Current Affairs of 6 February 2015

1. Kolkata becomes India’s first Wi-Fi-enabled metro city
Kolkata has become India’s first Wi-Fi-enabled metro city as the service was launched from Park Street in city.
This 4th Generation (4G) free Wi-fi service was launched by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Free Wi-fi service will be will be rolled out in phased manner in all the wards under Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) as well as adjacent areas of Kolkata. The whole city is expected to come under Wi-Fi coverage by mid-April in 2015.
Private telecom operator, Reliance Jio is providing the 4G enabled service Wi-fi s in the city.

2. US President appoints Ajay Banga as member of the Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations
United States (US) President Barack Obama has appointed Indian CEO Ajay Banga as member of the Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations (ACTPN).
ACTPN is the US president’s private-sector advisory panel on international trade and helps him to coordinate trade  related policies and resolve disagreements.
This appointment came along with several other appointments to key US administration posts.

3. Tunisia Parliament approves first coalition government after Arab Spring
Tunisia Parliament has approved the first historic coalition government after the Arab spring.
In this regard, 166 out of 204 Members of Parliament (MPs) voted in favor of the new cabinet proposed by the Prime Minister Habib Essid. The new coalition Government comprised of liberal Nida Tounes party, moderate Islamist Ennahda party and the Free Patriotic party.
In the coalition government, Nidaa Tounes party holds 6 portfolios, including the foreign ministry. While, the interior, defence and justice portfolios have been given to independents. Ennahda party holds labour ministry and three secretary of state posts.

4. Modi chairs first NITI Aayog meet
 Ahead of his government’s first full budget, Prime Minister Narendra Modi
on Friday sought ideas from economists to attract investments, create jobs and finance infrastructure to put the country back on a high growth path.
Mr. Modi brainstormed suggestions with leading economists at the maiden meeting of the “think tank” NITI Aayog and will follow it up with another meeting with Chief Ministers on Sunday.
“NITI Aayog had today organised a meeting... (with) some very eminent economists with regard to the state of economy and steps required to boost investment, growth and even specific suggestions with regard to the Union Budget,” Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told reporters after the meeting.
Mr. Jaitley, who will present the budget for 2015-16 on February 28, 2015, said suggestions were mainly related to the high growth roadmap for the Indian economy.
“These were also in relation to the financing of infrastructure, how to attract investment, how to boost domestic savings and the state of agricultural sector was particularly discussed,” the Finance Minister said.
Niti Aayog is a “think tank” also and Friday’s meeting was in that context, Mr. Jaitley said.
The meeting also discussed suggestions with regard to effective implementation of several flagship schemes of the government and how poverty levels can be brought down.
Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian, the Aayog’s full time members Bibek Debroy and V.K. Saraswat, Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha, Planning Minister Rao Inderjit Singh, ex-RBI governor Bimal Jalan, Subir Gokarn, Ashok Gulati and G.N. Bajpai were also present in the meeting.
The NITI Aayog came into existence on January 1 after the government scrapped the Planning Commission.

5. Gujarat Handloom Corporation inks MoU with eBay
Gujarat State Handloom and Handicraft Development Corporation (GSHHDC) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with global e-commerce giant eBay.
The main objective of this MoU is to expand sales base of handloom and handicraft products of Gujarat to online market from current retail shop sales.
In order to increase the online market share, GSHHDC is also planning to launch its own e-commerce portal under Garvi-Gurjari brand to reach out to a bigger customer base and boost sales in overseas markets.
GSHHDC is also planning to tie-up with domestic e-commerce majors as Flipkart and Snapdeal.
As of now, GSHHDC’s sales are from offline market through their 23 showrooms and exhibitions across India. As expansion plan, GSHHDC’s within next three years is aiming to open 300 stores.

6. Eminent Marathi writer Bhalchandra Nemade selected for Jnanpith Award 2014
Eminent Marathi writer Bhalchandra Nemade has been selected for Jnanpith Award 2014.
He is the 4th Marathi writer to receive the honour and is the 50th recipient of Jnanpith award.

7. HAL signs contract with IAF to supply 14 Dornier-228 aircrafts
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has signed a Rs. 1,090-crore contract for supplying 14 Dornier-228 (Do-228) aircraft’s to the Indian Air Force (IAF).
The contract also includes supplying six reserve engines, a flight simulator and associated equipment to IAF.
These 14 aircraft’s will be manufactured by the HAL’s Transport Aircraft Division at Kanpur.

8. Alibaba enters India's e-commerce space with 25% stake in Paytm owner One97
Alibaba, the world's biggest and most valuable ecommerce firm, has finally moved to pitch its flag in India. An Alibaba affiliate, Ant Financial Services Group, said on Thursday it had signed a deal to buy a 25% stake in Indian mobile payments and ecommerce platform Paytm owner One97 Communications. While both sides did not reveal financial details, three sources familiar with the deal said Ant would initially pay around $200 million for the stake and stump up $375 million more in tranches based on the firm meeting performance milestones


1. Kolkata becomes India’s first Wi-Fi-enabled metro city
Kolkata has become India’s first Wi-Fi-enabled metro city as the service was launched from Park Street in city.
This 4th Generation (4G) free Wi-fi service was launched by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Free Wi-fi service will be will be rolled out in phased manner in all the wards under Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) as well as adjacent areas of Kolkata. The whole city is expected to come under Wi-Fi coverage by mid-April in 2015.
Private telecom operator, Reliance Jio is providing the 4G enabled service Wi-fi s in the city.

2. US President appoints Ajay Banga as member of the Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations
United States (US) President Barack Obama has appointed Indian CEO Ajay Banga as member of the Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations (ACTPN).
ACTPN is the US president’s private-sector advisory panel on international trade and helps him to coordinate trade  related policies and resolve disagreements.
This appointment came along with several other appointments to key US administration posts.

3. Tunisia Parliament approves first coalition government after Arab Spring
Tunisia Parliament has approved the first historic coalition government after the Arab spring.
In this regard, 166 out of 204 Members of Parliament (MPs) voted in favor of the new cabinet proposed by the Prime Minister Habib Essid. The new coalition Government comprised of liberal Nida Tounes party, moderate Islamist Ennahda party and the Free Patriotic party.
In the coalition government, Nidaa Tounes party holds 6 portfolios, including the foreign ministry. While, the interior, defence and justice portfolios have been given to independents. Ennahda party holds labour ministry and three secretary of state posts.

4. Modi chairs first NITI Aayog meet
 Ahead of his government’s first full budget, Prime Minister Narendra Modi
on Friday sought ideas from economists to attract investments, create jobs and finance infrastructure to put the country back on a high growth path.
Mr. Modi brainstormed suggestions with leading economists at the maiden meeting of the “think tank” NITI Aayog and will follow it up with another meeting with Chief Ministers on Sunday.
“NITI Aayog had today organised a meeting... (with) some very eminent economists with regard to the state of economy and steps required to boost investment, growth and even specific suggestions with regard to the Union Budget,” Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told reporters after the meeting.
Mr. Jaitley, who will present the budget for 2015-16 on February 28, 2015, said suggestions were mainly related to the high growth roadmap for the Indian economy.
“These were also in relation to the financing of infrastructure, how to attract investment, how to boost domestic savings and the state of agricultural sector was particularly discussed,” the Finance Minister said.
Niti Aayog is a “think tank” also and Friday’s meeting was in that context, Mr. Jaitley said.
The meeting also discussed suggestions with regard to effective implementation of several flagship schemes of the government and how poverty levels can be brought down.
Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian, the Aayog’s full time members Bibek Debroy and V.K. Saraswat, Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha, Planning Minister Rao Inderjit Singh, ex-RBI governor Bimal Jalan, Subir Gokarn, Ashok Gulati and G.N. Bajpai were also present in the meeting.
The NITI Aayog came into existence on January 1 after the government scrapped the Planning Commission.

5. Gujarat Handloom Corporation inks MoU with eBay
Gujarat State Handloom and Handicraft Development Corporation (GSHHDC) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with global e-commerce giant eBay.
The main objective of this MoU is to expand sales base of handloom and handicraft products of Gujarat to online market from current retail shop sales.
In order to increase the online market share, GSHHDC is also planning to launch its own e-commerce portal under Garvi-Gurjari brand to reach out to a bigger customer base and boost sales in overseas markets.
GSHHDC is also planning to tie-up with domestic e-commerce majors as Flipkart and Snapdeal.
As of now, GSHHDC’s sales are from offline market through their 23 showrooms and exhibitions across India. As expansion plan, GSHHDC’s within next three years is aiming to open 300 stores.

6. Eminent Marathi writer Bhalchandra Nemade selected for Jnanpith Award 2014
Eminent Marathi writer Bhalchandra Nemade has been selected for Jnanpith Award 2014.
He is the 4th Marathi writer to receive the honour and is the 50th recipient of Jnanpith award.

7. HAL signs contract with IAF to supply 14 Dornier-228 aircrafts
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has signed a Rs. 1,090-crore contract for supplying 14 Dornier-228 (Do-228) aircraft’s to the Indian Air Force (IAF).
The contract also includes supplying six reserve engines, a flight simulator and associated equipment to IAF.
These 14 aircraft’s will be manufactured by the HAL’s Transport Aircraft Division at Kanpur.

8. Alibaba enters India's e-commerce space with 25% stake in Paytm owner One97
Alibaba, the world's biggest and most valuable ecommerce firm, has finally moved to pitch its flag in India. An Alibaba affiliate, Ant Financial Services Group, said on Thursday it had signed a deal to buy a 25% stake in Indian mobile payments and ecommerce platform Paytm owner One97 Communications. While both sides did not reveal financial details, three sources familiar with the deal said Ant would initially pay around $200 million for the stake and stump up $375 million more in tranches based on the firm meeting performance milestones


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