Current Affairs: 8 February 2017

New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has renamed Dalhousie Road as Dara Shikoh Road. Dara Shikoh was the elder brother of Mughal emperor Aurganzeb. The road, named after Lord Dalhousie who served as governor general of India from 1848-56, is located less than 2 km from Rashtrapati Bhawan.
NDMC Chairman Naresh Kumar announced the change in name of the road, which comes five months after Race Course Road was renamed Lok Kalyan Marg. In 2015, the civic body had renamed Aurangzeb Road after former president APJ Abdul Kalam.
Dara Shikoh, the eldest son of fifth Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, had promoted the peace and concord between the followers of Hinduism and Islam, and has interest in comparative religions, universal brotherhood, humanism and peace

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Member (Finance) in Prasar Bharati Rajiv Singh took over as the acting CEO of the countrys public service broadcaster.
Singh has taken over as per a resolution of the Prasar Bharati Boards Resolution taken on January 14 in a meeting in Hyderabad.
Suresh Panda, Member (Personnel), who was the acting CEO retired yesterday.
The Prasar Bharati Board had passed a similar resolution in favour of Panda when Jawhar Sircar put in his papers.
Article 30 of Prasar Bharati Act empowers the Board to take decisions in such contingencies.
Prasar Bharati looks after the functioning of Doordarshan and All India Radio.

Russia has been barred from international competition since November 2015 following a damaging report alleging that state-sponsored doping was rife in the country.
The ban had already been extended in March and then June 2016, preventing Russia’s athletes from competing at the Rio Olympics.
Russian athletes will be allowed to compete under a neutral flag in the world championships provided they can prove to the IAAF that they have been tested regularly outside Russia. Thirty-five athletes have already applied to the governing body of international athletics for approval.

Shaikha Mozah Al Maktoum, one of the female members of Dubai's ruling family, is claimed to have become the first woman commercial pilot,
In 2016, Etihad Airways announced that more than half the UAE nationals employed by the airline are women, including nearly 50 pilots.
In recent years, an Emirati woman fighter pilot - Major Mariam Al Mansouri - made headlines around the world when she led an aerial raid against ISIS in Syria.
A few members of the Al Maktoum family took to Instagram to congratulate the young achiever, expressing their pride and joy on her accomplishment.

China has become the world’s largest producer of solar energy, according to a new report from the country’s energy administration. The most populous nation on Earth nearly doubled their capacity for solar power in 2016, but they still have a very low per-capita rate for solar power use.
China's National Energy Administration announced over the weekend that their photovoltaic (PV) capacity reached an impressive 77.42 gigawatts. Germany, the former global solar-power leader, produced 40.78 gigawatts in November 2016.
China is not the only nation embracing renewable power. India announced on Monday that their PV capacity had reached 9 gigawatts, and they hope to replicate China's meteoric rise in alternative energy through the use of tariffs and subsidies. Saudi Arabia, in response to slumping oil prices, announced in January 2017 a $30-50 billion investment in solar and wind power.

Helium, considered to be a chemically inert and unreactive gas due to its extremely stable and closed-shell electronic configuration, has been confirmed to form a stable compound (Na2He) with sodium under high pressure.
These findings were so unexpected that it took more than two years to convince science reviewers and editors to publish their results, said the lead researcher.

The Arunachal Pradesh government it has implemented a paperless system to cut down on the time taken to hold a cabinet meeting. The 'e-Cabinet' system uses a web-based software by which ministers can prepare for cabinet meetings, entirely without paper.
The system is a multi-user secure solution that keeps information updated in real time.
e-Cabinet is a powerful tool that the Arunachal Pradesh government plans to use to streamline its decision-making process

Twenty-one-year-old Delhi batsman Mohit Ahlawat has become the first batsman to score a triple hundred in a T20 match at any level.
Ahlawat, who has represented Delhi in Ranji Trophy, scored an unbeaten 300 off 72 balls in a local T20 tournament at Delhi's Lalita Park. Ahlawat smashed 39 sixes and 14 fours in his knock.
The 21-year-old wicketkeeper batsman, playing for Maavi XI, scored the record 300 not out in a local T20 tournament - Friends Premier League, at Delhi's Lalita Parkagainst Friend's XI.
Mohit's unbeaten knock came off just 72 balls, which included 39 sixes and 14 fours. His effort led his side to 416 in 20 overs. Mohit's teammate Gaurav contributed 86 off 39 balls as Maavi XI won the match by 216 runs.