Top News

Current Affairs

“The Wake Up Show”

23nd March

(2018)

Breaking News

ICFRE Signs MoU With TIFAC forSupporting Forest Based Communities

Nitin Gadkari inaugurates Inland FerryServices in Goa

Centre approves to set up a plastic park inDeoghar district of Jharkhand

India Post releases special cover on StephenHawking

Breaking News

Vienna is world’s most liveable city: Qualityof Living Survey by Mercer

New Delhi ranked 22nd globally as topdestination for 2018 – in the TripAdvisor’stop 25 travellers choice of destinations listfor 2018

Swiggy Partners with ICICI Bank, LaunchesUPI-Based Digital Payment Service

India hands over 18 high-end diesel locos toMyanmar

Breaking News

Indian Oil Corp starts doorstep delivery of dieselon a pilot basis in Pune

Canadian Mathematician Robert Langlands WinsAbel Prize

Myanmar’s first democratically elected PresidentHtin Kyaw retires

Greece launches newly established Space Agency‘Hellenic Space Agency’

World’s last surviving Rhino ‘Sudan’ dies in Kenya

National

News

ICFRE Signs MoU With TIFAC for Supporting Forest Based Communities

Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE), Dehradun and

Technology Information, Forecasting & Assessment Council (TIFAC), New Delhi signed an MoU for providing livelihood

opportunities and augment income of the forest based communities

Details about ICFRE-TIFAC MoU:

ICFRE is an Autonomous Council under theUnion Ministry of Environment, Forest andClimate Change while TIFAC is an AutonomousCouncil under Department of Science andTechnology.

ii. The MoU was signed in presence of UnionMinister of Environment, Forest and ClimateChange, Science & Technology and EarthSciences, Dr. Harsh Vardhan in New Delhi.

As per the terms of the MoU, TIFAC shall helpICFRE to refine and up-scale the technologies thathave been developed and make it accessible tothe end users including farmers and otherstakeholders.

The collaboration will thus assist the industries tooptimize the utilization of forest based resourceswith access of technology to different users.

Quick Facts about ICFRE:

♦ Established in – 1987

♦ Located in – Dehradun, Uttarakhand

♦ Parent Entity – Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate

Change

Nitin Gadkari inaugurates Inland Ferry Services in Goa

On March 20, 2018, Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Shipping

and Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation,

Nitin Gadkari inaugurated the Inland ferry services in Vasco, Goa.

More information about Inland Ferry Services in Goa:

Several dignitaries including Union Minister ofState for AYUSH (Independent Charge) ShripadNaik were present at the inauguration.

While delivering the keynote address at theoccasion, Mr. Gadkari highlighted that use ofwaterways is not only economical but is alsoenvironmental friendly.

Quick Facts about Goa:

♦ Capital – Panaji

♦ Current Chief Minister – Manohar Parrikar

♦ Current Governor – Mridula Sinha

♦ Important River – Mondovi

Centre approves to set up a plastic park in Deoghar district of Jharkhand

Union Minister for Chemicals & Fertilizers, Ananthkumar has

announced that Central Government has approved the setting up of a Plastic Park in Deoghar District of Jharkhand.

Details about upcoming Plastic Park in Deoghar District of Jharkhand:

The Plastic Park would be set up at a cost of Rs.120 crores over an area of 150 acres. Range of polymer products including wovensacks, water tanks, moulded furniture, bottles,pipes mosquito nets, etc would be manufacturedat this Plastic Park.Setting up of Plastic Park is likely to generate6000 direct employment opportunities and 30000indirect employment opportunities.

Mr. Ananthkumar also requested theJharkhand State Government to facilitate land/building infrastructure to set up a CentralInstitute for Plastic Engineering & Technology(CIPET) alongside the Plastic Park, for trainingnecessary human resource (plastic engineersand technicians).

Besides, Mr. Ananthkumar also announced thesetting up of Rs. 3.5 crore Plastic Recycling unitat Deoghar to handle the problem of plasticwaste being generated due to tourist inflow.

Plastic Park, CIPET and the PlasticRecycling unit would together form anecosystem that would encouragesetting up of Plastic Industry atDeoghar and would make it a ‘PlasticHub’ in future.

Quick Facts about Jharkhand:

♦ Capital – Ranchi

♦ Current Governor – Draupadi Murmu

♦ Current Chief Minister – Raghubar Das

♦ Important Wildlife Sanctuary – Hazaribag Wildlife Sanctuary

India Post releases special cover on Stephen Hawking

India Post paid a tribute to theoretical physicist, cosmologist and author

Stephen Hawking by issuing a special cover on him.

About Special cover on Stephen Hawking by India Post:

Stephen Hawking passed away at the age of 76 on March14, 2018 in his home in Cambridge in the UnitedKingdom.

The special cover on Stephen Hawking was jointly issuedby Chief Post Master General (CPMG) of Maharashtraand Goa Circle, H C Agrawal and Director of the TataInstitute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) Dr SandipTrivedi at an event held in the General Post Office (GPO),Mumbai.

Special cover on Stephen Hawking will bereleased at all 22 Circles of India Post.

’A Brief History of Time’, ‘The Universe in aNutshell’, ‘On the Shoulders of Giants” are someof the popular books written by StephenHawking.

International

News

Vienna Is World’s Most Liveable City: Quality Of Living Survey By Mercer

As per 20th annual Quality of Living survey by Mercer, Austrian capital

Vienna has been named the world’s best city to live in for the ninth

consecutive year.

Highlights of 20th annual Quality of Living survey by Mercer:

Although Austrian capital Vienna hastopped the list, German and Swiss cities aredominating the Top 10.

San Francisco (overall rank 30) is thehighest ranking US city. Singapore at overall25 rank and Montevideo at overall 77 rankare the highest ranking cities in Asia andLatin America, respectively.

Capital of Mauritius, Port Louis (overall rank83) is the best African city on the list.

Capital of Iraq, Baghdad (overall rank 231)has been adjudged as the least liveable city.

Honolulu (capital of Hawaii) has topped theinaugural City Sanitation ranking while Portau Prince (capital of Haiti) is at the bottom.

Most Liveable Cities – Top 10: 1 Vienna, Austria

2 Zurich, Switzerland

3 Auckland, New Zealand

4 Munich, Germany

5 Vancouver, Canada

6 Dusseldorf, Germany

7 Frankfurt, Germany

8 Geneva, Switzerland

9 Copenhagen, Denmark

10 Basel, Switzerland 10 Sydney, Australia

New Delhi ranked 22nd globally as top destination for 2018 – in the

TripAdvisor’s top 25 travellers choice of destinations list for 2018

New Delhi has secured 22 rank in the world and 8 in Asia in the TripAdvisor’s top 25 travellers choice of destinations

list for 2018.

New Delhi ranked 22nd globally as top destination for 2018:

New Delhi stands 22 in TripAdvisor’s top 25travellers choice of destinations list for2018.

Paris secured 1 rank in the global list ofTravellers Choice awards for Destinations. Itis followed by London (UK), Rome (Italy),Bali (Indonesia), Crete (Greece).

This awards by TripAdvisor recognises 402outstanding destinations in 42 liststhroughout the world.

In the Asia list, the following Indian citieshave secured a place: New Delhi – 8position, Goa – 9 position and Jaipur – 16position

The Asia list is topped by Bali in Indonesia. It isfollowed by Phuket in Thailand, Hanoi (Vietnam),Siem Reap (Siem Reap Province), Tokyo (Japan),Kathmandu (Nepal) and Hong Kong.

About TripAdvisor:

♦ Headquarters – Massachusetts, U.S.

♦ Country Manager India – Nikhil Ganju

BANKING

&

FINANCE

NEWS

Swiggy Partners with ICICI Bank, Launches UPI-Based Digital Payment Service

Online food ordering and delivery platform, Swiggy and India’s largest private bank,

ICICI Bank have partnered to roll out two innovative digital solutions to facilitate a

convenient and hassle-free way for delivery partners to transfer funds to

Swiggy.

Details about Swiggy – ICICI Bank tie-up:

The first one is a Unified Payment Interface (UPI)based solution which enables instant fund transferson-the-go while the other is a facility for depositingcash at automated Cash Deposit Machines (CDM)available at ICICI Bank branches and ATMs acrossIndia.

Swiggy has integrated the UPI solution with ICICIBank, which offers a secure and scalable mode toenable collection of funds from its delivery partners.

Under this arrangement, Swiggy’s deliverypartners will have their own UPI handle, towhich they can link their savings bank accountand start transacting by using any UPI-enabledapp like ICICI Bank ‘Pockets’, ‘Google Tez’,‘BHIM’,etc.

On receiving fund transfer from deliverypartners, ICICI Bank will immediately creditSwiggy’s account and send the deliverypartner’s details to Swiggy.

On receving details, Swiggy will update theollection against the delivery partner instantly.

Quick Facts about ICICI Bank: ♦ Founded in – 1994

♦ Headquarters – Mumbai ♦ Current MD & CEO – Chanda Kochhar ♦ Tagline – Hum Hai Na, Khayaal Aapka

BUSINESS NEWS

India hands over 18 high-end diesel locos to Myanmar

India handed over the 18th diesel-electric locomotive to Myanmar and thereby completed the first project

under the current Indian line of credit (LoC) to Myanmar.

Salient features of diesel-electric locomotives handed over to Myanmar:

All 18, AC-DC 1350 HP diesel-electriclocomotives are fitted with themicroprocessor control based system and canattain a maximum speed of 100 KM PH.

These locomotives have been customised forthe Myanmar Railways and have been built byDiesel Locomotive Works, Varanasi.

The handing over ceremony was attended byMinister of State for Railways Rajen Gohain.

Quick Facts about Myanmar:

♦ Capital – Naypyidaw

♦ Currency – Burmese kyat

♦ Important River – Irrawaddy

Indian Oil Corp starts doorstep delivery of diesel on a pilot basis in Pune

On March 21, 2018, government-owned Indian Oil Corp (IOC) started doorstep

delivery of diesel on a pilot basis in Pune and has thus became first company in

India to provide such service after receiving clearance from the Petroleum

and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO).

IOC starts doorstep delivery of diesel:

IOC has started this service in Pune througha diesel dispenser mounted on a midsizedtruck along with a storage tank.

Based on the response it gets during thethree-month trial period in Pune, IOC mayroll out the doorstep delivery of fuel toother cities of India.

Potential customer for this service are ‘staticcustomers’ like transport companies with largediesel consumption and shoppingmalls/commercial establishments that usediesel in gensets for producing electricity.

Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) andBharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) are theother two refiner that have got PESO approvalfor a trial run of doorstep diesel delivery.

PESO approval is mandatory for doorstep deliveryof fuel as petrol and diesel are highly inflammablefuels and require adequate safety precautions.

Quick Facts about IOC:

♦ Founded in – 1964

♦ Headquarters – New Delhi

♦ Current Chairman – Sanjiv Singh

Awards

and

Honors

Canadian Mathematician Robert Langlands Wins Abel Prize

On 20 March 2018, the Norwegian Academy of Sciences and Letters said that, Canadian mathematician Robert Langlands has been named the winner

of the Abel Prize for 2018

Robert Langlands – Abel Prize for 2018:

Robert Langlands will receive 6 million Norwegiankroner ($776,000) from Norway’s King Harald V at anaward function to be held in Oslo on 22 May 2018.

Robert Langlands is awarded for his programmelinking representation theory to number theory. He is81 years old.

He has worked in Princeton University and YaleUniversity. At present he is a professor at the Institutefor Advanced Study in Princeton, the United States.

About Abel prize:

♦ Awarded – annually

♦ Started – 2003

♦ Awarded in memory of – Norwegian mathematics genius Niels Henrik Abel

APPOINTMENTS

Myanmar’s first democratically elected President Htin Kyaw retires

On 21 March 2018, Htin Kyaw, Myanmar’s first democratically elected

President, announced his retirement due to ill health.

Retirement of Htin Kyaw:Htin Kyaw was the first democratically

elected President of Myanmar. He wonthe Presidential elections in 2016.

He is 71 years old. Myanmar PresidentOffice has announced that, the Presidentpost which has become vacant will befilled within 7 working days. He was thefirst Myanmar president to visit India in2016.

Some governors of India:

♦ Andhra Pradesh – E.S.L. Narasimhan

♦ Arunachal Pradesh – B.D. Mishra

♦ Assam – Jagdish Mukhi

SCIENCE , TECHNOLOGY

AND ENVIRONMENT

Greece launches newly established Space Agency ‘Hellenic Space Agency’

Hellenic Space Agency, Greece’s first space agency was officially launched on

March 19, 2018.

About Hellenic Space Agency, Greece: Although Greece will not start its own space

exploration programme through this agency innear future, the agency is expected to benefitthe country in various sectors viz.telecommunications, defense, medicalapplications, environmental monitoring,agriculture, fire prevention and control.

Dr. Tom Krimigis, who is regarded as ‘SpaceExploration Pioneer’ has been appointedChairperson of the Board of Hellenic SpaceAgency.

In the context of this news, it is to be noted thatGreece has been a member of European SpaceAgency (ESA) since 2005 and has invested millionsof Euros in its research programmes.

Including the Greek and Cypriottelecommunications satellite Hellas Sat 3 whichwas launched from French Guiana in 2017,Greece currently has six transponders and threeground-based satellite hubs.

Quick Facts about Greece:

♦ Capital – Athens

♦ Currency – Euro

♦ Current Prime Minister – Alexis Tsipras

♦ Neighbouring Countries – Albania, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Turkey

World’s last surviving Rhino ‘Sudan’ dies in Kenya

On 20 March 2018, Sudan, the last surviving northern white male

rhinoceros of the world, died after suffering age related ailments at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Laikipia national

park, Kenya.

Death of Sudan:

Sudan was 45 years old. It was the onlysurviving male northern white rhino. Now,only two female rhinoceros of that sub-species are living.

Genetic material from Sudan was collectedwhen he was healthy. The Ol PejetaConservancy has said that, throughadvanced cellular technologies, the sub-species might be prevented from extinction.

Some important National Parks in India:

♦ Anamudi Shola National Park – Kerala

♦ Anshi National Park – Karnataka

♦ Balphakram National Park – Meghalaya

Keep Calm and lets play

QUIZ...!!

“All The Best”

Current Affairs Quiz

1. What is the Name of Canadianmathematician who has won the Abel Prizefor 2018?

a. Robert Langlands

b. Andrew Wiles

c. Louis Nirenberg

d. Yakov Sinai

Current Affairs Quiz

1. What is the Name of Canadianmathematician who has won the Abel Prizefor 2018?

a. Robert Langlands

b. Andrew Wiles

c. Louis Nirenberg

d. Yakov Sinai

Current Affairs Quiz

2. Which city has topped the Mercer Qualityof Living Survey 2018?

a. Zurich

b. Hyderabad

c. Munich

d. Vienna

Current Affairs Quiz

2. Which city has topped the Mercer Qualityof Living Survey 2018?

a. Zurich

b. Hyderabad

c. Munich

d. Vienna

Current Affairs Quiz

3. Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education(ICFRE), Dehradun has signed a MoU with whichcouncil for providing livelihood opportunities andaugment income of the forest based communities?

a. Ministry Of Forest And Soil Conservation

b. Technology Information, Forecasting & AssessmentCouncil

c. Ministry Of Environment And Forest

d. None Of These

Current Affairs Quiz

3. Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education(ICFRE), Dehradun has signed a MoU with whichcouncil for providing livelihood opportunities andaugment income of the forest based communities?

a. Ministry Of Forest And Soil Conservation

b. Technology Information, Forecasting & AssessmentCouncil

c. Ministry Of Environment And Forest

d. None Of These

Current Affairs Quiz

4. Nitin Gadkari inaugurates Inland FerryServices in ____?

a. Panji

b. Vasco

c. Margao

d. Colva

Current Affairs Quiz

4. Nitin Gadkari inaugurates Inland FerryServices in ____?

a. Panji

b. Vasco

c. Margao

d. Colva

Current Affairs Quiz

5. What is the rank of New Delhi, globally astop destination for 2018 – in theTripAdvisor’s top 25 travellers choice ofdestinations list for 2018 ?

a. 23

b. 22

c. 24

d. 25

Current Affairs Quiz

5. What is the rank of New Delhi, globally astop destination for 2018 – in theTripAdvisor’s top 25 travellers choice ofdestinations list for 2018 ?

a. 23

b. 22

c. 24

d. 25

Current Affairs Quiz

6. Swiggy Partners with which bank toLaunches UPI-Based Digital PaymentService?

a. Axis Bank

b. SBI

c. ICICI Bank

d. PNB

Current Affairs Quiz

6. Swiggy Partners with which bank toLaunches UPI-Based Digital PaymentService?

a. Axis Bank

b. SBI

c. ICICI Bank

d. PNB

Current Affairs Quiz

7. Which country launches newly establishedSpace Agency ‘ Hellenic Space Agency ‘?

a. Singapore

b. Greece

c. Turkey

d. Hong Kong

Current Affairs Quiz

7. Which country launches newly establishedSpace Agency ‘ Hellenic Space Agency ‘?

a. Singapore

b. Greece

c. Turkey

d. Hong Kong

Current Affairs Quiz

8. Where is Balphakram National Park?

a. Bihar

b. Meghalaya

c. Karnataka

d. Kerala

Current Affairs Quiz

8. Where is Balphakram National Park?

a. Bihar

b. Meghalaya

c. Karnataka

d. Kerala

Static Gk

Who is the Current Chief Minister of Goa?

Answer

Manohar Parrikar

Static Gk

Where is Hazaribag Wildlife Sanctuary?

Answer

Jharkhand

Static Gk

Where is the headquarter of ICICI Bank?

Answer

Mumbai

“Teaching is a very noble profession that shapes the character, calibre, and

future of an individual. If the people remember me as a good teacher, that

will be the biggest honour for me.”

-A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

Good Day...