Facts In News : March 1 March 15

forumias.com /portal/facts-in-news-march-1-march-15/

4/4/2016

(Portal no more in use)

Click Here to Visit Our New ForumIAS Blog

Dear Friends,

We have come up with this new initiative Facts in News ( FIN ) that will summarise the events, people, bills,
summits etc. basically facts that have been in news.

This compilation will help aspirants quickly revise current affairs from the period which we have covered.

It is best for people who quickly want to refresh what they have read from news paper/ current affairs magazines / 9
PM brief etc in one single consolidated post.

Disclaimer : The below compilation consists of facts. We have tried our best to include the most relevant facts only,
and not include the less important or less relevant facts. We apologise if we have missed out on anything or over
included something. Please feel free to write to us if you have any suggestions on how we can improve.

Bills, Programs, Policies, Schemes, Orders, Judgements

122nd Constitutional Amendment

Bill For National Goods & Services Tax Bill

GST requires a Constitutional Amendment which has to be ratified

by half the states also.
Government Plans to pass it in the second half of budget session
GST would replace indirect taxes like Excise Duty, Customs Duty,
Sales tax etc.

Bankruptcy Code 2015

Bankruptcy and Insolvency Bill will give major boost to economic
reforms
Plans to pass it in coming budget session

Enemy Property Bill 2015

To guard against claims of succession or transfer of properties left
by people who migrated to Pakistan and China after the wars.
Passed in the Lok Sabha
It amends the Enemy Property Act of 1968

1/19
Aadhar Bill 2016
Called Targeted Delivery of Financial and other Subsidies and
Services
Passed by Lok Sabha as Money Bill
Rajya Sabha recommended ammendment in Aadhar Bill, but it was
not accepted as Rajya Sabha does not have a say in case of Money
Bill.

Real Estate Bill 2015 passed

Securing the interests of home buyers and developers in equal
measure
To remove corruption and inefficiency
70% of money to be kept in separate account and can only be used
for construction activities.

TRAI order on Dropped Calls

TRAI has ordered telecom operators to compensate subscribers for
first 3 dropped calls every day
Delhi High Court has upheld its validity, saying that it is not a penalty
issue; it is a quality of service issue.

Lodha committee
Supreme court appointed committee
Headed by former justice R M Lodha after IPL spot fixing scam to
look into the functioning of BCCI

ICDS(Integrated child development Countrys flagship programme to improve child nutrition

scheme)

UDAY(Ujjwal Discom Assurance

Yojana) bonds Finance Ministry has approved the issuance of UDAY bonds by four
states.

They are UP, Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh.

Manipur and Tripura have agreed to join UDAY

Juvenile Justice(care and

protection) act It was passed after 2012 Delhi gang rape case

It brings down the age for trying a minor as an adult for serious
crime from 18 to 16 years

It is in news again because sexual offences by minor is on rise in

maximum city

Mukhyamantri santwana- Harish

Scheme Scheme to save the life of road accident victims

By Government of Karnataka

2/19
Ethics Committee of Rajya Sabha
Will investigate into the issue of Rajya Sabha MP Vijay Mallyas
conduct who left country after defaulting on loans
It is a ten membered Committee, headed by Dr. Karan Singh

USCIRF(United States Commission

on International Religious Freedom) Researches and monitors international religious freedom issue.
In news because it has criticized India for deteriorating religious
freedom

Green tax
Commercial Vehicles entering Delhi have to pay tax

It will continue because it led to decline in commercial vehicles

entering Delhi

Income > 10 Lakh = No LPG

Subsidy New directive by Govt Says if income > 10 lakh no LPG subsidy
Earlier this was voluntary under Give It Up Scheme where people
could by choice give up Subsidy

National Court of Appeal

A National Court of Appeal (NCA) with regional benches is being
considered to be final court of appeal in all civil and Criminal Cases
Supreme Court Bogged down by high pendency of cases
Hence a Constitutional Bench has been set up by SC to debate
need for NCA
If NCA is set up, then SC will only hear Constitutional and Public law
cases

Aadhar BIll 2016

Passed in the Parliament as a money bill
Money bill does not require approval of Rajya Sabha
Opposition had concerns over mass surveillance, Govt said delivery
of benefits and subsidies were more important

Pradhan Mantri Ujjwal Yojana

Scheme approved by Cabinet committee
To provide 5 crore subsidized LPG connections to women of BPL in
next 3 years
Rs. 8000 crore allocated

Pradhan Mantri fasal Bima Yojana

Finance minister to include 50% of farmers under the scheme
Low premium insurance scheme will provide relief for
farmers(compensation will be higher) even if the crop is damaged by
nature

3/19
Housing for All scheme
Financial assistance of 1.3 lakhs will be provided to homeless
families for construction of pucca houses
Beneficiaries will be entitled to 90 days of unskilled labour under
Mgnrega
Target to build 2.95 crore houses is 2022- Indias 75th year of
independence
Cost of unit shared between Central and state govt. Is 60:40 in plain
regions and 90:10 in the north east and the hilly regions

Rural employment mobile app

Karnataka developed mobile app named MGNREGA M-platform
Helps officials monitor MGNREGA
Allows beneficiaries to monitor progress at every stage
Reduce fund diversion and interference by middlemen
Helps collects data for the government

OCI cards
Overseas citizen of India and Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) cards
were merged last year
No visa will be required to enter India, OCI cards will be enough, but
passport is necessary.
OCI cards will be equipped with high security which cannot be
tampered

Farmer suicides
25,000 crore allocated to agricultural sector in Maharashtra
Farmers distress and suicides caused the Govt of Maharashtra to
take this step.

National & International Events

World culture festival

Organized by art of living foundation to celebrate its 35th anniversary on the
bank of river Yamuna in Delhi.

Controversy about this event is there because some experts believe that it
will damage the topography of the area and thus has environmental concern.

Raisina Dialogue
Hosted by ministry of External Affairs in Delhi

Attended by speakers from 40 countries

Seen as governments attempt to rival conferences like the Shangri-la

dialogue in Singapore and Munich conference on national security.

4/19
India Maldives: Security
India Maldives finalising pact to fight cross border terrorism + citizens joining
terror organisations such as ISIS

Sundarbans Maithri
Exercise drill between India and Bangladesh.
Aims to bring more synergy in border management
First ever joint exercise in the riverine borders of sundarbans.

SAARC :
Ministerial Meeting held on March 17 in Nepal
South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation is an economic and geo-
political grouping of 8 countries of South Asia or Indian Subcontinent.
It has India + 7 neighbours =
Pak+Nepal+SL+Bhutan+Afghanistan+Bangladesh+Maldives
SAARC nations comprise 3% of the worlds area and contain 21% of global
population

ASEAN Plus Military drills

Largest multinational Field Training Exercise(FTX) ever conducted on Indian
soil in Pune

Initially labeled as FTX-16

Participants are ASEAN members and the observers nations

Happening Haryana:
Global Investors Summit, 2 day summit in Gurgaon to attract foreign investment by Govt of Haryana
2016

One belt one road

Connectivity initiative by China in Eurasia
Also called Silk Road Economic Belt or 21st Century Maritime Silk Route

Now considering a regional counter terrorism measure to guard this route

with Afghanistan, Pakistan and Tajikistan

World Humanitarian
Summit To be held in Istanbul in May.

Asias largest Tulip Garden This has been opened up for Tourists; It is in Srinagar ; It is located on foothills of
Zabarwan Range

World Sleep Day

On Friday before March Equinox (in 2016 it is March 18)
2016 slogan Good Sleep is a Reachable Dream
To raise awareness about sleep disorders and to promote about sleep
disorder prevention and management
Annual event organised by committee of World Association of Sleep
Medicine(WASM)

5/19
BRICS 2016
8th summit, Venue : Goa, India, Theme:Building responsive, inclusive and
collective solutions for the grouping
7th summit: Ufa, Russia, 2015

India France sign MoU For 6 nuclear reactors in Jaitapur, Maharashtra

Nuclear Security Summit

Fourth summit to be held in Washington from 31 march
Iran and DPRK not invited
Russia not participating

Defexpo India 9th edition of 4 day event starts in Goa.

A biennial exhibition

National awards 2016 Special jury award: Kalki Koechlin for her role in Margarita with a Straw

USAID and ADB MoU

US agency for International Development and Asian Development Bank
signed MoU to $848 mn funding for solar parks in India
Ministry of Renewable energy plans to build 25 solar parks across the nation
with total capacity of 20000 MW

Economy and banking

FDI in Ecommerce
Govt allowed 100% FDI in Ecommerce retailing
E Commerce marketplace may provide services like warehousing,logistics,
order fulfilment,call centre, payment collection
Such entities will not exercise ownership of the inventory

Securities Transaction Tax

STT has been increased from 0.017 per cent to 0.05 % on options contract
Dividend income exceeding 10 lakhs would now be taxable

Excise Duty on Tobacco

Has been increased by 10-15% ;
critics say hike is lowest in last five years

eBiz
It is a government portal to improve ease of doing business in India.
It is governments portal on G2B = Government to Business

6/19
Freedom 251
It is a Smartphone priced at Rs.251. Came in news because it is the worlds
cheapest smartphone.

Manufactured by company Ringing Bells

Anchor banks
Public sector banks that will lead consolidation process. Mainly it would be
done by large banks like SBI,Bank of Baroda,PNB,etc.

Consolidation process means merging of PSU banks

Mahila e-Haat
Is an e-portal for women entrepreneurs

Launched by the women and child development ministry

over 125,000 beneficiaries under 10,000 self-help groups have registered on

the portal

Pulse production
Pulse output has increased by 2.61% in the last four decades and is stable
around 18 million tonnes since 2010.
Pulses has surpassed the production of rice, wheat and cereals together
In 2013-2014, pulse production touched all time high 19.78 million tonnes.
Indian institute of Pulses Research is developing transgenic pigeonpea
and chickpea for resistance against Gram Pod Borer, it will help pulse
output further.

Minimum Import Price(MIP)

Violations relating to the import of steel import under the MIP will be looked
into by the authorities of Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, Enforcement
Directorate(ED), and the CBI.
On feb 5, govt. had imposed MIP ranging from $341 to $752 per metric tonne
on 173 steel products to provide relief to domestic steel makers.

Phamb
A portal to authenticate the pashmina genuineness
Phamb is originally an unprocessed wool extracted from chiru

Corex
Cough syrup made by Pfizer;
Among 335 drugs Banned by Ministry of Health on March 10

CCI(Competition
Commission of India) Is a statutory body responsible for enforcing the competition act 2002

All Oil companies have increased Prices of Aviation Turbine Fuel by 12

percent.

Airlines asked for its rollback or they will approach CCI

7/19
NABARD(National Bank for
Agriculture and Rural Looks after the development of the cottage and other rural industries.
Development)
In news because it has issued tax free bonds

Safeguard duty
a trade remedy recognised by the World Trade Organisation
temporary measure to counter the adverse impact caused to the domestic
industry due to a sudden and unforeseen surge in (low-priced) imports of the
item

Cabotage rules
Cabotage is transportation of good and people along the coast
Transhipment is offloading from one ship to another for domestic or abroad
Govt. has eased cabotage rules to encourage transhipment
This will enable foreign vessels bring goods at any of the Indian ports which
are meant to be shipped to other destinations

Cairn UK Tax Department has asked for Rs. 10,000 crore tax + 18,800 Interest.

Science and Technology

MESSENGER
NASAs MESSENGER (MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and
Ranging) spacecraft, the first space mission designed to orbit Mercury.
In the news because large amounts of carbon found which causes the planet to be
darker

IRNSS-1F
Sixth satellite of ISRO for independent navigational system put into orbit.
The satellite was put in space by PSLV-C32 rocket
IRNSS is designed to provide accurate position information service to users in
India.

BG-I and BG-II

Two versions of Bt- Cotton seeds, Bt means genetically modified organism
Govt. capped the maximum price at Rs.635 and Rs.800 in financial year 2016-
2017

Ideonella sakaiensis
201-F6 A bacterium which biodegrades PET(polyethylene terephthalate) identified by
Japanese researchers.
The bacterium degrades PET using two enzymes in sequence
PET is a menace in the world known as polluting plastic because it does not
decompose or degrades

8/19
Dornier-228 aircraft
Hindustan Aeronautics ltd. will now manufacture the aircraft for Civil purposes
HAl has previously manufactured Do-228s under the licence from a Swiss OEM,
RUAG, which are now being used in Air force, Navy and the Coast Guard. (OEM-
original equipment manufacture)

Magnetic chips
Magnetic chips to enhance energy efficiency of computers
High computing power with less requirement of energy.

Exomars 2016
A probe to identify presence of methane on the planet Mars.
Methane is produced by microbes called methanogens that became extinct or still
surviving
Launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on March 14, 2016

AWACS(Airborne
Early warning and It is advanced radar mounted on an aircraft to give 360 degree coverage to detect
control system) incoming aircraft and missiles at long ranges.

India has brought this technology from Israel.

Spike Anti Tank

Guided India and Israel are in the process of joint production of it.
Missile(ATGM) It is being done under make in India Programme
Joint Venture by Israel and Indias Kalyani Group.

Zika Virus
Got its name from Zika forest Uganda

Transmitted by mosquitos

It causes birth defect(babies are born with abnormally small head)

El -Nino
Heating of water in central eastern region of the equatorial pacific with average rise
in temperature of 0.5 degrees celsius
Meteorologists say 2016 will be normal monsoon (89cms of rainfall)
2015 was fourth time that El-Nino conditions were there in 100 years for more than
successive 2 years

Microbeads
Small plastic pieces measuring less than 1mm in size made of PE,PP, PET, PMMA
and nylon
National Green Tribunal wants to ban these microplastics which are now packed in
cosmetic products as exfoliating agents
Water pollution increases, they are non biodegradable, ingested by marine
organisms, fish and marine mammals

9/19
Antimicrobial Resistance of a microbe to an antimicrobial medication that used to be effective in treating
resistance (AMR) or preventing an infection caused by that microbe.

Indias Rotavirus Health ministry launched rotavirus vaccine for diarrhea

vaccine launched-
ROTAVAC

Blood test to test TB A set of 16 genes used as biomarkers to check if the individual has TB or not
infection

Renewable plastic Replacing styrene with lignin

This will bring cleaner and cheaper raw materials

Environment

Great Indian Bustard

In news because three GIB have been seen in Tungabhadra bank, Karnataka

New snake specie in

Gujarat New snake species has been found in Gujarat
Its name is Wallaceophis gujaratensis

White rumped and

Red headed Vultures White rumped and Red headed Vultures spotted but in few numbers in Wayanad
wildlife sanctuary in Kerala
Diclofenac seen as a reason for lowering in their population
Diclofenac is a drug given to animals to cure them but when the animal dies it
passes on to vultures who eat the carcass and it is fatal

Sri Venkateswara
National Park Tirupati wildlife division has made an action action plan to tackle forest fire and
tackling smuggling of RED SANDERS.
The national park is part of a biosphere reserve, Seshachalam Hills, declared in
2010.
Sri Venkateswara National Park is located in Cuddapah and Chittoor district of
Andhra Pradesh)
There are 103 National parks currently and 18 Biosphere reserves.

(Red Sanders is another name for red sandalwood, the tree is valued for its rich red colour
wood, the wood is not aromatic)

Biosphere reserves 20 names added to the UNESCOs Biosphere Reserve List at a meeting in Lima

Now 669 reserves across 120 countries

16 sites spread across more than one country

Spain with largest number of sites

10/19
New Shark and Ray
species found 13 species Sharks and Rays have been found in Indian waters
They have been bar coded,
DNA barcoding was successfully used for accurate identification of chondrichthyans
which included the chimaeras, sharks, rays, and skates in the Indian waters
Recently, the government had imposed a ban on the export of shark fins

Timbo Male African elephant died at 47 in Mysuru zoo

Died due to chronic arthritis

Timbo was from German zoo , received in 1976

Sumatran rhino A critically endangered rhino found after 40 years in Borneo

Borneo is third largest island and is shared between Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei

Sumatran rhino is

Smallest rhino
Only asian rhino with 2 horns
Covered with long hair

African catfish Native to africa and middle east

Nocturnal predatory fish feeds on living and dead

High tolerance for oxygenated water

Sports

Asia Cup
India won Asia Cup defeating Bangladesh;India has won Asia Cup for record 6th Time
Asia cup started in 1983 ; It is a mens One day International and Twenty20 International
tournament in Cricket

Ottapondal
Ottapondal is a rowing competition , held in Canoli Canal in Kozhikode
Aim to attract official attention to the condition of the canal (Canoli Canal)

Persons in News ( Appointments, Awards , Deaths )

Morarji Desai
120th Birth Anniversary celebrated on 29th February
First Non Congress Prime Minister of India
First Prime Minister to resign from office.

11/19
P K Thungon
Former Union Minister, and former Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh
Sentenced to prison by a CBI Court for corruption

Justice H L Dattu
Formerly Chief Justice of India
Appointed Chairman of National Human Right Commission.

Famous for ruling bail is the rule and jail is an exception in 2G Spectrum
case
He replaced K G Balakrishnan who retired in 2015

C V Wigneswaran
Chief Minister of Sri Lankas Northern Province
Asked India recently to ensure that spirit of the 13th Amendment is retained
in new Constitution
13th Amendment to Sri Lankas Constitution refers to federal features
13th Amendment was the outcome of 1987 India Sri Lanka Accord

R K Pachauri
TERI(The energy and resource institute) executive vice chairman
Charge sheeted in sexual harassment case.

John Varghese
Appointed as the principal of St Stephens college

Irom sharmila
Manipur rights activist who is on indefinite strike for last 15 years demanding
the repeal of Armed force special power act(AFSPA) in Manipur

P A Sangma
Former speaker of Lok Sabha, and former CM of Meghalaya, died recently

Kalabhavan Mani
Malayalam film actor and singer died recently
Started career as mimicry artist

Harsha Chawda
Indias First test tube baby, born in 1986

In news because she is now a mother herself and has given birth to a baby
boy

Ray Tomlinson
US software programmer who invented Email, died recently

12/19
Sher Bahadur Deuba
Elected as the new President of Nepal succeeding late Premier Sushil
koirala
He was Prime Minister 3 times earlier

M.S. Subbulakshmi
A carnatic music legend who performed at UN General Assembly hall in
1966
Golden jubilee of the concert on March 26 will be performed by M.Ss great
grand daughters.

Helen Clarke
Is the Chief of United Nations Development Program(UNDP).
In news as she said that marital rape should be made criminal offense.

Rajat Gupta
Indian born Goldman Sachs director released after completing his two year
term in prison.
He was imprisoned for insider trading

Babak Zanjani
Billionaire from Iran. Has been sentenced to death for corruption

Bhawna Kanth, Avani

Chaturvedi, Mohana singh First women fighter pilots in the Indian Air Force in June

Sir Dominic Asquith

Appointed as the next High Commissioner to India later this month by the
British government
Preceding him is Sir James Bevan

George Martin
Known as the Fifth beatle is a legendary British music producer
He helped turn Beatles into best selling band in history, died at age of 90

Htin Kyaw First elected President of Myanmar in five decades ; Belongs to Suu Kyis National
League for Democracy ( NLD ) , who won Elections in November 2015

Dr Atiur Rehman Governor of Central Bank of Bangladesh ;

Resigned because of a scam in Bangladesh Central Bank ; Governor did not inform
the government ; Loss due to scam = 80 million USD

Mother Teresa Pope has approved Mother Teresas Sainthood

13/19
Ustad Ali Ahmed Hussain
Khan Eminent Shehnai player, dies at 77 due to kidney related problems
Sangeet Natak Academy award in 2009 for contribution to Hindustani
instrumental music
Banga bhushan award by West Bengal government in 2012

Hinda Bharwad
Animal rights activist committed suicide
He wanted that cow be declared the national animal

Sir Andrew Wiles

Won the Abel prize, Abel prize is given in the field of mathematics ; often
called the Nobel Prize of Mathematics
For his proof of Fermats Last Theorem
He is professor at Oxford Universitys Mathematical Institute.

Shreehari Aney
Maharashtras Advocate General, resigned from the post after sharp
disapproval from the opposition
He demanded separate statehood for Marathwada in Maharashtra

Andrew Grove Intels mastermind passes away at 79

First hire of Intel, the chipmaker company in 1968

Pandit Shambhu Nath Sitar player Father of Indian Classical music died
Sopori
Father of well known Santoor maestro Bhajan Sopori

Command over classical and Sufiana music shown in instrumental and vocal
performances

Tim Chittock Pedalled his cycle on Golden Quadrilateral in 24 Days

He is from New Zealand

Its a Guinness world record

Noor Inayat Khan Prize

2016 Geetakshi Arora, student of University of London for her dissertation on
Goddess myths in graphic novels: Reimagining Indian feminity
Trust awards annual prize to post graduate student from SOAS, University of
London, working in the area of gender studies and south asian history
Noor Inayat, Indian descent, was a secret agent in WW2, sent to Nazi
occupied area, she was betrayed and killed.

Books, Movies, Literature etc.

14/19
Muttrupulliya
Is a Sri Lankan docu-drama portrays life of Tamil ethnic population in Sri Lanka after the
war
It was banned by CBFC, Chennai Appellate Tribunal has revoked the ban

Peter rabbit
It became the first character from childrens literature to appear on British coinage.
It was created by Beatrix Potter

Flamenco
India A collaborative theatrical show between India and Spain
To mark the 60 years of diplomatic ties
Show will be hosted at Delhi

Places in News

Kondane Caves
Recently 40 rock paintings discovered in Kondane caves in Raigarh district in
Maharashtra.
It also features Buddhist architecture such as Chaitya(prayer hall) and monastery.

Zojila Pass Tunnel

Building Project Indias most expensive and biggest National highway.

It will provide all weather road connectivity between Srinagar and Leh-Ladakh
region.

Kamarajar Port
One of few ports in south which has the capacity to handle 1.5 million tonnes of
LPG Gas.
It will get in more cargo because of government initiative of providing LPG
connection to BPL(below Poverty Line) family

Chennai
Recently Indias First Rail Auto Hub took place here.
Bar Coding on Railway tickets introduced by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu

Ardha Kumbh Mela

Ardh kumbh or Half Kumbh Kumbh Mela is held every six years at Haridwar and
Allahabad.

In 2016 it is being held at Haridwar

15/19
Bombay House
First in heritage building in India to get platinum rating by Indian Green Building
Council(IGBC)
Based on site & facility management,water efficiency, energy efficiency, health
and comfort and innovation
It is a TATA groups headquarters

Patratu, Jharkhand
In news because Jharkhand government is setting up a film city there
Patratu is in Ramgarh District

Chandrakhani Pass
In the news because eight students were rescued who were stuck in a cave for
three days due to snowfall and bad weather.
Located in Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh.
Connects via trekking route between Naggar and Malana.
Kullu valley lies between Lower Himalayan, Pir Panjal and the Great Himalayan
range.

Noyyalai Nokki
An initiative by Noyyal River Restoration Federation to clean the river. It Means
Towards Noyyal ,
Noyyal originates from the Western Ghats and passes through four districts of
Tamil Nadu before joining in the Cauvery river

IG International Airport
Won the SKYTRAX award Best airport staff in Asia and Central Asia
At a ceremony in Cologne, Germany

Chitradurga
DRDO to open a Aeronautical Test Range(ATR)
Chitradurga is near Bengaluru
Multi agency mega complex will also house facilities of BARC, ISRO, IISc

Palakkad Gap
Ecosystem A 45 Kms gap in the western ghats between Coimbatore in TN and Palakkad in
Kerala
Facing environmental destruction due to mining and deforestation
Initiatives by Kerala Biodiversity Board have resulted nothing

Brussels attack
34 killed at Zaventem airport by attack claimed by Islamic State

Belgium has headquarters of NATO and European Union

16/19
Miscellaneous

Concept One
Worlds first electric supercar ;
Created by Croatias inventor Mate Rimac

Kumki
A name for trained elephants in Kerala
Kumkis are used this time of a year to scare away other wild mammals who come near
human settlements

Satnam
community Found in Chhattisgarh state of India.
Satnam means truth, the teachings and philosophy are similar to Hinduism and
Buddhism.
Satnams believe in the name of the god and do not worship idols.

CAR 21G
Abbreviation of Civil Aviation Requirement required from the Directorate General of
Civil Aviation for the manufacturing of aircrafts for civil uses.

ITBP will now

have women Women will now be recruited as assistant commandants which is a direct entry level for
officers officers.(union home ministry published new rules)
Among five of the central armed forces CAPF, CRPF, BSF, SSB have been allowing
women to apply as direct level officers.

Pivot to Asia
US policy to increase its influence in Asia mainly to counter China

Boko Haram
Terrorist organization of Nigeria

Literally it means western education is forbidden

In news because its violence has caused food crisis and the organization itself is fearing
the heat of it.

All women
operated and Longest by Air india
supported flight
From New Delhi to San Francisco

Emergency 112 to be the common emergency number for all services

number
It was approved by Telecom commission after recommended by TRAI

ICGS Arnwesh
commissioned Fast vehicle vessel of Indian coast guard flagged off from Vishakhapatnam
It main armament comprises 40/60 bofors gun

17/19
Rajasthans first RajNET a wide area network connecting state capital with all the panchayats
IT day
Built as a multi mode connectivity network

Will enable effective delivery of services like eMitra and Mgnrega

Theme:promotion of IT startups

Iron Fist Exercise of Indian Air Force. First held in 2013; Again being held in 2016

Tobacco New regulations require that 85% of the front and back cover of cigarette packets should have
Pictorial anti cancer warnings; Parliamentary Panel is now asking that it should be 50% only as it will be
Warnings too harsh on tobacco industry

Oscars

Best Picture
Spotlight

Direction
The Revenant, Alejandro G. Irritu

Actor
Leonardo DiCaprio,The Revenant

Actress
Brie Larson,Room

Supporting Actor
Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies

Supporting Actress
Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl

Foreign Language Film

Son of Saul (Hungary)

Copyright @ForumIAS.com

18/19