Italy’s Jannik Sinner won the Men’s Singles title of Miami Open tournament in the United States. Second seed Sinner defeated 11th seed Bulgarian player Grigor Dimitrov 6-3, 6-1 in the final. Sinner’s third title of the season means he will move to a career-high second in the ATP world rankings, ahead of Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz.
Unseeded American player Danielle Collins has won the Women’s Singles title. In a major upset, Collins defeated fourth-seeded Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan in straight sets 7-5, 6-3 in the final.
Indian tennis star Rohan Bopanna and his Australian partner Matthew Ebden clinched a historic victory in the men’s doubles final at the Miami Open. The 44-year-old Bopanna became the oldest man to win an ATP Masters 1000 title and the second Indian to reach the finals of all nine ATP Masters 1000 events. With this win, he also regained the top spot in the ATP rankings.
Seeking to enhance maritime security and interoperability, coast guard personnel from India, the Maldives and Sri Lanka have embarked on a four-day trilateral exercise to identify emerging maritime challenges in the Indian Ocean Region. Indian Coast Guard ship Samarth and ICGS Abhinav took part at the exercise 'DOSTI-16'. Bangladesh is participating as an observer.
India renewed the agreement to export electricity to Nepal for the next three months.
Under the agreement, which was to expire on March 31, Nepal can import a total of 554 MW electricity from India between 6 am and 6 pm. Nepal's domestic electricity production currently stands at around 1,200 MW while the country's demand for electricity is 1,800 MW to 2,000 MW.
In February 2024, the total number of credit cards issued by banks in India surpassed the 100 million mark, with an addition of 1.1 million cards from the previous month. According to the latest data released by the Reserve Bank of India, the outstanding number of credit cards in the system stood at 100.60 million.
HDFC Bank emerged as the leader in credit card issuances, with 20.40 million cards. HDFC Bank's credit card transactions dropped to Rs 40,288.51 crore from Rs 43,711.47 crore in January. Similarly, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, and SBI Card all reported decreases in transactions compared to the previous month.
A near-doubling of engineering goods exports to Russia in April-February 2023-24 and an increase in shipments to free trade partner countries the UAE and Australia have led to a 1.23 per cent growth in exports (year-on-year) from this segment, at $98.03 billion, despite an overall decline in goods exports during the period.
Exports to the US and China, two important markets for Indian engineering items, however, declined in the eleven-month period this fiscal, as per an analysis by EEPC India. Engineering exports to the US in April-February 2023-24 declined 7 per cent to $15.95 billion, but the region remained the top destination. Shipments to China, the eleventh in size, fell 1 per cent.
India’s engineering exports achieved year-on-year growth for the third straight month in February 2024 and the rate of growth at 15.9 per cent was the highest in fiscal 2023-24. In February 2024, engineering exports were at $ 9.94 billion the second highest export in fiscal 2023-24 after December 2023, the analysis noted.
The UAE was the second largest market for India with engineering exports rising 16 per cent in the first eleven months to $5.22 billion. Saudi Arabia was the third largest market with exports of engineering items spiking 75 per cent to $4.62 billion in April-February 2023-24. India’s overall goods exports in April-February 2023-24 contracted 3.45% to $394.99 billion.
Chhattisgarh-based Bharat Aluminium Company Limited (BALCO), a unit of Vedanta Aluminium, has emerged as the first Indian company to achieve the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) Performance Standard V3 Certification for the manufacture and supply of a wide range of primary aluminium products at its facility in Korba.
The ASI Certification program was developed through an extensive multi-stakeholder consultation process and is the only comprehensive voluntary sustainability standard initiative for the global aluminium value chain. The ASI Performance Standard V3 defines 11 principles and 62 criteria under three sustainability pillars — Environment, Social, and Governance.
It aims to address sustainability areas in the aluminium value chain, such as biodiversity, indigenous peoples’ rights, circularity and greenhouse gas emissions. The independent, third-party audit of Balco was carried out by CETIZION Verifica, stated the company.
Louis Gossett Jr., the first Black man to win the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, has died at the age of 87. The actor made history by picking up the award for his role as the drill instructor Sgt. Emil Foley in the 1982 film An Officer And A Gentlemen. More recently, he received an Emmy nomination for his role in the HBO television adaptation of Watchmen.
UNICEF India, the International Institute of Health Management Research (IIHMR) Delhi, and the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay) jointly launched a comprehensive health course. The course is a major step toward fulfilling UNICEF India's commitment to the Global Initiative on Digital Health (GIDH), launched during India's G20 Presidency in 2023.
It aims to improve healthcare delivery by using digital technologies effectively, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the GIDH. The course is designed to address the growing demand for digital health education and to bridge the gap in training among healthcare professionals.
Karnataka Bank said it has raised around Rs 600 crore through qualified institutional placement by issuing shares to institutional investors.
The qualified institutional placement opened on March 21 and closed on March 27. The institutions which bought shares in the QIP include HSBC Mutual Fund, Morgan Stanley Asia Singapore PTE, HSBC Global Investment Funds, SBI Life etc.
SIA-India, India’s leading space association, and ABRASAT, Brazil’s prominent Satellite Communications Association, have forged a partnership through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). This collaboration aims to enhance cooperation and progress in the space sector of both countries.
The MoU signifies the mutual commitment of both associations to strengthen their strategic collaboration in space. It lays the groundwork for innovative projects and technological collaboration. It also aims to explore new market dynamics, infrastructure development, and private investments, providing a platform for industry players to capitalize on emerging prospects.
After a 13-year wait, Bulgaria and Romania have partially joined Europe’s Schengen area of free movement. The two countries reached an agreement late last year to join the continent’s free-travel area by air and sea after Austria opposed full membership, including land crossings, saying Romania and Bulgaria needed to do more to prevent irregular migration.
Created in 1985, the Schengen area allows more than 400 million people in the European Union to travel freely without internal border controls. One of the main aims of the Schengen area is to protect its citizens through increased cooperation between the police forces, customs authorities and external border control authorities of all the member states.
Countries in Schengen area are: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
