The Centre has approved two corridors of the Surat Metro project to be executed at an estimated cost of around 12,000 crore rupees.

The Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry said in a statement that the project will be implemented by the Gujarat Metro Rail Corporation and it will be completed in five years.

The length of the first corridor from Sarthana to Dream City line will be aroung 21.61 kilometers and the second corridor from Bhesan to Saroli will be 18.74 kilometres.

The project will be financed mainly through equity from the Centre and state government on 50-50 basis.

It will provide continuous availability of affordable, reliable, secure and seamless transport system in the urban agglomeration of the city.

The 34th edition of AAHAR - the International Food and Hospitality fair is inaugrated at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi by Minister for Commerce and Industry Suresh Prabhu

The fair will feature a wide range of food products, machinery, hospitality and Decoration and Confectionery items from over 560 participants from India and abroad.

Around 20 countries including US, Russia, China, UK, Germany, Italy and Singapore will participate in the five-day fair.

The fair will showcase new trends in food and beverage, hospitality, culinary technology, retail and new innovations.

It will also offer an insight into the operational and food safety concerns and innovations to become energy-efficient, finding budget-friendly raw materials for boosting productivity while still aiming for greater profitability.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina jointly unveiled e-plaques for development projects in Bangladesh on 11 March 2019 through video conferencing.

Both the leaders unveiled e-plaques for the supply of buses and trucks, the inauguration of 36 community clinics, 11 water treatment plants, and extension of National Knowledge Network to Bangladesh.

Mr. Narendra Modi said the National Knowledge Network will connect scholars and research institutes in Bangladesh, to India and the world.

He said the buses and trucks would assist the efforts towards affordable public transportation; water treatment plants will help supply clean water; and community clinics will benefit about two lakh people, in Bangladesh.

The Centre has justified its law granting 10% quota for Economically Weaker Section (EWS). According to centre, the quota is been brought to promote social equality.

In an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court on 12 March 2019, the centre said the Constitution Amendment was necessitated to benefit the economically weaker sections of the society who were not covered within the existing schemes of reservation.

The affidavit was filed in connection with a matter where a batch of petitions has challenged the validity of the Constitution Amendment.

India and the United States have committed to strengthen bilateral security and civil nuclear cooperation, including the establishment of six US nuclear power plants in India.

US reaffirmed its strong support of India’s early membership in the Nuclear Suppliers Group.

This commitment was made at the 9^th round of the India-US Strategic Security Dialogue held in Washington DC.

India and US also exchanged views on a wide range of global security and nonproliferation challenges.

They reaffirmed their commitment to work together to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems and to deny access to such weapons by terrorists and non-state actors.

The first meeting between India and Pakistan to discuss and finalize the modalities for Kartarpur Corridor is held at Indian side of the Attari-Wagah border on 14 March 2019.

The meeting is being held in keeping with Government's decision to operationalize the Kartarpur Corridor on the occasion of the 550th Birth Anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev in November 2019.

It also aims at meeting the long-pending public demand to have easy and smooth access to the holy Gurudwara in Pakistan. India has identified 50 acres of land for the Kartarpur Sahib corridor.

The Passenger Terminal Building complex, to be built in two phases, will be a state of the art green building and display murals/photographs based on rich Indian cultural values.

Efforts are being made to ensure that the first phase of the Passenger Terminal Building become operational well before the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev.

The design of the complex is inspired by the symbol 'Khanda' which symbolizes values of oneness and humanity. The building will facilitate movement of nearly five thousand pilgrims every day.

Robust security system will be put in place in and around the Passenger Terminal Building.

World Kidney Day is observed on 14 March 2019.

The day is observed annually on the second Thursday in March to create awareness on the importance of kidneys and reducing the frequency and impact of kidney diseases.

The theme this year is, 'Kidney Health for Everyone Everywhere'. It calls for universal health coverage for prevention and early treatment of kidney diseases.

Several events are being held across the country on the occasion to raise awareness about kidneys and highlight that diabetes and high blood pressure are key risk factors for Chronic Kidney Diseases.

We should control blood sugar and avoid pain killers to avoid kidney-related diseases.

President Ram Nath Kovind will confer the remaining Padma awards on prominent personalities at a civil investiture ceremony in Rashtrapati Bhawan on 16 March 2019.

This year (2019), 112 personalities were selected for the Padma awards, which were announced on the eve of Republic Day.

The first set of Padma award was given on 11th March 2019 in which Mr. Ram Nath Kovind had presented one Padma Vibhushan, eight Padma Bhushan and forty-six Padma Shri Awards.

The Centre and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have signed a 26 million dollar loan agreement to provide additional financing for improving drainage infrastructure in Dibrugarh town of Assam.

The ongoing loan of 51 million dollars under the Assam Urban Infrastructure Investment Program is helping to improve water supply infrastructure in Guwahati and solid waste management and drainage infrastructure in Guwahati and Dibrugarh.

Additional Secretary in Department of Economic Affairs Sameer Kumar Khare and India Resident Mission of ADB, Hoe Yun Jeong signed the agreement in New Delhi.

Bharat electronics limited presented SWAGAT-the automatic fare collection gating system

Narendra Modi launched the system as part of the inaugural of Phase-I of the Ahmedabad Metro.

SWAGAT is an initiative by the ministry of housing and urban affairs in collaboration with BEL and center for development of advanced computing with the support of DMRC, NPCI, and SBI.

Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Puri on 07 March 2019 launched e-Dharti app where all the three modules- Conversion, Substitution and Mutation related to properties have been made online.

The payment system in Land and Development Office, L&DO has also been completely digitized.

Work is also going on other three small modules namely Sale Permission, Mortgage Permission and Gift Permission will be completed soon.

The public can now submit their applications online by visiting the L&DO website and are not required to visit this office for submission of them and for follow up of their applications.

Mr Puri also launched e-Dharti Geo Portal, through which the lessee of the property will be able to see the basic details of property along with map showing its location.

The lessee can also be issued a Property Card from this office about his property if he asks for it.

This application will not only benefit public but the Government also in getting to know the actual status of its vacant properties, whether there is any encroachment on the property.

Dr. Ausaf Sayeed, presently High Commissioner of India to the Republic of Seychelles, has been appointed as the next ambassador of India to Saudi Arabia.

An External Affairs Ministry release said, the Indian Foreign Service officer of the 1989 batch, Sayeed will succeed Ahmad Javed, who had been serving as envoy to Saudi Arabia since December 2015.

Mr. Sayeed has handled different areas including political, economic, consular and cultural work, besides Haj management and served as Ambassador to Yemen and Consul General of India in Chicago and Jeddah.

Swachh Survekhshan-2019 Awards are presented by Presdent Ram Nath Kovind in New Delhi.

Indore has bagged the cleanest city award for third straight year under Swachh Survekshan, 2019.

New Delhi Municipal Council area got the cleanest small city award.

Uttarakhand's Gauchar was adjudged the Best Ganga Town in the survey.

Swachh Survekshan 2019 covered all Urban Local Bodies in the country, making it the largest such cleanliness survey in the world.

The eighth edition of joint military exercise between the armies of India and Bangladesh began with an impressive ceremony at Bongobondhu Cantonment in Tangail, Bangladesh.

The joint military exercise 'Sampriti' is aiming to increase mutual cooperation, friendliness and companionship between the armies of two countries.

In a statement, Ministry of Defence said that the exercise is a part of the ongoing India-Bangladesh defence cooperation. The Bangladesh contingent was represented by 36 East Bengal Battalion, while Indian side was represented by 9th Battalion of the Rajputana Rifles.

A company group from Bangladesh Army and an equal number from Indian Army are taking part in the two-week long exercise that will see them hone their tactical and technical skills in countering the insurgency, counter-terrorism and aid to civil authorities for disaster management in a UN peacekeeping scenario involving a combined deployment at a battalion level.

President Ram Nath Kovind has given his assent to an ordinance that allows voluntary use of Aadhaar as ID proof for obtaining mobile SIM cards and opening bank accounts.

The ordinance was necessitated because the Rajya Sabha could not approve a Bill after its passage by the Lok Sabha. Last week, the Cabinet had approved the promulgation of an ordinance to give effect to changes proposed in Aadhaar and two others legislations.

The amendments provide for stiff penalties for violation of norms set for the use of Aadhaar and violation of privacy. The ordinance gives effect to the changes in the Aadhaar Act such as giving a child an option to exit from the biometric ID programme on attaining 18 years of age.

The amendments also make it clear that anyone not offering Aadhaar cannot be denied any service, be it opening of a bank account or obtaining a mobile phone SIM card.

The amendments will enable UIDAI to have a more robust mechanism to serve the public interest and restrain the misuse of Aadhaar.

President has also given his assent to the draft Homoeopathy Central Council (Amendment) Ordinance, 2019. It seeks to extend the period for reconstitution of the Central Council from existing period of one year to two years so that the tenure of the Board of Governors may be extended for a further period of one year with effect from 17th May 2019.

President has also given his assent to an ordinance for an amendment to the special economic zones act, 2005. The present provision of the SEZs Act, 2005 do not permit trusts to set up units in special economic zones. The amendment will enable a trust to be considered for grant of permission to set up a unit in special economic zones. This will facilitate investments in Special Economic Zones.

The Union cabinet approved the “Pradhan Mantri JI-VAN Yojana” (Jaiv Indhan-vatvaran anukool fasal Awashesh Nivaran) on 28 February 2019.

The aim of aim of the scheme is provide financial support to integrated bioethanol projects using lignocellulosic biomass and other renewable feedstock.

The yojana will be supported with total financial outlay Rs.1969.50crore for 5 years.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh will inaugurate the project BOLD-QIT (Border Electronically Dominated QRT Interception Technique) on India-Bangladesh border in Dhubri District of Assam.

Border Security Force, BSF is responsible for safeguarding of over four thousand kilometer long International Border with Bangladesh. At various places, it is not possible to erect Border Fence due to the geographical barriers.

The 61 kilometer of Border area in Dhubri District, where River Brahmaputra enters into Bangladesh is consisting of vast char lands and innumerable river channels thus making border guarding in this area, a daunting task especially during rainy season.

To overcome this problem, in the year 2017, Ministry of Home Affairs decided to go for technological solution besides the physical presence of manpower of BSF.

In January 2018, Information and Technology Wing of BSF undertook the project BOLD-QIT under Comprehensive Integrated Border Management system and completed it in record time with the technical support of various manufacturers and suppliers.

The implementation of this project will not only help BSF to curb all types of cross border crimes but also provide respite to the troops from round the clock human surveillance.

In September last year, the Home Minister inaugurated two smart-fencing pilot projects of five kilometer each on India-Pakistan international border in Jammu.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Mandhan Yojana, PM-SYM, in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

The national pension scheme for workers and labourers of unorganized sector was announced in the interim budget in February this year. It will provide monthly pension of 3000 rupees to the employees of unorganized sector after 60 years of age.

Mr. Modi also distributed the PM-SYM pension cards to select beneficiaries. The Prime Minister said the scheme is an extension of various social security schemes implemented during the last five years. He said, 42 crore workers from un-organized sectors are eligible for this scheme by contributing 55 to 200 rupees monthly.

A Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, was signed on 06 March 2019 between the National Centre for Good Governance (NCGG) and the Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA) to ensure better utilization of infrastructure facilities during training programmes.

The NCGG has been set up by the government of India under the aegis of DARPG. It aims to promote good governance through capacity building on public policy and governance both at national and international level and carrying out studies research on issues relating to governance.