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• US-backed fighters said they had taken positions in Islamic State`s last enclave in eastern Syria and air strikes pounded the tiny patch of land beside the Euphrates River.


• Smoke rose over the tiny enclave as warplanes and artillery bombarded it. Another witness said the jihadists had earlier mounted a counter attack. Several positions captured and an ammunition storage has been blown up.

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• More than a thousand people are feared to have died in a cyclone that smashed into Mozambique last week, while scores were killed and more than 200 are missing in neighbouring Zimbabwe.


• The city of Beira in central Mozambique bore Cyclone Idai's full wrath before the storm barrelled on to neighbouring Zimbabwe, unleashing fierce winds and flash floods and washing away roads and houses.

Source: Cick Here

• Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has called on world leaders to press technology firms to tackle the "ungoverned" space of extremist internet content in the wake of the Christchurch terror attack.


• In a letter published today, the Australian leader asked the G20 summit host, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, that the issue be raised when leaders gather in Osaka this June.


• Morrison is in the middle of a tough re-election campaign, where his party has faced persistent allegations of fuelling anti-migrant sentiment to appeal to conservative voters.


• Morrison has spoken publicly several times to denounce extremism since the attack that killed 50 people in neighbouring New Zealand.

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• The members of the minority community in Pakistan's northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provice demanded representation in the provincial assembly, warning that they will launch a protest if their demand is not met.


• Leader of the Sikh Community Gorpal Singh said there were three minority members in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assmebly, of whom two belonged to the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party.


• All the three members are away from their community as they have no role in addressing the problems of their people.

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• Aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya, nuclear submarine Chakra, 60 ships and nearly 80 aircraft were put on operational deployment by the Indian Navy in the North Arabian sea in the wake of escalating tension between India and Pakistan following the Pulwama terror attack.


• They said the naval assets were part of a mega exercise but they transited from the area of the drill for operational deployment soon after the dastardly attack on [latex]14^{th}[/latex] February in which 40 Central Reserve Police Force personnel were killed.

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• Wanted diamantaire Nirav Modi is expected to be arrested, and appear in Westminster magistrates’ court next week.


• A top Indian government source told “The CBI team handling Nirav Modi has been put together and will be flying to London within the next week. The ED will also be sending someone. They need to give some evidence to the courts and then an arrest is expected to happen soon afterwards so the CBI and ED will be present in court when he is produced before Westminsters’ magistrates court after he is arrested.”

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• The crisis in Jet Airways deepened with Etihad Airways refusing to step into the shoes of the promoter of the troubled carrier.


• In its meeting with lenders, the Gulf-based airline did not commit to hiking stake as it had several pre-conditions, outside the ambit of lenders, for taking the role of a promoter.

Source: Cick Here

• The Election Commission of India will meet representatives of several social media firms following the implementation of Model Code of Conduct ahead of Lok Sabha 2019 election.


• According to reports, intermediaries of Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter and other platforms are expected to meet members of the poll panel to update on steps taken by them in the poll atmosphere.

Source: Cick Here

• The Narendra Modi government "systematically and consistently" introduced the much needed second-generation reforms, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said as he highlighted several 'game-changing decisions' taken over the last five years.


• The senior BJP leader highlighted taxation reforms, measures to curb black money, enactment of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, demonetisation, steps to check inflation, promoting cooperative federalism, roll out of Ayushman Bharat scheme, social sector investment and infrastructure development as the government's game-changing decisions.

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• Mastercard Inc. is concerned that India’s strict data localization rules could compromise its ability to detect frauds and money laundering in the domestic payments system.


• Storing customer data exclusively in India without creating mirror sites overseas is risky because “it takes away the capability to see the broader world,” said Mastercard’s Chief Product Officer Michael Miebach. However, he said the U.S. firm intends to comply with the new rules despite missing last year’s deadline to localize all its Indian data.

Source: Cick Here

• ICICI Lombard and Mobikwik announced a strategic partnership to provide cyber-insurance cover. The relationship aims to provide protection against unauthorized and fraudulent transactions online, across bank accounts, debit and credit cards. and mobile wallets.


• MobiKwik users can avail the commercial cyber-insurance policy underwritten by ICICI Lombard and enjoy the benefit of stress-free and secured transactions.

Source: Cick Here

• The RBI is pushing banks to tighten the process of monitoring the end use of funds through enhanced surveillance as it seeks to arrest evergreening and prevent divergence of funds by corporate borrowers.


• Senior bank executives said the urgency from the RBI has been heightened after the annual asset quality review (AQR) initiated since 2015. The idea is to either check the origin of funds or the end use of funds to ensure that they are not being diverted or siphoned off.

Source: Cick Here

• Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas beat his world champion teammate Lewis Hamilton to clinch the season-opening Australian Formula One Grand Prix.


• Hamilton finished the race in the second spot, while Red Bull's Max Verstappen finished third.

Source: Cick Here

• Young Canadian Bianca Andreescu was proclaimed champion at the Indian Wells Masters, after she overcame the German Angelique Kerber. It is the first time ever that a player who received a wildcard entry to the tournament leaves with the title.


• The Canadian produced a superb display to defeat the former world number one in three sets.

Source: Cick Here

• Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh presented the Business Line Change maker Of The Year award to Union Minister Arun Jaitley for successfully introducing the Goods and Services Tax (GST).


• The awards were given in five categories Social Transformation, Digital Transformation, Young Change maker, Iconic Change maker, Change maker of the Year.

Source: Cick Here

• Tata, Reliance and Airtel emerged as the top three Indian brands of 2019 published by Interbrand, part of the Omnicom Media Group, an advertising and public relations conglomerate.


• Tata continued to hold the top position in the best Indian Brands ranking as its brand value grew by 6%, mainly due to Tata Consultancy Services (TCS).


• Knocking its competitor Airtel off from the second spot, Reliance’s brand value grew by 12%, bolstered by the success of Jio. This also explains the 13% degrowth in Airtel’s brand value.


• Following Airtel at number three, HDFC Bank, LIC, State Bank of India, Infosys, Mahindra, ICICI Bank and Godrej rounded off the top 10 list.

Source: Cick Here

• Goa Legislative Assembly Speaker and BJP leader Pramod Sawant was sworn-in as CM of Goa in a late-night ceremony, two days after Manohar Parrikar passed away after his battle with cancer.


• BJP ally MGP's Sudin Dhavalikar and Goa Forward Party's Vijai Sardesai took oath as Deputy CMs of the state. Nine other leaders also took oaths as cabinet ministers.

Source: Cick Here

• Retired Supreme Court judge Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose is said to be in active consideration for appointment as the country's first Lokpal, the anti-corruption ombudsman.


• R Justice Ghose, 66, retired as Supreme Court judge in May 2017. He is a member of the National Human Rights Commission since June 29, 2017.

Source: Cick Here

• A Pulitzer Prize winner and former US poet laureate WS Merwin passed away.


• He won a National Book Award and two Pulitzer Prizes.


• Merwin completed more than 20 books, his first book of poetry, A Mask for Janus, was published in 1952.

A. Pramod Sawant B. Ramkrishna Dhavlikar C. Vijai Sardesai D. Vinod Palyekar Answer: A

A. Dassault Aviation B. Ericsson C. Microsoft D. Huawei Answer: B

A. New Delhi B. Kanpur C. Gangtok D. Pune Answer: A

A. 16 March B. 17 March C. 18 March D. 19 March Answer: C

A. Japan B. France C. Russia D. China Answer: D

A. PCB B. ECB C. CA D. SLC Answer: A

A. Green Energy B. Ice Stupas C. Hydrogen Lights D. Green Electricity Answer: B

A. 5 B. 3 C. 2 D. 4 Answer: D

A. Germany B. France C. UK D. Portugal Answer: C

A. Royal Challengers Bangalore B. Kolkata Knight Rider C. Chennai Super Kings D. Rajasthan Royals Answer: D

A. Facebook B. WhatsApp C. Hike D. WeChat Answer: B

A. Vijit B. Samarth C. Sankalp D. Vishwast Answer: A

A. Freecharge B. PhonePe C. Paytm D. Mobikwik Answer: D

A. Diksha B. Kavya C. Akansha D. Deepika Answer: A

A. Bangladesh B. Japan C. China D. India Answer: B

A. Serena Williams B. Angelique Kerber C. Simona Haleps D. Bianca Andreescu Answer: D

A. Max Verstappen B. Sebastian Vettel C. Lewis Hamilton D. Valtteri Bottas Answer: D

A. Mukesh Ambani B. Shahrukh Khan C. Salman Khan D. Anil Ambani Answer: A

A. Jyoti Raj Scindia B. Kamal Nath C. Pramod Pandurang Sawant D. Mridula Sinha Answer: C

A. Anant Ram Hegde B. Ram Naik C. Mridula Sinha D. Pinaki Chandra Ghose Answer: D

A. Bhutan B. Uzbekistan C. Afghanistan D. Sri Lanka Answer: B

A. Journalist B. Poet C. Politics D. Sports Answer: A

A. Sports B. Journalist C. Writer D. Actor Answer: D

A. Recycle and reuse B. Recycling around the world C. Recycling into the Future D. Planet comes First Answer: C

A. Noida B. Mumbai C. Chennai D. Pune Answer: A

A. Pune B. Noida C. Delhi D. Gurugram Answer: D

A. Astana B. Bishkek C. Tashkent D. Kiev Answer: C

A. Madhya Pradesh B. Assam C. Uttar Pradesh D. Bihar Answer: B

A. New Delhi B. Pune C. Ranchi D. Mumbai Answer: C

A. Mumbai B. Delhi C. Pune D. Bengaluru Answer: D