Current Affairs - 22 February 2014

Dance festival in Khajuraho

The world-renowned dance festival began in Khajuraho with an aim to promote cultural and traditional dances of the country. The 40th annual festival will conclude on February 26.
Dancers performed old and traditional Indian dance forms like Bharatanatyam and Odissi, attempting to keep the dances alive as part of our heritage.
They described their experience of performing in Khajuraho, a place famous for its temple sculptures and paintings, as “holy.”
Many classical artists were honoured at the festival and young dancers got a platform to showcase their talent. The week-long event will see classical dancers perform various dance styles.

The Tamil Nadu government will set up an ‘Auto City’, considered a first of its kind initiative under the automobile and auto component policy launched by Chief Minister Jayalalithaa.
It will be under the theme ‘Tamil Nadu, the Partner in Automotive Sector Investment’.
The state government would form an Automotive Industrial Development Centre offering investment facilitation services to companies willing to invest in the automotive industry.
It said AIDC would help the government put in place appropriate policy framework. It would also support and facilitate its implementation and interventions aimed at making Tamil Nadu a destination for manufacture and export of motor vehicles.
As per AIDC, the government would set up an “Auto City”, a state-of-the-art over 1,000 hectare industrial park as a JV for domestic and global automotive and auto-component firms.
Tamil Nadu accounts for 35 per cent of India’s auto component production worth USD 6.2 billion.
Aimed at making Chennai one of the top five global auto-clusters, the state government unveiled the first of its kind automobile policy, an industrial policy and second volume of ‘Tamil Nadu Vision 2023’.

Congress activists launched a RaGa milk booth in in Bhopal , to counter the Modi tea kiosk programmes the BJP has launched nationwide.
Led by leaders Monu Saxena and Manoj Shukla, Congressmen offered steaming milk to autorickshaw drivers and pedestrians in paper cups with pictures of their party's Vice President Rahul Gandhi.
The BJP has had similar programmes at railway stations in Madhya Pradesh, which saw senior party leaders distribute tea along with campaign paraphernalia is in support of their PM candidate Narendra Modi. Mr. Modi has also started "Chai pe Charcha" interactions with voters at tea stalls to project himself as a champion of common people.
The RaGa milk stall here however is a local campaign by former youth Congressmen in Bhopal.

Standard & Poor’s ratings agency lowered Ukraine’s long-term rating from ‘CCC+’ to ‘CCC’ saying the raging political crisis has put the government’s ability to service its debt at risk and raised uncertainty over Russia providing promised aid.
The crisis in economically-struggling Ukraine erupted in November when President Viktor Yanukovych decided unexpectedly to reject a European Union integration deal years in the making in favour of closer ties with Russia.
Moscow then promised to provide a 15 billion dollar bailout to its former satellite and to slash prices that Kiev paid for energy supplies.

Mithali Raj will lead the Indian team in the three-match Twenty20 international series against Bangladesh in Bangladesh from March 9 and also the ICC World Twenty20 in Bangladesh from March 16.
The team: Mithali Raj (captain), Harmanpreet Kaur (vice-captain), Smriti Mandhana, V.R. Vanitha, Madhuri Meheta, Latika Kumari, Karuna Jain, Jhulan Goswami, Gouher Sultana, Soniya Dabir, Shikha Pandey, Poonam Yadav, Sravanthi Naidu, S. Shubhlakshmi.

The 28-year-old England international has extended his current contract by four years in a deal worth up to £300,000 a week.
Rooney has won five Premier League titles and the Champions League in his time at Old Trafford.
The forward, who returned to first-team action at the end of January after nearly a month out with an injury, has made 28 club appearances this season and scored 11 goals.

Stock market and currency turbulence in emerging markets like Brazil and Indonesia are expected to feature at G20 finance ministers' meeting in Sydney to be held soon.
The official theme of the meeting is restoring global growth.
But the main issue for participants, which also include Argentina, could be the dramatic revaluation of their currencies and share markets.
Investors are returning to the US as it winds down its ultra-easy money stance.
The G20 represents about 85% of the world's economy.
It consists of the US, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, the UK, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, and the European Union.
The meeting, which includes central bankers, comes ahead of the main annual G20 summit which will take place in November in Brisbane.