In Madhya Pradesh, senior BJP leader Shivraj Singh Chauhan has become Chief Minister of the state for the fourth time. Governor Lalji Tandon administered him the oath of office & secrecy at a simple ceremony held at Raj Bhavan. He will succeed Kamal Nath.
Chouhan worked as the CM of the state for almost 13 years.
Parliament passed the Finance Bill, 2020. In the Union Budget 2020, the government proposed to spend Rs 30,42,230 Cr in the next FY, 12.7% higher than the revised estimate of 2019-20. By passing the Bill, these financial proposals have been given effect.
Government expects that receipts will increase by 16.3%.
Goldman Sachs expects the global real Gross Domestic Product to contract by 1% in 2020, a sharper economic decline than in the year following the 2008 global financial crisis. It sees the real GDP in advanced economies contracting ‘very sharply’ in Q2.
24% drop in the United States for Q2 is predicted.
The coronavirus pandemic and the resulting lockdowns led UBS to sharply cut India's growth forecast for the next financial year starting April 1, to 4% from the 5.1% estimated earlier. UBS Securities said it expects India to clock a 4.8% growth in FY20.
RBI is most likely to cut rates at the April 3 review meet.
S&P cut its estimate for India's GDP growth in the fiscal starting April 1 to 5.2% from its earlier estimate of 6.5%, as it saw the outbreak of COVID-19 costing economies around the globe. Total and permanent income loss for Asia-Pacific will be $620-b.
Standard & Poor's is the provider of the popular S&P 500 Index.
RBI has preponed the second tranche of purchase of Rs 15,000 crore of government securities under open market operations (OMOs) to March 26. The OMO purchase auction was earlier scheduled for March 30. RBI will buy four government bonds in the auction.
Bonds: 8.08% -2022, 7.68% -2023, 7.27% -2026 & 7.17%-2028.
SBI will provide 0.25% of its annual profit for 2019-20 to fight the coronavirus outbreak in India. Announcement came hours after the government notified spending by companies to deal with the coronavirus outbreak as CSR activity under the company’s law.
Entities should give at least 2% of their 3-year net profit.
Fitch Ratings said that the outlook of Tata Chemical’s (TCL) long-term foreign-currency issuer default rating (IDR) was stable at ‘BB+’ following reduced energy costs, which will support a healthy margin. TCL has global presence in US, the UK and Kenya.
TCL is the world's third-largest soda ash producer.
IRDAI asked life insurers to provide customers an additional window of up to 1 month for paying renewal premiums in view of troubles caused by lockdowns after the COVID-19 outbreak. Board meetings due till June 30 could be held through videoconferencing.
IRDAI Chairman- Subhash Chandra Khuntia.
UN will create a fund to prevent the spread of COVID-19 & support the treatment of patients globally. Purpose of the fund is to assist developing countries with weak health systems in addressing the crisis as well as to tackle the long-term consequences.
Norway suggested to create the global coronavirus fund.
Amazon.com Inc is teaming up with a research program funded by Bill Gates to pick up and deliver coronavirus test kits in Seattle. The Seattle Coronavirus Assessment Network is collecting nasal swabs from a sample of people across King County.
Seattle: Group of medical, health & research organizations.
Automotive manufacturer Toyota Motor Corp and Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp will form a capital tie-up to work together in smart-city development, making large investments in each other, Japan’s only public broadcaster NHK (Nippon Hoso Kyokai) stated.
NTT is a Japanese telecommunications company.
Amid rising coronavirus cases in the country, the national task force for COVID-19 constituted by Indian Council for Medical Research has recommended hydroxy-chloroquine as a preventive medication for high-risk population. DGCI approved the recommendation.
DGCI- Drug Controller General of India.
The 2020 Olympic & Paralympic Games in Tokyo have been thrown into further doubt after Canada became the first major country to withdraw due to the outbreak of COVID-19. Japan's PM Shinzo Abe has admitted for the 1st time that the games could be postponed.
The games are currently due to begin on 24th July 2020.
Tamil actor, writer & director Meenakshisundaram Ramasamy Viswanathan, popularly known as Visu, passed away. The actor had reportedly been suffering from age-related health issues. His first on-screen major role was in the film Kudumbam Oru Kadambam.
Visu passed away at the age of 75.
World Tuberculosis Day, falling on 24 March each year, commemorates the day in 1882 when Dr Robert Koch astounded the scientific community by announcing that he had discovered the cause of tuberculosis, the TB bacillus. 2020 World TB Day Theme: It's Time.
Aim: To raise public awareness about TB epidemic.
The Union cabinet, chaired by PM Narendra Modi, approved signing of an extradition treaty between India & Belgium. The treaty would provide a legal framework for seeking extradition of terrorists, economic offenders and other criminals from and to Belgium.
Belgium Capital- Brussels, Currency- Euro.
In a major relief to the residents of Lachen in northern Sikkim, the BRO opened a 360-feet long bailey suspension bridge over the Teesta river for traffic in Munshithang near Chungthang town. The roads approaching the bridge have also been constructed.
BRO- Border Roads Organisation.
Singapore overtook Hong Kong as the world's freest economy for the first time since 1995 in the latest Heritage Foundation Index of Economic Freedom. The Index was first published in 1995 and Hong Kong has topped the charts ever since; that is until 2020.
India is at the 120th place among the 186 countries.
Karur Vysya Bank (KVB) has launched Enkasu, a pre-paid card in Karur. In response to the digital initiative of the Government of India, the bank undertook a Quit Cash Movement in Karur - a movement to reduce the usage of cash in the district of Karur.
Enkasu works on Near Field Communication Technology.
Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) began the supply of the world’s cleanest petrol & diesel across the country. All 28,000 petrol stations of IOC’s across India are dispensing BS-VI ultra-low sulphur grade fuel to reduce the pollution from vehicles in the air.
April 1, 2020 is the deadline for starting supply of Euro- VI.
The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters has awarded the Abel Prize for 2020 to Hillel Furstenberg, Hebrew University of Jerusalem & Gregory Margulis, Yale University, USA. Due to the corona pandemic there will not be a physical Laureate ceremony.
Honouring of the Abel Prize Laureates will be announced later.
International Day for the Right to the Truth Concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims is observed on 24 March to honour those who have devoted their lives to & lost their lives in the struggle to protect human rights for all.
UN proclaimed the day on 21 December 2010.
International Day for Achievers is observed annually on March 24, to honour the achievers who have shown determination and confidence on their journey. On this day achievers from different fields are honoured for motivating people to achieve their goals.
The achievers can be Scientist, Teacher, Social worker etc.,
