Dear Readers, Here we have given the list of Important Weekly Current Affairs 1stweek of March 2019. Candidates those who are preparing for Upcoming Bank Exams and other competitive exams can make use of it.
Current Affairs: Important Days
| Date | Important days | Theme |
| March 1 | Zero Discrimination Day | Act to change laws that Discriminate |
| March 1 | World Civil Defence Day | Children’s safety, our responsibility |
| March 3 | World Wildlife Day | Life below water: for people and planet |
| March 3 | World Hearing Day | Check your hearing! |
| March 4 | National Safety Day | Cultivate and sustain a safety culture for building nation |
Current Affairs: National
- Cabinet has approved the 10% reservation for general category poor in J&K
| USEFUL INFO |
| Jammu & Kashmir Capital | Jammu & Srinagar |
| Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister | President Rule |
| Jammu & Kashmir Governor | Satya Pal Malik |
- The Union Human Resource Minister PrakashJavadekar launched the STARS scheme on National Science Day.
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| Minister of Human Resource Development | PrakashJavadekar |
| Constituency | Madhya Pradesh, RajyaSabha |
- Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), has launched its own payment aggregator system called “IRCTC iPay”
- PM NarendraModi flagged off the Madurai-Chennai EgmoreTejas Express, the fastest train running between Chennai & Madurai
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| Minister of Railways and Coal | PiyushGoyal |
| Constituency | Maharashtra RajyaSabha |
- PM Modi launched ‘ONE NATION ONE CARD’ for all modes of travel
- India’s food processing ministryto be launchGram SamridhiYojana to bolster the unorganised food processing sector
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| Food Processing Industries Minister | HarsimratKaurBadal |
| Constituency | Bathinda, Punjab |
- Union Environment Minister launchedAnthem on ‘plastic-free India’ in seven languages
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| Minister of Science & Technology, Earth Sciences and Environment, Forest and Climate Change | Harsh Vardhan |
| Constituency | ChandniChowk, New Delhi |
- Government brings TMA scheme to boost agriculture exports of farm commodities
- Mahesh Sharma Inaugurated ‘AzaadiKeDiwane’ Museum at Red Fort in Delhi
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| The Minister of State for Culture (Independent charge) and Environment, Forest and Climate Change | Dr. Mahesh Sharma |
| Constituency | Gautam Buddha Nagar |
- Bharat Electronics has launched SWAGAT- Automatic Fare Collection Gating System
11. Government has transferred first instalment of Rs 2000 each to over two crore farmers so far under PM-Kisan scheme
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| The Minister of Agriculture and Farming | Radha Mohan Singh |
| Constituency | PurviChamparan, Bihar |
12. NGT imposed Rs. 500 crore fine on Volkswagen for cheating emission tests
Current Affairs: International
- Malaysia has become a 124th member of the International Criminal Court
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| International Criminal Court Headquarters | The Hague, Netherlands |
| International Criminal Court President | Chile Eboe-Osuji |
Current Affairs: State
- West Bengal government launched ‘BanglarShiksha’ portal for provide real-time data on state-run and aided schools
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| West Bengal Capital | Kolkata |
| West Bengal Chief Minister | Mamata Banerjee |
| West Bengal Governor | KeshariNathTripathi |
- Union Textiles Minister SmritiIrani inaugurated the ‘Titanwala Museum’ in Rajasthan
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| Rajasthan Capital | Jaipur |
| Rajasthan Chief Minister | Ashok Gehlot |
| Rajasthan Governor | Kalyan Singh |
- Goa Health Minister VishwajitRane laid the foundation stone of a tertiary cancer centre at the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Stadium in Bambolim near Panaji.
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| Goa Capital | Panaji |
| Goa CM | MonaharParikar |
| Goa Governor | MridhulaSinha |
- Assam government launched ‘Rice Knowledge Park’ under Agri-business and Rural Transformation (APART)
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| Assam Capital | Dispur |
| Assam Chief Minister | SarbanandaSonowal |
| Assam Governor | JagdishMukhi |
- Haryana government announced MukhyamantriParivarSammanNidhiYojana 2019 for farmers
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| Haryana Capital | Chandigarh |
| Haryana Chief Minister | ManoharlalKathar |
| Haryana Governor | Satyadev Narayan Arya |
6. Karnataka Government launched ‘JalAmrutha’ scheme
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| Karnataka Capital | Bangalore |
| Karnataka Chief Minister | Kumarasamy |
| Karnataka Governor | VajubaiRudubaiWala |
- Delhi government launched ‘One Delhi’ app to track bus, metro services
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| New Delhi Chief Minister | ArvindKejiriwal |
| New Delhi Governor | Anil Baijal |
- Tripura governmentannounced ‘NotunDisha’ for assessing the academic level of students in classes III-VIII
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| Tripura Capital | Agartal |
| Tripura Chief Minister | Biplab Kumar Deb |
| Tripura Governor | Kaptan Singh Solanki |
- PMModi announced that the Chennai Central railway station will be renamed after former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MG Ramachandran
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| Tamil Nadu Capital | Chennai |
| Tamil Nadu Chief Minister | Edappadi K. Palaniswami |
| Tamil Nadu Governor | BanwarilalPurohit |
10. Ancient tribal language Gondi to be taught in tribal districts of Madhya Pradesh
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| Madhya Pradesh Capital | Bhopal |
| Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister | Kamal Nath |
| Madhya Pradesh Governor | Anandibenpatel |
- SBI andHitachi Payment Services Pvt Ltd, launched their merchant-acquiring joint venture, SBI Payment Services Pvt Ltd (SBIPSPL)
Current Affairs: Banking and Finance
- The RBI approved merger of Singapore-based DBS Bank’s Indian unit with its wholly owned local subsidiary, DBS Bank India
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| DBSBank Headquarters | Singapore |
| DBS Bank Tagline | Live more and bank less |
| DBS Bank CEO | Piyush Gupta |
- Reserve Bank of India and Bank of Japan have signed a Bilateral Swap Arrangement (BSA)
- RBI imposed fine of Rs. 8 crore on three banks – Karnataka Bank, United Bank of India and KarurVysya Bank – for non-compliance of directions on Swift messaging software
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| RBI Headquarters | Mumbai |
| RBI Governor | Shakthikanta Das |
| RBI Deputy Governors | B P Kanungo , Viral Acharya , N S Viswanathan , Mahesh Kumar Jain |
- The Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) revised gross domestic product (GDP) estimate for 2018-19 to 7 per cent is at a higher base
- GST collections dropped to Rs. 97,247 crore in February from Rs. 1.02 lakh crore in the previous month
- Punjab National has been ranked first among public sector banks in the implementation of ‘reforms agenda’
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| Punjab National Bank Headquarters | New Delhi |
| Punjab National Bank CEO | Sunil Mehta |
| Punjab National Bank Tagline | The name you can bank upon |
- Banks will have to lend about Rs. 1 lakh crore more to meet the MUDRA scheme’s target of Rs. 3 lakh crore for 2018-19
- SBI had reported frauds amounting 7,951 crore during the first nine months of fiscal 2019
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| SBI Headquarters | Mumbai |
| SBI Tagline | Banker to every Indian |
| SBI Chairman | Rajinish Kumar |
- HDFC Bank plans to acquire 9% stake in CSC E-Governance for 14.6 crore
| USEFUL INFO |
| HDFC Headquarters | Mumbai |
| HDFC Tagline | We Understand Your World |
| HDFC CEO | AdityaPuri |
- IDBI Bank receives nod to handle import, exports transactions with Iran
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| IDBI Bank Headquarters | Mumbai |
| IDBI Bank MD and CEO | Rakesh Sharma |
| IDBI Bank Tagline | Banking For All, AaoSocheinBada |
- RBI has slapped a fine of Rs. 1 crore on the bank for non-compliance of directions on Swift messaging software
| USEFUL INFO |
| Yes Bank Headquarters | Mumbai |
| Yes Bank Tagline | Experience our Expertise |
| Yes Bank CEO | Ravneet Singh Gill |
- State-owned Bank of Baroda cut benchmark lending rate by 0.1 percentage points across all tenors up to one year
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| Bank of Baroda Headquarters | Vadodara, Gujarath |
| Bank of Baroda Tagline | India’s International Bank |
| Bank of Baroda MD and CEO | P S Jayakumar |
- World Bank to provide 250 Million dollar for the National Rural Economic Transformation Project (NRETP)in India
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| World Bank Headquarters | Washington, D.C., United States |
| World BankCEO | KristalinaGeorgieva |
Cabinet Approval
- The Cabinet committee approvedPradhanMantri JI-VAN (JaivIndhan –Vatavaran AnukoolfasalawasheshNivaran) Yojana.
It will provide financial support integrated Bioethanol projects using lignocellulosic biomass and other renewable feedstock. The total financial outlay is of Rs.1969.50cr for the period from 2018-19 to 2023-24. - Cabinet approved1450 crore for the share capital of RBI in National Housing Bank (NHB), which operate as the principal agency to promote housing finance institutions in India. The decision is the resultant of the amendments made to the NHB Act, 1987 in 2018.
- Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA)approved constructionof four lane bridge which connectsDhubri in Assam and Phulbari in Meghalaya over Brahmaputra. It will be constructed with loan assistance from Japan International Cooperative Agency at the Civil Construction cost of Rs.3548cr and total capital cost of Rs.4997.04cr.
- Cabinet approved the proposal for setting up aCentre for Disability Sports at Gwalior in Madhya Pradeshwhich will be registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860. The estimated cost of setting up the centre shall be of 170.99 crore for a period of 5 years.
- Cabinet approvedNational Policy on Software Products 2019 with an outlay of 1500cr for a period of 7 years.
- Cabinet approveddraft Homeopathy Central Council (Amendment) Ordinance, 2019 which looks for theextension of the period for reconstruction of the council from the existing one year to 2 years.
- Union Cabinetapproved metro rail projects of Kanpur and Agra cities in Uttar Pradesh. The estimated cost of the project is 8379.62cr and will be completed in 5 years.
- Union Cabinet decided tovalue Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas as 25th member of International Energy Agency’s Technology Collaboration Programme on Bioenergy (IEA Bioenergy TCP).
- Cabinet approved the FDI proposal for Foreign Direct Investment ofmore than Rs.5000cr and upto Rs.25,000cr in Vodafone Idea Limited. It will be part of a proposed equity fund raise by way of Rights issue.
- Union Cabinetapproved Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2019 which will bring the people living in remote and inaccessible areas under reservation. It will pave the way for 10% quota for the economically weaker section to be applicable in the state.
- Union Cabinet approves promulgation of an Ordinanceto make amendments to the Aadhaar Act 2016, Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2005 and Indian Telegraph Act 1885.
- Cabinet approved the proposal for creation of 2 posts of commissioners in the office of the Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities (CCPD), interms of provisions of the Rights of Persons with Disability (RPF) Act, 2016.
- Cabinet approved the creation of Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) and associated activities for the disinvestment of Air India and its Subsidiaries/JV. Itwill transfer Air India’s Rs.29,464cr loans, Subsidiaries to SPV.
- The proposal for implementation of scheme titled ‘Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles in India Phase II (FAME India Phase II) approvedby the Union Cabinet for the promotion of Electric mobility in the country. The total outlay is of Rs.10,000crore for a period of 3 years with effect from 1st April 2019.
- Cabinet approved inclusion of Common Service Centre (CSC e-Governance Services India) as Enrolment Agency for PradhanMantriShram Yogi Maan(PM-SYM) whichwill enable workers in unorganized sector to get monthly pension of Rs.3000 on attaining the age of 60 years.
- Cabinet committee has approved laying down procedure and mechanism for asset monetization of CPSEs/PSUs/other government organizations and immovable enemy properties as per section IV of section 8A of the Enemy Property Act, 1968.
- Union Cabinet approvedsetting up of new AIIMS at Manethi, Haryana at a cost of Rs.1299cr. Cost of construction and running would be met by the Central Government under PradhanMantriSwasthyaSurakshaYojana (PMSSY).
- CCEA approvedinvestment for transmission component of Arun-3 Hydro Electric Project (Nepal portion) by Sutlej JalVikas Nigam (SJVN) Limited. The project is on Arun River in Sankhuwasabha district of Eastern Nepal.
Current Affairs: Appointments
| Pranay Kumar Verma | Next Ambassador of India to Vietnam |
| Ravneet Gill | MD & CEO of YES Bank |
| Air Marshal RaghunathNambiar | New chief of Western Air Command (WAC) |
| HasmukhAdhia | Non-executive chairman of Bank of Baroda |
| Muktesh Kumar Pardeshi | Next High Commissioner of India to New Zealand |
| HemantBhargava | IDBI Bank non-executive, non-whole time chairman |
| Ajay Narayan Jha | Member of the 15th Finance Commission |
| BhagwanLalSahni | Chairman – National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) |
| Kaushalendra Singh Patel, SudhaYadav and AcharyTalloju | Members of NCBC |
| SanjeevRanjan | Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways |
| Anil Kumble | Chairman of the ICC Cricket Committee |
| Ajit Kumar Mohanty | Director of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) |
| Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah | Re-elected as president of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) |
| KajaKallas | First female Prime Minister of Estonia |
Current Affairs: Awards and Honours
| 1. | Tripura’s Tribal Musician ThangaDarlong | AB Vajpayee Life Time Award |
| 2. | The Central Zone Power Distribution Company (CZPDC) Bhopal West Zone Power Distribution Company (WZPDC)Indor | “Saubhagya Award” under PradhanMantriSahajBijliHarGharYojana |
| 3. | Veteran Marathi writer and poet VasantAbajiDahake | ‘Janasthan’ award |
| 4. | TVS Motor Company | ‘Green Era Award for Sustainability’ |
| 5. | Indian Bank | Best Bank Award from the Tamil Nadu government |
| 6. | Abhinandhan | BhagwanMahavir Ahimsa Puraskar |
| 7. | Alastair Cook (England cricket) | Knighthood Award |
| 8. | Bharti AXA General Insurance | Non-Life Insurer of The Year Award 2019 by the Assocham |
- DRDO Chairman G. Satheesh Reddy is the joint winner of the 2019 Missile Systems Award given by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics in the US.
- America’s Kylie Jenner has become world’s youngest self-made billionaire
- Tata Steel has been recognised as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies by the Ethisphere Institute, USA,
- New Delhi Municipal Council areagets cleanest small city award while Uttarakhand’sGauchar was adjudged Best Ganga Town in the SwachhSurvekshan 2019 survey
Current Affairs: Summit and Conference
- Rising India Summit 2019 held in New Delhi, with the theme of, ‘Beyond Politics: Defining National Priorities’.
- Airports Authority of India organised the Startup Conclave under the Startup initiative “Innovate for Airports”
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| AAI Headquarters | New Delhi |
| AAI Chairman | GuruprasadMohapatra |
- Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Smt. Anupriya Patel inaugurated the ‘International Digital Health Symposium in New Delhi.
- 7th RCEP Intersessional Ministerial Meeting held in Cambodia
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| Cambodia Capital | Phnom Penh |
| Cambodia Currency | Cambodian Riel |
- PM Modi to inaugurated Construction Technology India-2019 Expo-cum-Conference in New Delhi
- A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Summit on Innovation and Governance held in New Delhi
Current Affairs: Ranking
| Index | Rank |
| ‘Inclusive Internet Index 2019’ by the ‘Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) for Facebook | India 47th |
- 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 theDelta ranking report released by NITI Aayog, Assam’s Hailakandi has become the top aspirational district
Current Affairs: MOU
- NITI Aayog partners with Adobe to boost digital literacy, creativity skills
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| NITI Aayog CEO | Amitabh Kant |
| NITI Aayog Vice Chairman | Rajiv Kumar |
- India and Brunei signed an agreement for exchange of information in tax matters to curb tax evasion and tax avoidance
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| Brunei Capital | Bandar Seri Begawan |
| Brunei Currency | Brunei dollar |
| Brunei Prime Minister | HassanalBolkiah |
- Centre and ADB sign 926 million loan agreement to operationalize two lines of Mumbai Metro
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| Asian Development Bank Headquarters | Manila, Phillipines |
| Asian Development Bank President | TakehikoNakao |
- AIIB to provide USD 455 million for Andhra Pradesh rural roads project
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| Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank HQ | Beijing, China |
| Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank President | Jin Liqun |
- India signs deal with Russian firm to produce 7.5 lakh AK-203 rifles
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| Russia Capital | Moscow |
| Russia Currency | Russian Rouble |
| Russia President | Vladimir Putin |
- The Government of India, the State Government of Chhattisgarh and the World Bank signed $25.2 Million Loan Agreement to support the State’s Reforms in Expenditure Management
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| Chhattisgarh Capital | Atal Nagar |
| Chhattisgarh Chief Minister | BhupeshBaghel |
| Chhattisgarh Governor | Anandiben Patel |
- India signed a loan agreement with the World Bank for 96 Million US dollars for additional financing of Uttarakhand Disaster Recovery Project
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| UttarakhandCapital | Dehradun |
| UttarakhandChief Minister | Trivendra Singh Rawat |
| UttarakhandGovernor | Baby Rani Maurya |
Current Affairs: Mobile App and Portal
- PMModi launched Sports Authority of India’s (SAI) ‘Khelo India App’ in order to create awareness about sports and fitness in the country.
| USEFUL INFO |
| Sports And Youth affairsMinister | Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore |
| Constituency | Jaipur, Rajasthan (LS) |
- Google unveiled new app ‘Bolo’ to teach kids to read English and Hindi
Current Affairs: Science and Technology
- Bengaluru-based Signalchip launched India’s first semiconductor chips for 4G LTE and 5G NR modems
- Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has set up its first solar electric vehicle charger on the Delhi-Chandigarh Highway.
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| BHELHeadquarters | New Delhi |
| BHEL CEO | AtulSobti |
- ISRO launched “YuvaVIgyaniKaryakram”, a “Young Scientist Programme” for the School Children to be studying in the ninth standard
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| ISRO Headquarters | Bengaluru |
| ISRO Director | Kailasavadivoo Sivan |
Current Affairs: Books
- Finance Minister ArunJaitley was released a book titled, ‘Mann Ki Baat – A Social Revolution on Radio’ in New Delhi
| Author | Book |
| NayantaraSahgal | The Fate Of Butterflies |
| Kamlesh Patel | “Designing Destiny: The Heartfulness Way” |
Current Affairs: Defence
- Joint exercise between BSF of India and Border Guards Bangladesh ‘MainamatiMaitree Exercise 2019’ held in Tripura
2. US, South Korea call off Foal Eagle and Key Resolve Exercises, announcednew Exercise
- Bilateral joint exercise between India, Oman ‘Al Nagah 2019’ to begin from Mar 12in Oman.
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| Oman Capital | Muscat |
| Oman Currency | Rial |
| Oman President | Qaboos bin Said al Said |
Current Affairs: Sports
- SaurabhChaudhary and Manu Bhaker claimed a gold medal for India in 10-metre air pistol mixed team event at the ISSF World Cup in New Delhi
- Australian tennis player Nick Kyrgios beat Alexander Zverev in the final to win the Mexico Open title.
- South African spinner Imran Tahir has announced retirement from ODI cricket after the ICC World Cup 2019.
- Indian bowler JhulanGoswami reclaimed the world number one position in the ICC Women’s ODI bowler rankings
5. Manpreet Singh named captain of Indian hockey team for Sultan Azlan Shah Cup
- Roger Federer has claimed the 100th ATP title of his career after beating Greek StefanosTsitsipas in Dubai Tennis Championships
Current Affairs: Obituaries
| Person | Field |
| Andre Previn | Legendary composer and pianist |
| Bharat Mohan Adhikari | Former Deputy Prime Minister of Nepal |
| Bill Playle | Former New Zealand batsman |
| Luke Perry | American actor |