Current Affairs 20th February 2016

Updated : 20-Feb-2016

Important Points : 

• Name the astronomy satellite launched by Japan - ASTRO-H
• Jharkhand State Budget 2016-17 presented
• Name the person whose name is entered into Guinness Book of Records for writing 3524 songs - Sameer Anjaan
• Who has been named chairman of GST committee of state FMs - Amit Mitra 
• Which team has won three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka - Indian Women Cricket Team 

Details :

Name the astronomy satellite launched by Japan - ASTRO-H

Among the important Science Current Affairs, On 17th February 2016, astronomy satellite ASTRO-H was launched successfully by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) from the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture.

The H-IIA rocket was used to launch the satellite. It was previously known as the New X-ray Telescope (NeXT).

Features of ASTRO-H Mission

• In the word ASTRO-H, the ‘H’ refers to Japanese word Hitomi that means pupil or entrance window of the eye.
• The satellite is equipped with 4 telescopes and 6 detectors.
• The objective of the mission is to study x-rays emerging from galaxy clusters and black holes.

Jharkhand State Budget 2016-17 presented

On 19th February 2016, the Annual State Budget 2016-17 was presented by Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das. 

General Highlights

• To open engineering colleges per 20 lakh population
• Planned expenditure has been allocated a sum of 37065.35 crore rupees while Non-planned expenditure has been allocated 26437.34 crore rupees.
• Subsidy will be given to the farmers for setting up bio-gas plants in order to increase Organic farming.
• In 100 Blocks of 24 districts, Agriculture Single Window system will be implemented.
• Yojana Banao Abhiyaan will accelerate rural development
• Small traders given exemptions in the form of waiving of VAT registration fees and no new tax being proposed in the budget
• Proposes to increase the participation of Jharkhand in the Make in India initiative by introducing syllabus on it in schools
• To provide facilities to persons with per capita income below 72000 rupees
• To provide 24 hours electricity to villages by emphasizing on solar power generation and setting up a power plant at Deoghar
• MLA's local area development funds increased from present three crores to four crores rupees a year
• Babasaheb Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar Awas Yojana will be introduced in the state
• Proposes to set up 71 Smart Police stations in 16 districts of the state

Name the person whose name is entered into Guinness Book of Records for writing 3524 songs - Sameer Anjaan

Among the important National Current Affairs, On 17th February 2016, Bollywood lyricist Sameer Anjaan entered into the Guinness book of World Records as the Most prolific Bollywood lyricist for composing 3524 different songs.

About Sameer Anjaan

• In the year 1983, he started his career with his first song in the movie Bekhabar.
• For his song Nazar Ke Saamne, he won his first Filmfare Award.
• In 1993 and 1994, he won Filmfare Awards for the song Teri Umeed Tera Intezaar from the movie Deewana, and the song Ghunghat Ki Aad from Hum Hain Rahi Pyaar Ke respectively.

Who has been named chairman of GST committee of state FMs - Amit Mitra 

Among the important National Current Affairs, On 19th February 2016, The Finance Minister of West Bengal Amit Mitra was named the chairman of the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers on Goods and Services Tax (GST).

He will replace Kerala Finance Minister K M Mani.

About Goods and Services Tax Bill

It is officially known as The Constitution (122nd Amendment) Bill, 2014, and suggests a national Value Added Tax to be implemented in India from June 2016.

Which team has won three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka - Indian Women Cricket Team 

Among the important Sports Current Affairs, On 19th February 2016, the three-match ODI series against Sri Lanks was won by the Indian women cricket team by defeating the Sri Lankan team.

Deepti Sharma was announced as the Player of the Match.