Daily Current affairs for 13th March 2018 ( English)
National:
1. The capital
punishment or death penalty should stay, as it serves to act as deterrent in
cases of heinous crimes such as murder and rape, as said by the 12 out of 14
states/UTs to Home Ministry. The Home Ministry had forwarded proposal to abolish death
penalty to states/UTs based on recommendation of Law Commission of India (LCI).
2. The proposal to
institute Union Home Minister’s Medal for Excellence in Police Investigation
was approved by the Union Government. The award aims to promote high professional standards of
Investigation of Crime in State/UT Police and Central Investigating Agencies
(CIAs) in the country.
3. Mahanadi Water
Dispute Tribunal has been constituted by the Ministry of Water Resources, River
Development and Ganga Rejuvenation for adjudication of longstanding disputes
between Odisha and Chhattisgarh over sharing of Mahanadi river water. The tribunal
was formed under Section 4 of Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956
following directives of Supreme Court on January 2018. The tribunal will have
three members. Chief Justice of India (CJI) has nominated Supreme Court Judge A
M Khanwilkar as chairman of Tribunal. The two other members are Justice Ravi
Ranjan of Patna High Court and Jusitce Indwermeet Kaur Kochar of Delhi High
Court. It will be provided with services of two assessors who are water
resources experts having experience in handling sensitive water-related issues.
4. India’ s tallest
tri colour flag was hosted in Belagavi, Karnataka. The flag
is hoisted 110 m high from the base .Its dimensions are 120x80 ft. It
break the record of flag which is flown at 107m tall tri colour flag flown in
Pune followed by 105 m flag flown at Attari-wagah border.
5. The
National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) in
association with Facebook launched "Design4India Studio" in Bengaluru. With
"WeWork" as the collaborative space partner, the Design4India Studio
will provide web, mobile, Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR)
platforms for start-ups and designers. The platform will provide interactions
with design industry mentors and give an opportunity to aspiring designers and
startups to explore, innovate and build design as a tool for innovation.
6. Prime
Minister Narendra Modi launched a number of schemes for the poor in Varanasi
and emphasised on harnessing solar energy for cooking. He also
inaugurated a 101-megawatt solar power plant in Mirzapur along with
French President Emmanuel Macron and laid the foundation stone of various
development projects worth over Rs 800 crore in Varanasi. He flagged off
a new train - Kanshi-Patna Jan Shatabdi Express - between
Varanasi and Patna. He also launched Pradhan Mantri Poshan Mission
Yojana to ensure nutrition to children, especially girls.
7. The
Maldives Parliament approved the Anti-Defection Bill with retrospective effect
amidst boycott by opposition MPs. According to the bill, MPs
elected on political party tickets will lose their seat if they leave their
party, get expelled or switch parties. The bill will take effect from 13
July 2017. Thus, 12 MPs that switched to the opposition party in 2017 would now
lose their seats.
8. Assam’s
finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma presented the state’s first e- budget at
the legislative assembly. Each legislators of the assembly are provided
with a tablet ( computer) having details of the budget. In order to make it
truly an e-budget, the reporters are given pen drive containing the details of the
budget.
9. The
2018-19 Budget for Assam proposes to establish a North East Foundation, which
will act as a think tank for the region. This foundation will also link
with leading think tanks at national and global levels and will express the
perspective of t North East region in a strategic, holistic manner. Besides,
Assam state budget 2018-19 has also been made available on Google App.
10. Maharashtra
Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar presented the state budget for 2018-19.in
the legislative assembly. The budget focused on farmers and youth.
11. West
Bengal is the best performing state in terms of allotting jobs and utilizing
funds under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act
(MGNREGA). West Bengal is followed by Tamil Nadu (TN). Goa ranked at the bottom.
12. The
first edition of ‘Soldierathon’ was held at Nehru Stadium in New Delhi. It
is a special marathon aimed at raising funds for welfare of Indian Soldiers and
their families.
International:
1. Bolivia unveiled its 200 km long flag which it claims to be the
World’s biggest flag. It extends between the cities La Paz and Oruro. It is made
of blue cloth and features Bolivian National Symbols. It is 3m in wide. Bolivia
demanded access to the Pacific Ocean which it lost to Chile in a war
in 19th Century. Bolivian people held the flag as a sign of support
for Bolivia’s claim for access to the Pacific Coast.
2. WHO listed "Disease X", which could
potentially trigger deadly global epidemic in the near future, among priority
diseases, calling for urgent measures to tackle it. Besides Disease
X, the seven other potential global disease threats each lacking an effective
drug or vaccine includes Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF); Ebola virus
disease and Marburg virus disease; Lassa fever; Middle East respiratory
syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS);
Nipah and henipaviral diseases Rift Valley fever (RVF); and Zika. The report
seeks to enable cross-cutting research and development preparedness for an
unknown 'Disease X'.
Science & Technology/ defence:
1. The first
multilateral Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) exercise of
Indian Air Force (IAF) in association with South Asian Region
nations-Samvedna2018 was held off the coast of Kerala. Samvedna, which
means ‘Empathy’ focused on practising Air Force-centric HADR solutions in
Multi-national cooperative Disaster Management environment. The objective of
exercise was to galvanise all stakeholders in synergising unified HADR efforts.
Economy:
1. India
has attracted reaching US $208.99 billion foreign direct investment (FDI)
during April 2014 to December 2017 period. The main sectors that
received maximum FDI include services, computer software and hardware,
telecommunications, construction, trading and automobile. To attract inflow of
foreign investments, the central government has announced several measures including
liberalisation of FDI policy and improvement in business climate.
2. A MoU was signed by
the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) with Reserve Bank of India
(RBI) ) for increased cooperation in effective implementation of insolvency law. The MoU provides
for sharing of information, subject to limitations imposed by applicable laws
and sharing of resources available with each other to extent feasible and
legally permissible and so on.
3. India’s factory
output, measured by Index of Industrial Production (IIP) recorded overall 7.5%
growth in January 2018 according to data released by the Central Statistics
Office (CSO).
4. Following the order
of Directorate General of Civil Aviation's (DGCA) to ground 11 A320neo aircraft, Indigo
cancelled 47 flights on various routes. While accepting cancellation of
flights, Indigo gave passengers the option to either choose another flight at
no additional cost or cancel their booking and get a full refund.
5. DCB Bank has
launched DCB Remit , a remittance service to enable customers to send
money online globally. Using DCB remit, any resident Indian can register online and
transfer money to 20 Countries such as US, Canada, Australia, UK, UAE and
Germany.
Appointments/Resignations:
1. Anjani
Kumar has been appointed as the new commissioner of police,
Hyderabad.
Sports:
1. The Indian Premier
League (IPL) launched the anthem for the 2018 edition of games starting on
April 7. BCCI and Star India collaborated to create anthem for the
campaign this year and they named the anthem as 'Best vs Best'.
2. Asian Champ Navjot
Kaur became World no:2 in the Women’s 65kg category in the latest ranking
released by the United World Wrestling. India’s Vinesh Phogat has secured 2nd rank
in the 50Kg category. First place goes to China’s Lei Chun
3. Bishworjit Singh
and Samira Abraham won gold in the men’s and women’s category of the Senior
National Triathlon Championship held in Vizag, Andhra .
4. International
Shooting Sport Federation (iSSF) World Cup was held in Guadalajara, Mexico from 1st March
to 12th March. India topped the medal tally by winning 4
gold, 1 silver and 3 bronze.
Deaths:
1. French
fashion designer Hubert de Givenchy ( 91), a pioneer of
ready-to-wear range, passed away on March 10, 2018 .
2. Begum
Hamida Habibullah (102) , a former Rajya Sabha member and a pioneer in women
empowerment, passed away in Lucknow on March 13, 2018.
Announcement !
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