Current Affairs on 27th February 2015

Current Affairs on 27th February 2015

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Economic Survey 2015 - Highlights

  • The Economic Survey, prepared by the finance ministry's chief economic adviser Arvind Subramanian, was tabled in the Lok Sabha.
  • India’s economic survey pegged growth at more than 8 per cent for the next fiscal and said inflation was now declining, while also setting the agenda for reforms needed to further drive the expansion, prune wasteful expenditure and promote productive investment.

Following are the highlights of the survey:

  • Double digit economic growth trajectory now a possibility
  • Government will adhere to fiscal deficit target of 4.1% of GDP in 2014-15
  • Economic Survey says estimates current account deficit to fall to 1 pct of GDP in coming fiscal year​
  • Average WPI inflation declines to 3.4% in 2014-15 (April-December) against 6% previous year
  • Need to improve productivity in the agricultural sector to ensure food security
  • Post Office can be linked with AADHAR based benefits transfer architecture to allow linkage to AADHAR accounts


AB De Villiers hits fastest 150 in ODI history

  • South African cricketer AB De Villiers has hit the fastest 150 in one-day internationals (ODI’s). 
  • He achieved this feat in 64 balls in World Cup Pool B match against West Indies held at Sydney and also broke the previous record of Australia’s Shane Watson by 19 balls. 
  • AB De Villiers in the innings scored 162 runs from 66 balls and it comprised of 8 sixes and 17 fours. 
  • In this match, South Africa scored 408 runs which is the second highest total in World Cup history.


Justice Amitava Roy sworn in as Supreme Court judge

  • Justice Amitava Roy has sworn in as a judge of the Supreme Court (SC). 
  • He was administered the oath of office by the Chief Justice of India (CJI) H. L. Dattu and will have a tenure of three years. 
  • Prior to this appointment he was Chief Justice of Orissa High Court. 
  • It should be noted that Amitava Roy was appointed as judge of SC through traditional collegium system rather than newly created National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC). 
  • With the elevation of Justice Amitava Roy, the strength of the SC judges has gone up to 29 out of total sectioned strength of 31 judges. At present only one woman judge, Justice R Banumathi is among SC judges.


Ratan Tata honoured with Doctorate of Automotive Engineering by Clemson University

  • Ex-chairman of the Tata Group Ratan Tata has been honoured with Doctorate of Automotive Engineering by the Clemson University. 
  • He was conferred with Doctorate for his contributions to the global automotive industry at the South Carolina Automotive Summit.


Kshatrapati Shivaji to be new CMD of SIDBI

  • Kshatrapati Shivaji, a 1986 batch IAS officer, has taken over as the Chairman and Managing Director of Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI). 
  • Shivaji has been appointed on deputation basis for a period of three years from the date of his taking over the charge, a Finance Ministry release said. 
  • Shivaji is currently Principal Secretary (Expenditure), Finance Department in Maharashtra government


A person can be treated as SC even after re-conversion: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on 27 February 2015 held that a person can be accorded Scheduled Caste (SC) status even on re-conversion to Hinduism.
The status can be accorded if the person is accepted by people of his caste and he proves that before converting either he or his forefathers previously belonged to SC caste.
The ruling was given by two member Supreme Court bench of justices Dipak Misra and V Gopala Gowda on a plea of K P Manu, a Kerala resident, who had challenged the Kerala High Court verdict.

Supreme Court bench held that

Beneficiary person for the caste certificate are

  • Absolute proof that he belongs to the caste that has been recognised by the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950.
  • Converted to other religion from original religion to which the parents and earlier generations had belonged.
  • There must be evidence establishing the acceptance by the community.


Zoological Society of London and Gujarat Forest Department inks MoU for Asiatic lion Conservation

Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and Gujarat Forest Department on 26 Feb 2015 have inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for conservation of Asiatic lion and its habitat.

As part of MoU, ZSL with its expertise in managing zoo will provide

  • Technical assistance to forest department to manage rescue and treatments centres.
  • Technical support in veterinary support and expertise in managing the landscape and the habitat of the area and also training the staff in handling rescue operations.
  • It will also help to manage Sakkarbaug Zoo in Junagadh.
  • State Forest Department will use smart software jointly developed by the ZSL and the Gujarat forest department for tracking the movement of their staff and even the lions.

Earlier in 2014, ZSL had launched charity’s new Lions400, a fundraising campaign and had raised over
£135,000 towards helping to save the Asian lions.

Gopinath Pillai appointed as Special Envoy to Andhra Pradesh by Singapore government

  • Singapore government appointed Gopinath Pillai as its special envoy to Andhra Pradesh. Pillai, a senior policy strategist, was appointed to speed up construction of new capital in the state.
  • Pillai’s appointment as special envoy to Andhra Pradesh was announced by Singapore’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and Law K. Shanmugam and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu at the secretariat in capital Hyderabad.
  • At the time of appointment, Pillai was working as a Chairman of a Singapore based think-tank, Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS), and an ambassador for city-state's government.