Current Affairs Today 16th March 2019 | Current Affairs News

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Daily Current Affairs PDF of 16th March 2019

CURRENT AFFAIRS: DAYS

World Sleep Day

• World Sleep Day is an annual event, intended to be a celebration of sleep and a call to action on important issues related to sleep, including medicine, education, social aspects and driving.
• It is organised by the World Sleep Day Committee of World Sleep Society (founded by WASM and WSF)
• World Sleep Day is held the Friday before Spring Vernal Equinox of each year. This year it is observed on March 15^th.

USEFUL INFO
Theme 2019	Healthy Sleep, Healthy Aging

CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL

President Kovind Inaugurates Festival of Innovation and Entrepreneurship

• The President of India Shri Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated FINE 2019, the Festival of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, in Gandhi nagar, Gujarat
• On the occasion, President Kovind also presented the 10th Biennial National Grassroots Innovation Awards.
• The four day event is being hosted outside Rashtrapati Bhavan for the first time since its establishment in 2000, with the assistance of Department of Science and Technology, Government of India.
• The Festival is unique initiative of the Office of the President of India to recognize, respect and reward grassroots creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship and provides a platform for the innovators to build linkages with potential stakeholders and get support in improving their prospects in coming years for the larger social good.

GI tag for Coorg Arabica Coffee, four other variety of coffee

• The Geographical Indications Registry has granted the Geographical Indication (GI) tag to Coorg Arabica Coffee, Wayanad Robusta Coffee, Chikmagalur Arabica Coffee, Araku Valley Arabica Coffee and Bababudangiris Arabica Coffee.
• Coorg Arabica Coffee is grown specifically in Kodagu district in Karnataka.
• The Kodagu district has unique biotic and abiotic conditions which provide uniqueness to the Coffee grown in it. The terrain provided for coffee by the broader landscape provides it a unique aroma and flavour notes to the coffee when roasted.
• Wayanad Robusta Coffee, the flora of Wayanad is characteristic of the Western Ghats and the plantation crops grown in the cool climate.
• Chikmagalur Arabica Coffee and Bababudangiris Arabica Coffee are both grown in Chikmagalur district, Karnataka which is also known as the birthplace of coffee in the country.
• Araku Valley Arabica Coffee, grown around Visakhapatnam district in Andhra Pradesh and Koraput district in Odisha, is light to medium in strength, has a pleasant acidity with a citrus note of grape fruit and a mild jaggery-like sweetness.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: INTERNATIONAL

Tropical Cyclone Idai hits Mozambique

• A category 3 Cyclone Idai, which is carrying heavy rains and winds of up to 177 km/h (106 mph), made landfall at the port city of Beira
• The cyclone has now moved west towards Zimbabwe.
• Beira is the fourth-largest city in Mozambique and its port sits on the mouth of the Pungwe river, that runs to Zimbabwe
• Mozambique has been struck by severe cyclones in the past, including Eline in 2000, when 350 people died and 650,000 were displaced across the wider region.

USEFUL INFO
Mozambique Capital	Maputo
Currency	Mozambican metical
President	Filipe Nyusi

 

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING AND FINANCE

Karur Vysya Bank raises Rs. 487 crore through private placement of Tier II bonds

• Karur Vysya Bank stated that it has raised Rs. 487 crore through Basel-III compliant bonds to fund its growth plans.
• The Capital Raising Committee of the board allotted 48,700 BASEL-III compliant unsecured, redeemable, non-convertible tier-II bonds in the nature of debenture of Rs. 1,00,000 each aggregating to Rs. 487 crore.The capital was raised on private placement basis

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Karur Vysya Bank (KVB)
KVB Bank  MD & CEO	P. R. Seshadri
KVB Headquarters	Karur, Tamil Nadu
Tagline	Smart Way to Bank

 

CURRENT AFFAIRS: APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGNATION

Rahul Bajaj resigns as Bajaj Finserv chairman

• Bajaj Finserv Chairman and Non-Executive Director Rahul Bajaj has resigned and will take over as the Chairman Emeritus from May.
• Bajaj has tendered his resignation which will be effective from the conclusion of the board meeting scheduled for May 16, 2019,
• The board of directors has appointed Nanoo Pamnani as Independent Non-Executive Chairman of the company in place of Rahul Bajaj, with effect from May 17, 2019,
• The company has also approved reappointment of independent directors D J Balaji Rao, Nanoo Pamnani and Gita Piramal for a second term of five years.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: AWARDS AND HONOURS

Kent RO received the Best Domestic Water Purifier Award 2019

• Kent RO Systems Pvt. Ltd. has been bestowed with the Best Domestic Water Purifier Award 2018-19 for its RO+UV+UF technology at the Water Digest Water Awards organized at The Lalit, New Delhi.
• Water Digest Water Awards backed by the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation and UNESCO
• Kent RO Systems has been awarded various prestigious awards, including Organization of the Year Awards 2017, Best Domestic Water Purifier Award 2016-17, Asia’s Most Promising Brand 2016

CURRENT AFFAIRS: MOU

PFC to lend Rs. 30,000 crore to Telangana irrigation schemes

• State-owned public sector undertaking Power Finance Corporation has agreed to extend another credit line of  30,000 crore to Telangana to help complete some of the major ongoing irrigation projects, including Kaleshwaram, Sita Rama and Palamuru-Rangareddy schemes.
• PFC has extended loans of over Rs. 40,000 crore to ongoing power and irrigation projects in Telangana.
• The break-up shows  23,000 crore has been extended for various power projects, including Yadadri and

 Rs. 17,000 crore for electro-mechanical works of irrigation projects.

USEFUL INFO
Power Finance Corporation (PFC)
PFC Chairman	Rajeev Sharma
PFC  Headquarters	New Delhi

CURRENT AFFAIRS: DEFENCE

India – Africa Joint Field Training Exercise AFINDEX-19 to be held in Pune

• The India-Africa Joint Field Training Exercise (AFINDEX-19) will be held between the Indian Army and 16 African nations in Pune from March 18 to 27.
• The 10-day long joint exercise will be held in two locations in Pune. They are Foreign Training Node at Aundh Military Station and College of Military Engineering in Kirkee.
• Indian Army will be represented by the personnel of Maratha Light Infantry.
• Besides, the personnel from the participating nations of African continent, officers from Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo and Madagascar would also attend the exercise as Observers.
• The aim of the exercise is to train the participating contingents in Humanitarian Mine Assistance (HMA) and Peace Keeping Operations (PKO) under the United Nations Charter.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: RANKING AND INTEX

Vienna to Top Spot in List of Most Liveable Cities for 10th Consecutive Year

• The 2019 Quality of Living Rankings was released by the global consulting firm Mercer .
• The Survey ranks 231 cities based on 39 factors and are based on the analysis done between September and November 2018.
• The Austria capital Vienna topped the ranking for the 10th year in a row for having the highest quality of living. It was followed by Zurich at second while Auckland, Munich and Vancouver shared jointly third.
• The Indian city in the list includes Chennai (105), Bengaluru (149), Mumbai (154) and New Delhi (162).

USEFUL INFO
Austria Capital	Vienna
Currency	Euro
President	Alexander Van der Bellen

 

 CURRENT AFFAIRS: APPS

Election Commission introduces mobile app for observers

• The Election Commission has for the first time started using a mobile application that will help poll observers to submit reports.
• This is for the first time, election commission has launched a special mobile application for more than 1,800 special election observers appointed by it.
• They will get all the important notifications, alerts, and urgent messages through the ‘Observer App’. It will help them get their deployment status, download the ID card and update their profile.
• As the observers will be closely involved in real-time disposal of Model Code of Conduct and expenditure violation cases received through another mobile application ‘cVIGIL’, those details will also be available on the ‘Observer App’
• The observers can make a written observation after the flying squads have investigated the matter.

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Chief Election Commissioner	Sunil Arora
Election Commissioner	Sushil Chandra and Ashok Lavasa
Headquarters	New Delhi

 

CURRENT AFFAIRS: SCHEMES AND PROGRAMME

Aviva Life Insurance launched Wings to empower women at the workplace

• Aviva Life Insurance has announced the launch of ‘Wings’, a specially designed mentorship program to empower the female workforce,
• The WINGS program is an initiative of the SHE division of Aviva Life Insurance for mentoring all the women employees.
• SHE was conceptualised in 2016 by Aviva India’s Women Network
• Aviva Life Insurance is a joint venture between Dabur Invest and Aviva International Holdings, a UK-based insurance group. Dabur is the majority stakeholder with 74 percent stake in Aviva Life Insurance Company IndiaLimited, while Aviva PLC holds 26 percent share

USEFUL INFO
Aviva Inida MD & CEO	Mr. Trevor Bull
Aviva Inida Headquarters	Gurgaon, Haryana

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 mission includes ensuring implementation and compliance of the decisions and recommendations of the steering committee.
• The panel will also propose and recommend policy guidelines and government interventions and possible strategies for holistic, sustainable and transformative mobility and energy storage in India.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: SPORTS

Kamalpreet Kaur wins gold in women’s discus throw event

• In Athletics, Kamalpreet Kaur grabbed the gold medal in the women’s discus throw event.
• Kaur also qualified for the Asian Championships in the process on the opening day of Federation Cup in Patiala.
• Shivpal Singh also booked a berth in the next month’s Asian Championships in Doha in men’s javelin throw by crossing the qualifying standard set by Athletics Federation of India.

India bags five medals, including two gold in Asian Youth Athletics C’ships

• India bagged five medals, including two gold in the Asian Youth Athletics Championships in Hong Kong on the first day.
• Philip Maheswaran Thabitha grabbed the first gold for India by winning the boys’ 110 metres hurdles in 12.86 seconds.
• Vipin Kumar added the second gold metal for India in the boys’ hammer throw with an effort of 69.63 metres.
• India’s Harshita Sherawat clinched a silver in the girls’ hammer throw with an effort of 61.93 metres.
• Deepak Yadav added a bronze in pole vault by clearing 4.70 metres while Ajay bagged a medal of the same colour in the boys’ 1500 metres race with a timing of three minutes and 57.25 seconds.

Duminy to retire from ODIs after ICC World Cup 2019

• South African all-rounder JP Duminy announced that he would retire from ODIs after the ICC World Cup in England
• Duminy will continue to be available for South Africa in T20 internationals.
• This would be his third World Cup after 2011 and 2015.

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.
• 2020 FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup will be the seventh edition of the biennial tournament
• This will be the second FIFA tournament India will be hosting, after the U-17 Men’s World Cup in 2017.