Interntional Affairs
Thailand becomes
the first Asian country to eliminate mother to child HIV: WHO
i. The World Health Organization (WHO) has
announced that Thailand has become the first Asian country to eliminate
mother-to-child HIV transmission.
ii. In this regard, Thailand’s Minister of
Health was presented with the certificate of validation during a ceremony,
which took place on the eve of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA)
High-Level Meeting on Ending AIDS in New York.
iii. Previously, Cuba was the only other country
and the first country in the world to eliminate mother-to-child
transmission under the WHO’s criteria back in July 2015.
Names of 4 new Periodic
Table elements announced
i. The International Union of Pure and Applied
Chemistry (IUPAC) has announced the names proposed for the new elements, whose
discovery helped complete the seventh row of the Periodic Table in
December last year.
ii. The names proposed for the elements with
atomic numbers 113, 115, 117 and 118 were Nihonium (Nh), Moscovium (Mc), Tennessine
(Ts) and Oganesson (Og) respectively.
Pakistan tops in 2016
Malware Infection Index
i. Pakistan has topped the list of 19 countries
figuring in the 2016 Malware Infection Index (MII) in the Asia-Pacific
region.
ii. The index for the Asia-Pacific region was
released by technology giant Microsoft in which India was placed at 8th
position.
iii. The index identifies the key malware
threats in the Asia-Pacific region and ranks markets in Asia-Pacific according
to how much they are affected.
National Affairs
India ranked 141 on Global
Peace Index
i. India has been ranked 141 on the 2016 Global
Peace Index, falling behind countries like Burundi, and Serbia on the
163-country list.
ii. India was ranked 143 on last year's list.
Prepared by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), the list names Syria
as the least peaceful country.
iii. Meanwhile, Iceland was named the
world's most peaceful country.
India becomes third largest
oil consumer
i. According to recently released BP Statistical
Review of World Energy India has surpassed Japan to become the world’s
third-largest oil consumer.
ii. With the demand of 4.1 million barrels
a day (BPD), India is the third-largest consumer behind the United States
(19.39 million BPD) and China (11.96 million BPD).
iii. India accounted for 4.5% of world oil
consumption in 2015 and its oil demand galloped 8.1% in 2015. India’s oil
demand growth had surpassed China’s 6.3 per cent expansion.
State
Tamil Nandu Gets New Chief
Secretary
i. Tamil Nadu government has announced P Rama
Mohana Rao as the new Chief Secretary of the state.
ii. Rao will also hold full additional charge of
Vigilance Commissioner and Commissioner for Administrative reforms.
ii. Besides, Incumbent chief secretary K
Gnanadesikan has been posted as chairman and managing director of Tamil Nadu
Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO). While, K N Venkataramanan (a
retired IAS official), has been designated as Principal Secretary to the Chief
Minister.
Awards & Appointments
Putin awards UN chief Ban
Ki-Moon with the order of friendship
i. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a
decree awarding the Order of Friendship to United Nations Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon.
ii. The decoration was awarded to Ban for
special merits in strengthening peace, friendship, cooperation and mutual
understanding between peoples.
iii. The order, set up in 1994, is meant to
reward Russian citizens and foreign nationals for outstanding accomplishments
in strengthening peace and cooperation with Russia, as well as for charity
activities.
Naresh Goyal Re-Elected To
IATA Board Of Governors
i. Jet Airways chairman Naresh Goyal has been
re-elected to IATA's Board of Governors.
ii. This would be the 5th successive tenure for
Goyal at the International Air Transport Association's (IATA) Board of
Governors.
iii. Goyal is the only representative from India
on this board. Goyal will serve a three-year term, lasting until the close of
IATA's 75th AGM in 2019.
G Kalyanakrishnan took over
as New Chief Executive for Nuclear Fuel Complex
i. G Kalyanakrishnan has taken over as New Chief
Executive of Nuclear Fuel Complex (NFC), Hyderabad. Prior to this assignment,
he was the Deputy Chief Executive for Nuclear Fuel Complex.
ii. He has replaced N. Saibaba, who retired on
completion of two years of the extended period of service.
iii. Kalyanakrishnan will also be the Chairman
of the NFC Board. He is a chemical engineer from the Regional Engineering
College, Warangal in 1980. He has joined the 24th batch of 1980-81
Training School of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Mumbai.
Business & Economy
World Bank cuts global
growth forecast to 2.4 %
i. The World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim
has slashed the global growth forecast of 2016 by 0.5 % to 2.4 %.
ii. According to WB group, the world economy
will grow at 2.4% in 2016 and at 2.8% in 2017. The cut in the forecast was due
to advanced economies experiencing mediocre growth, while low commodity
prices, weak global trade, and stilted capital flows also impacted.
iii. However, India will remain one of the
fastest growing major economies, ahead of China, for the next three years, the
report said. But it lowered India’s growth projections marginally by 0.2%
to 7.6% for 2016-17 and 7.7% in 2017-18, citing the drag by exports on economic
activity.
i. Asian Development Bank has approved a USD 100
million (around Rs. 660 crores) loan to strengthen a key irrigation system and
improve water management in the Vennar sub-basin of Cauvery Delta in Tamil
Nadu.
ii. The Cauvery delta, on the east coast of
Tamil Nadu, is known as the ‘rice bowl’ of the state, with over 70 % of the delta
population engaged in farming and fishing, but access to water is
unreliable and flooding common during the monsoon season.
iii. The statement released by ADB noted that
the project will strengthen the embankments of six major irrigation water
channels in Vennar system to make them more resilient to floods and
upgrade water regulators, sluices, and pump stations.
International Monetary Fund
approved 1.5 billion US dollar loan to Sri Lanka
i. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has
approved 1.5 billion US dollar loan to Sri Lanka.
ii. For this IMF has already transferred 168
million US dollars as the first Instalment with immediate effect to support the
country’s economy, which is showing "signs of strain".
iii. The Executive Board of the IMF has accepted
this 36-month extended arrangement under its Extended Fund Facility (EFF) with
Sri Lanka for an amount equivalent to 1.1 billion under special
drawing rights (US$ 1.5 billion). The remaining part of the US $1.5 billion
loans will be available in six installments subject to quarterly reviews.
There will be an additional 650 million US dollars support in other
multilateral and bilateral loans, bringing total support to about 2.2
billion US dollars.
Person in NEWS
Former Kerala Assembly
Speaker T S John passed away
i. Former Kerala Assembly Speaker T S John has
passed away at a hospital at Chertala in Alapuzha.
ii. He was a leader of a faction of the Kerala
Congress (Secular), had also served as a minister from October 19, 1978, to
October 27, 1978, in the A K Antony cabinet.
iii. He was a lawyer by profession and was one
of the founder members of Kerala Congress and was elected to the assembly from
Kalooppara constituency four times. He became a Member of the Assembly for
the first time as a Kerala Congress Member.
Veteran Journalist KK
Katyal passes away
i. Veteran journalist KK Katyal has passed away
after a brief illness in Delhi. He was 88 years old.
ii. Mr. Katyal had worked with various
newspapers including The Statesman, Hindustan Times and The Hindu, where he had
joined just after Emergency and retired on superannuation as Associate
Editor in 2004. He had a stint with United States Information Services as well.
iii. He was originally from Jhang, Pakistan and
was the founder of the India chapter of the South Asia Free Media Association
(SAFMA). He was awarded the G K Reddy Memorial prize in 1994 by the then
Prime Minister P V Narsimha Rao for his insightful columns and analytical
write-ups.
Sports
Sharapova banned for two
years over doping
i. Russian tennis player Maria Sharapova was
banned for two years by the International Tennis Federation.
ii. The ban comes after the Russian tested
positive at the Australian Open 2016 for using the banned substance
meldonium.
iii. The suspension has been backdated to
January 26, 2016, the day Sharapova failed her drugs test.
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