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NATIONAL:
Allahabad HC celebrating 150 years of its existence:
· Allahabad High Court is celebrating 150 years of its existence.
· Chief Justice of India, Justice TS Thakur will inaugurate a newly built Centre for Information Technology at Allahabad High Court.
· The Information Technology Centre is the first among high courts in India, which is fully dedicated for digitization of high court records and decided cases in last 150 years.
· President Pranab Mukherjee will be the Chief Guest to inaugurate year-long functions of Allahabad High Court.
Government plans to award contracts worth 3 lakh crore rupees by May next year to boost highway building:
· Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has said that the government plans to award contracts worth 3 lakh crore rupees by May next year to boost highway building. Also, on anvil is augmenting the National Highways’ length to 2 lakh km by August this year.
Union government mobilizes 370 crore for Swachh Bharat Khosh:
· Narendra Modi’s government launched the Swachh Bharat campaign in October, 2014.
· Since then various initiatives have been taken by the government to improve the cleanliness of the nation. As a part of it, the fund for Swachh Bharat Khosh is mobilized with 370 crores by the government.
· It is a fund created to support the various cleanliness programmes across the nation
Government suffered 12,500-cr loss as telcoms under-reported incomes:
· The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India said the government has suffered a loss 12,488.93 crore, as six private telecom service providers (PSPs) including Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Reliance Communications and Idea Cellular understated gross revenue by 46,045.75 crore, from 2006-07 to 2009-10.
Government bans more than 300 Combination Drugs Sold Illegally:
· Government has banned the manufacture and sale of more than 300 combination medicinessold without its approval.
· Joint Secretary at the Health Ministry KL Sharma told Reuters that based on responses and assessment of products, more than 300 drugs have been prohibited.
· Nearly half the drugs sold in the country in 2014 were combination medicines.
Free Wi-Fi service launched at Srinagar International Airport:
· Tourists visiting the Kashmir valley can now access hi-speed Internet services at the international airport here free of charge for the first 15 minutes as BSNL today launched its state-of-art WiFi HotSpot services.
· The 4G-based WiFi HotSpot services of the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) at the Srinagar International Airport was inaugurated by Kashmir Divisional Commissioner Asgar H Samoon.
· Passengers will have to login after turning on WiFi services on their laptops or smartphones or any other wireless device.
· Then, a BSNL-WiFi prompt will pop-up on their device and the passengers will have to register and then they will be provided with a one-time password, he said. After verification, they will be able to browse.
INTERNATIONAL:
Driverless cars on roads of Britain ‘by 2020’:
· Driverless cars will be allowed on Britain’s roads by 2020 under a plan to be announced by George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Budget.
· Trials will take place on a small number of local roads later this year. They will be followed by test drives on motorways and major roads next year to ensure the vehicles are safe before their widespread sale and use is permitted.
· The Chancellor will publish proposals this summer to scrap rules that prevent autonomous driving on motorways. He wants Britain to be a global leader in a market that could be worth £900bn worldwide by 2025.
Chinese patrols enter Indian territory:
· Personnel of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of China transgressed into the Indian territory in Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir.
· An official in the security establishment said that with the new border defence mechanism in place, the issue was resolved in no time along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
Serbia declares state of emergency over floods:
· The Serbian government has proclaimed a state of emergency as heavy rains are causing extensive flooding and might force thousands to leave their homes.
· More than 50 people died in the deluge and about 700 homes were flooded across the country with 170 people needing to be moved for their safety forcing thousands to leave their homes.
· The persistent rain was expected in the coming days forecasters predicted also Flood damaged the country as much as 2 billion euros.
India, US launch Fulbright-Kalam Climate Fellowship:
· The United States-India Educational Foundation formally launched U.S.-India Fulbright-Kalam Climate Fellowship on behalf of both the governments.
· The initiative will advance bilateral cooperation on climate change, which will enable Indian research scholars to work with American institutions in the field.
US Allies Conduct 09 Strikes against Islamic State:
· United States and its allies have targeted Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria with nine strikes.
· The US military yesterday said, five of the strikes in Iraq were near Ramadi, hitting three separate Islamic State tactical units and an Islamic State fighting position.
· In Syria, four of the strikes were near Mar'a, hitting 10 Islamic State fighting positions and two weapons caches.
Syrian Government to Send Delegation to Geneva Talks:
· The Syrian government has said, it will send a delegation to the fresh peace talks due to start in Geneva tomorrow, but has put limits on the agenda.
· Foreign Minister Walid Muallem, speaking in Damascus, ruled out any debate of presidential elections.
· The main Syrian opposition umbrella group, the High Negotiations Committee, said, it would push for an interim government with full executive powers in which President Bashar al-Assad and the current leadership would have no role.
· UN special envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura has said he wants to see presidential elections in the next 18 months, but yesterday Mr Muallem dismissed the idea.
APPOINTMENTS:
Ajit Singh & Satish Mittal sworn-in as Guwahati & Rajasthan High Court Chief Justice:
· The President is pleased to appoint Shri Justice Ajit Singh, Judge of the Rajasthan High Court,to be the Chief Justice of the Guwahati High Court.
· Justice Satish Kumar Mittal was sworn in as Chief Justice of the Rajasthan High Court. The oath was administered by Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh.
· Justice Ajit Singh was sworn in as Chief Justice of the Guwahati High Court. The oath of office to the Chief Justice was administered by Assam Governor P B Acharya.
Lt Gen N P S Hira appointed as Deputy chief of Army Staff:
· Chief of the Army’s Northern Command, Lt Gen N P S Hira has been appointed as Deputy Chief of Army Staff and would assume office on March 14.
· General N P S Hira has been the commander of Sikh Light Infantry and has wide experience in counter insurgency operations in J&K.
· He has commanded Assam battalion during high violence period and the team bagged 32 gallantry awards under his guidance. He has experience in North eastern states too.
· He commanded 10 Infantry Division in Jammu and Kashmir on the Line of Control with distinction for which he was awarded the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal.
Enda Kenny resigns as Irish Prime Minister:
· Enda Kenny has tendered his resignation as Irish Prime Minister but will continue as acting Prime Minister until a successor is appointed.
· The first day of the 32nd Irish Parliament (Dail), Mr. Kenny, Micheal Martin, Gerry Adams and Richard Boyd Barrett failed in their bids to be Prime Minister.
BANKING :
Moody’s retains SBI, IDBI Bank ratings:
· Moody’s Investors Service affirmed the local and foreign currency deposit ratings of State Bank of India and IDBI Bank at ‘Baa3/P-3’.
· Issuers assessed ‘Baa’ (Global Long-Term Rating Scale) are judged to have medium-grade intrinsic, or standalone, financial strength, and thus subject to moderate credit risk.
· P-3 (Global Short-Term Rating Scale) issuers (or supporting institutions) rated Prime-3 have an acceptable ability to repay short-term obligations.
Bangladesh Bank confirms theft of over $100 million:
· Bangladesh’s central bank has confirmed that its account at the US Federal Reserve Bank was hacked and over USD 100 million stolen from foreign reserve.
· A Bangladesh Bank confirmed the theft amid media uproar after sources in the central bank hinted that unknown hackers had stolen USD 101 million of which USD 81 million entered the Philippines and the rest went to Sri Lanka to be used in casino business.
Employees to get incentive for 1 year from EPFO:
· The Employee Provident Fund Organisation as a part of seeding the UAN number with KYChas announced an incentive for the employees who register between January and December 2016.
· Incentive: Employees can claim 5 to 10% of administrative charges for 1 year
· Duration: From January to December 2016
Yes Bank in pact with Indo-Brazil chamber for strategic co-operation:
· Yes Bank, is India’s fifth largest private sector Bank has signed pact with the India Brazil Chamber of Commerce for cooperation in knowledge sharing, consultancy, skill and technology.
· Sports, media and entertainment with special focus on IT, infrastructure, broadcast driven business opportunities are the core sectors covered under this MoU.
· On behalf this MoU Yes Bank and IBCC will jointly effort to explore exchange of best practices in sports goods manufacturing, CSR in sports, SM&E talent management.
· This MoU emphasizes strategic grouping of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS), represents the changing world economic situation.
BUSINESS AND ECONOMY:
Telenor’s free insurance coverage turns ‘a big draw’:
· Telecom operator Telenor India said its move to offer micro-life insurance to its price-conscious customers in six circles was getting a tremendous response.
· As many as 20 million people have till date enrolled for ‘Telenor Suraksha’ which comes at no cost to customers, Upanga Dutta, Chief Marketing Officer, Telenor India.
· Launched a few months ago, ‘Telenor Suraksha’ provides free insurance cover equivalent to the 100 times of their monthly recharge value. The minimum cover is 5,000 that can reach up to a maximum cover of 50,000.
A320 Neo debuts in India, IndiGo first to receive plane:
· Making its debut in India, the first eco-friendly A320 Neo built by European aircraft major Airbus landed at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, which was delivered to budget carrier IndiGo.
· IndiGo is also the first airline among Asian airlines to have inducted the latest aircraft from Airbus.
· The delivery of the eco-friendly Airbus 320 (new engine option) planes to IndiGo, which is the largest customer of Airbus aircraft in India, was to be commenced from December 2015 but technical issues at that time forced a postponement.
BSNL Jumps Into Video-On-Demand Service ,Partners With Tata Sky To Provide Instant Videos:
· State run telecom firm BSNL has decided to offer video-on-demand services to their 2 crore+ customers pan-India. They have announced partnership with Tata Sky to kickstart their operations right away.
· Once a BSNL subscriber selects video-on-demand service, then the connectivity and bandwidth shall be provided by BSNL while content would be provided by Tata Sky, who have around 4000 titles available right now on their platform.
· On the other hand, Tata Sky, which have 1.1 crore subscribers will get more visibility and branding infront of BSNL customer.
Users can now complain against misleading Ads via WhatsApp:
· Consumers can now file complaints against misleading commercials by companies to advertising watchdog ASCI through mobile messaging app WhatsApp.
· Consumers can now WhatsApp the objectionable advertisement to +91 77-100-12345, from where the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) would lodge ‘suo moto’ complaints using this number.
AWARDS AND HONOURS:
Kerala Tourism campaign wins Golden City Gate Award:
· God’s own Country official logoed Kerala Tourism’s campaign on tourism has bagged the‘Golden City Gate Award’ at the travel trade show ITB in Berlin.
· The award bagged campaign Titled ‘New Worlds’, the multimedia campaign containing three short films directed by reputed Malayalam filmmaker Anwar Rasheed won thesilver prize of this year’s Golden City Gate (Das Golden Stadttor), at the International Tourismus-Borse Berlin.
Google’s AlphaGo scores a hattrick by beating champion Lee Sedol:
· A computer program has beaten a master Go player 3-0 in a best-of-five competition, in what is seen as a landmark moment for artificial intelligence.
· Google’s AlphaGo program was playing against Lee Se-dol in Seoul, in South Korea.
· The Chinese board game is considered to be a much more complex challenge for a computer than chess.
· AlphaGo played consistently from beginning to the end while Lee, as he is only human, showed some mental vulnerability.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY:
Astronaut Scott Kelly to retire from NASA in April:
· Astronaut Scott Kelly will retire from NASA next month, after spending nearly a year in space and setting a record for the most cumulative days in space of any American, the US space agency said.
· Kelly, a former Navy pilot who joined NASA in 1996, will leave the agency April 1.
SPORTS:
Vijender Singh Registers Fourth Straight Win in Pro Boxing:
· Star Indian boxer Vijender Singh continued his unbeaten run in the Professional arena last night as he defeated Alexander Horvath of Hungary via knock-out. The fight was held at Liverpool in England.
· This was Vijender's fourth Pro-Boxing win in as many bouts, with all of them being knockout or technical knockout.
OBITUARY:
Keyboardist Keith Emerson dies at 71:
· Legendary Musician Keith Emerson, Lake and Palmer keyboardist who turned the instrument into every bit the powerful and cool rock weapon as the guitar, has died in his residence in California US
· He was 71, when he died. Emerson’s first commercial success with the Nice in the late 1960s, before becoming a founding member of Emerson, Lake and Palmer one of the early supergroups, in 1970.
· Born on November 1, 1944, in the England Emerson was classically trained on the piano as a child and started his career playing R&B. He has been considered as one of the top keyboard players of the progressive rock era.
IMF and India to set-up South Asia Regional Training and Technical Assistance Center in Delhi
i. India and International Monetary Fund (IMF) have decided to set up South Asia Regional Training and Technical Assistance Centre (SARTTC) in New Delhi.
ii. In this regard, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Christine Lagarde, Managing Director, International Monetary Fund (IMF) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
Key facts
- SARTTC will set up for enhancing capacity development and training officials in dealing with macro-economic and financial issues in the South Asia region.
- It will become the focal point for planning, coordinating, and implementing the IMF’s capacity development activities in the region on a wide range of areas.
- These wide range of areas are includes macroeconomic and fiscal management, financial sector regulation, monetary operations and supervision, and macroeconomic statistics.
- It will help to address existing training needs and respond to the demand for IMF training in India, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Maldives and Sri Lanka.
- SARTTAC will build upon the IMF’s in-depth experience with capacity development on the experiences of the IMF’s Regional Technical Assistance Centres (RTACs) and Regional Training Centres (RTCs).
- Funding for the centre will come from contributions by Regional Member countries and Development Partners.
- Australian Agency for International Development, South Korea and India also have pledged financial support for the Centre.
Anand Mahindra conferred with France's Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur
i. Mahindra & Mahindra Chairman and Managing Director (MD) Anand Mahindra was conferred with Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur (Knight of the Legion of Honour) by French Government.
ii. He was presented with this award by Francois Richier, Ambassador of France to India in recognition of his outstanding national and international achievements.
iii. Anand Mahindra is one of the most prominent business leaders in India. Under his leadership Mahindra & Mahindra group has turned into a global company of outstanding repute.
About Knight of the Legion of Honour
- Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur is the highest French civilian award which was started by first emperor of France Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802.
- It is bestowed upon person for his outstanding service to France, regardless of the nationality. Its motto is Honour and Fatherland.
- Note: Anand Mahindra’s father Harish Mahindra and uncle Keshub Mahindra have also been recipients of this award in the past.
Union Power Ministry named LED based Domestic Efficient Lighting Programme as UJALA
i. Union Power Ministry has announced name UJALA for the LED based Domestic Efficient Lighting Programme (DELP). UJALA is acronym for Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All.
ii. The National LED based DELP programme was launched by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 2015 for energy conservation by reducing energy consumption.
iii. The target of programme is to replace 77 crore incandescent lamps with LED bulbs. Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) is implementing it and is currently running successfully in over 120 cities across India.
iv. The initiative is part of the Union Government’s efforts to spread the message of energy efficiency in the country. LED bulbs have a very long life, almost 50 times more than ordinary bulbs, and 8-10 times that of CFLs, and therefore provide both energy and cost savings in the medium term. It will help in saving of energy around 24 crore units every year.
Lt Gen N P S Hira appointed Deputy Chief of Army
i. Lieutenant General (Lt Gen) N P S Hira has been appointed as Deputy Chief of Army Staff. He will be now moving to Army Headquarters in New Delhi.
ii. Presently he is posted as Chief of Staff of Northern command at Udhampur, Jammu and Kashmir. He was commissioned in the Sikh Light Infantry.
iii. He has a rich experience of counter insurgency operations in J&K and in the northeast region, as well as conventional operations in Western command.
iv. He had commanded the Battalion in Assam (Op Rhino) during high violence period. The unit under his command has bagged 32 gallantry awards and COAS citation.
v. He had commanded 12 Infantry Brigade deployed on the Line of Control (LoC) in Uri sector. He also had commanded the 10 Infantry Division in J&K on the LoC with distinction for which he was awarded the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal.
vi. Awards and Honours: He has earned an Ashok Chakra, Kirti Chakra, Shaurya Chakra and many more gallantry awards.
India, US launch Fullbright-Kalam Climate Fellowship
i. India and United States have launched the Fulbright – Kalam Climate Fellowship enabling Indian research scholars to work with American institutions in the field of climate change.
ii. It will sponsor up to 6 Indian PhD students and post-doctoral researchers to work with US institutions for a period up to one year.
iii. The fellowship has been named after late Indian President Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam. It was launched as part of a commitment made by US President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to build long-term capacity to address climate change-related issues in both the countries.
iv. It will be operated by the binational US-India Educational Foundation (USIEF) under the umbrella of the prestigious Fulbright programme. It will be jointly funded by both the governments.
Arab League declares Lebanese movement Hezbollah a terrorist group
i. The Arab League has declared Lebanese movement Hezbollah, a Shia political organisation a terrorist group. The move comes after the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) had adopted the same stance.
ii. Decision in this regard was taken during the Arab League Foreign Ministers’ meeting at the organisation’s seat in Egypt’s capital Cairo. All-22 Arab League members supported the decision except Lebanon and Iraq expressed reservations.
iii. Hezbollah (Party of God) is a Shia political organisation created by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in the 1980s. It was established with an armed wing during Lebanon’s civil war from 1975 to 1990. Currently, it is fighting in Lebanon’s neighbouring Syria to support the Government of President Bashar al-Assad.
iv. The United States, Canada and Australia already have listed Hezbollah as a terrorist group and the European Union (EU) has also blacklisted its military wing.
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