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