Notes:
Sumit Mullick, the 1982 batch IAS officer, has been appointed as new Chief Secretary of Maharashtra. He succeeded Swadheen Kshatriya, who was due for retirement on 31st of January, but was given a month’s extension. Prior to this appointment, he was serving as the Chief Protocol Officer in the General Administration department. He had earlier served as the Divisional Commissioner of Amravati and worked as Secretary of School Education. He was also Secretary to the Governor.

Notes:
Tarak Mehta (87), the popular Gujarati writer and noted play writer, has recently passed away in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. The famous humorist was best known for his column “Duniya Ne Undha Chasma” in Mumbai based Gujarati news weekly “Chitralekha”. He was awarded Padma Shri in 2015. His weekly column first featured in Chitralekha news weekly in March 1971. He has written around 80 books on various pressing issues. The popular comic television serial ‘Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah’ is a television adaptation of Padma Shri Taarak Mehta’s column ‘Duniya Ne Undha Chasma’.

Notes:
The book “The Wrong Turn: Love and Betrayal in the Time of Netaji” has been authored by Sanjay Chopra and Namita Roy Ghose. It is a sweeping tale of passion set against the freedom struggle.

Notes:
The International Rare Disease Day (IRDD) is held every year on the last day of February to raise awareness for rare diseases and improve access to treatment and medical representation for individuals with rare diseases and their families. The 2017 IRDD is held on February 28 with theme “Research” and slogan ‘With research, possibilities are limitless’ to recognize the crucial role that patients play in research.

Notes:
Indian Test skipper Virat Kohli has been named as the ‘Captain of the Year’ at the 10th annual ESPNcricinfo Awards. Kohli led India to 9 wins out of 12 Tests in the year gone-by. Apart from this, Englishman Ben Stokes won the Test Batting Performance of the Year for his incredible counterattacking innings of 258 runs off 198 balls against South Africa in Cape Town.

Notes:
The top seeded Indian shuttler duo Tarun Kona and Alwin Francis has recently won the men’s doubles title at the 2017 Uganda International badminton tournament by defeating Aatish Lubah and Georges Julien Paul of Mauritius in the final by 21-8, 21-14 in Kampala.

Notes:
Haji Abdul Salam (69), the senior Congress leader, has recently passed away in Imphal, Manipur. He was the first Manipuri Muslim to be a member of Rajya Sabha from Manipur. He was representing Manipur State in the upper house of Parliament of India for the second term of 2014-2020.

Notes:
The World Bank (WB) will provide $63 million loan to India to empower approx 6.8 lakh adolescent girls in Jharkhand under the ‘Tejaswini: Socio-Economic Empowerment of Adolescent Girls and Young Women’ project. For this, a financing agreement for International Development Association (IDA) credit of $ 63 million (equivalent) has recently signed between the WB and the Government of India (GoI). The Tejaswini project will be delivered in 17 districts of Jharkhand. It has three main components — expanding social, educational and economic opportunities; intensive service delivery; and state capacity-building and implementation support. The closing date for the project is June 30, 2021.

Notes:
Recently, the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has imposed a 5-year ban on the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and its journalists from filming in all Indian tiger reserves for allegedly misrepresenting facts in a documentary on poaching in the Kaziranga National Park in Assam. The BBC documentary “Killing for Conservation” by its journalist Justin Rowlatt, talks about Kaziranga’s rhino conservation which claims that forest guards have the power to ‘shoot and kill’ poachers. The documentary also criticizes anti-poaching policies in wildlife reserves as affecting the life of tribal people living in the vicinity of the park. The NTCA is a statutory body under the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) constituted under enabling provisions of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, as amended in 2006, for strengthening tiger conservation.

Notes:
The 4th edition of India-CLMV (Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Vietnam) Business Conclave was held in Jaipur, Rajasthan. It was inaugurated by the Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman, which was organised by the Department of Commerce and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). The purpose of the conference was to identify specific project opportunities and seeks business partnerships in the region. The conclave focused on sectors such as Pharma, Healthcare, manufacturing, Agri Business, Food processing, Gems and Jewellery, Textiles, Leather, Renewable Energy and education.