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CURRENT AFFAIRS: IMPORTANT DAYS
International Day for the Right to the Truth: March 24
- Each year, on 24 March, the International Day for the Right to the Truth Concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims is observed.
- The day aims to pay tribute to those who have devoted their lives or lost their lives in, the struggle to promote and protect human rights for all.
- This annual observance pays tribute to the memory of Monsignor Óscar Arnulfo Romero, who was murdered on 24 March 1980.
- Monsignor Romero was actively engaged in denouncing violations of the human rights of the most vulnerable individuals in El Salvador.
World TB Day: 24 March
- World Tuberculosis Day, observed on 24 March each year, is designed to build public awareness about the global epidemic of tuberculosis and efforts to eliminate the disease.
- The theme of World TB Day 2022 Invest to End TB. Save Lives.
- The date marks the day in 1882 when Dr Robert Koch announced that he had discovered the bacterium that causes TB, which opened the way towards diagnosing and curing this disease.
- In 2018, 10 million people fell ill with TB, and 1.5 million died from the disease, mostly in low and middle-income countries
- Tuberculosis (TB) is a potentially serious infectious disease that mainly affects your lungs.
- The bacteria that cause tuberculosis are spread from one person to another through tiny droplets released into the air via coughs and sneezes.
Bihar Day: March 22
- The Bihar Diwas is celebrated every year on as it was on this day that the British carved out Bihar from Bengal Presidency in 1912.
- Bihar Diwas 2022 marks the 110th anniversary of the state’s founding.
- The annual Bihar Diwas is no longer limited to festivities hosted by the state government; citizens from the state living throughout the country and overseas have begun to commemorate the occasion.
- Bihar was a part of the Bengal Presidency until 1912, when the province of Bihar and Orissa was established as a separate province.
- Patna was designated as the new province’s capital when the Bengal Presidency was partitioned.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL NEWS
Jitendra Singh has announced the launch of Data-Driven Research to Eradicate TB- Dare2eraD TB:
- Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Jitendra Singh has announced the launch of Data-Driven Research to Eradicate TB- Dare2eraD TB by the Department of Biotechnology, M/o Science & Technology, on the occasion of World TB Day.
- Dare2eraD TB will be the umbrella TB program of DBT comprising of following key initiatives:
- InTGS – Indian Tuberculosis Genomic Surveillance Consortium;
- InTBK Hub- Indian TB Knowledge Hub- Webinar Series;
- Host Directed therapies against TB and developing an evidence-based regimen for treating extra-pulmonary Tuberculosis.
India’s First-ever SAI National Centre of Excellence for Mountain Terrain Biking and Bicycle Motocross to be set up in Shimla:
- The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports in collaboration with the Youth Services and Sports department of the Government of Himachal Pradesh is set to build India’s first-ever SAI National Centre of Excellence to train athletes in Mountain Terrain Biking and Bicycle Motocross in Shimla.
- The NCOE is being set up to provide world-class training facilities to Indian cyclists so that they can compete for the 18 Olympic medals in the disciplines of MTB and BMX.
- This centre, one of the best high-altitude training facilities in the world, at an altitude of 2000 meters above sea level, will have world-class infrastructure, a state-of-art sports science high performance centre, Olympic-level track and coaches of international repute, where India’s best cyclists and local sporting talent can train.
- Owing to the requirement of the sport for a hilly terrain and a suitable climate for training, Shimla emerged as a preferred choice for the NCOE.
PM Modi virtually inaugurates Biplobi Bharat Gallery in West Bengal:
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated Biplobi Bharat Gallery at Victoria Memorial Hall in Kolkata on the occasion of Shaheed Diwas.
- The inauguration was done virtually via video conferencing.
- The newly built gallery depicts the contribution of the revolutionaries towards the freedom struggle of India and provides a holistic view of the events that led to 1947, according to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
- The gallery will also showcase the revolutionary movement, formation of significant associations by revolutionary leaders, spread of the movement, formation of the Indian National Army, and the contribution of Naval Mutiny.
CURRENT AFFAIRS : STATE NEWS
Nagaland becomes first state to paperless Assembly by implementing National e-Vidhan Application programme
- The north eastern state of Nagaland became the first State Assembly in the entire country to implement the National e-Vidhan Application (NeVA) programme to become completely paperless.
- The Nagaland Assembly Secretariat has attached a tablet or e-book on each table in the 60 members’ assembly.
- This initiative encourages paperless operations and reflects the government’s commitment towards Ashta Lakshmi.
About NeVA :
- National eVidhan Application (NeVA), a Mission Mode Project for Digital Legislatures to make the functioning of all Legislative Houses in the country paperless.
- The expenses for implementing NeVA are funded by the Centre and the state government on a 90:10 sharing basis.
- NeVA is a work-flow system deployed on NIC Cloud, MeghRaj & it is a device neutral and member-centric application.
- It is a Unicode compliant software having provision for easy access to various documents like List of Questions, List of Business, Reports etc. bilingually viz. English and any regional language.
- This application is spearheading the principle of One Nation- One Application with the objective of Cloud First and Mobile First to serve Members FIRST.
- To adopt National e-Vidhan Application (NeVA), Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) have been signed with 18 States viz(1) Punjab (2)Odisha, (3) Bihar {both Houses}, (4) Meghalaya, (5) Mizoram, (6)Manipur, (7) Gujarat, (8) Arunachal Pradesh, (9) Nagaland, (10) Puducherry, (11) Tripura, (12)Himachal Pradesh, (13) Chhattisgarh, (14)Tamil Nadu, (15)Sikkim, (16)Haryana, (17) Uttar Pradesh{both Houses} (18) Jharkhand.
Additional Info :
- Bihar Legislative Council became the first House in the country to transit to NeVA platform completely on 25th Nov, 2021 and conducted Winter Session, 2021on the NeVA platform in paperless mode.
- Odisha Assembly also presented their budget 2021 in paperless mode using NeVA.
About Nagaland :
- Chief minister: Neiphiu Rio
- Governor : Jagdish Mukhi
- Capital: Kohima
CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING & FINANCE
SBI Card, Natures Basket launches Worldwide Gourmand Card
- India’s largest pure-play credit card issuer, SBI Card has inked partnership with Natures Basket India’s leading premium grocery store brand, to launch the first-of-its-kind credit card, Nature’s Basket SBI Card.
- The credit card will be an important addition to SBI Card’s already robust premium portfolio.
- The card will be introduced in two variants ‘Nature’s Basket SBI Card’ and ‘Nature’s Basket SBI Card Elite’.
Purpose :
- To enable cardholders to derive maximum value from their spending at Nature’s Basket stores along with other key spend categories such as international travel, dining, and entertainment.
- The card will be made available to customers from the first fortnight of April 2022.
Key highlights of the Nature’s Basket SBI Cards :
- The card will allow cardholders to earn up to 20 reward points for every Rs 100 spent at Nature’s Basket stores and 10 reward points on every Rs 100 spent on dining, movies and international travel.
- Nature’s Basket SBI Card Elite will offer complimentary Bookmyshow movie tickets worth Rs 6,000 every year.
- Cardholders will also be able to avail Taj gift vouchers of worth Rs 10,000 upon achieving annual spends of Rs 6 lakh and annual fee reversal at Rs 10 lakh spends milestone during membership year.
- It will get gift vouchers of premium brands worth Rs 3,000 upon achieving Rs 3 lakh annual spends & users will be eligible for annual fee reversal upon reaching annual spends of Rs 2 lakh.
- The annual membership fee of Nature’s Basket SBI Card and its Elite version will be Rs 1,499 and Rs 4,999
About SBI Card :
- Founded: October 1998
- MD & CEO : Rama Mohan Rao Amara
- Headquarters: Gurugram, Haryana
About Natures Basket :
- Founded : 2005
- Headquarters : Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
- CEO : Devendra Chawla
RBI lifts all curbs on HDFC Bank, including launch of new digital products
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has lifted restrictions on the new digital business-generating activities of private lender HDFC Bank under its Digital 2.0 programme.
- The Central bank in December 2020 had asked HDFC Bank to stop all launches of its upcoming digital business-generating activities and sourcing of new credit card customers after repeated outages at its data centre which impacted operations.
- In August 2021, RBI had partially lifted a ban on HDFC Bank allowing it to resume issuing new credit cards.
About RBI :
- Founded: 1 April 1935
- Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
- Governor : Shaktikanta Das
- Deputy governors : Mahesh Kumar Jain, Rajeshwar Rao, Michael Patra and T. Rabi Shankar
CURRENT AFFAIRS : APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS
Maruti Suzuki Board Appoints Hisashi Takeuchi as MD & CEO
- The country’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) has appointed Hisashi Takeuchi as the new Managing Director and CEO for a period of three years with effect from April 1, 2022 till March 31, 2025.
- He will succeed Kenichi Ayukawa as the MD and CEO.
- Meanwhile Mr. Kenichi Ayukawa will continue as a Whole-time Director designated as Executive Vice Chairman for a period of six months with effect from 1st April, 2022 till 30th September 2022 and will continue to provide guidance to the Company.
About Hisashi Takeuchi :
- Hisashi Takeuchi, is a graduate from the Faculty of Economics, Yokohama National University, Japan.
- Takeuchi joined Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC) in
- In 1996, he joined the Overseas Marketing Department, Oceania Group of SMC and was promoted in 1997 as Director (Marketing and Sales) of Suzuki Australia PTY.
- With vast experience in the international operations at SMC as well as in overseas markets, he has been on the Board of Maruti Suzuki since July 2019, as Joint Managing Director (Commercial) since April 2021.
About Kenichi Ayukawa :
- Kenichi Ayukawa is a Law graduate from Osaka University, Japan.
- He joined the Human Resource Division of SMC in 1980.
- He has worked at several key positions in SMC and in the Group’s overseas operations including General Manager, Overseas Marketing, Administration Department and Managing Director of Pak Suzuki Motor.
- In 2008, he was appointed as Managing Executive Officer in Global Marketing at SMC and has been the Managing Director of Maruti Suzuki India since 1st April, 2013.
About Maruti Suzuki :
- Headquarters : New Delhi, Delhi,India
- Chairman : R. C. Bhargava
- MD & CEO : Kenichi Ayukawa
CURRENT AFFAIRS: BUSINESS NEWS
India’s Merchandise Exports Cross Record $400 Billion In FY22:
- India’s merchandise exports crossed record $400 billion in the ongoing fiscal, led by agricultural products and engineering goods, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal.
- India set an ambitious target of $400 billion of goods exports & achieves this target for the first time ever.
- During the period of April-February, exports had touched $374.81 billion and as per the government projection, total exports in the fiscal may surpass $410 billion.
- The country’s exports stood at $298.1 billion in the previous fiscal.
- Highest-ever monthly merchandise exports were recorded at $39.3 billion in December.
CURRENT AFFAIRS : DEFENCE NEWS
Malaysia to host 4 nations for Bersama Shield 2022 military drills
- Malaysia will host armed forces from Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and the United Kingdom in the annual Bersama Shield 2022 training exercise.
- The exercise, referred to as BS22, is conducted within the framework of the Five Power Defense Arrangements (FPDA) a series of bilateral and multilateral defense agreements established in 1971.
- Bersama means together in Malay.
- The exercise will involve sea and air drills, mostly in international waters but also in part of Malaysia’s exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea.
About FPDA :
- Founded : 16 April 1971
- The FPDA is the oldest defense arrangement in the region and includes counter-piracy operations as well as disaster relief and humanitarian assistance.
About Malaysia :
- Capital: Kuala Lumpur
- Currency: Malaysian ringgit
- PM : Ismail Sabri Yaakob
Defence Ministry approves military acquisitions worth Rs 8,357 crore
- The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), which met under the chairmanship of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, accorded Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for capital acquisition proposals of armed forces worth ₹8,357 crore.
- The approved proposals included “procurement of night sight (image intensifier), light vehicles GS 4X4, air defence fire control radar (light) and GSAT-7B satellite.
- As an impetus to “Aatmanirbhar Bharat”, all of the aforementioned proposals have been approved under “Buy Indian (IDDM)” category.
- In an initiative to encourage innovation, the DAC also cleared the procurement of 14 items worth Rs 380.43 crore from the Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) startups/MSMEs.
- Acceptance of Necessity for procurement of 14 iDEX products within 30 months of contract for prototype development.
- AON to Procurement timelines reduced from 2+ years to 5 months.
- The DAC also approved “effecting” certain policy initiatives in the Defence Acquisition Procedure-2020
- EMD will be applicable only for proposals of Rs 100 crore and above and MSMEs and startups will be exempted from EMD
About Ministry of Defence :
- Defence Minister : Rajnath Singh
- Minister of State : Ajay Bhatt
- Defence Secretary : Dr. Ajay Kumar
Exercise Suraksha Kavach 2- Joint Security Exercise by Indian Army and Maharashtra Police
- On March 22, 2022, Agnibaaz Division organized a joint exercise between Indian Army and Maharashtra Police at Lullanagar, Pune.
Aim :
- To harmonize the drills and procedures undertaken by Army and Police to counter any likely terrorist actions in Pune.
- The exercise involved participation of Counter Terrorism Task Force (CTTF) of Indian Army, Anti-Terrorism Squad of Maharashtra Police alongwith Quick Reaction Teams (QRTs), Dog Squads and Bomb Disposal Teams of both agencies.
- The exercise provided an opportunity for both Indian Army and Maharashtra Police to coopt and streamline their drills and procedures, thereby enhancing intervenability and coordination between both the organisations.
Key Points :
- A simulated exercise scenario in the backdrop of presence of terrorists in a populated area was depicted at a under construction site at Lullanagar.
- Based on simulated intelligence inputs, the elite forces of both agencies were activated.
- Joint action was thereafter carried out by Armys CTTF and QRT of Maharashtra Police to neutralize the terrorists.
- It involved establishment of inner cordon, intervention drill in the area followed by search of building for any unidentified items/bombs/IEDs by Dog squads and their neutralization/ diffusion by Bomb Disposal Units.
CURRENT AFFAIRS : SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
OneWeb partners with SpaceX to resume its LEO satellite launches
- Bharti Enterprises-led OneWeb, the low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite communications company has entered into an agreement with Elon Musk-owned SpaceX, which will enable it to resume satellite launches.
- The first launch with SpaceX is anticipated in 2022 and will add to OneWeb’s total in-orbit constellation that is currently at 428 satellites, or 66 per cent of the fleet.
- OneWebs network will deliver high-speed, low-latency global connectivity
- OneWeb had to abandon its planned launch on March 4 due to the Russia-Ukraine War.
- The launch was supposed to happen from Russia-controlled Kazakhstan.
- But since the UK government has a 19.8 per cent stake in OneWeb, Russian space agency Roscosmos had demanded the withdrawal of the UK from the project.
Additional Info :
- Earlier OneWeb also got approval from the Department of Telecommunications to set up satellite earth stations in India & the company aims to offer their services in India by mid-2022.
About OneWeb :
- CEO :Neil Masterson
About SpaceX :
- Founded : 14 March 2002
- Founder & CEO : Elon Musk
- Headquarters : Hawthorne, California, United States
CURRENT AFFAIRS : RANKING & INDEX
World Air Quality Report 2021: Delhi continues to be most polluted capital city in world
- According to the latest World Air Quality Report for 2021, prepared by Swiss organisation IQAir, Delhi remains the most polluted capital city in the world for the fourth consecutive year in 2021.
- Delhi tops the list of capitals with the highest average annual PM2.5 concentration.
- It is followed by Dhaka (Bangladesh), N’Djamena (Chad), Dushanbe (Tajikistan) and Muscat (Oman).
- Delhi topped a list of 92 capital cities in 2020, 85 such cities in 2019, and 62 such cities in 2018.
Key Highlights :
- Delhi saw a 14.6% increase in PM2.5 concentrations in 2021 with levels rising to 96.4 µg/m3 from 84 µg/m3 in 2020.
- None of the cities in India meet the World Health Organization (WHO) air quality guideline of 5 micrograms per cubic metre.
- In 2021, 48 per cent of Indian cities exceeded 50µg/m3, or more than 10 times the WHO guideline.
- 63 Indian cities dominated the list of 100 most polluted cities & half of them are in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
- Central and South Asia have some of the worst air quality and were home to 46 of the world’s 50 most polluted cities in 2021.
- Bhiwadi in Rajasthan’s Alwar is the most polluted regional city, with an average PM2.5 concentration of 106.2 micrograms per cubic metre, followed by Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad.
Top 10 countries in 2021 worst air quality :
- Bangladesh – with an average air quality index 161
- Chad – 161
- Pakistan – 156
- Tajikistan – 152
- India- 151
- Oman – 146
- Kyrgyzstan – 138
- Bahrain – 136
- Iraq – 136
- Nepal – 126
Additional Info :
- Sources of PM2.5 include internal combustion engines, power generation, industrial processes, agricultural processes, construction, and residential wood and coal burning. The most common natural sources for PM2.5 are dust storms, sandstorms, and wildfires.
About the report :
- The report is based on PM2.5 data from 6,475 cities in 117 countries worldwide.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: BOOKS AND AUTHOR
A New book titled Unfilled Barrels India’s oil story authored by Richa Mishra:
- A new Book titled Unfilled Barrels: India’s oil story authored by Richa Mishra will be released on March 2022.
- Richa Mishra is a journalist with The Hindu BusinessLine.
- The book highlights the key role played by Keshav Dev Malaviya, who was the petroleum minister in the 1970s with a degree in oil technology, and the emergence of other stakeholders from public sector enterprises, including ONGC, to the fiercely competitive private players like Cairn Energy, and Mukesh Ambani’s RIL.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: OBITUARIES
Bangladeshs former president Shahabuddin Ahmed passes away:
- Bangladesh’s former president and chief justice Shahabuddin Ahmed passed away at the age of 92 at a military hospital here.
- Ahmed, who was the interim head of state as the consensus nominee of all parties amid a mass upsurge in 1990 to topple ex-military dictator HM Ershad, had been suffering from complications due to old age for some time
- He became the head of the government as acting president of Bangladesh.
- Ahmed was the consensus nominee of now incumbent Awami League of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, ex-premier Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and a Left-leaning five-party alliance.
Daily CA on Mar 25 :
- Each year, on 24 March, the International Day for the Right to the Truth Concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims is observed.
- World Tuberculosis Day, observed on 24 March each year, is designed to build public awareness about the global epidemic of tuberculosis and efforts to eliminate the disease.
- The Bihar Diwas is celebrated every year on as it was on this day that the British carved out Bihar from Bengal Presidency in 1912.
- Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Jitendra Singh has announced the launch of Data-Driven Research to Eradicate TB- Dare2eraD TB by the Department of Biotechnology, M/o Science & Technology, on the occasion of World TB Day.
- The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports in collaboration with the Youth Services and Sports department of the Government of Himachal Pradesh is set to build Indias first-ever SAI National Centre of Excellence to train athletes in Mountain Terrain Biking and Bicycle Motocross in Shimla.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated Biplobi Bharat Gallery at Victoria Memorial Hall in Kolkata on the occasion of Shaheed Diwas.
- The north eastern state of Nagaland became the first State Assembly in the entire country to implement the National e-Vidhan Application (NeVA) programme to become completely paperless.
- India’s largest pure-play credit card issuer, SBI Card has inked partnership with Nature’s Basket India’s leading premium grocery store brand, to launch the first-of-its-kind credit card, Nature’s Basket SBI Card.
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has lifted restrictions on the new digital business-generating activities of private lender HDFC Bank under its Digital 2.0 programme.
- India’s merchandise exports crossed record $400 billion in the ongoing fiscal, led by agricultural products and engineering goods, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal.
- The country’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) has appointed Hisashi Takeuchi as the new Managing Director and CEO for a period of three years with effect from April 1, 2022 till March 31, 2025.
- Malaysia will host armed forces from Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and the United Kingdom in the annual Bersama Shield 2022 training exercise.
- The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), which met under the chairmanship of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, accorded Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for capital acquisition proposals of armed forces worth ₹8,357 crore.
- On March 22, 2022, Agnibaaz Division organized a joint exercise between Indian Army and Maharashtra Police at Lullanagar, Pune.
- Bharti Enterprises-led OneWeb, the low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite communications company has entered into an agreement with Elon Musk-owned SpaceX, which will enable it to resume satellite launches.
- According to the latest World Air Quality Report for 2021, prepared by Swiss organisation IQAir, Delhi remains the most polluted capital city in the world for the fourth consecutive year in 2021.
- A new Book titled Unfilled Barrels: India’s oil story authored by Richa Mishra will be released on March 2022.
- Bangladesh’s former president and chief justice Shahabuddin Ahmed passed away at the age of 92 at a military hospital here.