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Important Current Affairs - 15 February 2017 with PDF

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We bring you the Latest  (Gk)General Knowledge, Daily Current Affairs news, Events, General awareness Today  15th February 2017 Section in FREE PDF (English & Hindi), a section which outlines the latest important news, Events headlines which are hardly covered elsewhere.


NATIONAL NEWS

India Tops List of Countries in Ozone Pollution Deaths


India's deepening pollution problem, which hit home with a vengeance after Diwali last year as Delhi and NCR woke up enveloped in smog that refused to lift for days, has a death toll second only to China's, and together the two nations account for over half the world's deaths from pollution.

●    According to the State of Global Air 2017 report, released in Boston on Tuesday, as many as 2.54 lakh deaths occurred in 2015 on account of exposure to ozone and its impact on chronic lung disease.
●    India accounts for the highest number of premature deaths due to ozone pollution, its toll 13 times higher than Bangladesh's, and 21 times higher than Pakistan's.
●    An interactive website on the report also highlights that 92% of the world's population lives in areas with unhealthy air.


NATIONAL NEWS


SC Verdict - Not Necessary to Stand for National Anthem Played in Film

Audience in cinema halls do not have to stand up for the National Anthem if it is being played in the movie as a part of the its story line. 

●    Supreme Court has modified its order that audience need not stand when National Anthem is played as a storyline in a film, newsreel or documentary.
●    Discussion about whether or not it's necessary for a viewer to stand up every time the National Anthem is being played within a film has been going around since the time SC made it compulsory to play the anthem inside the theaters before a movie screening begins.
●    On November 30, SC ordered all cinema halls across the country to play the National Anthem before the screening of a movie. The court had stated that everyone present in the cinema halls must rise and pay respect to the National Anthem.
●    The decision was also appreciated by Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Venkaiah Naidu who claimed it to be a very good decision.

AWARDS


Two Indians Win Grammy Awards 2017

 Indian tabla player Sandeep Das on 13 February 2017 won the 59th annual Grammy Award for the Best Global Music category. 

●    He won the award for Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble ‘Sing Me Home’. Yo-Yo Ma’s ‘Sing Me Home’ features tunes composed by different artists at global level.
●    The album ‘Sing Me Home’ was released as a part of the documentary on Ma’s project titled ‘The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and The Silk Road Ensemble’.
●    Apart from Sandeep Das and Yo-Yo Ma, there were other musicians as well who contributed to the album including the New York-based Syrian clarinet player Kinan Azmeh. 
●    Azmeh was recently stranded overseas when US President Donald Trump imposed a ban on travellers from seven Muslim-majority countries.
●    Born and brought up in India, Das started playing at the age of 16. 
●    He learned the intricacies of the instrument from Kishan Maharaj in Banaras and made his debut with Pandit Ravi Shankar.

SPORTS


Bolt Wins Laureus Sportsman of the Year for the Record 4th time

Usain Bolt and Simone Biles, the 2016 Rio Olympic champions won top awards of ‘Sportsman of the Year’ and ‘Sportswoman of the Year’ at the Laureus World Sports Awards 2017, held in Monaco.


●    Bolt was conferred with the top honour for the fourth time, equalling the record set by tennis legends Roger Federer and Serena Williams and surfer Kelly Slater, who are all four-time Laureus winners. 
●    He received his award from one of the world’s greatest sprinters, Michael Johnson.
●    Also for the first time, sports fans were given a chance to voice their choice in a brand new category – ‘Best Sporting Moment of the Year’ award, which was conferred to Barcelona’s under -12 team.
●    The ceremony was hosted by popular actor Hugh Grant.

NATIONAL NEWS

FSSAI Sets Up Guidelines for Fortified Foods


The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) on 14 February 2017 formed a scientific panel on food fortification and nutrition.


●    The scientific panel was mandated to identify critical nutritional gaps in the Indian diet in general as well as in specific target groups based on diet surveys and credible scientific evidence.
●    The panel includes 11 distinguished scientists and experts in the field of nutrition. Apart from these 11 experts, members of scientific panels dealing with fortification of food such as wheat flour, refined flour, rice, milk, edible oil and salt will also be a part of this panel.
●    In addition, following agencies will be working with this panel.
●    Union Ministry of Women and Child Development
●    Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
●    Department of Biotechnology
●    Indian Council of Medical Research

NATIONAL NEWS

 India Joins UN Network to Halve Maternal, Newborn Deaths

India on 14 February 2017 joined the United Nations Network for Improving Quality of Care for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health with an aim to reduce maternal and newborn deaths by half.


●    On this occasion, eight other countries, including Bangladesh, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda joined the multilateral initiative along with India.
●    About Network for Improving Quality of Care for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health
●    It is a multinational network for improving quality of care for maternal, newborn and child health.
●    The network will bring together officials from ministries of health, health care professionals and bilateral and multilateral development partners.
●    The network has three goals. They are –
●    Reduce maternal and newborn mortality in health facilities in the target country districts by 50 per cent over five years
●    Reduce avoidable morbidity due to severe post-partum haemorrhage by 50 per cent
●    Improve experience of healthcare.

SPORTS


Adam Voges retired from international Cricket


Australian Cricketer Adam Voges on 14 February 2017 announced his retirement from international cricket. Voges, who will lead the Prime Minister’s XI against the visiting Sri Lankans in Canberra, said that this will be his last game against the international team.

●    He will continue to play for Middle sex. He had not played a single Test match since November 2016, when he suffered a concussion during Western Australia's Sheffield Shield match against Tasmania.
●    The 37-year-old will end his cricket career with the second highest Test average (61.87 from 31 innings) of all time behind Australian great Sir Donald Bradman. Bradman's career average is 99.94 from 52 Tests.
●    Adam Charles Voges has played for the Australian national team at Test, One Day International (ODI), and Twenty20 International (T20I) level. At present, he captains Western Australia and Perth Scorchers in domestic cricket.
●    Earlier in 2016, he was included in the 2016 ICC Test Match Team of the Year. 

On This Day

On February 15, 1915, the Indian soldiers launched the first large-scale mutiny of World War I. Some 800 soldiers in the Indian army’s 5th Light Infantry Brigade broke out of their barracks on the afternoon of February 15 and killed several British officers before moving on to other areas of the city. By the time the revolt was quashed, several days later, by British, French and Russian troops, the mutineers had killed 39 Europeans—both soldiers and civilians. British soldiers executed 37 of the mutiny’s ringleaders by gunfire. The Singapore Mutiny was intended by its organizers to be part of a general uprising being engineered by Sikh militants in neighboring India against British colonial rule. The rebels in India were betrayed in March 1915 by a police spy, and the leaders were arrested before they could signal the start of the revolt. Eighteen were hanged.

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