Weekly Current Affairs (04th March 2019 – 09th March 2019)

National

1. PM Narendra Modi launched ‘One Nation One Card’ in Ahmedabad on 4 March 2019.
2. The Centre has banned the Jamat-e-Islami Jammu and Kashmir (JIJK) for five years.
3. Today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched the Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Mandhan Yojana at Gandhinagar in Gujarat.
4. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has released the new series of visually-impaired friendly circulation coins in the denomination of Rs 1, Rs 2, Rs 5, Rs 10 and Rs 20.
5. The Centre has announced a new Rs 20 coin which will come in 12-edged polygon (dodecagon) shape.
6. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved the investment sanction for construction of 624 Mega-watt Kiru Hydro Electric Project in Jammu and Kashmir.
7. Today, ‘Poshan Pakhwada’ has been launched across the Country on International Women’s Day (8th March).
8. A Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court appointed 3-member panel to mediate in Ayodhya dispute on 8 March 2019.

International

1. Russian President Vladimir Putin has officially suspended the country’s participation in a key Cold War-era nuclear arms-control treaty with the United States.
2. Kylie Jenner was named the youngest self-made billionaire of all time by Forbes magazine, thanks to the booming cosmetics company she founded three years ago.
3. Malaysia has become the 124th member of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
4. The Venezuelan government has announced to expel German ambassador Daniel Kriener from the country.
5. India launched its third IT corridor in China that will facilitate partnerships between Indian and Chinese companies.
6. London Mayor Sadiq Khan was named the Politician of the Year at the Annual Political and Public Life Awards presented by Britain’s ‘Asian Voice’ weekly newspaper.
7. The Marshall Islands will launch a digital currency named ‘SOV’ this year.

Economy and Business

1. United Bank of India (UBI) has signed a bancassurance deal with private life insurer HDFC Life Insurance Company.

Sports

1. India’s star wrestler Bajrang Punia has won a gold medal in 65-kilograms freestyle in Bulgaria.
2. According to Hockey India, Manpreet Singh has been named as the Captain of the 18-member Indian hockey team to play in the upcoming 28th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup.
3. Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports granted provisional recognition to Kudo International Federation India (KIFI) as National Sports Federation with immediate effect.

Awards

1. IAF Wing Commander, Abhinandan Varthaman will be the 1st recipient of the ‘Bhagwan Mahavir Ahimsa Puraskar’ instituted by the Akhil Bharatiya Digambar Jain Mahasamiti.
2. DRDO Chairman ‘Satheesh Reddy’ has been chosen by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) as the co-winner of the 2019 Missile Systems Award.
3. Two Nobel prizes in literature will be awarded this year, to make up for the lack of one in 2018 while the scandal-plagued Swedish Academy attempted to get its house in order.
4. Japanese architect Arata Isozaki was awarded this year’s Pritzker Architecture Prize, known internationally as the highest honour in the field, on 5 March 2019.
5. President of India, Ram Nath Kovind presented the Nari Shakti Puraskar 2018, in New Delhi, on International Women’s Day, i.e. 8 March 2019.
6. Indore has bagged the cleanest city award for the third straight year under Swachh Survekshan, 2019.

Appointments

1. 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).
2. Ministry of External Affairs has appointed Pranay Kumar Verma as India’s Ambassador to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
3. Veteran Indian sports administrator Randhir Singh was appointed as the chairman of the Coordination Committee of the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games by the General Assembly of the Olympic Council of Asia.
4. The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) has appointed scientist Ajit Kumar Mohanty as its Director, according to a Personnel Ministry order.
5. Mizoram Governor Kummanam Rajasekharan has stepped down from his post.
6. Indian-American television personality and food expert Padma Lakshmi has been appointed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as its newest Goodwill Ambassador, supporting the agency’s fight against inequality and discrimination around the world.
7. Ausaf Sayeed was been appointed as the next ambassador of India to Saudi Arabia.
8. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved designating Shri Subhash Chandra Garg, lAS, Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance as Finance Secretary.

Important Days

1. The World Wildlife Day has been observed across the world on 3rd March raise awareness of the world’s wild fauna and flora.
2. Janaushadhi Diwas is being celebrated across the country on 07th March.
3. International Women’s Day (IWD) is being celebrated every year on 8th March to highlight the achievements of women while calling for greater equality.

Science and Tech

1. ISRO launched a special programme for School Children called “Young Scientist Programme” “YUva VIgyani KAryakram” (युविका).
2. ISRO experts will receive training for the ‘Gaganyaan’ project at Toulouse Space Centre, France from March 2019.
3. Soumya Swaminathan was moved from the position of deputy director-general of WHO on 7 March 2019.

Defence

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. Women officers can now get permanent commissions in 10 branches of the Indian Army, the government announced.
4. The United States and South Korea decided to call off their joint exercise “Foal Eagle” and “Key Resolve” and instead bifurcate them into smaller exercises.

Obituaries

1. Russian physicist and Nobel Prize laureate Zhores Alferov (88-years) passed away.
2. Former Deputy Prime Minister of Nepal and Senior leader of ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP), Bharat Mohan Adhikari (83-years) passed away in Kathmandu.
3. American actor Luke Perry (52-years) passed away in California, U.S.
4. Former Union Minister V. Dhananjay Kumar (67-years) passes away in Mangaluru after a prolonged illness.

States

1. Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has launched ‘Mukhyamantri Parivar Samman Nidhi’ scheme in Chandigarh.
2. According to the Delta ranking report released by NITI Aayog, Assam’s Hailakandi has become the top aspirational district among the 112 aspirational districts of the country.
3. Karnataka chief minister ‘H D Kumaraswamy’ has initiated the ‘Jalamrutha’ initiative which is a water conservation scheme.
4. Idukki’s The Marayoor Jaggery, the traditional and handmade product from Idukki district of Kerala received the Geographical Indication (GI) tag from the Central Government.

Miscellaneous

1. Minister of State for Culture and Environment, Dr. Mahesh Sharma inaugurated ‘AzaadikeDiwane’ museum at Red Fort, Delhi on 5 March 2019.
2. Richest Indian, Mukesh Ambani jumped six positions to rank 13th on Forbes World’s Billionaire list.
3. The National Green Tribunal has slapped a fine of Rs 500 crore on German auto major Volkswagen for damaging the environment through the use of “cheat device” in its diesel cars in India.
4. The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority put out the list of 390 anti-cancer non-scheduled medicines with Maximum Retail Price reduction up to 87 per cent.

Agreements

1. India signed a deal with a Russian firm to manufacture 7.5 lakh AK-203 rifles, the latest derivative of the AK-47 rifles.