Current Affairs Update - 13th Feb, 2015

• The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has imposed a penalty of Rs. 10 lakh on Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India.
• In an order, the authority said the filled in proposal forms were altered by LIC without necessary authentication from the proposers. The policies were also split and more than one policy was issued under a single proposal.
• They stated - Tampering with the proposal forms without the consent of the policyholders may affect the policyholders’ interest adversely.

• FMCG major ITC has entered into an agreement with Johnson & Johnson to acquire its brands, ’Savlon’ and ‘Shower To Shower’, in India.
• This acquisition will be ITC’s first purchase in the personal care segment.
• Savlon is an antiseptic brand while Shower To Shower is a personal care product brand.
• These agreements are subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory permissions as may be necessary, it added.

• Union Ministry of Home Affairs on 12 February 2015 constituted a three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) for re-investigation of the 1984 anti-Sikh riot cases. The newly-constituted SIT has been empowered to examine fresh evidence in the cases that had even been closed.
• The three-member SIT will be headed by Pramod Asthana, an IPS officer of 1986 batch. Other two members of SIT are retired district and sessions judge Rakesh Kapoor and Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police in Delhi Police Kumar Gyanesh.
• The SIT will submit its report in six months and it will look into all serious criminal cases related to the riots, examine evidence and even re-open cases and file charge sheets in the courts concerned.

• The IMF and the World Bank have agreed to provide massive financial assistance to strife-torn Ukraine — $19.5 billion in all — to bail it out of an economic crisis.
• The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Ukraine had yesterday agreed on a $17.5-million bailout package with the World Bank announcing another $two million financial assistance.
• The World Bank’s statement came after IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde announced having reached an agreement on a $17.5 billion bailout package for Ukraine.

• Experimental aerospace firm SpaceX on 12 February 2015 successfully launched the Falcon 9 rocket from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida on its third attempt.
• The rocket carried an unmanned Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) satellite. This satellite will be used by the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to monitor the Sun.
• The satellite will collect the information on solar storms and will monitor changes in solar wind and provide warnings on hazardous outbursts from earth to warn forecasters. It will also help forecasters to predict changes which affect satellites, power grids and communication systems.

• The US Senate has confirmed Ashton Carter as the next Secretary of Defence after he was elected to the top Pentagon post with an overwhelming 93 to five votes.
• Carter, 60, will be the 25th US Secretary of Defence, replacing Chuck Hagel who quit from the post in November amid reports of differences with President Barack Obama.
• Obama lauded Carter’s election to the top post yesterday even as he hoped that the new secretary will work with the Congress and find a “more responsible” approach to Defence spendings.

• The Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) of Odisha Tarun Kanti Mishra on 12 February 2015 resigned from his position.
• A 1975-batch IAS officer, Mishra is also is associated with several cultural activities besides discharging his duties and responsibilities as an administrative officer. Mishra retired from the government service in August 2010.

• Book titled Editor Unplugged: Media, Magnates, Netas and Me written by Vinod Mehta was in news in the first week of February 2015. The book was published on 15 December 2014 by Penguins India. 
• Vinod Mehta is a veteran journalist and was Editor-in-Chief of Outlook weekly magazine until February 2012.
• The author’s new book takes forward the story of Lucknow Boy, recounting his experiences in the corridors of power in Delhi.

• National men’s team captain Sunil Chhetri was on Friday presented with All India Football Federation’s 2014 Player of the Year award on Friday.
• Chhetri was voted the winner by I-League coaches and this was the fourth time he received the award having earlier won it in 2007, 2011 and 2013. In the process he surpassed the legendary IM Vijayan who won the award thrice.
• National women’s team striker Bala Devi, who scored 47 goals in 2014, including 18 in international matches, was presented with 2014 AIFF Women’s Footballer of the Year.
• Sandesh Jhingan, the 2014 Emerging Player of the Year, also could not be present due to his club commitments with Sporting Clube de Goa in the ongoing edition of the I-League.
• FIFA Referee Santosh Kumar from Kerala, a veteran of over 150 domestic and 20 international matches, was awarded the 2014 AIFF Award for Best Referee.
• The AIFF Award for long time contribution was presented to ONGC.

• Indian-origin scientist Gurpreet Singh was on 27 January 2015 presented with the prestigious National Science Foundation CAREER award. The award includes the prize money of 500000 US dollars.
• He was honoured for his research on Scalable liquid exfoliation processing of ultrathin two-dimensional metal dichalcogenides nanosheets for energy storage devices.

• World Radio Day was observed globally on 13 February 2015 with the theme Youth and Radio.
• The day is a global celebration of radio as a forum for entertainment and information, as a bridge of communication for remote communities and its role in empowering people.
• United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) annually celebrate the World Radio Day by planning activities with broadcasters, organizations and communities around the world.

• The Reporters Without Borders (RWB) on 12 February 2015 released the World Press Freedom Index (WPFI) 2015. In the WPFI 2015, India was placed at 136th position out of 180 nations that were surveyed worldwide in terms of press freedom.
• In the top of the list were three Scandinavian countries: Finland on the 1st position followed by Norway and Denmark. At the other end of the scale, Turkmenistan, North Korea and Eritrea were the worst performers securing the last places in the index.
• The 2015 World Press Freedom Index highlights the worldwide deterioration in freedom of information in 2014.
• In WPFI 2015, India has shown improvement from its rank of 140 in 2014. However, India’s overall score declined from 40.34 to 40.49. In 2014, India stood at 140th position.

• Veteran Telugu novelist Kesava Reddy passed away on 13 February 2015 in Nizamabad district of Telangana following a prolonged illness. He was 68.
• Kesava Reddy was born on 10 March 1946 in Thalapula Palli village of Chittoor District in Andhra Pradesh. He was a doctor by profession and had obtained MBBS degree from Pandichheri medical college.

• Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat, the spiritual leader of Malaysia’s opposition Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) died at his house in Pulau Melaka, Kota Baharu on 12 February 2015. He was 84. He is survived by his wife Sabariah Tuan Ishak and 10 children.
• Aziz Nik, a revered leader in PAS and popularly known as Tok Guru, had served as Kelantan Menteri Besar (Chief Minister) from 1990 to 2013.