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GK Updates: March 2017

31 March 2017

Central America's smallest nation, El Salvador became the first country in the world to ban Metals

Mining worldwide.

Asian Hockey federation on March 30, 2017 named SV Sunil as the Asian Player of the year

2016 and Harmanpreet Singh as Asian Promising Player of the Year 2016 (Junior team).

Dr. Iqbal Surve, an Indian-Origin South African Billionaire has been appointed as the new

chairman of the BRICS Business Council of South Africa.

Senior Bureaucrat, Vanaja N. Sarna, has been appointed as the new Chairman of the Central

Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) with effect from 31st March 2017.

India's batting legend Sachin Tendulkar launched an Android and iOS based app named 100

MB Cricket on March 30, 2017 in Mumbai. The app is dedicated to the Master Blaster himself.

The Kanha Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh is the first Tiger Reserve in India to get the official

Mascot named 'Bhoorsingh the Barasingha'.

30 March 2017

On March 28, 2017 Airports Authority of India (AAI) was awarded with Dainik Bhaskar's India

Pride Awards 2016-17 for "Excellence in Infrastructure Development" in the category of Public

Sector Undertaking.

Sima Kamil, a veteran Pakistani banker has been the first female to be appointed as the President

and CEO of one of the largest commercial bank of Pakistan.

2


South Africa's leading cricketer, AB de Villiers, has been appointed as the new brand ambassador

of the Germany based Mont blanc International.

Tamil Nadu state cricket team won the Deodhar Trophy on March 29, 2017. By this win, Tamil

Nadu became the first state team to win all the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) senior

level matches.

29 March 2017

United Bank Limited (UBL) has appointed Sima Kamil as the new president and chief executive

officer (CEO) of the bank.

United Nations Chief Antonio Guterres has appointed former South Carolina Governor David

Beasley to head the Rome-based World Food Programme (WFP).

Hindus celebrate the start of new Vedic year on March 28-29, 2017. Happy Ugadi.

The FIFA Disciplinary Committee suspended Argentina football player Lionel Messi for four

matches on 28TH March 2017 for the fault in relation to an incident during the match between

Argentina and Chile on 23rd March 2017.

28 March 2017

The 9th edition of the World Environmental Education Congress (WEEC) is scheduled to be held

in Vancouver, Canada from September 9-15, 2017.

Odisha became the first Indian State to extend banking facilities to masses in unbanked areas

through Self Help Groups (SHGs).

Tamil Nadu based Karur Vyasa Bank has been honored as the "Best small bank for 2016" on

March 28, 2017 at a function in Mumbai.

Dr. Randeep Guleria appointed as Director of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Delhi.

India remains no 1, retains the ICC test championship race. The cash reward for retaining the ICC

test Championship Maze is USD 1 Million. Indian off Spinner Ravichandran Ashwin won the ICC

Cricketer of the Year 2016 with a record 74 wickets which no bowler has achieved. He also won Sir

Garfield Sobers trophy, the 3rd Indian to achieve it after Rahul Dravid (2004) and Sachin

Tendulkar (2010).

3


27 March 2017

PayTm, one of the fastest growing mobile wallet and e-commerce companies in India, has

achieved a new milestone by becoming the sole member of Advertising Standards Council of

India (ASCI).

Veteran Actor Anupam Kher was felicitated with the Kala Ratan Award by Punjab University in

Chandigarh at its 66th Convocation on March 25, 2017.

Carrie Lam, the former deputy leader of Hong Kong was elected as the first female Chief Executive

of Hong Kong on March 26, 2017.

West Bengal beat Goa (1-0) to clinch the 71 Santosh Trophy for a record 32nd time on March 26,

2017 at the GMC Bambolim Stadium, Goa.

Bhubaneshwar, the capital city of Odisha, has been selected to host the 2017 Men's Hockey

World League Final as well as the Men's World Cup in 2018 at the Kalinga Stadium.

The Indian Shuttle players Purva Barve and Varun Kapur bagged double delight by winning in

the Li Ning -Israel Open 2017.

26 March 2017

India overtakes Japan to become third largest in Domestic Air Traffic, behind USA and China.

Aditya Puri, HDFC Bank Managing Director has made it to the list of the world's 30 best CEOs,

published by American financial magazine, Barron.

4


India ends with 73 Medals from 2017 Special Olympics World Winter Games, Austria. The motto

of the game was "Heartbeat for the World".

Sebastian Vettel beats lewis Hamilton to win Australian Grand Pix.

Bangladesh observed its 47th Independence Day on March 26, 2017 to commemorate the

county's declaration of Independence from Pakistan in 1971.

25 March 2017

UNESCO has added five Indian cities in its list of tentative world heritage site. These cities include

o Historic city of Ahmedabad

o Delhi - A heritage City

o Jaipur City, Rajasthan

o Bhubaneshwar

o The Victorian & Art Deco Ensemble of Mumbai

Border Security Force gets its Woman Field Officer after long wait of 5 decades. The woman field

officer is Tanushree Pareek.

5


The International Day of Solidarity with Detained & Missing Staff Members was observed by the

United Nation on March 25, 2017.

The World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) is observing the 10th Anniversary of 'Earth Hour' on

25th March 2017.

Indian Spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has broken the record for most wickets in a single test

season, taking his 79th this season during the Dharamsala Test against Australia.

24 March 2017

24th March 2017 is celebrated as the World Tuberculosis Day with the theme of 2017 as "Unite

to End TB: Leave no one behind".

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) created history by commissioning the world's

third largest hypersonic wind tunnel at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC)

in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.

Bharti Airtel has acquired Tikona Digital's 4G airwaves for Rs 1,600 crore, ramping up its high-

speed broadband spectrum capacity to take on Reliance Jio Infocomm and the Vodafone-Idea

Cellular in the competitive market.

Photojournalist Raghu Rai was conferred with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the

Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Minister Mr. Venkaiah Naidu for “his remarkable contribution

to the field.” at 6th National Photography Awards organized by the photo division of the ministry

in the capital.

23 March 2017

India has been placed at 87th position among 127 countries in the global Energy Architecture

Performance Index (EAPI) 2017 by World Economic Forum released on 22nd March 2017. The

fifth annual index has been topped by Switzerland.

Vyes Meyer, a French mathematician, was honored with the 2017 Abel Prize, on March 21 2017.

The 26 year old English singer-songwriter and record and record producer Ed Sheeran from UK

will be honored with the Songwriters Hall of Fame's 2017 Hal David Starlight Award.

6


Indian shooter Ankur Mittal won the gold in Double trap event in ISSF World cup Mexico.

India bags 8 medals [3 Gold, 1 Silver and 4 Bronze] in IPC Athletics Grand Prix 2017.

World Meteorological Day is observed annually on March 23 in various parts of the world to

remember the World Meteorological Organizations's establishment on 23rd Msrch 2017.

March 23, 2017 - Martyr's day marks the 86th death anniversary of the courageous leaders -

Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Shivaram Hari Rajguru & Sukhdev Thapar.

22 March 2017

According to the UN Development Programme's Human Development for everyone' report

2016, India has been ranked at 131 out of 188 countries in the 2016 Human development index

(HDI). Norway ranks number 1 in HDI 2016.

Bengaluru based ABB India has won the India Smart Grid Foundation (ISGF's) "Smart Technology

of the Year 2016" award for restoring the crucial power infrastructure of Sharavathi hydropower

plant in Karnataka.

Upendra Tripathy has been appointed as the Interim Director General (IDG) of the International

Solar Alliance (ISA) on a full time basis on March 21, 2017.

P V Sindhu roped as ambassador of Pepsi Co's sports drink Gatorade.

Air Asia's Chief Financial Officer, Ankur Khanna has been appointed as Chief Financial officer (CFO)

of International Cricket Council.

India's spin bowler Ravindra Jadeja has attained the top spot in the list of the test bowlers as per

the latest ICC Test Ranking released on March 21, 2017.

UN designated World Water day is observed on March 22, 2017 in various country to raise

awareness of the importance of conserving and managing water resources.

21 March 2017

Mukesh Ambani tops the Forbes's Billionaire List in India.

o Top three Billionaires

Bill gates

Warren Bufet

Jeff Bezos

o Top 3 Indian Billionaires

Mukesh Ambani

Lakhsmi Mittal

7


Azim Premji

Maggie MacDonnell, a canadian school teacher was awarded the 2017 Global Teacher Prize

worth $ 1 million on 19th March 2017in Dubai, UAE.

Major Rohit Suri, the leader of the army team that carried out surgical strike in PoK in 2016, was

presented the Kirti Chakra by President Pranab Mukherjee on March 20, 2017.

Tamil Nadu won the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2017 at the Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi on March 16 2017

by beating Bengal by 37 runs in the finals. Tamil Nadu's keeper Dinesh Karthik was adjusted

as Man of the Match.

India's Vidya Pillai wins silver in World Women Snooker Championship 2017.

India's KT Irfan won the bronze medal in men's 20 km race walk event at the Asian race walking

championships in Nomi, Japan on 19 March 2017.

Indian Cricketer Cheteshwar Pujara became the first Indian batsman to face 500 balls in the

second innings of the 3rd test against Australia at Ranchi.

UNESCO designated World Poetry Day is observed on 21st March to encourage a return to the

oral tradition of poetry recitals, to promote the teaching of poetry.

20 March 2017

The annual World Economic Forum's 100 Young Global leader's list released for the year 2017

have given place to five Indians for their innovative approaches.

o Vijay Shekhar Sharma: Founder & CEO PayTm

o Shruti Shibulal: The Tamara Hospitality

o Ambarish Mitra: Founder & CEO of Blippar

o Hindol Sengupta: Editor-at-large, Fortune India

o Rwitwika Bhattacharya-Agarwal: Founder & CEO of Swaniti Initiative

According to the 2017 Bloomberg Global Health Index, Italy has been ranked as the healthiest

country on earth.

Jason Kothari was appointed as Chief Executive Officer of Freecharge by Indian e-commerce

company Snapdeal.

8


India's Idea Cellular Ltd approved its merger with Vodafone India Limited (VIL) excluding

Vodafone's 42% stake in Indus Towers Ltd on Mrach 20, 2017.

BNP Paribas Open Tennis Tournament results list:

o Men's Single - Winner - Roger Federer

o Women's Single - Winner - Elena Vesnina

o Men's Double - Winners - Raven Klaasen/Rajeev Ram

o Women's Double - Chan Yung-Jan/Martina Hingis

The International Day of Happiness is celebrated worldwide on March 20 since 2013 to educate

and increase public awareness of the benefits of happiness. The day was celebrated for the first

time in 2013.

19 March 2017

Sandeep Matharani, CEO of General Growth Properties, has been listed fourth on the list of top

25 overpaid CEOs in America, according to the report from the nonprofit 'As You Sow'.

An Indian American Computer Scientist, Anshumali Shrivastava, was honored with the National

Science Foundation's prestigious CAREER award for his research on redesigning current machine

learning process.

BJP MP, Yogi Adityanath took oath as the 21st Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh on March 19,

2017.

Shahid Afridi appointed ambassador of the 5th Blind Criket World Cup by the Pakistan blind

cricket council.

18 March 2017

India and Russia have inked two pacts for long-term maintenance support for Sukhoi-30MKI jets

on March 17, 2017 during the India-Russia Military Industrial Conference in New Delhi.

Eleven Indian women were honored with the ‘Women Icons’ Award among 25 Asian Women on

March 17, 2017 in Singapore for dedicating their lives to social work. Among the award winners

was Vandana Sharma who served for a decade in the Indian Armed Forces and also ventured into

the corporate world.

9


Former Uttarakhand BJP chief Trivendra Singh Rawat was sworn in as the new Chief Minister of

the state on March 18, 2017 at the Parade Grounds in state capital Dehradun.

The US state of Kansas has declared to observe March 16 as “Indian American Appreciation

Day” to honour Indian engineer Srinivas Kuchibhotla who was killed in an apparent hate crime

on February 22, 2017.

17 March 2017

India and Brazil have finalized text of the Social Security Agreement (SSA) on March 16, 2017. It

will be effective from 2018.

The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and UN Women launched the ‘Women in Politics 2017 Map’

on March 16, 2017 in New York. The Women in Politics 2017 Map is the visual representation of

women’s political empowerment in executive government and parliament as on January 1, 2017.

New Zealand’s Whanganui River on March 15, 2017 became the first river in the World to get

the legal rights as possessed by a human being.

The World Bank has approved a $175 million loan on March 15, 2017 to India for the National

Hydrology Project to improve India’s ability to forecast floods and reduce the recurring chances

of floods and droughts.

France based Aircraft maker Airbus will set up Asia’s first training facility for pilots and

maintenance engineers in New Delhi.

Former Minister of Indian Railways Mallikarjun Kharge has been nominated for the post of

chairman of the Public’s Account Committee (PAC) of Parliament.

Indian badminton player Jwala Gutta and retired IAS officer BV Papa Rao have been appointed

as members of the Sports Authority of India (SAI).

Scientists at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in United States have for the first time in

the world, discovered a way to accurately predict whether a child has Autism Spectrum Disorder

(ASD) by analyzing a blood sample.

Former Australia captain Michael Clarke has launched his autobiography named ‘My Story’ in

Kolkata in the presence of former Indian cricketer Saurav Ganguly.

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16 March 2017

The Times Higher Education (THE) released its Asia University Rankings 2017 on March 16, 2017.

o The top rank in the Asia University Rankings was attained by the National University of

Singapore (NUS) for the second consecutive year.

o According to the 2017 ranking, Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bengaluru has been

ranked best Indian University and has been placed at 27th position among the universities

in Asia.

o Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay was another Indian university among top 50

placed at 42 position followed by Chennai-based private institute Veltech University at

43.

Singapore based Changi Airport was named as the World’s Best Airport for the fifth consecutive

year at the 2017 Skytrax World Airport Awards on March 14, 2017.

Mumbai based Central Bank of India won the first prize in the implementation of Official

Language Policy in the western region for the year 2015-2016 at the Official Language

Conference of Central and Western Regions in Udaipur.

Captain Amarinder Singh took oath as the 26th chief minister of Punjab on March 16, 2017 at

the Raj Bhawan in Chandigarh thus paving way for the return of the Congress to power in the

state after a gap of ten years.

Bibhu Prasad Kanungo from Odisha has been appointed as Deputy Governor in Reserve Bank of

India (RBI) for three years by the Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC). Prasad is the

succeedor of R Gandhi.

15 March 2017

Two Indian companies namely Tata Steel Limited and Wipro Limited have been named in the list

of World’s Most Ethical Companies 2017 by American think tank Ethisphere Institute.

Union Minister of State for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, Babul Supriyo has been

named as Vice President of the 2017 U-17 FIFA World Cup organising committee said by Praful

Patel, president of All India Football Federation (AIFF) on March 15, 2017. For the first time, India

to host FIFA U-17 World from October 6 to 28, 2017.

Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP), leader Nongthombam Biren Singh was sworn in as the

Manipur’s Chief Minister at Raj Bhawan, Imphal on March 15, 2017.

First independent chairman of ICC, Shashank Manohar (59) has resigned from the post with an

immediate effect on March 15, 2017.

Two times Olympic gold medallist Joanna Rowsell Shand announced her retirement

from international cycling on March 14, 2017.

Every year, World Consumer Rights Day is celebrated on March 15th to pay more attention to

promote basic rights of consumers.

11


14 March 2017

According to the Mercer’s 19th annual Quality of Living survey released on March 14,

2017, Vienna, the capital of Austria has topped the list of cities offering the highest quality of

life for the eighth year in a row.

Baghdad was ranked the worst place at 230 to live due to continuous violence in the city. In

India, Hyderabad emerged as the best city in terms of living standards among Indian cities for the

third year in a row.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is set to open up the Unified Payment Interface (UPI) platform

for digital wallets firms as part of the government’s digitization campaign.

Former Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar was sworn in as Goa Chief Minister for the fourth

time at the Raj Bhavan in Panaji, Goa on March 14, 2017.

Manipur CM Ibobi Singh resigns, Biren Singh to be sworn in Next CM.

Devang Mody was appointed as CEO of Reliance Commercial Finance Ltd (RCFL), a subsidiary of

Reliance Capital on March 14, 2017.

13 March 2017

Jatiya Sangsad, the Parliament of Bangladesh unanimously adopted a resolution on March 11,

2017 to declare March 25 as Genocide Day in remembrance of the brutality carried out by the

Pakistani Army in the “Black Night” of March 25, 1971.

RBI Removes Limit on Cash Withdrawal from Savings Banks Accounts from March 13 2017.

Korea’s Hyundai Engineering Co has signed a deal worth 3 billion euros (USD 3.2 billion) with an

Iranian investment fund on March 13, 2017 to invest in a major Iranian oil project.

Europe’s biggest bank HSBC Holdings Plc. has appointed Mark Tucker as its Chairman on March

13, 2017.

The Union Finance minister Arun Jaitley was given the additional charge of the Defence

Ministry on March 13, 2017 after Manohar Parrikar resigned to take on the new role of Goa Chief

Minister.

Chinese smartphone company One Plus has roped in Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan as its

new brand ambassador for India on March 6, 2017.

12


Intel has announced a deal under which it will buy Israeli technology company Mobil eye for $15.3

billion. Mobil eye provides anti-collision, driver assistance, and autonomous driving solutions.

Intel will buy all the shares of Mobil eye at $63.54 per share in cash.

Winners of all England Championship Title 2017

o Men’s Single – Malaysia’s Lee Chong Wei

o Women’s single – China’s Tai Tzu-ying

o Men’s Double - Indonesia’s Marcus Gideon and Kevin Sukamuljo

o Women’s Double - South Korea’s Chang Ye Na and Lee So Hee

o Mixed Double - China’s Lu Kai and Huang Yaqiong

SSP Chawrasia became the only Indian Golfer to retain his Hero Indian Open title for the second

year in a row with a remarkable seven-stroke win in New Delhi on March 12, 2017.

Punjab defeated Railways by a 2-1 in a Group B final round league match of the 71st Santosh

Trophy football tournament on March 13, 2017 in Goa.

12 March 2017

The Admiralty (Jurisdiction and Settlement of Maritime Claims) Bill, 2016 was passed in Lok

Sabha on March 10, 2017. The bill was introduced in Lok Sabha on November 21, 2016 by the

Minister of State for Shipping, Mansukh Mandaviya.

Central Railway zone of Indian Railway unveiled India’s first air-conditioned rail ambulance on 9

March 2017. The four-coach air conditioned ambulance will be station at Kaylan (Maharashtra)

and has been made by modifying AC coaches used for passenger services.

The State Bank of India on March 11, 2017 has legally incorporated SBI Infra Management

Solutions Pvt. Ltd. (SBIIMS Pvt. Ltd.) as a wholly owned subsidiary of SBI. SBIIMS Pvt. Ltd. will now

manage the premises and estate related matters of SBI.

Private sector lender Yes Bank has signed three projects to provide payments-related solutions

to smart cities. Yes Bank has currently ties up with Udaipur, Nashik and Puducherry for the

introduction of digital payment systems under the smart city initiative.

Thailand’s Model, Jiratchaya Sirimongkolnawin was crowned Miss International Queen 2016 on

March 10, 2017 in the 12th edition of the beauty pageant event in Pattaya City, Thailand.

13


Narendra Kumar has been appointed as the new Chairman of the Central Water Commission

(CWC), with effect from March 9, 2017 upon the superannuation of former Chairman GS Jha.

President Appoints New Chief Justices in MP, Patna, Kerala, Chattisgrah, Jharkhand HCs. The

President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee announced the appointment of new Chief Justices in

the state of Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Patna and Jharkhand High Courts on March

10, 2017.

o Chhattisgarh High Court - Justice Thottathil BhaskaranNair Radhakrishnan, Judge of the

Kerala High Court was appointed as Chief Justice of the Chhattisgarh High Court.

o Kerala High Court - Judge of the Patna High Court, Justice Navaniti Prasad Singh, has been

appointed to be the Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court.

o Madhya Pradesh High Court - Justice Hemant Gupta, Judge of the Patna High Court

appointed to be the Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court.

o Patna High Court - Justice Rajendra Menon, Judge of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, to

be the Chief Justice of the Patna High Court.

o Jharkhand High Court - Justice Pradip Kumar Mohanty, Judge of Jharkhand High Court

has been appointed to be the Chief Justice of the Jharkhand High Court.

In the latest FIFA ranking for the month of March Indian Football team dropped two places and

is now ranked at 132ndspot as compared to 130 in February FIFA ranking.

o Argentina is at the top in FIFA ranking with 1644 points, followed by Brazil at second

spot with 1534 points and Germany at third spot with 1443 points. Chile and Belgium

are ranked at fourth and fifth respectively in the FIFA rankings for the month of March.

o While in the Asian Football Confederation rankings, India is at the 19th spot among 46

teams. Iran which is ranked 33rd in FIFA tops the Asian Football Confederation rankings.

Captain of Indian National Football Team: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu

Coach: Stephen Constantine

11 March 2017

State-run National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC) has installed India’s

largest floating Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Plant at Rajiv Gandhi Combined Cycle Power Plant

(RGCCPP) at Kayamkulam in Kerala on March 10, 2017.

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has made six subjects mandatory for class 10th

standard board exams from 2017-18 instead of five subjects which includes two languages, social

science, mathematics and science.

14


Mumbai-based State Bank of India (SBI) also signed an agreement with German KfW Development

Bank for USD 274 million loan facility a maturity of 15 years to finance affordable housing segment

in India.

B P Kanungo was appointed as deputy governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for three years.

He will take charge on or after April 3, 2017. He will replace R Gandhi.

Manjeev Singh Puri was appointed as the new Indian envoy to Nepal on March 10, 2017. He is

the successor of Ranjit Rae.

India successfully test-fired an extended range version of supersonic cruise missile BrahMos from

a test range off the Odisha coast on March 11, 2017.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on March 9, 2017 officially

announced the name of its upcoming mission to explore the Jupiter mysterious moon. The

mission to explore the habitability of Jupiter’s icy moon Europa will be called as Europa

Clipper. The mission is being planned for launch in the 2020s.

Chris Bertish, a South African surfer and a sailor became the first person in the world on March

9, 2017 to cross the Atlantic Ocean on a stand-up paddleboard after completing an epic 4,050-

mile voyage alone at sea.

10 March 2017

Lok Sabha clears Maternity Benefits (Amendment) Bill 2016 to Raise Maternity leave to 26 Weeks

from current 12 Weeks.

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Chief Mohan Bhagwat was conferred with the honorary

degree of Doctor of Science (DSc) by Maharashtra Animal and Fishery Sciences University on its

8th convocation ceremony in Nagpur on March 9, 2017.

2017 IEEE Spectrum Technology in the Service of Society Award won by the Indian Institute of

Technology-Madras(IIT-M) for its solar-direct current (DC) inverter system.

Former Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk was re-elected as the president of the European

Council for the second time. He won the 27 votes out of 28 EU’s governments.

Senior Shiv Sena leader Vishwanath Mahadeshwar has been elected as 76th mayor of Mumbai

and Hemangi Waralikar as deputy mayor. He replaced Snehal Ambekar.

15


William B Thomas (49) has been elected as the global Chairman of Netherlands based KPMG

International for a four-year term.

Former Indian cricketer and Captain Sachin Tendulkar has roped as an ambassador of Women’s

Cricket World Cup 2017 which will begin from 24th June, 2017 in England and Wales said

by International Cricket Council (ICC).

Indian women’s hockey team beat Belarus 3-1 in their fifth test to clinch the five-match Test

series 5-0 on March 8, 2017 in Bhopal.

9 March 2017

US State, Hawaii has become the first state to file a lawsuit against Donald Trump’s revised travel

ban on 6 Muslim-majority countries.

The fifth edition of the mega cultural festival ‘India by the Nile’ (IBN) began in Cairo, Egypt from

March 8, 2017. It is the largest foreign festival in Egypt.

Noted Konkani author Mahabaleshwar Sail has been honored with the 2016 Saraswati

Samman for his novel ‘Hawthan’. The 74-year-old Sail’s novel Hawthan was published in 2009

and was shortlisted from 22 books written in various languages.

The popular actress Viola Davis was awarded the 2017 Artist of the Year Award by Harvard

Foundation during its 32nd annual Cultural Rhythms Festival in Memorial Hall’s Sanders Theatre

at Harvard University in Cambridge on March 4, 2017. She also won her second Tony Award for

the 2010 Broadway revival of the play.

Viola Davis

New York-based Ford Foundation has appointed Pradeep Nair as regional director for India,

Nepal, and Sri Lanka on March 8, 2017. Nair will take charge at the end of March from David

Hulse.

Technology giant Google has announced to acquire a start-up Kaggle which hosts a number of

data scientists for an undisclosed amount at the Cloud Next 2017 conference on March 9, 2017.

Kaggle was founded in 2010 by Anthony Gold bloom.

A team of researchers at IBM has created the world’s smallest magnet using a single atom which

can store one bit of data on it.

16


8 March 2017

India to host its first mobile congress with a special focus on reaching out to the South East Asian

markets at Pragati Maidan on 27th September 2017. This was announced by Rajan S Mathews,

COAI Director General.

According to the Global Corruption Barometer for the Asia Pacific Region released

by Transparency International on March 7, in Berlin for 16 Asia-Pacific countries, India tops the

list for being the most corrupt nation.

IDFC Bank has launched India’s first biometric-based payment system “Aadhaar Pay” on March

7, 2017 in New Delhi.

Mumbai-based State Bank of India has launched a new facility ‘Work from Home’ to enable its

employees to work from home on March 7, 2017.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has entered into a bilateral Advance Pricing Agreement

(APA) with rollback provision with a Japanese subsidiary on 6th March, 2017.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the “BCCI Annual Awards for 2015-

16” on March 1, 2017. The awards were given away at a ceremony held in Bengaluru March 8,

2017 which also marks the International Women’s Day.

o Indian Skipper Virat Kohli was honored with the Polly Umrigar Award for the third time.

Earlier he received the award in 2011-12 and 2014-15. None of the player has ever

achieved the same award for three times.

o Besides, R Ashwin was awarded the Dilip Sardesai Award for the second time for his

brilliant performance in test cricket in 2016. He is also the only one to be awarded twice.

o Vaman Viswanath Kumar and late Ramakant Desai were given the BCCI Special Award in

recognition of their yeoman services to Indian Cricket

IFS officer, Bala Venkatesh Varma has been concurrently accredited as the next Ambassador of

India to the Principality of Andorra, with residence in Madrid (Spain). Venkatesh was presently

working as the ambassador of India to the Kingdom of Spain.

Chinese smartphone manufacturer OPPO Mobiles has bagged the Indian team sponsorship rights

for a five-year period starts on 1st April 2017 and continues until 31st March 2022.

Indian Spin duos Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin jointly claimed at No.1 in the ICC rankings for Test

bowlers in what is the first time of two spinners the top spot. Both stood at the top at 892 points.

8 March 2017 is celebrated as International Women’s day. “Saluting the indomitable spirit,

determination and dedication of Nari Shakti on International Women's Day," Shri Narendra Modi

said in a statement.

7 March 2017

According to the Financial Times latest analysis, China’s banking system has become the world’s

biggest by assets.

17


Mumbai-based HDFC Life has launched India’s first life insurance Chabot to help users choose the

most suitable life insurance plans and solutions on March 7, 2017.

The Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore is the only Indian University to be placed among

the top 10 global universities by Times Higher Education (THE).

GMR-led Hyderabad International Airport Limited (GHIAL)has secured first position in the world

in the prestigious Airports Council International (ACI)-Airport Service Quality (ASQ) survey in the

5-15 million passengers per annum (MPPA) category for the year 2016.

Bollywood Actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has won the best actress award at the International

Film Festival and Awards of Australia (IFFAA) for her movie Sarabjit.

Former director of Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) Lalji Singh has been selected

for ‘SERB Distinguished Fellow’ award by the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) to

support his research.

According to the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC)-2017 report about 45 percent of country’s

total bird spices were reported in Himachal Pradesh.

6 March 2017

India’s largest flag was inaugurated on March 5, 2017 by Anil Joshi, Cabinet Minister of Punjab,

on the tallest flag post at the Indo-Pak Attari Border in Amritsar just 150 m away from the border.

The flag post measured 110 meters (360ft) in length, 24 meters in width and 55 tons in weight.

Mumbai-headquartered HDFC Bank has launched India’s first AI (artificial intelligence) based

banking Chabot Electronic Virtual Assistant (EVA) for customer services.

The Central government has approved an outright sale of state-owned SAIL’s three special steel

units – Alloy Steels Plant (ASP), Salem Steel Plant (SSP) and Visvesvaraya Iron and Steel

Plant (VISP) on March 5, 2017.

Karnataka based Canara Bank has received medals in the Collateral Awards Category at the 11th

Global Communication Conclave held in Bengaluru on March 6, 2017.

o Gold medal: For a radio jingle and silver medals for Corporate Film and Brochure (CSR).

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o Bronze medal: For its in-house magazine (regional language), corporate advertisement –

print, table calendar – 2017 and Big Diary 2017.

Kerala’s playback singer Vaikom Vijayalakshmi created a new world record on March 5, 2017 by

playing the maximum number of songs (69 songs) in the shortest time on Gayathri veena during

a program in Kochi.

Indian Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier, INS Viraat (famously known as the ‘Grand Old Lady’) was

decommissioned on March 6, 2017 at a solemn ceremony in Mumbai after nearly 30 years of

service for Indian Navy.

The Indian men’s Rugby team, led by skipper Gautam Dagar, piped Pakistan by 14-12 to claim the

7th rank at the Asia Men’s Rugby Sevens Trophy held at Aspire Rugby Field in Doha, Qatar.

2017 Mexican Open – Review

o Men’s singles – Winner - Sam Querrey (United States)

o Women’s singles – Winner - Lesia Tsurenko (Ukraine)

o Men’s Doubles – Winner - Jamie Murray / Brazil Bruno Soares (United Kingdom Pair)

o Women’s Doubles – Winner - Darija Jurak (Croatia) / Anastasia Rodionova (Australia)

5 March 2017

The Andhra Pradesh State Cabinet during a meeting chaired by Chief Minister N Chandrababu

Naidu on March 2, 2017 approved proposals to rename the Vijayawada Airport and the Tirupati

Airport. The cabinet proposed to rename the Vijayawada Airport in Gannavaram as ‘Nandamuri

Taraka Rama Rao (NTR) Amaravati Airport’ after the legendary actor and founder of the ruling

Telugu Desam Party and the new capital of Andhra Pradesh. The Tirupati Airport at Renigunta has

been renamed as ‘Sri Venkateswara Airport’ after Lord Venkateswara of the temple town.

North Eastern state Tripura has agreed to supply an additional 60 MW to Bangladesh over the

100 MW of power the north-eastern state is supplying to the neighboring country.

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar announced Tirtha Darshan Scheme on March 3,

2017 during the ongoing budget session of the Haryana Assembly. Under the scheme, senior

citizens of Haryana domicile above the age of 60 years will be able to go on a Pilgrimage within

the country at government expense.

According to the GSM Association report released in Barcelona, India will lead the world

in Smartphone adoption with a net addition of 350 million connections in 2016-20. The report

was based on the estimates of the GSMA Intelligence Consumer Survey 2016 conducted across

56 countries on the mobile usage trend.

People's Republic of China has increased its defense budget by 7% for 2017, the lowest increase

in seven years and second year in a row. China’s defense budget is much smaller compared to

that of the US, which announced a 10% increase in its defense outlay after the change of oval

office.

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The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has proposed to increase

the insurance premium to 50 percent for cars, motor cycles as well as commercial vehicles

from April 1.

National People’s Congress, (NPC) of China has set its GDP growth target at around 6.5 per cent

for 2017, compared with a target range of 6.5 to 7 per cent last year.

Social networking giant Facebook has launched a new initiative named SheLeadsTech to

support startups which are founded or co-founded by women population.

Online cab aggregator Ola has signed MoU with Government of Madhya Pradesh on March 4,

2017 to impart training to 25,000 youths in the state.

Eminent Malayalam author and journalist M P Veerendra Kumar was presented the

30th Moortidevi award, which is presented every year for “contemplative and perceptive work”

published in all Indian languages besides English pertaining to Indian philosophy, by Bharatiya

Jnanpith organization in Kozhikode Kerala.

Former India Football captain Bhaichung Bhutia was removed from the post advisor to both the

AIFF and President Praful Patel.

According to the findings by the United States based Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

(WHOI), the Earth’s mantle is about 60-degree Celsius hotter than as previously thought by the

scientists.

2017 Dubai Tennis Championships

o Men's Singles - Winner - Andy Murray (United Kingdom)

o Women’s Singles - Winner - Elina Svitolina(Ukraine)

o Men’s Doubles - Winner - Netherlands Pair Jean-Julien Rojer / Romania Horia Tecău

o Women’s Doubles - Winner - Ekaterina Makarova(Russia) / Elena Vesnina(Russia)

List of Winners of the ISSF Shooting World Cup 2017

o Jitu Rai and Heena Sidhu bagged the first ever gold medal in the newly included 10m

pistol mixed event at the ISSF Shooting World Cup.

o Pooja Ghatkarclinched bronze medal in the women’s 10m air rifle event in the

International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup.

o Jitu Rai won gold medal in the 50-metre free pistol event on March 1, 2017 in the ISSF

World Cup.

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4 March 2017

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley unanimously

cleared the crucial Central GST (CGST) and Integrated GST (IGST) draft bills on March 4, 2017

during its 11th meeting at Vigyan Bhavan.

The Union Ministry of Human Resource Development in its notification on February 28, 2017,

made it mandatory for the students across the country to have an Aadhaar number for getting

their midday meals.

As per the new business plan 2017-18, unveiled by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on March 2,

2017, the railway will soon make Aadhaar number compulsory for booking railway tickets online.

In a cabinet meeting on February 28, 2017, the Assam government led by the Chief

Minister Sarbananda Sonowal decided to make Sanskrit a compulsory language for students up

to class 8 in the state.

The West Bengal Clinical Establishments (Registration, Regulation and Transparency) Bill,

2017 was passed by the state legislative assembly on March 3, 2017 with full support. The Bill

aims to regulate the private hospitals and bring transparency, end harassment of patients and

take necessary steps to stop medical negligence in health institutes.

The West Bengal government has given an official status to Kurukh language in the state which

has been listed as an endangered language by the UNESCO.

As per the report by the Border Security Force (BSF), India has completed the process of fencing

half of the 4,096 km of border area which it shares with Bangladesh and expects to finish fencing

the rest by 2019.

Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) appointed P K Purwar as the Chairman and

Managing Director (CMD) of State-owned telecommunications service provider Mahanagar

Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL). The appointment effective from 1 March 2017 for the duration

of five years.

President Pranab Mukherjee awarded the prestigious President’s ‘Standard’ to 125Helicopter

Squadron and “Colours” to Mechanical Training Institute (MTI) at the Tambaram air base, near

Chennai on March 3, 2017.

21


Former Indian cricketer Akash Chopra released book titled Numbers Do Lie, 61 Hidden Cricket

Stories which takes a different look at stats. The book is more about Impact Index measures

performance based on the match in series context and not just plain statistics.

Akash Chopra at the launch of his book "Numbers Do Lie"

World Hearing Day is observed on each year on March 3rd to promote hearing since its

pronouncement in 2007.

3 March 2017

Former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam has launched a portal named after late chief

Minister Jayalalithaa, which will be a hub of learning, interaction, opportunity, and connection on

the occasion of her 69th birth anniversary celebrations. The portal will be based on Massive

Open Online Courses (MOOC) model.

Union Health Ministry led by J P Nadda announced that it had approved 4000 Post Graduate

seats in medical colleges and hospitals across the country for the academic session 2017-18.

22


Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) led Delhi government has come up with an initiative to extend the mid-

day meal facility for the girl students up to class 12 in all Delhi government schools. Currently,

Delhi provides the facility to all the students of government schools including boys up to class 8

only. However, from April 1, 2017, the midday meal service will also include girl students from 9-

12 also. Later the facility would also cover boys up to class 12.

The Union Minister of Railways Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu inaugurated four key freight sector

initiatives on March 2, 2017 at National Rail Museum, New Delhi to attract more freight towards

Railways.

The United States and South Korean troops started their large-scale annual military drill

named Foal Eagle on March 1, 2017.

The 13th Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) Summit, an inter-governmental regional

group of 10 countries was held in Islamabad, Pakistan on March 1, 2017 under the chairmanship

of Prime Minister of Pakistan Muhammad Nawaz Sharif.

The Vice-Chairman of the Special Investigating Team (SIT) on black money, Justice Arijit

Pasayat on March 2, 2017 announced that an amount of Rs. 70,000 crore of black money has

been so far detected through different schemes of the government.

The Government of India has directed all the banks to provide mobile banking facility to all

customers by March 31, 2017. The decision is an effort of the government to boost the digital

payment system.

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) signed a technology transfer

agreement with Jindal Stainless (Hisar) Limited (JSHL) on March 1, 2017 for manufacturing High

Nitrogen Steel (HNS).

Sri Lanka has bagged the most “Popular Tourism Destination” Award for the second consecutive

year at the International Travel Fair (GITF) Travel Fair in Guangzhou, China.

North Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir appointed his first vice president Hassan

Saleh to the newly created post of prime minister on 1 March 2016.

Pakistan government on March 2, 2017 approved the merger of Federally Administered Tribal

Areas (FATA) with its northwestern province Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Veteran politician and former Member of Parliament Yumnam Yaima Singh passed away due to

age-related ailments at a hospital in Imphal. He was 95.

National Defense Day is celebrated on March 3 every year across India to commemorate the day,

world’s largest and tallest Indian tricolor was unfurled at Town Park in Faridabad.

World Wildlife Day was observed each year on 3rd March since its proclamation by the United

Nations General Assembly on 20 December 2013. This year with the Theme “Listen to the young

voices” to provide incentives to the youth to tackle conservation issues. The day reminds us of

the need to fight for endangered species and against wildlife crime in our beautiful world.

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2 March 2017

According to the fourth edition of the Annual Survey of India’s City-Systems 2016 by Bengaluru-

based advocacy group Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy, Kerala’s

Capital Thiruvananthapuram has been ranked as the top Indian city to manage urban governance,

followed by Pune and Kolkata.

Kerala has achieved the maximum number of enrollment and registrations under the Goods and

Services Tax (GST) regime when compared to other states of India. A business entity that is

currently registered under any of the existing tax regimes is compulsorily required to enroll under

GST law irrespective of the threshold limits. The existing threshold limit specified by the GST

council is 20 lakhs for all the states except for the North Eastern States where the limit is 10 lakhs.

The Union Minister of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar has informed

that the number of ODF (Open Defecation Free) districts in India has crossed 100, making it a

milestone achievement under the Swachh Bharat Mission.

Madhya Pradesh Presents 2017-18 Budget, Announces Deendayal Rasoi Yojna for Poor:

o The Minister announced Deendayal Rasoi Yojna and allocated a sum of Rs 10 crore for

creating the necessary infrastructure to implement the scheme in order to provide food

at subsided rate to the poor in urban areas.

o The Year 2017 is the birth centenary year of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya and will be

celebrated as ‘Garib Kalyan Varsh’.

o The state Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has announced to provide the meal to

the poor for Rs 5 initially in four major listed cities.

The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) under Ministry of Water Resources, River

Development and Ganga Rejuvenation has signed a MoU with Rotary India in New Delhi on

March 1, 2017. The aim is to make Namami Gange Programme a mass movement through the

involvement of more and more voluntary organizations.

Ukraine’s self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic, a state in eastern Ukraine, will use the

Russian ruble as its official currency, along with the Ukrainian Hryvnia.

24


INHS Asvini, Mumbai was conferred with the Raksha Mantri’s Trophy and Citation for the best

Service Hospital in the Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS) for the year 2016 on March 2, 2017

by Defence Minister Shri Manohar Parrikar.

Defence Minister Shri Manohar Parrikar presenting the award

New Delhi-based Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has bagged the annual ‘Visitor’s Award’ for

the best University in the country. The winners of Visitor’s Award for ‘Innovation’ and

‘Research’ will receive a citation and cash award of Rs one lakh on March 6, 2017 by the President

of India during a function as part of the Festival of Innovations. Besides Deepak Pant from

the Central University of Himachal Pradesh has won the Visitor’s Award for ‘Innovation’ while

the Visitor’s Award for ‘Research’ has been jointly won by Shyam Sunder from Banaras Hindu

University and Niranjan Karak from Tezpur University.

Union Telecom Secretary JS Deepak has been appointed as India’s next Ambassador to the

Geneva-based World Trade Organization. The new stint will be effective from June 2017.

South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) has named Amjad Hussain B Sial, as

secretary general with immediate effect from March 1, 2017.

American multinational corporation Cognizant has pocketed a deal to acquire Japanese digital

firm Brilliant Service Co for an undisclosed amount.

Kripa Shankar Bishnoi, a former Indian wrestler has been appointed as an international match

referee by United World Wrestling (UWW), the sport’s global governing body. The 40-year-old

had trained Bollywood star Aamir Khan and other actors for their roles in the wrestling-based

film ‘Dangal’.

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The All India Football Federation (AIFF) appointed Portugal’s Luis Norton de Matos as the head

coach of the India U-17 World Cup team on March 1, 2017 for the forthcoming FIFA U-17 World

Cup India 2017.

1 March 2017

World Civil Defense Day was celebrated with the theme: “Together with civil defense against

disasters” to commemorate the entry into force of the ICDO Constitution as an

intergovernmental organization in 1972.

The Zero Discrimination Day was celebrated with the theme: “Make Some Noise For Zero

Discrimination” to combat all forms of discrimination since 2014. This day is an opportunity to

highlight how everyone can be part of the transformation and take a stand for a fair and just

society.

Reliance General Insurance has announced a bank assurance tie-up with Catholic Syrian

Bank. Now RGI will offer its insurance products to Catholic Syrian Bank’s customers across its

branches in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra.

Noted Indian columnist, humorist, writer and playwright, Taarak Mehta, died. He was mostly

known for the popular column ‘Duniya Ne Undha Chasma’ in Gujarati magazine. The popular

Hindi TV show, Tarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashma, is based on this column.

Indian movie, Lipstick Under My Burkha was awarded the third annual Audience Award at

the Glasgow Film Festival 2017. It was banned for release by the Central Board of Film

Certification (CBFC).

India will host the World Women's Youth Boxing Championship in November this year, the first

major international event to be held in the country since 2010.

Shooters Jitu Rai and Amanpreet Singh has won gold and silver respectively in men’s 50m free

pistol at the ISSF Shooting World Cup.

Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI) awards 2015-16

o C.K. Nayudu Lifetime Achievement award: Rajinder Goel and Padmakar Shivalkar

o BCCI Lifetime Achievement award for women: Shantha Rangaswamy

o Polly Umrigar award: Virat Kohli

o Dilip Sardesai award (India’s best cricketer in the West Indies series, 2016): R. Ashwin

o Best umpire in domestic cricket: Nitin Menon

o Best performance in BCCI domestic tournaments: Mumbai Cricket Association

The 2017 Rio Open was a professional men’s tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts

at the Jockey Club Brasileiro in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

o Men’s Single - Dominic Thiem (Austria)

o Men’s Double - (Spain) Pablo Carreno Busta/Pablo Cuevas (Uruguay)

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