February 9 Current Affairs

State :

Tamilnadu :

‘A few slip-ups can’t mar stellar record’

• A section of the police officers feels that the CB-CID cannot be written off merely because it is unable to solve half-a-dozen sensational crimes.An officer pointed out that the agency has been cracking major crimes from the pre-Independence days, when it was known as the CID.
• “We put bits and pieces of evidence together and closely followed the case. It did take ten years but we detected the case. The jewels robbed were recovered from a temple hundi later,” he said.

TAKEAWAYS

1. The CID was created by the British Government In 1902
2. In 1929, the CID was split into Special Branch .

HC imposes cost of 1 lakh on litigant

• The Madras High Court has imposed costs of ₹1 lakh on a litigant for filing a civil suit claiming right over an immovable property on the basis of fabricated documents. The court has directed him to pay the costs directly to the owners of the property within two months failing which they could file an execution petition to recover the costs.

TAKEAWAYS

Location

1. Principal Seat: Chennai
2. Circuit Bench: Madurai
3. Currently Chief Justice : Indira Banerjee

Stalin demands CBI probe into coal import

• DMK working president M.K. Stalin demanded a CBI inquiry into the alleged import of sub-standard coal by Tangedco which, he said, had caused ₹3,000 crore loss to the State exchequer.
• Recalling the case filed by veteran lawyer Prashant Bhushan in the Delhi High Court in connection with coal import-related cases, Mr. Stalin said instead of launching new schemes to generate power, Tangedco imported 2.44 crore tonnes of coal from Indonesia at a cost of 12,250 crore between 2012 and 2016. He alleged that there were irregularities in the import.

TAKEAWAYS

Composition in coal 

1. Primary Composition : carbon
2. Secondary Composition : hydrogen,sulfur,oxygen,nitrogen

Convener CommitteePanel formed to administer Bharathiar University

• The Bharathiar University Syndicate, at a special meeting , formed a three-member convener committee to look after the day-to-day administration of the institution after the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti Corruption arrested Vice-Chancellor A. Ganapathi on bribery charges.

TAKEAWAYS

1. Motto : Educate to Elevate
2. Affiliations : UGC

Recruitment exam for lecturers cancelled

• The notification of the Recruitment examination will be issued during the first week of May and it will be conducted during August first week. The date of commencement of online application and date of examination will be announced later.
• Candidates, who appeared for the examination, said the TRB should publicly explain the reasons. Candidates who have already applied for the examination as per advertisement No.06/2017 dated July 28, 2017 have to re-apply, but they need not pay the examination fees. New candidates can also apply, the release said.

HC suggests ban on cell phones in Meenakshi temple

• The recent fire accident at the Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Friday suggested enhancement of security arrangements.
• A division bench of Justices N. Kirubakaran and R. Tharani suggested prohibition of carrying cell phones into the temple. Instead, a vault could be put up for devotees to keep their cell phones, similar to the practice in other major temples across India, the court said. But temple officials could be exempted from this procedure.

TAKEAWAYS

1. Temple tank : Potramarai Kulam
2. Architecture : Dravidian architecture

TELANGANA :

‘Government must bridge inequality in education’

• T-JAC chairman M. Kodandaram, criticised the government for being extravagant on unnecessary projects, increasing dependency on huge loans, while neglecting education at the cost of scores of students. The State, which was surplus and rich four years ago at the time of formation, is now ridden with debts, he said.Kodandaram criticises govt. inaction in filling vacant posts

TAKEAWAYS

1. Formation 2 June 2014
2. Capital Hyderabad

Kerala :

Kerala, Punjab, T.N. top NITI Aayog’s health index report

• Kerala, Punjab and Tamil Nadu were the top rankers in NITI Aayog’s latest Health Index report which has, for the first time, attempted to establish an annual systematic tool to measure and understand the heterogeneity and complexity of the nation’s performance in the health sector.

TAKEAWAYS

NITI Aayog :

1. Formed -  1 January 2015; 3 years ago
2. Headquarters  - New Delhi .

Karnataka :

Import of Malaysian sand: Govt. to examine charge of irregularities

• Large and Medium Scale Industries Minister R.V. Deshpande on Thursday told the Legislative Assembly that he would inquire into the allegations of irregularities in import of Malaysian sand and its pricing.We will place all documents before the Assembly for scrutiny Deshpande .

TAKEAWAYS

1. Formation 1 November 1956
2. Capital (and largest city) - Bangalore

India :

Last date to apply for NEET 2018 is March 9, exams from May 6

• Online application forms for the National Eligibility-Cum-Entrance Test (NEET) 2018 are now available for submission till March 9, 2018. The last date for the payment of fees to write the examination — which will be held on May 6, 2018 — is March 10, 2018. The candidates must also have an Aadhaar number to apply for the exam. Non-resident Indians, however, need an Aadhaar or passport to apply.

TAKEAWAYS

1. The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test or NEET-UG is an entrance examinationin India, for MBBS and BDS courses .
2. CBSE conducts the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test

Cease fire: on India-Pakistan LoC tensions

• The two countries are caught in a spiral of almost daily exchanges of fire along the border, there is a danger of political rhetoric acquiring its own momentum.
• Thousands of civilians have been forced to flee their border homes. Peace on the border is difficult to achieve at the tactical level by military leaders. Restoring the ceasefire requires real statesmanship, not brinkmanship.

TAKEAWAYS

Pakistan 

1. Capital -  Islamabad
2. Largest city -  Karachi

International :

China wants to quickly resolve Maldivian crisis

• China has speeded up its effort to find a home-grown solution to end the crisis in the Maldives to avoid tensions with India and ensure further improvement of post-Doklam ties with New Delhi.“China will not interfere in the internal affairs of the Maldives. This is also an important principle enshrined by the United Nations charter,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang quoted Mr. Wang as saying.
• The sources said China’s activism in the Maldives was significantly driven by the “India factor”. “It [the Maldives development] should not become another problem [between China and India].”

TAKEAWAYS

1. Official languages - Maldivian (Dhivehi)
2. Capital and largest city -  Malé

U.S. govt. stumbles into a shutdown as Senate Republican blocks vote

• The United States government stumbled into a midnight shutdown  as a rogue Senate Republican blocked a speedy vote
• Mr. Paul was seeking a vote on reversing spending increases and refused to speed things up when he was denied

TAKEAWAYS

1. Capital -  Washington, D.C.
2. Largest city -  New York City

Trump, Modi discuss Maldives crisis

• “Both leaders expressed concern about the political crisis in Maldives and the importance of respect for democratic institutions and rule of law,” the White House said in a readout of the phone call between Mr. Trump and Mr. Modi, the first in this year.
• The White House says the two leaders also pledged to continue working together to enhance security and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region.

TAKEAWAYS

1. Currency Maldivian rufiyaa
2. Time zone Maldives Time (UTC+5)

Islamic State’s ‘Beatle’ was heading for Turkey, says Kurdish official

• One of two British Islamic State (IS) militants known for their role in the torture and killings of Western hostages in Syria was aiming to reach Turkey when he was captured by Kurdish-led forces last month, a Kurdish official said
• “He was intending to escape towards Turkey with cooperation and coordination with friends of his on the Turkish side,” said Mr. Xelil.

TAKEAWAYS

Turkey

1. Capital - Ankara
2. Official languages -  Turkish
3. Largest city -  Istanbul

Kim Jong Un’s sister arrives in South Korea for historic visit

• North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's sister joined athletes and officials from around the world at the South’s Winter Olympics on Friday, the first member of Pyongyang’s ruling dynasty to set foot in its rival since the Korean War.
• Ahead of the opening ceremony the South's President Moon Jae-in shook hands with Kim Yong Nam at a leaders' reception in Pyeongchang .

TAKEAWAYS

1. She is the Director of the Propaganda and Agitation Department of the Workers' Party of Korea.
2. She is the younger sister of North Korea's leader

Science :

NASA spacecraft captures farthest images away from Earth

• NASA’s New Horizons probe has captured the farthest images from Earth by a spacecraft, surpassing Voyager 1’s record of clicking a picture when it was 6.06 billion kilometres away from our planet.
• The routine calibration frame of the “Wishing Well” galactic open star cluster, made by the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) on December 5 last year, was taken when New Horizons was 6.12 billion kilometres from Earth, NASA has said.

TAKEAWAYS

1. Formed -  July 29, 1958
2. Motto -  For the Benefit of All

Sports :

Saina surprises Vijayalakshmi

• Two local, teenage girls exposed defending champion Air India’s inadequate preparedness in the second round of the National team chess championship .

Fed Cup: India blanks Hong Kong

• India strengthened its chances of staying in Group 1 with a 3-0 victory over Hong Kong in the FedCup Asia-Oceania women’s tennis tournament at the DLTA Complex here on Friday.
• While it was no surprise that Ankita Raina continued to assert her solid game, the wiry Karman Kaur Thandi recaptured a semblance of her high-quality game to prepare the host for the play-off on Saturday, against fourth-placed group B team, Chinese Taipei.

TAKEAWAYS

1. Sport -  Tennis
2. Founded -  1963; 55 years ago

Tax exemption snub may cost India CT 2021

• The International Cricket Council (ICC) has cautioned the BCCI that unless the Indian government allows full tax exemption, the ICC Champions Trophy 2021 will be taken away from the BCCI (India).
• At the ICC Board meetings in Dubai  the ICC decided to go ahead with finding an alternate host country.

Sindhu wins again but India lost 1-3 to Indonesia

• The Indian women’s team went down to Indonesia 1-3 for its second loss in the Badminton Asia Team Championships in Alor Setar on Friday.Just like in the loss against Japan on Thursday, P.V. Sindhu was the only one to win her match. She beat Fitriani Fitriani 21-13, 24-22 in the first singles.

TAKEAWAYS

1. Full  name -  Pusarla Venkata Sindhu
2. Coach - Pullela Gopichanda

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