National
• Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda has released the National Framework for Malaria Elimination (NFME) 2016-2030 at New Delhi.
•Mysuru city from Karnataka has been ranked first in terms of cleanliness for second time in row among the 73 surveyed cities in Swachh Sarvekshan 2016.
•The zonal railways are barred from introducing special trains under normal fares to clear festival/ holiday rush.
•India’s first indigenously developed lightest revolver (gun) Nidar weighing merely 250 grams was successfully launched.
•Union Ministry of Railways and Ministry of Enterprise and Innovation of Sweden have inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Technical Cooperation in Rail Sector.
•Union Government has launched has launched Non-Tax Receipt Portal (NTRP) to electronically collect non-tax receipts.
•A 12-member team of the Indian Army is participating in the Cobra Gold multilateral exercises being hosted by Thailand, along with its counterparts from China and Pakistan.
•Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has decided to conduct captive flight trials of an advanced, state-of-the-art Anti-Radiation Missile (ARM) in April-May 2016.
•Indigenously developed Prithvi-II missile was successfully test fired from the Chandipur, off Odisha coast.
•The Union Government has unveiled a National Capital Goods Policy 2016 to give an impetus to the capital goods sector and the Make in India initiative.
•Haryana and South Korean state of Chungcheongbuk have agreed to enter into a sister-statehood relationship for development.
•West Bengal government has launched the Utkarsh Bangla Scheme with an aim of providing vocational training to school dropouts.
•The Union Cabinet has approved the LIGO-India project (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory in India) proposal for research on gravitational waves.
•The Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar has launched Environment Information System (ENVIS) portal and mobile application.
•Union Government has formally launched website for maiden Maritime India Summit 2016 scheduled to be held in April 2016.
•Nationalism by order was the outcome when the Vice-Chancellors of 42 Central universities agreed to fly the national flag on their buildings to counter the rising tide of what they perceived as anti-nationalism sweeping the campuses.
•The Union Cabinet has approved a proposal to notify the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
•The fourth edition of the India-Myanmar Coordinated Patrol (IMCOR) was successfully undertaken from February 13 to 16, 2016.
•Prasar Bharati has signed a MoU with Empressa de Brazil Communicacao (EBC) in connection with several broadcast related activities including exchange of news, programmes and co-production.
•The Make in India week concluded in Mumbai, Mumbai after it was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 13, 2016.
•The Union Cabinet has apprised signing of BRICS Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation in the fields of Science, Technology and innovation (STI).
•The three-day long Vibrant North East event concluded in Guwahati, Assam.
•Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan Government have set up Special Purpose Vehicles (SPV) for the implementation of Smart City Plans. SPVs have been set up for five cities &ndash Jabalpur, Indore and Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh and Jaipur and Udaipur in Rajasthan.
•Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) has launched ‘Swachh Himachal &ndash Padhai bhi, Safai bhi’ campaign in Dharamsala.
•India and Nepal have signed seven agreements for cooperation in various fields.
International
•Canada, United States (US) and Mexico have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Climate Change and Energy Collaboration to tap into energy cooperation among three countries.
•The 7th edition of India, Seychelles joint military exercise LAMITYE 2016 has begun in Victoria, Seychelles.
•The first long distance cargo train connecting Iran and China has arrived in the Iranian capital city Tehran after starting its journey from China.
•Sindh became the first Pakistan province to adopt landmark Hindu Marriage Bill, 2015 in order to allow the minority community to register their marriages.
•The World Health Organization (WHO) said that $56 million were needed to combat the Zika virus until June, including for the fast-tracking of vaccines, diagnostics and research studies into how it spreads.
•Japan has successfully launched ASTRO-H space observation satellite to probe mysterious black holes.
•United States International Trade Commission (USITC) has decided to initiate anti-dumping investigations into a certain category of tyres imported from India and Sri Lanka.
Business and Economy
•Bank of Baroda &ndash the country’s second largest lender &ndash reported a Rs.3,342 crore loss during the Oct-Dec quarter.This is the highest-ever quarter loss posted by an Indian lender.
•Three Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) envisaging total investment of 21,000 crore rupees were signed on the first day of the Make in India Week in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
•Apple will build its first technology development centre outside the US in Hyderabad with an investment of $25 million (Rs 170 crore), likely employing about 4,500 people.
•State-run Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has commissioned a 101 MW (Mega Watt) gas-based Combined Cycle Power Plant (CCPP) at Monarchak (near Agartala) in Tripura.
•The central board of trustees of the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) recommended 8.80 per cent rate of return on retirement savings under its watch for 2015-16.
•E-commerce giant Amazon announced the launch of Amazon Tatkal, an initiative that enables small and medium businesses (SMBs) to go online and sell products on Amazon.
•Union Government has cut interest rates on short-term small saving schemes below five years of maturity by 0.25 per cent including post office deposits and Kisan Vikas Patras.
•India’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) has launched Japan Desk, a single window for inbound Japanese investments in India and vice-versa. This is a first-of-its-kind initiative that seeks to facilitate Japanese corporate looking to invest in India with banking and advisory services.
New Appointments
•Tamar Hahn from Israel has been appointed as the Director of United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
•Facebook India Managing Director Kirthiga Reddy today stepped down from her current role and will relocate to the US.
•The government has appointed 1982 batch Bihar cadre IAS officer Ramesh Abhishek as the next Secretary to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) in the Commerce and Industry Ministry that spearheads the Make In India and Startup India programmes.
•U.K. Sinha will remain Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Chairman till March 1, 2017 with the government extending his term by over a year.
•Dr. Vilas A. Tonapi has been appointed as Director of Indian Institute of Millets Research (IIMR).
•Devaraja Reddy has been elected as President of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI).
•West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra has been appointed as the Chairman of the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers on Goods and Services Tax (GST).
•Faustin Archange Touadera has won the 2016 Presidential election of Central African Republic (CAR) held on 14 February 2016.
•Christine Lagarde (60) from France has been appointed as the Managing Director (MD) of the International Monetary Fund for a second five-year term.
•Kalikho Pul has been sworn-in as the 9th Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh after Governor JP Rajkhowa used his discretionary powers to appoint him.
Sports
•R. Ashwin’s best spell ever (4-1-8-4) sent Sri Lanka crashing to its lowest total in the Twenty20 format and set the course for India to win the third and deciding match by nine wickets and wrap up the series 2-1. Sri Lanka’s previous lowest was 87 against Australia at Bridgetown in the 2010 World Twenty20.
•West Indies for the first time has won the ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup by defeating three time champions India by five wickets played at Mirpur (Bangladesh).
Awards
•Vinita Gupta, Chief Executive Officer, and Nilesh Gupta, Managing Director, Lupin Ltd. have been chosen the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2015.
•Bollywood actress Vidya Balan has been awarded with the ‘Pride of Kerala’ Award by the World Malayalee Council and Kairali TV.
•The 69th British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) held at the Royal Opera House in London.
•President Pranab Mukherjee has conferred the Infosys Prizes to six winners for their outstanding contribution in the research fields in New Delhi for the year 2015.
•‘Nagaland is changing, But⦒ film has won the Golden Beaver Best Film Award in the institutional category at the 6th National Science Film Festival held in Mumbai.
•Indian fashion designer Manish Arora was awarded with the France’s highest civilian honour Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur (Knight of the Legion of Honour).
•Renowned Indologist Professor David Shulman has been selected for the prestigious Israel Prize for his breakthrough studies in fields like philosophy and religion.
Death
•Biraja Prasad, who was posted recently as Ambassador to Tajikistan, passed away.
•Soviet football legend Anatoly Ilyin passed away in Moscow, Russia. He was 84.
•Popular music director and composer Rajamani passed away due to cardiac arrest in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. He was 60.
•Former United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali passed away in Cairo, Egypt. He was 93.
•Renowned Malayalam writer Akbar Kakkattil passed away in Kozhikode, Kerala due to cancer. He was 62.
•Veteran singer Ustad Abdul Rashid Khan passed away in Kolkata, West Bengal following old-age related ailments. He was 107.
•US writer Harper Lee passed away in Monroeville, Alabama, US at the age of 89.
Science and Technology
•A new study has claimed that a natural extract derived from the Neem tree can potentially be used to treat pancreatic cancer without harming normal, healthy cells.
•An international team of scientists, which also included researchers from India, finally detected the most elusive waves stretching and compressing the fabric of space-time.
•Scientists have discovered the first-ever fossil specimens of an “asterid” â a family of flowering plants that gave us everything from the potato to tomatoes, tobacco, petunias and our morning cup of coffee.
•It was one of three balloons that were put up in Sri Lankan airspace for trials to provide high-speed internet service after it was launched from South America.
•Astrophysicists at NASA have found a super-Earth exoplanet dubbed as 55 Cancri e with an atmosphere for the first time.
•Scientists have discovered five new Jupiter-like planets that are similar in characteristics to our solar system’s biggest planet.
•The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully conducted hotbed test of the indigenously developed high-thrust cryogenic engine (CE20) of the GSLV Mark 3 (LVM3) rocket for the upper stage.
Current Affairs 22nd February, 2016 Current Affairs Question and Answers Round Up January. Current Affairs Round up January, 2016.
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