Current Affairs
Select Date
Tags:
Hindi

Important Current Affairs 23rd March 2020

National

Satyarup Siddhanta becomes first Indian to complete volcanic Seven Summit

• India's mountaineer Satyarup Siddhanta has recently climbed the highest volcano in seven continents and recorded his name in the 'Limca Book of Records'.

• He holds the record for becoming the first Indian to climb the highest volcano in all the 7 continents of the world. Earlier, in January 2019, he achieved the record of climbing the highest peak of the seven continents of the world.

• He already has registered his name in Guinness Book of World Records, India Book of Records, Asia Book of Records, British Book of Records and Champion Book of Records.

IOC Becomes First Company to Begin Supply of BS-VI fuel Across Country

• Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), the biggest oil firm of India, has successfully rolled out the supply of the BS-VI grade fuel, with all its 28,000 petrol pumps dispensing ultra-low sulphur fuel across the country.

• With this, the company is first in the Country to completely switch to world’s cleanest petrol and diesel, two weeks before the April 1 deadline.

• The government had set April 1, 2020 as the deadline for starting supply of ultra-low sulphur BS-VI (equivalent to Euro-VI grade emission compliant fuels) petrol and diesel.

• BS-VI has a sulphur content of just 10 ppm and emission standards are as good as CNG.

Banking and Economy

RBI to conduct variable rate Repo auctions for Rs 1,00,000 crores

• As per the circular, the Reserve Bank of India will conduct fine-tuning variable rate Repo auctions for Rs 1,00,000 crores in two tranches.

• The central bank has also decided to allow standalone Primary Dealers to participate in fine-tuning variable rate Repo auctions along with other eligible participants.

Days

Shaheed Diwas 2020 observed in India to commemorate Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru

• India observed the Shaheed Diwas 2020 (Martyr's Day) on March 23, 2020 to commemorate the sacrifices made by freedom fighters Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru during the Indian Freedom Struggle.

•  On March 23, 1931, all these three freedom fighters were hanged till death for their involvement in the case 'Lahore Conspiracy'.

World Meteorological Day

• The World Meteorological Day is celebrated every year on 23 March to commemorate the date of the establishment of the World Meteorological Organization in 23 March 1950

• The day also highlights the contribution that the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services make to the safety and well-being of society.

• The theme for 2020 World Meteorological Day is ‘Climate and Water’.

Read More
Read Less

Important Current Affairs 22nd March 2020

IRDAI Constitutes Panel Under Pravin Kutumbe to Review Guidelines on Corporate Governance Systems of Insurers

• The insurance regulator, Insurance Regulation and Development Authority (IRDAI), has set up a 16-member committee to find ways to improve its current guidelines on corporate governance systems of insurers, in a bid to further strengthen the guidelines.

• The committee will be Chaired by Shri Pravin Kutumbe, member-finance and investment at IRDAI.

• It will also consists of six other members from the insurance regulator, members from the Reserve Bank of India and the Securities and Exchange Board of India along with other industry participants.

International

Ranking

UN releases World Happiness Report 2020

• The United Nations (UN) has released the eighth edition of the annual World Happiness Report on 20 March 2020 to rank 156 countries by how happy their citizens perceive themselves to be.

• India has been ranked at 144 position among 156 nations with a score of 3.573 points on a scale of 10.

• Finland has been named as the happiest country in the world for the third year in a row while Afghanistan is the lowest ranking country.

• The World Happiness Report is an annual survey by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network for the United Nations.

• The Report takes into account six factors to rank a country which includes: levels of GDP, life expectancy, generosity, social support, freedom and corruption income.

Days

World Water Day

• World Water Day observed globally on 22nd March every year. World Water Day, held on 22 March every year since 1993, focuses on the importance of freshwater. World Water Day celebrates water and raises awareness of the 2.2 billion people living without access to safe water. This year, World Water Day 2020 theme: “Water and Climate Change”.

• It is about taking action to tackle the global water crisis. A core focus of World Water Day is to support the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 6: water and sanitation for all by 2030.

 Books and Authors

Book titled ‘Messiah Modi: A Tale of Great Expectations’ Penned by Tavleen Singh

• Tavleen Singh, one of India’s most influential columnists and political reporter and writer has come out with her new work titled “Messiah Modi: A Tale of Great Expectations”.

• The book tells about her early support for Modi the candidate, followed by a helpless disenchantment with Modi the PM and the cabinet he headed.

Read More
Read Less

Important Current Affairs 21st March 2020

National

Government Approves Setting Up of National Technical Textile Mission for 4 Years

• The government has approved the proposal for creation of National Technical Textiles Mission for a period of 4 years from 2020-21 to 2023-24.

• The total outlay of the mission has been estimated at Rs.1480 crores.

•  The focus of the Mission for holistic development of entire technical textile sector on pan-India basis in various flagship missions and programmes of the country.

Railway Ministry to Electrify all 28,810 km Broad Gauge (BG) Routes by December 2023

• Piyush Goyal-led Ministry of Railways has planned to electrify all the remaining 28,810 km of Broad Gauge (BG) Routes of Indian Railways by December 2023.

• The proposed electrification of BG Routes will be done in the following manner:

• 2019-20 – 6,000 km of broad gauge route has been planned to be electrified in 2020-21 – 6,000 km,in 2021-22 – 6,000 km, in 2022-23 – 6,500 km and in 2023-24 (upto Dec-23) – 4,310 km.

• Apart from this, the Railway Ministry has also planned to source around 1000 megawatt (MW) of solar power as part of its solar mission and around 200 MWt of wind power based on the techno-commercial assessment.

Banking and Economy

RBI to infuse Rs 30,000 crore to boost liquidity

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will infuse liquidity of Rs 30,000 crore to maintain financial stability in the Indian economy.

• RBI has took this decision to boost liquidity in order to ensure that all markets segments function normally with adequate liquidity and turnover, as certain financial market segments are facing stress due to COVID-19 outbreak.

Summits and Mou’s

APEDA signs MoU with SFAC for development of agriculture sector

• Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) and Small Farmers Agribusiness Consortium (SFAC) has signed an Memorandum of Understanding.

• The MoU aims for the development of agriculture and allied sectors as well as its exports for bringing better value to the stakeholders.

•  The two organizations are also working towards linking of Farmer Producer organizations, farmers’ cooperatives to the export value chain

Days

International Day of Forests

• International Day of Forests is celebrated every year on 21 March. The day is being celebrated to raise awareness of the importance of all types of forests. On this day, countries are encouraged to undertake local, national and international efforts to organize activities involving forests and trees.

• These activities includes tree planting campaigns. Every year, a theme is decided by the by the Collaborative Partnership on Forests. The theme for International Day of Forests 2020: Forests and Biodiversity.

International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

• The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is observed globally on 21 March every year. The day is celebrated annually on 21 March as on this day in 1960, the police in Sharpeville, South Africa, opened fire and killed 69 people at a peaceful demonstration against apartheid “pass laws”.

•  International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination 2020 is focused on the midterm review of the International Decade for People of African Descent.

World Down Syndrome Day

• World Down Syndrome Day is observed every year on 21 March. In December 2011, the General Assembly declared 21 March as World Down Syndrome Day to raise public awareness of Down syndrome.

• Down syndrome occurs in an individual when he/she has an extra partial (or whole) copy of chromosome 21. The theme of World Down Syndrome Day 2020 is “We Decide”.

World Poetry Day

• World Poetry Day is observed globally on 21 March every year. World Poetry Day is being observed annually to support linguistic diversity through poetic expression and to offer endangered languages the opportunity to be heard within their communities.

•  It also aims to encourage a return to the oral tradition of poetry recitals, to encourage the teaching of poetry as well as to restore a dialogue between poetry and the other arts such as theatre, dance, music and painting.

Obituary

• Legendary Indian Footballer PK Banerjee Passes Away at 83.India’s Football legend Pradip Kumar Banerjee has passed away after battling prolonged illness. He was 83.

• He won the gold medal at the Jakarta Asian Games in 1992.Banerjee has scored 65 international goals in 84 appearances for the national team.

• He was the recipients of some of the most prestigious awards including Arjuna Award in 1961, Padma Shri in 1990 and FIFA Order of Merit in 2004.

Read More
Read Less

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.

Read More
Read Less

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.

Read More
Read Less

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.

Read More
Read Less

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.

Read More
Read Less

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.

Read More
Read Less

Important Current Affairs 15th March 2020

National

India’s 1st digital parcel locker service launched in West Bengal

• The Department of Posts, Kolkata (West Bengal circle), has launched free digital parcel locker service in 2 post offices Nabadiganta IT post office of Salt Lake City & post office in New Town’s Action Area.

• Under this service, customers will be able to collect their parcel from the post office according to their convenience.

• This facility is quite popular in European countries but is starting for the first time in India. This service has been done for such people of working-class, who do not have to receive any parcel at home. Such people can take their parcel and letters addressed to them from the kiosks at 24×7.

UP govt launches three schemes for skill development in the state

Uttar Pradesh government has launched three ambitious schemes for skill development and employment generation for youths in the state. The three schemes are Kaushal Satrang, Yuva Hub and apprenticeship scheme in Lucknow. UP government also announced to depute ”Arogya Mitras” at all primary health centres to inform people about govt health schemes.

Kaushal Satrang Scheme

• Kaushal Satrang scheme is a skill development scheme with 7 components to help provide job opportunities to the youth.Under this scheme, each district will organize Mega job fair.

Yuva Hub’ Scheme

Yuva Hub’ scheme was allocated Rs 1,200 crore in the state budget and it aims at providing employment to thousands of skilled youth by assisting in project concept and financial help for one year of operation. It will also facilitate setting up of 30,000 startups in the state. IIM (Indian Institutes of Management) Lucknow is the knowledge partner of this scheme.

CM apprenticeship scheme

CM apprenticeship scheme will provide a stipend of Rs 2500 to the youth of the state.

Banking and Economy

Lava launches World’s first ‘no internet’ payment service in India

• Smartphone manufacturer Lava, has launched a payment app named Lava Pay which doesn’t requires an active internet connection for fund transfer.

• Lava claims it to be the world’s first’no internet’ payment service. The app will help boost Digital India initiative of the Government as well as bringing financial inclusivity for a large population of the county.

Govt appoints new board of directors for Yes Bank

• The government of India has notified the reconstruction scheme for Yes Bank which has been placed under moratorium by Reserve Bank of India. The moratorium will be lifted on March 18.

• Under the scheme, Prashant Kumar has been appointed as MD and CEO of Yes Bank. He is a former chief financial officer at State Bank of India.Sunil Mehta has been appointed as the non-executive chairman of Yes Bank. He is the former non-executive chairman of state-owned Punjab National Bank.Mahesh Krishnamurthy and Atul Bheda will be the non-executive directors.

• Under the reconstruction scheme, SBI, will hold up to 49 per cent in Yes Bank. SBI has approved an investment of Rs 7,250 crore (725 crore shares at Rs 10 each).Apart from this, 4 private banks will also chip in money in Yes Bank. These are- HDFC- Rs 1,000 Crore; ICICI Bank- Rs 1,000 Crore; Axis Bank- Rs 600 Crore; Kotak Mahindra Bank- Rs 500 Crore.

RBI reduces Limits on exposure to group of borrowers for UCB to 25%

• The Reserve Bank of India has reduced the prudential exposure limits for Primary (Urban) Co-operative Banks (UCBs) for group of connected borrowers/parties from 40% to 25%.

• Primary (Urban) Co-operative Banks (UCBs) were permitted to have exposures up to 15 per cent and 40 per cent of their capital funds to a single borrower and a group of borrowers, respectively.

Days

World Consumer Rights Day

• World Consumer Rights Day is celebrated globally on March 15 every year. It is a day marked to raise global awareness about consumer rights and needs.

• Celebrating World Consumer Rights Day is a chance to demand that the rights of all consumers are respected and protected, and to protest against market abuses and social injustices which undermine those rights.

• Consumer rights broadly mean that each consumer has the right to have information about the quality, potency, quantity, purity, price and standard of goods or services.

Read More
Read Less

Important Current Affairs 14th March 2020

National

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

 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.

 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.

 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%

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

 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

 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.

 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

 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’

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

 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.

Read More
Read Less

All Rights Reserved Top Rankers