The merger of 10 state-run banks into four large banks will come into force from April 1 to create bigger and stronger banks in the public sector. According to the Scheme, Syndicate Bank will be merged into Canara Bank, Andhra and Corporation banks into Union Bank of India, Oriental Bank of Commerce and United Bank of India into Punjab National Bank, and Allahabad Bank into Indian Bank.

The Government of India has launched a coronavirus risk-tracking app called ‘Corona Kavach.’ Jointly developed by the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the app uses a person’s location to assess whether they are in the high risk geographical zone or not.

India and France, for the first time, have conducted joint patrols from the Reunion Island, signalling New Delhi’s intent to engage with friendly foreign partners in expanding its footprint in the Indian Ocean, focusing on the stretch between the East African coastline and the Malacca straits.

The Republic of North Macedonia has inducted officially as the 30th and newest member of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). This membership comes after North Macedonia’s 2017 deal with Greece under which the former changed its name from Macedonia (a name same as Greek province). After the name change, Greece agreed to drop objections to its NATO and European Union (EU) membership. North Macedonia was granted a protocol on accession to NATO membership in February 2019.

Asian Development Bank (ADB) will invest $100 million into the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) of India Fund of Funds.
With ADB’s investment into the NIIF platform, the FoF has now secured $700 million in commitments.
ADB will now join the Govt of India (GOI) and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) as an investor in the Fund.

Renowned artist and architect Satish Gujral recently passed away at the age of 94. He was much admired for his versatile art works in genres including painting, architecture, sculpture and graphic arts.
The artist was also the recipient of the second-highest civilian award, Padma Vibhushan in 1999. He was the brother of former Prime Minister IK Gujral. His famous works include the Belgium Embassy in New Delhi and the alphabet mural on the wall of the Delhi High Court. ‘Days of Glory’ and ‘Mourning en masse’ are some among his most popular paintings.

Yes Bank board was reconstituted with immediate effect on 27 March 2020 with the appointment of 8 members.
Sunil Mehta has been appointed as Executive Chairman, Mahesh Krishnamurti and Atul Bheda as Non-Executive Director.
R Gandhi and Ananth Narayan Gopalakrishnan are Additional Directors.
Partha Pratim Sengupta and Swaminathan Janakiraman are Directors and Prashant Kumar as MD and CEO.

Pakistan’s Babur-2 missile crashed within two minutes of its launch.
The test of Babur-2 missile from Sonmiani range of Balochistan on March 14, 2020, has completely failed.
The missile could only cover 14 kilometres before hitting the ground in a few minutes.
This is the second failed attempt of Pakistan’s subsonic Babur-2 missile.

CRISIL has cut its base-case Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth forecast for fiscal 2021 to 3.5% from 5.2% expected earlier. The global growth forecasts have reduced geometrically due to the COVID-19 pandemic spread geometrically. It highlighted that the world economy, unlike the Global Financial Crisis of 2008, has jeopardized financial stability and brought enormous human suffering.

Project Isaac has been inspired by Sir Isaac Newton, who also stayed back home due to Great plague of London in 1665, worked on mathematics and developed calculus, studied gravity, analysed light, colour and spectrum. It is an initiative taken by IIT Gandhinagar to enhance creative skills in the students staying back home amidst the spread of COVID-19. Different competitions have been arranged to grow their skills in writing, coding, painting, music and so on.

Government e-Marketplace (GeM), has taken a number of initiatives in the fight against COVID-19 Pandemic.
It has taken steps to enable quick, efficient, transparent and cost-effective purchases in this hour of need.
Presently more than 7400 products in about 150 product categories and hiring of transport service are available on GeM portal.

The United States (US) Space Force launched its 1st national security mission on March 26, 2020 by sending an ultra-secure military communication satellite into orbit called Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF)-6 (developed by Lockheed martin) from Cape Canaveral, Florida on the Atlas V551 rocket.

Chief Minister of Nagaland Neiphiu Rio launched the Self Declaration COVID-19 Nagaland App at Kohima on 28 March.

India has proposed to set up a common electronic platform for all South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation nations. The proposal was made after Prime Minister Narendra Modi pitched for a regional approach to deal with the pandemic. The information was passed by the Ministry of External Affairs. The aim of the platform is to share knowledge, information, expertise and best practices to jointly combat the spread of coronavirus.

The Sawai Man Singh (SMS) Government Hospital in Jaipur is conducting a series of trials on a humanoid robot to check if could be pressed into service for delivering medicines and food to the COVID-19 patients admitted there, helping to keep the doctors and nursing staff at a safe distance to protect them against the dreaded coronavirus.

Joseph Lowery, who passed away recently was a famous Civil-Rights Leader. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009. Joseph Lowery and Martin Luther King Jr. together founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC).

The Andhra Pradesh Drones Corp will set up a drone ecosystem in Anantapur district, Andhra Pradesh.
The aim of this initiative is to establish a laboratory for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) or drones.
The main objective of the drone ecosystem is to cater to the need of the UAV/drone industry, including manufacturing, assembling, research, product design, rapid prototyping, etc

As per the Finance Minister any health professional, who while treating Covid-19 patients, met with some accident would be compensated with an amount of Rs 50 lakh under the scheme. Approximately 22 lakh health workers would be provided insurance cover to fight this pandemic.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Prime Ministers’ Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM-CARES) fund on 28 March to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. Prime Minister will be the Chairman of the trust and its Members include Defence Minister, Home Minister and Finance Minister.

MNREGA wage increased to Rs 202 a day from Rs 182.

The “Fit India” Movement which is the flagship fitness movement of the Indian Government in association with Bollywood actress and fitness icon Shilpa Shetty Kundra will provide free access to a 21-Day Weight Loss Programme during the 21-day lockdown owing to Covid-19 pandemic. The 21-Day Weight Loss Programme will be available free of cost access to people worldwide on the Shilpa Shetty App (SS App).

Abbott Laboratories is unveiling a coronavirus test that can tell if someone is infected in as little as 5 minutes, and is so small and portable, it can be used in almost any health-care setting.

Army Chief Gen Manoj Mukund Naravane has launched ‘Operation Namaste’ to extend assistance to the govt in containing the spread of coronavirus and insulate the force from the pandemic.

The International Monetary Fund has launched a policy tracker to track the policy responses by different governments to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
The IMF policy tracker will help member countries become more aware of the experience of other countries in tackling coronavirus spread.
The IMF policy tracker summarises the key economic responses by governments across the globe.

Department of Science and Technology (DST) set up a COVID-19 task force to map technologies to fund nearly market-ready solutions in the area of diagnostics, testing, healthcare delivery solutions, and equipment supplies.

Moody’s Investors Service slashed its estimate of India’s GDP growth during the 2020 calendar year to 2.5 per cent, from an earlier estimate of 5.3 per cent and stated the coronavirus pandemic will cause unprecedented shock to the global economy.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has given its approval for continuation of the process of recapitalization of Regional Rural Banks (RRBs).
Minimum regulatory capital has been provided to RRBs for another year beyond 2019-20, that is, up to 2020-21 for those RRBs which are unable to maintain minimum Capital to Risk weighted Assets Ratio (CRAR) of 9%.

International Advanced Centre for Powder Metallurgy & New Materials (ARCI),Hyderabad (Telangana), which functions as a grants-in-aid institution of the Government of India’s Department of Science & Technology (DST), has developed ‘ultrafast laser surface texturing technology’, which can enhance the efficiency of fuel in internal combustion (IC) engines by reducing friction.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has begun a global mega trial of the four most promising drugs that may cure the novel coronavirus. The mega trial by WHO is called Solidarity.

Power generating firm NTPC concluded the acquisition of Centre’s entire stake in two hydropower generating firms, THDC India and North Eastern Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO), at Rs 11,500 crore.