• Currency: Dollar • Prime Minister: Malcolm Turnbull

By 2050, India will have most Muslims in world Ukraine region to use Russian ruble as currency By 2050, India will be the Ukraine's self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic will use country with the world's the Russian ruble as its official currency, according to an largest Muslim population, official statement. said American think tank The ruble would be used in the pro-Russian territory as the Pew Research Centre. basic unit of currency as of 1 March 2017, the statement While Islam is said. currently the world's The use of the ruble, which is already used informally in second-largest religion after Christianity, it is now also the the pro-Russian territory along with the Ukrainian hryvnia, fastest-growing major religion. serves to stabilise the volatile economic situation in the There were 1.6 billion Muslims in the world as of 2010 - region. roughly 23% of the global population - according to a Pew Ukraine estimate. Currently, Indonesia has the world's largest Muslim • Capital: Kiev population. • Currency: Hryvnia • Prime Minister: Volodymyr Groysman Syrian Army recaptures Palmyra from Islamic State • President: Petro Poroshenko The General Staff of the Syrian Army said it had recaptured the ancient city of Palmyra from the extremist group Islamic State Pakistan hosted 13th ECO Summit in Islamabad (IS). The 13th Economic Cooperation Organisation Summit was The city, which is home to Greco-Roman ruins on the held in Islamabad, Pakistan. United Nations cultural body’s World Heritage list, had The theme of ECO Summit was "Connectivity for been the scene of heavy fighting for months. Regional Prosperity,". The units led by Iranian and Russia entered the city three ECO Observers and special guests were invited to attend months after IS took it over. the summit. Syria • Capital: Damascus Sri Lanka Wins Most Popular Tourism Destination Award • Currency: Pound Sri Lanka won the "Most Popular Tourism Destination Award" • President: Bashar al-Assad at the Guangzhou International Travel Fair (GITF) in China, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. • Prime Minister: Imad Khamis The island nation won the prestigious award for the second

consecutive year. Australia to introduce world’s first cyber crime China has been Sri Lanka's second largest source market university course for tourism since 2014. Australia said it will offer the Sri Lanka world’s first university course to train intelligence analysts • Capitals: Colombo, Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte to fight cyber crime, prompted • Currency: Rupee by innovative methods of • President: Maithripala Sirisena money transfer among • Prime Minister: Ranil Wickremesinghe organised crime and militant groups. US, South Korea Kick Off Annual Foal Eagle Exercise Justice Minister Michael Keenan said AUSTRAC would United States and South Korean start teaching the world’s first university-accredited troops kicked off the 2017 “Financial Intelligence Analyst Course” after 16 law iteration of their large-scale enforcement analysts sat a pilot course. annual Foal Eagle exercises. Australia The exercises will run • Capital: Canberra through April and will

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overlap with the Key Resolve exercise, which begins later This fits into India’s overall effort to boost strategic this month, on March 13. cooperation under the ‘Act East’ policy and will help The exercises come amid high tensions between the U.S.- offset increasing Chinese presence in its neighbourhood. South Korea alliance and North Korea. Myanmar • Capital: Naypyidaw Mumbai ranked 21st in City Wealth Index list • Currency: Kyat Mumbai has been ranked 21st, ahead of Toronto, Washington • Sultan: Htin Kyaw DC and Moscow, in the “City Wealth Index” list in the Knight • Frank Wealth Report 2017. Delhi has been ranked 35th, ahead of Bangkok, Seattle and 8 March: International Women's Day Jakarta. 8 March is International Women's Day, an event held around The report tracked “super-rich population” in as many as the world to commemorate the struggle for women's rights. 125 cities across 89 countries. Originally called International Working Women’s Day, it The “ultra-high-net-worth individuals” in India rose by was first celebrated on February 28, 1909, in New York in 290% in the past ten years, the report said. remembrance of a 1908 strike of the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union when 15,000 workers marched World Wildlife Day: March 3 through the city's lower east side to demand social and World Wildlife Day is celebrated every year on March 3 as political rights. proclaimed by the United Nations in 2013. This year's theme is “be bold for change”. This year’s theme is “Listen To The Young Voices”, urging us all to listen to young people’s views and ideas Indo-Nepal joint Military exercise 'Surya Kiran- XI' begins on conserving wildlife. A joint military exercise 'Surya Kiran-XI' between India and The International Union for Conservation of Nature has Nepal has begin in Pithoragarh area of Uttarakhand. listed 2,599 species, subspecies and sub-populations of This is a battalion level joint exercise between the two critically endangered animals. armies. The two-week long exercise is aimed at training of both India-Oman armies exercise, Al Nagah-II, begins the troops in the area of various counter insurgency A 14-day joint training operations over a prolonged period. exercise of the armies of India Nepal and Oman has began at Bakloh • Capital: Kathmandu in Himachal Pradesh. • Currency: Rupee The exercise, Al Nagah- • President: Bidhya Devi Bhandari II, drew contingents • Prime Minister: Pushpa Kamal Dahal comprised of platoon

strength troops from both the armies, the Defence Ministry India has highest incidence of bribery in Asia Pacific: said. Survey The second edition of the exercise which was previously Over 900 million people–one in four–across the 16 nations in held in Oman 2 years ago. the Asia Pacific region paid a bribe in the past year when trying Oman to access basic services like education or healthcare. • Capital: Muscat Among them India has the highest bribery rate of 69%, • Currency: Rial said a survey released by anti-graft Transparency • Sultan: Qaboos bin Said al Said International (TI). India was closely followed by Vietnam (65%). Thailand India to train Myanmar Navy (41%), Cambodia, Pakistan and Myanmar, each with 40%, Indian Navy will set up meteorological facilities and impart were next. The rate was much lower in China (26%) and it training for the Myanmar Navy. was the lowest in Japan (0.2%). This was agreed upon during a recent visit of a Myanmar The report also stressed that 41% people in India said that delegation to Kochi. the level of corruption had increased in the last year. Myanmar will soon send a proposal with its requirements.

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Interestingly, India’s neighbours like Pakistan (35%), Sri The national census will be conducted from 15 March. Lanka (21%) and Myanmar (22%) ranked lower in the list. Transparency International Bangladesh declares March 25 as ‘Genocide Day’ • Aim: Its nonprofit purpose is to take action to Bangladesh’s unanimously adopted a resolution declaring combat corruption and prevent criminal activities March 25 as Genocide Day, in remembrance of the atrocities arising from corruption. carried out by the Pakistani Army in the night of March 25, • Headquarters: Berlin, Germany 1971. • Founded: 1993 Condemning the denial of history by Pakistan, the • Chairman: Jose Ugaz (Peru) Bangladeshi legislators passed the motion unanimously after a marathon seven-hour discussion. South Korean President Park Geun-hye removed from A total of 56 MPs, including Prime Minister Sheikh office Hasina, took part. South Korea’s Constitutional Court voted unanimously to Vienna is the world’s nicest city to live in, Baghdad the remove the country’s worst President, Park Geun-hye, Vienna, Austria's grand capital on the Danube river, has topped from office. consulting firm Mercer's list of cities offering the highest With the impeachment, quality of life for the eighth year in a row, while Baghdad is Park becomes the first again considered the worst place to live. South Korean President to be removed from office. The survey of 231 cities helps companies and As per the law of the country, Park’s successor must be organisations determine compensation and hardship elected within 60 days. allowances for international staff. At present, Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn is serving as Global centres London, Paris, Tokyo and New York City the acting President of the country. did not even make the top 30. Singapore was the highest ranked Asian city, at 25 while India by Nile opens with Crafts Mela 29th-placed San Francisco was the United States' highest The mega cultural festival 'India by the Nile' got off to a entry. Top of the list in Africa was South Africa's Durban colourful start at the foot of the Pyramids with a Crafts Mela, at 87. showcasing joint handicraft exhibition of India and Egypt. The Embassy of India in Cairo, in collaboration with 2017 Commonwealth day: 13 March Teamwork Arts, presented 'Crafts Mela' as part of the IBN Commonwealth Day is the annual celebration of the 2017 cultural festival. Commonwealth of Nations held on the second Monday in The festival, which is a celebration of Indian music, dance, March. theatre, visual arts, food and wellbeing, is the largest This year it was celebrated on March 13. foreign festival in Egypt showcasing 70 events across the This year’s theme is “A Peace-building Commonwealth”. country. Commonwealth of Nations Aim: The Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental Pakistan set to conduct its first census in 19 years organization of 52 member states that were mostly former Pakistan is set to territories of the British Empire. conduct its first national • Headquarters: London census in 19 years with • Head: Queen Elizabeth II the assistance of over • Secretary-General: Patricia Scotland 200,000 troops. • Founded: 1949 Army spokesman • Members: 52 Major General Asif Ghafoor and Minister of State for Information Marriyum World Consumer Rights Day: 15 March Aurangzeb addressed a joint conference about preparation In order to get consumer issues noticed across the world, each for the sixth census, which will be conducted in two phases year World Consumer Rights Day is observed on 15 March. and will be completed on May 25.

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World Consumer Rights Day (WCRD) is an opportunity • Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland to promote the basic rights of all consumers, • Members: 194 The theme for World Consumer Rights Day 2017 is • Director General: Margaret Chan (Brazil) ‘Building a Digital World Consumers can Trust’. • Founded: 7 April 1948 • Parent Organization: United Nations Economic and Tata Steel, Wipro in world's most ethical companies' list Social Council Two Indian companies, Tata Steel and Wipro, have been named in G20 Meet of Finance Ministers & Central Bank Governors the list of world's most ethical Began in Germany companies by American think The G20 Finance tank Ethisphere Institute. Ministers and Central In 2017, there were 124 honorees Bank Governors’ spanning five continents, 19 Meeting has started in countries and 52 industry sectors. Baden-Baden, The list was dominated by US-based companies as around 98 Germany from March of the 124 companies were from that country. 17, 2017. Ford Motor Company has been named World's Most Ethical The 2-day meeting is an Company for the eighth straight year. opportunity to discuss developments in the global economy with international Best Asian universities: Indian Institute of Science, IIT counterparts and decide on actions we can undertake to respond Bombay among top 50 to the major challenges we all face. Times Higher Education (THE), which released its Asia Germany University Rankings 2017 on March 15, listed 33 Indian • Capital: Berlin universities in the top 300. • Currency: Euro Eight established and 17 new entrants made it to the top 100 • Chancellor: Angela Markel with Bengaluru’s Indian Institute of Science (IISc) at 27. • President: Joachim Gauck Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay was ranked 42 and Chennai-based private institute Veltech University was a India ranks 148 in representation of women in government joint 43 in the top 50. India ranks 148 globally in terms of representation of women In the rankings topped by Singapore’s National University, in executive government and parliament, according to a report followed by China’s Peking University, IISc stayed put at published by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and UN position 27 for the second year in a row. Women.

The data published in the report Women in Politics 2017 Map India joins WHO call to end TB by 2030 in South East showed that women make up only 11.8 per cent (64 MPs) of Asian the 542-member Lok Sabha and 11 per cent (27) of the 245- India among other countries in the South East Asian Region, member Rajya Sabha. which bear half of the global tuberculosis burden, signed a 'call In terms of women ministers, India ranks 88 with only five for action' and pledged to scale up measures to end the disease ministers (18.5 per cent) in the cabinet. by 2030. This level of gender representation among ministers is better India reports 2.8 million new TB cases annually and nearly half than the Asian average of 11% but far worse than the leader of a million deaths due to the disease. the table, Indonesia, which gives 25.6% of its ministerial In 2015, TB caused nearly 8,00,000 deaths in the region, while positions to women. an estimated 4.74 million new cases were reported.

Six of the region's countries -- Bangladesh, DPR Korea, India, New Zealand river granted same legal rights as human Indonesia, Myanmar and Thailand -- are among the 30 high TB being burden nations globally. In a world-first a New Zealand river has been granted the same World Health Organization legal rights as a human being. Aim: The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized The local Māori tribe of Whanganui river in the North Island agency of the United Nations that is concerned with has fought for the recognition of their river. international public health.

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The new status of the river means if someone abused or harmed Among the eight Saarc nations, Pakistan was at 80th position, it the law now sees no differentiation between harming the tribe Nepal stood at 99, Bhutan at 97, Bangladesh at 110 while Sri or harming the river because they are one and the same. Lanka was at 120. New Zealand Norway moved from No. 4 to the top spot in the report’s • Capital: Wellington rankings. • Currency: Dollar Norway edged past previous champ Denmark, which fell to • Prime Minister: Bill English second. Iceland, Switzerland and Finland round out the top 5. Nicolas Sarkozy, former President of France, meets PM Central African Republic ranked the last. Mr. Nicolas Sarkozy, former President of France, met Five Indian-Americans among the richest in the US: Forbes Prime Minister Shri Five Indian-Americans are among the richest in the US, Narendra Modi on March according to a Forbes list of 400 people. 18. Symphony Technology founder Romesh Wadhwani, co- The Prime Minister founder of outsourcing firm Syntel Bharat Neerja Desai, airline congratulated Mr. Sarkozy veteran Rakesh Gangwal, entrepreneur John Kapoor and on the publication and success of his latest book, “Tout pour la Silicon Valley angel investor Kavitark Ram Shriram feature in France”. Forbes’ ‘The Richest People In America 2016’ list. The two leaders discussed regional and global issues of mutual interest. 2 Indians in Forbes list of US’ richest under-40 entrepreneurs Kansas recognises March 16 as Indian-American Two Indian-origin Appreciation Day men have figured in The U.S. state of Kansas has recognised March 16 as ‘Indian- Forbes magazine’s American Appreciation Day’ to honour an Indian techie who second annual list of was killed last month in a racially-motivated hate crime. wealthiest Asserting that the senseless act of violence “will not divided or entrepreneurs under define” the state, Kansas Governor Sam Brownback said, “The the age of 40, which unique contribution of Indian community has made Kansas a is topped by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. better place. We are very very thankful to them.” Biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy has been ranked 24th on ‘America’s Richest Entrepreneurs Under 40 2016’ list with Hindujas retain top spot in UK’s richest Asian List a networth of $600 million, and Instacart co-founder Apoorva The Hinduja brothers – Gopichand and Srichand – retained the Mehta, stands at the 31st spot with a $360-million networth. top spot in the annual compilation of Britain’s richest Asians with an estimated net worth of £19 billion Global Health Index 2017: Italy healthiest country Steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal grabbed second place with £12.6 The Bloomberg in its Global Health Index of 163 countries has billion. ranked Italy as the healthiest country on the planet, with a baby The 2017 Asian Rich List valued the top 10 wealthiest Asians born there expected to live up to more than 80 years. in Britain at an estimated £48.4 billion. Iceland, Switzerland, Singapore and Australia made up the top five most-healthy countries in the index. India ranks 122nd in World Happiness Report India ranked 122nd, behind Pakistan and Nepal in the global March 20: Important days list of the happiest countries, according to a global report. World Oral Health day: World Oral Health Day is observed India ranked at 122 out of 155 countries in the World annually on 20 March, and launches a year-long campaign Happiness Report 2017, four notches below its previous rank dedicated to raising global awareness of the issues around oral of 118. health and the importance of oral hygiene. The report was released on March 20 at the United Nations at World Happiness day: The International Day of Happiness is an event celebrating International Day of Happiness. celebrated throughout the world on the 20th of March. World Sparrow Day: World Sparrow Day is a day designated to raise awareness about house sparrow and other common

5 WiFiStudy.com birds observed on 20 March. The house sparrow was declared to clean water, sanitation and hygiene facilities in developing the 'State Bird of Delhi' in 2012. countries. The theme for the year 2017 is "Wastewater". 4 Indian cities among cheapest globally: EIU Four Indian cities India ranks 131 on Human Development Index are among the India came down by one slot and was ranked 131st among 188 cheapest to live in countries on Human Development Index (HDI) 2016 released globally, while by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Singapore has been India fell under the “medium human development category” ranked as the most and its HDI, at 0.624, was behind Sri Lanka and the Maldives expensive for the in South Asia. fourth consecutive Sri Lanka and the Maldives were ranked 73 and 105 year, as per a report by Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). respectively and figure in the “high human development” Bangalore (3rd place), Chennai (6th), Mumbai (7th) and New section. Delhi (10th) have been ranked by EIU among the 10 cheapest The top three countries in HDI were Norway (0.949), Australia cities in the world. (0.939) and Switzerland (0.939). Almaty in Kazakhstan has been ranked as the cheapest city in Central African Republic ranked last. the world followed by Lagos. Karachi was placed 4th, Algiers (5th), Kiev (8th) and Bucharest (9th) rank. World Tuberculosis day: 24 March World Tuberculosis Day is observed on March 24 each year. Second India-UAE conference on globalisation held It is designed to build public awareness about the global in Dubai epidemic of tuberculosis (TB) and efforts to eliminate the The second India-UAE conference on globalisation was held at disease. Dubai with an aim to promote cooperation between the two The theme of this year’s World TB Day is "Unite to End countries. TB". Organised by All India Management Association (AIMA), the conference was attended by leading industry figures from both World Meteorological Day: 23 March 2017 countries to discuss strategies to win in a fast-changing world. World Meteorological Day is held annually on 23 March. ‘Understanding Clouds’ is the theme of World 21 March: Important Days Meteorological Day 2017 to highlight the enormous International Day for the Elimination of Racial importance of clouds for weather climate and water. Discrimination: The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is a International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination specialized agency of the United Nations. is observed on 21st March every year by the United States. It is the UN system's authoritative voice on the state and Theme for the year 2017 is ‘Racial profiling and incitement to behavior of the Earth's atmosphere. hatred, including in the context of migration’. World Meteorological Organization World Poetry Day: • Headquarters: Geneva In celebrating World Poetry Day, March 21, UNESCO • Founded: 1950 recognizes the unique ability of poetry to capture the creative • Members: 191 spirit of the human mind. • Secretary-General: Petteri Taalas International Day of Forests: The International Day of Forests was established on the 21st India ranks 87th on energy architecture performance: day of March, by resolution of the United Nations General WEF Assembly on November 28, 2012. India has marginally improved its position to 87th place on a Theme for the year 2017 is ‘Forests and energy’. global energy architecture performance index, but ranks among the worst for pollution, a survey showed today. 22 March: World Water Day Switzerland topped the annual list released by Geneva- World Water Day is an annual event celebrated on 22 March. based World Economic Forum (WEF) and was followed The day focuses attention on the importance of universal access by Norway, Sweden, Denmark and France in the top five.

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India's rank improved three places from 90th last year. The theme of the Conference is 'Make in India -The Inside Bahrain is ranked the lowest at 127th. Story'. The central focus of the conference is to provide a SBI Chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya among Fortune's collaboration platform and share today's India story with 50 greatest leaders of the world the audience in Texas who are interested in investing in SBI chief Arundhati India. Bhattacharya and Indian- origin physician Raj Panjabi World Theatre Day: 27 March have been named by Fortune World Theatre Day (WTD) is celebrated on March 27. It was magazine among the world's initiated in 1961 by the International Theatre Institute. 50 greatest leaders who are • Various national and international theatre events are transforming the world and organized to mark this occasion. inspiring others to do the same. Bhattacharya, Chairman of India's largest bank and the India Overtakes Japan to Become Third Largest In first-ever woman to do so, has been ranked 26th on the list Domestic Air Traffic while Panjabi, founder and CEO of Last Mile Health, India has become the third largest aviation market in terms of follows closely on the 28th spot. domestic passenger traffic, beating Japan, an industry report The list has been topped by President of Baseball has said. Operations at Chicago Cubs Theo Epstein, followed by • India's domestic air passenger traffic stood at 100 Alibaba Group Executive Chairman Jack Ma on the million in 2016 and was behind only the US (719 second spot, Pope Francis (3), Bill & Melinda Gates million) and China (436 million), Sydney-based Foundation Cochair Melinda Gates (4) and Amazon aviation think-tank Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos (5). (CAPA) said in its latest report.

Afghan Taliban capture crucial town of Sangin 9th World Environmental Education Congress to be held The Taliban have captured the crucial south Afghan district of in Vancouver Sangin after a year-long battle, officials say. 9th World A spokesman for Helmand's governor confirmed the Environmental district police and governor's headquarters were now in Education militant hands. Congress will Hundreds of members of the Afghan security forces died take place from there in recent fighting. September 9- 15, 2017 in Vancouver, BC, Canada. 'Earth Hour' 2017: 25 March The World Environmental Education Congress (WEEC) is 2017 Earth Hour was observed worldwide on 25 March 2017. an international congress addressing education for Earth Hour is a worldwide movement organized by the environment and sustainability. World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). WEEC 2017 is the 9th congress and will feature the theme The event is held annually encouraging individuals, of Culture/Environment: Weaving New Connections. communities, households and businesses to turn off their Points to Remember non-essential lights for one hour, from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. • Theme of 9th WEEC congress is It was started as a lights-off event in Sydney, Australia, in “Culture/Environment: Weaving New 2007. Connections”. • Ottawa is the Capital of Canada. Conference on 'Make in India' held in Houston • Justin Trudeau is the Prime Minister of Canada. A first-ever conference was held bringing together various • Dollar is the Currency of Canada. constituencies that have an interest in India and discussing the latest developments and the best practices of doing business in India. The two-day Houston India Conference was hosted by Asia Society Texas Center .

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India becomes associate member of International Energy Agency India has joined the International Energy Agency as an associate member, a development that the IEA said makes the 28 February: National Science Day prestigious Paris-based body more relevant and reflects the National Science Day is celebrated in India on 28 February country's move to the centre stage of the global energy each year to mark the discovery of the Raman effect by Indian dialogue. physicist Sir Chandrashekhara Venkata Raman on 28 February Power, coal, renewable energy and mines minister Piyush 1928. Goyal, oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan and IEA For his discovery, Sri C.V. Raman was awarded the Nobel executive director Fatih Birol announced India's entry into Prize in Physics in 1930. the elite group. National Science Day is celebrated to widely spread a With India as a member, International Energy Agency message about the most Importance of science used in the now formally covers 70% of the world's energy daily life of the people. consumption. Points to Remember India, Israel celebrated 25 years of diplomatic ties • The International Energy Agency (IEA) is a Paris India and Israel hold a series headquartered autonomous intergovernmental of events to celebrate 25 organization established in the framework of the years of establishment of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and their diplomatic ties. Development (OECD) in 1974 in the wake of the India had established full 1973 oil crisis. diplomatic relationship • IEA has 29 members. with Israel in 1992 though it had recognised the country in 1950. • Fatih Birol is the executive director of IEA. India is the largest buyer of Israel’s military hardware and

the latter has been supplying various weapon systems, NATO formally invites Montenegro as 29th member missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles. NATO invited the Balkan nation of Montenegro to 'Swachh Shakti Saptah' launched in Haryana become its 29th member, Launching the 'Swachh agreeing to expand for Shakti Saptah' in only the seventh time in its Gurugram, Haryana, history despite Russia’s union minister Narender angry objections. Singh Tomar said The decision is still subject to formal approval by the U.S. "swachhta" (cleanliness) Senate, the alliance’s 27 other national parliaments and has become a movement which now needs to made a mass Montenegro’s parliament. movement. Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic attended This week will culminate on March 8 at Ahmedabad the signing of an accession protocol at NATO where Prime Minister Modi will be the chief guest, he said. headquarters in Brussels. He said he was now glad that 102 districts of the country Points to Remember have declared themselves ODF under the scheme, • The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), including 14 districts of Haryana. also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an Three states - Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh and Kerala - have intergovernmental military alliance based on the already declared themselves ODF and Tomar hoped by North Atlantic Treaty which was signed on November 1 this year, Haryana would become the fourth 4 April 1949. state in this list. • It is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. Haryana • It has 28 members. • Capital: Chandigarh • Jens Stoltenberg is the Secretary General of • Chief Minister: Manohar Lal Khattar NATO. • Governor: Kaptan Singh Solanki

• Formation: 1 November 1966

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Government notifies law to make banned note possession • Formation: 1 November 1956 punishable The government has notified the law that makes holding of Assam: Sanskrit a must till Class VIII more than 10 scrapped notes punishable with a minimum fine The Sarbananda Sonowal-led of Rs 10,000. BJP government in Assam has The Specified Bank Notes (Cessation of Liabilities) Act, made Sanskrit compulsory in 2017, was passed by Parliament last month with a view to all state board schools till eliminating the "possibility of running a parallel economy" Class VIII. using the old Rs 500/1,000 notes that have been In Assam, depending on demonetised. the region where the student resides, one of the three The law, signed by President Pranab Mukherjee on languages-Assamese, Bodo or Bengali is taught in state February 27, also provides for a minimum fine Rs 50,000 board schools, apart from English that is compulsory. for false declaration by persons who were abroad during Hindi is taught but is optional. the demonetisation period (November 9-December 30, Assam 2016) and given time to deposit such scrapped notes with • Capital: Dispur RBI till March 31. • Chief Minister: Sarbananda Sonowal • Governor: Banwarilal Purohit Thiruvananthapuram tops city-wide urban governance • Formation: 26 January 1950 survey Thiruvananthapuram remained at the top of the Annual Survey TN, UP received most number of domestic tourists in 2016 of India’s City-Systems (ASICS), which highlighted Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh top a list of states visited by inadequacies in urban governance that could affect public Indian tourists last year, Tourism Ministry said. service delivery and quality of life. As per data released by the Ministry, a total of 344.3 Pune came second in the 2016 survey, rising two spots million domestic tourists visited Tamil Nadu in 2016 while from the last edition. Bhubaneswar was the biggest gainer, 229.6 million Uttar Pradesh. rising eight notches to the 10th spot in the survey. Similarly, Madhya Pradesh received 184.7 million The survey conducted by Janaagraha Centre for tourists, Andhra Pradesh 158.5 million and Karnataka Citizenship and Democracy, a non-profit organization, 129.8 million last year. looks at 83 governance patterns to rank 21 cities across 18 states. Ministry of Women & Child Development leads social media campaign #WeAreEqual Kerala tops in GST registrations Leading up to International Kerala has achieved Women’s Day on March 8, 2017, the maximum the Ministry of Women and number of Child Development has initiated registrations under a social media campaign - the Goods and #WeAreEqual - targeted at Services Tax (GST) raising awareness about gender regime with at least discrimination. 60 per cent of an estimated 2.5 lakh traders migrating to the The campaign will culminate into the celebration of new platform. International Women’s Day marked by the prestigious Its record becomes even more significant considering the Nari Shakti Award ceremony, in which the Hon’ble fact that these registrations are complete in all respects, President will honour individuals and institutions for their including the crucial provision of digital signatures, an exemplary contribution to women’s empowerment. official spokesman said. The #WeAreEqual campaign is gaining momentum with Kerala the partnership by prominent personalities such as film • Capital: Thiruvananthapuram actors Mr. Amitabh Bachchan, and Ms. Dia Mirza; • Chief Minister: Pinarayi Vijayan sportspersons Ms. Mary Kom and Mr. Sangram Singh and • Governor: P. Sathasivam

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ISRO scientists Ms. K Thenmozhi Selvi, Ms. Subha Varier IISc, and Prof K VijayRaghavan Secretary, Department of and Ms. Minal Rohit among others. Biotechnology.

DRDO tests interceptor missile successfully Navy successfully test-fires anti-ship missile India’s Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) shield got a further The Navy has successfully test-fired an anti-ship missile for the fillip with the successful test of an interceptor missile first time from an indigenously built Kalvari class submarine. conducted by the Defence Research and Development The Navy described the launch as a significant milestone Organisation (DRDO). in enhancing its "sub-surface" warfare prowess. The Advanced Area Defence (AAD) endo-atmospheric The weapon was fired from the submarine, the first of missile capable of intercepting incoming target missile at India's six Scorpene-class submarines which are being an altitude of 15 to 25 kms range was tested. built under the Project 75, and it "successfully hit" a It was launched from the Abdul Kalam Island off Odisha surface target during the trial in the Arabian Sea. coast to stop an incoming enemy missile. These missiles will provide the vessels the ability to neutralise surface threats at extended ranges. Rs 70,000 crore black money detected so far: Justice Pasayat Himachal Pradesh gets its second capital in Dharamsala Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Court- appointed SIT on Himachal Pradesh state black money, Justice Arijit Pasayat, said Rs 70,000 crore of cabinet approved black money has been unearthed so far and the sixth report on Dharamsala, situated in it will be submitted to the apex court in April. the snow-capped He said Rs 70,000 crore of black money, including more Dhauladhar range, as the than Rs 16,000 crore detected after probe launched into second capital of the hill global leaks about Indians stashing funds abroad, has been state. unearthed through different schemes of the government. This comes following After a meeting with officers of several government Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbharda Singh's agencies dealing with economic and financial affairs here, announcement, on January 19, that the government was Justice Pasayat informed that the SIT will submit its sixth actively considering a proposal to make Dharamshala as interim report to the Supreme Court in the first week of state's winter capital. April. The announcement is significant as 25 out of 68 Assembly seats fall in Kangra, Una and Hamirpur districts, and Assam to host river festival ‘Namami Brahmaputra Dharamsala is important for the lower areas of Himachal Assam Government has decided to host the biggest river Pradesh, including Kangra, Chamba, Hamirpur and Una festival ‘Namami Brahmaputra’. districts. The five-day festival to be held from March 31 to April 4 where the Assam Government has planned out a host of activities to DRDO Hands Over its Developed Products to Indian Army showcase the region’s art, heritage and culture. Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) Chief Ministers and chief secretaries of all States have also handed over three of its products for induction into the Indian been invited. Army in a formal function. The products are namely Weapon Locating Radar (WLR), BIRAC Regional Entrepreneurship Centre set up in SWATHI, NBC Recce vehicle and NBC Drugs. Bengaluru The Defence Minister Shri Manohar Parrikar handed over The Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms – C-CAMP, the products to the Chief of the Army Staff General Bipin technology and innovation hub, will house the BIRAC Rawat on behalf of DRDO. Regional Entrepreneurship Centre (BREC) in Bengaluru. DRDO has been developing a number of products for the The centre has been set up with the objective of Indian Army in support of their field operations and encouraging the spirit of bio-entrepreneurship, facilitating welfare of soldiers on ground. the creation of life science start-ups and mentoring start- In 2016, the Weapon Locating Radar, NBC Recce Vehicle ups to increase their chances of success. and a set of NBC Drugs had been successfully tested after BREC was officially launched recently by Prof G extensive evaluation by competent evaluation Padmanaban, Honorary Professor and Former Director teams/bodies.

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DRDO In case of senior citizens of non-BPL families, the • Founded: 1958 government would bear only 70 per cent of the cost. • Headquarters: New Delhi • Head: Dr. S. Christopher Vice President Hamid Ansari to attend IORA Summit in Jakarta India to Host 10th International Conference on Theory and Vice President Hamid Ansari will attend the Summit of the Practice of Electronic Governance Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) on March 7 in Jakarta, The Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, Indonesia where the 21-nation grouping will discuss ways to Government of India, in collaboration with United Nations strengthen maritime cooperation and fight against violent University and UNESCO, is organizing a three-day extremism. International Conference 10th ICEGOV 2017 in Delhi from The summit, with the theme of ‘Strengthening Maritime 7th March to 9th March, 2017. Cooperation for a Peaceful, Stable and Prosperous Indian Themed on Building Knowledge Societies: From Digital Ocean’, will be preceded by a meeting of the Committee Government to Digital Empowerment, the ICEGOV 2017 of Senior Officials on March 5 and a meeting of the will be inaugurated by Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, Hon’ble Council of Ministers on March 6. Union Minister of Electronics & Information Technology The IORA Summit is expected to provide momentum to and Law. the strengthening of cooperation in the Indian Ocean The key objective of ICEGOV2017 is to explore how region. Digital Government can lead to Digital Empowerment by local knowledge. Railways has sanctioned projects worth Rs 13,500 crore for North-East Sex-ratio in urban areas worse than rural areas: Survey The Railways has Urban India fares worse than the rural parts of the country in sanctioned projects terms of sex-ratio, both overall and at birth, as per a latest worth Rs 13,500 crore national health survey. for the North East in The overall sex-ratio for the country is 991, while in rural this year’s budget, India it was 1009 and in urban areas 956, according to the Union Minister of National Family Health Survey-4 (NFHS-4) for 2015-16. State for Railways The sex-ratio at birth in the past five years has improved Rajen Gohain said. marginally from 914 to 919 girls per 1000 boys but in A bottled drinking water plant under the Rail Neer brand urban India it was as low as 899. at Jagiroad in Assam and a high-end North East Safari Train was being envisaged, the minister added. Haryana announces Tirtha Darshan scheme Gohain was addresing on the occasion of the infrastructure Haryana Chief Minister development conference ConMac. Manohar Lal Khattar has The Conference has been organised in partnership with announced that the state Indian Construction Equipment’s Manufacturers’ government had prepared a Association (ICEMA). Tirtha Darshan scheme under which senior citizens President Inaugurates the Centenary Celebrations of of any religion above 60 Women’s Indian Association years of age and of Haryana domicile would be able to go on a The President of India, Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated the pilgrimage within the country at government expense. Centenary Celebrations of Women’s Indian Association at He said that under the scheme, the government would bear Adyar, Chennai. the entire cost of the tour of senior citizens belonging to Speaking on the occasion, the President said that no Below Poverty Line (BPL) families. society can call itself civilized if it does not accord due In case of a couple, the expenses of the spouse belonging value to its women and female children and guarantee their to BPL family would also be borne by the government. safety and security. They would also be able to take along an assistant. Government schemes and programmes to promote gender justice can never succeed unless a deep commitment to basic human values is built into our very consciousness.

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Violence against women reflects violence in the hearts and This will be achieved through an integrated learning minds of those that perpetrate these acts. environment and enabling children to serve as agents of change for their siblings and communities at large. Govt approves Rs 756 cr scheme to treat cataract patients Rotary India has planned to undertake WASH in Schools With an aim to free programme in 20,000 Government Schools. India from cataract by 2022, the government National Conference on Innovation in Educational has approved a Rs 756 Administration begins crore scheme to treat A three – day National Conference on Innovation in over 700 lakh such Educational Administration has begin at Pravasi Bhartiya patients in the next five Kendra, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi. years. This Conference has been organised by National The scheme would University of Educational Planning and Administration render Rs 2,000 as (NUEPA), New Delhi. financial assistance for each operation, including cost of About 150 district and block level education officers from lenses. across India and resource persons and faculty of the In addition to it, a mobile application will be developed to university are participating in the Conference. bring the government, private doctors, clinics and NGOs together for monitoring the endeavour. India hoists tallest flag at Indo-Pak border India has just hoisted the nation's tallest flag. Punjab Local National Coference on Jal Kranti Abhiyan to be held on 7th Bodies Minister and senior BJP leader Anil Joshi hoisted the Match flag. Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga The 360 feet flag was hoisted at the famous Indo-Pak Rejuvenation has organized a national conference on Jal Kranti (Attari-Wagah) border checkpost in Punjab. The new Abhiyan in New Delhi on March 07,2017. flag can be seen from Lahore in Pakistan.The new flag is Union Minister for Water Resources, River Development 120 feet in length, 80 feet in breadth and is hosted on a and Ganga Rejuvenation Sushri Uma Bharti will pole which is 360 feet high. inaugurate the conference. About 700 participants representing various stakeholder Vijayawada, Tirupati airports renamed groups such as farmers, Panchayat members, officials, The Andhra Pradesh Cabinet has approved proposals to rename NGOs and students will be attending the daylong the Vijayawada Airport and the Tirupati Airport. conference. Vijayawada Airport in Gannavaram has been renamed as ‘Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao-Amaravati Airport’ after NMCG Signs MoU with Rotary India for the Success of the legendary actor and founder of the ruling Telugu Namami Gange Desam Party, and the new capital of Andhra Pradesh. In its effort to make Namami Gange programme a mass The Tirupati Airport has been renamed as ‘Sri movement with the involvement of more and more voluntary Venkateswara Airport’ after Lord Venkateswara of the organisations, National Mission for Clean Ganga under temple town. Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation signed an MoU with Rotary India in New Delhi. Oldest serving aircraft carrier INS Viraat decommissioned Rotary India will support clean Ganga mission through The world's oldest aircraft their ‘WASH in Schools’ program in various schools. carrier in active service, INS The program includes the implementation of Water, Viraat, was Sanitation and Hygiene services in the targeted decommissioned on 6 government schools and sensitizing all the stakeholders March 2017 after serving the including school children, teachers, school management Indian Navy for nearly 30 communities and communities etc. on practicing positive years. health behaviors for improving awareness on sanitation. The second aircraft carrier of the country has spent nearly 30 years under the

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Indian flag and 27 years with the Royal Navy (United Centre to pay rent through vouchers soon in 100 cities Kingdom). The Centre is all set The warship holds the Guinness Record for being the to roll out a Rs 2,700- oldest serving warship. crore welfare scheme The vessel's previous name was HMS Hermes when it was in 100 smart cities to a part of the UK Royal Navy. give rent vouchers to It was transferred to India in 1987. the urban poor. The government IISc becomes first Indian university to be ranked among would launch top 10 in world the new rental housing policy with the rent vouchers for For the first time, an Indian educational institute has broken below poverty line (BPL) families. into the top 10 of a global university rankings. Though the policy has been in the works for three years, The Times Higher Education (THE) revealed that India is the first component is likely to be rolled out in 2017-18 home to one of the world's best small universities, as it financial year in the smart cities. made public the 2017 edition of the rankings. The scheme is expected to cost Rs 2,713 crore every year Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, has been ranked to implement in smart cities. eighth at the 'THE's Best Small Universities in the World Aimed directly at the urban poor and helping the migrant 2017'. population, the scheme would involve distribution of rent Small universities are those with fewer than 5,000 vouchers by urban local bodies. students. Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati, and Savitribai Mobile World Congress to be held in India on September Phule Pune University which were ranked 14 and 18 27 respectively in the 2016 edition could not retain their spots India will organize its first mobile congress in September with in the top 20 this time. a special focus on reaching out to the South East Asian markets. Dr. Jitendra Singh inaugurates ‘Destination North East- There is Mobile World Congress in Barcelona and an 2017’ edition in Shanghai. The Union Minister of India is emerging as one of the global leaders in telecom State (Independent which we will also showcase in the Indian Mobile Charge) for Congress,” COAI Director General Rajan S Mathews said. Development of North Eastern Region Two-day International Yoga festival begins in Delhi (DoNER), MoS PMO, The two-day International Yoga Fest has begin in New Delhi Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and on 08 March 2017. Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh inaugurated the 3-day festival More than 3,500 participants including eminent yoga ‘Destination North East-2017’ in Chandigarh. gurus, yoga masters, scholars, policy makers and Dr. Jitendra Singh said that in the endeavor to take North representatives from 15- 18 countries will participate in East to every corner of India, Chandigarh has been chosen this mega event. this year to organize Destination North East-2017. It will comprise parallel yoga workshop, lectures, Satsang, He said that this is for the first time outside Delhi to cultural programmes and yoga demos. organise this event. First smart tribal village inaugurated in J&K Tribal festival 'Bhagoria' begins Jammu and Kashmir Minister for food, Civil Supplies and The annual tribal festival 'Bhagoria' was begin in Jhabua and Consumer Affairs Zulfkar Ali, inaugurated the first tribal in four other districts of Madhya Pradesh from March 6. model village Habbi in Kotranka in Jammu and Kashmir’s The week-long festival is organised at different Bhagoria Rajouri District. haats (local markets) in Jhabua, Alirajpur, Dhar, Khargone The village has been introduced with smart classes in the and Barwani districts in western Madhya Pradesh. schools, better roads, electricity and water facility. The event is going to be organised at 34 places, Jhabua collector Ashish Saxena told.

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CBSE launches ‘Exam Locator’ app to help students to find schemes, key programmes and projects undertaken in the exam centre state. With the board exams just around the corner, the CBSE has come up with a mobile application to help students locate their Odisha launches helpline service for women examination centre. To deal with cases of violence against women, Odisha on The app, named ‘Exam Locator’, will help students to Wednesday launched a statewide women’s helpline number — quickly know the exam centre on the basis of their roll 181. number. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik launched the helpline The student’s information, address and photograph of the service at a function organised by the Women and Child exam centre will be displayed on the screen for easy Development department. identification. All calls on this number will land at the District Women The route map can also be accessed via the application. and Child Cell where at least one constable will be present CBSE round the clock. • Headquarters: New Delhi As per NCRB 2015 statistics, Odisha is ranked fifth in the • Founded: 3 November 1962 country in terms of the number of rape cases. • Chairman: Rajesh Kumar Chaturvedi On the other hand, The Himachal Pradesh government would also launch ‘Women Helpline’ number 181 soon for 11th North East Business Summit begins in New Delhi ensuring safety of women, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh The 11th North East Business Summit (NEBS) begins in New said. Delhi. The two-day event is an initiative to facilitate investment, President of India inaugurates the 12th CII-Exim bank highlight strengths of the North-East Region (NER) and conclave on India Africa Project Partnership business opportunities which North-East has to offer. The President of India, Shri The 11th NEBS aims to display the strengths, potentials Pranab Mukherjee and initiatives of the NER, promote investment in the inaugurated the 12th CII- region and also have focused deliberations on strategic EXIM Bank Conclave on areas like healthcare, infrastructure and connectivity, India Africa Project agriculture and horticulture, food processing, service Partnership today (March 9, sector and energy to highlight the investment and business 2017) in New Delhi. opportunities in these sectors as well as ease of doing Speaking on the business in the NE States and address the key issues. occasion, the President said that our connection with The Summit will also showcase the untapped business Africa is not new. The bonds between our countries have potential of North-East to investors worldwide. strengthened over the years. For the first time ever, we welcomed representatives of all Karnataka CM launches 'Pratibimba' to project 54 countries of Africa at the third India-Africa Forum achievements Summit in October 2015. We have since then broadened Karnataka Chief Minister our diplomatic footprint. Siddaramaiah has launched a comprehensive web-based Navy commissions INS Tillanchang at Seabird naval base platform showcasing the in Karwar government's performance Vice Admiral Girish Luthra, chief commanding flag officer of and achievements to the citizens. the western command of the Indian Navy, commissioned Developed as the Chief Minister's dash board, INS Tillanchang, the water jet fast attack craft at the Seabird 'Pratibimba,' which means reflection, will serve as a tool naval. to improve efficiency in governance and allow citizens to The indigenously built vessel will patrol the Karnataka sea track government's progress, officials said. coast and will be headquartered in the Karwar naval base. They said 'Pratibimba" is a reflection of the growth story The craft has been named after Tillanchang, one of the and development of the state, and the dash board will islands in Andaman and Nicobar. reflect the works of all the departments across flagship

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Himachal Pradesh launches mobile App ‘Mera Hunar’ Venkaiah Naidu inaugurates India's largest municipal Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh has waste to power plant launched mobile App and website 'Mera Hunar HP', a first of Union Urban Development its kind in the country. Minister M Venkaiah Naidu 'Mera Hunar' is a web based platform where the skilled, inaugurated India's largest semi-skilled persons can apply for various jobs as per their state of the art municipal convenience like plumber, carpenter, mechanic, security waste to power plant in New guards, drivers, tourists guides, etc online. The platform is Delhi. available both in English and Hindi. The plant has been is This platform will directly connect the prospective best example of private people partnership model in Delhi. employers with the job seekers as the application, will Addressing the gathering, Naidu said that the one of the contain the address and the phone numbers of those aim of Swachh Bharat Mission is 100 per cent looking for jobs and other details as well. management of municipal solid waste by 2019 in the country. ‘International Vision Zero Conference’ on Occupational, Safety and Health Exhibition “Revolutionary Patriots (1905-1947)” The international conference on the VISION ZERO and its Inaugurated relevance to Occupational Safety and Health (OSH), is being On the occasion of organized from 15th to 17th, March 2017 at Vigyan Bhavan, 127th Foundation Day of New Delhi by Directorate General Factory Advice and Labour National Archives of India Institutes (DGFASLI), Government of India, Ministry of (NAI), an exhibition entitled Labour and Employment and German Social Accident “Revolutionary Patriots (1905- Insurance (DGUV), Germany in association with International 1947)” was inaugurated in Social Security Association (ISSA). New Delhi by Shri N.K. Sinha, Secretary, Ministry of Culture The conference aims to focus on the Occupational Safety in the presence of Shri Raghvendra Singh, Director General of and Health issues and challenges in the Manufacturing, NAI and many dignitaries. Construction and Mining sector. Addressing on the occasion, Shri N.K. Sinha praised the The conference will provide a forum for promoting safety initiative of NAI and opined that the Digital Technology and health at work by exchanging knowledge, practices can make a lot of difference in collection and preservation and experience. of historical treasures in NAI. Shri Raghvendra Singh in his address said that the efforts 2017 National Safety Week: March 4-10, 2017 are being made to make NAI more accessible not only for 46th National Safety Week Campaign was commenced from researchers but also for students and others. 4th March 2017 to 10th March 2017 to renewing the Dr. T.C.A. Raghvan, Former High Commissioner of India commitment of employees and general public to work safely to Pakistan delivered the Foundation Day Talk on throughout the year. “Foreign Policy and National Archives of India” on the It is observed by National Safety Council (NSC) since occasion. 1972. 2017 theme is “Keep Each Other Safe”. Assembly Election results in Five states The Election Commission (EC) finished vote counting for Kiren Rijiju launches mobile app “MySSB” assembly election results in five states, including Uttar An in-house developed mobile Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur. application “MySSB” was Uttar Pradesh launched by Union Minister of • Total Seats: 403 State for Home Affairs Shri • Bharatiya Janata Party: 312 Kiren Rijiju. • Samajwadi Party: 47 The Minister lauded the Uttarakhand efforts in developing the application and expressed hope • Total Seats: 70 that SSB will continue keeping the welfare of its personnel • Bharatiya Janata Party: 57 on priority basis.

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• Congress: 11 The train, painted in red and white, will be stationed at Punjab Kalyan and essentially help railway employees and their • Total Seats: 117 families on the Central Railway. • Congress: 77 The ambulance will have four coaches called “operation • Aam Aadmi Party: 20 theatre-cum-recovery vans”. Goa Besides primary treatment, the rail ambulance can be used • Total Seats: 40 to offer life support and perform minor surgical operations • Congress: 17 in times of emergency. This is an upgrade from the Accident Response Train • Bharatiya Janata Party: 13 (ART) that is used for transportation Manipur

• Total Seats: 60 Hyderabad best Indian city in living standards: Mercer • Congress: 28 Hyderabad for the third • Bharatiya Janata Party: 21 year in a row has emerged

as the best city in terms of NTPC installs India’s largest Floating Solar PV Plant in living standards among Kerala Indian cities. NTPC started power generation The National Capital from India’s largest floating solar for the second straight power plant at Kayamkulam in year hit the lowest Kerala. score among Indian cities for living standards, as per the The 100 kWp floating solar Mercer's Quality of Living rankings 2017. generation plant, largest of Both Hyderabad and Pune ranked higher for quality of its kind in India, was indigenously developed as a part of living than the country's traditional business centres ‘Make In India’ initiative, at Rajiv Gandhi Combined Mumbai and New Delhi, which have been ranked at 154 Cycle Power Plant (RGCCPP) in Kerala’s Kayamkulam and 161, respectively, by the report. district, the company said in a statement. However, Hyderabad fell by five places to 144 in this

year's rankings from 139th rank last year due to decreased President Appoints New Chief Justices in MP, Patna, power supply and water availability. Kerala, Chattisgrah, Jharkhand HCs Austrian capital Vienna topped the Mercer’s list while The President of India, Baghdad was at the lowermost place. Pranab Mukherjee announced the Karnataka has Rs 10 crore for women entrepreneurs appointment of new Chief The Karnataka government has launched a Rs 10-crore fund Justices in the state of for women entrepreneurs, through which the Department of Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Information Technology, Biotechnology and Science & Chhattisgarh, Patna and Technology can sanction upto Rs 50 lakhs for any woman Jharkhand High Courts on March 10, 2017. innovator looking for funds for proof of concept validation, Chhattisgarh High Court: Justice Thottathil Bhaskaran certification, and for other purposes such as to cover costs in Nair Radhakrishnan manufacturing pilot devices. Kerala High Court: Justice Navaniti Prasad Singh The state government announced the new Idea2POC (Idea Madhya Pradesh High Court: Justice Hemant Gupta to Proof of Concept) fund on the occasion of International Patna High Court: Justice Rajendra Menon Women's Day. Jharkhand High Court: Justice Pradip Kumar Mohanty Karnataka already has three other Idea2POC funds, one

for all technology sectors (Rs 10 crore), one focused on Central Railway introduces rail ambulance agriculture (Rs 2.5 crore) and another focused on tourism The Central Railway introduced a fully air-conditioned rail (Rs 2.5 crore). ambulance at Lonavala.

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Telangana launches Rs 605-crore ‘KCR Kit’ scheme for Mission Fingerling launched with a total expenditure of pregnant women about Rs. 52000 lakh Focussing on women welfare and new born, Telangana Chief Government of India has envisaged a program named ‘’Blue Minister K Revolution’’ to unlock the country’s latent potential through an Chandrasekhar Rao integrated approach. has come out with The Government has identified 20 States based on their an innovative potential and other relevant factors to strengthen the Fish Seed scheme – KCR Kit. infrastructure in the country. The scheme is This program has a total expenditure of about Rs. 52000 lakh. designed to address complications during the time of pregnancy and aimed at reducing infant mortality rate and Centre Establishes Banana Research Centre In Bihar encourage institutional deliveries. To cater to the needs of the local farmers, the Central The KCR Kit consists of 16 essential things needed for a Government has established the Banana Research Centre in new-born and will be useful for up to three months. Gorole, Vaishali. The kit comes packed with soaps useful for mother and According to Radha Mohan Singh, Union Agriculture and child, baby oil, baby bed, mosquito net, dresses, sarees, Farmer's Welfare Minister this area has been selected for the hand bag, towels and napkins, powder, diapers, shampoo establishment of Banana Research Centre, keeping in view the and toys for the kid. ecological conditions of this place. The government proposes to earmark Rs 605 crore for the The minister also said that Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central scheme. Agriculture University has initiated the research work to double the income of the Banana growers. Krishi Unnati Mela begins Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh has inaugurated a Karnataka CM announces 'Namma Canteen' three-day Krishi Unnati Mela for providing information on Karnataka chief minister new farm schemes and technologies that will help farmers Siddaramaiah has double their incomes by 2022. announced 100 crore for Singh also gave away Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay Rashtriya “Namma Canteen” (our Krishi Vigyan Protsahan Puraskar to recognise contribution of canteen). Krishi Vigyan Kendras. “We will give breakfast The fair, from March 15-17, is being held at Pusa in the at Rs 5, lunch and dinner national capital and organised by Indian Agricultural Research at Rs 10 at one centre in each of the 192 wards in Bengaluru,” Institute (IARI). he said. More than 350 stalls will display latest advancement in agri- research and technology development among farmers and end Bhel's first 800 MW supercritical plant operational users. Power equipment maker Bhel has commenced commercial operations of its first 800 MW unit, supercritical thermal plant. Launch of Trade Infrastructure for Export Scheme (TIES) It also marks Bhel's foray as a developer into the field of power Commerce and Industry Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman generation. launched the Trade Infrastructure for Export Scheme (TIES). Karnataka Power Corporation Ltd (KPCL) and Bhel are the Scheme is focussed on addressing the needs of the exporters. main equity partners of RPCL, the owner and operator of this The objective of the proposed scheme is to enhance export power plant. competitiveness by bridging gaps in export infrastructure, creating focused export infrastructure, first mile and last mile Boost to Education: Cabinet approves setting up of 50 New connectivity for export-oriented projects and addressing KVs quality and certification measures. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs,chaired by the The Central and State Agencies, including Export Promotion Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the proposal Councils, Commodities Boards, SEZ Authorities and Apex for opening of 50 new Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs) under Civil Trade Bodies recognised under the EXIM policy of / Defence Sector in the country keeping in view the high Government of India; are eligible for financial support under demand for these schools for their quality of education and this scheme. excellent results.

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The total project cost based on KendriyaVidyalayaSangathan First Airbus Training Centre in Asia to be set up in New (KVS) norms for the proposed 50 new KVs is Rs.1160 crore. Delhi New KVs will be opened from classes I to V for which 650 Airbus is setting up a greenfield training facility at Aerocity, regular posts shall be created in all 50 Kendriya Vidyalayas. New Delhi, to support India’s growing need for Airbus aircraft The school grows every year with addition of one more higher pilots and maintenance engineers. class and, when the school grows upto class XII. The ground-breaking for the Airbus India Training Centre was performed by P. Ashok Gajapathi Raju, Minister of Civil Largest Indian Engineering Sourcing Show opens in Aviation and Tom Enders, CEO, Airbus in the presence of Chennai Jayant Sinha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation. Unfazed by global headwinds and forces of protectionism in This will also be the first training facility of Airbus in Asia. some of the leading economies, India is all set to showcase its It is expected to be operational by the end of 2018. technological and engineering prowess to top international firms at the 6th edition of the International Engineering Inauguration of 3 Day International Buddhist Conference Sourcing Show(IESS) at Chennai,expecting significant at Rajgir business deals during the three-day event, beginning March 16. The three days “International Buddhist Conference” organized IESS VI was inaugurated in a gala ceremony on 16th March by Ministry of Culture and Nava Nalanda Mahaviahra, 2017 in Chennai by Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of Deemed University was inaugurated by His Holiness The Dalai Commerce & Industry (Independent Charge). Lama and Dr.Mahesh Sharma, Minister of Culture and As many as 400 top global exhibitors and over 500 foreign Tourism at Rajgir International Buddhist Conference, Bihar. delegates are participating in this flagship engineering event Shri N.K. Sinha,Secretary M/o Culture and Shri M.L. which is built around the theme – “Smart Tech for Smart Shrivastava, Vice-Chancellor, Nava Nalanda Mahaviahra Engineering”. Deemed University were present on the occasion. There were two highlights of the inaugural session: 2018 FISITA World Automotive Congress to be held in One is the release of the reprint of the Pali Tripitaka in Chennai Devanagri script by His Holiness the Dalai lama. SAE INDIA, a non-profit engineering and scientific society The second highlight was the announcement of the opening of dedicated to the advancement of mobility community, will the department of the Buddhist science for the first time in organise FISITA World Automotive Congress for the first time Asia. in India. The 37th edition of FISITA World Congress will be held Sanjauli police post becomes first in India to be linked with between October 2 and 5, 2018, at the Chennai Trade Centre. CCTNS The four-day international conference will be organised by Sanjauli police station in Himachal Pradesh has become the SAEINDIA and London-headquartered FISITA with the first police post in the country to be linked with Crime and support of SAE International. Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS), a nationwide online tracking system. President Inaugurated International Conference on Chief minister Virbhadra Singh inaugurated the system. “Universities of The Future” The police posts of Manikaran in Kullu, Solan city and Dada The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee visited Haryana Siba in Kangra were also simultaneously linked to CCTNS. on March 18, 2017 where he inaugurated a three-day Over 200 police posts across the state will be linked under this international conference on the theme of “Universities of the system. Future: Knowledge, Innovation and Responsibility” at O. P. Jindal Global University (JGU). India-Russia Military Industry Conference The Conference seeks to examine the future of the Indian India-Russia Military Industry universities in the twenty first century and will have thirteen Conference is being held on thematic panels. Thematic sessions at the international forum 17-18 March 2017 in New are devoted to important themes surrounding research, Delhi. knowledge creation and publications, innovation, regulation, Conference was inaugurated policymaking, financing of universities and by Minister of Defence, internationalisation of higher education. Finance and Corporate Affairs, Arun Jaitley and Minister of Industry and Trade of Russia, Denis Manturov. 18 WiFiStudy.com

Hazira's first private sector township to go cashless Chand Gehlot and Information and Broadcasting Minister M Essar's Nand Niketan at Hazira has become India's first private Venkaiah Naidu. sector township to go cashless, using the mobile wallet for performing digital transactions. Govt launches a dental and oral health portal A Mumbai-based tech company was roped into provide An interactive portal was launched on March 20 by the smartphone based application for mastercard-enabled mobile government to raise awareness and educate the masses about wallets. the dental and oral health. Till now around 8,000 prepaid cards have been issued in the On the World Oral Health day, the Health Ministry, which also Nand Niketan township to the employees, merchants and shop launched Information, Education and Communication (IEC) owners operating within its precincts. material for raising awareness on the issue. An average of Rs 2 lakh worth of digital transactions are being executed every day. Ganga and Yamuna rivers declared living entities The Uttarakhand high First fully India-made train flagged off at Dadar station court has recognized the The much-awaited made- Ganga and the Yamuna in-India train, Medha was as so-called living flagged off from Dadar entities, giving the rivers railway station. that have seen years of Railway Minister Suresh damage at the hands of Prabhu, via humans, a legal voice. videoconferencing, It is the first time a court has recognized a non-human as a flagged off the maiden run of the train from Dadar to Borivali, living entity in India. at Lokmanya Tilak Terminus. The two rivers thus have the right to be legally protected and not be harmed/destroyed. They can also be parties to disputes. Amitabh Bachchan launches world's first app for breast The court’s recognition of the rivers comes just days after New health Zealand according a living entity status to its third largest river, Amitabh Bachchan launched the World’s first mobile App on Whanganui. ‘ABC of Breast Health’ at an event organized by the Ushalakshmi Breast Cancer Foundation at Mumbai’s JW Salman Khan tops Forbes India Celebrity rich list Marriott Hotel on Mar. 15. Bollywood superstar Salman Khan has unseated his actor Shah The App aims to empower the nation about every aspect of Rukh Khan to become the top earning celebrity of 2016 in the breast cancer and benign non-cancer breast health issues in 12 Forbes India Celebrity 100 List with an estimated income of languages (English, Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Punjabi, Bengali, Rs. 270.33 crore. Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Oriya and Assamese). Shah Rukh Khan secured second place in the list. Conceived, created and designed by the Ushalakshmi Breast The other leading names in the list include skipper Virat Kohli, Cancer Foundation, Hyderabad, the App is also now being actor Akshay Kumar and M S Dhoni chronologically. submitted to the Ministry of Health, Government of India, for However, the 50-year-old Salman is ranked at No 2 in terms of consideration for incorporation in their Health Portal for a fame, which is topped by ace cricketer Kohli. wider reach. 2 Day National Conference on “Empowering Deaf Through Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojna for senior citizens to be Indian Sign Language” begins launched A two day National Conference entitled “Empowering Deaf Senior citizens, living below the poverty line, will now get for through Indian Sign Language” was inaugurated by Shri free assistive devices like hearing aids and wheelchairs under Thaawarchand Gehlot, Minister for Social Justice and the government's Rs 477 crore scheme which is set to be rolled Empowerment in New Delhi. out next week. The objective of the Conference is to provide a common The proposed 'Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojna' will be launched at a platform to the professionals involved in the field of Deaf camp in Andhra Pradesh's Nellore district on March 25 by Education, Indian Sign language, Sign Linguistics, Union Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thawar Bilingualism, Interpreter education, and various other related topics.

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The Conference is being conducted in three languages to officials of AYUSH Ministry and representatives of AYUSH facilitate complete inclusion i.e. Hindi, English and Indian organizations. Sign Language. India’s longest highway tunnel to be inaugurated on April India home to 101 billionaires, Mukesh Ambani tops list: 2 Forbes India's longest India is home to world's fourth highest number of billionaires highway tunnel at with Reliance Industries chief Mukesh Ambani leading the Chenani Nashri, club of more than 100 super rich Indians, according to a new between Udhampur list released by Forbes magazine. and Ramban in Jammu The Forbes list of the 'World's Billionaires' 2017 consists of & Kashmir is all set to 2,043 of the richest people in the world who have a combined be inaugurated by net worth of $7.67 trillion, a record 18-per cent increase over prime minister Narendra Modi on April 2. the past year. The 10.89 km tunnel has absorbed a sum of Rs 2519 crore in The list has been topped by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates its construction. for the fourth year in a row. He has been the richest person in The tunnel is the longest highway tunnel in India boasting of the world for 18 out of the past 23 years. features like Integrated Traffic Control System (ITCS), Video US President Donald Trump is ranked 544th on the list with his Surveillance System and FM Rebroadcast System. net worth of $3.5 billion. India is home to 101 billionaires, the first time it has has more Joint cycling expedition by Bangladesh and Indian army than 100 super rich individuals. A 11-day joint cycling expedition of Bangladesh and Indian army was flagged off in Agartala with an aim to further 5th Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav being organized in Ne strengthen the friendship between the two armed forces. Region from 23rd to 31st March, 2017 The two countries have shared history, common language, The Fifth ‘Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav (RSM) – 2017’ is literature, arts and cultural ties. being organized in North Eastern Region of India by Ministry The 30 member expedition team, formed with officers and of Culture from 23rd to 31st March, 2017. The festival will be jawans from both countries would pass through major cities of inaugurated at Parade Ground, Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh the neighbouring country Comilla, Dhaka, Jessore, Manikgunj, on 23rd March, 2017. Faridpur, Magura - before reaching Fort William in Kolkata in The nine days cultural extravaganza will be inaugurated by 11 days. Governor of Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh Shri Altogether they would cover 532 km. Padmanabha Balakrishna Acharya. Cong veteran S M Krishna joins BJP The 3rd edition of State AYUSH/Health Ministers’ Congress veteran and Conference held in New Delhi former Karnataka Chief The 3rd Conference Minister S M Krishna, of Health/AYUSH who had quit the party Ministers of in January, formally States/UTs was joined the BJP. inaugurated by the Krishna, who was Minister of State for External Affairs Minister in the UPA-II government, also AYUSH served as the Karnataka Chief Minister between 1999 and (Independent 2004. Charge) Shri Shripad Yesso Naik in New Delhi. He was also former Maharashtra Governor. The day long conference was organized by the Ministry of AYUSH to provide an opportunity to States/UT to interact with Assam's Majuli all set to become India's first carbon each other for the development of AYUSH sector. neutral district The conference was attended by AYUSH/Health Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal launched Ministers/Secretaries and officials from 23 States/UTs; senior initiatives to develop Majuli, world biggest river island, as

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India"s first carbon neutral district and as a biodiversity SayTrees, an NGO, installed the first vertical garden in the heritage. city on one of the pillars of the Hosur Road flyover Launching 'Forests are Lives' campaign to celebrate the The garden boasts of around 3500 saplings of more than importance of Assam's rich forest and biodiversity, the Chief 10 species Minister urged people of the state to take a pledge to conserve its biodiversity to make a pollution free state. Petroleum Minister launches MoPNG e Seva Minister of State (I/C) for Govt approves 1.17 lakh more affordable houses under Petroleum and Natural Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana Gas, Shri Dharmendra The government has approved construction of 117,814 more Pradhan launched affordable houses for urban poor under the Pradhan Mantri MoP&NG e-Seva, a Awas Yojana (Urban) in six states with a total investment of dedicated grievances Rs 5,773 crore and with central assistance of Rs 1,816 crore. redressal platform on With this, the total number of affordable homes sanctioned Social Media for all queries and grievances relating to Oil and under PMAY(Urban) so far has gone up to 1,760,507, with Gas Sector. a total investment of Rs 96,018 crore and a central The MOPNG e-Seva is an integrated grievances redressal assistance of Rs 27,714 crore. platform across social media for all Oil & Gas related service issues. 3rd International Conference on Alternate Fuels and Raw This portal will be a single point interface for all customers Materials in Cement Industry to reach out to the government for addressing their The “3rd International Conference on Alternate Fuels and Raw feedback or grievances related to Oil & Gas Sector on Materials in Cement Industry -Towards Realising Swachh social media. Bharat Dream”, was inaugurated in New Delhi. MOPNG e-Seva will also deliver 24 x 7 support for Ms. Ravneet Kaur, Joint Secretary, Department of consumers. Industrial Policy & Promotion lauded the efforts and The e-Seva portal will serve as a single point for queries initiatives of the Cement Industry in enhancing the AFR on Twitter and Facebook to begin with; and other social usage to increase the Thermal Substitution Rate (TSR) media platforms in due course. A team of Nodal Officers which is very low at 1% as against the average 60% world- from Oil Companies and Allied Services have been over. formed to address issues on real-time basis. She mentioned that with Indian Cement Industry currently producing 7% of the Global Cement requirement. 33rd India Carpet Expo to be inaugurated by Union Textiles Minister AP tops in Aadhaar seeding of Jan Dhan a/cs The Carpet Export Promotion Council is organizing the 33rd Post demonetisation of specified bank notes on November 8, India Carpet Expo, a sourcing platform for handmade carpets 2016, more accounts under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan and other floor coverings, from 27-30 March, 2017 in Pragati Yojana (PMJDY) have been seeded with Aadhaar numbers. Maidan, New Delhi. Of the 25.51 crore PMJDY accounts on November 9, The Expo, one of Asia’s largest handmade carpet fairs, around 53.65 per cent were seeded with Aadhaar numbers. will be inaugurated by the Union Textiles Minister, Smt. Four months hence, the number of PMJDY accounts has Smriti Zubin Irani, on March 27, 2017. gone up to 28.01 crore, and the share of Aadhaar-seeded Minister of State for Textiles, Shri Ajay Tamta; Textiles accounts has risen to 63.61 per cent. Secretary, Smt. Rashmi Verma, other officials and As on March 15, Andhra Pradesh had linked 87.73 per cent representatives from trade and media would also be of its Jan-Dhan accounts with Aadhaar numbers. This was present. followed by Tripura at 87.08 per cent and Telangana 83.56 per cent. Pawan Hans to start 'Dilli Darshan' chopper rides at Rs 2,500 Bengaluru gets India's first vertical garden National chopper operator Pawan Hans is set to launch its Bengaluru got its first vertical garden, which it hopes will help "Delhi Darshan" rides from next month with a 10-minute sortie in curbing pollution and in beautifying the city. costing Rs 2,499 per person.

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Besides, the state-owned aviation firm will also offer a 20- Children are the worst sufferers of the adverse impact of minute helicopter ride for Rs 4,999. environmental diseases and die due to diarrhoea, malaria The company's Chairman and Managing Director, B P and respiratory diseases – all of which are environment Sharma, had at the inauguration of its first heliport in north related. Delhi's Rohini area announced the roll out of these 19% of the deaths caused by Cancer worldwide are services from April 1. attributed to carcinogens that unmindful industrialization produces. CBEC to be as Renamed CBIC The apex policy making a Thaawarchand Gehlot inaugurates ‘National Conference body for indirect taxes, on Down Syndrome’ CBEC is being rechristened Thaawarchand Gehlot, Minister for Social Justice and as the Central Board of Empowerment inaugurated a “National Conference on Down Indirect Taxes & Customs Syndrome” in New Delhi. (CBIC) in the run up to the Down syndrome is a chromosomal condition associated Goods and Services Tax with intellectual and learning disabilities. regime to be rolled out from Delayed development and behavioural problems are often July 1. reported in children with Down syndrome. The CBIC will have 21 zones, 101 GST Tax payer Persons with Down Syndrome have 47 chromosomes as Services Commissionerates comprising 15 sub- compared to 46 in majority of people. This one Extra Commissionerates, 768 Divisions, 3,969 Ranges, 49 Audit chromosome causes its own impact and slows down Commissionerates and 50 Appeals Commissionerates. learning process.

Osmania University to host 105th Indian Science Congress Human Trafficking Cases Maximum in West Bengal Osmania University will host the 105th edition of the Indian West Bengal topped the list of states with the maximum Science Congress during January 3-7, 2018. number of human trafficking cases in 2016 followed by Achyuta Samanta, General President of the Indian Science Rajasthan as the two accounted for around 61 per cent of such Congress Association, (ISCA) and founder of Kalinga cases in the country. Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT), Bhubaneswar, • Of the 8,132 such cases registered across the country said the conference will be on the theme ‘Science and last year, 3,576 were from West Bengal and 1,422 Technology - Reaching the Unreached’. from Rajasthan, government officials said. Five universities, including KIIT, had vied to host the • Rajasthan was followed by Gujarat where 548 such event. cases were reported last year. Maharashtra reported 517 cases. President of India inaugurates ‘World Conference on • Among the Union Territories, Delhi recorded the Environment’ maximum number of human trafficking cases in 2016. The President of Of the 75 cases registered among the UTs, 66 were India, Shri Pranab registered in Delhi. Mukherjee inaugurated the Third meeting of G-20 framework working group to be ‘World Conference held at Varanasi on Environment’ The 3rd G-20 Framework Working Group (FWG) Meeting organized by the under the G-20 German Presidency is being co-hosted by National Green Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Govt. Tribunal in New of India and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in Varanasi on 28th Delhi on March 25, 2017. and 29th of March, 2017. The President said recent studies and systematic reviews • The first two G 20 FWG meetings under the G- indicate that environmental factors are responsible for an 20 German Presidency have already been held at estimated 24% of the global burden of disease in terms of Berlin in Dec 16 and at Riyadh in Feb 17. healthy life years lost and 23 % of all deaths.

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• The G-20 is the group of 19 countries and The conclave platform features more than a dozen forms European Union (EU) deliberating on global of tribal art. economic issues and other important Most of these artists from 100 and more artist contingents, development challenges. have showcased their art forms at Festivals of India held abroad and distinguished platforms elsewhere. After Almost 30 Years in Service, TU142M to Retire Points to Remember The Indian Navy is preparing for de-induction of TU142M • Dr. Mahesh Sharma is the Minister of State (I/C) Long Range Maritime Patrol aircraft after its 29 years of for Culture and Tourism. dedicated service to the nation. • National Tribal and North East Conclave-2017” • The aircraft would be formally de-inducted by is being organized by Lalit Kala Akademi. Admiral Sunil Lanba, PVSM, AVSM, ADC, Chief of the Naval Staff at a special ceremony India and Bavaria to Set up Joint Group to Identify Areas scheduled to be held at INS Rajali, India's of Co-Operation in Water Sector premiere Naval Air Station in Arakkonam, Tamil Union Minister of Water Resources, River Development and Nadu on 29 March 17. Ganga Rejuvenation Uma Bharti has suggested formation of a • To commemorate the stellar service of the joint group to identify areas of co-operation in water sector. TU142M, a TU Static Display Aircraft would This was stated that by the Minister, when Minister of also be inaugurated by the Chief of Naval Staff at Environment and Consumer Protection of the Free State of INS Rajali. Bavaria, Federal Republic of Germany, Ms. Ulrike Scharf • The Indian Navy and the south Indian state called on her in New Delhi. of Andhra Pradesh have decided to convert the Bharti said that Bavaria has a rich experience of aircraft into a museum at a cost of US$ 0.75 successfully cleaning the river Danube in Germany and million. India may benefit from their experience. Points to Remember International Diamond Conference held in Mumbai • Uma Bharti is the Union Minister of Water The Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council of India Resources, River Development and Ganga (GJEPC) organised International Diamond Conference at Rejuvenation. Hotel Hyatt Mumbai. • Bavaria is a German Province. • The theme of this session was “Mines to Market • Danube River originates in Germany. 2017”. • Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest and Belgrade, • The conference was held with an objective of reside on the Danube River. bringing together the leading Miners, Diamantaires, Retailers, Bankers and Analysts India becomes Net Exporter of Electricity for the first Time from across the globe on a platform to discuss the As per Central Electricity Authority, the Designated Authority supply and demand issues faced by the Global of Government of India for Cross Border Trade of Electricity, Diamond Industry. 1st time India has turned around from a net importer of electricity to Net Exporter of electricity. Dr. Mahesh sharma inaugurates ‘national tribal and north During the current year 2016-17 (April to February 2017), east art conclave’ India has exported around 5,798 Million Units to Nepal, Dr. Mahesh Bangladesh and Myanmar which is 213 Million units more Sharma, Minister than the import of around 5,585 Million units from of State (I/C) for Bhutan. Culture and Export to Nepal and Bangladesh increased 2.5 and 2.8 Tourism times respectively in last three years. inaugurated the Ever since the cross border trade of electricity started in “National Tribal mid-Eighties, India has been importing power from and North East Bhutan and marginally exporting to Nepal in radial mode Conclave-2017” organized by Lalit Kala Akademi under at 33 kV and 132 kV from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Ministry of Culture in New Delhi.

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On an average Bhutan has been supplying around 5,000- • It is being organised with the support of 29 5500 Million units to India. Government departments. • It is to be held in 26 cities. Arun Jaitley clears major military reforms proposal Union finance SC bans sale, registration of BS-III vehicles from April 1 minister Arun Vehicles that are not Jaitley, who got BS-IV compliant, the additional whether two-wheeler, charge of the three-wheeler, four- defence ministry a wheeler or commercial week ago, has vehicles will not be sold given the green in India by any light to widespread military reforms. manufacturer or dealer on and from April 1,” a Bench of The reforms are based on a report by the Lt General Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta ordered. (retired) DB Shekatkar committee, which made The health of the citizen is more important than the recommendations on enhancing the combat potential of commercial interests of the automobile industry, the apex India’s three armed forces. court observed while banning sale and registration of BS- The committee set up by then defence minister Manohar III vehicles from April 1. Parrikar in 2015 submitted its report on December 21 last The Court further prohibited all the vehicle registering year. authorities from registering BS-III vehicles on and from Points to Remember April 1 under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. • Arun Jaitely was given additional of Defence Points to Remember Ministry as Manohar Parrikar resigned from the • Bharat stage emission standards' are emission post to swear in as Goa Chief Minister. standards instituted by the Government of India • DB Shekatkar Committee was appointed by the to regulate the output of air pollutants from government to enhance the combat potential of internal combustion engine equipment, including the armed forces and re-balancing defence motor vehicles. expenditure. • All new vehicles manufactured after the implementation of the norms have to be Smart India Hackathon 2017 Grand Finale to be held in compliant with the regulations. Nagpur • BS IV will be implemented from April 1, 2017. The Ministry of Road transport and Highways will host the Grand Finale of the Smart India Hackathon 2017 at Nagpur on President of India to Inaugurated ‘Namami Brahmaputra’ 1st and 2nd April, 2017. Festival Nagpur is one among 26 cities where the event will be held The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee is on a visit to simultaneously, with the support and coordination of 29 Assam on March 31, 2017 where he inaugurated the ‘Namami Government departments. Brahmaputra’ festival in Guwahati. The Smart India Hackathon 2017 was launched on Nov 9, The five day long ‘Namami Brahmaputra’ festival is being 2016 in New Delhi by the Ministry of Human Resources organized by the Government of Assam with aim to Development. strengthen the bonds among various communities of It aims to harnesses the creativity and expertise of Assam. students, build funnel for ‘Startup India, Standup India’ campaigns, crowd source solutions for improving Gujarat first in construction of houses for urban poor governance and quality of life and provide opportunity to Gujarat is far ahead of other States in construction of affordable citizens to contribute innovative solutions for nation houses for urban poor under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana building. (Urban) launched by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi Points to Remember on June 25, 2015. • Smart India Hackathon was was launched on Nov In Gujarat, 25,873 houses have so far been built for the 9, 2016 in New Delhi by the Ministry of HRD. benefit of urban poor accounting for 32% of the total

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82,048 such houses built under PMAY(Urban) in 30 States Going forward, the committee headed by Meena and Union Territories. Hemchandra, Executive Director, RBI, can co-opt more Gujarat is followed by Rajasthan with 10,805 houses experts and also operate through a framework of sub- constructed so far (13.17% of total), Karnataka-10,447, committees to examine specific issues. Tamil Nadu- 6,940 and Maharashtra-5,506 (6.70%). SIDBI expert panel sanctions Rs 300 cr for startups Centre to build 1 crore houses under PMAY-G by 2019 An expert committee set up by SIDBI has sanctioned Rs 300 The Government has said that it has approved the construction crore to fund managers who would invest in startups, taking the of 1 crore houses with the financial implication of Rs. 81,975 total sanctions so far this fiscal to over Rs 1,100 crore. crore for the period 2016-17 to 2018-19 under Pradhan Mantri During fiscal year 2014-15 and 2015-16 sanctions were Aawas Yojna-Gramin. made to 11 funds (Rs 314 crores) and 16 funds (Rs 607 The Minister of State for Rural Development Shri Ram crores) respectively while the number during the current Kripal Yadav said in a written reply to a question in the financial year has already crossed Rs 1,112 crores to 30 Lok Sabha that as per provisional figures of Socio funds. Economic and Caste Census (SECC) 2011, approximately To promote startups, the Cabinet had last year approved 4 crore rural households face housing deprivation. the setting up of a 'Fund of Funds for Startups' with a After accounting for the houses that were constructed corpus of Rs 10,000 crore at SIDBI (Small Industries under Indira Aawas Yojana, IAY and State sponsored Development Bank). housing schemes since 2011, it has been estimated that 2.95 crore more houses, with an anticipated variation of ± OECD cuts GDP growth forecast to 7% in 2016-17 10%, would need to be constructed to achieve the The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development objective of ‘Housing For All’ by the year 2022. (OECD) has cut its growth projection for India in 2016-17 to Points to Remember 7% from the 7.4% it had projected last year. • Pradhan Mantri Gramin Awaas Yojana The OECD, in its Economic Survey of India 2017 report, (PMGAY), previously Indira Awaas Yojana forecast a growth rate of 7.3% for 2017-18 and 7.7% for (IAY), is a social welfare flagship programme, 2018-19. created by the Indian Government, to provide OECD housing for the rural poor in India. • Headquarters: Paris • A similar scheme for urban poor was launched in • Founded: 1948 2015 as Housing for All by 2022. • Members: 35 • Secretary General: Jose Angel Gurria

Axis, HDFC, ICICI to charge Rs. 150 after 4 cash transactions Some banks, including HDFC Bank, RBI sets up panel to review cyber threats have begun charging a minimum The Reserve Bank has amount of Rs. 150 per transaction for announced setting up of cash deposits and withdrawals the inter—disciplinary beyond four free transactions in a standing committee on month. cyber security to review The new charges would apply to savings as well as salary the threats inherent in the accounts, leading private sector player HDFC Bank said in existing and emerging a circular. technology. These charges are for cash transactions in the branches, The 11 member committee will also study adoption of and not through ATMs. various security standards and protocols, interface with State bank of India will levy a minimum amount of Rs 50 stakeholders and suggest appropriate policy interventions per transaction after three transactions. to strengthen cyber security and resilience, the central

bank said.

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World Bank offers over $1-billion loan to Maharashtra SBI to levy fine on low account balance The World Bank has announced an assistance programme of According to the new over $1 billion in the areas of urban transport and climate rules of the country's resilient agriculture in Maharashtra, over the next 2-3 years. largest bank, State This was announced by the World Bank’s Chief Executive Bank of India Officer, Kristalina Georgieva, at the end of a day-long visit (SBI), from April 1, to the city. savings account Over the last five years, World Bank had invested over holders with less $1.4 billion in Maharashtra in urban transport, rural water money in their account supply and agriculture. than minimum World Bank prescribed balance, would be fined. • Headquarters: Washington D.C. SBI currently has 25 crore savings accounts. • Founded: 1944 This penalty depends on the difference between the • President: Jim Yong Kim difference between minimum prescribed balance and • Members: IBRD 180, IDA 173 current balance. For Metropolitan banks, minimum prescribed balance is Reliance General signs bancassurance deal with Catholic Rs 5,000, Rs 3,000 for urban areas and for rural areas, it Syrian Bank has been fixed at Rs 1,000. Non-life insurer Reliance General Insurance, part Rs 10,000 penalty for bank branches refusing to exchange of Reliance Capital Ltd soiled notes said it has signed a The Reserve Bank of India has bancassurance deal with clarified that currency notes private-owned Kerala- which have messages headquartered Catholic scribbled on it are legal tender. Syrian Bank. The notes however, cease In a statement, Reliance General Insurance said it would to be legal tender if target the 1.5 million-strong customer base of Catholic message scribbled on it is Syrian Bank spread across its 430 branches in Kerala, political in nature. Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra. The last circular on this had come from the central bank in 2016 wherein it was stated that bank branches that refuse Ujjivan Small Finance Bank launches 'Paison Ki ABCD' to exchange soiled notes from people will have to pay a Ujjivan Small Financial Bank Ltd. (Ujjivan SFB) has launched penalty of Rs 10,000. a powerful, educational film on Financial Literacy titled The restriction for exchanging soiled notes is that if one 'Paison Ki ABCD'. exchanges more than 20 notes or notes worth Rs 5,000 in The film was conceptualized and executed in partnership a day, then banks will levy service charge. with Parinaam Foundation, a non-profit organization aimed at economic empowerment of the underprivileged. Google India inks MoU with Telangana government Google India and Telangana government have signed a All savings bank a/cs to have net banking by March 31st Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at supporting The government has asked banks to link all savings bank the digitisation efforts of the state. accounts with net banking facility by March 31, 2017, in order Google India will provide Google Cloud credits and access to encourage digital transactions, and to promote transparency. to all cloud platform products to eligible startups engaged Till now, 65% bank accounts are already linked with with Telangana government’s T-Hub initiative. mobile numbers, and the remaining 35% would be seeded Other initiatives as a part of the agreement include, making with mobile numbers by March 31st. all government websites mobile friendly and introduce It is also said the government wants people to make us of programmes to help local small and medium businesses go the newly launched BHIM App. online and stay safe online.

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Ola inks pact with MP govt to train 25,000 people Irdai proposes up to 50% hike in motor insurance premium Taxi-hailing app Ola has signed from April 1 an agreement with the Madhya Regulator Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority Pradesh government to impart of India (Irdai) has proposed up to 50 per cent increase in training to about 25,000 people. insurance premium for cars, motor cycles as well as The Memorandum of commercial vehicles from April 1. Understanding (MoU) was However, there is no proposal to increase the third party signed with Madhya motor insurance premium for small cars (up to 1,000 cc) Pradesh State Skill Development Mission (MPSSDM) and from Rs 2,055 currently. Directorate of Skill Development (Technical Education The hike proposed in mid-segment cars (1,000 - 1,500 cc) and Skill Development Department). as well as bigger cars and SUVs is 50 per cent. The move is part of Ola's target of skilling 50 lakh drivers The proposal is to increase premium to Rs 3,355 for cars by 2020. up to 1,000 cc and Rs 9,246 for bigger ones. Also, no change has been proposed for two-wheelers Vijaya Bank opens its 2,000th branch in Tirupati having engines up to 75 cc. Vijaya Bank has opened its 2000th branch in Tirupati. However, for sports bikes and super bikes (more than 350 The branch was opened by Chadalawada Krishna Murthy, cc), Irdai proposes to increase the premium to Rs 1,194 Chairman, Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams. from the present Rs 796, up 50 per cent. This is the region's 65th branch and the second in Tirupati The increase has also been proposed for entry level bikes city. (77-150 cc) and performance category (150-350 cc). Speaking on the occasion, Murthy said Vijaya Bank was IRDAI the first bank to start banking operations in Tirumala and • Headquarters: Hyderabad has been extending yeoman service to the devotees of Lord • Founded: 1999 Venkateswara. • Chairman: T.S. Vijayan Vijaya Bank • Headquarters: Bengaluru SBI launches 'Work from Home' facility for employees • Founded: 1931 Country's largest lender State Bank of India has launched a new • CEO: Kishore Kumar Sansi facility to enable its employees to work from home. • Tagline: A friend you can bank on The Board of the bank has recently approved the 'Work from Home' policy to enable its employees to work while NPAs at record high of Rs 6.8 lakh crore at home using mobile devices to address any urgent As NPAs of public sector banks soared to a staggering Rs 6.8 requirement they may have, that prevents their travelling lakh crore, the chairman of a key Parliamentary panel has to work. favoured naming and shaming corporate houses which default The lender will be using mobile computing technologies on repayment of bank loans. and shall have continuous control over all the enabled Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chief K V Thomas devices centrally to manage and secure the data and hopes "naming and shaming" such corporate houses may applications on the mobile devices, the bank said in a help financial institutions get back their money. statement. Out of the Rs 6.8 lakh crore of Non-Performing Assets of public sector banks, a whopping 70 per cent are those of HDFC Bank launches Artificial Intelligence driven chatbot big corporate houses, Thomas said, adding hardly one per EVA cent of it constitutes loans to farmers. HDFC Bank has announced the According to the Finance Ministry data, the NPAs of the launch of an electronic virtual country's largest lender State Bank of India is Rs 97,356 assistant (EVA), an artificial crore, followed by Rs 54,640 crore of Punjab National intelligence-driven chatbot, for Bank and Rs 44,040 crore of Bank of India. customer services. Eva is India's first AI-based banking chatbot and can

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answer millions of customer queries across multiple China’s banking system is now the biggest in the world, new channels instantly. analysis has shown. HDFC Bank The country’s banks have more assets than those of the • Headquarters: Mumbai eurozone for the first time. • Founded: 1994 Three of the world’s four largest banks by assets are now • Chairman: Aditya Puri Chinese. • Tagline: We Understand Your World The total assets of the country’s banking system were $33 trillion at the end of 2016; more than the eurozone’s $31 Canara Bank bags medals at PR Council's communication trillion for the eurozone and more than double the US’ $16 conclave trillion. Public sector Canara Bank has won a number of medals in the China Collateral Awards Category at the 11th Global Communication • Capital: Beijing Conclave held in Bangaluru by the Public Relations Council of • Currency: Yuan, Renminbi India (PRCI). • President: Xi Jinping The bank won a gold medal for a radio jingle and silver • Prime Minister: Lee Keqiang medals for Corporate Film and Brochure (CSR). It won bronze medals for its in-house magazine (regional Economy to grow 7.1% in FY17: Fitch language),corporate advertisement – print, table calendar - Global rating agency Fitch said Indian economy will grow by 2017 and Big Diary 2017. 7.1 per cent in the current fiscal before stepping up to 7.7 per Canara Bank cent in the next two financial years. • Headquarters: Bengaluru The US-based agency, however, termed the 7 per cent • Founded: 1906 GDP growth for the October-December quarter as • Chairman: T.N. Manoharan "surprising", a tad lower than 7.4 per cent in the previous • CEO: Rakesh Sharma quarter. • Tagline: Together We Can HDFC Bank digitises over 1200 dairy co-operatives across BCCI confirms OPPO as Indian cricket team’s new India sponsor Private sector lender HDFC Bank has digitised payments at Board of Cricket over 1,200 dairy co-operatives in the country. Control in India It benefits 3.2 lakh dairy farmers across 16 states under the (BCCI) has confirmed aegis of its Milk to Money (M2M) programme. Oppo as its new Launched in 2010, M2M is aimed at bringing dairy sponsor. Oppo will farmers into the organized banking system, digitising the replace Star on India’s entire dairy value chain. jersey after the latter’s contract ran out. NBFC cash loan against gold restricted to Rs. 20,000 BCCI had released tender asking for bids and has now The Reserve Bank of India has confirmed Oppo as the new sponsor. sharply brought down the The deal will start from April 2017 and Oppo mobiles will threshold above which non- be Indian team’s new sponsor for a period of 5 years. banking finance companies The new deal means the jerseys of India’s senior team, (NBFCs) can disburse loans Under-19 team, India-A team and also of the India’s against gold only by cheque. women team will have the Oppo written on them instead The central bank said with of Star from now on. immediate effect such The new deal was signed for Rs 1079 Crores which is five loans amounting to Rs. 25,000 and above can be disbursed times more than the previous deal. only by cheque as against the earlier threshold of Rs. 1 lakh and above. China’s banking system overtakes eurozone to become the This move is in line with the rules issued under the Income biggest in the world Tax Act.

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SBI, German Development Bank KfW sign USD 274 During the first nine months of the current fiscal, as many million agreement as 455 fraud cases involving Rs 1 lakh and above were State Bank of India has signed an agreement with German detected in ICICI Bank, closely followed by SBI (429), Development Bank KfW for a USD 274 million (Rs 1,800 Standard Chartered (244) and HDFC Bank (237). crore)-loan facility to finance affordable housing segment in However, in value terms, frauds involving Rs 2,236.81 the country. crore were reported in SBI, followed by Punjab National With its focus on housing loans for economically weaker Bank (Rs 2,250.34 crore) and Axis Bank (Rs 1,998.49 sections (EWS) and lower income group (LIG) crore). households, the facility is designed to complement the government's flagship affordable housing programme, the Upcoming Rewa solar plant to receive loan from World Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. Bank The World Bank has Yes Bank bullish on smart cities, signs up 3 projects agreed to provide loan to Mid-sized private sector lender Yes Bank is looking at smart develop internal cities initiative as a lucrative business opportunity and has transmission arrangements signed up three projects to offer payments-related solutions, a of the upcoming Rewa senior official said. Ultra Mega Solar (RUMS) “We have tied up with Udaipur, Nashik and Puducherry project in Madhya Pradesh. for introducing various solutions for the smart city It will provide 25 per cent of the loan amount under its initiative,” its digital banking head Ritesh Pai told PTI. Clean Technology Fund (CTF), where the money will be At present, its larger rival ICICI Bank is the only other provided at an interest rate of only 0.25 per cent. bank which had announced a project to work in This would be the first solar power project of the country Ahmedabad late last year. to receive a loan under CTF. World Bank Limits on cash withdrawal from savings bank account Aim: The World Bank (WB) is an international financial removed institution that provides loans to developing countries for All restrictions on cash withdrawal from savings bank account capital programs. It comprises two institutions: the have been removed from today as the Reserve Bank of India International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (RBI) had announced about it last month. (IBRD), and the International Development Association Last month, the RBI had issued a notification saying that (IDA). the withdrawal limit of cash from savings bank accounts • Headquarters: Washington D.C. will be relaxed to Rs. 50,000 from February 20 and there • Members: 189 would be no restrictions from March 13. • President: Jim Yong Kim (South Korean- American) Karnataka Bank signs MoU with Bajaj Allianz • Founded: July 1944 City-based Karnataka Bank has signed a Memorandum of • Parent Organization: World Bank Group Understanding (MoU) with Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company for General Insurance business. Central Bank of India gets Official language policy award With the agreement, the bank would be able to provide Central Bank of vast choice of non-life insurance products to its customers India has been across all its 747 branches. awarded first prize The corporate agency agreement was inked at the Head in the Office of Karnataka Bank in Mangalore. implementation of Official Language ICICI Bank, SBI, Standard Chartered top bank frauds list: Policy in the RBI western region for ICICI Bank topped the list of banks that witnessed most the year 2015-2016. number of frauds during April-December period of 2016 with Sudhir Pathak, Chief Manager, Central Bank of India, state-owned SBI taking the second spot, RBI data said. received the trophy and certificate from Kalyan Singh,

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Governor of Rajasthan, at the Official Language Merchants are expected to have a faster and “more direct” Conference of Central and Western Regions in Udaipur access to POS machines, payment gateways, and competitive recently. financing options, the bank said in a release. Central Bank of India • Headquarters: Mumbai HDFC Bank to offer loans online against shares in 3 • Founded: 21 December 1911 minutes • Chairman: Rajeev Rishi HDFC Bank, country’s second largest private lender, has • Tagline: Central to You Since 1911 launched a Digital Loan against Securities (LAS) product to avail an instant overdraft facility in just 3 minutes. RCom-Aircel merger gets SEBI nod In a tie-up with National Securities Depository Limited Reliance Communications Ltd. has received approval from the (NSDL), HDFC bank claims to be the “first Bank in India to Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), BSE Ltd do so. (BSE) and National Stock Exchange of India Ltd (NSE) for the The loan amount ranges from Rs 1 to 20 lakh for a period and proposed Scheme of Arrangement for demerger of the wireless every year the loan amount will be reevaluated. division of the company into Aircel Ltd and Dishnet Wireless Since it is an overdraft, the loan amount increases with a rise in Ltd. stock prices and vice-versa. The merger will create the country’s third-largest mobile operator by subscriber base. World Bank approves $175 million loan for National Creation of the new entity will first involve RCom demerging Hydrology Project its existing cellular business, which has around 100 million The World Bank has subscribers. approved a $175 million The wireless unit will then be merged with Aircel. loan for the National Hydrology Project to State Bank of India signs MoU with CREDAI improve India’s ability State Bank of India and real estate developers’ body CREDAI to forecast floods and have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to jointly reduce vulnerability to conduct various initiatives towards development of the realty recurring floods and sector. droughts. The MoU will be in force for a period of 3 years. The loan from the Each of them will leverage their individual strengths and International Bank for Reconstruction and Development collaborate in areas to promote housing for all, which will be (IBRD) has a six-year grace period in which no interest beneficial to the sector, SBI said in a statement. payments will be due. The loan will mature in 23 years. This National Hydrology Project will aim to cover the entire SBI to trim Paris operation into representative office country, including the states along the Ganga and State Bank of India is planning to convert its branch operation Brahmaputra-Barak basins. in Paris into a representative office. World Bank Chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya said Europe is very costly Aim: The World Bank (WB) is an international financial for operations given the fact that capital is so scarce and costly institution that provides loans to developing countries for now. capital programs. It comprises two institutions: the SBI has 199 global offices which includes branches, International Bank for Reconstruction and Development representative offices and subsidiaries, among others. (IBRD), and the International Development Association (IDA). Bandhan Bank, Avenues India tie up • Headquarters: Washington D.C. Bandhan Bank, has signed an agreement with Avenues India • Members: 189 Pvt Ltd, a payment solution provider, to provide merchants • President: Jim Yong Kim (South Korean- with seamless access to point-of-sales (POS) and payment American) gateway products. • Founded: July 1944 • Parent Organization: World Bank Group

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Unido to double India spend Idea approves merger with Vodafone India In an attempt to enhance Indian Kumar Mangalam Birla cities' credit-worthiness and owned Idea Cellular improve their ability to access said its Board has financing, the United Nations approved of a merger Industrial Development with Vodafone India Organization (Unido) plans to and its wholly owned double its spend in India this year subsidiary Vodafone with a sharp focus to develop India Mobile Services. sustainable cities. It will create India's This, according to Philippe Scholtes, managing director of largest mobile phone company with about 400 million Unido, will help in linking Indian cities to international city customers, 35% customer market share and 41% revenue networks. market share. "We target at this point five cities across the country -- Bhopal, Vodafone will own 45.1% in the combined entity. Kumar Vijayawada, Guntur, Mysore and Jaipur” Scholtes said. Mangalam Birla and other promoters of Idea Group will hold 26% and the rest will be owned by the public. ESAF Small Finance Bank kicks off operations The newly-launched ESAF Small Finance Bank will offer Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMB) to be merged with State interest rates between 5.75 and 9 per cent for term deposits of Bank of India varying maturities. The Government of India has decided to merge the Bharatiya For savings deposits, the rates will vary from 6 to 7 per cent, Mahila Bank (BMB) with the State Bank of India (SBI) to based on the outstanding balance in the account. ensure greater banking services outreach to a larger number of Senior citizens will be entitled to an additional 0.05 per cent women, at a faster pace. for term deposits. The objectives of affordable credit to women as well as propagation of women-centric products need to be quickly 'Approval given to RBI to print Rs 10 plastic notes' achieved through a wider network and lower cost of funds. The government has said the RBI has been authorised to conduct field trials of plastic notes of Rs 10 that have a longer Yes Bank partners with Payjo for artificial intelligence life span. solutions In a written reply in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Private sector lender Yes Bank has partnered with Payjo, an Finance Arjun Ram Meghwal said “it has been decided” to artificial intelligence banking platform based out of Silicon conduct a field trial with plastic banknotes at five locations of Valley, California to adopt its intelligence products. the country. The YES Pay Bot will be the first AI-driven Bot for a wallet He further said plastic notes are expected to last longer than and will complement the already trusted and popular YES Pay cotton substrate based banknotes. wallet service with over half-a-million users.

Australia research centre enters into agreement with ICICI Bank launches 'Mera iMobile' app for rural Indian Railways customers A Railway research centre in Australia has entered into an To strengthen digitalisation agreement with the Indian Railways to support future research drive in rural region, ICICI and technology development related to critical infrastructure in Bank has launched mobile India. banking app called 'Mera Representatives from Monash University Institute of Railway iMobile'. Technology (IRT) and Indian Ministry of Railways corporation ‘Mera iMobile’ will DFCCIL (Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India provide rural customers on smartphone with 135 services and Limited) signed an agreement in New Delhi. in eleven Indian languages, the bank said. They will provide guidance on the establishment of a new Mera iMobile is the only banking app to offer rural banking applied research and development institute in India known as services namely Kisan Credit Card (KCC), gold loan, loans to SRESTHA (Special Railway Establishment for Strategic SHG and tractor loans. Technology & Holistic Advancement). 31 WiFiStudy.com

FinMin okays capital infusion for 10 PSU banks There were 9,130 wilful defaulters who owe Rs 91,155 crore Coming in support of weak and non-performing public sector to public sector banks, Minister of State for Finance Santosh banks (PSBs), the Finance Ministry has chalked out a Kumar Gangwar said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha. turnaround-linked Rs 8,586-crore capital infusion plan for 10 In another reply, he said the NPAs of the state-run banks PSBs. reduced by Rs 37,815 crore in 2016. The reduction was Rs The 10 banks identified are Allahabad Bank (Rs 418 crore); 41,236 crore in the previous year. Andhra Bank (Rs 1,100 crore); Bank of India (Rs 1,500 crore); Bank of Maharashtra (Rs 300 crore); Central Bank of India (Rs Russian company to set up 100 MW solar in Tamilnadu 100 crore); Dena Bank (Rs 600 crore); IDBI Bank (Rs 1,900 Chennai-based Al crore); Indian Overseas Bank (Rs 1,100 crore); UCO Bank (Rs Ameen Green 1,150 crore) and United Bank of India (Rs 418 crore). Energy has tied up To avail themselves of the capital support, the identified PSBs with a Russian require a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) company Miyota between the government, PSB management and employees of Power for setting the PSB concerned. up a 100-MW solar power plant Rs 2 lakh is the cash transaction limit from April 1 near Virudhunagar, Tamil Nadu. The Rs 3-lakh limit Miyota Power will invest $80 million in the project and will proposed for cash also build the plant on turnkey basis. payments in the Al Ameen Green was incorporated in 2013 and has paid-up Budget for 2017-18 capital of Rs 50.37 crore. would be brought down to Rs 2 lakh Russia’s VTB bank to shut India office as part of an Russian bank VTB has decided to close its only office in India unprecedented 40 to cut costs but will continue to work in India. amendments to the Finance Bill. While closing its office in New Delhi, VTB added that it saw Finance Minister Arun Jaitley moved the amendments in the commodities and investment banking as priority areas for the lower House. bank in India. The amendment related to reducing the cap on cash VTB is also planning to cut costs in Europe by slimming down transactions comes amidst reports that digital transactions had its operations to focus on Frankfurt. declined after a spurt after demonetisation. India and ADB Sign $350 Million Loan for 1,500 kms of Branches of associate banks to operate as SBI branches District Roads in Madhya Pradesh from April 1 The Asian Development All the branches of State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur (SBBJ), Bank (ADB) and the State Bank of Hyderabad (SBH), State Bank of Mysore (SBM), Government of India State Bank of Patiala (SBP) and State Bank of Travancore signed a $350 million (SBT) will function as branches of State Bank of India from loan for improving April 1, 2017. about 1,500 kilometers All the customers including depositors of these banks will now of major district roads in be treated as customers of SBI from April 1. Madhya Pradesh in line with the State’s Road Development Meanwhile SBI has also decided to cut down the associate Plan. branches by 47 percent. The Project will involve upgrading roads with concrete pavements, strengthening culverts and bridges, and Wilful defaulters owe Rs 91,155 crore to PSBs maintaining the improved road assets for a period of five years There were more than 9,100 wilful defaulters who together after construction, on a performance based payment format. owed Rs 91,155 crore to public sector banks at 2016 Madhya Pradesh is the second-largest State in the country, with December-end, Parliament was informed. an area of about 308,000 square kilometers and a population of Banks declare wilful defaulters as per the norms stipulated by about 73 million. the Reserve Bank of India. 32 WiFiStudy.com

RBI proposes to limit value in PPIs at Rs 1 lakh The housing loan for the employees will come under the The RBI has proposed to fix the upper limit for Pre-paid state government's scheme "Apun Ghar." Payment Instruments at Rs 1 lakh in view of growing usage of The maximum limit of the housing loan is Rs 15 lakh. PPIs for purchase of goods and services. RBI had received requests from stakeholders and other entities World Bank signs US$ 100 million credit agreement with for relaxations in certain areas while strengthening the norms Centre, Uttarakhand for safety and security, risk mitigation and customer protection The World Bank aspects related to usage of PPIs. has signed a 100 PPIs are payment instruments that facilitate purchase of goods million US and services, including financial services. dollar credit agreement with As a small finance bank, Disha to offer gold, MSME loans the Centre and to rural borrowers Uttarakhand in Micro-finance platform Disha plans the formal launch of its New Delhi to small finance bank (SFB) in the next quarter, followed by 30- improve quality of health care services in all 13 districts of the 40 branches in the next three months. state. The SFB, under parent Fincare Business Services, also World Bank said in a statement that most public health looks to offer products such as gold loans and micro- facilities in the middle and upper mountainous areas of enterprise loans to rural customers. Uttarakhand are unable to function optimally. The project also aims to reduce the financial risk for its 4 PSBs detect 315 cases of fake certificates for appointment citizens and make affordable, quality health care available Four public sector banks (PSBs), including IOB and BoB, have to all, the statement said. detected 315 cases wherein candidates submitted fake certificate at the time of appointment. Vijaya Bank inks MoU with Piaggio Vehicles PSBs have managerial autonomy in recruitment of Vijaya Bank entered into an MoU with Piaggio Vehicles for officers, clerical and sub-staff. providing financial support for the purchase of vehicles under Oriental Bank of Commerce, Indian Overseas Bank, Bank Small Road Transport Operators (SRTO) scheme in of Baroda and Andhra Bank reported four, 253, 30 and 28 Bengaluru. cases, respectively, involving fake certificates. • Vijaya Bank Managing Director and Chief The candidates submitted fake caste, qualification and Executive Officer Dr Kishore Sansi flagged off service certificates. the first batch of vehicles under the MoU in the In the case of IOB, 89 officials were found to be involved. presence of Executive Directors B S Rama Rao, Y Nageswara Rao, and Piaggio Vehicles Vice- Assam govt showers subsidized loans on its employes President Praveen Nagpal. Assam government has signed two MoUs with SBI to provide housing KVB bags ‘best small bank’ award loan at hugely subsidised interest Karur Vysya Bank has rates of 5% for its women been adjudged the ‘Best employees and 5.5 % for men, and Small Bank for 2016’ education loan for higher education (balance sheet size of less for their children at 4% interest rate. than Rs.1-lakh crore). Both types of loans will be free • K of any collateral security and processing fee. Venkataraman, Managing Director, KVB, State finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the received the award from Sudhir Munguntivar, children of government employees can avail educational Minister of Finance and Planning, Government loan for higher studies through the education loan portal of Maharashtra, at a function in Mumbai. www.vidyalakshmi.com launched by the centre on August • This is the eighth award won by KVB in the 15, 2015 by the finance ministry under Pradhan Mantri current fiscal. Vidya Lakshmi Karyakram (PMVLK).

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Syndicate Bank opens 40 ‘Ananya’ branches It will also enable users to recharge their mobile number Syndicate Bank has from within the Truecaller app itself, it said. digitally inaugurated Points to Remember 40 ‘Ananya’ • ICICI Bank was founded in 1994. Its transformed headquarters is in Mumbai. branches. • M. K. Sharma is its Chairman and Chanda • The Kochhar is MD & CEO. bank also launched its first micro, small and • Truecaller is a software which finds contact medium enterprise (MSME) hub in Bengaluru. details globally given name or telephone number. • The hub is expected to cater to more than 150 • BHIM (Bharat Interface for Money) is a Mobile branches across the Bengaluru region, and aims App developed by National Payments to reduce the turnaround time of the loan- Corporation of India (NPCI), based on the sanctioning process. Unified Payment Interface (UPI). • The bank embarked upon project Ananya in • BHIM app was launched by Narendra Modi, the February 2016, and is operating under four pillars Prime Minister of India, at a Digi Dhan mela at of transformation — business process re- Talkatora Stadium in New Delhi on 30 December engineering, digital channels, sales and customer 2016. relationship management, and HR • BHIM app has been named after Bhim Rao transformation. Ambedkar and is intended to facilitate e- payments directly through banks. Odisha to bring banking to remote rural areas through Self Help Groups IRDAI slaps penalty on ICICI Pru Life Odisha became the first The insurance regulator state in the country to has imposed a penalty of carry financial inclusion Rs 20 lakh on ICICI and extend banking Prudential Life Insurance services to unbanked Company on various areas through Self Help charges, including free Groups (SHGs). look cancellations not The state being in line with regulations; maturity claims not being settled government signed an agreement with State Bank of India within prescribed time period, resulting in huge number of in this regard. claims outstanding; and delay in processing surrenders/partial In the first phase SHGs would be engaged as Banking withdrawals. Correspondents in around 1,000 remote Gram Panchayats The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of having no banking facilities. India has also charged the private sector life insurer for Points to Remember considerable number of annuities being outstanding for • State Bank of India will help in this Mission. want of verification certificate. • Bhubaneswar is the capital city of Odisha. Points to Remember • Naveen Patnaik is the Chief Minister of Odisha. • Insurance Regulatory and Development • S.C. Jamir is the Governor of Odisha. Authority of India (IRDAI) is an autonomous, statutory agency tasked with regulating and ICICI Bank partners Truecaller for UPI-based payment promoting the insurance and reinsurance ICICI Bank has announced a partnership with mobile app firm industries in India. Truecaller for a new UPI-based mobile payment service. • It was founded in 1999 under the Insurance Called Truecaller Pay, it will allow users of the app to Regulatory and Development Authority Act, instantly create a UPI id, send money to any UPI id or a 1999. mobile number registered with the BHIM app, ICICI Bank • Its headquarters is in Hyderabad and TS Vijayan said in a statement. is the Chairman.

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CCI imposes Rs 591 crore penalty on Coal India Any SBI customer with a balance of at least Rs 25,000 in Fair trade regulator Competition Commission of India (CCI) his/her savings account with the bank would be eligible for has imposed a penalty of Rs 591.01 crore upon Coal India the Unnati credit card. Limited (CIL). Points to Remember CIL and its subsidiaries violated the Competition Act by • State bank of India was founded in 1955. imposing unfair and discriminatory conditions in Fuel • Earlier it was known as Imperial Bank of India Supply Agreements (FSAs) with power producers for and Bank of Calcutta. supply of non-coking coal. • Arundhati Bhattacharya is the Chairperson of Points to Remember SBI. • Competition Commission of India was founded on 14 October 2003. Axis Bank ties up with Wells Fargo for Inward remittances • Devender Kumar Sikri is the present Chairperson Axis Bank has tied up with Wells of CCI. Fargo, the third largest American bank by assets, to offer real time remittances SBI to offer 'zero annual fee' credit cards to accounts with from the Indian diaspora to their Rs 20,000 relatives back home. State Bank of India has said that it will offer credit cards to Under the arrangement between every account holder who has a balance of Rs 20,000-25,000, the two banks, any member of the without going into credit history. Indian diaspora with an account with the Wells Fargo will This is the first major joint collaboration between be able to transfer money to their relatives back home and Arundhati Bhattacharya-led SBI and SBI Card after the there will be no transaction fee applicable to the money bank hiked its stake in the joint venture to 74% by buying transfers from USA. out part of its partner GE Capital's stake for Rs 1,168 crore. But the relative or the beneficiary in India will need to GE Capital will sell its remaining stake to a private equity have an account with Axis Bank. investor in coming days. Points to Remember • Axis Bank Ltd is the third largest private-sector Tendulkar exited from Musafir.com bank in India. Sachin Tendulkar has exited • Axis Bank was founded in 1993 as UTI bank. travel portal Musafir.com as an • Axis Bank headquarters is in Mumbai. Shikha investor after a period of five Sharma is its MD & CEO while Sanjiv Misra is years. the Chairman. Post his retirement in 2013, • Wells Fargo & Company is an American the master blaster had opted international banking and financial services for a sweat equity of 7.5 per holding company headquartered in San cent in exchange for appearing in the firm’s ads. Francisco, California. He was being paid Rs1 crore every year for the past five • Wells Fargo was founded in 1852. It is the third years and was assured a minimum of Rs 20 crore at the largest American bank by assets. time of exit. Kotak Mahindra Bank launches scheme to double SBI launched ‘SBI Card Unnati’ customers to 16 million SBI Card launched a unique credit card ‘SBI Card Unnati’ Kotak Mahindra Bank has targeted at all SBI customers, including Jan Dhan account- launched a new zero balance holders across the country. digital banking account free of cost Tailored for new users of credit cards — those who do not which is linked to Aadhaar system. have a credit history — ‘Unnati' would have no annual fees Kotak expects to double its for the initial four years and will be offered through the number of customers through 20,000-plus SBI branches. this new account, called 811 signifying the date prime

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minister Narendra Modi announced demonetisation of He was in November last year given additional charge of high value currency notes. the post of MD and CEO of the bank for three months. The 811 account can be opened through the mobile phone using the Aadhaar one time password authentication and a Gopal Baglay appointed MEA Spokesperson income tax pan number, the bank said. It will offer 6% Senior diplomat Gopal Baglay interest per annum. was appointed Spokesperson in Points to Remember the External Affairs Ministry. • Kotak Mahindra Bank is an Indian private sector He is succeeding Vikas bank headquartered in Mumbai. Swarup, who was made • In February 2003, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) India's new High gave the licence to Kotak Mahindra bank. Commissioner to Canada. • 811-Account is launched by Kotak Mahindra A 1992-batch officer of Indian Foreign Service, Baglay Bank. was handling the sensitive PAI (Pakistan-Afghanistan- • Kotak Mahindra Bank has recently acquired ING Iran) division in the ministry till now. Vysya Bank. Deepak Mittal is the new in-charge of the PAI division.

J.S. Deepak is India’s WTO ambassador Telecom Secretary J.S. Deepak has been appointed as country's permanent representative to Nand Kumar Sai assumes charge as Chairman of NCST World Trade Organization Senior tribal leader from Chhattisgarh and ex parliamentarian (WTO). Nand Kuamr Sai assumed charge as the chairman of National Mr. Deepak will take over his Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) today in New new assignment from June 1, 2017 and till then he will be Delhi. Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in the Department of NCST was established by amending Article 338 and Commerce in the Ministry of Commerce and Industries inserting a new Article 338A in the Constitution through with immediate effect. the Constitution (89th Amendment) Act, 2003. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) The term of office of Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson and headed by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi issued the each member is three years from the date of assumption of order. charge.

AIFF appoints Luis Norton De Matos as head coach of Sudeep Lakhtakia to hold additional charge as DG CRPF India U-17 Football team The Ministry of Home Affairs has The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has appointed decided to give additional charge of Portugal's Luis Norton de Matos as the head coach of the India Director General of Central Reserve U-17 World Cup team. Police Force (CRPF) to Sudeep He is appointed for the forthcoming FIFA U-17 World Lakhtakia. Cup India 2017. He is presently serving as The 63-year old Coach thanked AIFF for making him a Additional DG, CRPF. "part of the project. The decision has been taken by

the Ministry after K Durga Prasad (IPS) retired as DG P K Purwar appointed MTNL CMD CRPF. P K Purwar was appointed Chairman and Managing Director

of state-run telecom major Mahanagar Telephone Nigam R Subramania Kumar to hold addl charge of MD & CEO Limited (MTNL). of IOB The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has R Subramania Kumar was today given additional charge of the approved his appointment to the post for five years, an post of Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) official order said. of Indian Overseas Bank for three more months. Kumar is at present Executive Director in the IOB.

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Purwar is currently working as Director (Finance) in • Formation: 1 October 1926 MTNL, which has been without a full-time CMD since • Headquarters: New Delhi May 31, 2014, following superannuation of A K Garg. • Chairman: David R Syiemlieh

Bakri Hassan Saleh sworn in as Sudan’s first PM since Sanjiv Singh appointed Indian Oil Corporation chairman 1989 coup Sanjiv Singh was on Tuesday A former army appointed chairman of the Indian Oil general and top aide Corporation Ltd (IOCL), the to President Omar al- country’s largest commercial Bashir was sworn in enterprise. as Sudan’s first prime The Appointments Committee minister since the of Cabinet approved his post was scrapped in appointment to the post for a a 1989 Islamist-backed coup. period of five years, an order issued by the personnel Bakri Hassan Saleh, a military officer involved in the ministry said. bloodless coup that brought Bashir to power three decades Singh is at present the director of Refineries at the IOCL. ago, was named prime minister by the executive bureau of He will be assuming the charge on or after 1 June, the order the president’s National Congress Party (NCP). said.

Amjad Hussein B Sial appointed SAARC secretary D. Bala Venkatesh Varma concurrently accredited as General Ambassador of India to Andorra Pakistans seasoned diplomat Amjad Hussain B Sial has D. Bala Venkatesh Varma has assumed office as the new Secretary General of the South been concurrently accredited as Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). the next Ambassador of lndia to Sial has assumed charge of the office of Secretary General the Principality of Andorra, with of SAARC from March 1, 2017, according to a press residence in Madrid (Spain). release issued by SAARC Secretariat here. He is expected to take up his He has succeeded Nepals Arjun Bahadur Thapa, who was assignment shortly. appointed the Secretary-General in 2014. He is presently working as the Ambassador of lndia to the The Pakistani turn, which is held by rotation, starts from Kingdom of Spain. March 1, 2017, and continues till February 28, 2020. Andorra • Capital: Andorra la Vella Bishnoi appointed international match referee • Currency: Euro Former India wrestler Kripa Shankar Bishnoi has been • Prime Minister: Antoni Martí appointed an international match referee by United World Wrestling (UWW), the sport's global governing body. Donald Tusk re-elected as European Council president Bishnoi was selected by the Wrestling Federation of India The European Council has re- (WFI) for the annual training course for match referees elected Donald Tusk as its conducted by the UWW. president for a second term of two and a half years, from 1 Senior IAS officer T Jacob Appointed as Secretary UPSC June 2017 to 30 November Senior IAS officer T Jacob was appointed as Secretary, Union 2019. Public Service Commission (UPSC). Donald Tusk was also re- He will hold the rank of an Additional Secretary in the appointed as President of the Euro Summit for the same Government of India. period. Jacob, a 1984 batch Tamil Nadu cadre officer, has been He is the second full-time President of the European serving as Additional Secretary in the Department of Council, following the creation of the post on 1 December Personnel and Training before his appointment in the 2009 under the Treaty of Lisbon. UPSC. UPSC 37 WiFiStudy.com

Shiv Sena’s Vishwanath Mahadeshwar is new Mumbai Puri will succeed Ranjit Rae, whose term came to an end mayor last month. Shiv Sena nominee Vishwanath Pandurang BP Kanungo appointed RBI Deputy Governor Mahadeshwar was BP Kanungo was appointed Deputy Governor in Reserve Bank elected the new mayor of India (RBI) for three years. of Mumbai in an The Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) has election which had approved his appointment to the post with effect from on turned predictable after or after April 3. the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) pulled out of the contest. He has been appointed in place of R Gandhi. Mahadeshwar has been elected as the 76th mayor of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, India’s richest OnePlus ropes in Amitabh Bachchan as its new brand civic body. ambassador The Shiv Sena has been ruling the BMC since 1997 though Chinese smartphone maker in alliance with BJP. OnePlus has roped in Bollywood veteran Amitabh WWC2017: Sachin Tendulkar announced official Bachchan as its new brand ambassador by ICC ambassador for India. Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar has been announced as the For OnePlus, the latest official ambassador of Women's Cricket World Cup 2017 by flagship OnePlus 3T is ICC on the occasion of International Women's Day. rated as the best The World Cup kicks off from June 24 at England and smartphone based on consumer ratings on Amazon India, Wales with eight cricketing nations going head-to-head for said the company. the prestigious trophy. The 21-day tournament having 28 matches will be played Arun Jaitley gets charge of defence ministry after Manohar at five different venues with the final at Lord's. Parrikar resigns Finance minister Arun Jaitley was given the additional charge Narendra Kumar takes over as Chairman Central Water of the defence ministry after Manohar Parrikar resigned to take Commission on the new role of Goa chief minister. Shri Narendra Kumar, an officer of Central Water Engineering A Rashtrapati Bhawan communique said that the Service (1979 batch) has assumed the charge of Chairman, resignation of Parrikar as the defence minister, on advice Central Water Commission (CWC). of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has been accepted with He has served in various capacities in CWC as Assistant immediate effect. Director in Design Organisation, Deputy Director in Project Appraisal Directorate and Director in Dam Safety Biren Singh will be new Chief Minister of Manipur Organisation and Project Monitoring Directorate. Biren Singh of the BJP is all set to be the new Chief Minister He has also served as Senior Joint Commissioner in of Manipur. Command Area Development wing of Ministry of Water He has just been appointed as the leader of the legislature Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation party. from 2002 to 2005. He will meet with the Governor shortly and stake a claim to form the government in Manipur. India appoints Manjeev Singh Puri as next envoy to Nepal The BJP is set to form the next government in Manipur. Manjeev Singh Puri has This is for the first time that the BJP is setting up a been appointed the new government in the North Eastern state of Manipur. Indian envoy to Nepal. Puri, presently the Manohar Parrikar to be sworn in Goa Chief Minister today Ambassador of India to Bharatiya Janata Party leader Manohar Parrikar, who has Belgium, is expected to resigned as Defence Minister, will be sworn in as Chief take up his assignment Minister of Goa at Raj Bhavan on March 15. shortly.

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Mr. Parrikar, along with members of his Cabinet, will be N Biren Singh sworn in as Manipur CM sworn in by Governor Mridula Sinha. Nongthombam Biren Singh took oath as the chief minister of Manipur at the Raj Bhawan in Imphal. HSBC appoints Mark Tucker as new chairman This comes after Governor Najma Haptullah invited the BJP- HSBC has appointed Mark Tucker, the chief executive of led coalition under Singh to form the next government in the Asian insurer AIA, as group chairman. state. Mr Tucker will take over on 1 October, succeeding BJP, with 21 MLAs, claims to have the support of NPP (4), Douglas Flint who has been in the role since 2010. NPF (4), LJP (1), and three others. The appointment breaks an HSBC tradition of appointing BJP is forming the government in Manipur for the first time. insiders to the chairmanship. Arvind Subramanian to get two more years as CEA KPMG appoints Bill Thomas as Global Chairman The Government has decided to extend Chief Economic William B Thomas has been elected Advisor Arvind Subramanian’s tenure by two more years, till Chairman of KPMG International. October 2019. He will lead the KPMG global He was appointed as the CEA in October 2014 for a three-year network of professional services tenure. firms for a four-year term, He was closely involved in drafting the Goods and Services effective October 1, 2017. Tax Act. He will succeed John B Veihmeyer, who is completing his term as Chairman and Trivendra Singh Rawat to be next Uttarakhand CM retiring from the firm at the end of September 2017. BJP leader Trivendra Singh Rawat will be the next Chief Minister of Uttarakhand. Mallikarjun Kharge set to be PAC chairman Trivendra, a MLA from Doiwala, has strong RSS background The Congress leadership has nominated party floor leader in and long experience in ministerial positions. LoK Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge for the post of Chairman of Former minister and Pithoragarh MLA Prakash Pant's name Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament. was also considered for the top post, but the BJP's He will succeed his party colleague K V Thomas who is parliamentary board chose Rawat in the end. completing three terms in the post. Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) leadership wrote to New Chairman of National Commission for Safai the Lok Sabha Speaker, conveying Kharge’s name for the Karamcharis assumed Office PAC chairmanship, a post that traditionally goes to the The newly appointed Chairman of National Commission for main Opposition party. Safai Karamcharis Shri Manhar Valji Bhai Zala along with two A senior leader from Karnataka belonging to the Dalit members Smt. Manju Diler and Shri Dalip Kallu Hathibed community, Kharge is a former Deputy Chief Minister of assumed his office. Karnataka and was union minister for railways and labour. Welcoming the new Chairman and the members, Secretary of the Commission Shri Narain Dass said that the Commission Amarinder Singh takes oath as Punjab CM can now work in a more effective manner as the posts of the Amarinder Singh took oath as Chairman and the members were lying vacant for the past Chief Minister of Punjab on almost one year. March 16, a ceremony attended The Safai Karamcharis all over the country have been eagerly by former Prime Minister waiting for the new Chairman and the members so that they Manmohan Singh and Rahul can take up their grievances with them. Gandhi. Amarinder sworn in as the state's 26th chief minister along with Shanghvi on RBI local board nine cabinet ministers. The Centre has appointed Dilip S Shanghvi as Member on the The ceremony took place at Punjab Raj Bhavan and the oath Western Area Local Board of RBI, for a period of four years was administered by Punjab Governor V P Singh Badnore. with effect from March 11. Punjab can have a maximum of 18 ministers. The Congress has Besides the Central Board of Directors, the RBI has four local 77 MLAs in the assembly. boards for the western, eastern, northern, and southern areas.

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The functions of the local boards include advising the Central Uber president Jeff Jones quits Board on local matters and to represent territorial and Ride services company economic interests of local cooperative and indigenous banks. Uber Technologies Inc has been thrust deeper Papa Rao, Jwala included in governing body of SAI into turmoil with the BV Papa Rao, IAS(retired), departure of company along with Commonwealth president Jeff Jones. badminton doubles gold Jones quit less than medallist Jwala Gutta have seven months after been included as members of joining the San the newly constituted Francisco company. governing body of the Sports He joined Uber from Target Corp, where he was chief Authority of India (SAI). marketing officer and is credited with modernizing the Rao, who is now a sports administrator and advisor to retailer's brand. Telangana Government, has the experience of being an officer on special duty of SAI from 1985 to 90. Government swaps chief executives of IDBI Bank, Indian Sports Authority of India Bank • Founded: 1984 In an unprecedented • Headquarters: New Delhi move, the Centre has • Director General: Injeti Srinivas swapped the Chief Executive Officers BJP's Adityanath sworn in as UP chief minister with 2 (CEOs) of state-owned deputies Indian Bank and IDBI Five-time Parliamentarian, Bank. the BJP's Adityanath, was Mahesh Kumar Jain, who was Managing Director & CEO at sworn in as Uttar Pradesh's Indian Bank, has been appointed as Managing Director & CEO 32nd chief minister along with of IDBI Bank, which is now in some financial trouble and faced 49 ministers. with several legacy issues. The two deputy minister- Kishore Piraji Kharat, who was appointed as IDBI Bank CEO designates Keshav Prasad in August 2015, has now been appointed as Managing Director Maurya and Dinesh Sharma were among those sworn in by UP and CEO of Indian Bank. governor Ram Naik. Of the 40-plus ministers, 22 were of cabinet rank. Nieva to be India’s new boxing coach Also among the ministers were six women and cricketer- Santiago Nieva will be India’s new foreign coach for men turned-BJP politician Mohsin Raza, the sole Muslim. boxers, succeeding Cuban BI Fernandes. The swearing-in ceremony took place at Lucknow's Smriti Nieva, an AIBA three-star coach, was attached with the Upwan Park. Swedish men’s team until last year. He quit the position after the Rio Olympics. Shahid Afridi appointed ambassador of Blind Cricket The Sweden-based coach, who represented Argentina during World Cup his competitive days, is being brought on board till the World Former Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi has been appointed Championships (August 25 to September 3 in Hamburg). as the ambassador for the fifth edition of the Blind Cricket World Cup. Snapdeal appoints Jason Kothari as CEO of FreeCharge The announcement was made by the Pakistan Blind Cricket E-commerce firm Snapdeal has Council (PBCC) appointed Jason Kothari as the Chief The PBCC statement also stated that the fifth edition of the Executive Officer of FreeCharge. tournament, to be played in ODI format, will be hosted by In addition to his role of CEO, Kothari PBCC in the United Arab Emirates and Pakistan in January will also play the role of Chief Strategy 2018. & Investment Officer at Snapdeal. He will also join the board of Directors of FreeCharge.

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Kumar Mangalam Birla to be Chairman of Vodafone-Idea Madhabi Puri Buch appointed as Sebi Whole-Time merged entity Member British telecom major Madhabi Puri Buch was appointed as a Whole-Time Member Vodafone and Aditya Birla of capital markets regulator Security and Exchange Board. group-run Idea Cellular has She is founder-director of Agora Advisory Pvt Ltd and announced the merger of currently at the New Development Bank in Shanghai, China. their operations, creating the largest mobile operator RBI approved appointment of T S Anantharaman as part- by customer and revenue time chairman of CSB market share. The Reserve Bank of India has accorded its approval for the The merged entity, which will come into force over the next appointment of T S Anantharaman as part-time Chairman of two years, will be headed by Kumar Mangalam Birla as the Catholic Syrian bank. Chairman. Anantharaman has been holding the position of Non- Executive Director of the bank since August 28, 2009. ICC names Ankur Khanna as new Chief Financial Officer The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced the BSF gets first woman combat officer after 51 years appointment of Ankur Khanna to the post of Chief Financial Tanushree Pareek Officer (CFO). has become the first Khanna, who was the CFO of Air Asia India for the last one woman combat year, will join the ICC at the end of March, according to ICC's officer to be official statement. commissioned in the 51-year history of Upendra Tripathy Appointed as Full Time Interim the BSF, the country’s largest border guarding force. Director General of ISA She will now be posted to command a unit along the India- Shri Piyush Goyal, Union Minister for Power, Coal, New and Pakistan border in Punjab. Renewable Energy and Mines, Government of India and Ms. A resident of Rajasthan’s Bikaner, she is the first woman Ségolène Royal, Minister for Environment, Energy and Marine to join the force in the officer rank after she was selected Affairs Government of France jointly decided to appoint Mr. in the all-India exam conducted by the Union Public Upendra Tripathy, as the Interim Director General (IDG) of the Service Commission (UPSC) in 2014. International Solar Alliance (ISA) on a full time basis. Mr. Upendra Tripathy was the Former Secretary, Ministry of Sima Kamil becomes first woman to head a major New and Renewable Energy from 1st April, 2014 until 31st Pakistani bank October 2016. Sima Kamil was named the first woman to head a major Mr. Tripathy is an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer commercial bank in Pakistan. of Karnataka Cadre. Sima, currently a deputy CEO at the country’s third- largest lender United Bank Limited (UBL), will take Gatorade ropes in Sindhu as brand ambassador charge on 1 June. Shuttler PV Sindhu will be the UBL, headquartered in the financial hub Karachi, employs brand ambassador for Gatorade, 15,000 people and has branches in 15 other countries, PepsiCo’s sports-based drink. including the US, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The partnership is a reiteration of PepsiCo India’s commitment to Anil Ambani inducted into the Atlantic Council popularise the benefits of its Reliance Group Chairman Anil healthier food and beverage Ambani has been inducted into offerings among consumers. the international advisory The company said Gatorade India will unveil the all new Sweat board of global think-tank The More campaign featuring Sindhu in a digital film that will Atlantic Council. capture the brand’s close partnership with the sports icon. Other global business leaders include Thomas Enders,CEO, Airbus Group, Rupert Murdoch,CEO, 21 Century Fox, Stephen A.

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Schwarzman, CEO of the Blackstone Group, and Marillyn Sunaina Singh Appointed Vice Chancellor of Nalanda A. Hewson, Chairman, Lockheed Martin Corporation. University The Atlantic Council is a foreign policy think tank head President Pranab Mukherjee has appointed Sunaina Singh, quartered in Washington, DC. currently head of the English and Foreign Languages It aims to shape policy choices and strategies and provide University (EFLU) in Hyderabad, as the new vice chancellor a forum for navigating the economic and political changes. of Nalanda University. Points to Remember As per rules, the president has to choose the vice- • Atlantic Council was founded in 1961. chancellor from a group of at least three names forwarded • Its Headquarters in Washington DC. by the university’s governing board. • Jon Huntsman is the current Chairperson while Earlier on January 27, President Mukherjee appointed Frederick Kempe is the President and CEO. computer scientist and former IIT Delhi board chairman, Vijay P Bhatkar as the university’s chancellor. U.N. picks former U.S. state governor to run World Food Points to Remember Programme • Nalanda University (also known as Nalanda United Nations chief Antonio International University) is located in Rajgir, Guterres has appointed former near Nalanda, Bihar. South Carolina Governor David • Vijay P Bhatkar is the Chancellor of Nalanda Beasley to run the Rome-based University. World Food Programme (WFP). Beasley will replace another Vanaja N Sarna appointed Central Board of Excise and American, Ertharin Cousin, Customs chief who has been the WFP Senior bureaucrat Vanaja N Sarna was appointed as executive director since chairperson of Central Board of Excise and Customs 2012. (CBEC). America was the top contributor to WFP in 2016 with $2 Sarna, a 1980 batch officer of Indian Revenue Service billion, a third of the agency's budget. (Customs and Central Excise), is at present member in the Points to Remember CBEC, an apex policy making body for indirect taxes. • World Food Programme (WFP) is the food- She will take over charge from incumbent Najib Shah. assistance branch of the United Nations and the Points to Remember world's largest humanitarian organization • CBEC will be rechristened as Central Board of addressing hunger and promoting food security. Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) after • WFP was founded in 1961. necessary legislative approval in the GST • Headquarters of WFP is in Rome, Italy. regime. • Antonio Guterres is the 9th Secretary-General of • The CBEC - which works under Finance the United Nations. Ministry - comprises of a chairperson and a • He is from portugal and has also served as the maximum of six members. 114th Prime Minister of Portugal.

Nomura names Prabhat Awasthi as new India Head Global investment bank Nomura has appointed Prabhat Awasthi as 71. Rangaswamy First Woman to Be Honored BCCI its new India head. Lifetime Achievement Award Awasthi, who is currently The Indian cricket board i.e. Head of Equities, India, will BCCI has nominated Shanta replace Vikas Sharma as the Rangaswamy for lifetime country head from April 1. achievement award for her Vikas Sharma has been elevated to Head of Asia Ex-Japan contribution to the women's from April 1. cricket.

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She will be the first women to get this award. "Lipstick Under My Burkha" Wins Award at Glasgow The award will be presented at the BCCI Annual Awards Film Fest in Bengaluru on March 8. Indian filmmaker Alankrita Shrivastava's Lipstick Under My Rangaswamy ended up playing 12 Tests and 19 ODIs. Burkha, which has been denied a certificate by the country's movie censor board, has bagged the Audience Award at the Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI) awards 2015-16 Glasgow Film Festival 2017. Col. C.K. Nayudu Lifetime Scottish actor David Tennant presented Shrivastava with Achievement award: the award, which was voted for by the festival's audience. Rajinder Goel and Padmakar The Prakash Jha production, starring Konkona Sen Shivalkar Sharma and Ratna Pathak Shah, chronicles the secret lives • BCCI Lifetime of four women of different ages in a small town in India as Achievement award they search for different kinds of freedom. for women: Shantha Rangaswamy JNU bags 'Visitor's Award' for best university • BCCI Special awards: V.V. Kumar and the late Jawaharlal Nehru Ramakant Desai University has won the • Polly Umrigar award: Virat Kohli annual Visitor’s Award for • Dilip Sardesai award (India’s best cricketer in the West the ‘Best University’, Indies series, 2016): R. Ashwin 2017. • Lala Amarnath award (best all-rounder in the Ranji Dr. Deepak Pant from Trophy): Jalaj Saxena (Madhya Pradesh) Central University of • Lala Amarnath award (best all-rounder in domestic Himachal Pradesh limited-over competition): Axar Patel (Gujarat) won the Visitor’s Award for ‘Innovation’. • Madhavrao Scindia award (highest scorer in the Ranji Trophy): Shreyas Iyer (Mumbai) The Visitor’s Award for ‘Research’ has been jointly won by Dr. Shyam Sunder from Banaras Hindu University and • Madhavrao Scindia award (highest wicket-taker): Prof. Niranjan Karak from Tezpur University. The Shahbaz Nadeem (Jharkhand) winners of Visitor's Award for • M.A. Chidambaram Trophy (highest scorer in the u-23 The awards will be presented during a function as part of Col. C.K. Nayudu Trophy): Jay Bista (Mumbai) the 'Festival of Innovations'," the statement said. • M.A. Chidambaram Trophy (highest wicket-taker in the

u -23 Col. C.K. Nayudu Trophy): Satyajeet Bachhav DMRC enters Limca Book of Records (Maharashtra) The Delhi Metro Rail • N.K.P. Salve award (highest scorer in the u-19 Cooch Corporation (DMRC) has Behar Trophy): Armaan Jaffer (Mumbai) entered the Limca Book of • N.K.P. Salve award (highest wicket-taker in the u-19 World Records for erecting Cooch Behar Trophy): Ninad Rathva (Baroda) 200 U-shaped girders in a • Raj Singh Dungarpur award (highest scorer in the u-16 month. Vijay Merchant Trophy): Abhishek Sharma (Punjab) DMRC successfully executed the task of erecting 200 U- • Raj Singh Dungarpur award (highest wicket-taker in the shaped girders on the Noida – Greater Noida corridor in u-16 Vijay Merchant Trophy): Abhishek Sharma May 2016. (Punjab) This is the maximum number of U-shaped girders ever • Jagmohan Dalmiya award [(best woman cricketer launched on any metro corridor in India within a month. (senior)]: Mithali Raj (Railways) Girders bear the load of the metro tracks and help speed • Jagmohan Dalmiya award [(best woman cricketer up construction work. DMRC chief Mangu Singh said the (junior)]: Deepti Sharma (Uttar Pradesh) feat had significantly expedited the progress of • Best umpire in domestic cricket: Nitin Menon construction on the corridor. • Best performance in BCCI domestic tournaments: The 30-km-long corridor will be completely elevated and Mumbai Cricket Association will have 21 stations.

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Barack Obama named as winner of ‘Profile in lowest data rates across rural areas by deploying world’s Courage’ award largest greenfield LTE network in the country. Former US President Barack It should be noted that Jio expanded its subscriber base to Obama has been named as a record 100 million within 170 days of its launch last year. the winner of the 2017 John F. Kennedy ‘Profile in M P Veerendra Kumar presented Moortidevi award Courage’ award. Eminent Malayalam author and journalist M P Veerendra The John F. Kennedy Kumar was presented the 30th Moortidevi award by Bharatiya Library Foundation has Jnanpith organisation here. honoured Obama “for his enduring commitment to Kumar was chosen for the prestigious award for his democratic ideals and elevating the standard of political Malayalam travelogue Hymavathabhoovil, which dwells courage in a new century.” upon ancient trails of Indian culture, myth, literature and The daughter of late Kennedy, Caroline Kennedy, and her people strewn in the plains, valleys and mountains of son Jack Schlossberg, will present Obama with the award India. on May 7 in Boston. The award was presented by Jnanpith laureate M T Vasudevan Nair at a function at the Tagore Centenary Hall INHS ASVINI Mumbai Adjudged best service Hospital in in Kozhikode. the AFMS The book also highlights environmental concerns over The Defence Minister Shri Manohar Parrikar presented the “fragile mountain ecosystem” and calls for action over Raksha Mantri’s Trophy and Citation for the best Service lack of water resources and waste disposal systems. Hospital in the Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS) for Kumar has earlier won the Sahitya Akademi award for the the year 2016 to INHS Asvini, Mumbai. same book. Commandant of INHS Asvini Mumbai, Surgeon Rear Admiral Ravi Kalra received the awards from the Minister Hyderabad, Delhi airports ranked high in service quality on behalf of the Hospital. Delhi International Airport (P) Ltd and Hyderabad International Airport Ltd, both managed by GMR-led Rihanna awarded with Humanitarian Of The Year Award consortium, have secured top rankings in airport service quality Harvard University honored by the Airports Council International. Rihanna's social work and selected While Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport has her as their Humanitarian of the Year. become world’s number 2 airport in the over 40 million Rihanna received Award in passengers per annum (mppa) category, Hyderabad airport recognition for her work to was ranked number 1 in the 5-15 mppa category in the improve cancer treatment in her Airports Council International 2016 rankings. home country of Barbados and DIAL’s score increased from 4.96 in 2015 to 4.99 in 2016 for setting up a college that helped IGIA scale over several other airports and scholarship to bring Caribbean students to study in the attained the second position globally, after Incheon, South United States. Korea.

Jio-Samsung Win 'Best Mobile Innovation for Emerging Aishwarya Rai Bachchan wins best actress award at Markets' Award IFFAA Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, who played the character of Sarabjit and Samsung Electronics Singh’s sister Dalbir Kaur in the film Sarabjit, has won the Best Co Ltd have won the 'Best Actress award at the International Film Festival and Awards of Mobile Innovation for Australia (IFFAA). Emerging Markets' from Sarbjit The Film, directed by Omung Kumar, was the Global Mobile Awards biopic on Sarabjit Singh, an Indian farmer who was 2017 at ongoing Mobile World Congress 2017 (MWC) in convicted of terrorism and spying in Pakistan and was Barcelona. sentenced to death. Samsung and Jio have focused on reaching the power of He was attacked by inmates at a prison in Lahore in April communication and information with free voice and the 2013 and died a few days later.

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The film showcased his journey inside the jail, and his Zee Cine Awards 2017 winners sister’s unending fight to free him. • Best Film: Pink • Best Actor Female: Viola Davis named Harvard Foundation 'Artist of the Alia Bhatt – Udta Year' Punjab Actress, award-winner and • Best Actor Male: New England native Viola Amitabh Bachchan – Davis has been named the Pink 2017 Harvard • Best Debutante Foundation Artist of the Year. Female: Ritika Singh – Saala Khadoos The "How to Get Away • Best Debutante Male: Jim Sarbh – Neerja with Murder" and "Fences" star was honored at the • Best Director: Ram Madhvani – Neerja foundation's annual award ceremony during Harvard's • Best Supporting Actor Female: Shabana Azmi – Neerja Cultural Rhythms Festival. • Best Supporting Male: Rishi Kapoor – Kapoor and Sons Other recipients of this award include Denzel Washington, • Best Actor in a Negative Role: Jim Sarbh – Neerja Lucy Liu, Matt Damon, Jackie Chan, Will Smith, Halle • Best Actor in a Comic Role: Rishi Kapoor – Kapoor and Barry, Queen Latifah, LL Cool J and Quincy Jones. Sons

• Viewer’s Choice Best Film: Dangal Konkani author Mahabaleshwar Sail gets Saraswati Samman • Viewer’s Choice Best Actor: Salman Khan (Sultan) Eminent Konkani writer Mahabaleshwar Sail has been • Viewer’s Choice Best Actor Female: Anushka Sharma honoured with the 26th Saraswati Samman 2016 for his novel (Sultan) 'Hawthan'. The selection for the award, is made by a jury presided by Thai model wins transgender beauty pageant former chief justice A S Anand. Thailand's own Jiratchaya Sirimongkolnawin was declared The award carries a cash prize of 15 lakh and a citation. winner at the Miss International Queen event in Pattya City. Goa-based Sail is a renowned bi-lingual writer who has The contest was originally scheduled for November but four Marathi dramas and seven Konkani novels to his was postponed following the death of Thailand's king. credit. Miss International Queen began in 2004 and has been held annually in Pattya City since then. IIT-M solar inverter system wins award Indian Institute of Technology-Madras has won the 2017 IEEE Indian-American teenager wins top science prize Spectrum Technology in the Service of Society Award for its Indian-American teenager, Indrani Das, won the top, $250,000 solar-direct current (DC) inverter system. prize in the prestigious Regeneron Science Talent Search The system, developed using micro grid technology, competition for her research on treating brain injuries and converts in-home power distribution from 230V Analog diseases. Current to 48V DC to directly power appliances and Another Indian-American, Arjun Ramani, took the third place, devices. which carries a prize of $150,000, for his project on networks The system is also equipped to tap rooftop solar power. using mathematical field of graph theory and computer programming. Bhagwat conferred honorary degree of Doctor of Science It is the oldest US science competition for students and is now RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat was conferred honorary degree of sponsored by the medical company, Regeneron, in association Doctor of Science (DSc) by the city- with the Society for Science and the Public (SSP). based Maharashtra Animal and Fishery Sciences University. Maharashtra Governor Vidyasagar Rao awarded the Changi Airport is named World’s Best Airport for the degree to Bhagwat, a veterinary doctor by training, at the fifth consecutive year convocation of the varsity. Changi Airport Singapore was voted by international air He was conferred the degree for his contribution in the travellers as the World’s Best Airport for the fifth consecutive field of veterinary sciencesand social work. year at the 2017 World Airport Awards.

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The top 5 rankings for the World’s Best Airport Award in 2017 ABB India has restored and modernized the critical 1,035 MW were: Sharavathi hydropower plant in Karnataka, which • Changi Airport Singapore approximately accounts for 25 percent of the state utility • Tokyo International Airport (Haneda) Karnataka Power Corporation's power generation. • Incheon International Airport • Munich Airport Ravish Kumar wins the inaugural Kuldip Nayar • Hong Kong International Airport Journalism Award The first Kuldip Nayar Journalism Award was given to NDTV’s Ravish Kumar. 11 Indian women win ‘Women Icons’ award The award ceremony was held in New Delhi’s India in Singapore International Centre on 19 March 2017. Eleven Indian women are among the 25 Asian ladies who have Kuldip Nayar and the Gandhi Peace Foundation have won the ‘Women Icons’ award in Singapore for dedicating jointly instituted the award. their lives to social work. The award carries a cash component of Rs 1 lakh. Women empowerment and childcare remains on the minds of these women, who came from a number of fields for the award Venkaiah Naidu confers lifetime achievement award on organised by Business Excellence & Research Group Pte Ltd photographer Raghu Rai and supported by Nanyang Technological University of Photojournalist Raghu Rai was conferred with a Lifetime Singapore. Achievement Award by the information and broadcasting (I&B) ministry for “his remarkable contribution to the field.” Canadian wins $1m Global Teacher Prize for work Rai was honoured with the award by I&B minister M. with Inuit students Venkaiah Naidu at 6th National Photography Awards Maggie MacDonnell, A Canadian who teaches at a school in a organised by the photo division of the ministry in the fly-in-only village in the Arctic has won a $1m (£800,000) capital. Global Teacher Prize at a ceremony in Dubai. The ministry felicitated a total 13 photographers. Among MacDonnell was among 10 finalists chosen from 20,000 the winners were K.K. Mustafah, Atul Choubey, Dipayan nominations and applications from 179 countries. Bhar and Ravinder Kumar.

Yves Meyer wins Abel Prize 2017 for work on HDFC Bank's Aditya Puri Among 3 Indians On World's 30 wavelets Best CEOs List French mathematician American financial magazine Yves Meyer was Barron’s has listed the name awarded the 2017 Abel of HDFC Bank managing Prize for his work on director Aditya Puri’s name wavelets. in its list of world’s 30 best It is a mathematical CEOs. theory with applications The 66-year-old holds 23rd position in the list beating in data compression, medical imaging and the detection of social media giant Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg gravitational waves. who is listed on the 30th spot. Meyer, 77, will receive 6 million Norwegian krone (about The top position has been secured by Mary Barra of £600,000) for the prize, which recognises outstanding General Motors. contributions to mathematics and is awarded by the Norwegian Microsoft’s Indian Origin CEO Satya Nadella is on fifth Academy of Science and Letters. spot. Another Indian Origin

ABB India wins Smart Technology of the Year 2016 Anupam Kher receives ABB India has been awarded with Smart Technology of the Kala Ratan Award Year 2016 for its efforts at restoration of 1,035 MW Sharavathi Veteran actor Anupam hydropower plant in Karnataka Kher was honoured with the Kala Ratan Award by Vice President Hamid Ansari.

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Anupam Kher was also honoured with the Padma Shri Champion, has been awarded India's highest honour for in 2004 and the Padma Bhushan in 2016 for his members of the Indian diaspora. contribution in the field of cinema and arts. The Pravasi Bharatiya Samman award was granted to Patel by the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee, for her Filmmaker Gurinder Chadha Honored with Sikh Jewel exceptional contribution to national and international Award politics, her role in strengthening UK-India relations, and Indian-origin British for supporting the Indian diaspora in the UK. director Gurinder Chadha The award was presented to Patel by the Indian High has been honored with the Commissioner to the UK, Mr Y K Sinha, at a special 2017 Sikh Jewel Award ceremony at India House in London. for her immense contribution to British ISKCON's Govardhan Eco Village gets 'Water' award cinema. The Govardhan Eco Village of International Society for Chadha, whose films include “Bhaji on the Beach,” “Bend Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) at Wada taluka near It Like Beckham” and “Bride and Prejudice,” received the Mumbai, has received an award instituted by Water Digest, a award from Michael Fallon, U.K. Defense Secretary. news portal on water management. The high commissioner of India to the U.K., Y. K. Sinha, The Goverdhan eco village received the award in the "Best who was the guest of honor, was also present on the dais. Water NGO-Water Education" category. Points to Remember To commemorate the 'World Water Day 2017', Water • Gurinder Chadha is an Indian-origin British Digest, in association with UNESCO, Ministry of Water director. Resources & ASSOCHAM, had recently announced the • Yashvardhan Kumar Sinha is the high 11th Water Digest Water Awards which are given commissioner of India to the United Kingdom. annually to organisations, industry members and NGOs.

Army Chief Bipin Rawat Conferred With Honorary S.V Sunil named Asian Hockey Player of Year Military Rank By Nepal India forward SV Sunil was named the Asian Hockey Indian Army chief General Bipin Rawat is in Kathmandu on a Federation (AHF) Player of the Year for 2016. four-day official visit to Nepal during which he was conferred On the other hand, Harmanpreet Singh was chosen as the with the honorary rank of general of the Nepal Army. Promising Player of the Year in the continental body’s He is scheduled to visit Pashupati Nath temple, Manag and annual awards. Muktinath temple. Sunil, regarded highly for his pace, played a vital role in General Rawat's trip to Nepal comes days after Chinese India’s memorable run in last year’s Champions Trophy in Defence Minister Chang Wanquan visited the country. London, where they claimed a silver for the first time. Points to Remember • Chief of Staff of Nepal Army is Purna Chandra Thapa. • General Rawat became the 27th chief of the Indian Army on December 31. India to host women's Youth World Boxing Championship India will host the • Kathmandu is the Capital of Nepal. World Women's Youth • Bidhya Devi Bhandari is the President of Nepal. Boxing Championship • Pushpa Kamal Dahal is the Prime Minister of in November this year, Nepal. the first major • Rupee is the Currency of Nepal. international event to

be held in the country Indian-origin Priti Patel be awarded Pravasi Bharatiya since 2010. Samman award In 2010, India had hosted the Commonwealth Priti Patel, the UK Government's Secretary of State for Championships followed by the Commonwealth Games. International Development and first ever UK-India diaspora

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The country has not hosted a major boxing event since Mexican Open: Sam Querrey shocks Rafael Nadal to win then, primarily because of the administrative turmoil that title gripped the sport in 2012. American Sam Querrey claimed the biggest title of Jitu Rai wins gold at ISSF World Cup in 50m free pistol his career after defeating Shooters Jitu Rai and Rafael Nadal in straight Amanpreet Singh has won sets in the final of the gold and silver Mexican Open. respectively in men’s 50m The world number 40 won 6-3 7-6 (7-3) against the second free pistol at the ISSF seed, who was chasing his 70th career title. Shooting World Cup. Jitu’s winning score Santosh Trophy started in Goa of 230.1 was a world record, while Amanpreet shot 226.9 Goa will face Meghalaya in the opener of a Group A league to win silver. match of the 71st Santosh Trophy at the SAG Athletics The bronze went to Vahid Golkhandan of Iran, who shot Stadium in Goa. 208.8. Santosh Trophy is a major Football tournament in India. The Santosh Trophy has returned to Goa after 21 years Dwayne Smith announces retirement from international cricket All England Badminton Championship West Indies batsman Dwayne Smith has announced his Here is the list of the winners of All England Badminton retirement from all international cricket. Championship 2017: His last West Indies appearance came at the 2015 World Men’s Single: Malaysia’s Lee Chong Wei Cup. Women’s Single: China’s Tai Tzu-ying Smith made his international debut on West Indies' tour of Men’s Double: Indonesia’s Marcus Gideon and Kevin South Africa 2003-04. Sukamuljo Smith played only nine more Tests, scoring a total of 320 Women’s Double: South Korea’s Chang Ye Na and Lee runs in the format So Hee He played 105 ODIs scoring 1560 runs. He also took 61 Mixed Double: China’s Lu Kai and Huang Yaqiong wickets in ODIs. In 33 T20 internationals, he scored 582 runs. Commonwealth Games: Durban, South Africa will not host Games in 2022 Australian cricketer Sarah Coyte announces retirement The 2022 Commonwealth Games will no longer be held in Australian women cricketer Sarah Coyte, who was also a part Durban, South Africa. of Australia's 2014 World T20-winning squad, has announced David Grevemberg, chief executive of the Commonwealth her retirement from all forms of the game. Games Federation, said the city did not meet the criteria Coyte's decision arrives a year after she stepped down set by his organisation, and the search for a new host city from international duty with the Southern Stars to combat had already begun. mental health issues. Durban was awarded the Games in September 2015 and Coyte earned herself a national call-up in December 2010 was due to be the first African city to host the event, which against New Zealand, and went on to play 47 T20 matches, was first held in 1930. four Tests and 30 One-Day Internationals for Australia. SSP Chawrasia defends Indian Open title Andy Murray beats Fernando Verdasco to win first Dubai SSP Chawrasia clinched his Championships title fourth European Tour title when Britain's Andy Murray saw off Spaniard Fernando Verdasco in he won the Indian Open for the straight sets to win the Dubai Championships for the first time. second successive year with a The world number one dropped his first two service games seven-shot victory over but recovered to win 6-3 6-2 in one hour and 14 minutes. Malaysia's Gavin Green. It is Murray's first tournament win of 2017 and the 45th of Chawrasia has become the first Indian to defend a his career. European Tour title.

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Shashank Manohar resigns as ICC chairman 2017 Vijay Hazare Trophy: Tamil Nadu crowned Former BCCI chief champions Shashank Manohar has Tamil Nadu regained the Vijay Hazare trophy after beating resigned from his post as Bengal by 37 runs in the final of the 2017 edition. ICC chairman because of With this win, they become the only team to win the personal reasons after only tournament five times (one of them was shared with Uttar eight months in office. Pradesh in 2004-05). Manohar was elected Tamil Nadu put managed to score 217 in spite of an early unopposed as the ICC's first independent chairman - one not batting collapse. Dinesh Karthik, who was the leading run- affiliated to any of its member boards - in May 2016 for a two- scorer of the tournament, scored a match-winning 118. year term. Bengal were dismissed for 180. International Cricket Council • Aim: The ICC is responsible for the organisation and ICC Test Rankings: Ravindra Jadeja No.1 bowler governance of cricket's major international Ravindra Jadeja tournaments. gained seven • Headquarters: Dubai, UAE points to become • Founded: 15 June 1909 the sole world • President: Zaheer Abbas (Pakistan) number one • CEO: Dave Richardson (South Africa) bowler in the • Members: 105 ICC's Test rankings. • Motto: Great Sport, Great Spirit He held the top spot jointly with Ravichandran Ashwin, who

lost 37 points after a dismal performance in India's drawn Test Cheteshwar Pujara becomes first Indian to face 500 balls against Australia in Ranchi. in Test innings India's middle-order batsman Cheteshwar Pujara stormed his Meanwhile, top-ranked Steve Smith has reached a career-high rating of 941 points after scores of 178 not out and 21. way into record books after playing a marathon innings against Australia on fourth day of the third Test match in Ranchi. Pujara became the first Indian batsman to face 500 balls in a ISSF World Cup: Ankur Mittal wins double trap gold in Test innings by surpassing Rahul Dravid's previous best of 495 Mexico balls. Ankur Mittal has delivered India's nine-member contingent its first Pujara scored 202 runs in his 525 balls long innings. medal at the International Shooting

Sport Federation World Cup (Shot Roger Federer, Elena Vesnina lift singles titles at Indian Gun) in Acapulco, Mexico by Wells Swiss Roger Federer and Russian Elena Vesnina have clinched shooting gold in the men's double trap. singles titles at Indian Wells tournament. Mittal, who won silver at last month's ISSF World Cup in Federer, 35, became the oldest player to win here, beating Stan New Delhi, beat the gold medalist at that event, Australian Wawrinka, 6-4, 7-5, in the all-Swiss men’s singles final. James Willet. In women’s final, Elena Vesnina defeated Compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-7 (6), 7-5, 6-4 to win the biggest title of her singles career. Shashank Manohar to remain ICC chairman Eight days after he stepped down as independent chairman of

the International Cricket Council (ICC), Shashank Manohar Vidya Pillai wins silver in Women World Snooker has agreed to defer his decision following an ICC Board India's Vidya Pillai produced a spirited performance before settling for silver in the World Women Snooker Championship resolution to request him to remain in post was passed with overwhelming support. in Singapore. Earlier, the 59-year-old had stressed that his decision to Hong Kong's former World Champion, Ng On Yee, won the retire as ICC chairman was because of personal reasons gold medal. and not due to the aftermath of the Supreme Court's

January verdict on how Indian cricket should be run.

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Santosh Trophy: Bengal beat Goa in final to win record Tait, who was nicknamed as "The Wild Thing", once 32nd title bowled at 161.1km/h in an ODI against England at Lord's Bengal lifted the in July 2010. Santosh Trophy for the 32nd time 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup: Kolkata’s Salt Lake Stadium after Manvir named as venue for final Singh struck in The iconic Salt Lake the 119th minute Stadium in Kolkata for a 1-0 win has been named as the over Goa, venue for the final of extending their domination in the premier domestic football the 2017 FIFA U-17 tournament. World Cup, which After playing out a goalless 90 minutes, Manvir finally will be held in India came good in the dying moments of extra time to leave from October 6-28. the home crowd shocked at the GMC Stadium. The semi-finals of the tournament will be held in Bengal, thus, ended a six-year wait having last won the Guwahati and Navi Mumbai, while the opening games title in 2011. Goa last won it in 2009. will be held in New Delhi and Navi Mumbai. The quarter-finals, meanwhile, will be hosted by Goa, R Ashwin breaks Dale Steyn’s record of most wickets in a Guwahati, Kochi and Kolkata. Test season R Ashwin has set yet another record of most wickets in a Test India ends with 73 medals from 2017 Special Olympics season. World Winter Games Ashwin eclipsed Dale Steyn’s tally of 78 which was set India finished its campaign at the Special Olympics World in 2007/08. Winter Games in Austria with a total of 73 medals. On the other hand, Cheteshwar Pujara became India's Special Olympics Team India Competing against 2700 highest run-getter in a Test season. Pujara, who has athletes from 107 countries won 37 gold, 10 silver and 26 scored 1316 runs in the 13 Test matches this home bronze medals and secured 5th position in the overall season, went past Gautam Gambhir's aggregate of 1269 medal tally. runs. The quadrennial event was held from March 14-25, with Indian athletes finishing with an impressive medal haul. Vettel beats Hamilton to win Australian Grand Prix Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel beat Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes in a Bhubaneswar to host men's Hockey World Cup 2018 straight fight as Formula 1's new era started at the Australian The International Hockey Federation and Government of Grand Prix. Odisha has officially confirmed that the Men's Hockey World This was Vettel's first win since the Singapore GP in League Final 2017 and Men's Hockey World Cup 2018 will be September 2015. held in Bhubaneswar. Briton’s Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas finished third. The Kalinga Stadium will host the two of hockey's biggest events. Shaun Tait announces retirement from all forms of cricket The Men's Hockey World League Final in 2017 will take Shaun Tait, the place between December 1-10 and will welcome eight of Australian fast the world's best men's teams. bowler, announced The Men's Hockey World Cup 2018 will take place in late his retirement from all November/early December and will see 15 teams join forms of cricket on hosts India at the event. March 27. The venue successfully hosted the 2014 Men's Hockey The 34-year-old Champions Trophy. pacer played three Tests, 35 One-Day Internationals and Points to Remember 21 Twenty20 Internationals for his country. • Men's Hockey World Cup 2018 will be held in Bhubaneswar.

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• Men's Hockey World League Final 2017 will be held and Bhubaneswar was then chosen by the Athletics in Bhubaneswar. Federation of India as the venue. • Kalinga Stadium is located in Bhubaneswar. India has hosted the event earlier on two occasions -- in New Delhi (1989) and Pune (2013). Tamil Nadu beat India 'B' to win Deodhar Trophy Points to Remember Dinesh Karthik • Bhubaneswar is the Capital of Odisha. cracked 126 as Tamil • Kalinga Stadium is located in Bhubaneswar. Nadu defeated India • Naveen Patnaik is the chief minister of Odisha B by 42 runs in the while SC Jamir is the Governor. final to clinch the Deodhar Trophy 50- overs cricket tournament at the ACA-VDCA stadium in Visakhapatnam. The wicketkeeper-batsman shared a 136-run stand with Writer Taarak Mehta passes away Narayan Jagadeesan (55) for the fourth wicket which Popular Gujarati drove Tamil Nadu to 303/9 in 50 overs. humourist Taarak India B were bowled out for 261 in 46.1 overs as Tamil Mehta passed away Nadu completed a domestic double of winning the after prolonged Deodhar Trophy as well as the Vijay Hazare Trophy. illness. He was 88. Points to Remember Mehta's famous • The Deodhar Trophy is a List A cricket competition works include in Indian domestic cricket. It is named after Prof. D. "Duniya Ne B. Deodhar (known as the Grand Old Man of Indian Undha Chasma", which inspired the hit Hindi sitcom cricket). Tamilnadu is the winner of 2017 edition. "Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah" on SAB TV. • The Vijay Hazare Trophy is a limited-over cricket He has also written six popular Gujarati plays. domestic competition involving state teams. It is Born in Ahmedabad on December 26, 1929, Mehta was named after the famous Indian cricketer Vijay Hazare. honoured with Padma Shri in 2015 Tamilnadu is the winner of 2017 edition. Raymond Kopa, French Football Legend Passes Away Mohammad Irfan banned for a year Former France soccer great Raymond Kopa has died at the age Pakistan pacer Mohammad Irfan was today slapped with a one- of 85. year ban and fined $ 1,000 after he admitted to have failed in He was one of four French players, with Michel Platini, reporting a spot-fixing approach by bookmakers during the Zinedine Zidane and Jean-Pierre Papin, to have won the Pakistan Super League. Ballon d'Or, football's top individual award. Irfan had earlier been suspended on March 14 after he Kopa, who was born in northern France in a family of appeared before the PCB’s Anti-Corruption Unit after the Polish immigrants, won three consecutive European Cups PSL final in Lahore. with Real Madrid from 1957. He played four Tests and 20 Twenty20 internationals along with 60 one-day internationals, where he has taken Former Member Of Parliament Syed Shahabuddin Dead 83 wickets at an average of 30.71. At 82 Former Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer and MP Syed Bhubaneswar to host Asian Athletics meet from July 6-9 Shahabuddin, who was suffering from prolonged illness, died Bhubaneswar will host the Asian Athletics Championships at a hospital in Noida. He was 82. from July 6-9, the continent's governing body of the sport Born in 1935 in Ranchi, now in Jharkhand, he joined the announced at its Council Meeting in Bangkok. IFS in 1958 but took premature retirement in the 1978 to Kalinga Stadium of the Odisha capital will host the delve into politics. continent's flagship event. Mr Shahabuddin was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1979 Capital of Jharkhand, Ranchi was to host the event from from Kishanganj in Bihar,a constituency that sent him to June 1-4 but it made a late pull out due to financial issues Lok Sabha multiple times.

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Rabi Ray, former Lok Sabha Speaker, passes away Chemistry Nobel winner George Olah dies at 89 Eminent socialist leader, former Union Minister and former George A. Olah, whose work won a Nobel Prize in chemistry Speaker of Lok Sabha Rabi Ray passed away in Cuttack. He and paved the way for more effective oil refining and ways of was 91. producing less polluting forms of gasoline, has died at age 89. He was first elected to the Lok Sabha in 1967, from the Olah’s research brought him the 1994 Nobel Prize in Puri parliamentary constituency, and was the leader of the chemistry for his groundbreaking study of the unstable Samyukta Socialist Party in the Lok Sabha. carbon molecules known as carbocations. In 1974, he was elected to the Rajya Sabha from the State, and was made a Cabinet Minister in 1977 by the then Nobel laureate, poet and playwright Derek Walcott Prime Minister Morarji Desai. dead, aged 87 However, in 1989, when Rabi Ray was elected to the 9th The poet and playwright Derek Walcott, who moulded the Lok Sabha on a Janata Dal ticket from the Kendrapara language and forms of the western canon to his own purposes constituency and was unanimously elected as the Speaker for more than half a century, has died aged 87. of the Lok Sabha. His monumental poetry, such as his 1990 epic Omeros, a Caribbean reimagining of The Odyssey, secured him an Former Haiti President Rene Preval dead at age 74 international reputation which gained him the Nobel prize in Rene Preval, a two-time 1992. president of Haiti, died at the Walcott also had an accomplished theatrical career, being the age of 74. writer and director of more than 80 plays that often explored Preval was President of the the problems of Caribbean identity against the backdrop of Caribbean nation from racial and political strife. 1996 to 2001 and from 2006 to 2011. Chuck Berry, Rock ’n’ Roll Pioneer, Dies at 90 He was the nation's leader when a major earthquake killed Chuck Berry, who defined rock ’n’ roll’s potential and attitude more than 200,000 people in 2010. in its early years, died at his home near Wentzville, Mo. He Haiti was 90. • Capital: Port-au-Prince His famous songs include “Johnny B. Goode” and “Roll Over • Currency: Gourde Beethoven” etcetera. • President: Jovenel Moise Popular Tamil writer Asokamitran passes away Ex-CJP Sajjad Ali Shah passes away Noted Tamil litterateur Former Chief Justice of Pakistan Asokamitran passed Sajjad Ali Shah passed away at away after a brief the age of 84 in Karachi. illness, aged 85. Sajjad Ali Shah remained A well known Chief Justice of Pakistan novelist and from June 4, 1994 to essayist, he was December 2, 1997. noted for his Justice (Retd) Sajjad was subtlety and appointed the CJP by former refreshing creativity in expression. Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. Born Thiagarajan, he assumed the pseudonym He was the 13th Chief Justice of Pakistan. Asokamitran in the 1960s. His work “Appavin Snegithargal”, a collection of short Veteran journalist Arvind Padmanabhan passes away stories won him the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1996. Veteran journalist Arvind Padmanabhan, Executive Editor at He was given the ‘Tiru Vi Ka’ Award in 2014 for his IANS, died of cardiac arrest. contribution to Tamil literature by late Chief Minister J Padmanabhan, who would have turned 50 next month, Jayalalithaa. breathed his last at the Holy Family Hospital.

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Renowned playwright Arun Sarma dies In the book, he elaborates the famous Monkeygate case and Renowned playwright and Sahitya Akademi Award winner also the death of his teammate Phil Hughes. Arun Sarma died at a private hospital in the National Capital after a brief illness.He was 85. Coffee Table Book titled “50 Years – The Great Indian • Born in 1931 in Dibrugarh district of Assam, Milk Revolution” launched Sharma has written more than 50 plays and books The Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shri in his career. Radha Mohan Singh has launched of Coffee Table Book titled • He also won a number of awards, including “50 Years – The Great Indian Milk Revolution” Padma Shri, Sahitya Academy and Assam Valley commemorating National Dairy Development Board’s Literary. (NDDB) Golden Jubilee year. Shri Radha Mohan Singh also said that since 1998, the Former solicitor general Andhyarujina passes away poor and marginal milk producers have worked hard to Former solicitor general of make the country world's top milk producer. India Tehmtan Andhyarujina passed away.He was 83. Army Releases Book on Rashtriya Rifles He practised law for six General Bipin Rawat, Chief of the Army Staff (COAS), on 27 decades and has left behind March 2017 at South Block, New Delhi, released the book a legacy in judgments he ‘Home of the Brave’ on the history of Indian Army’s Counter helped shape with his Insurgency Force, the Rashtriya Rifles (RR). submissions as counsel, on constitutional law. • The book is authored by Nitin A Gokhale, Defence & Andhyarujina was also the state advocate general from Security Analyst and Brig S K Chatterji (Retired). 1993 to 1995, before he became the solicitor general in • Home of the Brave traces the early history of the RR, 1996-1998. its organization, including its raising and subsequent deployment in Punjab, the North East and in Jammu & Kashmir. • The RR, a formidable Counter Insurgency Force, has won many laurels in the operations.

‘Number Do Lie’ authored by former cricketer Aakash Chopra Book to chronicle life of Tabla maestro Zakir Hussain Former Indian cricketer A book titled 'Zakir Hussain: A Life Akash Chopra released for Music, In Conversation with book titled Numbers Do Nasreen Munni Kabir' will chronicle Lie, 61 Hidden Cricket the Tabla maestro's life through a Stories which takes a series of in-depth interviews. different look at stats. To be released by Harper The defensive Collings Publishers India in opening batsman narrated about the cricket records and January 2018, the book will offer an intimate look at player performances more lucidly that reflects player’s Hussain's life and career. impact in the game of cricket. Written by Nasreen Munni Kabir, the book will offer It is based on the Impact Index analytics by Jaideep readers a personalised view into Indian classical music and Verma, Soham Sarkhel and Nikhil Narain. the thinking of a world musician. Points to Remember Michael Clarke launches his autobiography 'My • Zakir Hussain is an Indian tabla player in Hindustani classical music. Story' Former Australian captain Michael Clarke has launched his • He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1988, and the autobiography titled "My Story" at Kolkata. Padma Bhushan in 2002, by the Government of Former Indian Captain and president of Cricket Association of India. Bengal, Sourav Ganguly was also present on the occasion.

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Suresh Prabhu releases Book Titled “Indian Railway- The 5. Who has been given additional charge of Director weaving of a National Tapestry” General of Central Reserve Police Force? Minister of Railways Shri (A) Sudeep Lakhtakia Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu (B)Nand Kumar Sai released the book titled (C)K Durga Prasad “Indian Railway- The (D)Krishna Choudhary weaving of a National (E)None of these Tapestry” jointly authored 6. Who has been appointed as Spokesperson in the by Shri Bibek Debroy External Affairs Ministry? (Member, NITI Aayog) Shri Sanjay Chadha (Joint Secretary, (A) Vikas Swaroop Ministry of Commerce) & Ms. Vidya Krishnamurthi. (B)Gopal Baglay In addition, Minister of Railways Shri Suresh Prabhakar (C)Nripendra Mishra Prabhu also launched Hi-speed free Wi-Fi services for the (D)Rajan Shah visitors at National Rail Museum. Chairman, (E)None of these Railway Board, Shri A. K. Mital, the three authors of the 7. Who is the first woman to be honored BCCI Lifetime book, Shri Ashwani Lohani, CMD, Air India and other Achievement Award? Railway Board Members and senior officials were also (A) Shanta Rangaswamy present on the occasion. (B)Diana Edulji (C)Shobha Pandit (D)Sharmila Chakraborty Current Affairs Question (E)None of these 1. Which country has recently celebrated 25 years of 8. 'Swachh Shakti Saptah' is launched from which state? establishment of diplomatic relations with India? (A) Gujarat (A) UAE (B)Rajasthan (B)USA (C)Haryana (C)China (D)Uttar Pradesh (D)Israel (E)None of these (E)None of these 9. What is the minimum amount of fine in rupees on 2. Who is the head of RBI committee to review cyber holding of more than 10 scrapped notes? security? (A) 5000 (A) Meena Hemchandra (B)10000 (B)Lily Wadera (C)15000 (C)YV Reddy (D)50000 (D)Nachiket Mor (E)None of these (E)None of these 10. Some private banks will charge a minimum amount of 3. What amount has been sanctioned this fiscal by SIDBI Rs. ______per transaction for cash deposits and for Startups? withdrawals beyond four free transactions in a month? (A) 300 Crore (A) 50 (B)1100 Crore (B)100 (C)1112 Crore (C)125 (D)900 Crore (D)150 (E)None of these (E)None of these 4. Who has been appointed as the chairman of National 11. Who has won Polly Umrigar award 2015-16? Commission for Scheduled Tribes? (A) Virat Kohli (A) Sudeep Lakhtakia (B)R Ashwin (B)Nand Kumar Sai (C)Ajinkya Rahane (C)Ajith Kumar (D)Ravindra Jadeja (D)Virendra Singh (E)None of these (E)None of these 12. Which Indian film has won the Audience Award at the Glasgow Film Festival 2017?

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(A) Aligarh (D)Bhubaneswar (B)Court (E)None of these (C)Chutney 20. Which state has achieved the maximum number of (D)Lipstick Under My Burkha registrations under the Goods and Services Tax? (E)None of these (A) Assam 13. Which country will host World Women's Youth Boxing (B)Karnataka Championship 2017? (C)Tamilnadu (A) Mexico (D)Kerala (B)India (E)None of these (C)Malaysia 21. Which state has made Sanskrit compulsory in all state (D)South Korea board schools till Class VIII? (E)None of these (A) Assam 14. Who has won men’s 50m free pistol gold medal at the (B)Karnataka ISSF Shooting World Cup? (C)Tamilnadu (A) Amanpreet Singh (D)Kerala (B)Gagan Narang (E)None of these (C)Vahid Golkhandan 22. Which state has received most number of domestic (D)Jitu Rai tourists in 2016? (E)None of these (A) Rajasthan 15. Taarak Mehta passed away recently. Who he was? (B)Goa (A) Poet (C)Tamilnadu (B)Writer (D)Kerala (C)Singer (E)None of these (D)Journalist 23. Who has been appointed as India’s permanent (E)None of these representative to World Trade Organization? 16. Which country has the world's largest Muslim (A) J.S. Deepak population? (B)B.K. Malhotra (A) Pakistan (C)Kunal Bakhshi (B)Israel (D)Sunil Goyal (C)Indonesia (E)None of these (D)UAE 24. Who has been appointed as head coach of India U-17 (E)None of these Football team? 17. City of Palmyra is located in which country? (A) Baichung Bhutia (A) Egypt (B)Luis Fernando (B)Syria (C)Terri Walce (C)Turkey (D)Luis Norton de Matos (D)Iran (E)None of these (E)None of these 25. Bakri Hassan Saleh has sworn in as the Prime Minister 18. Which country will introduce world’s first cyber crime of___ university course? (A) Syria (A) France (B)Sudan (B)USA (C)Turkey (C)Russia (D)Libya (D)Australia (E)None of these (E)None of these 26. Which country has hosted 13th Economic Cooperation 19. Which city has topped Annual Survey of India’s City- Organisation Summit 2017? Systems? (A) Pakistan (A) Mumbai (B)Sweden (B)Pune (C)Turkey (C)Thiruvananthapuram (D)Nepal

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(E)None of these (B)Himachal Pradesh 27. Which country has won Most Popular Tourism (C)Gujarat Destination Award? (D)Haryana (A) Switzerland (E)None of these (B)Sri Lanka 35. Which bank has launched educational film on Financial (C)France Literacy titled 'Paison Ki ABCD'? (D)Malaysia (A) India Post Payment Bank (E)None of these (B)Suryodaya Small Finance Bank 28. Foal Eagle is a military exercise between which two (C)Ujjivan Small Finance Bank countries? (D)Airtel Payment Bank (A) France-US (E)None of these (B)US-South Korea 36. What amount has been allotted for the scheme to treat (C)Russia-US cataract patients? (D)Australia-Russia (A) 550 Crore (E)None of these (B)665 Crore 29. Which city has ranked 21st in the City Wealth Index? (C)756 Crore (A) Mumbai (D)874 Crore (B)New Delhi (E)None of these (C)Bengaluru 37. India has targeted to eliminate the cataract by which (D)Hyderabad year? (E)None of these (A) 2021 30. World Wildlife Day is observed on which date? (B)2022 (A) 1 March (C)2019 (B) 2 March (D)2020 (C) 3 March (E)None of these (D) 4 March 38. Which city is hosting National Coference on Jal Kranti (E)None of these Abhiyan? 31. Which state will host river festival ‘Namami (A) Mumbai Brahmaputra’? (B)Chennai (A) Assam (C)Bengaluru (B)Karnataka (D)New Delhi (C)Tamilnadu (E)None of these (D)Kerala 39. Which organisation has signed MoU with National (E)None of these Mission for Clean Ganga for the Success of Namami 32. BIRAC Regional Entrepreneurship Centre will be Gange? established in which city? (A) DRDO (A) Hyderabad (B)National Green Tribunal (B)Bengaluru (C)Rotary India (C)Chennai (D)BEML (D)Thiruvananthapuram (E)None of these (E)None of these 40. What is the minimum prescribed balance for SBI 33. Which country will host 10th International Conference savings accounts in Metropolitan cities? on Theory and Practice of Electronic Governance? (A) Rs 2000 (A) China (B)Rs 3000 (B)USA (C)Rs 4000 (C)India (D)Rs 5000 (D)Japan (E)None of these (E)None of these 41. The bank branches that refuse to exchange soiled notes 34. Which state has launched Tirtha Darshan scheme? from people will have to pay a penalty of Rs___ (A) Uttarakhand (A) 10000

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(B)5000 (D)Madhya Pradesh (C)2000 (E)None of these (D)1000 49. Who has won 30th Moortidevi award ? (E)None of these (A) Surendra Verma 42. Raymond Kopa passed away recently. He was a (B)M P Veerendra Kumar footballer from which country? (C)Om Thanavi (A) France (D)Brijesh Vyas (B)USA (E)None of these (C)Italy 50. Who has won Dubai open tennis title 2017? (D)Spain (A) Andy Murray (E)None of these (B)Fernando Verdasco 43. Who is the author of the book titled “Numbers Do Lie, (C)Sam Querrey 61 Hidden Cricket Stories”? (D)Rafael Nadal (A) Deep Das Gupta (E)None of these (B)Aakash Chopra 51. Who has won Mexican open tennis title 2017? (C)Ajay Jadeja (A) Andy Murray (D)Sunil Gavaskar (B)Fernando Verdasco (E)None of these (C)Sam Querrey 44. Which city is organising National Conference on (D)Rafael Nadal Innovation in Educational Administration? (E)None of these (A) Mumbai 52. Syed Shahabuddin passed away recently. Who he was? (B)Chennai (A) Writer (C)Bengaluru (B)Politician (D)New Delhi (C)Singer (E)None of these (D)Journalist 45. India has hoisted the nation's tallest flag from which (E)None of these border? 53. What is the name of the military exercise between India (A) Wagah Border and Oman? (B)India-China Border (A) Indra (C)India-Nepal Border (B)Surya Kiran (D)India-Bhutan Border (C)Garuda Shakti (E)None of these (D)Nagah 46. What is the new name of Tirupati Airport? (E)None of these (A) Taraka Rama Rao Airport 54. India will train which country’s navy? (B)Amaravati Airport (A) Malaysia (C)Sri Venkateswara Airport (B)Indonesia (D)Nandamuri Airport (C)Myanmar (E)None of these (D)Sri Lanka 47. Which state has signed a Memorandum of (E)None of these Understanding with Google India for digitisation? 55. In which year, INS Viraat was inducted in Indian Navy? (A) Andhra Pradesh (A) 1958 (B)Tamilnadu (B)1987 (C)Telangana (C)1997 (D)Madhya Pradesh (D)1982 (E)None of these (E)None of these 48. Ola has signed an agreement with which state to impart 56. Which is the first Indian university to be ranked among training to about 25,000 people? top 10 in world? (A) Andhra Pradesh (A) IIT Guwahati (B)Tamilnadu (B)Delhi University (C)Telangana (C)IISc Bangalore

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(D)Savitribai Phule University (B)HDFC Bank (E)None of these (C)ICICI Bank 57. Which city is hosting ‘Destination North East-2017’? (D)Canara Bank (A) Patna (E)None of these (B)Jaipur 65. Which is the Indian cricket team’s new sponsor? (C)Chandigarh (A) Vivo (D)Imphal (B)Star India (E)None of these (C)Sahara 58. Which state is celebrating 'Bhagoria' festival? (D)Oppo (A) Madhya Pradesh (E)None of these (B)Gujarat 66. Which airport has the best service quality in 5-15 (C)Rajasthan million passengers per annum category? (D)Uttar Pradesh (A) Delhi Airport (E)None of these (B)Incheon Airport 59. Which bank has opened its 2000th branch in Tirupati? (C)Hyderabad Airport (A) Vijaya Bank (D)London Airport (B)Canara Bank (E)None of these (C)Andhra Bank 67. Which of the following has won the Best Actress award (D)Syndicate Bank at the International Film Festival and Awards of (E)None of these Australia? 60. Which Bank has highest Non Performing Assets in (A) Deepika Padukone India? (B)Priyanka Chopra (A) Punjab National Bank (C)Anushka Sharma (B)Canara Bank (D)Aishwarya Rai Bachchan (C)Bank of India (E)None of these (D)State Bank of India 68. India will organize its first mobile congress in which (E)None of these month? 61. What is the name of the military exercise between India (A) March and Nepal? (B)June (A) Indra (C)August (B)Surya Kiran (D)September (C)Garuda Shakti (E)None of these (D)Nagah 69. Which city is hosting 11th North East Business (E)None of these Summit? 62. What is the theme of International Women's Day 2017? (A) New Delhi (A) Be Bold For Change (B)Mumbai (B)Equality For Women Is Progress For All (C)Hyderabad (C)Empowering Women, Empowering Humanity (D)Chandigarh (D)Empower Rural Women (E)None of these (E)None of these 70. Which app has been launched by CBSE to help students 63. Which bank has launched 'Work from Home' facility for to find exam centre? employees? (A) Exam Location (A) SBI (B)Path Locator (B)HDFC Bank (C)Exam Locator (C)ICICI Bank (D)Exam Finder (D)Canara Bank (E)None of these (E)None of these 71. Which state has launched 'Pratibimba' to highlight 64. Which bank has launched Artificial Intelligence driven achievements? chatbot EVA? (A) Kerala (A) SBI (B)Karnataka

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(C)Gujarat (B)IIT Bombay (D)Assam (C)IIT Kanpur (E)None of these (D)IIT Madras 72. Who has been awarded with Harvard Foundation 'Artist (E)IIT Delhi of the Year' award? 79. Recently in the Indian Navy which water jet fast attack (A) Emma Watson craft has been commissioned ? (B)Angelina Jolly (A) INS Tillanchang (C)Viola Davis (B)INS Vikrant (D)Christina Stewart (C)INS Arihant (E)None of these (D)INS Kochi 73. Rene Preval has passed away recently. He was the (E)INS Sindhuraj former president of which country? 80. Which country ‘s Constitutional Court did vote (A) Sudan unanimously to remove the country’s President, Park (B)Serbia Geun-hye, from office ? (C)Somalia (A) North Korea (D)Haiti (B)South korea (E)None of these (C)Cuba 74. Arvind Padmanabhan has passed away recently. Who he (D)Taiwan was? (E)Denmark (A) Writer 81. Where did the President of India, Shri Pranab (B)Musician Mukherjee inaugurate the 12th CII-EXIM Bank (C)Journalist Conclave on India Africa Project Partnership ? (D)Politician (A) Mumbai (E)None of these (B)New Delhi 75. 'Mera Hunar ' mobile App has been launched by which (C)Bhopal state in india ? (D)Bengaluru (A) Rajasthan (E)Hyderabad (B)Bihar 82. Which city has hosted International Vision Zero (C)Himachal Pradesh Conference? (D)Goa (A) New Delhi (E)Madhya Pradesh (B)Mumbai 76. Who has been honoured with the 26th Saraswati (C)Chennai Samman 2016 ? (D)Bengaluru (A) Padma Sachdev (E)None of these (B)Govind Mishra 83. Which of the following week was observed from March (C)Veerappa Moily 4 to 10, 2017? (D)Sugathakumari (A) National Productivity Week (E)Mahabaleshwar Sail (B)National Safety Week 77. Milk to Money (M2M) programme was launched by (C)National Awareness Week which indian bank in 2010 ? (D)National Voters Week (A) SBI (E)None of these (B)HDFC 84. What is the new limit of NBFC cash loan against gold? (C)PNB (A) 25000 (D)ICICI (B)30000 (E)Axis Bank (C)15000 78. Which Indian Institute of Technology has won the 2017 (D)35000 IEEE Spectrum Technology in the Service of Society (E)None of these Award for its solar-direct current (DC) inverter system 85. Who has been elected as the new mayor of Mumbai? ? (A) Aditya Thackrey (A) IIT Kharagpur (B)Uddhav Thackrey

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(C)Vishwanath Mahadeshwar (C)Uttar Pradesh (D)Rajendra Phadke (D)Kerala (E)None of these (E)None of these 86. Who is the official ambassador by ICC women’s world 93. Manjeev Singh Puri as has been appointed as India’s cup 2017? next envoy to which country? (A) VVS Laxman (A) Sri Lanka (B)Sourav Ganguly (B)Bhutan (C)Rahul Dravid (C)Nepal (D)Sachin Tendulkar (D)Pakistan (E)None of these (E)None of these 87. Who has been appointed as the Chairman of Central 94. Which of the following has won best film award at Zee Water Commission? Cine Awards 2017? (A) Narendra Kumar (A) Dangal (B)Ajith Kumar (B)Pink (C)Narendra Tomar (C)Sultan (D)Sunil Bansal (D)Neerja (E)None of these (E)None of these 88. Who has been awarded with honorary degree of Doctor 95. Which of the following has won best female actor award of Science by Maharashtra Animal and Fishery Sciences at Zee Cine Awards 2017? University? (A) Sonam Kapoor (A) Amit Shah (B)Aalia Bhatt (B)Narendra Modi (C)Yami Gautam (C)Mohan Bhagwat (D)Priyanka Chopra (D)Raj Thackrey (E)None of these (E)None of these 96. George A. Olah has passed away recently. Who he was? 89. India's largest municipal waste to power plant was (A) Physician inaugurated in Which city? (B)Astronomer (A) New Delhi (C)Chemist (B)Mumbai (D)Writer (C)Chennai (E)None of these (D)Bengaluru 97. Which country will observe 25 March as Genocide Day? (E)None of these (A) Bangladesh 90. Exhibition “Revolutionary Patriots (1905-1947)” was (B)Sri Lanka Inaugurated in Which city? (C)Pakistan (A) New Delhi (D)Afghanistan (B)Mumbai (E)None of these (C)Chennai 98. Who has been appointed as the Chief Justice of Madhya (D)Bengaluru Pradesh High Court? (E)None of these (A) Navaniti Prasad Singh 91. Which party has won highest seats in Uttar Pradesh (B)Hemant Gupta Assembly elections 2017? (C)Rajendra Menon (A) Bharatiya Janata Party (D)Pradip Kumar Mohanty (B)Aam Aadmi Party (E)None of these (C)Indian National Congress 99. Who has been appointed as the Chief Justice of (D)Samajwadi Party Jharkhand High Court? (E)None of these (A) Navaniti Prasad Singh 92. India’s largest Floating Solar PV Plant is installed in (B)Hemant Gupta which state? (C)Rajendra Menon (A) Tamilnadu (D)Pradip Kumar Mohanty (B)Rajasthan (E)None of these

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100. Which railway has launched a rail ambulance? (A) Yes Bank (A) North Western Railway (B)Karnataka Bank (B)Central Railway (C)Jammu and Kashmir Bank (C)South East Railway (D)Andhra Bank (D)South Central Railway (E)None of these (E)None of these 108. Who is holding the additional charge of the defence 101. Which bank has signed USD 274 million agreement ministry after the resignation of Manohar Parrikar? with German Development Bank KfW? (A) Rajnath Singh (A) SBI (B)Sushma Swaraj (B)PNB (C)Arun Jaitely (C)ICICI Bank (D)Nitin Gadkari (D)Canara Bank (E)None of these (E)None of these 109. Who has been appointed as the leader of the legislature 102. Which bank will offer payments-related solutions to party in Manipur? Udaipur, Nashik and Puducherry? (A) Biren Singh (A) HDFC Bank (B)Keshav Prasad Maurya (B)ICICI Bank (C)Dinesh Singh (C)Yes Bank (D)Ashish Choudhary (D)Axis Bank (E)None of these (E)None of these 110. Who will be the new Chief Minister of Goa? 103. Who has been appointed as a Deputy Governor in (A) Laxmikanth Parsekar Reserve Bank of India recently? (B)Manohar Parrikar (A) R Gandhi (C)Biren Singh (B)BP Kanungo (D)Amit Shah (C)Nachiket Mor (E)None of these (D)Arvind Subramaniam 111. Which bank has appointed Mark Tucker as new (E)None of these chairman? 104. Who has been appointed as brand ambassador of (A) Standrad and Chartered Bank Chinese smartphone maker OnePlus? (B)Citi Bank (A) Shahrukh Khan (C)HDFC Bank (B)Ranbir Kapoor (D)HSBC Bank (C)Aamir Khan (E)None of these (D)Amitabh Bachchan 112. Who has won men’s single title of All England Badminton (E)None of these Championship 2017? 105. Which is the world’s best city to live in? (A) Kevin Sukamuljo (A) Vienna (B)Lee Chong Wei (B)Durban (C)Marcus Gideon (C)San Francisco (D)Lu Kai (D)London (E)None of these (E)None of these 113. World Consumer Rights day is observed on which date? 106. What is the new limit of cash withdrawal from savings (A) 12 March bank account from 13 March 2017? (B) 13 March (A) 25000 (C) 14 March (B)20000 (D) 15 March (C)35000 (E)None of these (D)50000 114. Which is the best Indian city to live in according to (E)None of these Mercer index? 107. Which bank has signed a Memorandum of (A) Mumbai Understanding with Bajaj Allianz General Insurance (B)Pune Company for General Insurance business? (C)Chandigarh

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(D)Hyderabad (A) Telangana (E)None of these (B)Karnataka 115. Which state has launched a Rs 10 crore fund for women (C)Andhra Pradesh entrepreneurs? (D)Tamilnadu (A) Telangana (E)None of these (B)Karnataka 123. Which bank has signed a memorandum of (C)Andhra Pradesh understanding (MoU) with CREDAI for the (D)Tamilnadu development of the realty sector? (E)None of these (A) Punjab National Bank 116. Which state has launched ‘KCR Kit’ scheme for (B)State Bank of India pregnant women? (C)UCO Bank (A) Telangana (D)Canara Bank (B)Karnataka (E)None of these (C)Andhra Pradesh 124. Which bank is planning to convert its branch operation (D)Tamilnadu in Paris into a representative office? (E)None of these (A) SBI 117. Which bank has registered most number of fraud cases (B)PNB during April-December period of 2016? (C)ICICI Bank (A) SBI (D)Bank of India (B)PNB (E)None of these (C)ICICI Bank 125. Who has been elected as the 26th chief minister of (D)Standard and Chartered Bank Punjab? (E)None of these (A) Navjot Singh Siddhu 118. Which bank has won Official language policy award for (B)Bhagwant Maan 2015-16? (C)Amrinder Singh (A) Punjab National Bank (D)Prakash Singh Badal (B)Central Bank of India (E)None of these (C)UCO Bank 126. Who has been elected as the chief minister of Manipur? (D)Corporation Bank (A) N Biren Singh (E)None of these (B)Manohar Parrikar 119. Which solar plant will receive a loan from World Bank? (C)Okram Ibobi Singh (A) Kamuthi Solar Power Plant (D)Irom Sharmila (B)Sakri Solar Plant (E)None of these (C)Rewa Solar Plant 127. “My Story” is an Autobiography of which cricketer? (D)Welspun Solar Plant (A) Rickey Ponting (E)None of these (B)Matthew Hayden 120. Who has been elected as Chairman of KPMG (C)Steve Waugh International? (D)Michael Clarke (A) William B Thomas (E)None of these (B)K V Thomas 128. Which is the top ranked Asian University in Times (C)John B Veihmeyer Higher Education Asia University Rankings 2017? (D)Thomas Alonso (A) Veltech University (E)None of these (B)Singapore National University 121. ‘Blue Revolution’ is related with__ (C)Peking University (A) Milk (D)Indian Institute of Science (B)Agriculture (E)None of these (C)Fish 129. Which is the top ranked Indian University (27th) in (D)Water Times Higher Education Asia University Rankings (E)None of these 2017? 122. Which state has launched 'Namma Canteen'? (A) Veltech University, Chennai

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(B)IIT Bombay (C)118 (C)IIT Madras (D)141 (D)Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore (E)None of these (E)None of these 137. Which country has granted same legal rights to a river 130. India has signed a 'call for action' with WHO to end the as human being ? TB by which year? (A) Finland (A) 2022 (B)Austria (B)2025 (C)New Zealand (C)2030 (D)Canada (D)2050 (E)None of these (E)None of these 138. Which state is hosting International Conference on 131. Which city is hosting 6th Indian Engineering Sourcing “Universities of The Future”? Show? (A) Tamilnadu (A) Chennai (B)Maharashtra (B)Mumbai (C)Gujarat (C)New Delhi (D)Haryana (D)Bengaluru (E)None of these (E)None of these 139. First Airbus Training Centre in Asia will be set up in 132. Which bank has signed an agreement with Avenues Which city? India Pvt Ltd to provide merchants with seamless access (A) Chennai to point-of-sales? (B)Mumbai (A) Canara Bank (C)New Delhi (B)HDFC Bank (D)Bengaluru (C)UCO Bank (E)None of these (D)Bandhan Bank 140. Which is the first police post in India to be linked with (E)None of these Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems? 133. Which bank has has launched Digital Loan against (A) Sanjauli Securities facility? (B)Majuli (A) Canara Bank (C)Deogarh (B)HDFC Bank (D)Anantpur (C)UCO Bank (E)None of these (D)Bandhan Bank 141. Which of the following has been appointed to the (E)None of these governing body of the Sports Authority of India? 134. Who is the new Chairman of National Commission for (A) Jwala Gutta Safai Karamcharis? (B)Papa Rao (A) Dalip Kallu Hathibed (C)Ashwini Ponnapa (B)Manju Diler (D)Both A and B (C)Manhar Valji Bhai Zala (E)None of these (D)Narendra Kumar 142. Who is the author of the book titled “Tout pour la (E)None of these France”? 135. Which country is hosting Meeting of Finance Ministers (A) Nicolas Sarkozy & Central Bank Governors of G-20? (B)Vladimir Putin (A) China (C)Francois Hollande (B)South Korea (D)Dmitry Medvedev (C)Germany (E)None of these (D)France 143. Which day has been recognised by Kansas as Indian- (E)None of these American Appreciation Day? 136. What is India’s rank in women in politics report 2017? (A) 18 March (A) 125 (B) 15 March (B)148 (C) 16 March

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(D) 14 March (B)Senior Citizens (E)None of these (C)Farmers 144. Which of the following is the richest Asian in Britain? (D)Education (A) Laxmi Mittal (E)None of these (B)Hinduja Brothers 152. Who is the first Indian cricketer to face more than 500 (C)Jack Ma balls in a test innings? (D)Lee vei Chong (A) Rahul Dravid (E)None of these (B)Cheteshwar Pujara 145. Which country’s research centre has signed an (C)Virat Kohli agreement with Indian Railways recently? (D)Murali Vijay (A) New Zealand (E)None of these (B)Canada 153. Which telecom operator will be merged with Vodafone (C)Japan India? (D)Australia (A) Telenor (E)None of these (B)Aircel 146. Who has sworn in as the 32nd Chief Minister of Uttar (C)Idea Pradesh? (D)Reliance (A) Aditya Nath (E)None of these (B)Keshav Prasad Maurya 154. Who has been appointed as ambassador of Blind Cricket (C)Dinesh Sharma World Cup 2018? (D)Manoj Sinha (A) Shahid Afridi (E)None of these (B)Rahul Dravid 147. How many Indian women have won ‘Women Icons’ (C)Sachin Tendulkar award in Singapore recently? (D)Inzmam Ul Haq (A) 11 (E)None of these (B)10 155. Jeff Jones has recently resigned from the presidential (C)14 post of which company? (D)8 (A) Ola (E)None of these (B)Uber 148. Derek Walcott passed away recently. Who he was? (C)Micromax (A) Writer (D)Samsung (B)Poet (E)None of these (C)Singer 156. Who is the Managing Director of Indian Bank? (D)Both A and B (A) TN Manoharan (E)Both A and C (B)Kishore Kharat 149. What is the name of First fully India-made train? (C)R Subramania Kumar (A) Antyodaya (D)Mahesh Kumar Jain (B)Humsafar (E)None of these (C)Medha 157. What is India’s rank in World Happiness Report 2017? (D)Gatimaan (A) 122 (E)None of these (B)155 150. Amitabh Bachchan has recently launched the World’s (C)80 first mobile App on__ (D)102 (A) Cancer (E)None of these (B)Breast Health 158. Which country has topped Global Health Index 2017? (C)TB (A) Singapore (D)Polio (B)Iceland (E)None of these (C)Italy 151. 'Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojna' is related to__ (D)Denmark (A) Minorities (E)None of these

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159. Which rivers have been declared living entities by the (B)New Delhi Uttarakhand High Court recently? (C)Mumbai (A) Ganga and Brahmaputra (D)Dubai (B)Yamuna and Brahmaputra (E)None of these (C)Ganga and Saraswati 167. World Water Day is observed on which date? (D)Ganga and Yamuna (A) 19 March (E)None of these (B) 20 March 160. Who has topped Forbes India Celebrity rich list 2016? (C) 22 March (A) Shahrukh Khan (D) 21 March (B)Akshay Kumar (E)None of these (C)Virat Kohli 168. What is the theme of International Day of Forests 2017? (D)Salman Khan (A) We and Forests (E)None of these (B)Forests and Water 161. Which city is hosting National Conference on (C)Forests and Energy “Empowering Deaf Through Indian Sign Language”? (D)Forests and Nature (A) Mumbai (E)None of these (B)Bengaluru 169. Who has been appointed as the Interim Director General (C)New Delhi of the International Solar Alliance? (D)Chennai (A) Upendra Tripathy (E)None of these (B)Narendra Kumar 162. Presently how many billionaires are there in India, (C)Rajeev Bansal according to Forbes? (D)Nitin Kothari (A) 97 (E)None of these (B)100 170. Who has been appointed as the brand ambassador of (C)101 Gatorade? (D)105 (A) Virat Kohli (E)None of these (B)MC Marykom 163. Which Bank has launched 'Mera iMobile' app for rural (C)Saina Nehwal customers? (D)PV Sindhu (A) ICICI Bank (E)None of these (B)Axis Bank 171. Recently, who has been appointed as a Whole-Time (C)HDFC Bank Member of Security and Exchange Board of India? (D)Yes Bank (A) BP Kanungo (E)None of these (B)Madhabi Puri Buch 164. Which team has won Vijay Hazare Trophy 2017? (C)Dharmesh Shukla (A) Tamilnadu (D)Nandita Sahni (B)Mumbai (E)None of these (C)Gujarat 172. Who has become number one bowler in ICC test ranking (D)Bengal replacing Ravi Ashwin? (E)None of these (A) Ravindra Jadeja 165. According to Economist Intelligence Unit Report 2017, (B)Rangana Herath which is the most expensive city in the world to live in? (C)James Anderson (A) Singapore (D)Michel Stark (B)London (E)None of these (C)Hong Kong 173. What is India’s rank in Human Development Index (D)Beijing 2016? (E)None of these (A) 122 166. Which city has organised Second India-UAE (B)130 conference on globalisation? (C)131 (A) Abu Dhabi (D)118

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(E)None of these (E)None of these 174. Which country has topped in Human Development 181. What is India’s rank in energy architecture performance Index 2016? index? (A) Singapore (A) 90 (B)Iceland (B)87 (C)Switzerland (C)44 (D)Norway (D)71 (E)None of these (E)None of these 175. Which city has hosted the 3rd edition of State 182. World Tuberculosis day is observed on which date? AYUSH/Health Ministers’ Conference? (A) 21 March (A) New Delhi (B) 22 March (B)Hyderabad (C) 23 March (C)Bengaluru (D) 24 March (D)Chennai (E)None of these (E)None of these 183. How many new affordable houses have been approved 176. India’s longest highway tunnel which is to be recently under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana? inaugurated on April 2, is in which state? (A) 1.17 Lakh (A) Uttarakhand (B)1.25 Lakh (B)Chhattisgarh (C)1.71 Lakh (C)Jammu-Kashmir (D)1.75 Lakh (D)Himachal Pradesh (E)None of these (E)None of these 184. Which city has hosted 3rd International Conference on 177. Joint cycling expedition of Bangladesh and Indian army Alternate Fuels and Raw Materials in Cement Industry? was recently flagged off from which city? (A) New Delhi (A) Kolkata (B)Kolkata (B)Agartala (C)Patna (C)Dhanbad (D)Bhopal (D)Udhampur (E)None of these (E)None of these 185. Which state has topped in linking Aadhaar Card to Jan 178. Which veteran Congress leader has recently joined the Dhan Accounts? BJP? (A) Tripura (A) SM Krishna (B)Assam (B)Digvijay Singh (C)Andhra Pradesh (C)P Chidambaram (D)Gujarat (D)Ghulam Nabi Azad (E)None of these (E)None of these 186. Who has been appointed as part-time Chairman of the 179. Which is going to become India's first carbon neutral Catholic Syrian bank? district? (A) Usha Anantasubramanian (A) Gandhinagar (B)R Subramanium (B)Dispur (C)T N Manoharan (C)Thane (D)T S Anantharaman (D)Majuli (E)None of these (E)None of these 187. Which of the following has won double trap gold in 180. Asian Development Bank has approved $350 million ISSF Shooting World Cup in Mexico? loan for improving about 1,500 kilometers of major (A) Heena Sidhu district roads in which state? (B)Jitu Rai (A) Uttar Pradesh (C)Ankur Mittal (B)Madhya Pradesh (D)Gagan Narang (C)Bihar (E)None of these (D)Gujarat

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188. Who has topped Fortune's 50 greatest leaders of the (A) 24 March world list? (B) 25 March (A) Indira Nooyi (C) 26 March (B)Marry Bara (D) 27 March (C)Jeff Bezos (E)None of these (D)Theo Epstein 196. Which city has recently organized a Conference on (E)None of these 'Make in India'? 189. Which city is hosting 33rd India Carpet Expo? (A) Houston (A) New Delhi (B)Los Angeles (B)Mumbai (C)Chicago (C)Bengaluru (D)New York (D)Chennai (E)None of these (E)None of these 197. Which company will start 'Dilli Darshan' chopper rides? 190. Which bank has detected highest number of cases of (A) Vectra fake certificates for appointment? (B)Pawan Hans (A) Oriental Bank of Commerce (C)Himalayan Heli (B)Indian Overseas Bank (D)Hindustan Aeronautics (C)Bank of Baroda (E)None of these (D)Andhra Bank 198. What will be the new name of Central Board of Excise (E)None of these and Customs? 191. Which state has signed MoU with SBI to provide (A) Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Excise housing loan at subsidised interest rates to its (B)Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs employees? (C)Central Board of Taxes & Customs (A) Tripura (D)Central Board of direct Taxes & Customs (B)Rajasthan (E)None of these (C)Andhra Pradesh 199. Which University will host 105th Indian Science (D)Assam Congress? (E)None of these (A) Osmania University 192. Which state will get 100 million US Dollar from World (B)Banaras Hindu University Bank to improve quality of health care services? (C)Aligarh Muslim University (A) Uttarakhand (D)Jamia University (B)Uttar Pradesh (E)None of these (C)Bihar 200. Which city is hosting National Conference on Down (D)Punjab Syndrome? (E)None of these (A) Mumbai 193. Which of the following has been awarded with lifetime (B)Bengaluru achievement award for photography? (C)New Delhi (A) Vatsal Raj (D)Hyderabad (B)Rajendra Seth (E)None of these (C)Raghu Raj 201. Who is the first woman combat officer in Border (D)Kunal Sardesai Security Force? (E)None of these (A) Kirti Saraswat 194. Which of the following has been featured in Fortune's (B)Padmalaxmi Rawat 50 greatest leaders of the world list? (C)Aarti Singhania (A) Aditya Puri (D)Tanushree Pareek (B)Chanda Kochar (E)None of these (C)Shikha Sharma 202. Which country has become the third largest aviation (D)Arundhati Bhattacharya market in terms of domestic passenger traffic, beating (E)None of these Japan? 195. Earth Hour 2017 was observed on which date? (A) India

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(B)China (C)Curtly Ambrose (C)South Korea (D)Ravichandran Ashwin (D)Brazil (E)None of these (E)None of these 203. Which country is the largest aviation market in terms of 209. Which city has hosted International Diamond domestic passenger traffic? Conference 2017? (A) China (A) Surat (B)USA (C)Australia (B)Rajkot (D)South Africa (C)Mumbai (E)None of these (D)Pune 204. Which state has registered maximum Human (E)None of these Trafficking Cases in 2016? 210. Which bank has signed MoU with Piaggio Vehicles for (A) Rajasthan providing financial support for the purchase of vehicles? (B)West Bengal (A) Syndicate Bank (C)Gujarat (B)UCO Bank (D)Bihar (C)Karur Vysya Bank (E)None of these (D)Vijaya Bank 205. Which city will host third meeting of G-20 framework (E)None of these working group? 211. Which bank has won Best Small Bank award 2016? (A) Vadodara (A) Syndicate Bank (B)Ahmedabad (B)UCO Bank (C)Hyderabad (C)Karur Vysya Bank (D)Varanasi (D)Vijaya Bank (E)None of these (E)None of these 206. Who has topped Barron’s World's 30 Best CEOs List? 212. Which of the following has been awarded with Kala (A) Mark Juckerberg Ratan Award? (B)Mary Barra (A) Anupam Kher (C)Satya Nadella (B)Manoj Bajpai (D)Shantanu Narayen (C)Nasiruddin Shah (E)None of these (D)Nawajuddin Siddiqui 207. Which team has won Santosh Trophy 2017? (E)None of these (A) Goa 213. Shaun Tait announced his retirement from all forms of (B)Maharashtra cricket recently. He is from which country? (C)Bengal (A) South Africa (D)Kerala (B)Australia (E)None of these (C)England 208. Which of the following has taken most wickets in a test (D)New Zealand session? (E)None of these (A) Dale Steyn 214. Which city will host FIFA U-17 world cup final? (B)Muttiah Muralitharan

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(A) Mumbai 221. Competition Commission of India (CCI) has imposed a (B)Goa penalty of Rs _____ crore upon Coal India Limited? (A) 591.01 (C)Kolkata (B)561.25 (D)New Delhi (C)571.31 (E)None of these (D)539.01 (E)None of these 215. India won _____ medals in 2017 Special Olympics 222. Which bank will offer 'zero annual fee' credit cards to World Winter Games? accounts having Rs 20,000-25,000? (A) 68 (A) Punjab National Bank (B)37 (B)Indian Bank (C)54 (C)Corporation Bank (D)73 (D)State Bank of India (E)None of these (E)None of these 216. Arun Sarma passed away recently. Who he was? 223. Which of the following has been inducted into the (A) Singer international advisory board of global think-tank The (B)Writer Atlantic Council recently? (C)Musician (A) Mukesh Ambani (D)Journalist (B)Anil Ambani (E)None of these (C)Ratan Tata 217. Which city is hosting ‘National tribal and north east art (D)Anand Mahindra conclave’? (E)None of these (A) New Delhi 224. Which city will host men's Hockey World Cup 2018? (B)Guwahati (A) Bhubaneswar (C)Shillong (B)Kolkata (D)Bhopal (C)New Delhi (E)None of these (D)Hyderabad 218. Which is the first state to bring banking to remote rural (E)None of these areas through Self Help Groups? 225. Which committee was set up for enhancing the combat (A) Punjab potential of India’s armed forces? (B)Bihar (A) Madhukar Gupta Committee (C)Odisha (B)DB Shekatkar Committee (D)Gujarat (C)CB Valmiki Committee (E)None of these (D)Jayant Deshmukh Committee 219. Which bank has tied up with Truecaller for UPI-based (E)None of these payment? 226. From which date, Bharat Stage IV norms will be (A) ICICI Bank implemented? (B)HDFC Bank (A) 31 March 2017 (C)Axis Bank (B) 1 April 2017 (D)Yes Bank (C) 1 July 2017 (E)None of these (D) 31 December 2017 220. IRDAI has recently imposed a penalty of Rs ____ lakh (E) None of these on ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company on various 227. Which of the following has been exited from travel charges? portal Musafir.com as an investor? (A) 15 (A) Anil Kumble (B)10 (B)Rahul Dravid (C)25 (C)Virendra Sehwag (D)20 (D)Sachin Tendulkar (E)None of these (E)None of these 228. Which bank has launched ‘Unnati’ Credit card?

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(A) Bank of Baroda (C)Meghalaya (B)Punjab National Bank (D)Assam (C)State Bank of India (E)None of these (D)Canara Bank 235. Which state is first in construction of houses for urban (E)None of these poor? 229. Which bank has tied up with Wells Fargo for Inward (A) Gujarat remittances? (B)Rajasthan (A) Axis Bank (C)Tamilnadu (B)Yes Bank (D)Maharashtra (C)ICICI Bank (E)None of these (D)HDFC Bank 236. Who has been appointed as the chairperson of Central (E)None of these Board of Excise and Customs? 230. Which bank has launched 811-Accounts? (A) Najib Shah (A) Kotak Mahindra Bank (B)Sunaina Singh (B)Axis Bank (C)Alka Sirohi (C)Bank of Baroda (D)Vanaja N Sarna (D)Citi Bank (E)None of these 237. Which of the following has been named as Asian (E)None of these Hockey Player of Year? 231. Who has been appointed as the head of Nomura India? (A) PR Shreejesh (A) Pravin Chawla (B)SV Sunil (C)Sohail Butt (B)Manish Chouhan (D)Harmanpreet Singh (C)Prabhat Awasthi (E)None of these (D)Vikas Sharma 238. Which city will host the Asian Athletics Championships 2017? (E)None of these (A) New Delhi 232. Which country has conferred honorary Military Rank to (B)Kochi Indian Army Chief Bipin Rawat? (C)Ranchi (A) Nepal (D)Bhubaneswar (B)Bhutan (E)None of these (C)Maldives 239. Who is the author of the book titled 'Zakir Hussain: A (D)Myanmar Life for Music’? (E)None of these (A) Taslima Nasrin 233. Which of the following country has recently joined the (B)Nasreen Munni Kabir International Energy Agency as an associate member? (C)Meghna Pant (A) Pakistan (D)Smriti Jadhav (B)India (E)None of these (C)Sri Lanka 240. Who is the author of the book titled “Indian Railway- (D)Nepal The weaving of a National Tapestry”? (E)None of these (A) Bibek Debroy 234. Which state is organising ‘Namami Brahmaputra’ (B)Sanjay Chadha Festival? (C)Vidya Krishnamurthi (A) Uttar Pradesh (D)All of the above (B)West Bengal (E)None of these

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Answer Key

1. D 2. A 3. C 4. B 5. A 6. B 7. A 8. C 9. B 10. D

11. A 12. D 13. B 14. D 15. B 16. C 17. B 18. D 19. C 20. D

21. A 22. C 23. A 24. D 25. B 26. A 27. B 28. B 29. A 30. C

31. A 32. B 33. C 34. D 35. C 36. C 37. B 38. D 39. C 40. D

41. A 42. A 43. B 44. D 45. A 46. C 47. C 48. D 49. B 50. A

51. C 52. B 53. D 54. C 55. B 56. C 57. C 58. A 59. A 60. D

61. B 62. A 63. A 64. B 65. D 66. C 67. D 68. D 69. A 70. C

71. B 72. C 73. D 74. C 75. C 76. E 77. B 78. D 79. A 80. B

81. B 82. A 83. B 84. A 85. C 86. D 87. A 88. C 89. A 90. A

91. A 92. D 93. C 94. B 95. B 96. C 97. A 98. B 99. D 100. B

101. A 102. C 103. B 104. D 105. A 106. E 107. B 108. C 109. A 110. B

111. D 112. B 113. D 114. D 115. B 116. A 117. C 118. B 119. C 120. A

121. C 122. B 123. B 124. A 125. C 126. A 127. D 128. B 129. D 130. C

131. A 132. D 133. B 134. C 135. C 136. B 137. C 138. D 139. C 140. A

141. D 142. A 143. A 144. B 145. D 146. A 147. A 148. D 149. C 150. B

151. B 152. B 153. C 154. A 155. B 156. B 157. A 158. C 159. D 160. D

161. C 162. C 163. A 164. A 165. A 166. D 167. C 168. C 169. A 170. D

171. B 172. A 173. C 174. D 175. A 176. C 177. B 178. A 179. D 180. B

181. B 182. D 183. A 184. A 185. C 186. D 187. C 188. D 189. A 190. B

191. D 192. A 193. C 194. D 195. B 196. A 197. B 198. B 199. A 200. C

201. D 202. A 203. B 204. B 205. D 206. B 207. C 208. D 209. C 210. D

211. C 212. A 213. B 214. C 215. D 216. B 217. A 218. C 219. A 220. D

221. A 222. D 223. B 224. A 225. B 226. B 227. D 228. C 229. A 230. A

231. C 232. A 233. B 234. D 235. A 236. D 237. B 238. D 239. B 240. D

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