TODAY TOP NEWS:

DATE-17/03/224

1.  Lok Sabha Polls To Be Held In 7 Phases From 19 April.  The counting will take place on 4th June. 

2.  Assembly elections will be held in four states -- Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Odisha -- simultaneously with the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections, which will start from April 19, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar announced on Saturday.

3.  By-elections to 26 assembly seats across 13 states, including six constituencies in Himachal Pradesh where Congress MLAs were disqualified for rebellion, will be held along with the Lok Sabha elections beginning April 19.

4.  Why Election Commissioner announces Lok Sabha poll on 544 seats instead of 543 : Because the elections for two Lok Sabha seats in Manipur will be held in two phases on April 19 and 26.  While Inner Manipur and some segments of Outer Manipur will vote in the first phase on April 19, the remaining segments of Outer Manipur will vote in Phase 2 on April 26.

5.  India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast rainfall and thunderstorms over East and Central India for the next four days. 

6.  PM Modi Addresses A Public Rally In Kalburgi In Karnataka. He assured of Modi Guarantees to make Karnataka an Agriculture and Industries hub.

7.  All India Institute of Medical Sciences, AIIMS New Delhi in collaboration with the Organ Retrieval Banking Organisation has performed the first dual kidney transplant at AIIMS. The donor was a 78-year-old lady who was admitted to AIIMS Trauma Centre with a severe head injury. She was declared brain dead and her family consented to organ donation. 

8.  The Know Your Candidate (KYC) app is a mobile application developed by the Election Commission of India (ECI) to help citizens know about the criminal antecedents of candidates contesting elections. The app is available on both Android and iOS platforms. 

9.  Congress Working Committee meeting to be held in Delhi on March 19 to finalise the manifesto for Lok Sabha polls and discussion on strategy for the elections. 

10.  Former Telangana minister and senior BJP leader AP Jithender Reddy resigned from the BJP on Friday, and joined Congress. He has been appointed as the adviser to the Telangana government.

11.  The government will conduct the Foundational Literacy and Numeracy Assessment Test (FLNAT) as part of Nav Bharat Saaksharta Karyakram on Sunday across 23 states. Union Education Ministry said, approximately 37 lakh learners will appear for this important nationwide assessment. 

The assessment comprises three subjects – Reading, Writing, and Numeracy – each carrying 50 marks, totalling 150 marks.

12.  Retired bureaucrat Navneet Kumar Sehgal has been named the new Chairman of Prasar Bharati, a post that had been lying vacant for four years.

LEGAL REPORTS:

Chief Justice of India:

Shri Dhananjaya Y. Chandrachud

#Minister Of Law & Justice : Arjun Ram Meghwal

#International Court Of Justice Prz. :  Nawaf Salam

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1.  Delhi's Rouse Avenue Court on Saturday granted bail to Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal on a bail bond of Rs 15,000 and a surety of Rs 1 lakh in connection with the Delhi Excise Policy case. Kejriwal had appeared before the court following summons issued to him by the court on the basis of two ED complaints over the case. 

2.  Delhi's Rouse Avenue court granted custody remand of BRS MLC K Kavitha (Daughter of former Telangana CM KCR) to ED till 23 March. ED sought ten days remand of K Kavitha in connection with Delhi Excise policy case. BRS party calls for a statewide protest  in Telangana over the arrest of party's MLC K Kavitha by ED in connection with the Delhi Liquor scam. 

3.  The Government on March 16 declared the Yasin Malik’s Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) as an ‘Unlawful Association’ for a further period of five years.  The banned outfit continues to engage in activities that foment terror and secessionism in Jammu and Kashmir.

4.  Enforcement Directorate (ED) is conducting raids at multiple locations in Bihar's Arrah in a money laundering case. The places being raided include the residence of a businessman Krishna Mohan Singh.

5.  Supreme Court to hear pleas for stay on CAA rules on Tuesday. 

FINANANCE

#Minister: Nirmala Sitharaman.

#Commerce & Industry : Piyush Goyal

#RBI Gvrnr: Shaktikanta Das

#President of the World Bank : Ajay Banga

#IMF MD: Kristalina Georgieva

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💰 USD  ₹  83

💷 GBP  ₹ 106

€  Euro : ₹ 91

 🇨🇳 Yen ¥ : ₹ 12

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 GDP(PPP ) :

purchasing power parity (PPP)

 $13.119 trillion 

 GDP (nominal) 

: $3.73 trillion 

(Nominal means total market value of all goods and services produced in a country's economy) . 

 

 GDP growth :  7.6%

India is the fifth largest economy in the world. 

 Inflation rate :  Retail Inflation 5.69% in Dec 2023

 Population : 143.86 cr  

(17.7% of the total world population).

 Unemployment : 6.8%

 Per capita: This income is also known as average income as it is calculated by dividing the total income of the country by the total population of the country.

 GDP per capita 

 $2,845 (Nominal; 2024) 

 $9,983 (PPP; 2024)

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 BSE SENSEX 

72,643.43 −453.85 (0.62%)🔻

 NIFTY

22,023.35 −123.30 (0.56%)🔻

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 Rates in Financial Capital Mumbai 

 GOLD : ₹ 66,300/10gm (24 krt) 

 SILVER : ₹ 76,100/KG

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 ⛽ FUEL in DELHI 

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 PETROL : ₹ 95/Ltr

 DIESEL : ₹ 88/Ltr 

 CNG  : ₹ 76/Ltr

 LPG : ₹ 903/14.2 Kg 

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 ⛽ FUEL in MUMBAI 

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 PETROL  : ₹ 104/Ltr

 DIESEL   : 93/Ltr

 Auto Gas : ₹ 60/Ltr

 CNG    : 76/Kg

 LPG    : ₹ 903/14.2 Kg   

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DEFENCE:

Supreme Commander of Armed Forces: The President

#Def Minister: Rajnath Singh

#Def Minister of State :

Ajay Bhatt

#Union Home : Amit Shah

#National Security Advisor : Ajit Doval

#Chief of Defence Staff:  

Gen Anil Chauhan, PVSM UYSM AVSM SM VSM

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1.  CDS Gen Anil Chauhan stated that despite economic turmoil, Pakistan's military capabilities remain a threat. He emphasized India's readiness to handle border security challenges, especially along disputed borders in the north. 

2.  The Indian Air Force (IAF) has approached Russia to examine the feasibility of extending the technical life of its ageing fleet of IL-76 strategic heavy-lift aircraft that have been in service for almost 40 years.In a request for proposal (RFP) issued to National Aviation Service Company in Moscow this month. 

3.  Indian Navy announced Saturday that the coastguards had stopped Somali pirates’ attempt to take over a ship by intercepting their vessel in the high seas off the east coast of Somalia.   

“The ex-MV Ruen, which had been hijacked by Somali pirates on 14 December, was reported to have sailed out as a pirate ship towards conducting acts of piracy on high seas,” the Navy stated. 

4.  The Indian Army has established a squadron for Apache attack helicopters at Jodhpur ahead of the delivery of six choppers from the US, with the first batch expected in May. The IAF has already inducted 22 Apaches, and the Army will receive six under separate deals. 

5.  Pakistan Navy gets its first spy ship, PNS RIZWAN, courtesy China. The spy ship is an answer to India’s INS Dhruv, which was inducted into the Navy in 2021 with capabilities to track satellite and ballistic nuclear missiles — both for its own testing and for others.

6.  Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh has approved the extension of resettlement facilities to cadets who are invalidated from military training on medical grounds during military training. 

7.  DroneAcharya Aerial Innovations Limited, a provider of drone technology solutions, has announced securing a significant contract to provide IT hardware for the Indian Army's Drone Lab in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K).

INTERNATIONAL AND WORLD NEWS:

#External affairs Minister:  S Jaishankar

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1.  External Affairs Minister Dr S. Jaishankar will be on a five-day visit to Singapore, Philippines and Malaysia from the 23rd of March. The visit will focus on enhancing bilateral relations with the three countries and will provide an opportunity for engagement on regional issues of mutual concern.

2.  India abstained in the UN General Assembly on a draft resolution introduced by Pakistan and co-sponsored by China on Islamophobia, asserting that the prevalence of “religiophobia” against Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and other faiths facing violence and discrimination must also be acknowledged rather than singling out just one religion. 

3. Pakistan's Ambassador Munir Akram made references to the consecration of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya as well as to the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act. He gave this statement in UN General Assembly.

4.  Embassy of India, Kathmandu celebrated the 22nd Golden Jubilee Scholarship Day on Friday in which around 200 students from 76 districts of Nepal enthusiastically participated in the celebrations. 

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UNO Gen. Secy : António Guterres. 

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1.  A mass evacuation has begun in Ukraine’s Sumy region near the Russian border due to intense shelling in the area. According to regional administration, three people were killed and 13 wounded over the past five days in the tense region.

2.  Voting is taking place in Russia for the three-day presidential elections. The polling began on Friday (15th March 2024) morning from the country’s easternmost regions, Chukotka and Kamchatka and it will close at 11:30 PM Indian Time on Sunday in Kaliningrad — a Russian exclave bordering Poland and Lithuania.

3.  Abu Dhabi’s leading technology holding group, G42, has partnered with Cerebras Systems, a pioneer in accelerating generative AI, to build the supercomputer Condor Galaxy 3. Condor Galaxy 3 is the third and most powerful cluster in their series of AI supercomputers, solidifying its position as the world leader. 

4.  NASA will carry ‘message in a bottle’ to Europa, one of Jupiter’s moon in October this year. The mission dubbed as Europa Clipper mission will explore signs of life as Scientists chose predicts a salty lake under its icy crust. The Europa Clipper spacecraft will carry a triangular metal plate with an engraving of US Poet Laureate Ada Limón’s handwritten “In Praise of Mystery: A Poem for Europa,” along with a silicon microchip stenciled with more than 2.6 million names submitted by the public.

SPORT

Minister: Anurag Singh Thakur

#BCCI president: 

Roger Binny 

#Hockey India President:

Dilip Tirkey

#16th President of the Indian Olympic Association : P. T. Usha

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1.  WOMENS PREMIER LEAGUE 2024 

Sunday, 17 Mar 2024

Final Mstch 

Venue:  Delhi, Arun Jaitley Stadium

Delhi Capitals Women

Vs

Royal Challengers Bangalore Women

Today @ 7:30 PM

2.  India's Star Shuttler Lakshya Sen secured a stunning victory over former champion Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia, advancing to the men's singles semifinals of the All England Championships. Score 20-22, 21-16, 21-19.

3.  India's Ram Baboo on Saturday achieved the Paris Olympics men's 20km race qualification standard, clocking a personal best time of 1:20:00 at the Dudinska 50 Meet in Slovakia.

4.  Commonwealth Games gold medallist weightlifter Achinta Sheuli has been expelled from the Paris Olympics preparatory camp after he was caught entering the women's hostel at night at NIS Patiala.