4.5/5
Current Affairs 19th March 2026
IMPORTANT FACTS
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First Woman Chief Minister: Sucheta Kriplani
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First Deputy Prime Minister: Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
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First Indian to travel in space: Rakesh Sharma
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First Indian woman to Win Olympic medal: Karnam Malleswari
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First Woman Chief Justice of HC: Leila Seth
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First Indian to Win Nobel Prize in Economics: Amartya Sen
1. RBI Wins ‘Initiative of the Year’ Award for ‘.bank.in’ Domain Rollout
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Global First in Cyber-Security: With this initiative, India became the first country globally to mandate a secure, exclusive, and verifiable internet domain specifically for its banking system. The award recognizes this as a "global benchmark" in financial cybersecurity, helping to strike a major blow against phishing and domain-spoofing frauds.
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Mandatory Migration & Exclusivity: The RBI mandated that all licensed banks—including public, private, small finance, and foreign banks—migrate their official websites and net banking portals to the .bank.in extension by October 31, 2025. Only RBI-regulated entities are permitted to use this domain, ensuring that any URL ending in .bank.in is a guarantee of legitimacy for the consumer.
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Collaborative Implementation: The rollout was executed through a high-level collaboration involving the National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) and the Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology (IDRBT), which serves as the exclusive registrar.
2. Vikram K Doraiswami appointed as Ambassador of India to the People's Republic of China
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Seasoned Diplomatic Profile: A 1992-batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer, Doraiswami is currently serving as India’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. He will succeed the incumbent ambassador, Pradeep Kumar Rawat, and is expected to take up the assignment in Beijing shortly.
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Extensive Regional Expertise: This appointment marks a return to China for Doraiswami. He previously served at the Indian Embassy in Beijing for four years (1996–2000) and holds a diploma in the Chinese language from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. His past roles include serving as Ambassador to South Korea and Uzbekistan, and High Commissioner to Bangladesh.
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Strategic Timing: His appointment comes at a critical juncture as India and China continue high-level diplomatic engagements to resolve the prolonged border standoff in eastern Ladakh.
3. Indian Navy launches IOS SAGAR 2026
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Expanded Participation (IONS Chairmanship): This edition coincides with India assuming the chairmanship of the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) in February 2026. Consequently, the program has expanded significantly, featuring participation from naval personnel of 16 IONS member nations, up from 10 countries in the inaugural 2025 edition.
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Operational Training Model: The initiative is designed as a "living" operational engagement. It begins with professional training at naval establishments in Kochi, followed by a sea phase where international personnel are embedded onboard an Indian Naval Ship. They train and sail alongside Indian crews, participating in real-time navigation, seamanship, and maritime security drills.
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Strategic Vision (MAHASAGAR): IOS SAGAR is a key operational pillar of India's broader maritime vision—SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region).
4. Keki M. Mistry appointed Interim Chairman of HDFC Bank
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Sudden Resignation of Atanu Chakraborty: The appointment follows the abrupt resignation of the previous Part-time Chairman, Atanu Chakraborty, on March 18, 2026. In his resignation letter, the former IAS officer and ex-Finance Secretary cited "certain happenings and practices within the bank" over the last two years that were "not in congruence" with his personal values and ethics.
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Interim Tenure and Experience: Keki Mistry has been appointed for a specific interim period of three months. A qualified Chartered Accountant with over 40 years of experience, Mistry is a stalwart of the HDFC group, having previously served as the Vice Chairman and CEO of HDFC Limited before its historic $40 billion merger with HDFC Bank in 2023.
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Focus on Governance Continuity: The RBI's swift approval of Mistry—who was already a Non-Executive Director on the board—is seen as a move to ensure stability at India's largest private-sector lender.
5. NBSL appoints Mahendra Singh Dhoni as Brand Ambassador for BHIM App
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"Bharat Ka Apna Payments App" Campaign: The partnership is part of a major rebranding and expansion effort to position BHIM as "Bharat Ka Apna Payments App." The goal is to move beyond being just a functional tool and become the preferred digital payment choice for every Indian household, especially in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.
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Focus on Trust and Inclusivity: The selection of MS Dhoni is a strategic move to leverage his national reputation for trust, reliability, and composure—qualities the app wants to associate with digital transactions. To drive financial inclusion, the app has been optimized for low-connectivity environments and now supports more than 15 regional languages.
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Strategic Growth Phase: As BHIM approaches a decade of operations, NBSL (led by MD & CEO Lalitha Nataraj) aims to use this association to deepen user confidence and scale adoption.
6. Ministry of Culture Launches Gyan Bharatam National Manuscript Survey
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Largest-ever Mapping Drive: The survey is a three-month intensive exercise aimed at identifying and documenting an estimated one crore (10 million) manuscripts across India. It is a "district-level" upward operation, targeting manuscripts held not just in museums and libraries, but also in private collections, temples, and monasteries.
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Technology-Driven Framework: The mission utilizes the Gyan Bharatam mobile app for real-time data uploading and geo-tagging of manuscript locations. This data will form the backbone of a National Digital Repository (NDR), which uses AI-integrated tools for standardized digitization, metadata creation, and long-term secure storage (using LTO-9 tapes and cloud backups).
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Institutional Network & Funding: To ensure professional execution, the government has onboarded a network of 45 specialized centers (28 Cluster Centers and 17 Independent Centers) across 28 States/UTs.
7. Tata Steel Signs MoU with USTB to Develop Low-Carbon Steelmaking Technologies
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"Cradle of China's Steel Industry": The partner institution, USTB (founded in 1952), is a premier research university known as the "Cradle of China's Steel Industry." The partnership will leverage USTB’s specialized experimental and pilot-scale facilities to test new metallurgical ideas before they are scaled up for industrial use at Tata Steel’s plants.
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Global Decarbonization Roadmap: This move aligns with Tata Steel’s broader goal of achieving Net Zero by 2045. By partnering with a leading global academic institution.
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Synergy with the "Hisarna" Project: This collaboration enhances Tata Steel's HIsarna technology by integrating Carbon Capture (CCS) and Hydrogen-based reduction, aiming to transition from low-carbon to near-zero emission steel production.
8. RITES Wins National Mobility Award 2026
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Award Category: RITES received the award in the "Metro, Rail & Multimodal Integration" category. This recognition highlights the company's excellence in designing future-ready, sustainable, and integrated transport systems that provide seamless connectivity across different modes of travel.
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Context of the Win: The award was presented during the 2nd Elets National Mobility Summit & Awards, organized in collaboration with the Telangana Transport Department. The summit focused on the "MAHASAGAR" framework and India's vision for smart, modern infrastructure under PM Gati Shakti, where RITES' role in urban transit and logistics planning was singled out as a benchmark.
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Triple Recognition in 2026: This is the third major accolade for RITES in early 2026. Previously, on January 30, it won the "Excellence in Sustainable Engineering" award for its work on the USBRL (Kashmir Rail Link) project.
WHAT HAPPENED TODAY?
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Texas Revolution effectively ended this time in 1836.
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Texas became an independent country called the Republic of Texas (1836–1845).
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Later, it joined the United States in 1845.
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