February 18: Indian states have grown leaps & bounds after independence.But the North eastern part has remained out of the growth graph.People in this area mostly travel to other states in search of jobs & better living.The 3 days event titled Vibrant North East is a welcome initiative to showcase the opportunities available in NE states.Businesses & entrepreneurs must take efforts to care for people in this region too.Here are the latest current affairs for February 18, 2016
National News:
Environment Information System (ENVIS) portal & a mobile application was launched by the Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri.Prakash Javadekar.
The Jharkhand government & Adani Group signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for investment of 15000 crore rupees in the state to set up a 1600 MW capacity thermal power plant.It was singed during the Jharkhand Investors Summit at Make In India Week in Mumbai.
The Indian Government has launched a website for its 1st Maritime India Summit 2016 that is to be held in April 2016.
West Bengal government has launched a welfare scheme for school-dropouts named as Utkarsh Bangla Scheme
The government has banned the sale of 1 star air-conditioners in the market & also introduced improved guidelines for energy efficiency for frost-free refrigerators.
Anant Geete, Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises has said that the National Automobile Mission 2016 will be extended till 2026.The Mission aims to make India become an international hub for manufacturing & designing automobile & auto components.
The Vibrant North East is a three day event set to start in Guwahati, Assam.The event is being jointly organized by Centre for Agriculture and Rural Development & ASSOCHAM in association with DoNER ministry.
International News:
‘Cobra Gold’ is a joint military exercise hosted by Thailand, along with China and Pakistan.A 12-member team of the Indian Army is also participating.
North Korea is planning to field its KN08 (Hwasong-13) road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that could potentially launch a nuclear strike on the United States.
US & Cuba have signed an agreement to resume commercial air traffic for the first time in 50 years
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Five-hundred-metre Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST) is the world’s largest radio telescope being built by China.The giant telescope shall help to discover alien life in space.
World Health Organization (WHO) is requesting for 56 million dollars to fund a Global Action Plan (GAP) for combating the Zika virus, that is spreading across Latin America.
New Appointments:
IPS officer Alok Kumar Verma will be the next Commissioner of Delhi Police.He will replace B S Bassi, who shall retire on February 29.
Nitin Seth was appointed as Chief People Officer of India’s biggest online marketplace Flipkart.
Jayant Misra, a senior IRS officer has been appointed as Director General of Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI).
Books & Authors:
‘Bharat 2016’ and ‘India 2016’ were released by Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting Arun Jaitley.
These books are intended to give comprehensive information about Indian, its states & functioning of the Government.
Science & Technology:
Although the world’s cheapest smartphone, Freedom 251, has began sales at a price of Rs 251 or below $4 – some industry experts & analysts are skeptical of the produce and are even calling it a gimmick.
The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) shall soon begin flight trails of a radar-destroying missile by April-May 2016.
Researchers at the University of Southampton have successfully created a five-dimensional (5D) digital data disc that can store 360 terabytes of data for nearly 13.8 billion years.They have used a process called Femto second laser writing.
Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is planning to increase its number of missions from the current 6 to 12 in the next 5 years.ISRO’s Scientific Secretary Dr. YVN Krishna Murthy gave this information during a seminar in ‘Make in India Week’.
Obituary:
Akbar Kakkattil, a famous novelist and short story writer in Malayalam passed away at the age of 62.
Awards & Honours:
Bollywood lyricist Sameer Anjaan has entered into the Guinness Book of World Records for writing the highest number of songs for Hindi films.As per the record, he has written 3,524 songs for 650 bollywood movies, as on December 15, 2015.
Professor David Shulman, a renowned Indologist was presented the prestigious Israel Prize for Religious Studies.The award is for his breakthrough research in the literature and culture of southern India.
Sports:
Indian Railways won its 1st ever first ever title at the 36th National Chess Team Championship in Bhubaneswar, Odisha.
The 12th South Asian Games came to an end with India finishing at the top with 308 medals that includes 188 gold, 90 silver & 30 bronze medals.
Banking & Economy:
Reserve Bank of India has said that it will soon undertake ‘incognito visits’ to bank branches to verify the action taken towards customer complaints in banks.
‘IBA Banking Technology Award’ was won by Karnataka Bank Ltd in the category of ‘Best Risk and Fraud Management Initiative – Runner Up’ among all the small banks.
Amazon India announced the launch of ‘Amazon Tatkal’, an initiative that enables small and medium businesses (SMBs) to get online & sell products on Amazon.
Government has cut interest rates on short-term post office deposits by 0.25 per cent, Kisan Vikas Patra & other small saving schemes below 5 years of maturity.
Remember to checkout our previous current affairs articles for further reading.
