Current Affairs · Water‟. 19. March 23 - Youth Empowerment Day. The Punjab Government observed...

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www.tnpscportal.in Current Affairs 2018

Index

Important Days 02-04

Tamilnadu 04 - 07

National 07- 47

International 48 - 60

Science & Tech /

Defence 60 - 71

Economy/

Banking 71 - 79

Appointments

/Resignations 79 - 83

Sports 83 - 87

Awards &

Honours 87 - 90

Books& Authors 90 - 90

Deaths 91 - 92

www.tnpscportal.in‟s

Current Affairs

March 2018

Compiled by

Sarala Dhavamanoharan

http://www.tnpscportal.in's/

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Important Days:

1. March 1- National Civil Accounts Day. This year marks the 42nd year of

celebration of this day. It was started from March 1,1976

2. March 1-Zero Discrimination Day was observed all over the world to stress the

right of everyone to be free from discrimination. Zero Discrimination Day 2018

campaign says people to ask themselves: “What if …” and assess their own

actions.

3. March 3-World Wild Life Day was celebrated all over the world with the theme of

2018 “Big cats: predators under threat” to create awareness about the world‟s

wild animals and plants and safeguard them.

4. March 8 – International Women‟s Day is celebrated every year across the world.

This year‟s theme is : „Time is now: Rural and urban activists transforming

women‟s lives.‟

5. March 8- World Kidney day is observed every year on 2nd Thursday of March.

This year‟ s theme is “ Kidneys and Women‟s Health : Include, Value, Empower”.

This year it met with International Women‟s Day.

6. March 8- National Handloom Day

7. The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) celebrated its 33rd Inception Day

on March 11, 2018. It was established on 11 March 1986 as the central police

organisation. It is headquartered in New Delhi.

8. March 10 – Raising Day of Central Industrial Security Force.

9. March 15- World Consumer Rights Day and the theme for 2018 is Making Digital

Market places Fairer.

10. March 15- World Disabled day.

11. March 16- World Sleep Day with the theme of 2018 is “ Join the sleep world,

Preserve your Rhythms to Enjoy life.

12. March 18- Global Recycling Day

13. March 20 – International Day of Happiness with the theme of 2018 is “ Share

Happiness”

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14. March 20 - The world sparrow day (WSD) is observed every year to raise

awareness of the house sparrow and other common birds in urban environments

and threats to their populations.

15. March 21- International Forests Day with the theme “ Forests and sustainable

cities”

16. March 21- World Poetry Day.

17. March 21- World down syndrome Day

18. March 22- the World Water Day was observed globally with the theme „Nature for

Water‟.

19. March 23 - Youth Empowerment Day. The Punjab Government observed March

23, 2018, the martyrdom day of Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh, Shaheed

Sukhdev and Shaheed Rajguru as 'Youth Empowerment Day'. In the state-level

function organised at Khatkar Kalan, the ancestral village of Bhagat Singh in

Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar district, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder

Singh paid homage to the three freedom fighters. To mark the occasion, Chief

Minister Captain Amarinder Singh also launched a state-wide programme to

administer the oath to Drug Abuse Prevention Officers (DAPOs). Programmes at

the district level were presided by the state ministers.

20. March 24 - World Tuberculosis Day (WTD) is observed every year to raise public

awareness about the global epidemic of Tuberculosis (TB) and efforts to

eliminate the disease. The theme of World TB Day 2018 is “Wanted: Leaders for

a TB-free world”. WTD is observed to commemorate discovery of Mycobacterium

tuberculosis, bacillus (bacteria) causing TB on 24th March, 1882 by German

microbiologist Robert Koch.

21. March 24- Kambar Festival celebrated by TN Govt.

22. March 24- Raising Day of CRPF ( Central Reserve Police Force)

23. March 24- Earth Hour was observed from 8.30-9.30 Pm with the theme “ Let

Nature Shine”

24. March 25 -The International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and

the Transatlantic Slave Trade is observed every year across the world. The

theme of 2018 is „Remember Slavery: Triumphs and Struggles for Freedom and

Equality‟

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25. March 27 –World Theatre Day

26. March 29 - Mahavir Jayanti, the birth anniversary of 24th and last Jain

Tirthankar Bhagwan Mahavir was celebrated across India. Lord Mahavir,

through his teachings of non-violence and compassion, showed an

enlightened path for happiness and progress of humanity. The day is

considered to be one of the most auspicious events for Jain people and holds

a lot of importance in their religious life.

Tamil Nadu:

1. Kanchi Periyaval Sri Jayendra Saraswathi Swamigal passed away on 28th

Feb 2018 due to respiratory illness at a private hospital in Kancheepuram,

Tamil Nadu. He is 69th head of the Kanchi Math. He was born in 1935 in

Irulneeki Village, Thiruvarur district. His original name is Subramaniam. He

was brought up in Villupuram. He had his schoolings in Villupuram. He

became the head of the kanchi Math in 1994.

2. India‟s first defence industrial quadrilateral corridor „Quad‟ linking Chennai

with four other cities(Hosur, Coimbatore, Salem and Tiruchirappalli) of Tamil

Nadu is in process by the Union Defence ministry to promote industries

manufacturing weapons and military equipments. it is important to note that

while presenting Union Budget 2018, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had

announced that two defence industrial production corridors will be set up in

India to promote domestic defence industry.PM Modi also announced that

the other defence industrial corridor will come up in the Bundelkhand

region which shall bring an investment of Rs 20000 crore.

3. Former Supreme Court Judge S.Rathnavel Pandian passed away due to

illness in T.nagar, Chennai, Tamil Nadu on 28th Feb 2018. He was born on

Feb 13,1929 in Thirupadaimarudhur, Tirunelvi district. He was Supreme Court

judge from 1988 -1994. After his retirement from Supreme Court, he served

as chairperson of the National Commission for Backward Classes.

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4. All India police duty meet held from 24th Feb to 1st March at Vandaloor,

Chennai. This is the 6th meet held at Chennai. This summit already held in

1954,1974,1991,2000 and 2006.

5. First Defence Exhibition is to be conducted from Apr 11-14, 2018 in Thiru

vidanthal, Kanchipuram.

6. Tamil Nadu Government announced the launch of a 24-hour helpline up at

a cost of Rs two crore, claiming to be the first in India, to offer information and

guidance on education to students. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K

Palaniswami launched the toll free number 14417 through the 24-hour

Education Guidance Centre that has been set up at the Secretariat. It will

provide information and guidance regarding school education.

7. Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI)‟s head quarter is shifted from Chennai,

Tamil Nadu to Ballabhgarh in Faridabad District of Haryana. This decision

was taken after consultation with AWBI for better coordination between the

Environment Ministry and AWBI for carrying out the animal welfare

activities. Initially it was within jurisdiction of the Ministry of Food and

Agriculture. Later in 1990, the subject of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was

transferred to Environment Ministry.

8. Paytm has launched the „Paytm for Business‟ app in Tamil Nadu. It enables

merchants to track payments, view past collections and make settlements

instantly. It can be downloaded from Android play store. Available in 10

regional languages.

9. The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) on March 14, 2018 set a deadline

for owners of disused vehicles including cars left on city roads, saying that

they will be auctioned by police, if not removed within the next 15 days. The

GCC Commissioner D Karthikeyan said parking vehicles on the road sides

and street corners posed hindrance to the public, hit traffic flow and also led

to health hazards as these become a breeding spot for mosquitoes. He said

people should come forward to voluntarily remove vehicles in disuse from

roadsides.

10. The Tamil Nadu government on March 14, 2018 said that it has set up a

committee to probe into the death of 11 trekkers caught up in a forest fire in

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Kurangani Hills in Theni district. The probe team will be headed by Principal

Secretary, Revenue and Disaster Management, Atulya Misra. The committee

would have to complete the enquiry and send its report to the state

government within two months time The committee's terms of reference

include a review of the procedure established in Forest Department for

regulation/permission of trekking in Reserved Forest area; role and lapses, if

any, on the part of trekking organisers; role and lapses on the part of forest

officials, if any; and recommendations to avoid such incidents/tragedy in

forest areas shall be given by the Enquiry Officer.

11. TTV Dhinakaran launched a new political party on March 15, 2018 in

Madurai. The party has been named Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam,

after late J Jayalalithaa. Dhinakaran also unveiled party flag featuring bands

of black, white and red with the image of late Tamil Nadu chief minister J

Jayalalithaa embossed on it. Dhinakaran said that the party would contest in

pressure cooker symbol in elections to cooperatives, local bodies, assembly

and Parliament until he retrieved the two leaves symbol.

12. India‟s first insect museum was inaugurated by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K

Palaniswamy at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University campus in Coimbatore,

Tamil Nadu. The museum has been established at an area of 6,691 sqft. The

lobby of the museum depicts theme “BUGS ARE KINGS”. It will display

insects preserved as specimens as also live ones depicting their different

developmental stages. It will provide information about insects through

images, videos and models of their unique behaviour, habits and habitats.

13. All district collectors and police officials conference held from March 5-7,

2018 at Chennai. After 5 years gap this conference resumed once again. Last

conference held by 2013.

14. 1st Ulaga tamizh Marabu Maanadu held at Kumarapalayam, Namakkal

district of Tamil Nadu . This was jointly organized by TN Govt‟s World Tamil

Research institute and Tamil Marabu Arakattali.

15. 5th World Saiva Siddanta conference held in Chennai on 8th March 2018.

16. Souther Railways have launched day time Antyodaya express service from

Tambaram to Sengottai Via Karaikudi.

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17. From March 12, 2018 the telecast and services of Doordarshan was

permanently stopped in 7 places of Tamil Nadu namely Arani, seyyaru,

Vandavasi, Arcot, Peranampattu, Vellore and Thiruvannamalai.

18. The birth rate of girl child has increased in Tamil Nadu from 943 /1000. At

national level, the birth rate is 914/1000

19. Mr. Srinivasan was appointed as the new secretary of Tamil Nadu Assembly.

20. India‟s biggest wind turbine generator S128 was installed at Singaneri , Tamil

Nadu by Suzlon.

21. West Bengal tops in terms of rural employment generation and Tamil Nadu

ranks at the second position as per the central govt‟s report.

22. Dhamma Surya Narayana Sastry was appointed as the Vice- Chancellor of

Tamil Nadu Dr. Ambedkar Law University.

23. Under Centrla Govt‟s UDAN scheme, True jet service is flagged off from

Chennai to Salem.

24. Airports are going to come soon in 4 places of Tamil Nadu namely Hosur,

Neyveli, Tanjore and Vellore.

25. Neutrino Observatory is going to set up at Pottipuram village of Theni district

in Tamil Nadu. The permission tio set up this is given by Union Ministry of

environment and Forestry.

National:

1. Country‟s one of its kind aviation multi skill development centre in Chandigarh

was inaugurated by the Union Civil Aviation Minister, P. Ashok Gajapathi

Raju. It is an initiative of Airports Authority of India (AAI) under Corporate

Social Responsibility (CSR) and has been set up by the National Skill

Development Corporation (NSDC) and the Aerospace and Aviation Sector

Skill Council of India. It is equipped with modern training infrastructure to

supplement an industry-relevant course curriculum.

2. 7th meeting of Eminent Persons Group (EPG) on Nepal-India relations was

held in Kathmandu, Nepal.

3. A multivendor e-commerce website and mobile app named „marinefishsales‟

to help fishermen to sell their products and marine catch directly to the

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customers was developed by Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute

(CMFRI).

4. Haryana State Cabinet Meeting chaired by Chief Minister, Manohar Lal

Khattar approved death penalty or rigorous imprisonment of not less than 14

years for rape of victim aged 12 or less. The proposal that has been

approved, also contains several amendments in existing criminal laws related

to sexual offences. The amendments seek harsher punishments for sexual

offences.

5. The Union Ministry of Commerce‟s proposal to give focused attention to 12

identified Champion Services Sectors for promoting their development and

realizing their potential was approved by the Union Cabinet. The 12 identified

Champion Services Sectors are Information Technology (IT) & IT enabled

Services (ITeS), Tourism and Hospitality Services, Transport and Logistics

Services, Medical Value Travel, Accounting Services, Financial Services,

Audio Visual Services, Communication Services, Legal Services,

Construction and Related Engineering Services, Education services and

Environmental Services. For this purpose, a dedicated fund of Rs 5000-crore

has allotted to support initiatives for sectoral action plans of the Champion

Sectors.

6. The Union Government has announced a significant reduction in airfares for

devotees travelling to Saudi Arabia. The prices of the round tickets have been

slashed by a minimum of Rs 20,000 to Rs 97,000. Around 18 to 49 per cent

reduction in rates will be available on tickets for Jeddah and Medina on

national carrier Air India, Saudia and Flynas, an air carrier based in Saudi

Arabia. The move seeks to address concerns about airfares going up after

the Haj subsidy was abolished last month by the government.

7. The Union Rural Development Ministry has sanctioned funds worth more

than Rs 700 crore for the construction of 43 roads and 15 bridges under

Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) in Arunachal Pradesh.

8. The Union Ministry of Railways has decided to allow visually impaired

candidates to appear in its recruitment examinations. This decision was

informed to Delhi High Court to allow such candidates against its 90,000

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vacancies. The ministry also said that it will issue a fresh notification in this

regard.

9. The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) chaired by Defence Minister Nirmala

Sitharaman has approved various procurement proposals for three services

estimated at about Rs. 9,435 crore. The three services includes of 41,000

light machine guns (LMGs) and over 3.5 lakh close quarter battle (CQB)

carbines, High-capacity radio relay (HCRR) and two Pollution control vessels

(PCV).

10. Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved a proposal to double

the guarantee for availing credit from Rs 9500 crore to Rs 19000 crore for

procuring pulses and oilseeds at the Minimum Support Price (MSP)

by National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED).

This decision will not only help to provide remunerative prices to farmers but

will also encourage higher investment and production, which in turn will

assure adequate supplies at reasonable prices for consumers.

11. Delhi government has decided to establish State Sanskrit Education Council

to improve formal education of Sanskrit in Delhi.

12. The Union territory of Lakshadweep has joined in UDAY (Ujwal DISCOM

Assurance Yojana) Scheme. Lakshadweep will receive an overall net benefit

of around Rs. 8 crore through the UDAY Scheme. This will be achieved by

cheaper funds, reduction in AT&C (Aggregate Technical and Commercial)

losses, interventions in energy efficiency, etc.

13. Avaada Power Pvt Ltd will invest Rs 3,500 crore to establish 500 MW solar

projects in Andhra Pradesh. An agreement regarding this was signed at the

„CII Partnership Summit 2018‟ in Vishakhapatnam. Andhra Pradesh has a

planned to achieve a goal of 18 GW of renewable energy capacities by 2021-

22.

14. Union Defence Minister Nirmala Seetharaman inaugurated Tata Boeing

Aerospace Ltd‟s (TBAL) facility to manufacture fuselages for the AH-64

Apache helicopter in Hyderabad. This facility has been established at an area

of 14,000 square metres. 350 workers have been employed at the facility.

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This facility will be the only global producer of fuselages for AH-64 Apache

helicopter delivered by Boeing.

15. The Union Cabinet has approved the proposal of Ministry of Commerce and

Industry to give focused attention to 12 identified Champion Services Sectors

(CSS). The identified 12 CSS are Information Technology & Information

Technology enabled Services (IT & ITeS), Medical Value Travel, Transport

and Logistics Services, Tourism and Hospitality Services, Accounting and

Finance Services, Audio Visual Services, Communication Services, Legal

Services, Construction and Related Engineering Services, Environmental

Services, Financial Services and Education Services. It aimed at promoting

their development and realizing their potential. Government will set up

dedicated fund of Rs. 5000 crores to support initiatives for sectoral Action

Plans of the Champion Sectors. These Action Plans will develop vision for

each of these identified Champion Sectors by year 2022.

16. Satara Mega Food Park Pvt. Ltd- Maharashtra‟s first Mega Food Park was

inaugurated by Minister of Food Processing Industries Harsimrat Kaur Badal

at Degaon Village in Satara district The scheme aims to create modern

infrastructure facilities for food processing along value chain from farm to

market with strong forward and backward linkages through cluster based

approach. Projects under it are merged under comphrehensive flagship

scheme of „Pradhan Mantri Kisan SAMPADA Yojana‟. The park will provide

direct and indirect employment to 5,000 persons and benefit about 25,000

farmers in Primary Processing Centers (PPCs) and Collection Centers (CCs)

catchment areas. This is overall 12th Mega Food Park operationalized in

country so far and 10th operationalized during tenure of present government.

17. The Maharashtra government has partnered with Wikipedia, to spread the

Marathi language and enhance its online usage and also aimed to spread the

Marathi language across the world. This announcement was made on

Marathi language day (27th February 2018).

18. Central Government approved projects worth Rs 2919.55 crore under the

„Nirbhaya Fund‟ for eight major cities of India, in order to make them safer for

women. Nirbhaya Fund was set up after the brutal gangrape and murder of a

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paramedical student in Delhi in 2012. It was announced in Union Budget

2013.The projects have been approved for Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai,

Bengaluru, Hyderabad Ahmedabad and Lucknow. In Delhi, the projects

include, deploying latest technologies, such as video monitoring, facial

recognition analytics and tracking of people. One of the projects which will be

implemented in Mumbai is strengthening the “Police Didi” programme, under

which women police personnel interact with women living in slums.

19. According to a survey only 13% of tiger conservation areas that are part of

Conservation Assured | Tiger Standards (CA|TS) Partnership meet global

standards. The surveyed area is home to approximately 70% of the world‟s

wild tigers. The survey found that at least one-third of tiger conservation these

areas are severely at risk of losing their tigers and most of these sites are in

Southeast Asia. 85% of the areas surveyed do not have the staff capacity to

patrol sites effectively. 61% of areas in Southeast Asia have very limited anti-

poaching enforcement.

20. The Union Ministry of Textiles is going to conduct National Sizing Survey

dubbed as Size India to develop comprehensive size chart for ready-to-wear

industry based on body measurements of Indian population with the help of

National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), New Delhi. Size India project

is scientific exercise where anthropometric data will be collected from 25,000

sample (with men and women in equal numbers) population in age group 15

to 65 years across six major cities. The six cities are Kolkata (east), Mumbai

(west), New Delhi (north), Bengaluru (south),Hyderabad (centre), and

Shillong (northeast).

21. The World‟s largest solar park-Sthala solar park having total capacity of 2,000

megawatts (MW) was inaugurated in drought-prone Pavagada region of

Tumkur district, Karanataka. The first phase of the Rs. 16,500 crore park will

generate 600MW power, while the balance 1,400MW will be commissioned in

second phase by end year 2018. The park ties in with the Central

Government‟s scheme to generate 100 gigawatts (GW) of solar power by

2020 It is a joint venture between Karnataka Renewable Energy

Development Ltd (KREDL) and Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI).

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22. 27th Technological Conference of Indian Jute Industries‟ Research

Association (IJIRA) on Shaping the Future of Jute, in Kolkata, West Bengal

was attended by Union Textile Minister Smriti Zubin Irani. She praised (IJIRA)

for developing low-cost jute-based sanitary napkins. She also added that

potential entrepreneurs who wish to start manufacturing of these jute-based

sanitary napkins can benefit from the Mudra loan scheme of the government.

23. The Union Cabinet has approved introduction of Fugitive Economic

Offenders Bill, 2018 in Parliament. It aims to curb practice of evading criminal

prosecution by economic offenders (wilful defaulters) who flee from country to

evade clutches Indian law by remaining outside jurisdiction of Indian courts. It

is applicable in cases where total value involved in such economic offences is

Rs.100 crore or more. It defines fugitive economic offender (FEO) as any

individual against whom warrant for arrest in relation to scheduled offence

(enlisted in the this l aw) has been issued by any court in India, but he leaves

or has left India to avoid criminal prosecution or refuses to return to India to

face criminal prosecution or refuses to return to India to face criminal

prosecution. It debars fugitive economic offender from defending any civil

claim at the discretion of any court including High Court. If prior to the

declaration, the alleged FEO returns to India and submits to the appropriate

jurisdictional court, proceedings under this Act will cease by law.

24. A new train between Naharlagun in Arunachal Pradesh and Anand Vihar

Terminal in the national capital named Arunachal Express was flagged off.

This is the second direct train for Arunachal Pradesh and overall 14th for

North East to connect with the national capital. The train will cover 2013

kilometre distance between Naharlagun (Arunachal Pradesh) and Anand

Vihar Terminal (New Delhi) in over 38 hours and will have 14 stoppages en-

route. It has all air-conditioned LHB (Linke Hofmann Busch) coaches. It will

offer all comfort and facilities to the passengers. Naharlagun-New Delhi AC

Express was rechristened as Arunachal Express.

25. Odisha government launched „Khushi‟, a scheme inaugurated by CM

Naveen Patnaik that offers free sanitary pads to 17 lakh girl students

covering from Class 6 to 12 studying in all government and government-

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aided schools of Odisha. in Odisha. This scheme will help in improving health

and hygiene of adolescent girls and in higher retention of girl students in

school. The Health Minister Pratap Jena of Odisha said that the government

will also provide sanitary pads at a subsidised price to rural women through

ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist) workers.

26. Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Development

of North Eastern Region (DoNER) Dr. Jitendra Singh said that, a food

processing centre in collaboration with Israel will be launched in Aizwal,

Mizoram on 7th March 2018. The centre has been established at a cost of Rs

8-10 crore. This centre has been established through tripartite collaboration of

Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India,

Government of Israel and State Government of Mizoram. This centre has

been set up exclusively for processing of citrus fruits. This is the first such

centre with Israeli collaboration in the North East region.

27. Karnataka Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah unveiled „Arogya Karnataka‟ (Healthy

Karnataka), a healthcare scheme in their state budget 2018. Under this

scheme, individuals from all below-poverty-line (BPL) households in the state

will get free treatment at government hospitals.For individuals from above-

poverty-line (APL) households, the State Government will bear about 30 per

cent of the treatment cost.

28. Odisha State Government has launched „Ama Gaon, Ama Vikas‟ (our village,

our development) programme with an objective to reach out to the people in

rural areas of Odisha and involve them in developmental activities. These

video vans will move across Odisha and will highlight various welfare

schemes of Government.

29. The first All-women Indian crew (Navika Sagar Parikrama) circumnavigating

the globe on the Indian Navy Sailing Vessel (INSV) Tarini arrived at a port in

Cape Town in South Africa on 2nd March 2018. INSV Tarini was flagged-off

from Goa on 10th September 2017 by Union Defence Minister Nirmala

Sitharaman. INSV Tarini is expected to leave Cape Town on 14th March 2018

and return to Goa in April 2018, completing its voyage. Captain of the vessel

is Lieutenant Commander Vartika Joshi. Crew members are: Lieutenant

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Commander Pratibha Jamwal, Lieutenant Commander P Swathi, and

Lieutenant S Vijaya Devi, Lieutenant B Aishwarya and Lieutenant Payal

Gupta.

30. Bharati Defence and Infrastructure Ltd (BDIL) delivered high-speed

interceptor boat ICG C-162 to Indian Coast Guard (ICG) at BDIL jetty in

Mangaluru, Karnataka.The vessel will be based at Kochi, Kerala and will be

used for patrolling purposes. It can accommodate 11 crew members. It is fifth

interceptor boat delivered by BDIL‟s Mangaluru shipyard to ICG. The sixth

boat will be delivered after three-and-a-half months of the delivery of the fifth

boat.

31. The verdict of the 2018 Assembly Elections in the three north-eastern states-

Nagaland, Tripura and Meghalaya-is out. While the BJP-led NDA swept

through Nagaland and Tripura, retaining the former and ending the 25-year-

old rule of the left in the latter, elections in Meghalaya resulted in a hung

assembly with the BJP likely to take power despite its low numbers.

32. The Union Cabinet chaired by PM Modi approved the Trafficking of Persons

(Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2018 for introduction in the

Parliament. It addresses the issue of trafficking from the point of view of

prevention, rescue and rehabilitation. It defines aggravated forms of

trafficking such as trafficking for the purpose of forced labour, begging,

trafficking by administering chemical substance or hormones on a person for

the purpose of early sexual maturity, trafficking of a woman or child for the

purpose of marriage etc.

33. India‟s first helicopter shuttle service (HeliTaxi) was launched in IT capital

Bengaluru, Karnataka. The trail trip of helitaxi was between Electronic City and

Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru. It was provided by Thumby

Aviation. Bengaluru has poor road density (measure of road length per square

km area of land) as compared to other Indian cities. So such service was needed

much more than other cities to ferry air passengers to and from the city.

34. On March 6,2018, the Centre told the Supreme Court that the selection

committee for appointing a Lokpal has decided to first fill up the vacancy of an

eminent jurist in the panel, which also includes the Prime Minister. Senior

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advocate P P Rao was appointed as an eminent jurist in the panel but the post

became vacant after he passed away last year.

35. Sukhad Yatra mobile application and 1033 Toll-free Emergency number for

highway users has been launched by Ministry of Road Transport & Highways

(MoRTH). It also provides users with real-time data related to waiting time

expected at plazas and various facilities like points of interest, highway nest and

nest mini, etc. available across highway. It also launched scheme for District

Driving Training Centres. Under it, at least one model driving training centre will

be set up in each district of States/UTs. MoRTH will provide financial assistance

of up to Rs. 1 crore for these centres. The financial assistance will be provided

for administering Road Safety Advocacy and awards for outstanding done in field

of Road Safety.

36. The Supreme Court directed the CBSE not to make Aadhaar number mandatory

for enrolment of students appearing in NEET 2018 and other all India exams. A

five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief justice Dipak Misra directed the

CBSE to upload the information on their website.

37. The Pension Fund Regulatory Development Authority (PFRDA) has relaxed the

norms for partial withdrawal under the National Pension Scheme (NPS). The

subscriber need to be subscribed to NPS for a period of three years from the

date of joining to be eligible to make partial withdrawals, under specific

circumstances as specified in such regulations.

38. The Railway Board has instructed zonal railways to link the arrival and departure

of trains with data loggers from January 1, 2018 and report authentic punctuality

status across 41 major stations.

39. Vision for Future' event organised by the Ministry of External Affairs (Eurasia

Division) and the International Federation of Indo-Russian Youth Clubs was held

in New Delhi on March 6, 2018 to commemorate 70 years of the Indo-Russia

ties.

40. #YesIBleed menstrual hygiene campaign on the occasion of International

Women‟s Day 2018 has launched by the Union Ministry of Health and Family

Welfare. It has been initiated formally across all multi-media platforms, including

Facebook and YouTube to spread awareness about issue. It is second edition of

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such campaign that aims to create holistic approach to issue of menstruation,

which is experience that transcends culture, class, and caste. The National

Commission of Women (NCW) has extended full support to Shewings in

endevour to spread awareness about the core issue of every woman‟s concern.

41. Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) has been imported from United States for the first time

by India. The development comes on the heels of India‟s first import of crude oil

from the US in October 2017.

42. 46th edition of Know India Programme (KIP) was attended by 40 participants of

Indian Origin from 9 countries in Madhya Pradesh. KIP is initiative (scheme) of

Ministry of External Affairs for Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) between the age

group of 18 to 30 years. The scheme was launched in 2004. As part of the

initiative participants visited Madhya Pradesh, Parliament House, President‟s

House and attended orientation programme at the Foreign Service Institute.

43. 49 lakh LED street lights were installed in 28 states/UTs by the Energy

Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) under the Street Lighting National

Programme (SLNP). It is world‟s Largest Street Light Replacement Programme.

Rajasthan was the first state to adopt this scheme. This Programme was

launched in Jan 2015 by PM Modi with an aim to replace 1.34 crore conventional

street lights with energy efficient LED lights by March, 2019.

44. The Ministry of Human Resource Development has sanctioned Rs. 1000 crore

for phase II of Impacting Research Innovation and Technology (IMPRINT) India

programme to boost research and innovation in the country. IMPRINT India

Programme is joint initiative of Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and Indian

Institute of Science (IISc). It seeks to develop road map for research to solve

major engineering and technology challenges in 10 technology domains relevant

for country.

45. The Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry has released draft Indian National

Strategy for Standardisation for standardisation of products and services to

provide level playing field to domestic industry and adopt best global practices.

46. A MoU on Cooperation in field of Renewable Energy between India and Hellenic

was appraised by the Union Cabinet in Nov 2017. Under this agreement, both

countries aim to establish basis for cooperative institutional relationship to

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encourage and promote technical bilateral cooperation on new and renewable

issues on basis of mutual benefit equality and reciprocity.

47. The Union Cabinet has approved two key measures in telecom sector. These

include restructuring of Deferred Payment Liabilities of TSPs for spectrum and

Revision of limits of cap for spectrum holding in order to facilitate investments,

consolidation in the sector and enhancing ease of doing business.

48. The signing of Migration and Mobility Partnership Agreement between India and

France was approved by the Union Cabinet chaired by PM Modi. The agreement

represents major milestone in enhancing people-to-people (P2P) contacts

between both countries. It will foster mobility of students, academics, skilled

professionals and researchers and strengthen cooperation on issues related to

irregular migration and human trafficking between countries. The agreement will

be signed during forthcoming state visit of French President to India.

49. THE CCI (The Competition Commission of India) order comes on complaint filed

by Express Industry Council of India (EICI) against airlines alleging cartelization.

It has directed three airlines (Jet Airways, InterGlobe Aviation and SpiceJet) to

cease and desist from anti-competitive practices. The penalties were imposed at

the rate of 3% of three airlines average relevant turnover of last 3 financial years.

50. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved Rs. 1,151

crore Central Sector Scheme for in-situ management of crop residue in Punjab,

Haryana and Uttar Pradesh and NCT of Delhi. Government will provide 80%

financial assistance of project cost to cooperative societies of farmers, FPOs,

SHGs, registered farmers societies or farmers groups, private entrepreneurs and

group of women farmers.

51. The Maharashtra government told the Legislative Council that the sale of gutka,

which is banned in the state, would be made a non-bailable offence. The

government plans to enhance the punishment for the offence to three years in

prison.

52. The Haryana government proposed a pension scheme for widowers in the state.

The matter is currently with the Finance Department and under consideration.

The widowers above 45 years of age, who have children and have not remarried,

would be eligible under the pension scheme.

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53. Indian Railways have now planned to provide Automatic Train Protection (ATP)

system conforming to ETCS level-2 standards on the entire Indian Railway

Broad Gauge (BG) network. The system will provide technological aid to Loco

Pilots for avoiding Signal Passing at Danger (SPAD).

54. The Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) launched Udyam

Sakhi Portal for women entrepreneurs of India on the occasion of International

Women‟s Day( March 8, 2018) The portal aims to nurture entrepreneurship and

create business models for low cost products and services in order to empower

women.

55. „Suvidha‟, the 100 per cent Oxo-biodegradable Sanitary Napkin, under the

Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP) was launched by the

Union Minister for Chemicals & Fertilizers and Parliamentary Affairs Mr.

Ananthkumar. The affordable sanitary napkin will be available for Rs 2.50 per

pad at over 3200 Janaushadhi Kendras across India and would ensure

„Swachhta, Swasthya and Suvidha‟ for the underprivileged Women of India.

These napkins would be physically available by May 28, 2018, which is observed

as World Menstrual Hygiene Day.

56. The Silver Jubilee of the Losar festival was celebrated in Itanagar , Arunachal

Pradesh by the Buddhist Community. Losar festival is celebrated as New year

for 3 days in their Buddhist Calendar. This year they entered into 2145 Earth Dog

Year, according to the Buddhist Calendar.

57. Odisha MSME International Trade Fair 2018 began in Bhubaneshwar, Odisha

which will be held from 5th March to 10th March. It focuses mainly on food

processing sector.

58. Indira Gandhi International Airport (New Delhi )has been ranked as World no : 1

among airports handling more than 40 million passengers per annum as per the

survey conducted by Airports Council International ( ACI). Mumbai‟s

Chhatrapathi Shivaji International Airport has been chosen as the World‟s Best

Airport for Customer Experience.

59. Delhi Government approved a proposal for delivering rations in sealed packets

at the door step of PDS ( Public Distribution System) beneficiaries. It will address

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the issues like theft of ration, poor quality of supplies and shops remaining

closed.

60. Shigmotsav or Shigmo is the biggest Hindu festival in Goa celebrated from 3rd

March to 17th March 2018.Parades are conducted that depicts the Goa People.

Folk dances like Ghode Modni and Fugdi are performed.

61. I-Metros, an association of all Indian Metro Rail companies for mutual sharing of

ideas & experiences for nurturing excellence their performance was launched by

the Union Housing Ministry.

62. Udyam Sakhi Portal (www.udyamsakhi.org) for women entrepreneurs launched

by the Ministry of Micro,Small & Medium Enterprises on the occasion of

International Women‟s Day. The portal is network to nurture entrepreneurship

and create business models for low cost products and services in order to

empower women and make them self-sufficient and self-reliant.

63. Swachh Shakti 2018, a Women‟s Convention was organized by the Ministry of

Drinking Water and Sanitation in association with Uttar Pradesh Government on

occasion of International Women‟s Day in Lucknow. In Swachh Shakti 2018,

8000 women sarpanches, 3000 women Swachhagrahis and women champions

from across country were recognised for their outstanding contribution towards

making Swachh Bharat. This year, Uttar Pradesh had hosted Swachh Shakti

2018, being largest state in country (in terms of population) with massive rural

population.

64. On the occasion of International Women‟s day (March 8, 2018) the National

Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog has launched Women

Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP) with the theme song „Naari Shakti‟ composed

and sung by renowned singer Kailash Kher. WEP aspires to substantially

increase number of women entrepreneurs to create and empower dynamic new

India by opening up avenues of growth and opportunity for women

entrepreneurs. These aspirations of women entrepreneurs are manifested in

three pillars: Ichha Shakti: Motivating aspiring entrepreneurs to start their

enterprise. Gyaan Shakti: Providing knowledge and ecosystem support to

women entrepreneurs to help them foster entrepreneurship. Karma Shakti:

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Providing hands-on support to entrepreneurs in setting-up and scaling up

businesses.

65. Saubhagya Yojana was launched in the Uttarakhand on March 9, 2018 by the

Union Minister of State for Energy R.K. Singh along with Uttarakhand Chief

Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat. Under the scheme more than 2 lakh 50

thousand families will be provided electricity connection in the state.

66. On the occasion of International Women's Day ,Haryana Chief Minister Manohar

Lal announced that government will open a 100 bedded Mother and Child Care

Hospital in Panipat to provide free sanitary napkins to adolescent girls and

organize free medical camp once in a month exclusively for senior citizen

women. In addition, process to recruit 1000 woman constable in Haryana Police

will be started soon.

67. The Union Environment Ministry formed a committee to regulate movement of

timber from the Northeast to other parts of India, The committee was formed

under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, in accordance with an order of the

Supreme Court.

68. Central Government will award 'Mutawallis' who will perform well in management

of Waqf properties to ensure utilisation of these properties for upliftment of the

society.This announcement was made by the Union Minister for Minority Affairs

Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi . The announcement came during the first National

Mutawalli conference of Central Waqf Council in New Delhi. Waqf Mutawallis are

the custodian of waqf properties across the country. Waqf Mutawallis from Bihar,

Chandigarh, Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and

Uttrakhand attended the first Mutawalli conference.

69. Haryana‟s first cyber police station was inaugurated in Gurugram on 7th March

2018 to facilitate registeration of cyber offence related cases.

70. National Nutrition Mission (NMM) was launched by PM Modi at Jhunjhunu in

Rajasthan on the occasion of International Women‟s Day. It aims to monitor,

supervise, fix targets and guide nutrition related interventions across Ministries. It

will monitor various schemes contributing towards addressing malnutrition. The

mission targets to reduce stunting, under-nutrition, anaemia among young

children, women and adolescent girls and reduce low birth weight by at least 2%

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per annum. Though target to reduce stunting is at least 2% annum, the mission

will strive to achieve reduction in stunting from 38.4% (NFHS-4) to 25% by 2022.

71. The Union Government has expanded Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP)

programme from 161 districts to all 640 districts of the country. The successful

implementation of BBBP programme in states and districts has led government

to decide to go Pan-India and expand the programme to all districts. The specific

objectives of scheme are preventing gender biased sex selective elimination,

ensuring survival and protection of the girl child and ensuring education and

participation of the girl child. The scheme was launched by Prime Minister in

January 2015 at Panipat, Haryana as comprehensive programme to address

declining Child Sex Ratio (CSR) and related issues of empowerment of women

over life-cycle continuum.

72. Karnataka Government has decided to accept state flag proposed and designed

by 9-member committee constituted by state Kannada and Culture department.

The committee has recommended new tricolour having yellow (at top), white (in

middle) and red (at bottom) colorus, with state‟s emblem Gandaberunda (a two-

headed mythological bird) in centre. The white colour in new flag symbolizes

peace and captures Karnataka‟s image the best, while other two colours are

synonymous with Kannada identity. It will be official flag in place of an unofficial

red and yellow flag that is currently used in the state to signify local pride.

73. Diu has become the first and only Union Territory in the country to be fully run on

solar energy. Diu‟s peak-time demand for electricity goes up to 7 MW and now it

daily generates about 10.5 MW of electricity from solar energy, making it

electricity surplus. Despite scarcity of land, solar power plants have been

installed over more than 50 acres. The solar power also has come as big relief

for local residents as their monthly bill charges have fallen by around 12%. It also

has significantly reduced electricity loss. The UT generates total of 13 megawatts

(MW) of electricity from solar power generating facilities daily. Of this, 3 MW is

generated by rooftop solar plants and 10 MW by its other solar power plants.

74. The Supreme Court (SC) on March 9, 2018 ruled that the passive euthanasia

and advance 'living will' are permissible by recognizing right to die with dignity as

a fundamental right. The apex court ruled that individuals can draft a living will

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specifying that they shall not be put on life support if they undergo an incurable

coma in the future. A living will is a written document that allows a patient to give

explicit instructions in advance about the medical treatment to be administered

when he or she is terminally ill.

75. The Rajasthan Legislative Assembly has passed The Criminal Laws (Rajasthan

Amendment) Bill, 2018 providing for death penalty for convicts involved in rape

of girls below 12 years of age. The amendment bill also provides to award life

sentence and life imprisonment to child rapists to ensure that the convict doesn‟t

get out of the jail even after completing 14 years of sentence. With this bill,

Rajasthan has become second state after Madhya Pradesh to award death

penalty and lifetime imprisonment to child rapists.

76. The National Conference on Counterfeiting and Role of Enforcement Agencies

would be held in New Delhi from 13-14 March, 2018. The conference is being

organised by the Cell for IPR Promotion and Management (CIPAM) in

collaboration with the European Union (EU).

77. Banlotwa has become the first 'alcohol-free' village in Ranchi district. Jharkhand

Chief Minister Raghuvar Das lauded the residents for achieving this feat and

gave Rs 1 lakh cash to the village head, following his announcement two years

ago that any village becoming alcohol-free would be given the money for its

development.

78. Union Environment Ministry amended the coastal zone rules to give relief to

projects that started in the fragile coastal areas without required clearances. This

will have a serious impact on livelihoods and ecology.

79. National Academy of Coastal Policing (NACP) - India‟s first national coastal

policing academy, to train police forces in effectively safeguarding country‟s

shoreline will start functioning from April 2018. It will be launched from campus of

Gujarat‟s Fisheries Research Centre located in coastal Okha town in Devbhumi

Dwarka district of Gujarat.

80. The capital punishment or death penalty should stay, as it serves to act as

deterrent in cases of heinous crimes such as murder and rape, as said by the 12

out of 14 states/UTs to Home Ministry. The Home Ministry had forwarded

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proposal to abolish death penalty to states/UTs based on recommendation of

Law Commission of India (LCI).

81. The proposal to institute Union Home Minister‟s Medal for Excellence in Police

Investigation was approved by the Union Government. The award aims to

promote high professional standards of Investigation of Crime in State/UT Police

and Central Investigating Agencies (CIAs) in the country.

82. Mahanadi Water Dispute Tribunal has been constituted by the Ministry of Water

Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation for adjudication of

longstanding disputes between Odisha and Chhattisgarh over sharing of

Mahanadi river water. The tribunal was formed under Section 4 of Inter-State

River Water Disputes Act, 1956 following directives of Supreme Court on

January 2018. The tribunal will have three members. Chief Justice of India (CJI)

has nominated Supreme Court Judge A M Khanwilkar as chairman of Tribunal.

The two other members are Justice Ravi Ranjan of Patna High Court and Jusitce

Indwermeet Kaur Kochar of Delhi High Court. It will be provided with services of

two assessors who are water resources experts having experience in handling

sensitive water-related issues.

83. India‟ s tallest tri colour flag was hosted in Belagavi, Karnataka. The flag is

hoisted 110 m high from the base .Its dimensions are 120x80 ft. It break the

record of flag which is flown at 107m tall tri colour flag flown in Pune followed by

105 m flag flown at Attari-wagah border.

84. The National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) in

association with Facebook launched "Design4India Studio" in Bengaluru. With

"WeWork" as the collaborative space partner, the Design4India Studio will

provide web, mobile, Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) platforms

for start-ups and designers. The platform will provide interactions with design

industry mentors and give an opportunity to aspiring designers and startups to

explore, innovate and build design as a tool for innovation.

85. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a number of schemes for the poor in

Varanasi and emphasised on harnessing solar energy for cooking. He also

inaugurated a 101-megawatt solar power plant in Mirzapur along with French

President Emmanuel Macron and laid the foundation stone of various

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development projects worth over Rs 800 crore in Varanasi. He flagged off a new

train - Kanshi-Patna Jan Shatabdi Express - between Varanasi and Patna. He

also launched Pradhan Mantri Poshan Mission Yojana to ensure nutrition to

children, especially girls.

86. The Maldives Parliament approved the Anti-Defection Bill with retrospective

effect amidst boycott by opposition MPs. According to the bill, MPs elected on

political party tickets will lose their seat if they leave their party, get expelled or

switch parties. The bill will take effect from 13 July 2017. Thus, 12 MPs that

switched to the opposition party in 2017 would now lose their seats.

87. Assam‟s finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma presented the state‟s first e-

budget at the legislative assembly. Each legislators of the assembly are provided

with a tablet ( computer) having details of the budget. In order to make it truly an

e-budget, the reporters are given pen drive containing the details of the budget.

88. The 2018-19 Budget for Assam proposes to establish a North East Foundation,

which will act as a think tank for the region. This foundation will also link with

leading think tanks at national and global levels and will express the perspective

of t North East region in a strategic, holistic manner. Besides, Assam state

budget 2018-19 has also been made available on Google App.

89. Maharashtra Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar presented the state budget

for 2018-19.in the legislative assembly. The budget focused on farmers and

youth.

90. West Bengal is the best performing state in terms of allotting jobs and utilizing

funds under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act

(MGNREGA). West Bengal is followed by Tamil Nadu (TN). Goa ranked at the

bottom.

91. The first edition of „Soldierathon‟ was held at Nehru Stadium in New Delhi. It is a

special marathon aimed at raising funds for welfare of Indian Soldiers and their

families.

92. Field Inspection and Scientific Evaluation Committee (FISEC) have been

constituted by the Department of Biotechnology in Ministry of Science and

Technology to investigate matter of illegal cultivation of Herbicide Tolerant (HT)

or BG-III cotton in four states. The cultivation of HT cotton (BG-III) is not

25


approved by country‟s biotech regulator, Genetic Engineering Approval

Committee (GEAC) of Ministry of Environment. The committee was constituted

after there were several media reports and complaints regarding illegal or

unauthorized cultivation of HT cotton in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Gujarat and

Maharashtra.

93. The Supreme Court held that foreign law firms cannot set up offices and their

lawyers cannot practise in India but they can give legal advice on foreign laws.

The ruling was given by apex court on appeal by Bar Council of India (BCI),

challenging judgements by Bombay and Madras High Courts. It allowed casual

visits by foreign lawyers on fly in and fly out (FIFO) basis for rendering legal

advice to clients in India.

94. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by the International Air

Transport Association (IATA) with Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) and National

Aviation University (NAU) to enhance human resource availability in India‟s

aviation industry. Under the agreement, signatory institutions will leverage

existing infrastructure for training in India to expand reach of vocational training

in aviation disciplines. India is expected to be third largest aviation market in the

world behind China and US by 2024.

95. The Indian Air Force (IAF) for first time flawlessly landed its largest transport US-

manufactured aircraft, C-17 Globemaster at strategic Tuting Advanced Landing

Ground (ALG) in Arunachal Pradesh, which is close to Chinese border. After the

trial landing, C17 carried out operations mission and airlifted 18 tons of load

96. Tuberculosis (TB) Free India Campaign was launched by PM Modi after he

inaugurated Delhi End-TB Summit in New Delhi. The campaign aims to take

activities of National Strategic Plan (NSP) for TB elimination forward in Mission

mode. It will have funding of over Rs. 12,000 crore over next three years. It sets

deadline to eradicate TB from the country by 2025, five years ahead of global

target of 2030 mentioned in the Sustainable Development Goals.

97. No flight will operate from the Chandigarh International Airport between May 12

and 31 as second phase of the runway repairs will be undertaken then. The first

phase of the runway repair was carried out from February 12 to 26 during which

the airport had remained shut for all flights. Post completion of the second phase

26


of runway re-carpeting/repair work in May, the runway length will increase to

10,400 feet from earlier 7,200 feet. This up gradation of the runway would

facilitate long haul flights from Chandigarh to destinations like United States,

Canada, Europe, UK and other places.

98. The 20-km-long stretch of Delhi Metro's Pink Line, connecting the north and

south campuses of the Delhi University, was opened for the public on March 14,

2018. Passenger services on the stretch will begin from 6 pm onwards from both

Majlis Park and Durgabai Deshmukh South Campus stations simultaneously.

The Pink Line has three interchange stations, Azadpur with Yellow Line, Netaji

Subhash Place, with Red Line and Rajouri Garden with Blue Line.

99. The Haryana government announced that it would be setting up a committee led

by State Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Om Parkash Dhankhar to find

a solution to polluted water flowing in the Yamuna river, which is affecting four

districts of the state. The Chief Minister was responding in the Haryana

Assembly during Zero hour to the issue of quality of water in Okhla Barrage and

effulents entering Yamuna from 37 polluted channels in Delhi.

100. The agreement for Avoidance of Double Taxation and Prevention of Fiscal

Evasion with respect to taxes on income between India and Iran has been

approved by the Union Cabinet. The agreement will stimulate flow of investment,

technology and personnel from India to Iran & vice versa and prevent double

taxation. It also meets treaty related minimum standards under G-20 OECD Base

Erosion & Profit Shifting (BEPS) Project, in which India participated on equal

footing.

101. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) inked between India and Sri

Lanka for promoting cooperation in field of Information Technology and

Electronics (IT&E) was approved by the Union cabinet. The MoU intends to

promote closer co-operation in areas of e-Governance, e-Public Services

Delivery, m-Governance, cyber security, software technology parks, start-ups

ecosystem etc.

102. Delhi End Tuberculosis (TB) Summit have adopted „Delhi End TB Summit

Statement of Action‟. The Member Countries of World Health Organization-

Regional Office for South-East Asia (WHO-SEARO), participating in Delhi End

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Tuberculosis (TB) Summit. The summit was co-hosted by Ministry of Health and

Family Welfare, WHO-SEARO and Stop TB Partnership in New Delhi. It was

inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and also launched TB Free India

Campaign. This summit identifies roles, responsibilities and directions of member

countries of WHO SEARO region to make their countries free from this disease

103. The proposals for implementation of Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) for

disbursement of fertilizer subsidy and the continuation of Urea Subsidy Scheme

from 2017 up to 2020 has approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic

Affairs (CCEA). Implementation of DBT in Fertilizer Sector will reduce diversion

of fertilizers to non-agricultural use and plug leakages. The continuation of the

urea subsidy scheme will ensure timely payment of subsidy to urea

manufacturers resulting in timely availability of urea to farmers at statutory

controlled price.

104. The Haryana Government is planning to make drunk driving that leads to

death a non-bailable offence in order to take a tougher stand against road

accidents caused by inebriated drivers. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ram Bilas

Sharma said the government was considering making drunk driving, resulting

into the death of the victim, a non-bailable offence to keep a check on the

increasing number of road accidents. He was replying to a calling attention

motion during the ongoing budget session of the assembly here.

105. The Union Government has decided to discontinue the Haj subsidy from

the year 2018-19. The amount of Haj subsidy provided by the Government of

India reflects in the budget of Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), which is the nodal

Ministry responsible for making air travel arrangements for Haj pilgrims identified

by the Haj Committee of India (HCoI). Budgetary provision of Rs 200 crore for

the Haj subsidy has been made in the Budget Estimates for 2017-18. It has been

decided to allocate bulk of the additional funding for educational empowerment of

Minority communities.

106. Pranab Mukherjee Foundation was launched on March 15, 2018 at a

function at the official residence of former President where Pranab Mukherjee

and Tata Group head Ratan Tata jointly inaugurated the foundation to initiate,

support and execute projects aimed at improving the quality of life of people.

28


107. The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in December 2017

launched 'LaQshya' Initiative- 'Labour Room Quality Improvement Initiative'. It is

expected to improve the quality of care provided to the pregnant mother in the

Labour Room and Maternity Operation Theatres with an aim to prevent

undesirable adverse outcomes associated with childbirth. It will be implemented

in government Medical Colleges (MCs) besides District Hospitals (DHs), and

high delivery load Sub- District Hospitals (SDHs) and Community Health Centres

(CHCs). It is being implemented to „fast-track‟ interventions for achieving tangible

results.

108. World Economic Forum‟s (WEF) Energy Transition Index (ETI) released

as part of report titled Fostering Effective Energy Transition. India was ranked at

78th among 114 countries on World Economic Forum‟s (WEF) Energy Transition

Index (ETI) released as part of report titled Fostering Effective Energy

Transition.Top 10 countries in Energy Transition Index were Sweden (1st),

Norway (2nd), Switzerland (3rd), Finland (4th), Denmark (5th), Netherlands (6th),

the UK (7th), Austria (8th), France (9th) and Iceland (10th).

109. The Ministry of Environment and Forests gave environmental clearance to

India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) project to be established in Bodi West

hills in Tamil Nadu. It was clarified that there will be no impact of blasting on any

habitation in the vicinity due to INO project. It was informed also that there was

no scope for radioactivity and leaching of water.

110. The Lok Sabha passed the Payment of Gratuity (Amendment) Bill, 2017

to empower government to fix period of maternity leave and tax-free gratuity

amount with an executive order. The Bill seeks to amend the Payment of

Gratuity Act, 1972. It allows for payment of gratuity to employees in any

establishment, factory, mine, oilfield, plantation, port, railways, company, or shop

employing 10 or more workers. The Bill removes the existing ceiling of Rs 10

lakh amount of gratuity payable to an employee and states that the ceiling may

be notified by the central government.

111. Haryana became third state, after Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan to

have provision of capital punishment for such sexual offenders. The Haryana

Assembly unanimously passed Criminal Law (Haryana Amendment) Bill, 2018

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providing for death penalty for convicts found guilty of raping girls aged 12 years

or less.

112. Panchayati Raj (Amendment) Bill 2018 was passed by Arunachal

Pradesh Assembly to do away with the Anchal Samiti, the intermediate level of

the three-tier panchayati raj system and set up a two-tier system in the state.

This is being done as per 73rd Amendment of Constitution that enables state

having less than 20 lakh population not to have intermediate level and Arunachal

has population of 13.84 lakh. Three-tier panchayati raj institutions were set up in

state in 2003, 2008 and 2013, and elections for next five-year term were due in

April-May 2018. The purpose of setting up two-tier panchayati raj system in state

is to standardis use of financial resources due to poor resource base.

113. Specific Relief (Amendment) Bill, 2017 has passed by the Lok Sabha to

further ease procedures for doing business in the country. The Bill seeks to

amend the Specific Relief Act, 1963. The Bill seeks to remove conditions of

specific performance is limited right, which may be given by court at its discretion

and permit specific performance by courts as general rule.

114. Maharashtra Government has banned use of plastic in time-bound

manner, citing environmental and public health concerns. The ban will include

plastic bags, thermocol, disposable cups and plates, cutlery, non-woven

polypropylene bags, plastic pouches and packaging. The decision was taken at

cabinet meeting led by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

115. The fifth edition of Annual Survey of India‟s City-Systems (ASICS) 2017

report released by Bengaluru-based non-profit organisation, Janaagraha. Pune

was ranked first among 23 cities across India in terms of quality of urban

governance. The objective of survey was to measure preparedness of cities to

deliver high quality infrastructure and services in long term by evaluating city syst

ems. It spans 23 Indian cities and factors in answers to 89 questions .These

questions are classified on four categories viz. urban planning & design, urban

capacities & resources, transparency, accountability & participation and

empowered & legitimate political representation.

116. 105th session of Indian Science Congress (ISC) at Manipur Central

University in Imphal was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The

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focal theme of 5-day ISC is “Reaching the Unreached through Science &

Technology”.

117. Jaipur will co-host 8th Theatre Olympics, the largest international theatre

festival being held for the first time in India. As a co-host, it will provide great

opportunity to highlight the cultural heritage of Rajasthan. It will provide platform

to number of folk art forms and theatre performers from state have. Some of folk

art forms like Swaang, Gawri among others will be showcased during the theatre

festival. The 8th edition of Theatre Olympics was inaugurated by Vice president

Venkaih Naidu in New Delhi in February 2018. The theme of festival is – “Flag of

Friendship“. The event was organised by National School of Drama (NSD). The

51-day long nationwide theatre extravaganza will cover 17 cities in India with

more than 25,000 artists performing 450 shows, 600 ambience performances

and 250 youth show. 30 countries participated in the festival from across the

globe. The Jaipur chapter of Theatre Olympics 2018 is organised by National

School of Drama (NSD) under the aegis of Ministry of Culture in collaboration

with Ravindra Manch Society and Art & Culture Department, Rajasthan

Government.

118. For strengthening its early warning services and enhancing preparedness

for management of hazards in state, the government of Odisha will collaborate

with Regional Integrated Multi-Hazard Early Warning System (RIMES). The

partnership will be forged between Odisha State Disaster Mitigation Authority

(OSDMA) and RIMES in field of drought monitoring and early warning for

different natural disasters. The partnership will help OSDMA to strengthen its

quality, prediction ability and response capacity. RIMES is already working with

the Tamil Nadu State Disaster Management Authority. The RIMES is an

intergovernmental body registered under United Nations.

119. Krishi Unnati Mela (a three day annual event) with focus on doubling

farmers‟ income was held in New Delhi. The objective of fair was to create

awareness among farmers about latest agriculture-related technological

developments. The Krishi Mela this year will be significant owing to the interests

of farmers and those involved in allied sectors. PM Narendra Modi laid

foundation stone for 25 Krishi Vigyan Kendras and unveil a portal on organic

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farming. He also conferred Krishi Karman Award and Pandit Deen Dayal

Upadhaya Krishi Vigyan Protsahan Puruskar to progressive farmers and states

on the occasion.

120. Sand Mining Framework has been launched by the Union Ministry of

Mines at the third National Conclave on Mines & Minerals held in New Delhi to

help states deal with the sand mining issues, including demand supply deficit and

illegal extraction. It also seeks to addresses issues of state objectives, demand-

supply assessment and measures to sand availability, allocation model,

transportation and monitoring mechanism.

121. The proposal to grant full autonomy to 62 higher educational institutions

which have maintained high standards of excellence under Autonomous

Colleges Regulation was approved by the University Grants Commission (UGC).

The complete autonomy will allow these higher educational institutions to start

new courses, new departments, new programmes, skill courses, off campuses,

research parks, appoint foreign faculty, take foreign students, offer variable

incentive packages and introduce online distance learning. These 62 higher

educational institutions include 5 central universities, 21 state universities, 26

private universities and 10 other colleges.

122. The setting up of a Plastic Park in Deoghar District, Jharkhand is

approved by the Union government. A range of polymer products including

woven sacks, moulded furniture, water tanks, bottles, pipes and mosquito nets

would be manufactured at the park. The project would be set up at a cost of Rs

120 crores in an area of 150 acres. The project is expected to provide direct

employment generation to about 6000 people and indirect employment to over

30000 people.

123. The sixth Foundation Day of Biotechnology Industry Research

Assistance Council (BIRAC) was celebrated on 21st March 2018 with the theme

„Sustaining Innovation – A Market Driven Pathway‟. BIRAC is not-for-profit Public

Sector Enterprise (PSE) set up by DBT, Ministry of Science and Technology to

empower emerging biotech industry to undertake strategic research and

innovation. It is basically industry academia interface. It has launched over 10

flagship schemes that are supported by funding from Department of

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Biotechnology (DBT), and manages 7 collaboratively funded programs with

international partners.

124. The Statement of Intent (SoI) to work closely with District Collectors and

key officers of „Aspirational Districts‟ to support their transformation in terms of

healthcare, education and nutrition have inked between NITI Aayog and Piramal

Foundation. The collaboration is for four years with the option to continue, based

on mutual agreement.

125. An MOU was signed between the Indian Council of Forestry Research

and Education (ICFRE) and Technology Information, Forecasting & Assessment

Council (TIFAC) o provide livelihood opportunities and augment income of forest

based communities. The MoU will be valid for period of 10 years. It will assist

industries to optimize utilization of forest based resources with access of

technology to different users. Through this collaboration, TIFAC will help ICFRE

to refine and up-scale the technologies developed, take technologies to end

users including farmers, state forest departments, forest based industries and

forest dependent communities in more effective manner.

126. The state cabinet of Rajasthan has decided to release notification for one

lakh eight thousand government jobs in various departments by next month.

The notification of 108 types of jobs will be released by April end and

recruitment process will be completed by July. State Cabinet also gave its nod for

setting up a transgender welfare board, which will frame policies for the third

gender to ensure equality. The board will be headed by the minister of Social

Justice and Empowerment department along with 15 government and six non-

government officials. The cabinet also approved five per cent reservation to ex-

army personnel in Group-A and B of government services apart from age limit

relaxation.

127. Information and Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani and Communication

Minister Manoj Sinha on March 21, 2018 launched free wi-fi service for Sansad

Adarsh Gram, Udwada town in Valsad district of Gujarat through video

conferencing. The Union Ministers also interacted with people of the area.

Speaking on the occasion, Smriti Irani said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi‟s

vision of Digital India is being fulfilled. Communications Minister Manoj Sinha

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said that one lakh gram panchayats have been linked digitally so far. He said the

Optical Fibre Cable has been increased to 14 lakh kilometres.

128. The National Cultural Audiovisual Archives (NCAA) project of Ministry of

Culture was certified as world‟s first Trusted Digital Repository as per ISO

16363:2012 standard. The certification was granted by Primary Trustworthy

Digital Repository Authorisation Body Ltd. (PTAB), United Kingdom. Its primary

objective is to identify and preserve cultural heritage of India available in

audiovisual form through process of digitization and make it accessible to the

people.

129. A MoU was signed between the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers‟

Welfare and Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship to conduct skill

development training programmes for agriculture and allied sector. These skill

development training programmes will be conducted to conduct skill

development training programmes for agriculture and allied sector. These skill

development training programmes will be conducted at Krishi Vigyan Kendra

(KVKs). The MoU will help to increase cooperation between both ministries and

help in fulfilling Government‟s dream of “Kaushal Bharat-Kushal Bharat”. KVK is

a project of ICAR (Indian Council of Agricultural Research) for testing and

transfer of Agricultural technologies at grassroot level.

130. Indian Railways has formally handed over eighteen 1350 HP AC/DC

diesel electric locomotives to Myanmar Railways. It was the first project

completed in current Indian Line of Credit (LoC).The 18 locomotives were

supplied by RITES, a PSU of Ministry of Railways and manufactured by Diesel

Locomotive Works, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. India and Myanmar have been long

enjoying cooperation in Railway sector over the last two decades. Moreover,

Indian Railways is playing a pivotal role in developing cordial relations with the

neighboring countries.

131. Online marketplace and hospitality service provider Airbnb has signed

four MoUs to boost tourism North East India. The MoUs aim at creating

hospitality micro-entrepreneurs across key destinations in North East India. They

seek to leverage community resources and appropriate local resources based

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technology for development. Under MoUs, NEC, NETDC and Airbnb had agreed

to expand tourism in north east India through Airbnb‟s global platform.

132. .The Festival of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (FINE) was inaugurated

in New Delhi by President Ram Nath Kovind. The 5-day festival was organised

by Rashtrapati Bhavan in association with Department of Science and

Technology (DST) and National Innovation Foundation-India (NIFI). FINE is an

initiative to recognise, respect, showcase, reward innovations and foster

supportive ecosystem for innovators.

133. The commemorative coins of denominations Rs. 1,000 and Rs. 10 has

released by President Ram Nath Kovind on the occasion of Nabakalebar festival

at a function held in Puri, Odisha. These coins were release to mark the festival

which is a symbolic recreation of sibling deities — Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra

and Devi Subhadra. Naba means new and Kalebara is body In this festival, the

idols of Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra and Sudarshan are replaced

by new idols as it is believed that Lord Shree Jagannath adornes new body

during Nabakalebara. It is usually comes in every twelve to nineteen years based

on the auspicious two months of Ashadha in a year called as Purusottam month

as per the Hindu calendar.

134. The first National workshop on Poshan Abhiyaan was held in New Delhi

on March 20, 2018 to implement the campaign in a fast track mode across the

country. The day-long event saw participation from all the states and union

territories. The Poshan Abhiyaan campaign was launched earlier this month by

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan. It aims to ensure holistic

development and adequate nutrition for pregnant women, mothers and children.

The programme also targets to reduce the level of stunting, under-nutrition,

anaemia and low birth rate.

135. The Union Cabinet has given its approval for revision existing Double

Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) between India and Qatar. The purpose of

revision is for avoidance of double taxation and for prevention of fiscal evasion

with respect to taxes on income. The existing DTAA between India and Qatar

was signed in April 1999 and came into force in January, 2000.

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136. The Union Cabinet has given its approval for closure of India

Development Foundation of Overseas Indians (IDF-OI).The purpose of closure is

to enhance synergies in channelizing contributions of Indian Diaspora to

Government‟s flagship programmes such as National Mission for clean Ganga

and Swachh Bharat Mission. It also seeks to enhance synergies, improve

efficiencies and avoid duplication of work.

137. The Union Cabinet has approved opening of 18 new Indian Missions in

Africa over four year period from 2018-2021. Decision in this regard was taken at

the Union Cabinet meeting chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New

Delhi. The decision will enhance India‟s diplomatic outreach and increase its

footprints in resource-rich African continent.

138. The Union Cabinet gave approval for moving official amendments in the

Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2016. The Bill will prevent commercialization of

surrogacy including sale and purchase of human embryo and gametes. Once the

Bill is enacted by the Parliament, the National Surrogacy Board will be

constituted. While, the States and Union Territories will constitute the State

Surrogacy Board and State Appropriate Authorities within three months of the

notification by the Union Government.

139. The Union Cabinet approved the launch of the Centrally sponsored

'Ayushman Bharat -National Health Protection Mission (AB-NHPM)'.The scheme

has the benefit cover of Rs 5 lakh per family per year. This cover will take care of

almost all secondary care and tertiary care procedures.The scheme aims to

target over 10 crore families belonging to poor and vulnerable population based

on Socio Economic and Caste Census 2011 (SECC) database. There will be no

cap on family size and age in the scheme.

140. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare granted approval to amend the

regulation for admission to PG medical courses in order to expand the scope of

persons with disabilities getting the benefit of reservation. With the decision, the

seats reserved for people with disabilities for admission to postgraduate medical

courses will be increased from 3 per cent to 5 per cent.Now, the people with all

mentioned 21 benchmark disabilities as per the Rights of Persons with

Disabilities Act, 2016 can register for admission to medical courses.

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141. A special CBI court in Ranchi on March 19, 2018 convicted Rashtriya

Janata Dal Chief Lalu Prasad in another scam case in Dumka, Jharkhand and

acquitted former Bihar Chief Minister Jagannath Mishra in the case. The court

postponed the judgment as Lalu Prasad filed a petition under 319 CrPC asking

the then three officials of the Accountant General, in the 1990s, be made a party

to the case.This is the fourth case relating to the fodder scam, for the fraudulent

withdrawal of Rs 3.13 crore from the Dumka treasury.

142. Researchers from the Anthropological Survey of India (AnSI) have

discovered a number of Acheulian artefacts dating to about 1500000 to 150000

years ago from an unexplored site at Ghumarwin in Bilaspur district of Himachal

Pradesh. The site is close to the site where scientists in the 19th century

discovered fossil remains of Sivapithecus, the last common ancestor of

orangutans and humans. The discovery of stone tools belonging to the Acheulian

age presents the possibility of continuity of the two stone age cultures at the site.

143. The Union Cabinet has given its in principle approval for inclusion of

communities, namely „Parivara and Talawara‟ as synonym of Nayaka at in the list

of Scheduled Tribes (STs) of Karnataka. This approval fulfils long term demand

of these communities for granting ST status in Karnataka. With this inclusion,

persons belonging to these communities will be eligible to get ST certificate from

Karnataka. They will also be eligible for all benefits meant for ST in state.

144. The Union Cabinet has approved North East Industrial Development

Scheme (NEIDS), 2017 to promote employment in North Eastern Region states

including Sikkim. NEIDS is combination of the incentives covered under the

earlier two government schemes with a much larger outlay. It will have financial

outlay of Rs. 3000 crores upto March, 2020.

145. Krem Puri- the world‟s longest sandstone cave was discovered near

Laitsohum village in Mawsynram area in East Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya.

This sandstone cave is also India‟s second longest cave in general category

after limestone Krem Liat Prah-Umim-Labit system. The cave is 24,583 metres

(24.5 km) in length and is known for its complex cave systems hidden under its

undulating hills. Krem Puri cave system also has fossils of dinosaurs, especially

Mosasaurus, a giant reptile that lived 66-76 million years ago.

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146. NAIPUNYA RATHAM or World on Wheels- the multi utility vehicle was

launched at State Secretariat in capital Amaravathi , by Andhra Pradesh

Government „s Chief Minister N.Chandrababu Naidu. As a part of Smart village

Smart Ward Programme ,it will facilitate and look to improve digital literacy, digital

skills and create awareness on various government schemes that are underway

in Andhra Pradesh. It is aimed at taking technology and innovation to the remote

corners of Andhra Pradesh. The first phase of Naipunya Ratham will cover 13

districts and 28 smart villages in collaboration with Hewlett Packard (HP),

Entrepreneurship Development. State Government will soon roll out 12 more

Naipunya Rathams by May 2018.

147. Payment of Gratuity (Amendment) Bill, 2017 has been passed by the

parliament to empower government to fix period of maternity leave and tax-free

gratuity amount with an executive order. The Bill seeks to amend Payment of

Gratuity Act, 1972 on two issues related to maternity leave and ceiling of gratuity

payable to an employee. Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 allows for payment of

gratuity to employees in any establishment, factory, mine, oilfield, plantation, port,

railways, company, or shop employing 10 or more workers. Under it, employees

are paid gratuity if they have provided at least 5 years of continuous service at

time of termination. Gratuity is calculated based on 15 days of wages for each

year of continuous and complete service, subject to a ceiling.

148. Renowned Indian painter Raja Ravi Varma‟s untitled painting of Tilottama

was sold for $795,000 (around Rs 5 crore) at Sotheby‟s Modern and

Contemporary South Asian art auction in New York. The winning bid was made

by anonymous private collector.

149. India‟s first Sign Language Dictionary of 3000 words has been launched

by the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment. The dictionary has been

developed by Indian Sign Language Research & Training Centre (ISLR&TC)

under Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD). This

dictionary is available in both print and video formats. It will help to bring

uniformity in sign languages which are used by differently abled people

especially people with hearing or speech impairment. ISL dictionary consists of

various categories of words for example legal terms, medical terms, academic

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terms, technical terms and daily use words. It has English and Hindi terms to

help deaf children to learn English.

150. „Videsh Aaya Pradesh ke Dwaar‟- an engagement programme with

regional media in Hyderabad, Telangana was launched by the External Publicity

and Public Diplomacy Division of Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). The initiative

aims enhance public diplomacy outreach of MEA and its commitment to take

objectives of foreign policy to people at grassroot-level.

151. The first-ever National Conference on Drug Law Enforcement was held in

New Delhi. It was inaugurated by Minister of State for Home Affairs Hansraj

Gangaram Ahir. The 2-day conference was organized by Narcotics Control

Bureau (NCB), Ministry of Home Affairs. NCB is nodal drug law enforcement and

intelligence agency of India. It is responsible for fighting drug trafficking and the

abuse of illegal substance.

152. The Union Government has decided to declare 2018 as 'National Year of

Millets to boost the cultivation of millets like ragi and jowar on a mission mode to

achieve nutritional security. The information was shared by Agriculture Minister

Radha Mohan Singh while addressing MPs in a consultative committee meeting

in New Delhi on March 22, 2018. The Minister said that millet cultivation in India

has declined due to change in dietary habits and unavailability of millets. As a

result of this, level of nutrients like proteins, Vitamin-A, iron and iodine have fell in

women and children.

153. The voting for 25 Rajya Sabha seats spread over 7 states, which began at

9 am on March 23, 2018 concluded at 4 pm on the same day. The counting of

votes was undertaken at 5 PM in the state capitals. Among a total of 58 Rajya

Sabha seats to be filled, 33 candidates from 10 states were declared elected

unopposed on March 15. Seven union ministers including Ravi Shankar Prasad

and Prakash Javadekar were among them. Voting for the remaining 25 seats

was held in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh

and Telangana and Kerala. While in Uttar Pradesh, 11 candidates are in the fray

for 10 seats, in West Bengal six candidates are in the fray for 5 seats. In the

remaining states, three candidates are contesting for two seats in Jharkhand, five

39


candidates are in the field in Karnataka for four seats and four candidates are in

the fray for three seats in Telangana.

154. The Delhi High Court on March 23, 2018 set aside the Centre's

notification disqualifying 20 AAP MLAs in the office-of-profit case. The ruling was

passed by a two-judge bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Chander

Shekhar, who remanded the plea of AAP MLAs back to the Election Commission

which will hear it afresh. Terming the Election Commission's recommendation on

disqualification as vitiated, the bench stated that there was a violation of natural

justice and no oral hearing was given to the MLAs before disqualifying them as

legislators of the Delhi Assembly.

155. Former NCERT director JS Rajput is nominated as India‟s representative

to Executive Board (EXB) of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural

Organization (UNESCO) by the Ministry of Human Resource Development.

Professor JS Rajput is known for his contributions in reforms in school education

and teacher education. He had proposed valuable changes in school education

curriculum as Director, NCERT popularly known as five Sai values: Truth, Peace,

Nonviolence, Righteous Conduct (Dharma) and Love.

156. Print Biennale 2018 - The first-ever International Exhibition of Graphic

Prints was held in New Delhi which was organised by Lalit Kala Akademi. The

event comprised displaying of total 200 original prints are created by Indian and

international artists of impeccable competence. Total 988 entries at the national

level were received of which 127 were chosen for display.

157. At least 64 people have died in a fire that engulfed a shopping complex in

the Siberian coal-mining city of Kemerovo, Russia. According to the Investigative

Committee, four people have been detained for questioning, including the head

of the company that manages the shopping centre. The fire started on an upper

floor of the Winter Cherry complex shopping mall in central Kemerovo. The

cause of the fire is not yet known, however, the authorities have launched an

investigation.

158. The “e-Tribes India” would be launched soon by the Union Tribal Affairs

Ministry. The Launch of e-Tribes includes www.tribesindia.com, www.trifed.in and

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Retail Inventory Software and M-commerce app. Besides, the occasion will also

mark the launch of „Tribes India‟ Banners at Amazon, Snapdeal, Paytm & GeM.

159. The Commerce Ministry's investigation arm Directorate General of Anti-

Dumping and Allied Duties (DGAD) terminated its anti-dumping probe on imports

of solar cells from China, Taiwan and Malaysia. The probe was initiated by the

DGAD on July 21, 2017 following complaints of dumping of the product by the

association.The Indian Solar Manufacturers Association has made a request to

terminate the present investigation.

160. The Supreme Court on March 26, 2018 issued notices to the Centre and

the Law Commission on petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the

prevalent practices of polygamy and nikah halala among the Muslim community.

One of the petitioners argued that the 2017 judgement of the Supreme Court,

which had held instant triple talaq as unconstitutional, did not address the issues

of polygamy and 'nikah halala' and had left them open. The judge‟s bench

comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y

Chandrachud considered the submission and stated that a fresh five-judge

constitution bench would be set up to deal with the constitutionality of 'nikah

halala' and polygamy. 'Nikah halala' -under the practice, if a Muslim woman after

being divorced by her husband wants to go back to him, then she has to marry

another person, consummate the marriage and then get a divorce and then get

re-married to her first husband.

161. Sardar Vallabhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad handles 200

flight movements per day. It has received „Most Improved Airport „ award in the

Asian Pacific region, in Airport Service Quality Awards 2017organised by the

Airport Council International ( ACI).

162. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by the Airport

Authority of India (AAI) with the Assam government for sustainable development

of human settlements at villages in Kamrup district. AAI will provide financial

assistance of Rs. 4.58 crore for Kamrup district under its Corporate Social

Responsibilities (CSR) initiative.

163. The eleventh session of the China-India joint-group co-chaired by Union

Minister of Commerce & Industry Suresh Prabhu and China‟s Minister of

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Commerce Mr. Zhong Shan on Economic Relations, Trade, Science &

Technology was held in New Delhi. Both countries reaffirmed and reiterated their

commitments to promote balanced and sustainable bilateral trade.

164. Cool EMS Service between India and Japan has been launched by

Department of Posts under Ministry of Communications. The Cool EMS Service

came into force from March 2018. Initially, it will be available in Delhi only. Food

items will be carried by Japan Post in special cool boxes containing refrigerant to

preserve quality of food items. It is one-way service from Japan to India which

allows customers in India to import Japanese food items for personal use which

is allowed under Indian regulations.

165. The Ministry of Power has partnered with Ministry of Skill Development &

Entrepreneurship to train the manpower in six states for speedy implementation

of its Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojna (Saubhagya Scheme). These six

states are Assam, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha and Uttar

Pradesh. Under this partnership, around 47,000 Distribution Lineman-Multi Skills

and 8,500 Technical Helpers will be trained to meet the requirement of power

sector projects under Saubhagya scheme.

166. „Study in India‟ programme to attract foreign students to pursue higher

education in India has been approved by the Ministry of Human Resources

Development (HRD). The programme will provide meritorious foreign students

fee waiver and scholarship. The proposed fee waiver and scholarship will be

decided by institute concerned based on the predefined structure. Under it, 100%

waiver of tuition fees will be only for the top 25% students, 50% waiver of tuition

fees only for the next 25% students, 25% waiver of tuition fees only for the next

25% students and no waiver of tuition fee for remaining 25% of students.

Government has approved expenditure of Rs. 150 crores for programme for two

years 2018-19 and 2019-20 which will be primarily for brand promotion activities.

The programme will not affect number of seats which are meant for Indian

students in any educational institute.

167. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between India,United

Kingdom and Northern Ireland regarding cooperation in the field of organised

crime was approved by the Union cabinet. The MoU will reinforce collaboration in

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field of security that will be mutually beneficial. India and UK already have

agreement concerning investigation and prosecution of crime and tracing,

restraint and confiscation of proceeds and instruments of crime which was

signed in 1995.

168. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved the

proposal was forwarded by Ministry of Commerce & Industry for removal of

prohibition on export of all varieties of edible oils except mustard oil. The CCEA

has also approved empowering Committee, chaired by Secretary, Department of

Food & Public Distribution to review the export and import policy on all varieties

of edible oils. Removing of restrictions on export of all edible oils will provide

additional marketing avenues for edible oils and oilseeds. It will benefit the

farmers by way of better realisation for oilseeds. It is considered as a step

towards Ease of Doing Business.

169. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Canada to

establish bilateral cooperation activities in field of Intellectual Property (IP) was

approved by the Union Cabinet which was signed in Feb 2018. It will facilitate

exchange of best practices, experiences and knowledge on raising IP awareness

among public, businesses and educational institutions of both countries. It will

allow exchange of experts for interacting with human resources engaged in

specialized IP fields.

170. The proposal for restructuring of National Skill Development Fund (NSDF)

and National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) to strengthen their

governance, implementation and monitoring framework was approved by the

Union Cabinet. The purpose of restructuring is also to ensure better corporate

governance, transparency and accountability in operations of NSDC. Besides it

will also strengthen oversight role of NSDF.

171. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between India and South

Asian Cooperative Environment Programme (SACEP) for cooperation on

response to Oil and Chemical Pollution in South Asian Seas Region was

approved by the Union cabinet. The MoU intends to promote closer cooperation

between India and other maritime nations comprising South Asian seas region

namely Bangladesh, Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka for protection and

43


preservation of marine environment in the region. As per the MoU , Indian Coast

Guard under defence ministry will respond to oil and chemical spills on behalf of

Government of India. Further, ICG Maritime Rescue Coordination Centres

(MRCCs) will be national emergency response centre for marine incidents.

172. The continuation of Credit Guarantee Fund for Education Loans Scheme

has been approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA). It

also approved continuation and modification of Central Sector Interest Subsidy

Scheme for period from 2017 to 2020. Under the revised scheme, the numbers

of loans per year are expected to be at least 3.3 lakhs i.e. 20% increase over

previous scheme. The scheme which ran since 2009, average educational loans

per year were only 2.78 lakhs. This will provide education loans to 10 lakh

students during this period. The restructuring of scheme is in accordance with

policy of Government to make good quality education affordable to all. Ceiling on

loan amount has been refixed at Rs. 7.5 lakhs, considering the average loan size

only of Rs. 4 lakhs in order to allow more students to access the benefit. The

moratorium period will be course period + 1 year.

173. Certain amendments to National Medical Commission (NMC) Bill

considering recommendations of Department Related Parliamentary Standing

Committee (DRPSC) and general feedback from public were approved by the

Union cabinet. The amendments approved are i) The final MBBS examination

will be held as common exam throughout country. It will serve as exit test to be

called National Exit Test (NEXT).ii) It removes provision dealing with bridge

course for AYUSH practitioners to practice modern medicine to limited extent.

Now state governments have been empowered to take necessary measures for

addressing and promoting primary health care in rural areas.iii) The maximum

limit of 40% seats for which fee will be regulated in private medical institutions

and deemed universities has been increased to 50% seats. The fee will also

include all other charges taken by colleges. iv) The nominees of States and UTs

in National Medical Commission (NMC) have been increased from 3 to 6. TNMC

will comprise of 25 members of which at least 21 will be doctors. V) It adds

provision providing different options for warning, reasonable monetary penalty,

reducing intake, stoppage of admission leading up to withdrawal of recognition

44


on medical college non-compliant with norms.vi) It provides severe punishment

for any unauthorized practice of medicine or by quacks with imprisonment of up

to 1 year along with fine extending up to 1 year along with fine extending up to

Rs. 5 lakhs.

174. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved new

Integrated Scheme on School Education for period 2018 to 2020 to be

formulated by Department of School Education and Literacy. The new scheme

will subsume existing schemes related to education such as Sarva Shiksha

Abhiyan (SSA), Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) and Teacher

Education (TE). The scheme comes in backdrop of Government‟s vision of

Sabko Shiksha, Achhi Shiksha and aims to support the States in universalizing

access to school education from classes pre-nursery to XII across the country. It

will have estimated allocation of Rs 75,000 crore for the mentioned period is 20%

increase over current allocations.

175. Assam Chief Minister Sarbanand Sonowal directed all superintendents of

police to ensure swift and correct filing of charge-sheet in all crimes against

women and children so that justice can be given to the victims. He also directed

the Deputy Commissioners and SPs to conduct intensive awareness campaigns

so that people are made aware to prevent heinous crimes taking place against

children and women in the state.

176. The two-day meeting of the Permanent Indus Commission (PIC) between

India and Pakistan began in New Delhi on March 29, 2018. The commission is

expected to discuss various issues under the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT).The

Indian delegation for the annual meeting comprises India's Indus Water

Commissioner P K Saxena, a representative of the Ministry of External Affairs

(MEA) and technical experts. Pakistan's six-member delegation for the

commission's 114th meeting is being led by Syed Muhammad Mehar Ali Shah.

The meeting will take place in the backdrop of the continuing tension between

the two countries over a host of issues, including the alleged harassment of

diplomats.

177. The toll-free helpline, 181-Sakhi - a women's helpline to tackle the recent

surge in crime in the state was launched by Assam Chief Minister, Sarbananda

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Sonowal at a programme held in Janata Bhawan. The service has been

integrated with women police stations, state commission for women, family

counselling centres, NGOs, legal service centres, shelter homes, medical and

legal experts. The service is presently being launched for one shift and will be

open from 9 am to 5 pm. It will soon be made available for 24 hours.

178. Telangana Panchayat Raj Bill, 2018 was passed by the Telangana

Legislative Assembly on March 29, 2018. The bill is comprehensive and

envisages making villages self-reliant, clean and green.

179. The Railway Ministry announced that the available vacancies have now

been increased to 1,10,000 from previously 90,000 for Group C (26,502

Assistant Loco Pilot (ALP) and Technician posts) and Group D (62,907 posts).

The last date for the applications is March 31, 2018.

180. The first male cabin crew as part of its plans to be an „equal opportunity

employer‟ was introduced by Vistara airlines. Besides, the airline also unveiled

an elegant uniform for its male cabin crew, designed by celebrated designer label

Lecoanet Hemant. Apart from Vistara, Air India, Jet Airways and SpiceJet have

mixed cabin crew.

181. Goa Regional Plan 2021 was revived by the Goa state government on

March 29, 2018, nearly six years after it was put on hold due to protests. The

plan was put on hold by the then chief minister Digambar Kamat of Congress on

June 4, 2012 amid protests by the opposition which feared that the plan would

unleash unbridled construction activity damaging the fragile ecology of the

coastal state.

182. The Jalandhar district administration has made it mandatory for

applicants, seeking fresh or renewal of arms license to undergo a dope test. The

primary aim of the move is to check the misuse of the licensed weapon by the

drug addicts, thereby ensuring the safety and security of the people.

183. The Gauwahati High Court would be setting up exclusive fast-track courts

in all districts of Assam for the day-to-day trial of cases related to rape and

murder of women and children in the state.

184. The Goa bench of Bombay High Court passed an interim order on March

29, 2018, directing immediate suspension of transportation of minerals from the

46


88 mining leases in Goa whose operations were stopped by the Supreme Court

last month.

185. India‟s longest elevated road- Hindon Elevated Road was inaugurated in

Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. The elevated six-

lane road is approximately 10 kilometres-long. It is built on 227 single pillars. It

was built at a cost of about Rs 11,000 crores. It connects UP Gate to Rajnagar

Extension and will make it easier to commute between Delhi and Ghaziabad. It

reduces 1 hour journey by 18 minutes. It is estimated that around 4,000 vehicles

would ply on this elevated road every hour.

186. The first US-sourced LNG shipment was imported by state-owned GAIL

on board of its chartered LNG ship „Meridian Spirit‟ from Cheniere Energy‟s

Sabine Pass LNG export facility in Louisiana. It was discharged at GAIL‟s Dabhol

terminal, Maharashtra after 25 days voyage. The development comes on heels

of India‟s first import of crude oil from US in October 2017.

187. Rajasthan‟s first mega food park-Greentech Mega Food Park Private Ltd

was inaugurated at Roopangarh Village in Ajmer district by Union Minister for

Food Processing Industry Harsimrat Kaur Badal. It has central processing centre

as well as well as four Primary Processing Centres (PPCs)at Jaipur, Nagaur,

Tonk and Churu. It also has facilities for primary processing and storage near

farms. The park was set up under Central Government‟s flagship Pradhan Mantri

Kisan Sampada Yojana and „Make in India‟ initiative.

188. Geographical Indication (GI) Tag to Madhya Pradesh‟s Kadaknath chicken

has awarded by Chennai based Geographical Indication Registry and

Intellectual Property India. Kadaknath chicken breed is unique for its black colour

due to its black-feathers. This breed of chicken is popular for its adaptability and

flavourful good-tasting black meat, which is believed to have medicinal

properties. It is native tribal districts of Jhabua, Alirajpur and parts of Dhar in

Madhya Pradesh. The GI tag will ensure that no one else can use name

Kadaknath Chicken while selling any other black chicken.

189. Swachh Bharat Summer Internship (SBSI) 2018 aimed at engaging

college youth with Swachhata work in villages in coming Summer vacation will

be launched by Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation in association with

47


Ministry of Human Resource Development. SBSI 2018 aims to engage lakhs of

educated youth across country, develop their skills and orientation for sanitation

sector, amplify mass awareness and cement people‟s movement (Jan andolan)

aspect of SBM.

190. Union law ministry is preparing to file a review petition against

the Supreme Court‟s ruling on the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes

(Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 that puts a stop to immediate arrests in

complaints filed under its provisions.

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International:

1. An MoU signed between India and Jordan on cooperation in the field of

Health & Medical Science was approved by the Union Cabinet. A Working

Group will be set up to to oversee the implementation of this MoU and further

elaborate the details of cooperation.

2. The Union Cabinet has approved the proposal for signing of MoU on

Cooperation in the Field of Manpower between India and Jordan. It aims at

enhancing collaboration between two countries in promoting best practices in

administration of contractual employment.

3. An MoU between India and Jordan for mining and beneficiation of Rock

Phosphate and Muriate of Phosphate (MOP). The MoU will ensure consistent

supply of raw material, intermediaries and finish Phosphatic and Potassic

(P&K) fertilizers to cater to needs of country at a reasonable price. It also

approved setting up production facility in Jordan for Phosphoric

Acid/NPK/DAP Fertilizers with long term agreement for 100% off-take to

India.

4. The Union Cabinet has approved signing and ratifying Agreement between

India and Jordan on Cooperation and Mutual Administrative Assistance in

Customs matters. The Agreement will provide legal framework for sharing of

information and intelligence between Customs authorities of two countries

and help in proper application of Customs laws, prevention and investigation

of Customs offences and facilitation of legitimate trade.

5. FATF (Financial Action Task Force) has decided to put Pakistan back on

“grey list,” subjecting it to direct monitoring and intense scrutiny by the

International Co-operation Review. Group (ICRG) on terror financing, pending

further review in June 2018. The FATF decision was by consensus, after days

of closed-door discussions within the 37-member group.The impact of grey

list is that it will endanger Pakistan‟s handful of remaining banking links to t

outside world, causing real financial pain to the economy. It will squeeze

Pakistan‟s economy and make it harder to meet its mounting foreign financing

needs, including potential future borrowings from International Monetary Fund

(IMF).

49


6. The local authority in a small south-western German village voted on

February 26, 2018 to decide the fate of Nazi-era bell with the inscription

"Everything for the Fatherland - Adolf Hitler". The votes, 10 to 3, determined

that the bell should continue to hang in the village‟s local church. The local

council rejected calls by some residents for the bell to be dismantled, and

turned down an offer by the local Protestant church to bear the cost of

installing a new one.

7. King Abdullah II of Jordan was on a three-day official visit to India from

February 27, 2018 to March 1, 2018. India and Jordan signed following 12

agreements in New Delhi in presence of Indian Prime Minister Narendra

Modi and King Abdullah II of Jordan.

8. Nuclear power Plant is planned to set up at Rooppur , Bangladesh. It is a

joint venture system of India and Russia. both the countries signed for the

same.

9. India and Jordan have signed 12 agreements during the Jordanian King‟s

three days visit to India after the high-level talks between Prime Minister

Narendra Modi and Jordanian King Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein in New Delhi.

The covering areas as diverse as defence, mass media, health, culture and

tourism. India is Jordan‟s fourth largest trading partner.

10. Armenian Parliament elected Armen Sarkisian as country‟s next president. In

the Presidential vote by Armenia‟s National Assembly, 90 members voted in

favour of Armen Sarkisian, 10 voted against and one abstained. This is

the first time in Armenia‟s history, that a president has been elected by the

National Assembly instead of popular vote. Armen Sarkisian will succeed the

incumbent President Serge Sarkisian, whose term will end on April 9, 2018.

11. India and Vietnam have signed three agreements including landmark pact on

civil nuclear cooperation to boost bilateral relations. These agreements were

inked after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held talks with visiting President of

Vietnam, Tran Dai Quang in New Delhi. Vietnam is one of India‟s close

strategic partners in the ASEAN region. Both countries will work together for

regional security, including maritime and cyber security. They respect the UN

50


Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and will further deepen

Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

12. Krishna Kumari Kolhi (39) from Sindh province in Pakistan became first-ever

Dalit Hindu woman to get elected as Senator, member of upper house

(Senate) of Muslim-majority country. Her election represents major milestone

for women and minority rights in Pakistan. She won the election for the

reserved seat for women from Sindh province. She is a member of Bilawal

Bhutto Zardari-led Pakistan People‟s Party (PPP). Earlier, PPP had elected

first Hindu woman named Ratna Bhagwandas Chawla as senator.

13. World Trade Organization (WTO) has decided to set up panel to examine

whether India has complied with its 2016 ruling in case against US regarding

domestic content requirements (DCR) rules for solar cells and modules. In 2013,

US had filed complaint before WTO, arguing that domestic content requirement

imposed under India‟s ambitious Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (NSM)

violates global trading rules by unfavorably discriminating against imported solar

cells and modules..

14. Iraq has overtaken Saudi Arabia to become India‟s top crude oil supplier by

supplying 38.9 million tonnes (MT) crude oil in the current financial year.

15. North and South Korea will hold their first summit in more than a decade in late

April, 2018. This announcement was made by South Korea‟s presidential office

on March 6, 2018 after its senior delegation returned from its two-day visit to the

North where they met leader Kim Jong Un.

16. The wreck of a US aircraft carrier that sunk during World War Two has been

found off the coast of Australia. The United States navy stated that the ship -

Lexington - along with 11 of its 35 aircrafts was discovered by a search team led

by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen on March 4, 2018.Some of the ship's aircrafts

are reported to be in a remarkably good condition.

17. Philanthropist Michael Bloomberg( Ambassador for WHO) announced to spend

USD 20 million US dollars to launch an anti-tobacco watchdog to detect and

expose deceptive practices by the tobacco industry

18. Recently, US had proposed to impose tariffs of 25% on steel imports and 10% on

imported aluminium to protect domestic steel industry from cheap imports. It had

51


clubbed India as steel non-mature country with other steel surplus nations. The

proposal, if implemented, will result in major shifts in existing global trade flows of

steel and steel products. It will dent growth prospects of developing nation like

India, whose production and consumption of steel is inward looking.

19. India-China bilateral trade has reached $84.44 billion last year, a historic high

with 18.63% year-on-year growth rate according to data of Chinese General

Administration of Customs. This is considered as historic landmark as volume of

bilateral trade for first time has touched $80 billion, well above the $71.18 billion

registered in 2016. India has emerged as the seventh largest export destination

for Chinese products, and 24th largest exporter to China.

20. World ATM congress held in Madrid, Spain from 6th to 8th March 2018.ATM

stands for Air Traffic Management. Airports Authority of India (AAI) participating

in this congress.

21. Sri Lankan Government declared a state of emergency on 6th March 2018 for 10

days to prevent the spread of communal violence between majority Sinhala and

minority Muslims in Kandy district. This will be the first time since Aug 2011, that

the state of emergency will be in force in Sri Lanka,

22. Washington became the first state in US to pass its own net neutrality law. The

bill forbids internet service providers from blocking or slowing the flow of web

content, or from charging websites for higher delivery speed.

23. US President Donald Trump signed two proclamations that impose 25 per cent

tariff on imported steel and 10 per cent on aluminium .It will come into effect in 15

days, primarily targets the massive steel and aluminium dumping by China. Only

two countries Canada and Mexico have been exempted from the new import

tariff, that too till the time the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)

negotiations are complete

24. A 8.3 km stretch of Indo-Bangladesh border was declared as first „crime-free

zone‟ by the director generals of Border Security Force (BSF), India and Border

Guard Bangladesh (BGB). The stretch covers Gunarmath and Kalyani Border

Out Posts (BOPs) in India and Puthkhali and Daulatpur BOPs in Bangladesh

across border. The first „crime-free zone‟ stretch is one of most vulnerable to

crimes like cattle smuggling and others. Both border guarding forces with help of

52


civil administrations of two countries, NGOs and local populance will help in

ensuring that no crime takes place along stretch. Bangladesh and India share

4,156 km long international border. It is longest international border shared by

India with its neighbours. It passes through five states viz. Assam (262 km),

Tripura (856 km), Mizoram (180 km), Meghalaya (443 km) and West Bengal

(2,217 km).

25. A loan agreement was signed between Indian Renewable Energy Development

Agency (IREDA) and European Investment Bank (EIB) for second line of credit

(LoC) of Euro 150 million on non-sovereign basis for renewable energy financing

in India. The LoC has tenure of 15 years including grace period of 3 years..

26. 11 Pacific Rim countries have formally entered into Comprehensive and

Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership or CP TPP or TPP11 in

Santiago, Chile. It is revised version of Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) proposed

by US, that was finalized after US withdrew from it. TPP11 includes Australia,

Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore

and Vietnam. It will be world‟s third largest trade bloc after European Union (EU)

and North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

27. A strategic pact providing for use of each other‟s military facilities including

opening naval bases to warships was inked between India and France. The

agreement will facilitate reciprocal provision of logistic support, supplies and

services between armed forces of India and France during authorized port visits,

joint exercises and joint training among others. It was signed during official state

visit of French President Emmanuel Macron to India.

28. India and France singed 14 key agreements after extensive bilateral talks

between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel

Macron in New Delhi in strategic areas of security, nuclear energy, protection of

classified information and also in field of education, environment, urban

development and railways.

29. Indian and French companies have exchanged 19 contracts and agreements

worth over 13 billion euros in sectors including new and renewable energy, smart

grid, nuclear energy, aviation, cement, and telecom among others.

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30. The International Solar Alliance (ISA) and African Development Bank (AfDb),

Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), Asian Development Bank (ADB),

Green climate fund (GCF), and New Development Bank (NDB) signed Joint

financial partnership Declarations. The International Energy Agency (IEA) also

signed Joint partnership Declaration with ISA. The objective of these agreements

is to deepen their cooperation in support of renewable energy. ISA had earlier

signed three partnerships with World Bank, European Investment Bank (EIB) and

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). Its major

objectives include global deployment of over 1,000GW of solar generation

capacity and mobilisation of investment of over US $1000 billion into solar

energy by 2030.

31. The United Nations children's agency (UNICEF) stated on March 6, 2018 that

India has seen a sharp decline in child marriages over the last ten years with

only 27 per cent of girls getting married before 18 years in comparison to 47 per

cent a decade back.

32. . Bolivia unveiled its 200 km long flag which it claims to be the World‟s biggest

flag. It extends between the cities La Paz and Oruro. It is made of blue cloth and

features Bolivian National Symbols. It is 3m in wide. Bolivia demanded access to

the Pacific Ocean which it lost to Chile in a war in 19th Century. Bolivian people

held the flag as a sign of support for Bolivia‟s claim for access to the Pacific

Coast.

33. WHO listed "Disease X", which could potentially trigger deadly global epidemic in

the near future, among priority diseases, calling for urgent measures to tackle it.

Besides Disease X, the seven other potential global disease threats each lacking

an effective drug or vaccine includes Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF);

Ebola virus disease and Marburg virus disease; Lassa fever; Middle East

respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory

Syndrome (SARS); Nipah and henipaviral diseases Rift Valley fever (RVF); and

Zika. The report seeks to enable cross-cutting research and development

preparedness for an unknown 'Disease X'.

34. Bidya Devi Bhandari (56), Nepal‟s first woman President was relected for second

term in office. Ms.Bhandari was elected with more than a two-thirds majority after

54


she secured 39,275 votes while the Nepali Congress‟s Ms. Rai garnered 11,730

votes.

35. World Hindi Secretariat building was inaugurated by the President Ram Nath

Kovind in Port Louis, Mauritius. He also launched secretariat‟s logo, an Early

Digital Learning Programme as well unveiled foundation stones of social housing

project and large ENT hospital being built with Indian assistance.

36. Newton-Bhabha Fund for project on Groundwater Arsenic Research in Ganga

River Basin was won by India-United Kingdom (UK) Joint Team. The project was

undertaken by Department of Science and Technology (DST) in collaboration

with Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), UK to find solutions to

water challenges faced in pervasively arsenic-affected Ganga River Basin.

37. At least 1,000 troops were dispatched on March 13, 2018 to help evacuate part

of the seaside town of Fano in Italy after a World War II bomb was spotted at a

construction site. The bomb was found to have been manufactured in the UK. In

case of detonation, it could cause damage within a radius of 1,800 metres. To be

on the safe side, a hospital and railway station falling within the bomb‟s 1800

metre radius were also evacuated and train services were halted.

38. Indian export subsidy schemes at World Trade Organisation (WTO) have been

challenged by the US Trade Representative (USTR). They said that these

programmes harm its manufacturing sector and workers by creating an uneven

playing field. According to USTR, at least half a dozen Indian programmes

provide financial benefits to Indian exporters, which allow them to sell their goods

more cheaply to detriment of US workers and manufacturers.

39. India and Madagascar have signed an umbrella agreement in the field of

defence. Under the agreement, both the countries will explore various ways of

co-operation in the field of defence. An amended air service agreement was also

signed to support efforts towards improving connectivity between the two

countries. The two countries will have co-sharing agreement with Air Seychelles

through Air India and Air Madagascar.

40. The petitions for H-1B visa will be accepted by the US Citizenship and

Immigration Services (USCIS) from April 2, 2018. The H1B visa is a non-

immigrant visa that enables US companies to employ foreign workers in jobs that

55


require theoretical or technical skills. The federal agency, however, said it has

suspended premium processing of all H-1B petitions which is expected to last

until 10th September this year.

41. President of Myanmar, Htin Kyaw, on March 21, 2018 announced his retirement

from the post amidst concerns about his health over the last few months. Htin

Kyaw was the country's first civilian president after Aung San Suu Kyi's National

League for Democracy, won the historical elections in March 2016, ending the

decades of military dictatorship. The 72-year-old President was a supporter of

India's Act East Policy and was also the first Myanmar president to visit India in

2016. His resignation has come at a time when Myanmar and State Consellor

Aung San Suu Kyi, are facing heavy backlash due to the alleged military violence

in the Rakhine state, leading to an exodus of tens of thousands of Rohingya

Muslims to bordering Bangladesh.

42. French president Emmanuel Macron on March 20, 2018 unveiled his plan to

boost French, the 'language of liberty' around the world. French is the sixth most

spoken language in the world, after Mandarin Chinese, English, Hindi, Spanish

and Arabic. There are now more French speakers outside France than inside it.

French was long dominant at the European Union headquarters in Brussels but

recent times saw growth in popularity of English in European institutions,

especially since the eastern European members joined the bloc in 2004. Macron

aims to spend hundreds of millions of Euros boosting the French language

worldwide, in a push to overtake English in Africa, increase the use of French

online and teach French to more European officials to loosen the grip of the

English language on Brussels.

43. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau introduced legislation on March 20,

2018 that requires the gun retailers in the country to keep records of firearms

inventory and sales for at least 20 years. The proposed bill would also expand

the scope of background checks for those who want to acquire a gun. For

example, the personal history questions on a license application would cover a

person's entire lifetime instead of five years. The legislation would also require

purchasers of rifles and shotguns to present a valid license. Currently, license

verification is voluntary for non-restricted firearms like rifles.

56


44. India's Department of Space (DoS) and the European Commission on March 19,

2018 signed a cooperation agreement related to sharing of earth observation

satellite data. Under the agreement, the European Commission will provide

India with free, full and open access to the data from the Copernicus Sentinel

family of satellites using high bandwidth connections from data hub to data hub.

India on the other hand, will provide the Copernicus programme and its

participating states with a free, full and open access to the data from ISRO's

earth observation satellites including historical data sets. This comprises data

from land, ocean and atmospheric series of ISRO‟s civilian satellites (Oceansat-

2, Scatsat-1, Megha-Tropiques, SARAL, INSAT-3D, INSAT-3DR) with exception

of commercial high-resolution satellites data.

45. An agreement was signed between India and Hong Kong for the avoidance of

double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on

income. This agreement will stimulate flow of investment, technology and

personnel from India to Hong Kong and vice versa, prevent double taxation and

provide. for exchange of information between two contracting parties. It will also

improve transparency in tax matters and will help curb tax evasion and tax

avoidance.

46. Philippines has announced to withdraw from International Criminal Court (ICC)

citing reason of international bias and held that ICC was being utilized as a

political tool against it. It will make Philippines only second country to withdraw

from the Rome statute, following Burundi in 2017. South Africa attempted to

leave in 2016, but its withdrawal was revoked by UN.

47. The US Treasury imposed sanctions on four current and former senior

Venezuelan officials, accusing them of alleged economic mismanagement and

corruption. As a result of the punishment, all assets of the designated persons

that are subject to US jurisdiction are frozen and US persons are generally

prohibited from dealing with them.

48. The President of United States, Donald Trump issued an executive order

prohibiting US transactions with Venezuela's digital currency. The US blocked all

transactions related to, provision of financing for and other dealings in, by a US

person or within the US, any digital currency, digital coin, or digital token that

57


have been issued by the Venezuelan government since January 9. The new

measure has been introduced to counter the latest attempt from the Venezuela

President Nicolás Maduro‟s administration to circumvent US sanctions.

49. Russia has blocked a meeting of the United Nations Security Council to discuss

the human rights situation in Syria. Deputy Permanent Representative of Russia

to the UN, Gennady Kuzmin said that they do not see any justification for the

meeting since human rights is not a subject on the agenda of the Council. Russia

is the largest international backer of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. France

and six other members had called for the meeting, which was expected to

include a briefing from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra'ad

al-Hussein. China, Bolivia and Kazakhstan voted with Russia to prevent the

meeting, while Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea and Ethiopia abstained from

voting. Those who voted in favour of holding the meeting included France, the

United Kingdom, Sweden, Poland, Holland, the United States, Peru and Kuwait.

50. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman has announced that women need

not dress in the black abaya often seen as their expected attire throughout the

kingdom. The Crown Prince indicated that the Sharia law does not dictate that

women wear the traditional garment so they could choose their clothing, so long

as it is respectful. He said Sharia law stipulates that women wear decent and

respectful clothing just like men. The statement of the reformist Crown Prince is

being seen as yet another progressive step towards women's right in the

conservative kingdom.

51. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg apologised for the data debacle that has

dragged the social media giant into a huge controversy and said that he was

ready to testify before the Congress. After the news of Analytics Company

Cambridge Analytica scandal and facebook‟s alleged data breach erupted,

politicians called on the social media founder to testify before their legislative

bodies within five days. The analytics company is alleged to have a hand in

assisting with Donald Trump‟s victory in US Presidential Elections 2016, by using

unethically gathered data to manipulate voter behavior.

52. A UK-based genomics data platform Global Gene Corp (GGC) and an American

genetics company Regeneron Genetics Center (RGC)collaborated to create the

58


world‟s largest project of its kind to study Indian population. Both the companies

will work to find innovative diagnosis and therapies for rare diseases. Scientists

will sequence the exomes of people from the Indian subcontinent in order to gain

insights into alternative forms of genes architecture and specified diseases.

53. An agreement to create African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), one of

the world‟s largest free trade blocs have signed by the 44 African countries from

total 55 members of African Union (AU).The agreement was signed at a summit

held in Kigali, Rwanda. AfCFTA will bring together 1.2 billion people with

combined gross domestic product (GDP) of more than $2 trillion from entire

continent of Africa comprising 55 countries.

54. US President Donald Trump has announced 60 billion US dollar tariffs on China

for its alleged unfair trade practices. President Trump directed US Trade

Representative Robert E. Lighthizer to announce within 15 days a proposed list

of products to be hit with the tariff raise. The USTR has already identified

potential targets- 1,300 product lines worth about 48 billion dollars. Besides this,

Trump also asked Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to come up with a list of

restrictions on Chinese investment. The US currently has about 500 billion

dollars of trade deficit with China.

55. The twelfth edition of Earth Hour was observed across the world on 24 March

2018 to take a global call on climate change. To mark this day, cities worldwide

turned their lights off for one hour from 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm local time.

56. Malaysian Government on March 26, 2018 tabled a bill in parliament to outlaw

fake news proposing hefty fines and 10 years in jail for publishers of fake news.

The bill comes ahead of the General Elections which are expected to be held in

next few weeks. The elections, which were supposed to be held in August 2018,

have been preponed as Prime Minister Najib Razak faces widespread criticism

over a multibillion-dollar corruption scandal (1MDB scandal) involving an

indebted state fund. Under the Anti-Fake News Bill, anyone who publishes fake

news could face fines of up to 500000 ringgit (USD 128140), up to 10 years in

jail, or both. It seeks to safeguard the public against the rise of fake news while

ensuring the right to freedom of speech and expression under the Federal

59


Constitution. The law also covers digital publications and social media posts as

well.

57. The Brazzaville declaration was signed to promote better management and

conservation world‟s largest tropical peatlands-Cuvette Centrale region in Congo

Basin from unregulated land use and prevent its drainage and degradation. It

was signed jointly by Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Republic of Congo

and Indonesia on the sidelines of Third Partners Meeting of Global Peatlands

Initiative held in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo. It aims to implement

coordination and cooperation between different government sectors to protect

the benefits provided by peatland ecosystems. It also recognizes the importance

of the scientific breakthrough of mapping the world‟s largest tropical peatland

area. Peatlands are wetlands that contain mixture of decomposed organic

material, partially submerged in layer of water, lacking oxygen.

58. The International Solar Alliance (ISA) on March 26, 2018 signed the

Headquarters Agreement with the Indian Government, enabling the ISA to

establish its headquarters in the Host Country to discharge its functions and

programmes. This Host Country Agreement makes ISA a juridical personality

and gives it power to acquire and dispose the movable and immovable

properties. Under this agreement, ISA will be authorised to institute and defend

legal proceedings, will enjoy tax concessions and immunities as necessary to

independently discharge its function and programmes.

59. Indian Navy‟s Talwar class frigate INS Tarkash carried out a training exercise

with the US Navy‟s Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group (TRCSG) which

was until now involved in operations against the Islamic State in the Arabian

Gulf. During the exercise, personnel from both the sides practiced working

together and strengthened their crews‟ ship handling.

60. Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai returned to Pakistan on March 29,

2018, for the first time since she was shot by Taliban militants. Yousafzai, now

aged 20 and a vocal human rights activist, was shot in the head by a gunman for

campaigning for female education in 2012. She is expected to hold meetings with

Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi. Though the details of the trip have been

kept secret in view of the sensitivity, it is expected to last for four days.

60


61. North and South Korea have agreed to hold a historic summit of their leaders on

27th April , 2018. This agreement came at a ministerial-level inter-Korean

meeting held on March 29 in Panmunjom, North Korean. According to a joint

news statement issued after the meeting, the officials from both the nations

agreed that South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim

Jong Un will meet at a South Korean facility in Panmunjom.The officials also

agreed to hold working-level talks next Wednesday in Panmunjom to discuss

matters such as protocol and security for the summit.

62. The United States of America issued employment authorisation documents or

work permits to spouses of more than 71,000 H-1B visa holders, among whom

90 per cent were reported to be Indians.

63. Russia has announced that it would be expelling 150 western diplomats and

closing the US consulate in St Petersburg in retaliation to similar actions taken

earlier in the week by British allies, following poisoning of a former Russian spy

in the UK.

Science & Technology/ Defence:

1. Indigenously developed Anti-Tank Guided Missiles (ATGM) Nag was

successfully test-fired in desert conditions against two tank targets at different

ranges and timings. With this, the developmental trials of Nag missile have been

completed and it is now ready for induction. The Nag missile is third generation

ATMG which works on “fire and forget” principle. It has operational range of

500m to 4km (Land version) and 7-10km (when air-launched). It is equipped with

highly advanced Imaging Infrared Radar (IRR) seeker along with integrated

avionics. ATMG Nag is one of five missile systems developed indigenously by

DRDO under integrated guided missile development programme (IGMDP). The

other four missiles are Agni, Akash, Trishul and Prithvi. It is manufactured by

India‟s sole missile producer, state-owned Bharat Dynamics Limited.

2. The moon is about to get its first mobile phone network in 2019. Vodafone

Germany, Nokia and Audi said that, they were jointly working to support this

61


project. PT Scientists, a Berlin-based company, is also working on this project. A

launch has been scheduled in 2019 from Cape Canaveral on a SpaceX Falcon 9

rocket. Vodafone has appointed Nokia as its technology partner.

3. Telangana has become the second state in India to launch a mobile governance

application in place for provision of G2C services. Telangana government

launched “T App Folio”, a mobile governance application, for delivery

of government to citizen (G2C) and business to citizen (B2C) services anytime

and anywhere. T App Folio provides more than 150 services like MeeSeva

services, RTA services, fee payments and bill payments, in the first phase. It has

been launched in Telugu and English languages.

4. Huawei launched Huawei Balong 5G01, claimed to be world‟s first 5G

commercial chip which will deliver broadband speed up to 2 Gbps on 5G

network. It will also support 4G network.

5. Tri-service maritime exercise Paschim Lehar conducted by Indian Navy

concluded off western coast in Arabian Sea. The three-week long exercise

tested operational readiness of Indian Navy‟s Western Command and execution

of its operational plans, logistics and admi istrative plans. Over 40 naval assets

including aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya, frontline ships of Western Fleet and

Eastern Fleet, including newly -inducted Kolkata class ones, submarines, potent

missile vessels of 22nd Killer Squadron, patrol vessels and craft of local flotilla

and Coast Guard participated in the exercise. The objective of the exercise was

to build interoperability between Indian Navy, Indian Army, Indian Air Force and

Coast Guard.

6. NASA launched GOES-S, another of world‟s most advanced weather satellites.

GOES stands for Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites. GOES-S

has been launched to safeguard Western US, by monitoring, forecasting and

providing crisp images of hurricanes, wildfires, floods, mudslides and other

natural calamities

7. The China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC) has announced to build its

first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Liaoning by the middle of the next decade. It

was announced as part of its list of ambitions hope to achieve in weaponry and

technical developments for People‟s Liberation Army (PLA)- Navy by 2025.

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Liaoning is derived from old and unfinished Soviet hull, purchased by China from

Ukraine. The Liaoning is currently only carrier in fleet, but its variant Type 001A is

expected to go into full service by end of 2018. At present, China‟s navy has two

aircraft carriers running on conventional oil.

8. For the first time, a team of astronomers from Arizona State University have

discovered signals from the period when the universe‟s earliest stars emerged.

The period when the universe‟s earliest stars emerged is referred to as „Cosmic

Dawn‟. If the signals discovered from „Cosmic Dawn‟ are confirmed, it could

provide insights into the elusive „dark matter‟, which is believed to form a

fundamental part of our universe. Indian graduate student Nivedita Mahesh is

part of the team

9. India, Bangladesh and Russia have signed tripartite memorandum of

understanding (MoU) for cooperation in construction of Rooppur nuclear power

plant near Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is first initiative under India-Russia nuclear deal

to undertake atomic energy projects in third countries. It will also be India‟s first

atomic energy venture abroad. Rooppur Nuclear project is having capacity of

2*1200 MWs. It is Bangladesh‟s first atomic energy project. It is being built with

Russia‟s help near Dhaka. After commissioning of this plant, Bangladesh will

become third South Asian country after India and Pakistan to harness atomic

energy for energy purpose. India being not member of Nuclear Suppliers Group

(NSG) will not participate directly in construction of atomic power reactors. But,

Indian companies will be involved in construction and installation works and in

supply of equipment of non-critical category.

10. Silver copper telluride (AgCuTe), a novel compound that exhibits poor thermal

conductivity but shows good electrical conductivity was developed by

researchers from Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research

(JNCASR), Bengaluru.

11. A new malware called Saposhi was detected by Cybersecurity agencies that can

take over electronic devices and use them for Distributed Denial of Service

(DDoS) attacks. In DDoS attacks, malware first creates network of bots — called

botnet and then uses botnet to ping single server beyond its capacity at same

time. As number of pings are far beyond server‟s capacity, server crashes and

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denies service to its consumers. Malwares like Saposhi, Reaper and Mirai are

primarily are used for DDoS attacks.

12. M777 ultra-light howitzers (ULH) has been test fired by the joint investigation

committee (JIC) comprising US and Indian officials at Pokhran firing range in

Rajasthan. The team will review results of this test soon.. The test was

conducted in the wake of accident during its trial in September 2017. As part of

deal, two M777 ULHs were brought to India May 2017 for field firing with Indian

ammunition to compile firing tables that provide data such as range and

elevation. But during September 2017 trial firing, the projectile had bursted in

barrel of howitzers. After accident, two sides had formed joint team to examine

issue.

13. Lamitye 2018 – The 8th edition of this joint military exercise was conducted

between the armies of India and Seychelles in Mahe Island, Seychelles.

14. India‟s ranking in the adoption of cloud-friendly policies has come down from 18

in 2016 to 20 out of 24 leading IT economies according to the report by "BSA |

The Software Alliance". The fall in India‟s ranking shows that the legal and

regulatory environment in the country is restricting innovation. Cloud computing

services is a tool that can help countries to constructively self-evaluate their

policies and determine the next steps to increase adoption of the technology.

15. The atmospheric winds of Jupiter run deep into its atmosphere and last longer

than similar atmospheric processes found here on Earth.as per the data

collected by NASA‟s Juno mission. The findings will improve understanding of

Jupiter‟s interior structure, core mass and eventually its origin. Another major

finding was that the massive cyclones that surround Jupiter‟s north and south

poles are enduring atmospheric features and are encountered in our solar

system.

16. World Health Organisation has now requested drug makers to submit

Expression of Interest (EoI) for Bedaquiline and Delaminid, two new-generation

drugs, recommended for DR-TB. The aim of this proposal is to replicate success

of addressing HIV epidemic. India has nearly 1.3 lakh DR-TB patients, most in

the world.WHO has invited pharmaceutical companies around the world to

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submit proposals to manufacture affordable versions of newer medicines for

treatment of drug resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB).

17. The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) on March 11, 2018 launched a

mobile app for providing better citizen-friendly services by law enforcement

agencies. It can be used by citizens for various services such as complaint

registration, status check, view FIR details, locate police station, emergency

contact list, police stations telephone directory etc.

18. Russia successfully launched high-precision aeroballistic Kinzhal hypersonic

missile from a MiG-31 supersonic interceptor jet. Kinzhal, the name means

double-edged Russian dagger. It can fly 10 times the speed of sound and has

range of 2,000km. It is equipped with high-precision aeroballistic missiles

supporting air strikes without entering enemy‟s air defence zone. It can overcome

air-defence systems.

19. As a part of 10th edition of MILAN 2018- a three day exercise of The MILES-18,

the first-ever multi-nation naval exercise at sea was held at the Andaman sea.

Milan 2018, a multi-national mega event was organised by Andaman Nicobar

naval command with theme „Friendship across the Seas‟ to expand regional

cooperation and combat unlawful activities in critical sea lanes. It was aimed to

enhance inter-operability between participating countries. It also had enabled

honing of search and rescue operations procedures, maritime interdiction

operations, core operational skills and exercise and variety of maritime security

scenarios. 11 naval ships of 8 countries (Australia, Bangladesh, Indonesia,

Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand) and nine Indian ships

had participated in MILES-18

20. The first multilateral Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR)

exercise of Indian Air Force (IAF) in association with South Asian Region

nations-Samvedna2018 was held off the coast of Kerala. Samvedna, which

means „Empathy‟ focused on practising Air Force-centric HADR solutions in

Multi-national cooperative Disaster Management environment. The objective of

exercise was to galvanise all stakeholders in synergising unified HADR efforts.

21. AYUSH QOL-2C – the development of coded drug for improving quality of life in

cancer patients has been undertaken by the Central Council for Research in

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Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS). CCRAS is autonomous body under the Ministry of

AYUSH. It had conducted clinical studies of the drug in breast cancer patients at

St. John‟s Medical College, Bengaluru and AIIMS, New Delhi and in lung canc er

patients at Bhagwan Mahaveer Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, Jaipur.

22. A global human rights body Amnesty India on March 15, 2018 launched 'Halt the

Hate' website to track alleged hate crimes in India against marginalised people

such as the Dalits, Adivasis, religious minority groups and transgenders.

23. Chinese scientists developed artificial heart using Rocket Technology and it is

currently undergoing testing experiments on animals. The heart was developed

jointly by China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT) and Teda

International Cardiovascular Hospital in North China‟s Tianjin. The artificial heart

uses magnetic and fluid levitation from rocket system. This technology used can

reduce damage to the blood and enable pumping of blood to work longer.

24. India‟s first cloned Assamese buffalo male calf named Sach-Gaurav was born in

Hisar, Haryana. This credit goes to The Central Institute for Research on

Buffaloes (CIRB) It was born to Murrah buffalo, at Hi Tech Sach Dairy Farm, 100

kms from cloning laboratory, making it first buffalo calf to be born in field.

25. India Post on March 20, 2018 paid tribute to theoretical physicist and

cosmologist Stephen Hawking by issuing a special cover on him in all its 22

circles. Hawking died at the age of 76 on March 14 in his home in Cambridge in

the United Kingdom.

26. Varuna-18- the Indo-French joint naval exercise was held in Arabian Sea off Goa

coast. It was aimed to explore measures to facilitate operational-level

interactions between their armed forces and increase mutual cooperation,

considering the common global threats. The exercise was conducted in three

phases and included anti-submarine, air defense and asymmetric engagement

exercises. The first phase of the exercise was held in Arabian Sea. The second

phase was held off the Chennai coast in Bay of Bengal in April 2017 and third

near France‟s La Reunion Island in South Western Indian Ocean in May 2018.

This edition of exercise saw participation of French submarine and frigate Jean

de Vienne from French side. The Indian Naval was represented by destroyer INS

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Mumbai, frigate Trikand with their integral helicopters, INS submarine Kalvari,

P8-I and Dornier Maritime Patrol Aircraft, as well as the Mig 29K fighter aircraft.

27. The Gulf Shield – 1 military exercise of 23 countries including Gulf Cooperation

Council (GCC) member states was held in Eastern Region of Saudi Arabia. The

one month exercise was largest military drill in region as it saw participation of

ground, naval and air forces of participating countries.

28. A new species of water strider named Ptilomera nagalanda Jehamalar have

been discovered by Scientists from Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) in Nagaland.

It was found in river Intanki in Peren district of Nagaland.

29. ICGS C-437- the interceptor boat has been commissioned by The Indian Coast

Guard (ICG) at Porbandar, Gujarat as part of its efforts to strengthen coastal

security. ICGS C-437 shall be based at Jakhau under administrative and

operational control of commander Coast Guard Region (North West). The

interceptor boat is 27.8m long, has displacement capacity of 106 tonnes and has

maximum speed of 45 knots. It is capable of undertaking multifarious task such

as surveillance, search and rescue, interdiction and rendering assistance to

boats and craft in distress at sea.

30. The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) has launched its lost and found

mobile applcation for passengers at 59 airports across India. The app offers

three facilities – lost and found items at airports, tracking complaints or request

status and technical consultancy in security, and fire services. It can be

downloaded from the website of Ministry of Information and Technology. The

CISF guards 59 civil airports across the country. Its main advantage is to help

passengers to directly register complaints and get status of their complaint

immediately from airports under its security cover. It can also be used to place a

request for obtaining technical consultancy provided by force. It will provide

passengers alert when the lost article is found.

31. Google is tying-up with retailers including Target Corp, Walmart Inc, Home Depot

Inc, Costco Wholesale Corp and Ulta Beauty Inc to turn product searches into

cash. Under a new programme, retailers can list their products on Google

Search, Google Express shopping service and Google Assistant.In exchange for

these Google listings and linking, the retailers need to pay Google a piece of

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each purchase, which is different from payments that retailers make to place ads

on Google platforms.

32. The launch of India‟s second lunar mission „Chandrayaan-2‟ has been postponed

from April 2018 to Oct-Nov, 2018 by ISRO as experts have suggested more

tests. It will be launched on board of Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle

Mk III (GSLV-F10). The spacecraft (orbiter) weighs around 3,290 kg and it will

orbit around moon and perform objectives of remote sensing moon.

33. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has entered into Technology

Transfer Agreement (TTA) with Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) to

transfer technology for manufacturing space grade Lithium-Ion (Li-Ion) cells. The

ISRO uses Li-Ion batteries as power sources for satellite and launch vehicle

applications due to their high energy density, reliability and long cycle life.

Lithium-ion battery or Li-ion battery is type of rechargeable battery that contains

several cells.

34. The global energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions rose to historic high

of 32.5 gigatonnes in 2017 due to higher energy demand and slowing of energy

efficiency improvements according to International Energy Agency (IEA). The

global energy demand rose by 2.1% in 2017 to 14,050 million tonnes of oil

equivalent, more than twice previous 2016 rate, boosted by strong economic

growth. The demand raised by 0.9% in 2016 and 0.9% on average over previous

5 years.

35. Fluorimeter, an instrument to measure traces of uranium in water has been

developed by the Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology (RRCAT), an

Indore-based unit of Department of Atomic Energy (DAE). The device is capable

of examining traces of uranium in sample of water from 0.1 PPB (Parts-per-

billion) unit to 100 PPB. It costs around Rs 1 lakh. For mass production of this

instrument, DAE has transferred its technology to its other unit, Electronics

Corporation of India Ltd (ECIL). The device will be especially helpful in areas like

Punjab where uranium traces in water sources have been found to be at

dangerous levels. The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) has fixed

permissible radiological limit to 60 PPB of uranium concentration for drinking

water.

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36. Supersonic cruise missile BrahMos was successfully flight-tested for first time

with indigenously developed seeker at Pokhran test range, Rajasthan. So far,

seeker, a critical technology in missiles was imported from Russia. During the

test missile with India-made seeker flew in its designated trajectory and target

with pin-point accuracy. The indigenous seeker was developed by Research

Centre Imarat (RCI), Hyderabad, in collaboration with other DRDO labs. It is

considered as significant milestone in indigenous missile technology and would

reduce import dependence.

37. INS Ganga (F22)- Indian Navy‟s indigenously built warship was decommissioned

in Mumbai, Maharashtra after over three decades of service. INS Ganga (F22)

was a Godavari-class guided-missile frigate of the Indian Navy. It was built by

Mazagon Dock Limited, Mumbai and was commissioned into Indian Navy on 30

December 1985. The Godavari class was first indigenous warship design and

development initiative of Indian Navy.

38. A self-taught rocket scientist Mike Hughes propelled himself about 1,875 feet into

the air in a home-made rocket, before a hard landing in the Mojave Desert, North

America.Hughes believed that the earth is flat and he launched himself to prove

the planet's flatness.In order to carry out the launch, the 61-year-old limo driver

converted a mobile home into a ramp and modified it to launch from a vertical

angle so he wouldn't fall back to the ground on public land.The rocket crashed

back down to earth with the nose of the ship breaking in two places, like it was

designed to do.

39. Scientists from the Australian Institute of Marine Biology have developed an

ultra-fine biodegradable film, some 50000 times thinner than a human hair, to

prevent coral bleaching, which had spread across the Great Barrier Reef in

Australia in 2016 and 2017.The shield has been designed to sit on the surface of

the water above the corals rather than directly on the corals to provide an

effective barrier against the sun.The test results of this floating sun shield, made

of calcium carbonate, were remarkable enough to establish the certainty in

protecting the reef from the effects of bleaching.

40. The Ministry of Defence has released draft policy on defence production that

aims to make India one of the top five manufacturers of defence platforms.with

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active participation of public and private sectors. The Policy objectives are i)

Make India self-reliant in defence production as well as fulfil demand of friendly

countries. ii) Achieve turnover of Rs.1,70,000 crore in military goods and services

by 2025 by promoting domestic defence industry. iii) Achieve export of Rs.

35,000 crore in military equipment and services by 2025 by promoting the

domestic defence industry.

41. The National Conference on Down Syndrome organised by the National Trust

under Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment was held in New Delhi. The

objective of conference was to provide excellent opportunities to parents to

obtain information about latest development in education and skilling and

inclusive living of persons with Down Syndrome. Down Syndrome is a

chromosomal condition associated with intellectual and learning disabilities. It

leads to delayed development and behavioural problems in children suffering

with it.

42. The SWIFT (Society for World Interbank Financial Telecommunication System)

platform has expanded its GPI (Global Payment Innovation) Tracker system to

help banks track their global transactions at all times and keep full vigil on

payments activity.

43. NASA has partnered with private space launching company SpaceX to launch

Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) to search for exoplanets using the

transit method. TESS is designed to carry out first spaceborne all-sky transiting

exoplanet survey. It is planned to be launched in April 2018 on board of

SpaceX‟s Falcon 9 rocket from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The

primary mission objective of TESS is to survey brightest stars near Earth for

transiting exoplanets over two-year period. It will use array of wide-field cameras

to perform all-sky survey. It will create catalog of thousands of exoplanet

candidates using transit photometry method.

44. K2-229b- hot, metallic, Earth-sized planet orbiting dwarf star located 260 million

light years away have been discovered by the scientists using Kepler 2

telescope. They had employed Doppler spectroscopy technique also known

as „wobble method„ to discover and characterise this far away planet. K2-229b

has same high density that of Mercury-like planets. It is also innermost planet in

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system of at least three planets, though all three orbit much closer to their star

than Mercury.

45. The Indian Space Research Organisation would be launching GSLV-F08 mission

carrying the GSAT-6A communication satellite on March 29, 2018 from the

second launch pad in Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. The countdown

for the mission started on March 28 following clearance from the Mission

Readiness Review committee and Launch Authorisation Board. GSAT-6A, similar

to GSAT-6, is a high power S-band communication satellite built on I-2K satellite

bus with a mission life of about ten years. The main feature of the satellite is

providing mobile communication to India through multi beam coverage facility.

46. The first-ever mission to Mars (named as InSight (Interior Exploration using

Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport) is going to send by NASA

to study its deep interior and find traces of how it was formed. It will be launched

on May 5, 2018. NASA‟s Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations,

Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) will be the first-ever mission dedicated to

study the heart of Mars.It also will be the first NASA mission, after the Apollo

Moon Landings, to place a seismometer on the soil of another planet.

47. GSAT-6A communication satellite using its heavy rocket Geosynchronous

Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-F08) was successfully launched by India on

March 29, 2018. Soon after separation from GSLV, the two solar arrays of GSAT-

6A were automatically deployed in quick succession and the Master Control

Facility (MCF) at Hassan, Karnataka assumed control of the satellite. This was

overall 12th GSLV flight (and fifth successful) and sixth flight with indigenously

built cryogenic upper stage engine. GSAT-6A is high power S-band

communication satellite with a mission life of about 10 years. It was placed in

Geosynchronous orbit of Earth. It weighs 2066 kg and is most powerful home-

made communication satellite till date. It is similar to GSAT-6 is a high power S-

band communication satellite that was launched back in 2015. On April 1, 2018,

ISRO confirmed that it had lost contact satellite GSAT-6A in the aftermath of

second orbit-raising exercise.

48. A pair of twin Beidou-3MEO satellites – Beidou-30 and Beidou-31 –into space as

part of its third and final stage of launching its domestic Beidou (Compass)

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satellite navigation system was sent successfully by China. They were launched

on board Long March-3B carrier rocket from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in

southwest China‟s Sichuan Province. BeiDou is 2nd generation of Chinese

homegrown navigational system seen as rival to US‟s Global Positioning System

(GPS). It was named after Chinese term for plough or Big Dipper constellation.

49. Russia has successfully test fired its latest nuclear Inter Continental Ballistic

Missile (ICBM) RS-28 Sarmat. The test was carried out at the Plesetsk

Cosmodrome, as spaceport in the west of Russia, close to the Arctic Circle. The

ICBM Sarmat has the capacity to reach any point in the world. The missile will

enter into service by 2021.

50. Pakistan Navy successfully test fired indigenously developed Submarine

Launched version of Cruise Missile (SLCM) BABUR. The missile was fired from

an underwater dynamic platform, which successfully hit its target with sharp

accuracy.

Economy/Banking:

1. India‟s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is estimated to grow at 7.6% in the

calendar year 2018 according to the report of Moody‟s Investors Service. It

has stated that Indian economy is slowly recovering from the negative impact

caused by demonetisation and also by the disruption of Goods and Services

tax (GST) roll out. It has estimated that Indian economy will grow at 7.5% for

the calendar year 2018-19.

2. Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has made it mandatory to

file online claims for provident fund (PF) withdrawals above Rs 10 lakh. On

line claims for withdrawals of above Rs 5 lakh under the Employees Pension

Scheme 1995 has also been made mandatory.

3. India‟s manufacturing sector activity fell to four-month low in February 2018

as factory output and new business orders rose at slower pace according to

Nikkei India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI). The monthly

PMI fell to 52.1 in February 2018 from 52.4 in January 2018 indicating

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modest improvement in operating conditions. A reading above 50 on index

denotes expansion and less than that indicates contraction in activities.

4. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved proposal

to double guarantee to Rs. 19,000 crore from earlier Rs 9,500 crore to

National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) for

obtaining credit from banks for procurement of pulses and oilseeds at the

support price. The CCEA also approved Government Guarantee up to Rs. 45

crore to the Small Farmers Agri-Business Consortium (SFAC) for meeting its

existing liability and settlement of extant claims.

5. The Core sector growth has grown at faster pace of 6.7% in January 2018

against 3.4% in January 2017 according to the index of eight core industries

released by Ministry of Commerce and Industry. Cumulatively, the growth in

eight core sectors during April-January this fiscal slowed to 4.3% as against

5.1% in the same period last fiscal. In India, the eight core sectors are coal,

crude oil, natural gas, petroleum refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement

and electricity.

6. Union Finance Ministry released a roadmap for consolidation of overseas

operations of public sector banks. This decision seems like a tightening

measure in wake of Rs. 12636 crore scam unearthed at Punjab Bank

National (PNB). As of now, the plan is to consolidate at least 35 overseas

operations of the PSBs while another 69 overseas operations have been

identified for further examination. State Bank of India (SBI) has the highest

number of overseas branches (52), followed by Bank of Baroda (50) and

Bank of India (29). In terms of Country-wise presence, PSBs have largest

number of branches in United Kingdom (32) followed by Hong Kong and UAE

(13 each) and Singapore (12).

7. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has crossed an important

milestone of having signed 200 Advance Pricing Agreements (APAs). It was

achieved after it entered into seven more APAs in February 2018. The

scheme aims to strengthen Government‟s resolve of fostering non-adversarial

tax regime. It has significantly contributed towards improving ease of doing

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business in India. All the seven were Unilateral APAs. With this, CBDT till has

entered into 203 APAS (185 Unilateral and 18 Bilateral APAs).

8. In a bid to support Indian farmers, Central Government has raised import tax

on crude and refined palm oil to the highest level in more than a decade.

Import tax on crude palm oil has been raised to 44 percent from 30 percent

while for refined palm oil ,it has been raised to 54 percent from 40 percent.

India is the world‟s biggest importer of edible oils. India relies on imports for

70 percent of its edible oil consumption.

9. The establishment of National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA) as an

independent regulator for the auditing profession was approved by the Union

Cabinet. It aims to tighten regulatory oversight over auditors and plug

loopholes. It will be independent from those it regulates for enforcement of

auditing standards and ensuring quality of audits. NFRA will be 15 members

body, consisting of Chairperson, three full-time Members and one Secretary.

It will overarching watchdog for auditing profession. It can debar an erring

auditor or auditing firm for up to 10 years besides it can also slap heavy

penalties. Establishment of NFRA will improve foreign/domestic investments,

enhance of economic growth, support globalization of business by meeting

international practices and assist in further development of audit profession.

10. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has allowed a limit of Rs. 5000 crore for foreign

portfolio investors (FPIs) to go long in Interest Rate Futures (IRFs). The

decision to increase the position limit has been taken to further market

development and to ensure that FPIs can access IRFs in an uninterrupted

way.

11. As per Hurun Global Rich List 2018, India has the third highest number of

billionaires in the world after China and US. Hurun Global Rich List 2018

identified 131 billionaires in India. With 31 new billionaires emerging during

last year, India has reclaimed its third spot, which it had lost to Germany a

year ago. Among Indian billionaires, although Mukesh Ambani topped the list

with USD 45 billion wealth and 19th rank, Gautam Adani (USD 14 billion

wealth, Rank – 98th) witnessed fastest growth in his wealth (109 per cent in

the last 12 months). 32 years old Shradha Agarwal, of Outcome Wealth is the

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youngest Indian billionaire.In India, highest numbers of billionaires (19

billionaires) are from the pharmaceuticals sector. Jeff Bezos with USD 123

billion wealth, topped the list, followed by Warren Buffet (USD 102 billion

wealth).

12. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to remove the per borrower loan

limits for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) involved in services,

for classification under priority sector lending in a bid to increase the

importance of services sector and to encourage banks to lend more to this

sector, As per the current norms, loans to Micro/ Small enterprises up to Rs. 5

crore and loans to Medium Enterprises up to Rs. 10 crore were classified as

priority sector lending (PSL).

13. Indian economy grew at 7.2 per cent rate and there by regained its tag of

world‟s fastest growing economy in quarter (Q3 - October-December 2017) of

the current fiscal.

14. India‟s exposure to US government securities stood at USD 144.7 billion at

the end of 2017 according to data compiled by US Treasury Department.

During 2017, India increased its holding of American government securities

for most of the months and remained the 12th largest overseas holder of

such securities

15. Marshall Islands in Pacific Ocean is set to become first country in world to

recognize cryptocurrency as its legal tender and adopt transparent crypto

monetary system. The parliament of island has passed law to create the

digital currency called “Sovereign” with symbol SOV to raise some hard cash

to pay bills and boost economy. The Marshall Islands is partnering with

Israeli fintech startup Neema to launch its SOV. It will have equal status with

US dollar as form of payment. SOV is based on permissioned protocol,

dubbed “„Yokwe” (meaning “hello” in local island language), which requires

blockchain users of this distal currency to authenticate and identify

themselves, thus avoid anonymity that has kept other cryptocurrencies from

gaining support from governments. The island country will issue 24 million

SOVs in Initial Currency Offering (ICO). It will be circulated as legal tender in

the country, alongside its current local currency, US dollar.

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16. The Union Government has set up 8 member steering committee headed by

Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg to look into the

development and regulation of the financial technology (fintech) sector in India. It

will look into issues to make fintech-related regulations more flexible and

generate enhanced entrepreneurship in area where India has distinctive

comparative strengths vis-à-vis other emerging economies.

17. India‟s candidature to international financial institution has been approved by the

shareholders of European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)

With this, India will become the 69th member of EBRD. EBRD is a multilateral

developmental investment bank headquartered in London, United Kingdom

18. The number of wealthy Indians, having assets of over USD 50 million, is likely to

grow by nearly 71 per cent to 4980 by 2022 from 2980 in 2017 as per Knight

Frank's Wealth Report 2018. In terms of wealthy population, India will be the

third largest contributor in Asia after China and Japan. The 'City Wealth Index' of

Wealth Report 2018 ranked Mumbai at 16th spot among the top 20 costliest

global cities where USD 1 million can buy only 92 square metres of area. Delhi

stood at 22nd and Bengaluru at 26th positions, respectively. The report also

revealed that the number of ultra-wealthy people, with USD 50 million or more in

net assets, rose by 11630 in 2017, taking the global total to 129730.

19. RBI has imposed a penalty of Rs 40 lakh on SBI as SBI failed to comply with

RBI‟s direction on detection and impounding of counterfeit- notes.

20. The GST Council recommended the introduction of e-way bill for inter-State

movement of goods across the country from April 1, 2018. For intra-State

movement of goods, e-way bill system will be introduced in a phased manner not

later than June 2018. E-way bill is required to be generated only where the value

of the consignment exceeds Rs 50000. For smaller value consignments, no e-

way bill is required. Value of exempted goods has been excluded from value of

the consignment, for the purpose of e-way bill generation.

21. India has attracted reaching US $208.99 billion foreign direct investment (FDI)

during April 2014 to December 2017 period. The main sectors that received

maximum FDI include services, computer software and hardware,

telecommunications, construction, trading and automobile. To attract inflow of

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foreign investments, the central government has announced several measures

including liberalisation of FDI policy and improvement in business climate.

22. A MoU was signed by the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) with

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) ) for increased cooperation in effective

implementation of insolvency law. The MoU provides for sharing of information,

subject to limitations imposed by applicable laws and sharing of resources

available with each other to extent feasible and legally permissible and so on.

23. India‟s factory output, measured by Index of Industrial Production (IIP) recorded

overall 7.5% growth in January 2018 according to data released by the Central

Statistics Office (CSO).

24. Following the order of Directorate General of Civil Aviation's (DGCA) to ground

11 A320neo aircraft, Indigo cancelled 47 flights on various routes. While

accepting cancellation of flights, Indigo gave passengers the option to either

choose another flight at no additional cost or cancel their booking and get a full

refund.

25. DCB Bank has launched DCB Remit , a remittance service to enable customers

to send money online globally. Using DCB remit, any resident Indian can register

online and transfer money to 20 Countries such as US, Canada, Australia, UK,

UAE and Germany.

26. The export duty of 20% on raw and refined sugar to boost shipments has

scrapped by the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) under Ministry of

Finance. The removal of export duty will help to export excess sugar output in

India for sugar season 2017-18. This will also prevent further price erosion of.the

domestic sugar prices.

27. NITI Aayog has released comprehensive roadmaps and detailed timelines for its

initiative Sustainable Action for Transforming Human Capital in Education

(SATH-E) project to introduce system-wide Governance Transformation in school

education. It will also promote data-driven analysis to strengthen academic

monitoring across schools in the country. Its roadmap refers to time-bound, goal-

driven exercise that will reach its logical culmination by end of academic year

2020. The roadmaps will operate between 2018 to 2020. They lay out detailed

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interventions to be taken by three participating states- Jharkand, Madhya

Pradesh and Odisha to become „Role Model States‟ in school education.

28. The anti-dumping duty has imposed on import of „Ofloxacin‟ from China by the

Revenue Department in the Finance Ministry. It was imposed for three years

following recommendations of Directorate General of Anti-Dumping and Allied

Duties (DGAD) to protect domestic producers from below-cost shipments.

Ofloxacin is in class of antibiotics called fluoroquinolones. It is used to treat

certain infections including bronchitis, pneumonia and infections of skin, bladder,

urinary tract, reproductive organs, and prostate (a male reproductive gland). It

works by killing bacteria that cause infections.

29. Government has inked $120 million loan agreement with Asian Development

Bank (ADB) for completion of projects to improve Rail Infrastructure along high-

density corridors and operational efficiency of Indian railways. The project is

aimed at enhancing efficiency of rail infrastructure through electrification,

introduction of modern signaling system and doubling rail tracks on key routes in

country. The loan proceeds will be used for busy freight and passenger routes in

Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, including

“Golden Quadrilateral” corridor that connects Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai and

New Delhi.

30. The first G20 meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors began on

March 19, 2018 in Buenos Aires, with the presence of 57 delegations from

countries and institutions. The summit, held at the capital's Center of Exhibitions

and Conventions (CEC), was attended by 22 finance ministers, 17 central bank

governors and 10 heads of international organisations including IMF Director-

General Christine Lagarde and Administrator of the United Nations Development

Programme Achim Steiner. With Argentina presiding the G20 this year, topics

under discussion are likely to be infrastructure and the future of work in the digital

arena. After the US announced tariffs on steel and aluminum imports of 25 and

10 per cent respectively, the delegations are expected to put out a joint

statement on the matter. This is the first of five such meetings to be held before

Argentina hosts the G20 Summit on November 30 to December 1.

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31. The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) asked people to take due

precautions while sharing their Aadhaar information on the internet for availing

any service. It asserted that posting of Aadhaar cards on the internet will have

absolutely no bearing on UIDAI and not the least on Aadhaar security.The

statement came after a few reports claimed that information about Aadhaar may

be available from third-party websites and that a Google search may lead to

Aadhaar details of several people.

32. World‟s first brass futures contracts have launched by India‟s largest

commodities exchange platform, Multi Commodity Exchange of India Limited

(MCX). It will facilitate brass stakeholders to hedge their price risk. MCX Brass

futures will be the first non-ferrous contract with compulsory delivery option. It will

provide its stakeholders with more organised and robust price discovery platform.

MCX is country‟s first listed commodity futures exchange that facilitates online

trading, and clearing and settlement of commodity futures transaction thereby

providing platform for risk management.

33. The Supreme Court on March 27, 2018 termed the interference by illegal

assemblies like „khap panchayat‟ in marriages of two consenting adults as‟

absolutely illegal‟ and laid down guidelines to prevent such intrusions. The

judgement was passed by a three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak

Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud. The bench laid down

certain punitive and remedial measures to be followed until a suitable legislation

is put in place by the Parliament. The ruling came on a petition filed against khap

panchayats by NGO Shakti Vahini, which had moved the top court in 2010

seeking protection of couples from honour killings.

34. The Supreme Court on March 26, 2018 ruled that as per Section 302 of Indian

Penal code, the punishment for murder is death or life imprisonment and any

punishment less than the life imprisonment is illegal and without the authority of

law. The judgment was delivered by a Bench of Justices RK Agarwal and Abhay

Manohar Sapre, who directed that once a murder accused is convicted, trial

court judges have no "discretion" to award lesser punishment than the life

imprisonment.The court expressed its astonishment on the judgement made by a

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trial court wherein the Sessions Judge sentenced ten years imprisonment to a

murder convict Bharatkumar Rameshchandra Barot.

35. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is planning to relax the protected area permit

(PAP) regime to enable foreign tourists to access border areas. MHA will

coordinate with other agencies and state governments to identify possible

locations for which protected area permit (PAP) regime provisions may be

relaxed. However, citizens from Pakistan and China are unlikely to be given

these relaxations.The move is being initiated to promote tourism, create job

opportunities for the locals and generate revenue for the states.

36. Surat sets an example for country by developing villages that use sustainable

forms of energy. Surat district in Gujarat become first in country to have 100%

solar powered Primary Health Centers (PHCs). All 52 PHCs in the district are

now powered by solar system. The solarification of all PHCs in Surat district will

bring down electricity bill by 40% and also help fight global warming.

37. E-Tribes India banners on e-commerce platforms like Amazon, Snapdeal, Paytm

& GeM has been launched by the Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development

Federation of India, (TRIFED), under Ministry of Tribal Affairs. It also launched

TRIFED‟s websites-www.tribesindia.com, www.trifed.in and Retail Inventory

Software and M-commerce app as part of Digital India Initiative.

38. RBI will soon come out with a Rs 350 commemorative coin to mark 350th birth

anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh, the 10th and last Sikh Guru. The coin will

bear the Lion Capitol of Ashoka Pillar in the centre with "Satyamev Jayate"

inscribed below. The coin with standard weight of 35 gram will have 50 per cent

silver, 40 per cent copper and 5 per cent each of nickel and zinc.

Appointments/Resignations:

1. Sudhir Tripathi ( IAS officer of 1984 batch ) was appointed as the new chief

secretary of Jharkhand. He replaced Rajbala Verma.

2. R.Subramanyam( 1985 batch IAS officer from Arunachal Pradesh Cadre) has

been appointed as the new Secretary of Higher Education department, in the

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Ministry of Human Resource Development. He succeeds K K Sharma. Minister

of HRD – Prakash Javadekar

3. C.Chandramouli ( 1985 batch IAS officer of Tamil Nadu Cadre) has been

appointed the new Secretary, Department of Personnel and Training in the

Personnel ministry. Earlier, he was Registrar General of India and Census

Commissioner.

4. Tarun Sridhar ( 1984 batch IAS officer of Himachal Pradesh cadre)has been

appointed the new Secretary, Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairy and

Fisheries.

5. Surendra Nath Tripathi ( 1984 batch IAS officer) has been made as the

Secretary, Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs. He was serving as the Special

Secretary in the Agriculture Ministry.

6. Rajiv Ranjan Mishra ( 1987 batch IAS officer) was appointed as the new

Director General of National Mission for Clean Ganga. He was the Additional

Secretary in the Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry,

7. Bipin Bihari Mullick was made as the additional secretary and financial advisor

at Ministry of Culture. He was Additional secretary at the Ministry of Home

Affairs.

8. Anil Gopishankar Mukim has been appointed as the Secretaty, Mines

Department. He replaces Arun Kumar.

9. Inder Jit Singh has been made as the secretary (coordination) in Cabinet

Secretariat. He was additional secretary (coordination).

10. P. Raghvendra Rao has been appointed as the Chemicals and Petrochemicals

secretary.

11. Virat Kohli has been announced as the brand ambassador for its new

independent brand Amaze by Luminous Power Technologies.

12. Vinay Kumar( IFS officer of 1992 batch) has been named the next Ambassador

of India to the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.

13. Rangarajan Raghavan was appointed as the director & managing director of

HCL Infosystems . He will took this charge from 1st April 2018.

14. Senior Indian-origin Scotland Yard officer Neil Basu became first person of Asian

heritage to be appointed as Counterterrorism Chief. He will take charge as

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Scotland Yard‟s National Lead for Counter Terrorism (CT) and Head of Met

Police‟s Specialist Operations.

15. Biplab Kumar Deb will be sworn in as the new Chief Minister of Tripura and

Jishnu Debbarman will be the Deputy Chief Minister. The oath-taking ceremony

will be held on March 9. BJP won over CPM (Communist Party of India –

Marxist). CPM had been ruling Tripura for 25 years.

16. Conrad Sangma took charge as Chief Minister of Meghalaya. 12th chief minister

of Meghalaya in Shillong. He is the President of National People‟s Party (NPP).

The oath was administered by Meghalaya Governor Ganga Prasad. 11 Cabinet

Ministers also took oath during the ceremony.

17. Ryoko Azuma was appointed as the commander of a unit that consists of

Japan‟s biggest warship. With this, She became Japan‟s first female chief of

warship unit

18. SBI Life Insurance Company Ltd announced that, P K Gupta has been named

the nominee director on SBI Life Board by SBI.

19. Neiphiu Rio was appointed as the CM of Nagaland. He belongs to National

Democratic Progressive party .

20. US President Donald Trump‟s top economic adviser Gary Cohn resigned from

his position.

21. Ryoko Azuma ( 44) became Japan‟s female chief of warship unit. She was

appointed as the Commander of a unit that consists of Japan‟s biggest warship.

22. Ravi Thapar was appointed as the ambassador of India to Lebanon.

23. Prakriti became the first woman to be directly inducted as combat officer into

Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP). ITBP has women roles in combat already but

they are in constable ranks only.

24. Indian -origin steel tycoon Sanjeev Gupta was appointed as the UK Skills

ambassador by Britain‟s Prince Charles.

25. Commerce and Industries Minister Suresh Prabhu was on March 10, 2018 took

additional charge of the Civil Aviation Ministry

26. Anjani Kumar has been appointed as the new commissioner of police,

Hyderabad

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27. Nepal's controversial Chief Justice Gopal Prasad Parajuli was removed by the

Judicial Council on March 14, 2018 amid a raging dispute over his multiple birth

certificates. The Council removed him stated that as per the available

certificates, he should have retired from the post on August 5, 2017. Parajuli

completed 65 years on that day and as per Nepali law, civil servants should take

retirement after reaching 65 years, the Council said.

28. Angela Merkel was sworn in as Chancellor of Germany for a fourth term on

March 15, 2018 after lawmakers voted to re-elect her as leader in a close vote.

29. Slovakia‟s Prime Minister Robert Fico officially resigned, less than three weeks

after the murder of an investigative reporter Kuciak and his fiancee Kusnirova.

30. Bihar Governor Satya Pal Malik (72) additional charge of Odisha until regular

arrangements are made. He was given additional charge after incumbent

governor S C Jamir completed his five-year tenure

31. Chinese smartphone maker Vivo appointed Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan as

its brand ambassador for India, replacing actor Ranveer Singh. Aamir Khan's

films "Dangal" and "Secret Superstar" fetched unprecedented success in China.

Aamir will soon be seen in a full-fledged marketing campaign of the upcoming

products and a new TV commercial.

32. China appointed American-trained economist Yi Gang as Governor of People's

Bank of China. Yi is currently serving as Deputy to incumbent central bank

Governor Zhou Xiaochuan. Yi's appointment was approved during the ongoing

session of 13th National People's Congress.

33. Sony India announced the appointment of Sunil Nayyar as its Managing Director

(MD) in place of Kenichiro Hibi. Hibi, who was MD of Sony India from 2012 till

2018, has now been appointed as President for Sony Brazil. Nayyar is the first

Indian to be appointed as Managing Director for Sony India. He presently holds

the position in Sony North America as head of Retail Experience.

34. John R Bolton (Former US Ambassador to the United Nations) has been

appointed as the new National Security Adviser to US President Donald Trump,

replacing Lt Gen H R McMaster. Bolton would be assuming his new role from

April 9, 2018. The announcement in this regard was made by President Trump

through his twitter handle.

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35. Krishnaswamy Vijay Raghavan was appointed as the principal scientific adviser

to the government of India. Vijay Raghavan is a former Director of National

Centre for Biological Sciences and was appointed as Secretary of Department of

Biotechnology in 2013. Vijay Raghavan will succeed physicist Rajagopala

Chidambaram who served the position for more than 16 years.

36. Australia‟s head coach Darren Lehmann on March 29, 2018 announced his

resignation from the position and said that Australia‟s fourth and the final Test in

South Africa would be his last match that is scheduled to begin on March 30.

Lehmann‟s resignation follows the ball-tampering scandal that jolted Australian

cricket last week, even though he was cleared of any wrongdoing by the

investigation undertaken by Cricket Australia.

Sports:

1. Tennis Star Roger Federer ( Switzerland) won the Laureus World Sportsman of

the Year and Comeback of the Year awards at the 2018 Laureus World Sports

Awards, in Monaco. He is the one who received more Laureus awards. In the

yaer 2017 he had won had won the Australian Open and Wimbledon titles.

Tennis Player Serena Williams ( USA)also won the World Sportswoman of the

Year award in Women‟s category . She had won her 23rd grand slam in 2017.

2. Para-swimmer Prasanta Karmakar was suspended for 3 years by the Paralympic

Committee of India (PCI) due to allegations of recording videos of female para-

swimmers at the National Championships 2017 in Jaipur.

3. Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, launched

the superhero mascots for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, at the Kakezuka school in

Tokyo. The winning Olympic and Paralympic mascots have not yet been

named. The Olympic mascot has a futuristic blue and white chequered pattern. It

is said to have a special power that enables it to move anywhere instantly.

The Paralympic mascot has a pink and white design inspired by cherry

blossoms. It is said to have special power to move things just by looking at them.

Name for the mascots will be decided by the selection panel and a formal launch

will be performed in July or August 2018. The mascots were selected through

voting after designs were submitted.

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4. Russia got back its Olympic membership, following its suspension from 2018

Pyeongchang Olympics. It was banned by IOC due to state-sponsored doping

during the Winter Olympics 2014 in Sochi.

5. Indian Wrestler Vinesh Poghat won silver in the Asia Wrestling Championship

at free style by losing the gold to China‟s Sun Li.

6. Vinesh Phogat won silver medal in the women‟s 50kg freestyle event, at the

Asian Wrestling Championships in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan by losing to by China‟s

Chun Lei .India‟s Sangeeta wdn a bronze medal in the women‟s 59kg freestyle

event by defeating Korea‟s Jieun Um. India‟s Harpreet Singh defeated

Uzbekistan‟s Khashimbekov 11-3 and won a bronze medal in the 82kg Greco-

Roman event. India‟s Rajendra Kumar defeated Uzbekistan‟s Mirakhmedov and

won bronze medal in the 55kg Greco-Roman event.

7. India won the inaugural IBSF Snooker Team World Cup in Doha, Qatar. In the

finals, Indian duo of Pankaj Advani and Manan Chandra staged a remarkable

recovery after being 0-2 down.

8. Navjot Kaur became the first Indian woman wrestler to win gold in the Senior

Asian Championships by winning gold medal in the 65kg freestyle category in

Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan by defeating Japan‟s Miya Imai. India‟s Sakshi Malik

defeated Kazakhstan‟s Ayaulym Kassymova and won bronze medal in the 62kg

freestyle category.

9. Indian golfer Shubhankar Sharma secured tied second position after the opening

round of the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship at Mexico City.

10. Indian shooter Shahzar Rizvi won gold medal with a world record score 242.3 in

the finals of the men‟s 10m air pistol and defeated Germany‟s Christian Reitz

(239.7). Jitu Rai scored 219 in the men‟s 10m air pistol event and won bronze

medals .Mehuli Ghosh shot a world junior record 228.4 and won bronze medal in

the women‟s 10m air rifle event at the ISSF World Cup in Guadalajara, Mexico.

11. Rashid Khan of Afghanistan ( 19 yrs) has become the youngest captain in

international cricket. Afghanistan is now playing against Scotland in first of the

ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifiers in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. Rashid Khan took

charge as captain for Afghanistan team as the previous captain Asghar Stanikzai

was down with appendicitis.

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12. Maharashtra women‟s team won the interstate national tennis championship

2018 held in Chhattisgarh on 3rd March 2018. It was organised by the

Chhattisgarh State Tennis Association (CSTA) under the guidance of All India

Tennis Association (AITA) from 26th February to 3rd March 2018.

13. India‟s Manu Bhaker has won gold medal in the women‟s 10m air pistol by

defeating Mexico‟s Alejandra Zavala in the ISSF World Cup in Guadalajara,

Mexico.and Ravi Kumar has won bronze medal in the men‟s 10m air pistol This

is Ravi Kumar‟s first World Cup medal.

14. 45th edition of the Deodhar Trophy 2018 won by India B by defeating Karnataka

in final match by 6 wickets at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium

in Dharamsala.

15. 27th edition of the Sultan Azlan Shah cup 2018 for record 10th time won by

World champions Australia in the final match held in Ipoh, Malaysia. Australia

defeated defending champion England by narrow 2-1 goal margin.

16. The Indian Premier League (IPL) launched the anthem for the 2018 edition of

games starting on April 7. BCCI and Star India collaborated to create anthem for

the campaign this year and they named the anthem as 'Best vs Best'.

17. Asian Champ Navjot Kaur became World no:2 in the Women‟s 65kg category in

the latest ranking released by the United World Wrestling. India‟s Vinesh Phogat

has secured 2nd rank in the 50Kg category. First place goes to China‟s Lei Chun

18. Bishworjit Singh and Samira Abraham won gold in the men‟s and women‟s

category of the Senior National Triathlon Championship held in Vizag, Andhra .

19. International Shooting Sport Federation (iSSF) World Cup was held in

Guadalajara, Mexico from 1st March to 12th March. India topped the medal tally

by winning 4 gold, 1 silver and 3 bronze.

20. The International Cricket Council (ICC) released the latest Test Player rankings

on March 14, 2018. Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin climbed up two

steps to be placed 4th after Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc slipped in

rankings following Australia's defeat. The other Indian bowler Ravindra Jadeja

remains static at third place In the batsmen's list, there was no change with

Australian skipper Steve Smith remaining at the top while Indian captain Virat

Kohli kept his second position. Another Indian batsman, Cheteshwar Pujara also

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maintained his sixth place in the rankings. South Africa's Kagiso Rabada

regained his top spot among bowlers crossing the coveted 900-point mark in

ratings. Rabada is the 23rd bowler to cross 900 points and only the fourth South

African player to do so after Vernon Philander, Shaun Pollock and Dale Steyn.

21. The world badminton governing body, BWF released its latest ranking list on

March 22, 2018. The list saw India shuttler HS Prannoy jump up four places to

regain his world number 12 spot. Indian men's doubles combo of Satwiksairaj

Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty have also managed to break into the top 20 in the

latest ranking. Another duo of Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N Sikki Reddy also

improved to stand at the 24th position. Second-ranked Kidambi Srikanth also

narrowed his gap with world no 1 Viktor Axelsen. P V Sindhu however, remained

static at the third sport. Saina Nehwal, who was ousted on the opening day of All

England Open 2018, also remained static at the 12th spot. Sai Praneeth

however, slipped to the 15th position due to his first-round exit at All England

Open.

22. Pankaj Advani retained his Asian Billiards Championships title by winning over B

Bhaskar 6-1 in the finals in Yangon, Myanmar. This is his 11th gold medal at the

Asian level. So far , he has won 7 continential billiards titles. India‟s Amee

Kamani bagged the Asian Women‟s snooker title by defeating Thailand‟s

Siripaporn Nuanthakhamjan.

23. Ferrari‟s Sebastian Vettal won the 2018 Formula One Grand Prix of Australia, in

at the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne, Australia. Lewis Hamilton finished in the

second position. Kimi Raikkonen finished in the third position.

24. PV Sindhu has been chosen by IOA ( Indian Olympic Association) as India‟s

contigent‟s flag bearer at the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games

(CWG) 2018 at Gold coast, Australia. This will be the first time in the last three

editions of the Common wealth Games that a badminton player has been

selected as the flag bearer.

25. New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson on March 29, 2018 replaced

disgraced former Australian Vice-Captain David Warner as the captain of IPL

franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad. The decision was announced a day after the

Australian was barred from the IPL for his role in the ball-tampering controversy

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in South Africa. Warner, declared the chief plotter of the infamous incident,

apologised for his role in the scandal. He was the captain of SunRisers last

season. The senior batsman has been banned for a year and ruled out of any

leadership role in future due to the incident.

Awards & Honours :

1. Indian-American scientist Navin Vardarajan along with his fellow guy Sanghyuk

Chung of University of Houston, were granted funds by Cancer Prevention &

Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) awarded grant for cancer research. Navin

Vardarajan is an associate professor of chemical and bimolecular engineering.

He was granted USD 1,173,420 to improve effectiveness of T-cell

immunotherapy. Sanghyuk Chung is an associate professor of biology and

biochemistry. He was provided with USD 811,617 to define molecular targets for

cervical cancer treatment.

2. Indian Actor-politician Shatrughan Sinha has been honoured with a lifetime

achievement award for his contribution to the fields of arts and politics at the

annual „Political and Public Life Awards‟ presented by Britain‟s Asian Voice

weekly newspaper. The award ceremony was held on March 1, 2018 at the

Members‟ Dining Room in the House of Commons building in UK‟s Parliament

complex.

3. Gadchiroli book reading event created a new Guinness world record on 3rd

March 2018by breaking the Guinness world record created in Turkey on

18th May 2017. Nearly 7,000 people participated in the book reading event

conducted at Gadchiroli, Maharashtra. The event was organised by police

authorities. The book reading event in Turkey held on 18th May 2017 had

participation from 5,754 people.

4. The 90th Academy Awards commonly referred to as Oscars was held at the

Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California (US). The Shape of Water

won the most number of awards totaling to four at the ceremony after it was

nominated into highest 13 categories. It was followed by Dunkirk, nominated for

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eight categories and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, nominated for

seven categories. Best Picture: The Shape of Water. Best Actress: Frances

McDormand (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri as Mildred Hayes). Best

Actor:Gary Oldman (Darkest Hour as Winston Churchill) Best Director: Guillermo

del Toro (The Shape of Water). Best Supporting Actress: Allison Janney – I

(Tonya) Best Supporting Actor: Sam Rockwell (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing,

Missouri) Best Original Screenplay: Get Out – Written by Jordan Peele. Best

Adapted Screenplay: Call Me by Your Name – James Ivory based on the novel

by André Aciman. Best Cinematography: Blade Runner 2049 – Roger A.

Deakins. Best Original Score: The Shape of Water – Alexandre Desplat. Best

Original Song: “Remember Me” from Coco. Best Sound Editing: Dunkirk –

Richard King and Alex Gibson. Best Foreign Language Film: A Fantastic Woman

(Chile) in Spanish. Best Film Editing: Dunkirk Best Visual Effects: Blade Runner

2049. Best Production Design: The Shape of Water. Best Sound Mixing: Dunkirk.

Best Documentary-Feature: Icarus. Best Animated Feature Film: Coco. Best

Animated Short Film: Dear Basketball. Best Documentary-Feature: Icarus. Best

Animated Feature Film: Coco. Best Animated Short Film: Dear Basketball. Best

Make-Up and Hairstyling: Darkest Hour Best Costume Design: Phantom Thread.

5. Legendary Indian architect Balkrishna Doshi (90), a pioneer of low-cost housing

design has won the prestigious Pritzker Prize, considered architecture field‟s

Nobel. He is 45th Pritzker laureate and first from India to receive it. The

international Pritzker prize was established by Chicago‟s Pritzker family in 1979.

It is considered to be one of the world‟s premier architecture He is also known as

an institution builder. He established his studio Vastu-Shilpa (environmental

design) in 1955 and worked with Louis Kahn and Anant Raje in designing

campus of IIM Ahmedabad. He also designed campuses of IIM Bangalore and

Lucknow, National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Tagore Memorial Hall,

Institute of Indology in Ahmedabad, among other fine campuses and buildings

across India, besides many low-cost housing projects.

6. Harry Athwal, a British Indian has been selected for the Pride of Birmingham

award in UK for his bravery. In 2017, during the Barcelona terror attack, he risked

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his own life to help an injured boy. But unfortunately the boy was died on the

spot.

7. President Ram Nath Kovind presented Nari Shakti Puraskars 2017 to 30

eminent individuals and 9 distinguished institutions at special ceremony held in

Rashtrapati Bhavan on occasion of International Women‟s Day. These awards

aim to acknowledge achievement of women by bestowing awards on eminent

women and institutions in recognition of their service towards the.cause of

women empowerment. Delhi High Court Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal becomes

the first woman from the field of law and justice to confer this award. India‟s

highest civilian honour for women.This award is given by the Ministry of Women

and Child Development.

8. Myanmar‟s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi was on March 7, 2018 stripped off

her human rights award conferred by US Holocaust Memorial Museum. In a

letter to Suu Kyi, Museum Director Sara Bloomfield insisted that they did not take

this decision lightly, but were compelled to act in light of the mass displacements

and killings of the Rohingyas at the hands of Myanmar's security forces.

9. Forbes India on March 5, 2018 released the "W-Power Trailblazers" issue 2018,

featuring 25 women stars on the ascendency in business.

10. India won the „Best Exhibitor Award‟ at the „ITB –Berlin World Tourist Meet‟,

which convened at Berlin, Germany from March 7-10, 2018. India's Incredible

India (Ministry of Tourism) presented a short film named "Yogi of the Racetrack

"in the meet. The short film received 3.2 million hits in 60 hours.

11. Hyderabad's Anindith Reddy was named as 'FMSCI National MotorSports

Person of the Year 2017. While, KD Madan, a former FMSCI president and

K1000 champion, was conferred with the FMSCI Lifetime Achievement Award for

his immense contribution to the sport in the country.

12. 2017 Kochon Prize was awarded to the Indian Council of Medical Research

(ICMR) for building tradition of excellence in Tuberculosis (TB) research and

development. It had emerged winner from among 18 nominations. The ICMR is

India‟s apex scientific body for the formulation, coordination and promotion of

biomedical research which was established in 1911.

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13. Abel Prize 2018 – the prestigious prize was won by Canadian mathematician

Robert P. Langlands (81) for his visionary programme connecting representation

theory to number theory. He will receive the award from Norway‟s King Harald V

at an award ceremony in Oslo in May 2018. It is awarded annually by Norwegian

Academy of Science and Letters to one or more outstanding mathematicians.

The award was established by Government of Norway in 2001 and awarded

annually since 2003. It is named after 19th century Norwegian mathematician

Niels Henrik Abel.

14. Canadian mathematician Robert Langlands was on March 20, 2018 awarded

with the 2018 Abel Prize for his revolutionary 'Grand Unified Theory of Maths'.

The Abel Committee of the Norwegian Academy of Science honoured Langlands

“for his visionary program connecting representation theory to number

theory.”Langlands will receive the award from Norway's King Harald V at an

award ceremony in Oslo on May 22, 2018.

15. Bolly wood actress-producer Anushka Sharma and Badminton Ace P V Sindhu

got featured in the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia 2018 list for the first time in their

career. Apart from Anushka, several other Indians were also recognised for their

significant contribution through their varied work.

Books& Authors:

1. Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Development of

North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances &

Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh, launched the social

media of “Namaste Shalom”, a magazine on India-Israel relations.

2. 'The King of the Dark Chamber' - the English translation of his famous Bengali

play 'Raja' written by Rabindranath Tagore. The hard copy of the book was sold

for USD 700 at an auction in the United States. It was signed by Tagore on the

introductory page in fountain pen. The Bolpur edition of the book was published

by the Macmillan Company in 1916.

3. The first Indian Sign Language dictionary was released by Union Minister of

Social justice and Empowerment Mr. Thawar Chand Gehlot.

91


4. Those Eventful Days authored by Maharashtra Governor C. Vidyasagar Rao . In

this book he shared his experience as the acting governor of Tamil Nadu for 13

months.

5. A tribute to Jagu , a book on Jagmohan Dalmia ( Former President of BCCI) was

released by the Sri Lankan Cricket Association.

6. Paramveer Parwane – a book about Param Vir Chakra awardees was released

by the Indian Army .This book covers the awardees bravery and their efforts . It

covers from 1947-1965.

Deaths:

1. Khagendra Jamatia, Tripura Fisheries and Cooperation minister, passed

away after being diagnosed with blood cancer recently, at a hospital in New

Delhi.

2. Davide Astori ( 31) an Italian footballer, passed away due to a sudden

illness, in his room at the La di Moret hotel in Udine, Italy on 4th March 2018.

He was captain and defender of the Fiorentina team. The game that

Fiorentina team was scheduled to play on 4th March 2018 was cancelled due

to Davide Astori‟s sudden demise.

3. Literateur Prafulla Das ( 91) died after suffering from age-related ailments at

his home at Rajkanika in Kendrapara district, Odisha. He was honoured with

the Sarala Award in 2014. His important works are „Kalapanira Angisikha‟,

„Agnujugar Aahwan‟, „Bharatara Sasastra Mukti Sangram‟, „Sahid Basu

Bisnini‟, „Kanika Prajaandolan Itihas‟, „Netaji Aao feri Nahanti‟, „Fashi

Manchare Biplabi‟ etc.

4. Veteran Bollywood actor Shammi (89) passed away on March 6, 2018

following prolonged illness. Shammi was also well-known for her comic roles

in television shows such as Dekh Bhai Dekh, Zabaan Sambhal Ke, Shriman

Shrimati and Filmi Chakkar.

5. Justice D Sreedevi, former judge of the Kerala high court, died on 5th

March,2018 while she was undergoing treatment for some ailment in

Kaloor, Kerala.

92


6. MK Bhargav , former Chairman of Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association (

MPCA) passed away due to long illness in Indore, MP.

7. Famous Sufi singer Pyare Lal Wadali (66) died of cardiac arrest in a hospital

in Amritsar on March 9, 2018.

8. Veteran Broadcaster Shivaji Das gupta passed away . He became the first

Indian commentator to cover a football match from abroad ( Singapore in

1984)

9. French fashion designer Hubert de Givenchy ( 91), a pioneer of ready-to-

wear range, passed away on March 10, 2018 .

10. Begum Hamida Habibullah (102) , a former Rajya Sabha member and a

pioneer in women empowerment, passed away in Lucknow on March 13,

2018.

11. First Commissioner of Delhi Police Jayendra Nath Chaturvedi passed away

in Varanasi. He served as the first Commissioner of Police in Delhi from July

1978 to January 1980.

12. Noted film and television actor Narendra Jha (55) passed away on March 14,

2018 following a heart attack.

13. Stephen Hawking, the renowned physicist, cosmologist passed away on

March 14,2018.

14. Veteran Journalist Ghulam Muhammad Mustafa died at a hospital in

Gurgaon, Haryana.

------------------------------------------

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