Current Affairs Quiz - March 2026

Notes:
A recent study warns that climate change may restrict the habitat of the Nilgiri Wood Pigeon to a few isolated pockets in the Western Ghats by the end of the century. It is an endemic pigeon species of the Western Ghats in India. It is large, dark in colour, with a distinctive checkerboard pattern on its nape. It lives in high-elevation wet evergreen, moist evergreen, semi-evergreen forests and shola forests. It is mainly found in the Nilgiris and Anamalai Hills, with isolated populations in Biligirirangan Hills, Nandi Hills and northern Maharashtra.

Notes:
The Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates has launched the world’s first Sovereign Financial Cloud Services Infrastructure (SFCSI). It is developed with Core42, a subsidiary of G42. The platform ensures data sovereignty, meaning financial data remains within the UAE’s legal and security boundaries. It offers integrated cybersecurity, unified multi-cloud management, and Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based analytics. It allows real-time processing, automation, and predictive risk analysis for licensed financial institutions. It reduces dependence on foreign cloud providers and strengthens regulatory control.

Notes:
Union Minister Pralhad Joshi inaugurated the 70th Foundation Day of Central Warehousing Corporation on 2 March 2026 at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi. Central Warehousing Corporation is a Central Public Sector Enterprise under Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and supports food security, storage and logistics. In Financial Year 2024–25, it recorded highest turnover ₹2,776.88 crore and Profit Before Tax ₹711.60 crore, higher than Financial Year 2023–24. It proposed ₹160.10 crore dividend and aims for higher growth in Financial Year 2025–26 through digital and infrastructure expansion.

Notes:
The inaugural edition of the Raisina Science Diplomacy Initiative (SDI) was held on 5 March 2026 at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi. It was organised as part of the Raisina Dialogue. The initiative was jointly launched by Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India and Observer Research Foundation (ORF). It aims to create a global platform focused on the growing role of science and technology in international diplomacy and policy-making.

Notes:
NITI Aayog signed a Statement of Intent (SOI) with UNICEF India to support strategic interventions in Aspirational Districts and Blocks. The agreement aims to leverage both institutions’ strengths to improve maternal and child nutrition in underserved areas. UNICEF India, via IMPAct4Nutrition (I4N), will provide technical expertise and engage businesses, public sector enterprises, and industry associations to channel Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) investments into nutrition-focused initiatives. IMPAct4Nutrition (I4N) is primarily an initiative of UNICEF India.

Notes:
Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal laid the foundation stones for four riverine lighthouses along the Brahmaputra River, the first such lighthouses on an inland waterway in India. The lighthouses will be constructed at Bogibeel, Pandu, Silghat, and Biswanath Ghat along National Waterway-2, with a total investment of ₹84 crore. The project aims to strengthen inland waterways as a sustainable, cost-efficient transport mode, reducing carbon emissions compared to road transport.

Notes:
Astronomers using the MeerKAT telescope in South Africa discovered the brightest and most distant megamaser. MeerKAT is a precursor to the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) telescope located in South Africa. It is designed for advanced radio astronomy. A megamaser is a giant beam of electromagnetic radiation produced when two galaxies collide violently. During such cosmic mergers, large gas clouds compress, exciting hydroxyl (OH) molecules, which emit high-energy microwaves.

Notes:
Researchers found that Deinococcus radiodurans can survive extremely high pressures of 14,000–24,000 Earth atmospheres, similar to pressures during planetary impacts. It is a bacterium famous for its extreme resistance to ionizing radiation, earning the nickname “Conan the Bacterium.” The organism is gram-positive, non-motile, and reddish in colour. It was first discovered in 1956 in radiation-treated canned meat. It can survive radiation doses thousands of times higher than those fatal to humans, making it one of the most radiation-resistant organisms on Earth.

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The Nirbhaya Nisha initiative has been launched by the Kerala Police to ensure women’s safety at night. The initiative provides rapid police assistance between 9 PM and 5 AM via 112 emergency helpline, Pol-App SOS, and strengthened night patrols. Various organisations across the state conducted seminars, competitions, rallies, and awareness events to celebrate women and promote safety.

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Delhi hosted the National Conference of Women Thinkers on the theme ‘Bharati – Nari Se Narayani’. The conference highlighted that national progress is reflected in women’s advancement, education, and empowerment. It emphasized that women are both carriers of tradition and agents of societal change, and their empowerment is a collective societal responsibility. Initiatives have been launched to make women economically, socially, and professionally self-reliant, including schemes like ‘Lakhpati Bitiya Yojana’ and ‘Saheli Pink Smart Card’. Women’s power is recognized as an emerging force of national strength.