WEEKLY UPDATED CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR WEEK 10/(4-10 MARCH) (2019)
Rangotsav begins at Barsana in Mathura The famous Rangotsav celebration began on 3 March at Barsana in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh. The festival was inaugurated by the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. The 35th edition of AAHAR, Food, and Hospitality fair, began in New Delhi The 35th edition of AAHAR-the Food and Hospitality fair began in New Delhi on 3 March. The fair will be held from 3-7 March 2020. Organizing Team: The fair is organized by India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) along with the Ministry of Food Processing Industries (FPI), Agriculture and Processed Food Products Development Authority (APEDA) and several apex industry associations. World Bank announces 12 billion USD aid to fight coronavirus The World Bank announced 12 billion USD to assist countries that are grappling with economic impacts of coronavirus. The virus has reached 60 countries so far. The World Bank is to provide financial aid for the countries to act upon the needs and develop a fast response towards the spread of the virus. The bank released a statement announcing an emergency fast track package that includes low-cost loans, grants, and technical assistance. Pune to host 108th Indian Science Congress in 2021 The Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA) announced that Pune will host the annual session of 108th Indian Science Congress on January 3-7, 2021. The theme of the ISCA is “Science and Technology for Sustainable Development with Women Empowerment” and focus on economic growth, environmental protection and social inclusion of all communities using science and technology. It will also see deliberations on providing equal opportunities to women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) while achieving sustainable development. RBL Bank inks partnership with Zomato to launch co-branded credit cards India private sector bank, RBL Bank (formerly known as Ratnakar Bank ltd) inks partnership with Online food ordering and delivery app Zomato to launch co-branded credit cards, powered by Mastercard. This partnership will help the online food delivery platform further cement its position in India’s dining market by offering benefits such as Zomato credits on purchases, and increase the reach of its flagship membership program Zomato Gold. IIT Mandi signs deal with NABARD for setting up FPOs The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Mandi & Enabling Women of Kamand (EWOK) Society has inked a tripartite deal with the National Bank For Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) for setting up three Farmer Producer Organization in Mandi, Himachal Pradesh. NABARD has sanctioned an amount of Rs 35 lakhs to EWOK Society and IIT Mandi for 3 FPOs to be established in the next 3 years. Sudhanshu Pandey becomes new CMD of MMTC Ltd Sudhanshu Pandey has assumed additional charge as Chairman and Managing Director of Metals and Minerals Trading Corporation (MMTC) Ltd. He is presently served as Additional Secretary at the Department of Commerce. He was the successor of Ved Prakash. Khelo India University Games 2020 Highlights Khelo India University Games 2020 was held for the first time at Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) University, Bhubaneshwar, Odisha. The games were held from 22 February to 1 March 2020. Over 4,000 top athletes from a total of about 176 universities across India participated in the event. Launching Team: The Khelo India University Games was launched by the GoI in partnership with the Government of the State of Odisha. The competition was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Plot-1441, Opp. IOCL Petrol Pump, CRP Square, Bhubaneswar-751015 Ph. :8093556677, 9040456677, Web :www.vanik.org, E-mail : [email protected] 1
WEEKLY UPDATED CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR WEEK 10/(4-10 MARCH) (2019)
Aim:The aim of Khelo India University Games is to make it an aspirational competition for India’s youngsters to help them find a balance between sport and education. President to confer National Lalit Kala Akademi Awards President Ram Nath Kovind is to confer Lalit Kala Akademi’s 61st annual awards to 15 artists on 4 March 2020 at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi. The award appreciates the extraordinary talents to perform even better in the future. List of Winners: Anoop Kumar Manzukhi Gopi from Thrissur, Kerala David Malakar from Kolkata, West Bengal Devendra Kumar Khare from Vadodara, Gujarat Dinesh Pandya from Mumbai, Maharashtra Faruque Ahmed Halder from 24 Parganas in Kolkata, West Bengal Hari Ram Kumbhawat from Jaipur, Rajasthan Keshari Nandan Prasad from Jaipur, Rajasthan Mohan Kumar T from Bengaluru, Karnataka Ratan Krishna Saha from Mumbai, Maharashtra Sagar Vasant Kamble from Mumbai, Maharashtra Satwinder Kaur from New Delhi Sunil Thiruvayur from Ernakulam, Kerala Tejaswi Narayan Sonawane from Solapur, Maharashtra Yashpal Singh from Delhi Janaushadhi week is celebrated from 1-7 March Janaushadhi week is celebrated in India from 1-7 March 2020. During this occasion, various activities like health checkup Camp, Jan AushadhiParicharcha, Jan Aushadhi ka sath are being undertaken. Campaigns for blood pressure checkups, sugar level checkups, free doctor consultation, and free medicine distribution are hosted at various Jan AushadhiKendras. People who visited these health camps were also informed and educated about the price benefits and quality of the medicines being sold at Jan AushadhiKendras. Cabinet approved amalgamation of PSBs with effect from 1 April The Union Cabinet led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the consolidation of ten Public Sector Banks (PSBs) into four. The amalgamation of the PSBs will be effective from 1 April 2020. The banks include: 1. amalgamation of Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) and United Bank of India into Punjab National Bank (PNB) 2. amalgamation of Syndicate Bank into Canara Bank 3. amalgamation of Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank into Union Bank of India 4. amalgamation of Allahabad Bank into Indian Bank ♦ The amalgamation is aimed to create seven large PSBs with scale and national reach, with each amalgamated entity having a business of over Rs.8 lakh crore. The move is expected to help create banks with a scale that can be compared to global banks and capable to compete effectively in India and globally. NABARD infused Rs 1.46 lakh crore in the rural banking system National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has infused Rs.1.46 lakh crore in the rural banking system during the current fiscal. The bank stated that it had given Rs.66,397 crore in short-term credit and Rs.6,704 crore in long-term credit to rural cooperative banks. Regional rural banks (RRB) have availed Rs.14,141 crore in short-term credit and Rs.8,417 crore in long-term credit. Uttarakhand Govt announces Gairsain to be its summer capital The state government of Uttarakhand has announced that “Gairsain” will be the summer capital of Uttarakhand. Gairsain is a tehsil located in Chamoli district.
Plot-1441, Opp. IOCL Petrol Pump, CRP Square, Bhubaneswar-751015 Ph. :8093556677, 9040456677, Web :www.vanik.org, E-mail : [email protected] 2
WEEKLY UPDATED CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR WEEK 10/(4-10 MARCH) (2019)
The historic announcement was made by the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, Trivendra Singh Rawat on the conclusion of his budget speech during the assembly session held in Gairsain. Luxembourg becomes 1st country to make public transport free Luxembourg, the 7th smallest country in Europe, has been made public transport free to reduce traffic pressure on the road. It becomes the 1st country in the world to make public transport free. It abolished fares for trains, trams and buses. The main reason is to have a better quality of mobility, and then the side reason is clearly also environmental issues. Sri Lanka will lead science, technology and innovation sector in BIMSTEC The 20th Session of the senior officials’ meeting (SoM) was held in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on 3 March 2020. The meeting was chaired by Sri Lankan Foreign Secretary RavinathaAryasinha. Highlights: ♦ In the meeting, it was decided that Sri Lanka will lead the science, technology, and innovation sector in the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC). ♦ It was also decided that a facility for technology transfer is planned to be opened in the future. Mumbai to host 2023 IOC session Mumbai will be hosting the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) session in 2023. The announcement was passed by IOC president Thomas Bach. The committee chose India to encourage and support the National Olympic Committee of India and all the National Federations to promote and strengthen Olympic sport in the country. The decision by IOC committee is yet to be ratified at the 136th IOC session in Tokyo in July 2020. Ajay Bhushan Pandey becomes new Finance Secretary Government of India appointed the current Revenue Secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey as the new Finance Secretary. Pandey replaces current Finance Secretary Rajiv Kumar. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment. He had earlier worked as chief executive officer of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), the organization behind the Aadhaar. Sanjay Kumar Panda becomes India’s next Ambassador to Turkey The Ministry of External Affairs announced Senior diplomat Sanjay Kumar Panda has been appointed as India’s Ambassador to Turkey. He will succeed Sanjay Bhattacharya. Sunil Joshi becomes new chairman of BCCI’s selection committee Former Indian cricketer Sunil Joshi becomes the new chairman of the national selection panel by the BCCI’s Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) in Mumbai. The CAC also select former Indian cricketer Harvinder Singh for a place in the five-member group. The CAC, comprising Madan Lal, RP Singh and Sulakshana Naik, select the two selectors with Joshi replacing South Zone representative MSK Prasad. Chandrayaan-III mission to be launched in first half of 2021 The Union Minister Jitendra Singh announced that ISRO’s Chandrayaan-III would be launched in the first half of 2021. A slight delay might happen in the launching of the third moon mission. Chandrayaan-III mission: ♦Chandrayaan-III mission was configured based on the lessons learnt from Chandrayaan-II. ♦ The revised configuration is expected to take care of the robustness in design, capacity enhancement for mission flexibility. ♦ It retains the heritage of Chandrayaan-II. ISRO postpones the launch of GISAT-1 satellite ISRO launch of earth observation satellite GISAT-1 has been postponed due to technical reasons. Earlier, it was planned to launch the earth observation satellite on 5 March. ISRO has revised the launch date, and it will be informed in due course. Plot-1441, Opp. IOCL Petrol Pump, CRP Square, Bhubaneswar-751015 Ph. :8093556677, 9040456677, Web :www.vanik.org, E-mail : [email protected] 3
WEEKLY UPDATED CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR WEEK 10/(4-10 MARCH) (2019)
The satellite was one of the key launches planned by the country’s space agency for 2020. EPFO lowered the interest rate on PF deposits to 8.5 percent Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has lowered the interest rate on PF deposits to 8.5% for the current financial year 2019-20. EPFO’s rate cut: ♦ For the financial year 2018-19, EPFO provided a 6.85% rate of interest on EPF. ♦ The decision was made at the Central Board of Trustees (CBT). The announcement was made by Union Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar in New Delhi on 5 March 2020. GoI capped Rs 50,000 withdrawal limit on Yes Bank account holder The Central Government of India imposed temporary prohibition of the activity of the capital-starved Yes Bank and capped withdrawals at Rs50,000 per account after considering an application made by the Reserve Bank of India. The board of Yes Bank has been superseded with immediate effect by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The RBI also assured the depositors of the bank that their interest will be fully protected and there is no need to panic. Former SBI CFO Prashant Kumar has been appointed as administrator of Yes Bank. Yes Bank has been grappling with mounting bad loans. The latest development comes six months after the regulator did the same with the city-based cooperative lender PMC Bank after a large scam was unearthed. Zomato acquires UberEats India for $206 million Zomato, an Indian restaurant aggregator and food delivery startup has acquired Uber’s food delivery business in India. Uber Eats for $206 million, where the investment was priced at $171 million, the balance $35 million was received as a reimbursement of goods and services tax (GST) receivable from Zomato. GAF-2020 festival to be held in Kochi The Fourth Global Ayurveda Festival (GAF) will be held at Kochi in Kerala from 16-20 May. A curtain raiser event was organized in New Delhi for the GAF on 5 March. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will participate in the summit. Theme: The theme for the five-day event is “Ayurveda Medical Tourism: Actualizing India’s credibility.” ChapcharKut festival began in Mizoram ChapcharKut began in all parts of Mizoram on 5 March 2020. The festival will be held on 5-6 March. The festival is celebrated at the Assam Rifles Ground at Aizawl. Namaste Orchha festival begins in Madhya Pradesh ‘Namaste Orchha’ festival begins in Orchha, a town in Niwari district of Madhya Pradesh. Orchha is a famous tourist destination popular for its Ramaraja temple as well as other historical buildings. The festival aims to create new opportunities to promote the rich cultural, natural and architectural heritage, traditions and history of the state. JanezJansa elected as PM of Slovenia JanezJansa, an anti-immigrant politician, was elected as the new Prime Minister of Slovenia. Slovenia’s lawmakers backed the selection of Jansa as the new prime minister. It paved the way to form a right-leaning government. International Conference on Nano Science and Technology is being held in Kolkata “International Conference on Nano Science and Technology” (ICONSAT) is being held from 5-7 March at Kolkata. It was organized by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) Nano Mission that functions under the Ministry of Science and Technology. TIME named 100 historical Women of the Year including Kaur, Indira Gandhi Former Indian PM Indira Gandhi and freedom fighter Amrit Kaur was named by the TIME magazine among the world’s 100 powerful women in the last century. TIME has named Kaur as ‘Women of the Year’ for the year 1947 and Indira Gandhi for the year 1976.
Plot-1441, Opp. IOCL Petrol Pump, CRP Square, Bhubaneswar-751015 Ph. :8093556677, 9040456677, Web :www.vanik.org, E-mail : [email protected] 4
WEEKLY UPDATED CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR WEEK 10/(4-10 MARCH) (2019)
Time is an American weekly news magazine and news website published in New York City. It was founded in 1923 and for many years it was run by its influential co-founder Henry Luce. A European edition is published in London and also covers the Middle East, Africa, and, since 2003, Latin America. Philippines will host the Badminton Asia Championships The Badminton Asia Championships will be held in the capital of Philippines i.e. Manila. The Badminton Asia Championship was earlier scheduled to be held in Wuhan, China. Due to Novel Coronavirus outbreak in China, the Badminton Asia has took a decision to move the Badminton Asia Championships from Wuhan to Manila. The Novel Coronavirus outbreak has caused cancellation, postponement or shifting of the several badminton tournaments as well as other tournaments in recent weeks all over the world. Minister Smriti Irani released a book titled Chronicles of Change Champions Union Minister of Women & Child Development Smriti Zubin Irani released a book, titled “Chronicles of Change Champions” at an event held in New Delhi. Moody’s again slashes India’s growth projection for 2020 to 5.3% In less than a month’s time, rating agency Moody’s Investors Service has revised downward its baseline growth projections for India to 5.3% for 2020 from 5.4% earlier, cautioning that an extensive and prolonged slump as a result of COVID-19 outbreak will reduce growth in Asia’s third largest economy to 5% during the same calendar year. The rating agency had reduced India’s growth projection to 5.4% from 6.6% earlier for the calendar year 2020. First ever Khelo India Winter Games begin at Gulmarg in Kashmir Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Kiren Rijiju inaugurated the first-ever five-day Khelo India Winter Games at Gulmarg. Jammu and Kashmir’s Gulmarg hosting Khelo India Winter Games 2020 from March 7th to 11th.The sports shall be organized every year at Gulmarg. The training academy should be established on the standards of the International level in which international coaches shall impart training to sportspersons. Denys Shmygal becomes Ukraine’s new prime minister Ukraine parliament approved Denys Shmygal as a new prime minister of Ukraine. He is the nominee of Volodymyr Zelensky, the President of Ukraine. Defending champion Australia wins Women’s T20 World Cup title Defending champions Australia wins Women’s T20 World Cup 2020. Australia bowled India out for 99 runs to clinch the final by 85 runs for a record-extending fifth Women’s T20 World Cup title at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), Australia. Beth Mooney has been adjudged Player of the Tournament & Alyssa Healy has been adjudged the Player of the Match.
Plot-1441, Opp. IOCL Petrol Pump, CRP Square, Bhubaneswar-751015 Ph. :8093556677, 9040456677, Web :www.vanik.org, E-mail : [email protected] 5