1. EPFO lowers the interest rate on deposits from 8.65% to 8.5% for 2019-20.

• Retirement fund body, Employees' Provident Fund Organization, (EPFO) lowered the interest rate on provident fund deposits to 8.5 per cent for the current financial year.
• Earlier it was 8.65 per cent. Labour Minister “Santosh Gangwar” made this announcement in New Delhi after the meeting of the EPFO apex decision-making body - the Central Board of Trustee.

Foot Notes:
About EPFO:
Establishment– 4 march, 1952
Headquarters– New Delhi
Works under– Ministry of Labour & Employment
Central Provident Fund Commissioner (CPFC)– Sunil Barthwal

2. Kareena Kapoor Khan inks 2-yr contract as Puma's brand ambassador.

• German sportswear brand Puma has signed a two-year deal with Indian film actress Kareena Kapoor Khan to be its brand ambassador.
• With this deal she joins the brand’s roaster of celebrity faces such as Virat Kohli, Sara Ali Khan, MC Mary Kom and Dutee Chand.
• Khan will be the face for Puma’s soon-to-be launched collection of low-intensity training apparel collection targeted at workouts such as yoga, barre, and pilates.
• Puma sells performance and sport-inspired lifestyle products in categories such as football, running and training, basketball, golf, and motorsports.

Foot Notes:
About PUMA
Founder: Rudolf Dassler
Founded: 1948,
Headquarters: Herzogenaurach, Germany
CEO: Bjørn Gulden
3. Former SBI CFO “Prashant Kumar” took charge as Yes Bank administrator.

• Yes Bank said Prashant Kumar, former deputy managing director and CFO of State Bank of India, has taken charge as its administrator.
• The private sector lender was placed under a moratorium, with the RBI capping deposit withdrawals at Rs 50,000 per account for a month and superseding its board.
• Kumar taking charge as the Yes Bank administrator is in line with notifications issued by the Department of Financial Services and the RBI.

Foot Notes:
About RBI
Governor: Shaktikanta Das
Headquarters: Mumbai
Founded: 1 April 1935, Kolkata

About Yes Bank
CEO: Ravneet Gill
Headquarters: Mumbai
Founder: Rana Kapoor
Founded: 2004

4. Former I&B secretary “Bimal Julka”  takes oath as Chief Information Commissioner.

• President Ram Nath Kovind administered the oath of office to Bimal Julka as Chief Information Commissioner (CIC).
• Julka, who has earlier served as the Union Information and Broadcasting Secretary, was administered the oath of the office at a ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
• The post was vacant in Central Information Commission after chief Sudhir Bhargava retired on January 11.

Foot Notes:
About I&B Ministry
I&B Minister: Prakash Javadekar
Headquarters: New Delhi

5. Times of India Sports Awards (TOISA) 2019 function held in New Delhi.

• World champion shuttler PV Sindhu was named Sportsperson of the Year at the fourth Times of India Sports Awards (TOISA) 2019 in New Delhi.
• Rio Olympic silver medallist Sindhu, who won the world championship gold at Basel, Switzerland, last year also bagged the Unbreakable Spirit of Sports award.
• Former India football captain Bhaichung Bhutia was given the Lifetime Achievement award, while hockey legend and three-time Olympic gold medallist Balbir Singh Sr was honoured with the Icon of the Century award.
• National badminton coach Pulella Gopichand won the Mentor of the Year award, while former shooter Jaspal Rana was recognised as the Coach of the Year.

6. Smriti Irani releases book titled  “Chronicles of Change Champions”.

• Union Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Zubin Irani released a book titled ‘Chronicles of Change Champions’ at an event held in New Delhi.
• The book is a compilation of 25 innovative initiatives taken at the state and district levels under the Prime Minister’s flagship scheme of Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao.
• It captures the convergent approach adopted at the grass-root level and provides insight into the unique manner of community engagement by the District Administration and front-line workers.
• The Minister informed that this year the Ministry will work with the Human Resource Development Ministry to launch a mission to get out-of-school girls back into schools with the help of the local community.
• The Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao scheme was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 22nd January 2015 at Panipat, Haryana as a comprehensive programme to address the declining Child Sex Ratio and the related issues of empowerment of women over a life-cycle continuum.

7. Fourth Global Ayurveda Festival to be held at Kochi from 16-20 May, 2020.

• The Fourth Global Ayurveda Festival (GAF), will be held at Kochi in Kerala from 16th to 20th May 2020.
• This festival is organized by the Centre for Innovation in Science and Social Action (CISSA).
• The theme of the event is “Ayurveda Medical Tourism: Actualizing India’s credibility”.
• On 5th March 2020, a curtain-raiser event was held at New Delhi for this festival.
• GAF 2020 is conducted to project and promote the Ayurveda and also to showcase the potential of Ayurveda to the world.
• The GAF 2020 will bring the world of Ayurveda’s medical wellness care providers and its health seekers to one platform.

Foot Notes:
About Kerala:
Capital– Thiruvananthapuram
Chief Minister– Pinarayi Vijayan
Governor– Arif Mohammad Khan

8. TIME Magazine named Indira Gandhi & Amrit Kaur among the world’s 100 powerful women of the year Project.

• TIME Magazine created 100 New Covers for the Project ‘100 women of the year’ to recognize selected women or groups to represent each year from 1920 to 2019.
• India’s  Freedom Fighter Amrit Kaur will be honoured as ‘Women of the Year’ for 1947 & Former prime minister Indira Gandhi for 1976.
• For 72 years it had been named a  Man of the year, almost always a man.
• In 1999 Man of the Year was changed to Person of the Year to make gender equality.
• Purpose of the project is to highlight influential women who were mostly overshadowed & also include women who have occupied positions from which men were often chosen.

Foot Notes:
About Time Magazine:
Editor-in-Chief: Edward Felsenthal
First issue: March 3, 1923
Frequency: Weekly

9. India, US signed  Rs 1200 crore deal for protection system of new VVIP aircraft.

• India and the United States have signed a Rs 1200 crore deal for acquiring missile protection suites for the new Boeing VVIP planes that India is acquiring for the President and the Prime Minister.
• The new aircraft will be used for both international and domestic visits of the President and Prime Minister.
• The missile protection suites on the two Boeing-777 Extended Range planes will provide it with the capability to fend off any missile attacks.
• A new 28-acre facility will also be created at the Indira Gandhi International Airport for housing the new Boeing 777 aircraft.
• The aircraft will be flown by Indian Air Force pilots who are getting trained in India by Air India which already operates the Boeing 777 in its fleet.
• The two planes are expected to arrive in India by the middle of 2020 to begin the VVIP duties.

Foot Notes:
About United States
Capital: Washington, D.C.
President: Donald Trump
Currency: United States Dollar

About Boeing company:
CEO: Dave Calhoun
Headquarters: Chicago, Illinois, United States

10. SBI Life Insurance Company re-appoints “Sanjeev Nautiyal” as MD & CEO.

• The Board of Directors of SBI Life Insurance Company re-appointed Sanjeev Nautiyal as managing director (MD) and chief executive officer of the company(CEO) with effect from March 10, 2020.
• This approval is given by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI)and members of the Company.
• He served as a Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the SBI Life since March 10, 2018.

Foot Notes:
About SBI Life Insurance Company:
Established- 2001.
Headquarters- Mumbai.

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Current Affairs 06 March 2020

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