Current Affairs 1st February 2015

Current Affairs 1st February 2015 - Important Points

• Which Scientist has joined NITI Aayog as a full time-member - Scientist Vijay Kumar Saraswat

• Who has been appointed as the new ITBP DG - Senior IPS officer Krishna Chaudhary

• Name the first Canister based missile which is successfully test fired - Agni-V missile

• Union Government has approved rehabilitation package for which state - Jammu & Kashmir

• Which organization announced to create India's first fenced elephant sanctuary near Bengaluru - PETA

• Union Government divested 10 percent stake in - Coal India Limited

Current Affairs 1st February 2015 - Details

Which Scientist has joined NITI Aayog as a full time-member - Scientist Vijay Kumar Saraswat

Among National Current Affairs, On 31st January 2015, Former DRDO chief Vijay Kumar Saraswat has joined National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog as a full time-member. 

About Vijay Kumar Saraswat

• He was awarded with Padma Shri in 1998 and Padma Bhusan 2013.     
• He had a outstanding contribution in the development of the country’s first Liquid Propulsion Engine, DEVIL.
• He was Project Director of the first indigenous Surface-to-Surface missile system named PRITHVI. 

Who has been appointed as the new ITBP DG - Senior IPS officer Krishna Chaudhary

Among the important appointments, On 31 January 2015, Senior IPS officer Krishna Chaudhary has been appointed as the new Director General of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP).

He is a 1979-batch Bihar cadre officer. Earlier, he was working as the Director General of the Railway Protection Force. His name was declared by the Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and will be in office till June 2017.

Name the first Canister based missile which is successfully test fired - Agni-V missile

Among National Current Affairs, On 31st January 2015, a canisterised version of Agni-V missile was successfully test-fired for the first time from Wheeler Island off Odisha coast.It is the third successful flight test of the Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) and the first canister trial.

About Agni-V Missile :

• It has a range of  5,500–5,800 km and it will allow India to strike targets across Asia and into Europe.
• Agni-V ICBM is designed and developed by DRDO.
• It is a part of the Agni series, one of the missile under the original Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme.

Union Government has approved rehabilitation package for which state - Jammu & Kashmir

On 31st January 2015, Union Government approved rehabilitation package of 1102.56 crore rupees for the State of J&K. The fund was approved on account of disastrous flood witnessed by J&K in September 2014. The fund has been permitted from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) and it will be used for rehabilitation of flood victims and to overhaul public infrastructure in the State.

Which organization announced to create India's first fenced elephant sanctuary near Bengaluru - PETA

PETA announced that it will create India's first fenced elephant sanctuary within the Bannerghatta Biological Park in Karnataka. By this step elephants will able to move around freely within the secure area.

It will be built in 49.5 hectare within the Biological Park which is an extension of the Bannerghatta National Park and this model of the sanctuary was designed by the PETA consultant and elephant expert Carol Buckley.

Do You Know : 

Full form of PETA - People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. 

Union Government divested 10 percent stake in - Coal India Limited

On 30th January 2015, Union Government divested 10 percent of its stake in Maharatna Coal India Limited (CIL). Total 63.16 crores shares were divested by Govt. This was the largest ever disinvestment among Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) and the stake sale exceeds the previous record of over 15000 crore rupees realized in 2010 through the initial public offering (IPO) of CIL.