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Days

• 23^rd March is celebrated as Saheed Diwas or Martyr’s Day commemorating the day  in 1931 when Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev were executed by the British.
• 23^rd March is also celebrated as World Meteorological Day.
  • Theme 2024 – “At the Frontline of Climate Action”.

National News

• Prime Minister Naarendra Modi went on a 24-hour State visit to Bhutan where he inaugurated the “Mother and Child Hospital” at Thimpu.
  • PM  was also conferred with the highest Civilian Award of Bhutan – “Order of the Druk Gyalpo” by Bhutan King Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck.
• The SC has constructed a panel headed by the CJI DY Chandrachud to take measures for the effective conservation and protection of the Great Indian Bustard.
  • The panel is being constructed because the critically endangered bird of Western India, especially Rajasthan and Gujarat are being frequently electrocuted to death because of their collision with live wires of the solar farms of the region.
  • The panel would determine the scope, extent and feasibility of underground and overhead electric lines in areas identified as priority spots for the birds in Rajasthan and Gujarat.
  • Great Indian Bustard:
    • It is the state bird of Rajasthan.
    • Conservation status:
      • IUCN Red List – Critically Endangered.
      • Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 : Schedule I
      • CITES: Appendix I
• India launches Operation Indravati to evacuate its 12 nationals from Haiti to Dominican Republic amid violent revolution and unrest prevailing in the country.
  • Haiti is facing a violent Political upheaveal after armed gangs took control of 80% of the country’s capital, Port-Au-Prince locking Prime Minister Ariel Henry out of the country and triggering his resignation.
  • Haiti is a Country in the island of Hispaniola between the Caribbean sea and the North Atlantic Ocean.
• Hola Mohalla , a Sikh religious display of martial arts prowess, spiritual fervor and communal harmony begins in Kirtarpur Sahib, Punjab.
  • Hola Mohalla stands for ‘Mock Fight’ that was started in 1701 by Guru Govind Singh.
• India’s first battery storage gigafactory starts its operations in Jammu & Kashmir with a capacity of 7 gigawatt hour.
  • The facility will help cut more than 5 million tons carbon emissions in a year.
• ISRO successfully conducts the landing experiment of India’s first Reusable Landing Vehicle ‘Pushpak’ at the Aeronautical Test Range (ATR), Chitradurga in Karnataka.
• International Astronomical Union (IAU) has named an asteroid – as (215884) Jayantmurthy – after former acting director of Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bengaluru, Prof. Jayant Murthy in recognition of his work in the NASA New Horizons Science Team to observe the UV Background of the Universe.

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Sports

• Indian Table Tennnis Player Sathiyan Gnanasekaran clinches Men’s Singles title at the World Table Tennis Feeder, Beirut, Lebanon.

International News

• The United Nations General Assembly has approved the resolution put forward by the USA that seeks global support to an international coordinated approach to ensure that Artificial Intelligence benefits all nations, respects human rights and is safe, secure and trustworthy.
• Tennessee becomes the first State of the USA to bring an act that ensures that no AI tools can replicate an artist’s voice without their consent.
  • Capital of Tennessee – Nashville
• The US, UK and Australia has enacted a pact that will see the building and commissioning of SSN-AUKUS Nuclear submarines in the Royal Australian Navy.

• 24^th March is celebrated as World Tuberculosis Day commemorating the day in 1882 when Dr. Robert Koch discovered the bacterium causing TB, Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
  • Theme 2024- “Yes! We can end TB”.
• 25^th March is celebrated as the ‘International Day of Solidarity with Detained and Missing Staff Members’ by the United Nations. In 1985, on this very day Alec Collett, a former journalist working for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) was abducted.
• Global ‘Earth Hour’ was celebrated by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) on 23^rd March from 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm.
  • Earth Hour is an annual international event celebrated by WWF since 2007 in the last Saturday in March.
  • During Earth Hour people turn their lights off worldwide for 60 minutes to raise awareness about the international issues.
  • In India lights were turned off at various places including Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi and Hyderabad.
  • 206 MW of electricity was saved on account of the Earth Hour in Delhi.
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Appointment

• Famous Diamond merchant Govind Dholakia who was recently nominated to the Rajya Sabha by the BJP, has been nominated as the New Chairman of the Surat Diamond Bourse.
  • Surat Diamond Bourse is India’s second diamond trading hub after Bharat Diamond Trading Hub of Mumbai, and it is also the largest and modern center for diamond and jewelry business.

Awards

• Bina Agarwal and James Boyce has been awarded the maiden “Global Inequality Research Award” for their significant contributions to understanding global inequalities by the World Inequality Lab (WIL) and Sciences Po’s center for Research on Social Inequalities (CRIS).
  • The award will be presented every two years to the researchers from all disciplines whose contributions will add to better understanding of global inequalities.

National News

• The Election Commission of India launches the ‘Saksham Mobile App’ to facilitate easier voting for the Person with Disabilities and to avail facilities for them at the polling station.
  • To ensure a maximum voter turnout, the Election Commission of India has announced that voters above 85 years of age and PwD with 40% bench mark can vote from home.

Sports

• Ranji Trophy 2024:
  • Winner – Mumbai (42^nd title)
  • Runners up– Vidarbha
  • Final venue- Wankhede Stadium Mumbai
• Veteran Table Tennis Player and Commonwealth Games Champion Sharath Kamal is going to be the flag-bearer for India at the Paris Olympics.
  • Six time World Boxing Champion Mary Kom will be the Chief De Mission of the  group. Although she is not participating in the Olympic.
  • India is sending its largest ever shooting contingent with 19 players in this year’s Olympics.
• Red Bull Driver Carlos Sainz wins the Australian Grand Prix, the third F1 race of the season.

Science Tech

• International Astronomical Union has approved the name ‘Station Shiv Shakti’ to the landing site of the Chandrayaan 3’s Vikram Lander.
• The Max Planck Institute of  Astronomy, Germany has identified two ancient stream of stars named after the Hindu deities Shakti and Shiva as Milky Way’s earliest building blocks.
  • They are probably the remnants of the two galaxies that appears to have been merged and created the Milky Way 12 to 13 Billion years ago.
  • The structures were observed using the Gaia Space Telescope of the ESA.

International

• Simon Harris becomes the youngest ever and new Prime Minister (Taoiseach) of Ireland.
• 27^TH March is celebrated as the World Theatre Day since 1962 globally emphasizing the significance of the theatrical arts.
• 26^th March was celebrated as Bangladesh Independence Day.
  • On this day in 1971, the country declared its independence from Pakistan under the leadership of Bangabandhu Seikh Mujbur Rahman.
  • After this declaration a 9 month long war was fought between the armies of Pakistan and India till the liberation of Bangladesh on 16^th December 1971 .
• On 24^th March, Medin Poya Day was celebrated on the full moon by the Buddhists World Wide. Medin Full Moon Poya Day marks the Buddha’s first visit to Kapilavastu at the invitation of his father following his enlightenment.

Obituaries

• Begum Razia Beg, chairman of the Qadir Ali Baig Theatre Foundation, known to the world of theatre for her pivotal role in the revival of theatre in Telangana, has passed away in Hyderabad.

Appointments

• Abhay Thakur has been named as the next ambassador of India to Myanmar.

National News

• On the occasion of World Kabaddi Day 24^th March, India made a Guinness World Record with the participation of 128 players on the World Kabaddi Day at Tau Devi Lal Indoor Stadium of Panchkula in Haryana.
• The Election Commission of India has launched the ‘c-VIGIL’ app for recording, reporting and resolving violations of the model code of conduct & expenditure violations.
• Bharat Biotech Intl Ltd. Has started the clinical trials of the first human source derived Tuberculosis vaccine, MTBVAC on adults in India.
  • The MTBVAC was developed by Spanish bio-pharmaceutical company, Biofabri.
• Amul is going to open its first overseas fresh milk outlet in the USA in collaboration with Michigan Milk Producers association (MMPA).
  • Amul will be available in New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Washington, Dallas and Texas and other cities.
• According to Hurun Research’s 2024 Global Rich List, Mumbai has now the highest number of Billionaires above Beijing and it has now become the billionaire capital of Asia for the first time.
  • Mumbai has 92 Billionaires ranking third globally. New York City is the place with most number of Billionaires world wide – 119.

Defence, Science & Tech

• Indian Coast Guard Ship Samudra Pehredar, a specialized Pollution Control Vessel has reached Manila Bay of Phillipines as part of overseas deployment to the ASEAN countries.
  • ASEAN – Association of South East Asian Nations – is a political and economic cooperation organization of 10 South East Asian countries,
    • HQ – Jakarta, Indonesia.
    • Member Countries – Myanmar, Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand and Philippines.
• PSLV Orbital Experimental Module-3 (POEM 3) has successfully completed its mission by reentering the Earth’s atmosphere and disintegrating. It was part of the PSLV-C58/XPoSat Mission.
  • It was a demonstration of ISRO’s future intention of bringing back the space debris from space after missions and duly reducing its presence in space.

Sports

• Virat Kohli becomes the first Indian Batter to score 12,000 T20I runs and joins the elite group of only five players who have done so far – Chris Gayle, Shoaib Malik, Kieron Pollard, Alex Hales, and David Warner.
• 30^th March is celebrated as Rajasthan Diwas. Earlier it was known as Rajputana and it got into existence on March 30, 1949.
  • Rajasthan– CM : Bhajan Lal Sharma
    • Governor: Kalraj Mishra.
• Good Friday was celebrated on 29^th March this year, on the Friday before Easter. It is celebrated  by the Christian community world wide as a commemoration of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

Awards

• Abel Prize 2024:
  • Michel Talagrand was awarded the Abel Prize 2024 by the Norwegian Academy of Sciences and Letters for his ground breaking contributions to probability theory and functional analysis with outstanding applications in Mathematical physics and statistics.
  • The Abel Prize is awarded annually by the King of Norway to one or more outstanding mathematicians. It is named after the Norwegian mathematician Niels Henrik Abel (1802–1829).
  • It is the highest award given in the field of Mathematics.

Books and Authors

• Abhay K’s English translation of Magahi novel ‘Fool Bahadur’ was launched by the Lt. Governor of J&K Manoj Sinha.
  • Magahi is an Indo-Aryan language represented in Kaithi script and mainly spoken in some of the districts of Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal.
• Retired CMD of Canara Bank, S. Raman has launched his book “From A Car Shed to the Corner Room & Beyond”. He has also worked as a whole time member of SEBI.
• Indian origin British Author and journalist Madhumita Murgia’s book “Code Dependent: Living in the Shadow of AI” has been shortlisted for the 2024 inaugural Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction.

Obituaries

• Prominent Kannada Writer of Children Literature, Gurulinga Kapse has breathed his last.
• World famous behavioral economist and Nobel Laureate writer Daniel Kahneman passes away at the age of 90.
  • He is much known for his book ‘THINKING FAST AND SLOW’.
• Ramkrishna Mission Chief Swami Samaranananda Maharaj has breathed his last at the age of 94.

Appointment and Personalities

• Neeraj Chopra has been named as the new brand ambassador of Eveready.
• Hansha Mishra has been appointed as Director of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). Her tenure will be of five years.
• Senior IPS Officer Sadanand Vasant Date has been named as the Director General of the National Investigating Agency (NIA).
• Rajeev Kumar Sharma has been appointed Director General of the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D).
• Piyush Anand has been appointed as the Director General of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF).
• Nidhu Saxena has been appointed as the new MD&CEO of the Bank of Maharashtra.
• UN Secretary-General Antonio Gueterres has appointed Kamal Kishore of India as Assistant Secretary-General and Special Representative of the Secretary General for Disaster Risk Reduction, United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR).
• Former Law Commission Chairperson Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi has sworn in as the new judicial member of Lokpal.
• Pavan Davuluri, a IIT Madras graduate is named as the new Microsoft Windows Head.
  • Microsoft CEO – Satya Nadella.

Report and Indices

• Brand Finance Insurance 100 report 2024:
  • LIC has emerged as the strongest Insurance brand of the world with a steady brand value of $9.8 Billion and an associated AAA brand strength rating.
  • Cathay Life insurance and NRMA insurance are the 2^nd and 3^rd strongest insurance brands respectively.
  • According to this report, the Chinese insurance brands has maintained dominance in most valuable insurance brands led by Ping An.

National

• IIT Guwahati has developed India’s first recombinant swine fever vaccine and has transferred its technology to BioMed Pvt Ltd for its commercial production.
• The Allahabad High Court has struck down the UP Board of Madrasa Education Act, 2004 , for being unconstitutional as it was violating the principle of Secularism embodied by Article 14, 15, 21, 21-A of the Constitution and section 22 of the University Grants Commission Act of 1956.
• Gujarat state Education minister Praful Pansheriya has launched the online learning platform ‘Siksha Reform’ in Surat for offering short term courses in cutting edge technologies like AI and Cyber Security in association with Microsoft and the Finnish University.
• The Assam Government has extended the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), 1958 in four districts of Assam – Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Charaideo and Sivasagar to neutralize the activity of one militant organization in the state.
  • As of now AFSPA is in force in some parts of Assam, Nagaland, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh.
• Allu Arjun becomes the first South Indian actor to get a wax statue at the Madame Tussauds Museum Dubai.
• World’s first Om-Shaped Temple gets built in the Pali District of Rajasthan. The foundation of this temple which has 1008 idols of Lord Mahadev and 12 Jyotirlingas , was laid in 1995.

Sports

• Melbourne Cricket Ground of Australia is set to host a historic day-night test match between Australia and England during the Ashes.
  • The four day test match from Jan 30  – Feb 2, 2025 will be played in pink ball and it will be the first time since 1949 when the first women’s test match will be played at the MCG.
• The National Football League (NFL) of USA has declared a ban on Hip-Drop Tackle hereafter during its annual meeting. The decision was taken considering rising concerns over player safety due to such tackle.
  • NFL is the major American professional football organization.
• Kenyan All-rounder Collins Obuya has announced his retirement from International cricket after his 23years spanned career.
• Sunrisers Hyderabad has registered the record highest total – 277/3 in the history of IPL against Mumbai Indians. Before this record was held by RCB on 263/5 in 2013.
• IIT Madras is going to host the 6^th Shaastra Rapid Fire FIDE rated Chess Tournament on March 30 and 31, 2014.
• International Hockey Federation has named India’s PR Sreejesh and Chile’s Camila Caram as the co-chairs of the FIH Athletes Committee.
  • President of FIH- Tayyab Ikram.

Defence

• Advanced Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas Mark 1A fighter jet completes its maiden test flight in Begaluru.
  • The new Tejas LCA will replace the MiG 21 Bison squadrons from the armed services.
• Trilateral joint maritime exercise – IMT TRILAT 24 – gets conducted between the Navies of India, Mozambique and Tanzania at Nacala, Mozambique.
  • INS Tir and INS Sujata had participated in the exercise.
  • The first edition of IMT TRILAT was conducted in 2022.

Science and Tech

• Skyroot Aerospace, a Hyderabad based space-tech company has successfully test-fired the stage-2 of its Vikram-1 space launch vehicle called Kalam-250 at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.
• Scientists have revealed that the 1.8km Luna Crater of Gujarat’s Kutch region, that has long been linked to the ancient Harappan Civilisation, could be a result of an asteroid impact due to notable presence of Irridium in the soil.

International

• Bassirou Diomaye has been elected as the next President of Senegal.
• Luis Montenegro has been named as the new Prime Minister of Portugal.
• Saudi  Arabia’s Rumy Alquahtani is going to be the first Miss Universe Candidate from Saudi Arabia participating in the 73^rd Miss Universe pageant, to be held in Mexico.
• The Francis Scott Key Bridge a.k.a the Baltimore Bridge in Maryland, US has collapsed after a Singaporean ship DALI had crashed into it after losing navigation control.
  • Francis Scott Key Bridge was opened in 1977 in honour of Francis Scott Key who wrote the US National Anthem ‘Star Spangled Banner’.
  • The 2.6 km bridge spanned over the Patapsco River and Baltimore Harbour.

The Science Museum in London has opened Adani Energy Gallery – ‘Energy Revolution: The Adani Green Energy Energy Gallery” – with an aim to inspire young minds, scientists and innovators to imagine a future powered by clean energy.

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