www.gradeup.co Top Current Affairs of the Week (8- 15 March 2020) 1.Australia beat India to win ICC Women's T20 World Cup for record fifth time • Australia (Defending champions) have won the ICC Women's T20 World Cup for record fifth time, outclassing India by 85 runs in the summit clash at Melbourne. • Australia posted 184 at the loss of four wickets. • India team were bundled out for 99 in 19.1 overs. Note: • The ICC Women's T20 World Cup is the biennial international championship for women's Twenty20 International cricket. • The event is organised by the sport's governing body, the International Cricket Council. 2.8th March: International Women's Day • International Women's Day (IWD) is being celebrated every year on 8th March to highlight the achievements of women while calling for greater equality. • It is a day when women are recognized for their achievements without regard to divisions, whether national, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic or political. • The UN Women’s theme for 2020 is “I am Generation Equality:Realizing Women’s Rights". • Women's Day was first observed on 28th February 1909 in New York, USA. Want to Join Indian Armed Forces,Click here! 3.Kieron Pollard becomes first player to play 500 T20s • West Indies skipper Kieron Pollard became the first player in the history of T20 cricket to feature in 500 matches. • Dwayne Bravo is second in the list with 453 matches under his belt so far. • Chris Gayle is at the third spot in the list as he has featured in 404 T20 matches. • The jersey had the all-rounder's name at the back along with the number 500. 4.Sri Lanka to host 5th BIMSTEC Summit in September • Sri Lanka will host the next Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) summit (5th edition) in early September this year. • The summit will be preceded by the 17th Ministerial Meeting and 21st Senior Officials Meeting by the end of 2020. • Sri Lanka is the Chair of BIMSTEC between 2018 & 2020 and it will hand over the chairmanship to Thailand by the end of 2020. 5.India admitted as fifth observer to Indian Ocean Commission 1 www.gradeup.co • India was admitted to the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC) as an observer country(fifth observer). • The other four observers China, Malta, European Union and International Organisation of La Francophonie (OIF). • The member states are known to be erstwhile French colonies or partly British, partly French colonies. • The IOC was created in 1982 at Port Louis, Mauritius, and later institutionalised in 1984. 6.First ever Khelo India Winter Games begin at Gulmarg in Kashmir • Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Kiren Rijiuju inaugurated the five-day Khelo India Winter games at famous tourist destination Gulmarg in Jammu and Kashmir. • During the event, the competitions in the sports disciplines like snow skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, ski mountaineering and snow baseball would be held. • The GoI will establish a Sports Training Academy at Gulmarg at the level of International Standards for the promotion of sports tourism. विजय CAPF 2020: A Master Course 7.Indian Coast Guards conducts SAREX-2020 in Goa • The final exercise of the National level Search and Rescue Exercise (SAREX-2020) was conducted by the Indian Coast Guard in the sea at Vasco, South Goa district. • The exercise was carried out and rehearsals for SAREX were conducted on 4th March this year. • It was observed by observers from 19 countries. • ICG conducts this exercise biennially under the aegis of National Maritime Search and Rescue Board (NMSARB) since 2003. 8.Telangana’s VC ‘Praveen Rao’ wins Swaminathan Award • Telangana Agricultural University Vice-Chancellor V Praveen Rao has won the Dr MS Swaminathan Award (7th) for the period 2017-2019. • The award recognised his contributions in the fields of agricultural research, teaching, extension and administration. • This biennial national award was constituted by Retired ICAR Employees Association (RICAREA) and Nuziveedu Seeds Limited (NSL). • It carries a prize of Rs. 2 lakh and a citation. 9.Ashraf Ghani appointed as the president of Afghanistan • Ashraf Ghani was sworn in as the president of Afghanistan for a second term defeating his rival Abdullah. • The oath-taking ceremony of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani was attended by hundreds of people, including visiting foreign dignitaries, diplomats and senior political figures. 2 www.gradeup.co 10.NASA announced the name of the 5th Mars (red planet) rover as Perseveran • NASA's next Mars rover is named ‘Perseverance’. • It is a six-wheeled robotic explorer and will blast off this summer to collect Martian samples for eventual return to Earth. • The rover is undergoing final preparations at NASA's Kennedy Space Centre. • The nameplate will be on the rover's robot arm and serve as a protective rock guard. 11.India remains second-largest arms importer in 2019 • India remained the world’s second largest arms importer during the period 2015-19, with Russia being the largest supplier. • Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest importer of arms. • Pakistan was ranked at 11th position in arms imports in the world over as per the latest report • SIPRI stands for Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. 12.Government sets up a committee on Kisan Rail • Union Government set up a committee comprising of representatives of Agriculture and Railway Ministries for the implementation of Kisan Rail. • Kisan Rail was proposed in the Union Budget 2020 to transfer perishables and doubling the farmers income by 2022 through public-private partnership (PPP) arrangements. • The committee will also investigate cold supply chain for perishables by starting the express and freight trains with refrigerated coaches. 13.Gujarat tops in domestic solar rooftop installation • Gujarat has topped the list in the installations of solar rooftop plants across the country with about 50,915 systems being fixed on domestic rooftops in the State to achieve renewable power generation goals. • Gujarat has adopted Surya Gujarat scheme for the implementation of the rooftop installation. • Maharashtra stands on the second position with 5,513 installations as on the same date. 14.India remains second-largest arms importer in 2019 • As per news report by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, India retains its position as the second-largest arms importer in the world followed by Saudi Arabia. • The SIPRI report shows how Russia gradually lost the lucrative Indian arms market over the years, though the communist country remains a key supplier. • On the other hand, China accounted for 51% of Pakistan’s arms imports in 2010-14 and for 73% in 2015-19. 15.Nupur Kulshrestha becomes Indian Coast Guard's first woman DIG • Nupur Kulshrestha becomes the first woman to be promoted as DIG of Indian Coast Guard. • She joined the services in 1999 3 www.gradeup.co • The Indian Coast Guard is a multi-mission organization, conducting round-the-year real-life operations at sea and works in close coordination with the Indian Navy, the Department of Fisheries, the Department of Revenue (Customs) and the Central and State police forces. 16.Pankaj Advani wins 34th National Snooker title • Ace Indian cueist Pankaj Advani clinched the National 6-Red Snooker Championship with a convincing 7-3 final over Maharashtra’s Ishpreet Singh in Ahmedabad. • It is overall 34th national title for Advani. • In the women’s edition, Amee Kamani overcame Vidya Pillai 4-2 to win the title. Get Unlimited Access to all Defence Mock Tests 17.World Health Organization declares Covid-19 as a pandemic • World Health Organization (WHO) has characterised the new coronavirus outbreak as a pandemic. • According to WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the number of cases and deaths are likely to rise in the coming days and weeks. • UN chief Antonio Guterres has urged world governments to urgently scale up their response to the novel coronavirus if they are to stand a chance of stemming its spread. 18.Maharashtra govt approves implementation of "happy hour" for autorickshaws • Maharashtra government has approved the implementation of "happy hour" for autorickshaws as recommended by Khatua panel. • A government resolution states that fares will be slashed by 15 per cent between 12 noon and 4 pm. • The decision will however not be applicable to local taxis and app-based taxis. • The new concept will turn lean hours to happy hours, especially for housewives and senior citizens who normally don't have a fixed schedule for their outings. 19.Mohun Bagan are the Hero I-League Champions 2019-2020 • Indian football heavyweights Mohun Bagan clinched their second I-League title with a 1-0 win over Aizawl FC at Kalyani, West Bengal. • Their first I-League title came in 2014-15 season. • Bagan lifted the title even when four rounds are still to go in the season. • With this win, Mohun Bagan has 39 points from 16 matches. 20.Bhawna Dehariya climbs Australia’s Mount Kosciuszko • Indian mountaineer Bhawna Dehariya has successfully scaled Mount Kosciuszko, the highest mountain peak in Australia ((2,228-metres) • She had scaled Mount Kilimanjaro (5, 895 meters), the highest mountain peak in Tanzania on the occasion of Diwali in the year 2019 4 www.gradeup.co • Dehariya (hails from Madhya Pradesh) thanked Chief Minister Kamal Nath for supporting and motivating her to climb the summit. 21.Facebook launches ‘Pragati’ to boost women entrepreneurship in India • Facebook India called for applications for its CSR initiative, Facebook Pragati, powered by N/Core (The/Nudge Centre for Social Innovation). • The initiative will incubate and accelerate early-stage women-led non-profits that are working to drive women entrepreneurship and to spread awareness and adoption of technology among women in India.