• National

One Nation One Card launched by PM

• PM Narendra Modi launched ‘One Nation One Card’ in Ahmedabad on 4 March 2019.
• It can be used for paying for travel on any mode of transportation.
• It will enable people to use them either in PoS machines deployed at ticket counters or just use them like Metro Rail smart cards to enter a platform.

• Sports

Wrestler Bajrang Punia wins gold in Bulgaria

• India’s star wrestler Bajrang Punia has won a gold medal in 65-kilograms freestyle in Bulgaria.
• Punia overpowered Jordan Oliver of USA 12-3 in the final.
• This was Punia’s 10th medal in as many international tournaments since the 2017 World Championships in Paris.
• Earlier, Pooja Dhanda claimed gold in women’s 59 kg while Sarita Mor won a silver in the same weight category.
• In the men’s freestyle events, Sandeep Tomar claimed silver in 61kg.

• Awards

Abinandan will be awarded Mahavir Award

• IAF Wing Commander, Abhinandan Varthaman will be the 1st recipient of the ‘Bhagwan Mahavir Ahimsa Puraskar’ instituted by the Akhil Bharatiya Digambar Jain Mahasamiti.
• He shot down a Pakistani Air Force jet F-16 with an R-73 air-to-air missile in a dogfight on February 27.
• He will be awarded on April 17, 2019. The award has a cash prize of Rs. 2.51 lakh, citation, and memento.

• Appointments

Bhagwan Lal Sahni to head NCBC

• Bhagwan Lal Sahni, a BJP leader from Bihar’s Muzaffarpur, assumed charge as the chairman of the newly constituted National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC).
• The NCBC was given constitutional status by Parliament in 2018.
• Kaushalendra Singh Patel, Sudha Yadav, and Achary Talloju have been appointed as members of the commission.

• Appointments

Pranay Kumar Verma Appointed as India’s Ambassador to Vietnam

• Ministry of External Affairs has appointed Pranay Kumar Verma as India’s Ambassador to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
• Pranay Kumar Verma is a 1994 cadre Indian Foreign Services Officer and presently working as the Joint Secretary at Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

• Important Days

World Wildlife Day being observed today

• The World Wildlife Day has been observed across the world on 3rd March raise awareness of the world’s wild fauna and flora.
• The theme of World Wildlife Day 2019 is “Life Below Water: For people and planet”.
• The day is celebrated and implemented by the Secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), in collaboration with other relevant United Nations organizations.

• Defence

CISF creates Guinness world record in a single-line bicycle parade

• The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) has created a Guinness world record in a single line bicycle parade to mark the 50 years of the paramilitary force.
• Personnel of the central force rode a total of one thousand 327 bicycles non-stop with a uniform distance between bicycles in a single line at the Yamuna Expressway in Noida.
• The bicycle parade covered 3.2 km distance non-stop.
• Earlier, this record was held by Hubballi bicycle club of India which had one thousand 235 bicycles in a single chain.
• The CISF was raised in 1969 and has about one lakh 80 thousand personnel in its ranks.

• Defence

‘Mainamati Maitree Exercise 2019’ Between BSF And BGB Held in Tripura

• Border Security Force (BSF) and Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) took part in the 3-day ‘Mainamati Maitree Exercise 2019’ as a part of ‘Confidence Building Measures’ between India and Bangladesh held in Agartala, Tripura.
• The main objective of this exercise was to plan and conduct anti-smuggling and anti-criminal activity related operations with an aim to achieve better joint operational efficiency and border management in the area.

• Obituaries

Russian physicist and Nobel laureate Zhores Alferov passed away

• Russian physicist and Nobel Prize laureate Zhores Alferov (88-years) passed away.
• In 2000, Alferov received the Nobel Prize in Physics together with US scientists Jack Kilby and Herbert Kroemer, for developing semiconductor heterostructures used in high-speed-and optoelectronics.
• He was elected a corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences in 1972, and a full member in 1979.

• Obituaries

Former Deputy Prime Minister of Nepal Bharat Mohan Adhikari passes away

• Former Deputy Prime Minister of Nepal and Senior leader of ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP), Bharat Mohan Adhikari (83-years) passed away in Kathmandu.
• Mr Adhikari was very popular among the common people for introducing “Aafno Gaun Aafai Banau”, development programme aimed at developing villages across the country by giving them the authority to select local projects on their own.
• The scheme was launched in 1995 when he was Finance Minister in the Manmohan Adhikari government.

• Agreements

Deal with Russia to produce AK-203 rifles

• India signed a deal with a Russian firm to manufacture 7.5 lakh AK-203 rifles, the latest derivative of the AK-47 rifles.
• The AK-203 rifles will be produced at the Indian Ordnance Factory at Amethi’s Korwa.
• The new rifles will replace the indigenous INSAS rifles in the Army, Air Force, and Navy.