Current Affairs Updates - 19th March 2018

Current Affairs Updates - 19th March 2018

Achieversrule team has brought to you the Latest set of Current Affairs in our Current Affairs Updates - 19th March 2018. These are important for the upcoming examinations of Bank like IBPS PO, IBPS CLERK, SSC CGL, SSC CHSL and other exams. These headlines have been marked in bold and the rest of it has been given in bullet points. I hope readers will go through them in details. Apart from this we also have the Daily Current Affairs Quiz and One Liner GK and Static Note Down Points for regular reference before practising the quizzes.

New Appointments: National

Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran was elected President of the court of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) for three years

• The court is the apex body of the autonomous and deemed university, comprising its senior academics, officials of the central and Karnataka governments, industry and civil society.

National Affairs

The Lok Sabha passed the Payment of Gratuity (Amendment) bill which seeks to empower the government to fix period of maternity leave and tax-free gratuity amount with an executive order.

• After the passage of the Payment of Gratuity (Amendment) Bill in the Rajya Sabha, the government would be able to enhance the ceiling of tax-free gratuity to Rs 20 lakh from existing Rs 10 lakh for employee under the Payment of Gratuity Act.

India will seek guidance on the future of the multilateral trading system from 50 trade envoys at a two-day World Trade Organization (WTO) informal ministerial meeting in New Delhi 

• The Indian commerce ministry is organizing the meeting after the 11th ministerial conference of the WTO, held in Buenos Aires in December, failed to reach a consensus on how to take forward negotiations on key issues such as agriculture and services.

According to a study by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), US is India's 2nd biggest arms supplier 

• Washington increased its sales by more than five times compared to the previous five years, the authoritative SIPRI said in its report released this week. 

Maharashtra generates most bio-medical waste in India

• Maharashtra tops the list of biomedical waste generated in the country daily, according to a document submitted by the ministry of health and family welfare in the Lok Sabha

International Affairs

UN appeals for US 951 million dollar to support Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh

• They are among 2,531 families relocated since late October to a greenfield site in Kutupalong settlement, where the Bangladesh government, supported by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and its partners have provided a range of materials, facilities and services.

Scandal-tainted Mauritius president Ameenah Gurib-Fakim resigns

• Mauritius President Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, who is facing fire over an alleged financial scandal, has resigned

Larry Kudlow, a well-known conservative media pundit, would be Donal Trump's new chief economic advisor

• Kudlow, 70, would replace Cohen, a former Goldman Sachs executive who quit the post after his differences with Trump on imposing a 25 per cent tariff on import of steel and 10 per cent on aluminum.

Sri Lanka President Maithripala Sirisena had lifted a nationwide state of emergency imposed on March 6 after Buddhist-Muslim clashes. 

• He declared a state of emergency to rein in the spread of communal violence after Buddhists and Muslims clashed in the Indian Ocean island's central district of Kandy. 

Bhutan, Kiribati, Sao Tome and Principe and Solomon Islands are set to move up from the ranks of poorest nations due to their increasing national earning power as well as access to better health care and education

• The four countries will be recommended for graduation from the least developed country (LDC) category, the United Nations Committee for Development Policy (CDP) announced.

Trump signs U.S.-Taiwan travel bill that raised strains between both the countries of US and China

• The move adds to strains between the two countries over trade, as Trump has enacted tariffs and called for China to reduce its huge trade imbalance with the U.S., even while Washington has leaned on Beijing to help resolve tensions with North Korea.

Defence & Railway News

Flying Officer Bhawana Kanth became the second woman pilot of Indian Air Force to fly solo in a fighter aircraft.

• She flew in a MiG-21 Bison aircraft from Ambala Air Force Station on Friday.
• She is second only to Flying Officer Avani Chaturvedi who created history on February 21 by being the first ever woman fighter pilot to fly solo.

Books & Authors

Sri Lanka Cricket pays homage to Jagmohan Dalmiya with release of book 'A Tribute to Jagu'

• Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), on the occasion of the 70th independence of the island nation, paid a glowing tribute to former BCCI President Jagmohan Dalmiya by releasing a book, titled "A Tribute to Jagu".

Schemes / Programme

In Nepal, a clean-up drive has been initiated at the Mount Everest that aims at airlifting 100 tonnes of waste left behind by tourists and climbers of the World's Highest Mountain.

• This year's clean-up campaign is focused on items that could be recycled in the capital city. Privately-owned airlines are helping in the cause by transporting these items. On its first day yesterday, about 1,200kg of waste was flown from Lukla airport to Kathmandu for recycling.

Awards & Honours: Sports

Deepa Malik becomes Asian rank 1 in javelin F-53 category

• Indian para-athlete Deepa Malik won a gold medal in the F-53/54 category javelin event at the World Para Athletics Grand Prix in Dubai and also became the Asian rank one in the F-53 category on Thursday. With the win, Deepa has also qualified for the 2018 Asian Para Games in Indonesia, scheduled to be held in October.

Awards & Honours: Miscellaneous

Veteran actress and talk show host Simi Garewal has been felicitated with a "UK Golden Flame Award" for her contribution to Indian cinema.

• The 70-year-old actress received the award yesterday at the opening ceremony of the annual Tongues of Fire UK Asian Film Festival in London.

Chennaiyin FC lifted their game to a level befitting the occasion and sent fancied Bengaluru FC crushing to a painful 2-3 defeat, clinching the Indian Super League (ISL) title in style.

• Chennaiyin FC's Mailson Alves turned out to be the star of the title with a brace. And there was also some Brazilian touch to the game.

India's bid to host the next U-20 FIFA World Cup ended in disappointment as world football governing body FIFA accorded the status to Poland.

• The European nation will host the next edition of the tournament in 2019. This was decided at the FIFA council meeting in Bogota, Colombia.