28th February 2015 Important Current Affairs

1) Arun K Singh to be India’s next ambassador to the US:

--> Arun Kumar Singh, a 1979 batch Indian Foreign Service officer, has been named ambassador to the United States in place of S Jaishankar, who took over as foreign secretary on January 28.

--> Fifty-nine-year-old Singh is India’s ambassador to France now.

--> India has already sent an agrement to the US government naming Singh as its next Ambassador and was awaiting a response from the Obama administration.

2) Oxford Dictionary adds 'Ride-share', 'unboxing' in word list:

--> Oxford dictionary has added words "Ride-share" and "unboxing" in the new list.

--> Other additions included "Bioprinting", defined as as "the use of 3D printing technology with materials that incorporate viable living cells, e.g. to produce tissue for reconstructive surgery."

--> And "unboxing", a favorite past time for Apple enthusiasts especially: "An act or instance of removing a newly purchased product from its packaging and examining its features, typically when filmed and shared on a social media site."

--> Oxford also added "vishing", which is like phishing, but using phone calls or voice messages instead of emails to trick people in revealing sensitive information.

3) Indian-origin counsel appointed as Judicial Commissioner to Singapore Supreme Court:

--> A 49-year-old Indian-origin lawyer has been appointed as a Judicial Commissioner to Singapore’s Supreme Court bench for two years.

--> Senior Counsel Kannan Ramesh, who was appointed to the bench, will assume the position from May 22, according to a statement by the Prime Minister’s Office. 

4) National Science Day observed:

--> Every year February 28 is celebrated as the National Science Day i.e. Rashtriya Vigyan Diwas.

--> In 2015, the theme of the day is “Science for Nation Building”.

--> This year’s theme has been chosen for the purpose of raising public appreciation on scientific issues for the development of nation.

5) Union Budget 2015-16 presented in Parliament:

--> Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented Union Budget 2015-16 in the Parliament.

--> It was the first full year Budget of the NDA government under leadership of Prime Minister of Narendra Modi and the second budget of Arun Jaitley as Finance Minister.

6) FMC to be merged with SEBI:

--> The finance minister has announced a decision to merge the commodities market regulator, Forward Markets Commission (FMC), with the capital markets regulator, Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi).

--> To give effect to this, amendments in the respective Acts governing these markets have been introduced.