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Important Current Affairs 20th March 2020

International

Summits and Mou’s

Defence Ministry signs Rs 880 crore agreement for light machine guns with Israel

• Union Defence Ministry recently signed Rs 880 crore capital acquisition contract with the Israel Weapons Industries (IWI) for over 16000 light machine guns.

• As per the contract, the Israeli firm will provide Negev 7.62x51 mm light machine guns to the Armed Forces of India. Several countries are already using these guns.

Sports

Appointments and Resignations

Former SBI Head Arundhati Bhattacharya Resigns from CRISIL Board

• Arundhati Bhattacharya, the ex-chairman of State Bank of India, has submitted her resignation as an Independent Director of the Crisil Ltd (a global analytical company providing ratings, research, and risk and policy advisory services).

• The reason for her resignation is to accept the role as a full time Chairperson and CEO for the India operations of Salesforce, USA, the global giant in customer-relationship management (CRM) service.

• Currently, she is also the chairman of SWIFT India, part of a global payments network.

Ranking

India becomes third largest electricity producer in the world

• India has become the third-largest electricity producer in the world, as its power generation has increased to 34% by 2017 compared to seven years ago.

• Now, the country produces more energy than Japan and Russia seven years ago, compared to India, which were installing 27% and 8.77% more power generation capacity respectively.

• According to a report by India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF), a trust set up by the Ministry of Commerce, electricity generation stood at 1,003.525 billion units from April 2017 to January 2018.

Days

International Day of Happiness observed globally on 20 March

• International Day of Happiness is celebrated globally on 20th March every year. The 2020 International Day of Happiness campaign theme is ‘Happiness For All, Together’.

• International Day of Happiness campaign theme is a call on all 7.8 billion members of the global human family, and all 206 nations and territories of planet earth, to unite in solidarity, and steadfast resolve, in fighting back against the COVID 19 Coronavirus.

India ranks second in probes on foreign bribery, enforcement drags globally; Top- Brazil

• India has been ranked at the second place in terms of the number of investigations concerning alleged bribery of domestic officials by foreign firms as per the 10th Annual Global Enforcement Report of TRACE International.

• Brazil has topped the report. China is on third.

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Important Current Affairs 19th March 2020

National

Ranjan Gogoi takes oath as Member of Rajya Sabha

• Ranjan Gogoi has served as the 46th Chief Justice of India. During his 13-month long tenure as the Chief Justice of India, various landmark decisions were delivered by the Supreme Court including the Ayodhya case, on the decriminalisation of homosexuality, the entry of women into Kerala’s Sabarimala temple and the Rafale jet deal along with Assam’s National Register of Citizens (NRC).

International

Banking and Economy

Appointments and Resignations

Arundhati Bhattacharya appointed Salesforce India CEO

• Former SBI chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya will be the CEO of Salesforce India. Arundhati Bhattacharya will take over as Chairman and CEO of Salesforce India in April 2020.

• Salesforce India is among the top companies of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software worldwide. Arundhati Bhattacharya is also currently working as an independent director at Wipro.

Noel Quinn Appointed as the permanent chief executive of HSBC

• HSBC Holdings Plc has appointed Noel Quinn as the permanent CEO of the bank on 17 March 2020.

• Quinn had been serving as interim CEO since August 2019, after the unexpected resignation of John Flint from the post.

• Mr Quinn had been working with the bank for over 30 years, after joining the lender in 1987.

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Important Current Affairs 18th March 2020

National

Microsoft, NASSCOM launches Innovate for Accessible India campaign

• Microsoft India and NASSCOM Foundation have launched the Innovate for Accessible India campaign to empower people with disabilities.

• The campaign aims at empowering people with disabilities with the technology and tools required for better integration into society and access to equal opportunities.

• The campaign is in partnership with Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, Department of Science and Technology, and National Research and Education Network.

International

Iraq's President nominates Adnan Zurfi as Prime Minister

• Iraq's President Barham Salih named Adnan Zurfi, former governor of the holy Shia city of Najaf, the new prime minister of the country. It is a second attempt to find the head of government in recent months.

• He will replace outgoing Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi. Mahdi resigned from his post in December after huge protests against his government.

Banking and Economy

Flipkart Joins Hand with Aegon to sell digital life insurance policies

• E-commerce major Flipkart has partnered with Aegon Life Insurance to sell paperless life insurance policies on its platform.

• The product aims to make life insurance available to customers at the click of a button in a convenient and transparent manner, without the requirement of medical tests or paperwork.

• All the existing Flipkart customers, aged between 18 and 65 years, can buy an instant digital policy with a sum assured of upto 10 lakh from March 2020.

Moody predicts India’s GDP growth at 5.3% for 2020, 5.8% in 2021

• Moody’s Investors Service has predicted India’s GDP growth rate for Calendar Year 2020 at 5.3% and for Calendar Year 2021 at 5.8%.

• Moody has downgraded the GDP estimates for 2020 on account of the Coronavirus outbreak.

Science and Technology

NavIC messaging system designed by ISRO

• Union Minister of State for Fisheries, Pratap Chandra Sarangi recently shared that the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has developed the NavIC messaging system to put out warning messages to Indian fishermen about cyclones, tsunamis and high waves.

• The ISRO has also developed NavIC receiver.

IHBT scientists develop a new sanitizer

• A team of scientists from the Institute of Himalayan Bio-resource Technology (IHBT) in collaboration with the CSIR has developed a new hand-sanitizer to protect people from Coronavirus.

• The use of hand-sanitizers is one of the preventive measures against the Covid-19.IHBT is located in Palampur, Himachal Pradesh.

Days

Ordnance Factories’ Day in India

• Every year, 18 March is celebrated as the Ordnance Factory Day in India. OFB is the world's largest government-operated production organisation, and the oldest organisation run by the Government of India.

• It has a total workforce of about 80,000.

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Important Current Affairs 17th March 2020

National

Companies (Amendment) Bill 2020 tabled in Lok Sabha

•           The Companies (Amendment) Bill 2020 was on March 17, 2020 tabled in the Lok Sabha. The new amendment bill decriminalises major offences mentioned in the Companies Act, 2013.

•  The Bill aims to boost ease of doing business in India by proposing 72 amendments in the existing Act. It proposes monetary penalties for violations committed by startups.

World’s First Flying Car Will Be Manufactured In Gujarat, India

• The world’s first commercial flying car named ‘PAL-V Liberty’ will be developed in Gujarat, India.

• Dutch company PAL-V (Personal Air and Land Vehicle) will develop this car.

• PAL-V has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Gujarat’s Industries Principal Secretary MK Das to set up a manufacturing facility in Gujarat.

International

Banking and Economy

EPFO cuts interest rate to 8.5 percent

• The Employees Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) reduced the interest rate on the Employees Provident Fund to 8.5 percent for 2019-20. The EPFO's Central Board of Trustees (CBT) has taken this decision for its six crore users.

• CBT is the apex decision-making body associated with EPFO. The interest rate on the provident fund for the financial year 2018-19 was 8.65 percent.

Sports

Indian Paddler Sharath Kamal Clinches 2020 Oman Open Table Tennis Tournament

• Ace Indian table tennis player Achanta Sharath Kamal has won the 2020 ITTF Challenge Series Plus Oman Open in Muscat on 15 March 2020.

• The 37-year-old Tamil Nadu veteran beat top-seeded Marcos Freitas of Portugal 4-2 in the final.

• The last time when Sharath bagged a title at ITTF event was in 2010 when he won Egypt Open.

Days

National Vaccination Day

•  In India, the National Vaccination Day (also known as National Immunisation Day (IMD)) is observed on 16 March ever year, to raise the awareness for the eradication of polio from the planet.

•  The day was first observed on 16 March, 1995 when the first dose of an oral vaccine against polio was given in India.

Books and Authors

An Extraordinary Life: A biography of Manohar Parrikar’ to be Released in April 2020

• A book on the life and times of bureaucrat-turned-politician and former Chief Minister of Goa, Manohar Parrikar, is set to hit stands in April 2020.

• The book titled “An Extraordinary Life: A biography of Manohar Parrikar” has been written by veteran journalists Sadguru Patil and Mayabhushan Nagvenkar.

• It is being published by publishing house Penguin Random House India.

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Important Current Affairs 16th March 2020

National

First-ever Indore - Kishangarh flight commenced under UDAN

• The Ministry of Civil Aviation flagged off first-ever flight between Indore to Kishangarh. This flight will connect Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan thrice in a week. This flight has been started under UDAN scheme.

• Now, 268 routes have been dedicated under UDAN scheme by the Ministry of Civil Aviation. Thousands of people will be benefitted as it will cover a distance of 550 kilometer.

International

Banking and Economy

GST Rate on Mobile Phones to be hiked from 12% to 18% w.e.f 01 April

• The 39th GST (Goods and Services Tax) Council meeting under the Chairmanship of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was held in New Delhi on 14 March 2020.

• The Council has announced certain changes in the GST rates of the following items:

• Increase in GST rates on the Mobile phones from the present 12 percent to 18 percent.

• Slash the GST rate on Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) services of aircraft from 18 percent to 5 percent

• Rationalise the GST rates on handmade and machine-made matchsticks to 12 percent. Earlier this rate was 5 percent for Hand-made matches and 18 percent for machine-made ones.

Appointments and Resignations

GoI nominated Debasish Panda as director on RBI central board

• The Central Government has nominated Debasish Panda as a Director on the Central Board of Reserve Bank of India. He is a Secretary, Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance, Government of India, New Delhi.

• The nomination of Debasish Panda is effective from March 11, 2020, and until further orders. There are two government nominated Directors on the board of RBI. The other one is  Atanu Chakraborty.

Ranking

India ranked 12th globally in ‘Women On Board 2020’ study

• India has been ranked 12th in the world as per study titled ‘Women On Board 2020’. The list was topped by Norway with 40.72% women on board.

• A study on ‘Women On Board 2020’ has been done jointly by global recruitment tendering platforms MyHiringClub and Sarkari-Naukri.

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Important Current Affairs 14th March 2020

National

Cabinet approves to release additional instalment of Dearness Allowance and Dearness Relief

яВз The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved to release an additional instalment of Dearness Allowance (DA) to Central Government employees and Dearness Relief (DR) to pensioners w.e.f. 01 January 2020.

яВз The Modi Government has approved 4 percent increase in DA/DR over the existing rate of 17 percent of the Basic Pay/Pension, to compensate for price rise.

яВз The new rate will become 21 percent of Basic Pay/Pension.The increase is based on the recommendations of the 7th Central Pay Commission.

Cabinet approved construction of 780 Km of green highways in four states

• Union Cabinet approved a proposal for the construction of 780 kilometer of green highways on 13 March 2020.It was announced by the Union Minister Prakash Javadekar.

• The project aims to rehabilitate and upgrade various National Highways in four states, namely Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh.

• A total sum of Rs.7,660 crore has been allotted for the purpose.

Banking and Economy

UBS predicts India’s GDP for FY20 at 4.8% and FY21 at 5.1%

яВз Swiss brokerage firm UBS has reduced the GDP rate prediction for India for FY20 and FY21.

яВз For FY20, UBS predicts India’s GDP growth at 4.8% and for FY21, the GDP growth rate for India is predicted at 5.1%.

The Census India 2021 has been decided to be conducted in two phases.

• The Census India 2021 will be conducted in two phases, namely house listing and House Census and Population Enumeration.

• The first phase will begin from 1 April 2020. Census will continue until 30 September 2020.

• The second phase is Population Enumeration, which will be conducted from 9 February to 28 February 2021 throughout the country simultaneously.

• Indian census is the largest single source of a range of statistical data on different characteristics of the people of the country.The reliable and time-tested exercise has resulted in the comprehensive collection of data that is related to the people of India every 10 years.

SBI Gets approval to invest Rs 7,250 crore in Crisis Hit Yes Bank

яВз India’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) has received the approval to buy Rs 7,250 crore worth of shares in crisis-hit Yes Bank.

яВз SBI’s executive committee of central board (ECCB) held a meeting on March 11 and approved to purchase 725 crore shares in Yes Bank at a price of Rs 10 per share subject to all regulatory approvals

яВз Also, the bank’s shareholding in Yes Bank will remain within 49 percent of the paid up capital of the private sector lender.

Appointments and Resignations

Bill Gates resigns from Microsoft’s board

• Microsoft founder Bill Gates stepping down from Microsoft’s board of directors.

• He wants to dedicate more time to his philanthropic priorities including global health, development, education, and his increasing engagement in tackling climate change.

• He also stepped down from the board of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc, where he had served since 2004.

Ranking

India’s 1st Living Culinary Arts Museum enters Limca Book of Records

• Welcomgroup Graduate School of Hotel Administration (WGSHA) of Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE) entered the Limca Book of Records (LBR) for establishing “India’s First Living Culinary Arts Museum” at WGSHA, Manipal, Karnataka.

• The museum was opened in the year April 2018, spread approximately over 25,000 square feet & the structure of the museum is shaped in the form of a giant pot.

Island of Niue declared world’s first ‘Dark Sky nation’

яВз The island of Niue has become the world’s first whole country recognised as a ‘Dark Sky Place.

яВз The International Dark-Sky Association’s (IDA) has approved the island’s application for the protection of its sky, land and sea.

Days

International Pi Day

• International Pi (π) day is observed on 14 March.

• The day was chosen as 3, 1, and 4, which are the first three significant digits of π.

• Pi is one of the most well-known mathematical constants. It is the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter. It is represented by the lower-case Greek letter π.

International Day of Mathematics

• Every year, March 14 is celebrated as the International Day of Mathematics (IDM).

• The theme for 2020 IDM is “Mathematics is Everywhere“.

• The day was initiated by the International Mathematical Union (IMU) to celebrate the beauty and importance of mathematics and its essential role in everyone’s life.

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Important Current Affairs 10th March 2020

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Ashraf Ghani Takes Oath as President of Afghanistan for Second Term:

• Afghanistan’s incumbent President Ashraf Ghani took oath of the post for a second term on 9 March 2020.

• He was elected for the first term on 21 September 2014.

• Capital of Afghanistan- Kabul, Currency- Afghan afghani

AWARDS AND RECOGNITION

V Praveen Rao wins MS Swaminathan Award:

• Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University Vice-Chancellor V Praveen Rao has won the 7th Dr MS Swaminathan Award for the period 2017-2019.

• The Selection Committee has decided to select Praveen Rao for the award recognising his contributions in the fields of agricultural research, teaching, extension and administration.

• The award will be conferred on him in June 2020. Praveen Rao handled 13 research & 6 consultancy projects on micro-irrigation in India, Israel and South Africa.

SCIENCE AMD TECHNOLOGY

NASA named Mars 2020 rover as “Perseverance”:

• NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) announced the name of the 5th Mars (red planet) rover as Perseverance. Previously the rover was known by its codename as Mars 2020.

• The name was suggested by Alexander Mather, 7th standard student and was announced by Nasa’s director of science, Thomas Zurbuchen at an event in Lake Braddock Secondary School in Burke, Virginia.

RANKING

Gujarat ranks 1st in domestic solar rooftop installations:

• Gujarat ranks first in the list for domestic solar rooftop installations with 64% of domestic solar installations. Nearly 50,915 systems being fixed on domestic rooftops in the State as on March 2, 2020.

• The State government of Gujarat has adopted a solar rooftop scheme “Surya Gujarat” to cover about eight lakh domestic electricity consumers under the scheme by 2022.

• Maharashtra ranks second in the list with 5,513 installations as on the same date. About 79,950 systems have been installed throughout the country has a capacity of 322 MW.

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Important Current Affairs 9th March 2020

NATIONAL NEWS

Sanitary pad disposal bags to be made mandatory from Jan 2021:

• The Government has made it mandatory for the sanitary napkin makers to supply biodegradable bags with the pads from January 2021.

• This is due to the possible risk of infection due to the handling of the used sanitary napkins thrown in the garbage.

Government proposes to create 75 lakh Self Help Groups by 2022:

• The Union Government has proposed to create a total of 75 lakh Self Help Groups by 2022 to enable more women to get a livelihood.

• This was announced by the Rural Development Minister, Narendra Singh Tomar while addressing a programme on Women's Empowerment to mark International Women's Day in New Delhi on March 8, 2020.

• The Minister said that the women’s Self Help Groups are the backbone of poverty alleviation programmes. There are over 60 lakh SHGs across the country, mobilizing more than 6 crore 73 lakh women.

AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS

India Gets Observer Status in Indian Ocean Commission:

• India has been admitted to the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC) as an observer state on 6th March, 2020.

• This makes India, the fifth nation to receive Observer status in IOC.

• The other four observers are China, Malta, European Union and International Organisation of La Francophonie (OIF).

• The COI is composed of five African Indian Ocean nations namely-   Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, Réunion (an overseas region of France), and Seychelles.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Chandrayaan-3 to be launched in the first half of 2021: Jitendra Singh:

• Chandrayaan-3’s tentative launch schedule is expected to be in the first half of 2021. This was revealed by Union Minister Jitendra Singh in a written response to a question in Lok Sabha. This means that there could be a slight delay in the launch of the third moon mission.

• The Minister said that the Chandrayaan–III mission has been configured based on the lessons learnt from Chadrayaan – II. The revised configuration is expected to take care of the robustness in design and capacity enhancement for mission flexibility.

• Chandrayaan-II lander –Vikram had hard-landed on the lunar surface in September 2019. The Indian Space Research Organisation had then taken a resolve to launch the project again.

OBITUARY

Former Union Minister Hans Raj Bhardwaj Passes Away:

• Former Union Law Minister and Congress veteran Hans Raj Bhardwaj died after a cardiac arrest. Hans Raj Bhardwaj was 83. Hans Raj Bhardwaj was born in Garhi Sampla village in Rohtak district of Haryana.

• He was a Rajya Sabha member for five terms from April 1982 to June 2009.

APPOINTMENT AND RESIGNATION

Daren Tang of Singapore elected as Director General of WIPO:

• The Coordination Committee of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has nominated Mr. Daren Tang from Singapore for the post of Director General.

• The WIPO General Assembly will meet in an extraordinary session on May 7-8, 2020, to confirm the Coordination Committee’s nomination.

• The term of the current Director General, Mr. Francis Gurry will end on September 30, 2020.

• WIPO Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.

RANKING

BRAC tops 500 Global NGOs List for 5th Straight Year:

• The Bangladesh based international development organization, BRAC, has topped the list of top 500 Global Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) for the 5th consecutive year.

• The list of the top 500 global NGOs of year 2020 was released by Geneva-based organization NGO Adviser.

• The rankings of the top 500 global NGOs is released every year by NGO Adviser based on various aspects such as the impact, innovation, governance and sustainability of the NGO.

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Important Current Affairs 8th March 2020

NATIONAL NEWS

2nd anniversary of Poshan Abhiyaan ‘Poshan Pakhwada’ being celebrated:

• The second anniversary of the Poshan Abhiyaan  Poshan Pakhwada is being celebrated on 8th

• The focus area of the two-week-long Poshan Pakhwada 2020 will be – Men for Nutrition – increasing male engagement in Poshan Abhiyaan – to improve Nutritional Indicators.

Paytm & Hyderabad Metro tie up for QR-based tickets:

• Hyderabad Metro Rail Ltd in partnership with Paytm has launched a QR-code-based metro ticketing system at Rasoolpura metro station Hyderabad, Telangana.

• The new service will enable commuters to travel seamlessly and avoid queues to buy tokens at the metro stations. They can now simply purchase a QR ticket on their Paytm app, which can be displayed at the Automatic Fare Collection (AFC) gates to proceed for the journey.

Third all-Women Post Office opens in New Delhi:

• Department of Posts, Delhi Circle has opened the third all-Women Post Office in the national capital.

• The post office was inaugurated under New Delhi South West Division to commemorate the International Women’s Day celebrations.

AWARDS AND RECOGNITION

Times of India Sports Awards 2019 announced:

• The 4th edition of TOISA (Times of India Sports Awards) awards honoured the best Indian in 2019 sports in New Delhi, India. The event was powered by BHIM-UPI (Bharat Interface for Money- Unified Payments Interface).

• Rohit Sharma was named as the Cricketer of the year and PV Sindhu was named as the Sportsperson of the year as she won gold at the World Championships in Basel, Switzerland.

SPORTS

Australia wins Women’s T20 World Cup title:

• Defending champions Australia wins Women’s T20 World Cup 2020. Australia bowled India out for 99 runs to clinch the final by 85 runs for a record-extending fifth Women’s T20 World Cup title at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), Australia.

• Beth Mooney has been adjudged Player of the Tournament & Alyssa Healy has been adjudged the Player of the Match.

• The ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 was the seventh edition of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup tournament.

RANKING

Tamil Nadu tops in Poshan Abhiyan’s participants list:

• The Central Government is implementing the flagship programme Poshan Abhiyan for improving the nutritional status of Indian citizens. This programme helps children, adolescents, pregnant women, and lactating mothers by leveraging technology.

• The importance of being given to the programme is evident from the fact that as many as 14 Central Departments and all the State Governments are being involved in the programme. Tamil Nadu tops the list of the states in terms of the number of participants in the programme. The Integrated Child Development Scheme has been in force for long in the southern state that has got rejuvenated with the Centre’s Poshan Abhiyaan mission.

• The programme is revitalizing India by reaching out to the children and mothers across the nation.

IMPORTANT DAYS

International Women’s Day:

• This day is observed globally every year on 8 March to celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women.

• It is a focal point in the movement for women’s rights.

• The theme for IWD 2020 is each for Equal, recognising all of the actions we can take as individuals to challenge stereotypes, fight prejudice and celebrate women’s the year 2020 is an important one for gender equality.

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Important Current Affairs 7th March 2020

NATIONAL NEWS

Chapchar Kut, the biggest and most joyful festival of Mizoram begins:

• In Mizoram, the biggest and most joyful festival of Mizos, Chapchar Kutis being celebrated across the state.

• The Chapchar Kutis also regarded as the most popular spring festival to the people of the state. This festival is a public holiday in the state.

• Traditional bamboo dance – Cheraw and other dances were performed at the main event, attracting thousands of people.

BANKING AND ECONOMY

NPCI doubles UPI transaction limit to Rs 2 lakh for some payments:

• The National Payments Corporation of India or NPCI, the umbrella organization for retail payments systems, has doubled the per transaction payment limit for Unified Payments Interface or UPI to Rs 2 lakh for some payments.

• The committee has approved to increase the current limit of Rs 1 lakh per transaction to Rs 2 lakh. This is to fulfill specific needs, including payments for credit cards, loans, insurance, and mutual fund investments.

• The move will be effective from April 2020 and would boost the transactions for categories such as AMC, B2B collections, mutual funds, insurance, pre-approved disbursements, and credit card payments

AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS

Maharaja Ranjit Singh selected as greatest leader in world history:

• In the survey of BBC World History magazine, Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the 19th century ruler of the Sikh Empire in India, has been chosen as the greatest leader ever.

• Five thousand readers participated in this poll. Maharaja Ranjit Singh secured the first place with more than 38 percent of the vote. He is known for creating a tolerant and liberal empire.

SPORTS

Sindhu wins TOISA Sportsperson of Year award:

• World champion shuttler PV Sindhu was named Sportsperson of the Year while India’s starbatsman Rohit Sharma was named the cricketer of the year at the fourth Times of India Sports Awards (TOISA) 2019 in New Delhi.

• Former India football captain Bhaichung Bhutia was given the Lifetime Achievement award, while hockey legend and three-time Olympic gold medallist Balbir Singh Sr was honoured with the Icon of the Century award.

• National badminton coach Pulella Gopichand won the Mentor of the Year award, while former shooter Jaspal Rana was recognized as the Coach of the Year.

• The Olympic-bound Indian men’s hockey was adjudged Team of the Year while the women’s hockey side skipper Rani won the Inspiration of the Year award.

APPOINTMENT AND RESIGNATIONS

Bimal Julka as new Chief Information Commissioner of India:

• Bimal Julka, a retired IAS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre, has been appointed as the Chief Information Commissioner of India. President Ram Nath Kovind administered the oath of office and secrecy to Bimal Julka.

• He is retired 1979 IAS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre. Julka has also been posted as Secretary in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

SBI Life re-appoints Sanjeev Nautiyal as MD & CEO

• SBI Life Insurance has re-appointed Sanjeev Nautiyal as managing director and chief executive officer of the company.

• The re-appointment is subject to approval of Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) and members of the company.

IMPORTANT DAYS

Jan Aushadhi Diwas:

• Jan Aushadhi Diwas celebrated on 7th march of every year.

• The Jan aushadhi Divas aims to provide further impetus and create awareness about the use of generic medicines. The day will also highlight the initiative undertaken by Government in the direction of making quality healthcare for all, like Ayushman Bharat, PMBJY, etc.

• The Pradhan Mantri Jan Aushadhi Pariyojna was launched by Prime Minister with an objective of making high-quality medicines available to all at affordable prices, especially to the poor and underprivileged, through exclusive outlets of Jan Aushadhi Medical Stores.

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