Extensive Coverage Of Current Affairs 20/3/2016

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International Affairs

• The UK today lifted a 15-year-old ban on the International Sikh Youth Federation (ISFY), a pro-Khalistan group. 
• The House of Commons claimed "sufficient evidence" did not exist to link the ISFY with terrorism. 
• Note : The group, established in the 1980s in Punjab, has been accused of assassinations and bombings. 
• The ISFY continues to be banned in other countries.

National Affairs

• India has observed the 10th Earth Hour today between 8.30 pm and 9:30 pm. 
  
• Important Points to Note : 
• Earth Hour is a global movement dedicated to protecting the planet and highlighting the effects of climate change.
• The annual international event aims at conserving energy by urging people to voluntarily switch off non-essential lights and electrical appliances for an hour.
• Last year, Delhi saved 200 MWs of energy during the Earth Hour. 
• The Maharashtra government will observe 2016 as the 'Year of Farmers Self-respect' in view of the prevailing drought across the state.
• The spirit of overall development of the farmers and rural development constitutes the core" of this year's state budget. 
• Note : The state allocated Rs. 25,000 crore for various schemes in the agriculture sector.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi today inaugurated a 3 day 'Krishi Unnati Mela' in Delhi for disseminating information on modernising the country's agricultural practices. 
• Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar today announced that the state government will set up 17 new colleges for girls, set to start from the coming academic session. 
• The colleges will be located within 20 kilometres of villages, towns and cities. 
• Note : An educational institute in the name of Captain Pawan Kumar, who was martyred in Pampore, will also be set up.
• Uttarakhand Governor KK Paul has asked Chief Minister Harish Rawat to prove majority in state Assembly by March 28.
• The move came after political crisis in the state deepened with BJP claiming the support of rebel Congress MLAs. 
• BJP also claimed majority in the state Assembly and said the party should be invited to form a new government

People in News

• Pope Francis, the 266th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, has officially joined photo-sharing social network Instagram today. 
• Joined under the user handle 'Franciscus', his first image shows him praying, and has a caption saying “pray for me” in different languages. 
• Note : He already has over one lakh followers on the platform. 
• This mark’s his second social media presence after Twitter.

Awards & Honors

• 'Bajrangi Bhaijaan' was named the Best Film at the Times of India Film Awards (TOIFA) 2016, held in Dubai today. 
• Sanjay Leela Bhansali bagged the Best Director award.
• Ranveer Singh won the Best Actor award for 'Bajirao Mastani'. 
• Kangana Ranaut won Best Actor (Female) award for 'Tanu Weds Manu Returns'. 
• Amitabh Bachchan won the Lifetime Achievement Award.
• Union urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation and Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu has been conferred with the Skoch Lifetime Achievement Award. 
• He was bestowed with this award at 43rd SKOCH summit held in New Delhi for his contributions to inclusive growth and towards poverty alleviation in India.

New Appointments

• China-based multinational networking company Huawei appointed Barcelona and Argentina player Lionel Messi as their Global Ambassador. 
• Jawaharlal Nehru University has appointed Pramod Kumar, currently an associate professor at Delhi University's Aurobindo College, as its new Registrar. 
• He will be replacing Bhupinder Zutshi, whose tenure ends on March 31. 
• Former Wipro finance chief Suresh Senapaty, who retired from the outsourcing firm after spending over three decades at the company, has been named chairman ofHoneywell Automation's India operations. 

Business & Economy

• Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah today presented a ₹1.63 lakh crore annual budget for the state. 
• The budget proposed a hike in the taxes on petrol, diesel, liquor and soft drinks along with abolishing the agriculture income tax. 
• A new scheme Suvarna Krishi Grama Yojana to disburse ₹11,000 crore loans to 23 lakh farmers has also been proposed.
• Note : He was forced to present the state Budget for 2016-17 using the torch of a mobile phone, as the power went off twice in the Assembly.
• The RBI today said that it is discontinuing a two-year-old provision where banks had to submit data pertaining to NEFT transactions by walk-in customers not having a bank account, from the quarter ending March 31. 
• However, banks should continue to maintain the relevant records, RBI added. 
• Earlier, incognito visits by RBI at banks had resulted in the provision's introduction.
• The Finance Ministry today announced that artisans and job workers in the jewellery industry need not pay the proposed 1% levy on jewellery. 
• In case the jewellery is manufactured on job work basis, the duty is to be paid by the manufacturer, it added. 
• The government has relaxed FDI norms for the insurance sector by permitting overseas companies to buy 49% stake in domestic insurers, subject to verification by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India.
• Important Note : Currently, FDI up to 26% is permitted through automatic approval route and up to 49% with the approval of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board.
• The World Health Organization has suspended the approval of tuberculosis drugs made by Mumbai-based Svizera Labs, a major supplier to developing countries, citing the company's unreliable manufacturing standards as the reason. 
• The company's recent batches of medicine in the market should also be retested for quality, it added. 
• Earlier, WHO had issued a warning letter to Svizera last year for the same.

Careers

• The Indian Institutes of Technology have accepted a government proposal to set up an interactive learning portal called IITPAL (IIT professor-assisted learning) for giving free coaching to IIT aspirants for JEE exams. 
• Former Director of IIT Bombay Ashok Misra will lead the initiative. 
• The portal will have videos on physics, chemistry and mathematics as well as previous years' question papers.
• Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore declared the results of Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) 2016 on its official website on Friday. 
• The list of toppers from various branches included Delhi's Ashok Bansal (Mechanical Engineering), Delhi's Swapnil Pandey (Instrumentation Engineering) and Jaya Jha (Electronics and Communication Engineering).

Sports

• Bangladesh left-arm spinner Arafat Sunny and pacer Taskin Ahmed weresuspended from bowling in international cricket with immediate effect after having been found guilty of illegal bowling actions. 
• Defending champion Lewis Hamilton clinched his career's 50th pole positionafter finishing first in qualifying at the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne. 
• Shweta Rathore, the silver medallist at the 2015 Asian body building event, has bagged the Gold medal at the National body building Championship in New Delhi. 
• Important Note : Shweta, who hails from Jaipur, now also has three titles to her name Miss Mumbai, Miss Maharashtra and Miss India.
• Haryana-born wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt qualified for the Rio 2016 Olympics after defeating Lee S of South Korea in the semi-finals of the 65 kg Freestyle category at the Asian Olympic Qualifying event today. 
• Note : This will be the fourth Olympic games for the Indian wrestler, who has won the bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics.
• 10 soldiers of Indian Army qualified for Rio Olympics 2016.

NATIONAL:

Modi will inaugurate Krishi Unnati Mela:

·         Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurate three-day ‘Krishi Unnati Mela’ providing information on new farm schemes and technologies that will help farmers double their incomes within the next few years.

·         Modi will give away ‘Krishi Karman Awards’ to States and progressive farmers who have made outstanding contribution in the field of agriculture. He will also visit the theme pavilion and address farmers.

Karnataka CM presents Budget in phone torchlight:

·         Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah was forced to present the state Budget for 2016-17 using the torch of a mobile phone, as the power went off twice in the Assembly.

·         Presenting the Budget, the CM announced the elimination of all levies on LED-bulbs and electric vehicles to encourage eco-friendly solutions.

·         Siddaramaiah also allocated 5,000 crore for infrastructural development

FENI is now  Goa’s Heritage Spirit:

·         Feni is the first liquor product in the country to obtain such status and got its Geographical Indication (GI) certification in 2000.

·         Feni (sometimes spelled fenny or fenim) is a spirit produced exclusively in Goa, India.

·         It is generally accepted that coconut feni was produced before and then followed to adapt the same procedure for distilling the exotic cashew fruit.

Government allows 49% automatic route FDI in insurance:

·         The government has relaxed FDI norms for the insurance sector by permitting overseas companies to buy 49% stake in domestic insurers, subject to verification by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India.

·         Currently, FDI up to 26% is permitted through automatic approval route and up to 49% with the approval of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board.

2.5 Million Zero Rupee Notes shared since 2007: NGO

·         The NGO '5th Pillar', which introduced the Zero Rupee Note (ZRN), has claimed that since their inception in 2007, they have distributed over 2.5 million ZRNs across 45 districts of India.

·         The note was introduced as a measure to deter corruption. The note contains anti-corruption messages and is advised to be given to anyone who asks for a bribe.

Maharashtra Exempts mills from Paying Cane tax:

·         The Maharashtra government exempted sugar exporting mills from paying cane purchase tax for the 2015 to 2016 marketing year, which began in October.

·         Mills which export sugar in accordance with government guidelines will be exempted from paying the tax, said Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar.

·         Notably, the Maharashtra government levies 3% Purchase Tax on Sugarcane

'World Sleep Day' celebrated on March 18:

·         The ninth 'World Sleep Day' was observed on Friday to celebrate healthy sleep and draw attention towards its related issues including medicine and social aspects.

·         Celebrated annually on Friday of the second full week of March, it was introduced in 2008 by the World Association of Sleep Medicine.

·         “Good Sleep is a Reachable Dream”, was the slogan for this year

Webportal Launched for allocation and monitoring of Coal resources: 

·         Union Minister of State (IC) for Power, Coal New and Renewable Energy launched the web portal for distribution of coal by State Distribution agencies.

Features of Web portal:

·         Motivates states for paperless communication digitizing all the information

·         It will save time and energy of government organizations

·         The Web portal would provide small and medium consumers access to information about SNAs, availability, booking/supply distribution of coal in public domain

·         The portal offers facility of online registration to consumers

·         The web portal also provides monitoring of sales margins of SNAs and platform to the consumers for feedback

Govt. scraps repeat tests on animals for drugs:

·         The government has scrapped repeat tests on animals for drugs, which have already been approved by other countries.

·         The Union Health Ministry has amended the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945, which states that animals will be spared the cruel tests for new drug registrations where complete data from similar toxicity experiments already exists for drugs approved abroad.

Andhra Pradesh becomes the first open defecation free village in Srikakulam district:

·         In Andhra Pradesh, Vanjangipeta under Amudalavalasa mandal, the small village in the north coastal district of Srikakulam has become the first open defecation-free village in the district with remarkable improvement in hygiene under Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.

·         Once known for poor hygiene, where unsanitary conditions prevailed and villagers used to fall sick quite often, all the 162 houses in the village now have their individual toilets.

CJI TS Thakur to inaugurate new building of Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court in Lucknow:

·         The Chief Justice of India TS Thakur will inaugurate the new iconic building of the Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court in Lucknow.

·         Presently, the Lucknow bench is housed in a 125-year-old Raja Balrampur building.

·         Spread over a 40-acre plot, the new building has 56 courtrooms with 69 chambers for judges and has an office for the Advocate General, 1440 chambers for lawyers and a library.

Integrated payment gateway – consumer to SNA and SNA to Coal Company:

·         Automated SMS/mail service alerts and end to end activities integration through ERP.

·         Union Minister of State for Power, Coal & Renewable energy– Piyush Goyal

·         Secretary , Ministry of Coal- Anil Swarup

Domestic air traffic grew by 24% in February:

·         Domestic air traffic witnessed a 24.27% year-on-year growth in February with various carriers flying 74.76 lakh passengers in the month, according to data byDirectorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

·         IndiGo continued to lead in the domestic segment with a 36.8% market share, followed by Jet Airways at 18.4%. Further, the January-February period saw a 23% increase in air traffic.

Give job to acid attack victim: HC to Delhi govt

·         The Delhi High Court ordered the state government to provide job to a 29-year-old acid attack victim as per her educational qualifications and medical status.

·         The HC has also directed the Delhi government to pay for the woman's treatment calling it a "duty of the state to provide free medical treatment to acid attack victims"

8 crore LED bulbs distributed under UJALA scheme:

·         The government said that it has distributed 8 crore LED bulbs in a year across 125 cities across India under UJALA (Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All) scheme.

·         Notably, this has helped reduce 23,000 tonnes of daily CO2 emission and save 2.84 crore kWh energy daily which can light over 20 lakh homes for a year.

Artisans, job workers exempt from 1% levy: Govt

·         The Finance Ministry said that artisans and job workers in the jewellery industry need not pay the proposed 1% levy.

·         In case the jewellery is manufactured on job work basis, the excise duty is to be paid by the manufacturer, it added. Meanwhile, gold traders continued their strike for the 17th day on Friday, opposing the duty.

INTERNATIONAL:

FBI probes B'desh bank account theft: Report

·         According to media reports, the FBI is probing into the cyber theft of millions of dollars from the Bangladesh central bank's US account.

·         The heist netted $81 million in February, when unknown hackers breached the systems of Bangladesh Bank and attempted to steal $951 million from its account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Russia starts its own Credit-ratings firm:

·         Russia has started his own credit-rating agency–Analytical Credit Rating Agency, as it plans to replace S&P, Fitch Ratings and Moody's to measure credit quality of investments.

·         The central bank had earlier announced plans to start a company immune to “geopolitical risks” after S&P and Moody’s cut Russia’s rating to junk because of the economic impact of sanctions imposed over Ukraine

EU strikes deal with Turkey to return migrants:

·         The European Union (EU) on Friday finalised a deal with Turkey, wherein allmigrants arriving in Greece will be sent back to Turkey starting Sunday.

·         In return, Turkey's EU membership talks will be reopened and the €3-billion migrant fund to Turkey will be disbursed quickly.

·         The EU will also resettle up to 72,000 Syrian migrants in Turkey to the EU

Cuba to eliminate tax on US dollars:

·         Cuba's Foreign Affairs Minister Bruno Rodriguez has announced plans to eliminate the 10% tax imposed on US dollars entering the country.

·         The United States had recently announced that it would ease the financial and trade restrictions it had imposed on Cuba.

·         The tax will be eliminated only after the verification of the effectiveness of the US measures, Rodriguez added

China gets APAC's largest Nuclear Security Hub:

·         The largest nuclear security centre in the Asia-Pacific region opened in Beijing, China.

·         Financed jointly by China and the US, the centre is capable of training about 2,000 nuclear-security staff.

·         The site will enable international exchanges on nuclear security, demonstrate advanced technology and promote peaceful use of nuclear power. The construction of the centre had begun in 2013.

Russia slashes space budget by 30%:

·         Russia has slashed its space budget for 2016 to 2025 by 30%, from 2 trillion rubles ($29.24 billion) to 1.4 trillion rubles ($20.68 billion).

·         It will delay a manned flight to the moon by five years, and eliminate plans to develop a reusable rocket.

Denmark firm to set up pumps manufacturing unit near Hyderabad:

·         Desmi Technology a leading international manufacturer of pumps and pump solutions plans to set up a plant on the outskirts of Hyderabad.

·         Desmi is a leading international manufacturer of pumps and pump solutions.

·         Their main line of activity includes platform, anchor handling, multipurpose and emergency response vessels equipment.

WHO suspends TB drugs made by Svizera Labs:

·         The WHO has suspended the approval of tuberculosis drugs made by Mumbai-based Svizera Labs, a major supplier to developing countries, citing the company's unreliable manufacturing standards as the reason.

·         The company's recent batches of medicine in the market should also be retested for quality, it added. Earlier, WHO had issued a warning letter to Svizera last year for the same.

US Defence Secretary nominates first female in military history to lead a combatant command:

·         In US, Defence Secretary Ash Carter has nominated the first female in military history to lead a combatant command.

·         Mr Carter announced that General Lori Robinson has been nominated to lead the US Northern Command.

APPOINTMENTS:

Times Internet appoints Gautam Sinha as CEO:

·         Times Internet, Times of India Group's digital wing appointed former Chief Operating Officer, Gautam Sinha as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

·         Former CEO Satyan Gajwani has been promoted as the company's Managing Director. Both the new appointments will come into effect in the company in April this year.

Ex Wipro CFO Suresh Senapaty Has Appointed As The New Chairman Of HoneywellAutomation:

·         Suresh Senapaty, The ex Wipro CFO has been appointed as the new Chairman by Honeywell Automation India Ltd (HAIL).

·         He has been appointed as an Additional Director (Non-Executive, Independent) and as Chairman of its Board of Directors. 

·         Mr. L.Rao has been succeeded by Mr. Suresh Senapaty.

BANKING :

Government cuts PPF interest rate from 8.7% to 8.1%:

·         The interest rate on Public Provident Fund (PPF) was cut from 8.7% to 8.1%

·         The government also slashed interest rates on several other small savings schemes, including that of the Kisan Vikas Patra from 8.7% to 7.8% and the 5-year senior citizen scheme from 9.3% to 8.6%.

5600 wilful defaulters owe banks Rs 60K Crore:

·         According to the data from credit information bureau CIBIL, more than 5,600 borrowers, who owe banks close to Rs 60,000 crore, have been declared wilful defaulters by lenders as on December 31.

·         The country’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) is owed Rs 12,091 crore, followed by another state-run lender Punjab National Bank (PNB) which has receivables of Rs 9,445 crore lent to 698 borrowers.

·         Kotak Mahindra Bank has the highest amount of loans stuck with wilful defaulters among private sector banks at Rs 5,442 crore.

RBI revises rules for resolution of stressed MSME loans:

·         The rules have been revised for “revival and rehabilitation of MSMEs having loan limits up to Rs 25 crore”.

·         A board-approved policy to operationalise the revised framework will have to be put in place by banks before June 30, the regulator said.

IOB becomes first bank to sell Indian gold coins:

·         Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) has become the first bank to commence the sale of Indian Gold Coin (IGC) in the domestic market.

·         It has tied up with MMTC for the sale of IGC of 24 carat purity.

·         The IGC has the national emblem, the Ashok Chakra, engraved on one side and the face of Mahatma Gandhi on the other.

·         The coin carries advanced anti-counterfeit features and comes in tamper-proof packaging.

·         The current denominations available are 5, 10 and 20 gm.

·         IGC is the first ever national gold offering by the Centre and was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 5.

Switzerland to exchange tax information with India soon:

·         Switzerland will soon be able to exchange information on tax matters with India as the country is close to completing formalities related to the automatic exchange of tax information (AIE) mechanism, Swiss ambassador to India Linus von Castelmur.

RBI asks banks to remain open full day on Mar 30 and Mar 31:

·         Reserve Bank has asked banks to keep their branches, which conduct government business, open for full day on March 30 and till 8 pm on March 31to facilitate the transactions before annual closing of government accounts.

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY:

Ford Foundation free from Government's Watch list:

·         US-based donor agency Ford Foundation has been taken off the Home Ministry's watch list, allowing the organisation to disburse its funds to any Person or organisation without undergoing government's clearance procedure.

·         This comes prior to PM Narendra Modi's visit to the US. Ford was added to the watch list last year, for allegedly donating money to activist Teesta Setalvad's NGOs.

AWARDS AND HONOURS:

Skoch Lifetime Achievement Award conferred on Venkaiah Naidu:

·         Union urban Development minister M Venkaiah Naidu on conferred with theSkoch Lifetime Achievement Award at 43rdSKOCH summit held in New Delhi.

·         He was selected for the award for his contributions to inclusive growth and towards poverty alleviation in India.

·         Besides, IT minister of Telangana State KT Rama Rao was awarded the Skoch Award in the Startup India category for his initiative in establishing the path breaking tech incubator T-Hub.

Akshay Kumar features on cover of 'Man's World':

·         Actor Akshay Kumar has featured on the cover of the luxury magazine, 'Man's World', for its March issue, a special edition to mark the 16th anniversary of the magazine.

·         In the cover shot, Akshay is dressed in a suit by the Italian luxury fashion house, 'Ermenegildo Zegna'. The magazine terms the 48-year-old actor as "The Age-Defier" in the cover feature

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY:

Twitter to keep 140-character limit: CEO Dorsey

·         Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said that the microblogging site will stick to its 140-character limit, ending speculation that the company might abandon its trademark feature for a 10,000-character limit.

·         Twitter last year had dropped the 140-character limit from direct messages and allowed messages of up to 10,000 characters.

India top contributor to FB's Bug Bounty Program:

·         India leads Facebook’s Bug Bounty Program with the maximum number of contributing researchers and the maximum amount of bounties received.

·         The program invites researchers from 127 countries to report security bugs in Facebook, Instagram and Oculus, among others.

·         A total of 205 Indian security researchers have participated in the program and received 4.84 crore as bounties

BSNL to Converge Fixed and Mobile connections:

·         A new BSNL app will help customers use their fixed line phones to make calls over mobile networks from April 2.

·         The tariff for this will be on a monthly basis, and it will reduce ISD rates for customers who connect their landlines to their mobile phones when travelling abroad. Calls will be charged according to the network plan used

Four Giant Exoplanets Discovered:

·         A group of Scientists led by Matias Jones of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile have discovered four enormous planets with masses from 2.4 to 5.5 times that of Jupiter, orbiting stars much bigger than our Sun.

·         The newly found planets are:

ü  HIP8541b

ü  HIP74890b

ü  HIP84056b

ü  HIP95124b

Three astronauts launch to the Space Station:

·         A new three-member crew launched to the International Space Station (ISS) from Kazakhstan.

·         The crew includes Jeff Williams, a veteran astronaut set to break the American record for the most time spent in space with his half-year trip.

·         The crew has joined astronauts Tim Kopra, Yuri Malenchenko and Tim Peake at the ISS to continue Expedition 47.

China’s first dark matter satellite concludes in-orbit testing:

·         China’s first dark matter detection satellite has completed three months of in-orbit testing and found 460 million high energy particles in a 92-day flight.

·         The satellite’s initial findings are expected to appear before the end of the year as it has completed three months of in-orbit testing, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

·         Dark Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE) Satellite “Wukong” detected 460 million high energy particles in a 92-day flight and sent about 2.4 TB of raw data back to Earth, DAMPE chief Scientist Chang Jin

SPORTS:

England complete 2nd-highest successful T20I chase:

·         England defeated South Africa in the ICC World T20  by two wickets, in what was the second-highest successful T20I and record World T20 chase.

FIFA to trial fourth substitute in extra-time:

·         International football's rule-making body International Football Association Board (IFAB) has approved the proposal to try out the introduction of an additional fourth substitute in the half-hour-long extra-time in games.

·         The trials for this new extra-time fourth substitution rule will be held in matches played at the 2016 Rio Olympics, Fifa Under-20 Women’s World Cup and the Club World Cup.

De Kock equals record for SA's fastest T20 fifty:

·         Wicket-keeper batsman Quinton de Kock scored South Africa’s fastest fifty in Twenty 20 internationals after reaching the milestone in 21 balls in the World T20 game against England.

·         With this, he equaled the record which was previously held solely by captain AB de Villiers. Notably, this was de Kock's first half-century in T20 internationals

Du Plessis 2nd fastest to reach 1,000 T20I runs:

·         Playing in a World T20 match against England on Friday, Faf du Plessis became the second fastest player to reach 1,000 T20I runs, taking 32 matches.

·         Virat Kohli was the fastest to achieve the feat, in 27 matches.

·         Meanwhile, Du Plessis also became the third South African player to reach 1,000 T20I runs, behind JP Duminy and AB de Villiers

TCS named official tech partner for London Marathon:

·         Under the terms of the partnership, TCS will become the race’s Official Technology Partner for the 2016, 2017 and 2018 events.

·         A record total of 247,069 people entered the ballot for the 2016 race.

·         This year’s race is also set to see a major milestone, with the London Marathon’s one millionth finisher crossing the finish line on The Mall, said the company in a release.

Shweta Rathore wins Miss India title in Body building:

·         Shweta Rathore the silver medalist in Asian Championship in 2015 has won the gold medalin held at New Delhi.

Awards won by Rathore:

ü  Miss world 2014 fitness physique

ü  Miss Asia 2015 Fitness physique

ü  Miss India sports physique champion 2015

ü  Miss Maharashtra sports physique champion

ü  Brand Ambassador of Muscletech in India

OBITUARY:

LA Law actor Larry Drake passed away:

·         Emmy Award winning actor Larry Drake, who famously played Bennyon L.A. Law, died in Hollywood, California.  He was 66.

·         Drake was best known for his portrayal of developmentally disabledBenny Stulwicz on the television show L.A. Law from 1987 until the show's end in 1994. He returned to the part of Benny in L.A. Law: The Movie that aired on NBC in 2002.

·         The actor won two consecutive Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor for L.A. Law in 1988 and 1989.

1. The Government Of India Has Slashed The Interest Rates On Provident Fund , Kisan Vikas Patra And On Small Saving Schemes

i. The government on Friday slashed interest rates on small-savings schemes, including the Public Provident Fund and Kisan Vikas Patra.

ii. The decision is aimed at aligning these administered interest rates closer to the market rates. The new rates will come into effect on April 1 and will be valid till June 30. 

iii. After the decision taken last month to revise the interest rates on small savings every quarter, the rate under the Public Provident Fund scheme will be cut to 8.1 per cent for the period from April 1 to June 30 from 8.7 per cent, said a Finance Ministry order.

iv. While the interest rate on the KVP will be cut to 7.8 per cent from 8.7 per cent, that on post office savings is retained at 4 per cent. The rates on term deposits of duration varying from one to five years have been cut.

v. The five-year National Savings Certificates will earn interest at the rate of 8.1 per cent as against 8.5 per cent now. A five-year Monthly Income Account will fetch 7.8 per cent as opposed to 8.4 per cent now. The girl-child saving scheme, Sukanya Samriddhi Account, will have an interest rate of 8.6 per cent as against 9.2 per cent. The senior citizen savings scheme of five years will earn 8.6 per cent compared with 9.3 per cent. The rates on the post office term deposits are being cut from 8.4 per cent to 7.1 per cent for one-year time deposits, 7.2 per cent for two-year time deposits and 7.4 per cent for three-year time deposits.

2. Prime Minister Narendra Modi to inaugurated Krishi Unnati Mela in New Delhi

i. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurate three-day 'Krishi Unnati Mela' providing information on new farm schemes and technologies that will help farmers double their incomes within the next few years. 

ii. National fair, from March 19-21, will have separate workshops on key schemes like Pradhan Mantri Fasal Beema Yojana, e-agriculture marketing, integrated farming system, Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sichai Yojan, soil health and livestock issues.

iii. In this fair live demonstration of agriculture and horticultural crops, animal husbandry, innovative technologies and farm mechanisation in big plots. 

iv. Both public and private companies will display their farm inputs and technologies in over 500 stalls.

v. The plan additionally calls for bringing ministries, offices, organizations, research and financial institutions occupied with creation and recycling of water under one platform so that an exhaustive and holistic outlook of the whole water cycle is considered.

3. SC Allows Pictures of governors, chief ministers and minister in govt advertisements

i. Supreme Court allowed now use of pictures of Chief Ministers, Governors and Cabinet ministers in the government's media advertisements.

ii. The SC had earlier ruled that the advertisements could only have pictures of the President, Prime Minister and the Chief Justice of India. 

iii. The earlier order was aimed at removing the association between government policy and politicians.

iv. Chief Ministers and Ministers both at Centre and states had become "nameless and faceless" in government advertisements after the apex court had in May last year held that only photos of three functionaries-President, Prime Minister and Chief Justice--would be published in advertisements.

v. The Centre in its petition argued that it is for the government to decide whose photographs should be published and what the content of advertisements should be.

4. Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan launched FCI’s Depot Online System

i. Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Ram Vilas Paswan on 17 March 2016 launched the Online Depot System in New Delhi to automate all the operations of Food Corporation of India (FCI) depots.

ii. The key objective of the Depot Online System is to align with Digital India vision for transformation of food distribution supply chain in India.

iii. The system, which efficiently captures data online on a real time basis, will bring total transparency in the working of FCI. 

iv. Besides it will also help in better monitoring and supervision to reduce leakages and losses.

v. The Depot Online System will be rolled out in all 554 FCI-owned godowns by July 2016.

5. Indian Overseas Bank Has Become The 1st Bank To Sell Indian Gold Coins

i. Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) has become the first bank to commence the sale of Indian Gold Coin (IGC) in the domestic market. 

ii. It has tied up with Metals and Minerals Trading Corporation of India (MMTC) for the sale of IGC of 24 carat purity. 

iii. The Indian Gold Coin has the national emblem "the Ashok Chakra" engraved on one side and the face of Mahatma Gandhi on the other side. 

iv. The coin also carries advanced anti-counterfeit features and comes in tamper proof packaging. It's very safe and easily recyclable. 

v. The current denominations available in the coins are 5, 10 and 20 gm. The Indian Gold Coin is the first ever national gold offering by the Center. This was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 5, 2015. The IGC in Delhi was launched in the presence of Alok Pande, Director in the Department of Financial Services, Finance Ministry, and Anand Trivedi, Director (PMS), MMTC, besides other senior officials.

6. India And Bangladesh Enter New Era Of Bilateral Petroleum Trade

i. India and Bangladesh entered into a new era of petroleum trade with a special goodwill train loaded with High Speed Diesel rolling down from India to Bangladesh. 

ii. The 42 wagon rail rake is loaded with around 2500 MT High Speed Diesel. It started off from Siliguri station to Parbatipur station over 516 kms. 

iii. It is a symbolic gesture of friendship and cooperation that exists between India and BangladeshIndia and Bangladesh. This is the first major petroleum consignment from India. 

iv. It is a part of the Sale-Purchase Agreement signed between NRL and Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation(BPC)

v. The agreement also includes joint initiative for construction of a 135 km long pipeline, with a capacity of 1 million Metric Ton per annum(MMTPA) from Siliguri to Parbatipur. Presently Bangladesh gets its imports from Chittagong port and the new agreement is cost effective for Bangladesh. The expansion of NRL refinery from 3 MMTPA to 9MMTPA will leave India enough stock to supply Bangladesh

7. Turkey and EU reach landmark deal on refugees

i. Turkey and the EU have reached a controversial deal European leaders hope will stop the flow of refugees to the continent in return for political and financial concessions for Ankara.

ii. Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and EU President Donald Tusk confirmed the agreement, which will come into force on Sunday, at a press conference in Brussels after three rounds of talks.

iii. The accord aims to close the main route by which a million people poured across the Aegean Sea to Greece in the last year before marching north to Germany and Sweden.

iv. Leaders of the bloc had agreed on Thursday on a common plan under which Turkey would be given financial and political concessions in return for taking back all refugees who reached Greek islands off its coast.

v. Under the agreement, Ankara would take back all refugees and others, including Syrians, who cross to Greece illegally across the sea. In return, the EU would take in thousands of Syrian refugees directly from Turkey and reward it with more money, early visa-free travel and faster progress in EU membership talks.

8. India, Australia Ink Pact To Avoid Double Social Security Contribution

i. India and Australia ink pact to avoid double social security contribution Under this agreement, employees of India deputed to Australia and vice versa will not have to make double social security contribution. 

ii. Under this agreement Australia has become the 14th country with which India has a social security agreement in force. 

iii. The others in the list include Korea, Finland, Sweden, Czech Republic, Hungry, Germany, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Denmark, Norway and Switzerland. iv. India signed loan agreement of 35 Million dollars with the world bank for Madhya Pradesh citizen access to responsive services project. 

v. The objective of the project is to improve access and quality of public services in the state.

9. Russia gets its own Rating Firm – ACRA

i. Vladimir Putin’s homegrown credit-ratings firm is up and running and foreign competitors are already feeling the heat. 

ii. Moody’s last week announced it would shutter its joint venture in Moscow of 12 years and Fitch said it will probably stop issuing local ratings on Russian companies, the same day ACRA, which stands for Analytical Credit Rating Agency, applied for a license to operate in Russia.

iii. In the past three weeks, Moody’s Investors Service Inc. and Fitch Ratings Ltd. have said they plan to stop issuing local ratings rather than agree to having their Moscow branches regulated by the Russian government at the cost of breaking international sanctions.

iv. Russia is squeezing the business of foreign-ratings assessors since downgrades it condemned as politically motivated last year pushed the sovereign below investment grade for the first time in more than a decade.

v. The Bank of Russia announced plans to start a company immune to “geopolitical risks” in July after S&P and Moody’s cut Russia’s rating to junk amid a slump in oil prices and sanctions imposed over Ukraine. ACRA’s board is headed by an American, Karl Johansson, who advised the Russian government while at Ernst & Young LLP in Moscow. Ekaterina Trofimova, a former banking analyst for Russia and former Soviet states at S&P, will run the new venture.

10. Tata Steel expects Rs 20,000 cr investment in Gopalpur SEZ

i. Tata Steel is in discussion with foreign companies for investments up to Rs 20,000 crore in heavy industries over the next five years at its Special Economic Zone (SEZ) project at Gopalpur in Odisha.

ii. Tata Steel is the anchor tenant for the multi-product 2,970-acre SEZ at Gopalpur in Odisha.

iii. The UK-based Midget Corporations is setting up an assembly plant for "unmanned aerial vehicle targets" which are used by army for firing practices.

iv. Singapore consultant Subrana Jurong has completed the SEZ's masterplan with all land cleared for leasing within the 30 square km boundary.

v. Tata Steel SEZ will invest between Rs 2,000 and Rs 2,500 crore by 2020 in the Gopalpur SEZ, for which a Tata Power power plant proposal is also on the drawing board. The company is also discussing a possible investment in expansion of Gopalpur port, about five kms away from the zone.

11. Pfizer Appoints S. Sridhar As New MD For 5 Years

i. Pfizer, the pharmaceutical major has announced the appointed of Mr. S Sridhar as its new Managing Director (MD) with immediate effect for a period of five years. 

ii. The announcement came at the time of BSE filings and applied with the immediate effect from 18th March, 2016.

iii. Mr. S. Sridhar has been working with Pfizer from past 10 years. He joined the company in the year 2003 as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the company and later in the year 2013 he was appointed as the Executive Director on the Board. 

iv. Prior to this these appointment with Pfizer, Mr. S. Sridhar has worked with Diageo India Pvt Ltd as the Finance Director.   

v. Pfizer Inc. is an American global pharmaceutical corporation. It is among the world's largest pharmaceutical companies. Pfizer develops and produces medicines and vaccines for a wide range of medical disciplines, including immunology, oncology, cardiology, endocrinology, and neurology. 

12. Sudhir Raheja Has Given Extra Charge As AAI Chairman

i. The Airport Authority Of India (AAI) has given the additional charge of Chairman to Mr. Sudhir Raheja. 

ii. This is the 2nd time when Mr. Raheja has been entitled with the task of heading the national airport company. 

iii. Raheja was given the additional charge following the repatriation of the then acting Chairman Alok Sinha to his parent cadre, Uttar Pradesh in August , 2014.

iv. Mr. Raheja's appointment announced in a very sudden manner when Mr. R K Srivastava tenure has been curtailed by the authorities. Srivastava, a 1984 batch Jharkhand-cadre IAS officer, was removed from the post by the government, nearly 15 months after he was brought at the helm for a five-year term. However, this is not for the first time that an AAI Chairman has been shown the door. In January 2014, the then UPA government had abruptly removed V P Agarwal.

v. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) under the Ministry of Civil Aviation is responsible for creating, upgrading, maintaining and managing civil aviation infrastructure in India.

13. Indian Professor Appointed 56th President Of International Studies Association

i. An Indian Professor has become the president of a scholarly group in the US dedicated to international studies.

ii. Professor TV Paul took over as the 56th president of International Studies Association (ISA), at its annual convention at Atlanta, Georgia this week.

iii. In his address, which among others was attended by former Canadian Prime Minister, Joe Clarke, Mr Paul called on international relations scholars to explicitly deal with grand strategies of peaceful change more effectively, especially in the context of the rise of new powers such as China and India.

iv. Born in Kerala, Mr Paul in his speech encouraged scholars with historical understanding to offer ideas for policy makers about which strategy produced conflict and which strategy generated unnecessary violence.

v. The James McGill Professor of International Relations at McGill University, Montreal, Canada he is a leading scholar of international security, nuclear proliferation, and South Asia.

14. Tikka Shatrujit Singh knighted with top French award

i. Tikka Shatrujit Singh, chief representative in Asia for French multinational LVMH (Moet Hennessy-Louis Vuitton) and advisor to the chairman of Louis Vuitton, has spearheaded the development of Louis Vuitton’s business in India.

ii. Tikka Shatrujit Singh, the royal scion of Kapurthala’s Ahluwalia dynasty, has been conferred with the prestigious Knight of the Legion of Honour for his “extraordinary work in the exchanging the French lifestyle and Indian culture with each other.” 

iii. Singh is also known for his endeavours to preserve the tangible and intangible heritage of Kapurthala, which is a blend of Indo-French architectural styles. 

15. Tenth Asian Film Awards : Complete List of Winners

i. The 10th edition of Asian Film Awards (AFA), which was held at the Venetian Theatre in Macau, China, honoured diverse talents across Asian cinema. 

ii. The prestigious awards ceremony was graced by a spectacular gathering of celebrities and industry professionals from different cities of Asia.

iii. Awards won by Assassin- Assassin wins more than half of the 15 awards presented in the Asian film awards :- Best Film: The Assassin, Best Director: Hou Hsiao-Hsien for The Assassin, Best Actress: Shu Qi for The Assassin, Best Supporting Actress: Zhou Yun for The Assassin, Best Cinematography: Mark Lee Ping-bing for The Assassin, Best Production Design: Hwarng Wern-ying for The Assassin, Best Original Music: Lim Giong for The Assassin, Best Sound: Chu Shih-yi, Tu Duu-chih and Wu Shu-yao for The Assassin.

iv. Others Awards presented- Best Actor: Lee Byung-hun for The Inside Men, Best Newcomer: Jessie Li for Port of Call, Best Supporting Actor: Tadanobu Asano for Journey to the Shore, Best Screenplay: Jia Zhangke for Mountains May Depart, Best Editing: William Chang Suk-ping, Chu Ka-yat, Liao Ching-sung, Wong Hoi, Philip Yung for Port of Call, Best Visual Effects: Prasad Sutar for Bajirao Mastani, Best Costume Design: Lee Ji-yeon and Shim Hyun-seob for The Throne.

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