• Currency: Dollar • Prime Minister: Malcolm Turnbull By 2050, India will have most Muslims in world Ukraine region to use Russian ruble as currency By 2050, India will be the Ukraine's self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic will use country with the world's the Russian ruble as its official currency, according to an largest Muslim population, official statement. said American think tank The ruble would be used in the pro-Russian territory as the Pew Research Centre. basic unit of currency as of 1 March 2017, the statement While Islam is said. currently the world's The use of the ruble, which is already used informally in second-largest religion after Christianity, it is now also the the pro-Russian territory along with the Ukrainian hryvnia, fastest-growing major religion. serves to stabilise the volatile economic situation in the There were 1.6 billion Muslims in the world as of 2010 - region. roughly 23% of the global population - according to a Pew Ukraine estimate. Currently, Indonesia has the world's largest Muslim • Capital: Kiev population. • Currency: Hryvnia • Prime Minister: Volodymyr Groysman Syrian Army recaptures Palmyra from Islamic State • President: Petro Poroshenko The General Staff of the Syrian Army said it had recaptured the ancient city of Palmyra from the extremist group Islamic State Pakistan hosted 13th ECO Summit in Islamabad (IS). The 13th Economic Cooperation Organisation Summit was The city, which is home to Greco-Roman ruins on the held in Islamabad, Pakistan. United Nations cultural body’s World Heritage list, had The theme of ECO Summit was "Connectivity for been the scene of heavy fighting for months. Regional Prosperity,". The units led by Iranian and Russia entered the city three ECO Observers and special guests were invited to attend months after IS took it over. the summit. Syria • Capital: Damascus Sri Lanka Wins Most Popular Tourism Destination Award • Currency: Pound Sri Lanka won the "Most Popular Tourism Destination Award" • President: Bashar al-Assad at the Guangzhou International Travel Fair (GITF) in China, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. • Prime Minister: Imad Khamis The island nation won the prestigious award for the second consecutive year. Australia to introduce world’s first cyber crime China has been Sri Lanka's second largest source market university course for tourism since 2014. Australia said it will offer the Sri Lanka world’s first university course to train intelligence analysts • Capitals: Colombo, Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte to fight cyber crime, prompted • Currency: Rupee by innovative methods of • President: Maithripala Sirisena money transfer among • Prime Minister: Ranil Wickremesinghe organised crime and militant groups. US, South Korea Kick Off Annual Foal Eagle Exercise Justice Minister Michael Keenan said AUSTRAC would United States and South Korean start teaching the world’s first university-accredited troops kicked off the 2017 “Financial Intelligence Analyst Course” after 16 law iteration of their large-scale enforcement analysts sat a pilot course. annual Foal Eagle exercises. Australia The exercises will run • Capital: Canberra through April and will 1 WiFiStudy.com overlap with the Key Resolve exercise, which begins later This fits into India’s overall effort to boost strategic this month, on March 13. cooperation under the ‘Act East’ policy and will help The exercises come amid high tensions between the U.S.- offset increasing Chinese presence in its neighbourhood. South Korea alliance and North Korea. Myanmar • Capital: Naypyidaw Mumbai ranked 21st in City Wealth Index list • Currency: Kyat Mumbai has been ranked 21st, ahead of Toronto, Washington • Sultan: Htin Kyaw DC and Moscow, in the “City Wealth Index” list in the Knight • Frank Wealth Report 2017. Delhi has been ranked 35th, ahead of Bangkok, Seattle and 8 March: International Women's Day Jakarta. 8 March is International Women's Day, an event held around The report tracked “super-rich population” in as many as the world to commemorate the struggle for women's rights. 125 cities across 89 countries. Originally called International Working Women’s Day, it The “ultra-high-net-worth individuals” in India rose by was first celebrated on February 28, 1909, in New York in 290% in the past ten years, the report said. remembrance of a 1908 strike of the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union when 15,000 workers marched World Wildlife Day: March 3 through the city's lower east side to demand social and World Wildlife Day is celebrated every year on March 3 as political rights. proclaimed by the United Nations in 2013. This year's theme is “be bold for change”. This year’s theme is “Listen To The Young Voices”, urging us all to listen to young people’s views and ideas Indo-Nepal joint Military exercise 'Surya Kiran- XI' begins on conserving wildlife. A joint military exercise 'Surya Kiran-XI' between India and The International Union for Conservation of Nature has Nepal has begin in Pithoragarh area of Uttarakhand. listed 2,599 species, subspecies and sub-populations of This is a battalion level joint exercise between the two critically endangered animals. armies. The two-week long exercise is aimed at training of both India-Oman armies exercise, Al Nagah-II, begins the troops in the area of various counter insurgency A 14-day joint training operations over a prolonged period. exercise of the armies of India Nepal and Oman has began at Bakloh • Capital: Kathmandu in Himachal Pradesh. • Currency: Rupee The exercise, Al Nagah- • President: Bidhya Devi Bhandari II, drew contingents • Prime Minister: Pushpa Kamal Dahal comprised of platoon strength troops from both the armies, the Defence Ministry India has highest incidence of bribery in Asia Pacific: said. Survey The second edition of the exercise which was previously Over 900 million people–one in four–across the 16 nations in held in Oman 2 years ago. the Asia Pacific region paid a bribe in the past year when trying Oman to access basic services like education or healthcare. • Capital: Muscat Among them India has the highest bribery rate of 69%, • Currency: Rial said a survey released by anti-graft Transparency • Sultan: Qaboos bin Said al Said International (TI). India was closely followed by Vietnam (65%). Thailand India to train Myanmar Navy (41%), Cambodia, Pakistan and Myanmar, each with 40%, Indian Navy will set up meteorological facilities and impart were next. The rate was much lower in China (26%) and it training for the Myanmar Navy. was the lowest in Japan (0.2%). This was agreed upon during a recent visit of a Myanmar The report also stressed that 41% people in India said that delegation to Kochi. the level of corruption had increased in the last year. Myanmar will soon send a proposal with its requirements. 2 WiFiStudy.com Interestingly, India’s neighbours like Pakistan (35%), Sri The national census will be conducted from 15 March. Lanka (21%) and Myanmar (22%) ranked lower in the list. Transparency International Bangladesh declares March 25 as ‘Genocide Day’ • Aim: Its nonprofit purpose is to take action to Bangladesh’s unanimously adopted a resolution declaring combat corruption and prevent criminal activities March 25 as Genocide Day, in remembrance of the atrocities arising from corruption. carried out by the Pakistani Army in the night of March 25, • Headquarters: Berlin, Germany 1971. • Founded: 1993 Condemning the denial of history by Pakistan, the • Chairman: Jose Ugaz (Peru) Bangladeshi legislators passed the motion unanimously after a marathon seven-hour discussion. South Korean President Park Geun-hye removed from A total of 56 MPs, including Prime Minister Sheikh office Hasina, took part. South Korea’s Constitutional Court voted unanimously to Vienna is the world’s nicest city to live in, Baghdad the remove the country’s worst President, Park Geun-hye, Vienna, Austria's grand capital on the Danube river, has topped from office. consulting firm Mercer's list of cities offering the highest With the impeachment, quality of life for the eighth year in a row, while Baghdad is Park becomes the first again considered the worst place to live. South Korean President to be removed from office. The survey of 231 cities helps companies and As per the law of the country, Park’s successor must be organisations determine compensation and hardship elected within 60 days. allowances for international staff. At present, Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn is serving as Global centres London, Paris, Tokyo and New York City the acting President of the country. did not even make the top 30. Singapore was the highest ranked Asian city, at 25 while India by Nile opens with Crafts Mela 29th-placed San Francisco was the United States' highest The mega cultural festival 'India by the Nile' got off to a entry. Top of the list in Africa was South Africa's Durban colourful start at the foot of the Pyramids with a Crafts Mela, at 87. showcasing joint handicraft exhibition of India and Egypt. The Embassy of India in Cairo, in collaboration with 2017 Commonwealth day: 13 March Teamwork Arts, presented 'Crafts Mela' as part of the IBN Commonwealth Day is the annual celebration of the 2017 cultural festival. Commonwealth of Nations held on the second Monday in The festival, which is a celebration of Indian music, dance, March. theatre, visual arts, food and wellbeing, is the largest This year it was celebrated on March 13. foreign festival in Egypt showcasing 70 events across the This year’s theme is “A Peace-building Commonwealth”. country. Commonwealth of Nations Aim: The Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental Pakistan set to conduct its first census in 19 years organization of 52 member states that were mostly former Pakistan is set to territories of the British Empire. conduct its first national • Headquarters: London census in 19 years with • Head: Queen Elizabeth II the assistance of over • Secretary-General: Patricia Scotland 200,000 troops.