Current Affairs – February 2017
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– Current Affairs – February 2017 ================================================================================== Indian Panorama Film Festival Organised in Port Blair The Five-day, Indian Panorama Film Festival got underway on 15 February, with its inauguration by the Chief Secretary, A & N Administration, Mr. Anindo Majumdar at DBRAIT Auditorium in Port Blair. Smt. Rupa Ray Padmashree Awardee, Mr. Naresh Chander Lal, secretary IP, Dr. A.K. Singla IP & T, Mr. Amit Anand were Present on the occasion. ================================================================================== Cabinet Approvals on February 15, 2017 i. The Union Government chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on February 15, 2017 approved setting up of Food Legumes Research Platform (FLRP) at Amlaha, Sehore in Madhya Pradesh for meeting the emerging food security challenges. ii. The Cabinet approved the signing of Air Services Agreement between India and Rwanda which will enable the airlines of the two countries to operate services in each others’ territory. iii. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs gave its approval to award contract in 31 contract areas under Discovered Small Fields Policy 2016 undertaken last year iv. The Union Cabinet approved the merger of the State Bank of India with its 5 subsidiary banks namely State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur; State Bank of Hyderabad; State Bank of Mysore; State Bank of Patiala and State Bank of Travancore. ================================================================================== Govt appoints 5 new Judges to Supreme Court Five new judges are appointed to the Supreme Court by the President Pranab Mukherjee. Now the total number of judges in the Supreme Court raised to 28 from 23. New judged are Madras HCCJ Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Rajasthan HCCJ Naveen Sinha, Kerala HCCJ Mohan M.Shantanagouder, Chhattisgarh HCCJ Dipak Gupta, Karnataka HCJ S. Abdul Nazeer. Supreme Court consisting of the Chief Justice of India (CJI) and other 30 Judged. ================================================================================== Two Day ‘Momentum Jharkhand’ Global Investor Summit 2017 Concluded in Ranchi i. The two day Global Investors’ Summit (GIS) 2017 was held at Khelgaon in Ranchi, Jharkhand from February 16-17, 2017 with the brand name ‘Momentum Jharkhand’. ii. Aim: To promote industrial activity in Jharkhand and establish the state as one of the prime investment destination of Eastern India. iii. The Summit was inaugurated by the Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley while Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the summit through video-conferencing. iv. A Flying Red Elephant was the mascot for the Jharkhand’s Global Investors Summit (GIS) 2017. v. On the concluding day of the 2017 Global Investors Summit on February 17, 2017, 209 MoUs were signed between nine departments of the Jharkhand government worth Rs 3,03,987 crore with different companies. ================================================================================== Corporation Bank Bags 2017 National MSME Excellence Award Mangalore based public sector lender Corporation Bank was awarded the 2017 National MSME Excellence Award at a function in New Delhi. DV Subramanya Varma, General Manager of Corporation Bank received the award from Union Minister of state for MSME, Haribhai P. Chouday. The award is instituted by the Federation of Industry, Trade and services (FITS). ================================================================================== 2-Day South Asian Speakers’ Summit Begins In Indore i. The two-day South Asian Speakers’ Summit was inaugurated by Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan in Indore, Madhya Pradesh on February 18, 2017 ii. Speakers of six countries includes Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Nepal attended the meeting to deliberate on ways to achieve sustainable development goals. iii. The summit will have a plenary session on ‘Identifying Resources for SDGs Implementation in South Asia: Opportunities for Parliamentary Cooperation’ iv. A working session on ‘Gender Equality As A Critical Factor For Sustainable Development’ will discuss opportunities that the SDGs present to strike a better gender balance and to determine the gender impact of sustainable development policies. v. This will conclude with the adoption of an ‘Indore Declaration‘ at a closing ceremony on February 18, 2017 ================================================================================== BCCI General Manager RP. Shah resigned his post RP Shah one of the three General Managers of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), has resigned from his post citing his age reason. Shah was serving as the General Manager (Commercial). The reason is that I am 61-years old. I had taken the decision back in October. There was no pressure or query from the COA. ================================================================================== Tamil Nadu Chief Minister E Palaniswami Wins Trust Vote In Assembly i. The newly appointed Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Edappadi Palaniswami won the trust vote in the Assembly on February 18, 2017 where 122 MLAs voted for him, while 11 voted for O Panneerselvam. ii .To win, a majority of 68 votes were needed. With this Palaniswami will continue to remain at the position of CM. iii .It was the first such floor test which Tamil Nadu witnessed in about 30 years. iv .Earlier, on February 16, 2017, he was administered the oath of office as the Chief Minister by Governor C Vidyasagar Rao after he submitted a letter on February 14 claiming he was elected as the Leader of the AIADMK Legislature party in a meeting of its MLAs that day. ================================================================================== Who is the head of the 33 member committee formed for the speedy implementation of the Sagarmala Project in Andhra Pradesh? A.Piyush Goyal B.M. Venkaiah Naidu C.N Chandrababu Naidu D.Siddaramaiah Answer & Explanation Answer – C.N Chandrababu Naidu Explanation : A 33 member committee has been constituted under the chairmanship of Andhra Pradesh’s Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu for the speedy implementation of the Sagarmala Project in Andhra Pradesh. Sagarmala project aims to improve the state’s coastline and inland waterways. The committee will be responsible for overseeing the entire project and will bring together all the concerned departments and review their work on a daily basis for timely completion of the project. A nodal officer has also been appointed from every department who would represent the department. ================================================================================== Which Ministry launched the world’s first comprehensive Braille atlas for visually impaired on February 10, 2017 in New Delhi? A.Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports B.Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship C.Ministry of Human Resource Development D.Ministry of Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Answer & Explanation Answer – D. Ministry of Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Explanation : The Union Minister of Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Harsh Vardhan released the world’s first comprehensive Braille atlas for nearly 50 lakh visually challenged people in India on February 10, 2017 in New Delhi. This is for the first time that such atlas has been prepared for physically challenged with such minute details. The Braille Atlas has been prepared by National Atlas and Thematic Mapping Organisation (NATMO) under Department of Science & Technology. ================================================================================== The first smart police station of Andhra Pradesh has been launched in which city on February 6, 2017? A.Visakhapatnam B.Tirupati C.Vijayawada D.Guntur Answer & Explanation Answer – D.Guntur Explanation : Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu inaugurates the State’s first Smart Police Station at Nagarampalem in Guntur city in Amaravati on February 6, 2017. The Smart station has been built within two months at a cost of Rs 91 lakh as a pilot project. The Andhra Police administration has formulated plans to build another 100 Smart Police Stations across the state. ================================================================================== How much amount has been allocated under MNREGA for the year 2017-18 in the Union Budget presented by Finance Minister on February 1, 2017? A.Rs.47,000 crore B.Rs.49,000 crore C.Rs.46,000 crore D.Rs.48,000 crore Answer & Explanation Answer – D.Rs.48,000 crore Explanation : Allocation under MNREGA increased to Rs.48,000 crore in 2017-18 from Rs 38,500 crore in 2016-17. This is highest ever allocation. Women participation in MGNREGA has increased to 55% compared to less than 48% in the past. Total allocation for rural, agriculture and allied sectors for 2017-18 is Rs 1,87,223 crore which is 24 percent more than previous year’s allocation. ================================================================================== Where was the 17th session of the BIMSTEC senior officials’ meeting held on February 7, 2017? A.Colombo B.Dhaka C.New Delhi D.Kathmandu Answer & Explanation Answer – D.Kathmandu Explanation : The 17th session of the senior officials’ meeting of the BIMSTEC was held on February 7, 2017 in Kathmandu. The delegates of the seven member nations attended the meeting to review the progress made by the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC). The session of the BIMSTEC-SOM was chaired by Shanker Das Bairagi, Foreign Secretary