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INDIAN AFFAIRS
Military Exercise FORCE 18 kicked off in Pune
Indian Army kicked off a week long Multinational Field Training Exercise (FTX) “Force 18”in Pune at headquarters of the Indian Army’s Southern Command. It will conclude on March 8, 2016. This is the maiden multinational exercise ever conducted by ground forces on Indian soil.
Participants – It involves army units from 18 countries.
- 10 members of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) – Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Mustafabad village to be renamed as Saraswati nagar
Haryana government has announced to rename Mustafabad village as Saraswati nagar.Mustafabad is a village located in the Yamuna nagar district in North- eastern part of Haryana .
- It has been renamed as Saraswati nagar
- This was done with a view of importance for the Saraswati river which holds a special place in Hindu Mythology
Mumbai Home To Most Number Of Billionaires In India
India’s Financial Capital, Mumbai, with 1094 billionaires (Ultra High Net Worth Individuals) has become home to the wealthiest people in the country, followed by Delhi at 545, according to the Knight Frank Wealth Report 2016.
- Rankings of Mumbai and Delhi: 21 & 33 respectively.
- The cities are expected to improve their rankings to 14 and 29 by 2025, globally.
Food Security Scheme implemented in 47 districts in UP
AkhileshYadav led Uttar Pradesh government to implement Food Security Act 2013 in 47 more districts of the state.
- With this the entire state of 75 districts will come under the ambit of the food scheme, UP government having launched this Act in 28 districts from January 1this year.
- The beneficiaries will get subsidized food grains, including wheat at a rate of Rs. 2 and the rice at a rate of Rs. 3 per kg. Each beneficiary will be allowed to get 5 Kg per month.
- The scheme to cover to benefit more than 1.64 crore people in around 40 lakh households.
- Around 75 percent of the state population would benefit from the scheme.
- UP government had declared 50 districtsas Drought Hit in November 2015.
FACTS about UP:
- Uttar Pradesh shares it borders with 9 other states and has maximum number of legislative assembly 404.
- No of Districts: 75
- No of Lok Shaba Seats: 80
- No of Rajya Shaba Seats: 31
Chennai gets first smart self cleaning toilets in India
In a move to ensure public sanitation and to promote the use of public toilets, 183Automatic self cleaning smart toilets have been installed in Chennai. They are known as e-toilets as they could be located by people using a smart phone and authorities can control their function using smartphone.
- They are designed by Eram scientific solution who have provided 1600 such e-toilets in 16 Indian states to various private organizations
- First time being given to government they are completely free to use
- Each toilet cleans itself with 5 litres of water after 3 min usage and 4.5 litres if usage period is longer
- It cleans before use and after use and the floor is cleaned once in 5 to ten rounds
- 43 toilets are specially for women with a sanitary napkin generator and an incinerator
- Each toilet costs around 4,50,000
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
WEF: India stood at 90th rank in terms of Energy Security
In accordance with the Global Energy Architecture Performance Index Report compiled by WEF, India has been ranked at the 90th place in a list of 126 countries.
- The report prepared in collaboration with Accenture.
The countries have been ranked on the premises on their ability to provide energy access across three dimensions of the “energy triangle” i.e. affordability, environmental sustainability &security and access.
Japan To Stipulate 80% Emission Cut Goal By 2050
Following the International Climate Agreement reached in Paris in December 2015, the Japanese government will stipulate a long-term goal of cutting green house emissions by 80 per cent by 2050 from current levels. A plan is being compiled to be completed before the G7 Summit due in May.
- Aiming to have all households shift to more energy efficient LED Lights by2030. It aims to bring up the ratio of nuclear and renewable energy to 44% or more by 2030 to prevent the non-nuclear thermal power generation from rising.
BANKING & FINANCE
Indo-WB inked Financing Agreement worth US$300 Million for MPHEQIP
Washington D.C. headquartered World Bank, Government of India and Government of Madhya Pradesh has inked a credit concord worth of US $300 million for the Madhya Pradesh (MP) Higher Education Quality Improvement Project.
- The credit has been given by the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank’s concessionary lending arm.
- It is sanctioned for a period of 25 years, including a 5 year grace period.
RBI unlocks 40000 crores to capitalize banks
RBI announced relaxation of certain norms in the balance sheet which will unlock 40,000 croresto support the capital requirement of Indian banks.
- Indian banks are facing a huge loss due to the increase in Non Performing assetswhich have eroded the Capital of these banks
- The revised RBI norms will give public sector banks (PSB) access to additional capital of INR 35,000 crore
India’s GDP growth to hike by 7.8% in 2016-17: Nomura
Nomura has told in a recent report that India’s GDP growth will rise from 7.6% to 7.8% in the year 2016-17.GDP growth would be based on high discretionary demand driven by 7th pay commission.
- It will also be decided by factors like wage hike, low inflation, high corporate profitability, ongoing implementation of public capital expenditure (Capex) and an accommodative monetary policy stance
BUSINESS
Infosys to collaborate with Microsoft on analytics solution
India’s second largest IT Company Infosys to offer Healthcare Analytic Solutions on Microsoft Intelligent Cloud Technology.
- With this advanced analytics and cloud technologies, it is now possible to store and analyze large volumes of structured and unstructured datasets at low cost.
- This initiative will provide managed care organisations with the tools to improve clinical and operational effectiveness at a reasonable cost and also provide health-care call centres with customer support and self-service options to both health care workers and consumers.
INFOSYS
- Founded: 1981
- Headquarters: Bangalore
- CEO & MD: Vishal Sikka
AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS
Forbes 2016 World’s Billionaires List
Forbes Magazine released its 30th annual list of the world’s richest people, featuring 1,810 billionaires around the world. Their total net worth was $6.48 trillion.
- Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates sat again at top position for the third consecutive year with a net worth of $75 billion.
- The US has 540 billionaires followed by mainland China with 251 and Germany with 120.
Three Britain professors have won the Grete Lundbeck European Brain Research Prize
Three Britain professors Tim Bliss, Graham Collingridge and Richard Morris have won theGrete Lundbeck European Brain Research prize worth of 1 million Euros. This is the first time that the brain prize has all Britain names in the winners list.
- Three scientists have won the Brain prize for their discovery of how memories are formed in the brain
Windham-Campbell Prizes Announced
Nine writers, including one from India, Jerry Pinto, have been awarded with the Windham Campbell Prizes at Yale University for their literary achievements.
- Others being from the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, India, and Ireland — were chosen in three categories: fiction, non-fiction, and drama.
Science Journalist Pallava Bagla Bags National Award
- Noted Scientist Pallava Bagla was conferred with the national award for “Outstanding Efforts in the Field of Science and Technology Communication on Electronic Medium”, carrying a citation, memento and Rs. 1 Lakh. It was presented by Union Minister of Science and Technology, Harsh Vardhan during the function.
APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNS
Vice admiral Atul Kumar Jain takes over as Chief of staff, Eastern Naval Command
Vice Admiral Atul Kumar Jain took over as Chief of staff, Eastern Naval Command from Vice Admiral Bimal Verma.
- He was commissioned in Navy in 1982 and post specialization in Gunnery Missile and Warfare
- He was the Gunnery officer of missile destroyers, IN ships Ranvijay and Ranvir
Micromax CEO Vineet Taneja resigns
Micromax CEO Vineet Taneja resigns has formally resigned from high profiled post, and however company did not reveal whether the company was looking for a new face.
- Prior to his Micromax appointment in July 2014 he was a business head at Samsung India and skimps at Bharati Airtel and Nokia.
- The homegrown mobile maker facing terrific competition in Indian market from Chinese and Indian Handset makers. However Micromax become the third largest handset player in Russian market recently.
VINEET TANEJA:
- Vineet graduated from IIT Roorkee also Alumnus of IIM Calcutta.
Micromax:
- Founded: 2000
- Headquarters: Gurgaon
- Chairman: Sanjay Kapoor
- Brand Ambassador: Hugh Jackman
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Delhi government to launch first HPV vaccine
Delhi government has launched the first HPV (Human Papilloma Virus) vaccine in the state to prevent cervical cancers. It has been found in a recent research that 1, 22,844 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer and 67,477 die from the disease every year in India.
- The vaccination for HPV virus will prevent the cervical cancer in women caused by sexual transmission
- Initially the vaccination is given for sixth standard girls in 2 phases and later it will be given to girls between 9-13 years of age
- Through this initiative about 80 per cent of the cervical cancers can be prevented
- Delhi health minister- Satyendra Jain
American Astronaut Scott KellyReturns to Earth after 340 Days in Space
American Astronaunt Scott Kelly returns to earth after spending almost a year at International Space Station floating 250 miles above the earth
- He landed in barren Kazakhstan with a Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko who shared his whole journey.
- After 340 days he has seen 5400 earth orbits and nearly 11, 000 sunsets, with this Kelly have set the American record of 520 days in space.
- NASA doctors will examine his body closely to identify the effects of such an extended mission in space.
International Space Station:
- It is habitable artificial satellite in low earth orbit.
- It was launched in 1998 at a cost of $ 150 million.
SPORTS
Rana wins gold in 50km race walk in National Championships
Basant Bahadur Singh Rana clinched gold in 50 Km race walk in National Championship held at Jaipur in Rajasthan, the winner clocked 4 hours seven minutes and 24 seconds.
- The Delhi hailed walker could not achieve the revised Olympics Qualification time of 4:06:00, he must have disappointed with his performance as he would not be eligible to walk in Rio Olympics this time.
Cricketer Aaron Phangiso suspended for illegal bowling action
Proteas left arm spinner Aaron Phangiso has been suspended from bowling in Domestic cricket for suspect bowling action.
- The South African spinner will not be picked for the first two T20 matches to be played against Australia at home.
- Phangiso will take tests on March 7 in ICC accredited lab at the University of Pretoria’s High Performance Centre by ICC.
- The results in the tests will decides his availability in the final T20 Match against Aussies also the T20 World Cup to be played this month in India.
- Phangiso has played 16 ODI matches and nine T20 internationals for South Africa.
OBITUARY
US actor George Kennedy passes away
US actor Geroge Kennedy passed away due to old age related ailments. He was at the age of 91 when he died.
- The Actor appeared in more than 200 film and Television productions.
- Kennedy was born in New York in 1925, began his career as a radio performer and then started acting in movies.
- He won OSCAR Award in 1968 for his supporting role in Cool Hand Luke, also made notable appearances in Earthquake and Airport in 1975.
- He worked with the US Infantry during Second World War.
