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A monthly magazine of Current Affairs

April -2017

Chief Editor

Kanchan Deep Chaudhary

________________________________

Edited, Owned,

Printed & Published By

F-1/5, West Patel Nagar, Near LIC Office,

Circuit House Road, Jodhpur (Rajasthan)

Tel.0291-2512639, 2511077, 099290-74123

E-mail: [email protected]

Website: www.crackclat.com

CONTENTS

Important Officials……………2

CRACK CLAT Bullets………..5

Latest in General Knowledge…8

Appointments

Awards & Honors

Books & Authors

Constitutional/Law

Defense

Economic Scenario

Ecology & Environment

Places

Report & Index

Software & Telecom

Persons in News………………14

Current Topics – India………..15

Current Topics – World……....17

Latest in Sports………………..21

Static GK Capsules……………23

Current Affairs MCQs………..26

Answer Key of MCQs………..32

______________________

CRACK CLAT TUTORIALS Study Material is for

internal circulation. This booklet is not for sale

separately, and is only for our registered students.

All rights reserved. No part of this issue can be

reprinted in whole or in part without the written

permission of the publishers.

The editors and publishers of this magazine do their

best to verify the information published, but do not take

responsibility for the absolute accuracy of the

information.

All disputes subject to Jodhpur jurisdiction only.



Important Officials

Pranab Mukherjee President

Hamid Ansari Vice-President

Narendra Modi Prime Minister, Public Grievances and Pension, Atomic Energy and Space

Department

Judicial Heads

Designation Person

Chief Justice, Supreme Court : Jagdish Singh Khehar

Attorney General : Mukul Rohtagi

Solicitor General : Ranjit Kumar

Chairperson, National Green Tribunal : Justice Swatantra Kumar

Chairperson, Intellectual Property : KN Basha

Appellate Tribunal

Chairperson, Armed Forces Tribunal : Virender Singh

Heads of Armed Forces

Designation Person

Air Force Chief : Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa

Navy Chief : Admiral Sunil Lanba

Army Chief : Gen. Bipin Rawat

Heads of Intelligence Organisations

Designation Person

Director, Intelligence Bureau (IB) : Rajiv Jain

Director, CBI : Alok Kumar Verma

Director, Research & Analysis Wing (RAW) : Anil Dhasmana

Director, National Technical Research : Alok Joshi

Organisation (NTRO) :

Chairperson, National Investigation : Sharad Kumar

Agency (NIA)

Election Commission

Designation Person

Chief Election Commissioner : Syed Naseem Ahmed Zaidi

Election Commissioner I : Achal Kumar Jyoti

Election Commissioner II : Om Prakash Rawat



Heads of Various Boards

Designation Person

Chairperson, Railway Board : AK Mittal

Chairperson, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board : SA Bhardwaj

Chairperson, CBDT : Sushil Chandra

Chairperson, Company Law Board : Mahesh Mittal Kumar

Chairperson, SEBI : Ajay Tyagi

Chairperson, Central Board of Film Certification : Pahlaj Nihalani

Chairperson, Central Social Welfare Board : Durgabai Deshmukh

Chairperson, Petroleum & Natural Gas : S. Krishnan

Regulatory Board

Director, NCERT : Hrushikesh Senapathy

Chairperson, Central Board of Secondary : Rajesh Kumar Chaturvedi

Education

Chairman, CBEC : Najib Shah

Constitutional Heads

Designation Person

Speaker, Lok Sabha : Sumitra Mahajan

Deputy Speaker, Lok Sabha : M. Thambidurai

Comptroller and Auditor General : Shashikant Sharma

Chairperson, 14th Finance Commission : YV Reddy

Chairperson, National Commission for Woman : Lalitha Kumarmanglam

Chairperson, National Commission for : PL Poonia

Scheduled Castes

Chairperson, National Commission for : Nand Kumar Sai

Scheduled Tribes

Chairperson, National Commission for : Wangla Ishwaraiah

Backward Classes

Chairperson, National Human Rights : HL Dattu

Commission

Chairperson, Union Public Service : David R. Syiemlieh

Commission

Heads of Financial Institutes/Organisations

Designation Person

Vice President, NITI Aayog : Arvind Panagariya

Governor, Reserve Bank of India : Urjit Patel

Chairperson, FICCI : Pankaj Patel

Chairperson, Unit Trust of India : SB Mathur

Chairperson, Life Insurance Corporation of : SK Roy

India

Chairperson, NABARD : Harsha Kumar Bhanwala

CMD, SIDBI : Chhatrapati Shivaji



Chairperson, National Housing Bank : Sriram Kalyanaraman

Chairperson, ASSOCHAM : Sandeep Jojodia

Chairperson, International Chamber of : Rajan Bharati Mittal

Commerce

Chairperson, Multi Commodities Exchange : Mrugank Parajapey

Chairperson, Indian Banks Association : Rajiv Rishi

CMD, Oriental Insurance Company : Sujay Banarji

Director General, Employee‘s State Insurance : Deepak Kumar

Corporation

Chairperson, Institute of Company Secretary : Shyam Agrawal

of India

Heads of International Institutes/Organisations

Designation Person

General Secretary, United Nations : Antonio Guterres

Organisation

India‘s Permanent Representative, UNO : Syed Akbaruddin

Secretary General, SAARC : Amjad Hussain

President, UN General Assembly : Peter Thomson

Director General, International Atomic : Yukia Amano

Energy Agency

Director General, International Labour : Guy Ryder

Organisation

Director General, FAO : Jose Graziano da Silva

Director-General, World Health Organisation : Margaret Chan

Director General, UNESCO : Irina Bakova

Director, UNHCR : Filippo Grandi

Director General, International Monetary Fund : Christine Lagarde

President, World Bank : Jim Yong Kim

Chairperson, European Bank for : Suma Chakrabarti

Reconstruction & Development

Director General, World Trade Organisation : Roberto Azevedo

Director General, UNCTAD : Mukhisa Kituyi

Administrator, UNDP : Helen Clarke

Secretary General, Organisation of : Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu

Islamic Conference

Chairperson, European Commission : Martin Schultz

Chairperson, European Union : Donald Tusk

Chairperson, Non-Aligned Movement : Raul Castro

Chairperson, NASA : Charles F. Bolden

President, Interpol : Meng Hongwei

Chairperson, Asian Development Bank : Takehiko Nakao

Chairperson, New Development Bank : KV Kamath

President, AIIB : Jin Liqun

Chairperson, Commonwealth : Patricia Scotland

Director, IPCC : Hoesung Lee

Secretary General, NATO : Jens Stoltenberg



President, UN Human Rights Council : Choi Kyong-lim

Secretary-General, ASEAN : Lee Luang Minh

Chairman, International Cricket : Shashank Manohar

Council

President, International Cricket Council : Zaheer Abbas

President, International Paralymic Committee : Philip Craven

President, IAAF : Sebastian Coe

Secretary-General, Gulf Cooperation Council : Abdul Rahman ibn Hamad al Attiyah

Director-General, UNIDO : Kandeh Yumkella

Head, World Food Programme : Ertharin Cousin

Vice-President, World Bank : Hiroshi Naka

Executive Director, United Nations International : Antony Lake

Children‘s Emergency Fund

President, International Court of Justice : Ronny Abraham

President, International Olympic Committee : Thomas Bach

President, FIFA : Gianni Infantino

High Commissioner, UN Commission on : Zeid Ra‘ad Al Hussein

Human Right

Director-General, International Atomic Energy : Yukiya Amano

Agency

CRACKCLAT Bullets

National

The Committee, who has submitted report to the

government of India to strengthen border protection

Madhukar Gupta Committee

Who has inaugurated the 5th foundation day

function of BIRAC? Harsh Vardhan

The Union Minster Arjun Ram Meghwal has

inaugurated a passport seva kendra at a post office

in Bikaner

The Parliamentary Committee has suggested merger

of State-run telecom firms BSNL and MTNL for

their long-term survival Bhagat Singh Koshyari

Committee

Which Court accorded the status of ‗living human

entities‘ to the India‘s most sacred Ganga and

Yamuna rivers? Uttarakhand High Court

The city is hosting the 15th edition of ‗All India

Meet of State Legal Services Authorities New Delhi

The first fully India-made 12-coach train has

flagged off between Dadar to Borivali at Lokmanya

Tilak Terminus in Mumbai, Maharashtra Medha

The country is hosting the International Diamond

Conference ‗Mines to Market 2017‘ India

The State government has launched ‗Adarsh Gram

Yojana‘ for rural poor Arunachal Pradesh

The 2017 National Theatre Festival (NTF) has

started in which State? Kerala

The Union Minister has launched the first-of-its-

kind Air Conditioned jacket made of cotton fabric

Giriraj Singh

The largest flag inaugurated on India‘s tallest post

at Attari Border

Who has launched the web portal for obtaining

Coastal Regulation Zone clearances in New Delhi?

Anil Madhav Dave

Who has launched ‗Swachh Shakti Saptah‘ to raise

awareness on sanitation and cleanliness in

Gurugram, Haryana? Narendra Singh Tomar

The city hosted the 4th India-CLMV Business

Conclave 2017 Jaipur

International

Who will host the 25th edition of Commonwealth

Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in April,

2018? United Kingdom

This city has topped the list in the Mercer‘s 2017

Quality of Living index Vienna

As per latest UN report ‗Women in Politics 2017

Map ‗India‘s rank in the world for the number of

MPs in Parliament 148th



The 2017 G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank

Governors Meeting has started in the country

Germany

Who has attended from India in the Summit of the

21-nation Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) in

Jakarta, Indonesia? Hamid Ansari

The island country in South Asia has won the ‗Most

Popular Tourism Destination Award‘ at the

Guangzhou International Travel Fair (GITF) in

China Sri Lanka

The Permanent Indus Commission (PIC) meeting

will held in the city Lahore

The country to build its‘ first national under water

observatory in disputed South China Sea China

The country who has decided to cancel visa-free

entry for North Koreans due to National security

reasons from March 6, 2017 Malaysia

India has ranked among the 188 countries surveyed

for human development, according a new UN report

on March 21, 2017 131

The county to host 10th International Conference on

Theory and Practice of Electronic Governance

India

The cultural festival ‗India by the Nile‘ has started

in the country Egypt

Economy & Banking

The bank has launched an instant digital Loan

Against Securities (LAS) facility HDFC Bank

The bank has signed MoU with CREDAI to work

towards providing housing for all State Bank of

India

The Indian bank has launched a mobile banking app

‗Mera iMobile‘ for rural customers ICICI Bank

Bandhan Bank Limited has signed an agreement

with a payment solution provider in Kolkata India

Avenues India Private Limited

The Union government has swapped the Chief

Executive Officers (CEOs) of Indian Bank &

IDBI Bank

The Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMB) will be merged

with the country‘s largest lender State Bank of

India

The loan amount has been approved by the World

Bank for the National Hydrology Project of India $

175 Million

Who has launched an artificial intelligence-based

chatbot, Electronic Virtual Assistant (EVA) for

customer services in India? HDFC Bank

The bank is now the first bank in the country to

launch Aadhaar Pay IDFC Bank

The Public- Sector Bank (PSB) has launched ‗Work

from Home‘ facility for employees State Bank of

India

Who has been appointed the new Deputy Governor

in Reserve Bank of India (RBI)? BP Kanungo

The loan amount has been sanctioned by the World

Bank (WB) for the Tejaswini project $ 63 Million

The bank, who topped the list of banks that

witnessed the most number of frauds during April to

December period of 2016 ICICI Bank

According to Reserve Bank of India (RBI), penalty

will be imposed on banks, if they refuse to

exchange soiled or scribed currency notes from

people Rs 10000

The World Bank has announced an assistance

programme of over $ 1 billion in the areas of urban

transport and climate resilient agriculture over the

next 2-3 years in Maharashtra

The country‘s largest bank State Bank of India has

decided to reintroduce penalty on non-maintenance

of minimum balance in accounts from April 1,

2017

Science & Technology

Name the two countries which have signed two

long-term support agreements for the Sukhoi Su-30

MKI combat aircraft fleet India and Russia

The SRCC Global Millennium Summit 2017 has

started in the city Dubai

Indian delegation in the 2017 Permanent Indus

Commission (PIC) meeting PK Saxena

The world‘s oldest serving aircraft carrier in active

service will be decommissioned with a ceremonial

send-off in Mumbai INS-Viraat

The interceptor missile tracked the enemy‘s ballistic

missile and fired from Interim Test Range at

Chandipur in Odisha Prithvi

Who has successfully test-fired an anti-ship missile

from an indigenously built INS-Kalvari submarine

in Arabian sea Indian-Navy

GRAPES-3 Telescope upgrade to control Solar

Storms

The scientists have discovered a way to accurately

predict whether a child has autism spectrum

disorder by analysing Blood Sample

Five new sub-atomic particles discovered at CERN

using the Large Hadron Collider



India launched phase-out plan of the harmful

refrigerant HCFC

Sports

Who has won his third consecutive Brazil Open title

by beating Albert Ramos-Vinolas? Pablo Cuevas

(Uruguay)

Who has won the bronze in Asian 20km Race Walk

Championship? KT Irfan

Name the Indian sportsperson which has won silver

at 2017 Eden World Women Snooker

Championship Vidya Pillai

Who has won the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2017?

Tamil Nadu

Who has won the ATP Indian wells Masters title in

California (USA)? Roger Federer

The new brand ambassador for 2018 ODI Blind

Cricket World Cup) Shahid Afridi

Who has won the 2017 ATP Mexico Open hard

court tennis tournament? Sam Querrey

Who has lifted the men‘s singles crown at the All

England Open badminton championships? Lee

Chong Wei (Malaysia)

Who has became only the second Indian golfer to

successfully defend the Hero Indian Open title?

SSP Chawrasia

The country to host the 22nd

edition of Asian

Athletics Championship 2017 India

Teenage spinner of Bangladesh has won the

Debutant of the Year Award for his 19 wickets in

the 2 match Test series against England Mehedi

Hasan Miraj

Who has been named as the ‗Captain of the Year‘ at

the 10th annual ESPNcricinfo Awards? Virat Kohli

Who won the ‗Test Batting Performance of the

Year‘? Ben Stokes (England)

Indian shuttler duo has won the men‘s double title

at the 2017 Uganda International Series at MTN

Arena Lugogo, Kampala Tarun Kona/Alwin

Francis

Miscellaneous

Former director of the Indian Institute of Tropical

Meteorology (IITM) passed away at Pune Dev Raj

Sikka

A Nobel-prize winning poet, playwright, and

painter has passed away at his home in Cap Estate,

Saint Lucia Derek Alton Walcott

Who has awarded with 2017 Regeneron Science

Talent Search? Indrani Das

Indian personality has been selected to newly

formed United Nations (UN) group on anti-

microbial resistance Soumya Swaminathan. The

institution has topped the Times Higher Education

(THE)‘s Asia University ranking 2017 National

University of Singapore (NUS)

The author of the book ‗when Breath Becomes Air‘

Paul Kalanithi

Indian-American personality has won the National

Science Foundation‘s (NSF)‘s Career Award 2017

Anshumali

The author of the book ‗So You Want to Know

About the Environment‘ Bijal Vachharajani

The author of the book ‗The Sleepwalker‘s Dream :

A Novel‘ Dhrubajyoti Borah

Who has launched the world‘s first mobile app on

breast health? Amitabh Bachchan

Who has became the new Chief Minister of Uttar

Pradesh? Yogi Adityanath

Who has been appointed as the Chief Secretary of

Punjab? Karan Avtar Singh

Who took charge as the Acting Chief Justice of

Jammu and Kashmir High Court? Justice

Ramalingam Sudhakar

Who has been conferred with the 2017 Harvard

Humanitarian of the Year award? Robyn Rihanna

Fenty

The university who has won the annual Visitor‘s

Award for the ‗Best University 2017‘ Jawahalal

Nehru University (JNU)

Eminent Malayalam journalist and author will be

presented the 30th Moortidevi award by Bharatiya

Jnanpith organisation MP Veerendra Kumar

The book ‗The Wrong Turn : Love and Betrayal in

the Time of Netaji‘ has been authored by Sanjay

Chopra/Namita Roy Ghose

The author of the book ‗Mr. and Mrs. Jinnah: The

Marriage that Shook India‘? Sheela Reddy

Who has been conferred honorary degree of Doctor

of Science (DSc) by the city-based Maharashtra

Animal and Fishery Sciences University? Mohan

Bhagwat

Indian institute has won the 2017 IEEE Spectrum

Technology in the Service of Society Award IIT-

Madras

Who has been crowned the new Miss International

Queen 2016? Jiratchaya Sirimongkolnawin



Who has honored with the Harvard foundation

‗Artist of the Year 2017‘ award in Cambridge‘?

Viola Davis

Who has became the first Indian educational

institution to make it to the top 10 of a global

ranking for universities? Indian Institute of

Science (IISc), Bangalore

Latest in General Knowledge

Important Days

April 5: National Maritime Day

April 7: World Health Day

April 11: National Safe Motherhood Day

April 17: World Haemophilia

April 18: World Heritage Day

April 21: National Civil Services

April 22: Earth Day

April 23: World Books Day

April 24: Panchayat Raj Day

April 26: World Intellectual Property Day

Appointments

Donald Tusk re-elected as EU Council President:

European Union leaders voted overwhelmingly to

re-elect Mr. Donald Tusk president of the bloc on

March 9, 2017. Mr. Tusk‘s home country of Poland

was the only one of the 28 member states to vote

against his reappointment. Mr. Tusk will now serve

for another two-and-a-half-year term. Mr. Donald

Tusk has served as the President of the European

Council since his election in December 2014. He

was the Prime Minister of Poland between 2007 and

2014 before stepping down to take the top job at the

European Council.

Yogi Adityanath sworn in as 21st CM of UP: Five-time Parliamentarian and BJP's firebrand

leader Yogi Adityanath (44) was sworn in as the

21st Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. Mr. Keshav

Prasad Maurya and Mr. Dinesh Sharma were sworn

in as Deputy Chief Ministers. They were

administered the oath to the office and secrecy by

State Governor Mr. Ram Naik at oath-taking

ceremony held in Lucknow, on March 19, 2017.

Besides them, 47-member Council of Ministers

consisting of 22 Cabinet Ministers, 9 Ministers of

State (MoS) with independent charge and 13

Ministers of State (MoS) also took oath.

Trivendra Singh Rawat sworn in as CM of

Uttarakhand: Former Uttarakhand BJP chief Mr.

Trivendra Singh Rawat (56) was sworn in as ninth

Chief Minister of Uttarakhand. He was

administered oath of office and secrecy by

Governor Mr. Krishan Kant Paul at the oath-taking

ceremony held at Parade Ground in Dehradun on

March 18, 2017. Besides, Mr. Rawat, seven Cabinet

Ministers and two Ministers of State (MoS) also

took oath.

N. Biren Singh takes over as CM of Manipur: The first Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government

took office in Manipur on March 15, 2017. The

oath-taking ceremony took place at Raj Bhavan in

Imphal. Governor Ms. Najma Heptulla administered

the oath of office to CM Mr. N. Biren Singh (BJP)

and Deputy CM Mr. Y. Joykumar (NPP). Along

with them seven ministers were also sworn in.

Captain Amarinder Singh sworn in as 26th CM

of Punjab: Congress stalwart Captain Amarinder

Singh was sworn in as the 26th Chief Minister of

Punjab on March 16, 2017. Captain Amarinder

Singh and his nine-member Council of Ministers

were administered the oath of secrecy and

allegiance by Governor Mr. V.P. Singh Badnore at

a ceremony held at the Punjab Raj Bhavan in

Chandigarh.

Manohar Parrikar is the new CM of Goa: Former Defence Minister Mr. Manohar Parrikar

took oath as the Chief Minister of Goa for the fourth

time on March 14, 2017, after the BJP had a

coalition with two regional parties and some

Independent MLAs. Along with Mr. Parrikar,

Governor Ms. Mridula Sinha administered oath of

office to nine ministers at a ceremony.

J.S. Deepak appointed as India's WTO

Ambassador: Telecom Secretary Mr. J.S. Deepak

has been appointed as India's permanent

representative to World Trade Organisation (WTO).

Mr. Deepak will take over his new assignment from

June 1, 2017 and till then he will be Officer on

Special Duty (OSD) in the Department of

Commerce in the Ministry of Commerce and

Industries with immediate effect. Earlier, as

Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Commerce,

Mr. Deepak, a 1982-batch IAS of UP cadre,

handled WTO and other international agencies.

Narendra Kumar appointed as new Chairman of

Central Water Commission: Union Government

appointed Mr. Narendra Kumar as the new

Chairman of the Central Water Commission

(CWC). Mr. Narendra Kumar is a Central Water

Engineering Service (CWES) officer of 1979 batch.

Prior to this appointment, he was member (river

management) of CWC since October 2014.

BOOKS AND AUTHORS

Borderlands: Travels Across India’s Boundaries

– By Pradeep Damodaran

Witness Kashmir 1986-2016 – Nine

photographers, Yaarbal



The Amazing Story of the Man who Cycled from

India to Europe for Love – By Per J Anderson,

One World

White Crane, Lend Men Your Wings: A Tibetan

Tale of Love and War – Tsewang Yishey Pemba,

Niyogi Books

Things to Leave Behind – By Namita Gokhale,

Penguin Random House

Thamel: Dark Star of Kathmandu – By Rabi

Thapa, Speaking Tiger

Defense

Indian Navy gets three naval systems from

DRDO: The Defence Research and Development

Organisation (DRDO) has handed over three naval

systems to the Indian Navy. These latest systems

will significantly enhance the navy's navigation and

communication network. The systems were handed

over to Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Sunil

Lanba by Union Defence Minister Mr. Arun Jaitley

in New Delhi on March 24, 2017. The naval

systems given to Indian Navy are: USHUS-II

submarine sonar, Directing gear for hull-mounted

sonar array and Inertial navigation system for ship

applications.

India, Russia ink long-term support pact on

Sukhoi Su-30MKI: India and Russia have signed

two long-term support agreements for the Sukhoi

Su-30MKI combat aircraft fleet, covering around

57,000 spares and components related to the

aircraft. The agreements were signed by India's

Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) with Russia's

United Aircraft Corporation and United Engine

Corporation at the first India-Russia Military

Industrial Conference held in New Delhi on March

17, 2017. These pacts provide for an upgraded

schedule for delivery of spares from Russia for Su-

30MKI, local manufacturing of parts and a

proposed logistics hub for the fighter jets in

Bengaluru (Karnataka) by HAL.

Indian Navy successfully test-fires Barak missile

from INS Vikramaditya: Indian Navy successfully

conducted maiden test of short-range surface-to-air

Barak missile from country's sole aircraft carrier

INS Vikramaditya. The test was conducted in the

Arabian Sea on March 25, 2017, in which missile

was fired against a live, low-flying, high-speed

target. The missile successfully engaged and

destroyed the target, validating operational

readiness inspection of the Western Fleet of the

Indian Navy. INS Vikramaditya is the country's sole

aircraft carrier (after decommissioning of INS

Viraat in March 2017). It was built in 1987 and had

served the Soviet Navy (named as Baku). It was

later renamed 'Admiral Gorshkov' under the

Russian Navy.

INS Tillanchang commissioned by Indian Navy: INS Tillanchang, a Water Jet Fast Attack Craft

(WJFAC) was commissioned into the Indian Navy

by Vice Admiral Girish Luthra, AVSM, VSM, the

Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval

Command, at Karwar on March 9, 2017. INS

Tillanchang is the third ship of four follow-on

WJFAC built by the Garden Reach Shipbuilders

and Engineers (GRSE) Kolkata. The first two ships

of the class, INS Tarmugli and Tihayu were

commissioned in 2016 and are based at

Visakhapatnam. The ship has been indigenously

designed and built and is an upgrade from the

Chetlat class of Fast Attack Craft that the Indian

Navy possesses.

Ecology & Environment

Earth Hour observed across the World: The

eleventh edition of the Earth Hour was observed

across the world on March 25, 2017 to take a global

call on climate change. To mark this day, cities

worldwide turned their lights off from 8:30 pm to

9:30 pm local time. This year millions of people

from 170 countries and territories took part in the

annual event in a bid to highlight global warming

caused by the burning of coal, oil and natural gas to

drive cars and power plants. Environmental activists

this year also have focused to raise awareness on

another problem that gets far less attention, i.e.,

Light Pollution.

Uttarakhand HC recognises Ganga and Yamuna

Rivers as living entities: The Uttarakhand High

Court has recognised the Ganga and the Yamuna

Rivers as so-called living entities. It is for the first

time any court in India has recognised a non-human

as a living entity. The two rivers are sacred for the

Hindus, sustain millions of people in the country

but have seen years of damage at the hands of

humans. The HC Division Bench comprising

Justice Mr. Alok Singh and justice Mr. Rajiv

Sharma gave a landmark judgment while hearing a

Public Interest Litigation. The Ganga and the

Yamuna, all their tributaries and streams are

declared by the Uttarakhand HC as legal persons

[or] living persons in order to protect the

recognition and the faith of society. They will have

the status of a legal person with all corresponding

rights, duties and liabilities of a living person in

order to preserve and conserve them.

Environment Ministry official to chair Animal

Welfare Board of India: The Union Government

has notified that Animal Welfare Board of India

(AWBI), a statutory advisory body under the

Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate



Change (MoEFCC) will now be permanently

chaired by a senior MoEF official. Recently, a new

Board of 18 members, chaired by Mr. Sharad Singh

Negi, Special Secretary and Director-General

(Forests), MoEF came into effect -for three-year

term. Previously in AWBI's 55-year history, it was

always chaired by somebody outside government,

such as veterinarians, animal welfare activists or

retired judges. But in recent times due to differences

between AWBI and MoEFCC, especially on the

conduct of the Jallikattu, the Central Government

exerted its primacy in the management of the

organization.

Economic Scene

India ranks 87th on Energy Architecture

Performance Index: WEF: India ranked 87th

among the surveyed 127 countries on a Global

Energy Architecture Performance Index (EAPI)

released as part of report of Geneva-based World

Economic Forum (WEF). It has 18 indicators

defined across the three sides of the 'energy

triangle'—economic growth and development,

energy access and security and environmental

sustainability. As per the report, Top 5 Countries

are—Switzerland (1), Norway (2), Sweden (3),

Denmark (4) and France (5). India has marginally

improved its ranking in this edition from 90th rank

in 2016. India is gradually improving its

performance on the index, but faces an uphill battle

to increase energy access and security (95th)

indicators.

Cabinet approves of proposal to establish a Fund

of Funds for Start-ups: The Union Cabinet

approved proposals to tweak Fund of Funds of

Start-ups (FFS) rules to enable greater flow of

resources on March 22, 2017. FFS was established

in June 2016 with a corpus of Rs. 1,000 crore. As

per the proposals approved, Alternate Investment

Funds (AIFs) supported by FFS shall invest at least

twice the amount of contribution received from FFS

in Start-ups.

Further, if the amount committed for a Start-up in

whole has not been released before a Start-up ceases

to be so, the balance funding can continue

thereafter. The operating expenses for carrying out

due diligence, legal and technical appraisal,

convening meeting of Venture Capital Investment

Committee, etc. will be met out of the FFS.

Cabinet approves amendments to Customs and

Excise Acts to facilitate GST Regime: The Union

Cabinet has approved amendments to the Customs

and Excise Acts related to abolition of cesses and

surcharges on various goods and services to

facilitate implementation of GST Regime.

Decision in this regard was taken by The Union

Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Mr.

Narendra Modi, in New Delhi on March 22, 2017. It

has approved the proposals—Amendment to

Customs Act, 1962; Amendment to Central Excise

Act, 1944; Amendments to Customs Tariff Act,

1975; Repeal of Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985;

and Amendment/repeal of the provisions relating to

Acts under which cesses are levied. The

amendments or repealing of various provisions of

other Acts which in the GST regime will result in

cleansing of the irrelevant portions from the Statute

Book and reduce multiplicity of taxes.

SEBI to tighten algorithmic trading rules to

minimise instances of flash crashes: The

Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is

planning to further, tighten the regulations for

algorithmic trading to minimise instances of misuse

of such systems. The tight regulations aim to curb

the instances of flash crashes that have happened

overseas and also in India few times. India is one of

the few countries in the world to regulate

algorithmic trading. Flash crash results in extremely

rapid decline in the price of one or more

commodities or securities caused by algorithmic

trading. It can result in the loss and recovery of

billions of dollars in a matter of minutes and

seconds.

Health & Fitness

HIV, Hepatitis combo drug norms eased: Aiming

to make new combination drugs for patients with

HIV or Hepatitis B & C available to them at the

earliest, the Union Government has decided to

waive some regulatory processes to fast-track

approvals. The country's top drug regulator said that

companies manufacturing combination drugs for

HIV and Hepatitis B & C could seek early approval

with a WHO recommendation, even if

internationally the medicines are not approved as a

combination but only individually. Over 21 lakh

people are estimated to be living with HIV in India

and a total of over 52 million people infected with

chronic hepatitis.

Apps, Social Media pushing back sleep time over

1.5 hours: A study by Bengaluru-based National

Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences

(NIMHANS) has revealed that the use of the

Internet for Facebook and WhatsApp is making

people put off sleep by more than one and a half

hours (100 minutes) every day. In a 2016 study by

the Service for Healthy Use of Technology (SHUT)

clinic at NIMHANS, researchers found that the

Internet use was also making people wake up 90

minutes later. The study, published in the Indian



Journal of Occupational and Environmental

Medicine, also found that while the quality of sleep

was above average, most people usually checked

their phones and tablets at least four times after

going to bed. The prescription by the doctors is to

shut off devices as one nears bedtime.

Honours & Awards

NATIONAL

Gallantry Awards: Hon‘ble President Mr. Pranab

Mukherjee presented the Gallantry Awards and

Distinguished Service Decorations at a Defence

Investiture Ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan in

New Delhi on March 20, 2017. The President

conferred 1 Kirti Chakra and 12 Shaurya Chakras to

Armed Forces Personnel. 6 Shaurya Chakras were

given posthumously. He also conferred 15 Param

Vishisht Seva Medals: 3 Uttam Yuddh Seva

Medals, 1 Bar to Ati Vishisht Seva Medal and 22

Ati Vishisht Seva Medals to senior officers of the

Armed Forces.

Dr. B.C. Roy Awards: Hon'ble President Mr.

Pranab Mukherjee presented Dr. B. C. Roy National

Awards for the years 2014, 2015 and 2016 and Hari

Om Ashram Alembic Research Awards for the

years 2008, 2009, 2010, 2014, 2015, 2016 at a

function held at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi

on March 28, 2017. Among the 49 awardees, as

many as 15 doctors were given the award for the

year 2014, 16 for 2015 and 18 for 2016.

2017 IEEE Spectrum Technology Award: Indian

Institute of Technology (IIT)-Madras won the 2017

IEEE Spectrum Technology in the Service of

Society Award for its solar-direct current (DC)

inverter system, on March 10, 2017. The system

was developed by Centre for Decentralised Power

Systems at IIT-M using micro grid technology. The

system converts in-home power distribution from

230V Analog Current (AC) to 48V DC to directly

power appliances and devices.

Nari Shakti Puraskar 2016: Hon'ble President Mr.

Pranab Mukherjee presented the Nari Shakti

Puraskar 2016 at a ceremony in New Delhi on the

occasion of International Women's Day on March 8,

2017. This year, the Selection Committee, chaired

by the Minister of Women & Child Development

Ms. Maneka Gandhi, unanimously agreed to

increase the number of Awards to 31 as more

nominees were found to be deserving and the age

criteria was also relaxed. Some of the awardees of

this year are scientists Ms. Anatta Sonney, Ms. B.

Codanayaguy and Ms. Subhu Varier, entrepreneurs

Ms. Reema Sathe and Ms. Zuboni Humtsoe,

trailblazer Ms. Mumtaz Kazi and many more.

Saraswati Samman 2016: Eminent Konkani writer

Mr. Mahabaleshwar Sail (74) was selected for the

prestigious Saraswati Samman 2016 on March 10,

2017, for his novel Hawthan. His novel was

shortlisted out of 22 books written in many

languages. He will receive cash prize of Rs 15 lakh

and a citation. Mr. Mahabaleshwar Sail is bilingual

writer based in Goa.

KCK International Award for excellence in Print

Journalism: Hon'ble President Mr. Pranab

Mukherjee presented the KCK International Award

for excellence in Print Journalism in New Delhi on

March 20, 2017. The award for the year 2014 was

conferred upon Mr. Wanjohi Kabukuru's team for

the story 'How East Africa Lost Its Innocence' that

was published in New African magazine, London.

The award for the year 2015 was conferred on Mr.

Rakesh Sharma and his team for an investigative

news series 'Sexual Harassment in Nari Niketan',

published in Amar Ujala.

1st Kuldeep Nayar Award: Mr. Ravish Kumar,

one of India's most respected journalists, has won

the first Kuldip Nayar Journalism Award in New

Delhi on March 19, 2017. Mr. Ravish is Senior

Executive Editor at NDTV India, Hindi TV news

channel of NDTV. The Kuldip Nayar Journalism

Award has been set up by the Gandhi Peace

Foundation. Mr. Ravish has won several prestigious

awards including the Ramnath Goenka Award.

6th National Photography Awards: Veteran

photographer Mr. Raghu Rai was conferred the

Lifetime Achievement Award at the 6th National

Photography Awards in New Delhi on March 22,

2017. The event was graced by Union Ministers Mr.

M. Venkaiah Naidu and Col. Rajyavardhan Singh

Rathore. Along with Mr. Rai, seven other

photographers were also awarded at the event.

Kala Ratna Award: Veteran actor Mr. Anupam

Kher was honoured with the Kala Ratna Award by

Vice-President Mr. M. Hamid Ansari at the 66th

Convocation of the Punjab University in

Chandigarh on March 25, 2017. Mr. Anupam Kher

has completed almost four decades in Bollywood

and worked in more than 400 films including

several Hindi Blockbusters, superhits, and

international films.

Zee Cine Awards 2017: Film Dangal won the

Viewer's Choice Best Film Award at Zee Cine

Awards 2017 on March 11, 2017. Salman Khan

won the Best Actor and Anushka Sharma was

named the Best Actress for their film Sultan based

on votes by viewers. Further, the song ‗Channa

Mereya...' from the film Ae Dil Hai Mushkil was

named the Viewer's Choice Song of the Year.

INTERNATIONAL



2017 Abel Prize: French mathematician Mr. Yves

Meyer won the prestigious 2017 Abel Prize on

March 21, 2017, for his pivotal role in the

development of the mathematical theory of wavelets

(small waves or ripples). His theory is used for

applications ranging from image compression to the

detection of gravitational waves from the merging

of black holes.

2017 Ellis Island Medal of Honour: PepsiCo CEO

Ms. Indra Nooyi and author Mr. Fareed Zakaria are

amongst six Indian-Americans nominated for the

prestigious Ellis Island Medal of Honour 2017 on

March 25, 2017, the highest civilian award in the

US for immigrants. Among 88 named recipients,

the four other Indian- Americans are Harman

International Industries chairman CEO Mr. Dinesh

Paliwal, Dr. Annapoorna S. Kini, Mr. Yashvant

Patel, Mr. Mohan H. Patel, as well as Pakistani-

American Dr. Adil Haider.

Regeneron Science Talent Search competition: Indian-American teenager Ms. Indrani Das (17)

won the top prize the Regeneron Science Talent

Search competition in the US, on March 16, 2017.

She has won the award for her research on treating

brain injury and disease. Her research showed a

way for increasing the survival rate of neurons

affected by brain injury or neurodegenerative

disease.

Global Teacher Prize: A Canadian schoolteacher

whose teaching philosophy underscores hope and

acts of kindness in an isolated corner of Quebec has

won one of the most-coveted and high-profile

awards for teaching excellence. Ms. Maggie

MacDonnell was awarded the annual Global

Teacher Prize during a ceremony in Dubai, United

Arab Emirates on March 19, 2017. She beat out

thousands of applicants from around the world.

NSF's CAREER Award: An Indian-American

computer scientist, Mr. Anshumali Shrivastava, was

honoured with the National Science Foundation's

prestigious CAREER Award on March 20, 2017,

for his research on redesigning current machine-

learning processes. Mr. Shrivastava is currently

working as an assistant professor of Computer

Science at Rice University. Each year about 400

scholars receive the CAREER Award across all

disciplines to support the research and educational

development of young scholars likely to become

leaders in their fields.

Artist of the Year Award: Ms. Viola Davis, the

actress who took home some of this year's biggest

awards, was honoured with the Harvard Foundation

‗Artist of the Year' 2017 Award at Harvard's 32nd

Cultural Rhythms Festival in Cambridge on March

4, 2017. The award aims to honour America's most

acclaimed artists and scientists each year.

International Film Festival and Awards of

Australia (IFFAA): Bollywood Actress Aishwarya

Rai Bachchan won the best actress award at the

International Film Festival and Awards of Australia

(IFFAA) for her movie Sarabjit on March 8, 2017.

Directed by Omung Kumar, Sarabjit was the biopic

on Sarabjit Singh, an Indian farmer, who was

convicted of terrorism and spying in Pakistan and

was sentenced to death. Aishwarya played the role

of Sarabjit‘s sister Dalbir Kaur.

Miss International Queen 2016: Thailand's

Model, Ms. Jiratchaya Sirimongkolnawin was

crowned Miss International Queen 2016 on March

10, 2017 in the 12th edition of the beauty pageant

event in Pattaya City, Thailand. Miss International

Queen began in the year 2004 and has been held

annually in Pattaya City since then and is

considered the largest and the most popular

transgender pageant of the world.

Inventions & Discoveries

Arunachal teen develops goggles to help the

blind: A high school student in Arunachal Pradesh

has invented a unique pair of goggles that help the

visually impaired detect obstacles on their path.

Anang Tadar, a Class XI student from Nirjuli,

invented the gadget called Goggle for Blind (G4B).

The goggles could be used to detect any obstacles

on all sides within a distance of two metres. It is

made by using the principle of echolocation as used

by bats at night. There are two ultrasound sensors

on the left and right of the goggles to detect

obstacles. There is also an infrared sensor in the

middle of the gadget to detect obstacles in case both

the ultrasound sensors fail.

German scientists switch on the world's largest

artificial sun: Scientists from the German

Aerospace Centre (DLR) have switched on world's

largest artificial sun—a device developed to help

shed light on new ways of making climate-friendly

fuels. The artificial sun is giant honeycomb-like set-

up of 149 spotlights, officially known as Synlight. It

is located in Juelich. It uses xenon short-arc lamps

normally found in cinemas to simulate natural

sunlight. The aim of Synlight experiment is to

develop an optimal set-up for concentrating natural

sunlight to power a reaction to produce hydrogen

fuel. Its goal is to eventually use actual sunlight

rather than the artificial light produced using

electricity which is costly and requires as much

electricity in four hours as a four-person household

would use in a year.

Places

London: London recently came in news when five

people were killed and nearly 40 injured after an

ISIS-inspired attacker went on a deadly rampage in



the heart of Britain's seat of power on March 22,

2017. The knife-wielding man ploughed a car into

pedestrians on London's Westminster Bridge before

stabbing a police officer to death inside the gates of

Parliament. The man was shot by police within the

perimeter of Parliament, just yards away from

entrances to the building. Three police officers,

several French teenagers on a school trip, two

Romanian tourists and five South Korean visitors

were among the injured. Parliament was locked

down for several hours, and the adjoining

Westminster subway station was shuttered.

Chenani-Nashri Road Tunnel, J&K: India's

longest surface tunnel in Jammu and Kashmir's

Udhampur district was recently in news after its

completion. It was inaugurated by Prime Minister

Mr. Narendra Modi on April 2, 2017, following

successful completion of trial runs for peak and off-

peak hours. The 9.28-km-long tunnel at Chenani

passes through the lower Himalayan mountain

range on Jammu-Srinagar National Highway. The

9.28-km-long twin-tube tunnel is located at an

elevation of 1,200 metres. The tunnel links Chenani

in Udhampur district with Nashri in Ramban district

in Jammu and Kashmir. It is an important part of a

286-km-long four-lane project on the highway. It is

India's first tunnel equipped with world class

integrated tunnel control system through which

ventilation, signals, fire control, communication and

electrical systems are automatically actuated. It

reduces travel distance between Jammu and

Srinagar by 30 kilometres and saves time by about

two hours.

Reports & Indexes

India ranks 131 in 2016 Human Development

Index: India was ranked 131 in the 2016 Human

Development Index (HDI) among the 188 countries.

India scored 0.624 and was placed in medium

human development category. The index was

unveiled recently as part of the Human

Development Report (HDR) 2016 titled 'Human

Development for Everyone' published by the United

Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Top

three countries are—Norway (0.949 score),

Australia (0.939) and Switzerland (0.939). Among

SAARC countries, Sri Lanka (73) and Maldives

(105) were placed in "high human development"

category, followed by India (131), Bhutan (132),

Bangladesh (139), Nepal (144), Pakistan (147) and

Afghanistan (169). India's HDI value increased

from 0.428 in 1990 to 0.624 in 2015. However, its

average annual growth in HDI (1990-2015) was

higher than that of other medium HDI countries.

Space

NASA launches massive digital library for space

video, photos & audio: NASA unveiled a new

online library on March 28, 2017, that assembles

the agency's amazing space photos, videos and

audio files into a single searchable library. The

NASA Image and Video Library, as the agency

calls it, can be found at http://images.nasa.gov and

consolidates space imagery from 60 different

collections into one location. It allows users to

search, discover and download a treasure trove of

more than 140,000 NASA images, videos and audio

files from across the agency's many missions in

aeronautics, astrophysics, Earth science, human

spaceflight, and more. Users can browse the

agency's most recently uploaded files, as well as

discover historic and the most popularly searched

images, audio files and videos.

GRAPES-3 Telescope upgraded to detect solar

storms: The GRAPES-3 experiment at TIFR's (Tata

Institute of Fundamental Research) Cosmic Ray

Laboratory in Ootacamund in Tamil Nadu is getting

upgraded to detect solar storms.

GRAPES-3 (Gamma Ray Astronomy PeV Energies

phase-3) experiment had detected the effect of a

solar storm that hit the Earth in June 2015.

GRAPES-3 has an important role in understanding

the propagation of storms from the Ll point

(Lagrange point 1) to its impact on the Earth. The

upgraded detector will have an increased coverage

and improved capacity to determine the direction of

incident cosmic rays. It will play a major role in

getting precise information about the propagation of

storms in the last million miles (from the L-1 point)

of their journey from the Sun to the Earth.

4 ISRO teams join 36th Indian Scientific

Expedition to Antarctica: The National Centre for

Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR), Ministry

of Earth Sciences organises the Indian Scientific

Mission to Antarctica every year and ISRO has

been participating for a long time. This year, in the

36th Indian scientific expedition, four teams from

ISRO [one from Space Applications Centre (SAC)

Ahmedabad, one from National Remote Sensing

Centre (NRSC) Hyderabad, one from Indian

Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS) Dehradun and

one from Space Physics Laboratory (SPL) VSSC

Thiruvananthapuram] are participating. Climate

change is the thrust area of the 36th Indian

Scientific Expedition to Antarctica (36-ISEA). The

main objective of this expedition is to install stakes

on ice for Differential Global Positioning System

(DGPS) measurements around two Indian bases

Bharati and Maitri in Antarctica.

Software & Telecom



Vodafone, Idea Cellular Announce Merger: Britain's Vodafone Group will merge its Indian

subsidiary with local rival Idea Cellular within two

years, Idea said on March 20, 2017. Vodafone will

own 45.1 percent of the merged entity, after it

transfers about 4.9 percent to promoters of Idea

and/or their affiliates for Rs. 3,874 crore in cash.

Idea will have the sole right to appoint the

chairman. The confirmation ended months of

speculation that the two operators were ready to

sign a deal to help fend off Reliance Jio, whose

recent arrival has shaken up India's ultra-

competitive mobile network market.

New infrared based wi-fi system can make

internet 100-times faster: Scientists have

developed a new wireless internet based on

harmless infrared rays that is 100 times faster than

existing wi-fi network and has the capacity to

support more devices without getting congested.

The wireless network developed by researchers at

Eindhoven University of Technology in The

Netherlands not only has a huge capacity—more

than 40 Gigabits per second (Gbit/s)—but also there

is no need to share since every device gets its own

ray of light. The wireless data comes from a few

central 'light antennas', which are able to very

precisely direct the rays of light supplied by an

optical fibre.

MISCELLANY

Government launches Online Film Certification

System: The Union Information and Broadcasting

Ministry has launched the e-Cinepramaan, an online

film certification system of the Central Board of

Film Certification (CBFC). This initiative was

launched on the lines of Union Government's vision

of ease-of-doing business and digital India, to make

the entire process transparent and efficient. Its

objective is to eliminate the need for human

interface to the extent possible and enable good

governance by automating film certification

process. The system will show status of each

application online in the dashboard of the producer

and concerned CBFC official.

Integrated Automated Aviation Meteorological

System inaugurated at INS Rajali: Admiral Sunil

Lanba, Chief of the Naval Staff, inaugurated the

first-ever 'Integrated Automatic Aviation

Meteorological System (IAAMS)' at INS Rajali on

March 28, 2017. The IAAMS is an ambitious

project of the Indian Navy to modernise the

meteorological infrastructure of the nine Naval Air

Stations (NAS). INS Rajali at Arakkonam was

identified for setting up this sophisticated system on

a 'Test Bed' site, where the complete integrated

system has been tested for its reliability,

performance and functioning. The IAAMS project

will give a major fillip to aviation safety, through

automation of weather monitoring process.

NIO finds a new canyon system close to Kovvada

coast: Scientists of CSIR-National Institute of

Oceanography (NIO) in Visakhapatnam have found

three new canyons forming a major canyon system

in the depths of Bay of Bengal close to Kovvada in

Srikakulam district. The new canyon system is very

huge and probably formed by the river Kandivalasa.

The depth of the canyon varies from about 90

metres from the starting point to about 2,500 metres

at the deepest point, and it extends to about 50 to 70

km deep into the sea and the width varies from 50

metres to two km. As per the findings, the depth is

more than the Grand Canyon, which is about 1,857

metres.

Persons in News

Donald Tusk: Mr. Donald Tusk was re-elected as

the President of the European Council on March 9,

2017. In the 28-member European Union in its

meeting held at Brussels in Belgium, 27 leaders

elected Mr. Tusk for the second time as European

Council president, for a two-and-a-half-year term.

He was elected president of the Council for the first

time on December 1, 2014. Former Prime Minister

of Poland, Mr. Tusk's tenure of the first term as

European Council president ends on May 31, 2017.

Carrie Lam: Hong Kong got its first woman chief

executive with the election of Ms. Carrie Lam on

March 26, 2017. Beijing-backed Ms. Carrie Lam

won a triangular electoral contest to become the

first woman Chief Executive of Hong Kong amid

pro-democracy protests and unease about Beijing's

increasing influence on the financial hub. The

electoral affairs commission of Hong Kong SAR

declared that Ms. Lam garnered 777 of 1,163 valid

votes. In Hong Kong, a committee of 1,200 people

elects the chief.

Mukesh Ambani: The Reliance Industries Ltd.‘s

Chairman, Mr. Mukesh Ambani, has been ranked at

33rd position among the super-rich billionaires in

the world in 2017 as per the latest list released by

the `Forbes' on March 20, 2017. With a net worth of

$23.2 billion, Mr. Ambani leads the pack of 101

Indian billionaires also having been listed by the

Forbes in 2017. According to tilt report, Mr.

Ambani has made pioneering achievements at

global level in the sectors of oil and gas, and

telecommunications.

Bill Gates: The Microsoft co-founder and

philanthropist, Mr. Bill Gates, has been declared the



richest person in the world. In the latest list of

super-rich billionaires in the world, released by the

'Forbes' on March 20, 2017, Mr. Gates has topped

the list of the billionaires in the world. He has

topped the list for the fourth year in a row. He has

been the richest person in the world for 18 out of

the past 23 years. Mr. Gates has a fortune of $86

billion.

Dr. Soumya Swaminathan: The Director-General

of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR),

Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, was appointed as a

member in the global Interagency Co-ordination

Group on Antimicrobial Resistance by the United

Nations Secretary-General Mr. Antonio Guterres on

March 19, 2017. The objective of the group will be

to provide practical guidance for approaches needed

to ensure sustained effective global action to

address anti-microbial resistance.

Tanushree Pareek: A resident of Rajasthan, Ms.

Tanushree Pareek has become the first woman field

officer in the country's para-military force, the

Border Security Force (BSF). This is for the first

time in the 51-year history of the BSF that a woman

has been made a field officer in a combating

position. After the training she has been posted as

assistant commandant near the Indo-Pak border in

Punjab. Ms. Pareek was felicitated by the Union

Home Minister, Mr. Rajnath Singh, on the occasion

on March 25, 2017.

Yogi Adityanath: The BJP leader and five-ti

Gorakhpur MP, Yogi Adityana- - was sworn in as

the new Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh on March

19, 2017. He took the oath of office as the new

Chief Minister of the State at a ceremony at Smriti

Upvan in Lucknow. Prime Minister Mr. Narendra

Moth and BJP president Mr. Amit Shah along with

other senior leaders of the party, were present on the

occasion. Mr. Yogi is a B.Sc. in Maths.

Peggy Whitson: NASA astronaut Ms. Peggy

Whitson broke Indian-American Sunita Williams'

spacewalking record, as she made her eighth

spacewalk aboard the International Space Station

(ISS) on March 30, 2017. Ms. Williams had

previously made seven spacewalks totalling 50

hours and 40 minutes and held the record for most

spacewalks by a woman and most spacewalk time

for a woman. Ms. Whitson made eight spacewalks

with the total length of time being 53 hours and 22

minutes.

Cheteshwar Pujara: Indian batsman Cheteshwar

Pujara while playing in the third Test against

Australia scored 202 runs. He faced 525 balls,

maximum number of balls played by any Indian

batsman in a Test innings. He surpassed Mr. Rahul

Dravid‘s record of playing 495 balls for his

individual score of 270 runs. Mr. Dravid while

playing against Pakistan in 2004 had made the

record in an innings. Mr. Pujara now holds the

record for playing maximum number of balls by an

Indian in an innings in a Test match.

CURRENT TOPICS: INDIA

PM Modi Inaugurates Country’s Longest Road

Tunnel In J & K Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi inaugurated the

9.28-km Chenani-Nashri tunnel, the coutnry‘s

longest road tunnel linking Chenani in Udhampur

district with Nashri in Ramban district in Jammu

and Kashmir, on April 2, 2017. This all-weather

tunnel will reduce driving time between Jammu and

Srinagar by about two hours.

The tunnel is India‘s first and the world‘s sixth to

have ―transverse ventilation system‖, providing

fresh air to commuters plying on this stretch.

The total length of the newly built road, including

9.28-km tunnel carriageway, is about 10.89 km and

has a total of 29 cross passages, each at every 300

metres, for the convenience of all those driving

through the tunnel. Built at a project cost of Rs.

3,720 crore, between 2011 and 2017, by the

National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), the

tunnel has nine lay byes, for parking of vehicles.

Supreme Court Bans Sale, Registration Of BS-

III Vehicles The Supreme Court banned the sale and registration

of Bharat Stage (BS)-III emission norm-compliant

vehicles from April 1, 2017, when environment

friendly BS-IV emission norms came into force

across the country. The order came on March 30,

2017, after all vehicle manufacturers including their

association – Society of Indian Automobile

Manufactures (SIAM) – approached the SC to stop

the ban till existing stock is sold. The SC Bench

held that health of the citizens is more important

than the commercial interests of the automobile

industry. As per the SC orders, all the vehicle

registering authorities under the Motor Vehicles

Act, 1988 are prohibited from registering such

vehicles on and from April 1, 2017 that do not meet

BS-IV emission standards. Vehicles that have

already been sold on or before March 31, 2017 will

not be included in this ban.

Vehicle manufacturers have argued that they were

entitled to make BS-III vehicles till March 31, 2017.

So, the sale and registration of these vehicles should

not be prohibited after April 1, 2017 with the

introduction of BS-IV norms. They said that they

should further be given a reasonable time to dispose



of their existing stock which is as about 8,20,000

vehicles worth Rs. 12,000 crore, most of them two-

wheelers.

India, NDB Ink $350 Million Loan Pact India signed its first loan agreement with the New

Development Bank (NDB) on March 30, 2017, for

$350 million to be used in the development and

upgradation of district roads in Madhya Pradesh.

The objective of the project is to improve

connectivity of the interior areas of the State with

the national and State highway networks. The

project would include upgradation, rehabilitation or

reconstruction of approximately 1,500 km of district

roads to intermediate lane, all-weather standards,

with road safety features and improved road asset

maintenance and management. The project is to be

implemented over five years with the Madhya

Pradesh Government and the Madhya Pradesh Road

Development Corporation acting as the

implementing agencies.

The NDB is a multilateral bank created by BRICS

nations viz. Brazil, Russia, India, China and South

Africa. The goal of the bank is to fund infrastructure

projects in emerging economies for sustainable

development.

Cabinet Approves Commission For Socially And

Educationally Backward Classes The Union Cabinet has approved the setting up of

National Commission for Socially and

Educationally Backward Classes (NCSEBC) as a

Constitutional body. The new panel will replace

National Commission for Backward Classes

(NCBC) that looks into inclusion or exclusion of

Other Backward Castes for quotas, among other

issues. Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi chaired a

Cabinet meeting on March 22, 2017 and approved

amending the Constitution and inserting Article

338B for setting up the new Commission. The new

Commission will have a chairperson, a vice

chairperson and three other members. By making

the new panel a constitutional body, the advice of

the panel shall ordinarily be binding upon the

Centre. The cabinet‘s decision comes in the wake of

the ongoing demand by the Jat community for their

inclusion in the list of Backward Classes. The

frequent demands were also raised in Parliament for

grant of constitutional status to the NCBC so that it

could hear the grievances of OBCs on the lines of

the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and

National Commission for Scheduled Tribes.

Government Approves 101 Cold Chain Projects

To Boost Food Processing Sector The Union Ministry of Food Processing Industries

(FPI) sanctioned 101 new integrated cold chain

projects across the country on March 27, 2017.

These projects will leverage a total investment of

Rs. 3,100 crore for creation of modern

infrastructure for the food processing sector. Of the

101 new projects 53 projects are for fruits and

vegetables, 33 for dairy and remaining are for fish,

meat, marine, poultry, ready-to-ear/ready-to-cook

sectors.

Union Cabinet Approves The National Health

Policy 2017 The Union Cabinet approved the National Health

Policy 2017 on March 15, 2017, after having

deferred it twice before. The last health policy was

issued 15 years ago in 2002. Aiming to provide

health care in an ―assured manner‖ to all, the policy

will strive to address current and emerging

challenges arising from the ever-changing

socioeconomic, technological and epidemiological

scenarios.

The policy aims to allocate major proportion of

resources to primary care and intends to ensure

availability of two beds per 1,000 population

distributed in a manner to enable access within

golden hour (the first hour after traumatic injury,

when the victim is most likely to benefit from

emergency treatment). In addition, the policy

proposes free drugs, free diagnostics and free

emergency and essential health care services in all

public hospitals in a bid to provide access and

financial protection.

3rd

G20 Framework Working Group Meeting

Held In Varanasi The third edition of G20 Framework Working

Group (FWG) meeting was held in Varanasi, Uttar

Pradesh on March 28 and 29, 2017. The meeting

took place under the G20 German presidency, and

was co-hosted by the Union Finance Ministry and

the Reserve Bank of India. It was inaugurated by

Mr. Shaktikanta Das, Economic Affairs Secretary.

Mr. Dinesh Sharma, Special Secretary in the

Finance Ministry was head of the programme. The

two-day meeting held discussions on the current

global conjecture as well as deliberations on the

policy options that countries can pursue to counter

the challenges. It also deliberated on the inclusive

growth agenda of G20 and formulated a framework

that will enable countries to help frame country

specific inclusive growth policies. The high-profile

meeting was attended by around 100 financial and

economic policy bureaucrats from around 19

countries of G20. Officials from the International

Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, OECD, ILO,

UNCTAD, European Central Bank, European

Commission, Financial Stability Board and Asian

Development Bank also participated in the FWG.



India Signs WHO’s Call To End TB By 2030 In

South East Asian Region India along with other countries in the South East

Asian Region have signed World Health

Organisation‘s (WHO) Call To End Tuberculosis

(TB) by 2030 in the region. It was signed by Health

Ministers from countries in WHO South-East Asia

Region (WHO SEARO) during two-day ministerial

meeting towards ending TB in the region held in

New Delhi from March 15 to 16, 2017. The Call To

End TB by 2030 initiative also stresses the

increasing government and partner budgetary

allocations to enable national TB plans to be fully

funded.

WHO‘s South-East Asia Region comprises Bhutan,

Bangladesh, South Korea, India, Indonesia,

Myanmar, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand

and Timor-Leste. The region bears half of the

global tuberculosis burden. Six of the region‘s

countries – Bangladesh, South Korea, India,

Indonesia, Myanmar and Thailand – are among the

30 high TB burden nations globally. In 2015, 4.74

million new TB cases were reported in the region

and nearly 8,00,000 deaths were reported. India

represents the single highest number of TB cases in

the world reporting 2.8 million new TB cases

annually and nearly half a million deaths due to the

disease.

Cabinet Approves Amendment To RTE Act,

2009 The Union Cabinet approved the amendment to

Right of children to Free and Compulsory

Education (RTE) Act, 2009 on March 22, 2017. The

amendment seeks to ensure that all teachers, in

position as on March 31, 2015, acquire minimum

qualifications prescribed by academic authority to

extend period for such training for 4 years up to

March 31, 2019. The amendment will enable the in-

service untrained elementary teachers to complete

their training and ensure that all teachers at the

elementary level have a certain minimum standard

of qualifications. It will ensure that all teachers

attain minimum qualifications as considered

necessary to maintain the standard of teaching

quality. However, several State governments have

reported that 11 lakh teachers at the elementary

level are still untrained out of a total number of

66.41 lakh teachers.

India’s Contribution To UN Increases To Rs. 244

Crore In 2015-16 India‘s contribution to the United Nations rose 55%

to Rs 244 crore in 2015-16 compared with the

previous fiscal, the Union Government has said.

The country contributed Rs 244 crore to the UN last

fiscal compared with Rs 157 crore in 2014-15.

Each UN member is required to contribute to the

organisation‘s Regular and Peacekeeping budgets.

These obligatory contributions are calculated based

on a member‘s relative capacity to pay.

This is defined through a scale of assessment that

takes into account the member country‘s Gross

National Income relative to the Global Gross

National Income, adjusted further for the level of its

national external debt and low per capital income.

Babri Masjid-Ram Mandir Dispute Should Be

Resolved Outside Court: SC The issue of Babri Masjid-Ramjanmabhoomi

disputed site once again became the centre of

discussions and debates after the Supreme Court on

March 21, 2017 asked Hindus and Muslims to sit

and resolve the dispute. The apex court observed

that the issue of Babri Masjid-Ramjanmabhoomi

disputed site is attached to sentiments and should be

settled out of the court. A Bench of Chief Justice

Mr. J.S. Khehar observed that the religious issues

can be solved through negotiations and suggested

that the CJI was ready to take up the task of

mediation to arrive at its amicable settlement. The

apex court also offered to act as mediator, which

was welcomed by the BJP but ruled out by the

Babri Masjid Action Committee and others.

Reacting on the development, BJP leader Mr.

Subramanian Swamy reiterated that the Ram temple

should be built at Ramjanmabhoomi, while All

India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM)

leader Mr. Asaduddin Owaisi urged the Supreme

Court to deliver the judgment.

CURRENT TOPICS: WORLD

British PM Theresa May Signs Historic Letter

To Launch Brexit Britain‘s exit from the European Union entered the

last lap with Prime Minister Ms. Theresa May

signing the Article 50 notification letter on March

29, 2017, which will officially begin the UK‘s exit

from the 28-member club, ending a 44-year

relationship. The move comes nine months after the

divisive Brexit referendum. Ms. May‘s letter was

hand-delivered to European Council President Mr.

Donald Tusk by the British Ambassador to the EU,

Sir Tim Barrow, in Brussels, Belgium. Article 50 of

the Lisbon Treaty that was invoked with the sign

provides both the sides a time limit of two years to

reach an agreement. Unless both sides agree to

extend the deadline for talks, Britain will leave EU

in March 2019. Article 50 refers to the formal

procedure by which an EU member state notifies

the European Council that it intends to leave the



bloc. In a sign that Ms. May wants to foster

goodwill in the talks, she wrote in the letter to

European Council President Mr. Donald Tusk that

she knew there would be consequences from Brexit

and Britain would lose influence over the rules that

govern the European economy.

India, US, Britain, France Boycott UN

Conference On Banning Nuclear Weapons India did not participate in the first UN conference

in more than 20 years on global nuclear weapons

ban, which opened in New York on March 27,

2017, amid objections from major nuclear powers.

More than 120 nations in October 2016 voted on a

UN General Assembly resolution to convene the

conference to negotiate a legally binding treaty to

prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their

total eliminations. Britain, France, Israel, Russia

and the US voted no, while China, India and

Pakistan abstained from voting on that resolution.

It had said that international verification was

essential to the global elimination of nuclear

weapons. India feels that the current process does

not include the verification aspect. In line with its

position that India articulated in the EoV, India

decided not to participate in the conference. It will,

however, continue to follow the developments in

the event.

US Senate Votes To Approve Montenegro As

NATO’s 29th

Member The US Senate voted overwhelmingly to approve

Montenegro as NATO‘s 29th member on March 28,

2017, a move backed by President Mr. Donald

Trump while seen as a rebuke to Russia‘

intervention in Eastern Europe. After a procedural

vote earlier, the accession treaty for the small

Balkan nation to join the trans-Atlantic alliance

sailed through on a 97-2 vote. The measure now

goes to the White House for President Mr. Trump‘s

formal ratification. To date, 25 other NATO

members have ratified Montenegro‘s accession, a

country of 6,20,000 people seen as a geostrategic

ally. The Netherlands and Spain have yet to do so.

Senate Democrat Mr. Chris Murphy said on the

Senate floor before the vote that he was convinced

that the alliance between the two nations would be

stronger if Montenegro joined, noting that the

country, once a part of Yugoslavia, occupies an

incredibly important space on the world map. The

Kremlin is opposed to Montenegro‘s accession,

calling it a provocation that would reinforce the pro-

Western military alliance‘s presence in the Balkans.

UK, US Ban Laptop, Tablet In Cabin On Flights

From Many Countries The UK imposed a ban on carrying laptops as part

of cabin baggage on Britain-bound passenger flights

from six Muslim-majority countries on March 21,

2017, hours after the US introduced a similar move

citing terrorism concerns. The ban will cover

around 14 airlines that operate direct flights from

Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia and Saudi

Arabia. As per British government, direct flights to

the UK from these destinations can continue to

operate to the UK subject to new measures being in

place. The UK restrictions also apply to tablets,

DVD players and phones over certain size. Under

the new arrangements, passengers boarding flights

to the UK from the countries affected will not be

allowed to take any phones, laptops or tablets larger

than a normal sized mobile or smartphone into the

cabin of the plane. Any such devices will need to be

placed into hold luggage and checked-in before

going through central security. As per the British

government, the additional security measures may

cause some disruption for passengers and flights,

but the safety and security of the travelling public is

their highest priority.

Donald Tusk Re-elected As EU Council

President European Union leaders voted overwhelmingly to

re-elect Mr. Donald Tusk president of the bloc on

March 9, 2017, Mr. Tusk‘s home country, Poland

was the only one of the 28 member states to vote

against his reappointment. Mr. Tusk will now serve

for another two-and-a-half-years. Mr. Donald Tusk

has served as the President of the European Council

since his election in December 2014. He was the

Prime Minister of Poland between 2007 and 2014

before stepping down to take the top job at the

European Council. Although his two-and-a-half-

year term is nearing its end, the Polish politician

was allowed to run for one more term in Brussels.

Despite its anger, however, Poland was left isolated

as other countries including traditional central

European allies lined up to back Mr. Tusk, a

popular choice to guide the EU through difficult

Brexit talks and tense debates on migration. In the

past, the Polish government has accused Mr. Tusk

of using his EU position to interfere in domestic

politics and blamed him for siding with Brussels

against Warsaw in a simmering row over the rule of

law in Poland. Following his success, Mr. Tusk

acknowledged the ―unusual circumstances‖ of his

reappointment but promised to work with all EU

leaders without exceptions as he is truly devoted to

a united Europe.

Military Wins In Donald Trump’s Budget,

Diplomacy, Foreign Aid Lose Big US President Mr. Donald Trump presented his first

budget proposal to the Congress on March 15, 2017.

Mr. Trump‘s new $1.15 trillion budget would

reshape America‘s government with the broad,



conservative strokes he promised as a candidate,

ordering generous increases for the military and

slashing domestic programmes. The President‘s

initial budget proposal would boost defence

spending by $54 billion, the largest increase since

former US President Mr. Ronald Reagan‘s military

buildup of the 1980s.

President Mr. Trump‘s proposed 28 percent budget

cut for US diplomacy and foreign aid next year

would preserve $3.1 billion in security aid to Israel

but reduce funding for the United Nations, climate

change and cultural exchange programmes. Mr.

Trump proposed a combined $25.6 billion budget

for the State Department and USAID, a 28 percent

reduction from current spending. The budget also

proposes $12 billion in Overseas Contingency

Operations, funding for extraordinary costs, chiefly

in war zones such as Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria.

The United States would cut its contribution to the

UN budget by an unspecified amount, and the US

government would not pay for more than 25 percent

of UN peacekeeping costs, the proposal said.

India, With 101 Billionaires, At Fourth Place In

2017 In Forbes List Of Super-rich Persons India is a home to the world‘s fourth highest

number of billionaires, according to the latest list of

super-rich persons, released by the Forbes magazine

on March 20, 2017. The USA continues to have

maximum number of billionaires, with a record 565,

up from 540 a year ago. China is fast catching up

with 319, Germany has the third most with 114.

India has 101 billionaires, with Reliance Industries

chief Mr. Mukesh Ambani leading the super-rich

Indians. It is the first time that India has crossed the

100-mark.

The Forbes list of the ‗World‘s Billionaires 2017‘

consists of 2,043 of the richest people in the world,

who have a combined net worth of $7.67 trillion, a

record 18% increase over the past year. Mr. Mukesh

Ambani leads the pack of Indian billionaires,

coming at 33rd

position with a net worth of $23.2

billion. His younger brother Mr. Anil Ambani is

ranked 745th with a net worth of $2.7 billion.

The list of super-rich persons has been topped by

Microsoft co-founder Mr. Bill Gates for the fourth

year in a row. He has been the richest person in the

world for 18 out of the past 23 years. Mr. Gates has

a fortune of $86 billion, up from $75 billion last

year, followed by Berkshire Hathaway chief Mr.

Warren Buffett with a net worth of $75.6 billion.

Amazon‘s Mr. Jeff Bezos added $27.6 billion, now

worth $72.8 billion. He moved in to the top three in

the world for the first time, up from number five a

year ago. US President Mr. Donald Trump is ranked

544th on the list with his net worth of $3.5 billion.

According to Forbes, Facebook founder Mr. Mark

Zuckerberg moved up to number five for the first

time, after his fortune rose by $11.4 billion to $56

billion in 12 months. There are nearly 20 people of

Indian-origin, who have made fortunes in various

nations across the nations, led by the UK-based

Hinduja brothers ranked 64th with $15.4 billion net

worth. On the list of Indian billionaires, after Mr.

Mukesh Ambani comes ArcelorMittal Chairman

and CEO Mr. Lakshmi Mittal with a net worth of

$16.4 billion at 56th spot. Other Indians in the list

are Wipro Chairman Mr. Azim Premji (72 rank),

Adani Group founder Mr. Gautam Adani (250),

Bajaj Group Chairman Mr. Rahul Bajaj (544),

investor Mr. Rakesh Jhunjhunwala (939), Infosys

co-founder Mr. N.R. Narayana Murthy (1161). The

list includes only four women billionaires from

India, led by Savitri Jindal and her family at the

303rd

position with a net worth of $5.2 billion.

UN Appoints David Beasley To Head World

Food Programme United Nations General Secretary Mr. Antonio

Guterres appointed Mr. David Beasley as head of

the Rome-based World Food Programme (WFP) on

March 29, 2017, at a special session at WFP‘s

Rome headquarters. Mr. Beasley, Chair of the

Center for Global Strategies, was Governor of the

State of South Carolina in United States from 1995

to 1999. He won a seat in the South Carolina House

of Representatives at the age of 21 while still at

university. He succeeds Ms. Ertharin Cousin as

Executive Director as her five-year term was till

April 4, 2017.

The WEF is the food-assistance branch of the

United Nations. It is the world‘s largest

humanitarian organization addressing hunger and

promoting food security. It works to help people

who cannot produce or obtain enough food for

themselves and their families.

Donald Trump, Angela Merkel Try To Sidestep

Differences In First Meeting The first face-to-face meeting between US President

Mr. Donald Trump and German Chancellor Ms.

Angela Merkel started awkwardly in the White

House on March 18, 2017, and ended even more

oddly. The two leaders shared different views on

trade, Russia and immigration, leading to some

uncomfortable moments at a joint news conference

in which they took pains to downplay differences

that were hard to mask. The meeting was the first

between the new US President and the long serving

stateswoman, who leads Europe‘s largest economy.

US President Mr. Donald Trump pressed Ms.

Angela Merkel for Germany to meet NATO‘s

military spending target and Ms. Merkel reiterated

her country‘s commitment to the 2 percent military

spending goal, He said that many nations owed vast

sums of money to NATO from past years, and these



nations must pay what they owe, pointing indirectly

to Germany.

China, Pakistan To Boost Military Cooperation;

Produce Missiles, Aircraft In a move that would come as a major cause of

concern for India, China is set to take its weapon

exchanges with ‗all-weather-ally‘ Pakistan a step

further. According to a report by China‘s state-run

Global Times the country can ‗authorise‘ the latter

to produce ballistic, cruise, anti-craft and anti-ship

missiles, and battle tanks. It includes the mass

production of FC-1 Xiaolong, a lightweight and

multi-role combat aircraft developed jointly by the

two counties. These developments are an outcome

of a meeting between Pakistan‘s army chief Mr.

Qamar Bajwa and a top Chinese military official,

Mr. Fang Fenhui, which took place on March 15,

2017.

India has been expressing concerns to China and

Pakistan over the China Pakistan Economic

Corridor (CPEC) passing through sovereign Indian

territory. India‘s objection is mainly based over the

fact that the CPEC project, key to Beijing‘s

ambitious ‗One-Belt, One-Road‘ initiative, passes

through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir which New

Delhi considers as its integral part.

IORA Leaders Summit Held In Jakarta The Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) Leaders

Summit was held in Jakarta, capital of Indonesia

from March 5 to 7, 2017. The theme of the summit

was ‗Strengthening Maritime Cooperation for a

Peaceful, Stable and Prosperous Indian Ocean‘. It

was attended by leaders from 21 member states of

IORA. From India, Vice-President Mr. Hamid

Ansari attended the two-day summit. IORA 2017

drew attention on issues of regional interest such as

maritime security, disaster relief and humanitarian

assistance, fisheries management, people-to-people

exchanges, trade and investment and tourism. 21

member states issued a strategic vision document

known as the Jakarta Concord which sets out a

vision strengthening the regional architecture to

face its challenges. It also issued Joint Declaration

of the IORA Business Community to build

partnership for a sustainable and equitable

economic growth. It also adopted IORA Action

Plan, a document containing the implementation

actions of the Jakarta Concord to strengthen the

implementation of priority areas and cross-sectorial

commitments. The Declaration on Preventing and

Countering Terrorism and Violent Extremism was

also adopted, stating importance of countering

terrorism. The member nations stressed the need to

work together in order to eliminate the growth and

spread of terrorism and violent extremism.

Norway Becomes World’s Happiest Country In

2017 In the latest World Happiness Report 2017, released

by the United Nations to mark the International Day

of Happiness on March 20, 2017, Norway edged

past previous year‘s champion Denmark, which fell

to second rank. Iceland, Switzerland and Finland

bagged third, fourth and fifth places, respectively.

India ranked 122nd

(four notches below its previous

rank of 118), behind Pakistan and poorest-of-poor

Nepal in the global list of the happiest countries,

according to the global report. India was behind the

majority of South Asian Association for Regional

Cooperation (SAARC) nations, apart from war-

ravaged Afghanistan, that stood at 141. Among the

eight SAARC nations, Pakistan was at 80th position,

Nepal stood at 99, Bhutan at 97, Bangladesh at 110

while Sri Lanka was at 120. However, Maldives did

not figure in the World Happiness Report.

India, Russia Sign Long-Term Support Pact On

Sukhoi Su-30MKI India and Russia signed two long-term support

agreements for the Sukhoi Su-30MKI combat

aircraft fleet on March 17, 2017, which is the

mainstay of the Indian Air Force (IAF). Pacts were

also signed for maintenance and life-cycle support

for other Russian-origin platforms, such as Mi-17

helicopters, MiG-29K aircraft, INS Vikramaditya

and T-90 tanks. The agreements were signed by

Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) with United

Aircraft Corporation and United Engine

Corporation. The pacts provide for an upgraded

schedule for delivery of spares from Russia for

these jets, local manufacturing of parts and a

proposed logistics hub for the fighter jets in

Bengaluru by HAL.

Commonwealth Launches ‘Peace In The Home’

Programme To Stamp Out Domestic Violence The Commonwealth of Nations launched ‗Peace in

the Home‘ programme on March 8, 2017, to help

member states tackle domestic violence which still

remains a stubborn stain on communities,

disproportionately impacting women. The

programme was launched on the occasion of

Women‘s Day on March 8, 2017 and will continue

till 2018, when there is expected to be an accord on

ending domestic violence in the Commonwealth.

The programme will build a coalition of

governments, businesses, human rights institutions,

civil society and individual citizens to choral our

efforts to address domestic violence. It will include

tool-kits to help government across Commonwealth

involve multiple agencies such as schools, hospitals

and doctors as well as government and law

enforcement agencies to work together effectively.

It will help countries highlight and share details of



initiatives that had been particularly successful in

dealing with domestic violence.

Latest in Sports

ARCHERY

Asia Cup Archery Stage-I Meet: India claimed a

Gold and a Silver in the Asia Cup Archery Stage I

meet that concluded in Bangkok, Thailand on

March 25, 2017. The Indian men's compound team

of Aman Saini, Shivansh Awasthi and Robert Singh

Keithellakpam, who qualified third with a score of

20.68, scraped past Iran 231-230 in the final to

claim Gold.

The women's recurve trio of Sakshi Rajendra

Shitole, Promila Daimary and Ankita Bhakat had to

be satisfied with Silver after going down 0-6 to

Chinese Taipei in the final. Earlier, they had beaten

Iran 6-2 in the quarterfinal after getting a bye in the

first round by virtue of qualifying second in the 12-

team competition. They then thrashed Malaysia 6-0

to make it to the final

ATHLETICS

IPC International Athletics Grand Prix: Indian

para athletes did the country proud by claiming 13

medals in the season opening Fazaa IPC

International Athletics Grand Prix at the Dubai Club

Stadium in Dubai. The medals include five Gold,

three of which were won by Sundar Singh Gurjar.

He added a third Gold medal in the Shot Put event

T 44-46 category with a throw of 13.36m. The women athletes also added to the Indian Gold

medals tally with a Gold-Silver finish in the

women's wheelchair Shot Put F-55 category.

Karamjyoti claimed the Gold with 5.76m followed

by Shatabdti Awasthi claiming the Silver a mere 5

centimetres behind. High jumpers Sharad Kumar

and Girisha H. Nagarajgowda gave India the Silver

and Bronze in the F13/20/42/44 category with leaps

of 1.66m and 1.63m respectively

BADMINTON

Swiss Open 2017: China's Lin Dan won the men's

singles tide of the Swiss Open 2017 outclassing

compatriot Shi Yuqi of China by 21-12, 21-11 on

March 19, 2017. In the women's singles, Chen

Xiaoxin of China defeated her countrymate Chen

Yufei by 21-19, 21-14.

Indian Open 2017: Rio Olympic Silver medallist

P.V. Sindhu of India clinched the women's singles

title of the Indian Open 2017. In the final, Sindhu

defeated Olympic and World Champion Carolina

Marin of Spain 21-19, 21-16 in New Delhi on April

2, 2017. This was the second Super Series title for

Sindhu to go with the China Open in November

2016.

In the men's singles final, Viktor Axelsen of

Denmark defeated Chou Tien Chen of Taipei 21-13,

21-10.

All England Open: World No. 1 Lee Chong Wei of

Malaysia won the coveted All England Open men's

singles trophy for the fourth time in his career after

defeating Chinese Shi Yuqi in the tournament's final

match by 21-12, 21-10 in Birmingham on March

12, 2017.

Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei won the All

England Open women's singles, defeating

Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand 21-16, 22-20.

Women's Doubles: Danish pair of Kamilla Rytter

Juhl and Christinna Pedersen defeated South

Korean pair of Chang Ye Na and Lee So Hee 21-18,

21-13.

Men's Doubles: The Indonesian pair of Marcus

Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo

bagged their first men's doubles title, defeating

Chinese pair of Li Junhui and Liu Yuchen 21-19,

21-14.

BILLIARDS & SNOOKER

Women World Snooker Championship: Vidya

Pillai of India produced a spirited performance

before settling for a Silver in the Women World

Snooker Championship in Singapore. Vidya

reached final on March 19, 2017 and was all set to

clinch the Gold with a lead of 4-2 but unfortunately

couple of unforced errors gave hold to Hong Kong's

best bet and former World Champion, Ng On Yee,

who won the next three frames in a row to take 5-4

lead.

BOXING

World Middleweight Championship: Gennady

Golovkin of Kazakhstan, the most fearsome

knockout artist of this era, was pushed to the limit

by Daniel Jacobs of USA before retaining his World

middleweight title by decision at Madison Square

Garden in New York, USA, on March 18, 2017.

Jacobs, known as "Miracle Man" since coming back

from bone cancer five years ago, ended the



unbeaten Golovkin's streak of 23 knockouts in a

row in a battle that went to the scorecards for the

first time since 2008 for the Kazakh champion.

Special Olympics World Winter Games: India

finished its campaign at the Special Olympics

World Winter Games in Austria with a total of 73

medals, which included 37 Gold, 10 Silver and 26

Bronze medals. The quadrennial event, which saw

over 100 countries take part, was held from March

14 to 25, 2017, with Indian athletes finishing with

an impressive medal haul. The Special Olympics

Bharat (SOB) ranked in Gold medals from three

team events: floor hockey, unified floorball and

traditional floorball. During the last edition of the

event, in Pyongchang, South Korea, India had

secured a total of 46 medals.

CRICKET PLUS

India-Australia Test Series: Team India clinched

the four-match Test Series against Australia 2-1

which is considered the hard-fought bilateral contest

in recent times.

In the fourth and final Test at Dharmshala on the

fourth day on March 28, 2017, India defeated

Australia convincingly by eight wickets. Needing

87 runs on the fourth day to reach a modest victory

target of 106, opener Lokesh Rahul (51 not out)

dominated from the start with a flurry of boundaries

and finished with six half-centuries in the series.

India were in trouble in the beginning, losing

Murali Vijay (8) and Cheteshwar Pujara (0).

However, stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane (38 n.o.)

and Rahul added 60 runs for a third wicket

partnership which took the team to victory in 23.5

overs.

Australia had scored 300 in their first innings and

could just make 137 in their second innings. India

scored 332 in their first innings.

Earlier, Australia had humbled India by a big

margin of 333 runs in the first Test at Pune while

India won the second Test by 75 runs at Bengaluru.

In the third Test played in Ranchi, Australia

displayed grit and managed to draw the Test.

Ravindra Jadeja, who scored 127 runs and took 25

wickets in the series, won the Man of Match and

Man of the Series awards.

With this series win, India regained the Border-

Gavaskar Trophy. India also retained the ICC Test

Championship Mace and won a cash award of $ one

million for holding on to the top position in the Test

Team rankings on the annual April 1 cut-off date. It

was India's seventh Test series win in a row—

continuing the dominance that started in 2015 with

Sri Lanka, South Africa, West Indies, New Zealand,

England and Bangladesh being annihilated.

Deodhar Trophy: Tamil Nadu lifted the Deodhar

Trophy after defeating India Red by 42 runs in the

limited overs cricket tournament final in

Visakhapatnam on March 29, 2017. This is the

second major title-trumph for Tamil Nadu after

winning the Vijay Hazare Trophy recently.

Chasing 304 to win, India Red were all out for 261

in 46.1 overs. In the Tamil Nadu's big score, Dinesh

Karthik played a major role by scoring 126 and ably

supported by N. Jagadeesan (55) and B. Indrajith

(31). Tamil Nadu are the only State team to have

won all the five major trophies—Ranji, Irani Cup,

Vijay Hazare, Deodhar and Syed Mushtaq Ali

Twenty20—in Indian cricket.

Cheteshwar Pujara Plays India's Longest

Innings: Cheteshwar Pujara broke Rahul Dravid's

long-standing record of longest Test innings by an

Indian in terms of balls played during the third Test

in Ranchi on March 19, 2017. Pujara beautifully

constructed his innings to play a total of 525 balls

and score 202 runs on the day 4 of the India vs

Australia 3rd Test match played in New Delhi.

Dravid had achieved the feat after playing 495 balls

on his way to 270 runs against Pakistan in 2004.

The Saurashtra-born batsman's ability to stitch

innings together and get the team out amid pressure

situations have got the cricketing fraternity draw

similarities between him and 'The Wall' Dravid.

While Pujara now holds the Indian record for

playing most deliveries in a Test innings, Sir

Leonard Hutton of England holds the record overall

having played 847 balls against Australia in 1938.

Tamil Nadu Lifts Vijay Hazare Trophy: Tamil

Nadu claimed the Vijay Hazare Trophy for the fifth

time with a 37-run win over. Bengal at the Feroz

Shah Kotla Stadium in New Delhi on March 20,

2017. Tamil Nadu, who had last won the premier

domestic one-day tournament in 2009-10, had

shared the title with Uttar Pradesh in 2004-05.

Powered by Dinesh Karthik's determined century,

Tamil Nadu set the opposition a 218-run target even

as the Ashoke Dinda-led attack put-up a disciplined

performance to keep the line-up in check.

Chasing Tamil Nadu's not-too-intimidating 217,

Bengal started too cautiously, lost two wickets in

the-fifth over, and was always behind the asking

rate. Facing a disciplined bowling in keeping with

the field, Bengal could never break free and were all

out for 180.

Sri Lanka - Bangladesh Test Series: The two-

match Test series between Sri Lanka and

Bangladesh were drawn 1-1. In the second and final

Test at Colombo, which ended on March 19, 2017,

Bangladesh pulled off a historic four-wicket win

over Sri Lanka. The rare win for Bangladesh—just

their fourth away from home and first against Sri



Lanka in 18 attempts—ended the two-Test series in

a draw. Bangladesh had lost the first Test by 259

runs in Galle.

Chasing a target of 191, teenage batsman Mehedi

Hasan hit the winning run after an anxious half hour

in the final session on the fifth day, getting

Bangladesh across the line in 57.5 overs.

Shakib Al Hasan of Bangladesh was adjudged the

Man of the Series.

FOOTBALL

Santosh Trophy 2017: West Bengal lifted the

Santosh Trophy for the 32nd time, after Manvir

Singh struck in the 119th minute for a 1-0 win over

Goa, displaying their domination in the premier

domestic football tournament. After playing out a

goalless 90 minutes, Manvir finally came good in

the dying moments of extra time to leave the home

crowd shocked at the GMC Stadium in Panaji on

March 26, 2017. West Bengal ended a six-year wait

having last won the title in 2011. Goa last won it in

2009.

MOTOR RACING

Australian Grand Prix: Mercedes' driver

Sebastian Vettel of Germany out-manoeuvred

Lewis Hamilton of UK and the world champion

Mercedes team with a stunning victory in the

season-opening Australian Formula One Grand Prix

in Melbourne on March 26, 2017. Vettel won by

almost 10 seconds from Hamilton and Mercedes

team-mate Valtteri Bottas in a commanding victory

of tactics and speed around the Albert Street

Circuit.

SHOOTING

ISSF Shotgun World Cup: Ankur Mittal of India

won the World Cup double trap Gold in ISSF

Shotgun, with a world-record equalling score, in

Acapulco, Mexico on March 22, 2017. In the

ensuing six-man 80-target final round, Mittal

missed a total of five targets, including just two in

his last 40 to equal the world record and finish on

top with a score of 75. Australian James Willet

managed 73 to claim the Silver, while Ying Qui of

China took the Bronze with 52, before being

eliminated after 60 targets.

TENNIS

Miami Open 2017: Roger Federer of Switzerland

defeated his long-time rival Rafael Nadal of Spain

in the Miami Open men's singles final 6-3, 6-4 in

Miami on April 2, 2017. It was Federer's third title

at Miami Open. This victory was Federer's 91st

career title and 26th Masters 1000 crown.

Johanna Konta of Britain clinched the women's

singles title defeating Caroline Wozniacki of

Denmark 6-4, 6-3. It was first elite WTA premier

mandatory event victory for Konta. It was also the

biggest title won by a British woman in 40 years.

Indian Wells Masters 2017: Roger Federer of

Switzerland beat his country-mate Stanislas

Wawrinka 6-4, 7-5 in the Indian Wells Masters final

at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden on March 19,

2017. The 35-year-old has won the tournament for a

remarkable fifth time, drawing level with Novak

Djokovic of Serbia, becoming the oldest winner of a

Masters 1000 event.

Elena Vesnina of Russia defeated compatriot

Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-7, 7-5, 6-4 to win the

women's singles title at the Indian Wells Masters

final.

Static GK Capsules

Indian History

Under whose guidance was the Congress policy of

pray and petition ultimately come to an end? Lala

Lajpat Rai

Which script of ancient India was written from right

to left? Kharoshti

At where an example of Chola architecture can be

seen? Tanjore

Which treated as artificial currency? SDR

Which queen enjoyed political power along with

her husband? Noor Jahan

Most of the people of the Middle East belong to

which group of people? Mediterranean

Crusade for human rights is associated with which

name? Jimmy Carter

Between which the famous Battle of Takkolam in

South India was fought? Cholas and Rashtrakutas

Which music composer was deaf? Beethoven

Which naturally occulting element in the rice husk

makes it termite resistant? Silicon

If you scored cannon, which game would you be

playing? Billiards

In which island of India is an active volcano found?

Barren Island

Which Sultan founded a town where now stands

Agra? Sikander Lodi



When did the battle, which is the story of

Mahabharata most probably take place? Around

1000 BC

Of which treaty was the third Carnatic War ended?

Treaty of Paris

Who was the Sikh Guru to be slaughtered by

Aurangzeb? Teg Bahadur

Where is the expression of earliest volcanic activity

in India found? Dalmia Hill

Who was known as ‗Andhra Bhoja‘? Krishnadev

Raya

Where did the Indian National Army (INA) come

into existence? Singapore

With which period do we associate the ‗microlith‘

implements? Mesolithic

When is International Talk like a ‗Pirate Day‘ is

observed? September 19

Which is the largest river in the world? Amazon

Who is the head of the National Defence

Committee? Home Minister

Which was the first woman Governor of a State in

free India? Sarojini Naidu

Geography (India and World)

The river Cauvery flows from Karnataka to Tamil

Nadu

In which direction of flow of steam is controlled by

rock structure? Consequent

Which part of the Earth‘s surface receives the

highest amount of insolation? Tropical Deserts

Which region has Mediterranean type of climate?

Cape Town Region (South Africa)

Which is the highest waterfall of the world? Saito

Angel Falls

In which country is Barail range located? India

Who was known as Tuti-e-Hindustan (the parrot of

India)? Amir Khusrao

On which date the Earth is at the least distance from

the Sun (Perihelion)? January 3

The heavier silicates named ‗Sima‘ or

silica+magnesium are most abundant in which

layer? Crust

By which amendment has the National Capital

Territory of Delhi been constituted? 69th

Amendment

Which environment support the growth of

Mangrove Swamp? Tidal Flat

Equatorial forest of the Amazon basin is known as

by which name? Selvas

Thick stems and thorny wax coated leaves are

commonly found in which area? Deserts

Which is the State having the largest population of

Scheduled Castes? Uttar Pradesh

Which is considered to cause an adverse of effect

on Indian monsoon? El-nino

Which region does not receives much rainfall in the

South-West monsoon season? Tamil Nadu Coast

In order of their distances from the Sun, which

planet lie between Mars and Uranus? Jupiter and

Saturn

Which layer of the Earth is believed to have the

heaviest mineral materials of highest density?

Central Core

Kandla situated on the Gulf of Kachchh is well

known for which purpose? Export Processing

Zone

The mapping of which part of Earth is most

difficult? Interior of the Earth

Indian Polity

Who was the first General-Secretary of the Indian

National Congress? Dadabhai Naoroji

The first census was conducted in India at the time

of which Governor General? Lord Mayo

Which is the unit of activity of a radioactive source?

Becquerel

Which is the only Union Territory that has a High

Court of its own? Delhi

What is the task of the Planning Commission?

Preparation of the Plan

When is International Holocaust Remembrance

Day, recognised by the UN observed? January 27

Which bank gives long-term loan to farmers? Land

Development Bank

By whom is the Governor appointed? President

During the proclamation of National articles can not

be suspended? Article-20 and 21

Who signs on Rs 1 currency notes? Finance

Secretary

Which was the first woman filmstar nominated to

the Rajya Sabha? Nargis Dutt

Which State in India has the broadest continental

shelf? Gujarat

Anglo-Indian representatives in the Lok Sabha are

nominated in terms of which Article? Article-331



The United Nations declared 2004 as International

Year of Rice

In a sitar wire, which type of vibration is produced?

Stationery Transverse

Who is the author of the concept of Antyodaya?

Vinoba Bhave

The author of the controversial book ‗Lajja‘ is a

citizen of which country? Bangladesh

General Science

Photosynthesis proceeds in which sequence? Light

Phase and Dark Phase

Blue litmus paper is converted into red in solution

of which thing? Acid

Which is the phase that invades but does not destroy

the lost? Temperate Phase

For which is the northern blot technique used for

the detection? RNA

Which is used extensively for genetic engineering

in plant? Agrobacterium tumefaciens

What is the selectively permeable membrane of the

cell? Plasmalemma

Optic fibres are mainly used for which purpose?

Communication

Respiration can occur in the absence of oxygen in

which thing? Yeast

Nitrogen fixing bacteria is useful in growing which

crop? Legume

By whom was first successful vaccine against virul

disease of small pox discovered? Edward Jenner

Which effect shows particle nature of height?

Photoelectric Effect

Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) consists of mainly

which gases? Methane, Butane and Propane

Which part of cinchona plant yields quinine? Bark

Which cytoplasmic organelles are treated as

prokaryotic cells within the eukaryotic cells?

Glyoxysomes

When milk is churned, how does the cream separate

from it? Due to the Centrifugal Force

Who firstly demonstrated experimentally the

existence of electromagnetic wave? Hertz

Heating pyrites in air to remove sulphur is called

Roasting

What is reduction of oxide with carbon at high

temperature called? Smelting

The conversion of chemical energy into electrical

energy occurs in which thing? Battery

Purification of petroleum is carried out by which

method? Fractional Distillation

Which technique can be used to establish the

paternity of a child? Quantitative Analysis of

DNA

Malaria parasite and Amoeba are grouped under

Protozoa

Kirchhoff‘s Voltage Law is based on the law of

conservation of which thing? Energy

By which impact is Nuclear fission is caused?

Neutron

Which is purest form of iron? Wrought lron

Which is used as a coolant in nuclear reactors?

Liquid Sodium

Meghnad Saha is known for his contribution in

which field? Physics

Medicines are more effective in which state?

Colloidal State

Which is the compound in that oxygen shows+2

oxidation state? F2 O

What number of essential amino acid is found in

man? 202

Between which set of blood groups, is the blood

transfusion possible? A and AB

By which, is the amount of light entering into the

eye controlled? lris

Spots

‗Chinaman‘ refers to which game? Cricket

Wood used in making cricket bats, is got from Salix

alba/ S. purpurea

Who is called the Flying Sikh of India? Milkha

Singh

With which game is the Double Fault associated?

Football

Which cricketer has scored the highest total runs in

test cricket? Sachin Tendulkar

In 1930. Which country hosted the first

Commonwealth Games? Canada

Machael Ferreira is associated with which game?

Snooker

Against which team did Virendra Sehwag make his

one day international debut? Pakistan

Sushil Kumar is known for his outstanding

performance in Wrestling

Who was the first Test centurion in Indian cricket?

Lala Amarnath



In which sports, Rajyavardhan Rathore won a silver

medal in the Beijing Olympics? Shooting

Who has became the first Indian to score a triple

century in Tests? Virendra Sehwag

Which person won seven gold medals in swimming

for the USA in the 1972 Olympic? Mark Spitz

Miscellaneous

Who is known as the ‗Saint of the Gutters‘?

Mother Teresa

Which is the oldest development financial

institution of India? IFCI

Which are manuals of instruction in the form of

brief rules? Sutras

Which day is celebrated as United Nations Day

every year? October 24

Dr. Hargobind Khurana received the Nobel Prize

for Medicine

Who won a Nobel Prize for literature, when he was

the head of the government? Sir Winston

Churchill

Who produced the first Film in India ‗Raja

Harishchandra‘ in 1913? Dadasaheb Phalke

Which country has the highest agricultural

production in Europe? France

Who is the author of the book ‗A Brief History of

Time‘? Stephen Hawking

What is the number of Puranas? 18

January 23 is celebrated as the birthday of which

person? Subhash Chandra Bose

Which was the gas which had leaked out of Union

Carbide factory in Bhopal? Methyl Isocynate

Current Affairs MCQs

1. Which system of firing is used by the US

developed electromagnetic rail gun?

(a) Purse firing (b) Pulse firing

(c) Shell firing (d) Rapid firing

2. Which INS fired the Barak missile on March 22,

2017?

(a) INS-Vikramaditya (b) INS-Shardul

(c) INS-Kaveri (d) None of these

3. Which regulator for modern medicine is National

Medical Commission set to replace?

(a) Medical Council of India

(b) Central Council of Indian Medicine

(c) Central Council of Ayurveda

(d) Central Council of Unani Medicine

4. India has became the third largest aviation market

beating which country?

(a) The USA (b) China

(c) Japan (d) The UK

5. How many chromosomes do people with Down‘s

Syndrome have?

(a) 45 (b) 46

(c) 47 (d) 48

6. Who organized the World Conference on

Environment on March 25, 2017?

(a) NGT (b) MoEF

(c) WWF (d) PETA

7. Who is Hong Kong‘s first female Chief executive

w.e.f. March 26, 2017?

(a) Park Gyuen Hye (b) Caroline Lam

(c) Carrie Lam (d) None of these

8. NASA will launch a balloon-based observatory

called GUSTO, which stands for?

(a) Galactic/Extragalactic ULDB Spectroscopic

Terahertz Observatory

(b) Galactic/Extragalactic UNDB Spectroscopic


(c) Galactic/Extragalactic UMDB Spectroscopic


(d) Galactic/Extragalactic UCDB Spectroscopic


9. What was the theme of the 23rd Conference of

Auditors General of Commonwealth Countries and

British Overseas Territories?

(a) Fostering Partnerships for Capacity

Development

(b) Fostering Partnerships for Capacity

Development in Public Audit

(c) Fostering Partnerships for Capacity

Development in Private Audit

(d) None of the above

10. Where was the 5th edition of the Rashtriya

Sanskriti Mahotsav 2017 held?

(a) Tawang (Arunachal Pradesh)

(b) Itanagar (Arunachal Pradesh)

(c) Dimapur (Nagaland)

(d) Dispur (Assam)

11. Where was the third edition of the International

Conference on Alternate Fuels and Raw Materials

in the Cement Industry held?

(a) New Delhi (b) New Bombay

(c) Kolkata (d) Chennai



12. Who has won the Kuldip Nayar journalism prize

on March 26, 2017?

(a) Ravish Kumar (b) Barkha Dutt

(c) Rajdeep Sardesai (d) Prannoy Roy

13. The CCEA approved North-East Road Network

Connectivity Project covers which States?

(a) Meghalaya and Mizoram

(b) Mizoram and Manipur

(c) Manipur and Meghalaya

(d) Meghalaya and Assam

14. Who has been awarded the Ellis Island Medal of

Honour 2017?

(a) Indra Nooyi (b) Farid Zakaria

(c) Yashvant Patel (d) All of these

15. What does the ant-EU British UKIP party stand

for?

(a) United Kingdom Independence Party

(b) United Kingdom Initiative Party

(c) United Kingdom Initiative Policy


16. Where is the National War Memorial being set-

up?

(a) New Delhi (b) Kochi

(c) Mumbai (d) Kolkata

17. Which of the following is the apex policy

making body for indirect taxes?

(a) CBEC (b) CBAC

(c) CBUC (d) CBIC

18. What is this year‘s theme of World TB day on

March 24, 2017?

(a) Unite to End TB (b) Meet to End TB

(c) Join to End TB (d) Work to End TB

19. Which well known photojournalist was

honoured with Lifetime Achievement Award by

I&B Ministry?

(a) Raghu Rai (b) Altaf Qadri

(c) Rajan Devadas (d) Dilip Mehta

20. Who has been awarded the Abel Prize 2017 by

Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters?

(a) John Nash (b) Yves Meyer

(c) Andrew Wiles (d) Jacob Sinai

21. Which of the following are provisions of the

Finance Bill 2017?

(a) Aadhaar card mandatory for filing income tax

returns.

(b) Aadhaar card to be made compulsory for

applying for PAN.

(c) Cash transition limit to be Rs 2 lakh

(d) All of the above

22. Who has been sworn-in as the Kerala CJI?

(a) Justice Navanithi Prasad Singh

(b) Justice Bobde

(c) Justice CP Thakur


23. Which Bill aims at equal rights while seeking

treatment, education and job by HIV positive

people?

(a) HIV and AIDS (Prevention and Control) Bill

2014

(b) HIV Prevention and Control Bill 2014

(c) AIDS Prevention and Control Bill 2014


24. Which of the Rockerfeller family served in the

US army?

(a) David Rockerfeller (b) John D. Rockerfeller III

(c) Laurence Rockerfeller (d) None of the above

25. Which river became the first in the world to get

same legal rights as a human being?

(a) River Amazon (b) River Ganges

(c) River Whanganui (d) River Nile

26. With which country did India hold a military

industrial conference?

(a) Russia (b) The USA

(c) The UK (d) Germany

27. The Union for textiles has announced a solar

energy scheme for which units from April 1, 2017?

(a) Solar Energy Scheme for Small Powerloom

Units

(b) Solar Energy Scheme for Medium Powerloom

Units

(c) Solar Energy for large Powerloom Units


28. Which province has its own law to regulate the

marriage of Hindus in Pakistan?

(a) Khyber Pakhtunwala (b) Sindh

(c) Peshawar (d) None of the above

29. Agricultural growth has risen to what value in

2017?

(a) 3% (b) 4%

(c) 5% (d) 6%

30. India and which country has signed a long term

agreement for Sukhoi Su-30 MKI combat aircraft

fleet?

(a) Russia (b) Siberia

(c) Tanzania (d) None of these



31. World Bank Group approved $ 210 million loan

for strengthening gram panchayats in which State?

(a) West Bengal (b) Bihar

(c) Jharkhand (d) None of these

32. Who has been named as the new Uttar Pradesh

Chief Minister on March 18, 2017?

(a) Yogi Adityanath (b) Sakshi Maharaj

(c) Keshav Prasad Maurya (d) Manoj Sinha

33. What was the theme of 13th

Economic

Cooperation Organisation Summit held in

Islamabad?

(a) Listening to Regional Voices

(b) Connectivity for Regional Prosperity

(c) Connectivity for Regional Profitability


34. Which city in South India has achieved 100%

waste segregation?

(a) Tirunelveli (b) Trivandrum

(c) Tuticorin (d) None of these

35. Which is the world‘s oldest aircraft carrier in

active service?

(a) INS-Shardul (b) INS-kaveri

(c) INS-Viraat (d) INS-Vikrant

36. IT major Symantec released an automated

solution to counter which cloud bug?

(a) Cloudburst (b) Cloudbleed

(c) Cloudbust (d) None of these

37. Amrita University TBI and CCSN have set-up

India‘s first startup hub for?

(a) Cybersecurity (b) Online operations

(c) e-Commerce (d) Mobile banking

38. What is Udan?

(a) Civil aviation/regional connectivity scheme

(b) Defence procurement scheme

(c) IAF scheme


39. Which playback singer set a new world record

playing most songs on the Gayathri veena?

(a) Vaikon Vijaylakshmi (b) Kavita Krishnamurthy

(c) Sunidhi Chauhan (d) Alka Yagnik

40. Where is Bhagoria festival held?

(a) Jhabua (b) Dhar

(c) Chambal (d) Both (a) and (b)

41. The scientists have developed a new brain

computer interface to read people‘s thoughts and

correct robotic errors relying on?

(a) Error related potentials

(b) Brain signals that occur automatically

(c) Both of the above


42. Which country has the highest bribery rate in

the Asia Pacific region?

(a) Japan (b) China

(c) Pakistan (d) India

43. Which country is developing stealth military

drones to evade ant-aircraft weapons?

(a) China (b) Japan

(c) North Korea (d) None of these

44. ICC has appointed whom as the official

ambassador of the Women‘s Cricket World Cup

2017?

(a) Sachin Tendulkar (b) Anil Kumble

(c) Sunil Gavaskar (d) Rahul Dravid

45. Which bank has signed a loan agreement with

EESL for energy efficiency in India?

(a) World Development Bank

(b) Asian Development Bank

(c) German Development Bank

(d) Japan Development Bank

46. Which country barred Turkey‘s Foreign

Minister?

(a) The Netherlands (b) Denmark

(c) Finland (d) Hungary

47. Eminent Konkani writer Mahabaleshwar Sail

has been honoured for which work?

(a) Hawthan (b) Pelthandcho Manis

(c) Kali Ganga (d) None of these

48. The Ministry of Railways signed a letter of

intent with the UNEP programe for?

(a) Environmental cooperation

(b) Joint cooperation mechanism in the field of

environment and sustainability



49. Indian researchers have found molecular

evidence of the presence of which species more

than 25000 years ago?

(a) Ostrich (b) Eagle

(c) Kite (d) Peacock

50. Punjab Agricultural University has developed

the country‘s first GM variety of cotton namely?

(a) PUB Bt1 (b) F1861

(c) Both of these (d) None of these

51. Who won the Best Male Actor award at the Zee

Cine Awards 2017?

(a) Amitabh Bachchan (b) Aamir Khan



(c) Salman Khan (d) Rishi Kapoor

52. ‗World Kidney Day 2017‘ was observed with

the theme

(a) Kidney Disease and Obesity: Healthy Lifestyle

for Healthy Kidneys

(b) Chronic Kidney Disease and Aging

(c) Kidney Health for All

(d) Kidney Disease and Children. Act Early to

Prevent It!

53. Senior officials from Bhutan and which Indian

State will work on the happiness model?

(a) Madhya Pradesh (b) Chhattisgarh

(c) Jharkhand (d) Bihar

54. Who has been appointed as the Chief Minister

of Goa following 2017 State elections?

(a) Manohar Parrikar (b) Laxmikant Parsekar

(c) Sudin Dhavalikar (d) None of these

55. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has been

appointed as the Defence Minister in Modi

government for

(a) fourth time (b) Third time

(c) second time (d) fifth time

56. Who has been appointed as the Group Chairman

of HSBC?

(a) Mark Tucker (b) Simon Tucker

(c) Stuart Gulliver (d) None of these

57. The US chipmaker Intel is to buy which Israeli

firm?

(a) Mobileye (b) Mobilquick

(c) Mobilex (d) None of these

58. What is Mission Fingerling for?

(a) Holistic development and management of

fisheries

(b) Initiating Blue Revolution



59. Tata Sons has appointed whom to join its

holding company?

(a) Ankur Verma (b) Ankur Mehta

(c) Ankur Sharma (d) None of these

60. LS passed the Enemy Property (Amendment

and Validation) Bill 2016 for

(a) Denial of inheritance rights for heirs whose

ancestors left India for Pakistan

(b) denial of inheritance rights for heirs whose

ancestor left India for China



61. Narendra Kumar was appointed as the new

Chairman of

(a) CWC (b) BMC

(c) NDMC (d) MCD

62. AIADMK announced which first of a kind

women safety app in Tamil Nadu?

(a) Ammavin Jagran (b) Ammavin Aran

(c) Ammavin Sharan (d) None of these

63. Where was the first fluorescent frog in the world

discovered?

(a) Santa Monica (b) Santa Ana

(c) Santa Barbara (d) Santa Fe

64. Pakistan has suspended which cricketers in a

spot fixing case?

(a) Mohammad Irfan (b) Shazaib Hassan

(c) Zulfiqar Babar (d) All of these

65. Commonwealth Day 2017 was celebrated on

which date?

(a) March 12 (b) March 14

(c) March 13 (d) March 15

66. NTPC has installed India‘s largest floating solar

photo voltaic plant at

(a) Kayamkulam (Kerala)

(b) Medak (Andhra (Pradesh)

(c) Thrissur (Kerala)

(d) Salem (Tamil Nadu)

67. Joanna Rowsell Shand is an Olympic winner

associated with which sports?

(a) Cycling (b) Swimming

(c) Weightlifting (d) Discus throw

68. MoU in shipping was approved by the Union

Cabinet on March 15, 2017 with

(a) Bangladesh (b) Pakistan

(c) Nepal (d) Sri Lanka

69. Who has been sworn in as Manipur Chief

Minister?

(a) Okram Ibobi Singh

(b) Biren Singh

(c) Yumnan Joykumar Singh


70. Who has been appointed as the administrator for

medicare and medicaid services in the USA?

(a) Seema Verma (b) Nikki Haley

(c) Sunita Williams (d) Priti Patel

71. Pakistan is planning to declare which region as

its 5th province?

(a) Khyber Pakhtunwala (b) Gilgit Baltistan

(c) Northern Area (d) Both (b) and (c)



72. Which Asian vendor become the first platinum

member of Open Stack Foundation?

(a) Xiaomi (b) Honor

(c) Huawei (d) Baidu

73. Clean Ganga mission saw 20 more projects

launched in which States?

(a) Uttarakhand (b) Uttar Pradesh

(c) Bihar (d) All of these

74. The SEBI allowed celebs to endorse which

products?

(a) Stocks and shares (b) Mutual funds

(c) Dividends (d) Insurance

75. Who has been sworn-in as the 26th Chief

Minister of Punjab?

(a) G. Badal (b) Capt Amarinder Singh

(c) Navjot Singh Sidhu (d) None of the above

76. FITII and Canon signed an MoU to promote

(a) film education (b) film funding

(c) film production (d) None of these

77. What does TIES stand for?

(a) Trade Infrastructure for Export Scheme

(b) Trade Investment for Export Scheme

(c) Trade India for Export Scheme


78. The Union Cabinet March 15, 2017 approved

MoU for border haats with which country?

(a) Bangladesh (b) Burma

(c) Bhutan (d) Borneo

79. Which singer turned Union Minister has been

appointed as the Vice-President of U-17 FIFA

World Cup committee?

(a) Babul Supriyo (b) Hema Malini

(c) Lata Mangeshkar (d) None of these

80. Royal assent has given to Brexit Bill to trigger

which Article of the EU Lisbon Treaty?

(a) Article-50 (b) Article-51

(c) Article-52 (d) Article-53

81. The students of MIT-Pune and IBM have

developed which robot to assist senior citizens in

everyday tasks?

(a) Chintu (b) Mintu

(c) Chintan (d) None of these

82. What will be the impact of World Bank

approving $ 175 for India‘s Hydrology Project?

(a) Strengthening the capacity of existing

institutions to assess the water situation

(b) Equipping them with real time flood forecast

systems across the nation

(c) Helping new states to better manage water flows

from reservoirs


83. The Union Cabinet on March 15, 2017 approved

the National Health Policy for

(a) increasing public healthcare expenditure to 2.5%

of GDP

(b) allocation of more than two-thirds of the

resources towards primary healthcare



84. Where is Asia‘s first greenfield training facility

being set-up?

(a) Pakistan (b) India

(c) Sri Lanka (d) Bangladesh

85. Parliamentary panel has suggested merger of

which two PSU firms for their long term survival?

(a) MNTL, SAIL (b) BSNL, SAIL

(c) MTNL, BSNL (d) None of these

86. BJP has picked Trivendra Singh Rawat as the

new Chief Minister of

(a) Manipur (b) Goa

(c) Uttar Pradesh (d) Uttarakhand

87. Bandhan Bank has signed an agreement with

which payment solutions provider to offer seamless

access to PoS?

(a) Avenues India Private Limited

(b) Paytm

(c) BillDesk

(d) DirecPay

88. Who has became the Chairperson of the

National Commission for Safai Karamcharis?

(a) Manhar Valji (b) Manju Diler

(c) Dalip Kallu Hathibed (d) None of these

89. The Union Cabinet has approved an MoU

between LBSNAA and

(a) Namibia Institute of Public Administration and

Management

(b) Namibia Institute of Management and Public

Administration

(c) Namibia Institute of Management

(d) Namibia Institute of Public Administration

90. NITI Aayog will start a process to make States

prepare WMI. What does WMI stand for?

(a) Water Management Index

(b) Water Maximum Index

(c) Water Mineral Index




91. Modi government has initiated which prison

reform?

(a) Migrating to e-prisons, a software to integrate

prison, data across the nation

(b) Attempt at long pending prison reforms

(c) Release of under trials booked for petty crimes


92. Which Coal Ministry outfit has been tasked with

grading and notifying Coal India Limited mines?

(a) Coal Controller‘s Organization

(b) Coal Controller‘s Association

(c) Coal Controller‘s Agency

(d) None of these

93. North Korea has conducted a new test of a high

thrust rocket engine at which site?

(a) Sohae (b) Kaesong

(c) Hamhung (d) Pyongyang

94. The RBI will create polymer-based currency

notes of which denomination?

(a) Rs 5 (b) Rs 10

(c) Rs 20 (d) Rs 25

95. India and which country has signed a long term

agreement for Sukhoi Su-30 MKI combat aircraft

fleet?

(a) Russia (b) Siberia

(c) Tanzania (d) None of these

96. World Bank Group approved $ 210 million loan

for strengthening gram panchayats in which State?

(a) West Bengal (b) Bihar

(c) Jharkhand (d) None of these

97. The scientists have discovered a new wireless

internet based on

(a) Harmless infrared rays (b) X-rays

(c) UV rays (d) Gamma rays

98. Which University Institute has entered into an

agreement with Indian Railways?

(a) Monash (b) Macquerie

(c) Canberra (d) Adelaide

99. The Union Ministry for textiles has announced a

solar energy scheme for which units from April 1,

2017?

(a) Solar Energy Scheme for Small Powerloom

Units

(b) Solar Energy Scheme for Medium Powerloom

Units

(c) Solar Energy for Large Powerloom Units


100. ICAR and ICRISAT signed an agreement for

(a) crop improvement

(b) transfer of agricultural technologies between

two institutes

(c) development of climate smart crops, smart food




Answer Key CLATFOCUS April - 2017

Q. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Ans. B A A C C A C A B A

Q. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20.

Ans. A A A D A A D A A B

Q. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30.

Ans. D A A A C A A B B A

Q. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40.

Ans. A A B A C B A A A D

Q. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50.

Ans. C D A A C A A C A C

Q. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58. 59. 60.

Ans. A A A A C A A C A C

Q. 61. 62. 63. 64. 65. 66. 67. 68. 69. 70.

Ans. A B D D C A A A B A

Q. 71. 72. 73. 74. 75. 76. 77. 78. 79. 80.

Ans. D C D B B A A A A A

Q. 81. 82. 83. 84. 85. 86. 87. 88. 89. 90.

Ans. A D C B C D A A A A

Q. 91. 92. 93. 94. 95. 96. 97. 98. 99. 100.

Ans. D A A B A A A A A D

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