• Austria’s capital city Vienna has been rated the world’s most liveable city for the ninth consecutive year by Mercer in its annual Quality of Living survey. Hyderabad and Pune have been rated India’s most liveable cities. Iraq’s capital city Baghdad has been rated the least liveable city.

• General Insurance Corporation is going to start operations at the Lloyd’s London office in April 2018 thereby increasing its share of international business.

• Bihar Governor Satya Pal Malik will discharge the functions of Odisha Governor in addition to his own duties till regular arrangements are made. Odisha Governor SC Jamir has completed his tenure.

• Myanmar’s President and Aung San Suu Kyi’s right-hand man Htin Kyaw has stepped down after two years in the position.

• Myanmar’s Parliament has elected Win Myint as the country’s new President

• The Union Cabinet has approved the launch of ‘Ayushman Bharat’ -National Health Protection mission. The Scheme has the benefit cover of 5 lakh rupees per family per year. The target beneficiaries under the scheme will be over 10 crore poor and vulnerable families. The scheme will subsume the ongoing centrally sponsored schemes-Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) and senior citizen health insurance scheme (SCHIS).

• Indu Bhushan was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Union Government’s ambitious Ayushman Bharat National Health Protection Mission (ABNHPM).

• Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC)has introduced billing through Point of Sale (POS) hand-held machines in trains to check overcharging by vendors.

• Jackfruit has attained a respected status with the state government declaring it as the official fruit of Kerala.

• The Punjab government decided to impose a permanent ban on hookah bars in the state.

• The country’s biggest oil company State-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has launched home-delivery of diesel on a pilot basis in Pune and plans to expand doorstep delivery of the fuel to other parts of the country in near future.

• The Singapore Changi Airport has been named the world’s best airport for the sixth consecutive year by consultancy firm Skytrax. While the Mumbai airport (Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport Mumbai) has been ranked 63rd, the airports in Bangalore (Kempegowda International Airport) and Delhi (Indira Gandhi International Airport) are at 64th and 66th place respectively.

• The World Water Day is observed on 22 March every year, to raise awareness about the importance of water. The theme this year is, ‘Nature for Water’ – exploring nature-based solutions to the water challenges the world faces in the 21st century.

• Canadian mathematician Robert Langlandswon the prestigious Abel Prize for developing a programme connecting representation theory to number theory. Abel Prize has been named after the 19th-century Norwegian mathematician Niels Henrik Abel.

• Chandigarh has become the 1st city in North India to install Automatic Speed Gun Cameras with digital displays for traffic management. The high-tech speed cameras are equipped with night vision technology and will record the speed of oncoming traffic, helping Chandigarh Police to issue challans to anyone driving above the city speed limits.

• The North-eastern state Meghalaya of India, is home to the longest sandstone cave (named Krem Puri) in the world at 24,583 m.

• The First Indian Sign Language Dictionary of 3000 words was launched by Thaawarchand Gehlot, Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment. The dictionary has been developed by Indian Sign Language Research & Training Centre (ISLR&TC) under Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD).

• Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidulaunched the Naipunya Ratham, a multi-utility vehicle.  Also known as ‘World on Wheels (WoW)’, Naipunya Ratham is aimed at taking technology and innovation to the remote corners of the State.

• World Tuberculosis Day was observed on 24 March. The date marks the day in 1882 when Robert Koch announced that he had discovered the bacterium that causes TB. The theme of World TB Day 2018 – “Wanted: Leaders for a TB-free world”.

• Martin Vizcarra has been sworn in as the new president of Peru. Peru Capital-Lima, Currency-  Sol.

• Private sector lender HDFC Bank signed an agreement with the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) under which the bank will facilitate a host of services to the public procurement portal for Central and state government organisations.

• Indian Olympic Association (IOA)chose PV Sindhu as the flag-bearer of the Indian contingent for the opening ceremony of the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games. The opening ceremony will be held on April 4.

• Overhead power cables in world’s oldest city ‘Varanasi ‘ is being dismantled after a project to lay underground lines over 16 sq-km has been finally completed.

• The world’s biggest cruise-liner, Symphony of the Seas, has left the shipyard of Saint-Nazaire in France to embark on its maiden voyage in the Mediterranean.

• India has become the 3rd largest electricity producer in the world. China tops the list in the production of electricity in the world.

• India has overtaken Germany to become the fourth largest automobile market in the world.

• As per the data, based on 2011 census released by Union ministry of Social Justice, there are around 4 lakh beggars in total. The highest number of beggars, 81,000, are in West Bengal. Lakshadweep, a union territory, has only two people (Least) begging for their livelihood.

• Pankaj Advani defended his Asian Billiards Championships title by demolishing his practice partner B Bhaskar 6-1 in the summit clash in Yangon, Myanmar. India’s Amee Kamani won the Asian Women’s Snooker title.

• Indira Gandhi Memorial Tulip Garden was opened for visitors in Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir. It is recognized as Asia’s largest tulip garden.

• Gujarat’s Surat district has become the first district in the country to have 100 percent solar powered Primary Health Centers (PHC).

• The World Theatre Day was celebrated on 27th March .

• Bollywood actress-producer Anushka Sharma and Badminton Ace P.V. Sindhuhad featured in the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia 2018 list. The list includes innovators and disruptors who are reshaping their industries and changing Asia for the better.

• India’s 1st insect Museum opened In Tamil Nadu

• Ministry of Communications has launched the Cool EMS Service between India and Japan. Cool EMS service is one-way service from Japan to India which allows customers in India to import Japanese food items for personal use which is allowed under Indian regulations. Initially, Cool EMS Service will be available in Delhi only. Japan Capital- Tokyo, Currency- Japenese Yen, Prime Minister- Shinzo Abe.

• The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of India signed $80 million loan agreement to help modernize technical and vocational education and training (TVET) institutions and improve the skills ecosystem in the State of Himachal Pradesh.

• The Export-Import Bank, Exim Bank has announced that it will provide a USD 500 million credit facility to Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to fund various development projects in western-south Africa.

• The Donald Trump administration banned all use by Americans of Venezuelan cryptocurrency (Petro). In February 2018, cash-strapped Venezuela became the first country to launch its own version of bitcoin, the petro.

• The first G20 meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors held in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

• SWIFT:-SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication Code) codes are most commonly used for international wire transfers and are comprised of 8 or 11 alphanumeric characters. The International Organization for Standardization (IOS) was the authoritative body that approved the creation of SWIFT codes.