Current Affairs: March 23-24th, 2018

March 23-24th, 2018

1.World Meteorological Day: 23 March.

• World Meteorological Day, Recognized annually on March 23, World Meteorological Day commemorates the establishment of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) on this date in 1950.
• The day showcases the essential contribution of National Meteorological and Hydrological Services to the safety and well-being of society.
• The theme of World Meteorological Day in 2018 is “Weather-ready, climate-smart”.

2. International TB Day: 24 March.

• World Tuberculosis Day, observed on 24 March each year, is designed to build public awareness about the global epidemic of tuberculosis (TB) and efforts to eliminate the disease.
• In 2012, 8.6 million people fell ill with TB, and 1.3 million died from the disease, mostly in the Third World. World TB Day is one of eight official global public health campaigns marked by the World Health Organization (WHO).
• The theme for the year 2018 is ‘Wanted: Leaders for a TB-free world’.

3. Manu Bhaker shoots gold in junior World Cup in Sydney, Australia.

• Indian Shooter Manu Bhaker bagged Gold in the Women’s 10-metre Air Pistol Individual and Team events at the ISSF Junior World Cup in Sydney, Australia.
• Coming off a double Gold in her maiden senior World Cup in Mexico recently, the 16-year-old continued her terrific form to beat Thailand’s Kanyakorn Hirunphoem in the Final.
• Manu shot 235.9 to finish at the top of the podium. Hirunphoem settled for a Silver, while China’s Kaiman Lu won the Bronze.
• Manu, Devanshi Rana, and Mahima Agrawal also brought India on top of the team podium. China was second, while Thailand took home the bronze.
• India also tasted success in the Men’s 10 meter Air Pistol event, with Gaurav Rana winning a Silver medal, and Anmol Jain grabbing the Bronze.

4. Agricultural credit target for FY 2018-19 up to Rs 11 lakh crore.

• The government has fixed the agriculture credit target of 11 lakh crore rupees for the year 2018-19 against last year’s target of 10 lakh crore rupees.
• Minister of State for Finance Shiv Pratap Shukla said, the government fixes agriculture credit disbursement targets for the banking sector every year and banks have consistently surpassed these targets.
• He said, with a view to ensuring agriculture credit at a reduced interest rate of 7 percent per annum to farmers, the government is implementing an interest subvention scheme for short-term crop loans up to three lakh rupees.

5. ISSF Junior World Cup: Vivaan Kapoor wins the bronze medal.

• ISSF junior World Cup at Sydney, Australia, teenager Vivaan Kapoor bagged the bronze medal.
• The 16-year-old shooter secured bronze with 30 hits out of 40 clays, finishing ahead of Kun-Pi Yang of Chinese Taipei who had 26 hits in the final. In the individual event, Vivaan shot 113 in qualification to qualify as the fifth finalist.
• He combined with Lakshay (112) and Ali Aman Elahi (103) to win the Indian team bronze with a total score of 328, preceded by Australia with 331 and China 335.
• Lakshay and Elahi were 8th and 13th in the qualification respectively. In the 50-meter rifle 3 position event, India’s Sam George Sajan Christopher Ramesh with a score of 402.5, finished 6th in the final after shooting 1,140 in the qualification.
• The other Indians in the event – Harshit Binjwa, Sartaj Singh Tiwana, and Mithlesh Babu finished 9th, 12th, and 13th respectively.

6. Andhra Government launches NAIPUNYA RATHAM or World on Wheels.

• The Andhra Pradesh Government launched, NAIPUNYA RATHAM or World on Wheels, a multi-utility vehicle which aims to bring technology to the remote corners in Amaravati.
• Chief Minister N.Chandrababu Naidu announces that the Government will roll out 12 more Naipunya Rathams by this year.
• As part of the Smart village Smart Ward Programme, the Naipunya Rathaams will facilitate and look to improve digital literacy, digital skills and create an awareness on various government schemes that are underway in the new state of Andhra Pradesh.

7. Punjab Govt observes martyrdom day of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, and Rajguru as ‘Youth Empowerment Day’.

• Punjab Government has observed the martyrdom day of Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh, Shaheed Sukhdev, and Shaheed Rajguru as ‘Youth Empowerment Day’.
• In the state-level function organised at Khatkar Kalan, the ancestral village of Bhagat Singh in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar district, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh paid homage to the three freedom fighters.
• State’s Cultural Affairs and Tourism Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu was also present in the function.
• To mark the occasion, Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh also launched a state-wide programme to administer the oath to Drug Abuse Prevention Officers (DAPOs).

8. The Union government has decided to declare 2018 as ‘National Year of Millets’.

• Centre to declare 2018 as ‘national year of millets’ to boost the cultivation of millets like ragi and jowar on a mission mode to achieve nutritional security.
• This was stated by Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh while addressing MPs in a consultative committee meeting in New Delhi.
• The Minister said millet cultivation has declined due to change in dietary habits and unavailability of millets. As a result of this, level of nutrients like proteins, Vitamin-A, iron, and iodine fell in women and children.
• He said this has led to a special focus on millets, which are being promoted under the National Food Security Mission (NFSM). The push will promote cultivation of jowar, bajra, ragi. Under NFSM, maize and jau are also promoted separately.

9. Former US Ambassador to the United Nations John R Bolton will be the new National Security Adviser to President Donald Trump.

• He will replace Lt Gen H R McMaster. Mr. Trump took to Twitter to make this announcement.
• McMaster’s ouster is the latest in a string of high-profile White House departures since President Trump took office in January 2017.

10. India and China have agreed to explore the possibility of strengthening cooperation through exchange of visits and institutionalized dialogue mechanisms to promote better understanding and cooperation between the two defense forces.

• During the meeting of the 11th round of the Working Mechanism on Consultation and Coordination for India-China Border Affairs in New Delhi, both sides exchanged views on ways to improve border management.
• India underlined that maintenance of peace and tranquility in the India-China border areas is an important pre-requisite for the further development of bilateral relations between the two countries.
• The India- China working mechanism was established in 2012 as an institutional mechanism for maintenance of peace and tranquility in the border areas between the two countries.

11. Govt issues notice to Cambridge Analytica in data leak controversy, asks for a response by March 31.

• The Centre issued a notice to Cambridge Analytica asking it to reveal the entities that have hired them in allegedly using data of Indians from the breach in the Facebook database.
• The Ministry of Electronics and Information and Technology asked the controversial data mining company to send its response to six queries by 31st of this month, failing which it may face legal action.
• The Ministry said, the Government is deeply concerned about such developments and is committed to ensuring the protection of the fundamental right to privacy and safety and security of data for every citizen of India.

12. Pankaj Advani retains his Asian billiards Championships title at Yangon in Myanmar.

• Advani defeated his practice partner B Bhaskar. With this win, Advani remains the reigning Indian, Asian and world champion in billiards for 2017-18.
• This is Advani’s 11th gold medal at the Asian level of cue sports. His continental billiards title tally has gone up to seven, in addition to the back-to-back Asian Games gold medals in 2006 and 2010, one 6-red snooker title and a snooker team gold.
• Meanwhile, in Snooker, India’s Amee Kamani won the Asian Women’s title by blanking her Thai opponent Siripaporn Nuanthakhamjan.
• After his title win, Advani said, the Asian crown was special as it has come just before the Padma Bhushan ceremony, which is slated for April 2nd. He said he and his sparring partner Bhaskar have brought back both gold and silver to the country and their state, Karnataka.

13. Union Agriculture Minister Addresses 5th India Maize Summit 2018 at FICCI, New Delhi.

• Union Agriculture Minister, Radha Mohan Singh had addressed the 5th India Maize Summit in New Delhi. Maize production in India has seen a boom in recent years which has been possible due to increase in area as well as productivity.
• The aim of the summit was to harness the potential of maize, technological innovations, promoting producer aggregation and linkages that are required.
• Delivering the inaugural address, Mr. Singh said that during 1950-51, India produced only 1.73 MT, which has reached 25.89 MT in 2016-17 and is expected to cross 27 MT in 2017-18. The average productivity in India is 2.43 ton/ha.

14. Earth Hour is being observed from 8:30 to 9:30 PM on March 24th.

• It is the world’s largest grassroots movement for the environment where people around the globe unite to take a stand against climate change by turning off non-essential lights for one hour.
• It is a global initiative of the World Wide Fund for Nature India or WWF-India. Environment Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan has appealed to the people to switch off all non-essential lights in their homes at that Hour.