Current Affairs in Short: 16 February 2018

1. West Bengal becomes first state to opt out of National Health Protection Scheme

• The state of West Bengal on February 13, 2018 became the first one in India to opt out of the Union Government’s National Health Protection Scheme that was announced in Union Budget 2018-19.

• The announcement was made by the state’s Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who said that the state will not waste its hard earned resources to contribute its share to the programme.

• Banerjee said that the centre has drawn up a health plan in which 40 per cent of the fund has to come from states but questioned that why should the state spend on another programme when it already has its own.

• The West Bengal government has already enrolled 50 lakh people under its own Swasthya Sathi programme.

2. Tri-service maritime exercise 'Paschim Lehar' begins

• The Tri-service maritime exercise ‘Paschim Lehar’ was initiated off India’s western coast on February 12, 2018.

• The main objective of the exercise was to build interoperability between the Indian Navy, Indian Army, Indian Air Force and Coast Guard.

• Around 40 ships, submarines and fighter aircraft participated in the exercise.

• In the initial phase, the exercise included a number of weapon firings, including missile, gun and torpedo firings.

• The second phase has been structured to validate and refine the operational plans of the Western Naval Command.

3. Cyril Ramaphosa sworn in as new President of South Africa following resignation of Jacob Zuma

• Cyril Ramaphosa, head of the ruling African National Congress (ANC), was been sworn in as the new President of South Africa on February 15, 2018.

• He was elected as the new president of South Africa by the ruling party members after the resignation of Jacob Zuma.

• The country's 400-member parliament, dominated by the ruling party, elected Ramaphosa to complete his predecessor's term, which ends in 2019.

• The ANC has finished first in every national vote since the end of the Apartheid system.

• The 65-year-old Ramaphosa became country's deputy President in 2014.

• In December 2017, he narrowly defeated Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma in the race to replace South African President Jacob Zuma as the head of the ruling party.

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