MARCH MONTHLY CURRENT AFFAIRS 2022

MARCH MONTHLY CURRENT AFFAIRS 2022: Monthly Current Affairs are very important for every competitive exam and as we all know, in the upcoming months, many government exams.

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• World Wildlife Day celebrated on March 3; theme: “Recovering key species for ecosystem restoration”
• World Hearing Day observed on March 3; theme: “To hear for life, listen with care”
• ISSF World Cup in Cairo: India’s Shri Nivetha, Esha Singh and Ruchita Vinerkar win gold medal in women’s 10m air pistol team event.
• Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Bhupender Yadav delivers national statement on the 50th session of United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in Nairobi
•  Govt. to send four ministers to neighboring nations of Ukraine to bring back stranded Indians: External Affairs Ministry
• AP CM Jagan Mohan Reddy formally dedicates INS Visakhapatnam to the City of Destiny
• National Science Day celebrated on Feb 28; theme: ‘Integrated Approach in Science and Technology for Sustainable Future’
• National Science Day celebrated to commemorate the discovery of the ‘Raman effect’ by physicist Sir CV Raman on February 28, 1928
• Janaushadhi Diwas week to be observed from March 1 to 7; theme: “Jan Aushadhi-Jan Upyogi”
• Ministry of Women & Child Development to celebrate International Women’s Day Week from March 1 to 8
• MoS for Education Annpurna Devi presents National ICT Awards to 49 teachers
• India’s GDP growth slows to 4% in 3rd quarter (Oct-Dec) of 2021-22
• India and Japan renew bilateral swap arrangement of $75 billion
• Madhabi Puri Buch appointed first woman Chairperson of SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) for a term of three years
• Former Finance Secretary Hasmukh Adhia nominated again as Chairman of state-owned Bank of Baroda (BoB) for two-year term starting March 1
• 13th International Conference cum Awards on Civil Aviation Cargo held in New Delhi
• India abstains from UNSC procedural vote to call for emergency General Assembly session on Ukraine

• Ukraine crisis: US, European Union cut few Russian banks from SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication)
• Russia, Ukraine hold peace talks in Belarus; immediate ceasefire on agenda
• Ukraine: Russian forces destroy An-225 Mriya, the world’s biggest cargo plane, near Kiev allows manufacture and import of machine-made polyester national flags by amending the 2002 Flag Code of India
• India ranked 120th on 17 Sustainable Development Goals, says State of India’s Environment Report 2022 of Centre for Science and Environment
• ‘भविष्यो रक्षति रक्षित’ announced as new motto of NCPCR (National Commission for Protection of Child Rights) by Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani
• State-run Punjab National Bank (PNB) to clear cheques of Rs 10 lakh & above after customer confirmation from Apr 4

• Turkey’s Ilker Ayci turns down Tata Group’s offer to be CEO & MD of Air India
• India ranked third in billionaire population globally in 2021 behind US and China, says property consultant Knight Frank
• UNAIDS observes Zero Discrimination Day on March 1; theme: “Remove laws that harm, createlaws that empower”

• Nepal’s Parliament approves $500 million S. government aid program Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC)
• US expels 12 members of Russia’s UN mission for ‘espionage activities’
• Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) releases report titled ‘Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability’; provides detailed assessment of climate change impacts, risks and adaptation in cities
• 28th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards presented in US; ‘Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role’ won by Will Smith for ‘King Richard’
• ISSF World Cup in Cairo: Saurabh Chaudhary wins gold in men’s 10m air pistol event
• World Taekwondo strips Vladimir Putin of black belt over Ukraine invasion
• Centre approves proposal for continuation of seven existing sub schemes under Umbrella Scheme

Relief and Rehabilitation of Migrants and Repatriates for the period 2021-22 to 2025-26 with a total outlay of Rs. 1,452 crores

• Meeting of 19th edition of India-US Military Cooperation Group held in Agra
• Field assessment of Swachh Survekshan 2022 launched by Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs
• MP creates Guinness Record in Ujjain city by lighting 21 lakh lamps as a part of Maha Shivratri celebrations on March 1
• Bollywood film critic, writer Jaiprakash Chouksey dies in Indore (MP) at 82
• Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman launches e-Bill processing system on 46th Civil Accounts Day to bring broader transparency and expedite process of payments
• Chennai-based medical devices maker Trivitron Healthcare acquires US-based the Kennedy Company
• RBI cancels licence of Sarjeraodada Naik Shirala Sahakari Bank, Sangli, Maharashtra
• NASSCOM, Microsoft announce 2nd ‘AI Gamechangers’ awards to boost AI (artificial intelligence) adoption
• Google, MeitY to help 100 Indian startups build high-quality apps for world

• US space agency NASA launches Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-T (GOES-T)

for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

• Strasbourg, France-based European Parliament votes in favour of Ukraine’s application for EU membership
• EU bans seven Russian banks from SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication); exempts two to continue importing Russian oil & gas
• World Bank announces over 1 billion in humanitarian aid for Afghanistan
• Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia calls on PM of Romania Nicolae Ciucă in Bucharest
• Netflix acquires Stranger Things game maker Next Games for $72 mn
• Tourism Ministry starts Swadesh Darshan awards in different categories; invites entries from States, UTs
• QUAD Leaders’ virtual meeting held; participants: PM Modi, US President Joe Biden, PM of Australia Scott Morrison and PM of Japan Fumio Kishida
• Khaitan family members resign from top positions in Eveready Industries following an acquisition bid from Burman group
• Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) to create a joint venture with S.-listed Sanmina Corp for making electronic products in Chennai
• Japan’s chipmaker Renesas Electronics Corp to partner with Tata Elxsi to set up EV (electric vehicle) design centre in Bengaluru
• Area Office & Innovation Centre of International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to be set up at New Delhi
• Defence Ministry organising defence exhibition, DefExpo 2022, at Gandhinagar in Gujarat from March 10 to 14
• UN General Assembly adopts resolution demanding Russia withdraw from Ukraine; 141 out of 193 countries voted in favour while 5 voted against; India among the 35 countries which abstained
• Ukraine: Russian forces seize control of port city of Kherson
• UNEA (United Nations Environment Assembly) session held in Nairobi from February 28 to March 2 calls for legally binding treaty to tackle plastic pollution
• Second convoy of India’s humanitarian assistance carrying 2000 MTs of wheat dispatched to Afghanistan
• Former Army Chief Gen Sunith Francis Rodrigues dies at 88 in Panaji, Goa
• Senior advocate Aman Lekhi resigns from the post of Additional Solicitor General of India
• Indigenous anti-collision system ‘Kavach’ to avoid rail accidents successfully tested by Indian Railways
• India’s foreign exchange reserves declined by USD 425 billion to USD 631.527 billion for the week ended February 25
• Defence Ministry postpones DefExpo 2022; was to be held from March 10 to 14 at Gandhinagar, Gujarat
• Government approves scheme – Modernisation Plan-IV for Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) with total financial outlay of 1,523 crore to be implemented by Ministry of Home Affairs.
• Road ministry issues new rules on road accident reporting for quick settlement of claims by the Motor Accident Claim Tribunal (MACT)
• UNHRC votes for formation of commission of inquiry to monitor alleged human rights violations by Russian army in Ukraine; India among 13 countries that abstained
• Russian forces seize Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant – Europe’s largest – in Ukraine’s southeast
• Pakistan: 57 killed in Shia Mosque blast in Peshawar
• Former Indian Cricket Team captain and coach Ravi Shastri launches cricket academy ‘Coaching Beyond’ in Hyderabad
• Former Australian wicketkeeper Rod March dies at 74; 343 catches & 12 stumpings in 96 tests in 1971-84
• Former Australian spin bowler Shane Warne dies at 52; took 708 wickets in 145 tests in 1992-2007
• Medical students returning from Ukraine can complete remaining part of internship in India: National Medical Commission
• India’s first indigenous flying trainer HANSA-NG completes sea-level trials; designed by CSIR- National Aerospace Laboratories
• Indian Navy test fires extended-range land attack Brahmos supersonic cruise missile from stealth destroyer INS Chennai
• Arunoday Sharma from Himachal Pradesh awarded ‘Dr Bindeshwar Pathak Sulabh International Sanitation and Human Rights Prize for Excellence’ by Sulabh International
• IAF postpones Exercise Vayu Shakti that was to begin on March 7 at Pokhran range in Jaisalmer
• Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman lays foundation stone for National Academy of Customs, – Indirect Taxes & Narcotics at Palasamudram in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh
• Financial Action Task Force (FATF) keeps Pakistan in Grey List; asks Islamabad to do more to probe and prosecute terrorists
• Russia declares ceasefire in Ukrainian cities of Mariupol and Volnovakha to let civilians evacuate
• Afghan journalist Zahra Joya among 12 named as Time’s Women of the Year for 2022
• India wins Davis Cup World Group I tie against Denmark in New Delhi
• PM inaugurates 12 km stretch of 2 km Pune metro rail project
• PM unveils statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj at premises of Pune Municipal Corporation
• 5 BSF personnel killed as colleague opens fire at camp in Amritsar
• Ministry of Culture in collaboration with Sulabh International organises ‘Swacchagraha: celebrating Swachhta and Swadhinta’ in New Delhi
• Ravichandran Ashwin surpasses Kapil Dev’s 434 wickets in his 85th test, becomes India’s 2nd

highest wicket taker in tests behind Anil Kumble (619)

• India (574/8 declared) beat Sri Lanka (174 & 178) by an innings and 222 runs inside 3 days in first Test at Mohali
• Mithali Raj becomes first woman cricketer to appear at 6 Cricket World Cups
• India (244/7 in 50) defeat Pakistan (137/10 in 43) by 107 runs in their opening match of the 2022 ICC Women’s World Cup at Mount Maunganui (New Zealand)

• PM Modi speaks to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy; seeks continued support in

evacuation of Indians from Sumy

• Prasar Bharati signs MoU with Yupp TV, an over-the-top (OTT) platform, to expand reach of Doordarshan (DD India) around the world
• Indo-Pacific Military Health Exchange conference being co-hosted by India’s Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS) and US Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM) from March 7 to 10
• Ninth edition of SLINEX (Sri Lanka–India Naval Exercise) being held at Visakhapatnam from March 7 to 10

• Government approves continuation of Swatantrata Sainik Samman Yojana (SSSY) pension scheme

for freedom fighters for Financial Years 2021-22 to 2025-26

• Govt launches Donate-a-Pension programme; an initiative under the Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maandhan (PM-SYM) pension scheme
• Labour and Employment Minister Bhupender Yadav launches e SHRAM on the UMANG app; e- Shram portal is for registration of informal sector workers
• Union Minister for MSME, Narayan Rane launches Special Entrepreneurship Promotion Drive for Women – “SAMARTH” on the occasion of International Women’s Day 2022
• CBI arrests former NSE MD Chitra Ramkrishna in a case registered in May 2018
• Bharti Airtel, Axis Bank launch Airtel Axis Bank Credit Card
• Palestine: India’s representative at Ramallah Mukul Arya found dead in embassy
• China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi calls Russia Beijing’s “most important strategic partner”
• Rafiq Tarar, Pakistan’s ex-President and Supreme Court judge, dies at 92
• Poet Sonia Sanchez wins Edward MacDowell Medal, a lifetime achievement honour in US
• ISSF World Cup in Cairo: Indian win gold in women’s 25-metre sports pistol team event
• President confers Nari Shakti Puraskar 2020 and 2021 on 29 women achievers on International Women’s Day: March 8
• Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar announces ‘Sushma Swaraj Award’ for women
• CM Manohar Lal Khattar ‘Haryana Matrushakti Udyamita Scheme to provide support to women for becoming
• Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya and CM Ashok Gehlot lay foundation stone for two New Medical Colleges in Alwar and Nagaur, Rajasthan
• TEC, DoT launches Skill Development training program on Telecom testing (EMI/EMC) for girl students from rural areas
• Petascale Supercomputer “PARAM Ganga” established at IIT Roorkee under National Supercomputing Mission
• Regular international flights to resume on March 27 after a two-year gap

• RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das launches UPI (Unified Payments Interface) service for feature

phone users

• Union Power Minister K. Singh launches Virtual Smart Grid Knowledge Center and Innovation Park
• Government eMarketplace (GeM) launches ‘Stitching and Tailoring Services’ in partnership with USHA International Ltd through its Silai School Programme
• Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog join hands with Snap Inc to drive Augmented Reality skilling

amongst Indian youth

• NFDC (National Film Development Corporation) launches virtual training programme for hundred women scriptwriters in partnership with streaming platform Netflix

• International Women’s Day observed on March 8; theme: “Gender equality today for a sustainable

tomorrow”

• ISSF (International Shooting Sport Federation) World Cup 2022 in Cairo: India top medal tally with 4 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze
• PM Modi holds telephonic conversation with his Hungary’s PM Viktor Orban
• NEET UG exam: Upper age limit removed by National Medical Commission
• Australian Army Chief Lt Gen Richard Maxwell Burr lays wreath at National War Memorial in New Delhi
• Cabinet approves MoU signed between ICMR and Oxford University for capacity building for Indian scientists
• Union Cabinet approves MoU signed between ICMR, NIAID and National Institute of Health of Department of Health and Human Services, USA
• DCGI grants emergency use authorisation to Serum Institute of India’s COVID-19 vaccine Covovax for 12-17 years age group
• WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine (WHO GCTM) to be set up in Jamnagar, Gujarat
• MoU finalised for implementation of BBIN (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and Nepal) Motor Vehicles Agreement for the regulation of vehicular traffic between the 4 nations

• to set up National Land Monetization Corporation for undertaking monetization of surplus

land and building assets of Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) and other government agencies

• Cabinet approves Amendment of the Second Schedule to the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 for specifying rate of royalty in respect of certain minerals
• SEBI hikes investment limit for payments through UPI mechanism for retail investors buying debt securities in public issues to ₹5 lakh from ₹2 lakh at present
• India and Canada to hold 5th Ministerial Dialogue on Trade and Investment (MDTI)

• Global death toll inflicted by coronavirus pandemic crosses 6 million: World Health Organization

(WHO)

• Russia exempts tax on gold purchases to encourage citizens to dump dollars
• Twitter introduces ‘Creator Dashboard’ tool to manage earnings on platform
• Sweden’s Armand Duplantis breaks his own world record in men’s pole vault, clearing 19m in Belgrade
• Jamshedpur FC win League Winner’s Shield football tournament by finishing the season on top at 43 points
• Punjab Assembly results (117/117): Aam Aadmi Party-92, Congress-18
• Uttarakhand Assembly results (65/70): Ruling BJP-45, Congress-18

• Goa Assembly results (40/40): Ruling BJP-20, Congress-11
• Manipur Assembly results (56/60): Ruling BJP-32
• Minister of State for Culture, Arjun Ram Meghwal inaugurates Sahityotsav, the Festival of Letters of Sahitya Akademi, in New Delhi
• Indian Railways to resume providing linen, blankets inside trains
• Former finance secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey appointed as Chairman of National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA) for a period of three years
• Labour Minister Bhupendra Yadav releases book ‘Role of Labour in India’s Development’; published by V. Giri National Labour Institute
• Bureau of Indian Standards signs MoU with IIT Roorkee for establishment of ‘BIS Standardization Chair Professor’
• India and World Bank sign $125 million Loan to support access to Social Protection Services in West Bengal
• NMDC conducts e-auction of 8,337 carats rough diamonds from Panna mines of MP

• Yoon Suk Yeol of opposition People Power party elected new President of South Korea
• International Day of Women Judges observed by UN on March 10

• SC appoints ex-judge Justice K. Sikri as chairperson of the High-Powered Committee (HPC) that

will report on the impact of the Chardham project on the entire Himalayan valley

• India accidentally fired missile into Pakistan on March 9, govt orders probe
• Country’s foreign exchange reserves increased by USD 394 million to USD 92 billion in the week ended March 4
• Former bureaucrat Debasish Panda appointed as Chairman of IRDAI (Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India)
• RBI bars Paytm Payments Bank from acquiring customers, calls for IT audit
• Consumers can get unhallmarked jewellery tested at Assaying and Hallmarking Centres
• India and Canada hold fifth Ministerial Dialogue on Trade and Investment in New Delhi; co-chaired by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion and International Trade of Canada Mary Ng

• 15th round of China-India Corps Commander Level Meeting held at Chushul-Moldo border
• Chief Justice of India V. Ramana lays foundation stone for Hyderabad Arbitration Centre
• Delhi: 7 dead after fire breaks out in Gokulpuri area; 60 huts gutted in fire
• Satish Dhawan Centre for Space Sciences inaugurated at Central University of Jammu by Union Minister Jitendra Singh
• Union Home Minister Amit Shah flags off ‘Dandi Cycle Yatra’ from Ahmedabad on the 92nd anniversary of Dandi March
• PM Modi inaugurates 11th Khel Mahakumbh in Ahmedabad
• PM Modi inaugurates building of Rashtriya Raksha University in Gandhinagar

• Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri launches ‘India Water Pitch-Pilot-Scale Start-up Challenge’

• 1% announced as EPFO interest rate for 2021-2022 by Minister for Labour & Employment and

Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Bhupender Yadav

• RBI lifts all restrictions on HDFC Bank’s new digital launches that were imposed in Dec 2020
• Draft Notification issued for Registration and Functions of Vehicle Scrapping Facility
• Department of Pharmaceuticals releases Approach paper on ‘Draft National Medical Devices Policy 2022’ for consultation
• War in Ukraine will hurt poor nations importing grain, says FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu

• Ayush Minister Sarbanand Sonowal inaugurates Yoga Mahotsav 2022

• Flight on Indore-Gondia (Maharashtra)-Hyderabad route started by Fly Big under Regional

Connectivity Scheme UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik)

• NSE, IBJA (India Bullion and Jewellers Association) tie up to set up bullion spot exchange
• Ranjit Rath selected as new CMD of PSU Oil India Ltd
• Economic Times Startup Awards presented in Bengaluru in 9 categories
• Union Minister for Communications, Electronics & Information Technology and Railways, Ashwini Vaishnaw inaugurates seminar on “25 Years of TRAI Act: The Way Forward for Stakeholders (Telecom, Broadcasting, IT, AERA and Aadhaar)”
• Tech Mahindra to buy Mumbai-based Thirdware for $42 mn
• State Bank of India (SBI) managing director Ashwani Bhatia as a whole-time member (WTM) of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)
• Russian missile attack on Ukrainian military facility 25 kms from Polish border kills 35
• India decides to temporarily relocate embassy from Ukraine to Poland
• Sri Lanka: National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) of India & Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) to jointly set up solar power plant in Trincomalee
• ‘Wrist Assured’, autobiography of former cricketer R. Viswanath (6080 runs in 91 tests), released
• Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC), Dehradun to admit girls for the for the first time in its

100-year history from July

• Punjab CM-designate Bhagwant Mann resigns as Lok Sabha MP from Sangrur
• Urban unemployment rate at 7% in April-June 2021: Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS)
• Microfinance lenders cannot charge usurious interest rate: RBI
• Bank of Baroda and BNP Paribas form joint venture ‘Baroda BNP Paribas Mutual Fund’
• Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based inflation (retail) rises to 07% in February
• Wholesale price index (WPI)-based inflation rises to 11% in February
• HAL, Safran of France setting up Helicopter engines MRO facility in Goa

• HAL signs MoU with Bengaluru-based SASMOS to work together in aerospace domain
• Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) notifies 20% FDI in LIC under automatic route
• Best Film: ‘The Power of the Dog’
• Best Director: Jane Campion for ‘The Power of the Dog’
• Best Actor: Will Smith in ‘King Richard’
• Best Actress: Joanna Scanlan in ‘After Love’
• Best Original Screenplay: Paul Thomas Anderson for ‘Licorice Pizza’
• Pi Day celebrated on March 14; birthday of scientist Albert Einstein
• Actor William Hurt dies at 71 in US; won Academy Award (Oscar) for Best Actor for ‘Kiss of the Spider Woman’ (1985).
• India’s Prajnesh Gunneswaran loses to Fernando Verdasco of Spain in men’s singles final of $106,240 Challenger tennis in Monterrey (Mexico)
• Using the Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR) radio, more than a quarter of the northern sky has been mapped by astronomers from Durham University who collaborated with a team of international scientists for this project. This map provides an incredibly detailed radio image of over 4.4 million objects, as well as a very dynamic picture of our Universe.
• To create the map, scientists used state-of-the-art data processing techniques on high-performance computers all around Europe to process 3,500 hours of observations that took up 8 petabytes of disc space on nearly 20,000 laptops.
• This data release is only 27 percent of the survey and it has been anticipated by scientists that as a result of this release many more scientific breakthroughs in the future are expected such as how black holes form as well as evolve, how the largest structures in the Universe grow, detailing the most spectacular phases in the life of the stars in the Milky Way Galaxy and the physics governing the formation of stars in distant galaxies.
• The United Nations climate science panel, in a major report, warned that climate change is upon us and humanity is not prepared for it. The report noted that over half of the world’s population was already exposed to increasingly hazardous climate impacts and called for massive action.
• The report stated that by 2040, climate change is expected to make the world hungrier, sicker, far more hazardous, and poorer with an increase in hazards.
• According to the report, there is only a rapidly closing and narrow window of opportunity to secure a sustainable and liveable future for all.
• According to the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), if human-caused global warming is not limited, the Earth that is now regularly hit by deadly fires, heat, drought, and floods will degrade in 127 ways, some of which will be irreversible.
• Governments have been asked to cut carbon emissions. By 2050, with the rising of seas, billion people will face the risk of coastal flooding. People, animals, plants, economies, and ecosystems are all at risk, according to the report, with billions of people at risk and trillions of dollars in possible damages.
• Climate change is killing people with many people dying from diseases, heat waves, air pollution, extreme weather, and starvation.
• Even if global warming is limited to 1.5 degrees Celsius, human life, livelihoods, and safety across North America will be facing risk due to rising sea levels, severe hurricanes, and storms, especially in the coastal areas of the region.
• Some places will turn so hot that people won’t be able to work outside and it will be a big problem in the agricultural sector.
• Parts of South and Central America, Africa, and South Asia are the hot spots for the worst harm to ecosystems and people.
• The amount of land burned by wildfires globally will grow by 35 percent if the planet warms just nine- tenths of a degree Celsius from what it is now.
• The focus of this report was on how societies and nature are being harmed, as well as what they might do to adapt.
• The report highlights that places are becoming uninhabitable, people are being displaced from their homes, the disappearance of coral, the number of species dwindling, shrinking and rising of ice, and increasingly acidic and oxygen-depleted oceans.
• The children of today who might still be living in the year 2100 will face four times more climate extremes than what they are doing currently. According to the IPCC, if temperatures rise roughly 2 degrees Celsius from what it is now, they will experience five times as many storms, floods, heatwaves, and droughts.
• The report states that action is required to reduce rising temperatures and limit the effects of climate change on mental and physical health and well-being. Some of the expected consequences would be unavoidable, but early and significant action could help avoid the worst of them.
• IPCC is a United Nations intergovernmental group that works on advancing knowledge on climate change. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) established it in 1988, and the UN General Assembly later endorsed it. It has 195-member nations and is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.
• There are various types of extreme meteorological events that occur around the Earth. The rain bomb, A microburst is a small column of sinking air known as downdraft that forms within a thunderstorm and has a diameter of less than or equal to 2.5 miles. Microbursts can cause significant surface damage and can also be life-threatening. Wet microbursts and dry microbursts are the two main varieties of microbursts. Wet microbursts are accompanied by a lot of rain.
• It begins with the formation of a thunderstorm and the water droplets or hailstones suspended within the updraft. An updraft can sometimes be so strong that it suspends huge amounts of these hailstones and water droplets in the upper reaches of a thunderstorm.
• Cooling due to evaporation occurs and this causes a decrease of the updraft. Once this happens, the thunderstorm’s huge core of rain or hail will no longer be able to hold it. Thus, the core falls to the ground. It spreads out in all directions as soon as it strikes the ground. The area where the microburst initially hits the earth has the strongest winds and the most damage.
• Microbursts can have wind speeds of up to 100 mph, or even greater, which is the equivalent of an EF-1tornado. Winds this strong can destroy homes and other structures, as well as uproot trees.
• Thus, it becomes extremely life-threatening. Indian wushu player, Sadia Tariq, recently won the gold medal at a junior tournament which was held in Sadia Tariq is a 15-year-old wushu player from Srinagar. She won the gold in Moscow. She is also a two-time gold medallist in Junior National Wushu championship.
• Wushu Association of India’s technical committee shortlisted Sadia Tariq for Moscow Wushu Stars championship for the year, following her win in the Junior National Wushu championship. She had most recently secured the gold medal in 20th Junior National Wushu championship, that was held at Lovely Professional University, Jalandhar. The J&K Wushu team had overall secured 3rd in the Medal tally.
• Moscow Wushu Stars championship is the approved event in Annual Calendar Training and Competition of Sports Authority of India.
• WWC is an international sports championship, which is hosted by the International Wushu Federation (IWUF). The championship is hosted for the sports of wushu taolu and sanda (sanshou). It is held biennially since 1991. It also coincides with the IWUF Congress and various committee meetings.[1] It serves as the qualification event for Taolu World Cup and Sanda World Cup.
• Wushu is a hard, soft and complete martial art. It is also a full-contact sport. Wushu has a long history in reference to Chinese martial arts. It was developed in 1949, in order to standardize the practice of
• On February 27, 2022, Assam government decided to set up ‘Naamghars’ (Vaishnavite Monasteries) across the places where 15th-century saint and social reformer Srimanta Sankardeva Sankardeva spent at least one night during his journey from Batradava (Assam) to Cooch Behar (West Bengal).
• Assam government is also planning to introduce special bus service under ASTC, in order to cover those places for pilgrims.
• This announcement was made during 91st annual session of Srimanta Sankardeva Sangha at Naharkatia in Dibrugarh district.
• The government would provide Rs 6 crore per annum to Mahapurush Srimanta Sankardeva University, in a bid to meet salary expenses of its employees. It would fund Rs 1 crore, to set up a ‘Naamghar’ where open session is being held.
• Srimanta Sankardev was a 15th–16th century Assamese polymath, a saint-scholar, playwright, musician, poet, dancer, actor and artist social-religious reformer. He was a figure of importance in cultural and religious history of Assam. He is widely credited with building on past cultural relics and devising new forms of theatrical performance (Ankia Naat, Bhaona), music (Borgeet), literary language (Brajavali) and dance (Sattriya).
• He was a multi-faceted spiritual guru of 15th and 16th centuries. He was a great soul who infused nationalistic fervour among Assamese people. Sankardev inspired the Bhakti movement in Assam just like Guru Nanak, Namdev, Ramananda, Kabir, Basava and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
• Government of Delhi is all set to develop a “Science Innovation Hub” at a school run by it in Kautilya Enclave.
• Delhi Science Innovation Hub includes all the modern and latest facilities, like a planetarium which is a museum to provide enhanced knowledge of scientific culture, and temperament to students.
• With the help of the innovation hub, students would be able to satisfy their growing educational needs.
• The hub will be developed because, there is always a public demand to provide adequate educational infrastructure, so that quality education is available to students near their homes.
• The science Innovation hub will be ready at the cost of over Rs 5 crore in two-and-a-half years. It will comprise of an auditorium, a planetarium, a library, a museum with science & technology objects, art & model experiential galleries of latest innovations & trends, collectibles, instruments, simulation systems equipment, and contents.
• The Directorate of Education (DoE) of Delhi government has assigned the task of construction and development of Science Innovation Hub to the Delhi Tourism and Transportation Development Corporation (DTTDC). It will be developed on a 30,000-square meter area in Kautilya Sarvodaya Co-education School at Chirag Enclave.
• The Science Innovation Hub will serve as a world-class science experimental infrastructure for exhibitions and museums. It will also act as a premier centre to propagate science and harness potential of modern
• Even if greenhouse gas emissions are decreased, several disasters caused by climate change are likely to happen in the next two decades, according to a report compiled by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
• India will be severely impacted if emissions are not reduced, according to the second installment of the IPCC report.
• India will face effects due to food and water scarcity, heat reaching human survival limits, significant economic devastation, and rising sea levels if the emissions are not stopped.
• The IPCC report also notified that over 3.5 billion people, or 45 percent of the global population, live in climate-vulnerable areas.
• The report also stated that the ability to adapt by humans and natural ecosystems was being tested. The recent IPCC report is the Sixth Assessment Report’s second part and focuses on hazards, impacts of climate change, and vulnerabilities, as well as ways to adapt to them. The first installment, which was released in August 2021, focused on the scientific foundations of climate change. IPCC will release the third and last section of the report in April of this year.
• In 1990, IPCC’s First Assessment Report was published. These reports give detailed evaluations of the state of the climate of the Earth, which are published by specialists after gathering all relevant data and analyzing it.
• IPCC’s sixth assessment report says nothing new related to climate change It covers sectoral and regional impacts of climate change for the first time as part of broadening the scope of its assessment.
• The report claims that sea-level rise will endanger Mumbai, while storms will threaten Kolkata. This hasn’t been done in previous reports, and it gives a clearer picture of what has to be done about these dangers.
• Climate change and other related events will increase significantly premature deaths and ill health. The report also predicts that there will be an increase in vector-borne diseases like malaria and dengue. Mental health issues are also predicted to worsen in adolescents, children, the elderly, and those suffering from underlying health conditions. These health impacts were not addressed in the previous reports.
• Climate-related threats to Asia’s agriculture and food systems would become worsen with climate changes and the regions will have different impacts. Rice production in India can decrease by 10 to 30 percent, while maize production could decrease by 25 to 70 percent, assuming a temperature increase of 1 to 4 degrees Celsius.
• Wet-bulb temperatures (a measurement that combines humidity and heat) will increase in India and may even cross the unsurvivable threshold of 35 degrees Celsius.
• The report has stated that non-climatic and climatic drivers like socio-economic changes have given rise to stress conditions of water in both water demand and supply in all sub-regions of Asia.
• The river basins of Indus, Amu Darya, Sabarmati, Ganges could face severe water scarcity issues due to climate change.
• An increase in the warming level can also cause the global GDP to decline by 10 to 23 percent. Various major economies might face even larger declines due to climate change with the report estimating GDP losses of up to 42 percent in China and 92 percent in India by the end of the century if emissions remain high.
• Belgium was among first European countries to set up a bilateral relation with India. The logo was released by Belgian ambassador in India Francois Delhaye and Sandeep Chakravorty who is the Joint Secretary and Head of Europe West Division, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
• The logo is a peacock, India’s national bird. National flags of both the national, have also been symbolised on either side of peacock.
• The decision to establish diplomatic relations between India and Belgian was taken in January 1947, after Jawaharlal Nehru sent V K Krishna Menon to Brussels to talk with Belgian authorities. Belgian government decided to establish diplomatic relations with India and open its embassy in Delhi in March 1947, five months before India’s independence. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations, multiple high-level visits have taken place between both the nations.
• India’s opened its Embassy in Brussels in 1948 while, Belgium had opened its embassy in New Delhi in 1947. Its current complex was built in 1984 and was designed by Satish Gujral. Belgium is one of India’s largest trading partners. Both the countries share a common value of “democracy, pluralism and rule of law”. Belgium has supported the G4 nations.
• India and Belgium share a strong trading links. India is the second largest importer of and fifth largest exporter to Belgian products. There are several Indian diamond merchants from Rajasthan and Gujarat in Antwerp.
• New Development Bank (NDB) is set to become the first multilateral agency to open an office in Gujarat International Finance Tech City (Gift).
• New Development Bank has received the approval for the same. It will open the office in GIFT City in May 2022. Indian office will help in identifying suitable projects and try to create a pipeline of potential financing for NDB.
• NDB is also expected to partner with the newly launched National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development (NBFID), in a bid to support crucial infrastructure projects across India.
• The New Development Bank was set up by BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa). It was set up in 2014, with the objective of mobilizing resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects in BRICS and emerging markets. The bank became operational in 2015. It is headquartered in Shanghai, China. It is equally own by all the founding members.
• NBFID was set up as a corporate body, with authorized share capital of 1 lakh crore rupees. It was established with the objective to lend, invest or attract investments directly or indirectly for infrastructure projects located entirely or partly in India. It seeks to facilitate the development of market for bonds, loans, as well as derivatives for infrastructure financing.
• NBFID may raise money in the form of loans or otherwise in Indian rupees and foreign currencies. It can also secure money by issuing and selling various financial instruments like bonds and debentures. It may borrow money from central government, Reserve Bank of India (RBI), mutual funds, scheduled commercial banks, and multilateral institutions like World Bank and Asian Development Bank.
• On February 28, 2022, the government appointed Madhabi Puri Buch as the new chairperson of SEBI. Ajay Tyagi is a 1984 batch IAS officer from Himachal Pradesh cadre. He was appointed as SEBI Chairperson for three years, on March 1, 2017. He was given a six-month extension. Later in August 2020, his tenure was extended by 18 months.
• In October 2021, Finance Ministry had invited applications from eligible candidates for the post of SEBI Chairperson. Deadline to submit the form was December 6, 2021.As per the procedure for appointment of regulators, candidates are shortlisted by Financial Sector Regulatory Appointments Search Committee (FSRASC), which is headed by Cabinet Secretary. Shortlisted candidates are interviewed by panel, consisting of Economic Affairs Secretary and three external members with domain knowledge. Apart from that, a high-level panel is authorized to recommend names other than those applying for the advertised post. On the basis of interactions, FSRASC recommends the name to Appointments Committee of Cabinet headed by Prime Minister. FSRASC was set up as a “standing committee”, on the basis of the recommendation of Financial Sector
• Legislative Reforms Commission. It was set up to “recommend suitable persons for Chairperson, Whole Time members, and Part Time Members of the financial sector regulators.” It was set up with the objective of adopting a uniform selection process for all financial sector regulators. Additional Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister
• Secretary of Department of Economic Affairs or Department of Financial Services. Chairperson of the concerned regulatory authority and
• The Delhi government will be holding Business Blasters Investment Summit and Expo with the aim of providing a bigger platform to the young entrepreneurs. This summit will be held on March 5.
• During this event, 100 or more business ideas by student entrepreneurs will be selected andshowcased.
• This will provide an opportunity to the various investors to directly invest in a project of their choice. The ideas for the summit have been selected after rigorously assessing them by eminent experts and entrepreneurs.
• Along with receiving investment for their ideas the students who will be qualifying for the final round of this summit will get direct admission to various state universities like Delhi Skills and Entrepreneurship University (DSEU), Delhi Technological University (DTU), Netaji Subhas University of Technology (NSUT), and Indira Gandhi Delhi Technical University for Women (IGDTUW) to pursue courses in the field of BBA.
• Investors from across the country have been invited to take part in this expo and invest in the ideas of the students as well as incentivize student entrepreneurs from Delhi’s government schools.
• This programme is one of the largest start-up initiatives in the world. Under this programme, over 3 lakh kids have received seed money of 60 crores. With the help of experts, 1000 business ideas were selected from zonal, school, and district levels in the first phase of this programme.
• New Delhi Police has launched three digital initiatives Anubhuti, a QR code-based feedback system, e-Chittha portal, and a refurbished Delhi Police website.
• These digital initiatives were launched with the aim to add a new dimension in modernizing and digitizing the police force.
• To strengthen the service delivery system of the Delhi police and to protect the people, it was required to utilize the use of technology.
• Anubhuti – Feedback Management system will establish two-way communication between the police and the public. The analysis of the received feedback will help in improving the functioning of the department. This is a feedback system that is paperless. The citizens who will be visiting the police station can scan the police station’s QR code and put in their feedback responses. The response received will then be analyzed and corrective steps will be taken for the improvement to be done in the police-public interface. The identity of the user submitting the feedback will not be disclosed.
• The e-Chittha portal will act as the backbone of the duty deployment of the Delhi Police. Its implementation will ensure eight-hour shifts in the department, which would ensure the best possible use of labour resources as well as increase the transparency and efficiency of the Delhi police.
• The Delhi Police’s refurbished user-friendly website is loaded with more information, making it easier for In January 2022, compared to the same time period last year, the growth rate of eight core industries stood at 3.7 percent. The Ministry of Commerce announced this.
• The core industries growth rate was 11.6 percent for the nine-month period between April and January.
• The eight-core sectors natural gas, coal, petroleum refinery products, crude oil, steel, fertilizers, power, and cement grew by 4.1 percent In December 2021.
• In January 2022, production of natural gas, coal, steel, refinery products, power, and cement, increased compared to the same month in the previous year.
• In January 2022, the combined Index of the Eight Core Industries stood at 144.4 which increased by
• 3.7 percent as compared to January 2021 index.
• In January 2022, coal production increased by 8.2 percent, while its cumulative index increased by 10.3 percent from April to January as compared to the same time period of the previous year.
• In January 2022, petroleum refineries production increased by 3.7 percent, while the cumulative index
• increased by 9.3 percent from April to January.
• In January 2022, steel production increased by 2.8%, while the cumulative index increased by 19.9% from April to January.
• In January 2022, cement production increased by 13.6 percent, while the cumulative index increased by 24.6 percent in the nine months ending in January 2022.
• Electricity generation increased by 0.5 percent, while the cumulative index increased by 8.5 percent from April to January.
• Crude oil production, declined last month. It fell by 2.4 percent, and the cumulative index fell by 2.6 percent in the nine months ending in January 2022.
• National Statistical Office (NSO) under ‘Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation’ released the Second Advance Estimates (SAE) of National Income, 2021-22 and Quarterly Estimates of GDP for October- December quarter (Q3), 2021-22.
• Advance Estimates of National Income are compiled using benchmark-indicator method, that is estimates available for previous year referred to as benchmark year are concluded using relevant indicators reflecting performance of sectors.
• Total tax revenue used for GDP compilation includes GST revenue and non-GST revenue. The National Statistical Office (NSO) was created by merging National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), Computer Centre and Central Statistical Office (CSO). It was first envisaged by Rangarajan Commission for implementing and maintaining statistical standards and coordinate statistical activities of state as well as central agencies. It is headed by Secretary of Statistics and Programme Implementation.
• Recently, jurisdictions have started blockading their airspace to aircraft operated or registered by Russia, in According to information from Flightradar24, the UK, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Romania, Poland, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Italy, Germany, Austria, Iceland, Malta, the Netherlands, Canada, Denmark, Croatia, Luxembourg, France, Albania, Hungary, Cyprus, Spain, Ireland, Belgium, Greece, Portugal, and Sweden have closed their airspace for Russia. It means that, flights being operated by Russian airlines or Russia-registered private jets will require to undertake considerably lengthy detours to fly out of the country.
• The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) is planning to launch a guaranteed return scheme called Minimum Assured Return Scheme (MARS). This scheme will be launched to provide people from salaried class an option for their investments.
• PFRDA has appointed EY Actuarial Services LLP as a consultant, in order to help in designing the proposed MARS under National Pension Scheme (NPS). It will be the first scheme from pension regulator, to offer a guaranteed return to investors. However, only the floor is set in proposed scheme. Consultant is likely to work out the framework within some months.
• Actual returns offered by the scheme will depend on the market conditions. Any shortfall will be made good by sponsor, while the surplus will be credited to subscribers’ account. Two options are expected to be on offer:

1. Fixed Guarantee Option– Under it, guaranteed rate of return is fixed along the accumulation
2. Floating Guarantee Option– Under it, guaranteed rate of return is not fixed along the savings It depends on the development of 1-year interest rate until retirement. Current 1-year interest rate is assigned to each annual contribution made. It is valid until retirement. This option is similar to ATP system in Denmark, where 80 per cent of contributions are guaranteed on the basis of rates that ATP can obtain in market when contributions are paid.

• As per the current plan, lock-in may be applicable on each contribution. It will be applied on the basis of period since that contribution has been made. It may also consider multiple lock-in period options for flexibility. Withdrawals are expected to be directly linked to lock-in period. Subscriber will have the option to stay invested or withdraw after lock-in period. However, there won’t be any guarantee applied on investment after lock-in.
• Rahul Gandhi, leader of Congress, has released the autobiography of DMK president and Tamil Nadu ChiefMinister MK Stalin. “Ungalil Oruvan” (One Among You) is the name of the autobiography.
• In the presence of the Leader of Opposition in Bihar Assembly, Tejashwi Yadav, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah the autobiography was released.
• The book’s first copy was received by state Water Resources Minister and senior DMK leader Duraimurugan.
• MK Stalin is an Indian politician and the 8th and current chief minister of Tamil Nadu. Since 28 August 2018 Stalin has been the president of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party. He is the son of former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi. He served as the 1st Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu from 2009 to 2011 and from 1996 to 2002, he served as the 37th Mayor of Chennai. He was ranked 30th on the list of India’s Most Powerful People ranking released by The Indian Express in 2019.
• In the Assembly elections of 2021, he led the campaign for Secular Progressive Alliance. Out of 234 seats, they won 159 seats, with the DMK winning a majority with 132 seats. He assumed office in May 2021 as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.
• A team of geologists have discovered a crater named “Yilan Crater”, in northwest of Yilan in Heilongjiang Province of China.
• Yilan crater is slightly larger than Xiuyan. It spans about 1.85 kilometers. Thus, it is the largest crater on Earth under 100,000 years old. Carbon-14 dating sediments suggests that, this crater was formed between 46,000 and 53,000 years ago.
• Meteor or Barringer crater in Arizona is also around 50,000 years old. However, its diameter is 1.2 kilometers.
• To investigate the impact structure, the team drilled down 438 meters at the center of the crater. They found hundreds of meters of ancient lake sediments and shattered granite.
• They also found unambiguous evidence that the structure was indeed an impact crater.
• The core revealed shocked quartz, glass containing holes formed by gas bubbles, melted granite, and tear-drop shaped glass fragments. These factors indicate a high-intensity impact event.
• Presence of lakebed sediments inside this crater highlights that, rim was intact long enough for significant deposits for building up on the lake bottom. Such deposits produce rich organic soil.
• Yilan crater is an impact crater in China. It is situated to the northwest of Yilan town in Heilongjiang province. Its southern rim has eroded. However, northern rim is visible on the surface as crescent-shaped ridge.
• The Janaushadhi Diwas is being organized from 1st to 7th March 2022 by the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers.
• The 4th Jan Aushadhi Diwas will be celebrated on March 7th, By the end of March 2025, the Indian Government has taken up the target to increase the number of Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Kendras (PMBJKs) to 10,500.
• 4th Jan Aushadhi Diwas’s theme is “Jan Aushadhi-Jan Upyogi”. The objective of this week is to raise awareness about the benefits of Jan Aushadhi Pariyojana and the usages of generic medicines.
• In 2008, the Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP) was launched by the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers with the aim to make quality generic medications available to all at affordable prices. This scheme also looked to raise awareness regarding the usage of generic medicine in the country. A public programme was also started involving the Government, Private Sector, PSUs, Societies, NGOs, Co- operative Bodies, etc.
• As of January 2022, the number of stores under this scheme has increased to 8675. PMBJP’s product basket includes 240 surgical instruments and 1451 drugs. New nutraceuticals products and medicines such as malt-based food supplements, protein powder, immunity bar, protein bar, masks, sanitiser, oximeter, glucometer, etc. have also been launched. Three IT-enabled PMBJP warehouses are functional at Chennai, Gurugram, and Guwahati and a fourth one is set to begin operations at Surat. Also, 39 distributors have been assigned to help the delivery of medicines to remote and rural locations across the country.
• On the occasion of National Science Day 2022, the government has launched an International Monsoons Project Office. It was launched by Dr Jitendra Singh, MoS (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Earth Sciences; PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space
•  Karnataka High Court upholds state government’s ban on wearing hijab in educational institutions; says wearing it is not an essential practice in the religion
• India to begin COVID vaccination for children from 12 to 14 years of age from March 16; only Corbevax vaccine to be used
• Indian Army dedicates Chair of Excellence in memory of CDS General Bipin Rawat at United Service Institution of India in New Delhi
• Indian students were positively discouraged by universities in Ukraine from leaving: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar
• Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla chairs 6th India Japan Act East Forum Ambassador Satoshi Suzuki in New Delhi
• BRO (Border Roads Organisation) signs MoU with GRSE (Garden Reach Shipbuilders and

Engineers Limited) for construction of 27 double-lane class 70 modular bridges in border areas

• “Rahul Bajaj: An Extraordinary Life”, written by business historian Gita Piramal, to release on March 21
• India dispatches 4th convoy of 2000 metric tonnes of wheat to Afghanistan via Pakistani land route

• Ambassador of Indonesia: Ina Hagniningtyas Krisnamurthi
• Ambassador of Russia: Denis Evgenyevich Alipov
• High Commissioner of Canada: Cameron Dean MacKay
• Ambassador of Algeria: Abderrahmane Benguerrah
• High Commissioner of Malawi: Leonard Senza Mengezi
• Government’s OROP (One Rank-One Pension) in Armed forces is a policy decision and suffers from no constitutional infirmity: Supreme Court
• Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Bhagwant Mann takes oath as 17th Chief Minister of Punjab
• MV Ram Prasad Bismil: Longest vessel (90 m) to sail from Ganga to Brahmaputra via Bangladesh
• 36th International Geological Congress to be held in New Delhi during 20-22 March on a virtual platform; theme: “Geosciences: The Basic Science for a Sustainable Future”

• Banks Board Bureau (BBB) recommends Manimekhalai for the position of MD & CEO of Union

Bank of India

• IIT Madras, RBI Innovation Hub (RBIH) join hands to boost fintech startups
• Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari launches world’s most advanced technology-developed Green Hydrogen Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle Toyota Mirai
• Govt grants permission to Bharat Airtel, Reliance Jio, Vodafone & MTNL for conducting 5G technology trials

• After 18 months, BARC (Broadcast Audience Research Council) resumes publishing news channel ratings
• India restores 5-year e-tourist visas for nationals of 156 countries that remained suspended since March 2020
• Indian Coast Guard Ship (ICGS) Saksham, an Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) built by Goa Shipyard Limited, commissioned
• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurates 7-storeyed Flight Control System (FCS) Integration facility at Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), a laboratory of DRDO, in Bengaluru

• NPCI launches on-device wallet feature called ‘UPI Lite’ for UPI users for small transactions
• SBI signs agreement to provide $1-bn credit facility to Sri Lanka for procurement of food, medicines and other essential items
• BPCL launches voice-based digital payment facility for its cooking gas (LPG) consumers who do not have smartphones or internet

• Second India-Indonesia Security Dialogue held in Jakarta
• Union Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Irani addresses 66th session of United Nations Commission on Status of Women (UNCSW)
• 47-nation Council of Europe expels Russia after 26 years of membership
• International Court of Justice asks Russia to immediately suspend its military operations in Ukraine

• International Adolescent Health Week to be celebrated from March 20 to 26
• I&B Secretary Apurva Chandra & Actor R Madhavan inaugurate Media & Entertainment Fortnight at India Pavilion in Dubai Expo 2020
• PM inaugurates centenary year celebrations of Malayalam Daily ‘Mathrubhumi’
• Centre releases India’s Arctic Policy for sustainable development
• Country’s foreign exchange reserves decline USD 646 billion to USD 622.275 billion in the week ended March 11
• Dredging Corporation of India signs historic Ship Building Agreement with Cochin Shipyard Limited
• Finland is world’s happiest country, Afghanistan unhappiest: UN’s World Happiness Report
• US, Canada conduct Operation Noble Defender air defence exercise
• Diébédo Francis Kéré of Burkina Faso wins 2022 Pritzker Architecture Prize
• Indian-American Ashish Jha to take over as US President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 Response Coordinator
• UN Security Council extends mandate of UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) for a year
• PM Modi meets Japan’s PM Fumio Kishida in New Delhi; 14th India-Japan Annual Summit held
• Govt constitutes 3-member advisory board of sitting HC judges to review NSA cases
• Border Roads Organisation sets all-time record of opening of Zoji La Pass in just 73 days; 160-180 days earlier

• Russia says it used hypersonic missile ‘Kinzhal’ in Ukraine for first time
• Peter Paul Rubens’ 17th century painting “Portrait of a Lady” sells for $3.4 mn in auction
• Japanese actor Akira Takarada of ‘Godzilla’ (1954) fame dies at 87
• Australia: Great Barrier Reef suffers widespread and severe coral bleaching due to high ocean temperatures

• Pankaj Advani bags Asian Billiards title for 8th time
• BJP’s Biren Singh unanimously elected to be Manipur CM again
• Haryana: 35th Surajkund International Crafts Mela inaugurated in Faridabad by Governor Bandaru Dattatraya and CM Manohar Lal Khattar
• Sharad Yadav-led Loktantrik Janata Dal (United) merges with Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) led by Lalu Prasad Yadav

• Japan announces investment target of Rs 3,20,000 crore in India in the next 5 years
• Delhi High Court Chief Justice N. Patel appointed next Chairperson of the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT)
• Union of Minister of Coal and Mines Pralhad Joshi addresses inaugural session of 36th International Geological Congress virtually

• SpaceX launches 53 Starlink satellites into space from Florida
• Serdar Berdymukhamedov elected new President of Turkmenistan
• Russia struck Ukraine with Kalibr cruise missiles from ships in Black Sea and Caspian Sea
• Yemen’s Houthi rebels unleash barrage of drone and missile strikes on Saudi Arabia targeting key facilities
• International Day of Happiness celebrated on March 20
• French Language Day celebrated by UN on March 20
• World Sparrow Day celebrated on March 20
• All England Open Badminton Championships 2022 held in Birmingham
• Men’s singles title: Viktor Axelsen of Denmark
• Women’s singles title: Japan’s Yamaguchi Akane
• Men’s doubles title: Indonesia’s Muhammad Shohibul Fikri & Bagas Maulana
• Women’s doubles title: Japan’s Matsuyama Nami & Shida Chiharu
• Mixed doubles title: Japan’s Yuta Watanabe & Arisa Higashino
• Football: Hyderabad FC win Indian Super League tournament by beating Kerala Blasters in the final played in Goa
• Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra wins ‘Sportstar of the Year (Male)’ award at the 2022 Sportstar Aces Awards held in Mumbai; weightlifter Mirabai Chanu wins ‘Sportstar of the Year (Female)’

award

• Pushkar Singh Dhami to continue as CM of Uttarakhand
• Pramod Sawant elected leader of the BJP legislature party in Goa
• Biren Singh takes oath as CM of Manipur in Imphal for second term
• EAM Jaishankar meets Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg in Delhi
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister of Australia Scott Morrison hold 2nd India Australia Virtual Summit

• Former JNU Professor Jayati Ghosh named by UN to high-level advisory board on multilateralism
• India and Seychelles to hold 10-day military exercise ‘LAMITIYE’ in Seychelles from March 22
• Boeing 737 plane of China Eastern Airlines carrying 133 people crashes in Guangxi region; no survivors
• International Day of Forests celebrated on March 21; theme: Forests and Sustainable Production and Consumption
• International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination observed on March 21; theme: Voices for action against racism
• International Nowruz Day celebrated on March 21
• World Poetry Day celebrated by UNESCO on March 21
• World Oral Health Day celebrated on March 20; theme: Be Proud of Your Mouth
• BNP Paribas Open tennis: Taylor Fritz of US defeats Spain’s Rafael Nadal in final to win men’s singles title
• India-Uzbekistan military exercise ‘EX-DUSTLIK‘ being conducted in Uzbekistan: March 22-31
• Foundation day of Bihar celebrated on March 22; state carved out of Bengal in 1912
• SP leader Akhilesh Yadav resigns as Lok Sabha MP from Azamgarh, retains UP assembly seat
• India climbs five spots to 51st position globally in annual home price movement, says Knight Frank
• Indian, Israeli companies sign MoU for the supply of muriate of potash (MOP) for five years
• India’s new Ambassador to China Pradeep K Rawat meets Secretary-General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Zhang Ming in Beijing
• Russia stops peace treaty talks with Japan over disputed Kuril Islands which Moscow had occupied since the end of WWII

• Bangladesh world’s most polluted country, New Delhi most polluted city says World Air Quality Report of Swiss air quality technology company IQAir

• PM Modi inaugurates Biplobi Bharat Gallery at Victoria Memorial Hall, Kolkata; depicts political and intellectual backdrop that triggered the Revolutionary movement
• Pushkar Singh Dhami sworn in as Uttarakhand CM for second term in Dehradun
• Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat launches Sujalam 0 campaign for greywater management in New Delhi
• EAM S Jaishankar holds discussion with Foreign Minister of Greece, Nikos Dendias
• Resignations of Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav (from Azamgarh) and senior party leader Mohd Azam Khan (from Rampur) as members of Lok Sabha accepted
• Defence Ministry approves military acquisitions worth Rs 8,357 crore including air defence fire control radar and GSAT-7B
• ICICI Bank partners with IPL team Chennai Super Kings for co-branded credit card
• Biocon Chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw elected Fellow of Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) in Scotland

• World Meteorological Day celebrated on March 23 with its theme as: ‘Early Warning and Early

Action’

• Pakistan Day celebrated on March 23
• Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov donates his 2021 Nobel Peace Prize medal for Ukrainian refugees

• UGC makes CUET (Common University Entrance Test) mandatory for undergraduate admissions to central universities; Class 12 marks won’t count
• Bihar: All 3 MLAs from Vikassheel Insaan Party join BJP making it the largest party in Assembly at 77 ahead of RLD with 75
• Former Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ramesh Chandra Lahoti dies at 81 in New Delhi
• Foreign Minister of the Sultanate of Oman, Sayyid Badr bin Hamad bin Hamood Albusaidi visits India
• Price of diesel sold to bulk users increased by 25/litre by Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs)
• raises minimum support price for jute; new MSP ₹250 higher over last year
• Defence Ministry bans import of 107 strategically important sub-systems to promote domestic manufacturing
• UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) report lowers India’s 2022 GDP growth to 6%
• RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das inaugurates Reserve Bank Innovation Hub (RBIH) in Bengaluru
• Federal Bank, RBIH partner to advance digital financial inclusion for women
• Nepal adopts UPI (unified payment interface) developed by India for digital transactions
• UN Security Council defeats Russia humanitarian resolution on Ukraine that would have acknowledged Ukraine’s growing humanitarian needs — but without mentioning the Russian invasion that caused the escalating crisis
• First wildlife bond issued by World Bank to save Africa’s black rhino
• GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) creator Stephen Wilhite dies at 74 in US
• NATO extends term of Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg for an year till 30 September
• US mathematician Dennis Sullivan awarded 2022 Abel prize by Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters
• Poland expels 45 Russian diplomats; Warsaw says they were involved in espionage
• Russia to accept payments only in roubles for gas deliveries to “unfriendly countries” which include all EU members
• US: Madeleine Albright, first female secretary of state, dies at 84
• World Tuberculosis Day observed on March 24; theme: ‘Invest to End Save Lives
• WTT Contender Doha 2022: India table tennis players win two medals: Achanta Sharath Kamal

wins bronze in men’s singles; G Sathiyan & Manika Batra win silver in mixed doubles

• UP: Yogi Adityanath takes oath as CM for 2nd term; Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak are deputy CMs
• External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi hold talks in New Delhi
• Ex-MLAs to get pension for one term only: Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann
• EAM Jaishankar lists 6 principles behind India’s response to Ukraine crisis
• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh launches BRO Tourism portal that will facilitate online booking of guided tours to the road infrastructure projects of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO)
• At 513 per 1 lakh population, Delhi has highest incidents of pulmonary tuberculosis cases in India, Kerala lowest (115): National TB Prevalence Survey 2019-2021
• Gujarat again tops NITI Aayog’s Export Preparedness Index 2021 followed by Maharashtra and Karnataka
• Delhi 3rd nationwide in per capita income after Sikkim, Goa according to the Economic Survey of Delhi 2021-22
• United Nations General Assembly adopts resolution demanding aid access and civilian protection in Ukraine, criticising Russia for creating a ‘dire’ humanitarian situation; India and China among 35 countries that abstained
• EU member Bulgaria ends controversial ‘golden passports’ scheme; citizenship was granted to foreigners on investing one million euros in the country
• Edward “Ned” Johnson III, who grew Fidelity Investments into the financial giant it is today, dies

at 91 in US

• US hydrologist Wilfried Brutsaert awarded Stockholm Water Prize 2022 by SIWI (Stockholm International Water Institute)
• UN observes International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery on March 25
• UN observes International Day of Solidarity with Detained & Missing Staff Members on March 25
• North Korea confirms test-firing of biggest ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile) Hwasong-17 of 6240 kms range
• Sansad Ratna Awards 2022 presented to Parliamentarians in New Delhi
• Award given by Prime Point Foundation
• Former Karnataka chief minister M Veerappa Moily and former Tamil Nadu health minister H V Hande awarded Lifetime Achievement APJ Abdul Kalam Award
• Lok Sabha: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MP Supriya Sule, Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) MP N K Premachandran and Shiv Sena MP Shrirang Appa Barne awarded ‘Sansad Vishisht Ratna’ award
• Lok Sabha: Trinamool Congress MP Saugata Roy (West Bengal), Congress MP Kuldeep Rai Sharma (Andaman and Nicobar Islands), and BJP MPs Bidyut Baran Mahato (Jharkhand), Heena Vijayakumar Gavit (Maharashtra) and Sudhir Gupta (MP) awarded Sansad Ratna Award
• Rajya Sabha: Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MP Amar Patnaik (Odisha) and NCP MP Fauzia Tahseen Ahmed Khan (Maharashtra) awarded for their performance in 2021 under the ‘sitting members’ category
• Rajya Sabha: Communist Party of India (Marxist) MP K. K. Ragesh (Kerala) awarded under the ‘retired members in 2021’ category
• Government of India and World Health Organisation sign agreement to establish the Global Centre

for Traditional Medicine in Jamnagar, Gujarat

• University Grants Commission (UGC) and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) advise students to exercise due diligence while making decision to choose where to pursue higher education; cautions about travel restrictions imposed by China
• President awards President’s Colour to Indian Naval Ship (INS) Valsura in Jamnagar, Gujarat
• Doctor-population ratio is 1:834 in the country: MoS for Health Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar
• Citizen’s Tele-Law mobile app downloaded by 35,257 persons; provides legal information and offers dispute redressal
• North-East festival ‘Ishan Manthan’ being held at IGNCA, New Delhi: March 25-27
• 10-day mega festival ‘Bharat Bhagya Vidhata’ starts at Red Fort in Delhi
• National Dolphin Day to be celebrated every year on October 5: Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav
• Offshore security exercise ‘Prasthan’ conducted off Mumbai by Western Naval Command
• All 5 nominees of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) from Punjab including industrialist Sanjeev Arora and cricketer Harbhajan Singh elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha
• SC allows UPSC aspirants with disabilities to apply for IPS
• 26th International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) in Thiruvananthapuram: Costa Rican film ‘Clara Sola’ (Spanish) wins Golden Crow Pheasant (Suvarna Chakoram) for the Best Film
• Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India elects Shashi Sinha as new Chairman
• Treat ayurvedic doctors at par with allopathic counterparts: SC

• Maharashtra Assembly passes Bill making use of Marathi language mandatory in all local authorities
• Haryana government abolishes 3% reservation for sportspersons in jobs
• India’s foreign exchange reserves declined by USD 597 billion to USD 619.678 billion during the week ended March 18
• Cabinet approves extension of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PM-GKAY) for another 6 months (April-September, 2022)
• Defence Ministry signs contract with L&T for acquisition of 2 MPVs (Multi-Purpose Vessels) for Indian Navy for 887 crore
• NTPC adds 5 MW of power generation capacity at Ramagundam floating solar project in Telangana
• India and UK conclude 2nd round of talks for India-UK Free Trade Agreement (FTA)
• Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) wins ‘Covid champion’ award at Wings India 2022 in Hyderabad
• Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog & GIZ Project Her&Now join hands to end gender-based barriers for Women Entrepreneurs across India
• Delhi-NCR real estate developer Supertech declared ‘bankrupt’ by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT)

• Gilbert Houngbo from Togo appointed next Director-General of International Labour Organization

(ILO)

• Earth hour observed from 30 to 9.30 PM on March 26; theme: “Shape our Future”
• IMF approves $44 bn extended arrangement for Argentina to tackle inflation
• Sri Lanka to set up ‘North-East Development Fund’, probe cases of enforced disappearances of Tamils during Civil War

• Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma re-elected President of Badminton Association of

India for another four years

• DRDO conducts test-flights of two MRSAMs (Medium Range Surface to Air Missiles) off Odisha coast
• India crosses milestone of 50,000 ODF (open defecation-free) Plus villages; Telangana best performing state with 13,960
• UP: CM Yogi Adityanath inaugurates Gorakhpur-Varanasi flight of SpiceJet
• AP: 7 killed when a bus fell into a valley in Chittoor
• I&B Minister Anurag Thakur launches ‘Training for Emirates Jobs And Skills’ at Dubai Expo
• India resumes scheduled international flights after two years of pandemic-induced ban on air travel
• Multiplex companies PVR, INOX Leisure announce merger, PVR’s Ajay Bijli will be MD of merged entity named as PVR INOX Limited
• Adani Total Gas Ltd, a joint venture of Adani group and TotalEnergies SE, forays into electric mobility infrastructure sector by launching its first EV charging station in Ahmedabad
• Swiss Open Badminton Championships in Basel: V. Sindhu wins women’s singles title; H. S. Prannoy loses in men’s singles final to Indonesian Jonatan Christie
• Philippines & US conducting “Balikatan” (shoulder-to-shoulder) military exercises in Philippines Formula One: Red Bull’s Max Verstappen wins Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at Jeddah
• West Indies (297, 28/0) defeat England (204, 120) in 3rd test at Grenada by 10 wickets to win 3-test series 1-0; first two tests, at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua and at Kensington Oval, Barbados, were drawn
• Thailand’s Nitithorn Thippong wins $500,000 DGC Open golf tournament at Delhi Golf Club course; India’s Ajeetesh Sandhu 2nd
• Tennis: Poland’s Iga Swiatek wins WTA Miami Open, becomes new women’s World No. 1 Sidharth Rawat wins men’s singles title at $15,000 ITF men’s tennis tournament in New Delhi
• Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma and Meghalaya CM Conrad Sangma sign agreement to end 5- decade-old border dispute between the two states PM inaugurates 5.21 lakh houses of beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna (PMAY)-Gramin in MP
• President Kovind launches Jal Shakti Abhiyan-Catch the Rain 2022 to ensure water security President presents 3rd National Water Awards; UP, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu awarded first, second and third prizes respectively in Best State awards Category
• Goa: Indian Navy’s second Air Squadron 316 commissioned at INS Hansa; christened ‘The Condors’ Defence Minister Rajnath Singh talks to Israel Defence Minister Benjamin Gantz
• CM Bhagwant Mann announces doorstep delivery of ration in Punjab
• Rajasthan: Wildfire spread over 10 sq km of the Sariska Tiger Reserve in Alwar district brought under control Bill tabled in Lok Sabha proposes to allow police and prison authorities to collect and store biological
• Business Standard Annual Awards for Corporate Excellence 2021: Infosys CEO & MD Salil Parekh is of the Year’
• University of Glasgow names research centre after Biocon’s Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, husband John Shaw India-United Arab Emirates Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement to be effective from May 1: Piyush Goyal
• In a first, India opens up central govt procurement market to UAE India and Sri Lanka have signed six agreements to boost bilateral cooperation in diverse sectors like technology, fisheries and hybrid power projects during Colombo visit of EAM S. Jaishankar
• Meeting of BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) Foreign Ministers held in Colombo. BIMSTEC: India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Nepal and Bhutan
• Russia says, it will reduce military activities near Kyiv, after face-to-face talks with Ukraine Russia: Nobel Peace Prize-winner Dmitry Muratov’s newspaper Novaya Gazeta closes amid govt. pressure
• Taliban orders airlines in Afghanistan to stop unaccompanied women from flying Afghanistan: Taliban asks govt employees to grow beards or get sacked from job South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir declassifies files on civil war
• Lok Sabha passes Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2022; three Municipal Corporations to be unified into one Rajya Sabha passes bill to omit Bhogta community from ST list in Jharkhand
• I&B Ministry directs merger of film media units under NFDC (National Film Development Corporation); media units are: Films Division, Directorate of Film Festivals, National Film Archive of India, and Children’s Film Society, India with the National Film Development Corporation Limited
• Two Medium Range Surface to Air Missiles (MRSAMs) tested off the Odisha coast at Integrated Test Range, Chandipur
• Rajasthan Day celebrated on March 30
• Foreign Minister of Mexico, Marcelo Ebrard Casaubón visits India Germany’s NSA Jens Plötner visits India
• Lok Sabha passes Chartered Accountants, the Cost and Works Accountants and the Company Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2021
• Cabinet approves over Rs 6062 crore, World Bank assisted ‘Raising and Accelerating MSME Performance’ (RAMP) for MSMEs
• Coal and Mines Minister Pralhad Joshi launches auction of 122 coal/lignite mines Including 18 new mines
• Hindustan Aeronautics Limited to supply 15 Light Combat Helicopters to Indian Air Force for Rs. 3,887 cores
• Tamil Nadu’s investment promotion agency, Guidance, wins ‘Best Investment Promotion Agency Award’ in Asia Oceania region in UAE
• Road transport and highways ministry asks DRDO’s CFEES (Centre for Fire, Explosive and Environment Safety) to investigate the fire instances in an Ola S1Pro and an Okinawa Praise Pro e- scooters
• US bank Citigroup sells Indian consumer banking businesses to Axis Bank for Rs 12,325 crore
• IDBI Bank to sell its 25% stake in Ageas Federal Life Insurance Company (AFLI) to Ageas Insurance International NV
• SBI to buy entire share of 3 stakeholders in SBI Global Factors (SBIGFL) Unrestricted imports of pulses, tur and urad, to continue till the end of 2022-23: Govt
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has done away with the margin caps on the pricing of small loans given by non-banking financial company-microfinance institutions (NBFC-MFIs).
• Earlier, there was a limit on the interest rate charged by microfinance lenders. The maximum interest rate was 10-12% above the cost of funds incurred by the institution or 2.75 times the average base rate of the five-largest commercial banks, whichever is lower.
• Now, the removal of margin caps brings NBFC-MFIs to the same level as other lenders such as banks. This will pave the way for the underwriting of loans based on risk analysis. Also, depending on the borrower, a risk premium can be charged by the lenders.
• According to the new directions, all microfinance lenders must bring out a board-approved policy regarding the pricing of loans.
• A detailed interest rate model should be prescribed in the policy document, which includes various components of interest rate, such as cost of funds, risk premium, margin, etc. The policy document should also mention a ceiling on the interest rate and all other charges applicable to microfinance loans.
• The new directions provide flexibility to lenders. For example, a lender can charge a low-interest rate on loans, if there is access to low-cost funds. On the other hand, if there is no access to low-cost funds, a higher interest rate can be charged on loans.
• Annual household income, to be eligible to avail microfinance level has been raised to ₹3 lakh. Thus, the market size of microfinance lending will be increased. Earlier, the annual household income limit to avail microfinance loans was ₹.25 lakh in rural areas and ₹2 lakh in other areas.
• To curtail over-lending to customers, RBI has put a cap on repayment value to 50% of the monthly household income. The Central bank has also said that there will not be any prepayment penalties onmicrofinance loans.
• Telangana is the first state in the country to record its crop diversification patterns in the form of an index.
• The crop diversification index has a base value of one, which represents the percentage of total cultivated area devoted to a single crop. If the index value is higher, it denotes that the crops are more diversified.
• The present crop diversification index was calculated using the area under 77 different crops grown in the state, which includes all food, non-food, cash crops, and area under floriculture.
• In Telangana, many districts have index values ranging from 0 to 5. The crop diversification index will serve as a baseline for future crop diversification in the state.
• According to the crop diversification index, 77 varieties of crops are grown in Telangana. Among 77 crops, only around 10 crops (mostly grains) are preferred for diversification. Top three districts in terms of crop diversification are Nirmal, Vikarabad & Sangareddy.
• Peddapalli, Karimnagar, and Suryapet are the bottom three districts in terms of crop diversification. In these districts, where paddy is widely cultivated, the maize cropping area has decreased significantly, whereas the cotton cropping area has increased.
• Paddy, maize, and pulses are the most preferred crops in Telangana. Other high-priority crops for farmers in the state include wheat, jowar, bajra, chilies, etc.
• The current crop diversification index value demonstrates that there is a greater need for the diversification of crops in Telangana to achieve sustainable development.
• On 14th March Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) announced the extension of the Credit Guarantee Scheme for Subordinate Debt (CGSSD) by another year.
• Launched in June 2020, the Credit Guarantee Scheme for Subordinate Debt (CGSSD) was initially valid till March 31st, 2021. However, the scheme was later extended till March 31st, 2022 to continue to help the stressed Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). The latest extension till March 31st, 2023 was based on the requests received by the MSME ministry from various stakeholders of the scheme.
• The scheme provides credit facility to the promoters of stressed MSMEs that are eligible for restructuring as per RBI guidelines. This credit facility is provided through banks and this facility is even available to special mention accounts (SMA)-2 and non-performing asset (NPA) accounts.
• According to the 2021-22 annual report of the MSME ministry, there is a proposal to modify the scheme guidelines, as the scheme hasn’t seen much traction among eligible MSMEs.
• As of December 31, 2021, guarantees amounting to only Rs 81.78 crore were extended to 756 eligible borrowers. Whereas, the government’s target is to guarantee loans to the tune of Rs 20,000 crore.
• The Special mention accounts (SMAs) are those accounts that show symptoms of bad asset quality within 90 days, before being identified as non-performing asset (NPA) accounts. SMA-0 accounts are the ones with payments overdue for 1-30 days. SMA-1 accounts and SMA-2 accounts are the accounts having payments overdue for 31-60 days & 61-90 days, respectively.
• Subordinate debt is a type of unsecured loan or bond that is paid after all other senior loans or securitiesare  repaid, in the case of borrower default.
• On 14th March Karnataka’s IT Minister, C N Ashwath Narayan launched India’s first-ever digital water data bank, AQVERIUM.
• The Digital water data bank is a list of water data sourced from various institutions. It provides reliable information and insights regarding the various aspects of water.
• It helps in making evidence-based policies and decisions to achieve a water-secure world.
• This data will help tackle some common development challenges and water pollution. It also helps in improving service delivery, sustaining water resources, & building resilience.
• AQVERIUM is India’s first-ever digital water data bank. It is an initiative of AquaKraft Ventures, a company that has expertise in sustainable initiatives to provide drinking water and sanitation to all.
• AQVERIUM intends to train around one million youth in water, sanitation, hydro-geological sciences, and data sciences. It is a unique innovation combining sustainable technologies along with IT, skill development, and entrepreneurship.
• A unique social franchising model is also offered by the company. The objective is to create ‘water entrepreneurs’ and make India ‘Water Positive’ by 2030.
• Achieving water security is crucial for India to become a USD 5 trillion economy. At present, the Indian water market is highly unorganized and there is a need for a comprehensive 360-degrees approach towards water management.
• Recently, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) published the “Trends in International Arms Transfers, 2021” report.
• In 2017-21, India, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Australia, & China were the five largest arms importers. U.S., Russia, France, China, & Germany were the five biggest arms exporters.
• Top five importers accounted for nearly 38% of global arms imports during the 2017-21 period. Top five exporters accounted for nearly 77% of global arms exports during the 2017-21 period.
• The report noted that the volume of global arms transfers during the 2017-21 period was 4.6% less as compared to the 2012-16 period. However, the global arms transfers during the 2017-21 period were 3.9% more as compared to the 2007-11 period.
• According to the report, India is the largest importer of arms globally and in 2017-21, India accounted for 11% of global arms imports. Both 2012-16 and 2017-21 Russia was the largest supplier of arms to India. However, between these two periods, the volume of imports by India from Russia reduced by 47%. During the same period, India’s imports from France increased and France became India’s second-largest supplier of arms.
• India’s total volume of imports fell by 21% from 2012 to 2016. This demonstrates the push given by the government to promote the manufacturing of arms and weapons systems indigenously. Around 68% of the capital budget for 2022-23 is allocated for domestic manufacturing industries.
• The 193-member United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has adopted a resolution to proclaim March 15th as the International Day to Combat Islamophobia.
• The resolution regarding International Day to Combat Islamophobia was introduced by Pakistan’s permanent representative to United Nations (UN), Munir Akram. The resolution was introduced on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) countries, under the agenda item Culture of peace. The resolution was sponsored by 57 member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and eight other countries including China and Russia.
• India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN) Ambassador T S Tirumurti, expressed concern over phobia against one particular religion being elevated to the level of an international day. He said that India condemns all acts motivated by antisemitism, Christianophobia, or Islamophobia. But it should be recognized that such phobias are not restricted to Abrahamic religions only. There is also hatred against non-Abrahamic religions.
• He gave several examples in this regard, such as the destruction of Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan by the Taliban, massacre of Sikh pilgrims in gurudwara, attack on temples, etc.
• He also mentioned that there are other forms of religiophobia such as anti-Hindu, anti-Buddhist and anti-Sikh phobias. Thus, there is a need to acknowledge the prevalence of religiophobia in general, rather than single out phobia against one particular religion.
• India wants the UN to remain above religious matters, as there is a possibility of the UN being divided into religious camps, rather than being a platform of peace & harmony.
• Indian Ambassador also reminded that there already exists “International Day commemorating the victims of acts of violence based on religion or belief” and “International Day of Tolerance”.
• On 14th March, Ministry for Forest, Environment, and Climate Change announced the project for the rejuvenation of 13 major rivers in the country.
• Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) prepared the detailed project reports (DPRs) of the 13 rivers selected for rejuvenation.
• The cost of the project is projected to be 19,342.62 crores and will take five years to be implemented. The plan is to rejuvenate rivers by creating riparian forests or planting trees along the river. This project could increase India’s forest cover by up to 7,417 square kilometers. The riparian forests function as the natural buffers and biofilters, thereby supplementing the self-purification process of rivers.
• These forests will create creating carbon sinks, as they absorb atmospheric carbon dioxide; thereby helping India in meeting the carbon sequestration goals.
• According to Detailed project reports (DPRs) prepared by ICFRE, these riparian forests have the potential to sequester 50.21 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent (CO2e) after 10 years, while after 20 years they are expected to sequester 74.76 million tonnes of CO2e. CO2 equivalent means Carbon dioxide (CO2) or any other GHG having the same global warming potential as CO2.
• India had pledged to create a carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of CO2e by 2030. In 2015, as a part of the Bonn Challenge, India pledged to restore 5 million ha of degraded land by 2030.
• On 15th March a three-judge Bench of Karnataka High Court (HC) gave a verdict on the petitions related to banning Hijab (headscarf) in Karnataka’s educational institutions.
• High court upheld the order of Karnataka government prescribing wearing of uniforms in schools & pre-university colleges as per provisions of Karnataka Education Act, 1983. Thus, the court rejected all petitions filed by nine Muslim girl students of the Udupi district.
• High court ruled that wearing hijab by Muslim women is not a part of essential religious practices in Islam.
• Thus, the right to wear a hijab is not protected under the right to freedom of religion guaranteed by Article 25 of the Constitution of India.
• The High court also declared that prescribing uniforms for students neither violates the right to freedom of speech and expression (Article 19(1) (a)) nor the right to privacy (Article 21) guaranteed by the Constitution.
• Thus, a ban on wearing hijab in educational institutions is a reasonable restriction, which is permitted by the constitution and students cannot object to the ban.
• After the Karnataka High court judgment, a Muslim student from Karnataka approached the Supreme Court against the order. In her plea, the student mentioned that right to wear a hijab is protected by the right to conscience under Article 25 of the Constitution.
• Australia and Netherlands decided to take legal action against Russia over its alleged role in downing Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 in eastern Ukraine more than seven years ago.
• In 2014, the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 crashed in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region.
• The MH17 plane was flying between Amsterdam (Netherlands) and Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia). When the plane was in the airspace of eastern Ukraine it got hit by a missile.
• When the plane crashed on 17 July 2014, all 298 passengers and crew on board were killed. In the MH17 plane, there were 38 Australians, 43 Malaysians, and 196 Dutch nationals.
• It is alleged the missile that hit the plane was fired by Russia. At that time Crimea was annexed by Russia and a civil war was being fought between Ukraine and pro-Russian separatist rebels. However, Russia has always denied playing any role in the 2014 MH17 plane crash. In 2020, investigators from the Netherlands concluded that the MH17 plane was hit by a surface-to-air missile operated by pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine.
• Australia and Netherlands initiated legal proceedings before the International Civil Aviation Organization
• (ICAO) under Article 84 of the Convention on International Civil Aviation. According to Article 84, when there is a disagreement between the countries, voting is conducted to settle issues.
• The European Union (EU) countries decided to impose the world’s first carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions tariff on imports of polluting goods.
• Starting from 2020, the European Union (EU) wants to introduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions costs on imports of steel, cement, fertilizers, aluminum, and electricity.
• The finer details of the plan are not yet finalized, which will be worked out in future negotiations.
• The aim of imposing this tariff is to protect the European industry, as the European market is flooded by cheaper goods made in countries with weak environmental rules.
• According to the EU, this carbon border tariff is an attempt to create a level playing field by imposing the same carbon dioxide (CO2) costs on EU companies and those abroad.
• EU held that this move will avoid any carbon leakage and will also encourage partner countries to establish strong environmental rules and carbon-pricing policies. This will also help European Union (EU) countries in their fight against climate change. This carbon tariff proposal is part of EU climate change policies aimed at reducing EU’s carbon emissions by 55% by 2030 from the 1990 levels.
• The EU countries and the European parliament increased the pace of negotiations, as from 2023 three-year transition phase for the imposition of carbon tariff will begin.
• Daylight Saving Time (DST) is the practice of advancing clocks (typically by one hour) during spring (“spring forward”) and set the clocks back by one hour in autumn (“fall back”) to return to standard time. Thus, the clock timings are changed twice a year in some countries.
• In summer, the sun rises earlier and sets later, thus there will be more daylight hours. Thus if the clocks are advanced in the summer months, there will be more usable hours of daylight. Individuals will start their day an hour earlier and also will complete their daily work routines an hour earlier. Hence, there will be longer evening daytime or an extra hour of daylight for activities, which ensures lower consumption of electricity and other forms of energy.
• In fall or autumn, as the duration of daylight becomes shorter, clocks are set back to standard time.
• Currently, DST is followed by around 70 countries twice a year. In the United States, except for 2 states, all other states follow Daylight Saving Time (DST) practice and change their clock twice a year. All European Union (EU) countries and many other European countries also follow the DST. Outside Europe also it is followed by countries such as Iran, Mexico, Argentina, Paraguay, Cuba, the Levant, New Zealand, parts of Australia, and Haiti.
• On March 15th, U.S. Senate passed a law (Sunshine Protection Act) to make daylight saving time (DST) permanent. This will scrap the practice of changing clocks forward and back twice a year. If this law is passed by the House of Representatives and is signed by President Joe Biden, it will come into effect from November 2023. Once the law is passed, the practice of turning clocks back to standard time in November will stop and DST will be in effect throughout the year.
• In the first hike since 2018, the US Federal Reserve increased the interest rates by 25 basis points.
• In February, inflation in the United States reached 7.9%, which is the highest in 40 years. The Russia-Ukraine war has also led to an increase in global commodity prices. Thus, there is upward inflation pressure. Hence, the interest rates have to be increased to reduce the money supply in the market and curb inflation. The US Federal Reserve projected that its policy rate would hit a range between 1.75% and 2% by end of 2022.
• If the interest rates are hiked in the United States, it will make investments in the U.S. attractive as there will be higher returns. Thus, foreign investors will pull out their money from emerging markets like India and invest in the US for safe and secure returns. If the flight of capital from India continues, it will result in the weakening of the rupee against the dollar. If the rupee weakens it will result in imported inflation for India.
• The US Federal Reserve’s decision to hike interest rates will have a significant impact on the monetary policy review of RBI at the next Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting scheduled in April. This flight of capital from India will put pressure on RBI to hike interest rates.
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) continues to hold an accommodative stance. However, according to the data released by the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation (MoSPI), India’s retail inflation surged to 6.07% in February. In January retail inflation was 6.01%. Thus, this is the second consecutive month that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) data has crossed the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) upper threshold of 6%.
• If inflation continues to cross the upper threshold limit, RBI may hike the interest rates.
• Ukraine has been linked to an electricity grid of continental Europe. This will reduce Ukraine’s dependence on Russia.
• According to an announcement by the European Network of Transmission System Operators (ENTSO- E), electricity grids of Ukraine and Moldova were successfully synchronized with the Continental European Power System on a trial basis.
• Preparation for grid synchronization was going on since 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea. But due to the 2022 Russian invasion, Ukraine put an emergency request to speed up the process, so immediately trials were started.
• Now, energy suppliers in the European continental grid, that stretches from Portugal to Poland, can supply electricity to Ukraine during an emergency. This will help in maintaining the stability of the power systems of Ukraine and Moldova.
• Also, Ukraine can turn off some of its currently running coal-fired power plants to ensure grid stability and save precious fuel in wartime. In the long run, this grid synchronization allows Ukraine to export its surplus electricity generated by nuclear power plants to other European countries.
• European Network of Transmission System Operators (ENTSO-E) represents 39 electricity transmission system operators (TSOs) from 35 countries across Europe.
• Thus its members include both European Union (EU) and non-EU member states. ENTSO-E has its headquarters in Brussels, Belgium and it operates the world’s largest interconnected electrical grid.
• ENTSO-E was established in 2009 and given legal mandates by the European Union’s third Package for the Internal energy market to liberalize gas and electricity markets.
• Ukraine and Moldova were earlier part of the Integrated Power System that also includes Russia and Belarus. This made them dependent on Russia’s grid operator.
• On 16th March, Union Ministry for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari inaugurated a pilot project for Hydrogen-based advanced Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV).
• This pilot project was initiated by Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt. Ltd. For this project, Toyota will work with International Center for Automotive Technology (ICAT).
• The project involves studying and evaluating the world’s most advanced Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV) called “Toyota Mirai” on Indian roads and climatic conditions.
• The aim is to spread awareness regarding Hydrogen, Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV) technology, and disseminate the benefits to support a hydrogen-based ecosystem.
• Toyota Mirai was launched in 2014 & is one of the world’s first hydrogen fuel electric vehicles. The word ‘Mirai’ in the Japanese language means ‘future’. It is powered by a hydrogen fuel cell battery pack. It can provide a range of up to 650 km in a single charge. It has a short refueling time of just around five minutes.
• Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV) is powered by hydrogen. FCEV is environment-friendly, as it has zero tailpipe emissions. Thus it is one of the best zero-emission solutions.
• Green hydrogen is the hydrogen produced using renewable energy through electrolysis. Green hydrogen helps to decarbonize various sectors such as road transportation.
• Introducing Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV) technology to tap into the green hydrogen’s potential will help in providing clean and affordable energy for all.
• Dishaank is an application developed by Karnataka to ensure easy access to land records.
• The Survey Settlement and Land Records (SSLR) unit of Karnataka’s revenue department is ensuring easy availability of original land records through an app called Dishaank.
• The Dishaank app is developed under the Geographical Information System (GIS) program of the Karnataka State Remote Sensing Applications Center (KSRSAC).
• The KSRSAC provides satellite data to agencies such as the SSLR unit for innovative use. Dishaank leverages Karnataka’s decision to digitize land records under the Bhoomi project. Availability of digitized, scanned & geo-referenced maps, made it easier to build the app.
• The Dishaank app provides information about the land, which includes the name of the landowner, the extent of land, type of ownership, type of land, litigations, land category, and any other active transactions being done on the land.
• Citizens can easily avail themselves of the information about the land as recorded in the Bhoomi database. This will help in reducing land disputes and will bring transparency in the maintenance of land records. However, according to the Karnataka government, the Dishaank app’s purpose is only to provide clarity on the original status of land and the app should not be used for legal purposes in any land-related disputes.
• Bhoomi is a project to digitize Karnataka’s land records. The project is jointly funded by the Government of India and the Government of Karnataka. The project was developed and implemented by National Informatics Centre (NIC). The objective of the project is to eliminate the problem of inefficiency and
• 66 million years ago, it became extinct in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event. Triceratops means ‘three-horned face’. T. horridus and T. prorsus are two species of riceratops that are considered valid today.
• Horridus, which was displayed at Australia’s Melbourne Museum, died 67 million years. It left behind a near-complete skeleton that is among the most intact ever found (85% complete). The nickname (Horridus) is derived from “Triceratops horridus”.
• Horridus was an herbivore belonging to the Cretaceous period. It contains around 260 bones. It is around 2.5 meters tall, 7 meters long, and weighs more than 1,000 kilograms. The fossil’s skull is 98% complete and weighs about 261 kg.
• In 2014, Horridus was discovered on private land in Montana, United States. In 2020, the fossil was acquired by Museums Victoria, Australia’s largest public museum organization.
• The bones of this massive dinosaur can be examined through an interactive 3D digital model online, available on the website of the museum.
• A “Green Triangle” named after Mahatma Gandhi was inaugurated in Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar on 16th March.
• The Green Triangle was inaugurated as a part of the ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ to commemorate the 75th year of India’s independence. It was jointly inaugurated by the Mayor of Antananarivo Naina Andriantsitohaina and India’s Ambassador to Madagascar Abhay Kumar at a special ceremony.
• The inauguration ceremony was attended by local government officials, diplomats, members of the Indian Diaspora, and heads of international organizations. The Mayor of Antananarivo appreciated the efforts of the Indian Embassy.
• India’s Ambassador to Madagascar said the green triangle highlights Gandhi’s vision regarding reducing consumerism and aiming for sustainable development.
• He also presented postal stamps on Gandhi to the Mayor of Antananarivo. These postal stamps were issued in 2019 by Malagasy Post to celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of Gandhi.
• Earlier, a special ceremony was organized by Indian Embassy to unveil the plaque of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ as part of the ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’. It was unveiled through lightning of lamp by Madagascar’s Minister of Communication and Culture and India’s Ambassador to Madagascar along with other Ambassadors, heads of global organizations, and Indian Diaspora. Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam means the whole earth is one family.
• In line with the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ vision, the central government decided to give a renewed thrust to the use of geographical indications (GI) tag to promote India’s unique agricultural products in the international markets.
• There are 150 GI-tagged products in India, which are agricultural and food products. Out of 150 GI-tagged products around 100 registered GI products fall under the category of scheduled agricultural products (cereals, processed products, vegetables, etc). India’s two most popular GI-tagged agricultural products are Darjeeling Tea and Basmati Rice. However, many other GI-tagged products from various states have huge export potential.
• Last year, Agricultural and Processed Food Export Development Authority (APEDA) facilitated the exports of GI-tagged agricultural products such as Kala Namak Rice, Naga Mircha, Bangalore Rose Onion, Nagpur Oranges, Madurai Malli, Jalgaon Banana, etc.
• APEDA organized promotional programs in importing countries in association with foreign retailers. Samples of certain GI-tagged products were sent to some countries to enhance exports.
• APEDA also organized buyer-seller meets to the unique GI products from North East India such as Arunachal Orange, Tripura Queen Pineapple, Karbi Anglong Ginger, etc.
• Three GI varieties of Mango from West Bengal were exported to Bahrain and Qatar. GI-tagged Shahi Litchi was exported from the Muzaffarpur district of Bihar to the UK. GI-tagged Banaganapalle Mango was exported from Andhra Pradesh to South Korea.
• A powerful storm system brought dust from the Sahara Desert to southern Europe. AEMET, the Spanish state meteorology agency named the storm system Celia.
• A thick layer of dust covered Spain and Portugal and turned the skies red-orange. The air quality degraded and a layer of mud accumulated in countries like Spain, Portugal, and France. The dust storm also brought powerful coastal winds along with flooding rains. The visibility in many cities of Spain was reduced due to the dust storms. Although there will not be any severe health impact, some may experience irritation in the eyes or a sore throat.
• The dust storm was originated from Northern Africa. Later, strong southerly winds carried the dust particles across the Mediterranean Sea to Southern Europe. The dust storms are common in the spring for Spain and Portugal, but the amount of dust brought by Celia is very intense.
• Zoji La is the name of a high mountain pass that is located in the Himalayas in the Union Territory of Ladakh. It is located in the Dras and this pass connects the Dras and Suru valleys to its northeast, the Kashmir Valley to its west and the Indus valley further east.
• National Highway 1 between Leh and Srinagar in the Himalayan mountain range’s western section traverses the pass.
• The all-weather Zoji-la Tunnel has been constructed to mitigate the stoppage of vehicle flow during winter every year due to heavy snowfall.
• “Mountain pass of blizzards” is the meaning of Zoji La. Sometimes it is referred to as “Zojila Pass” but the suffix “Pass” is redundant because the word “La” itself means a mountain pass in several languages spoken in the Himalayan region.
• Zoji La is located around 100 km from Srinagar and 15 km from Sonmarg. A vital link between Kashmir Valley and Ladakh is provided by this pass. It runs at an elevation of around 3,528 metres or 11,575 ft and is the second-highest pass on the Srinagar-Leh National Highway after Fotu La.
• During winter it is often closed. The Vijayak Force unit and the Beacon Force unit of the Border Road Organisation (BRO) are responsible for the maintenance and clearing of the road during winter.
• In 1948, Pakistani raiders seized this pass during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947–1948 as part of their campaign to capture Ladakh. On 1st November, the Indian forces recaptured this pass in an assault codenamed Operation Bison, during which tanks were used to surprise the enemy.
• Zoji La tunnel project was approved by the Indian Government in 2018 and in May 2018 the commencement of its construction was inaugurated by PM Modi. This 14 km long tunnel will reduce the 3 hours’ time required to cross the Zoji La to just 15 minutes. USD 930 million is the initial cost of constructing this and after completion, it will be Asia’s longest bidirectional tunnel.
• India’s largest iron ore producer, National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) Ltd, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with IIT Kharagpur for the purpose of drone-based mineral exploration.
• Drone-based Geophysical Surveys and Hyperspectral Studies for Mineral Exploration would be conducted by NMDC for the first time in India. The collaboration between NMDC and IIT-Kharagpur will open a new era in mineral exploration for the country.
• Spectral products, algorithms and methods would be developed by IIT Kharagpur and NMDC for exploration using drones (UAV) for mining.
• This collaboration would also lead to software spectral tools development for the purpose of capacity-building programs on mining technology and mineral excavation.
• NMDC is relying on digitalization and technological innovation of its database related to mining and exploration. For six decades NMDC has been exploring minerals for a wide range of minerals such as rock phosphate, copper, magnesite, limestone, tungsten, diamond, and beach sands amongst others right from the G4reconnaissance level to the detailed G1 level of United Nations Framework Classification for Resources (UNFC).
• In Madhya Pradesh exploration for various minerals is being conducted by NMDC and for diamonds, exploration is being conducted in Chhattisgarh’s Beloda-Belmundi block.
• NMDC is the first CPSE that is utilizing space geophysics in the central Indian diamond province and also the first to use the BHUVAN platform’s online monitoring of exploration of data.
• BHUVAN is a multi-purpose end-user satellite application platform, also known as the Indian version of Google Maps. ISRO is in charge of this platform. Users can explore a 2D/3D representation of the Earth’s surface with this software program. The browser has been designed specifically for viewing India. When compared to other Virtual Globe Software, it provides more detailed images of Indian locations, with spatial resolutions up to 1 metre.
• Ashish Jha, a physician of Indian origin who lives in the United States, has been appointed the new White House Covid-19 Response Coordinator. Jeff Zeints will be replaced by Jha.
• Jha is a leading health specialist in the United States, and he is recognized for his knowledgeable and calming public presence. Jha is an infectious disease expert and the Dean of Brown University’s School of Public Health.
• He has worked on the ebola virus and served as co-chair of a panel to combat the disease’s breakout in West Africa in 2014.
• Jha recently offered advice to the White House on Zients and his team’s national Covid-19 readiness strategy, which was published earlier this month. It explains how people can gradually resume normal activities once the restrictions imposed due to Covid are eased.
• In 1970, Jha was born in Bihar. He migrated to Canada in 1979, and then to the United States in 1983. He finished his general medical fellowship at Harvard Medical School’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital and earned his master of public health degree from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in 2004. He formerly served as the director of the Harvard Global Health Institute and taught at Harvard Medical School and the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health. His work has mostly focused on improving the US healthcare systems, with over 200 empirical papers to his name. From 2009 to 2013, he worked for the Department of Veterans Affairs as a special assistant to the secretary.
• The Azov Special Operations Detachment which is also known as the Azov Regiment, Azov Detachment, Azov Battalion, or simply Azov, is a neo-Nazi, right-wing extremist, a former paramilitary unit of Ukraine’s National Guard based in Mariupol, in the coast of Azov Sea.
• Azov was formed in May 2014 as a volunteer militia and has been battling Russian separatist troops in the Donbas War since then.
• In June 2014, it had its first combat experience when it retook Mariupol from pro-Russian separatists. Azov was incorporated into the Ukrainian National Guard on November 12, 2014, and all members have served as official soldiers in the National Guard since then.
• After allegations of torture and war crimes, as well as neo-Nazi tendencies, the battalion gained notoriety in 2014.
• The Wolfsangel, one of the Nazi symbols used by the 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich, is featured in the group’s logo, which has been criticized for its usage of controversial symbols.
• Andriy Biletsky, who led both the Patriot of Ukraine (formed in 2005) and the SNA (founded in 2008), was in command of the unit. In 2014, Biletsky was elected to parliament. He had to leave Azov since elected officials are not permitted to serve in the military or police force. He remained a member of Parliament till 2019. In October 2016, he founded the far-right National Corps party, whose core supporters are Azov veterans. Denys Prokopenko is the current commander of this battalion.
• In 2014, Ukraine’s interior minister backed the unit, recognizing that the country’s military was too weak to battle pro-Russian separatists and instead relying on paramilitary volunteer troops. These soldiers were funded privately by oligarchs, the most well-known of whom was Igor Kolomoisky, a billionaire energy entrepreneur and former governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region. Another oligarch, Serhiy Taruta, the billionaire governor of the Donetsk region, provided funding and aid to Azov.
• According to Andriy Diachenko, the regiment’s spokesperson in 2015, 10 to 20% of Azov’s recruits were Nazis. The unit has denied that it follows Nazi ideology, yet Nazi insignia such as the swastika and SS regalia appear on Azov members’ uniforms and bodies. Individual members have declared themselves to be neo-Nazis, and hardcore far-right ultra-nationalism is widespread among the group. Azov launched its National Druzhyna street patrol unit in January 2018 to “restore” order in Kyiv, the capital. Instead, the squad committed pogroms against Roma community members and assaulted members of the LGBTQ community.
• The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OCHA) accused the Azov battalion of violating international humanitarian law. Azov had embedded their weapons and soldiers in used civilian structures, and displaced inhabitants after looting civilian properties, according to the study, which took place between November 2015 and February 2016. The unit was also accused of raping and torturing inmates in the Donbas region.
• The Azov Battalion has been fighting Russian troops in the Mariupol region of Ukraine. The battalion has announced that three Russian armoured vehicles and four infantry fighting vehicles have been destroyed by them.
• From the 19th March 2022, the annual Surajkund International Crafts Mela is being held in Surajkund, Haryana for celebrating Indian cultural heritage and folk traditions.
• This Mela attracts more than a million visitors including thousands of overseas visitors. This Mela is the largest crafts fair in the world, showcasing the rich diversity of India’s handlooms, handicrafts, and cultural fabric.
• This Mela is an international artisan fair that is one-of-a-kind and provides a platform for artists from across the globe to demonstrate their creativity and culture.
• Haryana’s Tourism Department hosts this Mela at Surajkund annually, and it attracts travellers of all ages. This year’s Mela is being held from 19th March to 4th April 2022. The aim of this festival is to promote the vast culture and talent of the nation’s indigenous artisans.
• Ethnic cuisines from across the globe are served at the multi-cuisine Food Courts in this Mela. There are specialized areas for adventure sports, amusement, and thrill rides, which makes this Mela a major tourist attraction. The partner nation of this year’s Mela is Uzbekistan.
• Jammu & Kashmir, is presenting its rich legacy and distinct culture via handicrafts and art forms and is the theme state of the Surajkund Mela 2022. Hundreds of artists from Jammu and Kashmiri will perform various indigenous performances to enchant the audience, ranging from exquisite crafts to traditional dances.
• The new water management and policy centre, AquaMAP has been inaugurated by the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, Prof. K. VijayRaghavan, at IIT Madras, and its website https://aquamap.iitm.ac.in/ was also launched.
• The aim of AquaMAP is to provide solutions regarding the challenges faced due to water problems by implementing smart water management practices.
• The water management practices will also be implemented across various fields across the nation and they will be used as scalable models for innovative management technologies.
• AquaMAP, a national water centre under which IIT Madras is collaborating with IIT Dharwad on the broad theme of ‘Data Science for Water Security and Agriculture Sustenance.’
• AquaMAP looks to achieve: The capability to address real-life water problems which are complex in nature through a consortium approach.
• It looks to establish as an entity that can deliver solutions having various applications and wide impact.
• It looks to complete pilot studies in a minimum of six water innovation villages or towns, that can then be showcased as models which can be replicated for policy implementation and water management, within India.
• It will also look to address a minimum of three chronic water issues through various Grand Challenges and their transition into pilot projects.
• A state-of-the-art Hydro-Informatics Laboratory will also be set-up under this project. Community and Alumni Engagement Model will also be established.
• Ligy Philip, who is also the dean(planning) at IIT Madras, is the principal investigator of AquaMAP. 20 faculty members working on water-related issues and drawn from diverse departments such as Chemistry, Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Management, Mechanical Engineering, and Humanities and Social Sciences will be supporting Ligy Philip.
• Also, a governing body which will be chaired by the IIT Madras director as well as an advisory board with many eminent people in this field of water technology, policy and management will also be a part of AquaMAP.
• The Indian Army and the Seychelles Defence Forces (SDF) are holding the 9th Joint Military Exercise LAMITIYE-2022 at the Seychelles Defence Academy (SDA) in Seychelles from March 22 to March 31, 2022.
• This exercise will see the participation of an Infantry Platoon strength from both the Indian Army and the Seychelles Defence Forces (SDF), as well as Company Headquarters.
• The goal of the exercise is to share experiences gained during various operations against hostile forces in a semi-urban environment and enhance the capability to conduct joint operations.
• The contingent of the Indian Army comprises troops from the 2/3 GORKHA RIFLES group (PIRKANTHI Battalion).
• Since 2001, Seychelles has hosted Exercise LAMITIYE which is a biennial training exercise. Exercise LAMITIYE with Seychelles is crucial and significant in terms of security challenges faced by both nations in the context of the current global situation and growing security concerns in the Indian Ocean Region.
• Combat discussions, field training exercises, demonstrations, lectures, and a two-day validation exercise will be part of the 10-day joint exercise. The joint training exercise’s objective is to strengthen and enhance bilateral military ties while also exchanging skills, experiences, and best practices between the two armies.
• Both sides will plan, train, and execute a series of well-developed tactical drills for neutralizing possible threats that may be encountered in a Semi-Urban setting while demonstrating and utilizing new generation equipment and technology for combined operations. Enhancing tactical skills in defeating enemy troops in a semi-urban environment, as well as strengthening interoperability between forces, will be emphasized.
• In this month, the merger of Bharat Broadband Network Limited (BBNL) and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) will be completed.
• The decision to merge BBNL and BSNL had already been taken by the government and this process was scheduled to be completed before 31st March.
• The government has plans to infuse funds of around Rs 1.6 trillion, of which Rs 36,260 crore would be cash support for BSNL over a period of the next three years. As of January 31, BSNL/MTNL had a combined debt of Rs 59,588 crore.
• The organizations’ AGR (adjusted gross revenue) dues (spectrum usage charges and licencing fee) are currently Rs 43,148 crore. For both BSNL and MTNL, the government is thinking of converting AGR dues into equity.
• If BBNL and BSNL merge, the latter’s 860,000 km of optic fibre, combined with BBNL’s 560,000 km, can create a 1.42-million-kilometre integrated fibre network. When combined with BSNL’s enormous market presence across the country, this can provide rural areas with last-mile connectivity.
• The government thinks that once the merger is completed, the new entity will be able to focus more effectively and cohesively on pan-India 4G wireless services, fixed-line fibre internet services
• BBNL is a special purpose vehicle (SPV) that falls under the ambit of the Ministry of Communications and in 2012 it was incorporated as a public sector unit. The task of implementing the BharatNet project, which was till then known as the National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN), was handed over to this organization. The SPV is funded by the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF), which is financed by a Universal Access Levy (UAL) that all telecom licensees must pay. On April 1, 2002, this came into effect and required all telecom service providers to pay the USOF a portion of their revenue.
• The Sagar Parikrama Program will be inaugurated by Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and
• Dairying, Shri Parshottam Rupala. This program has been organized by The Department of Fisheries, and the National Fisheries Development Board along with the Department of Fisheries, Indian Coast Guard, Fishery Survey of India, Gujarat Maritime Board, and fishermen representatives.
• It is a navigation journey that will take place in all coastal states/UTs along a pre-decided sea route toshow unity with all fishermen, fish farmers, and other stakeholders. As a part of ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ this initiative has been launched.
• The focus of Sagar Parikrama will be on the sustainable balance between the livelihood of coastal fisher communities and the usage of marine fisheries resources for the nation’s food security. This program will also put efforts to adopt several measures for the marine ecosystems’ protection. Sanctions or certificates related to the PM Matsya Sampada Yojana will also be awarded to the fish farmers, progressive fishermen, and young fishery entrepreneurs during this event. This event will serve as an example of the government’s commitment to developing fisheries management plans and transforming the fisheries sector, as well as necessary regulatory frameworks implemented to ensure effective fisheries governance. It will also examine ways to improve the fishermen’s livelihood opportunities. Importance will be given on issues like climate change, livelihoods, security, and commerce.
• The span of the first phase will be from Mandvi to Porbandar covering the entire Mandvi coastline on the Arabian Sea coast in Gujarat’s Kutch district and situated at the estuary where river Rukmavati meets the Gulf of Kutch.
• On 1st March 2022, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) launched Swachh Survekshan, the seventh consecutive edition of the world’s largest urban cleanliness survey.
• Swachh Survekshan 2022 is designed to capture initiatives of cities for the welfare and well-being of frontline sanitation workers, with the notion of ‘People First’ as its driving philosophy.
• Priority to the voices of senior citizens and young adults alike will be given in this survey. Doing so will reinforce their commitment towards upholding urban India’s cleanliness.
• This year’s survey was kicked off by MoHUA with nearly 3,000 assessors of Ipsos Research Pvt. Ltd. which is the assessment agency, ready for assessing the performance of cities.
• In this year’s survey the scope has been expanded to cover 100 percent wards for sampling, up from 40 percent in the previous years.
• Swachh Survekshan 2022 will deploy a larger number of assessors for the on-field assessment than last year in order to carry out this exercise smoothly.
• In preparation for Swachh Survekshan 2022, cities have been regularly filling in their data, updating their status in the Swachhatam Portal MIS, and running several citizen-centric campaigns.
• As part of the Swachh Survekshan 2022 survey, senior citizens will be asked to provide feedback.
• To ensure diverse viewpoints, Swachh Survekshan 2022 will also reach out to young adults who will be the country’s and the Swachhata movement’s future leaders.
• Swachh Survekshan 2022 aims to create a level playing field for smaller cities by introducing two population categories which are under 15,000 people and 15,000 to 25,000 people.
• District rankings have also been introduced for the first time to further widen the Survekshan footprint. To commemorate 75 years of progressive India, the Urban Local Body (ULB) collaborated with citizens to
• pick one Roundabout/ Chauraha in each city that could be decorated to reflect the spirit of India’s 75 years of independence. In Swachh Survekshan 2022, this is a new indicator.
• Another new indicator, the ‘Swachh Technology Challenge,’ which was launched by MoHUA in December 2021, has been included in Swachh Survekshan 2022. Under this challenge, individuals, organizations, and entrepreneurs across all Urban Local Bodies submitted ideas under four theme categories which are zero dump (solid waste management), social inclusion, transparency through digital enablement, and plastic waste management.
• In 2016, MoHUA introduced Swachh Survekshan as a competitive framework to encourage the cities of the nation to improve urban cleanliness while also promoting widespread citizen participation.
• Residents from the villages of Jammu and Kashmir will be enrolled for local defence before the delimitation process of Union Territory starts. The government has approved the village defence groups’ (VDG) formation. VDGs will be created so that they can respond to threats in areas where the local police presence is thin.
• Each VDG will consist of 8 to 10 members of the same rank and pay, which the government will credit to their accounts every month.
• The present system of assigning 1 or 2 special police officers with VDGs will be discontinued. The VDGs will also operate in parts of Kashmir valley.
• The VDGs have been around for a while in Jammu and Kashmir, but the members quit after they were not paid for a long time.
• With the help of intelligence inputs from the VDGs, the security forces have been able to eliminate a large number of terrorists. When violence and terrorism were at an all-time high in Jammu and Kashmir in the 1990s, the VDGs helped people in remote locations and protected them from terrorist attacks.
• With the help of VDGs, the armed forces will be looking to eliminate all the terrorist activities that happens in that region.
• The afterglow from an epic cosmic event known as “Kilonova” might have been spotted by astronomers. In the Astrophysical Journal Letters, a study based on the research was published.
• Kilonovas occur when two hyper-dense neutron stars collide, which are the remnants of stars that died in supernova explosions.
• An afterglow in X-rays from the event, is dubbed GW170817, might have been spotted by astronomers. The team which discovered this event suggested that as the debris expanded out from the collision, the
• sonic-boom-like shock which occurred heated up the materials surrounding it, thus generating X-rays. Alternatively, debris falling towards a black hole formed by the neutron star merger could produce a similar impact, therefore astronomers caution that the discovery is tentative. Regardless of the type of discovery, it would be the first known to science.
• In August 2017 a merger produced the first-ever discovery of such an event via gravitational waves or ripples of space-time. Hence, astronomers continue to study this region to see how the area is evolving.
• ray emissions were spotted shortly after the event by astronomers using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, however, in early 2018 the emission began to
• In 2020 the brightness decline stopped and the X-Ray emission remained constant. The X-ray brightness consistency was what indicated this being an unusual event.
• More follow-up studies will be required to find out the ultimate cause of this event. If it is a kilonova, the researchers expect the X-ray and radio emissions to brighten as the shock passes through the surrounding environment. If it’s a black hole, though, the output should decline or remain constant.
• According to a new study, the first potential case of the novel coronavirus being passed to a person from a deer has been reported in Canada.
• Highly mutated clusters of SARS-CoV-2 genomes were identified by researchers in white-tailed deer, indicating that the deer could act as an animal virus reservoir.
• To conduct the study, researchers analyzed 300 samples which were collected from white-tailed deer in Eastern and Southwestern Ontario in November and December 2021. 17 of the deer in Southwestern Ontario showed a positive result for SARS-CoV-2.
• A highly divergent and new lineage of SARS-CoV-2 was identified by researchers when they sequenced the genomes from five of the virus samples.
• When compared to the original virus discovered in Wuhan, China, this lineage contained 76 mutations. Further research suggests the lineage has been evolving in animals since late 2020.
• Although previous research has shown that COVID-19 can be transmitted transmit from humans to deer and within the deer population, this is the first evidence of deer-to-human transmission.
• The researchers compared the viral genomes discovered in deer to those discovered in nearby humans. A person was identified to have been infected with a SARS-CoV-2 strain that was genetically similar.
• This person lived in Southwestern Ontario and had previous close contact with deer, thus it’s possible that a deer, in this case, transmitted the virus to the person. However, due to a lack of data, the researchers couldn’t definitively link the human and deer case. With no other evidence of other human cases from this lineage, so far, this seems to be an isolated case.
• The researchers have found hundreds of mammal bones, tools, lithics and more in the sediment. Remains seemed to be in their original spots, after it was abandoned by the residents. The remains revealed a vivid picture of how people lived 40,000 years ago in Eastern Asia. This is the earliest-known ochre workshop in East Asia. As per researchers, Ochre was used as an additive to be used in processing hides. It was also used as an adhesive to affix handles to stone tools.
• Some of the earliest paleolithic remains were also found at Xiaochangliang site in East Asia. This site is also located in the Nihewan Basin in Yangyuan County in China, which is famous for stone tools discovered there. This site was first discovered in 1923, by US geologist George Barbour. The tool forms that were discovered include notches, burins, side & end scrapers, and disc cores.
• It is usually more difficult to date Asian sites than African sites because Asian sites lack volcanic materials, which can be dated isotropically.
• At its headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) marked its 50- year anniversary. Participants pledged to rally behind the idea of a green and inclusive future.
• In the recently concluded UN Environment Assembly 175 countries supported a landmark resolution to end plastic waste by forming an intergovernmental committee to negotiate and finalize a legally binding agreement by 2024.
• The high-level event, named UNEP@50, will mark the 50th anniversary of the United Nations Environment Programme which was founded in 1972.“Strengthening UNEP for the implementation of the environmental dimension of 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” is the theme for the UNEP@50 event.
• Under UNEP@50, a year-long series of activities and outreach events are being organized to mark UNEP’s 50th anniversary. These events are being held to recognize the progress made on global environmental matters and address the upcoming planetary challenges.
• For the past 50 years, UNEP has led a global effort to address the world’s biggest environmental issues. The collaboration has helped in repairing the ozone layer, phasing out leaded fuel, preventing the extinction of some endangered species, etc. The rigorous scientific research and convening power of the UNEP has provided a platform for countries to act boldly, engage, and advance the global environmental agenda.
• UNEP has worked closely with its 193-member states and other stakeholders since its formation to galvanize global commitments and coordinated action to address many of the world’s environmental challenges. It has also played the role of the docking station for 15 multilateral environmental agreements. draft framework on sustainable and sustainability-linked lending by financial institutions” in the IFSCs.
• The draft guidance framework seeks to encourage the IFSC banking units (IBU) and finance companies or finance units (FC/FUs) for internally developing a comprehensive board approved policy on green or social or sustainable or sustainability linked lending.
• It intends to provide a broad framework for adoption of principles aligned with existing international standards including green or social loan principles developed by loan market association (LMA), Climate Bond Standards by Climate Bonds Initiative, bond principles developed by the International Capital Markets Association (ICMA) and any other similar recognised standards.
• International Financial Services Centres Authority was established by central government for regulating all financial services in International Financial Services Centres (IFSCs). It is headquartered in Gandhinagar (Gujarat) All the members are appointed by central government. They serve for a three years terms, subject to reappointment.
• The banking, insurance sector, and capital markets in IFSC which are regulated by multiple regulators like
• RBI, SEBI and IRDAI will be unified under IFSC authority.
• Jan Aushadhi Bal Mitra programme was held across the country at 75 locations on the 3rd Day of Jan Aushadhi Diwas week-long celebrations.
• This programme was organized to engage children as Bal Mitras with the Jan Aushadhi scheme to educate them about the benefits of the Pariyojana, savings, Jan Aushadhi Seva Bhi Rozgar Bhi, the price difference between Jan Aushadhi medicines and branded medicines, etc.
• To engage Bal Mitra’s with Jan Aushadhi, an online quiz was conducted by the Pharmaceuticals & Medical Devices Bureau of India (PMBI) on Jan Aushadhi. This quiz was conducted through the MyGov platform and a prize of Rs. 200/- coupon each to 100 Bal Mitras was awarded.
• PMBI also organized the release of balloons and sky lanterns at 75 locations, across the nation with the aim of spreading the message of the Jan Aushadhi.
• The Department of Pharmaceuticals launched the PMBJP with the aim of providing quality generic medicine at affordable prices to all the citizens of the country.
• Under this scheme, Jan Aushadhi Kendras have been opened to provide generic medicines at affordable prices to all the citizens especially the deprived ones and the poor. Awareness is also created regarding generic medicines and their quality through publicity and education. Another important aim of this scheme is to generate employment.
• This mobile application was launched in 2019 to locate nearby Jan Aushadhi Kendras via Google Maps, learn about the Jan Aushadhi generic medicines and price comparison with the branded medicines, etc.
• IFSCA is a unified authority for the development and regulation of financial products, financial services, and financial institutions in international financial services centers.
• An IFSC caters to customers outside the jurisdiction of the domestic economy. IFSC centres deal with flows of finance, financial products and services across borders. London, New York and Singapore can be considered as global financial centres.
• Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT) IFSC is the maiden IFSC in India.
• IFSCA is a statutory body, established in 2020 under the International Financial Services Centres Authority Act, 2019. It is headquartered at GIFT City, Gandhinagar in Gujarat.
• Prior to the establishment of IFSCA, the domestic financial regulators, namely, RBI, SEBI, PFRDA and IRDAI regulated the business in IFSC.
• In the mela, new varieties of crops that have been developed by the institute along with other innovative technologies of IARI, such as the Pusa Decomposer, solar-powered Pusa-Farm Sun Fridge, Pusa Complete Bio-Fertilizer (unique liquid formulation providing phosphorous, nitrogen, and potassium) are also being showcased.
• In Pulse crops, two arhar and one gram varieties have been developed. Pusa Chana 4005 (BG 4005), a high producing (19.40 q/ha) and drought-tolerant chickpea variety, has been developed. For Delhi-NCR, Pusa Arhar 2018-2 has been released. Pusa Arhar 2018-4, with a maturity period of 135-150 days and an average yield of 16.72 q/ha, has been identified and will be distributed in the North-West Plains region.
• This year, the Institute launched three Basmati rice varieties: Pusa Basmati 1847, Pusa Basmati 1885, and Pusa Basmati 1886, which would lower the cost of cultivation while also addressing the problem of pesticide residues in rice and increasing Basmati rice exports. Pusa Basmati 1979 and Pusa Basmati 1985 are two herbicide-tolerant varieties developed by the Institute.
• The institution has also developed two biofortified wheat varieties: HI.1636, a bread wheat variety with a yield of 5.6 t/ha and a high zinc content (44.4 ppm), and HI 8823, a durum wheat variety with a yield of 5.6 t/ha and a high zinc content (44.4 ppm).
• The Institute has also developed two Pro-Vitamin-A enriched QPM maize hybrids, Pusa HQPM1 Advanced and Pusa Biofortified MH1.
• On 12th March 2022, a national level ‘India Water Pitch-Pilot-Scale Start-up Conclave’ will be organized by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs in New Delhi.
• This conclave is being organized with an aim of starting communication with Start-ups in the water sector.
• During the conclave, Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs, will launch the ‘India Water Pitch-Pilot-Scale Start-up Challenge’ and will also be delivering the keynote address.
• Through this challenge, 100 start-ups will be selected by the ministry, and Rs.20 lakhs will be provided as funding support.
• Innovative solutions for urban water problems will be pithed/exhibited by more than 50 Start-ups. The conclave will also be attended by industry, users, investors, and sector experts.
• This conclave is being expected to serve as a starting point for interaction between users such as cities, states, and parastatal agencies, as well as start-ups, industry experts, sector experts, and other stakeholders.
• First-hand experience of the various innovative solutions will be provided to the users.
• During the conclave, two-panel discussions on the topics, ‘Industry Platforms for scaling up Start-ups’ and ‘Leveraging Start-up Ecosystem to solve urban challenges’ will be held.
• Speakers from Paytm, Quantela, Urban Company, Delhivery, Rainmatter Foundation, Zoho will be sharing their views in the panel discussion on ‘Leveraging Start-up Ecosystem to solve urban challenges.’
• Speakers from Microsoft and CISCO will be participating in the panel discussion on ‘Industry Platforms for scaling up Start-ups.’
• The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Vigil mission, formerly known as Lagrange, is a planned solar weather mission. Under this mission, two spacecraft will be stationed at the Lagrangian points L1 and L5, respectively.
• It’s the first of its kind mission, with the aim of monitoring the unpredictable and active Sun and help protect the Earth from its outbursts.
• Solar flares, coronal mass ejections, geomagnetic storms, solar proton events, and other space weather incidences will be monitored by ESA Vigil.
• Monitoring of the space incidences will help in predicting the timing of its arrival on Earth and any effect it might have on infrastructure.
• This mission plans to position two spacecraft in the L1 and L5 Lagrangian points, where gravitational forces interact to provide a stable region where propellant may be saved and observations can be made. Since L1 is located in the solar wind ‘upstream’ from Earth measurements at the L1 will provide information about the space weather approaching Earth. The L5 point, on the other hand, allows the tracking of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) from the side in order to assess their speed and direction.
• At L1, the spacecraft will measure the density, speed, dynamic pressure, and temperature of the solar wind, as well as the charged particle environment and the strength and direction of the interplanetary magnetic field. At L1, the spacecraft would also observe the solar disk and corona and will measure solar energetic particles that could be linked to solar flares and the start of coronal mass ejections.
• By providing a side-view of the propagation of plasma clouds released by the Sun toward Earth, the spacecraft at L5 would complement the measurements made from L1.
• At L5, the spacecraft would conduct measurements of the interplanetary medium and monitor the solar disk and corona.
• The gravitational forces of a two-body system, such as the Sun and the Earth, produce enhanced regions of attraction and repulsion at Lagrange Points in space. Spacecrafts use these points to reduce the amount of fuel needed to remain in position. Lagrange points are named after Josephy-Louis Lagrange, an Italian- French mathematician.
• Dubai has introduced crypto asset regulation, joining the ranks of Singapore, the United States, the United Kingdom, El Salvador, and other countries that have enacted cryptocurrency laws. The Virtual Asset Regulation Law has been passed by Dubai to regulate this new-age industry, which has been rapidly expanding.
• The new law will require residents of Dubai to register with VARA before engaging in the crypto-related activity. Businesses that deal with virtual assets would also need to register. Cryptocurrency exchanges, businesses that facilitate cryptocurrency transfers, etc are examples of these businesses.
• With the exception of the government-owned DIFC financial-free zone, the new rule will apply throughout Dubai. The DIFC’s regulator, the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA), is developing its own virtual asset regulations.
• Excluding the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), VARA will be responsible for regulating and licensing the sector across the free zone territories and the mainland. The authority will be in charge of establishing and organizing the procedures and rules that will govern VA activities, such as clearing, management, and settlement services, as well as specifying and classifying the types of virtual assets. In collaboration with the UAE Central Bank and the Securities and Commodities Authority, VARA will also be offering a full range of services.
• Any digitized token of value that can be traded, transferred, or used for payment might be considered a virtual asset. The digital representation of fiat currency is not included under virtual assets. Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and cryptocurrencies are the most popular digital assets.
• An IBRD (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development) loan of USD $125 million has been offered to West Bengal by the World Bank to help poor and vulnerable groups through social protection services in the state.
• Over 400 programs to give care services, social assistance, and jobs through an umbrella platform called Jai Bangla that is being run in West Bengal.
• The loan from IBRD would help the state develop the capability for the Inclusive Social Protection Project, which focuses on vulnerable populations such as women, tribal and scheduled caste households, and those in disaster-prone coastal areas.
• The project will also finance the establishment of a teleconsultation network for social care services, as well as a cadre of case management workers who can provide guidance on eldercare and connect homes to health services and facilities.
• The project would also build an institutional platform to improve the effectiveness and coordination of government actions aimed at increasing women’s involvement in the workforce of the state.
• The project will also focus on enhancing the state government’s ability to expand access and coverage to targeted services and social assistance for the state’s poor and vulnerable populations.
• The World Bank Group’s lending arm is the IBRD. It was founded in 1944 and is based in Washington, D.C.
• Loans to middle-income developing countries are offered by IBRD. In 1944, the IBRD’s initial aim was to finance the rehabilitation of European countries destroyed by World War II. The IBRD and the International Development Association (IDA), share the same leadership and staff, hence, they are collectively referred to as the World Bank.
• On 9th March 2022, Bhupender Yadav, Union Minister for Labour and Employment released a book titled ‘Role of Labour in India’s Development’.
• ‘Role of Labour in India’s Development’ book has 12 articles outlining the contribution of labour in the development journey of India. These articles are written experts in this field and the book is published by V  V Giri National Labour Institute. The publishing of the book is part of the ‘Iconic Week’ celebrations of the ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’.
• ‘Gender Samwaad’ is a national virtual initiative under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM).
• The objective of the ‘Gender Samwaad’ initiative is to generate awareness on the interventions of DAY-NRLM across India with a gender lens. The theme for the third edition of ‘Gender Samwaad’ was ‘Promotion of food and nutrition security through women’s collectives’.
• Over 3000 staff of State Rural Livelihoods Missions (SRLM) and members of Self-Help Group (SHG) from 34 states participated in the third edition of ‘Gender Samwaad’.
• ‘Gender Samwaad’ event was organized as a part of Rural Development Ministry’s Iconic Week.
• celebrations under Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav from 7th – 13th March 2022 during the week of International Women’s Day (8th March 2022). The theme of Iconic Week celebrations is ‘Naye Bharat ki Naari’ (Women of New India) and the official hashtag is #NayeBharatKiNaari.
• The objective of the Iconic week is to celebrate the contribution of rural women in India.
• Self-Help Groups (SHGs) under the DAY-NRLM undertook many initiatives to fight malnutrition among their members. These initiatives include providing livelihood support to rural households, diversification of food crops, improving productivity, etc.
• Women from SHGs play an important role in social and behavior change communication (SBCC). This includes promoting the education of girl children, fighting against child marriages, awareness regarding consumption of micronutrients, healthy diets, family planning, etc.
• During the COVID-19 pandemic, women from SHGs played a key role in raising awareness among 5.5 crore rural households.
• The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Act was passed by Parliament in 1997 to regulate telecom services in India.
• To commemorate the 25 years journey of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Act, a seminar on “25 Years of TRAI Act: Way Forward for Stakeholders (Telecom, Broadcasting, IT, AERA and Aadhaar)”, was organized recently. The seminar was organized by Telecom Disputes Settlement & Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) and was inaugurated by Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union Minister for Communications and Railways.
• The government of India launched a 12-digit Universal Account Number (UAN) in 2014. UAN is allotted to
• employees covered by Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO), to enable Provident Fund (PF) number portability. EPFO generates UAN for each Provident Fund (PF) member. UAN remains the same throughout an employee’s lifetime and does not change between jobs. UAN acts as an umbrella for numerous Member Identification Numbers (Member IDs) allotted to an employee by different organizations. All IDs are linked to UAN.