Current Affairs Today 26.03.2019

Current Affairs Today – 26.03.2019
STATE:

  EC comes up with PWD app for over two lakhs Divyang voters in
  Maharashtra

      In Maharashtra, Election Commission has come up with a mobile
         application called 'PWD' for making voting easier and implement the poll
         body's slogan of Accessible Elections for over two lakhs Divyang voters
         across the state.
      The app would facilitate Divyang voters special facilities including
         wheelchairs, ramps and transport from home at polling booths during the
         Lok Sabha elections.
INTERNATIONAL:

  World’s largest e-waste recycling hub opens in Dubai

      The world's largest e-waste recycling facility has located at the Dubai Industrial
         Park, the 280,000 square feet plant will process Waste Electrical and Electronic
         Equipment (WEEE), IT asset disposition (ITAD), refrigerant gas and specialised
         waste.
      The 120 million dirhams ($5 million) project is backed by the Swiss Government
       Export Finance Agency.

  Norway Introduced the World’s First Wireless Electric Car Charging Stations
      Oslo will be the world’s first city to install wireless charging stations for electric
         taxis, in a bid to make a zero-emission cab system by as early as 2023.
      Oslo Municipality is working with Finnish utilities firm Fortum to install charging
         plates in the road that connect to energy receivers in the vehicles themselves,
         making Norway the first country in this area.
      The goal is to make it as easy as possible to charge electric taxis, as doing so now
         is cumbersome, time-consuming, and expensive.
      Norway wants all new cars to be zero emission by 2025 whereas other nations,
         like Britain and France have similar goals for 2040.
Important Days:

  International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the
  Transatlantic Slave Trade

 Every year on 25 March, the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of
       Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade offers the opportunity to honour and
       remember those who suffered and died at the hands of the brutal slavery
       system.

 International Day of Solidarity with Detained and Missing Staff Members
     The International Day of Solidarity with Detained and Missing Staff Members is
       observed annually on 25 March by the United Nations.
     It commemorates the anniversary of the abduction of Alec Collett, a former
       journalist who was working for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for
       Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) when he was kidnapped by armed gunman in 1985.
       His body was finally found in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon in 2009.
APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGNATION:

 Govindaraj re-elected as BFI president

     K. Govindaraj was unanimously re-elected as president of the Basketball Federation
       of India (BFI).
     Chander Mukhi Sharma was re-elected secretary-general as the BFI promised a
       bunch of new ideas and tournaments.
 Paralympic high jumper Girish Gowda appointed as Karnataka Lok
 Sabha Elections Ambassador

     Silver Medalist in Paralympic high jump, Girish Gowda has been appointed
       as the ambassador of Karnataka Lok Sabha Elections 2019.
     He represented India in men’s high jump F-42 category during 2012 Summer
       Paralympics games held in London, where he clinched silver medal. With this,
       he became the first Indian to win medal in this category.
BANKING AND FINANCE:

 RBI appoints five-member committee to deepen digital payments

     The central bank of the country has appointed 5-member committee
       under the chairmanship of Nandan Nilekani to further deepen digital
       payments and enhance financial inclusion through Fintech.

     This announcement made by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor
       Shaktikanta Das at the first event of Financial Technology (Fintech) Conclave,

which was organized by NITI Aayog in New Delhi.
        The purpose of the event is to shape India’s predominance in FinTech, build
          the future strategy and policy to uplift the financial inclusion.
RANKING AND INDEX:

 Samsung tops consumer-focused brands in India list

        Samsung, Tata Motors, Apple, Hero MotoCorp and Nike are the top-five
          consumer-focused brands in the country, according to TRA.
        'India's Most Consumer-Focused Brands 2019', measures brands on their increase
          in buying propensity index over the previous year.
        HDFC is the top amongst Banks in the list and is at the 8th spot. While for Top PSU
          Bank, SBI is the leader at 12th position overall.
 AWARDS AND HONOURS:
 International seminar on ‘Sanskrit: a common treasure for India
 & Nepal’ held in Kathmandu
        An international seminar on ‘Sanskrit: a common treasure for India and Nepal’ held
          at Kathmandu, Nepal.

        The three day seminar is culmination of a month-long Festival of India in
          Nepal which is being organized by the Embassy of India and Ministry of
          Culture.
        A panel of 10 world renowned Sanskrit scholars from India and 35 senior Sanskrit
          professors from various parts
          of Nepal will present their research papers on different topics including Sanskrit
          language, literature, Ayurveda and Yoga during the seminar.
MOU:

 eBay adds Google Pay to its managed payments program

        eBay announced adding Google Pay to its suite of payment options as part of
          its move to intermediate end-to-end payments on its marketplace.
        With the integration, Google Pay users will be able to complete purchases on
          eBay via the app, mobile web and on desktop from sellers participating in eBay's
          managed payments program, while shoppers using the Google Pay digital wallet
          will be able to complete purchases on desktop.
        eBay's new managed payments approach to payments after it decided to cut
          ties with long-standing partner and former subsidiary PayPal. Dutch fintech
          company Adyen is set to become eBay's primary payments processor after

the current PayPal deal expires in mid-2020
     Earlier, eBay added Apple Pay as a payment method under its managed payments
      programme.
DEFENCE:

 IAF inducts first four heavy-lift Chinook helicopters

     Indian Air Force (IAF) formally inducted the four heavy-lift Chinook helicopters.
     Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa announced the induction at a ceremony held at Air
          Force base in Chandigarh. Chinook helicopters will be deployed at Chandigarh's
          Air Force Station 12 Wing.
     The second batch of Chinooks will be stationed in Assam’s Dinjan.
     India bought 15 CH-47F (I) Chinook helicopters in September 2015 from
          Boeing (United States) at a cost of $1.5 billion.
     The entire fleet of 15 Chinooks is expected to be inducted in the air force by March
          2020.
     These choppers will be used for various military purposes such as deploying of
          troops and machinery at high-altitude locations along the India-Pakistan
          border to support country’s current and future security goals.
 Indian-Sri Lankan armies to conduct military exercise Mitra Shakti
     The joint training exercise MITRASHAKTI - VI between Indian and Sri
          Lanka Army is being held at Diyatalawa in Sri Lanka.

     The exercise is designed to enhance interoperability and mutual
          understanding between both the armies and build a relationship based
          on professional respect, personal bonding and extensive training
          interaction.
 Indian Navy nuclear, biological, chemical training facility launched
     The Indian Navy's Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Training Facility (NBCTF) was
          inaugurated at INS Shivaji in Lonavala by Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Sunil Lanba
     The NBCTF, christened "Abhedya", impenetrable in Sanskrit, will help train
          personnel of naval ships fitted with nuclear, biological and chemical detection
          and protection systems.
     INS Shivaji is celebrating its platinum jubilee year in 2019-20 and Admiral Lanba
          released the platinum jubilee logo, with the theme "Propelling the Indian Navy
          since 1945",
     The Goa Shipyard Limited had signed the contract with the Indian Navy for the
          construction of the facility in March 2016.
SPORTS:

Lingshui China Masters Badminton Tournament 2019 – Complete winner list

     The 2019 Lingshui China Masters was a badminton tournament held at Agile
        Stadium in China from 12 to 17 March 2019
     The tournament was the first Super 100 tournament of the 2019 BWF World Tour.
 China crowned Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championships winners

     China defeated Japan 3-2 to win the 2019 Badminton Asia Mixed Team
        Championships. This was the second edition of the tournament.
     11 teams including India was part of this tournament that was held in Queen
        Elizabeth Stadium in Hong Kong. The event was also known as the Tong Yun Kai
        Cup 2019 named after the president of the Hong Kong badminton association.
     In the mixed doubles, Chinese pair He Jiting and Du Yue has defeated
        apanese pair Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino.
       In the men’s doubles, Yugo Kobayashi and Takuro Hoki of China beat Han Chengkai
        and Zhou Haodong of Japan
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY:

 ISRO to launch 29 satellites including EMISAT on first of April

     Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch 29 satellites
        including the primary payload EMISAT, on the first of April. Polar Satellite
        Launch Vehicle, PSLV -C45 will take off from Satish Dhawan Space Centre
        in Sriharikota.
     EMISAT has been developed for monitoring radar network by India. EMISAT,
        weighing 436 kg, is intended for electromagnetic spectrum measurement.
        It will be placed in an orbit of about 753 km altitude.
     Indian Institute of Space Science (IISc) and the Radio Amateur Satellite
        Corporation are the other two institutions that will have their devices
        on the experimental platform.
OBITUARY:

 Cult-horror writer Larry Cohen passed away

     Larry Cohen, the writer and director best known for his work in horror and films on
        exploitation of black people,
        including the cult classic ‘It's Alive’, ‘Black Caesar’, and ‘Hell Up in Harlem’, has
        passed away.

Noted folk artist Vinjamuri Anasuya Devi passed away
   Noted folk artist, music director and writer Vinjamuri Anasuya Devi has passed
     away
   She got her first gramophone record at the age of 8 years. Her book Bhava
     Geetalu, a compilation of folk songs, was released in Chennai last year.
   Anasuya Devi presented her talent in the presence of Mahatma Gandhi,
     Subhash Chandra Bose, Jawaharlal Nehru and Sarvepally Radhakrishnan
     during the freedom movement
   Anasuya Devi received a major title ‘Kalaprapoorna’ an honorary doctorate from
     Andhra University way in 1977. She
     has won Lifetime Achievement awards in U.S.A and hailed as the ‘Queen of Folk
     Music’ in Paris