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CURRENT AFFAIRS: IMPORTANT DAYS
National Safety Day
- National Safety Day is celebrated in India on 4th March by the National Safety Council of India.
- This day is celebrated to make people get safe from several issues like financial loss, health problems and also any other problems that people are facing in their life.
| USEFUL INFO |
| Theme 2019 | Cultivate and sustain a safety culture for building nation |
CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL
PM launched ‘ONE NATION ONE CARD’ for all modes of travel
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the indigenously-developed National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) to enable people to pay multiple kinds of transport charges, including metro services and toll tax, across the country.
- Dubbed as ‘One Nation One Card’, the inter-operable transport card would allow the holders to pay for their bus travel, toll taxes, parking charges, retail shopping and even withdraw money
- The ‘One Nation One Card’ card runs on RuPay card can be used for travelling in metros in any part of the country.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: STATE
Assam government launched ‘Rice Knowledge Park’ under APART
- Rice Knowledge Bank-Assamis an agriculture web portal. It is dedicated to magnifying knowledge on rice production technologies and techniques, best production practices and state agriculture facts.
- It was launched under the World Bank funded project –Agri-business and Rural Transformation (APART).
- This portal is the efforts of Assam Rural Infrastructure and Agricultural Services Society (ARIAS), Assam Agricultural University (AAU) with technical assistance from the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).
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| Assam Capital | Dispur |
| Assam Chief Minister | Sarbananda Sonowal |
| Assam Governor | Jagdish Mukhi |
CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING AND FINANCE
RBI imposed 8 crore fine on 3 banks for non compliance in SWIFT operation
- The Reserve Bank of India has imposed a total monetary fine of Rs. 8 crore on three banks – Karnataka Bank, United Bank of India and Karur Vysya Bank – for non-compliance of directions on Swift messaging software.
- While the RBI imposed Rs. 4 crore fine on Karnataka Bank, United Bank is facing a penalty of Rs. 3 crore. The regulator has levied Rs. 1 crore fine on Karur Vysya Bank.
- The RBI has levied an aggregate penalty of Rs 40 million on the Karnataka bank for delayed implementation of four of the Swift related operational controls
- Earlier, four banks — SBI, Union Bank of India, Dena Bank and IDBI — had informed exchanges about monetary penalty slapped on them by the regulator for non-compliance with various directions.
- Fine of Rs. 3 crore was imposed on Union Bank, Rs. 2 crore on Dena Bank, and Rs 1 crore each on IDBI and the SBI.
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| RBI Bank Headquarters | Mumbai |
| RBI Bank Governor | Shakthikanta Das |
| RBI Bank Deputy Governor | B P Kanungo , Viral Acharya , N S Viswanathan , Mahesh Kumar Jain |
IDBI Bank receives nod to handle import, exports transactions with Iran
- The IDBI has received government nod to handle import and export transactions with Iran, a move which would help in promoting two-way trade amid US sanctions on the Persian Gulf nation
- IDBI Bank has been identified to route the payments. UCO Bankhad in the previous round of sanctions handled rupee payments.
- Iran is India’s third-largest oil supplier after Iraq and Saudi Arabia. It was India’s second biggest supplier of crude oil after Saudi Arabia
- Bilateral trade between India and Iran increased to USD 13.8 billion in 2017-18 from USD 12.9 billion in the previous fiscal. However, India’s exports were only worth USD 2.5 billion to that country.
| USEFUL INFO |
| IDBI Bank Headquarters | Mumbai |
| IDBI Bank MD and CEO | Rakesh Sharma |
| IDBI Bank Tagline | Banking For All, Aao Sochein Bada |
CURRENT AFFAIRS: APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGNATION
Ajay Jha takes over as Member of Finance Commission
- Former Finance Secretary Ajay Narayan Jha took charge as Member of the 15th Finance Commission in place of Shaktikanta Das,
- Shaktikanta Das resigned after being appointed as Governor of the Reserve Bank of India in December 2018.
- Ajay Jha was a 1982 batch IAS officer of Manipur cadre, had earlier served as Secretary to the 14th Finance Commission which was headed by former RBI Governor Y V Reddy
- The 15th Finance Commission was constituted in November 2017 under the Chairmanship of N K Singh and is to give recommendations for devolution of taxes and other fiscal matters for five fiscal years, commencing 1 April 2020 to March 2025.
- Commission’s full-time members Ajay Narayan Jha, Ashok Lahiri and Anoop Singh, Ramesh Chand as part-time member
Bhagwan Lal Sahni appointed as Chairman of the National Commission for Backward Classes
- Bhagwan Lal Sahni has been appointed as the chairman of the newly constituted National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC)
- Kaushalendra Singh Patel, Sudha Yadav and Achary Talloju have been appointed as members of the commission.
- National Commission for Backward Classes is a Constitutional body (123rd constitutional amendment bill 2018 and 102nd amendment) under Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment established on 14 August 1993.
- It was constituted pursuant to the provisions of the National Commission for Backward Classes Act, 1993.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: AWARDS AND HONOURS
TVS Motor Company wins international sustainability award
- TVS Motor Company bagged the ‘Green Era Award for Sustainability’ at Lisbon in Portugal.
- The company also won the ‘Quality and Business Excellence Award’ for its endeavour to create new benchmarks in product quality.
- The Green Era Award for Sustainability was set up to recognise the true global exemplars who have been innovative and creative in pursuing the sustainable imperative.
- The awards are based on the conclusion of the research team of other ways Management & Consulting, France.
- The companies chosen were ranked against criteria such as investment attraction, high technologies, quality and staff for professional and modern management methods
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| TVS Motor Company Headquarters | Chennai, Tamil Nadu |
| TVS Motor Company CEO | K N Radhakrishnan |
Indian Bank received Best Bank Award
- Public sector Indian Bank has bagged the Best Bank Award from the Tamil Nadu government for meeting the needs of women’s self-help groups (SHGs).
- Chief Minister of the state K Palaniswami handed over the award to the executive director of the bank M K Bhattacharya
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| Tamil Nadu Capital | Chennai |
| Tamil Nadu Chief Minister | E. Palanisamy |
| Tamil Nadu Governor | Banwarilal Purohit |
| Indian Bank Headquarters | Chennai |
| Indian Bank CEO | Padmaja Chunduru |
| Indian Bank Tagline | Your Tech-friendly bank |
CURRENT AFFAIRS: RANKING NAD INDEX
Delhi topped the list of most polluted cities in Greenpeace report
- According to a Greenpeace report, Delhi has been ranked the most polluted capital in the world, while Gurugram is the most polluted city.
- According to the latest data compiled in the IQ Air Visual 2018 World Air Quality Report and interactive world’s most polluted cities ranking, which is prepared in collaboration with Greenpeace Southeast Asia in order to reveal the state of particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution in 2018
- Delhi had an average yearly PM2.5 concentration at 113.5 micrograms per cubic metre
- The city-based rankings differ, with Delhi taking the 11th spot as the most polluted city and Gurugram at top, with an annual average PM2.5 reading of 135.8 micrograms per cubic metre
- According to the National Ambient Air Quality Standards, the annual permissible limit for PM2.5 is 40ug/m3.
- The annual permissible limits prescribed by the World Health Organization is 10ug/m3
CURRENT AFFAIRS: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
BHEL installed first solar electric vehicle charging station
- Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has set up its first solar electric vehicle charger on the Delhi-Chandigarh Highway.
- The first in a series of charging station on the entire 250 kilometer stretch was inaugurated by A R Sihag, secretary, Department of Heavy Industry (DHI) in the presence of BHEL Chairman Atul Sobti in Sonepat, Haryana.
- The project is covered under the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid) & Electric Vehicles in India (FAME) scheme of Department of Heavy Industry (DHI).
- Recently the Cabinet government approved FAME II scheme with an outlay of Rs. 10,000 crore over a period of three years. To be implemented from April 1, 2019, the scheme envisages setting up of about 2700 charging stations across the country so that at least one charging station is available in a grid of 3×3 km2.
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| BHEL Headquarters | New Delhi |
| BHEL CEO | Atul Sobti |
CURRENT AFFAIRS: DEFENCE
‘Mainamati Maitree Exercise 2019’ held in Tripura
- Border Security Force (BSF) and Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) concluded a three-day joint exercise organised as part of the confidence building measures in Tripura.
- The main objective of this exercise was to plan and conduct anti-smuggling and anti-criminal activity related operations with an aim to achieve better joint operational efficiency and border management in the area
- The exercise was named ‘Mainamati Maitree Exercise 2019’ after the Mainamati hill range, dotted with ancient Buddhist settlements, near Comilla town in Bangladesh.
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| Border Security Force Headquarters | New Delhi |
| Border Security Force Director General | Rajni Kant Misra |
| Border Security Force Borders | Pakistan and Bangladesh |
CURRENT AFFAIRS: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
ISRO launched Yuva Vigyani Karyakram for school children
- Indian Space Research Organisation has launched “Yuva VIgyani Karyakram”, a “Young Scientist Programme” for the School Children to be studying in the ninth standard
- The programme aims at imparting basic knowledge on space technology, space science and space applications to the younger ones with the intent of arousing their interest in the emerging areas of space activities.
- “Catch them young” residential training programme will be of around two weeks duration during summer holidays with a proposal to select 3 students from each State and Union Territory, covering CBSE, ICSE and State syllabus.
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| ISRO Headquarters | Bengaluru |
| ISRO Director | Kailasavadivoo Sivan |
CURRENT AFFAIRS: SPORTS
Imran Tahir to quit ODIs cricket after World Cup
- South African spinner Imran Tahir has announced that he will quit ODI cricket after the ICC World Cup 2019.
- However he would like to continue playing for South Africa in Twenty20 internationals.
- 2019 Cricket World Cup is the 12th edition of the Cricket World Cup, scheduled to be hosted by England and Wales from 30 May to 14 July 2019
Goswami reclaims No.1 position in ICC women’s ODI bowler rankings
- Indian bowler Jhulan Goswami reclaimed the world number one position in the ICC Women’s ODI bowler rankings after her performances in India’s 2-1 home series win over England in the ICC Women’s Championship.
- Goswami, who last held the top spot in February 2017, finished with eight wickets in the series, helping India reach the second position in the eight-team championship
- India’s Shikha Pandey leapt 12 places to claim the fifth spot and a career-best points tally of 688, courtesy her eight scalps against England. Katherine Brunt and Ellyse Perry rose by one spot each to settle at No.6 and No.9 respectively.
Dubai Tennis Championship 2019
- Dubai Tennis Championship 2019 commonly known as Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship concluded in Dubai, UAE.
- It was the 27th edition of men and 19th of women.
- Prize money of ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) is $2887895 and for WTA (Women Tennis Association) is $2828000.
| Category | Winner | Runner |
| Men’s Singles | Roger Federer (Switzerland) | Stefanos Tsitsipas (Greece) |
| Women’s Singles | Belinda Bencic (Switzerland) | Petra Kvitova (Czech Republic) |
| Men’s Doubles | Rajeev Ram (USA) and Joe Salisbury (UK) | Ben McLachlan (New Zealand) and Jan-Lennard Struff (Germany) |
| Women’s Doubles | Hsieh Su-wei (Chinese Taipei) and Barbora Strycova (Czech Republic) | Lucie Hradecka (Czech Republic) and Ekaterina Makarova (Russia) |
CURRENT AFFAIRS: OBITUARIES
Former New Zealand cricketer Bill Playle passed away
- Former New Zealand batsman Bill Playle has passed away
- He began his first-class career started with Auckland in 1956-57 at the age of 18.
- Playle was a right handed batman, made his debut for New Zealand against England in June 1958
American actor Luke Perry passed away
- American actor Luke Perry has passed away in California
- The actor known for his roles in “Beverly Hills 90210” and “Riverdale”.