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Current Affairs – March 26, 2018

S.No Topic Page Number

1 World News 2

2 National News 3 - 5

3 State News 6 - 7

4 Banking & Economy 8 - 9

5 Sports 10

6 Awards & Honours 11

7 Appointments & Resignations 12

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World News

Historic agreement signed to protect the world’s largest tropical peatland

Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the Republic of Congo and Indonesia have signed

Brazzaville Declaration that promotes better management and conservation of Cuvette

Centrale region in the Congo Basin, the world’s largest tropical peatlands.

Peatlands are wetlands that contain a mixture of partially decomposed organic material.

The declaration was signed on the sidelines of the Third Partners Meeting of the Global

Peatlands Initiative, that was held in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, from 21 – 23 March

2018.

Indonesia has been made a party to this agreement as it is considered as most

experienced country in the world on peat management issues.

Equivalent of three years of global greenhouse gas emissions are stored in peatland of

Cuvette Centrale region in the Congo Basin, which are about the size of England.

Thus it is of utmost importance to conserve these peatlands asthe emissions stored

could be released in atmosphere if the they are degraded or drained.

Malaysia proposes 10 years in jail for fake news

On March 26, 2018, Malaysia’s government proposed new legislation to counter fake

news, under which, offender will be penalised with 10-year jail term.

The bill defines fake news as any news, information, data and reports presented in the

form of print, visuals or audio, which contains wholly or partly false content.

Individuals who create, offer, circulate, print or publish fake news or publications

containing fake news will be penalised with a 10- year jail term, a fine of up to 500000

ringgit or both.

Although incumbent Government has stated that this law is needed to protect public

harmony and national security, opposition members consider it as an attack on the

press and an attempt to instil fear among people before the general election in August

2018.

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National News

President Kovind lays foundation stone of several road projects of NHAI in Varanasi

President Ram Nath Kovind has stressed on modern development of Varanasi with its

religious souls and traditional values.

He was addressing a function after laying the foundation stone of five road projects of

the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and distributing appointment letters to

the candidates selected under Skill Development department mission.

UIDAI set to introduce face authentication feature from July 1

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is all set to make face

authentication available alongside iris or fingerprint scan as means of verifying Aadhaar

users from July 1, 2018.

The UIDAI, which is in-charge of the 12-digit identifier Aadhaar, in January had

announced that it will introduce face authentication feature to help those who run into

problems in biometric authentication due to old age, hard work or worn-out

fingerprints.

‘National Conference on Down Syndrome’ held in New Delhi

A ‘National Conference on Down Syndrome’ was held in New Delhi on March 26, 2018.

This conference was organised by the National Trust under Union Ministry of Social

Justice and Empowerment.

The conference was inaugurated by Dr. Kamlesh Kumar Pandey, the Chairman of

National Trust.

Objective of this conference was to seek commitments of various stakeholders and

increase awareness about Down Syndrome. Besides, it served as an opportunity for

parents of individuals having Down syndrome, to obtain information about latest

development in education and skilling and inclusive living of persons with Down

Syndrome.

Intellectuals from all walks of life attended this conference and shared their ideas and

knowledge on Down Syndrome with an aim to enable a positive change.

A book entitled “Twilights Children” based on the lives of person suffering from Down

Syndrome was released during the course of the conference.

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German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier visits India

Dr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier, President of Germany, was on a five-day official visit to

India starting from 22 March, 2018.

Mr. Steinmeier was accompanied by his wife Elke Budenbender, a CEO delegation,

Indologists and a media delegation.

This was Mr. Steinmeier’s first visit to India as German President. Earlier he had visited

India several times in his former capacity as the foreign minister and vice chancellor of

Germany. Last German president to visit India was Joachim Gauck in February 2014.

On March 24, 2018, Mr. Steinmeier held a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra

Modi at Sunder Nursery adjacent to Humayun’s tomb in Delhi. During this meeting, Mr.

Steinmeier and PM Modi held discussion on several global, political and economic issues

of mutual interest.

During the course of this visit, Mr. Steinmeier also met President of India Ram Nath

Kovind, Vice President of India Venkaiah Naidu and Union External Affairs Minister

Sushma Swaraj. Apart from Delhi, Mr. Steinmeier also visited Varanasi and Chennai.

Germany is India’s largest trading partner in Europe and the sixth largest trading partner

in the world. Bilateral trade between India and Germany in 2016-17 stood at USD 18.76

billion. Besides, Germany is also the 7th largest foreign direct investor in India.

ISA and India signs Host Country Agreement

On March 26, 2018, International Solar Alliance (ISA) and the Union Ministry of External

Affairs (MEA), signed the Host Country Agreement in New Delhi.

The agreement was signed by V.K. Singh, Minister of State, Ministry of External Affairs

andUpendra Tripathy, Interim Director General of ISA in presence of R K Singh, Union

Minister of State (IC) Power and New & Renewable Energy.

The Agreement gives ISA a juridical personality and authorises it to contract, to institute

and defend legal proceedings and to acquire and dispose off movable and immovable

properties.

Besides, ISA shall enjoy all such privileges, applicable tax concessions and immunities

that are necessary for ISA’s Headquarter to independently discharge its function and

carry out its programmes.

World’s oldest city Varanasi goes ‘wireless’

In Varanasi, overhead power cables are being taken off after underground lines have

been laid for more than 16 sq km.

Under the Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS) of Indian government,

Powergrid has laid 16 square kilometers of underground lines in Varanasi. This will be

utilized by nearly 50,000 consumers.

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In June 2015, Former Union minister of state for power and coal Piyush Goyal

announced the Rs 432-crore project for underground cabling work under IPDS for

Varanasi.

Work on this project was started in December 2015. Atul Nigam, managing director of

Purvanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited, said that, line loss in the area covered by IPDS

has reduced to 9.9% from 42.7%.

Theatre Olympics kicks off in Mumbai

Filmmaker Ashutosh Gowariker, along with veteran actor Vikram Gokhle, inaugurated

the eighth edition of Theatre Olympics, a fortnight-long international theatre festival in

Mumbai.

The festival will present 28 performances from a diverse range of theatre forms from all

over the world.

The inaugural play was a Hindi production "Mohe Piya", by Waman Kendre, director of

National School of Drama (NSD).

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State News

Assam govt to construct 1 lakh toilets across state under Mission Sambavh

On March 26, 2018, Assam State Government launched a special programme to build

one lakh toilets across the state under the Swachh Bharat Mission.

This special programme is named ‘Mission Sambavh’ (Mission Possible ), under which,

construction works will be completed within 10 days.

The programme was launched at Morigaon district, in presence of Assam Chief Minister

Sarbanand Sonowal.

Assam State government has set a target to make the state Open Defecation Free (ODF)

during 2018.

It is to be noted that five districts in Assam have already been declared ODF.

Gujarat Govt to Set Up 100 Mld Seawater Desalination Plant

On March 25, 2018, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani stated that a seawater

desalination plant, with capacity to desalinate 100 million litre water per day will be set

up near Jodiya town in Jamnagar district.

It is to be noted that Jamnagar in Saurashtra region of Gujarat faces severe water

shortage especially during summer season.

The proposed desalination plant will thus help to reduce water shortage.

However, no information related to timeline for setting up this plant or related cost has

been disclosed so far.

Surat becomes first district to have 100% solar powered health centres

Surat district in Gujarat has become the first district in India to have 100 percent solar

powered Primary Health Centers (PHC).

All 52 PHCs in Surat are now powered by solar system.

This initiative will not only contribute in reducing the electricity bill by 40 percent but

will also help in fighting global warming.

Surat is also making significant leap in making gram panchayats within districts, solar

powered.

150 out of 572 gram panchayats in Surat are now powered by solar system.

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Famous Madhavpur Mela begins in Gujarat

On 25 March 2018, the Madhavpur Mela started at Madhavpur Ghed village in

Porbandar district of Gujarat.

The Madhavpur Mela is held for four days till 28 March 2018. For the first time, there

will be a cultural integration with the North-East people during this festival as the

Madhavpur Mela and Mishmi Tribe of Arunachal Pradesh share common roots.

ii. This festival will feature art, dance, music, poetry, story-telling and folk drama from

Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and other North Eastern States.

iii. There will also be sale of art and crafts of Gujarat and handloom and handicraft

products from Arunachal, Manipur and other North Eastern states.

iv. The Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), Ministry of Culture and states

of Gujarat, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur are playing a major role in this festival.

Assam: Rhino census at world heritage site Kaziranga National Park begins

In Assam, the rhino census at the world heritage site Kaziranga National Park began this

morning. Official sources said the census will conclude tomorrow.

The result of the survey will be known on the 28th of this month. Nearly 350

enumerators, including senior Forest officials and wildlife experts, have been engaged in

the exercise.

The entire park has been divided into 74 compartments. As per the last census, 2401

rhinos were found at the Kaziranga National Park conducted in 2015.

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Banking & Economy

Economy to double to $5 trillion by 2025, no risk to inflation target: Finance ministry

On March 26, 2018, Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg stated that India

is on track to double the size of its economy to $5 trillion by 2025.

India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in value terms currently stands at USD 2.5 trillion,

making it the sixth largest economy in the world.

According to Mr. Garg, Indian economy is now positioned to attain 7-8 per cent annual

growth and with focus on start-ups, Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and

investment in infrastructure development, it can even clock a higher growth in coming

years.

Mr. Garg also asserted that inflation will be contained within the Reserve Bank of India’s

(RBI’s) target of 4 per cent, plus/minus 2 per cent and will thus not pose any risk to

growth.

In February 2018, consumer price based retail inflation (taken into account by RBI while

formulating its monetary policy) was at 4 month low of 4.44 per cent.

SWIFT introduces universal real-time payment tracking

SWIFT (Society for World Interbank Financial Telecommunication System platform) has

announced the extension of its gpi (Global Payment Innovation) Tracker to cover all

payment instructions sent across the network.

SWIFT system is used by banks across the world to transmit messages relating to cross

border financial transactions.

gpi Tracker, developed by SWIFT, gives end-to-end visibility on the status of a payment

transaction from the moment it is sent until it is confirmed.

gpi tracker was introduced in May 2017and now accounts for 10 per cent of entire

SWIFT cross border payment traffic.

Extending the tracker to cover all payment instructions sent across the network will

enhance the transparency and reliability of the process.

Government Guarantee for Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC) Bonds

Union Ministry of Finance has approved Government guarantee of Rs. 5000 crore in

financial year 2017-18 for Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC) bonds to be

subscribed by Life Insurance Corporation (LIC).

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In March 2015, Union Ministry of Railways entered into Memorandum of Understanding

(MoU) with LIC, by which, LIC has to provide a financial assistance of Rs. 150000 crore

for identified Railway projects from 2015 to 2019.

The fund is to be raised by IRFC by issuing bonds to LIC. These bonds have a tenor of 30

years.

However, owing to exposure limit constraints on account of IRDA guidelines; LIC has not

been able to subscribe to IRFC bonds beyond a certain limit.

Thus, Union Ministry of Finance approved Government guarantee in order to overcome

the exposure limit constraint.

Microsoft opens the Garage in Hyderabad

On 26 March 2018, Microsoft opened the ‘Garage’ at the Microsoft India Development

Centre in Hyderabad, Telangana.

The Garage was inaugurated at the Microsoft India Development Centre in Hyderabad

byTelangana IT Minister K T Rama Rao.

It is a platform for Microsoft employees that encourages experimentation, working

together across organisations and to discover ideas and develop prototypes, adding

value to existing products.

This facility has been developed on a 8,000 sq ft space. It will support Microsoft teams

for different projects.

It consists of the following facilities: a Hub for hackathons and workshops, a Makerspace

and an Advanced Makerspace with electronic workbench, 3D printers, laser cutter, PCB

milling machine for creating prototypes.

It has a reality room for carrying out work in augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR),

and mixed reality and dedicated space and equipment for working on Deep Learning.

India pips Germany, ranks 4th largest auto market Globally

As per the latest global Automobile Sales Data, India has overtaken Germany to become

the fourth largest automobile market in the world.

During 2017, Automobile sales (including passenger and commercial vehicles) in India

touched 4 million units, outpacing Germany’s 3.81 million vehicle sales.

In terms of year-on-year growth, Automobile Sales in India during 2017 grew 9.5% while

in Germany it grew by 2.8%.

Strong growth in Automobile Sales in India is expected to continue in 2018 on account

of government’s thrust on infrastructure, stricter norms for banning overloading and

macroeconomic environment buoyancy.

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Sports

Anish Bhanwala Wins India’s 3rd Individual Gold in ISSF Junior World Cup

On 26 March 2018, Anish Bhanwala won gold medal in the men’s 25m Rapid Fire Pistol

Junior event at the ISSF Junior World Cup Rifle / Pistol / Shotgun in Sydney, Australia.

Anish Bhanwala scored 29 hits and won gold medal in the men’s 25m Rapid Fire Pistol

Junior event. This is the 3 individual gold medal for India in the ISSF Junior World Cup.

China’s Cheng Zhipeng scored 27 hits and won silver medal. China’s Zhang Jueming

scored 23 hits and won bronze medal in the men’s 25m Rapid Fire Pistol Junior event.

China won the team gold medal and created a new Junior World Record with 1733

points. India’s Anish Bhanwala, Anhad Jawanda and Adarsh Singh won silver medal.

Another Indian team comprising Sandhu, Japtyesh Singh Jaspal and Mandeep Singh won

bronze medal.

Hockey Punjab wins 8th Hockey India Senior Men National Championship 2018 (A Division)

On 25 March 2018, Hockey Punjab won the 8 Hockey India Senior Men National

Championship 2018 (A Division) at the Padma Shri Mohammad Shahid Synthetic Hockey

Stadium in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.

Hockey Punjab defeated Petroleum Sports Promotion Board 2-1 in the finalsand won

the 8th Hockey India Senior Men National Championship 2018 (A Division).

In the Bronze medal match, Railway Sports Promotion Board defeated Air India Sports

Promotion Board 5-3.

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Awards & Honours

London based organisation SACF wins Frederick Pincott Award for 2017

London-based South Asian Cinema Foundation (SACF) has received the Frederick Pincott

Award for 2017 from the Indian High Commissioner, Y K Sinha for promoting Hindi

cinema in Britain for the last 18 years.

SACF has been active in boosting original research and books on Indian films,

documentary filmmaking and also inviting and honouring filmmakers from India.

The institute will also launch a new six-week course at the British Film Institute (BFI) that

will look into the history of Indian cinema through literature.

was set up in London in January 2000 by Lalit Mohan Joshi, along with film critic Derek

Malcolm, film archivist P K Nair and social historian-researcher Kusum Pant Joshi.

Chhattisgarh bags ‘Water Digest Award’ for best water conservation and irrigation facility

Chhattisgarh has won the National ‘Water Digest Award’ for Water Conservation-

Diversion and increasing the irrigation capacity in Chhattisgarh.

On 21 March 2018, Union Minister of State for Water Resources Arjun Ram Megwal

presented the award to Chhattisgarh Water Resources Department Secretary Sonmoni

Borah, in New Delhi.

‘Water Digest’ magazine gives away this award every year. Chhattisgarh was presented

this award for improving irrigation capacity, community participation, water

management, water diversion, water conservation, work on inter-linking of rivers,

enhancement of irrigation facilities, etc.

The award is recognised by the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and

Cultural Organization). This is the first time Chhattisgarh Water Resources Department

has received a national award.

Ahmadabad airport receives award for ‘Most Improved Airport’

The Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmadabad has received the

award for ‘Most Improved Airport’ in the Asia-Pacific region by the Airports

CouncilInternational (ACI).

“This is the first international award, so you can understand…we are growing at a great

speed and this is a big responsibility for which we have to continually improve,” airport

Director Manoj Gangal said.

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Appointments & Resignations

JS Rajput nominated India’s Representative to UNESCO’s Executive Board

J S Rajput has been nominated by the Ministry of Human Resource Development as

India’s representative to the Executive Board (EXB) of UNESCO (United Nations

Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

J S Rajput is a former director of National Council of Educational Research and Training

(NCERT). He received the Padma Shri award in 2014. He was presented the Maharishi

Ved Vyas award by the Madhya Pradesh government.

He edited a book named ‘Education of Muslims in India’. It was released by Prime

Minister Narendra Modi in 2015.

The EXB is one of the constitutional organs of UNESCO. It is elected by the General

Conference. It has a term of 4 years and 58 seats.

EXB goes through the work for the organisation and the corresponding budget

estimates. It is responsible for all policies and programmes of UNESCO.

On 8 November 2017, elections of members of EXB for the 2017-21 term was

conducted. India won with 162 votes in Group IV at the 39th session of the General

Conference. The next meeting of the board will be held between 4 and 17 April 2018 in

Paris