2022 March 8 to 14 Current Affairs Weekly

• The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) has approached the Supreme Court with a plea to direct the appointment of an independent authority to regulate the fuel prices.
• The Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Limited (MEIL) has delivered 10 indigenous rigs to the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) for  exploration of oil and natural gas in its onshore fields in the KrishnaGodavari basin.
• The National Film Development Corporation (NFDC), in partnership with Netflix, on Tuesday rolled out a virtual training programme for 100 women scriptwriters on the occasion of International Women’s Day. 
• India's first 100 percent women-owned FLO industrial park begins in Hyderabad.
• The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the setting up of a new government-owned firm for pooling and monetising sovereign and public sector land assets.
• Offering a chance to youth living in slum clusters in the Capital to acquire new­age skills that will help them seek employment, the Delhi government on Wednesday launched the Delhi Skill and Entrepreneurship University’s ‘Lighthouse Centres’. 
• The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday approved the establishment of the WHO (World Health Organization) Global Centre for Traditional Medicine (WHO GCTM) at Jamnagar in Gujarat.
• The National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) of India on Friday signed a deal with the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) to jointly set up a solar power plant in Sampur, in Trincomalee district, Sri Lanka.
• The Union government plans to open the villages along the Chinese border for tourists under the Vibrant Village programme announced in the Union Budget 2022-­23.
• Kerala Minister for General Education V. Sivankutty on Saturday announced the formation of a committee to help in the revision of school curriculum and another for dealing with all academic matters related to school education.
• Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Saturday launched a scheme to door deliver basic revenue documents such as caste certificates, income certificates, and land records (RTCs)
• Aimed at providing accessible, standardised and affordable generic medicines, the Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP) Kendras, have added nutraceuticals products, including protein powder and bar, malt­based food supplements and immunity bar for its customers.
• The Odisha government has proposed to ban movement of mechanised fishing boats in the Mangalajodi area of the Chilika lake, an important haunt of migratory birds, to provide the winged guests an undisturbed ecosystem for six months every year.
• India and China have mutually decided to hold a fresh round of Corps Commander talks at the Indian side of Chushul Moldo Meeting Point on March 11.
• President Joe Biden announced that the U.S. would ban the import of all Russian oil, gas and energy, in retaliation for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. 
• Pakistan’s Opposition parties on Tuesday submitted a no­confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan to remove him from office after holding his government responsible for the uncontrolled inflation.
• BJP wins UP, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Goa while AAP wins Punjab in the recently concluded election.
• Fifth NSA­level talks of the Colombo Security Conclave concludes in Maldives.
• ₹2,000 cr. for tackling inflation, food security in Kerala Budget.
• Andhra Pradesh government in its budget has proposed creation of a ₹350 crore Special Development Package Fund, placing ₹2 crore at the disposal of each MLA to implement programmes at the constituency level.
• With a view to turn Maharashtra into the country’s first $1 trillion­economy State, implementation of a special programme, ‘Panchsutri of development’ (five­point development) was announced, which specially focus on agriculture, health, human resources, transportation and industry sectors.
• West Bengal Finance Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya on Friday presented a ₹3.21­lakh crore budget for the financial year 2022­-23 with a focus on the social sector schemes.
• The Union Home Ministry through a gazette notification amended the Foreigners Orders,1948 by inserting a new provision, paragraph 3B, stating “requirement of holding a valid passport or other valid travel document while living in India.”
• The 15th round of Corps Commander talks between India and China began on the Indian side of the Chushul Moldo Meeting Point in eastern Ladakh on Friday with the immediate focus on working out a disengagement agreement at Patrolling Point 15 in the Gogra­Hot Springs area as part of the overall disengagement and deescalation process.
• India's External Ministry announced that Indian Embassy will be temporarily relocated to Poland.
• Sri Lanka is mourning the death a much­loved Indian elephant, and was named a “national treasure” by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Monday. 
• Ron Stander, famouos heavy weight boxer known as the “Bluffs Butcher” passed away in USA.
• David Bennett, who was the first person to receive a heart transplant from a pig has died, two months after the groundbreaking experiment, the Maryland hospital that performed the surgery announced on Wednesday.
• SEBI on Tuesday increased the investment limit for payments through UPI mechanism for retail investors buying debt securities in public issues to ₹5 lakh from ₹2 lakh at present in its effort to bring ease of investment for investors. 
• RBI launches 24/7 helpline for customers' digital payment queries called DigiSaathi.
• RBI launches UPI123pay for transfer of money without data connectivity.
• International Monetary Fund approved emergency funding of 1.4 $ billion aid to Ukraine.
• The RBI on Friday ordered Paytm Payments Bank Ltd. to immediately stop onboarding new customers, citing “certain material supervisory concerns observed in the bank”.
• Nari Shakti awards were distributed by President Ram Nath Kovind.
• The Hindu Group Publishing Private Ltd. has been named the “Publisher of the Year” for the second consecutive year at the WAN­IFRA South Asian Digital Media Awards, 2021with the highest number of tallies on the points table.
• Zadie Smith to receive PEN America literary service award.
• Scientists say they have found the sunken wreck of polar explorer Ernest Shackleton’s ship Endurance, more than a century after it was lost to the Antarctic ice.
• C-DAC installed a Made-in-India Petascale supercomputer called "PARAM Ganga" in IIT Roorkee.
• India’s drug regulator has granted restricted emergency use authorisation to the Serum Institute’s COVID­19 vaccine Covovax for the 12­17 age group subject to certain conditions.
• The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday approved the establishment of the WHO (World Health Organization) Global Centre for Traditional Medicine (WHO GCTM) at Jamnagar in Gujarat.
• As per Tata Institute for Genetics and Society (TIGS) director Rakesh Mishra, the first indigenous drug to treat COVID­19 named ‘Vincov­19’ which is a collaborative effort of CSIR­Centre for Cellular & Molecular Biology (CCMB), University of Hyderabad (UoH) and city­based VINS Bioproducts will be made available soon.
• Scientists said a fossil unearthed in central Montana of a species named Syllipsimopodi bideni represents the oldest ­known relative of today's octopuses and boasts 10 arms, with two being twice as long as the other eight.
• Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain defeated her main competitor and World youth champion Arundhati Choudhary 7­0 in the 70kg trials to make it to the Indian squad for the women’s World championship to be held in Istanbul in May.
• S.Sreesanth retires from all forms of domestic cricket.
• India’s Ravindra Jadeja climbed to the top spot in the ICC Test rankings for allrounders on wednesday after his match­winning performance against Sri Lanka in the opening Test in Mohali.
• A national-level shooter and an environmentalist hailing from Delhi, Aarushi Verma has been selected to represent India at the 2041 Climate Force Antarctica Expedition which is set to be held in March 2022.
• Former Sri Lankan pacer Lasith Malinga has been appointed Rajasthan Royals’ fast bowling coach.
• Mithali Raj broke the record for most matches as captain in the World Cup, surpassing former Australia skipper Belinda Clark.
• Royal Challengers Bangalore named Faf du Plessis as the new captain.
• Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo etched his name in the record books as professional football’s all­time leading scorer with 807 goals after a brilliant hat­trick against Premier League rival Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday.
• Vini, Yakshika, Vidhi, Nikita, Shrushti and Rudrika win to claim gold medals in their weight categories at the 2022 ASBC Asian youth and junior boxing championships in Amman, Jordan.
• Iran successfully test fired second missile satellite Noor-2.
• India­Japan bilateral Army exercise, Dharma Guardian, concluded at Belgaum on Thursday.
• Pakistan on Friday formally inducted an unspecified number of J-10C multi-role fighter jets, acquired from China, into its air force.
• T.Raja Kumar named President of the Financial Action Task Force.
• The government has appointed State Bank of India (SBI) managing director Ashwani Bhatia as a whole time member (WTM) of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
• The Supreme Court on Friday asked its former judge, Justice A.K. Sikri, to head the high­powered committee which independently monitors the environmental impact of the Char Dham road project in the Himalayas that extends up to the India­-China border.
• The Centre on Friday appointed former financial services secretary Debasish Panda as chairman of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI).
• Kerala has yet again emerged on top in maternal and child health, recording the lowest Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) of 30 (per one lakh live births) in the country.