AU SFB Bonds & SBI Solar Loan

Banking, Finance, Insurance & Economic Affairs

• AU Small Finance Bank (AU SFB) has raised Rs 770 crore through Tier-II bonds
• The bonds have a 9.20% coupon and a 10-year maturity
• There is a call option exercisable 5 years from the issuance date
• ICRA & CARE rated the issue ‘AA/Stable’
• AU SFB launched the issue at a base size of Rs 400 Cr with a green shoe option
• HDFC Bank was the lead manager and anchor investor along with Nippon India MF
• AU SFB HQs are in Jaipur, Rajasthan
• Sanjay Agarwal is the MD & CEO and Uttam Tibrewal is the Executive Director & Deputy CEO
• Luminous Power Technologies and SBI signed an MoU for financing solar installations in India
• Loans up to Rs 10 crore will be available to eligible customers across sectors
• Disbursed loans will have durations up to 10 years, with interest rates based on credit profile
• Headquarters for Luminous Power Technologies are in Gurgaon, Haryana
• Preeti Bajaj is the CEO & MD, established in 1988
• SBI HQs are located in Mumbai, Maharashtra, with Challa Sreenivasulu Setty as Chairman
• Zuno General Insurance announced “Zuno SmartDrive”, integrating Pay-How-You-Drive (PHYD) feature
• It claims to be the first insurer in India to offer mobile telematics embedded in car insurance
• Zuno SmartDrive calculates premiums based on real-time driving behavior; safer driving results in lower premiums
• Customers can monitor scores through the Zuno app
• Zuno Gen Ins HQs are in Mumbai, Maharashtra
• Shanai is the MD & CEO, and Rashesh Shah is the Chairman

Dearness Allowance (DA)

• The Union Cabinet approved an additional Dearness Allowance (DA) instalment for Central Government employees
• It takes effect January 1, 2025
• 48.66 lakh Central Govt employees and 66.55 lakh pensioners will get a 2% increase of basic pay or pension
• The increase will cost Rs 6,614.04 Cr per annum
• The Over existing rate is – 53%
• It follows recommendations of the 7th Central Pay Commission (2016-2026)

Defence Affairs

• The Ministry of Defence (MoD) signed contracts worth Rs 2,500 crore for Nag Missile System (NAMIS) and light vehicles
• A Rs 1,801-crore contract was signed with Armoured Vehicle Nigam Limited (AVNL) for NAMIS
• NAMIShas been developed by DRDO
• MoD also signed 2 deals with Force Motors Ltd and Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd for about 5,000 light vehicles
• All contracts were signed under the Buy (Indian-IDDM) category
• The limit of foreign direct investment (FDI) in defence manufacturing increased to 74% from 49%
• On Feb 1, 2025, India set aside more than Rs 6.81 lakh Cr for defence spending, including Rs 1.8 lakh Cr for modernisation
• 75% of modernisation outlay will be spent on domestic weapons and equipment
• AVNL HQs are in Chennai, Tamil Nadu
• Sanjay Dwivedi is the Chairperson
• AVNL was Established in 2021
• Force Motors Ltd HQs are in Pune, Maharashtra
• Abhay Firodia is the Chairman
• M&M HQs are in Mumbai, Maharashtra
• Anand Mahindra is the Chairman and Anish Shah is the CEO
• The Minister of Defence is Rajnath Singh and his constituency is Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh
• Sanjay Seth is the MoS in the Ministry of Defence

Military Exercises

• The 14th edition of the Indian - Russia bilateral naval exercise “INDRA” happens off Chennai from Mar 28-Apr 2, 2025
• Exercise INDRA started in 2003
• It is conducted in two phases, including the ‘Harbour phase’ from Mar 28-30, 2025 (Chennai) and ‘Sea phase’ from Mar 31-Apr2, 2025 (Bay of Bengal)
• INS Rana, INS Kuthar & Maritime patrol aircraft P8l participates in the exercise
• Moscow is the Russian capital, and the Russian Ruble is the currency
• Mikhail Mishustin is the PM, and Vladimir Putin is the President

DRDO Developments

• The Indian Army successfully tested an in-house developed FPV drone with an impact-based anti-tank munition
• The kamikaze operation took place in Pathankot, Punjab
• It was developed in collaboration with TBRL (Chandigarh)
• Launched in Aug 2024; and assembled at Rising Star Drone Battle School
• DRDO and the Indian Navy flight-tested indigenous VLSRSAM at ITR in Chandipur, off Odisha
• VLSRSAM is a Vertically-Launched Short-Range Surface-to-Air Missile
• New Delhi is the HQs of the Indian Army
• General Upendra Dwivedi is the Chief
• Lt. Gen. NS Raja Subramani is the Vice Chief
• New Delhi is the HQs of the Indian Navy
• Admiral Dinesh K. Tripathi is the Chief
• Vice Admiral Krishna Swaminathan is Vice Chief
• New Delhi is the HQs of DRDO
• Samir V. Kamat is the Chairman, established in 1958

Sports and Games

• Haryana topped the medal tally with 104 medals (34 gold, 39 silver, 31 bronze) in KIOP
• The 2nd edition of “Khelo India Para Games 2025 (KIPG 2025)” was held
• Tamil Nadu was next with 74 medals (28 gold, 19 silver, 27 bronze)
• Uttar Pradesh had 64 medals (23 gold, 21 silver, 20 bronze)
• The competition took place at in New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium, IG Indoor Stadium, Karni Singh Shooting Range
• A total of 596 medals were awarded (189 gold, 189 silver, 218 bronze)
• Male athletes won 346 medals (110 gold, 109 silver, 127 bronze)
• Female athletes secured 250 medals (79 gold, 80 silver, 91 bronze)

Science & Technology

• The ‘Nila’ satellite, named after Kerala’s longest river will control the movement of critical components
• It was Nila was launched by SpaceX’s Transporter 13 mission
• Nila ferried the actuator payload made by German firm Decubed
• It was put together by Kerala-based Hex20 and backed by IN-SPACe
• ISRO supported the Nila project and gave clearance for establishing a tracking station at Marian Engineering College
• SpaceX HQs are in Texas, U.S.
• Elon Musk is the Founder & CEO, established in 2002

IUCN on Lion populations

• The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) released its "Green Status Assessment for the Lion (Panthera leo)”
• The species is ranked as ‘Largely Depleted’
• The species remains ‘Vulnerable’ on the IUCN Red List
• The Green Status assessment shows that lions are extinct in North Africa & Southwest Asia
• The assessment tool uses 8 recovery categories, including: Fully Recovered, Slightly Depleted, Moderately Depleted, Largely Depleted, Critically Depleted, Extinct in the Wild, Non-Depleted, and Indeterminate
• Currently, IUCN SSC divides lions into: Panthera leo leo (Central Africa, West Africa, Asia) & Panthera leo melanochaita (Southern & East Africa)
• Headquarters are in Gland, Switzerland
• Razan Al Mubarak is the President
• Bruno Oberle is the CEO, established in 1948

Global Financial Centres Index

• Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT-City) improved its ranking on the Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI 37)
• GIFT-City secured the top rank in reputational advantage
• GFCI 37 is compiled by Z/Yen Group
• GIFT-City is India’s 1st operational smart city & maiden International Financial Services Centre

Agreements

• India and Japan have signed loan agreements worth ¥191.736 billion for 6 projects
• The projects focus on forest management, water supply, urban transport, aquaculture, etc
• Japan is providing Official Development Assistance (ODA) to India
• The agreements include the Tamil Nadu Investment Promotion Program - Phase 3 (¥36.114 billion)
• Delhi Mass Rapid Transport System Project - Phase 4 (¥79.726 billion)
• Construction of the Chennai Seawater Desalination Plant (¥52.556 billion)
• Project for Capacity Enhancement for Effective Forest Management (¥8.280 billion)
• Assam State Aquaculture Promotion and Livelihood Improvement Project (¥3.580 billion)
• Punjab Biodiversity and Natural Resources Conservation Project (¥11.480 billion)
• Tokyo is the capital of Japan and the currency is Yen
• Shigeru Ishiba is the PM

IREDA

• Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) signed a Facility Agreement for raising External Commercial Borrowing (ECB)
• Funds are borrowed from SBI, Tokyo Branch, for JPY 26 billion (Japanese Yen), including a Green Shoe Option of JPY 10 billion
• The ECB would strengthen IREDA’s global presence
• IREDA HQs are in New Delhi
• Pradip Kumar Das is the CMD
• The Motto is “Energy for Ever", founded in 1987

BISAG-N

• The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India and BISAG-N have signed an MoU
• BISAG-N’s full name is the Bhaskaracharya National Institute of Space Application and Geo-informatics
• This leverages advanced technologies in geographic information systems and Remote sensing
• It will strengthen the audit framework by providing customized geo-spatial solutions for audit-related projects
• K. Sanjay Murthy is the CAG of India.
• BISAG-N is located in Gandhinagar, Gujarat
  • TP Singh is the DG, founded in 2003

Other Miscellaneous News & Current Static GK

• March 28 is the 3rd Universal Acceptance Day
• The theme is “Connecting the Unconnected - Building a Multilingual Internet for Viksit Bharat”
• “Ripples of Change: Gender-transformative Rural WASH Programmes in India” book was launched by C. R. Patil
• “Lobothorax Bharat”, a parasitic species of parasitic was discovered in Ganjam and Balasore districts of Odisha
• Jhajjar-Bachauli Wildlife Sanctuary (leopard safari destination) is in Punjab
• The 7th Act East Business Show was in Shillong, Meghalaya
• ‘Operation Devil Hunt’ is a large-scale security operation in Bangladesh