Feb 21 – 25, 2016
Events
INDIA
·
Prime Minister,
Mr. Narendra Modi launched the National Rurban Mission from Kurubhat, in
Rajnandgaon district of Chhattisgarh;
described the Rurban Mission as one which would enable cluster based
development – with a “rural soul and urban amenities.” [ Click More for Details]
·
Ministry of Urban
Development has been informed that SPVs for the implementation of Smart City
plans have been set up for Jabalpur, Indore and Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh and
Jaipur and Udaipur in Rajasthan
·
Minister for Food
Processing Industries, Mr. Harsimrat Kaur Badal inaugurated the India Pavilion
at Gulf Food 2016, Dubai
·
Prime Minister,
Mr. Narendra Modi inaugurated the Centenary Celebrations of the Gaudiya Mission
and Math in Kolkata.
·
Hindi is a
regional language and it should not be imposed on others: National
Award-winning filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan
·
Centre appointed
a committee under the head of Union Parlimentary Minister, Mr. Venkaiah Naidu
to intervene in Jat quota issue in the State of Haryana
·
Train hostess in
Indian Railway; to be introduced on the soon-to-be launched Delhi - Agra
Gatimaan Express (India's fastest rain @ 160 km/hr)
·
As a part of the
LIGO - India project announced recently, a research lab is scheduled to be
setup at the new IIT Madras Research Campus at Vandalur, Chennai [LIGO: Laser
Interferometer Gravitation - wave Observatory]
·
Government launched
Swachh Paryatan App (on Feb 22, 2016); can be used at 25 Heritage places across
India (Thanjavur Temple, Shore Temple Mahabalipuram, Konark Temple, Red Fort
etc)
·
India is the
world's largest buyer of weapons: Stockholm International Peace Research
Institute
·
Union Urban
Development Minister, Mr. M. Venkaiah Naidu asked the first batch of 20 cities
selected in the first round of competition to launch respective smart city
projects by 25th of June this year marking the one year of launch of the
Mission by Prime Minister last year
·
Annual Conference
of the State Minorities Commission held in New Delhi on Feb 24, 2016
·
Ministry of
Environment, Forest and Climate Change held the ninth meeting of the National
Steering Committee on Climate Change (NSCCC)
·
Election
Commission of India (ECI) hosted the 4th Executive Board meeting of the
Association of World Election Bodies (A-WEB) in New Delhi; A-WEB is a
comparatively young organisation, launched in October 2013
·
Bihar joins UDAY
scheme; sixth state to sign MoU; UDAY - Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana
·
Union Minister of
Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Ms. Uma Bharti has
called for time bound implementation mechanism for 46 schemes under Pradhan
Mantri Krishi Sichai Yaojna (PMKSY)
·
Union Minister
for Health & Family Welfare, Mr. J.P. Nadda launched the logo for
“Antibiotics: Use with Care” at the inauguration of the International
Conference on Combating Anti-microbial Resistance: Public Health Challenge and
Priority, in New Delhi
·
ECI (Election
Commission of India) hosted an International Seminar on “Leveraging Technology
for Transparent and Credible Elections”; ECI is currently working on an
E-Governance vision 2020 to provide inclusive, integrated single window view of
services to all stakeholders in all phases of the electoral cycle using
multiple channel of delivery
·
Third Asia
Ministerial Conference on Tiger Conservation will be inaugurated by the Prime
Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi on April 12, 2016 in New Delhi; 13 countries in
this group [1st - 2010 @ Hua Hin, Thailand; 2nd - 2012 @ Thimpu, Bhutan]
·
Debate don't
disturb Parliament: President Mr. Pranab Mukherjee
·
Indian Railways
has started a new micro-site for latest Railway Budget update and live budget
watch
·
National Urban
Livelihood Mission (NULM) which is now renamed as “Deen Dayal Antyodaya
Yojana-NULM” has been enlarged to the 4,041 statutory urban local bodies by
government. (Tamil Nadu is having the highest number of towns (681) to be
covered under DAY-NULM)
·
Madhya Pradesh,
Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal are in the forefront of
providing shelters for urban homeless under ‘National Urban Livelihoods Mission
(NULM)’; NULM has been renamed as ‘DeendayalAntyodayaYojana-NULM’
·
India’s first
N-submarine INS Arihant aces deep sea test
·
A committee
headed by Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi has has elected ex - CJI H. L.
Dattu as next Chairman of the NHRC (National Human Rights Commission)
·
At present 106
districts in 10 States have been identified by the Government of India as Left
Wing Extremism (LWE) affected districts in the country
·
Gujarat, Andhra
Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Goa and Sikkim shown good performance in
distribution of Soil Health Card and they are expected to achieve the target by
March, 2016: Union Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Minister, Mr. Radha Mohan
Singh
·
Ministry of urban
development approved the plan for 13 cities in 6 states (Assam, Jammu &
Kashmir, Meghalaya, Tripura, Goa and Pondicherry) under AMRUT (Atal Mission for
Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation) scheme for 2015-16;
·
Agitations cannot
hold the nation to ransom and be a reason to vandalise public property;
organisers will have to pay the cost: Supreme Court
·
Ministry had
constituted a Working Group to explore the feasibility for setting up of
National Skills Universities across the Country: MoS for Skill Development and
Entrepreneurship, Mr. Rajiv Pratap Rudy
·
Unit-2 of
Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant is under commissioning. Various systems and
equipment are being commissioned as per commissioning plan: Union Minister of
State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS
PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr
Jitendra Singh in Lok Sabha
·
ISRO is working
with Ministry of Urban Development for enabling preparation of large scale GIS
database using satellite data for 500 towns under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation
and Urban Transformation (AMRUT): Union Minister of State (Independent Charge)
Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public
Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in Lok
Sabha
·
There are 15
Sentinelese tribal people in Andaman & Nicobar Islands: MoS for Tribal
Affairs, Mr. Mansukhbhai Dhanjibhai Vasava in Rajya Sabha
·
Union Cabinet was
apprised about signing of an arrangement for the establishment of an
Indo-French Joint Committee on Science & Technology Cooperation [India and
France have signed the arrangement for establishment of this apex level Joint
Committee on 25th January 2016 in New Delhi]
·
Union Cabinet has
given its approval for introduction of steps for promotion of payments through
cards and digital means
·
Union Cabinet has
given its approval for establishment of Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) and Self
Employment and Talent Utilisation (SETU) in NITI Aayog with appropriate
manpower
·
Union Cabinet has
given its approval for signing of an Agreement between India and Maldives for
the avoidance of double taxation of income from international air transport.
·
Union Cabinet has
given its approval to the proposal of the Ministry of Shipping for provision
and operationalization of credit of 150 million USD from EXIM Bank for
development of Chabahar Port in Iran.
·
Railway Budget
2016-17 presented by Union Railway Minister, Mr. Suresh Prabhu; becomes 43rd
Minister to present the Railway Budget; no hike in fares; wi-fi at 100 railway
stations; bar coded tickets; clean my coach SMS to be introduced; senior
citizens to get 50% per coach; 3 new dedicated freight corridors (Delhi -
Chennai; Kharagpur - Mumbai and Kharagpur - Vijayawada); 4 new categories of
trains (UDAY, Tejas, Humsafar and Antyodaya); Railway budget strives for the
dignity of the poor, honour of the women, enthusiasm of the youth and
broadening the smile of the middle class: Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi
·
e-Tourist Visa
(e-TV) facility will be extended to 37 more countries from Feb 26, 2016. The
total count of countries under the scheme will become 150. [Government of India
had launched the e-TV facility on November 27, 2014]
·
Set up
parliamentary panel to look into the situation in various central universities:
CPI (M) General Secretary Mr. Sitaram Yechury in Rajya Sabha
·
Government is in
the process of framing a New Education Policy (committee headed by T S R
Subramanian) or which it has carried out nearly a year-long consultations,
which included online, grassroots and national level thematic deliberations on
33 identified themes: Union HRD Minister, Ms. Smriti Irani in Rajya Sabha
BILATERAL ISSUES
·
Seven Agreements
/ MoUs signed between India and Nepal
·
Belgium is keen
to take part in the “Clean Ganga” campaign and in this regard a Belgian mission
with companies specialising in sanitation will shortly meet Indian government
officials
·
Syed Akbaruddin,
the Permanent Representative of India at the U.N, presented India’s position on
the HIPPO (High Level Independent Panel on Peace Operations) report to the UN
·
India is not a
big brother, it is elder brother of Nepal: External Affairs Minister, Ms.
Sushma Swaraj to Nepal Prime Minister, Mr. K. P. Oli
·
“IBSAMAR” is a
joint naval exercise between India, Brazil and South Africa; this will be the
fifth edition of the Harbor Phase of the Exercise to commence from Goa Coast.
This is done in two phases namely Harbor phase and Sea Phase.
·
India to extend
$1 million in immediate assistance to the Island Nation Fiji after devastating
cyclone Winston hits.
·
A delegation of
officials from India will visit Colombo on March 4 to hold talks with Sri
Lankan officials regarding the proposed Economic and Technology Cooperation
Agreement (ETCA)
·
India and UK
Institutions sign agreements for Collaboration in Crop Sciences
·
As part of Space
Cooperation between India and ASEAN, ISRO, at the behest of Government of
India, is working towards the establishment of a Satellite Tracking & Data
Reception Station and Data Processing Facility in Vietnam for ASEAN Member
countries
·
"Exercise
FORCE 18", largest ‘Multinational Field Training Exercise (FTX)’ is being
conducted by the Indian Army from 02-08 March 2016 at Pune. The theme of the
exercise is Humanitarian Mine Action (HMA) and Peacekeeping Operations (PKO).
The maiden multinational exercise ever conducted by ground force on Indian soil
will see participation of 18 ASEAN Plus nations including China, USA, Russia,
Japan, South Korea.
·
Pakistan resumed
the Lahore - Delhi "Dosti" Bus service after the Jat agitation
revoked
STATES SCAN
·
Andhra Pradesh:
Microsoft CEO Mr. Satya Nadella to figure in Andhra Class 8 text book
·
Arunachal
Pradesh: Mr. Kalikho Pul sworn in as Chief Minister; replaced Mr. Nabam Tuki. SC
refuses to intervene in the formation of the new government
·
Assam: VVPAT to
be introduced in 10 constituencies in 2016 assembly polls
·
Assam: Cabinet
approved the detailed project report for a Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) at
Guwahati
·
Haryana:
government to bring a bill for reservation to Jat community under special
backward class category
·
Haryana: first
state in India to have Aquifer mapping (Aquifer mapping will help in estimating
the quantity and quality of groundwater present inside the rock) [ Click More for Details]
·
Himachal Pradesh:
Expressing concern over the situation arising out of outbreak of jaundice in
Shimla, Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Mr. J P Nadda urged the state
government to take all necessary steps to handle the situation while assuring
full support from the Centre in this regard
·
Karnataka:
breaking the long silence on his controversial watch that had the opposition
gunning for him, Chief Minister Mr. Siddaramaiah announced that it was a
"gift" from Dubai based friend; and said he will donate the watch to
the government
·
Kerala: Nannambra
gram panchayat (grabbed international attention because of hundreds of twins
being born) has restricted visitors and media persons to photograph and
videograph the twins
·
Kerala: Kasaragod
district has been declared as the second zero landless district, after Kannur.
·
Madhya Pradesh:
no fee would be charged from Scheduled Castes students in Government colleges
from next academic session
·
Maharashtra: a
Few environment activists under the leadership of Deepak Naik– chairperson of
Maharashtra state Economic development council have formed a committee in
Nashik to revive Godavari.
·
Maharashtra:
Bubnal Gram Panchayat in Shirol Taluka in southern Maharashtra has become the
first all-woman panchayat in the state. All members of the panchayat are women.
·
Mizoram: National
Food Security Act (NFSA) 2013 was officially launched on 24 February 2016; The
Act will become effective in the state from 1 March 2016
·
Odisha:
government launched "Pucca Ghara Yojana" for construction workers in
the state
·
Odisha: Justice
Vineet Saran was appointed as the Chief Justice of Orissa (Odisha) High Court
·
Uttar Pradesh:
political parties eye dalit votes; celebrate Ravidas Jayanti
·
West Bengal:
Government announced to constitute two task forces for tribals, Gorkhas
·
TAMIL NADU
·
Eight dissident
DMDK MLAs resigned from the Tamil Nadu Assembly and left party leader Mr.
Vijaykant stripped of his status as Leader of the Opposition in the House.
·
For the first
time, electricity consumption in the State crossed 14000 MW
·
Chief Minister,
Ms. Jayalalithaa thanked the MLAs for unanimously passing the Bill for 50%
reservation for women in local bodies
·
Chief Electoral
Officer, Mr. Rajesh Lakhoni hold the conference on guide for voters in Braille
format in Chennai; for the first time in Indian elections, Braille enabled
guidelines is used for blind candidates to do their adult franchise
·
Lakhs take a holy
dip on Mahamaham day at Kumbakonam; Kumbakonam Mahamaham referred to as the
"Kumbh Mela of the South"
·
NGT grants
injunction on drawing water from Ossudu Lake; Ossudu Lake forms boundary between
Tamil Nadu and Puducherry; Ossudu Lake also declared as a brid sanctuary
·
6888 solar table
lamps for students; Chief Minister, Ms. Jayalalithaa commenced the distribution
of lamps
·
Department of
forest and Animal Keepers at Arignar Anna Zoological Park has carried out long
day census of birds and came to the conclusion that 31 species of birds in
Vandalur’s Otteri Lake
·
Elections 2016:
Over 62000 persons with disabilities (PwD) have been enrolled as voters across
the State - CEO, Mr. Rajesh Lakhoni
·
S. Nalini, life
convict in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, was granted parrole for 12
hours to pay last rites to her father
·
Red Sanders case:
District Sessions court in Tirupati acquits 347 Tamil Nadu persons; out of 351
people arrested by Andhra Police, 4 have died as under trials in the
sensational case
·
Tamil Nadu in
Railway Budget 2016-17: free wi-fi at 4 railway stations (Chenna Central,
Chennai Egmore, Tiruchi and Salem); boost to suburban network; Walajabad, near
Chennai will be India's first rail auto hub; Chennai - Delhi freight corridor;
13 new Road over Bridges; 84 Rail under Bridges
·
Railway budget
has failed to meet the expectation of the people of Tamil Nadu on the whole:
Chief Minister Ms. Jayalalithaa
AROUND THE WORLD
·
Britain Prime
Minister, Mr. David Cameron begins campaign to keep Britain in EU
·
Cyclone Winston
at Fiji Is
·
USA government
secretly agreed to talks with North Korea aimed at formally ending the unrest
in Koreas
·
US and Russia
enter into a New deal to stop Bloodshed in Syria
·
Pakistan
parliament became the first to run entirely on solar power
·
Mr. David Cameron
led United Kingdom has been granted “Special Status” in the 28 Nation union.
The UK Leader pledged to campaign heart and soul to stay in EU
·
U.S. chocolate
maker Mars said it was recalling candy bars and other items in 55 countries in
Europe and elsewhere after plastic was found in one of its products
·
Nepal: 23 dead as
plane crashes
·
USA: Republican
Presidential aspirant, Mr. Donald Trump wins Nevada; his third straight win
·
China: deploys
fighter jets in South China Sea; deployed jets in Woody Is in the disputed
Paracel Is chain; Woody Is is cliamed by Taiwan and Vietnam
·
China: removed
Chinese episode on love between two teenage gay boys (named as
"Addiction")
·
China confirmed
it would send warships to join a major U.S.-hosted naval drill, even as tension
between the world's two largest economies mounts over the South China Sea. [The
Rim of the Pacific exercise, known as RIMPAC, is billed as the world's largest
international maritime exercise, held every two years in Hawaii in June and
July.]
ECONOMICS / BUSINESS WORLD
·
"Zika"
effect: Tata Motors renames Zica as Tiago
·
Union Finance
Minister, Mr. Arun Jaitley, inaugurated an exhibition on the “Coin and Currency
of India”
·
Government to
disinvest 5% in NTPC
·
"Kalimark",
company turns 100; launched `VIBRO' new brand of paneer ( rose flavoured) soda
·
Private Banks
employees should be considered public servant under Prevention of Corruption
Act: Supreme Court
·
RBI has extended
the currency swap arrangement to SAARC nations till mid November 2017.
·
Google is
shutting down Google Compare [Google compare is a website launched in March
2015 that allows handlers to compare offers for Car insurance, credit Cards and
mortgages currently available in the UK and the US]
·
RBI cancelled
Certificate of Registration of 26 NBFCs
SPORTS CORNER
·
Indonesia men and
China women took the honours in the Happening Hyderabad Badminton Asia team
championship held at Hyderabad
·
Sulochana Trophy
(Volleyball): Uttarakhand won in Men's category and Indian Railways won in
women's category
·
The title of
Sportsperson of the Year has been conferred upon long-distance runner Lalita
Babar for the India Sports Awards 2015.
·
Punjab Warriors
defeated Kalinga Lancers to win 2016 Hockey India League or Coal India Hockey
India; Rupinder Pal Singh of Delhi Waveriders adjudged as player of the
tournament.
·
India bagged 9
medals at the Asian Wrestling Championship held at Bangkok, Thailand; ended at
seventh place
·
Bangladesh
Cricket captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza to be UNDP goodwill ambassador
MISCELLANEOUS
PERSONS
IN NEWS
·
Mr. K. N. Vyas,
distinguished Scientist and Associate Director, Reactor Projects Group of the
Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) took over from Dr. Sekar Basu
· TERMS
·
CSIR scientists
develop technology Ksheer-Scanner to instantaneously detect milk adulteration
·
SUMMITS / EVENTS
·
42nd Khajuraho
Dance Festival begun in Khajuraho,
Chhatrapur District in Madhya Pradesh
OTHERS
·
Malayalam film
"Ottaal" (The Trap) won a prestigious Crystal Bear award at the
Berlin film festival [directed by Jayaraj Rajasekharan, tells the story of a
young boy and his grandfather. It is adapted from Anton Chekhov’s story Vanka]
·
Kanavu Variyam, a
Tamil movie directed by a Chennai based techie Arun Chidambaram has been
selected for the prestigious Remi Award in the US. [This movie also won the
Special Jury award from the National Science Film Festival which was organized
by Government of India]
·
India third in
world in issuing passports after China and USA
·
36-year-old
fortnightly Cinema Express comes to an end
·
The rice Bag of
India Gate’s Classic Basmati Rice weighing 550 kg has recorded as Heaviest Bag
of Rice
·
18th Mercer
Quality of Life survey released; Vienna ranked best city for quality of life,
Baghdad worst; Among Indian Cities Hyderabad ranked best (at 139th) followed by
Pune, Bengaluru, Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata and New Delhi
·
Rabishield –the
first monoclonal antibody drug that is a fast acting anti-rabies vaccine is
launched in India. It is developed by Pune-based Serum Institute of India and
US-based Mass Biologics of the University of Massachusetts Medical School
BOOKS
·
Book "Chirst
Parichay" (written by Ganesh Savarkar , brother of V D Savarkar) re -
launched after 70 years; book says that Jesus Christ was a Tamil Hindu; Christian
outfits seek ban on the book
Feb 16 - 20 Feb 21 – 25 Feb 26 – 29
