17-18 March 2019 - Daily Current Affairs

1. Goa CM Manohar Parrikar passes away

Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar (63-years) passed away in Panaji on 17^th March 2019 after a prolonged illness.
Parrikar was diagnosed with a pancreatic ailment in February last year. Since then, he received treatment at various hospitals across Mumbai, New Delhi, Goa and the US.
The popular leader would be remembered for his efforts in infrastructure and education development in the state and bringing the International Film Festival of India to Goa in 2004. for his role as the union defence minister and his dynamism.

Note:

A six-time MLA and former Defence Minister, Mr Parrikar was born on 13th December 1955.
He graduated from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Mumbai with a B.Tech degree in metallurgical engineering.
Mr Parrikar was first elected to the Goa assembly in 1994.
He served as Chief Minister of the state from October 2000 to February 2005 and March 2012 to November 2014.
From November 2014 till March 2017, he served as the Union Defence Minister. Mr Parrikar returned to Goa in March 2017 as the State Chief Minister.
He served as a Rajya Sabha MP from November 2014 to September 2017.

Source: DD News

2. Veteran Comedian Chinmoy Roy passes away

Veteran Bengali actor Chinmoy Roy (79-years) passed away last night.
He was born on January 16, 1940, in Kumilla district in now in Bangladesh.
He was famous for his comic roles in Bengali movies, though his versatility has allowed him to play a variety of roles.
He was equally noticed along with big names like Soumitra Chatterjee and Rabi Ghosh in a classic comedy like 'Basanta Bilap' or in 'Dhonni Meye'.

Source: UNI

3. Former Minister Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy dead

Former Member of Parliament and State minister Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy (68-years) passed away in Kadapa.
He was the younger brother of former Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy (YSR) and uncle of YSR Congress Party president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy.
He won Pulivendula assembly constituency twice (in 1989 and 1994) and represented Kadapa Lok Sabha in the parliament twice
In 2009, he was elected as MLC and given the portfolio of Agriculture after YSR passed away in Kiran Kumar Reddy cabinet.

Source: The Hindu

Appointment

4. Former SC Judge Justice PC Ghose to be India's first Lokpal

Former Supreme Court Judge Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose is set to be India's first anti-corruption ombudsman of India.
His name was finalised and recommended by the Selection Committee comprising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan and eminent jurist Mukul Rohatgi.
Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, who is part of the committee, did not attend the meeting.
His was among the top 10 names shortlisted by the Lokpal Search Committee.
Justice Ghose's appointment has come nearly five years after the Lokpal Act was notified on January 16, 2014.
The law provides for a Lokpal at the Centre and Lokayuktas in states to probe cases of corruption against public servants.

Note:

Justice Ghose, 67, who is a member of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) since June 2017, retired from the Supreme Court on May 27, 2017.
He had assumed charge as Supreme Court judge on March 8, 2013.
He is a former judge of the Calcutta High Court and former Chief Justice of the Andhra Pradesh High Court.
Born in Kolkata, Justice Ghose is son of Late Justice Sambhu Chandra Ghose, former Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court.

Source: The Economic Times

Banking & Economy

5. SBI, ICICI, HDFC Bank to remain as Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-SIBs): RBI

SBI, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank continue to be in the Reserve Bank of India’s list of Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-SIBs) for 2018.
The Reserve Bank of India released the list of Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-SIBs) on 14^th March 2019.
As per the notification, SBI, ICICI Bank, and HDFC Bank continue to be identified as Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-SIBs), under the same bucketing structure as last year.

Note:

D-SIBs are required to maintain higher capital as compared to other banks.
The additional Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) requirement for D-SIBs has already been phased-in from April 1, 2016, and will become fully effective from April 1, 2019, the RBI said, releasing the list for 2018.
The additional CET1 requirement will be in addition to the capital conservation buffer. “Current update is based on the data collected from banks as on March 31, 2018,” RBI said.

Source: RBI

6. J&K Bank to sell a stake in PNB Metlife for ₹ 185 cr

Jammu and Kashmir Bank said it proposes to sell its stake in PNB Metlife India to private equity player Oman India Joint Investment Fund II for ₹ 185 crore.
According to the J&K Bank, bank has executed share purchase agreement with Oman India Joint Investment Fund II for sale of 4.1 crore shares of PNB MetLife India Insurance Company Ltd.
Jammu and Kashmir Bank holds 5 per cent stake in the insurance venture.

Note:

PNB MetLife India Insurance is a joint venture between MetLife International Holdings Inc, Punjab National Bank, Jammu and Kashmir Bank, M Pallonji and Company Pvt Ltd and other private investors.
The state-run Punjab National Bank holds 26 per cent stake in the venture, while the US-based MetLife has a 26 per cent stake.

Source: The Hindu Businessline

7. Indian banks' deposits rose 9.8 per cent y/y in a fortnight to March 1: RBI

According to the Reserve Bank of India's weekly statistical supplement data, Indian banks' loans rose 14.6 percent in the two weeks to March 1 from a year earlier, while deposits rose 9.8 percent.
Outstanding loans rose by 891.1 billion rupees ($12.90 billion) to 95.29 trillion rupees in the two weeks to March 1.
Bank deposits rose by 1.11 trillion rupees to 122.30 trillion rupees in the two weeks to March 1.

Source: The Economic Times

8. Fresh NPAs to moderate in FY'20: ICRA

According to the ratings firm Icra; fresh NPAs in the banking sector are expected to moderate to 1.9 to 2.4 perc ent in FY'20.
Icra expects gross NPAs of the banking sector to 8.3 lakh crore or 7.9 per cent for March 2020, as compared to estimated 9.2 per cent as of March 2019.
Icra has revised the ratings outlook of four public sector banks from negative to stable including, Bank of India, Bank of Maharashtra, Punjab National Bank and Oriental Bank of Commerce.
It revised upward, the outlook for IDBI Bank from negative to ‘Rating watch with developing implications’.
While the outlook for Punjab and Sind Bank was lowered from stable to negative.

Source: The Economic Times

National Affairs

9. Expert panel to review OBC ‘creamy layer’ criteria after 26 years

The Centre has constituted an expert committee to “revisit the criteria” for determining the “creamy layer” for OBCs which was laid down in 1993.
After 26 years, ministry of social justice, on March 8, set up a panel headed by retired GOI secretary BP Sharma, with “terms of reference” which sound radical in their breadth and scope.
The committee will “revisit the criteria evolved by the Prasad committee” and give recommendations for “redefining, simplifying and streamlining the concept of creamy layer” while keeping in view the SC’s observations in Indira Sawhney case.

Note:

“Creamy layer” is the section of OBCs that is economically advanced and ineligible for Mandal reservations.
Following the Supreme Court’s judgment on Mandal Commission, the exclusion norms for “creamy layer” were laid down by the DoPT’s office memorandum of 1993 based on the report of the Prasad committee.

Source: The Economic Times

Arts & Culture

10. 3^rd edition of Namaste Thailand festival held in New Delhi

The 3rd edition of Namaste Thailand festival was held in New Delhi
The festival aimed at strengthening bilateral ties and increasing cultural exchange between India and Thailand.
Along with the traditional Thai cuisines, the Namaste Thailand festival featured a series of Thai craft activities which include mulberry paper mini umbrella making, fan painting, body paint, and button badge making.

Source: Business standard

Sports

11. Dominic Thiem beats Roger Federer to win Indian Wells title

Australia's Dominic Thiem defeated Switzerland's Roger Federer in the men's singles final of the BNP Paribas Open in California.
He defeated Federer 3-6,6-3,7-5 in the final.
With this win he claim his first ATP Masters 1000 crown.
With this win, Thiem is set to become fourth in the world rankings on Monday. It was his first win since September 2018.

Note:

The Indian Wells Masters, also known as BNP Paribas Open and the WTA Indian Wells Open, is an annual tennis tournament held in early- and mid-March at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California, United States.

Source: BBC Sports

12. Bianca Andreescu beat Angelique Kerber to win Indian Wells title

Canadian teenager Bianca Andreescu stunned three-times Grand Slam champion Angelique Kerber to win the BNP Paribas Open title.
She defeated Angelique Kerber by 6-4 3-6 6-4 to win the title.
With this win she won her first career title in Indian Wells on 17^th March 2019 held in California.
She also became the youngest player since Serena Williams, who defeated Steffi Graf here back in 1999.

Source: The Indian Express

13. Afghanistan win their first-ever Test match

Afghanistan defeated Ireland by seven wickets to win their first-ever Test match in Dehradun.
Shah scored a 122-ball 76, and Janat an unbeaten 129-ball 65* as Afghanistan notched up the 147-run target on the fourth morning within a session.
It was their first every Test victory, in just their second Test.
With this win Afghanistan became the newest ICC member to win a Test match.

Note:

Earlier, Afghanistan had won the T20I series 2-0 and the ODI series was level at 2-2 with one game getting washed out.
Afghanistan gained Test status in 2017.

BRIEF SCORES: Ireland: 172 and 288 lose to Afghanistan: 314

Source: The Indian Express

14. India finishes second in medal tally at Asian Youth C'ships

India finishes second in medal tally at Asian Youth Athletics Championship in Hong Kong.
India won total of 26 medals including 8 gold, 9 silver and 9 bronze medals.
China topped the overall medals tally with 31 medals that included 12 gold, 11 silver and eight bronze medals.
Japan finished third with 20 medals that included 6 Gold, 8 Silver and 6 bronze.

Source: DD News