Daily Current Affairs March 18

Dear Champions, as you all know that a lot of competitive exams have been notified consequently. Candidates have to prepare themselves according to the level of competition and expectation of the Recruitment board. Regarding that one of the most important topic is Daily Current Affairs March 18. Current Affairs in the form of contemporary events of national & international play a crucial role in almost every competitive exams like Banking, Insurance, SSC, UPSC, TNPSC, Railway etc.

Current affairs are the most dynamic yet scoring among all sections and need to be prepared from the right source. Here, we cafunsta team, providing  Daily GK Updates, Current Affairs Questions, and Monthly  current affairs pdf.

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March 18 | Daily Current Affairs 2024

Important Days – Daily Current Affairs March 18

1. When is Ordnance Factories Day observed annually?
A) March 15
B) March 17
C) March 18
D) March 20
E) March 22
Answer: C) March 18

• Every year, Ordnance Factories Day is observed on March 18.

History:

• In 1775, the Board of Ordnance was formed in Fort William, Kolkata.
• In 1787, a gunpowder factory was formed in Ishapore and a gun carriage factory was formed in Cossipore, Kolkata.
• Now it’s known as Gun and Shell Factory, Cossipore.
• After India gained independance in 1947, the Ordnance Factories were placed under the control of the Indian Government.
• Ordnance Factories Day is celebrated on March 18 to commemorate the day when Ordnance Factory in Cossipore, Kolkata was formed.

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Obituary – Daily Current Affairs March 18

2. For how many years did Lama Lobzang serve the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes since 1984?
A) 10 years
B) 15 years
C) 19 years
D) 22 years
E) 25 years
Answer: C) 19 years

• Former member of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and Prominent Buddhist Monk of Ladakh popularly known as Lama Lobzang passes away.
• A distinguished tribal leader, Lama Lobzang has served the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes for 19 years since 1984.
• When the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes became constitutional through an amendment of Article 338 of the constitution, Lama Lobzang was appointed anew as its member for two terms from 1995 to 1998 and 1998 to 2001.
• Lama Lobzang retired from public office after serving another term as a member of the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes from 2004 to 2007.

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Ranking – Daily Current Affairs March 18

3. What is India’s ranking among 181 economies in the DHL Global Connectedness Report 2024 based on 2022 data?
A) 44th
B) 62nd
C) 80th
D) 122nd
E) 161st
Answer: B) 62nd

• The DHL Global Connectedness Report 2024, put together by DHL and New York University’s Stern School of Business analysed around nine million data points and ranked the connectedness of 181 countries, accounting for 99.7% of the world’s gross domestic product.
• It ranks India 62nd out of 181 economies, based on 2022 data tracking global flows of trade, capital, information and people.
• According to the researchers, this overall rank reflects both the geographic reach of India’s international flows (the “breadth” dimension of the index, on which India ranks 16th) and the size of India’s international flows relative to its domestic activity (the “depth” dimension, on which India ranks 161st).
• The US ranks 2nd on breadth but only 122nd on depth (and 44th overall).
• Similarly, China ranks 23rd on breadth and 171st on depth (leading to an overall 80th place rank).

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Business and Economy – Daily Current Affairs March 18

4. How many shares of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata Group, planning to sell?
A) 1.25 crore shares
B) 2.34 crore shares
C) 3.50 crore shares
D) 4.75 crore shares
E) 5.60 crore shares
Answer: B) 2.34 crore shares

• Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata Group, will be selling 2.34 crore shares or 0.65 per cent equity of Tata Consultancy Services through a block deal for ₹9,362.3 crore ($1.13 billion).
• The floor price of the deal has been fixed at ₹4,001 a share, a discount of 3.65 per cent to the closing price of TCS.
• According to the December-end filing, Tata Sons holds a 72.38 per cent stake in TCS.
• Holding companies and promoter entities usually sell stakes in group firms to generate cash to pay down debt and stabilise balance sheets.
• Recently, British tobacco company BAT Plc sold a 3.5 per cent stake in its Indian associate ITC Ltd for ₹16,690 crore.
• This monetisation was done chiefly to buy back its shares and continue its deleveraging exercise.
• Tata Sons had a net debt of ₹20,642.47 crore as on March-end 2023, while its revenue in FY23 was ₹35,058.47 crore.
• The market capitalisation of the Tata Group crossed ₹30-lakh crore last month from ₹20.7-lakh crore at the end of March last year.
• It is a core investment company registered with the Reserve Bank of India and has also been categorised as an upper-layer NBFC.
• Under RBI guidelines, it must list its shares next year.
• Shares of TCS have risen nearly 32 per cent over one year

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Appointments – Daily Current Affairs March 18

5. Who has been appointed as the new chairperson of the Prasar Bharati Board?
A) A Surya Prakash
B) Navneet Kumar Sehgal
C) Ramesh Chandra
D) Priya Ranjan Das Munshi
E) Arun Jaitley
Answer: B) Navneet Kumar Sehgal

• Retired bureaucrat Navneet Kumar Sehgal has been appointed as the new chairperson of the Prasar Bharati Board.
• The post had been vacant for four years after A Surya Prakash, who retired in February 2020 after turning 70, the upper limit age for the post.

PrasarBharati:

• Prasar Bharati is India’s largest public broadcasting agency.
• It was established by the Prasar Bharati Act of 1990, which came into effect in 1997.
• The agency includes Doordarshan Television Network and All India Radio, previously part of the information and broadcasting ministry.
• On March 13, Prasar Bharati launched PB-SHABD, a news-sharing service for registered entities to access news feeds from its network of reporters.

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6. Where has the outgoing CBSE chairperson, Nidhi Chhibber, been appointed after her tenure?
A) Advisor to the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT)
B) Advisor to the Ministry of Women and Child Development
C) Advisor to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting
D) Advisor to the Niti Aayog
E) Director General of the National Mission for Clean Ganga
Answer: D) Advisor to the Niti Aayog

• Senior bureaucrat Rahul Singh has been appointed as the new chairperson of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), succeeding Nidhi Chhibber.
• Singh, a 1996-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the Bihar cadre, is currently serving as the Additional Secretary in the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT).
• Chhibber, the outgoing CBSE chairperson, has been appointed as Advisor to the Niti Aayog.
• The reshuffle also includes the appointment of A P Das Joshi, a 1994-batch IAS officer of the Assam-Meghalaya cadre, as the new Additional Secretary in DoPT, replacing Singh.
• Furthermore, Rajeev Kumar Mital, currently serving as the Additional Secretary and Financial Advisor in the Department of Atomic Energy, has been appointed as the Director General of the National Mission for Clean Ganga under the Ministry of Jal Shakti.
• Gyanesh Bharti will take over as the Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Women and Child Development, while Deepak Narain has been named as the Additional Secretary and Financial Advisor in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

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Awards – Daily Current Affairs March 18

7. Who are the Indian winners of the Diana Legacy Awards, announced on the 25th anniversary of the Diana Award charity?
A) Uday Bhatia and Manasi Gupta
B) Prince William and Princess Diana
C) Uday Electric and Huesofthemind Foundation
D) London’s Science Museum and the Diana Award charity
E) None of the above
Answer: A) Uday Bhatia and Manasi Gupta

• A Delhi-based innovator whose low-cost electric invention helps overcome power cuts and a mental health campaigner from Haryana are the Indian winners among 20 worldwide recipients of Diana Legacy Awards, celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Diana Award charity set up in memory of the late Princess of Wales.
• Uday Bhatia, founder of Uday Electric, and Manasi Gupta, founder of Huesofthemind Foundation, received their awards from Prince William, the older son of Princess Diana, at an awards ceremony in London’s Science Museum.

Uday Bhatia:

• When Uday Bhatia began mentoring students as a 16-year-old schoolboy in the slums of Bichpuri, Uttar Pradesh, he saw how frequent power cuts rendered children unable to study.
• To tackle the power crisis, he developed his ground-breaking invention called the Outage Guard bulb, as a low-cost solution designed to provide uninterrupted lighting for up to 10 hours during power cuts.

Manasi Gupta:

• Manasi Gupta, 24, was recognised for having personally delivered over 100 sessions globally to encourage an emphasis on mental health support.
• Impacting over 50,000 lives through her non-profit Huesofthemind Foundation, she is credited with creating an empathetic community focused on mental health support, and in collaboration with over 200 stakeholders, has delivered innovative campaigns, projects and events globally.
• Gupta’s work during the pandemic was recognised by the former Health Secretary of India at IHW (Integrated Health & Wellbeing) Digital Health Awards.

Diana Legacy Award:

• The Diana Legacy Award is a prestigious accolade for exceptional young people from around the world for their social action or humanitarian work.

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National Affairs – Daily Current Affairs March 18

8. Who was announced as the National Icon in the Persons with Disabilities (PwD) category during the event?
A) Mr. Virat Kohli, Indian cricketer
B) Mr. Sachin Tendulkar, former Indian cricketer
C) Ms. Mary Kom, Indian boxer
D) Ms. Sheetal Devi, Para-archer and Arjuna Awardee
E) Mr. MS Dhoni, former Indian cricket captain
Answer: D) Ms. Sheetal Devi, Para-archer and Arjuna Awardee

• The Election Commission of India (ECI) in association with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) organised an Exhibition Cricket Match between the Indian Deaf Cricket Association (IDCA) Team and the Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA) team to foster voter education and inclusivity.
• The match was held at Karnail Singh Stadium in New Delhi.
• On the occasion, Ms. Sheetal Devi, a distinguished Para-archer, and Arjuna Awardee, was announced as the National Icon in the PwD category.

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9. Which organization contributed to the construction of the Indoor Aquatics Center as part of its CSR funding?
A) Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)
B) Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC)
C) National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO)
D) Indian Oil Corporation (IOC)
E) Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL)
Answer: C) National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO)

• Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik inaugurated India’s first indoor athletics and aquatic centres at the Kalinga stadium in Bhubaneshwar.
• The Chief Minister also laid the foundation stone for a new indoor diving centre in the stadium complex.
• The Indoor Athletics Centre stands as India’s first capable of hosting indoor continental and regional championships.
• This world class facility will be a training ground for the Odisha Reliance Foundation Athletics High Performance Centre, which was established in association with Reliance Foundation, and has been producing young athletics champions.
• The centre boasts a 10,000-square-meter track, installed by the renowned Italian firm, Mondo SpA, used in Olympics, marking a pioneering feat within the country.
• The centre includes a 200-meter synthetic track, an 80m+20m running track, and designated areas for long jump, triple jump, pole vault, and shot-put, each meticulously designed to meet specific athletic requirements.
• Accommodating the needs of high-performance athletes, the facility features 60 twin-sharing rooms for those undergoing full-time coaching.
• Its iconic stature was solidified with the esteemed Category 1 certification from World Athletics in December 2023.
• The Indoor Aquatic Centre features temperature controlled 50m Olympic size swimming pool and 25 m warm up pool with a seating capacity for 1000 spectators and can host international championships. fitness centre, sports recovery facility and accommodation facility with 26 twin sharing rooms.
• The Odisha Inspire Institute of Sport (IIS) HPC, a joint venture with JSW group, will be operational from this aquatic center.
• The Central PSU – NALCO has contributed towards the construction of the Indoor Aquatics Center as a CSR funding.
• The Diving Centre will feature temperature-controlled diving pool of 25 m, with an additional 5m for Synchronized Swimming and seating capacity for 500 spectators.

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Over All Review

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