It is February 8, first working day of the week.The day was packed with many events including the most talked news on the decision taken by TRAI to reject differential pricing.Some great advancements were announced in the technological field such as plants that glow like natural light & image of a new galaxy from NASA.Here is the current affairs capsule daily update for February 8, 2016.
National News:
The Union government launched a 24 x 7 Toll free Tourist Infoline in 12 international languages including Hindi and English in New Delhi.The service can be accessed by dialing 1800111363 or on a short code 1363.
Indian Oil Corporation`s Paradip Refinery in Odisha was officially inaugurated by the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi.It has an annual capacity of 15 million tonnes.
India shall host the 1st ever Global Maritime Summit in April 2016.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the permanent campus of National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER) in Jatani near Bhubaneswar, Odisha.
The official web portal of the Indian Revenue Service (IRS) was hacked by a suspected Pakistani hacker team on Saturday.
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) barred telecom companies from implementing differential pricing that involves charging different prices for data traffic.It is seen as a major blow to Facebook & its Free Basics program in India.
International News:
Dmitri Mendeleev, also known as the father of the periodic table was born today February 8, 1834, in Siberia.It is his 182nd birthday.he died at the age of 72.
The UK wind energy industry received a boost with the announcement of the world’s biggest offshore wind farm, to be built off the north-east coast.
China’s foreign exchange reserves have dropped by $99.5 billion in January to $3.23 trillion, the lowest since 2012, according to a statement by People’s Bank of China
Sports News:
New Zealand defeated Australia by 55 runs in the final ODI to win the Chappell -Hadlee Trophy.
India took their overall medals tally to 45 on day 2 of the South Asian Games, winning 26 medals.
Real Madrid defeated Granada 2-1 in a hard-fought encounter at La Liga.
Banking & Economy:
India’s GDP for the quarter October – December is 7.3%, as per the data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.
RBI has revealed that 29 state-owned banks have written off a total of Rs 1.14 lakh crore bad debts between 2013-15, in response to an RTI query.
The Market regulator SEBI has increased its total revenue forecast for the current fiscal by around 9% to Rs.536.75 crore over anticipations of higher-than-expected income from fees and investments.
Indian Railways to introduce high speed coaches that could travel at a speed of 200 Kmph.They are manufactured at the Rail Coach Factory (RCF) in Kapurthala.
Appointments:
Sanjay Vijayakumar, Chairman of Startup Village (Kochi) has been nominated as a member of the International Board of Governors to the United States-India Science & Technology Endowment Forum (USISTEF)
Dr. R K Pachauri has been appointed as the Executive Vice Chairman of TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute) & Dr. Ajay Mathur shall be the new Director General of TERI.
Obituaries:
Nida Fazli, the popular Urdu & Hindi poet passed away in Mumbai following a heart attack. He was 78 years.
Science & Technology:
A US startup has developed glowing plants that provide natural light without electricity.The glowing plant uses DNA from luminous living organisms like fireflies and other bacteria.
Scientists from National University of Singapore (NUS) have successfully converted paper waste into green nontoxic cellulose aerogels, for the first time,
Google’s AlphaGo artificial intelligence (AI) is set to play the Chinese board game ‘Go’ against the world number one Lee Se-dol from South Korea.
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has captured an image in which two or more galaxies are in the process of merging together to form a single new galaxy.
India will launch a programme aimed at eliminating malaria by 2027, ahead of the World Health Organisation (WHO) target of 2030.
