Daily Current Affairs - 6th March 1. EU leaders meet in Brussels today i. European Union leaders are due to meet in Brussels today for an emergency summit on Ukraine. The new Ukrainian Prime Minister is expected to attend the meeting. ii. EU leaders had hoped for greater progress by now, but Russias foreign minister refused to meet his Ukrainian counterpart in Paris yesterday. iii. Besides, Moscow is not complying with demands from the United States and Europe that its troops return to their bases in Crimea. iv. This emergency summit in Brussels will probably impose some very symbolic sanctions, but substantive measures are unlikely. 2. Indo-Nepal joint military exercise underway at Sailahandi i. In Nepal, a joint military excise between India and Nepal is on at Saljhandi in Rupandehi district. ii. The two week exercise, Ex-Surya Kiran Drills VI was inaugurated by Nepal’s Army Major General Victor SJB Rana at Saljhandhi. iii. Major Rana said the training would be helpful in multinational disaster management and counter insurgency. iv. 250 personnel from the Indian Army and 200 from the Nepal army are taking part in the joint excise. The last joint excise was held in Pithoragarh district in Uttarakhand last year. Note: i. Mauritius and Seychelles participated in the meeting as guest countries and showed interest to be associated with the trilateral grouping. ii. It was third meeting, the 2nd was held in Colombo in July last year. iii. The next meeting will be held in Maldives. 3. India, Lanka & Maldives hold National Security Advisor-level meet on in Delhi i. India, Sri Lanka and Maldives today held National Security Advisor-level meeting on maritime security cooperation in New Delhi. ii. They reviewed and expressed satisfaction over the progress in the implementation of various activities in the identified areas. iii. The three sides also discussed new areas of cooperation including hydrography, training in search and seizure operations, exchanges between think tanks and joint participation in adventure activities. They asked the technical groups to accelerate the implementation of joint activities and work out a programme of cooperation in the new areas. 4. Yahoo acquires social-media data visualiser Vizify i. Yahoo has reportedly acquired a startup that lets people create infographics and videos out of social data. ii. Vizify lets people create interactive visualizations based on data involving what they share online, creating a type of Internet biography. iii. According to Cnet, Vizify would be shutting down the product as the team joins Yahoo and its website has already started showing its sky-blue logo turn to Yahoos purple. iv. Vizify said that they were excited to bring a more visual approach to data at Yahoo. v. The buyout, for an undisclosed amount, is Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayers 37th acquisition since taking the reins at the company in 2012. 5. Vedanta appoints Tom Albanese as new CEO i. Mining conglomerate Vedanta Resources today appointed Tom Albanese as its new chief executive from April 1. ii. The former head of Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto plc will replace Mahendra Singh Mehta, the CEO of both Vedanta Resources and Sesa Sterlite, who is retiring on March 31. iii. He will also be appointed CEO of its main operating entity, Sesa Sterlite, from April 1, it added. iv. Vedantas Indian billionaire boss, Anil Agarwal, continues to own most of the company and remains executive chairman. v. Although Vedanta is among the worlds top 10 mining firms, it is perceived as an India-focused miner because most of its operations are located in London. 6. Kellogg’s ropes in Deepika Padukone as brand ambassador for Special K i. Kelloggs has roped in bollywood actress Deepika Padukone for Special K. ii. The company said in a statement that the association with the coveted actor was well-timed as the wedding season was just around the corner. Women want to look their best while preparing for a wedding. iii. Based on this insight, Kellogg’s Special K, along with Deepika, is presenting women with a Special K 2 Week Challenge as part of a healthy lifestyle to help them kick-start a weight management journey. iv. The challenge aims to prepare women for a bold, beautiful and contemporary look for weddings. 7. Virat Kohli slips to 10th spot in ICC Player Rankings i. Virat Kohli slipped two places to 10th while Australian David Warner jumped to a career-best fifth spot in the latest Reliance ICC Rankings released on Thursday. ii. The batting table is still headed by AB de Villiers, with Kumar Sangakkara in second place and Shivnarine Chanderpaul in third position. Kohli is also the lone Indian in the top 10 among batsmen. iii. Warner, who slammed hundreds (135 and 145) in both innings of the series-deciding Cape Town Test, has moved up five places to be the highest-ranked Australia batsman, with his skipper Michael Clarke in ninth position being the only other in the top 10. 8. F-1 will not return to India in 2015: Ecclestone i. Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone has made a shock statement that the race will “surely” not return to India next year even as the organisers Jaypee Sports International Ltd. (JPSI) remained optimistic that the F-1 caravan will arrive in the country in 2015. ii. The 2014 race was dropped from the calendar due to bureaucratic hurdles even as the official version was that it was scrapped due to logistic reasons. iii. “Probably 2016... they’re gradually getting over all the bureaucracy with the tax position inside the country and the general finance,” the 82-year-old was quoted by the Guardian. iv. Citing “political” reasons, Bernie had taken out the race from the country. Due to bureaucratic hurdles and taxation issues, teams struggle to get equipments in the country. v. The Indian government does not consider F-1 as sport but as entertainment. Note: The organisers have a five-year contract to host the race at the Buddh International Circuit (BIC) in Greater Noida. The first race was held in October 2011. 9. Dehradun Professor Sets World Record i. A professor of a city based deemed university set a world record today by delivering a marathon non-stop lecture for more than 130 hours at the varsity auditorium. ii. 26-year-old Arvind Mishra, an assistant professor at Dehraduns Graphic Era University where he teaches Mechanical Engineering completed 130 hours of his lecture at 4 pm this evening, surpassing the world record of non-stop lecture which stood in the name of a Polish teacher who delivered a lecture for 121 hours in 2009, HoD of the Universitys Media and Mass Com department Subhash Gupta said. iii. The young professor is still going on as he wants to set a wide margin between his record and that of the Polish teacher Errol Muzawazi whose feat of 121-hour non-stop teaching still adorns the pages of Guiness Book of World Records, Gupta said. iv. A panel of the Guiness Book of World Records is also keeping an eye through live streaming on the marathon lecture being held by Mishra at the Universitys MBA auditorium to a mixed audience of students and teachers. v. The universitys chairman Kamal Ghanshala has announced a cash reward of Rs 1 lakh and two out-of-turn promotions for the assistant professor for his rare feat. 10. Election Commission awards EVM contracts to ECIL, BEL i. The Election Commission has placed orders estimated at more than Rs 300 crore with Electronics Corporation of India Ltd and Bharat Electronics Ltd to deliver EVMs for the Lok Sabha elections. ii. The Election Commission needs 16 lakh EVMs for the Lok Sabha elections to be held in April and May. iii. We placed order for 2.5 lakh controlling units and around 4 lakh ballot units with ECIL Hyderabad and BEL, Bangalore, on a 50-50 basis, a commission official told PTI, adding that delivery is expected to be completed by the month-end. iv. Each electronic voting machine (EVM) consists of one controlling unit and one ballot unit. Although the price is yet to be fixed by the Ministry of Finance, the orders were placed with a tentative tag of Rs 10,500 per EVM. v. ECIL confirmed it received orders for 1.91 lakh ballot units and 1.25 lakh controlling units and said it is fully geared up to supply them before March end. vi. Each EVM will have a None of the Above (NOTA) button for electors to use if they dont want to vote for any of the contestants.
Posted on: Fri, 07 Mar 2014 04:27:12 +0000
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