1) Kazakhstan prime minister resigns.
- Kazakhstan`s Prime Minister Serik Akhmetov, who had managed Central Asia`s largest economy since September 2012, had resigned.
- There was no immediate indication why he stepped down, but President Nursultan Nazarbayev, who wields sweeping powers in his vast nation, can change prime ministers at his own choosing.
- His successor will face a major task of preparing Kazakhstan`s integration into the Eurasian Economic Union which will unite Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus. The union, to be formed by 2015, is widely seen as a regional counterbalance to the European Union.
- Kazakhstan is the second-largest post-Soviet oil producer after Russia.
About Akhmetov:
- Serik Akhmetov born in 25 June 1958 is a Kazakh politician who was Prime Minister of Kazakhstan from 2012 to 2014.
- He served as the Minister of Defense from April to October 2014.
- Akhmetov served for a time as Deputy Governor of Astana before being appointed to the Government of Kazakhstan as Minister of Transportation on 25 September 2006.
- He has also served as Chairman of the Board of the Atameken National Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers of Kazakhstan since 2005.
2) Kelkar resigns from Tata Chemicals Board.
- Vijay L. Kelkar, non-executive independent director, has resigned from the Board of the company Tata Chemicals.
- Kelkar was appointed on the Board of Tata Group Company on May 30, 2012.
- He has also served as chairman of the National Stock Exchange and the 13th Finance Commission, besides being adviser to Finance Minister.
- There are 8 other Directors on the Board of the company, including Tata Group chairman Cyrus Mistry.
About Vijay Kelkar:
- Dr. Vijay Kelkar is a PhD from the University of California at Berkeley.
- Dr. Kelkar joined the Planning Commission in 1973 and thereafter the Commerce Ministry in 1977 as Economic Advisor, and has since then served in various posts including Secretary to the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister between 1985 and 1988.
- He was an executive director in the International Monetary Fund (IMF), overseeing its operations in South Asia during 2000-02. Dr. Kelkar has retired as Chairman, Finance Commission, in the rank of a Union Cabinet Minister.
- He was elected as the Chairman of the Forum of Federations, Ottawa, Canada (2010-13).
- In January 2011, the President of India awarded Dr. Vijay L. Kelkar “PADMA VIBHUSHAN”, the second highest Civilian Award for distinguished and exceptional service to the Nation.
3) Muslim girl wins Bhagavad Gita contest.
- A Muslim girl, has won first prize in an inter-school Bhagavad Gita competition.
- This contest was organised by International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Iskcon).
- Maryam Asif Siddiqui says `humanity is the ultimate religion`.
- Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said that government will introduce teaching of Bhagavad Gita in schools across the state from coming academic session.
4) ED files money laundering case against ex-Syndicate bank CMD SK Jain.
- The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has registered a money laundering case against the former CMD of Syndicate Bank SK Jain and others who were last year arrested by CBI in a bribery and corruption case.
- The agency slapped charges under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), taking cognisance of the CBI FIR.
- Jain was arrested by CBI in August last year for allegedly negotiating with Bhushan Steel for an illegal gratification of Rs 50 lakh in return for granting credit extension to that company as it had defaulted on the payment of loan instalments amounting to crores of rupees to the bank.
- CBI claimed to have recovered cash to the tune of Rs. 21 lakh from Jain`s residence besides gold worth Rs. 1.68 crore and fixed deposits of up to Rs. 63 lakh.
5) Planet named after Indian chess grandmaster Viswanathan Anand.
- In 1988 an asteroid or minor planet was discovered, but remained unnamed for more than ten years.
- Michael Rudenko, committee member of the Minor Planet Center, a chess buff with a Playchess account, decided it was appropriate to name the object after Viswanathan Anand, himself an astronomy buff.
- It is now officially known as `(4538) Vishyanand`.
- Though a minor planet, 4538 is located in between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter where the Ceres asteroid probe is currently going on by the Dawn sapcecraft of NASA. It was one among the 650,000 such minor space bodies in the cluster and very difficult to locate.
- The planet 4538, now named `4538 Vishyanand` was originally discovered by Kenzo Suzuki of Japan on October 10, 1988. Though the discoverer retains the privilege of naming it for 10 years, he did not exercise his right and the planet remained unnamed passing on to the center.
- Besides being a great chess player, he is also an astronomy enthusiast.
- Traditionally, the practice of naming a minor planet is left to its discoverer. If the discovered minor planet remained unnamed for over 10 years, than International Astronomical Union (IAU) names the planet.
- A minor planet is a term used to describe an astronomical object that is neither a dominant planet nor a comet and thus includes the dwarf planets that orbit around the Sun.
6) Tamil Nadu Former Agriculture Minister S.S. Krishnamoorthy Arrested.
- Former agriculture minister of Tamil Nadu S.S. Krishnamoorthy is arrested by Crime Branch CID. He is arrested in connection with the death of a senior engineer.
- S. Muthukumarasamy, a senior engineer committed suicide in Tirunelveli.
- Krishnamoorthy who was summoned at the CBI CID office was arrested.