Current Affairs Update – 24th February, 2016

Hello and welcome to ExamPundit. Here are the important Current Affairs of 24th February, 2016. These are Important for the upcoming Bank and Insurance exams as well as the last phase of LIC AAO 2016.

Current Affairs at a Glance – 24th February, 2016
  1. Origo Commodities India today said it has tied up with State Bank of India  
    to offer post-harvest credit facility to farmers across the country
    against warehouse receipts.
  2. Budget hotel aggregator OYO Rooms has tied up with the
    Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC)
    to offer
    standardised accommodation and a convenient booking platform to rail travellers,
    the company said in a statement on Wednesday.
  3. The Assam Cabinet on 23 February 2016 approved the detailed project
    report (DPR) for a Mass Rapid Transit
    System (MRTS) for Guwahati
    . The cabinet also gave green signal to setting
    up of the Guwahati Metro Rail Corporation Limited (GMRCL). The 203 kilometres
    Metro corridor will be completed in three phases.
  4. Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT), a method of providing
    feedback to voters using a ballot less voting system, was in news on 23
    February 2016. It came in news, after Assam’s Chief Electoral Officer announced
    that VVPAT will be introduced in 10 constituencies (around 2400 polling booths)
    in upcoming assembly polls. He said that Dispur and Jalukbari assembly constituencies
    in Kamrup Metro district will be included in the VVPT trial.
  5. The fifth edition of exercise IBSAMAR between Brazil, India and South Africa kicked off on 19 February 2016 in Goa. The exercise will
    conclude on 29 February 2016.
  6. Former Chief Justice of India (CJI) Handyala Lakshminarayanaswamy Dattu
    was selected as the next Chairperson of
    National Human Rights Commission (NHRC)
    on 23 February 2016. 65-year-old
    Justice Dattu will have tenure of five years.
  7. Justice Dinesh Maheshwari of Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High
    Court on 24 February 2016 was sworn-in
    as the
    Chief Justice of the
    Meghalaya High Court.
  8. Gujarat-cadre IAS officer Atanu Chakraborty was today appointed as Director General, Directorate
    General of Hydrocarbons (DGH),
    Oil Ministry’s technical advisory arm for
    exploration and production.
  9. Jet Airways Appointed Rahul Taneja as Chief People Officer
  10. India has consolidated its number
    3 position as the biggest producer of billionaires in the world after China and
    the United States
    . India has produced 111 billionaires, 14 more than
    last year’s 97, as compared to China’s 568 billionaires and 535 billionaires
    from the United States. India is third in the list, overtaking Russia and UK.
  11. 18th Mercer annual Quality of Living survey was released on 23
    February 2016. The list compiled by consulting firm Mercer said Vienna, Austria’s grand capital on the
    Danube River offers the highest quality of life of all cities in the world. On
    the other hand, the Iraqi capital Baghdad, once more took its place at the
    bottom of a live ability list. Highest ranked Indian city was Hyderabad –
    rank 139
    .

Finance/Economy –
Origo Commodities ties up with SBI for credit to farmers

  • Origo Commodities India today
    said it has tied up with State Bank of India  
    to offer post-harvest credit facility to farmers across the country
    against warehouse receipts.
  • Origo Commodities, which provides
    post-harvest management solution, currently manages 35 lakh tonnes of
    agricultural produce across 15 states in 500 warehouses.
  • Origo Commodities is an
    implementation agency mandated by NABARD to promote Negotiable Warehouse
    Receipts (NWR) at farmers’ level through Primary Agricultural Cooperative
    Societies (PACs) and co-operative banks.
  • Warehouse receipt financing is an
    essential financial tool for farmers to avail loans by storing crops in
    warehouses.

IRCTC, OYO Rooms tie up for hotel bookings

  • Budget hotel aggregator OYO Rooms
    has tied up with the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) to
    offer standardised accommodation and a convenient booking platform to rail
    travellers, the company said in a statement on Wednesday.
  • Under the tie-up, OYO Rooms will
    power the IRCTC hotel-booking page, offering their inventory and standardised
    amenities to passengers.
  • With this, IRCTC customers will
    have ready access to hotel accommodations under OYO, Abhinav Sinha, COO, OYO
    Rooms said.
  • IRCTC-OYO Rooms will offer nearly
    45,000 hotel rooms in over 170 cities in India. The IRCTC portal witnesses 5 to
    5.5 lakh bookings a day.

India –
Assam Cabinet approved Metro Rail for Guwahati
  • The Assam Cabinet on 23 February
    2016 approved the detailed project report (DPR) for a Mass Rapid Transit System
    (MRTS) for Guwahati. The cabinet also gave green signal to setting up of the
    Guwahati Metro Rail Corporation Limited (GMRCL).
  • State Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi
    will lay the foundation stone for the Metro project in Khanapara area on 29
    February 2016.

Key highlights of Guwahati Metro project

  • The 203 kilometres Metro corridor
    will be completed in three phases.
  • Phase I will cover a length 61.4
    kilometres, and will have four corridors: Dharapur-Narangi (elevated), M.G.
    Road to Khanapara (underground), Jalukbari to Khanapara (elevated) and ISBT to
    Paltanbazar (elevated).
  • There will be 54 stations in the
    first phase.
  • The trains will have a carrying
    capacity of up to 975 passengers each.
  • The estimated projected cost
    including land is 18020 crore rupees.

VVPAT to be introduced in 10 constituencies in Assam assembly polls

  • Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail
    (VVPAT), a method of providing feedback to voters using a ballot less voting
    system, was in news on 23 February 2016.
  • It came in news, after Assam’s
    Chief Electoral Officer announced that VVPAT will be introduced in 10
    constituencies (around 2400 polling booths) in upcoming assembly polls. He said
    that Dispur and Jalukbari assembly constituencies in Kamrup Metro district will
    be included in the VVPT trial.
  • VVPAT is intended as an
    independent verification system for Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) that
    allows voters to verify that their votes are cast as intended and can serve as
    an additional barrier to changing or destroying votes.

Exercise IBSAMAR between India, South Africa, Brazil started in Goa

  • The fifth edition of exercise
    IBSAMAR between Brazil, India and South Africa kicked off on 19 February 2016
    in Goa. The exercise will conclude on 29 February 2016.
  • This is the first time that
    Exercise IBSAMAR is being conducted in Indian waters. All the previous editions
    were being held off South Africa.
  • The primary aim of the exercise
    is to increase interoperability amongst the three navies as well as develop
    common understanding and procedures for maritime security operations.

Election Laws (amendment) Bill introduced in Lok Sabha
  • A Bill to empower the Election
    Commission to undertake a limited delimitation exercise and grant voting rights
    to certain Indian citizens in the Cooch Behar district of West Bengal was
    introduced in Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
  • Union Law Minister D V Sadananda
    Gowda introduced the Election Laws (amendment) Bill 2016.
  • The introduction of this Bill
    assumes significance as it comes months before West Bengal goes in for
    elections in May 2016.
  • The term of the 294-member West Bengal
    Assembly ends on May 29.
  • The Centre is likely to push for
    the passage of this Bill in the next few days to enable the Election Commission
    to carry out the limited delimitation exercise. .
  • Once enacted, the law would pave
    the way for delimitation exercise to be carried out in those areas that became
    part of Cooch Behar district following the exchange of enclaves with
    Bangladesh.

Appointments –
Former CJI HL Dattu selected as Chairperson of National Human Rights
Commission

  • Former Chief Justice of India
    (CJI) Handyala Lakshminarayanaswamy Dattu was selected as the next Chairperson
    of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on 23 February 2016. 65-year-old
    Justice Dattu will have tenure of five years.
  • His name was cleared for the post
    by a committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Other members of the
    committee were Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, Union Home Minister Rajnath
    Singh, leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad and Deputy Chairman
    of Rajya Sabha P J Kurien.
  • The post was lying vacant since
    11 May 2015, when KG Balakrishnan demitted office after five-year term. Justice
    Cyriac Joseph had been functioning as the acting chairperson since then.

Justice Dinesh Maheshwari sworn-in as Chief Justice of Meghalaya HC

  • Justice Dinesh Maheshwari of
    Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court on 24 February 2016 was sworn-in as
    the Chief Justice of the Meghalaya High Court.
  • Maheshwari was administered the
    oath of office by state Governor V. Shanmuganathan.
  • Justice Maheshwari succeeds
    Justice Uma Nath Singh who retired as Chief Justice on 14 January 2016. Since
    then, Justice Sudip Ranjan Singh was serving as the acting Chief Justice of the
    state high court.

Govt appoints 3 information commissioners in CIC
  • The Centre on Wednesday appointed
    three information commissioners in the Central Information Commission (CIC).
  • They are Amitava Bhattacharyya,
    Indian Administrative Service, (Gujarat 1980), retired Chairman, Staff
    Selection Commission, Bimal Julka, IAS (Madhya Pradesh:1979), retired
    Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, and Divya Prakash Sinha,
    Indian Police Service (Manipur-Tripura: 1979), retired Secretary (Security),
    Cabinet Secretariat.

Atanu Chakraborty appointed Director General of Hydrocarbons

  • Gujarat-cadre IAS officer Atanu
    Chakraborty was today appointed as Director General, Directorate General of
    Hydrocarbons (DGH), Oil Ministry’s technical advisory arm for exploration and
    production.
  • 55-year-old Chakraborty has been
    appointed for four-year term in the rank of Additional Secretary as chief of
    DGH, an order issued by Department of Personnel and Training said.
  • A 1985-batch officer, he is at
    present working as Managing Director of Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation
    Ltd, a state-run energy player.

Jet Airways Appoints Rahul Taneja as Chief People Officer

  • Jet Airways today said it has
    appointed Rahul Taneja as Chief People Officer and he would be responsible for
    shaping the group’s operations and performance.
  • Taneja, who previously headed
    Corporate Human Resources at diversified Essar Group, would be part of the
    airline’s Executive Management Committee.
  • In recent times, some companies,
    especially in the e-commerce space, have been roping in executives for the post
    of Chief People Officer.

Lists/Reports –
18th Mercer Quality of Life survey released; Vienna ranked best city
for quality of life, Baghdad worst

  • 18th Mercer annual Quality of
    Living survey was released on 23 February 2016. The survey of 230 cities helps
    companies and organizations determine compensation and hardship allowances for
    international staff.
  • The list compiled by consulting
    firm Mercer said Vienna, Austria’s grand capital on the Danube River offers the
    highest quality of life of all cities in the world. On the other hand, the
    Iraqi capital Baghdad, once more took its place at the bottom of a live ability
    list.

Seven Indian cities were ranked in the list and they are 
  1. Hyderabad – rank 139
  2. Pune – rank 144
  3. Bangalore – rank 145
  4. Chennai – rank150
  5. Mumbai – rank 152
  6. Kolkata – rank 160
  7. New Delhi – rank 161

India ranks 3rd in Rich List by Hurun Report

  • India has consolidated its number
    3 position as the biggest producer of billionaires in the world after China and
    the United States. India has produced 111 billionaires, 14 more than last
    year’s 97, as compared to China’s 568 billionaires and 535 billionaires from
    the United States. India is third in the list, overtaking Russia and UK.
  • The combined wealth India
    billionaires went up by 25% to $308 billion as compared to last year, as per
    the Rich List compiled by Shanghai-based Hurun Report.
  • In a statement, Hurun said
    India’s richest Mukesh Ambani and Cyrus Poonawalla of unlisted Serum Institute
    added $6 billion and $4 billion to their wealth respectively.
  • Beijing is the new “Billionaire
    Capital of the World.”
  • The Chinese capital has overtaken
    the Big Apple as home to the most billionaires 100 to 95 according to Hurun, a
    Shanghai firm that releases yearly rankings and research about the 1 per cent.
  • The study, which comes months
    after reports suggested China now has more billionaires than the United States,
    highlights how China’s elite are continuing to accrue vast wealth despite a
    wobbling stock market and tepid economy.
  • Beijing took the title from New
    York after minting 32 new billionaires last year, while New York gained four.
  • Moscow came in third place, with
    66 billionaires, while Hong Kong and Shanghai came in fourth and fifth with 64
    and 50, respectively.

Awards & Honors –
Sagar Sarhadi to be honoured with Lifetime Achievement Award at IFFP

  • Renowned scriptwriter Sagar
    Sarhadi will be honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the second
    edition of the International Film Festival of Prayag (IFFP). The festival will
    be held in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh from 26 February to 28 February 2016.
  • Sarhadi will be honoured at the
    festival for his contribution to Hindi cinema over the years.

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