Current Affairs, March 2021

31st March, Current Affairs:

• Noted Marathi writer Dr Sharankumar Limbale will receive Saraswati Samman, 2020 for his book Sanatan.
• Russia has registered the world's first vaccine for animals against COVID-19. Mass production of the vaccine, called Carnivac-Cov, will start from April.

29th March, Current Affairs:

• The total number of Covid-19 cases in the country now stands at 1.2 crore with 1,61,843 deaths recorded till now since the outbreak hit India in January 2020. Up to 68,020 fresh cases have been reported over the past 24 hours.
• External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar arrived in Tajikistan’s capital on Monday to attend a key conference on Afghanistan.
• India beat England by seven runs in the third and final ODI in Pune last night to clinch the three-match series 2-1.


28th March, Current Affairs:

• The festival of colours Holi is being celebrated throughout the country with great pomp and enthusiasm.
• India won a total of 30 medals at the ISSF World Cup. India is leading the medals tally with 13 Gold, Eight Silver and Six Bronze medals in the ISSF World Cup Competition in Delhi today. 294 athletes from 53 countries are taking part in the tournament.
• India and the U.S. today kicked off a two-day naval exercise in the eastern Indian Ocean region. The Indian Navy deployed its warship Shivalik and long-range maritime patrol aircraft P8I in the ‘PASSEX’ exercise while the U.S. Navy was represented by the USS Theodore Rosevelt carrier strike group.
• In the 66th edition of the Filmfare Awards, Irrfan Khan won a posthumous award: Best Actor - for his work in Angrezi Medium. Taapsee Pannu won the Best Actress Award for Thappad, which also bagged the Best Film, Best Story and Best Editing trophies.

27th March, Current Affairs:

• In Assam and West Bengal, polling for the First Phase of Assembly Elections went off smoothly, today. The average voter turnout was registered at 72.30 per cent in Assam while it was 79.79 per cent in West Bengal till 6.50 P.M.
• Five MoUs were signed between India and Bangladesh in various fields like disaster management, ICT equipment, and sports in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in Dhaka.
• Legendary singer Asha Bhosle will be presented the Maharashtra Bhushan award for the year 2020.

26th March, Current Affairs:

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi reaches Dhaka on historic two-day visit to Bangladesh. He has paid tribute to the Martyrs of Bangladesh liberation in Dhaka today.
• Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and South Korean Defence Minister Suh Wook inaugurated the Indo-Korean Bilateral Friendship Park in Delhi Cantt today.
• India captain Virat Kohli become the only the second batsman to cross the 10,000-run mark at the number three position, after former Australia captain Ricky Ponting in ODI. Virat Kohli touched the milestone during the ongoing second match against England in Pune at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium.

24th March, Current Affairs:

• Parliament has passed the Finance Bill, 2021 with the Rajya Sabha returning it to Lok Sabha today. With this, Parliament has completed all the budgetary exercise.
• Chief Justice of India Sharad A. Bobde has recommended Justice N.V. Ramana, the senior most judge of the Supreme Court, as the next top judge.
• Krunal Pandya hit the fastest half-century by a debutant in ODIs in the first match against England in Pune. He finished not out with 58 off 31 deliveries, hitting seven boundaries and two sixes. Also Prasidh Krishna registered best-ever bowling figures on debut in ODIs for India. In the 1st India vs England ODI, the pacer returned with figures of 4/54 to guide India to a 66-run victory.

22nd March, Current Affairs:

• The Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2021 has been passed in the Lok Sabha. The Bill gives more powers to the Lieutenant Governor -- the centre's representative in Delhi as compared to the city's elected government.
• The Parliament has passed the Insurance (Amendment) Bill, 2021 with the Lok Sabha approving it today.
• The Gandhi Peace Prize for the year 2020 is being conferred on Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
• National Awards for films released in the year 2019 were announced in New Delhi today. Chhichhore won Best Hindi Film. Kangana Ranaut won her fourth National Award - Best Actress for her work in the films Manikarnika and Panga. The Malayalam-language Marakkar Arabikadalinte Simham won Best Film. The National Award for Best Actor was shared by Manoj Bajpayee for his performance in Bhonsle and Dhanush for Asuran which also won Best Tamil Film.
• World Water Day being observed today.
• Malaysia's Lee Zii Jia won the All England Open men's title as he defeated Denmark's Viktor Axelsen 30-29, 20-22, 21-9 in the summit clash. Japan's Nozomi Okuhara won the All England women's title as she defeated Pornpawee Chochuwong 21-12, 21-16 in the finals.


20th March, Current Affairs:

• International Day of Happiness 2021 is observed today. It was established by the United Nations General Assembly on 28 June 2012.
• World Sparrow Day is celebrated today. It is celebrated every year on 20th March to raise awareness and protect the common house sparrows.
• Karnataka born Dattatreya Hosabale elected as the 'Sarkaryawah' (General Secretary) of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
• US Defence secretary Lloyd J Austin III met his Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh in New Delhi and discussed strengthening and elevating defence ties between the two countries.

19th March, Current Affairs:

• For a fourth consecutive year, Finland has been ranked the world's happiest country, a UN report said today. Denmark, Switzerland, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Luxembourg and New Zealand were also among the top 10.
• American business and financial services company Moody's Analytics has projected India's GDP to grow by 12% in 2021.
• Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar informed in Lok Sabha that India's forest cover increases to 24.56 per cent of geographical area.

17th March, Current Affairs:

• Maharashtra Director General of Police (DGP) Hemant Nagrale is appointed as the new Police Commissioner of Mumbai.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses International Conference on Disaster resilient Infrastructure through video conferencing today.


15th March, Current Affairs:

• The 63rd edition of the Grammys held in Los Angeles. Beyonce created history at the 63rd Grammy Awards as she became the first female artist to win 28 Grammys. She won two awards tonight – best rap performance with Meghan Thee Stallion for Savage and best R&B performance for Black Parade.
• India captain Virat Kohli became the first batsman to make 3000 runs in men's T20I cricket. He achieved the feat in the second T20I between India and England in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
• Bhavani Devi became the first-ever Indian fencer to qualify for the Olympics. She secured a spot for the Tokyo Olympics following the events at the ongoing Fencing World Cup.
• Today is World Consumer Rights Day.

14th March, Current Affairs:

• Mumbai won the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021 after beating Uttar Pradesh by 6 wickets in the final in Delhi.
• Mithali Raj today became the first woman cricketer to score 7,000 runs in ODIs during the fourth match against South Africa Women Team.

12th March, Current Affairs:

• U.S. President Joe Biden, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Japanese Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Japanese Prime Minister Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga participate in a first virtual Quad summit today.
• Veteran batter Mithali Raj today became the first Indian female cricketer and second internationally to complete 10,000 runs across all formats.


11th March, Current Affairs:

• The festival of Maha Shivratri is being celebrated across the country with full religious fervour and gaiety.
• Amid an alarming spike in COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra, the state government has decided to impose a lockdown in Nagpur from March 15. The lockdown will remain in place till March 21.
• India's ace shuttler PV Sindhu settled for a silver medal in the BWF Swiss Open Super 300 at Basel, as she went down against Carolina Marin 12-21, 5-21, in the final of the women's singles event.

10th March, Current Affairs:

• Tirath Singh Rawat was sworn in as the new Chief Minister of Uttarakhand today, a day after the resignation of Trivendra Singh Rawat.
• France launched its first military exercise in space this week to evaluate its ability to defend its satellites and other defense equipment from an attack.
• India's premier off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was today named the ICC men's Player for the Month of February
• No Smoking Day is observed today. No Smoking Day is observed every year on the second Wednesday of March.

9th March, Current Affairs:

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi today virtually inaugurated the India-Bangladesh Friendship Bridge (Maitri Setu) over the Feni River at Sabroom in south Tripura.
• Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat resigned today from his post.
• Japan has decided to stage this summer's Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics without overseas spectators due to concern among the Japanese public about COVID-19.

8th March, Current Affairs:

• Bajrang Punia beat Mongolia's Tulga Tumur Ochir in the final of the 65kg category to defend his title at the Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series in Rome. He reclaimed his no.1 rank with this win.
• International Women's Day is being observed today.

6th March, Current Affairs:

• India defeated England by an innings and 25 runs in the fourth and final Test to win the four-match series 3-1 and seal a place in the final of the inaugural edition of the World Test Championship.
• The Government has constituted a National Committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to commemorate 75 years of India’s Independence.
• Six-time world champion pugilist Mary Kom has been appointed as the Chairperson of the International Boxing Association's (AIBA) champions and veterans committee.


4th March, Current Affairs:

• Bengaluru has been rated the most liveable city in India in the government's ''Ease of Living Index''. Of the 49 cities ranked on livability index in the ''million-plus population'' category, Delhi figures in the 13th spot and Srinagar at the bottom. According to the index released by Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, Shimla topped the category of cities with a ''population less than million''.
• Skipper Virat Kohli on Thursday equalled MS Dhoni's record of leading India in most Test matches. Both Kohli and Dhoni have led India in 60 Test matches.

2nd March, Current Affairs:

• Rajya Sabha TV and Lok Sabha TV have been merged and now it will be known as Sansad TV.
• India's first auction of telecom spectrum in five years ended today with ₹77,814.80 crore of airwaves being bought. Reliance Jio bought ₹57,122.65 crore worth of spectrum while Vodafone Idea Ltd picked ₹1,993.40 crore worth of airwaves.

1st March, Current Affairs:

• The nationwide COVID-19 Vaccination phase to cover senior citizens and people above 45 years with co-morbidities begin today.
• Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat has won the gold medal in the women's 53-kg category at XXIV Outstanding Ukrainian Wrestlers and Coaches Memorial in Kyiv, Ukraine.
• The 78th edition of The Golden Globes took place today. Netflix’s historical drama The Crown bagged the highest number of awards. The show won awards in four major categories, this included Best Television Series (Drama). Emma Corrin who played a young Princess Diana in 'The Crown', was named best TV drama actress. Josh O'Connor won best TV drama actor.