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1)  World Sparrow Day: 20 March

•World Sparrow Day is celebrated every year on March 20 to raise awareness about the House Sparrow and other common birds to urban environments, and of threats to their populations. The theme of 2021 World Sparrow Day “I LOVE Sparrows”. The day was initiated by the Nature Forever Society of India in collaboration with the Eco-Sys Action Foundation (France) and numerous other national and international organisations across the world. The first World Sparrow Day was celebrated in 2010.

•The sparrows are known to live in the backyards and green patches in urban areas but “in the last two decades, their population is on the decline in almost every city,” according to the wwfindia.org. On this World Sparrow Day let’s encourage children and others around us to respect spaces for sparrows.

2)  International Day of Happiness: 20 March

•International Day of Happiness is celebrated on March 20 to promote happiness as a fundamental human right for all human beings across the world. The 2021 International Day of Happiness campaign theme is ‘Keep Calm. Stay Wise. Be Kind’. Since 2013, the United Nations has celebrated the International Day of Happiness as a way to recognize the importance of happiness in the lives of people around the world. The day was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly on 28 June 2012.

3)  World Oral Health Day is observed on 20 March

•World Oral Health Day is observed every year on 20th March. It focuses on highlighting the benefits of good oral health, spreads awareness about oral diseases and promotes maintenance of oral hygiene. The theme for the next three years, 2021-2023 is: Be Proud Of Your Mouth. The day is an initiative of FDI World Dental Federation; an organization that brings together the world of dentistry with the aim of achieving optimal oral health for everyone.

4)  UN French Language Day Observed Globally on 20 March

•The UN French Language Day is observed annually on 20 March. The day was established by the UN’s Department of Public Information in 2010, to celebrate multilingualism and cultural diversity as well as to promote equal use of all six official languages throughout the Organization. March 20 was chosen as the date for the French language since it coincides with the 40th anniversary of the International Organization of La Francophonie, representing countries and regions where French is a customary language.

5)  UNCTAD projects India’s GDP to grow 5% in 2021

•The UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has projected India’s economy to contract by 6.9 per cent in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, is forecast to record a “stronger recovery” in 2021 and grow by 5 per cent. Further, the UNCTAD estimates the global economy to grow by 4.7 per cent in 2021.

•The report noted that the deeper than expected downturn in 2020 explains in part the stronger recovery now projected for 2021 for India. According to a UN report which said the country’s current fiscal year budget points to a shift towards the demand-side stimulus, with an uptick in public investment.

6)  Samia Suluhu Hassan sworn in as Tanzania’s first woman President

•Samia Suluhu Hassan was sworn in as the sixth President of Tanzania, becoming the first female leader of the East African country. The 61-year-old Hassan assumed the presidency, following the death of previous President John Magfufuli, due to a heart condition. She will finish Magufuli’s second five-year term, which will run until 2025. Prior to taking charge as President, Hassan was the Vice-President of Tanzania, also being the first female vice-president of the country, since November 2015.

7)  Dutch PM Mark Rutte powers to fourth straight election win

•Netherlands Prime Minister, Mark Rutte has won the 2021 parliamentary elections with most seats to be sworn in as the Prime Minister for the fourth straight term. Earlier Rutte and his entire Cabinet offered their resignation on 15 January 2021 in response to a scandal relating to child welfare fraud, however, Rutte remained in office till the conclusion of the 2021 election. Rutte has been Prime Minister of the Netherlands since October 2010.

8)  India’s economy projected to grow at 12% in CY 2021: Moody’s

•Moody’s Analytics has projected the Indian economy to grow by 12 per cent in the Calendar Year 2021. For the Calendar year 2020, the real GDP was projected to contract 7.1 per cent by Moody’s.  It must be noted that Moody’s Analytics makes calendar year projections, while its sister organization Moody’s Investors Service provides fiscal year estimates.

•This forecast is equivalent to real GDP, in level terms, growing by 4.4 per cent above pre-COVID-19 levels (as of March 2020) by the end of 2021, or equivalently, by 5.7 per cent above the GDP level in December 2020 by the end of 2021.

9)  NeoGrowth appoints Ajinkya Rahane as brand ambassador

•NeoGrowth Credit Pvt. Ltd, a lender to small businesses, has announced the appointment of cricketer Ajinkya Rahane as its brand ambassador. The agreement is for a year which can be extended further. Rahane will feature in a campaign slated to be released in the first week of April, which will talk about the ease of procuring loans through NeoGrowth for small businesses. The campaign “Keeping it simple” will show the day-to-day struggles of small businesses while scaling up and how NeoGrowth can help them overcome them.

10)  Athlete Avinash Sable Sets New National Record In Men’s 3000m Steeplechase

•The Indian athlete Avinash Sable set a new national record in the men’s 3000m steeplechase event in the ongoing Federation Cup Senior National Athletics Championships in Patiala, with timing of 8:20.20. With this, the 26-year-old Avinash broke his own record of 8:21.37 which he set in 2019, after finishing 13th in the final of the World Athletics Championships in Doha.

•The army man from the arid Beed district of Maharashtra broke the national record for the fifth time in his career. Sable has already secured a berth in the Tokyo Olympics 2020 in men’s 3000m steeplechase during the 2019 World Athletics Championships.

Raus IAS Focus March 2021 Monthly Magazine PDF

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📰 Coronavirus | Pandemic may have doubled poverty in India, says Pew study

1)  Ordnance Factories’ Day in India: 18 March

•The Ordnance Factories’ Day is observed on the 18th of March every year. The production of India’s oldest Ordnance Factory, which is at Cossipore of Kolkata, was started on the 18th of March, 1802. OFB is the 37th largest defence equipment manufacturer in the world, 2nd largest in Asia, and the largest in India.

•The day is celebrated by displaying the rifles, guns, artillery, ammunition etc in exhibitions all over India. The celebrations start with a parade and the exhibition will also display the photographs of various mountaineering expeditions.

2)  Italy signs International Solar Alliance amended Framework Agreement

•Italy has signed the amended Framework Agreement of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) with India. The framework agreement was signed by the Italian Ambassador to India Vincenzo De Luca. ISA is an alliance of over 121 nations that have been initiated by India.

•The European country signed the ISA framework agreement after an amendment to the Framework Agreement of the ISA entered into force on January 08, 2021, opening its membership to all member states of the UN. The amendments of the ISA framework agreement allows all the member states of the United Nations to join the ISA grouping, including those lying beyond the tropics.

3)  6th India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) Women’s Forum held Virtually

•The Sixth India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) Women’s Forum meeting was held virtually. The Forum discussed key issues that contribute towards the transformation of women’s lives. At the end of the conference, a joint declaration was also issued highlighting the shared IBSA goals and commitments for achieving gender equality in all spheres of life.

4)  J&K Govt approves setting up of JVC “Ratle Hydroelectric Power Corporation”

•The Jammu and Kashmir administration has approved the incorporation of a joint venture company (JVC) under the name “Ratle Hydro-electric Power Corporation”. To implement the 850 MW Ratle Hydro-Electric Project (HEP) on river Chenab in the Kishtwar district of the Union Territory (UT) of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K). The JV company has been incorporated between the Government of Jammu and Kashmir, National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) and J&K State Power Development Corporation Ltd (JKSPDC).

5)  J&K LG Manoj Sinha inaugurates project “Awaam Ki Baat”

•Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha, initiated the project “Awaam Ki Baat” – a Radio program by launching its website at Raj Bhavan, Jammu. The half-an-hour long Radio program to be aired every third Sunday of the month (to start from April), is one of the many sequential steps of a broader program aimed at disseminating the progressive steps taken by the government and providing the public with a platform to speak, write and interact with the administration, thereby voicing their suggestions, ideas and creative proposals.

6)  World’s Largest Floating Solar Farms being built in Singapore

•The largest floating solar farm in the world is being built in Singapore. The country has resorted to set up energy plants off the coasts and reservoirs across it. This floating solar farm is being set up in the light that despite being one of the smallest countries across the world, it is one of the biggest per capita carbon dioxide emitters in India. Thus, to cater to the issue of climate change and to cut the greenhouse gas emission it is building the floating solar farm. This project is being built by Sembcorp Industries.

7)  Ajay Mathur takes over as Director General of International Solar Alliance

•Dr Ajay Mathur has assumed office as the Director-General of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) with effect from March 15, 2021. He has been appointed for a period of four years which can be renewed for an additional term. Dr Ajay Mathur has replaced Upendra Tripathy, who completed his term on March 15, after serving as the Director-General since 2017.

8)  Dr Harsh Vardhan appointed as chairman of ‘Stop TB Partnership Board’

•Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Dr Harsh Vardhan has been appointed as the Chairman of the international body Stop TB Partnership Board. He was appointed in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the movement to eradicate Tuberculosis from India by 2025. He will serve a three-year term, commencing from July this year.

9)  KRAS releases First batch of MRSAM Missiles

•The Kalyani Rafael Advanced Systems (KRAS), which is a joint venture between the Kalyani Group of India and Rafael Advanced Defence Systems of Israel, have released the first batch of Medium Range Surface to Air Missile (MRSAM) kits. The missile was released for the Indian Army and Indian Air Force.

•The release of the MRSAM Missile also marked the KRAS’ commitment to delivering more than 1000 MRSAM missile kits to India in near future. These missile sections will then be sent for further and future integration to Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL). The Kalyani Group has infused the “State-of-the-art technology with engineering excellence in the company.

10)  INS Jalashwa Arrives at Port Anjouan as part of Mission Sagar-IV

•As part of Mission Sagar-IV, Indian Naval Ship Jalashwa arrived at Port Anjouan, Comoros to deliver 1,000 Metric Tonnes of rice. An official ceremony for handing over the food aid from the Government of India to the Government of Comoros. INS Jalashwa, the largest amphibious ship of the Indian Navy, has been specially sent to Comoros due to its large carrying capacity.

•This consignment of 1000 metric tonnes of rice as food assistance was flagged off to Comoros in the light of a promise made by the Vice President of India, Venkaiah Naidu during his brief visit to Comoros in the month of October 2019. This is the second visit of an Indian Navy ship to the island country within a span of one year. Earlier, as part of Mission Sagar-I, in May-June 2020, the Indian Navy had delivered essential medicines to the nation and had also deployed a specialist medical team to work alongside their counterparts and to render assistance for dengue fever-related emergencies.