Current Affairs Questions & Answers: February 21, 2017

Notes:
The Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) has launched mobile wallet ‘Oriental Batuaa’ for digital payments for its’ bank customers on its 75th Foundation Day. Besides this, OBC has also launched two new cards – ‘Oriental Premium card’ is a RuPay based Platinum international debit card with airport lounge access and the other card- ‘Oriental Prepaid Card’ is a RuPay card for individuals and corporates. Apart from this, it has also launched two MSME schemes – ‘Oriental Sanjeevani’ and ‘Oriental Budget Hotels and Restaurants’. Oriental Sanjeevani is a specialised scheme for doctors for setting up new hospitals and clinics. The other scheme is for individuals, proprietors, companies etc for setting up new hotels, restaurants, lodges, motels etc.

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The World Day of Social Justice is observed every year on February 20 to recognize the need to promote efforts to tackle issues such as poverty, exclusion and unemployment. The 2017 theme is “Preventing conflict and sustaining peace through decent work”.

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Banasree Sengupta (71), the renowned Bengali singer, has recently passed away in Kolkata, West Bengal. She was known for her mellifluous voice. Some of her hit songs are Aaj Bikeler Dake Tomar Chhithi Pelam, Amar Angey Jaley Rangmoshal, Chhi chhi Eki Kando Korechi, Dur Akashay Tomar Sur, etc. She also lent her voice to Bengali, Hindi, Assamese and Odia films.

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The Barren Island is located in the Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands and is the only confirmed active volcano in South Asia. It is in news because the Barren Island volcano has erupted once again after lying dormant for over 150 years. According to the researchers at Goa-based National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), the volcano is active and spewing smoke and lava once again. They have sampled the sediments and water in the vicinity of the volcano and recovered coal-like black pyroclastic material representing proximal volcanic eject. These samples will help in deciphering the nature of the present and past volcanic activity in the region.

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The political satire Indian film “Newton” has won the International Federation of Art Cinemas (CICAE) award at the 67th Berlin International Film Festival-2017 in Berlin, Germany. The film was directed by Amit Masurkar, which received a standing ovation at the festival, with a long and engaging Q and A post the screening. The film deals with the various issues of democracy and the fight for it during the elections in India. Apart from this, Indian short film “Aaba” has also won the Special Prize in the Generation Kplus International Jury section at the fest. The movie produced by filmmaker Onir and directed by Amar Kaushik. The movie has been co-produced by director Raj Kumar Gupta.

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The book “Every Time It Rains” has been authored by Nikitha Singh. It is the sequel of author’s “Like a Love song” , in which Mahi and Laila were the protagonists with the story from Mahi’s perspective. The book “Every Time It Rains” revolves around Laila’s life, how she picks up the broken pieces of her shattered heart and whether she gives love another chance in her life remains a mystery till the end.

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Sandeep Kumar from Haryana has won the gold medal in the 50km category of the National Race Walking Championship-2017 in New Delhi. He clocked 3 hours 55 minutes and 59.05 seconds to win the race and qualify for the 2017 IAAF World Championships, which is scheduled to be held in August 2017 in London, United Kingdom.

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The Hungarian drama film “On Body and Soul” has won the Golden Bear Award at the 67th Berlin International Film Festival. At Berlin it also won the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESC) Prize and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury. The film is directed by Hungarian writer-director Ildiko Enyedi.

Notes:
The National Biodiversity Congress (NBC) 2017 will be held in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala from February 22. The event is hosted by the Kerala State Biodiversity Board from Feb 22nd to 26th and the focal theme is “Mainstreaming Biodiversity for Sustainable Development”. The present edition of the event comprises an array of programmes including conference, exhibition, capacity building workshops and Children’s Biodiversity Congress.

Notes:
The Union Minister of Electronics and IT, Ravi Shankar Prasad has recently launched Cyber Swachhta Kendra (CSK) in New Delhi for Botnet cleaning and Malware analysis. The CSK is a part of Government’s digital India initiative to create a secure cyber space by detecting botnet infections. The centre will operate in close coordination and collaboration with Internet Service Providers and Antivirus companies. The centre is being operated by the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team. Beside this, the Union Minister has also launched ‘Mkavach’ app to protect smart phones and tablets from hackers and another App ‘Samvid’ to protect Desktops from suspicious applications from running.