New species of Moray eel named after Tamil Nadu
- Researchers have discovered a new species of Moray eel at the Mudasalodai fish landing centre off the Cuddalore coast.
- The species has been named after Tamil Nadu as Gymnothorax tamilnaduensis with common name as Tamil Nadu brown moray.
- The discovery has been published in the latest issue of the international peer-reviewed journal “Zoosystematics and Evolution”.
Reliance Industries names Srikanth Venkatachari as new CFO
- Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has named Srikanth Venkatachari as the new Chief Financial Officer.
- The current chief financial officer, Alok Agarwal, has been given a new role of Senior Advisor to the Chairman and Managing Director of the Company.
- He was appointed as the Chief Financial Officer of the Company in 2005.
S&P keeps India’s economic growth forecast unchanged at 6% for FY24
- According to S&P Global Ratings, India’s economic growth is projected to be at 6% in the fiscal year starting April 2023, rising to 6.9% in the following fiscal year.
- In a quarterly update for the Asia-Pacific region, the agency saw inflation rate easing to 5% in 2023-24 fiscal.
- S&P expects the subcontinent’s GDP to rise to 6.9% in 2024-25 and 2025-26 and later to 7.1% in 2026-27.
Parliament approves Budget for 2023-24
- Parliament has approved the Union Budget for 2023-24 with the Lok Sabha clearing the Finance Bill as amended by the Rajya Sabha.
- The amendment to the Finance Bill 2023, which sought to correct an error with regard to the tax rate on Securities Transaction Tax, was moved by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
- The passage of the Finance Bill has completed the budgetary exercise for 2023-24.
IDFC First Bank join hands with Crunchfish
- IDFC FIRST Bank has teamed with Crunchfish to participate in the RBI’s pilot programme to facilitate offline payments.
- This initiative will provide access to digital payments even when there is no network.
- The Swedish company Crunchfish introduced this one-of-a-kind digital payment system for merchants and customers as part of the RBI’s Regulatory Sandbox Program.
Special literary award conferred on Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
- The Foundation of SAARC Writers and Literature (FOSWAL) conferred a special literary award on Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on 26 March 2023.
- The award has been conferred for his trilogy- The Unfinished Memoirs, The Prison Diaries and the New China 1952.
- The award has been given to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman for the outstanding literary excellence for his trilogy.
AHF honours Hockey India with best organiser award
- Hockey India has been awarded with the Best Organiser Award by the Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) for the successful hosting of the FIH Men’s World Cup in Bhubaneswar and Rourkela earlier in 2023.
- The award was received by HI secretary-general Bhola Nath Singh during the AHF Congress held in Mungyeong, Korea.
- The World Cup was held at Birsa Munda Stadium in Rourkela.
Canara Bank’s stake in Commercial Indo Bank LLC sold to SBI for 121 cr
- Canara Bank has sold its stake in the Russian joint venture Commercial Indo Bank LLC (CIBL) to the other venture partner State Bank of India (SBI) for about ₹121.29 crore.
- CIBL, incorporated in 2003, is a joint venture in Russia between SBI (60 per cent) and Canara Bank (40 per cent).
- The Bengaluru-based state-owned bank entered into the agreement for sale on November 11, 2022.
RBI allows India and Tanzania to use national currencies for trading
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has given approval for India and Tanzania to use their national currencies for bilateral trade settlement.
- Under this mechanism, authorised banks in India will open Special Rupee Vostro Accounts (SRVAs) of correspondent banks of Tanzania.
- Tanzanian banks will have to open Special Rupee Vostro Accounts in India by approaching authorised Indian banks.
Egypt joins BRICS bank as new member
- Egypt has joined the BRICS New Development Bank (NDB).
- The African-Arab nation became an NDB member on February 20, though a formal notification was issued on March 22.
- The New Development Bank was set up by BRICS nations on the basis of the intergovernmental agreement signed at the sixth BRICS summit in Fortaleza in July 2014.
Haldwani to get a sports university
- Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has announced the government will set up a sports university in the Kumaun region’s Haldwani town.
- The international stadium of Haldwani will be upgraded into a sports university.
- He also informed that Uttarakhand will hold several national level sports event in the coming year.
Community-based disaster management on cards with new TN policy
- Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin released the updated Tamil Nadu State Disaster Management Policy and Disaster Management Plan 2023, in March 2023.
- The policy aims at reducing the negative impact of disasters with the help of strong disaster management machinery, minimising loss of life, property, and damage to critical infrastructure, and sustaining economic and development benefits.
Second G20 Framework Working Group meeting concludes in Chennai
- The Second G20 Framework Working Group (FWG) meeting under Indian G20 Presidency concluded in Chennai on 25 March 2023.
- The two-day meeting was co-chaired by V. Anantha Nageswaran, India’s Chief Economic Advisor, and Clare Lombardelli, Chief Economic Adviser, United Kingdom Treasury.
- Around 87 delegates from G20 member countries, and international organisations attended the meeting.
World Theatre Day: 27 March
- World Theatre Day is celebrated on 27 March annually across the world to raise the importance of the art form “theatre” and to act as a wake-up call for governments that have not yet recognized its value to the people.
- It was initiated in 1961 by the International Theatre Institute.
- The theme of World Theatre Day 2023 is “Theatre and a Culture of Peace.”
Manu Bhaker wins 25m Pistol Bronze in ISSF World Cup 2023
- Olympian shooter Manu Bhaker, on 26 March 2023 clinched the 25m pistol bronze medal in the ISSF Pistol/Rifle World Cup in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.
- China tops the medal tally with 10 medals at the Bhopal World Cup including six golds, 2 silver and 2 bronze medals.
- India lies second with the 1 gold won by Sarabjot Singh in the men’s 10m air pistol as well as one silver and four bronze medals.
ISRO launches India’s largest LVM3 rocket with 36 satellites
- The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched India’s largest Launch Vehicle Mark-III (LVM3) rocket/OneWeb India-2 Mission with 36 satellites onboard from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh on 26 March 2023.
- The 36 first-generation satellites weighing 5,805 kgs will be placed into a 450 km circular orbit with an inclination of about 87.4 degrees.
Environment Minister launches Aravalli Green Wall Project in Gurugram
- Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav on 26 Mar 2023, launched the Aravalli Green Wall Project in Gurugram, Haryana.
- It is a major initiative to green a 5 km buffer area around the Aravalli Hill Range in four states.
- He also unveiled the National Action Plan to combat desertification through forestry interventions.
- It will also improve the soil fertility and climate resilience of the region.
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty win Swiss Open doubles title
- Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty won the men’s doubles title after defeating Ren Xiangyu and Tan Qiang at the Swiss Open Super Series 300 badminton tournament on 26 March 2023.
- Both claimed the India Open and French Open in 2022, Thailand Open in 2019 and Hyderabad Open in 2018.
- Satwik and Chirag also won the 2022 Commonwealth Games gold.
Dhanush & Jyoshna win bronze medals at IWF World Youth Championships
- Indian weightlifters Dhanush Loganathan and Jyoshna Sabar won bronze medals in their respective categories at the IWF World Youth Championships in Durres, Albania on 26 March 2023.
- Jyoshna Sabar was competing in the women’s 40kg event and had a combined lift of 115kg.
- Dhanush lifted 200kg weight to finish third in the men’s 49kg event.
- He also won a silver medal in the snatch category.
Mumbai Indians win inaugural Women’s Premier League title 2023
- Mumbai Indians defeated the Delhi Capitals by 7 wickets and with that they become the first-ever Women’s Premier League champions on 26 March 2023.
- Nat Sciver-Brunt was awarded the player of the match.
- Harmanpreet Kaur won the award for catch of the season.
- Hayley Matthews was awarded the purple cap and Meg Lanning won the orange cap.
- Hayley Matthews was the most valuable player
Indian women boxers win 4 gold at Women’s World Boxing Championships
- Nikhat Zareen and Lovlina Borgohain won gold medals at the 2023 World Women’s Boxing Championships in New Delhi on 26 March 2023.
- Tokyo Olympics medallist Lovlina Borgohain beat Australia’s Caitlin Parker in the 75kg category while Nikhat Zareen won in the 50kg category final.
- Nitu Ghanghas and Saweety Boora have also won the gold medals in the 48kg category and 81kg category respectively.
Union Min Jyotiraditya Scindia flags off 1st Delhi-Dharamshala flight
- Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur, Union Minister for Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia, and Union MoS for Civil Aviation General V.K.Singh on 26 March 2023 flagged off the first Indigo Airline Delhi-Dharamshala flight.
- Indigo Airlines will operate daily flights to Dharamshala from Delhi.
- It is the seventh-largest airline in the world in terms of departures.
Jammu and Kashmir’s Aliya Mir wins Wildlife Conservation Award 2023
- Aliya Mir, a prominent sociologist and the first woman from Jammu and Kashmir to work for Wildlife animals, has been awarded the wildlife conservation award 2023.
- She was awarded for her achievements in wildlife conservation including the rescue and release of wild animals, injured animal care, and bear rescue in Kashmir.
- She is the first woman to receive the award from J&K region.
Popular Malayalam actor Innocent passes away
- Popular Malayalam actor and former Lok Sabha MP Innocent passed away in Kochi on 26 March 2023.
- The actor made his silver screen debut in 1972 with Nrithasala.
- In a career spanning five decades, he featured in over 750 films, including Akkare Ninnoru Maran, and Devaasuram.
- He also served as the president of Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) for 15 years.
Russia announces to deploy nuclear weapons in Belarus
- Russia has reached an agreement with Belarus to station tactical nuclear weapons on its smaller neighbour’s territory on 26 March 2023.
- The Russian president Vladimir Putin made the announcement that it would not breach non-proliferation agreements.
- Belarus shares a long border with Ukraine, and with North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) members Poland, Lithuania and Latvia.
BRO opens Leh-Manali Highway in a record 138 days
- The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) opened the Leh-Manali Highway (NH3) for traffic, in a record time of 138 days on 26 March 2023.
- The 427-km strategic Leh-Manali Highway (NH3) connects Ladakh to the rest of India via Manali.
- The 16,561 ft Shinku La pass on the Nimmu-Padam-Darcha (NPD) road was also opened on 25 March after a gap of 55 days.