Current Affairs

  President Ram Nath Kovind administered the oath of office to Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose as the country’s first Lokpal. The oath was administered at a ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Justice Ghose, a former Supreme Court judge, was named the country’s first Lokpal, the anti-corruption ombudsman. The Lokpal and the Lokayukta Act, which envisages appointment of a Lokpal at the Centre and Lokayuktas in states to look into cases of corruption against certain categories of public servants, was passed on 2013.
Source- PIB

  Tata Coffee announced the appointment of Chacko Purackal Thomas as the managing director and chief executive officer. He will replace Sanjiv Sarin. He will assume the charge from April 1, 2019. Thomas, currently working as the executive director and deputy CEO of the Tata Group firm, has been associated with the company since 2015.
Source- The Livemint

  The Government of India has appointed Vice Admiral Karambir Singh, presently Flag Officer Commander-in-Chief (FOC-in-C) Eastern Naval Command as next Chief of the Naval Staff with effect from May 31, 2019. The present Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Sunil Lanba retires on the same day. Born on November 03, 1959, Vice Admiral Karambir Singh was commissioned on July 01, 1980 into the Executive Branch of the Indian Navy. Vice Admiral Karambir Singh is a graduate of the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington. Vice Admiral Karambir Singh has been decorated with the Param Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM) and the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM). 
Source- PIB

 Indian low-cost airlines SpiceJet has joined the International Air Transport Association (IATA). SpiceJet is the first Indian budget carrier to join the IATA,which has over 290 airlines as members. The membership of IATA will allow SpiceJet to explore and grow its collaborations with international member airlines of IATA through interlining and code shares and also enables to seamlessly expand the network options for its passengers in future.
What is IATA? International Air Transport Association (IATA) is the trade association for the world’s airlines and represents some 290 airlines which contribute to about 82% of total air traffic.
Source- The Times of India

  The nation is observing Shaheed Diwas or Martyr’s Day on 23rd March. Each year, March 23, homage is paid to the great revolutionary fighters Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev who sacrificed their lives for the country. In the year 1929, on 8th of April he together with his companions threw bombs over the Central Legislative Assembly reading slogan “Inquilab Zindabad”. It was on March 23, 1931, three young freedom fighters were hanged to death in the Lahore Central Jail (Now in Pakistan).
Source- DD News

  Each year, World Tuberculosis (TB) Day is commemorated on March 24 to raise public awareness about the devastating health, social and economic consequences of TB, and to step up efforts to end the global TB epidemic. The theme of World TB Day 2019 – ‘It’s time’.  The date marks the day in 1882 when Dr Robert Koch announced that he had discovered the bacterium that causes TB, which opened the way towards diagnosing and curing this disease.
Source- WHO

  The “100 Most Influential People in Climate Policy” list is comprised of seven Indian names including Union Ministers Piyush Goyal and Dr Harsh Vardhan, who took important measures to combat climate change. The list is prepared by Apolitical, a peer to peer learning platform for governments. The list has been topped by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (Congresswoman, US Congress).
Here are the other 5 names from India: 
  • Mukta Tilak– Mayor of Pune.
  • Jyoti Kirit Parikh- Executive director of Integrated Research and Action for Development.
  • Sunita Narain- Director of the Centre for Science and the Environment.
  • Vandana Shiva- Founder of the Research Foundation for Science, Technology, and Natural Resource Policy.
  • Upendra Tripathy- Director general of the International Solar Alliance.
  • Source- The Times of India

      India returned with 368 medals (85 gold, 154 Silver, and 129 Bronze) at the Special Olympics World Summer Games, held at Abu Dhabi, UAE. Indian powerlifters bagged the maximum number of medals 20 gold, 33 silver and 43 bronze. Roller Skating earned India 49 medals 13 gold, 20 silver and 16 bronze. In cycling, the Indians won 11 gold, 14 silver and 20 bronze to total 45 medals, while the country’s track and field athletes returned with 39 medals 5 gold, 24 silver and 10 bronze.
    Source- News on AIR

     Indian Railways Integral Coach Factory (ICF) has surpassed the top Chinese manufacturers after creating a 40% record increase in its production. With this, Indian Railway’s oldest and premier coach manufacturing unit becomes the single largest rail coach manufacturer in the world. ICF has manufactured 2,919 coaches from April 2018 to February 2019 as compared to 2,600 coaches by Chinese manufacturers.
    Source: The Times of India

     Kazakhstan has renamed its capital Astana to Nursultan to honor outgoing leader Nursultan Nazarbayev. Mr. Nazarbayev, 78, served nearly 30 years as president of the nation. The change was announced after Kassym-Jomart Tokayev was sworn in as president, promising to seek his predecessor’s opinion on key decisions.
    Source: BBC


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