Current Affairs 18th February 2017 | General Awareness 18th February 2017

1. Vikas Swarup is the new India’s High Commissioner in Canada.

Ministry of External Affairs appointed Vikas Swarup as the Indian High Commissioner to Canada. He is the Senior Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer and noted novelist of Slumdog Millionaire. He will be on the place of Arun Kumar Sahu who is currently working as acting Indian High Commissioner to Canada.

2. Racket in the name of PM’s scheme busted

The U.P. police have busted a racket, involving a gang of seven women duping people in Muzaffarnagar in the name of enrolling them for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s flagship initiative Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP). Police said the women lured lower middle-class parents to get their daughters ‘registered’ with the promise of monetary returns , when no cash is offered under BBBP.

3. HAL, Saab sign MoU for transfer of technology

• Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) had a busy day on 17^th Feb 2017, with three major memorandums of understanding (MoUs) or contracts being signed.
• The largest of the contracts was between the avionics division of HAL and the South African subsidiary of the Swedish defence firm Saab for transfer of technology.
• The contract is worth $8.5 mn, which will see the transfer of technology for in country maintenance of Saab’s Integrated Defensive Aids Suite (IDAS), which is the electronic warfare self-protection system for HAL’s advanced light helicopter Dhruv.

4. Shri Radha Mohan Singh Inaugurated 2017 Indian Seed Congress in Kolkata

• The Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shri Radha Mohan Singh inaugurated the Indian Seed Congress 2017 in Kolkata. The theme of Seed Congress is “Seed of Joy”.2017 Indian Seed Congress in Kolkata.
• The theme is in line with vision of PM Modi government to bring happiness and prosperity in the lives of farmers by doubling their farm income by 2022.

5. Indian-origin Shand Panesar Wins UK’s Bravery Award

An Indian-origin Scotland Yard officer Shand Panesar along with his colleague Craig Nicholson was honored with the 2017 Outstanding Bravery of the Year Award in central London during a special award ceremony of the Total Excellence in Policing Awards.

6. AIIMS, New Delhi Wins First Prize for Sanitation & Hygiene under Kayakalp Awards

• India’s premier health institute the All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi was awarded the first prize of the Government’s Kayakalp Award under the Central Government Hospitals category in New Delhi for maintaining high standards of sanitation and hygiene.
• The award was presented by the Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Shri J P Nadda and the All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi received a cash prize of Rs. 5 crore.

7. Indian Railways Wins National Chess Championship

• Indian Railways has won The 36th National Chess Team Championship.
• This is their 1st championship title and it was held at Bhubaneswar.
• Indian Railway team beat its counterparts, viz. Odisha, Gujrat, Air-India, AAI, TN, and Delhi.
• Lastly, Indian Railway ousted Life Insurance Corporation.
• Railway team consisted of five Chess players from different Zonal Railways.

8. Sindh Assembly Approves Hindu Marriage Bill

• Sindh Assembly, Pakistan passed the Hindu Marriage Bill 2016.
• It became the first assembly in Pakistan to do so.
• It will provide mechanism for formally registering Hindu marriages in Sindh.
• Bill was moved by Sindh Parliamentary Affairs Minister Nisar Ahmed Khuhro.
• The law can be applied retroactively to existing marriages.

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