Current Affairs Weekly Roundup: February 4th Week (22nd to 28th)

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Current Affairs Weekly Roundup: February 4th Week (22nd to 28th)
APPOINTMENTS
  • Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre has been appointed the new chairman of Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT). The post fell vacant following the resignation of Justice Balbir Singh Chauhan, who is currently the chairman of Law Commission.
  • Suman Saxena, the former Deputy Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), has taken charge as the Whole Time Member (WTM) of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI). 
  • Hassan Ali Khayre, a former aid worker and oil executive, has been appointed the new Prime Minister of Federal Republic of Somalia. He succeeded Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke.
  • The Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty has become the new Brand Ambassador for “Swachh Bharat Mission”. She will feature in TV and radio campaigns aimed at discouraging people from littering on roads.
  • Ace Indian badminton player, Saina Nehwal will represent International Olympic Committee’s Athletes’ Commission (IOC AC) in the Badminton World Federation (BWF). She will join the BWF Athletes’ Commission as a representative of the IOC AC.
  • Gopal Baglay, the 1992-batch officer of the Indian Foreign Service (IFS), has been appointed as the new spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
  • Nand Kumar Sai, the senior tribal BJP leader from Chhattisgarh and ex parliamentarian, has recently taken charge as new chairman of National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) in Delhi.

AWARDS AND HONOURS
  • The Ahmedabad-based Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII) has won the prestigious International Mercury Awards for the year 2016-17 for the best overall presentation of its 2015-2016 annual report.
  • John-John Dohmen of Belgium has won the 2016 FIH Male Player of the Year award by the International Hockey Federation (FIH) at the gala FIH Hockey Stars Awards Ceremony in Chandigarh, India
  • Vivek Chaand Sehgal, the chairman of auto parts maker Motherson Sumi Systems Ltd, has been named Indian entrepreneur of the year 2016 by EY, the consulting firm formerly known as Ernst & Young.
  • Moonlight, an American drama film directed by          Barry Jenkins, has won the Best Picture award at the 89th edition of Oscar Academy Awards at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles, California.
  • Iranian Film ‘The Salesman’ has won the Best Foreign Language Film at the 89th Oscar Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. The movie, directed by Tehran-based Asghar Farhadi marked Iran’s second Oscar victory, coming five years after Farhadi’s drama “A Separation” won the nation’s first Academy Award.
  • Zootopia, directed by Byron Howard and Rich Moore, has won the Best Animated Feature Film at the 89th Oscar Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, California.

BANKING AFFAIRS
  • Meena Hemchandra committee an inter-disciplinary standing committee has been constituted by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to review cyber threats.
  • The Union Government has launched an app named “Bharat QR code” to enable digital payments without card swiping machines.
  • United Bank of India has launched a railway ticket booking facility by having a direct tie-up with IRCTC.
  • Dena Bank Radio Frequency Identification Card, (RFID) enabled banking cards. With the help of this card a branch/relationship manager can identify a valued client entering a branch with the card.

BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC AFFAIRS
  • According to the annual report of International Monetary Fund, India’s GDP growth has been projected to 6.6% in FY 17 due to the strains that have emerged in the economy as a result of temporary disruptions caused by demonetisation. It expects growth to rebound to 7.2% in FY18.
  • India and Asian Development Bank (ADB) have signed $375 million pact for loans and grants to develop 800—km Visakhapatnam—Chennai Industrial Corridor, which is the first phase of a planned 2,500-km East Coast Economic Corridor.
  • India’s GDP growth rate has been projected to 7% for FY17, as per latest survey by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
  • Bharathi Airtel will acquire the business of Telenor India for an undisclosed sum in all seven circles in India.
  • The Direct-to-home operator Dish TV has joined hands with private lender ICICI bank for digital payments.

BOOKS AND AUTHORS
  • The book “Autoplay: Not-so Stories” has been authored by G Sampath. The book is an adventurous new fiction, exploring the themes of marriage, adolescence, love, terrorism, technology, consumerism and other familiars through feeling-eyes.
  • The book “Feroze: the Forgotten Gandhi” has been authored by Swedish journalist Bertil Falk. The author brings together his 40-year old research in this biography of Feroze Gandhi.
  • The book “Kohinoor: The Story of the World’s Most Infamous Diamond” has been authored by William Dalrymple, an acclaimed historian and a bestselling and award-winning author.

DEATHS
  • Ved Prakash Sharma (62), the popular Hindi novelist, has recently passed away in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh.
  • V. K. Srinivasan (76), the noted bureaucrat, columnist and director of the Institute of Economic Studies (IES), has recently passed away in Hyderabad.
  • Kenneth J. Arrow (95), the Nobel-winning economist and mathematician, has recently passed away at Palo Alto in California, United States.
  • Punjala Shiv Shankar (87), an Indian politician, has recently passed away in Hyderabad. He served as the Minister of External Affairs (MEA), Law and Petroleum.

IMPORTANT DAYS OBSERVED
  • The Central Excise Day (CED) is celebrated every year on February 23 in India to commemorate the enactment of the Central Excise and Salt Act, 1944.
  • The International Mother Language Day (IMLD) is observed every year on February 21 to promote awareness of linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism. The 2017 theme is “Towards Sustainable Futures through Multilingual Education”.
  • The National Science Day (NSD) is celebrated every year in India on February 28 to mark the discovery of the Raman Effect by Indian physicist Sir Chandrashekhara Venkata Raman. The 2017 theme is “Science and Technology for Specially Abled Persons”.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
  • India has become the world’s largest arms importer during 2012-16, according to the latest report by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), China and Algeria are the next four biggest global importers. As per the SIPRI report, the five biggest exporters—the United States, Russia, China, France and Germany—together accounted for 74% of the total volume of arms exports.
  • Pakistan army has recently launched nationwide military operation ‘Radd-ul-Fasaad’ to eliminate terrorists and consolidate gains of its counter-terrorism operations.
  • The 9th edition of BRICS Summit will be held in Xiamen city, China from September 3 to 5, 2017. The theme of this year’s event is ‘BRICS: Stronger Partnership for a Brighter Future’.
  • The 2017 Mobile World Congress (MWC) the world’s biggest and best mobile industry event comprising of a massive exhibition, an award-winning conference, outstanding networking opportunities, partner programmes, the Glomo Awards and much more has started in Barcelona, Spain from February 27 and will continue till March 2.

NATIONAL AFFAIRS
  • The Minister of State (Independent Charge) for AYUSH, Shripad Yesso Naik inaugurated the “World Integrated Medicine Forum on Regulation of Homeopathic Medicinal Products: National and Global strategies” in New Delhi on February 23, 2017.
  • The Kerala Government will soon launched a six-day anti-corruption induction training mandatory for the government service officials in the state. The induction training programme is claimed to be the first of its kind in India.
  • The 13th edition of National Agriculture Science Congress (NASC)-2017 has started at the campus of the University of Agricultural Sciences-Bengaluru (UAS-B) in Bengaluru, Karnataka from February 22, 2017.
  • The first edition of Gramin Khel Mahotsav (GKM) will be held from March 25th to 31st, 2017 in New Delhi. The games will be held in five sports disciplines Athletics, Kabaddi, Kho-Kho, Volley Ball and Wrestling.
  • The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has recently approved investment proposal for generation component of Arun-3 Hydro Electric Project in Nepal by SJVN Limited to promote clean and green energy in India and the sub continent.
  • India’s first dedicated Heliport, built by Pawan Hans Helicopters Ltd (PHHL), will be inaugurated by the Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju at Rohini area of New Delhi on February 28, 2017.
  • The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has launched Cyber Swachhta Kendra – Botnet Cleaning and Malware Analysis Centre (BCMAC) to provide free anti-virus to computers and mobile phones for removing malicious softwares.
  • Kerala is set to become the first Indian state to have a public registry of sex offenders. This has been stated by the Kerala Governor Justice (retd) P Sathasivam in the budget session. The public registry will contain all identification details of sex offenders and would be kept in the public domain.
  • The Government of India (GoI) has recently signed an agreement with Japan on enhancing railway safety in the Indian Railways with focus on railway track and rolling stock safety.
  • The Andhra Pradesh government has signed MoU with Visa to transform Vishakhapatnam into India’s first ‘less cash’ city. As per MoU, this initiative is designed to provide the foundation for the city to emerge as India’s ‘Fintech Valley’.
  • The Government of India (GoI) has signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Bangladesh for the development of Sylhet city.
  • The Ministry of Minority Affairs will host Cultural Harmony Conclave under Hamari Dharohar Scheme in New Delhi on April-May 2017. The meeting was chaired by Minister of State for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi in New Delhi.
  • C K Mishra, the secretary of Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, has recently launched “Saathiya Resource Kit” and “Saathiya Salah” Mobile App for adolescents as part of the Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram (RKSK) program.
  • The President of India, Pranab Mukherjee has inaugurated an International conference on ‘Bharat Bodh’ (Idea of Bharat) on February 23, 2017 in New Delhi. The 3-day conference is organized by the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) and Bhartiya Shikshan Mandal (BSM).
  • The dance festival ‘Brahan Natyanjali 2017’ has started at ancient Big temple in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu from February 24, which will continue till March 2.
  • The Haryana government has made it mandatory for all private schools to install solar systems in order to make them self-sufficient in managing their energy needs. A special grant at the rate of Rs 20,000 per kilowatt will be given to the schools for installing solar power plants.
  • The Haryana government has launched an online system “Sex Ratio Monitoring Dashboard” for Panipat to monitor the sex-ratio in the district as part of the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ programme.
  • The Rajasthan government has launched the Rajasthan Heart Attack Treatment programme (RAHAT) medical project at the Eternal Hospital in Jaipur to provide people timely treatment during heart attacks in remote and rural areas.
  • India’s first hill station bicycle path was inaugurated in Darjeeling, West Bengal that runs through Senchal wildlife sanctuary. It is a 20km cycle only trail at an altitude of over 2,000 metres, with thick pine forest under clear blue skies.
  • Mumbai has been named as the richest Indian city with a total wealth of $820 billion, according to recently released New World Wealth report.
  • The Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan has inaugurated India’s first post office passport service centre at the Vidisha Post Office in Vidisha on February 25, 2017. The passport service centre will work in the form of Passport Sewa Laghu Kendra (PSLK).
  • The Union Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhu has flagged off India’s first Antyodaya Express between Ernakulam and Howrah. The Antyodaya Express is a long-distance, fully unreserved, superfast train service, for the common man to be operated on dense routes.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS
  • Recently, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and International Air Transport Association (IATA) have launched ‘SkyRev360’ system that will offer comprehensive e-billing solution to data gathering, invoicing and collection providing additional revenue to AAI.

SPORTS AFFAIRS
  • India will host the 2019 Combined World Cup for shooting, a qualifying event for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which will further boost the country’s profile as a global shooting destination.
  • Pooja Ghatkar from India, the former Asian champion, has won the bronze in the women’s 10 metre air rifle event in the 2017 International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup at the Karni Singh Shooting Range in New Delhi. Ghatkar shot 228.8 score in the final to finish third.
  • Kalinga Lancers has won the 5th edition Hockey India League (HIL) tournament by defeating Dabang Mumbai by 4-1 in Chandigarh. Uttar Pradesh Wizards claimed the bronze medal.
  • Ankur Mittal has won silver in men’s double trap at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup at the Karni Singh Shooting Range in New Delhi.