Current Affairs 18th March 2020

1. Ravinder Singh Dhillon appointed PFC CMD

• PFC = Power Finance Corporation
• Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has cleared his appointment.
• Somnath Ghosh has been appointed as the officer on special duty in the Department of Defence.
• Somnath Ghosh’s appointment is for an overall period of 3 years.

2. Govt set up an ambitious target to achieve sales of around 70 lakh hybrid and electric vehicles in 2020

• Under the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles in India scheme.
• FAME India was initiated in 2015.
• FAME is under the National Electric Mobility Mission Plan 2020.

3. First ever Indore – Kishangarh flight commenced under UDAN

• The Ministry of Civil Aviation flagged off.
• First-ever thrice-weekly flight
• From Indore, Madhya Pradesh to Kishangarh, Rajasthan.
• With the commencement of this route, the Ministry has operationalised 268 routes under the scheme.
• Civil Aviation Minister : Hardeep Singh Puri.

4. Lok Sabha passes Appropriation Bill

• Lok Sabha passed Appropriation Bill 2020-21,
• Authorising the govt to draw funds from the Consolidated Fund of India
• For its working as well as implementation of its schemes.
• Contingency Fund & Public Account are also part of the Annual Financial Statement.
• Consolidated Fund comes under Article 266 of the Constitution.

5. Former Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi nominated to Rajya Sabha by President

• Rajya Sabha is the upper house of parliament.
• No CJI has been nominated to the Upper House, usually dominated by celebrities and artistes, by the head of the state.
• Current & 47th Chief Justice of India : Sharad Arvind Bobde

6. Motor Vehicles Act: 10% reduction of road accidents in 5 months

• India ranks 1st in the number of road accident deaths across the 199 countries
• The rank was reported in the World Road Statistics, 2018.
• Motor Vehicles Amendment Act 2019- Aim to reduce road accidents.

7. Indian Culture Portal to showcase rich cultural heritage of India

• Indian Culture Portal showcases the information about the rich cultural heritage of India across the globe.
• Indian Culture Portal was launched on 10 December 2019
• Aim of the portal is to create awareness about the tangible and intangible cultural heritage of India.
• The portal is available in 2 languages- Hindi and English.

8. Govt to review policy on building near monuments

• Ministry of Culture has announced that it is to revisit the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958.
• The Act regulates construction around centrally protected monuments and classify them based on their historical significance.
• Act bans construction within 100 m boundary of secure monuments.

9. New Delhi: FM Nirmala Sitharaman chairs 39th GST Council meeting

• Implementation of the new GST return system, implementation of e-invoicing & the QR code has been postponed to 1st of October 2020.
• Present return system will be continued until September 2020.

10. Oil India signs crude sales agreement with Numaligarh Refinery

• Oil India Ltd (OIL) is the country’s second-largest national oil explorer.
• OIL has signed the agreement for sale and purchase of crude oil.
• The Crude Oil Sales Agreement (COSA) will come in effect from 1 April, 2020 to 31 March 2025.
• ONGC is the largest national oil explorer.

11. Ordinance passed by the Uttar Pradesh Government to recover damages of protests

• ‘Uttar Pradesh Recovery of Damages to Public & Private Property Ordinance, 2020’ has been passed by the Uttar Pradesh governor Anandiben Patel
• Even as a recovery exercise to collect damages to public property during anti-CAA riots is underway in the state.
• Ordinance aims at dealing with violent acts at public places.

12. India to provide 107.01 million Nepali Rs for 3 new school buildings in Nepal

• The schools will be constructed in Darchula, Dhanusha and Kapilvastu districts.
• These schools will be built under the India-Nepal Development Partnership program.
• Estimated cost of Partnership program- 73.96 million Nepali Rs.

13. First human trial to evaluate vaccine against COVID-19 begins in US

• 1st human trial to evaluate a candidate vaccine against coronavirus disease 2019 has begun in Seattle.
• The US National Institutes of Health said that the open-label trial will enrol 45 healthy adult volunteers ages 18 to 55 years over approximately 6 weeks
• SARS-CoV-2 virus is a betacoronavirus.

14. Rohini Mohan and Arfa Khanum Sherwani win the Chameli Devi Jain Award for outstanding woman journalists

• The 2019 Chameli Devi Jain Award for Outstanding Women Media person for the year.
• First given in the 1980s, the Chameli award is instituted by the Media Foundation.
• Did you Know
• Last year’s recipient was Priyanka Dubey of the BBC.

15. Poet Puthusssery Ramachandran, who fought for freedom, passes away

• Noted Malayalam poet, writer and freedom fighter Dr Puthussery Ramachandran passed away.
• He was 92.
• He won several major awards and honours, including fellowship of the Kerala Sahitya Akademi in 2009, Bhasha Samman in 2014 and Ezhuthachan Award in 2015.
• He played a role in earning the classical status for Malayalam.

16. ‘An Extraordinary Life: Book on the late Goa CM Manohar Parrikar’ to be released

• Who served as the defence minister & Goa CM.
• Publishing house Penguin Random House India has announced it.
• Authors : Sadguru Patil and Mayabhushan Nagvenkar.