1. Sri Lanka will lead science, technology and innovation sector in BIMSTEC.

• Sri Lanka will lead the science, technology and innovation sector in the BIMSTEC and a facility for technology transfer is planned to be opened in the future.
• This was agreed during the 20th Session of the senior officials’ meeting chaired by Sri Lankan Foreign Secretary Ravinatha Aryasinha in Colombo.  Sri Lanka, will also appoint a Director to the BIMSTEC secretariat in June.
• Sri Lanka is mandated to lead the sector on Science, Technology and Innovation under which cooperation in Technology, health and human resource development is also included.  Bangladesh was mandated to lead Trade, Investment and Development, Bhutan – Environment and Climate Change, Myanmar – Agriculture and Food Security, India – Security (Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime, Disaster Management & Energy), Nepal – People to people contact (culture, tourism, forums of Think Thanks, Media etc) and Thailand – Connectivity.

Foot Notes:
About Sri lanka
President: Gotabaya Rajapaksa
Capitals: Colombo, Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte
Currency: Sri Lankan rupee
Prime minister: Mahinda Rajapaksa

2. Janaushadhi Week  celebrated from March 1 to 7.

• Janaushadhi week is being celebrated across the country from the 1st of this month through more than 6200 Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Kendras.  Jan Aushadhi Kendra owners are organising different types of activities for making awareness about health and hygiene.
• Free distribution camps for Suvidha Sanitary Napkins were held at about 2000 places and more than 50,000 Sanitary Napkin packets were given free of cost to the women. Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana is a noble initiative of the Government which is now making an impact on masses in its endeavor to provide quality medicines at an affordable price.
• The total sales in the financial year 2019-20 till February have crossed 383 crore which led to total savings of about 2200 crore rupees of common citizens.

3. Thinlas Chorol sets up first women's travel company in Ladakh.

• The International Women's Day will be celebrated on the 8th of March. In Ladakh, a young woman Thinlas Chorol has introduced a woman trekking guide in the male dominated trekking industry.
• To train the other women as trekking guides, she setup the first women's travel company fully operated by women only. Every trekking season from April to September, she trains 20 to 30 rural women to work as trekking guides.

Foot Notes:
About Ladakh
Lieutenant Governor: R. K. Mathur

4. Western Railway announces bonus of 5% for every recharge to R-Wallet.

• As an incentive to promote mobile ticketing, Western Railway had announced a bonus of 5 percent for every recharge to the R-Wallet until 24th August 2020.The existing bonus scheme, which expired last week, has been extended to encourage more and more users to use mobile ticketing.
• Western Railways has said that passengers are requested to patronize the use of UTS Mobile Ticketing App and avail the enhanced benefits attached with their use.
• The Western Railway is one of the 18 zones of Indian Railways and is Headquartered in Churchgate, Mumbai.

Foot Notes:
Minister of Railways: Piyush Goyal
About Western Railways:
Headquarters: Churchgate, Mumbai, Maharashtra
States under western Railways: Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh
5. Ajay Bhushan Pandey appointed as the new Finance Secretary.

• The Government of India appointed the current Revenue Secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey as the new Finance Secretary.
• Pandey replaces current Finance Secretary Rajiv Kumar. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment.
• Pandey, a 1984 batch Indian Administrative Service officer of Maharashtra cadre, had earlier worked as chief executive officer of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), the organization behind the Aadhaar.

Foot Notes:
Present CEO of UIDAI: Shri Pankaj Kumar
Union Minister of Finance: Nirmala Sitharaman.

6. Badminton Asia Championship 2020 shifted to Manila from Wuhan due to Coronavirus outbreak.

• Badminton Asia confirmed that Badminton world federation (BWF) has shifted the Badminton Asia Championships 2020 to Manila, Philippines from Wuhan, China. It will be conducted in Manila from April 21 to 26, 2020.
• The Badminton Asia Championship 2020 event is shifted due to the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak and this championship falls within the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games Qualification window.
• The Philippine Badminton Association (PBA) successfully hosted the Asia Team Championships from Feb 11-16 2020, in Manila.

Foot Notes:
About Philippines:
President- Rodrigo Duterte
Capital- Manila
Currency– Philippine Peso
About Badminton world federation(BWF):
Established- London (1934) .
7. RBI Deputy Governor N.S. Vishwanathan resigned ahead of retirement.

• N.S Vishwanathan, one of the Reserve Bank of India’s deputy governors, who is due to retire on July 3, 2020, has announced his resignation due to health problems.
• He was first appointed as the Reserve Bank’s deputy governor for a three-year term in 2016, following which he was reappointed for  one year.
• He completed the Master of Economics from Bangalore University, joined RBI in 1981 and his areas of expertise include regulation and supervision of banks, currency management, foreign exchange, non-banking finance companies and cooperative banks and human resources management.

Foot Notes:
About RBI (Reserve Bank of India):
Headquarters- Mumbai, Maharashtra.
Governor- Shaktikanta Das.
8. Mumbai will host 2023 International Olympic Committee (IOC) session .

• Mumbai will host the International Olympic Committee (IOC) session 2023 as recommended by IOC Executive Board and the decision will be approved at the 136th IOC session in Tokyo in July 2020. The IOC session was held in 1983 in New Delhi and the session is going to be held in India after 40 years.
• The Evaluation Commission had visited Mumbai in October 2019 to study the feasibility of hosting the session & the board selected Mumbai due to the quality of the facilities at the Jio World Centre, Mumbai, Maharashtra.
• The year 2023 will be significant for India as it coincides with the 75th anniversary of Indian Independence. The event will encourage and support the National Olympic Committee of India and all the National Federations to promote & strengthen Olympics sports in the country.

Foot Notes:
About IOC (International Olympic Committee):
Headquarters- Lausanne, Switzerland.
President- Thomas Bach.

9.  Cabinet approves merger of 10 PSBs into 4 PSBs  from 1st April 2020.

• Union Cabinet has approved the merger of 10 PSBs into 4 from 1st April 2020. As per the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the exercise of consolidation of 10 public sector banks (PSBs) into four is on course and the merger will come into effect from the new financial year 1st April 2020.

As per the plan, PSBs will be merged into:
1. United Bank of India and Oriental Bank of Commerce will be merged with Punjab National Bank
2. Syndicate Bank will be merged with Canara Bank
3. Allahabad Bank will be amalgamated with Indian Bank
4. Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank will be consolidated with Union Bank of India

Foot Notes:
About Punjab National Bank
Headquarters: New Delhi.
Chief Executive Officer of Punjab National Bank: S. S. Mallikarjuna Rao
About Canara Bank
Headquarters: Bengaluru
Chief Executive Officer: Lingam Venkat Prabhakar
About Indian Bank
Headquarters: Chennai
Chief Executive Officer: Padmaja Chunduru
About  Union Bank of India
Headquarters: Mumbai    
Chief Executive Officer: Rajkiran Rai G
10. Indian Army’s International Seminar “Pragyan Conclave 2020” begins in New Delhi.

• The Indian Army’s International Seminar “Pragyan Conclave 2020” has begin at Manekshaw Centre, New Delhi and has been organised by Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS).
• The seminar united the national and international experts to discuss the complex topic of ‘Changing Characteristics of Land Warfare and its Impact on the Military’.

Foot Notes:
About Indian army:
Founded: 1 April 1895, India
Headquarters: New Delhi
Commander-in-Chief: President Ram Nath Kovind
Chief of Army staff: Manoj Mukund Naravane

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Current Affairs 05 March, 2020

Current Affairs 04 March, 2020

Current Affairs 03 March, 2020