1. Ritu Beri appointed advisor to
KVIC

(i)Well-known
fashion designer Ritu Beri has been appointed as an advisor to the Khadi and
Village Industries Commission (KVIC) for better domestic and global promotion
of the khadi fabric.

(iii)The
appointment will last for a period of one year, during which Beri will advise
on the introduction of state-of-the-art fashion designs and styles in readymade
khadi garments.

(iii) With
over 25 years of experience in the global fashion space, Beri has designed
clothes for the likes of Bill Clinton, Ivana Trump, Prince Charles, Nicole
Kidman, etc.

(iv) KVIC is
a statutory body responsible for promotion and development of khadi and other
village industries in rural India

2. Author M Sukumaran chosen for CV
Kunhuraman Sahithya Puraskaram

(i) The CV
Kunhuraman Foundation announced that noted Malayali author and short story
writer M Sukumaran has been selected for the annual CV Kunhuraman Sahithya
Puraskaram i.e. literary prize. 

(ii) He was
the recipient of the Kerala Sahitya Akademi award in 1976 for his work Marichittillathavarude Smarakangal.

(iii) All
his literary works highlight the condition of underprivileged and homeless
people and supports armed struggle for the freedom of the oppressed.

3. Former Danish PM Anker
Jorgensen passes away

(i) Former Danish
Prime Minister Anker Jorgensen has passed away at the age of 93. He served in
the position from 1972 to 1973 and again from 1975 to 1982.

(ii) Joergensen started his political career working
for workers’ rights and was first elected to the parliament in 1964.

(iii) He succeeded Jens Otto Krag as prime minister
of Denmark in 1972. He continued in the post until the elections in 1973 when
he was replaced by liberal candidate Poul Hartling.

4.
Hardeep Singh secures Olympic quota for India in Greco-Roman wrestling

(i) Wrestler
Hardeep Singh has secured an Olympic quota for India in Greco-Roman wrestling
by winning a silver medal in the 98kg category in the Asian Olympic
Qualification championship. China’s Di Xiao bagged the gold medal.

(ii) This is the first time an Indian Greco-Roman
wrestler has obtained an Olympic quota after Mausam Khatri did so in the 2004
Athens Games. (iii) Wrestlers Yogeshwra Dutt and Narsingh Yadav have qualified
for Olympics in men’s freestyle category.

5.
Former Intel CEO Andrew Stephen Grove passes away

(i) Recently,
former CEO of Intel Corp Andrew Stephen “Andy” Grove passed away at the age of
79.

(ii) During
his 37-year tenure, the Hungarian-American played a crucial role in developing Intel
into the world’s largest chip company. He transformed Intel from a memory chip-manufacturing
firm into the maker of microprocessors, the major electronic component of
computers. This salvaged Intel from a major financial crisis and enabled it gain
prominence as one of the biggest tech firms.

(iii)
He was honoured with TIME magazine’s Man of the Year title in 1997.

(iv) He penned several books, some of the important
ones being Only the Paranoid Survive which
serves as a thesis on the science of managing crises. His childhood memoir Swimming Across describes the brutalities
Hungarians suffered in the hands of the Nazis.

6. Himachal
wins Krishi Karman Award for highest food grain production in 2014-15

(i) Himachal Pradesh
has bagged the Krishi Karman Award for 2014-15 for witnessing a rise in food
production. Total food grain production had increased to 16.73 lakh tonnes in
2014-15 from 15.41 lakh tonnes in 2011-12.

(ii) This
was accomplished due to the Agriculture Department’s efforts to promote
poly-house cultivation, micro-irrigation, organic farming and soil health
management.

(iii) In 2010-11, the Union Agriculture Ministry established
the Krishi Karman Awards to recognise states as regards production of rice,
wheat, coarse, cereals, pulses and total food grains.

7.
Ali Mohamed Shein wins Zanzibar re-run presidential election

(i) Ali Mohamed Shein recently won the presidential
elections in Zanzibar-a semi-autonomous region in Tanzania-with 91.4% of the
votes polled.

(ii) This election was a re-run of the one held in
October 2015, which was terminated by the electoral commission due to fraud.
Shien who is the incumbent president belongs to Tanzania’s ruling CCM party.

8.
Azarenka, Djokovik win 2016 BNP Paribas Open titles

(i) In the
recently concluded 2016 BNP Paribas Open, also known as the 2016 Indian Wells
Masters, Belarusian player Victoria Azarenka defeated world number one Serena
Williams 6-4, 6-4 to claim the women’s singles title. Azarenka is a two-time (2012
and 2013) Australian Open champion.

(ii) Serbian
player Novak Djokovic bagged the men’s singles title; he beat Canada’s Milos Raonic
Raonic 6-2 6-0 to win his 27th Masters title.

9. IOB becomes first bank to
begin sale of IGCs

(i) Indian
Overseas Bank (IOB) has become India’s first bank to begin sale of the Indian
Gold Coin (IGC) in the domestic market.

(ii) The
bank tied up with the Metals and Minerals Trading Corporation of India to sell
the 24-carat IGC which has the national emblem (the Ashoka Chakra) engraved on
one side and the face of Mahatma Gandhi on the other.

(iii) The
coin has cutting-edge anti-counterfeit features and tamper-proof packaging.
Available in 5, 10 and 20gm denominations, IGC is India’s first-ever national
gold coin. It is minted by the Security Printing and Minting Corporation of
India Ltd and hallmarked by the Bureau of Indian Standards.

10. HS Prannoy wins 2016 Swiss
Open men’s singles title

(i) HS
Prannoy, India’s fourth-highest ranked men’s badminton player has bagged the
men’s singles title in the 2016 Swiss Open defeating German opponent Marc
Zwiebler 21-18 21-15.

(ii) This is
Prannoy’s second title at a Grand Prix Gold tournament, the first being the
2014 Indonesian Masters. For the second consecutive year, an Indian has won the
men’s singles title at the Swiss Open.

(iii) China’s
He Binghiao won the women’s singles title after defeating compat-riot Wang
Yihan. In women’s doubles Japan’s Shizuka Matsuo & Mami Naito overpowered
compatriots Naoko Fukuman & Kurumi Yonao 21-16, 12-21, 21-12.

(iv) In
men’s doubles, Danish pair Kim Astrup & Anders Skaarup Rasmussen beat Lee
Sheng Mu & Tsai Chia Hsin of Taipei 21-8, 21-15. In the mixed doubles category,
China’s Wang Yilyu & Chen Qingchen beat Thailand’s Bodin Issara &
Savitree Amitrapai.

11. Akhilesh Ranjan committee on
e-commerce taxation submits report

(i) Recently,
the committee on taxation to examine the business models for e-commerce, headed
by Akhilesh Ranjan, submiited its report recommending several measures.

(ii) The
committee proposed an Equalization Levy of 6-8% on e-commerce transactions
above Rs.1 lakh in order to bring the e-commerce sector under the tax net.

(iii) It has
been suggested that the levy be imposed on specified digital services and
facilities, including online marketing and advertisements, cloud computing,
website designing hosting and maintenance, digital space, etc.

(iv) The
Equalization Levy on digital transactions would not be a tax on income and
hence would be imposed outside the Income-tax Act, 1961.

12. World Water Day observed on March
22

(i) World
Water Day is annually observed on March 22. This year’s theme – ‘Better water,
better jobs’ – aims to highlight that management of water resources can create
quality jobs as almost half of the world’s working population (about 1.5
billion people) work in water-related sectors.

(ii) However,
UN data highlights that around 650 million people do not have access to safe
drinking water.  

(iii) In
India, the Central Water Commission’s latest data paints a bleak picture as
water levels at 91 major reservoirs nationwide are the lowest in a decade i.e.
no more than 29%. The 91 reservoirs contain 157.8 billion cubic metre (BCM) of
water, while their total capacity is 250 BCM.

(iv) Water
scarcity is certain to be a major challenge this year and states like Maharashtra,
Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand are likely to be badly hit.

13. India to host 8th
BRICS Summit in October 2016

(i) As the
chair of BRICS, India will host the 8th annual BRICS Summit in October 2016 in
Goa. India assumed chairmanship of the bloc from Russia in February 2016 and
will continue to hold it till December this year.

(ii) Indian
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said, “We will adopt a five-pronged
approach during our Chairmanship. It will comprise Institution Building,
Implementation, Integration, Innovation, and Continuity with Consolidation
(IIIIC or I4C).”

(iii) She
added that during India’s chairmanship, more than 50 sectoral meetings will be
conducted at the ministerial, official and technical levels, including the
BRICS Under-17 Football Tournament, BRICS Film Festival, BRICS Wellness Forum,
BRICS Youth Forum, BRICS Trade Fair, etc. so as to foster greater
people-to-people participation.

14. Hinduja Brothers top Britain’s
Asian Rich List

(i) The
Hinduja Brothers- G P Hinduja and S P Hinduja- took the top spot in the annual Asian
Rich List 2016 which was recently released in London. With an estimated
personal fortune of £16.5 billion, they have been declared the wealthiest
Asian-origin entrepreneurs in Britain.

(ii) They
are followed by Lakshmi Mittal, Prakash Lohia (chairman of the Indorama
Corporation), Arora Brothers (Simon, Bobby and Robin) of the B & M retail
chain, and international venture capitalist Cyrus Vandrevala.

(iii) As per
this year’s list, riches of the UK’s richest Asians increased to £55.54 billion
from £54.48 billion in 2015.

15. Abhinav Bindra launches venture
fund for start-ups

(i) Olympic
shooter Abhinav Bindra recently set up a venture fund for start-ups called
Shooting Star LLP in equal partnership with consulting firm Franchise ndia with
an initial investment of $2 million.

(ii) The
fund is set to make investments in scalable formats with knowledge in areas
like emerging sports academies, sports injury, rehab, tech, equipment and
training, health apps, child development, holistic wellness, organic foods and
dairy.

16. Gen Lori Robinson first woman to lead
a US combatant command

(i) Air
Force General Lori Robinson was selected as the head of the US military’s
Northern Command. The selection, which is subject to Senate approval, makes her
the first woman to head a US combatant command.

(ii) She
presently heads US air forces in the Pacific and after approval of her
nomination she will become a top general spearheading activities in North
America.

(iii) In
addition, Army General Vincent Brooks, the commanding general of the US Army
Pacific, would be nominated to become the next commander of US Forces in South
Korea.

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