DAILY UPDATED CURRENT AFFAIRS: 17.03.2020 TO 19.03.2020

.12.2018 NATIONAL PM Modi proposed the creation.2018 of COVID 19 emergency fund; SAARC  Prime Minister Narendra Modi has proposed the formulation of a common strategy to tackle COVID-19(Coronavirus).11.2018 in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) region during the video conference with SAARC representatives.  PM Modi has proposed the creation of COVID-19 Emergency Fund through voluntary contributions from all SAARC Nations.  This fund can be used by any of the partner countries to meet the cost of immediate actions. has offered the US $10 million for the fund. GOI launched a new website of Ministry of New and Renewable Energy  The Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Power, New and Renewable Energy & Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Raj Kumar (R K) Singh launched a new website of Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).  The new website is created to address the latest needs of the ministry’s rapid and accurate information dissemination needs, making it more informative, interactive user friendly, including for those with visual disabilities.  The website has additional portals such as ‘AkshayUrja Portal’ & ‘India Renewable Idea Exchange’ (IRIX).  It is a real-time idea exchange platform among Indians & Global community to ideate, innovate & incubate in the renewable energy sector. Permanent commission to women in Indian Navy: SC  Justice DY Chandrachud directed the Centre to grant permanent commission to serving women officers in Navy within three months with increments.  The judgment follows a verdict by the Apex Court in favour of granting permanent for women in the Indian Army. A permanent commission entitles an officer to serve in the Navy till he/she retires unlike Short Service Commission (SSC), which is currently for 10 years and can be extended by four more years, a total of 14 years.  The Supreme Court said women can sail with the same efficiency as male officers and there should be no discrimination. ’s Amin village renamed as Abhimanyupur  The Central Government approved renaming the Amin village as Abhimanyupur in district of Haryana as per the request of the State government.  The decision has been taken by the Union Home Ministry after getting permission from a few central organizations.  The Union Ministry will approve the change of name of any place after taking no-objections from the Ministry of Railways, Department of Posts and Surveys of India. Road accidents reduced by 10% after the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act 2019  Minister of Road Transport & Highways and Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Nitin Gadkari revealed that the number of deaths caused due to road accidents have been reduced by 10% in India after the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act 2019.  From 12 states and union territories, Tamil Nadu made notable progress in reducing road accidents by 24% which is the maximum anywhere in the country.  Jammu and Kashmir and Chandigarh showed 15% reduction, Gujarat- 14%, Uttar Pradesh 13%, Andhra Pradesh 7%, Manipur- 4% in the number of deaths due to accidents.  Kerala & Assam showed a rise of 4.9% & 8% in deaths due to road accidents. Rooftop solar power plants in India installed at 1,922 MW  Minister of State Independent Charge (IC) of, New & Renewable Energy, (MNRE) and Power, Minister of State of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship Raj Kumar(RK) Singh stated, the rooftop solar plants contain an aggregate capacity of 1,922 MW are installed in the country.

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DAILY UPDATED CURRENT AFFAIRS: 17.03.2020 TO 19.03.2020

 Major measures are.12.2018 taken by the government to install residential solar rooftop system- incentives for DISCOMs to achieve.2018 additional capacity & provide assistance to states to create an online portal and mobilize requirements for rooftop solar projects. Odisha’s Konark sun temple.11.2018 & Statue of Unity in Gujarat finds place in iconic tourism sites list: Prahlad Singh  According to the Union Minister of State (Independent) for tourism and culture, Prahlad Singh Patel, the central government has included grand Konark Sun Temple, the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) world heritage site in Odisha & Statue of Unity in Gujarat in the Iconic Tourist Sites list, taking the total number of such places from 17 to 19.  A total of 17 iconic tourist sites were identified by the government of India in 2019. It includes- Taj Mahal and FatehpurSikri (Uttar Pradesh), Ajanta and Ellora (Maharashtra), Humayun’s Tomb, Red Fort and QutubMinar (Delhi), Colva (Goa), Amer Fort (Rajasthan), Somnath and Dholavira (Gujarat), Khajuraho (Madhya Pradesh), Hampi (Karnataka), Mahabalipuram (Tamil Nadu), Kaziranga (Assam), Kumarakom (Kerala) and Mahabodhi Temple (Bihar). Innovate for Accessible India campaign launched to empower PwD  Microsoft India and NASSCOM Foundation have jointly launched Innovate for Accessible India campaign to empower people with disabilities with the help of technology and tools to provide better integration into society and access to equal opportunities.  The campaign has been launched in partnership with Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, National Research and Education Network, and Department of Science and Technology. World’s first commercial flying car PAL-V to be built in Gujarat  World’s first commercial flying car named ‘PAL-V Liberty’ will be developed in Gujarat, India. PAL-V stands for Personal Air-Land Vehicle. The PAL-V Liberty is a combination of a car and an autogiro, or gyroplane.  The PAL-V flying car can run at a speed of 160 kilometers on road and can fly at a speed of 180 km. INTERNATIONAL Philippines shut Financial Market due to COVID 19 outbreak  The Philippines becomes the first country to close its financial markets due to the COVID 19 (Coronavirus) outbreak. It resumed its trading.  This measure was taken to ensure the safety of their employees and the people they interact with. Now the speculations are if other countries may take similar measures then there is a fear of a global recession.  Shutting markets is an extremely rare case during times of crisis. Earlier cases were, A week-long closing of America’s stock after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001, while Hong Kong shuts trading due to Black Monday crash in 1987. Greece halted its stock market for about five weeks in 2015. World Cities Summit 2020 to be held in Singapore  The 7th World Cities Summit (WCS) is to be held at Sands Expo & Convention Centre, Marina Bay Sands, in Singapore.  It is organized by Singapore’s Centre for Liveable Cities and the Urban Redevelopment Authority.  The theme for WCS 2020 is”Liveable and Sustainable Cities: Adapting to a Disrupted World”. India ranked 12th in women member presence on companies’ board globally; Norway Topped  The global recruitment tendering platform MyHiringClub.com and Sarkari-Naukri.info has conducted a study titled ‘Women on Board 2020’, which reveals the presence of women member on board of a company.  According to the study, India ranked 12th worldwide in women member presence on board.  Norway has topped the list with 40.72 percent women on board followed by Sweden with 30.84 percent and Finland 29.91 percent respectively.

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DAILY UPDATED CURRENT AFFAIRS: 17.03.2020 TO 19.03.2020

.12.2018 BANKING AND ECONOMY 39th GST Council meet on.2018 ‘Know your Supplier’  Changes in the GST rates; w.e.f April 1, 2020.  GST on mobile phones.11.2018 and specified parts were increased to 18% from 12%.  GST on Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) service in respect to aircraft was reduced to 5% from 18% with full ITC (Input Tax Credit).  GST on all types of matchsticks has been rationalised to a single GST rate of 12%. Till now, the handmade ones were taxed at 5% and the rest was taxed at 18%.  GST council has introduced KYShas been so that the taxpayers get the basic details of the suppliers and also able to identify the compliance of the supplier.  Goods and Services Tax collections in February 2020 were at 1, 05,366 crore. RBI issued new guidelines for payment aggregators; MCR reduced for new PAs to Rs 15 crore from Rs 100 crore  Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued new guidelines for the payment aggregators (PAs) to provide ease for payments industry players.  These are issued under Section 18 read with Section 10(2) of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007 and shall come into effect from April 1, 2020. The new rules are for non-bank PAs.  Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued new guidelines for the payment aggregators (PAs) to provide ease for payments industry players. These are issued under Section 18 read with Section 10(2) of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007 and shall come into effect from April 1, 2020. The new rules are for non-bank PAs. RBI opened dollar-swap window along with infusion of Rs 1, 00,000 crore through LTRO  There is global instability in financial markets due to the spread of COVID 19 (Coronavirus), which may lead to a slowdown in growth.  Every economy is making efforts to stabilize the financial market condition, among them, the Central Bank of India i.e. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has opened a six-month dollar sell-buy swap window, and will also inject Rs 1,00,000 crore additional Long Term Repo Operations (LTROs) at the policy repo rate.  These measures taken by RBI are to boost liquidity in the foreign exchange market of India and will serve the requirement of U.S. dollars in the market.  Under this, RBI will provide $2 billion to the banks that need it through a swap. Simply, RBI will give dollars and the buyer bank will give rupees and the transaction will be reversed on September 25, 2020. This is the second time RBI has come out with the dollar-swap window in this month.  Earlier, on March 16, 2020, RBI conducted U.S. dollar-rupee sell-buy swaps worth $2 billion. Microsoft, NASSCOM launched Innovate for Accessible India campaign  Microsoft India and NASSCOM Foundation have launched the Innovate for Accessible India campaign to empower people with disabilities.  The campaign aims at empowering people with disabilities with the technology and tools required for better integration into society and access to equal opportunities. Flipkart Joined Hand with AEGON to sell digital life insurance policies  E-commerce major Flipkart has partnered with Aegon Life Insurance to sell paperless life insurance policies on its platform.  The product aims to make life insurance available to customers at the click of a button in a convenient and transparent manner, without the requirement of medical tests or paperwork.  All the existing Flipkart customers, aged between 18 and 65 years, can buy an instant digital policy with a sum assured of upto 10 lakh from March 2020. PERSON IN NEWS  Hirdesh Kumar appointed as the New Chief Electoral Officer of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) by the Election Commission of India (ECI).

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 Barham Salih, President.12.2018 of Iraq appoints 54- year- old Adnan al-Zurfi as Prime Minister (PM) of Iraq. .2018  Bajaj Auto Limited, an Indian global two-wheeler & three-wheeler manufacturing company, has approved the re-appointment.11.2018 of Rajivnayan Rahulkumar Bajaj as its Managing Director (MD) and CEO (Chief Executive Officer) for a further period of 5- years with effect from April 1, 2020.  The government nominated former Chief Justice of India (CJI) RanjanGogoi, 65 years old, to Rajya Sabha. He was nominated by President of India Shri Ram NathKovind, under the exercise of the powers conferred by sub-clause (a) of clause (1) of article 80 of the Constitution of India, read with clause (3) of that article to the Council of States and to fill the vacancy caused due to the retirement of one of the nominated members. RanjanGogoi will be the successor of K.T.S Tulsi. SPORTS&GAMES  Table tennis star Sharathkamal wins men’s singles title at ITTF challenger plus Oman Open 2020 held in Muscat.  Badminton Star Tai Tzu Ying and Viktor Axelsen Wins All England Championship.  The Football club ATK FC has won the Hero Indian Super League (Hero ISL) 2019-20 title beating Chennaiyin FC 3-1 in finals held at the Fatorda, (Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium) in Margao, Goa. AWARDS & HONOURS  Indian journalists ArfaKhanumSherwani, senior editor of the news website ‘The Wire’ and Bengaluru-based freelancer Rohini Mohan jointly won the “Chameli Devi Jain Award 2019” for outstanding Women media persons.  Centre for Media Studies (CMS) announced that Prachi Salve of IndiaSpend and Pradeep Dwivedi of DainikJagran as the first winner of Road Safety (RS) Media Fellowship 2019, for their work in contribution towards reporting on road safety. DAY & DATES  National Vaccination Day: 16 March, In India, the National Vaccination Day (also known as National Immunization Day (IMD)) is observed on 16 March ever year, to raise the awareness for the eradication of polio from the planet.  Ordnance Factories’ Day in India: 18 March  Global Recycling Day: March 18, the main aim of the day is to turn ‘waste’ into a valuable resource. ONELINERS  “An Extraordinary Life: A biography of Manohar Parrikar” is a book on the life of the former defence minister and Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar. The book is co-authored by veteran journalists SadguruPatil and MayabhushanNagvenkar.  The Kerala government has launched a mass hand washing campaign named ‘break the chain’ to combat coronavirus. The campaign aims to educate people about the importance of public and personal hygiene.  S&P Global Ratings has reduced India’s economic growth forecast from 5.7% to 5.2% for financial year 2020.  Paytm Payments Bank Ltd (PPBL) has partnered with Visa to issue Visa debit cards. With this, Paytm will issue over 10 million new digital debit cards in FY 2020-2021 to its customers. Ravinder Singh Dhillon has been appointed as the Chairman and Managing Director of Power Finance Corporation (PFC).  The French Open tennis tournament has been postponed by the French Tennis Federation due to the coronavirus pandemic. The 2020 edition of Roland Garros (French Open tennis tournament) will now held in the month of September-October 2020.  The book titled “My Encounters in Parliament” authored by Bhalchandra Mungekar was released.

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