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CURRENT AFFAIRS: STATE
Mamata Banerjee launched Yuvashree Arpan scheme
- West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee launched a new scheme called Yuvashree Plan II or Yuvashree Arpan under which 50,000 youths will receive financial assistance of 1 lakh for setting up an their own business initiatives.
- Youths who have passed out of ITI or other polytechnic institutes will be eligible to get financial support from the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) department
- The Yuvashree I scheme is implemented by the state labour department launched in 2013, the state provides unemployment allowance of Rs. 1,500 per month to 1,00,000 unemployed youth
- The state government had already provided cars to 24,000 unemployed youths under the ‘Gatidhara’ scheme, where the state enables youths to be car-owners and earn through driving it.
- The Chief Minister also laid foundation stone of various developmental projects including the first Hindi universityin West Bengal in Arupara, Howrah district and 1,488 crore drinking water project at Purba Medinipur.
- Foundation stone of projects worth Rs 1,071 crore including drinking water project that would benefit more than 8 lakh people inaugurated
| USEFUL INFO |
| West Bengal Capital | Kolkata |
| West Bengal Chief Minister | Mamata Banerjee |
| West Bengal Governor | Keshari Nath Tripathi |
Uttarakhand Government launched “Mukhyamantri Anchal Amrit Yojana” a free milk scheme
- Chief Minister of Uttarakhand Trivendra Singh Rawat has launched a scheme named “Mukhyamantri Anchal Amrit Yojana” for providing free milk tochildrens of Anganwadi Centers.
- Under the “Mukhyamantri Anchal Amrit Yojana” 2.5 lakh children at 20,000 Anganwadi kendrasin the state will be given 100 ml milk twice a week for free.
- As many as 18,000 children suffer from malnutrition in the state of Uttarakhand, So this is a step to fight against malnutrition.
| USEFUL INFO |
| Uttarakhand Capital | Dehradun |
| Uttarakhand Chief Minister | Trivendra Singh Rawat |
| Uttarakhand Governor | Baby Rani Maurya |
Maharashtra government launched ‘Atal Aahar Yojana’ to provide cheap hygienic food for construction workers
- The Maharashtra government has launched the “Atal Aahar Yojana” for construction workers in the state that will provide good quality and hygienic food to construction workers at a highly subsidised
- In the 1st phase, the target is to cover 20,000 workers and provide them with good quality food at a nominal cost of Rs. 5
- Under the Shramev Jayate Yojana, a pension of Rs. 3,000 is given to construction workers above the age of 60 years.
| USEFUL INFO |
| Maharashtra Capital | Mumbai |
| Maharashtra Chief Minister | Devendra Fadnavis |
| Maharashtra Governor | C. Vidyasagar Rao |
CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING AND FINANCE
White label ATM allowed to get Source cash directly from RBI
- The Reserve Bank relaxed norms for white label ATM (WLA) operators and allowed them to buy wholesale cash directly from the central bank to enhance the viability of white-label ATMs (WLAs)
- It has been decided to allow them to buy wholesale cash, above a threshold of 1 lakh pieces (and in multiples thereof) of any denomination, directly from the Reserve Bank and currency chests against full payment
- The RBI also permitted WLA operators to source cash from any bank, including cooperatives and regional rural banks. WLAs are owned and operated by non-bank entities on behalf of the banks.
- RBI has also allowed WLA operators to display advertisements pertaining to non-financial products or services anywhere within the WLA premises, including the ATM screen, except the main signboard.
- Banks can issue co-branded ATM cards in partnership with the authorised WLAOs, and may extend the benefit of ‘on-us’ transactions (where the customer or cardholder and ATM are of the same bank) to their WLAs as well.
- White label ATM (WLA) comes under The Payment & Settlement Systems Act, 2007
| USEFUL INFO |
| RBI Headquarters | Mumbai |
| RBI Governor | Shaktikanta Das |
| RBI Deputy Governor | BP Kanungo, N S Vishwanathan, Viral Acharya and Mahesh Kumar Jain |
State Bank of India to join SWIFT’s global payment interface
- State Bank of India will soon sign up with the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Transactions’ (SWIFT) Global Payment Interface (GPI) which is set to make cross-border transactions much more secure and transparent
- India’s largest lender will join 11 of its counterpart banks that will have subscribed to this payments platform
- SWIFT gpi is being used by 3500 banks across the globe carrying transactions worth over $300 billion daily.
- The gpi-enabled banks can also opt for an additional feature called Payment Control Service (PCS) where in case of any irregularities during the payments’ transaction such as higher-than-usual fund size or uncommon transaction timeframe, the channel can block the transaction and notify the bank
| USEFUL INFO |
| State Bank of India Headquarters | Mumbai |
| State Bank of India Tagline | The Banker to every Indian |
| State Bank of India Chairperson | Rajnish Kumar |
CURRENT AFFAIRS: AWARDS AND HONOURS
Biju Patnaik International Airport wins the prestigious ASQ award
- The Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) in Bhubaneswar has won the 2018 Airport Service Quality (ASQ) award as the leading airport in size and region. The Airports Council International selected BPIA for the prestigious award.
- The BPIA won the ASQ award for being the best airport in terms of size and region (2-5 million passengers in Asia-Pacific)
- Chandigarh Airport, Devi Ahilyabai Holkar Airport in Indore, SM Badaruddin II Airport in Indonesia, SS Kasim II Airport in Indonesia and Yichang Sanxia Airport in China were also chosen for the award.
- The award is accorded on the basis of independent survey amongst passengers on various parameters of security, safety, experience, ambience, ease of availability and cleanliness.
- Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru has become the first airport in the world to clinch the Airports Council International’s Airport Service Quality Awards for both Arrivals and Departures
- Cochin International Airport came second in the 5-15 million passenger category for ASQ Departure awards.
- Kempegowda International Airport is currently the busiest airport in south India and the third largest in the country.
- The Airport Service Quality (ASQ) programme is an airport passenger service and benchmarking programme for airports across the globe. The ASQ Departures programme measures passengers’ satisfaction across 34 key performance indicators.
| USEFUL INFO |
| Odisha Capital | Bhubaneswar |
| Odisha Chief Minister | Naveen Patnaik |
| Odisha Governor | Ganeshi lal |
Former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan to get Yashwantrao Chavan national award
- Former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan has been chosen for the ‘Yashwantrao Chavan National Award 2018’ for his contribution towards economic development
- Rajan will be presented the award at a function on March 12 on the occasion of the 106th birth anniversary of Yashwantrao Chavan, who was the first chief minister of Maharashtra
- Rajan served as RBI governor between September 2013 and September 2016.
- The award is given every year by the Yashwantrao Chavan Prathisthan to individuals/institutions in recognition of their outstanding contribution towards national integration, democratic values, and social and economic development.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: RANKING
Mumbai is 16th most expensive prime residential property market in the world
- According to Knight Frank report – Mumbai, the financial capital of the country, is the 16th most expensive prime residential market in the world. Globally Monaco topped the list
- Mumbai ranked 12th in terms of wealth on the index tracking global ranking of cities bettering its previous position of 18th in 2017
- Mumbai is the only Indian city to feature in the global top 20 list of expensive prime residential markets recorded in The Wealth Report 2019.
- Knight Frank Prime International Residential Index (PIRI 100) report – Mumbai (67 PIRI rank), which has the most expensive real estate in India
CURRENT AFFAIRS: SCIENCE
NASA announced world’s first all-female spacewalk
- NASA announced Two NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Christina Kochare scheduled to carry out the first ever all female spacewalk in history on March 29.
- Both will walk outside the International Space Station (ISS) as members of Expedition 59, on a mission to replace batteries installed last summer.
- 35 years after the first woman performed a spacewalk. They will receive ground support from flight director Mary Lawrence and Kristen Facciol of the Canadian Space Agency in NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Texas.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGNATION
Mizoram Governor resigned from his post
- Governor of Mizoram Kummanam Rajasekharan has resigned from his post.
- Rajasekharan was sworn in as Mizoram governor in May 2018.
- President Ram Nath Kovind has accepted the resignation of Rajasekharan.
- Kovind has appointed Prof. Jagdish Mukhi as the Governor of Mizoram, in addition to his own duties of Assam Governor.
| USEFUL INFO |
| Mizoram Capital | Aizawl |
| Mizoram Chief Minister | Zoramthanga |
| Mizoram Governor(Additional Charge) | Jagdish Mukhi |
World Health Organisation appoints Soumya Swaminathan as chief scientist
- Soumya Swaminathan who is currently a Deputy Director-General has been appointed as the Chief Scientist of the World Health Organisation (WHO).
- She was one of the three deputy director-generals assisting the WHO director-general in monitoring the programmes.
- The WHO’s new division will focus on digital health and innovation in order to stay on par with latest scientific and digital advances in the realm of healthcare.
- She will oversee the digital work and help the department in assessing digital technologies, and help countries in deciding as to how to prioritise, integrate and regulate them.
| USEFUL INFO |
| World Health Organisation Headquarters | Geneva, Switzerland |
| World Health Organisation Director General | Tedros Adhanom |
Subhash Chandra Garg appointed as Finance Secretary
- The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved designating Mr Garg as the Finance Secretary,
- Former Finance Secretary Ajay Narayan Jha, superannuated on February 28, has taken over as Member, 15th Finance Commission
- Garg, a 1983 batch IAS officer of Rajasthan cadre, currently working as the Secretary in Department of Economic Affairs since June 2017
- Senior-most among the five secretaries in the Finance Ministry is designated as the Finance Secretary
- Ajay Bhushan Pandey is the Revenue Secretary
- Rajiv Kumar is the Secretary of Department of Financial Services
- Atanu Chakraborty is Secretary in Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM)
- Girish Chandra Murmu is the Expenditure Secretary.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: MOU
India and ADB sign 26 million dollar loan pact for improving drainage infrastructure in Dibrugarh
- The Centre and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have signed a 26 million dollar loan agreement to provide additional financing for improving drainage infrastructure in Dibrugarh town of Assam under the ongoing Assam Urban Infrastructure Investment Program.
- The ongoing loan of 51 million dollars under the Assam Urban Infrastructure Investment Program is helping to improve water supply infrastructure in Guwahati and solid waste management and drainage infrastructure in Guwahati and Dibrugarh.
- Additional Secretary in Department of Economic Affairs (Fund Bank and ADB), Sameer Kumar Khare and India Resident Mission of ADB, Hoe Yun Jeong signed the agreement in New Delhi
| USEFUL INFO |
| Asian Development Bank President | Takehiko Nakao |
| Asian Development Bank Headquarters | Mandaluyong, Philippines |
Korea Exim Bank to give Rs. 4,100 crore loan for Vizag Metro
- The Export-Import Bank of Korea (KEXIM) has come forward to extend a loan of Rs. 4,100 crore for the Visakhapatnam metro rail project.
- A team of officials from Korea EXIM Bank called on Andhra Pradesh Chief Secretary A.C. Punetha and discussed the loan proposal and related issues
- The state government had earlier sent a proposal in this regard to the Central government, which in turn forwarded it to Korea Exim Bank.
- The three-corridor Vizag Metro would be built over a stretch of 42.55 km at a cost of Rs. 8,300 crore
Ministries of WCD & Skill Development sign MoU to improve women livelihood
- Women and Child Development Ministry and Skill Development Ministry signed an MoU for improving women livelihood and empowering them through skill development.
- The MoU was signed in the presence of Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Sanjay Gandhi and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
- Rashtriya Mahila Kosh (RMK) and the National Skill Development Council (NSDC) will be the implementing partners on behalf of the Ministry of Women and Child Development and Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship respectively
- Skill Development ministry of Women and Child Development through Rashtriya Mahila Kosh will identify the types of skill which are suitable for enhancing livelihood of women through self-employment.
| USEFUL INFO |
| Minister of Women Welfare and Child Development | Maneka Gandhi |
| Constituency | Philibit, UP |
| Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship | Dharmendhra Pradhan |
| Constituency | Deogarh, Odisha |
India Signs USD 3 Billion Deal with Russia to Lease Nuclear Submarine
- The Government of India has signed a USD 3 billion deal with Russian Government for the lease of a nuclear-powered attack submarine for the Indian Navy for a period of 10 years.
- Russia will deliver its Akula class 1 submarine to the Indian Navy by 2025. This submarine will be known as Chakra III.
- It will be the third Russian submarine to be leased to the Indian Navy.
- The first Russian nuclear powered submarine – christened INS Chakra was taken in 1988 under a three year lease. A second INS Chakra was taken on lease in 2012 for a period of 10 years.]
| SEFUL INFO |
| Russia Capital | Moscow |
| Russia Currency | Russian Rouble |
| Russia President | Vladimir Putin |
CURRENT AFFAIRS: SPORTS
Iniyan becomes India’s 61st Grand master
- Iniyan, the 16-year-old boy from the Erode district of Tamil Nadu has become the 61st Grand master of India after crossing 2,500 points in the Elo Ratings at the ongoing Noisiel Open in France.
- Iniyan needed 2.7 points to achieve the Grand master Title and achieved the feet by winning a game against Ukrainian GM Sergey Fedorchuk.
- Viswanathan Anand is India’s first Chess Grand master and he achieved the norm way back in 1987.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: OBITUARY
Former Puducherry LG Virendra Kataria passed away
- Former lieutenant governor of Puducherry Virendra Kataria passed away in New Delhi
- Kataria, a former Rajya Sabha MP, served as the lieutenant governor of Puducherry from July 2013 to July 2014.
Kenyan Pioneer Olympian Daniel Rudhisa Passed away
- Daniel Rudisha, a former teacher who became a Kenyan athletics coachpassed away.
- Daniel won silver in the 4x400m relay at the 1968 Olympics held in Mexico City.
- He is a father of Kenyan athlete David Rudhisa
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