DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS : MARCH 3, 2018

NATIONAL

Tamil Nadu Government unveils 24 hour Toll Free Helpline to provide information on education:

• Tamil Nadu Government announced 24-hour helpline has been set up for the first time in the country that would provide information on education and offer guidance to students.
• Chief Minister K Palaniswami formally launched the toll free number 14417 through the 24-hour Education Guidance Centre set up at the Secretariat.

 Tamil Nadu

• Capital: Chennai
• Chief Minister: Edappadi K. Palaniswami
• Governor: Banwarilal Purohit

Maharashtra government ties up with Wikipedia to promote Marathi:

• The Maharashtra government has tied up with Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia, to propagate the Marathi language and increase its usage online.
• The state government made its announcement via a press release on Marathi language day (Feb 27^th).
• It said this will help spread the language across the globe and give Marathi-speaking people a single platform to interact.
• It is also expected to help reach Maharashtrians who have settled in the United States.

 Maharashtra

• Capital: Mumbai
• Chief Minister: Devendra Fadnavis
• Governor: Vidyasagar Rao

World’s largest solar park Shakti Sthala launched in Karnataka:

• The Karnataka government inaugurated the first phase of a 2,000 megawatts (MW) solar park in the drought-prone Pavagada region of Tumkur district, about 180km from Bengaluru.
• The first phase of the Rs.16,500 crore park called “Shakti Sthala” will generate 600MW, while the balance 1,400MW is expected to be commissioned by the end of this year.
• The solar project, touted as the largest in the world, is spread over 13,000 acres and five villages.
• It is part of the “Karnataka Solar Policy 2014-2021” which aims to decrease dependence on traditional power sources and move to environmentally friendly ones to meet the growing power needs of the state.
• The park ties in with the centre’s scheme to generate 100 gigawatts (GW) of solar power by 2020.

 Karnataka

• Capital: Bengaluru
• Chief Minister: Siddaramaiah
• Governor: Vajubhai Vala

Bharti Defence Delivers C 162 Interceptor Boat to Coast Guard:

• Bharati Defence and Infrastructure Ltd (BDIL) delivered an interceptor boat – C-162 – to Indian Coast Guard (ICG) at BDIL jetty in Mangaluru.
• The vessel will be based at Kochi and Deputy Commandant Pawan Koyar will be the commanding officer of ICG C-162.

Cabinet approves Establishment of National Financial Reporting Authority:       

• The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the proposal for establishment of National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA) and creation of one post of Chairperson, three posts of full-time Members and one post of Secretary for NFRA.
• The decision aims at establishment of NFRA as an independent regulator for the auditing profession which is one of the key changes brought in by the Companies Act, 2013.

INTERNATIONAL

India, Russia, Bangladesh sign pact for Rooppur atomic plant:

• In a landmark development India for the first time signed a tripartite agreement with foreign partners Russia & Bangladesh for civil nuclear cooperation.
• Nuclear Power Cooperation of India Limited (NPCIL) will play a key role in building a nuclear power plant on foreign soil with the proposed supply of equipment and material for the power station being built by Russian atomic energy agency Rosatom in Rooppur nuclear power plant in Bangladesh.
• The agreement was signed in Moscow by Deputy Director General of Rosatom (Russia’s Alex civil nuclear body) Nikolay Spassky, Ambassador of Bangladesh in Russia M. Saiful Hoque and Indian Ambassador to Russia Pankaj Saran.

Bangladesh

• Capital: Dhaka
• Currency: Bangladeshi taka

Russia

• Currency: Russian ruble
• Capital: Moscow
• Russian President: Vladimir Putin

 BANKING & BUSINESS

RBI allows higher position limit for FPIs in interest rate futures:

• The Reserve Bank of India has eased position limit in Interest Rate Futures (IRFs) for foreign portfolio investors (FPIs).
• The banking regulator has allowed a limit of 5,000 crore for FPIs to go long in IRFs. An Interest Rate Futures contract is an agreement to buy or sell a debt instrument at a specified future date at a price that is fixed today.
• The underlying security for Interest Rate Futures is either a Government Bond or a Treasury Bill.

RBI

• Headquarters: Mumbai
• Governor: Urjit Patel

Government raises import tax on crude, refined palm oil:

• India has raised import tax on crude palm oil to 44 percent from 30 percent and lifted the tax on refined palm oil to 54 percent from 40 percent, India is the world’s biggest importer of edible oils.
• It buys mainly palm oil from Indonesia and Malaysia and soyoil from Brazil and Argentina.

India has the third highest number of billionaires in the world – Hurun Global Rich List:

• With 31 new Indians on the list, India comes third after China and USA on Hurun’s Global Rich List 2018.
• However, China (819 names) and USA (571 names). The total wealth of these billionaires increased by 31% to USD 10.5 trillion – that is 13.2% of the global GDP.
• Although Mukesh Ambani (USD 45 billion) remains the richest Indian. Lakshmi Mittal, (USD 18 million) is the second-richest Indian on the list.
• The richest person in the world is Jeff Bezos of Amazon, with USD 123 billion, followed by Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway with USD 102 billion, Bill Gates of Microsoft with USD 90 billion, Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook with USD 79 billion.

APPOINTMENTS

Rangarajan Raghavan appointed director & managing director of HCL Infosystems:

• IT major HCL Infosystems Ltd. announced the appointment of Rangarajan Raghavan, the president of the company as its director and managing director, effective April 1.
• The appointment follows the resignation of Premkumar Seshadri as the executive vice chairman and managing director of the company.

Armenian parliament elects ex-PM Sarkissian as country’s president:

• Armenia’s parliament voted to make Armen Sarkisian the new president as of April 9.
• He was prime minister in 1996-97 and served in diplomatic posts, including ambassador to the United Kingdom.
• Sarkissian, 64, a former prime minister who once served as the country’s ambassador to Britain, was elected to serve a seven-year term.

Armenia

• Capital: Yerevan
• Currency: Armenian dram

AWARD

Indian-American scientist Navin Vardarajan awarded grant for cancer research:

• An Indian-American scientist Navin Vardarajan has been awarded a grant of over USD 1.1 million for his ground-breaking research on cancer (to improve effectiveness of T-cell immunotherapy).
• Along with another University of Houston researcher Sanghyuk Chung (to define molecular targets for the treatment of cervical cancer), were awarded huge grants by Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT), an organisation that funds pioneering cancer research and prevention programmes in the state.

SPORTS

Navjot Kaur clinches India’s first gold in Asian Wrestling Championships:

• Navjot Kaur has scripted history by becoming the first Indian woman to win a Gold medal by defeating Japan’s Miya Imai at the Senior Asian Wrestling Championships.
• She clinched the coveted yellow metal in the 65 kg freestyle category at the tournament being held at Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan.
• Rio Olympics Bronze medalist Sakshi Malik won a bronze in the 62 kg division after getting the better of Kazakhstan’s Ayaulym Kassymova.
• The two medals took India’s medals tally to six – 1 Gold, 1 Silver and 4 Bronze.

Kyrgyzstan

• Capital: Bishkek
• Currency: Kyrgyzstani som

IMPORTANT EVENTS OF THE DAY

 World Wildlife Day – March 3^rd

• World WildlifeDay was proclaimed to celebrate and raise awareness of the world’s wild animals and plants.
• World Wildlife Day celebrated in 2018 under the theme “Big cats: predators under threat”.  

 OBITUARY

Tripura Fisheries Minister Khagendra Jamatia passes away

• Tripura fisheries and cooperative minister Khagendra Jamatia died at the AIIMS in New Delhi following a brief illness. He was 64.

Click here to view Previous Current Affairs Quiz

 CURRENT AFFAIRS QUIZ