Daily Current Affairs 22nd March, 2018

Daily Current Affairs 22 March 2018 for Banking/Insurance/SSC and other related exams.

NATIONAL NEWS

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier arrives in India

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has arrived on a four-day visit to India. The Steinmeier’s visit to India is considered significant after German Chancellor Angela Merkel was re-elected to the German Parliament for a record fourth term.

Cabinet okays National Health Mission till March 2020

In a major boost to health infrastructure, the Union Cabinet approved the continuation of the National Health Mission (NHM) with effect from April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2020 with a budgetary support of Rs 85,217 crore as Central share.

Cabinet okays Ayushman Bharat with no bar on age, family size

The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the launch of Ayushman Bharat – National Health Protection Mission (AB-NHPM) promising health coverage to 10 crore poor families with no restriction on age and family size. To ensure that nobody is left out (especially women, children and elderly) there will be no cap on family size and age in the scheme.

• Ayushman Bharat, popularly known as Modicare and tagged as world’s largest government funded public health coverage, seeks to provide Rs 5 lakh medical coverage per family per year to 10.74 crore poor and vulnerable families based on Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC). It also proposes to strengthen the primary healthcare in the country with 150,000 health and wellness centres.
• Also, Union Health and Family Welfare Minister J.P. Nadda informed that AB-NHPM would be ready for launch by July end.

Cabinet approves Central Sector “Integrated Scheme for Development of Silk Industry” for sericulture sector

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved the Integrated Scheme for Development of Silk Industry. The scheme aims at making India self-sufficient in silk production. It will help to increase productive employment from 85 lakh to one crore people by 2022.

• Also, Integrated Scheme for Development of Silk Industry aims to achieve self-sufficiency in silk production by 2022.

Last date for Aadhaar based verification of mobile connections extended

The Central government extended the last date for re-verification of mobile connections through Aadhaar based E-KYC process, till “the matter is finally heard and the judgment is pronounced” by the Supreme Court.

Kerala govt declares jackfruit as official fruit

The Kerala Government has declared jackfruit as the state government’s official fruit. The aim is to promote the ‘Kerala Jackfruit’ as a brand in markets across the country and abroad, showcasing its organic and nutritious qualities.

• This would also help in giving in the fruit’s production and sale, besides increasing its value-added products.
• Elephant is the state animal of Kerala, while ‘great hornbill’ the bird and ‘kanikkonna’ the official flower. The state had recently declared pearl spot, popularly known as ‘karimeen’, as its official fish.

Telugu made compulsory up to Class X in all schools of Telangana

The Telangana state government has resolved to make Telugu compulsory in government and private educational institutions up to X standard from the next academic year 2018-19.

India successfully flight-tests supersonic cruise missile BrahMos

Formidable Supersonic Cruise Missile BrahMos was successfully flight tested from Pokhran test range in Rajasthan. The precision strike weapon with Indian-made seeker flew in its designated trajectory and hit the target with pin-point accuracy.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Singapore Airport Rated World’s Best, Mumbai Ranked 63rd

The Singapore Changi Airport has been named the world’s best airport for the sixth consecutive year by consultancy firm Skytrax. The Incheon International Airport in South Korea and Haneda Airport in Japan were placed second and third respectively. 

• While the Mumbai airport (Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport Mumbai) has been ranked 63rd, the airports in Bangalore (Kempegowda International Airport) and Delhi (Indira Gandhi International Airport) are at 64th and 66th place respectively.

New Delhi ranked 22nd globally as top destination for 2018: TripAdvisor

New Delhi has been ranked 22nd in the world and eighth in Asia in the top destination for 2018, Travellers’ Choice awards for Destinations by TripAdvisor.

• Paris in France topped the list of Travellers’ Choice awards for Destinations followed by London (UK), Rome (Italy), Bali (Indonesia), Crete (Greece).

SPORTS

Shooter Valarivan wins gold at junior World Cup

Emerging Indian shooter Elavenil Valarivan clinched the gold medal along with a couple of world records in the women’s 10 metre Air Rifle event at the the ISSF Junior World Cup held in Sydney, Australia.

AWARDS

‘We Are Sikhs’ campaign wins top US award

A campaign to create awareness of Sikhism and its followers in the US and fight prejudice has won a top award for excellence in public relations programming to promote public causes. The “We Are Sikhs” campaign received the top 2018 PRWeek US award in the category of Public Cause.

• The campaign launched last year on Baisakhi by the National Sikh Campaign (NSC) and executed by FP1 Strategies, won the award for effectively projecting the Sikhs as neighbours and everyday Americans who face discrimination due to ignorance of their faith.
• The PRWeek US awards are nicknamed the “Oscars of the Public Relations Industry”.

OBITUARIES

Social activist Chandradath passes away

Social activist C R Chandradath has passed away. Chandradath (75) was undergoing treatment for some ailment.

Pulitzer Prize winner Les Payne passes away

Les Payne (American), a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and columnist for Newsday who fiercely championed racial equality has passed away.

• He was 76. He won Pulitzer Prize for “Heroin Trail” series in 1974.

Senior journalist Sunil Sharma passes away

Senior journalist Sunil Sharma has passed away after heart attack. He was 49. Sharma was working as the bureau chief of Hindi daily ‘Divya Himachal’.

IMPORTANT DAYS

World Poetry Day: 21 March

World Poetry Day is celebrated on 21 March, and was declared by UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) in 1999. Its purpose is to promote the reading, writing, publishing and teaching of poetry throughout the world and, as the original UNESCO declaration says, to “give fresh recognition and impetus to national, regional and international poetry movements”.

World Water Day: 22 March

World Water Day is an annual observance day on 22 March to highlight the importance of freshwater.[1] It is also used to advocate for the sustainable management of freshwater resources.

• World Water Day is celebrated around the world with a variety of events. These can be educational, theatrical, musical or lobbying in nature. The day can also include campaigns to raise money for water projects. The first World Water Day, designated by the United Nations, was commemorated in 1993.
• The theme for World Water Day in 2018 is “Nature for Water”.

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