Daily Current Affairs Updates: 27 February 2015

1) Annual exercise TROPEX 2015 of Indian Navy concluded:

--> The Indian Navy on 27 February 2015 concluded its annual Theatre Level Readiness and Operational Exercise (TROPEX), a month-long drill encompassing all dimensions of maritime warfare.

--> The exercise also witnessed participation of units from the India Air Force and the Indian Coast Guard.

--> The area of operations spanned the Arabian Sea and northern Indian Ocean and was aimed at validating the Indian Navy's concept of operations.

--> This assumes significance as it makes the Indian Navy only the second behind the US Navy presently capable of deploying more than one carrier task force at sea.

2) IRCTC tied up with Amazon for online shopping:

--> Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has tied up with Amazon.in to sell various products.

--> Customers who access the IRCTC portal can now buy products ranging from consumer electronics, books, shoes, apparel, bags to toys, exotic food products, personal hygiene products, pet supplies, musical instruments and many more, at the click of a button and benefit from Amazon.in's wide distribution network.

3) AB De Villiers hits fastest 150 in ODI history:

--> South African cricketer AB De Villiers has hit the fastest 150 in one-day internationals.

--> De Villiers took 64 deliveries to reach 150, beating the previous best, set by Australia's Shane Watson, in 83 balls.

--> He achieved this feat in 64 balls in World Cup Pool B match against West Indies held at Sydney.

--> De Villiers has now in his the name the fastetst 50, 100 & 150 in ODIs.

4) Justice Amitava Roy sworn in as Supreme Court judge:

--> Justice Amitava Roy was on 27 February 2015 sworn in as a judge of the Supreme Court.

--> He was the chief justice of Orissa high court.

--> With his elevation, the strength of the apex court judges has gone up to 29. The apex court has a sectioned strength of 31 judges.

--> Justice Roy will have a tenure of three years.

5) Economic Survey: GDP to grow between 8.1-8.5% next year:

--> Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented the Economic Survey for 2015-16 in the Parliament on 27 February 2015.

--> Growth forecast of 8.1 to 8.5% for fiscal year 2015-16 was disclosed in the Survey.

--> With expected growth for 2015-16 to be over 8%, India is on its way to become the fastest growing major economy in the World.

6) Royal Bank of Scotland to shut down its banking operations in India:

--> Britain’s largest state-owned bank, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), has decided to shut down its banking operations in the country but will be retaining the back office.

--> The balance sheet exposure of RBS’s India business has also almost halved in calendar year 2014.

7) Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov shot dead in Moscow:

--> Russian opposition leader and fierce critic of President Vladmir Putin, Boris Nemtsov, was shot dead by an unidentified attacker who fired multiple rounds at the politician as he was walking in central Moscow on 27 February 2015.

--> The murder of the 55-year-old politician, who has been an outspoken critic of Russia's involvement in Ukraine, came ahead of a major opposition rally this weekend.

8) Kshatrapati Shivaji took over as new CMD of SIDBI:

--> Kshatrapati Shivaji, a 1986 batch IAS officer, has taken over as the Chairman and Managing Director of Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI).

--> Shivaji has been appointed on deputation basis for a period of three years from the date of his taking over the charge, a Finance Ministry release said.

--> Shivaji is currently Principal Secretary (Expenditure), Finance Department in Maharashtra government.