Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Starred Articles

Project-17A worth 8 billion US dollars gets Union Government nod
Politics & Government > Warships > Feb 18
Project-17A aimed at building the country's most advanced warships has got the approval of the union government. Seven frigates will be built indigenously, under this project with features that will help them dodge detection. The frigates will be built at government shipyards in Mumbai and Kolkata.
India has become the world's biggest arms market due to its dependence on expensive imports. Make in India campaign conceptualized by PM Narendra Modi is aimed to reduce this dependency and build a domestic defence industrial base. Project-17A is a part of this campaign and will have significance in combating the rising presence of the Chinese Navy in the Indian Ocean.

CCI approves Kotak Mahindra-ING Vyasa 15,000 crore merger
Bank Specific > Kotak Mahindra – ING Vyasa > Feb 21
The merger between Kotak Mahindra Bank and ING Vysya Bank has received green signal from the Competition Commission of India (CCI). The approval was given after analyzing the effect of the proposed Rs 15,000-crore deal, on competition in India. Multiple relevant markets such as deposits, home loans, agricultural banking and card business were taken into account by the market regulator to come to a conclusion. The deal is about to create the country's fourth largest private sector lender.

Nitish Kumar sworn-in as Bihar Chief Minister
Politics and Government > Bihar > Feb 22
JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar took oath as Bihar Chief Minister, resuming his position after a nine-month long political drama. Kumar had quit after JD(U)’s debacle in the general elections and selected Jitan Ram Manjhi as his successor. However, Manjhi refused to step down in order to make way for Kumar when he decided to take over the position after eight months. Manjhi had decided to prove his majority in Bihar assembly by taking a floor test in order to maintain his position. But, he quit as Chief Minister just before the test saying his ministers had received death threats.
The BJP which was believed to have supported Manjhi has sharply criticized the swearing-in of Nitish Kumar.

Oscar 2015 winners announced, American black comedy Birdman wins best picture
Awards > Oscars > Feb 23
The 87th Academy Awards presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was held on 22nd February at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. The Best Picture award went to “Birdman”, the Best Actor award went to Eddie Redmayne for “The Theory of Everything” and Julianne Moore was adjudged Best Actress for her role in “Still Alice”. Best Supporting Actor and Actress went to J.K. Simmons and Patricia Arquette for their roles in “Whiplash” and “Boyhood”. Achievement in Costume Design went to Milena Canonero for “The Grand Budapest Hotel”. Polish film “Ida” won the Best Foreign Language Film and became the first Polish film to win the award. Best Visual Effects went to “Interstellar”, Best Cinematography to Emmanuel Lubezki for “Birdman”, Best Original Score to Alexandre Desplat for "The Grand Budapest Hotel", Best Original Song to "Glory" from "Selma" and Best Documentary Feature to "CitizenFour".

Others

'Soil Health Card' scheme for Indian farmers
Politics & Government > Agriculture > Feb 18
Aiming to improve productivity with proper use of nutrients and fertilizers, a centrally sponsored scheme called 'Soil Health Card' has been instituted for farmers. This centrally sponsored scheme will be launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a function, which will be attended by Chief Ministers and Agriculture ministers of several states. At this function, progressive farmers will be felicitated by 'Krishi Karman Award'. The card will carry crop-wise recommendation of fertilizers required for farms of different soil types and other inputs to increase the productivity of individual farmers.

Snapdeal acquires luxury fashion site Exclusively
Corporate > Snapdeal > Feb 19
One of the country’s largest e-tailers Snapdeal.com has acquired luxury fashion site Exclusively which sells designer wear by Indian designers on its site. The deal was signed for an undisclosed amount and is expected to boost the fashion business of Snapdeal. The steep increase in demands for premium and luxury products in India was the driving force behind making this deal. According to the founder of Snapdeal, since the access to luxury brands is severely limited in our country, this acquisition will provide 40 million plus users access to the widest range of aspirational, high-end products and services Exclusively will continue to function as an independent site and is planning to add international labels to its portfolio soon.

New Zealand vs England: Brendon McCullum hits fastest World Cup fifty
Sports > ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 > Feb 20
New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum scored the fastest-ever World Cup fifty against England at Wellington. McCullum hit an 18-ball fifty with seven fours and four sixes, with New Zealand beating England by 8 wickets with 224 balls remaining. McCullum had earlier made another World Cup record by making a fifty of 20 balls against Canada in 2007.
His innings was also the equal third-fastest fifty in all one-day internationals, behind South Africa's AB de Villiers (16 balls) and Sri Lanka's Sanath Jayasuriya (17 balls).

International Mother Language Day observed on February 21
Days > International Mother Language Day > Feb 21
The world observed 15th International Mother Language Day 2015 on 21 February 2015. The day is celebrated to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism. The celebration of International Mother Language Day was initiated by the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in November 1999. In 1952, students from Bangladesh had protested for recognition of their language, Bangla, as one of the two national languages of then Pakistan. They were shot and killed by police in Dhaka, the capital of what is now Bangladesh. This incident urged the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to call upon member states to promote the preservation and protection of all languages used by people of the world.

North-east tea growers to receive financial aid from SBI
Bank Specific > SBI Aid > Feb 21
Around 3,000 small tea growers in the North East will soon receive a financial aid of Rs 100 crore from State Bank of India. Tea growers having proper basic documents of their existing garden as per Tea Board of India norms will be eligible to receive the money. The finance provided is expected to help the development of tea growing business and the tourism sector as well; hence boosting the state's economy. The tea growers can utilize the money to establish mini-bought tea leaf factories and buy vehicles for transporting green leaves. Other new tea growing states such as Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Meghalaya would be covered under this scheme too. In deference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's initiative to develop the region, to make it 'organic' and a tourist destination, the SBI N-E Circle has planned to help the North East youths to undertake projects related to the tourism industry.

Kumble, Wilson inducted into ICC Hall of Fame
Sports > ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 > Feb 22
Former India captain Anil Kumble felt privileged at being inducted into the International Cricket Council Hall of Fame at the Melbourne Cricket Ground along with Australian legend Betty Wilson. Kumble becomes the fourth Indian to be included in the elite group, joining Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev and Bishan Bedi. Anil Kumble was an outstanding international cricketer and a role model for millions of aspiring cricketers. A 77th inductee into the Hall of Fame, he has several test matches and various achievements in cricket, to his name. Joining the list of great luminaries is Wilson who is considered one of the greatest female cricketers of all-time and is the 78th inductee into the Hall of Fame.

Portal MADAD for consular grievances launched by government
Politics and Government > NRI Grievances > Feb 23
An online grievances monitoring system called MADAD has been launched by the Union Government, to redress the consular grievances of Indian citizens living abroad. They will be able to file their grievances online on the services offered by the Indian missions, posts, consulates and embassies abroad. MADAD aims to keep track of the grievances registered by people until they are addressed. It will work to ensure that the complaints are resolved in a short span of time and the pending cases are escalated and resolved immediately. MADAD is a joint effort of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and Ministry of Overseas Indians Affairs (MOIA) and it is not a general helpline.

2nd and 4th Saturdays will be off for Public Sector Banks
Bank Specific > Bank offs > Feb 23
The apex bodies of bank management, The Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) and employee unions have reached an agreement that will allow public sector banks to remain closed on 2nd and 4th Saturdays. They will, however, work full-day on other Saturdays instead of half-day. The unions had earlier threatened to go on strike asking for 19% hike, five-day weeks, among other things. This compelled the India Banks’ Association (IBA) to increase the employees' wages by 15 percent along with changes in the working hours. The banks will have to shell out additional Rs 4,725 crore a year after the wage revision. RBI is yet to be informed about the same following which the changes will be enforced.

West Indies’ Chris Gayle scores first ever double century in World Cup
Sports > ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 > Feb 24
A first double century was made in World Cup innings by West Indies opener Chris Gayle against Zimbabwe in a Pool B clash. Gayle hit a total of 16 sixes in 147 balls before he was out for 215 off the last delivery of his side's innings. He became the first non-Indian to join the list of 4 Indian batsmen who scored a double century in One-Day Internationals (ODIs) in the history of cricket. He also created a record of maximum sixes, 16, in an ODI innings sharing the title with Rohit Sharma and AB de Villiers. Gayle along with Maron Samuels put on 372 - the highest ODI partnership record for any wicket, beating 331 shared by India's Rahul Dravid and Tendulkar against New Zealand at Hyderabad in 1999.


0 comments:

Post a Comment