Current Affairs-GK 20 March, 2016

Web portal launched for allocation and monitoring of coal resources

• Another move in making transparent governance, Union minister of state (IC) for power, coal new and renewable energy launched the web portal for distribution of coal by state distribution agencies. 
• Motivates states for paperless communication digitizing all the information. It will save time and energy of govt organizations.

Prove majority by March 28: U'khand Governor to Rawat

• Uttarakhand Governor KK Paul asked Chief Minister Harish Rawat to prove his majority in the Assembly by March 28.
• Meanwhile, the Congress has expelled rebel MLA Harak Singh Rawat for his alleged anti-party activities. 
• The BJP Opposition had earlier proposed to form the government after nine Congress MLAs switched sides.

Delhi saves 229 MW power in global Earth Hour initiative

• Delhi saved around 229 MW of power in the global Earth Hour initiative aimed at energy conservation. In a statement, power major BSES said, this is more than last year’s 200 MW.
• BSES had, earlier, appealed to its over 37 lakh customers to unequivocally support the event and voluntarily switch off non-essential electrical appliances for an hour.

TCS named official tech partner for London Marathon

• India’s leading IT services provider Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) announced a partnership with the Virgin Money London Marathon for three year
• Now TCS will become the race’s Official Technology Partner for 2016, 2017 and 2018 events.

Indian develops mind-controlled wheelchair

• New Delhi-based robotics researcher Diwakar Vaish has developed a mind-controlled wheelchair for paralytic patients priced at  2 lakh.
• The wheelchair uses brain signals of the user to control its speed and sends an alert in case of any risk.
• Further, a user can immediately stop the wheelchair during an emergency by blinking.

Angry Birds character “Red” is UN ambassador for climate change

• Secretary General Ban Ki-moon named Red, the starring animated character in the soon to be released “The Angry birds Movie” as an honorary UN ambassador to encourage young people to go “green” and step up action to tackle climate change.

US, Philippines sign 10-year security agreement

• The United States and the Philippines announced a new 10-year security pact to allow a rotating US military presence at five bases on the Philippines islands.
• The US Ambassador to the Philippines said the movement of personnel and supplies to the bases will start "very soon". This comes amid growing concerns with China in the South China sea.

 DLF Mall of India wins `Best Retail Project of the Year` award

• DLF Mall of India (Noida) has won the award for ‘Best Retail Project of the Year – 2015’ at CNBC Awaaz Real Estate Awards held in Mumbai.
• Mall of India launched the first phase of the mall in Mid- December 2015 with over 180 brands opening their doors to the customers.
• DLF Limited also received the most prestigious awards for Developer of the Decade for DLF Ltd. and Project of the decade for DLF Cyber City, Gurgaon.

Yogeshwar Dutt Qualified for Rio 2016 Olympics

• India wrestling star Yogeshwar Dutt has qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympics in the 65 kg weight category in freestyle category.
• In the road to the final at the Asian Qualifying tournament, Yogeshwar defeated Ju Song Kim 8-1 and then in the quarter-finals the Indian wrestler defeated Xuan Dinh Nguyen of Vietnam by fall.