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National News
Third phase of Gyan sangam started
- Will focus on consolidation of banks
- Is a retreat for banks and financial institutions
- Was started in 2015.
Foundation stone of Octomax unit laid
- Octomax is the country’s first high octane gasoline production unit.
- Part of oil refinery at Mathura
- Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan laid out the foundation stone
Sex ration declines in Gujarat
- Sex ratio has fallen from 920 in 2001 to 919 in 2011.
- Gujarat ranks 22nd among 28 states as per 2011 census.
River information system to be launched for inland waterways
- It is a combination of tracking meteorological equipment with specialized software to optimize traffic and transport processes in inland navigation
- Will use swift electronic data transfer between mobile vessels and shore to ensure navigation safety through real time information exchange.
- It will be set up in NW1 on Ganga River in 3 phases namely
- Haldia-Farakka
- Farakka-Patna
- Patna- Varanasi
- Proposed route to be operational by December 2016.
Mumbai to host BRICS Friendship Cities Conclave in April
- Involves top Urban Policy makers and Planners from BRICS Nations.
- Working to find the solutions for Mumbai Development to make a global financial center
- Joint initiative of Ministry of External Affairs and Maharashtra Government
- To be held between April 14 and 16 this year.
- 7th BRICS summit held at UFA in Russia
- India will host the 8th summit this year
- BRICS nations are:
- Brazil
- Russia
- India
- China
- South Africa
Bangladesh seeks Teesta water pact with India
- As per the agreement,
- 36% of water of the Teesta flows allocated to Bangladesh
- 39% to India
- 25 % remained
- Bill remaining pending for over 2 decades.
- In 2013, an agreement was drafted which allowed for the 50:50 allocation of Teesta waters between the countries during the lean season.
- West Bengal has opposed the treaty.
Pilot phase of eBiz portal may be completed by the year-end
- Will improve ease of doing business in India.
- Integration of 50 government services related to investors, industries and businesses of the Centre
- Ten states are included:
- Andhra Pradesh
- Delhi
- Haryana
- Maharastra
- Tamil Nadu
- Odisha
- Punjab
- Rajasthan
- Uttar Pradesh
- West Bengal
- There are 50 services. 26 related to central Government. 24 related to the states.
Proposals of changes to Companies Act 2013
- Overall managerial remuneration payable by a public company should not exceed 11% of the net profits of the company.
- Recommends simpler regulatory regime by proposing removal of government approval for managerial remuneration
- Recommends removal of restrictions on layering of subsidiaries
- An independent director must not have or had any pecuniary relationship with the company or it’s related during the 2 immediate preceding financial years or during the current financial year.
- Threshold has been proposed for punishment for fraud to avoid misuse of provision
- Recommended certain changes specifically for encouraging start-ups
Business and Economy
Axis bank better placed than ICICI and other PSU Banks
- Has better corporate book profitability compared to ICICI and other PSU banks
Government May Merge 27 Public Sector Banks into Just Six
- This is proposed to address the problem of bad loans in the public sector banks.
Freecharge Partners With Mexico-Based Movie Theatre Chain Cinepolis
- Freecharge is a digital payment company.
- It is the first digital wallet partner for Cinepolis
- Cinepolis is world’s fourth largest chain of movie theatre.
- Partnership will start in the second week of March
- Transactions will get completed in a secure manner within 10 seconds using the dynamic ‘”On-The-Go-Pin”.
Thomas Cook India signs pact with Western Union, DCB Bank
- To enable trade payments by small and medium sized enterprises.
- To penetrate the high growth Indian SME sector for its international trade payment needs
- Enable trade payment across borders.
Science and Technology
Indian Scientists Develop Breakthrough Dengue Drug
- The project was undertaken jointly by:
- Department of Biotechnology (DBT)
- International Centre for Genetic Engineering
- Biotechnology (IGCEB) and Ranbaxy Research Laboratory
- Ayurveda was used to find the drug.
Environment and Ecology
New Snake species discovered in Western Ghats
- New snake species belong to burrowing category
- It belongs to Melanophidium genus and the Uropeltidae family of snakes.
- Named after Pune-based herpetologist Neelimkumar Khaire
- Has been discovered in Western Ghats in Kolhapur and Sindhudurg districts
Colour-coded categorization for industries based on pollution levels
- Re-categorization of industries based on their pollution load
- Old system of categorization was creating problems for many industries and was not reflecting the pollution of the industries
- New criteria will prompt industrial sectors to adopt cleaner technologies
- Will help to create a clean & transparent working environment in the country and promote the Ease of Doing Business.
- Red category: Includes Cement industry, Petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, sugar, paper and pulp, nuclear power plants, organic chemicals, fertilizers, fire crackers.
- Orange category: Includes coal washeries, glass manufacturing, paints, stone crushers, and aluminum and copper extraction from scrap.
- Green category: Includes aluminum utensils, steel furniture, soap manufacturing and tea processing.
- White category: Practically non-polluting industries: Air conditioning units, chalk factories, biscuit trays units.
People in News
E-Mail Inventor Ray Tomlinson Dies
- He invented the Electronic mail in 1972
American Actress Nancy Reagan died at 94
- She was the wife of the 40th President of the United States, Ronald Reagan.
Malayalam actor Kalabhavan Mani dead
- Police registered a case for unnatural death after traces of methanol found in his body.
- Starred in more than 200 films including Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu movies
- Was a good singer and the folk songs he rendered were extremely popular
- He was a favorite to win both the State and national awards for the best actor.
Awards
Dr.Amrita Patel gets the Mahindra Lifetime Achievement Award
- Conferred with the Mahindra Samriddi India Agri Lifetime Achievement Aear-Krishi Shiromani Samman
- current Chairman of Charutar Arogya Mandal
Krutitava Smagra Samman 2015 To Dogri Poetess Padma Sachdev
- First modern woman poet of Dogri language but writes in Hindi as well.
Sports
India win Asia Cup title for sixth time
- Indian Team Chased down Bangladesh’s 120/5 in 13.5 overs
- The match took place in Dhaka
Novak Djokovic’s first Davis Cup defeat in 5 years
- He teamed up with his Serbian teammate Nenad Zimonjic for the doubles match.
- Suffered a tight 6-3, 7-6, 7-5 defeat to AndreyGolubev and Aleksandr.
Anirban Lahiri Finishes 28th at World Golf Championship
- World Golf Championships was held at Doral in USA.
- He holds the Hero Indian Open Title.
- He will go back to USA for the PGA tour and Masters in April
Jindal Panther beats Sona Polo to win Amity Polo Cup trophy
- Jindal Panther beats Sona Polo by 5/12 goals to 3 in the summit clash.