23rd February 2015 Daily Current Affairs Updates

1) MoU signed between Indian Army and State Bank of India:

--> A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Indian Army and State Bank of India (SBI) on the Defence Salary Package on 23 Feb 2015.

--> The first MoU between SBI and the Indian Army was signed in 2011 and was valid for a period of three years.

--> The basic features of the MoU include a number of free / concessional services like free drafts, free cheque books, free funds transfers to any bank in India through RTGS / NEFT, free ATM cards etc.

-->  The revised MoU will benefit almost 19.5 lakh pensioners and 10 lakh serving personnel who hold Pay or Pension accounts with SBI.

2) TRAI removed interconnection usage charges (IUC):

--> Telecom regulator TRAI on 23 February 2015 removed charges that a landline service provider has to pay to the other service providers for transmitting its customers' phone calls -a move that is likely to lead to lower tariffs.

--> Now, calls made from landline-to-landline or landline-to- mobiles will not include the interconnection charge, which was 20 paise.

--> Trai has also reduced network interconnection usage charges (IUC) on calls made from mobile phones by about 30 per cent to 14 paise per call from 20 paise earlier.

3) Rana Bhagwandas, first Hindu chief justice of Pakistan, died:

--> Former acting chief justice of Pakistan Rana Bhagwandas passed away in Karachi on 23 February 2015..

--> He was the first Hindu and the second non-Muslim head of the supreme court of Pakistan. First non-Muslim CJP was Alvin Robert Cornelius (He was Christian).

--> Bhagwandas became the acting CJP during the 2007 judicial crisis in Pakistan and also briefly became the acting chief justice of Pakistan when the incumbent CJP Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry went on foreign tours in 2005 and 2006.

4) Tamil director RC Sakthi passed away:

--> Popular Tamil director R.C Sakthi, who launched Kamal Haasan in a lead role, breathed his last at a private hospital in Chennai on 23 Feb 2015.

--> Sakthi started his career as a theatre artist. He floated a theatre troupe with his friends and went on to act in a few plays before moving to cinema.

--> His last directorial venture was in 1993 - the Tamil film “Pathini Penna" - which fetched him two State awards for best film and best dialogue writer.

5) Ram Niwas Goel elected Speaker of Delhi Assembly:

--> AAP MLA Ram Niwas Goel was on 23 February 2015 unanimously elected Speaker of the Delhi Assembly on the first day of the two-day session of the House.

--> Another ruling party legislator, Bandana Kumari, was elected Deputy Speaker of the House where the main and only opposition, BJP, has a negligible presence with just three legislators.

--> 67-year-old Goel was elected from Shahdara constituency in north Delhi.

6) National sports awards scheme revamped:

--> Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has amended National Sports Awards Schemes.

--> The amended schemes include Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, Arjuna Award, Dhyan Chand Award and Dronacharya Awards.

--> According to the new provisions, the selection committee for the Arjuna Award will be headed by a retired Supreme Court or High Court judge, and not more than one sportsperson/coach from a particular discipline shall be a member of the panel to avoid any bias towards any particular discipline.

--> A sportsperson of eminence/sports administrator/sports expert belonging to para sports will now be a member of the Arjuna Award selection panel.

--> These amendments were based upon several suggestions made by selection committee for Arjuna Awards headed by Kapil Dev.

7) 87th Academy Awards/ Oscars 2015 presented:

--> The 87th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) was held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles.

--> The Academy Awards (commonly referred as Oscars) were presented in twenty four categories.

--> ‘Birdman’, a dark comedy about a former superstar struggling to revive his Broadway career, shone at the 2015 Oscars.

--> Click Here for complete list of winners.

8) Himachal Pradesh to present India's first paperless budget:

--> Himachal Pradesh is set to become the country's first state to present a 'paperless' budget on March 11.

--> Since the state already has the country's first green assembly, all documents related to budget estimates would be made available online and only around 10 budget copies would be printed for record.

--> Running the proceedings on e-Vidhan would save the state exchequer Rs 15 crore annually.

--> Chief minister Virbhadra Singh had inaugurated e-Vidhan on August 4, 2014.

9) India, Nepal joint military exercise commenced in Nepal:

--> The 8th Indo-Nepal Battalion level combined military training - 'Exercise Surya Kiran-VIII', commenced on 23 February 2015 at the Integrated Army Training Centre, Saljhandi, Nepal.

--> The focus of the drill is to practice Counter Insurgency and Counter Terrorist Operations in mountainous and jungle terrain. 

10) Budget Session of Parliament began:

--> Budget Session began on 23 February 2015 with President Pranab Mukherjee's address to members of both houses of Parliament.

--> In his address, President Mukherjee said 'Sab ka Saath, Sab ka Vikas' is the government's fundamental view.

--> He appealed to all the Members of the Parliament to spend 50 percent of MPLAD fund on the 'Swachh Bharat' mission.

--> The first part of the Budget Session will continue till March 20 while the second part will commence after a month-long break from April 20 and conclude on May 8.

--> The Rail Budget will be presented on February 26, Economic Survey on February 27 and General Budget on February 28.

11) State-run banks to be closed on alternate Saturdays:

--> Public sector banks, including the country's biggest lender State Bank of India, will remain shut on alternate Saturdays, according to a deal reached between employee unions and the Indian Banks' Association, which represents lenders.

--> Employee unions were demanding a five-day week, but an agreement was reached on keeping alternate Saturdays off.

--> An agreement was also reached to hike wages of over 7 lakh public sector bank employees by 15 per cent. The wage hike will be applicable from November 2012 and will be valid for five years.