| 1. (IRSDC) is taking up redevelopment across the country. |
| A) Redevelopment of around 600 major Railway stations across the country is taking up by Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation Limited (IRSDC). |
| B) 26.03.2018 is the last date for submission of entries in this competition. |
| C) In this mega exercise, assistance and involvement of all stakeholders i.e. railway passengers, urban planners, architects, engineers is important. |
| D) An idea competition for development of 635 stations on Indian Railways, ‘SRIJAN’ (Station Rejuvenation Initiative through Joint ActioN), towards this objective of stakeholders’ consultation, has been launched at MyGov portal since 26.01.2018. |
| E) The winners will get certificates and worthy ideas will be incorporated in the designs. |
| 2. In 15 cities intermodal stations to come up. |
| A) Detailed pre-feasibility studies for setting up Intermodal Stations at Nagpur and Varanasi, and the development of DPRs for this is in final stages of completion has conducted by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). |
| B) For development of IMS fifteen cities across the country have been prioritized of which Nagpur and Varanasi have been selected as pilot projects. |
| C) Intermodal Stations are terminal infrastructure which integrate various transportation modes like rail, road, mass rapid transit system, bus rapid transit, inland waterways, auto-rickshaws, taxis and private vehicles etc, so that people can move from one mode to another seamlessly, with minimum use of automobiles. |
| 3. MoU with IORA signed by CSIR. |
| A) With the Regional Center for Science and Technology Transfer (RCSTT) of Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), a MOU signed by Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) for designating Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Lucknow (CSIR-CIMAP) as Coordinating Center on Medicinal Plants. |
| B) Prof. Anil Kumar Tripathi, Director CSIR-CIMAP and Dr. A. Sedrpousan, Director, IORA-RCSTT signed the MOU. The Indian delegation was led by Dr. Girish Sahni, DG, CSIR and Secretary, DSIR. |
| C) The 31st Khwarizmi International Award Ceremony which was addressed by H.E. Dr. Hassan Rouhani, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran also attended by the delegation. |
| D) The IORA Center at CSIR-CIMAP will establish a database on the important medicinal plants, their value added products, related experts and industries of the IORA member states and organize meetings and training programmes to promote trade, commerce and scientific exchanges to complement the strength and limitation of the member states. |
| 4. Seventh meeting of Eminent Persons Group (EPG) on Nepal-India relations |
| A) In Kathmandu, the seventh meeting of Eminent Persons Group (EPG) on Nepal-India relations has concluded. Including 1950 Peace and Friendship treaty, trade, environment, border and hydropower, various bilateral issues were discussed during two-day meeting. |
| 5. In FY17, Bihar is national topper. |
| A) According to the latest Economic Survey tabled in the state Assembly, Bihar clocked a growth rate of 10.3 per cent in 2016-2017 as against 7.5 per cent in the corresponding fiscal a year ago. |
| B) The 12th Economic Survey of Bihar said, Bihar’s growth rate is higher than that of the national average of 7.0 per cent. |
| C) The state has consistently been revenue surplus, which increased from Rs 5,101 crore in 2012-13 to Rs 10,819 crore in 2016-17. |
| 6. 9500 NBFCs categorised as “high risk”. |
| A) About 9,500 non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) in the country has categorised by the government as “high risk” prone as they had not complied with a stipulated provision of the anti-money laundering law. |
| B) By the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) that functions under the Union Finance Ministry, a list of 9,491 “high risk financial institutions” has been published. |
| 7. Australia’s new deputy PM – Michael McCormack. |
| A) As Australia’s new deputy prime minister, a former regional newspaper editor, Michael McCormack, has been chosen. |
| B) He replaces Barnaby Joyce as leader of the Nationals, the governing coalition’s junior partner. |
| C) After holding the post for two years, Mr Joyce resigned over his affair with a former staffer. |
| 8. At Gymnastics World Cup Aruna wins Bronze. |
| A) At the Gymnastics World Cup in Melbourne by securing bronze in the women’s vault, Aruna Budda Reddy became the first Indian gymnast to clinch an individual medal. |
| B) Behind gold medallist Tjasa Kysslef of Slovania and Emily Whitehead of Australia who took silver, Reddy, 22, scored 13.649 to finish. |
| C) The other Indian woman in contention, Pranati Nayak finished sixth with a score of 13.416. |
| 9. TSR Subramanian dies at 79. |
| A) At the age of 79 former cabinet secretary TSR Subramanian has passed away, said officials. |
| B) From August 1, 1996, to March 31, 1998, Mr Subramanian was the cabinet secretary. |
| C) Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of State (MoS) for Personnel Jitendra Singh and other senior IAS officers have condoled his death. |
- At IIT Chennai government to set up of a National Technology Centre for Ports, Waterways and Coasts (NTCPWC).
A) It will be set up under Shipping Ministry’s flagship Sagarmala programme.
B) It is being set up at cost ofRs 70.53 crore to be shared by Ministry of Shipping, IWAI and Major Ports.
C) It will become self-sustainable in three years through industry consultancy projects for Indian and global port and maritime sector. - Gobar Dhan Scheme to launch by government.
A) To roll out Galvanizing Organic Bio-Agro ResourcesDhan(GOBAR-DHAN) scheme going to launch by the Union Government.
B) It was first announced by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley during his 2018-19 budget speech.
C) The scheme focuses on managing and converting cattle dung and solid waste in farms to useful compost, biogas and bio-CNG.
D) It will also help in keeping the village clean while increasing income of farmers and cattle herders.
12. In Hyderabad the 21st National Conference on e-Governance was held.
A) This year, theme of the conference was‘Technology for accelerating Development’.
B) It was organised by Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG), along with Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeITY) in association with