Dear Readers, Here we have given the list of Important Weekly Current Affairs of Mar 15th to 21st Mar 2023. Candidates those who are preparing for Upcoming SBI Clerk 2023 and other competitive exams can make use of it.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: IMPORTANT DAYS

• World Consumer rights Day 2023 is observed all over the world on March 15th, 2023.
• On 16th March 2023, National Vaccination Day is observed all over India.
• World Sleep Day 2023 is observed on the 17th March
• Ordnance Factories Day 2023 is observed on the 18th March 2023
• World Oral Health Day 2023 is observed on the 20th of March
• International Day of Happiness 2023 is observed on the 20th March 2023 & the theme is Keep Calm, Stay Wise, Be Kind.
• On 21st March 2023 World Poetry Day is observed all over the world.
• World Down Syndrome day 2023 is observed all over the world on March 21st, 2023.
• On March 21st, 2023 World Forest day is celebrated all over the world.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL NEWS

• Union Minister of State for Tribal Affairs, Renuka Singh Saruta inaugurated the Mara Tribal Girls' Hostel in Lunglei in Mizoram.
• NTPC has commissioned India’s first Air cooled condenser installed SuperCritical plant to demonstrate its Commitment towards water conservation through reduce, reusing and recycling.
• Second round of IPEF negotiations is being held in Bali on 13-19 March 2023.
• Union Minister Narayan Rane launched MSME Competitive (LEAN) scheme.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the "longest railway platform in the world" at Shree Siddharoodha Swamiji Hubballi Station of
• Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal chaired the 6th meeting of National Startup Advisory Council in New Delhi.
• PM Modi inaugurated the Bengaluru-Mysuru Expressway in Mandya.
• NTPC, the country’s largest integrated energy utility, has started commercial operation of 1st Unit of 660 MW at North Karanpura (3*660 MW), in Jharkhand.
• First International Conference on Shared Buddhist Heritage began in New Delhi.
• Dragon Fruit is a herbaceous perennial climbing cactus widely known as Pitaya, has its origin in Southern Mexico, Central America and South America.
• India will send 20 thousand metric tonnes of wheat t o Afghanistan through the Chabahar Port in Iran.
• The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has extradited 33 fugitives involved in various criminal activities in the last year.
• The Central Government has constituted a committee to review the construction works.
• Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya addressed Confederation of Indian Industry Partnership Summit 2023.
• The ‘Learning Science via Standards’ initiative has been launched by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) for students.
• NITI Aayog's Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) launched ATL SARATHI, a comprehensive self-monitoring framework, to strengthen the Atal Tinkering Laboratories (ATL)' growing ecosystem.
• Nitin Gadkari showcased 100% methanol-powered buses that will be run by Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC).
• AgriUnifest has been inaugurated by Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar in Bengaluru.
• Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying Parshottam Rupala released an annual publication 'Basic Animal Husbandry Statistics 2022'.
• Under the Stand-Up India scheme, 1.75 lakh loans amounting to Rs 39,517 crore as of February has been sanctioned since the launch in April 2016.
• Union Minister Jitendra Singh said that Rs 2,177 crore is allocated for implementation of O-SMART scheme from 2021-22 to 2025-26.
• The Government of India recently announced the sites for setting up of 7 PM Mega Integrated Textile Regions and Apparel (PM MITRA) Parks for the Textile industry.
• The first Bharat Gaurav special tourist train will commence its journey from Secunderabad railway station.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: INTERNATIONAL NEWS

• Denmark is the first country in the world to open an underwater burial site for Carbon dioxide (CO2) and also import the gas from other countries.
• The United Nations (UN) stated that, since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, the country has become the most repressive in the world for women and girls, deprived of many of their basic rights.
• Japan has become the latest country to join an alternative mechanism, Multi-Party Interim Appeal Arbitration Arrangement (MPIA) to resolve the trade dispute mechanism at the World Trade Organization (WTO).
• According to the Joint Trilateral Statement issued by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the People’s Republic of China, an agreement has been reached between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Islamic Republic of Iran, to resume diplomatic relations.
• Bhutan became the 7th nation to graduate from the United Nations (UN) list of Least Developed Countries (LDC).
• India will send 20,000metric tonnes of wheat to Afghanistan through the Chabahar Port in Iran. 
• The International Ayurvet conclave on the theme 'Veterinary and Ayurveda' has started at the Rishikul campus of an Ayurvedic University in Haridwar, Uttarakhand.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: STATE NEWS

• In Maharashtra, a new initiative called 'beggar-free city' has been started in Nagpur.
• Uttarakhand has become India's first state to launch the "Resham Keet Bima" scheme to protect its sericulturists.
• The Odisha government has approved Rs 500 crore to launch a new scheme Livelihoods Cluster Development initiative for tribal people under the ‘Mukhya Mantri Janajati Jeebika Mission.’
• On International Women's Day (Mar 8, 2023), the Kerala government unveiled major schemes to support women entrepreneurs in the State including the raising of the loan limit for women under the 'We-Mission Kerala' initiative of Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) to Rs 50 lakh from Rs 25 lakh with a 5% interest from April 1, 2023.
• Madhya Pradesh (MP) Governor Shri Mangubhai Patel inaugurated the 3rd Divya Kala Mela at Bhopal, MP.
• The Rajasthan government approved the setting up of India's first Behavioural lab at Jaipur, Rajasthan, India.
• The Bumchu Festival was celebrated in the Tashiding Monastery, located in the state of Sikkim.
• The government of Uttarakhand has given approval to the 10% horizontal reservation to the statehood activists in the state government job.
• The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) is organising a two-day Group-20 (G20)-themed flower festival at Central Park, Connaught Place, in the national capital, New Delhi, Delhi, India
• Rajasthan Chief Minister (CM) Shri Ashok Gehlot has announced the formation of 19 new districts and 3 new divisions in the state.
• Haryana Chief Minister (CM) Shri Manohar Lal Khattar launched Deen Dayal Updadhyay Antyodaya Parivar Suraksha Yojana (DAYALU) scheme for the poorest of the families in the event of a death or permanent disability of a kin.
• India's first tribal carbon-free village will come up in Bhiwandi, Maharashtra,
• The Delhi government is likely to announce a mohalla bus scheme for last-mile connectivity in the upcoming Budget 2023-24, among several new initiatives to modernise transport infrastructure in the Capital.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING & FINANCE

• The nation's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) raised Rs 3,717 crore through additional tier 1 (AT1) bond sale.
• The credit card outstanding in January 2023 rose 6% to reach an all-time high of Rs 1.87 lakh crore on the back of increased digitisation and rising consumer confidence in the post-Covid period.
• IDFC Mutual Fund (MF) has rebranded itself as Bandhan Mutual Fund.Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shri Shaktikanta Das announced that payments through unified payment interface (UPI) have grown exponentially in the past 12 months, with daily transactions crossing 36 crores in March, which is a rise of 50% from 24 crores in February 2022.
• Private non-life insurer, Shriram General Insurance Company (SGIC) has set up two women-only branches in Ludhiana, Punjab and Jaipur,Rajasthan in the first such initiative in the industry.
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has granted an ‘Infrastructure Finance Company (IFC)’ status to Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA).
• The 16th largest bank in the United States (US) Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), has been shut down by regulators due to the sudden shutdown of Silvergate Capital Corp and the unmindful fundraising of SVB.
• Canara Bank in collaboration with National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) launched the Rupay Credit Card through Unified Payment Interface (UPI) using the BHIM(Bharat Interface for Money) app
• Private lender HDFC Bank and Flipkart Wholesale launched an industry-first co-branded credit card exclusively for Flipkart Wholesale members.
• ICICI Bank announced ‘Startup Ecosystem Banking’ to offer digital and physical solutions to startups catering to the banking needs across their various life stages.
• PNB MetLife India Insurance Company Limited (PNB MetLife), one of India’s leading life insurance companies, is launching a Sustainable Equity Fund.
• Bandhan Mutual Fund (erstwhile IDFC Mutual Fund) has launched Bandhan US Treasury Bond 0-1 Year Fund of Fund. 
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates (CBUAE) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Abu Dhabi, to enhance cooperation and jointly enable innovation in financial products and services.
• State regulators in the United States of America (USA) shut down New York-based Signature Bank after California authorities closed Silicon Valley Bank, marking the 3rd largest failure in US banking history.
• One of India’s fastest growing insurance companies,Go Digit General Insurance has launched 3 new plans under the Digit Health Insurance policy.
• Jammu and Kashmir Bank (J&K Bank) has signed a corporate agency agreement with Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC).
• The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has made it mandatory for general insurers or stand-alone health insurers to launch health insurance policies that can provide coverage to people with mental illness and those afflicted with HIV/AIDS and disabilities.
• Public sector Bank of Baroda (BoB) has partnered with the Government of Tamil Nadu (TN) to offer co-branded RuPay Platinum Debit Card in TN offering customised solutions to its users.
• Equitas Small Finance Bank has partnered T20 cricket team Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) for the 2023 season of the T20 league.
• Road and Highways Minister Shri Nitin Gadkari revealed in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha that the Government of India (GoI) and the World Bank have signed a contract for the construction of the Green National Highway Corridors Project (GNHCP) with a total length of 781 km in 4 states such as Himachal Pradesh (HP), Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh (UP), and Andhra Pradesh (AP).
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed a penalty of Rs 5 lakh on Housing Development Finance Corporation Limited (HDFC) for non-compliance with certain provisions issued by the National Housing Bank (NHB).
• UCO Bank has raised Rs.500 crore through Private Placement of BASEL III Compliant Additional Tier I Bonds(Series I).
• India's First Omnichannel Spending Platform, OmniCard has launched Unified Payments Interface (UPI) services without the need to link a Bank Account for its users.
• The Markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) provided relaxation of 60 days to large Registrars to an issue/ Share Transfer Agents (RTAs) from complying with the enhanced requirements pertaining to periodic reporting.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

• The current Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of LIC Housing Finance, Mr Siddhartha Mohanty, has been given the additional charge of Chairman of Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) for a period of 3 months starting from March 14, 2023.
• India’s 5th largest information technology firm, Tech Mahindra, has appointed Mr Mohit Joshi as its Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for a period of 5 years with effect from December 20, 2023 to Dec 19, 2028.
• The Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India has elevated Mr Tablesh Pandey, the executive director of LIC, as its managing director (MD) effective from April 1, 2023
• Former India captain & four-time Indian Premier League (IPL) winner Mahendra Singh Dhoni (MS Dhoni) has been appointed as the brand ambassador of Viacom18 Media Private Limited.
• Haryana based Pramerica Life Insurance Limited has appointed Mr Pankaj Gupta as Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
• 52-year-old Swiss-Italian lawyer Mr Gianni Infantino has been re-elected as the president of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) until 2027.
• The Financial Services Institutions Bureau (FSIB) has recommended the name of Indian Bank executive director Mr Ashwani Kumar for the position of Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Director (CEO) in UCO Bank.
• The Board of Directors of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has appointed Mr K Krithivasan as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) designate.
• Climate entrepreneur, Shreya Ghodawat has been appointed as the India Ambassador of She Changes Climate.
• The Board of Directors of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance has approved the appointment of Mr Anup Bagchi as the Managing Director (MD) & Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Company for a period of 5 consecutive years with effect from June 19, 2023.
• The United States (US) Senate announced that Indian-American Mr Ravi Chaudhary has been appointed as the Assistant Secretary of US Air Force for Energy, Installations, and the Environment. 
• Mr Ramsahaya Prasad Yadav, the leader of the Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP), was elected as Nepal's 3rd Vice President.
• The Board of Governors of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has re-appointed Mr Rafael Grossi as the nuclear watchdog's Director General for a second four-year term.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: AWARDS AND HONOUR

• Sashidhar Jagdishan, managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO) of HDFC Bank, has been chosen as the Business Standard Banker of the Year 2022, as the lender continued its strong performance under his leadership while successfully navigating through technology-related challenges.
• The Ministry of Tourism has won the Golden & Silver Star in ‘TV/Cinema Commercials International and Country International’ Category.
• Saraswati Samman 2022 awarded to Tamil writer Sivasankari for her book Survya Vamsam.
• The Birsa Munda International Hockey Stadium has been officially recognised as the largest fully-seated hockey stadium in the world.
• The novel 'Pookkuzhi' by Tamil writer Perumal Murugan, translated as 'Pyre' in English by Anirudh Vasudevan, has made a place in the International Booker Prize 2023
• Hello Ujjivan app has won 13th AGBA in the "Innovation in Consumer Tech" category.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: MOUS AND AGREEMENT

• One97 Communications Ltd which owns Paytm announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Government of Andhra Pradesh (GoAP) on the sidelines of the Andhra Pradesh Global Investors Summit 2023.
• Sweden India Business Council has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Maharashtra government for cooperation in the area of waste to energy, sustainable infrastructure and transportation, defence manufacturing and investment, the industry body.
• The MoU was signed in the presence of Maharashtra Deputy ChieIndia and the US inked an initial pact on increasing private sector cooperation in the area of semiconductors under which the two countries would facilitate business opportunities and develop an ecosystem to reduce their dependence on China and Taiwan.
• The Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) of India, and The Swedish Foundation for International Cooperation in Research and Higher Education (STINT), Stockholm, Sweden, has signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC).
• Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Samagra Shiksha, Assam, (SSA) under the Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan to develop scientific temper and strengthen students' ability to handle challenging environments.
• Tata Steel Mining Limited has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Gas Authority of India (GAIL) Limited, in order to reduce its carbon footprint in its operations, and for the supply of natural gas to its Ferro Alloys Plant at Athgarh in Odisha's Cuttack district.
• The Government of India and the World Bank have signed an agreement for the construction of Green National Highway Corridors Project (GNHCP) in an aggregate length of 781 km in the states of Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh, with loan assistance of US $ 500 million against total project cost of US $ 1288.24 million (Rs. 7,662.47 crore).
• The US, Australia and Britain have announced an agreement to provide Australia with nuclear attack submarines.
• Luxury carmaker Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) will partner with Tata Technologies to accelerate the digital transformation of its industrial strategy.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: RANKING AND REPORTS

• Uttarakhand's Rudraprayag district, which houses the Kedarnath shrine, has "maximum exposure to landslide risk in the country", according to to the 'Landslide Atlas' report prepared by Hyderabad-based National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) of the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro).
• Despite a fall in overall imports by India, India remained the biggest arms importer between 2018-22 with an 11% share in total global arms imports.
• Delhi has been ranked fourth on the list of the world’s 50 most polluted cities.
• One of the busiest passenger hubs for South East Asia, Singapore Changi Airport has topped the list of the World’s Best Airports for 2023.
• Software major Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has been named to the Forbes annual list of "America's Best Large Employers".
• Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport has received the award for the Best Airport in India and South Asia, a report by the international air transport rating organisation Skytrax .
• According to the tenth Global Terrorism Index (GTI) report Afghanistan remains the country most impacted by terrorism for the fourth consecutive year, despite attacks and deaths falling by 75 per cent and 58 per cent, respectively.

 CURRENT AFFAIRS: DEFENCE NEWS

• Indian Army’s Chetak Corps conducted ‘Exercise Chetak Chaukas’ with all stakeholders to strengthen Rear Area Security.
• The third edition of the multilateral exercise “La Perouse” was conducted from 13 to 14 March 2023 in the Indian Ocean region.
• The Singapore Army and Indian Army participated in the 13th edition of Exercise Bold Kurukshetra, a bilateral armour exercise from 06-13 March 2023 at Jodhpur Military Station, Rajasthan, India.
• The Ministry of Defence (MoD) signed a contract for refit of the INS Sindhukirti (S61) submarine at the Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL),Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh (AP) at an overall cost of Rs 934 crore.
• The Indian Navy's Indian Naval Ship (INS) Sumedha took part in two significant regional naval and defence exhibitions: the United Arab Emirates' (UAE) IDEX 23 (International Defense Exhibition) and NAVDEX 23 (Naval Defense Exhibition 23), both of which took place in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), from February 20 to 24, 2023.
• Indian Navy is participating in the third edition of the coordinated multi-lateral anti submarine warfare (ASW) exercise SEA DRAGON 23 exercise in waters off Guam, USA which has been scheduled from 15-30 March 2023.
• The Indian armed forces are all set to introduce an indigenously developed Vayulink (‘Airlink’) system on the country’s north-eastern borders to identify friendly forces in war zones.
• The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully conducted a maiden flight-test of Power Take off (PTO) Shaft on Light Combat Aircraft (LCA Tejas) Limited Series Production (LSP) - 3 aircraft in Bengaluru, Karnataka, in a major boost to Aatmanirbhar Bharat.
• The United States (US) based defence and aerospace giant, Lockheed Martin Corporation (LMT) and India’s Tata Group, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to commence production of fighter wing shipsets at their joint venture (JV), Tata Lockheed Martin Aerostructures Limited (TLMAL), located in Hyderabad, Telangana,
• The Indian Air Force (IAF) has deployed one Mi-17 helicopter to contain the devastating Goa forest fire that rages for the sixth day.
• The Indian Army is set to host the 2nd edition of the Africa-India field training exercise (AFINDEX-23) which will take place at Aundh Military Station, Pune, Maharashtra from March 21 to 30,2023 (9 day military exercise).

CURRENT AFFAIRS: SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

• A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully launched 40 broadband satellites of United Kingdom(UK)-based company OneWeb from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, United States of America (USA).
• The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) conducted two consecutive successful flight tests of the Very Short Range Air Defence System (VSHORADS) missile at the integrated test range (ITR) Chandipur off the coast of Odisha
• Hyderabad-based Svaya Robotics has developed India’s first indigenous quadruped (four-legged) robot and exoskeleton for the defense sector as part of the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative.
• The UK Space Agency (UKSA) would back research by Rolls-Royce looking at the use of nuclear power on the moon.
• The launch of the world's first 3D-printed rocket, Terran 1, was recently cancelled at the last second.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BUSINESS NEWS

• India's net direct tax collection rose 17% to Rs 13.73 lakh crore till March 10.
• Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) and Telecommunications Consultants India Limited (TCIL) have agreed to work together to offer enterprise customers captive non-public network (CNPN) services.
• Wholesale price-based inflation declined for the ninth consecutive month.
• Retail inflation declined marginally to 6.44% in February 2023.
• The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) released its latest interim outlook, titled “Fragile Recovery”.
• Caller ID verification platform Truecaller announced the opening of its first exclusive office space outside of Sweden, in Bengaluru.
• Taiwanese contract manufacturer Foxconn has won an order to make AirPods for Apple Inc and plans to build a factory in India to produce the wireless earphones.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: ENVIRONMENT

• Indonesia's Mount Merapi volcano, one of the world's most active volcanoes, erupted, sending smoke and ash spreading over nearby villages.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: PERSON IN NEWS

• Ms Surekha Yadav becomes Asia's first female locomotive pilot to operate the newly-introduced semi-high-speed Vande Bharata Express train.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: SPORTS NEWS

• IBA Women's World Boxing Championships started at Indira Gandhi Sports Complex in New Del
• The Youth Affairs and Sports Ministry is organizing the Khelo India Dus Ka Dum tournament from the 10th to the 31st March.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: OBITUARIES

• Patricia Joan Keller McCormick, who became the first diver to sweep the women’s 3-metre springboard and 10-metre platform competitions at consecutive Olympics, has passed away at the age of 92 in California, United States of America (USA).
• Renowned Bengali novelist and short story writer Sasthipada Chattopadhyay passed away at the age of 82 in Howrah, West Bengal.
• Veteran actor Sameer Khakhar, best known for essaying the role of Khopdi in the hit '80s TV show 'Nukkad', passed away at the age of 71.
• An American high jumper & Olympic gold medalist Richard Douglas Fosbury passed away at the age of 76 in Utah, United States (US).