Dear Friends,

Welcome to the Quick Gyan (QG) Section of D2G. QG is just a glimpse of what happened today all over the world.

Only For Serious Candidates : We strongly recommend you to read the Current Affairs in detail. For your convenience, we have provided quick links under the updates. Make use of it.

Always Keep Yourself Updated!!!

AWARDS AND HONORS

63rd National Film Awards : Complete List of Winners

The National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremonies in India. Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian government’s Directorate of Film Festivals since 1973.

Baahubali has won the Best Film award at 63rd National Film Award. Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan won the Best Actor award for his role in ‘Piku’ while Kangana Ranaut won Best Actress for her role in ‘Tanu Weds Manu Returns.”

Quick Link –  63rd National Film Awards

Agra biker becomes first solo woman to ride across Mana Pass

Pallavi Fauzdar, 35, from Agra became the first woman solo biker in the Limca Book of Records to reach the tip of Mana pass in Uttarakhand, arguably the world’s highest motorable mountain pass. Mana rises to a staggering altitude of 5,638 m (18,497 ft) above sea level, on the border between India and Tibet, and is reckoned as one of the most difficult biking trails.

• Mother of two kids, Pallavi is married to Parikshit Mishra, an Army officer, who has been extremely supportive of her passion for biking.
• Pallavi rides an Avenger and said she had been passionate about biking for several years and the travel bug had bitten her early.
• Packed with a pepper spray to ward off miscreants and a GPS device to ensure she is not lost, Pallavi set off for her Himalayan journey of seven days.

Quick Link – Limca Book of Records

APPOINTMENTS

Nandita Bakshi named President, CEO of Bank of the West

Indian-American Nandita Bakshi has been appointed the President and Chief Executive Officer of Bank of the West, a unit of French banking giant BNP Paribas.

• Bakshi, 57, will replace Michael Shepherd as Bank of the West’s next President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and is expected to join the bank as a CEO-in-training on April 1 and will take the helm officially on June 1.
• She earned a bachelor’s degree in History at the University of Calcutta and a masters in International Relations and Affairs at Jadavpur University.
• A New England News ‘Woman of the Year’ award recipient in 2002, Bakhshi also serves on the board of the Consumer Bankers Association.

Quick Link – Nandita Bakshi named President, CEO

BANKING AND FINANCE

USAID, ADB sign ‘Develop Solar Parks’ MoU

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have signed an MoU to facilitate USD 848 million (Rs. 5,681 crore) in funding to develop solar parks across India. The agreement was signed by Jonathan Addleton, Mission Director, USAID/India and M. Teresa Kho, Country Director, India Resident Mission, Asian Development Bank.

• Through the agreement, USAID will align the technical resources of two of its programs to support ADB’s investments in the development of solar parks and renewable energy transmission infrastructure in states at the forefront of India’s efforts to promote clean energy.
• The collaboration will initially focus on the state of Rajasthan.
• The cooperation will design and develop public-private partnership models as well as study options for managing grid reliability.

Quick Link –Develop Solar Parks

LIC increases stake in IDBI Bank to 14.37%

State-owned lender IDBI Bank has informed stock exchanges that Life Insurance Corp. (LIC) of India now owns 14.37% stake in the bank. The life insurance behemoth previously owned 7.21% in the bank, which transferred 7.16% equity stake or 15.87 crore shares to LIC.

• With this transaction, IDBI Bank is now the second largest bank holding for LIC. As on 31 December, the insurance provider owned 21.22% stake in Corporation Bank, the highest equity it holds in any lender.
• Apart from these two, LIC owns 14.36% stake in UCO Bank and 13.75% stake in Canara Bank, at the end of the third quarter.
• The government directly owned an 80.16% stake in IDBI Bank as of 31 December.
• On 20 February, IDBI Bank’s board had approved the bank’s plan for a preferential issue of capital to LIC, aggregating up to Rs.1,500 crore.

Quick Link – LIC Stake in IDBI

100% FDI allowed in e-commerce marketplace model

The government has given the green light to 100% FDI in the marketplace format of e-commerce retailing with a view to attract more foreign investments. As per the guidelines issued by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) on FDI in e-commerce, foreign direct investment (FDI) has not been allowed in inventory-based model of e-commerce.

• At present, global e-tail giants like Amazon and eBay are operating online marketplaces in India, while homegrown players like Flipkart and Snapdeal have foreign investments even as there were no clear FDI guidelines on various online retail models.
• To bring clarity, the DIPP has also come out with the definition of ‘e-commerce’, ‘inventory-based model’ and ‘marketplace model’.

Quick Link – FDI allowed in e-commerce

INDIAN AFFAIRS

Haryana becomes 1st to launch injectable contraceptive

Haryana becomes 1st to launch injectable contraceptive. The ‘Project Salamati’ which is being implemented by state health department with the assistance of Pathfinder International, is initially being implemented in nine health blocks of four districts of the state.

• These included four health blocks in district Palwal, three in district Mewat, Kurali block in district Faridabad and Khor block in district Rewari. These districts have been chosen as a pilot project, as mother and infant mortality rate in these districts are more as compared to other districts.
• After the success of this project in these districts, it would be implemented throughout the state.
• This facility would be available at all primary health centres, community health centres, sub-divisional and district hospitals for free of cost.
• An outlay of Rs 3,916.94 crore has been earmarked for health and family welfare in the year 2016-17 as compared to Rs 2,857.28 crore in the year 2015-16, thus showing an increase of 37.1 per cent.

Quick Link – Project Salamati

Madhya Pradesh to join National Agri Market platform

The state government through its Mandi Board had recently sent a proposal to launch the platform from Karond mandi (10 km away from Bhopal).

• The central government has agreed to release Rs 15 crore for all 50 mandis to equip them with online support system, software, hardware, and grading of farm yield.
• The Mandi Board will also chip in with further funds if required to upgrade mandis to enable them to sync with the NAM (National Agriculture Market) platform.
• The NAM platform requires a regulator, a warehousing agency, a grading agency, aggregators and third-party payment system to complete the process of e-auction.

Quick Link – National Agri Market platform

World Bank approved $250 million loan to Reforms in Rajasthan

The World Bank Board approved a 250 million US dollar Development Policy Loan (DPL) for Rajasthan. The loan was granted to support the government of Rajasthan in improving the performance of its electricity distribution sector under the State’s 24×7 Power for All program.

The First Programmatic Electricity Distribution Reform Development Policy Loan for Rajasthan will be the first in a series of two operations for a comprehensive turnaround of Rajasthan’s electricity distribution sector.

The key areas that the operation will support

• Strengthening governance in the distribution sector in the state by giving more operational autonomy to the utilities
•  Establishing targets for reducing the gap between the cost of supply and revenue recovery
• Providing incentives to employees for improving performance
• Financial restructuring and recovery in the sector through transferring considerable amount of the debt of the DISCOMs to the state
•  Bringing in more discipline in DISCOMs submissions to regulatory commission towards revenue requirements

Quick Link – $250 million loan to Reforms in Rajasthan

Haryana launches scheme for the differently-abled

The Haryana government launched a new scheme under which six months’ pension would be given in advance to persons with disabilities for adapting their homes as per their requirement.

• Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Kavita Jain said this amount would be recovered over a period of 42 months under the ‘Adapting homes for the differently-abled’ scheme.
• Apart from this, Haryana has been selected by the Centre as a pilot State for universal ID for persons with disability, for which work has already been started.
• Gurgaon and Faridabad districts have been selected for the ‘Accessible India’ campaign for persons with disabilities.
• Besides, a home for abandoned and mentally-challenged persons has been established at a village in the State in collaboration with an NGO Earth Saviours.

Quick Link – Scheme for the differently-abled

Haryana cabinet approves Jat reservation bill

The Haryana Cabinet approved the Jat reservation bill to provide reservation to Jats and four other castes in government jobs and educational institutions.

However, a formal announcement in this connection will be made by chief minister Manohar Lal in the state assembly.

• The cabinet meeting was chaired by the chief minister.
• Sources of a newspaper claimed that the cabinet has decided to give reservation to Jats under a newly created category for backward classes (BC-3).
• There are already 27% reservation in government jobs for backward classes in two categories; BC-1 and BC-2.
• The BJP-led state government had said it will bring the bill to give reservation to Jats and four other castes — Jat Sikhs, Bishnois, Tyagis and Rors in the ongoing Budget Session which is scheduled to end on March 31.
• The community has been demanding reservation in the existing backward classes (BC) category.
• The Backward Classes quota is bifurcated in two categories — BC-A and BC-B having 16 and 11% reservation

Quick Link – Jat reservation bill

Gujarat and Maharashtra contribute 46% to India’s exports

According to an ASSOCHAM study on ‘Export Performance of States‘, the analyzed data between 2007-08 and 2014-15 reports that Gujarat and Maharashtra account for more than 46 percent of the merchandise consignments from the country. The top five states claim over 69 per cent of India’s entire export earnings.

• While Gujarat and Maharashtra have been vying for the top spot, the latter became the best performing states shipping goods worth USD 72.83 billion in 2014-15.
• Gujarat had export shipments of USD 59.58 billion in the same period while Tamil Nadu emerged as the third largest sourcing state with USD 27.47 billion of the consignments.
• Though Gujarat and Maharashtra have traditionally been dominating the export business because of their locational advantage in terms of coastline, their growth rate has not been as good as those of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, which are doing a lot of catching up despite being land-locked.

Quick Link – ASSOCHAM

Tata Motors signed a contract with Indian Army

Tata Motors has signed a follow-on contract with the Indian Army to supply 619 units of its 6X6 HMV (high-mobility vehicle) multi-axle truck. Built with a material handling crane, the Tata 6X6 HMV is meant for loading-unloading and transportation of ammunition pallets, spares and other operational equipment.

• This is in conjunction to an earlier order awarded by the Army to Tata Motors for 1,239 units of the 6X6 HMV.
• This is the single largest order awarded to an Indian private original equipment manufacturer in land systems by the Indian Army under the defence ministry’s defence procurement procedure.
• Developed indigenously, the Tata 6X6 high-mobility all-terrain all-wheel drive vehicle has been designed to cope with extreme on or off-road loads and has gone through trials, including deep water-fording, on cross-country terrains and plains.
• The Tata 6X6 is designed for easy operability and it has a modular cabin which is fully-ready for up-armoring. It has high ground clearance and can negotiate gradients, sand dunes, off-road terrains, and trenches, with higher water and mud fording capabilities while carrying designated military payloads.

Quick Link – Tata motors with Indian army

Parrikar unveils Defence Procurement Procedure

After a delay of over an year, the much-awaited new defence procurement policy was unveiled by the government  with an aim to ensure transparency, fast-track acquisition process and give a push to the “Make in India” initiative.

• The DPP have been loaded online on the Defence Ministry’s website and would be made available in hard copy format after 15 days.
• The new policy has introduced an Indian Designed, Developed and Manufactured (IDDM) category which will benefit the local units.
• Parrikar said defence export clearances are to be granted online. He said the policy will also include ‘Start-up India’ initiative.

Quick Link – Defence procurement policy

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

Myanmar gets its first public listing

After a delay of more than 20 years, Myanmar’s stock exchange opened for its first day of business, with the trading of a single company.

• The move comes as the country’s development accelerates with a democratic government being formed after an election victory in November, part of a political and economic transformation that’s bringing an end to more than five decades of isolation.
• The listing debut was attended by First Myanmar’s Pun and officials including Maung Maung Thein, the country’s deputy finance minister and chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, who called it “a historic day in the development of the capital markets.”
• First Myanmar, Myanmar Citizens Bank and Myanmar Thilawa SEZ are among the initial batch of six companies approved for listing.
• Myanmar’s equity-market journey began in the early 1990s, when executives from Daiwa Institute of Research Holdings, a unit of Japan’s second-largest brokerage, met with the nation’s military rulers in Yangon.

Quick Link – First public listing

World theatre day celebrated

The International Theatre Institute (ITI) Centres and the international theatre community across the world celebrated the World Theatre Day (WTD) on 27 March 2016.

• The Russian Dramatist Anatoly Vasiliev was the World Theatre Day International Message Author 2016. Vasiliev is a noted Russian theatre director and one of the leading European contemporary stage directors.
• World Theatre Day was initiated in 1961 by the ITI. Various national and international theatre events are also organized to mark the occasion. One of the most important of these is the circulation of the World Theatre Day International Message through which, at the invitation of ITI, a figure of world stature shares his or her reflections on the theme of Theatre and a Culture of Peace.
• The first World Theatre Day International Message was written by Jean Cocteau (France) in 1962.

Quick Link – World theatre day

World Bank approved $100 million loan to Jordan

Jordan will get a cheap $100 million loan from World Bank to help create 100,000 jobs for Syrian refugees and its own citizen. The World Bank’s Board extended the highly unusual financing offer because of the extraordinarily difficult situation facing both the refugees and their Jordanian hosts.

• The long-term loan, almost interest free, is part of an attempt by the international community to improve conditions for refugees in overburdened regional host countries, including Jordan and Lebanon.
• More than 4.8 million Syrians have fled their country since the start of the Syria conflict in 2011. Jordan hosts about 640,000 registered Syrian refugees and Lebanon more than 1 million.
• Cheap loans by the World Bank and other donors are among the new tools meant to help finance education and job creation for refugees in the region. Such support is also meant to slow the migration of refugees to Europe.

Quick Link – $100 million loan to Jordan

FOREIGN RELATIONS

India sends first ever direct vessel to Bangladesh

In a historic moment, an Indian container vessel left from Krishnapatnam port for Bangladesh, on a direct route for the first time, as a part of coastal shipping agreement between both the countries. The voyage aims at developing and facilitating coastal trade between India and Bangladesh after the Narendra Modi government revived the trade agreements signed by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1974.

• Earlier the shipments from Indian ports being transported to Bangladesh were routed either via Colombo or Singapore.
• With the launch of the direct service, time taken for such shipments would come down from 2-5 days.
• Last Novermber, the two countries had signed a standard operating procedure for commercial cargo movement aiming at easier bilateral trade conditions.
• Various provisions were added including that the vessels from both the countries will be treated as domestic vessels upon entry.

Quick Link – Krishnapatnam port for Bangladesh

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

J & J has received patent in India for multifocal contact lens designs

Johnson & Johnson Vision Care Inc has received patent in India for multifocal contact lens designs, for contact lens for the aged especially patients with presbyopia.

• As an individual ages, their eye is less able to accommodate or bend the natural lens to focus on objects relatively nearer to the observer. This condition is known as presbyopia.
• Johnson and Johnson has its multifocal lenses sold under its contact lenses brand Acuvue, to address the issue of presbyopia.
• According to the specification the company filed with the patent office, the invention provides contact lenses that provide correction for presbyopia using multifocal designs that are scaled to an individual, or group of individuals, based on both pupil size and the Stiles-Crawf 3rd effect.
• It says that the pupil size of the individuals vary with age, luminance and distance frmo the eye to the object being viewed and as the luminance increases, the size of pupil has to be decreased. However, in aged

Quick Link – Multifocal contact lens designs

ISRO set to launch record 22 satellites in single mission

India is all set to script history by launching a record number of 22 satellites, including a number of micro and nano ones from foreign countries, in a single mission in May this year. Apart from the Indian remote sensing satellite, Cartosat 2C, which constitutes the primary payload, the the PSLV C34 rocket will carry on board four micro-satellites weighing 85 to 130 kg each and 17 nano-satellites weighing 4 to 30 kg.

• As many as 18 satellites are being launched for foreign agencies including those from the U.S., Canada, Germany, and Indonesia.
• Two of the nano-satellites have been developed by the Pune Engineering College and Sathyabhama University.
• The micro-satellites include the M3MSAT of Comdev, Canada, to be used for collection and study of automatic identification system signals from low earth orbit.
• The Indonesian satellite LAPAN A3 for earth surveillance and magnetic field monitoring.

Quick Link – 22 satellites in single mission

USFDA approves Aurobindo Pharma’s Dementia Drug

Drug firm Aurobindo Pharma has received final approval from USFDA to manufacture and market Rivastigmine Tartrate Capsules USP, used for the treatment of dementia disease, in the American market.

• The approved product is bioequivalent and therapeutically equivalent to Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation’s Exelon Capsules.
• The approved product has an estimated market size of USD 26.7 million for the twelve months ending January 2016.
• Exelon is used in the treatment of mild moderate dementia of the Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.

Quick Link – Aurobindo Pharma

SPORTS

Sergey Karjakin won 2016 World Chess Candidates Tournament

Quick Link – World Chess Candidates Tournament

California Chrome lands world’s richest horse race

California Chrome justified his status as joint favorite by landing the Dubai World Cup with a perfectly timed run under jockey Victor Espinosa. Chrome won the $10-million Dubai World Cup at Meydan Racecourse in the United Arab Emirates.

• Chrome finished second in the race last year, part of a disappointing campaign for the 4-year-old.
• Returning to win this race was one of the reasons he was brought back as a 5-year-old. Most horses of Chrome’s caliber are placed into stud by that age.
• Chrome had more than $6.5 million in earnings before winning $6 million in Saturday’s race. The former record-holder was Curlin, with about $10.5 million in earnings.
• Chrome won the 1 1/4-mile race in a track record of 2:01.83. Mubtaahij finished second, and California-based Hoppertunity was third. Other U.S.-based horses in the race were Frosted (fifth), Mshawish (sixth) and Keen Ice (eighth).

Quick Link – World’s richest horse race

OBITUARY

‘Legends of the Fall’ author Jim Harrison passes away

Jim Harrison, the prolific author, poet and outdoorsman whose novella of the American frontier, “Legends of the Fall,” became a hit movie starring Brad Pitt and Anthony Hopkins, has died. He was 78.

• Harrison was a versatile writer who authored almost 40 books, including novels, collections of poems and eloquent essays about his passion for food.
• He was considered a master of the novella, a short novel or long short story, although he didn’t find mainstream success until later in his career.
• His rugged and deeply humane fiction often depicted complex men grappling with their place in the wilderness, including the forests of northern Michigan, where he grew up, and the wilds of Montana, his adopted home.

Quick Link – Jim Harrison passes away

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