Current Affairs National
PM Narendra Modi in Palestine on a historic visit
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday arrived in Ramallah on a historic visit to Palestine during which he will meet President Mahmoud Abbas and reaffirm India’s support for the Palestinian people.
- “This is a historic visit that will lead to stronger bilateral cooperation,” Modi said after landing.
- Modi is the first Indian Prime Minister to make an official visit to Palestine.
Charging stations for electric vehicles to be launched by Bescom
- Bescom will launch fast-charging stations for electric vehicles from this month, and it claims to be the first government power utility in the country to do so.
- Energy Minister D.K. Shivakumar announced that the first such station will be opened in the Bescom office at K.R. Circle, and Bengaluru will get 11 stations overall.
- The first station is likely to be launched on February 15.
Current Affairs Business and Economy
Income Tax Department asks Large Depositors To File Returns By March 31
- The Income Tax Department today urged those who deposited “large amounts of cash” post demonetisation and all companies to file their returns by March 31, failing which they may face penalty and prosecution.
- Individuals and Hindu Undivided Families having income more than Rs 2.5 lakh and senior citizens with income of over Rs 3 lakh (60-80 years of age) and Rs 5 lakh (over 80 years of age) too need to file their returns for the mentioned assessment years, it said.
Fake RBI website stealing bank details
- The Reserve Bank of India or RBI on Thursday issued a notice cautioning the citizens about the fake websites created with a layout similar to the central bank’s official website.
- The fake website asks for the customer’s ID, PIN, email address, phone number, bank name including others details.
- RBI also “cautioned about existence of websites such as www.rbi.org, www.rbi.in etc.” which may appear similar to the website of RBI.
Banks to accept education loan applications only via online mode
- The government has made it mandatory for banks to sanction education loans only though online process and asked them not to consider any application submitted in the physical form
- This step is taken so that the education loan disbursement process becomes transparent and more efficient.
- “The Department of Financial Services has made it mandatory for all the banks to accept the education loan applications only through the NSDL portal. The banks cannot accept applications form in the physical form,” said Gagan Rai, managing director and CEO, NSDL e-Governance Infrastructure, which is managing the portal called Vidya Lakshmi.
Imp Note : “Vidya Lakshmi Portal Education Loan Scheme” was launched by the Finance ministry. It provides a single window to students applying for loans or scholarship by filling up a single form. The portal provides 22 different education loan schemes.
IndusInd Bank unveils a new musical logo called ‘MOGO’
- IndusInd Bank launched its new Sonic Identity today, which is essentially a musical logo.
- The objective for associating to a sonic identity is building the Bank’s brand imagery with the strategic use of music and sound for brand experiences and audience connection.
- The musical logo is also referred to as the MOGO™ (short for musical LOGO).
Current Affairs Sports
Indian para-cyclists win silver, two bronze at Asian Championships
- Bangalore resident Divij Shah led India’s charge in the para-cycling category winning yet another silver, while BSF soldier Harinder Singh bagged the bronze.
- New entrant Madhu Bagri won bronze in the hand-cycling, a category where India made a maiden participation and Bagri become the first para cyclist to win an international medal in hand cycling.
- Harinder had won a bronze medal in last year’s edition as well.
Intel’s Winter Olympics light show featured a record-breaking 1,218 drones
- Intel gave a record-setting performance of 1,218 Shooting Star drones flying in sync to create huge light-up images of Olympic sports and the iconic Olympic rings in the skies over Pyeongchang.
- Intel will also be showing a 300-drone live performance each night at the medal ceremony as well.
- According to Intel and the Guinness Book of World Records, the 1,218-drone flight set a record for “most unmanned aerial vehicles airborne simultaneously”.
Reliance Jio will broadcast PyeongChang Winter Olympics 2018 in India
- Reliance Jio’s live television app Jio TV today has bagged digital rights to broadcast the Winter Olympic Games PyeongChang 2018 across India.
- “JioTV will work with IOC (International Olympic Committee) to provide comprehensive coverage of the Games in India, thus enabling millions to access live and catch-up content on their mobile devices, on the move,” a Jio statement said.
- The Olympic Winter Games is scheduled to be held from February 9 to 25 in PyeongChang County, South Korea.
- The Winter Games will feature 102 events across 15 sports, including Skiing, Skating, Luge, Ski Jumping, Ice Hockey, Snow Boarding, among others.
Current Affairs World
8-year-old Indian-origin girl enters UK’s Hall of Fame
- An eight-year-old Indian-origin schoolgirl has entered the UK’s Mathletics Hall of Fame, an online mathematics-based competitive tool aimed at primary school pupils.
- Sohini Roy Chowdhury competed with pupils from across Britain and other countries to also make it into the top 100 World Hall of Fame after solving mathematical puzzles with speed and accuracy.
Maldives to deport arrested Indian, British journalists
- Two journalists including an Indian national working for a global news agency, who were arrested in the Maldives amid the raging political turmoil, will be deported.
- They are set to be deported as they were working in the country on a tourist visa in violation of the immigration law.
- “We would like to note that although they (the two journalists) have been asked to leave the Maldives, no other legal steps shall be taken against them,” the Maldives Government statement said.
Current Affairs Miscellaneous
Scientists simulate tests for 1st manned mission to Mars in Oman’s desert
- Over 200 scientists from 25 nations are conducting simulation tests in the vast sandy terrain of Dhofar Desert in southern Oman for a manned mission to Mars.
- The desolate desert in southern Oman, near the borders of Yemen and Saudi Arabia, resembles Mars so much that more than 200 scientists from 25 nations have chosen it as their location for the next four weeks to field-test technology for a manned mission to Mars.
- The Oman Mars Base is a giant 2.4-ton inflated habitat surrounded by shipping containers turned into labs and crew quarters.
Indra Nooyi appointed to ICC Board as first independent female director
- PepsiCo Chairman and CEO Indra Nooyi has been appointed to the International Cricket Council (ICC) Board as its first independent female director.
- Ms. Nooyi will join the Board in June 2018 to align with the term of the ICC Independent Chairman.
Also Read : 9 February Current Affairs