Compendium-March, 2019: National

Compendium- March, 2019
National
International
Economics & Financial Awareness
Defence & Security - National/International
Appointments-National/International
Person Resigned/Retired
Sports
Honours / Awards
Obituaries
Important Days
Foreign Visits / Foreign Visitors
Current Affairs MCQs
National
India’s 17th Lok Sabha elections to be held in 7 phases

 The Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora has announced, India’s 17th Lok Sabha
elections (largest festival of democracy) will begin from 11th of April this year.
 Legislative Assembly elections in the states of Andhra
Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha and Sikkim will
be held simultaneously with the general elections.
 The Model Code of Conduct has come into force in the
entire country with the announcement of the polls.
 Ninety crore electorates of 29 states and 7 Union
territories will elect 543 Lok Sabhamembers in seven
phases from 11th April to 19th May 2019.
 The counting will be held on the 23rd of May 2019.
 Note:
 The Chief Election Commissioner heads the Election Commission of India, a body
constitutionally empowered to conduct free and fair elections to the national and state
legislatures.
 Election Commission headquarters is in New Delhi.
Phases/Date Lok Sabha States/UTs

constituencies
1. (11 April) 91 AP, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chattisgarh, J &,
Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Odisha,
Sikkim, Telangana, Tripura, UP, Uttarakhand, WB, A & N,
Lakshadweep
2. (18 April) 97 Assam, Bihar, Chattisgarh, J & K, Karnataka, Maharashtra,
Manipur, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, UP, WB, Puducherry
3. (23 April) 115 Assam, Bihar, Chattisgarh, Gujarat, Goa, J & K, Karnataka,
Kerala, Maharashtra, Odisha, UP, West Bengal, Dadra & NH,
Daman & Diu
4 (29 April) 71 Bihar, J& K, Jharkhand, MP, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan,
UP, West Bengal
5 (6 May) 51 Bihar, J & K, Jharkhand, MP, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and
West Bengal
6 (12 May) 59 Bihar, Haryana, Jharkhand, MP, UP, West Bengal and Delhi
7 (19 May) 59 Bihar, Himachal, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, West
Bengal, Chandigarh and Uttar Pradesh.
GI tag for Coffee Varieties

 The Geographical Indications Registry has approved the Geographical Indication (GI) tag
for coffee varieties viz. Coorg Arabica Coffee, Wayanad Robusta Coffee, Chikmagalur
Arabica Coffee, Araku Valley Arabica Coffee and Bababudangiri Arabica Coffee.
 Coorg Arabica Coffee
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of any of the contents of this work is a punishable offence under the laws of India.
 Kodagu district of Karnataka is famous for Coffee cultivation. The unique biotic and abiotic
conditions provide uniqueness to the Coffee grown in the region of Kodagu. The broader
landscape provides it with a unique aroma and flavour to the coffee when roasted.
 Wayanad Robusta Coffee
 Wayanad Robusta Coffee both as a pure crop and as mixed crop along
with pepper in the Wayanad region of Kerala. Wayanad produces
almost around 90% of Kerala’s Coffee produce and forms the backbone
of the coffee economy of Kerala.
 Chikmagalur Arabica Coffee
 Chikmagalur Arabica Coffee is grown in Chikmagalur district,
Karnataka. It is the region in India where the coffee cultivation first
began.
 Bababudangiri Arabica Coffee
 Bababudangiri Arabica Coffee is grown in the Bababudangiri region of Karnataka.
Bababudangiri in Chikmanglur District of Karnataka is where the coffee was first grown in
India. The coffee grown here is known for its unique flavour and aroma. Selectively hand-
picked and processes by natural fermentation, the cup exhibits full body, acidity, mild
flavour and striking aroma with a note of chocolate which makes it unique.
 Araku Valley Arabica Coffee
 Araku Valley Arabica Coffee has a pleasant acidity with a citrus note of grapefruit and a
mild jaggery-like sweetness with light to medium strength. It is grown in regions of
Visakhapatnam district in Andhra Pradesh and Koraput district in Odisha.
UGC prohibits imparting distance degree programmes in agriculture

 The University Grants Commission (UGC) has prohibited imparting distance degree
programmes in agriculture.
 The decision was taken by the higher education regulator.
 A degree programme in agriculture is technical in nature as it
requires practical or laboratory courses.
 The Union agriculture ministry had referred the matter to the
commission.
 However, no new enrolments will be permitted from the
2019 academic session.
 As per UGC Open and Distance Learning Regulations, 2017, professional programmes (like
medicine, engineering, architecture, nursing, dental, pharmacy and physiotherapy) are not
permitted to be offered in distance mode.
Former Governor’s book titled ‘Indian Fiscal Federalism’ launched

 Mr. N.K. Singh (Chairman-15th Finance Commission of India) has launched the book
“Indian Fiscal Federalism”.
 The book has been written by Dr. Y. V. Reddy (former RBI Governor) and Chairman of the
14th Finance Commission of India along with Dr. G. R. Reddy, Advisor (Finance) to the
Government of Telangana.
Artificial Intelligence, Yoga to be part of the CBSE curriculum for 2019-20 session
 The CBSE is set to introduce Artificial Intelligence (AI), Early Childhood Care Education
(ECCE), and Yoga as skill subjects in the school curriculum for the upcoming academic
session.
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 A decision to introduce the three subjects was taken at a recent

meeting of the board's governing body.
 The CBSE is introducing artificial intelligence as an optional 6th
subject at Class IX from the session 2019-2020 onwards.
 The board has also decided to introduce yoga and early childhood
education as elective subjects at the senior secondary level.
Navin Chawla’s new book titled ‘Every Vote Counts’ launched

 Former Vice President of India Hamid Ansari has launched
Navin Chawla’s (former Chief Election Commissioner of
India) new book titled ‘Every Vote Counts’ in New Delhi.
 This book is about how the electoral machinery works in
India.
 The book explains about India is on the cusp of change, and
with its parliamentary elections coming up.
CBSE launches new Shiksha Vani' app

 The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has launched a new podcast app 'Shiksha
Vani'.
 This app will disseminate crucial information to students and parents in a timely manner.
 According to CBSE, its first episode, on the evaluation process of Class 10 and 12 board
examinations, has been released on the platform.
 As the examinations proceed, the episode helps students understand how their completed
papers will be evaluated.
Rajan’s Book titled ‘The Third Pillar -How Markets and the State leave the Community
Behind’ ‘‘launched’
 Mr. Rajan was in conversation with N. Ram, Chairman, The Hindu Publishing Group, after
the launch of his book The Third Pillar — How Markets and
the State leave the Community Behind.
 The Third Pillar is an important contribution to
understanding why, a decade after the crisis, the world’s
politics and economics remain so brittle.
 Mr Rajan was the 23rd Governor of the Reserve Bank of India
between September 2013 and September 2016.
 Currently, Mr. Rajan is the Katherine Dusak Miller Distinguished Service Professor of
Finance at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business in the U.S.
Arun Jaitley releases a book titled ‘Mann Ki Baat - A Social Revolution on Radio’
 Today, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has released a book titled ‘Mann Ki Baat - A
Social Revolution on Radio’ in New Delhi.
 The Book is a compendium encompassing 50 editions of the ‘Mann Ki Baat’ by Prime
Minister Narendra Modi over All India Radio.
Special Stamp on Ice Stupa released

 Chief Postmaster General of Jammu & Kashmir
Circle P.D.Tshering has released a special stamp on Ice Stupas in a
program in Ganglas village.
 This year twelve villages in Ladakh made Ice Stupas and during
World Water Day celebration on 22nd March the best Ice Stupas will
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be awarded.
 Stamps are to create awareness about depleting glaciers and effect on the ecology around
the Himalayas.
 Over 12 villages in Ladakh have built ice Stupas this year in various villages.
President of India inaugurates festival of Innovation and Entrepreneurship in

Gandhinagar
 The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated the Festival of Innovation
and Entrepreneurship (FINE) in Gandhinagar.
 The aim of this festival of innovation and entrepreneurship is to provide a platform for new
innovators for building linkages with potential stakeholders.
 FINE is an initiative to recognise, respect, showcase, reward
innovations and foster supportive ecosystem for innovators.
 Mr Kovind presented the 10th Biennial National Grassroots
Innovation Awards on the occasion.
 Prakash Singh Raghuvanshi (Uttar Pradesh) has been
awarded lifetime achievement award for his innovations in
new varieties of agriculture crops.
 The first prize in Veterinary, Herbal medication for coccidiosis was presented to Periyasami
Ramasami of Salem, Tamil Nadu.
Areca nut gets ‘Sirsi supari’ geographical indication tag

 Arecanut (supari or betel nut) is the latest entrant in the list of agricultural producewith
a GI (geographical indication) tag.
 The Registrar of Geographical Indications (Government of India)
accorded a GI tag, ‘Sirsi Supari’, to areca nut grown in Sirsi,
Siddpaur of Uttara Kannada district in Karnataka.
 The World Intellectual Property Organisation defines GI as a
search sign used on products that have a specific geographical
origin and possess qualities due to that origin.
 Note:
 ‘Sirsi Supari’ is unique in taste from areca nuts grown in other parts of the country due to
the differences in the chemical composition of different areca nuts.
MoHUA partners with Microsoft for Swachh Bharat e-Learning Portal

 Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has
partnered with Microsoft India to use the platform Project
Sangam of Microsoft on its Swachh Bharat e-Learning Portal.
 Now MoHUA has trained more than 110,000 municipal
functionaries on best sanitation practices across 4,000 plus
cities in India.
 With this partnership, the MoHUA has increased the features
on the Swachh Bharat e-Learning Portal.
Indian and Pak delegations hold talks on Kartarpur

 Today, the delegations from India and Pakistan are holding talks at Attari border townin
Punjab to finalize the modalities for the Kartarpur Corridor.
 According to MEA spokesman "Talks begin between India and Pakistan to discuss and
finalize the modalities for the Kartarpur Corridor, at Attari, Amritsar, that will facilitate
Indian pilgrims to visit the holy shrine of Gurudwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur".
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 The issues like alignments of structures essentially from the engineering point of view
would also be discussed.
 Note:
 The corridor will connect ‘Dera Baba Nanak’ (in Gurdaspur
district-India) to the ‘Gurdwara Darbar Sahib’ (in Kartarpur
in Narowal district of Pakistan).
 The Kartarpur Gurudwara (Darbar Sahib Kartarpur) is
situated on the banks of river ‘Ravi’, considered to be the first
gurdwara ever built.
MP government issues an ordinance to give 27% quota to OBCs

 The Madhya Pradesh government has issued
an ordinance raising reservation for Other Backward
Classes (OBC) to 27% (present 14%).
 The ordinance was sent to Madhya Pradesh
Governor Anandiben Patel for her assent on.
 The ordinance could be issued before the Lok Sabha poll
model code of conduct comes into effect.
 Now, MP is possibly the only state in the country to have 27% quota for OBCs.
PM Modi flags off Noida City Centre-Electronic City section of Delhi Metro's Blue Line
 Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the ‘Noida City
Centre-Noida Electronic City section’ (6.6-km) of the
Delhi Metro's Blue Line.
 The Noida City Centre and Noida Electronic City (fully
elevated section) consist of six stations - Sector 34, Sector
52, Sector 61, Sector 59, Sector 62 and Noida Electronic
City.
 The metro stretch will benefit the people of Noida a great deal as well as connect the
satellite city to Delhi.
 The Prime Minister also laid the foundation stone of two thermal Power Plantsthrough
video conferencing, 1,320 MW Super Thermal Power Project at Khurja(Bulandshahar) and
the 1,320 MW thermal power plant at Buxar (Bihar).
Uttarakhand CM launches free milk scheme for Anganwadi children

 Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat has
launched the Mukhyamantri Anchal Amrit Yojana in
Dehradun.
 Under the Amrit Yojana, 2.5 lakh children (at 20,000
Anganwadi kendras) will be given 100 ml milk twice a
week for free in the state.
 Flavoured, sweet, skimmed milk powder will be made available to the 20,000 Anganwadi
Kendra across the state.
Kerala’s Marayur Jaggery gets Geographical Indication Tag

 Idukki’s The Marayoor Jaggery, the traditional and handmade
product from Idukki district of Kerala received
the Geographical Indication (GI) tag from the Central
Government.
 The Marayoor jaggery finally managed to get the GI Tag after
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two years of continuous efforts by the Agricultural Department of the state.

 The GI tag will provide more windows of opportunity to the traditional sugarcane farmers
in Marayoor.
India’s first oil museum to come up in Guwahati

 India’s first oil museum will come up in Guwahati, Assam.
 It will be named KB Malaviya National Oil Museum. KB Malaviya is
called the father of India’s hydrocarbon industry.
 Assam was the first state where oil was discovered and produced
for the first time in the country.
 All major oil and gas companies ONGC, OIL, HPCL, BPCL, EIL will jointly work for the
museum.
Govt reduces the price of 390 anti-cancer drugs upto 87 pc

 The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority put out the
list of 390 anti-cancer non-scheduled medicines with
Maximum Retail Price reduction up to 87 per cent.
 On 27th of March, the Pricing Authority had put 42 anti-
cancer drugs under 30 per cent Trade Margin cap.
 Medicine manufacturers and hospitals have been directed
to convey the revised rates.
 As many as 390 brands out of the 426 brands reported by manufacturers, showed
downward price movement.
 This move is expected to benefit 22 lakh cancer patients in the country and will result in
annual savings of nearly 800 crore rupees to the consumers.
Google launches 'Bolo' app to tutor children to read in Hindi, English

 Tech giant Google unveiled a new free app 'Bolo' that
aims to help children in primary school learn to read in
Hindi and English.
 The free app uses Google's speech recognition and text-to-
speech technology.
 The app features an animated character 'Diya', who
encourages children to read stories aloud and helps if the
child is unable to pronounce a word.
 It also lauds the reader when she completes the reading.
 The users are a not asked for details like email ID and gender for logging into the app.
 Note:
 The Bolo app will be available on Google Play Store in India for all smartphones running
Android 4.4 (Kit Kat) and higher and can also work offline.
ISRO launches 'Yuva Vigyani Karyakram' for school children

 Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has launched
Young Scientist Programme “Yuva Vigyani Karyakram”,
for the School Children to be studying in the ninth standard.
 ISRO Scientists will impart basic knowledge on Space
Technology, Space Science and Space Applications to the
young ones with the intent of arousing their interest in the
emerging areas of Space activities.
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 Two weeks “Catch them young” residential training programme will be held during
summer holidays to select 3 students from each State and Union Territory, covering CBSE,
ICSE and State syllabus.
 The government has asked scientific institutions in the country to mentor young minds in
the area of basic science.
 Note:
 It has approached the Chief Secretaries of the respective States and Administrators of
Union Territories in India to arrange for the selection of three students and communicate
the list to ISRO.
 The selection is based on academic performance and extracurricular activities.
Maharashtra Cabinet clears 29-kilometre metro line for Thane

 Maharashtra state cabinet chaired by Devendra Fadnavis approved the 29-kilometre
metro line for Thane.
 It will feature 22 stations along a 29 kilometres route,
connected to lines 4 and 5 of the Mumbai Metro.
 The project will take four years to be completed and will be
built at a cost of nearly 13,095 crore rupees.
 The metro will start from the New Thane metro station in
the old city area and will connect to Wadala-Kasarvadavli Metro at two places, namely the
New Thane station and Dongripada.
 It will also have a link to the Thane-Bhiwandi- Kalyan Metro Line 5 at Majiwada junction.
 Note:
 Thane Metro project will be implemented by the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) and
the Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation (Maha Metro).
Smriti Irani inaugurates refurbished Handloom Haat at Janpath, New Delhi

 The Union Textiles Minister Smriti Irani inaugurated the
refurbished Handloom Haat at Janpath in New Delhi.
 The main objective of the Haat is to provide infrastructure
support to handloom agencies to augment their sales of
handloom products and to showcase the exquisite variety of
products produced all over the country.
 To make the building of Haat more attractive, the refurbishing work was taken up in
2018.
 Mrs Irani also launched the three projects which are Trend Forecasting, Design Innovation
Incubator and Textiles and Crafts Repository.
PM Modi launches Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Mandhan Yojana in Gujarat

 Today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched the Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi
Mandhan Yojana at Gandhinagar in Gujarat.
 The national pension scheme for workers and labourers of the unorganised sector was
announced in the Interim Budget in February this year.
 Under the scheme, a monthly pension of Rs. 3,000 per
month is provided to workers in the unorganised sector
over 60 years of age.
 The scheme will benefit 10 crore workers in the unorganised
sector.
 PM Modi also launched the indigenously-
developed National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) ‘One Nation One Card’ to enable
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people to pay multiple kinds of transport charges, including metro services and toll tax,
across the country.
 Note:
 Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Mandhan is a scheme introduced by Government of
Indiafor poor labourers in the unorganised sector from a minimum 18 years of age to
maximum 40 years.
 To benefit from the scheme, workers must contribute Rs. 55 monthly (for age 18) and it
varies according to age.
PM Modi inaugurates Ahmedabad Metro service

 Prime Minister Narendra Modi has partially inaugurated the first phase of the6.5 km-
long Ahmedabad Metro train service in Gujarat.
 PM Modi also laid the foundation stone of the 28.28 kilometres second phase
of Ahmedabad Metro project and travel some distance on the phase-I stretch.
 Total completion cost of Phase-II metro is estimated at Rs. 5,384.17 crores.
 Ahmedabad Metro is an under the construction mass-transit rail system for the cities
of Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar in Gujarat, India.
 Note:
 It is being built by Gujarat Metro Rail Corporation (GMRC) Limited, a Special Purpose
Vehicle company constituted in 2018 to implement all metro projects in Gujarat.
Piyush Goyal & Fadnavis launches the second phase of Monorail in Mumbai
 Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and
Railway Minister Piyush Goyaljointly inaugurated
the second phase (11.28 kilometre) of Monorail in
Mumbai, extended from Wadala to Jacob Circle.
 With this, the entire 19.54 kilometres route (first phase-
8.26 kilometre) of the country being implemented by
the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development
Authority(MMRDA), is now functional.
 The fare for the entire 17-station route has been fixed at Rs. 10, Rs. 20, RS. 30 and Rs. 40.
 According to Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, all the railway stations will be connected
through skywalks and subways.
 Now, The Mumbai Monorail became the sixth-largest monorail system in the world.
 Note:
 Mumbai Monorail is the first monorail in India since the Kundala Valley Railway and
Patiala State Monorail Trainways were closed in the 1920s.
 The project is implemented by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority
(MMRDA).
AYUSH Minister lays foundation stone for National Institute of Unani Medicine
 AYUSH Minister Shripad Yesso Naik laid the foundation stone of
National Institute of Unani Medicine (NIUM) at Ghaziabad.
 It will be developed on a 10-acre area, costing about 300 crore rupees.
 Once 200-bedded hospital established, it will be one of the largest
institutes of Unani Medicine in North India.
 The institute is an extension of the existing NIUM at Bengaluru.
India ranks 47th in 'Inclusive' Internet list

 India ranked 47th in the overall "Inclusive Internet Index 2019” (3i).
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 The index has been prepared by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) for Facebook.
 Sweden topped the index which was followed by Singapore and the US.
 The index was expanded to include 100 countries which will represent 94% of the world’s
population and 96% of global GDP.
2nd Edition of Indian Sign Language Dictionary launched

 The Union Social Justice & Empowerment
Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot has launched the 2nd
Edition of Indian Sign Language (ISL) Dictionary in
New Delhi.
 The Dictionary includes six thousand words under the
categories of academic, legal, medical, technical and
everyday terms.
 The dictionary is intended to serve as a resource for
ISL teachers, ISL learners, teachers of the hearing impaired, interpreters, parents of
hearing-impaired children and researchers.
 Note:
 The dictionary is brought out by Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre
(ISLRTC) under the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities.
 The first edition of the dictionary with three thousand words was launched in March 2018.
HRD Ministry launches SHREYAS Scheme

 The Union minister Prakash Javadekar has launched
‘Scheme for Higher Education Youth in
Apprenticeship and Skills’ (SHREYAS) to provide
apprenticeship opportunities to fresh graduates of
2019.
 The scheme aims to cover 50 lakh students by 2022.
 Courses will be available to the students from
Academic year April-May 2019.
 The SHREYAS Scheme is a programme basket comprising the initiatives of three central
ministries (the HRD, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, and the Ministry
of Labour and Employment).
NITI Aayog’s Atal Innovation Mission partners with Adobe

 NITI Aayog’s Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) & Adobe
signed a Statement of Intent (SOI) to enhance creativity
in Atal Tinkering Labs (ATL) Schools.
 Adobe will help in developing creative skills and
spreading digital literacy across all Atal Tinkering Labs
in India.
 Adobe shall be adopting 100 schools under Atal
Tinkering Labs (ATL) initiative.
 ATLs are being established in more than 5,000 schools in India where students of class 6th
to class 12th acquire problem-solving and innovation skills, developing innovative
solutions.
 Note:
 Adobe Inc. is an American multinational computer software company headquartered in San
Jose, California.
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Why Ballot Papers will be used in Nizamabad instead of EVM?

 While the entire Country will vote in EVMs in the Lok Sabha Polls 2019,
the people of the Nizamabad in Telangana will vote through Ballot
Papers.
 Why Ballot Papers in Nizamabad?
 For the Lok Sabha Polls 2019 in the Nizamabad Lok Sabha seat, there
are 185 candidates in contention. As one EVM can accommodate only 16
candidates and a maximum of 4 EVMs can be used in one polling booth,
the Election Commission is forced to switch back to the age-old practice of ballot papers.
 Of the 185 candidates in contention 178 are farmers who cultivate Turmeric and Jowar.
They are contesting polls to highlight their demand for the remunerative price for their
crops.
 The Nizamabad Lok Sabha Constituency had received around 200 nominations of these
some were rejected and 189 candidates remained in contention after the scrutiny of
nomination papers. Of these 4 candidates withdrew their nomination papers.
 K Kavitha who is also the daughter of Telangana Chief Minister, Chandrashekhar Rao is the
sitting MP from the Nizamabad seat.
 Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated a new National War Memorial, situated in the
India Gate complex in New Delhi.
 Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal announced a new railway zone for Andhra Pradesh,
that is the Southern Coast Railway and it will be headquartered in Visakhapatnam.
 PM Narendra Modi launched the indigenously developed National Common Mobility Card
(NCMC) to enable people to pay multiple kinds of transport charges, including metro
services and toll tax, across the country. Dubbed as 'One Nation One Card'.
 The government has introduced a scheme for providing financial assistance for transport
and marketing of agriculture products with a view to boosting export of farm commodities
to certain countries in Europe and North America.
 Union Minister Mahesh Sharma has inaugurated 'Azaadi Ke Diwane' museum, dedicated to
the unsung heroes of the country's freedom struggle, on the Red Fort premises in New
Delhi.
 Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat has laid the foundation stone for the
Dehradun-Mussoorie ropeway project which is considered to be a tourist novelty.
 In Madhya Pradesh, ancient tribal language Gondi will be taught in tribal districts. Madhya
Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath has decided to include Gondi in the primary education
curriculum of the state's tribal-dominated districts.
 The Ministry of Women and Child Development and the Ministry of Skill Development and
Entrepreneurship entered into an MoU aimed at improving women livelihood and
empowering them through skill development.
 The Madhya Pradesh government issued an ordinance increasing reservation quota for the
Other Backward Classes (OBC) to 27% from the current 14%.
 Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina jointly
unveiled e-plaques for development projects in Bangladesh through video conferencing. 1.
Supply of buses and trucks, 2. Inauguration of 36 community clinics, 3. Inauguration of 11
water treatment plants, and 4. Extension of National Knowledge Network to Bangladesh.
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 India has extended a grant assistance of up to USD 250 million to Nepal for the
reconstruction of infrastructures in the areas of housing, education, health and cultural
heritage that was destroyed during the devastating April 2015 earthquake which saw the
death of over 9,000 people.
 Tashigang, a Himachal Pradesh village at an altitude of 15,256 feet has now become the
highest polling station in the world.
Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs)

1. The Union Cabinet has approved extension of Biomedical Research Career Programme for how
many years?
a) 10 years b) 15 years c) 5 years d) 7 years
2. The UGC has prohibited imparting distance degree programmes in which subject?
a) Corporate Affairs b) Computer Applications
c) Mass Communication d) Agriculture
3. The Supreme Court has warned which bank for non-disclosure of bank inspection reports?
a) Bank of Baroda b) Reserve Bank of India
c) Canara Bank d) Central Bank of India
4. Which social media platform has set up a 24x7 response team for 2019 Lok Sabha elections?
a) Twitter b) Instagram c) Facebook d) Whatsapp
5. Which of the following IIT has developed AI-based system to detect malaria, tuberculosis and other
diseases?
a) IIT Kharagpur b) IIT Pune c) IIT Madras d) IIT Delhi
6. Indian space agency, ISRO will launch which satellite on April 1, 2019?
a) Cartosat-2 b) EMISAT c) MicroSat d) AstroSat
7. NASA’s laser retroreflector arrays will be carried to the Moon aboard which mission?
a) Chandrayaan-2 b) TESS c) Gaganyaan d) JUNO
8. Under the newly announced minimum income guarantee scheme by a leading opposition party,
how much annual income has been proposed for 20 per cent of India’s poorest families?
a) Rs 90000 b) Rs 72000 c) Rs 84000 d) Rs 65000
9. Which Election Commission has launched PWD app for Divyang voters in which state?
a) Bihar b) Uttar Pradesh c) Maharashtra d) Madhya Pradesh
10. India Post has released a special stamp cover on which environmental initiative?
a) Green Energy b) Ice Stupas c) Hydrogen Lights d) Green Electricity
11. Which city will host the International Workshop on Disaster Resilient Infrastructure 2019?
a) New Delhi b) Mumbai c) Pune d) Gurugram
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12. Which regulatory body has directed the Central Pollution Control Board to prepare noise pollution
maps?
a) Supreme Court b) Delhi HC
c) National Green Tribunal d) Uttarakhand HC
13. The West Nile Virus was recently in news due to its outbreak in which state of India?
a) Kerala b) Haryana c) Bihar d) Maharashtra
14. The Geographical Indications Registry on March 1, 2019 granted the GI Tag to four categories of
Arabica Coffee. Arabica Coffee is grown specifically in which state?
a) Punjab b) Sikkim c) Karnataka d) West Bengal
15. The Supreme Court has pulled up which state government over inadequate functioning of
foreigners' tribunals?
a) Jammu and Kashmir b) Assam c) Arunachal Pradesh d) Tripura
16. Which state presented the Tax-Free Deficit Budget for 2019-20 on March 12, 2019?
a) Haryana b) Meghalaya c) Gujarat d) Sikkim
17. The Election Commission of India on March 11, 2019 formed a three-member committee to assess
the situation on the ground in which state?
a) Jammu and Kashmir b) Chhattisgarh
c) Uttar Pradesh d) Bihar
18. The Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 7, 2019 released the Dictionary on which of the
following to highlight the India’s Freedom Struggle?
a) Indian Army b) Indian Air Force c) Indian Martyrs d) Police Officers
19. The Supreme Court has approved to form mediation panel to resolve Ram Temple-Babri Masjid
dispute case. The mediation proceedings are scheduled to take place in which city?
a) Prayagraj b) Faizabad c) Varanasi d) Lucknow
20. Marayoor jaggery, a world-famous delicacy, got a Geographical Indication (GI) tag recently. It
belongs to which state?
a) Karnataka b) Kerala c) Tamil Nadu d) Odisha
21. The Union Cabinet on March 7, 2019 approved the continuation of Atal Innovation Mission (AIM)
till which financial year?
a) 2019-20 b) 2020-21 c) 2021-22 d) 2022-23
22. Minister of State for Culture and Environment, Mahesh Sharma recently inaugurated ‘Azaadi-ke-
Diwane’ museum in which city?
a) Mumbai b) Amritsar c) New Delhi d) Panipat
23. Around what percent of the households in Rural India who have access to the toilet use it, as per the
National Annual Rural Sanitation Survey (NARSS) 2018-19?
a) 95 percent b) 95.5 percent c) 96 percent d) 96.5 percent
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24. Which is the most polluted capital city as per the World Air Quality Report 2018?
a) Delhi b) Beijing c) Lahore d) Dhaka
25. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 5, 2019 launched the Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan-
dhan Yojana from which state?
a) Tamil Nadu b) Uttar Pradesh c) Gujarat d) Delhi
26. The Union Cabinet recently approved to set up the 22nd All India Institute of Medical Sciences
(AIIMS) in which state?
a) Telangana b) Rajasthan c) Haryana d) Punjab
27. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved the "Pradhan Mantri JI-VAN” Yojana for
providing financial support to which project?
a) Metro Rail Projects b) Construction of Roads & Highways
c) River dams d) Integrated Bioethanol Projects
28. National space agency ISRO signed agreement with which country to set up a joint maritime
surveillance system?
a) United States b) China c) France d) Russia
29. Which technology company has launched an application called ‘bolo’ to tutor children to read in
Hindi, English?
a) Microsoft b) Facebook c) Twitter d) Google
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International
Global Energy & CO2 Status Report: Key facts

 The Global Energy & CO2 Status Report released by the International Energy Agency (IEA)
makes the following observations:
 China, the US and India together accounted for nearly 70 per cent of the
rise in energy demand and energy demand worldwide grew by 2.3 per
cent last year.
 The rise in energy demand was driven by a robust global economy and
stronger heating and cooling needs in some regions.
 Natural gas was the fuel of choice and it witnessed the biggest gains
accounting for 45 per cent of the rise in energy consumption. Gas demand growth was
especially strong in the US and China.
 Demand for all fuels increased and nearly 70 per cent of the demand growth was met
through fossil fuels.
 Solar and wind generation witnessed a double-digit pace, with solar alone increasing by 31
per cent. But this was not fast enough to meet higher electricity demand around the world
which resulted in increased use of coal.
 Global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions increased by 1.7 per cent to 33 gigatonnes
(Gt) in 2018.
 Coal use in power generation surpassed 10 Gt and accounted for a third of the total
increase.
 Majority of coal-fired generation capacity was concentrated in Asia, with 12-year-old plants
on average, decades short of average lifetimes of around 50 years.
 Electricity continued to position itself as a fuel of the future, with global electricity demand
growing by four per cent in 2018 to more than 23,000 terawatt hours.
 China remains the leader in renewables, both for wind and solar, followed by Europe and
the US.
 Energy intensity improved by 1.3 per cent last year which was half the rate witnessed in
the period between 2014 and 2016. This third consecutive year of the slowdown was the
result of weaker energy efficiency policy implementation and strong demand growth in
more energy intensive economies.
 The findings are part of the IEA’s assessment of global energy consumption and energy-
related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions for 2018. The report provides a high-level and up-
to-date view of energy markets, including the latest available data for oil, natural gas, coal,
wind, solar, nuclear power, electricity and energy efficiency.
EU parliament approves ban on Single-use plastics

 The European Parliament has voted for an EU-wide ban on single-use plastic products such
as the straws, cutlery and cotton buds that are clogging the world’s
oceans. The law on single-use plastic ban sets a target to gather 90 per
cent of plastic for recycling by 2029 and mandates the production of
plastic bottles with 25 per cent recycled material by 2025 and 30 per
cent by 2030.
 The law also insists on polluters pay principle by insisting polluters to
pay the costs of a clean-up. The measures are strengthened,
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particularly for cigarette manufacturers, who will have to support the recycling of
discarded filters.
 The “polluter pays” principle will be extended to manufacturers of fishing nets so that
companies, not fishing crews pay the cost of nets lost at sea.
 The products prohibited under the law represent 70 per cent of the waste that pours into
the world’s oceans, posing a threat to wildlife and fisheries.
 Single-use plastics
 Single-use plastics, or disposable plastics, are used only once before they are thrown away
or recycled. They are not usually biodegradable and goes into a landfill where it is buried or
it gets into the water and finds its way into the ocean. They degrade into tiny particles after
many years. In this process of degradation, they release toxic chemicals (additives that
were used to shape and harden the plastic) which make their way into our food and water
supply.
Israelis discover 'world's longest salt cave'

 Israeli researchers have discovered the world’s longest salt cave named ‘Malham’.
 The cave stretches for over 10-kilometres (6.25 miles), through Mount Sodom (Israel's
largest mountain) and spills out to the southwest corner of the adjacent Dead Sea.
 It was mapped out over two years by cavers from nine countries, led by the Hebrew
University of Jerusalem.
 In 2006, researchers mapped over six-kilometres of the N3 cave in southern Iran's Qeshm
island.
Nepal Investment Summit 2019 commences in Kathmandu

 Prime Minister of Nepal KP Sharma Oli has inaugurated "Nepal Investment Summit 2019"
at ‘Hotel Soaltee’ in Kathmandu.
 Over 600 investors (265 from China, 120 from India) and delegates from 40 countries
including India are participating in the two-day summit.
 The main objective of the event is to project Nepal as a
favourable investment destination.
 Summit will unveil potential opportunities for investment in
various sectors in Nepal including Hydropower, Tourism,
Infrastructure, Industry, Transport, Agriculture and
Information and Communication Technology.
 This unique forum will also be utilized to unfold a range of policy reforms and legal
initiatives taken by the Government to attract investors.
 77 projects (50 public & 27 private projects) worth 31.93 billion dollars in various sectors
will be showcased and 12 Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) will be signed during
the summit.
India, Bangladesh start cruise service

 Today, India and Bangladesh have started a cruise service that would take passengers
through the Sunderbans to Dhaka.
 The objective of the move to strengthen inland waterway
routes between the two countries.
 The MEA (External Affairs Ministry) official said, as the
movement of goods starts using inland waterways, so goods
from India can go in the cheapest possible form up to
Narayanganj and Dhaka in Bangladesh.
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 People would have the option to travel through the Sunderbans on luxury vessels up to
Dhaka and back with border formalities being done at the crossing points in both countries.
 About 26 lakhs Bangladeshi nationals visited India last year.
 Note:
 A cruise ship is a passenger ship used for pleasure voyages when the voyage itself, the
ship's amenities, and sometimes the different destinations along the way form part of the
passengers' experience.
Evidence of water, particle plumes found on asteroid Bennu

 NASA’s OSIRIS-Rex mission discovers evidence of water, particle plumes on asteroid Bennu
among numerous other findings.
 Asteroid Bennu
 Bennu is only slightly wider than the height of the Empire State Building and it is expected
to contain unaltered material from the very beginning of our solar system.
 Bennu has a more rugged surface than expected. This posed a challenge
for the mission team and forced it to alter its flight and sample
collection plans, due to the rough terrain.
 Few of the particles ejected out of Bennu orbited it as satellites before
returning to the asteroid’s surface.
 Bennu is a carbonaceous asteroid in the Apollo group and is
a potentially hazardous object.
 OSIRIS-Rex Mission
 NASA’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer
(Osiris-REx) mission is aimed at studying Bennu Asteroid and Osiris-Rex mission began
orbiting the asteroid on December 31 last year. The Osiris-Rex mission is expected to
return samples to Earth in 2023 and before attempting to obtain a sample from the
asteroid, it will map out Bennu’s surface in detail and orbit the asteroid to calculate its
mass.
Pakistan approves the proposal to3 open Sharda Peeth corridor

 The Pakistan government has approved a proposal to establish a corridor to visit Sharda
Peeth in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
 Sharda Peeth is an ancient Hindu temple and cultural site in
Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
 It will be the second religious tract after Kartarpur corridor
in Pakistan-controlled territory that will connect the two
neighbouring nations.
 The Sharda Peeth (130km from Srinagar) went under the control of Pakistan after Partition
in 1947.
 Kashmiri Pandits consider Sharada as their “kuldevi” or principal deity.
UN council passes a resolution to combat terrorist financing

 The UN Security Council (UNSC) has unanimously passed the first-ever resolution ordering
members to enforce laws against terror financing.
 It demands all states "ensure that their domestic laws and regulations establish serious
criminal offences" to collect funds or financial resources to terrorist groups or individual
criminals.
17 |
 The Security Council takes the lead in determining the existence of a threat to the peace or
act of aggression.
 Note:
 The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six
principal organs of the United Nations (UN).
 The main organs of the UN are the General Assembly, the
Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the
Trusteeship Council, the International Court of Justice, and the UN Secretariat.
 The Security Council was created following World War II to address the failings of a
previous international organization, the League of Nations, in maintaining world peace.
Venezuela′s Juan Guaido barred from public office for 15 years

 According to Venezuela's Comptroller General Elvis
Amoroso, Venezuela has barred opposition leader Juan
Guaido from holding public office for 15 years.
 The decision was taken following an investigation that
shows irregularities in his financial records.
 The decision will be for the maximum period established
in the decree with the scope, courage and strength of the law against corruption.
Comoros President Azali Assoumani re-elected with over 60% of votes

 According to Electoral Commission of the Indian Ocean
archipelago, Comoros President Azali Assoumani was re-elected.
 Azali (first took office in 2016) was way ahead of his closest rival
Mahamoudou Ahamada, who garnered only 14.62% of the ballots
cast.
 Comoros is a volcanic archipelago off Africa’s east coast, in the
warm Indian Ocean waters of the Mozambique Channel.
European Parliament adopts controversial copyright reforms

 European Parliament European Parliament adopted controversial copyright reforms
championed by news publishers and the media business.
 Under the reform, European law for the first time would hold
platforms legally responsible for enforcing copyright,
requiring them to check everything that their users post to
prevent infringement.
 After intense debate by Members of European Parliament
(MEPs) meeting in Strasbourg, passed the draft law with 348 votes in favour, 274 against,
and 36 abstentions.
 The reform was loudly backed by media companies and artists, who want to obtain a better
return from web platforms that allow users to distribute their content.
 But it was strongly opposed by Silicon Valley and especially Google that makes huge profits
from the advertising generated on content it hosts.
 It was criticised also by supporters of a free internet who fear it will result in
unprecedented restrictions to web freedom.
World’s largest e-waste recycling facility opens in Dubai

 The world’s largest e-waste recycling plant has been opened in Dubai Industrial
Park,Dubai by ‘Enviroserve’ company with a total cost of USD 5 million.
18 |
 It will recycle Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE), IT asset

disposition(ITAD), refrigerant gas and specialized waste.
 The processing capacity of this recycling hub is 100,000 tonnes of total integrated waste
(per year), of which 39,000 tonnes is e-waste.
 The facility can process the entire range of WEEE from consumer and industrial to
commercial and military.
 The project is supported by the Swiss Government Export Finance Agency.
WEF’s global Energy Transition index: India ranks at 76th position

 India has been ranked at 76th position among 115 countries in the global energy transition
index.
 Overall, India has moved up two places from 78th last year.
 China is ranked even lower than India at 82nd position,
though it ranks very high at seventh place in the world for
regulation and political commitment.
 Sweden remains on the top in the index. Switzerland and
Norway ranked at second and third position respectively in the index.
 Among major economies, the United Kingdom (UK) is ranked seventh. Singapore has been
ranked thirteenth, while Germany, Japan and the US have bagged the seventeenth,
eighteenth and the twenty-seventh place respectively.
 The index is compiled by the Geneva-based World Economic Forum (WEF).
Soyuz Spacecraft Successfully reach ISS

 Russian Soyuz spacecraft carrying NASA Astronaut Nick Hague and Christina Koch, and
Cosmonaut (Russian Crew members are called as a cosmonaut) Alexey Ovchinin
successfully docked International Space Station.
 Soyuz Spacecraft
 Soyuz is a Russian Spacecraft carries people and supplies to and from
the space station. Soyuz Spacecraft also function as lifeboats and one
Soyuz spacecraft is always docked to the space station, so that in case of
emergency the crew can return to earth through the spacecraft.
 After the retirement of the space shuttle in 2011, the Soyuz spacecraft
has become the sole means of transportation for crew members going to or returning from
the orbiting laboratory.
 International Space Station
 The International Space Station is a habitable artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The
ISS maintains an orbit with an altitude of between 330 and 435 km (205 and 270 mi) by
means of re-boost manoeuvres and circles the Earth in roughly 92 minutes and completes
15.5 orbits per day
 The ISS programme is a joint project between five participating space agencies: NASA
(United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA (Japan), ESA (Europe), and CSA (Canada).
 The ISS serves as a microgravity and space environment research laboratory in which crew
members conduct experiments in biology, human biology, Physics, Astronomy,
meteorology, and other fields.
Sri Lanka President hands over a proposal to declare Tripitaka as World Heritage
 Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena handed over a proposal seeking to declare the
Theravada Tripitaka as a UNESCO World Heritage.
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 The Theravada Tripitaka (sacred scripture of Buddhists) was declared as a National

heritage of Sri Lanka by President in January this year.
 Buddha’s preaching was propagated through the word to mouth for generations till the
Tripitaka was finally written down in Sri Lanka about 100 years BC.
 Note:
 The whole teachings of Buddha are contained in three volumes titled ‘Sutta, Vinaya and
Abhidhamma’.
 They were first compiled and written on palm leaves with more than 1000 monks involved
in the task in Aluvihare near Matale.
Finland tops Global Happiness Index for the second straight year
 As per UN World Happiness Report, Finland has been ranked
tops as the happiest country in the world for the second year.
 The report was released by the Sustainable Development
Solutions Network for the United Nations on March 20 which
was declared as World Happiness Day by the UN General
Assembly in 2012.
 Indian figures at 140th place(seven spots down from last year) on this year's UN World
Happiness Report.
 The report ranks countries on six key variables that support well-being: income, freedom,
trust, healthy life expectancy, social support and generosity.
Google unveils Stadia:a video-game streaming platform

 Google unveiled a video-game streaming platform ‘Stadia’,
positioning itself to take on the traditional video-game business.
 The platform will store a game-playing session in the cloud and lets
players jump across devices operating on Google's Chrome browser
and Chrome OS, such as Pixel phones and Chromebooks.
 Google made the announcement at the Game Developers
Conference in San Francisco.
Kazakhstan renames its capital Astana to Nursultan

 Kazakhstan has renamed its capital Astana to Nursultan to
honour outgoing leader Nursultan Nazarbayev(78-years),
served nearly 30 years as president of the nation.
 Mr Tokayev was sworn in as president some 24 hours after
Mr Nazarbayev's surprise resignation.
 He will serve for the remainder of the presidential term
which expires in April 2020.
Vienna placed at the top position in the Mercer’s Quality of Living Survey 2019
 The Austrian capital Vienna topped the new Mercer Quality of Living Survey.
 Thirteen out of the world’s 20 best places to live are in
Europe.
 Zurich, Switzerland's biggest city, came in second place
for overall quality of living, followed by Auckland, Munich
and Vancouver in joint third place.
 Luxembourg was named as the safest city in the world,
followed by Helsinki in Finland and the Swiss cities of Basel, Bern and Zurich.
20 |
 Note:
 Mercer's annual index ranks 231 cities around the world on factors including political
stability, crime, personal freedoms, healthcare, education, housing, recreation and public
transport.
 World's 3 best cities for quality of living
 Vienna, Austria,
 Zurich, Switzerland,
 Vancouver, Canada, Munich, Germany, Auckland, New Zealand
 World's 3 worst cities for quality of living
 Baghdad, Iraq,
 Bangui, Central African Republic and
 Sana'a, Yemen
Google shuts down instant messaging app 'Allo'

 Google Allo instant messaging mobile app finally shutting
down.
 The ‘Allo app’ uses phone numbers as identifiers, and
allows users to exchange messages, files, voice notes and
images.
 Google Allo (launched in 2016) was an instant messaging
mobile app by Google for the Android and iOS mobile operating systems, with a web client
available on Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Opera.
WHO launches new global influenza strategy

 The World Health Organization (WHO) has released a Global
Influenza Strategy for 2019-2030 to protect all people from
the threat of influenza.
 The objective of the strategy is to prevent seasonal
influenza, control the spread of influenza from animals to
humans, and prepare for the next influenza pandemic.’
 Vaccination is especially important for people at higher risk
of serious influenza complications and for health care
workers.
 Note:
 WHO recommends annual influenza vaccination as the most effective way to prevent
‘influenza’.
 Influenza is an infectious disease caused by an influenza virus.
India, U.S. agree to build six nuclear power plants in India

 India and the U.S. have agreed to build six American nuclear power plants in India, in a
boost to bilateral civil nuclear energy cooperation.
 The two countries said this in a joint statement issued at the
conclusion of the 9th round of India-U.S. Strategic Security
Dialogue, co-chaired by Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale and
Andrea Thompson, the U.S. Under Secretary of State for
Arms Control and International Security, on March 13.
21 |
 According to the joint statement, “They committed to strengthening bilateral security and
civil nuclear cooperation, including the establishment of six U.S. nuclear power plants in
India.
 India and the U.S. signed a historic agreement to cooperate in the civil nuclear energy
sector in October 2008.
 The deal gave a fillip to bilateral ties, which have been on an upswing since.
 Note:
 A major aspect of the deal was the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), that gave a special
waiver to India enabling it to sign cooperation agreements with a dozen countries.
 Post-waiver, India signed civil nuclear cooperation agreements with the U.S., France,
Russia, Canada, Argentina, Australia, Sri Lanka, the U.K., Japan, Vietnam, Bangladesh,
Kazakhstan and South Korea.
India gets first TIR shipment via Chabahar Port from Afghanistan
 The first shipment under the United Nations ‘Transports Internationaux Routiers’ (TIR)
convention arrived in India from Afghanistan through
Iran’s Chabahar Port.
 The consignments arrived at port of Nhava Sheva, Mumbai
and Mundra on 13th March 2019, officials said.
 Note:
 India had joined the TIR Convention (the United Nations
Customs Convention on International Transport of Goods under cover of TIR Carnets) on
June 15, 2017.
 The convention allows goods to be outlined in a TIR carnet and sealed in load
compartments.
Malaysia joins the International Criminal Court

 Malaysia has become the 124th member of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
 The ICC is the world’s only permanent war crimes court and
aims to prosecute the worst abuses when national courts are
unable or unwilling.
 The International Criminal Court (ICC) is an
intergovernmental organization and international tribunal
that sits in The Hague in the Netherlands, establishment in
2002.
 The ICC has the jurisdiction to prosecute individuals for the international crimes of
genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and crimes of aggression.
 The ICC has four principal organs: the Presidency, the Judicial Divisions, the Office of the
Prosecutor, and the Registry.
Russia suspends participation in Intermediate-Range Nuclear treaty with US

 Russian President Vladimir Putin has officially suspended
the country's participation in a key Cold War-era nuclear
arms-control treaty with the United States.
 Mr. Putin signed a decree regarding the suspension of
Russia's participation in the Intermediate-Range Nuclear
Forces, INF treaty between the USSR and the US in 1987.
 The move was taken following a violation of the United States of its obligations under the
treaty.
22 |
 Earlier, Both Countries have accused one another of breaching the INF treaty.
US, N Korea fail to strike a deal at Hanoi Summit

 The United States and North Korea have failed to reach a
formal deal at two-day North Korea– United States Hanoi
Summit 2019 held at the Metropole Hotel in Hanoi,
Vietnam.
 The talk has ended with no agreement after the US refused
North Korean demand to lift all international sanctions.
 This was the second meeting between North Korean
Chairman Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump following the first meeting in June
2018 in Singapore
Google getting rid of the ability to unlock mobile phones with Voice Match
 The search-engine giant ‘Google’ is getting rid of the ability
to unlock mobile phones with Voice Match and the 'Ok
Google' command.
 Google has decided to limit this unlock feature to only
launch the Assistant interface on the lock screen instead of
unlocking the Android device based on voice match.
 A few devices have already lost the functionality with the
Google app's 9.27.
 For users, this will mean a loss of functionality, but a significant gain in terms of security.
 The Venezuelan government has announced to expel German ambassador Daniel Kriener
from the country. President Nicolas Maduro's embattled government has declared the
German ambassador persona non grata and ordered him to leave the country within 48
hours.
 India and Costa Rica signed two documents during Vice President Venkaiah Naidu's first
visit to the Central American nation. The documents were signed and exchanged following
talks between Naidu and Costa Rican President Carlos Alvarado Quesada.
 Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi have been hit by a vicious cyclone 'IDAI' that has killed
nearly 150 people, left hundreds more missing and stranded tens of thousands who are cut
off from roads and telephones in mainly poor, rural areas.
 New Zealand has imposed an immediate ban on assault weapons following the
Christchurch massacre that claimed the lives of 50 mosquegoers.
 President Ram Nath Kovind embarked on a state visit to Croatia, Bolivia and Chile to hold
talks with the leaders of these countries and strengthen ties in trade, investment and
renewable energy.
 Oslo, the capital city of Norway will become the world's first city to install wireless,
inductionbased charging stations for its fleet of electric taxis with an aim to have a zero-
emission cab system by the year 2023 according to a report by Reuters.
 An Ethiopian Airlines had grounded its Boeing 737 MAX 8 fleet after a crash that killed
157 people on board including eight crew. The crash occurred around the town of Bishoftu
(60-kilometre south-east of the Addis Ababa) shortly after take-off from the Bole
International Airport, Ethiopia. The Boeing 737 Max-8 was carrying passengers from 33
countries.
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1. Which nation has decided to make gay sex, adultery punishable with death by stoning?
a) North Korea b) Saudi Arabia c) Yemen d) Brunei
2. Which nation has barred its opposition leader, Juan Guaido from public office for 15 years?
a) Italy b) Venezuela c) Argentina d) Colombia
3. Germany has extended a ban on arms export to this nation by six months.
a) Iran b) Yemen c) Saudi Arabia d) Pakistan
4. Which nation has directedly moved a draft resolution in the United Nations to designate Azhar as
global terrorist?
a) United States b) Russia c) Germany d) India
5. The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on March 28, 2019 unanimously passed the resolution
to combat which of the following?
a) Desertification b) Terror funding c) Biological weapons d) Climate Change
6. India has begun a new cruise service along with which nation?
a) Myanmar b) Bangladesh c) Sri Lanka d) Indonesia
7. What was the title of white paper recently issued by China on democratic reforms in Tibet?
a) People’s rule in Tibet – after a long hiatus b) Democratic Reform in Tibet - Sixty Years On
c) Tibet is free – People’s rule prevails d) How China brought democracy in Tibet
8. The President of which country signed proclamation on March 25, 2019 recognising Golan Heights
as Israeli territory?
a) United States b) Guatemala c) India d) South Korea
9. Who has become the longest living President in the history of the United States politics?
a) Gerald Ford b) Jimmy Carter c) Ronald Reagan d) Bill Clinton
10. Which country launched the Hyperspectral Precursor of the Application Mission (PRISMA) Satellite?
a) Italy b) USA c) India d) Russia
11. Which nation has become the first G-7 country to sign up for China’s Belt and Road Initiative?
a) Canada b) Italy c) France d) Germany
12. Kazakhstan's parliament on March 20, 2019 renamed which of its cities?
a) Almaty b) Taraz c) Astana d) Turkistan
13. Scientists have successfully designed a way to levitate objects using which energy?
a) Water b) Light c) Wind d) Electricity
14. Which country has retained its position as the leading individual country for international patent
applications filed in 2018?
a) India b) United States c) Japan d) France
15. Cyclone IDAI has affected over 1.5 million people in which among the following continents?
a) Oceania b) Australia c) Africa d) South America
16. What is the theme of the 6th edition of the Global Environment Outlook Report?
a) Healthy Planet, Healthy People b) Save Planet, Save Water
c) Plant Trees, Plant Joy d) Work now for Bright future
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17. Indian and Pakistani officials on March 14, 2019 held the first round of talks to discuss and finalise
the modalities for Kartarpur Corridor. The corridor will connect which district of Punjab with
Pakistan?
a) Amritsar b) Gurdaspur c) Ferozpur d) Kartarpur
18. Over 40 countries including India decided to ground which model of Boeing aircraft?
a) Boeing 737 MAX b) Boeing 747 - 8
c) Boeing Next Generation 737 d) Boeing 777 X
19. Which space agency’s lunar orbiter has observed water molecules moving around the dayside of
Moon?
a) NASA b) ISRO c) CNSA d) ESA
20. The US has reduced visa validity from 5 years to 1 year for citizens belonging to which nation?
a) India b) Russia c) North Korea d) Pakistan
21. Which nation has suspended its participation in Intermediate-Range Nuclear treaty with the United
States?
a) Germany b) Russia c) France d) Japan
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Multi-dimensional Poverty Index 2018

 The Multi-dimensional Poverty Index 2018 report prepared by the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford
Poverty and Human Development Initiative makes
the following observations about India:
 India has reduced its poverty rate drastically from
55% to 28% in 10 years, with 271 million people
moving out of poverty between 2005-06 and 2015-
16.
 India still had 364 million poor in 2015-16, the
largest for any country, although it is down from
635 million in 2005-06.
 Poverty reduction among children, the poorest states, Scheduled Tribes, and Muslims was
fastest.
 Of the 364 million people who were MPI poor in 2015-16, 156 million (34.6%) were
children whereas in 2005-06 there were 292 million poor children in India. This represents
a 47% decrease or 136 million fewer children growing up in multidimensional poverty.
 Even though poverty among Muslims and STs has been reduced poverty the most over the
10 years, these two groups still had the highest rates of poverty.
 80% of ST members were poor in 2005-06 and 50% of them were still poor in 2015-16.
While 60% of Muslims were poor in 2005-06, 31% of them were still poor in 2015-16.
 Bihar with more than half its population in poverty was the poorest state in 2015-16.
 The four poorest states Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh were still
home to 196 million MPI poor people, which was over half of all the MPI poor people in
India.
 Jharkhand had shown the greatest improvement, followed by Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar,
Chhattisgarh, and Nagaland.
 Kerala, one of the least poor regions in 2006, reduced its MPI by around 92%.
 Global Findings
 3 billion People live in multidimensional poverty in the 105 developing countries and
represents 23%, or nearly a quarter, of the population of these countries, are deprived in at
least one-third of overlapping indicators in health, education, and living standards.
 Multidimensional poverty particularly acute in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia and
these two regions account together for 83% (more than 1.1 billion) of all
multidimensionally poor people in the world.
 Two-thirds of all multidimensionally poor people live in middle-income countries, with 889
million people in these countries experiencing deprivations in nutrition, schooling, and
sanitation.
 The level of global child poverty is staggering, with children accounting for virtually half
(49.9%) of the world’s poor. Over 665 million children live in multidimensional poverty.
 In 35 countries, at least half of all children are MPI poor and in South Sudan and Niger
around 93% of all children are MPI poor.
 The MPI provides data about “who is poor” and “how they are poor”.
26 |
World Happiness Report 2019

 The United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions
Network has released the World Happiness Report 2019.
The report ranks countries on six key variables that support
well-being: income, freedom, trust, healthy life expectancy,
social support and generosity.
 The United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions
Network ranks the world’s 156 countries on “how happy
their citizens perceive themselves to be”.
 Findings of the Report
 Finland topped the index of for the second year in a row and
the report notes that Finland has succeeded in generating
recipe that’s not dependent on economic wealth.
 Finland is followed by Denmark, Norway, Iceland and The Netherlands.
 The report notes that there has been an increase in negative emotions, including worry,
sadness and anger across the world and the overall world happiness has fallen over the
past few years.
 None of the world’s major economic powerhouses made it to the top 10.
 The United Kingdom stood at a rank of 15 (from 18 last year), Germany went down from
the 15th spot to the 17th and the United States dropped from the 18th to the 19th.
 Japan, Russia and China finished at 58 (down from 54th), 68 (down from 59th ) and 93rd
place (down from 86th) respectively.
 India has witnessed a sustained drop with a 140th place this year compared with the 133rd
place in 2018.
 India featured in the list of five countries that had the largest drop since 2005-2008 in the
index, along with Yemen, Syria, Botswana and Venezuela.
Integral Coach Factory of Chennai became the World’s largest rail coach manufacturer
 Indian Railways Integral Coach Factory (ICF) of Chennai
has surpassed the top Chinese manufacturers after creating
a 40% record increase in its production.
 Now, Indian Railway’s oldest and premier coach
manufacturing unit becomes the single largest rail coach
manufacturer in the world.
 ICF has manufactured 2,919 coaches (April 2018 to
February 2019) as compared to 2,600 coaches by Chinese manufacturers.
SBI, ICICI, HDFC Bank to remain as Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-SIBs): RBI
 SBI, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank continue to be in
the Reserve Bank of India’s list of Domestic Systemically
Important Banks (D-SIBs) for 2018.
 The Reserve Bank of India released the list of Domestic
Systemically Important Banks (D-SIBs) on 14th March 2019.
 As per the notification, SBI, ICICI Bank, and HDFC Bank
continue to be identified as Domestic Systemically Important
Banks (D-SIBs), under the same bucketing structure as last
year.
 Note:
27 |
 D-SIBs are required to maintain higher capital as compared to other banks.

 The additional Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) requirement for D-SIBs has already been
phased-in from April 1, 2016, and will become fully effective from April 1, 2019, the RBI
said, releasing the list for 2018.
 The additional CET1 requirement will be in addition to the capital conservation buffer.
“Current update is based on the data collected from banks as on March 31, 2018,” RBI said.
RBI categorises IDBI Bank as private sector lender

 As per RBI notification, IDBI Bank has been categorized as ‘a private sector lender’
following the acquisition of majority stake by Life
Insurance Corporation (LIC).
 Earlier (In January 2019), LIC completed the process of
picking up a controlling 51% stake in the nearly crippled
IDBI Bank.
 IDBI Bank has been categorized as a ‘private sector bank’
with effect from 21st January 2019.
 IDBI Bank has been under the prompt corrective action framework of RBI that bans it from
corporate lending and branch expansions, salary hikes and other regular activities.
 The bank's gross non-performing assets (NPAs) shot up to 29.67 per cent of gross
advances as at December 31, 2018 against 24.72 per cent in the year-ago period.
India ranks 11th in gold holding: World Gold Council

 India (world’s largest consumer of gold) has the 11th largest gold reserve, with the current
holding pegged at 607 tonnes, as per the latest
report by the World Gold Council (WGC).
 The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is
included and is third on the list with total gold
reserves of 2,814 tonnes.
 The list is topped by the U.S., which claims of gold
reserves of 8,133.5 tonnes, followed by Germany
with 3,369.7 tonnes.
 Italy and France complete the top five list with
reserves of a little over 2,400 tonneseach.
 Meanwhile, among Asian countries, China and Japan have more reserves of the precious
metal when compared to India. China – WGC takes into account only ‘Mainland China’ – has
reserves of 1,864.3 tonnes, while Japan has gold reserves of 765.2 tonnes
Mumbai airport tops in ‘over 40 m’ passenger category

 As per the Airport Council International (ACI) World, The GVK-led Mumbai International
Airport Ltd (MIAL) has been awarded for the best
airport by size and region in the ‘Over 40 Million’
passenger category.
 The award was in recognition of excellence
in customer experience in the Asia-Pacific region.
 This is the highest possible reward for any airport
operator covering more than half of the world's 8.3
billion passengers.
 The award ceremony will be held in Bali,
Indonesia.
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Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport 12th busiest in the world

 According to Airports Council International (ACI) report, India’s Indira Gandhi
International Airport (IGIA) has become the world's 12th busiest airport, moving up four
places (in 2017- 16th spot).
 The preliminary world airport traffic rankings for 2018 has
been released by the Airports Council International (ACI).
 The IGI airport saw 6.9 crore domestic and international
flyers in 2018, which is 10.2% points higher than the
combined passengers of 2017.
 ACI's World Airport Traffic Forecasts also predicts that India
will represent the third largest aviation market, in terms of
passenger throughput, after the US and China by 2020.
 Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in the US was named the busiest airport in
the world.
 Note:
 Indira Gandhi International Airport serves as the primary civilian aviation hub for the
National Capital Region of Delhi, India.
HDFC Bank becomes the 3rd company to cross Rs 6 lakh crore m-cap
 HDFC Bank has become the third listed entity to
achieve a market cap of Rs 6 lakh crore after
Reliance Industries and TCS.
 On 13th March 2019, shares of the country’s largest
private bank gained 2.6% to hit an all-time high of
Rs 2,226.
 This resulted in the market capitalisation of the
bank reaching nearly Rs 6.1 lakh crore for the first
time, which makes it more valuable than all the
listed public sector banks put together.
 Note:
 Reliance Industries (most valuable company) has a market cap of Rs 8.5 lakh crore while
TCS is slightly behind at Rs 7.5 lakh crore.
 The value of HDFC Bank is 80% more than HDFC — its parent, which promoted the bank 25
years ago.
 According to analysts, a large part of HDFC’s valuation is derived from its holding of the
banks shares.
India's internet base crosses 500 million mark

 According to a newly released Kantar IMRB ICUBE report, Internet user base in Indiahas
exceeded 500 million marks.
 It is likely to reach 627 million by the end of 2019.
 The number of internet users is estimated to be 566
million as of December 2018 (annual growth -18%).
 The report finds 493 million Indians (total user base-
87%) are defined as regular users, having accessed
the internet in the last 30 days.
 Around 293 million active internet users reside in
urban India, while there are 200 million active users in rural India.
29 |
SpiceJet becomes first Indian low-cost airline to join IATA

 SpiceJet has joined global airlines’ grouping International
Air Transport Association (IATA) as a member, becoming
the first Indian low-cost carrier to get the membership.
 The IATA represents more than 290 airlines, including Air
India, Jet Airways and Vistara.
 The IATA membership is significant on account of SpiceJet’s
plans for rapidly expanding its international footprint.
 SpiceJet is the first Indian low-cost carrier to be an IATA member and fifth member of IATA
in India.
Union Government announces new Rs 20 coin

 The union Government has announced a new Rs 20 coin,
come in 12-edged polygon (dodecagon) shape.
 According to the Finance Ministry, the new Rs 20 coin will be
made in copper (65%), zinc (15%) and nickel (20%) for the
outer ring.
 While the inner ring (centre piece) will be 75% copper, 20%
zinc and 5% nickel.
 It will be 27mm (milli meters) and weigh 8.54 grams.
 The Lion Capitol symbol of Ashoka Pillar with the legend “Satyamev Jayate” below it will be
inscribed on its front side.
 The words “Bharat” in Hindi and “INDIA” in English will be there on the right and left-hand
side of the symbol respectively.
 The government is also planning to release new coins of Re 1, Rs 2, Rs 5 and Rs 10.
NGT slaps Rs 500 crore penalty on Volkswagen

 The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has slapped a fine of Rs 500 crore on German global
auto giant ‘Volkswagen’ for damaging the environment
using “cheat device” in its diesel cars in India.
 A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh
Kumar Goel directed the German global auto giant to
deposit the amount within two months.
 The tribunal enhanced the compensation amount of Rs.
171.34 crore, which was recommended by an NGT-
appointed committee, as a means of “creating deterrence”.
 Note:
 Volkswagen Group is a German multinational automotive manufacturing company
headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany and indirectly majority owned by the
Austrian Porsche-Piech family.
 It designs, manufactures and distributes passenger and commercial vehicles, motorcycles,
engines, and turbomachinery.
IRCTC launches Its Own Digital Payment Gateway ‘IRCTC iPay’

 Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has launched its own digital
payment aggregator called ‘IRCTC iPay’.
 IRCTC iPay will provide payment options like credit card, debit card, unified payment
interface and international card.
 This will help reduce the gap between IRCTC and banks which will eventually lead to a
substantial reduction in payment failures.
30 |
 The back-end support will be provided by Delhi based MMAD communications (IRCTC’s
technology partner).
Indian economy expected to grow at 7.3% in 2019-20: Moody's

 US-based Major credit rating agency Moody's Investors Service estimated that Indian
economy is expected to grow at 7.3 per cent in calendar years 2019 and 2020.
 Moody's growth estimates are based on the calendar year.
 India measures its economic growth based on the fiscal year
from April to March.
 Moody's said the announcement in Interim Budget 2019-20
on direct cash transfer programme for farmers and the
middle-class tax relief measures will contribute a fiscal
stimulus of about 0.45 per cent of GDP.
 Major credit rating agencies of the world:
 Moody's Investors Service was established in 1909, headquarters in New York, USA.
 Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC: was founded in 1860, headquarters in New York,
USA, subsidiary of S&P Global.
 Fitch Ratings: was founded in 1914, headquarters in New York City and London.
IRDAI, NHA form working group to curb fraud in Ayushman Bharat scheme
 The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority
of India (IRDAI) and the National Health Authority (NHA)
jointly formed a working group on the Ayushman Bharat
Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY).
 The 10 members joint working group will be chaired by Dr
Dinesh Arora (Deputy CEO of NHA).
 It will submit a report on how to detect and deter fraud
through a common repository and capacity-building.
 Note:
 Ayushman Bharat Yojana is a centrally sponsored scheme launched in 2018, under the
Ayushman Bharat Mission of MoHFW in India.
 The scheme aims at making interventions in primary, secondary and tertiary care systems,
covering both preventive and promotive health, to address healthcare holistically.
PM releases new series of coins for Divyang kids

 Prime Minister Narendra Modi has released the new series
of visually-impaired friendly circulation coins in the
denomination of Rs 1, Rs 2, Rs 5, Rs 10 and Rs 20.
 Various new features have been incorporated in the new
series of circulation coins to make it easy for the visually
impaired to use them.
 The coins are characterised by the increasing size and
weight from lower to higher denominations.
 The newly-included coin of Rs 20, will be a 12-sided coin with no serrations (rest round
shape).
 The rest of the denominations would be of the round shape.
 The OECD cut forecasts again for the global economy in 2019 and 2020, following on from
previous downgrades in November, as it warned that trade disputes and uncertainty over
Brexit would hit world commerce and businesses. The Organization for Economic Co-
31 |
Operation & Development forecast in its interim outlook report that the world economy
would grow 3.3 percent in 2019 and 3.4 percent in 2020. Those forecasts represented cuts
of 0.2 percentage points for 2019 and 0.1 percentage points for 2020, compared to the
OECD's last set of forecasts in November.
 Markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) withdrew the 20% limit on
investments by Foreign Portfolio Investors in corporate bonds of an entity. The regulator
stated that the restriction is being withdrawn in accordance with a circular issued by the
Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
 The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to use a new tool for the first time to enhance
liquidity in the system using which it will buy $5 billion from the banks in a swap deal that
is capable of injecting around Rs. 35,000 crores into the system. Minimum bid size for the
auction has been fixed at $25 million and multiple bids submission by banks will be
allowed.
 GST council approved a transition plan for new goods and services tax rates on residential
properties under which developers of under- construction buildings may either opt to shift
to the revised lower rates without input tax credit or stick to the previous rates.
 Fitch Ratings cut India's economic growth forecast for the next financial year starting April
1, to 6.8% from its previous estimate of 7%, on weaker than expected momentum in the
economy. The rating agency has also cut growth forecasts for FY20 and FY21 to 7% from
7.3% and 7.1% from 7.3%, respectively.
 The Finance Ministry has decided to keep the interest rate unchanged on small savings
schemes for the three-month period beginning April 1. The unchanged interest rate means
the NSC (5 years) and the PPF (15 years) will fetch 8% interest, while money deposited in
KVP will double in little over nine years. At the same time, if one is parking money in a fixed
deposit with a maturity of five years with the State Bank of India, he/she will get 6.85%.
Senior citizens will get half a percent more: 7.35%.
 Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) announced that it has recorded cargo
movement of more than 200 million metric tonnes (MMT) at nine ports along the east and
west coasts, becoming the first Indian port operator to achieve the milestone.
1. Which Miniratna category Central Public Sector Enterprise on March 29, 2019 came out with the
Initial public offering (IPO)?
a) Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd b) Airline Allied Services Ltd
c) Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd d) Solar Energy Corporation of India Ltd
2. Which celebrity recently launched the independent music label ‘IncInk’?

a) AR Rahman b) Alia Bhatt c) Ranveer Singh d) Javed Akhtar
3. The Reserve Bank of India has imposed Rs 2 crore penalty on which public sector bank?
a) State Bank of India b) UCO Bank c) Canara Bank d) Punjab National Bank
4. Which online streaming service has piloted a $4 worth mobile plan in India to woo users?
a) Netflix b) Amazon Prime c) Hotstar d) HBO Now
5. India was ranked at which position on the World Economic Forum’s Global Energy Transition Index
2019?
a) 76 b) 67 c) 78 d) 81
6. Which country topped the World Economic Forum’s Global Energy Transition Index?
32 |
a) Sweden b) Norway c) Switzerland d) Singapore
7. Which Indian airlines in January 2019 recognised itself as defaulter of bank payments with debt of
over USD 1 billion?
a) SpiceJet b) IndiGo c) Go Air d) Jet Airways
8. The Union Cabinet has approved which policy to ensure more effective regulation in mining sector?
a) National Mineral Policy 2019 b) Mineral Regulation Policy 2019
c) Mineral Sector Policy 19-20 d) Policy for Mining Sector 2019
9. The Reserve Bank of India has signed a bilateral swap arrangement with the bank of which nation?
a) Germany b) Japan c) Switzerland d) France
10. Union Minister of Finance Arun Jaitley released the first report on EASE Reforms Index that
measured the progress of which institutions?
a) Public Sector Banks b) Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises
c) Private Companies d) Start Ups
11. The European Union member states have vetoed the plan to add which nation to its money-
laundering list?
a) Saudi Arabia b) India c) Russia d) Qatar
12. India fetched what position in the latest report of the World Gold Council in terms of the quantum of
gold holding?
a) 3rd b) 11th c) 23rd d) 31st
13. How much money has the RBI decided to infuse into the system through open market operations?
a) Rs 12,500 crore b) Rs 50,000 crore c) Rs 32,500 crore d) Rs 5600 crore
14. Prime Minister Narendra Modi released the new series of "visually impaired friendly circulation"
coins. Which denomination coin will be of 12-edged polygon shape?
a) Rs 2 b) Rs 5 c) Rs 10 d) Rs 20
33 |
Mission Shakti
 Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that India has successfully test-fired an anti-
satellite (A-SAT) missile by shooting down a live satellite. The project named as Mission
Shakti was led by the Defence Research and Development Organisation
(DRDO) was aimed at strengthening India’s overall security.
 Key Facts about Mission Shakti
 DRDO-developed A-SAT system successfully destroyed a live satellite in
the Low Earth Orbit.
 India is only the fourth country after the U.S., Russia and China to have
the A-SAT technology.
 The PM Narendra Modi in his address has made clear that the intent of DRDO’s “Mission
Shakti” is to defend India’s space assets and not to start an arms race in space.
 The indigenous development of the A-SAT technology will have many spin-offs that India
can exploit for civilian commercial use.
 The test was carried out from the Dr A.P.J Abdul Kalam Island launch complex off the coast
of Odisha by the DRDO.
 Since the test was done in the lower atmosphere, whatever debris that is generated will
decay and fall back onto the earth within weeks.
 Mission Shakti does not violate the 1967 Outer Space Treaty of which India is a signatory.
The treaty prohibits only weapons of mass destruction in outer space, not ordinary
weapons.
 The ASAT test was not directed against any country. India’s space capabilities neither
threaten any country nor are they directed against anyone. But as an added advantage the
capability achieved through the anti-satellite missile test provides credible deterrence
against threats to our growing space-based assets from long-range missiles and
proliferation in the types and numbers of missiles.
Dhanush Howitzers Inducted Into Indian Army

 Four indigenous Dhanush Howitzer guns were inducted to the Indian Army. The induction
of Dhanush Howitzer guns gives major fire-power boost to the Indian
Armed Forces.
 Dhanush Howitzers
 Dhanush Long Range Artillery Guns are the first ever indigenous 155
mm x 45 calibre long-range artillery guns.
 Dhanush Long Range Artillery Guns are equipped with inertial
navigation-based sighting system, auto-laying facility, on-board ballistic computation and
an advanced day and night direct firing system.
 The self-propulsion unit on Dhanush allows the gun to negotiate and deploy itself in
mountainous terrains with ease.
 Dhanush is also electronically upgraded to enhance firing accuracies, laying speeds of the
existing gun and to provide compatibility with various kinds of ammunition as well.
 Dhanushhowitzer is an improved version of Bofors guns acquired by India between 1987
and 1991.
 Dhanush howitzer is a reverse-engineered upgraded variant of the original Bofors design.
34 |
 Dhanush reportedly has a new maximum effective range of 38 kilometers in salvo mode.
 Dhanush howitzer is capable of firing eight rounds per minutes and needs a crew of six to
eight artillerymen.
 Dhanush makes outranged Pakistani artillery units more vulnerable to Indian counter-
battery fire, while itself staying out of reach. Dhanush’s longer range and high rate of fire
will also make it useful in tackling localised Pakistan Army’s offensives in sectors of the LoC
where the terrain favours the Pakistani side.
Specialised Gurkha Infantry Battalion in British Army

 The British Army has announced that it would create a new Specialised Infantry Battalion
by recruiting more than 800 Nepalese Gurkha servicepersons. Gurkhas have completed 200
years of service in the British Army and currently, they comprise up to
3% of the British Army.
 Gurkha and British Army
 During the Anglo-Nepalese War of 1814-16, Gorkha Kingdom had
inflicted heavy casualties on the British Army even though they had
lost the war. British India decided to recruit these soldiers starting in
1815 and the Gurkhas have fought on the side of the British Empire in
almost every war, including both World Wars.
 After the Indian Independence in 1947, as per the Britain-India-Nepal Tripartite Agreement
1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 8th, and 10th Gurkha Rifles regiments were assigned to India, and the
2nd, 6th, 7th, and 10th were assigned regiments to Britain. Further India created 11th
Gurkha Rifles regiment to accommodate the Gurkhas who refused to depart with the now-
British regiments.
 British later amalgamated the 2nd, 6th, 7th, and 10th battalions into Royal Gurkha Rifles
(RGR) regiment. The Gurkhas are recruitment every year by the British Army and Gurkhas
are held in high esteem in the British Army. Khukri, the signature weapon of Gurkhas forms
part of the Gurkha regimental insignia in Britain as well as in India.
 Gurkhas have the same service conditions as the regular British Army, with the option of
British citizenship upon retirement.
IAF inducts first four heavy-lift Chinook helicopters

 Indian Air Force (IAF) on March 25 inducted the four heavy-
lift Chinook helicopters at Chandigarh's Air Force Station 12
Wing.
 It was announced by Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa during
the induction at a ceremony held at Air Force base in
Chandigarh.
 About Chinook helicopter
 Chinook has been procured with India-specific
enhancements and can carry out military operations even at night.
 The Chinook helicopter has fully integrated digital cockpit management system and is
capable of transporting fully-equipped infantry soldiers for specialised operations.
 A multi-mission heavy-left transport helicopter, Chinook will be used to move troops,
artillery, ammunition, supplies and equipment on the battlefield.
 Its 24X7, all-weather operational capabilities are crucial for India Air Force, which operates
in some of the most hostile terrains in the world.
35 |
India, Sri Lanka joint exercise 'Mitra Shakti-VI' to commence from 26thMarch
 India and Sri Lanka will conduct a joint exercise 'Mitra Shakti' in Sri Lanka from 26thMarch
to 8th April for the year 2018-19.
 It is conducted annually as part of military diplomacy and interaction between armies of
two nations.
 The exercise will involve tactical level operations in an international counter-terrorism
environment under United Nations mandate.
Indian Army holds Military Exercise with 17 African Nations

 The Indian Army began a 10-day military exercise with armed forces of 17 African nations
‘AFINDEX-19’ at Aundh Military Station, Pune (Maharashtra).
 A flypast by a set of Advanced Light Helicopters and Cheetah Helicopter of the Indian Army
carrying the flags of United Nations, India and the AFINDEX was the highlight of the
opening ceremony.
 The countries participating in the inaugural edition of the Africa-India Field Training
Exercise (AFINDEX) include Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger,
Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Benin and
Botswana.
 The exercise will focus on the exchange of best practices between the participating nations,
team building and tactical level operations in the conduct of the UN-mandated tasks.
Indian Air Force to participate in ‘LIMA 2019’

 Indian Air Force will participate in Langkawi International Maritime Aero Expo ‘LIMA 2019’
in Langkawi, Malaysia (26th to 30th March 2019).
 Indian Air Force is participating in the Expo for the first time and it
will showcase its indigenously developed LCA fighter aircraft.
 It will provide an opportunity to air-warriors to interact with their
Royal Malaysian Air Force counterparts and foster close
relationship between the two services.
 This will also serve as a foundation for any future interaction with the Malaysian Air Force.
'Vijit' becomes the first Indian Coast Guard ship to visit Indonesia
 Indian Coast Guard Ship 'Vijit' has become the first-ever
Coast Guard ship to visit Sabang, Indonesia.
 This visit of the coast guard ship follows from the first-ever-
visit of Naval Ship INS Sumitra to Sabang in July 2018.
 Vijit's visit also highlights strengthening cooperation in the
area of maritime security and safety between New Delhi
and Jakarta.
 The ship is commanded by Comdt T Ashish (0532-J), who is
a long Navigation Direction officer.
 ICGS Vijit is the 2nd in the series of 90 meters Offshore Patrol Vessels and was
commissioned at Goa on 11 Dec 2010.
Pune-based firm developing software to operate the world’s largest ground telescope in
Hawaii
 A Pune-based IT firm is developing software for the world’s largest ground-based telescope
‘Thirty Metre Telescope (TMT)’, likely to come up on Mauna Kea in Hawaii.
 The telescope is being constructed jointly by India, US, China, Japan and Canada and is likely
to become operational in the mid-2020s.
36 |
 India is building the telescope’s complex optical structure, called the Segment Support
Assembly (SSA).
 An eight-member team at the IT firm, Thought Works, is designing three different software
- Common Software Services (CSS), Data Management Services (DMS) and Executive
Software (ES).
Indo Oman Joint Exercise Al Nagah III 2019 begins in Oman

 Indo Oman Joint Exercise Al Nagah III 2019, a joint military
exercise between Indian and Royal Army of Oman (RAO),
commenced this morning at HQ Jabel Regiment, Nizwa, Oman.
 Ex Al Nagah 2019 will contribute immensely in developing mutual
understanding and respect for each other’s military as also
facilitate in tackling the worldwide phenomenon of terrorism.
DGCA decides to ground Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft with immediate effect
 The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has decided to ground Boeing 737 Max
8 aircraft with immediate effect.
 The decision comes in the wake of Ethiopian
Airlines crash (killed all 157 people) in Addis
Ababa.
 The planes will be grounded until appropriate
modifications and safety measures are undertaken
to ensure their safe operations.
 Spice Jet has around 12 Boeing 737 Max 8 planes, Jet Airways (5) in its fleet in the country.
 Earlier, China, Ethiopia, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore and UK had decided to suspend the
Aircraft.
 Note:
 The Boeing 737 MAX is an American narrow-body aircraft series designed and produced by
Boeing Commercial Airplanes as the fourth generation of the Boeing 737.
Prime Minister Modi attends 50th Raising Day celebrations of CISF

 The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi attended the 50th Raising Day celebrationsof
Central Industrial Security Forces (CISF), at
Indirapuram in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh.
 Prime Minister reviewed the parade of the CISF
personnel and presented the service medals for
distinguished and meritorious services.
 He also laid a wreath at the Martyr’s Memorial and
signed the visitor’s book.
 The CISF provides security cover to 300 industrial
units, government infrastructure projects and facilities
and establishments located all over India.
 Note:
 The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) was set up under an Act of the Parliament of
India on 10 March 1969 with a strength of 2,800.
 CISF was subsequently made an armed force of the Republic of India by another Act of
Parliament passed on 15 June 1983.
 It is directly under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs and its headquarters are at New
Delhi.
37 |
India successfully test fires QRSAM missiles off Odisha coast

 Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully test fired
indigenously developed Quick Reach Surface-to-Air Missiles
(QRSAMs) from ITR Chandipur off the Odisha Coast.
 QRSAM uses solid-fuel propellant and has a range of 25-30
km.
 The two missiles were tested for different altitude and
conditions.
 Note:
 QRSAM is a missile developed by the Defence Research and
Development Organisation (DRDO) in association with Bharat Electronics Limited and
Bharat Dynamics Limited for the Indian Army.
Oman signs agreement allowing the United States military to use its ports
 Oman has signed an agreement with the United States that
allow American ships and warplanes to take advantage of
his ports and airports.
 The framework agreement is aimed at bolstering Omani-
American military relations.
 The agreement will allow the US forces to take advantage
from the facilities offered at some of the Sultanate's ports
and airports during visits of the US military vessels and aircraft, particularly in the port of
Duqm.
 Duqm port is in southern Oman on the Arabian Sea and around 500 kilometres from the
Strait of Hormuz.
 At the mouth of the Gulf, the strait is crucial to global energy supplies.
Rajnath Singh inaugurates project BOLD-QIT in Dhubri, Assam

 Today, Home Minister Rajnath Singh has inaugurated the project BOLD-QIT (Border
Electronically Dominated QRT Interception Technique) under CIBMS (Comprehensive
Integrated Border Management system) on India-Bangladesh border in Dhubri District of
Assam.
 Border Security Force (BSF) is responsible for the safeguarding of 4,096 Km
longInternational Border with Bangladesh.
 In January 2018, Information and Technology Wing of BSF undertook the project BOLD-
QIT completed it in record time with the technical support of various manufacturers and
suppliers.
 The implementation of this project will not only help BSF to curb all types of cross border
crimes but also provide respite to the troops from round the clock human surveillance.
The Centre bans Jamat-e-Islami J&K for 5 years

 The Centre has banned the Jamat-e-Islami Jammu and
Kashmir (JIJK) for five years.
 The Jamaat is in close touch with terror outfits and is
supporting extremism and terrorism in Jammu and
Kashmir and elsewhere.
 The notification comes barely a few days after the
Jammu and Kashmir Police arrested around 100 cadres of the group in the state.
 Note:
38 |
 The Jamaat-e-Islami Jammu and Kashmir (JIJK) is a cadre-based religious -political

organisation in Jammu and Kashmir (J & K), distinct from the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind.
 The United States and South Korea decided to call off their joint exercise “Foal Eagle” and
“Key Resolve” and instead bifurcate them into smaller exercises. This is being done to ease
tensions with North Korea. “Key Resolve” will be replaced by “Dongmaeng” which is also
known as alliance in English, Foal Eagle drills will be replaced by a smaller battalion-sized
exercise.
 Border Security Force (BSF) and Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) took part in the 3-day
'Mainamati Maitree Exercise 2019' as a part of 'Confidence Building Measures' between
India and Bangladesh held in Agartala, Tripura.
 Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) successfully test fired the
PINAKA guided WEAPON rocket system from Pokhran range in Rajasthan. The weapon
system is equipped with state-of-the-art guidance kit comprising of an advanced navigation
and control system.
 The United States Special Forces Group stationed in Japan is involved in a joint exercise
with India's National Security Guard in Hyderabad, aimed at enhancing the capabilities of
the armed forces of the two countries.
 Exercise Sampriti-VIII, a joint Indo-Bangladesh military exercise which witnessed
participation of a company group of 9th Battalion the Rajputana Rifles from the Indian
Army and the Company of 36 East Bengal Battalion, Bangladesh Army concluded at Tangail,
Bangladesh.
 The Indian Navy's state of the art Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Training Facility
(NBCTF) was inaugurated by Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Sunil Lanba at INS Shivaji,
Lonavala. The training facility has been named ABHEDYA, which means impenetrable in
Sanskrit.
 Indian Navy's frontline ASW corvette, INS Kadmatt arrived at Langkawi, Malaysia on a 7
days official visit. The ship is scheduled to participate in the 15th edition of Langkawi
International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition, LIMA- 19 during the visit. INS Kadmatt
was commissioned into the Indian Navy in January 2016.
 First Indian Army Mountaineering Expedition to Mt Makalu (8485m) comprising five
Officers, two JCOs and eleven OR was flagged off by Director General Military Training. In
furtherance of the objective of summiting all challenging peaks above 8000M, Indian Army
is launching its maiden expedition to Mt Makalu in Mar-May 2019.
 India has signed a deal with a Russian firm to manufacture 7.5 lakh AK-203 rifles. These are
the latest derivative of the AK-47 rifles.
1. First Indian Army Mountaineering Expedition was flagged off recently to which peak?
a) Mt. Makalu b) Mt. Everest c) Mt. Kamet d) Mt. Hardeol
2. Which Indian Naval Ship will participate in Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace
Exhibition (LIMA-19)?
a) INS Tarini b) INS Sahyadri c) INS Kadmatt d) INS Viraat
39 |
3. Indian navy’s Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Training Facility was inaugurated aboard which
naval vessel?
a) INS Vikrant b) INS Shivaji c) INS Kirpan d) INS Subhadra
4. Exercise Mitra Shakti- VI was held between India and which nation?
a) Maldives b) Bangladesh c) Sri Lanka d) Indonesia
5. The first set of four Chinook heavy lift helicopters was inducted in Indian Air Force on March 25,
2019. India procured the helicopters from which country?
a) US b) Japan c) Russia d) China
6. Which Gulf nation has signed a deal with the United States, allowing its military to use its ports?
a) Yemen b) Bahrain c) UAE d) Oman
7. Name the Second Scorpene Class Submarine which is set to be inducted into the Indian Navy by May
2019?
a) INS Khanderi b) INS Kalvari c) INS Karanj d) INS Vela
8. Joint Field Training Exercise AFINDEX-19 began on March 18, 2019 between India and which group
of nations?
a) ASEAN b) UAE c) BRICS d) Africa
9. Which country was the world’s largest exporter of weapons during 2014-18, as per the report by
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)?
a) Russia b) United States c) France d) Germany
10. Which country was the largest importer of the weapons in the world during 2014-18?
a) Saudi Arabia b) India c) China d) Australia
11. The United Nations has requested which nation to establish a hybrid court to probe war crime
allegations during LTTE war?
a) India b) Sri Lanka c) Bangladesh d) Pakistan
12. The Union Home Ministry has launched smart fencing on which Indian border to deter illegal
infiltration?
a) Indo-Pakistan Border b) Indo-Nepal Border
c) Indo-Bangladesh Border d) Indo-Myanmar Border
13. Joint bilateral exercise ‘Exercise Al Nagah 2019’ will be held from March 12 to 25, 2019 between
India and which country?
a) Saudi Arabia b) Oman c) Turkey d) Qatar
40 |
Former SC Judge Justice PC Ghose to be India's first Lokpal
 Former Supreme Court Judge Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose is set to be India's first anti-
corruption ombudsman of India.
 His name was finalised and recommended by the
Selection Committee comprising Prime Minister
Narendra Modi, Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Lok Sabha
Speaker Sumitra Mahajan and eminent jurist Mukul
Rohatgi.
 Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge,
who is part of the committee, did not attend the
meeting.
 His was among the top 10 names shortlisted by the Lokpal Search Committee.
 Justice Ghose's appointment has come nearly five years after the Lokpal Act was notified
on January 16, 2014.
 The law provides for a Lokpal at the Centre and Lokayuktas in states to probe cases of
corruption against public servants.
 Note:
 Justice Ghose, 67, who is a member of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC)
since June 2017, retired from the Supreme Court on May 27, 2017.
 He had assumed charge as Supreme Court judge on March 8, 2013.
 He is a former judge of the Calcutta High Court and former Chief Justice of the Andhra
Pradesh High Court.
 Born in Kolkata, Justice Ghose is son of Late Justice Sambhu Chandra Ghose, former Chief
Justice of Calcutta High Court.
All eight members of Lokpal takes the oath of office

 The Chairperson of the anti-corruption ombudsman Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose
(country's first Lokpal) administered the oath of office to all eight members of the ‘Lokpal’.
 Former Chief Justices Dilip B. Bhosale, Pradip
Kumar Mohanty, and Abhilasha Kumari and sitting
Chief Justice of Chhattisgarh High Court Ajay
Kumar Tripathi are the judicial members who took
the oath.
 Besides Chairperson, the President Ram Nath
Kovind had appointed four Judicial members and
four Non-Judicial members as Lokpal.
 The non-judicial members are former first woman
Chief of Sashastra Seema Bal Archana Ramasundaram, Dinesh Kumar Jain(ex-Maharashtra
Chief Secretary), Mahender Singh (former IRS officer) and Indrajeet Prasad Gautam (ex-IAS
officer).
 Note:
 A Lokpal is an anti-corruption authority who represents the public interest in the Republic
of India.
 The Lokpal has jurisdiction over central government to inquire into allegations of
corruption against its public functionaries and for matters connected to corruption.
 The Lokpal is responsible for enquiring into corruption charges at the national level while
the Lokayukta performs the same function at the state level.
41 |
EC appoints Shailendra Handa & Madhu Mahajan as Special Expenditure Observers

 Election Commission has appointed two eminent former Civil Servants Shailendra Handa
and Ms. Madhu Mahajan as Special Expenditure Observers for the upcoming Lok Sabha
Elections.
 Shailendra Handa has been deployed in Maharashtra and
Madhu Mahajan has been deployed in Tamil Nadu.
 Both officers have rich experience of working in
Investigation Wing of I.T Department and have supervised
many successful search and seizure actions unearthing tax
evasion in complicated cases.
 The Special Observers will supervise and monitor the work being done by the electoral
machinery.
 They will ensure that stringent and effective enforcement action is undertaken based on
intelligence inputs and complaints received through C-VIGIL and Voter Helpline 1950
against all persons and entities trying to induce voters by distributing cash and liquor.
Aamir Khan appointed the Brand Ambassador of PhonePe

 PhonePe (UPI based payment app company) has
appointed Bollywood actor Aamir Khan as its Brand
Ambassador.
 PhonePe is one of India’s fastest growing payment
platform and is based on UPI.
 It is headquartered in Bengaluru.
 Note:
 A brand ambassador is a person who is hired by an
organization or company to represent a brand in a positive light and by doing so help to
increase brand awareness and sales.
Pramod Sawant sworn in as Goa Chief Minister

 BJP leader Pramod Sawant (46-years) was sworn-in as the new Chief Minister (11th) of
Goa.
 Goa Governor Mridula Sinha administered the oath of office and secrecy to Mr. Sawant.
 He succeeded Manohar Parrikar, who died on Sunday after a prolonged battle with
advanced pancreatic cancer.
 Mr. Sawant (former Speaker) represents Sankhalim constituency in Goa Assembly.
 Sudin (alias Ramkrishna Dhavlikar) of Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) and Vijai
Sardesai of Goa Forward Party were sworn in as Deputy Chief Ministers.
 Note:
 He obtained a Bachelor of Ayurveda, Medicine and Surgery degree from the Ganga
Education Society's Ayurvedic Medical College in Kolhapur and a postgraduate degree of
Master of Social Work from the Tilak Maharashtra University at Pune.
 Sawant's wife Sulakshana is a teacher of chemistry at the Shri Shantadurga Higher
Secondary School in Bicholim.
Vice Admiral Karambir Singh appointed as next Navy Chief

 Vice Admiral Karambir Singh has been appointed as the next Navy Chief.
 He will succeed Admiral Sunil Lanba who retires on 31st May 2019.
 Currently, Vice Admiral Karambir Singh is serving as the Flag Officer Commander -in- Chief
of the Eastern Naval Command.
 He has been decorated with the Param Vishisht Seva Medal and the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal.
42 |
 Know about Karambir Singh

 Karambir Singh Belongs to Jalandhar in Punjab.
 He is a Helicopter Pilot and has flown Chetaks and Kamovs.
 Admiral Singh is a graduate from the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington.
 Note:
 The Chief of the Naval Staff is the commander and the highest-ranking officer in the Indian
Navy. The position is abbreviated CNS in Indian Navy cables and communication and
usually held by a four-star officer in the rank of Admiral.
RBI appoints a five-member committee to deepen digital payments

 According to RBI Governor Mr. Shaktikanta Das, The Reserve bank of India (RBI) has
appointed a 5-member committee under the chairmanship
of Nandan Nilekani to further deepen digital payments and
enhance financial inclusion through Fintech.
 The RBI has requested the committee to give
recommendations in 3 months in this regard.
 Mr. Das was speaking at the inaugural event of Financial
Technology (Fintech) Conclave being organized by NITI
Aayog in New Delhi.
 The objective of the conclave is to shape India’s continued ascendancy in FinTech, build the
narrative for future strategy and policy efforts, and to deliberate steps for comprehensive
financial inclusion.
 Financial technology, often shortened to Fintech, is computer programs and a new
technology innovation that aims to compete with traditional financial methods in the
delivery of financial services.
AN Jha replaces Shaktikanta Das as 15th Finance Commission Member

 Former Finance Secretary Ajay Narayan Jha (1982-batch
IAS officer of Manipur cadre) has joined as a member of the
15th Finance Commission.
 Jha has been posted in place of Shaktikanta Das, resigned
after being appointed the RBI Governor.
 Mr. Jha was retired as a Finance Secretary to the central
government.
 Note:
 The Fifteenth Finance Commission of India (XV-FC) is an Indian Finance Commission
constituted in November 2017 and is to give recommendations for devolution of taxes and
other fiscal matters for five fiscal years, commencing 1 April 2020.
Gauri Sawant becomes first transgender election ambassador

 The Election Commission of India (ECI) has appointed
transgender social activist Gauri Sawant, as one of the 12
election ambassadors from Maharashtra.
 According to the Election Commission, Gauri Sawant's
appointment would help in more people from this category
getting registered during the final phase of voter’s
enrolment.
 Following the Supreme Court order, transgenders got the right to vote for the first time in
2014.
43 |
 In 2019, 2,086 (2014-918 voters) were registered in this third category.

 Gauri Sawant would visit every transgender and inspire them about the need for voting.
 Note:
 Election Commission has nominated the renowned sportsmen, film-makers, literary
personalities of the respective constituencies as the goodwill ambassadors to induce more
voters to vote in the Lok Sabha elections.
Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant to head transformative mobility panel

 Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant will head the National Mission
on Transformative Mobility and Battery Storage, which is
being set up to promote clean and sustainable mobility
initiatives in the country.
 The Union Cabinet on March 7 had approved setting up of the
National Mission on Transformative Mobility and Battery
Storage.
 The terms of reference of the mission include ensuring
implementation and compliance of the decisions and
recommendations of the steering committee.
M R Kumar appointed LIC Chairman

 The Union government appointed M R Kumar as the Chairman of Life Insurance
Corporation (LIC).
 He will succeed MD Hemant Bhargava who had been named interim chairman after VK
Sharma's retirement on 31st December 2018.
 T C Suseel Kumar and Vipin Anand have been appointed as Managing Directors (MD) of
the LIC for five years.
 Currently, MR Kumar is the Zonal Manager, Delhi at LIC while TC Suseel Kumar is Zonal
Manager, Hyderabad.
 Vipin Anand is Zonal Manager of the Western zone.
 Note:
 LIC's executive board comprises of one chairman and four managing directors.
 This is the first time an interview for the top position of LIC was conducted by the Banks
Board Bureau (BBB), which so far selected top management for public sector banks.
 Earlier, Top executives for LIC were appointed by a panel of the finance ministry.
Hasmukh Adhia appointed as Chancellor of Gujarat Central University

 Former Finance Secretary Hasmukh Adhia (1981-batch
Gujarat cadre officer) has been appointed as
the Chancellor of Central University of Gujarat for five
years term.
 SA Bari is the current vice chancellor of the Central
University of Gujarat.
 Mr Adhia retired on 30th November 2018.
 Earlier, the Union government also nominated him as the Chairman of Bank of
Baroda(BoB).
 Note:
 In 2009, Gujarat Central University was set up through an Act of Parliament in
Gandhinagar, Gujarat,
 The university includes 16 schools, 14 academic departments, and 2 other special centres.
44 |
'Metro Man' Sreedharan appointed a principal advisor to MRTCs in J&K

 The Jammu and Kashmir Governor administration has
approved the appointment of ‘E Sreedharan’ (86-years) as
the principal advisor to two mass rapid transit systems to
be built in Jammu and Kashmir.
 The governor administration has approved setting up of two
MRTCs Jammu Mass Rapid Transit Corporation and the
Srinagar Mass Rapid Transit Corporation for the two capital cities.
 Sreedharan is a retired IES (IRSE) officer and is popularly known as the "Metro Man".
 Sreedharan is known for changing the face of public transport in the country with his
leadership of building the Konkan Railway and the Delhi Metro.
UNDP appoints Padma Lakshmi as Goodwill Ambassador

 The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has appointed Indian-American
television personality and food expert ‘Padma Lakshmi’ as Goodwill Ambassador.
 The newest Goodwill Ambassador, supporting the agency’s
fight against inequality and discrimination around the
world.
 Ms. Lakshmi has been a judge and host, as well as executive
producer, of Bravo Television’s Emmy award-winning series
Top Chef.
 Note:
 The United Nations Development Programme has long enlisted the voluntary services
and support from prominent figures as Goodwill Ambassadors and Advocates to shine a
spotlight on important issues affecting our planet and its people.
 These well-known individuals are at the top of their field (film, television, music, art or
sport) with talents and achievements that have made them household names.
Ajit Kumar Mohanty appointed Bhabha Atomic Research Centre chief

 Scientist Ajit Kumar Mohanty has been appointed Director of Bhabha Atomic Research
Centre (BARC), the country's premier multi-disciplinary
nuclear research facility for a period of three years.
 He is at present Director, Physics Group in BARC and
Director, Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics.
 The BARC is India's premier nuclear research facility based
in Mumbai.
 It is a multi-disciplinary research centre with extensive infrastructure for advanced
research and development covering the entire spectrum of nuclear science, engineering
and related areas.
Bhagwan Lal Sahni appointed Chairman of the National Commission for Backward Classes
 President Ram Nath Kovind has appointed Bhagwan Lal Sahni as
the chairman of the newly constituted National Commission for
Backward Classes (NCBC).
 Kaushalendra Singh Patel, Sudha Yadav and Achary Talloju have
been appointed as members of the commission.
 The National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) was given
45 |
constitutional status by Parliament in 2018, after repealing the National Commission for
Backward Classes Act, 1993.
 Maharashtra Government has appointed ‘Lokpal’ in all universities except agricultural

universities to resolve student grievances. The appointment of the students' ombudsman
would be made in the next two to three months. Maharashtra would be the first state in the
country to have such a Lokpal for universities.
 Private sector lender Axis Bank has named ‘Rakesh Makhija’ (67-years) as its new Non-
Executive (Part-Time) Chairman for a period of three years. Mr. Makhija (Chairman of SKF
India) will take over from Sanjiv Mishra (current Axis Bank Chairman), when his term
comes to an end on 17th July 2019.
 Ministry of External Affairs has appointed Pranay Kumar Verma as India's Ambassador to
the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
 Dr. Ausaf Sayeed, presently High Commissioner of India to the Republic of Seychelles, has
been appointed as the next ambassador of India to Saudi Arabia.
 The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved designating Shri Subhash
Chandra Garg, lAS, Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance as
Finance Secretary.
 Soumya Swaminathan, a Deputy Director-General of the World Health Organisation has
been named Chief Scientist of the WHO.
 Mohammad Shtayyeh has been named as Palestinian Prime Minister by President of
Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas. A member of the West Bank's dominant Fatah party
is a long time ally of Abbas.
 Santosh Jha presently Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of India, Washington, has been
appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Uzbekistan.
 Rima Das joined Toronto International Film Festival's Share Her Journey as their official
ambassador. TIFF launched the 5-year campaign in 2017 with a view to increase
participation, skills, and opportunities for women behind and in front of the camera.
1. Who has been appointed as BCCI’s interim Ethics Officer?

a) Retired Justice DK Jain b) Retired Justice Kurian Joseph
c) Retired Justice Amitava Roy d) Retired Justice MB Lokur
2. Who was appointed as the first Lokpal of India on March 19, 2019?
a) Dilip Babasaheb Bhosale b) Pradeep Kumar Mohanty
c) Dinesh Kumar Jain d) Pinaki Chandra Ghose
3. Azali Assoumani was re-elected as the President of which nation with over 60 per cent votes?
a) Comoros b) Cameroon c) Nigeria d) Mongolia
4. Who was appointed as the Chief of Naval Staff on March 23, 2019?
a) Bipin Rawat b) Bimal Verma c) Karambir Singh d) Charan Singh
5. Who was sworn-in as the 11th Chief Minister of Goa?

a) Pramod Sawant b) Ramkrishna Dhavlikar c) Vijai Sardesai d) Vinod Palyekar
6. Who was appointed by Supreme Court as mediator to resolve disputes of cricket administration in
BCCI?
46 |
a) PS Narasimha b) DK Jain c) AM Sapre d) SA Bobde
7. C Lalsawta was sworn in as the first Lokayukta Chairman of which state?

a) Nagaland b) Mizoram c) Assam d) Tripura
8. Who took over as the Director of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) recently?
a) K.N. Vyas b) S.R. Krishnan c) N.L. Murthy d) A.K. Mohanty
9. Who has been appointed as the new Prime Minister of the state of Palestine?
a) Mohammad Shtayyeh b) Mohammad Abbas
c) Muhammad Mustafa d) Ziad Abu-Amr
10. Ausaf Sayeed has been appointed as the new Indian Ambassador to which nation?
a) Egypt b) Kazakhstan c) Saudi Arabia d) UAE
47 |
Person Resigned/Retired
Naresh & Anita Goyal step down from Jet Airways Board
 Jet Airways founders Naresh Goyal and his wife Anita Goyal have stepped down from the
board of the cash-strapped airline.
 The board has accepted their resignations.
 The board also approved the issue of 11.4 crore equity
shares to the lenders upon conversion of Re 1 of the
outstanding debt.
 The board also approved the constitution of an Interim
Management Committee to manage and monitor the daily operations and cash flow of the
company.
 Lenders will infuse up to Rs 1,500 crore via debt instruments.
 Note:
 Jet Airways is a major Indian international airline based in Mumbai.
 Naresh Goyal and his wife Anita Goyal had founded Jet Airways in 1993.
Kazakhstan President resigns after nearly 30 years in power

 Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev (78-year) has announced his resignation after
nearly 30 years in power.
 Mr Nazarbayev had ruled the country since it emerged from
the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s.
 Note:
 The President of the Republic of Kazakhstan is the head of
state, commander-in-chief and holder of the highest office
within the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Mizoram Governor Kummanam Rajasekharan resigns

 Governor of Mizoram Kummanam Rajasekharan has
resigned from his post.
 President Ram Nath Kovind has accepted the resignation of
Rajasekharan.
 Mr. Rajasekharan began his political career as an activist of
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Sangh Parivar in the state of Kerala in 1970.
 Note:
 A governor is, in most cases, a public official with the power to govern the executive branch
of a non-sovereign or sub-national level of government, ranking under the head of state.
48 |
Sports
All England Open Badminton Championships 2019

 2019 All England Open, officially YONEX All England Open
Badminton Championships 2019 was a BWF World Tour 1000
event which took place at Arena Birmingham in England from 6 to
10 March 2019. It had a total purse of $1,000,000.
 Here is the complete list of Winners of All England Open
Badminton Championships 2019:
Event Winner Runner Up

Men's Singles Kento MOMOTA (Japan) Viktor AXELSEN (Denmark)
Women's Singles CHEN Yufei (China) Tai Tzu-ying (Taiwan)
Men's Doubles Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik
Setiawan (Indonesia) (Malaysia)
Women's Doubles Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan Mayu Matsumoto and Wakana
(China) Nagahara (Japan)
Mixed Doubles Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino
(China) (Japan)
IPL witnesses its first Mankading

 The mega celebration of Cricket, Indian Premier League (IPL) witnessed its first ever
Mankading in its history in the match of Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals. Rajasthan
Royals opener Jos Buttler became the first victim of ‘Mankading’ in the
history of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
 Kings XI Punjab skipper Ravichandran Ashwin dismissed the Rajasthan
Royals opener Jos Buttler through mankading.
 What is Mankading?
 Mankading is a kind of dismissal witnessed in the game of cricket.
Mankading is the situation where a bowler run out a non-striker by hitting the bails before
bowling when the non-striker is outside the crease, with no warning.
 Even though it is a legal way of dismissing the batsmen, it is considered as unethical and
against the spirit of the game.
 Why does the name Mankading?
 The name Mankading is derived due to the fact that for the first time Indian bowler Vinoo
Mankad had dismissed Bill Brown of Australia, by removing the bails when the latter was
away from the crease during India’s tour of Australia in 1947. Hence the dismissal is named
after the Indian Cricketer Vinoo Mankad.
Asian Airgun C'ship: Manu Bhaker, Saurabh Chaudhary clinch gold

 Young pistol shooters Manu Bhaker and Saurabh Chaudhary has
clinched a gold medal each, their second in the competition, as
India continued their domination at the 12th Asian Airgun
Championships in Taoyuan, Chinese Taipei.
 Manu Bhaker has won the women's 10 metre Air Pistol at the
49 |
12th Asian Airgun Championships in Taoyuan, Chinese Taipei.

 Saurabh Chaudhary has clinched a team gold medal in the men's event.
 Abhishek Verma also won individual silver in the men's 10-metre Air Pistol.
 The women's pistol team also won a bronze to further bolster India's tally to five gold, three
silver and one bronze medals.
Breakdancing makes next move to Olympic status at Paris 2024

 The Executive Board of the International Olympic
Committee (IOC) has recommended adding breakdancing,
skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing to the 2024
Paris Olympic Games when the full membership meets in
June.
 IOC President Thomas Bach said at a news conference in
Switzerland that making the Olympics more affordable and
responsive has been a key aim for the committee.
 He said the addition of these four sports to the Paris medal program offers the opportunity
to connect with the young generation.
 All four sports will be assessed in terms of how they are managed, the integrity of
competitions and judging, before being finalized for Paris.
Justice (Retd.) DK Jain will be BCCI's ad-hoc Ethics Officer: COA

 According to the Committee of Administrators (COA), Justice
(Retd.) DK Jain (newly appointed ombudsman by the BCCI) will
also be its ad-hoc Ethics Officer.
 The COA had requested the Supreme Court to appoint an Ethics
Officer in addition to an Ombudsman for looking into the matters
of Conflict of Interest.
 Earlier, the three-member COA requested Justice Jain to take over as Ethics Officer on an
ad-hoc basis till a permanent appointment takes place.
Kohli's coach Rajkumar Sharma in charge of Malta National team

 Virat Kohli's childhood coach Rajkumar Sharma has been
appointed the head coach of the ‘Malta national cricket team’
for an ICC (International Cricket Council) qualifying
tournament.
 Malta, Estonia and hosts Spain will take part in the divisional
tournament of the ICC in Spain (from 29th to 31st March
2019)
 Dronacharya awardee Rajkumar Sharma (former Ranji Trophy player) is a cricket coach.
 Note:
 The Malta national cricket team is the team that represents the Republic of Malta in
international cricket.
 The team is organised by the Malta Cricket Association, which became an affiliate member
of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 1998.
International Boxing Federation President Gafur Rahimov resigns

 The Amateur International Boxing Federation (AIBA) President Gafur Rahimov has
announced his resignation claiming that political based discussions were harming the
organization’s progress.
 Rahimov will be replaced by an interim president.
50 |
 Rahimov, an Uzbek businessman who has been accused by

the US authorities of having ties to organized crime, was
elected the president of AIBA in November 2018.
 Note:
 The International Boxing Association (AIBA) is a sports
organization that sanctions amateur (Olympic-style) boxing
matches and awards world and subordinate championships.
 The organization has been involved in multiple corruption scandals including on several
editions of the Summer Olympic Games.
India Open badminton tournament begins at IGI Stadium New Delhi

 Today, PV Sindhu will play against compatriot Mugdha Agrey at the 2019 India Open Super
500 Badminton tournament starting in New Delhi (from 26th
- 31st March 2019).
 The total prize money for this tournament is USD 350,000.
 This marque tournament was previously held at the Siri Fort
Sports Complex for the last seven years.
 The 2019 India Open is a badminton tournament (eight-
edition) which will take place at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium New Delhi in India.
 This tournament is organized by the Badminton Association of India with sanction from the
BWF.
 Note:
 Winner 2018 Men's Singles: Shi Yuqi(China)
 Winner 2018 Women's Singles: Zhang Beiwen (United States).
Suresh Raina became first player to score 5000 runs in IPL

 Chennai Super Kings batsman Suresh Raina has become
the first ever cricketer to reach 5,000 runs in Indian
Premier League.
 During the ongoing IPL 2019 opener against Royal
Challengers Bangalore, Raina achieved the feat as soon as
he touched the individual score of 15.
 Raina is followed by India skipper Virat Kohli, who has 4,954 runs from 164 games,
containing four hundred and 34 fifties.
Indian Premier League-12 to kick off in Chennai

 Today, the Indian Premier League (12th- edition) has begun with Defending
Champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) led by Mahindra Singh Dhoni and Royal
Challengers Bangalore (RCB) led by Virat Kohli in the season's opening clash at M. A.
Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai.
 A total of eight teams will be playing in IPL 2019 (like the last edition).
 The teams are Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Capitals, Kings XI Punjab, Kolkata Knight Riders,
Mumbai Indians, Rajasthan Royals, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Sunrisers Hyderabad.
 The former franchise of 'Delhi Daredevils’ was renamed to 'Delhi Capitals’ for the new
season.
 Note:
 The Indian Premier League (IPL) is a professional Twenty20 cricket league in India
contested every year by franchise teams representing Indian cities.
 The league was founded by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in 2007.
51 |
Year Winner Opponent Venue

2008 Rajasthan Royals Chennai Super Kings Mumbai
2009 Deccan Chargers Royal Challengers Bangalore Johannesburg
2010 Chennai Super Kings Mumbai Indians Mumbai
2011 Chennai Super Kings Royal Challengers Bangalore Chennai
2012 Kolkata Knight Riders Chennai Super Kings Chennai
2013 Mumbai Indians Chennai Super Kings Kolkata
2014 Kolkata Knight Riders Kings XI Punjab Bengaluru
2015 Mumbai Indians Chennai Super Kings Kolkata
2016 Sunrisers Hyderabad Royal Challengers Bangalore Bengaluru
2017 Mumbai Indians Rising Pune Supergiant Hyderabad
2018 Chennai Super Kings Sunrisers Hyderabad Mumbai
India clinch SAFF Women's C'ship for the fifth time

 India has clinched the SAFF Women's Championship for
the fifth time in a row, defeating hosts Nepal 3-1 in the
final at Biratnagar.
 This was India's 23rd straight victory in the championship
since its inception in 2010.
 Note:
 The 2019 SAFF Women's Championship is the fifth edition
of the SAFF Women's Championship,
 The 2019 SAFF Women's Championship is the biennial
international women's football championship contested by the national teams of the South
Asian Football Federation (SAFF).
 All matches were played at Sahid Rangsala, Biratnagar, Nepal.
FIFA bans former Ecuador football chief for life

 FIFA slapped a lifetime ban on the disgraced former head of
Ecuador's football federation, Luis Chiriboga, after finding
him guilty of taking bribes.
 Chiriboga was one of the executives arrested in 2015 amid a
massive US-led crackdown on corruption in world football.
 FIFA's ethics judges banned Chiriboga from all football-
related activities for life and fined him 1 million Swiss
francs.
PCB pays over Rs 11 cr as compensation to BCCI after losing a case in ICC

 According to PCB Chairman Ehsan Mani, The Pakistan Cricket
Board (PCB) has paid 1.6 million US dollars to the Board of
Control for Cricket (BCCI) as compensation after losing a case in
the ICC's Dispute Resolution Committee.
 The PCB had filed a compensation case against the BCCI last year
before the Committee for an amount of 70 million US dollars for
not honouring an MoU signed between the two boards.
52 |
 According to the MoU, India and Pakistan were supposed to play six bilateral series
between 2015 and 2023, which the BCCI failed to honour.
 The BCCI said they were unable to play against Pakistan as the Indian government did not
give them permission.
India's Irfan KT qualifies for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics

 India's Irfan KT qualified for next year's Tokyo Olympics.
 He made the cut after finishing fourth at the Asian Race-
Walking Championship at Nomi in Japan.
 Irfan clocked 1 hour 20 minutes and 57 seconds in the 20-
kilometre walk to attain the standard qualifying mark for
the Olympics.
 He also ensured a berth in the upcoming International
Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Championship in Doha that begins in
September.
Bengaluru FC crowned ISL champions for the first time

 Bengaluru FC won the 2018-19 edition of the Indian Super
League which was also their maiden triumph defeating FC
Goa 1-0 in the final.
 FC Goa's Ferran Corominas (16 goals) wins the Indian Super
League (ISL) 2018-19 Golden Boot Award.
 Bengaluru FC goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu wins the
Indian Super League (ISL) 2018-19 Golden Glove Award.
 Bengaluru FC is owned and operated by the Mumbai–based JSW Group and its managing
director Sajjan Jindal.
 The Indian Super League (ISL) is the men's franchise-based association football league in
India.
Govt approves Centre for Disability Sports in Gwalior

 The union cabinet has approved the setting up of a Centre for Disability Sports in Gwalior,
Madhya Pradesh.
 It will develop a sense of belonging in Divyangjan to facilitate their integration in society.
 The centre will have a Governing Body comprising a maximum of 12 members, some of
them experts from "National Level Sports Federations
apart from experts in para games".
 At present, no specialised sports training facilities for
Divyangjan are available in the Country.
 Note:
 Section 30 of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
(RPwD) Act, 2016 requires the government to take
measures to ensure "effective participation of Persons with Disabilities in sports activities
which includes the provision of infrastructural facilities for sports activities for them".
Afghanistan win their first-ever Test match

 Afghanistan defeated Ireland by seven wickets to win their
first-ever Test match in Dehradun.
 Shah scored a 122-ball 76, and Janat an unbeaten 129-ball
65* as Afghanistan notched up the 147-run target on the
fourth morning within a session.
53 |
 It was their first every Test victory, in just their second Test.
 With this win Afghanistan became the newest ICC member to win a Test match.
 Note:
 Earlier, Afghanistan had won the T20I series 2-0 and the ODI series was level at 2-2 with
one game getting washed out.
 Afghanistan gained Test status in 2017.
 BRIEF SCORES: Ireland: 172 and 288 lose to Afghanistan: 314
India to host U-17 Women's Football World Cup in 2020

 India will host the Under-17 Women's Football World Cup in 2020.
 This was announced by the President of International
Football Federation (FIFA) Gianni Infantino after the council
meeting in Miami, USA on 15th March 2019.
 The tournament in India will be the seventh edition and the
second to be held in Asia after Jordan in 2016.
 This will be the second FIFA tournament India will be
hosting, after the U-17 Men's World Cup in 2017.
 Note:
 The 2018 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup was held in Uruguay from 13 November to 1
December 2018.
 Spain won their first title, beating Mexico 2–1 in the Final.
Karnataka lifts maiden Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy

 Karnataka defeated Maharashtra to win their
maiden Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy at the Holkar Cricket
Stadium in Indore on 14th March 2019.
 With the win, Karnataka set a record of most number of
wins in a row by an Indian domestic team as they won 14
T20 matches to lift the coveted T20 trophy.
 Karnataka also equalled Indian Premier League outfit
Kolkata Knight Riders’ record of 14 consecutive wins.
 Brief scores: Maharashtra 155/4 (Naushad Shaikh 69 not out, Rahul Tripathi 30,
Abhimanyu Mithun 2/24) lost to Karnataka 159/2 (Mayank Agarwal 85 not out, Rohan
Kadam 60).
SC lifts life ban on Sreesanth, asks BCCI to take a fresh decision

 The Supreme Court has set aside the life ban imposed on cricketer Sreesanth by BCCI over
his involvement in the 2013 IPL spot-fixing scandal.
 The apex court directed BCCI to hear Sreesanth and take a
fresh decision on the quantum of punishment within three
months.
 However, it added that its order shall have no effect on
criminal proceedings pending against Sreesanth.
 Note:
 S Sreesanth, the tainted Indian fast bowler, was charged with the crime of spot-fixing
during the 2013 edition of the cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL) when he represented
the Rajasthan Royals (RR).
 Thereafter, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) slapped the 36-year-old with a
lifetime ban and ever since he has been training hard with all his might to prove himself
innocent.
54 |
Dipa Karmakar qualifies for vault finals in Artistic Gymnastics World Cup
 India's Dipa Karmakar (25-year) has made it to the Vault Finals after finishing third in
the qualifying round of the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup
at Baku in Azerbaijan.
 The, who had finished fourth in the event at the 2016 Rio
Olympics, performed a higher difficulty Hand front 540
vault for the first time in the competition.
 Dipa had claimed a bronze at the vault event of the Artistic
Gymnastics World Cup in Cottbus, Germany in November 2018.
Zinedine Zidane re-appointed as coach of Spanish football club Real Madrid till 2022
 Former French football player ‘Zinedine Zidane’ (46-year) has been re-appointed as the
coach of Spanish football club Real Madrid (highest-earning
football club) till 2022.
 He replaces Santiago Solari, who was sacked after less than
five months in charge.
 Real Madrid was the highest-earning football club in the world
(annual revenue of € 750.9 million) in 2018.
 Note:
 Real Madrid is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid.
Sailor Upamanyu Dutta clinches bronze in Asian regatta

 Mumbai sailor Upamanyu Dutta bagged the bronze medal in the Laser Standard race for
men in the Laser Asian Sailing Championship in Singapore.
 Earlier, Upamanyu won the Euromed Championship in Malta.
 Nethra Kumanan (from Chennai) achieved a creditable 4th position in the Laser Radial
event for women.
 The young sailor sailed superbly to gain India's first ever medal in the competitive single-
handed Laser Standard category.
Manpreet Singh named the captain of Indian hockey team

 According to Hockey India, Manpreet Singh has been named as the Captain of the 18-
member Indian hockey team to play in the upcoming 28th
Sultan Azlan Shah Cup.
 Surender Kumar will be the Vice-Captain of the team.
 India will start its campaign against Japan on the opening
day itself (23rd March).
 Participating nations in the tournament are India,
Malaysia(host), Canada, Korea, South Africa, Asian Games gold medallist Japan.
 Note:
 The Sultan Azlan Shah Cup is an annual international men's field hockey tournament will be
held in Ipoh, Malaysia from 23rd March 2019.
 The tournament is named after the ninth Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King) of Malaysia, Sultan
Azlan Shah, an avid fan of field Hockey.
CISF creates Guinness world record in a single-line bicycle parade

 The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) has created a Guinness world record in a
single line bicycle parade to mark the 50 years of the paramilitary force.
 Personnel of the central force rode a total of one thousand 327 bicycles non-stop with a
uniform distance between bicycles in a single line at the Yamuna Expressway in Noida.
55 |
 The bicycle parade covered 3.2 km distance non-stop.

 Earlier, this record was held by Hubballi bicycle club of India which had one thousand 235
bicycles in a single chain.
 The CISF was raised in 1969 and has about one lakh 80 thousand personnel in its ranks.
Wrestler Bajrang Punia wins gold in Bulgaria

 India's star wrestler Bajrang Punia has won a gold medal in
65-kilograms freestyle in Bulgaria.
 Punia overpowered Jordan Oliver of USA 12-3 in the final.
 This was Punia's 10th medal in as many international
tournaments since the 2017 World Championships in Paris.
 Earlier, Pooja Dhanda claimed gold in women's 59 kg while
Sarita Mor won a silver in the same weight category.
 In the men's freestyle events, Sandeep Tomar claimed silver in 61kg.
Roger Federer claims 100th ATP title of his career

 Swiss great Roger Federer (37-years) has claimed the 100th ATP title of his careerwith
after beating Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 6-4 in the final of
the Dubai Tennis Championships.
 Federer (20-time grand slam champion) is the second man,
after American Jimmy Connors to claim 100 titles (record of
109).
 Tsitsipas saw the end of an eight-match winning streak as he
arrived in the Gulf with the Marseille title from last weekend.
 Martina Navratilova holds the record having won 167 women's singles crowns during her
career.
Chris Gayle becomes the first player to smash 500 Sixes in International Cricket
 West Indies opener Chris Gayle has become the first batsman ever to smash 500 or more
sixes in International cricket.
 In the 4th ODI against England in Grenada, Gayle scored
162 runs.
 His innings contained a staggering 14 sixes and powered
the Windies to their highest-ever ODI score of 389.
 Gayle also reached the 10,000-run milestone in ODIs and
became only the second West Indian after Brian Lara
(10,405 runs) to achieve the milestone.
S. No. Player Matches Runs 6s

1. C H Gayle (ICC/WI) 447 18895 506
2. Shahid Afridi (Asia/ICC/PAK) 524 11196 476
3. BB McCullum (NZ) 432 14676 398
4. MS Dhoni (Asia/INDIA) 526 16908 352
5. ST Jayasuriya (Asia/SL) 586 21032 352
56 |
 National Boxing champion Deepak Singh (49kg) was the only Indian boxer to notch up the
gold medal, while five others claimed silver medals in the Makran Cup in Chabahar, Iran.
Deepak defeated Jaafar Naseri in the finals.
 Kavinder Singh Bisht in the 56kg-category struck gold while Shiva Thapa in the 60kg
category and three others claimed silver medals to end a fine Indian campaign at the 38th
GeeBee Boxing Tournament in Helsinki, Finland.
 Young Mumbai sailor Upamanyu Dutta bagged the bronze medal in the Laser Standard race
for men in the Laser Asian Sailing Championship which concluded in Singapore. The young
sailor sailed superbly to gain India's first ever medal in the competitive single-handed Laser
Standard category.
 The Supreme Court appointed senior advocate PS Narasimha as a mediator for resolving
various disputes related to cricket administration within the cricket body, the Board of
Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
 South African all-rounder JP Duminy announced that he would retire from ODIs after the
ICC World Cup in England. Duminy will, however, continue to be available for South Africa
in T20 Internationals.
 Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas beat his world champion teammate Lewis Hamilton to clinch the
season-opening Australian Formula One Grand Prix.
 In Asian Youth Athletics Championships in Hong Kong, boys medley relay team won a gold
medal for India on the final day to help Indian youth team finish second in the overall
medals tally with a total of 26 medals including 8 gold, 9 silver and 9 bronze medals. China
topped the overall medals tally with 31 medals that included 12 gold, 11 silver
 India returned with 368 medals (85 gold, 154 Silver, and 129 Bronze) at the Special
Olympics World Summer Games, held at Abu Dhabi, UAE. Indian powerlifters bagged the
maximum number of medals 20 gold, 33 silver and 43 bronze.
 The Seamaster 2019 ITTF Challenge Plus commonly called Oman Open table tennisheld in
Muscat, Oman. Indian players G Sathyan and Archana Kamath excelled in the tournament. G
Sathyan won a bronze medal in the tournament. Archana Kamath bags U-21 silver with an
excellent run in the Oman Open.
 Veselin Matic, who took Iran to an Asian Games bronze medal in 2010, is set to be
appointed as the new head coach of the Indian men's basketball team.
 18-year-old Diksha Dagar has become the second Indian to win an event on Ladies
European Tour after clinching South African Women's Open in Cape Town. Aditi Ashok was
the first Indian to win on the Ladies European Tour after clinching Hero Women's Indian
Open in Gurugram in 2016.
 The Amateur International Boxing Federation (AIBA) President Gafur Rahimov announced
his resignation claiming that political based discussions were harming the organizations
progress. Rahimov will be replaced by an interim president.
 P. Iniyan (16-year) has become the 61st Grandmaster of India (the highest title a chess
player) after crossing 2,500 points during the Noisiel Open 2019, held in Paris. Iniyan also
won the silver medal in this tournament by increasing 18 points and has a rating of 2,513.
1. Who is the only Indian in top 10 batsmen in latest T20 International Players Rankings?
a) K L Rahul b) Virat Kohli c) M S Dhoni d) Jasprit Bumrah
57 |
2. The BCCI in the latest list of Central Contracts demoted which player?
a) Khaleel Ahmed b) Rohit Sharma c) Jasprit Bumrah d) Shikhar Dhawan
3. Which Indian wrestler won a gold medal in 65kg freestyle at the Dan Kolov-Nikola Petrov
tournament in Bulgaria?
a) Bajrang Punia b) Vinesh Phogat c) Sakshi Malik d) Sushil Kumar
4. Which nation’s cricket board has written to the ICC for action against India for wearing
camouflage caps?
a) Bangladesh b) Pakistan c) Australia d) Sri Lanka
5. Which company became the official sponsor of ICC World Cup 2019 on March 12, 2019?
a) GoDaddy b) Bira 91 beer c) MRF Tyres d) Emirates Airlines
6. Which city is hosting the Special Olympics World Games 2019?

a) Abu Dhabi b) Oslo c) Tokyo d) Sydney
7. Indian athlete Irfan KT has qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in which category?
a) Race walking b) Heptathlon c) High Jump d) 400m
8. Which country will host the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup 2020?
a) France b) India c) South Korea d) Japan
9. Which IPL franchise has tied up with the Star Cricket Academy in England to launch an
Academy?
a) Royal Challengers Bangalore b) Kolkata Knight Rider
c) Chennai Super Kings d) Rajasthan Royals
10. Which cricket board had to pay Rs 11 cr as compensation to the BCCI?

a) PCB b) ECB c) CA d) SLC
11. Which cricket stadium will host the first-ever T10 Cricket League?
a) Zayed Cricket Stadium b) Eden Gardens
c) Melbourne Cricket Ground d) Lord's Cricket Ground
12. Which among the following events has been recommended by the IOC for the 2024 Paris
Olympics?
a) Hip Hop b) Figure Skating c) Wakeboard d) Breakdancing
13. Which tennis player has become the second-ever in the world to claim 100 ATP titles?
a) Roger Federer b) Rafael Nadal c) Serena Williams d) Novak Djokovic
14. Who has been reappointed as the coach of Spanish football club Real Madrid till 2022?
a) Pele b) Jüergen Klinsmann c) Michel Platini d) Zinedine Zidane
15. The Supreme Court has set aside life ban imposed on which cricketer?
a) S Sreesanth b) K L Rahul c) Hardik Pandya d) R Ashwin
58 |
Honours / Awards
64th Filmfare Awards Announced

 Winners of the 64th Filmfare Awards were announced at Jio
Garden, BKC, Mumbai. Alia Bhatt won Best Actress for playing
the role of a spy while Raazi also fetched Meghna Gulzar the
Best Director Filmfare Award.
 Raazi also grabbed the Best Filmtrophy. Meanwhile, Ranbir
Kapoor scored the Best Actor Filmfare Award for playing the
role of Sanjay Dutt in biopic Sanju.
 Here's the winner's list of 64th Filmfare Awards 2019:
S.No. Category Winner
1. Best Film Raazi
2. Critics' Award for Best Film AndhaDhun
3. Best Actor in a Leading Role (Female) Alia Bhatt, Raazi
4. Best Actor in a Leading Role (Male) Ranbir Kapoor, Sanju
5. Best Director Meghna Gulzar, Raazi
6. Best Playback Singer (Male) Arijit Singh for Ae Watan, Raazi
7. Best Playback Singer (Female) Shreya Ghoshal for Ghoomar, “Padmaavat”
8. Best Debut Actor(Female) Sara Ali Khan, Kedarnath

9. Best Debut Actor (Male) Ishaan Khatter, Beyond The Clouds
Croatia honours President Kovind with the highest civilian award

 President Ram Nath Kovind was honoured with Croatia's
highest civilian award the ‘Grand Order of the King of
Tomislav’.
 The civilian order is awarded to heads of state for their
important contribution towards the development of state
relations between Croatia and their respective countries.
 Kovind is in Croatia as part of his eight-day three-nation visit
to Croatia, Bolivia and Chile.
 Note:
 The Grand Order of King Tomislav with Sash and Great Morning Star is the highest state
order of Croatia.
 It is named after King Tomislav of Croatia.
Amartya Sen Awarded Oxford University’s Bodley Medal

 Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartya Sen (85-years) has
been awarded the prestigious Bodley Medal, the highest
honour bestowed by the University of Oxford's world-
famous Bodleian Libraries.
 The Medal is awarded to individuals who have made
outstanding contributions to the fields in which the
Bodleian is active, including literature, culture, science and
communication.
59 |
 Mr. Amartya Sen is the Thomas W Lamont University Professor at Harvard University and a
member of faculty at Harvard Law School, received the Medal from Lord Patten of Barnes,
Chancellor of the University of Oxford, and Bodley's Librarian Richard Ovenden.
 Note:
 Amartya Sen was born in a Hindu family in Bengal, British India, in the district of Manikganj
(modern-day Bangladesh).
 He is the Thomas W. Lamont University Professor at Harvard University and member of
faculty at Harvard Law School.
Indians in the list of World’s 100 Most Influential People in Climate Policy for 2019
 Apolitical, a peer to peer learning platform for governments has released the list of World’s
100 Most Influential People in Climate Policy for 2019.
The list celebrates politicians, civil servants, academics
and activists who have contributed immensely towards
raising awareness and bringing change for the cause of
environment and climate.
 Indians’ in the list
 Union Minister for Railways and Coal Piyush Goyal.
 Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate
Change Dr Harsh Vardhan.
 Pune Mayor Mukta Tilak.
 Executive director of Integrated Research and Action for Development, a research and
policy analysis institute focusing on sustainable development Jyoti Kirit Parikh.
 Well-renowned environmentalist and political activist, Sunita Narain.
 Environmental activist, Vandana Shiva.
 Director general of the International Solar Alliance, Upendra Tripathi.
 Co-founder and Executive Director, Sunrise Movement, Varshini Prakash.
 Releasing the inaugural list Apolitical has said that at a time when young people
everywhere are marching to demand action on climate, it’s more important than ever to
celebrate and support those with the most power to act: the people driving tangible policy
change.
Turing Award honours pioneers of AI

 Three trailblazers in artificial intelligence have been honoured with the 2018 Turing Award
by the Association for Computing Machinery
(ACM).
 Yoshua Bengio (Element AI founder and
University of Montreal professor), Geoffrey
Hinton (University of Toronto faculty
member and Google Brain researcher) and
Yann LeCun (Facebook chief AI scientist and NYU
professor) were named the recipients of the
award by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM).
 The three developed conceptual and engineering foundations for AI by making deep neural
networks a critical component of computing.
 The recipients will be awarded a USD1 million prize, with financial support provided by
Google.
60 |
Kenyan teacher Peter Tabichi wins Global Teacher Prize 2019

 Kenyan teacher Peter Tabichi (36-years) has won the Varkey Foundation Global
Teacher Prize 2019 during a ceremony in Dubai, presented by the Hollywood actor, Hugh
Jackman.
 Mr. Tabichi is a maths & physics teacher at Keriko Secondary School in Pwani Village, in a
remote part of Kenya’s Rift Valley.
 He donates most of his salary (80% of his monthly income) to help poorer students.
 He has been crowned with the world's best teacher award and awarded a USD 1m prize.
 Last year’s prize went to an art teacher from north London, Andria Zafirakou.
Mathematician Karen Uhlenbeck becomes 1st woman to Win Abel Prize

 University of Texas professor Karen Uhlenbeck (76-year)
has become the first woman to win the Abel Prize, a
mathematics honour first given in 2003.
 She 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 cash award USD 700,000.
 The award was awarded by the Norwegian Academy of
Science and Letters in Oslo.
Swati Shingade bags the first prize of DD Mahila Kisan Award

 Swati Shingade of Pune, Maharashtra has bagged the first prize of DD Mahila Kisan Award
for 2018-19.
 The award was presented by Prasar Bharati Chairman A. Surya
Prakash to Ms Shingade at a grand finale event organised by DD Kisan
Channel in New Delhi.
 Speaking on the occasion, Mr Surya Prakash said, the Kisan Channel
has provided a platform to the women farmers and the aim of the
channel is to make aware the people about the various schemes of the government.
Manmohan Singh presents an award to Arun Jaitley for implementing GST

 Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh presented the
BusinessLine Changemaker Of The Year award to Union
Minister Arun Jaitley for successfully introducing the Goods
and Services Tax (GST).
 Jaitley received the award on behalf of the GST Council.
 The award was also presented to the petitioners against
Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, which criminalised homosexuality.
Padmanaban Gopalan wins the Commonwealth Youth Award for The Asian Region
 A social entrepreneur from Tamil Nadu, Padmanaban Gopalan, founder of No Food Waste,
was named the winner of the Commonwealth Youth Award for the
Asian region worth 3,000 Pounds at a ceremony at the Commonwealth
Secretariat in London.
 His initiative runs a geo-mapping platform, which allows users to drop
food at located “hunger spots” and has so far recovered over 650,000
meals across 14 cities and the platform has been used by over 12,000
volunteers.
61 |
President of India presents Gallantry Awards

 The President Shri Ram Nath Kovind conferred three Kirti
Chakras and fifteen Shaurya Chakras to Armed Forces at the
Defence Investiture Ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
 Two Kirti Chakras (Ysepoyvrahma Pal Singh & Rajendra
Kumar Nain) and one Shaurya Chakra (Dhanawadera
vindrababan) were given posthumously.
 The President also conferred fifteen Param VishishtSeva
Medals, one Uttam Yudh Seva Medals and twenty-five AtiVishisht Seva Medals to senior
officers of the Armed Forces for distinguished service of an exceptional order.
WEF recognised Naresh Lokesh as Young Global Leader for 2019

 According to the World Economic Forum (WEF), Andhra
Pradesh IT minister ‘Nara Lokesh’ has been recognised as
the Young Global Leader,
 The list has 127 of the world's most promising social
activists, business leaders, public servants, artists and
technologists under the age of 40.
 The individuals are expected to take part in the five year-
programme that will help them to identify new ways to learn new ideas.
BBC journalist Priyanka Dubey gets Chameli Devi Jain award

 BBC journalist ‘Priyanka Dubey’ has won the ‘Chameli Devi
Jain Award-2018’ for an Outstanding Woman Journalist for
the year 2018 at a function in Delhi.
 She was chosen for her multi-faceted, investigative and
interrogative reportage.
 Priyanka Dubey works as a bilingual correspondent with
the BBC at its Delhi bureau.
 Note:
 The Chameli Devi Jain Award named after the freedom fighter, Chameli Devi Jain who held
demonstrations against the foreign goods on the call of Gandhi and got arrested.
Dipa Karmakar selected as Barbie Role Model

 Indian gymnast Dipa Karmakar (25-year) has been selected as Barbie role model, as the
company celebrates its 60th anniversary.
 Karmakar has been chosen along with 19 other successful women (from 17 countries),
included in the collection of Barbie dolls inspired by real-life heroes.
 She was part of the ‘Shero’ program launched in 2015 by the company.
 Note:
 Dipa created history by becoming India’s first female gymnast to qualify for the final of
the vault event at the Olympics (finishing fourth in the event).
 Karmakar became the first Indian female gymnast to win a medal (bronze) at the
Commonwealth Games 2014.
Japanese architect Arata Isozaki wins the Pritzker Prize 2019

 Japanese architect ‘Arata Isozaki’ has won the Pritzker Prize 2019.
 He is the 46th Pritzker laureate and the 8th Japanese architect to receive the honour.
 The Pritzker Prize (USD 100,000) is regarded as architecture's equivalent to the Nobel
Prize.
62 |
 The Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles and the Palau Saint Jordi indoor
sporting arena in Barcelona are among more than 100 of his major projects.
 Note:
 The Pritzker Architecture Prize is awarded annually to honour a living architect whose
built work demonstrates a combination of those qualities of talent, vision, and commitment,
which has produced consistent and significant contributions to humanity and the built
environment through the art of architecture.
 The award is funded by the Pritzker family and sponsored by the Hyatt Foundation.
Abhinandan Varthaman to get Bhagwan Mahavir Ahimsa Puraskar

 Indian Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman (piloting a Mig-21 Bison) will
be the first recipient of the 'Bhagwan Mahavir Ahimsa Puraskar'.
 The award is instituted by the Akhil Bharatiya Digambar Jain
Mahasamiti.
 on 27th February, Mr. Varthaman shot down a Pakistan Air Force F-16
with an R-73 air-to-air missile in a dogfight
 The award will be presented to Varthaman on 17th April 2019, carries
a cash prize of Rs 2.51 lakh, a memento and a citation.
Indore awarded the cleanest city in Swachh Survekshan 2019 awards

 Indore has been awarded India's cleanest city for the third straight year in the central
government's cleanliness Swachh Survekshan 2019 (SS 2019) awards.
 The second and third positions in the category were grabbed
by Ambikapur(Chhattisgarh) and Mysore (Karnataka).
 The New Delhi Municipal Council area was given the 'Cleanest Small City'
award, Gauchar (Uttarakhand) was adjudged the 'Best Ganga Town' in the central
government survey.
 The 'Cleanest Big City' award has been bagged by Ahmedabad, while Raipur is the 'Fastest
Moving Big City'.
 Ujjain has been the adjudged the 'Cleanest Medium City' and Mathura-Vrindavanbagged
the tag of the 'Fastest Moving Medium Cities'.
 Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh) has been declared as the cleanest capital.
 Swachh Survekshan 2019 covered all urban local bodies in the country, making it the
largest such cleanliness survey in the world.
 Note:
 The Swachh Survekshan awards 2019 were conferred by President Ram Nath Kovind in
New Delhi at a ceremony.
Kylie Jenner becomes a youngest self-made billionaire at 21

 American reality television personality ‘Kylie Jenner’ (21-years) has been named
the youngest-ever, self-made billionaire by Forbes magazine (move over Mark
Zuckerberg).
 Facebook's Zuckerberg was 23 when he hit the big B mark.
 According to Forbes magazine, Jenner's Kylie Cosmetics is worth at least USD 900
million, and she owns it all.
 She has starred in the E! reality television series Keeping Up with the Kardashians since
2007 and is the founder and owner of cosmetic company Kylie Cosmetics.
 She also released a mobile app that reached number one on the iTunes App Store.
63 |
DRDO Chairman wins Missile Systems Award

 DRDO Chairman ‘Satheesh Reddy’ has been chosen by the
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA)
as the co-winner of the 2019 Missile Systems Award.
 American Institute of Aeronautics and
Astronautics (AIAA) has chosen ‘Satheesh Reddy’ (DRDO
Chairman and Secretary of India’s Department of Defence
R&D) as the co-winner of the 2019 Missile Systems Award.
 The other co-winner is Rondell J. Wilson who is a former Principal Engineering Fellow of
Raytheon Missile Systems.
 Satheesh Reddy is the first person to be honoured with this award outside the USA in 40
years.
 Prime Minister Narendra Modi conferred the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prizes for Science
and Technology for the years 2016, 2017 and 2018 in New Delhi. There were 34 prize
winners.
 ASSOCHAM (The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India), which is one of
the apex trade associations of India has conferred 'Non-Life Insurer of the Year Award
2019′ to Bharti AXA General Insurance.
 Tata Steel has received the award as one of the 2019 World's Most Ethical Companies. The
award has been given by Ethisphere Institute, USA. The company was also recognised 7
times previously and is one of the only two awardees in the 'Metals, Minerals and Mining'
industry.
 Two Nobel prizes in literature will be awarded this year, to make up for the lack of one in
2018 while the scandal-plagued Swedish Academy attempted to get its house in order.
 The 'Green Era Award for Sustainability' was set up to recognize the true global exemplars
who have been innovative and creative in pursuing the sustainable imperative. TVS Motor
Company bagged the award because of its sincere commitment towards being a responsible
manufacturer. The company has bagged this award for the second time.
 The Ministry of Tourism, Government of India has won the First Prize in the category of TV
Cinema Spot at the prestigious international Golden City Gate Tourism Awards 2019. The
awards were received by Yogendra Tripathi, Secretary, Tourism at ITB, Berlin.
 A social entrepreneur from Tamil Nadu, Padmanaban Gopalan, founder of No Food Waste,
was named the winner of the Commonwealth Youth Award for the Asian region worth
3,000 Pounds at a ceremony at the Commonwealth Secretariat in London.
 An Indian journalist, author and chief of The Wire, 'Raghu Karnad' received the prestigious
Windham-Campbell prize of USD 165,000 for his debut book, 'Farthest Field: An Indian
story of Second World War', published in the year 2015 in the non-fiction category.
 Brazilian physicist and astronomer Marcelo Gleiser has been awarded the 2019 Templeton
Prize, worth $1.4 million, for his work blending science and spirituality. Gleiser, 60, is the
first Latin American to win the award.
 Hindi writer Leeladhar Jagudi honoured with Vyas Samman 2018 for his collection of
poems “Jitne Log Utne Prem” published in 2013.
 President Ram Nath Kovind has been awarded the Grand Order of King Tomislav with Sash
and Grand Star by the President of Croatia Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic for his exceptional
contribution to the advancement of overall relations and development of mutual
64 |
cooperation between India and Croatia and for promoting friendship and partnership
between the people of both the countries.
 Swiss-based NRI scientist Dr Rajendra Joshi has been conferred with the Pravasi Bhartiya
Samman Award by the President of India Ram Nath Kovind.
1. Yoshua Bengio, Geoffrey Hinton, and Yann LeCun were on March 27, 2019 awarded with the 2018
ACM A.M. Turing Award for their work in which field?
a) Laser physics b) Internet of Things
c) Artificial Intelligence d) Evolution of enzymes
2. Which Indian personality was recently honoured with Croatia’s highest civilian award ‘Grand Order
of the King of Tomislav’?
a) Ram Nath Kovind b) Narendra Modi c) MS Dhoni d) Aamir Khan
3. Which European country has recently honoured President Ram Nath Kovind with its highest civilian
order?
a) Chile b) Spain c) Croatia d) Belgium
4. Who was awarded with the Abel Prize 2019?

a) Yves Meyer b) Andrew Wiles c) Robert Langlands d) Karen Uhlenbeck
5. Who led to the development of World Wide Web, which recently completed its 30 years?
a) Tim Berners-Lee b) Lerry Page c) Jerry Yang d) Bill Gates
6. President Ram Nath Kovind conferred the Padam Shri 2019 on which of the following personality?
a) Nambi Narayan b) Bachendri Pal c) Teejan Bai d) Gautam Gambhir
7. Which city was adjudged as India's Cleanest City for the third consecutive year as per Swachh
Survekshan 2019?
a) Bhopal b) Indore c) Ambikapur d) Mysuru
8. Which city was awarded as the Cleanest Capital in the Swachh Survekshan 2019 survey?
a) Bhopal b) Chennai c) Greater Mumbai d) Chandigarh
9. Who has won the International Sustainability Award ‘Green Era Award for Sustainability’ in Lisbon,
Portugal?
a) Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd b) Hero MotoCorp Ltd
c) Tata Motors d) TVS Motor Company
10. Who among the following is the co-winner of the 2019 Missile Systems Award?
a) S N Singh b) Anil Kumar Jha c) Satheesh Reddy d) Devendra Prasad
11. Who has won the ‘Chameli Devi Jain Award’ for an Outstanding Woman Journalist for the year
2018?
a) Barkha Dutt b) Priyanka Dubey c) Nidhi Razdan d) Madhu Trehan
12. Who has won the best actor award in A Leading Role (Male) at 2019 Filmfare Awards?
a) Akshay Kumar b) Irfan khan c) Ranbir Kapoor d) Shahrukh khan
65 |
Obituaries
Goa CM Manohar Parrikar passed away

 Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar (63-years) passed away in Panaji on 17th March
2019 after a prolonged illness.
 Parrikar was diagnosed with a pancreatic ailment in
February last year. Since then, he received treatment
at various hospitals across Mumbai, New Delhi, Goa
and the US.
 The popular leader would be remembered for his
efforts in infrastructure and education development
in the state and bringing the International Film
Festival of India to Goa in 2004. for his role as the union defence minister and his
dynamism.
 Note:
 A six-time MLA and former Defence Minister, Mr Parrikar was born on 13th December
1955.
 He graduated from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Mumbai with a B.Tech degreein
metallurgical engineering.
 Mr Parrikar was first elected to the Goa assembly in 1994.
 He served as Chief Minister of the state from October 2000 to February 2005 and March
2012 to November 2014.
 From November 2014 till March 2017, he served as the Union Defence Minister. Mr
Parrikar returned to Goa in March 2017 as the State Chief Minister.
 He served as a Rajya Sabha MP from November 2014 to September 2017.
Pioneering Russian cosmonaut Valery Bykovsky passes away

 Pioneering Soviet-era cosmonaut Valery Bykovsky (84-years) passed away.
 Valery Bykovsky, who was the 11th person to venture
into space and who held the unbroken record for the
longest solo spaceflight.
 Over his career, Bykovsky spent a total of nearly 21 days
in space.
 Bykovsky was one of 20 Soviet military pilots in the first
group picked to prepare for space.
 He first flew to space in June 1963 as a member of the
Vostok-5 crew.
 He left the cosmonaut corps in 1982 and later worked in several roles at the Gagarin
Cosmonaut Training Center at Star City near Moscow.
Famed Economist Alan Krueger passes away

 Former White House economist and Princeton University professor Alan Krueger (58-
years) passed away.
 Mr. Krueger served as chief economist at the Department of Labor under President Bill
Clinton and chair of the Council of Economic Advisers from 2011 to 2013 under former
President Barack Obama.
Formula One director Charlie Whiting has died in Australia

 Formula One race director Charlie Whiting (66-years) has died from a pulmonary
embolism three days before the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
66 |
 Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), the Federation for international auto

racing, issued a statement saying Whiting died on March 14 morning in Melbourne.
 A pulmonary embolism is a blockage in the lung, usually
caused by a blood clot.
 Note:
 He began his F1 career in 1977 working at the Hesketh team
and the Englishman later moved to Bernie Eccelstone’s
Brabham team in the 1980s.
 He joined the FIA in 1988 and became a race director in 1997.
U.S Olympic gold medallist Kelly Catlin passes away

 America’s finest and most remarkable cyclists ‘Kelly Catlin’(23-year) passed away in the
USA.
 Catlin helped a dominant US team to three consecutive
world titles in the pursuit between 2016 and 2018.
 She also won a silver medal in the team pursuit at the 2016
Olympics in Rio.
 She also raced with the Rally UHC Pro Cycling team on the
road.
 Note:
 Pursuit team is a track cycling event like the individual pursuit, except that two teams, each
of up to four riders, compete, starting on opposite sides of the velodrome.
 Veteran Bengali actor Chinmoy Roy (79-years) passed away last night. He was born on
January 16, 1940, in Kumilla district in now in Bangladesh. He was famous for his comic
roles in Bengali movies, though his versatility has allowed him to play a variety of roles.
 Zhores Alferov, a Russian physicist and Nobel Prize laureate, has passed away. He was 88.
In 2000, Alferov received the Nobel Prize in Physics together with US scientists Jack Kilby
and Herbert Kroemer, for developing semiconductor heterostructures used in high-speed-
and optoelectronics.
 Legendary composer and pianist Andre Previn has passed away at the age of 89 in
Manhattan, New York, USA. He was a 10-time Grammy Award winner and had won 4 Oscars
throughout his lifetime.
 American actor Luke Perry has passed away in California at the age of 52, less than a week
after suffering a massive stroke. The actor rose to fame for his roles in 'Beverly Hills 90210′
and “Riverdale“.
 Senior journalist and environmental activist Darryl D'Monte passed away in Mumbai after a
brief illness at the age of 74 years. In a career spanning several decades, he served as the
resident editor of Mumbai editions of The Times of India and The Indian Express.
 Kala Prapoorna awardee, Vinjamuri Anasuya Devi passed away at the age of 99 due to
illness in the USA. She was an eminent folk artist, radio commentator, harmonium player,
music composer, and author.
 Scott Walker, one of the most innovative and enduring songwriters of the 20th century, has
died aged 76.
 Celebrated Malayalam writer and poet Ashita passed away at the age of 63 in Thrissur, after
fighting a long battle with cancer. She was the recipient of myriad awards, and some
include the Padmarajan Award –Thathagatha (2000), Lalithambika Antharjanam Award
(1994) and Edaserri Award (1986).
67 |
1. Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar passed away on March 17, 2019 after battling with pancreatic
cancer. He was an alumnus of which IIT branch?
a) IIT Roorkee b) IIT Lucknow c) IIT Bombay d) IIT Delhi
2. Russian Nobel laureate Zhores Alferov passed away at the age of 88 in the beginning of March. He
was awarded the Nobel Prize for his outstanding contribution in which field?
a) Physics b) Chemistry c) Literature d) Physiology or Medicine
3. Bharat Mohan Adhikari, the former deputy Prime Minister of this nation passed away on March 2,
2019.
a) Bangladesh b) Sri Lanka c) Nepal d) Bhutan
4. Actor Luke Perry passed away recently. He belonged to which country?

a) Germany b) Bangladesh c) New Zealand d) USA
5. Famous horror writer Larry Cohen passed away recently. He belonged Which of the
following countries?
a) Denmark b) Germany c) Australia d) United States
6. Renowned writer and poet Ashita passed away at a private hospital in Thrissur. She
belonged to which of the following states?
a) Maharashtra b)Punjab c) Tamil Nadu d) Kerala
68 |
Important Days
 March 1 : Zero Discrimination Day [UNAIDS]

 Theme of 2019 : Act to change laws that Discriminate
 March 3 : World Wildlife Day [UN]
 Theme of 2019 : Life Below Water: For people and planet
 March 8 : International Women's Day [UN]
 Theme of 2019 : Think equal, build smart, innovate for change
 March 11 : Commonwealth Day [2019]
 Theme of 2019 : A Connected Commonwealth
 March 15 : World Consumer Rights Day [Consumer International]
 Theme of 2019 : Trusted Smart Products
 March 20 : International Day of Happiness [UN]
 Theme of 2019 : Happier Together
 March 20 : World Sparrow day
 Theme of 2019 : I Love Sparrows
 March 21 : International Day of Forests [FAO-UN]
 Theme of 2019 : Forests and Education – Learn to Love Forests
 March 22 : World Water Day [UN]
 Theme of 2019 : Leaving no one behind
 March 24 : World Tuberculosis Day [WHO]
 Theme of 2019 : It’s Time…
1. When will be the ‘Janaushadhi Diwas’ celebrated across India?

a) 6 March b) 7 March c) 8 March d) 9 March
2. When is the International Women’s Day celebrated across world?

a) 7th March b) 8th March c) 9th March d) 10th March
3. When is the World Consumer Rights Day observed every year?

4. When the International Day of Happiness is celebrated every year?

5. When International Day of Forests 2019 was observed with the theme ‘Forests and
Education’?
a) 21st March b) 22nd March c) 19th March d) 20th March
6. What was the theme of World Water Day 2019?

69 |
a) Water for all b) Clean water, healthy self

c) Leaving no one behind d) Every drop counts
7. When the World Tuberculosis Day is observed every year?

8. When is the World Theatre Day observed every year?

Foreign Visits / Foreign Visitors
 State Visit of President Shri Ram Nath Kovind to Croatia, Bolivia and Chile in between
March 25 - April 2, 2019.
 Visit of External Affairs Minister Smt. Sushma Swaraj to Maldives in between March 17-18,
2019.
 Visit of Vice President Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu to Paraguay and Costa Rica in between
March 05-09, 2019.
 Visit of Vice President of the Republic of Ghana DR. Mahamudu Bawumia to India in
between March 16-20, 2019.
 Visit of Prime Minister of the Republic of Guinea DR. Ibrahima Kassory Fofana to India in
between March 16-25, 2019.
70 |
Current Affairs MCQs
Answer Key
National
1-C 2-D 3-B 4-C 5-D 6-B 7-A 8-B 9-C 10-B
11-A 12-C 13-A 14-C 15-B 16-B 17-A 18-C 19-B 20-A
21-A 22-C 23-D 24-A 25-C 26-C 27-D 28-C 29-D
International
1-D 2-B 3-C 4-A 5-B 6-B 7-B 8-A 9-B 10-A
11-B 12-C 13-B 14-B 15-C 16-A 17-B 18-A 19-A 20-D
21-B

1-A 2-C 3-D 4-A 5-A 6-A 7-D 8-A 9-B 10-A
11-A 12-B 13-A 14-D

1-A 2-C 3-B 4-C 5-A 6-D 7-A 8-D 9-B 10-A
11-B 12-C 13-B
1-A 2-D 3-A 4-C 5-A 6-A 7-B 8-D 9-A 10-C
Sports
1-A 2-D 3-A 4-B 5-A 6-A 7-A 8-B 9-D 10-A
11-A 12-D 13-A 14-D 15-A
Honours / Awards
1-C 2-A 3-C 4-D 5-A 6-D 7-B 8-A 9-D 10-C
11-B 12-C
Obituaries
1-C 2-A 3-C 4-D 5-D 6-D
Important Days
1-B 2-B 3-D 4-A 5-A 6-C 7-B 8-A
Source of Information
 http://pib.nic.in
 http://india.gov.in
 http://www.ibef.org
 http://thehindu.com
 http://jagranjosh.com
 http://gktoday.in
71 |

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Compendium- March, 2019

India’s 17th Lok Sabha elections to be held in 7 phases

Phases/Date Lok Sabha States/UTs

GI tag for Coffee Varieties

UGC prohibits imparting distance degree programmes in agriculture

Former Governor’s book titled ‘Indian Fiscal Federalism’ launched

 A decision to introduce the three subjects was taken at a recent

Navin Chawla’s new book titled ‘Every Vote Counts’ launched

CBSE launches new Shiksha Vani' app

Special Stamp on Ice Stupa released

President of India inaugurates festival of Innovation and Entrepreneurship in

Areca nut gets ‘Sirsi supari’ geographical indication tag

MoHUA partners with Microsoft for Swachh Bharat e-Learning Portal

Indian and Pak delegations hold talks on Kartarpur

MP government issues an ordinance to give 27% quota to OBCs

Uttarakhand CM launches free milk scheme for Anganwadi children

Kerala’s Marayur Jaggery gets Geographical Indication Tag

two years of continuous efforts by the Agricultural Department of the state.

India’s first oil museum to come up in Guwahati

Govt reduces the price of 390 anti-cancer drugs upto 87 pc

Google launches 'Bolo' app to tutor children to read in Hindi, English

ISRO launches 'Yuva Vigyani Karyakram' for school children

Maharashtra Cabinet clears 29-kilometre metro line for Thane

Smriti Irani inaugurates refurbished Handloom Haat at Janpath, New Delhi

PM Modi launches Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Mandhan Yojana in Gujarat

PM Modi inaugurates Ahmedabad Metro service

India ranks 47th in 'Inclusive' Internet list

2nd Edition of Indian Sign Language Dictionary launched

HRD Ministry launches SHREYAS Scheme

NITI Aayog’s Atal Innovation Mission partners with Adobe

Why Ballot Papers will be used in Nizamabad instead of EVM?

Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs)

Global Energy & CO2 Status Report: Key facts

EU parliament approves ban on Single-use plastics

Israelis discover 'world's longest salt cave'

Nepal Investment Summit 2019 commences in Kathmandu

India, Bangladesh start cruise service

Evidence of water, particle plumes found on asteroid Bennu

Pakistan approves the proposal to3 open Sharda Peeth corridor

UN council passes a resolution to combat terrorist financing

Venezuela′s Juan Guaido barred from public office for 15 years

Comoros President Azali Assoumani re-elected with over 60% of votes

European Parliament adopts controversial copyright reforms

World’s largest e-waste recycling facility opens in Dubai

 It will recycle Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE), IT asset

WEF’s global Energy Transition index: India ranks at 76th position

Soyuz Spacecraft Successfully reach ISS

 The Theravada Tripitaka (sacred scripture of Buddhists) was declared as a National

Google unveils Stadia:a video-game streaming platform

Kazakhstan renames its capital Astana to Nursultan

Google shuts down instant messaging app 'Allo'

WHO launches new global influenza strategy

India, U.S. agree to build six nuclear power plants in India

Malaysia joins the International Criminal Court

Russia suspends participation in Intermediate-Range Nuclear treaty with US

US, N Korea fail to strike a deal at Hanoi Summit

Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs)

Economics & Financial Awareness

Multi-dimensional Poverty Index 2018

World Happiness Report 2019

 D-SIBs are required to maintain higher capital as compared to other banks.

RBI categorises IDBI Bank as private sector lender

India ranks 11th in gold holding: World Gold Council