2022 March 15 to 22 Weekly Current Affairs

• The Centre has decided to start COVID­19 vaccination for the 12­14 age group with Corbevax. 
• India’s retail inflation inched up to an eight­month high of 6.07%.
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday allowed microfinance institutions to fix interest rates on loans, with a caveat that the rates should not be usurious.
• Kolkata Book Fair records highest ever sales at ₹23 crores.
• N. Chandrasekaran, chairman of Tata Sons, has been appointed chairman of Air India by the airline’s board, aviation industry.
• The Centre envisages a ₹19,000–crore project to rejuvenate 13 major rivers by planting trees.
• Post­Galwan incident, the Government of India sanctioned 32 roads along the China border, of which work has started on eight roads, a report tabled in the Rajya Sabha on Monday said.
• The maternal mortality ratio (MMR) of India has declined by 10 points, says a special bulletin released by the Registrar­General of India.
• The Jammu and Kashmir Budget 2022­23 of around ₹1.42 lakh crore was passed by the Lok Sabha on Monday.
• The Maldives on Sunday lifted its health emergency, declared at the beginning of the pandemic two years ago, and relaxed the mandatory mask policy, amid wide vaccine coverage and a low positivity rate.
• Germany on Monday unveiled plans to buy 35 U.S.­made F­35 fighter jets, as part of a multi­billion­euro push to modernise its armed forces.
• Inflation in wholesale prices resurged to 13.11% in February.
• India exported merchandise worth $34.57 billion in February, about 25% higher than a year earlier, while imports grew 36% to  $55.45 billion, as per fresh estimates released on Monday by the Commerce Ministry.
• Olympic bronze­medallist Lovlina Borgohain and former junior world champion
• Nikhat Zareen were on Monday selected in the Indian women's boxing team for this year's Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.
• India batter Shreyas Iyer was on Monday voted the ICC Men’s Player ­of ­the Month for February, while New Zealand all­rounder Amelia Kerr bagged the women’s award.
• Indian cricket team sealed series victory over Srilanka by clinching win in the Pink ball test on monday where Shreyas Iyer was awarded Man of the Match and Rishabh Pant was declared Man of the Series.
• Karnataka High Court ruled that wearing Hijab is not essential part of religion.
• Supreme Court of India stayed telecast ban of Media One Channel.
• As the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution on Tuesday to proclaim March 15 as the International Day to Combat Islamophobia, India expressed concern over phobia against “one religion being elevated to the level of an international day”.
• Maharashtra (1,43,745), Kerala (66,374), Karnataka (40,004), Tamil Nadu (38,019), Delhi (26,139), Uttar Pradesh (23,485) and West Bengal (21,181) head the list of COVID­19 deaths.
• On the eve of the 65th birthday of late Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Bipin Rawat, the Indian Army has instituted a Chair of Excellence in his memory at the United Service Institution of India (USI).
• Bangladesh Cabinet resolved to remove the provisions of character evidence of rape victims from the Evidence law.
• Vishwanath Suresh (48kg) and Vanshaj (63.5kg) clinched gold medals in the men’s youth competition as the Indian contingent concluded its campaign with a whopping 39 medals, including 15 gold, at the Asian youth and junior boxing championships in Amman, Jordan.
• Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Bhagwant Singh Mann was sworn in as the 17th Chief Minister of Punjab.
• The Supreme Court on Wednesday confirmed Tamil Nadu’s decision to reserve 50% super­specialty seats for inservice candidates in government medical colleges.
• The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the Centre’s one rank, one pension (OROP) scheme for the armed forces.
• The Union Home Ministry has placed the U.S.­ based Hewlett Foundation on its watchlist following an investigation that foreign contributions it sent were being used for climate awareness campaigns, an activity not permissible under the FCRA [Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act].
• The India Cements Ltd. (ICL) has roped in Chennai Super Kings Captain M.S. Dhoni to endorse two of its new brands — Conkrete Super King and Halo Super King.
• Basic land tax rates revised by Kerala as follows: Grama panchayats: Up to 8.1 are ­ ₹5 per are (₹2.50), above 8.1 are ­ ₹8 per are (₹5). Municipalities: up to ₹2.43 are ­ ₹10 per are (₹5), above 2.43 are ­ ₹15 per are (₹10). Corporations: up to 1.62 are ­ ₹20 per are (₹10), above 1.62 are ­ ₹30 per are (₹20).
• Kerala Assembly on Wednesday unanimously passed a resolution against the initial public offering (IPO) of the Life Insurance Corporation(LIC).
• The Responsible Tourism (RT) project of Kerala Tourism has won the Global Vision award 2022 instituted by U.S.­based travelandleisure.com. 
• The government has decided to establish a separate division in the Kerala Police to deal with economic offences. 
• V. Prraneeth of Telangana became the latest International Master in Chess.
• India on Thursday extended a $1 billion credit facility to Sri Lanka to assist the island nation through its worst foreign exchange crisis and enable it to procure food, medicines and essential items.
• In Gujarat, the Bhagavad Gita will be part of the school syllabus for Classes VI to XII from the academic year 2022-­23.
• ₹26,892 crore tax­free Budget presented in Tripura House.
• The 26th edition of the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) will open at the Nishagandhi auditorium on Friday.
• Amid the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, the government has decided to extend the tenure of India’s envoy to the United Nations T.S. Tirumurti for three months.
• The University Grants Commission (UGC) has proposed to allow students who have completed a four­year undergraduate (UG) programme, including a research component with a cumulative grade point average of 7.5, to directly enrol in Ph.D. programmes without having to first complete a Master’s degree.
• Ashish Jha, an Indian­origin physician and public health specialist from Brown University, has been appointed the new White House COVID­19 Response Coordinator.
• M. Sahithi Varshini of Visakhapatnam earned the Woman International Master title at the International chess tournament in Budapest on Wednesday.
• The State government will enact a law, amending the Kerala Registration of Marriages Rules to make registration of divorces mandatory in the State, said Local SelfGovernments Minister M.V. Govindan.
• The 29th literary awards instituted in memory of writer S.K. Pottekkatt have been conferred on writers Pramod Kumar Athirakam, V.N.Santhosh Kumar, and Anu Patiyams.
• Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly Speaker Tammineni Seetharam has ruled that members of the Assembly shall not bring any mobile phones, recorders or interceptors to ensure smooth functioning of the House.
• An earthquake with magnitude of 7.4 hit the coast of Fukushima in northern Japan on Thursday.
• For the first time ever in the country, question papers of the annual Class 10 and 12 examinations in the public education sector in Kerala will be reviewed by students. 
• Mr. J.George, from Venniyoor in Thiruvananthapuram district, is the winner of the 2021 State­level Haritha Mithra award for the best vegetable farmer in Kerala.
• Sivananda of Puthige, Kasaragod, has won the State­level Sibi Kallingal Memorial Karshakothama Award for the best farmer in Kerala Poleppadam Padasekhara Samithi has bagged the Mitraniketan K. Viswanathan Memorial Nelkathir Award for the best group farming collective. 
• E. Sachidananda Gopalakrishnan of Kadanmanpara, Meenakshipuram, Palakkad, has won the Keralakesari award for best coconut farmer in Kerala.
• The Central Prison, Viyyur, has won the award for vegetable cultivation among public sector institutions.
• Punnoose Jacob of Idukki is the best farmer in the rooftop farming category. 
• Nalini J. Thampi, who has been teaching French, Gallic culture and Francophone literature for over four decades, has been awarded the ‘Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques de la République Française’ or the Knight of the French Order of Academic Palms by the Republic of France.
• The Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) will start a nursing college from its hospital premises in Tarnaka.
• Apurva Chandra, Secretary of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, on Friday inaugurated the Media and Entertainment Week
• at the India Pavilion of Dubai Expo.
• Finland has been named the world’s happiest country for the fifth year running, in an annual UN­sponsored index that ranked Afghanistan as the unhappiest, closely followed by Lebanon.
• India is in 136th position in the recently released World Happiness Index.
• Neeraj Chopra bagged Sports Star of the Year Award.
• India and Japan set an investment target of “five trillion yen” ($42 billion) in the next five years.
• The Postal department will honour the primitive tribe Cholanaikkans by releasing a special cover in association with the Forest and Wildlife department.
• Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate ‘Samathva’, a free laptop distribution initiative by the APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University, on March 23.
• A recent study by scientists has suggested a significant decline in the habitat of the golden langur (Trachypithecus geei), an endangered primate species distributed in the transboundary region of Bhutan and India.
• Sri Lanka cancelled exams for millions of school students as the country ran out of printing paper with Colombo short on dollars to finance imports.
• Myanmar will resume international passenger flights from April 17, the military said on Saturday, lifting a twoyear ban on foreign tourists.
• The Reliance Foundation won the ‘Sports For Social Good (Chairperson’s choice)’ award at the Sportstar Aces Awards 2022,
• Sportstar and The Hindu group released a Coffee Table Book, ‘Road to 1000’, at the 2022 Sportstar Aces Awards.
• BCCI secretary Jay Shah’s tenure as president of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) was on Saturday unanimously extended by a year.
• Sri Lanka will host the Asia Cup T20 tournament from August 27 to September 11, the Asian Cricket Council announced.
• Ace Indian cueist Pankaj Advani defeated compatriot Dhruv Sitwala to
• win the 19th Asian 100 UP billiards championship 2022.
• National Weightlifting Championship started in Bhubaneswar.
• Nongthombam Biren Singh will be the Chief Minister of Manipur for a second straight term.
• Heritage Park inaugurated near Jama Masjid, New Delhi.
• In view of the impending cyclone Asani, the Andaman and Nicobar administration has closed all schools and colleges in the union territory as a precautionary measure from March 21. 
• Vivek Agnihotri’s The Kashmir Files has courted a controversy in New Zealand with the country’s chief censor reviewing the film’s classification.
• Yemen’s Houthi rebels unleashed a barrage of drone and missile strikes on Saudi Arabia that targeted key facilities.
• Axelsen claimed the men’s singles title for the second time and Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi won the women’s singles crown in the All England Badminton Championship.
• Hyderabad FC won their first ever ISL Football Trophy beating Kerala Blasters.
• Hyderabad FC's Bartholomew Ogbeche wins ISL 2021-22 Golden Boot.
• Kerala Blasters FC's Prabhsukhan Gill wins ISL 2021-22 Golden Glove.
• Jamshedpur FC is the league winner in ISL 2021-22.
• Hero of the League award in ISL 2021-22 to Jamshedpur FC's Greg Stewart.
• Venezuela’s Yulimar Rojas bettered her own women’s triple jump World record with a leap of 15.74 metres to win gold at the World Indoor Championships.
• Komal Kohar lifted a total of 160kg to take the women’s 45kg title on the
• opening day of the National weightlifting championships at the KIIT University campus, Bhubaneswar.
• Pushkar Singh Dhami retained as Chief Minister of Uttarakhand.
• Pramod Sawant reatained as Chief Minister of Goa.
• A China Eastern Airlines Boeing 737 with 132 people on board crashed in the hills of southern China on Monday.
• Indian President gives away Padma awards which was announced on Republic Day this year.
• The Union Cabinet has approved the continuation of the National AIDS and STDs Control Programme, a scheme funded by the Centre from April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2026 with an outlay of ₹15,471.94 crore by approving Phase 5 of the programme.
• The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) on Monday announced that the Russian race walker Yelena Lashmanova has been banned for two years for the use of prohibited substances.
• Sanket Sargar beat Prashant Koli by one kg and win the men’s 55kg title in the National weightliftisng championships in Bhubaneswar.