Daily Current affairs - March 19, 2018 for all competitive exams
President Ram Nath Kovind inaugurates a Festival of
Innovation and Entrepreneurship and present Gandhian Young Technological
Innovation awards at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi.
- The
five-day festival is an initiative to recognise, respect, showcase, reward
innovations and to foster a supportive ecosystem for innovators.
- It
is being organised by Rashtrapati Bhavan in association with the
Department of Science and Technology and the National Innovation
Foundation-India.
Festival
of Innovation and Entrepreneurship is a celebration of
country’s Innovation potential, particularly those ideas which stem from
grassroots level including the citizen at the last mile and also a reflection
of power of children’s creativity. It is an initiative to recognise, respect,
showcase, reward innovations and to foster a supportive ecosystem for
innovators.
FINE would
provide an excellent platform to the innovators for building the linkages
with potential stakeholders whose support can improve their prospects in
coming years for the larger social good.
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KUSUM Scheme to Install Grid Connected Solar
Plants in Rural India
The Indian government is in process of
formulating 'Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthan Mahabhiyan (KUSUM)
scheme' to harness solar power for rural India. The scheme will allow to
setup grid-connected solar plants in rural areas.
- KUSUM
will build 10,000 MW solar plant and provide 1.75 million off-grid
agricultural solar pumps.
- The
program aims to boost farmers’ income as they can sell their additional
power to the main grid produced by solar plants located on their lands.
Centre moves for law on online abuse
Moving a step ahead towards framing a distinct law for online
“hate speech,” the Home Ministry has written to the Law Commission to prepare a
draft law. The provisions will deal with offensive messages sent through social
media and online messaging applications.
- The
decision came after a committee headed by former Lok Sabha Secretary
General T.K. Viswanathan submitted a report recommending stricter laws to
curb online hate speech. The panel was formed after Section 66A of the
Information Technology Act, 2000, was scrapped by the Supreme Court in
2015.
- The
scrapped provision provided punishment for sending offensive messages
through communication services.
- The
proposed 153 C (b) IPC —‘incitement to hatred,’ recommended that the crime
be punishable by two years imprisonment and ₹5,000 fine or both.
- The
proposed law says, “Whoever on grounds of religion, race, caste or
community, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, place of birth, residence,
language, disability or tribe, uses any means of communication to - (a)
gravely threaten any person or group of persons with the intention to
cause fear of injury or alarm; or (b) advocate hatred towards any person
or group of persons that causes, or is likely to cause, incitement to
commit an offence.”
The official said once the Law Commission submits its final
proposal, the States would be asked to send their comments since the proposed
amendment falls under the Concurrent List of the Constitution. The Bezbaruah
Committee was constituted by the Centre in February 2014 in the wake of a
series of racial attacks on persons belonging to the northeast. Though the
committee submitted its report in July 2014, the Home Ministry sent out
letters to States for their opinion almost four years later, in February this
year.
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TRAI to rejig portability process
The process of network port-out is set to become faster and
simpler for mobile subscribers as Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)
is planning to initiate a review of the Mobile Number Portability (MNP)
mechanism.
- It
will issue, by the month-end, a consultation paper that will look at
reducing the time taken to switch from one network to another under MNP,
and also seek to simplify the entire process
The move
to revamp the present mechanism for MNP comes after TRAI has cut the MNP
charges by almost 79% to a maximum of Rs. 4.
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Jackfruit to be Kerala’s state fruit
Jackfruit is
set to be declared as the official fruit of Kerala. The core objective of the
government was to give a fillip to the production and sale of jackfruit and its
value-added products.
- Elephant
is the state animal of Kerala, while ‘great hornbill’ is the state bird
and ‘kanikkonna’, the official flower.
- The
state had also recently declared pearl spot, popularly known as
‘karimeen’, as its official fish.
Indian Navy to host bilaterale 'Varuna' with
French navy
The Indian Navy and the French Navy have conducted
bilateral maritime exercises since May 1993.
- Since
2001, the exercises have been named VARUNA and there have been
fifteen editions of the same till date. The last edition of VARUNA
was conducted off the French Coast in April 2017.
- This
year too VARUNA-18 would be conducted in three sea areas,
namely, the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal and South Western Indian Ocean.
India signs double taxation avoidance pact with
Hong Kong
India and Hong Kong signed a bilateral double taxation
avoidance treaty to curb evasion and promote flow of investment.
- The
Agreement for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of
Fiscal Evasion will stimulate flow of investment, technology and personnel
from India to Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) and vice
versa, an official statement said.
- It
will also prevent double taxation and provide for exchange of information
between the two countries.
Under Section 90 of the Income-tax Act, 1961, India can
enter into an agreement with a foreign country or specified territory for
avoidance of double taxation of income, for exchange of information for the
prevention of evasion.
The treaty would reduce the withholding tax rates that can
be applied to interest or royalties. This will allow Hong Kong
investors to make investment decisions with greater certainty and will reduce
compliance costs for businesses.
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1st India-Japan workshop on Disaster risk
reduction inaugurated
The Vice-Chairman, NITI Aayog, Dr Rajiv
Kumar inaugurated the First India-Japan Workshop on Disaster Risk
Reduction in New Delhi.
- The
two-day workshop is being jointly organised by the Ministry of Home
Affairs, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and
Government of Japan.
- The
workshop marks the beginning of the formal implementation of the
initiatives agreed under the Memorandum of Cooperation signed between the
two countries on Disaster Risk Reduction in September 2017.
2,000-year-old brew unearthed in China
A bronze kettle containing liquor from a Qin Dynasty tomb,
dating back more than 2,000 years, has been discovered by archaeologists in
west China’s Shaanxi Province.
- The
kettle is a sacrificial vessel. It was among 260 items unearthed from a
graveyard of commoners’ tombs from the Qin Dynasty (221-207 B.C.). Most of
the relics were for worshipping rituals.
Xu Weihong, a researcher with the provincial archaeological
institute, said about 300 ml of liquor was found in the kettle, which had its
opening sealed with natural fibres. The liquor is a transparent milky white.
Researchers believed it was made using fermentation techniques, as it was
composed of glutamic acid substances.
Researchers need to further study the liquor to better
understand the brewing technology and wine drinking culture in Xianyang, the
ancient capital of the Qin Dynasty.
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Mangala Mani, ISRO’s first woman scientist to
spend over a year in Antarctica
At 56 years of age, Mangala Mani, ISRO’s first woman
scientist spent over 403 days in Antarctica.
- Mangala
Mani was part of a 23-member expedition team that went to India’s research
station, Bharati, in November 2016.
India steps to restart research on Cold fusion
India is
taking tentative steps towards restarting research into Cold fusion, some 25
years after it was shut down at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC)
following global criticism heaped on the idea. Three research groups have taken
up the theme.
- Cold
fusion describes a form of energy generated when hydrogen interacts with
various metals like nickel and palladium.
Cold
fusion is a field of condensed matter nuclear science CMNS, and is also called low-energy nuclear reactions LENR,
lattice-assisted nuclear reactions LANR, low energy nanoscale reactions LENR,
among others. Cold fusion is
also referred to as the Anomalous Heat Effect AHE, reflecting the fact that
there is no definitive theory of the elusive reaction.
Advantages of cold fusion:
No radioactive
materials are used in cold fusion. It occurs as the tiny protons, neutrons
and electrons of hydrogen interact, releasing energy slowly, through heat and
photons, without the dangerous radiation associated with conventional nuclear
reactions, and cold fusion makes no radioactive waste.
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Worldwide cost of living report 2018- Singapore
most expensive, Damascus Least
Singapore remains the most expensive city in the
world, according to The Economist Intelligence Unit’s Worldwide Cost
of Living report 2018.
- The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) published the
Worldwide Cost of Living index 2018 for 133 cities across the world.
- The Top 3 Expensive cities on the list are- Singapore,
Paris and France.
- Damascus, the capital of war-ravaged Syria, is
the cheapest city for living in the world, followed by Venezuela’s
capital Caracas.
- Bengaluru is the world’s fifth cheapest city while
Chennai and New Delhi, at eighth and tenth places, respectively
Informal WTO ministerial meeting held in New
Delhi
Representatives from 50 countries gathered in New Delhi for
a two-day informal World Trade Organisation (WTO) ministerial meeting.
- According
to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the informal meeting of
ministers will provide an opportunity to engage in free and frank
discussions with the hope that it will lead to political guidance on some
major issues.
Vladimir Putin wins historic 4th term as
Russian president
Russian President Vladimir Putin stormed to victory in
presidential election, giving him another six years in power.
- United
Russia is the ruling political party of the Russian Federation.
- He
is well ahead of his nearest rival Communist Party candidate Pavel
Grudinin at 13.2%. About 107 million Russians were eligible to cast
ballots and turnout was 60% before polls closed in Moscow.
Navy chief Sunil Lanba to be on a 5-Day visit
to USA
Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba is on a five-day visit to
the USA.
- The
visit aims to consolidate relations between the Armed Forces of both the
nations and to explore new avenues of defence co-operation.
- During
the visit, Admiral Lanba will hold bilateral discussions with US
Defence Secretary James Mattis, Secretary of the Navy Richard
Spencer among others.
Yi Gang appointed as the head of China’s
Central Bank
China has appointed US-trained economist, Yi
Gang as the governor of China’s Central Bank.
- He
will be succeeding longtime governor Zhou Xiaochuan
- The
Chinese legislature approved the appointment of Yi Gang, a veteran deputy
central banker who is known to foreign companies, investors and regulators
as head of China’s foreign exchange regulator.
- Unlike
other central banks of major economies, the People’s Bank doesn’t make
monetary policy. Instead, its mission is to carry out policy made by an
official body the identity of whose members is secret.
Virat Kohli takes top honours in first
‘Instagram Awards in India’
Instagram announced
its first 'Instagram Awards in India', with Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli
taking the top honours as the "most engaged account" as of March
2018. Kohli's 19.8 million followers is lower than some other Indian
celebrities, but he rules the roost in terms of likes and comments on his
posts.
- Padmaavat star
Deepika Padukone bagged the 'most followed account' prize with 22.4
million followers. Bollywood star Priyanka Chopra was next with
22 million followers, trailed by Alia Bhatt with 20.8 million followers.
- Ishaan
Khatter was dubbed as India's “emerging account” for growing his fan base
significantly throughout 2017. Ishaan will be seen alongside Janhvi Kapoor
as the lead actor in the upcoming Bollywood flick Dhadak, which is the remake of the landmark Marathi
film Sairat.
Winter Paralympics closes with tributes to
Hawking
The Pyeongchang Winter
Paralympics closed with a dazzling ceremony featuring light shows, dancing and
music, as well as tributes to late wheelchair-bound British physicist Stephen
Hawking as an “inspiration”.
- North
Korea’s athletes, who made their Winter Paralympics debut in Pyeongchang,
were absent from the closing ceremony after heading home early, but it was
a minor sticking point after the rapid inter-Korean thaw of recent weeks.
- Top
table: US – 36 medals (1st position); South korea – 3(16)
Indian Wells 2018- Complete List of Winners
The Indian Wells Masters, also known as BNP
Paribas Open and the WTA Indian Wells Open, is an annual tennis tournament held
in California, United States.
- Former
US Open champion Juan Martin Del Potro stunned top-ranked Roger
Federer to win his first Indian Wells title and second consecutive ATP
crown.
- Unseeded
Naomi Osaka became the first Japanese player to win the Indian
Wells final, routing Russian Daria Kasatkina for her first WTA Tour
title.
English Cricketer Kevin Pietersen Announces
Retirement
Kevin Pietersen, 37 years old, has officially announced
his retirement from the International cricket.
- A
prolific scorer in all forms of the game, Pietersen has 8,181 runs in 104
tests, 4,440 runs in 136 ODIs and 1,176 runs in 37 Twenty20
Internationals. Pietersen is England's fifth highest test run-scorer.
India beat Bangladesh to lift the Nidahas
Trophy
Dinesh Karthik with a last ball six in a sensational run
chase for India against Bangladesh won the Final of Nidahas Trophy.
- With
a target of 167, India beat Bangladesh by four wickets and won the Nidahas
Trophy.
- Karthik
had come in to bat when India needed 34 off the last 12 balls. Facing only
eight balls, he scored 29 runs and became the match winner.
