Daily GK - Current Affairs 20th Feb 2013

Published for http://www.jobentra.blogspot.com

1.    Tunisia's prime minister Hamadi Jebali resigns
     i. Tunisian Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali on Tuesday submitted his resignation to President Moncef Marzouki, after failing to form a new government aimed at ending a political crisis.

ii. After meeting President, Jebali, said "I promised and assured that, in the event that my initiative failed, I would resign as head of the government, and that is what I have done".

NOTE: i. Tunisia's deepest political crisis since the 2011 Arab Spring uprising that toppled President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali began when leading secular opposition politician Chokri Belaid was gunned down outside his home in Tunis on February 6.

ii. Jebali's government has failed to deal firmly enough with religious extremists threatening the country's stability.

2.    Government of Bulgaria Resigned

i. The Government of Bulgaria resigned from the office on 20 February 2013 on grounds of protests in the nation against the high electricity prices.

Cause of resignation of Bulgaria’s government

i. Bulgarians held protests in the country because of concerns over higher energy costs, lower living standards, power monopolies as well as corruption.

ii. Prime Minister Boiko Borisov on 20 February 2013 announced his resignation. While announcing his resignation, Boiko Borisov did not mention anything about the parliamentary elections which are scheduled for July 2013.

About Bulgaria

i. Bulgaria is located in Southeastern Europe. It is the 14th largest country of Europe.

ii. Prime Minister of Bulgaria, Boiko Borisov belonged to the Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria party, which is abbreviated as GERB (Grazhdani za evropeysko razvitie na Balgariya).

3.    Nikki Haley received with leadership award

i. Indian-American South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley has been presented with the leadership award for giving boost to employment in the automobile sector.

ii. The inaugural State Leadership Award of the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association (MEMA) was presented to Haley.

NOTE: i. Governor Haley is committed to bringing jobs to South Carolina and has fought hard for the motor vehicle supplier industry in her state.

ii. Haley is only the second Indian-American Governor of a US State and the first Indian-American woman governor.

4.    Retd. Justice Bhatt to Conduct Judicial Probe in Allahabad Railway Station Stampede

i. The State Government of Uttar Pradesh appointed Onkareshwar Bhatt, the retired Justice of Allahabad High Court to conduct Judicial Probe into the Allahabad Railway Station Stampede that occurred during Kumbh Mela.

ii. The constituted committee that will probe into the matter is a one-man committee and was directed to submit its report in two months.

NOTE: The State Government ordered a Judicial Probe into the incident that occurred on the day of Mauni Amawasya 10 February 2013 at the Allahabad Railway Station during Kumbh Mela.

5.    ICICI Bank discontinues Kingfisher co-branded credit card

i. Top private sector lender ICICI Bank has decided to discontinue its co-branded credit card with Kingfisher Airlines in the wake of continued grounding of the debt-laden air carrier.

ii. "As a result, the ICICI Bank Kingfisher Airlines Credit Card will be valid till March 31, 2013,"

iii.. The bank further said it will issue an 'ICICI Bank Platinum Visa Credit Card' to the users of ICICI-Kingfisher card without any annual fees from March 15 onwards with same interest rate and credit limit as that on the existing card.

iv. The customers would, however, be free to opt for any other card available with the bank as per their requirements.

6.    Union Minister Radhakishan Malviya former passes away

i. Radhakishan Malviya, the former Union Minister and Rajya Sabha Member from Madhya Pradesh died on 19 February 2013 at a private hospital in Indore after suffering from a brief illness. He died at the age of 68.

ii. He was a veteran Congress Leader and was elected MLA from Sanver in Indore district in 1972.

iii. He served the country as Labour Minister in mid 1980s in the Rajiv Gandhi Government.

7.    FIFA confirmed use of Goal-Line Technology

i. Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) confirmed the use of goal-line technology during the 2014 FIFA World Cup to be organised in Brazil.

ii. It also stated that the technology could be introduced in the next season’s Premier league.

iii. Introduction of the technology in football is being insisted to provide a high-tech aid to the World Cup referees to rule on the disputed incident.

iv. The decision by FIFA was expected once its rule-making panel, known as IFAB, decided last July to approve goal-line technology at competitive matches after two systems passed extensive tests.

Goal-Line Technology (GLT)

Goal-line Technology is a technology that is used to determine the fact that has the ball passed the goal-line or not with the support of an electronic-device to help the referee decided to take a call that either it was a goal or not.

8.    Milos Raonic Won Third Consecutive SAP Open 2013

i. Milos Raonic on 17 February 2013 won SAP Open 2013 at San Jose defeating Tommy Haas in the championship match.

ii. Milos Raonic completed the tournament with 6-4, 6-3 victory over Haas.

iii. With this victory, he became first player to grab the trophy for three years consecutively, since Tony Trabert in 1953-55.

iv. On the other hand, in SAP Open 2013 doubles final, Xavier Malisse and Frank Moser beat Lleyton Hewitt and Marinko Matosevic 6-0, 6-7(5), 10-4 to lift the trophy.

About Milos Raonic

i. Milos Raonic has the 13th world ranking. ii. Before winning the SAP Open 2013 singles titles, he has also won SAP Open 2011 and SAP Open 2012 singles titles.

iii. Milos Raonic is basically a Canadian professional tennis player.

About SAP Open

i. SAP Open commenced in 1889 and it was called Pacific Coast Championships at the Old Del Monte Lodge in California. ii. SAP Open is the second-oldest tennis tournament in US. iii. In SAP Open 2013, highest ranked player was Milos Raonic who ranked number 13th.

9.    Kohli appointed captain of Royal Challengers Bangalore

i. IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore on Wednesday appointed Virat Kohli as their captain for the upcoming sixth edition of Indian Premier League.

ii. Kohli succeeds former New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori, who was at the helm during last season.