Current Affairs- Today’s Headlines: March 18, 2022

– After 18 months, BARC (Broadcast Audience Research Council) resumes publishing news channel ratings

– India restores 5-year e-tourist visas for nationals of 156 countries that remained suspended since March 2020

– Indian Coast Guard Ship (ICGS) Saksham, an Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) built by Goa Shipyard Limited, commissioned

– Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurates 7-storeyed Flight Control System (FCS) Integration facility at Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), a laboratory of DRDO, in Bengaluru

– NPCI launches on-device wallet feature called ‘UPI Lite’ for UPI users for small transactions

– SBI signs agreement to provide $1-bn credit facility to Sri Lanka for procurement of food, medicines and other essential items

– BPCL launches voice-based digital payment facility for its cooking gas (LPG) consumers who do not have smartphones or internet

– Second India-Indonesia Security Dialogue held in Jakarta

– Union Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Irani addresses 66th session of United Nations Commission on Status of Women (UNCSW)

– 47-nation Council of Europe expels Russia after 26 years of membership

– International Court of Justice asks Russia to immediately suspend its military operations in Ukraine

– Japan: 7.4 magnitude earthquake off the coast of Fukushima kills 4 people