March 18, 2019

18th March 2019 Daily Current Affairs - PDF Download

Daily Current Affairs of 18th March 2019

International Current Affairs

Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi have been hit by "Idai", a vicious cyclone that has killed nearly 150 people, left hundreds more missing and stranded tens of thousands.

According to the UN and government officials, Idai Cyclone has affected more than 1.5 million people in the three southern African countries.

India has decided to divert three Indian naval ships to the port city of Beira in Mozambique to provide humanitarian assistance to the people affected by tropical cyclone ‘IDAI’.

The ships will provide relief materials in the form of food, clothes and medicines.

Note : In 2017, India had provided 10 million dollars to Mozambique for food grains after the country suffered food shortage due to natural calamities.

National Current Affairs

The Election Commission today issued a notification for the 1st phase of Lok Sabha polls.

91 Parliamentary constituencies spread over 20 states and Union Territories will go to polls in this phase.

Last date for withdrawal of nomination papers : 28th March.
For the first phase of elections, polling will be held on 11th April 2019.
Elections will be held for all 25 Lok Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh, and 17 in Telangana in the first phase.
Among other constituencies going to polls in this phase are : 8 in Uttar Pradesh; 5 in Uttarakhand; 4 in Bihar; 7 in Maharashtra; 5 in Assam; 4 in Odisha; 2 each in Jammu and Kashmir, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and West Bengal; and one each in Chhattisgarh, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, Sikkim, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep.
Election Commission also issued the Notification for all 32 Assembly seats in Sikkim, 60 constituencies in Arunachal Pradesh and Assembly elections for all the 175 Assembly constituencies of Andhra Pradesh. 28 Assembly constituencies in Odisha will go to the polls in Phase 1.
The counting of votes will be taken up on 23rd of May after the completion of all phases of polling.

Banking, Business & Economic Affairs

Two of Germany's largest lenders, Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank have begun government-backed discussions on a potential merger.

The banks have been unable to restore their revenue growth after deep cuts to their investment banking units.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has prohibited India's largest mortgage lender HDFC from owning more than the regulatory limit in Bandhan Bank.

HDFC, which will merge its low-cost arm Gruh Finance with Bandhan Bank, can hold 9.9% in the bank, the maximum a non-banking finance company can own in a private bank. HDFC had sought approval to hold 14.96%.

The Jammu and Kashmir Bank today announced that it will sell its 5% stake in PNB MetLife India to Oman India Joint Investment Fund II for ₹185 crore.

The transaction is subject to approval from the IRDAI (Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority).
Note : PNB MetLife is a joint venture between MetLife International Holdings, PNB, J&K Bank, M Pallonji and Company and other private investors.

SBI, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank continue to be in the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)’s list of Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-SIBs) for 2018.

Note : D-SIBs are required to maintain higher capital as compared to other banks.

A London court today issued an arrest warrant against fugitive Nirav Modi, who is accused in ₹13,000-crore PNB fraud case.

MOUs & Agreements

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and her Maldivian counterpart Abdullah Shahid signed 3 MOUs. They are :

Agreement on Exemption from Visa Requirement for Holders of Diplomatic and Official Passports;
MOU regarding Indian Grant Assistance for Implementation of High Impact Community Development Projects through Local Bodies;
MOU on Collaboration in the Field of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

Deaths

Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar (63) passed away, a year after being diagnosed with a pancreatic ailment.

Parrikar had first become Goa CM in 2000 and had also served as Defence Minister of India from 2014 to 2017.

Sports Current Affairs

Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas beat his world champion teammate Lewis Hamilton to clinch the season-opening Australian Formula One Grand Prix today.
Indian shuttler Sai Praneeth won the silver medal at the Swiss Open after losing to world number two and top-seeded Chinese shuttler Shi Yuqi.

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