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International
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Awards
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Dates
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National – Across the India
1. India’s only live volcano, Barren Island (Andaman and Nicobar) has started spewing smoke and lava again.
Barren Island volcano erupted in 1991 and has been showing sporadic activity since then.
2. AirAsia became the first foreign airline ever to start its operations from Srinagar International Airport in Jammu and Kashmir.
Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti waved the flag to clear the landing for the AirAsia flight at Srinagar airport.
To begin with, AirAsia, a Malaysian low-cost airline, will operate one flight daily between Delhi and Srinagar.
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3. Fabindia Overseas Pvt. Ltd. had removed the brand name Khadi from its products after a legal notice from Khadi & Village Industries Commission (KVIC).
KVIC stated that the use of the word amounted to unfair trade practice.
KVIC asked Fabindia to stop using the word Khadi from all its cotton products and remove display banners from its showrooms.
4. The Khajuraho Dance Festival concluded at Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh.
The festival was started on 20th February 2017 and continued till 26th February 2017 with presentation of Anuj Mishra, Sanchita Bhattacharya and Jayshree Acharya.
5. India’s first dedicated heliport for flying in and out was inaugurated in Delhi.
The project is an integrated one with a chopper maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) unit part of the complex at Rohini.
It is owned by Pawan Hans Helicopters Ltd (PHHL).
6. C K Mishra, Health Secretary launched the Saathiya Resource Kit and Saathiya Salah Mobile App.
The mobile app is also linked to another important piece of cost-effective information platform of a toll-free Saathiya Helpline (1800-233-1250) which will act as an e-counselor.
7. The government has launched Cyber Swachhta Kendra, a new desktop and mobile security solution for secure cyber space in the country.
It was launched through its Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-in).
The new solution will notify, enable cleaning and secure systems of end-users to prevent further infections.
8. The Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has released the new format for recording and reporting road accident data.
The uniform accident-recording format has been drawn on the lines of developed countries.
It has been forwarded to all state police and transport departments for adaptation and to furnish annual road accident data.
9. BHIM App has seen over 17 million downloads and has set a world record.
The app was introduced to make digital payments a mass movement in India.
The Centre will also soon roll out a cash-back scheme to give a further boost to the use of BHIM.
10. Arunachal Pradesh, Chief Minister Pema Khandu inaugurated the Composite Regional Centre for Persons with Disabilities.
The aim is to create resources and infrastructure required for developing services for persons with disabilities in the state.
11. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated the five-day-long National Biodiversity Congress and Expo at Tagore theatre in Thiruvananthapuram.
This is one of the biggest biodiversity congresses in the country and its focal theme is Mainstreaming biodiversity for sustainable development.
12. Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved 40,000 MW solar parks scheme for solar power development in the country.
The enhanced capacity would ensure setting up of at least 50 solar parks -each with a capacity of 500 MW and above in various parts of the country.
The solar Parks and ultra-mega solar power projects will be set up by 2019-20 with central government financial support of Rs. 8,100 crore.
13. Punjab has ordered ban on manufacturing of food products containing tobacco or nicotine like Gutkha and Pan Masala in the state with immediate effect.
The decision has been taken in view of the orders of the Supreme Court
14. The government approved a 900 MW Arun-III hydro power project to be set up in Sankhuwasabha district of Nepal at a cost of Rs 5,723.72 crore.
The project will offer 21.9% free power to Nepal for 25 years and generate employment of around 3000 persons in India and Nepal.
15. The President of India, Shree Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated an International Conference on Bharat Bodh.
The conference was organized by the Indira Gandhi National Open University and Bhartiya Shikshan Mandal in New Delhi.
The conference brings together intellectuals, academicians and researchers to unravel various aspects of the Bharat Bodh.
16. The Kerala government will launch a registry of sex offenders, the first of its kind in the country.
The registry will contain all identification details of sex offenders and would be kept in public domain.
17. DoNER, jointly with Tezpur University and North Eastern Finance Corporation Limited (NEDFi), will encourage entrepreneurship in the North-East Region (NER).
The event will take place on 3rd March, 2017 and will be the 17th edition in the series.
18. Tata Power Renewable Energy Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Power, has synchronized its 15 MW solar plant at Bellampally in Telangana.
The company has won the project in the Phase 1 bidding process in Telangana.
The solar plant has been built over 80 acres of land and includes an 18-km transmission line.
19. Rajasthan has become the second largest crude oil producer in the country.
The state was producing nearly 90 lakh tones oil annually, which is 24 per cent of the total domestic crude oil production.
20. Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi has announced the setting up of a compensation fund under Nirbhaya scheme to provide financial help to children who are victims of sexual crimes.
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International – Across the Globe
1. India has sanctioned a soft loan of 340 million US dollars to Nepal for various infrastructure development programmes.
Under this programme Mahalaki bridge and 15 roads will be constructed in various parts of Nepal.
2. India was the world’s largest importer of major arms between 2012–16, accounting for 13 per cent of the global total sales, according to a new data released by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
Saudi Arabia was the world’s second largest arms importer in 2012-16. (Kindly verify, how can both the countries be major arms importer during the same period.)
The United States of America is the leading arms exporter in the world with almost half of its arms exports going to the Middle East.
3. Russia will start initial deliveries of military helicopters to India in 2018.
India and Russia signed an agreement to jointly manufacture 200 of the KA-226T helicopters for the Indian Armed Forces.
Both countries have agreed to cooperate in energy and defence as India seeks to modernize its armed forces.
4. Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Sydney on the first visit to Australia by a serving Israeli prime minister.
Netanyahu will start his four-day visit with talks with his Australian counterpart Malcolm Turnbull at his official Sydney address.
Netanyahu and Turnbull will sign agreements on technology and air services.
5. India and China will hold their first Strategic Dialogue in Beijing.
During the meeting, the two sides will discuss key issues of mutual concern and interest, including friction points.
6. Mexico City has the worst daily traffic condition in the world for the second consecutive year and is the most congested city.
The research analyzed the traffic congestion situation in 390 cities in 48 countries.
The research has listed other cities, including Bangkok, Jakarta and Bucharest as the most congested cities in the world.
7. The US and China have agreed on a constructive bilateral relationship to address the threat posed by North Korea due to its repeated ballistic missile tests despite a UN ban.
The two sides agreed on the need to address the threat that North Korea poses to regional stability.
8. The WTO’s trade facilitation agreement, which seeks to ease customs norms, has come into effect with its two-thirds members ratifying the pact.
It will give a boost to the global trade, which has been impacted due to slowdown in the world economy.
9. US President Donald Trump’s administration rolled back Obama’s protection law for transgender students.
The law allowed students to use the bathroom and locker room of their choice in public schools.
10. India has approved a deal with Israel to develop jointly a medium range surface-to-air missile (MR-SAM) system for the Army in a Rs17,000-crore deal.
The deal will be executed by the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) and Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI).
The systems will be manufactured in India and would have an 80% indigenous content.
11. China for the first time became Germany’s most important trading partner in 2016.
Federal Statistics Office figures showed that German imports from and exports to China rose to 170 billion euros ($180 billion) last year.
12. Pakistan army has launched nationwide military operation ‘Radd-ul-Fasaad’.
The aim is to eliminate terrorists and consolidate gains of its counter-terrorism operations.
Sports & Athletics
1. Legendary Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi announced his retirement from international cricket.
He had already quit Test and ODI cricket but still skippered the Pakistan Twenty20 team at the 2016 world championships in India.
He played 398 one-day internationals with 8,064 runs, a highest score of 124 while taking 395 wickets with his leg spin.
His Twenty20 international CV saw him play 98 matches with 1,405 runs and a career-leading 97 wickets.
2. Afghanistan Cricketers Mohammad Nabi & Rashid Khan were selected by the franchise in IPL Auction 2017.
Mohammad Nabi became the first player from Afghanistan to be picked by Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs.30 lakhs.
Rashid Khan was signed by Mumbai Indians for an amount of Rs.4 Crores.
3. Virat Kohli became the first Indian sportsperson to sign a Rs.100 crore deal with Puma.
He is now set to join the likes of Usain Bolt, Asafa Powell and Thierry Henry, among others, as a global ambassador for the brand.
4. India defeated South Africa by one run to win the ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier 2017 at the P. Sara Stadium, Sri Lanka.
South Africa’s Sune Luus is named as the Player of the Series.
India’s Deepti Sharma is the Player of the Match.
5. India’s one day captain Mithali Raj and top batter Harmanpreet Kaur were placed 2nd and 10th in the ICC batswomen’s rankings.
Meg Lanning of Australia leads the charts with 804 points.
Mithali Raj has 733 points and Harmanpreet has 574 points.
6. The first Gramin Khel Mahotsav will be held from 25th to 31st of next month in New Delhi.
The games will be held in five sports disciplines Athletics, Kabaddi, Kho-Kho, Volley Ball and Wrestling.
It aims to promote sports in rural areas across the country.
7. International Hockey Federation (FIH) awarded the winners Hockey Stars Awards 2016. Here is the list of some of them.
Male Player of the Year 2016- John-John Dohmen (Belgium).
Female Player of the Year 2016- Naomi van As (Netherland).
Male Coach of Year 2016- Danny Kerry (Britain).
Female Coach of Year 2016- Karen Brown (Britain).
Male Umpire of the Year award 2016- Christian Blasch (Germany).
Female Umpire of the Year award 2016- Laurine Delforge (Belgium).
8. The famous Army Polo Championship that commenced on 31 Jan 2017 saw a thrilling final match on 24th February 2017 between 61 CAVALRY and Army Service Corps after tough round of league matches which also saw participation from Corps of Artillery, Remount and Veterinary Corps and Armored Corps.
Army has dominated Equestrian Sports for a long time producing a large number of Asian Games medalists, World Cup players, Padam Shree and Arjuna awardees and is pursuing it as part of its Mission Olympics programme.
9. Ace Indian shuttler PV Sindhu, who is the first Indian woman athlete has accepted a government job which was offered by the Andhra Pradesh Government following her Rio de Janeiro triumph.
She has been working with Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) since 2013 and is currently an assistant manager (sports) at its Hyderabad office.
Awards & Recognition
1. Two Indian films at the world-renowned Berlin Film festival bagged awards – Amit Masurkar’s Newton and Amar Kaushik’s Aaba.
Rajkummar Rao-starrer Newton brought home the CICAE Art Cinema Award in the Forum section of the fest.
Aaba won the Special Prize of Generation KPlus International Jury for Best Short Film.
2. The Ahmedabad-based Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII), has received International Mercury Awards for the year 2016-17.
EDII has received award for the best overall presentation of its 2015-2016 annual report.
3. Tata Steel’s Katamati Mine has won Best Green Award at the Global Green Future Leadership Awards.
Rahul Kishore, Head Katamati Iron Mine, Tata Steel received the award on behalf of Tata Steel from Jordan Reeves, Consul General of Canada in Mumbai.
4. Sahitya Academy Awards 2016 were conferred on twenty-four writers for writing in different languages. Name of some of them are:
Winners for Poetry are: Jnan Pujari, Kamal Vora.
Winners for Short story are: Chhatrapal, Shyam Darihare.
Winner for Novel: Gita Upadhyaya, Jerry Pinto.
5. The government has roped in actress Shilpa Shetty as a brand ambassador for the Modi government’s cleanliness initiative Swachh Bharat Mission.
The actress will feature in TV and radio campaigns aimed at discouraging people from littering on roads.
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Books & Authors
1. Dream Girl Hema Malini’s incredible journey from an actor, a danseuse and filmmaker to a politician is being chronicled in a new book.
The book will hit stores on her 69th birthday this October.
The book named ‘Hema Malini: Beyond the Dream Girl’ is written by author-columnist Ram Kamal Mukherjee.
2. The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, released the book Judicial Reforms – Recent Global Trends.
Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister said that India has to keep pace with changing technology, and the new, interdependent global order.
3. Punjab congress chief Amarinder Singh’s biography, ‘The People’s Maharaja’, was released.
The authorized biography, authored by Chandigarh-based writer Khushwant Singh.
Mergers & Acquisitions
1. Direct-to-home operator Dish TV has tied-up with private lender ICICI Bank for digital payments.
This alliance with ICICI Bank through UPI will drive higher customer adoption and allow them to be a part of the digital economy.
2. Namma Metro, owned by Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation has entered into a ‘First in India’ strategic partnership with Ola.
With this, Ola aims to provide a consistent mobility experience to hundreds of thousands of passengers, who use the Bangalore Metro service for their daily commute.
3. Bharti Airtel would buy Telenor (India) Communications Pvt Ltd in a deal that will bolster Airtel’s footprint with additional spectrum of 43.4 MHz in the 1800 MHz band.
Airtel will buy Telenor’s India operations in seven circles – Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh (East), Uttar Pradesh (West) and Assam.
Appointments & Resignations
1. Nagaland chief minister TR Zeliang announced his resignation from the top post.
The announcement was done against the protest triggered by government decision to reserve 33 per cent seats for women in urban local bodies.
Neiphiu Rio, former Chief Minister and sole MP from the state, appears to be a front-runner for the post.
2. President Trump appointed Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster as his new National Security Adviser.
McMaster will take on the role after having served several tours of duty in Germany, Southwest Asia and Iraq.
3. Naga People’s Front (NPF) President Shurozelie Liezitsu was selected as a consensus candidate by the Democratic Alliance of Nagaland for the post of Chief Minister.
Liezitsu will be sworn as the Chief Minister of Nagaland on 22nd February 2017.
Earlier Nagaland’s Chief Minister TR Zeliang stepped down from his post.
4. Tata Sons Chairman-designate Natarajan Chandrasekaran will also hold the chairmanship of the Tata Consultancy Services (TCS).
V Ramakrishnan is named as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the TCS.
He will succeed Rajesh Gopinathan, who will take over as the CEO and MD of the Tata Group company.
The Chief Operating Officer (COO) N Ganapathy Subramaniam will be the Executive Director.
5. Govind Rajan, the chief executive of Jasper Infotech-owned digital payments platform FreeCharge, has resigned from the company.
Former Housing.com CEO, Jason Kothari will oversee the business operations of FreeCharge.
Rajan took over the top job at Freecharge in May last year.
6. Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) has appointed Abhijit Sarkar as its new Vice Chairman and also the chief of AHF Commercial and TV Committee.
He was appointed on the basis of an Executive Board Meeting.
He has been associated with the Sahara India Pariwar since 2004.
7. Ms. Suman Saxena took charge as the whole-time Member of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI).
She will look after National Insolvency Programme, Continuing Professional Programme, and Knowledge Management and Partnership.
She has also been the Director of National Academy of Audit and Accounts.
8. Britain appointed experienced counter-terrorism officer Cressida Dick as London’s new police chief.
She is the first woman to hold the job.
She is best known for heading an operation which led to the killing of an innocent Brazilian.
9. The president of oil-rich Azerbaijan picked his wife Mehriban Aliyeva to be the nation’s first-ever vice-president.
He extends his own term from 5 to 7 years.
The resolutions passed in September with more than 90 percent of the votes.
10. A political newcomer Hassan Ali Khaire, a former oil company executive has been appointed as Somalia’s new Prime Minister.
The appointment was announced shortly before Mohamed, also known as Farmajo, departed to Saudi Arabia for his first foreign trip since his election.
11. Former Nagaland Chief Minister T R Zeliang appointed as Finance Advisor to the state government in the rank of a cabinet minister.
Zeliang, appointed by the Governor P B Acharya, will receive the pay and allowances and all other facilities admissible to a cabinet minister.
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Economics & Banking GK
1. Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) has come up with several digital offerings including launch of mobile wallet ‘Oriental Batuaa’.
Besides introducing a new version of mobile banking, OBC has also launched two new cards.
The two MSME schemes that have been launched are ‘Oriental Sanjeevani’ and ‘Oriental Budget Hotels and Restaurants’.
2. Cash withdrawal limit for savings account increases to Rs.50000 per week.
The limits on cash withdrawals from savings bank account will be withdrawn completely from 13th March 2017.
Till now, there is no limit on current account and there is a cap of Rs 50,000 for farmers a week and Rs 2.5 lakh for marriage.
3. State Bank of India (SBI) rebranded its corporate website as bank.sbi from the earlier sbi.co.in
Now bank.sbi is the highest domain protocol commonly known as generic top level domain (gTLD).
The adoption of gTLD will enable SBI to use its corporate name. sbi as their website’s top-level identifier instead of using “.com” or “. co.in” as domains.
4. RBI Deputy Governor R Gandhi launched Bharat QR code to push less cash economy.
It is the world’s first interoperable Quick Response (QR) code acceptance solution developed by the payments industry to expedite India’s transition to a less-cash society.
5. The GST Council approved a bill to compensate States for any loss of revenue due to the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
This approval by the GST Council paves the way for the roll out of the GST on 1st July 2017.
6. Reserve Bank of India has said that it has no information about the number of bank accounts with large deposits after 8th November 2016
.
These are the bank accounts in which more than Rs. 2.5 lakh in the scrapped currency notes of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 were deposited between November 8 and December 30 last year.
7. Debt mutual funds can now invest up to 15 per cent of their total net assets in housing finance companies with Security and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) easing the regulations in this regard.
The norms have been relaxed as part of efforts to channelize more funds towards affordable housing activities.
8. Vodafone has offered Private Recharge Mode (PRM)- a free of cost service for West Bengal subscribers.
This will enable users to recharge their mobile phones, without sharing their mobile numbers with retailers.
To avail the Vodafone PRM option, a customer needs to send a toll-free SMS – ‘Private’ – to 12604 and would be provided with an OTP.
9. International Monetary Fund said that India’s GDP projected to slow to 6.6% due to demonetization.
This slowdown is largely due to a disruption in private consumption from demonetisation.
It expects growth to rebound to 7.2 per cent in FY18.
10. India and the ADB has signed a $500 million loan pact to expand inter-regional power connectivity in the country, and strengthen transmission system to accommodate renewable energy-generation capacity.
The project is expected to be completed by December 2020.
This will help in building 800 kilovolt (kV) and 320 kV High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) converter stations and 765 kV power transmission systems in India.
11. The merger of State Bank of India’s five associate banks with the SBI will become effective from 1st April 2017.
The combined entity will have a network of nearly 23,000 branches, further increasing the dominance of the country’s largest bank.
12. Sovereign Gold Bonds 2016-17 fourth series will be open for subscription from February 27, 2017 to March 03, 2017.
The bonds will be denominated in units of one gram of gold and multiples thereof and be available in both the demat and paper form.