Today’s top news:

  1. Asia’s largest tulip garden, situated on the banks of the Dal Lake, Jammu and Kashmir is all set to be thrown open on Thursday (March 25) for the visitors.
  2. Power and new and renewable energy minister, Raj Kumar Singh, launched “Gram Ujala scheme” on March 24, 2021 in Varanasi . Gram Ujala scheme offers world’s cheapest LED bulbs across rural areas at rupees 10. This scheme is financed on the basis of carbon credits. It will claim carbon credits under “United Nations’ Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)”.
  3. The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) on Wednesday (March 24) appealed to the citizens to ‘honour their Annadata’ and make the Bharat Bandh on March 26 a ‘complete success’.
  4. Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment aims to launch ‘Poshan Abhiyan’ for the Elderly to provide them ‘nutrition support’.
  5. BJP lined up several promises, including a legislation to protect traditions of the Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala and a law against “love jihad”, while assuring employment for at least one person from each family and free laptops to high school students, in its manifesto for the assembly polls unveiled in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday.
  6. Former Union minister M J Akbar has moved the Delhi High Court challenging a trial court order acquitting journalist Priya Ramani in the criminal defamation case filed against her over the allegations of sexual harassment .
  7. Justice Ramana to be next Chief Justice of India; to take over on April 24 : CJI Bobde recommends Justice NV Ramana as his successor
  8. Department of Biotechnology (DBT) has initiated cabinet approved National Biopharma Mission with the objective of strengthening emerging biotechnology enterprise across India.
  9. In another blow to Assistant Police Inspector Sachin Vaze, his close associate Riyazuddin Kazi has agreed to turn approver for the NIA in the Antilia bomb scare case.
  10. The CBI has booked the DHFL and its directors for allegedly creating over 2.60 lakh fictitious home-loan accounts, some of which were used to claim interest subsidies in the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) . Promoters Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan, both booked along with the company, allegedly opened a fictitious branch of the DHFL in Bandra and fake accounts worth Rs 14,046 crore of home-loan borrowers, who had already repaid their loans.
  11. The district sessions court in Faridabad on Wednesday (March 24) pronounced the accused, Tausif and Rehan, guilty in Nikita Tomar murder case. The quantum of punishment will be decided on March 26. Tausif shot 20-year-old Tomar in broad daylight on October 26, 2020. The trial for this murder case began on December 1, 2020.
  12. A Delhi court issued summons to former Union minister P Chidambaram and his son Karti in the INX Media money-laundering case. Special Judge M K Nagpal has summoned the duo on April 7, taking cognisance of the charge sheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against them.
  13. Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Wednesday opposed the Centre’s scheme to make a direct online payment of the MSP to farmers’ bank accounts, bypassing arhtiyas, for the crops to be procured by the government from the next Rabi season.
  14. Members from various political parties on Wednesday asked the government to reduce central taxes on petrol and diesel and give relief to the common man .
  15. Bollywood actor Salman Khan is the latest actor to receive the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. The actor confirmed the news on Wednesday evening
  16. Thirteen candidates scored perfect 100 in the March edition of the engineering entrance exam JEE-Mains, results of which were announced on Wednesday, The exam was conducted from March 16 to 18 and a total of 6,19,368 candidates had registered for it.
  17. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has allowed retired Short Service Commission (SSC) officers of the Army to use military ranks as applicable . The SSC officers, after completion of their mandated terms and conditions of service, were not authorised to use the military ranks so far.
  18. The Indian Air Force has a shortage of 405 pilots against the authorised strength, the government told Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
    Minister of State for Defence Shripad Naik said the number of pilots in the Indian Air Force at present is 3,834 as against the sanctioned strength of 4,239.

✈INTERNATIONAL NEWS

1 . India and Pakistan held the annual meeting of the Permanent Indus Commission (PIC), where the two sides discussed the Pakal Dul and Lower Kalnai hydropower projects, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said.

  1. The annual Permanent Indus Commission meeting was recently held after a gap of over two years. Before the meeting, Pakistan had raised objections to the designs of Pakal Dul and Lower Kalnai hydropower plants which are under construction in Jammu and Kashmir. In response, India has justified its stand .
  2. Fair trade regulator Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Wednesday ordered a detailed probe into popular messaging platform WhatsApp’s updated privacy policy and terms of service after finding that the ‘exploitative and exclusionary conduct’ in the garb of the policy update prima facie violated competition norms.
  3. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet Bangladesh President Abdul Hamid and will hold restricted and delegation-level talks with Sheikh Hasina during his visit to Bangladesh this week.
  4. India and Bangladesh will sign several agreements and unveil new measures to boost people-to-people contacts during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit this week, foreign secretary Harsh Shringla said on Wednesday.

🌎WORLD NEWS🌍

  1. World Tuberculosis Day is observed each year on March 24. Theme of the day for this year is “The Clock is Ticking” which marks the urgency to take measures against the disease.
  2. Saudi Arabia government has proposed UN-sponsored ceasefire in Yemen and is awaiting a response from the rebel Houthi movement.
  3. North Korea has fired two ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan, Japanese and US officials say – the first such test since Joe Biden became US president. Pyongyang is banned from carrying out ballistic missile tests under UN Security Council resolutions.
  4. According to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), North Korea has fired two cruise missiles off the West Coast on March 21, 2021. It marks first missile test of Pyongyang since April 14, 2020.

5.The European Union refined its rules on the export of Covid-19 vaccines on Wednesday, giving it a clearer right to block shipments to countries such as Britain with higher inoculation rates and to those not exporting their own vaccine doses.

Sports:

  1. INDIA VS ENGLAND
    2nd ODI, England in India, 3 ODI Series, 2021, March 26, 2021
  2. The iconic cricket rivalry between India and Pakistan can finally resume in 2021 as a media report suggests that Virat Kohli-led Team India can lock horns with Babar Azam’s Pakistan in a bilateral series in near future.
  3. Football’s world governing body FIFA on Wednesday banned former President Sepp Blatter for over six years from all football-related activity (administrative, sports or any other) for violating the FIFA Code of Ethics (FCE). This is the second time Blatter received a sanction from FIFA, seven months before his first ban expires

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NIFTY
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Facts about India

West Bengal state. Founded as an East India Company trading post, it was India’s capital under the British Raj from 1773–1911.

The Dravidian-speaking tribe Bang/Banga that settled in the area around the year 1000 BCE. Other accounts speculate that the name is derived from Venga (Bôngo), which came from the Austric word “Bonga” meaning the Sun-god. According to the Mahabharata, the Puranas and the Harivamsha, Vanga was one of the adopted sons of King Vali who founded the Vanga Kingdom. It was either under Magadh or under Kalinga Rules except few years under Pals. The earliest reference to “Vangala” (Bôngal) has been traced in the Nesari plates (805 CE) of Rashtrakuta Govinda III which speak of Dharmapala as the king of Vangala. The records of Rajendra Chola I of the Chola dynasty, who invaded Bengal in the 11th century, use the term Vangaladesa.

Thought of the day

Life becomes more beautiful, when you realize the simple fact that, you’ll never get the same moments twice.

Joke of the day

महिला – डॉक्टर साहब, मेरे पति नींद में बातें करने लगे हैं! क्या करूँ?⁉️😳
डॉक्टर – उन्हें दिन में बोलने का मौका दीजिए!

Why❓❓❓

How do pigeons always find their way home?

The species of pigeon have navigational prowess. Pigeons can find their way home, even if released from a distant location blindfolded. They can navigate by sensing the earth’s magnetic fields, and perhaps also by using sound and smell. They can also use cues based on the position of the sun. One theory is that they have both a built-in ‘compass’ and a ‘mapping’ ability. The compass keeps them flying in the right general direction and mapping lets them compare where they are to where they want to go, which is home.

It’s also thought the ‘compass’ relies on the angle and position of the sun. But how they actually ‘map’ isn’t understood. The compass mechanism appears to rely on a combination of sun position and possibly iron ferite particles in the brain and trigeminal nerve and in a special organ on the top of the beak. The map mechanism may relate to advanced spatial mapping and interpolation in the brain, possibly assessing and mapping atmospheric odors, magnetic variations, visual landmarks and low-frequency infrasound. Studies of factors that disrupt homing show that all of these mechanisms are present but different breeds of homing pigeons use different sets of navigational cues. Pigeons have a good memory of places they have flown before and always fly in a circle when first taking air, in order to mentally map these factors.

LEARN Sanskrit🙏🏻

धूमिका : Fog

How it works ⁉

How Talc powder is made?

Talcum powder is made from talc, a mineral made up mainly of the elements magnesium, silicon, and oxygen. As a powder, it absorbs moisture well and helps cut down on friction, making it useful for keeping skin dry and helping to prevent rashes

💁🏻‍♂️ GK TODAY

Washing soda is a chemical compound with the formula Na2CO3 , known as sodium carbonate, and it’s a salt of carbonic acid.

🛕 VEDIK GNAN

Story of Kartikeya

Kartikeya also known as Skanda, Kumara ,, Murugan and Subrahmanya, is the Hindu god of war. He is the son of Parvati and Shiva, brother of Ganesha,

Once Sati, the earlier incarnation of Mother Parvati was spending her time with the Lord. Her father Daksha Prajapati wanted to organize a huge Yajna. Daksha was an ardent devotee of Lord Vishnu and never had any regard for Shiva whom he denounced as a mad chap and mendicant given to a wayward life. When Sati wanted to attend the Yajna conducted by her father, Shiva forbade her plans. Sati felt miserable and found her way neglecting Shiva’s advice. When all the gods had assembled there except Shiva, she did not receive a proper welcome which made her feel dishonoured. Therefore, not able to face her Lord who had already advised her not to go, she entered the sacrificial fire and gave up her body.

Subsequently, she was born in the house of Himavan, the ruler of mountains. She ardently worshipped Shiva and once again got married to him. Since the gods had attended the Yajna to which Shiva was not invited, they had to suffer miseries in the hands of demons called Taraka and Surapadma. They prayed for years to Lord Shiva to intervene in the matter and save them. Finally the Lord’s mercy gave way and he decided to give rise to a new manifestation of his power to kill the demons. From Lord Shiva’s eyes came out six sparks. Since they were too hot to be borne by any other element in the creation, the task was given to Agni to carry them forward.

Even Agni could not bear the heat of the sparks and therefore left them in a lake called Saravana. In the lake, the six sparks took form as six divine children. The exquisite charm of the children made Shiva and Parvati so happy and they asked the six Karthika sisters to take care of the babies. Sine the children was reared by Karthika sisters, later the name Karthikeya ensued.

Lord Shiva and Parvati came to the lake and Parvati embraced all the six children together and as a result they got one single body with six heads. This is the reason why Karthikeya is also called Shanmuka (six faced Lord).

Mother Parvati gifted him with the divine weapon called ‘Vel’ and Lord Karthikeya used the weapon to fight with the demons and put them to death. Once he emerged victoriously, he was heralded by the gods in several terms and Indra, the King of gods gifted Karthikeya his daughter Devasena in marriage. The heavens and the worlds witnessed the marriage with celebrity. Karthikeya brought immortal fame to his parents by achieving a stupendous task with ease. Later he manifested in different ways to please his devotees

🧬 HEALTH CARE: HOME REMEDIES🩺

( Note : These home tips followed in villages/ancient traditions, it is up to you to use it or not🙏🏻)

sugarcane juice
One of the most important health benefits of sugarcane juice is that it is a diuretic which means that it helps treat urinary tract infections, kidney stones and ensure proper functioning of the kidneys.

  1. According to Ayurveda, sugarcane juice helps strengthen your liver and is thus suggested as a remedy for jaundice. Jaundice is a condition where you find yellow pigmentation of the skin and membrane due to elevated levels of a substance known as bilirubin in the bodily fluids and is triggered by poor functioning liver. What sugarcane juice does is replenish your body with proteins lost and nutrients that it needs to recover quickly.

Regards
CH. Naveen Kumar

🙏PLZ FOLLOW GOVT. NORMS, MAINT SOCIAL DISTANCE, KEEP YOURSELF & YOUR FAMILY SAFE🌼