Current Affairs February 11, 2014

Current Affairs

February 11, 2014

1. 8th Defence Expo 2014 concluded: 8th Defence Expo was organized at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi from 6 February 2014 to 9 February 2014. The DefExpo was Organised by the Department of Defence Production, Ministry of Defence. The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) was the event manager of the DefExpo 2014.The four-day DefExpo showcased emergence of India as an attractive destination for investment in the Defence Sector and provides a platform for alliances and joint ventures in the Defence Industry. The exhibition was dedicated to global Land, Naval and Internal Security Systems business activity from Suppliers to Manufacturers and Technology providers to Services.

2. South Central Railway launched HYLITES: The South Central Railway (SCR) launched Hyderabad Live Train Enquiry System (HYLITES) on 10 February 2014. It is the first of its kind in India developed by South Central Railway on out-sourcing basis. About HYLITES • HYLITES is a GPS (Global Positioning System) and GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) based smart phone application that operates on android platform.

3. Sikkim became first state to achieve 100 percent sanitation coverage: Sikkim became the first State in India to achieve 100 percent sanitation coverage under the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyaan Scheme on 9 February 2014. Sikkim achieved 100 per cent sanitation in rural and urban households, schools, sanitary complexes and Aanganwadi centres.As per the latest progress report card released by the Union Ministry of Drinking Water & Sanitation, all 610577 inhabitants in Sikkim have latrines with high sanitation and hygiene .

4. 101st Indian Science Congress concluded: The 101st Annual Session of Indian Science Congress (ISC) was held at the University of Jammu, Jammu & Kashmir from 3 February 2014 to 7 February 2014. The event was inaugurated by Dr. Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India. The President of the 101st ISC was Prof. R C Sobti.The theme of the 101st ISC was Innovations in Science and Technology for Inclusive Development. This is pursuance of the policy Science healing and innovative unveiled by Hon’ble Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on 3 January 2013 at Kolkata.

5. Vinod Sawhny appointed CEO of Reliance Communications: Vinod Sawhny was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Reliance Communications (RCom) on 10 February 2014. Vinod Sawhny will succeed Gurdeep Singh. Gurdeep Singh has been given additional responsibility of consumer business comprising DTH and consumer broadband business. Punit Garg will continue as CEO of Indian Enterprise and IDC business. Bill Barney also continues as CEO of Reliance Globalcom comprising Flag Telecom, Vanco and Yipes.

6. R.K.Tiwari appointed new Chairman of CBDT: R.K.Tiwari was appointed as the new chairman of Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on 9 February 2014.The appointment was approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC).Mr. Tiwari is a 1976-batch Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer. He is currently working as the Member of Legislation and Computerisation Department in the CBDT.He will take the charge from 1 March 2014. He will succeed Chairperson Sudha Sharma who is scheduled to retire on 28 February 2014.

7. N Ramachandran elected President of IOA: N Ramachandran was elected President of Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on 9 February 2014. Presently, he is the chief of World Squash Federation. He was elected unopposed for the presidential post. He will remain in the office till 2016. Kho-Kho Federation of India President Rajeev Mehta were also elected unopposed as Secretary General. All India Tennis Association (AITA) chief Anil Khanna were also elected unopposed as Treasurer.

8. Jatinder Bir Singh has been appointed Chairman and Managing Director of Punjab and Sind Bank (PSB) last week. He will succeed D.P.singh. Prior to this, Singh, 1983-batch IAS officer of Assam-Meghalaya cadre, was an Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Water Resources.

9. India completes three years without reporting any case of polio yesterday. It is only the second time in the history that a disease is being eliminated in India through immunisation after small pox in May 1980. This is a great achievement by Indian government. Officially the World Health Organisation (WHO) will certify India as polio-free on February 11 after the last of random samples picked up would be tested.

India won the war against polio through intense Pulse Polio Immunization under the Global Polio Eradication Initiative in 1988 under which over 17 crore children were vaccinated in each round of vaccination with the help of 24 lakh vaccinators.

10. The government has ordered a CBI probe into the death of Arunachal Pradesh youth Nido Tania in Delhi last week. Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said the family want that the investigation should be conducted by CBI and government has decided to do so. He also said he has assured that justice will be given to the family and guilty will be punished. The victim’s father and Congress MLA Nido Pavitra said that he also requested the minister to do the needful to ensure security of people from northeast living different parts of the country.

11. More than a year after being banned from the Olympic movement due to tainted officials, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) revokes ban on Indian Olympic Association (IOA) after conducting fresh election. The IOC lifted the 14-month-old ban on India after the IOA barred charge-framed officials from its fresh election held on Sunday in which N. Ramachandran, was elected as the new President. With this decision, India back in Olympic fold and Indian players will be able to play under Indian flag now and they can walk behind their national flag at the closing ceremony.

12. Cancer awareness programme launched by Yuvraj Singh: Yuvraj Singh, the Indian cricketer cancer foundation named YouWeCan joined its hand with an NGO Navbharat Sewa Samiti on 10 February 2014 to roll out a campaign named Cancer Mukt Purvi Dilli. The aim of joining the hand is to focus on awareness, early detection of the disease and education.Yuvraj Singh during the launch of the programme highlighted the need for an early detection of the dangerous disease to save more lives.

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