GK and Current Affairs Updates

On 3rd  March 2016 Union Government signed a memorandum of agreement (MoA) to provide a loan of 1000 crore rupees to the Fertilizers and Chemicals Travancore Limited, 
Fertilizers and Chemicals Travancore Limited  is a Central Public Sector Undertaking (CPSU).As per this MoA, FACT will be getting a loan of 1000 crore rupees, to be repaid with interest within a period of five years, with a moratorium of one year.
The loan will be provided with an aim to revive the organisation which has been facing financial crunch for more than a decade.  
FACT is a CPSU based in Kochi and has business interests in manufacturing and marketing of fertilizers, caprolactam, engineering consultancy and fabrication of equipments.
Units of FACT include the two manufacturing divisions Udyogamandal Complex-UC and Cochin Division-CD, the consultancy unit FACT Engineering and Design Organization-FEDO, the fabrication division FACT Engineering Works-FEW and the Marketing Division. 
Incorporated in 1943, by Maharajah Sree Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma, FACT is one of the oldest fertilizer companies of the country.

On 4 March 2016 Election Commission of India announced the schedule for the Legislative Assemblies of Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Puducherry.
•    The elections of the four states and the Union Territory will be held between 4 April and 16 May 2016. 
•    The Counting for all Assembly Constituencies in all five States and Union Territories will be held on 19 May 2016.
•    Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry will go to poll in a single phase on 16 May 2016, while, election in West Bengal will be held in 6 phases and in Assam in two phases.
•    West Bengal:
•    1st phase - on 4 April and 11 April 2016
•    2nd phase - 17 April 2016
•    3rd phase - 21 April 2016
•    4th Phase – 25 April 2016
•    5th Phase - 30 April 2016
•    6th Phase - 5 May 2016
•    Assam:
•    1st Phase - 4 April 2016
•    2nd Phase - 11 April 2016
•    This time a symbol of NOTA will also be provided in the EVMs.
•    Constitutional Provisions for the election

On 1st March 2016 India signed a financing agreement for IDA credit of 300 US dollars for the Madhya Pradesh Higher Education Quality Improvement Project with the World Bank.
•    The project was designed as a result based financing programme in which the funds will be released based on the achievement of specific results or disbursement linked indicators (DLIs).
•    The DLIs are designed to ensure increase in enrolment of full time students and transition rate, to achieve NAAC accreditation criteria by the participating Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and strengthening of governance structure.
•    The project has three components 
•    Grants Support to Higher Education Institutions
•    State Level Initiatives   
•    Improving System Management.
•    Aim is to increase the effectiveness of the Higher Education System in Madhya Pradesh
•    To improve the standards of disadvantaged groups of students in selected Higher Education Institutions (HEIs).
•    The Project will close on 31 August 2021.

 On 3^rd March 2016 The Mumbai under-23 team clinched the Col CK Nayudu Trophy.
•    Mumbai defeating Madhya Pradesh at the Holkar Stadium, Indore.
•    Mumbai bowled out Madhya Pradesh for 442 and took a first innings lead of 135 runs.
•    This was Mumbai’s second big title of the season.
•    Winning team’s right-arm seam bowler Tushar Deshpande made the most of the third new ball in the closing minutes of the game on 2^nd March 2016.
•    The Mumbai team will be awarded with a cash prize of 20 lakh rupees on clinching the title.
•    Col CK Nayudu trophy is named after Cottari Kanakaiya Nayudu also known as 'CK', who was the first captain of the Indian cricket team in Test matches.
•    In 1923, the ruler of Holkar invited him to Indore and made him a Captain (land and air) in his army, conferring on him the honour of a Colonel in Holkar's Army.

 On 4 March 2016 Indian film archivist and film scholar Paramesh Krishnan Nair died. He was 82.
•    He was the founder and former director of the National Film Archive of India (NFAI) in 1964.
•    In 2012, Celluloid Man, an award-winning documentary was made on his life and works, by Shivendra Singh Dungarpur. 
•    Celluloid Man won two National Awards at the 60th National Film Awards, including Best Biographical Film and Best Editing.
•    Nair is regarded as the Henri Langlois of India because of his lifelong dedication towards the preservation of films in India.
•    He worked at the NFAI till 1991 for over three decades, collecting films from India and from all over the world.
•    He joined the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune as a research assistant in 1961 and later in 1965 was appointed assistant curator.
•    He was awarded the Satyajit Ray Memorial Award In 2008.

 Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 4 March 2016 launched the Setu Bharatam project. The project aims to make all national highways free of Railway crossings by 2019.
•    Under the project, 208 places have been identified for construction of rail over-bridges (ROB) or underpasses. 
•    Nearly 10200 crore rupees will be spent on it.
•    The details of 208 ROBs are as follows :
•    Andhra Pradesh - 33
•    West Bengal - 22
•    Bihar - 20
•    Karnataka - 17
•    Maharashtra & Assam - 12 each
•    Jharkhand - 11
•    Punjab & Haryana - 10 each
•    Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu & Uttar Pradesh - 9 each
•    Gujarat - 8
•    Madhya Pradesh -6
•    Chattisgarh & Himachal Pradesh - 5 each
•    Kerala & Odisha - 4 each
•    Utarakhand - 2
•    Detailed Project Reports have already been received for 73 ROBs and of these 64 ROBs are likely to be sanctioned with an estimated cost of 5600 crore rupees by the end of financial year 2015-16.
•    As per Road and transport Ministry, there are around 1500 bridges that are over 50 to 60 years old.
•    The Ministry has prepared a plan to demolish such bridges and rebuild new ones with more capacity. 
•    The cost of rebuilding the old bridges is expected to be about 30000 crore rupees.

 Former Lok Sabha Speaker Purno Agitok Sangma died on 4 March 2016. 
•    He was 68 years old. 
•    He was the first tribal person to hold the post of cabinet minister in 1995. 
•    He was also the first tribal person to become the Lok Sabha Speaker in 1996.
•    He was an Indian politician and Speaker of the Lok Sabha between 1996 and 1998. 
•    He was the first member from the Opposition to hold the office of the Speaker.
•    He also founded National People's Party on 6 January 2013 with Book as its National symbol.
•    He was a member of the Lok Sabha in the 6th, 7th, 8th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th Lok Sabha.
•    He was the Chief Minister of Meghalaya between 1988 and 1990. 
•    In March 1997, he received the Michael John Roll of Honour of the Tata Workers' Union for Distinguished Contribution to the Cause of Labour and to the Parliamentary System.

 On 3 March 2016 World's most expensive train station, the World Trade Centre Transportation Hub, opened in New York city.
•    Santiago Calatrava, the Spanish-Swiss architect who unveiled his ambitious design 12 years ago, removed a barrier at the entrance of the Oculus, a giant oval hall with walls of steel ribs and glass.
•    Built next to the site of the destroyed Twin Towers, the World Trade Centre Transportation Hub is expected to eventually serve more than 200000 daily commuters.
•    Initially budgeted at 2 billion US dollars, the station ended up costing 3.85 billion US dollars that earned it the title of the most expensive station in the world.
•    The building has an elliptical shape. The space measures 107 metres long by 35 metres at its widest point.
•    The September 11 attacks were a series of four coordinated terrorist attacks by the Islamic terrorist group Al-Qaeda on the United States on the morning of Tuesday, September 11, 2001. The attacks consisted of suicide attacks used to target symbolic U.S. landmarks.

 South Korea passed anti-terror law that was first proposed 15 years ago. The law was first set on the floor February 23.
•    156 members of the ruling Saenuri Party voted approval, while 1 opposed out of 157 present. 
•    The anti-terror law was first proposed back in 2001 following the September 11 terror attacks. It had been put in motion multiple times since, but always failed to reach a vote due to strong opposition from NGOs and opposition parties.
•    The anti-terror law, once in effect, will give power to the National Intelligence Service (NIS), South Korea's counterpart to the CIA, to collect data on terror suspects' private information, location, and IT use. 
•    Those who form a "terror organisation" can face capital punishment, life imprisonment, or over 10 years incarceration.
•    Those who plan an act of terror faces life imprisonment or over 7 years incarceration
•    Those who join a foreign terrorist group face over 5 years imprisonment.
•    Supporting terrorists -- those who hide information or provide financial support to terrorism -- face a maximum 10-year prison sentence or a fine of 100 million won ($82,000).

 Film Actor and Director Manoj Kumar will receive the 47th Dadasaheb Phalke Award for the year 2015.
•    Jury consisting of Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Salim Khan, Nitin Mukesh and Anup Jalota unanimously recommended Kumar for the prestigious Award.
•    He is remembered for his films Hariyali Aur Raasta, Woh Kaun Thi, Himalaya Ki God Mein, Do Badan, Upkaar, Patthar Ke Sanam, Neel Kamal, Purab Aur Paschim, Roti Kapda Aur Makaan, and Kranti. 
•    He is known for acting in and directing patriotic films .
•    He has won National Film Award for the film Upkaar. 
•    In 1992, he was honoured with Padma Shri by the Government of India.
•    The award is given by the Government of India for outstanding contribution to the Indian Cinema. 
•    The Award consists of a Swarn Kamal, a cash prize of 10 lakhs rupees and a shawl.
•    The 46th Dadasaheb Phalke Award was awarded to the veteran actor Shashi Kapoor for the year 2014.