Current Affairs: February,2015

Current Affairs: February,2015

23:49
Current Affairs- February,2015:
(Note:Click on the links to expand.)



International




  • Britain became 1st country which nods to ‘three-parent’ babies
Britain allows the creation of babies with DNA from three people.House of Commons voted by 382 to 128 in favour of allowing the creation of in-vitro fertilization(IVF) babies with DNA from three people,a move aimed at preventing serious inherited diseases being passes on from mother to child.

  • Rebels take over Yemen
Yemen’s powerful Shiite rebels announced on Feb,06 that they have taken over the country and dissolved Parliament.
  • HSBC’s Swiss unit offices raided
Swiss authorities on Feb,18 raided the offices of British banking giant HSBC’s Swiss unit as a part of a money laundering probe into the bank that has been accused of helping clients to dodge millions of dollars in taxes.



National



  • Mr. L.C. Goyal was appointed as Union Home Secretary after former Home Seretary Anil Goswami was sacked.
  • 2 Varanasi Ghats goes Wi-fi
IT Minister inaugurates Wi-Fi zones in two ‘ghats’-Dashashwamedh and Sheetla.The plan is to provide the facility free initially,Later,users might be charged a nominal fee.
  • On 18th Feb,PM Narendra Modi inaugurates the “Aero India 2015” event at Yelahanka Air Base in Bengaluru.
  • Policy papers smuggled out of Oil Ministry
Police foiled the attempt to steal documents from Shastri Bhavan on Feb,17.Five men were arrested for alleged theft and sell ofofficial secrets of Oil Ministry to private corporate entities in petrochemical sector.
  • India signs civil nuclear cooperation agreement with Sri Lanka,which is Sri Lanka’s first nuclear partnership with any country.
  • RAILWAYS BUDGET:
PRESENTED BY RAILWAY MINISTER SURESH PRABHU 1)  Rs.6581 crore allotted for removing 3438 level crossings
2)  Speed on 9 railway corridors to be raised to 160 & 200 kmph for faster inter-metro travel.
3)  24x7 helpline number 138,toll-free number 182 for grievance redress launched.
4)  Innovation Council,”KAYAKALP’,to be set upand also Railways to establish a full-fledged university during 2015-16.
5)  Recommendations of Kakodkar Safety Committee to be examined by April.
6)  Unreserved tickets will be made available on smartphones and facility of SMS on mobiles is extended as a valid proof of travel for PRS tickets.




Regional News




  • Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) wins Assembly Elections in Delhi
The 6th Delhi Assembly Election was won by Aam Aadmi Pary with 67 seats out of 70 seats,leaving only 3 to BJP and nil to Congress.

  • Bengaluru-Ernakulum Intercity Express derailed on Feb,13 leaving 9 passengers dead and 19 injured.

  • Madya Pradesh Assembly adjourned sine die 29 days ahead of schedule.

  • Mufti Mohammed Sayeed of PDP to sworn as Chief Minister of Jammu & Kashmir on March,01





Person In News


  • Billionaire Michele Ferrero,who became Italy’s richest man with a confectionary empire built on his popular Nutella spread,died in Monte Carlo on Feb,14.




Science & Tech.




  • ICICI launches digital service “Pockets"
ICICI launched first digital banks in the country,’Pockets’,on a mobile phone.Anyone including non ICICI customers can download the app and transact to any website,pay bills or mobile application in India.This wallet allows users to send instant money to email id,mobile no,friends on facebook and bank account.

  • Facebook launches Internet.org in India
Facebook announced a tie-up with Reliance Communications to launch Internet.org in India.The subscribers of Reliance Communications who have Internet-enabled handsets can access 38 websites for free.The list includes facebook,wikipedia,Bing etc.

  • Nationwide MNP from May 03
From May 3,subscribers will be able to retain the same mobile number in any part of country.At present,number portability within a telecom circle is possible.

Miscellaneous

  • Abhishek Bachchan first Indian to ‘play at NBA’
Abhishek Bachchan will be the 1st Indian to participate in the Sprint NBA All-Star Celebrity game on Feb,13 at Madison Square Garden,as one of the league’s Goodwill Ambassador.

  • 87th Academy Awards (OSCARS):
a) Best Picture : Birdman
b) Best Director : Alejandro G. Inarritu
c) Best Actor : Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything -movie)
d) Best Actress : Julianne Moore (Still Alice – movie)
e) Best Foreign Language Film : Ida (Poland)

Sports

  • TENNIS : Roger Federer became only third player after Jimmy Connors and Ivan Lendl to win 1000 matches on the men’s tour.
  • WORLD CUP CRICKET:
  1. a> World Cup Cricket 2015 starts from Feb,14 with first match played between Australia and England and former won it.
  2. b> India crushes Pakistan in its opening match and maintained its record of never losing to Pakistan in WorldCup.
  3. c> Ireland defeated West Indies by 4 wickets in their first outing in WC.This is the third time Ireland has made 300-plus runs in successful chases in WC.No other team has managed 300-plus chase more than once.
  4. d> India defeated South Africa by 130 runs and break the jinx of losing all 3 previous matches against South Africa in WC.
  5. e> Chris Gayle become first batsman to score double century in WC by scoring 215.He became fourth batsman to score double century in ODI after Sachin Tendulkar,Virendra Sehwag & Rohit Sharma. 
  6. f> AB De Villiers scored fastest 150 in ODI cricket against West Indies in 64 balls.
  • Ranchi Rays won the 3rd edition of the Hero-Hockey India League against Jaypee Punjab Warriors.

Economics

  • Videocon-BPCL team discovers oil off Brazil coast
A consortium of Videocon Industries,Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd(BPCL) and Brazilian state owned company Petroleo Brasilerio SA(Petrobras) has announced discovery of oil,off the coast of Brazil.The well 3-SES-186 was drilled 103km from the city of Aracaju,Brazil,and 10km from the discovery well in 2,467 meter of water.This accumulation is part of the exploratory project in the deepwater Seripe-Alagaos Basin.

  • RBI cuts SLR by 50 basis points to provide liquidity
RBI reduced Statutory Liquidity Ratio(SLR) by 50 basis points to 21.50% from 22% with effect from February 07.This is likely to pump in around Rs.45,000 crore to the system,which is likely to prod banks to cut their lending rates.However,the RBI kept the short-term policy rate(repo rate) unchanged at 7.75% and Cash Reserve Ratio(CRR) at 4%.

  • Centre adopts new criteria for Capital infusion into banks
The centre has selected nine public sector banks(PSBs) for infusing Rs.6,990 crore out of current years’ Budget.The efficiency parameters is based on
  1. (i) the weighted average of return on assets(ROA) for all PSBs for last three years,
  2. (ii) Return on Equity(ROE) for last financial year.

  • UNION BUDGET 2015-16:
PRESENTED BY FINANCE MINISTER ARUN JAITELY
a) GDP growth in 2015-16 projected at between 8% and 8.5 %
b) Fiscal deficit target for 2015-16 is set to 3.9% as against 4.1% in 2014-15
c) Corporate tax rate to be reduced from 30% to 25% over the next 4 years
d) Implementation of General Anti Avoidance Rule(GAAR) deferred by 2 years
e) National Investment and Infrastructure Fund set up
f) MUDRA Bank with a corpus of 20000 crore to refinance micro-finance institutions
g) Bankruptcy Code to be introduced in 2015-16
h) Allocation of Rs.34699 crore to MGNREGS
i) Forward Markets Commission to be merged with SEBI
j) Public Debt Management Agency to be set up
k) Rs.02 lakh accident cover at Rs.12 per annum premium
l) Life Insurance scheme with a cover of Rs.2 lakh at a premium of Rs. 330 per annum

Important Dates

Feb 02 : World Wetlands Day
Feb 04 : National Day of Srilanka
Feb 05 : Kashmir Day (Organised by Pakistan)
Feb 13 : Sarojini Naidu's Birth Anniversary,World Radio Day
Feb 14 : St. Valentine's Day
Feb 24 : Central Exise Day
Feb 28 : National Science Day
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