VISION

1)  Odisha Day or Utkal Divas is celebrated on 1st April 2022

•Utkal Divas or Utakala Dibasha or Odisha Day is celebrated on April 1st every year to remember the formation of the Odisha state after a struggle to be recognised as an independent state. The state was originally called Orissa but the Lok Sabha passed the Orissa Bill, and Constitution Bill (113rd amendment), in March 2011 to rename it Odisha.

2)  Cabinet approves increase in Dearness Allowance/Dearness Relief by 3% to 34%

•The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi has approved a hike in Dearness Allowance (DA) to Central Government employees and Dearness Relief (DR) to pensioners by 3 per cent to 34%, over the existing rate of 31% of the Basic Pay/Pension. The hike announced will be effective from January 1, 2022, to compensate for the price rise.

•The combined impact on the exchequer on account of both Dearness Allowance and Dearness Relief would be Rs. 9,544.50 crore per annum. This increase is in accordance with the accepted formula, based on the recommendations of the 7th Central Pay Commission. The hike will benefit about 47.68 lakh Central Government employees and 68.62 lakh, pensioners.

3)  20th India-France Bilateral Naval Exercise ‘VARUNA -2022’ kicks-off

•The 20th edition of the Bilateral Naval Exercise between the Indian Navy and French Navy named ‘VARUNA’ is being conducted in the Arabian Sea from March 30 to April 03, 2022. The Bilateral Naval Exercises between the two Navies is being held since 1993 and the exercise was christened as ‘VARUNA’ in 2001. Various ships, submarines, maritime patrol aircraft, fighter aircraft and helicopters of the two navies will be participating in the VARUNA-2022 exercise.

4)  The government of Karnataka has introduced the Vinaya Samarasya initiative

•The Basavaraj Bommai government announced the Vinaya Samarasya Yojana as a public awareness campaign against caste prejudice in the state’s gramme panchayats. It will be formally launched on April 14, the birth anniversary of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.

5)  Two battalions of the Dogra regiment were presented with the President’s Colours by the army chief

•During an amazing Color Presentation Parade held at the Dogra Regimental Centre, Faizabad (UP), General MM Naravane, Chief of the Army Staff, gave the prestigious President’s Colours to two battalions of the Dogra Regiment, namely 20 DOGRA and 21 DOGRA.

6)  Maharashtra launches scheme to offer personal loans for prisoners

•The Maharashtra government has introduced a scheme that allows prisoners to obtain personal loans from banks of up to Rs. 50,000 to help their families improve their living conditions and meet expenses related to their legal matters. It will be a first of its kind initiative in our country. The Maharashtra State Co-operative Bank would provide loans up to 50,000 under the scheme at a 7% interest rate. The scheme would be implemented in Yerawada Central Jail in Pune, Maharashtra, on a pilot basis. This type of loan is called a “khavti” loan, and benefits approximately 1,055 prisoners. 

•Under the scheme, the loan facility will be decided on the basis of the prisoner, prisoner’s loan limit, duration of punishment, possible relief from it, age, estimated annual working day and minimum daily income. The loan will not require a guarantor. There will be no need for a guarantor. It will be disbursed on a personal bond. The bank will decide the amount based on earnings, skill, daily wages.

7)  Manipur govt tie-up with Samsung to start Sports Digital Experience Centre

•The state government of Manipur has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Samsung Data System India Pvt Ltd and Abhitech IT Solutions Pvt Ltd for setting up a world-class “Sports Digital Experience Centre” as a domain of Manipur Olympian Park and Khuman Lampak Sports Complex. The MoU was exchanged in the presence of chief minister N Biren Singh at the cabinet hall of the Chief Minister’s Secretariat.

•With the setting up of the Digital Experience Centre, various achievements of Olympians from Manipur will be digitally displayed making the public aware about their achievements. Such initiatives will help in improving and enhancing the performance of sporting talents through the latest technologies like sports analytics, virtual reality and mixed reality among others, he maintained, adding that it will also motivate younger generations to opt for sports as a career.

8)  NV Ramana, the Chief Justice, launches a software named FASTER

•Chief Justice of India NV Ramana unveiled the ‘Fast and Secured Transmission of Electronic Records’ (FASTER), a digital platform that allows the supreme court to send interim orders, stay orders, and bail orders to the appropriate authorities via a secure electronic channel. The online introduction of the FASTER programme was attended by CJI Ramana, Justices AM Khanwilkar, DY Chandrachud, and Hemant Gupta, as well as Chief Justices and Judges of High Courts.

9)  Vishwas Patel re-elected as chairman of Payments Council of India

•Vishwas Patel has been re-elected as the Chairman of Payments Council of India (PCI) for the second time in 2022, previously he was elected as a Chairman of PCI in the year 2018. In 2013, he served as Co-Chairman of PCI. PCI is a payment ecosystem industry body and is a part of the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI). PCI aims to promote a cashless transaction society and vision to grow digital payment in India.

10)  GoI keeps interest rates on Small Savings Schemes unchanged for Q1 (April-June 2022)

•The Ministry of Finance has decided to keep the interest rates unchanged on small savings schemes or post office schemes for the Quarter -1 of FY2022-23 (April-June 2022). The interest rates on the various instruments for April-June 2022 range from 4.0 per cent to 7.6 per cent. It must be noted that the Government notifies the Interest rates for small savings schemes on a quarterly basis. This is the eighth consecutive quarter when the interest rates on small savings instruments remained unchanged.

11)  RBI extended the deadline for banks to utilise lockable cassettes in ATMs by a year

•The Reserve Bank of India has delayed the deadline for banks to use lockable cassettes in their ATMs that can be swapped during cash replenishment by a year, till March 31, 2023. The decision was made after the RBI received representations from various banks and the Indian Banks’ Association noting difficulty in achieving the deadline, according to a notification released yesterday.

12)  Adidas Unveils Official Al Rihla FIFA World Cup Ball for Qatar 2022

•Al Rihla – the Official Match Ball for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 has been revealed by Adidas. It is Adidas’ 14th World Cup ball, and it is designed to accommodate the fastest game speeds possible, since it flies quicker in flight than any other World Cup ball.

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1)  International Day of Drug Checking 2022 observed on 31st March

•The International Day of Drug Checking takes place on March 31 every year since 2017 to ensure people are educated on drugs and aware of their effects. The day aims to promote harm reduction initiatives of drugs and reduce drug-related risks. Along with it, it also marks promoting harm reduction actions of drugs and reduces drug-related risks. Their goal on the 31st of March is to raise public awareness of the availability of drug checking services and companies from across the planet.

•By raising awareness and sharing the knowledge they hope to improve the accessibility of numerous substance oriented harm reduction methods – not only for users but also for the governmental organizations worldwide who have been searching for a solution to the substance use issues that their citizens face on a daily basis.

2)  World Backup Day 2022 observed on 31 March

•World Backup Day is marked every year on March 31. The day reminds us to protect our precious digital documents as we’ve become more reliant on technology. It is a day for people to learn about the increasing role of data in our lives and the importance of regular backups. Originally, World Backup Day began as World Backup Month, by a hard drive company named Maxtor which was later acquired by Seagate Technology.

3)  International Transgender Day of Visibility 2022

•The International Transgender Day of Visibility (TDOV) occurs annually on March 31 to raise awareness of discrimination faced by transgender people worldwide, while also celebrating their contributions to society. The day is dedicated to celebrating transgender people and raising awareness of discrimination faced by transgender people worldwide, as well as celebrating their contributions to society.

4)  Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually attends 5th BIMSTEC Summit

•Prime Minister Narendra Modi has participated in the 5th Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) Summit through virtual mode. The Summit was hosted by the Government of Sri Lanka, which was the chair nation of BIMSTEC. At the conclusion of the Summit, Thailand took over as chair nation of BIMSTEC. The year 2022 marks the 25th year of the establishment of BIMSTEC.

Theme of the summit:

•The theme of the Summit was “Towards a Resilient Region, Prosperous Economies, Healthy People”.

5)  Cabinet approved $808 million programme to improve and accelerate the performance of MSME

•The government authorised a World Bank-backed programme costing USD808 million on Wednesday to aid and improve the functioning of the country’s Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

6)  Assam and Meghalaya have signed an agreement to resolve a border issue in six disputed districts

•Assam and Meghalaya agreed to resolve their five-decade-long border dispute in six of the 12 contested places that have frequently sparked tensions between the two states, with Union Home Minister Amit Shah hailing the decision as a “historic day for the Northeast.” Chief Ministers of Assam and Meghalaya, Himanta Biswa Sarma and Conrad Sangma, respectively, inked the agreement in the presence of Shah.

7)  WB Governor unveiled PARAM Shakti, a petascale supercomputer at IIT Kharagpur

•The National Supercomputing Mission (NSM), a collaborative project of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and the Department of Science and Technology, has dedicated PARAM Shakti, a Petascale Supercomputer, to the country at IIT Kharagpur (DST).

8)  Living Root Bridges of Meghalaya included tentative list of World Heritage Sites

•‘Jingkieng Jri or Living Root Bridge’, found in over 70 villages in Meghalaya highlighting the socio-cultural, social and botanical links between people and nature, has been included in the tentative list of World Heritage Sites of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

•Villagers grow the living root bridges by training the ‘ficus elastica’ tree on both sides of water bodies over a period of about 10 to 15 years where the roots form the bridge. At present, there are about 100 known living root bridges spread across 72 villages in the state. Villagers, (especially Khasi and Jaintia tribal communities) build and maintain these bridges from the past for more than 600 years.

9)  IONS Maritime Exercise 2022 (IMEX-22) concludes in Arabian Sea

•The first edition of the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) Maritime Exercise 2022 (IMEX-22) was held from March 26 to 30, 2022, in Goa and in the Arabian Sea. The objective of the exercise was to enhance the interoperability of the navies of member nations in Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations. The exercise is seen as a significant stepping stone for regional navies to collaborate and respond collectively to natural disasters in the region and paves way for further strengthening regional cooperation.

10)  India Ratings lowers India’s FY23 GDP growth forecast to 7-7.2%

•India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) has revised downwards the GDP growth forecast for India in FY23 to 7-7.2 per cent. Earlier in January, the rating agency Ind-Ra had forecast this rate at 7.6 per cent.

•According to Ind-Ra, in scenario one, the crude oil price is assumed to be elevated for three months, and in scenario two, the assumption is for six months, both with a half cost pass-through into the domestic economy. Since the duration of the Russia-Ukraine conflict continues to be uncertain, Ind-Ra has created two scenarios with respect to the FY23 economic outlook basis certain assumptions.

11)  Mirabai Chanu bagged ‘BBC Indian Sportswoman of the Year’ award 2021

•Olympic silver medallist weightlifter, Mirabai Chanu won the 3rd edition of the BBC Indian Sportswoman of The Year award 2021. Chanu created history last year when she became the first Indian weightlifter to clinch a silver medal at the Summer Olympics. Chanu won the gold medal in the 48kg division at the 2017 World Championships in Anaheim and followed up with Commonwealth Games gold in 2018.

12)  Virat Kohli tops in Duff & Phelps Celebrity Brand Valuation Report 2021

•According to the Celebrity Brand Valuation Report 2021 (7th Edition) titled “Digital Acceleration 2.0.” released by Duff & Phelps (Now Kroll), Indian Cricketer Virat Kohli was ranked as the most valued celebrity for the 5th consecutive time in 2021. The brand value of Virat Kohli has dropped from USD 237.7 million in 2020 to USD 185.7 million in 2021.

•Alia Bhatt has ranked 4th with a brand value of USD 68.1 million and has become the most valued female celebrity. She is the youngest celebrity among the top 10 and she is the most valued brand amongst female Bollywood actors.

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