GK and Current Affairs Updates

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.

The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination 2016 was observed on 21 March 2016 with the theme Challenges and Achievements of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action.
•    In 2016, the day is marked by the fifteenth anniversary of the adoption of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action at the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance in 2001.
•    On 21 March 1960, police opened fire and killed 69 people at a peaceful demonstration in Sharpeville, South Africa, against the apartheid pass laws.
•    The United Nations General Assembly called on the international community to redouble its efforts to eliminate all forms of racial discrimination and proclaimed the day in 1966.
•    The Durban Declaration and Programme of Action was adopted at the 2001 World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance in South Africa.
•    It is the most comprehensive framework for fighting racism and related forms of intolerance and discrimination.
•    It represents the firm commitment of the international community to tackle the issues related to intolerance and discrimination, and serves as a basis for advocacy efforts worldwide.
•    It contains a broad range of measures aimed at combating racism in all of its manifestations, and underscores the human rights of all groups suffering from racial discrimination. 
•    The document emphasizes their right to participate freely and equally in political, social, economic and cultural life.

India's fourth highest ranked men's badminton player HS Prannoy on 20 March 2016 won the men's singles title at the 2016 Swiss Open in Basel, Switzerland. 
•    He clinched the title by defeating Marc Zwiebler of Germany 21-18, 21-15 in the final.
•    The 2016 Swiss Open men's singles title is Prannoy’s second title at a Grand Prix Gold tournament, after he won the 2014 Indonesian Masters.
•    Prannoy Haseena Sunil Kumar also known as HS Prannoy currently trains at the Gopichand Badminton Academy in Hyderabad.
•    He originally hails from Kerala and is the Indian number 2 (as of 2 April 2015) in badminton.
•    He is supported by the GoSports Foundation, Bangalore and has been part of their scholarship programme since 2011.
•    He came to prominence after winning the silver medal in Boys' singles at 2010 Summer Youth Olympics.

Former Prime Minister of Denmark Anker Joergensen passed away on 20 March 2016 in Copenhagen. He was 93.
•    Joergensen served as the Prime Minister of the country from 1972 to 1973 and again from 1975 to 1982.
•    In 1950, Joergensen became a member of a trade union. He led the Danish Workers Union, SiD, between 1968 and 1972. 
•    While he served as the chairman of the Danish Workers Union, he was elected to the Parliament of Denmark for the first time in 1964.
•    Following the European Union Referendum of 1972 about whether Denmark should join the EU, Joergensen succeeded Jens Otto Krag as Prime Minister of Denmark. 
•    Joergensen held the position for 14 months until the 1973 election when he was succeeded by liberal Poul Hartling.
•    After just over a year in opposition, he returned as Prime Minister of Denmark with a Social Democratic minority government.