15-16 feb 2015 eng
16 feb
Usain Bolt to retire after 2017 World Championships in London
Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt on 14 February 2015 announced that he will retire from athletics after the 2017 World Championships in London.
The 28-year-old six-time Olympic gold medalist also said that he will focus on the 100metres in 2017.
Usain Bolt and his records
Usain Bolt is widely regarded as the fastest person ever. He is the first man to hold both the 100 metres and 200 metres world records since fully automatic time measurements became mandatory in 1977. His records and titles include
• Six Olympic Gold medals: these medals were won at Beijing Olympic 2008 and London Olympics in 2012 in three events and they were 100 metres , 200 metres and 4x100 metres
• Eight World Championships Gold Medals: these medals were won at Berlin 2009 in events 100 metres , 200 metres and 4x100metres , Daegu 2011 in events 200 metres and 4x100 metres and Moscow 2013 in events 100 metres , 200metres and 4x100metres
• One Gold medal at Commonwealth Games: won at Glasgow 2014 in 4x100 metres event
• He also hold the world records of covering 100 metres s in 9.88 seconds and 200 metres in 19.19 seconds
The US Senate appointed Ashton B Carter as Defense Secretary
The US Senate on 12 February 2015 appointed Ashton B Carter as the Defense Secretary. He replaced Chuck Hagel. Chuck Hagel announced his resignation in November 2014.
The senate approved the Bill of his appointment with an overwhelming vote of 93 to 5.
Carter will be the United States’ 25th and Obama's fourth defense secretary in six years after Hagel, Panetta and Robert Gates.
Earlier, he had spent two years as the department's technology and weapons-buying chief, before starting his tenure as the deputy defense secretary from 2011 to 2013.
He also worked as assistant secretary of defense for international security policy during Bill Clinton's administration.
Virat Kohli became first Indian cricketer to score century against Pakistan in World Cup
Virat Kohli on 15 February 2015 became the first Indian cricketer to score a century against Pakistan in the ICC World Cup.
He scored 107-run off 126-balls at the Adelaide Oval, Australia.
India who scored 300 for seven after electing to bat first in the 2015 World Cup opener defeated Pakistan with 76-run.
The highest score by an Indian batsman before this match was Sachin Tendulkar’s 98 in Centurion, South Africa in 2003.
With this century, Kohli also became the quickest batsman to score 22 centuries in ODIs. He had taken just 143 innings to reach the mark. Previous record of quickest 22 centuries was held by Sachin who took 206 innings to score it.
Including Kohli, only five batsmen have hit 22 or more centuries in ODIs and they are Sachin Tendulkar (49 centuries), Ricky Ponting (30 centuries), Sanath Jayasuriya (28 centuries), and Saurav Ganguly (22 centuries).
BIS announced to develop Standards for Solid Waste Management and Potable Drinking Water
Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) on 12 February 2015 announced to develop Standards for Solid Waste Management and Potable Drinking Water.
The move is aimed at promoting the use of available Indian Standards on street food and public supply of potable drinking water. These standards will be made mandatory in phased manner.
The announcement was made by the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution.
Further, the Ministry also announced to amend the BIS Act, 1986. BIS Act is being amended comprehensively for the first ever after it being enacted in the year 1986.
The proposed amendments are:
- Misuse of ISI mark is being made a cognizable offence.
- For the first time, provision is being made to make distributor and retailer liable for conformity to quality standards.
- Product liability and power to recall products and provision of compensation to consumers is also proposed.
These amendments will empower the government to bring more products under mandatory certification.
BIS is also preparing for an aggressive media plan for promotion of its brand. It will facilitate the consumers for not only getting quality products but also save them from cheating and fraud.
35th National Games concluded in Thiruvananthapuram
35th National Games concluded in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala on 14 February 2015. On the final day of the Games on 13 February 2015, hosts Kerala won five Gold medals, five Silver medals and four Bronze medals.
The concluding ceremony of the 35th National Games was held at the greenfield stadium at Kariavattom on the outskirts of Thiruvananthapuram.
Kerala Governor Justice P Sathasivam was the chief guest on the occasion. The concluding ceremony saw a cultural programme titled Rivers of India, with the theme protecting the rivers as highlight.
The top five positions in medal tally
|
Gold |
Silver |
Bronze |
Total |
|
|
Services |
91 |
33 |
35 |
159 |
|
Kerala |
54 |
48 |
60 |
162 |
|
Haryana |
40 |
40 |
27 |
107 |
|
Maharashtra |
30 |
43 |
50 |
123 |
|
Punjab |
27 |
34 |
32 |
93 |
In all the 35th National Games saw disbursal of 1334 medals comprising of 405 Gold, 406 Silver and 523 Bronze medals respectively.
Services by topping the medal tally set the record of topping the National Games for the third consecutive time. It won the Raja Bhalendra Singh Trophy.
The 36th National Games will be hosted by Goa in 2016. The 34th National Games were hosted by Jharkhand in 2011.
About 35th National Games
The 35th National Games were held in Kerala from 31 January 2015 to 14 February 2015. The Games was formally inaugurated by the Union Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu at the Green Field Stadium in Kariavattom on the outskirts of the capital Thiruvananthapuram.
Cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar was the chief guest of the inauguration event.
The National Games saw 33 discipline of sport and was held at 30 venues spread over seven districts of the state. This was the first time that the National Games were held in more than one district.
Mascot: The Great Hornbill, or the Great Indian Hornbill, the State bird of Kerala
Logo: A unique mnemonic that uses a distinctive visual device, a customized typography and a youthful colour palette to captures the renewed spirit of the Games and the true essence of the host State, Kerala
Philosphy: Get Set Play
Goodwill Ambassador: Sachin Tendulkar
Vanaj 2015, the first National Tribal Festival
Vanaj 2015: first National Tribal Festival
Vanaj 2015 is a weeklong National Tribal Festival. It was in news as it was inaugurated by the Union Minister of Tribal Affairs Jual Oram on 13 February 2015 at the the Indira Gandhi National Center for Arts (IGNCA), New Delhi.
The weeklong festival will showcase the culture of the tribal people from across the country and will see several events and activities like screening of documentary films like Lodha – A Sylvan Community and Prakriti Ki Santan – Mising Tribe.
It will also showcase case the rich diversity of Tribal culture, art, painting, music, dance, tribal medicine, tribal food, and a special attraction- tribal cuisine.
The festival that will end on 18 February 2015 will be held at three venues in Delhi and they are the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, Baba Kharak Singh Marg and Central Park in Connaught Place.
Maldivian Foreign Minister Dunya Maumoon visited India
Maldivian Foreign Minister Dunya Maumoon on 15 February 2015 met External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in New Delhi.
Maumoon was in India to boost ties between the two countries.
During the meet, the two leaders reviewed the developmental projects in Maldives and also the possible agenda for visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Maldives.
The two leaders also discussed ways to boost the bilateral ties and maritime cooperation with each other.
The two maritime neighbours also agreed to strengthen the Ocean diplomacy to commemorate the 50 years of bilateral relations. India and Maldives is set to mark 50 years of bilateral relations in November 2015.
Both the Ministers also discussed cooperation in international foras, including the United Nations (UN).
India-Maldives relationship
India and Maldives shares close and friendly relations. They share ethnic, linguistic, cultural, religious and commercial links. India, as a country was among the first nations to recognise Maldives after its independence in 1965. India established its mission at Male in 1972.
Regular contacts at all levels have helped the two countries to strengthen their bilateral relations.
President of Singapore Tony Tan Keng Yam visited India
President of Singapore Dr. Tony Tan Keng Yam was on a State visit of India between 8 and 11 February 2015. He visited India at the invitation of the President Pranab Mukherjee.
His visit highlighted the celebrations on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations between India and Singapore.
During his visit, he was accompanied by a delegation that included the Minister in Prime Minister's Office, Second Minister for Environment and Water Resources and Second Minister for Foreign Affairs Grace Fu, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth and Second Minister for Communications and Information Lawrence Wong, Parliamentarians and senior officials.
During his visit, President Tan was accorded a Ceremonial Welcome at Rashtrapati Bhavan following which he laid a wreath at Raj Ghat. He also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.
Main Highlights of his Visit
• Both the countries agreed to enhance bilateral relations and strengthen cooperation on regional and international issues to raise partnership to a higher level
• Both the countries also agreed to cover new focus areas that will directly feed into development process of the two nations and they were
a) Specific initiatives to develop Smart cities and urban rejuvenation
b) Promote Skill development
c) Measures to Speed up connectivity and coastal and port development
d) Strengthening linkages with the North East of India
e) Projects to Scale up investments in the new development initiatives launched in India
f) To enhancing exchanges with the State of India
• They also agreed to share their experiences in science and technology, space and other areas to enhance productivity and efficiency as well as broadening cooperation in fighting terrorism
Apart from this, President Tan also inaugurated the Singapore Festival in India tomorrow, launched the commemorative book titled Singapore and India: Towards A Shared Future, opened the Peranakan Exhibition at National Museum and hosted a Food Festival themed Flavours Of Singapore.
Infosys announced to acquire automation technology firm Panaya Inc for 1200 crore rupees
Software services exporter Infosys Limited on 16 February 2015 announced to acquire US-based automation technology firm Panaya Inc. for 1200 crore rupees in cash. Panaya was originally founded in 2005 in Israel.
The deal is a part of Infosys Renew and New strategy to enhance the competitiveness and productivity of current service lines by leveraging automation, innovation and artificial intelligence.
The acquisition of Panaya is a key step in renewing and differentiating Infosys' service lines. Panaya's CloudQuality suite will allow Infosys to bring automation to its service lines through software as a service (SaaS) model, help mitigate risk, reduce costs and shorten time to market for clients.
This is the first major acquisition since Vishal Sikka took over as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director (MD) of the company on 12 June 2014 and also the first acquisition since 2012.
In January 2012, Infosys BPO acquired Portland Group, a strategic sourcing and category management services provider based in Australia for 41 million US dollar.
In October2012, Infosys acquired Zurich-headquartered Lodestone Holding for a cash consideration of 219 million US dollar and an additional consideration of up to 112 million US dollar.
Panaya with an employee base of around 50 people has clients like Mercedes Benz, Sony, Unilever in its ranks. It was among the top 100 global tech start-ups in 2009 and the top 10 in Israel. The CEO of Panaya, Inc. is Doron Gerstel.
Dr. Tessy Thomas, Geeta Varadan jointly named for Nayudamma Award 2014
Women scientists Dr. Tessy Thomas and Geeta Varadan on 15 February 2015 were jointly named for Dr. Y Nayudamma Memorial Award 2014. They have been chosen for the award for their outstanding performance in the field of science and technology.
Ramon Magsaysay award recipient Prof. Shanta Sinha will present the award to Dr. Tessy Thomas and Geeta Varadan at a special function to be held at Tenali in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh on 1 March 2015.
This is the first time in the history of the trust that two eminent women scientists are being concurrently honoured. The recipients will deliver the 23rd Dr. Y Nayudamma Memorial Lectures on the themes Make in India-Defence Needs and Initiatives and Remote Sensing Technology for National Needs respectively.
Dr. Tessy Thomas is the Drector, Advanced Systems Laboratory of the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO), Hyderabad and Geeta Varadan is the Project Director (Mission) of Agni V, and Director, Advanced Data Processing Research Institute at ISRO.
World renowned astrophysics scientist and cosmologist Jayant Vishnu Narlikar was conferred with the Nayudamma Award 2013.
Previous winners of Nayudamma Award are Dr. Lalji Singh Dr. Rajendra Pawar, Dr. V Shanta, Dr. VK Saraswat, Dr. T Ramasami, Dr. A Sivathanu Pillai, Dr. Nori Dattatreyudu, Dr. Sam Pitroda, Dr. Kota Harinarayana, Dr. VK Atre, Dr. R Chidambaram, Dr. RA Mashelkar, Prof. JS Bajaj, Dr. K Kasturirangan, Dr. Verghese Kurien, Dr. SZ Qasim and Dr. MS Swaminathan.
About the Nayudamma Award
The award was established in 1986 in memory of distinguished chemical scientist, leather technologist and former Director-General of CSIR Yelavarthy Nayudamma. It is conferred annually on persons who have made important contributions to the development of science and technology in the country.
Election Commission announced to launch Electoral Roll Authentication Mission
Election Commission (EC) on 14 February 2015 announced to launch Electoral Roll Authentication Mission (ERAM) and Purification Drive.
The Chief Election Commissioner H S Brahma announced the move while inaugurating a workshop, organised on the Linking of Aadhaar with Electoral Roll Database and Launching of Electoral Roll Authentication and Purification Drive, at an institute in Hyderabad.
Under the mission, the EC will use the huge database of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to link Aadhaar number of citizens with the electoral database to further authenticate and purify electoral rolls. The mission will be launched from 1 March 2015.
The move is aimed at weeding out bogus voters from the list. The move will be initiated on a mission mode. The poll panel aims to complete the mission by 15 August 2015.
Earlier, the EC launched a National Voter Service Portal where people can feed their Aadhaar number for linking it with the electoral data base.
Muthoot Group tied-up with WWF for its Friends for Life project
Kerala-based business conglomerate Muthoot Group on 14 February 2015 tied-up with World Wide Fund (WWF) for Nature-India for itsFriends for Life project.
This project was launched in Kochi as part of the Muthoot’s Haathi Mera Saathi Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative
The partnership is aimed at strengthening existing efforts of managing human-elephant conflict (HEC) to protect the habitats of Asian elephants in six states as 4 priority landscapes and 1 priority site earmarked by WWF-India.
Priority landscapes include North Bank landscape in Arunachal Pradesh, Kaziranga and Karbi-Anglong in Assam, Terai Arc landscape in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, Western Ghats landscape in Tamil Nadu and Kerala and also some parts of northern West Bengal.
As part of partnership, WWF-India has also joined hands with local communities of these six states to address problems and solutions in terms of reducing elephant and human lives lost.
It will also secure crop and property damage in villages and will build a future where humans and elephants can live in harmony with each other in selected landscapes.
WWF has already set up electric fencing in Nilgiri North division of Tamil Nadu. Anti-Depredation Squads have also been formed in three locations- Doom Dooma, Majuli and Deepor Beel area in Assam to manage HEC.
Nagesh Kukunoor’s film Dhanak won two awards at 65th Berlin International Film Festival
Film Dhanak directed by Nagesh Kukunoor on 14 February 2015 won two awards at the 65th Berlin International Film Festival. The 65th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 5 February 2015 to 15 February 2015.
The awards won by the film are:
• Special Mention for the Best Feature Film by the Children's Jury for Generation Kplus
• The Grand Prix of the Generation Kplus International Jury for the Best Feature-length film for which the film received 7500 euro as prize money
The film has been co-produced by Manish Mundra, Kukunoor and Elahe Hiptoola.
The film featuring Hetal Gada and Krrish Chhabria revolves around an eight-year-old visually challenged boy, whose elder sister promises him that his vision will return before his next birthday. This leads to a journey through Rajasthan.
Apart from this,
• Honorary Golden Bear for lifetime achievement: German film director Wim Wenders won the
• Best First feature Award: 600 Millas directed by Gabriel Ripstein
• Golden Bear for Best Film: The Iranian drama film Taxi directed by Jafar Panahi
• Golden Bear for Best Short Film: Hosanna directed by Na Young-kil
Indian-originscientistProfessorSrikanthJagabathulareceivedCAREERAward
Indian-originscientistProfessorSrikanthJagabathulaon11February2015receivedFacultyEarlyCareerDevelopmentAward(CAREER)givenbytheNationalScienceFoundation(NSF)oftheUnitedStates(US).ProfessorSrikanthJagabathulaisfromtheNewYorkUniversitySternSchoolofBusiness.
Hereceivedtheawardfordevelopingdata-drivenmodellingandlearningtechniquestoimprovetheaccuracyofoperationaldecisionmaking.
Aspartofthisprestigiousaward,hewillreceiveatotalof500000USdollaroverthenextfiveyearstofurtherhisresearchindevelopingdata-drivenmodellingandlearningtechniqueswiththegoalofimprovingtheaccuracyofoperationaldecisionmaking.
Jagabathula'sresearchisexpectedtoleadtoeasy-to-usetechniquesforawiderangeofmanagerialdecisions:therightproductstodesign,therightproductsandpricestooffertocustomers,andtherightquantityofeachproducttocarry.
Hisresearchblendstechniquesfrommachinelearning,statistics,andoperationstodesignanapproachthatstartswithatypeofdata(purchasetransactions,click-streams,marketingstudies,choiceofinsurancepolicies)andendswithanoperationaldecision.
TheFacultyEarlyCareerDevelopment(CAREER)Programmeisahighlycompetitive,Foundation-wideactivitythatofferstheNSF'smostprestigiousawardsinsupportofjuniorfacultywhoexemplifytheroleofteacher-scholarsthroughoutstandingresearch,excellenteducation,andtheintegrationofeducationandresearchwithinthecontextofthemissionoftheirorganisations.
ThirdNationalLokAdalatdisposed56000cases,disbursed265crorerupeesforfinalsettlement
ThethirdNationalLokAdalaton14February2015disposedof56000casesinasingleday.Italsodisbursedof265crorerupeesasclaimstowardsfinalsettlementinbankrecoveryandchequesbouncecases.
ThethirdNationalLokAdalatsoughtthecasesthatwerependingintheSupremeCourt,highcourts,districtscourtsandtaluka-levelcourtsexceptinAssamandUttarPradesh.Severalbanks,financialinstitutionsandothersparticipatedinit.
ItwasorganisedunderthepatronageofChiefJusticeofIndia(CJI)HLDattuandtheleadershipofSupremeCourtJudgeJusticeTSThakur.
ThirdLokAdalatwasorganisedbytheNationalLegalServiceAuthority(NALSA)todisbursecasesrelatedbankrecovery,chequesbouncecases,particularlyunderSection138oftheNegotiableInstrumentsAct,1881.
AboutLokAdalats
•LokAdalats(people’scourts)aremeanttosettledisputethroughconciliationandcompromise.LokAdalatacceptsthecasespendingintheregularcourtsthatcanbesettledbyconciliationandcompromise.
•ThedecisionoftheLokAdalatisbindingonthepartiestothedisputeanditsorderiscapableofexecutionthroughlegalprocess.NoappealliesagainsttheorderoftheLokAdalat.
•ThefirstNationalLokAdalatwasheldinNovember2013andhadsettledarecord71.50lakhcasespendinginvariouscourts.
•ThesecondNationalLokAdalatwasheldinDecember2014andhaddisposedofover1.25crorependingcases.
BalasubramaniamVenkataramaniappointedasMD&CEOofMultiCommodityExchange
BalasubramaniamVenkataramaniwason13February2015appointedasManagingDirector(MD)andChiefExecutiveOfficer(CEO)ofMultiCommodityExchange(MCX)Limited.HesucceededManojVaish.
Priortothisappointment,VenkataramaniwasChiefBusinessOfficerofBombayStockExchange(BSE).
ThepostofMD&CEOofMCXwaslyingvacantsinceMay2014whenthethenMD&CEOManojVaishresigned.Sincethen,JointManagingDirectorofMCXPKSinghalwaslookingaftertheday-to-dayoperationsoftheexchange.
MultiCommodityExchange(MCX)Limited
•TheMCXisIndia’sfirstlistedcommodityfuturesexchangefirmthatfacilitatesonlinetrading,clearanceandsettlementofcommodityfuturestransactions.
•MCXbeganfunctioninginNovember2003andoperateswithintheregulatoryframeworkoftheForwardContractsRegulationAct,1952(FCRA,1952).
•MCXoffersfuturestradinginbullion,ferrousandnon-ferrousmetals,energy,andanumberofagriculturalcommoditiesincludingcardamom,potatoes,palmoilandothers.
ChhattisgarhGovernmentawardedforRenewablePowerDevelopmentintheState
ChhattisgarhGovernmentwason15February2015awardedbyPrimeMinisterNarendraModiforbeingoneofthebest-performingstatesintheRenewableEnergySectorinIndia.
ThePrincipalSecretaryofChhattisgarhEnergyDepartment,AmanSinghwaspresentedwiththeawardduringthefirstRenewableEnergyGlobalInvestorsMeet(RE-Invest)2015thatwasheldinNewDelhi.
Thestatewasconsideredforthisawardonthebasisofcriteriafixedby13thFinanceCommissionheadedbyVijayKelkar.
RenewableenergysectorinChhattisgarh
Currently,thesolarpowerinChhattisgarhispowering600primaryhealthcentre,100communityhealthcentre,350policestations,1800tribalhostels,27collectoratesand1700villagesofthestate.
Inaddition,variousvillagesinChhattisgarhareusing3000solarpowerpumpsfordrinkingwaterand1500forirrigationpurpose.Thestateisalsogenerating45MWoffgridsolarpowerand200MWsolarpowerthroughricehusk.