News Burger - Your Weekly Prep Diet - Week #1 (March)

This week's News Burger is:

1. Railways To Install Sanitary Pad Dispensers:
   Railway Minister Piyush Goyal has announced that sanitary pad dispensers and incinerators will be installed at 200 railway stations on International Women's Day, 8th March.
   A pack of sanitary pads will cost only Rs. 22.
   Note - Bhopal Railway Station became India's first Railway station to install sanitary pad dispensers. The machine is called 'Happy Nari' and these are installed currently at New Delhi railway station as well.
   In May 2017, Kerala became the first state to install sanitary napkin dispensers in government schools.
2. Central Government Sanctions Money For Schemes To Get Rid Of Delhi Pollution:
   The government has sanctioned Rs. 1200 crore, says Amitabh Kant, CEO NITI Aayog.
   What causes the Delhi pollution issue every year? 
   a) The farmers of Delhi's neighbouring states, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, burn close to 35 million tonnes of crops. They burn the paddy straws after harvesting to make way for the wheat crops. Although stubble burning is banned, farmers do not adhere to it since they do not have the required money to buy the necessary equipment to bury the paddy straws.
   b) Farmers claim that most of Delhi's pollution is due to industrial pollution. A study by IIT Kanpur suggests that the farmers may be right. However, anything from 12-60% of Delhi's pollution is still due to crop burning.
   c) Waste is openly burnt in Delhi's residential areas. Diesel generators contribute to around 15% of Delhi's pollution.
   Note - Internationally, China and Belgium have faced severe pollution issues. Recently, Brussels has announced that its citizens will be given free public transportation on days of high pollution. The government has also launched an app that allows citizens to check the pollution levels.
3. India Wins 11 Medals At Strandja Memorial Boxing Tournament:
   The tournament was held in Bulgaria's capital city, Sofia. Boxer Vikas Krishnan was awarded a gold medal and the title of the best boxer of the event. Mary Kom was also amongst the medallists. Five men and six women, in total, won medals at the tournament.
4. India Is The World's Fastest Growing Economy:
   India's GDP grew by 7.2% in the third quarter, as compared to China's 6.8% growth.
5. Aircel Files For Bankruptcy:
   Aircel faces a debt of over Rs. 15,000 crores. Currently, the majority of the company's shares are owned by a Malaysian company Maxis, which bought the company from its founder C Sivasankaran in 2005.
6. Navjot Kaur wins 65kg Asian Gold:
   The victory is a historic one, as Navjot is the first Indian woman to win a gold medal at the Senior Asian Wrestling Championship. This is her 2nd final after 2013, where she crashed out and came in second.
   In related news: Vinesh Phogat won the Silver medal in the Asian Wrestling Championship.
7. All Female Marathon Held In Saudi Arabia:
   This is the first in the state's history that 1500 women ran the 3-kilometre marathon titled 'Al-Ahsa Runs'.
   Note - Saudi Arabia is gradually reforming itself to become more women-friendly. In January, it allowed its female citizens to spectate football matches. In February, it allowed its women join the Saudi Arabian Military in security roles. They also lifted the ban on driving for women in September 2017, which will take effect from June this year.
8. India Win Snooker Team World Cup:
   India defeated Pakistan in the IBSF Snooker Team World Cup that was held in Doha. The Indian team consisted of Pankaj Advani and Manan Chandra.
9. World Wildlife Day Celebrated:
   World Wildlife Day was celebrated on the 3rd of March. The theme for the celebrations was "Big Cats: Predators Under Threat".
   In its 68th session in 2013, in the CITES convention, the UN announced March 3 as World Wildlife Day to raise awareness of endangered flora and fauna across the globe.
   CITES stands for The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. It is an agreement between 183 countries to protect the flora and fauna of the planet.
   In related news: Only 13% of tiger conservation areas in the world meet the global standards required for effective management endangered species.
10. Defence Expo (DefExp 2018) To Be Organized In Chennai:
    The event will be held from 11th to 14th April 2018. For the first time, India will demonstrate its indigenously developed military strength and defence manufacturing capabilities.
11. The Shape of Water Wins Best Picture Award:
    Director: Guillermo del Toro
    Note - The Oscars of 2018 celebrated representation of women and promotion of gender equality. This comes after the Harvey Weinstein sexual harassment scandal, where Hollywood actresses came out against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, accusing him of sexually harassing them.
12.  Indian Shooter Wins Gold At ISSF World Cup:
    16-year-old Manu Bhaker won the 10 metre Air Pistol event in her ISSF (International Shooting Sport Federation) World Cup debut. She also won the mixed team event along with Om Prakash Mitharwal. The event was held in Guadalajara, Mexico.
    In related news: Shahzar Rizvi set a world record in 10-metre air pistol event and won the gold medal, beating Olympic champion Christian Reitz.
13. German Chancellor Angela Merkel Secures 4th Term In Power:
    Merkel will be declared as the German Chancellor in Parliament on the 14th of March.
    In related news: Germany to get a government after the longest gap in the country's history.
14. Central Government Approves Rs. 2900 Crores for Women's Safety:
    The money will be divided between Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, and Lucknow.
    The money is a part of the Nirbhaya fund which was set up in 2013 and has been sanctioned for a duration of 3 years.
15. International Olympic Committee Restores Russia's Membership:
    Russia was banned from the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics of 2018, due to state-sponsored doping in which 168 Russian athletes found themselves banned to compete in the event held in South Korea. After a re-test for doping, the IOC has reinstated Russia as a member.
16. Police Come Up With App To Detect Criminals:
    Madurai Police have come up with "Cop's Eye", a facial recognition app that will help the Police to quickly identify over 2000 criminals in the city. This is a much faster process than matching records using fingerprints, which is a very time-consuming process.
    In related news - The Chinese Police have come up with and are using Facial Recognition Glasses for surveillance and detecting potential criminals.
17. Andhra Pradesh To Have All-Women's Railway Station:
    Andhra Pradesh's Guntur-Narsaraopet line in Phirangipuram will be the country's third all-women railway station.
    Earlier, Jaipur Gandhinagar Station and Mumbai's Matunga station were converted to an all-women railway station.
    Matunga station entered the Limca Book of World Records in January 2018 for this achievement.

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