VINTAGE

IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF MARCH 26^th, 2019

              IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF MARCH  26^th, 2019

1.     (26th March) is the Independence Day of Bangladesh.

a.      This day commemorates the country's declaration of independence from Pakistan in the year 1971.

b.      Important Points to Know about Bangladesh

                                                i.      Capital - Dhaka

                                             ii.      Currency - Taka

                                           iii.      National language - Bengali

                                           iv.      President - Abdul Hamid

                                              v.      Prime Minister - Sheikh Hasina

                                           vi.      Chief Justice  :  Syed Mahmud Hossain

2.     The joint training exercise MITRASHAKTI - VI between Indian and Sri Lanka Army is being held from today at Diyatalawa in Sri Lanka. 

a.      An Indian contingent of 120 Army personnel, including 11 officers arrived last evening to take part in the two-week long exercise. 

b.      The exercise is an annual event held in India and Sri Lanka alternatively.

c.      Note : MITRASHAKTI is one of the largest bilateral armies to army exercises conducted in the region. 

d.      The exercise is designed to enhance interoperability and mutual understanding between both the armies and build a relationship based on professional respect, personal bonding and extensive training interaction.

3.     3rd Installment of AUSINDEX, Joint Naval Exercise between India and Australia will be held off the coast of Vishakhapatnam from April 2 to 16. 

a.      The joint exercise will focus on anti-submarine warfare, as part of efforts to ramp up bilateral naval cooperation in the strategic Indian Ocean region.

4.     Acting Pentagon chief Patrick Shanahan today announced that he has authorised $1 billion to build part of the wall sought by President Donald Trump along the US-Mexico border. 

a.      The amount will go towards building 92 km of 18-foot fencing, improving roads and other measures along the border. 

b.      Note : Earlier, Trump had declared national emergency over the border wall demand.

5.     President Ram Nath Kovind has reached the Zagreb (capital city of Croatian)on the 1st leg of his three-nation tour to Croatia, Bolivia and Chile.

a.      He has been accorded a rousing welcome by Croatian dignitaries and officials of the Indian embassy.

b.      He held a brief one-to-one discussion with his Croatian counterpart.

c.      Delegation level talks were also held between the two countries.

6.     The 46th anniversary of the Chipko movement is being observed today.

a.      Although the Chipko Movement has its origins in the 18th century Rajasthan, it found momentum in the 1970s as a way to protect forests. 

b.      In the year 1973, the women in modern-day Uttarakhand formed a circle around the trees in order to protect them from being cut after the government gave a plot of forest area to a sports goods company.

7.     Health and Family Welfare Ministry have notified the Drugs and Clinical Trials Rules, 2019 with an aim to promote clinical research in the country.

a.      The new rules will change the regulatory landscape for the approval of new drugs and conduct of clinical trials in the country.

b.      These rules will apply to all new drugs, investigational new drugs for human use, clinical trial, bioequivalence study and Ethics Committee. 

c.      The new rules will ensure patient safety, as they would be enlisted for trials with informed consent.

8.     From April 1, all alcoholic beverages will have statutory health warnings on their labels. 

a.      The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has directed Food Business Operators to put the warnings "Consumption of alcohol is injurious to health" and "Be safe-Don't drink and drive" on the labels. 

b.      FSSAI had given a year's time to make the changes.

9.     The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has slapped a penalty of Rs 2 crore on Punjab National Bank (PNB) for non-compliance of regulatory directions with regard to SWIFT operations.

a.      SWIFT is a global messaging software used for sharing information on inter-bank transactions by financial entities.

b.      Note : Earlier this year, the Reserve Bank had imposed penalties worth 71 crorerupees on 36 public, private and foreign banks for non-compliance with various directions on time-bound implementation and strengthening of SWIFT operations.

10.China infused around $2.2 billion in Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves for imports and external debt repayments.

a.      Pakistan has so far received a total of $9.1 billion in financial assistance from friendly countries during the current fiscal year.

11.The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is going to launch 29 satellitesincluding the primary payload EMISAT, on the 1st of April. 

a.      Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C45 will take off from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota tentatively at 9:30 AM carrying the satellites onboard.

b.      EMISAT has been developed for monitoring radar network by India. 

c.      EMISAT, weighing 436 kg, is intended for electromagnetic spectrum measurement. 

d.      It will be placed in an orbit of about 753 km altitude. 

e.      The customer payloads are from Lithuania, Spain, Switzerland and the US. They will be hurled into space at an altitude of about 505 km.

12.Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Sunil Lanba inaugurated the Indian Navy's Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Training Facility (NBCTF) at INS Shivaji in Lonavala.

a.      The NBCTF, christened "Abhedya",  impenetrable in Sanskrit, will help train personnel of naval ships fitted with nuclear, biological and chemical detection and protection systems.

b.      The facility will provide realistic training to naval personnel in detection, protection against and decontamination of nuclear, biological and chemical agents.

c.      Important Note : INS Shivaji is celebrating its platinum jubilee year in 2019-20.

13.Supermarket company Future Retail has reappointed Kishore Biyani as its Managing Director for a period of 3 years effective May 2. 

a.      The 57-year-old, who founded Future Group in 1987, also serves as the Group CEO. 

b.      Future Retail also appointed Rakesh Biyani, who has been associated with the company for over 23 years, as its Joint Managing Director.

14.Peter Tabichi, a Kenyan science teacher who donates 80% of his salary to help poor students has won the $1-million 2019 Global Teacher Prize. 

a.      He received the prize at a ceremony in Dubai today. 

b.      Around 95% of the students at the school where Tabichi teaches are from poor families and almost a third are orphans or have only one parent.

15.Brazilian physicist and astronomer Marcelo Gleiser has been awarded the 2019 Templeton Prize for his work blending science and spirituality.

16.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-Kitarović  for his exceptional contribution to the advancement of overall relations and development of mutual cooperation between India and Croatia and for promoting friendship and partnership between the people of both the countries.