3rd February 2016 - Important Current Affairs updates

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International Affairs

North Korea today notified UN agencies of its plans to launch an earth observation satellite 'Kwangmyongsong' sometime between 8th to 25th February 2016.
- Amid fears that the satellite launches are missile tests in disguise, the United States renewed calls for harsher UN sanctions against North Korea.
- However, North Korea emphasised that pursuing a space programme is its sovereign right.
The Japanese government today announced that it has deployed ground and sea-based antimissile interceptors to prepare itself for a possible missile test by North Korea.
- Japan's Defense Ministry said surface-to-air missile systems as a part of a two-tier defense were deployed at 34 locations.

National Affairs

The first ever electric train in India ran on this day (3rd February) in the year 1925 between Bombay VT and Kurla Harbour.
- The train was electrified on 1500 Volt DC (direct current).
- Later, the electric line was extended to Nashik's Igatpuri district and then to Pune.
- Around 388 km of railways was electrified in the country before India gained independence in 1947.
The Bombay High Court's Nagpur Bench has urged citizens to not pay taxes and even launch a non-cooperation movement if the government allows corruption to continue.
- The court called corruption a 'hydra-headed monster'.
Maharashtra government has decided to re-launch a scheme to encourage Dalit entrepreneurs' participation in service and manufacturing sectors.
- The scheme, named after BR Ambedkar, reserves 20% plots for small and medium scale industries with Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation for Dalits.
- The policy is only limited to industries with 100% investment from SC/ST people.

New Appointments

Data analytics company Mu Sigma, has appointed Ambiga Dhiraj as its CEO, making her the first woman CEO of an Indian Unicorn.
- Ambiga, who was the former COO in the company has replaced her husband and founder-chairman Dhiraj Rajaram.
Urban Ladder, the online furniture and home décor company, has announced the appointment of Sanjay Gupta as its Chief Marketing Officer.
Major General Jai Shanker Menon of India was appointed as the Head of Mission and Force Commander of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF).

MOUs

India and Brunei today signed three agreements. They are,
- MoU in health cooperation
- MoU on Defence cooperation
- MOU on cooperation in youth and sports affairs

Business & Economy

India has surpassed the USA as the world's second-largest smartphone market in terms of active unique smartphone users, a Counterpoint Research report has announced today.
- India's user base has crossed 220 million, but the smartphone penetration is still below 30% of the total potential population, the report added.
- Samsung claimed the largest share in 2015, followed by Micromax and Lenovo.
The Union Cabinet today allowed the Indian Railways to form joint ventures with the state governments for speedy implementation of rail projects.
- The joint ventures will be responsible for identifying projects, acquiring land, financing and monitoring them.
- Further, each joint venture will have an initial paid-up capital of ₹100 crore, based on the amount of projects to be undertaken.
Reliance Group Chairman Anil Ambani today announced the setting up of 'Dhirubhai Ambani Centre for Innovation and Research in Aerospace' in Bengaluru.
- The centre, to be set up under Reliance Defence, will generate over 1,500 highly skilled jobs.
Amazon has launched its grocery service with the name 'Amazon Now' in select areas of Bengaluru.
- Currently available through an Android app, the service lets users order everyday essentials from their nearby stores and delivers them within two hours.
- Users can also opt for scheduled delivery of their orders through the app between 10am to 10pm.
India secured the top spot for the seventh straight quarter in Nielsen’s Consumer Confidence Index rankings for the December quarter.
- Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand take the next three spots.

People in News

The current and 23rd Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, Raghuram Rajan, turned 53 years old today.
- An IIT-Delhi and IIM-Ahmedabad alumnus, Rajan brought down retail inflation to 3.78% in 2015, the lowest since the 1990s.
- It is considered his biggest achievement as RBI Governor.
- He also served as Chief Economist at the International Monetary Fund from 2003-2006.
Six days after his appointment as the advisor to Arunachal Pradesh Governor JP Rajkhowa, former Delhi Police Commissioner YS Dadwal, resigned today.
- Dadwal and retired IAS officer GS Patnaik were appointed as the Governor's advisors on January 26.
- Note : Dadwal has been replaced by former SSB chief BD Sharma.

Deaths

S.S. Tarapore, former deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and a noted economist, passed away.
- A career central banker, Tarapore joined the RBI in 1961 and retired in 1996 as deputy governor, having been involved in almost all aspects of monetary policy.
- He served as RBI deputy governor between 1992 and 1996 when C. Rangarajan was the governor.
Former Lok Sabha (LS) Speaker Balram Jakhar passed away.
Pakistani author Intizar Hussain passed away.
- He was shortlisted for the Man Booker International Prize in 2013, and awarded the French award Ordre des Arts et des Lettres a year later.
- Born in India, Hussain migrated to Pakistan in 1947.
- He was an advocate of pluralism and tolerance.
Former Pakistani cricketer Israr Ali, who was the country’s oldest living Test cricketer, has passed away at the age of 88.
- Born on May 1, 1927 in Jullundar (now Jalandhar) in India, Ali an all-rounder was a member of Pakistan’s first Test squad which went to India in 1952 and played two tests.
- He also appeared in Pakistan’s first test 60 years ago.

Awards & Honors

Indian filmmaker Kanu Behl directorial “Titli” has bagged the Best First Foreign Film Award conferred by the French Syndicate of Cinema Critics 2016 (FSCC).
- “Titli” has earlier won at various international film festivals at places like Bordeaux, Hawaii, New York, Turkey and Spain.

Science & Technology

A software engineer working at Google, Max Braun has developed an Android-powered mirror which displays important information such as date, time, news and weather.
- It also sports Google's voice search feature.
Twitter today launched a new feature home timeline for its offline users in 23 countries, including India.
- The new feature lets users discover real-time tweets straight from the source without logging in to the Twitter account.
- Twitter also expanded its refreshed Twitter homepage that lets users click and explore various topics on the platform without logging in.
A group of scientists led by an Indian-origin researcher Srimanta Middey, has created an artificial material with similar structure as graphene.
- In comparison to silicon transistors for computers, graphene transistors are believed to be faster and more heat tolerant and efficient.
The world's first vaccine against the Zika Virus has been developed in India as per claims by scientists at the Bharat Biotech International Limited in Hyderabad.
- The organisation said that two vaccines to fight Zika were developed.

Sports

Playing the first match of the Bengaluru leg of season three of the Pro Kabaddi League, Patna Pirates defeated the Bengaluru Bulls 33-24 today.
Two-time Olympian Sanjeev Rajput secured India's 12th shooting spot for the 2016 Rio Olympics.
- Rajput finished fourth in the men's 50-metre rifle three positions event at the 'Asia Olympic Qualifying Competition for Shooting' at Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range in New Delhi today.
Kerala emerged as the overall winner for the 19th consecutive time at National School Athletics championship.
- The national School Athletics championship was held at Olympian Rahman Stadium in Kozhikode, Kerala from 29th January 2016 to 2nd February 2016.

3rd February 2016 - Important Current Affairs updates

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