DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: MARCH 15, 2019 -

DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: MARCH 15, 2019

Dear Aspirants,

Daily Current Affairs (March 15, 2019) like many other sections is inevitable and this also helps to score in the Banking awareness, Static GK and Financial Awareness sections. Remember, Banking Awareness and Static Awareness Questions are asked from the General Awareness section. This will also help you to ride your preparations for the forthcoming exams.

INTERNATIONAL

India extends USD 250 mn to Nepal for reconstruction of infrastructures post earthquake :

India extended grant assistance of up to USD 250 million to Nepal for the reconstruction of infrastructures in the areas of housing, education and health.
A lot was destroyed during the devastating April 2015 earthquake which saw the death of over 9,000 people.
During the India-Nepal Joint Project Monitoring Committee meeting held officials from the two countries reviewed the progress of post-earthquake reconstruction projects.

Indo & Bangladesh Joint Military Exercise Sampriti 2019 Concludes :

A joint Indo-Bangladesh military exercise Exercise Sampriti-VIII, which witnessed participation of a company group of 9th Battalion the Rajputana Rifles from the Indian Army and the Company of 36 East Bengal Battalion, Bangladesh Army concluded at Tangail, Bangladesh.
The exercise was the 8th edition in the Sampriti series.The closing ceremony was graced by HE Mrs. Riva Ganguly Das, Indian High Commissioner who highlighted the special bonds between the two nations.

STATIC : Bangladesh

Capital: Dhaka,

Currency: Taka,

PM: Sheikh Hasina.

US – India Strategic Security Dialogue held in Washington :

The 9^th round of the U.S.-India Strategic Security Dialogue held in Washington DC, United States. Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale led the Indian delegation and Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Andrea Thompson led the US delegation.
The two sides exchanged views on a wide range of global security and non-proliferation challenges. Both nations reaffirmed their commitment to work together to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems and to deny access to such weapons by terrorists and non-state actors.

STATIC : United States

Capital : Washington DC

Currency : Dollar

President : Donald Trump

BANKING & ECONOMY

Fresh Liquidity Infusion Through Forex Swaps : RBI

The Reserve Bank of India announced to infuse long term liquidity worth $5 billion into the system through Foreign Exchange swap arrangement with banks for 3 years that is capable of injecting around Rs. 35,000 crores into the system.
The RBI will conduct long term buy/sell swaps for converting Dollars to Rupees.Minimum bid size for the auction has been fixed at $25 million and multiple bids submission by banks will be allowed.

RBI categorises IDBI Bank as private sector lender :

IDBI Bank has been categorised as a private sector lender following acquisition of majority stake by Life Insurance Corporation.
IDBI Bank has been categorized as a ‘private sector bank’ with effect from January 21, 2019.In January 2019, LIC completed the process of picking up a controlling 51% stake in the nearly crippled IDBI Bank.
IDBI Bank has been under the prompt corrective action framework of RBI that bans it from corporate lending and branch expansions, salary hikes and other regular activities.

SBI Introduces ‘Doorstep Banking’ For Senior Citizens, Differently-Abled And Infirm Persons :

The State Bank of India has initiated a new ‘doorstep banking’ service for senior citizens, differently-abled and infirm account holders as well as visually impaired customers.
The person to avail the benefit should have a KYC-compliant account, having one’s mobile number registered with the bank, and being domiciled within a five-kilometer radius of one’s home branch.
Cost for availing these services would be Rs 100 for each financial transaction and Rs 60 for each non-financial transaction.

APPOINTMENTS

M R Kumar has been appointed as LIC chairman :

According to a Personnel Ministry order M R Kumar was appointed the Chairman of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC).
Kumar was Zonal Manager (in-charge) of North Zone and will hold the post of the LIC Chairman for five years.
T C Suseel Kumar and Vipin Anand have been appointed as Managing Directors of the LIC for five years.

PS Narasimha has been appointed as mediator to resolve disputes within BCCI :

The Supreme Court appointed senior advocate P S Narasimha as mediator for resolving various disputes related to cricket administration in the country.
Narasimha will hear the BCCI’s position, and then make recommendations to the Committee of Administrators (CoA). Narasimha is assisting the apex court as amicus curiae in the BCCI matter.

STATIC : BCCI

President: C.K. Khanna,

Headquarters: Mumbai.

AWARDS & HONOURS

Royal Mint unveils new 50p ‘black hole’ coin in honour of Stephen Hawking’s work :

The Royal Mint has honoured Stephen Hawking’s legacy by issuing a new 50 pence piece.The coin has drawn its inspiration from Hawking’s work on black holes discussed in his bestselling book- A Brief History of Time.
The coin has his name engraved along with an illustration of concentric circles that represent a black hole.It also has his equation on the black hole theory.

RANKINGS

India ranks 16th in terms impacted species in hotspots :

India was ranked 16th in the world in terms of highest number of impacted species in biodiversity-rich zones (hotspots) due to human actions
In India, 35 species affected on an average in biodiversity-rich zones.
Malaysia ranks first among countries with highest number of impacted species (on an average 125 species).

AWARDS & HONOURS

Padmanaban Gopalan bagged the Commonwealth Youth Award for the Asian region :

Padmanaban Gopalan, founder of No Food Waste named the winner of the Commonwealth Youth Award for the Asian region worth 3,000 Pounds at a ceremony at the Commonwealth Secretariat in London.
He was given the honour for his work towards achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of Zero Hunger with his innovative system of recovering excess food to distribute to those in need.
His initiative runs a geo-mapping platform, which allows users to drop food at located “hunger spots” and has so far recovered over 650,000 meals across 14 cities and the platform has been used by over 12,000 volunteers.

SPORTS

Argentina, Colombia to co-host 2020 Copa America :

Argentina and Colombia are poised to co-host the 2020 Copa América after South America’s ruling body CONMEBOL once again ruled out a US proposal to host the tournament.
It is for the first time in the modern Copa America era that the tournament will be split between two countries.

IMPORTANT DAYS

World Consumer Rights Day : 15th March

Every year 15th March is being observed as World Consumer Rights Day, as a means of raising global awareness about consumer rights and needs.
The theme for World Consumers day 2019 is “Trusted Smart Products”.