1. Festival of 'Chaitri Navratri' begins today
i. The festival of Navratri begins on Monday on the first day of Ashwina of the bright fortnight. The festival of Navratri lasts for 9 days with three days each devoted to worship of Maa Durga, the Goddess of Valor, Ma Lakshmi, the Goddess of Wealth and Maa Saraswati, the Goddess of Knowledge. ii. During the nine days of Navratri, feasting and fasting take precedence over all normal daily activities amongst the Hindus. Evenings give rise to the religious dances in order to worship Goddess Durga Maa.
iii. The festival of Navratri culminates in Mahanavami. On this day Kanya Puja is performed. Nine young girls representing the nine forms of Goddess Durga are worshiped.
iv. The holy festival of Navaratri is an amalgamation of various themes, with the common theme of the victory of good over evil.
v. President Pranab Mukerjee and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh greeted people on the occasion of Gudi Padava, Ugadi, Chaitra Sukhladi, Navreh and Cheti Chand.
2. World Telecommunications Development Conference begins in Dubai
i. A 10 day long World Telecommunications Development Conference has begun at the Dubai World Trade Center.
ii. The event, with the theme, Broadband for Sustainable development has been organized by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the apex telecom body of the United Nations.
iii. More than 1,650 participants from 130 countries including India are taking part in the conference. A high level delegation from India led by the Telecom Secretary is attending the conference.
3. Indian banks� capital challenges eased by Basel III delay: Report
i. The RBI�s recent delay of Basel III implementation offers Indian banks more time to meet the minimum capital requirements, Fitch Ratings said in a report.
ii. According to the agency, this could particularly benefit some state-owned banks facing capital pressure.
iii. �The main benefit from the one-year moratorium will be the delay in the phase-in of the capital conservation buffer from end-March 2016 (FY16, which starts April1, 2016), instead of FY15, as most other parameters remain the same.
iv. More importantly, banks would get some crucial breathing space from the lower 5.5 per cent pre-specified capital trigger on additional Tier 1 securities until FY19 when it reverts to 6.125 per cent. The headroom of 0.625 per cent will be particularly helpful for mid-sized state-owned banks where capital buffers are particularly challenged,� the report said.
Basel III instruments
The RBI has also provided additional clarity on Basel III capital instruments and their behaviour, particularly on the issue of loss absorbency. The exclusion of temporary write-downs on Basel III capital instruments reinforces the regulator�s intent to ensure capital securities act like equity when required under stress.
The flipside though is that greater loss absorbency would come at the cost of being less investor friendly. Tier 1 securities are expected to shoulder a large share of the capital burden and investor appetite is currently limited adding to the capital raising challenges, the report added.
4. President confers Padama awards on 66 eminent personalities
i. President Pranab Mukherjee today conferred Padma Awards on 66 eminent personalities at a ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan. ii. Noted scientist Dr. Raghunath A. Mashelkar received Padma Vibhushan while classical singer Begum Parveen Sultana, Actor Kamal Hasan, Sportsperson Pullela Gopichand were among those who were honoured with Padma Bhushan.
iii. Padma Shri Awardees included Sand artist Sudarshan Pattnaik and Actress Vidya Balan.
iv. Among the dignitaries present on the occasion were the Vice President Mohd. Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde.
5. DRI gets UN award for record seizure of ozone-depleting gas
i. The Directorate of revenue Intelligence has seized a record over 2.4 lakh kg of ozone-depleting restricted refrigeration gas �R-22�, which was being smuggled into the country.
ii. Taking note of its efforts in checking the smuggling of R-22 gas into the country, the DRI has been chosen for a United Nations award.
iii. DRI has registered several cases involving attempted smuggling of ozone-depleting substances and effected seizure of 2,41,463 kgs of R-22 gas in the last year, agency officials said.
iv. The DRI, country�s premier intelligence agency dealing with matters relating to violation of customs law, has been awarded the prestigious �ECA Ozone Protection Award for Customs & Enforcement Officers (3rd Edition)� by UN Environment Programme (UNEP) in recognition of its contribution to enforce the trade provisions applicable to ozone-depleting substances under the Montreal Protocol.
v. India, being signatory to the Montreal protocol, is required to phase out consumption and production of ODS chemicals and for which legal framework has been put in place.
vi. Though this award mainly covers European, Caucasus and Central Asian region, an exception was made this year due to the remarkable seizures affected by DRI.
vii. DRI is one of the five organisations or individuals recognised and awarded the �3rd edition� of the award this year, the officials said.
6. Former Israeli PM Olmert Ehud convicted of bribery
i. Israel's former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has been found guilty in a bribery trial in a case which forced him to resign in 2008. Olmert was convicted in the Holyland affair in which bribes were paid and received to speed up a luxury property development.
ii. The 68-year-old former Kadima party leader had denied wrongdoing and had hinted at a political comeback.
7. Bhel wins Rs 125 crore order for hydro power project in Uttarakhand
i. State-owned power equipment maker Bhel has secured Rs 125 crore contract for setting up a 120 MW Hydro Electric Project in Bhel.
ii. Valued at Rs 125 crore, the order for setting up of hydro generating sets and associated electro-mechanical works for the 120 MW Vyasi project has been placed on Bhel by Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd," Bhel said in a statement.
iii. The Vyasi power project, which is located in Dehradun district, is a run-of-the-river scheme on the Yamuna.
iii. While the hydro generating sets will be supplied by Bhel�s Bhopal unit, the transformers and Control & Monitoring system will be supplied by the Jhansi unit and Electronics Division, Bangalore respectively.
8. Hamilton claims Malaysian Grand Prix
i. Britain's Lewis Hamilton won the Malaysian Grand Prix with a pole-to-flag victory ahead of Nico Rosberg on Sunday.
ii. The 2008 Formula One world champion easily pulled away from his rivals on a dry track with a three-stop strategy to win the race by 17.3 seconds, his 23rd career victory and first in Malaysia at the eighth attempt, reports the Sydney Morning Herald.iii. Hamilton said he was really, really happy with just a great performance by the team.
iv. Hamilton's victory puts him second in the world championship, 18 points behind Rosberg
9. K R Kamath front-runner for RBI Deputy Governor post
i. Raghuram Rajan headed search panel has zeroed in on a successor to RBI Deputy Governor K C Chakrabarty and PNB Chairman K R Kamath is believed to be top in the reckoning.
ii. Besides RBI Governor Rajan, Financial Services Secretary Rajiv Takru and other expert members had on last Friday interviewed CMDs of nine public sector banks here, an official privy to the selection process told PTI.iii. The panel called those chiefs who have been heading a bank for more than one year. Kamath, being the senior most among the nine bankers, is the front-runner for the post, the official added.
iv. The vacancy would arise as Chakrabarty has requested to be relieved on April 25, slightly earlier than his scheduled term ending on June 30.
v. The Reserve Bank has four Deputy Governors � two from within the organisation, one economist and one banker.
vi. PNB Chairman and Managing Director K R Kamath is the senior most among all the nine bankers with an experience of about six years.
vii. The panel will now recommend the name to the Government for approval and the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, headed by the Prime Minister, will take a final view on the recommendation, the official said.
i. Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand sealed the Candidates tournament title with an effortless draw with Peter Svidler of Russia in the 14th and final round at Khanty Mansiysk in Russia on Sunday.
i. India defeated Australia by 73 runs in their final Group-II match of the ICC World Twenty-20 at Dhaka last night. Put in to bat, the Men in Blue posted a formidable 159 for 7 in the alloted 20 overs. 
i. Talented opener Ahmed Shehzad scored a brilliant hundred as Pakistan predictably crushed hosts Bangladesh by 50 runs in a Group 2 league encounter of the ICC World T20 to keep their semi-final hopes alive in Mirpur on Sunday.
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i. Finally, the capital market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), has got back the power to act against ponzi schemes, illegal deposit schemes and assess call data records in securities-related offences, besides others.
2. Earth Hour is being observed today across the world.