Current Affairs Daily News [Month February 2015]

Feb 28, 2015
1. Union Budget 2015 - 2016 - Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented Union Budget 2015-16 in Lok Sabha. It was first full year Budget of the NDA government and second budget of Arun Jaitley. Main Points are -
  - Expenditures (Total 1777477 Crores)
    - Planned Expenditure - 465277 Crores
    - Non-Planned Expenditure - 1312200 Crores.
  - Revenue Receipts (Total 1671223 Crores)
    - Tax Revenue - 1449490 Crore Rupees
    - Non Tax Revenue - 221733 Crore Rupees
  - Estimates of various Deficits -
    - Fiscal Defict (Rajkoshiya Ghata) to be 3.9 % of GDP
      - Further Estimations - 3.5 % of GDP in 2016-17 and 3 % oof GDP in 2017-18
    - Revenue Deficit to be 2.8 % of GDP
  - Taxation -
    - Abolition of wealth tax and Additional 2% surcharge for the super rich with income of over Rs. 1 crore.
    - Corporate tax to come down from 30% to 25% over the next 3 year period.
    - No change in individual income tax rates and slabs, overall deduction benefits to individual taxpayers hiked to Rs 4.44 lakh a year.
    - 2 % Swachh Bharat cess on Service Tax and 100 % deduction on investment in Swachh Bharat Kosh.
    - Excise duty is up to 12.5 % and and service tax Increased to 14 % (From 12.36 %).
    - Pension fund exemption increase from Rs.1,00,000 to Rs.1,5,0000
    - Mediclaim policy limit increased from Rs.15,000 to Rs.25,000 (Rs.30,000 for Senior Citizen)
    - Goods and Services Tax to be implemented by April 2016.
  - Agriculture -
    - Rs. 25,000 crore for Rural Infrastructure Development Bank.
    - Rs. 5,300 crore to support Micro Irrigation Programme.
    - Farmers credit - target of 8.5 lakh crore.
  - Infrastructure -
    - Rs. 70,000 crores to Infrastructure sector.
    - Atal Innovation Mission to be established to draw on expertise of entrepreneurs, and researchers to foster scientific innovations; allocation of Rs. 150 crore.
    - Setting up of 5 ultra mega power projects, each of 4000 MW.
    - National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) will be made with annual flow of Rs.20,000 crores to help infrastructure finance companies leverage extra equity from the funds and use it to erect infrastructure.
    - Self- Employment and Talent Utilisation (SETU), a Techno-Financial, Incubation and Facilitation Programme will be created to support all aspects of start up businesses particularly in technology-driven areas. An amount of Rs.1000 crore is being set up initially in NITI (National Institute of Transforming India) Aayog for SETU.
  - Education -
    - New AIIMS in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar and Assam.
    - New IIT in Karnataka; Indian School of Mines in Dhanbad to be upgraded to IIT.
    - University of Disability Studies to be formed in Kerala.
    - Centre of film production, animation and gaming to come up in Arunachal Pradesh.
    - New IIMs in Jammu - Kashmir and Andhra Pradesh.
  - Defence Expenditure - 2,46,726 Crores (9.87 % )
  - Welfare Schemes -
    - DBT (Direct Benefit Transfer) will be further be expanded from 1 crore to 10.3 crore.
    - For the Atal Pension Yojna, govt. will contribute 50% of the premium limited to Rs. 1000 a year.
    - Rs. 5,000 crore additional allocation for MGNREGA this year taking the allotement to 34699 Crores all time high.
    - Micro Units Development Refinance Agency (MUDRA) Bank will be made with funds Rs. 20,000 crore and credit guarantee fund of 3,000 crore to refinance Micro-Finance Institutions through Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana.
    - Visa on Arrival Facility for 150 Countries.
    - 1000 crore rupees more allocated to Nirbhaya fund
    - To enable minority youth, a new scheme named Nayi Manzil will be started
    - Transport allowance increased to 1600 rupees per month
    - Pradhan Mantra Suraksha Bima Yojana to cover accidental death risk of Rs. 2 lakh for just Rs. 12 per year.
    - Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana to cover both natural and accidental death risk
    - Unclaimed deposits of about Rs. 9,000 crores in the PPF and EPF funds will be used to revitalize Senior Citizen Welfare funds.
    - Deen Dayal Upadhyay Grameen Kaushal Yojana will be launched to enhance the employability of Rural Youth with capital of 1500 Crores.
    - National Skills Mission will be launched with capital of Rs. 1,500 crores apart for Deen Dayal Upadhyay Gramin Kaushal Yojana.
    - A fully IT based Student Financial Aid Authority will be set up to manage Scholarships and Educational Loan Schemes, through the Pradhan Mantri Vidya Lakshmi Karyakram.
    - Scheduled Castes Development Sub-Schemes to get 30851 Crores and Scheduled Tribes to get 19980 Crores, women welfare schemes get 79258 Crores.
    - Rural -
      - Rs. 15,000 crore for Long Term Rural Credit Fund
      - Rs. 45,000 crore for Short Term Cooperative Rural Credit Refinance Fund
      - Rs. 15,000 crore for Short Term RRB Refinance Fund
  - Renewable Energy -
    - Rs. 75 crore for electric cars production.
    - Total 175 K MW Renewable energy target for 2022: 100 K MW in solar; 60 K MW in wind; 10 K MW in biomass and 5 K MW in small hydro.
  - Gold -
    - New scheme for depositors of gold to earn interest and jewellers to obtain loans on their metal accounts.
    - An Indian gold coin with Ashok Chakra on its face will be made to reduce the demand for foreign coins and recycle the gold available in the country.
  - Financial -
    - Forward Markets Commission to be merged with the Securities and Exchange Board of India.
    - NBFCs with asset size above 500 crores to be considered as ‘financial institution’ under Sarfaesi Act, 2002, enabling them to fund SME and mid-corporate businesses.
    - Implementation of GAAR (General Anti Avoidance Rule) has been deferred by 2 Years.
    - People will have to quote their PAN for all purchases above 1 lakh rupees
    - GDP growth seen between 8% and 8.5% this year
    - Disinvestment target set at Rs 41,000 crore for 2015-16.
    - Tough Law to black money to be introduced including imprisonment up to 10 years and 300% penalty on tax for concealing income and assets.
    - Total transfer to the states will be 62 %
    - Electrification of remaining 20000 villages by 2020
  - Subsidies - 227000 Crores ( of 10.2 % from 2014 - 15).
    - Food Subsidy Increased to 122000 Crores.
    - Fertilizer Subsidy - 72968 Crores
    - Petroleum Subsidy - 60270 Crores
  - Others -
    - Year 2022 will be the Amrut Mahotsav, the 75th year, of India’s independence. Housing for all and employment for at least one person in every family is to envisioned to achieved by 2022.
  - Schemes and Expenditure -
    - Rural Development - 79526 Crores ( of 10 %)
    - Mahatama Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) - 34699 Crores ( of 2.1 %)
    - Health Sector - 33152 Crores
    - Education Sector - 68968 Crores (Including Mid Day Meal)
    - Housing and Urban Development - 22407 Crores
    - Women and Child Welfare - 10351 Crores
    - Water Resources and Namami Gange - 4173 Crores
2. USA based International Data Corporation released a report on Indian smartphone market and stated that South Korean handset maker Samsung continues to retain top position in Indian Smartphone market with 22 % share, followed by Micromax (18 %, Intex (8 %) Lava (7 %), Xiaomi (4 %) and the rest (40 %).
3. 28 Feb - Eighth International Rare Disease Day. (Held annually on last day of February).
4. Haryana government raised cash reward under inter-caste marriage scheme from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh to promote inter-caste marriages and remove caste discrimination in the state.
5. Gujarat Forest Department tied up with Zoological Society of London for conservation of Asiatic lion and its habitat.
6. Former New Zealand cricketer Martin David Crowe inducted into ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.
7. Indian Navy concluded its Theatre Level Readiness and Operational Exercise (TROPEX)-2015 aimed at validating Indian Navy’s Concept of Operations and the area of operations spanned across the Arabian Sea and Northern Indian Ocean.
Feb 27, 2015
1. Economic Survey 2014 - 2015 Highlights -
  1. Finance Minister of India (Arun Jaitley Currently) presents the Economic Survey in the parliament every year, just before the Union Budget. It is the ministry’s view on the annual economic development of the country.
  2. Highlights on Economic Survey 2014-15 are
    1. Prepared by Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian and his team in Finance Ministry.
    2. To improve investment climate and reduce backlog of stalled projects, a three-pronged strategy is suggested
      1. Revival of public investment in short term, to act as an engine of growth in infrastructure sector.
      2. Creative solutions needed to strengthen institutions relating to bankruptcy to ensurte that exit options are available.
      3. Restructuring the PPP (Public Private Partnership) model is required to make it more viable.
    3. Inflation
      1. Inflation declined by over 6 % since late 2013 and likely to remain 5-5.5 in 2015-16.
    4. Fiscal Deficit
      1. Government will stick to fiscal deficit target of 4.1% of GDP in 2014-15
      2. Country needs to meet its medium-term fiscal deficit target of 3% of GDP and expected to attain the same over next 3 years period.
    5. Current account deficit
      1. Current account deficit will decline from a 6.7 % of GDP in Quarter 3 of 2012-13 to 1.0 % in 2015-16.
    6. GDP Growth
      1. GDP Growth Rate to stay 7.4 % in 2014 - 2015 and Expected GDP Growth rate for India in 2015-16 lies between 8.1 - 8.5 % as expectations are high due to large scale economic reforms.
      2. After huge phase of deceleration, GDP has been growing at 7.2 % on average since 2013-14, based on the new growth estimates of the Central Statistics Office.
    7. Foodgrains production
      1. Foodgrains production for 2014-15 is estimated at 257.07 million tonnes, it exceeds average food grain production of last five years by 8.5 million tones.
    8. Subsidies and the JAM Number Trinity Solution
      - Food Subsidy Bill stands at 107823.75 crore rupees during 2014-15, increase of 20 % over previous year
      - The JAM Number Trinity – Jan Dhan Yojana, Aadhaar, Mobile – can enable the State to transfer financial resources to the poor in a progressive manner without leakages and minimal distorting.
    9. Other Facts
      1. Rational Investor Ratings Index (RIRI) that combines indicators of macro-stability with growth illustrates that India ranks amongst the most attractive investment destinations.
      2. Growth will receive boost from cumulative impact of reforms, lower oil prices, likely monetary policy easing due to lower inflation and normal monsoon expected in 2015-16. In the long-run, private investments will be the engine of growth.
      3. Complement Make in India initiative with Skill India initiative to enable larger number of people to benefit from structural transformation that such sectors will facilitate.
      4. National Market for Agricultural Commodities should be created in place of thousands of agricultural markets
      5. The Model APMC Act, 2003 should be amended along the lines of the Karnataka Model that has successfully introduced an integrated single licensing system.
      6. Fiscal Framework
        
        Expenditure control combined with recovering growth and GST will ensure that medium term targets are comfortably met.
        
        In the short run, need for accelerated fiscal consolidation will be conditioned by recommendations of the Fourteenth Finance Commission (FFC).
2. Kshatrapati Shivaji is appointed as new CMD (Chairman and Managing Director) of SIDBI.
3. Jamaica Government allowed to decriminalise possession of small amount of marijuana for personal use.
4. Researchers in Monash University of Australia created world's first 3D-printed jet engine.
5. Federal Bureau of Investigation of USA announced a reward of 3 million USD for information on Evgeniy Mikhailovich Bogachev, one of the world’s most prolific cyber criminal from Russia.
6. Amitava Roy is appointed as as a judge in Supreme Court. Prior to this, he served as the Chief Justice of Odisha High Court.
  1. With This, strength of judges in Supreme Court has become 29 with maximum sanctioned strength of 31 judges.
Feb 26, 2015
1. Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu presented the Railway Budget 2015-16 in the Lok Sabha -
  1. In his first Railway Budget, Suresh Prabhu outlined a plan to invest over 8 lakh crore rupees over 5 years.
  2. The size of the Plan Budget has gone up by 52 % from 65789 crore rupees in 2014-15 to 100011 crore rupees in 2015-16.
  3. Freight rate for cement, coal, others hiked by up to 10%
  4. Rail tickets can now be booked 120 days in advance.
  5. Speed on nine railway corridors to go up to 200 km per hour.
  6. Wi-Fi in 400 stations, mobile phone charging facilities in all train compartments.
  7. All india 24/7 helpline - 138 from March 2015 and Toll free No.182 for security.
  8. No hike in passenger fares
  9. No new trains announced
  10. 'Operation 5 mins', wherein passengers travellling unreserved can purchase a ticket in 5 minutes.
  11. Four Railway Research Centres to start in four universities.
  12. Transport Logistics Corporation of India (TRANSLOC), to be set up for developing common user facilities to provide end-to-end logistics solution at select Railway terminals through Public Private Partnerships.
  13. Operating ratio to improve to 88.5% in 2015-16
    1. The operating ratio, a key measure of efficiency, was at 91.8 per cent in 2014-15 after touching a high of 93.6 per cent in the previous financial year. The lower the operating ratio, the better is the profitability of an entity.
  14. Fast-track sanctioned works on 7,000 kms of double/third/fourth lines
  15. Commissioning 1200 km in 2015-16 at an investment of Rs. 8,686 crore, 84% higher Y-O-Y.
  16. Commissioning 800 km of gauge conversion targeted in current fiscal.
  17. 77 projects covering 9,400 km of doubling/tripling/quadrupling works along with electrification, covering almost all States, at a cost of Rs. 96,182 crore, which is over 2700% higher in terms of amount sanctioned
  18. Traffic facility work is a top priority with an outlay of Rs. 2374 crore .
  19. Preliminary engineering-cum-traffic survey (PETS) for four other DFCs in progress.
  20. Acceleration of pace of Railway electrification: 6,608 route kilometers sanctioned for 2015-16, an increase of 1330% over the previous year.
2. Mumbai University signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Indian Railways to set up a Rail Innovation and Technology Centre to train students for attaining expertise in Railway Engineering.
3. Russia signed an agreement with Cyprus to give Russian navy ships access to Cyprus ports in Mediterranean Sea mostly to be used for anti-terrorism and anti-piracy efforts.
4. Government approved setting up of 15000 Mega Watt (MW) Grid-connected Solar Photo Voltaic (SPV) Power projects under National Solar Mission (NSM) due to high hopes in Solar Power in recent years. It will be implemented through National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Limited (VVNL) in three tranches.
5. Andhra Pradesh Government signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with IT Firm Wipro for building and implementing the AP State Enterprise Architecture (APSEA).
6. Ratan Tata has been honoured with an honorary Doctorate of Automotive Engineering by the Clemson University at the South Carolina Automotive Summit in USA for his contributions to the global automotive industry.
7. Singapore government appointed Gopinath Pillai as its special envoy to Andhra Pradesh to speed up construction of new capital in the state.
8. Forbes released Asia’s 50 Power Businesswomen 2015 list with six Indian women featured in it -
  1. Arundhati Bhattacharya, CMD, State Bank of India
  2. Chanda Kochchar, CEO, ICICI Bank,
  3. Akhila Srinivasan, MD/Non-Executive Director, Shriram Life Insurance/Shriram Capital
  4. Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Founder, Chairman and MD, Biocon
  5. Shikha Sharma, CEO and MD, Axis Bank
  6. Usha Sangwan, MD, Life Insurance Corp. of India
Feb 25, 2015
1. Book Flora of Guntur City Andhra Pradesh is written by PR Mohana Rao.
2. USA's Kristen Stewart won Best Supporting Actress Award at France's Cesar Awards for her role in Clouds of Sils Maria.
  She became first American actress to win a trophy at France's Cesar Awards.
3. Rajya Sabha passed Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Orders Amendment Bill, 2014 to modify list of Scheduled Castes in three states- Haryana, Karnataka, Odisha and one Dadra and Nagar Haveli Union Territory.
  1. It amends the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950 and the Constitution (Dadra and Nagar Haveli) Scheduled Castes Order, 1962.
  2. It adds following communities to list of Scheduled Castes -
    - Haryana: Kabirpanthi Julaha
    - Karnataka: Od, Odde, Vaddar, Waddar, Voddar, Woddar, Bovi (Non Besta), Kalluvaddar, and Mannuvaddar
    - Odisha: Rajak, Rajaka, Adhuria Dom, Adhuria Domb, Khatia, Sapua Kela, Nalua Kela, Sabakhia Kela, Matia Kela, Gaudia Kela, Khadal, Khodal and Betra
    - Dadra and Nagar Haveli: Rohit
4. DK Pandey has been appointed as Director General of Police (DGP) of Jharkhand
5. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav presented State's Budget 2015-16 of 302687 crore rupees.
  1. State government has focused on agriculture, education, power, health, roads and infrastructure development for which 51516 Crore rupees have been allotted.
  2. Budget size of 2015-16 is 10 % more than budget of 2014-2015.
  3. growth rate of up is expected to be 5 %, more than national growth of 4.7 %. Fiscal deficit is targeted to be kept under 2.96 5 of the State GDP and debt is targeted at around 27.5 % of State GDP.
6. Indian-American Ravi Chaudhary has been appointed as Executive Director for Regions and Centre Operations at Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in the United States of America.
7. Himachal Pradesh will become India's first state to present a 'paperless' budget.
  1. Himachal Pradesh already has country's first green assembly, all documents related to budget would be online and only 10 budget copies would be printed for record.
Feb 24, 2015
1. 3rd Tortoise Festival organised at Hajong Lake in Assam to create awareness among people on the endangered tortoise species by Environment and Forest Department of Dima Hasao (ASSAM).
2. Eighth India-Nepal Combined Military Exercise Surya Kiran-VIII started in Saljhandi (Nepal).
3. West Indies Cricketer Chris Gayle became first to make double century in any Cricket World Cup. He scored it against Zimbabwe in 2015 World cup.
4. Government revised National Sports Awards Schemes - Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, Arjuna Award, Dhyan Chand Award and Dronacharya Awards based on recommendations made by Kapil dev led panel that decided on Arjuna awards 2014. Selection Committee for Arjuna Award will now be headed by the Retired Judge of Supreme Court/High Court.
5. Indian Army and State Bank of India (SBI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for Defence Salary Package.
6. Ranchi Rays won Hero Hockey India League 2015 (HHIL) by defeating Punjab Warriors.
7. Mysuru’s erstwhile royal family adopted Yaduveer Gopal Raj Urs as heir to Wadiyar dynasty.
8. Takahiro Hachigo has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer of Japanese automaker Honda Motor Corp.
9. Ram Niwas Goel elected as Speaker of Delhi Legislative Assembly
10. Rana Bhagwandas, The first Hindu Chief Justice of Pakistan, Died.
Feb 23, 2015
1. Oscar Awards 2015 (87th Academy Awards, Ceremony held in Los Angles (USA)))
  1. Presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in 24 categories.
  2. Notable awards
    1. Best Picture: Birdman
    2. Best Director: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu for Birdman
    3. Best Actor: Eddie Redmayne for The Theory of Everything
    4. Best Actress: Julianne Moore for Still Alice
    5. Best Supporting Actor: JK Simmons for Whiplash
    6. Best Supporting Actress: Patricia Arquette for Boyhood
    7. Best Animated Movie: Big Hero Six 6
    8. Best Original Song: John Stephens and Lonnie Lynn for Glory
    9. Best Original Score: Alexandre Desplat for The Grand Budapest Hotel
2. World Health Organisation approved ReEBOV Antigen rapid test kit developed by Corgenix in the United States for Ebola disease that can give result in 15 minutes.
3. Indian golfer Anirban Lahiri won Indian Open golf in Delhi Golf Club.
4. Indian-American Purnendu Dasgupta has been awarded with J. Calvin Giddings Award 2015 for Excellence in Education by the American Chemical Society (ACS).
5. Centre for Science and Environment released report Heat on Power and claimed that Indian coal-based thermal power plants are among most inefficient in world. Report was released by MS Swaminathan, father of India’s Green Revolution.
  - Inefficient resources use and technological backwardness leads to high levels of pollution.
  - Plants are operating at 60-70 % capacity, if capacity utilisation is improved, additional power requirement can be without making new plants.
  - Delhi- based NTPC’s Badarpur plant one of the most polluting in the country.
  - 55 % of the units were violating air pollution standards which are already extremely lax.
6. Somdev Devvarman won Delhi Open title of tennis.
Feb 22, 2015
1. RBI removed ban on importing gold coins and medallions by banks and allowed import of gold on consignment basis.
2. Janatal Dal (United) leader NItish Kumar sworn in as Chief Minister of Bihar for fourth time after Jeetan manjhi resigned. He is 34th CM Of Bihar.
3. Government launched online grievances monitoring system called MADAD with tagline Because You Are Us for redressing consular grievances to help Indians living abroad to file grievances online about services by Indian Missions and Embassy.
Feb 21, 2015
1. Chrishantha de Silva has been appointed as 21st chief of Sri Lanka Army.
2. Odia filmmaker Nirad Mahapatra passed away.
3. 21 Feb is Mother Language Day. 2015 Theme is Inclusive Education through and with Language - Language Matter.
4. Khadi & Village Industries Commission (KVIC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Monitoring Cell for Rural Self Employment Training Institutes (RSETIs) for enhancing business and project skills of beneficiaries under Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) which is being implemented by KVIC.
Feb 20, 2015
1. Tapan Misra has been appointed as Chief of ISRO’s Space Applications Centre (SAC).
2. Tropical cyclones Marcia and Lam hit Australia. It is first time that two cyclones have hit Australia at one time
3. Krishi Karman Awards 2013-14 Given by PM Narendra Modi
  1. Individual crops
    1. Rice - Chhattisgarh
    2. Wheat - Madhya Pradesh
    3. Pulses - Assam and Tamil Nadu
    4. Coarse Cereals - West Bengal
    5. Oil Seeds - Gujarat
  2. Total Food Grains Production
    1. Category-I (foodgrains production > 10 million tonnes) - Punjab
    2. Category-II (foodgrains production 1 - 10 million tonens) - Odisha
    3. Category-III (foodgrains production < 1 million tonnes) - Meghalaya
  3. Each award winning state received a trophy, a citation and a cash award of 2 crore rupees
4. Indian-American Rashad Hussain has been appointed as Special Envoy and Coordinator for Strategic Counter-terrorism Communication in the United States (US).
5. Chief Minister of Bihar Jitan Ram Manjhi resigned.
6. Famous Urdu poet Kalim Ahmed Ajiz passws away.
7. KS Radhakrishnan Committee on Road Safety submitted its report to supreme court and recommended ban of sale of alcohol on National and State highways to minimize road accidents along with other recommendations.
8. Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved four highway Projects in Uttar Pradesh, Odisha and Chhattisgarh.
9. German scientists combined sunlight from a Solar Vacuum Tower Telescope in Canary Islands with light of Laser Frequency Comb (LFC) to make possible searching Earth-like planets with ease and precision.
Feb 19, 2015
1. India successfully tested nuclear capable surface-to-surface Prithvi-II missile from Chandipur (Odisha) with Range 350 km
2. Government launched nation-wide ‘Soil Health Card’ (SHC) scheme in Rajasthan.
  1. The Soil Health Card under this scheme will be issued to 14 crore holdings and will carry crop-wise recommendations of fertilizers required for farms of different soil types. It will help farmers in identifying health of the soil therefore improving productivity through proper use of fertilizers and water.
3. Indian drug maker Lupin tied-up with Poland's Celon Pharma to jointly develop a generic version of GlaxoSmithKline’s Advair Diskus, a drug used to treat asthma.
4. Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has set up online help desk for tracing inoperative accounts and seek final settlement. There are about 8.15 crore inoperative EPFO accounts with 27000 crore rupees in them.
5. Online shopping portal Snapdeal.com acquired luxury fashion site Exclusively.com for undisclosed amount. With this, Snapdeal aims to strengthen its fashion business and reach 2 billion US dollars in gross value in fashion category in 2015.
6. Government approved Project-17A worth 8 billion USD for building 7 advanced warships with stealth and other advanced features for avoiding detection. These frigates be built at government shipyards in Mumbai and Kolkata.
  1. Aim is to boost Make in India campaign for building domestic defence industrial base and reduce dependencies on expensive foreign suppliers.
7. Bangladesh Senior Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs, Mozammel Haque Khan Visited India and signed agreements for stepping up Patrolling across India-Bangladesh Borders.
8. SAFAR-Air , India’s first Mobile App for checking air quality in Real Time, has been launched at Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology in Pune (Maharashtra).
  1. SAFAR stands for System of Air Quality Weather Forecasting and Research.
9. Bihar Government anounced to allot 35% reservation for women in Non-Gazetted jobs
10. Indian telecom Provider Bharti Airtel partnered with United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) for providing health, education and youth-focused content to its customers in 17 African countries.
11. Indian Former Cricketer Anil Kumble and Former Australian women cricketer Betty Wilson will be inducted in ICC (International Cricket Council) Hall of fame.
Feb 18, 2015
1. First Renewable Energy Global Investors Meet & Expo, called RE-Invest 2015 held in New Delhi to attract large scale investments for the renewable energy sector in India.
2. Noted Film Producer Daggubati Ramanaidu passed away. He was a recepient of Dada Saheb Phalke award and Padmabhushan award.
3. 10th Aero India show inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Bengaluru (Karnataka).
  1. Aero India show comprises of aircrafts, aviation products, aero technology and air shows and is organized every two years by Defence Exhibition Organisation arm of Ministry of Defence and Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
4. Bollywood actor Ashraful Haque passed away.
5. Bihar government approved inclusion of Dusadh (Dhari and Dhadi) caste in the Mahadalit category. There are no more any Dalits in Bihar as all Dalits are now categorised as Mahadalits in the State.
6. Three Indians - Ritika Singh, Shradha Prasad and Taranjeet Singh Bhatia have been shortlisted for one-way trip to Mars under Mars One mission in 2024.
7. 5th India-Myanmar Joint Trade Committee meeting held in Nay Pyi Taw in Myanmar. India’s Minister of State for Commerce & Industry (Independent Charge) Nirmala Sitharaman met Myanmar’s Minister of Commerce U Win Myint.
8. Famous Cartoonist and political activist Rajinder Puri passed away
Feb 17, 2015
1. Government imposed anti-dumping duty on imports of graphite electrodes for five years to protect domestic industry from below-cost shipments of graphite electrodes used in steel melting.
2. Dosmoche festival celebrated in Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir.
3. India's Indira Gandhi International Airport (Delhi) has been named as best among world’s most performing airports in 25-40 million passengers per annum category by the Airport Council International (ACI). Mumbai Airport is also in top five list.
  1. Delhi Airport won annual Service Quality (ASQ) award in Geneva-based ACI’s ASQ passenger's satisfaction survey
4. Javed Usmani Sworn In As New Chief Information Commissioner of Uttar Pradesh
5. United Nations Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change and former mayor of New York City Michael Bloomberg visited India. Ministry of Urban Development partnered with Bloomberg Philanthropies for Smart Cities Initiative of Government.
6. An ancient idol of Lord Vishnu dating back about to 7th century AD was found in a village in Tarn Taran district of Punjab.
7. India signed agreement of 8 million USD loan with World Bank for funding of its Sustainable Livelihoods and Adaptation to Climate Change (SLACC) Project.
8. Former Indian cricketer Saurav Ganguly has been given Honorary Life Membership to england's Marylebone Cricket Club.
9. France signed a 5.9 billion USD deal with Egypt for supplying 24 Rafale fighter planes to Egypt.
Feb 16, 2015
1. Ashton Carter has been appointed as Defence Secretary by US Senate.
2. Dunya Maumoon, Foreign Minister of Maldives Visited India.
3. Tony Tan Keng Yam, President of Singapore Visited India.
4. Indian-origin scientist Srikanth Jagabathula has been honored by Career Development Award (CAREER) by National Science Foundation of the United States for developing data-driven modelling and learning techniques to improve the accuracy of operational decision making.
5. Sri Lanka's New President Maithripala Sirisena Visited India and Signed 4 Agreements in Civil Nuclear Co-operation.
6. Chhattisgarh has been awarded for being one of the best-performing states in Renewable Energy Sector in India.
7. Nagesh Kukunoor's Film Dhanak won two awards at 65th Berlin International Film Festival.
8. Election Commission of India will launch Electoral Roll Authentication Mission (ERAM) from March 1 to authenticate and purify electoral rolls by using database of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to link Aadhaar number of voters.
9. National Tribal Festival Vanaj 2015 inaugurated by Union Minister of Tribal Affairs Jual Oram at the Indira Gandhi National Center for Arts (IGNCA) in New Delhi.
10. India's Muthoot Group signed co-operation agreement with World Wide Fund (WWF) for Nature - India for its Project -Friends for Life.
Feb 15, 2015
1. Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt announced that he will retire from athletics after the 2017 World Championships in London.
2. Indian Cricketer Virat Kohli became first Indian to score a century against Pakistan in the Cricket World Cup.
3. Scientists Tessy Thomas and Geeta Varadan have been selected for Dr.Y. Nayudamma Memorial Award 2014.
Feb 14, 2015
1. India successfully test-fired BrahMos supersonic cruise missile from INS Kolkata off the Goa coast.
  - BrahMos has range of 300 kilometers and may carry warhead up to 300 KG with top speed about 3000 KM/Hour.
2. Tintu Luka won gold in 800m in 35th National Games in Kerala.
3. United Arab Emirates closed its Embassy in Yemen due to the ongoing political instability and security situations.
4. Parle Products launched nationwide Litter Free Campaign for urging consumers for puttng garbage at proper places.
5. Supreme Court directed CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) to investigate role of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) in the multi-crore chit-fund scam.
Feb 13, 2015
1. 13 Feb - World Radio Day
2. Iranian nuclear power plant Bushehr and India's Kudankulam nuclear power plant projects are named as projects of the year 2014 by US Power Engineering magazine in the Nuclear energy category.
3. All India Football Federations (AIFF) Player of the Year Awards 2014 -
  - Men - Sunil Chhetri
  - Women - Bala Devi
4. Balasubramaniam Venkataramani will be new Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX).
5. World Press Freedom Index (WPFI) 2015 released by Reporters Without Borders (RWB) -
  - India was placed at 136th position out of 180 nations, It improved from 140th rank last year.
  - Finland is at the top in terms of freedom for press with Norway and Denmark following.
  - Eritrea is the worst in terms of freedom for press as per the report, North Korea is second worst.
6. Telugu novelist Kesava Reddy passed away.
7. Indian-origin scientist Gurpreet Singh has been given the presented with the prestigious National Science FoundationCareer award wit cash prize money of 500000 USD for his research on Scalable liquid exfoliation processing of ultrathin two-dimensional metal dichalcogenides nanosheets for energy storage devices.
8. Editor Unplugged: Media, Magnates, Netas and Me has been written by Vinod Mehta.
9. ICICI Bank patnered with global payment solutions company UAE Exchange to offer an instant bank transfer service named FLASHremit.
  - Using FLASHremit, customers of the bank in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) may send money instantly to any ICICI Bank account in India in rupees in a secure manner.
10. Aerospace firm SpaceX successfully launched a Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) satellite through the Falcon 9 rocket from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida on its third attempt.
  - The satellite will be used by United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for monitoring Sun activities.
  - It will collect information on solar storms and will monitor changes in solar wind and will provide warnings to the forecasters on hazardous outbursts from earth to help them predict changes that affect satellites, power grids and communication systems.
Feb 12, 2015
1. Brigade of The Guards and the Sikh Regiment were collectively awarded Best Marching Contingents Trophy for Republic Day Parade 2015.
2. 35th National Games mascot Ammu, The Great Hornbill (State bird of Kerala) has been included in Limca Book of Records for its play, featuring the bird in lead role in Kalikkunna Play.
3. National Dalit Movement for Justice (NDMJ) launched web based tool named Atrocity Tracking and Monitoring (ATM) System to monitor atrocities against Dalits and Adivasis & to deliver speedy justice.
4. Kenya's Cabinet Secretary of Foreign Affairs Amina Mohamed visited India to Attend Seventh India-Kenya Bilateral Meeting
5. Himachal Pradesh government launched Crime and Criminal Tracking Network System (CCTNS) project in the state for connecting police stations and other related bodies with state crime records bureau.
Feb 11, 2015
1. Fragile Frontiers: The Secret History of Mumbai Terror Attacks has been written by SK Rath.
2. Noted Journalist Diptosh Majumdar passed away.
3. Indian Navy conducted large Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) exercise in the Lakshadweep Islands.
4. Dr. Ambedkar National Merit Awards were given to 84 Students belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
5. USA closed its Embassy in Yemen due to the ongoing political instability and uncertain security situations in Yemen.
6. Reliance Communications tied-up with social networking site Facebook to offer free internet access to people in India through Facebook's initiative, Internet.org.
  1. Internet.org will provide access to popular websites and services with zero data charge to make it easier for people to access the Internet.
7. ICICI Bank launched India’s first digital Bank on mobile phone named Pockets. This digital e-wallet can be downloaded from Google Playstore. It uses a virtual VISA card that enables transacting on any website or mobile application in India.
8. Government approved enhancing authorised capital of NMDFC (National Minorities Development & Finance Corporation) to 3000 crore rupees from 1500 crore rupees
9. West Bengal Government launched a Micro Business Credit Card to give boost to MSME sector in the state. Throug This facility, entrepreneurs in the state will be able to avail cash credit up to 5 lakh rupees for their business activities.
Feb 10, 2015
1. Rajasthan Government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Adani Enterprises Ltd (AEL) for setting up India’s largest solar park with 10000 MW capacity.
2. Three sub-groups of Chief Ministers constituted within the NITI Aayog -
  1. First Sub-group - Study 66 centrally-sponsored schemes and recommend which schemes should continue, which to discontinue, and which are to be transferred to states.
  2. Second Sub-group - Look after creation of skilled manpower and skill development within states.
  3. Third Sub-group- Taking decisions about institutional mechanisms to be evolved for Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan to make cleanliness a part of life.
3. Telecom regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) stated that Telecom subscriber base in India reached all-time high of 970 million by December 2014. Main highlights of the report -
  1. Number of telephone subscribers in increased to 970.97 million.
  2. Broadband subscribers base increased by 4.28% on monthly basis to 85.7 million.
  3. Teledensity in India increased to 77.58 (Connections per 100 persons)
4. Indian Economist Amartya Sen has been given the Charleston-EFG John Maynard Keynes Prize 2015.
5. Book Kiran Bedi — Kaise Bani Top Cop is written by her sisters, Reeta Peshawaria Menon and Anu Peshawaria
6. Four new fish species discovered in Kerala with names - Puntius nelsoni, Puntius nigronotus, Systomus chryseusand and Systomus rufus.
7. Journalist Vinod Mehta has been conferred with Uttar Pradesh's highest civilian award Yash Bharti.
  1. Yash Bharti Samman is conferred by the Uttar Pradesh Government for excellence in literature, fine arts, folk and classical music and sports.
8. Delhi Assembly Elections 2015 Results -
  1. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) won by winning 67 seats out of 70 seats. 3 Seats won by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
  2. Arvind Kejriwal will be seventh Chief Minister of Delhi.
9. 10 Feb - National Deworming Day. 140 Million Deworming tablets distributed to school children across nation to combat worms that make numerous children sick every year.

Feb 09, 2015

68th British Academy Films Awards (BAFTA) (London)

Best Film : Boyhood
Leading Actress : Julianne Moore for Still Alice
Leading Actor : Eddie Redmayne for The Theory of Everything
Best Director : Richard Linklater for Boyhood
Supporting Actress : Patricia Arquette for Boyhood
Supporting Actor : JK Simmons for Whiplash
Best Animated Film : The Lego Movie
Original Music : Alexandre Desplat for The Grand Budapest Hotel

First World Ocean Science Congress (WOSC) held in Kochi (Kerala) with theme Protect Oceans for Posterity and Blue Economy and aim is to find sustainable means to utilize the resources carefully without causing any damage to the oceans and its marine life.
Patroling Vessel ICGS (Indian Coast Guard Ship) Amogh is inducted into the Indian Coast Guard.
Government will give 6990 crore rupees to nine Public Sector Banks to enhance their capital and meet requirements. This is the first installment of capital infusion of 11200 crore rupees alotted in the Union Budget 2014-15. SBI got most (2970 Crores), BOB Second (1260 Crores) and PNB Third (870 Crores).
Henn-na Hotel in Nagasaki (Japan) will be first completely Robot-staffed Hotel in the World.
Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan was included in the LIMCA book of records for being first Indian woman to represent the same Lok Sabha constituency on the same party ticket for eight times in a row.
Marathi Writer Bhalchandra Nemade has been given then the Jnanpith (Gyanpeeth) Award 2014 for his novel Kosala.
M Ravindran is appointed as Chairman of Indraprastha Gas Limited that looks after distribution of Natural gas mainly across NCR (National Capital region).
Uttarakhand Government launched Himalaya Darshan Campaign to boost tourism in the state of Uttarakhand.

57th Annual Grammy Awards -

These are recording industry’s most prestigious award presented annually by National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) of the United States.
83 Grammy Awards were presented this year.
Main Grammy Awards wnners 2015 -

Category	Album	Artist
Best album	Morning Phase	Beck Hansen
Best record	Stay With Me	Sam Smith
Best song	Stay With Me	James Napier, William Phillips & Sam Smith
Best new artist	-	Sam Smith
Children’s Album	I Am Malala: How One Girl Stood Up For Education And Changed The World (Malala Yousafzai)	Neela Vaswani (India)
Best Pop solo performance	Happy (Live)	Pharrell Williams
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance	Say Something	A Great Big World With Christina Aguilera
Best Rock Performance	Lazaretto	Jack White
Best Metal Performance	The Last In Line	Tenacious D
Best Rock Album	Morning Phase	Beck
Best R&B Performance	Drunk in Love	Beyonce featuring Jay Z
Best Rap Performance	I	Kendrick Lamar

Feb 08, 2015
1. Indian golfer Anirban Lahiri won Malaysian Open by defeating Austria’s Bernd Wiesberger.
2. Tenth Joint Exercise of India - Mongolia armies began in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh.
3. Maharashtra government signed an MoU with Major engineering and construction company L&T, for setting up closed-circuit television (CCTV) based surveillance in Mumbai to guarantee safety to citizens.
4. Indian Railways concluded its first bilateral power procurement agreement between Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) and North Central Railway.
  1. Under the agreement, Railways will buy 50 MW of power from DVC at Auraiya Grid Sub-station facilitated by Railways Energy Management Company Limited, a Joint Venture (JV) of Indian railway and RITES, a PSU of Ministry of Railways.
  2. Indian Railways is the largest consumer of electricity with consumption of 18 Billion Units per year.
Feb 07, 2015
1. United Natons appointed Bulgaria 's Nickolay Mladenov as Special Coordinator for Peace Process in Middle East and Palestine Liberation Organization and Palestinian Authority.
2. Jharkhand Government will provide laptops to all girls student in class 9 - 12 in government Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV).

Feb 06, 2015
1. M O Garg has been appointed as Director General of Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR).
2. Indian sculptor and artist Mrinalini Mukherjee passed away.
3. Madras High Court on directed Tamil Nadu government to ban beauty contests in colleges and educational institutions.
4. Micromax took over Samsung and became India’s biggest and world's third largest smartphone vendor in the world. According to the report, in October-December 2014 (Quarter 4), Micromax handled 22 % market share in smartphones shipments in India compared to 20 % market share of Samsung.
5. The Hurun Report Inc released the Hurun Global Rich List 2015 sponsored by Chinese home builder Star River Property.
  1. 2089 billionaires from 68 countries were listed in the ranking list.
  2. Around 649 billionaires saw their wealth increase and there were 341 new faces in the list.
  3. Bill Gates (85 USD) topped the List followed by Mexican Carlos Slim (83 USD) on second position and Warren Buffett on third Position.
  4. In India, Mukesh Ambani is richest Indian at Rank 41 followed by Dilip Shanghvi (53), Pallonji Mistry & family (60).
  5. Bill Gates remains the world's wealthiest individual increasing his wealth to 85 billion US dollars while Mexican Carlos Slim is second in the list with wealth of 83billion US dollars.
  6. Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg is youngest member of the Top 10 rich list. His wealth increased by 42 %, moving him up to number 7.
  7. New York has highest number of billionaires (91) and Russia's capital city Moscow is second with 73 billionaires.
  8. USA and China have 537 and 430 billionaires respectively.
  9. In China, solar energy tycoon Li Hejun replaced e-commerce giant Alibaba's CEO Jack Ma as the richest chinese with 26 billion USD Worth.
  10. Richest family in world: The Walton family, owner of Wal-Mart, with the wealth of 138 Billion US dollars is the richest family in the world by far.
6. 77th annual convention of presiding officers, speakers and secretaries of legislative assemblies and councils held in Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh).
7. Indian-American Ajaypal Singh Banga has been appointed as Member of Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations (ACTPN), a key administration position in the United States (US).
8. 60th Filmfare Awards announced -
  1. Best Actor (male) : Shahid Kapoor for film Haider directed by Vishal Bhardwaj
  2. Best Actor (female) : Kangana Ranaut for film Queen directed by Vikas Bahl
  3. Best Film: Queen directed by Vikas Bahl
  4. Best Director: Vikas Bahl for film Queen
  5. Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award: Kamini Kaushal
9. President Pranab Mukherjee presented Visitor’s Awards for Central Universities in the categories of Best University, Innovation and Research for 2015-
  1. Best University : University of Hyderabad.
  2. Innovation Award: Prof. Vijay K. Chaudhary and Dr. Amita Gupta of University of Delhi for their invention of TB Confirm, a rapid diagnostic test for Tuberculosis.
  3. Research Award: Cosmology and Astrophysics Research Group, Centre for Theoretical Physics, Jamia Millia Islamia for path breaking research carried out in the field of Astrophysics and Cosmology.
Feb 05, 2015
1. West Bengal’s capital city Kolkata has become India’s first fully WiFi-enabled metro city.
2. Gujarat State Handloom and Handicraft Development Corporation (GSHHDC) will launch its own e-commerce portal under the ‘Garvi-Gurjari’ brand to reach to a bigger customer base and boost sales in overseas markets.
  1. GSHHDC, a Gujarat government undertaking which owns ‘Garvi-Gurjari’ stores across the country, has signed an MoU with global e-commerce giant eBay.
3. Odisha Government has appointed Justice Madan Mohan Das as Chairman of committee for Inquiring of multi-crore chit fund scam in Odisha.
4. Government constituted a committee under former Union Home Secretary Anil Baijal to suggest a framework to assess Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities undertaken by companies.
5. Government approved a development package of 850 crore rupees for Andhra Pradesh for development of backward areas of Rayalaseema and North Coastal region of the State
Feb 04, 2015
1. NASA successfully launched its first Earth satellite Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) to collect global observations of the vital soil moisture.
2. Madhusudhan Prasad is appointed as Secretary in the Union Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD).
3. Britain's House of Commons adopted Bill to amend the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act (HFEA) to allow creation of babies with DNA from three people.
4. 4 Feb - World Cancer Day.
5. Famous Industrialist, Chairman of JK Group Gaur Hari Singhania Passed Away.
6. Ajay Shukla has been appointed as new Member (Traffic) in Railway Board.
7. UN Human Rights Council appointed former US judge Mary McGowan Davis as head of UN inquiry into the 50-day Gaza conflict Between Israel - Hamas in 2014.
8. LC Goyal has been appointed as Union Home Secretary of India.
9. Vijay Kumar won Gold in 25 metre centre fire pistol event in men’s category in shooting competitions of 35th National Games in Kerala.
10. Bihar Government decided to provide free education to the Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST) and girl students till Post Graduation (PG) level in the State.
11. 12 Year Old Saloni Dalal from Karnataka became youngest medal winner in 35th National Games in Kerala .She won a Bronze medal in the 200 meter breast stroke swimming event.
Feb 03, 2015
1. Haryana Government Launched Online Registration Of Land Deals.
2. 13th meet of Foreign Ministers of India, Russia and China was held in Beijing (China). Participants were Sushma Swaraj (India), Wang Yi (China) and Sergey Lavrov (Russia).
3. Supreme Court sought responses from Union Ministry of Human Resources Development and Central Board of Secondary Examination (CBSE) on a plea for making make Moral Science compulsory subject in curriculam of Classes I - XII.
4. Madhya Pradesh won 10th National Award for excellent work in Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 (MGNREGA) during MGNREGA summit in New Delhi.
5. Pakistan successfully test-fired Air Launched Cruise Missile (ALCM) Ra’ad with Strike range 350 KM.
6. Telangana Government announced organizing Godavari Pushkaralu Event on lines of Kumbh Mela.
7. Indian writer Hindol Sengupta’s book Recasting India: How Entrepreneurship is Revolutionizing the World’s Largest Democracy, has been shortlisted for U.S.’ prestigious Hayek Prize 2015.
8. Zakir A. Naik, president of Islamic Research Foundation of India, won the 2015 King Faisal International Prize (KFIP) for Service to Islam.
Feb 02, 2015
1. 02 Feb - World Wetlands Day.
2. Nandita Chatterjee is appointed as new Secretary in Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation.
3. Ashok K Agarwal has been appointed as General Manager of Southern Railway.
4. Japan successfully launched Information Gathering Satellite (IGS) reconnaissance satellite by H-2A rocket. It is meant to support constellation of four IGS satellites, comprising two optical and two radar satellites.
5. Hindi novelist Mithileshwar won the Shrilal Shukla Sahitya IFFCO Literary Award 2014.
6. Arvind Kumar Jain has been appointed as Director General (DG) of Police of Uttar Pradesh (UP).
Feb 01, 2015
1. India test-fired canister-based missile Agni-V with strike range of over 5000 kilometers.
2. Sergio Mattarella is appointed as President of Italy.
3. 18th National Conference on e-Governance held in Gandhinagar (Gujarat). National Awards for e-Governance in 1 Categories were also announced on this occasion.
4. Australian Open 2015 -
  1. Male - Novak Djokovic (Serbia) defeated Andy Murray (England). It was fifth Australian Open title for Novak Djokovic.
  2. Female - Serena Williams (USA) Defeated Maria Sharapova (Russia). This was 19th Grand Slam and sixth Australian Open win for Serena Williams.
  3. Men's Doubles - Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini from Italy.
  4. Women's Doubles - Bethanie Mattek-Sands (United States ) and Lucie Safarova (Czech Republic)
  5. Mixed Doubles - Martina Hingis (Switzerland ) and Leander Paes (India)

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