Daily GK Updates - 3rd March, 2016

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Mega Military Exercise of ASEAN Plus countries begins in Pune: The multinational mega Military Exercise Force 18 conducted by India Army has started in Pune, Maharashtra. The theme of the exercise is ‘Humanitarian Mine Action’ (HMA) and ‘Peacekeeping Operations’ (PKO). Participating ASEAN countries along with ASEAN Plus nations are India, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, China, South Korea, Russia and US. Ten ASEAN countries from South East Asia are Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

2. India signs financing agreement with World Bank for USD 300 million for Madhya Pradesh Higher Education Quality Improvement Project.

3. NHAI ties up with Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad for skill development.

4. Government cancels IRB contract: Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari has cancelled a contract won by IRB Infrastructure Developers Ltd to build a $1.5 billion tunnel in Himalayas after the opposition politician alleged irregularities in bidding for India’s most expensive project. Union Government has ordered rebidding for 10050 crore rupees Zoji La tunnel located on the NH 1D between Srinagar and Leh. 

5. Government plans to set up more nuclear power plants: To meet the need of the country, the Government of India plans to set up nuclear power plants in Haryana, Bihar and Punjab.

6. Parliament passes Carriage by Air Amendment Bill, 2015.

7. India ranks 90^th out of 126 countries in terms of Energy Security compiled by World Economic Forum (WEF).

8. Chennai gets India’s first self-cleaning smart toilets.

9. MoU signed between Indian Army and Indusind Bank related to the defence salary package.

10. After Amazon, Flipkart and Naaptol tie up with Department of Posts to deliver parcels.

11. Facebook and CitrusPay tie up to facilitate e-commerce.

12. Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved winding up of National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council.

13. Delhi became first state to launch Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine as a public health programme for school children.

14. India and US to partner for research on cancer and traditional medicine to pave way for potential breakthroughs.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. South Korea Lawmakers pass Contentious Anti-Terror Bill.

2. Peru declares emergency after oil spill hits rivers.

3. International Finance Corporation launches Masala Bonds: International Finance Corporation (IFC), a part of the World Bank group launched its first Uridashi Masala Bonds (Japanese Bonds) to mobilize R30 (or $ 4.3 million) directly from Japanese households investors to promote private sector development in India.

4. Historic Old War Office in London acquired by Hinduja Group.

5. Google donates $1 million to help fight Zika Virus spread.

6. World Wildlife Day observed on 3^rd March 2016 across the world with theme ‘The future of wildlife is in our hands’.

OTHER UPDATES:

FINANCE/BANKING:

1. SWIFT Financial Messaging launched in India: Financial messaging services provider SWIFT launched its service in India, bringing with it a unified messaging protocol that can link banks, financial intermediaries, regulators and stock exchanges and clearing agencies through one suit that can secure transactions by keeping records in a dematerialised form.

AWARDS:

2. Bihari Puraskar 2015 to be given to Dr Bhagwati Lal Vyas for his anthology of Rajasthani poems ‘Katha Sun Aawe Hai Sabad’ published in 2010.

3. Whitfield Diffie and Martin Hellman won Association for Computing Machinery’s (ACM) 2015 A.M Turing Award for their contribution to modern Cryptography.

OBITUARIES:

4. New Zealand cricket legend Martin Crowe died aged 53 after losing cancer battle.

5. Coronation Street creator Tony Warren died at the age of 79..

BOOKS AND AUTHORS:

6. Book titled ‘Who was Shivaji?’ authored by Govind Pansare was in news as birth anniversary of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was celebrated across Maharashtra on 19^th February 2016.