February 13: The bad news doesnt seemd to end for the Indian banking sector with public sector banks reporting huge losses for the quarter.Bank of Baroda, the country`s second largest bank has become the latest entrant to post a huge Rs.3300 crore loss.It is primarily due to the large provisions for bad loans that have turned NPA for the bank.For other news, here is the latest current affairs update for February 13, 2016
National News:
World Radio Day (WRD) is observed globally on 13th February to remember the unique power of radio that touches lives and bring people together across every corner of the globe.
Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region, DoNER, will be organizing a three-day event ‘Destination North East-2016’ at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi.It will showcase the activities taken up by various Ministries in the region .
The national bird ‘Peacock’ & protected species ‘Wild Bison’ could be termed as as ‘Vermin’ or ‘nuisance animals’ soon by the Goa government.The move is taken as these animals are creating problems for farmers & are destroying their cultivation in rural areas.
The 2nd phase of odd-even number scheme for cars in Delhi will be implemented from 15th of April 2016 which will be in place for 15 days.
International News:
Nepal’s Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli will be in India on a six-day official visit from February 19.It shall be his first foreign visit after assuming office last October.
Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe visited the famous Lord Krishna Temple at Guruvayur in Kerala to offer his worship.
Bangladesh has started conducting a census on Rohingya refugees living in the country’s southeastern districts bordering Myanmar.
India was ranked no.3 among the top five most disaster hit countries in 2015.
New Appointments:
Vilas A.Tonapi was appointed as the Director of Indian Institute of Millets Research (IIMR).
Ashok Chawla has been appointed former Competition Commission Chief as its New Chairman.The decision was taken by the TERI council.
Ramesh Abhishek,a 1982 batch IAS officer from Bihar was appointed as the next Secretary to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) that comes under the Commerce and Industry Ministry.
Awards & Honours:
Karnataka’s Mobile One project won 2016 Best m-Government Service Award at the 4th World Government Summit in Dubai, the UAE.
4 Indian American engineers & 2 Indians were elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) of the USA for their outstanding contributions to engineering research, practice, or education.
Book Released:
A book titled ‘A Kingdom for His Love’ was launched by Amar Chitra Katha in February 2016.The book is co-authored by Vani Mahesh & Shinie Antony.It is based on a Sanskrit play ‘Swapnavasavadattam‘, authored by Bhasa.
Sports News:
West Indies will clash with India in the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup to be held at Mirpur in Bangladesh.
Pakistan umpire Asad Rauf has been banned for 5 years on charges of corruption & misconduct.The decision was taken by the Disciplinary Committee of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) .
Lionel Messi won the La Liga Player of the Month Award for the first time ever in his career.It was won by Brazil`s Neymar earlier.
Obituaries:
Visheshwar Ojha, BJP’s Bihar vice-president & a prominent Bhojpur leader was shot dead at Sonbarsha village in Ara.
Banking & Economy
The Southern Railway (SR) has announced that an individual user can book a maximum of only 6 tickets in a month online through IRCTC from February 15, 2016.Earlier the number was 10.
Employee Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) shall allow online withdrawal of the Provident Fund (PF) from August 2016
SBICAP Trustee Co. Ltd, a subsidiary of investment bank SBI Capital Markets Ltd (SBI Cap), has started the process for selling Kingfisher House, the headquarters of Kingfisher Airlines Ltd, promoted by Vijay Mallya.
RBI has issued new directives to banks on the implementation of Indian Accounting Standards (Ind AS) converged with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).The new accounting method shall start from APril 1, 2018.
Bank of Baroda reported a net loss of 3342 crores for the quarter ended December.It is the highest ever quarterly loss posted by an Indian Bank.The profit for the same period last year was 334 crores.
