Current Affairs Today 31.03.2019

Current Affairs Today – 31.03.2019
STATE:

  Assam‖s Bongaigaon district admin develops 'Sankalp' app to reach out
  to 1st -time voter

      In Assam, the Bongaigaon district administration has developed a mobile
         app Sankalp to particularly reach out to the first-time voters.
      It is a special initiative has been taken to encourage the first -time voters. NIC
       team has developed the app .
      The first-time voters on their mobile phones, requesting them to download
         the ―Sankalp‖ app.
      The new voters will also be able to sign a digital ―sankalp patra‖ to cast their
       votes on the day of polling.
NATIONAL:

  NTPC to set up 25 MW floating solar power plant at Simhadri, Andhra
  Pradesh

      National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) - Simhadri is setting up a 25 MW
         floating solar power plant in its water
         storage reservoir as part of the company‖s efforts to diversify into the solar
         segment
      NTPC-Simhadri was also setting up a flue-gas desulphurisation plant (FGD) like
         the other thermal stations of the company. It had four units 500 MW each.
INTERNATIONAL:

  Shanghai becomes world's first district with 5G coverage

      Shanghai‖s Hongkou has become the world's first district using both 5G coverage
         and broadband gigabit network as China seeks to establish lead over the US and
         other countries in the race to develop next generation cellular mobile
         communications.
      It conducted trial runs of the 5G network, backed by telecom services provider
       China Mobile
      5G is the next generation of cellular technology with download speeds that are 10
         to 100 times faster than 4G LTE networks.

  Zuzana Caputova becomes Slovakia's first female president
      Zuzana Caputova has won Slovakia's presidential election, making her the country's

first female head of state.
   A member of the Progressive Slovakia party, Caputova won 58.3% votes after
     results from 98.1% of the voting districts were counted. Caputova defeated
     European Commission Vice President, Maros Sefcovic, who was backed by the
     ruling party, SMER-SD.
The hump-backed mahseer is now 'critically endangered': IUCN
   The hump-backed mahseer—a large freshwater fish also called the tiger of the
     water and found only in the Cauvery
     river basin (including Kerala‖s Pambar, Kabini and Bhavani rivers)—is now
     “Critically Endangered”, as per the International Union for Conservation of
     Nature‖s Red List of Threatened Species
   The fish is one of the 229 species added to the Red List last November
   Five other species have also made it to threatened categories: two wild orchids,
     the Arabian scad (a marine fish) and two wild coffee species found only in a few
     localities in the Western Ghats.
   While 31 species that were already in the Red List have been down-listed, the threat
    status of 12 species has increased
  Important Days:

Rajasthan Diwas

   Rajasthan Day is celebrated on 30th March every year on which the state
     Rajasthan came into existence as it was previously known as Rajputana.
   On 30th March 1949, Rajasthan was formed
  APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGNATION:

Vijay Chandok appointed as MD and CEO of ICICI Securities

   ICICI Securities appointed Vijay Chandok as an additional director and as a
     Managing Director and CEO of the company with effect from May 7, 2019.

   He will succeed Shilpa Naval Kumar.
   Vijay Chandok, presently Executive Director of the ICICI Bank, has tendered his
     resignation from the board of the bank to take effect at the end of day on May
     6, 2019.
  AWARDS AND HONOURS:

Nagaland forest guard Yimchunger honoured with an international Earth
award

 A forest guard of Nagaland named Alemba Yimchunger had been conferred with
       the ―Earth Day Network Star Award‖
       by Earth Day Network, an international environmental NGO based in United States.
    Yimchunger who works as a forest guard at Fakim Wildlife Sanctuary in Kiphire
       district has been honoured with the prestigious award for his efforts in
       conserving biodiversity in and around the wildlife sanctuary.
    The Earth Day Network Star award is a prestigious recognition of those who do
       excellent work in the environmental field.
    Earth Day is an annual event celebrated on 22 nd April. It celebrates the earth‖s
       environment and raises public
       awareness about pollution. The first Earth Day was celebrated in 1970
Rita Moreno to Receive Peabody Career Achievement Award
    The Peabody Awards board of jurors announced that Rita Moreno will receive
       the 2019 Peabody career achievement award.
    The actress will add the honor to her long list of awards, including an Oscar, a
       Tony, two Emmys and a Grammy. She is one of the 15 people to win the coveted
       EGOT quartet of elite awards.
    She has been appointed as the official ambassador of Toronto
       International Film Festival (TIFF)‖s ―Share Her Journey‖ campaign.
    The 78th Annual Peabody Awards will take place on May 18 at Cipriani Wall Street in
     New York.
   DEFENCE:

Indian Navy gets combat management system for INS Vikrant

    It is the first CMS to be developed by private industry for Indian Navy and for
       indigenous aircraft carrier.
    Indian Navy has received Combat Management System (CMS) for first indigenous
       aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant.
    It has been privately co-developed by Tata Power Strategic Engineering Division
       and Electronics System Engineering Establishment and MARS of Russia.
    It is India‖s first indigenously-built largest aircraft carrier. It is also called IAC-1.
       It is in its third and final phase of construction at Kochi shipyard and the sea
       trials are expected to begin by mid-2020.
GRSE becomes first in India to build 100 warships
    Garden Reach Ship Builders and Engineers Ltd (GRSE) became the ―first Indian
       shipyard‖ to build and deliver 100
       warships.
    GRSE Chairman and Managing Director,V K Saxena, formally handed over the

100th warship 'IN LCU L-56' to the Indian Navy.
   It had handed over its 99th warship, 'ICGS Priyadarshini', an advanced 'Fast Patrol
     Vessel' to the Indian Coast Guard.
   The 100th warship, a Landing Craft Utility (LCU), is the sixth of an order of eight such
     vessels from the Navy.
  MoU:

India, US renew triangular development cooperation in Asia and Africa

   India and the United States signed the First Amendment to the Statement of
     Guiding Principles (SGP) on Triangular Cooperation for Global Development,
     mainly focused on Asia and Africa.
   It renews SGP agreement, which was signed by both countries in November 2014.
   It extends its validity up to 2021. It also expands scope of capacity building
     activities undertaken jointly by India and US under this framework.
   India and US will continue to offer capacity building assistance to partner
     countries in multiple sectors, focusing primarily on agriculture, trade and
     investments, nutrition, health, water, sanitation, education, women
     empowerment, regional connectivity, clean and renewable energy, disaster
     preparedness and institution building.
   It will help to fulfil India-US joint commitment to work together and leverage
     their combined capacities to provide demand-driven development
     partnership.
  SPORTS:

India Open 2019 Winners List

   India‖s Kidambi Srikanth lost in straight games to former world champion Viktor
     Axelsen of Denmark at the Yonex- Sunrise India Open badminton tournament
     2019 in New Delhi.
   The 2019 India Open was held at K. D. Jadhav Indoor Hall in India.
  SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY:

IIT Madras converts petroleum waste toluene into useful product

   Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras has successfully converted petroleum
     waste-product toluene into benzoic acid.
   Benzoic acid is used as a food preservative (E210) and medicine for fungal/bacterial
     infection.

 Toluene is converted into benzoic acid through selective and controlled oxidation in
      the presence of a catalyst —
      binaphthyl-stabilised platinum nanoparticles (Pt-BNP).
Tesla builds its 'largest energy storage system in Asia'
    Tesla has developed its ―largest power storage system in Asia‖ at Osaka
      train station in Japan to reduce energy demand and provide emergency
      backup power to trains in Japan.
    It has installed a bank of 42 Powerpacks at a train station in Japan's Osaka that
      can provide sufficient backup power to safely move a train and its passengers
      to the nearest station in the event of a power outage.