News Burger - Your Weekly Prep Diet - Week #4 (February)

For MBA aspirants, Current Affairs are one of the most key components for MBA preparation. In exams such as XAT, IIFT and SNAP, an entire section is dedicated to it in order to test your Current Affairs and General Knowledge. Furthermore, Current Affairs become an interesting topic of discussion in almost all GD-PIs, WATs/AWTs. Therefore, we have come up with the Weekly News Burger, a curation of weekly Current Affairs which will help aspirants avoid scrambling for Current Affairs content at the end of the year when it is most important for competitive exams. This week's News Burger is:

1. Pakistan Is The Riskiest Place To Be Born:
   According to a UNICEF report, Pakistan has the highest neonatal mortality rate in the world. India is not far behind in this list and is ranked 12th. It is the worst performer as compared to our neighbouring countries. Japan is the safest country for newborns.
2. India Test Fires Agni-II; Dhanush Surface-To-Surface Missile
   India launched the Agni-2 nuclear-capable missile, which has a range of 2000 km. The Dhanush missile has a range of 350-km and can strike targets at land and sea. Note - Most missile test-fires are conducted at the military bases Abdul Kalam Island and Chandipur in Balasore district of Odisha.
3. India Is The Global Host For World Environment Day
   Minister of Environment, Dr Harsh Vardhan announced that the event will be conducted on 5th June 2018. The theme for the event would be "Beat Plastic Pollution".
4. Google launches Google Pay
   The company has combined Google Wallet and Android Pay under one single platform, Google Pay.
5. India's First All-Women Railway Station
   Gandhinagar Station, Jaipur will be the first railway station operated only by women. This is a step towards women empowerment. Note - This is not the same as the Gandhinagar Railway Station in Gujarat.
6. RBI Sets Up Panel To Prevent Bank Frauds
   The panel will be led by the former President of ICAI (Institute of Chartered Accountants of India), Yezdi Hirji Malegam.In related news - The CBI lodged an FIR against Simbhauli Sugars, one of India's largest sugar manufacturers, for defrauding the Oriental Bank of Commerce of Rs. 109 Crores.
7. UP Government Signs Pact With Amazon India
   UP's Khadi and Village Industries Board has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Amazon India to facilitate sales of Khadi products to Amazon.in customers. Amazon will also train and educate Khadi artisans.
8. Kamal Hassan Launches Makkal Needhi Maiam
   Former-actor Kamal Hassan has launched his political party MNM. The party's symbol of 6-hands denotes the 6 South Indian states. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal attended the launch of Kamal Hassan's party.
9. 1^st Indian Woman To Fly Solo In A Fighter Aircraft 
   24-year old Flying Officer Avani Chaturvedi has made history by becoming India's first female Air Force officer to fly solo in a fighter-jet. She flew the MiG - 21 Bison.
10. CBI Arrests Rotomac Owner Vikram Kothari
    The arrests came after a complaint from Bank of Baroda. Vikram Kothari's wife and son have also been included in the charge-sheet for money laundering and tax evasion.
11. India Ranks 81^st In Perceived Corruption List
    German NGO Transparency Internation has also labelled India as the 'worst offender' in the Asia - Pacific region. New Zealand and Singapore are the least corrupt, while Somalia is the most corrupt country in the world.
12. Kids Aged Less Than 5 years Will Get Blue Aadhar
    The 'Baal Aadhar' will require a child's birth certificate and Aadhar number of one of the parents. The document will not contain biometric details of the child.
13. Pakistan To Be On Terror Watchlist
    The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has placed Pakistan on the terror watch-list for negligence and violation of its obligations to stop terror operation in the country.
    What is the FATF:
    A. It is an inter-governmental body which prevents money-laundering and terror financing.
    B. It was set up in 1989 in a G-7 Paris Summit.
    C. China was recently declared the Vice-President of the FATF. The declaration was followed by China placing Pakistan on the terror watchlist.
14. PayTM Launches Two Insurance Companies
    The two units are called PayTM Life Insurance and PayTM General Insurance. Note - PayTM's founder is Mr Vijay Shekhar and its parent company is One 97 Communications Pvt. Ltd.
15. DRDO’s Test Flight Of Rustom - 2
    Defence Research and Development Organisation has indigenously developed and tested the Rustom-2, a combat UAV. The design is based on the US Predator drones which have been designed by the CIA, USAF and General Atomics.
16. Aruna Reddy Makes History
    The 22-year old from Hyderabad is India's first gymnast to win a World Cup Series medal. She achieved this feat at the Gymnastics World Cup-Melbourne.
17. Actress Sridevi Passes Away
    The 54-year old passed away due to accidental drowning in Dubai, where she had gone to attend a wedding.
18. Only 7.28% Women In Police Forces
    The number of women police staff constitute a very small percentage of the total police force of India. Even the highest percentage of women in the police (Chandigarh) is just 8.64%, which is an appalling figure.
    Why is the figure so low?
    A) Only Sub-ordinate roles are available for the majority of the women in the police force. Less than 1% of women occupy senior ranks in the Indian Police Force.
    B) Sexual assault against women constables in Kolhapur, Jhansi, Delhi, Bhopal etc. The Law enforcers themselves are not safe from sexual assault and this causes apprehension among women aspiring to be in the Police forces. This is also why the attrition rate for women in the Police is very high.
19. CRPF Launches Bike-Ambulance In Bastar
    The Central Reserve Police Force has launched bike ambulances in Naxal-hit remote villages in Chattisgarh. This comes amid the anti-Naxal operations in the region.
20. Google Brings Symptom Search Feature
    The search-giant has collaborated with Apollo Hospitals to allow users to access tailor-made symptoms feature in the Search option.
21. India ranks 47^th in Inclusive Internet
    A Facebook report ranked India 47th out of 86 countries in terms of how accessible the internet is to all its citizens.
22. Reduction In Airfare For Haj
    The reduction will be applicable only for Air India, Saudi Airlines, and Flynas passengers.
23. Saudi Arabia Allows Women To Join The Military
    The women will assume only security roles and must hold diplomas to be eligible. This comes after King Salman announced that women will be allowed to drive in the country from June, and would be allowed to be spectators at football matches (Effective since January 2018).

Which news material did you find the most interesting?
Post your views in the comments below!

Check out the News Burger for Week #1, #Week 2 and Week #3 Stay tuned for more such information every week!