Economy - bsc4success.com · 3 y SINCE 1993 India’s Premier Banking / SSC Institute basis points across tenors with effect from 28 Feb. The

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mySINCE 1993 India’s Premier Banking / SSC Institute

Economy

SINCE 1993 India’s Premier Banking / SSC Institute

Aviation The Competition Commission of India (CCI) imposed a

total fine of more than `540 mn on Jet Airways,InterGlobe Aviation and SpiceJet for unfair businesspractices with respect to fixing fuel surcharge on cargotransport.

Automobile The leading automaker Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL) said

it has scaled the unique feat of 35 lakh sales incumulative wholesale of its smallest car—Alto. BrandAlto has been the best-selling car in India for 14consecutive years.

Banking Hit hard by the Rs 130-bn scam, the Punjab National

Bank (PNB) has decided to tighten loan disbursementand set up a monitoring mechanism to check loanslippages and fraud. The changes are being made aspart of Mission Parivartan drive which the bank hasembarked on.

The state-owned lenders have started rationalising theiroverseas operations by consolidating 35 operations andclosing down non-viable branches as part of the cleanand responsible banking initiative. As per the bankingsector agenda approved at the PSB Manthan in Nov2017, public sector banks (PSBs) have to examine all 216overseas operations. Presently, public sector banks have

about 165 overseas branches, besides subsidiaries, jointventures and representative offices. State Bank of Indiahas the largest number of overseas branches (52)followed by Bank of Baroda (50) and Bank of India (29).The state-owned banks have the largest number ofbranches in the United Kingdom (32) followed by HongKong and UAE (13 each) and Singapore (12).

The currency futures trading received a boost after theReserve Bank of India raised the position limit for tradingin currency derivatives on stock exchanges, for bothresident and non-resident Indians, to $100 mn acrossall currency pairs involving the rupee. Currently, domesticinvestors and foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) areallowed to take a long (bought) or short (sold) positionin USD-INR up to $15 mn per exchange without havingto establish existence of underlying exposure.

To help customers with insufficient balances in theirsavings bank accounts pay their electricity, gas andtelephone bills, Navi Mumbai-headquartered SuryodaySmall Finance Bank is working on setting up temporaryoverdraft limits for them so that they don’t skip suchpayments and end up paying late fees.

The old paper £10 notes, featuring British naturalistCharles Darwin, went out of circulation across the UKon 01 Mar. They have been replaced by the new polymerversion featuring British author Jane Austen introducedlast year.

In the run-up to completing one year as a bank (on Mar10), Trichur-headquartered ESAF Small Finance Bankon 01 Mar expanded its footprint by setting up its firstbranch in Karnataka in Bengaluru.

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In view of the increasing importance of the servicessector and to encourage banks to lend more to this sector,the Reserve Bank of India has decided to do away withthe per borrower loan limits to Micro/Small and MediumEnterprises (Services) for classification under prioritysector lending. So far, loans to Micro/Small and MediumEnterprises (Services) up to ̀ 5 cr and ̀ 10 cr, respectively,were classified as priority sector lending (PSL). Sincethe per borrower loan limits to MSME (Services) havebeen removed, all bank loans to MSMEs engaged inproviding or rendering services as defined in terms ofinvestment in equipment under the MSMED Act, 2006,will qualify under priority sector without any credit cap.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA)on 28 Feb approved a proposal to double the guaranteeto `190 bn to cooperative National AgriculturalCooperative Marketing Federation of India or Nafed tohelp it obtain credit from banks for procurement of pulsesand oilseeds at the support price. The CCEA alsoapproved govt guarantee up to `450 mn to the SmallFarmers Agri-Business Consortium (SFAC) for meetingits existing liability and settlement of extant claims.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has fined private lenderAxis Bank for violating RBI’s regulations for assessmentof Non-Performing Assets (NPAs). The RBI also imposeda monetary penalty of ̀ 20 mn on Indian Overseas Bankfor a fraud detected in one of its branches due to failureto comply with Know Your Customer (KYC) norms.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has further tightenedthe priority sector lending (PSL) norms for foreign banksby directing them to mandatorily create sub-targets sothat they lend a portion of their loans to small andmarginal farmers as well as micro enterprises (MSMEs)from Apr 2018. The move is directed at foreign bankswith over 20 branches and will come into force from thenext financial year. Another sub-target of 7.50 per cent,using the same criterion, will be applicable to these banksfrom FY19 for lending to micro-enterprises.

Five public sector banks (PSBs), including Canara andUnion Bank of India, are on the brink of being put underthe Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) prompt correctiveaction (PCA) plan. The three other PSBs that may comeunder PCA are Andhra Bank, Punjab National Bank, andPunjab & Sind Bank. According to rating agency Icra,their net non-performing assets (NPAs) rose above 6 percent in Dec 2017. The RBI assesses bank’s standing onthree counts, namely capital adequacy ratio (CAR), net

NPAs, and return on assets (RoA) to put it under PCA.

Internet giant Google has tied up with State Bank ofIndia (SBI) for its mobile payments app Tez. Tez is builton the Indian govt-supported Unified PaymentsInterface (UPI), allowing users to make big or smallpayments free of charge, straight from their bankaccounts to the accounts of others from over 70 UPI-enabled banks.

The State Bank of India has upped interest rates ondomestic retail term deposits (up to `1 cr) by up to 50

Abbreviations AMB: Average Monthly Balance APA: Advance Pricing Agreement BEPS: Base Erosion and Profit Shifting CAR: Capital Adequacy Ratio CBDT: Central Board of Direct Taxes CIC: Credit Information Company CSC: Common Service Centre EBRD: European Bank for Reconstruction and

Development EOUs: Export Oriented Units EPFO: Employees Provident Fund Organisation FATF: Financial Action Task Force FEE: Foreign Exchange Earning FPI: Foreign Portfolio Investors HADR: Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief IBBI: Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India IBC: Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code IRAC: Income Recognition and Asset Classification ISA: International Solar Alliance LoC: Letter of Comfort LoU: Letters of Undertaking MSME: Micro/Small and Medium Enterprises Mudra: Micro Units Development and Refinance

Agency Nafed: National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing

Federation of India NFRA: National Financial Reporting Authority NPA: Non-Performing Asset PCA: Prompt Corrective Action PMI: Purchasing Managers Index PSL: Priority Sector Lending RoA: Return on Assets SATH-E: Sustainable Action for Transforming Human

Capital in Education SFAC: Small Farmers Agri-Business Consortium


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basis points across tenors with effect from 28 Feb. Themaximum increase of 50 basis points is in four maturitybuckets – 7 days to 45 days; 2 years to less than 3 years;3 years to less than 5 years; 5 years and up to 10 years.The new interest rate on the 7 days to 45 days maturitybucket is 5.75 per cent (5.25 per cent earlier). On the threematurity buckets above two years, the new interest rateis 6.50 per cent (6 per cent earlier).

Financial services platform Paytm on 7 Mar said itswholly-owned subsidiary, Paytm Money, has receivedapproval of market regulator Securities and ExchangeBoard of India (Sebi) to become a registered investmentadvisor.

The Reserve Bank of India has imposed a penalty of ̀ 50mn on Airtel Payments Bank for violating operatingguidelines and Know Your Customer (KYC) norms. AirtelPayments Bank had commenced operations in Jan 2017.

The Reserve Bank of India has asked commercial lendersto provide it with details of all letters of undertaking orLoUs issued by them. Two jewellery groups wereaccused of defrauding state-run Punjab National Bank(PNB) of more than $2 bn, mostly through fraudulentguarantees based on letters of undertaking (LoUs) issuedby rogue bank employees that they used to raise creditoverseas.

The Small Industries Development Bank of India(SIDBI) has signed a memorandum of understanding(MoU) with CSC e-governance Services (CSCeGS) totake Udyami Mitra portal to the unserved and theunderserved MSMEs. Udyamimitra.in is a portal toimprove accessibility of credit for the MSMEs. It allowsentrepreneurs to apply for a loan without physicallyvisiting bank branches.

Citi India has launched India’s first home loan linked tothe three-month Govt of India Treasury Bill benchmarkrate. The T-Bill-linked home loan is based on the three-month T-Bill rates published on the 12th of each monthby Financial Benchmarks India Pvt Ltd (FBIL) and isavailable to all new and existing home loan customers.

The International Solar Alliance (ISA) and the AfricanDevelopment Bank (AfDb), the Asian Development Bank(ADB), the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB),the Green Climate Fund (GCF), and the New DevelopmentBank (NDB) signed Joint Financial PartnershipDeclarations. The International Energy Agency (IEA)also signed a Joint partnership Declaration with the ISA.

The objective of the agreements is to deepen theircooperation in support of renewable energy.

The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI)on 12 Mar signed a memorandum of understanding(MoU) with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for enhancingcooperation between the two regulators to ensure betterimplementation of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code(IBC).

The Reserve Bank of India has imposed a monetarypenalty of `40 lakh on State Bank of India for non-compliance of its directions on detection and impoundingof counterfeit notes.

The gross non-performing assets (NPAs) of all the banksin the country amounted to `8.40 tn in Dec, led byindustry loans followed by services and agriculturesectors. The gross NPAs or bad loans of scheduledcommercial banks as on Dec 31, 2017 due to loans toindustry were at ̀ 6.09 tn, accounting for 20.41 per centof the gross advances. The highest amount of grossNPAs was for country’s largest lender SBI at ̀ 2.01 tn.

The Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash C Garg saidon 8 Mar that the govt was expecting “some more”dividend from the central bank in Mar. In Aug 2017 theRBI had paid a dividend of `306.59 bn for the fiscalended Jun 2017. The govt has sought ̀ 130-bn additionaldividend. It was less than half the `658.76 bn paid in2015-16. He said additional fund was sought as per theMalegam Committee’s recommendations of transfer ofthe RBI’s entire surplus to the govt. The govt is hardpressed to bridge the fiscal deficit, which is expected towiden to 3.5 per cent of the GDP in the current fiscal asagainst the budget estimate of 3.2 per cent. Under theRBI Act, 1934, the central bank is required to pay thegovt its surplus after making provisions for bad anddoubtful debts, depreciation in assets and, contributionto staff and superannuation fund among others.

India is all set to become the 69th member of theEuropean Bank for Reconstruction and Development(EBRD) after shareholders of the international financialinstitution gave their nod to the country’s candidature.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on 16 Mar signeda $120-mn loan agreement with India to improveoperational efficiency of Indian railways by double-tracking and electrification of tracks along high-densitycorridors.

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Muthoot Finance Ltd, the flagship company of MuthootGroup, on 15 Mar tied up with Global IME Bank to expandits money remittance services between Indo-NepalCorridor. Muthoot Finance is the only Non-BankingFinancial Company (NBFC) to extend the money transferservices from India to Nepal.

The State Bank of India on 13 Mar reduced its chargeson non-maintenance of an average monthly balance(AMB) in savings accounts by up to 75%, effective Apr1. The charges for non-maintenance of AMB forcustomers in metro and urban centres have been reducedfrom a maximum of ̀ 50 per month plus goods and servicestax (GST), to ̀ 15 per month plus GST. The SBI also offersits customers to shift from a regular savings bank accountto basic savings bank deposit account (BSBD), the no-frills account on which no charges are levied.

ICICI Bank has launched instant overdraft ‘InstaOD’facility for MSME (Micro, Small and MediumEnterprises) customers in a completely online andpaperless manner. Customers can get overdraft facilityup to `15 lakh for a year anytime, anywhere using thebank’s Internet and mobile banking app.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 13 Mar discontinuedissuance of letters of undertaking (LoUs) and letters ofcomfort (LoCs) for importers with immediate effect, in anattempt to prevent frauds such as the one allegedly carriedout by jewellers Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi.

Passport details of borrowers taking loans of ̀ 50 cr andmore have been made mandatory to ensure a swift actionin case of fraud and prevent fraudsters from fleeing thecountry.

The Reserve Bank of India has revised its directions on‘Hedging of Commodity Price Risk and Freight Risk inOverseas Markets’, whereby it has excluded gold, gemsand precious stones from the list of commodities whoseprice risk can be hedged. This development comes in thebackdrop of the ̀ 12,600-cr letter of undertaking (LoU)scam at Punjab National Bank involving fraudulent issueof LoUs by a couple of officials in one of its Mumbaibranches in favour of companies in the gems andjewellery trade. Hedging is the activity of undertaking aderivative transaction to reduce an identifiable andmeasurable risk.

Srei Infrastructure has exited the white-label ATMsegment primarily on viability issues. In its attempt tohasten financial inclusion across the country, the RBI in

2011 declared to allow all non-banking entities to set upand operate their own automated teller machines (ATMs)known as White Label ATMs.

Capital Market India’s exposure to US govt securities rose sharply to a

high of $144.7 bn at the end of 2017, according to latestofficial data. The country remained the 12th largestoverseas holder of such securities, just behind oil-richSaudi Arabia, whose holding stood at $147.4 bn in Dec2017.

Important Days 01 Mar: Zero Discrimination Day 03 Mar: World Wildlife Day 04 Mar: National Security Day 08 Mar: International Women’s Day

World Kidney Day (Second Thursday ofMar)

10 Mar: Central Industrial Security Force (CISF)Raising Day

12 Mar: Commonwealth Day (Second Monday ofMar)

15 Mar: World Consumer Rights Day 20 Mar: International Day of Happiness

French Language Day (French)World Sparrow Day

21 Mar: International Day for the Elimination ofRacial DiscriminationWorld Poetry DayInternational Day of NowruzWorld Down Syndrome DayInternational Day of Forests

22 Mar: World Water Day 23 Mar: World Meteorological Day 24 Mar: World Tuberculosis Day

International Day for the Right to the Truthconcerning Gross HumanRights Violations and for the Dignity ofVictims

25 Mar: International Day of Remembrance of theVictims of Slavery and the TransatlanticSlave TradeInternational Day of Solidarity withDetained and Missing StaffMembers

26 Mar: Independence Day of Bangladesh 27 Mar: World Theatre Day


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Uber Technologies Inc. founder Travis Kalanick, whowas ousted from his role as the ride-hailing giant’s chiefexecutive in 2017, has started a new venture investmentfund called 10100, which will look to invest in emergingtechnologies in countries such as India and China, amongother things.

Corporate Tata Sons, the holding company for India’s biggest

business group, is selling about $1.25 bn of its stake insoftware services provider Tata Consultancy Services(TCS).

The Amazon.com Inc has launched a debit card in Mexico,part of a push to encourage shoppers without bankaccounts to buy online. Amazon said that Mexico wasthe first country where it has offered a debit card, calledAmazon Rechargeable, aiming to give customers a newmethod to shop on its website.

Disinvestment As part of the divestment process, govt will divest 10

per cent of its stake in the public sector chopper-makerHindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), which on 13 Marlaunched a `42.30-bn initial public offer (IPO).

Energy Iraq has overtaken Saudi Arabia by a wide margin to

become India’s top crude oil supplier, meeting more thana fifth of the country’s oil needs in the current financialyear. Saudi Arabia traditionally has been India’s top oilsource but in the Apr-Jan period of 2017-18, Iraqdethroned it, supplying 38.9 mn tonnes (MT) of oil.

FDI Foreign direct investment (FDI) has increased “steadily”

in the country with total capital inflows reaching USD208.99 bn during Apr 2014 to Dec 2017 period.

GDP China on 4 Mar set its GDP growth rate for 2018 at around

6.5 per cent, same as last year.

In its latest biannual India Development Update, the WorldBank said that based on the fiscal third-quarter grossdomestic product (GDP) data, the full year’s growth hasbeen raised to 6.6%.

Indices Inflation based on wholesale prices eased to a seven-

month low of 2.48 per cent in Feb on cheaper foodarticles, including vegetables. On the basis of WholesalePrice Index (WPI), inflation was 2.84 per cent in Jan and5.51 per cent in Feb 2017.

Continuing the positive growth path, India’s exports grewby 4.5 per cent in Feb to $25.8 bn, Commerce SecretaryRita Teaotia has said. Imports too rose by 10.4 per centto $37.8 bn during the same month, leaving a trade deficitof $12 bn.

Riding on the back of robust manufacturing sectoroutput, India’s industrial production sustained thegrowth momentum to rise 7.5 per cent in Jan, indicatingearly signs of industrial revival.

Manufacturing India’s manufacturing sector activity fell to a four-month

low in Feb, as factory output and new business ordersrose at a slower pace, according to a monthly survey.The Nikkei India Manufacturing Purchasing ManagersIndex (PMI) fell to 52.1 in Feb from 52.4 in Jan, indicatinga modest improvement in operating conditions.

The eight infrastructure sectors grew at a faster pace of6.7 per cent in Jan against 3.4 per cent in the year-agomonth as petroleum refinery and cement output zoomedwhile steel power and coal production improved. Theeight core sectors — coal, crude oil, natural gas, refineryproducts, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity —had grown by 4.2 per cent in Dec and 7.4 per cent in Novin 2017-18. Cumulatively, the growth in the eight coresectors during Apr-Jan this fiscal slowed to 4.3 per centas against 5.1 per cent in the same period last fiscal.

Power The Karnataka govt on 01 Mar inaugurated the first phase

of a 2,000-megawatt (MW) solar park in the drought-prone Pavagada region of Tumkur district, about 180 kmfrom Bengaluru. The first phase of the `16,500-cr parkcalled “Shakti Sthala”. The solar project, touted as thelargest in the world, is spread over 13,000 acres and fivevillages.

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Taxation The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) entered into

seven more Advance Pricing Agreements (APAs) duringthe month of Feb 2018. All the seven are unilateral APAs.With the signing of these Agreements, CBDT has crossedan important milestone of having signed 200 APAs. Thetotal number of APAs entered into by the CBDT till datehas gone up to 203. The APA scheme endeavours toprovide certainty to taxpayers in the domain of transferpricing by specifying the methods of pricing and settingthe prices of international transactions in advance.

The goods and services tax (GST) implemented by thegovt from 1 Jul 2017 is one of the most complex with thesecond highest tax rate in the world among a sample of115 countries which have a similar indirect tax system,the World Bank has said in a report. India’s GST structurehas five tax slabs of 0%, 5%, 12%, 18%, and 28%.As many as 49 countries around the world have a singleslab of GST, while 28 countries use two slabs, and onlyfive countries, including India, use four non-zero slabs.

Telecom Huawei and Bharti Airtel have announced successfully

conducting 5G network trial under a test set-up in India.

Trade The India-China bilateral trade has reached $84.44 bn in

2017, a historic high notwithstanding bilateral tensionsover a host of issues including the Doklam standoff.

Others India’s foreign exchange earnings (FEEs) for the month

of Jan 2018, saw a 9.9 per cent growth compared to thatof the same period in 2017.

The retirement fund body Employees Provident FundOrganisation (EPFO) has made it mandatory to file onlineclaims for provident fund withdrawals above ̀ 10 lakh,taking another step towards becoming a paperlessorganisation. The EPFO has also made it mandatory tofile online claims for withdrawals of above ̀ 5 lakh underthe Employees Pension Scheme 1995.

The govt on 28 Feb approved an action plan for 12‘champion’ services sectors for realising their potentialthrough establishment of a `5,000-cr dedicated fund.

The 12 sectors include Information Technology &Information Technology-enabled Services (IT & ITeS),Tourism and Hospitality Services, Medical Value Travel,Transport and Logistics Services, Accounting andFinance Services, Audio Visual Services, Legal Services,Communication Services, Construction and RelatedEngineering Services, Environmental Services, FinancialServices and Education Services.

Milk production in the country increased by 20 per centfrom 137.7 mn tonnes to 165.4 mn tonnes between 2014and 2017, Minister of Agriculture and Farmers WelfareRadha Mohan Singh has said. Also, the per capitaavailability of milk has risen by 15.6 per cent from 307 gma day to 355 gm per day between 2013-14 and 2016-17.With a corpus of `2,450 cr, the govt has set up anAnimal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund(AHIDF) for financing infrastructure requirement ofanimal husbandry sector.

Books and Authors A Century Is Not Enough – Sourav Ganguly The Perils of Being Moderately Famous – Soha Ali

Khan Directorate S: The CIA and America’s Secret Wars

in Afghanistan and Pakistan – Steve Coll Economics for the Common Good – Jean Tirole Political Tribes – Amy Chua From Lehman to Demonetisation: A Decade of

Disruption, Reforms and Misadventures – TamalBandyopadhyay

Poonachi or the Story of a Black Goat – PerumalMurugan

Diabetes with Delight – Anoop Misra The Last White Hunter – Donald Anderson with

Joshua Mathew Indian Cultures as Heritage – Romila Thapar Strangers No More: New Narratives from Northeast

– Sanjoy Hazarika Sanjay Dutt: The Crazy Untold Story of Bollywood’s

Bad Boy – Yasser Usman


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Centre The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra

Modi approved the following in recent days: An agreement for the avoidance of double taxation

and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect totaxes on income between India and Iran. Theproposed agreement also meets the treaty-relatedminimum standards under G-20 OECD Base Erosionand Profit Shifting (BEPS) Project, in which Indiaparticipated on an equal footing.

Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) betweenIndia and Sri Lanka for promoting cooperation inthe field of Information Technology and Electronics.

Continuation of Urea Subsidy Scheme from 2017 to2020. The estimated cost on this will be around`1,65,000 cr.

The implementation of Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT)for disbursement of fertilizer subsidy.

Two per cent Dearness Allowance (DA) to CentralGovt employees.

Setting up of the National Financial ReportingAuthority (NFRA), which will be an independentregulator for the auditing profession.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare hasannounced the launch of programme ‘LaQshya’, aimedat improving quality of care in labour room and maternityOperation Theatre (OT).

The NITI Aayog released comprehensive roadmaps anddetailed timelines for its initiative ‘Sustainable Actionfor Transforming Human Capital in Education (SATH-E)’on Mar 17. These roadmaps, which operate between2018 to 2020, lay out detailed interventions which will betaken by the three participating States – Jharkand,Madhya Pradesh and Odisha – aiming to become ‘RoleModel States’ in school education.

The Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways,Shipping, Water Resources, River Development andGanga Rejuvenation Nitin Gadkari launched a mobileapp and Toll-free Emergency number for Highway userson 7 Mar in New Delhi. Sukhad Yatra mobile applicationhas been prepared by National Highways Authority ofIndia, NHAI, to empower the highway user.

Seeking to come up with a standardised “India size chart”for the garment industry, the National Institute ofFashion Technology (NIFT), under the aegis of theministry of textiles, will soon begin a national surveythat will sample 25,000 people using high-tech 3D wholebody scanners.

The Centre on 1 Mar approved projects worth over`2,900 cr under the Nirbhaya fund for eight major citiesof the country in a bid to make them safer for women.Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru,Hyderabad Ahmedabad and Lucknow have beensanctioned a total of ̀ 2,919.55 cr.

Aadhaar, the 12-digit unique identity number issued bythe Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), is acompulsory identity card. UIDAI has now also introduceda blue-coloured ‘Baal Aadhaar’ card for children belowthe age of five years. For enrolling a child for ‘BaalAadhaar’ card, the child’s birth certificate and the Aadhaarcard number of one of the parents is required. Biometricsare not developed for children before 5 years of age.Hence, a child’s Aadhaar data does not include biometricinfo like fingerprints and Iris scan. Once the child crosses5, biometrics need to be updated.

The first sale of Electoral Bonds commenced from 1 Marfor a period of ten days. The Ministry of Finance saidState Bank of India had been authorized to issue andencash Electoral Bonds initially at its four authorisedbranches. Electoral Bonds will be valid for 15 days fromthe date of issue and no payment shall be made to anypayee Political Party if the Bond is deposited after theexpiry of the validity period.

The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB)celebrated its 33rd Inception Day, on Mar 11, 2018 intheir newly constructed Complex at Mahipalpur, NewDelhi and released “Citizen Services” Mobile App. Thissingle App is a bouquet of various essential police-relatedservices to the citizen.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Manipur on 16Mar to deliver the inaugural address at the 105th sessionof the Indian Science Congress at Manipur University inImphal. PM also laid the foundation stone of the NationalSports University, one thousand Anganwadi Centres,

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19 residential complexes for teachers, doctors and nurses,and other development projects.

A total amount of `5,638.87 cr has been sanctionedwith release of ̀ 2,148.17 cr since 2014-15 till date underthe Swadesh Darshan Scheme of Ministry of Tourism.

The four-day biennial event ‘WINGS INDIA 2018’, jointlyorganised by Ministry of Civil Aviation and AirportAuthority of India and FICCI, was held in Hyderabad.The theme of the four-day biennial event this year was‘India-Global Aviation Hub’.

On the occasion of International Women’s Day, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi launched the National NutritionMission (NNM) and pan-india expansion of Beti BachaoBeti Padhao (BBBP), covering all 640 districts of thecountry, at an event held at Jhunjhunu in Rajasthan.

On the occasion of International Women’s Day, theMinistry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises(MSME) launched a portal for women entrepreneurs ofIndia: www.udyamsakhi.org.

The Central Govt on 12 Mar constituted the MahanadiWater Dispute Tribunal for adjudication of longstandingdisputes between Odisha and Chhattisgarh over sharingof Mahanadi river water. The tribunal with three memberswas formed under Section-4 of the Inter-State River WaterDisputes Act, 1956 following a directive of the SupremeCourt on Jan 23. The Chief Justice of India (CJI) hasnominated Supreme Court Judge AM Khanwilkar aschairman of the Tribunal.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 13 Mar set deadline of2025 to free India from tuberculosis (TB), five yearsahead of the global deadline set by World HealthOrganisation (WHO).

Recent Cabinet Approvals the inclusion of two communities in Karnataka in

the list of Scheduled Tribes. Parivara and Talawarawill be synonyms of “Nayaka” in the list of STs inKarnataka.

The continuation of the National Health Mission(NHM) with effect from 1 Apr 2017 to 31 Mar 2020with a budgetary support of over 85 thousand crrupees as Central Share.

revision of double taxation avoidance agreement(DTAA) between India and Qatar. The existingDTAA was signed on Apr 7, 1999, and came intoforce on Jan 15, 2000.

scheme called Integrated Scheme for Developmentof Silk Industry from 2017-18 to 2019-20 at a cost ofover 2,161 cr rupees.

continuation of centrally sponsored scheme ofRashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA)from 1 Apr 2017 to 31 of Mar 2020.

The launch of Ayushman Bharat -National HealthProtection mission. The Scheme has the benefitcover of 5 lakh rupees per family per year. The targetbeneficiaries under the scheme will be over 10 crorepoor and vulnerable families.

the North East Industrial Development Scheme(NEIDS), 2017 with financial outlay of Rs.3000 crupto Mar, 2020 to promote employment in the NorthEast States.

moving official amendments in the “Surrogacy(Regulation) Bill, 2016”. The Bill proposes toregulate surrogacy in India by establishing NationalSurrogacy Board at the central level and, StateSurrogacy Boards and Appropriate Authorities inthe States and Union Territories.

the opening of 18 new Indian Missions in Africaover a four year period from 2018-2021 in BurkinaFaso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, Republic of theCongo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Guinea,Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania, Rwanda, SaoTome& Principe, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Swazilandand Togo.3

closure of India Development Foundation ofOverseas Indians (IDF-OI) to enhance synergies inchannelizing Diaspora’s contributions to Govt ofIndia’s flagship programmes such as NationalMission for clean Ganga and Swachh BharatMission.

States Andhra Pradesh stands at equivalent to 51st rank globally

in Multidimensional Poverty Index, according to a recenthousehold survey conducted in the state.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on 2 Marunveiled a healthcare scheme aimed at benefitting about1.43 cr households in the state. “The ‘Arogya Karnataka’(Healthy Karnataka) will provide quality primary,secondary and tertiary treatment to both BPL and APLfamilies in the state.

After a successful Carnival celebration, Goa celebratedanother exciting festival of colour, costumes and culture


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- Shigmo. The two-week-long festivities spread acrossGoa from Mar 3 to Mar 17. Shigmo is the biggest Hindufestival in Goa with processions and festivities takingplace all across the state every year.

The Odisha govt has launched a programme Ama Gaon,Ama Vikas (Our village, our development) to reach outto the people in rural areas and involve themselves inthe developmental activities.

The Telangana govt is setting up a `100-cr ApparelSuper Hub in Sircilla. It signed a memorandum ofunderstanding with Kay Ventures to roll out the project.To be set up on 20 acres, the hub will be completed inthree phases.

To ensure availability of clean drinking water to everyhousehold, Union Minister Uma Bharti on 27 Feblaunched the second project under the ‘Swajal Yojna’ atBhikampura village in Rajasthan. The first project waslaunched in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi district recently.Under the scheme, 90 per cent of the project cost will beborne by the govt and the remaining 10 per cent will becontributed by the community.

The first Mega Food Park in the state of Maharashtra,Satara Mega Food Park in district Satarawas wasinaugurated on 1 Mar by Harsimrat Kaur Badal,Minister of Food Processing Industries. This is the 12thMega Food Park operationalised in the country so farand the 10th operationalised during the tenure of presentgovt.

The Odisha govt on 26 Feb launched a scheme ‘Khushi’to provide free sanitary pads to 17 lakh girl studentsacross the state.

The proposed yellow-white-and-red flag with the state’ssymbol “Gandaberunda” at the centre was formallyunveiled by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in Karnataka.If the Centre does consider and give its nod for the saidamendment, Karnataka will only be the second state inthe country to have its own flag after Jammu and Kashmir,which is allowed to have a symbol under Article 370 ofthe Constitution.

The Telangana govt on 8 Mar launched a start-upincubator to exclusively promote entrepreneurshipamong women. The facility was launched on theoccasion of International Women’s Day (8 Mar). Theincubator, named We-Hub, is the country’s first state-led incubator exclusively for women entrepreneurs.

The Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj SinghChouhan on Women’s Day (8 Mar) announced‘Mukhyamantri Mahila Kosh’ scheme, under whichwomen who aren’t married and are above the age of 50will be given pension.

The Haryana Assembly on 15 Mar passed a bill seekingto give capital punishment to those found guilty of rapinggirls aged 12 years or below.

Rajasthan Assembly has approved a bill providing fordeath penalty to those convicted of raping girls under12 years of age.

Of the 14 states and Union Territories that have repliedto the Home Ministry on a proposal to abolish the deathpenalty, only two, Karnataka and Tripura, want thepractice to be done away with. Among the states andUTs that vetoed the abolition of capital punishment wereGujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan,Bihar, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu and Delhi.

Bills The govt has cleared the stringent Fugitive Economic

Offenders Bill (FEOB) to help stakeholders seize assetswithout conviction in cases where the defaulter hasescaped the country with unpaid debts. The bill will treateconomic offenders as criminals.

The Lok Sabha on 15 Mar gave its nod for a Bill to amendthe existing gratuity law to remove the current ceiling of`10 lakh and empower the Centre to notify the ceilingfrom time to time.

The Lok Sabha passed The Specific Relief (Amendment)Bill, 2017 on 15 Mar. Under The Specific ReliefAmendment Bill, certain civil courts may be designatedas Special Courts by the state govt, in consultation withthe Chief Justice of a High Court. These courts will dealwith cases related to infrastructure projects.

Panel The Centre has set up a steering committee to go into

various issues relating to Fintech space in India. Thecommittee will be headed by Subhash Chandra Garg,Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs. The move isa follow-up to the announcement made by FinanceMinister Arun Jaitley in his Budget speech of 2018-19.The committee will consider means of using data withGSTN and data residing with information utilities such

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as credit information companies (CICs) and others inopen domain with a view to developing applications forfinancing of micro, small and medium enterprises(MSMEs).

Defence India on 28 Feb successfully test-fired Anti-Tank Guided

Missile (ATGM) Nag in desert conditions. The NagATGM has been developed by the Defence Researchand Development Organisation (DRDO) and the flighttests have once again proved their capability.

India hosted navies from at least 16 countries for aneight-day mega naval exercise from Mar 6 with an aim toexpand regional cooperation and combat unlawfulactivities in critical sea lanes. The biennial exercise ‘Milan’was organised at the Andaman and Nicobar Islands inthe backdrop of China’s growing military posturing inthe Indo-Pacific region.

The Defence Research and Development Organisation(DRDO) has successfully flown its Unmanned CombatAir Vehicle Rustom 2 at its Aeronautical Test Range atChalakere in Chitradurga district of Karnataka.

The annual India-China military exercise will resume,Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat has said, noting that therelationship between the two countries which turned“sour” after the Doklam stand-off is now improving. The

“hand-in-hand” exercise with China happens every year.

A multilateral air force exercise, ‘Samvedna’, was heldfrom Mar 12 to 17, 2018. The exercise, spearheaded bythe Indian Air Force and conducted by the Southern AirCommand (SAC), ensures better understanding andsharing of response procedures between a number offriendly neighbouring nations.

The Indian Air Force’s (IAF) largest transport aircraft –C-17 Globemaster -made a historic landing at ArunachalPradesh’s Tuting Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) nearthe Chinese border on 13 Mar. The landing of the aircraftis seen as part of the IAF’s move to strengthen its overalloperations in the strategically important border state.

Judiciary The Supreme Court on 9 Mar allowed passive euthanasia,

or withholding treatment essential to life for a terminally-ill patient.

The Supreme Count on 13 Mar issued an interim orderextending the deadline for linking Aadhaar numbers tobank accounts, mobile phone numbers, passports andother services indefinitely beyond the previous deadlineof Mar 31.

The Supreme Court on 13 Mar said that foreign law firmscould not set up offices in India but their lawyers couldgive legal advice on foreign laws.


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The foundation day conference of the InternationalSolar Alliance (ISA) was held on 11 Mar at the PresidentHouse.

Highlights India and France are the co-founders of the alliance

which seeks to promote solar energy. The ISA was officially announced during the UN

Climate Change Conference in Paris on 30 Nov, 2015. The underlying rationale for ISA is to “ensure access

to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modernenergy for all” as per the ISA working draft.

The Govt of India will contribute $27 mn to the ISAfor creating the corpus, building infrastructure andrecurring expenditure over a five-year duration from2016-17 to 2020-21.

The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) andIndian Renewable Energy Development Agency(IREDA) have contributed US$ 1 mn each for creatingthe ISA corpus fund.

Around $1 tn of capital for solar power projects isexpected to be mobilised with this partnership.

PM Narendra Modi and French President EmmanuelMacron met with the “solar mamas”— a group ofrural solar engineers — after the foundingconference of the ISA.

The ISA has been working on a $300-bn riskmitigation fund as part of a strategy to create asustainable financing architecture for solar projectsworldwide.

India also announced its $1.4-bn assistance fordeveloping 27 solar projects in 15 countries.

Initially, ISA envisaged 121 sunshine countriessituated between the Tropics of Cancer andCapricorn as its members. But now membership isopen to all countries that want to join. At present,61 countries have signed the ISA FrameworkAgreement, 32 of whom have already ratified it.

The European Investment Bank announced it wasproviding €1 bn as support for the International SolarAlliance.

Eleven Asia-Pacific nations have signed a slimmed-downtrade pact to lower tariffs in Santiago, Chile. The Trans–Pacific Partnership (TPP), which would have

represented 40 per cent of the global economy and nearlyone-quarter of its trade, was left for dead after the USPresident Donald Trump pulled out to pursue his“America First” agenda before the TPP could take effect.But the revamped deal, now known as theComprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans–Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), is still a significantachievement that sends a message of openness. Thepact will include Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan,Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore andVietnam, representing together 13.5 per cent of globalgross domestic product.

India and Bangladesh have jointly inaugurated a first-of-its-kind “crime-free” stretch of 8.3 km along theinternational border in West Bengal. The aim of creatinga crime-free zone is to have select border locations thatare clear of illegal, anti-social and criminal activities.

Russia said it had successfully launched a hypersonicmissile described by Vladimir Putin as an ideal weapon.

India on 11 Mar congratulated China on its election asvice-president of the global money-laundering watchdog,the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a developmentthat comes on the back of news reports and speculationthat a deal on giving China a larger role in the FATF hadbeen reached, following which Beijing agreed to drop itsobjections to Pakistan being put under scrutiny by thebody.

India is ranked 47th out of 86 countries when it comes toinclusive Internet and connectivity for all, a Facebookreport has said. The list is topped by Sweden followingby Singapore, US, Denmark and South Korea.

The Chinese Army has announced that Beijing wants tofield its first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Liaoningby the middle of the next decade. The French Navy’sflagship, the Charles de Gaulle, is the only non-USaircraft carrier powered by nuclear reactors.

Egypt’s top court has upheld a deal to transfer two RedSea islands to Saudi Arabia. Situated between the twocountries, the islands of Tiran and Sanafir are largelyunoccupied but they lie in a strategically important andpolitically sensitive area.

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India and Jordan on 1 Mar signed a framework defenceagreement which envisages a whole range of possibilitiesfrom defence acquisitions by Jordan to defence exercisesand closer security cooperation. India and Jordan signed12 agreements after the high-level talks, covering areasas diverse as mass media, health, culture and tourism.But the area of interest for both countries is clearlydefence and security.

Russia, India and Bangladesh signed a trilateralagreement on 1 Mar to cooperate in the construction ofthe Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant in Bangladesh, workon which started in 2017.

India and Vietnam on 3 Mar inked three Memoranda ofUnderstanding (MoUs), including on cooperationbetween the Global Centre for Nuclear EnergyPartnership, India (GCNEP) and the Vietnam AtomicEnergy Institute (VINATOM), after talks between PrimeMinister Narendra Modi and Vietnamese President TranDai Quang.

The govt has signed a Memorandum of Understanding(MoU) with Israel to enhance cooperation on waterconservation in India. The Minister of State for DrinkingWater and Sanitation SS Ahluwalia told the Rajya Sabhathat the ministry had signed an MoU with the Ministryof Energy of the State of Israel on ‘National Campaignfor Water Conservation in India’.

Global oil trade routes are moving East as China andIndia replace the United States as top oil importers,according to the International Energy Agency’s Oil 2018,the five-year market analysis and forecast.

The fourth India-Europe 29 Business Forum (IE29BF)took place in New Delhi 5-6 Mar 2018. The Forum wascreated for the first time in 2014 by Ministry of ExternalAffairs and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerceand Industry (FICCI) to provide an institutionalisedplatform for promoting business exchanges betweenIndia and the twenty nine countries of Central Europeregion.

India has been ranked the fourth most powerful militarypower in the world. According to the Global FirepowerIndex 2017, India’s military strength is second only tothat of the US, Russia, and China. Rival neighbourPakistan ranks 13th on the list.

The Marshall Islands will issue its own cryptocurrencythat will be circulated as legal tender along with the US

dollar. The new currency will be called SOV and its legaltender status has been approved by the country’sparliament. Several govts, including China, Estonia, andIran, have discussed plans for their own digital currency.Venezuela, meanwhile, has gone ahead with a new digitaltoken called the petro, backed by oil.

India is ranked 52nd, much lower than the US and China,in the list of 57 countries surveyed to ascertain parityfor women entrepreneurs as cultural bias, lack of accessto financial services and poor social acceptance remainedroadblocks for them. India is only ahead of Iran, SaudiArabia, Algeria, Egypt, and Bangladesh, out of the 57countries surveyed, according to the Mastercard Indexof Women Entrepreneurs (MIWE) report.

India has been ranked at 78th, lower than its emergingmarket peers like Brazil and China, among 114 countrieson the World Economic Forum’s Energy TransitionIndex that was topped by Sweden. The report, titled“Fostering Effective Energy Transition”, ranks countrieson how well they are able to balance energy security andaccess with environmental sustainability andaffordability.

Saudi Arabia’s cabinet approved on 13 Mar the nationalpolicy of the atomic energy programme. Saudi Arabia,the world’s top oil exporter, wants nuclear power todiversify its energy supply mix.

India and Madagascar have signed an umbrellaagreement in the field of defence. Under the agreement,both the countries will explore various ways of co-operation in the field of defence. An amended air serviceagreement was also signed to support efforts towardsimproving connectivity between the two countries. Boththe countries will have a co-sharing agreement with AirSeychelles through Air India and Air Madagascar.

Finland is the world’s happiest country, according to anannual survey issued on 14 Mar. India was ranked at133 in the UN Sustainable Development SolutionsNetwork’s (SDSN) 2018 World Happiness Report,which ranked 156 countries according to things such asGDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy,social freedom, generosity and absence of corruption.

India on 12 Mar announced a new Line of Credit of USD100 mn for defence procurement by Mauritius as thetwo sides signed many agreements on the second dayof President Ram Nath Kovind’s visit to the country.India will supply a Multi-Purpose Offshore Patrol Vessel


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to Mauritius under a Line of Credit. Ameenah Gurib-Fakim is the present President of Mauritius.

Turning the heat further on India on trade issues, theUnited States (US) has challenged India’s export subsidyprogrammes at the World Trade Organisation (WTO).The move comes close on the heels of a string ofstatements accusing India of “unfair” trade practices,by President Donald Trump.

India and France on 10 Mar inked key pacts in thestrategic areas of security, nuclear energy as well asprotection of classified information after extensive talksbetween Prime Minister Narendra Modi and FrenchPresident Emmanuel Macron.

China’s rubber-stamp parliament has unanimouslyhanded President Xi Jinping a second, unlimited termand elevated his right-hand man Wang Qishan to thevice-presidency, giving him a strong ally to consolidatepower and handle US trade threats.

The US President Donald Trump has ordered tariffs onChinese goods. The president instructed US TradeRepresentative Robert Lighthizer to levy tariffs on atleast $50 bn in Chinese imports. He signed an executivememo issuing the instructions on 22 Mar at the WhiteHouse. Within 15 days, USTR will come up with aproposed list of products that will face higher tariffs.

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General PyeongChang Winter Olympics 2018 (XXIII Olympic

Winter Games) were held in Pyeongchang, South Korea.Norway (39) topped medal table while Germany (31) camesecond and Canada (11) third. Ester Ledecka (CzechRepublic) became the first woman to claim gold medalsin two sports. Marit Bjoergen (Norway) became the mostsuccessful Winter Olympian in history claiming her 14thmedal.

Gymnastics Aruna Budda Reddy created history by becoming the

first Indian gymnast to clinch an individual medal at theGymnastics World Cup in Melbourne. The 22-year-oldgymnast won a bronze medal in the women’s vault.

Athletics Delhi youngster Tejaswin Shankar smashed his own

national record to claim the high jump gold and bookedCommonwealth Games berth at the 22nd Federation CupSenior National Athletics Championships.

Badminton Reigning Commonwealth Games champion Parupalli

Kashyap overcame Malaysia’s Jun Wei Cheam instraight games in the men’s singles final to clinch theAustrian Open International Challenge.

Defending champion Purva Barve won the women’ssingles (Under-19) title at the Israel Junior 2018 held inRishon LeZion. She defeated top-ranked RussianAnastasiia Pustinskaia.

Indian shuttler Sameer Verma dished out a clinicalperformance to outwit former world no. 2 Jan O Jorgensenand clinch the men’s singles title at the $150,000 SwissOpen Super 300 tournament, in Basel.

Boxing Vikas Krishan (75kg) and Amit Panghal (49kg) claimed

gold medals but the celebrated M C Mary Kom (48kg)had to be content with a silver in the 69th Strandja

Memorial boxing tournament for men and women. Indiaended the tournament with a whopping 11 medals.

Chess Viswanathan Anand won the rapid event at the 11th Tal

Memorial chess in Moscow on 4 Mar. The World rapidchampion finished the event with 6 points whileShakhriyar Mamedyarov (with 5 points) came second.

Cricket At 19 years and 165 days of age, highly-rated Afghanistan

leg-spinner Rashid Khan, the No. 1 Twenty20International bowler, on 4 Mar became the youngestcaptain in the history of international cricket.

On Mar 15, Nepal became the latest Associate team togain one-day international (ODI) status by theInternational Cricket Council (ICC).

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), on the occasion of the 70thindependence of the island nation, paid a glowing tributeto former BCCI President Jagmohan Dalmiya byreleasing a book titled A Tribute to Jagu.

India B lifted the Dodhar Trophy, courtesy a superlativebatting effort as they comfortably beat Karnataka by sixwickets in the summit clash in Dharamsala.

India beat Bangladesh by four wickets to win the NidahasCricket Trophy final in Colombo. In a nail-biting final,the visitors clinched the T20 Tri-series title with DineshKarthik’s last-ball six.

The reigning Ranji Trophy champions Vidarbha havelifted their maiden Irani Cup. On the final day of thematch in Nagpur, they beat Rest of India by virtue oftheir massive first-innings lead.

Hockey The 2018 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup was the 27th edition of

the tournament. It was held in Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia.Australia clinched their tenth title in this tournamentafter defeating England 2–1 in the final match. Indiadefeated Ireland 4-1 to finish a disappointing fifth.

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Shooting On the opening day of the ISSF World Cup at Guadalajara

in Mexico, Shahzar Rizvi clinched the gold medal with aworld record score in his maiden ISSF World Cupappearance

In the ISSF Shooting World Cup, India jumped to the topof the medals tally after teen sensation Manu Bhakerbagged a Gold medal, while Ravi Kumar took home theBronze at the Mexican city of Guadalajara. At the end ofthe competitions on day two, India’s medal count stoodat five - 2 Gold and 3 Bronze.

Snooker The Indian combine of Pankaj Advani and Manan

Chandra staged a remarkable recovery to beat Pakistanin the final of the inaugural IBSF Snooker Team WorldCup.

Tennis Juan Martin del Potro ended world number one Roger

Federer’s 17-match unbeaten run and bagged the IndianWells Masters title in California.

Wrestling Navjot Kaur has scripted history by becoming the first

Indian woman to win a Gold medal at the Senior AsianWrestling Championships. She clinched the covetedyellow metal in the 65kg freestyle category at thetournament being held at Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan.

Others Russia has been welcomed back into the Olympic family

just days after the end of the Winter Games and despitetwo of the country’s athletes failing drug tests. Thecountry was banned from the Pyeongchang Olympicsafter widespread doping was uncovered, yet theInternational Olympic Committee (IOC) approved a teamof 168 athletes competing as “neutrals”.

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90th Academy Awards: Best Picture: The Shape of Water (Guillermo Del

Toro and J Miles Dale, Producers) Directing: Guillermo Del Toro (The Shape of Water) Actor in a leading role: Gary Oldman (Darkest Hour) Actor in a supporting role: Sam Rockwell (Three

Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) Actress in a leading role: Frances McDormand

(Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) Actress in a supporting role: Allison Janney (I,

Tonya) Animated Feature Film: Coco (Lee Unkrich and Darla

K Anderson) Cinematography: Blade Runner 2049 (Roger A

Deakins) Documentary (Feature): Icarus (Bryan Fogel and

Dan Cogan) Foreign Language Film: A Fantastic Woman (Chile) Music (Original Score): The Shape of Water

(Alexandre Desplat) Music (Original Song): “Remember Me” (Coco) Short Film (Animated): Dear Basketball (Glen Keane

and Kobe Bryant) Visual Effects: Blade Runner 2049 Writing (Original Screenplay): Get Out (written by

Jordan Peele)

Actor-politician Shatrughan Sinha has been honouredwith a lifetime achievement award for his contribution tothe fields of arts and politics at a ceremony in the UK’sParliament complex in London. The annual ‘Political andPublic Life Awards’, now in its 12th year, recogniseindividuals who have made a significant impact on publiclife or made a difference in their local communities.

Balkrishna Doshi, the legendary Indian architect whodesigns not just buildings but institutions, has beenhonoured with the Pritzker Architecture Prize, the Nobelequivalent for the field.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) wason 13 Mar awarded the International Kochon Prize 2017for encouraging research and development (R&D) effortstowards tuberculosis treatment.

Tennis legend Roger Federer has become the mostdecorated winner in the history of Laureus World SportsAwards, with six statuettes. List of award winners at the18th edition of the prestigious awards: Sportsman and Comeback Sportsperson of the Year:

Roger Federer Sportswoman of the Year Award: Serena Williams Breakthrough of the Year Award: Sergio Garcia

(Golfer, Spain) Team of the Year Award: Mercedes AMG Petronas Laureus Best Sporting Moment of the Year Award:

Chapecoense (Brazilian football team) Laureus Academy Exceptional Achievement Award:

Francesco Totti (Italian football legend) Lifetime Achievement Award: Edwin Moses

(American Olympic legend)

Actor Jackie Shroff’s short film Shunyata has won anaward at Best of India Short Film Festival in Los Angeles,US. The 22-minute fiction film directed by Chintan Sardawas selected to be in top six from amongst thousands ofentries and was played at a theatre in Los Angeles for aticketed event for a week. In Shunyata, Jackie is seen ashitman Madhur, who leads a gloomy existence withregrets.

Indian filmmaker Nila Madhab Panda’s Halkaa, whichhad its world premiere at the 21st Festival Internationaldu Film Pour Enfants de Montreal Film (FIFEM), hasbagged the Grand Prix de Montreal award.

India won the “Best Exhibitor Award” at ITB-Berlin.The‘ITB-Berlin World Tourist Meet’ was convened atBerlin, Germany from 7 Mar to 10 Mar. India wasrepresented by the Minister of State (Independentcharge) for Tourism KJ Alphons.

The Airports Council International (ACI) announced itsannual airport service quality (ASQ) awards andMumbai tied with Delhi for the top position amongairports handling over 40 mn passengers annually. Beijingand Shanghai Pudong have been ranked second. Withseven other airports making it to the top three (in variouscategories), India has the highest number of awards.China is second (six airports), followed by Indonesia (4).The rankings are based on a survey that covers millions

Award


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of passengers to collect feedback on 34 key performanceindicators, including airport access, check-in, securityscreening, restrooms, stores and restaurants.

The govt has decided to institute an award for carryingout best investigation of crime, for promoting highprofessional standards among police forces. The award- ‘Union Home Minister’s Medal for Excellence in PoliceInvestigation’ - will be given to the best investigators ofpolice forces of the States, Union Territories and thecentral investigating agencies. Officers from the rank ofSub-Inspector to Superintendent of Police are eligible

for the award. Based on the average crime data for thelast three years, a total of 162 medals will be awardedevery year; of these, 137 will be for the states and UTsand 25 for the Central investigating agencies — NationalInvestigation Agency (NIA), Central Bureau ofInvestigation (CBI) and Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB).Distribution of medals among the states/UTs will be onthe basis of average of IPC crimes registered by themand the crime data published by the National CrimeRecords Bureau (NCRB) for the years 2013, 2014 and2015. The names of awardees will be declared on Aug 15every year. D

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The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) ofthe Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region(DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances &Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singhlaunched the social media of Namaste Shalom, amagazine devoted to India-Israel relations. The festiveoccasion of Holi coincided with the Jewish festival ofPurim. The magazine is edited by former MP Tarun Vijay.Israeli Ambassador to India, Daniel Carmon, and otherdignitaries witnessed the launch.

President Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated the World HindiSecretariat building in Mauritius on the third day of hisvisit to the country. He also launched the World HindiSecretariat’s logo, an Early Digital Learning Programmeas well unveiled foundation stones of a social housingproject and a large ENT hospital being built with Indianassistance. After Mauritius visit, the President left forMadagascar for the final leg of his two-nation state visit.He has become the first Indian President to visitMadagascar. He was received at the Ivato InternationalAirport in Antananarivo by Prime Minister OlivierSolonandrasan.

The World Economic Forum (WEF), in its 2017 editionof Global Gender Gap Report, estimated that it wouldtake 217 years for the economic gender gap to be closed.The report estimates gender gap in politics would takeup to 99 years to be closed. The education-specific gendergap is estimated to reduce to parity in next 13 years. Theoverall global gender gap can be closed only in 100 yearsacross 106 countries that the report has been trackingsince 2006. India has made mixed progress on closingthe gap in various spheres since 2006. It narrowed thegap in education and political empowerment.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) hassigned a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) withthe Ministry of Civil Aviation and the National AviationUniversity to enhance human resource availability inIndia’s aviation industry. The three parties to the MoU“formalised this partnership in the presence of Ministerof State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha on the sidelinesof Wings India 2018 in Hyderabad.” The understanding,among other provisions, also provides for developingcloser academic cooperation between IATA and theNational Aviation University.

The Department of Science and Technology hasundertaken the project with the Natural EnvironmentResearch Council, UK, to find solutions to the waterchallenges faced in the pervasively arsenic-affectedGanga River Basin. The Indian team comprisesrepresentatives of IIT Kharagpur, the National Instituteof Hydrology, IIT Roorkee and the Mahavir CancerSansthan and Research Centre of Patna. The UK teamconsists of representatives of the University ofManchester, the British Geological Survey, the Universityof Salford and the University of Birmingham. TheNewton-Bhabha Fund, provided by the British Council,aims to bring together the UK and Indian scientificresearch and innovation sectors to find joint solutionsto the challenges facing India in economic developmentand social welfare.

“I-METROS”, an association of all Indian Metro Railcompanies was launched by PK Sinha, CabinetSecretary, Govt of India. The platform will be a forum forexchange of ideas, pooling of knowledge and sharing ofexperience, best practices, innovations etc among theIndian Metro Rail companies to nurture excellence inperformance

The Institute of Bioresources and SustainableLaboratory (IBSL), Imphal, set up a floating laboratoryin northeast at India’s largest freshwater lake, Loktakto constantly monitor its water quality and eventuallyimprove it. The laboratory was inaugurated by Manipur’sForest and Environment Minister, ThounaojamShyamkumar Singh. Lake eco-system is under threat. Astudy will be carried out to convert the water plants intoorganic fertilizers along with studying the quality of lifeof the lake dwellers, accordingly recommending how toimprove their life.

The Cell for IPR Promotion and Management (CIPAM),a professional body under the aegis of the Departmentof Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP), Ministry ofCommerce & Industry, Govt of India, organised a NationalConference on Counterfeiting and Role of EnforcementAgencies on 13-14 Mar, 2018 in New Delhi in collaborationwith the European Union (EU). Counterfeiting has grownconsiderably to a point where it has become awidespread phenomenon with a global impact

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Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated thetwo-day Asia-Pacific Regional Conference of theInternational Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) inNew Delhi. The theme of the conference was “Challengesto Policing in 2020 - How is Cyber Space shaping ourapproach to Cybercrime and Terrorism, how do weperform within it and take advantage of it”. TheConference was mainly focused on holding discussionsabout the growing interest of various terrorist ororganised groups and radical elements in exploiting theCyberspace and its advanced technologies for theirvarious heinous crimes and nefarious designs.

India’s tallest national flag was unfurled on 12 Mar inBelagavi in Karnataka. The event was attended byleaders, schoolchildren, and leaders of Hindu, Muslim,Christian and Sikh institutions at the Kote Kere front.Where size is concerned, this flag in Belgaum beats theone at the India-Pakistan border at Attari in Punjab.Belagavi District Minister Ramesh Jarkiholi unfurled the9,600 sq ft wide flag on a 110-metre-tall flagpole. Theflagpole erected at Fort Lake is 1 ft taller than the one inAttari.

The Chilika lake in Odisha has emerged as the singlelargest habitat of Irrawaddy dolphins in the world withthe spotting of 155 such animals. The finding is basedon the preliminary report of the first-ever ‘AnnualMonitoring’ of the lake. The lake houses around 0.9 mnbirds, which is similar to the trend of population over theyears. No new species is identified during the monitoring.

Asteroids are known to be treasure troves of preciousminerals. A Nasa mission is under way to test thefeasibility on a nearby asteroid, and a niche group ofcompanies is ramping up to claim a piece of the pie.Nasa’s Osiris-Rex, launched from Cape Canaveral inFlorida in 2016, has travelled over 1.3 bn km since, orbitingthe sun for a year and hurtling past Earth to changecourse toward near-Earth asteroid Bennu. In Aug, Osiris-Rex will capture its first images of Bennu and begin its 2-mn-km approach, arriving in Dec. It will spend more thana year orbiting the asteroid to photograph and survey it.

Three Indian cities – New Delhi, Bengaluru and Chennai– are among the cheapest cities in the world, accordingto an Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) survey thatnamed Singapore as the most expensive city. Accordingto the Worldwide Cost of Living 2018 survey, SouthAsian cities, particularly those in India and Pakistan,offer the best value for money. Bengaluru, Chennai,

Karachi and New Delhi featured among the 10 cheapestlocations surveyed. Syria’s capital, Damascus is thecheapest city in the world. Venezuela’s capital, Caracasand Kazakhstan’s business centre, Almaty, hold thesecond and third positions respectively.

The Union Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister AnanthKumar on 20 Mar said the govt has approved the settingup of a Plastic Park in Jharkhand’s Deoghar at a cost ofRs 120 cr in an area of 150 acre for the manufacture of arange of polymer products. Ananth Kumar alsoannounced the setting up of Rs 3.5 cr Plastic Recyclingunit at Deoghar to tackle the menace of plastic wastebeing generated due to the place being a touristattraction.

The National Cultural Audiovisual Archives (NCAA)project of the Ministry of Culture, Govt of India,implemented by Indira Gandhi National Centre for theArts (IGNCA) has been certified as the world’s firstTrusted Digital Repository as per ISO 16363:2012standard, granted by Primary Trustworthy DigitalRepository Authorisation Body Ltd. (PTAB), UnitedKingdom. The primary objective of the NCAA is toidentify and preserve the cultural heritage of Indiaavailable in audiovisual form through a process ofdigitization and making it accessible to the people.

The state-run power equipment maker has commissionedthe first unit of 110 MW of the Kishanganga hydro-electric project (HEP) of NHPC in Jammu and Kashmir.Located on the river Kishanganga, a tributary of theJhelum in Bandipora district, all the three units of the 340MW project will generate 1,350 mn units (MU) of cleanelectricity annually.

President Ram Nath Kovind released Rs 1,000 and Rs10 commemorative coins on the occasion of Nabakalebarfestival. Earlier, the govt had announced the release ofthe coins marking the festival which is a symbolicrecreation of sibling deities — Lord Jagannath,Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra.

The ‘Gulf Shield 1’ joint drills, organised by SaudiArabia’s Defence Ministry, was conducted in the easternregion in participation with military forces from 23countries as well as Saudi forces. The drill lasted for onemonth and was considered the largest military drill in theregion in terms of diversity of expertise and quality ofweapons. The training aims to raise the military readinessof participating countries, modernise joint mechanismsand enhance coordination and cooperation.

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Bihar and two from West Bengal. Only Harjeet Masihhad escaped from the captivity of Islamic state. TheIndians were missing in Mosul since 2014.

China on 19 Mar appointed a whole new set of topofficials, including a defence minister, to head a revampedgovt. Some important appointments: Xi Jinping – President Wang Qishan – Vice President Liu He – Deputy Premier Wang Yi – Foreign Minister Lt Gen Wei Fenghe – Defence Minister

India hosted an informal mini-ministerial meeting of themembers of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in NewDelhi which was attended by representatives of some 50countries. Although there was not a fixed agenda for themeeting, it assumed significance against the backdropof increase in duties on steel and aluminium by the USadministration and Washington dragging India to theWTO against export incentive programmes. The WTOdirector general Roberto Azevedo said discussions atthe mini-ministerial meeting will be useful for carryingforward the mandate of the multilateral trade body.

The Indian Navy and the French Navy have conductedbilateral maritime exercises since May 1993. Since 2001,the exercises have been named VARUNA and there havebeen fifteen editions of the same till date. The last editionof VARUNA was conducted off the French Coast in Apr2017. This year VARUNA-18 would be conducted in threesea areas, namely, the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengaland South Western Indian Ocean.

The world’s financial leaders rejected protectionism on20 Mar and urged “further dialogue” on trade, but failedto diffuse the threat of a trade war days before US metalstariffs take effect and Washington is to announcemeasures against China. The Finance Ministers andCentral Bank governors of the world’s 20 biggesteconomies discussed trade disruptions as a risk to growthat a two-day meeting in Buenos Aires.

The External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has saidthe govt is making arrangements to bring back the mortalremains of the 39 Indian workers who were found killedin Mosul in Iraq. The bodies of the Indian workers hadbeen identified after matching their DNA. The govt is sofar not aware of the date of their deaths. The dead include27 from Punjab, four from Himachal Pradesh, six from

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Economy - bsc4success.com · 3 y SINCE 1993 India’s Premier Banking / SSC Institute basis points across tenors with effect from 28 Feb. The