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www.aspirantszone.com A2Z March 2019 Current Affairs PDF

A2Z Current Affairs PDF

for upcoming exams

March 2019

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MOU/Agreement Countries

India will collaborate with Bhutan, Nepal, Indonesia and Malaysia to increase the population of three species of

Asian rhinos, including the Greater one-horned rhinoceros found in the Indian sub-continent. The five rhino range

nations signed a declaration ‘The New Delhi Declaration on Asian Rhinos 2019’ for the conservation and protection

of the species at the recently held Second Asian Rhino Range Countries meeting in New Delhi.

The Indian Council of Medical Research and the African Union (AU) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)

which formalised the India-Africa Health Sciences Collaborative Platform (IAHSP) by establishing a framework.

French Space Agency CNES signed an agreement with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to set up a

maritime surveillance centre in the country.

India signed a $3.3 billion deal with Russia for leasing the third nuclear-powered Akula class attack submarine. An

Inter Governmental Agreement (IGA) was signed between the two countries in New Delhi. The submarine, to be

called Chakra -3, will be delivered in 2025 for a 10-year period.

National space agency ISRO and its French counterpart The National Centre for Space Studies (CNES) sealed an

agreement to set up a joint maritime surveillance system in the country in May. The two nations will explore

putting up a constellation of low-Earth orbiting satellites that will identify and track movement of ships globally and

in particular those moving in the Indian Ocean region where France has its Reunion Islands.

Experts from the University of Birmingham and policy makers and researchers from India announced a

collaboration to jointly develop strategies to resolve health, social and economic issues linked to air pollution in

Delhi.

Maldives finance ministry has signed an agreement with India’s Export-Import bank (EXIM) for line of credit (LOC)

of 800 million US dollars to finance the new government’s infrastructure projects. The agreement with EXIM Bank

was signed in presence of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj two-day visit to Male. The concessional loans will be used

to provide water and sewerage services on several islands.

MOU Industry/States/Others

Government think tank NITI Aayog partnered with software major Adobe to develop creative skills and spread

digital literacy among school children in India. The Statement of Intent (SOI) signed by NITI Aayog and Adobe as

part of the Atal Innovation Mission will open Digital Disha Programme across 100 schools under the Atal Tinkering

Labs (ATL).

The National Health Authority (NHA), the apex body implementing the Ayushman Bharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan

Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) has inked an MoU with Uber.

Maharatna public sector units GAIL India Ltd and Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) have inked a memorandum of

understanding (MoU) for cooperation in the development of solar power projects.

HP Inc India has signed a pact with with Andhra Pradesh Innovation Society (APIS) and Andhra Pradesh Economic

Development Board (APEDB) to build a Center of Excellence (CoE) that would 3D printing technology work.

Indian IT apex body Nasscom said it has entered into a partnership with Xuzhou city in Jiangsu province to develop

an IT corridor in eastern China. The new corridor will facilitate partnerships between Indian and Chinese firms as

part of Nasscom’s efforts to evangelise IT development in newer geographies.

Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) and National Health Agency (NHA) will set up a

joint working group for better implementation of Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY).

The working group will do a comparative study of packages and define standards for quality healthcare.








The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the

Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for effective implementation of the new bankruptcy law.

ICICI Lombard and Mobikwik announced a strategic partnership to provide cyber-insurance cover. The relationship

aims to provide protection against unauthorised and fraudulent transactions online, across bank accounts, debit &

credit cards and mobile wallets.

In a bid to curb fake news during the general elections, WhatsApp and NASSCOM Foundation came together to

impart digital literacy training. As part of the partnership, WhatsApp and NASSCOM Foundation will train nearly

1,00,000 Indians to spot false information and provide tips and tricks to stay safe on WhatsApp.

Infosys would open a digital innovation centre at Bucharest in Romania to develop software for clients based on

cloud, big data, artificial intelligence and machine learning. The $11-billion outsourcing firm also tied up with the

University of Bucharest and the University Politehnica Bucharest for innovation and Romanian workforce

development, including joint training courses, scholarships and research.

Ola, one of the world’s largest ride-hailing platforms, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the

Government of Telangana, to support their efforts towards strengthening the traffic infrastructure in Hyderabad

city.

The Ministry of Human Resource Development signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Higher

Education, Afghanistan to work on Digital Education Initiatives that will include many programs developed by

Indian Institutes of Technology. IIT Madras will also be a part of the collaborations.

The IIT Kharagpur has signed an MoU with Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) to set up a

Petaflop high performance computing facility and data center funded under the National Supercomputing Mission.

Appointments and Resignations

Name Post Other Info

Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant will head the National Mission on Transformative Mobility and Battery Storage,

which is being set up to promote clean and sustainable mobility initiatives in the country.

Gauri Sawant India’s 1st Transgender Election Ambassador

from Maharashtra

Madhusudan Mistry Election observer for Maharashtra

Vivek Dube Central Police Observer for West Bengal and

Jharkhand

K.K. Sharma Central Police Observer for Andhra Pradesh and

Telangana

M K Das Central Police Observer for Tripura and Mizoram

Gopal Mukherjee Special Expenditure Observers for Andhra

Pradesh and Telangana

D.D. Goel Special Expenditure Observers for Arunachal

Pradesh and Nagaland

Madhu Mahajan Special Expenditure Observers for Karnataka and

Tamil Nadu

Shailendra Handa Special Expenditure Observers for Maharashtra

and Gujarat

Girish N. Gowda (paralympic high

jumper)

Election Ambassador for Karnataka








Subhash Chandra Garg Finance Secretary

Hasmukh Adhia Chancellor of Gujarat Central University Former Finance

Secretary

Vice Admiral Karambir Singh Chief of Naval Staff After Sunil Lanba

retires in May 2019

Pramod Sawant 11th Chief Minister of Goa

Vijai Sardesai and Manohar

Ajgaonkar

Deputy CMs of Goa

Justice D.K.Jain Ethics Officer of the Indian cricket board on an

ad-hoc basis

He is BCCI Ombudsman

P Venkata Ramesh Babu Director General of the National Archives of India

MA Hampiholi Director General Naval Operations (DGNO)

Nagendra Nath Sinha NHAI Chief NHAI - National

Highways Authority of

India

Sanjeev Ranjan Road Transport Secretary Former Supreme Court

judge

Pinaki Chandra Ghose India’s 1st Lokpal

Ajit Singh 1st Lokayukta of Odisha

C Lalsawta 1st Lokayukta of Mizoram

Bhagwan Lal Sahni Chairman of the National Commission for

Backward Classes

Ajay Narayan Jha 15th Finance Commission Member Replaces Shaktikanta

Das

P K Bezbaruah Chairman of Tea Board

Hasmukh Adhia Non-Executive Chairman of Bank of Baroda. He is former Finance

Secretary

Ravneet Gill Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive

Officer (CEO) of Yes Bank

Takes over from Rana

Kapoor

Rakesh Makhija Non-executive, part-time, chairman of Axis Bank

Ashu Khullar Citibank India CEO

MR Kumar Chairman of Life Insurance Corporation (LIC)

Vipin Anand and TC Suseel Kumar Managing Directors of Life Insurance Corporation

(LIC)

Ajit Kumar Mohanty Director of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre

Virender Sehwag Brand Ambassador of PolicyX.com

Aamir Khan PhonePe’s Brand Ambassador

Aditya Kumar Misra Chairman of the Agricultural Scientific

Recruitment Board (ASRB

S S Mundra Non-Executive Chairman, Acuite Ratings and

Research

Former deputy RBI

governor

Ritu Beri Cultural and Tourism Ambassador of Uzbekistan

in India

Indian fashion designer

K.M. Mammen Chairman Of Automotive Tyre Manufacturers’ Association (ATMA)








K. Govindaraj President of the Basketball Federation of India

(BFI)

Anil Kumble Chairman of the ICC Cricket Committee

Randhir Singh Chairman of the Coordination Committee of the

2022 Hangzhou Asian Games

Soumya Swaminathan Chief Scientist of the WHO (World Health

Organisation)

Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah President of Olympic Council of Asia

Veselin Matic (from Serbia) Head coach of the Indian men’s basketball team

Padma Lakshmi Goodwill Ambassador of United Nations

Development Programme (UNDP)

Mohammad Shtayyeh Prime Minister of Palestine

Kaja Kallas Prime Minister of Estonia First female PM of

Estonia

Macky Sall President of Senegal

Azali Assoumani President of Comoros

Zuzana Caputova President of Slovakia

RESIGNATIONS:

Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev resigned from his position after nearly 30 years in power.

Jet Airways Chairman Naresh Goyal stepped down from his position.

Kummanam Rajasekharan resigned as Mizoram Governor, Jagdish Mukhi given additional charge.

Leading industrialist Rahul Bajaj will step down as the Chairman and Non-Executive Director of Bajaj Finserv.

Awards and Recognitions

Award Name Person/Institution Extra Knowledge

Croatia’s highest civilian order, the

Grand Order of the King of Tomislav

President Ram Nath Kovind

BusinessLine Changemaker Of The

Year award

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Over successful implementation of

the Goods and Services Tax (GST)

1st AB Vajpayee Life Time

Achievement Award

Thanga Darlong He is from Tripura. He is thelast tribal

musician to play Rosem a bamboo

made a flute-like musical instrument

Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award Dr. Rajendra Kumar Joshi Theme of 2019 Pravasi Bharatiya

Divas convention was ‘Role of Indian

Diaspora in building New India.’ First prize of DD Mahila Kisan Award

for 2018-19

Swati Shingade

Nari Shakti Puraskar’ award Kathak dancer Seema Mehta For her contribution towards women

empowerment over the last 15 years.

Yashwantrao Chavan National Award

2018

Raghuram Rajan Ex-RBI Governor

Chameli Devi Jain Award for an

Outstanding Woman Journalist for the

year 2018

Priyanka Dubey (BBC

journalist)








Golden Peacock Innovative Product

Award – 2019

ACKO General Insurance

‘Non-Life Insurer of The Year Award

2019 by the Assocham

Bharti AXA General Insurance

Sulabh Sculpture Award Phani Bhushan Biswas

“Kusumagraj” national award for

literature

Film director and novelist Ved

Rahi

Param Vishisht Seva Medal Chief of Army Staff Bipin

Rawat

Commonwealth Youth Award for the

Asian region

Padmanaban Gopalan Founder of No Food Waste.

Awarded for his work towards

achieving the UN’s Sustainable

Development Goal (SDG) of Zero

Hunger with his innovative system of

recovering excess food to distribute

to those in need.

Gollapudi Srinivas Award C Prem Kumar with Vijay

Sethupathi and Trisha

For his Tamil Film ‘96’

Vyas Samman 2018 Noted Hindi writer Leeladhar

Jagudi

For his collection of poems ‘Jitne Log

Utne Prem.’ Windham-Campbell Prize Journalist and writer Raghu

Karnad

For his debut book, The Farthest

Field: An Indian Story Of The Second

World War

Oxford University’s Bodley Medal Amartya Sen

Martha Farrell award 2019 Manu Gulati (Delhi govt.

school teacher)

Awarded for promoting gender

quality and women’s empowerment

2019 National STEM (Science,

Technology, Engineering and Math)

Education Award

Kavya Kopparapu Indian-American teenager

Hans Kilian Award 2019 Ashis Nandy He is Indian political psychologist

2019 Abel Prize U.S mathematician Karen

Keskulla Uhlenbeck

2018 Turing Award, known as the

“Nobel Prize of computing”

Yoshua Bengio, Geoffrey

Hinton, and Yann LeCun

Awarded for their work developing

the AI subfield of deep learning

‘Blue Plaque’ Honour Noor Inayat Khan Britain’s World War II spy. First

Indian-origin woman to be honoured

Pritzker Prize Japanese architect Arata

Isozaki

2019 Global Teacher Prize Kenyan science teacher Peter

Tabichi

2019 Templeton Prize Marcelo Gleiser He is Brazilian physicist and

astronomer

2019 Peabody Career Achievement

honour

Rita Moreno

The Ministry of Tourism has won the First Prize in the category of TV Cinema Spot at the prestigious








international Golden City Gate Tourism Awards 2019.

Indore in Madhya Pradesh bagged the title of India’s cleanest city in the central government’s cleanliness survey

for the third consecutive year. New Delhi Municipal Council area got the cleanest small city award while

Uttarakhand’s Gauchar was adjudged Best Ganga Town in the survey.

Former England skipper Alastair Cook officially received the knighthood for his services to cricket at an

investiture ceremony in Buckingham Palace.

Public sector Indian Bank has bagged the Best Bank Award from the Tamil Nadu government for meeting the

needs of women’s self-help groups (SHGs).

TVS Motor Company recently bagged the ‘Green Era Award for Sustainability’ at Lisbon in Portugal.

Union Ministers Piyush Goyal and Dr Harsh Vardhan are among the 7 Indians who have been named in the

‘World’s 100 Most Influential People in Climate Policy for 2019’ for taking steps in order to combat climate

change. Piyush Goyal has led the fast track electrification of nearly 18,000 unelectrified villages while Harsh

Vardhan launched the anti-plastic bag campaign in Delhi and the “Green Shopper Campaign”, which promotes

business partnerships with manufacturing of environment-friendly products.

Vice President Venkaiah Naidu was conferred with an Honorary Doctorate by the University for Peace founded

by the United Nations Organisations (UNO) for his contribution “to the Rule of Law, democracy and sustainable

development in India”.

Gymnast Dipa Karmakar was honoured by ‘Barbie’ in celebration of their 60th anniversary and was presented a

doll modelled after her. She was part of the ‘Shero’ program launched in 2015 by the company.

Conference and Summits

Summit Place Extra Knowledge

Construction Technology India-2019

Expo-cum-Conference

New Delhi

NITI Aayog’s FinTech Conclave New Delhi

34th edition of AAHAR – International

Food and Hospitality fair

New Delhi

3rd Indo-Japan Workshop on Disaster

Risk Reduction

New Delhi

2-day national convention of War

Decorated India

Manekshaw Auditorium in

Chandimandir, the

headquarters of the

Western Command in

Chandigarh

Festival of Innovation and

Entrepreneurship

Gandhinagar, Gujarat

4th Internet of Things India Congress Bengaluru To be held in August 2019

1st BRICS Sherpa meeting Curitiba, Brazil

4th session of the UN Environment

Assembly (UNEA-4)

Nairobi, Kenya

Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s

(SCO) RATS Council Meeting

Tashkent, Uzbekistan

Organisation of Islamic Cooperation

(OIC) meeting

Abu Dhabi, UAE India attended the OIC meet for the

first time that too as guest of honor.

Theme: 50 years of Islamic








cooperation: the roadmap for

prosperity and development

OIC Headquarters: Jeddah, Saudi

Arabia

Regional Comprehensive Economic

Partnership (RCEP) inter-sessional

ministerial meeting

Cambodia

International News

China lowered its economic growth target for this year to between 6 per cent and 6.5 per cent.

Taking the Yoga Day initiative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the next level, the Overseas President of BJP for

Hong Kong & China, Sohan Goenka conducted a Japan Auction House Guinness World Record in Yoga.

American Kylie Jenner was named the youngest self-made billionaire of all time by Forbes magazine.

In a bid to reduce energy demand and provide emergency backup power to trains in Japan, Tesla has claimed to

develop its largest power storage system in Asia.

Norway’s capital Oslo will become the first city in the world to install wireless charging systems for electric taxis,

hoping to make recharging quick and efficient enough to speed the takeup of non-polluting cabs.

Indian Navy‘s frontline anti-submarine warfare (ASW) corvette INS Kadmatt reached at Langkawi in Malaysia, on a

seven-day official visit, to participate in Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace (LIMA) Exhibition.

The world’s largest e-waste recycling facility has opened in Dubai.

Bangladesh celebrated the 49th Independence Day on 27th March.

Italy joined China’s signature foreign policy Belt and Road initiative (BRI), making it the first G7 country to officially

do so.

The campus building for India-funded Siddheshwar Education Public Campus in Bamti Bhandar of Ramechhap

district, Nepal inaugurated.

The Indian word for underpants – chuddies – has become the latest entry to the Oxford English Dictionary.

Identifying it is an Indian English word in origin, the entry for chuddies in the Oxford English Dictionary provides its

meaning: “Short trousers, shorts. Now usually: underwear; underpants.”

Kazakhstan’s parliament voted to rename the country’s capital Astana as Nursultan in honour of longtime ruler

Nursultan Nazarbayev, a day after he resigned as president. Astana is now officially renamed Nursultan.

Kazakhstan’s new interim president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev proposed renaming the capital.

Malaysia has become a member of the International Criminal Court. Becomes 124th member.

Pakistan has been elected deputy chairman of the PUIC’s general body on the first day of its four-day conference

being held in Rabat, Morocco.

Kane Tanaka, a 116-year-old Japanese woman has been honoured as the world’s oldest living person by Guinness

World Records.

India has extended a grant assistance of up to USD 250 million to Nepal for the reconstruction of infrastructures in

the areas of housing, education, health and cultural heritage that was destroyed during the devastating April 2015

earthquake which saw the death of over 9,000 people.

Google has unveiled its Cloud gaming service called Stadia at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San

Francisco.

Highlighting the close maritime proximity between India and Indonesia, Indian Coast Guard Ship ‘Vijit’ became the

first-ever Coast Guard ship to visit Sabang, Indonesia.








The Embassy of India in Kathmandu awarded 200 Golden Jubilee Scholarships to meritorious Nepali students for

continuing their studies in various undergraduate courses at different universities and colleges across Nepal for the

academic year 2018-19.

The UK’s Royal Mint unveiled a new commemorative 50 pence coin inspired by the late legendary British physicist

Stephen Hawking’s seminal work on black holes.

The African Development Bank (AfDB) would provide 2.5 trillion shillings ($25 billion) over the next 5 years to help

in the global fight against climate change. The bank currently provides 34 per cent of its overall lending portfolio to

projects aiming to boost the fight against climate change. Headquarters: Tunis, Tunisia

Cyclone Idai, which carried heavy rains and winds of up to 177 km/h (106 mph), made landfall at the port city of

Beira.

National News Prime Minister of Republic of Guinea Ibrahima Kassory Fofana arrived on a ten-day visit to attend the 14th edition

of CII-EXIM Bank conclave on ‘India-Africa Project Partnership.’ India has achieved an 84 per cent reduction in tuberculosis deaths among people living with HIV by 2017. According

to the Joint United Nations Programme on the UNAIDS, it is the highest recorded decline among over 20 nations

and it is also three years ahead of the 2020 deadline.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the “One Nation, One Card” programme to ensure seamless travel across

the country. The card can be used for payments across different segments, including Metro, bus, suburban

railways, toll, parking and retail purchases.

The Prayagraj Kumbh Mela 2019 has secured place in the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest crowd

management, largest sanitation drive and largest painting exercise of public sites.

RailTel Corporation of India Ltd, a Mini Ratna CPSU under the Ministry of Railways, has successfully completed work

of turning 1000 railway stations across the country into Free Wi-Fi zone. RailTel started the project in January 2016

from Mumbai Central station in Maharashtra. It was the first station to have the fast and free RailWire Wi-Fi and in

a span of two years and three months. The Reay Road station of the suburban line of Central Railways in Mumbai is

the 1000th station to go live with Wi-Fi.

Union Minister Harsh Vardhan launched an anthem as a part of a campaign to make India plastic-free by 2022, and

stressed on strengthening plastic waste management and recycling ecosystem in the country. The ”Plastic Waste-

Free India” has been anthem, prepared and produced by Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya Smriti Manch (PDUSM), a

non-profit organisation which claims to be working on various social and environmental issues.

The anthem has been launched in 7 languages- Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telegu, Malyalam and Kannada.

Shri Jual Oram, Union Minister of Tribal Affairs launched the ambitious scheme of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Van

Dhan, the scheme for Minimum Support Price (MSP) for Minor Forest Produce Scheme (MFP) and Development of

Value Chain of MFPs at a National Workshop organized by Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation

of India Limited (TRIFED) under Ministry of Tribal Affairs.

The Union Cabinet approved promulgation of an ordinance for establishing the New Delhi International Arbitration

Centre (NDIAC) to create an independent and autonomous regime for institutionalised arbitration.

The Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister, Prakash Javadekar launched STARS – Scheme for

Translational and Advanced Research in Science to fund science projects. The ministry has approved funds worth Rs

250 crore for the scheme.








The Pradhan Mantri JI-VAN (Jaiv Indhan- Vatavaran Anukool fasal awashesh Nivaran) Yojana was approved by the

Union Cabinet for providing financial support to Integrated Bioethanol Projects using lignocellulosic biomass and

other renewable feedstock. The JI-VAN Yojana will be supported with total financial outlay of Rs 1969.50 crore for

the period from 2018-19 to 2023-24.

The Union Cabinet approved the proposal for setting up of a Centre for Disability Sports at Gwalior, Madhya

Pradesh.

The Union Cabinet approved an expenditure of Rs 1,450 crore for purchase of the Reserve Bank of India-held shares

in the National Housing Bank (NHB). The RBI currently holds 100 per cent stake in the NHB.

The Centre has given approval to the establishment of new All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at

Manethi in Haryana’s Rewari district at a cost of Rs. 1299 crore. It was announced in the Union Budget 2019-20.

A National Conference on “Deendayal Disabled Rehabilitation Scheme (DDRS)” was inaugurated by the Union

Minister of Social Justice & Empowerment Thaawarchand Gehlot. The “7th Guinness Book of World Record” has

been created by the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD), at Bharuch, Gujarat.

India’s food processing ministry is working on a new scheme Gram Samridhi Yojana to bolster the unorganised food

processing sector concentrated in rural areas. Gram Samridhi Yojana also aims to provide common facility centres

and business incubators in rural areas.

The Rs 3,000 crore scheme funded by the World Bank and the Centre will help cottage industry, farmer producers’ organisation and individual food processors to increase capacity.

Bengaluru-based fabless semiconductor company, Signalchip, unveiled India’s first semiconductor chips for 4G/LTE

and 5G NR modems, which would enable high-speed wireless communication. These chips put India into an elite

group of countries that own this widely used fundamental technology.

The alumnus and researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi have created a laptop for visually-

impaired. In what they claim to be a first in the country, the laptop has an interface in form of dots or Braile instead

of a visual one. The researchers have named it ‘DotBook’. State-run Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced the launch of its Young Scientist programme to

train class 9 students in space technology and its applications. ISRO has launched the special programme for school

children ‘Yuva Vigyani Karyakram’ (Young Scientist programme) to impart basic knowledge on space technology,

space science and applications to the young ones to arouse their interest in space activities.

The Geological Survey of India (GSI) launched 22 permanent global positioning system (GPS) stations across India to

identify seismically hazardous zones and encourage mapping activities.

The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) created the Guinness World Record for ‘longest single line bicycle

parade (moving)’ at the Yamuna Expressway, Noida.

Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), a defence public sector undertaking, presented SWAGAT – the Automatic Fare

Collection Gating System. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the system as part of the inaugural of Phase I of

the Ahmedabad Metro.

India has been designated as the guest of honour at the Paris Book Fair in 2020, while France will be the guest

country at the New Delhi World Book Fair (NDWBF) in 2022.

Tucked away deep in trans-Himalayas, Tashigang, a small Himachal Pradesh village at an altitude of 15,256 feet, is

now the highest polling station in the world.

A yarn bank has been set up at the Mysore Powerloom Silk Manufacturers Cooperative Society on Avenue Road to

benefit the state’s weavers.








Indian Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba commissioned a state-of-the-art “Nuclear, Biological, Chemical Training

Facility – ABHEDYA”, at INS Shivaji in Lonavla.

Vijayawada railway station, one of the busiest railway junctions in the country, has received Gold Rating by the

Indian Green Building Council.

Social-networking site Facebook launched 2 new India-specific tools “Candidate Connect” and “Share You Voted” to

boost civic engagement on its platform during the general elections that commence in April.

For the first time in the world, researchers at the GRAPES-3 muon telescope facility in Ooty have measured the

electrical potential, size and height of a thundercloud that passed overhead on December 1, 2014. At 1.3 gigavolts

(GV), this cloud had 10 times higher potential than the previous record in a cloud.

The Indian Railways said that 100 summer special trains would be run to handle extra rush of passengers during

this season. These special trains will be run from March 28. A superfast weekly special train between Chhatrapati

Shivaji Maharaj Terminus and Gorakhpur will make a total of 26 round trips between the two stations every Friday

from April 12 to July 5.

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) launched a new podcast app ‘Shiksha Vani’. This app will

disseminate crucial information to students and parents in a timely manner.

The National Annual Rural Sanitation Survey, NARSS 2018-19 has found that 96.5 per cent of the households in

rural India have access to a toilet. The survey was conducted by an Independent Verification Agency under the

World Bank support project to the Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen).

Google launched a free app called “Bolo” that parents can download to help primary grade children improve their

Hindi and English reading skills. Launched in India first, the app is designed to work offline and comes with a built-in

reading buddy, “Diya“, who encourages, aids, explains, and corrects the child, as they read aloud.

Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Puri launched e-Dharti app where all the three modules- Conversion,

Substitution and Mutation related to properties have been made online.

The country’s 500th Passport Kendra has been made operational at Pratapgarh in Rajasthan.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has given its approval for extension of time and scope for revival and

development of unserved and underserved air strips of state governments, Airports Authority of India (AAI), civil

enclaves, central public sector undertakings (CPSUs), helipads and water aerodromes at the total cost of Rs 4,500

crore with the budgetary support of government of India.

LPG connections distributed under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana touched the 7 crore mark with Geeta Devi

becoming the seventh crore beneficiary of the scheme. Launched in 2016, the flagship scheme has achieved this

“milestone” in just 34 months.

The Sundarban Reserve Forest (SRF) in India, located within the largest mangrove forest in the world, the

Sundarbans, is now a Wetland of International Importance, making it the largest protected wetland in the country.

A mobile application to cope with exam related stress and anxiety for students and their parents has been

developed by Indian Institute of Public Health Gandhinagar, Gujarat, (IIPHG) in collaboration with National Mental

Health Program, Department of Health and Family Welfare, Government of Gujarat. The mobile application is

called ‘Conquer Exam, Be a Warrior.’ Defence Ministry cleared a major project for the Indian Army for the acquisition of 10 lakh ‘Made in India’ multi-

mode hand grenades.

The Indian Department of Post released a ‘special stamp cover on Ice Stupa’. Ice Stupa site at Gangles Village in

Leh.








The Supreme Court appointed senior advocate P.S. Narasimha, who is assisting the apex court as an amicus curiae

in the BCCI matter, as mediator for resolving various disputes related to cricket administration in the country.

The government has constituted an inter-ministerial panel for monitoring, sanctioning and implementation of

projects under the Rs 10,000-crore FAME-II programme, aimed at incentivising clean mobility. The Rs 10,000-crore

programme under the second phase of the FAME India scheme will be implemented over a period of three years

with effect from April 1, 2019.

Geographical Indication (GI) tags have been granted to Coorg Arabica Coffee, Wayanad Robusta Coffee,

Chikmagalur Arabica Coffee, Araku Valley Arabica Coffee and Bababudangiris Arabica Coffee, by the Geographical

Indications Registry.

The Election Commission launched mobile application “Observer App” that will help poll observers to submit

reports timely. Over 1800 IAS, IPS and IRS officials, officials of Central services will be deployed as observers in the

upcoming Lok Sabha election 2019 and State Assembly elections.

State News

Andhra Pradesh

HP Inc India has signed a pact with with Andhra Pradesh Innovation Society (APIS) and Andhra Pradesh Economic

Development Board (APEDB) to build a Center of Excellence (CoE) that would 3D printing technology work.

Assam

‘Rice Knowledge Bank – Assam’, an agriculture web portal dedicated to enhancing knowledge on rice production

techniques and technologies, best production practices and state agriculture facts, was launched as part of the

World Bank funded project- Assam Agri-business and Rural Transformation (APART).

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated the BOLD-QIT (Border Electronically Dominated QRT Interception

Technique) under Comprehensive Integrated Border Management System (CIBMS) on Indo-Bangladesh border in

Dhubri district of Assam.

Assam Chief Electoral Officer Mukesh Sahu launched the Enajori initiative in Guwahati. It is a special initiative for

persons with disabilities with an aim that ‘No Voter to be Left behind’. It is a joint initiative of CEO Assam and Social

Welfare Department with an objective to make Lok Sabha Elections accessible to Persons with Disability, PwD

voters.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated the project BOLD-QIT (Border Electronically Dominated QRT Interception

Technique) on India-Bangladesh border in Dhubri District of Assam.

The Assam government in collaboration with the Singapore-based ITE Education Services (ITEES) set up the North

East Skill Centre (NESC) in Guwahati.

Chandigarh

A new centre to repair Russian helicopters of Mi-17V-5 type will be operational in Chandigarh by the end of 2019,

according to Russian Helicopters Deputy Director General Igor Chechikov.

Chhattisgarh

The Chhattisgarh government has set up a hi-tech ‘integrated command and control centre’ in Raipur for better

traffic management and surveillance in the city.








Delhi

The ‘Azaadi ke Diwane’ museum dedicated to the unsung heroes of the country’s freedom struggle was

inaugurated at the Red Fort premises.

Textiles Minister Smriti Irani inaugurated the refurbished Handloom Haat at Janpath in New Delhi.

Delhi government launched a common mobility app ‘One Delhi’ to allow users plan more efficiently their journey

with Delhi Metro and all city buses.

Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep S. Puri, in New Delhi, inaugurated state-of-the-art India Urban

Observatory, which would plug into the myriad sources of data from cities, both real-time and archived.

Haryana

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar announced the “Mukhyamantri Parivar Samman Nidhi” scheme for

farmers of the state cultivating up to 5 acres of land and families having income less than Rs. 15,000 per month.

Under the scheme, each beneficiary family would be eligible for a financial assistance of Rs. 6,000 every year and

each family will have to nominate a member to avail this benefit.

Himachal Pradesh

Himachal Pradesh will develop 100 trout farms for production of carp fish this year.

Karnataka

‘Jalamrutha’, an ambitious water conservation scheme was launched by Karnataka chief minister, H D

Kumaraswamy at a programme organized by rural development and panchayat raj department at Dr B R Ambedkar

Bhavan in Bengaluru. On the occasion the CM also announced the year 2019 as ‘Jalavarsha (year of water)’. Arecanut (also known as supari or betel nut) is the latest entrant in the list of agricultural produce with a GI

(geographical indication) tag. The Registrar of Geographical Indications, Government of India, accorded a GI tag,

‘Sirsi Supari’, to arecanut grown in Sirsi, Siddpaur and Yellapur taluks of Uttara Kannada district in Karnataka.

Kerala

The Marayoor Jaggery, the traditional and handmade product from Idukki district of Kerala received the

Geographical Indication (GI) tag from the Central Government.

IT major Wipro Ltd opened its centre of excellence for Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) in Kochi in Kerala.

Madhya Pradesh

‘National Institute of Mental Health Rehabilitation’ to be set up at Sherpur Village in District Sehore, Madhya

Pradesh.

Ancient tribal language Gondi to be taught in tribal districts of MP

The Congress government in Madhya Pradesh has appointed self-styled godman Namdev Tyagi, also known as

Computer Baba, as chairman of a river trust in the State.

Maharashtra

Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu announced that an aircraft components manufacturing hub would be set up

in Maharashtra’s coastal Konkan region and would boost employment opportunities for the local youth.

An ultra-modern and high-tech gems and jewellery park will be developed at a cost of Rs 14,467 crore on a 21-acre

complex in Navi Mumbai. It is likely to be ready by 2022.

The Mumbai-based company Linkus Infratech has launched a hyper-local connectivity app called “Bhonga” to

connect users to people in their neighbourhood in the city even without an Internet connection. “Bhonga” is a

word in Marathi language that translates to meaning megaphone or loudspeaker.








The Maharashtra government launched a special scheme for construction workers in the state. The scheme, “Atal

Aahar Yojna,” will provide good quality and hygienic food to construction workers at a highly subsidised rate.

In Maharashtra, Election Commission has come up with a mobile application called ‘PWD’ for making voting easier

and implement the poll body’s slogan of Accessible Elections for over two lakhs Divyang voters across the state

Nagaland

The Centre has given its consent for changing the name of a village in Nagaland, taking to nearly two dozens the

number of name-change proposals, including those of towns and railway stations, to be cleared in the past one

year. The ODL Mangkhi village in Tuensang district of the northeastern state will be known as Mungankhun village.

Odisha

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik launched the ‘Mukhya Mantri Karigar Sahayata’ scheme in Bhubaneswar. The

state government will provide Rs 800 monthly allowance to craftsmen with over 10 years of experience and annual

income below Rs 1 lakh under the ‘Mukhya Mantri Karigar Sahayata’ scheme.

The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), one of country’s leading think-tanks, will set up an industrial incubation

facility of TERI-Deakin Nanobiotechnology Research Centre, in Odisha.

Rajasthan

Home Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated a training centre of the Central Reserve Police Force at Paladi Khinchiyan

village in Jodhpur.

Tamil Nadu

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the Chennai Central Railway Station will be renamed after former

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MG Ramachandran, popularly known as MGR.

After an eight-year-long process, Erode turmeric (of Tamil Nadu) finally got a Geographical Indication (GI) tag from

the Geographical Indication Registry.

Telangana

The Telangana Governmet launched a MSME networking portal, Telangana State Global Linker in Hyderabad to

digitise over 2.3 million MSMEs of the state. The portal is, ts-msme.globallinker.com.

Tripura

Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Dharmendra Pradhan said that Tripura is country’s number one gas

producing point and every poor household in the state will have LPG connection in 2019.

In a bid to improve the educational status of Tripura, the state government announced ‘Notun Disha’ (New

Direction), an initiative aimed at assessing the academic level of students between class III-VIII.

Uttarakhand

The Uttarakhand government has decided to set up a centre of excellence for Himalayan fibre in Almora district of

Kumaon.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat launched the Mukhyamantri Anchal Amrit Yojana in Dehradun,

under which 2.5 lakh children at 20,000 Anganwadi kendras in the state will be given 100 ml milk twice a week for

free.

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee in Uttarakhand said it tied up with the Indian Space Research

Organisation (ISRO) to set up a Space Technology Cell at its campus.








Uttar Pradesh

AYUSH Minister Shripad Yesso Naik laid the foundation stone for National Institute of Unani Medicine at Ghaziabad

in Uttar Pradesh.

Indo-Russia Rifles Ltd. plant at Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) Korwa in Amethi was inaugurated by Prime Minister

Narendra Modi.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, CCEA has approved the investment approval for a 1320 megawatt

Khurja Super Thermal Power Plant (STPP) in Bulandshahar of Uttar Pradesh.

West Bengal

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee announced a grant of 1 lakh to graduates of the state’s 214

polytechnics and Industrial Training Institutes (ITI), to set up small businesses. The CM introduced the scheme,

Yuvashree Arpan, in Howrah district.

The Japanese government announced a donation of some Rs 22 lakh ($31,800) to the Rabindra Bharati Museum in

Kolkata in a bid to strengthen historical and cultural ties with India.

Finance and Banking News Fraud-hit Punjab National Bank has been ranked first among public sector banks in the implementation of ‘reforms

agenda’, followed by Bank of Baroda and State Bank of India. The BCG-IBA report – EASE Reforms for Public Sector

Banks measures performance of each PSB.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) offered a $5-billion swap facility to banks to aid liquidity before the end of the

financial year. The auction will happen on March 26 and the buy/sell swap will run up to March 28, 2022, or for a

three-year duration.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) named State Bank of India (SBI), ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank as Domestic Systemically

Important Banks (D-SIBs), which in other words mean banks that are too big to fail.

The net direct tax collection figure has crossed the Rs 10 lakh crore mark helped by the fourth and final installment

of tax payment. The net direct tax collection during April-January of this fiscal stood at Rs 7.89 lakh crore as against

Rs 12 lakh crore targeted for the entire fiscal of 2018-19.

Bank of Baroda has become one of the first public sector banks to launch a creche/child daycare facility for children

of its employees.

SBI has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Bank of China, third-largest bank in the world by

capital size and one of the major players in the Chinese banking sector, to enhance business synergies between

both the banks. This MoU will facilitate the clients of both the banks to access banking products and services of

each other, which will lead to a mutually beneficial relationship.

State Bank of India (SBI) has launched doorstep banking service for senior citizens over 70 years of age and

differently-abled customers. Eligible customers can avail this service at a nominal fee of Rs. 100 per transaction for

financial transactions and Rs. 60 for non-financial transactions.

In a first-of-its kind move that will ensure faster monetary transmission, the nation’s largest lender State Bank of

India announced linking of its savings deposits rates and short-term loans to the RBI’s repo rate. The new rates

linked the external benchmark rate of the repo rate, will be effective May 1.

State Bank of India launched ‘YONO Cash’ for cardless withdrawal of cash at over 16,500 SBI ATMs across the

country. With this facility, customers can initiate the cash withdrawal process on the YONO app and set a six-digit

YONO Cash pin for the transaction. This feature on YONO is designed to help its users withdraw cash without a

physical debit card.








Business organisations using Aadhaar services will now have to pay Rs. 20 for each customer verification and 50

paise for authentication of each transaction carried out by the entities, the Unique Identification Authority of India

(UIDAI) said.

IDBI Bank has been categorised as a private sector lender following acquisition of majority stake by Life Insurance

Corporation. In January, LIC completed the process of picking up a controlling 51 per cent stake in the nearly

crippled IDBI Bank.

IDBI Bank and Life Insurance Corporation of India have signed a bancassurance agreement under which the lender

will offer LIC’s insurance products at its branches.

United Bank of India has signed a bancassurance deal with private life insurer HDFC Life Insurance Company.

IFFCO Tokio General Insurance Company announced the launch of Bank Locker Protector Policy, which is the first

policy in the industry to protect the contents of a bank locker such as jewellery and other valuables.

Singaporean lender DBS is set to convert its India operations into a wholly-owned subsidiary, and the transition will

have no impact on the services and benefits extended to existing customers. The Asian bank, which presently

operates 12 branches in the country as a franchise, incorporated locally as DBS Bank India Ltd on March 1.

DCB Bank announced the launch of its Open Banking Platform, a significant step towards creating a collaborative

ecosystem with enterprises, fintechs and app developers, and enhancing customer-service delivery.

LIC Housing Finance (LICHFL) partnered with India Mortgage Guarantee Corporation (IMGC) to offer home buyers

enhanced loan eligibility and easy loans.

The Reserve Bank has imposed a monetary penalty of 2 crore on Dena Bank and 1 crore on IDBI Bank for non-

compliance with various directions. Dena Bank said the Reserve Bank has imposed a penalty of Rs 20 million on it

for non-compliance with the directions.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has levied a penalty of Rs 4 crore on Karnataka Bank for delayed implementation of

four “Swift” related operational controls.

The RBI has slapped a penalty of Rs 2 crore on Punjab National Bank (PNB) for non-compliance of regulatory

directions with regard to SWIFT operations. SWIFT is a global messaging software used for transactions by financial

entities.

Ahead of its merged entity operation, Bank of Baroda will receive Rs 5,042 crore fund infusion from the

government. The merged entity also involving Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank will start operation from April 1.

Public sector lender Bank of Baroda said it will develop an agri-digital platform called ‘Baroda Kisan’ in order to

provide solutions for all major agricultural requirements.

ICICI Prudential announced launched the ICICI Prudential Bharat Consumption Scheme. The Scheme aims to benefit

from the Indian consumption story, considered as one of the fastest growing consumption markets globally.

Xiaomi launched Mi Pay, its very own Unified Payments Interface (UPI) based payments service in India. The app is

already available in China and was first introduced in India last December in beta mode.

AU Small Finance Bank Ltd. , a Fortune India 500 company and one of India’s fastest growing banks, announced its

partnership with a new age insurtech company, Acko General Insurance Limited. Partnering with Acko, India’s first

digital insurer, AU bank is now set to provide customized insurance products to its customers.

The labour ministry said that the income tax exemption limit on gratuity has been doubled to Rs 20 lakh from the

existing Rs 10 lakh, a move that will benefit employees who are not covered by the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972.

In a first, the government has announced new Rs 20 coin which will be shaped like a 12-edged polygon

(dodecagon). The outside diameter of new Rs 20 coin will be 27mm (millimeters) and it will weigh 8.54 grams.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi released the new series of “visually impaired friendly circulation” coins (Re 1, Rs 2,








Rs 5, Rs 10 and Rs 20). Except for the Rs 20 coin, the rest of the denominations will be round in shape.

The face of the coin will bear the Lion Capitol of Ashoka Pillar with the legend “Satyamev Jayate” inscribed below,

flanked on the left periphery with the word “Bharat” in Hindi and on the right periphery with the word “INDIA” in

English.

Aviva Life Insurance has announced the launch of ‘Wings’, a specially designed mentorship program to empower

the female workforce. The program is an initiative of the SHE division of the company, for mentoring all the women

employees.

The Reserve Bank set the average base rate to be charged from borrowers by non-banking financial companies

(NBFCs) and micro-finance institutions (MFIs) at 9.21 per cent for the first quarter of the next fiscal.

Business News ICICI Bank said it has acquired 9.9 per cent stake in non-banking finance company Kisan Finance for cash

consideration of Rs 17.82 crore.

The IDBI Bank has received government nod to handle import and export transactions with Iran, a move which

would help in promoting two-way trade amid US sanctions on the Persian Gulf nation.

State Bank of India (SBI) and Hitachi Payment Services Pvt Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hitachi Ltd, launched

their merchant-acquiring joint venture, SBI Payment Services Pvt Ltd (SBIPSPL), in Mumbai, for establishing a digital

payments platform for India and other countries in the region.

Reliance Jio is reportedly acquiring Mumbai-based Haptik one of the world’s largest conversational Artificial

Intelligence (AI) platforms for over Rs 200 crore.

Global software major Infosys said its consulting arm would buy 75 per cent equity stake in Starter N.V., a

subsidiary of the Dutch-based ABN AMRO Bank for Rs 999 crore ($144 million) in cash for strategic partnership in

The Netherlands.

Uber has confirmed that it is acquiring its Middle East rival Careem in a deal worth USD 3.1 billion.

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) said that it has recorded cargo movement of more than 200 million

metric tonnes (MMT) at nine ports along the east and west coasts, becoming the first Indian port operator to

achieve the milestone.

Bandhan Bank said it has received no objection from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for the proposed acquisition of

Gruh Finance.

Apple Inc. announced a new credit card in partnership with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Mastercard Inc.

Cardholders receive a titanium card that has no card number, security code, or expiration date printed on the

physical card.

After acquiring a majority stake in REC Ltd (formerly Rural Electrification Corporation Limited), center backed Power

Finance Corporation (PFC) become India’s second largest Govt-owned Financial Firm after State Bank of India (SBI),

based on market capitalization.

Economy News The Reserve Bank of India, which added 6.5 tonnes of gold to its reserves in January, taking its total holding forming

part of its foreign exchange reserves to 607 tonnes, is set to become the tenth largest holder of the metal

worldwide, displacing the Nerherlands.

India’s data consumption is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 72.6 per cent

to 10,96,58,793 million MB by 2022, according to the Assocham-PwC study.








India has been one of the fastest growing large economies in the world, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has

said. India has of course been one of the world’s fastest growing large economies of late, with growth averaging

about 7 per cent over the past five years.

Central Statistics Office (CSO) which operates under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation: The

economic growth of India slowed to a low of 6.6 per cent in October to December period of current fiscal year

2018-19.

Moody’s in its Global Macro Outlook for 2019 and 2020: India to grow at 7.3% for next 2 years.

Global rating agency Fitch has cut its India’s economic growth forecast to 6.8 per cent for 2019-20 from the earlier

estimate of 7 per cent due to weak momentum in manufacturing and agriculture. However, it said India economic

growth forecast is expected to be 7.1 per cent in 2020-21.

The OECD cut forecasts again for the global economy in 2019 and 2020: The Organisation for Economic Co-

Operation & Development forecast in its interim outlook report that the world economy would grow 3.3 percent in

2019 and 3.4 percent in 2020.

Ratings Agency Icra: Housing Finance Companies (HFCs) are expected to report a 13-15% credit growth in FY19,

which will inch up to 14-16% in next fiscal year.

India’s February jobless rate climbed to 7.2%: Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE)

Indian Incense Industry witnesses 8-10 percent growth in FY 2018-19.

SpiceJet has joined global airlines’ grouping IATA as a member, becoming the first Indian low-cost carrier to get the

membership.

5 varieties of Indian coffee have been awarded Geographical Indication (GI), a move that will enhance their visibility

globally and allow growers to get the right value. While Coorg Arabica coffee is grown specifically in Kodagu district

of Karnataka, Wayanaad Robusta coffee is from Wayanad district in east Kerala, Chikmagalur Arabica coffee from

Chikmagalur district in Deccan plateau of Karnataka, Araku Valley Arabica coffee from hilly tracks of Visakhapatnam

district in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha region, and Bababudangiris Arabica coffee from central portion of

Chikmagalur district.

Monsooned Malabar Robusta Coffee was also given GI certification.

Small savings schemes rates unchanged for Apr-June quarter

Public Provident Fund (PPF): 8%

National Savings Certificate (NSC): 8%

Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP): 7.7% and mature in 112 months

Senior Citizens Savings Scheme: 8.7%

Savings Deposits: 4%

Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana account: 8.5%

Term Deposits of 1-5 years: 7-7.8 %

Five-year Recurring Deposit: 7.3%

Science & Technology India successfully conducted an anti-satellite (A-SAT) missile test, becoming the fourth country to do so by

successfully destroying a low earth orbit satellite in space by using a missile which covered a distance of 300 km to

engage the target. The US, Russia and China are the only other country to have tested an A-SAT weapon previously.

Mission Shakti operation was a difficult target to achieve and was completed successfully within 3 minutes of

launch.








Defence News Border Security Force (BSF) and Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) concluded a three-day ‘Mainamati Maitree

Exercise 2019’ as a part of ‘Confidence Building Measures’ between the two border guards in Agartala, Tripura.

As part of the ongoing India Bangladesh defence cooperation, a joint military exercise Sampriti-2019 was

conducted at Tangail, Bangladesh from 2nd March to 15 March.

6th edition of joint military exercise “Mitra Shakti” between India and Sri Lanka held in Diyatalawa, Badulla District,

Sri Lanka.

33rd edition of India, Indonesia Coordinated Patrol (Ind-Indo Corpat) commenced at Port Blair, Andaman & Nicobar

Islands.

Exercise Al Nagah III, third in the series of bilateral joint exercise between India and Oman began at Jabel Al Akhdar

Mountains in Oman.

The first ever High-Level Dialogue on Indo-Pacific Cooperation (HLD-IPC) was held in Jakarta, capital of Indonesia.

The indigenously developed Pinaka guided rocket system was successfully test fired at Pokhran desert in Rajasthan,

in a boost to artillery capability of the Army. The weapon system is equipped with state-of-the-art guidance kit

comprising of an advanced navigation and control system.

Indian Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba will preside over the debrief of the recently-commenced annual Theatre

Level Readiness and Operational Exercise (TROPEX 19) at Kochi, besides holding deliberations on the road map for

future operations.

A man-portable anti-tank guided missile (MPATGM) was successfully test-fired in Rajasthan desert. The missile has

been developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). The indigenously developed,

low-weight missile operates on a “fire and forget” principle, which means it does not require guidance after the

launch.

The inaugural Africa-India Field Training Exercise-2019 for India and African nations called AFINDEX-19 started with

a grand opening ceremony at Aundh Military Station, Pune.

Sports News

Tournament Winner Runner Up SAFF Women’s Championship 2019 India Beat Nepal

2019 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup South Korea Beat India

Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy Karnataka Defeated Maharashtra

Held at the Holkar Cricket

Stadium in Indore

Bombay Gold Cup Hockey crown Indian Oil Defeated Punjab and Sind

Bank (PSB)

I-League championship 2019 Chennai City FC

Indian Super League Bengaluru FC With this win, Bengaluru FC

have become the first team to

win both the I-League and the

ISL titles.

Indian Grand Prix series 2019 Dutee Chand Won gold medal in 200m

women’s race

Indian Wells Masters Canadian Bianca Andreescu








India Open 2019 Viktor Axelsen (Denmark) Beat Kidambi Srikanth

Gold in Women’s discus throw event in

Federation Cup in Patiala

Kamalpreet Kaur

Australian Grand Prix 2019 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes team Formula One

(F1) driver

Dan Kolov-Nikola Petrov Tournament

(Wrestling)

Bajrang Punia (gold medal in 65

kilogram freestyle)

Held in Ruse, Bulgaria

Dan Kolov-Nikola Petrov Tournament

(Wrestling)

Pooja Dhanda (gold in the 59kg

category)

Held in Ruse, Bulgaria

Sir Richard Hadlee Medal for Men’s Player of the

Year at the New Zealand Cricket (NZC) awards

Kiwi captain Kane Williamson

Dubai Tennis Championship Roger Federer With this, he won his 100th

tour-level title

Acapulco International in Mexico Australian Nick Kyrgios

Sports India got their 61st Grandmaster when 16-year-old P. Iniyan, hailing from Erode, won at the Noisiel Open in France.

Saina Nehwal named as Telangana Sports Journalists Association (TSJA) sports person of the year.

PV Sindhu was named the Outstanding Performer of the Year (female),

Pullela Gopichand was awarded the Coach of the Year

The Indian badminton team was named the Team of the Year

The Badminton Association of Telangana was awarded the Association of the Year.

Indian captain Virat Kohli and fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah have retained their respective number one positions in

the ICC ODI player rankings.

World Fame 100: Virat Kohli only Indian in top 10 (begged 7th position), MS Dhoni in 13th spot

K L Rahul was the lone Indian to feature in the top 10 batting list in the latest ICC T20 International Players Rankings

released recently.

Suresh Raina added another feather to his illustrious cap in Chennai as the Chennai Super Kings’ (CSK) batsman

became the first in the Indian Premier League (IPL) history to amass 5,000 runs.

West Indies’ 39-year-old opener Chris Gayle has become the first ever batsman to smash 500 sixes in international

cricket and the second batsman to slam 300 ODI sixes.

India’s Shashank Shekhar won the 10 kilometre race of Nepal’s Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Open Marathon and Run

for Fun held in Kathmandu.

China won the 2019 badminton Asia mixed team championships by defeating Japan 3-2 in the final in Hong Kong.

Former India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has become only the fourth Indian batsman to complete 13,000 runs

in List A cricket.

India’s Kidambi Srikanth has been placed at the eighth spot in the men’s singles list in the latest BWF world rankings

release recently. Kento Momota of Japan is at the top spot.

Diksha Dagar becomes youngest Indian woman to win on Ladies European Tour (LET) in Cape Town, South Africa.

National record holder K.T. Irfan became the first Indian from athletics to qualify for the next year’s Olympics while

finishing fourth in the 20 km event of the Asian Race Walking Championships in Nomi, Japan.

Denmark’s Joachim Persson (badminton player) has been banned for 18 months for offences linked to betting and

match-fixing.

Malaysia’s Tan Kim Her has stepped down from his post as India’s doubles badminton coach.








VRV Singh, the Indian pacer has announced his retirement.

Two-time world boxing champion James DeGale(British) announced his retirement 10 years after his professional

debut.

Veteran leg-spinner Imran Tahir would retire from one-day international cricket after the World Cup in England and

Wales, which ends on July 14.

Australian football legend Tim Cahill officially announced retirement.

Argentine striker Gonzalo Higuain has announced his retirement from international football.

Actress-wrestler Nikki Bella has announced her retirement from the WWE.

Conor Mcgregor, the Irish UFC star, announced his retirement from Mixed Martial Arts (MMA).

WWE legend Kurt Angle has announced he will retire at WrestleMania 35 in April 2019.

India returned with 368 medals, including 85 gold, at the Special Olympics World Summer Games which was held at

Abu Dhabi, UAE from March 14 to 21. The Indian team of 284 athletes also clinched 154 silver and 129 bronze

medals in its highly successful campaign at the prestigious event.

Indian youth team finish second in the overall medals tally with a total of 26 medals including eight gold, nine silver

and nine bronze medals. China topped the overall medals tally with 31 medals that included 12 gold, 11 silver and

eight bronze medals.

31-year-old Hopman Cup replaced by new ATP ((Association of Tennis Professionals)) Cup

2019 Asean School Games to be held in July in Indonesia’s Semarang city.

The United World Wrestling (UWW) has taken away the hosting rights from India for the junior Asian

Championship, to be held in Thailand now.

India lose Jr. Davis and Fed Cup hosting rights, to be held in Bangkok now.

The Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi will be the new home of T10 cricket for the next five years, starting with

the 2019 season.

India will host the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in 2020

Argentina and Colombia have been selected as the host nations for the upcoming edition of Copa America football

tournament, to be held in 2020.

Special Olympics World Games 2019 held at Abu Dhabi in UAE.

The Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Rajasthan Royals launched its first cricket academy in the UK. The Star

Cricket Academy based at Reed’s School in Surrey joined hands with Rajasthan Royals to relaunch the facility as the

‘Rajasthan Royals Academy’. The torch design for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games was unveiled exactly a year before the flame is

due to arrive in Japan from Greece. The theme of the pink gold torch centres on ‘sakura’ or cherry blossom in

Japan, which arrives every spring to much fanfare, and it was designed with input from children from the areas

most severely damaged by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

In an effort to develop coaches from the grassroot level and enable them to meet the requirements and the ever-

growing demands of international hockey, the sport’s governing body in India launched the Hockey India Coaching

Education Pathway.

Rajasthan Royals signed BookMyShow as exclusive ticketing partner.

GoDaddy partnered with ICC as official sponsor for Cricket World Cup 2019

Kavinder Singh Bisht wins gold at the 38th GeeBee Boxing Tournament in Helsinki, Finland








Committee

Head of Committee Purpose Usha Thorat The RBI announced a task force headed by its former deputy governor Usha Thorat to

examine issues related to offshore rupee markets and recommend policy measures to

ensure stability of the external value of the domestic currency.

Nandan Nilekani To further deepen digital payments and enhance financial inclusion through Fintech.

Alok Srivastava (Legal

Affairs Secretary)

To examine issues related to framing of a structured scheme for providing insurance

cover to advocates.

Jasmine Shah The Delhi government’s Dialogue and Development Commission (DDC), a think-tank

that advises the government on key issues, has set up a 17-member high-level

committee to “reform higher education” in the capital.

Rankings

Index India’s Rank Other Information

Global Consumer Confidence

Survey

1st

Global Energy Transition Index 76th 1st – Sweden.

Index compiled by Geneva-based World

Economic Forum (WEF).

UN World Happiness Report-

2019

140th 1st – Finland.

Saudi Arabia has now become the largest importer of arms in the world, having pushed India to the second

spot, according to the premier Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). In its report on ‘Trends

in International Arms Transfers 2018’ released recently, the institute identified Saudi Arabia, India, Egypt,

Australia and Algeria as the 5 top arms importing countries and the United States, Russia, France, Germany and

China as the 5 top arms exporting nations.

India was ranked 16th in the world in terms of highest number of impacted species in biodiversity-rich zones

(also known as hotspots) due to human actions. In India, 35 species affected on an average in biodiversity-rich

zones.

Malaysia ranks first among countries with highest number of impacted species (on an average 125 species).

Rankings (Persons,Cities,Organisations and Others)

UK Based Skytrax World Airport Awards: Singapore’s Changi Airport has been crowned the world’s best aviation

hub for the seventh time in a row, while New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport featured at number

59

World airport traffic rankings for 2018 released by the Airports Council International (ACI): Indira Gandhi

International Airport (IGIA) has now become the world’s 12th busiest airport. Dubai International world’s busiest

named.

Airports Council International (ACI) in the Airport Service Quality (ASQ) Programme for 2018: Indira Gandhi

International (IGI) airport in New Delhi has been adjudged as the best airport in the category of over 40 million

passengers per annum (MPPA) in Asia Pacific.








2018 Airport Service Quality (ASQ) award: The Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) in Bhubaneswar has won

the award as the leading airport in size and region.

Manipal Academy of Higher Education achieved another milestone, as it became the only private University in India

to be featured in the QS World rankings in the areas of Medicine and Pharmacy. This is the third consecutive year

that MAHE is the highest ranked private University in the country.

Delhi has topped the list of the most polluted cities in the world in a recent study conducted by environment NGO

Greenpeace India. New Delhi was ranked first among 62 polluted cities in the report, Global Air Pollution 2018.

Assam’s Hailakandi district has shot up to number one from the 52nd position, among the aspirational districts of

the country, a new report released by the Niti Aayog said.

Mumbai, the financial capital of the country, is the 16th most expensive prime residential market in the world, a

Knight Frank report said. The Maharashtra capital is the only Indian city to feature in the global top 20 list of

expensive prime residential markets recorded in The Wealth Report 2019. Philippines’ capital Manila topped the

global list

The phenomenal growth of Reliance Jio, backed by its ultra-cheap data plans that has transformed the telecom

scenario in India, has helped Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani move six places up to rank 13th in US

magazine Forbes’ “World’s Billionaire list 2019”. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos continued to remain the world’s

richest man.

In terms of 4G availability, Dhanbad in Jharkhand has topped the list of 50 cities in India, London-based wireless

coverage mapping company OpenSignal’s “India Mobile Network Experience” report said.

Integral Coach Factory (ICF), the rail coach manufacturing factory at Chennai, which became famous for

manufacturing Train 18, has become the single largest rail coach manufacturer in the world surpassing top Chinese

manufacturers.

Reliance Industries chairman and Asia’s richest man Mukesh Ambani recently topped Forbes’ The World’s Richest

Sports Team Owners 2019 list. With a total net worth of about $50 billion, Ambani topped the list.

Mercer’s 2019 Quality of Living Ranking: The Austrian capital Vienna has topped Mercer’s index of most liveable

cities for the 10th year in a row. Baghdad ranked last.

Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu is ranked at 105 and is the number one city from India.

Paris, Singapore and Hong Kong are most expensive cities in the world while Delhi, Chennai and Bengaluru are

among the cheapest places to live, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit’s 2019 Worldwide Cost of Living

Survey.

Tata, Reliance and Airtel emerged as the top three Indian brands of 2019, according a report published by

Interbrand, part of the Omnicom Media Group, an advertising and public relations conglomerate. Tata continued to

hold the top position in the best Indian Brands ranking as its brand value grew by 6%, mainly due to Tata

Consultancy Services (TCS).

Loans from Banks

From To Amount Purpose World Bank India $25.2 Million Loan Agreement to support Chhattisgarh Public Financial

Management and Accountability Program.

World Bank India $96 Million Agreement for additional financing of Uttarakhand

Disaster Recovery Project.

The World Bank has been supporting the State








Government since 2014 to restore housing and rural

connectivity and to build the resilience of communities.

World Bank India $137 Million Representatives of 5 States (Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya

Pradesh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Uttarakhand) of

Government of India and Implementing Agencies signed in

New Delhi the Loan Agreement for Additional Financing

for the Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project

(DRIP).

World Bank India $250-million Agreement for the National Rural Economic

Transformation Project (NRETP) focused on promoting

“women-owned and women-led” farm and non-farm

enterprises.

World Bank Andhra

Pradesh

Rs 2,200-

crore ($328-

million)

Project aimed at strengthening the state’s overall

healthcare systems.

Asian

Development

Bank (ADB)

India $26 million Loan as additional financing for improving drainage

infrastructure in Dibrugarh town of Assam under the

ongoing Assam Urban Infrastructure Investment Program.

ADB India $926 million To operationalise two lines for the Mumbai metro rail

system.

Asian

Infrastructure

Investment Bank

(AIIB)

India $455 million To finance the Andhra Pradesh Rural Roads Project, which

will connect about 3,300 habitations with a population of

more than 250, and benefit around two million people.

Korea Exim Bank Rs 4,100

crore

Loan for Visakhapatnam Metro Rail project.

Asian Development Bank (ADB) said it has inked an agreement to invest USD 50 million in solar energy project

developer Avaada Energy Pvt Ltd to help the company scale up rapidly. The investment will come equally from

ADB’s Ordinary Capital Resources and Leading Asia’s Private Infrastructure Fund (LEAP).

Deadlines/ Important Dates

All trains coming to Delhi to be on electric traction from December 2019

The government extended the deadline for linking PAN with biometric ID Aadhaar by 6 months till

September 30. This is the sixth time the government has extended the deadline for individuals to link

their Permanent Account Number (PAN) to Aadhaar.

Books

Book Author Other Info Designing Destiny: The Heartfulness Way Kamlesh Patel, popularly known as Daaji

Indian Fiscal Federalism N.K. Singh (He is Chairman of 15th

Finance Commission of

India)








Every Vote Counts Navin Chawla Former Chief Election

Commissioner of India

The Great Disappointment: How Narendra

Modi Squandered a Unique Opportunity to

Transform the Indian Economy

Salman Anees Soz

Designing Destiny: The Heartfulness Way Kamlesh Patel, popularly known as Daaji

Obituaries

Name Profession Other Info Satya Brata Singh Former Supreme Court judge

Darryl D’Monte Senior journalist and environmental

activist

Prafulla Rajguru Journalist

Vinod Kashyap Veteran Hindi Newsreader

Haku Shah Indian artist

Vinjamuri Anasuyadevi Noted folk artist, music director and

writer

Manohar Gopalakrishna Prabhu

Parrikar

Politician Goa Chief Minister

Venur Dhananjay Kumar Politician

C.S. Shivalli Politician From Karnataka

Balwant Singh Politician From Punjab

Virendra Kataria Politician Former Puducherry Lieutenant

Governor

Binapani Devi Matua community matriarch Popularly known as ‘Boro Ma’ (elder mother)

HS D’Lima Civic activist from Andheri Gaothan,

Mumbai

Ghulam Nabi Rathe Social Activist

Muni Hitruchivijayji One of the last disciples of Acharya

Ramchandrasurishwarji

Ashita Malayalam writer and poet

L.V. Sharada Kannada Actor

Chinmoy Roy Bengali Actor

M.N. Samant 1971 India-Pakistan war hero

Alan B. Krueger US Economist

Jerry Merryman Electrical Engineer (Co-Inventor of the

Pocket Calculator)

From USA

Ranking Roger British musician (Beat singer)

Shahnaz Rahmatullah Bangladeshi Singer

Dick Dale American guitarist

Bharat Mohan Adhikari Former Deputy Prime Minister of Nepal

Andre Previn American-German pianist. Oscar-








winning music composer

Zhores Ivanovich Alferov Russian physicist. Nobel Prize in physics

Valery Bykovsky Russian space pioneer

Bill Playle Former New Zealand Cricketer

Luke Perry American Actor

Scott Walker American-British singer-songwriter

Rafi Eitan Israeli Spy He led the operation to capture

the architect of the Holocaust,

Adolf Eichmann, has passed

away aged 92.

Bruce Yardley Former Australian spin bowler, coach

and, commentator

King Kong Bundy American professional wrestler

Important Days

Date Day Extra Info 1 March World Civil Defence Day Theme 2019: “Children’s safety, our

responsibility”

1 March Zero Discrimination Day Theme 2019: “Act to change laws that

Discriminate”

3 March National Defence Day

3 March World Wildlife Day Theme 2019: “Life below water: for people

and planet”

3 March World Hearing Day Theme 2019: “Check your hearing””

4 March National Security Day

4 March National Safety Day

4 March World Day of Fight Against

Sexual Exploitation

March 4-10, 2019 National Safety Week Theme 2019: “Cultivate and Sustain a Safety

Culture for Building Nation”

7 March Janaushadhi Diwas

8 March International Women’s Day Theme 2019: “Think Equal, Build Smart,

Innovate for change: BalanceForBetter”

10 March CISF Raising Day

14 March 2019 World Kidney Day Theme 2019: “Kidney health for everyone,

everywhere”

15 March 2019 World Sleep Day Theme 2019: “Healthy Sleep, Healthy Aging”

15 March World Consumer Rights Day Theme 2019: “Trusted Smart Products”

16 March National Vaccination Day

18 March Ordnance Factories Day

18 March Global Recycling Day Theme 2019: “Recycling into the Future”

20 March International Day of Happiness Theme 2019: “Share Happiness and be Part of

Something Amazing”

20 March World Sparrow day Theme 2019: “I Love Sparrows”








21 March International Day for the

Elimination of Racial

Discrimination

Theme 2019: “Mitigating and countering rising

nationalist populism and extreme supremacist

ideologies”

21 March International Day of Forests Theme 2019: “Forests and Education – Learn

to Love Forests”

21 March World Poetry day

21 March World Down Syndrome Day

22 March World Water day Theme 2019: “Leaving no one behind”

23 March World Meteorological Day Theme 2019: “The Sun, the Earth and the

Weather”

23 March Martyr’s Day

24 March World Tuberculosis Day Theme 2019: “It’s TIME”

25 March International Day of Solidarity

with Detained and Missing Staff

Members

25 March International Day of

Remembrance of the Victims of

Slavery and the Transatlantic

Slave Trade

Theme 2019: “Remember Slavery: The Power

of the Arts for Justice”

27 March World Theatre Day

30 March, 2019 2018 Earth Hour 1th edition [8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m]

It is a global initiative of the World Wide Fund

for Nature India or WWF-India.

30 March World Piano Day








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