Georgia declared a nationwide state of emergency over the Novel Corona virus pandemic.The Black Sea nation of some 3.7 million people has so far reported 48 cases of COVID-19, while some 2,000 people are under quarantine.
Georgia- President Salome Zurabishvili ,PM- Giorgi Gakharia.
India’s foreign-exchange reserves plunged the most in about eight years as the central bank stepped in to defend the rupee.The reserves fell by $5.35 billion to $481.9 billion in the week,That’s the most since November 2011 when the hoard dropped $5.7 bn.
RBI Governor: Shaktikanta Das.
SEBI lowered the limit of positions that can be taken in the futures & options market, increased margin requirements and capped derivatives exposure. SEBI’s measures are largely to curb extreme volatility in individual stocks and index derivatives segment.
Securities and Exchange Board of India(SEBI),Headquarters:Mumbai
The Reserve Bank has opened an emergency line of credit of around ₹60,000 crore to Yes Bank to meet any liquidity crisis in paying back its depositors.The move comes after 16 years when a similar credit line was opened for Global Trust Bank in 2004.
Additional liquidity, under Section 17 (4) of the RBI Act.
IndusInd Bank CEO Romesh Sobti will move into a full-time advisory role at the bank after his retirement on March 24.Sobti took over as IndusInd Bank CEO at the end of 2007 after serving as the head of ABN Amro in India.
Sumant Kathpalia newly appointed CEO of IndusInd Bank.
Afghanistan and Maldives pledged to contribute USD 1.2 million to the SAARC Corona Emergency Fund proposed by PM Modi. Nepal and Bhutan also pledged nearly USD One million and USD 1,00,000 respectively to the SAARC Corona Emergency Fund.
South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).
Cabinet approved 3 schemes to enable large scale electronics manufacturing & attract fresh investments worth at least ₹50,000 cr. in the sector. Funds allocated are to be used over 5 yrs. Scheme has the potential of creating 8,00,00 direct & indirect jobs.
Electronics & information technology min.- Ravi Shankar Prasad.
Reserve bank of India extended the regulatory restrictions on Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative Bank (PMC) Bank by another three months.The validity of directive dated 23 September, 2019, stands modified from 23 March, 2020 to 22 June, 2020.
J B Bhoria, administrator.of PMC Bank.
Government launched an official chatbot on popular instant messaging application WhatsApp. The person in need is only required to save the number - 9013151515 in their contact list and send a message to the MyGov Corona Helpdesk.
MyGov.in,launched on : 26 July 2014.
Cabinet approved the relaunch of a scheme to set up 3 bulk drug parks and 4 medical device parks for a total outlay of ₹3,400 cr.over 5 years.Bulk drug and medical devices park schemes were first suggested in Feb. 2015 by a committee headed by V.M. Katoch.
Chemicals minister: D.V. Sadananda Gowda.
Govt. announced a production-linked incentive scheme to promote domestic manufacturing of critical key starting materials (KSMs), drug intermediates and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs).PLI scheme would have a financial implication of ₹6,940 crore.
China supplies, 2/3rd of India’s pharmaceutical raw materials.
Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath has announced sum of Rs 1,000 would be provided to each of the 20.37 lakh construction workers registered with the labour department & to each of the 15 lakh self employed cart owners,small shop owners and rickshaw pullers.
Anandiben Patel,current Governor of Uttar Pradesh.
Administrative Council headed by Lt Governor accorded approval to the adoption of J-K IT/ITeS policy.The policy provides for creation and up-gradation of IT infrastructure to meet existing & future needs of the Union Territory in e-governance among others.
Jammu and Kashmir, Lt Governor-G C Murmu.
Centre approved the land use change for execution of its Central Vista redevelopment project in Lutyens’ Delhi.The redevelopment project of Central Vista-the nation's power corridor-envisages a triangular Parliament building next to the existing one.
Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry issued notification.
Legendary country music singer Kenny Rogers, best known for global hits such as "Lucille", "Lady", "The Gambler" and "Islands in the Stream", passed away. He had his 1st gold single with a song called "That Crazy Feeling" under the name Kenneth Rogers.
Rogers won three Grammys and six CMA Awards.
World Water Day, on 22 March is about focusing attention on the importance of water.This year’s theme, ‘Water and Climate Change’, explores how water & climate change are inextricably linked.Water is our most precious resource-we must use more responsibly.
For first time World water day held on 22 March 1993.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that without further efforts, between 3.5 & 4.4-bn people in the world will live with limited access to water, with more than 1-bn of them in major cities. World’s water resources are under exceptional threat.
2.2 billion people lack safe drinking water today.
Reserve Bank of India has put in place a contingency plan & shared its BCP to ensure that key Information Technology (IT) services for the delivery of digital banking, treasury services and cheque clearance are not disrupted by the coronavirus outbreak.
BCP- Business Continuity Plan.
Justice Bhushan P Dharmadhikari was sworn-in as Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court by Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari. He will succeed Justice Pradeep Nandrajog. Justice Dharmadhikari was appointed as the acting CJ of the High Court.
Chief Justice Dharmadhikari is due to retire on 2020 April 24.
CM Yogi Adityanath announced to provide 1-month free food grains to poor people along with Rs 1,000 as payment to daily wage workers who have been affected due to COVID-19outbreak. More than 20 lakh 37 thousand labourers are registered with labour dept.
Food stuff includes 20 kilograms flour free of cost.
In accordance with the FAO of the United Nations report, Peatlands are facing degradation and need to be urgently monitored. The report authored by 35 experts comprised information as well as recommendations to countries on restoring and managing peatland.
Peatlands are wetlands with a thick layer of organic soil.
Zoya Akhter honoured with IIFTC Tourism Impact Award 2020 during the 8th India International Film Tourism Conclave (IIFTC) held in Mumbai, Maharashtra. The award was in recognition of her outstanding contribution to the world tourism through her cinema.
Award was presented by Naheed Nenshi- Mayor of Calgary, Canada.
IMF Executive Board approved the expedited appointment of Geoffrey Okamoto as 1st deputy managing director. Okamoto,who currently serves as the US Acting Assistant Treasury Secretary, replaces David Lipton, former 1st Deputy MD who stepped down last month.
International Monetary Fund (IMF) MD, Kristalina Georgieva.