March 6, 2018 - Current Affairs Quiz - Current Affairs MCQ

The 19th edition of FICCI Frames has inaugurated by Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Smiriti Irani in Mumbai, Maharashtra on March 5, 2018. The 3-day global convention covering the entire gamut of Media and Entertainment Industry will attract not only the industry stakeholders from across the world but also the government policy makers from India and abroad. The event will have more than 35 knowledge sessions by experts besides having over 200 high profile speakers from across the world. This year a first edition of Content Market has been added with over 70 buyers for a curated slate of new Indian Films. A special screening facility has also been set up to introduce festival programmers and key buyers to selected new Indian films. It is attended by nearly 2000 Indian and 800 foreign delegates encompassing the entire universe of media and entertainment.

The Bandicoot Robot, developed by a start-up in Kerala, GenRobotics, is a semi-automatic robotic system for manhole and sewer line cleaning. Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM), a start-up incubator under the Kerala government, funded the project proposed by GenRobotics to find a solution for manual scavenging. Kerala will become the first state in India to be manual scavenging-free.

Citibank introduced a new variable interest rate mortgage product that will be linked to the 90-day Treasury bills and will change every quarter.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the noted an Indian cricketer, has become a brand ambassador of gaming platform Dream11 on March 5, 2018. Dhoni, who had led the country to a famous triumph in the inaugural World T20 Championship in 2007, would be the new face of the gaming platform's multi-channel marketing campaigns and brand engagement activities. Dhoni captained the Indian team in limited-overs formats from 2007 to 2016 and in Test cricket from 2008 to 2014. Currently, the gaming platform has a user base of 2 crore sports fans playing fantasy cricket, football, kabaddi and NBA.

Viswanathan Anand, the five-time world champion, has won the 11thTal Memorial Chess tournament (rapid section) 2018 with a score of 6.0/9 in Moscow on March 4. The win came after an easy final round draw against Boris Gelfand of Israel. The trophy adds to Anand's world rapid title won in Riyadh over two months ago. The Tal Memorial Rapid is a 10-player single round-robin taking place in the Museum of Russian Impressionism in Moscow. The ten top players were competing for a $130,000 prize fund, with $25,000 for 1st place.

As per the announcement made by the Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs, Shri ArunJaitley in his Budget Speech 2018-19, a Steering Committee has been constituted under the Chairmanship of Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), Ministry of Finance. The objective of this committee is to consider various issues relating to development of fintech space in India with a view to make fintech related regulations more flexible and generate enhanced entrepreneurship in an area where India has distinctive comparative strengths vis-vis other emerging economies. The Steering Committee will also focus on how fintech can be leveraged to enhance financial inclusion of MSMEs. The committee will be headed by Economic Affairs Secretary.

A total amount of Rs. 5638.87 crore was sanctioned with the release of Rs. 2148.17 crore since 2014-15 till date under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme of Ministry of Tourism. Under the Swadesh Darshan scheme, thirteen thematic circuits have been identified for development. Meanwhile, under the PRASHAD scheme, 23 projects have been sanctioned to 15 States for a total amount of Rs.687.92 crore with the release of Rs.241.28 crore since 2015-16 till date. The main objective of the 'National Mission on Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual, Heritage Augmentation Drive (PRASHAD) is of holistic development of identified pilgrimage and heritage destination.

Union Information and Broadcasting Minister, Smiriti Irani inaugurated 2018 edition of FICCI Frames in Mumbai. 2018 edition of FICCI Frames, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry's (FICCI's) annual convention on the film and entertainment market is a three-day global convention covering the entire gamut of Media and Entertainment Industry viz. films, broadcasts (TV & Radio), Print Media etc. Nearly 2000 Indian and 800 foreign delegates from Media and Entertainment sector will be attending this event. 35 knowledge sessions will be conducted during the course of this event and 200 high profile speakers from across the world will share their views.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat inaugurated the week-long 29th edition of annual International Yoga Festival (IYF) at Parmarth Niketan ashram in Rishikesh. However, 29th International Yoga Festival was officially inaugurated by Vice President, Venkaiah Naidu on March 3, 2018. The International Yoga Festival has been organised by Parmarth Niketan Ashram in association with Union Ministry of AYUSH, Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board and Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam Ltd. In addition to daily yoga classes, 200 sessions on topics such as Ashtanga yoga, Bhakti yoga, Kundalini yoga and Ganga yoga will be conducted during the course of this event. More than 80 saints, yogacharyas, presenters and experts from nearly 20 countries will take part in these sessions. Over 1500 yoga practitioners from 94 countries have gathered in Rishikesh for this week-long festival.

China has set its GDP growth target at around 6.5% for 2018, unchanged from that for 2017. The projected growth rate reflects China's position of not over-emphasizing speed but stressing improvements in the quality and effect of development. Chinese economy outperformed its annual growth target by expanding 6.9 percent last year, picking up for the first time in seven years.

Iraq overtook Saudi Arabia to become India's top crude oil supplier by supplying 38.9 million tonnes (MT) crude oil in the current financial year. It was fifth of India's oil needs. India is 80% dependent on imports to meet its oil needs. India had imported 184.4 MT of crude oil during April. Saudi Arabia traditionally has been India's top oil source but Iraq dethroned it. Saudi Arabia supplied 30.9 MT of crude oil in first 10 months.

HDFC Bank and Happay, a business expense management solution provider, have entered in to a collaboration to introduce a new prepaid card-linked Travel and Entertainment (T&E) expense management solution which will help Indian firms to efficiently manage their business travel expenditure. Through Happay-HDFC Bank prepaid cards and Happay mobile app, employees of the companies will be able to seek trip advances, get trip itineraries pre-approved by management, do trip bookings and even file trip expenses digitally. This solution will be equally useful from Company's management, as it will help to manage employee cards online - from loading and withdrawing funds from cards, activating and deactivating cards, setting card limits and view travel spend analytics. This solution holds special significance in context of a report published by Forrester Research (an American market research company) which highlighted that Indian business travel is on the rise and T&E expense still remains the second most difficult operating expense to control in an organisation.

Frances McDormand has won the best actress award at the 90th Academy Awards 2018 for her performance as a grieving mother in movie"Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri", at the award ceremony held at Hollywood's Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on March 5. It is the second time McDormand has picked up the best actress statuette, following a 1996 win for her performance in Fargo. Beside her, Gary Oldman won the Oscar for the Best actor for portraying the role of former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in the period drama in movie 'Darkest Hour'. Allison Janney took home the coveted Best Supporting Actress award for 'I, Tonya', while Sam Rockwell won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.

Myanmar has indefinitely deferred signing agreement with India to streamline the free movement of people within 16 km along the open border between two countries. It has cited domestic compulsions and has asked for more time for the agreement to be sealed. Background India and Myanmar share 1,643 km unfenced border along four states viz. Arunachal Pradesh (520 km), Nagaland (215 km), Manipur (398 km) and Mizoram (510 km) and permit free movement regime. To give it shape, Central Government had asked four border states with Myanmar to distribute"border pass" to all the residents living within 16 km. The agreement will facilitate movement of people on basis of valid passports and visas which will enhance economic and social interaction between two places.

In terms of military prowess, India has ranked 4th out of 133 countries on the Global Firepower (GFP) list 2017. India at 4th rank, trails behind only US, Russia and China. India and China's high rank can be largely attributed to a sizeable number of armed personnel, which is the most important ranking parameter. With 4207250 total armed personnel, India is ahead of China, which has 3712500 total armed personnel. However, China has 2260000 active troops as compared to India's 1362500. Besides, in terms of defence budget allocation, China is much ahead of India. China's defence budget allocation is over three times higher as compared to India. When compared with Pakistan (13th Rank), India is superior on all parameters except the number of attack helicopters, self-propelled artillery and waterway coverage.