Current Affairs: March 25-26th, 2018

Current Affairs: March 25-26th, 2018

1. PV Sindhu to be flag-bearer of the Indian contingent at the opening ceremony of CWG in Gold Coast.

• Star shuttler PV Sindhu has been named the flag-bearer of the Indian contingent for the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast.
• The World No. 3 is one of the favorites to win the women’s singles title in Badminton at Gold Coast. In the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Sindhu bagged a bronze in Women’s Singles.
• Pistol shooter Vijay Kumar was the flag-bearer in last Commonwealth Games.

2. Famous Madhavpur Mela begins at Porbandar district in Gujarat.

• In a unique initiative, the four-day-long Mela will see its first-ever cultural integration with the North-East of which it is said to share its roots.
• Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma said Madhavpur in Gujarat has its historical identity as a place where Lord Krisha married Rukmini. He said the Madhavpur Mela of Gujarat shares its connection to the Mishmi Tribe of Arunachal Pradesh.
• Mr. Sharma said the festival will see a vibrant cultural trail of art, dance, music, poetry, story-telling and folk drama from Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and the other North-Eastern States with the aim to integrate the rich cultures of the two regions.

3. Telugu compulsory in Telangana; Legislative Assembly passes the bill.

• The Telangana Legislative Assembly passed a bill making teaching and learning Telugu compulsory in the state.
• The Telangana (Compulsory Teaching and Learning of Telugu in Schools) Act, 2018 was supported by all parties, including BJP, TDP, AIMIM, and CPI(M).
• Deputy Chief Minister and Minister for Education Kadiam Srihari, who moved the bill, said the aim of the Bill is to conserve and promote Telugu, the language of the people.

4. Ram Navami is celebrated with fervor in different parts of the country.

• Rama Navami is being celebrated in different parts of the country with religious fervor and enthusiasm. The festival marks the birth of Lord Rama, the seventh incarnation of Lord Vishnu.
• In Uttar Pradesh, devotees are taking a holy dip in Ganga, Saryu and several other rivers across the state on the occasion of Ram Navami.
• People are visiting temples in different towns and offering prayers. The main celebration is being held at Ayodhya, the birthplace of Lord Rama where lakhs of devotees have gathered to witness the celebrations at Kanak Bhavan.
• The temples at Ayodhya including, Nageshwarnath, Hanumangarhi, Lord Rama’s birthplace and Kanak Bhawan are decorated on the occasion.
• Governor Ram Naik and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath have extended their greetings to the people on the occasion. With today’s celebrations festival of Chaitra Navaratri will also be concluded.
• President Ram Nath Kovind, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have greeted people on the occasion of Ram Navami.

5. India Under-16 team have won the Jockey Cup International Youth Invitational Football Tournament title.

• In the final in Hong Kong, they defeated the hosts.
• For India, Bekey Oram netted twice in the first half. The other two goals came through Rohit Danu and Lalrokima in the second session.

6. The Rhino census at the world heritage site Kaziranga National Park begins in Assam.

• Chief Conservator of Forest, NK Vaasu said, the result of the survey will be known on 28th of this month.
• Kaziranga National Park is a national park in the Golaghat and Nagaon districts of the state of Assam, India. The sanctuary, which hosts two-thirds of the world’s great one-horned rhinoceroses, is a World Heritage Site.

7. President Ram Nath Kovind to lay the foundation stone of 5 National Highway projects in Varanasi.

• President Kovind to visit Varanasi on a one-day visit to Uttar Pradesh.
• During his temple city visit, Mr. Kovind will lay the foundation stone of five projects of the National Highway Authority of India.
• It includes the second phase of the outer ring of the city and four-lane roads between Varanasi and Rewa in Madhya Pradesh.
• Mr. Kovind is welcomed by State Governor Ram Naik and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath at the Varanasi Airport.
• Mr. Kovind releases Sanskrit translation of Governor Ram Naik’s book Charaivet Charaiveti.

8. Ambedkar Jayanti to be celebrated as ‘Social Justice Day’.

• The birth anniversary of India’s Dalit social reformer Dr. BR Ambedkar will be celebrated as ‘Social Justice Day’.
• Born into a poor Dalit family, on 14 April 1891, Ambedkar became independent India’s first law minister, the principal architect of the Constitution of India.
  Ambedkar was awarded the Bharat Ratna posthumously in 1990.

9. Martin Vizcarra Sworn In As Peru’s New President.

• Martin Vizcarra, served as Peru’s first vice president and ambassador to Canada, has been sworn in as the country’s new president.
• Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, who was less than two years into a five-year term, tendered his resignation. Kuczynski, a former Wall Street banker, is accused of having accepted illegal payments from Odebrecht, a Brazilian construction conglomerate.
• Static Part: Peru:- Capital: Lima|Currency: Sol.

10. India, China Economic Group meeting to be held in New Delhi.

• Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu and his Chinese counterpart Zhong Shan and senior officials of both countries would deliberate upon ways to boost trade and reduce the trade deficit.
• The meeting assumes significance as India has time and again raised the issue of heavy trade imbalance with China and sought steps to facilitate Indian exports in areas including pharmaceutical and agricultural products and information technology services.
• The trade deficit with China stood at 36.73 billion dollars during April-October this fiscal. Increasing trade deficit with China can be attributed primarily to the fact that Chinese exports to India rely strongly on manufactured items to meet the demand of fast expanding sectors like telecom and power.

11. London based organization South Asian Cinema Foundation(SACF) wins Frederick Pincott Award for 2017.

• SACF, a London based organization has received the Frederick Pincott Award for 2017 from the Indian High Commissioner, Y K Sinha for promoting Hindi cinema in Britain for the last 18 years.
• The institution has been active in boosting original research and books on Indian films, also inviting and honoring filmmakers from India, along with documentary filmmaking and producing classic silent films with live music at the British Film Institute (BFI).
• Static Part: SACF:- Director-Lalit Mohan Joshi|The SACF was set up in London in January 2000 by Joshi, along with film archivist P K Nair, film critic Derek Malcolm and social historian-researcher Kusum Pant Joshi.

12. Assam govt to construct 1 lakh toilets across the state under Swachh Bharat Mission.

• Chief Engineer of the Public Health Engineering(PHE) Department, Saumya Baruah said that this special scheme will be known as Mission Sambavh ( or Mission Possible ) and construction works will be completed within 10 days.
• Chief Minister Sarbanand Sonowal and PHE Minister Rihon Daimary will attend the central program at Morigaon district.
• The state government has targeted to make the state Open Defecation Free, ODF within this year. Mr. Baruah said that five districts in the state have already been declared ODF.