Current Affairs - March 14, 2018 Current Affairs

President Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated World Hindi Secretariat building in Port Louis, Mauritius. He also launched secretariat's logo, an Early Digital Learning Programme as well unveiled foundation stones of a social housing project and large ENT hospital being built with Indian assistance. He visited Mauritius as part o the first leg of his two-nation state visit (Mauritius and Madagascar). The Secretariat is fully financed by Government of India and provided a grant of Rs. 33 crore.

The public sector Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) secured significant orders worth 736 crores Rs., after competitive bidding, for supplying Steam Generators for the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL). sThe generators will be manufactured at the Tiruchirappalli plant of BHEL and will be installed at the Pressurized Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR), Gorakhpur, Haryana.

India announced a new Line of Credit of USD 100 million for defense procurement by Mauritius as the two sides signed many agreements on the second day of President Ram Nath Kovind's visit. The agreements were signed after President Kovind held delegation-level talks with Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth and members of his Cabinet.

ICICI Bank has launched instant overdraft ?InstaODi facility for MSME (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) customers in a completely online and paperless manner. Customers can get overdraft facility up to Rs 15 lakh for a year anytime, anywhere using the bankis Internet and mobile banking app. The new facility will enable a few lakh of pre-qualified current account customers of the bank to instantly avail of the facility without visiting a branch and submitting physical documents. ICICI Bank will also offer the facility for instant online sanction of the overdraft facility to MSME customers of other banks shortly.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) was awarded 2017 Kochon Prize for building a tradition of excellence in Tuberculosis (TB) research and demand development. It had emerged a winner from among 18 nominations. It was awarded for establishing India TB Research Consortium to accelerate R&D effect.

Nepal's first woman President Bidya Devi Bhandari was re-elected for a second term in office with an overwhelming majority. Incumbent President Bhandari, the Left alliance's candidate was elected with more than a two-thirds majority as she defeated her Nepali Congress (NC) rival Kumari Laxmi Rai in the presidential election.

During the visit of President Ram Nath Kovind, India has offered a $100 million dollar Line of Credit (LoC) to Mauritius for defence procurement to help its security capacity. India also agreed to sell a Multi-Purpose Offshore Petrol Vessel to the island nation, which will be financed through the LoC. It will also have a $5-million-dollar grant component in addition to the LoC. Earlier, both the countries signed four MoUs to further strengthen bilateral cooperation. These agreements are in the fields of education, health, culture and civil services. The MoUs were exchanged in the presence of President Ram Nath Kovind and Mauritian Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth in Port Louis.

Assam Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma presented state's first e-Budget at the legislative Assembly. Each legislator of Assam State Legislative Assembly was provided with a tablet (computer) having details of the Budget. During the discussions in the house, the legislators were able to access the details through this tablet. In order to truly make it an E-Budget, the reporters covering the state budget were given a pen drive containing the details. Besides, Assam State Budget 2018-19 has also been made available on Google app.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the Delhi End TB Summit in New Delhi. The summit is being co-hosted by the Health Ministry, WHO South East Asia Regional Office and Stop TB Partnership. He will also launch Tuberculosis Free India Campaign. The campaign will take the activities of National Strategic Plan (NSP) for TB elimination forward in a mission mode. The NSP is backed by a funding of over 12,000 crore rupees over the next three years to ensure that every TB patient has access to quality diagnosis, treatment, and support. The new NSP adopts a multi-pronged approach which aims to Detect all TB patients, with an emphasis on reaching TB patients seeking care from private providers and undiagnosed TB in high-risk populations.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and visiting French President Emmanuel Macron jointly inaugurated 101-megawatt solar power plant at Dadar Kala village in Mirzapur district of Uttar Pradesh. The largest solar projects in the country have been set up by French company ENGINE. The company was awarded the project in 2016 with the cost of Rs. 680 crore. Solar Energy Corporation of India has signed Power purchase agreement for 25 years with the company.

The luxury train 'Palace on Wheels' of Rajasthan, popular among foreign tourists, has bagged the 'Tourist Train of the Year' award of the Pacific Area Travel Writers' Association. It was launched by the Indian Railways in association with Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation to promote tourism in Rajasthan. The Palace on Wheels was started on 26 January 1982.

Researchers from IIT Guwahati have successfully converted packaging plastic waste to plastic-derived oil (PDO), which has characteristics similar to diesel. Using a semi-batch reactor, the different wastes were heated for six to seven hours at 300-400 degree Celsius. Only hydrocarbon gases such as methane, ethane and propane were produced and there was negligible amount of carbon dioxide.

The country's largest lender, SBI State Bank of India slashed charges for non-maintenance of Average Monthly Balance (AMB) in savings accounts by nearly 75 percent. The revised charges will be effective from April 01, 2018 and will benefit over 25 crore customers. The charges for non-maintenance of AMB for customers in Metro and Urban centers have been reduced from a maximum of Rs 50 per month to Rs 15 per month. Similarly, for Semi-Urban and Rural centers, the charges have been reduced from Rs 40 every month to Rs 12 and Rs 10 GST charges will be applicable over and above the rates specified above.

The Maldives Parliament has approved the anti-defection bill with retrospective effect amidst the boycott by opposition MPs. According to the bill, MPs elected on political party tickets will lose their seat if they leave their party, get expelled, or switch parties. The bill would take effect from 13th July 2017, meaning that the 12 MPs that switched to the Opposition last year would lose their seats. The bill was passed with 35 votes as opposition MPs continued to boycott the settings.

Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of State for External Affairs General VK Singh and cricketer Gautam Gambhir attended the first edition of 'Soldierathon' in New Delhi. 'Soldierathon' is a special marathon aimed at raising funds for welfare of Indian soldiers and their families. Over 6000 individuals participated in this marathon. Cricketer Mohammad Kaif and Actor Varun Sood also witnessed this marathon. The marathon began from Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi. Participation was open in four categories viz. 10km, 5km, 3km and wheelchair. Funds raised during this event will be donated to Indian Army's Artificial Limb Centre (ALC) and for the education of martyrs' children.

India's tallest tricolour was hoisted in Belagavi, Karnataka on March 12, 2018. The flag hoisted in Belagavi is 110m high from the base plate to the top while its size is 120X80 ft. The flag was hoisted by Belagavi District in-charge Minister Ramesh Jarkiholi. It weighs 500 kg and was hoisted through an electro mechanic operating system. Before hoisting of the tallest flag at Belagavi, 107 metre tall tricolour flown in Pune was the highest, followed by 105 metre tall tricolour at Attari-Wagah border. To have the tallest tricolour in Balagavi was the dream project of Belagavi (North) Congress MLA Feroz Sait.