29th-30th March, 2023

1. National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO) has successfully developed India’s first Bauxite Certified Reference Material (CRM) naming as BARC B1201 in collaboration with Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC).
2. Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw inaugurated India’s first quantum computing-based telecom network between Sanchar Bhawan and the National Informatics Centre office located in CGO Complex in New Delhi.
3. Union Minister for Rural Development Sh. Giriraj Singh onboarded 19 Captive Employers, a unique initiative under the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY).
4. G20 Expert Group on Strengthening Multilateral Development Banks has been constituted under G20 India’s Presidency.
5. Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has constituted a nine-member task force to make India a ‘product developer and manufacturing nation’.
6. National Informatics Centre has developed ‘Maaptol Grievance’ app to facilitate online registration and time-bound redressal of consumer grievances related to the Legal Metrology Act and rules framed thereunder.
7. Japan has committed Rs 7,084.5 crore to India for three infrastructure projects.
8. World Bank has approved a $108 million loan to help Assam improve disaster preparedness and enhance flood forecasting.
9. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee inaugurated the ‘Pathashree-Rastashree’ project in Bengal’s Singur.
10. Odisha government has declared the Gandhamardan hill, as the third biodiversity heritage site of the state.
11. Department of Consumer Affairs constituted a committee, headed by Nidhi Khare (Additional Secretary of the Department), to monitor the stock of Tur held by importers, millers, traders, and other such entities.
12. The three-day International Conference on ‘Blended Learning Ecosystem for Higher Education in Agriculture 2023’ was jointly hosted by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and the World Bank.
13. Telangana government and Western Australian government have signed three MOUs, when a delegation led by Western Australia’s Minister for Emergency Services, Innovation and Digital Economy, Stephen Dawson visited State-led startup incubators T-Hub and WE-Hub.
14. Institute of Economics and Peace has released the Global Terrorism Index 2023 (10th edition).
15. World Bank has released the “Falling Long-Term Growth Prospects: Trends, Expectations, and Policies” report.
16. ICICI Lombard General Insurance has launched ‘Anywhere Cashless’ feature for health insurance policyholders to avail cashless facilities at any hospital, even if not part of ICICI Lombard’s current network of hospitals.
17. Jammu and Kashmir Bank has signed a corporate agency agreement with Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Company to sell life insurance products to its customers, with effect from April 1.
18. CRIF Connect Private, a subsidiary of CRIF S.p.A, has received the Reserve Bank of India’s approval to commence operations as an NBFC Account Aggregator (AA).
19. South Indian Bank has partnered with the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) for direct tax collections from retail and corporate taxpayers.
20. IDFC First Bank has partnered with Swedish company Crunchfish to pilot a project to demonstrate offline retail payments.
21. National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has notified that an interchange fee of up to 1% will be applicable on merchant UPI (Unified Payments Interface) transactions done using prepaid payment instruments (PPIs)–wallets or cards–with effect from April 1, 2023.
22. Central Govt has increased the upper age limit by 5 years of ombudsman of the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) to 70 years from 65 years earlier.
23. Salima Tete (Indian Women’s Hockey Team midfielder) has been appointed as the AHF Athletes Ambassador from India for a term of two years between 25th March 2023 to 25th March 2025.
24. The Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has reappointed Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi for a second four-year term in office beginning in early December 2023.
25. Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, has named an eight-year-old US-born Mongolian boy as the reincarnation of a spiritual leader. He has been named as the 10th Khalkha Jetsun Dhampa Rinpoche, the third most important leader in Tibetan Buddhism.
26. Lalit Kumar Gupta has been appointed as the CMD of Cotton Corporation of India (a mini-ratna company under Ministry of Textile).
27. March 27 – World Theatre Day; Theme – Theatre and A Culture of Peace
28. Sipaapuni, a site located in Arizona, United States and sacred to the Hopi Native American Nation has been awarded a ‘Water and Heritage Shield’ by the International Committee on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) International Science Committee.
29. Ministry of Panchayati Raj, along with National Informatics Centre (NIC), has been recognized for its AuditOnline software programme at the WSIS Forum 2023 at the ITU headquarters in Geneva.
30. Maha Metro Nagpur was honoured with the prestigious Asia Book of Records certification for three different categories.
31. Innocent Vareed Thekkethala, known mononymously as Innocent, was an Indian actor, film producer, writer and politician. He has passed away.
32. “War & Women” book has been authored by Dr MA Hasan.

National News

1. National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO) has successfully developed India’s first Bauxite Certified Reference Material (CRM) naming as BARC B1201 in collaboration with Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC).
   • NALCO is the Navratna CPSE, under Ministry of Mines and country’s leading manufacturer and exporter of alumina and aluminium.
   • This is the first of its kind CRM in India and 5th in the World.
2. Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw inaugurated India’s first quantum computing-based telecom network between Sanchar Bhawan and the National Informatics Centre office located in CGO Complex in New Delhi.
   • The Minister announced a ₹10 lakh prize money for ethical hackers who can break the encryption of the system, developed by Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DoT).
3. Union Minister for Rural Development Sh. Giriraj Singh onboarded 19 Captive Employers, a unique initiative under the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY).
   • Captive employers will train Rural Poor Youth and provide employment to trained youth in their company or subsidiary.
   • Captive employers will be providing training to rural poor youth in their respective industries, namely, hospitality, apparel & textiles, manufacturing, IT/ITeS, telecom, retail, Power etc.

Note: Cover the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana from the Government Scheme’s document.

 

4. G20 Expert Group on Strengthening Multilateral Development Banks has been constituted under G20 India’s Presidency.
   • Professor Lawrence Summers (President Emeritus, Harvard University) and N K Singh (Chairperson, 15th Finance Commission of India) are co-convenors of the G20 Expert Group on strengthening MDBs.
   • Functions – The panel would ascertain the scale of funding required by and from MDBs for addressing their and member countries’ increased financing needs for SDG and transboundary challenges.
   • The expert group will submit its report to the Indian Presidency of G20 before June 30, 2023.
5. Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has constituted a nine-member task force to make India a ‘product developer and manufacturing nation’.
   • The task force will be chaired by additional secretary (MeitY), Bhuvnesh Kumar with joint secretary (electronics), Amitesh Kumar Sinha as the member convenor.
6. National Informatics Centre has developed ‘Maaptol Grievance’ app to facilitate online registration and time-bound redressal of consumer grievances related to the Legal Metrology Act and rules framed thereunder.
7. Japan has committed Rs 7,084.5 crore to India for three infrastructure projects.
   • The projects are Forest and Biodiversity Conservation for Climate Change Response in West Bengal, Patna Metro Rail Construction Project, and Rajasthan Water Sector Livelihood Improvement Project.

State News

1. World Bank has approved a $108 million loan to help Assam improve disaster preparedness and enhance flood forecasting.
   • The project will benefit around 6 million people and is part of a larger $500 million investment program for Assam.
   • The Assam Integrated River Basin Management Project will help the state reduce vulnerability to floods and river erosion by building green infrastructure in the Beki and Buridehing river basins, protecting around 100,000 people.
   • The $108 million loan from the International Bank of Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) has a maturity of 11.5 years and a grace period of 4 years.
2. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee inaugurated the ‘Pathashree-Rastashree’ project in Bengal’s Singur.
   • The project aims to strengthen road infrastructure and enhance connectivity to villages by constructing 12,000 km of roads in 22 districts of the state.
3. Odisha government has declared the Gandhamardan hill, as the third biodiversity heritage site of the state.
   • With this announcement, Gandhamardan has become the 37th biodiversity heritage site of India.
   • The Mandasaru gorge in Kandhamal district was notified as the first such site in Odisha in 2019, followed by Mahendragiri hills in 2022.

Agriculture And Rural Development

1. Department of Consumer Affairs constituted a committee, headed by Nidhi Khare (Additional Secretary of the Department), to monitor the stock of Tur held by importers, millers, traders, and other such entities.
   • Tur is included in the Essential Commodities Act, 1955.
2. The three-day International Conference on ‘Blended Learning Ecosystem for Higher Education in Agriculture 2023’ was jointly hosted by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and the World Bank.
   • The conference was held as part of the National Agricultural Higher Education Project’s (NAHEP) Resilient Agricultural Education System (RAES) development initiative.
   • During the conference, “Delhi Declaration” was adopted to strengthen digital infrastructure, including e-learning content, and deployment of emerging immersive technologies across agricultural higher education institutions in India.

Memorandum of Understand

1. Telangana government and Western Australian government have signed three MOUs, when a delegation led by Western Australia’s Minister for Emergency Services, Innovation and Digital Economy, Stephen Dawson visited State-led startup incubators T-Hub and WE-Hub.
   • 1st MOU – Hyderabad’s Cyber Security Centre of Excellence, DSCI and Western Australia’s CyberWest, a government-funded innovation hub, to harness the expertise of both organisations using innovation, design, workshops and industry engagement.
   • 2nd MOU – Cyber Security Centre of Excellence, DSCI and Edith Cowan University for mutual benefit including research, education, innovation, incubation, marketing, hackathons, corporate innovation and training programs.
   • 3rd MOU – A Letter of Intent between WE-Hub and CyberWest to accelerate growth in the local and international ecosystem and support goals of diversity and inclusion within the cyber security sector.

Reports And Indices

1. Institute of Economics and Peace has released the Global Terrorism Index 2023 (10th edition).
   • Total countries – 163 countries
   • Most affected country – Afghanistan
   • India’s rank – 13th (score 7.175)

2. World Bank has released the “Falling Long-Term Growth Prospects: Trends, Expectations, and Policies” report.
   • India’s economy can achieve a boost if the government implements the reforms agenda.
   • The report also made recommendations for banking and infrastructure sectors.

Banking and Economy

1. ICICI Lombard General Insurance has launched ‘Anywhere Cashless’ feature for health insurance policyholders to avail cashless facilities at any hospital, even if not part of ICICI Lombard’s current network of hospitals.
   • It is the first time in the insurance industry to launch this feature.
2. Jammu and Kashmir Bank has signed a corporate agency agreement with Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Company to sell life insurance products to its customers, with effect from April 1.
3. CRIF Connect Private, a subsidiary of CRIF S.p.A, has received the Reserve Bank of India’s approval to commence operations as an NBFC Account Aggregator (AA).
   • CRIF Connect Private is an end-to-end encrypted platform that securely fetches and transfers a consumer’s financial data, based on RBI-approved guidelines.
4. South Indian Bank has partnered with the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) for direct tax collections from retail and corporate taxpayers.
5. IDFC First Bank has partnered with Swedish company Crunchfish to pilot a project to demonstrate offline retail payments.
   • The project will give access to digital payments even when there is no network.
   • The unique digital payment solution was designed by Crunchfish for merchants and customers under the RBI’s Regulatory Sandbox Program.
6. National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has notified that an interchange fee of up to 1% will be applicable on merchant UPI (Unified Payments Interface) transactions done using prepaid payment instruments (PPIs)–wallets or cards–with effect from April 1, 2023.
   • The charge will be levied on UPI payments of over ₹2,000 made to online merchants, large merchants and small offline merchants.
   • Interchange will not be applicable on peer-to-peer and P2M transactions between bank accounts and PPI wallets.
7. Central Govt has increased the upper age limit by 5 years of ombudsman of the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) to 70 years from 65 years earlier.
   • The new rules will be called as Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (Redressal of Subscriber Grievance) (Amendment) Regulations, 2023.

Appointments

1. Salima Tete (Indian Women’s Hockey Team midfielder) has been appointed as the AHF Athletes Ambassador from India for a term of two years between 25th March 2023 to 25th March 2025.
   • The certificate and the position were accepted by Salima Tete during the AHF Congress held in Mungyeong, Korea.

2. The Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has reappointed Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi for a second four-year term in office beginning in early December 2023.

3. Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, has named an eight-year-old US-born Mongolian boy as the reincarnation of a spiritual leader. He has been named as the 10th Khalkha Jetsun Dhampa Rinpoche, the third most important leader in Tibetan Buddhism.
4. Lalit Kumar Gupta has been appointed as the CMD of Cotton Corporation of India (a mini-ratna company under Ministry of Textile).
   • Cotton Corporation of India HQ – Mumbai

Important Days

1. March 27 – World Theatre Day; Theme – Theatre and A Culture of Peace

Awards

1. Sipaapuni, a site located in Arizona, United States and sacred to the Hopi Native American Nation has been awarded a ‘Water and Heritage Shield’ by the International Committee on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) International Science Committee.
   • The Shield was awarded to the Black Mesa Trust (BMT), a Hopi grassroots organisation.

2. Ministry of Panchayati Raj, along with National Informatics Centre (NIC), has been recognized for its AuditOnline software programme at the WSIS Forum 2023 at the ITU headquarters in
   • The prestigious “ITU–World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Prize 2023” is given under the Category 7 — Action Line (AL) C7 — ICT Applications: e-Government — for conducting online audit of all Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs).
   • The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Forum 2023 is being organized on the theme of ‘WSIS Action Lines for Building Back Better and Accelerating the Achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)’.

1. Maha Metro Nagpur was honoured with the prestigious Asia Book of Records certification for three different categories.
   • The categories are ‘Longest Length of Metro Rail Corridor Construction in Shortest Time’, ‘First Solar PV System in a Metro Rail Project for Integrated Consumption’ and ‘Heaviest Single Span Double Decker Steel Bridge Truss over Railway tracks in Urban Area’, in Asia.

Miscellaneous

1. Innocent Vareed Thekkethala, known mononymously as Innocent, was an Indian actor, film producer, writer and politician. He has passed away.
2. “War & Women” book has been authored by Dr MA Hasan.

Start Quiz of 29th-30th march 2023 on Mobile

Start Quiz of 29th-30th march 2023 on Desktop