Current Affairs - March 15, 2020 Current Affairs

The Assam Government plans to construct 33 stadiums across the state under the Uttaran Scheme, 300 crores will be provided to construct these stadiums announced by Principal Secretary of Sports Avinash Joshi and Joint Director Kamaljit and 500 playgrounds are being built to encourage rural talents.

World Sleep Day is observed on 13 March. The day focuses on the issues related to sleep, sleep medicine, education about sleep. The day raises awareness about the social effects that sleep deprivation can have on everyday life.

Internationally-renowned conservationist Ian Redmond OBE, award-winning explorer and environmentalist Sacha Dench and Indian actor and equestrian and Bollywood actor Randeep Hooda were named CMS Ambassadors for Migratory Species until 2023 under the redesigned Ambassadors Programme launched at CMS COP13.

International Pi (π) day is observed on 14 March. The day was chosen as 3, 1, and 4, which are the first three significant digits of p. Pi is one of the most well-known mathematical constants. It is the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) led by PrimeMinister Narendra Modi approved for the Minimum Support Prices (MSPs) for copra for 2020 season. The approval was recommended by the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP).The MSP for Fair Average Quality (FAQ) of milling copra is increased to Rs. 9,960 per quintal for 2020 season from Rs.9, 521 per quintal in 2019.

Chinese smartphone brand iQOO announced the appointment of Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli as its new brand ambassador. iQOO is a sub-brand of Vivo in China which has entered India as a separate entity and is ready to launch a 5G smartphone recently.

The Minister of State (I/C) for Shipping and Chemical & Fertilizers Shri Mansukh Mandaviya is to inaugurate the ROPAX Ferry Vessel and its Terminal at Mandwa in Maharashtra on 15 March. Mandwa Port is an important passenger port on the coast of Maharashtra. Around 15 lakhs passengers commute annually by catamarans and launch from Gateway of India to Mandwa and then to Alibaug and other places in Raigad district.

GoI reported that the BhoomiRashi portal of the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (M/oRTH) has significantly expedited error-free and transparent land acquisition for National Highways (NH). BhoomiRashi portal, a major e-Governance initiative, was launched on 1 April 2018.

Czech Republic's Dana Zatopkova, 1952 Olympic women's javelin champion, dies aged 97 in Prague.

Facebook India called for applications for its CSR initiative, Facebook Pragati, powered by N/Core (The/Nudge Centre for Social Innovation).The initiative will incubate and accelerate early-stage women-led non-profits that are working to drive women entrepreneurship and to spread awareness and adoption of technology among women in India. Facebook Pragati will award four grants of up to 50 lakh for each non-profit to scale their work.

Ministry of Home Affairs has sanctioned Rs.365 crores for constructing New Integrated Check Post (ICP) of About 130 km at Sabroom, Tripura. This is the second Integrated Check Post to be built along the Indo-Bangla border. This Integrated Check Post is built to link the bridge of river Feni with Chittagong division of the neighbouring country.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) revised exposure limits for urban cooperative banks (UCBs) to a single borrower and a group of borrowers to 15% and 25%, respectively, of tier-I capital. Previously, the UCBs were permitted to have exposures of up to 15% and 40% of their capital funds to a single borrower and a group of borrowers, respectively.

On March 12, 2020, World Animal Protection released the 2nd edition of global Animal Protection Index (API) 2020, where India gained C grade (also in 1st edition in 2014) with other 8 countries which indicates India is one of the better-performing countries. Tragically no country gained A grade.

HIL (India) Limited, in association with Union Bank of India, launched "Customer Payment Portal" in New Delhi. The portal collects the payment from its customers of HIL through various online modes for faster and smoother collection of dues. It will help the customers to pay their dues in a quick and convenient manner by any Debit Card, Credit Card, Net Banking, UPI, or online wallets from their homes or offices.

Government appointed former Chief Financial Officer & deputy Managing Director(MD) of SBI Prashant Kumar as MD & Chief Financial Officer(CEO), the former Punjab National Bank(PNB) MD Sunil Mehta as Non-Executive Chairman, Mahesh Krishnamurthy & Atul Bheda as non-executive directors of the reconstructed board of Yes Bank.

Greece: Former high court judge Katerina Sakellaropoulou sworn in as the first woman President.

Government of India brings masks and hand sanitizers under the Essential Commodities Act. Under the act, 2 ply & 3 ply surgical masks, N95 masks, and hand sanitizer has been declared as Essential Commodities up to 30 June 2020 by amending the Schedule of the Essential Commodities (EC) Act, 1955. The moves come as a measure of COVID-19 (CoronaVirus) and concern of the logistics for COVID-19 management.

International Day of Action for Rivers is observed on 14 March. This year, the 22nd annual International Day of Action for Rivers is observed. The day aims to stress the importance of rivers and how it affects the lives of the people. The theme of 2020 International Day of Action for Rivers is Women, Water, and Climate Change.

On March 12, 2020, According to the report "Developments in India's Balance of Payments during the third quarter (October-December) of 2019-20", released by Reserve Bank of India (RBI), India's current account deficit (CAD) fell sharply to $ 1.4 billion, or 0.2 % of GDP (gross domestic product), for the October-December 2019 quarter of the current financial year (FY 2019-20).

SBI will invest Rs 7,250 crore for 49% equity in Yes Bank Axis Bank and HDFC will invest up to Rs 600 crore and Rs 1,000 crore respectively in Yes Bank. Bank The authorised capital of Yes Bank has been increased to Rs 6,200 crore from Rs 1,100 crore.