Current Affairs: March 20-21st, 2018

March 20-21st, 2018

1. International Day of Happiness: 20 March.

• The International Day of Happiness is celebrated worldwide every March 20.
• It was conceptualized and founded by philanthropist, activist, statesman, and prominent United Nations special advisor Jayme Illien to inspire, mobilize, and advance the global happiness movement.
• The theme of International Day of Happiness 2018 is “Share Happiness”.

2. World Sparrow Day: 20 March.

• World Sparrow Day is observed on 20 March every year globally to create awareness about the protection of sparrows.
• The theme for this year’s WSD is ‘I Love Sparrows’.
• The first World Sparrow Day was observed in 2010 across the globe. The theme has been inspired by the hope that more and more of us will celebrate the relationship between people and Sparrows.

3. International Day of Forests: 21 March.

• The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 21 March the International Day of Forests (IDF) in 2012. The Day celebrates and raises awareness of the importance of all types of forests.
• On the occasion of celebration InternationalForestDay, internationally acclaimed Sand Artist ManasKumarSahoo has built a sand sculpture on the sea-beach at Puri in Odisha.
• The theme of this year is “Forests and Sustainable Cities”.
• This global celebration of forests provides a platform to raise awareness of the importance of all types of woodlands and trees, and celebrate the ways in which they sustain and protect us.

4. President Ram Nath Kovind conferred the prestigious Padma awards for 2018 on 43 prominent personalities at a function in New Delhi.

• Noted music composer Illaiyaraja, littérateur P. Parameswaran and Classical singer Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan have been honored with Padma Vibhushan.
• Law Professor and jurist Prof. Ved Prakash Nanda, Historian Dr. Ramachandran Nagaswamy, Kerala Bishop Dr. Philipose Mar Chrysostom and classical musician Pandit Arvind Parikh received the Padma Bhushan.
• Indian Tennis player Somdev Kishore Devvarman, Badminton Player Kidambi Shrikant litterateur and Prof. Digamber Hansda are among the 36 personalities who received Padma Shri. This year, as many as 84 Padma awards were announced. The remaining awardees will be conferred with the honor at another function to be held later.

5. Bihar Governor gets additional charge of Odisha.

• President Ram Nath Kovind has appointed Bihar Governor Satya Pal Malik to additionally hold the office of the Governor of Odisha.
• Mr. Malik will hold the additional charge till regular arrangements are made for the office of the Governor of Odisha which fell vacant upon the completion of the tenure of incumbent S C Jamir.

6. Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Skill Development signed a MoU to expand the training capacity in agriculture and allied sectors.

• The MoU intends to encourage employment of skilled and certified workforce, rural youth, and women for gainful wage and self-employment.
• Speaking on the occasion, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said, Indian Council of Agricultural Research will facilitate setting up of skill centers to run skill development programmes at the 690 Krishi Vigyan Kendras.

7. India Post releases special cover on Stephen Hawking.

• India Post paid tribute to theoretical physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking by issuing a special cover on him.
• Chief Post Master General of Maharashtra and Goa Circle H C Agrawal and Director of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Dr. Sandip Trivedi jointly issued the special cover at an event held in the GPO Mumbai.
• Agrawal said that the postal department is paying tribute to the legendary scientist by releasing the special cover in all its 22 Circles. Hawking died at the age of 76 on March 14 in his home in Cambridge in the United Kingdom.

8. Veteran Hindi Poet Kedarnath Singh Passes Away.

• Renowned Hindi poet and critic Kedarnath Singh passed away at the age of 83.
• Mr. Singh was a recipient of the Jnanapeeth award in 2013. He won the Sahitya Akademi award in 1989 for his poetry collection Akaal Mein Saras.

9. India’s Purva Barve has won the Women’s Singles (Under-19) title at the Israel Junior 2018 Badminton tournament held in Rishon LeZion, Israel.

• She has defeated the third-seeded and top-ranked Russian Anastasiia Pustinskaia in three sets. The title is her first in 2018 and third overall. Earlier she won the Israel Junior 2017, Italian Junior International 2017 apart from a bronze at the Russian Junior White Nights 2017.
• Static Part: Israel:- Capital- Jerusalem|Currency- New shekel| Prime minister- Benjamin Netanyahu|President- Reuven Rivlin.

10. Myanmar’s President U Htin Kyaw has resigned after two years in office.

• His office said in a statement on Facebook that a new leader would be selected within seven working days. The statement did not give any reason for Mr. Kyaw’s resignation, but according to BBC, there have been growing concerns about the 71-year-old’s health in recent months.
• According to the country’s constitution, Vice President Myint Swe, a former general, will move into the role until a new President is in place.

11. India and EU Signed Agreement on Sharing Earth Observation Data.

• India and the European Union (EU) have signed an agreement that will enable them to share earth observation data from each other’s satellites. The pact was inked in Bengaluru.
• The Copernicus programme provides a wide range of applications like climate change, land, ocean, and atmosphere monitoring as well as support in forecasting, management and mitigation of natural disasters. Under this arrangement, Indian Space Research Organisation ISRO will share data from its earth observation satellites.
• The European Union is a unique economic and political union between 28 European countries.
• The European Economic Community (EEC), created in 1958, and initially increasing economic cooperation between six countries: Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.

12. Parsis in India and abroad are celebrating their New year’s day, Navroz.

• Jamshedi Navroz is the most widely celebrated festival of the Parsi community.
• President Ram Nath Kovind, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have greeted the Parsi community on the occasion of Navroz.
• Information and Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani also greeted the people.

13. Union Minister Dr.JitendraSingh inaugurates three-day International Yoga Fest in New Delhi.

• The event is organized by Ministry of Ayush and Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga (MDNIY).
• More than 5000 participants including eminent yoga gurus, yoga masters, scholars, and yoga enthusiasts are expected to participate in the festival.

14. The nation is remembering the great exponent of shehnai, Bharat Ratna, Ustad Bismillah Khan on his birth anniversary.

• Ustad Bismillah Khan (21 March 1916 – 21 August 2006) (born as Qamaruddin Khan), often referred to by the honorific title Ustad, was an Indian musician credited with popularizing the shehnai, a subcontinental wind instrument of the oboe class.
• He was awarded India’s highest civilian honor, the Bharat Ratna, in 2001, becoming the third classical musician after M. S. Subbulakshmi and Ravi Shankar to be accorded this distinction.

15. MoS Corporate Affairs P P Chaudhary inaugurates International Competition Network Annual Conference in NewDelhi.

• India is hosting 17th Annual Conference of International Competition Network 2018 (ICN2018) from 21st to 23rd March 2018 in New Delhi.
• This Annual Conference is a key international platform in the field of competition law and policy and its 17th edition will bring together over 500 heads and senior officials of competition authorities, non-governmental advisors, distinguished legal experts, and economists from over 100 countries.

16. Indian Navy to host Bilateral Exercise ‘Varuna’ with French Navy.

• The Indian Navy and the French Navy have conducted bilateral maritime exercises since May 1993.
• Since 2001, the exercises have been named VARUNA and there have been fifteen editions of the same till date.
• The last edition of VARUNA was conducted off the French Coast in Apr 2017.
• This year to VARUNA-18 would be conducted in three sea areas, namely, the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal and South Western Indian Ocean.

17. ‘Tribal Diaries’ Mobile App to strengthen internal monitoring.

• The Ministry of Tribal Affairs has developed an android based mobile application called Tribal Diaries for internal monitoring as also connecting with officers/officials concerned with the implementation of schemes/programmes for tribal development.
• The application is for accredited users.
• This application provides an opportunity for visual feedback in terms of photographs, videos, uploading reports of official tours/inspections and sharing of best practices etc.

18. First National Workshop on POSHAN Abhiyaan.

• The first National workshop on POSHAN Abhiyaan involving all the states and union territories is being held on 20th March at Pravasi Bharatiya Kendra, New Delhi.
• The Ministry of Women and Child Development is organizing the day-long workshop with participation from all the states/UTs.

19. Shri Atul M. Gotsurve (IFS: 2004) has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

• He is expected to take up his assignment shortly. He is currently Director of the Ministry of External Affairs.
• Republic of Korea Capital: Pyongyang, Supreme leader: Kim Jong-un, Currency: North Korean won.

20. India’s largest lender SBI and India Mortgage Guarantee Corporation (IMGC) signed a MoU.

• The MoU is to offer mortgage guarantee scheme for prospective non-salaried and self-employed home loan customers.
• The offering will help increase home loan eligibility up to 15 percent within the regulatory norms, the State Bank of India (SBI) said in a statement.
• IMGC is a joint venture between National Housing Bank, Genworth Inc International Finance Corporation, and Asian Development Bank. It is providing mortgage default guarantee to the lending Institutions in India.

21. The government of India Approves Plastic Park to be Set Up in Deoghar, Jharkhand.

• Union Minister for Chemicals & Fertilizers and Parliamentary Affairs, Mr. Ananthkumar announced that the GOI has approved the setting up of a Plastic Park in Deoghar District, Jharkhand.
• The project would be set up at a cost of Rs. 120 crores in an area of 150 acres. Mr. Ananthkumar also announced the setting up of Rs. 3.5 crore Plastic Recycling unit at Deoghar to tackle the menace of plastic waste being generated due to the place being a tourist attraction.
• Static Part: Jharkhand:- CM- Raghubar Das|Governor- Droupadi Murmu.

22. Axis Bank Opens Representative Office in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.

•  Axis Bank had opened a representative office in Sharjah, to better serve its customers in the emirate and to expand its retail offerings to customers in the neighboring northern emirates.
• The representative office is the third such Axis Bank office in the UAE after Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The UAE has the largest NRI community in the world, with a diverse population base of approximately 3.3 million NRIs.
• Static Part: Axis Bank:- CEO and MD- Shikha Sharma|Head Office- Mumbai.

23. Former England batsman Kevin Pietersen announces retirement.

• The 37-year-old English Cricketer Kevin Pietersen has announced he will retire from all forms of cricket within a year.
• His performances in the 2005 Ashes series led to Pietersen being named one of five Wisden Cricketers of the Year for 2006 and being appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the year 2006.