1. Sanjeev Sanyal inducted in the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister
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Finance Ministry's principal economic advisor Sanjeev Sanyal has been inducted as a full-time member in the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM), The appointment is for a tenure of two years.
Sanyal was appointed as Finance Ministry's principal economic adviser in February 2017 and was earlier the managing director at Deutsche Bank.
Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister
It was set up by Indira Gandhi in 1980’s as the Prime Minister Economic Advisory Council . Later the government abolished and reconstituted the Advisory council as per their needs .
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh reconstituted the Economic Advisory Council in 2004 and made Dr C. Rangarajan as its Chairman
Dr Rangarajan resigned in 2014 after Manmohan singh government lost the election
Narendra Modi government reconstituted the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister in 2017 and made Dr Bibek Debroy as its Chairman
There is no limit on the number of members the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister has .
It is mainly composed of economists and experts who advise the Prime Minister on economic issues.
2. Professor Neena Gupta awarded Ramanujan Prize for Young Mathematicians 2021
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The Ramanujan Prize for Young Mathematicians was awarded to Professor Neena Gupta, a mathematician of the Indian Statistical Institute in Kolkata, in a virtual ceremony on 22nd February 2022.
She received the award for the year 2021 for her outstanding work in affine algebraic geometry and commutative algebra.
The prize is awarded annually to a researcher from a developing country funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) of the Government of India in association with ICTP (International Centre for Theoretical Physics)Trieste, Italy and the International Mathematical Union (IMU) Berlin, Germany.
It is given to young mathematicians less than 45 years of age who have conducted outstanding research in a developing country.
Ramanujan Prize for Young Mathematicians
The DST-ICTP-IMU Ramanujan Prize for young mathematicians from developing countries has been awarded annually since 2005.It was originally instituted by (International Centre for Theoretical Physics)Trieste, Italy, the Niels Henrik Abel Memorial Fund, and the International Mathematical Union (IMU), Berlin, Germany.
The participation of the Abel Fund ended in 2012 and the Department of Science and Technology of the Government of India (DST) has agreed to fund the Prize for a 5 year period, starting with the 2014 Prize.
The Prize carries a $15,000 cash award. The Prize is given with the provision that the prize money be used to support the research of the recipient.
The first person to win the award in 2005 was Brazilian Marcelo Viana
3. KPAC Lalitha passes away
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Maheshwari Amma, who was popularly known by her stage name KPAC Lalitha, died on 22 February 2022 in Kochi,Kerala. She was 74 years old.
She was a noted Malayalam film actress who worked in more than 500 films.
She won the National Awards under the best supporting actress category twice for her roles in Amaram (1990) and Shantham (2000).
She was also the winner of four Kerala State Film Awards. She also chaired the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi.
4. Noted Gandhian Shakuntala Choudhary passed away
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Shakuntala Choudhary also popularly known as 'Shakuntala Baideo' died on 21 February 2022.She was 102 years old .
She was from Kamrup district of Assam and a noted Gandhian social worker and freedom fighter.
She worked for the welfare of the villagers, especially women and children .
She was awarded with Padam Shri by the President in 2022.
5. Noted Kannada poet Channaveera Kanavi no more
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Noted Kannada poet Nadoja Channaveera Kanavi died on 16 February 2022 at Dharwad,Karnataka. He was 93 years old.
He was often referred to as ‘Samanvaya Kavi’ (Poet of Reconciliation),
He won the Kendra Sahitya Akademi award for his collection of poems 'Jeevadhwani' in 1982.
6. G. Ashok Kumar appointed as the first National Maritime Security Coordinator
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The Government of India has appointed Vice Admiral (retd) G Ashok Kumar as India’s first National Maritime Security Coordinator(NMSC).
The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) headed by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave its approval to create the post in November 2021.
The NMSC will be responsible for coordinating the various agencies which are involved in coastal security of India like the Indian Navy, Coast Guard, State Police and other agencies.
He will directly report to the National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.
India has a coastline of 7516.6 Km which encompases 13 States and Union Territory.
Why the need of such a post
On November 26, 2008, 10 Pakistani terrorists sneaked into Mumbai through the sea, arriving by boat from Karachi and created a havoc in Mumbai killing around 166 people. This terrorist incident in Mumbai brought into light the complete lack of coordination amongst the security agencies.
To prevent such security failure in future and for better coordination amongst security agencies this post has been created.
Important Full form for Exams
CCS : Cabinet Committee on Security
NMSC: National Maritime Security Coordinator
NSA: National Security Advisor
7. Legendary Bengali singer Sandhya Mukhopadhyay passes away
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Legendary Bengali singer Sandhya Mukhopadhyay died in Kolkata on 15 February 2022 after a brief illness. She was 90 years old. .
She trained under Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan and was later associated with legends like Begum Akhtar.
The unique feature of her career was that her songs were released during the Durga puja festival in Bengal.
Sandhya Mukherjee’s first record was in 1945 and her first album of Durga Puja songs was released in 1948.
Her first playback song was for the film Samapika released in 1948.
In 1971, She won the national film award for best female playback singer for songs in the films Jai Jayanti (1970) and Nishi Padma (1970).
Last month she declined the Padma Shri award by the Union government.
8. Famous Bollywood music composer Bappi Lahiri passes away
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Legendary Bollywood music composer, singer and pioneer of disco, Bappi Lahiri passed away at Midnight on 15 February 2022 in a Mumbai hospital. He was 69.
Bappi Lahiri was born on November 27, 1952 in Calcutta (now Kolkata), West Bengal.
His first major hit film was Zakhmee. He was best known for his works in Wardat, Disco Dancer, Namak Halaal, Dance Dance, Commando, Saheb, Gang Leader, Sailaab, Sharaabi among others. He was very popular in the 1980s and 1990s for his music compositions.
His last Bollywood song Bankas was for the film Baaghi 3 released in 2020.
His last on screen appearance was with Salman Khan on Big Boss 15, where he promoted grandson Swasti's new song Baccha Party.
Awards won by Bappi Lahiri
Filmfare Lifetime achievement award 2018.
Filmfare best Music Director Award for the film Sharabi in 1985.
Mirchi Music award 2012 for best Item song of the year:“Oh la la” for the film Dirty Picture.
9. Justice M N Bhandari sworn in as the new Chief Justice of Madras High Court
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Justice M N Bhandari was sworn in as the Chief Justice of Madras High Court by the Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi on 14 February 2022. He was administered the oath of office by the state governor, R.N.Ravi
Madras High Court is the third oldest High Court in India .
Madras High court is the High Court of Tamil Nadu and Union Territory of Puducherry .
Fact files
High Courts in India were set up under the High Court act 1861 ,passed by the British Parliament for India .
The first High Court to be set up in India was the Calcutta High Court or the High Court of Judicature at Fort William. It started functioning from 1st July, 1862.
The second High Court in India was the Bombay High Court which started functioning from 14 August 1862 .
The third High Court in India was the Madras High Court which started functioning from 15 August 1862 .
There are 25 High Courts in India .
Important Points
The Chief Justice of a High Court is appointed by the President of India in consultation with the Chief Justice of India and the Governor of the state, under article 217 of the Indian constitution.
Under article 219 of the constitution oath to the Chief Justice of the High Court or the judge of the High Court is administered by the State Governor or by a person appointed by the Governor.
10. Mehmet İlker Aycı to take charge of Air India
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Tata Sons has appointed former Turkish Airlines chairman Mehmet Ilker Ayci as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director (MD) of Air India.
Mehmet Ilker Ayci will take charge of Air India on or before 1 April 2022.
Mehmet Ilker Ayci is a Turkish businessman.
Tata Sons
It is the holding company of the Tata group of companies like TCS, TaTa Steel ,Tata Motors,Tata Finance, etc.
Chairman of the Tata Sons : N. Chandrasekaran
Air India Disinvestment
On 25 October 2021, Government of India signed an agreement with Tata Group for selling off its entire 100% share in Air India to Talace Pvt Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Sons.
The deal was of Rs 18,000 crore of which Tata will pay Rs 2,700 crore to the government and Tata will take over the Rs 15,300 crore of the Air India debt.
On 27 January 2022,Air India was formally taken over by the Tatas from the Government of India.
Air India finally returned to Tata after almost 69 years .
Air India and Tata Group
Air India was founded by JRD Tata in 1932 as Tata Airlines .
It was converted into a public company and named Air India in 1946 .
In 1953 the Nehru Government nationalised all the private airlines in India and created Indian Airlines for domestic operations and Air India for International operations .
Later both Indian Airlines and Air India were merged and finally Air India was created in 2010.
