28th February 2015 Important Current Affairs

1) Arun K Singh to be India’s next ambassador to the US:

--> Arun Kumar Singh, a 1979 batch Indian Foreign Service officer, has been named ambassador to the United States in place of S Jaishankar, who took over as foreign secretary on January 28.

--> Fifty-nine-year-old Singh is India’s ambassador to France now.

--> India has already sent an agrement to the US government naming Singh as its next Ambassador and was awaiting a response from the Obama administration.

2) Oxford Dictionary adds 'Ride-share', 'unboxing' in word list:

--> Oxford dictionary has added words "Ride-share" and "unboxing" in the new list.

--> Other additions included "Bioprinting", defined as as "the use of 3D printing technology with materials that incorporate viable living cells, e.g. to produce tissue for reconstructive surgery."

--> And "unboxing", a favorite past time for Apple enthusiasts especially: "An act or instance of removing a newly purchased product from its packaging and examining its features, typically when filmed and shared on a social media site."

--> Oxford also added "vishing", which is like phishing, but using phone calls or voice messages instead of emails to trick people in revealing sensitive information.

3) Indian-origin counsel appointed as Judicial Commissioner to Singapore Supreme Court:

--> A 49-year-old Indian-origin lawyer has been appointed as a Judicial Commissioner to Singapore’s Supreme Court bench for two years.

--> Senior Counsel Kannan Ramesh, who was appointed to the bench, will assume the position from May 22, according to a statement by the Prime Minister’s Office. 

4) National Science Day observed:

--> Every year February 28 is celebrated as the National Science Day i.e. Rashtriya Vigyan Diwas.

--> In 2015, the theme of the day is “Science for Nation Building”.

--> This year’s theme has been chosen for the purpose of raising public appreciation on scientific issues for the development of nation.

5) Union Budget 2015-16 presented in Parliament:

--> Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented Union Budget 2015-16 in the Parliament.

--> It was the first full year Budget of the NDA government under leadership of Prime Minister of Narendra Modi and the second budget of Arun Jaitley as Finance Minister.

--> Click Here for highlights of Union Budget 2015-16

6) FMC to be merged with SEBI:

--> The finance minister has announced a decision to merge the commodities market regulator, Forward Markets Commission (FMC), with the capital markets regulator, Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi).

--> To give effect to this, amendments in the respective Acts governing these markets have been introduced.