CURRENT AFFAIRS FEBUARY2015

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Pakistan Successfully Test Fires Cruise Missile Ra’ad
Pakistan on 2 February conducted a successful flight test of the indigenously developed Air Launched Cruise Missile (ALCM) named ‘Ra’ad’. The Ra’ad Missile, with a range of over 350 km, has been developed exclusively for launch from Aerial Platforms.This missile system has enabled Pakistan to achieve a greater strategic standoff capability on land and at sea.

Iran’s Safir Rocket successfully Launches Fajr Satellite into Orbit
Iran has launched its Fajr (Dawn) observation satellite on 2 February, using a Safir-2 rocket, its first launch since 2012 and declared that it has safely entered orbit. The launch marks the 35th anniversary of the Iranian Revolution and comes one day ahead of the country’s Space Technology Day.

US Names Russian Nuclear Power Plants For India and Iran Best Projects of 2014
Iranian nuclear power station Bushehr and the Indian Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant topped the “Nuclear energy” category as the modern technologies they use produce cleaner and more effective sources of energy. The Russian-backed Iranian nuclear power station Bushehr and the Kudankulam Indian nuclear power plant projects were named projects of the year 2014 by the US Power Engineering magazine in the “Nuclear energy” category on 13 February 2015.

India Successfully Test Fired BrahMos Missile From INS Kolkata
India on 14 February successfully test-fired its 290-km range BrahMos supersonic cruise missile from Indian Navy’s latest destroyer INS Kolkata. BrahMos is a missile with a range of 290 kilometers and can carry a conventional warhead of up to 300 kilograms. It has a top speed of Mach 2.8, which is three times faster than the US subsonic Tomahawk cruise missile. This speed makes BrahMos one of the fastest cruise missiles in the world. It can be launched from submarines, ships, aircraft and land. INS Kolkata the country’s largest indigenously built warship was commissioned in Indian Navy on 16 August 2014.

India Successfully Test Fired N-capable Prithvi-II Missile
Prithvi-II surface-to-surface missile was test-fired on 19 February at Chandipur, Odisha. The test-fired was part of a regular training exercise of Strategic Force Command of Defence (SFC) and monitored by Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO). Prithvi-II was developed indigenously which is nuclear-capable and has a strike range of 350 km. It is capable of carrying 500 kg to 1000 kg of warheads.

---

PERSONS IN NEWS

A) APPOINTMENTS

Arvind Kejriwal Sworn In As 8th Delhi Chief Minister
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal sworn in as 8th Chief Minister of Delhi on 14 February at a function in Ramlila Maidan, Delhi. Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung administered the oath of office and secrecy to Kejriwal. In 2015 Delhi Assembly elections, AAP staged a historic victory by sweeping 67 of the 70 seats. This will be Arvind Kejriwal‘s second term as Delhi Chief Minister. Earlier in February 2014, he had resigned after running a 49-day government with the support of Congress.

Nitish Kumar Sworn In As Bihar Chief Minister For 4th time
Senior Janata Dal United leader Nitish Kumar was sworn in as the 24th Chief Minister of Bihar on 22 February. He succeeded Jitan Ram Manjhi, who resigned from his office on 20 February 2015 before the trust vote wherein he was supposed to prove majority in the 243-member Bihar Legislative Assembly. With this, Nitish Kumar took oath as the state’s chief minister for the fourth time. In 2000, for first time he was made CM of Bihar but had resigned within 7 days. In 2005, he was sworn in as the CM of Bihar for second time and in 2010 for third time. In May 2014 he had resigned from the CM post taking the responsibility of his party’s (JDU) dismal performance in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

B)RESIGNS

IPCC Chairman RK Pachauri Resigned
Dr Rajendra K Pachauri has stepped down as Chairperson of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) with effect from 24 February. Pachauri is suspected to be involved in a sexual harassment case with a woman employee of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), the environmental-think tank that he heads as its Director General.

C)DEATHS

Indian Sculptor and Artist Mrinalini Mukherjee Died
Acclaimed sculptor Mrinalini Mukherjee was died on 2 February in New Delhi. She was 65. She was the daughter of acclaimed artists Benode Behari and Leela Mukherjee. She was best known for her sculptures crafted using knotted hemp ropes and cast bronzes. Mrinalini Mukherjee was the first Indian artist whose work was displayed at the Sydney Biennale in 1986. In 1994, her art sculptures were displayed in the Museum of Modern Art, Oxford and later she travelled all over United Kingdom.

D)VISITORS

Singapore President Tony Tan Keng Yam Visited India
Singapore President Tony Tan Keng Yam visited India from 8 – 11 February 2015. During his four day visit, Tony Tan Keng Yam met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi.The two leaders held wide-ranging discussions on enhancing bilateral relations, as well as broadening cooperation in fighting terrorism, among other issues.In their talks, the two leaders deliberated on strengthening of cooperation on regional and international issues to raise the partnership to a higher level.They agreed on sharing of experiences in science and technology, space and other areas to enhance productivity and efficiency as well as broadening cooperation in fighting terrorism.

E)MISCELLANEOUS

Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan Named In LIMCA Book of Records
Indore MP and Loksabha speaker Sumitra Mahajan’s name was included in the LIMCA book of records in the month of February 2015. Her name was included for being the only woman of the country to represent the same Lok Sabha constituency on the same party ticket for eight times in a row. As a leader of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), she represents the Indore constituency of Lok Sabha in Madhya Pradesh. For the first time she was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1989. Since then she has been re-elected to the Lok Sabha in 1991, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2004, 2009 and finally to the 16th Lok Sabha on 18 May 2014.She was unanimously elected as Speaker of 16th Lok Sabha on 6 June 2014.

---

PLACES  IN  NEWS

Four New Fish Species Discovered In Kerala
Four new fish species named Puntius nelsoni, Puntius nigronotus, Systomus chryseus and Systomus rufus have been discovered in Kerala. They were discovered by Mathews Plamoottil, a zoology professor at Baby John Memorial Government College in Kollam.

---

ABBREVIATIONS

1) ICICI – Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India

2) SWIFT – Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication

3) TRAI – Telecom Regulatory Authority of India

4) ILO – International Labour Organization

5) UNDP – United Nations Development Programme

6) OECD – Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development

---

BOOKS IN NEWS

Kiran Bedi Released Comic Book Titled ‘ Kiran Bedi — Kaise Bani Top Cop ‘
Kiran Bedi on 9 February 2015 released a comic book titled Kiran Bedi — Kaise Bani Top Cop at a thanksgiving event organised in her Vidhan Sabha constituency Krishna Nagar, Delhi. The book is penned down by her sisters, Reeta Peshawaria Menon and Anu Peshawaria.The 32-page comic book with Hindi text and illustrations narrates the story of the first woman IPS officer of the country.The comic talks about Bedi’s childhood life in Amritsar, how she met her husband Brij Bedi while playing tennis and how she became the first woman IPS officer on 16 July 1972.

---

COMMITTEES

Usha Thorat Committee For Evaluating Applications Of Small Finance Banks and Payments Banks
The Reserve Bank of India on 3 February 2015 constituted a committee to evaluate applications received for the proposed small finance banks. The committee was headed by Usha Thorat, former Deputy Governor of RBI. The purpose of the small banks will be to provide a whole suite of basic banking products such as deposits and supply of credit, but in a limited area of operation. The objective for these Small Banks is to increase financial inclusion by provision of savings vehicles to under-served and unserved sections of the population, supply of credit to small farmers, micro and small industries, and other unorganised sector entities through high technology-low cost operations.

---

IMPORTANT DAYS AND DATES

International Mother Language Day Celebrated On February 21
The International Mother Language Day 2015 was celebrated all over the world on February 21, 2015. The objective of this day is to promote linguistic and cultural goodwill among diversity. It aims to fosters unity among various nations. As it promotes the preservation and protection of all languages used by people all over the world.The year 2015 is the 15th anniversary of International Mother Language Day. International Mother Language Day was proclaimed by the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in November 1999. The day, February 21, represents the date in 1952 when students from Bangladesh demonstrating for recognition of their language, Bangla, as one of the two national languages of the then Pakistan, were shot and killed by police in Dhaka, the capital of what is now Bangladesh.

World Cancer Day was Observed Across The World
World Cancer Day (WCD) 2015 was observed across the world on 4 February 2015.The tagline for the WCD 2015 was Not beyond Us. The tagline signified that solutions do exist across the continuum of cancer, and that they are within our reach.The WCD 2015 explored how we can implement what we already know in the areas of prevention, early detection, treatment and care so as to impact the global cancer burden for the better.