Current Affairs Update – 19th February, 2016

Hello and welcome to ExamPundit. Here are the important Current Affairs of 19th February, 2016. These are important for the upcoming Bank and Insurance Exams.

• The government has appointed West
  Bengal finance minister Amit Mitra as the chairman of the goods and services
  (GST) panel, a move that came three months after the previous head, former
  Kerala finance minister K M Mani, resigned in November 2015. The move comes
  just ahead of the Budget session, which starts from Tuesday.
• Confirming the development,
  minister of state for finance Jayant Sinha expressed hope that the Constitution
  amendment Bill on GST would be passed by Parliament in the Budget session.
• With this, the tradition to have
  the finance minister of an opposition-ruled state to be the head of the
  empowered committee of state finance ministers has been maintained.
• The committee is to deliberate on
  the GST exemption thresholds and GST Bill.
• A panel, headed by chief economic
  adviser Arvind Subramanian, had suggested a higher GST exemption threshold of
  Rs 75 lakh annual turnover against Rs 50 lakh recommended by the Centre.
• States are divided on the limits,
  with most including Karnataka seeking a lower exemption limit of Rs 10 lakh
  annual turnover.
• The empowered committee also has
  to discuss the GST law and business processes for payments, refunds and return
  filing.

• City and Industrial Development
  Corporation of Maharashtra (CIDCO) inked 11 MoUs worth Rs 30,000 crore for the
  development of Navi Mumbai Airport Influence Notified Area (NAINA) projects,
  including Khalapur Smart City, during the just concluded Make In India Week.
• Addressing a press conference at
  CIDCO headquarters in Navi Mumbai yesterday, its MD and vice-chairman Sanjay
  Bhatia said 11 MoUs have been signed during the week, which concluded
  yesterday, for the development of NAINA pilot project in Navi Mumbai, which
  also includes integrated township Khalapur Smart City.
• The MoUs were signed in the
  presence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Bhatia said, adding
  the minister on the occasion congratulated Khalapur, Kalote Mokashi and Nadode
  gram panchayats, representing 11 villages, under the project.
• CIDCO also inked an MoU with
  Transparency International India to combat corruption and for effective
  governance.
• Bhatia said CIDCO has taken the
  initiative to work with Transparency International India to maintain transparency
  in governance under which CIDCO employees, suppliers and vendors will be given
  specialised trainings.
• Some of the MoUs signed by the
  corporation were with Paradise Lifespaces LLP (Rs 3,000 crore), Citygold &
  Research Ltd (Rs 2,000 crore), Marathon Group (Rs 4,960 crore), Wadhwa
  Constructions and Infrastructure Pvt Ltd (Rs 10,000 crore).

• Haryana State Industrial & Infrastructure
  Development Corporation (HSIIDC) has signed an MoU with Jaina Mobiles
  Industries for setting up of an Electronics Cluster in Industrial Model
  Township (IMT) Sohna, district Mewat, Haryana.
• Disclosing this here today,
  Captain Abhimanyu, industries minister for Haryana, informed that the MoU has
  been signed by Sudhir Rajpal , IAS, managing director, HSIIDC and Pradeep Jain,
  managing director of M/s Jaina Mobiles Industries.
• This project would generate
  investment of over Rs.1,000 Crore and would also generate employment for up to
  40,000 people.

• State-run equipment maker Bharat
  Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) on 18 February 2016 commissioned a 270 MW
  generation unit at the Goindwal Sahib Thermal Power Project of private producer
  GVK Power & Infra in Punjab.
• Thermal sets of 270 MW rating are
  in-house improvisations of the 210/250 MW sets supplied by the company earlier,
  which currently form the backbone of the Indian power sector and have been
  performing much above the national average as well as international benchmarks.
• All the operational sets of
  210-270 MW class in Punjab have been supplied, erected and commissioned by
  BHEL, i.e., six units of 210 MW at Ropar, 2 units of 210 MW and 2 units of 250
  MW at Bhatinda, besides 270 MW Unit at Goindwal Sahib.

• The Union Ministry of Housing and
  Urban Poverty Alleviation on 18 February 2016 sanctioned construction of around
  eighty two thousand houses for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) in urban
  areas of 163 cities.

1. West Bengal – 27830 houses
2. Telangana – 22817
3. Bihar – 13315
4. Mizoram – 8922
5. Rajasthan – 6052
6. Jharkhand—2337
7. Uttarakhand – 484

• According to the Ministry, the
  construction will involve an investment of over four thousand crore rupees, of
  which, the Union Government will provide an assistance of 1226 crore rupees.
  These 1226 crore rupees will be provided under the Prime Minister’s Awas Yojana
  (Urban).

• Indian Navy and Myanmar Navy on
  16 February 2016 signed Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for India-Myanmar
  Coordinated Patrol (IMCOR) at the Tri-Service Headquarters in Port Blair,
  Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
• With this signing of SOP, Myanmar
  became the third country with which India has signed a formal agreement for
  maritime coordinated patrols.
• The signing of SOP reflects
  growing naval interaction between India and Myanmar. It will facilitate smooth
  conduct of coordinated patrols between two neighbours that share a long
  maritime boundary in the strategically significant Andaman Sea and Bay of
  Bengal.

• With the President’s rule having
  been lifted in Arunachal Pradesh, dissident Congress leader Kalikho Pul is set
  to be sworn in as the state’s new Chief Minister tonight.
• The swearing in ceremony is set
  to take place at the Raj Bhavan at 9 pm tonight in Itanagar.
• The Union cabinet had on
  Wednesday decided to recommend revocation of President’s rule in the state but
  within hours the Supreme Court ordered that status quo be maintained till it
  examined records on the disqualification of the 14 rebel MLAs.
• The revolt by Congress rebels led
  to a political crisis in the state that finally led to imposition of
  President’s Rule on January 26.

• The actress, known for starring
  in hit films like Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, Baazigar, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai
  etc, will serve as a part-time member on the Board till November 2021, sources
  said.
• Among the key matters that would
  be taken up at the meeting is the appointment of the DGs of Doordarshan and All
  India Radio (AIR) which have been functioning under interim heads for close to
  a year.
• Recently, the interim chief of
  Doordarshan, C Lalrosanga, had also put in his papers citing personal reasons.
• Apart from Kajol, the Information
  and Broadcasting Ministry has also appointed Shashi Shekhar Vempati, who heads
  an online media company, to the Board.

• The AP Government has appointed K
  Narasimha Murthy as Advisor (Financial Services) in the rank of Special Chief
  Secretary.
• A chartered accountant and member
  on board of financial institutions, the 58-year-old, Narasimha Murthy has
  already been working as Chairman of Financial Ponzy Schemes and Member of
  Fiscal Management Committee of the State.
• He is associated with the
  development of Cost & Management Information Systems for more than 175
  companies covering more than 50 Industries, a press release stated.

• Information technology (IT) major
  Infosys has appointed Michael Pesch as chief executive officer (CEO) of Infosys
  Consulting Holding AG (formerly Infosys Lodestone), effective April 1.
• He will focus on expanding the
  reach of Infosys consultants and experts in digital transformation and
  design-led innovation, as well as increasing Infosys’ expertise in large-scale
  SAP programmes, the company said in a statement.
• He will also serve as the
  regional head for the DACH (Germany, Austria and Switzerland) countries,
  bringing an integrated approach to IT transformation to every client engagement
  in the region.
• Infosys said Pesch brings with
  him more than two decades of experience in global consulting and management
  roles and till very recently served as CEO of arvato Systems Group.

• The Command Hospital (Eastern
  Command), Kolkata, on 18 February 2016 was awarded with the Best Service
  Hospital. The Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar presented the trophy and
  citation to the hospital’s Commandant Major General TS Ahluwalia in the Armed
  Forces Medical Services (AFMS) in Kolkata.
• The trophy for the Second Best
  Hospital was presented to INHS Asvini, Mumbai, which was received by its
  Commandant Surgeon Rear Admiral AA Pawar.

• Andy Ganteaume, the former West
  Indies and Trinidad & Tobago wicketkeeper-batsman, passed away on 17
  February 2016 in Santa Margarita, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago. He was
  95.
• Ganteaume was West Indies’ oldest
  living Test cricketer, and the world’s second oldest, after South Africa’s
  Lindsay Tuckett.
• He scored 112 in his only Test
  innings, which left him with highest Test batting average in history.

• Polish film director Andrzej
  Zulawski passed away on 17 February 2016 in Warsaw, Poland after a long
  struggle with cancer. He was 75.
• Zulawski was known for an
  idiosyncratic approach to storytelling and blending surrealism, horror and
  psychic excess in the emotionally savage films like That Most Important Thing:
  Love, Possession and My Nights Are More Beautiful Than Your Days. 
• Zulawski went
  to France when his second feature The Devil was banned in Poland. After the
  success of That Most Important Thing: Love in 1975, he returned to Poland where
  he spent two years making On the Silver Globe.

Regards

Team ExamPundit

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