DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: MARCH 21, 2018

NATIONAL

President Ram Nath Kovind confers Padma Awards

The President of India, Ram Nath Kovind presented the Padma awards to 43 eminent personalities at a Civil Investiture Ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Padma Vibhushan: It is given for exceptional and distinguished service.

Padma Bhushan: It is given for distinguished service of high order.

Padma Shri: It is given for distinguished service in any field.

Padma Vibhushan:

1.Shri Ilayaraja,Art-Music-Tamil Nadu

2.Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan,Art-Music-Maharashtra

3.Shri Parameswaran Parameswaran,Literature and Education-Kerala

106th Indian Science Congress to be Held in Bhopal

The 106th Indian Science Congress to be held in Bhopal.
“Future India: Science and Technology” will be the theme for next Science Congress.
It was announced by General President-elect of Indian Science Congress Manoj Kumar Chakrabarti.
The 105th Indian Science Congress held in Imphal, Manipur and the theme for ISC 2018 was ‘Reaching the unreached through science and technology’.

NCAA becomes world’s first Trusted Digital Repository

National Cultural Audiovisual Archives (NCAA) project of the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, has been certified as the world’s first Trusted Digital Repository as per ISO 16363:2012 standard.
It was implemented by Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) and it was granted by Primary Trustworthy Digital Repository Authorisation Body Ltd. (PTAB), United Kingdom.

Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Skill Development ink MoU on skill development at KVKs

The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare and the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship signed an MoU to conduct skill development training programmes.
The Mou is for agriculture and allied sector on a regular basis, at Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVKs).
A provision of Rs 2 crore has been made for conducting skill training programmes in 2017-18 which is proposed to be increased to Rs 17 crore in 2018-19.

NITI Aayog, Piramal Foundation ink agreement to improve health, education in Aspirational Districts

The NITI Aayog and Piramal Foundation entered into a Statement of Intent (SoI) to work closely with the District Collectors and Key officers of ‘Aspirational Districts’.
It is to support their transformation in terms of healthcare, education and nutrition.
The collaboration is for a duration of four years, with the option to continue, based on mutual agreement.

BHEL Commissions 1st Unit of Kishanganga Hydro Project

The State-run power equipment maker Bhel has commissioned first unit of 110 MW of the Kishanganga hydro-electric project (HEP) of NHPC in Jammu and Kashmir.
It is located on the river Kishanganga, a tributary of the Jhelum in Bandipora district.
All the three units of the 340 MW project will generate 1,350 million units (MU) of clean electricity annually.

INTERNATIONAL

India Signed Double Taxation Avoidance Treaty With Hong Kong

India and Hong Kong has signed a double taxation avoidance agreement (DTAA) that seeks to improve transparency in tax matters and help curb tax evasion and avoidance.
The agreement between India and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) of the People’s Republic of China was signed by Indian Ambassador to China Gautam Bambawale and Hong Kong Finance Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po in Hong Kong.
It will stimulate flow of investment, technology and personnel from India to HKSAR and vice versa.

APPOINTMENTS

Next Ambassador of India to Korea: Gotsurve

Shri Atul M. Gotsurve, currently Director in the Ministry of External Affairs, has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Republic of Korea

Capital: Pyongyang

Leader: Kim Jong-un

Currency: North Korean won

Nepal’s New Vice President: Nanda Bahadur Pun

Nanda Bahadur Pun has been re-elected as the Vice-President of Nepal for the second term unopposed.
Shasi Kala Dahal of CPN-Maoist Centre was elected vice-chairperson of the national assembly and Ganesh Timalsina was elected unopposed as chairman of the national assembly
Nepal last week only had elected Bidhya Devi Bhandari as First President of Federal Nepal.

Nepal

Capital: Kathmandu

Prime minister: Khadga Prasad Oli

Currency: Nepalese rupee

Myanmar President Resigns

The president of Myanmar Htin Kyaw has resigned.
Htin Kyaw was sworn in as president in 2016 after landmark elections which ended decades of military leadership.
Vice-President Myint Swe, a former general, would act as president until a new president is chosen within seven days.

Myanmar

President: Htin Kyaw

Capital: Naypyidaw

Currency: Burmese kyat

BANKING AND ECONOMY

IRCTC Ties Up With Ola

The public sector undertaking Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) announced its partnership with cab-hailing app, Ola.
This tie-up will allow commuters to book an Ola taxi on the IRCTC app.
It is a six-month pilot project.

Ola

Headquarters: Bengaluru

CEO: Bhavish Aggarwal

SBI Signed MoU With IMGC

India’s largest lender SBI and India Mortgage Guarantee Corporation (IMGC) has igned a pact to offer mortgage guarantee scheme for prospective non-salaried and self-employed home loan customers.
The offering will help increase home loan eligibility up to 15 per cent within the regulatory norms.
India Mortgage Guarantee Corporation (IMGC) is the India’s first Mortgage Guarantee Company.

SBI

Chairperson: Rajnish Kumar

Headquarters: Mumbai

Most valuable US-listed company: Alphabet

Amazon became the second most valuable publicly listed U.S. company on Tuesday, surpassing Google parent Alphabet Inc for the first time.
Amazon shares finished up 2.69 percent at $1,586.51, for a market capitalization of $768 billion.
Apple is the world’s most valuable publicly listed company market capitalization currently stands at US$889 billion.

USA Bans Use of Venezuelan Cryptocurrency “Petro”

The US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order banning the use of Venezuela’s new crypto-currency, Petro.
It prohibits all US transactions in digital currencies that benefit the Venezuelan government.
In February, Venezuela became the first country to launch its own digital currency.

Venezuela

President: Nicolas Maduro

Currency: Venezuelan bolívar

Capital: Caracas

Axis Bank Opens Representative Office in Sharjah

Axis Bank has announced a new representative office in Sharjah.
It is to serve better in the emirate and to expand its retail offerings to customers in the neighbouring northern emirates.
It is the third such Axis Bank office in the UAE after Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

Axis Bank

Headquarters: Mumbai

Chairman: Shikha Sharma

AWARDS AND HONOURS

Robert Langlands wins Abel Prize for 2018

The Canadian mathematician Robert Langlands has been named as the winner of the Abel Prize for 2018.He is currently a professor at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, the US.
It has been given for his visionary programme connecting representation theory to number theory. It is given by the Norwegian Academy of Sciences and Letters.
He will receive the financial award of six million Norwegian kroner ($776,000) from Norway’s King Harald V.
The Abel award is given in memory of the Norwegian mathematics genius Niels Henrik Abel.

OBITUARY

Blackstone co-founder Peter Peterson dies

The Billionaire Peter Peterson, who co-founded private equity firm Blackstone Group and served as U.S. President Richard Nixon’s commerce secretary passed away.
The Blackstone Group L.P is an New York based Asset Management Company.

IMPORTANT DAYS

International Day of Happiness- 20 March

The International Day of Happiness is observed on 20th March.
The theme for IDH 2018 is “Share Happiness” – focusing on the importance of relationships, kindness and helping each other.

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