IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF MARCH 15th, 2018

IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF MARCH 15th, 2018

1.On 15th March is World Consumer Rights Day.

a.In India this day is celebrated as Viswa Upabhokta Adhikar Diwas. 

b.On March 15, 1962 US President John F. Kennedy gave a speech on consumer rights which led to the creation of the Consumer Bill of Rights.

c.Consumer rights activist Anwar Fazal later proposed the observance of a "World Consumer Rights Day" marking that date, and from 15 March 1983 consumer organizations began observing that date as an occasion to promote basic rights of consumers.

d.Theme for World Consumer Rights Day 2018: ‘Making digital marketplaces fairer’

2.According to the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network's 2018 World Happiness Report, Finland has been named the happiest country in the world. 

a.India ranked 133rd in the list (last year's rank was 122nd).

b.Top 5 in World Happiness Report 2018

i.Finland 

ii.Norway

iii.Denmark

iv.Iceland 

v.Switzerland

3.The Member Countries of World Health Organization-Regional Office for South-East Asia (WHO-SEARO), participating in Delhi End Tuberculosis (TB) Summit have adopted ‘Delhi End TB Summit Statement of Action’.

a.The summit was co-hosted by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, WHO-SEARO and Stop TB Partnership in New Delhi.

4.The Haryana government On 15th March approved a bill awarding Death penalty to those convicted of raping children under the age of 12 years. 

a.Important Note : Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan have already approved capital punishment for those guilty of raping girls aged under 12 years.

5.According to the Annual Survey of India's City-System Pune is the best city in the country in terms of local governance.

a.Bengaluru is the worst city in the list. 

b.Top 5 in the List :

i.Pune 

ii.Kolkata

iii.Thiruvananthapuram

iv.Bhubaneswar

v.Surat

6.Tamilnadu's ousted AIADMK leader and Independent MLA, TTV Dhinakaran On 15th March launched his own political party titled 'Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam'.

a.The party was named after late Chief Minister Jayalalithaa. 

7.Delhi Metro's Pink line running on the Majlis Park-Durgabhai Deshmukh section was opened to public On 15th March. 

a.The 21.56-km circular metro corridor, connecting Delhi University's north and south campuses, is part of the 59-km 'Ring Corridor' which will reportedly become India's longest metro line. 

8.The World Bank has said India's highest GST rate of 28% is the 2nd highest among a sample of 115 countries which have a similar indirect tax system. 

a.Note : Only five countries, including India, use four non-zero GST slabs.

9.Singapore has been named as the world's most expensive city for the fifth time in a row in the Economist Intelligence Unit's 2018 Cost of Living Index. 

a.Damascus has been listed as the world's cheapest city in the list.

b.Note : India's Bangalore, Chennai and New Delhi named among world's 10 cheapest cities.

10.Private sector lender HDFC Bank On 15th March barred the use of its credit, debit and prepaid cards to buy or trade in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. 

a.Note : Earlier, Citibank India also banned the use of its cards for buying cryptocurrencies.

11.The Union Cabinet has approved Agreement for Avoidance of Double Taxation and Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to taxes on income between India and Iran.

12.The cabinet also approved Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) inked between Indiaand Sri Lanka for promoting cooperation in field of Information Technology and Electronics (IT&E). 

a.This MoU was signed in January 2018 during the visit of Minister of Electronics & Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad to Sri Lanka.

13.Google On 15th March announced the integration of Hindi language in its Assistant for devices running Android 6.0 Marshmallow and above. 

a.With the latest update, users can type queries and give voice commands in the Hindi language. 

14.India have sealed their place in the final of the T20I tri-series after defeating Bangladesh by 17 runs in their fourth match of the tournament in Colombo On 15th March. 

a.The final of the tri-series will take place on Sunday.