US and Russia agree to enforce new
Syria ceasefire:
ü A
new deal between the US and Russia to enforce a ceasefire in Syria has been
reached, with the cessation of hostilities set to come into force on 27
February.
ü The
ceasefire, subject to the agreement between the warring parties, would exclude
Islamic State, al-Nusra Front and other groups deemed to be terrorist
organisations.
ü In
a change to the previous aborted ceasefire, Russia and America have agreed to
act as direct guarantors and monitors of the cessation of hostilities.
ü The
joint statement also states “All parties further commit to work for the early
release of detainees, particularly women and children”.
INS Arihant passes deep-sea tests. All
set for operations.
ü Indigenous
Nuclear submarine INS Arihant, which was not featured at the International
Fleet Review held recently, is now ready for full-fledged operations.
ü INS
Arihant, India’s first nuclear-armed submarine has passed a number of deep sea
diving drills as well as weapons launch tests over the past five months.
ü It
was initially expected to go for sea trials by 2012, though this happened only
in December 2015.
ü At
present, work is already in progress on two more Arihant class submarines at
the Ship Building Center (SBC) in Vishakhapatnam which will be larger and more
advanced than the first boat. The navy is also accelerating work on INS Varsha
– a new strategic naval base with underground pens on the Eastern Coast near
Kakinada – where the nuclear assets would be based.
Key Points about INS Arihant:
ü INS
Arihant, a 6,000-tonne submarine, is India’s first indigenous nuclear
submarine, and the lead ship of Arihant class of nuclear-powered ballistic
missile submarines launched in 2009.
India's pollution levels beat China
ü India's pollution levels beat China's level of pollution. Greenpeace analysed NASA's satellite data
on particular matter from 2003
to 2015 in India and China.
ü The final conclusion is that China's action led to a 17% reduction in pollution level from 2010 to 2015, while India saw a 13%
increase over the same period.
Bihar sixth state to join UDAY, benefit
pegged at Rs 117 crore.
ü Bihar
has joined the Centre’s power distribution sector revival scheme that targets
operational and financial turnaround of state discoms, starting with restructuring
of their debt.
ü Bihar
signed a memorandum of understanding with the Central government under the
Ujjwal Discom Assurance Yojana (UDAY), becoming the sixth state to do so.
ü Other
states that have become a part of the scheme are Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh,
Jharkhand and Gujarat& UP.
India Sports Awards: Lalita Babar named
Sports Person of the Year-
ü Long-distance
runner Lalita Babar was named as the Sports Person of the Year in the India
Sports Awards 2015.
ü Babar
qualified for Rio Olympics recently in the 3000m steepelchase event and is the
current Indian national record holder. She also won a bronze medal in 2014
Incheon Asian Games and is the current Asian champion.
ü The
Indian Sports Award were were given away at the conclusion of day one of ‘Turf
2015-16’, organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and
Industry (FICCI) with the support of the Sports Ministry.
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