Current Affairs Update – 17th & 18th March 2016

Hello and welcome to ExamPundit. Here are the Important Current Affairs of 17th and 18th March.

• In a move that
  will hit the common man, the government Friday slashed interest rates payable
  on small savings including PPF and Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) in a bid to align
  them closer to market rates.
• As a part of its
  February 16 decision to revise interest rates on small savings every quarter,
  the interest rate on Public Provident Fund (PPF) scheme will be cut to 8.1% for
  the period April 1 to June 30, from 8.7%, at present.
• Similarly, the
  interest rate on KVP will be cut to 7.8% from 8.7%, according to a Finance
  Ministry order.
• While the
  interest rate on Post Office savings has been retained at 4%, the same for term
  deposits of one to five years has been cut.
• The popular
  five-Year National Savings Certificates will earn an interest rate of 8.1% from
  April 1 as against 8.5%, at present.

• The Reserve Bank
  of India today revised rules pertaining to revival of advances to small
  businesses and asked lenders to form district-level committees to resolve
  stressed loans to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
• “In order
  to enable faster resolution of stress in an MSME account, every bank shall form
  Committees for Stressed MSME,” RBI said in a notification.
• The rules have
  been revised for “revival and rehabilitation of MSMEs having loan limits
  up to Rs 25 crore”.
• “Restructuring
  of loan accounts with exposure of above Rs 25 crore will continue to be
  governed by the extant guidelines on Corporate Debt Restructuring (CDR) or
  Joint Lenders’ Forum (JLF) mechanism,” the notification said.
• Just like in the
  case of large borrowers, RBI has asked banks to look for stress from an early
  stage by identifying loans of over Rs 10 lakh as special mention accounts,
  right from 30 days’ non-payment of principal and interest onwards.
• The committee
  will have to come up with a corrective action plan for the account, which shall
  look at rectification, restructuring, recovery and also additional finance if
  needed, the apex bank said.

• India on 17
  March 2016 signed loan agreement of 35 Million dollars with the World Bank for
  Madhya Pradesh Citizen Access to Responsive Services Project. The objective of
  the project is to improve access and quality of public services in the state.
• The project has
  been designed as a result based financing programme, under which funds will be
  released on achievement of agreed results.

• To improve
  access and quality of public services in Madhya Pradesh through implementation
  of the 2010 Public Service Delivery Guarantee Act.
• To deliver key
  results in terms of improving access to services and citizen outreach,
  simplification of Government services, performance management and strengthening
  the capacity of implementing agencies.

• Union Minister
  of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Ram Vilas Paswan on 17 March
  2016 launched the Online Depot System in New Delhi to automate all the
  operations of Food Corporation of India (FCI) depots.
• The key
  objective of the Depot Online System is to align with Digital India vision for
  transformation of food distribution supply chain in India.
• The system,
  which efficiently captures data online on a real time basis, will bring total
  transparency in the working of FCI. Besides, it will also help in better
  monitoring and supervision to reduce leakages and losses.

• The online depot
  system will eliminate usage of manual registers.
• The cost of the
  project is estimated to be 63 crore rupees.
• The Depot Online
  System will be rolled out in all 554 FCI-owned godowns by July 2016.
• It will also be
  implemented in godowns owned by state-run Central Warehousing Corporation and
  State Warehousing Corporations as well as hired ones by March 2017.

• Bharti Airtel
  Ltd., India’s largest mobile phone operator, on 17 March 2016 announced the
  acquisition of Videocon Telecommunications Ltd’s entire spectrum for 4428 crore
  rupees.
• It is the second
  such acquisition in India’s fragmented telecom sector after the Union
  Government allowed trading of airwaves in October 2015.
• The deal gives
  Bharti Airtel the rights to use 2x5MHz spectrum in the 1800 megahertz (MHz)
  band in six licence areas, which are Bihar, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, eastern
  Uttar Pradesh, western Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat.
• After the deal,
  Bharti Airtel’s 4G coverage will go up to 19 circles from the current 15.

• London &
  Partners, the official promotional company for London, on 15 March 2016 announced
  that India has emerged as the second biggest investor in London after the US.
• The company
  revealed that there has been a 117 per cent increase in Indian companies across
  all business sectors investing in London since 2005. Also, there has been a 133
  per cent increase in tech companies investing in the city, which accounts for
  46 per cent of all projects.
• Software testing
  service Cigniti Technologies and customer support company Kayako and many
  others invested majorly in technology sector.
• The figures were
  released at the inaugural India Emerging 20 (IE20) event that brought together
  leading entrepreneurs from India and Britain.

• Cisco will set
  up an internet of everything (IoE) Innovation centre in Visakhapatnam to drive
  regional innovation and will enable partners and start-ups to build solutions
  around IoE and engage in rapid prototyping.
• The innovation
  centre is one of the initiatives proposed by the company in an MoU signed with
  Andhra Pradesh government on Thursday.
• Among other
  initiatives, Cisco will also invest in an advanced Technology centre of
  Excellence and Research Lab in the Institute of Digital Technology at Tirupati,
  focused on cyber security, smarty city and manufacturing solutions.
• The MoU was
  signed as a part of the inauguration of India’s first statewide broadband
  project-AP Fiber Net, in Visakhapatnam in the presence of Andhra Pradesh chief
  minister N Chandrababu Naidu and Cisco executive chairman Irving Tan among
  others.

• Surat, Rajkot
  and Vadodara – all in Gujarat – are among the 10 cleanest railway stations in
  India, according to a survey released by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu here on
  Thursday.
• While Surat and
  Rajkot came out first and second respectively among the category AI railway
  stations, i.e. those that have Rs 60 crore annual earnings, Vadodara was 8th in
  the ranking.
• The survey was
  conducted in line with the announcement made in the railway budget 2016-17. It
  was commissioned by Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) and
  carried out by TNS India Pvt Ltd, official sources said.
• Among 75
  stations that have Rs 60 crore annual earnings, Varanasi railway station in
  Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s constituency figures among the last in terms of
  cleanliness.
• Varanasi
  station, however, is cleaner than Raipur, Muzaffarpur, Bhopal, Kanpur Central,
  Sealdah and Guwahati stations, the report said.
• Among other
  stations in the Category A1, Bilaspur, Solapur, Mumbai Central (main),
  Chandigarh, Bhubaneswar, Madurai and New Jalpaiguri came out with flying
  colours.

• Ministry of
  Railways has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Indian Space
  Research Organisation (Isro) for developing Remote Sensing and geographic
  information system (GIS) for Remote Sensing at unmanned railway crossing and
  other uses.
• The MoU, for
  effective use of space technology in Remote Sensing and GIS based governance
  application, was signed after the Railway minister’s special mention in his
  Budget announcement regarding geospatial and enhanced use of space technology
  in various sectors of governance.
• The MoU aims for
  developing applications in the field of Remote Sensing and Geographic
  Information System (GIS) for Remote Sensing at unmanned railway crossing
  including, all geospatial solutions and customized software solutions for
  providing reliable, efficient & optimal solutions to Railways in it various
  areas of operation thereby benefiting the rail user.

• Goa government
  on 17 March 2016 classified the country liquor, Feni as Heritage Spirit of
  Goa.  Feni is the form of spirit produced
  exclusively in the coastal state.
• Feni is the
  first liquor product in the country to obtain such status and got its
  Geographical Indication (GI) certification in 2000.
• It used in
  various cultural traditions, cuisines and is well known for its medicinal value
  also. Hence, the Government opined not categorise it as country liquor as it is
  presently defined under the Goa Excise Duty Act, 1964 and proposed to bring an
  amendment to the Act.

• The National
  Research Development Corporation (NRDC) on 16 March 2016 signed a License
  Agreement with Kudos Laboratories India for commercialization of Ayush-82, an
  Ayurvedic formulation for prevention and management of diabetes.
• The agreement
  will now allow Kudos Laboratories India to commercialize the drug under their
  trade name with due acknowledgement to Central Council for Research in
  Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS), Ministry of AYUSH, Government of India.
• Ayush-82 was
  developed by CCRAS. The CCRAS is an apex organization for research in Ayurveda
  under the Ministry of AYUSH.

• Infosys
  Foundation, the philanthropic arm of tech major Infosys, has signed a pact with
  Asia Heart Foundation to enable the adoption of robotics in healthcare.
• As part of the
  MoU, the foundation has granted Rs 8 crore to Asia Heart Foundation.
• The grant will
  be used to purchase high-end equipment — the IS 3000 da Vinci Si system to
  enable robotic surgeries, the Foundation said in a statement here.
• The da Vinci
  system of surgery facilitates affordable and high quality, minimally invasive
  surgeries to a large number of people who currently do not have access to it,
  it said.

• TIME magazine on
  16 March 2016 unveiled its second annual 30 Most Influential People on the
  Internet list. The list has been topped by the artist and entrepreneur Kanye
  West.
• India’s Prime
  Minister Narendra Modi boasting more than 18 million Twitter followers and over
  32 million Facebook likes stood at 15th in the list. The list says, unlike some
  of his contemporaries, he often uses social media to break news and conduct
  diplomacy.
• Editors from
  TIME compiled the list based on two primary criteria that are global impact
  through social media and overall ability to drive news.

1. Kanye West
2. Joy Cho
3. James Corden
4. Laci Green
5. Josh Holz and Daniel Lara
6. DJ Khaled
7. Johnetta Elzie and DeRay Mckesson
8. J.K. Rowling
9. Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg (a.k.a. PewDiePie)
10. 10 Donald Trump

• The United
  Nations Social Development Network (UNSDN) on 17 March 2016 released World
  Happiness Report (WHR) 2016 in Rome. The fourth edition of WHR was released
  ahead of the UN World Happiness Day, which will be observed on 20 March 2016.
• According to the
  report, Denmark topped the list as the happiest place in the world, while
  Burundi was ranked at the bottom as the least happy nation.
• In the report,
  India was ranked 118th out of 156 countries compared to 117th out of 158
  countries in the 2015 World Happiness Report. In terms of Changes in Happiness
  from 2005-2007 to 2013-2015, India has been ranked at 120th position out of 126
  countries.

• The report ranks
  156 countries by their happiness levels and reflects growing global interest in
  using happiness and subjective well-being as primary indicators of the quality
  of human development.
• The report also
  found that countries where there was less inequality were happier overall.
• Denmark that was
  displaced by Switzerland in 2015 after being at top in 2012 and 2013 is
  followed by Switzerland, Iceland, Norway, Finland, Canada, Netherlands, New
  Zealand, Australia and Sweden.

• The United
  Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Institute of
  Physics (UIS) on 2 March 2016 released the eAtlas of Gender Inequality in
  Education.
• The eAtlas shows
  gender gaps from primary to tertiary education and educational pathways of
  girls and boys in more than 200 countries and territories.

• If the current
  trend continues, almost 16 million girls between the ages 6 and 11 will never
  get the chance to learn to read or write in primary school compared to about 8
  million boys.
• Gender
  disparities remain highest in the Arab States, sub-Saharan Africa and South and
  West Asia. Across sub-Saharan Africa, 9.5 million girls will never set foot in
  a classroom compared to 5 million boys.
• The gender gap
  is even wider in South and West Asia, where 80 per cent of out of schoolgirls
  will never enter formal education compared to 16 per cent of out-of-school
  boys.
• One out of eight
  children between the ages of 6 and 15 are denied a basic education, and girls
  are the first to be excluded. More than 63 million girls are out of school and
  data suggest that the number is rising.

• AirAsia India on
  17 March 2016 announced the appointment of Amar Abrol as its chief executive
  officer with effect from 1 April 2016.
• Abrol will
  succeed Mittu Chandilya, who led AirAsia India from 1 June 2013 and ends his
  contract on 31 March 2016.
• Besides, AirAsia
  India also announced the appointments of Ankur Khanna as the Chief Financial
  Officer and Kiran Jain as the Head of Commercial.

• Lloyd’s, the
  world’s specialist insurance and reinsurance market, announced the appointment
  of Shankar Garigiparthy as Country Manager for India. In this new role, he will
  be responsible for market development, representing Lloyd’s in discussions with
  regulators and building business relationships as Lloyd’s seeks to grow its
  presence in India.
• Arun Agarwal,
  Lloyd’s General Representative in India, will continue in his role providing
  expert guidance and counsel to Lloyd’s. Garigiparthy brings over 23 years’
  experience in financial services to the role and was most recently Regional
  Compliance Manager in Singapore for Lloyd’s.
• Prior to this,
  Shankar was Director of Insurance Supervision at the Qatar Financial Centre
  Regulatory Authority, where he set up the regulatory framework for insurance
  companies in the QFC.

• Pfizer India has
  appointed S Sridhar as  the managing
  director.
• A chartered
  accountant by profession, Sridhar has been on Pfizer India board since May
  2013.
• He has also
  concurrently led the company’s distribution function for 3 years and is also
  currently leading company’s anti-infective, cardio vascular, ophthalmology
  business.
• Sridhar assumed
  charge today and his appointment is subject to the approval of company
  shareholders.

• Ramesh Iyer,
  managing director (MD) at Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services Ltd
  (Mahindra Finance), has been re-designated as vice-chairman and managing
  director of the Board of Directors at financial sector arm of M&M group.
• Iyer was
  appointed as chief executive officer in May 1999 and then elevated as managing
  director of from April 30, 2001, Mahindra Finance said in statement.
• Meanwhile,
  Dhananjay Mungale, independent director, will be the new chairman at the
  finance company.  Mungale has been on Board
  of Mahindra Finance since March 1999.
• Mungale succeeds
  Bharat Doshi, former group chief financial officer at M&M. Doshi was
  recently appointed as director on the central board of Reserve Bank of India.

• President Barack
  Obama on 16 March 2016 nominated appeals court judge Merrick Garland to be the
  next US Supreme Court Justice. 63-year-old Garland will be 113th Supreme Court
  justice of the US.
• Garland, who is
  the Chief Judge on the US Court of Appeals in D.C. Circuit, will succeed
  Justice Antonin Scalia who died on 13 February 2016.
• Justice Garland
  is viewed as a moderate and has won praise from senior Republican figures. The
  appointment has to be ratified by the Senate, but its Republican majority has
  vowed to block a vote on any Supreme Court nominee from Obama.

• Fazle Kabir on
  15 March 2016 was appointed the 11th Governor of the Bangladesh Bank, the
  central bank of Bangladesh.
• Kabir replaced
  Atiur Rahman, who had resigned after taking moral responsibility over
  electronic theft of 101 million US dollars from the central bank’s account with
  the New York Federal Reserve Bank.

• The United
  Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on 15 March 2016 appointed award-winning
  action heroine Michelle Yeoh as its Goodwill Ambassador.
• With this, Yeoh
  joined the current roster of UNDP Goodwill Ambassadors that include Spanish
  actor Antonio Banderas, US actress Connie Britton, Japanese actress Misako
  Konno, soccer legends Didier Drogba, Iker Casillas, Ronaldo, Marta Vieira da
  Silva and Zinedine Zidane.
• As an
  ambassador, Yeoh’s mission is to mobilize support for the Sustainable
  Development Agenda 2030 that was approved by the United Nations General
  Assembly in September 2015.

• British
  mathematician Sir Andrew Wiles on 15 March 2016 was named as the winner of the
  2016 Abel Prize by the Norwegian Academy of Sciences and Letters in Oslo.
• Wiles won the
  award for solving a centuries-old hypothesis, Fermat’s Last Theorem.
• Crown Prince
  Haakon will present the award to Wiles in May 2016 for an achievement that the
  academy described as an epochal moment for mathematics.

• The 10th Asian
  film awards were presented on 17 March 2016 in Macau, China. ‘The Assassin’, a
  movie about a highly trained female assassin bagged prizes for, best actress
  and best director.
• The movie took
  home more than half of the prizes, eight out of 15 trophies, at one of Asia’s
  leading film awards.
• Hong Kong Action
  Choreographer-director Yuen Wo-ping and Japanese Actress Kiki Kirin received
  the Lifetime Achievement Award on the occasion.

1. Best Film: The
   Assassin
2. Best Director:
   Hou Hsiao-Hsien for The Assassin
3. Best Actor: Lee
   Byung-hun for The Inside Men
4. Best Actress:
   Shu Qi for The Assassin

• Songkran
  festival, often referred to as the world’s biggest water fight festival, was in
  news in the third week of March 2016. The festival came in news after the
  Bangkok Metropolitan Administration decided to impose a curfew during the
  festival season that will be celebrated in April 2016.
• The Songkran
  festival is celebrated in Thailand as the traditional New Year’s Day from 13 to
  15 April. The word “Songkran” comes from the Sanskrit word saṃkrānti
  literally “astrological passage”, meaning transformation or change.
• It coincides
  with the rising of Aries on the astrological chart, the New Year of many
  calendars of South and Southeast Asia. The festive occasion is in keeping with
  the Buddhist/Hindu solar calendar.

• Famous magician
  Paul Daniels passed away on 17 March 2016 due to brain tumour. He was 77.
• Daniels was best
  known for his BBC TV series The Paul Daniels Magic Show, which ran from 1979 to
  1994.

• Eminent Shehnai
  exponent Ustad Ali Ahmad Hussain Khan died on 16 March 2016 in Kolkata. He was
  77.
• Ustad Khan was
  known as one of the best-known players of the instrument after the legendary
  Bismillah Khan (1916-2006).

• American singer
  Frank Sinatra Junior died due to heart attack on 16 March 2016 in Daytona Beach
  in Florida. He was 72.
• Junior, who
  carried on his father Frank Sinatra’s legacy with his own career in music, was
  due to give a concert Sinatra Sings Sinatra at Peabody Audito in Florida.
• He followed his
  father in the music business as a teenager, and later became his father’s
  musical director and conductor.

Regards

Team ExamPundit

Sponsored

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});