GK & Current Affairs March 2016

Gurmeet Singh on 20 March 2016 became the first Indian athlete to win a gold medal in the Asian 20 Kilometer (km) Race Walk Championships.
•    His feat was the first time in 34 years that an Indian won a gold in either an Asian Championships or Asian Games in this event.
•    Hakam Singh and Chand Ram won a Gold medal each in 20-km road walk in 1978 and 1982 Asian Games respectively. Since then, no Indian won a Gold medal at the continental level in this event.
•    Gurmeet Singh took 1 hour 20 minutes and 29 seconds to complete the race while his close competitor Isamu Fujisawa of Japan took 1:20:49 with close fight in the last 5-km. Georgiy Sheiko of Kazakhstan won the bronze medal in 1:21:52.
•    He was sixth time lucky as he finally stood atop the podium after winning 1 Silver and two bronze medals in his earlier five attempts in this championships.
•    He finished seventh in his first appearance in 2011, silver in 2012, a bronze each in 2013 and 2014 and ninth in 2015.
•    In the women's 20-km walk race event, National Games champion and Rio Games-bound Sapna finished fourth in a time of 1:35:57.
•    Rui Liang of China won the gold in 1:28:43 and Kumiko Okada of Japan (1:30:03) and South Korean Jeongeun Lee (1:33:53) took the silver and bronze respectively.

Emmy Award winning actor Larry Drake, who famously played Benny on L.A. Law, died on 17 March 2016 in Hollywood, California.  
He was 66.
•    Drake was best known for his portrayal of developmentally disabled Benny Stulwicz on the television show L.A. Law from 1987 until the show's end in 1994. 
•    He returned to the part of Benny in L.A. Law: The Movie that aired on NBC in 2002.
•    Drake had also provided the voice acting for Pops on Johnny Bravo.
•    The actor won two consecutive Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor for L.A. Law in 1988 and 1989.
•    Larry Richard Drake was an American actor, voice artist, and comedian best known as Benny Stulwicz in L.A. Law and the voice of Pops in Johnny Bravo.
•    Larry Richard Drake was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma on February 21, 1949, the son of Raymond John Drake, a drafting engineer for an oil company, and Lorraine Ruth (née Burns), a homemaker.
•    He graduated from Tulsa Edison High School and the University of Oklahoma.

International Day of Happiness was observed on 20 March 2016 across the world.
•    On the other hand, Red, the leader of the Angry Birds mobile game characters, was appointed by the United Nations as an envoy to inspire climate action toward a sustainable and happier future for all.
•    Red’s appointment, as Honorary Ambassador for Green, is part of a UN campaign launched on 18 March 2016 in partnership with the globally renowned characters to make a direct link between tackling climate change and people’s happiness and well-being on the occasion of the International Day of Happiness.
•    The campaign, in partnership with Sony Pictures Entertainment, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and UN Foundation, asks the general public across the world to make the Angry Birds happy by taking actions on climate change. 
•    The campaign also requests the public to share their photos and commitments on social media platforms using the common hashtag #AngryBirdsHappyPlanet.
•    Since 2013, the United Nations has been celebrating the International Day of Happiness as a way to recognise the importance of happiness in the lives of people around the world.
•    20 March was declared as the day of International Happiness following a Bhutanese Concept that was coined by the fourth king of Bhutan Jigme Singye Wangchuck in 1970’s. 
•    It was when the country for the first time adopted Gross National Happiness (GNH) over Gross National Product (GNP) as its major goal.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 19 March 2016 conferred National Krishi Karman Awards for the year 2014-15 in New Delhi. The awards were presented to 8 State Governments, which were received by the Chief Minister of respective states.
•    The objective of these awards is to encourage and motivate the states to enhance production and productivity of rice, wheat, pulses and coarse cereals and oilseeds.
•    Winner States of Krishi Karman Awards 2014-15
•    Category I States (production greater than 10 million tonnes): Madhya Pradesh 
•    Category II States (production between 1 and 10 million tonnes): Himachal Pradesh and Odisha
•    Category III States (production less than 1 million tonnes):  Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya
•    Each award winning state received a trophy, a citation and a cash award of 5 crore rupees
•    Rice - Haryana, Assam
•    Wheat- Rajasthan
•    Pulses - Chhattisgarh
•    Oil Seeds-West Bengal
•    Each award winning state received a trophy, a citation and a cash award of 2 crore rupees
•    These awards were instituted in the year 2010-11 to reward the best performing States in foodgrains and individual crops of Rice, Wheat, Pulses and Coarse Cereals. Krishi Karman awards are given to Best performer States for raising country's food grain production.
•    The awards comprises of three awards for total food grain production and four awards for production of rice, wheat, coarse cereals and pulses - the crops that constitute the food grain.
•    In addition to the above Commendation Awards are also given to States which achieved production and productivity higher over their previous highest in 4-5 years, yet could not qualify for Krishi Karman Awards. The amount for Commendation Award is 1 crore rupees for each State.

Fashion designer Ritu Beri on 17 March 2016 was appointed advisor to the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) for promotion of khadi in India and across the world.
•    The commission appointed Beri as an advisor for a period of one year during which she will advise on ways to promote khadi.
•    The Khadi and Village Industries Commission is a statutory body formed by the Government of India, under the Khadi and Village Industries Commission Act of 1956.
•    It is an apex organisation under the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.
•    It is charged with the planning, promotion, organisation and implementation of programmes for the development of khadi and other village industries in the rural areas in coordination with other agencies engaged in rural development wherever necessary.
•    In April 1957, it took over the work of former All India Khadi and Village Industries Board.
•    The First Director of KVIC was Sardar KA Venkataramaiya, a veteran freedom fighter from Karnataka.

With a view to use best technologies in many areas of its operations for the benefit of its passengers, Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu, signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) regarding “Effective Use of Space Technology in Remote Sensing and Graphic Information System (GIS) based Governance Application for Indian Railways” on 17th March, 2016.  
•    The MoU was signed in the context of Railway Minister’s special mention in his Budget Announcement regarding geospatial and enhanced use of Space technology in various sectors of governance.  
•    The MoU aims for developing applications in the field of Remote sensing and Geographic Information System (GIS) for remote sensing at unmanned railway crossing including, all geospatial solutions and customized software solutions for providing reliable, efficient & optimal solutions to Railways in it various areas of operation thereby benefiting the rail user.
•    Indian Railways is one of the preferred mode of transportation. 
•    Indian Railways provides safe, efficient, affordable, customer focused and environmentally sustainable integrated transportation solutions. 
•    It aims to be a modern vehicle of inclusive growth, connecting regions, communities, ports and centers of industry, commerce, tourism and pilgrimage spread over across the country. 
•    In this regard, Indian Railways envisages use of the state of art technology in day to day operations & maintenance to ensure optimum benefit to all rail users.
•    The vision of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is to harness Space Technology for national development while pursuing Space science research and planetary exploration.  

Goa government on 17 March 2016 classified the country liquor, Feni as Heritage Spirit of Goa.  Feni is the form of spirit produced exclusively in the coastal state.
•    Feni is the first liquor product in the country to obtain such status and got its Geographical Indication (GI) certification in 2000.
•    It used in various cultural traditions, cuisines and is well known for its medicinal value also. 
•    Hence, the Government opined not categorize it as country liquor as it is presently defined under the Goa Excise Duty Act, 1964 and proposed to bring an amendment to the Act.
•    Feni is a brew made from coconut or cashew fruits and is synonymous with the Goan ethos and identity.
•    Goa is a state located in the South western region of India; it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its western coast. 
•    It is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Goa is one of India's richest states with a GDP per capita two and a half times that of the country as a whole. 
•    It was ranked the best placed state by the Eleventh Finance Commission for its infrastructure and ranked on top for the best quality of life in India by the National Commission on Population based on the 12 Indicators.
•    Panaji is the state's capital, while Vasco da Gama is the largest city. 
•    The historic city of Margao still exhibits the cultural influence of the Portuguese, who first landed in the early 16th century as merchants and conquered it soon thereafter. 
•    Goa is a former Portuguese province; the Portuguese overseas territory of Portuguese India existed for about 450 years until it was annexed by India in 1961.

Union urban Development minister M Venkaiah Naidu on 18 March 2016 conferred with the Skoch Lifetime Achievement Award at 43rd SKOCH summit held in New Delhi.

•    He was selected for the award for his contributions to inclusive growth and towards poverty alleviation in India.
•    Besides, IT minister of Telangana State KT Rama Rao was awarded the Skoch Award in the Startup India category for his initiative in establishing the path breaking tech incubator T-Hub.
•    These awards were instituted in 2003 as the highest independently instituted civilian honours.
•    These were having been conferred on some of the best brains from across the country for their efforts in the area of digital, financial and social inclusion.
•    Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu (born 1 July 1949) is an Indian politician serving as the Union Minister of Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation and Parliamentary Affairs in the Narendra Modi government. 
•    A prominent leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party, he has also served as its national president from 2002 to 2004. 
•    Earlier, he was the Union Cabinet Minister for Rural Development in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government.

Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer on 18 March 2016 appointed S Sridhar as its Managing Director (MD) with immediate effect for a period of five years.
However, Sridhar’s appointment will be subject to approval of the company's shareholders at the annual general meeting.
• S Sridhar is a chartered accountant by profession with over 20 years of experience.
• He has served as Pfizer Chief Financial Officer for a period of seven years, and was appointed as Executive Director in May 2013.
• He also concurrently led the company's distribution function for three years.
• At present, he is heading Pfizer's anti-infective, cardio-vascular and ophthalmology business.
• Pfizer Inc. is an American global pharmaceutical corporation headquartered in New York City.
• It is among the world's largest pharmaceutical companies.
• Pfizer was founded in 1849 by cousins Charles Pfizer and Charles F. Erhart in New York City as a manufacturer of fine chemicals.

The World Sparrow Day was observed across the world on 20 March 2016 with the theme Rise for the SPARROW-Experience the power of one. The theme has been inspired by the hope that more and more of us will celebrate the relationship between People and Sparrows.

•    The day is designated to raise awareness of the house sparrow and other common birds to urban environments, and of threats to their populations.
•    The sparrow, especially the common house sparrow, is one of the most ubiquitous birds on earth and is also one of the oldest companions of human beings.
•    The day is observed in almost 50 nations and involves leading ornithology institutions and bird organizations.
•    The Sparrow Day is an international initiative by the Nature Forever Society of India in collaboration with the Eco-Sys Action Foundation (France) and numerous other national and international organizations across the world. The first World Sparrow Day was celebrated in 2010 in different parts of the world.
•    World Sparrow Day aims to provide a meeting ground for people from different parts of the world to come together to play an important role in advocacy and in spreading the awareness on the need of conserving common biodiversity or species of lower conservation status.
•    Put bird boxes and bird feeders outside your house or in your gardens.
•    Water-bowls or a bird-bath in the hot summer afternoon helps sparrows to re-hydrate.
•    Grow plants and hedges that are native to the place. This encourages sparrows to come back.
•    The rationale for celebrating World Sparrow Day is not only to commemorate the event for a day but to use it as a platform to underscore the need to conserve sparrows as well as the urban biodiversity.