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.