DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: 16 FEB 2018

DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: 16 FEB 2018
(DAILY NEWS INDIA)
SHARED BY: WWW.DAILYGK.IN

1.      INDIA’S BIGGEST GLOBAL PHARMA CONFERENCE BEGINS IN BENGALURU
i. India’s biggest Global Conference on Pharma Industry and Medical Devices began in Bengaluru With the theme, ‘Driving NextGen Pharmaceuticals. Union Minister for Chemicals & Fertilisers Ananth Kumar inaugurated the three-day event.
ii. The event is being organised by the Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers, along with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry.

2.      NITI AAYOG, KPIT TECHNOLOGIES TIE-UP TO PROMOTE INNOVATION IN SCHOOLS
i. KPIT technologies has made a two-year statement of intent with National Institution for Transforming India Aayog to promote innovative skills of students.
ii. This tie up between NITI Aayog and KPIT aims to improve the innovative skills of senior secondary students as part of the Atal Innovation Mission. Through AIM, the Central government would conduct open-ended workshops at Atal Tinkering Laboratories to enable students learn through ‘do-it-yourself’ mode. Through this the students would acquire important skills.
iii. This tie up will help students learn concepts of science, technology, engineering and mathematics through robotics, Internet of Things and 3D printing.
iv. KPIT will also provide two volumes of ‘Chhote scientists’ booklets to nearly 2500 schools to develop curriculum and teaching aids. Training programs for teachers will also be organized for Atal Tinkering Laboratories.

3.      INDIA’S AADHAAR AND UMANG APP WIN AWARD IN DUBAI
i. India’s Umang App was named winner of the Best M-Government Service award in the Accessible Government category while Aadhar won the best emerging technology award at the recently concluded World Government Summit 2018 in Dubai, where India had the status of ‘Guest of Honour’ country.
ii. The Summit acknowledged technology pioneers for providing global solutions to global challenges. The mobile application Umang App provides users a unified platform that combines government departments and services, facilitating transactions for citizens. The award acknowledged Government of India’s efforts to provide convenient services to its citizens.

4.      TRI-SERVICE MARITIME EXERCISE ‘PASCHIM LEHAR’ BEGINS
i. ‘Paschim Lehar’, a tri-service maritime exercise was held off India’s Western Coast from February 12, 2018. Objective behind conducting this exercise was to build interoperability among Indian Navy, Air Force and Army.
ii. Around 40 ships, submarines and fighter aircrafts from the Western Naval Command of the Indian Navy participated in ‘Paschim Lehar’. During the course of this exercise, number of weapons including missiles, guns and torpedo were fired.
iii. Besides, the exercise helped in validating and refining the operational plans of the Western Naval Command.

5.      YES BANK LISTS COUNTRY’S FIRST $600M MTN BOND ON INDIAINX
i. Private sector lender, Yes Bank has announced the listing of the Bank’s debut US $600 million bond issue under its maiden US $1 billion medium-term note bond on country’s first international exchange BSE’s IndiaINX at the International Financial Services Centre at GIFT City in Gandhinagar.
ii. The Yes Bank’s MTN programme— a debt note that matures or has a payback period of 5 years on Global Securities Market became the country’s first capital raising platform for international investors in any currency.

6.      PRESIDENT HOSTS LPG PANCHAYAT AT RASHTRAPATI BHAVAN
i. President Ram Nath Kovind  hosted the LPG Panchayat at Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi. LPG Panchayat was organised by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.
ii. LPG Panchayat serves as a platform for LPG consumers to interact with each other, share experiences and thereby promote mutual learning. Each LPG Panchayat is attended by about 100 LPG customers residing in area near to the venue.
iii. Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas will be conducting at least 1 lakh LPG Panchayats across India before March 31, 2019.

7.      ETHIOPIA'S PRIME MINISTER RESIGNS TO SMOOTH PATH FOR POLITICAL REFORM
i. Ethiopia's PM Hailemariam Desalegn suddenly resigned in what he described as a bid to smooth reforms, following years of violent unrest that threatened the ruling party's hold on Africa's second most populous nation.
ii. The resignation has unprecedented in Ethiopia's history - followed a wave of strikes this week in towns near the capital and demonstrations successfully demanding the release of more opposition leaders.

8.      PRESIDENT KOVIND INAUGURATES INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ‘AGRICON 2018’ IN KANPUR
i. President of India, Ram Nath Kovind, inaugurated the international conference ‘Agricon 2018’ and ‘Agriexpo 2018’ at Chandrashekhar Azad University of Agriculture & Technology, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh.
ii. Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik and Uttar Pradesh Agriculture Minister Surya Pratap Shahi were also present at the inauguration ceremony.
iii. The conference has been organised under the joint auspices of The Society of Agricultural Professionals, Kanpur and Chandra Shekhar Azad University of Agriculture & Technology, Kanpur.
iv. Organisations like National Institute of Agricultural Sciences (referred to as NAAS) and Indian Council of Agricultural Research are partnering in this conference. During this four-day event, discussions will be held on various themes including Sustainable Farming Systems, Conservation and Utilisation of Genetic Resources and Managing Change in Agriculture.

9.      CYRIL RAMAPHOSA SWORN IN AS NEW PRESIDENT OF SOUTH AFRICA
i. Cyril Ramaphosa, head of the ruling African National Congress has been sworn in as South Africa's new President. He was elected as the new president of South Africa by the ruling party politicians after the resignation of Jacob Zuma.
ii. The country's 400-member parliament, dominated by the ruling African National Congress Party, elected Ramaphosa to finish his predecessor's term, which ends with elections in 2019. The ANC has finished first in every national vote since the end of white-minority rule in 1994.

10.  HARUHIKO KURODA REAPPOINTED AS BANK OF JAPAN CHIEF
i. Japan's government has reappointed Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda for another term and chose an advocate of bolder monetary easing as one of his deputies, a sign the central bank will be in no rush to dial back its massive stimulus program.
ii. The government also submitted to parliament its nomination of Masazumi Wakatabe, a professor at Waseda University and an advocate of aggressive monetary easing, as deputy governor.

OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS BASED ON TODAY’S NEWS
Q1.
Q2.
Q3.
Q4.
Q5.
Ans:  1 - C     2 - D     3 - C     4 - A     5 - B