1. India inks Rs 880 crore deal for Israeli light machine guns for frontline troops
- Indian Armed Forces operating under Ministry of Defence signed an agreement with the Israel Weapons Industry.
- According to the agreement, India is to procure 16, 479 LMG for Rs 880 crores.
- LMG = Light Machine Guns
- The LMG are used as squad automatic weapons.
- The LMG were first used in Second World War.
2. DBS Bank, Bharti AXA join hands for insurance plan covering Covid-19
- The plan will cover all medical conditions, including Covid-19.
- All medical conditions- up to 10 days hospitalisation, with a cover of Rs 5,000 per day, for 30-days.
- Emergency Global Medical Assist Program is also launched.
3. To maintain liquidity, RBI to purchase Rs 10,000 Cr govt bonds via OMO
- Even RBI infused Rs 25,000 Cr of liquidity through Long Term Repo Operations.
- The RBI has already infused Rs 1 trillion of liquidity through LTRO since February.
- The bonds are mature between February 2022 and May 2025.
4. RBI extends authorization issued to Vakrangee for white label ATMs
- RBI provided the Renewal of Authorization for Vakrangee.
- The validity has been extended till 31 March 2021.
- RBI also assigned a target of minimum 1,000 ATMS to be deployed by Vakrangee
- For every calendar year starting 2020 for an initial period of 3 years.
- ATMs deployed Ratio, Metro & Urban, Semi-Urban & Rural- 1:2:3.
5. WhatsApp donates $1 million to IFCN for coronavirus facts alliance
- WhatsApp announced the global launch of the WhatsApp Coronavirus Information Hub
- Partnership with the World Health Organization, UNICEF and UNDP,
- Besides a $1 million donation to the Poynter Institute’s International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN).
- Director of IFCN- Baybars Orsek.
6. Premium subsidy sharing pattern between Centre & North Eastern states changed from 50:50 to 90:10: Agriculture Minister
- For PM- Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana and Restructured Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme (RWBCIS).
- Agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar said it.
- For remaining States, subsidy sharing pattern- 50: 50.
7. Indian Railways to electrify all broad-gauge routes by December 2023
- Minister of Railways and Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal informed it.
- Railway Ministry has planned to source around 1000 MW of solar power as part of its solar mission.
- Out of this 101.42 MW of solar power, has already been set up.
8. New Zealand all-rounder Andrew Malcolm Ellis announced retirement
- Ellis is only the 2nd player in New Zealand domestic history to have played over 100 games in each format – 106 first-class, 133 List A and 127 T20s.
- Ellis played 15 ODIs and five T20Is in 2012 and 2013.
9. Legendary boxing trainer Roger Mayweather dies at age 58
- He trained boxing superstar Loyd Mayweather.
10. 20 March: International Day of Happiness
- The International Day of Happiness is observed on March 20th.
- It was founded by Illien Global CEO Jayme Illien & adopted by the UN in 2012.
- Day of Happiness is organised by the United Nations to promote the idea that happiness is a fundamental human goal.
- 2020 Theme = ‘Happiness for all’.
11. 20 March: World Sparrow Day
- Every year March 20 is observed as World Sparrow Day to raise awareness about the bird.
- Need for marking this day was felt due to the tremendous decrease in its population.
- The initiative was started by Nature Forever Society founded by Mohammed Dilawar.
- Theme- ‘I Love Sparrows’.
********