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51. Stevie
Wonder Honoured With Global Green Hero Award
i. Veteran singer Stevie
Wonder was honoured with Global Green Hero award.
ii. The award has been given
at the 13th Annual Global Green USA Pre Oscar party.
iii. Presently the 65 year old
singer Stevie is an music icon in the industry.
iv. The singer is serving the
industry from the age of 11 and has continued to perform and record till the
early 2010s. He has been blind since shortly after birth.
v. On the occasion Mr. Wonder
also performed a nine-song set of his greatest hits also pointed out that
climate change and its environmental impact are issues that he has always been
invested in. The singer has already honoured with the Grammy Award.
52. Veteran
Left Chief Ashok Ghosh Lifeless
i. Veteran All India Forward
Bloc (AIFB) leader and senior-most leader of the Left Front in West Bengal,
Ashok Ghosh passed away recently. He was 94.
ii. A freedom fighter, Mr.
Ghosh was the State secretary of the AIFB, the second biggest constituent of
the Left Front, since 1951 — for 65 years.
iii. He joined the AIFB in
1940, a year after its formation, influenced by the political philosophy of
Subhas Chandra Bose.
iv. In more than seven decades
of public life, Mr. Ghosh did not leave the AIFB.
v. Mr. Ghosh’s most
significant contribution to the Bengal’s Left movement was destabilising the
Congress by forging an anti-Congress alliance, much before the CPI (M)-led Left
Front came to power in West Bengal.
53. Former
Lok Sabha Speaker PA Sangma Passes Away
i. Purno Agitok Sangma, who
was the Lok Sabha Speaker from 1996 to 1998 and one of the co-founders of
Nationalist Congress Party passed away today following a heart attack. He was
68.
ii. Purno Agitok Sangma was
born on 1 September 1947 in village Chapahati in the picturesque West Garo
Hills District of the State of Meghalaya in North East India.
iii. One of the greatest
leaders from Northeast in national politics, he has been elected to the Lok
Sabha eight times since 1977.
iv. After completing his
graduation from St. Anthony's College, he went to Dibrugarh University in Assam
for his Masters degree in International Relations.
v. Subsequently, he also
obtained a degree in Law.
54. Mumbai
U-23 Team Clinched CK Nayudu Trophy 2015-16
i. The Mumbai under-23 team
clinched the Col CK Nayudu Trophy by defeating Madhya Pradesh at the Holkar
Stadium in Indore.
ii. Mumbai bowled out Madhya
Pradesh for 442 and took a first innings lead of 135 runs to be declared the
winner.
iii. This was Mumbai’s second
big title of the season, After clinching their 41st Ranji Trophy title in Pune
around a week back.
iv. Winning team’s right arm
seam bowler Tushar Deshpande made the most of the third new ball in the closing
minutes of the game.
v. The Mumbai team, winners of
the 2015, 2016, U23 Col C K Nayudu Trophy, will be awarded with a cash prize of
20 lakh rupees on clinching the title.
55. 15 States have Joined UDAY Scheme
i. The Finance Ministry Arun
jaitley has given permission to Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand and
Chhattisgarh to issue the bonds as part of the Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana
(UDAY).
ii. The Ministry of Finance
and the RBI are working out the mode of these bond issues.
iii. According to Union Power
Under the UDAY scheme, State governments take over 75 per cent of the debt of
the distribution utilities. This is then issued as non-SLR (statutory liquidity
ratio) bonds. The remaining 25 per cent of debt with electricity distribution
utilities is also refinanced through State government-backed DISCOM bonds.
iv. Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh,
Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh account for around Rs. 1.5 lakh crore or about 35
per cent of the outstanding loans of State electricity distribution utilities
in the country.
v. Six States have already
signed agreements to finalise their participation in the UDAY scheme including
Bihar.
56. MoU
between Indian Army and Induslnd Bank
i. A Memorandum of
Understanding was signed between Indian Army and Hinduja Grouped Induslnd Bank
on the Defence Salary package.
ii. The signing ceremony of
MoU was headed by Lt Gen Rakesh Sharma and the Dignitaries from Induslnd bank
headed by Anil M Rao Head-General Banking Operations.
iii. The first MoU was signed
earlier in 2011 was valid for a period of three years, this MoU revised to suit
the requirements of serving soldiers also provide them opportunity to access
modern banking facilities.
iv. The specially designed
salary will hold additional features free/ concessional services including free
drafts, Cheques books, and free fund transfer to any bank in India through
NEFT/ RTGS and free ATM cards.
v. In the latest MoU Personal
Accident Insurance cover has been Included an amount of Rs. 2 lacs for
Junior Commissioned Officer and up to 5 lacs for officers and NOC issuing time
is reduced to 3 days from the date of application.
57. Sunil
Sabharwal Re Appointed As Alternate Executive Director At IMF
i. Independent investor Sunil
Sabharwal has become the first Indian American to occupy a key administration
post as Alternate Executive Director at the IMF.
ii. Mr. Sabharwal is re
nominated by US President Barack Obama. He was 1st nominated in April 2014 and
then renominated to the position of Alternate Executive Director of the
International Monetary Fund (IMF).
iii. The post of Alternate
Executive Director is one of the most powerful position in the IMF considering
more than the 16.81 % voting share (highest) of US in the total IMF voting
share.
iv. Prior to this appointment
Mr. Sabharwal has served as board chairman of Ogone, a European e-commerce
payment services firm, from 2011-13.
v. Mr. Sabharwal also had
served as Senior Vice President of Strategic Investments at First Data
Corporation/Western Union from 2003 to 2006. Since 2006, he has been an
independent investor in the payments sector.
58. Award
for Srinivasan K. Swamy
i. The Advertising Club Madras
conferred its 1st Distinguished Service Award on Srinivasan K Swamy, Chairman
and Managing Director, R K Swamy BBDO for his outstanding contribution to the
advertising industry.
ii. The award was presented to
the ad lander who is also president of the IAA India chapter, at a ceremony in
Chennai on 3 March 2016.
iii. N Murali, co-chairman of
The Hindu group of publications ( Kasturi and Sons Ltd ), and second recipient
of the title, was the chief guest for the evening.
iv. Mr. Murali was
conferred with this award in 1995.
v. Other recipients of this
award were Narayanan in 1998, S.R. (Mani) Aiyer in 2001 and C K Ranganathan in
2004.
59. River
Information System Like ATC To Be Launched For Inland Waterways Traffic
i. The Government has launched
a River Information System (RIS) between Haldia and Farakka stretch of
the National Waterway-1 (NW-1) on 06.01.2016.
ii. The system enhances swift
electronic data transfer between mobile vessels and shore (Base stations)
through advance and real-time exchange of information.
iii. RIS aims to streamline
the exchange of information between waterway operators, regulators and users.
iv. This would facilitate:
Inland navigation safety, Improvement in efficiency of inland navigation,
Dissemination of information to vessels on the status of fairways, Provision of
virtual aids to navigation and guidance to the vessels and Planning of voyages.
60. PepsiCo
Named As New Associate Sponsor Of BCCI
i. Beverage giants PepsiCo has
named as the new associate sponsor of BCCI , which was earlier pulled out as
title sponsors of the Indian Premier League in October.
ii. BCCI has named it as
BCCI's official associate sponsor for all international matches in India.
iii. The both entered into a 4
year partnership for refreshment, snacks and drinks besides grounds where the
firm will try to garner maximum visibility for their brands.
iv. Besides, Pepsico, there
would be two other official associate sponsors of BCCI, from which the cricket
body would get Rs 150 crore for the next four years.
v. Names of the other two
sponsors will be announced in the next 7-10 days. Apart from them Mobile
commerce platform Paytm is the official title sponsor of the BCCI.
61.
Chapchar Kut Festival Celebrated Across Mizoram
i. The traditional festival of
Chapchar Kut of the Mizos was celebrated across the north-eastern state of
Mizoram and also in the Mizo-inhabited areas in the neighbouring states.
ii. It is a spring festival
celebrated every year in month of March.
iii. The festival is
celebrated with great fervor and gaiety by Mizos after completion of their Jhum
operation (shifting agriculture by clearing jungle by burning and cultivating
in remnants of burning).
iv. The citizen belongs to the
region dressed in traditional attire, exuberant dancers danced to the tune of
typical music and songs. While popular Mizo dances including Cheraw, Sarlamkai,
Chheihlam and Khuallam were performed by different cultural troupes.
v. Chapchar Kut Festival is
estimated to have started in 1450-1700 A.D. in a village called Suaipui. In
Aizawl, state state home minister R Lalzirliana was the 'Kut pa' or father of
the festival, while state Art and Culture minister R Romawia was the 'Kut
thlengtu' or host of the festival.
62. TCS
chief N Chandrasekaran appointed to board of Reserve Bank
i. Tata Consultancy Services
(TCS) CEO and managing director Natarajan Chandrasekaran and two others were on
Friday appointed as non-official directors to the board of Reserve Bank of
India (RBI).
ii. The Appointments Committee
of the Cabinet (ACC), headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved
appointment of former Chief Secretary of Gujarat Sudhir Mankad as part-time
non-official director on the central board of the RBI for a period of four
years, an order issued by Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) said.
iii. Mr Mankad was Chief
Secretary of Gujarat from April 2005 to August 2007 when Narendra Modi was the
Chief Minister of the state. Besides Mr Mankad, Mr Chandrasekaran of TCS has
also been appointed as part-time non-official director on the RBI board, it
said.
iv. Bharat Narotam Doshi,
non-executive chairman of Mahindra & Mahindra, is the third part-time
non-official director on the central board of the bank, the department said.
Both Mr Chandrasekaran and Mr Doshi will have a tenure of four years.
v. The Reserve Bank's affairs
are governed by a central board of directors. The board is appointed by the
government of India. Besides the RBI Governor, there cannot be more than four
deputy governors as full-time official directors of the central bank.
There can be ten non-official
directors from various fields and two government officials.
63.
Election Commission Announces Assembly Election In 4 States & 1 Union
Territory
i. The Election Commission
today announced the schedule for Assembly polls in four states — West Bengal,
Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and for Union Territory Puducherry. The Chief
Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi has announced the election date today in New
Delhi.
ii. In Assam, elections will
be held in two phases – April 4 and 11. In West Bengal, it will be held on
April 4, 11, 17, 21, 25, 30 April, and May 5. In Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and
Kerala, the elections will be held on May 16. Counting of votes for all five
states will be done on May 19.
iii. The elections will also
see for the first time a symbol, which has been created by the National School
of Design, allotted to NOTA (None of the above) that will be placed at the
bottom of the list of candidates. And If possible polling centers will be set
up in blind schools, leprosy centers to ensure inclusiveness.
iv. This time all the polls
will have Mobile squads with GPS-fitted vehicles and will be accompanied by
central forces to ensure that they quickly attend to complaints.
v. There will be exclusive
polling stations for differently-abled voters.
64. Pat
Conroy, Prince of Tides And Great Santini Author, Dies At 70
i. Donald Patrick
"Pat" Conroy was a New York Times bestselling author who has written
several acclaimed novels and memoirs.
ii. Two of his novels, The
Prince of Tides and The Great Santini, were made into Oscar-nominated films.
iii. Born in Atlanta, Georgia,
USA, he was the eldest of seven children (five boys and two girls) born to
Marine Colonel Donald Conroy, of Chicago, and the former Frances
"Peggy" Peek of Alabama.
iv. Conroy grew up in a
military family, moving many times during his childhood and adolescence and
never having a hometown, as his family followed his father, a fighter pilot,
who was transferred from military base to military base.
v. Conroy moved 23 times
before he was 18 years old.
65. Cngress
MLA R. Venkat Reddy Passes Away
i. Telangana Congress Former
Minister Ramreddy Venkat Reddy passed away yesterday. He was undergoing with
the treatment for cancer He was 72.
ii. Mr. Reddy was a 5
time MLA from Khammam District. The veteran leader, who was also Chairman of
Public Accounts Committee of Telangana Assembly, was a Minister in Congress
Governments led by Y S Rajasekhar Reddy and Kiran Kumar Reddy in undivided
Andhra Pardesh.
iii. After the constituency
was demerged, he shifted to Palair and won with comfortable majority in the
2014 elections.
iv. A soft spoken low-profile
politician, Venkat Reddy served as Horticulture Minister in Y.S. Rajasekhara
Reddy and Kiran Kumar Reddy Governments. Venkat Reddy’s brother R. Damodar
Reddy is also a former Minister.
v. Chief Minister K
Chandrasekhar Rao, Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee President N Uttam Kumar
Reddy, its working President Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, Congress Legislature
Party leader K Jana Reddy, among others, condoled his death.
66.
Legendary Film Archivist P.K.Nair Passed Away
i. P.K.Nair, the founder
director of the Nationl Film Archive of India has passed away. He was 86. Nair,
who was in critical condition since the last 10 days, passed away at a hospital
in Pune due to cardiac arrest.
ii. He was instrumental in
archiving several landmark Indian Films such as Dadasahe Phalke's " Raja
Harishchndra " and " Kaliya Mardan".
iii. Paramesh Krishnan Nair,
who had dedicated his life to preservation of films and building the collection
of films at the NFAI.
iv. Nair joined the Film and
Television Institute of India (FTII) in Pune as a research assistant in 1961
and went on to play a key role in setting up the National Film
Archives of India (NFAI) in 1964.
v. He was appointed assistant
curator in 1965 and continued with the NFAI till 1991.By the time when
Mr. Nair retired as NFAI director, he had acquired a whopping 12,000 films for
the archive out Of these, 8,000 were Indian and the rest foreign films. His
life and work has been immortalized in the documentary Celluloid Man, made by
Shivendra Singh Dungarpur.
67. Anirban
Lahiri Jumps To 9th Spot At World Golf Championships
i. Indian golfer Anirban
Lahiri turned in a second successive two-under 70 and jumped into the top-10 at
tied ninth at the midway stage of the $9.5 million WGC Cadillac Championships.
ii. Lahiri, who had three
birdies -- two of them in last three holes and one bogey, is still six shots
behind the leader, Adam Scott, who is looking to make it two wins in two weeks
Lahiri broke into the top 100 in the Official World Golf Ranking for the first
time in March 2014 following a consistent season which included two victories
on the Asian Tour.
iii. Lahiri learned to play
golf at the age of eight from his father, Dr. Tushar Lahiri, a physician with
the armed forces who was also a recreational golfer.
68. Indian
Shooter Jitu Rai Clinches Gold 50m Pistol Gold
i. Jitu Rai (Nepali) (born 25
August 1987) is an Indian shooter of Nepalese origin, clinch the 50m pistol
gold at the ISSF World Cup Bangkok.
ii. Jitu Rai beat China’s
former World and Olympic Champion Wei to second place shooting 191.3 to Pang’s
186.5. Wang Zhiwei, also of China and an Olympic Bronze medallist, finished
third with a final round score of 165.8.
iii. Jitu Rai reached the
final by finishing third at the end of the 60 shot qualifying series with a
score of 562.
iv. He led the field of eight
top qualifiers with a score of 564, while Zheiwei followed him in second place
scoring 563.
v. Former World Champion
Tomoyuki Matsuda of Japan was also going to be a threat in the final given his
recent form in the Asian Shooting qualifiers in Delhi.
69.Raisina Dialogue 2016 kicks off at New
Delhi
i. The first Raisina-Dialogue 2016, a flagship conference on
Geopolitics and Geo-economics began in New Delhi.
ii. The three day conference is joint initiative of Union
Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and Observer Research Foundation (ORF), an
independent think tank based in India.
Key
facts
The theme of Raisina-Dialogue 2016 is “Asia:
Regional and Global Connectivity”.
It will enable the MEA to reach out to a wider
international multi-disciplinary audience.
It will focus on Asia’s economic, physical, human
and digital connectivity and shall attempt to discover challenges and
opportunities for the region to manage its common spaces.
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