Current Affairs 1/2/13 to 28/2/13
Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2013 11:02 am
1.Samuel Yin, head of Ruentex Group, of Taiwan tycoon is funding to establish Tang Prize Foundation with an initial endowment of $103 million. It has been named after the Tang Dynasty of 618-907 ADwhich is venerated by the Chinese for its cultural and scientific achievements.
2.Milos Zeman has won presidential poll of Czech Republic by his defeating opponent Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg. Mr Zeman will replace current president Vaclav Klaus, who completes his term in March,2013 after his 10 years regime.
3.Mali’s cultural heritage got a shock when militants set ablaze a building that housed priceless ancient manuscripts in country’s fabled desert city of Timbuktu, where the French-led troops are making a speedy advance towards north.
4.India has advanced towards completing its nuclear triad capability by successfully test firing a nuclear-capable medium range K-5 ballistic missile from an underwater platform in Bay of Bengal.
5.World’s 4th largest mobile operator by customers, Bharti Airtel, will appoint Manoj Kohli as its Managing Director.
Kohli’s elevation will see Bharti Airtel founder Sunil Mittal become its executive chairman.
6.China gave green light for the construction of three new hydropower dams on the middle reaches of the Brahmaputra River, ending a two-year halt in approving new projects on the river amid concerns from India and environmental groups.
Where these dams would be built?
The three dams will be built at following sites:
A 640 MW dam will be built in Dagu, 18 km upstream of Zangmu.
320 MW dam will be built at Jiacha, also on the middle reaches of the Brahmaputura downstream of Zangmu.
At Jiexu, 11 km upstream of Zangmu.
7.India’s largest public sector bank, State Bank of India, has cut its base rate (minimum lending rate) marginally from current 9.75% to 9.70%.The decision came following RBI cut its key policy rate and the cash reserve ratio by 25 basis points each. The effect of central bank’s move is also visible as HDFC bank has reduced interests on auto loan by up to 50 basis points without altering its base rate, which is currently at 9.70%. The interest rate on car loans has been cut by 25 basis points to the 10.50-11.50 % range.
8.The tea production of India surpassed the 1 billion mark after it was supported by small tea cultivators. The achievement was made following a major exercise initiated by the industry regulator, the Tea Board of India, to bring within the net all segments of tea producers — organised and unorganised — many of whom were not reporting their crop statistics. This step revealed that India had actually produced 75 million kg more than the 988 million it was estimated to have produced b/w January and December 2011.
9.Now, people can subscribe to Office 365 as a service in the Internet cloud, obviating the need to buy the popular productivity software on a disk.
How would it benefit users?
This service would allow the customers to use the suite of programs for documents, spreadsheets, presentations and other tasks on as many as five devices. Customers can subscribe to Office 365 at the cost of $100 a year. Documents or other files created using Office programs can be saved at Microsoft’s online SkyDrive with storage space advanced to 27 gigabytes for subscribers.
10.Developer of Blackberry, Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM) is changing its name to BlackBerry to refresh its tarnished image as it begins marketing a reengineered line of BlackBerry 10 smartphones.
CEO of the company Thorsten Heins announced this as the company formally launched the BlackBerry 10, evincing the company’s hopes to regain lost ground in the smartphone market it once dominated.
11.India has stumbled nine places to 140th position in the list of 179 countries in the latest World Press Freedom Index2013. India’s show is worst since 2002. The decline is attributed to increasing impunity for violence against journalists and because internet censorship continues to grow.
China moved a position up at 173rd rank showing little signs of improvement.
The list is topped by three European countries – Finland, Netherlands and Norway.
At the bottom of the list are Turkmenistan, North Korea and Eritrea.
The Maldives crashed to 103rd spot losing 30 places.
Pakistan stood at 159th rank after losing 8 positions and Nepal slipped 12 positions down to 118th spot.
12.Democratic Senator from Massachusetts and former presidential candidate John Kerry chosen as U.S. President Barack Obama’s Secretary of State. He replaced incumbent Ms Hillary Clinton.
Mr. Kerry had lost out to George W. Bush in the 2004 presidential election.
13.Indian American scientist Rangaswamy Srinivasan has been honored with the prestigious 2011 National Medal of Technology and Innovation by U.S. President Barack Obama.
14.Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been appointed as vice-president of India Cements, a company which is headed by BCCI President N Srinivasan.
India Cements are the owners of IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings of which Dhoni has been the captain since 2008 and Srinivasan is the Managing Director-cum-vice-chairman of the company.
15.The first triangular India-US-Africa partnership in agricultural training was inaugurated by India and the US at the National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management (MANAGE), Hyderabad.
The objective of this program is to improve agricultural productivity, strengthen agricultural value chains, and support market institutions in 3 African countries namely Kenya, Liberia, and Malawi. It is supported by the United States Agency for International Development(USAID), India’s Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Agriculture.
The Programme is being implemented by India’s National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management (MANAGE), Hyderabad, and the Chaudhary Charan Singh National Institute of Agricultural Marketing (NIAM), Jaipur.
16.Pakistan has handed over the operations responsibility of its strategically located Gwadar port to China’s Overseas Port Holdings. Previously it was with Singapore’s PSA (Port of Singapore Authority) International.
17.Visakhapatanam (popularly known as Vizag) district of Andhra Pradesh was given a national award for successfully implementing the Mahatma Gandhi NREGS and thereby improving social equality.
18.Two PSUs BHEL and GAIL have been conferred with the Maharatna status by the government. This will provide them greater financial and functional autonomy and also ensure better valuation for their shares.
A Maharatna firm can take investment decision of up to Rs 5,000 crore without going to the government.
For Navratna firms, this limit is Rs 1,000 crore.
19.P.R. Vasudeva Rao has been appointed as the new director of the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR).
20.SEBI is planning to introduce color-coded Mutual Fund (MF) products which will inform investors about the level of risk involved with the instrument.
21.India has promised a donation of $2.5 million as humanitarian assistance for over 2 million Syrians displaced by the ongoing conflict in the country. India announced the aid in an international conference of donors on Syria inaugurated by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. The assistance could be in the form of life saving drugs, food and other essential items. India also expressed opposition to foreign military intervention in Syria.
22.India handed over a Dornier 228 surveillance aircraft to Seychelles. The maritime surveillance aircraft will be used to guard the extensive coastline of the island nation in the Indian Ocean.
23.The Union Cabinet approved the amendments proposed in the Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) Act, 1976
Objective:
To enhance authorized and issued capital to strengthen their capital base.
The term of the non official directors appointed by the Central Government is proposed to be fixed not exceeding 2 years.
How these amendments will it help RRBs?
These amendments are aimed at bringing financial stability in RRBs which will make then capable to play a larger role in financial inclusion and meet the credit requirements of rural areas and strengthen the Boards of RRBs.
24.Distinguished scientist and vice-chancellor of Banaras Hindu University (BHU) Lalji Singh, has been selected for the prestigious Dr Y Nayudamma memorial award for the year 2012.
25.As per BP World Energy Outlook 2030, India will overtake US as second largest coal consumer in 2024. Currently, China is the largest consumer of coal in the world.
26.The Union Cabinet has approved the proposals submitted by the Department of Personnel & Training for moving official amendments to the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill, 2011.
The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill, 2011 was referred to a Select Committee of the Rajya Sabha for examination and report.
27.Manmohan Singh to assist the PM’s council on climate change in implementing the 8 missions of the National Action Plan of Climate Change (NAPCC).
The absence of Inter-ministerial coordination has crippled the implementation of the missions resulting in the setting up of the executive panel on climate change to be headed by principal secretary to Prime Minister Pulok Chatterji.
28.India’s largest private sector bank, ICICI Bank has partnered with Aircel to launch a mobile banking service, ‘Mobile Money’.
With the help of this service the unbanked customers of these two companies will be able to transfer money securely and instantly through their mobile phones without getting connected to data services.
29.NASA launched an unmanned Atlas V rocket carrying the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS). It is a communication satellite to stay in touch with its space station astronauts and relay more Hubble telescope images.
This is the 11th TDRS satellite to be launched by NASA. The space agency uses the orbiting network to communicate with astronauts living on the International Space Station.
NASA needs at least 7 TDRS satellites working in orbit at any one time. This launch will make eight.
30.India and Gibraltar have inked a Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) that among other things calls for transparent sharing of information.
This is the 13th TIEA being signed by India.
31.Renowned pace bowlers Glenn McGrath and Charlie Turner have been inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame. Charlie Turner took 6-15 on test debut at Sydney in 1887. He died in 1944. Turner took 101 wickets in 17 test matches b/w the time period of 1887 and 1895.
32.Michael Clarke bags his 4th Allan Border Medal
Australian Cricket Team’s skipper Michael Clarke has won his fourth Allan Border Medal. Previously, he won the medal in 2005, 2009 and 2012 medals. With this Clarke equalized Ricky Ponting who had also achieved this feat in past.
33.Movie star Jackie Chan and the 2012 winner of Nobel prize for literature Mo Yan has been selected as members of one of the houses of Chinese parliament, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).
34.Famous painter of Bengal School, Shanu Lahiri (85) passed away. She was the winner of President’s Gold Medal.
35.The Solicitor General of India, senior advocate Rohinton F Nariman has resigned from the post amid speculation that the decision came over his differences with the Law ministry. Nariman has not stated any reason for quitting his post.
The Solicitor General of India is the second senior most law officer of the country.
36.C R Naseer Ahmed has been appointed as the Director of Syndicate Bank. The Government of India has nominated Ahmed as part-time non-official director on the Board of Directors of Syndicate Bank for a period of 3 years.
37.South Africa was declared as the world number one team in the ICC Test Cricket Rankings. It is followed by England, Australia, Pakistan and India. India was at 5th spot.
South African batsman Hashim Amla has emerged as the best batsman in the category and with this he became the first batsman to hold the number one position in both Test and One-day format of the game since 2007, before this Ricky Pointing was the cricketer to achieve this feat.
In the bowling rankings, Dale Steyn, the South African bowler held the top spot followed by his teammate, Vernan Philander.
Pragyan Ojha is the only one from Indian side to figure in the top ten bowlers in the test rankings.
38.A book titled Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and Germany compiled by Professor Anita B. Pfaff was given to the President of India Pranab Mukherjee. The book was published by the Federation of Indo-German Societies in India.
The book tells interesting facts about the life of Netaji and his contribution to freedom struggle of India.
39.30 Indian software product companies have decided to form a new association called the Indian Software Product Industry Round Table, or “iSpirt”.
Why this separation?
Software companies involved in forming the new group have felt the need to create a new body which would be a group of Software Products companies rather than IT services companies like TCS, Infosys, and Wipro etc. which dominate NASSCOM. The objective is to bring all the software product companies (large and small) to share expertise and experiences, and create a larger awareness in society and government about the critical role the industry can play and something they believe they cannot effectively do under the larger NASSCOM umbrella. They have named the new body as Indian Software Product Industry Round Table, or iSpirt. Founding companies include Tally Solutions, QuickHeal, InMobi, Nucleus software, and industry stalwarts. The idea is to create and promote mass-solution software that can be bought off the shelf, like MS Windows or Office. The new association’s members want to offer education software for all schools rather than just IITs/IIMs.
The thirty founding members are led by Bharat Goenka, co-founder of Tally Solutions, Sharad Sharma, former head of Yahoo India R&D, startup mentor and founder of Brand Sigma, Naveen Tewari, founder of In-Mobi , and Vishnu Dusad, founder of Nucleus Software.
40.Corporation Bank has rolled out two new types of savings accounts namely SB Super and SB Signature.
A customer should maintain a minimum Quarterly Average Balance (QAB) of Rs 15,000 for SB Super and Rs 1 lakh for SB Signature.
41.Punjab National Bank which is India’s second-largest bank has acquired a 30% stake in the Indian subsidiary of the biggest US life insurer MetLife at an unrevealed amount.
42.As per the warnings of India Ratings, the national savings rate will further plunge to 30% or so this fiscal, from 30.8% of the GDP last fiscal, if the advance estimates of national income are considered.
43.Following the target of Rs. 30,000 to be raised through disinvestment in this fiscal, the government has sold 9.5% share of NTPC through Offer for Sale (OFS) through which the government mobilized about Rs 11,400 crore (about $2.1 billion).
44.Renowned artist L.N. Tallur from Karnataka, whose works portray majorly the underbelly of India, has won the Rs. 1 million Skoda Prize 2012 for contemporary art.
In his exhibition titled “Quintessential” Mr. Tallur narrates his theory of ‘5th dimension’. He believes, when an object of art is ‘museumised’, it creates a fifth dimension, and is a further addition to Einstein’s 4 dimensions (time-space).
Artist Rohini Devasher won the Skoda’s 2012 Art India Breakthrough Artist Award.
45.The Telecom operator Aircel has launched a new service called ‘Mobile Money’ in collaboration with ICICI Bank and Visa to enable its customers transfer money, pay bills and withdraw cash by using only their mobile phones—without having to make a trip to the bank or an ATM. It is similar to Vodafone’s M-Pesa service which first pioneered to great success in Africa.
The service will be initially rolled out in Tamil Nadu, specifically for the Chennai – Tirunelveli corridor – to help migrant labourers send back money to their villages.
46.Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad became the first Iranian leader to visit Egypt after Tehran’s 1979 Islamic revolution. He visited Egypt capital Cairo for attending the summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
47.Google has unveiled its first ever mapping competition in India – Mapathon 2013. It is a nationwide mapping contest open to anyone who lives in India. Google will give prizes to top 1000 mappers who will win Android tablets, smartphones, gift vouchers and Google merchandise.
48.Kotak Mahindra Bank has acquired the business loans portfolio from Barclays Bank plc India branch and Barclays Investment and Loan (India Ltd) for an undisclosed sum.
49.U.S. largest credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) is in trouble as country’s Justice Department is planning to file civil fraud charges against the agency accusing it of inflating the ratings of mortgage investments which crashed when the financial turbulence occurred.
50.YES Bank has been awarded the Financial Institutions Syndicated Deal of the Year 2012 in its Asia Pacific Region. The award was given for $155 million loan syndicated by YES bank which was distributed across 9 different countries from 14 banks.
The award was given away by Asia Pacific Loan Market Association (APLMA), which is a leading trade association for syndicated loan market in this region.
51.The Central Government has nominated Mr. C R Naseer Ahmed as part-time non-official director on the Board of Directors of the Bank for a period of three years from February 01, 2013 or until further orders, whichever is earlier.Source.
52.Researchers have discovered the world’s largest prime number which consists of over 17 million digits.
The number has now shot up to 2 multiplied by itself 57,885,161 times minus 1.
The finding was made as part of the Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search (GIMPS).
What is GIMPS?
GIMPS is a distributed computing project designed to discover a particular kind of prime number first identified in the 17th century.
All prime numbers can only be divided by themselves and 1.
53.Late sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Grammy award, which was jointly accepted by his musically gifted daughters Anoushka Shankar and Norah Jones.
54.Ranchi Rhinos has won the maiden Hockey India League (HIL). They defeated Delhi Waveriders in the final match of the tournament. With this Delhi Waveriders took second position followed by Uttar Pradesh Wizards.
Awards from the Hockey India League (HIL):
Hero Goal of the Day: Manpreet Singh
Man-of the-Match: Mauritz Furtse
Fair-Play Award: Ranchi Rhinos
Hero Player of the Tournament: Sardar Singh
Ponty Chadha Trophy for Upcoming Player of the Tournament: Mandeep Singh
Airtel Award for Most Goals in the Tournament: Delhi Waveriders
55.Sachin Tendulkar has equalled Sunil Gavaskar’s record of most first-class hundreds by smashing an unbeaten century against Rest of India in the Irani Cup.
Tendulakar equaled Gavaskar’s record of 81 first-class hundreds. It was Tendulkar’s 30th domestic hundred to add to the 51 Test tons, which are also taken into account in the first-class count.
56.Researchers have built the world’s first complete bionic man named “Rex”.
Rex, which is on display in UK, has the face of a man, prosthetic limbs, a functional artificial blood circulatory system and artificial organs, including a pancreas, kidney, spleen and trachea. At 6.5-feet tall, Rex is valued at a whopping $1 million.
57.NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity drilled into the Martian surface for the first time as part of an effort to investigate if the planet ever had conditions to support microbial life.
Previous Mars probes have had tools to scrape and grind into rock, but never a drill to collect interior samples.
The rover is on a two-year mission and is looking for geologic and chemical conditions needed to support and preserve microbial life. Its ultimate target is a 3-mile- (5-km) high mound of layered sediment rising from the floor of the Gale Crater where it had landed.
58.India bagged 46 Medals in 2013 Special Olympics World Winter Games in Pyeongchang (South Korea)
India clinched record 46 medals in the 2013 Pyeongchang Special Olympics World Winter Games. The games were organized at Pyeongchang and Gangneung in South Korea. India’s medal tally includes 13 gold, 17 silver and 16 bronze from mentally-challenged. The medal tally of India doubled from World Winter Games 2009.
59.The Forest Advisory Committee, under the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF), has granted clearance to hydro projects worth 2,500 mega watts (MW) across various States. The projects approved include the 800-MW Tawang-II hydroelectric project in Arunachal Pradesh, the 520-MW Teesta-IV project in Sikkim, and Luhri project (775 MW) in Himachal Pradesh.
The National Board for Wild Life has also given wildlife clearance to Vishnugad Pipalkoti hydroelectric project (444 MW) in Uttarakhand. However, it would still need clearance from the State Board of Wild Life.
60.Kalyan Kumar Chakravarty , a 1970 batch retired IAS officer has been appointed as the new chairman of Lalit Kala Akademi. The appointment was cleared by the President Pranab Mukherjee.
61.World Radio Day was observed across the globe on February 13 to celebrate radio as a medium; to improve international cooperation between broadcasters; and to encourage major networks and community radio alike to promote access to information and freedom of expression over the airwaves. This day was proclaimed on 3 November 2011 by UNESCO’s 36th General Conference.
62.Prime Minister of Bhutan, Lyonchhen Jigmi Y. Thinley made a home visit to India.
His visit was aimed at improving India-Bhutan bilateral ties.
63.India’s GDP growth projections by other agencies for current fiscal 2012-13:
As per the RBI: 5.5%
As per the Finance Ministry: 5.7 to 5.9%
As per the IMF: 5.4%
54.‘Operation Three Star’ was the code name of the top secret execution plan in which Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru was sent to gallows in the high-security Tihar Jail on February 9, 2013.
Afzal Guru was found guilty of conspiring and sheltering the militants who attacked Parliament on December 13, 2001, in which nine persons were killed.
55.Pope Benedict XVI has announced that he would resign at the end of this month after as the head of the Catholic Church citing old age and poor health to continue.
56.The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) has raised the equity investment limit for the Insurance companies to 15% up from existing 10%.
57.North Korea confirmed the third nuclear test it conducted underground, a move that has been widely condemned across the globe including China. North Korea confirmed that it successfully carried out an underground nuclear test of a new, "miniaturised" device. The announcement that the detonated device was "miniaturised" will raise alarm around the globe, with its suggestion that Pyongyang has mastered the technically complex process of producing a warhead small enough to fit on a long-range missile.
58.The1939 born Parle-G glucose biscuit brand of Parle Products has become the first Indian FMCG brand to cross the Rs 5,000-crore mark in retail sales in a year.
In 2012, Parle Products sold Rs 5,010 crore worth of its flagship glucose biscuit brand at retail price, besting the entire domestic sales of Dabur or Godrej products and selling three times more than Maggi noodles. It sells more than 100 crore packets across sizes every month.
Parle Products was set up by Mohanlal Dayal Chauhan in 1929 at Vile-Parle, a Mumbai suburb.
59.Iran test-fired a surface-to-surface cruise missile named “Ghader”, which means Capable in Farsi, in international waters near the Strait of Hormuz.
60.Market regulator Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) ordered freezing of bank accounts and attachment of properties of two Sahara group firms – Sahara Housing Investment Corporation Ltd (SHICL) and Sahara India Real Estate Corporation Ltd (SIRECL), and top executives, including its chairman Subrata Roy for failing to refund more than Rs. 24,000 crore to investors.
61.Mohan Parasaran has been appointed as the new Solicitor General of India following the resignation of senior advocate Rohinton Nariman from the post. Mr Parasaran, who is currently the Additional Solicitor General, is a senior advocate of the Supreme Court.
62.Angelo Mathews has been selected as Sri Lanka’s Test and one-day international captain for the rest of 2013. He took the reins from Mahela Jayawardene, who recently nominated Mathews to replace him.
63.Asoke Kumar Mukerji, currently Special Secretary at headquarters, has been appointed as the next Ambassador/Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations at New York.
64.Child’s Pose (Poziţia Copilului) by Romanian director Călin Peter Netzer was awarded the Golden Bear at the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival.
The Alfred Bauer Prize (Silver Bear) went to ‘An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker’ by Danis Tanović
Best Director Award was given to David Gordon Green for ‘Prince Avalanche’.
India-based documentary ‘Salma’ by British filmmaker Kim Longinotto bagged the second place in Panorama Audience awards at Berlinale.
65.A meteor which was about 17 metres across and weighed 10,000 tons impacted Earth nearly 30 to 50 km above the ground near Russian city Chelyabinsk. The meteor is also being said as the largest celestial body to have hit the Earth over the past hundred years. Shock waves from its explosion over Chelyabinsk injured 1,200 people and shattered doors and windows of houses, schools and hospitals.
66.Former Chief Justice of Karnataka, Bhaskar Rao, has been appointed as the Lokayukta of Karnatka. The chair of the anti-corruption ombudsman was vacant after previous Lokayukta Justice Shivraj V. Patil was forced to resign after the media expose of illegal land allotments in 2011.
67.High-jumper Padma Shri awardee Girisha Hosanagara Nagarajegowda who bagged silver medal in London paralympics has become brand ambassador of nutrition company Herbalife.
68.In the women’s cricket World Cup tournament, Australia beat West Indies by 114 runs in the final match played in Mumbai to win the title.
69.India’s trade deficit surged to a three-month high of $20 billion despite some stingy improvement by 0.82% growth at $25.58 billion in January. The growth, however, does not seem to provide much help in attaining the $350 billion export target for 2012-13.
70.The K.M. Chandrashekhar committee formed to unify foreign investment norms met for the first time.
71.A consortium of banks which includes Bank of India, Indian Bank and Central Bank of India has agreed to lend Rs. 937 crore for the 1,000-MW NTPL power project, a joint venture of the Neyveli Lignite Corporation and the Tamil Nadu Power Generation and Distribution Corporation. The project is being set up at Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu. The project would be taken up at an estimated cost of Rs. 4,909.54 crore.
72.Self-Employed Women’s Association of India (SEWA) founder Ela R Bhatt has been conferred with the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development for the year 2011.
The Prize has been awarded to Bhatt for her lifetime achievements in comprehensively empowering women in India and elsewhere through grassroots entrepreneurship.
73.Around 140 nations will adopt the world’s first legally binding treaty on mercury.
Objective: The Treaty aims at reducing global emission levels of the toxic heavy metal also known as quicksilver, which poses risks to human health and the environment.
Nations will be asked to ink the treaty next October in Minamata, Japan, in honour of the town’s inhabitants who for decades have suffered the consequences of serious mercury contamination.
74.Former Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata has been honored with ‘Ernst & Young life time achievement award’ 2013 for ‘asserting a greater role for Indian entrepreneurs on the global business landscape’.
Godrej Group Chairman Adi Godrej has been given the ‘Entrepreneur of the year (2012)’ award.
75.The Union Cabinet has given nod to merger of Bharat Heavy Plate & Vessels Ltd. (BHPVL) Vishakhapatnam with Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), New Delhi.
76.Former chairman of Life Insurance Corporation, T.S. Vijayan took over as the chairman of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA).
77.World football’s governing body FIFA has announced that goal-line technology will be used during the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
78.Hari Shankar Singhania (79), one of India’s most distinguished industrialists, passed away.
Singhania was president of JK Organization
In 2003, he was awarded Padma Bhushan
He was the second Indian to serve as president of International Chamber of Commerce, Paris, during 1993-94.
79.Technology magnates, including Google co-founder Sergey Brin and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, have launched a $15-million annual Breakthrough Prize for Life Sciences to reward outstanding scientific achievements in life sciences.
80.Justice (Retd) Ms Usha Mehra Commission submitted its report to the Government.
The Commission was constituted on 26th December, 2012.
Objective: To enquire into various aspects of the incidence of brutal assault to a young woman in Delhi on December 16, 2012.
The Commission was asked to submit its report within 3 months and the Commission has submitted it before time.
81.AirAsia: Malaysia’s no-frills carrier
AirAsia has applied to the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) to join hands with the Tata Group Arun Bhatia’s Telestra Tradeplace to enter the aviation sector.
Stakes in the Joint-Venture:
AirAsia: 49%
Tata Sons Ltd.: 30%
Hindustan Aviation: 21
If the proposal is approved by the FIPB, then the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) will be approached for a permit to commence operations.
Tata Sons will not have any operating role in the airline.
82.With a production of 589 million Kgs in 2011 and 588 million Kgs 2012, Assam has become the first state in India to produce over 500 million kilogram tea for two years in a row.
The North East Tea Association, a premium body of the tea planters held that over Rs 7500s crore rupee turn over was recorded in Assam tea sector last year.
Around 7 lakh workers are engaged in the tea sector of which 50% are women.
83.“W49B”: The Youngest black hole in our galaxy discovered by the ScientistsFebruary 26th, 2013.Recent data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory has spotted the youngest black hole yet in the Milky Way galaxy named “W49B”.
W49B is just 1000-years-old and only 26,000 light-years away from Earth.
84.Arun Tadanki, Managing Director, India & Southeast Asia, declared his decision to leave Yahoo.
85.Highlights of the Rail Budget 2013-14 as presented by Railway Minister Mr. P.K. Bansal relating to the following Headings:
Manufacturing:
A new wheel factory to be set up at Rae Bareli
A greenfield Mainline Electrical Multiple Units (MEMU) manufacturing facility at Bhilwara (Rajasthan) in collaboration with State Government and BHEL.
Six more Rail Neer bottling plants to be set up
Coach Manufacturing Unit in Sonepat District (Haryana) in collaboration with State Government.
A Midlife Rehabilitation Workshop at Kurnool (Andhra Pradesh) in
collaboration with the State Government.
Bikaner and Pratapgarh workshops to undertake POH of BG wagons.
A workshop for repair and rehabilitation of motorized bogies at Misrod
(Madhya Pradesh).
A new wagon maintenance workshop in Kalahandi (Odisha).
A modern signaling equipment facility at Chandigarh through PPP route.
Environment:
Railway energy Management Company (REMC) to be set up to harness solar and wind energy
1,000 crossings to be energized by solar power
Deployment of new generation energy efficient electric locomotives and EMUs.
More usage of agro-based and recycled paper and ban use of plastic in
catering.
Jobs:
1.51 lakh vacancies to be filled up
Technology:
Locomotive cabs to be air-conditioned
Free Wi-Fi to be provided on some trains
e-ticketing via mobile phones
SMS alerts for passengers on reservation status
Smoke and fire detection system to be installed
Internet booking to be strengthened with next-generation e-ticketing system to eliminate delays. Next generation e-ticketing system by end of 2013
179 escalators and 400 lifts at A 1 and other select stations
Induction of crash worthy LHB coaches with anti-climb feature.
Using 60 kg rails, 260 meter long welded rail panels and improved flash
butt welding technology.
Extension of Unreserved Ticketing System (UTS), Automatic Ticket Vending Machines (ATVMs), Coin-operated Ticket Vending Machines (CO-TVMs) and schme of Jan-Sadharan Ticket Booking Sevaks (JTBSs).
Safety:
Fire extinguishers to be kept in guard vans
Smoke and fire detection system to be installed
Raised four companies of women RPF personnel, and another eight to be raised for women’s safety
Seventeen bridges identified for repair
Special A/C coaches ‘Anubhuti’, to be introduced in select Shatabdi and Rajdhani trains to give excellent ambience with commensurate fareIntroduction of Train Protection Warning System on Automatic
Signalling Systems.
Induction of crash worthy LHB coaches with anti-climb feature.
Using 60 kg rails, 260 meter long welded rail panels and improved flash
butt welding technology.
Use of fire retardant furnishing materials in coaches.
Measures initiated to deal with elephant related accidents.
Four companies of women RPF personnel set up and another 8 to be set up to strengthen the security of rail passengers, especially women passengers.
Recruitment to RPF with 10% vacancies reserved for women.
Introductions:
Azadi Express to be introduced to travel to places associated with freedom struggle
Common rail-bus ticket to be introduced for Katra-Vaishnodevi pilgrims
Internet booking to be provided from 0030 hours to 2330 hours
Identification of 104 stations for upgradation in places with more than one million population and of religious significance
Special A/C coaches ‘Anubhuti’, to be introduced in select Shatabdi and Rajdhani trains to give excellent ambience with commensurate fare
‘Fuel Adjustment Component’ concept to be implemented linking tariffs
with movement of fuel prices;
Other Targets/Plans:
By end of 2013-14, 1,500 km of contracts to be awarded for two dedicated rail corridors
Rs 1 lakh crore target set for public-private-partnership route
Corporate plan for 10 years to be drawn up
Aim to eliminate 31,846 level crossings
Planning Commission pegged 12th Plan at Rs.125.19 lakh crore
Making a Corporate Safety Plan for a ten year period (2014-2024).
Funds:
Rs.100 crore for improving stations in New Delhi.
New fund – Debt Service Fund – to be set up to meet committed liabilities of debt servicing for WB and JICA loans for DFC and other future liabilities.
Facts presented:
Railways set to enter 1 billion ton freight club of China, Russia and US
Losses mounted from Rs.22,500 crore in 2011-12 to Rs.24,600 crore in 2012-13
Planning Commission pegged 12th Plan at Rs.125.19 lakh crore
Fall in accidents – per million accidents down from 0.41 to 0.13
Losses mounted from Rs.22,500 crore in 2011-12 to Rs.24,600 crore in 2012-13
Operating ratio expected to improve to 87.8 per cent in 2013—14 from 88.8 per cent in the current fiscal
5.2 per cent growth in passenger traffic expected in 2013—14
Railways set to enter 1 billion ton freight club of China, Russia and US
86.The government moved a motion in the Rajya Sabha which was adopted by voice vote – for the formation of a JPC (Joint Parliamentary Committee) to probe the chopper deal.
Objective: JPC to enquire into the allegations of payment of bribes in the acquisition of VVIP helicopters by the Ministry of Defence from M/s AgustaWestland and the role of alleged middlemen in the transaction.
The JPC will have 10 members from the Rajya Sabha and 20 from the Lok Sabha.
JPC shall give its report within 3 months of its first sitting.
87.The Vatican announced that the Pope Benedict XVI will be known as ‘emeritus Pope’. It also held that the Pope after his retirement will continue to wear a white cassock and will be still addressed as “Your Holiness Benedict XVI” and will have the additional title of “Roman pontiff emeritus”.
88.Park Geun-hye sworn in as South Korea’s first woman President.
Ms. Park is the daughter of South Korea’s late military strongman Park Chung-hee who seized power in 1961. He went on to rule the country for the next 18 years until his eventual assassination in 1979.
89.The Rajya Sabha approved the proclamation of the President’s Rule in Jharkhand.
Arjun Munda resigned as Chief Minister of Jharkhand after his government lost majority last month as the JMM withdrew support to the BJP-led government.
On January 18, 2013, Jharkhand was brought under the President’s Rule for the 3rd time since its formation 12 years ago.
The Rajya Sabha approved the proclamation with a voice vote after a debate.
90.ISRO launched Indo-French satellite SARAL and six foreign mini and micro spacecraft from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. Thus, PSLV-20 successfully puts seven satellites in orbit.
Some more information:
PSLV 20
23rd mission of PSLV
PSLV has an impeccable record of 21 consecutive successful flights.
9th time ISRO is using the ‘core alone’ variant of the rocket.
Besides SARAL, the other 6 mini and micro spacecrafts were:
Micro-satellite UniBRITE from Austria
Micro-satellite BRITE from Austria
AAUSAT3 from Denmark
STRaND from United Kingdom
Micro-satellite NEOSSat from Canada
Mini-satellite SAPPHIRE from Canada
91.Owing to increased popularity of Shatabdi and Rajdhani trains, there is also a demand for higher travel comfort. Thus, was felt the need for the special AC luxury class by Railway Minister and named ‘Anubhuti’ coaches. These with more facilities would be introduced in Shatabdi trains at the earliest.
92.Rajat Gupta has been ordered to pay $6.2 million for legal expenses incurred by his former employer Goldman Sachs during his trial.
2.Milos Zeman has won presidential poll of Czech Republic by his defeating opponent Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg. Mr Zeman will replace current president Vaclav Klaus, who completes his term in March,2013 after his 10 years regime.
3.Mali’s cultural heritage got a shock when militants set ablaze a building that housed priceless ancient manuscripts in country’s fabled desert city of Timbuktu, where the French-led troops are making a speedy advance towards north.
4.India has advanced towards completing its nuclear triad capability by successfully test firing a nuclear-capable medium range K-5 ballistic missile from an underwater platform in Bay of Bengal.
5.World’s 4th largest mobile operator by customers, Bharti Airtel, will appoint Manoj Kohli as its Managing Director.
Kohli’s elevation will see Bharti Airtel founder Sunil Mittal become its executive chairman.
6.China gave green light for the construction of three new hydropower dams on the middle reaches of the Brahmaputra River, ending a two-year halt in approving new projects on the river amid concerns from India and environmental groups.
Where these dams would be built?
The three dams will be built at following sites:
A 640 MW dam will be built in Dagu, 18 km upstream of Zangmu.
320 MW dam will be built at Jiacha, also on the middle reaches of the Brahmaputura downstream of Zangmu.
At Jiexu, 11 km upstream of Zangmu.
7.India’s largest public sector bank, State Bank of India, has cut its base rate (minimum lending rate) marginally from current 9.75% to 9.70%.The decision came following RBI cut its key policy rate and the cash reserve ratio by 25 basis points each. The effect of central bank’s move is also visible as HDFC bank has reduced interests on auto loan by up to 50 basis points without altering its base rate, which is currently at 9.70%. The interest rate on car loans has been cut by 25 basis points to the 10.50-11.50 % range.
8.The tea production of India surpassed the 1 billion mark after it was supported by small tea cultivators. The achievement was made following a major exercise initiated by the industry regulator, the Tea Board of India, to bring within the net all segments of tea producers — organised and unorganised — many of whom were not reporting their crop statistics. This step revealed that India had actually produced 75 million kg more than the 988 million it was estimated to have produced b/w January and December 2011.
9.Now, people can subscribe to Office 365 as a service in the Internet cloud, obviating the need to buy the popular productivity software on a disk.
How would it benefit users?
This service would allow the customers to use the suite of programs for documents, spreadsheets, presentations and other tasks on as many as five devices. Customers can subscribe to Office 365 at the cost of $100 a year. Documents or other files created using Office programs can be saved at Microsoft’s online SkyDrive with storage space advanced to 27 gigabytes for subscribers.
10.Developer of Blackberry, Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM) is changing its name to BlackBerry to refresh its tarnished image as it begins marketing a reengineered line of BlackBerry 10 smartphones.
CEO of the company Thorsten Heins announced this as the company formally launched the BlackBerry 10, evincing the company’s hopes to regain lost ground in the smartphone market it once dominated.
11.India has stumbled nine places to 140th position in the list of 179 countries in the latest World Press Freedom Index2013. India’s show is worst since 2002. The decline is attributed to increasing impunity for violence against journalists and because internet censorship continues to grow.
China moved a position up at 173rd rank showing little signs of improvement.
The list is topped by three European countries – Finland, Netherlands and Norway.
At the bottom of the list are Turkmenistan, North Korea and Eritrea.
The Maldives crashed to 103rd spot losing 30 places.
Pakistan stood at 159th rank after losing 8 positions and Nepal slipped 12 positions down to 118th spot.
12.Democratic Senator from Massachusetts and former presidential candidate John Kerry chosen as U.S. President Barack Obama’s Secretary of State. He replaced incumbent Ms Hillary Clinton.
Mr. Kerry had lost out to George W. Bush in the 2004 presidential election.
13.Indian American scientist Rangaswamy Srinivasan has been honored with the prestigious 2011 National Medal of Technology and Innovation by U.S. President Barack Obama.
14.Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been appointed as vice-president of India Cements, a company which is headed by BCCI President N Srinivasan.
India Cements are the owners of IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings of which Dhoni has been the captain since 2008 and Srinivasan is the Managing Director-cum-vice-chairman of the company.
15.The first triangular India-US-Africa partnership in agricultural training was inaugurated by India and the US at the National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management (MANAGE), Hyderabad.
The objective of this program is to improve agricultural productivity, strengthen agricultural value chains, and support market institutions in 3 African countries namely Kenya, Liberia, and Malawi. It is supported by the United States Agency for International Development(USAID), India’s Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Agriculture.
The Programme is being implemented by India’s National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management (MANAGE), Hyderabad, and the Chaudhary Charan Singh National Institute of Agricultural Marketing (NIAM), Jaipur.
16.Pakistan has handed over the operations responsibility of its strategically located Gwadar port to China’s Overseas Port Holdings. Previously it was with Singapore’s PSA (Port of Singapore Authority) International.
17.Visakhapatanam (popularly known as Vizag) district of Andhra Pradesh was given a national award for successfully implementing the Mahatma Gandhi NREGS and thereby improving social equality.
18.Two PSUs BHEL and GAIL have been conferred with the Maharatna status by the government. This will provide them greater financial and functional autonomy and also ensure better valuation for their shares.
A Maharatna firm can take investment decision of up to Rs 5,000 crore without going to the government.
For Navratna firms, this limit is Rs 1,000 crore.
19.P.R. Vasudeva Rao has been appointed as the new director of the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR).
20.SEBI is planning to introduce color-coded Mutual Fund (MF) products which will inform investors about the level of risk involved with the instrument.
21.India has promised a donation of $2.5 million as humanitarian assistance for over 2 million Syrians displaced by the ongoing conflict in the country. India announced the aid in an international conference of donors on Syria inaugurated by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. The assistance could be in the form of life saving drugs, food and other essential items. India also expressed opposition to foreign military intervention in Syria.
22.India handed over a Dornier 228 surveillance aircraft to Seychelles. The maritime surveillance aircraft will be used to guard the extensive coastline of the island nation in the Indian Ocean.
23.The Union Cabinet approved the amendments proposed in the Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) Act, 1976
Objective:
To enhance authorized and issued capital to strengthen their capital base.
The term of the non official directors appointed by the Central Government is proposed to be fixed not exceeding 2 years.
How these amendments will it help RRBs?
These amendments are aimed at bringing financial stability in RRBs which will make then capable to play a larger role in financial inclusion and meet the credit requirements of rural areas and strengthen the Boards of RRBs.
24.Distinguished scientist and vice-chancellor of Banaras Hindu University (BHU) Lalji Singh, has been selected for the prestigious Dr Y Nayudamma memorial award for the year 2012.
25.As per BP World Energy Outlook 2030, India will overtake US as second largest coal consumer in 2024. Currently, China is the largest consumer of coal in the world.
26.The Union Cabinet has approved the proposals submitted by the Department of Personnel & Training for moving official amendments to the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill, 2011.
The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill, 2011 was referred to a Select Committee of the Rajya Sabha for examination and report.
27.Manmohan Singh to assist the PM’s council on climate change in implementing the 8 missions of the National Action Plan of Climate Change (NAPCC).
The absence of Inter-ministerial coordination has crippled the implementation of the missions resulting in the setting up of the executive panel on climate change to be headed by principal secretary to Prime Minister Pulok Chatterji.
28.India’s largest private sector bank, ICICI Bank has partnered with Aircel to launch a mobile banking service, ‘Mobile Money’.
With the help of this service the unbanked customers of these two companies will be able to transfer money securely and instantly through their mobile phones without getting connected to data services.
29.NASA launched an unmanned Atlas V rocket carrying the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS). It is a communication satellite to stay in touch with its space station astronauts and relay more Hubble telescope images.
This is the 11th TDRS satellite to be launched by NASA. The space agency uses the orbiting network to communicate with astronauts living on the International Space Station.
NASA needs at least 7 TDRS satellites working in orbit at any one time. This launch will make eight.
30.India and Gibraltar have inked a Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) that among other things calls for transparent sharing of information.
This is the 13th TIEA being signed by India.
31.Renowned pace bowlers Glenn McGrath and Charlie Turner have been inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame. Charlie Turner took 6-15 on test debut at Sydney in 1887. He died in 1944. Turner took 101 wickets in 17 test matches b/w the time period of 1887 and 1895.
32.Michael Clarke bags his 4th Allan Border Medal
Australian Cricket Team’s skipper Michael Clarke has won his fourth Allan Border Medal. Previously, he won the medal in 2005, 2009 and 2012 medals. With this Clarke equalized Ricky Ponting who had also achieved this feat in past.
33.Movie star Jackie Chan and the 2012 winner of Nobel prize for literature Mo Yan has been selected as members of one of the houses of Chinese parliament, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).
34.Famous painter of Bengal School, Shanu Lahiri (85) passed away. She was the winner of President’s Gold Medal.
35.The Solicitor General of India, senior advocate Rohinton F Nariman has resigned from the post amid speculation that the decision came over his differences with the Law ministry. Nariman has not stated any reason for quitting his post.
The Solicitor General of India is the second senior most law officer of the country.
36.C R Naseer Ahmed has been appointed as the Director of Syndicate Bank. The Government of India has nominated Ahmed as part-time non-official director on the Board of Directors of Syndicate Bank for a period of 3 years.
37.South Africa was declared as the world number one team in the ICC Test Cricket Rankings. It is followed by England, Australia, Pakistan and India. India was at 5th spot.
South African batsman Hashim Amla has emerged as the best batsman in the category and with this he became the first batsman to hold the number one position in both Test and One-day format of the game since 2007, before this Ricky Pointing was the cricketer to achieve this feat.
In the bowling rankings, Dale Steyn, the South African bowler held the top spot followed by his teammate, Vernan Philander.
Pragyan Ojha is the only one from Indian side to figure in the top ten bowlers in the test rankings.
38.A book titled Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and Germany compiled by Professor Anita B. Pfaff was given to the President of India Pranab Mukherjee. The book was published by the Federation of Indo-German Societies in India.
The book tells interesting facts about the life of Netaji and his contribution to freedom struggle of India.
39.30 Indian software product companies have decided to form a new association called the Indian Software Product Industry Round Table, or “iSpirt”.
Why this separation?
Software companies involved in forming the new group have felt the need to create a new body which would be a group of Software Products companies rather than IT services companies like TCS, Infosys, and Wipro etc. which dominate NASSCOM. The objective is to bring all the software product companies (large and small) to share expertise and experiences, and create a larger awareness in society and government about the critical role the industry can play and something they believe they cannot effectively do under the larger NASSCOM umbrella. They have named the new body as Indian Software Product Industry Round Table, or iSpirt. Founding companies include Tally Solutions, QuickHeal, InMobi, Nucleus software, and industry stalwarts. The idea is to create and promote mass-solution software that can be bought off the shelf, like MS Windows or Office. The new association’s members want to offer education software for all schools rather than just IITs/IIMs.
The thirty founding members are led by Bharat Goenka, co-founder of Tally Solutions, Sharad Sharma, former head of Yahoo India R&D, startup mentor and founder of Brand Sigma, Naveen Tewari, founder of In-Mobi , and Vishnu Dusad, founder of Nucleus Software.
40.Corporation Bank has rolled out two new types of savings accounts namely SB Super and SB Signature.
A customer should maintain a minimum Quarterly Average Balance (QAB) of Rs 15,000 for SB Super and Rs 1 lakh for SB Signature.
41.Punjab National Bank which is India’s second-largest bank has acquired a 30% stake in the Indian subsidiary of the biggest US life insurer MetLife at an unrevealed amount.
42.As per the warnings of India Ratings, the national savings rate will further plunge to 30% or so this fiscal, from 30.8% of the GDP last fiscal, if the advance estimates of national income are considered.
43.Following the target of Rs. 30,000 to be raised through disinvestment in this fiscal, the government has sold 9.5% share of NTPC through Offer for Sale (OFS) through which the government mobilized about Rs 11,400 crore (about $2.1 billion).
44.Renowned artist L.N. Tallur from Karnataka, whose works portray majorly the underbelly of India, has won the Rs. 1 million Skoda Prize 2012 for contemporary art.
In his exhibition titled “Quintessential” Mr. Tallur narrates his theory of ‘5th dimension’. He believes, when an object of art is ‘museumised’, it creates a fifth dimension, and is a further addition to Einstein’s 4 dimensions (time-space).
Artist Rohini Devasher won the Skoda’s 2012 Art India Breakthrough Artist Award.
45.The Telecom operator Aircel has launched a new service called ‘Mobile Money’ in collaboration with ICICI Bank and Visa to enable its customers transfer money, pay bills and withdraw cash by using only their mobile phones—without having to make a trip to the bank or an ATM. It is similar to Vodafone’s M-Pesa service which first pioneered to great success in Africa.
The service will be initially rolled out in Tamil Nadu, specifically for the Chennai – Tirunelveli corridor – to help migrant labourers send back money to their villages.
46.Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad became the first Iranian leader to visit Egypt after Tehran’s 1979 Islamic revolution. He visited Egypt capital Cairo for attending the summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
47.Google has unveiled its first ever mapping competition in India – Mapathon 2013. It is a nationwide mapping contest open to anyone who lives in India. Google will give prizes to top 1000 mappers who will win Android tablets, smartphones, gift vouchers and Google merchandise.
48.Kotak Mahindra Bank has acquired the business loans portfolio from Barclays Bank plc India branch and Barclays Investment and Loan (India Ltd) for an undisclosed sum.
49.U.S. largest credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) is in trouble as country’s Justice Department is planning to file civil fraud charges against the agency accusing it of inflating the ratings of mortgage investments which crashed when the financial turbulence occurred.
50.YES Bank has been awarded the Financial Institutions Syndicated Deal of the Year 2012 in its Asia Pacific Region. The award was given for $155 million loan syndicated by YES bank which was distributed across 9 different countries from 14 banks.
The award was given away by Asia Pacific Loan Market Association (APLMA), which is a leading trade association for syndicated loan market in this region.
51.The Central Government has nominated Mr. C R Naseer Ahmed as part-time non-official director on the Board of Directors of the Bank for a period of three years from February 01, 2013 or until further orders, whichever is earlier.Source.
52.Researchers have discovered the world’s largest prime number which consists of over 17 million digits.
The number has now shot up to 2 multiplied by itself 57,885,161 times minus 1.
The finding was made as part of the Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search (GIMPS).
What is GIMPS?
GIMPS is a distributed computing project designed to discover a particular kind of prime number first identified in the 17th century.
All prime numbers can only be divided by themselves and 1.
53.Late sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Grammy award, which was jointly accepted by his musically gifted daughters Anoushka Shankar and Norah Jones.
54.Ranchi Rhinos has won the maiden Hockey India League (HIL). They defeated Delhi Waveriders in the final match of the tournament. With this Delhi Waveriders took second position followed by Uttar Pradesh Wizards.
Awards from the Hockey India League (HIL):
Hero Goal of the Day: Manpreet Singh
Man-of the-Match: Mauritz Furtse
Fair-Play Award: Ranchi Rhinos
Hero Player of the Tournament: Sardar Singh
Ponty Chadha Trophy for Upcoming Player of the Tournament: Mandeep Singh
Airtel Award for Most Goals in the Tournament: Delhi Waveriders
55.Sachin Tendulkar has equalled Sunil Gavaskar’s record of most first-class hundreds by smashing an unbeaten century against Rest of India in the Irani Cup.
Tendulakar equaled Gavaskar’s record of 81 first-class hundreds. It was Tendulkar’s 30th domestic hundred to add to the 51 Test tons, which are also taken into account in the first-class count.
56.Researchers have built the world’s first complete bionic man named “Rex”.
Rex, which is on display in UK, has the face of a man, prosthetic limbs, a functional artificial blood circulatory system and artificial organs, including a pancreas, kidney, spleen and trachea. At 6.5-feet tall, Rex is valued at a whopping $1 million.
57.NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity drilled into the Martian surface for the first time as part of an effort to investigate if the planet ever had conditions to support microbial life.
Previous Mars probes have had tools to scrape and grind into rock, but never a drill to collect interior samples.
The rover is on a two-year mission and is looking for geologic and chemical conditions needed to support and preserve microbial life. Its ultimate target is a 3-mile- (5-km) high mound of layered sediment rising from the floor of the Gale Crater where it had landed.
58.India bagged 46 Medals in 2013 Special Olympics World Winter Games in Pyeongchang (South Korea)
India clinched record 46 medals in the 2013 Pyeongchang Special Olympics World Winter Games. The games were organized at Pyeongchang and Gangneung in South Korea. India’s medal tally includes 13 gold, 17 silver and 16 bronze from mentally-challenged. The medal tally of India doubled from World Winter Games 2009.
59.The Forest Advisory Committee, under the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF), has granted clearance to hydro projects worth 2,500 mega watts (MW) across various States. The projects approved include the 800-MW Tawang-II hydroelectric project in Arunachal Pradesh, the 520-MW Teesta-IV project in Sikkim, and Luhri project (775 MW) in Himachal Pradesh.
The National Board for Wild Life has also given wildlife clearance to Vishnugad Pipalkoti hydroelectric project (444 MW) in Uttarakhand. However, it would still need clearance from the State Board of Wild Life.
60.Kalyan Kumar Chakravarty , a 1970 batch retired IAS officer has been appointed as the new chairman of Lalit Kala Akademi. The appointment was cleared by the President Pranab Mukherjee.
61.World Radio Day was observed across the globe on February 13 to celebrate radio as a medium; to improve international cooperation between broadcasters; and to encourage major networks and community radio alike to promote access to information and freedom of expression over the airwaves. This day was proclaimed on 3 November 2011 by UNESCO’s 36th General Conference.
62.Prime Minister of Bhutan, Lyonchhen Jigmi Y. Thinley made a home visit to India.
His visit was aimed at improving India-Bhutan bilateral ties.
63.India’s GDP growth projections by other agencies for current fiscal 2012-13:
As per the RBI: 5.5%
As per the Finance Ministry: 5.7 to 5.9%
As per the IMF: 5.4%
54.‘Operation Three Star’ was the code name of the top secret execution plan in which Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru was sent to gallows in the high-security Tihar Jail on February 9, 2013.
Afzal Guru was found guilty of conspiring and sheltering the militants who attacked Parliament on December 13, 2001, in which nine persons were killed.
55.Pope Benedict XVI has announced that he would resign at the end of this month after as the head of the Catholic Church citing old age and poor health to continue.
56.The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) has raised the equity investment limit for the Insurance companies to 15% up from existing 10%.
57.North Korea confirmed the third nuclear test it conducted underground, a move that has been widely condemned across the globe including China. North Korea confirmed that it successfully carried out an underground nuclear test of a new, "miniaturised" device. The announcement that the detonated device was "miniaturised" will raise alarm around the globe, with its suggestion that Pyongyang has mastered the technically complex process of producing a warhead small enough to fit on a long-range missile.
58.The1939 born Parle-G glucose biscuit brand of Parle Products has become the first Indian FMCG brand to cross the Rs 5,000-crore mark in retail sales in a year.
In 2012, Parle Products sold Rs 5,010 crore worth of its flagship glucose biscuit brand at retail price, besting the entire domestic sales of Dabur or Godrej products and selling three times more than Maggi noodles. It sells more than 100 crore packets across sizes every month.
Parle Products was set up by Mohanlal Dayal Chauhan in 1929 at Vile-Parle, a Mumbai suburb.
59.Iran test-fired a surface-to-surface cruise missile named “Ghader”, which means Capable in Farsi, in international waters near the Strait of Hormuz.
60.Market regulator Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) ordered freezing of bank accounts and attachment of properties of two Sahara group firms – Sahara Housing Investment Corporation Ltd (SHICL) and Sahara India Real Estate Corporation Ltd (SIRECL), and top executives, including its chairman Subrata Roy for failing to refund more than Rs. 24,000 crore to investors.
61.Mohan Parasaran has been appointed as the new Solicitor General of India following the resignation of senior advocate Rohinton Nariman from the post. Mr Parasaran, who is currently the Additional Solicitor General, is a senior advocate of the Supreme Court.
62.Angelo Mathews has been selected as Sri Lanka’s Test and one-day international captain for the rest of 2013. He took the reins from Mahela Jayawardene, who recently nominated Mathews to replace him.
63.Asoke Kumar Mukerji, currently Special Secretary at headquarters, has been appointed as the next Ambassador/Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations at New York.
64.Child’s Pose (Poziţia Copilului) by Romanian director Călin Peter Netzer was awarded the Golden Bear at the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival.
The Alfred Bauer Prize (Silver Bear) went to ‘An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker’ by Danis Tanović
Best Director Award was given to David Gordon Green for ‘Prince Avalanche’.
India-based documentary ‘Salma’ by British filmmaker Kim Longinotto bagged the second place in Panorama Audience awards at Berlinale.
65.A meteor which was about 17 metres across and weighed 10,000 tons impacted Earth nearly 30 to 50 km above the ground near Russian city Chelyabinsk. The meteor is also being said as the largest celestial body to have hit the Earth over the past hundred years. Shock waves from its explosion over Chelyabinsk injured 1,200 people and shattered doors and windows of houses, schools and hospitals.
66.Former Chief Justice of Karnataka, Bhaskar Rao, has been appointed as the Lokayukta of Karnatka. The chair of the anti-corruption ombudsman was vacant after previous Lokayukta Justice Shivraj V. Patil was forced to resign after the media expose of illegal land allotments in 2011.
67.High-jumper Padma Shri awardee Girisha Hosanagara Nagarajegowda who bagged silver medal in London paralympics has become brand ambassador of nutrition company Herbalife.
68.In the women’s cricket World Cup tournament, Australia beat West Indies by 114 runs in the final match played in Mumbai to win the title.
69.India’s trade deficit surged to a three-month high of $20 billion despite some stingy improvement by 0.82% growth at $25.58 billion in January. The growth, however, does not seem to provide much help in attaining the $350 billion export target for 2012-13.
70.The K.M. Chandrashekhar committee formed to unify foreign investment norms met for the first time.
71.A consortium of banks which includes Bank of India, Indian Bank and Central Bank of India has agreed to lend Rs. 937 crore for the 1,000-MW NTPL power project, a joint venture of the Neyveli Lignite Corporation and the Tamil Nadu Power Generation and Distribution Corporation. The project is being set up at Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu. The project would be taken up at an estimated cost of Rs. 4,909.54 crore.
72.Self-Employed Women’s Association of India (SEWA) founder Ela R Bhatt has been conferred with the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development for the year 2011.
The Prize has been awarded to Bhatt for her lifetime achievements in comprehensively empowering women in India and elsewhere through grassroots entrepreneurship.
73.Around 140 nations will adopt the world’s first legally binding treaty on mercury.
Objective: The Treaty aims at reducing global emission levels of the toxic heavy metal also known as quicksilver, which poses risks to human health and the environment.
Nations will be asked to ink the treaty next October in Minamata, Japan, in honour of the town’s inhabitants who for decades have suffered the consequences of serious mercury contamination.
74.Former Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata has been honored with ‘Ernst & Young life time achievement award’ 2013 for ‘asserting a greater role for Indian entrepreneurs on the global business landscape’.
Godrej Group Chairman Adi Godrej has been given the ‘Entrepreneur of the year (2012)’ award.
75.The Union Cabinet has given nod to merger of Bharat Heavy Plate & Vessels Ltd. (BHPVL) Vishakhapatnam with Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), New Delhi.
76.Former chairman of Life Insurance Corporation, T.S. Vijayan took over as the chairman of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA).
77.World football’s governing body FIFA has announced that goal-line technology will be used during the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
78.Hari Shankar Singhania (79), one of India’s most distinguished industrialists, passed away.
Singhania was president of JK Organization
In 2003, he was awarded Padma Bhushan
He was the second Indian to serve as president of International Chamber of Commerce, Paris, during 1993-94.
79.Technology magnates, including Google co-founder Sergey Brin and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, have launched a $15-million annual Breakthrough Prize for Life Sciences to reward outstanding scientific achievements in life sciences.
80.Justice (Retd) Ms Usha Mehra Commission submitted its report to the Government.
The Commission was constituted on 26th December, 2012.
Objective: To enquire into various aspects of the incidence of brutal assault to a young woman in Delhi on December 16, 2012.
The Commission was asked to submit its report within 3 months and the Commission has submitted it before time.
81.AirAsia: Malaysia’s no-frills carrier
AirAsia has applied to the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) to join hands with the Tata Group Arun Bhatia’s Telestra Tradeplace to enter the aviation sector.
Stakes in the Joint-Venture:
AirAsia: 49%
Tata Sons Ltd.: 30%
Hindustan Aviation: 21
If the proposal is approved by the FIPB, then the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) will be approached for a permit to commence operations.
Tata Sons will not have any operating role in the airline.
82.With a production of 589 million Kgs in 2011 and 588 million Kgs 2012, Assam has become the first state in India to produce over 500 million kilogram tea for two years in a row.
The North East Tea Association, a premium body of the tea planters held that over Rs 7500s crore rupee turn over was recorded in Assam tea sector last year.
Around 7 lakh workers are engaged in the tea sector of which 50% are women.
83.“W49B”: The Youngest black hole in our galaxy discovered by the ScientistsFebruary 26th, 2013.Recent data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory has spotted the youngest black hole yet in the Milky Way galaxy named “W49B”.
W49B is just 1000-years-old and only 26,000 light-years away from Earth.
84.Arun Tadanki, Managing Director, India & Southeast Asia, declared his decision to leave Yahoo.
85.Highlights of the Rail Budget 2013-14 as presented by Railway Minister Mr. P.K. Bansal relating to the following Headings:
Manufacturing:
A new wheel factory to be set up at Rae Bareli
A greenfield Mainline Electrical Multiple Units (MEMU) manufacturing facility at Bhilwara (Rajasthan) in collaboration with State Government and BHEL.
Six more Rail Neer bottling plants to be set up
Coach Manufacturing Unit in Sonepat District (Haryana) in collaboration with State Government.
A Midlife Rehabilitation Workshop at Kurnool (Andhra Pradesh) in
collaboration with the State Government.
Bikaner and Pratapgarh workshops to undertake POH of BG wagons.
A workshop for repair and rehabilitation of motorized bogies at Misrod
(Madhya Pradesh).
A new wagon maintenance workshop in Kalahandi (Odisha).
A modern signaling equipment facility at Chandigarh through PPP route.
Environment:
Railway energy Management Company (REMC) to be set up to harness solar and wind energy
1,000 crossings to be energized by solar power
Deployment of new generation energy efficient electric locomotives and EMUs.
More usage of agro-based and recycled paper and ban use of plastic in
catering.
Jobs:
1.51 lakh vacancies to be filled up
Technology:
Locomotive cabs to be air-conditioned
Free Wi-Fi to be provided on some trains
e-ticketing via mobile phones
SMS alerts for passengers on reservation status
Smoke and fire detection system to be installed
Internet booking to be strengthened with next-generation e-ticketing system to eliminate delays. Next generation e-ticketing system by end of 2013
179 escalators and 400 lifts at A 1 and other select stations
Induction of crash worthy LHB coaches with anti-climb feature.
Using 60 kg rails, 260 meter long welded rail panels and improved flash
butt welding technology.
Extension of Unreserved Ticketing System (UTS), Automatic Ticket Vending Machines (ATVMs), Coin-operated Ticket Vending Machines (CO-TVMs) and schme of Jan-Sadharan Ticket Booking Sevaks (JTBSs).
Safety:
Fire extinguishers to be kept in guard vans
Smoke and fire detection system to be installed
Raised four companies of women RPF personnel, and another eight to be raised for women’s safety
Seventeen bridges identified for repair
Special A/C coaches ‘Anubhuti’, to be introduced in select Shatabdi and Rajdhani trains to give excellent ambience with commensurate fareIntroduction of Train Protection Warning System on Automatic
Signalling Systems.
Induction of crash worthy LHB coaches with anti-climb feature.
Using 60 kg rails, 260 meter long welded rail panels and improved flash
butt welding technology.
Use of fire retardant furnishing materials in coaches.
Measures initiated to deal with elephant related accidents.
Four companies of women RPF personnel set up and another 8 to be set up to strengthen the security of rail passengers, especially women passengers.
Recruitment to RPF with 10% vacancies reserved for women.
Introductions:
Azadi Express to be introduced to travel to places associated with freedom struggle
Common rail-bus ticket to be introduced for Katra-Vaishnodevi pilgrims
Internet booking to be provided from 0030 hours to 2330 hours
Identification of 104 stations for upgradation in places with more than one million population and of religious significance
Special A/C coaches ‘Anubhuti’, to be introduced in select Shatabdi and Rajdhani trains to give excellent ambience with commensurate fare
‘Fuel Adjustment Component’ concept to be implemented linking tariffs
with movement of fuel prices;
Other Targets/Plans:
By end of 2013-14, 1,500 km of contracts to be awarded for two dedicated rail corridors
Rs 1 lakh crore target set for public-private-partnership route
Corporate plan for 10 years to be drawn up
Aim to eliminate 31,846 level crossings
Planning Commission pegged 12th Plan at Rs.125.19 lakh crore
Making a Corporate Safety Plan for a ten year period (2014-2024).
Funds:
Rs.100 crore for improving stations in New Delhi.
New fund – Debt Service Fund – to be set up to meet committed liabilities of debt servicing for WB and JICA loans for DFC and other future liabilities.
Facts presented:
Railways set to enter 1 billion ton freight club of China, Russia and US
Losses mounted from Rs.22,500 crore in 2011-12 to Rs.24,600 crore in 2012-13
Planning Commission pegged 12th Plan at Rs.125.19 lakh crore
Fall in accidents – per million accidents down from 0.41 to 0.13
Losses mounted from Rs.22,500 crore in 2011-12 to Rs.24,600 crore in 2012-13
Operating ratio expected to improve to 87.8 per cent in 2013—14 from 88.8 per cent in the current fiscal
5.2 per cent growth in passenger traffic expected in 2013—14
Railways set to enter 1 billion ton freight club of China, Russia and US
86.The government moved a motion in the Rajya Sabha which was adopted by voice vote – for the formation of a JPC (Joint Parliamentary Committee) to probe the chopper deal.
Objective: JPC to enquire into the allegations of payment of bribes in the acquisition of VVIP helicopters by the Ministry of Defence from M/s AgustaWestland and the role of alleged middlemen in the transaction.
The JPC will have 10 members from the Rajya Sabha and 20 from the Lok Sabha.
JPC shall give its report within 3 months of its first sitting.
87.The Vatican announced that the Pope Benedict XVI will be known as ‘emeritus Pope’. It also held that the Pope after his retirement will continue to wear a white cassock and will be still addressed as “Your Holiness Benedict XVI” and will have the additional title of “Roman pontiff emeritus”.
88.Park Geun-hye sworn in as South Korea’s first woman President.
Ms. Park is the daughter of South Korea’s late military strongman Park Chung-hee who seized power in 1961. He went on to rule the country for the next 18 years until his eventual assassination in 1979.
89.The Rajya Sabha approved the proclamation of the President’s Rule in Jharkhand.
Arjun Munda resigned as Chief Minister of Jharkhand after his government lost majority last month as the JMM withdrew support to the BJP-led government.
On January 18, 2013, Jharkhand was brought under the President’s Rule for the 3rd time since its formation 12 years ago.
The Rajya Sabha approved the proclamation with a voice vote after a debate.
90.ISRO launched Indo-French satellite SARAL and six foreign mini and micro spacecraft from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. Thus, PSLV-20 successfully puts seven satellites in orbit.
Some more information:
PSLV 20
23rd mission of PSLV
PSLV has an impeccable record of 21 consecutive successful flights.
9th time ISRO is using the ‘core alone’ variant of the rocket.
Besides SARAL, the other 6 mini and micro spacecrafts were:
Micro-satellite UniBRITE from Austria
Micro-satellite BRITE from Austria
AAUSAT3 from Denmark
STRaND from United Kingdom
Micro-satellite NEOSSat from Canada
Mini-satellite SAPPHIRE from Canada
91.Owing to increased popularity of Shatabdi and Rajdhani trains, there is also a demand for higher travel comfort. Thus, was felt the need for the special AC luxury class by Railway Minister and named ‘Anubhuti’ coaches. These with more facilities would be introduced in Shatabdi trains at the earliest.
92.Rajat Gupta has been ordered to pay $6.2 million for legal expenses incurred by his former employer Goldman Sachs during his trial.