20th March 2019 Daily Current Affairs - PDF Download

Daily Current Affairs of 20th March 2019

International Current Affairs

Today (20th March) is 'International Day of Happiness'.
- This day is observed by the United Nations to recognise the importance of happiness in the lives of people around the world.
- Theme of International Day of Happiness 2019 : "Happier Together".
Today (20th March) is World Day of Theatre for Children and Young People.
Today is World Sparrow Day.
- It is an international initiative by the Nature Forever Society of India in collaboration with the Eco-Sys Action Foundation (France) and numerous other national and international organisations across the world.
- This day is designated to raise awareness of the house sparrow and other common birds to urban environments, and of threats to their populations.
- Theme of World Sparrow Day 2019 : "I LOVE Sparrows"
After 29 years in power, Nursultan Nazarbayev, Kazakhstan's 1st and only President, announced his resignation today.
- He has been Kazakhstan's President since 1990 and was formally elected in 1991 after the fall of the Soviet Union.

Banking, Business & Economic Affairs

Fugitive jeweller Nirav Modi, wanted in the ₹14,000-crore PNB scam, has been arrested in London and will be produced in the court later today.
- This comes days after the 48-year-old was seen walking on the streets of London by a reporter of the UK newspaper The Telegraph.
Integral Coach Factory (ICF), Chennai has overtaken China's largest coach manufacturing unit to become the largest rail coach maker in the world.
- From April 2018 to February 2019, ICF manufactured 2,919 coaches, while the biggest Chinese firm produces around 2,600 coaches/year.
- ICF registered 40% increase as compared to the production in the first 11 months of the previous financial year.

Science & Technology

E-commerce major Flipkart has deployed over 100 Artificial Intelligence-powered robots to sort customers' packages according to their location at its Bengaluru delivery centre.
- It is India's 1st robot-based sortation technology.
- The robots help process 4,500 shipments an hour at twice the human speed with 99.9% accuracy.
Hong Kong has set aside $79 billion (half its fiscal reserves) to build several Artificial Islands by 2032.

Deaths

Former Supreme Court judge Justice Satya Brata Sinha (75) passed away.
- He was appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court in October 2002 and had retired in August 2009.

Awards & Honors

University of Texas professor Karen Uhlenbeck has become the 1st woman to win the Abel Prize, a mathematics honour.
- The 76-year-old was awarded for the impact of her work on "analysis, geometry and mathematical physics".
- Modelled after the Nobel Prize, the Abel Prize is presented by the King of Norway and carries a $700,000 cash award.
Jammu and Kashmir's Irfan Ramzan Sheikh, who fought off three armed terrorists in 2017, when he was 14 years old, was awarded Shaurya Chakra by President Ram Nath Kovind today.
Bollywood Actress Priyanka Chopra has been named in USA Today's 50 Most Powerful Women In Entertainment list.
- American television host Oprah Winfrey, singer Beyoncé, as well as actress Meryl Streep were also among the celebrities named in the list.

New Appointments

Ex-Supreme Court judge Pinaki Chandra Ghose has been appointed as India's first Lokpal (anti-corruption ombudsman).
- Ghose, who had retired from Supreme Court in May 2017, is also a member of the National Human Rights Commission.
Election Commission has appointed two eminent former Civil Servants Shailendra Handa (Maharashtra) and Ms. Madhu Mahajan (Tamil Nadu) as Special Expenditure Observers for the upcoming Lok Sabha Elections.
Hospital chain Fortis Healthcare today appointed Ashutosh Raghuvanshi as the new MD & CEO with immediate effect for a period of three years.
Indian-origin Jagmeet Singh has created history in Canada when he made his debut in the House of Commons as the 1st non-white leader of a major opposition party (New Democratic Party) in the country.
The Election Commission of India has appointed transgender social activist Gauri Sawant, as one of the 12 election ambassadors from Maharashtra.
- During 2004 and 2009 Lok Sabha elections there was no record of transgender voters.
- Following the Supreme Court order, transgenders got the right to vote for the first time in 2014.
- In 2014, 918 voters were registered in this third category.
- This number has doubled in five years and now it is 2,086.

Sports Current Affairs

Indian Premier League (IPL) will take place entirely in India in a Lok Sabha election year for the first time.
- The 2009 IPL was held in South Africa, while the 2014 edition was held in India and the UAE.
India have lost the hosting rights of the Junior Davis Cup and Fed Cup after Pakistan closed its airspace in the aftermath of Balakot air strikes.
- Sixteen Under-16 teams were to travel to India from April 8-13 for Davis Cup, while Fed Cup was scheduled from April 15-20.
- Both the competitions will now be held in Bangkok, Thailand.
Tsunekazu Takeda, the head of Japan's Olympic Committee (JOC), is stepping down over corruption allegations relating to the awarding of the 2020 Games to Tokyo.
Defending champion India have entered the final of 5th South Asian Football Federation, SAFF Women's Championship.
- In the second semi final, India defeated Bangladesh by 4-0 at Biratnagar in Nepal this evening.

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