1. *President Ram Nath Kovind on Sunday called for enhanced participation of women in the field of science and technology.* Prez. while addressing the 18th convocation of the National Institute of Technology (NIT), Rourkela.
2. *Northern Railway’s general manager Ashutosh Gangal said, in anticipation of a huge rush Northern Railway will run 18 pairs of additional trains between March 21 and March 31.* He said, 18 pairs of puja special trains have also been extended.
3. *The number of states who have successfully completed the “Ease of Doing Business” reforms has reached to twenty.* States completing Ease of Doing Business reforms are eligible for addtional borrowing of 0.25 percent of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP).
4. The ease of doing business is an important indicator of the investment friendly business climate in the country. Improvements in the ease of doing business will enable faster future growth of the state economy. Therefore, the government of India had in May 2020, decided to link grant of additional borrowing permissions to States who undertake the reforms to facilitate ease of doing business
5. Union Environment and Information & Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar has said that the New Nagar Van Scheme will help in creation of Urban forests in the cities. The Minister also called upon people and organizations to create a mass movement towards conservation of forest and revival of our rivers
6. *In Rajasthan, the Government has decided to impose night curfew from tomorrow in 8 cities to contain the recent spike in the number of Covid cases* : Curfew will be imposed in Jaipur, Jodhpur Udaipur, Kota, Ajmer, Bhilwara, Sagwada of Dungarpur and Kusalgarh of Banswara district.
7. *BJP national president JP Nadda will release the party’s manifesto for the upcoming assembly elections in Assam on Tuesday (March 23)* . He will be on a two-day visit to Assam and West Bengal from Monday.
8. *Maharashtra ATS arrests 2 in Mansukh Hiren case, remanded to police custody till March 30* : The series of events came to light after Mumbai’s controversial cop Sachin Vaze was arrested by the NIA in connection with the case pertaining to the recovery of a gelatin-laden SUV and a threat letter that was found abandoned near billionaire industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s Mumbai residence on February 25.
9. The owner of the green Scorpio car in question, identified as Mansukh Hiren, was found dead under mysterious circumstances at the Kalwa creek. Deceased owner Hiren’s wife alleged that her husband’s car was in possession of Sachin Vaze since November 2020.
10. *BJP leaders and workers on Sunday (March 21) staged protests in various cities demanding resignation of Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh* in view of allegations of corruption levelled against him by former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh.
11. Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar on Sunday said Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray will decide the fate of Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, who is facing corruption allegations by former Mumbai police chief Param Bir Singh.
12. *BJP to hold parliamentary party meeting on March 23*: Earlier the Parliamentary Party meeting was scheduled for March 17 but got cancelled due to the death of Ram Swaroop Sharma, a party MP from Mandi in Himachal Pradesh.
13. *Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan conveyed his thanks to International Federation Of Film Archives (FIAF) for honouring him with the prestigious FIAF Award*
14. The veteran actor is the first Indian to get this award that recognises his efforts to preserve film heritage in the country. The award was presented to him virtually by Hollywood filmmakers Martin Scorsese and Christopher Nolan.
15. *The Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UPPSC) has declared the results of PCS Mains 2020.* The results are available on the official website of UPPSC on uppsc.up.nic.in. A total of 845 candidates have cleared the PCS Mains exams. They will next have to appear in the Interview round, after which the final list of selected candidates will be announced. The UPPSC PCS exams were conducted between January 21 and January 25, 2021.
16. *CBSE Board Exams: Class 10, 12 students to get a chance to apply for improvement in one subject*
17. Karnataka Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar on Sunday said the second wave of coronavirus has begun and sought people”s cooperation to contain the disease.
*✈INTERNATIONAL NEWS*
1. *Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) members including India, Pakistan and China will participate in a joint anti-terrorism exercise this year.* The decision to hold the joint exercise named “Pabbi-Antiterror-2021” was announced by the eight-member bloc on March 18, during the 36th meeting of the Council of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
2. *More than 6 crore doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been sent to 76 nations* , while 4.5 crore doses have been administered to beneficiaries in the country till now, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Sunday.
3. *Mizoram’s CM Zoramthanga asks centre to grant political asylum to “political refugees” from Myanmar*
4. *China has the strongest military force in the world while India stands at number four, according to a study released on Sunday by defence website Military Direct.* “The USA, despite their enormous military budgets, comes in 2nd place with 74 points, followed by Russia with 69, India at 61 and then France with 58. The UK just about makes the Top 10, coming in 9th place with a score of 43.
5. *Indian, Chinese army commanders likely to meet this week* : After having successfully disengaged with China in the Pangong lake area, Armies of India and China are likely to hold talks again this week to discuss further disengagement from Gogra heights and Depsang plains.
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