Introduction
The article Current Affairs One Liners March 2019 includes One Liners with an explanation, analysis and issues of current events, including political or industrial controversy or public policy issues in the month of March.
Mar 2019
1. International News
- North Korea has described a break-in at its embassy in Spain last month as a "grave terrorist attack".
- Polls have opened in Ukraine as the country votes in the first round of presidential elections. Current leader Petro Poroshenko is seeking re-election but the surprise front-runner is comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
- An investigator for Amazon boss Jeff Bezos says that Saudi Arabia hacked Mr Bezos's phone and accessed his data. Gavin de Becker was hired by Mr Bezos to find out how his private messages had been leaked to the National Enquirer tabloid.
- Reuters says US President Donald Trump urged North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to hand over his country's nuclear weapons and bomb fuel to the US.
- Australia pledged to introduce new laws that could see social media executives jailed and tech giants fined billions for failing to remove extremist material from their platforms.
- Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn has revoked royal decorations awarded to former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra over his corruption conviction, a document in the royal gazette showed.
- Four passengers were injured after 13 coaches of Chapra-Surat Tapti Ganga Express derailed in Bihar’s Saran district.
- A MiG-27 aircraft of the Indian Air Force crashed near Sirohi in Rajasthan. Officials said the pilot ejected safely.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi attacked the previous Congress-led UPA government, saying its leaders indulged in corruption and kept personal interests above national interests.
- Fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya quoted an interview of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to assert that the government has already recovered more than what he allegedly owed to banks.
- University’s right-wing groups bank on nationalism and Pulwama attacks while Left-leaning students are focussing on unemployment and the farm crisis to win support.
- Investigative agencies are actively looking into the roles of some ministers of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) in awarding favourable air traffic rights to some West Asian airlines in 2008-09 that damaged the interests of the state-run Air India, government officials said
- The case was registered based on media reports, the commission said. The Kerala Human Rights Commission has also registered a case against the school.
- Beating private sector lender ICICI Bank, state-run Bank of Baroda (BoB) will become India's third largest bank after its merger with Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank comes into effect tomorrow.
- RBI over promoter stake dilution issue, Kotak Mahindra Bank has alleged the regulator is "unfairly" creating an impression that the lender was trying to further promoter Uday Kotak's interest.
- Manappuram Finance, a Non-banking finance company withdrew a release which had issued earlier regarding securing Rs 695 crore debt funding from NABARD.
- Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal posted the second highest earnings in women's singles in the first quarter of the new season. The 29-year-old from Hyderabad won the Indonesia Masters, ended up as a semifinalist at Malaysia Masters and a quarterfinalist at All England Championships.
- Indian shuttlers PV Sindhu and Parupalli Kashyap crashed out of the India Open 2019 after losing in their respective semi-finals. China's He Bingjiao registered a comeback win to beat Sindhu 23-21, 21-18 in the semifinal.
- The Indian hockey team lost to South Korea in the final of the Azlan Shah Cup after losing 2-4 in the penalty shootout. The match went into the penalty shootout after it had ended as a 1-1 draw
- Rita Moreno will be honoured with the Career Achievement Award at the 2019 Peabody Awards, which will be bestowed on 18th May at a gala event at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City.
- Dr. Rajendra Kumar Joshi, the founder and chairman of the RUJ Group has been conferred with the prestigious Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award
- Fighter pilot Air Marshal NS Dhillon was appointed as the new Strategic Forces Command Chief. The Strategic Forces Command looks after the strategic nuclear arsenal of the country
- Indian Army inducted its domestically developed and manufactured Dhanush artillery howitzer at a ceremony held the Ordnance factory in Jabalpur to give a major fire-power boost to the Indian Armed Forces.
- NASA astronauts Nick Hague and Christina Koch successfully conducted the 215th spacewalk and replaced more batteries on the International Space Station
1. International News
- Slovakia is voting for a new president, with front runner, Zuzana Caputova facing European Union Commissioner Maros Sefcovic.
- President Donald Trump has said he is likely to close the US border if Mexico does not do more to stop migrants reaching the United States.
- A judge has barred a planned celebration marking the anniversary of the 1964 Brazilian coup which overthrew the democratic government.
- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is under new pressure after his former justice minister released new documents relating to the SNC-Lavalin affair.
- Theresa May and her cabinet are looking for ways to bring her EU withdrawal agreement back to the Commons for a fourth attempt at winning MPs' backing.
- Hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets in Algeria to demand the resignation of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.
- That's all from BBC Africa Live for this week, but you can keep up-to-date with what's happening across the continent by listening to the Africa podcast or check the BBC News website.
- The Election Commission is learnt to have issued a fresh show cause to the Railways, this time on the use of paper tea cups with “main bhi chowkidar” slogan.
- After the Pulwama terror attack, a bitter debate over nationalism may be going all around the country. But in Odisha, none of the bitterness of the debate or any prevailing issue seems to be visible.
- Union Minister Arun Jaitley targetted the UPA leaders accusing them of making corruption a cause to fight for instead of trying to weed it out.
- External Affairs minister Sushma Swaraj is known for her wit on Twitter. And she displayed it once again morning when she replied to a question posed to her on the social networking site.
- A Block Development Officer in tribal dominated Bolangir district was rescued hours after his dramatic abduction from his office by a group of miscreants led by vice chairman of the local Panchayati Raj body.
- Tej Bahadur Yadav, who was sacked from the BSF after he uploaded a video about the quality of food being served to the forces, claimed he was approached by several parties to join them but chose to contest as an independent candidate.
- Current pollution control measures may improve air quality in the country over the next decade, but pollution levels will shoot up again by 2050 if air pollution control policies are not scaled up to meet higher consumption and urbanisation, says a report released by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW)
- Andhra Pradesh played a critical role in the Congress forming governments at the Centre. Under the leadership of former chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy, the Congress and its allies won 35 and 33 seats out of the total 42 seats in the state.
- India has shared critical evidence with the US that the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) indeed used F-16 fighters in its attempted strike on February [latex]27^{th}[/latex] in Jammu and Kashmir’s Nowshera sector as a counter to the Indian Air Force (IAF) .
- The Election Commission (EC) of India told the Supreme Court that any change in the present method of counting voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) slips at this stage may not be feasible.
- The commerce ministry has unveiled a blockchain-based coffee e-marketplace which will facilitate farmers to integrate with markets to get aware of fair prices for the commodity.
- Customers of Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank will continue to see the familiar logos of ‘Goddess Lakshmi’ (the Goddess of Wealth) and that of ‘A man bowing humbly with his hands in his pockets’ for some more time, despite the banks getting merged with Bank of Baroda with effect from April [latex]1^{st}[/latex], 2019.
- The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached movable and immovable properties worth ₹10.20 crore belonging to an ICICI Bank employee.
- Roger Federer produced a 6-2, 6-4 masterclass at Hard Rock Stadium to leave up-and-coming star Denis Shapovalov, who grew up idolizing the Swiss, chasing shadows during a difficult first set.
- West Brom kept their automatic promotion hopes on course when they twice came from behind to defeat trouble-hit Birmingham City
- Kidambi Srikanth and PV Sindhu overcame tough competition to reach the semi-finals of the badminton India Open but women’s defending champion Zhang Beiwen of the United States crashed
- Striker Mandeep Singh continued his prolific form by scoring a brace as India mauled a hapless Poland 10-0 in their final league match of Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament in Ipoh
- Chennaiyin booked their place in the quarter-finals of the 2019 Hero Super Cup with a clinical 2-0 win over Mumbai City FC at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar.
- Tashigang at an altitude of 15,256 feet has now became the world’s highest polling station in the sleepy hamlet of Buddhist-dominated Lahaul-Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh.
- Rustom Irani, the CEO of Cash Business of Hitachi Payment has been appointed as the new Managing Director of Hitachi Payment Services Pvt. Ltd. (Hitachi Payments). He will succeed Loney Antony.
- Indian Test Cricketer, Mayank Agarwal, appointed as Brand Ambassador of Aeronutrix’s Fast&Up Rope for the growth of the fast-moving healthcare goods business in India.
- A hyper-local connectivity app called “Bhonga” has been developed by Mumbai-based Company Linkus Infratech, to connect users to their neighborhood people in the city even without an Internet connection.
- The Governor of Reserve Bank of India, Shaktikanta Das launched the book “Indian Fiscal Federalism” authored by Dr. Y.V. Reddy and G.R. Reddy.
- Veteran journalist, academician, social worker and columnist Prafulla Rajguru has passed away at the age 82 due to hip injury in Jorhat, Assam.
1. Important Days
- National Vietnam War Veterans Day on March [latex]29^{th}[/latex] honors the men and women who served and sacrificed during the longest conflict in United States history.
- Theresa May will attempt to get MPs to back part of her Brexit deal later, on the day the UK was due to leave the EU.
- Ethiopia of a Boeing 737 Max have preliminarily concluded that a flight-control feature automatically activated before it crashed, the Wall Street Journal says.
- A memorial service has been held in Christchurch, New Zealand, and screened around the nation, to honour the 50 victims of the 15 March shootings.
- Norway has agreed to return thousands of artefacts taken from Chile's Easter Island by renowned Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl in 1956.
- Nearly a week after Thailand's election, the first since the coup of 2014, it remains unclear which party could form a government.
- At his first rally since the Mueller report was submitted, Donald Trump railed against his political opponents and reiterated his claim that the report was a "total exoneration".
- The Andhra Pradesh high court refused to stay the orders of Election Commission transferring the state intelligence chief and two superintendents of police, stating it could not interfere in the poll body’s jurisdiction.
- Fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi’s bail application will soon be heard in a UK court, in what will mark the beginning of case management hearings as part of extradition proceedings.
- Shyam Saran Negi exercised his franchise in Himachal Pradesh’s Kinnaur district in 1951, he created history by becoming Independent India’s first voter.
- Islamabad said it has found no links between militants detained during a recent crackdown and the February 14 suicide bombing in Pulwama, prompting New Delhi
- The National People’s Party candidate for the Aonglenden Assembly seat in Nagaland appeared in front of the district election officials and announced that he is withdrawing in favour of the ruling People’s Democratic Alliance.
- Rajasthan police booked a 31-year-old man identified as Naveen Swami slapping sedition charges against him for allegedly posting a death threat to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Facebook.
- The special court, which last week acquitted four people of the 2007 attack on the Peace Train between India and Pakistan, said it was deeply pained and anguished that a dastardly act of violence remained unpunished for want of credible and admissible evidence.
- Economist Jean Dreze was detained for two hours at Bishunpura in Jharkhand’s Garhwa district for organising a meeting without permission, police said.
- Punjab National Bank (PNB) has sold 13.01 per cent stake in PNB Housing Ltd (PNBHF) to General Atlantic Group and VardePartners for ₹1851.60 crore.
- Ahead of the merger of Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank with Bank of Baroda, the government has given the latter a booster shot, announcing a capital infusion of ₹5,042 crore.
- Adani Port and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ), a part of Gautam Adani-led Adani Group becomes the first Indian port operator to achieve a new record of handling 200 million tonnes (MT) cargo movement in 2018-19.
- Mandeep Singh continued his prolific form by scoring a brace as India mauled a hapless Poland 10-0 in their final league match of Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament in Ipoh
- The IOC says it has disqualified three athletes, including a bronze medalist weightlifter from Azerbaijan, for doping at the 2012 London Olympics.
- Russian boxing chief Umar Kremlev has offered to settle the International Boxing Federation’s (AIBA) $16 million debt if it is allowed to remain in charge at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics
- Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartya Sen has been honoured with the prestigious Bodley Medal, the highest honour bestowed by the University of Oxford’s world-famous Bodleian Libraries for his contribution in literature, culture, science, and communication.
- Delhi government school teacher, Manu Gulati has been honoured with the Martha Farrell award for Excellence in Women’s Empowerment 2019 in the Most Promising Individual category
- The Indian Green Building Council(IGBC) awarded the Gold Rating to Vijayawada railway station, which is known as the busiest railway junctions in India for Green Measures.
- Vice Admiral MA Hampiholi, AVSM NM has been appointed as Director General Naval Operations (DGNO). He will succeed Satish Namdeo Ghormade.
- Shri Abhay Thakur, a 1992 batch of Indian Foreign Service officer has been designated as the Ambassador of Benin.
- Vivek Gupta has assumed the charge of Director (Raw Material& Logistics) of Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL).
- Retired Justice DK Jain, ombudsman of the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) has been appointed as BCCI’s ad-hoc Ethics Officer till a permanent appointment takes place.
- An online insurance web aggregator, PolicyX.com has named Arjuna & Padmashree Awardee, cricketer Virender Sehwag as its brand ambassador.
- Astronomers from the University of Texas at Austin, in partnership with Google have discovered two hidden planets in the data collected by the Kepler space telescope.
- Telangana government has launched a digital business networking portal for Micro,Small and Medium Enterprises MSMEs – Telangana State GlobalLinker (ts-msme.globallinker.com).
- Belgian-born film-maker Agnes Varda has died at the age of 90. Her family told the AFP news agency she died at her home as a result of complications from cancer.
1. Important Days
- On March [latex]28^{th}[/latex], National Triglycerides Day shines a spotlight on one of the key factors to a healthy lifestyle.
- A huge blaze has broken out in a high-rise building in an upmarket commercial area of the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka.
- Iceland's Wow Air has stopped flights, stranding thousands of passengers. Its website says Wow Air has ceased operations and cancelled all flights. Wow says passengers needing to travel should book with other airlines.
- The furore underscores the delicate balance of regional tensions as the US steps up a push to find a way out of Afghanistan, more than 17 years after the invasion.
- The United States circulated a draft resolution to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) that would blacklist the leader of the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), Masood Azhar, as a terrorist, setting up a potential clash with China over the move.
- A British man wanted on drugs charges has been arrested off a remote island in Australia while trying to flee the country on a jet ski, authorities say.
- Malta and Italy said the migrants had hijacked the cargo ship after it rescued them in the Mediterranean Sea and forced the crew to put the Libya-bound vessel on a course north toward Europe.
- Pakistan also claims there are no links to nail the 54 people detained in connection with the Pulwama terror attack
- Noted Right to Food activist Jean Dreze and two others were detained on March [latex]28^{th}[/latex] by police in Jharkhand’s Garhwa district for organising a meeting without permission from district authorities.
- The Supreme Court recorded the undertaking given by the Election Commission of India (ECI) to conduct the by-elections to the vacant Aravakurichi, Ottapidaram and Tirupparankundram Assembly constituencies in Tamil Nadu within a “reasonable period”.
- Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi said the numerous tribunals, once meant to lighten the burden of high courts across the country, have now become virtually non-functional, crippled by a chronic lack of infrastructure, manpower and an irregular appointment mechanism.
- Hamara sankalp sharab mukt, dahej mukt bal-vivah mukt rashtra (our resolve liquor free, dowry free… child marriage free nation),” says a huge poll poster put up outside the JD(U) office in Patna
- The income department in a statement refuted charges of raids on any MP or MLA in Karnataka while urging people to not ‘politicize and trivialise’ the activities of the department.
- Maoists blew up the house of a former member of the Bihar Legislative Council (MLC) and BJP leader Anuj Kumar Singh in the state’s Gaya district late as they called for the boycott of Lok Sabha election 2019, police said.
- The North Delhi Municipal Corporation has floated a tender for remediation of the Bhalswa landfill on GT Karnal Road, the second biggest dump yard in the national capital after the one in Ghazipur in east Delhi.
- The RBI, said non-residents can undertake transactions in the rupee interest rate derivatives markets to hedge an exposure to rupee interest rate risk and for purposes other than hedging.
- The government has decided to infuse Rs 5,042 crore into state-owned Bank of Baroda (BoB) ahead of merger of two other public sector lenders Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank with BoB. The merger of Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank with BoB would be effective from April 1.
- JPMorgan Chase & Co is dismissing hundreds of workers in its asset and wealth-management division after a periodic review of staffing, according to a person briefed on the matter.
- Private sector lender ICICI Bank announced the launch of two instantaneous home loan facilities, one of which would enable instant and paperless home loan approval of up to ₹1 crore.
- International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach admitted that he’s a fan of breakdancing’s dizzy choreography as the street-wise discipline joined climbing, skateboarding and surfing in getting the provisional nod for the 2024 Paris Games.
- All-rounder Andre Russell smashed 48(17) and took two wickets to help KKR defeat KXIP and register their second successive win in the IPL 2019.
- Cristiano Ronaldo will undergo further tests in Turin as he battles to be fit for Juventus’s Champions League double header against Ajax after picking up a thigh injury on international duty for Portugal.
- Three scientists dubbed the "Godfathers of AI" have won the 2018 Turing Award, which carries a $1-million prize funded by Google. The trio are Facebook Chief AI Scientist Yann LeCun, Google researcher Geoffrey Hinton and Yoshua Bengio from University of Montreal.
- Mandeep Singh netted a hat-trick as India thrashed Canada 7-3 in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2019.
- Manchester United appointed Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as the club’s permanent manager on a three-year contract, following a highly successful caretaker spell in charge.
- Goa Minister for Tourism and Sports, Manohar Ajgaonkar has been appointed as the Deputy Chief Minister of the state.
- After successfully conducting an anti-satellite missile test, DRDO Chairman G Satheesh Reddy said that when the programme entered "mission mode" level six months ago, about 100 scientists worked round-the-clock to reach the intended launch date target
- Scientists are calling for a widespread cull of feral cats and dogs, pigs, goats, and rats and mice to save the endangered species they prey upon.
- Former Australian Spinner, Coach and commentator, Bruce Yardley died following a prolonged fight with Cancer at the age of 71.
- Veteran Malayalam writer and poet Ashita passed away at the age of 63 at a private hospital in Thrissur , Kerala after fighting a prolonged battle with cancer.
1. Important Days
- World Theatre Day is observed globally every year on [latex]27^{th}[/latex] March to generate awareness about the importance of theatre arts, how they played an important role in the field of entertainment and the changes that theatre brings in the life.
- MPs are preparing to vote for their preferred Brexit option, with the PM due to meet Tory backbenchers in an effort to win them over to her deal.
- A shadowy group committed to ousting North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un has claimed it was behind a raid last month at the North Korean embassy in Spain.
- A British man wanted on drugs charges has been arrested off a remote island in Australia while trying to flee the country on a jet ski, authorities say.
- A county in New York state has declared a state of emergency following a severe outbreak of measles.
- Yale University has revoked the admission of a student whose family is accused of spending $1.2m (£907,000) in a bribery scheme to ensure admittance.
- Cathay Pacific will buy low-cost carrier Hong Kong Express for $4.93bn Hong Kong dollars ($628m).
- Meng Hongwei, the former Chinese head of Interpol, will be prosecuted in his home country for allegedly taking bribes, China's Communist Party says.
- Speed limiting technology looks set to become mandatory for all vehicles sold in Europe from 2022, after new rules were provisionally agreed by the EU.
- Former JNUSU President and CPI candidate from Bihar's Begusarai, Kanhaiya Kumar, took to crowdfunding to support his election campaign.
- Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley dubbed the Opposition’s objection to the timing of announcement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi of ‘Mission Shakti’ as “clerical objections”.
- Kashmir’s strife-torn small towns, where night life has been missing for the past three decades, are witnessing a slow but steady transformation.
- Trinamool leader Mamata Banerjee said that the PM’s announcement of the successful completion of Mission Shakti was a violation of the poll code.
- A CBI team is likely to leave for London to assist local authorities in the extradition case of fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi whose bail plea will come for hearing before a court there, officials said.
- Goa chief minister Pramod Sawant dropped deputy CM Sudin Dhavalikar after two MLAs of the latter’s MGP broke away and joined the ruling BJP.
- The Election Commission is learnt to have decided to seek details of remarks made by Niti Aayog vice-chairman Rajiv Kumar in which he had attacked Congress over minimum income guarantee promise.
- Global energy-related carbon emissions rose to a record high last year as energy demand and coal use increased, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in a report that identified the United States, China and India as being the countries that accounted for 75% of the increase.
- Online insurance marketplace Policybazaar is expecting to more than double the sale of motor insurance policies, including private cars and two-wheelers, in FY20.
- The Indian rupee was trading marginally lower against the US dollar, tracking losses in Asian currencies market.
- Software firm Mindtree decided not to proceed with the buyback of shares of the company in a bid to counter Larsen & Toubro's (L&T) hostile takeover.
- England star Raheem Sterling has called on the Premier League to show the way to other European countries in the fight against racism.
- Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s success at Manchester United is partly due to the work of his predecessor Jose Mourinho, according to former Old Trafford chief Louis Van Gaal.
- Michael Phelps speaks on his preparations for the Olympics, his struggles with depression, and what he expects from the 2020 Tokyo Games
- CSK defeated DC by six wickets with two balls to spare at Delhi's Feroz Shah Kotla in IPL 2019 on Tuesday. This was CSK's 44th victory while batting second in IPL, with 25 of those victories coming in 20th over.
- Musicians have paid tribute to singer Roger Charlery, known as Ranking Roger, who has died at the age of 56.
- UAE's state-run oil company ADNOC has awarded the exploration rights for the Abu Dhabi Onshore Block 1 to an Indian consortium of Bharat Petroleum and Indian Oil.
- Shambhu S Kumaran a 1995 batch of Indian Foreign Service officer appointed as next India’s Ambassador to Kingdom of Morocco.
- Karur Vysya Bank appointed N S Srinath as Non-Executive Independent Chairman for a period of 3 years. The decision is subject to the approval of the Reserve Bank of India and the Shareholders of the Bank.
- Australian Graham Reid is set to be named the Indian men’s hockey team chief coach till the 2022 World Cup
- Indian Scientists successfully conducted Mission Shakti shooting down a live satellite target in the low earth orbit (LEO).
- The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) stated that its Hubble Space Telescope has captured the birth of a giant storm on Neptune.
- A social activist, Ghulam Nabi Rathar (aged 62years), of Manigam Kangan, Jammu and Kashmir passed away after brief illness.
1. International News
- The Pentagon has authorised the transfer of $1bn (£758m) to army engineers for new wall construction along the US-Mexico border.
- Thailand former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra has alleged that the election was plagued with "irregularities".
- A British Airways flight from London, destined for Dusseldorf in Germany, landed over 800 kilometres away in Scotland's Edinburgh by mistake due to incorrect flight paperwork.
- Trump with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu looking over his shoulder during a visit to Washington, signed a proclamation officially granting U.S. recognition of the Golan Heights as Israeli territory.
- Ride-hailing startup Ola has launched a fleet of auto rickshaws or 'Tuk Tuks', made by automakers Bajaj and Piaggio, in UK's Liverpool.
- China infused around $2.2 billion in Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves for imports and external debt repayments.
- Gaza militants fired rockets into southern Israel and Israeli aircraft carried out strikes in the Hamas-ruled territory overnight, though the level of violence appeared to abate after Palestinians said a ceasefire had been reached.
- A Singapore Airlines flight heading from Mumbai to Singapore with 263 passengers on board received a bomb threat, the carrier said.
- Nearly 30,000 world maps showing Arunachal Pradesh as a part of India and Taiwan as a separate country were destroyed by customs authorities in a northeastern Chinese city last week.
- The highly popular mass marriages organized by the Madhya Pradesh government’s social justice department has hit a road block this year; not because of any astrological reasons, but due to the imposition of the model code of conduct ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
- The Supreme Court pulled up the Election Commission (EC) for seemingly resisting a suggestion by opposition parties that the random physical verification of Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT)
- The three special observers appointed by the Election Commission (EC) to help it decide on holding assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir met top officials of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and state police here.
- Nirav Modi moved the Bombay high court (HC), challenging the decision of a special court to allow the auction of the artworks belonging to the jeweller, who has been arrested in London.
- IDBI Bank said its all-India Officers’ Association will observe a one-day nationwide hunger strike on March [latex]30^{th}[/latex], over various demands
- Most projects, that are in a hurry to get going, ignore their organization’s capability to absorb and implement new technology
- Naresh Goyal agreed to step down as Jet Airways chairman, giving in to pressure from creditors as the airline that he founded 25 years ago teetered on the edge of bankruptcy with thousands of jobs on the line.
- Virat Kohli’s coach takes fresh guard in Malta this would be a different kind of deep-dive for Rajkumar Sharma as he gets them ready for a tri-nation T20 tournament in Murcia, Spain, with the hosts and Estonia beginning.
- Captain Cristiano Ronaldo left the field with a thigh injury as Portugal drew 1-1 against Serbia in an Euro 2020 qualifier.
- India ace PV Sindhu feels it will be tough to manage the workload during the Olympic qualification year and emphasises on the need to pick and choose the right tournaments to stay fit ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Games.
- Peter Tabichi, a member of the Franciscan religious order has been conferred with the prestigious Global Teacher Prize for 2019 at a ceremony in Dubai hosted by Hollywood actor, Hugh Jackman.
- K. Govindaraj has been unanimously re-elected as president of the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) at its annual general-body meeting.
- Future Retail said it has reappointed Kishore Biyani as its Managing Director for a period of three years effective May[latex] 2^{nd}[/latex]. The 57-year-old, who founded Future Group in 1987, also serves as the Group CEO.
- Designer Paul Surridge announced that he will be resigning from his position as creative director at Italian fashion house Roberto Cavalli.
- Naresh Goyal, the founder of Jet Airways (India) Ltd, has resigned from the board of the troubled airline. Naresh Goyal, who has founded Jet Airways over two decades ago has resigned after a meeting with the airlines board of directors.
- A planned first all-female spacewalk has been cancelled because of spacesuit issues, US space agency Nasa says.
- US-based e-commerce platform eBay has partnered with Google to offer Google Pay as a form of payment option in its new “managed payments” plan.
- Kala Prapoorna awardee, Vinjamuri Anasuya Devi passed away at the age of 99 due to illness at Houston, USA. She was an eminent folk artist, radio commentator, harmonium player, music composer and author.
1. Important Days
- Celebrated around the world on March [latex]25^{th}[/latex], Tolkien Reading Day is a favorite of among fans of the renowned author.
- National Medal of Honor Day on March [latex]25^{th}[/latex] is dedicated to all Medal of Honor recipients. It was on March [latex]25^{th}[/latex], 1863, when the first Medals of Honor were presented.
- Special Counsel Robert Mueller did not find that Donald Trump or his campaign schemed with Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election, according to a summary released
- Almost a decade in the making, three years late and at an estimated cost of $434 million, Qatar’s vast national museum, built in the shape of a desert rose, opens this week.
- There is confusion in Thailand over the outcome of the first election in the country since the army took power in a coup in 2014.
- Seven people have been injured after a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip hit a house in central Israel, police say.
- New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has ordered a top-level inquiry into the Christchurch mosque attacks that left 50 people dead.
- A second cyclone within 48 hours has brought destructive winds and torrential rains to coastal regions of Australia.
- The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall have made history by becoming the first members of the royal family to visit Cuba in an official capacity.
- The Congress has promised to provide a monthly income of Rs. 72,000 per annum to the poorest families, if voted to power.
- The Indian Air Force (IAF) inducted the first batch of Chinook CH-47F(I) heavy lift helicopters. “The induction of the CH-47F(I) Chinooks is an asset to the Indian Air Force’s airlift capabilities,” said Air Chief Marshal B.S. Dhanoa at the induction.
- Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh has sparked a row saying BJP should emerge victorious and "we are all BJP workers".
- After Sushma Swaraj tweeted to Indian High Commission in Pakistan asking for report of two Hindu girls being allegedly abducted, Pakistan Minister Fawad Chaudhry tweeted it was Pakistan's internal issue.
- Commenting on the name of BJP MP from Gandhinagar, LK Advani, not featuring in BJP’s first list of candidates, Union Minister Uma Bharati said it was on Advani to "clear the mist.
- Air India has decided to withdraw the boarding passes with photographs of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani after a passenger complained about saying it was in violation of the model code of conduct.
- Indian Air Force (IAF) chief BS Dhanoa said that Rafale jets will the best combat aircraft in the Indian sub-continent and once these are inducted, Pakistan won’t dare to come near the Line of Control (LoC) or the international border.
- There has been a multi-fold increase in digital payments over the past years according to Reserve Bank of India Governor, Shaktikanta Das.
- Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das said he will be meeting heads of payments banks later this week to understand their issues and concerns.
- The mortgage finance sector has been considered as one of the safest bets for financiers in the last few years
- India has moved up two places to rank 76th on a global energy transition index, which has ranked 115 economies on how well they are able to balance energy security and access with environmental sustainability and affordability.
- The finance ministry and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said liquidity situation of the economy is comfortable and it will be boosted further by Rs 35,000 crore through the rupee-dollar swap window.
- South Korea's Jonghyun Jang scored in the last minute to salvage a 1-1 draw against India in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2019.
- Delhi Capitals beat Mumbai Indians by 37 runs in the Indian Premier League 2019 after scoring this season's first 200-plus total.
- G. Sathiyan had a very narrow chance of turning it around but could not overcome a tough Mattias Flack of Sweden in the men singles semi-finals of the ITTF Challenge Plus Oman Open.
- Suresh Raina, a batsman of Chennai Super Kings became the first batsman to make a record by surpassing 5,000 runs in the Indian Premier League in Chennai.
- Chief Justice of Chhattisgarh High Court A K Tripathi resigned from the post after he got appointed as the Member of the Lokpal and P K Mishra appointed as acting Chief Justice.
- Scientists have unearthed a trove of thousands of fossils estimated to be 518 million years old on a river bank in China's Hubei province in a finding they called "mind-blowing".
- Italy’s new Earth-observation satellite named PRISMA (Precursore Iperspettrale della Missione Applicativa) launched from the Guiana Space Centre by 98 foot (30 meters) tall Vega rocket which was developed by the joint venture of Italian Space Agency and the European Space Agency.
- Former Chief Election Commissioner of India Navin Chawla’s book ‘Every Vote Counts’ was launched by former Vice President of India, Hamid Ansari in New Delhi.
1. Important Days
- World Tuberculosis Day, observed on [latex]24^{th}[/latex] March each year, is designed to build public awareness about the global epidemic of tuberculosis and efforts to eliminate the disease.
- US congressional leaders are awaiting conclusions from Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report into alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, with early findings expected
- Pakistan PM Imran Khan has ordered an investigation into the alleged abduction, forced conversion and marriages of two minor Hindu girls in Sindh province, Information Minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said.
- Indonesian logistics startup Kargo Technologies has raised $7.6 million in seed funding from investors including Sequoia Capital India and Uber Co-founder Travis Kalanick's 10100 Fund.
- Speaking at the China Development Forum in Beijing, Apple CEO Tim Cook encouraged China to keep opening up its economy.
- The two mosques in New Zealand's Christchurch city that were targeted in the terror attack earlier this month, were reopened to worshippers
- The towering Tyrannosaurus rex discovered in western Canada in 1991 is the world’s biggest, a team of paleontologists following a decades-long process of reconstructing its skeleton.
- An Army jawan was killed in firing by Pakistani troops along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district, officials said.
- The winner of a Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) lottery has surrendered his prize-winning costly flat in Mumbai citing bad ‘vaastu’.
- External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has asked Indian High Commissioner in Pakistan to send a report on the abduction and conversion of two Hindu girls in Pakistan's Sindh province.
- The Communist Party of India (CPI) announced former President of the JNU Students' Union Kanhaiya Kumar as its candidate from Bihar's Begusarai for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Kumar will be the joint candidate of the Left parties from the district.
- Vice President Venkaiah Naidu called upon the youth to strive to build a new India which is “free of fear, corruption, hunger, discrimination, illiteracy, poverty, caste barriers and urban-rural divide.”
- RBI has postponed the implementation of Indian Accounting Standards by the banks for the second straight year. It said necessary legislative amendments are still under consideration by the government.
- Reliance Industries has said that it reduced its purchases of Venezuelan crude oil to well below its contracted levels. In 2012, Reliance signed a 15-year deal to buy between 300,000 to 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) of heavy crude from Venezuela.
- Government outreached its disinvestment target of Rs 80,000 crore for the current financial year (2018-19) by Rs 5,000 crore.
- Sergio Ramos scored a second-half penalty to help Spain beat a spirited Norway 2-1 in their opening Euro 2020 qualifier, while teenage striker Moise Kean netted in Italy’s win over Finland.
- Sri Lanka’s limited-overs captain Lasith Malinga says he is ready to sacrifice his earnings from the lucrative Indian Premier League (IPL) in order to win a place in the country’s World Cup squad.
- India defeated Asian Games gold medallist Japan 2-0 to start their campaign at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament on a positive
- The forest certification scheme ‘Certification Standard for Sustainable Forest Management (SFM)’ developed by the Network for Certification and Conservation of Forest (NCCF) got global recognition by a Geneva based non-profit firm.
- Rear Admiral Sanjay Jasjit Singh, NM took over as the Western Fleet Commander, the “Sword Arm” of the Indian Navy. He will succeed Rear Admiral MA Hampiholi, AVSM, NM who has been appointed as Director General Naval Operations in the rank of Vice Admiral.
- INLD leader Abhay Chautala resigned from the post of Leader of Opposition in Haryana Assembly and sought disqualification of five "rebel" MLAs for alleged anti-party activities.
- BJP appointed Union Minister Uma Bharti as its National Vice-President. Bharti, an MP from Jhansi seat, was given the post after she conveyed to the leadership her wish to not contest the upcoming general elections
- Scientists say they have discovered a "stunning" trove of thousands of fossils on a river bank in China.
- Two NASA astronauts successfully carried out a nearly seven-hour-long spacewalk for a battery swap mission on International Space Station (ISS).
1. Important Days
- The World Meteorological Organization commemorates the coming into force of the Convention establishing the World Meteorological Organization on [latex]23^{rd}[/latex] March 1950.
- The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) says the Islamic State's five-year "caliphate" is over after the militants were defeated in Syria.
- Special Counsel Robert Mueller has submitted his long-awaited report on alleged collusion between Russia and President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign.
- US President Donald Trump ordered the withdrawal of additional sanctions against North Korea, with officials saying he was referring to future sanctions.
- US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) 'improperly' shared private data of around 23 lakh hurricane and wildfire survivors to an outside contractor.
- The US Department of Defence announced that all Islamic State-held territories in Syria have been 100% eliminated.
- US President Donald Trump has said that he's ready to meet the new Pakistani leadership, calling the current relations between the two countries
- Senior Congress leader and former Madhya Pradesh CM Digvijaya Singh will contest Lok Sabha elections from Bhopal seat, which has seen BJP candidates winning for nearly 30 years.
- The West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) has removed Congress' name from its logo, 21 years after Mamata left the Congress to form her own party.
- The Indian contingent consists of two Tejas fighters, a C-130J Super Hercules special operations plane, an IL-76 heavy lifter, 27 officers, 42 air warriors and 11 personnel from the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.
- The central government banned the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), led by Yasin Malik, for allegedly funnelling funds into militancy and fomenting terrorism, in a move condemned by both separatist and political groups in the troubled Kashmir valley.
- Jammu and Kashmir’s Kupwara district was detained evening from outside the Pakistan High Commission in central Delhi, police said.
- Affluent Indians’ spending on high-end fashion and electronics has grown, and even surpassed jewellery spends, finds a report.
- Former Samajwadi Party MP Bal Kumar Patel joined Congress in the presence of party president Rahul Gandhi and Congress General Secretary for eastern Uttar Pradesh Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
- The NDA in Bihar, consisting of BJP, JD(U) and Lok Janshakti Party announced the names of candidates for 39 out of 40 Lok Sabha seats in the state.
- Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said the government exceeded its disinvestment target for the current fiscal by ₹5,000 crore and the proceeds have touched ₹85,000 crore.
- SBI Life Insurance has done with its new, digital initiative for breast cancer. SBI Life teamed up with WatConsult, digital agency from Dentsu Aegis Network, to leverage multiple digital platforms.
- The Reserve Bank of India said latethat legislative amendments needed to implement the new Indian Accounting Standards are still under consideration by the government.
- The ICC has allowed Test-playing nations to have the players sport their names and numbers on their jerseys.
- The Indian women's football team won the SAFF Women's Championship title for the fifth straight time with a 3-1 win over Nepal in the final
- India defeated Asian Games gold medallist Japan 2-0 to start their campaign at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament on a positive note
- Sri Lankan limited overs captain Lasith Malinga will retire from international cricket after next year’s Twenty20 World Cup
- The “100 Most Influential People in Climate Policy” list is comprised of seven Indian names including Union Ministers Piyush Goyal and Dr Harsh Vardhan, who took important measures to combat climate change.
- India’s fastest growing payments platform PhonePe appointed Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan as its brand Ambassador.
- Actor Benedict Cumberbatch was appointed as the brand ambassador of Morris Garages (MG Motors) for its India operation.
- The government has appointed Vice Admiral Karambir Singh as the next Chief of Naval Staff.
- Russia has entered a new space competition focused on human spaceflight and deep space exploration, said Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin.
- Xiaomi launched Mi Pay, a UPI (Unified Payments Interface) Based mobile payment service in India to send money from one bank account to another or between UPI (Unified Payments Interface) accounts.
- Karnataka minister CS Shivalli passed away in Hubballi following a massive cardiac arrest. Shivalli, a close associate of former CM Siddaramaiah, was elected from Kundgol assembly seat and was made minister for municipal administration.
1. Important Days
- International World Water Day is held annually on [latex]22^{nd}[/latex]March as a means of focusing attention on the importance of freshwater and advocating for the sustainable management of freshwater resources.
- Sri Lanka could slip back into conflict unless it addressed the "worst crimes" during the final stages of its ethnic war, warns Michelle Bachelet
- The British parliament has been deadlocked for months over Brexit, with MPs unable to decide how to implement the result of the 2016 referendum, and voters themselves are also sharply divided.
- The presence of an extra pilot may help investigators determine how some 737 Max flight crews faced with the malfunction have been able to avert disaster while the others lost control of their planes and crashed.
- Dutch prosecutors have said that they will charge the chief suspect in shooting in a tram in Netherlands' Utrecht with offences including multiple murder or manslaughter with a terrorist intent.
- North Korea has withdrawn from the inter-Korean liaison office which was opened amid a warming of ties last year to facilitate talks with the South.
- The Syrian government condemned on Friday US President Donald Trump’s statement that it was time to recognise Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights and said Syria was determined to recover the area “through all available means”.
- The Enforcement Directorate (ED) imposed a penalty of Rs 14.4 lakh on Jammu & Kashmir separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani for illegally possessing foreign exchange of around $10,000, officials told PTI.
- Sam Pitroda, the Indian Overseas Congress chief, questioned the Balakot airstrikes which were carried out after the Pulwama terror attack and asked the government if they really targeted 300 terrorists.
- Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said the sacrifices of the Indian Armed Forces should never be questioned and the ruling government needs to stop pretending to be the Indian Army.
- After Assam Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma was not named in BJP's Lok Sabha candidates' list, BJP President Amit Shah said that the party leadership wants him to focus on North-East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) and his current responsibilities.
- BJP leader and sitting MP from Gujarat’s Gandhinagar, LK Advani, didn't feature in BJP’s first list of 184 candidates for the Lok Sabha elections.
- The Congress demanded an independent probe into a media report that alleged former chief minister BS Yeddyurappa had paid bribes running into hundreds of crores of rupees to senior BJP leaders.
- India has been one of the fastest growing large economies in the world, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said.
- India will not send any official representative to the Pakistan National Day event at the Pakistan Mission in New Delhi.
- An SBI-led consortium reportedly wants Jet Airways Founder and Chairman Naresh Goyal to reduce his stake in the airline to 10% from the current 51%.
- Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das’s decision to allow some weak state-run banks to resume lending is a “short-sighted" approach in Oxford Economics Ltd.’s view.
- Banks are buying state bonds and moving them to the so-called held-to-maturity group. India’s $807 billion sovereign-debt market is battling poor demand and increased volatility ahead of Lok Sabha polls
- Fitch Ratings cut India’s economic growth forecast for the next financial year starting April 1, to 6.8 per cent from its previous estimate of 7 per cent, on weaker than expected momentum in the economy.
- Renewable Energy Capacity in India, Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed a loan agreement of USD50 million in India’s renewable energy producer company Avaada Energy Private Limited (AEPL)
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated all the participating athletes after India returned home with an impressive medal haul of 368 at the recently-concluded Special Olympics World Games in Abu Dhabi.
- Australian fast bowling great Glenn McGrath picked India and England as the favourites to win the upcoming World Cup and said that the bowling unit will hold key to the fortunes of Virat Kohli’s men in the 50-over showpiece.
- India’s number one singles player, Prajnesh Gunneswaran, beat Jay Clarke in straight sets to make the main draw of the Miami Open, his second straight Masters appearance.
- Roland Garros remains the Grand Slam event with the least prize money on offer for the winners, some way short of the $3.8 million claimed by last year’s US Open champions.
- Brazilian physicist and astronomer Marcelo Gleiser won the 2019 Templeton Prize, worth $1.4m for combining science and spirituality in his work.
- Chennai City FC crowned as the l–League Champion and an important person in All India Football Federation (AIFF) in Chennai. Meghalaya based professional Football Club Shillong Lajong won the Fair Play Award.
- former India hockey captain Sardar Singh along with 13 Indian Olympic Association (IOA) members, have been named in various Standing Committees with of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) at its 38th General Assembly which held in Bangkok.
- NASA released an image of the 500-metre-wide asteroid Bennu, the smallest celestial object ever orbited, revealing it is shooting particles into space.
- NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope and the National Science Foundation’s Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) discovered pulsar hurtling through space.
- The 1971 India-Pakistan war hero, Captain M.N. Samant of the Indian Navy, passed away at the Bharatiya Arogya Nidhi Hospital in Juhu at the age of 89 years due to cardiac arrest.
1. Important Days
- World Poetry Day is celebrated on [latex]21^{st}[/latex] March, and was declared by UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) in 1999.
- The International Day of Forests was established on the [latex]21^{st}[/latex] day of March, by resolution of the United Nations General Assembly on November [latex]28^{th}[/latex], 2012.
- Aid agencies are scrambling to reach survivors of Cyclone Idai in Mozambique as the full scale of the disaster becomes clear.
- The Nicaraguan government has agreed to release all opposition prisoners within 90 days in a bid to restart stalled peace talks.
- Criticising Imran Khan-led government, former Pakistan PM Benazir Bhutto's son Bilawal Bhutto has said he doesn't believe that the government has taken action against banned outfits and their leaders like Masood Azhar and Hafiz Saeed.
- New Zealand Police Commissioner Mike Bush has revealed that the terrorist, who carried out shootings in two Christchurch mosques killing 50, was arrested within 21 minutes.
- The United States has asked Pakistan to take sustained, verifiable and irreversible action against the perpetrators of terrorism, while warning the country that another terror attack on India will prove to be “extremely problematic”.
- New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern announced an immediate ban on the sale of assault rifles and semi-automatics nearly a week after the terror attack on mosques in Christchurch that killed 50 people.
- The UK has returned a 3,000-year-old stone 'kudurru', which supposedly places a curse on anyone who tries to destroy it, to Iraq. The stone was likely stolen during the Iraq War.
- Europe's first underwater restaurant opened in Norway, which looks like a large concrete tube partly submerged in the North Sea.
- British Prime Minister Theresa May has asked the European Union to delay Brexit until June 30. May said she would present her Brexit deal to the Parliament for the third time, and if it was passed the delay would give time to implement it.
- Italy is set to join China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), with the two countries expected to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) during President Xi Jinping's visit to Rome this week.
- An Army jawan was killed in ceasefire violation by Pakistani troops along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district.
- West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee said that the arrest of fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi was a "got-up match" and happened as it is election time in India.
- Two policemen, including an officer, were injured in a grenade attack by militants in Sopore township of Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir police said.
- Barely a year after the discovery of the world’s longest sandstone cave Krem Puri in Mawsynram region of Meghalaya’s East Khasi Hills district, now a cave with the deepest shaft in the country has been discovered.
- An Indian-origin businessman has been sentenced to two-and-a-half years in federal prison for orchestrating an USD 1.3 million Ponzi scheme that caused losses to more than 40 victims.
- Nirav Modi, arrested by Scotland Yard on behalf of the Indian authorities, will be held at a prison in south-west London considered one of England’s most overcrowded jails.
- Indian-origin Jagmeet Singh made his debut in Canada's House of Commons as the first non-white leader of a major opposition party in the country.
- Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad accused the Congress of spreading "falsehoods" on the employment data. Citing the data by Nasscom, he added that the IT sector has created 8.73 lakh jobs in the past five years.
- Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said that the BJP is bringing fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi back to India for the Lok Sabha elections and will send him back after the elections.
- Former SBI chief Arundhati Bhattacharya has said state-run banks cannot look to the government "every time" for capital and have to "garner it themselves if they wish to grow".
- As non-performing assets surge, lenders reluctant to shell out ₹3,200-4,800 crore to introduce lockable cassettes in ATMs
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has turned down IDBI Bank's proposal to change its name following the transfer of 51% stake to LIC.
- The 'private lender' tag to IDBI Bank has forced more than 60 assistant managers of the bank to approach the High Court of Kerala seeking direction for transfer to other nationalised/ public sector banks (PSBs).
- India’s number one singles player, Prajnesh Gunneswaran, beat Jay Clarke in straight sets to make the main draw of the Miami Open, his second straight Masters appearance.
- Star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra was named to lead a 39-member Indian athletics team for next month’s Asian Championships in Doha, with sprint sensation Hima Das also making the cut in 400m despite her recent below-par show.
- Saina Nehwal pulled out of the Indian Open BWF World Tour Super 500 which begins, after failing to recover from an acute gastroenteritis problem.
- Hindi writer Leeladhar Jagudi honoured with Vyas Samman 2018 for his collection of poems “Jitne Log Utne Prem”. He also authored several poetry anthologies. The award carries an amount of Rs. 4 lakhs and it was started by K K Birla foundation in 1991.
- Indian psychologist professor Ashis Nandy, who was Former director of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) and co-founder of the postcolonial theory, has been chosen for the Hans-Kilian Award 2019 which carries an amount of 80,000 Euros.
- Prominent Indian-American lawyer Neomi Jehangir Rao (45) has been sworn in as US Circuit Judge for the powerful District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals, replacing the controversial Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
- Election Commission of India (EC) appointed Mumbai social worker and a transgender activist, Gauri Sawant as one of the 12 election ambassadors from the state.
- President Nursultan Nazarbayev announced his resignation after nearly three decades in power and the head of Kazakhstan’s senate Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, 65 took the place as interim president of Kazakhstan.
- Three US-based researchers from NASA, US Army and Los Alamos National Laboratory have shared a new ideology, saying that Mercury is closest to the Earth and every other planet in the Solar System, based on average distance.
- The full Moon on March [latex]21^{st}[/latex] would also be the last Super moon of the year and coincides with Northern Hemisphere's Spring Equinox, as per Indian Standard Time (IST).
- Ruling AIADMK MLA R Kanagaraj died of a massive heart attack at his residence here party sources said.
1. Important Days
- World Sparrow Day is a day designated to raise awareness of the house sparrow and then other common birds to urban environments, and of threats to their populations, observed on [latex]20^{th}[/latex] March.
- Germany has initiated a move at the European Union to designate Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist, days after China blocked a bid at the United Nations to ban him, diplomatic sources said.
- U.S. President Donald Trump said that the United States could impose harsher sanctions on Venezuela in its campaign to outs President Nicolas Maduro.
- New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has called for a global fight to root out racist right-wing ideology following last week's deadly attack on two mosques in Christchurch.
- Cyclone Idai has triggered a "massive disaster" in southern Africa affecting hundreds of thousands if not millions of people, the UN has said.
- Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates, once the world’s richest person, has again eclipsed the $100 billion threshold, joining Amazon.com Inc.’s Jeff Bezos in the exclusive club, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
- Hong Kong plans to build one of the world’s largest artificial islands with an eye-watering $79 billion price tag, city officials announced.
- A US jury has found that one of the world's most widely-used weedkillers was a "substantial factor" in causing a man's cancer.
- The US government has ordered a review of the way Boeing's 737 Max aircraft got its licence to fly. It comes after two crashes in five months, amid suggestions from experts that there were "clear similarities" between the disasters.
- Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison condemned "reckless" and "highly offensive" comments made by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the wake of the Christchurch massacre, warning he would consider "all options" in reviewing ties.
- Bahujan Samaj Party chief and former Uttar Pradesh CM Mayawati has announced she'll not contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, citing "current political situation".
- Indian ambassador Vikram Misri also virtually ruled out any Indian participation in next month’s high-profile second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF).
- Union Minister Kiren Rijiju has criticised Congress President Rahul Gandhi alleging that Arunachal Pradesh had remained the "most backward" state due to his party's "misrule".
- Some Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leaders from Bathinda want sitting MP and Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal to contest from the parliamentary segment again, even as the party leadership is indecisive over her candidature from there.
- The Punjab and Haryana high court upheld the death sentence awarded to seven men for the gangrape and murder of a mentally challenged woman in Rohtak in 2015.
- Parvathy Baul narrated, sang and danced to stories about a world free of the shackles of religion and finding bliss in a simple and carefree life. Anando (happiness) was an integral part of her Bengali renditions.
- Integral Coach Factory (ICF) Chennai has overtaken China's largest coach manufacturing unit to become the largest rail coach maker in the world.
- Sabarimala Ayyappa Seva Samajam (SASS) has claimed that fake identity cards are being issued to women pilgrims to help them enter Kerala's Sabarimala temple.
- The US State department has taken note of uncertain future of four million individuals in Assam who were not included in the draft NRC.
- The Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and various social media organisations, at a meeting with the Election Commission, agreed to formulate a “Code of Ethics” for online platforms.
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has turned down IDBI Bank's proposal to change its name following the transfer of controlling 51 per cent stake to insurance behemoth LIC from the government of India.
- The All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) has urged the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to reconsider its decision to categorise IDBI Bank as a private sector bank.
- The State Bank of India (SBI) will auction non-performing assets (NPAs) amounting to ₹6,169 crore in the next 10 days to recover its dues from various defaulting business outfits.
- Exim Bank has, so far, been largely a debt provider with practically no exposure to equity funding of projects
- The country’s largest lender SBI said it has signed a pact with the Bank of China to boost business opportunities.
- Asian Games gold-medallist Amit Panghal will be making his competitive debut in the 52kg category while Shiva Thapa (60kg) will eye a record-breaking fourth successive medal after the duo found a place in the Indian men’s boxing team for the Asian Championships, next month.
- Lee Chong Wei was advised by doctors against putting “undue stress” on his recovering body, the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) said in a statement late, after the 36-year-old travelled to Taiwan at the weekend for a post-treatment check-up.
- Paris St Germain have won a legal battle against UEFA after European football’s governing body tried to reopen its investigation into the French club’s spending on transfer fees and wages.
- Tsunekazu Takeda, the head of Japan's Olympic Committee (JOC), is stepping down over corruption allegations relating to the awarding of the 2020 Games to Tokyo.
- University of Texas professor Karen Uhlenbeck has become the first woman to win the Abel Prize, a mathematics honour first given in 2003.
- Actress Priyanka Chopra has been named in USA Today's 50 Most Powerful Women In Entertainment list.
- A research scholar from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi, Mohammad Adnan, has been selected for the 69th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting taking place in Lindau, Germany this year.
- President Ram Nath Kovind awarded Shaurya Chakra to 16-year-old Irfan Ramzan Sheikh for fighting militants who attacked his residence in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir.
- Indian journalist, author and chief of The Wire, ‘Raghu Karnad’ received the prestigious Windham-Autgor RaghuCampbell prize of USD 165,000 for his debut book.
- Ex-Supreme Court judge Pinaki Chandra Ghose has been appointed as India's first Lokpal (anti-corruption ombudsman). Ghose, who had retired from Supreme Court in May 2017, is also a member of the National Human Rights Commission.
- Rear Admiral Krishna Swaminathan, VSM, has assumed charge as Flag Officer Sea Training (FOST) at Kochi Prior to assuming charge as FOST, the Admiral was the Chief Staff Officer (Training) at Headquarters Southern Naval Command and played a key role in the conduct of all training in the Indian Navy
- Fortis Healthcare said it has appointed Ashutosh Raghuvanshi as the hospital chain's MD and CEO with immediate effect for a period of three years. Raghuvanshi will be responsible for the company's day-to-day management decisions and implementing its long and short-term plans, it added.
- A natural biopolymer, chitosan (a kind of polysaccharide obtained from a chitin shell such as the shrimp’s), which is water-soluble, has been chemically modified by researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)
- US-based internet satellite startup One Web has raised $1.25 billion for mass production of satellites, weeks after successfully launching its first six of the initial 650 satellites.
- Indian Institute of Public Health Gandhinagar, Gujarat, (IIPHG) in collaboration with National Mental Health Program, Department of Health and Family Welfare, Government of Gujarat has developed a mobile application called as ‘Conquer Exam, Be a Warrior’ for students to reduce the exam pressure.
- Former Supreme Court judge Justice Satya Brata Sinha passed away at the age of 75, following age-related ailments, his family said. He was appointed as a judge of the SC in October 2002 and had retired in August 2009.
1. International News
- New Zealand’s cabinet agreed on measures to tighten gun control laws “in principle” just days after a deadly mass shooting killed more than 50 people.
- China said it would discuss the deterioration in ties between New Delhi and Islamabad with the visiting foreign minister of Pakistan, as part of a broader diplomatic push to ease tensions in South Asia.
- Police have arrested a Turkish man suspected of shooting dead three people and wounding five on a tram in the Dutch city of Utrecht
- Hawaii would be the first state in the US to ban most plastics at restaurants under legislation that aims to cut down on waste that pollutes the ocean.
- The Theresa May government has often mentioned links with India as a key focus in a post-Brexit United Kingdom, but the revised Home Office list of countries whose students are allowed easier UK visa norms excludes India again.
- Singapore, Paris and Hong Kong share the title of the world's most expensive city, according to The Economist Intelligence Unit's (EIU) Worldwide Cost of Living Survey.
- The J-10 fighter jets of the Chinese air force will participate in Pakistan’s National Day parade on March [latex]23^{rd}[/latex], state-media reported
- Fair Lawn resident Harry Krame says he checked out “The Family Book Of Verse” by Lewis Gannet from his school library when he was 13 and Lyndon Johnson was president.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi will interact with those who have pledged to be part of the “Main Bhi Chowkidar”campaign on March [latex]31^{st}[/latex], Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said.
- The Enforcement Directorate (ED) told a Delhi court that they required Robert Vadra for custodial interrogation in a money laundering case.
- The Gujarat government refused sanction to prosecute retired police officers who are accused in the Ishrat Jahan encounter case, the Central Bureau of Investigation said
- In an announcement that goes against India’s steady official narrative, the envoy of the United Arab Emirates declared that his country has played a major role in de-escalating tension between India and Pakistan after the Pulwama terror attack and Balakot strike.
- The closure of Pakistan’s airspace, since the Indian Air Force (IAF) strikes in Balakot on February 26, has affected international flights to and from India over the last 20 days, with Air India being a major victim.
- The Congress high command announced a co-ordination committee for Haryana under the chairmanship of former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.
- Tripura BJP vice-president Subal Bhowmik quit the saffron party and is set to join the Congress, which is expected to nominate him as party candidate in West Tripura Lok Sabha constituency.
- India has issued a Note Verbale to Pakistan Foreign Ministry saying Pakistani agencies are "harassing and tailing" Indian diplomats in Islamabad again.
- Kotak Realty Fund has launched a $400 million fund which will partner with Bengaluru-based DivyaSree Developers to develop and acquire commercial office assets across India.
- The 34th GST Council meeting will consider implementation of lower Goods and Service Tax (GST) rates for real estate sector, sources said.
- A marginal 2.44% increase in exports as well as lower imports of gold and petroleum products, significantly narrowed the country’s trade deficit to $9.6 billion, according to data released by the Commerce Ministry.
- The average financial assets of 153 re-elected Lok Sabha MPs grew by 142%, from ₹5.5 crore in 2009 to ₹13.32 crore in 2014, according to an analysis by National Election Watch and the Association for Democratic Reforms.
- The HDFC Bank scrip gained 0.44 per cent and closed at ₹2,261.45 apiece on the BSE. Private sector lender HDFC Bank has relaunched the upgraded version of its mobile banking application (app), which was pulled down weeks after its launch in November.
- Exim Bank said it has given a loan of USD 83.11 million to Congo to finance three solar power projects in the central African country.
- Senior officials from the Reserve Bank of India met about two dozen bankers for feedback on the central bank's new cash infusion tool, according to two bankers who attended the meeting.
- Roger Federer departed Indian Wells empty-handed for a second straight year, but the Swiss great sees no reason he can’t get back on track at the Miami Masters.
- Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has paid BCCI approximately $1.6 million (₹11 crore) as compensation after losing the case it filed against the Indian board.
- The BCCI has agreed to work with the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) for the next six months on a trial basis.
- Germany coach Joachim Loew hopes to prove his critics wrong and open 2019 with a win when his new-look team host Serbia in a friendly in Wolfsburg.
- Asia’s richest man and Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani topped Forbes’ the World’s Richest Sports Team Owners 2019 list.
- A teen pianist from Chennai Lydian Nadhaswaram won a million dollars for his performance on the American reality show ‘The World’s Best’.
- C Prem Kumar who is a Cinematographer-turned-director, will be awarded with [latex]22^{nd}[/latex] Gollapudi Srinivas National Award for his debut film Tamil ‘96’ on[latex] 12^{th}[/latex] August 2019 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
- Pramod Sawant (45), former Speaker of the Goa legislative Assembly and BJP MLA from Sankhelim in north Goa, was on early morning sworn in as the 11th Chief Minister of Goa
- Elon Musk has tweeted a video of a test conducted on SpaceX's Starship space rocket's heat shields. Musk tweeted that the white-hot parts, seen in the video, reached temperatures of around 1377°C, similar to orbital entry temperatures.
- A NASA study has found that dormant herpes viruses reactivated in over half the astronauts aboard the Space Shuttle and International Space Station missions. It is a result of immune system suppression known to be caused by stress hormones secreted during spaceflight.
- Veteran Bengali actor, Chinmoy Roy who was known for his portrayal of comic characters, passed away at his salt lake residence following Cardiac arrest at the age of 79./li>
1. Important Days
- Ordnance Factories Day is observed all over India on [latex]18^{th}[/latex] March every year. The production of the oldest Ordnance Factory of India, which is located at Cossipore, Kolkata was commenced on [latex]18^{th}[/latex] March 1802.
- Saudi Arabia has said that 'OPEC’s job in rebalancing the oil market was far from done as global inventories were still rising despite harsh U.S. sanctions on Iran and Venezuela, signalling it may need to expand output cuts into the second half of 2019'.
- New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern has said she will announce detailed gun law reforms within days, after an attack on two mosques left 50 people dead.
- Cyclone Idai has had a "massive and horrifying" impact on Mozambique's port city of Beira, the Red Cross says.
- Two subway trains have collided during a new signal system test in Hong Kong, halting services and threatening travel disruption for millions of commuters.
- Israel's Supreme Court has disqualified the leader of the far-right Jewish Power party, Michael Ben-Ari, from next month's elections.
- Police have raided two homes in Australia as part of the investigation into the attacks on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand.
- The New Zealand arms dealer who sold weapons to the suspected mosque attacker said he felt no responsibility for the deaths of 50 worshippers who were gunned down.
- National Conference vice president and former J-K chief minister Omar Abdullah chose PDP stronghold of south Kashmir to kick-start the mass contact programme as the party organised a rally at Khanabal in Anantnag district of the militancy infested region.
- National Conference president Farooq Abdullah said announced that his son, Omar Abdullah, will be the party’s chief ministerial candidate in Jammu and Kashmir.
- The tug boat “Revati” was carrying seven persons and a Coast Guard helicopter and an inshore patrol vessel, and personnel from the Mumbai police’s coastal unit were deployed for the rescue effort, he informed.
- Actor Sumalatha Ambareesh announced that she will contest the elections from the Mandya Lok Sabha constituency as an Independent candidate.
- The process of filing nominations for the Lok Sabha elections began in Telangana which goes to the polls in the first phase on April [latex]11^{th}[/latex].
- Goa Congress leader Chandrakant Kavlekar said since his party has staked claim to form the government in the state, the Assembly cannot be kept in suspended animation.
- The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur will adopt Amazon Web Services (AWS) Educate programme to help students gain cloud computing skills including hands-on experience in artificial intelligence (AI).
- The IDBI Bank’s proposal for changing its name has not found any favour from the Reserve Bank of India, sources said.
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has prohibited India's largest mortgage lender HDFC from owning more than the regulatory limit in Bandhan Bank.
- Jammu and Kashmir Bank said it proposes to sell its stake in PNB Metlife India to private equity player Oman India Joint Investment Fund II for ₹ 185 crore.
- Deutsche Bank was set on Sunday to confirm merger talks with Commerzbank , according to a person with knowledge of the matter, an indication that efforts to combine Germany's two largest lenders are gaining pace.
- The meeting is likely to deliberate only the transition provision and related issues for the implementation of lower GST rates for the real estate sector.
- Mastercard Inc. is concerned that India’s strict data localisation rules could compromise its ability to detect frauds and money laundering in the domestic payments system.
- An elated Bengaluru FC skipper Sunil Chhetri termed his team’s maiden Indian Super League victory against FC Goa as a “sweet one” especially after his side had faltered in the summit clash last season against Chennaiyin FC.
- Dominic Thiem claimed his first Masters 1000 title after coming from a set down to defeat Roger Federer 3-6 6-3 7-5 and win the BNP Paribas Open on Sunday in Indian Wells.
- A 12-member Indian shooting contingent will vie for a total of eight Tokyo Olympics quota places when it open its campaign at the ISSF Shotgun World Cup to be held in Acapulco, Mexico from March [latex]19^{th}[/latex] to [latex]26^{th}[/latex].
- Indian shuttler Sai Praneeth won the silver medal at the Swiss Open after losing to world number two and top-seeded Chinese shuttler Shi Yuqi.
- Indian woman golfer Diksha Dagar became the [latex]2^{nd}[/latex] Indian winner on Ladies European Tour after clinching South African Women’s Open in Cape Town.
- The two day National Convention of War Decorated India (WDI) began in Manekshaw Auditorium in Chandimandir in HQ Western Command. Some living gallantary award winners and relatives of the deceased awardees attended the Convention.
- KVS Manian and Gaurang Shah appointed as Kotak Mahindra Bank’s whole-time directors for a three-year term effective from the date of approval from the Reserve Bank of India.
- Astronomers have discovered 83 quasars powered by supermassive black holes 13 billion light-years away from the Earth, from a time when the universe was less than 10% of its present age.
- Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi has infused ₹3,500 crore in its India arm, the biggest investment in the country since it entered India over four years back.
- A seven-year-old boy who tested positive for the West Nile virus last week passed away in Kerala's Kozhikode Medical Colleg.
- Senior journalist and environmental activist Darryl D’Monte died at a hospital in Mumbai after a brief illness at the age of 74 years.
- Former Union Defence Minister and Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar passed away in Panaji on March [latex]17^{th}[/latex], 2019.
1. International News
- China claimed that the use of the “vocational training centres” has ensured that not a single terror attack had taken place in the past 27 months.
- Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has lauded his countryman Mian Naeem Rashid, who he said was ‘martyred trying to tackle the White Supremacist terrorist’, two days after 50 people were killed in attacks on two mosques in New Zealand’s worst mass shooting in modern history.
- Ethiopian Airlines has offered the relatives of 157 victims of last Sunday's Boeing 737 Max plane crash bags of scorched earth to bury in place of their loved ones, reports say.
- The recent India-Pakistan tensions arose due to terrorists that departed from Pakistan, US State Secretary Mike Pompeo said and called upon Pakistan to stop harbouring terrorists.
- The first BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) Sherpa meeting held in Curitiba, Brazil under the Presidency of Brazil. Indian delegation was led by Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs T S Tirumurti.
- US President Donald Trump issued the first veto of his presidency to block a measure passed by the Congress that would terminate his emergency declaration for a wall on the US' border with Mexico.
- Justice PC Ghose’s name was cleared by the selection committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, and senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi.
- BJP's Delhi unit has asked the Chief Electoral Officer to appoint special observers at mosques to prevent attempts to spread hate on religious lines to influence Lok Sabha elections.
- A coordinated operation was conducted by the armies of India and Myanmar from [latex]17^{th}[/latex] February to [latex]2^{nd}[/latex] March 2019 against insurgents in Myanmarese territory to avert a possible threat to the Kaladan multi-modal transit transport project.
- The company, located at Bhau Institute, College of Engineering Pune (COEP) campus, has developed a software that works across off-the-shelf drones from various vendors, enables intelligent fleets and seamless integration with business applications.
- Teaching and student feedback have been allotted 25 marks while teachers can get a maximum of 20 points for departmental activity, 10 each for institute activity, ACR and contribution to society. Overall, teachers will be rated on a 100-point scale.
- As many as 11,558 unauthorised political advertisements and posters have been removed in Mumbai ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, an election official said.
- The United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) adopted two resolutions piloted by India on addressing single-use plastic pollution and sustainable nitrogen management.
- Jagdish Chandra Joshi, who runs a cow shelter in Joshikhola village in Garud block, had printed an appeal on the wedding invitation of his son seeking votes for Prime Minister Narendra Modi
- Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das will hold discussions on March [latex]26^{th}[/latex] with representatives of trade bodies and credit rating agencies on interest rate and steps to boost economic activities, said sources.
- Sebi is considering to draft separate recovery rules to recover penalties, fees, disgorgement amount. Sebi had asked govt to make provisions in the laws to enable it to make regulations and amendments
- Punjab & Sind Bank (PSB) has hiked its marginal cost of funds based lending rate (MCLR) by 0.05 per cent for six-month tenor and lowered interest on three-year tenor by 0.05 per cent.
- Private sector lender Lakshmi Vilas Bank said it has raised Rs 459.59 crore through qualified institutions placement (QIP).
- Welsh forward Gareth Bale scored on Zinedine Zidane's first match back as the manager of Real Madrid, helping them register a 2-0 win over Celta Vigo.
- Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting has said that good part of the IPL is that a lot of barriers are broken down between countries and coaches.
- Eighteen-year-old Diksha Dagar became the second Indian to win an event on Ladies European Tour after clinching South African Women's Open in Cape Town.
- President Ram Nath Kovind awarded the ‘Nari Shakti Puraskar‘ to the renowned Kathak dancer Seema Mehta for her contribution towards women empowerment
- The former Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh presented the BusinessLine Changemaker Of The Year award to Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, for successfully introducing the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
- Anurag Bhushan (Indian Foreign Service: 1995 cadre), presently Joint Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs, has been appointed as the next High Commissioner of India to the Republic of Malawi.
- Santosh Jha (Indian Foreign Service:1993 cadre), presently Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of India, Washington, has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Uzbekistan.
- Ms. Padmaja appointed as the next High Commissioner of India to the Republic of Fiji. Ms. Padmaja, presently Deputy Director General, Indian Council for Cultural Relations, has been appointed as the next High Commissioner of India to the Republic of Fiji.
- Researchers led by Guihua Yu from the University of Texas (UT) at Austin, USA have developed a novel solar-powered harvesting system that absorbs moisture from the air and converts it into clean, usable water.
- The Department of Science and Technology (DST) decided to commission a study to assess the climate risks faced by States in India, following an assessment of the global warming risks faced by 12 Himalayan States,
1. Important Days
- World Sleep Day is an annual event organized by the World Sleep Day Committee of the World Sleep Society, formerly World Association of Sleep Medicine, since 2008.
- The US is said to be readying to review preferential status if India offers a proposal to address issues related to trade and market access.
- Pakistan owes China $10 billion for the construction of the Gwadar port and other projects, top US General Joseph Dunford has said.
- President Donald Trump has vetoed a measure from Congress revoking his declaration of a national emergency at the US-Mexico border.
- Algeria's capital to demand the immediate resignation of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika despite him dropping his bid for a fifth term.
- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un may break off denuclearisation talks with the US and resume missile and nuclear testing, a senior official says.
- Malaysian authorities have rejected a plea to drop the murder case against Doan Thi Huong, the Vietnamese woman accused of killing the half-brother of North Korea's leader.
- Israel has carried out dozens of air strikes on Palestinian militant sites in Gaza in retaliation for the firing of two rockets towards Tel Aviv.
- Paris Jackson has said it is "not my role" to publicly defend father Michael against allegations of abuse.
- The Trump administration is now focused on pressing Pakistan to take "sustained and irreversible" actions against terrorist groups operating from its soil, a senior American diplomat has said.
- The US, France and the UK are believed to be in intense "good faith" discussions with China to arrive at a "compromise", including on the language on the UN designation of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist, according to people familiar with the matter.
- The Indian government believes Pakistan has shifted the goalposts for the Kartarpur corridor project, including caps on the number of pilgrims using it every day and the introduction of a paid permit system, people familiar with developments said
- The Arakan Army, an insurgent group, has been threatening and trying to extort money from Indian fabricators working on the Kaladan project.
- Indian man in the US has pleaded guilty to the charges of running a fake marriage racket through which he helped illegal immigrants, mostly Indians, to get married to American citizens, and helping them stay in the country.
- An Earthquake recording 4.7 on the Richter scale hit the Nicobar Islands at 9:43 am on Saturday (March 16).
- New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has vowed to change the country's gun control laws, following the mosque shootings that killed 49 people.
- Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) called off its alliance with BJP and decided to contest the upcoming polls in Sikkim alone.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi sought to expand his self-designated “chowkidar” status to the rest of the country and said that everyone who was social evils was a “chowkidar”.
- In a first, State Bank of India (SBI), the country’s largest lender, has linked savings account deposit and short-term loans to an external benchmark rate—repo rate.
- The employees of IDBI Bank are on the warpath over its categorisation as a private lender and are seeking the option to switch to any other nationalized bank, with protection of pay and service.”
- Participants found guilty of market abuse may be subject to regulatory action, including temporary or permanent stoppage of access to markets in one.
- The consortium of banks, led by State Bank of India (SBI), expects clarity to emerge on final resolution of the debt-laden Jet Airways in a week’s time.
- The board of directors of Kotak Mahindra Bank has undergone a revamp with the appointment of two Independent Directors and two Additional Directors.
- All India Football Federation president Praful Patel expressed his delight at winning the bid for hosting the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in 2020, but said the bigger challenge lies ahead.
- Bianca Andreescu continued her magical run by overcoming sixth seeded Svitolina to set up a final with three-time Grand Slam champion Angelique Kerber who beat Belinda Bencic 6-4 6-2.
- Mercedes world champion Lewis Hamilton picked up where he left off last year to reassert his authority and snatch a record-extending eighth pole position at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix
- Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli and former captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni are among the 8 Indian cricketers in the 2019’s ESPN World Fame 100 list, an annual list of the most famous athletes on the planet.
- Geographical Indication (GI) tags have been granted to Coorg Arabica Coffee, Wayanad Robusta Coffee, Chikmagalur Arabica Coffee, Araku Valley Arabica Coffee and Bababudangiris Arabica Coffee, by the Geographical Indications Registry on [latex]1^{st}[/latex] March 2019.
- Kent RO Systems Pvt. Ltd. has received the Best Domestic Water Purifier Award 2018-19 for its RO+UV+UF technology at the Water Digest Water Awards function that was held at The Lalit, New Delhi.
- Sanjiv Mehta, currently the Chairman and Managing Director of Unilever has been promoted as the President of Unilever, South Asia, effective from [latex]1^{st}[/latex]May, 2019. He will also be a part of the Unilever Leadership Executive (ULE).
- The Supreme Court appointed senior advocate P. S. Narasimha, as mediator for resolving various disputes related to cricket administration in the country.
- Apple's cloud storage service iCloud was restored after a four-hour-long outage affected some users globally.
- Google has filed a patent for foldable display to be used in "modern computing devices", including a design that bends from two places like the alphabet 'Z'.
- Prominent Lingayat pontiff and Basava Dharma Peetha President Maate Mahadevi passed away at the Manipal hospital in Bengaluru at the age of 74 years.
1. Important Days
- The consumer movement marks [latex]15^{th}[/latex] March with World Consumer Rights Day every year, as a means of raising global awareness about consumer rights and needs.
- Tensions between China and several western countries like the US have risen recently over spying charges levelled against Huawei, the world’s largest vendor of telecom equipment.
- A joint statement issued by the French interior ministry, finance ministry and foreign ministry added that France would discuss putting Masood Azhar on a European Union list of people suspected of being involved in terrorism.
- After Bangladesh cricket team escaped the shooting at a mosque in New Zealand's Christchurch, Bangladesh Cricket Board spokesman Jalal Yunus said the players are safe but mentally shocked.
- The UK MPs have voted to extend Brexit by at least three months. The MPs voted by 412 to 202 for a motion which instructs PM Theresa May to ask the European Union for an extension to the Article 50 withdrawal process.
- Boeing has recommended the temporary suspension of all 371 aircraft of 737 MAX in operation. This comes after US President Donald Trump ordered to ground all 737 models following the Ethiopian Airlines crash.
- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un may break off denuclearisation talks with the US and resume missile and nuclear testing, a senior official says.
- The US is suing Volkswagen, accusing the German carmaker of "massive fraud" over the diesel emissions scandal.
- A Russian computer expert accused of meddling in the US 2016 presidential election says he simply did ordinary IT work, not political trolling.
- Experts from the University of Birmingham and policy makers and researchers from India announced a collaboration to jointly develop strategies to resolve health, social and economic issues linked to air pollution in Delhi.
- The Supreme Court clarified its last year order on police reforms and said officers who have a minimum of six months tenure left in service can be considered for the post of Director General of Police (DGP).
- Following the advice of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, atleast 12 states in India have banned Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS).
- The opposition parties moved the Supreme Court seeking mandatory verification of 50 per cent of votes recorded in the EVMs by paper trail (VVPAT) before announcing the results in the Lok Sabha polls.
- Citing a CAG report, the Congress accused Union Minister Smriti Irani of "fraud" in MPLAD funds in Gujarat.
- Godrej Properties is set to introduce their new project Godrej Central Park in Pune. Home to 1,100 trees, over 6 acres of central greens, 1500 sq. mt. of clubhouse, 1-km nature trail. It offers 2BHK and 3BHK apartments starting from simply ₹42 lakh.
- After India and Pakistan held talks over the Kartarpur corridor, the Ministry of External Affairs' Deepak Mittal stated, "This does not mean the resumption of any bilateral dialogue with Pakistan.
- State Bank of India (SBI) has launched doorstep banking service for senior citizens over 70 years of age and differently-abled customers.
- The Reserve Bank said it will inject long-term liquidity worth USD 5 billion into the system through foreign exchange swap arrangement with banks for three years.
- The Royal Mint has honoured Stephen Hawking’s legacy by issuing a new 50 pence piece. The coin has drawn its inspiration from Hawking’s work on black holes discussed in his bestselling book- A Brief History of Time.
- India has provided a financial support worth USD 250 million to Nepal, to reconstruct infrastructure in fields of housing, education, health and cultural heritage, which had been ruined by the earthquake that took place on April 2015.
- The Supreme Court set aside the BCCI’s disciplinary committee’s order imposing a life ban on former Indian cricketer S Sreesanth for his alleged involvement in the 2013 IPL spot-fixing scandal.
- The third Test between New Zealand and Bangladesh has been called off after mosque shooting in Christchurch. The game was due to begin on 16 March in Christchurch.
- Shane Warne says match-winners like Stoinis, Maxwell, Finch, Smith, Warner, Turner Cummins and Starc make defending champions a formidable side going into the World Cup
- Andhra Pradesh IT minister Nara Lokesh, BJP MP Poonam Mahajan and Xiaomi India head Manu Kumar Jain are among the 6 Indians featuring in the list of Young Global Leaders, according to the World Economic Forum (WEF).
- 'Sirsi Supari’ cultivated in Yellapura, Siddapura and Sirsi talukas of Uttar Kannada, Karnataka, has received the Geographic Indication (GI) tag which is the first time in the areca nut sector.
- President Ram Nath Kovind conferred 3 Kirti Chakras and 15 Shaurya Chakras to Armed Forces Personnel for displaying conspicuous gallantry, indomitable courage and extreme devotion to duty at the Defence Investiture Ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi.
- Social entrepreneur from Tamil Nadu, Padmanaban Gopalan, founder of No Food Waste, was named the winner of the Commonwealth Youth Award for the Asian region worth 3,000 Pounds at a ceremony at the Commonwealth Secretariat in London.
- The Government also appointed M. R. Kumar as the Chairman of the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) for a period of 5 years.
- Santosh Jha, presently Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of India, Washington, has been appointed as the country's next Ambassador to Uzbekistan.
- Rahul Bajaj, chairman and non-executive director of Bajaj Finserv has resigned and will be taking over as chairman emeritus at the organisation from [latex]16^{th}[/latex] May 2019.
- Cyber security firm Avast‘s long-time chief executive officer (CEO) Vince Steckler has decided to retire in the year 2019 after 10 years in the job and will be succeeded by Ondrej Vlcek, currently president of the company’s consumer business.
- Google has reportedly asked dozens of its employees, working in an internal hardware division, to seek new temporary roles within Google or its parent Alphabet.
- Pakistan Air Force (PAF) successfully test-fired an indigenously developed “smart weapon” from a JF-17 Thunder fighter jet amid tensions between India and Pakistan.
- Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully test fired indigenously developed, low weight, fire and forget Man-Portable Anti-Tank Guided Missile (MPATGM) for the second time in the Pokhran ranges of Rajasthan desert.
- Charlie Whiting, who was the FIA’s director of Formula One died in Melbourne, Australia at the age of 66 owing to a pulmonary embolism.
- A case of unnatural death was filed after former Andhra Pradesh MP YS Vivekananda Reddy was found dead at his home.
1. Important Days
- Pi Day is a holiday which is celebrated on March [latex]14^{th}[/latex] every year. This day was created to celebrate the mathematical constant π.
- Green Party co-leader James Shaw was punched in the face early in Wellington, though was not seriously injured.
- Spanish investigators are probing an alleged attack on the North Korean embassy in Madrid. On [latex]22^{nd}[/latex] February, a group of 10 assailants reportedly broke into the building, tying up, beating and interrogating eight people inside.
- China, a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), blocked India's bid to designate Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed's (JeM) chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist for the fourth time.
- French President Emmanuel Macron and Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed discussed the possible order during Macron’s visit, two days after an Ethiopian Boeing 737 MAX 8 crashed minutes after taking off, killing all 157 people.
- China has roundly rejected concern about its policies in Xinjiang, where rights groups say the government is operating internment camps holding a million or more Muslims. China says they are vocational training centres aimed at de-radicalisation.
- China’s Embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment on the report, which comes at a time of closely-watched trade negotiations between the United States and China aimed at resolving a tit-for-tat tariffs dispute.
- Washington Former United States vice president Joe Biden will run for the White House in the upcoming presidential elections, a Democratic lawmaker has confirmed, The Hill revealed in an exclusive report.
- China has offered to help restore power in Venezuela after President Nicolás Maduro blamed the US for the blackout.
- Venugopal cited the Official Secrets Act to disallow the defence ministry documents, whose photocopies were presented by Bhushan to back petition seeking review of the Supreme Court judgment on Rafale deal last year.
- A senior Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir stoked a controversy when he compared Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar to Nobel laureate the Dalai Lama.
- The Enforcement Directorate told a Delhi court that it has no objection if Rajeev Saxena, an alleged middleman, is allowed to turn approver in the AgustaWestland money laundering case.
- A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi asked the Singh brothers, who were present in the court, to consult their financial and legal advisors and give a concrete plan on how they will comply with the tribunal’s order.
- The arrests occurred in Ahmedabad, where local authorities enforced an outright ban on PUBG last week over concerns about its impact on the “behaviour, conduct and language” of those playing it.
- The court had sought replies from NIA and accused Naba Kumar Sarkar alias Aseemanand after a last-minute intervention by a Pakistani national through her lawyer.
- The US and India have agreed to strengthen security and civil nuclear cooperation, deciding to build six US nuclear power plants in India, the countries said in a joint statement.
- SoftBank-led group set to buy $1 billion stake in Uber self-driving unit. The deal would value the autonomous-vehicle business at $5 billion to $10 billion, and Uber would retain a majority stake
- Life insurers register 33% growth in new premium income at ₹18,209 cr in Feb. LIC registered a growth of 42.2% in its new year premium at ₹12,055.81 crore
- As far as Indian athletes, Indian cricket team Captain Virat Kohli, former captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni were among eight Indian cricketers who found a place in the list.
- Former champions Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal edged closer to a blockbuster semi-final showdown at the ATP Indian Wells Masters with brisk fourth-round wins
- Lionel Messi came up just short of matching Cristiano Ronaldo’s hat-trick a day earlier but still scored twice and set up two more as Barcelona beat Lyon 5-1 on Wednesday to reach the Champions League quarter-finals
- An Official of Guinness Book of World Records, UK presented a certificate to Lakshyaraj Singh Mewar for the largest collection of clothes for donation after he donated more than 3 lakh clothing items in Udaipur.
- Famous Novelist and Film Director, Ved Rahi will be awarded with prestigious Kusumagraj Rashtriya Sahitya Puruskar which carries a cash prize of Rs. 1 Lakh, A memento and a citation.
- Sona Yukti, a skill development institute, was honoured with the Social Enterprise Network (SEN) sustainability award for education by Young Presidents Organisation at its annual event held in Cape Town, South Africa.
- Krishna Kumari Kohli has been appointed as the first female senator of Pakistan from the Hindu Dalit community. She is also the first Thari Hindu woman to be elected to the Pakistan senate.
- 95 years old John Richardson, the art historian who devoted more than a quarter century in writing four-volume biography of Pablo Picasso died in Manhattan, New York while working on the final installment of the biography.
- Veteran Hindi Newsreader Vinod Kashyap passed away at the age of 88, owing to prolonged illness. She worked at the All India Radio for around 30 years, starting her career in Radio as a drama artist.
1. Important Days
- March on the second Wednesday, to encourage people over the World to quit smoking. No Smoking Day, 2019 is being celebrated on March [latex]13^{th}[/latex]
- Parents in Italy have been warned not to send their children to school unless they've been properly vaccinated, while children under the age of six can be turned away altogether.
- Chinese mobile content aggregator Qutoutiao is spending millions of dollars to take on TikTok parent ByteDance.
- Nasrin Sotoudeh, a human rights lawyer jailed in Iran, has been handed a new sentence of 33 years in prison and 148 lashes, her husband said.
- UK Members of Parliament rejected Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal, which sets out the terms of the UK's exit from the European Union (EU), for the second time.
- China has denied it is running “concentration camps” in the far western region of Xinjiang and has instead claimed the buildings are “boarding schools”.
- A number of women's rights activists have gone on trial in Saudi Arabia in a case that has raised questions about the kingdom's human rights record.
- California Governor Gavin Newsom will announce a moratorium on executions and a temporary reprieve for all 737 inmates on death row in the state.
- Cardinal George Pell has been jailed for six years after being convicted of sexually abusing two boys in Australia.
- The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has said it will not ground the Boeing 737 Max aircraft despite mounting pressure.
- Greece has entered a period of economic growth that puts it "among the best performers in the eurozone".
- PM Narendra Modi tweeted 29 times within an hour and tagged political leaders, film actors, sports persons and businessmen, requesting them to urge people to vote.
- After the BJP delegation meeting with Election Commission in Delhi, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the party has requested the EC to take action against Congress President Rahul Gandhi.
- Union Minister Nitin Gadkari asserted that Demonetisation was a 100% success and the Goods and Services Tax (GST) was no more a problem.
- Linking the Godavari and Cauvery rivers will be the top priority for the next NDA government, Union Water Resources and Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari said.
- The meeting between India and Pakistan is being held to discuss the draft agreement for setting up a dedicated corridor at Kartarpur that will allow pilgrims from India to visit the Sikh shrine located in Pakistan without obtaining a visa.
- A thumbnail-sized star-speckled frog species with several features resembling frogs found in South America and Central Africa discovered in the Western Ghats in Wayanad, Kerala, is a unique addition to a series of frog species unearthed in the biodiversity hot spot.
- Immigration officials believe to have stumbled on a racket that aided Indians to get employed overseas by illegal means.
- The Election Commission assured the Supreme Court that the draft National Register of Citizens (NRC), published on July [latex]30^{th}[/latex] last year, will not be the basis to deny residents voting rights.
- HDFC Bank crossed the ₹6 lakh crore market capitalisation mark for the first time becoming only the third Indian company to achieve the milestone.
- The Bombay High Court once again refused interim relief to Kotak Mahindra Bank on the RBI's direction to dilute promoter shareholding.
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) reduced the repo rate by 25 basis points (bps) in February, banks have started revising the marginal cost of funds-based lending rate (MCLR) downwards, though marginally.
- Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber stunned Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic 6-4, 6-4, claiming his first career win over a world No. 1 player to reach the fourth round of the ATP Indian Wells Masters.
- Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo grabbed a hat-trick against his favourite opponents Atletico Madrid as the Italians overturned a two-goal first-leg deficit to win 3-0 and reach the Champions League quarter-finals
- Former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar believes England have a very good chance to win the 50-over World Cup.
- The Harry Hatry Award for Performance Management has been awarded to Prajapati Trivedi, the Commonwealth’s Director of Economic, Youth and Sustainable Development, by the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA)
- Axis Bank said it has appointed Rakesh Makhija as Non-Executive Chairman for a period of 3 years.
- The first person on Mars is ‘likely to be a woman’, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine has said. “It’s likely to be a woman, the first next person on the Moon. It’s also true that the first person on Mars is likely to be a woman.
- Defence Research and Defence Organisation (DRDO) successfully test fired the Guided Pinaka weapons system from Pokhran ranges in Rajasthan.
- The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency is teaming up with the country’s largest carmaker to build a six-wheeled self-driving transporter that can carry two humans for a distance of 10,000 km.
- Kelly Catlin, who had thrice been the world champion and had been a member of the U.S. women’s pursuit team that won silver in 2016 Rio Olympics died at Stanford University.
1. Important Days
- Commonwealth Day, replacing the former Empire Day, is the annual celebration of the Commonwealth of Nations, often held on the second Monday in March
- China's top statistics official sought to allay concerns over the health of the world's second-largest economy, and defended the integrity of its data.
- US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo expressed hope that India will supports its efforts in Venezuela by not purchasing oil from the "authoritarian" Maduro regime.
- Whatever Huawei Technologies Co. is doing by suing the US government and six cabinet officials, it isn’t trying to win in court.
- The United States told airlines it was safe to fly 737 MAX 8 planes as investigators found two black box recorders that will help piece together the final moments of an Ethiopian Airlines jet before it plunged to the ground
- Prime Minister Theresa May clinched legally binding Brexit assurances with the European Union on Monday in a last ditch attempt to win over rebellious MPs who have threatened to vote down her divorce deal again.
- World athletics governing body IAAF said that it had decided not to lift its ban on Russia's athletics federation over doping.
- Union Environment Minister, Dr. Harsh Vardhan released the India Cooling Action Plan (ICAP) aimed at reducing emissions and providing thermal comfort to citizens in New Delhi.
- The National Investigation Agency has filed a chargesheet against two Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists in connection with a conspiracy to carry out attacks in UP in 2018.
- The Supreme Court asked the Centre to give a comparative study on the pollution caused by firecrackers and automobiles.
- Ghulam Qadir, an Indian national who mistakenly crossed into Pakistan nearly seven years ago, was released by the Pakistani authorities.
- The Chanchalguda Central Prison in Hyderabad launched an internal radio station as part of the rehabilitation measures for the inmates.
- Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad alias Ravan was arrested in Uttar Pradesh. The Dalit leader was taken into custody by the police in Deoband's Kasimpura village.
- CPI (M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said the central government needs to separate the people of Jammu and Kashmir from separatists if it intends to find a solution to the Kashmir issue.
- The Indian rupee rose to a two-and-a-half month high of 69.5 against the US dollar, wiping out all its losses for the year.
- SoftBank's venture capital unit SoftBank Ventures Asia's CEO JP Lee in an interview said that the unit could launch its fund for early-stage startups, worth as much as $500 million, next month.
- Jet Airways denied a media report that said it had secured a ₹2,050-crore loan from state-run Punjab National Bank (PNB) to help pay overdue plane leasing fees and salaries.
- "Most of the black money isn't in the form of cash but in real sector assets," RBI board warned government two-and-a-half hours before demonetisation, as per minutes of meeting shared by RTI activist Venkatesh Nayak.
- Jurgen Klopp brings Liverpool to Germany to resume their battle against Bayern Munich with the hosts billing Wednesday’s Champions League last 16 return leg as an ‘all or nothing’ showdown.
- World number one and defending champion Naomi Osaka powered past American Danielle Collins 6-4, 6-2 to book a fourth-round berth in the WTA premier mandatory tournament at Indian Wells.
- England defeated India in the 3rd and final Women’s Twenty20 International in Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati, Assam.
- Shri S.S. Srinivas has been appointed as Officer on Special Duty (OSD), South Coast Railway by Ministry of Railways.
- Anup Kumar Dubey and Sushil Kumar have been appointed as the special directors in the Enforcement Directorate (ED), according to a Personnel Ministry order.
- The President of Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas appointed Mohammad Shtayyeh as the Palestinian Prime Minister.
- The Jammu and Kashmir Governor administration appointed "Metro Man" E Sreedharan as principal advisor for two Mass Rapid Transit Corporations (MRTCs) in the state.
- Sanjana Singh, a transgender woman, has been appointed as the personal secretary to the Director of Madhya Pradesh's Department of Social Justice and Disabled Welfare, Krishna Gopal Tiwari.
- The Marshall Islands is planning to release a digital currency called “SOV” this year in 2019, however, the launch date of the currency has not been decided.
- IBM researchers have created an AI blood test that could help with early detection of Alzheimer's disease. The test identifies a set of proteins in blood that can predict concentration of amyloid-beta in spinal fluid.
- Google celebrated 30 years of the World Wide Web (WWW) with a doodle. On March [latex]12^{th}[/latex], 1989, British scientist Sir Tim Berners-Lee while working at European Organisation for Nuclear Research in Switzerland
1. International News
Bachendri Pal: Mountaineering
Padma Shri:
- The United Nations had at least 19 officials on the Ethiopian Airlines plane that crashed Sunday morning, some of whom were en route to a major environmental conference in Nairobi, Kenya. No one on board survived.
- The Indian market is crucial for Venezuela's economy because it has historically been the second-largest cash-paying customer for the Opec country's crude
- State-owned Saudi Aramco's oil allocations for April are 635,000 bpd below customers' nominations requests made by refiners and clients for Saudi crude, the Saudi official said
- Two Pakistani-origin sisters from London are believed to be the latest set of mothers to lose their British citizenship for marrying into the Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist group in Syria.
- Julie Bishop once mistaken for partner of Australian foreign minister by Melania Trump. Julie Bishop's partner, David Panton, was once assumed to be the foreign minister of Australia by United States first lady Melania Trump.
- After Election Commission announced that there won't be simultaneous Assembly and Lok Sabha polls in J&K, former CM Omar Abdullah said that PM Narendra Modi has "surrendered" before Pakistan, militants and separatists.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi embarked on a visit to Kanpur, Ghaziabad and Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. He laid foundation stone for various development projects and schemes during his visit.
- The tour of the Pakistani side was originally scheduled in October 2018 but was postponed because of local bodies elections in Jammu and Kashmir. Subsequently, the Pakistani team visited India in the last week of January to inspect projects in the Chenab basin in the state.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the government has adopted “a new policy” to act against terrorism and that it was its responsibility to live up to the expectations of the families of the security personnel killed in the line of duty.
- The Goa government has approved setting up two Information Technology parks in North Goa, seeking to address the IT sector's future demands.
- Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik announced on Sunday that his party, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), will field women candidates in at least 33% of the 21 parliamentary seats in the state for the general elections.
- The 65 new sub-inspectors were trained at the force’s Special Tactics and Training Wing (STTW) based at Hyderabad.
- SBI Chairman Rajnish Kumar has said the comprehensive resolution plan to bail out Jet Airways will be implemented if conditions by all stakeholders are met.
- Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has sought a proposal from Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) for paring its shareholding in the recently acquired controlling stake in IDBI Bank Ltd,
- Life Insurance Corp. of India and IDBI Bank Ltd. set up a task force to implement synergies, about four months after India’s biggest insurer agreed to put more than 200 billion rupees ($2.9 billion) into the troubled lender.
- RBI data shows the main overnight lending rate offered by banks has been sticky in a range of 8.15% to 8.55% since the beginning of the year.
- IDBI Bank will be out of the Reserve Bank’s prompt corrective action framework by September as bad-loan ratio narrows and profits rise.
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced a rate cut of 25 basis points at its monetary policy meeting on [latex]7^{th}[/latex] February, but there has been a lot of apprehension about how much of this will actually benefit consumers, given instances of poor rate transmission in the past.
- World number two Rafael Nadal raced into the third round of the ATP Indian Wells Masters as Roger Federer made a less speedy but still successful start to his quest for a sixth title
- Arsenal beat Manchester United 2-0, lifting the Londoners above their opponents into fourth place in the Premier League and ending Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s unbeaten domestic run as United’s caretaker manager.
- An ill Serena Williams retired from the BNP Paribas Open while trailing Spain’s Garbine Muguruza 6-3, 1-0 at Indian Wells.
- India lost the fourth ODI against Australia despite setting up a 359-run target for the visitors. This was the first time India lost an ODI despite scoring 350 or more runs batting first.
- Gymnast Dipa Karmakar was honoured by 'Barbie' in celebration of their 60th anniversary and was presented a doll modelled after her. "Barbie has always shown girls that they can be anything!! On the occasion of her 60th anniversary
- A bilingual correspondent with the BBC at its Delhi bureau, Priyanka Dubey won the Chameli Devi Jain Award 2018 as outstanding women journalist.
- The Union Minister for Women and Child Development, Maneka Gandhi, felicitated the 30 winners of the ‘Web Wonder Women’ contest organized by the Ministry of Women and Child Development in New Delhi.
- As many as 112 ‘inspiring’ personalities were selected for this year’s Padma awards and their names were announced on the eve of Republic Day this year.
- Sunil Chhetri: Football
- Harika Dronavalli : Chess
- Gautam Gambhir : Cricket
- Sharath Kamal : Table Tennis
- Bombayla Devi Laishram : Archery
- Bajrang Punia : Wrestling
- Prashanti Singh : Basketball
- Ajay Thakur : Kabaddi
- Ashu Khullar has been appointed by the Citibank as its India head, w.e.f 1st April 2019. He currently holds the position of head of Asia-Pacific capital markets.
- Shri Manpreet Vohra presently Additional Secretary in the Ministry has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to Mexico and is expected to take up the assignment shortly.
- NASA has captured what it claims the 'first-ever' images of the interaction of shockwaves from two supersonic aircraft in flight.
- China lifted its broadband communication system by launching a Long March – 3B carrier rocket with ‘ChinaSat 6C’ into a geostationary orbit in Sichuan province.
1. Impotant Days
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the 50th Raising Day of Central Industrial Security Force in Ghaziabad.
- The Boeing 737 flight crashed while it was en route to Nairobi. Fresh reports emerging suggest that all 157 on board have been killed in the crash.
- The sale price of the tower in midtown Manhattan, considered an Art Deco masterpiece, marks a significant loss for Emirati investment firm Mubadala, which paid $800 million for a 90 percent stake in 2008.
- The United Arab Emirates (UAE) will continue to deliver on crude oil supply cuts under a producer agreement until the global market is re-balanced, Minister of Energy and Industry Suhail al-Mazrouei said
- Investors will this week finally get a comprehensive read of how China’s economy is faring this year as worries mount over the outlook for the rest of the world.
- North Koreans to vote in 'rubber stamp' election that has only one winner Leader Kim Jong Un's ruling Workers' Party has an iron grip on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, as the isolated, nuclear-armed country is officially known.
- Hong Kong’s de facto central bank bought the local dollar for the first time since August after the city’s exchange rate fell to the weak end of its trading band against the greenback.
- UK Prime Minister Theresa May has warned that the country may "never leave the (European Union) at all" if lawmakers refuse to back her Brexit deal.
- Most leading dailies in Kashmir Valley printed a blank front page as a mark of protest against the “unexplained denial” of advertisements to two newspapers by the Jammu and Kashmir government.
- A release issued by the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), which administers the shrine, said that head priest Kandararu Rajeevaru would preside over the temple opening ceremony.
- Mohammad Ashraf was apprehended soon after he intruded into this side from across the International Border in Samba district of Jammu and Kashmir.
- External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said that Pakistan refusing access to journalists from visiting the site of IAF air strike means they have "plenty to hide".
- PM Narendra Modi inaugurated the Noida City Centre-Noida Electronic City section of Delhi Metro's Blue Line via remote. The 6.6-km-long extension comprises six stations, Sector 34, Sector 52, Sector 61, Sector 59, Sector 62 and Noida Electronic City, all of which are elevated.
- The Centre has released ₹2,000 each to about five lakh farmers in Telangana under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme, Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat
- SBI said it would link its interest rate on savings bank deposits with balance above ₹1 lakh and short-term loans to RBI's repo rate, becoming the first Indian bank to do so.
- The RBI in reply to an RTI query said it has no data on the old 500 and 1,000 rupee notes used to pay for utility bills such as fuel at petrol pumps
- Overseas investors have pumped in a net ₹2,741 crore into the Indian capital markets in the first five trading sessions of March, mainly due to positive market sentiment.
- Eight of the 10 most valued Indian companies together added ₹90,844.8 crore in market valuation last week in an overall strong broader market, with RIL topping the list.
- Opener Rohit Sharma smashed his 218th six in ODI cricket during the fourth ODI against Australia on Sunday, setting the record for most sixes hit by a batsman for India in ODI cricket.
- Lionel Messi scored with a penalty as Barcelona beat Rayo Vallecano 3-1 in the La Liga. Barcelona came from behind with defender Gerard Pique scoring the first goal for Barcelona with Messi's free-kick.
- India opener Smriti Mandhana has achieved her career-best ICC Women’s T20I Player ranking following her heroics against the recently-concluded series against England.
- The Spanish imports brought their own brand of football and with coach Nawas opting for offensive strategies, Chennai City FC slowly became one of the most lethal sides in the team.
- The Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport, New Delhi was declared as the best airport in the category of over “40 million passengers per annum (MPPA)” in Asia Pacific by Airports Council International (ACI) in the Airport Service Quality (ASQ) Programme for 2018.
- Bernard Arnault, the chairman of Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE (LVMH) has overtaken Warren Buffett, the chairman of Berkshire Hathaway to become the third-richest person of the world, on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
- On the evening of International Women’s Day United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) appointed Padma Lakshmi as its goodwill ambassador.
- Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg was named as the Finance Secretary, according to a Personnel Ministry order.
- NASA has "sonified", or converted an image of a cluster of galaxies taken by Hubble Space Telescope into 'music'. Time flows left to right and sound frequency changes from bottom to top, ranging from 30 to 1,000 hertz, it added.
- Scientists have observed water molecules moving around Moon's dayside using an instrument from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.
- Satellite images of a facility near North Korea's capital Pyongyang suggest the country may be preparing to launch a missile or a satellite. The images are of Sanumdong, a facility where North Korea assembled some of its intercontinental ballistic missiles and satellite-launching rockets.
- The Dictionary of Martyrs of India’s Freedom Struggle (1857-1947) was released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, at Lok Kalyan Marg, New Delhi.
- Secretary, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Shri Amit Khare released the popular Reference Annuals ‘Bharat 2019’ and ‘India 2019’, compiled by the New Media Wing and edited and published by Publications Division at New Delhi.
1. International News
- Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said the country’s airspace will remain closed for all transit flights till March [latex]11^{th}[/latex].
- London Mayor Sadiq Khan has been named the Politician of the Year at an annual awards ceremony held in the UK’s House of Commons complex for his ongoing contribution to the political life in the British capital.
- UN chief Antonio Guterres is "continually" monitoring the situation between India and Pakistan and his office is available to both parties, his spokesperson said.
- Pakistani security officials prevented a Reuters team from climbing a hill in northeastern Pakistan to the site of a madrasa and a group of surrounding buildings that was targeted by Indian warplanes last week.
- The odds of finding a treasure worth millions just lying around in your attic and becoming multimillionaires overnight mostly existed in movies and TV shows, until now.
- United States President Donald Trump signed Bibles for people affected by a string of deadly storms that ripped through the state of Alabama.
- The Mizoram Cabinet has approved the proposed liquor prohibition bill in the state, officials said Saturday. The Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Zoramthanga on Friday approved the Mizoram Liquor Prohibition Bill, 2019, the official said.
- India said all UN Security Council members were aware about the JeM training camps and the presence of terror group's chief Masood Azhar in Pakistan, and urged the nations to designate him as a global terrorist.
- The Indian Army shot down a Pakistani military drone in Sri Ganganagar sector of the Indo-Pak border in Rajasthan, ANI reported.
- Nirmala Sitharaman backed AG Venugopal after he clarified his statement in the apex court that petitioners seeking review of Rafale verdict relied on “stolen” documents.
- A Haryana government order to consolidate land holdings in Faridabad’s Kot village, around 60 km outside Delhi, to ensure “better cultivation” has raised concerns about privatisation of Aravalli land.
- The RBI said it has levied penalties totalling ₹71 crore on 36 banks for not complying with directions primarily on linking SWIFT financial messaging platform to their core banking software.
- State Bank of India said that the new rates, linked to the external benchmark rate, would be effective May [latex]1^{st}[/latex], the bank said in a late evening statement.
- The Reserve Bank said it has imposed penalties worth Rs 71 crore on 36 public, private and foreign banks for non-compliance with various directions on time-bound implementation and strengthening of SWIFT operations.
- Serena Williams, seeded 10th in her first tournament since a quarter-final exit at the Australian Open, needed two hours and seven minutes to get past her long-time rival.
- Chasing England’s modest 119 for six, the Indians had only themselves to blame as they were on course to register a consolation win after having lost the first two matches.
- James Harden scored 31 points, Eric Gordon chipped in 17 with five 3-pointers, and the Houston Rockets extended their winning streak to a season-best seven games with their 107-91 victory over the visiting Philadelphia 76ers
- India skipper Virat Kohli added a fresh feather into his already illustrious cap as he took his career average past 60 after scoring his 41st ODI ton in the third match of the series against Australia at the JSCA International Stadium in Ranchi
- Pakistan has demanded that the ICC take note of Indian cricketers wearing camouflage military caps during the third ODI against Australia, accusing Virat Kohli team’s of politicising the game
- The Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) in Bhubaneswar won the Airport Service Quality (ASQ) award for being the best airport in size and region (2-5 million passengers in Asia-Pacific) for the year 2018.
- A 116-year-old Japanese woman who loves playing the board game Othello was honored Saturday as the world’s oldest living person by Guinness World Records.
- White House Communications Director Bill Shine has resigned as Donald Trump's top White House communications aide and will move to work on the U.S. president's 2020 re-election campaign, the White House said
- The present High Commissioner of India to the Republic of Seychelles, Dr. Ausaf Sayeed has been appointed as the next ambassador of India to Saudi Arabia by the Ministry of External Affairs.
- Governor of Mizoram, Kummanam Rajasekharan has resigned from his post and might be fielded as the BJP candidate from the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha constituency.
- NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft has observed water molecules moving around the dayside of the Moon, a finding that may prove beneficial as the agency plans to put astronauts back on the lunar surface.
- Hackers and security researchers use stolen iPhone prototypes to break into them and find critical vulnerabilities, a Motherboard report claimed.
- Daniel Rudisha, a former teacher who became a Kenyan athletics coach died following a cardiac arrest in Nakuru, Northwest of Nairobi.
- The 21st Lt Governor of Puducherry and former Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) chief, Virendra Kataria, passed away at the age of 88 years.
1. Important Days
- International Women's Day is celebrated on March [latex]8^{th}[/latex] every year. It is a focal point in the movement for women's rights.
- China’s exports tumbled the most in three years in February while imports fell for a third straight month, pointing to a further slowdown in the economy despite a spate of support measures.
- China's foreign minister slammed US accusations against telecom giant Huawei and said Beijing will take "all necessary measures" to defend the "legitimate rights" of the country's companies and individuals.
- The UN has rejected a petition by Hafiz Saeed, the founder of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), to be removed from a list of sanctioned terrorists.
- The US has asked Pakistan to take "sustained and irreversible" actions against terrorist groups operating from its territory, according to a top State Department official.
- While the first Women's Day was observed in New York on February [latwx]28^{th}[/latex], 1909 and organised by Socialist Party of America, it was the party's leader Theresa Serber Malkiel who first suggested it.
- North Korea is restoring facilities at a long-range rocket launch site that it dismantled last year as part of disarmament steps, according to foreign experts and a South Korean lawmaker who was briefed by Seoul's spy service.
- The Indian Air Force trolled Pakistan with a poem suggesting that its Mirage 2000 fighter jets had to cross over into Pakistan as Islamabad had crossed its limits by attacking CRPF personnel in Pulwama.
- The Indian Army is creating two new positions in its headquarters for strengthening its vigilance set up and monitoring human rights-related matters as part of an overarching plan to restructure the force, two officials on condition of anonymity said.
- Kendriya Vidyalaya officials, Rs 1,579.9 crores will be spent in next five years on construction and staff salary for the 50 new schools. The schools are proposed to be opened in the civil and defence areas, a government statement.
- Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik launched the scheme ‘Mukhya Mantri Karigar Sahayata’ for financial assistance to craftsmen. The nodal department of the scheme is the Directorate of handicrafts.
- Coal Minister Piyush Goyal dedicated to the nation a 1,000-megawatt (MW) thermal power project of Neyveli Tamil Nadu Power Ltd (NTPL) at Thoothukudi and a 150-MW solar power projects of NLC India Ltd (NLCIL) at Ramanathapuram and Virudhunagar districts in Tamil Nadu.
- An Indian Air Force MiG 21 crashed in Rajasthan today. The pilot of the fighter jet ejected and is reported to be safe.
- The BSE benchmark Sensex Friday started on a negative note tracking weak cues from other Asian markets amid heavy selling by domestic institutional investors and depreciating rupee.
- SBI chairman Rajnish Kumar said that a comprehensive resolution plan was being worked out with the lenders of Jet Airways
- The rupee depreciated 11 paise to 70.60 against the US dollar in opening trade Wednesday on increased demand for the greenback from importers and banks.
- Indian qualifier Prajnesh Gunneswaran knocked out world number 69 Benoit Paire for one of the biggest wins of his career and progressed to the second round of the Indian Wells ATP Masters event at Indian Wells.
- Chelsea outclassed Dynamo Kiev 3-0 in the first leg of their Europa League last-16 tie but Arsenal face an uphill task to make the quarter-finals after slumping to a 3-1 defeat at French club Rennes.
- Captain Virat Kohli, ODI vice-captain Rohit Sharma and paceman Jasprit Bumrah are the only three players in the A+ category, who will receive Rs 7 crore.
- Top Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth had to toil hard to seal their places in the quarterfinals of the USD 1 million All England Championships
- President Ram Nath Kovind presented the Swachh Survekhshan 2019 Awards in New Delhi and appreciated those who are taking active part in cleanliness drive in the country.
- Reliance Industries Chairman, Mukesh Ambani, jumped six positions to rank 13th on Forbes World’s Billionaires list with USD 50 billion wealth and leads 106 billionaires from India on the list where Wipro Chairman Azim Premji ranked 36th with USD 22.6 billion wealth.
- IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad in an interview said the government has approved Taiwanese manufacturer Wistron's ₹5,091-crore plan to make Apple devices in India. "Wistron will make latest iPhone models," Prasad said.
- NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Christina Koch will share the credit of performing the spacewalk at the International Space Station, CNN reported.
- NASA has captured unprecedented photos of the interaction of shockwaves from two supersonic aircraft, part of its research into developing planes that can fly faster than sound without thunderous “sonic booms”.
- Jerry Merryman, one of three people at Texas Instruments (TI) credited with inventing the world’s first handheld electronic calculator in 1960s, died at the age of 86 years at Dallas, Texas.
1. International News
- Pakistan has taken control of 182 religious schools and detained more than 100 people as it intensifies its crackdown on banned militant organisations, the interior ministry said.
- The Senate and House of Representatives have passed resolutions that would end US support for the Saudi-led coalition, an important rebuke of Riyadh.
- China announced that it has sent its Vice Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou to Islamabad to discuss the tensions between India and Pakistan.
- Pakistan Army Spokesperson Major General Asif Ghafoor has claimed that terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) does not exist in the country.
- French luxury goods tycoon Bernard Arnault has overtaken Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett as the world's third-richest person on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
- US Senator Martha McSally, who was the first female US fighter pilot to fly in combat, has revealed she "was preyed upon and raped by a superior officer" while in the Air Force.
- Andhra Pradesh's ruling party TDP has lodged a police complaint alleging that its data of last two decades was stolen by TRS-led Telangana government in a conspiracy with YSRCP.
- The Union Cabinet approved state-owned NHPC taking over debt-laden Lanco's 500 MW Teesta hydro-electric power project in Sikkim
- The Government will come out with the first ever Rs 20 coin which will be shaped like a 12-edged polygon with design of grains to denote farm dominance in the country.
- Himachal Pradesh chief minister Jai Ram Thakur flagged off glass-enclosed vistadome coach rail car on the heritage Shimla-Kalka railway line, besides inaugurating other facilities.
- Yasin Malik, the chairperson of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), has been booked under the stringent public safety act (PSA) and is being shifted to a jail in Jammu.
- The CBI has sought more documents from ICICI Bank in connection with loans given to Videocon during former CEO Chanda Kochhar's tenure, officials said
- A loan agreement worth $96 Million was signed between the World Bank, Government of India and Government of Uttarakhand.
- A loan agreement worth $25.2 Million was signed between the central government, Chhattisgarh state government and the World Bank.
- Team India captain Virat Kohli smashed his 40th ODI hundred, taking 216 innings to reach the milestone.
- Neeraj Chopra had a fruitful 2018 when he won javelin gold at the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games but the Indian reckons this year is going to be even more crucial for him as he chases Olympic glory at Tokyo 2020.
- LeBron James passed Michael Jordan to move into fourth place on the NBA career scoring list, but the host Los Angeles Lakers fell short in a 115-99 loss to the Denver Nuggets
- A Guinness World Record in Yoga was set by more than a thousand people who performed the Virabathrasan or the Warrior II Pose for 3 minutes, in Sun Yat Sen Memorial Park, Hong Kong.
- Nonagenarian artist Phani Bhushan Biswas was awarded the Rs 10 lakh "Sulabh Sculpture Award" on the 49th Foundation Day of Sulabh International
- Japanese architect Arata Isozaki, credited with bringing together the East and West in his innovative designs, has been awarded this year’s Pritzker Architecture Prize.
- Indore has bagged the cleanest city award for third straight year under Swachh Survekshan, 2019. President Ram Nath Kovind presented Swachh Survekhshan-2019 Awards in New Delhi
- Kaja Kallas, the leader of the Reform Party has been appointed as the first female Prime Minister of Estonia, after the liberal Reform Party declared victory in the elections against centre-left Prime Minister Juri Ratas’s party.
- P Venkata Ramesh Babu has been appointed as the Director General of the National Archives of India by the Central government.
- The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) has appointed scientist Ajit Kumar Mohanty as its Director, according to a Personnel Ministry order. Mohanty has been appointed as Director for a period of three years, the order said.
- Justice Arjan Kumar Sikri, the second senior-most judge of the Supreme Court, will retire. Sikri, 65, was elevated to the apex court on April 12, 2013.
- European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) has announced a new experiment to search for dark matter, which makes up about 27% of the universe.
- Japanese space agency JAXA has released a video of its spacecraft Hayabusa2's touch down on asteroid Ryugu last month.
- Abhishek designed a paddy-filling device that reduced manual labour, thereby easing the work of the labourer.
- The book “Designing Destiny The Heartfulness Way” which has been written by spiritual teacher Kamlesh Patel who is famously known as Daaji, was launched recently.
1. Important Days
- National Dentist’s Day falls on March [latex]6^{th}[/latex] every year. It was established as a way to show appreciation and thanks for dentists.
- The US trade deficit’s biggest contraction on record came in 2009 when it shrank by more than $300 billion in a single year as a result of the recession then under way and the resulting collapse in US demand for imported goods.
- The US State Department has said that America is seeking more information from Pakistan on the potential misuse of American-made F-16 fighter jets by it against India in violation of the end-user agreement.
- Pakistan Punjab’s information and culture minister Fayyazul Hassan Chohan has been removed from his ministry for making derogatory remarks against the Hindu community.
- The court is hearing 14 appeals against a 2010 Allahabad high court judgment that trifurcated the 2.77 acre disputed compound between the Sunni Waqf Board, Nirmohi Akhada and representatives of the child deity, Ram Lalla.
- The Supreme Court will today begin hearing a petition seeking a review of its December 14, 2018, judgment in the Rafale jet purchase matter in the open court.
- The Congress said it is time for an FIR for malfeasance in the purchase of 36 Rafale fighter planes from France which the opposition party alleged had bled the exchequer to benefit Dassault aviation.
- Indore was adjudged India’s cleanest city for the third straight year in the central government’s cleanliness survey.
- Pakistan violated the 2003 ceasefire agreement with India in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district thrice, a defence spokesperson said.
- A year after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) tightened the screws on companies delaying debt payments, the Supreme Court is poised to begin hearing arguments on whether the banking regulator’s diktat applies across industries.
- DBS Bank India CEO Surojit Shome has said the newly-formed subsidiary of Singapore-based DBS Bank plans to triple its balance sheet over next five years from the existing ₹50,000 crore.
- Private sector lender Yes Bank said the Reserve Bank of India has slapped a fine of Rs 1 crore on the bank for non-compliance of directions on Swift messaging software.
- A challenging draw stands in the way but India’s top shuttlers PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal will nonetheless fancy their chances of ending a nearly two-decade old title jinx at the All England Championship.
- The reign of Real Madrid in Europe is over and their season could well be too after they were stunned by a 4-1 defeat at home to Ajax
- Vijender, unbeaten in his 10-bout pro career, will make his US debut at Staples Center on THE Vasiliy Lomachenko-Anthony Crolla undercard. It will be an eight-round contest and his opponent will be announced later.
- The TVS company has also won the 'Quality and Business Excellence Award' in recognition to its endeavour to create new benchmarks in product quality, according to a press.
- Indian Bank, a Public Sector Bank (PSB), headquartered at Chennai, Tamil Nadu has been awarded the Best Bank Award by the Tamil Nadu government for successfully meeting the needs of women’s self-help groups (SHGs).
- Veteran Indian sports administrator Randhir Singh has been appointed as the chairman of the Coordination Committee of the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games by the General Assembly of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA).
- Former union minister V Dhananjay Kumar passed away. He was 67. Kumar began his stint in politics with Jana Sangh and entered the BJP in 1983.
1. International News
- Premier Li Keqiang said the Chinese economy is likely to grow between 6 percent and 6.5 percent in 2019, lower than last year’s 6.5 percent.
- The two largest English-speaking economies ranked 23rd and 13th, respectively, in PricewaterhouseCoopers’ annual ranking of the representation and welfare of women in the workplace across 33 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries.
- US President Donald Trump said he intends to end India’s preferential trade treatment under a program that allows $5.6 billion worth of Indian exports to enter the United States duty free.
- Up to 100 people could still be trapped and feared dead inside a collapsed illegal gold mine in Indonesia, the authorities said.
- Iran has threatened to take action against Pakistan-based terror groups following a suicide attack that killed 27 Iranian soldiers.
- India has nominated NITI Aayog member and agricultural economics and policy expert Ramesh Chand to lead a specialised agency of the United Nations focussed on achieving food security for all.
- Director of New Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences, AIIMS, Dr Randeep Guleria, spoke about the available cancer treatment options in India and the need for a state-of-the-art institute for the disease.
- Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad hit back at the Congress party after senior leaders including Kapil Sibal, Digvijaya Singh and P Chidambaram sought clarification from the Narendra Modi government.
- NCP chief Sharad Pawar, has broken his own resolve of not contesting elections, and announced last month that he would contest the polls from the Madha constituency in Solapur district in Maharashtra which he represented from 2009 to 2014.
- Private lender ICICI Bank on said it will acquire 9.9% stake in Non-Banking Finance Company (NBFC) Kisan Finance for nearly ₹18 crore.
- Private sector lender Yes Bank said the Reserve Bank of India has slapped a fine of ₹1 crore on the bank for non-compliance of directions on Swift messaging software.
- Indian Rupee was trading marginally lower against US dollar tracking losses in its Asian currencies market.
- FIFA has recommended the use of video assistant referee (VAR) technology for the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France this year.
- Kelly Oubre Jr. recorded 27 points, 13 rebounds and three blocked shots, and Devin Booker scored 22 points as the lowly Phoenix Suns pulled off a stunning 114-105 victory over the visiting Milwaukee Bucks night.
- Eight-times champion Tiger Woods has withdrawn from this week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill in Orlando due to a neck strain, the former world number one said.
- Manchester United forward Alexis Sanchez is facing up to an eight-week spell on the sidelines due to a knee ligament injury, according to the physiotherapist of the Chilean national team.
- Prayagraj Kumbh Mela 2019 organised from 15th January 2019- 4th March 2019 in Prayagraj (formerly Allahabad), Uttar Pradesh has made it to the Guinness World Records in three sectors.
- Kavya Kopparapu, an Indian-American teenager residing in Herndon, Virginia has been awarded the National STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Education Award 2019.
- Senior IAS officer Sanjeev Ranjan has been designated as secretary of Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH). He will succeed Yudhvir Singh Malik.
- Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah of Kuwait, who is considered a major power broker in sport world, is re-elected as president of the powerful Olympic Council of Asia.
- Vijaya Bhaskar, State Health Minister of Tamil Nadu stated that Tamil Nadu has become the first state in the country to introduce Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI) in the government hospitals.
- Amazon has launched 'Project Zero', that lets brands remove counterfeit listings from their website via self-service tool, without having to first report it to Amazon.
- Facebook doesn't let users make their phone numbers, provided only for two-factor authentication, completely private, a user claimed on Twitter.
- Actor Luke Perry, known for his roles in TV shows like 'Riverdale' and 'Beverly Hills, 90210', passed away aged 52.
1. Important Day
- National Security Day on March [latex]4^{th}[/latex] every year The day has a huge significance. It is celebrated to pay tribute and honour to our nonpareil security forces
- The National Army Museum in Britain says it has agreed to repatriate two locks of hair belonging to a widely revered Ethiopian emperor after a request from Addis Ababa.
- US National Security advisor John Bolton denied Sunday that last week’s nuclear summit with North Korea was a failure, despite President Donald Trump coming home empty-handed.
- The United States is trying to prevent simmering tensions between India and Pakistan from impacting a third country: Afghanistan, where a fragile peace push is underway to try to end more than 17 years of war with Taliban insurgents.
- A tornado tore through the southern US state of Alabama, killing 23 people, uprooting trees and causing “catastrophic” damage to buildings and roads, a local sheriff said.
- Indonesian authorities warned that up to 100 people could still be trapped and feared dead inside a collapsed illegal gold mine despite a painstaking rescue effort that has so far plucked 19 people alive from the rubble, but also seen nine deaths.
- US president Donald Trump accused Democrats of planning a “socialist nightmare” with their extreme agenda, reeling out an attack line for the 2020 election.
- An unused railway coach was set ablaze during the enactment of the 2002 Godhra training burning incident for a documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
- People of Bhainskot, a nondescript village, 18 km from Srinagar in Pauri district of Uttarakhand, have a battle to fight every day. Women wait for hours to collect two buckets of water daily. And men sit idle in the absence of farm practices.
- The Enforcement Directorate (ED) questioned former ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar for the fourth consecutive day in the ongoing probe into the alleged irregularities and corrupt practices in sanctioning a Rs 1,875-crore loan by the bank to the Videocon Group.
- President Ram Nath Kovind said India will use all its might to protect the nation’s sovereignty while referring to the IAF air strikes in Pakistan following the Pulwama terror attack of February [latex]14^{th}[/latex].
- Braving wintery weather, a large number of Indian-Americans held a protest in front of the United Nations headquarters here against the Pulwama attack and demanded that Pakistan take action against terror groups operating on its soil.
- Congress member and leader of opposition Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil’s son Sujay is keen to contest Lok Sabha polls from Ahmednagar seat, which as per seat-sharing quota is with the NCP.
- The Integrated Nodal Agency made to look into the matter has been issuing Look-Out Circulars to absconding husbands in cases of NRI marriages and 45 passports have been impounded by the External Affairs Ministry, Gandhi said.
- The CBI has booked promoters of a Hyderabad-based construction and leasing company for alleged criminal conspiracy and cheating in availing loans which turned into NPA causing a loss of Rs 8.20 crore to the State Bank of India
- Private sector Karnataka Bank said the RBI has slapped a fine of Rs 4 crore on it for violating regulatory norms.
- The Huawei Technologies Co. chief financial officer whose detention in Canada has sparked a diplomatic standoff has filed a civil lawsuit against Canadian authorities, alleging she was wrongfully detained and searched.
- The problem of bad bonds may have impacted not just your mutual fund portfolio, but even insurance and pension products you may be holding
- Mario Balotelli showed off a new goal celebration on Sunday as he took a selfie video with his Marseille teammates and posted it on social media during their 2-0 win over Saint-Etienne.
- The camp at Goa for the AFC U23 championship kicked off. While the boys sweat it out in the middle, the man in charge of the U23 team Derrick Pereira feels that India has a lot of talent at its disposal.
- Argentine Guido Pella claimed his first ATP title when he beat Christian Garin 7-5 6-3 to win the Brasil Open in Sao Paulo
- Oceania nations, including sporting powerhouse Australia, have been invited to compete in Olympic team events such as football and basketball at the 2022 Asian Games for the first time.
- State-run Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) chairman G Satheesh Reddy is the joint winner of the 2019 Missile Systems Award given by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics in the US, said the Virginia-based aerospace technical society
- SKOCH award, the highest independent honour in the country, was given to Odisha State Disaster Management Authority (OSDMA) for the first time for its remarkable achievements in the field of disaster management.
- Macky Sall has again won the election with 58.27% of votes casted to be the President of Senegal. This majority votes has handed Macky Sall a second term to be the President without the need for a second round of voting.
- British luxury clothing company Ted Baker's Founder and CEO Ray Kelvin has resigned following allegations of misconduct, including 'forced hugging' claims by the company's employees.
- Bhagwan Lal Sahni who hails from Muzaffarpur, Bihar has been appointed as the chairman of the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC).
- Amazon is reportedly planning to launch dozens of grocery stores in several major American cities, separate from its Whole Foods unit, which it acquired for $13.7 billion in 2017.
- Airtel and Vodafone Idea have announced fundraising plans, Reliance Jio is looking to deleverage a move typically associated with a stake sale at a later stage
- Zhores Alferov who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2000 and was also a member of Russian parliament, died at the age of 88 in St. Petersburg, Russia.
1. Important Days
- World Hearing Day is held on [latex]3^{rd}[/latex] March each year to raise awareness on how to prevent deafness and hearing loss and promote ear and hearing care across the world.
- Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) countries including India and China held a crucial meeting in Cambodia.
- Brazilian miner Vale's CEO Fábio Schvartsman temporarily stepped down amid controversy over the collapse of one of its dams in January, which killed over 180 people.
- US President Donald Trump alleged India is a very high-tariff nation. Citing the example of Harley-Davidson motorcycles, Trump said,
- Apple CEO Tim Cook, in a talk with investors, said Apple is "planting seeds" and "rolling the dice" on future products that will just "blow you away".
- Congress President Rahul Gandhi attacked PM Narendra Modi after his "much more could have been achieved if India had Rafale" statement.
- A National Investigation Agency team traced the Maruti Eeco used in Pulwama attack after finding its key, following a scan of a radius of 200 metres around the attack site with metal detectors.
- Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi have created a laptop for visually-impaired. In what they claim to be a first in the country
- Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Dharmendra Pradhan said that Tripura is country’s number one gas producing point and every poor household in the state will have LPG connection in 2019.
- India’s food processing ministry is working on a new scheme Gram Samridhi Yojana to bolster the unorganised food processing sector concentrated in rural areas.
- Banks will have to lend about ₹1 lakh crore more to meet the Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency (MUDRA) scheme's target of ₹3 lakh crore for 2018-19, as per government data.
- The ICC has turned down the BCCI's request to sever ties with countries from which "terrorism emanates", saying it's not their domain.
- India’s star wrestler Bajrang Punia has won a gold medal in 65 kilogram freestyle in Bulgaria. The tournament, Dan Kolov-Nikola Petrov was held in Ruse, Bulgaria.
- Indian wrestler Pooja Dhanda claimed gold in the 59kg category in Dan Kolov-Nikola Petrov tournament held in Ruse, Bulgaria.
- Roger Federer made history at the Dubai Championship as he defeated reigning champion Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 6-4 to win his 100th tour-level title.
- Kavya Kopparapu, an Indian-American teenager has been conferred with the 2019 National STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Education Award.
- Tripura’s Thanga Darlong, the last tribal musician to play Rosem a bamboo made a flute-like musical instrument, was conferred the Atal Behari Vajpayee Life Time Award during the 37th Agartala Book Fair in Agartala.
- Ajit Singh is appointed as the first Lokayukta of Odisha. Odisha Governor Ganeshi Lal has approved his name following the recommendation of selection committee headed by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
1. International News
- The UN Security Council has designated slain Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden's son Hamza bin Laden under its sanctions list and described him as the "most probable successor" of the terror group's current leader Aiman al-Zawahiri.
- Israel's attorney general has announced his intention to indict PM Benjamin Netanyahu on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust. Netanyahu allegedly took gifts from businessmen in exchange for favours.
- Nathaniel Abraham now is 33 years old. Bond was set at $100,000 during a court appearance Friday in Farmington Hills. Outside court, attorney James Galen says his client isn’t “holding up so well.”
- The US is seeking more information on the potential misuse of American-made F-16 fighter jets by Pakistan against India in violation of the end-user agreement, the State Department has said.
- Pakistani citizens are demanding a Nobel Peace Prize for the country's Prime Minister Imran Khan for releasing captured Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot as a "gesture of peace".
- The second meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, in Vietnam, was cut short after they failed to reach a deal on the extent of sanctions relief North Korea would get in exchange for steps to give up its nuclear programme.
- YSR Congress Party chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy said he is not against Congress party president Rahul Gandhi and his party is open to form an alliance with any party that gives special status to Andhra Pradesh.
- Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD) with Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment have organized a national conference on “Deendayal Disabled Rehabilitation Scheme” at Dr. Ambedkar International Centre, New Delhi
- Border Security Force (BSF) and Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) took part in the 3-day ‘Mainamati Maitree Exercise 2019’ as a part of ‘Confidence Building Measures’ between the two border guards of India and Bangladesh held in a general area of BSF’s Srimantapur border outpost near Agartala, Tripura.
- The Aam Aadmi Party has announced the names of its candidates for six of the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi.
- Britain stands shoulder-to-shoulder with India in outrage over the Pulwama terror attack, and in determination to work towards defeating terrorism that threatens both the countries, British MP and former foreign secretary Boris Johnson said
- Former ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak on Saturday appeared before the Enforcement Directorate(ED) for questioning in a money laundering case.
- Rajeev Kumar, who recently took over as the state CID chief after completing his tenure as the city police commissioner, would hold additional charge of the two departments until further orders, a home department official said
- The Rajasthan Assembly had passed the Rajasthan Backward Classes (Reservation of Seats in Educational Institutions in the State and of Appointments and Posts in Services under the State) (Amendment) Bill, 2019, on February [latex]13^{th}[/latex] this year.
- A loan agreement of USD 455 million was signed between the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and the Government of India for financing the Andhra Pradesh Rural Roads Project,
- State-run Union Bank of India said it has reduced marginal cost of funds-based lending rate (MCLR) by 10 basis points across all tenors.
- State Bank of India (SBI), the country's largest lender by assets, has said it had reported frauds totalling ₹7,951 crore during first nine months of 2018-19.
- US private-equity firm Carlyle Group has acquired a 9% stake in SBI Life Insurance from France's largest listed bank BNP Paribas for ₹4,600 crore
- Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund slumped to a shock 2-1 loss at Augsburg as forward Ji Dong-won scored twice to give champions Bayern Munich the chance to draw level at the top.
- New Zealand achieved the rare feat Saturday of having their first three batsmen score centuries in the same innings when Kane Williamson completed the trifecta on day three of the first Test against Bangladesh in Hamilton.
- Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola will seek to make “three or four” major signings this summer, with a replacement for the injury-hit Benjamin Mendy a top priority.
- Shri M Venkaiah Naidu presented Kalam Innovation in Governance Award 2019, at the third edition of Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Summit on Innovation and Governance held in New Delhi.
- The government has appointed former Finance Secretary Hasmukh Adhia as the Non-Executive Chairman of Bank of Baroda for three years.
- Shri Ajay Narayan Jha joined the 15th Finance Commission as its Member in place of Shri Shaktikanta Das who had resigned as a Member of the Commission after being appointed as Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
- IT Ministry has asked social media firms to ensure platforms are not being misused to spread content against India, in light of the recent Pulwama attack and capture of IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman by Pakistan.
- Cybersecurity company Dojo's researchers demoed a vulnerability in Amazon's Ring doorbell app that let video feed recorded by the smart doorbell be spied on and even modified.
- Scientists led by IIT (BHU) researcher Abhishek Srivastava have discovered tadpole-shaped jets coming out of regions with intense magnetic fields on the Sun.
- European Space Agency's (ESA) Mars Express mission has discovered the first evidence of the existence of a planet-wide underground water system on Mars.
- British Indian academic and manufacturing expert Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya, who founded the Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) died after a brief illnes. He was 78.
1. Important Days
- Zero Discrimination Day is celebrated globally on [latex]1^{st}[/latex] March every year so that everyone live life with dignity regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, skin colour, height, weight etc.
- The Civilian Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) stepped in with a contingency plan for both domestic and foreign airlines to use Chinese air space to reroute flights.
- Israel’s attorney general recommended criminal charges against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a series of corruption cases, shaking up an already tumultuous election campaign and threatening to end the Israeli leader’s decades-long political career.
- The US House of Representatives passed a legislation to expand background check for gun buyers to include online transactions and at gun shows and fairs, in the first attempt at reforming firearms laws in a generation.
- Pakistan said it has conveyed reservations over Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj’s presence at the upcoming Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) meeting in the UAE.
- Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said that Indian Air Force (IAF) Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman will be released this afternoon via Wagah border.
- Thailand's military-appointed Parliament has unanimously passed a controversial cybersecurity law that may enable surveillance of its citizens.
- Israeli Soldiers may have committed war crimes while responding to Palestinian protests on the Gaza border last year, a panel set up by UN Human Rights Council.
- Lok Sabha Elections 2019: Though credited with starting Adampur-Delhi daily flights and four-laning highways to Hoshiarpur, BJP MP from Hoshiarpur and Union minister Vijay Sampla is criticised for being missing from his constituency after he becoming a minister.
- The Haryana government came in for a sharp rebuke from the Supreme Court over its law to allow construction in the ecologically-fragile Aravali region.
- The Allahabad High Court asked the Uttar Pradesh government to frame necessary rules within six months to curb vandalism witnessed in higher education institutions.
- The Union Cabinet approved the setting up of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at Haryana's Manethi.
- The Cabinet approved the promulgation of an ordinance which allows children to exit Aadhaar on attaining 18 years of age.
- Rajasthan Chief Electoral Officer, besides voter identity card, 11 other documents can be used to prove identity for exercising one's franchise in the upcoming Lok Sabha election.
- Ahead of PM Narendra Modi's rally in Bihar, the state Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi criticised the Opposition saying PM Modi doesn't need advice from those who have been in favour of going soft on terror.
- Dell beats revenue estimates in first report as public company. Excluding some items, Dell expects full-year 2020 revenue between $93 billion and $96 billion, mostly above analysts’ estimate of $94.11 billion.
- According to BCG-IBA Report on EASE Reforms index released by Union Minister of Finance & Corporate Affairs, Punjab National Bank (PNB)
- Gurugram-based grocery delivery startup Grofers has raised $60 million (around ₹425 crore) in a Series F round of funding from SoftBank Vision Fund, at an estimated post-money valuation of $425 million.
- The Income-Tax (I-T) Department will only issue electronic refunds directly into taxpayers' bank accounts from March [latex]1^{st}[/latex] and they should link PAN with their accounts, according to an official communication.
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced a task force headed by its former deputy governor Usha Thorat to examine issues related to offshore rupee markets and recommend policy measures to ensure the stability of the external value of the domestic currency.
- World number one Naomi Osaka welcomed US coach Jermaine Jenkins to her team, just in time for her title defense at Indian Wells next week.
- Roger Federer moved to within two wins of a 100th career title after coming through a tough test in difficult conditions against Marton Fucsovics to reach the Dubai Championships semi-finals.
- Valencia set up a Copa del Rey final clash with Barcelona as Rodrigo’s second-half goal sealed a 1-0 second-leg win over Real Betis at the Mestalla.
- British Indian World War II spy, Noor Inayat Khan, confirmed as the first Indian-origin woman to be honoured with a Blue Plaque at 4 Taviton Street in Bloomsbury, London (her former home).
- Reliance Industries Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani became the first Indian and the only Asian to enter the Global top 10 richest billionaire list compiled by Hurun Research, China after a USD 9 billion or 20% surge in his wealth to USD 54 billion.
- Tabu will be honoured at the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) in April. "Her work and personality embody everything that IFFLA is about this couldn't be a stronger celebration of women in Indian cinema," Christina Marouda, IFFLA Executive Director, said in a statement.
- Eastern Air Command chief Air Marshal Raghunath Nambiar was appointed as the new chief of Indian Air Force's sword arm Western Air Command.
- Bengaluru based semiconductor company “SIGNALCHIP” unveiled India’s first Indigenous Semiconductor Chips for 4G/LTE and 5G NR MODEMs at an event in New Delhi which was addressed by the Secretary, Telecom, Mrs Aruna Sundararajan.
- Researchers have discovered “methane hydrates“, a potential fuel of the future just two meters below the sea-floor in the Krishna-Godavari (K-G) basin off the coast of Andhra Pradesh in the Bay of Bengal.