Madhya Pradesh: Waterways transportation to begin on Narmada River:
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said that waterways transportation would be started around river Narmada in the State. “The waterways transportation will be started in a circumference of 100 km in Narmada river as about 30 % of State’s population lives on the banks of this river”.
Himachal Pradesh Governor Inaugurates Campaign against Drug Addiction:
The Himachal Pradesh Governor Acharya Devvrat inaugurated a Campaign against Drug Addiction organized by Shimla Press Club in Shimla. The campaign aims to make the state drug free. The Governor has announced to grant Rs 1 lakh to the Press Club Shimla for organising the campaign against drugs. Through the campaign, the state will make effort to eradicate drugs that not only affect the physical and mental health of the addict but also lead them towards increase in crime.
5-day Indian Panaroma Film Festival organised in Port Blair:
The five-day ‘Indian Panorama Film Festival’ being organised by the Directorate of Information and Publicity, Andaman & Nicobar Administration, in association with the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting and Directorate of Film Festivals/IFFI, New Delhi, Govt. of India got underway in Port Blair yesterday.
Demonetisation: 9 lakh accounts ‘doubtful’, under I-T scanner for suspicious cash deposits:
Nearly half of the 18 lakh people under the Income Tax department’s scann
er for suspicious bank deposits post demonetisation have been put in the ‘doubtful’ category. Since Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY) runs till March 31, action against any depositor can be taken only after the scheme closes as the depositor may choose to disclose the wealth and pay taxes.
As many as 9 lakh accounts of the 18 lakh people who were sent the SMS are considered “doubtful”. Under ‘Operation Clean Money’, the I-T department had sent SMS and e-mails to 18 lakh people who, according to its data analysis, made suspicious deposits of over Rs.5 lakh during the 50-day window provided to get rid of old 500 and 1,000 rupee notes.
Two-day Global Investor Summit ‘Momentum Jharkhand’ begins in Ranchi:
A two-day mega event of Global Investor Summit, branded as “Momentum Jharkhand” is going to start at Khelgaon of Ranchi. More than one thousands delegates, including many leading industrialists, both Indian and from other countries, will take part in this. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the Submit through video-conferencing.
Chennai to host EEPC annual show:
The three-day show will be held at the Chennai Trade Centre, and will commence on March 16. Russia will be the partner country for this year’s event. More than 100 companies from Russia are expected to participate in the upcoming show. Sources in EEPC expected more than 600 companies from 60 countries to take part in the mega event. The International Sourcing Show is primary intended to encourage building global partnerships with India.
Don’t carry liquor while travelling in dry Bihar, Army warns personnel:
The ARMY has warned both serving and retired military personnel not to carry liquor while travelling in Bihar, after some of its personnel were arrested for violating the state government’s prohibition law.
Take lead in jet project: Russia:
The 5th generation fighter aircraft to be developed jointly by India and Russia will be an entirely new machine based on the Russian fifth generation jet which is already flying, a senior Russian industry official has said. The two countries are negotiating the contract. They include the S-400 long range air defence systems, Kamov-226T utility helicopters and additional Mi-17 helicopters. “This is an entirely new project [FGFA] for building a new aircraft said by Victor N. Kladov, Director of International Cooperation and Regional Policy of Rostec, Russian State Corporation.
India Slips to 143 in Economic Freedom Index:
India has been ranked 143 out of 186 economies in the annual Index of Economic Freedom 2017 released by top US based Think Tank, The Heritage Foundation. The Index measures the degree of economic freedom in the countries of the world. Hong Kong, Singapore and New Zealand are the top three nations in the Index respectively.
India has been placed in the category of “Mostly Unfree” Economies in which the points ranges from 50.0-59.9.
WWF had chosen a Panda as logo to save printing cost:
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) chose a panda as their logo to save printing costs. “We wanted an animal that is beautiful, is endangered, and…Loved. We also wanted an animal that had an impact in black and white to save money on printing costs,” stated Co-founder Peter Scott. The inspiration for the logo also came from Chi-Chi, a giant panda.
Organization : World Wildlife Fund (WWF)
CEO : Marco Lambertini
Headquarters : Gland, Switzerland
UNICEF Launches $110 Million Appeal for Sudan Children:
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has launched a $110 million appeal to help two million acutely malnourished children across Sudan including hundreds of thousands living in conflict areas. Sudan is home to around 13 percent of all children suffering from acute malnutrition across Africa.
United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
Headquarters: New York City, United States
CEO : Anthony Lake
Edappadi Palaniswami sworn as New Chief Minister: Tamilnadu:
In Tamil Nadu, Governor Ch. Vidyasagar Rao administered the oath of office to Edappadi K. Palaniswami as the 13th Chief Minister along with a Council of 30 Ministers. This is the first time in 29 years a Chief Minister will be seeking a vote of confidence in the House.
Swarup new envoy to Canada:
Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Vikas Swarup has been appointed the new High Commissioner to Canada. Mr. Swarup, a well-known author became the MEA spokesperson in April 2015. He is expected to join his new post in Ottawa by mid-March.
F
lorida law professor is Trump’s Labour pick:
U.S. President Donald Trump nominated former National Labour Relations Board member R. Alexander Acosta to serve as U.S. Secretary of Labour, one day after Mr. Trump’s original choice withdrew.
Matt Idema appointed as first ever COO of WhatsApp:
Facebook-owned messaging app WhatsApp has hired Matt Idema, its first ever Chief Operating Officer (COO), since its initial release back in 2009. Until now, Idema was leading product marketing for all of Facebook’s business products worldwide. WhatsApp, which now has 1.2 billion monthly active users worldwide, currently employs 200 people.
Dassault, Reliance forms JV for Rafale:
Reliance Aerostructure Limited has incorporated joint venture with Dassault Aviation to capture a major share of the offset business arising from the €7.87 billion deal for Rafale fighter jets. The joint venture will execute the offset in phases with Phase I resulting in the generation of more than 700 highly-skilled direct jobs and 2,800 indirect jobs. The offset is worth about Rs.30,000 cr.
Tata Motors, Microsoft ink technology pact:
Tata Motors and software major Microsoft entered into a strategic partnership wherein the Indian automaker will leverage latter’s connected vehicle. Tata Motors will unveil its first vehicle, incorporating AI, advanced machine learning, and the capabilities, at the 87th Geneva International Motor Show on March 7, 2017
RBI plans to rejig MDR for cards:
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) plans to rationalise the merchant discount rate (MDR) for debit cards – the rate which banks charge a merchant when the customer uses a card for a transaction. For small and special category of merchants, the MDR has been capped at 0.4% of the transaction value for physical point-of sale (PoS) machines and 0.3% for digital PoS. For all other categories of merchants, MDR is capped at 0.95% of transaction value for physical PoS and 0.85% for digital PoS. For government transactions, a flat fee of Rs.5 has been proposed for transaction value up to Rs.1,000.
GDP to expand post demonetisation:
Demonetisation of old high value currency and the government’s push towards digital economy will definitely expand India’s GDP, Minister of State for Finance Arjun Ram Meghwal. 23.2% of the economic activity is “shadow economy” and government push to cashless transactions will widen the tax bracket.
Citi Bank launches instant chat service for customers:
Mumbai based Citi Bank has launched instant chat services for customers named Citibank Online (CBOL). With this India become the first country in Asia Pacific within the Citi network to have this kind of service. CBOL will focuses on resolving queries instantly regarding cards, loans, domestic and non-resident accounts, and online transactions.
Headquarters : Mumbai
CEO : Pramit Jhaveri
ISRO gearing up for second moon mission: 
Buoyed by the success of PSLV- C37 which set a world record by placing 104 satellites in orbit, the Indian Space Research Organisation is turning its attention to India’s second lunar mission, Chandrayaan-2, scheduled for 2018. The static test of the lander module of Chandrayaan-2 will be held at ISRO Propulsion Complex, Mahendragiri, by the end of February. Director, Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre, S. Somanath, said the test would measure performance of the lander module propulsion system.
UAE chalks plans to build First city on Mars by 2117:
The UAE has unveiled plans to build the first city on Mars by 2117 as the energy-rich country looks to transport people to the Red Planet over the next few decades. Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces. He announced the 100- year national project on which the Gulf State would collaborate with specialised international organisations and scientific institutes.
Small crocodile species identified from fossil:
Scientists have discovered a new species of crocodiles by means of a 3D reconstruction of the fossil skull of a reptile that lived about 154 million years ago in Germany. The Langenberg Quarry has proven to be a rich source of marine-related fossils, including small crocodile-like atoposaurid species. They concluded that the atoposaurid is a new species, which they named it Knoetschkesuchus.
High-quality graphene created using soybean:
Scientists in Melbourne have used the humble soybean to make the world’s strongest material graphene commercially more viable. Graphene is a carbon material that is one atom thick. Scientists at Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) in Australia have developed a novel “GraphAir” technology that grows graphene.
Book to chronicle Dream Girl’s journey:
Dream Girl Hema Malini’s journey from an actor, a danseuse and Filmmaker to a politician is being chronicled in a new book which will hit the stores on her 69th birthday this October, Billed as an authorised biography, Hema Malini: Beyond the Dream Girl is penned by author-columnist Ram Kamal Mukherjee.
Davis Cup: Bengaluru to host India-Uzbekistan tie in April
Bengaluru’s KSLTA Stadium will host the Davis Cup tie between India and Uzbekistan in April 2017. The announcement was made in a release by AITA (All India Tennis Association).
AITA (All India Tennis Association)
Head quarters : New Delhi
President : Praveen Mahajan
