Current Affairs March 05, 2019
In this post, GKToday presents Current Affairs of March 05, 2019 in Short Notes form for preparation of IBPS, Banking, CLAT, SSC, Railway, UPSC, IAS/PCS, UPPSC, BPSC, MPPSC, RPSC, TNPSC, MPSC, KPSC and all other competitive examinations of India.
1. The 8th edition of joint military exercise 'Sampriti-2019' between the armies of India and Bangladesh has recently started at Bongobondhu Cantonment in Tangail, Bangladesh. The aim of the 14-day exercise is to increase mutual cooperation, bonhomie and camaraderie between the armies of two countries. The exercise is a part of the ongoing India-Bangladesh defence cooperation. The Bangladesh contingent was represented by 36 East Bengal Battalion, while Indian side was represented by 9th Battalion of the Rajputana Rifles.
2. The United States has officially shuttered its consulate in Jerusalem & downgraded the status of its main diplomatic mission to the Palestinians by folding it into the U.S. Embassy to Israel. For decades, the consulate functioned as a de facto embassy to the Palestinians. Now, that outreach will be handled by a Palestinian affairs unit, under the command of the embassy. The symbolic shift hands authority over U.S. diplomatic channels with the West Bank and Gaza to Ambassador David Friedman, a longtime supporter and fundraiser for the West Bank settler movement and fierce critic of the Palestinian leadership. The downgrade is the latest in a string of divisive decisions by the Trump administration that have backed Israel and alienated the Palestinians, who say they have lost faith in the US administration’s role as a neutral arbiter in peace process.
3. Indian wrestler Bajrang Punia has won a gold medal in 65 kilogram freestyle at the Dan Kolov-Nikol Petrov tournament in Ruse, Bulgaria. He beat American Jordan Oliver 12-3 in the final & also secured the maximum ranking points from the tournament. This was Punia's 10th medal in as many international tournaments since the 2017 World Championships in Paris. Earlier, Pooja Dhanda claimed gold in women's 59 kg while Sarita Mor won a silver in the same weight category. Sakshi Malik won silver in 65 kg women's freestyle. In the men's freestyle events, Sandeep Tomar claimed silver in 61kg.
4. The book titled "Designing Destiny: The Heartfulness Way" has been authored by Spiritual teacher Kamlesh Patel, who is popularly known as Daaji. He addressed key issues related to destiny and how it shapes one's life in his new book. The author provides practical wisdom on how to use heartfulness practices to refine lifestyle and design destiny, including destiny in the afterlife. He elaborates on the subject of consciousness, the role of evolution, and explains what happens to people at the time of birth and death - and how people can act in those pivotal moments when life takes a turn. In the book, Daaji shares how beliefs determine the relative importance of fate and free will in people's lives. He also shares a set of simple heartfulness practices and lifestyle changes that can help people design their destiny. The author also explores the meditative practices in the light of destiny besides fundamental aspects of well-being, like healthy sleep patterns, heartful communication, eating patterns, living in tune with natural cycles and so on.
5. On March 3, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated an Indo-Russian joint venture (JV) that will manufacture the new 7.62x39 mm caliber Kalashnikov AK-203 rifle in Korwa near Amethi, Uttar Pradesh. The Indo-Russia Rifles Pvt Ltd is a joint venture between India's Ordnance factory and a Russian firm. It will produce the last series of Kalashnikov rifles in the Korwa Ordnance Factory. AK 203 is the latest derivative of the legendary AK-47 rifle. According to officials, the AK 203 guns would replace the existing India-made INSAS assault rifles in the Army, Air Force and Navy. It is to be noted that Amethi is the parliamentary constituency of Congress president Rahul Gandhi.
6. Macky Sall has been re-elected for a second term as President of Senegal with a 58% majority in the first round voting in February 2019 Senegalese presidential election. The President of Senegal is elected using the two-round system; a candidate must receive over 50% of the vote to be elected in the first round. If no candidate crosses the threshold, a second round will be held with the top two candidates. According to the 2001 Constitution of Senegal, the president is elected for a 5-year term.
7. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has recently addressed the Construction Technology India 2019 conference on 'Global Housing Technology Challenge', in New Delhi. Here, PM Modi declared the 2019-2020 as the Year of construction technology in a bid to increase the use of modern technology in the construction sector. The purpose of the 2-day conference was to identify innovative and globally established technologies that can be used in the Indian context. In the event, developers, academia, technology providers, researchers etc. participated. Those technologies which are identified during the conference will be invited to design and build lighthouse projects of around one thousand housing units each in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand, Tripura and Uttar Pradesh.
8. Bhagwan Lal Sahni, a BJP leader from Bihar's Muzaffarpur, appointed new Chairman of the newly constituted National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC). The NCBC was given constitutional status by Parliament in 2018, after repealing the National Commission for Backward Classes Act, 1993. The NCBC which previously only could recommend on the issue of inclusion or exclusion of a community in the Central list of OBCs will now have the powers of a civil court as it has been given Constitutional status, on par with the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes.
9. Anil Kumble, a former Indian captain of Tests and ODIs, has been reappointed as the Chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Cricket Committee for the third consecutive time. This 3-year stint will end in 2021 and be his final term as the Chairman of the ICC Cricket Committee. He was appointed as the head of the panel in the year 2012 for his first term. Kumble was reappointed for his second term in the year 2016 which would keep him in office till 2018. The ICC Cricket Committee is representative of all stakeholders in the game, including players and umpires. It is empowered to make recommendations on cricket playing issues.
10. The Odisha State Disaster Management Authority (OSDMA) has been honoured with the coveted SKOCH award for 2018 for its remarkable achievements in the field of disaster management at the 56th SKOTCH Summit at New Delhi on February 25, 2019. The Skoch award covers the best efforts in the areas of finance, governance, banking, disaster management, technology, economics and inclusive growth. The OSDMA received an Order-of-merit in the Gold category for constructing 879 multipurpose cyclone and flood shelters that played a key role in saving human lives during Cyclone Phailin in 2013. It also bagged an 'Order-of-merit' in the silver category for constructing disaster resilient houses for about 17,000 Phailin affected families by relocating them to safer places. The 'Order-of-merit’ Bronze was given to the OSDMA for its Early Warning Dissemination System for different hydro-meteorological disasters across the coastline of Odisha which will benefit 1,205 villages in 22 blocks of six coastal districts.
