Daily GK Updates - 4th March, 2019

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Piyush Goyal & Fadnavis launches the second phase of Monorail in Mumbai : Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Railway Minister Piyush Goyal jointly inaugurated the second phase (11.28 kilometre) of Monorail in Mumbai, extended from Wadala to Jacob Circle. With this, the entire 19.54 kilometres route (first phase-8.26 kilometre) of the country being implemented by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), is now functional. The fare for the entire 17-station route has been fixed at Rs. 10, Rs. 20, RS. 30 and Rs. 40. According to Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, all the railway stations will be connected through skywalks and subways. Now, The Mumbai Monorail  became the sixth-largest monorail system in the world.

2. Mahashivratri being celebrated with traditional fervour across the country : ‘Mahashivratri’ festival is being celebrated across the country with religious fervor and gaiety. Maha Shivratri is the most auspicious festival of devotees of ‘Lord Shiva’.Thousands of devotees celebrate the festival by fasting and offering special prayers in the various temple.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1.World Hearing Day : World Hearing Day, on March 3rd, is a campaign held each year by Office of Prevention of Blindness and Deafness of the World Health Organization.Activities take place across the globe and an event is hosted at the World Health Organization on March 3rd. Theme :- ‘Check your Hearing’.

2.QS World Rankings : Manipal Academy of Higher Education has become only private University in India to be featured in the QS World rankings in the areas of Medicine and Pharmacy. Other three are AIIMS (Delhi), Jamia Hamdard (New Delhi) & Banaras Hindu University (Uttar Pradesh). QS World University Rankings is an annual publication of university rankings by Quacquarelli Symonds.

OTHER UPDATES:

BANKING/FINANCE:

1.Ex-Finance Secretary Hasmukh Adhia appointed non-executive chairman of BoB :  Former Finance Secretary Hasmukh Adhia (1981-batch IAS officer of Gujarat cadre) has been appointed as non-executive chairman of Bank of Baroda (BoB) for a period of three years. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved his appointment as the part-time non-official director as well as non-executive chairman on the board of Bank of Baroda.Earlier, Mr. Adhia served as the Finance Secretary.

SPORTS:

1. Roger Federer claims 100th ATP title of his career :  Swiss great Roger Federer (37-years) has claimed the 100th ATP title of his career with after beating Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 6-4 in the final of the Dubai Tennis Championships. Federer (20-time grand slam champion) is the second man, after American Jimmy Connors to claim 100 titles (record of 109). Tsitsipas saw the end of an eight-match winning streak as he arrived in the Gulf with the Marseille title from last weekend.

2. Shashank Shekhar wins 10 km race of Nepal's COAS Open Marathon :  Shashank Shekhar has won the 10-kilometre race of Nepal's Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Open Marathon and Run for Fun held in Kathmandu. Shekhar is the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) Contingent at Embassy of India in Kathmandu. RD Murgan (from CISF) got third place.

OBITUARIES:

1.  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.