February 8 Current Affairs

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Tamilnadu :

Passengers of international flights will have to report early

  • Passengers will have to report well in advance for international departures as a portion of the terminal will have only stand-alone X-ray machines for scanning baggage.This is because the existing inline baggage screening system in the international terminal is going to be upgraded in a phased manner by the end of March.
  • According to officials of Airports Authority of India (AAI), it is ideal for passengers to report three hours in advance because there is likely to be congestion, as it will take more time to scan baggage with these X-ray machines.

Ambur DSP, SI arrested for graft

  • Sleuths of the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) on Thursday arrested a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) and a Sub-Inspector for demanding and accepting a bribe to the tune of ₹1.45 lakh.

National :

Army’s land acquisition makes all householders in Arunachal Pradesh village a millionaire

  • All householders of a village in Arunachal Pradesh’s Tawang district have become millionaires five years after the Army acquired their land for setting up key location plan units of its Tawang Garrison.
  • Five years ago, 31 familie let the Army acquire their land for setting up key location plan units of theTawang Garrison.

Gujarat may face severe water crisis

  •  Gujarat is set to face a severe water crisis because of the low water availability in Narmada dam — the main source of water in the State — due to deficient rainfall in the Narmada catchment area in Madhya Pradesh.As a result, the State government has repeatedly announced that it will not supply water for irrigation.
  • The entire stock will be reserved for drinking water in Saurashtra and North Gujarat regions, both water starved provinces and highly dependent on water from Narmada canals.

Kailash Yatra via Nathu La to resume

  • China has confirmed restarting of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra through the Nathu La pass, the Ministry of External Affairs informed the Lok Sabha . Speaking in response to a question, Minister of State for External Affairs Gen (Retd.) V.K. Singh refuted China’s claims and said that the border in the Sikkim sector is yet to be finalised and are being discussed between the Special Representatives on the Boundary Question.

Mamata bats for Darjeeling peace

  • West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said an industry meet would be held in March.The political parties and their ideology will remain but let us come together for the development of the hills,” Ms. Banerjee said.

SC flags exclusions under Aadhaar

  • The Supreme Court  asked the government and UIDAI whether it was not their obligation to ensure that ordinary people, especially pensioners and the marginalised sections, were able to access their entitlements till an “adequate mechanism” for authentication of identity under the Aadhaar Act is put in place.Govt. obliged to ensure entitlements irrespective of authentication methods .

Trinamool leaders lodge complain against Governor

Trinamool Congress on Thursday lodged a complaint with Home Minister Rajnath Singh, accusing West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi of “overstepping his authority” and interfering in matters of State administration.“Since law and order and other such issues are exclusively within the domain of the State government, it is expected that a constitutional authority will not bypass its jurisdiction in this manner,” Mr. Bandyopadhyay told reporters after meeting Mr. Singh.

We are all Indians,” says SC judge

  • Justice Ashok Bhushan, a member of the Supreme Court’s Constitution Bench hearing the Aadhaar petitions, said on Wednesday that he found nothing wrong in the premise of ‘one identity for one nation’ as “after all, we are all Indians”.“Yes, we are all passionately Indian. But we are much more than our Aadhaars.
  • You [government] cannot reduce me to just one identity [Aadhaar],” argues Kapil Sibal.The judge was responding to a submission made by senior advocate Kapil Sibalthat a citizen may run the risk of being branded an “anti-national” if he or she is found without an Aadhaar.

Supreme Court quashes 88 mining leases renewed in Goa

  • The Supreme Court quashed all 88 mining leases renewed by the BJP government in Goa in 2015 to “benefit private mining leaseholders.”The 102-page judgment of the apex court noted how these leases were hastily renewed by the State in 2014 with retrospective effect from 2007, just before an amended Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act made auction of leases mandatory for mining notified minerals like iron ore.

International :

India can play a role in Middle East peace process

  • Palestine President AbbaAhead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s historic Palestine visit, President Mahmoud Abbas said he will discuss with him India’s role in the Middle East peace process and the creation of a multilateral forum of negotiations to strike a final deal with Isarel.

Seven TN fishermen arrested by Sri Lankan Navy

  • Seven Tamil Nadu fishermen were today arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy, which also snapped the fishing nets of at least 50 vessels while they were allegedly fishing near Katchatheevu islet.The fishermen from this island town had ventured into the sea in 370 boats yesterday and were fishing close to Katchatheevu when the Sri Lankan naval personnel arrived at the spot and asked them to leave, Fisheries Department Assistant Director S. Manikandan said.

US slaps sanctions against Pakistan-based terrorists

  • The Trump administration  imposed sanctions against three individuals allegedly linked to Pakistan-based terror networks as it called on the Pakistani government to deny sanctuaries to “dangerous” individuals and organisations.

Yameen proposed India visit by special envoy

  • Relations between India and the Maldives appeared to have further strained after embattled President Abdulla Yameen sent “special envoys” to “friendly countries” China, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, but not to India to discuss the ongoing emergency in his country.

Business :

Google fined 136 crore by Competition Commission for ‘infringing anti-trust conduct’

  • The Competition Commission of India (CCI)on Thursday imposed a fine of 136 crore on search engine major Google for unfair business practices in the Indian market for online search.
  • Passing the order on complaints that were filed back in 2012, the regulator said the penalty is being imposed on Google for “infringing anti-trust conduct”.Globally, this is one of the rare cases where Google has been penalised for unfair business ways.

Twitter reports first net profit but user growth misses estimates

  • Twitter Inc  reported its first quarterly net profit and topped Wall Street targets as video ad sales rose, but the number of people using the social network fell short of expectations as Twitter shut down fake accounts.

I-T Department sends one lakh notices to cryptocurrency investors

  • The Income Tax Department has issued one lakh tax notices to people who have invested in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Central Board of Direct Taxes Chairman Sushil Chandra said.Arun Jaitley had stressed that cryptocurrencies are not legal tender and that the govt. would clamp down on illegal transactions done using the medium.

Rupee loses 10 paise against dollar in opening trade

  • The rupee depreciated 10 paise to 64.38 against the US dollar in opening trade on Thursday due to increased demand for the US currency from importers amid fresh foreign funds outflow.

Sensex recovers 168 points in early trade

  • The benchmark Sensex recovered about 168 points in early trade on Thursday, February 8, 2018, on buying in realty, IT, capital goods and banking stocks after the RBI maintained status quo in its monetary policy review yesterday.
  • The 30-share index rose by 167.73 points, or 0.49 per cent, to 34,250.44 opening trade. All the sectoral indices led by realty, IT, healthcare and banking were trading in the green with gains of up to 1.86 per cent.The gauge had lost 2,200.54 points in the previous seven sessions.

Sports :

ATK holds Blasters

  • Defending champion ATK preserved its unbeaten record against Kerala Blasters FC as it held the latter to a 2-2 draw here at the Salt Lake Stadium .Defending champion twice comes back from arrears .

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