Daily Current affairs - March 20, 2018 for all competitive exams
Since 2013, the United Nations has celebrated
the International Day of Happiness (on 20th March) as a way to
recognise the importance of happiness in the lives of people around the world.
The theme for IDH 2018 is "Share
Happiness" - focusing on the importance of relationships,
kindness and helping each other.
The World Happiness Report 2018 was also released
recently in which Finland was ranked as the happiest
country and Burundi in East Africa is the unhappiest place in
the world. India ranks 133rd in the report.
The International Day of Happiness is celebrated worldwide
every March 20, and was conceptualized and founded by philanthropist,
activist, statesman, and prominent United Nations special advisor Jayme
Illien to inspire, mobilize, and advance the global happiness movement
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March 20- World Sparrow Day
World Sparrow Day is observed on 20
March every year globally to create awareness about the protection of
sparrows.
- The
theme for this year's WSD is 'I Love Sparrows'.
- The
first World Sparrow Day was observed in 2010 across the globe. The theme
has been inspired by the hope that more and more of us will celebrate the
relationship between people and Sparrows.
It is an international initiative by the Nature Forever
Society of India in collaboration with the Eco-Sys Action Foundation (France)
and numerous other national and international organisations across the world
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Centre approves to set up a plastic park in
Deoghar district of Jharkhand
Centre has approved to set up a plastic park in Deoghar
district of Jharkhand. The park is being set up at an estimated cost of 120
crore rupees and is spread over 150 acres of land.
- Briefing
reporters in New Delhi, Chemical and Fertilisers Minister Ananth Kumar
said, the park will provide six thousand direct employments and 30
thousand indirect employment for the people.
- He
said Centre will also set up a plastic refining unit in the same area at
the cost of 3.5 crore rupees.
NCAA Becomes World’s 1st trusted digital
repository
National Cultural Audiovisual Archives (NCAA) project of
the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, implemented by Indira Gandhi
National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) has been certified as the world’s
first Trusted Digital Repository as per ISO standard, granted
by Primary Trustworthy Digital Repository Authorisation Body Ltd. (PTAB),
United Kingdom.
- The
primary objective of the NCAA is to identify and preserve the cultural
heritage of India available in audiovisual form through a process of
digitization and making it accessible to the people.
Govt. scraps export duty on sugar
The government scrapped export duty on raw and refined sugar
to boost shipments, as the country is all set to produce record 29.5 million
tonnes (MT) of the sweetener in the current 2017-18 marketing season. Export
duty on sugar was 20%.
- A
notification issued by the Central Board of Excise and Customs said that
it had been decided to reduce export duty on raw sugar, white or refined
sugar from 20% to nil. Earlier, the government had doubled import duty on
sugar to 100% to check shipments. Sugar output is estimated to rise
sharply to 29.5 MT in the 2017-18 marketing year (October-September) from
20.3 MT in the previous year.
- The
domestic demand is 24-25 million tonnes annually.
- Mills
have produced 25.80 million tonnes sugar till March 15 of the 2017-18
marketing year (October-September).
Punjab to ban hookah bars
The Punjab government has decided to impose a permanent ban
on hookah bars in the State, instead of issuing temporary orders against them
every two months. The move is aimed at reducing the use of tobacco in various
forms.
- The
State Cabinet, in a meeting held here on Monday, approved an amendment to
the Cigarette and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and
Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution)
Act, 2003 (COTPA 2003), for the prevention and control of diseases caused
by the use of tobacco products.
At present, Section 144 of CrPC is promulgated against all
hookah bars in all the districts of the States for two months, with extension
required at the end of the period.
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State nod for religious minority tag for
Lingayats
In a significant move ahead of the Assembly elections, the
State Cabinet on Monday decided to accord “religious minority” recognition to
Lingayats and Veerashaiva-Lingayats who follow the philosophy of 12th century
social reformer Basaveshwara.
- The
Cabinet also decided to recommend to the Centre to notify the status under
the Central Minority Commission Act.
- The
religious minority tag will come into effect after the Centre notifies it.
The Cabinet note emphasised that the decision would not affect the
benefits being made available to other religious and linguistic minorities
in the State.
The State government would issue a notification on
according minority religion recognition under Section 2 (D) of the Karnataka
State Minorities Act. Then it will be forwarded to the Centre for notifying
under Section 2 (C) of the Central Minorities Act.
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Country’s 171st POPSK pops up in Nalgonda,
Telangana
The Ministry of External Affairs, on a mission to improve
delivery of public services, has opened a Post Office Passport Seva Kendra
(POPSK) in Nalgonda. It is the 171st such branch in the country.
- Through
the POPSK, one can now approach the head post office with any three of the
12 mandated documents, and get a passport in a week.
- The
POPSK has a processing zone, a verification and granting zone, and the
head post office continues to offer a variety of services.
MoU inked for auto ancillary cluster
Andhra Pradesh State government signed an MoU with a Hyundai
Mobis-led consortium of 16 Korean companies for the establishment of a cluster
of automobile ancillary industries between Anantapur and Nellore.
- A
total investment of nearly Rs.5,000 crore is envisaged in the cluster
spread in about 750 acres, according to a release.
Hyundai Mobis is a leading global supplier of auto
components and a part of the Korean automobile conglomerate Hyundai Motor
Group.
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Judge-appointee Indu Malhotra resumes practice
Senior Advocate Indu Malhotra will be the first woman lawyer
to be directly elevated from the Bar to the Supreme Court as a judge
- Senior
advocate Indu Malhotra, the first woman lawyer to be recommended by the
Supreme Court Collegium for an apex court judgeship, has decided to resume
her legal practice.
- Normally,
a government decision on the appointment of a Supreme Court judge takes a
maximum of two weeks, but the government’s delay in her and Justice
Joseph’s cases has prolonged to over two months. The Collegium had
recommended their names to the government for appointment on January 10,
2018.
The decision of the Collegium to recommend Ms. Malhotra was
a rare recognition of her professional talent. If appointed, Ms. Malhotra
would be only the seventh woman judge in the Supreme Court’s 68-year-old
history.
At present, Justice R Banumathi, appointed in August 2014,
is the lone woman judge in the apex court and will retire in July 2020.
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India hands over last diesel railway locomotive
engine to Myanmar
India handed over the 18th and last diesel railway locomotive
engine to Myanmar, thus executing a key project ahead of time as part of
efforts to boost ties with the neighbor.
- These
18 locomotives are fitted with microprocessor control-based system,
attaining a maximum speed of 100 km per hour and are customized for
Myanmar Railways.
- The
locos have been built by the Diesel Locomotive Works in Varanasi, Uttar
Pradesh.
India and EU Signed agreement on sharing Earth
observation data
India and the European Union (EU) have signed an
agreement that will enable them to share earth observation data from each
other’s satellites.
- The
pact was inked in Bengaluru.
- The
Copernicus programme provides a wide range of applications like climate
change, land, ocean and atmosphere monitoring as well as support in
forecasting, management and mitigation of natural disasters. Under this
arrangement, Indian Space Research Organisation ISRO will share
data from its earth observation satellites.
The European Union is a unique economic and political union
between 28 European countries.The European Economic Community (EEC), created
in 1958, and initially increasing economic cooperation between six countries:
Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. In 2012, the
EU was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
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Vladimir Putin to lead Russia for another six
years
Russians voted in an election that saw Vladimir Putin
virtually secure an expected victory in the presidential election by winning
76.67 per cent of votes with 70 per cent of ballots counted, preliminary data
from the Central Election Commission (CEC) showed.
- In
a short speech to thousands of supporters near Red Square late on Sunday,
Putin thanked people who voted for him, saying that his election result
was “very decent.”
SEBI for phased roll-out of governance norms
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) plans to
introduce new corporate governance norms as proposed by the Kotak Committee, in
a phased manner for listed entities, with only the bigger companies required to
comply in the initial phase as opposed to all the listed companies.
- The
board of the capital market regulator, which is scheduled to meet on March
28, will discuss the committee’s proposals before giving it the go-ahead
for implementation for listed companies.
- The
aim is to implement the new norms with minimum disruption and so the top
200 or 500 companies would be initially mandated to comply with the new
rules
The 23-member committee under the chairmanship of Uday
Kotak had submitted its 177-page report to SEBI in October.
The committee also proposed that listed companies should be
required to have at least six directors on the board with a minimum of 50%
representation of independent directors, including one woman director.
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SBI Signed MoU With IMGC
India's largest lender SBI and India Mortgage
Guarantee Corporation (IMGC) signed a pact to offer mortgage guarantee
scheme for prospective non-salaried and self-employed home loan customers.
- The
offering will help increase home loan eligibility up to
15% within the regulatory norms. The MoU between SBI and IMGC is
a strategic initiative which will enable to improve housing loan
volumes in the non-salaried segment.
IMGC is a joint venture between National Housing Bank,
Genworth Inc International Finance Corporation and Asian Development Bank. It
is providing mortgage default guarantee to the lending Institutions in India.
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1st National Workshop on POSHAN Abhiyan Held in
New Delhi
The first National workshop on POSHAN Abhiyan involving
all the states and union territories was held at Pravasi Bharatiya Kendra, New
Delhi.
- The
Ministry of Women and Child Development has organised the day-long
workshop with participation from all the states/UTs.
- The
Ministry of WCD had also launched five e-ILA (e-Incremental Learning
Approach) courses and two ECCE(Early Childhood Care and
Education) software modules.
POSHAN Abhiyan was launched in March 2018 by the
PM Modi in Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan. It has been set up with a three
year budget of Rs.9046.17 crore commencing from 2017-18.
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Third edition of National conclave on Mines and
Minerals to be held in Delhi
The third edition of National Conclave on Mines and Minerals
will be held in New Delhi.
- Representatives
of various state governments, mining industry, industry associations,
financial and academic institutions will participate in the event.
- In
a statement, the Ministry of Mines said, the conclave will provide an
effective platform to showcase the recent policy initiatives of the
government.
Foreign minister Wang Yi made state councilor
China’s Foreign minister Wang Yi has been elevated to the
post of State Councilor, signalling a revamp of China’s foreign policy
establishment likely to influence New Delhi-Beijing ties.
- Mr.
Wang will continue to retain the post of Foreign Minister. The State
Councilor, attached to the State Council, China’s cabinet, is of a higher
rank.
- Mr.
Wang’s new assignment was cleared by lawmakers who had assembled for an
annual session of the National People’s Congress (NPC), China’s
Parliament.
Prior to Mr. Wang, Yang Jiechi held the post of State
Councilor. He was also the senior most official in the Leading Group on
Foreign Affairs — a powerful body headed by President Xi Jinping.
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Ravindra Rao appointed as the new CEO of
Reliance Asset Reconstruction Company
Reliance Asset Reconstruction Company
(RARC) appointed its new Chief Executive Officer named Ravindra Rao.
- Ravindra
Rao succeeds Asokan Arumugam, who is retiring after delivering four
years of commitment at the helm at RARC.
- Ravindra
has an experience of 22 years in consumer lending spanning across risk
management, distribution, compliance, technology, and operations.
Atul M. Gotsurve Appointed Next Ambassador of
India to Republic of Korea
Atul M. Gotsurve has been appointed as the next
Ambassador of India to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
- He
is currently Director of the Ministry of External Affairs. He is the IFS
officer of 2004 batch.
Veteran Hindi Poet Kedarnath Singh Passes Away
Renowned Hindi poet and critic Kedarnath
Singh passed away at the age of 83.
- Prof.
Singh was a recipient of the Jnanapeeth award in 2013. He won
the Sahitya Akademi award in 1989 for his poetry collection Akaal Mein
Saras.
FIFA has lifted the three-decade-old ban on
Iraq for hosting International Football matches
Recently, the FIFA has lifted its
three-decade ban on Iraq for hosting International Football.
- The
cities include are Arbil, Karbala, and Basra.
- Iraq
will be hosting Qatar and Syria for a friendly tournament in
Basra starting on March 21.
India’s Purva Barve won the Women’s Singles
title at the Israel Junior 2018
India’s Purva Barve has won the Women’s Singles (Under-19)
title at the Israel Junior 2018 Badminton tournament held in
Rishon LeZion, Israel.
- She
has defeated the third-seeded and top-ranked Russian Anastasiia
Pustinskaia in three sets. The title is her first in 2018 and third
overall. Earlier she won the Israel Junior 2017, Italian Junior
International 2017 apart from a bronze at the Russian Junior White Nights
2017.
Vidarbha has won the Irani Cup in Nagpur,
Maharashtra
Vidharbha has grabbed their second title of
the domestic season by winning the Irani Cup in Nagpur, Maharashtra.
- Vidharbha
posted 800/7 in the first innings.
- Other
players, like Wasim Jaffar (286), Ganesh Satish (120), and Apoorv Wankhade
(157 not out) did a great job in the field.
