Important Current Affairs 6th March 2019

NATIONAL:

TVS Motor Company won the Green Era Award for Sustainability

• TVS Motor Company won the International Sustainability award Green Era Award for Sustainability in Lisbon, Portugal. Tata Motors also won the Quality and Business Excellence Award in acknowledgment of its endeavor to create new benchmarks in product quality.

Rajnath to inaugurate an electronic surveillance project in Assam

• Home Minister Rajnath Singh is to inaugurate an electronic surveillance project in Dhubri district of Assam, a riverine and highly porous stretch along the Bangladesh border.

• The Home Ministry announced that the smart fencing will be operationalized in the 61 km riverine section of the international border in Dhubri district of Assam, where the Brahmaputra river enters into Bangladesh, in a bid to check illegal immigration and smuggling of arms, ammunition, drugs, and cattle.

Mukesh Ambani secured 13th place in the Forbes list of the ultra-wealthy

•  In the release of the latest Forbes list of the ultra-wealthy, Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries, secured 13th place.

• Jeff Bezos remains the world’s richest person with a wealth of $131 billion. Secondly, Bill Gates ranks second with wealth worth $96.5 billion and Warren Buffett in 3rd position.

Geological Survey of India sets up 22 GPS stations across country

• The Geological Survey of India (GSI) launched 22 permanent global positioning system (GPS) stations across India to identify seismically hazardous zones and encourage mapping activities.

• The 22 GPS-Geodetic (pertaining to Geodesy, the science of earth measurement) observatories are located in Kolkata, Thiruvananthapuram, Jaipur, Pune, Dehradun, Chennai, Jabalpur, Bhubaneswar, Patna, Raipur, Bhopal, Chandigarh, Gandhinagar Vishakhapatnam, Agartala, Itanagar, Mangan, Jammu, Lucknow, Nagpur, Shillong and Little Andaman.

• Another 13 GPS permanent stations will be operational by March 2020.

• The organization has launched a platform called "Bhuvisamvad" under the Ministry of Mines to facilitate interaction between geo-scientists and university and college students.

Azaadi ke Diwane Museum inaugurated at Red Fort

• Azaadi Ke Diwane’ museum is dedicated to the unsung heroes of the country’s freedom struggle.

• Built by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), the museum is the fifth in a series of recently inaugurated ones - the others being:

♦ the Subhash Chandra Bose and  Indian National Army (INA) museum,

♦ the Yaad-e-Jallian museum,

♦ the Museum on 1857 (on the country’s first war of Independence)

♦ the Drishyakala (a museum on Indian Art) — on the sacrifices of India’s freedom fighters.

Coal minister Goyal dedicates 1,000 MW NTPL power project to nation

• The 1,000-MW coal-fired thermal power project of NTPL (Neyveli Tamil Nadu Power Ltd) is a joint venture between NLCIL and TANGEDCO with an equity participation of 89:11.

• Piyush Goyal also dedicated 150-MW solar power projects of NLC India Ltd (NLCIL) in Tamil Nadu.

• Tamil Nadu is the sole beneficiary of the 150 MW renewable power plants of Virudhunagar and Ramanathapuram districts commissioned and dedicated to the nation.

RInfra wins Rs 648 crore contract from AAI to build new airport at Gujarat.

• Reliance Infrastructure (RInra) has bagged a Rs 648 crore contract from the Airport Authority of India (AAI) to build a new greenfield airport at Hirasar, in Rajkotdistrict of Gujarat.

• The new airport is being constructed near National Highway-8B connecting Ahmedabad and Rajkot, nearly 36 km from the existing Rajkot Airport.

• The government recently approved development of the airport at an estimated cost of 1,405 crore.

• The airport must be completed within 30 months from the date of issue of the contract.

Over 93% of rural Indians have toilet access: Govt Survey

• The National Annual Rural Sanitation Survey 2018-19, commissioned by the government has found that nearly 93% of rural India households have access to toilets and of these, 96.5% uses them.

• The survey also re-confirmed the Open Defecation Free (ODF) status of 90.7% villages.

• Since the launch of Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) in October 2014, 50 crore people have stopped defecating in the open.

• Swachh Bharat Abhiyan aims to completely eliminate open defecation in the country by October 2, 2019.

Notun Disha Initiated By Tripura Government.

• The government of Tripura announced ‘Notun Disha’ (New Direction) for assessing the academic level of students in classes III-VIII and then improving their current level.

• It was launched by state Education Minister Ratan Lal Nath.

• Training will be provided by NGOs and educational institutions to 800 teachers.

World Bank to provide 250 Million dollar for NRETP to boost Rural incomes in India

•  The Agreement was signed by Mr. Sameer Kumar Khare, Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, on behalf of the Government of India and Mr. Hisham Abdo, Acting Country Director, World Bank India, in New Delhi.

• The main aim is to promote women-owned and women-led farm and non-farm enterprises across value chains; enable them to build businesses that help them access finance, markets and networks; and generate employment.

• The $250 million loan has a 5-year grace period, and a final maturity of 20 years.

• The National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) which is currently being implemented across 13 states, 162 districts and 575 blocks, has so far mobilised more than 8.8 million women from poor rural households into 7.5 lakh self-help groups (SHGs).

BANKS AND ECONOMICS:

RBI fined 7 banks for delayed SWIFT implementation

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed a penalty on 7 Banks for delayed implementation of SWIFT-related operational controls. It fined Rs.4 crore onKarnataka Bank, Rs.3 crore on City Union Bank, Rs.2 crore on DCB Bank and Rs.1 crore on Karur Vysya Bank Ltd., Rs. 4 crore on Indian Bank, Rs.3 crore on IOB and Rs.3 crore onUnited Bank of India for the same violations.

• SWIFT is the global messaging software used for transactions by financial entities. SWIFT stands for Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication.

• RBI had directed banks on time-bound implementation and strengthening of SWIFT-related operational controls after the Rs.14, 000 crore fraud in Punjab National Bank.

POLICY:

Haryana Cabinet approved the 2019-20 excise policy

• The Haryana Cabinet approved the excise policy for 2019-20, with a revenue target of Rs.7,500 crore. The decision was taken at a meeting under the chairmanship of CM Manohar Lal Khattar.

• The Excise policy emphasizes the launch of Ease of Doing Business (EODB) initiatives involving Application and Grant of Licenses online through the Department's Portal www.haryanatax.gov.in. The Policy also enables liquor manufacturers to market Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL) in Tetra Packs (biodegradable) of 180 ML, technically called Nips.

Maharashtra CM Fadnavis unveils states new 5-year industrial policy

• Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis unveiled the state’s new 5-year industrial policy emphasising on high-technology and employment generating businesses.

• The policy which will be effective from 1st of April this year aims to attract investments worth 10 lakh crore rupees.

• The rate of conversion of Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) into actual investments was far higher in Maharashtra than the national average.

• The national average of converting Memorandums of Understanding into actual investments, after a period of one year from the agreements being inked, could be pegged at 30-35 per cent

• Maharashtra's average is more than 45 per cent and Magnetic Maharashtra and Make in India in the industrial sector; it has been more than 70 per cent.

• Mr Fadnavis Maharashtra has always been a leader in the industry sector adding that in the last 4-4.5 years, the state has regained its numero uno position.

• Minister for Industries and Mining Subhash Desai said new Industrial Policy aims create nearly 40 lakh jobs by 2023-24.

APPOINTMENTS AND RE-ELCETIVES:

Vedanta has appointed Ajay Kapur as the CEO of its aluminium and power business

• Vedanta has appointed Ajay Kapur as the Chief Executive Officer of its aluminium and power business. He joins Vedanta from Ambuja Cements where he was the MD and CEO for its India business.

• Mr. Kapur brings with him an experience of 31 years across business verticals. He would drive key priorities for the aluminium business, which include a strong focus on volume and cost and improving efficiencies, among others.

Sheikh Ahmad re-elected as President of Olympic Council of Asia

• Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah was officially re-elected for an eighth term as President of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA).

• He won a new five-year term until 2024.

• Tsunekazu Takeda, President of the Japanese Olympic Committee, also retained his position as a vice-president.

INTERNATIONAL:

India to collaborate with 4 countries to increase 3 species of Asian rhinos

•  India is to collaborate with Bhutan, Nepal, Indonesia, and Malaysia to increase the population of three species of Asian rhinos, including the Greater one-horned rhinoceros found in the Indian sub-continent. The five rhino range nations signed a declaration ‘The New Delhi Declaration on Asian Rhinos 2019’ for the conservation and protection of the species at the recently held Second Asian Rhino Range Countries meeting in New Delhi, India.

• The declaration was signed to conserve and review the population of the Greater one-horned, Javan and Sumatran rhinos every four years to reassess the need for joint actions to secure their future.