1. Sumit Mullick, the 1982 batch IAS officer, has been appointed as new Chief Secretary of Maharashtra. He succeeded Swadheen Kshatriya, who was due for retirement on 31st of January, but was given a month's extension. Prior to this appointment, he was serving as the Chief Protocol Officer in the General Administration department. He had earlier served as the Divisional Commissioner of Amravati and worked as Secretary of School Education. He was also Secretary to the Governor.
2. Tarak Mehta (87), the popular Gujarati writer and noted play writer, has recently passed away in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. The famous humorist was best known for his column "Duniya Ne Undha Chasma" in Mumbai based Gujarati news weekly "Chitralekha". He was awarded Padma Shri in 2015. His weekly column first featured in Chitralekha news weekly in March 1971. He has written around 80 books on various pressing issues. The popular comic television serial 'Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah' is a television adaptation of Padma Shri Taarak Mehta's column 'Duniya Ne Undha Chasma'.
3. The book "The Wrong Turn: Love and Betrayal in the Time of Netaji" has been authored by Sanjay Chopra and Namita Roy Ghose. It is a sweeping tale of passion set against the freedom struggle.
4. The International Rare Disease Day (IRDD) is held every year on the last day of February to raise awareness for rare diseases and improve access to treatment and medical representation for individuals with rare diseases and their families. The 2017 IRDD is held on February 28 with theme "Research" and slogan 'With research, possibilities are limitless' to recognize the crucial role that patients play in research.
5. Indian Test skipper Virat Kohli has been named as the 'Captain of the Year' at the 10th annual ESPNcricinfo Awards. Kohli led India to 9 wins out of 12 Tests in the year gone-by. Apart from this, Englishman Ben Stokes won the Test Batting Performance of the Year for his incredible counterattacking innings of 258 runs off 198 balls against South Africa in Cape Town.
6. The top seeded Indian shuttler duo Tarun Kona and Alwin Francis has recently won the men's doubles title at the 2017 Uganda International badminton tournament by defeating Aatish Lubah and Georges Julien Paul of Mauritius in the final by 21-8, 21-14 in Kampala.
7. Haji Abdul Salam (69), the senior Congress leader, has recently passed away in Imphal, Manipur. He was the first Manipuri Muslim to be a member of Rajya Sabha from Manipur. He was representing Manipur State in the upper house of Parliament of India for the second term of 2014-2020.
8. The World Bank (WB) will provide $63 million loan to India to empower approx 6.8 lakh adolescent girls in Jharkhand under the 'Tejaswini: Socio-Economic Empowerment of Adolescent Girls and Young Women' project. For this, a financing agreement for International Development Association (IDA) credit of $ 63 million (equivalent) has recently signed between the WB and the Government of India (GoI). The Tejaswini project will be delivered in 17 districts of Jharkhand. It has three main components — expanding social, educational and economic opportunities; intensive service delivery; and state capacity-building and implementation support. The closing date for the project is June 30, 2021.
9. Recently, the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has imposed a 5-year ban on the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and its journalists from filming in all Indian tiger reserves for allegedly misrepresenting facts in a documentary on poaching in the Kaziranga National Park in Assam. The BBC documentary "Killing for Conservation" by its journalist Justin Rowlatt, talks about Kaziranga's rhino conservation which claims that forest guards have the power to 'shoot and kill' poachers. The documentary also criticizes anti-poaching policies in wildlife reserves as affecting the life of tribal people living in the vicinity of the park. The NTCA is a statutory body under the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) constituted under enabling provisions of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, as amended in 2006, for strengthening tiger conservation.
10. The 4th edition of India-CLMV (Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Vietnam) Business Conclave was held in Jaipur, Rajasthan. It was inaugurated by the Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman, which was organised by the Department of Commerce and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). The purpose of the conference was to identify specific project opportunities and seeks business partnerships in the region. The conclave focused on sectors such as Pharma, Healthcare, manufacturing, Agri Business, Food processing, Gems and Jewellery, Textiles, Leather, Renewable Energy and education.
11. Internationally acclaimed author Neil Gaiman has been appointed the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Goodwill Ambassador to raise awareness about the plight of forcibly displaced people and to generate much needed funds. His notable works include the comic book series The Sandman and novels Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book.
12. The 29th edition of the International Yoga festival has started at Parmarth Niketan along the banks of holy Ganges River in Rishikesh, Uttarakhand from March 1, 2017. The week-long event is jointly organised by the AYUSH ministry, Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board, Parmarth Niketan and Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam and was inaugurated by the Governor of Uttarakhand K K Paul. Nearly 70 saints, yogacharyas, presenters and experts from more than 20 countries around the world are participating this year at the festival.
13. Amjad Hussain B Sial, a senior Pakistani diplomat, has become the new Secretary-General of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). He succeeded Arjun Bahadur Thapa of Nepal. Sial has 33 years of experience in Pakistan's Foreign Service. He has also served at SAARC Secretariat as director in Kathmandu. The Secretary-General tenure is of three years and is the head of the SAARC Secretariat, which is headquartered in Kathmandu, Nepal. The SAARC Secretariat coordinates and monitors the implementation of activities, hosts meetings, and serves as a channel of communication between the Association and its member states as well as other regional organisations.
14. Ajay Tyagi, a 1984 batch IAS officer of the Himachal Pradesh cadre, has become the 9th Chairman of markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for a period of 3-years on March 1, 2017. He succeeded U K Sinha. Prior to this appointment, he has handled capital markets division in the Finance Ministry. Tyagi also has diverse experience at the Centre. He was Joint Secretary in Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change before joining Finance Ministry in November 2014 as Additional Secretary. He has also worked in ministries of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Steel and Rural Development. The chairman of SEBI receives a consolidated pay package of Rs 4.5 lakh per month.
15. Telecom Secretary J S Deepak, a 1982 batch IAS officer from Uttar Pradesh, has been appointed as India's permanent representative to World Trade Organization (WTO) from June 1, 2017. According to the official order, he has been shifted from the telecom ministry and has made Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in the Department of Commerce in the Ministry of Commerce and Industries with immediate effect till May 31, 2017. The WTO is a global international organisation dealing with the rules of trade between nations.
16. On 1 March 2017, Bakri Hassan Saleh has been appointed by President Omar al-Bashir as Sudan's first Prime Minister since the post was abolished in 1989. The post of Prime Minister was re-established with limited powers, while most power remained in the hands of the President. As Prime Minister, Saleh retained his post as First Vice President of SUdan.
17. The Zero Discrimination Day (ZDD) is observed every year on March 1 to promote and celebrate everyone's right to live a full life with dignity—no matter what they look like, where they come from or whom they love. The symbol for Zero Discrimination is the butterfly, widely recognized as a sign of transformation. The 2017 theme is "Make Some Noise for Zero Discrimination".
18. The 41st edition of Civil Accounts Day (CAD) is celebrated on March 1, 2017 at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi to mark the 41st anniversary of the inception of the Indian Civil Accounts Service (ICAS) on March 1, 1976. ICAS functions under the Department of Expenditure in the Union Ministry of Finance. The ICAS performs a key role in delivery of financial management services for the Government of India (GoI). The organisation provides payment services, supports the tax collection system, performs government wide accounting, financial reporting functions, preparation of budget estimates and carries out Internal Audit in civil ministries of the Union Government.
19. Robyn Rihanna Fenty, a Barbadian singer and songwriter, has been conferred with the 2017 Harvard Humanitarian of the Year award in recognition for her work to improve cancer treatment in her home country of Barbados and for setting up a college scholarship to bring Caribbean students to study in the United States. The annual award by the prestigious university is given to an individual whose works and deeds have served to improve the quality of lives and have inspired people to greater heights.
20. Recently, para shooter Avani Lekhara (15) from India shot a junior world record 244.4 in the women's 10m air rifle standing SH1 event (R2) to won the silver medal at the World Shooting Para Sport World Cup in Al Ain, UAE. Beside this, para shooter Pooja Agarwal shot 228.4 in the final of the women's 10m air pistol SH1 event (P2) to won a silver medal at the tournament. Notably, both Indian shooters were making their international debuts at the competition.
21. The World Hearing Day (WHD) is observed every year on March 3 to raise awareness and promote ear and hearing care across the world. The 2017 theme "Action for hearing loss: make a sound investment" draws attention to the economic impact of hearing loss and the cost effectiveness of interventions to address it.
22. Indian grandmaster Harika Dronavalli has won a bronze medal at the 2017 Women's World Chess Championship in Tehran. This is Harika's 3rd bronze medal at the World Championship level. The first two were in Khanty-Mansiysk in 2012 and Sochi in 2015. Harika has won the World Juniors in 2008, Commonwealth women's title in 2010, Asian Championship in 2011 as well as World Online Blitz Championship in 2015. She received the Arjuna Award in 2008.
23. Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli will be conferred with the 2017 Polly Umrigar Award at the BCCI award ceremony in Bangalore on March 8, 2017. Kohli, who received the award in 2011-12 and 2014-15, becomes the first Indian cricketer to get it on the third occasion. The award is given to the international cricketer of the year by the Indian cricket board. Beside this, all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin will also become the first Indian to receive the Dilip Sardesai award twice for his best performance in bilateral series.
24. The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has won the annual Visitor's Award for the 'Best University 2017'. Apart from this, Dr. Deepak Pant from the Central University of Himachal Pradesh won the Visitor's Award for 'Innovation' while the Visitor's Award for 'Research' has been jointly won by Dr. Shyam Sunder from Banaras Hindu University (BHU) and Prof. Niranjan Karak from Tezpur University. President Pranab Mukherjee will present the Visitor's Awards at a function to be held at Rashtrapati Bhavan on March 6, 2017 as part of the 'Festival of Innovations'. The 'Best University' will receive a Citation and Trophy while winners of Visitor's Award for 'Innovation' and 'Research' will receive a Citation and cash award of Rs 1 lakh. The aim of these awards is to promote healthy competition amongst Central Universities and to motivate them to adopt best practices from around the world in the pursuit of excellence.
25. The 'Working Group on Migration' headed by Partha Mukhopadhay has recently submitted its report to the Union Government, which was constituted by the Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation in 2015. The Working Group has recommended that the Protocols of the Registrar General of India (RGI) needs to be amended to enable caste based enumeration of migrants so that they can avail the attendant benefits in the States to which migration takes place. It also recommended that migrants should be enabled to avail benefits of Public Distribution System (PDS) in the destination State by providing for inter-State operability of PDS. The Group suggested that the hugely underutilized Construction Workers Welfare Cess Fund (CWWCF) should be used to promote rental housing, working Women Hostels etc., for the benefit of migrants.
26. The book "Mr and Mrs Jinnah: The Marriage that Shook India" has been authored by well-known journalist Sheela Redddy. The author sketches an illuminating portrait of Ruttie Petit, whose marriage to Mohammad Ali Jinnah shocked Bombay society of that time. The book provides a comprehensive history of the Jinnahs, as well as the era of their marriage, its lengthy descriptive passages are spliced with amusing excerpts from Ruttie's letters.
27. The Assam government has made Sanskrit education compulsory in all state board schools till Class VIII. Apart from making Sanskrit mandatory, the cabinet also created a post to monitor cleanliness in government-run schools under Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. Assam government has also decided to appoint a computer teacher in all high schools to provide students access to computer education.
28. According to Reserve Bank of India (RBI) circular, any bank branch that refuses to exchange soiled or scribed currency notes from any member of the public will have to pay penalty of Rs. 10,000. Though, a bank may levy a service charge if a person exchanges more than 20 notes, or notes worth Rs.5, 000 per day. The RBI also clarified that such notes continue to be legal tender.
29. China will build its first national underwater observatory in the disputed South China Sea. Such a platform will reportedly allow the country to keep a check on underwater physical, chemical, and geological dynamics in real time and will also be used for other purposes. The construction work on the platform will be done with the help of Shanghai's Tongji University and the Institute of Acoustics. By building this underwater observation platform, China will become an active part of the international competition. China has maritime disputes in the South China Sea and East China Sea. It claims almost all the waters, which carry a third of the world's maritime traffic and has huge amounts of oil and natural gas. The waters are also claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan. China also contests Japan's hold over the islands in the East China Sea.
30. The Odisha government has recently signed MoU with Invest India to support startups in the state The MoU will also facilitate networking between Odisha start-ups and global start-up ecosystem. Invest India will also extend knowledge support for development in MSME sector with focus on food processing, agro-processing and spices. Apart from this, the Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has officially launched the Start-up Odisha Helpline "18003457100" to offer hands-on assistance to youths aspiring to be entrepreneurs. The purpose of the helpline is to provide a platform to youths, incubators and other stakeholders in the start-up eco-system to get easy redressal of their queries related to policy, fund raising, company incorporation and idea validation.
31. The World Wildlife Day (WWD) is observed every year on March 3 to mark the signing of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and to raise awareness of the world's wild fauna and flora. The 2017 theme is "Listen to the young voices". The World Wildlife Day is an opportunity to celebrate the many beautiful and varied forms of wild fauna and flora and to raise awareness of the multitude of benefits that conservation provides to people. At the same time, the Day reminds us of the urgent need to step up the fight against wildlife crime, which has wide-ranging economic, environmental and social impacts.
32. Raymond Kopa (85), the French football legend, has recently passed away in Paris, France. He was one of the best attacking midfielders of all time. Kopa is best remembered for a series of superb performances for France that helped his country to third place in the World Cup finals of 1958. But he was also a key member of the great Real Madrid side that won the European Cup three years running in 1957, 1958 and 1959.
33. Yumnam Yaima Singh (95), the Veteran politician and former Member of Parliament, has recently passed away in Imphal, Manipur. Y Yaima Singh was first elected to the Territorial Council in 1957. He was elected seven times continuously to the Manipur Assembly from Oinam Constituency from 1962 to 1985. He had held various Ministerial posts such as Education, IFCD, and Law & Legislative Affairs. He was the Speaker of Manipur Legislative Assembly form 1980 – 85. He was elected to the 10th Lok Sabha in 1991 on the Manipur People's Party (MPP) ticket, representing the Inner Manipur Parliamentary Constituency. He was also a brilliant writer, who wrote a book titled "A Piece of Tenth Lok Sabha" in English, amongst many others.
34. The 10th edition of International Conference on Theory and Practice of Electronic Governance (ICEGOV) will be held in New Delhi from March 7th to 9th, 2017. The 3-day ICEGOV conference will be organized by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) in collaboration with United Nations University and UNESCO. The key purpose of the conference is to explore how digital government can lead to digital empowerment by local knowledge. The conclave will focus on the use of technology to transform relationships between government and citizens, businesses, civil society. It will bring together academia, governments, international organizations, civil society, and the private sector to share the insights and experiences in theory and practice of digital Government. The programme also includes digital exhibition and special events highlighting the Indian experience and achievements in digital governance.
35. P K Purwar has been appointed the new Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of state-run telecom major Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL). Currently, Purwar is working as Director (Finance) in MTNL, which has been without a full-time CMD since May 31, 2014, following superannuation of A K Garg.
36. Narendra Singh Tomar, the Union Ministry of Rural Development, Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water and Sanitation, has recently launched nationwide 'Swachh Shakti Saptah' from Gurugram, Haryana on March 1, 2017 to raise awareness on sanitation and cleanliness. Over 1,500 women sarpanches of Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) and all women sarpanches of Gurugram division are participating in this event. The 'Swachh Shakti Saptah' will observe across the country from March 1 to 8, 2017. PM Narendra Modi will take part in closing ceremony of the week long programme on 8th of March at Gandhinagar in Gujarat.
37. India will attend the meeting of the Permanent Indus Commission (PIC), which is scheduled to be held in Lahore, Pakistan on March 2017. The PIC is a bilateral commission of officials from India-Pakistan, created to implement and manage goals of Indus Waters Treaty (IWT). Under the IWT treaty, it is required that India and Pakistan meet every financial year. As per the provisions in the treaty, India can use only 20% of the total water carried by the Indus River. The treaty which was signed in 1960 by Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Pakistan President Ayub Khan, gives India control over the three eastern rivers of the Indus basin, the Beas, the Ravi and the Sutlej, while Pakistan has the three western rivers, the Indus, the Chenab and the Jhelum.
38. The Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) summit will be held in Jakarta, Indonesia on March 7 with the theme of "Strengthening Maritime Cooperation for a Peaceful, Stable and Prosperous Indian Ocean". The summit will discuss ways to strengthen maritime cooperation and fight against violent extremism. Leaders and representatives of the 21 member states and seven dialogue partners of IORA are expected to attend the summit. From India, Vice President Hamid Ansari will attend the IORA Summit. The IORA Summit is expected to provide momentum to the strengthening of cooperation in the Indian Ocean region.
39. The book "When Crime Pays – Money and Muscle in Indian Politics" has been authored by Milan Vaishnav. It is the most systematic analysis of corruption and criminalization in Indian politics. The author shows that it is growing because of societal, political, and economic factors. This remarkable book will change readers' view of democracy in India.
40. The annual tribal festival 'Bhagoria' will be held in Jhabua and four other districts of Madhya Pradesh from March 13, 2017. The week-long festival is organised at different Bhagoria haats (local markets) in Jhabua, Alirajpur, Dhar, Khargone and Barwani districts in western Madhya Pradesh. The haat festival is organized in the form of a 'swayamvar' or a marriage market where young girls and boys are allowed to choose their partners. Bhagoria Haat Festival has an agricultural significance attached to it, that is, it coincides with the end of harvesting. So some people also celebrate it to mark the completion of harvesting. Foreign tourists also converge in large numbers at these haats to catch a glimpse of the traditional festival.
41. The 'Destination North East-2017' festival has started in Chandigarh from March 6, 2017 to showcase North East as a potential destination for investment. The main theme of this festival is to highlight the use of appropriate technologies in all sectors of development for North East Region (NER). It will see round table discussions and exhibition stalls showcasing various features of the NER in order to attract investments in tourism, food processing, handlooms and handicrafts, horticulture and floriculture, medicinal & aromatic plants, organic farming and bamboo development. The festival has organised by the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), Government of India (GoI) and an industry body PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
42. The 13th edition of Economic Co-operation Organisation (ECO) summit was held in Islamabad, Pakistan on March 1, 2017. The purpose of the summit is to increase cooperation in areas such as trade, energy, tourism, economic growth and productivity. Ambassador Halil Ibrahim Akca from Turkey is the current Secretary General of ECO. The ECO was formed in 1985 by Pakistan, Iran and Turkey. It now also includes Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.
43. The National Conference on Innovation in Educational Administration has started at Pravasi Bhartiya Kendra in New Delhi on March 5, 2017. The 3-day conference has organized by National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA). The main purpose of the programme is to recognise innovative ideas and best practices adopted by district and block level education officers for effective management of the educational administrative system at district and block levels. The National Awards for innovation in Educational Administration will be presented by Union Minister for Human Resource Development Prakash Javadekar on March 7. About 150 district and block level education officers from across India and resource persons and faculty of the university will participate in the conference.
44. Dr. Thomas Earl Starzl (90), the renowned American surgeon and expert on organ transplants, has recently passed away Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He performed the world's first human liver transplant and has often been referred to as "the father of modern transplantation". Since then, thousands of lives have been saved by the procedure. Beside this, he was also the driving force behind the world's first baboon-to-human liver transplants and research on anti-rejection drugs.
45. The book "Lincoln in the Bardo" has been authored by George Saunders, the Folio prize-winning author. The novel is a tale of death and beyond that captures the grief of Abraham Lincoln over the death of his 11-year-old son Willie while the Civil War raged on in the United States of America (USA). The book draws a parallel line between the lives of Willie's ghost and a similar uncertain state of Lincoln, after the boy's death. In simple words, the novel is a confrontation with the mysterious beyond the inevitable death, a question that has haunted humankind, and the way death can bring even the head of a nation to his knees.
46. The National conference on Jal Kranti Abhiyan will be organized by the Ministry of Water Resources and River Development in New Delhi on March 7, 2017. About 700 participants representing various stakeholder groups such as farmers, panchayat members, NGOs and students will attend the daylong conference. The purpose of the Abhiyan is to strengthen grass root involvement of all stakeholders including panchayati raj institutions and local bodies for participatory irrigation management.
47. Thiruvananthapuram has topped the list of Indian cities in the urban governance ranking of the 4th edition of Annual Survey of India's City-Systems (ASICS)-2016. The survey conducted by Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy, which evaluated 21 cities across 18 states. Pune stood at 2nd position followed by Kolkata, Mumbai and Hyderabad. The ASICS highlighted inadequacies in urban governance that could affect public service delivery and quality of life. Janaagraha recommends changes in planning laws to address the issues challenging the efficient planning of the cities.
48. The National Safety Week/Day (NSW) is celebrated every year in India from March 4 to 10 to raise safety awareness among people, and to prevent and lessen the loss of human life and tackle financial losses to the family by availing them of safety, health and environment-related support services. The 2017 theme is "Keep Each Other Safe". It is observed by the National Safety Council (NSC) of India.
49. Rene Garcia Preval (74), the former President of Haiti, has recently passed away in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. He was the agronomist and champion of the poor who served two terms as the country's leader. Preval was the first elected head of state in Haitian history to peacefully receive power from a predecessor in office. His presidencies were marked by domestic tumult and attempts at economic stabilization.
50. Recently, the West Bengal government has granted official language status to endangered tribal language "Kurukh" of the Dravidian family. The language is spoken by Oraon and Kisan tribes. Apart from this, the state government has granted official status to Rajbanshi-Kamtapuri language spoken by the Koch Rajbanshi community.
51. Mobile manufacturer OPPO Mobiles India Pvt Ltd has become the new team sponsor for the Indian cricket team for 5 years. The company in association with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will start from April 2017 for a period of five years. The team sponsor gets to have its commercial logo on the both the men's and women's kits. Oppo will replace broadcasting giants Star India, whose tenure will expire in March 2017.
52. The Global rating agency Fitch has forecasted India's GDP growth for FY 17 to 7.1% and for both FY 2017-18 and FY 2018-19 to 7.7%. Fitch stated that the December quarter GDP number suggests that economic activity was hardly hit by the cash crunch after the government's move to remove 86% of currency in circulation overnight. It expects the policy interest rate to stay at its current level of 6.25%. Fitch projection of growth for this fiscal is in line with the estimates of global think-tank Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
53. The 2nd edition of joint military exercise "Al Nagah-II" has started between India and Oman in the Dhauladhar Ranges at Bakloh in Himachal Pradesh from March 6, 2017. The purpose of the 14-day exercise is to build and promote bilateral Army-to-Army relations and enhance inter-operability while exchanging skills and experiences between the Indian Army and the Royal Army of Oman. The exercise would be mainly focused on counter terrorism and forest warfare and approx 60 troops from both countries will participate in the exercise.
54. The 10th edition of International Conference on Theory and Practice of Electronic Governance (ICEGOV) has started with the theme "Building knowledge Societies: From Digital Government to Digital Empowerment" in New Delhi from March 7, 2017. The conference will discuss the role of technology in transforming relation between government and its citizens, businesses and civil society. The key objective of ICEGOV 2017 is to explore how digital government can lead to digital empowerment by local knowledge. It is recognition of India's emerging role as a massive cyber power, accelerated by the Digital India push which has acquired international acknowledgement. The 3-day event is organised by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) in collaboration with United Nations University and UNESCO and has inaugurated by the Ravi Shankar Prasad, the Union Minister of Electronics and IT, Law & Justice.
55. Rabi Ray (91), the noted socialist leader and former Lok Sabha speaker, has recently passed away in Cuttack, Odisha. Ray was the Union Minister of health and family welfare in the Morarji Desai ministry from January 1979 to January 1980 and the speaker of 9th Lok Sabha from 1989-1991. In 1991, he was re-elected to the 10th Lok Sabha from Kendrapada in Odisha. He was also a former chairman of Common Wealth Speakers Forum.
56. The 11th edition of joint military exercise "SURYA KIRAN-XI" has started between India and Nepal in Pithoragarh area of Uttarakhand from March 7, 2017. This is a battalion level joint exercise between the two armies. The purpose of the two week long exercise is to train both the troops in the area of various counter insurgency operations over a prolonged period. It will also focus on other important aspects such as humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations and environmental conservation. Both the armies will mutually benefit from the varied experiences gained during the exercise. The exercise is part of a series of joint training with friendly foreign countries by the Indian armed forces.
57. The book "Numbers Do Lie: 61 Hidden Cricket Stories" has been authored by former Indian cricketer Akash Chopra along with Impact Index statistical system so that all the stories are fact based and backed by statistics. This new book has facts about cricket that even the biggest cricket fan might not know. It is an attempt to challenge and enrich conventional readings and redefine them by looking at the big picture. The Impact Index is a statistical system that examines every performance in a cricket match and series context. The book combines 7 years of Impact Index's work resulting in a book backed by statistical facts.
58. Sam Querrey, an American professional tennis player, has won the 2017 ATP Mexico Open hard court tennis tournament by defeating Rafael Nadal in the final by 6-3, 7-6 at Acapulco in Mexico.
59. Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru has been ranked at 8th among top 10 in Times Higher Education 2017 list of world's best small universities. The list is topped by the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) (United States), followed by Ecole Normale Superrieure (France), Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) (South Korea) and Ecole Polytechnique (France). According to Times Higher Education (THE), to be eligible for the Best Small Universities rankings, the institutions must appear in Times Higher Education's World University Rankings 2016-17, teach at least four subjects, and have fewer than 5,000 students. The Best Small Universities in the World for 2017 highlights that small universities provide high student satisfaction and good working relationships between students and their professors.
60. The Haryana government has recently launched "Tirtha Darshan" scheme for senior citizens. As per the scheme, senior citizens above 60 years of age and of Haryana domicile would be able to go on a pilgrimage within the country at government expense. Under the scheme, the government would bear the entire cost of the tour of senior citizens belonging to Below Poverty Line (BPL) families. The senior citizens would be selected for the pilgrimage on the basis of draw of lots. Over 400 destinations can be visited under the scheme.
61. The International Women's Day (IWD) is observed every year on March 8 to commemorate the struggle for women's rights and to highlight the achievements of women while calling for greater equality. The 2017 theme of IWD is "Women in the Changing World of Work: Planet 50-50 by 2030" and its' campaign theme is "#BeBoldForChange".
62. M P Veerendra Kumar, the noted Malayalam author and journalist, has recently bestowed with the 30th edition of Moortidevi award 2016 by Bharatiya Jnanpith organization for his Malayalam travelogue "Hymavathabhoovil", which dwells upon ancient trails of Indian culture, myth, literature and people strewn in the plains, valleys and mountains of India. The book also highlights environmental concerns over "fragile mountain ecosystem" and calls for action over lack of water resources and waste disposal systems. The award consists of a Saraswati statue, a citation plaque and cash award of Rs four lakh and is given annually for books written in all Indian languages besides English pertaining to Indian philosophy. Kumar is Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of the Malayalam daily Mathrubhumi and a Rajya Sabha MP.
63. HDFC Bank has recently launched India's first Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based banking chatbot "Electronic Virtual Assistant (EVA)" for customer service. EVA can answer millions of customer queries across multiple channels instantly. Eva can assimilate knowledge from thousands of sources and provide answers in simple language in less than 0.4 seconds.
64. The Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) has become the world's number 2 airport in the over 40 million passengers per annum category, as per the Montreal (Canada)-based Airports Council International 2016 rankings. The ranking is based on the Airport Service Quality (ASQ) survey report 2016. Beside this, GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd has secured the first position in Airport Service Quality (ASQ) passengers survey in the 5-15 million passengers per annum category for 2016. The survey statistics shows that Hyderabad Airport has steadily improved its score from 4.4 in 2009 to 4.9 in 2016, measured on scale of 1 to 5. The ASQ awards are presented to those airports whose customers have rated them the highest over the course of the year. The awards will be presented in Port Luis, Mauritius and October 2017.
65. The Ministry of Power is hosting the 13th Executive Committee (ExCo) Meeting of the International Smart Grid Action Network (ISGAN) at powergrid corporate center in Gurugram, Haryana from March 6, 2017. This is the first-ever ISGAN ExCo Meeting in India. In the 3-day event, a total of 36 representatives from 18 countries viz. Germany, Korea, Norway, Russia, South Africa, US and UAE, etc., has participated. The purpose of the meeting is to improve the understanding of smart grid technologies, practices and promote adoption of related enabling government policies.
66. Kalika Prasad Bhattacharya (46), the noted Bengali folk music singer, has recently passed away in Hooghly district, West Bengal. Besides popularising folk songs of rural Bengal among the present generation in the albums of his band 'Dohar', he had also lent his voice in films like Jaatishwar (2014), Moner Manush (2010) and Bhuban Majhi (2017).
67. The 2017 International Yoga Fest has started at Talkatora Indoor Stadium, New Delhi from March 8, as a Curtain Raiser for International Day of Yoga (IDY) 2017. The 3-day event is organised by Ministry of AYUSH, Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga (MDNIY) in association with Indian Yoga Association (IYA) and New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC). It is inaugurated by the M. Venkaiah Naidu, the Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting and Urban Development and Housing. The main purpose of the Fest is to sensitize the masses regarding celebration of International Day of Yoga (IDY) held every year. More than 3,500 participants including eminent yoga gurus, yoga masters, scholars, policy makers and representatives from 15 to 18 countries will participate in the mega event. It will comprise parallel yoga workshop, lectures, Satsang, cultural programmes and yoga demos.
68. The book "The Secret Diary of Kasturba" has been authored by Neelima Dalmia Adhar. It's an imaginary chronicle of the life of Kasturba, the wife of Father of Nation "Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi". The book is written in a diary form with Kastur penning her experiences in Porbandar where she was born on April 11, 1869- six months before the birth of Mohandas Gandhi who was born in neighbourhood on October 2, 1869 and, early life with young Mohandas, her days in Africa and Mohandas's rise as a mass leader. The book tries to tell the world what it meant to Kasturba to be wife of Mahatma Gandhi.
69. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has recently inaugurated the India's longest cable-bridge over the Narmada River on the Ahmedabad-Mumbai section of NH-8 (New NH-48) in Bharuch, Guajarat. The four-lane extra-dosed bridge is 20.8m wide, with 14.5m carriageway and 3m footpath. It is supported on 9 Pylons of 36 meter height on pile foundation of 1.5m diameter. The bridge will be lit by more than 400 LED lights. The bridge is built by Larsen and Turbo, as a part of the Rs. 379 crore project of the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI).
70. The Jammu and Kashmir government will organise a first-of-its-kind "Tulip festival" from April 1, 2017 in the summer capital of Srinagar. The 15-day mega tulip festival will be part of Bahaar-e-Kashmir (Spring in Kashmir) event to showcase Asia's largest tulip garden "Indira Gandhi Memorial Tulip Garden". The garden has more than 20 lakh tulips of 46 varieties and its opening marks the beginning of tourism season in the Valley. At the festival site, decorated kiosks and stalls will showcase rich handicrafts and cuisine of the Valley with traditional and ethnic touch. Apart from this mega festival, an 'Aalmi Mushaira' event will be held wherein world famous poets will enthral the audience with their latest Urdu compositions. This too would be first-of-its-kind in the Valley.
71. The 11th edition of North-East Business Summit (NEBS) has started in New Delhi on March 9, 2017. The two-day summit is an initiative to facilitate investment, highlight strengths of the North-East Region (NER) and business opportunities which North-East has to offer. The summit will also showcase the untapped business potential of North-East to investors worldwide.
72. The mega cultural festival 'India by the Nile' has started at the foot of the Pyramids in Cairo, Egypt from March 8 and will continue till March 14, 2017. The event is a special moment as this year India celebrates 70 years of independence and also 70 years of its diplomatic relations with Egypt. The Handicraft Exhibition which runs from March 8-14, is an initiative to promote Indian and Egyptian handicrafts. It is organised by the Embassy of India in partnership with the Ministry of Textiles, Government of India; Export Promotion Council For Handicrafts (India), the Ministry of Social Solidarity (Egypt) and the Federation of Egyptian Industries (FEI). The festival is a celebration of Indian music, dance, theatre, visual arts, food and wellbeing.
73. The Union Textiles Minister, Smriti Zubin Irani has recently instituted 'Kamaladevi Chattopadhya National Awards', a new category of awards especially for women handloom weavers and women handicraft artisans. Beside this, under theme of 'Mahila Vikas Mahila Ke Saath', the Textile Minister launched a special campaign to provide MUDRA Loans to women handloom weavers all across the country. The Minister also launched a national campaign to eliminate the exploitative and unhygienic practice of thigh reeling in India (thigh reeling of tasar silk is usually practiced by marginal women entrepreneurs, working every day in their homes during spare time).
74. IDFC Bank has become the India's first bank to launch the biometric-based digital payment system 'Aadhaar Pay' through its network that will allow even those without mobile phones to do cashless transactions. The Aadhar Pay service is for merchants which will enable them to receive Aadhaar-enabled payments by passing credit and debit cards, pin and password.
75. The State Bank of India (SBI) has recently launched a new "Work from Home" facility to enable its employees to work while at home using mobile devices to address any urgent requirement they may have, that prevents their travelling to work. SBI will use mobile computing technologies and shall have continuous control over all the enabled devices centrally to manage and secure the data and applications on the mobile devices.
76. The bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has won the best actress award at the International Film Festival and Awards of Australia (IFFAA) for her role in 2016 film 'Sarbjit'. The movie was directed by Omung Kumar. "Sarbjit" was the biopic on Sarabjit Singh, an Indian farmer who was convicted of terrorism and spying in Pakistan and was sentenced to death. He was attacked by inmates at a prison in Lahore in April 2013 and died a few days later. The film showcased his journey inside the jail, and his sister's unending fight to free him.
77. M Chandrakasu (67), the Former Puducherry Minister, has recently passed away in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. He represented Nedungad constituency in the outlying enclave of Karaikal for six terms. He was Agriculture Minister in the All India N R Congress (AINRC) government formed by N Rangasamy in 2011.
78. The National Archives of India (NAI) will celebrate its 127th Foundation Day on March 11, 2017 in its headquarters at Janpath, New Delhi. NAI is a repository of the non-current records of the Government of India (GoI) and holds them in trust for the use of administrators and scholars. It functions as an Attached Office of the Department of Culture under the Ministry of Culture and established on 11th March 1891 at Calcutta as the Imperial Record Department. The NAI has a Regional Office at Bhopal and three Record Centres at Bhubaneswar, Jaipur and Pondicherry.
79. Dr. Lalji Singh, who served as dDirector of Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) and vice-chancellor of Banaras Hindu University (BHU), has been selected for 'SERB Distinguished Fellow' award by the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), a statutory body of Government of India. The SERB has instituted 'Distinguished SERB Fellowship Award' to support research of eminent scientists active even after superannuation. The award carries an amount of Rs. 60,000 per month and a research grant of Rs. 5 lakh. The research grant is for three years and is extendable for a further two years. Currently, Lalji Singh runs the 'Genome Foundation', a non-profit company in Hyderabad.
80. The book "From Inside the Steel Frame: The Memoirs of an Administrator" has been authored by Dr. Ashok Pandey, a retired IAS officer. This is an account of his journey from a small village in Bihar to the corridors of powers in Delhi.
81. Mahabaleshwar Sail, the noted Konkani writer, has been honoured with the 2017 Saraswati Samman for his novel 'Hawthan'. The Goa-based Sail is a renowned bi-lingual writer who has four Marathi dramas and seven Konkani novels to his credit. The award carries a cash prize of Rs.15 lakh and a citation.
82. Donald Tusk from Poland has been re-elected for a second term as the President of the European Council. His reappointment will be until November 30, 2019. The European Council is the institution of the European Union (EU) that charged with defining the EU's overall political direction and priorities.
83. The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill 2016, which is recently passed in the Lok Sabha, will raise the maternity leave for working women in public and private sector from 12 weeks to 26 weeks for the first two children. The maternity leave beyond the first two children will continue to be 12 weeks. The bill will now be sent to the President for his assent before it becomes an Act. It has already been passed by the Rajya Sabha during last winter session. The Bill provides for 12 weeks of maternity leave to a woman who legally adopts a child below three months of age and a commissioning mother (defined as a biological mother) who uses her egg to have a surrogate child. In such cases, 12-week period of maternity leave will be calculated from the date the child is handed over to the adoptive or commissioning mother. The bill also makes it mandatory for employers in establishments with 30 women or 50 employees, whichever is less, to provide crèche facilities either in office or in any place within a 500-metre radius.
84. The Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited (TATA Power-DDL) has become the first Indian power utility to successfully implement teleprotection service using Line-Differential Relay (LDR) over an IP/MPLS network because of the deal with Nokia. The Nokia IP/MPLS technology has improved the reliability, scalability, security and efficiency of power distribution. The Nokia's enhanced system will allow Tata Power-DDL to receive nearly instant updates of any fault in its infrastructure and reroute power through alternative lines to minimize the disruption to the end consumer. The system connects all grid stations and ensures there is tele-protection and in case there is a fault, then it can be addressed immediately. Apart from the network upgradation, Nokia's system also provides more traditional business applications such as Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and video surveillance systems.
85. The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras has won the 2017 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Spectrum Technology in the Service of Society Award for its solar-Direct Current (DC) inverter system. The system, developed using micro grid technology, converts in-home power distribution from 230V Analog Current to 48V DC to directly power appliances and devices. The system is also equipped to tap rooftop solar power that makes it the most energy efficient solution for homes and offices.The award is presented to the company/institution voted by IEEE Spectrum editors as having developed the technology that has the potential to benefit mankind.
86. The Chief Minister of Karnataka Siddaramaiah has recently launched a comprehensive web-based platform "'Pratibimba" to showcase the government's performance and achievements to the citizens. The platform is developed as the Chief Minister's dash board that will serve as a tool to improve efficiency in governance and allow citizens to track government's progress. It is a reflection of the growth story and development of the state and the dash board will reflect the works of all the departments across flagship schemes, key programmes and projects undertaken in the state. The dash board is available both in English and Kannada.
87. Indian Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar has been officially appointed by the International Cricket Council (ICC) as the UNICEF and Cricket For Good Ambassador for the Women's World Cup 2017, which will be hosted in the United Kingdom from June. Both UNICEF and the ICC will engage the broader cricketing community to empower adolescent girls in particular, during the many ICC events over the next 5 years, develop and implement various community outreach programs and initiatives in collaboration with coaches, cricketers and cricketing personalities.
88. The book "Age of Anger – A History of the Present" has been authored by Pankaj Mishra, the noted Indian writer. His new book traces the origins of present-day global maladies like the rise of far right-wing parties, ISIS nihilistic violence and growing mass disenchantment by casting his gaze back to the late eighteenth century.
89. Arvind Padmanabhan (49), the veteran journalist and executive editor with the news agency Indo-Asian News Service (IANS), has recently passed away in New Delhi. Before joining the IANS, he also worked with the Press Institute of India (PTI), The Times of India and TV18. The IANS is a private Indian news agency and was founded by Indian-American publisher Gopal Raju.
90. Narendra Kumar, an officer of Central Water Engineering Service (1979 batch), has recently taken charge as Chairman of Central Water Commission (CWC). The CWC is an apex organization in India in the field of Water Resources that came into existence in 1945. The CWC is charged with the general responsibility of initiating, coordinating and furthering in consultation with the State Governments concerned, schemes for the control, conservation and utilization of water resources in the respective state for the purpose of flood management, irrigation, drinking water supply and water power generation.
91. The Union Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu has recently inaugurated India's largest waste-to-power plant at Narela-Bawana in New Delhi. The 24 Mega Watt plant would not only dispose of 1,300 Metric Tonne waste on a daily basis but also produce compost and energy. The project, built at a cost of Rs. 650 crore and spread across around 100 acres at Narela-Bawana, will use 2,000 metric tonnes of solid waste every day to generate 24 MW of energy. The power generated would be sold to distribution companies for a price fixed by electricity regulator.
92. Iran has successfully test fired naval strike ballistic missile "Hormuz 2", which is intended to hit moving targets at sea with high precision and has a range of nearly 300 kilometers (186 miles).
93. The Chief minister of Odisha, Naveen Patnaik has recently launched a 24X7 toll free helpline number 181 for distressed women in all the 30 districts of the state on the occasion on International Women's Day. The helpline will facilitate quick response of various services including lodging police complaint to provide medical, legal and counselling to women victims.
94. B.P. Kanungo has been appointed the new Deputy Governor in the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for a period of 3 years and will succeed R. Gandhi. The Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) has approved his appointment to the post with effect from the date of taking over the charge i.e. on or after April 3, 2017 or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
95. The President of India, Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated the 12th CII-EXIM Bank Conclave on India Africa Project Partnership on March 9, 2017 in New Delhi. It was an annual event that witnessed the participation of high-level official and business delegations from African countries. The purpose of the conference was to discuss cooperation in Trade, Regional Integration & Infrastructure Development, Finance & Consultancy, Mining & Minerals, Agriculture & Agro-Processing, Power & Alternative Energy, Healthcare, Small & Medium Enterprises, Human Capital Development and People-to-People Contacts. The 2-day conference was organised by CII-EXIM Bank in collaboration with the Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
96. Manjeev Singh Puri, a 1982 batch IFS officer, has been appointed as the new Ambassador of India to Nepal. He will succeed Ranjit Rae. Currently, Puri is India's Ambassador to the European Union, Belgium and Luxembourg.
97. The book "The Travelling Belly: Eating Through India's By-Lanes" has been authored by food blogger Kalyan Karmakar. The author highlights the typical snacks of different regions, often gives an insight into the preferred taste palette of the locals and the popular cuisines in the particular area.
98. Prof. Ronald Drever (85), a pioneer in the field of gravitational waves, has recently passed away in Scotland, United Kingdom (UK). He was one of the co-founders of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational wave Observatory (LIGO) detectors that detected the gravitational waves emited by the merger of a binary black hole pair.
99. Prof. George A. Olah (89), who won Nobel Prize in chemistry, has recently passed away in California, United States. He won Nobel Prize in 1994 for his groundbreaking research into the unstable carbon molecules known as carbocations.
100. The Himachal Pradesh Government has recently launched the mobile app and website 'Mera Hunar HP' for job aspirants. It is a first-of- its-kind application in India. Mera Hunar is a web based platform where the skilled, semi-skilled persons can apply for various jobs as per their convenience viz: Plumber, Carpenter, mechanic, security guards, drivers, tourists guides, etc. The platform is available both in English and Hindi. This platform will directly connect the prospective employers with the job seekers as the application will contain the address and the phone numbers of those looking for jobs and other details as well.This will benefit those looking for daily jobs within their area.
101. Jiratchaya Sirimongkolnawin from Thailand has been crowned the new Miss International Queen 2016 at a contest billed as the world's largest and most popular transgender pageant. This 12th edition of beauty pageant was held in Pattaya City, Thailand on March 10, 2017. The mission of the pageant aims towards LGBT and Transgender awareness and equality in both society and workforce.
102. The Commonwealth Day is observed every year on the second Monday in March month, which provides an opportunity for individuals, communities and organizations to promote the values of peace, democracy and equality that the Commonwealth stands for. The 2017 Commonwealth Day is celebrated on March 13 with the theme "A Peace-building Commonwealth".
103. Shiv Shankar Prasad Chawrasia from India has won the 2017 the Hero Indian Open golf tournament by seven-strokes at the redesigned DLF golf and country club in Gurugram, Haryana. This was his 6th win on the Asian Tour and overall 6th international victory. With this win, Chawrasia became only the third Asian player after Jeev Milkha Singh and Thongchai Jaidee to win four or more European Tour titles. Beside this, Chawrasia became only the second Indian golfer after Jyoti Randhawa to successfully defend the Hero Indian Open title.
104. The book "Aurangzeb: The Man and the Myth" has been authored by historian Audrey Truschke that retells the complex and contested life of the sixth Mughal emperor "Aurangzeb". It is a fascinating biography of an emperor who continues to dominate the contemporary discourse on the Hindu-Muslim relationship and beyond. The book addresses Aurangzeb's concern at the time of his death that he came as a stranger and would leave as a stranger. The novel is an example of how historical biographies of complex characters can be written.
105. Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia has won the men's singles at the 2017 All England Open badminton championships in Birmingham, United Kingdom by defeating Shi Yuqi of China in the final by 21-12, 21-10. It is his 5th singles title. Apart from this, the Chinese pair of Lu Kai and Huang Yaqiong won the Mixed Doubles title by defeating the Malaysian duo of Peng Soon Chan and Liu Ying Goah in the final by 18-21, 21-19, 21-16.
106. The World Day Against Cyber Censorship (WDACC) is an online event held every year on March 12 to rally support for a single, unrestricted Internet that is accessible to all and to draw attention to the ways that governments around the world are deterring and censoring free speech online. The annual event is symbolized by a logo created by Reporters Without Borders consisting of a computer mouse breaking free from a chain.
107. The 22nd edition of Asian Athletics Championship will be held in India at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, Odisha from July 2017. With this, Bhubaneswar will become the 3rd city in India to host the athletics championship after New Delhi in 1989 and Pune in 2013. Nearly 800 athletes from 45 countries are expected to take part in the tournament.
108. The World Kidney Day (WKD) is observed every year on the 2nd Thursday in March as a global health awareness campaign to raise awareness about impact of kidney disease and its associated health problems worldwide. The WKD is a joint initiative of the International Federation of Kidney Foundations (IFKF) and International Society of Nephrology (ISN). In 2017, the WKD was observed on March 9 with the theme "Kidney Disease and Obesity: Healthy Lifestyle for Healthy Kidneys" to promote education about the harmful consequences of obesity and its association with kidney disease, advocating healthy lifestyle and health policy measures that make preventive behaviors an affordable option.
109. The Punjab football team has won the 71st Santosh Trophy football tournament by defeating Railways in the final by 2-1 goals in Goa. It was the 9th Santosh Trophy for Punjab.
110. Arun Jaitley, who is the current Finance Minister and Minister of Corporate Affairs in the Cabinet of India, has taken additional charge of the Union Ministry of Defence (MoD) on March 14, 2017. He succeeded Manohar Parrikar, who resigned from the post to take on the new role of Chief Minister of Goa. This is the 2nd time that Jaitley is holding the additional portfolio of Defence Ministry during the present NDA government. He was in-charge of the ministry earlier from 26th May to 9th November in 2014.
111. The United Kingdom (UK) will host the 25th edition of Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in April 2018 after a gap of over 20 years. The Commonwealth Summit is held in every two years and the position of Commonwealth Chair-in-Office will be transferred at the 2018 summit from the Prime Minister of Malta to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom who will hold the post until the 26th CHOGM expected in 2020.
112. The World Consumer Rights Day (WCRD) is observed every year on March 15 to promote the basic rights of all consumers, demanding that those rights are respected and protected. It also gives people a chance to protest against the market abuses and social injustices. The 2017 theme is 'Building a Digital World Consumers can Trust'. In India, besides the WCRD, we observe the National Consumer Day (NCD) on 24th of December every year.
113. The committee constituted under the Chairmanship of Madhukar Gupta, has submitted its report to the Government of India (GoI) to strengthen border protection and address vulnerabilities in fencing along the Indo-Pakistan border. The Committee has given its recommendations broadly on the issues of threats and border protection, assessment of force level, deployment on the border, infrastructure and technology issues for protection of border and administrative issues. It has been decided to initiate action in light of the recommendations of the Committee in consultation with the stakeholders. This was stated by the Minister of State for Home Affairs, Kiren Rijiju in a written reply to question by J.J.T. Natterjee and E.T. Mohammed Basheer in the Lok Sabha on March 14, 2017.
114. The 2017 International Conference on the "Vision Zero" and its relevance to Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) has started in New Delhi from March 15 and will continue till March 17. The conference will provide a forum for promoting safety and health at work by exchanging knowledge, practices and experience. During the conference, an exhibition on "OSH – INOSH EXPO 2017" will also be organize to show-case new trends in Personal Protective Equipments (PPEs), Occupational Health Promotion (OGP), etc. The 3-day conference is organized by Directorate General Factory Advice and Labour Institutes (DGFASLI), Government of India, Ministry of Labour and Employment and German Social Accident Insurance (DGUV), Germany in association with International Social Security Association (ISSA).
115. The book "When Breath Becomes Air" has been authored by Indian-American author Dr. Paul Kalanithi. It is a memoir which chronicles Kalanithi's transformation from medical student to neurosurgeon, patient and father before his sad death from cancer while working on this book. Recently, it is in news because the book has been shortlisted for the 2017 Wellcome Book Prize. It is the first posthumously published title to be in contention for the Wellcome Book Prize.The award celebrates fiction and non-fiction works engaged with the topics of health and medicine. Apart from this, Indian-American author Siddhartha Mukherjee is also on the list of the annual prize for his study of genetics and mental health in his book "The Gene: An Intimate History". The winner will be announced at a ceremony at Wellcome Collection on April 2017.
116. The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) IT wing has launched the first-of-its-kind women safety application 'Ammavin Aran' in Tamil Nadu. The app will give the user details about the nearest police station and hospital along with map details and phone number. There is an in-built whistle, which can manipulate the phone speaker to create a loud noise when pressed by anyone in distress. The app also carries an in-built call recorder and 'Tips' icon to provide life saving information. The meaning of 'Ammavin Aran' is "mother's fortress". Currently, AIADMK is in power in Tamil Nadu and is the third largest party in the Indian Parliament.
117. The Karnataka government has launched a Rs 10-crore Idea2POC (Idea to Proof of Concept) fund for women entrepreneurs. Under the fund, the Department of Information Technology, Biotechnology and Science & Technology can sanction upto Rs 50 lakhs for any woman innovator looking for funds for proof of concept validation, certification, and for other purposes such as to cover costs in manufacturing pilot devices. The new fund for women entrepreneurs was set up by the IT, BT and S&T Department, under the MultiSector Startup Policy of Karnataka. Apart from this, Karnataka already has three other Idea2POC funds, one for all technology sectors (Rs 10 crore), one focused on agriculture (Rs 2.5 crore) and another focused on tourism (Rs 2.5 crore).
118. Amy Krouse Rosenthal (51), the prolific American author of both adult and children's books, has recently passed away in Chicago, United States. She is best known for her memoir "Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life", her children's picture books and the film project "The Beckoning of Lovely". She is the only author to have three children's books make the Best Children's Books for Family Literacy list in the same year. She was a contributor to Chicago's NPR affiliate WBEZ, and to the TED conference.
119. The Arunachal Pradesh government has launched a new scheme "Adarsh Gram Yojana" for rural poor. The purpose of the scheme is to reach the poor people in rural areas of the state to serve them better. Under the scheme, 123 villages (comprising one village per circle) will be developed as 'Model Villages' during the fiscal year 2017-18. The state government has allocated an amount of Rs.93 crore in the Budget 2017-18 for infrastructure development and for creating employment opportunities and community assets for the people of those villages.
120. The National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC) has recently installed India's largest floating solar Photo-Voltaic (PV) plant at Rajiv Gandhi Combined Cycle Power Plant (RGCCPP) in Kerala's Kayamkulam district. This 100 kWp (kilowatt peak) floating solar generation plant has been indigenously developed by NTPC Energy Technology Research Alliance (NETRA) in collaboration with Central Institute of Plastic Engineering & Technology (CIPET), Chennai. The system was installed by Swelect Energy Systems Ltd, Chennai with support from NETRA & NTPC Kayamkulam station in a short span of 22 days. The solar PV plant has various benefits like conserving water through reduction of evaporation, increased generation due to cooling effect on the panels, reduced installation time etc and could be installed on saline water environment.
121. Nirmala Sitharaman, the Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, has recently launched a new scheme "Trade Infrastructure for Export Scheme (TIES)" in New Delhi for developing export linked infrastructure in states with a view to promote outbound shipments. The purpose of the TIES is to bridge the infrastructure gap and provide forward and backward linkages to units engaged in trade activities. The scheme will be implemented from April 1, 2017 and will have budgetary allocation of Rs 600 crore for three years with annual outlay of Rs 200 crore. The scheme would provide assistance for setting up and up-gradation of infrastructure projects with overwhelming export linkages like the Border Haats, Land customs stations, quality testing and certification labs, cold chains, trade promotion centres and export warehousing and packaging.
122. Diphan Sivakumar (47), the noted Malayalam film director, has recently passed away in Kochi, Kerala. He is known for the Prithviraj starrer superhit movie Puthiya Mugham. His other noted movies include – Hero, SIM, Dolphin Bar, etc. His upcoming movie with Jayaram titled Sathya is in the post production stage.
123. The Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmer's Welfare has launched Mission Fingerling programme with a total expenditure of about Rs. 52000 lakh to achieve Blue Revolution. The focus of the programme is to create an enabling environment for an integrated and holistic development and management of fisheries for the socio-economic development of the fishers and fish farmers. The target of the mission is to increase the fisheries production from 10.79 mmt (2014-15) to 15 mmt by 2020-21.
124. Vienna has topped the list in the Mercer's 19th Quality of Living survey 2017. Zurich is in second place, followed by Munich, Auckland, Vancouver, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt and Geneva. The highest ranking cities in Asia and Latin America are Singapore (25) and Montevideo (79). Among Indian cities, Mumbai is ranked the highest at 141, followed by Kolkata (149) and Pune (151), while Bangalore was rated the lowest (177) by the report. The survey included a city infrastructure ranking that assesses each city's supply of electricity, drinking water, telephone and mail services, and public transportation as well as traffic congestion and the range of international flights available from local airports. The survey highlights that Indian cities that have been part of the survey haven't made much progress on the quality of living scale since last year.
125. As per Karnataka budget 2017–18, the Karnataka government has allocated Rs.100 crore for setting up of government subsidized chain of food centres "Namma Canteens" across the state to provide breakfast for Rs. 5 and lunch, dinner for Rs. 10 each to the common man. Approx 200 Namma Canteens will be set up in Bengaluru alone. Apart from this, the state lifted VAT on liquor, announced free eggs for Anganwadi workers and free LPG service for 5 lakh poor families
126. In Himachal Pradesh, Sanjauli Police Station in Shimla town has become the first police post of India to be linked with Crime and Criminal Tracking Network & Systems (CCTNS), a nationwide online tracking system. Chief minister Virbhadra Singh inaugurated CCTNS system for connecting police post. Meanwhile, the police posts of Manikaran in district Kullu, Solan city and Dada Siba in district Kangra were also simultaneously linked to CCTNS. Under this system, over 200 police posts across the state will be linked. This will facilitate the people in lodging online/offline complaints, police verification of job applicants, tenants, character verification and migrant labourer registration, etc., through police post.
127. The 2017 National Theatre Festival (NTF) has started at Tagore Theatre in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala from March 16 and will continue till March 24. The Festival is organised by the Information and Public Relations Department, Government of Kerala. The 2017 edition of the festival is dedicated to one of the doyens of Indian theatre, the late Kavalam Narayana Panikkar. This year's edition will reflect contemporary India's problems like atrocities against Dalits, issues being faced by women and sexual minorities. There will be a total of 17 plays, from various states, including six from Kerala. The opening play will be Deepan Sivaraman's 'The Legends of Khasak', theatrical adaptation of OV Vijayan's 'Khasakkinte Ithihasangal'. A highlight of the festival will be Manipuri play 'Pebet', brought out by the celebrated Manipuri theatre group 'Kalakshetra', founded by the late theatre person Heisnam Kanhailal.
128. The book "So You Want to Know About the Environment" has been authored by Bijal Vachharajani. The book will make children analyze, explore, love and respect the environment. It looks at climate change, food, waste, water and wildlife; explains scientific concepts and asks important questions. It is packed with facts, jokes, activities and stories from people working in the field in different parts of the world.
129. The 6th edition of the International Engineering Sourcing Show (IESS) has started in Chennai, Tamil Nadu from March 16, 2017. It is the largest Engineering sourcing show in India for International visitors, which is organized under the aegis of Union Ministry of Commerce & Industry. The focus sectors of the IESS are industrial supply, metal & shop floor, industrial & electrical machinery, automotive component, etc. The 3-day event has exclusive Technology and Innovation Pavilions with representations from BARC, IIT Mumbai, IIT Madras, Fluid Control Research Institute (FCRI), International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy and New Materials, Central Manufacturing Technology Institute (CMTI) and MSME Tools Room.
130. Manhar Valji Bhai, the former BJP legislator from Gujarat, has become the new Chairman of National Commission for Safai Karamcharis (NCSK). The post of the Chairman was lying vacant for the past almost one year. Beside this, two other members, Manju Diler from Uttar Pradesh and Dilip Kallu Haathived from Maharashtra, also took charge as members of the NCSK. The NCSK is an Indian statutory body was established through National Commission for Safai Karamcharis Act, 1993. The purpose of the Commission is to study, evaluate and monitor the implementation of various schemes for Safai Karamcharis as an autonomous organisation and also to provide redressal of their grievances.
131. The Krishi Unnati Mela (or Agriculture Science Fair) 2017 was held at the campus of IARI in New Delhi from March 15-17, which was jointly organized by Indian Agricultural Research Institute (ICAR) and Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare. The purpose of the mela is to display and popularise the latest advancement in agricultural research and technology development among farmers and end users since 1972.
132. The HDFC bank has launched an instant digital Loan Against Securities (LAS) facility in collaboration with the National Securities Depository (NSDL), which allows customers to avail loans in less than 3 minutes. The service will also be available to customers with no credit history. The bank will offer 10.5% interest rate on the product and will soon expand the offering to other securities such as mutual funds, bonds and insurance policies. Under this facility, customers can avail a minimum loan of Rs 1 lakh and maximum loan up to Rs 20 lakh.
133. The State Bank of India (SBI) has recently signed MoU with Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (CREDAI) to jointly conduct various initiatives towards the development of the Real Estate Sector for a period of 3 years. The purpose of the MoU is to work towards providing housing for all. Under this MoU, SBI will be a national partner for all CREDAI activities and both will jointly work together for various marketing activities like conclaves, seminars, exhibitions, campaigns and CSR activities as well. CREDAI is the largest real estate association in the country with over 11,500 members.
134. The book "The Sleepwalker's Dream: A Novel" has been authored by Dr. Dhrubajyoti Borah, the President of Assam Sahitya Sabha. Through the book, the author traces the journey of a group of militants towards an elusive freedom and an uncertain future. It is about June, Ron and several other rebels fleeing their hideout in Bhutan after an army attack along with their injured unconscious leader, who is unlikely to survive the ordeal of their journey towards the Assam border.
135. India has been ranked 148th out of 193 countries in the world for the number of women MPs in Parliament, according to the 2017 edition of "Women in Politics 2017 Map" published by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and UN Women. Rwanda topped the list, followed by Bolivia, Cuba, Iceland, Nicaragua and Sweden. The map of Women in Politics not only provides a country ranking for both ministerial and parliamentary representation, but also statistics on women in political leadership positions – Heads of State or government, women Speakers of Parliament, as well as ministerial portfolios held by women throughout the world.
136. Babul Supriyo, the singer-turned BJP MP, has become the Vice-President (VP) of the Local Organising Committee (LoC) of the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2017, which is to be hosted by India. The event will be held in October 2017. Currently, he is the Minister of State for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises.
137. The G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors' Meeting has started in Baden-Baden, Germany from March 17, 2017. The 2-day meeting is an opportunity to discuss developments in the global economy with my international counterparts and decide on actions we can undertake to respond to the major challenges we all face.
138. The 3-day International Buddhist conference on "Buddhism in 2lst Century: Perspectives and Responses to Global Issues" has started at Nava Nalanda Mahavihara, Rajgir in Nalanda district, Bihar on March 17, 2017. During the conference, the scholars will give their deliberations on Perspective and Responses to global challenges and crisis. Over one thousand delegates from 35 countries including Sri Lanka, Nepal, Singapore and Indonesia are participating in it. The session would focus on issues like perspectives and responses to global challenges and crisis, conflicts, peace building and Buddhist responses, environment and nature conservation and Buddhist perspectives, women and Buddhism, among others.
139. The Committee of Petitions headed by BJP MP Bhagat Singh Koshyari has tabled a report in Lok Sabha which suggests the merger state-run telecom firms Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) for their long-term survival. As per the Parliamentary committee report, the merger will create a bigger state-owned telecom company, which would give a tough competition to other private telecom players present in the market.
140. India's most successful Badminton Doubles specialist Jwala Gutta has been appointed a new member of the governing body of Sports Authority of India (SAI). Two-time Olympian Jwala won the bronze medal at the 2011 World Championships. She is also a 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games champion and a silver medallist at the 2014 Glasgow Games in women's doubles.
141. The 15th edition of "All India Meet of State Legal Services Authorities" has started at Pravasi Bharatiya Kendra (PBK) in New Delhi from March 18, 2017 to review the work of legal services authorities across the country. The two-day event is organized by the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) in collaboration with Delhi State Legal Services (DSLS).
142. The National University of Singapore (NUS) has topped the full list of the top 300 institutions in the Times Higher Education (THE)'s Asia University ranking 2017. From India, Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore ranked at 27th while IIT Bombay secured 42nd rank. The most-represented nation in the rankings is Japan, with 69 institutions followed by China with 54 institutions. For the first time, India has become the 3rd most-represented nation with 33 universities in the ranking.
143. Indrani Das, an Indian-American high school student, has won the prestigious 2017 Regeneron Science Talent Search (STS) competition of $250,000 for her research on treating brain injuries and diseases. It is the oldest US science competition for students and is now sponsored by the medical company "Regeneron" in association with the Society for Science and the Public (SSP).
144. The first-ever Haryana Sahitya Sangam has started at Indradhanush Auditorium in Panchkula in which more than 2,000 scholars, writers and thinkers from across the country are participating. The aim of the festival is to highlight the contribution of the State in the field of literature and culture and to provide a platform for young and budding writers to get wide-ranging and genuine guidance.
145. The World Bank (WB) has recently approved the $175 million loan for the national hydrology project to improve India's ability to forecast floods and reduce vulnerability to recurring floods and droughts. The loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) has a 6-year grace period in which no interest payments will be due. The loan will mature in 23 years. The move will help in reducing the vulnerability of many regions to recurring floods and droughts as absence of real-time ground information for the entire country creates difficulties in issuing alerts on time.
146. The Government of India (GoI) has recently signed a Social Security Agreement (SSA) with Brazil to protect rights of detached workers. As per the agreement, detached workers of the two countries are exempted from making social security contributions in either countries if they are contributing in their respective countries. The SSA will also help to promote more investment flows between the two countries. Till date, India has signed and operationalised Social Security Agreements (SSAs) with 18 countries viz. Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, and South Korea.
147. The World Bank (WB) has recently sanctioned a $210 million loan for the West Bengal to strengthen the state's Gram Panchayats (GPs), the lowest tier of rural local governments. The loan will be used to strengthen local communities' participation in the planning, budgeting and financial eanagement of projects undertaken in rural areas, where most of the poor in the state reside. The loan has a grace period of eight years and a maturity of 15 years.
148. The book "Indica: A Deep Natural History of the Indian Subcontinent" has been authored by Pranay Lal. This is a book about the Indian subcontinent, its origins and how the land masses around it were formed. It provides clues from author's passionate and microscopic research over 20 years across the Indian subcontinent.
149. The SRCC Global Millennium Summit 2017 has started in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) from March 18 and will continue till March 19. It is a first-of-its-kind initiative, which is organized by the students of Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC), University of Delhi in association with the students of IIM Ahmedabad and IIT Kharagpur. The purpose of the summit is to provide the youth across the world with a platform to discuss, act and interact. The summit will bring together students from the world's leading universities and notable leaders from the fields of governance, business, technology and academia. The theme of the summit is 'Future of this Millennium' and it will consist of panel discussions, workshops, competitions and keynote speaker sessions centered on the theme. From India, Vijay Goel (who is the Minister of State (I/C) for Youth Affairs and Sports) is the chief guest in the summit.
150. Trivendra Singh Rawat, the senior BJP leader, has been sworn-in as the 8th Chief Minister of Uttarakhand. In recent Uttarakhand Assembly elections 2017, BJP won 57 of the 70 seats. This was the biggest ever win by any party in the state so far.
151. Chuck Berry (90), the rock and roll legend, has recently passed away in Missouri, United States. He was the well-known guitarist and songwriter and recognized as one of the fathers of rock 'n' roll. He refined and developed rhythm and blues into the major elements that made rock and roll distinctive. He received a lifetime achievement Grammy in 1984 and was among the first inductees to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986.
152. The first fully India-made 12-coach train "Medha" has flagged off between Dadar to Borivali at Lokmanya Tilak Terminus in Mumbai, Maharashtra. The rake can run at a speed of 110 kmph and has a capacity of 6,050 passengers and the number of seats is 1,168. Medha rake costs Rs. 43.23 crore and has been manufactured by the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Chennai, which has installed LED lighting to reduce energy consumption. This will save energy by approximately 30-35% as compared to the existing rakes. This rake has in-built systems to minimise breakdowns during the travel.
153. Yogi Adityanath has been sworn-in as the 21st Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh (UP). Prior to this appointment, he has been a Member of Parliament (MP) from the Gorakhpur Constituency, Uttar Pradesh for five consecutive terms since 1998. Adityanath is also the head priest of the Gorakhnath Mutt, a Hindu temple in Gorakhpur. He is also the founder of the Hindu Yuva Vahini, a militant youth organisation that has been involved in communal violence. Apart from this, BJP's state unit chief Keshav Prasad Maurya and party's national vice president Dinesh Sharma also took charge as deputy chief ministers of UP.
154. The 5th International Convention on "Changing Dynamics of Commodities Market" has started in New Delhi to help the farmers' participation in the trading of food grains.The conference is organised by the Commodity Participants Association of India (CPAI).
155. Amitabh Bachchan has recently launched the world's first mobile app on 'ABC of Breast Health' at an event organized by the Ushalakshmi Breast Cancer Foundation in Mumbai, Maharashtra. The app will be available in both IOS and Android versions and is free to download. The purpose of the app is to empower the nation about every aspect of breast cancer and benign non-cancer breast health issues in 12 languages viz. English, Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Punjabi, Bengali, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Oriya and Assamese.
156. The International Diamond Conference has started at Hotel Grand Hyatt, Mumbai from Match 19, 2017 to bring together miners, diamond companies, experts, retailers, bankers and analysts from across the globe on a platform to discuss the supply and demand issues faced by the Global Diamond Industry. The theme of the conference is "Mines to Market 2017" and is organized by the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council of India (GJEPC). The conference is sponsored by the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India (GoI). The conference will witness Ministers from mining countries, delegates from Mining Companies, heads of Retail and Luxury brands, Int. Diamond heads of various banks and other prominent personalities of the Diamond industry.
157. Shahid Afridi, the former Pakistan captain, has become the new brand ambassador for the 5th edition of the ODI Blind Cricket World Cup, which is scheduled to be held in January 2018. The World Cup will be played in One Day International (ODI) format and will be hosted by Pakistan Blind Cricket Council (PBCC) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Pakistan.
158. The 2-day meeting of the Permanent Indus Commission (PIC) has started in Islamabad, Pakistan on March 20, 2017. The 10-member Indian delegation led by Indus Water Commissioner P K Saxena is attending the meeting. The delegation comprises of Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) officials and technical experts. The Pakistan side will be headed by Indus Water Commissioner Mirza Asif Saeed. The meeting is taking place nearly 6 months after India decided to suspend talks on the pact in the wake of the Uri terror attack by Pakistan based outfits. The PIC is a bilateral commission of officials from India-Pakistan, created to implement and manage goals of Indus Waters Treaty (IWT). Under the IWT treaty, it is required that India and Pakistan meet every financial year. As per the provisions in the treaty, India can use only 20% of the total water carried by the Indus River.
159. Soumya Swaminathan, the director of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has been named to United Nations' ad hoc Interagency Coordination Group on Antimicrobial Resistance to provide expertise on and coordinate the global fight against antimicrobial resistance. Swaminathan is also Secretary, Department of Health Research in India's Ministry of Health & Family Welfare. She is a multi award-winning paediatrician, clinical scientist and is known for her research on tuberculosis. The purpose of the newly formed UN group will be to provide practical guidance for approaches needed to ensure sustained effective global action to address antimicrobial resistance, including options to improve coordination, taking into account the Global Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance. The UN group will be co-chaired by Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed and World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General Margaret Chan.
160. Irfan Kolothum Thodi from India has won the bronze in the 20 kilometre men's event in the Asian Race Walk Championships at Nomi in Japan. He is the national record holder in men's 20km race walk. Beside him, South Korea's Kim Hyun-Sub won gold while Georgiy Sheiko of Kazakhstan bagged the silver in the event. In the women's 20 kilometre event, India's Priyanka failed to climb the podium as she finished fourth.
161. The 18th edition of Asia's largest convention on the business of media and entertainment "FICCI Frames-2017" has started in Mumbai, Maharashtra from March 21. The 3-day international convention will covers the entire spectrum of Media & Entertainment like Films, Broadcast (TV & Radio), Digital Entertainment, Animation, Gaming, Visual Effects, etc. with nearly 2000 Indian and 800 foreign delegates encompassing the entire universe of media and entertainment expected to attend the event. The theme of this year's convention is "Digital-Divide or Dividend". Canada is partnering the event for the first time this year.
162. The ICICI bank has recently launched a mobile banking app "Mera iMobile" for rural customers that allow them to access banking services as well as information on agri services. The app is open for both bank customers as well as others and is available in 11 different languages. The list of banking services includes Kisan Credit Card, Gold Loan, Farm Equipment Loan and loans to Self-Help Groups (SHGs). The app also enables them to undertake an array of frequently used banking services from their smartphone, without using mobile internet services. Additionally, it is the first banking app to offer agriculture related information like crop-wise mandi prices of nearly 230 crop varieties across 460 mandis. It also displays taluka-wise weather update for close to 3700 talukas across and over 300 districts, aiding farmers to plan their sowing and harvesting activities conveniently and in an informed manner.
163. Vidya Pillai from India has won silver medal in the 2017 Eden World Women Snooker Championship at Safra Toa Payoh in Singapore. With this feat, Vidya secured India's first international medal in 2017. Ng On Yee from Hong Kong won gold in the Championship.
164. Anshumali Shrivastava, an Indian-American Computer Scientist, has won the National Science Foundation (NSF)'s prestigious 2017 CAREER award for his research on redesigning current machine-learning processes. Currently, he is an Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science at William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University or Rice, which is a private research university located in Houston, Texas.
165. Chinu Modi (78), the noted Gujarati poet and ghazal writer, has recently passed away in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. He has made a great contribution to Gujarati literature with his poetry, plays, novels and stories. Approx 50 books of poetry, drama, novel, stories, critics, biography, collection, songs and translation has been written by him. He worked as script writer in Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) during 1975- 1977. His body will be donated to the medical college as per his last wish.
166. Roger Federer has won the 2017 ATP Indian Wells Masters title by defeating Stan Wawrinka in the final by 6-4, 7-5. With this win, Federer joined Novak Djokovic as the only man to win five Indian Wells titles. Earlier, he won this title consecutively three times between 2004 and 2006 and in 2012. At 35, Federer is the oldest ATP player to win one of the elite Masters titles, supplanting Andre Agassi who was 34 when he won in Cincinnati in 2004.
167. The International Day of Forests is observed every year on March 21 to celebrate and raise awareness of the importance of all types of forests and of trees outside forests for the benefit of current and future generations. The 2017 theme is 'Forests and Energy'. The theme highlights the importance of wood energy in improving people's lives, powering sustainable development and mitigating climate change.
168. The Tamil Nadu cricket team has won the 15th season of the Vijay Hazare Trophy by defeating Bengal by 37 runs in the final played at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium in Delhi. Dinesh Karthik was named man of the match. It is 5th time that Tamil Nadu cricket team has won this tournament.
169. India has been ranked at 122nd out of 155 countries in the 2017 United Nations's World Happiness Index (WHI), as per recently released World Happiness Report (WHR) 2017. Among the 8 SAARC nations, Pakistan is at 80th position, Nepal stood at 99, Bhutan at 97, Bangladesh at 110 while Sri Lanka is at 120. The list is topped by Norway, followed by Denmark, Iceland, Switzerland and Finland. The rankings are based on Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per person, healthy life expectancy with four factors from global surveys. In those surveys, people give scores from 1 to 10 on how much social support they feel they have if something goes wrong, their freedom to make their own life choices, their sense of how corrupt their society is and how generous they are.
170. Italy has been ranked first in the latest 2017 Bloomberg Global Health Index of 163 countries. According to the study, the average life expectancy in the country is 80-89 years. Iceland stood at 2nd position followed by Switzerland, Singapore and Australia. Each country in the index was graded based on variables such as life expectancy, causes of death and health risks ranging from high blood pressure and tobacco use to malnutrition and the availability of clean water.
171. Upendra Tripathy, an IAS officer of Karnataka Cadre, has been appointed as the full-time Interim Director General (IDG) of the International Solar Alliance (ISA). The purpose of the ISA is to provide a dedicated platform for cooperation among solar resource rich countries where the global community including bilateral and multilateral organizations, corporates, industry, and stakeholders can make a positive contribution to assist and help achieve the common goals of increasing use of the solar energy in meeting energy needs of prospective ISA member countries in a safe, convenient, affordable, equitable and sustainable manner. The headquarters of ISA is located at National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE), Gwalpahari, Gurgaon.
172. The 12th edition of Special Olympics World Winter Games has started at Graz and Schladming in Austria from March 14 and will continue till March 25, 2017. Over 2,600 athletes from 105 nations are taking part in the event. From India, the team of 89 differently-abled sports persons of the Special Olympics Bharat (SOB) is participating in the competition. So far, Indian team has won 18 medals in the ongoing 2017 Olympics World Winter Games. The Special Olympics World Games are an international sporting competition for athletes with intellectual disabilities, organized by Special Olympics.
173. Ankur Khanna has been appointed as the new Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of International Cricket Council (ICC) and will join the ICC headquarters in Dubai at the end of March 2017. Before this, he was the CFO of the Air Asia India. Prior to Air Asia India, Khanna worked in senior roles at Air France/ KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and ITC, an associate company of British American Tobacco.
174. The 23rd Conference of Auditors General of Commonwealth Countries and British Overseas Territories has held in New Delhi from 21-23 March, 2017. The conference was attended by 52 commonwealth countries and 9 British overseas territories. The theme of the conference is "Fostering Partnerships for Capacity Development in Public Audit". This is the first time the prestigious conference is held in India, which is hosted by Comptroller & Auditor General (CAG). The last such conference was held in Malta in 2014.
175. The 5th edition of 'Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav (RSM) – 2017' has started at Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh on March 23 and will extend to other North Eastern states including, Dimapur (Nagaland), Majuli (Assam), Imphal (Manipur), Aizawl (Mizoram), Gangtok (Sikkim), Shillong (Meghalaya) till March 31. It is organized by the Union Ministry of Culture. The purpose of the RSM-2017 is to preserve, promote and popularize the heritage and cultural diversity of Indian culture and reconnect the new generation with Indian culture. Approx 5,000 artists from North East India and 2,000 artists from across the country will showcase India's cultural heritage through performances, arts and cuisines.
176. Maggie MacDonnell of Canada has won the 2017 Global Teacher Prize for changing the lives of her students and transforming her community in village of Salluit, which has a high rate of suicide. Salluit is an Inuit village deep in the Canadian Arctic. It is one of the world's most remote regions, surrounded by snow and ice. The Global Teacher Prize is awarded by the Varkey Foundation under the patronage of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President, Prime Minister, and Emir of Dubai.
177. The Chief Minister of Assam, Sarbananda Sonowal has recently launched initiatives to develop Majuli as India's first carbon neutral district and as a biodiversity heritage. Apart from this, Assam government has also launch "Forests are Lives" campaign to celebrate the importance of Assam's rich forest and biodiversity.
178. The World Poetry Day (WPD) is observed every year on March 21 to recognize the unique ability of poetry to capture the creative spirit of the human mind. The purpose of the day is to promote the reading, writing, publishing and teaching of poetry throughout the world.
179. Justice Navniti Prasad Singh has been sworn-in as the new Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court. Earlier, Justice Singh was a former judge in the Patna High Court. He succeeded Justice Thottathil B Radhakrishnan, who has been sworn-in as chief justice of Chhattisgarh High Court.
180. India has been ranked 131st out of 188 countries in the 2017 Human Development Index (HDI), as per latest Human Development Report (HDR) 2016 by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). As per the report, India's rank of 131 puts it in the "medium human development" bracket, which also includes nations like Bangladesh, Bhutan, Pakistan, Kenya, Myanmar and Nepal. The report also stated that regional disparities in education, health and living standards within India or inequality in human development has caused India's downfall to 27% on HDI score. The list is topped by Norway, followed by Australia and Switzerland.
181. The Assam government has recently signed MoU with State Bank of India (SBI) to provide Housing and Educational Loan at subsidised interest rates to the employees of the state government. As per the MoU, the Assam Government will provide interest subsidy at the rate of 3.50% for housing loan and education loan at 4%. Accordingly, the state government employees will get substantial benefit in terms of interest rates and reduced EMI. There are provisions for collateral free loan, Zero Margin, Zero Processing Fee with longer repayment tenure. Maximum limit of Housing Loan is Rs 15 lakh and Rs 10 lakh for High education loan.
182. French mathematician Yves Meyer has won the prestigious 2017 Abel Prize for his pivotal role in the development of the mathematical theory of wavelets (small waves or ripples). Meyer will receive 6 million Norwegian krone (about £600,000) for the prize, which recognizes outstanding contributions to mathematics and is awarded annually by the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters.
183. Madhabi Puri Buch has been appointed as the new Whole-Time Member (WTM) of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for a period of 3 years. She will get pay as admissible to additional secretary to Government of India or a consolidated salary of Rs. 3.75 lakh per month. This is the first time that a women and a person from private sector has been chosen for a key post with the market regulator. She is founder-director of Agora Advisory Pvt Ltd and currently at the New Development Bank in Shanghai, China.
184. Recently, Indian shooter Ankur Mittal has won Gold medal in the Men's Double Trap event at the 2017 International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup in Acapulco, Mexico on March 22, 2017. Ankur defeated James Willet of Australia, the gold medalist at 2017 ISSF World Cup in New Delhi in February 2017. Ankur had also won Silver medal in Men's Double trap at the ISSF World Cup in New Delhi.
185. The 2017 India Sourcing Fair (ISF) will be held at Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH), Colombo, Sri Lanka from March 24 to 26, 2017. It is being organized by the India Trade Promotion Organization (ITPO) under the Ministry of Commerce, India. The main purpose of the ISF-2017 is to project strengths of Indian companies to the Sri Lankan counterparts who are going in for massive sourcing of products and services from other countries. The ISF 2017 will provide an opportunity for Sri Lankan industrialists and businesses to view the latest innovations, products and services offered by Indian companies. The event will showcase products like Automobiles & auto parts, engineering goods, textile, garments, accessories, food & hospitality products, bakery & hotel equipments, packaging & printing industry and much more etc. in the Miscellaneous industry.
186. The World Tuberculosis Day (WTD) is observed every year on March 24 to raise public awareness about the global epidemic of Tuberculosis (TB) and efforts to eliminate the disease. Tuberculosis (TB) is a disease caused by bacteria "Mycobacterium tuberculosis" that most often affect the lungs. The disease is spread from person to person through the air. According to World Health Organization (WHO), in 2015 10.4 million people fell ill with TB and 1.8 million died from the disease. Over 95% of TB deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries. The 2017 theme is "Unite to End TB".
187. The "3rd International Conference on Alternate Fuels and Raw Materials in Cement Industry -Towards Realising Swachh Bharat Dream" has started in New Delhi from March 23, 2017, which is organized by the Cement Manufacturer's Association India (CMA). The 2-day conference aims to facilitate technical, regulatory and financial solutions for increasing alternate fuels and raw materials usage in the cement industry.
188. The Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana (RVY), a scheme for providing physical aids and assisted-living devices for senior citizens belonging to BPL category, will be launched by the Union Government at district Nellore in Andhra Pradesh on April 1, 2017. The ambitious RVY scheme is the first-of-its-kind in India, which is fully funded by the Central Government. This Central Sector Scheme (CSS) is expected to benefit 5,20,000 Senior Citizens over a period of the 3 years. The scheme will be implemented through the sole implementing agency 'Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation (ALIMCO)', which will undertake one year free maintenance of the aids & assisted living devices. The devices will help the Senior Citizens to overcome their age related physical impairment and to lead a dignified and productive life with minimal dependence on care givers or other members of the family.
189. The Government of India (GoI) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has signed the loan agreement for a $350 million loan to upgrade district roads in the state of Madhya Pradesh. The Madhya Pradesh District Connectivity Sector project will improve about 1,600 kilometers of major district roads in Madhya Pradesh through lane widening, surface improvements, and strengthening of culverts and bridges. The project will focus on strengthening culverts and bridges and improving accident response schemes. The loan is ADB's first in the district roads sector in India and will address a neglected part of ongoing road network upgrades in the country for these secondary roads, which provide a key link between rural roads and state highway.
190. Veteran photojournalist Raghu Rai has been bestowed with the Life Time Achievement (LTA) award at the 6th National Photography Awards-2017 by the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) for his remarkable contribution to the field. He is known for his books, Raghu Rai's India: Reflections in Colour and Reflections in Black and White. The subjects of his photographs include MS Subbulakshmi, Bismillah Khan, Mother Teresa, Satyajit Ray, Indira Gandhi, Raj Kapoor and Mrinal Sen. The National Photography Awards (NPA) is an annual event organized by the I & B Ministry to promote art, technique of photography and to encourage professional and amateur photographers from all corners of the country.
191. Ravish Kumar, the senior executive editor of NDTV India, has been honoured with the first-ever Kuldip Nayar journalism award at India International Centre (IIC) in New Delhi on March 19, 2017 in recognition of his outstanding contribution in the world of Journalism. The award carries a plaque along with a cash amount of Rs 1 lakh. The Kuldip Nayar journalism award was set up to honour those working in vernacular media and will be awarded every year from now on.
192. India has been ranked 87th out of 127 countries in the global Energy Architecture Performance Index (EAPI) 2017, as per recently released 5th annual edition of the Global Energy Architecture Performance Index Report 2017. Switzerland has topped the list, followed by Norway, Sweden, Denmark and France. The EAPI is developed by the World Economic Forum (WEF) in collaboration with Accenture, which looks at trends and the real performance of countries' energy systems. The 2017 report includes the findings from benchmarking 127 countries on 18 indicators covering contribution to economic growth and development, environmental sustainability, and energy access and security. The EAPI offers the latest available global energy data, aiding policy formation by providing a reliable indicator of strengths and target areas for improvement.
193. Minister of State (I/C) for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Dharmendra Pradhan has launched an integrated grievances redressal platform "MoP&NG e-Seva" across social media (SM) for all queries and grievances relating to Oil and Gas Sector. This portal will be a single point interface for all customers to reach out to the government for addressing their feedback or grievances related to Oil & Gas Sector on social media. The platform will also deliver 24 x 7 support for consumers.
194. The Kane Wildlife Sanctuary (KWS) is located at the West Siang District in Arunachal Pradesh. It is spread over an area of 55 sq km and is one of the famous tourist's attractions to visit in this region. It is home to various and rare species of flora and fauna.
195. The World Bank (WB) has signed a $100 million credit agreement with the Government of India (GoI) and Uttarakhand in New Delhi to improve quality of health care services in all 13 districts of the state. The key focus of the credit agreement will be to finance innovative engagements with private health care providers. The project also aims to reduce the financial risk for its citizens and make affordable, quality health care available to al
196. The well-known Tamil novelist and essayist Thiagarajan (85), popularly known as Asokamitran, has recently passed away in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. He was noted for his subtlety and refreshing creativity in expression. His work "Appavin Snegithargal", a collection of short stories won him the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1996. His work includes over 200 short stories, eight novels, some 15 novellas besides prose. "18-vadhu Atchakkodu", translated into English as "The Eighteenth Parallel", is one of his highly acclaimed novels. Many of his works have been translated into English, Hindi, Malayalam, Telugu and other languages.
197. The World Meteorological Day (WMD) is observed every year on March 23 to mark the establishment of a United Nations body specializing exclusively in meteorology. The 2017 theme "Understanding Clouds" highlights the enormous importance of clouds for weather climate and water. Clouds are central to weather observations and forecasts and play a critical role in the water cycle and shaping the global distribution of water resources.
198. The high level Committee headed by Arvind Panagariya has been formed to examine the working of the regulatory bodies Central Council of Indian Medicine (CCIM), Central Council of Homoeopathy (CCH) and their governing legislation. Pangariya is theVice Chairman of NITI Aayog.
199. The Bihar government has recently launched an ambitious programme to provide free WiFi facilities in colleges and universities on the occasion of Bihar Diwas. The purpose of the program is to provide free Wi-Fi facility to help youths to move ahead in life and to become digital smart. The foundation day of Bihar which is also known as Bihar Diwas (or Bihar Sthapana Diwas) is celebrated every year on March 22. It was on this day when the British carved out the state from Bengal Presidency in 1912.
200. Indian-origin British director Gurinder Chadha has been honoured with the 2017 Sikh Jewel Award for 2017 for her immense contribution to British cinema. She received the award from UK Defence Secretary Michael Fallon at the Vaisakhi Dinner organised by the British Sikh Association at the Lancaster Hotel on March 24, 2017. Her noted films include "Bhaji on the Beach", "Bend It Like Beckham" and "Bride and Prejudice". Chadha's latest film, "Viceroy's House" tells the true story of the final five months of British rule in India and coincides with the 70th anniversary of the Independence of India and the founding of Pakistan.
201. Dr.Randeep Guleria has been appointed as the new Director of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Delhi for five years from the date of assumption of charge or till attaining the age of 65 until further orders. He is the first Indian to get a Doctorate of Medicine (DM) in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine. Dr. Guleria has worked as a personal physician to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and has also treated Union ministers like Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley. He succeeded Dr. M C Mishra, who retired from the post of AIIMS director in January 2017.
202. Veteran actor Anupam Kher will be honoured with the Kala Ratan Award by Vice President Hamid Ansari. Kher was honoured with the Padma Shri in 2004 and the Padma Bhushan in 2016 for his contribution in the field of cinema and arts. The actor has worked mainly working in Hindi films and has also appeared in acclaimed international films like Bend It Like Beckham, Bride and Prejudice, The Mistress Of Spices, Ang Lee's Lust, Caution, and David O. Russell's 2013 Oscar-winning Silver Linings Playbook.
203. An Indian para shuttler, Sukant Kadam has recently won the singles and doubles bronze medals in the 2017 Spanish Para-Badminton International at Majorca in Spain.
204. India's first vertical garden has set up at the Hosur Road Electronics City Flyover in Bengaluru, Karnataka to control the pollution level of the city. It will also act as a soundproofing barrier. The garden is an initiative of NGO "SayTrees", who are firm to protect nature. The vertical garden is designed in such a way that a pillar of the flyover is covered with the garden flaunting lovely saplings that are organic and refreshing. The garden also has an automatic drip irrigation system allowing the plants to get 100 milliliters of water on a daily basis.
205. The Sri Lankan Government has recently launched a new Peace Education and Reconciliation Unit (PERU) to create awareness on reconciliation among hundreds of thousands of students.
206. The 3rd edition of 'World Conference on Environment' has been organized by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in New Delhi on March 25, 2017. It was inaugurated by the honorable President of India Pranab Mukherjee. The 2-day conference will discuss various issues like air pollution, water pollution, economics and clean technology, and the role of courts and tribunals. The sessions of the conference will deliberate — to what extent can we allow environmental degradation; what are we going to leave behind for future generation; what steps can be taken to curb the perils of environmental degradation; and can we completely squander the assets received from forefathers without leaving anything for our future.
207. The World Sparrow Day (WSD) is observed every year on March 20 to raise awareness about the importance of birds dwelling in urban areas and to educate the public about the threat of polluted urban environments and non-caring humans to the house sparrow population, as well as to other common bird species. The day is an international initiative by the Nature Forever Society of India (NFSI) in collaboration with the Eco-Sys Action Foundation (France) and numerous other national and international organizations across the world.
208. The 9th World Environmental Education Congress (WEEC) will be held at the Vancouver Convention Centre in Canada from September 9-15, 2017 with the theme "Culture/Environment: Weaving New Connections". The WEEC is an international congress that addresses education for environment and sustainability.
209. The United Nations' (UN) International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade is observed every year on March 25 to raise awareness about the dangers of racism and prejudice. The 2017 theme "Remember Slavery: Recognising the Legacy and Contributions of People of African Descent" draw attention to the consequences of the Transatlantic Slave Trade, especially the ways in which the enslaved Africans and their descendants influenced and continue to shape societies across the world, including in the areas of technology and culture.
210. The World Theatre Day (WTD) is observed every year on March 27 to draw attention to the power of the stage. The day was initiated in 1961 by the International Theatre Institute (ITI), the world organization for performing arts. The day is a celebration for those who can see the value and importance of the art form "theatre", and acts as a wake-up-call for governments, politicians and institutions which have not yet recognized its value to the people and to the individual and have not yet realized its potential for economic growth.
211. Gauri Singh (14) from Rajasthan has become the first Indian girl to explore the route from Sea Link near Worli Koliwada to the Gateway of India. She took over 6 hours 30 minutes to complete the 36 km long distance route. Singh is a resident of Udaipur and a class 8th student.
212. As per latest report by the Sydney-based aviation think-tank Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA), India has become the third largest aviation market globally in terms of domestic passenger traffic. The report stated that India's domestic air passenger traffic at 100 million in 2016 has overtaken that of Japan (97 million) and was behind only US (719 million) and China (436 million).
213. The West Bengal football team has won the 71st edition of the Santosh Trophy Football tournament-2017 for the 32nd time by defeating Goa in the final at Bambolim, Goa. With this win, West Bengal ended a six-year wait having last won the title in 2011.
214. The 105th edition of the Indian Science Congress (ISC) will be held at the Osmania University (OU) in Hyderabad from January 3-7, 2018. The theme of the conference will be 'Science and Technology – Reaching the Unreached'. This will be the 6th time the university will be hosing the conference and ISC will be meeting in Hyderabad for the 7th time. Approx 25 Nobel laureates are expected to participate in the conference.
215. Tanushree Pareek from Rajasthan has become the first woman field officer in the Border Security Force (BSF), the country's largest border guarding force. She was inducted into the BSF after a convocation ceremony in the BSF academy at Tekanpur in Madhya Pradesh's Gwalior district. Primarily, the BSF is tasked to guard two of the most sensitive Indian frontiers with Pakistan and Bangladesh while it is extensively deployed for conducting anti-Naxal operations and rendering other duties in the internal security domain.
216. Sebastian Vettel, a German racing driver, has won the 2017 Formula 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix at Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit in Australia.
217. Recently, Purva Barve from India has won the Under-19 Women's Singles Li Ning-Israel Open badminton tournament 2017 by defeating Lela Minadze of Russia by 21-6, 21-4 at the Sports Hall, Rishon LeZion in Israel. Apart from this, Varun Kapur from India has also won theUnder-15 Boys Singles tournament by defeating Toby Dillingham of England in the final by 21-10, 21-2.
218. The Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) is a statutory advisory body under the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF) and its headquarters is located at Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The AWBI is in news because the organization will now be permanently chaired by a senior MoEF official. Thus, Dr. Sharad Singh Negi, who is the Director General of Forests & Special Secretary (MoEF), has been appointed the chairman of the newly created 18-member Board of AWBI for 3 years. The AWBI derives its legal structure from the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 and frames a range of rules on how animals ought to be humanely treated everywhere. It has also frequently litigated to have stricter laws to ensure animals were not unduly harassed or tortured.
219. The Kinnerasani Wildlife Sanctuary is located in Khammam district of Telangana. The wildlife sanctuary is spread over an area of 635.40 square kilometers with the picturesque Kinnerasani Lake with densely forested islands in the middle of the sanctuary. This sanctuary got its name after the river Kinnerasani. This river divides the sanctuary and meets Godavari. The fauna found in this sanctuary are Panthers, Chinkara, Chousinghas, Sambar, Cheetal, Gaurs, Hyena, Jackals, Wild Boars, Tigers, Sloth Bear, and Black Bucks. Tourists can also spot a number of birds like Jungle Fowl, Quails, Partridges, Peafowl, Nuktas, Spoonbills, Teals, and Doves.
220. Dr. Neena Srivastava has been bestowed with the Hari Om Ashram Alembic Research Award for 2016 to recognize the basic research in medical science. The award was presented by the honourable President of India, Pranab Mukherjee at a function held at Rashtrapati Bhavan on March 28, 2017.
221. Ahmed Kathrada (87), the veteran Indian-origin South African anti-apartheid activist, has recently passed away in Johannesburg, South Africa. He was one of the Nelson Mandela's closest colleagues in the struggle against white minority rule and a fellow Robben Island prisoner. Kathrada was among three political prisoners who were sentenced to life imprisonment together with the South African anti-apartheid icon after the infamous Rivonia Trial of 1964. The two others were Andrew Mlangeni and Denis Goldberg. They played major roles in shaping the country's policies after Mandela's election as the first democratic President of South Africa in 1994. In 2005, Kathrada also received the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award from Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, the then President of India.
222. The National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR) is the India's premier R&D institution responsible for the country's research activities in the polar and Southern Ocean realms. Recently, it is in news because the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has joined the 36th scientific mission to Antarctica(36-ISEA) i.e. organised by the NCAOR. The climate change is the thrust area of the 36-ISEA. The main purpose of this expedition is to install stakes on ice for Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) measurements around Bharati and Maitri to validate glacier surface velocity derived from satellite data to estimate thickness of snow over land and sea ice using Ground Penetrating Radars (GPR's) and also to verify conditions of snow over sea and land ice. The headquarters of the NCAOR is located at Vasco da Gama in Goa.
223. The Karnataka Bank has recently launched "MoneyPlant RuPay International Platinum Debit Card" to provide more privileges to its premium & HNI customers. This card can be used for domestic as well as international cash withdrawal & purchase transactions. The card has superior features & privileges such as enhanced withdrawal limit of `75,000/- & purchase (POS/ecommerce) limit of `2,00,000/- per day, Personal Accident Insurance Coverage of `2 lakh, Two Free lounge access per quarter across 30+ airports in India and 300+ airports worldwide, Fuel surcharge waiver, Utility bill cash back offers & various other merchant offers.
224. The first-ever Houston India Conference was hosted by Asia Society Texas Center in Houston, United States with the theme of 'Make in India -The Inside Story' from March 24, 2017. The 2-day conference is designed to bring together the various constituencies that have an interest in India, and discuss with them the latest developments and the best practices of doing business in India. The central focus of the conference is to provide a collaboration platform and share today's India story with the audience in Texas who are interested in investing in India, by the people who are playing an important role in shaping up the modern.
225. Odisha has become the first Indian state to carry financial inclusion and extend banking services to unbanked areas through Self Help Groups (SHGs). For this, the state government has signed an agreement with State Bank of India (SBI) to provide banking facilities to people in unbanked areas. In the first phase, SHGs would be engaged as Banking Correspondents (BCs) in around 1,000 remote Gram Panchayats having no banking facilities. Gradually, it would be extended to 4,000 non-banked panchayats. The system would be of great help to people in rural areas under social security schemes like Pradhan Mantri Bima Surakshya Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Yojana, Atal Pension Yojana etc and would also be helpful in promotion of digital banking.
226. Tehmtan R. Andhyarujina (84), the senior Advocate and eminent jurist, has recently passed away. He was the Solicitor General of India from 1996 to 1998. He authored "The Kesavananda Bharati Case: The untold story of struggle for supremacy by Supreme Court and Parliament "about the landmark Judgment in Kesavananda Bharati Case in which he was also appeared. He was widely regarded for his expertise in a branch of constitutional law relating to parliamentary privileges.
227. Indian-American Vanita Gupta has been appointed as President and CEO of 'The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights'. The conference is an umbrella group of American civil rights interest groups. With this, she has become the first woman to head the prestigious organisation. She will succeed Wade Henderson on June 1, 2017. She is known for her fearless advocacy of all human beings and also headed civil rights division in the Department of Justice in the Obama Administration. Vanita will also lead its sister organisation 'The Leadership Conference Education Fund'.
228. The category-4 cyclone "Debbie" has recently hit north-east Australian coast with the speed of 263km/h and caused major damage, torrential rain and power cuts to tens of thousands of homes. landfall in Queensland, northeastern Australia. This powerful cyclone has left at least 45,000 homes without power and damaged buildings. More than 25,000 people were asked to evacuate their homes ahead of predictions that the cyclone would be Queensland's most damaging since 2011.
229. Recently, Indian men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty has clinched the $20,000 Vietnam Open International challenger badminton title at Hanoi by defeating the Thai duo of Trawut Potieng and Nanthakam Yordphaisong in three games by 17-21, 21-9, 21-15.
230. David Muldrow Beasley, the former Governor of South Carolina, will be the new executive director of the United Nations (UN) World Food Programme (WFP). He will succeed Ertharin Cousin, who has been the WFP executive director since 2012. The WFP is the world's largest humanitarian organization that provides food assistance to an average of 80 million people in 75 countries each year. The headquarters of the WFP is located at Rome, Italy.
231. Truecaller has partnered with ICICI Bank to launch its new Unified Payments Interface (UPI)-based mobile payment service "Truecaller Pay" for Indian Truecaller users. The users will be able to create their unique Virtual Payment Address (VPA) in the app and can instantly send or receive money using any UPI supported bank or an UPI ID or via mobile numbers registered with BHIM App. It can be used to transfer money, recharge phone as well as pay postpaid phone bills. The non-ICICI bank users can register on to Truecaller Pay app as well.
232. Karur Vysya Bank (KVB) has been adjudged the 'Best Small Bank for 2016' balance sheet size of less than Rs.1-lakh crore). K Venkataraman, Managing Director, KVB, received the award from Sudhir Munguntivar, Minister of Finance and Planning, Government of Maharashtra at a function in Mumbai, Maharashtra. This is the 8th award won by KVB in the current fiscal.
233. Carrie Lam, a Beijing-backed civil servant, will become the first woman Chief Executive (CE) of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. She will succeed Leung Chun-ying on July 1, 2017. The Chief Executive of Hong Kong is the head and representative of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and head of the Government of Hong Kong.
234. The Indian cricket team has recently won the 2017 Border Gavaskar Trophy by beating Australian cricket team by 8 wickets in the fourth and final Test at Himachal Pradesh. With this victory, India clinched the four test match series by 2-1. Ravindra Jadeja was declared the man of the match and also the man of the series.
235. Ravichandran Ashwin has recently won the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for the ICC Cricketer of the Year 2016 as well as the ICC Test Cricketer of the Year 2016 from former India captains Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar. With this, he became the 3rd Indian to win the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for the ICC Cricketer of the Year after Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar and also the second cricketer ever after Dravid to win the two awards in the same year. The Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy is a cricket trophy awarded annually by the International Cricket Council to its chosen world player of the year. It was first awarded in 2004 to Rahul Dravid.
236. The Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting, M Venkaiah Naidu has recently launched the Online Film Certification System "e-Cinepramaan" of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) to promote transparency & Ease of Doing Business. The objective is to eliminate the need for human interface to the extent possible. Under the new process, the status of each application (filed by film producers) would be visible online in the dashboard of the producer/concerned CBFC official. Additionally, the new process will eliminate middle men and would mitigate chances of any corruption. The new online certification system would be an important step in making the CBFC Office paper less and would enable effective monitoring & real time progress tracking for both CBFC Officials and the applicant (Producers).
237. Sitaram Swain, the Odisha-based installation artist, has been chosen for the 6th edition of the Glenfiddich's Emerging Artist of the Year 2017. Swain will represent India at the Glenfiddich Artists in Residence (AiR) programme where he will spend 3 months at the Glenfiddich Distillery in Scotland with seven artists from around the world. He will be also awarded Rs 10 lakh, which includes an international allowance of Rs 1,20,000 per month and a work allowance of Rs 500,000.
238. Arun Sarma (86), the renowned Assamese playwright and Sahitya Akademi Award-winning novelist, has recently passed away in New Delhi. He also won a number of awards, including Padma Shri, Sahitya Academi award and Assam Valley Literary award.
239. Siddhartha Upadhyay, the sports entrepreneur and philanthropist, has been appointed the new member in the governing body of Sports Authority of India (SAI). He is the founder and secretary general of the Society for Transformation, Inclusion, and Recognition through Sports (STAIRS). The STAIRS is a not-for-profit organization work towards sports, education, health and skill development of children across India. The new SAI governing body also includes prominent sporting names such as badminton ace Jwala Gutta, shooter Gagan Narang, athletes Ashwani Nachappa and Shiny Wilson.
240. Srinath Narayanan from Chennai will soon become the India's 46th Grandmaster after he defeated Spanish GM David Anton Guijarro at the 2017 Sharjah Masters chess tournament. He became India's youngest FIDE-rated player in 2002 when he was just 8 and also finished as joint winner in the Under-12 World Championship in 2005 in France. Srinath became an International Master at the age of 14 and crossed the 2500 Elo rating in 2016. He had already secured five GM norms.
241. Bob Dylan, the renowned US musician and poet, will finally accept his Nobel Literature Prize at a meeting with the Swedish Academy in Stockholm, Sweden in April 2017. The 2016 Nobel Prize has bestowed to Dylan for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition. The American singer was awarded the prize in October 2016 but failed to travel to pick up the award, or deliver the lecture that is required to receive the 8m kroner prize. He has become the first songwriter to win the prestigious award and the first American since novelist Toni Morrison in 1993.
242. Montenegro is set to become the 29th member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) after US Senate ratify its entry into NATO. Though, ratification from Spain and the Netherlands is still pending ahead of a NATO summit in May 2017. The move was strongly opposed by Russia because it considers Montenegro and other western Balkan states part of its sphere of interest. Thus, Russia opposes the Western military alliance's expansion in the Balkans. It must be noted that Montenegro was the former ally of Russia. Under NATO's principle of collective defense, an attack against one ally is considered an attack against them all.
243. Anil Ambani, the Chairman of Reliance Group, has been inducted into the international advisory board of global think-tank "Atlantic Council". The Atlantic Council is a foreign policy think-tank headquartered in Washington, DC. The purpose of the Atlantic Council is to shape policy choices and strategies and provide an essential forum for navigating the dramatic, economic and political changes that define the 21st century.
244. The Government of India (GoI) has signed first loan agreement with New Development Bank (NDB) US$350 million for development and up-gradation of major district roads project in Madhya Pradesh. The objective of the Project is upgradation of major district roads in the state of Madhya Pradesh to improve connectivity of the interior areas of the state with the national and state highway networks. The project implementation is 5 years.
245. Paytm will become the first e-commerce company to take membership of the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) in April 2017. The move is significant because advertising violations by e-commerce companies, which are big spenders on television, print and digital media, have been on the rise in recent years. This move comes after the six complaints which are filed against the errant advertisers under the e-commerce majors PAYTM, Amazon, Clear trip, Magic bricks, free charge and Pepper fry for making false and misleading claims on November 2016.
246. The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Power, Coal, New and Renewable Energy and Mines, Piyush Goyal has launched a unique credit card "SBI Unnati" in New Delhi to spread credit inclusion. Initially, SBI Unnati would have no annual fees for the four years and the credit card will be offered through 20,000-plus State Bank of India (SBI) branches. The card is targeted at all SBI customers, including the Jan Dhan account-holders across the country. Primarily, it is tailored for new users of credit cards, those who do not have a credit history.
247. The 3rd edition of World Conference on Environment has been organized by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in New Delhi from March 25-26, 2017 and was inaugurated by the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee. The two day conference concluded with a high note in urging the importance for the sustainable development balancing which is the need to protect the environment.
248. The popular tribal festival of nature worshipping – 'Sarhul' has started in all over Jharkhand with enthusiasm. The festival marks the beginning of New Year by worshiping trees. This annual festival is celebrated during the spring season when trees and other elements of nature are worshiped. Sarhul literally means 'Worship of Sal'. The festival is dedicated to Dharti mata — Mother Earth. Tribals believe that they can use new crop mainly paddy, leaves of the trees, flowers and fruits of the season only after this festival is celebrated.
249. The Kaundinya Wild Life Sanctuary (KWLS) is a wildlife sanctuary and an elephant reserve loacted in Andhra Pradesh. It is the only sanctuary in Andhra Pradesh with a population of Asian elephants, which migrated after 200 years from neighbouring regions. The sanctuary is covered by southern tropical dry deciduous and thorn forests. Some of the important flora consists of Albizia amara, Acacia, Lagerstroemia, Ficus, bamboo, and a species which is a regeneration of Santalum album.
250. The Kanha Tiger Reserve has become the India's first tiger reserve to officially introduce a mascot "Bhoorsingh the Barasingha". The Barasingha or swamp deer is the state animal of Madhya Pradesh. It is one of the tiger reserves of India and the largest national park of Madhya Pradesh. The park has a significant population of Bengal tiger, Indian leopards, the sloth bear, barasingha and Indian wild dog. The lush sal and bamboo forests, grassy meadows and ravines of Kanha provided inspiration to Rudyard Kipling for his famous novel Jungle Book.
251. The Tamil Nadu cricket team has won the 2017 Deodhar Trophy trophy after beating India B by 42 runs in the final in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. With this win, Tamil Nadu has become the first state side team to win the Ranji Trophy, Vijay Hazare Trophy, Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, Irani Trophy and Deodhar Trophy.
252. The 3rd G-20 Framework Working Group (FWG) meeting was held in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh from March 28-29, 2017. The focus of the meeting was to deliberate on the inclusive growth agenda of the G20 and formulation of a framework for country specific inclusive growth policies. The meeting was co-hosted by the Union Ministry of Finance and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
253. The 2nd annual meeting of the New Development Bank (NDB) has started in New Delhi on March 31, 2017 with a focus on building a sustainable future. The Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley who is also the NDB Governor for India will deliver the address. Other speakers include NDB President K V Kamath, Minister of Finance of China among others. In the 3-day meeting, 5 MOUs are likely to be signed by NDB one each with European Investment Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), Eurasian Development Bank and International Investment Bank. Apart from this, the two seminars will be held on Financing Sustainable Development and Urban Planning and Sustainable Infrastructure Development.
254. The biggest river festival of India "Namami Brahmaputra" has started in 21 districts of Assam on March 31, 2017. President Pranab Mukherjee has inaugurated the 5-day festival on the banks of the river, which is considered country's only male river. Various cultural programmes, traditional sports, Brahmaputra Aarti, exhibition, film shows, seminars and competitions will be the part of the festival. Spiritual leader Dalai Lama and several Union ministers will also attend the festival. This festival is likely to give a boost to the investment and tourism prospect in the state. Prime Minister of Bhutan, Governor of Assam and Chief Ministers of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh will also attend the inaugural ceremony.
255. Sumitra Mahajan, the Lok Sabha Speaker, will lead Indian Parliamentary delegation in the 136th Assembly Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) 2017 at Dhaka, Bangladesh from April 1 to 5, 2017. The IPU Assembly is the principal statutory body that expresses the views of the IPU on political issues. It brings together parliamentarians to study international problems and make recommendations for action. The next 137th IPU Assembly will be held at St. Petersburg in Russian Federation from October 14 to 18, 2017.
256. El Salvador, Central America's smallest nation, has become the world's first country to ban metals mining nationwide following a long-running dispute with a Canadian-Australian company over an environmentally questioned gold project. For this, El Salvador passed a law that prohibits all metal mining in an attempt to protect the environment and natural resources.
257. Indian Army has recently signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IITM) to identify the critical technological areas that can be enhanced in the armed forces. The purpose of the MoU is to facilitate prestigious institutions such as the IITs to achieve a better understanding of the critical technology requirements of the Indian Army through seamless interaction between the IITM faculty and the Army officers. As per the MoU, the Indian Army will sponsor four officers for doctoral programmes besides a five-day Technology Development Programme for 15 officers on a biannual basis.
258. Indian Navy has recently launched Integrated Automatic Aviation Meteorological System (IAAMS) at Rajali Air Station in Tamil Nadu. The aim of IAAMS is to modernize the meteorological infrastructure of the nine Naval Air Stations (NAS). IAAMS undertakes automatic and continuous recording of relevant weather parameters that are vital for accurate weather forecasting. It has a special alarm feature that alerts the duty staff during abnormal change of weather parameters that may affect safe flying operations. The system can also provide automatic dissemination of routine weather reports as per standards followed by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) to other air stations and Air Traffic Controller (ATC) towers without human intervention.
259. India forward SV Sunil has been named the Asian Player of the Year 2016 in the senior men's category by the Asian Hockey Federation (AHF). SV Sunil played a vital role in team India's successful outing at 2016 FIH Champions Trophy in London where he led the forwardline and was instrumental in the team's historic Silver medal winning performance. Apart from him, Harmanpreet Singh has been named the 'Promising Player of the Year 2016' in the junior men's category.
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