5 march

1. WORLD WILDLIFE DAY

• Every year March 3 is celebrated as World Wildlife Day to raise awareness about our Planet’s flora
and fauna.

• The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and

Flora (CITES) was finalized on March 3 and the day has been celebrated as World Wildlife Day since
2014.

• Theme of the year: “Big cats — predators under threat."

• CITES is an international agreement between the governments of 183 countries to protect wild plants
and animals and ensure their survival.

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)

• It is also known as Washington Convention

• It is a multilateral Treaty

• Participation is voluntary

• It is legally binding on the Parties, but it does not take the place of national laws.

• Opened for sign: 1973

• Parties: 182

• Aims to protect endangered plants and animals.

• Its aim is to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten
the survival of the species in the wild, and it accords varying degrees of protection to more than 35,000
species of animals and plants.

• It classifies plants and animals according to three categories based on how much threatened the
species are.
 2. ENERGY MANAGEMENT CENTER

The Energy Management Centre (EMC), an autonomous institution under the Kerala government, has
grabbed the global spotlight for its energy-positive campus.

• The ‘Global Status Report 2017: Towards a zero-emission, efficient, and resilient buildings and
construction sector,’ published by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP)

• EMC campus as one of the recent achievements in the deployment of key technologies for energy-
efficiency in buildings.

• The EMC’s energy-positive campus was designed to allow natural cross-flow ventilation from building
forms and openings.

• The EMC campus was built with assistance from Global Environment Fund (GEF).

• Building-related carbon emissions have been rising by around 1% per year since 2010, and more than
four million deaths are attributable to illness from household air pollution.

• The EMC campus is the only LEED Gold certified building in the government sector in Kerala and is built
with assistance from the Global Environment Fund.

 GEF serves as financial mechanism for:

• Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)

• United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)

• UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)

• Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)

• Minamata Convention on Mercury

 3. KUTHIYOTTAM RITUAL

• The Kerala State Commission for the Protection of Child Rights has registered a suo motto case in
connection with the Kuthiyottam ritual.

• The commission said it would examine if the ritual, reportedly involving piercing children’s sides with a
hook, violated child rights in any manner.

• The Kuthiyottam ritual is usually performed every year during the Pongala festival at the Attukal
Bhagavathy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.

• The Attukal Pongala festival is the largest congregation of women for a festival in the World.

• Pongala, which means ‘to boil over’, is a ritual in which women prepare a pudding made from rice,
jaggery, coconut and plantains cooked together, and offer it to the goddess.

• The ritual can only be performed by women.

• Nearly 1,000 young boys undertake a seven-day penance before Pongala day.

• The boys have to observe strict discipline and stay inside the temple for seven days.

• The rigors include sleeping on the floor, strict diet restrictions, and bathing three times a day.

• The ritual also reportedly involves piercing the child’s side with a small hook and knotting a thread
through it to symbolize their bond with the Goddess.

4. Danger Islands:

• Scientists have announced the discovery of a previously unknown “super colony” of more than
1,500,000 Adélie Penguins in the Danger Islands, a chain of remote, rocky islands off of the Antarctic
Peninsula’s northern tip.

5. World’s largest solar park Shakti Sthala launched in Karnataka:

• The Karnataka government recently inaugurated the world’s largest solar park, Shakti Sthala.

• It is located in Tumkur district, about 180km from Bengaluru.

• It has a capacity of 2,000 MW.

 6 MARCH
1. Global Centre for Nuclear Energy Partnership (GCNEP)

• India and Vietnam have signed a MoU on Cooperation between the Global Centre for Nuclear Energy
Partnership (GCNEP) and the Vietnam Atomic Energy Institute (VINATOM).

• The two countries had signed a civil nuclear cooperation agreement in 2016 and the MoU will enhance
training and research collaboration possibilities.

• Global Centre for Nuclear Energy Partnership (GCNEP) is located near Bahadurgarh in Haryana.

• GCNEP is the sixth R&D unit under the aegis of Department of Atomic Energy (DAE).

• GCNEP will help in capacity building, in association with the interested countries and the IAEA,
involving technology, human resource development, education & training and giving a momentum to
R&D in enlisted areas.

2. Namaste Shalom

• The government has launched the social media of “Namaste Shalom”, a magazine devoted to India-
Israel relations.

• It is a regular monthly magazine on bilateral relations between the two friendly nations.

• The magazine aims to strengthen India-Israel relations and provide a platform for exchanging views
between Indians and Jews the world over.

3. DEFEXPO INDIA 2018

• Defexpo India 2018 – an international land, naval and internal homeland security systems exhibition –
is being held in Chennai.

• It will brand India as a defence exporter of several defence systems and components for all three
Services – Army, Navy and Air Force.

• This is the tenth edition of the exhibition.

• It is the first time that the defence expo is going to be held in Chennai.
 4. Panel to study issues in Fintech space

• The Centre has set up a steering committee to go into various issues relating to Fintech space in India.

• The committee will be headed by Subhash Chandra Garg, Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs.

• The committee will work with government agencies such as UIDAI to explore creation and use of
unique enterprise identification number.

• It will also look into the possibility of international co-operation opportunities in Fintech with countries
such as Singapore, the U.K., China and others.

• The committee will consider means of using data with GSTN and data residing with information
utilities such as credit information companies (CICs)

• Others in open domain with a view to developing applications for financing of micro, small and
medium enterprises (MSMEs).

• The idea is to facilitate ease of doing business in the Fintech sector.

What is Fintech?

• Fintech or financial technology is the industry known for championing software and technology in the
financial sector.

• A very broad term, it includes anything from a bank ATM, to software used to help spot manipulation
of securities markets.

5. National Virtual Library of India (NVLI)

• NVLI will be an online platform covering fields, ranging from arts, music, dance, culture, theatre,
science and technology to education, archaeology, literature, museums, cartography maps, e-papers,
and manuscripts, among others

• This programme is a part of the National Mission on Libraries initiated by the National Knowledge
Commission under the Ministry of Culture.

• The project is being spearheaded by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC)

• Other partnering institutions for this project include IIT-Mumbai, Indira Gandhi National Open
University (IGNOU), Raja Ram Mohan Roy Library Foundation, Kolkata, and Kalyani University, West
Bengal.

• Once formally launched, this could be one of the world’s largest virtual libraries where information on
such diverse subjects is available.
 7 MARCH
1. Swadesh Darshan

•It is to develop theme-based tourist circuits on the principles of high tourist value, competitiveness
and sustainability in an integrated manner to enrich tourist experience and enhance employment
opportunities.

•Under the scheme, thirteen thematic circuits have been identified, for development -North-East India
Circuit, Buddhist Circuit, Himalayan Circuit, Coastal Circuit, Krishna Circuit, Desert Circuit, Tribal Circuit,
Eco Circuit, Wildlife Circuit, Rural Circuit, Spiritual Circuit, Ramayana Circuit and Heritage Circuit.

Eco-Circuits Projects’ –Swadesh Darshan Scheme

•Tourism Ministry has sanctioned Rs. 460.74 Crore for Five Ongoing ‘Eco Circuit’ Projects.

•Eco Circuit is one of the thematic circuits identified for development under Swadesh Darshan Scheme.

•The five eco circuit projects are in the states of Uttrakhand, Mizoram, Kerala, Telegana and Madhya
Pradesh.

•The completion of the projects sanctioned under the scheme would result in increased tourist in flow
thereby creating employment opportunities for the local community.

•The Swadesh Darshan Scheme (Central Sector Scheme) was launched by Ministry of Tourism (MoT) –
for integrated development of theme based tourist circuits in the country.

2. Decline in Child Labor

•Context Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Amendment Rules, 2017

•To provide an enforcement mechanism an online portal PENCIL (Platform for Effective Enforcement of
No Child Labour) has been launched by the Ministry of Labour & Employment.

•PENCIL (Platform for Effective Enforcement for No Child Labour) is an electronic platform for no child
labour developed by the Labour Ministry.

•The portal creates a robust implementing and monitoring mechanism for enforcement of the legislative
provisions of National Child Labour Policy (NCLP).

•Since the subject of labour is in the concurrent list, the enforcement of the policy depends on
respective state governments.
 3. National Mission for Manuscript

•National Mission for Manuscripts (NMM) is engaged in documentation of Indian manuscripts.

•A manuscript is a handwritten composition on paper, bark, cloth, metal, palm leaf or any other
material dating back at least seventy-five years that has significant scientific, historical or aesthetic
value.

•NMM was established by the Ministry of Tourism and Culture, Government of India.

•The Mission has the mandate of identifying, documenting, conserving and making accessible the
manuscript heritage of India.

•NMM is working towards fulfilling its motto, ‘conserving the past for the future’.

4. Premium Tag for Coffee grown in Araku Valley

•Coffee board has applied for registration of Araku coffee under Geographical indications act

•Protect the unique identity of the coffee grown by the tribal communities

•Araku valley in Visakhapatnam district of Andhra Pradesh.

•It is a valley in the Eastern Ghats.

•Perform the DIMSA and MAYUR dances during the itika pongal, the popular hunting festival in the
month of April.

5. Saposhi–A New Malware

•Cyber security agencies have detected a new malware called Saposhi, which is capable of taking over
electronic devices and turning them into ‘bots’.

•Once turned into bots they can be used for purpose such as a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS)
attack.

Malware
•In 2017, CERT had issued an alert about Reaper.

•Reaper is a highly evolved malware capable of hacking devices like Wi-Fi routers and security cameras
and also hiding its own presence in the bot —a device taken over by a malware.

•Miraiis also a malware that used a botnet of 5 lakh devices to crash the servers of Dyn, a leading
domain name service provider, affecting services of popular websites like Twitter, Netflix and Reddit.
 6. Comprehensive Telecom Development Plan for the North-Eastern Region(NER)

•This project will provide 2G mobile coverage in identified uncovered areas of the North-eastern Region

•It will provide 2G seamless mobile coverage along National Highways in the NER and ensure reliability
of the transmission network at State capitals and district headquarters in the NER.

•It will be funded by the Universal Service Obligation Fund.

 8 MARCH & 9 MARCH
1. Swatantra Sainik Samman Yojana (SSSY)

•The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister has approved the continuation of Swatantra Sainik
Samman Yojana (SSSY) during 2017-2020 beyond the 12th Five Year Plan.

•In 1969, Government of India introduced the 'Ex-Andaman Political Prisoners Pension Scheme'.

•This Scheme was to honor the freedom fighters who had been incarcerated in the Cellular Jail at Port
Blair.

•After that the 'Swatantrata Sainik Samman Pension Scheme, 1980' was started.

•From 2017-18 onwards, the nomenclature of the Scheme has been changed as 'Swatantrata Sainik
Samman Yojana'.

•Besides the freedom fighters, spouses (widows/widowers), unmarried and unemployed daughters and
parents of deceased freedom fighters are eligible for pension under the scheme.

•The scheme is implemented by the Division of Freedom Fighters and Rehabilitation under the Ministry
of Home Affairs.

2. Pritzker Prize

•Balkrishna Doshi became the first Indian to receive the Pritzker Prize also dubbed as ‘architecture
Nobel’.

•The international Pritzker prize is awarded each year to a living architect/s for significant achievement.

•It was established by the Pritzker family of Chicago through their Hyatt Foundation in 1979.

•Balkrishna Doshi is a pioneer of low-cost housing design, committed to sustainable architecture that
brought modernist design to a country rooted in traditionalism.
 3. Parker Solar Probe

•Parker Solar Probe is a historic mission, as it is flying into the sun's atmosphere (or corona) for the first
time.

•The corona is the outermost part of the sun's atmosphere that is unstable, producing the solar wind,
flares

•In 2017, NASA renamed the spacecraft from the Solar Probe Plus to the Parker Solar Probe in honor of
astrophysicist Eugene Parker.

•Trace the flow of energy that heats and accelerates the solar corona and solar wind.

4. Microfiber Pollution

•Microfibers are tiny threads shed from fabric that have been found in abundance on shorelines where
waste water is released.

•Microfibers are too small to be caught in conventional filters, so they eventually pass through sewage
plants, wash out to waterways, and can be eaten or absorbed by marine animals.

•Synthetic microfibers are particularly dangerous because they have the potential to poison the food
chain.

•The fibers’ size also allows them to be readily consumed by fish and other wildlife.

5. National E-Mobility programme

•The government has launched the National E-Mobility Programme.

•The Programme aims to provide an impetus to the entire e-mobility ecosystem including vehicle
manufacturers, charging infrastructure companies, fleet operators, service providers, etc.

•The Programme will be implemented by Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) which will aggregate
demand by procuring electric vehicles in bulk to get economies of scale.

•Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL) will issue a fresh tender for additional 10,000 e-vehicles.

•These electric vehicles will replace the existing fleet of petrol and diesel vehicles.
 6. NariShakti Puraskar 2017
•Why in News: NariShakti Puraskars 2017 were presented to 30 women by the President on the eve of
International Women’s Day.

•NariShakti Puraskars:

•To acknowledge Women’s achievements, the Government of India confers NariShakti Puraskars on
eminent women and institutions in recognition of their service towards the cause of women
empowerment.

•The NariShakti Awards were initiated in the year 1999.

•The Ministry of Women and Child Development announces these national level awards for eminent
women, organisations and institutions.

•The NariShakti Puraskar carries a cash award of Rs.1 Lakh and a certificate for individuals and
institutions.

7. IMPRINT-II

•In a major boost for research and innovation in the country,

•the Central Government has sanctioned a sum of Rs. 1000 Crore for the phase two of the Impacting
Research Innovation and Technology (IMPRINT) India programme.

•Under the IMPRINT-II, a fund is being created by the Department of Science and Technology and
Ministry of Human Resource Development together

•10 Focus areas are: Health care, information and communication technology, energy, sustainable
habitat, Nano-technology hardware, water resources and river systems, advanced materials,
manufacturing, security and defence, and environmental science and climate change.

•Contribution will also come from industry and other interested Ministries.

•The initiative, ‘IMPRINT India’, is a pan-IIT and IISc joint collaboration to develop a blueprint for
research of immediate relevance to society requiring innovation
 10 MARCH
1. SUVIDHA

•The government has launched ‘Suvidha’, the 100% Oxo-biodegradable Sanitary Napkin, under the
Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP).

•The affordable sanitary napkin will be available for Rs. 2.50 per pad at over 3200 Janaushadhi Kendras
across India.

•This is a step taken by the Department of Pharmaceuticals.

•Oxo-biodegradable product is made by blending a pro-degrading additive into it that causes

breakdown by oxidation when exposed to heat or sunlight.

•The material will eventually be in a state where it can be digested by microorganisms.

•It would ensure ‘Swachhta, Swasthya and Suvidha’ for the underprivileged women of India.

Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP) Kendras

•Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana’ is a campaign launched by the Department of

Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers.

•The objective of this scheme is to provide quality medicines at affordable prices to the masses through
special Kendra’s known as Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Jan Aushadhi Kendra.

•Kendra shave been set up to provide generic drugs

•Bureau of Pharma Public Sector Undertakings of India has been established under the Department of
Pharmaceuticals, for co-coordinating procurement, supply and marketing of generic drugs through
PMBJK.

•Earlier, only medicines manufactured by Central Public Sector Undertakings (CPSU) were being supplied
to Kendra. Later medicines which the CPSU’s not able to supply are being made from private
manufacturers.
 2. I –Metros

•I –Metros’ -an association of all Indian Metro Rail companies has been launched.

•“I-Metros” is proposed to be a platform to provide a forum for exchange of ideas, pooling of

knowledge and sharing of experience, best practices, innovations etc. among the Indian Metro rail
companies to nurture excellence in performance.

•This society will be registered under Society Registration Act-1860.

•The objective of forming this association is to provide a common platform for all Metro rail companies
for sharing experience, information, best practices, innovations etc.

3. Chindu Bhagavatham

•Chindu Bhagavatham is an art form dating back to second century BC.

•It is popular in the Telengana.

•Chinduis derived from the artistes’ caste -Chindu Madiga

•The Chindu Bhagavatham is also called Chindu Yakshaganam, as it is similar to Yakshaganam of

Karnataka.

•The Chindu artistes lead a nomadic life.

4. Rydberg polarons

•An international team of physicists have successfully created a “giant atom” and filled it with ordinary
atoms,

•creating a new state of matter termed “Rydberg polarons”.

•These atoms are held together by a weak bond and are created at very cold temperatures.
 12 MARCH
1. Multilateral Air Exercise ‘Samvedna’

•A Multilateral Air Force exercise, ‘Ex Samvedna’, is being spearheaded by Indian Air Force.

•‘Samvedna’ means ‘Empathy’ and it will ensure better understanding and sharing of response
procedures between a numbers of friendly neighboring nations.

•It is the first composite Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) Air exercise in the South
Asian region.

•The focus is on practicing Air Force centric HADR solutions in a Multi-national cooperative Disaster
Management environment.

•Air Forces of Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, UAE and Myanmar had committed resources and personnel for
the exercise.

2. Diu becomes the first and only Union Territory to be 100% solar energy efficient

•Diu has become the first and only Union Territory to be fully solar energy efficient.

•In the last three years, Diu has made expeditious progress in the field of solar power generation as it
has become the first UT in the country where more than 100% of the energy requirement is met by solar
power.

3. Asiatic Lion

•The Asiatic lion (Panthera Leo Leo) is a lion population in Gujarat, India, which is listed as Endangered
on the IUCN Red List

•Five protected areas currently exist to protect the Asian lion:

1. Gir Sanctuary,

2 .Gir National Park

3. Pania Sanctuary

4. Mitiyala

5. Girnar

•The lions face the usual threats of poaching and habitat fragmentation.
 4. ‘Safe and Nutritious Food’ (SNF)

•Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has undertaken several initiatives under ‘Safe
and Nutritious Food’ (SNF) for citizen guidance and behavioral change viz:

•The SNF portal serves as online resource Centre containing information pertaining to this initiative.

•Resource materials, interactive guides on understanding food safety and nutrition are developed by
FSSAI.