Current Affairs
Monday 4th, march 2019
1.President gives assent to ordinance allowing voluntary use of Aadhaar
| credit - Google images |
The ordinance was necessitated because the Rajya Sabha could not approve the Aadhaar and other laws (Amendment Bill) 2018, as it was adjourned sine die on February 13, 2019. As a result, many significant bills such as the Aadhaar Bill, Triple Talaq Bill and Citizenship Amendment Bill had lapsed. The Lok Sabha had passed the Aadhaar Amendment Bill on January 4, 2019.
Key Highlights
* The Union Cabinet had approved the promulgation of an ordinance to give effect to changes proposed in Aadhaar and two others legislations last week.
*The amendments provide for stiff penalties for violation of norms set for the use of Aadhaar and violation of privacy.
* The ordinance gives effect to the changes in the Aadhaar Act such as giving a minor an option to exit from the biometric ID programme on attaining 18 years of age.
* The amendments also make it clear that anyone not offering Aadhaar cannot be denied any service, be it opening of a bank account or obtaining a mobile phone SIM card.
* The amendments will enable UIDAI to have a more robust mechanism to serve the public interest and restrain the misuse of Aadhaar.
2.Kumbh Mela 2019: Prayagraj Kumbh 2019 concludes; makes it to Guinness World Records
*Prayagraj Kumbh Mela 2019 concluded on March 4, 2019 with the sixth and final "Shahi Snan" (royal bath) held on the occasion of Mahashivratri.
*The single bathing festival of Mahashivratri is among the six main bathing festivals of the Kumbh. The other 5 bathing festivals of the Kumbh concluded successfully with more than 22 crore pilgrims taking a holy dip.
*The world's largest religious and cultural human congregation, ‘Kumbh 2019’ began at Prayagraj (erstwhile Allahabad), Uttar Pradesh on January 15, 2019.
*This 7-week event began with the holy dip at Sangam, the confluence of three rivers - Ganga, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati. The first bathing was taken by saints and seers of different Akharas.
Prayagraj Kumbh 2019 makes it to Guinness World Records
*This year, the Kumbh made it to the Guinness World Records in three sectors. A three member team from Guinness World Records visited the Prayagraj Kumbh for this purpose.
The Prayagraj Kumbh 2019 entered the Guiness Book of World Records for:
the largest traffic and crowd management plan
the biggest painting exercise of public sites under paint my city scheme
the biggest sanitation and waste disposal mechanism
All these Exercises were conducted before the team members of the Guinness World Records at a large scale for three days from February 28 to March 3, 2019.
*Around 503 shuttle buses were pushed on the highway of Prayagraj in one go on February 28 for showcasing traffic management. Several people participated in painting exercise on March 1 and 10 thousand workers got engaged in cleaning services at Prayagraj Kumbh.
3.Abinandan will be awarded Mahavir Award
*IAF Wing Commander, Abhinandan Varthaman will be the 1st recipient of
the 'Bhagwan Mahavir Ahimsa Puraskar instituted by the Akhil Bharatiya Digambar Jain Mahasamiti
*He shot down a Pakistani Air Force jet F-16 with an R-73 airto-air missile in a dogfight on February 27.
*he will be awarded on April 17,2019.The award has a cash prize of Rs. 2.51 lakh, citation, and memento
4.Gwalior: Centre for Disability Sports
*A Centre for Disability Sports will be set up at Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh. .lt will ensure the effective participation of Persons with Disabilities in sports activities.
*It is being developed by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
*It will have an Outdoor Athletic Stadium, Indoor Sports Complex and Aquatic Centre.
5.Bajrang Punia won gold in Bulgaria
| Credit - Google images |
*Wrestler Bajrang Punia won a gold medal in 65 KG freestyle in Bulgaria. The tournament, Dan Koloy-Nikola Petroy was held in Ruse,
*He overpowered Jordan Oliver of USA by 12-3 in the final on March 2, 2019, and secured the maximum ranking points from the tournament.
*This is his 10th medal in international tournaments since the 2017 World Championships in Paris.
6.One Nation One Card launched by PM
*PM Narendra Modi launched 'One Nation One Card' in Ahmedabad on 4 March 2019.
*lt can be used for paying for travel on any mode of transportation.
*lt will enable people to use them eitherin PoS machines deployed at ticket
counters or just use them like Metro Rail smart cards to enter a platform.
7. 4 banks fined by RBI
| Credit - Google images |
*RBl imposed a monetary penalty of Rs 3 crore on Union Bank, Rs 2 1 crore on Dena Bank. and Rs 1 crore each on IDBI and the SBl on 2 March 2019,
*They were charged for non-compliance with various directions.
*The penalty on the Union Bank was imposed for delay in adherence to its directives on Time-bound implementation and strengthening of SWIFT-related controls
8.Indian Bank received Best Bank Award
*Public sector Indian Bank bagged the Best Bank Award from the Tamil Nadu government on 3 March 2019.
*It was awarded for meeting the needs of women's self-help groups (SHGs).
*Chief Minister of the state K Palaniswami handed over the award to the executive director of the bank MK Bhattacharya
9.New Memorandum of Understanding
*An MoU was signed between the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation and Chinese paper manufacturing firm 'Nine Dragons' to invest Rs 4500 crores in the state.
*EDB, the investment promotion arm of Bahrain, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Maharashtra government to provide a framework for co-operation to promote fintech in their respective markets.
10.ICC's Cricket Committee head: Anil Kumble
*The ICC has reappointed former Team India captain Anil Kumble as the chairman of ICC's Cricket Committee during its quarterly meet in Dubai.
*Kumble, who has been the chairman of the committee since 2012, will be servinc for a final three-year term.
*Kumble had replaced former Windies captain Clive Lloyd in 2012.
11.Adani Power's Jharkhand SEZ project
*The government has approved Adani Power's ₹14,000-crore Special Economic Zone (SEZ) project in Jharkhand.
*lt will export power generated to Bangladesh.
*The group had sought approval for setting up the project over an area of 425 hectares.
12.Deal with Russia to produce AK-203 rifles
*India signed a deal with a Russian firnm to manufacture 7.5 lakh AK-203 rifles, the latest derivative of the AK-47 rifles.
*The AK-203 rifles will be producedat the Indian Ordnance Factory at Amethi's Korwa.
*The new rifles will replace the indigenous INSAS rifles in the Army, Air Force, and Navy.
13.U.S. closed Jerusalem Consulate
*The US officially shuttered its consulate in Jerusalem, downgrading the status of its main diplomatic mission to the Palestinians by folding it into the US Embassy to Israel.
*The consulate functioned as a de facto embassy to the Palestinians for decades.
*The symbolic shift hands authority over U.S. diplomatic channels with the West Bank and Gaza to Ambassador David Friedman.
14.CISF set new Guinness World Record
*Central Industrial Security Force achieved a Guinness world record feat in single line bicycle parade to mark the 50 years of the paramilitary force on March 3,2019.
*The new record was created at the Yamuna Expressway in Noida.
*Personnel of CISF rode 1,327 bicycles on-stop with a uniform distance between bicycles in a singleline.The parade covered 3.2 km distance non-stop.
15. Only 6 countries give equal rights to women
*The World Bank found that only 6 countries in the world enshrine gender equality in laws affecting work as per its report 'Women, business and the law 2019 report.
*These countries are Sweden, France, Denmark, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Latvia.
*The index assessed eight indicators that influence economic decisions women make during their working lives, of which only 6 got full marks.
16.Bhagwan Lal Sahni to head NCBC
*Bhagwan Lal Sahni, a BJP leader from Bihars Muzaffarpur, assumed charge as the chairman of the newly constituted National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC).
*The NCBC was given constitutional status by Parliament in 2018. Kaushalendra Singh Patel, Sudha Yadav and Achary Talloju have been appointed as members of the commission,
17. 2 New Rail projects flagged off
*Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis flagged off 11.28 km long 2nd phase of the Chembur-Wadala-Jacob Circle of Mumbai monorail network on 3 March 2019.
*PM Narendra Modi flagged off the Tejas Express between Madurai and Chennai with two commercial stops
18.Crew Dragon Rocket launched
*SpaceX launched an unmanned Crew Dragon craft from Florida to the International Space Station on 2 March 2019.
*It is a 1 milestone for Elon Musk's goal of enabling humans to live on other planets.
19.Essar got nod for shale exploration
*Essar Oil & Gas Exploration and Production Ltd (EOGEPL) received environment clearance for exploring shale gas reserves in its Raniganj block in West Bengal.
*The expert appraisal committee (EAC) allowed Essar to drill 20 wells to explore shale gas in its Raniganj CBM block.
*It has been awarded an exploration lease for shale gas, CBM, and hydrocarbons in the Raniganj block.
20.Hailakandi: Top aspirational district
*Assam's Hailakandi district has shot up to number 1 from the 52nd position, among the aspirational districts of the country as per a new report by the Niti Aayog.
*it ranked 1st among the 112 aspirational districts of India based on the performance during November-December 2018 and January 2019.
*Deputy commissioners of awarded districts would receive an additional allocation on 6 March 2019,
21.Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahad al-Sabah re-elected Asian Olympic chief
Kuwait's Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah
re-elected president of the powerful Olympic Council of Asia despite forgery charges that forced him to step aside from the International Olympic Committee and other duties.
22.DRDO chairman wins missile systems award
| Credit - Google images |
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) selected G. Satheesh Reddy, the Secretary of India's Department of Defence R&D and Chairman of the DRDO as the co-winner of the 2019 Missile Systems Award.
23.India Manufacturing PMI hits 14-month high
India's Manufacturing PMI rose to a 14-month high of 54.3 in February, from 53.9 a month ago. Nikkei's latest India Manufacturing
Purchasing Managers' Index (PM) points to a fair bit of buoyancy in the Indian economy.
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