1.
French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in New
Delhi for a 4-day visit to India. He was received at the
airport by PM Modi. Mr. Macron was accompanied by his wife Brigitte Marie-Claude
Macron, besides senior ministers from his Cabinet.
2.
The visit aimed at strengthening the bilateral
economic, political and strategic dimension of engagement between the two
countries.
3.
The biggest agenda of the vist was the first
Summit of the International Solar Alliance which was jointly launched by the
French President and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi.
4.
Prime
Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron jointly inaugurated
Uttar
5.
Pradesh's largest 75-megawatt solar power plant
in the Mirzapur district. They also visited Deen Dayal Hastkala Sankul - a
trade facilitation centre in Varanasi.
6.
From
the Manduadih railway station, both of them flagged off the Varanasi-Patna
intercity train.
7.
During
the visit, Mr Macron announced an additional investment of 700 million euros
for global solar energy generation by 2022 to reduce the use of fossil fuel and
help combat climate change.
8.
The
President took part in a Knowledge Summit in Delhi which was attended by more
than 200 academicians from both sides.
9.
During
Macron's visit, a total of 14 Agreements were signed between India & France
which are given below:
10. Agreement
between India and France on the Prevention of Illicit Consumption and Reduction
of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs, Psychotropic Substances and Chemical
Precursors and Related Offences.
11. India-France
Migration and Mobility Partnership Agreement.
12. Agreement
between India and France to facilitate Mutual Recognition of Academic
Qualifications.
13. Memorandum
of Understanding between Ministry of Railways and SNCF Motilities, France on
technical cooperation in the field of Railways.
14. Letter
of Intent between India and France for creation of a permanent Indo-French
Railways Forum.
15. Agreement
between India and France regarding the provision of reciprocal logistics
support between their Armed Forces.
16. Memorandum
of Understanding (MoU) between India and France on cooperation in the field of
Environment Agreement between India and France on cooperation in the field of
Sustainable Urban Development Agreement between India and France regarding the
exchange and reciprocal protection of classified or protected information
17. Implementing
Arrangement between Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Central
National D’EtudesSpatiales (CNES)
for pre-formulation studies of a Maritime Awareness Mission
18. Industrial
Way Forward Agreement between Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd, and EDF,
France
19. Bilateral
Arrangement between India and France on cooperation in the matter of
Hydrography and Maritime Cartography
20. Credit
Facility Agreement between India and France of Euros 100 million for funding of
the Smart City Projects through a Challenge Process.
21.
Memorandum of Understanding between National
Institute of Solar Energy (NISE), Ministry of New & Renewable Energy and
the National Solar Energy Institute (INES), France.
·
Important Points about the UP's largest
solar plant
1.
The plant has been built at a cost of around Rs.
500 crores by French firm ENGIE.
2.
The 100 MW solar plant has come up at Dadar
Kalan village on the hilly terrain of the Vindhyas range
3.
The solar plant will generate 15.6 crore units
of electricity annually, which is about 1.30 crore units per month.
·
Angela Merkel Elected To 4th Term as
German Chancellor
1.
Germany’s
Parliament elected Angela Merkel for her fourth term as chancellor,
putting an
2.
end
to nearly six months of political drift in Europe’s biggest
economy.
3.
Lawmakers voted 364-315 to re-elect Merkel, Germany’s leader
since 2005, who ran unopposed.
·
Vladimir Putin Wins Historic 4th Term as
Russian President
1.
Russian President Vladimir Putin stormed to
victory in presidential election, giving him another six years in power.
2.
Putin, who has ruled Russia for almost two
decades, won more than 75% of the vote according to preliminary results.
·
Bidya Devi Bhandari Re-Elected as Nepal
President
1. Nepal’s first woman President Bidya Devi Bhandari was re-elected
for a second term in office with an overwhelming
majority. Incumbent
President Bhandari, the Left
alliance’s candidate, was elected with more than a two-thirds majority
as she defeated her Nepali Congress (NC) rival Kumari Laxmi Rai in the
presidential election.
·
President Xi Jinping Becomes China's
Leader for Life
1.
President
Xi Jinping Becomes China's Leader for Life Parliament Abolishes Presidential Term-Limi Parliament
has abolished the decades-old two-term limit for the President, allowing Xi
Jinping to remain as the country's leader for life.
2.
The constitutional changes were passed in
Beijing by the annual sitting of the National People's Congress - the country's
legislature - with the two-thirds majority. Of the 2,964 delegates, only two
voted against the change, while three abstained.
·
Biplab
Deb Takes Oath as Tripura Chief Minister
1.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Indigenous
People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT) alliance ended the 25year uninterrupted rule
of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM)-led Left Front in Tripura.
2.
The BJP and IPFT together bagged 43 seats. The elections
in 59 seats in the 60-member assembly were held on 18 February.
3.
BJP with a tally of 35 seats secured majority on
its own while its alliance partner, the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura
(IPFT) captured eight seats, according to Election Commission (EC).
4. Biplab
Kumar Deb was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Tripura's first Bharatiya
Janata Party government in Agartala. He has replaced Manik Sarkar. Jishnu Deb
Burman took oath as the Deputy CM of the State.
·
Neiphiu
Rio appointed as Nagaland CM
1.
Neiphiu Rio, chief of Nationalist Democratic
People's Party (NDPP), took oath as the Chief Minister of Nagaland at its
capital Kohima. He became the first Nagaland leader to take oath outside Raj
Bhavan.
2.
The BJP's Y Patton also took oath as the state's
deputy chief minister.
3.
Before the Nagaland assembly elections, the NDPP
and the BJP had entered into an alliance. They together won 30 seats in this
election and formed the government with the support of one JD(U) legislator and
an Independent.
4. Their
alliance will be called "People's Democratic Alliance". This will be
Neiphiu Rio's fourth time as the Chief Minister of Nagaland.
·
Conrad
Sangma Takes Oath As New CM Of Meghalaya
1.
National People’s Party President Conrad Sangma
takes oath as the Chief Minister of Meghalaya.
2.
Mr Sangma was invited by Governor Ganga Prasad
to form the government after he staked the claim with the support of 34 MLAs in
60-member Assembly.
3.
A number of regional parties with the support of
the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) outsmarted the Congress, which had emerged as
the single largest party in recently concluded polls in the race for government
formation in Meghalaya.
IMPORTANT LINKS MARCH 2018
