Daily Current Affairs: March 19, 2022

Daily Current Affairs (March 19, 2022) like many other sections is inevitable and this also helps to score in the Banking awareness, Static GK, and Financial Awareness sections. Remember, Banking Awareness, and Static Awareness Questions are asked from the General Awareness section. This will also help you to ride your preparations for the forthcoming exams.

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National News

CRPF celebrates its eighty-third Raising Day on 19 March 2022

• Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) celebrates its Raising Day on 19 March every year to mark the day former Union Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel presented colours to the CRPF in 1950 after the CRPF Act was enacted and the force rechristened to its present name.
• This year (2022), CRPF celebrated its eighty-third Raising Day.

• This eighty-third Raising Day parade was organised at the Maulana Azad Stadium in Jammu. 

BPCL becomes the first Indian company to offer a voice-based digital payment facility to non-internet users

• Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), a ‘Maharatna’ and a Fortune Global 500 Company, has partnered with UltraCash Technologies Ltd. to offer a voice-based digital payment facility for BharatGas consumers for booking their liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders.
• Through this feature, the consumers who do not have smartphones or the internet can book their LPG cylinders and make the payment through ‘UPI 123PAY’.
• BPCL became the first Company in India to offer its service to consumers after Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das announced the launch of ‘UPI 123PAY’.

State News

West Bengal celebrates ‘Dol Utsav’ to welcome the spring season

• West Bengal has celebrated the festival of colours, predominantly known as ‘Dol Utsav’ in West Bengal through cultural programmes, marking the onset of the spring season.
• In Eastern India, the festival of spring is celebrated as Dol Jatra, Dol Purnima, Dol Utsav and Basanta Utsav.
• People throw ‘gulaal’ or powder colour on each other and sing and dance to mark this festival. On this day, people celebrate the victory of good over evil.

West Bengal    

• Capital: Kolkata
• Chief Minister: Mamata Banerjee
• Governor: Jagdeep Dhankhar
• National Parks: Buxa National Park, Gorumara National Park, Neora Valley National Park, Jaldapara National Park, Singalila National Park, Sundarbans National Park

NMDC Limited signs a pact with IIT Kharagpur for drone-based mineral exploration

• National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) Limited, India’s largest iron ore producer, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with IIT Kharagpur for drone-based mineral exploration.
• NMDC Limited and IIT Kharagpur would develop spectral products, methods and algorithms for mineral exploration using a drone (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) for mining.
• This collaboration would further lead to the development of software spectral tools for mineral excavation and capacity-building programmes on mining technology.

Banking and Economy

SBI announces $ 1 billion credit facility to Sri Lanka

• State Bank of India (SBI) has announced a $ 1 billion line of credit to Sri Lanka as part of its financial assistance to help the island nation deal with its economic crisis.
• Last month (January 2022), India extended a $ 500 million line of credit to Sri Lanka to help purchase petroleum products as the island nation has been reeling under a severe foreign exchange and energy crisis.

State Bank of India (SBI)

• Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra
• Chairman: Dinesh Kumar Khara
• Tagline: The Banker to Every Indian

Kotak Mahindra Bank signs an MoU with Business France to support companies in the Indo–French corridor

• Kotak Mahindra Bank has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Business France (the French national agency in charge of the development of exports and international investments in France) to support companies in the Indo–French corridor.

Kotak Mahindra Bank

• Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra
• CEO: Uday Kotak
• Tagline: Let’s Make Money Simple

SEBI amends the rules governing Category III alternative investment funds

• Capital markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has amended the rules pertaining to investment aspects of Category III alternative investment funds (AIFs).
• Under these rules, Category III AIFs can invest not more than 10 per cent of the investable funds in an investee company, directly or through investment in units of other AIFs.
• Various types of funds such as hedge funds, PIPE Funds, etc. are registered as Category III AIFs.

Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)

• Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra
• Chairman: Madhabi Puri Buch
• Founded: 12 April 1992

USAID partners with Mastercard to foster digital empowerment of women in India through ‘Project Kirana’

• US Agency for International Development (USAID) has partnered with Mastercard to foster digital empowerment of women in India through an initiative called ‘Project Kirana’.
• Project Kirana is a business development and digital financial literacy programme for women entrepreneurs that aims to increase revenue streams, expand financial inclusion and enable the adoption of digital payments and other digital tools by women-owned and operated kirana shops.

Science and Technology

Union Defence Secretary commissions the fifth Offshore Patrol Vessel ‘ICGS Saksham’ at Goa

• Union Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar has commissioned the fifth in the series of 105 metre Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) class ‘Indian Coast Guard Ship (ICGS) Saksham’ at Goa.
• This OPV was designed and built indigenously by Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) and fitted with advanced technology, navigation and communication equipment, sensors and machinery.

NASA’s mega moon rocket ‘Artemis 1’ was rolled out for the first time

• National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) mega moon rocket ‘Artemis 1’ was rolled out for the first time and continues its journey to the launch pad.
• This Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion capsule were hauled out from the KSC Vehicle Assembly Building to Pad 39B on NASA’s giant crawler-transporter 2 (CT-2).

NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)

• Headquarters: Washington DC, United States
• Administrator: Jim Bridenstine

Appointments

Tata Consultancy Services re-appoints Rajesh Gopinathan as its MD and CEO for five years

• Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has re-appointed Rajesh Gopinathan as its Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for five years from 21 February 2022 to 20 February 2027.
• Ganapathy Subramaniam was re-appointed as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Executive Director (ED) of TCS from 21 February 2022 to 19 May 2024 as per the retirement age policy of TCS.

Awards and Recognitions

Visakhapatnam railway station becomes the first station in the East Coast Railway zone to implement the ‘One Station, One Product’ concept

• Visakhapatnam railway station implemented the ‘One Station, One Product’ concept and became the first railway station in the East Coast Railway zone to implement this concept. This concept would be running on a pilot basis for 15 days.
• Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed in the 2022–23 budget to popularise the ‘One Station, One Product’ concept for the Indian Railways to support the local businesses and supply chains using railways.

Ranking and Indices

Finland was named as the happiest country in the world for the fifth consecutive year: World Happiness Report 2022

• India was ranked 136 out of 146 countries in the United Nations’ World Happiness Report for 2022. Last year (2021), India was ranked at the 139^th
• Finland was named as the world’s happiest country in the World Happiness Report 2022 for the fifth time in a row.
• Finland was followed by Denmark, Iceland, Switzerland and the Netherlands.
• Afghanistan was ranked 149^th as the unhappiest country in the world.
• The World Happiness Report is published by United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network since 2012.

Indian-origin Manjeet Mann’s children’s book ‘The Crossing’ was shortlisted for UK’s Yoto Carnegie Medal

• Indian-origin author Manjeet Mann was shortlisted for her children’s book ‘The Crossing’, a tale of a little girl’s friendship with an Eritrean refugee, for the United Kingdom’s (UK) prestigious Yoto Carnegie Medal.
• She is a UK-based author, actress, playwright and screenwriter. She has been previously shortlisted for this honour for her debut children’s novel ‘Run, Rebel’.
• ‘The Crossing’ is her second novel and it recently won the Costa Children’s Book Award 2022.

Books and Authors

A new book titled ‘Wrist Assured’ was authored by former Indian cricket captain Gundappa Vishwanath

• Former Indian cricket captain Gundappa Vishwanath’s autobiography ‘Wrist Assured’, co-authored by senior journalist Kaushik, was released at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, Karnataka.
• This book was published by Rupa Publication.

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