DAILY UPDATED CURRENT AFFAIRS – 11.03.2018 TO 14.03.2018 French President on a 4-day visit to India • French President Emmanuel Macron arrived for a four-day-visit (March 9 to 12) to India, on the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Mr. Macron was accompanied by his wife Brigitte Marie-Claude Macron, besides senior ministers from his Cabinet. • India, France sign deals worth $16 billion: On the first day of President Macron's visit to India, French and Indian companies signed contracts worth 13 billion euros ($16 billion). • The biggest deals signed in terms of value were from civil aviation sector. Low-cost carrier SpiceJet signed $12.5-billion agreement with French aviation major Safran Group to supply 155 CFM LEAP-1B engines for airline’s Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, along with spare engines to support fleet. • Safran also announced its eighth facility in India at Hyderabad, Telangana with 250 employees, for production of harnesses used in civil and military aerospace applications, for both local and foreign programs. • French cement maker Vicat announced investment of Rs 1,200 crore in Karnataka to double its production capacity and investment of Rs. 510 crore in cement-grinding unit in Andhra Pradesh. • India, France sign strategic pact on use of each other’s military bases India, France sign 14 agreements: After extensive talks between Prime Minister Modi and French President Macron, India and France inked 14 key pacts in the strategic areas of security, nuclear energy, and the protection of classified information. Agreements in the field of education, environment, urban development, and railways were also signed in the presence of the two leaders. • Credit Facility Agreement of Euros 100 million for funding of Smart City Projects through a Challenge Process • Industrial Way Forward Agreement between NPCL and EDF, France for construction of six nuclear reactors at Jaitapur, Maharashtra. India, France co-hosted first International Solar Alliance (ISA) Summit • India, France co-hosted first International Solar Alliance (ISA) Summit at Rashtrapati Bhavan Convention Centre in New Delhi. • The summit was co-hosted by President Ram Nath Kovind and his French counterpart President Emmanuel Macron. Heads of 23 nations and 10 ministerial representatives gathered in New Delhi for alliance's first summit. • As of now, 121 countries are associated with ISA, 61 have joined the alliance and 32 have ratified the Framework Agreement. • The summit assumes significance in view of India's ambitious renewable energy target of having 175 GW clean energy capacities including 100 GW solar and 60 GW wind power by 2022. • The joint goal is to have 1 TW or 1000 GW of solar energy by 2030 for which the world would need $ 1,000 billion. • French President Emmanuel Macron announced an additional investment of 700 million euros ($860 million) for global solar energy generation by 2022 to reduce the use of fossil fuels and help combat climate change. In 2015, France announced to allocate some 300 million euros to support (solar) projects in member countries. • PM Modi announced India will give $1.4 billion in aid to 15 other developing nations for 27 more solar projects. It already has contributed $62 million to ISA corpus fund and for establishment of ISA secretariat. To supplement solar energy generation, India has distributed 28 crores LED bulbs in the last three years which have helped save $ 2 billion and 4 GW of electricity • He also announced the creation of 500 training slots per year for ISA member states. ‘Atal Jyoti Yojana’the Solar Study Lamp Scheme has benefitted seven million school going children. • Solar Mamas, a group of African women trained under a government of India support programme to harness solar energy, enthralled Prime Minister Narendra Modi and visiting French President Emmanuel Macron, along with delegates of several other countries, with a heartwarming rendition of "We Shall Overcome" and "Hum Honge Kamyab" here at the Founding Conference of the International Solar Alliance (ISA). India, France commit to boost bilateral trade: India and France today committed to increase bilateral trade to 15 billion euro by 2022. India-France bilateral trade rose to $10.96 billion (8.91 billion euro) in 2016-17 from $8.3 billion (6.74 billion euro) in 2015-16. France on Rafale fighter jet: France pitched for starting negotiations over procurement of another batch of 36 Rafale jets by India with French President Emmanuel Macron describing the fighter jet programme as a key aspect of the bilateral defence cooperation. India had signed a government-to-government deal with France in 2016 to buy 36 Rafale fighter jets at a cost of about the Rs 58,000 crore($8.7 billion). Other important point • The first Indo-French Knowledge Summit for university, scientific and technology cooperation was successfully held in New Delhi. • Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French president Emmanuel Macron jointly inaugurated the largest solar power plant of the state Uttar Pradesh at Dadar Kalan village of Chhanvey block in Mirzapur district. The heads of the two countries inspected the plant set up by French company ENGIE. • French president Emmanuel Macron Presented Prime minister Narendra Modi an original copy of the first translation of bhagavad gita done by French Indologist Emile Senart in 1922. • France- Capital: Paris, Currencies: Euro, Prime Minister: Édouard Philippe NATIONAL PM launches campaign to eradicate TB from India by 2025 • Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a campaign to eradicate tuberculosis (TB) from India by 2025, five years ahead of a globally-set deadline.A target has been set to end TB globally by 2030. • There were an estimated 28 lakh new cases of TB in 2016, with over 4 lakh people succumbing to the disease. 1441, Opp. IOCL Petrol Pump, CRPF Square, Bhubaneswar-750015 1 Ph. : (0674) 6556677, 8093556677. Web : www.vanik.org, E-mail : [email protected] DAILY UPDATED CURRENT AFFAIRS – 11.03.2018 TO 14.03.2018 • 24 March-World Tuberculosis Day 2018 IATA partners with Civil Aviation Ministry and National Aviation University • The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) and National Aviation University (NAU) to enhance human resource availability in India’s aviation industry. • The three parties to the MoU formalised this partnership on sidelines of Wings India 2018 held at the Begumpet Airport in Hyderabad, Telangana. • India is expected to be third largest aviation market in the world behind China and US by 2024. • IATA: It was established in April 1945 and is headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada with Executive Offices in Geneva, Switzerland. Government forms Tribunal to solve Mahanadi Water dispute between Odisha & Chhattisgarh • The Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation has constituted Mahanadi Water Dispute Tribunal for adjudication of longstanding disputes between Odisha and Chhattisgarh over sharing of Mahanadi river water. • The tribunal was formed under Section 4 of Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956 following directives of Supreme Court on January 2018. • Chief Justice of India (CJI) has nominated Supreme Court Judge A M Khanwilkar as chairman of Tribunal. Telangana govt launches start-up incubator for women The Telangana government has launched a start-up incubator to exclusively promote entrepreneurship among women. The facility was launched on the occasion of International Womens Day. The incubator, named We-Hub, is the countrys first state-led incubator exclusively for women entrepreneurs. India’s Biggest M&E Services Market, enTTech 2018 inaugurated in Mumbai India’s biggest Media & Entertainment Services Market – enTTech 2018 was inaugurated in Mumbai. The market, spread over two days (March 7 – 8, 2018) will see fast matchmaking between 100 international delegates and their Indian counterparts. SC extends deadline to link Aadhaar with various services till final judgement • The Supreme Court (five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra) extended the March 31 deadline for mandatory linking of Aadhaar to avail various services and welfare schemes run by the government. • This relaxation will be effective till the constitution bench delivers a final verdict on the validity of Aadhaar number and its enabling law. • The extension of the deadline would also apply on the mandatory linking with the bank accounts and mobile phone numbers. Centre to build 2,000-km of connectivity roads The government has planned to construct 1,911- km international connectivity roads and 3,319-km border roads under its flagship Bharatmala programme. The project would be completed in a phased manner, with the first phase set to be completed betweem 2017-18 and 2021-22. INTERNATIONAL Xi poised to become China’s leader for life President Xi Jinping is all set to become China’s leader-for-life as the country’s rubber-stamp parliament prepares to amend the Constitution to remove decades old two-term limit for the president. Xi is already regarded as the most powerful leader of China after Mao Zedong. This would make Xi the only leader after Mao and Deng Xiaoping whose thoughts were written into the Constitution. BILTERAL President inaugurates World Hindi Secretariat in Port Louis, Mauritius • President Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated World Hindi Secretariat building in Port Louis, Mauritius.The Secretariat is fully financed by Government of India and provided grant of Rs. 33 crore. • President Kovind visited Mauritius as part of first leg to his two-nation state visit (Mauritius and Madagascar). Later he will visit Madagascar, making him first Indian President to visit largest African island country. ECONOMY Passport details must for loans of Rs 50 crore and above Passport details of borrowers taking loans of Rs 50 crore and more have been made mandatory to ensure a swift action in case of fraud and prevent fraudsters from fleeing the country.