DAILY CURRENT
AFFAIRS: 20TH FEB 2017
(Daily News India)
1.
MAHARASHTRA APPROVES RS. 250 CR CLOUD SEEDING PROGRAMME
i. The state government
of Maharashtra has approved a Rs. 250 cr Cloud Seeding Programme to experiment
whether cloud seeding produces sufficient rain.
ii. Under this programme,
the weather scientists will fly airplanes loaded with silver iodide Maharashtra Approves Rs. 250 cr Cloud Seeding
Programme over clouds above Solapur, Maharashtra during the monsoon 2017
beginning with a 3 year initial investigation.
iv. The programme is
coordinated by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology and will deal to
address the frequent drought in Vidarbha.
2.
MIL BANCHE PROGRAMME HELD IN ALL GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS OF MADHYA PRADESH
i. An initiative by the
government of Madhya Pradesh, “Mil Banche MP” programme was held in all the
primary and middle government schools of the Madhya Pradesh to increase
knowledge and the understanding about language among students..
ii. Under this programme,
all the district administrators, public representatives, government officials,
college students, retired officials, media persons, businessmen, doctors,
engineers, sports persons and including common man will teach and interact with
students of all government schools of the state.
iii. CM of Madhya
Pradesh, Shivraj Singh Chouhan also visited the Sanjay Gandhi Middle School in
Bhopal where he had studied during his childhood.
v. The programme has been
launched by the Tribal Development Department and State School Education under
the direction of CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
3.
INDIA BAGS SILVER MEDAL AT THE ASIAN WOMEN’S RUGBY SEVENS TROPHY
i. India won the silver
medal at the Women’s Asian Rugby Sevens Trophy held at Vientiane, Laos.
ii. South Korea won gold
medal by beating India 29-0 in the finals.
iii. Total 7 countries
from across Asia including South Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Nepal, India,
Pakistan and Laos participated in the Asian Rugby Sevens Trophy.
4.
INDIA APPROVES USD 340 MILLION LOAN TO NEPAL FOR DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES
i. India has sanctioned a
soft loan of US dollar 340 million to Nepal for various infrastructure
development programmes.
ii. The approval paper
was handed over by the Indian Ambassador to Nepal Ranjit Rae to Physical
Infrastructure and Transport Minister of Nepal Ramesh Lekhak in the presence of
Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu.
iii. The move is a part
of India’s commitment for strengthening infrastructure in Nepal. The completion
of infrastructural projects will not only strengthen physical connectivity but
also emotional bonding between the people of both the countries.
5.
ORIENTAL BANK OF COMMERCE LAUNCHES MOBILE WALLET ‘BATUAA’
i. The Oriental Bank of
Commerce launched a series of digital offerings for its customers which also
marks the 75th Foundation Day of the bank.
ii. The OBC bank
introduced a new version of mobile banking in the form of mobile app ‘Oriental
Batuaa’ to provide banking services through app.
iii. OBC also launched 2
new RuPay cards, Oriental Premium card and Oriental Prepaid Card.
iv. Oriental Premium card
is a RuPay based Platinum international debit card with airport lounge access.
v. The bank also launched
2 MSME schemes ‘Oriental Sanjeevani’ and ‘Oriental Budget Hotels and
Restaurants’.
vii. The OBC bank aims to
achieve at least 75% of its total transactions through non-branch channels by
March 2018.
6.
RANGANATHAN AND MEHTA APPOINTED NON-OFFICIAL DIRECTOR IN IOB, PNB
i. T C A Ranganathan and
Sunil Mehta were appointed as Non-Official Directors in Indian Overseas Bank
and Punjab National Bank by the Appointments Committee of Cabinet.
ii. Prior to this, T C A
Ranganathan has worked as the CMD of Exim Bank while Mehta is currently
Chairman & MD at SPM Capital Advisors Pvt Ltd.
7.
INDIA VETIVER NETWORK LAUNCHED IN TAMIL NADU
i. India Vetiver
Network has been launched at Tamil Nadu
Agricultural University in Coimbatore .
ii. Its main aim is to
protect the environment using vetiver
iii. INVN is a not-for-profit
scientific network to promote vetiver in India.
iv. Promotion of research
in vetiver — identification of varieties, improved production technologies and
distillation techniques.
8.
INDIA TO HOST NEXT DAVIS CUP TIE IN BANGALORE IN APRIL
i. Bangalore will host
the next Davis Cup Asia-Oceania Zone group-1 tie against Uzbekistan.
ii. As per the All India
Tennis Association the tie clash will be held on the hard courts of Karnataka
State Lawn Tennis Association in Bangalore.
iii. The winner of the tie
will make way to the World Group Play-offs to be held in September, 2017.
9.
FORMER CHIEF JUSTICE OF INDIA ALTAMAS KABIR DIED
i. Former Chief Justice
of India Altamas Kabir passed away in
Kolkata at Apollo Hospital.
ii. He was the 39th Chief
Justice of India who held office from September 29, 2012 to July 18, 2013.
iii. Kabir had also been
part of the bench hearing the case of the two Italian Marines who allegedly
shot dead two Kerala fishermen, taking them to be pirates.
OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS BASED
ON TODAY’S NEWS
Q1.
INDIA LOST TO WHICH COUNTRY TO WIN A SILVER MEDAL AT THE WOMEN’S ASIAN RUGBY
SEVENS TROPHY?
a) Nepal
b) Laos
c) South Korea
d) Pakistan
Q2.
WHAT IS THE TOTAL WORTH OF THE CLOUD SEEDING PROGRAMME LAUNCHED BY THE
MAHARASHTRA GOVERNMENT TO PROVIDE SUFFICIENT RAIN?
a) Rs. 250 crore
b) Rs. 300 crore
c) Rs. 150 crore
d) Rs. 312 crore
Q3.
WHAT WAS THE AIM OF MIL BANCHE MADHYA PRADESH PROGRAMME HELD IN MADHYA PRADESH?
a) Distribute stationery in all government
schools
b) Involve Government school students in tree
plantation
c) Participation of Government Officials to
teach for one day in government school
d) Encourage Women participation in teaching
activities
Q4.
WHAT IS THE NAME OF THE MOBILE APPLICATION LAUNCHED BY ORIENTAL BANK OF COMMERCE?
a) Oriental Wallet
b) Oriental Batuaa
c) Oriental Pocket
d) Oriental Purse
Q5.
WHO HAS BEEN APPOINTED AS THE NON-OFFICIAL DIRECTOR OF INDIAN OVERSEAS BANK BY
THE APPOINTMENTS COMMITTEE OF CABINET?
a) Ramesh S Singh
b) G Subramaia Iyer
c) Nageswaro Rao Y
d) T C A Ranganathan
ANSWERS:
1 - C 2 - A 3
- C 4 - B 5 - D
