Daily Current Affairs Updates– 21st March 2017:
Daily Current affairs News Updates about the National and International events were listed here. Candidates those who are preparing for IBPS/SBI/PO/Clerk exam and all other competitive exams can use this.
DAYS TO REMEMBER:
International Day of Forests - 21st March
Theme : Forests and Energy
Today is International Day of Forests. The United Nations General Assembly designated March 21st as the International Day of Forests to celebrate and raise awareness of the importance of all types of forests and of trees outside forests for the benefit of current and future generations. The theme of this year is 'Forests and Energy'.
The theme highlights the importance of wood energy in improving people's lives, powering sustainable development and mitigating climate change. In a tweet message, Information and Broadcasting Minister M Venkaiah Naidu called on people to celebrate the selfless spirit of forests and pledge to preserve it by increasing the green cover.
World Down Syndrome Day - 21st March
World Down Syndrome Day (WDSD) is observed on March 21. On this day, people with Down syndrome and those who live and work with them throughout the world organize and participate in activities and events to raise public awareness and create a single global voice for advocating for the rights, inclusion and well being of people with Down syndrome.
Down syndrome is a naturally occurring chromosomal arrangement that has always been a part of the human condition, being universally present across racial, gender or socio-economic lines, and affecting approximately 1 in 800 live births, although there is considerable variation worldwide. Down syndrome usually causes varying degrees of intellectual and physical disability and associated medical issues.
International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination - 21st March
The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is observed annually on 21 March. On that day, in 1960, police opened fire and killed 69 people at a peaceful demonstration in Sharpeville, South Africa, against the apartheid pass laws. Proclaiming the day in 1966, the United Nations General Assembly called on the international community to redouble its efforts to eliminate all forms of racial discrimination.
India slips to 122nd rank among world's happiest nations as Norway tops :
India has been ranked 122nd in the world’s happiest countries category, claimed a global report released on Monday. Furthermore, it is ranked behind its neighbouring countries Pakistan, which is ranked 80th, and China. The rankings are based on gross domestic product per person, healthy life expectancy with four factors from global surveys. India's previous rank was 118th.
Norway has replaced Denmark as top in the world's happiest country list. Iceland, Switzerland and Finland completed top five, while the US and UK were ranked 14 and 19 respectively.
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Appropriation Bill, 2017 passed by members of Lok Sabha :
The Lok Sabha has passed the Appropriation Bill, 2017 by voice authorising certain payments and appropriation from and out of the Consolidated Fund of India for 2017-18.
The House also passed the outstanding Demands for Grants in respect of the Union Budget for 2017-18 rejecting all cut-motions moved by the Opposition members without discussion.
Earlier the House passed the Supplementary Demands for Grants (General) for 2016-17. Replying to the debate, Minister of State for Finance Arjun Ram Meghwal hit out at the opposition Congress for not addressing the plights of farmers during its rule at the Centre.
Numerous relaxations brought on rules of GP Fund :
In a major relief for government employees, the Centre has announced several relaxations in General Provident Fund, particularly relating to advances and withdrawals by the employee. According Minister for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Dr Jitendra Singh, the existing GPF Fund (Central Service) Rules came into force way back in 1960 and even though certain amendments have been made from time to time to address the concerns raised, it was felt to be the need of the hour to bring in some more changes for the convenience of the Government employees.
Ministry : Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region, Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Department of Atomic Energy and Department of Space.
Head : Jitendra Singh Minister of State(MoS)(Independent Charge)
Constituency : Alwar
Digidhan Mela inaugurated by Union Minister VK Singh at Jalandhar :
Union Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh will inaugurate the Digidhan Mela at Jalandhar today to promote digital payment methods among consumers and merchants. The Mela will be organized at CT institutes campus at Shahpur. Banks, Financial institutions, Telecom companies, Mobile associations, Accessory store houses, Khadi Board, Markfed, Verka and other departments will set up their stalls and will provide their products on discounts to the visitors.
Forbes lists 101 billionaires of Indian residence, Mukesh Ambani tops list:
India is home to world's fourth highest number of billionaires with Reliance Industries chief Mukesh Ambani leading the club of more than 100 super rich Indians, according to a new list released by Forbes magazine. The Forbes list of the 'World's Billionaires' 2017 consists of 2,043 of the richest people in the world who have a combined net worth of 7.67 trillion US dollar, a record 18 percent increase over the past year.
The list has been topped by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates for the fourth year in a row. He has been the richest person in the world for 18 out of the past 23 years.
Haryana Govt notifies AYUSH Medicine Procurement Policy 2016
Haryana Government has notified Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy Medicine Procurement Policy, 2016. It is with the objective of ensuring uninterrupted supply of good quality AYUSH medicines free of cost to the people through Government Hospitals, Prathmik Swasthay Kendras, Government Ayurvedic, Homeopathic and Unani Dispensaries, Panchkarma Centres and National Health Mission (NHM) Institutions in the State.
State : Haryana
Capital : Chandigarh
CM : Manohar Lal Khattar
Governor : Kaptan Singh Solanki
Uttarakhand HC accords human status to Ganga, Yamuna
The Uttarakhand High Court on 20 March 2017 accorded the status of "living human entities" to the Ganga and Yamuna, the two most sacred rivers of India. Exercising extraordinary jurisdiction vested in the court, a division bench of Justice Rajeev Sharma and Justice Alok Singh of the Nainital High Court said, "Holy Rivers Ganga and Yamuna have been declared to be treated as living human entities."
The court accorded the status of living human entities to these two rivers while hearing a PIL filed by Haridwar resident Mohammad Salim.
State : Uttarakhand
Capital : Dehradun,
CM : Trivendra Singh Rawat
Governor : Krishna Kant Paul
INTERNATIONAL:
Second round of Indus Water Commission meet held between India and Pakistan:
The second round of 113th meeting of Permanent Indus Commission between India and Pakistan will be held in Islamabad today. On the first day of the talks yesterday, both sides discussed issues relating to water resources and dilated upon ways to resolve bilateral differences. A 10-member Indian delegation, led by Indus Water Commissioner PK Saxena, External Affairs Ministry officials and technical experts, is participating in the meeting. The Pakistan side is headed by Indus Water Commissioner Mirza Asif Saeed.
Country : Pakistan
Capital: Islamabad
Currency: Pakistani rupee
President: Mamnoon Hussain
Prime minister: Nawaz Sharif
UN official honoured by Palestine for anti-Israel report :
UN Under-Secretary-General Rima Khalaf was awarded the highest Palestinian honour over her report accusing Israel of imposing an apartheid on Palestinians. Khalaf had resigned after refusing to withdraw the report despite UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' request. While Israel said the report was "Nazi Propaganda", the UN said it was published without consulting the concerned departments.
Organisation : United Nations
Headquarters: New York, United States
Secretary‑General : António Guterres
Forbes' 2017 named Bill Gates world's richest man :
Microsoft Co-founder Bill Gates has been ranked first on Forbes' 2017 Billionaires list with a fortune of $86 billion, and has been the world's richest person for 18 out of past 23 years. Warren Buffett reclaimed the second slot after two years, while Amazon's Jeff Bezos was ranked third. Further, Mark Zuckerberg has been ranked fifth for the first time.
Haiti Peacekeeping Mission Proposed To Shut Down by UNSG Antonio Guterres :
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is proposing to shut down the UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti by October and replace it with a much smaller UN presence. According to a report, the proposal to close the 13-year-old UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti, known by its French acronym MINUSTAH, comes as the United States is planning major funding cuts to the United Nations.
Guterres said in the report sent to the Security Council last week that all 2,370 soldiers serving in the peacekeeping mission should be gradually withdrawn and that the mission close by October 15, 2017.
Organisation : United Nations
Headquarters: New York, United States
Secretary‑General : António Guterres
BANKING NEWS:
Branches of SBI Associate Bank to become SBI Branches From April 1st :
Branches of all five associate banks, which are merging with parent State Bank of India, will begin functioning as SBI branches from April 1. "Customers, including depositors of State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank of Hyderabad, State Bank of Mysore, State Bank of Patiala and State Bank of Travancore will be treated as customers of State Bank of India with effect from April 1, 2017," the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in a notification.
With the merger of all the five associates, SBI is expected to become a lender of global proportions with an asset base of Rs. 37 lakh crore or over $555 billion, 22,500 branches and 58,000 ATMs. It will have over 50 crore customers.
Bank : State Bank of India
Chairperson : Arundhati Bhattacharya
Headquarters : Mumbai
47% of associate banks' offices to be shut down by SBI to post merger :
State Bank of India, which is going to merge with its five associate banks, has decided to shut down 47% of these banks' offices, including the head offices of three of them. This process will start from April 24. Notably, the five associate banks will cease to exist as legal entities and become a part of SBI from April 1.
Bank : State Bank of India
Chairperson : Arundhati Bhattacharya
Headquarters : Mumbai
Merger of BMB with SBI announced by central govt :
The government on Monday announced the merger of the Bhartiya Mahila Bank (BMB) with the State Bank of India (SBI). The Cabinet has already given its in-principle approval to the merger of the two banks and the Ministry is likely to seek final approval soon. The decision for the merger was taken due to SBI’s large branch network, which is expected to help BMB that has met with only partial success in its objective to reach out to women.
“This would ensure greater banking services outreach to a larger number of women, at a faster pace. The objectives of affordable credit to women as well as propagation of women-centric products need to be quickly achieved through a wider network and lower cost of funds,” said the Finance Ministry in a statement.
Bank : Bhartiya Mahila Bank
CEO: Usha Ananthasubramanian
Headquarters: Mumbai
AGREEMENTS:
MoU signed on execution of USD 20 million social housing project between India and Mauritius :
India and Mauritius on 20 March 2017 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to execute a USD 20 million social housing project in Mauritius. The MoU was signed in the presence of the Union Minister of Urban Development M Venkaiah Naidu and the visiting Mauritius’s Vice-Prime Minister and Minister of Housing and Lands Showkutally Soodhun.
As per the MoU, the NBCC (India) Limited of the Union Government will undertake construction of 700 duplex type houses with 50 square meters net floor area.
Country : Mauritius
Capital: Port Louis
Currency: Mauritian rupee
Prime minister: Anerood Jugnauth
President: Ameenah Gurib
APPOINTMENTS:
Ex-Air Asia CFO Ankur Khanna becomes CFO of ICC :
International Cricket Council has appointed Air Asia's former Chief Financial Officer Ankur Khanna as its new CFO. Khanna will join the ICC in Dubai at the end of March leaving Air Asia India where he has held the post for the last one year. Prior to Air Asia India, Khanna worked in senior roles at Air France-KLM and ITC.
Organisation : International Cricket Council
President: Zaheer Abbas
Headquarters : Dubai, United Arab Emirates
CEO : Dave Richardson
Justice Navanithi Prasad Singh take oath as Chief Justice of Kerala HC :
Justice Navanithi Prasad Singh was on 20 March 2017 sworn in as the new Chief Justice of Kerala High Court. The Governor of Kerala Justice (retd) P Sathasivam administered the oath of office to Justice Singh at a function held at the Raj Bhavan in Thiruvananthapuram.
He was designated as a Senior Advocate on 11 December 2004 by the Patna high court. He was elevated as a Judge of the Patna High Court on 6 March 2006.
State : Kerala
Capital : Thiruvananthapuram
CM : Pinarayi Vijayan
Governor : P Sathasivam
Govt swaps CEOs of Indian Bank and IDBI Bank :
IDBI Bank on Monday said it has appointed Mahesh Kumar Jain as its new managing director and chief executive officer. "Mahesh Kumar Jain, MD & CEO of Indian Bank has been appointed as MD & CEO of IDBI Bank," the bank said in a statement.
Mr Jain will head IDBI Bank for the remaining period of his current tenure or until further orders, whichever is earlier, IDBI Bank added. The present MD and CEO of IDBI Bank, Kishor Kharat, has been appointed as MD and CEO of Indian Bank, it added. The appointment will be effective from the date Mr Jain will assume charge of the bank.
Bank : IDBI Bank
Headquarters Mumbai India
MD & CEO : Mahesh Kumar Jain
Bank : Indian Bank
Headquarters Chennai, India
MD&CEO : Kishore kharat
SPORTS NEWS:
Women's World Snooker : silver medal won by India's Vidya Pillai :
Indian cueist Vidya Pillai won a silver medal at the Women World Snooker Championship in Singapore on Sunday. Vidya, an eight-time women's national snooker champion, lost the final to Hong Kong's Ng On Yee, a former world champion, after gaining an early lead in the match. She previously won a gold at the IBSF World Team Snooker Championship in 2013.
Tamil Nadu wins final of Vijay Hazare Trophy for 5th time :
Tamil Nadu has won the Vijay Hazare Trophy after beating Bengal by 37 runs in the final of the 2017 edition on Monday. With the win, Tamil Nadu has become the only team to win the tournament five times (one of them was shared with Uttar Pradesh in 2004-05). Dinesh Karthik was adjudged Man of the Match for his century.
Trophy : Vijay Hazare Trophy
Sports : Cricket
12 Olympians designated as National Observers to assist govt, SAI, NSFs by Centre:
The Centre has designated 12 Olympians as National Observers in their respective disciplines to assist the Government, Sports Authority of India, and National Sports Federations (NSFs) concerned in the preparation and implementation of the long term development plan with respect to high priority and priority sports.
A Sports Ministry statement issued in New Delhi today says the National Observers will also be consulted as a group on crosscutting issues impacting sports development in the country.
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