Current Affairs

 NASA announced that its Opportunity Rover mission is complete after the rover failed to respond despite repeated trials since August 2018. The space agency inferred that a planet-encircling dust storm cut off communications with Opportunity on June 10, 2018, disabling its solar panels from storing power. Since then NASA has beamed over 830 unanswered rescue commands. The robotic rover, which wandered the surface of the red planet for over 15 years, was launched by NASA in July 2003 as a part of its Mars Exploration Rover program. It is survived by NASA’s Curiosity rover, which is now the only active robot on Mars.
Source: The Money Control

  The last session of 16th Lok Sabha came to an end on 13th of February 2019. Giving the details for the tenure of 16th Lok Sabha, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Narendra Singh Tomar informed that there were a total number of 331 sittings for Lok Sabha.205 bills were passed and the productivity was 85%.  For Rajya Sabha, 154 bills were passed and the productivity was 68%. The just-concluded Parliament session provided 10 sittings spread just-concluded of 14 days. The productivity of Lok Sabha was 89% and that of Rajya Sabha was 8%. The Interim Budget for 2019-20 was presented the 1st of this month.
Source- Press Information Bureau (PIB)

 Union Minister of Food Processing Industries Harsimrat Kaur Badal commissioned Godavari Mega Aqua Food Park at Tundurru Village in Bhimavaram Mandal, West Godavari District, Andhra Pradesh through video conferencing. The park is promoted by Godavari Mega Aqua Food Park Pvt. Ltd. It will be the first Mega Aqua Food Park operationalised exclusively for fish and marine products processing in the state of Andhra Pradesh. The Godavari Mega Aqua Food Park Pvt. Ltd has been set up in 57.81 acre of land at a cost of Rs. 122.60 crores.
Source- Press Information Bureau (PIB)

  Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the CREDAI YouthCon -19 in New Delhi’s Talkatora Stadium. The event is organized by the Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Association of India, CREDAI. The theme for this YouthCon is ‘Next Generation’.  The annual conference will bring together the next generation of real estate builders and developers to enlighten their young minds and share their thinking and approach. He will also visit the exhibition organized by CREDAI.
Source- Press Information Bureau (PIB)

 The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given the following set of approvals. The important Cabinet Approvals are given as follows:
The Cabinet has approved- 
  • MoU between India and Morocco for setting up of a Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism.
  • Proposal for leasing out of 1.61 acres of land at Alipur, Delhi, owned by Delhi Milk Scheme to Small Farmers Agribusiness Consortium for setting up of Kisan Mandi.
  • MoU between India and Finland on Cooperation in the field of peaceful uses of outer space
  • Proposal for allotment of land measuring 30 acres to Pasteur Institute of India for the establishment of New Viral Vaccine Manufacturing Unit at Coonoor, Tamil Nadu.
  • Extension of tenure of the National Commission for SafaiKarmacharis beyond 31.3.2019 for three years.
  • Introduction of Registration of Marriage of NRI Bill 2019.
  • Signing of MoU between India and Argentine in tourism.
  • Revision in the list of Scheduled Tribes of Chhattisgarh.
  • Signing of MoU between India and Saudi Arabia on establishing a mechanism for Investment Infrastructure in India.
  • MoU between India and Saudi Arabia on cooperation and Mutual Assistance in Customs matters.
  • Signing of MoU between India and Saudi Arabia in the field of tourism.
  • Partial modification of CCEA’s earlier decision for allowing all eligible Central Public Sector Enterprises and private sector entities to participate in the bidding for the Strategic Disinvestment of Engineering Projects (India) Limited.
  • Continuation of sub-schemes under “Umbrella programme for development of Scheduled Tribes” for the period till March, 2020.
  • Continuation of Credit Linked Capital Subsidy and Technology Up-gradation Scheme (CLCS-TUS) beyond 12th Plan for three years from 2017-18 to 2019-20.
  • Minimum Support Price for Raw Jute for 2019-20 season hiked to Rs.3950/- from Rs.3700/- per quintal by the Cabinet.
  • Source- Press Information Bureau (PIB)

     Indian Army showcased its artillery firepower by using ultralight Howitzers and indigenous Swathi weapon-locating radar at the annual “Exercise Topchi”. The exercise was held at Deolali Camp near Nashik. Aviation and surveillance capabilities were also showcased. There were a showcase of display of rockets, missiles, surveillance, and target acquisition radars, remotely piloted aircraft and hi-tech equipment in addition to gunfire. The precision displayed while delivering the explosives in the target area stunned all those present.
    Source: NDTV

      German scientist Manfred Eigen, who jointly won the 1967 Nobel Prize for Chemistry, passed away aged 91. Eigen had won the prize for working on a method to calculate speeds of extremely fast chemical reactions, effected by disturbing the equilibrium by means of short energy pulses. In 1971, he founded Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Germany.
    Source: Washington Post

      The Sports and Youth Ministry in the meeting of Executive Committee of the National Games 2022 has chosen the Smiling Clouded Leopard to be the Mascot for the National Games 2022. Meghalaya will host the 2022 National Games, which is coinciding with its 50 years of statehood. Clouded Leopard is among the wild cats that live throughout the forests of Garo, Khasi, and Jaintia Hills.
    Source: Business Standard

      President Ram Nath Kovind appointed Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Chairman Sushil Chandra as an Election Commissioner. The post had fallen vacant after the appointment of the then Election Commissioner Sunil Arora as Chief Election Commissioner on superannuation of his predecessor O.P. Rawat in December 2018. Former bureaucrat Ashok Lavasa is the first and senior-most Election Commissioner. A 1980-batch Indian Revenue Service (IRS) official, Mr. Chandra is an IIT graduate. His appointment comes weeks ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
    Source- The Hindu

     Siddhartha Lal, managing director and chief executive officer, Eicher Motors, has been awarded the EY Entrepreneur of the Year for 2018. Lal will now represent India at the EY World Entrepreneur of the Year Award (WEOY) in Monte Carlo from 6 – 8 June 2019.
    The other EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2018 winners are:
  • Lifetime Achievement Award: Azim Premji, Chairman of Wipro.
  • Start-up: Byju Raveendran, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Think & Learn (BYJU’S).
  • Business Transformation: Kishore Biyani, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Future Group.
  • Manufacturing: Nirmal K Minda, Chairman and Managing Director, Minda Industries.
  • Services: Ritesh Agarwal, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Oravel Stays (OYO Hotels and Homes).
  • Financial Services: Sanjay Agarwal, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, AU Small Finance Bank.
  • Consumer Products & Retail: Rajesh Mehra, Promoter and Director, Jaquar Group.
  • Life Sciences & Healthcare: Binish Chudgar, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Intas Pharmaceuticals.
  • Entrepreneurial CEO: Bhaskar Bhat, Managing Director, Titan Company.
  • Energy, Real Estate & Infrastructure: Atul Ruia, Chairman and Managing Director, The Phoenix Mills.
  • Source- The Economic Times


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