Current Affairs - March 12, 2020 Current Affairs

The culinary museum in Welcomgroup Graduate School of Hotel Administration (WGSHA), Karnataka, has been listed in Limca Book of Records as India's First Living Culinary Arts Museum. The culinary art museum was opened in April 2018. The museum is spread approximately over 25,000 sq ft. It is shaped in the form of a giant pot very similar to the ones found in Harappa.

The international animal welfare charity, World Animal Protection, released the global Animal Protection Index 2020. India has ranked second as the better-performing countries in the Animal Protection Index (API).

Wings India 2020, an International conference and exhibition on the Civil Aviation sector, has begun in Begumpet Airport, Hyderabad, India. The conference will be held from 12-15 March 2020.

Leh is to host the main national event for the sixth International Day of Yoga (IDY) on 21 June 2020. The events on the day will be led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This was announced by the Union Minister of AYUSH Shripad Naik.

GoI is to invoke provisions of Section 2 of the Epidemic Diseases Act 1897. The 123-year old Law is to be invoked in order to limit the spread of the outbreak. The announcement comes after WHO declaring COVID-19 as GLOBAL PANDEMIC. The 1897 law was invoked earlier during the bubonic plague in the then Bombay state.

The world's first Digital Solutions Exchange in the cloud "GOKADDAL" has been launched in India. GOKADDAL will revolutionize the way digital solutions are sourced, delivered, and managed. The cloud-based platform is created to help the customers realize their digital transformation vision by bringing them the right solutions with the right tools and right providers.

Hola Mohalla festival was celebrated at Anandpur Sahib Punjab from 10-12 March 2020. Hola Mohalla is a Sikh festival celebrated in the month of Phalguna, a day after Holi.

Maharashtra State Assembly approved a bill on caste validity certificate. The Bill was unanimously passed by the Maharashtra state assembly on 11 March 2020. The Bill will allow gram panchayat members to submit their caste validity certificates within a year of winning elections.

India stands as the world's second-largest arms importer as per the "Trends in international arms transfers 2019" report of Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) data. The data was released on 9 March. Saudi Arabia topped the list. Also, India has ranked 23rd position among the top 25 weapon exporters.

According to KPMG's "2020 Global Technology Industry Innovation Survey" report, India shared the second position with China as the most promising source of disruptive technology in the world. The report was topped by the United States as the most promising market for developing disruptive technologies.

Top Indian shuttler PV Sindhu won the BBC Indian Sportswoman of the Year 2019. The award ceremony was hosted by BBC Director-General Tony Hall. Also, Veteran athlete PT Usha was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award. She was awarded for her contribution to Indian sports and for inspiring generations of players.

Bloomberg Billionaires Index reported that Jack Ma became Asia's richest man. Mukesh Ambani, who stood as Asia's richest man, has moved to the second position after oil prices collapsed along with global stocks. The novel coronavirus erased $5.8 billion from Ambani's net worth on and pushed him to No.2 on the list of Asia's richest people.

Rajesh Chaplot, a distinguished Non-Resident Indian (NRI) businessman, was honoured with the Highest Civilian Award "Golden Jubilee Medal-Civilians" of Uganda. The award was conferred by the President of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni, in a ceremony in Kampala.

Rajya Sabha approves minor changes made by Lok Sabha in the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order Amendment Bill, 2019; bill includes Parivara and Talawara tribal communities of Karnataka in ST category

Maharashtra State government approved the implementation of "happy hour" for autorickshaws. The move was recommended by Khatua panel, which is led by retired IAS officer BC Khatua and the four-members of the panel.The government resolution stated that fares would be slashed by 15% between 12 noon and 4 pm, barring the minimum fare first 1.5 km.

State Bank of India (SBI) has announced a rate cut of the fixed deposit rates across multiple tenors for general customers and senior citizens. It has reduced a rate cut up to 50 basis points (bps) in some tenors, and for some tenors, it has announced a reduction of 10 bps. The new rates were made effective from 10 March. The fixed deposit (FD) rate for a period of 7 days to 45 days has been reduced to 4% from the earlier 4.50%, while it has been reduced to 4.50% from 5% for senior citizens.

The current Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) vice president Mahim Verma is to resign from his post. The announcement comes after his win in the election for the post of secretary at the Cricket Association of Uttarakhand (CAU).Mr. Verma was appointed as BCCI's vice president in 2019.

The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has instituted a special 'Shakti Award.' It will be annually presented to chosen personnel who work for the empowerment of women. The award will carry a reward of Rs.1 lakh, a citation, and a trophy. The award aims to recognize the best practices and efforts made towards women empowerment and gender equality in the force.

Boxers Amit Panghal and Lovlina Borgohain won the bronze medal in the Asian Boxing Olympic qualifiers held in Amman, Jordan. Both the boxers had already claimed their place in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED) and National Research Development Corporation (NRDC) recently signed a memorandum for manufacturing of Mahua Nutribeverage. Mahua Nutribeverage will have high nutritional values with low alcohol (about 5 percent). It will be developed by Delhi-IIT and TRIFED. According to the reports, it will be available within next few months in various flavours.