Important Days:
1. March
22- the World Water Day was observed globally with the theme
‘Nature for Water’.
National:
1. The Union Cabinet
has given its approval for revision existing Double Taxation Avoidance
Agreement (DTAA) between India and Qatar. The purpose of
revision is for avoidance of double taxation and for prevention of fiscal
evasion with respect to taxes on income. The existing DTAA between India and
Qatar was signed in April 1999 and came into force in January, 2000.
2. The Union Cabinet
has given its approval for closure of India Development Foundation of Overseas
Indians (IDF-OI).The purpose of closure is to enhance synergies in channelizing
contributions of Indian Diaspora to Government’s flagship programmes such as
National Mission for clean Ganga and Swachh Bharat Mission. It also seeks to
enhance synergies, improve efficiencies and avoid duplication of work.
3. The Union Cabinet
has approved opening of 18 new Indian Missions in Africa over four year period
from 2018-2021. Decision in this regard was taken at the Union Cabinet meeting
chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi. The decision will
enhance India’s diplomatic outreach and increase its footprints in
resource-rich African continent.
4. The
Union Cabinet gave approval for moving official amendments in the Surrogacy
(Regulation) Bill, 2016. The Bill will prevent commercialization of
surrogacy including sale and purchase of human embryo and gametes. Once the Bill
is enacted by the Parliament, the National Surrogacy Board will be constituted.
While, the States and Union Territories will constitute the State Surrogacy
Board and State Appropriate Authorities within three months of the notification
by the Union Government.
5. The
Union Cabinet approved the launch of the Centrally sponsored 'Ayushman Bharat
-National Health Protection Mission (AB-NHPM)'.The scheme has the benefit
cover of Rs 5 lakh per family per year. This cover will take care of almost all
secondary care and tertiary care procedures.The scheme aims to target over 10
crore families belonging to poor and vulnerable population based on Socio
Economic and Caste Census 2011 (SECC) database. There will be no cap on family
size and age in the scheme.
6. The
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare granted approval to amend the regulation
for admission to PG medical courses in order to expand the scope of persons
with disabilities getting the benefit of reservation. With the
decision, the seats reserved for people with disabilities for admission to
postgraduate medical courses will be increased from 3 per cent to 5 per
cent.Now, the people with all mentioned 21 benchmark disabilities as per the
Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 can register for admission to
medical courses.
7. A
special CBI court in Ranchi on March 19, 2018 convicted Rashtriya Janata Dal
Chief Lalu Prasad in another scam case in Dumka, Jharkhand and acquitted former
Bihar Chief Minister Jagannath Mishra in the case. The court postponed
the judgment as Lalu Prasad filed a petition under 319 CrPC asking the then
three officials of the Accountant General, in the 1990s, be made a party to the
case.This is the fourth case relating to the fodder scam, for the fraudulent
withdrawal of Rs 3.13 crore from the Dumka treasury.
8. Researchers
from the Anthropological Survey of India (AnSI) have discovered a number of
Acheulian artefacts dating to about 1500000 to 150000 years ago from an
unexplored site at Ghumarwin in Bilaspur district of Himachal Pradesh. The
site is close to the site where scientists in the 19th century discovered
fossil remains of Sivapithecus, the last common ancestor of orangutans and
humans. The
discovery of stone tools belonging to the Acheulian age presents the
possibility of continuity of the two stone age cultures at the site.
9. The Union Cabinet
has given its in principle approval for inclusion of communities, namely
‘Parivara and Talawara’ as synonym of Nayaka at in the list of Scheduled Tribes
(STs) of Karnataka. This approval fulfils long term demand of these
communities for granting ST status in Karnataka. With this inclusion, persons
belonging to these communities will be eligible to get ST certificate from
Karnataka. They will also be eligible for all benefits meant for ST in state.
10. The Union Cabinet
has approved North East Industrial Development Scheme (NEIDS), 2017 to promote
employment in North Eastern Region states including Sikkim. NEIDS is
combination of the incentives covered under the earlier two government schemes
with a much larger outlay. It will have financial outlay of Rs. 3000 crores
upto March, 2020.
International:
1. Facebook
CEO Mark Zuckerberg apologised for the data debacle that has dragged the social
media giant into a huge controversy and said that he was ready to testify
before the Congress. After the news of Analytics Company Cambridge Analytica scandal
and facebook’s alleged data breach erupted, politicians called on the social
media founder to testify before their legislative bodies within five days. The analytics
company is alleged to have a hand in assisting with Donald Trump’s victory in
US Presidential Elections 2016, by using unethically gathered data to
manipulate voter behavior.
2. A
UK-based genomics data platform Global Gene Corp (GGC) and an American genetics
company Regeneron Genetics Center (RGC)collaborated to create the world’s
largest project of its kind to study Indian population. Both the
companies will work to find innovative diagnosis and therapies for rare
diseases. Scientists
will sequence the exomes of people from the Indian subcontinent in order to
gain insights into alternative forms of genes architecture and specified
diseases.
Science & Technology/ defense:
1. Google
is tying-up with retailers including Target Corp, Walmart Inc, Home Depot Inc,
Costco Wholesale Corp and Ulta Beauty Inc to turn product searches into cash. Under a new
programme, retailers can list their products on Google Search, Google Express
shopping service and Google Assistant.In exchange for these Google
listings and linking, the retailers need to pay Google a piece of each
purchase, which is different from payments that retailers make to place ads on
Google platforms.
Economy:
1. The
Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) asked people to take due
precautions while sharing their Aadhaar information on the internet for
availing any service. It asserted that posting of Aadhaar cards on the
internet will have absolutely no bearing on UIDAI and not the least on Aadhaar
security.The
statement came after a few reports claimed that information about Aadhaar may
be available from third-party websites and that a Google search may lead to
Aadhaar details of several people.
Appointments/Resignations:
1. Chinese
smartphone maker Vivo appointed Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan as its brand
ambassador for India, replacing actor Ranveer Singh. Aamir Khan's
films "Dangal" and "Secret Superstar" fetched unprecedented
success in China. Aamir will soon be seen in a full-fledged marketing campaign
of the upcoming products and a new TV commercial.
2. China
appointed American-trained economist Yi Gang as Governor of People's Bank of
China. Yi is currently serving as Deputy to incumbent central bank
Governor Zhou Xiaochuan. Yi's appointment was approved during the ongoing
session of 13th National People's Congress.
3. Sony
India announced the appointment of Sunil Nayyar as its Managing Director (MD)
in place of Kenichiro Hibi. Hibi, who was MD of Sony India from
2012 till 2018, has now been appointed as President for Sony Brazil. Nayyar is the
first Indian to be appointed as Managing Director for Sony India. He presently
holds the position in Sony North America as head of Retail Experience.
Prepared by
Sarala Dhavamanoharan
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