in Port Blair, Andaman & Nicobar on February 15, 2017. The 5-day festival is organized by the Directorate of Information and Publicity, Andaman & Nicobar, in association with the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting and Directorate of Film Festivals/IFFI, New Delhi.
- The Power Minister Piyush Goyal has launched Transparency, Auction Monitoring and Resource Augmentation (TAMRA) mobile application and portal to ensure the transparent award of statutory clearances for mining operations.
- The two-day South Asian Speakers Summit was held at Indore in Madhya Pradesh. It was inaugurated by Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan.
- Mil Banche (Let read together) programme was held in all the primary and middle government schools in Madhya Pradesh. Under this programme, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, his minister colleagues, public representatives and other dignitaries took classes in these schools to motivate children.
- Science Express Climate Action Special train was flagged off to spread awareness about climate change across the country. It is collaborative efforts of ministries of Railways, Environment and Science and Technology.
- Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) has unveiled a new communication radio for the Indian armed forces (STARS-V Mk III) at the Aero India 2017 show.
- The GST Council has approved a law to compensate states for any loss of revenue from the implementation of the new nationwide indirect taxation regime. The meeting was held in Udaipur, Rajasthan first time outside national capital.
- The India Vetiver Network (INVN) has been launched at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University. The INVN is a not-for-profit scientific network to promote vetiver in India.
- The 44th edition of world famous Khajuraho Dance Festival was held at in the backdrop of the famous Khajuraho temples in Chhatrapur district, Madhya Pradesh.
- The Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal and Union Health Minister JP Nadda have inaugurated the Cancer Hospital attached to the Gauhati Medical College in Guwahati(Assam). The Cancer Hospital will be accorded the status of a State Cancer Institute.
- The 3rd edition of the annual LIC Gateway LitFest will be held in Mumbai, Maharashtra on February 25 and 26, 2017. The 2017 theme is ‘the contemporary face of Indian literature’, which focuses on five languages – Bengali, Marathi, Malayalam, Punjabi and Tamil.
- The Union Minister of Electronics and IT, Ravi Shankar Prasad has recently launched Cyber Swachhta Kendra (CSK) in New Delhi for Botnet cleaning and Malware analysis.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS
- UAE to build first city on Mars by 2017. The UAE has unveiled 100 yrs. plan to build the first city on Mars. The plan involves scientific research programmes for exploration of transportation means, energy and food on the Mars.
- The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has unanimously condemned North Korea’s latest ballistic missile launch and threatened to take further significant measures.
- Scientists for the first time have found high levels of human-made pollutants, including chemicals that were banned in the 1970s, in the tissues of marine creatures dwelling in the deepest oceans of the Earth.
- Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully ground tested India’s largest indigenously developed Cryogenic Upper Stage engine for GSLV Mark III. It was tested for full 10 minutes at ISRO’s Liquid Propulsion Complex (ILPC) at Mahendragiri in Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu.
- Indian Coast Guard Ship ICGS AYUSH was commissioned at Kochi, Kerala by Vice Admiral AR Karwe, Flag Officer Commanding-in- Chief, Southern Naval Command. ICGS AYUSH is the 20th and the last in the series of 20 Fast Patrol Vessels (FPVs) built by Cochin Shipyard Ltd.
SPORTS AFFAIRS
- Indian Women’s team has won silver at the Asian Rugby Sevens Trophy tournament held at Vientiane, Laos. In the final match, India was beaten by South Korea by 29-0 score.
- French’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga has won the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament (also known as Rotterdam tennis) title. It was his first title since 2015.
- Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi (36) has announced his retirement from all formats of international cricket. With this, Afridi’s 21 year illustrious career comes to an end.
- The Olympic silver medallist Indian Shuttler PV Sindhu has become the second Indian woman to break into the top-five of the badminton singles world rankings.
- The Indian Women's team has won a silver at the Asian women’s Rugby Sevens Trophy tournament at Vientiane, Laos.
- Sandeep Kumar (Haryana) has won the gruelling men's 50-kilometre event of the National Race Walking Championships in New Delhi. He smashed his own national record.
- The 11th edition of ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2017 will be hosted by England from 24 June to 23 July 2017.
