Augusta Westland case: Christian Michel’s interim bail plea dismissed

• The AgustaWestland case refers to a deal for 12 luxury choppers for use by the President, Prime Minister and other VIPs when the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government was in power
• Michel is among the three alleged middlemen being probed in the case by the ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation

Himachali Kala Jeera, Coorg Arabica coffee and 12 other products receive GI tag

• The other products which received this tag include Wayanad Robusta coffee from Kerala, Araku Valley Arabica from Andhra Pradesh, Sirisi Supari from Karnataka
• The tag helps growers of these products get premium price

Ivanka Trump says she passed on World Bank job

• Ivanka Trump says she was happy with her current role in the administration
• Ivanka Trump worked on the selection process for the new head of the 189-nation World Bank, David Malpass

TIME's 100 most influential people is out: Mukesh Ambani is in the list

• Mukesh Ambani was named among the Most Influential Titans
• Arundhati Katju and Menaka Guruswamy, who led the legal battle for LGBTQ rights in India, also featured in the list

Indian children may no longer outgrow parents

Indians are taller than they were a century ago, but the generational growth in height may be tapering off in the country far earlier than in other south-east Asian countries

Karnataka: I-T raids at BJP worker’s premises in Karwar recover ₹82.7 lakh cash

• I-T raids on the BJP worker comes at a time when political parties have accused Modi govt of misusing investigative agencies to target rivals in the Lok Sabha polls
• I-T department raids office and residences of BJP worker Krishna Esale in Karwar in Uttar Kannada district

Five social science chapters dropped from CBSE class 10 syllabus

• The dropped chapters, including three on political studies and two on environment, will only be part of internal assessment, but not the final board exam
• The board had last month issued a circular to schools, saying it wanted to align its assessment patterns with the future needs

Joint  Navy exercises bolster India’s role as regional security provider

• Indian warships have been engaging with those of other nations and also extending aid to some countries
• Indian ships have been in the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Aden, in Seychelles and the Maldives

Talks on listing Azhar as terrorist moving towards settlement: China

• Beijing, however, dismissed reports that the US, the UK and France had served it an ultimatum on the matter
• France had moved a resolution in the United Nations 1267 sanctions committee, after the 14 February Pulwama attack, to list Masood Azhar as a terrorist

Thunderstorm leaves a trail of death and destruction in 5 states

• Rajasthan, where 25 people died in last 24 hours, bore the brunt, followed by Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat
• The western disturbance that caused Tuesday’s storm will weaken within next 24 hours

No breach of Aadhaar servers in IT Grids' case: UIDAI

• According to reports, IT Grids has been booked under the Aadhaar Act for data leak of around 7.82 crore residents
• UIDAI clarified that service providers usually collect Aadhaar number and other details directly from individuals for providing services

Mallya fails to convince UK court to dismiss banks' attempt to recover dues

• The case revolves around 258,559.79 pounds held in a bank account with the ICICI UK, which is named as a third party in the High Court case
• Mallya's lawyers had argued for the dismissal of the interim order on a number of grounds

EU threatens tariffs on $20 billion US products

• The US goods that could be targeted over subsidies given to Boeing, included cheese, ketchup and fish
• The move followed a similar step taken by the Trump administration, which threatened last week to impose tariffs on EU imports worth $11 billion over subsidies

Sebi bars Siyaram Development and Construction from securities markets

• Besides, the regulator directed the entities to refund the money collected by it along with 15% interest
• During the probe, the regulator found that the firm had allotted secured redeemable debentures (SRDs) between financial years 2010-11 and 2012-13

US trade deficit hits eight-month low as Chinese imports drop

• Trade deficit falls 3.4% to $49.4 bln in February
• Exports increase 1.1%; imports rise 0.2 %

Corp Affairs Min withdraws memorandum that barred LLPs from mfg activities

• Concerns were raised in various quarters about an office memorandum issued by the ministry earlier this month
• The ministry had said that LLPs as body corporates have been set up for the purposes of carrying out business activities related to the service sector

US handbags, shovels on $20 billion EU tariff list over Boeing

• The US and the EU have been battling for almost 15 years at the WTO over subsidies given to Boeing and Airbus
• The Trump administration last week proposed targeting a seven-page list of EU products for tariffs; Brussels responded with its own list of some $20 billion worth of US imports

F-21 fighter jet will give India 'significant edge' : Lockheed

• Lockheed Martin during the Aero India show in Bengaluru unveiled the F-21 multi-role fighter jet for India, to be produced locally
• Lockheed Martin and Tata Advanced Systems would produce the F-21 in India

Protectionism will not save jobs: Raghuram Rajan

• Jobs gained in the protected sector are often lost in other sectors, says former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan
• He said that there is a need to preserve a world open to trade and investment

From fee for visa-free entry to kebabs, EU did more than handle Brexit this term

• Everyday plastic goods like plates, cutlery and straws will be banned in the EU as of 2021 in a bid to clean up oceans
• In another European anti-terrorist measure inspired by the U.S., the EU decided to screen visa-free travelers to the bloc starting in around 2021