Current Affairs Weekly One Liners : Mar 13 – Mar 19

NATIONAL AFFAIRS

• IIT– Hyderabad and Tokyo’s i-School launched Collaborative Educational Project to boost education
• K.Sinha Secretary, Ministry of Culture and Raghavendra Singh, Director General of NAI, inaugurated 127^th National Archives Foundation Day
• Skill development programme – Sashatra Seema Bal signs MOU with National skill developmentCorporation and National Skill development Fund.
• 9 magnitude quake strikes Andaman & Nicobar Islands whose epicenter was in Nicobar islands region at depth of 10km
• Finance minister Arun Jaitleywas given the additional charge of the defense ministry after Manohar Parrikar takes over as Goa chief minister.
• Assam government planned to increase the number of Rhino population to 3000 before 2020.
• Government has prepared a new credit guarantee scheme of Rs. 5 crore for start-ups, without collateral.
• Hyderabad declared as Best Standard Of Living with hatrick victory. Vienna tops the list and Delhi at last.
• Delhi Records Coldest March Day In Decade with temperature of 9.1°C

Karnataka Budget Highlights:

• CM Siddaramaiah proposed to increase the retirement age of private sector employees from 58 to 65 years.
• Motor vehicle tax on two wheeler priced above Rs 1 lakh by 6% to 18%.
• The government allocated Rs 100 crores for Namma Canteens
• Proposed to set up a Centre of Excellence in Data Science and Artificial Intelligence and Cyber Security Centre.
• The value-added tax (VAT)on liquor will be removed from April 1.
• Amarinder Singhwas sworn-in as 26^th Punjab Chief Minister at the Raj Bhawan in Chandigarh. He belonged to Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC)
• Union Cabinet Approves National Health Policy assured ‘healthcare services for all.’
• union Agriculture and Farmer’s welfare Minister RadhaMohan Singh launched a research center for Banana at vaishali, Bihar.
• National Theatre festival begins in Kerala, organized by the  Information and  public relations Department and  CM Pinarayi  Vijayan inaugurated the function.
• Porttrust of Chennai and Puducherry government signed an MOU in New Delhi to promote Industrial growth and attract investment from
• report of National Council of Applied Economic Research’s (NCAER)State Investment Potential Index (N-SIPI)
• Trivendra Singh rawat has sworn in as the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand
• Andhra Pradesh government allots 100 acres to set up 4^th Generation Technology Park in Amaravathi
• Airbus will set up India’s first full flight simulator and training centrenear Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport.
• International Buddhist conference commenced at NavaNalanda Mahavihara Rajgir in the Nalanda district, function was inaugurated by Dalai Lama in Bihar
• Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Telanganawill issue UDAY bonds on a private placement basis to raise a total of 18,107.93 crore. .
• Priest-turned politician Yogi Adityanath, was named as next Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.
• Sanjauli police post became the first police force in the country to be linked with Crimeand Criminal Tracking Network and systems.
• The Gujarat Prohibition (Amendment) Bill, 2017, the present liquor law, was approved by Governor O.P. Kohli.
• Coal India,the state-owned coal miner and announces to float an Expression of Interest (EoI) for coal to liquid (CTL) project at Chatar.
• Nation’s Solar Power Capacity To Target Above 20GW In Next 15 Months
• The Union Government is weighing the option of permitting overseas retailers to open stores that would sell only “Made in India”products
• India’s longest road tunnel, built at stretch of 2 km tube tunnel in Jammu & Kashmir, on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highwaywill open to traffic very soon.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

• Bangladesh’sdeclares March 25 as Genocide Day, in remembrance of the atrocities carried out by the Pakistani Army .
• Pakistan is set to conduct its first national census since 19 years with assistance of 200,000 troops
• BangladeshPrime Minister Sheikh Hasina will pay a state visit to India from April 7 to 10 after seven years.
• Changi airport in Singapore named as the world’s best airport for the fifth time, In the survey of the research firm Skytrax,
• India ranks 148thglobally in terms of representation of women in executive government and parliament, by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) survey
• Chinaappears set to strengthen Pakistani military forces to protect the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)
• Indiaand Brazil signed an agreement in Brasilia for exempting detached workers of the two countries from making social security.
• India’s SRESTHA(Special Railway Establishment for Strategic Technology & Holistic Advancement) signed agreement with Australian Research Centre will be guided by them.
• Finance ministers from the world’s biggest economies dropped the pledge of anti-protectionism action against climate changein G-20 summit

BANKING & BUSINESS

• BSNL To Install 28,000 Mobile Base Stations to replace all 2G with 3G and 4G by end of 2018.
• Welspun Steel starts integrated steel plant with production capacity of 3 million tonnes for Rs.14,690 crore project
• Syndicate Bank launches Synd-Saheli App for women to learn new features of bank.
• ITPO Bags ‘Excellence In Display Ward’ At AAHAR 2017 for highest number of exhibitors from India and abroad.
• Vijaya Bank Starts 200th Branch In Tirupati which was inaugurated by Tirupati Tirumala Devasthanam Chairman Chadalwada Krishna Murthy.
• Union Bank And UCO Bank Won National Payments Excellence Awards
• Airtel Payments Bank, announces one lakh savings accountsto be opened in 100 villages across the state of Tamil Nadu.
• Hyundaihas signed a deal worth nearly $3.2 billion to invest Kangan oil production   and refinery project in southwest Iran.
• Intel Corpagreed to buy Israeli autonomous vehicle technology firm Mobileye for $15.3 billion
• Singapore Airlines (SIA)and its subsidiary SilkAir have signed an agreement to code share on Indian domestic flights operated by
• Facebook and Tlabs join hands to fortify mobile based startups to engage and educate budding entrepreneurs.
• Two Indian companies, Tata Steel and Wipro, have been named in the list of world’s most ethical companiesout of 124 by American think tank Ethisphere Institute.
• Uberis rolling out a ‘real-time ID check’ feature to ensure the driver using the app matches the account registered with the ride-hailing platform.
• India’s inflation ratebased on the Consumer Price Index (combined), went up to was 65 per cent in February compared with 5.26 per cent a year ago.
• The World Bankprovides loan to Rewa Ultra Mega Solar project in Madhya Pradesh. at an interest rate of only 25 per cent.
• SBI allows one-time settlementsfor tractor and farm equipment loans that make up about 6,000 crore. Avail of benefits until March 31.
• Jet Airways Partners With Uber To Provide Door To Door Travel Option To Fliers with Jet Airways app
• Andhra Pradeshinked an agreement with the Redmond, to utilize the latter’s hybrid cloud platform, called Azure Stack
• State Bank Of India Signs MOU With CREDAI to jointly conduct various initiatives towards development of the realty sector.
• Future General India Insurance Company(FGII) has entered into a tie-up for its products with public lender UCO Bank.
• Axis Bankannounced the opening of its new branch in Nadiad, Gujarat. The bank now has 282 branches in the state..
• Singapore-headquartered ride-hailing platform Grabannounced the opening of an R&D centre in Bengaluru.
• 100%stake of Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Ltd is acquired by IndusInd bank for an undisclosed amount.
• WNS, Management firm has acquired Houston, Texas based Health-help, leader in care management for $95million.
• Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL)and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) merged for their long-term survival.
• Paytmlaunched a bill payments service in  Users there would be able to pay for their cell phone, cable, internet, etc via a Paytm Canada app.
• GST Council cleared a proposal to cap the cess on luxury carsand aerated drinks at 15 per cent over the peak rate of 28 per cent. Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) will invest  21, 528 crore to develop India’s deepest gas find by 2022-23 to double its output.
• India’s E-Commerce major Snapdealhas partnered with Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) to showcase Japanese SME products on online.
• Anil Agarwal’s De Beers buys stake in South Africa’s Anglo American Plc. for £2 bn to gain a foothold in diamond mining business.
• Muthoot Financeplans to rise up to 2000 crore through a public issue of Non-Convertible Debentures.
• Bandhan Banksaid it has partnered with Avenues India to help merchants get access to point of sale and payment gateway products.
• Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL)from India and the United Aircraft Corporation and United Engine Corporations of Russia signed MOU for supply of Sukhoi Jets Inked:
• Sun Pharmaceutical Industry’s group firm Tarowill fully acquire Canada’s Thallion Pharmaceuticals for 7 million Canadian dollars.

• YES Bankhad selected 12 startups for its fintech business accelerator programme.
• Aeries Financial Technologies promotes a product on fin-tech CASHewhich enter into a partnership with Rubique
• United Bank of Indiahas received a capital infusion of  418 crore from the Centre under its turnaround-linked capital infusion plan.
• EvangelicalSocial Action Forum is a small finance bank inaugurated by chief minister pinarayi Vijayan of Kerala
• Applewill set up two new research and development centres in Shanghai and Suzhou in China.

APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGNS

• HSBC appoints insurer aia’s mark tucker as new chairman. He replaces Douglas Flint
• Reliance Commercial Finance appoints Devang Mody as CEO. Prior to this, Mody served as presidentof consumer business at Bajaj Finance.
• Shashank Manohar resigns from icc chairman’s post.
• Pawan Goenkawill continue to be the chairman of Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-M) till June 2020.
• Biren Singhwas sworn in as the Chief Minister of Manipur in Imphal.
• Murugappa group’s Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Company Ltd appointed N.Srinivasan as the new MD. He succeeds Vellayan Subbiah.
• Ravi Viswanathhas been appointed as the first CEO of newly formed Reliance Health Insurance.
• RBI appointed DilipShanghvi as a member of western board of RBI. Dilip is the Managing Director of Sun Pharmaceuticals
• Justice Hemant Guptahas taken oath as the Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High court.

SPORTS

• SSP Chawrasia Wins Indian Open Title For Second Successive Year and 4^th title overall in Golf
• Malaysia’s Lee Chong Weiwon his fourth All England Open Badminton Championships
• Bhubaneswar will host the Asian Athletics Championshipsin July. Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar will host the event from July 1 to 4.
• Double Olympic cycling trackgold medallist Joanna Rowsell-Shand She is also a five-time World champion.
• Bangladeshbecomes quickest to reach 100 test also became the 10th nation to play 100 Tests.
• Hero MotoCorphas become the second Indian company to sign up as a national supporter for the FIFA U-17 World Cup,
• Badminton Champion, Jwala Gutta appointed as the member of the governing body of Sports Authority of India.
• A nine-member Indian teamwill compete in the 20km Asian race walking championship in Nomi City, Japan, on March 19.
• International Olympic Committee approved a plan to add a stadium in Fukushima for newly added games baseballand softball
• Svetlana Kuznetsovatoppled World No. 3 to book an all-Russian Indian Wells final against Elena Vesnina

IMPORTANT DAYS

• 14^thMarch – National Pi Day ( – approx 3.14159) which is approximately 3.14159.
• 2^nd Monday – Commonwealth Day
• Theme of Commonwealth Day 2017– ‘A Peace-building Commonwealth’
• March 15 -World Consumer Rights Day. Theme for 2017 is ‘Building a Digital World Consumers can Trust’.
• Google’s New Doodle Marks 140 Years of Test Cricket which was played between England and Australia in Lords stadiumin 1932
• March 17th Is World Sleep Day. Theme: “SleepSoundly, Nurture life”.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

• Scientists have discovered the world’s first fluorescent frogin Argentina  gives off a bright blue and green glow in the dark.
• Saurabh Singhand Vikas Pandey have developed a rapid diagnostic method for typhoid with diagnosis time of seven hours.
• Scientistsin India have uncovered a pair of 6 billion year-old fossils that appear to contain red algae, which may be the oldest plant-like life discovered on Earth.
• A high school student in Arunachal Pradeshhas invented a unique pair of goggles that helps the visually impaired detect obstacles on their path.
• Researchers from China, New Zealand and the U.S. have found four intact mushroom fossils, preserved in Burmese amber.
• Scientists accurately predict whether a child has autism spectrum disorder by  analysing a blood sample.

OBITUARY

• Malayalam Filmmaker Diphan, who became popular through action-based movies, died.
• Amy Krouse Rosenthal, best-selling author, dead at age 51:
• Record-Breaking Marathoner Dies At 86
• Ed Whitlock, the first septuagenarianto run a marathon in under three hours, died at the age of 86.
• Derek Walcott, a Nobel Prize-winning poet and internationally famous writer, has died on the island of  Lucia.
• Former Arunachal Pradesh Minister Nurang Tazap who represented Doimukh Assembly constituency dies
• Dev Raj Sikka,former director of the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune, died of a cardiac arrest. He was 85.