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National News
Bureau of Indian Standards bill passed
- was passed in the parliament, following its approval from Rajya Sabha
- proposes to make BIS, a national standards body, introduce mandatory hallmarking of precious metal,
- To prevent misuse of Standard marks and provide for recall of ISI marked products not conforming to relevant standards.
57 Countries to participate in first Maritime Summit
- first Maritime summit to be held at India
- organized in Mumbai, Maharashtra
- conducted by Union Ministry of Shipping in April,2016
Pradhan Mantri Ujjwal Yojana approved
- Scheme for providing LPG to households Below Poverty Line.
- estimated at the cost of 8000 crores
National Waterways Bill passed
- Upper House of the Parliament passed The National Waterways Bill,
- was tabled in Lok Sabha on May 5, 2015
- Comes under Entry 24 of the Union List of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution.
Cycling event of Indian Army with theme Cycle to Recycle
- A 10-member army team boarded upon a 1,000-km bicycle journey
- Started from Pangsau Pass in the India-Myanmar border.
- Organized as part of the Assam Rifles 181st raising day celebrations
- Assam Rifles is the oldest paramilitary force of India
National Anthem compulsory in all schools in WB
- Madras High Court has mandatedall the Private Schools to Sing National Anthem during morning Assembly.
- Move is to ensure that citizens have adequate knowledge of the national anthem and the national flag
International
Bangladesh and India sign $ 2 billion agreement
- To implement socio-economic development projects in Bangladesh
- Will strengthen bilateral relations
- Interest rate has been fixed at 1% annually
- 20-year repayment term, including a five-year moratorium period
India –Indonesia conduct joint Military exercise
- Joint Military Exercise Shakti IV from March 10-23 in Indonesia.
- Was started in 2012 in India
- Conducted on a reciprocal basis
UNICEF & UNFPA launch Acceleration Program to end Child Marriage
- Program is a multi-country cooperative
- Will help protect the rights of millions of the world’s most vulnerable girls
- Involving families, communities, governments and young people
34 countries don’t have enough food for their people due to conflicts
- The report has been done by the United Nations
- Nearly 80% of them are in Africa
- Because of conflicts, drought and flooding.
- Some of the countries are Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Somalia and the Central African Republic.
Pak launches probe into MQM’s alleged ties with RAW
- The allegations levelled against India’s RAW gave money to the MQM party to destabilize Pakistan
- India has dismissed the allegations levelled against it.
- Karachi based MQM party quoted that these allegations are baseless and false.
- Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to probe various allegations of funding by Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).
Business and Economy
ICICI Bank launches credit-linked subsidy scheme under PMAY
- Scheme will benefit the individuals including women borrowers from the economically weaker section and low income grouped people.
- Will be able to acquire and construct the first brick-and-mortar house of the family by paying significantly lower Equated Monthly Instalments (EMIs).
- Bank has signed a MoU with National Housing Bank (NHB) to enable beneficiaries to get credit-linked subsidy.
- Eligible customers will get the subsidy at 5% per year on a maximum amount of 6 lakh for a maximum tenure of 15 years.
DIPP nods clearances for 12 industrial licenses for Reliance
- Reliance Defence is part of Reliance Infrastructure for manufacturing of Defence equipments in India and Overseas.
Quikr launches service for doorstep pickup & delivery of pre-owned goods
- Available for all categories including mobile phones, electronics, kitchen appliances
- Initiative to facilitate more E-commerce transactions on its platform
- Testing features for its Doorstep service around six months ago
Make in India model- Baleno introduced in Japan
- Baleno has sold over 38,000 units in India since its launch on October 26, 2015.
- Company also plans to export the premium hatchback to more than 100 countries
Science and Technology
Iran conducts several ballistic missiles tests
- Medium and long range precision guided missiles were test fired from various sites
- Display the country’s hostility to confront any threats.
Five health care ATMs in four states
- Dispense Medicines based on a prescription unless they refer the patient to a doctor.
- In Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh.
- It is expected to handle the massive deficiency of doctors in the country.
New mini fuel cell powers drones for over an hour
- Miniaturized fuel cell that can power drones.
- May lead to smartphone batteries that require charge only once a week.
- Solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC), developed by researchers in South Korea,
- May replace lithium-ion batteries in smartphones, laptops, drones, and other small electronic devices.
Environment and Ecology
Government signs MoU on conservation of birds of prey
- Raptor MoU for conservation of birds of prey
- India has become the 56th signatory State to sign the ‘Raptor MoU’
- Was concluded on October 22, 2008 and came into effect on November 1, 2008.
- The Raptor MOU is an agreement under the Convention on Conservation of Migratory Species (CMS) and is not legally binding.
Project ‘Mausam’ aims to explore Multi-Faceted Indian Ocean ‘World’
- Be implemented by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI)
- To explore the multi-faceted Indian Ocean ‘world’ – collating archaeological and historical research
- To document the diversity of culture in Indian Ocean
People in News
Tapan Chand elected AAI chief
- He was serving chairman and Managing Director of National Aluminum Company.
Brazilian percussionist Nana Vasconcelos dies
- A master of the single-string percussion instrument.
- Eight time Grammy Award Winner
- Died of lung cancer at age 71.
Sir George Martin fifth Beatle passes away
- He was also an arranger, composer, conductor, audio engineer and musician.
- He was recognized globally as one of music’s most creative talents
- He was part of the Beatles for 7 years. It is one of the most successful groups in music history.
Awards
Sonakshi Sinha enters Guinness book of records
- Entered into the Guinness world book of records for most people painting their nails simultaneously.
- Event was organized by Inglot and Major Brands as a celebration to mark the International Women’s Day