VINTAGE

IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF FEBRUARY 22^nd, 2019

              IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF FEBRUARY 22^nd, 2019

1.   Water Resources Minister Nitin Gadkari today announced that the government has decided to stop share of water which used to flow to Pakistan from India.

a.       Note : India was given control of Beas, Ravi and Sutlej rivers under the Indus Waters Treaty.

b.       What is Indus Waters Treaty ?

c.       Indus Waters Treaty was signed in 1960 by ex-PM Jawaharlal Nehru and Pakistan ex-President Ayub Khan. 

d.       India was given control of Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej while Pakistan was allocated Jhelum, Chenab, and Indus. 

e.       Of the six Indus basin rivers, India's share of water is about 20%, from which it utilises nearly 95% and the rest 5% goes to Pakistan.

2.   Pakistan will continue to stay on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)'s 'Grey list' following India's reported efforts to get it blacklisted. 

a.       Pakistan has time till October to comply with FATF member countries' demands or be blacklisted. 

b.       Note : Pakistan was placed on FATF's 'grey list' last year over its failure to act against terror financing on its soil.

3.   Taiwan has proposed Asia's first Same-sex marriage law, with the draft law unveiled by the cabinet today. 

a.       The proposed law gives same-sex couples similar legal protections for marriage as heterosexuals. 

4.   The lower house of the Russian Parliament has voted to ban soldiers from using smartphones on duty. 

a.       This comes after a series of open-source investigations revealed Russia's secret military activities, by following the online activities of soldiers. 

b.       Soldiers will also be banned from posting any photos, videos and information about themselves, other soldiers and their relatives on the Internet.

5.   External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will travel to Wuzhen (China) to participate in the 16th Russia-India-China, RIC, Foreign Ministerial Meeting on the 27th of this month. 

a.       Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrovwill also participate in the meeting. 

b.       The Ministers are expected to exchange views on the global situation, regional developments of common concern, address global challenges such as terrorism and discuss trilateral exchanges and activities.

c.       Important Note : The last RIC Foreign Ministerial Meeting was held in New Delhi on 11th December 2017. 

6.      After the Union Cabinet's ratification, President Ram Nath Kovind today approved the Ordinance which makes Instant Triple Talaq a criminal offence. 

a.       The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Second Ordinance, 2019, declares the instant Triple Talaq practice void and illegal and also makes it an offence punishable with imprisonment of up to three years and fine.

7.   The Asia’s biggest air show, Aero India event observes Technology Day on the 3rd day today. 

a.       The spectacular air display by Aircrafts in the Air force base in Bengaluru made a statement of their capabilities in the sky today. 

b.       The Light Utility helicopter and LCA Naval version, besides foreign aircrafts from USA, France, Russia took to the skies during the Aerobatic display.

8.      India and South Korea signed 6 Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) during PM Narendra Modi's visit to the country. They are :

a)      MoU on release of commemorative postal stamp on Queen Hur (Suriratna)    

b)     MOU on Extension of Korea Plus    

c)      MoU on Start-up Cooperation    

d)     MoU between Korean National Police Agency and MHA on Combating Transnational Crime And Developing Police Cooperation    

e)      MoU between Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) and Prasar Bharti on Cooperation in Broadcasting    

f)       MoU between National Highways Authority of India and Korea Expressway Corporation    

9.      India and Sri Lanka today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish a business centre for ICT incubators in Jaffna through grant of 25 crore Sri Lankan rupees from India.

a.       The MoU was signed by High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka Mr. Taranjit Singh Sandhu, and Secretary, Ministry of Development Strategies and International Trade Mr. S. T. Kodikara in Colombo in presence of Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe.

10. During his visit to South Korea, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today honored with the Seoul Peace Prize. 

a.       He was awarded for his contributions to international cooperation and the growth of Indian and global economies.

b.       PM Modi said he'll contribute the entire $200,000 (₹1.4 crore) prize amount to the 'Namami Gange' programme.

c.       Important Note : With this the Prime Minister became the 1st Indian to receive the Seoul Peace prize.

11. The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has hiked Interest Rate on employees' Provident Fund (PF) deposits to 8.65% from 8.55% for the 2018-19 financial year. 

a.       Note : This is the 1st interest rate hike since 2015-16. 

12. The Parliamentary Committee on Information Technology, led by BJP MP Anurag Thakur, has summoned representatives of Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram. 

a.       The panel said it would hear their views on "safeguarding citizens' rights on social or online news media platforms" on March 6. 

b.       The panel previously summoned Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey to appear on Monday to discuss the same topic.

13. Paytm Money, the wealth management arm of fintech startup Paytm, has appointed Suresh Vasudevan as its Chief Technology Officer (CTO). 

a.       Vasudevan had been Amazon's Engineering Head for Alexa Catalog Operations since 2016, before being hired as Engineering Vice President for Paytm Mall in 2018.

14. The Supreme Court today appointed Indian Army's former Master-General of Ordnance (MGO), Lt General Ravi Thodge as the 3rd member of the Vinod Rai-led Committee of Administrators, which is overseeing BCCI's affairs. 

a.       Note : The CoA initially had four members but after the resignation of historian Ramachandra Guha and National Stock Exchange CEO Vikram Limaye, only two members were left in CoA.

15. The 1st Lok Ayukta of Nagaland, Justice Uma Nath Singh, took the oath of office today.

a.       Nagaland Governor PB Acharya administered the oath to him at a function held at Raj Bhavan.

16. The Indian women's cricket team beat the English women's team by 66 runs in the first ODI of the ICC Women's Championship in Mumbai today.

17. The organisers of Paris 2024 Olympics have proposed that Breakdancing should be included as a new sport in the Games. 

a.       Skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing, which will all make their debut in 2020 Tokyo Olympics, have also been invited to return for the Paris Games. 

b.       Note : Breakdancing was included in the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires in 2018.

18. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has prepared a draft letter asking International Cricket Council (ICC) to ban Pakistan from the 2019 World Cupfollowing the Pulwama attack, in which 40 CRPF jawans were martyred. 

19. The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2019 will not have an opening ceremony this year after the Committee of Administrators (CoA) running Indian cricket today decided to allocate the money (around Rs. 15 crore) to the families of the CRPF personnel killed in the Pulwama terror attack.

a.       It is learnt that 2018 IPL opening ceremony's budget was in the tune of 15 crore rupees and something similar to that amount will be donated.