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Showing posts with label
February 2016 Current Affairs updates.
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Showing posts with label
February 2016 Current Affairs updates.
Show all posts
International Affairs
- The Italian city of Verona has banned the opening of any new kebab or fried fast food shops in an attempt to preserve its "traditional appearance".
- Swiss voters today rejected a plan that called for the automatic expulsion of foreigners from the country for minor offences like speeding.
- Under the plan, foreigners could be deported immediately for major crimes and also for their second minor offence in 10 years.
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National Affairs
- Today (28th February 2016) is National Science Day.
- On this day, the nation pays tributes to the legacy of the great scientist, Dr C V Raman, who brought Nobel Prize in Science to Asia and India for the first time for his ground-breaking achievement of the Raman effect.
- Professor Raman disclosed this discovery to the world on 28th of February, 1928 and he was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1930.
- In 1986, The National Council for Science and Technology Communication (NCSTC) had urged the Indian government to declare February 28 as National Science Day.
- Themes of National Science Day
- 2011 : “Chemistry in Daily Life”.
- 2012 : “Clean Energy Options and Nuclear Safety”.
- 2013 : “Genetically Modified Crops and Food Security”.
- 2014 : “Fostering Scientific Temper and Energy conservation”.
- 2015 : “Science for Nation Building”.
- 2016 : "Scientific Issues for Development of the Nation"
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National Affairs
- The 13th edition of World Spice Congress (WSC) began today at Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
- Theme of WSC 2016 : ‘Target 2020: Clean, Safe and Sustainable Supply Chain’.
- President Pranab Mukherjee today declared Kerala as India's first fully digital state.
- Mukherjee also informed that the state has a mobile tele-density of 95% and internet access covering over 60% of the population.
- Union Minister Maneka Gandhi today announced that the Centre is formulating a policy to reward school boys who behave well with girls.
- Maneka added that the government wants to include alarm buttons on mobile phones of women that will help them seek police assistance during distress.
- Nation remembers Great freedom fighter Chandra ShekharAzad (23rd July 1906 – 27th February 1931) on his Death Anniversary today.
- He was a great Indian freedom fighter who was involved in Kakori Train Robbery, the attempt to blow up the Viceroy's train, and the shooting of Saunders at Lahore to avenge the killing of Lala Lajpat Rai.
- He was the mentor of Bhagat Singh, another great freedom fighter.
- After the independence, to commemorate Chandra Shekhar Azad, Alfred Park (Allahabad), where Chandra Shekhar Azad shot himself was renamed Chandra Shekhar Azad Park.
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International Affairs
- The central government today announced the extension of e-Tourist Visa (e-TV) facility to 37 more countries.
- With this, the total count of countries under the scheme will reach 150.
- The 37 more countries included in the e-TV scheme are,
- Albania, Austria, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Botswana, Brunei, Bulgaria, Cape Verde, Comoros, Cote d'lvoire, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Eritrea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Greece, Guinea, Iceland, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Moldova, Namibia, Romania, San Marino, Senegal, Serbia, Slovakia, South Africa, Swaziland, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Trinidad & Tobago, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
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International Affairs
- Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull today announced that the country is going to increase defense spending by nearly $21.6 billion over the next decade.
- India is going to host the 3rd edition of the Asia Ministerial Conference on Tiger Conservation.
- There will be 13 participating countries including Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, Thailand, and Vietnam.
- All the participating countries will share their knowledge of
tiger conservation and help each other through exchange of ideas.
- Aim : To promote awareness about tiger conservation across Asia and the world.
- Important Points to Note :
- India's tiger count has risen up to 2,226 from 1,912 in the last few years.
- State-wise, Karnataka has the highest number of tigers (406).
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International Affairs
- The fifth edition of IBSAMAR 2016 trilateral naval exercise between Brazil, India and South Africa kicked off in Goa.
- This is the for the first time the exercise is held in India as all the previous editions were held in South Africa since it began in 2006.
- IBSAMAR - India Brazil South Africa Maritime.
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International Affairs
- Today (23rd February) is World Rotary Day .
- Pakistan's parliament today became the first in the world to fully operate on solar electricity.
- Note : The $55 million venture, which can generate 80 MW power, was funded by the Chinese government as an act of friendship.
- Nepal has officially stopped rationing fuel in the country, which was owing to supply being blocked for months due to the protests against the newly adopted Constitution.
- Indian supplies to Nepal resumed after the Madhesi protestors lifted the unofficial blockade.
- The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), UN's aviation agency, has banned the shipment of Lithium-ion batteries on all passenger flights starting 1st April 2016.
- This move came after plane makers and pilots raised concerns that existing safety standards are not enough to manage lithium battery fires.
- The ban is mandatory for member countries of the ICAO.
- According to a report by Greenpeace, Air pollution in India is higher than that of China.
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International Affairs
- Today (22nd February) is Twins day.
- Today is World Thinking Day.
- Colombia's Constitutional Court has banned Oil, Gas and Mining operations in the country's high altitude ecosystems called the 'paramos'.
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International Affairs
- Today (21st February) is International Mother Language Day.
- This day is observed to promote awareness of linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism.
- First announced by UNESCO on 17 November 1999, it was formally recognized by the United Nations General Assembly in its resolution establishing 2008 as the International Year of Languages.
- February 21 was specifically chosen to mark the day in 1952 when students demonstrated for recognition of their language, Bangla as a national language in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh).
- Theme of 2016 : Quality education, language(s) of instruction and learning outcomes.
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International Affairs
- Today (20th February) is World Day of Social Justice.
- The United Nations General Assembly observe this day recognizing the need to promote efforts to tackle issues such as poverty, exclusion and unemployment.
- 2016 Theme : A Just Transition - environmentally sustainable economies and societies
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International Affairs
- U.S. President Barack Obama is going to make a historic visit to Cuba next month.
- He will be the first sitting American president to go to the island nation in 80 years.
- Indo-Nepal Combined Battalion level Military Training Exercise SURYA KIRAN is being conducted at Pithoragarh.
- During the exercise, an Infantry battalion each from Indian Army and the Nepalese Army would be training together and sharing their experiences of Counter Terrorism operations and Jungle Warfare in mountain terrain.
- Important Points to Note :
- The Surya Kiran series of exercises is a bi-annual event which is conducted alternatively in Nepal and India.
- Aim : To enhance inter-operability between the Indian and the Nepalese Army units in Jungle Warfare and Counter Terrorism operations in mountainous terrain.
- The training will also focus on Humanitarian Aid and Disaster Relief including medical and aviation support.
- Both the Armies will stand to benefit mutually from shared experiences.
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International Affairs
- A 12-member team of the Indian Army is participating in the “Cobra Gold” multilateral exercises, which is being hosted by Thailand, along with its counterparts from China and Pakistan.
- India has been invited to the exercises as an “observer plus” country.
- This is in keeping with the recent trend of India’s increasing regional interoperability with a series of multi-lateral exercises on land and sea.
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International Affairs
- The French parliament has voted to extend the country's state of emergency by a further three months, allowing authorities to carry out police raids and put people under house arrest without prior authorisation of a judge.
- French President Francois Hollande had pushed for the extension of the state of emergency, which has been in place since 13th November 2015, when armed attackers killed at least 130 people across various locations in Paris.
- A Yellow fever outbreak in Angola has killed 51 people, in the first epidemic of the disease to hit the country in 30 years.
- A total of 241 people were now infected.
- More than 450,000 people had been vaccinated in the capital of a target of nearly 1.6 million.
- Important Points to Note :
- There is no specific treatment for the viral haemorrhagic disease which is transmitted by infected mosquitoes and found in tropical regions of Africa and Latin America's Amazon region.
- The centre of the outbreak is the capital Luanda's eastern suburb of Viana, where 29 deaths and 92 cases have been reported over the past six weeks.
- Sindh became the first Pakistan province to adopt landmark Hindu Marriage Bill, 2015 in order to allow the minority community to register their marriages.
- Note : This is for the first such a law is being passed since formation of Pakistan in 1947 to safeguard rights of Hindus, a second largest religious minority community in the country.
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International Affairs
- Today is President's Day of United States.
- This day is celebrated on the third Monday of February in honor of George Washington, the first President of the United States.
MOUs
- Union Ministry of Railways and Ministry of Enterprise and Innovation of Sweden have inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Technical Cooperation in Rail Sector.
- Objective of this MOU : To develop cooperation activities in the Railway sector to promote efficiency and sustainability and to achieve concrete results with regard to bilateral trade, research, investment and technology transfer.
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International Affairs
- The Seventh Joint Military Training Exercise between the Indian Army and the Seychelles People’s Defence Forces (SPDF) - LAMITYE 2016, started today at Seychelles Defence Academy (SDA), Victoria, Seychelles.
- This exercise will be held from today (15th February) to 28 February 2016.
- The SPDF will be represented by 20 personnel from Tazar (Special Forces Unit) and 32 from Seychelles Infantry.
- The Indian contingent will comprise of an Infantry platoon and representatives from the Special Forces.
- Important Note : India and Seychelles have been conducting joint exercises since 2001 & ‘Exercise Lamitye’, which means friendship in Creole (local dialect), is conducted biennially with the aim of enhancing military cooperation and interoperability between the two countries.
- Russia has decided to deliver S-300 air defense missile systems to Iran.
- The Islamic Republic reportedly wants to buy more advanced missile systems like the S-400 system, but negotiations for their sale are currently not taking place.
- Following international sanctions, the $800-million missile contract, signed in 2007, had been frozen since 2010.
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- The first day of the 'Make in India' week, which was launched yesterday, saw the signing of three MoUs between Maharashtra government
bodies and various companies for total investment worth ₹21,000 crore.
- Twinstar Display Technologies, Raymond Industries and Hindustan
Coca-Cola Beverages were among the companies that signed the MoUs for
setting up manufacturing plants in India.
- The Jammu and Kashmir government has reportedly increased the cash reward for killing militants.
- The reward for killing an A++ category militant has been increased from ₹10 lakh to ₹12.5 lakh.
- For killing an A+ category militant and an A- category militant, the compensation amount has been increased to ₹7.50 lakh and ₹5 lakh respectively.
- Indian Railways is building World's Highest Rail Bridge at Jammu & Kashmir.
- This bridge will be 35 m higher than Eiffel Tower.
- This bridge is being constructed over Chenab River, Jammu and Kashmir.
- Celebratory gunfire has been banned in the Shamli district of Uttar
Pradesh.
- The move came after an
eight-year-old travelling in a rickshaw lost his life when he was shot
at by Samajwadi Party workers celebrating panchayat poll results in the
Kairana town of the district last week.
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International Affairs
- According to a recently released United Nation's report, India has been named the third most disaster-hit nation in 2015.
- China topped the list, followed by the US.
- India witnessed 19 disasters, over 2,800 deaths and over ₹22,000 crore economic damage last year.
- Meanwhile, worldwide there were over 22,700 casualties, and an estimated $66.5 billion worth economic losses in 2015.
- Note : 2015 was the hottest year on record.
- Casualties - people killed or injured in a war or accident.
- The US government today announced the approval of a sale of up to eight F-16 fighter jets, radar and other equipment to Pakistan in a $699 million deal, saying it would aid counter-terrorism operations.
- Nepal PM KP Sharma Oli is coming to India on a 5-day visit from 19th February 2016.
- This is his first foreign trip after being elected as Prime Minister of Nepal in October.
- PM Oli and his high-level delegation are expected to sign deals worth $2 billion for earthquake reconstruction work and hydropower projects.
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International Affairs
- Today (12th February) is Darwin Day.
- This day is a celebration to commemorate the 207th birth anniversary of Charles Darwin (12 February 1809).
- Note : Charles Darwin is best known for his contributions to evolutionary theory.
- The International Syria Support Group today agreed to implement a nationwide “cessation of hostilities” in Syria by the end of next week.
- The ceasefire would not apply to the fight against groups designated as terrorist organisations by the UNSC.
- The world powers also agreed to immediately accelerate and expand the delivery of humanitarian aid.
- India ranked 37th among 38 countries, in USCC's Intellectual Property Index (IPI) by , among the surveyed 38 countries.
- Note : Venezuela ranked lowest below India at 38th position.
- USCC - United States Chamber of Commerce
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International Affairs
- Today (11th February) is World Day of the Sick.
- Titanic 2, the replica of the original ship that sank in the Atlantic Ocean almost 100 years ago, is set to go on its maiden voyage in 2018 from Jiangsu, China to Dubai.
- Being built at an estimated cost of £300 million to £400 million, it will have 840 cabins across three classes and carry 2,435 passengers and 900 crew.
- Russia has presented a proposal for a truce in Syria by March.
- The world powers urged Russia to cease its bombing around the Syrian city of Aleppo, where a government offensive is currently underway to recapture the city.
- Truce - an agreement between enemies or opponents to stop fighting or arguing for a certain time.
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International Affairs
- A 34-year-old Chinese man has contracted the Zika virus after travelling to South America, marking the first case of the virus in China.
- Meanwhile, China's National Health and Family Planning Commission has announced that the chances of the virus spreading across China were "low" due to the cold temperature and lack of mosquito activity.
- UAE's PM Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum today announced that the country now has appointed Ministers for 'happiness' and 'tolerance' in a major cabinet reshuffle.
- Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan arrives New Delhi on a three-day visit.
- Note : This is his first state visit to India.
- During this visit, India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are going to sign a civil nuclear cooperation agreeme
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