NATIONAL NEWS

INS Shivaji Recognised as Centre of Excellence in Marine Engineering

• Under the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE), the Centre of Excellence (Marine Engineering), INS Shivaji has been recognised as a Centre of Excellence in the field of Marine Engineering.
• INS Shivaji is an Indian Naval Station in Lonavala, Maharashtra.
• The recognition certificate was handed over by the Secretary MSDE, Shri Rajesh Aggarwal to Commodore Arvind Rawal, Commanding Officer at INS Shivaji at the Ministry Headquarters, Shram Shakti Bhavan, New Delhi.
• Recognition as Centre of Excellence by MSDE is first of its kind for any military organisation and an indication of establishment’s sustained efforts towards skill and technology development.
• The training is being imparted towards enhancing the skills of personnel of Indian Navy, Friendly Foreign Navies and the entire ecosystem.

WINGSINDIA 2022

• ‘WINGS INDIA 2022’, Asia's largest Civil Aviation event will be conducted from 24 March to 27 March 2022, at Begumpet airport in Hyderabad.
• This year marks the 5th edition of the biennial event
• The theme of the event is “India@75: New Horizon for Aviation Industry” in line with the Azadi Ka Amith Mahotsav.
• The four-day show is being organised by the Ministry of Civil Aviation and FICCI.
• Wings India 2022 emphasizes the Government of India’s commitment to transform India into the world’s top civil aviation hub. Wings India will serve to synchronise policy formation and address concerns of the stakeholders in the civil aviation sector.

Exercise Suraksha Kavach 2

• Indian Army’s “Agnibaaz Division” organized a joint exercise named ‘Suraksha Kavach 2’ between Indian Army and Maharashtra Police at Lullanagar, Pune.
• The aim of the exercise was to harmonize the drills and procedures undertaken by Army and Police against any terrorist actions in Pune.
• The exercise involved participation of Counter Terrorism Task Force (CTTF) of Indian Army, Anti-Terrorism Squad of Maharashtra Police and Quick Reaction Teams (QRTs), Dog Squads and Bomb Disposal Teams of both agencies.

ArcelorMittal Partners with Greenko

• ArcelorMittal, the world’s biggest steel maker has announced its partnership with Greenko, one of the largest home-grown renewable companies to use cleaner energy alternatives instead of fossil fuels like coal or natural gas to fire its critical infrastructure like blast furnace and smelters.

• It will invest USD 600 million in the first phase to own.

• It will also fund to a 975 MW solar and wind farm renewable energy projects in Andhra Pradesh.
• The project will leverage Hydro Pumped Storage Plant (PSP) to provide continuous green energy to ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India. It is to use cheap green power during off-peak hours to raise water to a height and then release it into a lower reservoir to generate power when there is more demand.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

EX-DUSTLIK

• The 3rd edition of the joint training EX-DUSTLIK between the Indian and Uzbekistan armies begins on 22 March.
• It is conducted at Yangiarik, Uzbekistan from 22 March to 31 March, 2022.
• The exercise focuses on enhancing understanding, cooperation, and interoperability between two armies.
• The Indian contingent is represented by the Grenadiers Regiment and will join the Uzbekistan Army contingent represented by troops of the North-Western Military District.
• The joint exercise would concentrate on Counter-Terrorism operations in semi-urban terrain under a United Nations Mandate.
• The last edition of DUSTLIK was conducted in Ranikhet (Uttarakhand) in March 2021.

Kuwaiti Becomes Hottest Place on Earth

• Kuwait reached a temperature of 53.2 degrees Celsius (127.7 degrees Fahrenheit), making it one of the world's hottest places on Earth.
• According to the World Resources Institute, the country continues to use oil for electricity and is among the top worldwide carbon emitters per capita.
• Renewable energy accounts for less than 1 percent of demand – far below Kuwait’s target of 15 percent by 2030.
• Last summer in Kuwait, it was so hot that birds dropped death from sky. In the bay, sea horses boiled to death. The rocks were covered in dead clams, whose shells had popped up like they'd been cooked.

BANKING

SBI Card Partners with Nature’s Basket

• SBI Card, India's second largest pure-play credit card issuer partnered with Nature's Basket, India's leading premium grocery store brand to launch first of its kind credit card 'Nature's Basket SBI Card'.
• Nature's Basket SBI Card will be available to customers by first fortnight of April 2022.
• The card will be introduced in two variants - 'Nature's Basket SBI Card' and 'Nature's Basket SBI Card Elite'.
• It is powered Visa platform.
• 'Nature's Basket SBI Card' variants will allow cardholders to earn up to 20 Reward Points on every Rs. 100 spent at Nature's Basket stores and up to 10 Reward Points on every Rs. 100 spent on dining, movies, and international travel.

About SBI Cards:

• HQ: Gurugram, Haryana.

• MD & CEO: Rama Mohan Rao Amara.

SPORTS

All England Badminton Championship

• Lakshya Sen lost at the All-England Championships against world number one and Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen in the Men’s singles category.
• The score was 10-21 and 15-21.
• The 20-year-old Sen had become only the fifth Indian after Prakash Nath (1947), Prakash Padukone (1980, 1981), Pullela Gopichand (2001) and Saina Nehwal (2015) to reach the final of the prestigious tournament.
• Sen has broken into the top 10 of the men’s singles badminton world rankings for the first time. He climbed two spots to reach 9^th in the latest standings released.

Ashleigh Barty Announces Retirement

•  Australian tennis player and Cricketer Ashleigh Barty announced her retirement from tennis. She announced her retirement at the age of 25.

• She is currently ranked World No.1 in Women’s singles ranking.
• She unveiled the announcement just weeks after she became the first Australian to win Australian Open in 44 years.
• She is the 7^th on the list of women tennis players with longest consecutive weeks at world N0.1 position.
• She was the one who won singles major championships on three different surfaces that is 2019 French Open (on clay), 2021 Wimbledon (on grass) and 2022 Melbourne Park (on hard courts).

RANKS, INDICES & REPORTS

World Air Quality Report 2021

• World Air Quality Report 2021 was released by Swiss organization IQAir.
• The 2021 IQAir report ranked India among the countries with the worst air quality.
• New Delhi has been ranked the world's most polluted capital city for the fourth consecutive year with the highest average annual PM 2.5 concentration followed by Dhaka (Bangladesh), N'Djamena (Chad), Dushanbe (Tajikistan) and Muscat (Oman).
• According to the 2021 World Air Quality Report, 35 of the top 50 most polluted cities were found to be in India.
• Of the 15 most polluted cities in Central and South Asia in 2021, 12 were in India.
• Bhiwadi was the most polluted city in India followed by Ghaziabad, Delhi and Jaunpur.
• Bangladesh was the most polluted country followed by Chad, Pakistan, Tajikistan and India. India ranked fifth as the most polluted country.

AWARDS & PRIZES

Greenstorm Photography Award

• The 13^th edition of Greenstorm Global Photography Award was organized in association with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and Greenstorm Foundation.

• Mohamad Reza from Iran won the award.

• The theme for the year 2022 is “Restore Green Lineage”.
• Jophel Botero Ybiosa from Philippines was the first runner up.

Sports Icon Award by Maldives Government

• Indian Cricket Player, Suresh Raina was felicitated with the ‘Sports Icon’ award at the Maldives Awards 2022 by Government of Maldives.

• He is the first Indian Player to score 6000 as well as 8000 runs in a T20 matches and the first cricketer to score 5000 runs in IPL.
• In the Champions League T20, he also holds the record for most fifty-sixes score.
• Raina was one of 16 international athletes nominated for the award.

Sportstar Aces Award 2022

• Indian Olymoian Neeraj Chopra, who won the gold medal (Javelin) at Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics was awarded the Sportstar of the Year Award in the Male Category at the 2022 Sportstar Aces Award held at the Taj Mahal hotel in Mumbai, Maharashtra.

• Mirabai Chanu, who won the silver medal (Weightlifting) at Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics was awarded Sportstar of the Year in the Female Category.

• Legendary Indian Cricketer Sunil Gavaskar headed the jury panel of the award.
• During the event the Sportstar and The Hindu released the coffee table book ‘Road to 1000’.
• Sportsman of the year (Track and Field) was given to Neeraj Chopra.
• Sportswomen of the year (Track and Field) was given to Kamalpreet Kaur (Discus throw).

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

Chief Minister of Uttarakhand

• Pushkar Singh Dhami will take oath as the 11th Chief Minister of Uttarakhand.
• Dhami will be sworn in as CM for a second consecutive term.
• Governor Lieutenant General Gurmit Singh administered him the oath of office and secrecy at the Parade Ground in Dehradun.
• Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and BJP president JP Nadda are also scheduled to attend.
• Dhami secured 47 seats in the 70-member House.

IMPORTANT DAYS

World Meteorological Day

• World Meteorological Day is celebrated every year on 23 March.

• It is celebrated to create awareness among people to know their role in protecting Earth’s atmosphere.
• The theme of the day 2022 is “Early Warning and Early Action”.
• It is celebrated as the establishment of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). It was established on 23 March 1950.
• It is a significant day as it focuses on the global acknowledgement of different issues of planet earth.

Martyr’s Day or Shaheed Diwas

• Martyr’s Day also known as Shaheed Diwas is celebrated every year on 23 March.

• The day honours the freedom fighters Bhagat Singh, Shivaram Rajguru and Sukhdev Thapar.

• Their cremation took place along the banks of the Sutlej River.