The USD 245-billion Indian technology industry on Mar 1 flagged the "employability gap" in engineering graduates, saying that the education system is not focusing on building strong foundational and professional skills.

Debjani Ghosh, the president of the technology industry lobby Nasscom said  that the gap in skillsets forces IT companies to spend more time in training the freshers before they are deployed, which results in significant costs.

Over the last two decades, Indian IT companies have been rendering services for the world courtesy of cost arbitrage and the number of engineering graduates which the country puts out into the market every year.

But the changing nature of requirements seems to have led to disappointments.

Ghosh said that today's engineers are not working in backoffice any more, but sitting with the customers as the industry shifts from service provider to digital transformation partner.

Decorated Australia cricket captain Meg Lanning will skipper the Delhi Capitals in the inaugural Women's Premier League.

The 30-year-old has led her country to four Twenty20 World Cup titles -- the latest in South Africa last month -- and a one-day crown.

The WPL, a T20 competition, begins on Mar 4 and has been touted as a game-changer for women's cricket.

Q1. Name the country which has approved the sale to Taiwan of $619 million in munitions for F-16 fighter jets  in a move likely to anger Beijing ?

1. France
2. Germany
3. Israel
4. US
5. None of These

Q2.  Who has been elected as the new President of Nigeria ?

1. Bola Tinubu
2. Atiku Abubakar
3. Muhammadu Buhari
4. Ibrahim Babangida
5. None of These

Q3. Name the Indian-American Republican presidential candidate who has said that Pakistan is home to at least a dozen terrorist organisations and it should not receive any aid from the US, ramping up her attack on America's adversaries ?

1. Kamala Harris
2. Bobby Jindal
3. Nikki Haley
4. Vivek Ramaswamy
5. None of These

Q4.  Name the  India’s newest airline which  will place an order for aircraft  numbering in three digits by the end of this year ?

1. Air India
2. Akasa Air
3. IndiGo
4. Spicejet
5. None of These

Q5. Name the global rating major  which on  March 1  has raised the country’s growth projection for 2023-24 to 5.5% from the 4.8% it had pegged earlier in November 2022 on the back of a sharp increase in capital expenditure in the Budget and a resilient economic momentum ?

1. CRISIL
2. Fitch Ratings
3. S&P Global Ratings
4. Moody’s Investors Service
5. None of These

Q6. Name the  all-time top scorer in a single  FIFA World Cup finals with 13 goals and who  has died recently ?

1. Just Fontaine
2. Alfredo Di Stefano
3. Johan Cruyff
4. Michel Platini
5. None of These

Answers

1-------------------------------4   US

2-------------------------------1   Bola Tinubu

3--------------------------------3   Nikki Haley

4----------------------------------2  Akasa Air

5-----------------------------------4   Moody’s Investors Service

6-----------------------------------1  Just Fontaine

Jailed former Samajwadi Party MP and gangster Atiq Ahmed on  Mar 1 moved the Supreme Court for protection, claiming that he and his family have been falsely "roped in" as accused in the Umesh Pal murder case in Prayagraj and he may be killed in a fake encounter by the Uttar Pradesh Police.

In his plea, Ahmed, who is presently lodged at the central jail Ahmedabad in Gujarat, has referred to the statement made by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on the floor of the Assembly to "completely ruin and destroy" him and claimed there is a "genuine and perceptible threat" to his and his family members' lives.

He said the Uttar Pradesh Police in all likelihood will seek his transit remand and also police remand to take him from Ahmedabad to Prayagraj and he "genuinely apprehends that he may be eliminated during this transit period".

In his plea filed in the apex court, 61-year-old Ahmed has sought directions to the Centre, state of Uttar Pradesh and others to protect his life against the "open, direct and immediate threat" to his life from high state functionaries of Uttar Pradesh.

Umesh Pal, who was the prime witness in then BSP MLA Raju Pal's murder in 2005, and his police security guard Sandeep Nishad were shot dead outside his home in Dhoomanganj area of Prayagraj.

Umesh Pal was a key witness in the 2005 MLA murder case in Prayagraj in which Ahmed and others are prime accused.

Arbaaz, an accused in the Umesh Pal murder case, was killed in an encounter with the police on Feb 28 . 

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was accorded a ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on  Mar 2 as she arrived  India on a state visit, seeking closer ties in the defence and economic sectors.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed Meloni at the forecourt of the Rashtrapati Bhavan, where she was accorded a tri-services guard of honour.

Modi and Meloni are scheduled to hold talks on bilateral, regional and global issues.

Meloni was received at the airport by Minister of State for Health Bharti Pawar.

The Italian prime minister is being accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani and a high-powered business delegation.

Meloni will also be the chief guest and keynote speaker at the 8th Raisina Dialogue.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will call on the Italian prime minister as well.

India and Italy are celebrating 75 years of establishment of diplomatic relations this year.

The multifaceted bilateral relationship is based on shared cultural values, commitment to foster economic growth, collaboration in the fields of green energy, science and technology, defence and marked by convergence on regional and global issues.

The Supreme Court on Mar 2 appointed expert committee headed by former SC judge Justice AS Sapre to examine the changes required in regulatory framework in the wake of allegations of stock manipulation against the Adani group. The expert committee shall also consist of other members namely: Mr OP Bhat, Justice JP Deodhar (retired), Mr KV Kamath, Mr Nandan Nilekani and Mr Somashekar Sundareshan.

A bench of CJI DY Chandrachud, Justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala said that the constitution of the committee was imperative to protect Indian investors into the volatility of the kind which has been witnessed in the recent past and to assess the extent regulatory framework and thereby make recommendations for strengthening it. The court has directed the committee to submit its report within two months in sealed cover.

The remit of the committee shall be as follows:

To provide an overall assessment of the situation including the relevant causal factors which have lead to the volatility into the securities market in the recent past

To suggest measures to strengthen investor awareness

To investigate whether there has been regulatory failure in dealing with the alleged contravention of laws pertaining to the security market in relation to the Adani group and other companies

To suggest measures to strengthen the statutory & regulatory framework and secure compliance with the existing framework for the protection of investors 

Amid Enforcement Directorate’s crackdown over illegal mining in Jharkhand, CM Hemant Soren has constituted one member Special Investigation Team (SIT) with Retired Chief Justice of Jharkhand High Court Vinod Kumar Gupta as Chairman, to investigate and suggest ways to prevent the role of railway officials in illegal transportation of minerals.

Soren on December 14, 2022, alleging involvement of railway officials in transportation of illegal stone and other mining products, had sought his cooperation in checking the same.

The Chief Minister, writing a letter to Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav, had also informed that the state government had decided to set up a high-level inquiry committee for the same and expected all cooperation from him in the investigation.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has attached the house of top militant commander and Al Umar Chief Mushtaq Zargar, who was among three militants released in exchange of passengers of hijacked Indian airlines plane in 1999 and is presently in Pakistan, in Nowhatta area of downtown Srinagar.

The NIA team assisted by police and paramilitary personnel attached the house of Mushtaq Zargar alias Latram at Gani Mohalla area of Jamia Masjid in Nowhatta area of downtown Srinagar.

The house on two marlas of land was attached by the NIA under the provisions of UAPA.