Daily Current Affairs : 18th March 2020 |Daily GK update Quiz

Exp.The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has given its approval to a proposal of the Haryana Government to rename Amin village in Kurukshetra district to Abhimanyupur.

Exp.Iraqi President Barham Salih on 17th March appointed Adnan al-Zurfi as the prime minister-designate who will form an interim government.

Exp.Moody’s Investors Service on 17th March lowered India’s GDP growth forecast for 2020 calendar year to 5.3 per cent, on coronavirus implications on the economy. Moody’s had in February projected a 5.4 per cent real GDP growth for India in 2020. This too was a downgrade from 6.6 per cent earlier forecast. The 5.3 per cent real GDP growth forecast for 2020 compares to 5.3 per cent growth estimate for 2019 and 7.4 per cent achieved in 2018.  Moody’s forecast a 5.8 per cent growth rate for India in 2021.

Exp.S&P Global Ratings on 18th March lowered India’s economic growth forecast to 5.2 per cent for 2020, saying the global economy is entering a recession amid the coronavirus pandemic. The agency had earlier projected a growth rate of 5.7 per cent during the 2020 calendar. “We lower our forecasts for China, India, and Japan for 2020 to 2.9 per cent, 5.2 per cent and -1.2 per cent (from 4.8 per cent, 5.7 per cent, and -0.4 per cent previously),” S&P said.

Exp.Google has turned to tech industry veteran Karan Bajwa to drive its cloud business in the country, appointing him managing director of Google Cloud India.

Exp.Prachi Salve of IndiaSpend and Pradeep Dwivedi of DainikJagran jointly won the top prize in the Road Safety Media Fellowship 2019. The award recognized their contribution towards reporting on road safety by the Centre for Media Studies (CMS).

Exp.Veteran Marathi actor Jairam Kulkarni passed away on March 17 in Pune due to age-related issues. He was 88. The actor, known for films like Prem Deewane (1992), Zunz Tukhe Majhi (1992) and De Denandan (1987) will be cremated today at the Vaikunth Crematorium.

Exp.Every year, 18 March is celebrated as the Ordnance Factory Day in India. OFB is the world’s largest government-operated production organisation, and the oldest organisation run by the Government of India. It has a total workforce of about 80,000.

Exp.Capital: Baghdad

Exp.Moody’s forecast a 5.8 per cent growth rate for India in 2021.