Current Affairs 20th March 2018

Current Affairs 20th March 2018 - Important Points

• Commemorative coins on Nabakalebar festival released by - President
• Russia Elections 2018: Putin wins historic fourth term on - 18th March 2018
• Indo-French Naval exercise Varuna 2018 begins on - 19th March 2018
• Jnanpith awardee Kedarnath Singh passed away on - 19th March 2018
• Airbnb inks four MoUs for promotion of tourism in -  North-East

Current Affairs 20th March 2018 - Details

Commemorative coins on Nabakalebar festival released by - President

President Ram Nath Kovind has issued Rupees 1,000 and Rupees 10 memorial coins on the eve of Nabakalebar festival at a function organised in Puri, Odisha. These coins were issue to spot the festival which is a symbolic regeneration of sibling divinities including Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra and Devi
Subhadra.
More about Nabakalebara Festival

• Nabakalebara festival is a prehistoric ceremony that is celebrated in the Shree Jagannath Temple at Puri, Odisha at predefined-time as per the Hindu Calendar.
• Naba known as new and Kalebara means body. In this festival, the statues of Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra and Sudarshan are substituted by new statues as it is thought that Lord Shree Jagannath adorns fresh body during Nabakalebara.
• It is frequently celebrated in every 12-19 years grounded on the promising 2 months of Ashadha in a year known as Purusottam month according to the Hindu calendar.

Russia Elections 2018: Putin wins historic fourth term on - 18th March 2018

Vladimir Putin, voyaged through another significant victory by winning a 4th term in Russia’s Presidential elections on March 18th, 2018.
Putin already has governed Russia for almost 2 decades, recorded his greatest election performance with 76.67% of the vote in the initial results. The huge mandate provides Putin another 6 years of power. The leader disallowed the opportunity of staying in power indefinitely.
Meanwhile, the opposition complaining ballot-stuffing and other cases of suspected fraud as the Kremlin strapped for a great turnout to provide greater legality to Putin's historic 4th term.
Key Highlights

• The 2018 elections noticed Putin rising against 7 other applicants to retain his sought-after position.
• As per to the central election commission information, with 99.8% of ballots calculated, Putin got 76.67% of the vote, well ahead of his closest competitor Pavel Grudinin of the Communist Party, who got about 11.79% of the vote, which is the lowermost ever for the Communist Party.
• Other titles in the presidential race included that of Vladimir Zhirinovsky of the LDPR party, who got about 5.66% of the votes, Ksenia Sobchak got 1.67% votes and politician Grigory Yavlinsky got only about 1% of the votes.
• Putin’s toughest vocal-critic and competitor Alexei Navalny was banned from elections due to an earlier corruption conviction, though his followers and worldwide observers claim that the conviction was politically driven.
• The victory has stretched Putin’s power until minimum 2024. He is even now, Russia's longest-serving leader since Stalin.
  Significance
• Present year’s victory has patent a rise in Putin’s portion of votes from 2012 when he secured 64% of the votes.
• Putin has imprinted his total authority on the world's largest nation, since 1st being nominated president in 2000.

Indo-French Naval exercise Varuna 2018 begins on - 19th March 2018

The 1st stage of Indo-French joint naval workout Varuna 2018 started on March 19th , 2018 at the Mormugao Port Trust in Vasco da Gama, Goa.  The workout is being organised in the Arabian Sea, off the Goa coast. 
Key Highlights of Varuna 2018

• French submarine and frigate Jean de Vienne and Indian destroyer Indian Naval Services Mumbai and frigate Trikand with their important helicopters will be taking part in the workout.
• Moreover, Indian submarine Kalvari, P8-1 and Dornier Maritime Patrol Plane and a Mig 29K fighter plane will also be taking part in the workout. 
• The 1st stage of the workout will accomplish on March 24 th , 2018.
• The 2nd and 3rd stages of the workout will be organised at the Chennai coast in April 2018 and in La Reunion Island in May 2018, correspondingly.
• Both the nations will actively discover extra measures to simplify operational level communications between their respective armed forces, during the workout.
   
  Did you know?
• With the formation of strategic partnership in 1998, there has been important progress in bilateral relationships of India and France, consisting naval workouts among India and France.
• The Indian Navy and the French Navy have been organising naval workouts since 1983. These workouts were inaugurated as Varuna in 2001.

Jnanpith awardee Kedarnath Singh passed away on - 19th March 2018

Renowned Hindi poet and Jnanpith award winner Kedarnath Singh expired on March 19th, 2018 in New Delhi after a long-illness. He was 84 years old.  Kedarnath Singh was among India’s most well-known modern Hindi poets, above and beyond being an novelist and a eminent critic.
More about Kedarnath Singh

• Kedarnath was born on July 7 th , 1934 in Chakia village of Ballia district in eastern UP.
• He did his Masters of Arts and Ph.D from Kashi Hindu Vishwavidyalaya. 
• He served as a Professor and HOD of Hindi Language at JNU’s Indian Languages Centre. 
• He was well-known for his modest writing style, which was frequently encouraged by daily life objects.
• His works comprise assemblies of poems including Baagh Zameen Pak Rahi Hai&Yahan se DekhoTolstoy aur Cycle Abhi Bilkul Abhi. 
• Few of his famed essays and stories are Hindi Kavita Mein Bimb Vidhan Kalpana aur Chhayavad Mere Samay ke Shabd and Kabristan Mein Panchayat.
• He earned the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1989 for his poetry gathering Akaal Mein Saras and the Jnanpith Award in 2013.

Airbnb inks four MoUs for promotion of tourism in -  North-East

Online market place and hospitality facility provider Airbnb has engaged four Memorandum of Understandings to boost India’s North-East tourism. The Memorandum of Understandings were inked under guidance of Ministry of Development of North East Region. They were contracted on behalf of North Eastern Council, North East Rural Livelihood Project, North Eastern Region Community Resource Management Project and North East Tourism Development Council.
Key Points

• The Memorandum of Understandings focuses at creating hospitality small-businesspersons across
  important destinations in North-East India. They search for influence community resources and suitable local resources-based technology for progress. Under Memorandum of Understandings, NEC, NETDC and Airbnb had decided to increase tourism in North-East India through Airbnb’s global platform.
• They will also upgrade quality of homestay provisions and unique assets in NER and provide and
  encourage outstanding tourism resources. They will also coordinate to upgrade regulatory environment for home-sharing in North-East.
• They will also focus to produce technology-enabled living openings in tourism and hospitality for micro-businesspersons in North-East India and to assist below-income families monetize their present assets through home-sharing facilities.
• Under these contracts, Airbnb will afford training to central teams of North East Rural Livelihood Project and North Eastern Region Community Resource Management Project, which will further train present and potential hosts on home-sharing, accountable hosting, hospitality values, hygiene and basic facilities.