AWARDS

President Droupadi Murmu presented the Bharat Ratna Awards at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

• President Droupadi Murmu presented the Bharat Ratna Awards to former Prime Minister Chaudhary Charan Singh and P V Narasimha Rao, former Bihar Chief Minister Karpoori Thakur, Eminent Scientist M. S. Swaminathan and Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani.

• P V Narasimha Rao, Chaudhary Charan Singh, M S Swaminathan and Karpoori Thakur received the award posthumously.

• LK Advani will be conferred Bharat Ratna at his residence.

• P V Prabhakar Rao received the award from the President on behalf of his father P V Narasimha Rao.

• Jayant Chaudhary, Chaudhary Charan Singh's grandson and the President of the Rashtriya Lok Dal accepted the honour from President.

• This year government announced to give Bharat Ratna to five persons.

• Bharat Ratna winners for 2024:

•  M. S. Swaminathan
•  L K Advani
•  Karpoori Thakur
•  P V Narasimha Rao
•  Chaudhary Charan Singh

IMPORTANT DAYS

International Day of Zero Waste observed on 30 March

• On March 30, 2023, the inaugural International Day of Zero Waste was observed by the United Nations, marking a pivotal moment in global efforts to address waste management.

• This day serves as a poignant reminder of the imperative to enhance waste management practices worldwide and underscores the critical need to foster sustainable consumption and production patterns.

• On 14 December 2022, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted a resolution to proclaim March 30 as the International Day of Zero Waste.

• The observance of International Day of Zero Waste is made possible by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat).

• Annual municipal solid waste generation stands between 2.1 billion and 2.3 billion tonnes.

• The number of people who lack access to waste collection stands at 2.7 billion. Out of this, 2 billion live in poor areas.

• Yearly municipal solid waste generation is expected to reach 3.8 billion tonnes by 2050.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

India and Ukraine talked focused on conflict resolution to strengthen bilateral relations.

• During the bilateral meeting, the Foreign Ministers of India and Ukraine engaged in "open and wide-ranging" discussions.

• In Hyderabad House, the talks held focused on "the ongoing conflict and its wider implications".

• On a two-day visit to India, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba aimed at finding a peaceful solution to the Russia-Ukraine conflict that has been ongoing for over two years now.

• After the meeting, Jaishankar highlighted conflict-related initiatives and the exchange of their views on global and regional issues.

• Apart from this, they noted plans to evaluate the outcomes of the previous Intergovernmental Commission meeting.

• With several events scheduled for the Ukrainian Foreign Minister's visit, regional and global matters of mutual interest are also on the agenda.

• In 2022, a peace framework was proposed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, outlining ten principles aimed at establishing a just and lasting peace in Ukraine.

France is about to become the first country to pass a bill to combat hair discrimination.

• The lower house of the Parliament of France has passed a bill that would ban discrimination over the texture, length, colour or style of hair.

• The bill will amend the existing anti-discrimination measures in the labour code.

• The bill will support black people, who face discrimination at the workplace due to their hair.

• Olivier Serva, a Black MP from the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, has drafted the bill.

• The bill has been approved by 44 legislators while two voted against it. It will become law after the approval by the Senate.

• 23 states in the United States have passed legislation for protecting people from hair discrimination in the workplace and public schools.

• France will become the first country in the world to recognise discrimination based on hair at a national level.

INDEX AND RANKINGS

UNEP and WRAP jointly released the Food Waste Index Report 2024.

• The Food Waste Index Report 2024 has been released just ahead of the International Day of Zero Waste (March 30).

• As per the report, over one billion meals a day were wasted globally in 2022.

• 1.05 billion tonnes of food waste was generated in 2022. Out of the total food waste, 60% occurred at the household level.

• 783 million people faced hunger and about one-third of people faced food insecurity around the world.

• Many low-middle-income countries don’t have adequate systems for tracking progress to meet the Sustainable Development Goal of halving food waste by 2030.

• Only Australia, Japan, the U.K., the U.S. and the European Union have food waste tracking systems.

• The report stated that average levels of household food waste for high-income, upper-middle, and lower-middle-income countries differ by just 7 kg per capita.

• Hotter countries generate more food waste per capita at the household level.

• Food loss and waste generated “8-10% of annual global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

• As of 2022, only 21 countries had included food loss and/or waste reduction in their climate plans or Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

• “Food waste” is defined as “food and the associated inedible parts removed from the human food supply chain”.

• Food Waste Index tracks the global and national generation of food and inedible parts wasted at the retail and consumer (household and food service) levels.

BANKING, ECONOMY AND FINANCE

In March, India received the largest inflow of foreign funds.

• In March, India experienced a substantial influx of foreign investment, with Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) injecting $3.63 billion into Indian equities, marking their highest buying activity since December 2023.

• Domestic institutions also remained net buyers, with investments totaling approximately 52,467 crore rupees, reaching a four-year peak.

• Alongside India, FIIs opted to invest in Taiwan, Indonesia, and South Korea while withdrawing funds from markets in Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, Japan, and Sri Lanka.

• Notably, the Japanese market witnessed the largest FII outflow of $5.35 billion, followed by outflows of $1.13 billion and $514 million from Thailand and Malaysia respectively.

India’s foreign exchange reserves increased for fifth continuous week.

• As per RBI data, India’s forex reserves reached to a record high level of $642.63 billion in the week that ended on March 22, 2024.

• However, India’s foreign currency assets decreased by $123 million to $568.264 billion.

• In the week that ended on 22 March 2024, India’s forex reserves increased by $139 million.

• In the week, gold reserves increased from $347 million to $51.487 billion.

• India’s foreign currency assets form the biggest component of the forex reserves.

• Forex reserves increased by $6.396 billion before the week that ended on 22 March.

• In the calendar year 2023, RBI increased foreign exchange reserves by about $58 billion.

• In 2022, India’s forex reserve fell by $71 billion cumulatively.

• The last time India’s forex reserves reached an all-time high was in October 2021.

• An increase in the cost of imported goods in 2022 could be the reason for much of the subsequent decrease.

• Forex reserves are the assets that central bank of a country holds.

• It is generally held in reserve currencies (usually the US Dollar, the Euro, Japanese Yen, and Pound Sterling).

• It includes India’s Reserve Tranche position in the International Monetary Fund.

First phase of the world’s largest single-location copper manufacturing plant commenced its operation.

• Gautam Adani-led group started the first phase of the world’s largest single-location copper manufacturing plant at Mundra in Gujarat.

• Kutch Copper, a subsidiary of the group’s flagship firm, Adani Enterprises Ltd., commissioned the first phase of a $1.2 billion “greenfield copper refinery”.

• The first phase of this facility will produce 0.5 million metric tons of refined copper. This plant will reach its full capacity of 1 million tonnes by FY29.

• India is rapidly expanding its production of copper, which is a crucial metal for the transition away from fossil fuels.

• After the completion of the second phase of Kutch Copper, 1 million tonnes per year of copper will be produced.

• Kutch Copper will produce copper cathodes and rods, as well as valuable byproducts such as gold, silver, selenium, and platinum.

• Phase I of the plant will produce 25 tonnes of gold, 250 tonnes of silver, 1.5 million tonnes of sulphuric acid, and 250,000 tonnes of phosphoric acid.