1. Dhamma Mahamattas were special officers appointed by Ashoka to spread the message of Dhamma or his Dharma. The Dhamma Mahamattas were required to look after the welfare of the people of different religions and to enforce the rules regarding the sanctity of animal life.
2. Andal was a woman Alvar whose compositions were widely sung in South In India. She was known as Meera of South India. Karaikkal Ammaiyar was a devotee of Shiva who adopted the path of extreme asceticim in order to attain her goal.
3. According to some historical sources, the term Nābhivarṣa was used for India prior to its name Bharatvarsa. The name is derived from King Nabhi, who was father of Rishabhanatha, the first Tirthankara in Jainism.
4. Calico, DeepMind, Nest Labs, Waymo are subsidiaries of Alphabet Inc. whose major subsidiary is Google. Softimage, NetCarta and Firefly are subsidiaries of Microsoft. Instagram and Whatsapp are subsidiaries of Facebook.
5. A sweat equity share is an equity share issued by the company to employees or directors at a discount or for consideration other than cash for providing know-how or making available rights in the nature of intellectual property rights or value additions.
6. At present, there are only seven NPS fund managers viz. HDFC Pension Fund, ICICI Prudential Pension, Kotak Pension Fund, LIC Pension Fund, Reliance Capital Pension, SBI Pension Fund and UTI Retirement Solutions.
7. Lassa fever or Lassa hemorrhagic fever (LHF) is caused by Lassa virus. This disease is mainly prevalent in West Africa countries such as Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Ghana. It results in 5000 deaths every year. It's a zoonotic disease transmits to human from a species of mouse.
8. In Finland, 2,000 unemployed people are being provided with monetary compensation each month for a span of two years with very little or no preconditions.
9. MGNREGA and SAGY are demand driven schemes. MPLADS is not among such schemes.
10. Masala bonds allow Indian companies to raise overseas debt in the Indian currency. The instrument shields the issuers from currency fluctuations mainly because interest payments and redemption is in rupees. At the same time, investors get interest rates that are higher than in their domestic markets. In third statement, the most popular market for Masala bonds currently is London.
11. The 53rd session of programming committee meeting of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) has started at Kathmandu, Nepal on February 1, 2017. The senior officials of all 8 member countries are participating in the meeting. The Indian delegation is lead by Prashant Agarwal, Joint Secretary (SAARC). During the two day meeting number of issues such as budget of SAARC secretariat and its 5 regional centres and regular activities of the Association will be discussed. This is the first senior level meeting of Association since postponement of 19th SAARC Summit in November 2016.
12. E. Ahamed (78), the former Union minister, has passed away in New Delhi on February 1, 2017. He represented the Malappuram Lok Sabha constituency of Kerala and was the National President of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML). He served as Minister of State for External Affairs in the Manmohan Singh government (2004–14).
13. Recently, India has been invited as a Guest Country at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) which will be held in the city of St. Petersburg, Russia from June 1 to 3, 2017 and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the forum as a Guest of Honour. The SPIEF is a unique international event in the world of economics and business, held annually with the participation of the President of the Russian Federation.
14. The South Asian Speakers Summit will be held in Indore, Madhya Pradesh from February 18-19, 2017. The speakers of parliaments of the south Asian nations will share their experiences and deliberate on their role in achieving sustainable development goals. The summit, which is primarily an International Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) initiative, is expected to see the participation of the speakers of parliament from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. Recently, it is in news because Pakistan and Myanmar has rejected an invitation from the Indian Parliament and the IPU to attend the meeting.
15. Anushka Sharma, the Bollywood actress, has been appointed the new ambassador of the Swachh Bharat Campaign by the Ministry of Urban Development. She will highlight the women-centric aspects of open defecation as part of the nationwide health and sanitation campaign and will join the campaign with megastar Amitabh Bachchan, who is also the brand ambassador of this campaign.
16. The book "Between Two Worlds – The Assamese Sikhs" has been authored by Bimal Phukan. The book throws light on Guru Tegh Bahadur's visit to Assam in 1669 AD and the early beginnings of the Dhubri Gurdwara. It also chronicles the history of 'Assamese Sikhs'. The illustrious careers of some of them as well as their contribution to Assamese literature have also been mentioned.
17. P.V. K. Reddy, the IPS officer of 1982 batch, has been appointed the new Director General (DG) of Investigation in the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) up to the date of his superannuation i.e. 30.4.2017 or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
18. Lieutenant General Sanjeev Kumar Shrivastava is the newly appointed Director General of Border Roads Organisation (BRO). Prior to this appointment, he was holding the appointment of Director General Combat Engineers at Integrated Headquarters of Ministry of Defence (Army). He succeeded Lt General Suresh Sharma. The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) develops and maintains road networks in India's border areas and friendly neighbouring countries. Presently, BRO is involved in the construction of a tunnel at the Rohtang pass which is estimated to be ready by 2019. The headquarters of BRO is located at New Delhi and Ministry of Defence is the parent organization.
19. The Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Arun Jaitley while presenting the General Budget 2017-18 in Parliament has stated that the Government proposes to leverage information technology and will launch "SWAYAM" platform with at least 350 online courses. The platform will enable students to virtually attend the courses taught by the best faculty, access high quality reading resources, participate in discussion forums; take tests and earn academic grades. The access to SWAYAM would be widened by linkage with DTH channels, dedicated to education.
20. The World Wetlands Day (WWD) is observed every year on February 2 to commemorate the adoption of the Convention on Wetlands on February 2, 1971 in Iran. The day is established to raise awareness about the value of wetlands for humanity and the planet.The wetlands play an important role in reducing the impact of extreme weather events such as floods, droughts and cyclones. Wetlands act as a natural sponge, absorbing and storing excess rainfall and reducing flooding. The 2017 theme is "Wetlands for Disaster Risk Reduction".
21. Ireland will become the world's first country to completely divest from fossil fuels. For this, Irish Parliament passed legislation that will drop coal, oil, and gas (fossil fuel) investments from its $8.56 billion Ireland Strategic Investment Fund. If the billl pass, the law will require the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund to sell its investment in fossil fuel industries over the course of the next 5 years.
22. The 31st ion of Surajkund International Crafts Mela has started at Faridabad, Haryana on February 1, 2017. The mela is hosted jointly by the Haryana Tourism Corporation and Surajkund Mela Authority, in collaboration with the Union Ministries of Tourism, Textiles, Culture and External Affairs. The 15-day festival will be showcase the richness and diversity of handicrafts, handlooms and cultural heritage of India. Over 20 countries and all the states of India are participating in the event with Egypt as a partner country and Jharkhand as the theme state of this year.
23. Lieutenant General Jagbir Singh Cheema has been appointed the new Deputy Chief of the Army Staff (Information Systems and Training) on February 01, 2017. Prior to this appointment, he was the Director General of Infantry in Integrated Headquarters of MoD (Army).
24. The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) is an Indian governmental commission, under the administrative control of the Ministry of Women & Child Development. Its present chairman is Stuti Narain Kacker. Recently, NCPCR is in news because for the first time it is organizing an All India Short Film, Still Photograph and Poster Competition for promotion of child rights in the country. The first prize for short films is Rs.100, 000 and second & third prize carry cash award of Rs. 75,000 & Rs.50,000 respectively. The cash award for the First, Second and Third prize in Still Photograph and Poster competition category are: Rs.50,000, Rs.30,000 and Rs.20,000. There is no entry fee for this competition.
25. The President of India, Pranab Mukherjee will open the 2017 Udyanotsav festival in the Mughal Garden on February 4, 2017 in New Delhi. The Mughal Garden is located in the Rashtrapati Bhavan premises. It is a group of beautiful gardens built by the Mughals in Islamic style of architectures and is the official residence of the Indian President. During the one month long fest, Mughal Gardens will remain open for general public from February 05 to March 12, 2017 (except on Mondays which are maintenance days) between 0930 hrs to 1600 hrs. The members of the public will also be able to visit the Spiritual Garden, Herbal Garden, Bonsai Garden and Musical Garden.
26. The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) has recently celebrated its 40th raising day on February 1, 2017, which is the 4th largest Coast Guard in the world. The ICG came into existence on February 1, 1977 with an enactment of Coast Guard Act 1978, as a full-fledged independent Armed Force of the Union under the Ministry of Defence (MoD). It's primary task is to secure the Indian coasts and to enforce the regulations within the Maritime Zones of India.
27. Lieutenant General Suresh Sharma has been appointed the new Engineer-in-Chief of the Indian Army. In his capacity as Engineer-Chief, in addition to steering the Corps of Engineers, he will serve as the Principal Advisor to Chiefs of Army, Navy, Air Force and the Ministry of Defence on all matters pertaining to engineering works services, being head of Military Engineering Services (MES). Prior to this appointment, he served as the 24th Director General of the Border Roads Organisation (DGBR), where he provided direction and renewed impetus to number of strategic border area projects.
28. The book "The Man Who Became Khali" has been authored by Dalip Singh Rana with Vinit K. Bansal. This book defines the journey of a man named Dalip Singh Rana and how he became The Great Khali. The book is a no-holds-barred account of the man who controlled his inner demons and physical anomalies and went on to win the World Heavyweight Championship.
29. The Government of India (GoI) has signed the financing agreement with World Bank for IDA cr of $201.50 million for "Third Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme (TEQIP III)". The objective of the program is to increase quality and equity in participating engineering Education Institutes and improve the efficiency of the engineering Education System in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, 8 North Eastern States and Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
30. In 1996, the share of direct taxes was around 29% and it was at its peak at 60% in 2009-10. Thereafter it has fallen mainly because of rise of "service tax" collections in the country. Service Tax is an indirect tax.
31. ECOWAS was recently making news for sending peacekeeping troops to Gambia in January 2017. It is a 15 member community of western African countries that makes efforts towards not only economic integration but also peace keeping during times of political unrest.
32. PfKelch13 C580Y is a mutant of P. falciparum Kelch13. It was recently making news as a potential Malaria superbug spreading in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar.
33. Coking coal mines was first nationalized in 1971. In 1973, all non-coking coal mines were nationalized and thus coal India got monopoly over coal mining in the country.
34. The Finance Bill 2017 has proposed to levy a tax of 10% on income earned on transfer of carbon credits. Carbon credits are an incentive given to an industrial undertaking for reduction in emission of GHGs (green house gases), including carbon dioxide, which is done through several ways such as by switching over to wind and solar energy, or installation of energy-efficient machinery. The Kyoto Protocol commits certain developed countries to reduce their GHG emissions, and for this they will be given carbon credits. A reduction in emissions entitles the entity to a credit in the form of a Certified Emission Reduction (CER) certificate. The CER is tradeable and its holder can transfer it to an entity that needs carbon credits to overcome an unfavourable position on the same. Many Indian companies hold such CERs.
35. A failure to get motion of thanks passed amounts to defeat of government and leads to collapse of government. Motion of Thanks is deemed to be a no-confidence motion.
36. Daemon stands for disk and execution monitor (daemon) which is a background process run to perform admin changes or monitor services.
37. Metallic hydrogen can act as a high temperature superconductor. This implies that it can conduct electricity at room temperature without resistance and thus can help in making electricity distribution more efficient.
38. As per Union Budget 2017, the Payments Regulatory Board (PRB) will be set up within the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which will comprise of six members, of which 3 will be from RBI. The PRB will replace the existing Board for Regulation and Supervision of Payment and Settlement Systems and will exercise the functions relating to the regulation and supervision of payments and settlement systems under the Payment and Settlements Act 2007. The chairman of the board will be the Governor of RBI, along with a deputy governor in charge of payments and settlements as member. It will also have 3 members nominated by the central government.
39. The National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) is a body responsible for advising the Prime Minister on key strategic and security issues, both on domestic as well as international fronts. It is in news because of tenfold increase of fund allocation from Rs. 33 crore to Rs. 333 crore for fiscal year 2017-18. The NSCS works as an advisory group, consists of various experts on security-related matters and is headed by deputy NSA Arvind Gupta.
40. The Bihar government has recently introduced third gender category in school exams after the Supreme Court recognised transgender people as a third gender in 2014. Now, under the third-gender category the Board exams will be conducted by the Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB). So far, the BSEB did not allow students to take Board exams under the 'third gender' category because the exam form specified two categories, male and female.
41. Lakshya Sen (15) from India has become the World No. 1 Junior Badminton player, as per latest rankings of the Badminton World Federation (BWF). According to BWF current rankings, Lakshya has 16,903 points in eight tournaments he has played in the season. In 2016, he won the Senior India International Series Badminton Tournament along with the All India Senior Ranking Badminton Tournament at Itanagar. He was youngest-ever player and the first-ever from Uttarakhand to win the title at senior level. Earlier, his brother Chirag Sen was ranked number two in the world junior badminton rankings.
42. The book "Contemporary West Asia – Perspectives on Change and Continuity" has been authored by Sujata Ashwarya & Mujib Alam. The book provides a comprehensive analysis of the complexities of change and continuity in West Asia, its society, religion and politics. An overview of the region's political, social and economic characteristics along with the ongoing turmoil in the region has also been presented.
43. The Union Government will launch a new and restructured central scheme "Trade Infrastructure for Export Scheme (TIES)" in 2017-18 to create infrastructure for exports. It has been announced by the Finance minister Arun Jaitley in his Union Budget 2017 speech. The aim of the new scheme will be to reduce transaction costs for traders. The scheme will help create modern infrastructure like last mile connectivity to ports, testing labs and certification centres.
44. In the Union Budget 2017-18, the Government of India (GoI) has allocated Rs. 10,000 crore for Bharat Net Project to promote digital transactions into rural India. Under the project, the high-speed internet connectivity will cover approx 150,000 gram panchayats with Wi-Fi hotspots and digital services will be access at low tariffs. Beside this, the DigiGaon initiative will also be launched to provide tele-medicine, education and skills through digital technology.
45. The 23rd ion of International Conference & Exhibition on Terrestrial & Satellite Broadcasting has started in New Delhi from February 2, 2017. The 3-day conference is organized by the Broadcast Engineering Society (India). Nearly 300 companies from 25 countries displayed their products in BES EXPO directly or through their dealers and distributors in India. This trade show will showcases products like to promote the advancement and dissemination of knowledge & practices of broadcasting in the field of Radio, Television and other media etc. in the Telecom Products & Equipment industry.
46. As per Union Budget 2017, the Dairy Infrastructure Development Fund of Rs.8000 crore will be created over next three years with National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) to boost financing of milk processing capacities. For the first year, the Union Government has declared to give Rs 2000 crore for creation of the fund. With this, the NABARD fund would allow cooperatives to access low cost loan for meeting the expenses towards modernization and ensure supply of quality milk conforming to the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) standards to the consumers.
47. The National Pension System (NPS) subscribers can prematurely withdraw 25% of their accumulated corpus before retirement without tax, as per Union Budget 2017-18. It has been proposed to insert a new clause (12B) in the section 10 of Income Tax Act, 1961 to provide this relief to the subscriber of NPS. Beside this, the self-employed individuals have also been allowed to invest up to 20% of their income into the NPS as opposed to 10% earlier under Section 80CCD(1) of the Income Tax Act, 1961. This benefit will be available on contribution made by the self employed persons on or after 1st April 2017. Secondly, if the NPS Trust allows you to withdraw prematurely after five or ten years as per its rules, there will be no tax on that.
48. Asim Basu (81), the renowned theatre artiste and director, art director, painter and playwright, has recently passed away in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. He was known for his set design work in Ollywood movies and designing Oriya book covers and movie posters. He directed around 200 plays and did stage designing for over 500 plays and was the art director for several Odia films. Some of his major works are Indradhanura Chhai, Dadagiri and apana Banika.
49. The Union Ministry of Railways has recently signed MoU with Italy's public sector rail company Ferrovie Dello Stato Italiane Group (FS Group) for technical cooperation in rail sector especially in the areas safety in train operations. The cooperation areas identified in this MoU includes safety audit of Indian Railways and measures required for enhancing safety in train operation, assessment and certification of advanced technology based safety products and systems to Safety Integrity Level (SIL4), training and competency development with focus of safety, modern trends in maintenance and diagnostic etc.
50. The Union Health Ministry has recently launched Measles-Rubella (MR) vaccination campaign at a function in Bengaluru, Karnataka that targets around 41 crore children across India. The campaign against these two diseases will start from Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Goa and Lakshadweep and will cover nearly 3.6 crore children. All children aged between 9 months and less than 15 years will be given a single shot of MR- vaccination. The MR vaccine will be provided free- of- cost across the states. Currently, Measles vaccine is provided under Universal Immunization Programme (UIP). Though, rubella vaccine will be a new addition. Measles is a deadly disease and one of the important causes of death in children. Rubella is generally a mild infection, but has serious consequences if infection occurs in pregnant women, causing congenital rubella syndrome.
51. Bano Qudsia (88), the renowned Pakistani Urdu novelist and playwright, has recently passed away in Lahore, Pakistan. She was born in November 1928 in Ferozepur, India and migrated to Pakistan after partition. Among her prominent writings include Aadhi Baat, Aatish-i-zer-i-paa, Aik Din, Amer Bail, Asay Pasay, Chahar Chaman, Chhotaa Sheher Baray Log, Footpath ki Ghaas, Hasil Ghaat and Hawa Kay Naam.
52. Top seeded Indian team has won gold medal in the boys' team event at the 18th Asian Junior Team Squash Championship-2017 by defeating Malaysia by 2-0 in the final in Hong Kong. It's 2nd time that Indian boys team has won the championship. Earlier in 2011, they defeated arch-rivals Pakistan in Colombo.
53. India will host 2017 FIBA Women's Asia Cup basketball tournament at Bengaluru, Karnataka from July 23 to 29. This tournament will be the qualifying tournament for FIBA Asia at the 2018 FIBA World Championship for Women in Spain. Beside this, India will also host the 2017 FIBA U-16 Women's Asian Championship, which will be held from October 22 to 28 in Hyderabad. In both the tournaments, 14 teams will compete, with 8 teams in Division A and six in lower Division B. India is in Division B in both the Senior and U-16 events.
54. The Chief Minister of Assam, Sarbananda Sonowal has recently launched the Chief Minister Samagra Gramya Unnayan Yojana (CMSGUY) in Guwahati to develop villages of the state. It's a mega mission with a financial outlay of Rs. 30,000 crore will be implemented in all the villages in Assam in the next five years culminating in 2021-22. The programme will be implemented through 'saturation model' by covering each revenue village through focused interventions in direct economic activities, logistic support including market linkages and community support. The purpose of the mission is to bring revolutionary changes by doubling the farm income in the State.
55. The 4th BIMSTEC Summit-2017 will be held in Nepal, which is likely to be announced in the 17th session of BIMSTEC Senior Officials' Meeting (SOM) that has started at Kathmandu, Nepal on February 2, 2017. In the meeting, delegates of member countries will review the progress made by BIMSTEC and recommend future course of action to strengthen regional cooperation among the group. The BIMSTEC was founded in 1997 and is an international organisation involving a group of countries in South Asia and South East Asia. These are: Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan and Nepal.
56. The book "A Great Reckoning – A Chief Inspector Gamache Thriller" has been authored by Louise Penny. It's a compelling mystery and a rich human drama in which no character is either entirely good or evil, and each is capable of inspiring empathy.
57. The Telangana government has recently launched India's first social innovation centre "Kakatiya Hub for Social Innovation" in Nizamabad on Februray 5, 2017, which is expected to be run by September 2017. The hub is funded by the Telangana government and will function like a rural incubator to encourage entrepreneurship at grassroots level. The purpose of the hub is to create a model for promoting entrepreneurs in rural and semi-urban areas in the country. The incubator will be run through Kakatiya Sandbox, a centre that fosters entrepreneurship and innovation modelled after Deshpande Foundation's Hubli Sandbox.
58. The Jharkhand government will give 2% reservation to sportsperson in government job and nutritious food to them. Apart from this, Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das has stated that Kamal Clubs would be set up to promote football, and for this the government would give kits to players and competitions would be held at block, district and state levels and women teams will also be set up for this purpose.
59. Recently, the Union Sports Minister Vijay Goel has laid the foundation stone of the India's first centre of excellence for differently-abled sportsmen at Gandhinagar, Gujarat. The Center of Excellence is proposed with an estimate of over Rs 50 crore. It will have world class facilities where para athletes can train for various international competitions including Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and Olympic Games. It will also act as a classification center for para athletes. The Center will also hold seminars, educational programmes and workshops throughout the year with the help of International Paralympic Committee. Approx 50 differently-abled sportspersons (boys & girls) between age group 8-12 will be imparted training in Athletics, Swimming and power lifting at the training centre. The entire project will be constructed by CPWD in coordination with various experts and consultants having full accessibility as per the norms of IPC.
60. The apex aviation security agency, the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) has suspended the license of budget carrier IndiGo's aviation security training facility for alleged lapses in the examination system conducted by it. The training academy is run by IndiGo's parent company "InterGlobe Aviation". Following the suspension of licence, IndiGo would have to outsource the training programme, which would result in additional cost for the carrier.
61. The Union Information and Broadcasting Minister, M. Venkaiah Naidu has recently released the annual year book 'India-2017' and 'Bharat-2017' at a function in Shastri Bhawan, New Delhi on February 6, 2017. The book published by the Publications Division gives comprehensive information about the country and various States and Union Territories including functioning of the government and the economy. The book also gives a glimpse of flagship programmes of the government, important events of the year and the story of Indian States and Union Territories with their vital statistics. Beside this, the electronic version of the Year Book has also launched that provides latest technical features and has a variety of reader-friendly features like searchable content, referencing and is priced at 25% less than the print books.
62. Lucideus, an IT risk assessment and digital security services provider, has won the 'Best IT Startup of India' award under the IT (Information Technology) and ITES (Information Technology Enabled Services) category at the National Entrepreneurship Award 2016 at the DRDO auditorium in New Delhi. Lucideus is behind the security for BHIM (Bharat Interface for Money) app — an Aadhaar-based mobile payment platform. The annual awards were organised by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.
63. The Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh, Pema Khandu has introduced 'Arunachal Civil Service Awards' for excellence in public administration. The purpose of the award is not only to boost the morale of the state government employees by recognizing their hard work and innovative work done by them, but also is expected to bring in a productive work culture. The award consists of a medal, a scroll, and a cash award of Rs 1 lakh for an individual and Rs 5 lakhs for an organisation/group/team. The award will be considered on the basis of implementation of innovative schemes or projects, showing innovation and adaptation to meet the stakeholders' requirement, building up perceptible system changes and institutions. The award also aims to honour civil servants and government employees who make public service delivery system efficient, corruption free, including speedy and judicious execution of work. Extraordinary performance in emergent situations like floods, earthquakes, etc shall also form the basis of being eligible for this award.
64. Debendranath Sarangi, who is the President of the Squash Rackets Federation of India, has recently elected as the vice-president of the Asia Squash Federation (ASF) with two-third majority at the 37th ASF Annual General Meeting. With this, he became the 2nd Indian to become the vice-president of the ASF after N Ramachandran. Sarangi replaced Syed Razi Nawab of Pakistan.
65. Satwik Sai Raj and Maneesha K have recently won the mixed doubles title at the 81st Senior National Badminton Championships by defeating Venkat Gaurav Prasad and Juhi Dewangan in the final by 21-14, 21-18 at Patna, Bihar. Apart from this, the women's singles title has been won by Rituparna Das by defeating Reshma Karthik in the final and men's singles title has been clinched by Sorabh Verma by defeating Lakshya Sen in the final by 21-13, 21-12 at the Senior Badminton championships tournament.
66. The Union government has recently formed a 6-member committee to study the ways to improve India's Haj policy and look into the issue of subsidy to the pilgrimage. The committee has been constituted in the light of 2012 Supreme Court order on gradually reducing the subsidy and abolishing it by 2022. The convenor of committee is Afzal Amanullah, former Consul-Consul General of India in Jeddah. The committee will examine implications of various directions of the Supreme Court with regard to the existing Haj policy, and suitable amendments in it. It will also review the effectiveness of Haj Committee of India's management of pilgrims' accommodation and air travel. It will also figure out whether the pilgrims can travel to Saudi Arabia paying less in the absence of the subsidy. It will also assess the aspects of transparency, consumer satisfaction and disclosure requirements for private tour operators to protect interest of the pilgrims to make the policy of greater assistance to the pilgrims. The committee will submit its report in a month or two.
67. India will host the Implementation and Assessment Group Meeting of the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism (GICNT) in New Delhi from February 8 2017. The meeting will highlight India's commitment to global nuclear non-proliferation and peaceful uses of nuclear energy. It also highlights the continued priority of India to nuclear security, strengthening the institutional frameworks, capacity building and enhancing international cooperation. It is a part of country's overall engagement with the international community on nuclear security issues. In the 3-day event, approx 150 delegates from various partner countries and international organisations will participate. Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar will inaugurate the meet, which is organised by Ministry of External Affairs and Department of Atomic Energy.
68. India will host the first-ever meeting of BIMSTEC National Security Chiefs (NSAs) to discuss action against the spread of terrorism, violent extremism and radicalisation. This was decided at the 17th BIMSTEC Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) which recently concluded at Kathmandu, Nepal. This marked an important step forward to realize the action oriented agenda for BIMSTEC agreed by the leaders at their Retreat hosted by Prime Minister Modi in Goa in October 2016.
69. The International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is observed every year across the world on February 6 to promote the UN's campaign to raise awareness and educate people about the dangers of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and to stop genital mutilation to girls and women. Basically, this day is an awareness campaign to end a harmful practice that violates girls' and women's rights. The 2017 theme is "Building a solid and interactive bridge between Africa and the world to accelerate ending FGM by 2030".
70. Rajeev Singh, Member (Finance) in Prasar Bharati Board, has taken charge as acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the public service broadcaster Prasar Bharti. He succeeded Suresh Panda, who retires on February 4, 2017. Panda has been serving as interim CEO since November 2016, after full time chief Jawhar Sircar resigned in October 2016. Prasar Bharati looks after the functioning of Doordarshan and All India Radio (AIR).
71. Anish Kapoor, the well-known Indian-origin British sculptor, has won the prestigious $1 million Genesis Prize 2017 by Israel for his commitment to Jewish values. Kapoor's work include 'Turning the World Upside Down' at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, 'Cloud Gate' in Chicago's Millennium Park and the 'Orbit' in London. The Genesis Prize is also regarded as Jewish Nobel Prize and is given annually to those who have attained excellence and international renown in their chosen professional fields, and who inspire others through their engagement and dedication to the Jewish community and/or the State of Israel.
72. The Haryana government has recently constituted a 5-member to resolve the problems of those agitating for reservation and other issues in the state. The committee will be headed by Chief Secretary D S Dhesi. As stated by the government, any organization, section of the society or an individual could submit their viewpoint and suggestions to the committee in writing or orally. The committee will try its best to resolve their issues under the ambit of the Constitution and different decisions and directions given by the Punjab and Haryana High Court in this regard.
73. The book "Band, Bajaa, Boys!" has been authored by Rachna Singh, an HR and marketing consultant. This book explores the many hilarious shades of small town life, with an underlying theme of rejection.
74. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has kept the repo rate under the Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF) unchanged at 6.25% in its 6th bi-monthly and last monetary policy for the financial year 2016-17. Consequently, the reverse repo rate under the LAF remains unchanged at 5.75% and the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate at 6.75%. The rates has been decided by the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the RBI, which is headed by RBI Governor Urjit Patel.
75. Achamkulangare Gopinathan, a top Indian diplomat, has been re-appointed by the UN General Assembly (UNGA) to the Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) for a 5-year term beginning from January 1, 2018. Beside him, Sukai Prom-Jackson of Gambia, Jean Wesley Cazeau of Haiti and Nikolay Lozinskiy of Russia are also appointed members of the JIU. The Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) is the only independent external oversight body of the United Nations (UN) system mandated to conduct evaluations, inspections and investigations system-wide. Gopinathan's re-appointment follows his nomination by India and endorsement as the sole candidate of the Asia-Pacific Group.
76. Pathani Patnaik (89), the renowned litterateur, poet, writer and academician, has recently passed away in Cuttack, Odisha. He was the former principal of Christ College and also served as President of Odisha Sahitya Akademi. He had written over 50 books on different aspects of literature, including short stories and poems and also received the Kendriya Sahitya Akademi Award in 2010 for his autobiography "Jeebanara Chalapatha".
77. The 4th Rollball World Cup will be held in Dhaka, Bangladesh from February 17 to 23, 2017. Approx 700 competitors from 45 countries are expected to participate in the tournament. It is the largest-ever event in any field where such a huge number of countries will be participating in any Asian Country. The International Rollball Federation (IRBF) is a body which is associated with International Rollball. This game was created by Raju Dabhade of Pune City, India and is also the Secretary of the IRBF. Rollball is a game played between two teams of 12 players. Out of 12, only 6 players are allowed to play on court at a time. This game is played on skates.
78. The Arunachal Pradesh government has recently implemented e-Cabinet solution to use as a powerful tool to streamline its decision-making process. With this, Arunachal Pradesh has become the first state in the northeast to implement e-Cabinet solution for the state cabinet members. The e-Cabinet solution will give remote access to the ministers to view Cabinet notes and the same will be circulated well in advance for proper analysis and feedback. The system is a multi-user secure solution that keeps relevant information organised and updated in real time, giving ministers a clear overview of each item under discussion.
79. Jovenel Moise, a banana exporter, has been sworn-in as the new President of Haiti after a political crisis that lasted more than a year. Moise won a re-run presidential election 2016 with 55.6% votes after the first round of elections in October 2015 were scrapped over fraud allegations. Moise succeeded interim president Jocelerme Privert, who was appointed to the post in February 2016.
80. Mohit Ahlawat (21) from Delhi has become the first batsman in the world to score a triple century in a T20 match at a level. He achieved this feat in a local T20 tournament at Delhi's Lalita Park, playing for Maavi XI against Friend's XI. Mohit's unbeaten 300 run innings came off just 72 balls and was laced with a staggering 39 sixes and 14 boundaries. In professional cricket, the highest individual score in T20 cricket belongs to Chris Gayle, who made 175 runs in just 66 balls for Royal Challengers Bangalore. The highest individual in international cricket is 156 that Aaron Finch smashed in 63 balls for Australia against England.
81. Gujarat has become the first Indian State to establish cashless system for distribution of food grains. The beneficiaries under National Food Security Act (NFSA) will need to carry only Aadhaar cards for getting their food grain in Gujarat. This will help in establishing the identity of beneficiaries, help in stopping the leakages of grain at shop level and above all eradicate corruption in the Public distribution System (PDS). Beside this, the Gujarat government completed the target of installing Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AEPS) in 17,250 Fair Price Shops (FPS) much before March 31. With this, a consumer will also be able to get his Rail, air and bus ticket reserved at the Fair Price Shops (FPS) itself. A beneficiary can pay his mobile bill, a farmer can deposit crop insurance premium, LIC premium etc. at these centres.
82. Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, a former Prime Minister who holds dual Somali-U.S. citizenship, has become the new President of Somali after winning the 2017 Somali presidential election with 184 votes out of a total of 328. Previously, he was the Prime Minister of Somalia from November 2010 until June 2011 and is the founder and Chairman of the Tayo Political Party.
83. The book "Veerappan: Chasing the Brigand" has been authored by K. Vijay Kumar, the Senior Security Adviser in the Ministry of Home Affairs. The book is a source of valuable inspiration offering insight into the tactics that went into the wiping out of the dreaded forest brigand on whom a prize money of Rs. 5 crores had been declared more than a decade back.
84. The 17th International Seminar on Counter Terrorism has been held at Manesar in Haryana on February 8, 2017. The seminar is organised by National Security Guard (NSA) and inaugurated by the Broadcasting Col. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, the Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting. Apart from this, the Minister also unveiled the NSG annual magazine 'The Bombshell', which contains details of various IED explosions that occurred in various parts of the world in 2016.
85. Dr P Raghu Ram, President of Association of Breast Surgeons of India (ABSI), has been selected for the prestigious 2016 Dr B C Roy National award for outstanding service in the field of socio-medical relief. This is the highest award that is bestowed upon a Medical person practicing in India & would be conferred by Hon'ble President of India on July 1, 2017 on Doctors' Day. It is claimed that he is the youngest surgeon ever from the Telugu states (Telangana and Andhra Pradesh) to have been selected for this award. The award recognises Dr Ram's significant contribution towards improving the delivery of breast health care in India and equally creating the much needed awareness about importance of early detection of breast cancer in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh through a number of initiatives.
86. For the first time, two Indian cagers – Aashay Verma and Priyanka Prabhakara – have been selected in a 67-strong international group of boys and girls for the NBA and FIBA's third annual Basketball without Borders (BWB) Global Camp in New Orleans, USA. The camp will be held February 17 to 19 as part of NBA All-Star 2017. The BWB Global Camp is a great opportunity for the top male and female prospects from around the world to compete against one another, learn directly from NBA and FIBA players, legends and coaches, and experience the excitement of NBA All-Star. The Basketball without Borders program was founded on the belief that basketball brings young players from different backgrounds together and transcends cultural boundaries.
87. Racharla Samrajyam (98), the veteran freedom fighter, has recently passed away at Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. Samrajyam was inspired by the Quit India Movement, when she was undergoing Hindi Pracharak training at Anantapur in 1942. She quit the training programme and joined the Quit India Movement.She was arrested at Bezawada (Vijayawada) and was sent to the Raya Vellore Jail for 6 months in 1944. She received the 'Tarmra Patra' from the Government of India (GoI) in 1972.
88. The 2017 Mobile World Congress (MWC) will be held in Barcelona, Spain from February 27 to March 2, which will be organised by the Global System Mobile Association (GSMA). The MWC is the world's largest gathering for the mobile industry. In it, the Indian researchers from IIT Hyderabad will showcase its C-RAN prototype for 5G technology, which is one of the first prototypes in the world.
89. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will constitute an inter-disciplinary committee on cyber security to examine various threats and suggest measures to deal with it. The committee will review the threats inherent in the existing or emerging technology on an ongoing basis. It will also study adoption of various security standards/protocols and also act as interface with stakeholders. The committee will be headed by Meena Hemachandra and will suggest appropriate policy interventions to strengthen cyber security and resilience.
90. India has been ranked 43rd out of 45 global economies in the 5th edition of Intellectual Property Index (IPI)-2017, as per the latest report titled "The Roots of Innovation" by the US Chamber of Commerce (USCC)'s Global Intellectual Property Center (GIPC). This is the 5th year in a row that India has been ranked at the bottom of the pack in the index. The list is topped by United States, followed by United Kingdom, Germany, Japan and Sweden respectively. The GIPC highlighted the need for the government to build upon the positive rhetoric of its IPR policy with the substantial legislative reforms that innovators need.
91. The Government of India (GoI) has recently appointed three part-time non-official directors on the Central Board of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for a 4-year term. These are – Dr. Rajiv Kumar, Dr. Ashok Gulati and Manish Sabharwal. This central Board of directors is responsible for governing the affairs of RBI. The board is appointed by the Union Government. There are five official directors — Governor and not more than four deputy governors. Besides, the government nominates 16 non-official directors on the board. Ten are nominated from different fields, two are government officials and one director each from the four local boards.
92. The 16th edition of the IAAF World Championships will be held in August 2017 in London, United Kingdom (UK). In it, Russia will remain suspended after athletics' governing body voted to extend their suspension from international competition for state-sponsored doping. Though, some Russians may be able to compete under a neutral banner, if they can satisfy testing criteria.
93. The Union Sports Minister Vijay Goel and All India Foot ball Federation (AIFF) President Praful Patel has launched the official mascot "Kheleo" for FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi on February 10, 2017. The clouded leopard "Kheleo" is a vulnerable wild cat whose habitat extends from the Himalayan foothills to mainland Southeast Asia. Kheleo will participate in numerous activities in the run-up to the first-ever FIFA tournament to be hosted by India, which will be played from 6 to 28 October 2017. In it, India will showcase its ability to organize and execute global sporting events.
94. The Union Minister of State (I/C) for Youth Affairs and Sports, Vijay Goel has recently launched the "Mission-Eleven-Million" sports outreach programme to promote football among school children. The main purpose of the Mission XI is to instill the passion for football in 11 million children from every part of the country. The first-of-its- kind programme will encourage children to play the football, gain healthy habits and learn important life lessons in teamwork and sportsman spirit. As part of the programme, Government will motivate and incentivize school principals and sports teachers to promote football games in school on a regular basis. The programme will also provide schools with necessary knowledge and equipment to encourage football as a sport played on a regular basis.
95. India has recently signed MoU with United Kingdom to ease restrictions on number of scheduled flights. The limits on flights from key Indian cities including Chennai and Kolkata have been scrapped and the MoU will allow for a greater range of flights for passengers while providing a boost to trade and tourism for the UK and India. The agreement has also opened all destinations in the UK for Indian carriers for code share flights and reciprocally the UK carriers can also operate code share flights to any International Airport in India, through domestic code share arrangements.
96. The National Women's Parliament (NWP), a first-of-its-kind conclave has started in Amaravati, the new capital of Andhra Pradesh. The 3-day conference has been organised by the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly with the theme of "Empowering Women-Strengthening Democracy". The well-known women personalities from diverse walk of life including social and corporate women leaders of India and overseas will share their experiences with the young girls. Dalai Lama has attended the inaugural session along with a host of leaders from India and abroad.
97. Sir Peter Mansfield (83), MRI pioneer and Nobel laureate, has recently passed away in London, England. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 2003, along with late US chemist Paul Lauterbur, for discovering Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MIR), a technique used by medical specialists to generate images of the human body's anatomy. MRI uses magnetic fields, radio waves and field gradients to detect damage such as cancer, in various parts of the body.
98. The National Productivity Week (NPW) is observed every year from February 12-18 by the National Productivity Council (NPC) to stimulate and promote productivity and quality consciousness across all sectors in India. The 2017 theme is "From Waste to Profits-through Reduce, Recycle and Reuse". The National Productivity Council (NPC) is an autonomous body under Union Ministry of Commerce & Industry and was established on 12th February 1958.
99. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) is co-hosting the Second Gateway of India Geo economic Dialogue with Gateway House in Mumbai, Maharashtra on February 13-14, 2017 . This is India's premier geo-economics conference on the theme 'Where Geopolitics meets Business' focused on building synergies between business and foreign policy. There will be panel discussions covering topics like Sovereign Funds, Global Taxation and Digital Economy.
100. The 11th biennial edition of International Aerospace and Defence Exhibition – Aero India 2017 – will be held at the Air Force Station, Yelahanka in Bengaluru, Karnataka from February 14. In the 5-day event, 72 aircrafts, beside 270 Indian and 279 foreign companies will participate. Exhibitors from US, Russia, Israel, Germany, Singapore, UAE, South Korea and Australia will participate. The aerobatic teams participating in the show are Indian Air Force Sarang Team, the Indian Air Force Surya Kiran Team, the Scandinavian Air Show Team from Sweden and the Evolvkos Aerobatic Team from UK.
101. The 2nd edition of International Conference on India Pharma & India Medical Device-2017 has been inaugurated by Ananth kumar, the Union Minister for Chemicals & Fertilizers and Parliamentary Affairs, in Bengaluru, Karnataka on February 11, 2017. The three day event, with the Vision – 'For Responsible Healthcare', is based on themes: Medical Devices- 'Shaping the Future-Making the Right Choices' and Pharma -'Shaping the future of India Pharma'. This initiative will be a platform to give a push to the Indian Pharma & Medical Devices sector in becoming globally competitive.
102. Ajay Tyagi, a 1984 batch IAS officer of the Himachal Pradesh cadre, has been appointed the new chief of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). Currently, Tyagi is an additional secretary at the finance ministry's economic affairs department and will succeed U.K. Sinha, who retires from the post on March 1, 2017. The chairman of SEBI receives a consolidated pay package of Rs 4.5 lakh per month.
103. India's first inter-disciplinary school on Quality and Reliability (Q&R) will be set up by the IIT Kharagpur. The school will be truly interdisciplinary in which faculty members as well as students will be from various disciplines. The purpose for establishing the school is to improve the quality of life for the people of India as well as develop quality conscious global citizens. The school, in collaboration with other academic units in the Institute, will offer academic courses, research and mission-mode programmes in the area of Quality and Reliability (Q&R), which will bring social transformation. It shall also serve as a hub of Intellectual Property in Quality.
104. The world's first Braille Atlas for visually impaired persons has been launched by Dr. Harsh Vardhan, the Union Minister for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences. The special edition of the "Atlas for Visually Impaired (India)" in English Braille has been prepared by National Atlas and Thematic Mapping Organisation (NATMO) under the Department of S&T. The Atlas priced at Rs.600 and has 20 maps that cover themes such as physical, socio-economic and cultural aspects such as river system, natural vegetation, Metropolitan cities, roads, food and cash crops. The Atlas will be distributed free of cost to various schools across India for educating the students with visual challenges.
105. The Union HRD Ministry has recently constituted a sub-committee of Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) under Chairmanship of Kadiyam Srihari to look into issues of girl's education. Srihari is the Deputy Chief Minister and Education Minister of Telangana. The terms of reference of the sub-committee would be to examine the reasons for low participation of girls in education, including the socio-economic factors with resultant gender bias and suggest ways to reduce gender disparity so as to achieve better gender parity index. It will analyse girls' participation at all levels of school education across socio-economic groups of SC/ST, minorities and in rural-urban areas and reduce existing educational disparities among them. It will also examine the existing schemes, measures and incentives aimed at enhancing girls' participation and ensuring their retention in education and suggest improvements and modifications in the existing schemes.
106. The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) has observed its 3rd National Deworming Day (NDD) on February 10 to tackle worm infections among pre-school (anganwadi) and school-age children across India. The aim of the NDD is to reach every child, regardless of their socio-economic circumstance. It is the world's largest deworming programme that covers 340 million children under-19 years of age across 36 states/ UTs. The deworming programme is India's commitment to a comprehensive national response to the public health threat posed by worms.
107. The Pakistan Navy has started its 5th edition of multinational naval exercise "AMAN – 2017" at the Navy Dockyard in Karachi. The 2017 theme is 'Together for peace' and focus is on maritime security including counter-piracy and counter terrorism operations at sea. The naval exercise will include ships, aircraft, helicopters, Special Operations Forces (SOF), Explosives Ordinance Disposal (EOD), marine teams and observers from regional as well extra-regional navies. The 4-day naval drill involves 37 countries such as Australia, China, Indonesia, Turkey, Sri Lanka, UK, Unites States, Japan and Russia.
108. The World Radio Day (WRD) is observed every year on February 13 to celebrate radio as the medium for entertainment, information and the mode for communication. The 2017 theme is "Radio is You!" a call for greater participation of audiences and communities in the policy and planning of radio broadcasting. The day provides an opportunity to honour how radio is uniquely positioned to bring communities together and promote positive dialogue for change.
109. India has won the 2017 T20 Blind World Cup by defeating Pakistan in the final by 9-wickets at Bengaluru's M Chinnaswamy Stadium. Indian player Prakash Jayaramaiah was adjudged as man of the match for his outstanding innings in the match while Badar Munir from Pakistan was given the man of the series award for his 570 runs in the tournament.
110. Jiro Taniguchi (69), a legendary comic manga artist of Japan, has recently passed away in Tokyo, Japan. He was known for his elegant line drawings and intricately-constructed landscapes. Taniguchi achieved an international following with works such as The Walking Man, The Summit of the Gods and The Magic Mountain.
111. The International Day of Women and Girls in Science is observed every year on February 11 to promote gender equality and encourage girls and women to get involved in science and research.
112. The 2nd edition of the International Spice Conference has started in Kovalam, Kerala on February 12, 2017. The event is hosted by the All India Spices Exporters Forum (AISEF), which represents about 80% of spices exports, in association with the Cochin Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The central theme of the conference is "21st century spice industry: Disrupt or be disrupted". The 3-day conference will discuss effective strategies and innovative technologies to improve the livelihood of farmers; address industry challenges, food safety concerns and demand supply disparity; and seek to foster sustainable growth. Over 700 delegates representing various States, industry leaders from 40 countries, representatives of international spice associations, policymakers and end-users are expected to attend.
113. The 2017 UNESCO Natural Heritage Festival was held at Great Himalayan National Park (GHNP) in Sairopa, Himachal Pradesh from February 11th to 12th. The fest was held in collaboration with the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and would be attended by prominent conservationists, including Dr George Schaller and Dr A J T Johnsingh, The festival feature a media workshop on environmental journalism, discussions on natural and cultural heritage of the Himalayan region and a heritage walk. Notably, GHNP was given UNESCO World Heritage Site status in 2014 in recognition of its outstanding significance for bio-diversity conservation.
114. The 3-day International Coin Fair has started at Kanakakunnu Palace in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala from February 13, 2017 and is hosted by District Tourism Promotion Council (DTPC). More than 2,500 coins from around 500 regions, including those from the times of empires and princely states will be displayed in this fair. The coins on display will include those from the time of Alexander the Great, to various Mughal, Chera, Chola emperors and Kanishka, besides Persian, Roman and Islamic coins. Additionaly, the coin released by Subhash Chandra Bose during British rule and Somalian guitar-shaped coins, Princess Diana tribute coins, flower-inscribed coins, among other rare pieces, will be the major attractions.
115. Frank-Walter Steinmeier, a member of the Social Democratic party (SPD), has been elected the new President of Germany by the Federal Assembly meeting in Parliament in Berlin. He won 931 out of 1,260 votes. Steinmeier will succeed Joachim Gauck on March 18, 2017.
116. Sandeep Jajodia, the CMD of Monnet Ispat & Energy Ltd., has been appointed the new President of industry chamber Associated Chambers of Commerce of India (ASSOCHAM). He succeeded Sunil Kanoria. The ASSOCHAM is one of the apex trade associations of India. The organisation represents the interests of trade and commerce in India, and acts as an interface between industry, government and other relevant stakeholders on policy issues and initiatives.
117. Nilesh Shivji Vikamsey, who has been a member of the ICAI since 1985, has become the new President of Institute of Chartered Accountant of India (ICAI). Prior to this appointment, Vikamsey was the Vice President of the CA institute in 2016-17. ICAI is the national professional accounting body of India. The affairs of ICAI are managed by a council in accordance with the provisions of the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949 and the Chartered Accountants Regulations, 1988. The council has 32 elected members and eight are nominated by the central government.
118. The first-ever International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) World Tour event in India has kicked off at the Thyagaraj Sports Complex in New Delhi. The $1.5 lakh India Open also happens to be the biggest ever ITTF event in terms of prize money. Approx, 80 players will participate in the tournament, 52 in the men's section and 28 in the women's section. Sharath Kamal is India's sole direct entry in the men's singles draw. In the women's section, Manika Batra will lead the Indian challenge.
119. Indian Navy's survey vessel INS Sarvekshak has become the India's first warship to install solar power system on board. The solar power system works on sunlight and hence is 100% per cent reliable for power source that can be used for communication equipment, battery charging and general lightings onboard round the clock with battery outputs during night. The system is maintenance free.
120. The International Society for Krishna Consciousness's (ISKCON) food relief foundation 'Annamrita' has bagged the IMC Ramakrishna Bajaj National Quality award in the NGO category. NGO Annamrita provides food to over 12 lakh students daily through its mid-day meal programme across India. Everyday more than 12 lakh underprivileged children across India get nutritious, sanctified, hygienically prepared meals from 20 centralised ISO certified kitchens from across seven states of India reaching out to over 6,500 schools every day. The allocation for the mid-day meal scheme in the Union Budget 2017 has been increased from Rs 9,700 crore to Rs 10,000 crore by the government and this will support Annamrita to reach out to serve more and more children from government-aided and municipal schools.
121. The 'Parents' Worship Day' (or 'Matru-Pitru Diwas' ) is celebrated every year by the Chhattisgarh government on February 14 at all schools in the state to teach 'Bharatiya sanskriti' to students.
122. The 9th edition of BRICS summit-2017 will be held at Xiamen in the Fujian Province of east China on September 2017 with the theme "BRICS: Stronger Partnership for a Brighter Future".
123. Sandeep Das, an Indian-American tabla player, has won the Best World Music Album at the 59th edition of Grammy Awards-2017 in California, United States for his album "Sing Me Home".
124. India will host a conference on counter radicalisation with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to share experiences and ideas on prevention of radicalization in October 2017. The conference will provide common platform to countries for sharing experiences and ideas on prevention of radicalisation.
125. David Robert Jones (69), an English singer, songwriter and actor, has recently passed away in New York City, United States. He was posthumously honoured with five Grammy Awards in various categories viz. Best Alternative Rock Album, Best Engineered Album (Non-Classical), and Best Recording Package for Blackstar, and Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song for the album's title track at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards-2017.
126. India's first-ever floating elementary school "Loktak Elementary Floating School" has started at Langolsabi Leikai of Champu Khangpok floating village on Loktak Lake in Manipur. The school has been opened under the initiative undertaken by All Loktak Lake Fisherman's Union with the support of an NGO – People Resources Development Association (PRDA). The school will not only cater to the need of the children but for the illiterate adults as well. The Loktak Lake is referred as the "lifeline of Manipur" as it is highly productive and many lives depend on the lake for endurance. The lake is also an Important Bird Area as it's a potential breeding site for waterfowl and is a staging site for migratory birds.
127. The book "Welcome to Nowhere" has been authored by acclaimed children's writer Elizabeth Laird. This is a book about war and its consequences. Through book, author tells the story of 12-year-old Omar, his parents and four siblings, all of who are caught in the crossfire as civil war rages over Syria. Laird references real-life events and gives you great characters, heartwarming moments and even occasional humour.
128. The book "Army and Nation : The Military and Indian Democracy since Independence" has been authored by Steven Wilkinson, a professor of political science and International relations at Yale University. It is about Indian Army's relationship with the civilian government after Independence. It is in news because Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa has advised his officers to read the book "Army and Nation" to understand how India succeeded in keeping the military out of politics.
129. The International Condom Day (ICD) is observed every year on February 13 to promote the use of condoms as a means of preventing unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). The 2017 theme is 'Always in Fashion'.
130. The International Conference on NexGen Technologies for Mining and Fuel Industries has started at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi on February 15, 2017. The 3 day conference is organized by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, which will cover areas like Innovative mining technology for sustainable development and advances in mine design mine planning recent advancement in drilling and blasting. The conference is inaugurated by Dr. Harsh Vardhan, the Union Science and Technology Minister.
131. The United States and Thailand has officially launched the 2017 Cobra Gold joint military exercise at Chonburi Province in Thailand on February 14. The 2017 Cobra Gold is the 36th edition of the military exercise in which more than 8,300 personnel from 29 countries, including Japan, South Korea, China and Southeast Asian nations are taking part. The Cobra Gold is the Asia's largest multinational drill held in Thailand every year and is among the largest multinational military exercise in which the United States participates.
132. Jehan Daruvala from India has won the 2017 New Zealand Grand Prix at the Chris Amon Circuit in Manfeild, New Zealand. With this, Daruvala has become the only Indian racer to register a win at a Grand Prix. The New Zealand Grand Prix is an annual motor racing event held in New Zealand. It is one of only two current national Grand Prix events that are not part of the Formula One World Championship, the other being the Macau Grand Prix.
133. The Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers and Chemicals (GNFC) township in Bharuch has become the India's first-ever cashless township, which is recently inaugurated by Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani on February 13, 2017. The GNFC is the first integrated industrial township in the country to go 100% digital in all financial transactions. All the shops in the GNFC township, which include paan shops, laundries, vegetable shops, barber shops, provision stores, cycle repairing shops, flour mills, conduct their business only through cashless transactions using PoS machines, e-wallets like BHIM, UPI, SBI Buddy, etc. Even a paan is purchased cashless and a cup of tea is also available cashless only. The GNFC has a population of around 5,000 and has facilities like a big shopping centre, restaurants, eateries, schools and colleges, hospital, stadium, guest house, etc.
134. The Gateway House and the Ministry of External Affairs has co-hosted the 2017's edition of 'The Gateway of India Geo-economic Dialogue' in Mumbai, Maharashtra on February 13-14, 2017.This is India's premier geo-economics conference on the theme 'Where Geopolitics meets Business' focused on building synergies between business and foreign policy. There were panel discussions that cover topics like Sovereign Funds, Global Taxation and Digital Economy.
135. Tehmina Janjua has become the Pakistan's first woman foreign secretary. Currently, Janjua is serving as Pakistan's permanent representative to the United Nations (UN) in Geneva. Janjua will succeed Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry in March 2017.
136. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully launched a record 104 satellites from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh through PSLV C-37 launch vehicle. The PSLV-C37 first launched the 714 kg Cartosat-2 Series satellite for earth observation and then inject 103 co-passenger satellites, together weighing about 664 kg at lift-off into polar Sun Synchronous Orbit, about 520 km from Earth. With the successful launch, India scripted history by becoming the first country in the world to launch 104 satellites in a single rocket.
137. The world's longest elevated bike path "the winding viaduct"has been opened in the city of Xiamen, China which can handle about 2,023 cyclists with a speed limit of 15 miles per hour. The five-mile long and 16-feet wide bicycle-only pathway can carry 2,023 cyclists per hour, while 300 hire bikes are available for people who do not have bicycles. The architecture firm responsible is Copenhagen-based firm Dissing + Weitling, known for the creation of the Danish Bicycle Snake cycle route.
138. The Indian Panorama Film Festival has started in Port Blair, Andaman & Nicobar on February 15, 2017. The 5-day festival is organized by the Directorate of Information and Publicity, Andaman & Nicobar, in association with the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting and Directorate of Film Festivals/IFFI, New Delhi. Approx 15 popular as well as award winning films, of different languages and genre will be screened at two different venues viz. PBMC Auditorium and ITF Ground during the fest.
139. The Union Minister of State (IC) for Power, Coal, New & Renewable Energy and Mines, Piyush Goyal has recently launched TAMRA mobile application and portal to ensure transparent award of statutory clearances for mining operations. TAMRA stands for "Transparency, Auction Monitoring and Resource Augmentation". The portal covers block-wise, state-wise and mineral-wise information of the blocks to be auctioned, monitors various statutory clearances, and also highlights the additional resources generated through e-Auction. In case of delay in obtaining any clearances, TAMRA will send triggers to the concerned authority so that the remedial steps can be taken immediately by those responsible.
140. The All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) of Delhi has won the first prize and a cash reward of Rs. 5 crore for maintaining high standards of sanitation and hygiene under the Government of India (GoI)'s Kayakalp awards 2016-17. AIIMS was followed by was followed by North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS) and Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh.The thrust of Kayakalp is to inculcate culture of cleanliness for gaining the trust and confidence of community in these facilities.
141. Veteran journalist T V Parasuram (93), a former correspondent of the Press Trust of India (PTI), has recently passed away in United States. He began his stint in the US as the PTI correspondent at United Nations in the 50s. The veteran journalist, who won a Harvard Niemen Fellowship in journalism, served as the correspondent for The Indian Express for two decades till his retirement at age 58. Parasuram then became the PTI's Washington correspondent till he quit journalism at age 82. He was a regular at the press conferences of US presidents during his over five-decade stay in America. He authored two books, 'A Medal for Kashmir – a first hand account of the Indian Army's operations in 1947-48 in Jammu and Kashmir – and 'India's Jewish Heritage'.
142. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has opened South Asia Training and Technical Assistance Center (SARTTAC) in New Delhi for economic capacity building in South Asia. The center is a collaborative venture between the IMF, the member countries (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka) and development partners. It was officially inaugurated by Shaktikanta Das, Secretary of Department of Economic Affairs, on February 13, 2017. The SARTTAC is IMF's first fully-integrated capacity development center, which has strategic goal to help its member countries strengthen their institutional and human capacity to design and implement macroeconomic and financial policies that promote growth and reduce poverty.
143. Jean-Pierre Lacroix of France has been appointed Under-Secretary-General for United Nations Peacekeeping Operations. He will succeed Herve Ladsous in March 2017. Prior to this appointment, he served as the Director for the United Nations and International Organizations for France's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
144. The 7th edition of Indian Seed Congress (ISC) has been organized by the National Seed Association of India (NSAI) in Kolkata, West Bengal on February 12-14, 2017. The theme of Seed Congress is "Seed of Joy" which is very much in line with vision of this government to bring happiness and prosperity in the lives of farmers by doubling their farm income by 2022. The ISC is an annual forum that provides a platform for the Seed Industry to interact closely with technology developers, sector development officials and policy makers. It also provides a chance to showcase new product ranges and services and network for better business development.
145. Sandeep Singh, an Indian professional field hockey player and an ex-captain of the Indian national team, has become only the second Indian player to have an honorary degree for sporting excellence. Singh has been bestowed with the honour by Desh Bhagat University, a private educational institution in Amloh, Fatehgarh Sahib district of Punjab. Sandeep is only the second Indian player after former captain and sitting Member of Parliament, Dileep Tirkey, to have an honorary degree for sporting excellence. Tirkey received an honorary degree from Sambalpur University in 2010.
146. Kush Bhagat, a second grade student from Hill Spring International School, has been awarded the title of Candidate Master (CM) by World Chess Federation body. The title comes after a range of admirable performances by him, over the span of last 6 months, beginning with his conquest of U-7 Maharashtra State Championship 2016 title to becoming the World Schools Under 7 Blitz champion in Sochi (Russia) and finally his performance, with three gold medals at the first-ever Western Youth Chess Championship 2016 at UAE.
147. The second edition of "Hunar Haat" has been organized with the theme "Craft Aur Cuisine Ka Sangam" from February 11, 2017 to promote minority communities craftsmen in domestic and international markets. It will remain open till 26th of this month at State Emporia Complex in Connaught Place, New Delhi. 'Hunar Haat' is to encourage, promote and provide national and international market to master artisans and craftsmen belonging to minority communities. Approx 100 artisans and 30 culinary experts from about 24 states and UTs are participating at about 130 stalls in it. The Hunar Haat is organized through National Minorities Development & Finance Corporation (NMDFC) under Upgrading the Skills & Training in Traditional Arts/Crafts for Development (USTTAD) scheme of Ministry of Minority Affairs.
148. The 10th edition of International Conference on Theory and Practice of Electronic Governance (ICEGOV-2017) will take place in New Delhi, India from 7th to 9th March 2017. The ICEGOV series brings together academia, governments, international organizations, civil society and the private sector to share the insights and experiences in theory and practice of Digital Government. The 2017 theme is "Building Knowledge Societies – From Digital Government to Digital Empowerment".
149. Shand Panesar, an Indian-origin constable with Scotland Yard, has been awarded 2017 United Kingdom's (UK) Outstanding Bravery of the Year Award for risking his life with a colleague to rescue a couple from a burning building in London in September 2016. Panesar and Craig Nicholson were jointly awarded after the public voted for them in the Total Excellence in Policing Awards, which were presented by Metropolitan Police police commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe.
150. Shah Rukh Khan will be honoured with the 4th National Yash Chopra Memorial Award-2017 on February 24. The award commemorates the director-producer by honouring excellence in various spheres of cinema like acting, music etc.
151. The book "Hema Malini: Beyond the Dream Girl" has been penned by author-columnist Ram Kamal Mukherjee. It's about actress achievement as a politician apart from her sojourn as an actor, danseuse and filmmaker. It will offer a new perspective on Bollywood's first female superstar.
152. Vikas Swarup, an officer of the Indian Foreign Service batch of 1986, has been appointed as new High Commissioner of India to Canada. He is famous for penning down the novel Q & A, adapted in film as Slumdog Millionaire. Currently, Swarup is working as Spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi. He will replace Arun Kumar Sahu who is currently working as acting Indian envoy in Canada.
153. The Kerala government has recently launched the public health program "Aardram" to restructure and revamp the public health system so that government hospitals become more patient-friendly and efficient and deliver optimum level of care. The purpose of the health program is to reduce the high out-of-pocket expenditure on health in the State by upgrading the facilities and infrastructure in public health facilities and thus reduce the dependence on private health facilities.
154. India's first sports literature festival 'SporTale' will be held in Pune on February 2, 2017. The 2-day event will feature approx 38 luminaries from the field of sports, media, cinema, books and photography.
155. Simone Biles, an American artistic gymnast, has won the Laureus World Sports Awards for Sportswoman of the Year 2017 at a ceremony in Monaco. She is the first woman to win four gymnastics gold medals in a single Olympic Games, Beside this, the Sportsman of the Year 2017 goes to Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt and Chicago Cubs (Basket Ball) won the 2017 Team of the Year award.
156. Edappadi K Palaniswamy has become the new Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu on February 16, 2017. He is a senior leader of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK). He has to seek the vote confidence of the Tamil Nadu assembly within 15 days. Palaniswamy belong to Gounder community, which is one of the main communities along with the Thevars (or Mukkulathors) that have influenced the AIADMK.
157. India has been ranked 143rd in the 2017 Economic Freedom Index (EFI). The annual index was released by a conservative US political think tank "the Heritage Foundation". It measures the degree of economic freedom in the countries of the world. The 2017 index is topped by Hong Kong, Singapore and New Zealand, respectively. Among South Asian countries, only Afghanistan (163) and Maldives (157) were ranked below India. Nepal (125), Sri Lanka (112), Pakistan (141), Bhutan (107), and Bangladesh (128) surpassed India in economic freedom.
158. The two-day South Asian Speaker's summit has been inaugurated by the Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan at Indore in Madhya Pradesh on February 18, 2017. The summit is organized by the Indian Parlianment and Inter-Parliamentary Union which is focused on Achieving Sustainable Development Goals in member countries. The delegates from legislatures of Afganistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka are attending the summit. Representatives from Pakistan and Myanmar are not attending the summit due to their personal reasons.
159. Melody Queen Lata Mangeshkar has been honoured with the 'Legendary Award ' 2017 by Brand Laureate. The Brand Laureate Awards recognise world-class achievement in branding amongst individuals and companies. She is known for songs like "Lag jaa gale", "Aayega aanewala", "Aye mere watan ke logon", "Luka chuppi", and many more.
160. Bhau Jambhuwantrao Dhote (83), the former Member of Parliament (MP) from Nagpur Lok Sabha constituency, has recently passed away in Yavatmal, Maharashtra. He was known for his demands of a separate state for Vidarbha. Dhote won his first election to Lok Sabha in 1971 from Nagpur as a Forward Bloc nominee. Later in 1980, he joined Congress and won the Nagpur seat on the Congress ticket. After leaving Congress he founded Vidarbha Janta Congress party in 2002. He was elected to Maharashtra Assembly five times. Due to his active participation in various movements for separate Vidarbha and farmers and his aggressive speeches, he was also known as the Lion of Vidarbha.
161. Surendra Verma, the well-known Hindi scholar and playwright, has been selected for Vyas Samman 2016 for his novel "Kaatna Shami Ka Vriksha : Padma Pankhuri Ki Dhar Se". It is awarded annually by the K.K. Birla Foundation and includes a cash payout of Rs 3.50 lakhs. To be eligible for the award, the literary work must be in the Hindi language and have been published in the past 10 years.
162. The 11th edition of ICC Women's Cricket World Cup 2017 will be hosted by England from 24 June to 23 July 2017. Recently, India qualified for Women's Cricket World Cup 2017 by defeating Bangladesh by 9 wickets in a Super Six match in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Eight teams will qualify to participate in the tournament.
163. Bollywood megastar Shah Rukh Khan will host the Hindi version of popular international show "TED Talks", which is the super-inspiring and super-influential talk series. Star India will air the Indian version "TED Talks India: Nayi Soch" in summer 2017 but a definite telecast date is yet to be announced. This is the first time TED is collaborating with a network and mega-star to produce a TV series featuring original TED Talks in a language other than English.
164. Norman Isaac has become the first Indian ever to be promoted by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) as Technical Delegate (TD). As a TD, Isaac will be assigned to any country except his own and will be responsible for conduct of an entire event, ranging from actual competition management to every related aspect from media arrangements to logistics. Prior to this appointment, he was a FIBA Commissioner.
165. Tata Motors has signed pact with Microsoft India to redefine connected and personalized driving experiences for Indian customers. The purpose of the pact is to provide an enriched mobile experience for its consumers. Tata Motors will leverage Microsoft's connected vehicle technologies that bring together artificial intelligence (AI), advanced machine learning, and the Internet of Things (IoT) capabilities on the global hyper-scale Azure cloud, to traverse the digital and physical worlds and create a highly personalized, smart and safer driving experience across the digital life of a vehicle owner. The first vehicle developed through this partnership will be unveiled at the 87th Geneva International Motor Show on 7th March 2017.
166. The book "Jobless Clueless Reckless" has been authored by Revathi Suresh. It's a novel about teenagers that gives an insight into what happens in the minds and lives of teenagers in an upper middle class, urban society.
167. The India Vetiver Network (INVN) has been launched at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University. The INVN is a not-for-profit scientific network to promote vetiver in India. Vetiver (Indian grass with fragrant root ) has worldwide application to tackle many environmental issues like soil erosion, mitigation of soil and water pollution. The mission of INVN is environmental protection using vetiver.
168. The 3rd edition of the annual LIC Gateway LitFest will be held in Mumbai, Maharashtra on February 25 and 26, 2017. The 2017 theme is 'the contemporary face of Indian literature', which focuses on five languages – Bengali, Marathi, Malayalam, Punjabi and Tamil. There will be a discussion for writers from script-free languages such as Ahirani, Bhojpuri, Khasi, Konkani, Kosli and Santhali. In the Litfest, approx 50 writers from 15 languages, including National Award winner K R Meera, script-writer Anjali Menon and ace filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan will participate. Apart from this, Kosli poet Haldhar Nag will be bestowed with the first Gateway LitFest Lifetime Achievement Award.
169. Shurhozelie Liezietsu (81), the president of Naga People's Front (NPF), has been chosen as the new Chief Minister (CM) of Nagaland in place of T R Zeliang who resigned on February 19, 2017 under intense pressure from agitating tribal organizations. Shurhozelie, who is not an MLA and belongs to Angami tribe, will now have to seek an election within 6 months. According to an official source, Liezietsu will be sworn-in as the new CM on February 22.
170. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, a French professional tennis player, has won the 2017 Rotterdam Tennis Tournament by defeating David Goffin of Belgium in the final by 4-6, 6-4, 6-1.
171. Shibaji Banerjee (68), the former Mohun Bagan and India national team goalkeeper, has recently passed away in Kolkata, West Bengal. He played for Mohun Bagan for 11 years and was famous for saving penalty-kicks. He is considered to be one of India's best shot-stoppers when it came to penalty-kicks. His most memorable performance in a tie-breaker was against Mohammedan Sporting in the 1980 Federation Cup semi-final when he stopped spot-kicks from Akbar and Amalraj. Banerjee is best remembered for his performance against New York Cosmos in 1977, which had the Brazilian legend Pele in their ranks. His diving save from Pele in the first half is one of the most-talked about moments in Indian football and has become a part of the folklore.
172. The Canara Bank has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) to operationalise the Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA). HEFA has been formed as a special purpose vehicle. It would leverage the equity to raise up to Rs. 20,000 crore for funding projects for infrastructure and development of world class Labs in IITs/IIMs/NITs and such other institutions. HEFA would also mobilise CSR funds from PSUs/corporates, which would in turn be released for promoting research and innovation in these institutions on a grant basis. The purpose of the HEFA is to create high quality infrastructure/capital assets in premier educational institutions. All the centrally funded higher educational institutions would be eligible for joining as members of HEFA.
173. The 'Mile Banche Madhya Pradesh (or Let us read together) programme has been held in all government schools of Madhya Pradesh. As part of the programme, over 1.26 lakh volunteers including MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan besides pensioners, mediapersons, homemakers and other professionals played the role of a 'teacher' for a day in government-run schools on February 18, 2017. They read out a portion of any Hindi book. Along with this, they motivate children to read out any portion of their interest from any other book.
174. The Indian government has sanctioned $340 million soft loan to Nepal for various infrastructure development programmes at Nepal Infrastructure Summit 2017 at Kathmandu, Nepal on February 19, 2017. Under this programme, Mahalaki bridge and 15 roads will be constructed in various parts of Nepal.
175. Altamas Kabir (68), the former Chief Justice of India (CJI), has recently passed away in Kolkata, West Bengal on February 19, 2017. Justice Kabir was the Chief Justice at Supreme Court for a brief period of nine months in 2012-13. As the Chief Justice, he was part of the Supreme Court Bench which heard the case of the two Italian marines in 2013. He would be remembered for the gentle yet firm nature with which he handled court work as well as his administrative job as the head of India's judicial system.
176. The Maharashtra government has approved Rs. 250-crore cloud seeding programme to produce adequate rain because of droughts over the Vidarbha region. The programme would be coordinated by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology. It will be the first controlled experiment to quantify the extent to which clouds form water drops large enough to make rain. For their experiment, weather scientists will fly will fly two aircraft and spray dry ice and silver iodide on 100 clouds and compare them with 100 unseeded clouds. Ground radar will track the clouds and verify which ones contributed rain and by how much. The programme will account for the natural variability of the monsoon.
177. The Mangalore-based public sector lender, Corporation Bank has won the 'National MSME Excellence Award 2017' at a function in New Delhi for playing constructive role in the MSME sector viz. online loan facility for MSME borrowers, online facility for revival and rehabilitation of MSME, campaign for growth with various concessions and collateral free loans up to Rs 2 crore under Credit Guarantee Scheme (CGS), etc. The award is instituted by the Federation of Industry Trade and Services (FITS), which is a national industry body working in the form of a bridge between the industry and the state and central governments.
178. The Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) has launched mobile wallet 'Oriental Batuaa' for digital payments for its' bank customers on its 75th Foundation Day. Besides this, OBC has also launched two new cards – 'Oriental Premium card' is a RuPay based Platinum international debit card with airport lounge access and the other card- 'Oriental Prepaid Card' is a RuPay card for individuals and corporates. Apart from this, it has also launched two MSME schemes – 'Oriental Sanjeevani' and 'Oriental Budget Hotels and Restaurants'. Oriental Sanjeevani is a specialised scheme for doctors for setting up new hospitals and clinics. The other scheme is for individuals, proprietors, companies etc for setting up new hotels, restaurants, lodges, motels etc.
179. The World Day of Social Justice is observed every year on February 20 to recognize the need to promote efforts to tackle issues such as poverty, exclusion and unemployment. The 2017 theme is "Preventing conflict and sustaining peace through decent work".
180. Banasree Sengupta (71), the renowned Bengali singer, has recently passed away in Kolkata, West Bengal. She was known for her mellifluous voice. Some of her hit songs are Aaj Bikeler Dake Tomar Chhithi Pelam, Amar Angey Jaley Rangmoshal, Chhi chhi Eki Kando Korechi, Dur Akashay Tomar Sur, etc. She also lent her voice to Bengali, Hindi, Assamese and Odia films.
181. The Barren Island is located in the Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands and is the only confirmed active volcano in South Asia. It is in news because the Barren Island volcano has erupted once again after lying dormant for over 150 years. According to the researchers at Goa-based National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), the volcano is active and spewing smoke and lava once again. They have sampled the sediments and water in the vicinity of the volcano and recovered coal-like black pyroclastic material representing proximal volcanic eject. These samples will help in deciphering the nature of the present and past volcanic activity in the region.
182. The political satire Indian film "Newton" has won the International Federation of Art Cinemas (CICAE) award at the 67th Berlin International Film Festival-2017 in Berlin, Germany. The film was directed by Amit Masurkar, which received a standing ovation at the festival, with a long and engaging Q and A post the screening. The film deals with the various issues of democracy and the fight for it during the elections in India. Apart from this, Indian short film "Aaba" has also won the Special Prize in the Generation Kplus International Jury section at the fest. The movie produced by filmmaker Onir and directed by Amar Kaushik. The movie has been co-produced by director Raj Kumar Gupta.
183. The book "Every Time It Rains" has been authored by Nikitha Singh. It is the sequel of author's "Like a Love song" , in which Mahi and Laila were the protagonists with the story from Mahi's perspective. The book "Every Time It Rains" revolves around Laila's life, how she picks up the broken pieces of her shattered heart and whether she gives love another chance in her life remains a mystery till the end.
184. Sandeep Kumar from Haryana has won the gold medal in the 50km category of the National Race Walking Championship-2017 in New Delhi. He clocked 3 hours 55 minutes and 59.05 seconds to win the race and qualify for the 2017 IAAF World Championships, which is scheduled to be held in August 2017 in London, United Kingdom.
185. The Hungarian drama film "On Body and Soul" has won the Golden Bear Award at the 67th Berlin International Film Festival. At Berlin it also won the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESC) Prize and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury. The film is directed by Hungarian writer-director Ildiko Enyedi.
186. The National Biodiversity Congress (NBC) 2017 will be held in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala from February 22. The event is hosted by the Kerala State Biodiversity Board from Feb 22nd to 26th and the focal theme is "Mainstreaming Biodiversity for Sustainable Development". The present edition of the event comprises an array of programmes including conference, exhibition, capacity building workshops and Children's Biodiversity Congress.
187. The Union Minister of Electronics and IT, Ravi Shankar Prasad has recently launched Cyber Swachhta Kendra (CSK) in New Delhi for Botnet cleaning and Malware analysis. The CSK is a part of Government's digital India initiative to create a secure cyber space by detecting botnet infections. The centre will operate in close coordination and collaboration with Internet Service Providers and Antivirus companies. The centre is being operated by the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team. Beside this, the Union Minister has also launched 'Mkavach' app to protect smart phones and tablets from hackers and another App 'Samvid' to protect Desktops from suspicious applications from running.
188. The Central Excise Day (CED) is celebrated every year on February 23 in India to commemorate the enactment of the Central Excise and Salt Act, 1944. The Central Excise officers all over the country celebrate this day by organizing seminars, workshops, trade interactions and cultural events etc. In the "Annual Central Excise Day 2017", Santosh Kumar Gangwar (the Minister of State for Finance) will be the Chief Guest in the "Auditorium, National Museum , Janpath, New Delhi". The 32 Officers of Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) and its formations from all over India to receive "Commendation Certificate" on the occasion.
189. The Minister of State (Independent Charge) for AYUSH, Shripad Yesso Naik will inaugurate the "World Integrated Medicine Forum on Regulation of Homeopathic Medicinal Products: National and Global strategies" in New Delhi on February 23, 2017. This is the first-of-its-kind forum considering the increased perception of the International world towards India as a key player in the progress of the homoeopathy drug industry. In the 2-day forum, the drug lawmakers, regulators, manufacturers and pharmacopeial experts from various regulatory authorities, eminent scientific organisations and pharmaceutical industries from 25 countries will participate to strategize the actionable aspects in the homoeopathic drug industry, which, in turn, will promote global harmonisation in the sector. The event is organised by Ministry of AYUSH and Central Council for Research in Homeopathy (CCRH) and supported by Pharmacopoeia Commission for Indian Medicine & Homoeopathy (PCIMH) & Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO).
190. The Kerala Government will soon launched a six-day anti-corruption induction training mandatory for the government service officials in the state. The induction training programme is claimed to be the first of its kind in India. The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau is the nodal agency for the implementation of the ambitious initiative to cover new recruits and select existing employees.The purpose of the training is to create a mindset against corruption and make the employees prepare to fight against the menace.
191. Ved Prakash Sharma (62), the popular Hindi novelist, has recently passed away in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh. He was famous for novels with unique titles such as Dahej Mein Revolver (Revolver as Dowry), Widhva Ka Pati (Husband of a Widow) and Dulhan Maange Dahej (Bride Asks For Dowry). Sharma had also written scripts for about half-a-dozen Hindi movies.
192. The book "Autoplay:Not-so Stories" has been authored by G Sampath. The book is an adventurous new fiction, exploring the themes of marriage, adolescence, love, terrorism, technology, consumerism and other familiars through feeling-eyes.
193. The Ahmedabad-based Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII) has won the prestigious International Mercury Awards for the year 2016-17 for the best overall presentation of its 2015-2016 annual report. The EDII is an autonomous and not-for-profit national resource institute for entrepreneurship education, research, training and institution-building. The Mercury Awards, founded in 1987, promote excellence, quality and performance in the various fields of public relations. The award entertains participation from agencies, associations, corporations, government agencies, nonprofit groups, and organizations from around 80 countries worldwide every year.
194. India has become the world's largest arms importer during 2012-12, according to the latest report by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). As per the report, India accounted for 13% of the total global arms import between 2012–16 which is highest among all the countries. Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), China and Algeria are the next four biggest global importers. As per the SIPRI report, the five biggest exporters—the United States, Russia, China, France and Germany—together accounted for 74% of the total volume of arms exports.
195. The 13th edition of National Agriculture Science Congress (NASC)-2017 has started at the campus of the University of Agricultural Sciences-Bengaluru (UAS-B) in Bengaluru, Karnataka from February 22, 2017. The 4-day congress is jointly organised by the UAS-B, National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS) and Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). The theme of the Congress is 'Climate-smart Agriculture'. The Congress will provide an intellectually stimulating platform for discussing key issues related to 'Climate-smart Agriculture' in all its facets, including socio-economic empowerment of marginal farmers through technology development and policy initiatives for sustainable farming, forestry and natural resource management in tune with global climate change.
196. The International Mother Language Day (IMLD) is observed every year on to promote awareness of linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism. The 2017 theme is "Towards Sustainable Futures through Multilingual Education".
197. V. K. Srinivasan (76), the noted bureaucrat, columnist and director of the Institute of Economic Studies (IES), has recently passed away in Hyderabad. He was known for his candid views and uprightness in the Services, Srinivasan ruffled many feathers in the corridors of power during his career. It resulted in several transfers as well. He served as Collector in Karimnagar and Anantapur districts, and was known for his simple habits.
198. The first edition of Gramin Khel Mahotsav (GKM) will be held from March 25th to 31st, 2017 in New Delhi. The games will be held in five sports disciplines Athletics, Kabaddi, Kho-Kho, Volley Ball and Wrestling. The festival will help participation of rural youth in large numbers in popular sports and encourage them to achieve excellence and adopt healthy life style. The purpose of this fest to promote sports in rural areas across the country and will be replicated in other States and UTs as well.
199. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has recently approved investment proposal for generation component of Arun-3 Hydro Electric Project in Nepal by SJVN Limited to promote clean and green energy in India and the sub continent. This project will generate 900 Megawatt of hydro power at an estimated cost of Rs. 5723.72 crore. The project is expected to achieve financial closure by September 2017 and be implemented in five years thereafter.
200. Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre has been appointed the new chairman of Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT). The post fell vacant following the resignation of Justice Balbir Singh Chauhan, who is currently the chairman of Law Commission. The CWDT was constituted by the Government of India (GoI) in 1990 to adjudicate the water dispute regarding the inter-state Cauvery river which has Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Puducherry as basin states.
201. According to the annual report of International Monetary Fund, India's GDP growth has been projected to 6.6% in FY 17 due to the strains that have emerged in the economy as a result of temporary disruptions caused by demonetisation. It expects growth to rebound to 7.2% in FY18.
202. Pakistan army has recently launched nationwide military operation 'Radd-ul-Fasaad' to eliminate terrorists and consolidate gains of its counter-terrorism operations. The purpose of the operation is to eliminate residual and latent threat of terrorism and to ensure the security of Pakistan's borders. The Pakistan Air Force, Pakistan Navy, Civil Armed Forces as well as other security and law enforcement agencies will continue to actively participate and support the efforts of the Pakistan Army to eliminate the menace of terrorism from the country.
203. Suman Saxena, the former Deputy Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), has taken charge as the Whole Time Member (WTM) of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI). She would look after research and regulation wing apart from national insolvency programme, continuing professional programme as well as knowledge management and partnership. Currently, the board of IBBI — set up under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code — has five members including Chairman Dr. M S Sahoo. Others are Ajay Tyagi, Amardeep Singh Bhatia, G S Yadav and A Unnikrishnan.
204. India will host the 2019 Combined World Cup for shooting, a qualifying event for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which will further boost the country's profile as a global shooting destination. The National Rifle Association of India's (NRAI) bid has recently approved by the International Shooting Sport Federation's Executive Board in its meeting held in New Delhi. The Combined World Cup comprises all the three categories — shotgun, rifle and pistol, and at stake in the 2019 edition will be a number of quota places for the Tokyo Games. In the upcoming tournament, a total of 50 countries will be represented by 452 athletes and among them will be reigning and former Olympic champions, world champions and continental champions lining up against India's top guns.
205. India's first dedicated Heliport, built by Pawan Hans Helicopters Ltd (PHHL), will be inaugurated by the Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju at Rohini area of New Delhi on February 28, 2017. It consists of terminal building having a capacity of 150 passengers, 4-hangers with parking capacity of 16 helicopters and nine parking bays. The helicopter services shall enable citizens to fly in and out of Delhi to nearby areas in choppers. The heliport will also be used for operating services for disaster management, emergency medical services, law and order surveillance as well as a centre for the skill development of pilots and engineers. Rohini heliport will also promote regional air connectivity through helicopters in the northern region.
206. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has launched Cyber Swachhta Kendra – Botnet Cleaning and Malware Analysis Centre (BCMAC) to provide free anti-virus to computers and mobile phones for removing malicious softwares. This is a part of Digital India initiative and is operated by the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) under provisions of Section 70B of the Information Technology Act, 2000. The Centre aims to enhance coordination between the Government and industry in order to encourage cyber hygiene among all end-users and to create a secure and safe internet ecosystem in India.
207. The book "Feroze: the Forgotten Gandhi" has been authored by Swedish journalist Bertil Falk. The author brings together his 40-year old research in this biography of Feroze Gandhi. The book not only fleshes out what is generally known about Feroze Gandhi, but places him at the heart of the freedom struggle. It also busts some myths about Feroze's controversial origin, his personal life, his importance as a politician and his relationship with his wife Indira Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru.This book takes you towards the origin of the concept of freedom in independent India.
208. The 9th edition of BRICS Summit will be held in Xiamen city, China from September 3 to 5, 2017. The theme of this year's event is 'BRICS: Stronger Partnership for a Brighter Future'.
209. John-John Dohmen of Belgium has won the 2016 FIH Male Player of the Year award by the International Hockey Federation (FIH) at the gala FIH Hockey Stars Awards Ceremony in Chandigarh, India on February 23, 2017. Beside this, Naomi van As of Netherland has been named as 2016 FIH Female Player of the Year award.
210. Hassan Ali Khayre, a former aid worker and oil executive, has been appointed the new Prime Minister of Federal Republic of Somalia. He succeeded Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke. Prior to this appointment, Khayre had never held public office, although over the course of his career he has worked with a range of high-level executives and government officials in various capacities.
211. Kerala is set to become the first Indian state to have a public registry of sex offenders. This has been stated by the Kerala Governor Justice (retd) P Sathasivam in the budget session. The public registry will contain all identification details of sex offenders and would be kept in the public domain. Apart from this, the governor listed a slew of other measures to tackle crime against women in the state. These include setting up a separate department to exclusively look at women's issues, setting up a relief fund for victims of sex crimes, increasing the representation of women in police force by up to 15% and ensuring each panchayat has a lady police officer.
212. The Government of India (GoI) has recently signed an agreement with Japan on enhancing railway safety in the Indian Railways with focus on railway track and rolling stock safety. The areas of cooperation include rail inspection, rail wielding and providing automatic railway track safety inspection, maintenance of rolling stock and any other relevant railway safety matters jointly determined by both sides with the aim to prevent major rail accidents.
213. Kenneth J. Arrow (95), the Nobel-winning economist and mathematician, has recently passed away at Palo Alto in California, United States. To date, he is the youngest person ever to have received Nobel Prize for Economics, at the age of 51. His theories on risk, innovation and the basic mathematics of markets have influenced thinking on everything from voting to health insurance to high finance. His most significant works are his contributions to social choice theory, Arrow's impossibility theorem and general equilibrium analysis. He has also provided foundational work in many other areas of economics, including endogenous growth theory and the economics of information.
214. The First Sherpas Meeting of the 9th BRICS Summit was held in Nanjing, the capital of east China's Jiangsu Province, from February 23-24, 2017. The Sherpas Meeting discussed the priority areas for BRICS cooperation for this year, especially in the areas of political affairs, economy and culture, under the theme "BRICS: Stronger Partnership for a Brighter Future." The meeting attracted more than 100 participants, including coordinators from all sides, foreign diplomats, and representatives from the BRICS New Development Bank (NDB).
215. The Andhra Pradesh government has signed MoU with Visa to transform Vishakhapatnam into India's first 'less cash' city. As per MoU, this initiative is designed to provide the foundation for the city to emerge as India's 'Fintech Valley'. For this, Visa will focus on driving payments digitisation, and work with the city to help build the talent pool required in city organisations and in academia on emerging technologies like blockchain. Visa will also provide support to FinTech start-ups by providing access to Visa's APIs, providing subject matter expertise, and participating in boot camps and hackathons. The state government has also signed a MoU with Thomson Reuters for cooperation in Fintech initiatives in the state.
216. India and Asian Development Bank (ADB) have signed $375 million pact for loans and grants to develop 800—km Visakhapatnam—Chennai Industrial Corridor, which is the first phase of a planned 2,500-km East Coast Economic Corridor. Apart from this, The Asian Development Bank has approved loans comprising a $ 500 million multitranche facility to build key infrastructure in the four main centers along the corridor — Visakhapatnam, Kakinada, Amaravati, and Yerpedu—Srikalahasti in Andhra Pradesh.
217. Pooja Ghatkar from India, the former Asian champion, has won the bronze in the women's 10 metre air rifle event in the 2017 International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup at the Karni Singh Shooting Range in New Delhi. Ghatkar shot 228.8 score in the final to finish third.
218. The Government of India (GoI) has signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Bangladesh for the development of Sylhet city. As per the MoU, the Indian government will provide financial aid for the construction of a five-storey Kinder Garten and High School Building, a six-storey cleaner colony building; and for some development work in Dhupa Dighirpar area at a total cost of around Taka 240 million.
219. The Ministry of Minority Affairs will host Cultural Harmony Conclave under Hamari Dharohar Scheme in New Delhi on April-May 2017. It has been decided recently in the first meeting of high-level committee on Cultural Harmony Conclave under "Hamari Dharohar (Our Heritage)" scheme of Minority Affairs Ministry. The meeting was chaired by Minister of State for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi in New Delhi. It was attended by several renowned artists, musicians, writers.
220. C K Mishra, the secretary of Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, has recently launched "Saathiya Resource Kit" and "Saathiya Salah" Mobile App for adolescents as part of the Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram (RKSK) program. The kit and app will help peer educators (Saathiyas) to act as a catalyst for generating demand for the adolescent health services and imparting age appropriate knowledge on key adolescent health issues to their peer groups.
221. The President of India, Pranab Mukherjee has inaugurated an International conference on 'Bharat Bodh' (Idea of Bharat) on February 23, 2017 in New Delhi. The 3-day conference is organized by the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) and Bhartiya Shikshan Mandal (BSM).
222. The book "Kohinoor: The Story of the World's Most Infamous Diamond" has been authored by William Dalrymple, an acclaimed historian and a bestselling and award-winning author. This riveting story of the Kohinoor unearths fascinating new information as it moves from the Mughal court to Persia to Afghanistan, from Maharaja Ranjit Singh's durbar in Punjab to the Crown of the Queen of England.
223. Vivek Chaand Sehgal, the chairman of auto parts maker Motherson Sumi Systems Ltd, has been named Indian entrepreneur of the year 2016 by EY, the consulting firm formerly known as Ernst & Young. Apart from him, Infosys Ltd co-founder Nandan Nilekani was honoured with a lifetime achievement award for his contribution to the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).
224. Recently, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and International Air Transport Association (IATA) have launched 'SkyRev360' system that will offer comprehensive e-billing solution to data gathering, invoicing and collection providing additional revenue to AAI. This unique system is one of its kind and would help airport operators world- wide in avoiding revenue leakages, reducing redundancies, reduction in disputes, easy integration with all external systems and also help in curtailing the debt collection period to the minimum. The purpose of this system is to generate more and better business opportunities and to maximize and enhance non-aeronautical revenues. The IATA is a trade association of the world's airlines. It is headquartered at Montreal, Canada with Executive Offices in Geneva, Switzerland.
225. The dance festival 'Brahan Natyanjali 2017' has started at ancient Big temple in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu from February 24, which will continue till March 2. More than 600 artistes from all different parts of the world will take part in the festival, being organised by the Brahan Natyanjali Foundation. Besides Bharatanatiyam, 'Kathak', 'Odissi', 'Mohiniyattam,' and Kuchipudi would also be performed. Classical dancers from New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Manipal, Guruvayur and countries like Dubai, Australia, England and Malaysia would be among those taking part in the fest.
226. The Haryana government has made it mandatory for all private schools to install solar systems in order to make them self-sufficient in managing their energy needs. A special grant at the rate of Rs 20,000 per kilowatt will be given to the schools for installing solar power plants. The electricity generated from the solar power plants at schools during the summer vacations in June and July would be added to the grid, the record of which would be maintained through net metering. The schools would be required to pay only for the electricity consumed in excess of that generated by the solar power plants.
227. The Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty has become the new Brand Ambassador for "Swachh Bharat Mission". She will feature in TV and radio campaigns aimed at discouraging people from littering on roads. Shetty is the latest entrant in the list of the mission's ambassadors like Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan, Shankar Mahadevan and Sachin Tendulkar.
228. The 2017 Mobile World Congress (MWC) has started in Barcelona, Spain from February 27 and will continue till March 2. The MWC is the world's biggest and best mobile industry event comprising of a massive exhibition, an award-winning conference, outstanding networking opportunities, partner programmes, the Glomo Awards and much more. It is organised by the Global System Mobile Association (GSMA). In it, the Indian researchers from IIT Hyderabad will showcase its C-RAN prototype for 5G technology, which is one of the first prototypes in the world.
229. Ace Indian badminton player, Saina Nehwal will represent International Olympic Committee's Athletes' Commission (IOC AC) in the Badminton World Federation (BWF). She will join the BWF Athletes' Commission as a representative of the IOC AC. It's a rare honour for an Indian sportsperson. Before this, she was appointed a member of the IOC Athletes' Commission (AC) in 2016.
230. The Haryana government has launched an online system "Sex Ratio Monitoring Dashboard" for Panipat to monitor the sex-ratio in the district as part of the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao' programme. The dashboard had been developed in association with National Informatics Centre (NIC) as a pilot project. The online system will have the data of child sex-ratio collected from all villages by the Health and Women and Child Welfare Departments every month. It will also have the data on critical villages where more attention was required towards skewed child sex-ratio and steps needed to taken to set up the efforts accordingly.
231. Moonlight, an American drama film directed by Barry Jenkins, has won the Best Picture award at the 89th edition of Oscar Academy Awards at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles, California. Apart from this, the movie has also won the Best Supporting Actor and Best Adapted Screenplay awards. Through this movie, Mahershala Ali has created history by becoming the first Muslim to win an acting Oscar as he was honoured with the best supporting actor trophy for his riveting turn as an empathetic drug dealer, who takes a fatherless young boy under his wing in "Moonlight.
232. The Rajasthan government has launched the Rajasthan Heart Attack Treatment programme (RAHAT) medical project at the Eternal Hospital in Jaipur to provide people timely treatment during heart attacks in remote and rural areas. Under the programme, the patients facing heart attack would be provided with emergency ambulance service and telemedicine service through Eternal Heart Care Centre Hospital. The programme is a ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI), a very serious type of heart attack, management telemedicines platform that captures and transmits patient's EKG along with clinical history from remote geographical locations to heart command center hub.
233. India's first hill station bicycle path was inaugurated in Darjeeling, West Bengal that runs through Senchal wildlife sanctuary. It is a 20km cycle only trail at an altitude of over 2,000 metres, with thick pine forest under clear blue skies. The path was opened in response to growing interest from both national and foreign tourists.The route starts from near Jorebunglow, south of Darjeeling and ends to a small local eco-village resort in Chatakpur.
234. The International Shivaratri festival has started in Mandi village, Himachal Pradesh from February 24, 2017. It is held as per Hindu calendar every year on the Krishna paksha 13th day/13th night (breaking fast/'vrata' on 14th after sunrise) of the waning moon in the month of Phalguna that corresponds to February/March as per Gregorian calendar. The festival's popularity is widespread and hence is known as an international festival. In view of the large number of gods and goddesses that are invited to the festival from its 81 temples, Mandi town has the title of 'Varanasi of the Hills'. The celebration includes maintaining a "jaagaran", an all-night vigil and prayers, because Shaiva Hindus mark this night as "overcoming darkness and ignorance" in one's life and the world through Shiva.
235. Kalinga Lancers has won the 5th edition Hockey India League (HIL) tournament by defeating Dabang Mumbai by 4-1 in Chandigarh. Uttar Pradesh Wizards claimed the bronze medal. In the encounter between the two losing semi-finalists, UP Wizards beat Delhi Waveriders 5-4. Dabang Mumbai's Florian Fuchs was named the Player of the Tournament.
236. Mumbai has been named as the richest Indian city with a total wealth of $820 billion, according to recently released New World Wealth report. It is home to 46,000 millionaires and 28 billionaires, and is followed in terms of wealth by Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Pune. Delhi is home to 23,000 millionaires and 18 billionaires with a total wealth of $450 billion, while Bengaluru with a total wealth of $ 320 billion houses 7,700 millionaires and 8 billionaires. Hyderabad is home to 9,000 millionaires and 6 billionaires.
237. The Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan has inaugurated India's first post office passport service centre at the Vidisha Post Office in Vidisha on February 25, 2017. The passport service centre will work in the form of Passport Sewa Laghu Kendra (PSLK). The centre will complete scrutiny and approval of passport applications in a day and provide passport to applicants in three days.
238. Gopal Baglay, the 1992-batch officer of the Indian Foreign Service (IFS), has been appointed as the new spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). Earlier, he headed the division of the MEA dealing with Pakistan. He has also served as the Deputy High Commissioner to Islamabad. Baglay replaced Vikas Swarup, who is headed to Canada as envoy.
239. Punjala Shiv Shankar (87), an Indian politician, has recently passed away in Hyderabad. He served as the Minister of External Affairs (MEA), Law and Petroleum. He was a very influential minister in Indira Gandhi's and Rajiv Gandhi's cabinets and is one of the most senior politicians in India. He also served as the Governor of Sikkim and Kerala.
240. Iranian Film 'The Salesman' has won the Best Foreign Language Film at the 89th Oscar Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. The movie, directed by Tehran-based Asghar Farhadi marked Iran's second Oscar victory, coming five years after Farhadi's drama "A Separation" won the nation's first Academy Award. It is drama about honor and revenge in a modern marriage. Apart from this, the award for best documentary feature went to "O.J. Made in America", which is directed by Ezra Edelman. The Syrian war documentary "The White Helmets" has won the short documentary Academy Award. Indian actor Om Puri, "Star Wars" actress Carrie Fisher, Debbie Reynolds and Bill Paxton were among late stars, who were remembered and honored at the Oscars.
241. Zootopia, directed by Byron Howard and Rich Moore, has won the Best Animated Feature Film at the 89th Oscar Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, California. The film details the unlikely partnership between a rabbit police officer and a red fox con artist as they uncover a conspiracy which involves the disappearance of predator inhabitants of a mammalian metropolis.
242. Ankur Mittal has won silver in men's double trap at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup at the Karni Singh Shooting Range in New Delhi. Beside this, in the mixed team 10m air pistol event, the Indian pair of Heena Sidhu and Jitu Rai won the 'gold badge'. The ISSF is expected to scrap men's 50m free pistol, 50m rifle prone and double trap events from the Olympic Games and will announce so shortly.
243. The Union Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhu has flagged off India's first Antyodaya Express between Ernakulam and Howrah. The train service was inaugurated by the Railways Minister via video conferencing in New Delhi on February 27, 2017. The Antyodaya Express is a long-distance, fully unreserved, superfast train service, for the common man to be operated on dense routes. The new express train will have facilities like cushioned luggage racks which can serve as seats, LED lights, modular toilets, pleasing interior colour scheme and others. Beside this, the Railway Minister has also flagged off the 4th Humsafar Express between Sriganganagar and Tiruchirapalli. The new train is fully air-conditioned third AC service with an optional service for meals.
244. Nand Kumar Sai, the senior tribal BJP leader from Chhattisgarh and ex parliamentarian, has recently taken charge as new chairman of National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) in Delhi. NCST investigates and monitors all matters related to safeguards provided for Scheduled Tribes under the constitution or under law or under any order of the Government. It also evaluates the working of the safeguards and proper their implementation. The Commission is also authorized to inquire into specific complaints relating to rights and safeguards of STs and to participate and advise in the Planning Process relating to socio-economic development of STs and to evaluate the progress of their development under the Union and States.
245. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has recently constituted an inter-disciplinary standing committee on cyber security to review the threats inherent in the existing and emerging technology. The 11—member committee headed by Meena Hemchandra, Executive Director of RBI, will study adoption of various security standards and protocols, interface with stakeholders and suggest appropriate policy interventions to strengthen cyber security and resilience. The committee has been formed on the recommendations of the expert panel on Cyber Security and Information Technology Examination.
246. India's GDP growth rate has been projected to 7% for FY17, as per latest survey by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). In its Economic Survey of India (ESI), the Global think-tank has stated that demonetisation may have impacted short term growth but the long term effects would include important gains going forward. It suggested that India should bring down corporate tax rate from 30% to 25%. Beside this, OECD has also estimated India's GDP growth rate to 7.3% for FY18 and 7.7% for FY19. The OECD is a global policy forum that promotes policies to improve the economic and social well-being of people around the world.
247. The National Science Day (NSD) is celebrated every year in India on February 28 to mark the discovery of the Raman Effect by Indian physicist Sir Chandrashekhara Venkata Raman on February 28, 1928. For his discovery, C.V. Raman was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1930. The 2017 theme is "Science and Technology for Specially Abled Persons".
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