Weekly Current Affairs Quiz: March 3rd week (16 March – 23 March)

The world’s best airports have been named in the annual Skytrax World Airport Awards and Singapore’s Changi Airport has come in at first place for the fifth year in a row.

Football

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday approved a 2% increase in dearness allowance (DA) from January 1, 2017.

Private sector lender Bandhan Bank Ltd has signed an agreement with Avenues India Pvt Ltd, a payment solution provider in India, to provide the merchants with access to the point of sale (POS) and the payment gateway products.

IndusInd Bank will acquire brokerage firm IL&FS Securities Services in an all-cash deal subject to regulatory approvals

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Aids to Navigation (AtoNs) between the Directorate General of Lighthouses & Lightships (DGLL), Ministry of Shipping, Government of India and the Department of Shipping, Government of Bangladesh.

Captain Amarinder Singh has taken charge as the Punjab Chief Minister. He sworn-in as the 29th Chief Minister of Punjab.

In Himachal Pradesh, Sanjauli Police Station in Shimla town has become the first police post in the country to be linked with Crime and Criminal Tracking Network & Systems (CCTNS).

The India Habitat Centre, New Delhi has announced the premiere edition of Habitat International Film Festival (HIFF), to begin here from March 24 with the screening of Asghar Farhadi’s Oscar winning film “The Salesman”.

IBM in collaboration with Maharashtra Institute of Technology (MIT), Pune, introduced ‘Chintu’ — a cognitive assistant powered by IBM Watson that will assist senior citizens in conducting everyday tasks.

IISc, Bangalore

Shruti Shibulal, Promoter and Director – Strategy and Development, The Tamara has been named as Young Global Leader 2017 by World Economic Forum. The Forum of Young Global Leaders is a community of over 800 enterprising, socially-minded men and women selected under the age of 40 from across the world.

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council has approved a 15 per cent ceiling on the cess to be levied on aerated drinks and luxury cars over and above the maximum proposed GST rate of 28 per cent, and the enabling laws for state and union territories to adopt the new indirect tax regime

Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje inaugurated a high-tech police control room, ‘Abhay Command Centre’, which is aimed at helping in surveillance, vehicle-tracking and mob control. It is equipped with facilities to conduct video surveillance, analyse call recordings and track vehicles.

N.R. Narayana Murthy

The World Bank approved a US$ 210 million loan to strengthen Gram Panchayats (GPs) – the lowest tier of rural local governments – across the state of West Bengal, India to better utilize the untied/discretionary funds that are now available to them.

The third edition of the scholarship programme ‘Yes Aspire to Innovate’, which was launched in January, received an enthusiastic response. A total of 1,871 students applied from B-schools such as IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore, IIM Calcutta, IIM Indore, IRMA and XLRI. The programme recognises and rewards 30 scholars for their entrepreneurial vision, leadership qualities and holistic academic performance.

Singapore’s plans to become the first Asian bourse to allow dual class share listings is catching the attention of tech entrepreneurs and could help turn a staid market into a buzzing tech hub, as the city-state looks to rebrand its image.

World Bank has approved USD 175 million for National Hydrology Project for India is to improve the extent, quality, and accessibility of water resources information and to strengthen the capacity of targeted water resources management institutions in India. The total cost of the project is USD 350 million.

Customer experience and call centre technology omnichannel Genesys has released The 2016 IoT-Enabled Customer Experience (CX) Report. The research reveals India ranks the second highest, behind China, in IoT-Enabled customer maturity compared with other APAC markets.

New Zealand’s Whanganui River has gained its own identity with all the corresponding rights, duties and liabilities of a legal person, after a 170-year battle

Karnataka has announced Namma Canteen (Our Canteen) and allocated RS 100 crore to it.

Punjab is the first state to give 33 per cent reservation for women in jobs, including contractual appointments, and 50 per cent reservation to them in Panchayati Raj institutions and urban local bodies

A high school student in Arunachal Pradesh named Anang Tadar has invented a unique pair of goggles that uses ultrasound and infrared sensors to help the visually impaired detect obstacles on their path. He has been awarded with the Dinanath Pandey Smart Idea Innovation Award for inventing a gadget called Goggle for Blind (G4B).

The fifth edition of the tournament, to be played in ODI format, will be hosted by Pakistan Blind Cricket Council (PBCC) in the United Arab Emirates and Pakistan in January 2018.

The Swiss city of Basel will host the BWF World Championships 2019.

Car Racing

Dilip K Saha, General Secretary, Punjab National Bank has been elected President, All India Bank Officers’ Confederation (AIBOC) . D Thomas Franco Rajendra Dev, President, All India State Bank Officers’ Federation has been elected as General Secretary at the 11th Triennial Council of AIBOC.

Online digital wallet maker Paytm has launched its mobile payments services in Canada on March 16. It is the company’s first foray into an international market.

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), which implements Aadhaar, said that all devices using its authentication will have to adhere to the new encryption standards from June 1. While two locks exist currently – one at the level of agency and another at UIDAI – the new system will place a third lock on the biometric device itself.

The three days“International Buddhist Conference” organized by Ministry of Culture and Nava NalandaMahaviahra,Deemed University was inaugurated by His Holiness TheDalai Lama andDr.Mahesh Sharma,Minister of Culture and Tourism today at Rajgir International Buddhist Conference, Bihar.

Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan’s recently launched an app for breast cancer, which is named ‘ABC of Breast Health’.

India’s first home made train for Western Railway Fleet, Medha was flagged off for its maiden run by the Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, via videoconferencing from Dadar to Borivali at Lokmanya Tilak Terminus

The four-month economic blockade in Manipur, imposed by the United Naga Council (UNC), was lifted following the successful talks between the UNC, the State government and the Centre.

The five-day Brahmaputra river festival titled Namami Brahmaputra organised by the BJP-led government in Assam, will witness significant participation from China.

Pujara faced 525 balls in his 202 run knock. Highest ball faced by any Indian in test match

Private sector bank ICICI Bank Ltd announced the launch of a unique mobile banking app ‘Mera iMobile’ for rural customers that will allow them to access banking services as well as information on agri services.

Uttarakhand High Court recognised river Ganga as the ‘first living entity of India’. Along with Ganges, river Yamuna has also been declared a living entity. As per the decision, the rivers will now be entitled to all rights available to humans as per the constitution

Essar’s Nand Niketan at Hazira in Surat district of Gujarat has become India’s first private sector township to go cashless, using mobile wallet for performing digital transactions.

India’s longest road tunnel, connecting the cities of Jammu and Srinagar in northern Jammu and Kashmir, would soon open for traffic following a successful trial run on Sunday, March 19. The Chenani-Nashri tunnel is India’s longest road tunnel. This is the first time in India that this (unclear) long tunnel that is nine kilometer long is equipped with state-of-the-art detection systems, state-of-the-art integrated tunnel control system.

India ranked 122nd

Norway is at top, followed by Denmark and Iceland

Italy is on top. While Singapore and Cyprus are the only non-OCED nations to feature in top 20.

Dubai Airports, which manages both the Dubai International and Al Maktoum International airports, has launched the world’s fastest free Wi-Fi service across its terminals with speeds up to 100 Mbps. Called the ‘WOW-Fi’, the service provides Wi-Fi speed about ten times faster than many households have in the UAE.

India’s Vidya Pillai produced a spirited performance before settling for silver in the Ladies World Snooker Championship in Toa Payoh, Singapore.

Roger Federer won a record-tying fifth BNP Paribas Open crown on Sunday as he defeated Stan Wawrinka 6-4, 7-5 in an all-Swiss final at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

Chinu Modi, also known by his pen name, Irshad, was a Gujarati language poet, novelist, short story writer and critic from Gujarat.

While the second highest peacetime gallantry award ‘Kirti Chakra’ went to a young officer, Major Rohit Suri, who was part of the surgical strikes last year, the seniormost Lieutenant General Eastern Army Commander Praveen Bakshi, who was side stepped in the appointment of the Army Chief, was awarded the Param Vishisht Seva Medal, the highest Distinguished Service Medal.

As per the terms of the deal, Vodafone will own 45.1% of the merged entity and Idea will have a 26% stake, while the rest will be owned by public shareholders after the merger.

Tamil Nadu defeated Bengal

All customers will be insured up to a limit of Rs. 20,000 or their wallet balance, whichever is lower.

Govt aims to develop India into a global innovation hub by 2020.

Cheapest- Almaty(Kazakhstan); Most Expensive: Singapore

With US at the top, India is at 4th spot.

Dubai, UAE

Celebrated on 21 March. Theme for 2017 is: Forests and Energy

India is ranked 131 out of 188 countries in a list that is topped by Norway.

Second after China Mobile.

The Reserve Bank of India has announced its Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on “Supervisory Cooperation and Exchange of Supervisory Information” with the Central Bank of Nigeria.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of India signed here today a $350 million loan for improving about 1,500 kilometers of major district roads in Madhya Pradesh in line with the State’s Road Development Plan. Along with ADB’s loan, the Government of Madhya Pradesh will provide counterpart support of $150 million. The project will run for almost four years with an expected completion date of March 2021.

India’s leading online lending marketplace CoinTribe has announced a strategic alliance with SMERA Ratings Limited.

The Centre launched National Water Quality Sub Mission on Arsenic and Fluoride to provide safe drinking water to about 28,000 affected habitations in the country by March 2021

Rs 25,000 crore

The top three countries in HDI were Norway, Australia and Switzerland. India came down by one slot and was ranked 131st among 188 countries on Human Development Index (HDI) 2016 released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Assam government has initiated a project to make World’s Largest river island Majuli the country’s first ever Carbon Neutral district by 2020.

Samsung has become the first company in India to launch its mobile payment service named Samsung pay.

March 31, 2019

VTB Bank has decided to close its Indian Branch.

To provide housing loan and educational loan at subsidised interest rates to the employees of the state government, a MoU was signed on between the Assam government and State Bank of India. The government will provide interest subsidy at the rate of 3.50% for housing loan and at suitable rate to make education loan at 4%.

Top- Switzerland. India – 87

New Delhi will carry out a survey to lay one more new railway line between India and Bangladesh to access the Chittagong international sea port and ease connectivity with the landlocked northeast region. The Port of Chittagongis the largest seaport in Bangladesh.

In line with the government’s vision to proliferate the digital growth and empower citizens digitally, Google and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) have announced ‘Digital Payment Security alliance’ initiative that aims to create community awareness on safe and secure digital practices

Yves Meyer was honored largely “for his pivotal role in the development of the mathematical theory of wavelets”

China