Current Affairs Today 08th & 09th March 2020| Current Affairs News

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Daily Current Affairs PDF of 08th & 09th March 2020

CURRENT AFFAIRS: DAYS

International Women’s Day

• This day is observed globally every year on 8 March to celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women.
• It is a focal point in the movement for women’s rights.
• Thetheme for IWD 2020 is I am Generation Equality: Realizing Women’s Rights”..

CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL

MSDE launches Mahatma Gandhi National Fellowship programme in Bengaluru

• The Union Minister for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Dr. Mahendra Nath Pandey launched the Mahatma Gandhi National Fellowship programme in the Indian Institute of Management in Bengaluru.
• The Fellowship is launched as part of the SANKALP programme of the ministry to provide skilled manpower for District Skill Committees to prepare the District Skill Development plan.
• Under the pilot project, IIMB will train 75 graduates for two years in preparing the District skill plan considering the skill gaps, market utilities, government schemes and institutions available in the district.
• Graduates from 75 districts in Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Karnataka and Meghalaya are chosen for the training.

2nd anniversary of Poshan Abhiyaan ‘Poshan Pakhwada’ being celebrated

• The second anniversary of the Poshan Abhiyaan  Poshan Pakhwada is being celebrated on 8^th
• The focus area of the two-week-long Poshan Pakhwada 2020 will be – Men for Nutrition – increasing male engagement in Poshan Abhiyaan – to improve Nutritional Indicators.
• It aims at reducing malnutrition from the country in a phased manner, through the life cycle concept, by adopting a synergized and result-oriented approach.

Third all-Women Post Office opens in NewDelhi

• Department of Posts, Delhi Circle has opened the third all-Women Post Office in the national capital.
• The post office was inaugurated under New Delhi South West Division to commemorate the International Women’s Day celebrations.
• A felicitation ceremony was also organized to award the best women workers of New Delhi South West Division for the year 2019 in different categories.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING AND FINANCE

EPFO lowers interest rate on deposits to 8.5 pc for 2019-20

• Retirement fund body, Employees’ Provident Fund Organization, (EPFO) lowered the interest rate on provident fund deposits to 8.5 per cent for the current financial year.
• Earlier it was 8.65 percent.

PhonePe switches to ICICI for UPI, @ybl handles to continue working

• As the Yes Bank fiasco hit UPI-based transactions last week, PhonePe that was solely using Yes Bank’s services worked overnight with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and ICICI bank to ensure all its services were up and running within a day.
• PhonePe, with close to 20 crore users, saw an extended service outage, which started immediately after the RBI moratorium on Yes Bank on March 5, lasting for nearly 24 hours.
• The company worked with the NPCI and ICICI bank, its new UPI partner.
• All merchant payment settlements were restored by Friday noon and all consumer wallet, credit and debit card payments were restored by 3 pm, the company said in a statement.
• All UPI services were restored by Friday night, with PhonePe users continuing to use their UPI @ybl handles.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

Govt approves TCS, DLF proposals to set up SEZs for IT in Haryana, UP

• The government has approved the proposals of software firm TCS and realty major DLF to set up special economic zones (SEZs) for IT sector in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
• TCS has proposed to set up an IT/ITeS SEZ in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, on 19.9 hectares land. The total proposed investment for the project is Rs 2,433.72 crore.
• DLF has proposed to set up two SEZs in Haryana. The proposed investments for these projects are Rs 793.95 crore and Rs 761.54 crore.
• SEZs are major export hubs in the country as the government provides several incentives and single-window clearance system.
• Exports from these zones grew by about 14.5 per cent to Rs 3.82 lakh crore in April-September 2019-20. It was Rs 7.02 lakh crore in entire 2018-19 financial year.

About TCS (Tata Consultancy Services Limited)

• Headquarters– Mumbai, Maharashtra
• Chairman– Chandrasekaran

About DLF (Delhi Land and Finance Limited)

• Headquarters– Gurgaon, Haryana
• Chairman– Kushal Pal Singh​

Google India Launches Skill Development Programme For Women

• Google India introduced DigiPivot, a skilling programme designed for women who are looking to return to their corporate careers after a break or simply planning to make mid-career shifts to digital marketing.
• Developed in association with Avtar, a career portal service for women, and the Indian School of Business, the programme aims to influence the overall gender mix in the digital marketing landscape in India and will provide an opportunity for 200 women professionals to re-skill themselves.
• Selected participants will go through a curated 18-week learning programme and engagement (both offline and online) that aims to empower the participants with digital marketing knowledge and tools as well as mentorship on strategic leadership skills.
• The programme will culminate in a day-long graduation event at the Google Hyderabad Campus.
• The programme is open to both women professionals who are currently working and those who are keen to return to the workforce with 4-10 years of experience in consulting, analytics, branding and sales and support with passion for digital marketing.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: MOU

Paytm, Hyderabad Metro tie up for QR-based tickets

• Hyderabad Metro Rail Ltd has launched Paytm’s QR-code-based metro ticketing system.
• The new service will enable commuters to travel seamlessly and avoid queues to buy tokens at the metro stations. They can now simply purchase a QR ticket on their Paytm app, which can be displayed at the Automatic Fare Collection (AFC) gates to proceed for the journey.
• The feature will help over 14 lakh smartcard holders using the metro service. The company plans to extend the service to metro-feeder buses to ensure last-mile connectivity in the city.

MOU between DAY-NULM and AMAZON

• An MoU between National Urban Livelihood Mission, Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs with AMAZON for e marketing of products made by Self Help Groups (SHGs) across the country in urban areas, in New Delhi.
• The Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Shri Durga Shanker Mishra witnessing the signing ceremony.
• These collaborations are the key initiatives for the 2^ndedition of Shehri Samridhi Utsav to be organized from March 28 to April 12, 2020.

Intel and CBSE join hands to digitally empower 1 lakh students with AI

• Tech giant Intel and Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to digitally empower nearly one lakh students with Artificial Intelligence (AI) integration in India’s education system. Initiatives include the roll-out of an Artificial Intelligence (AI) curriculum framework for grades VIII, IX and X for 22,000 schools, with the aim to empower one lakh students within 2020.
• The curriculum is based on ”Intel AI For Youth”, which is an immersive, hands-on learning programme using experiential methodologies covering both social and technological skills.
• AI has become a strategic imperative for worldwide economic growth and will continue to be one of the most crucial technologies of the future.
• The MoU also stated that Intel along with CBSE will soon be launching a ”National AI Olympiad” to motivate young students to showcase their meaningful social impact solutions as evidence of achievement.
• The curriculum was piloted with eight schools, training youth to create AI projects focused on social impact in 2019, with the aim to empower 1,00,000 students with AI-readiness skills in 2020.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: STATES

J&K Lt Governor Launches ‘Student Health Card’ Scheme for over 12 lakh students

• In  a move aimed at improving the health and overall well being of over 12 lakh students of government schools in Jammu and Kashmir, Lieutenant Governor Girish Chandra Murmu launched the Student Health Card scheme.
• These cards will contain information about the immunisation record of a child, the bi-annual examination of a child, the checklist of commonly existing disorders among children and their preliminary diagnostic tools, tabular description of periodic health profile matrices and a brief description of commonly occurring diseases and ailments among children.

About Jammu & Jammu and Kashmir

• Capital- Srinagar(Summer), Jammu(Winter)
• Lieutenant Governor -Girish Chandra Murmu

CURRENT AFFAIRS: AWARDS AND HONOURS

15 outstanding women honoured with Nari Shakti Puraskar by Prez on International Women’s Day

• President Ram Nath Kovind gave away the Nari Shakti Puraskar to 15 women in Rashtrapati Bhawan on the occasion of International Women’s Day.
• The awardees are 103 year old athlete Mann Kaur, Indian Air Force’s first women fighter pilots Mohana Singh, Bhawana Kanth and Avani Chaturvedi, Farmers Padala Bhudevi and Bina Devi, Artisan Arifa Jaan, Environmentalist Chami Murmu, Entrepreneur Nilza Wangmo, Automotive research professional Rashmi Urdhwardeshe, Lady Mason Kalavati Devi, Twin Mountaineers , classical vocalist Kaushiki Chakroborty and 98 year old Karthyayini Amma who topped the literacy exam in 2018. Another awardee 105 year old Bhageerathi Amma could not travel to Delhi to recieve the award.
• The National Award is given annually to individuals, groups, institutions in recognition of their exceptional work towards the cause of women empowerment, especially for vulnerable and marginalized women.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGNATION

Anurag Mehrotra to take charge of Mahindra-Ford JV as CEO

• Anurag Mehrotra, a key architect of Ford India’s alliance with Mahindra & Mahindra, is set to take over as the chief executive of their joint venture on April 1.
• Mahindra also said its chief of powertrain engineering and business development, Pankaj Sonalkar, would become the chief operating officer of the JV. Already, Ford India’s sourcing head, Raghu Veeraraghavan, has joined Mahindra as the head of strategic sourcing and he would steer sourcing for a nine-product portfolio being planned by the partners.
• Sachin Arolkar has been named the chief financial officer of the JV and Abhimanyu Sen the HR head, according to the internal email.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: SUMMITS AND CONFERENCE

WCD Minister inaugurates Seminar on the Future of Work: Women in India’s Workforce

• Ministry of Women and Child Development and the World Bank organized a discussion programme on the “The Future of Work: Women in India’s Workforce” in New Delhi.
• This discussion programme is part of series of events to observe International Women’s Day 2020 to celebrate the achievements of women in business, women enablers and public, private and civil society organizations.
• A diet plan for women and lactating mothers, for the first time, been formulated by Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) and shared with all Anganwadi centres across the country.
• There are one lakh cases of domestic violence registered every year and in order to create a gender-neutral society it is essential not only to raise empowered girls but also raise boys who are sensitive to gender issues. For this, the WCD Ministry is working with NIMHANS to ensure counselling and improve the quality of counsellors in schools across all districts inthe country.
• Three discussion sessions were held on the central role of women in India’s growth story, investing in women and stories of women entrepreneurs.
• In India only 23 % of the labour force comprises of women and one in five girls are married before the age of 20, school dropout rates of girls are high and due to child care, domestic work and lack of female friendly environment in the workforce number of women in the labour force in India is low.

About World Bank

• Headquarters– Washington, D.C., United States
• President– David R. Malpass

Ministry of Women and Child Development

• MOWCD- Smrithi Zubin Irani
• Constituency- Amethi, UP

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BOOKS AND AUTHORS

Smriti Irani releases book titled Chronicles of Change Champions

• Union Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Zubin Irani released a book titled Chronicles of Change Champions in New Delhi.
• The book is a compilation of 25 innovative initiatives taken at the state and district levels under the Prime Minister’s flagship scheme of Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao.
• It captures the convergent approach adopted at the grass-root level and provides insight into the unique manner of community engagement by the District Administration and front-line workers.

About Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Scheme

• The Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao scheme was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 22nd January 2015 at Panipat, Haryana as a comprehensive programme to address the declining Child Sex Ratio and the related issues of empowerment of women over a life-cycle continuum.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: RANKING

India ranks 12^th in ultra-high net worth individuals

• The world witnessed an increase of 31,000 ultra-high net worth individuals (UHNWIs) in 2019. This translates into a 6.4 per cent jump over 2018.
• According to Knight Frank, India ranks 12th and had 5,986 such individuals in 2019, which is likely to reach 10,354 by 2024. The number of billionaires in India, on the other hand, is likely to reach 113 by 2024, up from 104 in 2019.Topped by US
• Of the top 20 fastest growing countries that they measure, six are located in Asia (led by India with 73 per cent growth), five in Europe (led by Sweden with 47 per cent growth) and three are in Africa (led by Egypt with 66 per cent growth).

About Knight Frank

• Headquarters– London, England

BRAC retains its position as the top NGO of the world for the 5th consecutive year

• Bangladesh-based international development organization BRAC has retained its position as the top NGO of the world for the 5th consecutive year.
• The rankings for 2020 were announced by the Geneva-based organization NGO Adviser which publishes the rankings every year based on publicly available data for the top 500 global NGOs.
• The ranking focuses on the impact, innovation, governance and sustainability of the NGO.
• BRAC recently announced a new 2030 strategy with the goal to make lives of 250 million people self-sustainabe.
• BRAC has been working in areas like poverty  alleviation through extending loans to the poor, gender equality, healthcare, nutrition, environment and employment among many other things.
• BRAC also runs a university, a bank, insurance company, a seed company among other things. BRAC has about one lakh full-time staff, 8,000 of whom work outside Bangladesh.

Tamil Nadu tops in Poshan Abhiyan’s participants list

• Tamil Nadu tops the list of the states in terms of the number of participants in the flagship programme Poshan Abhiyan.
• Poshan Abhiyan for improving the nutritional status of Indian citizens. It helps children, adolescents, pregnant women and lactating mothers by leveraging technology, a targeted approach and convergence. The importance being given to the programme is evident from the fact that as many as fourteen Central Departments and all the State Governments are being involved in the programme.
• The Integrated Child Development Scheme has been in force for long in the southern state that has got rejuvenated with the Centre’s Poshan Abhiyaan mission.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: DEFENCE

Indian Coast Guards conducts SAREX-2020 in Goa

• Indian Coast Guard conducted a two-day National Maritime Search and Rescue Workshop and Exercise-2020 (SAREX-20) in Goa which saw participation by 24 overseas partners from 19 countries.
• The workshop was inaugurated by Defence Secretary Dr Ajay Kumar, and for the first time the three pillars of national SAR mechanism i.e. Ministry of Shipping, Ministry of Civil Aviation and Ministry of Defence, took part in the exercise which had the theme of Harmonisation of Maritime and Aeronautical Search and Rescue code named ‘HAMSAR’.
• SAREX-20 saw the largest ever participation from international delegates including 38 national observers and representatives of seven commercial airlines including two helicopter operators.
• SAREX-20 included conduct of workshop and table top exercise followed by a sea exercise. SAREX exercise is conducted biennially by Indian Coast Guard under the aegis of National Maritime Search and Rescue Board (NMSARB)

‘She inspires Us’ Indian Army conducts Self Defence Training for Women

• For International Women’s Day, a unit of Indian Army organized a demonstration on Self Defence themed “Stronger You Stronger Society” for the local womenfolk at Dhamdhama Anchlik College in Nalbari District, Assam.
• Safety of Women in India has become a major pan India concern. The demonstration intended to address fear and empower the girls morally, mentally and physically to defend themselves in any situation.
• The demonstration was conducted by Rifleman Ramesh Karki, an international taekwondo player of the Indian Army along with two local girls, Priyanka and Jinti Rajbonshi, players of International repute from the local region.
• The demonstration was attended by 250 girl students and staff from Dhamdhama Anchalik College, Luit Academy, Dhamdhama High School, Nalbari Girls High School, Dhamdhama Girls School. The event propagated a feeling of care and safety among the locals and further imbibed the sense of Stronger Women Stronger Society within them.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: SPORTS

First ever Khelo India Winter Games begin at Gulmarg in Kashmir

• Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Kiren Rijiuju inaugurated the five-day Khelo India Winter games at famous tourist destination Gulmarg in Jammu and Kashmir.
• During the event, the competitions in the sports disciplines like snow skiing, snow boarding, snow shoeing, ski mountaineering and snow baseball would be held.
• More than 900 sports persons drawn from various parts of the country were present on the occasion
• Government of India will establish a Sports Training Academy at Gulmarg at the level of International standards for the promotion of sports tourism in the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir.

Australia Beat India by 85 Runs To Clinch 5th Title

• Australia defeated first-time finalists India in the 2020 Women’s T20 World Cup final in Melbourne to clinch the title for a record-extending fifth time.
• This is Australia’s fifth title in the last six editions of the Women’s T20 World Cup.
• The match witnessed Australia register the highest-ever total (184/4) in a Women’s T20 World Cup final.

Shafali Verma Becomes Youngest Player to Appear in ICC Cricket World Cup Final

• India’s batting prodigy Shafali Verma claimed a slice of history when she became the youngest cricketer (male or female) to play in the final ICC Cricket World Cup.
• Shafali, who is 16 years and 40 days old, took the field for India in front of a packed crowd at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground in their 2020 Women’s T20 World Cup final against Australia.
• She thus broke the record previously held by West Indies’ Shaquana Quintyne, who was 17 years and 45 days old when she took the field for the West Indies in the 2013 women’s World Cup final.
• Pakistan’s Mohammad Amir is third on the list as he was 17 years and 69 days old when he played in the 2009 ICC Men’s World T20 final.

Poonam Yadav lone Indian in team of tournament dominated by champions Australia

• Leg-spinner Poonam Yadav was the lone Indian to make the ICC Women’s T20 playing XI of the World Cup, which featured teenage sensation Shafali Verma as the 12th player and was dominated by champions Australia.
• Five players from Australia’s victorious team made the side of the tournament.
• Defending champions Australia claimed their fifth title following an 85-run triumph over first-time finalists India on Sunday in Melbourne.
• Alyssa Healy, Beth Mooney, Meg Lanning, Jess Jonassen and Megan Schutt were included along with four England players.
• Healy and Mooney did quite a bit of damage with the bat and the two reprised their roles as openers in the final XI

CURRENT AFFAIRS: OBITUARY

Former Karnataka’s governor Hans Raj Bhardwaj passes away

• A senior Congress leader and former governor of Karnataka Hans Raj Bhardwaj passed away.
• He died at the age of 82 due to cardiac arrest.
• He has also served the nation as a union law minister.

DAILY CA 7^TH   MAR

• Jan aushadhi Diwas celebrated on 7^th march of every year
• Google to launch cloud region in Delhi, its second in India
• 3 day Namaste Orchha festival begins in Madhya Pradesh
• Chapchar Kut, the biggest and most joyful festival of Mizoram begins
• NPCI doubles UPI transaction limit to Rs 2 lakh for some payments
• SEBI launches mobile app ‘Sebi SCORES’ for investors to lodge grievances
• Puma signs Kareena Kapoor Khan as new brand ambassador
• Singapore’s Daren Tang to Succeed Gurry as Next WIPO Director General
• Denys Shmygal becomes Ukraine’s new prime minister
• SBI Life re-appoints Sanjeev Nautiyal as MD & CEO
• Bimal Julka appointed as new Chief Information Commissioner
• Indira Gandhi and Amrit Kaur got place in ‘100 Influential Women of the Century’ of the time
• IIT Madras team develops AI–powered drone to counter rogue drones
• Doctors use gene editing tool Crispr inside body for first time
• Fourth Global Ayurveda Festival to be held at Kochi from May 16
• International Conference on Nano Science and Technology held in Kolkata
• India, US sign Rs 1200 crore deal for missile protection suites for new VVIP planes
• Sindhu wins TOISA Sportsperson of Year award
• Coronavirus: Delhi shooting World Cup postponed, Olympic test event in Tokyo cancelled
• DMK general secretary K Anbazhagan passes away at 97

DAILY CA 8^th and 9^th  MAR  

• International Women’s Day- 8^th march
• MSDE launches Mahatma Gandhi National Fellowship programme in Bengaluru
• 2nd anniversary of Poshan Abhiyaan ‘Poshan Pakhwada’ being celebrated
• Third all-Women Post Office opens inNewDelhi
• EPFO lowers interest rate on deposits to 8.5 pc for 2019-20
• PhonePe switches to ICICI for UPI, @ybl handles to continue working
• Govt approves TCS, DLF proposals to set up SEZs for IT in Haryana, UP
• Google India Launches Skill Development Programme For Women
• Paytm, Hyderabad Metro tie up for QR-based tickets
• MOU between DAY-NULM and AMAZON
• Intel and CBSE join hands to digitally empower 1 lakh students with AI
• J&K Lt Governor Launches ‘Student Health Card’ Scheme for over 12 lakh students
• 15 outstanding women honoured with Nari Shakti Puraskar by Prez on International Women’s Day
• Anurag Mehrotra to take charge of Mahindra-Ford JV as CEO
• WCD Minister inaugurates Seminar on the Future of Work: Women in India’s Workforce
• Smriti Irani releases book titled Chronicles of Change Champions
• India ranks 12th in ultra-high net worth individuals 

• BRAC retains its position as the top NGO of the world for the 5th consecutive year
• Tamil Nadu tops in Poshan Abhiyan’s participants list
• Indian Coast Guards conducts SAREX-2020 in Goa
• ‘She inspires Us’ Indian Army conducts Self Defence Training for Women
• First ever Khelo India Winter Games begin at Gulmarg in Kashmir
• Australia Beat India by 85 Runs To Clinch 5th Title
• Shafali Verma Becomes Youngest Player to Appear in ICC Cricket World Cup Final
• Poonam Yadav lone Indian in team of tournament dominated by champions Australia
• Former Karnataka’s governor Hans Raj Bhardwaj passes away