Current Affairs Update – 5th February, 2016

Hello and welcome to ExamPundit. Here are the Important Current Affairs of 5th February, 2016. These are important for the upcoming LIC AAO 2016 Exam.

• The Reserve Bank today said it
  has got recognition for its efforts to improve regulatory reporting and has
  been given the XBRL International Award for Excellence.
• “The XBRL International, the
  global custodian of the eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) standard
  awarded the ‘XBRL International Award for Excellence’ to the Reserve Bank of
  India (RBI),” it said in a statement.
• RBI said the award has been given
  to it in recognition of its efforts in ‘Innovation and Continuous Pursuit of
  Improvement in Regulatory Reporting’.
• The Deputy Governor R Gandhi had
  received the award on January 22, 2016 by XBRL International CEO John Turner.
• Turner appreciated RBI for the
  widespread use of XBRL standard in its data collection system, said the
  release.
• Turner, particularly mentioned
  that the approach taken by the RBI in implementing XBRL is quoted extensively
  in the global forum, it added.
• XBRL has been adopted by around
  60 countries and around 100 regulators around the globe.

• Indian writer Geethu Mohandas won
  Sundance Institute Global Filmmaking Award 2016 on 30 January 2016 for her
  script of yet-to-be shot film Insha Allah. 
  The award was presented at 2016 Sundance Film Festival Awards Ceremony
  held in Park City, Utah.
• Geethu won the award for her
  wonderful narration about an 11 year old boy, Mullakoya who sets off on a
  treacherous journey from the Lakshadweep Islands in the Arabian Sea to Indian
  mainland in search of his missing older brother and tired of living in the
  shadow of the colorful, magical-realist folklore.

• Vice President Hamid Ansari today
  called on Thai Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, on whom India has decided to
  bestow the first world Sanskrit Award.
• Sirindhorn, a 60-year-old scholar
  of Sanskrit who was the Royal Patron of the World Sanskrit Conference held here
  last year, will be travelling to India in this regard, Secretary (East),
  Ministry of External Affairs, Anil Wadhwa said here.
• Before leaving for home, Ansari
  called on Princess Sirindhorn at the Sra Pathum Palace this morning and
  inspected the Chitralada Project inside it.
• Hers will be among the several
  visits by top Thai leaders expected this year including Prime Minister General
  Prayut Chan-o-cha, Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn and Deputy Prime Minister and Defence
  Minister Prawit Wongsuwon.
• Over 600 Sanskrit scholars from
  60 countries participated in the five-day conference last year which was
  inaugurated by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.
• Wadhwa also lauded Thailand for
  successfully hosting the 16th World Sanskrit Conference.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 5
  February 2016 dedicated the Brahmaputra Cracker and Polymer Limited (BCPL) at Lepetkata,
  Assam to the nation.
• The 10000-crore plant is the
  first ever petro-chemical project in the entire North-East and it will make raw
  material for manufacturing plastic.
• The Brahamputra Cracker and
  Polymer Ltd was conceived as part of the Assam peace accord signed during the
  tenure of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and its foundation stone was laid in 2007
  by the then Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh.
• Addressed the Annual Conference
  of Srimanta Sankaradeva Sangha at Sibsagar. Modi was the first Prime Minister
  to attend the annual conference of the Srimanta Sankardev Sangha in its 85
  years history.

• Power equipment maker Bharat
  Heavy Electricals Limited (Bhel) today announced the inauguration of 500 Mw
  Kosti thermal power plant in Sundan, the largest in that country.
• Significantly, this is Bhel’s
  largest oil-fired thermal power plant in the overseas market and also its first
  crude-oil fired thermal power plant in Africa.
• “Bhel built Kosti (UM
  DABAKER) Thermal Power Plant (4×125 Mw), the largest thermal power plant of
  Sudan, was inaugurated by His Excellency Omer Hassan Ahmed El-Basheer,
  President of Sudan,” the company said in a statement.
• Bhel CMD Atul Sobti and senior
  officials of the government of Sudan as well as the Indian Embassy, were present
  on the occasion, it said.

• Reliance Infrastructure Ltd
  (RInfra) on 4 February 2016 announced the signing of Share Purchase Agreement
  (SPA) with Birla Corporation Ltd in relation to 100 percent sale of its
  subsidiary Reliance Cement Company Private Limited (RCCPL).
• While RInfra is an entity of the
  Anil Ambani-headed Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (Reliance ADAG), Birla
  Corp is the flagship Company of the M P Birla Group.
• The deal was valued at 4800 crore
  rupees or 140 US dollars per tonne and the proceeds will utilised by RInfra
  towards debt reduction.
• Under the SPA, the Birla Corp
  will acquire an integrated cement capacity of 5.08 Metric tonnes per annum
  (Mtpa) at Maihar, Madhya Pradesh and Kundanganj, Uttar Pradesh and a grinding
  unit of 0.5 Mtpa at Butibori, Maharashtra.

• Vice-President Hamid Ansari on 5
  February 2016 concluded his two-nation tour to Thailand and Brunei.
• During the 5-day visit that
  started on 1 February 2016, the Vice President held talks with the head of
  governments, political leaders and Indian diaspora to enhance bilateral
  relations.
• He visited the country for three
  days starting from 1 February 2016 on the invitation of Crown Prince Haji Al-Muhtadee
  Billah.
• With this tour, Hamid Ansari
  became the first Vice President to visit Brunei since the establishment of
  diplomatic relations.
• He met the Sultan of Brunei Haji
  Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah.

• India through the Department of
  Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology signed a Cooperation
  Agreement to acquire the status of the Associate Member State European
  Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO). 
• The agreement will strengthen
  scientific interaction and collaborative research between India and Europe in
  this field.
• After the signing of an agreement
  with Singapore by Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC) in July
  2015, India became second such country outside the European region.
• The official kick-off launch
  ceremony of the agreement was held on 4 February 2016 in New Delhi.
•  Researchers working in India are now eligible
  to participate in all EMBO programmes and activities.
•  Indian scientists can apply to EMBO’s
  programmes, such as long-term fellowships for postdoctoral researchers,
  short-term fellowships, courses and workshops, as well as the EMBO Young
  Investigator Programme.
•  At the same time, Europe will benefit from
  networking with the top-level scientists in India’s research community.

• India on 4 February 2016
  submitted its Instrument of Ratification of the Convention of Supplementary
  Compensation for Nuclear Damage (CSC), 1997 to International Atomic Energy Agency
  (IAEA) at Vienna, Austria.
• The instrument is an important
  multilateral treaty relating to liability and compensation for damage caused by
  a nuclear incident.
• The instrument of Ratification
  was handed over to Juan Carlos Lentijo, Acting Director General of IAEA by
  India’s Permanent Representative in Vienna Rajiva Misra. The CSC was ratified
  five years after it was signed on 27 October 2010.

• The Tea Board of India (TBI) in
  January 2016 issued Version 5.0 of the Plant Protection Code (PPC) by expanding
  the list of pesticides and chemicals to 37 from previous 35 that is permitted for
  use by Indian tea industry.
• The two new additions in the list
  are Emamectin Benzoate 5 SG and Flubendiamide 20 WG. The addition became
  mandatory from 1 January 2015.
• Use of these two chemicals was
  cleared by the Central Insecticide Board and Registration Committee.

• The Odisha government on 4
  February 2016 lifted the restrictions on visit of foreign tourists to certain
  tribal areas in the State. The ban was lifted after three years.
• The revised guidelines relaxed
  restrictions that will enable foreign tourists to trek and learn the lifestyle
  of primitive tribes living in certain hilly terrains.
•  Foreign tourists have been asked to pay
  respect to the culture and tradition of tribals.
•  The tourists will have to submit their
  proposed itinerary to the police superintendents of the concerned districts.
•  The foreign tourists have been asked to take
  photographs only with the consent of the tribals.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi
  today said the 12th South Asian Games being held here are not just a sporting
  platform but also a “springboard for bringing peace and prosperity in the
  region through business”.
• Declaring the Games open in a
  colourful ceremony here this evening, Modi said the Games would help form
  lasting bonds between the participating athletes.
• Eight countries – Afghanistan,
  Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, besides India will
  be vying for the top honours in the Games to be co-hosted by Shillong.
• There will be 228 gold, 228
  silver and 308 bronze medals on offer this time. The two North Eastern cities
  will play host to 3,333 athletes and officials.
• India, who had topped the medal
  tally in all the editions so far, have the largest number of participants with
  521 athletes (245 women).

• The International Cricket Council
  (ICC) Board on 3 February 2016 constituted Anti-Corruption Unit Oversight
  Group.
• A decision in this regard was
  taken at a meeting headed by the ICC Chairman Shashank Manohar. The meeting was
  held at the ICC headquarters in Dubai, the UAE.
• Apart from Rahul Dravid as a
  member, the group will consist of a Chairman, two members and two ex-officio
  members.
• David Peever (Chairman); He is
  the Chairman of the ICC Executive Committee
• Rahul Dravid (Member); Former
  Indian captain

• Supporting Syria and the Region
  Conference 2016 was held on 4 February 2016 in London. The objective of the
  conference was to discuss issues related to the over 5-year old civil war in
  Syria and measures to mitigate the humanitarian conflict faced by the country
  and the region as a whole.
• The conference was co-hosted by
  Germany, Kuwait, Norway, the United Kingdom and the United Nations and saw the
  participation of over 60 countries.
• In addition to deliberating on
  the 2016 Syria humanitarian response plan (HRP) and Regional refugee and
  resilience plan (3RP) 2016-17, the conference announced 10.7 billion US dollars
  to undertake humanitarian activities in Syria between 2016 and 2020.

• NASA’s New Horizons mission on 14
  July 2015 spotted the nitrogen ice glaciers on Pluto appeared to carry numerous
  isolated hills which are likely to be the fragments of water ice, as per the
  press release of NASA on 4 February 2016.
• As the nitrogen-dominated ice is
  dense than water ice, it is believed that newly found water ice hills are
  floating in a sea of frozen nitrogen and resembles icebergs in Earth’s Arctic
  Ocean. These hills individually measure one to several miles or kilometers
  across.
• These hills are another example
  of Pluto’s fascinating and abundant geological activity and are likely to be
  fragments of the rugged uplands and smaller versions of the large and jumbled
  mountains on Sputnik Planum’s western border.

• Army Lieutenant General John
  Nicholson was appointed as the commander of the NATO forces in Afghanistan. His
  nomination to the post was confirmed by US Senate committee on 4 February 2016.
• He succeeded US General John
  Campbell who has been leading the Afghan operations for nearly 18 months.
• The powerful Senate Armed
  Services Committee confirmed Nicholson’s nomination during a Congressional
  hearing on Afghanistan where the outgoing commander US General John Campbell
  testified before the Senators.
• At present, Nicholas was US Army
  commander of NATO land forces.

• Joe Alaskey, who voiced Bugs
  Bunny, Daffy Duck, Tweety and Sylvester the Cat, among other legendary cartoon
  characters, has died of cancer, according to multiple reports. He was 63.
• Alaskey’s spokesperson, KP Lynne,
  shared the news on the actor’s Facebook page, writing, “Never doubt that
  Joe loved each and every one of you. Your comments and posts always made his
  day and brought joy to his heart and life”, reported Variety.
• Alaskey replaced Mel Blanc as the
  voice of Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck after his death in 1989, assuming the Warner
  Bros characters during the 2000s, including in the film “Looney Tunes:
  Back in Action.”
• He has also given voice to other
  Looney Tunes animated heroes, including Tweety and Sylvester. He served as the
  primary voice for Plucky Duck on “Tiny Toon Adventures” and Yosemite
  Sam on “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?”
• Alaskey won a Daytime Emmy Award
  for voicing Daffy the Duck on Cartoon Network’s “Duck Dodgers.”

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