Current affairs : March 3rd, 2017 for all competitive exams
World Wildlife
Day was celebrated on March 3rd.
Theme for
2017 is “Listen to the Young Voices.”
- Given
that almost one quarter of the world’s population is aged between 10 and
24, vigorous efforts need to be made to encourage young people, as the
future leaders and decision makers of the world, to act at both local and
global levels to protect endangered wildlife.
- World
Wildlife Day 2017 encourages youth around the world to rally together to
address ongoing major threats to wildlife including habitat change,
over-exploitation or illicit trafficking.
DRDO
Hands Over its Developed Products to Indian Army
Defence
Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) recently handed over three of its
products for induction into the Indian Army.
- The
products are namely (i) Weapon Locating Radar (WLR), SWATHI, (ii) NBC
Recce vehicle and (iii) NBC Drugs.
- In
2016, the Weapon Locating Radar, NBC Recce Vehicle and a set of NBC Drugs
had been successfully tested after extensive evaluation by competent
evaluation teams.
Govt launches nationwide 'Swachh Shakti
Saptah'
The Union Minister of Drinking Water and
Sanitation Mr. Narendra Singh Tomar has launched 'Swachh Shakti Saptah'
in Gurugram, Haryana to raise awareness on sanitation and cleanliness.
- Mr.
Tomar has decided to observe 'Swachh Shakti Saptah' from March 1 to 8,
2017 across the country. Over 1,500 women sarpanches of Swachh Bharat
Mission (SBM) and all women sarpanches of Gurugram division are
participating in this event.
Government’s biotech innovation BIRAC Regional
Entrepreneurship Centre set up in Bengaluru
The Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms –
C-CAMP, technology, and innovation hub, will house the Biotechnology Industry
Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) Regional Entrepreneurship Centre (BREC) in
Bengaluru.
- The
center has been set up with the objective of encouraging the spirit of
bio-entrepreneurship, facilitating the creation of life science start-ups
and mentoring start-ups to increase their chances of success.
Revitalising
a language
Kurukh, an endangered tribal language of the Dravidian family, is set to get a new lease of
life in West Bengal. It is spoken by the Oraon tribal community.
- West
Bengal government is taking steps for the recognition of the Kurukh
language of the Oraon community who live in Dooars. The language was given official
status in the State last month.
#WeAreEqual:
Leading up to
International Women’s Day on March 8, 2017, the Ministry of Women and Child
Development has initiated a social media campaign – #WeAreEqual – targeted at
raising awareness about gender discrimination.
- The
campaign will culminate into the celebration of International Women’s Day
marked by the prestigious Nari Shakti Award ceremony, in which the Hon’ble
President will honour individuals and institutions for their exemplary
contribution to women’s empowerment.
Indian Navy successfully test-fires missile from
Kalvari submarine
The Indian navy successfully test-fired an
anti-ship missile for the first time from an indigenously built Kalvari
class submarine.
- The
weapon was fired from the submarine, the first of India’s six
Scorpene-class submarines which are being built under the Project 75 and
it “successfully hit” a surface target during the trial in the Arabian
Sea.
GAIL signs 1st time-swap deal for US LNG with
Gunvor
State-run gas company Gas Authority of India Ltd.
(GAIL) has signed a time-swap deal with Swiss trader Gunvor to sell some of its
US Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) as the Indian firm tries to ease the burden
of its costly foreign LNG supplies.
- It
is the first time-swap agreement by GAIL, which is trying to juggle its
LNG portfolio to cut costs for price-sensitive Indian customers after a
sharp fall in Asian spot prices made its US gas unattractive.
India
to attend Lahore meet on Indus Waters Treaty
Signalling a
major shift in its position on talks with Pakistan on the Indus Waters Treaty
(IWT), India has accepted an invitation to attend the next meeting of the
Permanent Indus Commission (PIC) to be held in Lahore in March.
- The
move came after two months of diplomatic negotiations, with World Bank
officials playing mediator in encouraging Pakistan to extend the
invitation and for India to accept.
- A
look at the two major hydro electric projects- Kishenganga and Ratle- in
Jammu and Kashmir may be taken up in the meeting.
Half
of India-Bangladesh border fenced
Half of the 4,096-km border
India shares with Bangladesh has been fenced. Land acquisition is a major
challenge to completing the work by the 2019 deadline.
- Fencing
is mainly aimed to curb infiltration and smuggling of cattle and fake
Indian currency notes.
- Across
rivers, where fencing is not possible, the government going in for
technological solutions such as cameras and lasers.
Pakistan
returns to SAARC, gets Secretary General post
After months
of difficulty posed mainly by India, Pakistan has succeeded in getting its
official elected to the post of the Secretary General of the South Asian
Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). This was backed by all members,
including India, which made the selection consensus-based.
- As
the incoming chair, Pakistan was supposed to provide the next Secretary
General. The new chief of SAARC was expected to take charge a year
ago.
- Earlier,
India had opposed holding of the 19th SAARC summit in Islamabad in
November 2016 following the terror strike in Uri.
Syrian
Army recaptures Palmyra
The Syrian
Army has recaptured the ancient city of Palmyra from Islamic State (IS) for the
second time in a year, with help from allied forces and Russian war-planes.
- IS
is on the back foot in Syria after losing territory in the north to an
alliance of U.S.-backed, Kurdish-led militias, and to Turkey-backed Syrian
rebels.
- The
Syrian Army is also fighting IS in the area east of Aleppo and in the city
of Deir al-Zor, where it controls an enclave that is besieged by the
group.
Sweden
to reintroduce conscription after 6 years
Sweden has
announced that it will reintroduce compulsory military service starting this
summer to respond to global security challenges, including from Russia.
- The
Scandinavian nation, which has not seen armed conflict on its territory in
two centuries, ended conscription in 2010 after it was deemed an
unsatisfactory way of meeting the needs of a modern army.
- The
government wants a more stable staff supply system and to boost its
military capability because the security situation has changed.
WHO’s
First-Ever List of the Dirty Dozen Superbugs
The World
Health Organisation (WHO) has published its first ever list of
antibiotic-resistant `priority pathogens’ -a catalogue of 12 families of
bacteria that pose the greatest threat to human health.
- This
is bad news for India as most of these 12 superbugs are present in the
country.
- The
list was drawn up to promote research and development of new
antibiotics.
- The
move was part of efforts to address the problem of growing global
resistance to antimicrobial medicines.
MTNL appoints P K Purwar as Chairman and Managing
Director
P K Purwar was appointed as the Chairman and
Managing Director of state-run telecom major Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited
(MTNL).
- The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved his appointment to the post for five years.
