Current Affairs 10th Week 6th March 12th March 2016

Best of Current Affairs Desk

21st March 2016

IN THIS WEEK

WHAT'S NEW NIRDESHAK.COM

Awards
ECONOMY
BANKING
SPORTS
POLICY
RAILWAYS
PERSON

Dear Readers,
Nirdeshak.com has initiated all new Current
Affairs (BNCA) with weekly pdf update. In todays
competitive scenario, it has become most crucial
to read more analytical and absorbable content,
in order to get best result. The content is
developed scientifically developed so that it
becomes short, easy to remember and only
relevant part is recalled for exam preparation.
This is helpful for current affairs preparation,
developing acumen for interviews, GD and
overall remembering more get best scores in
competitive exams, for Banks, IBPS PO, SBI, IAS,
SSC and other exams.
In the week, many place, events and policy
remained important as India and world saw
many developments. Further know more about
key personalities of the week, banking news,
government policies and foreign relations with
neighbours.
Happy learning,
Warm regards

Editorial Team
Nirdeshak.com

Following are the important current terms important for exams, discussions
and interview.

Terms to Know

What is Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS)

Rating of Banking

What is SPV?

What is CLAB?

What is EPF tax?

Know about worlds longest all-women flight

Who formed National Peoples Party

What do you mean by?

How many satellites are there in

IRNSS

What is Bankers Retreat and

Gyan Sangam?

RERA

CCEA

What is Setu Bharatam?

Email association with Ray

Tomlinson

Important Terms for Discussion and interviews

Android N

What is Union B United Forum of Regional Rural Bank Unions (UFEEBU)

What is RRB, how many banks are there in RRB?

Name the Authority which regulates Real Estate? (RERA)

Why Drug Meldomium is used?

What will be the impact of opening 100% owned branches in Myanmar on

SBI?

How Aadhaar can be beneficiary by making it mandatory for subsidies.

Technology
Android N
Google released the preview version of its latest Android operating system which is
meant for developers only and not intended for daily use or consumers.
To Know: Google released the developer preview of
Android N on 9 March 2016 in a hush-up affair. Unlike
its earlier versions, which were released amid much
fanfare at the Google I/O in May every year, the release
of Android N was just for a select tribe of developers.
The earlier preview allows Google to hand off the final N release to device makers
later this year, so they can get their hands on the latest version of Android earlier
than ever.
Some of the new features available in Android N are a multi-window support,
redesigned notification features, more efficient doze system, number-blocking facility
in the platform and much enhanced local language support.
However Android N will not be the official name of this version and the final
market-release version could be known by any name from Nuts to Nutella.

Tech Mahindra
Startup Garage
First corporate entity to create a startup garage for its in-house entrepreneurs.
To Know: Tech Mahindra, the IT entity of the Mahindra Group, will become the first
corporate entity in India to have startup incubator (startup garage) for its in-house
entrepreneurs. Majority of the entrepreneurs will be companys own employees.
Currently, as many as 15 businesses have emerged from among the over 1.05
lakh Tech Mahindra employees and they work as part of the growth factories setup.
All the businesses that are getting incubated will be physically housed together in
the garage and doing so will give them independence to operate. Mentoring the
businesses will also be easier if they are housed together. Tech Mahindras startup
garage will be established at Pune.

Banking
Which Rating agency downgraded 8 Public Sector Banks?
Crisil downgraded the ratings of which 8 public sector banks Bank of India,
Central Bank of India, Corporation Bank, Dena Bank, IDBI Bank, Indian
Overseas Bank, Syndicate Bank and Uco Bank
To Know: The ratings of these 8 PSU banks were downgraded by Crisil on 10
March 2016. On the other hand the agency also changed the outlook, to negative
from stable, on certain securities of five other banks- Andhra Bank, Bank of Baroda,
Canara Bank, Punjab National Bank and Punjab and Sindh Bank.
The ratings were downgraded primarily due to increase in banks non-performing
assets (NPAs).

Banking RRB
What is RRB, how many banks are there in RRB?
Officers and employees of regional rural banks (RRBs) went on a 2-day strike from
10 March 2016 to press for nationalisation of RRBs. Which entity associated with
rural bank employees gave call for this strike? United Forum of Regional Rural
Bank Unions (UFEEBU)
To Know: UFRRBU is an umbrella body of seven unions. They
are opposing the RRBs Amendment Act 2015, which paved the
way for infusion of private capital in the banks and thus diluting the
social objectives of the institutions. There are 56 RRBs with a
network of over 20,500 branches across 635 districts in the
country.
The strike resulted in a four-day closure of the RRBs at a stretch with the
subsequent two days (12 and 13 March) being public holidays.

Banking
State Bank of India - To Open 100% owned branches in Myanmar
To Know: In the latest move by the Southeast Asian nation Myanmar to woo
investment to the country long ruled by the military and hit by Western sanctions, its

Govt. on 7 March allowed four foreign banks to operate in the country. These include
Indias largest PSU bank SBI.
The other three new banks that have been given initial approval by the Central
Bank of Myanmar are Vietnams Bank for Investment and Development, Taiwans
E.SUN Commercial Bank and South Koreas Shinhan Bank.
It is worth mentioning that in April 2016 Japans Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ became the
first foreign bank in decades to open a branch in Myanmar.

What is CLAB?
Small Area Finance Bank (SFB)
To Know: Jalandhar-based Capital Local Area Bank (CLAB) is set to become Indias
first small area finance bank (SFB) as it starts its operations from 13 April 2016.
It will launch operations under a new name Capital Small Finance Bank Limited
and its launch will coincide with the auspicious festival of Baisakhi (the beginning of
rabi harvest that gives a major boost to rural spending) in Punjab.
CLAB is the first among the 10 applicants to get final licence from the Reserve
Bank of India (RBI). It is currently active as local area bank.

Place for Gyan Sangam - Gurgaon

To Know: Gyan Sangam (Bankers Retreat) is
the name given to the annual conclave of the top
officials from banks, Finance Ministry and the
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to take stock of the developments in the banking sector
and brainstorm on the issues that bog down stakeholders at various fronts.
While the first edition of Gyan Sangam was held in 2015 in Pune, the second
edition is being held on 4 and 5 March 2016 at Gurgaon. Seven months after the
2015 conclave, the government announced the seven-point reforms roadmap,
Indradhanush, detailing the measures it would take to revamp public sector banks.
Gyan Sangam 2016 is being held at a time when 12 public sector banks reported
losses, the stock of bad loans across listed banks jumped by Rs.1 trillion in a single
quarter and capital positions of these public sector lenders eroded.

Petroleum
Petroleum - Ratna and R Series Oil-Fields
On 10 March 2016 the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) decided to
revert the award of Ratna and R-series oil-fields to the public sector Oil & Natural
Gas Corporation (ONGC) after approving the cancellation of the letter of award in
favour of the consortium of Essar Oil Limited and Oil Pacific UK Ltd. This award was
done in which year? 1996
To Know: The Ratna and R-series oil-fields (lying 130 km off Mumbai coast) were
planned to be awarded under the Discovered Field Policy (DFP) of the then
Narasimha Rao Government as announced during 1992-93 in the wake of economic
liberalization. The letter of award in favour of Essar and Oil Pacific was issued on 3
December 1996.
It was envisaged that the development of these fields through private sector/joint
sector development by signing the Production Sharing Contract (PSC) would
facilitate in creating additional value for the country from such projects.
However, the PSC in respect of these fields could not be signed during the last two
decades owing to a number of reasons. Apart from this the intended contribution of
the Ratna and R-series fields in achievement of overall policy objective could not be
attained.
In view of this, the CCEA has now decided that the fields may be reverted back to
the original licensee, ONGC, who had initially developed these fields partially and
operated and obtained production from these fields till 1994.

Appointment
Appointment
Chairman of the 21st Law Commission Justice Balbir Singh Chauhan
To Know: Justice Balbir Singh Chauhan, a former judge of the Supreme Court was
appointed Chairman of the 21st Law Commission on 10 March. This post was lying
vacant since September 2015.
66-year old Justice Chauhan is currently heading the Cauvery River Water
Disputes Tribunal. One of the key issues pending before the Law Commission is a

call on amending the Indian Penal Code (IPC) amid allegations of abuse and
arbitrary use of the law.
The term of the 20th Law Commission ended on 30 August 2015 and the Union
Cabinet approved creation of the 21st Law Commission on 9 September 2015. The
Law Ministry brought out a notification to create the 21st law panel on 14 September
2015.
The Law Commission is reconstituted every three years and is usually headed by a
retired Supreme Court judge or former Chief Justice of a high court.

Space
IRNSS 1F
Sixth navigational satellite launched under the ambitious IRNSS series the through
the PSLV-32 rocket.
To Know: IRNSS-1F (Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System-1F) is the sixth
satellite of the seven satellite-Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS)
series. It is part of Indias plan to put in place an indigenous navigation system
similar to US-based global positioning system (GPS) and the Russian GLONASS.
The launch was done from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota (Andhra
Pradesh).
The final satellite, IRNSS-1G, which will complete the series of satellites, will be
launched in April 2016, after which the navigation system will become operational.
Once fully operational, the constellation of satellites will reduce Indias dependence
on foreign navigational systems. The other five satellites, IRNSS-1A, 1B, 1C,ID and
1E , were successfully launched by PSLV on 2 July 2013, 4 April 2014, 16 October
2014, 28 March 2015 and 20 January 2016, respectively. All the five satellites are
functioning satisfactorily.

Real Estate
The real Estate Bill
Name the Authority which regulate Real Estate? (RERA)

3) A long awaited legislation which is primarily designed to protect consumer

interest, ensure efficiency in all property-related transactions, and improve
accountability of developers. The Real Estate (Regulation and Development)
Bill, 2013
Explanation: The Real Estate (Regulation and
Development) Bill, 2013will seek to regulate both
commercial and residential projects and set up
state-level regulatory authorities to monitor real
estate activity.
It provides for mandatory registration of all projects with the Real Estate Regulatory
Authority (RERA) in each state. Real estate agents who intend to sell any plot,
apartment or building should also register themselves with this authority.
It makes mandatory the disclosure of all information for registered projects like
details of promoters, layout plan, land status, schedule of execution and status of
various approvals.
Lack of transparency in Indias real estate sector has always been a grey area.

Automobile
Automobile
Honda Motor Co.
The global auto giant began the sale of its new Clarity Fuel Cell, the worlds first fivepassenger sedan-type fuel cell vehicle (FCV) with zero carbon emissions.
To Know: Japanese auto giant Honda Motor Co. created history on 10 March as it
started selling the new Clarity Fuel Cell, the worlds first five-passenger sedan-type
fuel cell vehicle (FCV) which has zero carbon emissions as it runs on hydrogen.
The Clarity vehicle features a cruising range of around 750 km. This means a
driver can drive for up to that distance on a full tank marking an increase of about
30% compared to the previous FCV model.
That range puts Clarity in the top class cruising range among zero-emissions
vehicles, and its hydrogen tank takes about three minutes to refill.

Policy
Aadhaar Bill To make the use of Aadhaar mandatory for availing of
government Subsidies (for Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies,
Benefits and Services)
To Know: The Aadhaar Bill will provide statutory
backing to Aadhaar. It seeks to make the use of
Aadhaar mandatory for availing of government
subsidies but at the same time also tries to
address concerns regarding privacy and
protection of personal information.
The bill provides that the information under
Aadhaar will be an electronic record and will be
classified as sensitive personal data or
information as per the provisions of the Information Technology Act.
The bill prohibits the sharing of the core biometric information in any form.
However, information about the identity of an individual, other than core biometric
information, can be shared subject to certain conditions.
Violation of privacy and protection of biometric data has been one of the main
criticisms of Aadhaar, which has enrolled almost a billion citizens in the unique
identity scheme.

National Pension Plan (NPS)

To Know: After rolling back of the controversial EPF tax proposal, the National
Pension Scheme, or NPS, will continue with its earlier structure, in which only 40%
would be tax free at withdrawal.
In his Budget proposals on 29 February 2016 the Finance Minister had said only
40% of the total accumulated EPF balance would be tax-free. This essentially meant
that on withdrawal of EPF, 60% of the corpus, accumulated after 1 April 2016, would
attract tax and the remaining 40% would be tax-free.
The proposal was proposed to apply only to those who earned more than Rs.
15,000 a month.
However, the proposal was met with vociferous opposition from the salaried class,
as well as from Opposition parties. Hence, the controversial EPF tax proposal was
withdrawn on 8 March.

Project
Project - Setu Bharatam - To make all national highways free from railway level
crossings by 2019
To Know: With the aim of ensuring road security, the Union Government on 4 March
launched the Setu Bharatam. Under the project, 208 rail over bridges and rail under
bridges will be built at the cost of Rs. 20,800 crore.
The project primarily aims to make all national highways free from railway level
crossing by 2019. Total outlay of the project is Rs. 50,000 crore. Rs. 30,000 crore
will be spent on reconstruction and revamping over 1,500 old bridges.

Award
Dadasaheb Phalke Award for 2015 Manoj Kumar
To Know: Veteran Hindi film actor Manoj Kumar will be conferred
with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for 2015.
The actor of yesteryears, best known for his patriotic
films Purab Aur Paschim, Upkar and Kranti, will become
47th recipient of Dadasaheb Phalke Award, the most prestigious
film award in India.
Manoj Kumar was born as Harikrishna Giri Goswami in Abbottabad (present
Pakistan). He initially started as a romantic hero following his debut in 1960
with Kaanch Ki Gudia but later shifted focus to acting and directing films with patriotic
themes so much so that fans started calling him Bharat Kumar.
He won the National award of Upkaar and was conferred with the Padma Shri in
1992.

Railway
Railway - Project - National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL)

What is the name of the new Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) that was formed on 8
March 2016 to implement the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Bullet Train project?
To Know: National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) is the name of
the new Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) that will undertake the complete
implementation of the ambitious High Speed Bullet Train project between
Ahmedabad and Mumbai.
The bullet train is expected to cover the 508 km between Mumbai and Ahmedabad
in about two hours, running at a maximum speed of 350 kmph and operating speed
of 320 kmph. Currently, Duronto takes about seven hours to cover the distance
between the two financial centres of the country.

Sports
Sports Asia Cup
This was 6th Asia Cup title for India. Sabbir Rahman was declared Player of the
Series.
To Know : Sabbir Rahman, who was the highest
run-scorer of the tournament with 176 runs, was
declared Player of the Series. Shikhar Dhawan
was declared Man of the Match of the final.
India displayed another meticulous and precise
performance to romp home by 8 wickets while
replying to Bangladeshs score of 120 for 5 in 15 overs in a rain-curtailed final.
Man of the Match Shikhar Dhawan played the lead with a chanceless 60 (44b,
94, 16) while Virat Kohli (41 not out) supported him ably in a 94-run stand for the
second wicket. Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni produced late fireworks, scoring 20
off just six balls (two sixes and a four), to ensure Indias sixth Asia Cup title.
This was the 6th Asia Cup title for India and is now the most successful team in this
tournament by overtaking Sri Lankas 5 title wins.
The 2016 Asia Cup was a Twenty20 International (T20I) cricket tournament and
was held in Bangladesh from 24 February to 6 March 2016. It was the 13 th edition of
the Asia Cup, the fifth to be held in Bangladesh, and the first to be played using the
T20I format.

Patna Pirates
To Know: Patna Pirates won their maiden Pro Kabaddi League
title on 5 March 2016 when it defeated defending champions U
Mumba (Mumbai) by 31-28 in the high octane final played at Indira
Gandhi Indoor Stadium (New Delhi).
Patna Pirates started the game in an incredible fashion by taking
a huge lead in the first half. U Mumba made a stunning comeback in the game but
could not overtake Pirates in the closing minutes. For Pirates Sandeep Narwal gave
a sterling performance to give his team the first PKL title.
Rohit Kumar of Patna Pirates was awarded Best Raider and Mohit Chillar of U
Mumba the Best Defender of the Match.
PKL is a professional Kabaddi league in India, based on the format of the Indian
Premier League T20 cricket tournament. The inaugural season of PKL was held in
2014 and was won by Jaipur Pink Panthers. Second season (2015) was claimed by
U Mumba.

Person - Tennis Star - Maria Sharapova

Failed a drug test at the Australian Open due to a substance she has been taking for
10 years for health issues and was provisionally suspended from 12 March.
To Know: 28-year old Russian tennis star, who is also the highestpaid woman in sports, on 7 March created a huge flutter in tennis
circuit when she admitted using meldonium for health issues. She
accepted taking the drug for last 10 years and said this was a big
mistake.
She thus became the seventh athlete in a month to test positive for
meldonium, which is used to treat diabetes and low magnesium, and was only
banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency as of 1 January 2016.
Sharapova said her family doctor had been giving her mildronate, which is also
called meldonium, for 10 years after she frequently became sick, had irregular EKG
results, a magnesium deficiency and a family history of diabetes.
Sharapova is the biggest name in sport to test positive since New York Yankees
baseball slugger Alex Rodriguez was banned for a year in 2013 after using
performance-enhancing drugs and American cyclist Lance Armstrong was banned
for life from racing in 2012 after a U.S. Anti-Doping investigation.
According to Forbes, she earned $29.5 million in 2015, mostly from endorsements.

Event
World Culture Festival
The controversial 3-day mega cultural event organized by Art of Living (AOL)
founder Sri Sri Ravishankar that started on the banks of Yamuna River in Delhi from
11 March 2016.
To Know: World Culture Festival is the name given to a mega event organized as a
celebration of The Art of Livings 35 years of service. The Art of Living founder and
spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravishankar is the main organizer of this event.
The event held from 11 to 13 March 2016 features cultural events from all parts of
the world featuring thousands of artists. Nearly 36,000 artistes from around the world
will perform on what is claimed to be the worlds largest stage.
However the event ran into rough weather as environmentalist Manoj Misra
petitioned the National Green Tribunal (NGT) that the World Cultural Festival not be
allowed to use the floodplains near Mayur Vihar as it was an ecologically-sensitive
venue.
The NGT on 9 March 2016 gave its go ahead to the event but also clamped Rs. 5
crore fines on The Art of Living claiming that the floodplains had been damaged in
the preparations for the event. After coming out against this fine, Sri Sri Ravishankar
later asked for more time to pay the fine.
In the wake of controversies surrounding the event, several world leaders expected
to attend the festival and the AOL Global Leaders Forum at the same time on 12 -13
March, cancelled their participation. They include the guest of honour Zimbabwe
President Robert Mugabe, Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena, Nepal
President Bidhiya Devi Bhandari, and former Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Indian
President Pranab Mukherjee, who was due to give valedictory address at the event,
didnt attended the event as he had to attend another function.
However, the inaugural function was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Worlds longest all-women flight

Between New Delhi and San Francisco
To Know: The flight between New Delhi (India) and
San Francisco (United States), which travelled a
distance of around 14,500 kilometers in close to 17

hours, was operated as part of International Womens Day celebrations.

The flight was under the command of Kshamta Bajpayee and Shubhangi Singh,
along with First Officers Ramya Kirti Gupta and Amrit Namdhari.
Apart from this, entire flight operations from cockpit crew to cabin crew, check-in
staff, doctor, customer care staff, ATC (air traffic control) and the entire ground
handling were handled by women for this historic flight.

Person
Dead - Former Lok Sabha Speaker P.A. Sangma
To Know: Purno Agitok Sangma (P.A. Sangma) was the Speaker of
the 11th Lok Sabha from 1996 to 1998. He was a 9-time member of
the Lok Sabha and was member of the present Lok Sabha from Tura
Assembly seat of Meghalaya.
He had also held important portfolios in the Union government.
Born on 1 September 1947 in village Chapahati in the picturesque West Garo Hills
District of Meghalaya, Sangma struggled hard to rise in life.
He was a former Congressman and was one of the founding members of the
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). He was expelled from Congress in 1999 for
raising the banner of revolt against Sonia Gandhi over her foreign origin issue.
He was expelled from NCP in July 2012 when he refused to accept his partys
decision to quit the race for Indias President. In January 2013, he formed the
National Peoples Party.
He was 68 and died of a cardiac arrest.
Person
Death - Kalabhavan Mani
To Know: Kalabhavan Mani had acted in more than 200 films,
majority being Malayalam. He also featured in numerous Tamil and
Telugu films.
With his superb portrayal of a blind singer in Malayalam film
Vasanthiyum Lakshmiyum Pinne Njanum (remade in Tamil
as Kasi), he won both National Award and Kerala State Film Award

in 1999.
Of late he was more seen in Tamil films. He was also an accomplished singer and
was known for rendering haunting folk songs. He was 45 and his real name was
Mani Raman (Kalabhavan Mani being his stage name).

Person Ray Tomlinson

Inventor of Email associated with information technology.
To Know: Ray Tomlinson was the American
programmer who was widely credited with
inventing email. He had also chosen @ symbol for
using in email addresses.
He had invented direct electronic messages
between users on different machines in 1971. He
had implemented the first email program on the
ARPANET system, the precursor to the Internet. It was the first program able to send
mail between users on different hosts connected to ARPANET.
Previously, mail could be sent only to others who used the same computer. To
achieve this, he used the @ sign to separate the user name from the name of their
machine, a scheme which has been used in email addresses ever since.
Tomlinsons work changed the way the world communicates and yet, for all his
accomplishments he remained humble.
(Photo Courtesy: YouTube.com)
.
Dinesh Thakur
Filed public interest litigation (PIL) in the Supreme Court accusing Indian drug
regulators of failing to enforce rules on drug safety.
To Know: Dinesh Thakur is one of the best-known whistleblowers for the Indian
drug industry. In 2013 he exposed how Indias then largest drug-maker and his
former employer, Ranbaxy Laboratories, failed to conduct proper safety and quality
tests on drugs and lied to regulators about its procedures.
Thakurs fresh case, a public interest litigation (PIL) suit, is listed in the Supreme
Court website for hearing on 11 March 2016.

 The said PIL alleges that responses provided to him by government show how lax
regulation can lead to potentially harmful medicines being sold in India without
proper approvals.
The Health Ministry, the Drugs Consultative Committee and the Central Drugs
Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) have been made respondents in the case.
Dinesh Thakur has alleged that an overwhelming number of non-standard-quality
drugs are not prosecuted in criminal cases, since state drug controllers only impose
minor administrative penalties on the offenders.