NEWS 12-03-2024. News For 15th-Mar (Friday) NATIONAL 1.India and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) comprising Switzerland, Iceland, Norway, and Liechtenstein have signed a Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA). The FDI in India will increase by $100 billion over the next 15 years generating 1 million jobs. 2.Govt has announced the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) on 11, March 2024. Its purpose is to grant Indian citizenship to refugees belonging to *6 communities* (Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, and Parsis)*, who have fled religious persecution from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan and entered India on or before December 31, 2014. 3.PM Narendra Modi, during the Viksit Bharat Viksit North East programme in Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh on March 09, 2024, virtually dedicated the Sela Tunnel project to the nation. Constructed by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) at an altitude of 13,000 feet. INTERNATIONAL 1.Krystyna Pyszkova from the Czech Republic has became the new Miss World 2024, the event was held in Mumbai, India. 2.The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Bank Indonesia (BI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for establishing a framework to promote the use of local currencies, the Indian Rupee (INR) and the Indonesian Rupiah (IDR)) for cross-border transactions. SPORTS 1.Indian badminton stars Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty have won the BWF French Open men's doubles title, defeating Chinese Taipei's Lee Jhe-Huei and Yang Po-Hsuan in the final. 2.Cricketer Yashasvi Jaiswal, the young Indian opener, has been named the ICC Men's Player of the Month. He became the third - youngest batter in the world to record two double centuries in Tests, after the legendary Sir Donald Bradman and Vinod Kambli. 3.England's James Anderson became the 3rd bowler after Muthiah Muralidaran and Shane Warne to take 700 wickets in test matches. DEFENCE 1.DRDO has successfully conducted the maiden flight test of the locally developed Agni-5 missile with *multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicle (MIRV)* technology. 2.*Sea Defenders -2024,'* a joint exercise between the United States Coast Guard (USCG) and the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) was conducted on 9-10 march to bloster Indo - Pacific maritime cooperation. < < Back