Today's GK Update: 3rd March 2018

Important Dates

1. World Wildlife Day being observed today

• The World Wildlife Day has been observed across the world on 3rd March 2018 with the theme “Big cats: predators under threat"
• The day is celebrated and implemented by the Secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), in collaboration with other relevant United Nations organizations.

Note:

• The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on 20th December 2013 proclaimed 3rd March as the World Wildlife Day.

National Affairs

2. Centre approves Rs 2900 crore to make cities safer for women

• The Women and Child Development Ministry have approved projects worth over Rs 2,900 crore under the Nirbhaya fund for eight major cities to make them safer for women.
• These cities are Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Lucknow.

Banking & Finance

3. SBI hikes lending rate to 8.15%

• The State Bank of India (SBI) raised its lending rates by 20 basis points to 8. 15%, with immediate effect, likely to make home and car loans costlier.
• This is the first lending revision by the bank since April 2016 and comes a day after it massively raised the retail and bulk deposit rates.
• The bank raised its retail and bulk term deposit rates for various maturities by up to 75 basis points.
• The six-month MCLR has been raised by 10 basis points to 8%, while the three-year loan pricing goes up by 25 basis points to 8.35%.

4. Public sector banks to consolidate 35 overseas operations

• The union govt. has asked Public Sector Banks (PSBs) to consolidate 35 overseas operations.
• According to the Financial Services Secretary Rajiv Kumar, 69 overseas operations have also been identified for further examination.
• The move comes in the wake of the recent Punjab National Bank scam in which Nirav Modi allegedly cheated the bank in connivance with PNB staff and officials of overseas branches of other state-owned banks.

International Affairs

5. 'India by the Nile' festival to begin next week in Egypt

• The mega annual cultural festival 'India by the Nile' will begin in Cairo next week with the main focus on classical culture this year.
• The 12-day festival will provide audiences an Indian cultural experience and encourages artistic collaborations between India and Egypt.
• The festival, which is organized by the Embassy of India in Egypt and the Maulana Azad Centre for Indian Culture in collaboration with entertainment company Teamwork Arts.

6. Armen Sarkisian elected next Armenian President

• Armenian lawmakers elected Armen Sarkisian as the new president of Armenia (in April 2018).
• He will succeed Serzh Sarkisian.
• The political shift comes after President Sarkisian in 2015 initiated controversial constitutional amendments to turn the impoverished Moscow-allied country into a parliamentary republic with a powerful Prime Minister.

Honors & Awards

7. Shatrughan Sinha wins lifetime achievement award in the UK

• Indian film actor turned politician Shatrughan Sinha has been honored with a lifetime achievement award for his contribution to the fields of arts and politics.
• The annual Political and Public Life Awards instituted by Britain's Asian Voice weekly newspaper was presented at a ceremony in the UK's Parliament complex in London.
• Sinha has to his credit over 225 Hindi feature films besides several in other Indian languages.

Sports

8. Tokyo 2020 Olympics mascots unveiled

• According to the organizing committee of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, the two futuristic figures, inspired by anime, have been chosen as mascots following voting by thousands of Japanese children.
• The mascots are aimed at boosting children's participation in the Games.
• The mascots were designed by Japanese illustrator Ryo Taniguchi, who designs characters for language teaching books and companies.

Note:

• Mascots are an important and popular element of Japanese modern culture, with both private and public enterprises using them to promote their products.

9. Navjot Kaur clinches India's first gold in Asian Wrestling Championships

• Navjot Kaur has become the first Indian woman to win a Gold medal at the Senior Asian Wrestling Championships.
• She clinched the Gold medal in the 65 kg freestyle category at the tournament being held at Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan.
• Navjot defeated Japan's Miya Imai, 9-1.
• Rio Olympics Bronze medallist Sakshi Malik won a bronze in the 62 kg division after getting the better of Kazakhstan's Ayaulym Kassymova, 10-7.

10. 27th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup Hockey tournament begins in Ipoh

• Today, the 27th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup Hockey tournament begins in the Malaysian city of Ipoh.
• Six nations (India, hosts Malaysia, defending champions England, Australia, Argentina, and Ireland) are taking part in the tournament.
• India will take on world number two Argentina in their opening round-robin match.

Note:

• The Sultan Azlan Shah Cup is an annual international men's field hockey tournament held in Malaysia.
• The tournament became an annual event after 1998, following its growth and popularity.
• The tournament is named after the ninth Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King) of Malaysia, Sultan Azlan Shah, an avid fan of field hockey.