1. Serena becomes World Number One Women’s Tennis Player
ii. Serena Williams who is aged 31 years thrashed Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic 6-3,3-6,7-5 and reached Semifinals of Qatar Open Tennis Championship in Doha.
iii. On entering the semi-finals, she achieved the top position after a period of two and a half years.
iv. Serena Williams will compete against Maria Sharapova in the Semifinals on 16 February 2013.
2. Pondy University's Community Radio station bags National Award
i. 'Puduvai Vaani', the five-year old Community Radio Station of Pondicherry Central University, has bagged the first prize at the national level for its thematic performance entitled `Ungalai Thedi` (in search of you).
ii. The Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari presented the award to the Programme Executive of Puduvai Vaani Saleema Rabiyath at the concluding day of the third National Community Radio Sammelan held in New Delhirecently.
iii. The Puduvai Vaani was launched with the support of University Grants Commission. The technical support has been provided by the Commonwealth Education Media Centre for Asia and the Commonwealth of Learning New Delhi.
iv. It works under the FM 107.8 MHZ, a frequency which has been extended to a catchment area of 20 kms.
NOTE: This public sector broadcaster was started in 2008 at the University to enable the people residing in the 20 km radius of coverage to know of various details of the programmes and plans covering their welfare. The CRS also provides live broadcast of various events including the annual convocations held in the University.
3. Asoke Kumar Mukerji Appointed As the Next Permanent Representative of India to the UN
i. Asoke Kumar Mukerji was appointed as the next Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations on 13 February 2013.
ii. Mukerji replaced Hardeep Singh Puri who retired in February 2013 after the tenure of two years.
iii. Asoke Kumar Mukerji was chosen by the Ministry of External Affairs of the Union Government of India.
iv. At present, Mukerji is Special Secretary in the External Affairs Ministry.
v. He also served as the Consul General in Dubai as well as the Deputy High Commissioner in London.
vi. Asoke Kumar Mukerji was the private secretary to External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid.
4. HRD Ministry Launched Sanskrit Caravan
i. Sanskrit Caravan was launched in New Delhi on 14 February 2013 by the Minister of State for Human Resource Development Shashi Tharoor for promoting, preserving as well as propagating Indian languages such as Sanskrit and Urdu.
ii. Sanskrit Caravan was launched as a part of Indian Heritage Caravan, which is actually an initiative of Press Council of India chairman and former Supreme Court Judge Justice Markandey Katju.
NOTE: Earlier in February 2013, Justice Markandey Katju had also inaugurated Urdu Caravan from Delhi to Bhopal as well as Mumbai.
5. India and France Signed MoU in Railway Sector
i. Ministry of Railways, Government of India and the Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Français (SNCF), the French National Railways signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on 14 February 2013 in order to facilitate technical cooperation in Railways to each other.
ii. Chairman, Railway Board, India and Chairman and CEO SNCF from the French side signed this MoU. The MoU was signed when the President of France, H.E. Francois Hollande was present.
There were four main areas in MoU and these were:
i. Station renovation and operations
ii. High speed and semi-high speed rail
iii. Suburban trains
iv. Modernisation of current operations and infrastructure
Main Features of High Speed Cooperation Programme:
i. A project called High Speed Cooperation Programme was decided upon as well. The project will be funded by SNCF with assistance from French Ministry of Finance.
ii. Under the programme, an operations and development feasibility project will be carried out on Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail.
iii. The Memorandum of Understanding remains valid for 5 years. It is extendable by 1 year with the mutual consent.
6. 2nd Meet of India & Bangladesh Joint Consultative Commission held in Dhaka today
i. The Second Meeting of the India-Bangladesh Joint Consultative Commission is set to take place in Dhaka today afternoon.
ii. Minister for External Affairs Salman Khurshid who arrived in Bangladesh capital this morning will be leading the Indian delegation at the meeting while the Bangladesh Delegation will be led the country's Foreign Minister Dr.Dipu Moni.
iii. The Joint Consultative Commission will also the review progress in various sectors of the bilateral relationship, identify thrust areas and give directions for further growth of the bilateral partnership.
iv. During the visit, the two sides are also likely to exchange strip maps as part of the agreement signed to resolve land boundary issues and sign some MOU's which relate to the construction of rail link between Akhuara and Agartala, setting up a think tank and an amendment to the agreement on avoidance of double taxation.
NOTE: The India-Bangladesh Joint Consultative Commission is an inter-ministerial body of the two countries headed by the Minister of External Affairs of India and Foreign Minister of Bangladesh.
ii. The Commission was established under the Framework Agreement on Cooperation for Development signed by the Prime Ministers of the two countries in September 2011.
7. SEBI allowed mutual funds to park 20% in gold deposit schemes
i. The Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has finally given permission to mutual funds (MFs) to park up a fifth (20 per cent) of their gold holdings in gold deposit schemes (GDS) run by banks.
ii. The move aims at curbing escalating imports of gold and also to make better use of idle physical gold. In January,
iii. India's gold imports jumped to 100 tonnes, the highest level of gold imports in 18 months and up 23 per cent from the corresponding month of the previous year.
NOTE: The gold deposit schemes run by banks have so far not succeeded in attracting huge number of customers. These schemes let investors to deposit a minimum of 200 gram of gold in exchange for gold bonds, which carry an interest rate of 3 per cent 4 per cent, depending upon the term of the scheme.
8. US warns N Korea against further nuclear test
i. US has warned North Korea about "damaging consequences" if it went ahead with another nuclear test.
ii. White House Deputy Press Secretary Josh Earnest said:
iii. Referring to relevant UN Security Council resolutions, she said: "In the UN Security Council Resolution 2087, the council expressed its determination to take significant action in the event of a nuclear test.
9. Petrol price hiked by Rs 1.50, diesel by 45 paise
i. Prices of petrol and diesel has been raised from midnight on Friday as diesel prices have been increased by 0.45 paise per litre and the price of petrol has been increased by Rs. 1.50 per litre.
ii. The rates have been revised in tune with the rise in international rates.
iii. The increase announced is excluding local sales tax or VAT and the actual hike for consumers would be more after the incidence of duty is included.
iv. Petrol price in Delhi will go up by almost Rs 1.80 per litre after taking into account 19 per cent VAT and Diesel rates would go up by 51 paise.
10. World wrestling chief fired after Olympic snub
i. The head of the international wrestling federation Raphael Martinetti has been fired after receiving a vote of no-confidence in the wake of the sport's exclusion from the group of core Olympic disciplines, a Russian official said Saturday.
ii. FILA chief Martinetti had come under fire for failing to do enough to promote wrestling inside the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the Swiss official reportedly paid for it with his job at an emergency session called in Phuket, Thailand.
iii. "The FILA bureau has taken the decision to express its lack of trust in Rafael Martinetti, and he has been dismissed.
NOTE :i. Martinettiwas elected to the position of FILA president in 2002, succeeding Milan Ercegan of the former Yugoslavia.
ii. Wrestling was one of the most respected sports at the ancient Olympics and has been included at every edition of the modern Olympics except the 1900 Games, and offered 18 of the 302 gold medals at London 2012.
11. Australia aim to lift sixth women's World Cup title
i. Five-time champions West Indies , in the summit clash of the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup on Sunday.
ii. Australia were undefeated in the series until the West Indies beat them by eight runs in their last Super Six match.
iii. The team from Down Under would be keen to avenge that loss and win the trophy for the sixth time.
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