FEBRUARY 2016 CURRENT AFFAIRS (PART-1)

• The International Fleet Review 2016, an international military exercise hosted and conducted by Indian Navy was inaugurated in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. Theme of this edition is “United through Oceans” and its objective is to enhance mutual trust and confidence with neighboring navies by inviting their ships to participate in the event.
• The 9th edition of India-Nepal Combined Military Exercise Surya Kiran IX has commenced at Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand.
• The Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare have decided to set up the National Organic Farming Research Institute (NOFRI) in Sikkim. The NOFRI will be established by upgrading the existing Gangtok based Regional Centre of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).
• The Union textile Ministry has bestowed the Indian Handloom Brand tag on Chettinad Cotton Saris for its unique designs and identity. This tag was bestowed under the India Handloom Brand Scheme after checking its various quality parameters stipulated by the Standard Operating Procedure. The Ministry also has offered a logo to use the brand for marketing the product. It will also enable weavers of these saris to promote the material in the international market. Chettinad cotton sari is also known as “kandaangi”. It is the traditional sari of the Chettinad region in Sivaganga district of Tamil Nadu. It is characterised by its silk-like texture, contrasting border and body colours with intricate designs along the border. It has unique pattern with bold checks, stripes and contrasting hues that reflects dramatic and spontaneous use of colours. These saris are already popular in few North Indian states of India and are also popular in other countries such as Singapore and Malaysia.
• Japan has successfully launched ASTRO-H space observation satellite to probe mysterious black holes. The satellite was launched by H2A rocket after it had successfully lifted off at the Tanegashima Space Centre. It will orbit earth at an altitude of about 580 kilometres and observe X-rays emanating mainly from black holes and galaxy clusters.
• Haryana and South Korean state of Chungcheongbuk have agreed to enter into a sister-statehood relationship for development.
• The 12th edition of South Asian Games has begun in Guwahati at the Indira Gandhi Athletics Stadium. The 11-day event is being jointly hosted by Guwahati and Shillong.
• West Bengal government has launched the Utkarsh Bangla Scheme with an aim of providing vocational training to school dropouts. Objective of the scheme is to give vocational training to school dropouts by providing training ranging from 400 to 1200 hours free of charge. Under this scheme, beneficiaries will be trained in driving, tailoring, repairing television and other electronic equipment’s, beautician courses etc. On completion of the courses beneficiaries will be given Certificates. The state Vocational Education Department will be the nodal agency in charge for implementing the scheme.
• Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has released National Air Quality Indices (AQI) for 24 cities across India for the month of January 2016. In the list Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh) and Muzzafarpur (Bihar) were on the top with an AQI value of 409 points each and were coded as ‘severe’ in terms of air pollution in January 2016.
• Christine Lagarde from France has been appointed as the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund for a second five-year term.