PDF Ivth Week 24Th to 31St March 2017
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PDF IVth Week 24th to 31st March 2017 1. World Tuberculosis day: 24 March World Tuberculosis Day is observed on March 24 each year. It is designed to build public awareness about the global epidemic of tuberculosis (TB) and efforts to eliminate the disease. The theme of this year’s World TB Day is "Unite to End TB". 2. World Meteorological Day: 23 March 2017 World Meteorological Day is held annually on 23 March. ‘Understanding Clouds’ is the theme of World Meteorological Day 2017 to highlight the enormous importance of clouds for weather climate and water. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations. It is the UN system's authoritative voice on the state and behavior of the Earth's atmosphere. World Meteorological Organization • Headquarters: Geneva • Founded: 1950 • Members: 191 • Secretary-General: Petteri Taalas 3. India ranks 87th on energy architecture performance: WEF India has marginally improved its position to 87th place on a global energy architecture performance index, but ranks among the worst for pollution, a survey showed today. Switzerland topped the annual list released by Geneva- based World Economic Forum (WEF) and was followed by Norway, Sweden, Denmark and France in the top five. India's rank improved three places from 90th last year. Bahrain is ranked the lowest at 127th. 4. SBI Chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya among Fortune's 50 greatest leaders of the world SBI chief Arundhati Bhattacharya and Indian-origin physician Raj Panjabi have been named by Fortune magazine among the world's 50 greatest leaders who are transforming the world and inspiring others to do the same. Bhattacharya, Chairman of India's largest bank and the first-ever woman to do so, has been ranked 26th on the list while Panjabi, founder and CEO of Last Mile Health, follows closely on the 28th spot. The list has been topped by President of Baseball Operations at Chicago Cubs Theo Epstein, followed by Alibaba Group Executive Chairman Jack Ma on the second spot, Pope Francis (3), Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Cochair Melinda Gates (4) and Amazon Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos (5). 5. Afghan Taliban capture crucial town of Sangin The Taliban have captured the crucial south Afghan district of Sangin after a year-long battle, officials say. A spokesman for Helmand's governor confirmed the district police and governor's headquarters were now in militant hands. Hundreds of members of the Afghan security forces died there in recent fighting. 6. 'Earth Hour' 2017: 25 March 2017 Earth Hour was observed worldwide on 25 March 2017. Earth Hour is a worldwide movement organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). The event is held annually encouraging individuals, communities, households and businesses to turn off their non-essential lights for one hour, from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. It was started as a lights-off event in Sydney, Australia, in 2007. 7. Conference on 'Make in India' held in Houston A first-ever conference was held bringing together various 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 . The theme of the Conference is 'Make in India -The Inside Story'. The central focus of the conference is to provide a collaboration platform and share today's India story with the audience in Texas who are interested in investing in India. 8. World Theatre Day: 27 March World Theatre Day (WTD) is celebrated on March 27. It was initiated in 1961 by the International Theatre Institute. • Various national and international theatre events are organized to mark this occasion. 9. India Overtakes Japan to Become Third Largest In Domestic Air Traffic India has become the third largest aviation market in terms of domestic passenger traffic, beating Japan, an industry report has said. • India's domestic air passenger traffic stood at 100 million in 2016 and was behind only the US (719 million) and China (436 million), Sydney-based aviation think-tank Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) said in its latest report. 10. 9th World Environmental Education Congress to be held in Vancouver 9th World Environmental Education Congress will take place from September 9-15, 2017 in Vancouver, BC, Canada. The World Environmental Education Congress (WEEC) is an international congress addressing education for environment and sustainability. WEEC 2017 is the 9th congress and will feature the theme of Culture/Environment: Weaving New Connections. Points to Remember • Theme of 9th WEEC congress is “Culture/Environment: Weaving New Connections”. • Ottawa is the Capital of Canada. • Justin Trudeau is the Prime Minister of Canada. • Dollar is the Currency of Canada. 11. 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 prestigious Paris-based body more relevant and reflects the country's move to the centre stage of the global energy dialogue. Power, coal, renewable energy and mines minister Piyush Goyal, oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan and IEA executive director Fatih Birol announced India's entry into the elite group. With India as a member, International Energy Agency now formally covers 70% of the world's energy consumption. Points to Remember • The International Energy Agency (IEA) is a Paris headquartered autonomous intergovernmental organization established in the framework of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 1974 in the wake of the 1973 oil crisis. • IEA has 29 members. • Fatih Birol is the executive director of IEA. 12. NATO formally invites Montenegro as 29th member NATO invited the Balkan nation of Montenegro to become its 29th member, agreeing to expand for only the seventh time in its history despite Russia’s angry objections. The decision is still subject to formal approval by the U.S. Senate, the alliance’s 27 other national parliaments and Montenegro’s parliament. Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic attended the signing of an accession protocol at NATO headquarters in Brussels. Points to Remember • The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty which was signed on 4 April 1949. • It is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. • It has 28 members. • Jens Stoltenberg is the Secretary General of NATO. 13. Govt approves 1.17 lakh more affordable houses under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana The government has approved construction of 117,814 more affordable houses for urban poor under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) in six states with a total investment of Rs 5,773 crore and with central assistance of Rs 1,816 crore. With this, the total number of affordable homes sanctioned under PMAY(Urban) so far has gone up to 1,760,507, with a total investment of Rs 96,018 crore and a central assistance of Rs 27,714 crore. 14. 3rd International Conference on Alternate Fuels and Raw Materials in Cement Industry The “3rd International Conference on Alternate Fuels and Raw Materials in Cement Industry - Towards Realising Swachh Bharat Dream”, was inaugurated in New Delhi. Ms. Ravneet Kaur, Joint Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion lauded the efforts and initiatives of the Cement Industry in enhancing the AFR usage to increase the Thermal Substitution Rate (TSR) which is very low at 1% as against the average 60% world- over. She mentioned that with Indian Cement Industry currently producing 7% of the Global Cement requirement. 15. AP tops in Aadhaar seeding of Jan Dhan a/cs Post demonetisation of specified bank notes on November 8, 2016, more accounts under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) have been seeded with Aadhaar numbers. Of the 25.51 crore PMJDY accounts on November 9, around 53.65 per cent were seeded with Aadhaar numbers. Four months hence, the number of PMJDY accounts has gone up to 28.01 crore, and the share of Aadhaar-seeded accounts has risen to 63.61 per cent. As on March 15, Andhra Pradesh had linked 87.73 per cent of its Jan-Dhan accounts with Aadhaar numbers. This was followed by Tripura at 87.08 per cent and Telangana 83.56 per cent. 16. Bengaluru gets India's first vertical garden Bengaluru got its first vertical garden, which it hopes will help in curbing pollution and in beautifying the city. SayTrees, an NGO, installed the first vertical garden in the city on one of the pillars of the Hosur Road flyover The garden boasts of around 3500 saplings of more than 10 species 17. Petroleum Minister launches MoPNG e Seva Minister of State (I/C) for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan launched MoP&NG e-Seva, a dedicated grievances redressal platform on Social Media for all queries and grievances relating to Oil and Gas Sector. The MOPNG e-Seva is an integrated grievances redressal platform across social media for all Oil & Gas related service issues. This portal will be a single point interface for all customers to reach out to the government for addressing their feedback or grievances related to Oil & Gas Sector on social media. MOPNG e-Seva will also deliver 24 x 7 support for consumers. The e-Seva portal will serve as a single point for queries on Twitter and Facebook to begin with; and other social media platforms in due course. A team of Nodal Officers from Oil Companies and Allied Services have been formed to address issues on real-time basis. 18. 33rd India Carpet Expo to be inaugurated by Union Textiles Minister The Carpet Export Promotion Council is organizing the 33rd India Carpet Expo, a sourcing platform for handmade carpets and other floor coverings, from 27-30 March, 2017 in Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.