MPPSC PRELIMS the Only Comprehensive “CURRENT AFFAIRS” Magazine of “MADHYA PRADESH”In “ENGLISH MEDIUM”

MPPSC 2020 PRELIMS MPPSC PRELIMS The Only Comprehensive “CURRENT AFFAIRS” Magazine of “MADHYA PRADESH”in “ENGLISH MEDIUM”

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MARCH 2020

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Narmada Parikrima Path  The Minister for Public Relations and Adhyatm Shri P.C. Sharma said that all the facilities will be provided by the state government on Narmada Parikrima Path.  For this, a trust is being formed soon. He said that the banks of Narmada River, Parikrama Sthal and Temples will be rejuvenated through the Trust.  Shri Sharma was addressing the annual function of the Narmadiya Community in Indore. In the programme, he honoured people for their outstanding works in the society.

Demise of Journalist Shri Sharma  The Minister for Public Relations Shri P.C. Sharma has expressed profound grief over the death of the Journalist Shri Vishweshwar Dayal Sharma.  Shri Vishweshwar Dayal Sharma had dedicated his whole life to the journalism. He was a prudent journalist.

Madhya Pradesh leaves imprint across the globe in Barasingha conservation  The relocation of Barasingha to Kanha Tiger Reserve is acknowledged as one of the remarkable achievements of wildlife conservation in the world.  The number of hard ground Barasingha had come down to just 66 in Kanha. Today the number has grown to around 800 due to the vigorous efforts of the management. This species is included in some of the world's most endangered wildlife species, owing to the poaching and destruction of habitats.  This state animal of Madhya Pradesh is now somewhat safe, but Kanha management, considering it not enough, is constantly moving ahead to achieve the management objectives of Barasingha conservation.  With an aim of increasing hard ground Barasingha population, left only in the world in Kanha Tiger Reserve, 7 Barsinghas to Van Vihar National Park, Bhopal and 46 to Satpura Tiger Reserve have been relocated in the recent years and increase in their population has been recorded at these places.  A total of three sub-species of Barasingha are found in India and Nepal in the whole world. In India, the three subspecies RucervusDuvaucelii, RucervusDuvaucelii Ranjitasinhi and Rucervus Duvaucelli Brendari are found in Dudhwa and Kaziranga National Parks, Manas National Park and Kanha National Park respectively.  The habitat of Barasinghas found in Kanha is hard land, whereas the other two species found in the North East and North India live in marshy habitats.  Kanha's Barasingha prefers somewhat swampy places. Hence it is also known as Swamp Dear.  Due to hundreds of years of gradual development and adaptation in Kanha, Barasinghas have accustomed itself to survive in the hard land of the central India. This deer loves water and swampy moist areas. They eat only grass of selected species and have specific shelter, food and reproduction requirements. Their entire life depends on the grasslands. Keeping these characteristics in mind, the Kanha management has achieved tremendous success in increasing its number through its intense efforts.

National Chambal Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh received eco-sensitive zonetag  Centre notified 870 sq km around the National Chambal Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh(MP) as eco- sensitive zone (ESZ) to prohibit polluting activities like industries, major hydroelectric project,mining, stone quarrying & big construction within the ‘no-go area’ for the purpose of conservation of water bodies, unique geographical features(ravines), flora & fauna.  The National Chambal Sanctuary is the first and only tri-state riverine protected area in India for the breeding population of Gharial. It is Located on the Chambal River near the tripoint of Rajasthan, MP and Uttar Pradesh.

Food processing unit to be set up in Agar-Malwa soon  CM announced that a food processing unit will be set up in Agar-Malwa district at the earliest.

„Har Ghar Nal-Jal Yojana‟ worth Rs. 604 crore  The Chief Minister performed Bhumi-Pujan of Har Ghar Nal-Jal Yojana worth Rs. 604 crore for providing drinking water in rural areas of Agar-Malwa district.  The Chief Minister performed Bhumi-Pujan and dedicated development works costing total Rs. 865 crore in Agar-Malwa district.  Agar-Malwa is the first district of the state, for which such a big amount has been sanctioned for Nal-Jal Yojana.

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Crop Loans to Farmers  Crop Loans worth Rs. 135 crore of 9448 farmers of Agar-Malwa distt. waived  Chief Minister performs Bhumi-Pujan and dedicated works costing Rs. 865 crore  While addressing a programme of Jai Kisan Fasal Wrin Maafi Yojana at Agar-Malwa district headquarters, Cm said that in the last 14 months a big change has come in the agriculture sector in the state.  The state government has give a substantial proof of its honest intention by waiving the loans of more than 21 lakh farmers under the first phase of the Jai Kisan Fasal Wrin Maafi Yojana.

Agar-Malwa district to be developed on the lines of Chhindwara  The Minister for Public Health Engineering Shri Sukhdev Panse said that water will be brought from Kundaliya Dam and supplied through taps to each house of 480 villages of Agar-Malwa district after treatment.

National Anthem and National Song sung at Sardar Patel Park  Mass singing of the national song “Vande-Mataram” and national anthem “Jana Gana Mana” took place at 11 am at Sardar Patel Park in front of the Mantralaya in the presence of Chief Secretary Shri S.R. Mohanty.  Earlier, the police band played patriotic songs while marching from Shaurya Smarak to Sardar Patel Park.

Community buildings to be built in 23 villages of Dindori district under Aasthan scheme (Tribal Welfare Department)  171 Devasthans of Dindori and Chhindwara districts to be renovated  The state government will construct community buildings at a cost of Rs 10 lakh each in 23 villages of Dindori district under the Aasthan Yojana of Tribal Welfare Department.  Apart from this, 50 devasthans of Dindori district and 121 of Chhindwara district will be renovated at a cost of Rs 1.5 lakh each. Construction of scaffolds and fencing work is prominent among the works. This information was given in a recent meeting chaired by Tribal Welfare Minister

15 rural group water supply scheme to be implemented by Jal Nigam approved  Rs 237 crores approved for project of Super Specialty Hospital Indore  Decision to create 113 posts for State Allied Health Science Institute  In a meeting of the Cabinet held under the chairmanship of Chief Minister, 15 rural group water supply schemes to be implemented by Madhya Pradesh Jal Nigam were approved. The total estimated cost of these water supply schemes is Rs 7854 crore 68 lakh.  On completion of the works of these schemes, drinking water facility will be available in 4022 villages of 13 districts through door-to-door tap connection.  In the meeting, 54 posts for the establishment of “State Allied Health Science Institute Jabalpur” in Medical College Jabalpur and 59 posts for the operation of “State Allied Health Science Institute Indore” established in Indore Medical College under self-funded institutions has been approved.

State Mental Health Authority constituted  The Cabinet decided to set up a State Mental Health Authority (SMHA) in the state. The Public Health and Family Welfare Department has been authorized for selection and appointment of non-official members of the authority under the Mental Health Care Act.  The Authority will have 9 government and 11 non-government members. In view of lack of experts in the state, it was decided to set up a Mental Health Review Board in every division.

Discretionary fund of Assembly Speaker, Deputy Speaker doubled  The Cabinet has approved hike in the discretionary fund of the Assembly Speaker from Rs one crore to Rs two crore and the discretionary fund of the Deputy Speaker and Leader of the Opposition from Rs 50 lakh to Rs one crore.  With the aim of encouraging and recognizing voluntary workers / institutions working in the field of social rehabilitation and disabilities of the disabled in the state, the Cabinet has decided to give institutional awards of Rs two lakhs each in each category to the institutions doing excellent work in all four categories of persons with disabilities and individual awards of Rs. 1 lakh each to individuals every year.

Duration of Scheduled Caste Ph.D extended  The Cabinet decided to extend the duration of research degree (PhD) from two years to research period or four years, whichever is less, in the scholarship scheme for higher education outside India run by the Scheduled Castes Welfare Department.

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 Similarly, approval was given to increase the number of existing seats from 50 to 60.  For the purpose of giving priority to women candidates in selection, 10 places were reserved for them.

Madhya Pradesh Hybrid Renewable Energy and Energy Storage Policy  The Cabinet decided to implement “Madhya Pradesh Hybrid Renewable Energy and Energy Storage Policy” to promote hybridization of renewable energy sources and various types of energy storage. It was decided in the meeting to allot two acre land to Sri Ramkrishna Vivekananda Seva Ashram Pondki in Anuppur district taking a penal amount.

Quality education and food essential to children for a better society  CM performs bhoomi-pujan of mega kitchen created by Akshay Patra Santha and HEG ltd.  He appreciated the work being done by HEG in the field of social service.  Corporate Social Responsibility Fund should be utilized by the industries in the areas of social service, which give meaningful results.

Government will complete the Ram Path Van Gaman Nirman Yojana  CM addresses Maa Narmada Gau-Kumbh closing ceremony in Jabalpur  Chief Minister said that the government will complete the Ram Path Van Gaman Nirman Yojana. He appealed to the seers and saints to cooperate in this work.

E-office pilot project inaugurated  Chief Minister launched the pilot project of e-office system in the Divisional and Collector office of Jabalpur from the Narmada Gau-Kumbh platform by pressing the laptop button.  To speed up the functioning of government offices and encourage paperless work culture, the state government has selected the Collectorate Office of Jabalpur District and Jabalpur Divisional Office as a pilot project across the state.

Bhanwartal culture theatre dedicated  The Chief Minister dedicated the Culture theatre built at a cost of Rs. 12 crore 50 lakh near Bhanwartal Park by Jabalpur Smart City Limited as a huge gift to the artists and art lovers of the city.

“Tiger Speak”  On the occasion of World Wildlife Day, Chief Minister released cartoonist Shri Hariom Tiwari’s book “Tiger Speak”, a cartoon art book dedicated to tigers.  On this occasion, Shri Hariom Tiwari presented a cartoon picture made on the subject of Tiger State to the Chief Minister.  The cartoon book dedicated to the life of tigers and their environment is an initiative taken to make creative use of cartoon art to arouse human sensitivity towards the endangered tiger.  onsidering the tiger as a Bhadra Purush of human society, its pain is expressed through cartoon art. In the cartoons, the tiger both laughs and talks seriously.  Chief Minister appreciated the efforts of cartoonist Shri Hariom Tiwari to create awareness about the tiger.

Namaste Orchha Mahotsav  The Namaste Orchha Mahotsav being organized in Madhya Pradesh’s famous tourist site Orchha from 6 to 8 March will be a unique experience for tourists.  The state government is setting the direction of future tourism in the state through this Mahotsav.  It will focus on new employment opportunities in the eco-tourism sector.  The ancient stories related to the historical site Orchha will attract tourists during this Mahotsav once again.  Information about the history and festival of Orchha will be rendered in famous actor Manoj Bajpayi’s voice at the inauguration ceremony to be held in Sheesh Mahal.  Contemporary dance will be performed at the ceremony by the “Sadya” institution. Their dance performances will combine traditional and modern dance forms.  During this three-day festival, Orchha will have a craft market of products from local artists, with a focus on Panja Dari, Pithora paintings, Chanderi weaving, Maheshwari sarees, Batik, Bagh print and Gond paintings.  There will also be activities like morning wellness and yoga session, photography walk, cycling tour, nature walk and hot air balloon during the Mahotsav.  Overall, Madhya Pradesh is taking the initiative to further expand its identity in the national and international

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tourism sector through the Namaste Orchha Mahotsav.

Talented children of Tribal regions leave for India tour  Tribal Welfare Minister sent off talented children of tribal areas of the state on an India tour from Habibganj railway station in Bhopal in an air-conditioned special IRCTC train.  Extending his best wishes to the children, he told them to listen to the information provided during this educational excursion carefully and make full use of it for their own leadership development.  The Tribal Welfare and Scheduled Caste Welfare Department jointly organizes the India tour programme for children scoring highest marks in the district in Class Xth for the leadership development camp every year. Selected children from 20 districts of Special Backward Tribes and 89 tribal development blocks have also been included in the India Tour programme.

Nimal Chilli  Chilli Growers, Traders Enthusiastic About Branding of NimarChilli  The hot chilies have turned out sweet for thousands of chilli growers of Jamkheda village of Kasrawad, Khargone district with bumper crop arrival this time.  Bediya, the second largest Chilli Yard in Asia near Sanawad in Khargone district of Madhya Pradesh has received arrival of 2.71 lakh quintals worth Rs. 202 crores.  The Nimar Chilli has already carved its distinct identity owing to its colour and pungency within the country and abroad.  The Nimar Chilli has already crossed geographical boundaries and is being exported to many Asian countries especially China, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Thailand and UAE  Khargone, Dhar, Khandwa, Barwani, Alirajpur districts report good yield of chillies. The Chilli growers are excited about the branding of Nimari Chilli by way of securing Geographical Identity and hope that the GI Tag will have a positive impact on chilli market.

Over 32 lakh rural families have been linked to self-employment  Panchayat and Rural Development Minister said that more than 32 lakh 21 thousand rural families in the state have been linked to self-employment activities through self-help groups.  Of these, 9 and a half lakh women are engaged in agricultural activities.

Adopt the culture of Namaste and Aadab  Prevention is the only cure for Corona VirusAll districts in Madhya Pradesh have been kept on alert  Staying safe is the first way to prevent Corona virus. Corona virus is an infectious virus. It spreads from one person to another. This virus spreads when exposed to a person infected with Corona virus.

Sushri Megha Parmar on conquered Kosciuszko Mountains  Minority Welfare Minister congratulated young mountaineers Sushri Megha Parmar and Shri Shobhit Sharma for conquering Kosciuszko, the highest mountain of Australia.  Residents of Sehore, Sushri Parmar and Shri Sharma are the first woman and man from Madhya Pradesh to have hoisted the Indian flag at Kosciuszko.

Government servants going to Mumbai for treatment will get housing facility in „Madhyalok‟  Government, semi-government officials, employees and their family members (mother, father, wife, son, daughter) of the state going to Mumbai for medical treatment from Madhya Pradesh will be provided facility to stay in ‘Madhyalok’ building in Mumbai. T  his facility will be given as a 40 percent discount on the fare charged there.

450 Phulwaris will be opened in tribal regions of the state  As many as 450 Phulwaris will soon be started in tribal areas of the state, especially in the backward dominated tribal areas.

 450 Phulwaris will be started in Special Backward tribal areas in 5 districts  Health of children in the age group of 6 months to 3 years will be taken care of in the Phulwari  Phulwari will be run through financial assistance of the Tribal Welfare Department

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Cabinet Committee constituted for implementation of Excise policy  A three-member Cabinet Committee has been constituted by the state government for the implementation of excise policy for the year 2020-21 and to take decisions on relevent issues and to take immediate decision about revenue in a situation created due to circumstances.

Day-long workshop on “Ek Zila-Ek Fasal” today  The Farmer Welfare and Agriculture Development Department is organizing a day-long workshop under the “Ek Zila-Ek Fasal” programme at 10.30 am on March 6 at Academy of Administration, Bhopal.  In this programme, the strategy for promoting production of local specific crop species of the state and selection, processing, value addition and marketing system along with geographical indication tag (GI tag) will be decided.

Country‟s first GIS based master plan to be implemented in Bhopal  The country’s first GIS based Master Plan will take shape in the capital Bhopal.  Urban Development and Housing Minister dedicated the draft of Bhopal Master Plan-2031 at Minto Hall. The draft has provision for outer and inner ring road apart from arrangement of betterment charges for the development of other roads. The draft is available at mptownplan.gov.in. and suggestions have been invited from citizens on it. Suggestions can be given online.

„Sabla Mahila Sabha‟ to be organized in all gram panchayats on March 8  Panchayat and Rural Development Minister said that ‘Sabla Mahila Sabha’ will be organized in 22 thousand 812 gram panchayats of the state on March 8 on the occasion of International Women’s Day.  Discussion will be held on issues like social, economic development of women, folk traditions and social evils. A government female officer/ employee has been appointed nodal officer for organizing each ‘Sabla Mahila Sabha’ successfully.  Minister said that with a view to register active participation of women in the Panchayat Raj system, the manifesto also had the promise to organize women gram sabhas. In this sequence, the state government has decided to organize “Sabla Mahila Sabha” on March 8 and “Priyadarshini Mahila Sabha” on November 19 as a special Gram Sabha on two occasions in the year.

Rupankar Art Exhibition awards announced  Ustad Allaudin Khan Music and Art Academy has announced the Rupankar Art Exhibition awards for the year 2020.  The selected awardees include o Sushri Kavita Pandey from Jabalpur who will be awarded with the Devkrishna Jatashankar Joshi award, o Shri Avdhesh Tamrakar of Sagar with Mukund Sakharam Bhand award, o Shri Govind Vishwas of Bhopal with Sayyed Haider Raza award, o Sushri Vishakha Hardikar Mall of Ujjain with Dattatreya Damodar Devlalikar award, o Shri Narendra Mukherji of Jabalpur with Jagdish Swaminathan award, o Sushri Priyanka Sakargaye of Khandwa with Vishnu Chinchalkar award, o Shri Sharad Pandey of Jabalpur with Narayan Shridhar Bendre award, o Shri Shubham Verma of Bhopal with Raghunath Krishnarao Phadke award, o Sushri Monika Sheth of Indore with Ram Manohar Sinha award and o Shri AbhashMahendre of Indore with Lakshmi Shankar Rajput award. o Apart from this, Shri Aditya Singh Rajput of Jabalpur, Shri Prabhat Kumar Barmaiyya of Seoni, Shri Yashwant Singh of Bhopal and Shri Ankit Punyasi of Indore have been selected for Special Appreciation Award.

Shri V.K. Singh takes charge  Indian Police Service officer Shri V.K. Singh took charge as Director Sports and Youth Welfare today. Shri Singh held a discussion with the officials and sought information about departmental activities.

Shri Vivek Johri appointed as Director General of Police  The state government has appointed Shri Vivek Johri, an officer of the Indian Police Service, as the Director General of Police of the state on his return from central deputation.

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Ramraja temple  Tourists in a large number thronged Lord Ramraja temple in Orchha for darshan, in Pushya Nakshatra on the first day of “Namaste Orchha” Mahotsav.  It is believed that Lord Rama visited Orchha on this day.  Devotees from all over the country and abroad along with the surrounding districts in the Ramraja temple worshipped Lord Ramraja and sought his blessings.  The three-day Namaste Orchha Festival is formally beginning today evening. Cultural programmes, heritage walk and other activities related to tourism will be held during the Mahotsav.  The historical saga of Lord Shri Ram’s arrival from Ayodhya to Orchha will be shown on the walls of Jehangir Mahal through 3D mapping.  Also, Bundeli singers will perform fusion with foreign musicians amidst a blend of classical music.

Effective action to be taken against fraudulent chit fund companies  The Chief Minister gave instructions to take effective action against certain chit fund companies following complaints of fraud in some districts. He told to prioritize the work of taking strict action against the fraudulent chit fund companies.  He directed to resolve cases of granting forest rights by March 31 and said that forest dwellers should not be deprived of forest rights on technical grounds. He instructed to maintain a constant pace in the ShuddhkeliyeYuddh campaign.

Programmes will be held at the Academy of Administration on World Consumer Rights Day  On World Consumer Rights Day on March 15, various programmes will be organized at the R.S.V.P. Noronha Academy of Administration, Bhopal.  Every year organizations / individuals doing excellent work in the field of consumer awareness are rewarded in the programme. At the state level, selected students of essay and poster competition will also be awarded. Along with this, a seminar will be held to creat consumer awareness.

“New Vision Policy” of renewable energy soon  Chief Secretary said that due to the geographical location of Madhya Pradesh, about 50 percent of the country’s population is connected to it.  Madhya Pradesh is in the leading position in many areas. He informed that a lot of work is being done in the field of renewable energy in Madhya Pradesh.  The Chief Secretary informed that a “New Vision Policy' of renewable energy will be brought in the state soon.

Shubha Mudgal enthralls with her voice on the banks of Betwa  In a mesmerizing display of excellence in classical music and longstanding practice, renowned classical singer Sushri Shubha Mudgal gave a spellbinding performance on the second day of “Namaste Orchha” Mahotsav at Kanchana Ghat in Orchha.  Well-known classical dancer Aditi Mangaldas presented Kathak dance in the cultural evening.

Eradication of Natra practice  Programme held on International Women’s Day and Natra-Jhagda alleviation in Rajgarh  Public awareness is necessary for the eradication of Natra-Jhagda practice.  The law can also be amended to eradicate this social evil. Gods dwell where women are worshiped.

Bhumi-Pujan of works costing over Rs. 4 crore at Jalpa Mata Mandir premises  The Minister for Urban Development and Housing & Minister In-charge of Rajgarh District performed bhumi- pujan of works costing Rs. 4 crore at Jalpa Mata Mandir premises.

Usefulness of degrees to be examined by students‟ tracking  The Department of Higher Education will keep track of graduates and postgraduate degree holders of 200 colleges, selected under the World Bank Project. The department is trying to compile the information through student tracking to know the current status of the degree holders and how useful are the degrees of the universities of the state.  The principals of all the colleges, selected under the project have been directed to organise an alumni meet of the graduate and post-graduate degree holders, who have passed the examinations in 2019. In the meet, information will be sought from the students with respect to their occupation after securing the degrees. For

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this, colleges have been empowered to spend Rs. 50 per student. The Higher Education Department has instructed the colleges to hold alumni meet by March 20.

Urban bodies and panchayat elections will be held through EVMs  In the workshop of the observers appointed to oversee the revision work of the photo-electoral list of urban bodies and panchayats, Madhya Pradesh State Election Commissioner Shri Basant Pratap Singh said that the general elections of the upcoming urban bodies and panchayats, will be conducted through EVMs.  He said that the first objective of the Commission is to prepare an error less voter list.

Rajya Samman awards cancelled  The state government has canceled the Gurunanak Rajya Samman and Rahim Rajya Samman Award for the year 2015 and 2016.

Committee constituted for Logistic Sector and Natural Gas Pipe Line Projects  The state government has constituted a committee under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary for promotion of the logistics sector and natural gas pipeline projects in the state. Under the work allocation rules of the state government, the committee will give suggestions as regard to the inclusion of matter of logistics and natural gas pipeline under the authority of Industrial Policy and Investment Promotion Department.

Internal annual examinations of all schools postponed  The state government has postponed internal annual examinations in all schools of the state to prevent spread of Corona Virus. Commissioner Public Education and Director State Education Centre, Smt. Jayashree Kiyawat has instructed all the districts in this regard.  All the schools have been directed to postpone all the internal annual examinations, including Classes I to IV, and Classes VI and VII, to be conducted internally. This instruction will be applicable in all government and non- government schools of the state.

Everyone should respect dignity of others - Magsaysay Awardee Shri Wilson  Lecture series “Effective Change - Sustainable Results” at Institute of Good Governance  Everyone should respect the dignity of others with his. It is our responsibility to protect the right to equality provided to citizens in the Constitution.  Magsaysay Awardee and National Convenor of the SafaiKarmachariAndolan Shri Bezwada Wilson said this while expressing his views on the 'Narratives and Challenges Including the Excluded' at a lecture series 'Effective Change-Sustainable Results' at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Good Governance and Policy Analysis.

Special training for teachers  Special attention is being paid to the training of teachers to improve the quality of education in government schools run by the Tribal Welfare Department.  Principals have been imparted training through Indian Institute of Management (I.I.M.) Indore. Through the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Gandhi Nagar, 25 Science and 25 Mathematics teachers have been trained as source teachers.  As many as 25 P.G.Ts and 29 T.G.Ts of the Tribal Welfare Department have been trained according to the new educational technology through C.B.S.E. New Delhi.  In addition, honorarium of CTET pass guest teachers in Eklavya Model Residential Schools has also been increased.

Pure potable water to be supplied through 15 Group Tap-Water Scheme to 4022 villages  Domestic tap connections will be provided to villagers through 15 group tap-water schemes in 4022 villages in 13 districts of the state. A work plan worth Rs. 7855 crore has been prepared by the Public Health Engineering Department, which will be implemented by the State Water Corporation.  According to the plan, 11 group tap-water schemes will be implemented in 1925 villages of Betul, Chhatarpur, Dhar, Khargone, Jabalpur, Dindori and Mandla districts. A total of Rs. 2990 crore 65 lakh will be spent on these schemes aided by NABARD.  Under the external financially aided project 'Jica', more than Rs. 4308 crores will be spent on the execution of 2 group tap-water schemes in a total of 1735 villages including all villages of Mandsaur and Neemuch district and villages of Alot block of Ratlam district.

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 Under this, the loan of Jica will be 85 per cent i.e. Rs. 3661 crore 85 lakh. The remaining 15 percent i.e. Rs. 642.21 crore will be the share of the state government.

Raag Amir Samaroh postponed  As per the directives of the State Government, the Raag Amir Samaroh, supposed to be held in Indore from March 15 to 17 has been postponed.  Along with this event of UstadAllauddin Khan Sangeet Kala Academy of Culture Department, the Madhya Pradesh State Rupankar Art Exhibition has also been postponed.

Five percent increase in dearness allowance of government servants  In a meeting of the Cabinet held under the chairmanship of Chief Minister decision was taken to increase dearness allowance payable to government servants by 5 percent.  The Cabinet granted approval for hike of 5 percent in seventh pay scale i.e. from 12 percent to 17 percent.

Two members appointed in Public Service Commission  The Cabinet approved the appointment of Shri RamuTekam and Shri Rashid Suhail Siddiqui as members of Madhya Pradesh Public Service Commission.  The meeting also approved the notification issued in the Madhya Pradesh Gazette (Extraordinary) on 7 February 2020 for amendment in the Madhya Pradesh Sand (Mining, Transportation, Storage and Trading) Rules 2019.

Shri M. Gopal Reddy appointed as Chief Secretary  The state government has appointed Shri M. Gopal Reddy as Chief Secretary of the state.  He took charge of the post of Chief Secretary today. Shri Reddy, the 1985 batch Indian Administrative Service Officer was born in 1960.  Shri Reddy, a native of United Andhra Pradesh and presently Telangana, has done B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering.  He started his career as Assistant Collector of Sagar in the year 1986.  He served as an Administrator of Municipal Corporation-Jabalpur and Collector of Chhindwara, Khargone and Indore. Besides serving as Director of Public Relations from 1995 to 1996, Shri Reddy also discharged the duties as Commissioner of Urban Administration and Development and Commissioner Industry.

Smt. Ojha appointed as Chairperson of State Women Commission  The state government has appointed Smt. Shobha Ojha as Chairperson of the Madhya Pradesh State Women Commission.  The tenure of Smt. Ojha will be of 3 years from the date of release of notification.

Shri Mohanty appointed as Director General of Academy of Administration  As per the order issued by the state government, Shri S.R. Mohanty has been posted as the Director General of the R.C.V.P Noronha Academy of Administration and Management.  Smt. Vira Rana, will be relieved from the additional charge of the Director General of the academy after the joining of Shri Mohanty.

Dr. Pratima Yadav‟s deputation period extended by one year  The state government has extended the deputation period of the Director of Pandit Kunjilal Dubey Sansdiya Vidyapeeth, Dr. Pratima Yadav by one year.  Dr. Yadav's deputation period was ending on March 19, 2020. Now Dr. Yadav will continue on the post of Director till March 2021.

Dr. Abhay Tiwari becomes President of Madhya Pradesh Youth Commission  The State Government has appointed Shri Abhay Tiwari as President of Madhya Pradesh Youth Commission. This appointment has been made for two years from the date of taking charge or till further order, whichever is earlier.

Dr. Anand Ahirawar takes charge  Newly appointed Chairman of Madhya Pradesh State Scheduled Caste Commission and former Member of Parliament of Sagar, Dr. Anand Ahirwar took charge today.  The newly appointed members of the commission, Shri Pradeep Ahirwar of Hoshangabad and Shri Gurucharan

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Khare of Chhindwara also assumed office.

Urban bodies should use solar energy: RESCO Model  Principal Secretary Urban Development and Housing Shri Sanjay Dubey has instructed the commissioners / chief municipal officers of the urban bodies to take action for fulfilling power requirements with solar energy.  He has said that by doing this the amount of payment of electricity dues will be reduced and with this saved amount the bodies will be able to undertake other development works.  The Principal Secretary informed that solar plant can be set up at zero investment. For this, the Urja Vikas Nigam is working on the concept of “RESCO Model”.

CCTV cameras will be installed along with audio recording in courts  Administrative and financial approval of Rs. 125 crore 89 lakh for installation of CCTV cameras with audio recording in all subordinate courts of Madhya Pradesh High Court has been granted in the Cabinet meeting .

Hike in amount payable to students of Eklavya Model Residential Schools  The amount paid to students studying in 46 Eklavya Model Residential Schools in 25 districts run by the Tribal Welfare Department has been increased from Rs 31 thousand 500 to Rs 47 thousand 860. This amount is given to the students for housing, food, uniform, medical and cultural activities.  It may be noted that 13 thousand students are studying in 14 Eklavya schools of the state. Scholarship is of Rs. 2500 per month being provided to students studying in 123 specialized residential schools of the state. The process of recruitment for the post of Principal on deputation is in progress in these schools. The last date for submission of applications for this has been extended from March 16 to March 31, 2020.

Shaurya Smarak closed until further orders  The Shaurya Smarak at Bhopal has been closed for visitors till further orders to prevent spread of Novel Corona virus infection. Employees working in the memorial will be present on duty.

Van Vihar has about 1500 wild animals now  Increased number of wild animals has been found in the Census done on February 26, 27 and 28, 2020 in Van Vihar National Park of Bhopal.  On the basis of census this year, there are currently 1485 wild animals in Van Vihar. This number was 1442 in the year 2019 census and 1388 in 2018. The number of tigers, turtles, cheetal, sambhar, nilgai and blackbuck has risen this year. The number of wild animals kept in enclosures this year has also increased to 113 compared to 96 of last year.  According to this year’s census, Van Vihar has 11 tigers, one white tiger, 6 lions, 10 leopards, 23 bear, two Indian bison, two hyenas, 13 crocodiles, 3 alligators, 9 mountain and 33 aquatic turtles. The number of wild animals that roam freely in quarantine, including 5 turtles, is 1367. Among the wild animals who roam freely are 549 cheetal, 385 sambhar, 94 nilgai, 43 wild boar, 47 jackals, 93 black buck, 65 peacocks, 5 chausingha, one chinkara, 37 langur, 20 sehi, 6 Kharha, 4 mongoose, 15 reindeer and 3 wild cats.  The number of tigers increased to 7 in the year 2018, 9 in the year 2019 and 11 in the year 2020. Compared to last year, 3 mountain turtles and 10 aquatic turtles, 46 cheetal, 71 sambhar and 25 each of black buck and nilgai have increased. While the number of lions has increased from 4 to 6, crocodiles have increased from 12 to 13 and reindeer has increased from 14 to 15. The number of wild boar has decreased from 54 to 43, jackals have decreased from 94 to 47 and that of the langurs has reduced to 37 from 73. The Census also records the presence of 6 Kharhas, 4 mongoose and one chinkara this year. At the same time, the number of white tigers, leopards, Indian bison, hyenas, alligators and wild cats is the same. No monkey was found during the census at Van Vihar.

Separate power connection for electric vehicle charging station  Consumers of all 16 districts of Bhopal, Narmadapuram, Gwalior and Chambal divisions who set up electric vehicle charging stations will have to get a new separate electricity connection. Significantly, the Madhya Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission has set electricity rates separately for charging electric vehicles.

Chief Minister hands over resignation to Governor  Chief Minister Shri Kamal Nath reached the Raj Bhavan today and handed over his resignation from the post of Chief Minister to Governor Shri Lalji Tandon.

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New Medical Colleges to be opened in 2 districts  The Health and Family Welfare Ministry of the Government of India has granted permission for opening new medical colleges in 2 districts of the state. The colleges approved under the centrally sponsored scheme, will be opened in Maheshwar of Khargone district and Singruali.

Procurement of wheat on support price from April 1  Procurement of wheat will be started from April 1, 2020 on support price under Rabi marketing year 2020-21 in the state. Earlier the procurement was scheduled from 25 March to 22 May, 2020. Lockdown has been declared in several districts to prevent infection of Novel Corona virus in the state. Therefore, the date of commencement of procurement has been extended from 25 March to 1 April 2020.

Shri Iqbal Singh Bains appointed Chief Secretary  The state government has appointed Chairman Revenue Board Shri Iqbal Singh Bains as Chief Secretary, Government of Madhya Pradesh. Shri Bains joined the Mantralaya today.

Bhopal Memorial Hospital identified as Covid-19 Treatment Institute  The state government has declared Novel Corona virus as an infectious disease in the state. The Bhopal Memorial Hospital and Research Centre has been identified as a state-level Covid-19 Treatment Institute in public interest for prevention. Only Covid-19 patients will be treated in this hospital. Principal Secretary Public Health and Family Welfare Smt. Pallavi Jain Govil issued this order today.

Purushaindra Kaurav appointed advocate general  Governor Shri Lalji Tandon has appointed Purushaindra Kaurav senior advocate as advocate general of Madhya Pradesh with effect from the date he assumes charge of his office.

Madhya Pradesh Appropriation (Vote on Account) Order-2020 approved  Governor Shri Lalji Tandon has approved the Madhya Pradesh Appropriation (Vote on Account) Ordience-2020 for the expenditure to be incurred in the first four months of the financial year 2020-21.  There is a provision of Rs one lakh 66 crore 74 lakh 81 thousand in the first four months of Vote on Account in this financial year.  The Finance department will allocate the required amount as per requirement.  The allocated amount will be available to all the departments of the state government for expenses from April 1, 2020.

Google Spread Sheet Mechanism to identify COVID-19 suspects  Directives have been issued to all the District Collectors of the State to prepare cluster containment plans for identification and containment of suspected persons of Covid-19 and on finding of clusters.  Information has also been sent from the state level by Google Spread Sheet Mechanism to collect this data. In this context, Dr. Sourabh Purohit has been appointed as Nodal Officer at the state level.

Bhopal Memorial Hospital entrusted to district administration  The state government has handed over the Bhopal Memorial Hospital and Research Centre to the district administration under the District Collector for administrative work facility and public health.  It may be noted that this hospital has been acquired by identifying the state level Covid-19 Treatment Institute.

Shri Manish Rastogi appointed Principal Secretary to Chief Minister  The state government has appointed Principal Secretary Shri Manish Rastogi as Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister. According to the order issued by the General Administration Department, Shri Rastogi has been given additional charge of Principal Secretary Revenue, Science and Technology and Relief Commissioner and Rehabilitation Commissioner.

Raj Bhavan‟s magazine “Pravah” dedicated  Governor Shri Tandon dedicated the half-yearly magazine “Pravah” online at Raj Bhavan.  All universities will be able to see this magazine focusing on the activities of Raj Bhavan on their website.

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Indian Air Force signed MoU with Savitribai Phule Pune University to establish a ‘Chair of Excellence’ named “Marshal of the Air Force Arjan Singh Chair of Excellence”  Indian Air Force (IAF) and Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) signed a MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) to establish a ‘Chair of Excellence’ at Department of Defense & Strategic Studies at Pune, Maharashtra. In order to pay tribute to the legend and commemorate the centenary birth year of the MIAF (Marshal of the Indian Air Force), IAF has named it as “Marshal of the Air Force Arjan Singh Chair of Excellence”. Arjan Singh (1919 – 2017) was the only officer of the IAF to be promoted to five- star rank as Marshal of the Indian Air Force, equal to the army rank of Field Marshal.

Overview of PM Modi Visit to Uttar Pradesh on Feb 29, 2020  PM Modi visited Uttar Pradesh (UP) to attend several programmes in Chitrakoot and Prayagraj. o PM laid the foundation stone of 296-km-long Bundelkhand Expressway in Chitrakoot. o The UP government is constructing the Bundelkhand Expressway at a cost of Rs 15,000 crore. o The prime minister launched a saturation drive for distribution of Kisan Credit Cards (KCC). o PM Modi addressed Samajik Adhikarita Shivir in Prayagraj; breaks 2017 Rajkot record.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla launched ‘Suposhit Maa Abhiyan’ in Kota, Rajasthan  Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has launched ‘Suposhit Maa Abhiyan’ in his constituency Kota, Rajasthan, to provide nutritional support to pregnant women and adolescent girls. Smriti Irani, Ministry of Women & Child Development & Ministry of Textiles, also presided over the function. The aim of the campaign is to preserve & maintain the health of our future generations. In the first phase of the campaign, 1,000 kits of 17 kg balanced diet each were provided to 1,000 pregnant women.

Pune to host 108th Indian Science Congress with the theme ”Science and Technology for Sustainable Development with Women Empowerment” in 2021  The Indian Science Congress association (ISCA) announced that Pune will host the annual session of 108th Indian Science Congress on January 3-7, 2021 at Symbiosis International University’s Lavale campus with the theme,”Science and Technology for Sustainable Development with Women Empowerment”. Dr Vijay Laxmi Saxena elected general president of the Indian Science Congress, 2020-

Overview of Myanmar President U Win Myint visit to India from Feb 26-29, 2020  The President of Myanmar U Win Myint along with First Lady, Daw Cho Cho, paid a four days visit to India from February 26-29, on the invitation of Indian President Ram Nath Kovind, to deepen bilateral ties. o PM Modi and President Myint held talks; 10 agreementsinked. o India attaches highest priority to its partnership withMyanmar. o India, Myanmar commits to early conclusion of discussion on bilateral Motor Vehicles Agreement(MVA). o President U Win Myint paid two days visit to Bodh Gaya,Bihar.

BEE introduces Deep freezer and Light commercial air conditioners under star rating programme  Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), an agency of the Government of India, under the Ministry of Power, has launched star rating programme for Light Commercial Air Conditioners (LCAC) and Deep  Freezers, on its 19th foundation day under the Energy Conservation Act, 2001 in New Delhi. During the occasion, BEE also launched 1st of its kind initiative, UrjaDakshata Information Tool (UDIT) (www.udit.beeindia.gov.in) developed in association with US (United States)-based World Resources Institute (WRI), to facilitate a database on energy efficiency. Deep freezer is used for food, fruits, Contains long-term preservation of vegetable-like substances.

11th National Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) conference 2020 held in New Delhi  A 3-day long 11th National Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) Conference -2020 based on the theme ‘Empowering Youth for Technology Led Farming’ was held in New Delhi.Itwasinaugurated by Union Minister for Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, Rural Development & Panchayati Raj, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar. The conference, organized by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), focused on technology-led farming and youth entrepreneurship through agriculture.

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Stand Up India Scheme has more than 81% Women account holders; over 43% Women subscribers in APY; 70% Women borrowers in MUDRA; Over 40% women member enrollments in PMJJBY & PMSBY  The Ministry of Finance (FinMin) has released figures related to various schemes having special provisions for empowerment of women. o Stand-Up India Scheme: As on 17.02.2020, more than 81% account holders under Stand Up India Scheme are women. 73,155 accounts have been opened forwomen. o Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana (PMMY): As on 31.01.2020, more than 22.53 crore loans have been sanctioned since launch of the scheme. Out of this, more than 15.75 crore loans extended to women, thereby 70% of the total loan borrowers areWomen. o Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY): As on 19.02.2020, 20.33 crore beneficiaries outof o 38.13 crore beneficiaries are women which amounts to 53 %. o Atal Pension Yojana (APY): As on 22.02.2020, more than 93 lakh subscribers (43%) out of a total of around 2.15 crore subscribers under APY arewomen. o Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY): As on 31.01.2020, under PMJJBY, 40.70% enrollments are of women members and 58.21% of claim beneficiaries arewomen. o Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY): As on 31.01.2020 41.50% enrollments are of women members and 61.29% of claim beneficiaries arewomen.

MoPP&P issued format for filing complaints with Lokpal under Lokpal (Complaint) Rules, 2020  Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions (MoPP&P) has issued a format for filing complaints of corruption against public servants with the Lokpal or anti-corruption ombudsman  underLokpal (Complaint) Rules, 2020. The Lokpal rules have been laid down under the Section 59 of the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act 2013. o A complaint can be filed with the Lokpal against the sitting or former prime minister, a minister of the Union, Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha members and bureaucrats, amongothers. o No complaints can be filed against a public servant under the Army Act, Navy Act, Air Force Act and the Coast GuardAct.

Govt approves Indian airlines to provide in-flight wi-fi services to its passengers; Vistara to be first in line  The central government has approved airlines companies operating in India to provide in-flight wi-fi services to its passengers upon permission from the pilot-in-command. However, while using Wi-Fi, the passengers’ gadgets must be on flight mode. This step has been taken to make domestic flights at par with global airlines while providing convenience to passengers. According to the Vistara CEO Leslie Thng, the first Boeing 787-9 aircraft would be the first aircraft to provide Wi-Fi during flight in India.

Rs 33 cr for Kaziranga under Project Tiger scheme; Rs 1.51 crore under CAMPA for FY2018-19 & FY19-20  Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has notified that under the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA), a financial assistance of Rs 1.51 crore has been sanctioned to Kaziranga National Park in Kanchanjuri, Assam during the financial years 2018-19 and 2019-2020.For the financial years 2018-19 Rs 94,46,585 was sanctioned while Rs 51,24,670 was allocated for 2019-2020. Apart from this, under the Project Tiger scheme, Rs 33 crore was sanctioned. A financial assistance of Rs 10.30 crore was sanctioned for 2018-19 and Rs 22.81 crore was allocated for 2019-20 to Kaziranga Tiger Reserve, which includes Kaziranga National Park.

35th edition of the International food and hospitality fair ‘AAHAR 2020’ commences in New Delhi  A 5-day-long 35th edition of the Food and Hospitality fair ‘AAHAR 2020’ has commenced in Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. It was inaugurated by Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal.  This fair aims to promote the agriculture-community as well as tourism sectors especially hospitality companies. It is jointly organized by India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) in partnership with the Agriculture and Processed Food Products Development Authority (APEDA), Union Ministry of Food Processing Industries and several apex industry associations.

MCA introduced LLP settlement Scheme, 2020 to allow one-time condonation of delayed filing of required documents with ROC  Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has introduced a scheme namely “LLP Settlement Scheme, 2020” for limited

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liability partnership (LLPs) by allowing a one-time condonation of delay in filing statutorily required documents with the Registrar of Office (ROC).  In simplified language, it means the scheme is providing a three-month window from 16th March, 2020 to 13th June, 2020 to LLPs for completing overdue or delayed filings of four forms which were due for filing till 31st October, 2019.  Also, the additional fee on these forms is reduced to Rs. 10 from Rs. 100 per day of delay with upper cap of Rs. 5,000 per form.

SC allows trade in cryptocurrency by rejecting RBI 2018 circular  Supreme Court (SC) has lifted ban on trading in virtual currency, cryptocurrency and bitcoins by cancelling the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) 2018 circular that barred banks from serving companies dealing in cryptocurrency exchanges.  The decision in this regard has been taken by the three-judge Bench of headed by Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman and 2 other members are Justice Shripathi Ravindra Bhat, and Justice V Ramasubramanian.  The plea was filed by Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) challenging RBI’s 2018 circular because the members of IAMAI also include cryptocurrency exchanges.

Overview of Cabinet approvals on March 4, 2020  On March 4, 2020, Union Cabinet headed by Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Damodardas Modi has approved the following proposals: o Cabinet approves amended FDI policy on Civil Aviation: The Union Cabinet has approved an amended Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policy on civil aviation which permits non-resident Indian (NRI) nationals to own 100% stakes of AirIndia. o Cabinet approves Mega Consolidation of ten PSBs into four w.e.f.1.4.2020

Amalgamating Bank Amalgamated Bank Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) and United Bank of India (UBI) Punjab National Bank (PNB) Syndicate Bank Canara Bank Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank Union Bank of India Allahabad Bank Indian Bank

Cabinet clears MoU between India and Côte d’lvoire on cooperation in the health sector  The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) Chaired by the Prime Minister (PM) Shri Narendra Modi has approved a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of the Republic of India and the Ministry of Health and Public Hygiene of the Republic of  Cote d’lvoire on Cooperation in the field of Health. Also, a working group will be established in the future to oversee the details of the inspection and cooperation of the implementation of this MoU.

5th edition of India Pharma & India Medical Device 2020 Conference held at Gandhinagar, Gujarat  The 5th edition of India Pharma 2020 and India Medical Device 2020 Conference & Exhibition will be held at Gandhinagar, Gujarat from March 5 to 7, 2020 and the 3 day conference was inaugurated by Shri Sadananda Gowda, Chemicals and Fertilizers (C&F) Minister & Shri Mansukh Mandviya, Minister of State (MoS of C&F) addressed the conference. The conference was organized by the Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers in association with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI). o Theme of 2020: India Pharma: Meeting Challenges of Affordable and QualityHealthcare o India Medical Device (IMD): Promoting Affordable responsible and Quality Medical Device for Universal HealthCare.

MHA approved automated facial recognition system (AFRS) for identification of bodies, missing children, criminals  Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has approved the world’s largest automated facial recognition system (AFRS) by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) for better identification of unrecognized bodies, missing children, persons and criminals without violating the privacy. To provide this information, AFRS will use police records and it can be accessed only by law enforcement agencies.  The system compares the selected facial features of the image from an already existing image database.

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70% reduction in insurgency incidents, 80% drop in civilian deaths and 78% decline in security forces casualties in 2019 as compared to 2013: Shri G Kishan Reddy  According to the Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri G Kishan Reddy there has been 70% decline in insurgency incidents, 80% drop in civilian deaths and 78% reduction in security forces casualties in the year 2019 in North East (NE) as compared to 2013. A total of 1,824 insurgents surrenderd in the years between 2014 and 2019.

Govt aims to replace all level crossings on NH with Over/under Bridges under the SetuBharatam scheme  The central Government has aimed to replace all the level crossings on National Highways (NH) by Road Over Bridges / Road Under Bridges under the SetuBharatam scheme, which is being  implemented by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways with an aim to ensure safe and smooth flow of traffic and decrease road fatalities by 50 % by 2020. SetuBharatam scheme was launched by Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi on March 4, 2016 to make all national highways free of railway crossings in order to prevent the frequent accidents and loss of lives at level crossings.

India & US signed Rs 1200 crore deal for missile protection suites for new Boeing-777 VVIP planes  India signed Rs.1,200 crore deal with the United States to procure the missile protection suites for two new Boeing-777 VVIP(Very Very Important person) planes during 2 day visit of US President Donald Trump to India.The missile protection suites will be code named as ‘Air Force One’ and it will be expected to arrive India in middle of 2021 to begin VVIP planes. The aircraft will be operated by Indian Air Force pilots trained by Air India, which already maintained four Boeing 777 planes earlier.

New Delhi hosts India Smart Utility Week 2020 (ISUW)  New Delhi based Smart Grid Forum (ISGF) has organized India Smart Utility Week 2020 (ISUW) as an International Conference and Exhibition on Smart Energy and Water for Smarter Cities India in New Delhi from March 3-7, 2020. During the event, India and European Union (EU) called upon the Integrated Local Energy System in which they will jointly work upon clean energy and climate.  Also, India-Sweden collaborated on industrial Research & Development (R&D) Programme.

APEDA inks MoUs with various organisations for Implementation of Agri Export Policy  Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), an apex body under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, has signed Memorandum of Understandings with various organizations namely, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IITD), Quality Council of India (QCI), Indian Chamber of Food and Agriculture(ICFA),Haryana based Shree Guru Gobind Singh Tricentenary University(SGT) and Pearl Academy for the collaboration to boost the activities in the interest of agriculture and allied sectors under Agri Export Policy(AEP).

Maharashtra Government renamed Aurangabad Airport as Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj Airport  The Maharashtra Government renamed Aurangabad Airport as Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj Airport. The decision was taken at a meeting of the state cabinet, chaired by Maharashtra Chief Minister (CM) Uddhav Bal Thackeray. The name of the airport has been renamed in order to honour Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj, who was the son of Maratha warrior King Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

Fourth Global Ayurveda Festival to be held at Kochi from May 16 -20, 2020  The Fourth Global Ayurveda Festival (GAF), will be held at Kochi in Kerala from 16th to 20th May 2020. It will be organized by the Centre for Innovation in Science and Social Action (CISSA). The theme of the event is Ayurveda Medical Tourism: Actualizing India’s credibility. GAF 2020 is conducted to project and promote the Ayurveda and also to showcase the potential of Ayurveda to the world.

International Conference on Nano Science and Technology 2020 (ICONSAT) was held in Kolkata, West Bengal  The International Conference on Nano Science and Technology 2020 (ICONSAT) was held at Biswa Bangla Conventional Centre, Kolkata. The event was supported by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and organized by S.N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences, Kolkata. During the conference, Professor Sabu Thomas, Vice Chancellor (VC), Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala was conferred with National Research Award in Nano Science & Technology for his contribution in the field of nano science.

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Govt approves Companies (Second Amendment) Bill, 2019 with 72 changes to Companies Act 2013; 66 compoundable offences decriminalized  In order to further promote ease of doing Business, the Union Cabinet headed by Narendra Modi has approved the Companies (Second Amendment) Bill, 2019 to amend the Companies Act, 2013 with a total of 72 changes in its 65 sections. The focuses of these changes are decriminalization of various provisions Act i.e. to lessen of criminal penalties in relation to certain sections, and to permit direct overseas listing of Indian corporates.

Wealth Report 2020: India’s UHNWI population to increase by 73% in 5 years & Ranks 12th;US tops  According to the “Wealth Report 2020” released by Knight Frank LLP,a leading International Property Consultant, India had 5,986 UHNWIs (Ultra high-net-worth individuals) in 2019 and they expected to increase by 73% in the coming 5 years. This will almost double the current count to 10,354. United States (US) topped the Report with 240575 UHNWI’s followed by China with 61,587 & Germany with 23,078. UHNWIs are people who are having a net worth of at least $30 million(mn) and above.

10 projects of Rs 301.54 crores sanctioned for Food Processing Sector  In a meeting of The Inter-Ministerial Approval Committee (IMAC)which was held under the chairmanship of Union Food Processing Industries Minister Smt. Harsimrat Kaur Badal sanctioned 10 projects of Rs 301.54 crore with total grant-in-aid of 67.29 crore & it is likely to generate employment for around 10000 people and benefit 40000 farmers.The projects are sanctioned under the ‘Agro Processing Cluster Scheme’ of Pradhan Mantri KisanSampada Yojana (PMKSY) of the Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI).

DAY -NULM signed MoU with Amazon for E-Marketing of Products Made by Self Help Groups across the Country  Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana- National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY- NULM) functions under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) signed MoU (Memorandum of Understandings) with Amazon for electronic marketing (e-Marketing) of products made by Self Help Groups (SHGs) across the Country. DAY-NULM mission has also signed an MoU with Flipkart in January 2020, for selling the products of women SHGs on an e- commerce platform.

Indian Coast Guard conducts 9th edition of rescue exercise ‘SAREX-2020’ in Goa  Indian Coast Guard (ICG),an armed force that protects India’s maritime interests,has conducted a 2- day 9th edition of national level search and rescue exercise ‘SAREX-2020’ based on  the theme ‘Harmonization of Maritime and Aeronautical Search and Rescue (HAMSAR)’ in the sea at Vasco,South Goa district from March 5-7,2020. It was inaugurated by Dr. Ajay Kumar, IAS, Secretary (Defence), Ministry of Defence. For the 1st time, it was attended by 3 pillars of national SAR mechanism i.e. Ministry of Shipping, Ministry of Civil Aviation and Ministry of Defence.

Agartala and Ghojadanga approved as authorised land immigration check posts  Government of India (GOI) has approved Tripura capital Agartala and West Bengal’s Ghojadanga as authorised land immigration check posts to enter or exit India. Agartala and Ghojadanga are located along the Indo- Bangladesh border. The Central Government issued notification and approved check posts according to sub-rule (b) of rule 3 of the Passport (Entry into India) Rules, 1950, to Tripura and Ghojadanga land check post, located in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal.

Government reconstructs The National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (NPDRR), appoints Amit Shah as chairman  The government reconstructs the National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (NPDRR) a multi- stakeholder& multisectoral decision making body on disaster management & appoints Union Home Minister Amit Shah as chairman. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh & Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman are named as members among others. NPDRR’s vice chairpersons will be the minister of state in-charge of disaster management in the home ministry & the vice-chairman of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).

ChapcharKut, the biggest and most joyful festival of Mizos, being celebrated on March 6 2020  “ChapcharKut”, a biggest and oldest festival of Mizoram, is celebrated on March 6 2020. The pre- celebration started on 5th March 2020, with the mega event held at the Assam Rifles Ground at Aizawl.This festival is considered as the most popular spring festival celebrated on Mizoram.It is originated in- 1450-1700 A.D at Suaipui village. This was celeberated with Traditional bamboo dance, ‘Cheraw’ and other dances, music events

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was also performed at the main event.

MWCD & world bank organizes a discussion programme-“The Future of Work: Women in India’s Workforce  Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) & the World Bank organized a discussion programme on the topic “The Future of Work: Women in India’s Workforce” at New Delhi. It was inaugurated by Minister of WCD, Smriti Zubin Irani & Dr. Junaid Kamal Ahmad, Country Director India, World Bank. It is a part of a series of events to observe International Women’s Day 2020. The WCD minister announced a diet plan for women & lactating mothers for the 1st time, formulated by Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR).

Narendra Singh Tomar announced that Government plans to achieve 75 lakh SHGs by 2022  Shri Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister for Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj, announced that the Rural Development Ministry plans to add more than 14 lakhs SHGs (Self Help Groups) to achieve 75 lakh SHGs by the year 2022 to enable more women to getlivelihood.  The Minister announced this during the programme on Women’s Empowerment to mark the International Women’s Day held in New Delhi. An amount of Rs 2.75 lakh crores has been allocated to SHGs during the last 6 years to make women self-dependent and 5 crore people are annually employed under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA) and women constituted under 55% of the workforce under MGNREGA.

Odisha becomes the 1st state to introduce department for SHGs: “Mission Shakti”  Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced that Odisha is the 1st state to own a separate department for Self Help Groups named as “Department of Mission Shakti”. It is created for the development of women & is dedicated to all the women of Odisha. 50% reservation in Panchayati Raj has created a new era for the socio- economic development of women.

Sanitary napkin disposal bags for each pad, mandatory from January 2021: Prakash Javadekar  Union Minister of Environment, Forest & Climate Change & Minister of Information & Broadcasting Prakash Javadekar stated that ,sanitary pad manufacturers should mandatorily supply biodegradable bag for disposal of each pad from January 2021, while interacting with female workers’ of SWaCH Pune(Solid Waste Collection and Handling or, officially, SWaCHSevaSahakari Sanstha Maryadit, Pune)  during International Women’s day. He also stated that the waste pickers should be called as ‘Swachhta Sevika’ from this International Women’s Day.

Lt General Milind Hemant Thakur inaugurated the renovated Animal Memorial in Bengaluru, Karnataka  Lieutenant General Milind Hemant Thakur, Director General of Supply and Transport Corps, Indian Army, inaugurated the renovated Animal Memorial at Agram grounds in ASC Centre and College, Bengaluru, Karnataka. The renovated animal memorial has now been extended by constructing two walls supported by Roman pillars. The animal memorial was established in December 2006 at the Equestrian Training area of the ASC College which signifies the contribution of mules and horses of the Indian Army belonging to the Army Service Corps.

PM Narendra Modi attended the 6th edition of ET global business summit 2020 held in New Delhi from March 6-7 2020  The 6th edition of Economic Times Global business summit is held on 6th – 7th March 2020 at Taj Palace, New Delhi. This summit is organised by the heads of the government, business leaders from India and throughout the world and by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The theme of the Global Business Summit is ‘Collaborate to Create: Sustainable Growth in a Fractured World’. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar conveyed that India has offered 300 Lines of credit(LoCs) to 64 countries which involves 539 development projects.

MSDE launches Mahatma Gandhi National Fellowship (MGNF) in IIM-Bengaluru  Union Minister for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Dr. Mahendra Nath Pandey has initiated Mahatma Gandhi National Fellowship programme (MGNF) in the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Bengaluru in Karnataka. This fellowship is a part of SANKALP (Skills Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion) programme of the ministry to boost skill development at the district level. MGNF is an initiative of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) which is implemented by IIM Bangalore in collaboration with State Skill Development Missions (SSDMs).

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National Conference on Women in Police and CAPFs held in New Delhi  Smriti Zubin Irani, Union Minister for Women and Child Development inaugurated the “National Conference on Women in Police and CAPFs (Central Armed Police Forces)” in New Delhi, India. The Conference was organized by the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR & D). Smriti Irani also released a hand-out- ‘BPR & D Mirror- Gender Bender’ and also the book titled “To Greater Heights”, which is authored by Nitu, DIG (Deputy Inspector General), CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force), which describes the achievements of women police officers. Themes of the Conference 2020 was ‘Cyber Stalking and Bullying of Women: Steps for Protection” and ‘Challenges faced by CAPF Women in Operational Areas”.

UNGCNI organizes 3rd Gender equality summit 2020 in New Delhi  UNGCNI (United Nations Global Compact Network India), a country level platform for public & private sector, businesses to align stakeholders’ responsible practices towards Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),has organized the 3rd edition of its Gender Equality Summit 2020 with the theme “India Inc. For Generation Equality: Decade of Action” at The Park in New Delhi. During the Summit, a theme paper on “Rethinking Gender Representation across Value Chains” was released in association with Grant Thornton India.

Andhra Pradesh ranked 1st in the country for overall implementation of POSHAN Abhiyaan  Andhra Pradesh (AP) ranked 1st in the country for overall implementation of POSHAN( Prime Minister’s Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nourishment) Abhiyaan as per September 2019 progress report of NITI Aayog, “Transforming Nutrition in India: POSHAN Abhiyaan”. The 2nd anniversary of POSHAN Abhiyaan is recognized by celebrating Poshan Pakhwada from 8th-22nd March 2020.  The Poshan Abhiyaan is classified under 3 categories and the top 3 are as follows:

Rank Large State Small State UT 1 Andhra Pradesh Mizoram Dadra & Nagar Haveli 2 Chhattisgarh Sikkim Chandigarh 3 Madhya Pradesh Nagaland Daman & Diu

Gujarat tops in domestic solar rooftop installations in 2020  Gujarat ranks first in the list for domestic solar rooftop installations, throughout the country with 64 percent of domestic solar installations. Nearly 50,915 domestic solar rooftops have been fixed in the state of Gujarat with a capacity of 177.67 MW on 2nd March 2020. Maharashtra is the second state to top in the domestic solar rooftop installations list with installation of 5,513 systems on 2nd March 2020.

Centre constitutes Delimitation commission for J&K, Assam, Manipur, Arunachal, chaired by former SC judge Ranjana Prakash Desai  In exercise of the powers conferred by section 3 of the Delimitation Act, 2002, the Central government has set up a Delimitation Commission, headed by former Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai, for the delimitation of Assembly and Parliamentary constituencies of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and the northeastern states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh (AP), Manipur and Nagaland. The Commission is mandated to delimit the Lok Sabha and Assembly Constituencies in J&K under the provisions of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act, 2019 while the provisions of the Delimitation Act 2002 will delimit Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Nagaland. Delimitation was done based on the 2001 census.

Traditional ‘Fagli’ festival celebrated in Himachal Pradesh’s Kinnaur on March 10, 2020  The traditional “Fagli” festival celebrated at kinnaur district in Yangpa village, Himachal Pradesh. This festival is celebrated to denote the end of the winter and the start of the spring. It is mainly celebrated on the moonless night. It is also celebrated to receive blessings from Deota (God) for the upcoming harvest season.

Jewar Airport, UP receives international recognition for strategic infrastructure  The first phase of Jewar Airport, Uttar Pradesh (UP) has been included in the world’s 100 strategic global infrastructure projects for the year 2020. It has been recognised in the CG LA Infrastructure List. UP (India) and Yugoslavia (Europe) have been chosen in the field of aviation category all over the world. The success story of Jewar Airport will be presented by the UP government in two sessions at the 13th Global Infrastructure Leadership Forum, to be held in New York City, US (United States) on March 25 to 27,2020.

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Parliamentary panel ‘Demands for Grants 2020-21 Analysis for Education’  The “Demands for Grants 2020-21 Analysis”, conducted by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Human Resource Development (HRD) presented the report pointing that only 56 % of government schools in the country have electricity with lowest rates in the states of Manipur and Madhya Pradesh, where less than 20 % of the schools have electricity. Similarly, less than 57 % of public schools havea playground. And only 30 % of schools in Odisha and Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) have a playground. The report has recommended the HRD collaboration with Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), for construction of boundary walls and other facilities for studentsafety.

Govt sets up a committee on Kisan Rail to finalize its modalities  The committee has been formed under the aegis of Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, consisting of representatives from Ministry of Railways also, to work out the modalities of ‘Kisan Rail’. During the FY2020-21 budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed to set up Kisan Rail through the public-private- partnership (PPP) mode for a cold supply chain to transport perishable goods. Already, newly designed Refrigerated Parcel Vans were procured through RCF (Rail Coach Factory), Kapurthala, Punjab to transport perishable parcel traffic.

Hola Mohalla’ festival celebrated at Sri Anandpur Sahib in Punjab  ‘Hola Mohalla’ is the annual Sikh festival celebrated on the following day of the festival Holi at Sri Anandpur Sahib, Punjab. The festival aims to physically strengthen Sikh community by holding acrobatic military exercises and mock battles. The festival holds an annual fair which was initiated by Guru Gobind Singh ji, the 10th Sikh Guru.

Week Long 1st “Ekam Fest” held in New Delhi; inauguarted by Thaawarchand Gehlot; 3 intiativeslaunched for PwDs  A week long Exhibition-cum-Fair, the first “EKAM Fest” organized by National Handicapped Finance Development Corporation (NHFDC) under Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment held in Emporia Complex, Baba Kharak Singh Marg, New Delhi-1 from 2nd March to 9th March 2020.It was inaugurated by Union Minister for Social Justice & Empowerment Shri Thaawarchand Gehlot. o EKAM, an acronym for Entrepreneurship, Knowledge, Awareness, Marketing, was aimed to showcase products made with extra ordinary determination by the divyang (differently-abled) crafts persons and entrepreneurs. o Three New Initiatives for PwDs launched during fest: NHFDC Swavalamban Kendra (NSK), Safe Cabs in Delhi and Indore, and Safe Drinking Water ECarts

HAL set to build logistics base in Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia and Sri Lanka for the purpose of selling aircraft  Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), an Indian state-owned aerospace and defence company, is exploring possibilities to build a logistics base in 4 countries (Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia and Sri Lanka) as part of its efforts to entice those nations to buy Tejas and light helicopters manufactured in India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi in February 2020 set an ambitious target of $5 billion for defense exports over the next five years and asked all military manufacturers to work hard to achieve this goal.

Ministry of Home Affairs constitutes two special committees to fasten CAPF works  Two special committees were formed by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to deal with the issues and approvals related to the Central Armed Police Force (CAPF). The two new panels will deal with decision until to find the right resolution.  First committee: It will be chaired by the Home Secretary and will deal with issues that need to be decided between Home Ministry andCAPFs.  Second committee: It will be headed by the Secretary (Border Management) and will solve only the procurementmatters

DST sanctioned Rs 7.25 crore to IIT Mandi to setup a Technology Innovation Hub  The Department of Science and Technology (DST) sanctioned Rs 7.25 crore to the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mandi, Himachal Pradesh to set up a Technology Innovation Hub (TIH) at the institute under the National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NM-ICPS). The main focus of TIH is on human-computer interaction (HCI) research and it will also work on the development & evaluation of interfaces of Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS).

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Leh to host International Yoga Day event on 21st June,2020  The 6th International day of Yoga (IDY) is to be celebrated on 21st June and a National event organized on this day is to be held at Leh, Ladakh (Union Territory). Shri Shripad Yesso Naik, Minister of Ayush announces that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will participate in the event held at Leh. Programmes will be organised by industry bodies Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). This day is celebrated to create awareness across the world about the benefits of yoga and to practice yoga on a daily basis.

RS Approves Minor Changes in Bill to Include Tribal Communities of Karnataka in ST Category  Rajya Sabha (RS) has approved the changes proposed by Lok Sabha in the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order Amendment Bill, 2019. The amendments are: o Replacing the word ‘seventieth’ to ‘seventy-first’ and figure ‘2019’ to ‘2020’ at line one in first page. o The bill also seeks to include Parivara and Talawara tribal communities of Karnatakainthe (Scheduled Tribes) category to ensure they get the reservation and other benefits provided by the government.

LPG scheme PM Ujjwala Yojana closed; only 3 States & 5 UTs becomekerosene-free  In accordance with the report of the Parliamentary Committee on Petroleum headed by BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) member Ramesh Bidhuri, only three States and five Union Territories have become kerosene-free even though in September 2019 the government has met the target of 8 crore LPG (Liquefied petroleum gas) connections under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana(PMUY). o The kerosene-free states are Haryana, Punjab and Andhra Pradesh and Union Territories (UTs) are Delhi, Chandigarh, Daman & Diu, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Andaman & Nicobar Island and Puducherry. o The report points the gap between the continuing use of kerosene and the claim of 97% LPG coveragenationwide.

India post launches India’s 1st digital parcel locker service in Kolkata, West Bengal  For the 1st time in India, the Department of posts(DoP), Kolkata (West Bengal circle), has launched free digital parcel locker service in 2 post offices (the Nabadiganta IT post office in Sector 5 of Salt Lake City & at the post office in New Town’s Action Area I).  Under this service, customers will be able to collect their parcel from the post office according to their convenience. This facility is quite popular in European countries but is starting for the first time inIndia.

WCD ministry notifies new POCSO rules 2020 with stringent punishments for sexual offences against children  In exercise of the powers conferred by section 45 of the POCSO Act, 2012, the Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD), Government of India (GoI), has notified the new Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Rules, 2020 by replacing the earlier 2012 rules. The new rule will able to implement the recent amendments to this law, under which the provisions of punishment for sexual exploitation of children have been further made stringent. The new POCSO rules became effective from March 9, 2020.

"Bibek Debroy committee recommended concessioning of Rajdhani/Shatabdi to private parties; NDLS to be redeveloped as World Class Station"  The committee chaired by Bibek Debroy has recommended concession of commercial operation of train service like Rajdhani/Shatabdi to private parties. Already, Railways proposed to initiate 150 passenger trains through private operators in PPP (Public-private partnership) mode on 100 routes by 2022. o New Delhi Railway Station to be converted as World Class Station; a first of itskind o As part of Modi government’s long-term plan to upgrade the conditions of the stations, the New Delhi Railway Station (NDLS) will be converted into a world-class railway station with an estimated outlay of Rs 6500 crore.

Ministry of Home Affairs sanctions Rs 365 crore for Sabroom ICP in Tripura  Ministry of Home Affairs has sanctioned Rs.365 crores for constructing New Integrated CheckPost (ICP) of About 130 km at Sabroom, Tripura. This is the second Integrated Check Post to be built along the Indo-Bangla border. Prime Minister Narendra Modi informed that Tripura will be awarded as the fastest-growing state in the country and Agartala will receive the fastest growing city award.

First regional edition of “Divya Kala Shakti event” held in Chennai, Tamil Nadu (TN)  First regional edition of “Divya Kala Shakti Event” (Witnessing the Abilities in Disabilities) held in Chennai,

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Tamil Nadu (TN). Shri Banwarilal Purohit, Governor of TN witnessed the performances and V. Saroja, Minister of Social Welfare and Nutritious Noon Meal programme and senior officers participated in the occasion. The event was organised by the National Institute for Empowerment of Persons with Multiple Disabilities (NIEPMD), in association with the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan) and Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. The Divya Kala Shakti event aims to provide a platform for the disabled to exhibit their talents.

Crime Multi-Agency Centre and National Cybercrime Training Centre were launched on 35th Inception Day of NCRB  The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) celebrated its 35th Inception Day. Shri Nityanand Rai, Union Minister of State for Home, the chief guest of the occasion has launched Crime Multi-Agency Centre (Cri-MAC) and National Cybercrime Training Center (NCTC) in New Delhi. o About Cri-MAC: It is a platform to share information between various police forces on serious crimes & other issues related to inter-statecoordination. o About NCTC: It provides professional-quality e-learning services on cybercrime investigation to police officers, judges, prosecutors and otherstakeholders.

Centre invokes ‘Epidemic Act 1897’ and ‘Disaster Management Act 2005’ to prevent spread of COVID-19; Karnataka, first state to enact 1897 Act  During the review meeting chaired by Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba, the centre has decided to invoke Epidemic Act 1897 to ensure that multiple government advisories issued from time to time bythe Ministry of Health and Family Welfare/State/UTs on COVID-19 becomes enforceable. In this regard, all the states and union territories (UTs) of India are advised to invoke the provisions of Section 2 of the Epidemic Disease Act 1897. Karnataka became the first state in the country to notify regulationstitled “The Karnataka Epidemic Diseases, COVID-19 Regulations, 2020”.

Mumbai Central station to be renamed as Nana Shankarsheth Mumbai Central railway station  The Maharashtra Government has approved to re-name the Mumbai Central Station as Nana Shankarsheth Mumbai Central Railway Station The station is named after Nana Shankarsheth for his involvement in the formation of Indian Railway association was pivotal to the country. Claude Batley is the Designer of Bombay Central. The 1st ever train in India ran between Mumbai – Thane (21miles).

Assam Government to construct 33 stadiums under Uttaran scheme  The Assam Government plans to construct 33 stadiums across the state under the Uttaran Scheme. The Principal Secretary of Sports Avinash Joshi and Joint Director Kamaljit has announced to provide 300 crores to construct these stadiums and in addition to that 500 playgrounds are also being built to encourage rural talents.

WINGS INDIA 2020 an international exhibition & conference held in Hyderabad  A 4-day International Exhibition & Conference on Civil Aviation sector ‘WINGS INDIA 2020’ based on the theme ‘Flying for All’ held at Begumpet Airport, Hyderabad. The event is organized by Ministry of Civil Aviation & Airports Authority of India (AAI) & Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).  The purpose of the event is to aid the rapidly changing dynamics of the sector. During the event, Spice Jet signed a tripartite MoU with GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited (GHIAL)& Ras-Al-Khaimah International Airport, United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Rs 1.83 lakh crore spent under MGNREGA in 2017-2020  As per Government of India’s data, Rs 1.83 lakh crore is spent under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, (MGNREGA) in 2017-2020 which is nearly double the amount of Rs 92,483 crore spent in 2011-14.  Also 526.97 lakh families have been provided employment, against 603.81 lakh families seeking employment under the scheme (as on March 9, 2020).

Cabinet Approval on March 13,2020  Union cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the following approvals on March 13, 2020. o Union Cabinet approves Yes Bank reconstruction plan; SBI, HDFC, ICICI, Axis are among others toinvest o Cabinet clears 4% DA hike for central government employees to 21% from17% o Cabinet approves scheme for “Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP)” for

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enhancing Exports to InternationalMarkets o Govt approves Rs 7,660 crore green highway project in four states of HP, RJ, UP &AP o Cabinet approves removal of ambiguities in the Modified NPS-III for determination of fixed costs for the ureaunits

‘Bhoomi Rashi Portal’- expedited Error free & transparent land acquisition for National Highways project  The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) announced that the ‘Bhoomi Rashi’ portal (launched on April 1, 2018) has significantly increased the process of land acquisition for National Highways project. The portal has made the process error-free & more transparent with the notifications at every stage being processed in real-time. The ‘Bhoomi Rashi’ portal is fully digitized and automated to overcome the delays, issues and to avoid parking of public funds with the Competent Authority for Land Acquisition (CALA). It has been integrated with PFMS (Public Financial Management System) for depositing the compensation in the account of interested/ affected persons immediately.

The government proposed masks & hand sanitizers under Essential Commodities Act 1955  The government amended Essential Commodities (EC) Act, 1955 to declare 2 ply & 3 ply surgical masks, N95 masks & hand sanitizers as Essential Commodities up to 30th June 2020 to ensure that these products are available in the market at the right price given the outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19) & also has a measure to manage it.

CRPF signs MoU with Aditya Mehta foundation to train its specially-abled troops in areas of cybersecurity & AI  The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), India’s largest Central Armed Police Force, has signed an MoU with Aditya Mehta Foundation (AMF), a non-profit organization which aids people with disabilities to pursue sports, to train its 189 CRPF personnel who had lost their limbs in operations in areas of cyber security, artificial intelligence (AI) and Paralympic sports.

Phool Dei festival was celebrated in Uttarakhand  Phool Dei is the traditional harvest festival of Uttarakhand that is celebrated in the month of Chaitra (March- April) in the Hindu Calendar.  The festival showcases the inner bonding between the communities who all are residing in the hills.

PM Modi proposed the creation of COVID 19 emergency fund; SAARC: India offers the US $10 million.  Narendra Modi the Prime Minister of India has proposed the formulation of common strategy to tackle COVID- 19 (in SAARC region) and creation of COVID-19 emergency fund through voluntary contribution from SAARC nations, during his video conference with SAARC representatives. India has offered $10 million to the fund.  India also assembling the Special Response Team filled with doctors and specialists to aid other countries if needed.

Mansukh Mandaviya inaugurates ROPAX Service from BhauchaDhakka to Mandwa in Maharashtra  Union Shipping & Chemical and fertilizer minister, Mansukh Mandaviya has inaugurated ROPAX services at Alibag, Maharashtra. It is a Water Transport Service Project under Eastern Waterfront Development from Bhaucha Dhakka in Mumbai to Mandwa in Maharashtra. ROPAX Vessel M2M -1 was built in Greece in September 2019 and this service is introduced to reduce the travelling time, Vehicular emission, road traffic, and fuel consumption.

Permanent commission to women in Indian Navy: SC  The Supreme Court bench headed by Justice DY Chandrachud directed the Centre to grant permanent commission to serving women officers in Navy within three months with increments. This is following the decision of the apex court in favor of granting commission for women in Indian Army.  A permanent commission entitles an officer to serve in the Navy till he/she retires unlike Short Service Commission (SSC), which is currently for 10 years and can be extended by four more years, a total of 14 years. Also, SC said women and men has same efficient & there should not be any discrimination based on gender.

Haryana’s Amin village renamed as Abhimanyupur  The Central Government approved renaming the Amin village as Abhimanyupur in Kurukshetra district of

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Haryana as per the request of the State government.  The decision has been taken by the Union Home Ministry after getting permission from a few central organisations.

India to provide NPR 107.01 million to build 3 schools in Nepal  The Government of India will provide 107.01 million Nepali Rupees (NPR) for three new school buildings in Nepal. The schools will be constructed in Darchula, Dhanusha and Kapilvastu districts. The Embassy of India and Nepal’s Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration signed Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) with Mahakali Municipality, Darchula and Mukhiyapatti  Musharniya Rural Municipality, Dhanusha in Kathmandu for the construction of two new school buildings. The 3rd one will be building for Shivahari School, Mahrajgunj Municipality, Kapilvastu.

Share of Indian vendors increased in defence contracts from (2015-16) to (2019-20) by over 35%  The government stated that India’s share in contracts awarded by the Union Defence Ministry for the procurement of defence equipment has increased from 39.06% (2015-16) to 75.03% (2019-20).  For capital procurement of defence equipment for the Armed Forces, 158 contracts were signed in the last 5 years (2015-16 to 2019-20 till January 2020) with 100 Indian vendors against foreign buyers.

Road accidents reduced by 10% after the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act 2019  According to the Minister of Road transport & Highways Nitin Gadkari, the number of deaths caused due to road accidents has been reduced by 10% in India in last 5 months since the implementation of Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act 2019. Tamil Nadu shows the notable progress of reducing 24% of accidents which is highest in the country.  Earlier the Government pledged to reduce 50% accidents in the next 5 years & signed an agreement related to it at the World Safety Conference held in Sweden on 19–20 February 2020.

Government targeted to achieve sales around 70 lakh hybrid & electric vehicles by the end of 2020  The Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change & Minister of Information & Broadcasting & Minister of Heavy industries and Public Enterprises Prakash Javadekar informed that the government has set a target to achieve sales of around 70 lakh hybrid & electric vehicles by the end of 2020.

Rooftop solar power plants in India installed at 1,922 MW  According to Minister of State Independent Charge (IC) of, New & Renewable Energy, (MNRE) and Power, Minister of State of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship Raj Kumar (RK) Singh, the rooftop solar plants having an aggregate installed capacity of the country is 1,922 MW (as on March 13, 2020).  Out of the total capacity, 346 MW is installed in the residential sector.

Armed Forces spends Rs 26.12 crore in legal expenses  Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has informed that a total of Rs 26.12 (26,12,30,810) crore is spent as legal expenses by the Armed Forces (Army, Navy & Air Force) from April 2019- February 2020.

Banihal to Katra railway link to be completed by 2022  Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal announced that Banihal to Katra railway link to be completed by 2022 which is part of the Udhampur- Srinagar-Baramulla rail link project. It is targeted to be completed before the 75th Independence Day of India.  This completion will pave the way for the creation of Indian rail from Kanyakumari to Baramulla.  The Katra-Banihal railway track is a 111-km long stretch which will link Kashmir Valley with the rest of the country by train.

Odisha’s Konark sun temple& Statue of Unity in Gujarat finds place in iconic tourism sites list: Prahlad Singh  According to the Union Minister of State (Independent) for tourism and culture, Prahlad Singh Patel, the central government has included grand Konark Sun Temple, the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) world heritage site in Odisha & Statue of Unity in Gujarat in the Iconic Tourist Sites list, taking the total number of such places from 17 to 19.

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DAC gives green signal to procure Tejas Mark 1A fighter aircraft and defence equipment: Amendment in DPP 2016 approved  The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has approved the procurement of 83 Tejas Mark-1A jets from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the Indian Air Force (IAF), marking a boost to the government’s flagship “Make in India” programme. The proposal will now be sent for consideration of Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS). This was the first meeting of DAC after the separation of duties between the Department of Defence (DoD) and the Department of Military Affairs (DMA).

Indian Railways to electrify all broad-gauge routes by December 2023  Minister of Railways and Commerce & Industry, Piyush Goyal informed that Indian Railway (IR) Ministry plans to electrify all broad gauge (BG) routes by December 2023.  In the year 2023-2024 (till the month of December 2023), a target of electrifying 4,310 km of broad-gauge route has been planned Hence, Indian Railways has planned to electrify a total of 28,810 km of broad-gauge route (from 2019- 20 to 2023-24).

Premium subsidy sharing pattern between Centre & NER changed: PM-KISAN Scheme reached more than 8 crore beneficiaries  The government has changed the premium subsidy sharing pattern between Centre and the North Eastern States from 50:50 to 90:10 for PM- Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana (PM-KISAN) and Restructured Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme (RWBCIS) & for other states 50:50 pattern will be continued.  Also, as per government data the PM-KISAN scheme reached 8,69,79,391 beneficiaries (as on March 17, 2020).

APEDA signs MoU with SFAC  The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Small Farmers Agribusiness Consortium (SFAC) which aims for better synergy with this organization for the development of agriculture, allied sectors and its exports for bringing better value to the stakeholders. This collaboration focuses to reach large farmers for improving the production base of agri products quantitatively and qualitatively.

Finance Commission sets up committee to review the fiscal consolidation road map  The Finance commission has formed an 8-member committee to review the fiscal consolidation road map of state & central governments. The committee is headed by 15th Finance Commission Chairman N K Singh.  Real Full Details Here: Finance Commission sets up committee to review the fiscalconsolidation road map

PM Modi formed COVID-19 Economic Response Task Force headed by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman  Prime Minister Narendra Modi has declared the formulation of COVID-19 Economic Response Task Force, to be led by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Its objective is to tackle the economic  challenges arising out of novel coronavirus outbreak. The task force is mandated to execute measures to reduce the economic difficulties facing by various sectors.

SIDBI to launch a special train ‘Swavalamban express’ on June 5, 2020, for new entrepreneurs  Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), a development financial institution in India, engaged in the promotion, financing and development of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), has decided to launch a special train ‘Swavalamban Express’ on June 05, 2020 to empower budding entrepreneurs under its mission Swavalamban.  The train will visit 11 cities (starting from Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh) in 15 days and will cover a 7000 km journey.The train journey will also focus on the Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi’s vision of becoming a $5 trillion economy by 2024-25.

New draft defence procurement Procedure 2020 unveiled, aims to boost indigenization; introduced ‘leasing’ category  UnionDefence Minister Rajnath Singh proposed a new Draft “Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) 2020” featuring promotion of indigenous manufacturing. The proposed DPP 2020 comes into effect from April 1, 2020 and remain in force till March 31, 2025.  The draft for DPP 2020 has been finalized by a high-level committee headed by Apurva Chandra, Director General (DG) Acquisition, Ministry of Defence that was set up in August 2019. DPP 2020 will replace DPP 2016.

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PM Modi announces to observe “Janata Curfew” from 7 am to 9 pm on March 22, 2020  Prime Minister Narendra Modi has declared ‘Janata Curfew’ or ‘Citizen Curfew’ on Sunday i.e. on March 22, 2020 in the wake of rising COVID-19 cases in India. In this regard, Indian Nationals must stay at home from 7:00 am to 9:00 pm on Sunday.

TRIFED launches ‘Tech ForTribals’ program to bring technology to tribal entrepreneurs  A 30- day long capacity building program called “Tech for Tribal” has been launched by the Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED), which works under Ministry of Tribal Affairs in association with IIT-Kanpur, IIT-Roorkee, IIM Indore, Kalinga Institute of Social Science, Bhubaneshwar (Odisha) and SRIJAN, Jaipur to provide entrepreneurship skills to the tribal people. The Programme is supported by MSME ministry.

Gujarat Police becomes first in India to introduce taser guns  The Gujarat Police is equipped with taser guns as an alternative for ineffective lathis and deadly guns to ensure safety and security of the public.  By introducing the taser guns as part of police weapons, Gujarat becomes the first state in India. The taser guns were used in agencies such as the UK Metropolitan Police, the Los Angeles Police Department and the New York Police Department.

101 Special Economic Zones denotified: Government  Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal informed on Lok Sabha that The Board of Approval on Special Economic Zones (SEZs) has approved 101 cases of de-notification between April 1, 2008& February 29, 2020 on the request of SEZ private developers which include poor market response, lack of space demand & a change in the fiscal regime for SEZs.  The Government has formed a committee under the chairmanship of Baba Kalyani, Chairman of Bharat Forge in July 2018 to study SEZ policy, most of the recommendations are implemented already.

Cabinet Approval on March 21, 2020  Union cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the following approvals on March 21, 2020. o Cabinet approves inclusion of 12,500 AYUSH Health-Wellness Centres in National Ayushman Mission o Cabinet approved Rs 3,762.25 crore Modified Electronics Manufacturing Clusters (EMC 2.0) Scheme o Cabinet approves Rs 3,420 crore production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme and Rs 400 crore Promotion of Medical Device ParksScheme o Cabinet approves Rs 3,000 cr Promotion of Bulk Drug Parks Scheme; Rs 6,940 crore PLI scheme approved for (KSMs)/Drug Intermediates o Cabinet approves Rs 40,995 crore Production Linked Incentive Scheme for Large Scale Electronics Manufacturing o Cabinet approves Rs 3,285 crore Scheme for Promotion of manufacturing of Electronic Components and Semiconductors o Cabinet approves expenditure for reimbursing the losses under MSP operations for cotton during the cotton years (October to September) 2014-15 to2018-19 o Prices of alcohols used in making hand sanitizers capped under Essential Commodities Act

Cabinet approved the extradition treaty between India and Belgium  The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi on March 21, 2020 announced has approved to sign & ratify the extradition treaty between India and Belgium, which will enable the countries to surrender any person found in its territory who is accused of or convicted in an extraditable offence (It means an offence punishable by 1 year or more in accordance with the laws of both parties) in the territory of the other party.

Gujarat Government signs an MoU with Dutch Flying car-maker, PAL-V  A Dutch Flying car-maker, PAL-V (Personal Air Land Vehicle) signs a MoU with Gujarat Government to set up a manufacturing plant in Gujarat. It is the 1sttime the Dutch company setting up its plant in India and it has set a target of commencing production by 2021.  The 1st commercial flying car made by PAL-V is named as the PAL-V liberty.

UK becomes 1stco-chair of India-led global climate initiative ‘CDRI’  The Government of United Kingdom has become the 1stco-chair of the governing council of global climate

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initiative ‘‘Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI)’ led by India.  The initiative was created by the Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi on September 23, 2019 during the UN (United Nations) Climate Summit in New York, US (United States). The secretariat of the Coalition will be in New Delhi.

Coronavirus outbreak: India’s 1stAI summit ‘RAISE 2020’ postponed to October  The Indian government announced the postponement of the country’s 1st summit on Artificial Intelligence (AI), ‘RAISE 2020– Responsible Artificial intelligence (AI) for Social Empowerment’ to October 5-6, 2020 due to COVID-19.  It was priorly announced to be conducted between April 11 & 12, 2020 in New Delhi by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).

Bridge constructed by BRO over Teesta River in North Sikkim opened for traffic  The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) opened a 360 feet long bailey suspension bridge for traffic over Teesta River in Munshithang near Chungthang town, North Sikkim. The bridge constructed will be useful for the people residing in Lahen town, North Sikkim. Under the Project Swastik, the 86 Road Construction Company (RCC) of 758 Border Roads Task Force (BRTF), commenced the construction of the bridge in October 2019 & completed in January 2020.

ICMR recommended hydroxychloroquine for caregivers of COVID-19 patients  The National Task Force for the novel coronavirus constituted by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has recommended the use of hydroxychloroquine for healthcare workers or persons staying  with and caring for positive COVID-19 patients. This protocol has been approved by the Drug Controller General of India (DGCI), Dr. V. G. Somani. The protocol has mandated that hydroxychloroquine is to be taken only for prophylaxis or prevention. Its use is restricted for emergency situations and it is not advised for children below age 15.

IIT-Madras to organize India’s 1st Global Hyperloop Pod Competition  Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras will organize India’s 1st Global Hyperloop Pod Competition named as ‘Indian Hyperloop Pod Competition’, to increase the awareness & enthusiasm about Hyperloop in India.  Hyperloop is the 5th transportation mode, a high-speed train that travels in a vacuum tube. It can reach speeds up to 1000 km/hr.

PM Modi declared 21-day (Mar 25-April 14, 2020) lockdown to break COVID-19 infection chain; Rs 15,000 cr allotted for healthcare by Centre  Prime Minister Narendra Modi has declared a 21-day lockdown for the whole nation starting from March 25, 2020 till April 14, 2020 as an only way to break the chain of COVID-19 infection.  The Centre has allocated 15,000 crores for the purchase of personal protection equipment for healthcare workers, increasing the number of beds, testing kits, setting up testing laboratories and quarantine centres, and training of professionals to combat the disease.

COVID-19 outbreak: Labour ministry directs state govt/UTs to pay 3.5 cr construction workers from Rs 52,000 cr fund  Santosh Kumar Gangwar, the Union Minister of State (Mos) for Labour and Employment, has issued an advisory to all states and UT (Union Territory) governments that, under Section 60 of the Building and Other Construction Workers (BOCW) Act, 1996 to provide financial aid to nearly 3.5 crore construction workers from Rs 52,000-crore construction cess collected by the Labour Welfare Boards.  As per BOCW 1996 act there will be a collection of cess at such rate not exceeding 2 %, but not less than 1 % of the cost of construction and these cess will be used for the welfare of the employees working in the construction sector.

COVID-19 will be tested and treated under Ayushman Bharat scheme  The National Health Authority (NHA) nodal agency for the implementation of the Ayushman Bharat- Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) has bring the cost of testing and treatment of coronavirus infection under the AB-PMJAY scheme.  All the beneficiaries of the scheme will be able to get the treatment at government-designated testing centres and public hospitals for symptoms of COVID-19.

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IRSDC is developing 1st of its kind “Form-Based Codes”: Railway land  The Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation Limited (IRSDC) with support from Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation is developing a 1st of its kind “Form Based Codes” for the development of railway land.  The code is being designed & approved for layout plans, building plans for station areas which will ensure a compact, pedestrian-friendly, market responsive, transit oriented & sustainable development.

Goa becomes the 1st Indian state to launch assessment tool for COVID-19  The Goa health minister Vishwajit Rane has launched “Test Yourself Goa”, a self-assessment tool for COVID-19. It helps people to identify if they are infected (or not) by the virus without visiting a doctor or hospital. Goa has partnered with Innovaccer Inc, a United States (US)-based healthcare data analytics company, to launch this tool.  Coronavirus-outbreak: Punjab becomes the 1ststate to impose curfew after lockdown failsPunjab Chief Minister (CM) Captain Amarinder Singh has ordered an indefinite curfew across the state after the lockdown became ineffective. With this, it becomes the 1st state in the country to take drastic measure to stop the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19). After Punjab, the Chandigarh Union Territory (UT) Administration has also imposed curfew in the city to cease the spread of virus.

Cabinet approvals on March 25, 2020  Union cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the following approvals on March 25, 2020. o Cabinet approves extension of RoSCTL scheme for export of garments, made-ups from April 1, 2020 o Cabinet continued recapitalization of Regional Rural Banks with CRAR of less than 9% till FY20- 21; Rs1,340 crapproved o Cabinet increases subsidisedfoodgrains supply by 2Kg to 7Kg via ration shops during the lockdownCabinet approves construction of Rs. 1285 crore Aligarh 'Harduaganj flyover.

Union Cabinet approves MoU between India & Germany: Railway sector  The Union Cabinet headed by the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi approves Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in February 2020 between Ministry of Railways with DB Engineering and Consulting GmbH of Germany for technological cooperation in railways.

Indore becomes the 1st city in India to use drones to sanitize the city: COVID-19  India’s cleanest city Indore (Madhya Pradesh) becomes the 1st city in India to use drones to sanitize the city against COVID-19 scare.  Indore Municipal Corporation has hired 2 drones from a private company to sprinkle chemicals with sodium hypochlorite and bio-clean in crowded areas like vegetable markets, streets.  The spray is not harmful for citizens.

National Book Trust of MHRD Launches #StayHomeIndiaWithBooks  The National Book Trust (NBT) of Human Resource Development HRD Ministry launches initiative named #StayHomeIndiaWithBooks to encourage people to read books while at home during the curfew.

Maharashtra overtakes Tamil Nadu &Telangana in organ donation, transplants for 2019  For the year 2019, the state of Maharashtra has donated the highest number of organs which resulted beneficial for 449 patients.  The state overtook Tamil Nadu and Telangana in the field of organ donation. During the 10th Indian Organ Donation Day on 30th November 2019, the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO) presented the best state award to Maharashtra in the field of deceased organ donation.

FinMin provided Rs 1.70 Lakh Cr relief package under PMGaribKalyanYojana for the poor to tackle Corona Virus  Union Finance & Corporate Affairs Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman on March 26, 2020 announced the Rs 1.70 Lakh Crore relief package under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY) in New Delhi.  The motive behind this is to aid and support the Poverty-stricken people to fight a battle against Coronavirus. One important among the schemes announced is providing Insurance cover of Rs. 50 Lakh for the healthcare workers who fights COVID-19 in Government Hospitals and Health centres.

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PM Modi participated in Virtual G20 Leaders’ Summit to develop action plan against COVID-19; over USD 5 trillion to be injected  Prime Minister Narendra Modi participated in an extraordinary “Virtual Group of 20 (G20) Leaders’ Summit” which was hosted by Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud through video conference.  It was held to discuss the challenges created by the COVID-19 and to develop an action plan for global coordinated response against it.

Health ministry categorises hydroxychloroquine as schedule H1 drug  The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) in exercise of the powers conferred under Section 26B of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 (23 of 1940), has declared hydroxychloroquine (HCQS) drug as a schedule H1 drug– which means it can’t be sold without the prescription of a registered medical practitioner (to maintain the availability of the drug).  The reason behind this is recently the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) suggested that HCQS can be used in high risk cases of coronavirus (COVID-19).

DST sets up COVID-19 Task Force to map technologies by start ups  The Department of Science and Technology (DST) under Ministry of Science and Technology has set up COVID- 19 Task Force for mapping technologies to fund nearly market-ready solutions in diagnostics, testing, health care delivery solutions & equipment supplies.  The technologies are mapped from Research and Development (R&D) labs, academic institutions, start-ups & Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME).

India and France conduct joint patrols for the first time  India & France conducted joint patrol for the 1sttime from the Reunion Island in February 2020 by P-8I aircraft with French Navy personnel to maintain the security of international maritime routes for trade and communications. Till now India carried CORPAT only with neighbouring countries also India rejected the offer of US to conduct similar joint patrol.

Odisha to set up the largest COVID-19 hospital in the country  The Odisha Government announced that it is readying to set up the largest Covid-19 hospital in India due to the outbreak of the Coronavirus in the country.  The state-level hospitals will have 1000 beds in Bhubaneswar, Odisha and will be functional in a fortnight.  The State Government signed 2 tripartite agreements with KIMS (Kalinga Institute of Medical Sciences) and SUM Medical Colleges of Odisha to set up 500-bed hospitals each exclusively for Coronavirus treatment.

Government approves Rs 5,751.27 crores as additional assistance to 8 disaster-hit states  The High-Level Committee (HLC) under the Chairmanship of Union Home Minister Amit Shah approved Rs 5,751.27 crores as additional Central assistance under National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) to 8 States (Bihar. Kerala, Nagaland, Odisha.  Maharashtra, Rajasthan, West Bengal & Karnataka) which was affected by floods, landslides, cyclones ‘Bulbul’ & drought during 2019.

Indian Army launches Operation Namaste: COVID-19  Indian Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane launched ‘Operation Namaste’ initiative to protect  1.3 million strong forces from coronavirus and provide all possible assistance to the government to control the pandemic.

JICA signs agreement worth Rs 15,295 crore with India: Rail Infrastructure  Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Japanese government agency signed an agreement worth Rs 15,295 crore with India to provide an Official Development Assistance (ODA – long term loan with less interest) for 3 rail infrastructure projects as follows, Rs 8,553 crore for Dedicated Freight Corridor(phase-1), Rs 4,262 crore for Mumbai Trans Harbour Link Project (II) and Rs 2,480 crore for the Mumbai Metro Line 3 Project (III).

Ministry of DoNER grants Rs 25-crore to combat the coronavirus in north eastern states  The Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) Ministry (Union Minister – Jitendra Singh) and the North Eastern Council (NEC) will provide a financial assistance of Rs 25 crore to the States in the Northeast for gap funding to combat novel coronavirus (COVID-19).  The ministry has also decided to arrange dedicated cargo flights to the northeast and other hill states to carry

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essential goods.

PM Narendra Modi formulated PM-CARES fund to fight coronavirus outbreak  Prime Minister Narendra Modi has created emergency relief fund named Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM-CARES) where people can contribute and help the government in its fight against coronavirus.  This newly created public charitable trust has PM Narendra Modi as the chairman and defence minister (Rajnath Singh), home minister (Amit Shah) and the finance minister (Nirmala Sitaraman) as its members.

Centre approves medical insurance scheme for health workers dealing with COVID-19  The centre has approved a medical insurance scheme of Rs 50 lakh for 90 days to 22.12 lakh public health care workers who are dealing with coronavirus pandemic.  The approval made is a part of measures under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package of Rs 1.70 lakhs announced by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman.  The scheme will be funded by the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) budget which is operated by the Home ministry for this purpose.

Government set up 11 different empowered groups: Lockdown  The government has set up 11 different empowered groups under Disaster Management Act, 2005 to suggest measures to improve health, restore the economy, & ease the suffering of people after a 21-day lockdown which is imposed for the control of the COVID-19 outbreak. Each group consists of about 6 members including a senior representative from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and the Cabinet Secretariat to ensure seamless coordination.

EPF (Amendment) scheme, 2020 comes into force; withdrawal of non-refundable advance allowed  The amendment made by the Ministry of Labour and Employment in Employees Provident Fund (Amendment) scheme, 2020, has come into force from March 28, 2020. The amendment was made in Employees’ Provident Funds (EPF) Scheme 1952, sub-para (3) under para 68L has been added in the EPF scheme, 1952.

Dr. Harsh Vardhan launches National Teleconsultation Centre (CoNTeC)  Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare Dr. Harsh Vardhan has launched COVID-19 National Teleconsultation Centre (CoNTeC), a Telemedicine Hub in New Delhi to connect the Doctors across the country to AIIMS (All India Institute of Medical Sciences) in real time for treatment of the COVID-19 patients.  This Centre conceptualised by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has been implemented by the AIIMS, New Delhi with 24X7 facilities.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

US and Taliban seals historic agreement aimed at ending war in Afghanistan in Doha, Qatar;India addressed for the 1st time  The US (United States) and Taliban militants have signed historic peace agreement in Doha, Qatar to restore peace in Afghanistan. The agreement, signed by the US special envoy for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad and Taliban leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar in the presence of Michael Richard Pompeo,United States Secretary of State, would end the 18 years-long American war in Afghanistan.  India’s Ambassador to Qatar, P. Kumaran attend the USA-Taliban peace deal in Doha on behalf of India. This is the first time India has officially joined any Taliban related case.

India among top suppliers of pharma drugs used in trafficking: INCB Report 2019  In accordance with the “Report of the International Narcotics Control Board for 2019”, by International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) released by United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC), India is named among the top manufacturers of illicit and licit drugs that are smuggled to other countries. o India has not submitted Form P of INCB which is used to report annual statistics on the manufacture, trade and consumption of substances controlled under the Convention on Psychotropic Substances of1971. o India is the centre ‘tramadol’ that are seized worldwide.

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Luxembourg becomes the world’s 1st nation to make all public transport free from Feb 29  In order to reduce traffic pressure on the road, Luxembourg, the 7th smallest country in Europe, has been made public transport free from February 29, 2020. It became the first country in the world to do  so. However, this free public transport system does not include 1st -class travel tickets on trains and certain night bus services. It is expected that more than 65 % of people in Luxembourg use their car to go to work in 2025, down from 73% in 2017.

China assumes presidency of UN Security Council for March 2020  China has taken over as president of the United Nations (UN) Security Council for the month of March 2020, to promote solidarity and cooperation. The council’s presidency rotates every month among its 15 members.

European commission launches global coalition for biodiversity to raise public awareness  In view of the crucial UN (United Nations) summit on biodiversity (also known as Convention on Biological Diversity-COP15) to be held in Kunming, China in October 2020) and on the occasion of the World Wildlife Day on March 3, 2020, the European Commission has launched a new global coalition for biodiversity called ‘United for Biodiversity’ in Monaco.  The coalition consists of national parks, aquariums, botanical gardens, zoos, science and natural history museums from around the world to boost public awareness about the nature crisis.

QS World University Ranking 2020 by subject: IIT Bombay & IIT Delhi find place in top 50 for engineering institutes  According to the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings 2020 by Subject, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay and IIT Delhi have made it to the top 50 institutes in the world in the category of engineering and technology with a rank of 44th and 47th respectively, and a score of

Freedom in the world 2020 report: India ranked 83rd among least free democracies; Finland tops  According to the ‘Freedom in the World 2020” report, which analyzes democratic values and people’s freedom in 195 countries & 15 territories and ranks them category-wise, released by the Freedom House, a U.S (United States) -based watchdog that conducts research and advocacy on  democracy, India has ranked 83rd in the report along with Timor-Leste and Senegal in ‘Free’category. Finland topped the list as the free democratic country. The report, which considers Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) as a separate category of Indian Kashmir, has reduced the its score from 49 to 28.

Indian female labour-force participation dropped from 34% in 2006 to 24.8% in 2020: UNGC Study  In accordance with the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) India study, India is the only country among the 153 surveyed countries where the economic gender gap is larger than the political gap.  Its female labour-force participation has declined from 34% in 2006 to 24.8% in 2020. If women participation raised in the labour force same as men then it can boost India’s GDP (Gross Domestic Product) by 27%.

5th BIMSTEC Summit 2020 to be held in Colombo, Sri Lanka in September  The 5th edition of BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) Summit 2020 to be held in Colombo, Sri Lanka in the month of September 2020.  This wasinformed by BIMSTEC Secretary General (SG) Mohammad Shahidu Islam during his meeting with Sri Lankan Prime Minister (PM) Mahinda Rajapaksa.  The summit will be preceded by the 17th Ministerial Meeting and 21st Senior Officials Meeting by the end of 2020. Sri Lanka is the Chair of BIMSTEC between 2018 and 2020 and it will hand over the chairmanship to Thailand by the end of 2020.

India joins Indian Ocean Commission (IOC) as its 5th observer to boost Indo-Pacific vision  India has joined Indian Ocean Commission (IOC) as its 5th observer state to strengthen its Indo-Pacific vision and also to boost strategic partnership with France, and Vanilla Islands.  The decision has been taken during the meeting of the Commission’s council of ministers in Seychell.  It will boost Indian cooperation with France that has strong presence in the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) and lends depth to India’s SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) policy 2015.

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Girls still face violence and discrimination, 70% trafficked in 2016: UNICEF report “A New Era for Girls”  In accordance with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) report titled “A New Era for Girls: Taking stock on 25 years of progress” in collaboration with UN Women and Plan International, girls still face violence and discrimination even after 25 years of Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. The Beijing Declaration was aimed at advancing women’s and girls’ rights in the country.

UN adopts political declaration on women’s rights during CSW64 meet in New York, US  The United Nations (UN), an intergovernmental organization that aims to maintain international peace and security, has adopted a stripped-down political declaration, in which they pledged to step up action to fully implement the landmark Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action on gender equality, agreed 25 years ago. A UN declaration on women is approved every 5 years.  The declaration was adopted during the 64th session of the Commission on the Status of Women(CSW)held in New York, US(United States), that has been compressed to just one day meet from a normal 2-week meet due to the global coronavirus outbreak.

EIU’s Inclusive Internet Index 2020: Sweden tops globally;India topped among South Asian Countries & ranked 46th globally  Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) released the 4th iteration of the Inclusive Internet Index 2020 for 100 countries where India is overall ranked in 46th place & Sweden in 1st place. The index aims to measure the extent to which the Internet is not only accessible & affordable, but also relevant to all, allowing usage that enables positive social & economic outcomes at the individual & group level. It is commissioned by Facebook. Among South Asian countries India ranks first followed by Srilanka, Bangladesh & Pakistan. Globally Sweden ranked first followed by New Zealand (2nd) & the US (3rd).

1st UNDP Gender Social Norms Index 2020: Almost 90 % of People are biased against women; Pakistan ranks 1st  Acccording to the 1st edition of ‘Gender Social Norms Index (GSNI) 2020’, released by the UNDP (United Nations Development Programme), about 90 % or 9 in 10 of the world’s population has some bias against women.  This index studied 75 countries covering over 80 % of the world’s population & measures social beliefs that obstruct gender equality in areas like politics, work, and education.  The highest number of bias against women was in Pakistan, where 99.81 % of the people supported similar bias. It is followed by Qatar and Nigeria.

India 2nd largest arms importer in 2015-19, Saudi Arabia tops; US largest exporter of arms while India at 23rd: SIPRI Report  In accordance with the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute’s (SIPRI) annual reporttitled “Trends in international arms transfers, 2019”, India is the world’s second largest arms importer during 2015-19 with its global share of 9.2% after Saudi Arabia, who has topped the ranking with global share of 12%. On the other hand, India ranked 23rd in terms of world’s largest arms exporters with global share of 0.2% and its main clients being Myanmar (46%), Sri Lanka (25%), and Mauritius (14%). United States (US) topped the list in this section with a share of 36%. It should be noted that India’s arms import declined by 32% since 2015 due to “Make in India” initiative.

India is positioned 2nd, US tops as most promising source of disruptive technologies : KPMG 2020  Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler (KPMG)’s global Technology (Tech) industry innovation survey ranked India in 2nd position which is shared with China as the most promising country for developing globally impactful disruptive technologies.  The United States (US) topped the survey. Bengaluru ranked 9th, and Singapore topped in cities which leads the tech innovation hubs.

Jack Ma overtakes Mukesh Ambani & becomes Asia’s richest man with networth of $44.8 billion: Bloomberg Billionaires Index  As per Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. Founder Jack Ma has grabbed the title of Asia’s richest man with a net worth at $44.8 billion from Mukesh Ambani, Chairman & Managing Director (CMD) of Reliance Industries.  The latter’s share has dropped by $5.8 billion to $41.8 billion due to coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic which led to collapse in oil markets. Mukesh Ambani continues to be India’s richest man and globally he is ranked at

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number 19 and Jack Ma at 18th.

WEF launched 1st global COVID Action Platform for private-sector businesses to fight against coronavirus  The World Economic Forum (WEF) has initiated the creation of the COVID Action Platform with the support of the World Health Organization (WHO), and Wellcome Trust. This first of its kind platform, operating globally, is open to all businesses and industry groups, as well as other stakeholders, for integrated and collective business action to mitigate the risk and impact of COVID-19 (Coronavirus).  The Forum has established a special team to support the platform’s work.

Among 5 Indians Byju Raveendran & Zomato’s Gaurav Gupta in WEF’s Young Global Leaders list 2020  The World Economic Forum (WEF) announced its new list of 115 Young Global Leaders (YGL), where 5 Indians Byju Raveendran, Gaurav Gupta, SwapanMehra, VinatiMutreja& Tara Singh Vachani are named in the list.  The new YGL class will take part in a 5-year programme which includes- executive education courses, group expeditions & opportunities to collaborate & test ideas with a trusted network of peers.

World Health Organisation declared COVID-19 as pandemic  The World Health Organization (WHO) declared novel coronavirus (COVID-19) as a pandemic, which means a widespread disease. This is the first pandemic caused by a coronavirus & can be controlled. The virus was 1st identified in China.  A pandemic describes an infectious disease where we see significant and ongoing person-to-person spread in multiple countries around the world at the same time. The last time a pandemic occurred was in 2009 with swine flu, which experts think killed hundreds of thousands of people.

India gained C grade, no country made up to A grade: Animal Protection Index 2020  World Animal Protection released the 2nd edition of global Animal Protection Index (API) 2020, where India gained C grade (also in 1st edition in 2014) with other 8 countries which indicates India is one of the better- performing countries. Tragically no country gained A grade.  It index aims to display whether countries are doing well & where they lack on animal welfare policy & legislation, so they could take steps to improve.

3rdedition of WION Global Summit 2020 held in Dubai, UAE  WION (World Is One News), the India’s first International News Channel, has organized its 3rd edition of Global summit 2020 based on the theme “Navigating and negotiating global imperatives” at The Oberoi, in Dubai, UAE (United Arab Emirates).  The Summit focused on 4 key sessions namely- India and the Emerging World focusing on the dynamics, Balancing and Recalibrating Pakistan’s Diplomatic Strategy, Climate change & Global Leaders forum.

Philippines shut Financial Market due to COVID 19 outbreak  On March 17, 2020, the Philippines becomes the first country to close its financial markets due to the COVID 19 (Coronavirus) outbreak.  It resumed its trading on March 19, 2020. This measure was taken to ensure the safety of their employees and the people they interact with.

World Cities Summit 2020 to be held in Singapore from July 5 to 9  The 7th World Cities Summit (WCS) is to be held from July 5 to 9, 2020 at Sands Expo & Convention Centre, Marina Bay Sands, in Singapore (SG).  It is organized by Singapore’s Centre for LiveableCities and the Urban Redevelopment Authority. Also, the WCS was conducted once in 2 years since 2008. The Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath was invited as guest by SG government.  The theme for WCS 2020 is” Liveable and Sustainable Cities: Adapting to a Disrupted World”.

WhatsApp launched Coronavirus Information Hub, donated $1 million to IFCN  WhatsApp the messaging app owned by Facebook has launched the “WhatsApp Coronavirus Information Hub”, in partnership with WHO (World Health Organization), UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund) and UNDP (United Nations Development Programme), the Information Hub will be available at Whatsapp.com/coronavirus.

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India Ranks 144th, Finland tops: UN’s World Happiness Report 2020  The United Nations (UN) released the 8thedition of World Happiness Report 2020 to measure the happiness of people of 156 countries where India (3.573) ranks in 144th position & Finland (7.809) tops the 3rd time & Afghanistan is at 153rdplace.  This is the 1st time the report ranks cities around the world, where Delhi- India (4.011) is positioned in 180th position (one among bottom 10), whereas, Helsinki-Finland (7.828) tops the report & Kabul -Afghanistan (3.236) is at bottom place with 186th position.

Rank Country

1 Finland (top)

144 India

153 Afghanistan (bottom)

India ranks 120th, Singapore tops: Economic Freedom Index 2020  The 26th annual edition of Economic Freedom Index 2020 Created by the Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal measures the level of economic freedom in 186 countries. In the Index India (56.5) ranks in 120th position & Singapore (89.4) tops the index for the 1st time edging Hong Kong (2ndrank - 89.1) which for the 1st since publication in 1995 missed the top spot.  Due to lack of reliable statistics following 6 countries Iraq, Libya, Liechtenstein, Somalia, Syria, Yemen are not ranked. Rank Country 1 Singapore (top) 120 India 180 North Korea (bottom)

Bangladesh, Nepal, Afghanistan jointly contribute $3.5 mn to SAARC corona emergency fund  The Governments of Bangladesh, Nepal and Afghanistan have pledged to contribute $1.5 million, $1 million and $1 million respectively to the SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) Corona Emergency Fund which was proposed by Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi on March 15, 2020 with an initial grant of $10 million from India to deal with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Earlier, the governments of Maldives and Bhutan also pledged to provide $200,000 and 100,000 respectively.

Singapore rescheduled World Cities Summit 2020 to 20 – 24 June 2021 due to COVID-19  Singapore has rescheduled the 7th World Cities Summit (WCS) 2020 to 20 – 24 June 2021 due to the outbreak of COVID-19 which includes, Singapore International Water Week (SIWW) and CleanEnviro Summit Singapore (CESG).  The summit is organized by Singapore’s Centre for Liveable Cities and the Urban Redevelopment Authority. The theme of WCS is Liveable and Sustainable Cities: Adapting to a Disrupted World

Sri Lanka contributes $5 mn to SAARC corona emergency fund  The Government of Sri Lanka has pledged to contribute $5 million to the SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) Corona Emergency Fund proposed by Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi on March 15, 2020 with an initial grant of $10 million from India to deal with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Members of SAARC (8)– Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.

Protecting peatlands can help attain climate goals: FAO-UN report  As per the United Nations’ (UN) arm Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) report, Peatlands are facing degradation and need to be urgently monitored. The report authored by 35 experts comprised information as well as recommendations to countries on restoring and managing peatland. Peatlands are wetlands with a thick layer of organic soil. Peatlands cover only 3% of the global land area, but they store 30% of the world’s soil carbon.

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WHO initiated mega trial “Solidarity” of 4 promising drugs to cure Covid-19  As per the Science Magazine report released on March 24, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) has started a mega trial namely “Solidarity” of four most promising drugs that may cure the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).  The trial consists of study, testing, and development of antidote against coronavirus through four most promising therapies which are as follows: Remdesivir, Chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, Combination of lopinavir and ritonavir, Ritonavir/lopinavir plus interferon-beta.

ITU launches “Global Network Resiliency Platform”: COVID-19  The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) launched a “Global Network Resiliency Platform” to help global networks remain “safer, stronger and more connected” during the COVID-19 crisis.  The platform will assist the government & private sector to ensure that networks are kept flexible and all telecommunication services are available to all.

25 worshippers killed by ISIS suicide bombers attacking Gurudwara in Kabul, Afghanistan  25 worshippers were killed and eight were injured during the attack by heavily armed four suicide bombers attack at Dharamshala, a Sikh worship place (Gurudwara) located in Kabul, Afghanistan.  The responsibility of this deadliest attack is taken by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group. The attack comes after a day when the United States declared USD 1 billion reductions in aid to the Afghanistan government.

Indian football captain Sunil Chhetri named in FIFA campaign against Coronavirus  Indian Football Captain Sunil Chhetri was selected among 28 members for FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) video campaign against Coronavirus.  FIFA and WHO (World Health Organization) have teamed up to combat the coronavirus by launching ‘Pass the message to kick out coronavirus’ (promotes 5 key steps such as hand washing, coughing etiquette, not touching your face, physical distance and staying home if feeling unwell and these steps protect the people’s health according to WHO guidance) led by world-renowned footballers.

Report ‘Boom &Bust 2020’: 4 New Coal projects added in India while coal capacity declined to 66GW  According to report titled “Boom and Bust 2020: Tracking the Global Plant Pipeline” released by Global Energy Monitor, Greenpeace International, the Sierra Club, and Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), In India, 47.4 GW coal fired power projects at different stages were cancelled in 2019 which reduced total under development coal capacity of the country to 66 GW.  The report is the fifth annual survey of the coal plant pipeline.

North Macedonia officially joins NATO as its 30thmember  The Republic of North Macedonia has inducted officially as the 30th and newest member of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). This membership comes after North Macedonia’s 2017 deal with Greece (Regarding dispute over name Macedonia which is one of province in Greece).  After the name change (Macedonia to North Macedonia in February 2019) Greece dropped its objections in NATO and European Union (EU) membership. North Macedonia was granted a protocol on accession to NATO membership in February 2019.

US announced $174 mn aid to 64 countries including $2.9 mn to India to tackle COVID-19  The United States of America (USA) will provide an additional USD 174 million financial assistance to 64 most at-risk countries which include USD 2.9 million to India as support for combating the coronavirus pandemic.  In February 2020, the USA provided 100 million aid for the same purpose.

IMF launches Government Policy Tracker: COVID-19  The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has launched a policy tracker to track the policies of the governments to share knowledge about COVID-19 which helps to tackle the crisis.  The policy tracker helps the countries to learn more about the experiences of others in combating the pandemic and adapt their policies and procedures to their unique circumstances and needs.

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SBI switched to Cash Budget Based Assessment (CBBA) method of assessment for corporate  State Bank of India (SBI) has switched to “Cash Budget Based Assessment (CBBA)” from “Projected Balance Sheet (PBS)” method of Fund Based Working Capital (FBWC) limits for assessment of the working capital requirement for corporates or large advances.  CBBA of limits has been initiated for assessment of the FBWC limits for units with total FBWC exposure of more than ₹50 crore from the banking system.  Due to increase in the number of the digital transactions, the monitoring of transactions/assets of the borrowers has become a major challenge; therefore, CBBA will provide of the borrower’s cash requirements and enforce financial discipline.  SBI has also started Risk Intel, an email service, advising the business units of rating actions in respect of units it has funded.

RBL Bank ties-up with Zomato to launch co-branded credit card powered by Mastercard  RBL Bank (formerly known as Ratnakar Bank),an Indian private sector bank, has entered into a partnership with Online food ordering and delivery app Zomato to launch co-branded credit cards,powered by Mastercard, for Zomato users.  It will be the first of its kind co-branded credit card, available in two variants – basic Edition Classic card and a more premium Edition Card.

IIT Mandi, EWOK Society sign tripartite deal with NABARD for setting up 3 FPOs in Himachal  The IIT (Indian Institute of Technology) Mandi (Himachal Pradesh) along with Enabling Women of Kamand (EWOK) Society have signed a tripartite agreement with the National Bank For Agriculture And Rural Development (NABARD) for collaboration on setting up 3 Farmer Producer Organisation (FPOs) in Himachal Pradesh’s(HP) Mandi district in the next 3 years.  NABARD has approved an amount of Rs 35 lakhs in this regard to IIT Mandi and EWOK Society for establishing FPOs, which is a group of farm producers, with members as shareholders in an organisation.

Paytm Insurance Broking secures brokerage licence from IRDAI  Indian digital payments platform Paytm’s subsidiary, Paytm Insurance Broking, has receivedthe brokerage licence from the Insurance Regulatory and Authority of India (IRDAI).  Paytm will now offer insurance in various categories namely automotive, health and life. In addition to this, Paytm customers can also get policy management and claim settlement at select merchant points.

NABARD infused Rs 1.46 lakh crore in rural banking during FY20  According to the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), an Apex Development Financial Institution in India, it has granted Rs 1.46 lakh crore in the rural banking system during the current fiscal-FY (2019-20) with the aim to help them get their resources effectively for handling the credit needs of rural people, including farmers.  Of the total amount, it had infused Rs 87,069 crore to rural cooperative banks and regional rural banks (RRB) in short-term refinance. Along with this, long-term refinance of Rs 59,502 crore has also been offered to these banks and other financial institutions on February 28, 2020.

ICICI Prudential AMC inks pact with Saraswat co-op bank to tap rural market  ICICI Prudential AMC (Asset Management Company), one of the leading mutual fund investment companies in India, has entered into the partnership with Saraswat Co-operative Bank,an urban cooperative banking institution, to distribute its products with the latter’s customers base spread across its 280 branches in 6 states.  This partnership will help ICICI Prudential to increase its outreach, especially in smaller villages and cities and also boost the bank’s over 100-year presence in the country.

Centre imposed moratorium on Yes Bank; withdrawals restricted to Rs 50,000/- till April 3, 2020; Prashant Kumar named as its administrator  In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (2) of section 45 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 (10 of 1949), the Central Government, through the Ministry of Finance has imposed moratorium on Yes Bank Limited w.e.f. 6PM of March 5, 2020 till April 3, 2020. The decision has been taken on the recommendations of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) under sub-section (1) of section 45.

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EPFO cuts interest rate to 8.5% for 2019-20 from 8.65%; restored pension commutation under EPS  EPFO (Employees Provident Fund Organisation) has declined interest rate on EPF deposits for 2019-20 to seven years low by 0.15% or 15 basis points fom 8.65% to 8.5%. The decision has been taken during the meeting of EPFO’s apex decision making body, Central Board of Trustees (CBT) chaired by Minister of State (MoS) for Labour and Employment Santosh Kumar Gangwar in New Delhi.

Tata AIA Life Insurance to provide football coaching to under-privileged girls under its ‘Bachhpan Ka Rakshakaran’ program  In order to create interest in education for the under-privileged girls aged 12-16 years, by using football coaching as a medium, Tata AIA Life Insurance, a joint venture company formed by Tata Sons Ltd and AIA Group Ltd(AIA), has launched a ‘Bachhpan Ka Rakshakaran’ program in association with Mumbai based Non-profit ‘Oscar Foundation’.  This initiative will help reduce stock of issues including school dropouts, child labour, child marriage, drug abuse and vulnerability to minor crime.

RBI announced draft scheme “Yes Bank Ltd. Reconstruction Scheme, 2020” for Yes Bank’s revival; SBI willing to invest  A day after Yes Bank Ltd. placed under moratorium which will be effective upto April 3, 2020, on March 6, 2020, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) after exercising its powers conferred under sub-section (4) of section 45 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, has issued a draft scheme of reconstruction of the Yes Bank.  It should be noted that State Bank of India (SBI) wants to invest in Yes Bank and also to participate in its reconstruction scheme. SBI can invest for up to 49% stake for nearly Rs 2,450 crore.

10th FICCI-IBA Bankers’ Survey July-Dec 2019 released in New Delhi; Highest NPAs in Infrastructure sector  FICCI has released the 10th round of FICCI-IBA survey in New Delhi which was conducted by Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) and Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) for the period of July to December 2019. The survey has analyzed 18 banks consisting of public sector, private sector and foreign banks which together represented 50% of the banking industry, as classified by asset size.  The survey required view of bankers on the measures that would help in improving the economic situation. Responding banks reporting NPAs declined to 39% while sector with High NPAs are Infrastructure, Metals and Iron & Steel, Engineering Goods and Textiles.

Moody’s again lowers India’s growth projections to 5.3% from 5.4%: Impact of Coronavirus  Moody’s Investors Service, a rating agency again lowered India’s growth projection to 5.3% for 2020 as a result of Coronavirus (COVID-19), previously on February 17, 2020 it had reduced India’s growth projection from 6.6% to 5.4% for 2020. It also stated that if there is extensive fall down India’s growth will be projected to fall to 5%.

SBI cuts interest rate on SB accounts to 3%; one year MCLR reduced to 7.75%; min balance criteria removed  State Bank of India (SBI) has reduced its interest rate on savings bank (SB) accounts to 3% along with waiving off of average monthly balance (AMB) for all SB accounts on the basis of ‘Customers First’ approach.  Also, to make home and auto loans cheaper SBI reduced its one-year marginal cost of fund- based lending rate (MCLR) to 7.75% from 7.85%. All these changes are with effect from March 10, 2020.

iSelect+ Term Plan launched by Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance  Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance Company Limited launched iSelect+ Term Plan to provide shield against all uncertainties of life at an affordable premium which includes WholeLife Cover, Return of Premium, Multiple Payout Options, Increase Coverage Option & Tax Benefits. It also offers an option to avail return of premium benefit wherein all your premiums will be returned once you outlive the policy tenure.

World Bank to provide USD 80 million to integrated project in Himachal Pradesh  The Government of India, Government of Himachal Pradesh(HP) & the World Bank signed a loan agreement of US$80 million (about Rs 600 crore) to improve water management practices & also to increase agricultural productivity in selected Gram Panchayats (Village Councils) in HP.  TheIntegrated Project for Source Sustainability & Climate Resilient Rain-Fed Agriculture to be implemented in

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428 Gram Panchayats in 10 districts which will benefit over 400,000 smallholder farmers, women & pastoral communities.

SBI Board approved Rs 7,250 cr fund infusion into Yes Bank, Stake remains under49%  The executive committee of the central board of State Bank of India (SBI) has approved an investment of Rs 7,250 crore in Yes Bank Ltd. as a part of RBI formulated rescue plan titled “Yes BankLtd.Reconstruction Scheme, 2020” for the revival of Yes Bank.  The SBI has not specified its shareholding the bank but it will remain under 49% of the paid-up capital of the Yes Bank. The investment has been made by purchasing 725 crore equity shares of Yes Bank at a price of Rs 10 per share.

RBI issues guidelines for Ind AS implementation by NBFCs, ARCs  The RBI has framed regulatory guidance on Indian Accounting Standards (Ind AS) to be applicable on Ind AS implementing Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) and Asset Reconstruction Companies (ARCs) for preparation of their financial statements (FS) from financial year (FY) 2019-20 onwards. The guidance has been framed to promote a high quality, consistent implementation, and better supervision of FS. As per the guidance, all Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) covered by Rule 4 of the Companies (Indian Accounting Standards) Rules, 2015 are required to comply with Ind AS for the preparation of their FS.

RBI revises exposure limits for urban cooperative banks to single, group borrowers  The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has revised exposure limits for urban cooperative banks (UCBs) of tier- 1 capital to a single borrower to 15% and a group of borrowers to 25%. The revised exposure limits shall be applicable to all types of fresh exposures taken by UCBs. The RBI earlier permitted UCBs to have exposures up to 15% and 40% of their capital funds to a single borrower and a groupof  borrowers, respectively. The RBI also revised the priority sector lending (PSL) target for UCBs from 40% to 75% of the adjusted net bank credit (ANBC), or credit equivalent amount of off-balance sheet exposure (CEOBSE). These norms will also have to be fulfilled by 31 March 2024.

Flipkart teamed up with Aegon life insurance to sell quick-access life insurance policies  The e-Commerce company Flipkart has partnered with Aegon Life Insurance to sell comprehensive insurance solutions to customers seeking instant digital policies with an assured sum up to Rs 10 lakh. The life insurance policies have diverse offerings- sums assured ranging from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 10 lakh, premiums starting from Rs 129 for Rs 1 lakh sum insured and policies available to the existing customers of Flipkart between the age of 18 & 65 years.

RBI issued new guidelines for payment aggregators; MCR reduced for new PAs to Rs 15 crore from Rs 100 crore  Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued new guidelines for the payment aggregators (PAs) to provide an ease for payments industry players with effect from April 1, 2020. The guidelines are issued under Section 18 read with Section 10(2) of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007.  PA is a company incorporated in India under the Companies Act, 1956 / 2013. RBI has reduced the minimum capital requirements (MCR) for PAs at the time of application for the license to Rs 15 crore from Rs 100 crore.

RBI opens dollar-swap window along with infusion of Rs 1,00,000 crore through LTRO  Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has opened a six-month dollar sell-buy swap window and will also inject Rs 1,00,000 crore additional Long Term Repo Operations (LTROs) at the policy repo rate. These measures taken by RBI are to boost liquidity in the foreign exchange market of India and will serve the requirement of U.S. dollars in the market. RBI will undertake second 6-month dollar/rupee sell/buy swap auction on 23 March 2020. Under this, RBI will provide $2 billion to the banks that need it through a swap.

RBI extended authorisation to Vakrangee Ltd for white label ATMs till Mar 31, 2021  Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has extended the validity of Authorization to Vakrangee Limited till March 31, 2021 to set up, own and operates the White Label ATMs (WLA) Business in India. In this regard, Renewal of Authorization has been granted to Vakrangee Limited. As per the renewal, Vakrangee Ltd must deploy minimum 1,000 ATMs for every calendar year starting 2020 for an initial period of three years in the ratio of 1:2:3 for Metro & Urban, Semi-Urban and Rural regions respectively. As per the recent report on “Financial Inclusion and Rural India – Banking & ATM sector in India” by Grant Thornton (GT), Vakrangee is the fastest-growing WLA player as well as 3rd largest ATM operator in rural India.

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RBI to infuse ₹10,000 crores via OMO to maintain liquidity in the banking system  The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is set to infuse ₹10,000 crore liquidity in the banking system by buying government securities through open market operations (OMO) on March 20, 2020. The securities will be purchased through a multi-security auction using the multiple price method with tenure between two and five years. RBI will offer to buy four set of sovereign papers maturing between February 2022 and May 2025.

Paytm Bank to issue virtual debit cards to customers  The Paytm Payments Bank Limited (PPBL) has announced to issue Visa virtual debit cards to its customers, earlier they issued Rupay debit cards. It targets to issue over 10 million new digital debit cards in 2020-21 and International transactions can also be made by using the new card.

DBS Bank India ties up with Bharti AXA to roll out insurance plan covering COVID-19  DBS Bank India Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of DBS (Development Bank of Singapore) Bank Ltd, has entered into the partnership with Bharti AXA General Insurance Company Ltd to launch a complimentary insurance for customers of DBS treasures. The plan covers all medical conditions  including Novel Coronavirus (Covid-19), under which a cover of Rs 5000 per day is available for a period of 30 days if DBS customers are hospitalized for 10 days. The bank has also launched a special program called ‘Emergency Global Medical Assist Program’ to help non-resident Indians (NRIs) to take care of their close ones in India, which provides 24*7 medical support.

ICICI Lombard introduced ‘COVID-19 Protection cover’ for Coronavirus positive case  ICICI (Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India) Lombard, a private sector non-life insurance company has introduced a 1 year long “COVID-19 Protection Cover” at a premium of Rs. 149. Launched in group insurance mode, this policy will pay 100% of the sum insured to the COVID-19 positive individual, irrespective of hospitalization expenses.  The age group of 18-75 years is eligible for COVID-19 protection cover.

Star health unveils ‘Star novel coronavirus policy’ for corona victims  Star Health and Allied Insurance Co Ltd. has launched ‘Star Novel Coronavirus Insurance Policy’ that provides coverage for hospitalized patients who test positive for the current pandemic COVID-19. The company has set a premium of Rs 459 plus GST for a sum insured of Rs. 21,000 and a premium of Rs 918 plus GST for a sum insured of Rs 42,000. People who aged between 18-65 yrs can avail this policy.

RBI outlined Business Continuity Plan for smooth functioning national payment systems  The RBI for the first time, shared its Business Continuity Plan (BCP) to ensure zero disruptions in the national payments systems (NPS) due to the coronavirus outbreak. The NPS includes National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT), Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS), e-Kuber for government transactions, etc. BCP is basically a recovery plan or process to prepare for anticipated disruptions, ensure smooth flow of operations and staffing, and form crisis management groups. The current BCP is also focused on keeping the banking staff insulated from exposure to the virus.

In a first, Karur Vysya Bank introduces pre-paid card ‘Enkasu’ in Karur, TN  In a bid to promote digital India initiative of the central Government, Karur Vysya Bank (KVB), a Scheduled Commercial Bank in India, has launched India’s 1st prepaid wallet card ‘Enkasu’ (My cash in Tamil) in Karur, Tamil Nadu (TN) under its Quit cash movement. The Card works in Near Field Technology (NFT) in closed loop. Also, the card can be accepted both in ‘offline’ and ‘online’ mode.

Covid-19: SBI becomes the 1stbank to launch emergency credit facility  The Indian Public Sector Bank, State Bank of India (SBI) has became the 1st bank to launch COVID 19 emergency credit line (CECL) to provide funds to businesses affected by the coronavirus. Under this emergency credit line, loan will be given at a fixed interest rate of 7.25 % for a period of 12 months. Maximum loan amount of up to Rs 200 crore or 10 % of the existing fund-based working capital limits (FBWC) will be provided and such facility will be available by 30 June2020.

RBI to inject Rs 30k cr into market for financial stability amidCovid-19  The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is all set to inject liquidity of Rs 30,000 crore through open market operations (OMOs) on March 24 and March 30, 2020 to maintain financial stability and liquidity in all markets segments during coronavirus outbreak The RBI will purchase government securities under OMOs in two tranches of Rs

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15,000 crore each. OMO is the sale and purchase of government securities and treasury bills by the central bank of the country.

RBI: On lending by banks to NBFCs is classified as a priority sector in FY21  To boost credit disbursement in the targeted segment like agriculture, Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME) and housing sector, RBI has extended the priority sector classification for bank loans to Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) for on-lending for Fiscal year 2020-21. As per the revised norms, on-lending by NBFCs for ‘term lending’ component under agriculture will be allowed up to Rs 10 lakh per borrower, for MSME sector the limit is upto 20 Lakh per borrower & for housing sector the limit is enhanced from 10 Lakh to 20 Lakh per borrower.

RBI opens Rs 59000cr emergency credit line for Yes Bank; a move after 16 years  Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) after its reconstruction plan for Yes Bank, has resumed its standard operations. Now, to keep the liquidity of the bank for paying back to its depositors stable, it has opened an emergency line of credit of Rs 59,000 crore.  This liquidity support to Yes Bank is an additional liquidity arsenal provided under Section 17 (4) of the RBI Act, 1934 as the bank has no solvency problem or any other issue except liquidity. 16 years before a similar credit line was opened for Global Trust Bank in 2004 but later the bank was merged with Oriental Bank of Commerce

NABARD provides Rs 42,313 crore for building rural infrastructure  National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) provides financial support of Rs 42,313 crore in the Financial Year (FY) 2019-20 for building rural infrastructure - Rs 20,869 crore for irrigation related projects, Rs 5,686 crore for rural connectivity, Rs 10,935 crore for Pradhan Mantri Aawas Yojana Gramin (PMAYG) to provide “housing for all by 2022” & remaining for Swachh Bharat Mission to provide clean water and sanitation facilities.

RBI advances its Rs 25000 cr repo auction to March 26, 2020; SPDs to participate in auction  Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has advanced its first of the two Rs 25,000 crore variable rate repo auctions to March 26, 2020 from March 30.  It will provide flexibility to the banking system in year-end liquidity management. It should be noted that RBI was going to make two such auctions of Rs 25,000 crore each on March 30 and March 31 to address the additional demand for liquidity. There is no change in the auction scheduled for March 31, 2020.  Apart from eligible participants. RBI now has also allowed standalone primary dealers (SPDs) to participate in this auction.

Jana SFB along with NPCI launches UPI QR-based loan installment payment facility  Jana Small Finance Bank (SFB) in partnership with National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI), has launched a UPI QR-based loan installment payment facility to its existing 40 lakh plus customers & 5 crore micro finance agencies.  The UPI QR-based payment mode is available for P2P (person to person) and P2M (person to merchant) payments.

YES Bank reconstitutes its BOD with 8 members  The YES Bank reconstituted its Board of Directors (BOD) with 8 members as per ‘Yes Bank Limited Reconstruction Scheme, 2020′ notified by the Ministry of Finance, Government of India.  The 8-member board comprise of Prashant Kumar- Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Sunil Mehta- Non-Executive Chairman, Mahesh Krishnamurti& Atul Bheda (Non-Executive Directors), R Gandhi & Ananth Narayan Gopalakrishnan - Additional Directors appointed by Reserve Bank of India (RBI), ParthaPratim Sengupta & Swaminathan Janakiraman - Directors nominated by State Bank of India (SBI).

Highlights of Seventh Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement -2019-20; EMIs on hold for three months  Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has released the Seventh Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement, 2019-20 Resolution of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), RBI under which MPC has decided rate changes with immediate effect due to the current and evolving macroeconomic situation impacted by COVID-19. Policy rate New Rate Previous Rate Change in Basis points (bps)

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Policy Repo Rate 4.40 % 5.15% 75

Reverse Repo Rate 4% 4.90% 90 Marginal Standing Facility Rate 4.65% 5.40% 75 Bank Rate 4.65% 5.40% 75 CRR 3% 4% 100

SLR 18.25% 18.25% -

RBI increased March 26, 2020 repo auction amount to Rs 50,000 cr from Rs 25,000 cr  The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) increased the March 26, 2020, variable rate term repo auction amount to Rs 50,000 crore from Rs 25,000 crore due to the disruptive impact of Covid-19 for the financial sector. Also, the nation has locked down for 21 days and to keep the liquidity in the market stable this decision has been taken.

RBI announces liquidity boost of Rs 3.74 lakh crore amid coronavirus outbreak  Reserve Bank of India (RBI) declared an infusion of Rs 3.74 lakh crore into the banking system through three measures viz. targeted long-term repo operation (TLTRO – auctions conducted for term repos upto 3yrs amounting to 1 lakh crore), Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR – reduced from 4% to 3% 1sttime after Feb 2013, which could release liquidity of 1.37 lakh crore) and marginal standing facility (MSF - limit under MSF increased to 3 % from 2% which can add an additional Rs 1.37 lakh core of liquidity.).  RBI has already injected liquidity of Rs 2.8 lakh crore in the financial markets through various instruments, which equal to 1.4% of GDP.

ADB commits $ 100 million in Indian infrastructure sector through NIIF  Multilateral Institution Asian Development Bank (ADB) will invest $100 million into the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) of India Fund of Funds (FoF).  With this, the FoF has now received a total of $700 million in commitments. FoF of NIIF was created in 2018 with the aim to invest in a variety of sectors and strategies through third-party managed funds. Till now, it has secured commitments to 3 Funds totalling to over Rs. 2,600 crore ($350 million).

SFBs can provide risk-free simple financial services without seeking RBI’s nod  The Reserve Bank has allowed Small Finance Banks (SFBs) to carry out simple financial activities without seeking a prior approval from it.  This will be applicable to those SFBs who have completed three years of operations.  The Central Bank has also allowed for general permission to all existing SFBs to open banking outlets subject to adherence to Unbanked Rural Centre norms.

Merger of 10 state-run banks into 4 to come into force from April 1: RBI  The amalgamation plan ( 10 PSBs to 4 PSBs) of banks is all set to come into force from April 1, 2020.  The branches of merging banks will operate as of the banks in which these have been amalgamated& the customers of merging banks will be treated as customers of the banks in which these banks have been merged with effect from April 1, 2020.  As per the scheme, Oriental Bank of Commerce and United Bank of India amalgamated into Punjab National Bank; Syndicate Bank into Canara Bank; Allahabad Bank into Indian Bank; and Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank into Union Bank of India.

PNB releases new logo ahead of merger with UBI & OBC on April 1, 2020  The Punjab National Bank (PNB) has launched a new logo before the merger of the bank with the United Bank of India (UBI) and the Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) which comes into force from April 1, 2020. The new logo will have signages of all the 3 banks. With the merger, PNB will be the 2nd largest bank in the country with a total business and size of Rs 17.94 lakh crore only behind State Bank of India (SBI) (largest bank if India) whose total business is about 52 lakh crorerupees.

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Fitch lowers India’s economic growth forecast for FY20 to 4.9% from 5.1 %  Fitch Ratings Inc, an American credit rating agency,has lowered India’s GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth forecast to 4.9% for the fiscal year – FY20 (2019-2020) ending March 31,2020.It cuts the rate from 5.1% predicted earlier, due to coronavirus, weak domestic demand and supply disruptions ,which put pressure on the manufacturing sector.  However, it estimates a slight improvement in GDP growth in FY2020-21 & forecasts that the pace of economic growth of the country could remain at 5.4% (from 5.9 % previously).

ICAR signs MoU with Patanjali Bio Research Institute (PBRI) for farm research, training, education  Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has signed MoU with Hardiwar (Uttarakhand)- based Patanjali Bio Research Institute (PBRI) to add a new dimension to the field of farming by undertaking research work as well as training and education.

OECD downgraded India’s GDP growth to 5.1% from 6.2% for 2020  Global agency Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in its report titled“OECDInterimEconomicAssessmentCoronavirus:Theworldeconomyatrisk”hastrimmedIndia’s real GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth forecast to 5.1% from the earlier projection of 6.2% for 2020 due to the impact of deadly coronavirus (COVID-19) on the domestic as well as the global economy. For 2021, India’s real GDP growth is projected at 5.6% from the earlier forcast of 6.4%.

NMDC &i-TIC Foundation of IIT Hyderabad signed pact to support Deep-Tech Start-Ups  National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) Limited &i-TIC foundation the Technology Business Incubator (TBI) of IIT Hyderabad signed an agreement to support start-ups through a joint incubation program through NMDC Innovation & Incubation Centre (NICE) to promote the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship in the country.  The proposal is to support 5 start-ups a year with the incubation period for each of them being 2 years which is extendable by 6 months. NICE is in line with the Centre’s ‘Startup India’ initiative.

India ranked 3rd in trade-related illicit financial flow globally with $83.5 billion, China tops: GFI Report  In accordance with the report titled “Trade-Related Illicit Financial Flows in 135 Developing Countries: 2008- 2017” by US-based think tank Global Financial Integrity (GFI), India has the third-highest trade- related illicit financial flow among over 135 countries in 2017 while China has topped the report.  As an average of 2008-2017, India ranked fourth among 135 countries and China stood at first. In terms of illicit financial flow between 135 developing economies and 36 advanced economies in 2017 and as an average of 2008-2017 , India ranked 6th while China remains at 1st.

UNCTAD estimated trade impact of Coronavirus epidemic: India’s trade impact at $348 million; EU tops  In accordance with the estimates prepared by Division on International Trade and Commodities, UNCTAD and published by United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) titled “Global trade impact of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Epidemic”, India is among the top 20 economies most affected by the slowdown of manufacturing in China due to Coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic, which is disrupting world trade and could result in a 50 billion dollar decrease in global exports.  The estimates are highest for European Union (EU) with an impact of USD 15.6 billion while India faced a trade impact of 348 million dollars.

Paytm, Hyderabad Metro tie up for QR-based tickets  Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited (HMRL) in partnership with Paytm has launched a QR-code-based metro ticketing system at Rasoolpura metro station Hyderabad. This system will help people book digital tickets easily and it also reduces the ticket congestion at the ticket counters.  Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited (HMRL) will introduce two more trains between Ameerpet and Raidurgam route.

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Board of Approval headed by Anup Wadhawan approved TCS, DLF proposals to set up SEZs for IT in Haryana, UP  The highest decision-making body for special economic zones (SEZs) chaired by the commerce secretary Anup Wadhawan, has approved the proposals of Information technology (IT) major TCS (Tata Consultancy Services Limited) and DLF (Delhi Land and Finance) Limited a premier real estate company in India to establish a special economic zones (SEZs) for IT sector in UttarPradesh (UP) and Haryana respectively. The central government has cleared 417 such zones in India, as on November 14, 2019. Of these, 238 zones are in active state.

Google India unveils women skill development programme ‘DigiPivot’ in association with Avtar & ISB  Google India has launched a skilling programme for women called ‘DigiPivot’, where the woman who wishes to return to their company careers after a break or just planning to make mid-career shifts to digital advertising and marketing. The programme will end on August 28, 2020 with a day-long graduation occasion on the Google Hyderabad (Telangana) Campus. Woman who’re at present working and those that are ready to return to the workforce with 4-10 years of expertise in consulting, analytics, branding and sales and support are eligible to attend this programme.

India’s thermal coal imports rose 12.6% to 197.84 million tonnes in 2019; coking coal import declined: Govt Data  In accordance with the government data, in 2019, India’s thermal coal imports rose 12.6% to 197.84 million tonnes stating a consecutive 2nd year growth despite attempts to cut imports. Thermal coal is mainly used for power generation.

TCIS signs MoU with The Gambia for MEA’s eVBABNetwork Project  Telecommunications consultants India Limited (TCIS) under the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Gambia.  This MoU is signed for the participation in MEA’s (eVBAB) e-VidyaBharati and e-ArogyaBharati Network Project for tele-medicine and tele-education in Africa.  It is signed by the High commissioner of Gambia, JainabaJagne to the Director-Technical at the TCIL, Kamendra Kumar India at New Delhi.

GOKADDAL, World’s first Digital Solutions Exchange Cloud launched in India  World’s first Digital Solutions Exchange in cloud has been launched in India. www.gokaddal.com, a cloud based solution exchange platform mainly focuses on 4A’s – Automation, Artificial Intelligence,Analytics and Augmentative Technologies.  It is a Dubai based emerging Technology company ledby Ravinder Pal Singh (Digital Disrupter, Industry Expert, Ex Cisco and Dell Executive) and it is a part of the Mekado Group at Bangalore, Karnataka.

39th GST Council meet on ‘Know your Supplier’; GST on mobile phones hiked to 18%  The 39thGST Council meet headed by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman held at New Delhi. During the meet, one of the decisions including calculation of delayed GST payment on the net tax liability w.e.f. 1st July 2017 is taken.  Other important decisions taken during the meet are, Increasing GST for mobile phones and specified parts to 18% from 12% & The GST for matchsticks are rationalized to single GST of 12% etc.

Gold imports down 8.86 % to $ 27 bn during April-February of FY 2019-20: Commerce ministry  According to commerce ministry’s data, India’s gold imports declined by 8.86 % to $ 27 billion (about Rs 1.90 lakh crore) during the first 11 months (April-February) of the current financial year-FY2019-20.  In the same period last fiscal (FY 2018-19), gold imports stood at $ 29.62 billion. Also, India’s trade deficit stands at $143.12 Billion which is $173 billion last year for the period (Apr-Feb).

OIL signed Crude Oil agreement with Numaligarh Refinery  In March 2020, country’s 2ndlargest oil explorer, Oil India Limited (OIL) signed an agreement named as Crude Oil Sales Agreement (COSA) with Numaligarh Refinery for sale & purchase of crude oil at Narengi, Guwahati.  The agreement to have a term of 5 years (from 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2025). It is expected to organize the sale & purchase transactions of crude oil produced from fields in northeastern India.

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Microsoft India & NASSCOM Foundation launches ‘Innovate for accessible India campaign’ to empower people with disabilities  Microsoft Corporation’s subsidiary ‘Microsoft India Private Ltd’ & the social arm of NASSCOM (National Association of Software and Service Companies) ‘NASSCOM Foundation’ have jointly launched the ‘Innovate for Accessible India campaign’, a nation-wide innovation challenge aimed at empowering people with disabilities with the new technologies required for better integration into society and access to equalopportunities.

S&P slashes India’s growth rate for 2020 to 5.2% from 5.7%  The Standard & Poor’s (S&P) Global Ratings, the world’s leading provider of independent credit ratings, has lowered India’s global economic growth forecast for 2020 to 5.2 % from 5.7 %, due to the spread of infection of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.  Earlier the Moody’s Investors Service has lowered India’s growth projection to 5.3% from 5.4% for 2020.

Fitch Ratings cuts India’s growth forecast to 5.1% for FY’21 from 5.6%  Fitch Ratings in its Global Economic Outlook 2020 has declined India’s growth forecast to 5.1% for FY 2020-21 from 5.6 % due to the coronavirus outbreak which is likely to impact business investment and exports. Fitch has also lowered India’s growth for FY 2021-22 from 6.5% to 6.4%.

Crisil lowers FY21 growth to 5.2% from 5.7%  The Credit rating agency Crisil has downgraded India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) forecast for FY 2021 to 5.2% from 5.7% due to the coronavirus pandemic. As per Crisil, if the COVID 19 if not tackled by April-June 2020 globally then it may lead to a severe slowdown.

IOC becomes 1st company to begin the supply of BS-VI fuel across country  The India’s biggest oil firm, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has began the supply of the world’s cleanest petrol and diesel across the country. All 28,000 petrol stations of IOC’s across the country are dispensing BS-VI (Bharat Stage- VI) ultra-low sulphur grade fuel to reduce the pollution from vehicles in the air.  The deadline set by government for the supply of BS-VI is April 1, 2020. The BS-VI (Euro VI equivalent) has a low sulphur content of 10 ppm (parts per million) & emission standards are as good as CNG (Compressed Natural Gas).

S&P slashes India’s GDP growth estimate for FY21 to 5.2 % from 6.5%  The world’s largest independent credit rating agency, Standard & Poor’s (S&P) Global Ratings, has lowered India’s economic growth forecast to 5.2 % from 6.5 % estimated earlier for fiscal year-FY 21 (April 2020 to March 2021) due to the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19).  It has also reduced the growth forecast for 2021-22 to 6.9% from 7% & predicted GDP growth could remain at 7% percent in the financial year 2022-23 and 2023-24.

India’s first dedicated COVID-19 Centre set up by Reliance in Mumbai, Maharashtra; to produce 1,00,000 face-masks per day  The Sir H.N. Reliance Foundation Hospital in collaboration with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), has set up India’s first 100 bedded centre at Seven Hills Hospital, Mumbai, Maharashtra for positive COVID 19 patients.  The Centre was fully funded by Reliance Foundation which includes a negative pressure room that helps in preventing cross contamination and helps control infection, among necessary infrastructure and bio-medical equipment. RIL enhances its production capacities to produce 1,00,000 face-masks per day and large no. of personal protective equipment (PPE).

Make in India: Pune-basedMylab becomes the 1stIndian firm to make diagnostic test kits for coronavirus  The National Institute of Virology (NIV) has given its nod to Pune based Mylab Discovery Solutions Pvt Ltd to make diagnostic test kits (Called as MylabPathoDetect COVID-19 Qualitative PCR kit – it can detect infection within 2.5hrs) for novel coronavirus (COVID-19). With this, it becomes the 1st Indian company to develop the first made-in-India test kit for the COVID-19 within the span of 6- weeks. In addition to that the Germany-based Altona Diagnostics has also received the approval for its test kit.

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FinMin declared relief measures for financial sectors amid COVID-19 outbreak; Extension for return filing till June 30, 2020  The Union Finance & Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has briefed the relief measures on March 24, 2020 for statutory and regulatory compliance matters related to Income Tax, GST, Customs & Central Excise, Corporate Affairs, Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code (IBC) Fisheries, Banking Sector and Commerce.  One important announcement is the threshold of defeault is raised from 1 Lakh to 1 Crore under Section 4 of IBC to protect MSME.

COVID- 19: Invest India Business Immunity Platform launched  Invest India, India’s national Investment Promotion & Facilitation Agency, under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI) has launched “The Invest India Business Immunity Platform” to minimise the impacts & crisis in business due to COVID-19.  The platform was hosted on the Invest India website, providing the latest initiative of the State and Central Governments. Invest India joins partnership with SIDBI to respond and solve queries for MSMEs.

CRISIL trims India’s GDP growth estimate for FY 21 to 3.5 % from 5.2%  CRISIL (formerly Credit Rating Information Services of India Limited), a global analytical company providing ratings, has reduced India’s GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth by 170 bps (basis points) to 3.5% for fiscal year-FY 2020-21 from 5.2 % estimated earlier (due to COVID-19 crisis).

Moody’s again slashes India GDP growth to 2.5% from 5.3% in 2020: COVID-19  In accordance with Moody’s Global Macro Outlook 2020-21, Moody has slashed India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to 2.5% from earlier estimate of 5.3% in 2020 due to rising economic cost of COVID-19 & also due to the lockdown in India. It has also lowered China’s growth forecast 3.3% in 2020 from 4.8%. Another worrying data is Moody’s anticipate the global economy to shrink 0.5% of real GDP by 2020, then rise to 3.2% by 2021.

India’s GDP growth rate may fall sharply to 2.6 % in 2020-21: SBI’s Ecowrap  According to a report titled “EcoWrap” released by the economic research team from SBI (State Bank of India), India’s GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth is expected to decline sharply to 2.6 % in the next financial year 2020-21 amid the 21-day lockdown Coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic.

India’s GDP to grow 2% in 2020-21: ICRA  The domestic rating agency ICRA notified that India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is expected to contract by 4.5% in the April-June 2020 quarter & will rise 2% in 2020-21 due to the impact of coronavirus.

IMF declared recession in World due to COVID-19 impact  International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva has declared a global recession driven by the COVID-19 pandemic that could be worse than the 2008-09 global financial crisis. The estimated overall financial needs of emerging markets is 2.5 trillion dollars as 81 emergency financing requests, including 50 from lower-income countries, have been received by IMF.  Read More Details Here: IMF declared recession in World due to COVID-19 impact

Fitch slashes India’s GDP growth estimate for FY21 to 4.6% from 5.4 %  American credit rating agency, Fitch Ratings Inc, has lowered India’s GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth forecast to 4.6% for the fiscal year FY21 from the previous estimate of 5.4%. It has lowered India’s GDP growth forecast to 4.9% for the FY20 (ending in March 31, 2020)

Ind-Ra trims India’s GDP forecast to 3.6% from 5.5% for FY21  India Ratings & Research (Ind-Ra), the Indian subsidiary of Fitch group, has lowered India’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth estimates for the financial year 2020-21 (FY21) to 3.6 % from 5.5% due to concerns over the coronavirus (COVID- 19).

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Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal honoured with Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee award for politics :Swarajya Awards 2020  Assam’s Chief Minister SarbanandaSonowal was honoured with Swarajya Awards 2020 under the category, Dr. Syama Prasad Mukherjee Award for Politics at the 6th India Ideas Conclave at Tent City Narmada in Gujarat.  The award is instituted by India Foundation & Indic Academy, & presented by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Speaker of People’s Majlis of Maldives Mohamed Nasheed.  He received the award for his work in integrating the nation, & to take Mukherjee’s vision & philosophy forward.

Overview of 70th Berlin film festival 2020 awards held in Berlin, Germany; “There Is No Evil” won Golden Bear Award for Best Film  The 70th edition of Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale) 2020 was held in Berlin, Germany from 20 February–1 March 2020.  It was the first under the leadership of New Berlin Film Festival heads, business administration director Mariette Rissenbeek and artistic directorCarloChatrian.The Opening film of the festival was ‘My Salinger Year’& the Closing film was ‘There Is No Evil’.  Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof’s ‘There Is No Evil’,a film about the death penalty in Iran, has clinched the Golden Bear prize 2020 for the best picture at the Festival.

Jadav Payeng environmental activist of Assam named as 128th Commonwealth Points of Light Award winner  Jadav Payeng, an environmental activist of Assam also known as the “Forest man of India” named as 128th winner of Commonwealth Points of Light Award. He had spent 30 years of his life for planting trees.  He was honored by the Head of Common Wealth the Queen Elizabeth II for his exceptional volunteer service in environmental conservation. Padma Shri Jadav Payeng also received the Karmayogi Award for 2020 at New Delhi.

Ireland Architects Yvonne Farrell & Shelley McNamara wins The Pritzker Architecture prize 2020  Chairman of The Hyatt Foundation Tom Pritzker announced Yvonne Farrell (69) and Shelley McNamaraas the winners of Pritzker Architecture prize 2020.  It is the 1st time an Irish citizen & a female combination won the prize. It is an annual award sponsored by Hyatt foundation is regarded as the profession’s highest award.  They co-founded Grafton Architects in 1978 at Dublin.  They gained international fame for their blocky, brutalist-inspired structures that include Paris’s Institut Mines Telecom building.

President of India honoured 15 Artists with 61st Annual Lalit Kala Akademi Awards 2020 in New Delhi  President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind conferred the 61st annual Lalit Kala Akademi awards 2020 to 15 excellent artists at Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi. Shri Prahlad Singh Patel, Union Minister of State for Culture & Tourism and the Akademi Chairman Dr. UttamPacharne was present on the occasion.  Cash Prize: The awardees were honoured with a shawl, plaque and a cash prize orth Rs 1 lakh.

TIME Magazine has named Indira Gandhi & Amrit Kaur -“100 women of the year” Project  TIME Magazine created 100 New Covers for the Project ‘100 women of the year’ to recognize selected women or groups to represent each year from 1920 to 2019.  India’s Freedom Fighter Amrit Kaur has been honored as ‘Women of the Year’ for 1947 while Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi for1976.

Nupur Kulshrestha becomes Indian Coast Guard’s first woman DIG  Nupur Kulshrestha becomes the 1st woman to be promoted as Deputy Inspector General (DIG )of Indian Coast Guard.She joined Indian Coast Guard in 1999.  On August 18, 1978 ICG was established by the Coast Guard Act, 1978 of the Parliament of India as an independent Armed force of India & is operated under the Ministry of defence.

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President Ram Nath Kovind honoured 15 Women with ‘Nari Shakti Puraskar’ for 2019- “National award for women”  President Ram Nath Kovind honoured 15 women with ‘Nari Shakti Puraskar’ (Women Shakti Award) for 2019 at Rashtrapati Bhawan, New Delhi.  The award is conferred annually to eminent women and institutions in recognition of their service towards the cause of women empowerment & social welfare.  This award is an initiative of the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) to acknowledge the achievements of women for the nation & recognize their contributions towards society.

NITI Aayog & UN organized the 4th edition of Women Transforming India Awards 2019 in New Delhi; 15 women achievers conferred  On the occasion of International Women’s Day i.e. on March 8, 2020, NITI (National Institution for Transforming India) Aayog in collaboration with United Nations (UN) in India has organized the 4th Edition of the Women Transforming India (WTI) Awards 2019 in New Delhi.  The theme for WTI awards 2019 was “Women and Entrepreneurship”. The awards were conferred by Defence Minister of India (or Raksha Mantri), Rajnath Singh who was the chief guest of an event. 15 WTA awards and 1 Jury award were presented during the occasion by Rajnath Singh.

Hockey India 3rd annual awards 2019 in New Delhi; Manpreet singh, Rani rampal wins Player of the year awards  Hockey India, the governing body with mandate to conduct all activities for both men and women’s hockey, has organized its 3rd Annual Awards 2019 at Hotel the Lalit in New Delhi to honour the best hockey players and former legends of the game from India.  The captain of India men’s national field hockey team, Manpreet Singh Pawar (27) & Captain of Indian Women Hockey Team, Rani Rampal (25) have won the Hockey India Dhruv Batra Player of the Year Award 2019 for Men and Women respectively.

M Venkaiah Naidu conferred 3rd edition of BusinessLine Change maker Awards 2020  Vice-President of India, M Venkaiah Naidu honoured the winners of Business Line Changemaker Awards 2020 organized by Hindu Business Line in New Delhi.It was supported by Nestle India, LIC, Tata Sons, Dell, Qualcomm and Pepsico.  The Changemaker of the year was presented to ISRO for making India the first Asian nation to reach the Martian orbit, and the first in the world to achieve the feat in its maiden attempt.  The same award is also presented to Dutee Chand-for winning India’s first medal in 20 years, in the 100-metre race at the Jakarta Asian Games in2018.

Indian mountaineer Bhawna Dehariya scales Australia’s highest mountain peak  Indian Mountaineer Bhawna Dehariya hails from Madhya Pradesh (MP) has successfully scaled Mount Kosciuszko [2, 228 meters], the highest mountain peak in Australia on the occasion of Holi. Dehariya had scaled Mount Kilimanjaro [5, 895 meters] on the occasion of Diwali in the year 2019 and also felt fortunate that she had celebrated 2 biggest festivals of India at the mountain peaks.

PV Sindhu named as BBC Indian Sportswoman of the year 2019 and PT Usha won Lifetime Achievement Award  Pusarla Venkata Sindhu, 24 years old, won BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) Indian Sportsman of the year award 2019 and former sprinter PilavullakandiThekkeparambil Usha was awardedwith Lifetime Achievement award. The BBC award ceremony was held in New Delhi. Union Sports Minister Shri Kiren Rijiju was the guest of honour and Tony Hall, BBC Director General hosted the awards ceremony event. The Lifetime Achievement award was awarded to PT Usha for her contribution to Indian sports & inspiring generations of players.

Four AAI airports among best aerodromes in world, 2019 Airport Service Quality awards  Four Indian airports under the Airport Authority of India (AAI) have been selected as one of the best aerodromes in the world, for Airport Service Quality Awards 2019. Mangalore International Airport topped in the list followed by Chandigarh, Trivandrum and Lucknow. Totally 10 awards in four categories were given to these airports. These airports have been chosen as the best for its size and region, environment and ambience customer service and infrastructure and facilitation.

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Dr JaimantiBakshi, PGI Professor won Best Citizens of India Gold medal Award  Dr JaimantiBakshi, Professor & Unit Head II, Department of Otolaryngology and Head Neck surgery at PGIMER (Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education & Research), Chandigarh was awarded with “Best Citizens of India”.  The award was given by “GEPRA” (Global Economic Progress and ResearchAssociation) during the National Unity conference held in Chennai, Tamil Nadu (TN). She was awarded for her contribution towards the National Development by her services to the people suffering from many ENT (Ear Nose Throat) diseases, head and neck cancer.

Women scientists receive international exposure through Indo-U.S. Fellowship: WISTEMM  Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India & Indo-U.S. Science & Technology Forum’s (IUSSTF) program, Indo-U.S. Fellowship for Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics & Medicine (WISTEMM) provides international exposure to several women scientists. It comprises of 2 categories of women scientists namely; Module I – Women Overseas Student Internship for students pursuing PhD & Module II- Women Overseas Fellowship for PhD holder & also who is present in regular position at any recognized institution/laboratory in India.

India’s first Living Culinary Arts and Museum of WGSHA enters Limca Book of Records  Welcomgroup Graduate School of Hotel Administration (WGSHA) of Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE) entered the Limca Book of Records (LBR) for establishing “India’s First Living Culinary Arts Museum” at WGSHA, Manipal, Karnataka. The process of WGSHA’s Culinary museum’s entry into the popular LBR started almost 6 months back and Chef Vikas Khanna was the founder of the first living culinary arts museum at WGSHA.

Nita Ambani, Serena Williams & Simone Biles named in Influential Women in Sports list 2020  Sports business network, iSportconnect released the ‘Influential Women in Sport’ list for 2020, which named Nita Ambani, Serena Williams & Simone Biles along with 7 other women. The other women are:

Chameli Devi Jain Award 2019 for outstanding Women media persons  Indian journalists Arfa Khanum Sherwani, senior editor of the news website ‘The Wire’ and Bengaluru- based freelancer Rohini Mohan jointly won the “Chameli Devi Jain Award 2019” for outstanding Women mediapersons.  The honourable mention was received by Rukmini S, an independent data-journalist from Chennai. The award was instituted by Media Foundation in 1980.

Prachi Salve of IndiaSpend and Pradeep Dwivedi of DainikJagran wins Road Safety (RS) Media Fellowship 2019  The Centre for Media Studies (CMS) announced that Prachi Salve of IndiaSpend and Pradeep Dwivedi of DainikJagran as the first winners of Road Safety (RS) Media Fellowship 2019, for their work in contribution towards reporting on road safety.  The CMS was supported by World Health Organisation (WHO), and they conducted 3-month programme for journalist on road safety issues in 2019.

Indian mountaineer SatyarupSiddhanta enters ‘Limca Book of Records’  Indian mountaineer SatyarupSiddhanta (37) who hails from Kolkata, West Bengal has entered ‘Limca Book of Records’ (LBR) for his extraordinary achievements.  He became the first Indian to climb the highest volcanoes of each of the 7 continents and also holds the record of the youngest mountaineer in the world to climb both 7 peaks and 7 volcanic summits.

Author Ruchika Tomar wins PEN/Hemingway Award 2020  Ruchika Tomar, the Indian-origin American author has been named as the winner of the annual PEN/Hemingway Award 2020 for her debut novel” A Prayer for Travelers”.  She hails from California & is currently working as a lecturer at Stanford University. The award includes a prize of USD 25,000 & also a 1-month residency fellowship worth USD 10,000 at the Ucross Foundation in Wyoming.

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Mahindra-Ford venture set to name Anurag Mehrotra as Chief Executive  Managing Director of Ford India, Anurag Mehrotra was appointed as the Chief Executive officer for the New joint venture formed by Mahindra and Ford with effect from April 1, 2020.This joint venture is formed to develop and sell Ford branded cars in India and other emerging markets.  The joint venture created is valued at $275 million (Rs 1,925 crore).  Mahindra will own the controlling stakes of 51 per cent, while Ford will own 49 percent stakes in the new company.

Government sets up 12 member panel to prepare investigation manual for SFIO headed by Injeti Srinivas  A 12-member high level panel was set up to prepare an investigation manual for the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) chaired by the Corporate Affairs Secretary Injeti Srinivas. SIFO) is set up under the corporate affairs ministry to investigate white-collar crimes.

Lt Gen KJS Dhillon to take charge as DG DIA, Deputy Chief of Integrated Defence Staff (DCIDS)  Ministry of Defence has named Lt Gen Kanwal Jeet Singh Dhillon (57) as a Director General, Defence Intelligence Agency, Deputy Chief of Integrated Defence Staff, under the Chief of Defence staff (CDS) in the Department of Military Affairs, replacing Lt Gen AS Bedi. Lt Gen KJS Dhillon of Indian Military Academy (IMA) served as XV Corps commander and handed over the charge to Lt Gen BaggavalliSomashekar Raju.

Kareena Kapoor Khan signed contract for 2 years as Puma’s brand ambassador  Indian film actress Kareena Kapoor Khan signed a contract with German sportswear brand Puma to be its brand ambassador for a period of 2 years. Kareena will be the face for Puma’s low-intensity training apparel collection targeted at workouts such as yoga, barre and pilates.

ITBP chief SS Deswal given additional charge of BSF DG  Director General Indo Tibetian Border Police (ITBP), Shri Surjeet Singh Deswal was given an additional charge by the Ministry of Home Affairs to serve as a Director General of Border Security Force(BSF). He will succeed Vivek johri repatriated by Government of India who has now taken over a charge as a Director General of Police at Madhya Pradesh.

PV Sindhu becomes the brand ambassador for anti-graft helpline  Badminton world champion PV Sindhu is appointed as the brand ambassador for Andhra Pradesh government’s anti-graft helpline or anti-corruption helpline– 14400 She has featured along with Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy in a video titled ‘stop corruption’ which states people keep their eyes & ears open against corruption. Apart from this, Washington Apple Commission appoints Actor Disha Patani& celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor as brand ambassadors in India & the Commission launched a campaign called #WashingtonApplesKuchKhaasHai featuring its brand ambassadors.

IDFC FIRST Bank appointed Amitabh Bachchan as its first ever brand ambassador  Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan was appointed as the first ever ambassador of the IDFC FIRST Bank. IDFC FIRST Bank was founded as a new entity by the merger of IDFC Bank and Capital First on December 18, 2018.

Realme appointed Salman Khan as its brand ambassador  Smartphone brand realme appointed Bollywood actor Salman Khan as its brand ambassador. Khan will endorse realme 6 &realme 6 Pro. In 2019, realme was the world’s fastest-growing smartphone brand.

Akshay Kumar was appointed as the brand ambassador of the PepsiCo’s snack brand Kurkure  PepsiCo India has allegedly appointed actor Akshay Kumar as the new brand ambassador for its snacks brand Kurkure

CavinkareappointedAkshay Kumar, Ileana D’Cruz as brand ambassadors for Indica hair colour  Cavinkare Private Limited appointed Bollywood actors Akshay Kumar and Ileana D’Cruz as the brand ambassadors for its hair colour brand Indica. The brand was earlier promoted by Irrfan Khan.

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Central Government nominates Debasish Panda as Director central board of RBI  Shri Debasish Panda, the Secretary, Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance, Government of India, New Delhi, was nominated by the central Government as a Director on the Central Board of Reserve Bank with effect from 11th March 2020. An IAS officer of 1987-batch, Uttar Pradesh, he served as a Secretary, Department of Financial Services.

iQOO named Virat Kohli as its brand ambassador  iQOO (i Quest On and On) named Indian Cricketer Virat Kohli as its brand ambassador. The brand’s first product in India is iQOO 3, 5G-enabled smartphone. iQOO is a sub-brand of Vivo in China and has entered India as a separate entity & also part of the BBK group. The BBK (Guangdong Bu Bu Gao Electronics Industrial Private Limited) group markets smartphones of 5 brands: Vivo, OnePlus, OPPO, RealMe and iQOO (in India).

Former Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin bin Haji Muhammad Yassin becomes Malaysia’s 8th Prime Minister  72 years old Former Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin bin Haji Muhammad Yassin took oath of office as Malaysia’s 8th Prime Minister (PM) at National Palace in Kuala Lumpur.He is from Malaysian United Indigenous Party, PartiPribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM).He succeeds 94-year-old Mahathir bin Mohamad, who abruptly resigned & was in office since the general elections 2018.

PekkaLundmark appointed as CEO of Nokia  Nokia appointed PekkaLundmark as CEO (Chief Executive Officer) and he will take charge from September 1, 2020. He will be the successor of Rajeev Suri, who was more than a decade in charge of Nokia and Nokia Siemens Networks. PekkaLundmark is currently serving as the CEO of Fortum since 2015 and also served as executive positions at Nokia between 1990 & 2000 including Vice President (VP) of strategy & business development at Nokia networks.

Sudhanshu Pandey appointed as new CMD of MMTC  Sudhanshu Pandey, Additional Secretary at the Department of Commerce, assumed additional chargeas CMD (Chairman & Managing Director) of MMTC (Metals & Minerals Trading Corporation). He was the successor of Ved Prakash. Pandey currently discharges functions as the Chief Negotiator of India.Sudhanshu Pandey is an IAS (Indian Administrative Service) officer & has experience of over 32 years in different senior positions in state governments, the Centre and also Indian delegate in Germany.

Centre has named Ajay Bhushan Pandey as the new Finance Secretary of FinMin  Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) headed by Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi has approved the appointment of Ajay Bhushan Pandey as the new Finance Secretary in Ministry of Finance. He will succeed current Rajiv Kumar, who has retired in February 2020. Ajay Bhushan Pandey is a 1984 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of Maharashtra cadre who had earlier worked as the chief executive officer (CEO) of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).

Tribal affairs ministry constitutes committee under NC Saxena on CFR guidelines under FRA  The Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) has consituted a committee headed by Naresh Chandra Saxena, former member of the Planning Commission of India and of the National Advisory Council (NAC), to examine and recommend Community Forest Resources (CFR) Guidelines under the Forest Rights Act, 2006 (FRA). Apart from this committee, MoTA earlier created a committee headed by its former secretary Hrusikesh Panda.

Singapore’s Daren Tang elected as WIPO’s Director General  Singapore’s Daren Tang was elected as Director General of World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO). He will succeed Australia’s Francis Gurry who will step down at the end of September after 12 years of being in this position. The process of selecting a Director General is governed by the Convention which establishes the WIPO & the “2019 Procedures for the Nomination and Appointment of Directors General of WIPO.”

Prashant Kumar appointed as MD & CEO, Sunil Mehta as Non-Executive Chairman & of YES Bank  Government appointed Prashant Kumar the former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) & deputy Managing Director (MD) of SBI as MD & Chief Executive Officer (CEO) & Sunil Mehta the former Punjab National Bank (PNB) MD as Non-Executive Chairman, Mahesh Krishnamurthy & Atul Bheda as non-executive directors of the reconstructed board of Yes Bank.  State Bank of India (SBI), which has a 49 % stake in Yes Bank, will nominate 2 directors & Reserve Bank could

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appoint one or more additional directors.  The moratorium on Yes Bank to be lifted by March 18 which means depositors will be able to withdraw an amount without a cap.

Justice Bansi Lal Bhat got appointed as officiating chairperson of NCLAT for 3 months  The Government of India’s (GoI) Ministry of Corporate Affairs has appointed Justice (Retd.) Bansi Lal Bhat as the officiating Chairperson of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) for a period of 3 months with effect from March 15, 2020 or until a regular Chairperson is appointed, whichever is earlier. The first Chairperson of NCLAT, Justice SJ Mukhopadhaya has retired on March 13,2020.

Ravinder Singh Dhillon appointed as CMD of Power Finance Corporation  The Appointment Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) Chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has appointed Ravinder Singh Dhillon as a Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Power Finance  Corporation (PFC) [Navratna Company] with effect from June 1, 2020. He will be serving in this post till his superannuation on May 31, 2023.

Rajiv Bajaj got reappointed as MD & CEO of Bajaj Auto for 5 years  Indian automobile manufacturing company Bajaj Auto Limited has approved the re-appointment of RajivnayanRahulkumar Bajaj as its Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for a further period of 5- years with effect from April 1, 2020. His tenure is going to expire on March 31, 2020.

Government nominated former chief justice of India Ranjan Gogoi to Rajya Sabha  The President of India RamNath Kovind nominated former CJI Ranjan Gogoi to Rajya Sabha under exercise of the powers conferred by sub-clause (a) of clause (1) of article 80 of the Constitution of India, read with clause (3) of that article to the Council of States and to fill the vacancy caused due to the retirement of one of the nominated members. Ranjan Gogoi will be the successor of K.T.S Tulsi.

Indian umpires Janani Narayanan and Vrinda Rathi named in International Panel of ICC Development Umpires  Janani Narayanan from Tamil Nadu (TN) and Vrinda Rathi from Mumbai were named in the International Panel of ICC (International Cricket Council) Development Umpires. After the inclusion of Janani and Vrinda, the count of females from India in ICC panel becomes 3 after the appointment of GS Lakshmi as the International Panel of Match Referees. There are 12 women officials in ICC panel.

RBI appoints R Gandhi &Ananth Gopalakrishnan as additional directors of Yes Bank  In the exercise of powers under the ‘Yes Bank Ltd. Reconstruction Scheme, 2020’ and the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has appointed 2 additional directors namely – Rama Subramaniam Gandhi (former RBI Deputy Governor) & Ananth Narayan Gopalakrishnan (Associate Professor of S P Jain Institute of Management & Research) on the board of private sector lender Yes Bank for a period of 2- years with effect from March 26,2020.

Govt. set up a committee under Dr V K Paul to prevent & control COVID-19  The government set up a 21-member high-level technical committee of public health experts to guide the people in preventive & control activities of COVID-19. The committee is headed by NITI Aayog member V K Paul & is co-chaired by Union Health Secretary- Preeti Sudan, Director General Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)- Balram Bhargava.

IRS officers KM Prasad and SK Gupta appointed CBDT board members  The Appointment Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the appointment of two Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officers Krishan Mohan Prasad and Satish Kumar Gupta as members of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT).

Walmart promotes Sameer Aggarwal as CEO of Best Price, Walmart India  Sameer Aggarwal has been promoted as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Best Price, Walmart India which in effect from April 1, 2020. He succeeds KrishIyer as announced by Walmart.

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Highlights of CCI approvals on March 11, 2020  Competition Commission of India (CCI), a statutory body of the Government of India has approved the following proposals on March 11, 2020. The approvals are: o The CCI has gave its nod to the acquisition of about 35 % equity stake in the paid-up equity share capital of Teesta Urja Ltd (an Indian Non-Government Company) by Greenko Mauritius, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mauritius-based Greenko Energy Holdings. The approval was given under Section 31(1) of the Competition Act,2002. o The CCI has gave its nod to the acquisition of additional equity shares in Hero FinCorp Limited by Otter Limited (an investment company registered in Mauritius) & Link Investment Trust(a private trust registered inIndia). o The CCI has approved to establish Mindspace Business Parks REIT (also known as Mindspace REIT),a real estate investment trust, by K Raheja CorpGroup.

Bharti Airtel took 10% stake in fitness start-up Spectacom Global ltd  Bharti Airtel Limited (also known as Airtel), an Indian global telecommunications services company, has acquired a 10 % equity stake in fitness start-up Spectacom Global Pvt Ltd, under its ‘Airtel Startup Accelerator Program’, which focuses on supporting the growth of early-stage Indian startups.  However, the company did not reveal how much the deal is worth. With this acquisition, Spectacom becomes the 2nd firm to join the Airtel Start-up Accelerator Program after Bengaluru-based Vahan.

NBCC gets NCLT approval to acquire Jaypee Infratech  The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has approved the acquisition of debt-ridden Jaypee Infratech Ltd (JIL) by NBCC (India) Limited (formerly National Buildings Construction Corporation Limited).  The Principal Bench headed by Acting President B S V Prakash Kumar approved the resolution plan submitted by NBCC. With this approval, NBCC will complete the construction of 20,000 unfinished flats of JayPee in the next three and a half years.

Zomato acquires UberEats India for $206 million  According to the Uber’s recent regulatory filings, Zomato, an Indian restaurant aggregator and food delivery startup has acquired Uber’s food delivery business in India, Uber Eats for $206 million, wherethe investment was priced at $171 million, the balance $35 million was received as a reimbursement of goods and services tax (GST) receivable from Zomato

SBI acquired 6.825% stake of Zero Mass Private Limited  State Bank of India (SBI) has entered into an agreement on 16 March 2020 to acquire 6.825% (6, 825 equity share) stake in Zero Mass. As part of the deal, SBI has sold its entire stake in A Little World to the Zero Mass.  This is a no cash deal. The Deal will be completed by March 31, 2020. Zero Mass Pvt Ltd was founded by Anurag Gupta on 2007, which is the 1st ever Business Correspondent in the country.

Ashok Leyland to acquire 19% additional stake in HLFL for Rs 1,200 cr  Indian Automobile company Ashok Leyland Ltd (ALL) has decided to acquire up to 19% additional equity shares in Hinduja Leyland Finance Ltd (HLFL), the Non-Banking Finance Company (NBFC) part of Hinduja group, from the existing shareholders, in tranches, for a consideration of up to Rs1,200 crore.  ALL also signed an additional share purchase agreement with Everfin Holding to acquire 3,28,14,401 equity shares (comprising 7% in the paid-up share capital of HLFL) for Rs 390.94crore.

NTPC acquires Govt’s stake in THDC, NEEPCO for a total of Rs 11,500 Crore  NTPC (formerly known as National Thermal Power Corporation Limited), India’s largest energy conglomerate, has inked a share purchase agreement (SPAs) worth of Rs 11,500 crore with the central government.  Under the deal NTPC acquired the latter’s 74.496 % equity stake in THDC India Ltd (THDCIL) for Rs 7,500 crore & its 100% equity in North-Eastern Electric Power Corporation Limited (NEEPCO) for Rs 4,000 crore respectively.

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RaIDer-X, a new explosive detection device unvieled in National Workshop on Explosive Detection (NWED-2020) held in Pune, Maharashtra  RaIDer-X (Rapid Identification Detector), is a new explosive detection device with a capability to detect explosives from a stand-off distance was unveiled during the National Workshop on Explosive Detection (NWED-2020). It is co-developed by High Energy Materials Research Laboratory (HEMRL) Pune and Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, Karnataka.  National Workshop on Explosive Detection (NWED-2020) was held in Pune, Maharashtra which was inaugurated by Secretary, Department of Defence Research &Development and Chairman Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) Dr G Satheesh Reddy. The two-day workshop has been organised by HEMRL in Pune, Maharashtra on its diamond jubilee celebration.

MoS Santosh Kumar Gangwar launched Humsafar mobile app for doorstep diesel delivery in New Delhi  Shri Santosh Kumar Gangwar, Minister of State (MoS- Independent charge) for Labour& Employment, launched ‘Humsafar’ mobile application in New Delhi, which delivers diesel to doorstep of bulk users. The diesel will be delivered within the period of 8 hours, without wastage and spoilage of fuel.  The benefits of the diesel delivery service are live tracking of the delivery vehicle, good quality & quantity of fuel delivered, automated billing.

Tourism minister (MoS), Shri Prahlad Singh Patel launched Multilingual version of “Incredible India” website & Mobile app in New Delhi  The Minister of State (MoS) for Tourism & Culture, Shri Prahlad Singh Patel has launched the multilingual version of ‘Incredible India’ website and mobile app in New Delhi with the aim to provide more information about India’s tourist destinations, attractions, experiences, and where the value lies.  The website was earlier hosted in only 2 languages i.e. English & Hindi and now it has been launched in 3 new languages i.e. Chinese, Arabic and Spanish.

SEBI introduces mobile app ‘Sebi SCORES’ for investors to lodge grievances  Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the regulator for the securities market in India, has introduced a mobile app called ‘Sebi SCORES’ [Sebi Complaints Redress System (SCORES)], through which, investors can register their grievances. As per Sebi guideline, within 30 days of receipt of complaint, companies against whom complaints are lodged should file an action taken report with the regulator.

AI-powered drone developed by IIT Madras team counters rogue drones  Researchers of IIT (Indian Institute of Technology) Madras team developed AI (Artificial Intelligence) powered drone to counter ‘rogue drones’ (unregulated unmanned aerial vehicles). The AI-powered drone was designed by a team mentored by Dr Ranjith Mohan, Assistant Professor, Department of Aerospace Engineering. The AI- powered drone tracks rogue drones visually and hack their GPS (Global Positioning System) navigation system & also changes the latitude, longitude, altitude & time of the rogue drones.

IASST researchers have found endophytic Actinobacteria -to replace fertilizers & fungicides in tea plants  Researchers team led by Dr. Debajit Thakur from Institute of Advanced Study in Science and Technology (IASST) Guwahati, an autonomous institute under Department of Science & Technology found endophytic Actinobacteria in relation to tea plants & related genera, Eurya to find potent plant growth-promoting strains. The application of this bacterium will reduce chemical inputs in Tea plantation & can be used in management & sustainability of Tea crops.

Doctors uses CRISPR technology to cure blindness for the very first time  Doctors from Oregon Health and Science Institute, Portland uses gene editing tool CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) technology to cure blindness who have suffered from Leber congenital amaurosis. Leber congenital amaurosis is the Blindness in early childhood.

Chandrayaan-3 will be launched in the first half of 2021: Jitendra Singh  According to the Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office, Jitendra Singh, a possible schedule for the

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launch of Chandrayaan-3 is planned to be implemented in the first half of 2021. Chandrayaan-3 will be designed to increase design, capacity with a cost of around Rs 610 crore, including Rs 360 crore for the launch rocket. ISRO also decided to launch in the same area where Chandrayaan-2 launched, and would have a lander, rover and propulsion module like its predecessor.

Nasa’s named Mars 2020 rover as Perseverance  NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) announced the name of the 5th Mars (red planet) rover as Perseverance. Previously the rover was known by its codename as Mars 2020. The name was suggested by Alexander Mather, 7th standard student and was announced by Nasa’s director of science, Thomas Zurbuchen at an event in Lake Braddock Secondary School in Burke, Virginia.

ARCI develops Fuel Cell Technology for Disaster Management  Scientist of International Advanced Research for Powder Metallurgy & New Materials (ARCI) an autonomous Research & Development (R&D) centre of Department of Science and Technology (DST), developed Fuel Cell Technology named as Polymer Electrolyte Membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) for Disaster Management. PEMFC has operational capability even at low-temperatures with applications in decentralised power generation systems.

Scientists at ARCI- Hyderabad develops ‘solar receiver tube technology’ for industrial process heat  Scientists at the International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy and New Materials (ARCI), Hyderabad (Telangana), has developed a cost-effective ‘solar receiver tube technology’ that absorbs solar radiation and converts it into heat for the targeted applications, especially in industries. ARCI has filed 2 patent applications for this technology and inked an MoU with Greenera Energy India Private Limited for technology transfer, that aims to develop the solar receiver tube for wider market absorption.

HIL (India) Limited launched Customer Payment Portal  HIL (India) Limited, Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE) under Department of Chemicals & Petrochemicals, partnered with Union Bank of India launched Customer Payment Portal in New Delhi to collect the payment from the customers through various online modes for fast & smooth collection of dues. It is introduced to speed up the Government’s vision of ‘Digital India’.

Raj Kumar Singh Launched a new website of Ministry of New and Renewable Energy  Raj Kumar Singh the Union minister for Power, New and Renewable Energy & Skill Development and Entrepreneurship has launched a new website of Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE). The website has additional portals such as ‘AkshayUrja Portal’ & ‘India Renewable Idea Exchange’ (IRIX). The National Informatics Centre (NIC) server hosts the website.

Scientists from INST develops starch-based ‘hemostat’ material to stop rapid blood loss during accidents  Scientists from the Institute of Nano Science and Technology (INST), an autonomous institute under the Department of Science & Technology, developed a starch-based ‘hemostat’ material which absorbs excess fluid by concentrating the natural clotting factors in the blood that stops the rapid blood loss.  The Product is developed Dr. Ghosh’s Team.

NASA’s CNEOS detects 4 asteroids approaching the earth  The National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Centre for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) identifies 4 asteroids namely, 2020 FK, 2020 FS, 2020 DP4 & 2020 FF1 approaching the earth which follows Earth-intersecting orbits.

UK scientists discover fossil of the world’s oldest known modern bird, call it ‘Wonderchicken’  Scientists at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom (UK) have discovered a fossil of the world’s known modern bird skull dating to about 66.8m – 66.7m years ago- means the birds lived alongside dinosaurs for around a million years before the latter died out. Scientists dubbed the creature as ‘Wonderchicken’, which is thought to be a common ancestor of modern chickens and ducks. The findings were published in the journal Nature.

Fins of prehistoric fish “Elpistostegewatsoni” revealed origins of the human hand  A study led by paleontologist Richard Cloutier of Universite du Quebec a Rimouski in Canada has revealed revealed the origins of the human hand after examining the 380-million-year-old complete fossil of an ancient

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fish called Elpistostegewatsoni which had finger bones in its front fins. The team has examined the specimen using the high-energy computed tomography. The study is published in the journal Nature.

SAARC Disaster Management Centre launches website for information related to COVID- 19  The SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) Disaster Management Centre launched a website [www.covid19-sdmc.org] for information related to the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) in the region as announced by the Indian Prime Minister (PM) Shri Narendra Modi during the recent video conference with SAARCleaders.

US successfully tested its first nuclear-capable hypersonic missile  The United States (US) Navy and Army has successfully tested its common hypersonic glide body (C- HGB), a first unarmed prototype of a hypersonic missile which can carry nuclear warheads. The test was carried out at the Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kauai, Hawaii and was monitored by Missile Defense Agency (MDA) of US Department of Defence i.e. The Pentagon. C-HGB flew at five times the speed of sound (Mach 5) to a designated impact point. Russia’s “Avangard hypersonic missile” is world’s 1sthypersonic missile.

After Covid-19 pandemic “Hantavirus” death reported in China  China’s Yunnan province has reported a death due to Hantavirus infection (which spreads from rodents), this is just few days after spread of deadly Coronavirus around the world. Rodents are a type of small mammal with sharp front teeth which include mouse, squirrel, or beaver, hamster etc.  Hantavirus is not a new virus and it does not spread from person to person. As per United States’ (US) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Hantavirusis spread mainly by rodents and can cause hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS), and haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) to the infected person.

Microsoft & US CDC ties-up to create a COVID-19 self-screening bot, “Clara”  The United States Center of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) partnered with CDC Foundation and Microsoft’s Azure healthcare bot service has introduced an AI (Artificial Intelligence) based bot named “Clara” [the coronavirus self-checker]. The bot is currently available in the US on the CDS website. In India, Apollo hospitals have introduced a similar self-assessment test based on advice from the World  Health Organisation (WHO) & the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare India for the users to know the risk level of getting the infection.

Pune based ARI scientists develop biofortified high-protein wheat variety ‘MACS 4028’  A team of Scientists from Agharkar Research Institute (ARI) in Pune, Maharashtra, have developed ‘MACS 4028’, a biofortified wheat variety, which shows high-protein content of around 14.7% good nutritional quality having zinc 40.3 ppm, and iron content of 40.3 ppm and 46.1ppm (parts per million) respectively. The development done by the scientist has been published in the Indian Journal of Genetics and Plant Breeding.

ARCI, Hyderabad develops ‘ultrafast laser surface texturing technology’ to improve the fuel efficiency of IC engines  International Advanced Centre for Powder Metallurgy & New Materials (ARCI), Hyderabad (Telangana), which functions as a grants-in-aid institution of the Government of India’s Department of Science & Technology (DST), has developed ‘ultrafast laser surface texturing technology’, which can enhance the efficiency of fuel in internal combustion (IC) engines by reducing friction.

US launches advanced satellite for communication: AEHF-6  The United States (US) Space Force launched its 1st national security mission on March 26, 2020 by sending an ultra-secure military communication satellite into orbit called Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF)-6 (developed by Lockheed martin) from Cape Canaveral, Florida on the Atlas V551 rocket.

COVID-19: IIT Bombay develops two apps “Corontine” and “Safe” to track violations by those in quarantine  IIT (Indian Institute of Technology)-Bombay (Department of CSE) developed 2 mobile applications called “Corontine” and “Safe”, that can track violations by people supposed to be in quarantine. The proposals of both apps have been sent to officials in the Ministry of Human Resource and Department, Niti Aayog, the Maharashtra government and the BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation).

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Genetic study revealed the endangered red panda is actually two separate species  According to the genetic study on the endangered species of mammals revealed that Red pandas, the bushy- tailed and russet-furred bamboo munchers that exist in Asian high forests, are actually 2 separate species. Earlier both the Chinese red pandas & the Himalayan red pandas were together considered as red panda species. o Chinese red pandas: Chinese red pandas are found in northern Myanmar as well as southeastern Tibet, Sichuan and Yunnan provinces inChina. o Himalayan red pandas: Himalayan red pandas are native to Nepal, India, Bhutan and southern Tibet inChina.

Newly Discovered insect species named after singer Lady Gaga  A newly discovered species of treehopper has been named “Kaikaia Gaga” after American Singer Lady Gaga. The species was named by Brendan Morris, PhD candidate in entomology from University of Illinois, United States (US). The Species was found near the Pacific coast of Nicaragua. The information about the new insect species was published in the journal Zootaxa.

SPORTS

Overview of 2020 Mexican open held in Acapulco, Mexico from Feb 24-29  The 2020 Mexican Open officially known as Abierto Mexicano Telcel (AMT) presentado por HSBC (Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation), a lawn tennis tournament was held at Acapulco Princess Mundo Imperial Hard, Acapulco, Mexico between 24 and 29 February 2020. It was the 27th edition of men’s Mexican Open and 20th for the women with a prize money of ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) $1,789,445 (USD) & WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) $ 250,000 (USD).

2020 Mexican Open Winners Category Winner Runner Up Men’s Singles Rafael Nadal Parera (Spain) Taylor Harry Fritz (America)

Women’s Singles Heather Miriam Watson (United Kingdom) Leylah Annie Fernandez (Canada) Men’s Łukasz Kubot (Poland) & Marcelo Pinheiro Juan Sebastian Cabal Valdes (Colombo) & Doubles Davi de Melo (Brazil) Robert Charbel Farah Maksoud (Colombo) Women’s Desirae Marie Krawczyk (America) & Kateryna VolodymyrivnaBondarenko Doubles Giuliana Marion Olmos Dick (Mexico) (Ukraine) & Sharon Fichman (Canada)

Overview of 1st Khelo India University Games 2020 held in Bhubaneswar, Odisha;Panjab University (PB) topped the medal tally  The 1st edition of the 2020 Khelo India University Games (KIUG) was held from February 22 – March 1, 2020 at KIIT University (Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology University) in Bhubaneswar,Odisha. The tournament, inaugurated by Prime Minister(PM) Narendra Modi,held with the official mascots of ‘Jay and Bijay’.

Indian Hockey men’s team ranked 4th for the 1st time, Belgium topped & Women’s team ranked 9th , Netherlands topped : FIH World Rankings 2020  Fédération Internationale de Hockey or International Hockey Federation (FIH) World Rankings 2020, ranks Indian Hockey men’s team in 4th place for the first time with 2064.14 points & Women’s team is ranked 9th with 1543points.The men’s list is topped by Belgium for the first time with 2481.34 & women’s list is topped by Netherlands with 2626.03 points.

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New Zealand won the test series against India held in New Zealand  The Indian men’s cricket team Played 2-test matches against New Zealand as part of the India Tour of New Zealand 2020 from February 21- March 2, 2020. The matches were held in Basin Reserve, Wellington (1st test) and Hagley Oval, Christchurch (2nd test) in New Zealand. Ross Taylor became the 1st New Zealand male cricketer to play 100 matches in all three formats of cricket. Taylor made his Test debut in 2007.

ICC women’s T20I Rankings 2020: Shafaliverma creates history by becoming world’s No.1 batsman at the age of 16  According to the International Cricket Council (ICC) T20I (Twenty-twenty International) rankings 2020 for Women players, the 16-year-old Indian opener Shafali Verma climbed 19 places to reach the top with 761 points. She replaced New Zealand’s Suzie Bates down a notch,who now have 750 points. She is the second Indian batsman after former captain Mithali Raj to top the ICC T20 women’sT20I batting list.

Badminton Asia Championships 2020 shifted to Manila from Wuhan  Badminton Asia confirmed that Badminton world federation (BWF) has shifted the Badminton Asia Championships 2020 to Manila, Philippines from Wuhan, China. It will be conducted in Manila from April 21 to 26, 2020. It is shifted due to the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak and this championship falls within the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games Qualification window.

Mumbai to host 2023 International Olympic Committee (IOC) session  Mumbai will host the International Olympic Committee (IOC) session 2023 as recommended by IOC Executive Board and the decision will be approved at the 136th IOC session in Tokyo in July 2020. The IOC session was held in 1983 in New Delhi and the session is going to be held in India after 40 years. The year 2023 will be significant for India as it coincides with the 75th anniversary of Indian Independence.

Indian shuttlers Tasnim& Mansi wins historic bronze at Yonex Dutch Junior Intl 2020 held in Netherlands  Young Indian badminton players Tasnim Mir (14) & Mansi Singh (14) have won historic bronze medal each in the girls’ singles section of the Yonex Dutch Junior International 2020 competition held at B.C. Duinwijck, in Haarlem, Netherlands from 26 February 2020 – March 1,2020. This is the first time India has won two bronze medals in this BWF Junior International Grand Prix tournament. 

 Indian 400-meter runner Prachi choudhary from Uttar Pradesh was tested out of competition and was provisionally suspended by the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) on March 6, 2020, for the presence of anabolic steroid, Oxandrolone. The provisional suspension starts to apply from February 20, 2020.

Sports Authority of India (SAI) announced 1st edition of Under-21 Khelo India Women’s Hockey League  Sports Authority of India (SAI), in association with Hockey India announced the 1st edition of the Khelo India Women’s Hockey League Under-21. The tournament will be organized by Hockey India at 3 phases in 3 different venues between March to November 2020. The venues will be Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in New Delhi, SAI Center in Bengaluru, Karnataka, and Kalinga Hockey Stadium in Bhubaneswar, Odisha.

Former Indian opener Wasim Jaffer announces retirement from all forms of cricket on March 7,2020  Wasim Jaffer (42) a former Indian opening batsman and a domestic cricket giant has announced his retirement from all forms of cricket. He hails from Mumbai, Maharashtra. He is the fifth-highest run- scorer in Indian first- class cricket with 10 Ranji trophy titles. Wasim Jaffer is the highest run-scorer in the Ranji and Irani Trophy, who became the first player to play 150 Ranji trophy matches and the first batsman to score more than 12,000 runs in Ranji Trophy with 40 centuries and 89 half-centuries.

Australia won ICC Women’s T20 World cup 2020 by defeating India in Australia  ICC (International Cricket Council) Women’s T20 World Cup 2020, the 7th ICC Women’s T20 World Cup tournament was held in Australia from February 21- March 8, 2020. The final match, which was played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on International Women’s Day (8 March), Australia women’s cricket team defeated the Indian women’s cricket team by 85 runs and won the title for the 5th time.

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Hockey India (HI) joins 38-member World Masters Hockey (WMH);RP Singh appointed convener of HI Masters Committee  Hockey India joined the 38 National associations throughout the world as a member of World Master Hockey (WMH) with an aim to develop and grow Master Hockey across the world. The International Hockey Federation (FIH) recognizes WMH a sole Master entity responsible for organizing international master’s hockey globally. R.P. Singh (former Indian captain) was appointed as the convener of Hockey India (HI) Masters Committee. Harbinder Singh was appointed as the chairman of the Committee.

Maltese Footballer Andre Schembri announced retirement  Maltese Footballer Andre Schembri, 33 years old, is currently playing for Chennaiyin FC’s (Football Club) announced that he will retire from professional football after the Hero Indian Super League (ISL) final against ATK FC in Goa on March 14, 2020. He announced retirement from international football in November 2018 after 94 appearances for his nation.

Highlights of Asian/Oceanian Olympic qualifying event 2020 held in Amman, Jordan  The Asian/Oceanian Boxing Olympic Qualifiers event 2020 was held at the Prince Hamzah Hallin Amman, Jordan from march 3- 11, 2020. A total of 9 Indian boxers qualified in this event for Tokyo 2020 Olympics, which is to be held at New National Stadium in Tokyo, Japan from 24 July, 2020 – 9 August, 2020.  Medal tally: China emerged as top of the medals standings with 6 medals (4 gold,2 bronze) in this event, while India ranked 9th with 8 medals (2 Silver, 6Bronze).

World Athletics fines Russia of USD 10 million & caps neutral athlete at 10  The World Athletics Council fines the Russian Athletics Federation (RusAF) of USD 10 million for violating the anti-doping rules & capped at 10 the number of Authorised Neutral Athletes (ANA) who were allowed to compete in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, other specified World Athletics &European Athletics senior events. ANA process to be suspended if USD 5 million of the USD 10 million fine is not paid by 1 July 2020.

Jaydev Unadkat led Saurashtra Cricket team won Ranji Trophy title 2019-20  The Saurashtra team led by Jaydev Unadkat won the Ranji Trophy title 2019-20 by defeating Bengal team at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Rajkot, Gujarat. It is the Maiden Ranji trophy for theSaurashtra team. Previous teams of Saurashtra were Nawanagar & Western India.  Nawanagar won the Ranji trophy in 1936-37, while Western India won the trophy in 1943-44. The Ranji Trophy is a domestic first-class cricket championship played in India. Mumbai has won the trophy for 41 times which is most by any team.

112thedition of All England Open 2020 held at Birmingham arena, England  The 112thedition of oldest badminton tournament – 2020 All England Open (Yonex All England Open Badminton Championships 2020) jointly organized by Badminton England & Badminton World Federation (BWF), held at Arena Birmingham in Birmingham, England from March 11 -15, 2020. The prize money of the tournament was $1,100,000 and comprised 5 events, men’s (singles and doubles), women’s (singles and doubles), mixed doubles play.  List of Winners: Event Winners Runners

Men’s Singles Viktor Axelsen (Denmark) Chou Tien-chen (Chinese Taipei)

Women’s Singles Tai Tzu Ying (Chinese Taipei) Chen Yufei (China)

Table tennis star Sharath kamal wins men’s singles title at ITTF challenger plus Oman Open 2020 held in Muscat  Achanta Sharath Kamal (37), a professional table tennis player from Tamil Nadu (TN) has ended the title wait of a decade by winning the ITTF (International Table Tennis Federation) Challenger Plus Oman Open 2020 men’s singles title by defeating Portugal’s top seed Marcos Freitas with 4-2 scores in the final played at Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex in Muscat, Oman.

ATK FC won ISL trophy for the 3rdtime by defeating Chennaiyin FC  ATK FC (Football Club) won the 6thedition of ISL (Indian Super League) trophy for the year 2019-20 defeating Chennaiyin FC in the final match by 3-1 held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Margao, Goa.

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 This is the 3rd ISL trophy for ATK FC. Also, Mohun Bagan Athletic Club has won the Hero I-League Champions 2019-20 by defeating Aizawl FC at Kalyani Stadium, West Bengal. Bagan Club lifted the title for the second time, even when four rounds are still to go in the season.

New Zealand all-rounder Andrew Malcolm Ellis announced retirement  Andrew Malcolm Ellis the 2ndNew Zealand player who played over 100 matches in each format after Ross Taylor has announced retirement from Canterbury cricket after 18 years of cricket career.

Canada becomes 1stcountry to back out of Tokyo Olympics 2020  The Canadian Olympic and Paralympic Committees jointly announced that it would not send any of its athletes to participate in the Tokyo Olympics 2020 which is scheduled on July 24, 2020 in Japan, due to the spread of Coronavirus disease rapidly across the world. Thus, Canada becomes the first country to back out of Tokyo Olympics 2020.

Covid-19 pandemic: Tokyo 2020 Olympics postponed to 2021; First time in 124 years  Japan ‘s Prime Minister (PM) Shinzo Abe and the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Thomas Bach have agreed to postpone the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games which was scheduled on July 24 – August 9, 2020 to the year 2021 (dates will be announced later).  This is the first time in the Olympics’ 124-year history that it has been postponed due to virus, Earlier the Olympic Games have been cancelled because of global conflicts (in Berlin 1916, Tokyo 1940 and London 1944).

IAAF suspends Indian shot putter Navinchikara for 4 years for doping violation  The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) of international Athletics’s governing body -World Athletics’s (formerly known as International Association of Athletics Federations-IAAF), has suspended Indian shot putter Navin Chikara (23) for 4- years for failing an out-of-competition dope test in 2018 (he was suspeneded in November 2018).

BOOKS & AUTHORS

Smriti Irani releases book titled “Chronicles of Change Champions” at New Delhi  Smriti Zubin Irani Union Minister of Women & Child Development released a book titled “Chronicles of Change Champions” at New Delhi. The book is written with the 25 innovative initiatives taken under the “BetiBachaoBetiPadhao” (BBBP) scheme at the state and district level. BetiBachaoBetiPadhao Scheme was launched by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 22 January 2015 at Panipat, Haryana. This Scheme is unveiled with the objective of addressing the declining Child Sex Ratio (CSR) and other issues related to the women empowerment.

Odisha CM released book titled “The Adventures of the Daredevil Democrat”  Odisha Chief Minister (CM) Naveen Patnaik released the comic book titled “The Adventures of the Daredevil Democrat” on the occasion of the 104th birth anniversary of former Odisha CM Late Biju Patnaik in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. The book deals about the life and works of legendary leader and Naveen Patnaik’s father Biju Patnaik.  The comic book, prepared by Kalinga Foundation Trust and published by New Delhi- based the Creative workshop.  Biju Patnaik was the first nationalist leader to reach Srinagar during India’s war against Pakistan in Kashmir operation.

Tahira Kashyap announced a new book titled “The 12 Commandments Of Being A Woman”  Tahira Kashyap Khurrana, writer- producer, professor, announced her 4th book titled “The 12 ommandments Of Being A Woman” on the occasion of Women’s Day and the new book will be published by Juggernaut Books,

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New Delhi.  She is married to actor Ayushmann Khurrana and started writing books from the year 2011.

ApurvaPurohit, launched her 2nd book – ‘Lady, You’re the Boss!’  Apurva Purohit the President of the Jagran Group, one of India’s largest multi-media conglomerates launched her 2nd book- ‘Lady, You’re the Boss!’, which aims to address the challenges faced by women climbing the corporate ladder.It is published by Westland Publications (an Amazon company).  Her 1st book, ‘Lady, You’re Not a Man!: The Adventures Of A Woman At Work’ was turned out to be national best selling book & is published by Rupa Publications Private Limited.

“An Extraordinary Life: A biography of Manohar Parrikar” to be released in April 2020  A book titled “An Extraordinary Life: A biography of Manohar Parrikar” was written by senior journalists Sadguru Patil and MayabhushanNagvenkar. The book was published by Penguin Random House India and to be released in April 2020. Manohar Parrikar is the former Union Defence Minister (2014-17) and he also served as Chief Minister of Goa.

Nitin Gadkari presents a copy of ‘Invincible – A Tribute to Manohar Parrikar’ to the President  The Book written by Tarun Vijay titled “Invincible – A Tribute to Manohar Parrikar” was released by defence minister Rajnath Singh on 16th March 2020. Recently Union Minister Nitin Gadkari presented the book to President Ram Nath Kovind at the Rashtrapati Bhawan on the first death anniversary of Manohar Parrikar.

“My Encounters in Parliament” authored by BhalchandraMungekar released  The book titled “My Encounters in Parliament” was authored by BhalchandraMungekar an Indian economist, former member of Rajya Sabha.

A new book entitled ‘Messiah Modi: A Tale of Great expectations’ penned by Tavleen singh released  A new book entitled ‘Messiah Modi: A Tale of Great Expectations’ written by senior journalist & author Tavleen Singh has been released. The book, published by HarperCollins India, narrates the early support for Modi the candidate by the author, once a great supporter of the government.

Chander Suta Dogra authored a book titled- “Missing in Action: The Prisoners Who Never Came Back”  Senior Journalist ChanderSuta Dogra launched her 2nd book during an event hosted by United Service Institution of India (USI)- “Missing in Action: The Prisoners Who Never Came Back” relies on de- classified records of the Ministry of External Affairs & other sources. It is published by Harpercollins. Her 1st book, “Manoj &Babli: A hate story” (True story) explores a tough & rough road to justice for victims of honor killings.

Savita Chhabra authored her first book titled “Legacy Of Learning”  Savita Chhabra, Chairperson of HRIPL (Hygienic Research Institute Private Limited) and an award- winning businesswoman, has authored & launched her first book titled “Legacy Of Learning” (selected verses from Srimad Bhagavad Gita).

National Book Trust, India of MHRD to launch ‘Corona Studies Series’ books  National Book Trust (NBT), India, the national body for book publishing and book promotion under the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), is launching a publishing series titled ‘Corona Studies Series’ to document and to provide relevant reading materials for all age-groups for the post- corona readership needs. MHRD also set-up a Study Group comprising some experienced & young psychologists/ counsellors to prepare books on the sub-series ‘Psycho-Social Impact of Corona Pandemic and the Ways to Cope’.

MARCH 2020 (CURRENT AFFAIRS) 59 mppscadda.com t.me/mppscadda [email protected] Call 9953733830 WhatsApp 7982862964 MPPSC 2020 PRELIMS IMPORTANT DAYS  On March 1,2020 Zero Discrimination is celebrated every year to challenge the Zero discrimination faced by women & girls, to raise awareness & mobilize action to Discrimination promote equality & empowerment for women & girls. The theme for this year is Day 2020 “Zero Discrimination against Women &Girls”.The symbol for this day is Butterfly. celebrated on The day is observed to ensure zero discrimination against women & girls & to March 1 promote the necessity of equal rights , opportunities & treatments.

 World Civil Defense Day (WCDD) is celebrated annually on 1st March, to create World Civil awareness on the self- protection & preventive measures to be taken in the event of Defence Day was disasters or accidents and pay tribute to the efforts, sacrifices of the national observed on services responsible for the fight against disasters. Theme of the WCDD 2020 was March 1, 2020 “Civil Defence and a first aider in every home”.

 On March 3, 2020, The World Wildlife Day (WWD) has been celebrated based on the World wildlife day theme “Sustaining all life on Earth”. The day aims to celebrate the beautiful and celebrated on varied forms of wild fauna and flora & raises awareness for conservation of wildlife. 3 March 2020 The main objective of this day is to familiarize the common people with the diverse forms of wildlife and flora. This is in line with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)- 1, 12, 14 and 15. The year 2020, also known as ‘biodiversity super year’, will witness several major global events aimed at conserving the biodiversity of the planet.

 Janaushadhi week is being celebrated throughout the country from 1st March to 7th Janaushadhi Week March 2020. The main aim of the week is to provide various activities like health 2020 being checkup Camp, free doctor consultation, free medicine distribution is hosted by Jan celebrated in India AushadhiKendras. On the fourth day of the event for empowering women, the event March 1 to 7 was focused on the theme ‘Suvidha Se Sammaan’.

 The ‘Jan AushadhiDiwas’ is observed every year on March 7. The aim of this day is to Jan create awareness about the use of generic medicines. This day also celebrates the AushadhiDiwas achievements of Pradhan Mantri BharatiyaJanaushadiPariyojana. The first “Jan 2020 is observed AushadhiDiwas” is celebrated on 7th March 2019.Pradhan Mantri Jan March 7 AushadhiPariyojana (PMBJP) scheme was announced on July 01, 2015, by Narendra Modi, to provide quality medicines at an affordable price.

 The CISF (Central Industrial Security Force) Raising Day is observed every year on 51st CISF Raising 10th March under the Ministry of Home Affairs. The 51st CISF Raising Day is Day is observed on celebrated on March 10, 2020, for better protection and security throughout the March 10, 2020 country and to create awareness among the public regarding the role and functions of CISF.

 Since 1977, the United Nations (UN) Women is organizing International Women’s International Day (IWD) all over the world on March 8 to recognize women for their efforts in Women’s Day changing the individual lives as well as of nations. The day celebrates women’s (IWD) 2020 achievements without regard to divisions, whether national, ethnic, linguistic, observed on cultural, economic or political. March 8 o The 2020 theme for IWD was “I am Generation Equality: Realizing Women’sRights”. o PM Modi launched “She Inspires Us” campaign; 7 women took over PM’s twitteraccount o Indian Army conducted Self Defence Training for Women in Nalbari,Assam o Union Culture Ministry made women entry free on all ASI monuments for March 8, 2020

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 Pi Day was celebrated on March 14, 2020 because the date stands as 3/14 in the Pi Day was month/day format. Pi (Greek letter “π”) is the symbol used in mathematics to celebrated on represent a constant and its value up to five decimal places 3.14159. Coincidentally, March 14, 2020 March 14 is also Physicist Albert Einstein’s birthday. Also, Pi approximation day is observed annually on July 22 (ie. 22/7) and Two pi day (Tau Day) is observed on June 28 (2*3.14 =6.28).

 The World Consumer Day 2020 was observed on March 15, 2020. The day is World Consumer celebrated annually on March 15 to spread awareness about consumer rights and Day2020 needs since 1983. It is an initiative by Consumer International which is a membership organisation for consumer groups around the world. Consumer Affairs Ministry is also running various consumer awareness programmes through “JaagoGrahakJaago”. Theme of the year 2020: ‘The Sustainable Consumer.’

 World Sparrow Day (2020) is observed every year on March 20 and was first World Sparrow celebrated in 2010 initiated by the Nature Forever Society (NFS). This day is Day 2020: celebrated globally to spread awareness about the importance of sparrows and March 20 their major functional conservation values. The theme of the World Sparrow Day is I LOVE Sparrows.

 The “International Day of Happiness” is celebrated every year on March 20 International Day worldwide. The day creates awareness of the importance of happiness in everyone’s of Happiness life around the world. Theme of the year 2020: “Happiness For All Together”. 2020: March 20  The World Poetry Day (WPD) is observed annually on March 21 to encourage World Poetry Day people to read, write, teach, publish poetry & also to recognize poetry’s unique 2020: March 21 ability which captures the creative spirit of the human mind. United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has declared March 21 as WPD in its 30thGeneral council meet held at Paris in 1999.  The International Day of Forests (IDF) is observed annually on March 21 to raise International Day awareness of the importance of all types of forests and of trees outside forests. The of Forests 2020: UNGA proclaimed the day in 2012 and it is celebrated since 2013. Theme of the year March 21 2020: “Forests and Biodiversity”.  The International Day of Nowruz was celebrated on March 21, 2020. The word International Day Nowruz (new day) is the name of the Iranian new year or Persian new year which is of Nowruz 2020: celebrated worldwide by various ethnolinguistic groups. The UN (United Nations) March 21 general assembly recognized March 21 as International Day of Nowruz in2010.  The World Meteorological Day (WMD 2020) is observed every year on March 23 World organized by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) since the year 1950. Meteorological The theme of WMD 2020 is “Climate and Water”. Day 2020: March 23  The World Water Day is observed globally on March 22 every year, to highlight the World Water Day importance of freshwater. Theme of the year 2020: “Water and Climate Change”. 2020: The day is observed since 1993. World Water Day celebrates water & raises March 22 awareness of the 2.2 billion people living without access to safe water and the main purpose of the day is to achieve Sustainable Development Goal which includes water and sanitation for all by 2030.

 World Theatre Day (WTD) is celebrated every year on 27th March by ITI World Theatre (International Theatre Institute) centres and International Theatre Community. The Day 2020: day promotes the values of arts and its forms across the world. The day was March 27 initiated by ITI in 1961. *************

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