NATIONAL AFFAIRS
A.P. govt. wants INS Viraat turned into luxury hotel
On its last day in service on March 6 after three decades of sailing, the fate of INS Viraat, the oldest aircraft carrier of the Indian Navy, remains unclear as to whether it will be converted into a luxury hotel or will it head to the scrapyard to be broken up.
The Defence Ministry is yet to take a decision on the proposal from the Government of Andhra Pradesh (A.P.) to convert it into an entertainment hub in Visakhapatnam through a joint venture with the Government of India. A 50:50 sharing between the Government of India and the Government of Andhra Pradesh so as to take forward the prestigious and unique project at Visakhapatnam
Centre launches survey on Gangetic dolphins
The Centre has launched the first ever across-the-river survey in the Ganga to determine the population of aquatic life, including that of the endangered Gangetic dolphin.
The first leg of the census was launched on March 1 from Narora in Uttar Pradesh to Bijnor (covering distance of nearly 165 km) to establish the number of the national aquatic animal.
Endangered barn owl rescued
The Bhitarkanika National Park officials have rescued an endangered barn owl, a scheduled animal under the Wildlife Act, from a place of worship at a village in Odisha’s Kendrapara district.
Owl which had whitish patches over its body, was a protected species under schedule 3 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
Country’s tallest Tricolour hoisted at Attari border
A Tricolour was hoisted on a flag mast, said to be the country’s tallest, 323 metres from the India-Pakistan border at Attari. The flag was unfurled at a height of 355 feet from the base — which is five feet high. Add to it another 10 feet, where an aviation light stands, and the total height of the structure goes up to 365 feet. The flag is said to be visible from Lahore. Previously, Ranchi had the tallest national flag at 300 feet.
21- Nation Indian Ocean Rim Association summit held in Jakarta
The IORA conference held in Jakarta in Indonesia which was addressed by vice president Hamid Ansari. Theme of the summit is “strengthening maritime cooperation for a peaceful stable and prosperous Indian ocean”.
19th Asian security conference
19th Asian security conference held at the Institute of defence and security analysis was addressed by defence minister Manohar parrikar he stated that terrorism is the biggest threat to International peace and also quoted that India submitted a resolution in united nation for comprehensive convention on International terrorism (CCIT) in 1996.
Travails of NRIs in exchanging demonetised notes
Non-resident Indians (NRIs) visiting India, especially for a short visit, to their native places are finding it difficult to exchange the demonetised currencies of Rs.1,000 and Rs.500 notes, as these notes can be exchanged only at RBI offices in Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, and Nagpur. While this facility will remain open for residents (who were abroad during the specified period) from January 2, 2017 to March 31, 2017, NRIs can avail this till June 30, 2017.
‘India’s unemployment rate sees sharp decline’
Contrary to market perception, India’s unemployment rate halved from 9.5 % in August 2016 to 4.8 % in February this year and among major States, a sharp decline was registered in Uttar Pradesh.
According to the State Bank of India Ecoflash, during August 2016 to February 2017, unemployment rate in Uttar Pradesh registered the maximum decline from 17.1 % to 2.9 %, followed by Madhya Pradesh (10% to 2.7%), Jharkhand (9.5 % to 3.1 %), Odisha (10.2 % to 2.9%) and Bihar (13 % to 3.7%).
Hatsun Agro commissions 24 MW wind power plants in Tamil Nadu
Hatsun Agro Product has commissioned wind power plant with 24 MW capacity in Tuticorin district, Tamil Nadu. ‘Hatsun Agro Product Ltd to power dairy plants with renewable energy’, which is being given for the information of the Stock Exchanges, as required under the SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015.
Chandigarh to host ‘Destination North East’ 2017
Chandigarh will be hosting a three-day long ‘Destination North East’ 2017 event showcasing North East as a potential destination for investment. The event is being organised by the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), government of India and an industry body PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The ‘3 H’ Mission, that is Horticulture, Handicraft and Handlooms, is the focus of Destination North East 2017.
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
North Korea fires 4 ballistic missiles into ocean: South Korea
North Korea fired four banned ballistic missiles that flew about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles), with three of them landing in Japan’s exclusive economic zone, South Korean and Japanese officials said, in an apparent reaction to huge military drills by Washington and Seoul that Pyongyang insists are an invasion rehearsal.
BANKING & BUSINESS
Nokia, BSNL to develop 5G ecosystem in India
Nokia and state-run telco Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) will team up to accelerate the development of a 5G ecosystem in India. With this partnership, Nokia will help the transaction of BSNL through its 5G end-to-end solution, including its AirScale radio access portfolio and AirFrame data centre platform for extreme broadband and ultra-reliability and low-latency communication.
HDFC Bank launches artificial intelligence-driven chatbot Eva for customer services
HDFC Bank announced the launch of an electronic virtual assistant (EVA), an artificial intelligence-driven chatbot, for customer services. Eva is India’s first AI-based banking chatbot and can answer millions of customer queries across multiple channels instantly(less than 0.4 seconds). “Within the first few days of its launch, Eva has answered over 1 lakh queries from thousands of customers from 17 countries across the globe,” it claimed.
Deutsche Bank to raise $8.5 billion to help restructure firm
European banking giant Deutsche Bank announced plans to raise at least $8.5 billion in capital and sell off a stake in its asset management business, in a move to help shore up the troubled German firm.
JSW Steel is frontrunner to buy Italy’s Ilva plant
A consortium led by Sajjan Jindal-owned JSW Steel is close to taking control of the struggling Ilva plant at Taranto in southern Italy. The plant has a annual production capacity of 10 million tonnes: 40 per cent of Italy’s national production. JSW will invest about $400 million (Rs.2,600 crore) for a 35 per cent stake in Ilva.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Computer OS, short movie stored in DNA
Scientists have successfully stored a computer operating system, a short movie and other data in DNA. It is considered an ideal storage medium in the next generation of ultracompact, biological storage devices, which will last hundreds of thousands of years.
In a new study, researchers from Columbia University and the New York Genome Centre in the U.S. showed that an algorithm designed for streaming video on a cellphone can unlock DNA’s nearly full storage potential by squeezing more information into its four base nucleotides.
ACHIEVEMENTS
German robot sets Rubik’s cube record
A new Guinness World Record has been set in Germany for the fastest-solved Rubik’s cube by a robot, which unscrambled the puzzle in just 0.637 seconds with 21 moves. The Sub1 Reloaded beat a previous record of 0.887 seconds, which was achieved by an earlier version of the same machine using a different processor.
SPORTS
Querrey Beats Nadal
Unseeded American Sam Querrey stunned second seeded Rafael Nadal 6-3, 7-6 to win the ATP Mexico Open and end the Spaniard’s run of perfection.
Querrey captured his ninth ATP title in an impressive week that saw him beat four top-10 players — Belgian David Goffin, Austrian Dominic Thiem, Australian Nick Kyrgios and Spanish Nadal.
Murray solidiies his position at the top of the rankings
Andy Murray solidified his position at the top of the rankings through a 6-3, 6-2 defeat of Fernando Verdasco to win the Dubai Tennis Championships for the first time. Murray achieved 45th career title.
Dominant Baleno RS clinches team title
Baleno RS, with 89 points from the three races, clinched the team championships at the Nexa P1 Powerboat Indian Grand Prix of the Seas.
The Coleman siblings (Sam Coleman & Daisy Coleman and C.S Santosh & Martin Robinson) completed a hat-trick of victories with the third (worth 20 points).
