Current Affairs of 1-15 February 2016

7/24/2019 Current Affairs of 1-15 February 2016

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Current Affairs of 1-15 February 2016

1. Former Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag was appointed as mentor of the Kings XI Punjab

team for season 9 of Indian Premier League (IPL) on 1 February 2016.

2. Senior IFS officer Muktesh Kumar Pardeshi was appointed as Indias Ambassador to Mexico.

3. Ace Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth won the Men's Singles title of the Syed ModiInternational Badminton Championships 2016. In the final played at Babu Banarasi Das Indoor

Stadium in Lucknow, Srikanth defeated China's Huang Yuxiang, 21-13, 14-21, 21-14.

4. The International Swimming Federation (FINA) announced that the Japanese city of Fukuokawill host the 2021 World Aquatics Championships.

5. Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) of Union Government has given its

final approval to Kerala Governments approval to set up Indias first Defence Industrial Park atOttappalam.

6. World Number One tennis player Novak Djokovic from Serbia has won the 2016 AustralianOpen Title in the mens singles category. In the final match played at Melbourne, Australia he

defeated Andy Murray of Britain in 7 straight sets by 6-1, 7-5, 7-6 score.

7. Veteran British TV and radio presenter Sir Terry Wogan passed away in London after longbattle with cancer. He was 77. In Britain, he was one of the most popular personalities on both

radio and television for several decades and often described his profession as jobbing

broadcaster.

8. Vice Admiral Sunil Lanba took over as Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief (FOC-in-C) of

Mumbai headquartered Western Naval Command (WNC) at a ceremonial parade held at INSShikra. He took the charge from Vice Admiral SPS Cheema who retired after completing nearly

four decades of service to the nation and the Indian Navy.

9. Senior IPS officer Datta Padsalgikar has been appointed as the Commissioner of Police ofMumbai. He will be 40th Police Commissioner of Mumbai.

10. Brazilian racing driver Pietro Fittipaldi has won the 2015 MRF Challenge Formula 2000 by

winning two of the four races. The racing event was held at Madras Motor Racing Track in

Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu. The winning race helped him to earn total 244 points to top amongthe other racers.

11. The Union Government appointed Jai Kumar Garg as Managing Director (MD) and Chief

Executive Officer (CEO) of Corporation Bank for a period of three years.

12. Tamil Nadu Cadre IPS officer Archana Ramasundramwas appointed as the Director Generalof the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) that guards India's frontiers with Nepal and Bhutan.With this


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appointment, Ramasundram became the first woman to head a paramilitary force. 58-year-old

Ramasundram is currently the Director of National Crime Records Bureau.

13. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared an international public health

emergency over the explosive spread of the mosquito-borne Zika virus. It was announced after

WHOs emergency meeting of independent experts headed by WHO Director-General MargaretChan.

14. Repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF): unchanged at 6.75 per cent. Reverse

repo rate under the LAF: unchanged at 5.75 per cent. Marginal standing facility (MSF) rate andthe Bank Rate has unchanged at 7.75 per cent.

15. Union Government has appointed senior IPS officer K Durga Prasad has Director General

(DG) of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). Decision in this regard was taken byAppointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in

New Delhi.

16. In order to prevent leakages in the flagship rural job programme, all wage payments to

MGNREGA workers will be made through Direct Benefit Transfer to bank accounts of the

beneficiaries from April this year .

17. Justice Ramayyagari Subhash Reddy was appointed as Chief Justice of the Gujarat high

Court with effect from the date he assumes charge of his office.

18. Major General Jai Shanker Menon of India was appointed as the Head of Mission and Force

Commander of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF). His appointment

was announced by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon .

19. Maharashtra Cabinet announced Bharatratna Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Special Collective

Incentive Scheme for the economically backward Dalit entrepreneurs.The scheme was launched

to celebrate the 125th birth anniversary of Dr BR Ambedkar.

20. Kerala won the 61st National School Athletics championship. The national School Athletics

championship was held at Olympian Rahman Stadium in Kozhikode, Kerala from 29 January

2016 to 2 February 2016.

21. India and Bruneisigned 3 Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) to deepen bilateral

cooperation. The MoUs were signed in Brunei capital Bandar Seri Begawan during the VicePresident Hamid Ansaris 3-day visit to the country.

22. Supreme Court appointed a committee under former Chief Justice RM Lodha to sell assets

of Pearls Agrotech Corporation Ltd (PACL) and refund 49 thousand crore rupees to theinvestors.

23. S.S. Tarapore, former Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), passed away inMumbai. He was 80.


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24. The World Bank Board approved a 35 million US dollars credit for the Citizen Access to

Responsive Services Project. The Project will improve access to selected public services for thepeople of Madhya Pradesh (MP) and particularly those belonging to deprived groups.

25. The World Wetlands Day was observed on 2nd February across the globe to mark theadoption of the Convention on Wetlands in the city of Ramsar in Iran in 1971.

26. Alphabet Inc. became worlds most valuable company.

27. Indian film-maker Kanu Behl directorial Titli bagged the Best First Foreign Film Award

conferred by the French Syndicate of Cinema Critics 2016 (FSCC).

28. Former Lok Sabha Speaker Balram Jakhar passed away in New Delhi. He was 92.Jakharwas elected as the Lok Sabha Speaker for two consecutive terms from 1980 to 1989. He was

elected to the Lok Sabha four times and also served as the Union Agriculture Minister in 1991 in

P. V. Narasimha Rao Ministry.

29. The Government of Odisha decided to extend the Aahar scheme to 29 districts in the State.

A decision in this regard was taken at a review meeting on the programme at the State secretariat

in Bhubaneswar.It was launched by the State Government on 1 April 2015 to mark the StatesFoundation Day, Utkala Diwas.

30. Former IAS officer D J Pandian has been appointed vice-president and chief investmentofficer (CIO) of Beijing-based Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).

31. The European Union (EU) approved 3.3 billion Euros in funding to help Turkey cope with

the issue of Syrian migrants. At present, Turkey is home to around 3 million Syrians who fledthe country since the beginning of the civil war in 2011.

32. India to participate in Cobra Gold 2016 military exercise in Thailand.

33. The Union Government has constituted two new committees namely Tax Policy Research

Unit (TPRU) and Tax Policy Council (TPC) to streamline the taxation policy and administration.

These committees have been constituted based on the recommendation of the TaxAdministration Reform Commission (TARC) on taxation reform.

34. Army Lieutenant General John Nicholson was appointed as the commander of the NATOforces in Afghanistan. His nomination to the post was confirmed by US Senate committee.

35. ICC appointed Rahul Dravid as member of newly constituted Anti-Corruption Unit

Oversight Group.

36. India through the Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology signed

a Cooperation Agreement to acquire the status of the Associate Member State EuropeanMolecular Biology Organisation (EMBO).


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37. Snapdeal has decided not to renew its contract with Aamir Khan as its brand ambassador

within months of the Bollywood actors comments on perceived intolerance in the country thatmade him and the e-commerce giant target of severe criticism.

38. NASA Astronaut Edgar Mitchell, who was the sixth man to walk on the Moon, died in WestPalm Beach, Florida. The lunar module pilot on Apollo 14 died at the age of 85.

39. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated the Brahmaputra Cracker and Polymer

Limited (BCPL) at Lepetkata, Assam and dedicated the facility to the nation. It is the first everpetro-chemical plant located in the entire North-Eastern region of Indian.

40. The 12th edition of South Asian Games (SAG) has begun in Guwahati, Assam after it was

inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Indira Gandhi Athletics Stadium.

41. Sarangi maestro Pandit Ram Narayan (88) has been chosen for the prestigious Bharat Ratna

Pandit Bhimsen Joshi Classical Music Award for 2015-2016.

42. Corporation Bank has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Universal Sompo

General Insurance Co Ltd for providing accident death coverage to its savings bank account

holders under Corp Signature, Corp Super and Corp Saral category.

43. Cartoonist Sudhir Tailang, who was suffering from a brain tumour, passed away at a private

city hospital according to his family members. The artist was 55 and had been under treatmentfor over two years.

44. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj inaugurated the Rise of Digital India Exhibition in

Colombo. The exhibition was a part of Sangam -The Festival of India in Sri Lanka 2015-16.

45. Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe declared a state of disaster in rural parts of the country

hit by a drought. This declaration of disaster will allow international donors to raise moneyquickly to provide food aid to the nation.

46. The Revenant director Alejandro Gonzalez has received his second consecutive Directors

Guild of America award for best feature film at the 68th annual DGA Awards.

47. The Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare decided to set up the National

Organic Farming Research Institute in Sikkim.

48. To strengthen the aviation sector in Gujarat, the State government is planning to set up the

countrys first-ever Aviation Park here having a slew of facilities including an airstrip, training

school, helipad and space for setting up small manufacturing units among others.

49. For the first time, border troops of India and China have held their first joint tactical exercise

codenamed Sino-India Cooperation 2016 in Chushul-Moldo in Jammu and Kashmir. This


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exercise is complement to the Hand-in-Hand series of India-China Joint Exercises and the

recently conducted joint exercise in Sikkim.

50. Renowned American singer-songwriter Dan Hicks passed away after a two-year long battle

with throat and liver cancer. He was 74.

51. Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated Indian Oil Corporations (IOCs) new state of theart refinery at Paradip in Odisha to the nation. It is overall IOCs 11th refinery to be set up and

has installed capacity of 15 million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA).

52. Indian economy is estimated to grow 7.6 per cent this fiscal, the Central Statistics Office

(CSO) said.

53. The French Senate unanimously passed a law to ban large food stores from throwing awayfood that is approaching its expiration date. The National Assembly, France's other legislative

chamber, had unanimously voted on the same measures in December 2015.With this, France has

become the first country in the world to ban supermarkets from throwing away or destroyingunsold food, forcing them instead to donate it to charities and food banks.

54. Former Prime Minister of Nepal and Nepali Congress (NC) President Sushil Koirala passed

away due to Pneumonia in capital city Kathmandu. He was 79.

55. Former Director General of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) Rajendra Kumar

Pachauri was appointed as the Executive Vice-Chairman of the organisation with the immediateeffect.

56. The South Asian Wrestling Federation announced the appointment of Brij Bhushan Sharan

Singh as its President.

57. Joshna Chinappa clinched the gold in women's individual squash after beating Maria

Toorpaki Wazir of Pakistan at the South Asian Games.

58. New Zealand won the three-match Chappell-Hadlee Trophy of cricket against Australia, 2-1.

In the third and final match played at Seddon Park, Hamilton, the Black Caps defeated Australia

by 55 runs.

59. The 9th edition of India-Nepal Combined Military Exercise Surya Kiran IX has commenced

at Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand. It will culminate on February 21, 2015. The 14-day-longcombined battalion Level exercise is being conducted under the aegis of Panchshul Brigade of

Central Command.

60. Renowned Urdu Poet and well known Bollywood lyricist Nida Fazli passed away inMumbai, Maharashtra following a heart attack. He was 78 years old. He was best known among

singers and fans for his elegant presentation of ghazals, nazm and dohaas.


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61. Indias Sapna Devi has won gold for India in the women Wushu Taulu (Changquan)

Competition at the 12th South Asian Games (SAG).

62. he Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released the Report of the Working Group on Introduction

of Interest Rate Options in India. The report was prepared by RBI committee chaired by Prof PG

Apte.

63. India on 10 February 2016 observed the first National Deworming Day in schools and

preschools (anganwadis). The day is observed to combat parasitic worm infections among

preschool (anganwadi) and school-age children.

64. Worlds largest concentrated solar plant opened in Morocco.

65. Uttar Pradesh Panchayati Raj Minister Kailash Yadav passed away in Gurgaon afterreportedly suffering a brain stroke. He was 65.

66. Intellectual Property Index (IPI) by United States Chamber of Commerce (USCC), India wasranked 37th among the surveyed 38 countries

67. Australia announced the appointment of Indian-origin Harinder Sidhu as the countrys next

High Commissioner to India.

68. Union Government has sanctioned about 580 crore rupees for Agartala-Akhaura railway link

Project to connect Kolkata (West Bengal) with Tripura via Bangladesh. The sanctioned fund willbe used for the laying of the five km railway track up to Bangladesh border from Agartala.

69. Veteran film director Aurobindo Mukherjee passed away in Kolkata, West Bengal after

ailing from geriatric problems. He was 97.

70. Amazon acquires 26% in Tatas publishing firm Westland.

71. IndiaFirst Life Insurance has appointed Satishwar Balakrishnan as its Chief Financial

Officer (CFO).

72.Private lender Federal has partnered with National Australia Bank to provide its NRIcustomers in Australia inward remittance facility at a discounted rate.

73. State Bank of India (SBI) introduced SBI FlexiPay Home Loan, whose repayment termslower EMIs in initial years, followed by higher EMIsappear similar to teaser loans introduced

by the bank in February 2009.

74. 10 New EDs Appointed in Public Sector Banks. Mayank K Mehta (working in Union Bankof India to Bank Of Baroda), Dina Bandhu Mohapatra (Bank of India to Canara Bank), Vinod

Kumar Kathuria and R Subramania Kumar (Punjab National Bank to Union Bank of India and

Indian Bank, respectively), and Rajkiran Rai G (Central Bank of India to Oriental bank ofCommerce).


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75. RBI gives nod to B Swaminathan's appointment as Non-Executive Chairman of Karur Vysya

Bank.

76. Indian-origin lawyer Davinder Singh in the second week of February 2016 was appointed as

a vice-chair of the International Chamber of Commerces Commission on CorporateResponsibility and Anti-corruption.

77. A fiction book titled A Kingdom For His Love was launched in February 2016 by Amar

Chitra Katha (ACK). The book is co-authored by Vani Mahesh and Shinie Antony.

78. Karnatakas Mobile One project won 2016 Best m-Government Service Award at the 4th

World Government Summit in Dubai, the UAE.

79. Soviet football legend Anatoli Ilyin passed away in Moscow, Russia. He was 84.

80. India and United Arab Emirates (UAE) have signed 9 bilateral agreements coveringcooperation in the various sectors. These agreements were signed during the second day of

Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi official visit to India.

81. Leslie Bassett, a Pulitzer Prize-winning composer, passed away in Oakwood, Georgia. Hewas 93.

82. Indias third largest IT exporter Wipro Limited has acquired US based healthcare technologyfirm HealthPlan Services for US 460 million dollars. This acquisition was part of the Wipros

traditional string of pearls acquisition strategy and it shall help company to strengthen its

position in the US health insurance market.

83. The Disciplinary Committee of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) banned

Pakistan umpire Asad Rauf for 5 years on charges of corruption and misconduct.

84. The CA Institute has a new President in M Devaraja Reddy.Reddy, a resident of Hyderabad

is a fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) with more than 28

years of professional standing.

85. The RBI signed a pact with the Central Bank of the UAE to enter into a Currency Swap

Agreement, which is aimed at strengthening economic ties with the Gulf nation.

86. 1st Mega Food Park (MFP) of Madhya Pradesh was inaugurated at Panwa village in

Kasarwad tehsil of Khargone district.

87. .World Radio Day was observed globally on 13 February 2016 with the theme Radio inTimes of Emergency and Disaster.


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88. Ashok Chawla has been appointed as Chairman of The Energy and Resources Institute

(TERI). He was selected by the Governing Council of TERI and succeed noted scientist B V

Sreekantan.

89.T he 3-day long annual World Government Summit (WGS) concluded in Dubai, the UAE.

The summit was 4th in the series since the launch of WGS in 2013 by the UAE Government.

90. The West Indies lifted their maiden ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup title. In the final

played at Mirpur, West Indies defeated three time champions India by five wickets.

91. President Pranab Mukherjee conferred Infosys Prize 2015 on sixwinners in New Delhi. The

awards were received by Prof Umesh Waghmare, Prof Jonardon Ganeri, Dr Amit Sharma, Prof

Mahan Mj, Prof G Ravindra Kumar and Dr Srinath Raghavan.

92. Sania Mirza and her Swiss partner Martina Hingis won the 2016 St. Petersburg Ladies

Trophy in St. Petersburg, Russia.

To win the title, the top-seeded Indo-Swiss pair defeated the Russian-Czech team of VeraDushevina and Barbora Krejcikova by 6-3 6-1 in the womens doubles final.

93. LAMITYE 2016, the 7th joint military training exercise between the Indian Army and the

Seychelles Peoples Defence Forces (SPDF) began on 15 February 2016.

94. Nagaland is changing, But..., a film on conservation efforts by villagers, won the Golden

Beaver Best Film Award in the institutional category at the 6th National Science Film Festivaland Competition in Mumbai.

95. anada, United States (US) and Mexico have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)

on Climate Change and Energy Collaboration to tap into energy cooperation among threecountries.

96. Mysuru has topped the sanitation survey 'Swachh Survekshan 2016' under the Swachh BharatMission. While Chandigarh is second in the ranking, Tiruchirapalli has come in third.

97. Pakistans Sindh Assembly today passed the Hindu Marriage Bill making the province the

first in the country to allow the minority community to register their marriages, amid calls from aleading Hindu group to remove a controversial clause in the landmark bill.

98. Bollywood actress Vidya Balan has been awarded with the Pride of Kerala Award by theWorld Malayalee Council and Kairali TV. National award-winning actress hails from Kerala and

had made her debut in Bollywood in 2005 in Parineeta.

99. Indias Ambassador to Tajikistan Biraja Prasad passed away following a massive cardiacarrest. He was the youngest Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer to be appointed as Indias

Ambassador to any country.

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Current Affairs of 1-15 February 2016

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