MONTHLY CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR MARCH

Dean Elgar has been named as the new Test captain of which nation?	South Africa
Which state has signed an agreement with Arcelor Mittal to invest Rs50,000 cr to set up a steel plant?	Odisha
National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has partnered with whom to launch “RuPay SoftPoS” for Merchants?	SBI Payments
India will be observing the 75th year of Independence in which year?	2022
Centre has formed a __________-member high-level national committee, to frame the policies and guidelines for commemorating 75 years of India’s independence.	Narendra Modi
An Indian origin financial services veteran, has recently been elected as the first Vice President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the Federal Reserve Bank. Name the veteran	Naureen Hassan
Who is the present chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank?	Jerome Powell
The New Delhi World Book Fair 2021 has been organised on a virtual platform due to COVID-19 pandemic. What is the theme of this edition?	National Education Policy-2020
How many scholars have been awarded the Indian Science Research Fellowship (ISRF) 2021?	40
In March 2021, where was the Udaipur Science Centre inaugurated?	Tripura
Wipro is going to acquire UK-based IT consultancy Capco for $__________ billion?	1.45
Who has been named the ODI & T20 captain of South Africa?	Temba Bavuma
As per the Food Waste Index Report 2021 , around _______ mn tonnes of food is wasted in 2019.	931
As per the Food Waste Index Report 2021 , around 931 mn tonnes of food is wasted in 2019.Which organisation released the report ?	UNEP and Waste & Resources Action Programme
Which bank signed a strategic co-lending agreement with PNB Housing Finance to provide retail loans for homebuyers?	Yes Bank
Which state government will join hands with United Nation and other global agencies to empower women?	Punjab
How much amount is collected by Government by decreasing its stake in DPSUs in last 5 years?	Rs 26457 cr
Allianz Investment Management SE (Allianz) is partnering with which investment firm to invest in Indian private credit market?	Kotak Investment Advisors
Reserve Bank of India has asked banks to implement the image- based Cheque Truncation System (CTS) in all branches by which date?	Sep 30,2021
Which country is launching first project to map genomes in Indian Ocean?	India
Who is the author of the book titled ‘Undertow’?	Jahnavi Barua
Who beat Dutee Chand to take the 100m Gold in the competitions at the NIS Campus?	Dhanalakshmi
Which country will host the Asian Boxing Championships 2021?	India
National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) launched the ‘UPI- Help’ feature on which app in order to address issues and resolve complaints of users while conducting UPI transactions?	BHIM app
In March 2021, Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) approved IPO application requests via which app?	Paytm
Which bank and mobile app respectively topped the app category on the UPI platform in terms of volume and amount involved in the transactions that it facilitated in February 2021?	State Bank of India and PhonePe
Who is the head of the committee formed by central government to review Medical Care and Public Health arrangements for Kumbh Mela at Haridwar in Uttarakhand?	SK Singh
National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development announced in this year’s budget, approved by cabinet, will be set up with a corpus and initial grant of how much amount respectively?	Rs 20,000 cr and Rs 5,000 cr
Who announced his retirement as Principal Advisor to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi?	P.K. Sinha
Who is honoured with the International Woman of Courage (IWOC) Award 2021 by U.S. Consulate?	Gowsalya Shankar
Which renewable energy firm has now become a part of the World Economic Forum’s Global Lighthouse Network?	Re New Power
Which country has become the first country in central America and the third in all Americas to be declared malaria-free by World Health Organization (WHO)?	El Salvador
Name the first Afghanistan player to score a double-century in Test cricket?	Hashmatullah Shahidi
Which country’s space agency collaborated with ISRO for developing the earth observation satelite, TRISHNA?	France
Who has acquired Biz Analyst in March 2021?	Khatabook
Which state/UT has decided to implement its doorstep ration delivery scheme without a name after the Centre objected to ‘MukhyaMantri’ in the name?	Delhi
Who authored the book, Names of the Women?	Jeet Thayil
Who has approved a half-billion disbursement for Pakistan to help the country’s economy?	IMF
Who has won the gold medal in the women’s 25m Pistol event at the ISSF World Cup in New Delhi in March 2021?	ChinkiYadav
According to a report released by EY-IVCA Trend Book 2021, the e-commerce sector in India is expected to reach $99 billion by which year?	2014
The Indian Style Wrestling Association of India (ISWAI) has been recognized as a National Sports Federation (NSF) by the Sports Ministry. Where is the HQ of ISWAI situated?	Mumbai
Which country topped the Kearney FDI Confidence Index 2021 out of 25 countries listed?	USA
The government has collected how much amount as dividend from Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) so far (March 2021) in the current fiscal?	Rs30,369 crore
The limit for tax exemption on interest earned on provident fund contribution by employees is raised to how much amount from present Rs2.5 lakh?	Rs 5.0 lakh
Which state/UT has become the third in the country to achieve 100 percent Functional Household Tap Connection (FHTC) coverage?	Andaman and Nicobar Islands
Where was the Indian Coast Guard Ship ‘Vajra’, sixth in the series of seven Offshore Patrol Vessel, commissioned?	Chennai
‘Girl Gang’, announced as official song of ICC Women World Cup 2022 is sung by whom?	Gin Wigmore
Where was the 36th meeting of the Regional Anti Terrorist Structure of SCO held?	Tashkent
India’s software services export stood at USD 128.6 bn during 2019-20, registering _______% growth over the previous year.	9.1
In which state Gram Ujala scheme has been launched for poor households to get LED for Rs. 10?	Bihar
UNCTAD has projected India’s GDP growth at __________ in 2021.	5.0%
What was the rank of India in UN’s World Happiness Report 2021?	139
Which country has ranked first in the UN’s World Happiness Report 2021?	Finland
With which company, Defence Ministry has sealed a deal to acquire 4,690 anti-tank guided missiles?	Bharat Dynamics Ltd (BDL)
Indian Navy has recently conducted Passage Exercise (PASSEX) with which country’s Navy under Operation Sankalp?	Bahrain
Who has won the first gold for India in Women’s 10M Air Pistol final of the international Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup?	Yashaswini Deswal
Name the Athlete who recently set a New National Record in Men’s 3000m Steeplechase in the Federation Cup Senior National Athletics Championships.	Avinash Sable
Who has become the first Indian paddler to qualify for Tokyo Olympics?	Sharath Kamal
The total number of basic bank accounts under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) reached how many as on March 10, 2021?	42 crore
India supplied 20 thousand litres of Malathion 95 percent ULV pesticide to which country under a Government-to-Government Locust Control Programme?	Iran
Who launched the ‘Sahi Disha’ campaign to celebrate women’s livelihoods and entrepreneurship in rural India?	United Nations Development Programme
In order to boost rural innovation and entrepreneurship in the agribusinesses, with setting up of Rural Business Incubation Centre (RBIC) by National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) in Gujarat in March 2021, how many such centresare now there in country?	7th
Union minister Nitin Gadkari expected to complete the construction work of Dwarka Expressway before 15 August 2022. It will connect Dwarka in Delhi to which region?	Gurugram
Under the Gram Ujala programme launched by State-run EESL arm Convergence Energy Services Ltd (CESL), high quality energy efficient LED bulbs will be given at what price per piece?	Rs 10
US Defencesecretary made a 3 day visit to India for India-US Home Security Dialouge. Whoisthe incumbent US DefenceSecretary	LloyadAust
Which Small Finance Bank has been awarded with ‘Great Place to Work’ Certification?	ESAF Small Finance Bank
What was the rank of India on International Intellectual Property Index 2021?	40
Which country ranked first in the International Intellectual Property Index 2021?	US
Which space agency has demonstrated the “Free space quantum communication” for the first time?	ISRO
ISRO recently demonstrated free-space Quantum Communication, for the first time in India. The demonstration took place over a range of _____________	300 m
Where was the seven-day International Yoga Festival inaugurated?	Rishikesh
Which app was launched by Minister for Social justice and Empowerment Thaawarchand Gehlot along with handbook entitled “Access – The Photo Digest”?	Sugamya Bharat App
When is Zero Discrimination Day observed?	March 1
India and which country have agreed to observe the2003 ceasefire agreements along the Line of Control (LoC) and all other sectors?	Pakistan
What is the theme of World Civil Defense Day 2021?	Civil Defense and the first aider in every home
Which state government launched five online services of WCD, Mission Shakti Dept which include “Take Home Ration” (Chhatua), mobile app “e-Kalika”, “MAMATA App & MIS” amon others?	Odisha
Which state government launched 4 public welfare schemes Mukhyamantri Antyodaya Parivar Utthan Yojana, Dr BR Ambedkar Awas Navinikarn Yojana among others?	Haryana
Who is the author of the book titled “Advantage India: The Story of Indian Tennis”?	Anindya Dutta
Who has been given additional charge as secretary of Department of Revenue?	Tarun Bajaj
After 10 years, which sports federation of India haS been again given recognition by the Indian sports ministry?	Gymnastics Federation of India