DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS : MARCH 2, 2018
DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS : MARCH 2, 2018
NATIONAL
Centre approves Rs 2900 crore to make cities safer for women:
Women and Child Development Ministry has approved projects worth over Rs 2,900 crore under the Nirbhaya fund for eight major cities to make them safer for women. These cities are Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Lucknow. The decision was taken after a meeting of Empowered Committee, which is headed by Women and Child Development Secretary Shri V. Somasundaran.
Defence Acquisition Council approves procurement of weapons costing over Rs. 9,000 crore:
The Defence Acquisition Council, DAC, chaired by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman gave approval to Capital Acquisition Proposals of the Services and Coast Guard valued at approximately Rs. 9,435 crore. In a major boost to the Make in India initiative, the Council accorded approval for procurement of 41,000 Light Machine Guns and over 3.5 Lakh Close Quarter Battle Carbines under ‘Buy and Make (Indian)’ category.
Out of total quantities envisaged, 75 percent will be through Indian Industry under ‘Buy & Make (Indian)’ category and balance through Ordinance Factory Board. The DAC also accorded approval for procurement of essential quantity of High Capacity Radio Relay for the Indian Army and Indian Air Force.
Avaada to invest Rs 3,500-crore for 500 MW solar projects in Andhra Pradesh:
Clean energy firm Avaada Power said it will invest Rs 3,500 crore to develop 500 MW utility-scale solar projects in Andhra Pradesh. This investment in Andhra Pradesh will generate enough clean energy to sustainably power over 2.40 million households across the state. Andhra Pradesh government has set a target to achieve 18,000 MW renewable energy capacities by the year 2021-22.
Avaada Power recently committed Rs 10,000 crore investment in Uttar Pradesh to develop 1,600 MW solar projects.
Andhra Pradesh
- Capital: Amaravati
- Chief Minister: Chandrababu Naidu
- Governor: E. S. L. Narasimhan
India successfully test-fires ATGM Nag in desert conditions:
India test-fired Anti Tank Guided Missiles (ATGM) Nag in desert conditions, defence sources said. The Nag ATGM is one of five missile systems has been developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) under integrated guided missile development programme (IGMDP). The other four missiles are Agni, Akash, Prithvi and Trishul. Its operational speed 500m to 4km (land version) and 7 to 10km (Air launched). The ATGM NAG was tested at Pokhran’s field firing range in Jaisalmer district.
Rajasthan
- Capital: Jaipur
- Chief Minister: Vasundhara Raje
- Governor: Kalyan Singh
Telangana launches integrated app for all government services:
The Telangana government launched an m-Governance mobile application called ‘T App Folio’ to help citizens with one point access to government services like MeeSeva services, RTA services, fee payments and bill payment services etc. It is launched by the Telangana IT and Industries Minister KT Rama Rao in Hyderabad.
Telangana has become the second state government in India to set up a mobile service delivery gateway in place for the provision of government to citizen (G2C) services. The platform is being launched in Telugu and English for the convenience of citizens. Telangana state has been ranked number 1 in digital transactions based on the number of e-transactions per 1,000 populations for the period of June 2, 2014 to December 31, 2017 by the government of India’s e-Taal website.
Telangana
- Capital: Hyderabad
- Chief Minister: Chandrasekhar Rao
- Governor: S. L. Narasimhan (Additional charge)
Tata-Boeing JV opens facility to make fuselages for Apache:
Tata Boeing Aerospace Limited (TBAL), a joint venture between Boeing and Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL), inaugurated the country’s first facility to produce fuselages for the AH-64 Apache helicopter in Hyderabad. Spread over 14,000 sq mt area and employing 350 highly skilled workers, the state-of-the-art facility was inaugurated by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. The delivery of the first fuselage is expected in 2018.
J P Nadda, Dr Jitendra inaugurates conference to mark ‘World Rare Disease Day’:
Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda and Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh inaugurated the one-day conference to mark “World Rare Disease Day”. World Rare Disease Day is celebrated on the last day of February every year. World Rare Disease Day was first introduced by EURORDIS and its council of National Alliances in 2008. The theme for World Rare Disease Day 2018 is Research.
INTERNATIONAL
India signed various MoUs with Jordan:
List of MoUs/Agreements signed during the Visit of the King of Jordan to India
- MoU on Defence Cooperation.
- Visa waiver for diplomatic and official passport holders.
- Cultural Exchange Programme (CEP).
- Manpower Cooperation Agreement.
- MoU for cooperation in the field of Health and Medicine between India and Jordan.
- MoU for setting up of the next generation Centre of Excellence (COE) in Jordan.
- MoU for long term supply of Rock Phosphate and Fertilizer/NPK.
- Customs Mutual Assistance
- Twining Agreement between Agra and Petra (Jordan).
- Cooperation between Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) and Jordan Media Institute (JMI).
- MoU between PrasarBharati and Jordan TV.
- MoU between University of Jordan (UJ) and ICCR regarding setting up of a Hindi Chair at the University.
Jordan
- Capital: Amman
- Currency: Jordanian dinar
- King: Abdullah II of Jordan
BANKING & BUSINESS
Huawei and Bouygues Telecom Sign 5G Joint Innovation Agreement, with First 5G Network Trial in Bordeaux:
Huawei and Bouygues Telecom announced a joint innovation program to experiment 5G in France. Bouygues Telecom is part of the first operators worldwide to experiment 5G 3GPP in field with Huawei. Bordeaux will be the first city for a 5G network trial, from single site to multi-site coverage.
Huawei announced its first 5G chip at this year’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, which will allow the company’s mobile devices to access the next generation of cellular networks, 5G. The company claims that its Huawei Balong 5G01 chip is the first to support the new 3GPP standard for 5G networks, and that it should be able to download data at 2.3Gbps.
HUAWEI
- Headquarters: Shenzhen, China
- Founder: Ren Zhengfei
SBI hikes lending rate to 8.15%:
The State Bank of India has raised its lending rates by 20 basis points to 8.15 per cent, with immediate effect, setting the tone for the industry to follow suit. This is likely to make home and car loans costlier. This is the first lending revision by the bank since April 2016 and comes a day after it massively raised the retail and bulk deposit rates.
State Bank of India
- Headquarters: Mumbai
- Chairperson: Rajnish Kumar
APPOINTMENTS
R Subrahmanyam is Higher Education Secretary:
The Centre appointed R Subramanyam as the new Secretary, Higher Education in the Ministry of Human Resource Development. The 1985-batch IAS officer from Andhra Pradesh cadre had been serving as Special Secretary in the department. He will replace K K Sharma.
Vinay Kumar appointed India’s Ambassador to Afghanistan:
Senior diplomat Vinay Kumar has been appointed as India’s ambassador to Afghanistan, succeeding incumbent Manpreet Vohra. Kumar, a 1992 batch Indian Foreign Service officer, is currently serving as Joint Secretary (South) in the headquarters of the external affairs ministry.
Luminous Power launches new brand, signs Virat Kohli as ambassador:
Power backup solutions provider Luminous Power Technologies announced the launch of its new independent brand ‘Amaze’ and plans to invest Rs.150 crore in the next 3-5 years to build the brand. The company has roped in star cricketer Virat Kohli as the brand ambassador for the brand Amaze.
Air Marshal RKS Shera takes over as Air Officer-in-Charge Maintenance at Air Headquarters:
Air Marshal RKS Shera AVSM VSM took over as Air Officer-in-charge Maintenance of Indian Air Force. He was commissioned in the Aeronautical Engineering Electronics Branch of Indian Air Force on 05 Jan 1981. For his distinguished service, the Air Officer was awarded “Ati Vishisht Seva Medal” in 2014 and “Vishisht Seva Medal” in 1993 by the President of India.
SPORTS
Russia’s Olympic membership restored by International Olympic Committee :
Russia’s Olympic membership has been restored by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) following its suspension from Pyeongchang 2018. Russia was banned from February’s Games by the IOC over state-sponsored doping.
Arjuna Awardee Para-swimmer Suspended for Shooting Videos of Female Counterparts:
Para-swimmer Prasanta Karmakar has been suspended for three years by the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) for allegedly recording videos of his female counterparts at the National Championships in Jaipur last year. Karmakar is one of India’s most decorated athletes, he was the first Indian Para-swimmer to participate and win a medal at the 2003 World Swimming Championships held in Argentina.
Vinesh Phogat settles for silver at Asian Wrestling:
India’s star wrestler Vinesh Phogat has settled for Silver Medal in the 50kg Freestyle competition at the Asian Wrestling Championship in Kyrgyzstan. She lost to China’s Chun Lei in the final. Another Indian, Sangeeta claimed Bronze in 59kg division.
Kyrgyzstan
- Capital: Bishkek
- Currency: Kyrgyzstani som
OBITUARY
Odia Bhajan singer Arabinda Muduli passes away:
Renowned Oriya musician, lyricist and bhajan singer Arabinda Muduli passed away due to cardiac arrest at the age of 56 in Odisha’s Bhubaneswar.
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