Daily Current Affairs Updates: 22 February 2015

1) Ranchi Rays won Hockey India League 2015:

--> Debutants Ranchi Rays won the third edition of the Hockey India League (HIL) defeating Punjab Warriors 3-2 in a penalty shootout in the final at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium on  February

--> The regulation time score read 2-2 which resulted in the shootout.

--> Though the Rays are a new team, the squad is more or less the same as that of the now non-existent Ranchi Rhinos which won the inaugural HIL in 2013.

2) Nitish Kumar sworn in as Bihar CM:

--> Nitish Kumar took oath as Bihar's CM for the fourth time on 22 February 2015.

-->  This follows the dramatic resignation of rebel JD(U) leader Jitan Ram Manjhi last week before the show of strength in the 243-member Bihar assembly.

--> He was administered the oath of office and secrecy at the Raj Bhawan in Patna by governor Keshari Nath Tripathi.

3) Dilip Shanghvi overtook Mukesh Ambani as the richest Indian:

--> Dilip Shanghvi overtakes Mukesh Ambani as the richest Indian in terms of market value.

--> The Sun Pharma's founder and MD, is worth about Rs 1.46 lakh crore thanks to his 63 per cent stake in three group companies - Sun Pharma, Sun Pharma Advanced Research and Ranbaxy Laboratories. 

4) India defeated South Africa by 137 runs in World Cup group match:

--> India announced themselves as genuine contenders to defend their World Cup title on 22 February 2015 by humbling South Africa's vaunted pace attack before bowling out the Proteas for an emphatic 130-run victory at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

--> In front of a heaving crowd of 86,000, opener Shikhar Dhawan struck a sparkling 137 and Ajinkya Rahane an explosive 79 to fire India to a mammoth 307-7 and ensure their opponents would need a record chase at the stadium to win.

--> Shikhar Dhawan was adjudged Man of the Match.

5) India, Indonesian troops conduct joint training exercises named GARUDA SHAKTI-III:

--> Sharing experiences in conduct of counter-terrorism and insurgency operations, troops of India and Indonesia participated in joint army exercises in Mizoram.

--> The exercise was aimed at building and promoting positive military-to-military relations between the armies of the two nations, defence officials said.

--> Exercise 'GARUDA SHAKTI-III' is the third one in the ongoing series of joint exercises between armies of India and Indonesia.

6) Somdev Devvarman retained Delhi Open title:

--> Somdev Devvarman retained the Delhi Open title with a comeback win over Yuki Bhambri, whose game crumbled despite early promise in the summit clash.

--> With this victory, Somdev ended a long title-less run which began after winning this title last year.

7) In a first, women joined Sarang team:

--> For the first time, two women are part of the Sarang team of the Indian Air Force, a show-stopping helicopter-formation team that performed at the Aero India show.

--> Squadron Leader Deepika Misra and Flight Lieutenant Sandeep Singh, an engineering officer, hope that one day, there will be an all-woman quartet in the squad, whose name means peacock.

8) Maldives ex-leader Nasheed arrested on terror charges:

--> Police in the Maldives have arrested opposition leader and ex-President Mohamed Nasheed on terror charges.

--> The case against him was dropped last week, but the allegations have been reintroduced under anti-terror laws that punish acts against the state.

--> Mr Nasheed - a former human rights campaigner was president of Maldives from from 2008 to 2012.

9) World Thinking Day observed:

--> World Thinking Day was celebrated annually on 22 February by all Girl Guides and Girl Scouts.

--> It is also celebrated by Scout and Guide organizations and some boy-oriented associations around the world.

10) Indian-American, Purnendu Dasgupta, won prestigious chemistry award:

--> An Indian-American, who developed an environment friendly field analyser for checking toxic arsenic levels in water, has been awarded a prestigious award for his special contribution in the field of chemistry.

--> Purnendu Dasgupta, a Jenkins Garrett professor of chemistry at The University of Texas at Arlington, has been awarded the 2015 American Chemical Society Division of Analytical Chemistry J. Calvin Giddings Award.