27th-28th March, 2023

1. The second G20 Infrastructure Working Group (IWG) meeting under G20 Indian Presidency is scheduled to take place at Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh on March 2023.
2. Mahila Samman Savings Certificate Scheme has been announced in the Union Budget 2023-24 with a deposit facility up to Rs 2 lakh in the name of women or girls for a tenure of two years at a fixed interest of 5%.
3. Union Ministry of Environment and Forest will celebrate Gaj Utsav 2023 at Kaziranga National Park, Assam on April 7 and 8 to commemorate the successful completion of 30 years of Project Elephant.
4. The world’s highest railway bridge named as ‘Chenab Bridge’ is being built by Indian Railways to connect Jammu & Kashmir to the rest of India.
5. Union Minister of State for Skill Development & Entrepreneurship and Electronics & IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar has launched a Skill Hub Portal in Bengaluru to offer industry-ready employable skills to the youth in the entire country.
6. Directorate General of Foreign Trade has allowed the import of urea through India Potash Limited for another year until March 2024.
7. Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has allocated Rs 318 crore for the construction of 150-km-long Tanakpur-Pithoragarh all-weather road in Uttarakhand.
8. Ministry of Finance has constituted a panel, chaired by TV Somanathan (Finance Secretary), to suggest reforms in the National Pension Scheme.
9. National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, has launched the National Rabies Control Programme (NRCP) for prevention and control of Rabies.
10. Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated the new International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Area office & Innovation Centre in India at a programme in Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.
11. The Central Government has sanctioned a new greenfield for Electronics Manufacturing Cluster (EMC) at Dharwad in Karnataka.
12. Ministry of Railways has approved the doubling of the railway line between Gooty and Pendekallu stations in Andhra Pradesh.
13. Uttar Pradesh and Quality Council of India, in collaboration with ASSOCHAM, FICCI, IIA and PHDCCI, have launched the Uttar Pradesh Gunvatta Sankalp (Uttar Pradesh Quality Mission) at
14. Rajasthan has passed the Right to Health Bill to give every resident of the state the right to avail free Out-Patient Department (OPD) services and In-Patient Department (IPD) services at all public health facilities.
15. Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has given its approval for the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for Raw Jute for 2023-24 season.
16. National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd. (NHIDCL), a CPSE under the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways and CSIR-SERC (Structural Engineering Research Centre), Chennai have signed an MoU for sharing knowledge on innovative ideas and technologies in the field of highway engineering.
17. Ministry of Ayush and Department of Ex-servicemen Welfare/ Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS), Ministry of Defence have signed an MOU to integrate Ayurveda in ECHS Polyclinics as an OPD service for 5 years period.
18. German defence ministry announced that the first shipment of third-generation Leopard-2 tanks from the country has been sent to Ukraine.
19. Uganda’s Parliament has passed the Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2023.
20. Tanzania has reported its first-ever outbreak of Marburg Virus. It is a highly contagious and deadly virus that causes viral haemorrhagic fever just like Ebola.
21. James Webb Space Telescope of NASA has detected exoplanet VHS 1256 b in the atmosphere.
22. UNICEF has released “The Triple Threat” report which highlights how disease, climate risks, and unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene create a deadly combination for children.
23. United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has released the Technology and Innovation Report 2023.
24. UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network has released the World Happiness Report 2023.
25. The interest rate on employees’ provident fund deposits has been increased to 15% for FY23 from a four-decade low of 8.1% in the previous year.
26. Former Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has been elected as the head of New Development Bank (NDB), a multilateral financial institution set up by the five BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) countries.
27. March 24 – Assam Rifles Raising Day (188th edition)
28. International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade
29. The Foundation of SAARC Writers and Literature (FOSWAL) has won a special literary award on Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
30. Claude Lorius, a pioneering glaciologist from France, has passed away.

National News

1. The second G20 Infrastructure Working Group (IWG) meeting under G20 Indian Presidency is scheduled to take place at Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh on March 2023.
   • Theme of the IWG Meeting – Economic Cities of Tomorrow
   • The first G-20 IWG summit was held in Maharashtra’s Pune.
2. Mahila Samman Savings Certificate Scheme has been announced in the Union Budget 2023-24 with a deposit facility up to Rs 2 lakh in the name of women or girls for a tenure of two years at a fixed interest of 5%.
   • A one-time new small savings scheme, Mahila Samman Savings Certificate, will be made available for a two-year period up to March 2025.
   • The scheme will allow partial withdrawal option.
3. Union Ministry of Environment and Forest will celebrate Gaj Utsav 2023 at Kaziranga National Park, Assam on April 7 and 8 to commemorate the successful completion of 30 years of Project Elephant.
   • The State of Assam holds the second largest wild elephant population in India. Karnataka has the highest number of wild elephant population.
   • Kaziranga is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It is famous for inhabiting one-horned rhinoceros, tigers, elephants, wild water buffalo and bears as well as aquatic species including the Ganges River dolphin.
4. The world’s highest railway bridge named as ‘Chenab Bridge’ is being built by Indian Railways to connect Jammu & Kashmir to the rest of India.
   • The project is likely to be completed by December 2023 or January 2024.
   • The 1.3 km long bridge forms a very important link in the 111 km stretch from Katra to Banihal. This bridge is 35 metres taller than the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
   • The ambitious project is being executed by Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd at an estimated cost of Rs 1486 crore.
5. Union Minister of State for Skill Development & Entrepreneurship and Electronics & IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar has launched a Skill Hub Portal in Bengaluru to offer industry-ready employable skills to the youth in the entire country.
6. Directorate General of Foreign Trade has allowed the import of urea through India Potash Limited for another year until March 2024.
   • Besides India Potash Limited, the import of fertilizer is already allowed through Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers.
7. Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has allocated Rs 318 crore for the construction of 150-km-long Tanakpur-Pithoragarh all-weather road in Uttarakhand.
8. Ministry of Finance has constituted a panel, chaired by TV Somanathan (Finance Secretary), to suggest reforms in the National Pension Scheme.
   • The govt wants more and more state governments to adopt the NPS.
   • The state governments of Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh have shifted back to the Old Pension Scheme.
   • The states have requested a refund of corpus accumulated under the NPS.
   • Under the OPS, retired government employees received 50% of their last drawn salary as monthly pensions. The amount keeps increasing with hike in the DA rates.
   • Under OPS, the employees do not have to contribute which increases the burden on the exchequer.
9. National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, has launched the National Rabies Control Programme (NRCP) for prevention and control of Rabies.
   • Key points of the program –
     • provision of rabies vaccine & rabies immunoglobulin through national free drug initiatives
     • training on appropriate animal bite management, prevention and control of rabies, surveillance and intersectoral coordination
     • strengthening surveillance of animal bites and rabies deaths reporting
     • creating awareness about rabies prevention
   • Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and Ministry of Fisheries Animal Husbandry & Dairying have jointly launched ‘National Action Plan for Dog Mediated Rabies Elimination (NAPRE) from India by 2030’.
   • The stray dog population control and management of the stray dogs is the mandate of the local bodies.
10. Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated the new International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Area office & Innovation Centre in India at a programme in Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.
    • India signed a Host Country Agreement in March 2022 with ITU for the establishment of Area Office.
    • It will serve India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Afghanistan and Iran, enhancing coordination among nations and fostering mutually beneficial economic cooperation in the region.
    • Prime Minister extended his greetings on the new year of the Hindu calendar as per the Vikram Samvat 2080.
    • World Telecommunications Standardization Assembly of ITU will be held in October next year in
11. The Central Government has sanctioned a new greenfield for Electronics Manufacturing Cluster (EMC) at Dharwad in Karnataka.

State News

1. Ministry of Railways has approved the doubling of the railway line between Gooty and Pendekallu stations in Andhra Pradesh.
   • This handles busy train traffic between Hyderabad and Bengaluru
2. Uttar Pradesh and Quality Council of India, in collaboration with ASSOCHAM, FICCI, IIA and PHDCCI, have launched the Uttar Pradesh Gunvatta Sankalp (Uttar Pradesh Quality Mission) at
   • This Gunvatta Sankalp, the first of its kind being organised by QCI in India in partnership with a State, focuses on four key pillars – quality as a driver of the USD 1 trillion economy, MSMEs, healthcare services and education and vocational training.

3. Rajasthan has passed the Right to Health Bill to give every resident of the state the right to avail free Out-Patient Department (OPD) services and In-Patient Department (IPD) services at all public health facilities.
   • Rajasthan has become the first state to do so.
   • Similar healthcare services will be provided free of cost at select private facilities.
   • According to the Bill, free healthcare services, including consultation, drugs, diagnostics, emergency transport, procedure and emergency care, will be provided at all public health institutions and select private facilities.

Agriculture And Rural Development

1. Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has given its approval for the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for Raw Jute for 2023-24 season.
   • The MSP of Raw Jute has been fixed at Rs 5050/- per quintal for 2023-24 season.
   • The Jute Corporation of India (JCI) act as the Nodal Agency for Central Government to undertake Price Support Operations and the losses incurred, if any, in such operations, are fully reimbursed by the Central Government.

Memorandum of Understand

1. National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd. (NHIDCL), a CPSE under the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways and CSIR-SERC (Structural Engineering Research Centre), Chennai have signed an MoU for sharing knowledge on innovative ideas and technologies in the field of highway engineering.
   • This collaboration will strengthen R&D activities in Road Sector and expected to provide lead in conducting, and coordinating research, development and training in Development of Highway Infrastructure.
2. Ministry of Ayush and Department of Ex-servicemen Welfare/ Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS), Ministry of Defence have signed an MOU to integrate Ayurveda in ECHS Polyclinics as an OPD service for 5 years period.
   • These will be established at 10 polyclinics based at Ambala, Mysore, Ranchi, Nagpur, Bhopal, Bhubaneshwar, Chennai, Meerut, Danapur, and Allepey (Alappuzha).
   • Ayurveda centres are already in place in 37 cantonment Hospitals, 12 military hospitals of AFMC and Ayurveda OPD in AH R&R, AF Hospital Hindan and five ECHS polyclinics.

International News

1. German defence ministry announced that the first shipment of third-generation Leopard-2 tanks from the country has been sent to Ukraine.
2. Uganda’s Parliament has passed the Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2023.
   • People who identify as gay in Uganda risk life in prison.
3. Tanzania has reported its first-ever outbreak of Marburg Virus. It is a highly contagious and deadly virus that causes viral haemorrhagic fever just like Ebola.
   • Its symptoms include fever, vomiting, bleeding, and renal failure.

4. James Webb Space Telescope of NASA has detected exoplanet VHS 1256 b in the atmosphere.

Reports And Indices

1. UNICEF has released “The Triple Threat” report which highlights how disease, climate risks, and unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene create a deadly combination for children.
   • Globally, 600 million children still lack safely managed drinking water.
   • 1.1 billion lack safely managed sanitation and 689 million lack basic hygiene service.
   • 149 million children still face the indignity of practising open defecation and unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) is still responsible for the deaths of around 1,000 children under 5 every day.
   • It is estimated that at least $114 billion per year will be needed in developing countries to meet the WASH-related SDG targets by 2030.
2. United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has released the Technology and Innovation Report 2023.
   • As per the report, the market size of green technologies will increase up to USD 9.5 trillion by 2030, up from USD 1.5 trillion in 2020.
   • The total exports of green technologies from developed countries jumped to more than USD 156 billion in 2021 from about USD 60 billion in 2018.
   • While exports from developing countries rose to only about USD 75 billion from USD 57 billion.
   • The report included the ‘frontier technology readiness index’. As per the report, green frontier technologies such as electric vehicles, solar and wind energy, and green hydrogen are expected to reach a market value of USD 2.1 trillion in 2030.
   • The frontier technology readiness index has ranked 166 countries. BRICS rankings – Brazil (40th rank), China (at 35), India (at 46), the Russian Federation (at 31), and South Africa (at 56).
3. UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network has released the World Happiness Report 2023.
   • The report has been released annually since 2012 as part of the International Day of Happiness celebration (March 20).
   • Total countries – 136 countries
   • Parameters – social support, income, health, freedom, generosity, and absence of corruption
   • Top ranker – Finland, followed by Denmark
     • Lithuania (in Europe) is the new entrant in the Top 20 countries at the 20th rank.
   • India’s rank – 126th
     • In 2022, India ranked 136th position out of 146 countries.
     • India is ranked behind Nepal, China, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
   • Bottom ranker – Afghanistan

Banking and Economy

1. The interest rate on employees’ provident fund deposits has been increased to 15% for FY23 from a four-decade low of 8.1% in the previous year.

Appointments

1. Former Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has been elected as the head of New Development Bank (NDB), a multilateral financial institution set up by the five BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) countries.
   • He replaced Marcus Troyjo, who is also from Brazil.

Important Days

1. March 24 – Assam Rifles Raising Day (188th edition)
2. March 25 –
   • International Day of Solidarity with Detained and Missing Staff Members
   • International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade

Awards

1. The Foundation of SAARC Writers and Literature (FOSWAL) has won a special literary award on Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
   • The award has been conferred for his trilogy- The Unfinished Memoirs, The Prison Diaries and the New China 1952.
2. Forbes India has organised the 12th edition of its ‘Forbes India Leadership Awards 2023’.

Miscellaneous

1. Claude Lorius, a pioneering glaciologist from France, has passed away.

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