1. DPIIT notified 100% Foreign Direct Investment in Insurance Intermediaries.

• The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) operating under the Ministry of Commerce and Trade has amended the FDI (Foreign Direct Policy) to allow 100% foreign investment for insurance intermediaries.
• This includes insurance companies, third-party administrators, insurance brooking, loss assessors and surveyors.
• Initially, DPIIT had allowed only 49% of FDI in the insurance sector. This has now been increased to 100% to increase Ease of doing business in the insurance sector. With this move, the foreign companies shall easily buy stakes in Indian Insurance Companies.

Foot Notes:
About Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade
Headquarters location: New Delhi
Founded: 1995
Parent organization: Ministry of Commerce and Industry
Ministry of Commerce and Industry: Piyush Goyal

2. Indian National Centre for Ocean Information launched new Alert System to help fishermen.

• The Hyderabad based INCOIS (Indian National Centre for Ocean Information) launched a new alert system that will help reduce damage and losses to fishermen due to swell surges.
• The INCOIS,an autonomous body operating under Ministry of earth sciences.
• The Swell Surges splash strong waves in the coast damaging boats and nets. The system will help fishermen to get prior alerts about swell surges and safeguard their boats.

Foot Notes:
About INCOIS
Headquarters location: Hyderabad
Founded: 1999

3. ISRO to launch "GISAT-1 New Age Imaging Satellite" on 5th march to monitor the Indian sub-continent.

• The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is to launch GISAT 1 (Geo-Imaging Satellite) in order to watch Indian sub-continent continuously.
• The satellite is to be launched by the ISRO on March 5, 2020. The satellite is to be carried by GSLV-F10 rocket. The satellite weighs 2,275 kg and is to be placed in Geosynchronous orbit.
• GISAT is a Geo-Information Satellite. The satellite is to do a full rotation of the earth and come to the same point every 2 hours. The satellite is capable of performing rapid surveillance and fast imaging. The ISRO has designed the satellite in such a way that if needed the satellite can observe a point for a longer duration.

Foot Notes:
About ISRO
Headquarters: Bengaluru
Founder: Vikram Sarabhai
Founded: 15 August 1969
Director: Kailasavadivoo Sivan

4. Elections for 55 Rajya Sabha seats will be conducted on March 26.

• Biennial elections for the 55 Rajya Sabha seats from 17 states will be held on 26th March. Election Commission announced that these seats are falling vacant in April this year due to retirement of Rajya Sabha members.
• The term of office of 55 members of the Rajya Sabha elected from 17 States is due to expire on their retirement in April, 2020. Counting will be held in the evening of 26th March an hour after the conclusion of polls.
• The Rajya Sabha is the upper house of the Parliament of India. It currently has a maximum membership of 245.

Foot Notes:
About Rajya sabha
Deputy Chairman: Harivansh Narayan Singh
Chairperson: Venkaiah Naidu
Seats: 245
Secretary General: Desh Deepak Verma

5. MP becomes first state to launch unified vehicle registration card.

• Madhya Pradesh has become the first state in the country to introduce the unified registration card and the second state to launch the unified driving license after Uttar Pradesh. Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) had issued the guidelines to bring uniformity in driving licenses and vehicle registration cards across the country in March last year.
• The new cards will have more exhaustive information printed on both sides of the cards. The unified smart cards for driving license and vehicle registration will each have a QR code that will help in verifying authenticity of the data printed on the cards.
• The unified driving license card will also have information about the ability of the driver to drive in hilly and dangerous areas and an emergency contact number.

Foot Notes:
About Madhya Pradesh
Capital: Bhopal
Governor: Lalji Tandon
Chief minister: Kamal Nath

6. Haryana state emerged as Best in "Direct Benefit Transfer Payout" while West Bengal worst in same.

• Small states like Haryana & Uttarakhand emerged as the best states in ratings prepared by Centre regarding Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) payouts. West Bengal has emerged as the worst, while new Union Territories (UTs) of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) and Ladakh have notched up an impressive show.
• The ratings have ranked states according to DBT payouts compared to their population. Many states like West Bengal do not implement several central schemes in which subsidies are involved.
• The central DBT scheme covers as many as 439 schemes run by 56 ministries and departments and over Rs 2.25 lakh crore has been paid out in the country in the present financial year.

Foot Notes:
About Haryana
Capital: Chandigarh
Governor: Satyadev Narayan Arya
Chief Minister: Manohar Lal Khattar

About West Bengal
Governor: Jagdeep Dhankhar
Capital: Kolkata
Chief Minister: Mamta Banerjee

7. NPCI launched ‘UPI Chalega’ campaign for payment mode to gain currency.

• National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) in association with the payment ecosystem players have co-created an industry campaign “UPI Chalega” to promote UPI as easy, safe, and instant mode of payment.
• The campaign is aimed to guide users towards the right usage of UPI and help create a habitual change, use of UPI in their daily life. The campaign also focuses on safety aspects while transacting on UPI enabled apps.
• The campaign targets users across all ages and aims to promote how to safely use UPI in association with the payment ecosystem players have co-created an industry campaign “UPI Chalega” to promote UPI as easy, safe, and instant mode of payment.

Foot Notes:
About NPCI
Headquarters: Mumbai
Founded: 2008
Chairman: Dilip Asbe

8. Microsoft and SBI joined hands to train differently-abled people to help in  finding jobs.

• Microsoft announced a partnership with SBI to train differently-abled people find jobs in the banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) sector.
• Over 500 differently-abled youths will be upskilled in the first year of the collaboration. Microsoft's president of global sales, marketing and operations Jean-Philippe Courtois said there are 26 million differently-abled people in India and it is essential to use newer ways to use technology to enable them participate in the 21st century economy.
• SBI Foundation and Microsoft will develop an artificial intelligence powered marketplace that will enable the BFSI industry to connect more easily with differently-abled people for upskilling and employment opportunities.

Foot Notes:
About Microsoft
CEO: Satya Nadella
Founded: 4 April 1975
Headquarters: Redmond, Washington, United States

About SBI
Chairperson: Rajnish Kumar
Headquarters: Mumbai
Founded: 1 July 1955
Managing director: Anshula Kant

9. CIBIL appointed HDFC Bank's “Rajesh Kumar” as its new  MD & CEO.

• TransUnion CIBIL Limited, the largest credit information bureau, appointed Rajesh Kumar of HDFC Bank as its new managing director and chief executive.
• Kumar succeeds Satish Pillai who has moved to become the president of Asia region business of the US-based company. Prior to joining CIBIL, Kumar was the group head for retail credit and risk at HDFC Bank.
• In his role as the MD and chief executive, Kumar will be responsible for steering Cibil India's business into the next phase by ensuring it continues to support the domestic finance industry and consumers.

Foot Notes:
About HDFC
CEO: Aditya Puri
Headquarters: Mumbai
Founded: August 1994

About CIBIL
Founded: August 2000
Headquarters: Mumbai
Chairman: M.V.Nair

10. Former Egyptian President “Mohammed Hosni Mubarak” passed away at 91.

• Egyptian president  Mohammed Hosni Mubarak died at the age of 91. He was severely ill in the last months of his life. He served as the President of Egypt between 1981 and 2011. Initially he served as an Air force officer.
• It is to be noted that he undertook training in Soviet Union in 1961 at the Kant Air Base near Bishek. Mubarak was ousted from his rule in 2011. He and his sons were detained on allegations of corruption and abuse of power.

Foot Notes:
About Egypt
President: Abdel Fattah el-Sisi
Currency: Egyptian pound

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