Current Affairs February 2017: #CAT #CLAT #UPSC #CMAT #After12

1) Union Budget 2017
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented the Union budget 2017-2018 in Lok Sabha (01 February 2017).
From 1924 General & Railway budget were separated advised by Acworth Committee
But in 2017 Both general & Railway budget merged after advised of Bibek Debroy Committee (Member of NITI Commission)   
It was broadly focused on 10 issues farming sector, rural population, youth, poor and health care for the underprivileged, infrastructure, financial sector for stronger institutions, speedy accountability, public services, prudent fiscal management and tax administration for the honest.
2) Rajasthan, Telangana bag eGov awards
3) E-Paathsala Launches Unique Technology-Backed Services for Educational Institutions in India
4) Income Tax Department (ITD) launches Operation Clean Money
5) Chadian foreign affairs minister Moussa Faki Mahamat has been elected as the head of African Union. He will replace Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma
6) US House of Representatives has introduced a mandatory to raise the minimum salary of the H-1B visa holders to more than double at USD 1,30,000 from the previous USD 60,000.
7) Ireland became the world’s first country to stop investing in fossil fuels
8) Government set up dairy development fund with corpus of Rs 8,000 crore.
9) set up National Testing Agency (NTA)  to conduct all entrance examinations for higher education institutions.
10) second British female PM is Theresa May has received Parliament's first stage approval to begin the process of Britain's exit (Brexit) from the European Union (EU) after winning a crucial vote in the House of Commons last night.
11) Sanjeev Sanyal appointed Principal Economic Adviser
12) Apple to start manufacturing in Bengaluru, Karnataka.
13) 4th February: The World Cancer Day
14) Former CBI chief Joginder Singh passes away
15) Pankaj Advani has won the Indian National Snooker Championship with a 6-0 win over Pandurangaiah of Railways in a one-sided final
16) Mughal Gardens at Rashtrapati Bhavan has reopened for the first time see roses named after the Indian President and his wife, growing next to ‘ Abraham Lincoln’, ‘Christian Dior’ and ‘Queen Elizabeth’ . ‘President Pranab’, a crossbred variety of rose which was planted last month along with another variety of rose named ‘Suvra Mukherjee’, will blossom in spring. The President’s wife passed away in August 2015.
17) The Telangana government has launched India's first social innovation Centre the ‘Kakatiya Hub for Social Innovation’ in Nizamabad, Telangana.
18)  The world’s longest commercial flight landed in New Zealand of Qatar Airways’s 14,535km (9,032-mile) Doha-Auckland service. The long-range Boeing 777-200LR crossed 10 time zones on its marathon flight.
19) India to host women’s Federation International Basketball Association-FIBA at Bengaluru
Also, FIBA U-16 Women's Asian Championship will be held at Hyderabad.
20) Queen Elizabeth II, the world’s longest reigning sovereign, has become the first British monarch to reach her Sapphire Jubilee, with 65 years on the throne.
She succeeded George V who has died
21) 4th bay of Bengal Initiative of Multi sectoral Technology & economic Cooperation -BIMSTEC Summit to be Held in Kathmandu Nepal in 2017
22) China has surpassed Germany to become the world’s largest producer of solar energy
23) Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose’s driver and INA veteran ‘Colonel’ Nizamuddin has passed away
24) Gujarat has become the first state in the country for establishing the cashless system in its public distribution system (PDS) of food grains.
25) Government to open 56 Post Office Passport Seva Kendra facilities
26) Official mascot of FIFA U-17 World Cup A clouded leopard called Kheleao unveiled held at India
27) Ajay Tyagi appointed as the 9th chairman of capital market regulator SEBI for a period not exceeding five years, or till the age of 65 years or until further orders, whichever is the earliest.
He will replace U K Sinha
28) ‘Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan’ (PMGDISHA) prime objective of the mission is to make 6 crore rural households digitally literate by March 2019
The outlay for this project is Rs. 2351.38 crore
In India 2.5 lakh Gram Panchayats
29) Terahertz (THz) Data Transmission was successfully tested by Japan speed is 105 gigabits per second throughput between 290 GHz to 315 GHz frequency range. This speed is almost 10 times the speed achieved for the 5G data speed.
Where 4G LTE speeds peak out at 50 Mbps
30) Vivanta’ and ‘Gateway’ brings under Tata Group firm Indian Hotels Company Ltd ‘Taj’ brand
Gateway was launched in 2008, Vivanta was introduced in 2010.
31) Bank of America opened three employee-less completely automated branches, where customers can use ATMs and have video conferences with employees at other branches.
32) Virat Kohli broke cricket legend Sir Don Bradman and Rahul Dravid’s record of scoring 3 double-centuries in a season as he scored his fourth century of the season against Bangladesh in the one-off Test match being played as Hyderabad.
33) Indian Railways launched the first phase of the World’s largest Station Redevelopment Programme (SRP). For 23 railway stations
which include Chennai Central, Ranchi, Udaipur City, Indore, Yesvantpur, Bangalore Cantt., Visakhapatnam, Howrah, Kamakhya, Faridabad, Jammu Tawi, Secunderabad, Vijayawada, Kozhikode and Bhopal.
Overall 400 railway stations will be redeveloped under this ambitious programme.
34) For the first time in the country’s history, 7 Supreme Court judges convened in open court to initiate suo motu contempt action against sitting Justice C.S. Karnan of the Calcutta High Court. for his offensive behaviour towards the Chief Justice of the High Court and for imputing casteism motives on his fellow judges.
35) Arunachal Pradesh became the first state in the northeast to implement e-Cabinet solution for the state cabinet members
Using it the cabinet members can access the cabinet notes before the meeting. The entire business of the Cabinet can be conducted using the e-Cabinet solution.
36) The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare launched a single vaccine for dual protection against Measles-Rubella (MR) which two infections as part of Universal Immunization Programme
40) first-ever training Centre dedicated for para athletes was laid in Gandhinagar (Gujarat)
It is worth mentioning that para athletes have won 4 medals at Rio Paralympics (Brazil) for India in 2016 and brought glory to the country.
41) U.S. Federal Judge James Robart who temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s controversial immigration order
42) 15-year-old badminton player Lakshya Sen from Uttarakhand achieved the World No. 1 ranking in the latest Badminton World Federation (BWF) World junior ranking.
43) Hindustan Motors sold its iconic Ambassador brand of cars to French automobile entity Peugeot SA for Rs. 80 crore.
44) The homegrown Advanced Air Defense (AAD) interceptor missile, dubbed as ‘Ashwin’, intercepted a target, which was a hostile Ballistic Missile approaching from more than 2000 km away, mid-air.
India began developing a multi-tiered ballistic missile defense (BMD) system in 1999, after the end of the Kargil War in reaction to Pakistan’s growing missile arsenal.
Defense Procurement Organisation (DPO) has planned to establish to integrate and streamline the long and arduous process of defense acquisitions, advised by former Director of Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Lucknow, Dr. Pritam Singh
45) The DRDO handed over the first indigenous Airborne Early Warning and Control System (AWACS-NETRA) to the Indian Air Force (IAF)
The AWACS project costs a total of Rs 2,400 crore. It will be capable of detecting in-coming drones, cruise missiles and fighter jets from countries like
46) INS Sarvekshak is India’s first-ever green naval survey vessel (based of solar plant)
47) National Security Adviser (NSA) Michael Flynn resigned after reports that he misled the Trump administration officials about his contacts with Russia’s ambassador to the United States.
48) The Karnataka Assembly passed the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Karnataka Amendment) Bill, 2017
For ‘Kambala’ is the name of the traditional buffalo and bullock-cart race that has been in several coastal districts of the state of Karnataka. The practice was banned by the High Court of Karnataka in its ruling of November 2016 in cruelty to animal case filed by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).
49) “La La Land” won 5 awards including the Best Film award at 70th British Academy Film & Television Awards (BAFTA)
including the best film, best director and best actress for Emma Stone.
British-Indian star Dev Patel came to limelight as he won the award in the best supporting actor category for “Lion”.
50) The Indian Institute of Management Bill, 2017 has proposed to drop the prefix ‘Rajiv Gandhi’ from the name of IIM-Shillong, It started operations in 2008 as the Rajiv Gandhi Indian Institute of Management Shillong.
The IIM bill, 2017, also proposes to change the name of IIM-Calcutta to IIM-Kolkata. Experts fear the move would not only erode the IIM-C brand value, but also lead to confusion since IIM-Kozhikode is also known as IIM-K.
51) Adele female singer swept the 5 Grammy Award
For album, record and song of the year.
52) World Radio Day 13 February 
53) National Women’s Parliament held at Amravati Andhra Pradesh
54) The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI)
55) Monnet Ispat & Energy Ltd. CMD Sandeep Jajodia has been appointed CP of ASSOCHAM
56) Diego Maradona Gets Ambassador Role at FIFA.
57) World’s first Braille Atlas for visually impaired persons Launched by National Atlas and Thematic Mapping Organization (NATMO) under Department of Science & Technology.
58) 2017 BRICS association of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa will be held in Xiamen, China in September 2017.
59) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in 2003 pioneer and Nobel laureate Sir Peter Mansfield passed away
60) BharatQR code new quick response code based payment solution
jointly developed by National Payments Corp. of India (NPCI) that runs RuPay cards, MasterCard, Visa and American Express, under instructions from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
BharatQR code eliminates the need of entering the merchant’s ID or phone number to make payments. The customers can simply make payments by scanning the QR code and entering the transaction amount. The amount gets transferred directly from the bank account without the need of a swiping machine.
As a customer, to use BharatQR code a customer needs to have a smartphone and must download the bank app that is compatible with it.
61) The 8th edition of Asian Winter Games was inaugurated at Sapporo
62) Virat Kohli signed an eight-year deal with German sports apparel brand Puma worth Rs. 110 crore. He thus became the first Indian sports personality to strike an over Rs. 100-crore endorsement deal with a single brand.
63) English all-rounder Ben Stokes bought Rs. 14.5 crore by Rising Pune Supergiants
Yuvraj Singh who went to Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) for Rs. 16 crore in 2015.
The second highest earner was Stokes’ England team-mate Tymal Mills, who went to RCB for Rs. 12 crore
64) Middle Income Group Scheme, introduced by the Supreme Court, is self-supporting and people whose gross income does not exceed Rs 60,000 per month or Rs 7,50,000 per annum can avail its services. which supported by legal aid
65) Barren Island its only live volcano in India
The volcanic island is uninhabited and its northern part of ANI, as the name suggests, barren and devoid of vegetation. Indian citizens can visit the island by chartered boats after obtaining permission from the forest department in Port Blair.
66) first personal law for Pakistani Hindus, applicable in Punjab, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces. The Sindh province has already formulated its own Hindu Marriage Law.
67) A contract between Nova Integrated Systems Ltd and Indian Navy for procurement of Surface Surveillance Radars (SSR) This was the first naval contract in line with the Government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative
68) Indian Navy inducts second sailboat Indian Naval Sailing Vessel-INSV Tarini with all-woman crew
The first such sailboat is INSV Mhadei in (2010)
69) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) notified that it will reimburse banks the merchant discount rate (MDR) on debit cards used for payment of tax and non-tax dues to the government of India. applicable from 1 January 2017
70) The Supreme Court rejected a plea to direct the Central government to frame a national policy under Article 51A (fundamental duties) of the Constitution to promote and propagate the National Anthem, the National Flag and a ‘national song’.
The apex court observed – “Article 51A only mentions the National Flag and the National Anthem (‘Jan Gan Man’). The Article does not refer to a national song (Vande Mataram’)”.
The Court rejected the prayer of petitioner Ashwini Upadhyay, a BJP spokesperson. It also rejected a prayer to make the rendering of the National Anthem compulsory in offices, courts, legislative houses and Parliament.
71) External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup appointed India’s High Commissioner at Canada
72) India’s space agency Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) created a world record by successfully launching 104 satellites in a single mission by PSLV-C37. From Shri Harikota Launching station(AP)  
Before USA launched 96 satellites. & Russian space agency launched 37 satellites through a single launch in 2014.
The launch was done through in a single payload and it included the Cartosat-2 series and 103 co-passenger satellites.
73) With the merger of all the five associates, SBI is expected to become a global-sized bank with an asset base of Rs. 37 trillion (Rs. 37 lakh crore) or over $555 billion, 22,500 branches and 58,000 ATMs. It will have over 50 crore customers.
State Bank of India has about 16,500 branches, including 191 foreign offices spread across 36 countries. SBI first merged State Bank of Saurashtra with itself in 2008. Two years later, State Bank of Indore was merged with it.
74) Zoom Air’ airline became the 12th and the newest domestic airline in the country
Other 11 domestic airlines operating in the country currently are – Air India, Jet Airways, Vistara, IndiGo, SpiceJet, GoAir, AirAsia India, Air Costa, TrueJet, Alliance Air and Air Carnival.
75) 11th International Aero India 2017 to begin at Yelahanka in Bengaluru
76) India’s first floating elementary school inaugurated on Manipur’s Loktak Lake
77) After transforming the lives of villagers in Puttamraju Kandriga in Andhra Pradesh, Indian cricket icon and Rajya Sabha MP Sachin Tendulkar is now set to adopt Donja in Osmanabad (Maharashtra) under the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojna.
78) India’s first cashless township “Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers and Chemicals (GNFC) township” 
79) Government to launch Indradhanush 2.0 for Recapitalization of PSBs
Under ‘Indradhanush 2.0. Earlier in 2015, under Indradhanush roadmap, the government had announced to infuse Rs 70,000 crore for recapitalization in state-run banks over four years while the banks had to raise a further Rs 1.1 lakh crore from the markets to meet their capital requirement in line with global risk norms known as Basel-III.
80) The world’s longest elevated cycle path has been opened in Xiamen, China which can handle about 2,023 cyclists with a speed limit of 15 miles per hour.
81) Haryana government has notified that no person will be allowed to consume liquor at a place which is not licensed or authorized under the Punjab Excise Act, 1914 except his dwelling unit.
82) Tamil Nadu Governor appoints Edappadi K Palaniswami as chief minister
83) Global Investor Summit 'Momentum Jharkhand' begins in Ranchi
84) Jamaica Usain Bolt honored with ‘Sportsman of the Year at the Laureus World Awards or the ‘Oscar of Sports’ held in Monaco. 
Earlier in 2009, 2010 and 2013 too he won the award.
85) India has been ranked 143 out of 186 economies in the annual Index of Economic Freedom 2017 released by top US based Think Tank, The Heritage Foundation. The Index measures the degree of economic freedom in the countries of the world.
Hong Kong, Singapore and New Zealand are the top three nations in the Index respectively.
86) Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully ground tested its indigenously developed Cryogenic Upper Stage engine for GSLV Mark III at its Liquid Propulsion Complex at Mahendragiri in Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu.
87) Lata Mangeshkar has been honoured with the 'Legendary Award ' 2017 by Brand Laureate. The Brand Laureate Awards recognise world-class achievement in branding amongst individuals and companies.
88) Hindi litterateur and playwright Surendra Verma has been selected for 2016 Vyas Samman for his novel Kaatna Shami Ka Vriksha Padma Pankhuri Ki Dhar Se.
89) 19th National Conference on e-governance in Nagpur.
90) Highest ever urea production of 245 LMT occurred in the country during 2015-16
91) Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), which Ratified by 112 nations, more than two-thirds of all member nations, the TFA is expected to ease trade processes, bring down barriers to trade and enhance the capacity of the developing world to better engage with the global trading network.
Part of the Bali Package of decisions agreed upon in 2013, the deal is a watershed moment in the organization’s history.
The 164 member nations of the WTO account for more than 97% of global gross domestic product (GDP) and 96.8% of global trade.
92) Maruti Suzuki India has stopped selling of ‘Ritz
93) “Cyber Swachhta Kendra” (CSK) that was inaugurated by Union IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has been established in accordance with the objectives of the “National Cyber Security Policy”, which envisages creating a secure cyber ecosystem in the country.
Center for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), such as AppSamvid or app white-listing tool and USB Pratirodh tool to control unauthorized usage of portable USB storage devices.
94) Lt Gen H.R. McMaster nominated as the new National Security Adviser (NSA) of the United States by President Donald Trump.He will succeed the disgraced Michael Flynn,
95) Norman Foster and Partners master architect of Andhra Pradesh capital Amaravati
96) Kolkata-headquartered South Eastern Railway (SER) scored the highest points among 16 railway zones in performance rating by the Ministry of Railways across different sectors like freight loading and passenger traffic.
97) N. Chandrasekaran first-ever non-Parsi took reins as the seventh Chairman of the 150-year old Tata Group. He was the CEO and MD of TCS, prior to being selected for the top job in the Tata group.
Earlier 6 Chairmen of Tata Group are – Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata (1867–1904), Sir Dorab Tata (1904–1932), Nowroji Saklatwala (1932–1938), Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata (1938–1991), Ratan Tata (1991–2012) and Cyrus Pallonji Mistry (2012–2016).
98) TCS announced a historic Rs. 16,000 crore share buyback plan that is the biggest in Indian corporate history
Reliance Industries’ share repurchase of Rs. 10,400 crore in 2012.
99) Russia overtook Saudi Arabia as the world’s largest crude oil producer in December 2016
100) ‘Saathiya’ launched a new resource-kit and a mobile application for adolescents as part of the Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram (RKSK) program.
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102)  UNESCO celebrates International Mother Language Day (IMLD) on February 21
103) Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM), a mobile app pushed by the government to make digital payments a mass movement in India, has seen over 17 million installs (downloads), a world record, Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog, has stated.
104) According Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) India emerged as the world’s largest importer of major arms during 2012–16.As per the report, India accounted for 13% of the global total sales.
105) Country's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) has rebranded its corporate website as "bank.sbi" from the earlier sbi.co.in. 
106) California-based SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket Successfully Launches from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
107) Famous Hindi novelist Ved Prakash Sharma was passed away in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh
108) Delhi to get India's first heliport built by state-owned Pawan Hans, consists of a terminal building, nine parking bays and four hangars with a parking capacity of 16 helicopters. It was built at an investment of 100 crore
109) Indian Coast Guard offshore patrol vessel (OPV) 'Shaunak' in Vasco, located in South Goa.
110) Third National Biodiversity Congress (NBC) 2017 held in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.
111) The country's largest telecom services provider, Bharti Airtel (Airtel) has acquire Telenor India. between Rs. 6,500 crore and Rs. 7,000 crore.
112) Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu unveiled Antyodaya Express for common man Equipped with cushioned seats, aluminum composite panels, and LED lights, the Antyodaya Express, a new fully unreserved train for the common man with specially designed colorful coaches.
The first Antyodaya Express will be launched between Mumbai and Tatanagar, and the second will be between Ernakulam and Howrah shortly
113) 7 new Earth-like exoplanets discovered, Astronomers of NASA have discovered seven Earth-sized planets orbiting a star called TRAPPIST-1. Three of them are in the habitable zone the happy place where liquid water can exist on the surface of rocky planets, as it’s not too hot or cold.
114) India to host 2019 Combined World Cup for shooting Combined World Cup will a qualifying event for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. It will comprise all the three categories shotgun, rifle and pistol.
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116) Sikkim becomes 22nd State to join Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY)
117) The Kerala government will launch the country’s first sex offenders registry which will contain all identification details of sex offenders and would be kept in public domain. A comprehensive victim relief fund will be set-up by the state government to provide interim relief for victims of sex crimes, both children and adults.
118) Rs 17,000 crore deal has been cleared by the government for jointly developing with Israel a medium-range surface-to-air missile (MR-SAM) for the Indian army. And long-range surface-to-air missile (LRSAM) for the navy
119) Rajasthan has become the second largest crude oil producer in the country after the offshore field Bombay High.
120) Foreign direct investment (FDI) in India grew 18% during 2016 to touch $46 billion, data released by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP). The country attracted FDI of $39.32 billion in 2015.
The main sectors which attracted the highest foreign inflows include services, telecom, trading, computer hardware and software and automobile.
121) Oriental Bank launches mobile wallet ‘Batuaa’
122) Fabindia removes ‘Khadi’ brand name from its products
123) Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi has announced his retirement from international cricket
124) ‘Moonlight’ won the Best Picture award at the 89th Academy Awards function directed by Barry Jenkins, function was held at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. ‘Moonlight’ thus beat the other favorite ‘La La Land ‘, which had won the top honors at BAFTA earlier.
It is, however, worth mentioning that ‘La La Land‘was initially declared as the Best Picture, but it was soon announced that there was an error and the Best Picture Award was, in fact, won by ‘Moonlight‘.
Best Actor and Best Actress Award at the 89th Academy Awards Casey Affleck (Best Actor) and Emma Stone (Best Actress)
‘La La Land’ was the most successful as it won 6 oscars while ‘Moonlight’ won 3 oscars.
Mahershala Ali, who bagged the award for the Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his performance in ‘Moonlight’, became the first Muslim actor to win an Oscar.
125) India’s biggest company by revenue, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) crossed Rs. 4 trillion (Rs. 4 lakh crore) in market capitalization. It thus became the second company after TCS to cross this mark. 4.88 trillion.
126) The iconic Nokia 3310 phone made its comeback as the brightly colored version of the phone was re-launched by HMD Global
127) Bhubaneswar-based team Kalinga Lancers defeated Dabang Mumbai 4-1 to clinch their maiden Hockey India League (HIL) title. The final was played in Sector 42 stadium in Chandigarh.
128) National Science Day is celebrated 28th of February due to invention of the Raman Effect by Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman on the same day in the year 1928.
Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman was honored with the Nobel Prize in the Physics in the year 1930.
129) Government Issues Sovereign Gold Bonds 2016-17-Series IV
The Bonds will be sold through banks, Stock Holding Corporation of India Limited (SHCIL), designated post offices, National Stock Exchange of India Limited and Bombay Stock Exchange.
130) ZTE launches world’s first 5G IT baseband unit (BBU) in partnership with Intel
The announcement was made at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona.
131) Chandra Shekhar Azad's 86th Martyrdom Day observed: 27th February
132) India and Germany have ratified the Social Security Agreement (SSA)
133) Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje inaugurated a medical project Rajasthan Heart Attack Treatment programme (RAHAT) at the Eternal Heart Care Center Hospital in Jaipur.
134) Mumbai richest Indian city with total wealth of $820 billion
Delhi with a total wealth of $ 450 billion and Bengaluru with a total wealth of $ 320 billion in the second and third places, respectively.
135) India’s largest software services firm Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has been rated as one of the top three 'most-valuable brands' in the Information Technology (IT) service sector by Brand Finance, the leading global brand valuation firm. As IBM and Accenture are on the top two positions.
136) The world's first robot table tennis tutor FORPHEUS (Future Omron Robotics Technology for Exploring Possibility of Harmonized Automation with Sinic Theoretic) in Japan has set a new Guinness World Record for its uncanny ability of being able to play the game better than most humans.
137) Belgium captain John-John Dohmen, Netherland’s Naomi Van named best Hockey Players of 2016 by FIH (International Hockey Federation) Hockey Stars Awards were conferred in Chandigarh.


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