13 March 2019 - Daily Current Affairs

Indian gymnast Dipa Karmakar (25-year) has been selected as Barbie role model, as the company celebrates its 60th anniversary.
Karmakar has been chosen along with 19 other successful women (from 17 countries), included in the collection of Barbie dolls inspired by real-life heroes.
She was part of the ‘Shero’ program launched in 2015 by the company.

Note:

Dipa created history by becoming India’s first female gymnast to qualify for the final of the vault event at the Olympics (finishing fourth in the event).
Karmakar became the first Indian female gymnast to win a medal (bronze) at the Commonwealth Games 2014.

Private sector lender Axis Bank has named ‘Rakesh Makhija’ (67-years) as its new Non-Executive (Part-Time) Chairman for a period of three years.
Mr. Makhija (Chairman of SKF India) will take over from Sanjiv Mishra (current Axis Bank Chairman), when his term comes to an end on 17^th July 2019.
He has been an Independent Director on the board of Axis since October 2015.
The appointment is subject to the approval of the Reserve Bank of India and the bank's shareholders.

Obituaries

Veteran Hindi Newsreader Vinod Kashyap (88-years) passed away following a prolonged illness.
She served All India Radio for about 30 years.
The veteran newsreader started her career in Radio as a drama artist.

America’s finest and most remarkable cyclists ‘Kelly Catlin’(23-year) passed away in the USA.
Catlin helped a dominant US team to three consecutive world titles in the pursuit between 2016 and 2018.
She also won a silver medal in the team pursuit at the 2016 Olympics in Rio.
She also raced with the Rally UHC Pro Cycling team on the road.

Note:

Pursuit team is a track cycling event like the individual pursuit, except that two teams, each of up to four riders, compete, starting on opposite sides of the velodrome.

Megha Engineering Infrastructure Limited (MEIL) has found a place in the Limca Book of National Records and Asia Book of Records for completing a power sub-station in seven months (normally it takes 15-18 months).
NP Kunta sub-station was taken up to connect Ultra Mega Solar Power Plant built in Ananthapur with Power Grid, to facilitate the supply of 1500 MW of electricity.
Earlier, MEIL made its way into Limca Book for completing Pattiseema Lift Irrigation project in Andhra Pradesh in record time.

According to a newly released Kantar IMRB ICUBE report, Internet user base in India has exceeded 500 million marks.
It is likely to reach 627 million by the end of 2019.
The number of internet users is estimated to be 566 million as of December 2018 (annual growth -18%).
The report finds 493 million Indians (total user base-87%) are defined as regular users, having accessed the internet in the last 30 days.
Around 293 million active internet users reside in urban India, while there are 200 million active users in rural India.

The Mizoram state Cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Zoramthanga has approved the proposed liquor prohibition bill, 2019 in the state.
The bill would be introduced in the state Assembly during the Budget session.
There was total prohibition in Mizoram from 1997 till January 2015 with the Mizoram Liquor Total Prohibition Act in force in the state.
Earlier, Lal Thanhawla government allowed opening of wine shops in the state from March 2015.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has decided to ground Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft with immediate effect.
The decision comes in the wake of Ethiopian Airlines crash (killed all 157 people) in Addis Ababa.
The planes will be grounded until appropriate modifications and safety measures are undertaken to ensure their safe operations.
Spice Jet has around 12 Boeing 737 Max 8 planes, Jet Airways (5) in its fleet in the country.
Earlier, China, Ethiopia, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore and UK had decided to suspend the Aircraft.

Note:

The Boeing 737 MAX is an American narrow-body aircraft series designed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes as the fourth generation of the Boeing 737.

The Delhi government’s Dialogue and Development Commission (DDC) has set up a 17-member high-level committee chaired by DDC vice-chairperson ‘Jasmine Shah’ to “reform higher education” in the capital.
Dialogue and Development Commission (DDC) is the think-tank that advises the government on key issues.
The committee will recommend goals, metrics, policies, and actionable plans for reforming Delhi’s higher education system within a year”.

The 4th IoT India Congress will be held in Bengaluru in August 2019.
IoT India Congress is an event which will see digital technology leaders converge to discuss and explore business opportunities in mainstreaming Internet of Things (IoT),
The IoT India Congress 2019 will include tracks on segments such as healthcare, manufacturing, telecom, smart cities, energy, retail, cybersecurity, skills and development, IoT Standards, legal and regulatory, and agriculture.

Mizoram Governor Jagdish Mukhi administered the oath of office to Mr. C Lalsawta (Retired IAS officer) as the first Chairman of the newly-constituted Lokayukta at Raj Bhavan in Aizawl.
Mr. Lalsawta (1981-batch Bihar cadre IAS officer) was the Principal Secretary of the Finance department in the State from 2008 to 2011.
The Lokayukta (also Lok Ayukta) is an anti-corruption ombudsman organization in the Indian states.

State-owned Bank of India (BoI) has raised Rs 660.80 crores by issuing shares to employees under Employee Share Purchase Scheme (ESPS).
The bank issued 6,25,52,188 shares of Rs 10 each to eligible employees.
It offered a discount of 24.28% on the applicable price to the employees and about 94.70% of the total employees participated in the scheme.
These shares are issued with a lock-in period of one year.

According to the data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Retail inflation rose to a four-month high of 2.57% in February this year.
The retail inflation based on Consumer Price Index (CPI) stood at 1.97% in January this year (4.44% in February last year).
Earlier lowest inflation was 2.33% in November last year.
The latest print is higher than minus 2.24 per cent in January this year.

Note:

Retail inflation means the increase in prices of certain products or commodities compared to a base price.
In India, retail inflation is linked to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) which is managed by the Ministry of Statistics.
CPI numbers are widely used as a macroeconomic indicator of inflation, as a tool by governments and central banks.