Current Affairs 15th February 2016

Important Points : 

• Name the Jnanpith Award-winning poet who has passed away - O N V Kurup
• 69th British Academy Film Awards announced
• Who has inaugurated Make in India Week in Mumbai - Prime Minister Narendra Modi
• Who has won ICC U19 Cricket World Cup - West Indies
• Infosys Prize 2015
• Who has been appointed as Chairman of TERI - Ashok Chawla
• Who has won 2016 St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy - Sania Mirza & Martina Hingis
• Name the 7th India, Seychelles joint military exercise which began in Seychelles - LAMITYE 2016 

Details : 

Name the Jnanpith Award-winning poet who has passed away - O N V Kurup

On 13th February 2016, Malayalam's Jnanpith-winner Ottaplakkal Neelakandan Velu Kurup passed away at the age of 84.

About O N V Kurup

• He served as a lecturer at Maharajas College, Ernakulam, University College, Trivandrum, Arts and Science College, Kozhikode and Brennen College, Thalassery.
• He was the Head of Malayalam Department at Government Women's College, Trivandrum.
• He received the Padma Shri and Padma Vibhushan in 1998 and 2011 respectively.
• He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by University of Kerala in the year 2007.
• In 2007, he received the Jnanpith Award, India's highest literary honour.

 69th British Academy Film Awards announced

Among the important International Current Affairs, On 14th February 2016, The 69th British Academy Films Awards (BAFTAs) were announced at the Royal Opera House in London to honour the best British and international contributions to film in 2015.

List of winners

Who has inaugurated Make in India Week in Mumbai - Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Among the important National Current Affairs, On 13th February 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Make in India Week at the MMRDA grounds in Bandra Kurla Complex, Mumbai.

The theme of the week was "design, innovation and sustainability" in order to showcase India's manufacturing sector potential in the coming decade.

Highlights of Make In India Week

• The motive is to attract FDI (foreign direct investment) and give encouragement to the Make In India initiative.
• 3 Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) were also signed in the presence of Prime Minister between Jain Irrigation Pvt Ltd and M/s Raymond Industries, Maharashtra Government and Twin Star, M/s Hindustan Coca Cola Beverages Private Ltd.

Who has won ICC U19 Cricket World Cup - West Indies

Among the important Sports Current Affairs, On 14th February 2016, ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup title was won by the West Indies. 

In 2012, since Darren Sammy’s senior team won the ICC World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka, it was the first major title for the West Indies at any level.

Man of the Match title was awarded to West Indies’ Keacy Carty and the Player of the Tournament was awarded to Mehidy Hasan Miraz from Bangladesh.

Do You Know : 

The 2016 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup was an international limited-overs cricket tournament and was the eleventh edition of the Under-19 Cricket World Cup.

Infosys Prize 2015

Among the important National Current Affairs, On 13th February 2016, Infosys Prize 2015 on six winners was conferred by President Pranab Mukherjee in New Delhi. The recipients of the awards are : Dr Srinath Raghavan, Dr Amit Sharma, Prof Umesh Waghmare, Prof G Ravindra Kumar, Prof Jonardon Ganeri and Prof Mahan Mj.

About Infosys Prize 2015 Winners

Life Sciences: Dr. Amit Sharma, Group Leader, Structural and Computational Biology Group, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), New Delhi won this prize for his pioneering contributions towards deciphering the molecular structure, at the atomic level, of key proteins involved in the biology of pathogenesis of the deadly malarial parasite.

Social Sciences: Dr. Srinath Raghavan, Senior Fellow, Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi won this prize for outstanding research that synthesizes military history, international politics, and strategic analysis into powerful and imaginative perspectives on India in global context.

Physical Sciences: Prof. G Ravindra Kumar, Professor in the Department of Nuclear and Atomic Physics (DNAP), Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai won this prize for his contributions to the physics of high intensity laser matter interactions. He provided, for the first time, unequivocal evidence of turbulent magnetic fields and the discovery of terahertz frequency acoustic waves, in laser produced hot dense plasmas. 

Engineering and Computer Science: Prof. Umesh Waghmare of Theoretical Sciences Unit, of Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), Bangalore won the prize for his innovative use of first-principles theories and modelling in insightful investigations of microscopic mechanisms responsible for specific properties of certain materials such as topological insulators, ferroelectrics, multiferroics and graphene.

Mathematical Sciences: Prof Mahan Mj, Professor of Mathematics, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai won this prize for establishing a central conjecture in the Thurston program to study hyperbolic 3-manifolds and introduced important new tools to study fundamental groups of complex manifolds.

Humanities: Prof. Jonardon Ganeri, Global Network Professor of Philosophy, New York University and Recurrent Visiting Professor, Department of Philosophy, King’s College London, UK won this prize for his originality in interpreting and scrutinizing analytical Indian Philosophy and shedding light on dichotomy between Indian and Greek traditions of philosophical reasoning.

About the Infosys Prize

Established in the year 2009, the prize is given in six categories as follows : Social Sciences, Humanities, Mathematical Sciences, Life Sciences, Engineering and Computer Science and Physical Sciences.

Who has been appointed as Chairman of TERI - Ashok Chawla

Among the important appointments, On 12th February 2016, Ashok Chawla, former Chairman of the Competition Commission and former Finance Secretary to the Government of India was appointed as the Chairman of Governing Council of TERI.

He has replaced B V Sreekantan.

About The Energy and Resources Institute

• Established in the year 1974, the Energy and Resources Institute was formerly known as Tata Energy Research Institute.
• It conducts research work in the fields of energy, environment and sustainable development.

Who has won 2016 St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy - Sania Mirza & Martina Hingis

Among the important Sports Current Affairs, On 14th February 2016, the 2016 St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy was won by Sania Mirza and her Swiss partner Martina Hingis in St. Petersburg, Russia after defeating Russian-Czech team of Vera Dushevina and Barbora Krejcikova.

This was the 40th consequennt match win for the duo. Besides, this was the 13th overall title and the fourth in the 2016 season.

Earlier this year, they have won Brisbane Tennis trophy, Australian Open and Apia International Sydney title.

Name the 7th India, Seychelles joint military exercise which began in Seychelles - LAMITYE 2016 

Among the important Defense Current Affairs, On 15th February 2016, the 7th joint military training exercise between the Indian Army and the Seychelles People’s Defence Forces (SPDF), LAMITYE 2016 began in Seychelles.

Features of Exercise LAMITYE 2016

• The aim of the exercise is to enhance military cooperation and interoperability between the two countries. Lamitye, means friendship in Creole dialect.
• Since its inception in 2001, LAMITYE 2016 is the 7th biannual exercise.
• This year, the Indian contingent will comprise representatives from the Special Forces and an Infantry platoon.
• 20 personnel from Tazar (Special Forces Unit) and 32 from Seychelles Infantry will represent the SPDF.