India Ranks 13th; Afghanistan Tops Global Terrorism Index 2023

• Afghanistan has retained its position as the country most impacted by terrorism for the fourth consecutive year, with a score of 8.822, in the Global Terrorism Index (GTI) for 2023.
• A total of 163 countries have been analysed in the GTI 2023.
• Afghanistan is followed by Burkina Faso and Somalia.
• The GTI 2023 is the tenth edition of the annual report which provides summary of the key global trends and patterns in terrorism over the last decade.
• The GTI report is produced by the Australia-based Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP).
• India’s rank in the index is 13th. It has also been listed among countries with a “high” impact of terrorism with a score of 7.175.
• Full Report

Singapore’s Changi Airport regains ‘World’s Best Airport’ crown

• The Changi Airport of Singapore has once again won the title as the world’s best airport, as per the Skytrax World Airport Awards 2023.
• Since last two years, Singapore had lost its long-held crown to Qatar.
• The Hamad International Airport, Doha stood in second place, and Tokyo’s Haneda Airport bagged third position.
• This is the twelfth time that Changi Airport is honored as World’s Best Airport.
• India’s Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi is placed at 36th spot in the list.
• Top 10 Airports of 2023 with their 2022 Ranking
  1. Singapore Changi (3)
  2. Doha Hamad (1)
  3. Tokyo Haneda (2)
  4. Seoul Incheon (5)
  5. Paris Charles de Galle (6)
  6. Istanbul (8)
  7. Munich (7)
  8. Zurich (9)
  9. Tokyo Narita (4)
  10. Madrid Barajas (16)

Banking

RBI & UAE Central Bank sign MoU on interoperability of their CBDCs

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates (CBUAE) has signed a MoU to enhance cooperation and jointly enable innovation in financial products and services.
• Under the MoU, the two central banks will collaborate on various emerging areas of FinTech, especially Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) and explore interoperability between the CBDCs of CBUAE and RBI. (Source: Business Standard)

RBI grants ‘Infrastructure Finance Company’ status to IREDA

• The Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) has been granted ‘Infrastructure Finance Company (IFC)’ status by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on March 13, 2023.
• Earlier IREDA was classified as ‘Investment and Credit Company (ICC)’.
• Chairman and Managing Director of IREDA – Shri Pradip Kumar Das

Shaktikanta Das wins ‘Governor of the Year’ award by Central Banking

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor, Shaktikanta Das has been awarded the ‘Governor of the Year’ for 2023 on March 15 by Central Banking, an international economic research journal.
• Mr. Das has been recognised for his leadership, and for his handling of multiple crises that have arisen during his tenure.
• He is the second Indian Governor to win this coveted title. Former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan was the first Indian to receive this award in 2015.

Defence Exercise

Multilateral Exercise LA PEROUSE 2023 held in IOR

• The two-day Multi-lateral Maritime Exercise ‘La Pérouse’ was held in the Indian Ocean Region on March 13 and 14, 2023.
• The personnel, ships and integral helicopters of Royal Australian Navy, French Navy, Indian Navy, Japanese Maritime Self Defence Force, Royal Navy and the United States Navy participated in the drill.
• Indigenously built guided missile frigate INS Sahyadri and fleet tanker INS Jyoti participated in this exercise from India.
• It was the third edition of the biennial Exercise La Perouse. It is conducted by the French Navy, to enhance maritime domain awareness and coordination amongst the participating navies in the Indo-Pacific Region..

Third multi-lateral ASW ‘Exercise Sea Dragon’ being conducted in Guam

• The Indian Navy is participating in multi-lateral anti-submarine warfare (ASW) ‘Exercise Sea Dragon 23’, organised at Guam, USA from 15-30 March 2023. Other nations participating in this drill are USA, Japan, Canada and South Korea.
• This is the third edition of the coordinated multi-lateral ASW exercise for Long Range MR ASW aircraft.
• The exercise is organised by the US Navy to test the capabilities of participating aircraft in tracking simulated and live underwater targets, besides sharing mutual expertise.
• The aircrafts that will participate in Ex Sea Dragon 23 includes Indian Navy’s P8I, P8A of the US Navy, P1 from the Japanese Maritime Self Defence Force, CP 140 from the Royal Canadian Air Force and P3C from the RoKN.

Award

Oscars 2023: Naatu Naatu from RRR wins Best Original Song; ‘The Elephant Whisperers’ wins Best Documentary Short category 

1. Naatu Naatu (Best Original Song)
Film Name – RRR
Music – M. M. Keeravani
Lyrics – Chandrabose
Director –  S. S. Rajamouli
Producer –  D. V. V. Danayya

2. The Elephant Whisperers (Best Documentary Short Subject)
Director – Kartiki Gonsalves
Producer – Douglas Blush; Kartiki Gonsalves; Guneet Monga; Achin Jain

Complete List of Winners of Oscars 2023

Deepak Mohanty appointed Chairman of PFRDA

• Deepak Mohanty has been roped in as the chairperson of the Pension Fund Regulatory & Development Authority (PFRDA) on March 15, 2023, for five-year tenure.
• The post was vacant for 2 months.
• He succeeds former chairperson Supratim Bandypadhyay, whose term ended in January 2023.
• Apart from this, Mamta Shankar has been appointed as a whole-time member (economics) in PFRDA.
• PFRDA is the regulatory body to oversee overall supervision and regulation of pensions in India. It consists of a chairperson and not more than six members. Three of these shall be whole-time members and appointed by the central government.

Ram Chandra Paudel takes charge as third President of Nepal

• Senior Nepali Congress leader Ram Chandra Paudel has been sworn in as the third President of Nepal on March 13, 2023.
• The 78-year-old Paudel defeated CPN (UML) leader Subash Chandra Nembang by over 15,000 votes.
• Previously, Paudel has served as Nepal’s Deputy PM between 2000-2002.
• He has lost Prime Minister polls 17 times.

Eric Garcetti is the new US Ambassador to India

• The USA Senate has confirmed the appointment of Eric Garcetti as the new Ambassador to the Republic of India.
• Eric Garcetti, who is the former Mayor of Los Angeles, will succeed Ken Juster, who resigned in January 2021.
• This means that the United States will have an ambassador to India after a gap of more than 2 years.

Sports

Important Days