MARCH

Author Neil Gaiman Named U.N. Goodwill Ambassador

i. The author Neil Gaiman has been appointed as a global Goodwill Ambassador of
the UN Refugee Agency,UNHCR by Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for
Refugees.

Delhi: India’s first heliport inaugurated in Rohini

Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju inaugurated the heliport.

IAS officer Sumit Mullick appointed as Chief Secretary of Maharashtra

Rangaswamy Becomes First Woman to Be Honored BCCI Lifetime Achievement

Award
2nd march
DRDO tests interceptor missile successfully

Number of Jan Dhan accounts rose by 2.26 crore after note ban

Ajay Tyagi takes charge as 9th Sebi chief

JS Deepak named India’s next Ambassador to WTO

3rd march
Indian Navy successfully test-fires missile from Kalvari submarine

Govt launches nationwide 'Swachh Shakti Saptah'

Himachal okays proposal to make Dharamshala its second capital

JNU wins Visitor's Awards 2017 for best university

DRDO Hands Over 3 Developed Products to Indian Army

i. Defense Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) handed over three of its
products for induction into the Indian Army in a formal function.The products are
namely:
(a) Weapon Locating Radar (WLR), SWATHI
(b) NBC Recce vehicle
(c) NBC Drugs
ii. The Defence Minister Shri Manohar Parrikar who presided the function handed
over the products to the Chief of the Army Staff General Bipin Rawat on behalf of
DRDO.
Jindal Steel to make high nitrogen steel for DRDO
i. The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has signed a
technology transfer agreement with Haryana-based Jindal Stainless Ltd.(JSHL) for
manufacturing High Nitrogen Steel (HNS).
ii. HNS has higher ballistic strength. It is not only tough but also has good strength.
It is non-magnetic and corrosion-resistant. Its cost is about 40% less than that of
Rolled Homogeneous Armour steel (RHA).
4th march
Aadhaar number made mandatory for students to receive midday meals
i. Students will now be required to have an Aadhaar number for getting their
midday meals across the country.The HRD ministry issued this notification. This
rule will be applicable across the country, except Jammu and Kashmir, Meghalaya
and Assam.

Ministry of Women & Child Development Observes Swachhta Pakhwada

throughout India

India foreign exchange reserves increases to USD 362.79 billion

i. India's foreign exchange reserves increased by USD 63.7 million to USD 362.79
billion. A RBI press release has informed that foreign currency assets, a major part
of the overall reserves increased from 63.4 million to USD 339.783 billion.
ii. In the previous week, the reserves had declined by USD 56.8 million to USD
362.73 billion. Gold reserves remained unchanged at 19.248 billion.

Yatra inks MoU with Madhya Pradesh govt to promote homestays

Kerala’s Capital Thiruvananthapuram Ranks Best City in Urban Governance

Survey

SBI to charge for breaching monthly average balance in saving accounts

i. State Bank of India (SBI), India’s largest public lender, will resume charging
customers who don’t maintain Monthly Account Average Balance (MAB) in their
savings bank accounts from April 1, 2017.
ii. These charges will be based on the difference between the minimum balance
required and the shortfall.
iii. The minimum monthly balance for savings bank account holders in metropolitan
areas is Rs 5,000. Similarly, in urban areas, SBI customers will need to maintain a
monthly average balance of Rs 3000. In semi-urban areas, the amount is Rs 2,000,
while for rural areas, the monthly average is Rs 1,000.

World Wildlife Day: 3rd March

ii. World Wildlife Day was celebrated in 2017 under the theme “Listen to the
Young Voices”.

President of India presents ‘Standard’ to 125 Helicopter Squadron and ‘Colours’

to mechanical training institute of Indian Air Force

Pakistan diplomat Amjad Hussain B Sial assumes office as new Sec Gen of SAARC
ii. Mr.Sial from Pakistan succeeded Nepal’s Arjun Bahadur Thapa as the SAARC
secretary general who was appointed the Secretary-General in 2014.

13th ECO Summit ISLAMABAD

i. The Heads of State and Government of the Member States of the Economic
Cooperation Organization (ECO) gathered on the occasion of the 13th ECO Summit
Meeting, in Islamabad, Pakistan under the theme “Connectivity for Regional
Prosperity” on the 1st March 2017.
ii. It aimed to review the objective conditions and progress in the implementation
of ECO programs and projects. The headquarter of ECO is in Tehran, Iran.

Ukraine region to use Russian ruble as currency

i. Ukraine’s self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic, state in eastern Ukraine,
will use the Russian ruble as its official currency, along with the Ukrainian
Hryvnia.
Rihanna Receives Harvard University's Humanitarian Award, 2017

Bishnoi appointed international match referee

5th
GST Council approves draft CGST and IGST Bills
i. The Centre and States approved the model draft Bills for Centre and Integrated
goods and services tax (GST).The Council has also included a revised peak rate of
20 percent under GST, instead of the earlier 18 percent. This would mean that the
total incidence of the tax could go as high as 40 percent.
ii. The next meeting of the Council will now be held on March 16, when it will
finalize the draft Bills for State and Union Territory GST.

Google India inks MoU with Telangana government

i. Google India and Telangana government have signed a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) aimed at supporting the digitization efforts of the state.
ii. Google India will provide Google Cloud credits and access to all cloud platform
products to eligible startups engaged with Telangana government’s T-Hub initiative
and through its Developer Relations team provide technical mentor-ship and
advisory support to various startups.
6th
World’s oldest serving aircraft carrier INS Viraat retires
iii. INS Viraat was commissioned in Indian Navy in 1987, before that the historic
ship served Royal British Navy for 27 long years. It was built in 1943, during the
Second World War.

Centre launches survey on Gangetic dolphins

A study to figure out fish species composition in the 2525 km-long river has also
been kick started from Harshil in Uttarakhand.

India’s tallest Tricolor hoisted at Attari border in Punjab

i. The tallest national flag in the country measuring 360 feet was hoisted at the
Attari-Wagah joint check post in Punjab. Earlier, the record was held by the one in
Ranchi which is 293 feet high.
ii. The flag is 120 feet in length, 80 feet in breadth and is hosted on a pole which is
360 feet high. The concrete base is 30 feet in length and another 30 feet in
breadth.

Assam Cabinet Declares Sanskrit as Compulsory Subject up to Class 8

West Bengal Gives Official Status to Tribal Language 'Kurukh'
Kurukh is a tribal language that belongs to the Dravidian family.

Andhra Pradesh Renames Tirupati Airport and Vijayawada Airport

Haryana announces Tirtha Darshan scheme

i. Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar announced that the state government had
prepared a Tirtha Darshan scheme under which senior citizens above 60 years of
age and of Haryana domicile would be able to go on a pilgrimage within the
country at government expense.

Sri Lanka Wins 'Most Popular Tourism Destination Award'

India to supply additional 60 MW power to Bangladesh

To support women founded startups, Facebook launches 'SheLeadsTech'

Kerala tops in GST registrations

Andy Murray wins Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships for first title of 2017

7th
Ola signs MoU with Government of Madhya Pradesh

National Conference on Jal Kranti Abhiyan to be held

Indo-Oman joint military exercise 'Al-Nagah-II' begins

i. In an effort to build bilateral military-to-military relations and skills, a 14-day
joint defense exercise 'Al-Nagah-II' between the armies of India and Oman begun in
Himachal Pradesh.'
ii. Indo-Oman Joint Army Exercise- AL NAGAH-II 2017' was started on 6th march and
will end on 19th March in the Dhauladhar Ranges at Bakloh in Himachal Pradesh.

Tribal festival 'Bhagoria' begins in MP

Dr K Srinath Reddy appointed as adviser to the Odisha Govt

i. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced appointment of Prof Dr K Srinath
Reddy as the adviser to the Odisha government.

Vaikom Vijayalakshmi becomes first to play Gayathri veena for record five
hours

Rabi Ray, former Lok Sabha Speaker, passes away

i. Eminent socialist leader, former Union Minister and former Speaker of Lok Sabha
Rabi Ray passed away after a prolonged illness. He was 91.
ii. He was first elected to the Lok Sabha in 1967, from the Puri parliamentary
constituency, and was the leader of the Samyukta Socialist Party in the Lok Sabha.
8th
International Women's Day being observed

Indo-Nepal joint Military exercise begins

i. A joint military exercise 'Surya Kiran-XI' between India and Nepal begins in
Pithoragarh area of Uttarakhand.This is a battalion level joint exercise between
the two armies.

Hyderabad airport ranks 1st in the world in airport service quality

CBSE introduces Exam Locator app to help students

China overtakes eurozone as world’s biggest bank system

Fitch Estimates Indian Economy to Grow 7.1% in 2016-17

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan wins best actress award

i. The actor Aishwarya Rai Bachchan who played the character of Sarabjit Singh’s
sister Dalbir Kaur, has won the Best Actress award for Sarabjit at the International
Film Festival and Awards of Australia (IFFAA).
9th
List of Winners of BCCI Annual Award 2017
i. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the 'BCCI Annual
Awards for 2015-16'. The awards were given away at a ceremony held in Bangaluru
March 8, 2017 which also marks the International Women’s Day.
ii. Indian Skipper Virat Kohli was honored with the Polly Umrigar Award for third
time.
iii. R Ashwin was awarded the Dilip Sardesia Award for the second time for his
brilliant performance in test cricket in 2016. He is also the only one to be awarded
twice.
iv. Vaman Viswanath Kumar and late Ramakant Desai were given the BCCI Special
Award in recognition of their yeoman services to Indian Cricket.

Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah launches 'Pratibimba' to project achievements

India Has Highest Bribery Rate Among 16 Asia-Pacific Nations

ii. According to the survey, about 69 percent of the population in India paid bribe
to get their work done. India was followed by Vietnam (65%), Thailand (41%),
Cambodia, Pakistan and Myanmar, each with 40%. Besides, China (26%) was one of
the least corrupt nations and it was the lowest in Japan (0.2%).

Vice President Hamid Ansari Attends IORA Summit in Jakarta

i. Vice President Hamid Ansari was on a two-day visit to Indonesia to attend the
21-nation Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) Summit in Jakarta, Indonesia from
March 6-7, 2017.
ii. The theme of Summit is ‘Strengthening Maritime Cooperation for a Peaceful,
Stable and Prosperous Indian Ocean’.
iii. IORA has 21 member states, including Australia, Bangladesh, Comoros, India,
Indonesia, Iran, Kenya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mozambique, Oman,
Seychelles, Singapore, Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, UAE,
and Yemen.

D. Bala Venkatesh Varma concurrently accredited as the Ambassador of India to

Andorra

Ashwin, Jadeja jointly ranked number one in ICC Test rankings

10th
RBI to issue new Rs 10 notes soon with high-security features

Odisha govt launched 181 helpline for distressed women

Tamil Nadu launches Rs 1,580 crore housing scheme

Parliament passes bill to raise maternity leave to 26 weeks

i. Parliament approved a bill granting women working in the organized sector paid
maternity leave of 26 weeks, up from 12 weeks now, a decision which will benefit
around 1.8 million women.
ii. The law will apply to all establishments employing 10 or more people and the
entitlement will be for the first two children. For the third child, the entitlement
will be 12 weeks.
iii. With this, India becomes the country with the third highest maternity leave.
Canada and Norway grant 50 weeks and 44 weeks respectively as paid maternity
leave.

INS Tillanchang commissioned to Indian Navy

NTPC commissions 45 MW of Bhadla solar plant

Bhadla in Rajasthan

Mohan Bhagwat conferred honorary degree of Doctor of Science

11th
Goa Election 2017: Francis D'Souza (BJP) wins from Mapusa
i. Deputy Chief Minister Francis D'Souza wins from Mapusa constituency by a margin
of over 6,000 votes.
ii. The total voter turnout was 78.94% and Francis D’souza was the candidate from
BJP who had won followed by Ashish Tulshidas Shirodkar of Nationalist Congress
Party (NCP).
Himachal launches mobile app 'Mera Hunar HP' for job-seeker

'Dangal' won the Viewer's Choice Best Film award at Zee Cine Awards 2017

India launches second stage of HCFCs phaseout plan

13-14 March
Jaitley gets additional charge of Defence Ministry
i. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was given the additional charge of the Defence
Ministry after Manohar Parrikar resigned to take on the new role of Goa Chief
Minister.
ii. This is the second time that Jaitley is holding the additional portfolio of Defence
Ministry during the present NDA government.
iii. He was incharge of the ministry earlier from May 26 to November 9 in 2014.

Women Safety app ‘Ammavin Aran’ launched by AIADMK

Arunachal Pradesh Launches Adarsh Gram Yojana for Rural Poor

Pakistan set to conduct its first census in 19 years

i. Pakistan is set to conduct its first national census in 19 years which will begin on
Wednesday with the assistance of over 200,000 troops.
ii. Army spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor and Minister of State for
Information Marriyum Aurangzeb addressed a joint conference about preparation
for the sixth census, which will be conducted in two phases and will be completed
on May 25, 2017. iii.Islamabad last conducted a census in 1998, which recorded a
national population of approximately 180 million at that time.

ICC appoint Sachin Tendulkar as official ambassador of women's World Cup

2017
i. Indian cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar was announced as the official
ambassador of Women's Cricket World Cup 2017 by the International Cricket
Council (ICC) yesterday, on the occasion of International Women's Day.

UK parliament gives final approval for Brexit bill

i. In UK, the House of Lords has passed the Brexit bill, paving the way for the
government to trigger Article 50 so the UK can leave the EU.
ii. The Prime Minister could theoretically invoke Article 50, which formally starts
the Brexit process.
iii.The EU Withdrawal Bill was passed unamended after peers voted by 274 votes to
118 not to challenge the Commons again over the issue of whether Parliament
should have a veto on the terms of exit.

15 March
World Consumer Rights Day being observed: 15 March
i. World Consumer Rights Day is being observed today (15 March 2017) which is an
awareness day and theme for this year is 'Building a Digital World Consumers can
Trust’. Several functions are being organized across the country to mark the
occasion.

Biren Singh to be Sworn in Next CM of Manipur

ii. This is the first time the BJP has come to power in the north-eastern state. The
Congress leader Okram Ibobi announced to resign after BJP named Nongthombam
Biren Singh as the party’s leader to form the government with the majority win.
iii. The BJP’s N. Biren Singh will take oath as Manipur’s next chief minister on 15th
March 2017 along with his council of ministers in the presence of BJP president
Amit Shah and Union Minister Jitendra Singh.

World Bank loan for MP solar plant

Government Establishes Banana Research Centre in Bihar

i. The Union Agriculture and Farmer’s Welfare Minister Shri Radha Mohan Singh laid
the foundation stone of the Banana Research Centre at Vaishali, Bihar Centre to
fulfill the aspirations of the local banana growers.
ii. The new center will work to find reasons behind less production in banana,
enhancement in acreage for cultivation, suitable utilization of the various parts of
the plants, different products, marketing and value addition.

Pawan Goenka gets 2nd term as IIT-Madras Board Chairman

i. Pawan Goenka Managing Director of Mahindra and Mahindra has been granted
second-term as Chairman of the Board of Governors (BoG) of IIT-Madras.
ii. The President of India, in his capacity as visitor of IIT-Madras, approved the
nomination of Goenka, for three years with effect from June 9, 2017.
iii. He had been serving as Chairman, BoG of IIT-Madras, since 9th June 2014 when
he was first nominated to the position for a three-year period.

Commonwealth Day
i. Commonwealth Day has celebrated annually across the Commonwealth of
Nations on 13th March 2017.
ii. The objective is to come together and celebrate its values and diversity. Theme
is 'A peace-building Commonwealth'. It is marked by a multi-faith service in
Westminster Abbey, normally attended by Queen Elizabeth II as Head of the
Commonwealth along with the Commonwealth Secretary-General and
Commonwealth High Commissioners in London.

Shashank Manohar resigns from ICC chairman’s post

16th March
Captain Amarinder Singh to be sworn-in as CM of Punjab

Govt approves National Health Policy

iii. By providing a common syllabus and system of education, the KVs are intended
to ensure that the children of government employees do not face education
disadvantages while their parents are transferred from one location to another.
Namami Gange: 20 projects approved for swift implementation
i. 20 projects worth Rs 1,900 Crore have been approved for swift implementation
of Namami Gange Programme in Uttarakhand, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Delhi. The
Executive Committee (EC) of National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) approved
these projects.

Govt launches new scheme for developing export linked infrastructure

i. The government has launched a new scheme Trade Infrastructure for Export
Scheme (TIES) for developing export linked infrastructure in states with a view to
promote outbound shipments.
ii. Launched by Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, TIES seeks to
bridge the infrastructure gap and provide forward and backward linkages to units
engaged in trade activities.
iii. The TIES would focus on projects like customs checkpoints, last mile
connectivity, border haats and integrated check posts.
iv. The scheme, to be implemented from April 1, would have a budgetary
allocation of Rs 600 crore for three years with an annual outlay of Rs 200 crore. It
will be implemented from 2017-18 till 2019-20.

International Vision Zero Conference Begins In New Delhi

i. The International Conference on the Vision Zero and its relevance to
Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) began at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi.
ii. The aim is to focus on the Occupational Safety and Health issues and challenges
in the Manufacturing, Construction and Mining sector and provide a forum for
promoting safety and health at work by exchanging knowledge, practices, and
experience.

India's contribution to UN increases to Rs 244 crore

i. India's contribution to the United Nations rose 55% to Rs 244 crore in 2015-16
compared with the previous fiscal.
ii. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj informed the Lok Sabha that the
government had also made voluntary contributions to the tune of Rs 22 crore to
international organizations, including UN agencies, in the last financial year.
iii. The country contributed Rs 244 crore to the UN last fiscal compared with Rs
157 crore in 2014-15.

17th
India joins WHO call to end TB by 2030 in South East Asian
IISc, Bengaluru Placed Among Top 50 in THE’s Asia Universities Ranking
ii. According to the 2017 ranking, Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bengaluru has
been ranked best Indian University and has been placed at 27th position among the
universities in Asia.
iii. Besides, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay was another Indian
university among top 50 placed at 42 position.
Dilip Shanghvi appointed as member of RBI's western board

Indian-American Teen Indrani Das Wins 2017 Regeneron Science Talent Search

ONGC to invest Rs 21,500-crore in India's deepest gas find

Changi voted World's Best Airport for 5th consecutive year

i. Singapore's Changi Airport has been voted the World's Best Airport by air
travellers at the 2017 World Airport Awards for the fifth consecutive year.

SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket Launches EchoStar 23 Satellite

18th
Trivendra Rawat elected as Uttarakhand CM

India, Russia sign long-term support pact on Sukhoi Su-30MKI

India and Russia have signed two long-term support agreements for the Sukhoi Su-
30MKI combat aircraft fleet, of the Indian Air Force (IAF).
ii. Bangalore-headquartered Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) with United Aircraft
Corporation and United Engine Corporation also signed an agreement for
maintenance of other Russian-origin platforms.

GST Council Approves SGST & UTGST Draft Bills

i. The Goods and Service Tax (GST) council headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley
iii. The UTGST draft law is for the Union Territories like Andaman and Nicobar
Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli, which do not
have legislative assemblies.

Indian railways signs agreement with Australian research center

Sanjauli police post becomes first in India to be linked with CCTNS

i. Sanjauli police station of Sanjauli the main suburb of the city of Shimla,
Himachal Pradesh has become the first police post in the country to be linked
with Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS), a nationwide
online tracking system.

Kerala gets first private bank: ESAF Small Finance Bank

World Bank approves funding for India's ambitious National Hydrology Project
Social Security Agreement between India and Brazil

Mallikarjun Kharge becomes next PAC (Public accounts committee) Chairman

ii. Kharge will take charge from K.V. Thomas on May 1, 2017.

India ranks 148 in 2017 UN Women in Politics Map

i. The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and UN Women launched the ‘Women in
Politics 2017 Map’ in New York.
iii. As per the Map, India ranked 148 out of 193 UN member nations in representing
women in the executive government. The theme for 2017 is 'Women’s Economic
Empowerment In The Changing World Of Work'.
iv. Top 5 countries with highest women in parliament: Rwanda, Bolivia, Cuba,
Iceland and Nicaragua.

Michael Clarke’s launches his autobiography ‘My Story’

i. Former Australia captain Michael Clarke has launched his autobiography named
‘My Story’ in Kolkata.
ii. This book was triggered by how he was affected by Phil Hughes’ death when
India was touring Australia in 2014-15.
19th
Uttar Pradesh now have two Deputy CM
i. Yogi Adityanath, the 32nd Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh now have two
deputies Keshav Prasad Maurya and Dinesh Sharma.
ii.Other states who have had two Deputy CM are Meghalaya, Telangana and
Jharkhand.
Amitabh Bachchan launches world's first app for breast health

Punjab to provide 33 percent reservation for women in govt jobs

20th
Snapdeal appoints Jason Kothari as CEO of FreeCharge

Shahid Afridi appointed as ambassador of Blind Cricket World Cup

21th
International Day of Forests: 21 March
i. The 2017 theme is 'Forests and energy'.

Uttarakhand HC accords human status to Ganga, Yamuna

i. The Uttarakhand High Court has given the status of "living human entities" to the
Ganga and Yamuna.

India ranks 122nd in World Happiness Report

i. India ranked 122nd out of 155 countries in the recently released World Happiness
Report, 2017.
ii. India is behind Pakistan (80th) and Nepal (99th) in the global list of the happiest
countries. The top three happiest countries in the list are- Norway, Denmark and
Iceland.
2017 healthiest country index
i. Bloomberg released it's 2017 World Health Index. Italy has been named the
healthiest country by the index followed by Iceland and Switzerland at the top
second and third position respectively.
ii. The list graded 163 countries based on variables such as life expectancy, causes
of death and health risks such as high blood pressure, malnutrition, the availability
of clean water and tobacco use.

Tamil Nadu wins Vijay Hazare Trophy

Cheteshwar Pujara becomes first Indian to face 500 balls in Test innings
i. Cheteshwar Pujara has become the first Indian to face 500-plus balls in an
innings, going past the mark against Australia.
ii. He broke past Rahul Dravid's record of 495 balls, which were the most faced by
an Indian in one Test innings.
22th March
World water day observed globally
ii. In 2017, the theme for World Water Day is 'Wastewater'.

Madhabi Puri Buch appointed as SEBI whole time member

ii. She is currently serving in the New Development Bank, Shanghai.

Majuli all set to become India’s 1st carbon neutral district

Major Rohit Suri awarded Kirti Chakra

i. Major Rohit Suri, from the Parachute Regiment who led the army team that
carried out a surgical strike in PoK last year, was presented the second highest
peacetime gallantry award Kirti Chakra by President Pranab Mukherjee.
ii. Corporal Gursevak Singh of Indian Air Force was posthumously conferred the
Shaurya Chakra for putting up a valiant fight against terrorists who had attacked
the frontline Pathankot air base.
23th
Nation paying tribute on 86th martyrdom day: 23 March
i. Nation is paying tributes to freedom fighters -Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev
on their 86th martyrdom day (23 March).
ii. On this day in 1931, British rulers had executed them in Lahore for their
revolutionary activities against the British rule.

World Meteorological Day 2017 observed globally

ii. The theme of WMD 2017 is 'Understanding Cloud' to highlight the enormous
importance of clouds for weather climate and water.

India ranks 131 on Human Development Index, Norway No.1

i. In the recently released Human Development Index by United Nations, India is
ranked 131 out of 188 countries in the list.
ii. The list is topped by Norway followed by Australia and Switzerland on 2nd and
3rd positions respectively.
iii. India’s HDI value for 2015 is 0.624, which puts the country in the medium
human development category but behind fellow South Asian countries like Sri
Lanka (73rd)and the Maldives(105th).

NABARD launches water conservation campaign in Karnataka

High level committee to examine working of CCIM, CCH and their governing
legislation
i. The high-level Committee has been formed to examine the working of the
regulatory bodies Central Council of Indian Medicine (CCIM) and Central Council of
Homoeopathy (CCH) and their governing legislations namely, Indian Medicine
Central Council Act 1970 and Homoeopathy Central Council Act 1973 respectively,
for suggesting suitable reforms for AYUSH.
ii. The committee will be headed by Arvind Panagariya, Vice Chairman of NITI
Aayog. Other members of the committee are Chief Executive Officer (CEO), NITI
Aayog and Secretary, Ministry of AYUSH.

World Sparrow Day: 20 March

PepsiCo ropes in PV Sindhu as brand ambassador

ii. Sindhu is the first Indian brand ambassador of the PepsiCo brand.

ICC appoints Ankur Khanna as new CFO (chief financial officer)

Ravindra Jadeja replaces Ravichandran Ashwin to rank top test bowler in ICC
rankings
24th
World Tuberculosis Day- 24 March
ii. The theme for World Tuberculosis Day 2017 is 'Unite to End TB: Leave no one
behind'. 2017 is the second year of a two-year "Unite to End TB" campaign for
World TB Day.

ISRO commissions world's third largest hypersonic wind tunnel

i. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) created history by commissioning
the world’s third largest hypersonic wind tunnel at the Vikram Sarabhai Space
Centre (VSSC) in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.
ii. A wind tunnel is used to study the effects of air flowing past a solid object in
ISRO's case, space vehicles.

Raghu Rai conferred with Lifetime Achievement award

i. Photojournalist Raghu Rai was conferred with the Lifetime Achievement Award
by the Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Minister Mr. Venkaiah Naidu for “his
remarkable contribution to the field.” at 6th National Photography Awards
organized by the photo division of the ministry in the capital.
ii. Rai is also a Padma Shri awardee.

India ranks 87th on energy architecture performance: WEF

ii. Switzerland topped the annual list released by Geneva- based World Economic
Forum (WEF) and was followed by Norway, Sweden, Denmark and France in the top
five. India's rank improved three places from 90th last year.

Ankur Mittal wins gold in double trap at ISSF World Cup

i. Young Indian shooter Ankur Mittal, defeated rival James Willett, and bagged the
first World Cup gold medal of his career in double trap at the International
Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) World Cup.
ii. The event was held in Acapulco, Mexico.
25th March
Earth Hour' being observed today: 25 March
i. The World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) is observing the 10th anniversary of
'Earth Hour' today i.e. 25 March,2017.
ii. The worldwide event is held annually encouraging individuals to turn off non-
essential lights for one hour, from 8:30 to 9:30 PM local time as a symbol of their
commitment to the planet. It was started as a lights-off event in Sydney, Australia,
in 2007.

SBI's Arundhati Bhattacharya among world's greatest leaders

i. State Bank of India (SBI) Chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya has been ranked
26th among the world's 50 greatest leaders, according to Fortune Magazine.

Osmania University to host 105th Indian Science Congress

ii. The theme of the 105th session of Indian Science Congress is 'Science and
Technology - Reaching the Unreached’. This will be the sixth time that the
university will be hosing the conferrer. The congress will be meeting in Hyderabad
for the seventh time.

Ashwin breaks record for most wickets in a Test season

26th March
Bangladesh celebrates 46th Independence Day

i. On March 26 Bangladesh celebrates its Independence day.

ii.Bangladesh's President Md Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina

placed wreaths at National Memorial in Savar paying respects to those who
sacrificed their lives for the freedom.

Vettel wins Australian Grand Prix

i.Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel won the Australian Grand Prix for
Ferrari.

India becomes third largest aviation market in domestic traffic

i. India has become the third largest aviation market in terms of domestic
passenger traffic, beating Japan.

ii. United States with 815 million passengers in 2016 enjoyed the top
position, followed by China with 490 million.

Cheteshwar Pujara sets a record by scoring the most runs in a Test season by
an Indian

i.Pujara achieved the landmark for scoring the most runs in a Test season,
surpassing the mark of 1269 by Gautam Gambhir which he achieved in the 2008/09
season.
ii.He has scored 1316 runs at an average of 65.8 in the season, the most ever by
an Indian batsman in Tests.
iii. He needs 168 runs to break Ricky Ponting’s mark, who holds the record for
the most runs ever by a batsman in a season, with 1483 runs at an average of
78.05.
27th March

Pawan Hans ties-up with HAL to train helicopter pilots

i. State-run Pawan Hans has joined hands with public sector chopper maker
Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) to train helicopter pilots.

Anupam Kher receives Kala Ratan Award from Vice President

ii. Anupam Kher was honored him the Padma Shri in 2004 and the Padma Bhushan
in 2016 for his contribution in the field of cinema and arts.

BSF gets first woman combat officer after 51 years

i. Tanushree Pareek became the first woman combat officer to be commissioned
in the 51-year history of the BSF, the country’s largest border guarding force.

FIFA U-17 World Cup: Kolkata to host final

ii. The World Cup gets underway from October 6, 2017 and the slogan of the
tournament will be "Football Takes Over".

29th March

Bharat Dynamics, L&T sign up for torpedo export

ICICI Bank partners with Truecaller

Truecaller partners with Google

Indian-American Vanita Gupta appointed president of ‘Leadership Conference’

Eminent Jurist TR Andhyarujina Passes Away

i. Senior Advocate and eminent jurist Tehmtan R. Andhyarujina passed away. He
was the Solicitor General of India from 1996 to 1998.

 BDL and L&T signed an MoU for export of torpedoes

 Torpedoes are cigar-shaped self-propelled underwater missile designed to
be fired from a ship or submarine
 Bharat Dynamics Ltd headquarter is in Hyderabad
 BDL was founded in 1970
 KVB bank has bagged the ‘best small bank’award 2016
 KVB headquarter is in Karur, Tamil Nadu
  KVB bank founded in 1916
 KVB bank slogan is 'smart way to bank'
 Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas is Shri Dharmendra Pradhan
 Chief Minister of Odisha is Shri Naveen Patnaik
 Senior Advocate and eminent jurist Tehmtan R. Andhyarujina passed away
 He authored 'The Kesavananda Bharati Case: The untold story of struggle for
supremacy by Supreme Court and Parliament'
 Y K Sinha is The High Commissioner of India to the UK
 Google headquarter is in U.S.A.
 CEO of Google is Sundar Pichai
 Parent Company of google is Alphabet Inc.
 Google was founded in 1998.

29th March
SBI launches 'Unnati' credit card
i. SBI Card launched a unique credit card ‘SBI Card Unnati’ targeted at all SBI
customers, including Jan Dhan account-holders across the country.

UN appoints David Beasley to head World Food Programme

i. United Nations Chief Antonio Guterres has appointed former South Carolina
Governor David Beasley to head the Rome-based World Food Programme (WFP).

Bhubaneswar to host men’s hockey World League Final 2017

 Secretary-General of United Nations is Antonio Guterres

 IRDAI headquarter is in Hyderabad, Telangana
 IRDAI was established in 2002
 T S Vijayan is the chairman of IRDAI
 Chief of Naval staff (CNS) is Sunil Lanba the highest-ranking officer
in the Indian Navy.
 Vijay Shekhar Sharma is the founder and CEO of Paytm.

30th March
Kerala, Tripura and Arunachal joined UDAY

i. Kerala, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh have joined the Centre’s power
distribution company debt relief scheme, Ujjwal Discom Assurance
Yojna (UDAY). With this, 26 states have joined the scheme.

Union Government launches Online Film Certification System

i. Information & Broadcasting Minister M Venkaiah Naidu launched the online film
certification system, 'e-cinepramaan' with an aim to censor corruption and
promote clean cinema.

Chenani-Nashri Tunnel: The longest road tunnel in South Asia

i. In the Historic move, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will formally open the
longest road tunnel of South Asia- Chenani-Nashri Tunnel on 2nd April 2017.
Govt signs deal for Hydrocarbon project in Neduvasal
i. The Government of India signed a contract for the Discovered Small Fields
(DSF) Bid 2016 with GEM Laboratories for extracting Hydrocarbons at Neduvasal, in
Tamil Nadu.

Third meeting of G-20 framework working group held at Varanasi

NASA, ISRO jointly working on project NISAR

i. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Jet Propulsion Laboratory
(JPL), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) are jointly working on
the development of Dual Frequency (L and S band) Synthetic Aperture Radar
Imaging Satellite named as NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR)

Indian Army Releases Book on Rashtriya Rifles

i. General Bipin Rawat, Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) in New Delhi, released
the book ‘Home of the Brave’ on the history of Indian Army’s Counter Insurgency
Force, the Rashtriya Rifles (RR).
ii. The book is authored by Mr. Nitin A Gokhale, Defence & Security Analyst and
Brig S K Chatterji (Retired).

 First state to join UDAY scheme was Andhra Pradesh

 Ujjwal Discom Assurance Yojna is the full form of UDAY
 UDAY was launched in November 2015
 Edappadi K. Palaniswami is the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu
 Prime Minister of Nepal is Pushpa Kamal Dahal
 The currency of Nepal is Nepalese Rupee and capital is Kathmandu.
 The G-20 is the group of 19 countries and European Union (EU) deliberating
on global economic issues
 The headquarter of G-20 developing nation is in Cancún, Mexico.
 NASA and ISRO are jointly working on project NISAR
 ISRO chairman is Kiran Kumar and its headquarter is in Bengaluru, India
 Full form of NASA is National Aeronautics and Space Administration
 CEO of Amazon is Jeff Bezos
 Amazon headquarter is in the United States of America

31th March
President inaugurated 'Namami Brahmaputra' festival in Assam
i. The biggest river festival of India, Namami Brahmaputra, begins in 21 districts
of Assam.
ii. President Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated the festival on the banks of the river
Brahmaputra, which is considered country's only male river.

Sunaina Singh appointed as new Vice-Chancellor of Nalanda University

El Salvador becomes first country in the world to ban metals mining

i. El Salvador, Central America’s smallest nation, has become the first country in
the world to ban metals mining nationwide.
NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson breaks Sunita Williams’ spacewalking record
i. American astronaut Peggy Whitson made history when she floated outside the
International Space Station (ISS).
ii. She broke the record for the most spacewalks by a woman. Whitson at the age
of 57, is making her eighth career spacewalk, surpassing the record of seven
previously held by American Sunita Williams.
iii. Ms. Whitson earned a doctorate in biochemistry and served as the first female
space station commander in 2008.

 Judiciary capital of Madhya Pradesh is Jabalpur

 New Development Bank (NDB) is headquartered in Shanghai, China
 BRICS countries are members of NDB
 Parliament passed the Mental Healthcare Bill 2016
 Sunaina Singh appointed as the new Vice-Chancellor of Nalanda University
 She has replaced George Yeo
 Nalanda University is located in Nalanda District of Bihar
 It was established in 2014.
 El Salvador has become the first country in the world to ban metals mining
 El Salvador is Central America’s smallest nation
 NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson breaks Sunita Williams’ spacewalking record
 She is making her eighth career spacewalk
 She was the first female space station commander in 2008
 S V Sunil named the Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) Player of the Year for
2016