17-18 February 2019 - Daily Current Affairs

17-18 February 2019 - Daily Current Affairs

17-18 February 2019 - Daily Current Affairs

1. Pramod Chandra Mody appointed as New CBDT Chairman

  • Shri Pramod Chandra Mody (Indian Revenue Service (Income Tax cadre)- 1982-batch) has been appointed as the new chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes.
  • Mr Mody succeeds Sushil Chandra, who was named as Election Commissioner of India.
  • Mody has been working as the Member (Administration) in the CBDT.
  • The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) is the policy-making body of the Income Tax Department.
Note:
  • The CBDT Chairperson is ex-officio special secretary and is under the direct charge of the revenue secretary of India.

National Affairs

2. PM Modi hold talks with Argentinian President Mauricio Macri

  • Today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi holds talks with Argentinian President Mauricio Macri in New Delhi.
  • Earlier, Mr Macri arrived in India on a three-day visit.
  • Mr Macri's visit comes at a time when India and Argentina are celebrating the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations.

3. World Sustainable Development Summit 2019 held in New Delhi

  • Vice President Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu has inaugurated the World Sustainable Development Summit (WSDS) 2019 at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.
  • The World Sustainable Development Summit (WSDS) is The Energy and Resources Institute's (TERI) annual flagship event.
  • The theme of the 2019 edition of the Summit is 'Attaining the 2030 Agenda: Delivering on Our Promise'.
  • Frank Bainimarama (Prime Minister of Fiji) has been honoured with the Sustainable Development Leadership Award 2019 for his outstanding contributions towards sustainable development in Fiji.

Books & Authors

4. Pranab Mukherjee releases a book of Venkaiah Naidu's speeches

  • Former President Pranab Mukherjee has released the book containing selected speeches (92 speeches) of Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu at a function in New Delhi.
  • The book titled “Selected Speeches: Volume-1”.
  • The book is categorised into six broad sections - ‘Functioning of Legislatures’, ‘Nation and Nationalism’, ‘Polity and Governance’, ‘Economic Development’, ‘Media’ and ‘India and the World’.
  • The Publications Division of the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting has brought out the compilation.

Banking and Finance

5. FPIs pour Rs 5,300 cr into equities in Feb so far

  • According to the latest data available with depositories, Foreign investors have put in over 5300 Crore rupees into the Indian equity market in the first half of this month.
  • The infusion into the equity market comes following a pull-out of 5,264 crore rupees by foreign portfolio investors (FPI) in January.
  • However, FPIs pulled out a net amount of 248 rupees crore from the bond market during the period.
  • This has translated into a net investment of 5,074 crore rupees in the country's capital markets (equity and debt together).
Note:
  • A foreign portfolio investment is a grouping of assets such as stocks, bonds, and cash equivalents.
  • Portfolio investments are held directly by an investor or managed by financial professionals.

6. India raises customs duty to 200% on all goods imported from Pakistan

  • According to the Finance minister Arun Jaitley, India has raised the basic customs duty to 200% on all goods imported from Pakistan with immediate effect.
  • Earlier, India withdraws the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status in the aftermath of the Pulwama terror attack.
  • The main items which Pakistan exports to India include fresh fruits, cement, petroleum products, bulk minerals and ores and finished leather.
Note:
  • Customs duty is a tariff or tax on the importation (usually) or exportation (unusually) of goods.
  • All authorized ports are recognized customs areas.

7. RBI imposes Rs 3.5 cr penalty on 3 PSU banks

  • The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed Rs 3.5 crore penalties on three public sector banks for violation of various banking norms.
  • A penalty of Rs 1.5 crore has been imposed on Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) and Rs 1 crore each on Punjab National Bank (PNB) and Bank of India.
  • The monetary penalty on the banks has been imposed for non-compliance with various directions issued by the RBI on monitoring of end-use of funds, exchange of information with other banks, and on a restructuring of accounts.

Honours & Awards

8. Sunil Chhetri has given first ever Football Ratna Award

  • Indian professional footballer Sunil Chhetri (34-year) has been conferred the first ever Football Ratna honour at Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi.
  • He is popularly known as ‘Captain Fantastic’.
  • He has scored the 2nd highest number of goals in international matches among active players after Cristiano Ronaldo.
  • Chhetri has also been named AIFF Player of the Year five times in 2007, 2011, 2013, 2014 and 2017.

Sports

9. Saina Nehwal wins women’s 83rd Singles Senior Badminton Title

  • Saina Nehwal won her fourth title at the Yonex-Sunrise 83rd Senior Nationals.
  • She defended PV Sindhu in the finals in Guwahati by 21-18, 21-15.
  • Sourabh Verma claiming the men’s singles crown after defeating young Lakshya Sen in straight games of 21-18, 21-13.
  • Pair of Pranaav Jerry Chopra and Chirag Shetty defeated Arjun M.R and Shlok Ramachandran in straight games to clinch the Men’s Doubles title.

10. Chris Gayle announces retirement from One-day Internationals

  • West Indian left-hander batsman Chris Gayle (39-year) has announced that he will retire from One-day Internationals after the forthcoming World Cup.
  • Gayle has scored 9,727 ODI runs, second only to the legendary Brian Lara among West Indians in 284 matches.
  • Gayle has scored a Windies record of 23 ODI hundreds, including the first-ever World Cup double century against Zimbabwe.
  • The World Cup will be held in England and Wales from 30th May till 14th July 2019.

11. Vidarbha beat Rest of India to retain Irani Cup

  • Vidarbha (Ranji Trophy champions) successfully defended their title and defeated Rest of India on the first-innings basis to win the tournament in Nagpur.
  • Now, Vidarbha has become the third team after Mumbai and Karnataka to clinch two Irani Cup titles in a row.
  • According to Vidarbha captain Faiz Fazal, the entire prize money will be donated to the families of the CRPF personnel martyred in Pulwama terror attack.
  • Hanuma Vihari became the first player to score 3 consecutive centuries in Irani Cup.
 Final Score:
  • Rest of India: 330 (89.4 overs) & 374/3d (107 overs)
  • Vidarbha: 425 (142.1 overs) & 269/5 (103.1 overs)
  • Player of the Match: Akshay Karnewar (Vidarbha).

12. Elise Mertens wins Qatar Open title beating Simona Halep

  • Belgium’s Elise Mertens (23-years) beat top seed Simona Halep (Romania) 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 to win the Qatar Open 2019.
  • This is world number 21 Mertens' first-ever WTA Premier-level crown, and the fifth title of her career overall.
  • The Qatar Open is a professional Tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts.
  • Currently, it is a part of the ATP World Tour 250 series of the Association of Tennis Professionals World Tour.
S. No. Champion Runner-up Score
1.Men’s Singles Roberto Bautista Agut (Spain) Tomas Berdych (Czech Republic) 6–4, 3–6, 6–3
2.Women’s Singles Elise Mertens (Belgium) Simona Halep (Romania) 3-6, 6-4, 6-3
3. Men’s Doubles David Goffin(Belgium) &
Pierre-Hugues Herbert (France)
Robin Haase (Netherlands) &
Matwe Middelkoop(Netherlands)
5–7, 6–4, [10–4]


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