Current Affairs 12th March 2020

1. Govt sets up a committee on Kisan Rail

• It comprises of representatives of Agriculture and Railway ministries.
• Kisan Rail was created through the PPP mode to build a cold supply chain to transport perishable goods.
• IR has plans to install solar panel on un-utilized railway land.

2. FDI inflows recorded highest ever for fiscal year 2018-19 at USD 62 billion

• The total Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflow was over 318 billion US dollars between 2014 and September 2019
• representing nearly 50 percent of the cumulative FDI in India since April 2000.
• FDI can be one measure to track the growth of Make in India.
• The Make in India initiative was launched in 2014.

3. Coronavirus outbreak could cost global economy up to $2 trillion: UNCTAD

• warning that shock from the epidemic will cause a recession in some countries and depress global annual growth to below 2.5%.
• UNCTAD = United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
• UNCTAD Secretary General : Mukhisa Kituyi.

4. India 2019 thermal coal imports rise 12.6% to nearly 200 million tonnes

• Coal is among the top 5 imported items in India.
• Thermal coal is mainly used for power generation.

5. Exercise “SAREX” concluded at Goa

• The national level Search and Rescue Exercise (SAREX-2020), concluded at Caranzalem beach in Goa.
• It is a mock drill conducted by the Coast Guard.
• The SAREX exercise was inaugurated by Dr. Ajay Kumar, IAS, Secretary (Defence) in the Ministry of Defence.
• Exercise witnessed the participation of 24 overseas observers.

6. 32 lakh saplings planted so far under ‘Green J&K’ program

• The target of 1 Cr saplings, has so far planted 32 lakh saplings of various varieties across the UT.
• Drive was part of national initiative for enhancing the green cover across the country.
• Total of 50 lakhs will be planted by the end of March.

7. SBI cuts MCLR rate, home loans to get cheaper

• MCLR by up to 15 basis points across various tenors, effective from March 10.
• The bank has reduced its one-year MCLR by 10 basis points to 7.75% from 7.85% earlier.
• SBI has also cut its FD rates.
• This is 10th consecutive cut in MCLR by SBI this fiscal.

8. Assam govt sops to tea sector to boost exports: ITA

• The Indian Tea Association said the Assam government’s decision to provide orthodox tea subsidy of Rs 7 per kg will boost exports of the beverage.
• Assam has also allowed interest subvention of 3 per cent on all term loans and working capital advances.
• Assam made these announcements in the state budget for 2020-21.

9. CSIR: Discovery of ink to curb fake printing of Passports & counterfeiting of Currency Notes

• CSIR = Council of Scientific and Industrial Research
• CSIR-National Physical Laboratory has developed a bi-luminescent security ink
• which glows in red and green colours when illuminated by two different excitation sources at 254 nano meters & 365 nm, respectively.
• The ink was given to Bank Note Press, Dewas.
• SPMCIL has currency note presses at Nashik and Dewas.
• SPMCIL = Security Printing & Minting Corporation of India Ltd.

10. Centre approved for the construction of Delhi-Baghpat highway

• NHAI got approval to construct the 1st phase of a new highway that will connect east Delhi’s Akshardham to Uttarakhand’s Dehradun, a distance of almost 170 Km.
• The first phase will connect Akshardham with west Uttar Pradesh’s Baghpat, a distance of 32 Km.
• NHAI = National Highway Authority of India
• The existing Delhi-Dehradun route is 250km long.

11. Mukesh Ambani loses Asia wealth crown to Jack Ma in $5.8 billion rout

• Bloomberg Billionaires Index reported that Jack Ma became Asia’s richest man.
• Ambani, who stood as richest man, has moved to the 2nd position after oil prices collapsed along with global stocks.
• Coronavirus erased $5.8 billion from Ambani’s net worth.
• Jack Ma is the founder of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.

12. Mahim Verma set to resign as BCCI vice president

• After he won the election for the post of secretary at the Cricket Association of Uttarakhand.
• As per the Lodha Committee’s recommendations a person cannot hold multiple posts.
• BCCI President cannot hold his post for more than two years.

13. Amit Panghal, Lovlina Borgohain won bronze medal in the Asian Boxing Olympic qualifiers

• Boxers Amit Panghal & Lovlina Borgohain won the bronze medal in the Asian Boxing Olympic qualifiers held in Amman.
• They had already claimed their place in 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
• Borgohain secured 0-5 & lost to China’s Hong Gu in the 69 Kg weight category.
• Pangal was defeated by Jianguan Hu in the 52 Kg category.

14. Indo-Thai workshop on stellar variability & star formation held at ARIES, Uttarakhand

• Indo-Thai workshop on stellar variability & star formation was held at ARIES, Nainital, Uttarakhand.
• The one-day workshop was organized by Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences that functions under the Science & Technology Ministry.
• 2 joint bilateral programmes for joint research were sanctioned.

15. NDFB disbands itself after 34-year fight to carve Bodoland out of Assam

• 34 years after it was formed with the aim of carving out a separate Bodoland state from Assam,
• All the 4 factions of National Democratic Front of Bodoland disbanded themselves.
• NDFB was formed on October 3, 1986 under the name of Bodo Security Force.
• Bodo is the largest tribe in the state.

16. Lt Gen KJS Dhillon to assume charge as Director General of DIA

• After serving at strategic XV Corps of Army,
• Lt Gen KJS Dhillon will take over the post of Director General Defence Intelligence Agency and Deputy Chief of Integrated Defence Staff (Intelligence).
• This department comes under the Chief of Defence Staff.
• CDS is the newly created Department of Military Affairs.

17. NAI celebrates its 130th Foundation Day on 11 March

• NAI = National Archives of India
• Union Minister of State for Culture and Tourism (Independent Charge), Prahlad Singh Patel will inaugurate an exhibition on ‘Jallianwala Bagh’ on 11 March in New Delhi.
• NAI was founded on 1891.
• NAI was formed in Kolkata as the Imperial Record Department.

18. Delimitation commission for J&K, Assam, Manipur, Arunachal & Nagaland formed

• Government constituted the Delimitation Commission for delimitation of Assembly and Parliamentary constituencies in J&K, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Nagaland.
• Delimitation in J&K will be based on the Census of 2011.