Daily Current Affairs Update of 27 March 2015 | General Knowledge

Daily Current Affairs Update of 27 March 2015

1. India and Qatar signed six agreements to increase commercial and economic exchanges between India and Qatar. The deals have a special focus on the Make in India initiative. These six agreements were inked in New Delhi in presence of Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani was on a two day official visit to India on 25 March and 26 March 2015.

2. Noted Hindi poet Gopaldas Neeraj was awarded with first National Kavi Pradeep Samman. He was presented the award by Madhya Pradesh Culture Minister Surendra Patwa. It is the first National Kavi Pradeep Samman instituted by the Government of Madhya Pradesh. The Award carries a cash prize of Rs. 2 lakh, a shawl and a citation.

 

Daily Current Affairs Update of 27 March 2015 | General Knowledge

3. An ambitious multi-purpose and multi-modal platform PRAGATI (Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation) was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The main objective of this platform is to address the grievances of the common man and simultaneously monitoring and reviewing important government programmes and projects. Under this initiative on the fourth Wednesday of every month will be known as PRAGATI Day and it will feature the Prime Minister interacting with the Government of India Secretaries, and Chief Secretaries through Video-conferencing enabled by the PRAGATI platform.

4. RBI signed a USD 400 million currency swap agreement with the Central Bank of Sri Lanka for three years that will allow the island nation to draw the amount in dollars or euros in multiple tranches. The agreement, which will be valid for three years, is expected to further economic co-operation between the two countries.

5. Union Government launched new platform named Twitter Samwad that facilitates direct communication between leaders, government agencies and citizens. This platform was launched in association with social networking service Twitter. Through this, the government bodies can have a direct communication with citizens on a daily basis via Tweets and SMS on their mobile devices.The service was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his meet with Twitter Chief Executive Dick Costolo in New Delhi. The service is aimed to boost the nation's e-governance plans.

6. Japan took the delivery of a 248-metre-long warship named Izumo. It is the biggest warship in the country since the Second World War. Japan’s Maritime Self-Defence Force took delivery of warship Izumo, which is designated as a helicopter destroyer, a label that allows Japan to keep within the bounds of a constitutional ban on owning the means to wage war.

7. UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Angela Kane resigned from her post. Angela Kane of Germany assumed the position of High Representative for Disarmament Affairs in March 2012.

8. NTPC, the largest power utility of the country has been adjudged the Maharatna of the Year- Manufacturing by the premier Investment Journal Dalal Street. Whereas Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) received the Most Efficient Maharatna Company of the Year award. These companies received the awards at the 6th DSIJ Awards Ceremony held in New Delhi.

9. French defence major Dassault Aviation handed over the first two upgraded Mirage 2000 fighter aircraft with advanced navigational, radar and missile systems to India amidst continuing stalemate on the over USD 20 billion Rafale contract. The entire fleet of 48 aircraft is being upgraded with the help of Dassault Aviation and Thales under a Rs 10,000 crore deal signed in July 2011.

10. State-owned mineral producer, the National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) has received the Most Efficient Navratna of the Year award in the non-manufacturing category in the national PSU awards. NMDC received this award in recognition of its mines which stand testimony to the scientific mining wherein the output per man-shift is maximized through efficient utilization of manpower and machinery.