31st March 2018

1. Andhra CM inaugurates International Yachting Festival.

  • Andhra Pradesh Chief MinistStudentsSena (2).jpger N Chandrababu Naidu flagged off the International Yachting Festival in Visakhapatnam.
  • The festival, which is being held from March 29 to April 1, was inaugurated in the presence of IT minister Nara Lokesh, HRD minister Ganta Srinivasarao and other local MLAs.
  • This International Yachting Festival is the first step in developing sea tourism in Visakhapatnam.

2. Madhya Pradesh’s Kadaknath chicken gets Geographical Indication tag.
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  • Kadaknath, a chicken breed whose black meat is in demand in Madhya Pradesh has got the coveted Geographical Indications (GI) tag label.
  • The protein-rich meat of Kadaknath, chicks, and eggs are sold at a much higher rate than other varieties of chicken.
  • Chennai-based GI Registry accepted the application of Gramik Vikas Trust, Jhabua, which was filed in 2012.

3. Fino Payments Bank to deploy mPoS devices across 10,000 banking points.
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  • Fino Payments Bank has said it plans to deploy multi-utility Android-based mPoS (mobile point-of-sale) devices across 10,000 banking points in the country in a phased manner.
  • The mPoS is a portable device with an inbuilt fingerprint scanner, card reader, camera, printer and a tablet, the payments bank said.
  • The device will gradually replace the combination of devices currently used to facilitate fingerprint authentication and digital transactions.

4. Rivigo ties up with IDFC, YES Bank, for truck loans.
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  • Rivigo, a homegrown logistics start-up that owns as well as acts as an aggregator of trucks, is tying up with YES Bank, IDFC, and 10 other financial institutions to make cheaper funds available to truck owners and operators on its platform.
  • The funds will be available at an interest rate of 1-2 percent per month, lower than the usual industry standard of 2-3 percent.
  • Instead of waiting for funds from their customers, they can get the money from the banks for a duration of 30-60 days.

5. Meeting of PIC Between India and Pakistan Held in New Delhi.
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  • The two-day meeting of Permanent Indus Commission (PIC) between India and Pakistan began in New Delhi. Representatives from both the sides had discussed Water Treaty dispute and resolution of outstanding issues.
  • The PIC is mandated to establish and maintain cooperative arrangements for the implementation of the treaty and to promote cooperation between the two sides in developing the Indus water systems.
  • Static Part: 1. PK Saxena- India’s Indus Water Commissioner.
    2. The Indus Waters Treaty was signed in 1960 and involves six rivers – the Beas, Ravi, Sutlej, Indus, Chenab, and Jhelum.
    3. The PIC had last met in March 2017 in Islamabad, Pakistan.

6. US diplomat DiCarlo becomes first female UN political chief.
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  • Long-serving American diplomat Rosemary DiCarlo was appointed to become the first woman to head UN political affairs, one of the most high-profile positions at the world body.
  • DiCarlo will replace Jeffrey Feltman, another American who held the post of under-secretary-general for political affairs since 2012, overseeing UN efforts to end conflicts worldwide.
  • Static Part: The United Nations is an international organization founded in 24th of October 1945 comprising of 193 Member States|Headquarters of UN: New York, USA|Secretary-General of the United Nations: Antonio Guterres.

7. Vineet Joshi appointed as first Director General of National Testing Agency.
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  • The government has appointed senior bureaucrat Vineet Joshi as the Director General of the National Testing Agency (NTA), which will conduct the entrance examinations for higher educational institutions organized by the CBSE, AICTE and other bodies.
  • Joshi, a 1992-batch IAS officer of the Manipur cadre, was appointed to the post for five years, an order issued by the department of personnel and training.
  • Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had, in his budget speech of 2017-18, announced the setting up of the NTA “as an autonomous and self-sustained premier testing organization to conduct all entrance examinations for higher educational institutions”.