GK & Current Affairs March 2016

 Mauritania on 14 March 2016 became the second African country to ratify the 2014 Protocol to the Forced Labour Convention 1930.
•    Prior to Mauritania, Niger (Africa), Norway (Europe) and the United Kingdom (Europe) ratified the protocol.
•    The protocol requires States to take effective measures for prevention of forced labour, protection of victims and ensuring their access to justice and compensation.
•    The ILO estimates that about 21 million men, women, and children are in forced labour – trafficked, held in debt bondage, or working under slave-like conditions.
•    The vast majority of these forced labourers – almost 19 million – are exploited in the private economy, by individuals or enterprises.
•    Another 2.2 million (10 percent) are in state-imposed forms of forced labour, including forced labour imposed by paramilitary forces.
•    To address the issue, governments, employers, and workers at the ILO International Labour Conference supported the adoption of the new ILO Protocol of 2014 to the Forced Labour Convention, 1930.
•    Besides, a Recommendation on supplementary measures for addressing forced labour was also adopted.
•    If widely ratified and implemented by ILO member countries, the Protocol and Recommendation promise to act as a catalyst for achieving the vision of a world without forced labour.

 Pope Francis on 15 March 2016 announced that Mother Teresa will be made a saint of the Roman Catholic Church at a ceremony on 4 September 2016.
•    The pope cleared the way for sainthood to Mother Teresa, who was famed for her lifetime of service to the poor, establishing shelters for homeless, orphanages, soup kitchens and clinics around the world.
•    The Vatican credited her with the 2008 cure of a Brazilian man who had been suffering from brain tumors.
•    The first step toward making her a saint took place in 2002 when Mother Teresa was credited with the healing of a Bengali woman who suffered from tuberculosis and cancer.
•    Teresa was born Agnese Gonxha Bojaxhiu of Albanian parents in 1910 in what was then part of the Ottoman Empire and is now Macedonia. 
•    She lived in India for much of her life, where she founded a religious congregation called the Missionaries of Charity. She died in India in 1997 at the age of 87.
•    She won a Ramon Magsaysay Peace and International Understanding (PIU) Award in 1962 and a Nobel Peace Prize in 1979.

 The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on 15 March 2016 suspended Maria Sharapova as a goodwill ambassador.
•    The five-time grand slam winner who became a goodwill ambassador in February 2007 was suspended after she tested positive for the banned substance meldonium at 2016 Australian Open.
•    The New York based UNDP in a statement said that it was suspending Sharapova, who worked as a goodwill Ambassador, until the outcome of the investigation into her case is known.
•    Maria Sharapova provisionally suspended after failing drug test at Australian Open
•    The statement said that the UNDP remains grateful to Maria Sharapova for her support of our work, especially around the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster recovery.
•    On 7 March 2016, the Russian tennis player announced that she tested positive for a drug called meldonium, also known as Mildronate, at the Australian Open.

 Union Government and Jammu & Kashmir Government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) under the Scheme Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY) on 15 March 2016 for operational and financial turnaround of the State’s Power Distribution Department.
•    With this, J&K became the ninth state to sign MoU with the combined DISCOM debt around 1.94 lakh crore rupees. 
•    The main aim for signing the MoU is to restructure high interest rate of the total discom debt thereby improving financial condition of State Discom
•    An overall net benefit of approximately 9800 crore rupees would accrue to the State by opting to participate in UDAY, by way of savings in interest cost, reduction in Aggregate Technical and Commercial (AT & C)and transmission losses, interventions in energy efficiency, coal reforms etc. during the period of turnaround.
•    It will enable Jammu & Kashmir to raise funds at cheaper rate to clear the outstanding dues of around 3538 crore rupees of Community and Public Sector Union (CPSUs), which would entail an annual saving of 1200 crore rupees over 4 years towards interest cost to the State.
•    Compulsory Distribution Transformer metering, consumer indexing & GIS mapping of losses, upgrade/change transformers, meters etc., smart metering of high-end consumers, feeder audit etc would improve the operational efficiency of the Power Distribution Department of the State.
•    AT & C Losses and transmission losses would be brought down, besides eliminating the gap between cost of supply of power and realisation.
•    Union government would also provide incentives to the DISCOMs and the State Government for improving Power infrastructure in the State and for further lowering the cost of power.
•    The State shall also be supported through additional coal at notified prices and in case of availability through higher capacity utilization, low cost power from NTPC and other CPSUs.
•    Other benefits such as coal swapping, coal rationalization, correction in coal grade slippage, availability of 100 percent washed coal would help the state to further reduce the cost of Power. 
•    The State would gain around 785 crore rupees due to these coal reforms.
•    Cost per unit of electricity will be reduced for the consumers.
•    The scheme would allow speedy availability of power to around 108 villages and 3.56 lakh households in the State that are still without electricity.
•    Availability of 24x7 power to hitherto unconnected villages/households etc. would boost the economy, promote tourism and industries, thereby improving employment opportunities for the people of the State.
•    The Scheme UDAY was launched by the Union government on 20 November 2015 to ensure a sustainable solution to enable the distribution utilities across the country to break out of a long standing debt of almost 4.3 Lakh crore rupees.

 Lok Sabha on 15 March 2016 passed the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill, 2015. 
•    The Bill seeks set up a Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) for the orderly growth of the real state sector.
•    The bill aims at protecting the interests of the large number of aspiring house buyers and enhances the credibility of construction industry. 
•    Earlier, it was passed by the Rajya Sabha on 10 March 2016.
•    The bill seeks to create a set of rights and obligations for both the consumers and developers.
•    The mandatory registration for projects has been brought down to 500 sq m area, or those comprising eight flats. 
•    It also provides for a clear definition of carpet area and a system that would require the consent of two-thirds of the buyers in case there are changes in project plans.

 Uttar Pradesh Government on 14 March 2016 approved a policy for senior citizens. Under the policy the state government will set up old age homes and also announced increase in monthly pension by 100 rupees, that is, monthly pension will increase from existing 300 rupees to 400 rupees.
•    The decision was taken during a cabinet meet chaired by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav. The policy will come into effect from 1 April 2016 and the social welfare department has been made the nodal agency for this new policy.
•    The policy was formulated under which old age homes and juvenile homes would be set up under one roof.
•    The Government would provide land free of cost and the NGO would be asked to operate the same at no profit no loss basis.
•    The new policy reserves 25 percent seats in these old age homes for the BPL families who will be provided free residence and food.
•    A tribunal would be set to hear the cases related to the atrocities against the senior citizen.
•    All the police stations would also have a separate senior citizen register.
•    Any offence against senior citizen, like throwing them out of their houses by children, would be punishable for up to three years of jail and 10000 rupees fine.
•    The schools and colleges would be asked to celebrate Dada-dadi and nana-nani diwas on regular basis.
•    Free dialysis at district hospitals will be created: The scheme will be operated with the help of private players under PPP model. Under this scheme 180 dialysis machines would be set up in select district hospitals.
•    Detailed Project Report (DPR) of Kanpur metro to the tune of 17000 crore rupees was approved. The DPR is prepared by RITES. The total length of the Kanpur metro would be 32 km divided in two corridors. It will have 31 stations – 19 of which will be elevated. 
•    The implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana under which houses will be made available to all by 2022 was approved. 
•    Under the scheme, Union Government would finance 60 percent of the project while the rest would be shared by the state government.
•    Decision to construct Taj Orientation Centre and Shilpgram at the eastern gate of Taj Mahal was made. DPR of 23185.25 lakh rupees was approved.
•    It approved demolition of the structure of UP Animal Husbandry Department at CG City to facilitate construction of cancer institute.  
•    It also approved the Mobile (Trolley-based) Solar Panel and Pump Programme.

 India on 14 March 2016 successfully test-fired indigenously built nuclear-capable intermediate range Agni-I ballistic missile. It was launched from launch pad-4 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Abdul Kalam Island (Wheeler Island) on the Odisha coast.
•    The trial was as part of training exercise by the Strategic Forces Command (SFC) of Indian Army.
•    The sophisticated missile covered 700 km distance within 9 minutes and 36 seconds.
•    The latest trial of Agni-I followed the first successful test-fire that was conducted on 27 November 2015 from the same base.
•    Agni-I was developed by Advanced Systems Laboratory, the premier missile development laboratory of DRDO in collaboration with Defence Research Development Laboratory and Research Centre Imarat and integrated by Bharat Dynamics Limited, Hyderabad.
•    The missile is 15-metre-long and weighed 12 tonnes and equipped with sophisticated navigation system which ensures it reaches the target with a high degree of accuracy and precision.
•    It is designed to carry a payload of more than one tonne. Its strike range can be extended by reducing the payload.
•    The launch was undertaken as a part of periodic training activity by SFC to further consolidate operational readiness
•    The missile is a surface-to-surface and single-stage missile powered by solid propellants and capable of hitting a target 700 kilometers away.
•    The trajectory of the trial was tracked by a battery of sophisticated radars, telemetry observation stations, electro-optic instruments and naval ships from its launch till the missile hit the target area with accuracy.

 Sanjay Gupta, the Jagran Group CEO and Dainik Jagran editor was on 12 March 2016 presented with the Editor of the Year award at the 4th Indian Advertising Association (IAA) Awards in Mumbai.
•    Sanjay Gupta received the award from Union Minister of State (Home Affairs) Kiren Rijiju.
•    Other awards which were announced
•    Brand Endorser of the Year: Varun Dhawan, a Bollywood actor
•    TV Anchor of the Year award: Rajat Sharma of India TV
•    Media Person of the Year: Raj Nayak of Colors
•    CEO of the year: Kumar Mangalam Birla
•    Bharat Patel from Procter and Gamble was inducted in the IAA Hall of Fame for building the Vicks brand in India and making it a household name.
•    The International Advertising Association (IAA) is a unique strategic institution that addresses the common interests of all the disciplines across the full spectrum of marketing communications from advertisers to media companies as well as breitling replica advertising and interactive agencies, direct marketing firms and even individual practioners.
•    The India Chapter of IAA was incorporated in July 1991. IAA-IC promotes the freedom to compete through responsible commercial speech while defending consumer choice.
•    The IAA recognises excellence and leadership in the fields of marketing, advertising and media.

 Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare JP Nadda on 13 March 2016 launched Project ‘Clean Street Food’. The project of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) aims at to raise the safety standards of foods sold on streets across the capital city of New Delhi.
•    In the first phase of the project, about 20000 roadside vendors will be trained on aspects of health and hygiene.
•    FSSAI will partner with the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship to train street food vendors at more than 40 centres across Delhi
•    The food vendors will receive training under the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) category of the Government’s flagship skills training scheme - Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY).
•    Under the Delhi Project, 20000 food street vendors would be trained, assessed and certified by seven training partners over the next four weeks at 40 training centres set up for the purpose across Delhi.
•    The Tourism and Hospitality Sector Skill Council (THSC), an affiliate of the National Skill Development Corporation, Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship will be the training provider under the Project.
•    Food vendors will receive Smart Skill-cum-Registration cards on completion of the training.
•    Delhi Food Safety Commissioner and the National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI) are engaged in mobilization of street vendors across Delhi.

 Renowned Indian scholar and plant physiologist H Deep Saini on 9 March 2016 was appointed as the Vice Chancellor of the prestigious University of Canberra.
•    Saini, currently the Vice-President of the University of Toronto and Principal of the University of Toronto Mississauga campus in Canada, will succeed Vice Chancellor Stephen Parker in September 2016.
•    Hargurdeep Saini, also known as Deep Saini, is a notable scientist and plant physiologist.
•    He has previously served as the dean of the Faculty of Environment at the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ontario.
•    An alumnus of Punjab Agricultural University in Ludhiana, and later the University of Adelaide, Australia, he joined many Indian-origin educationists holding high positions in Canadian universities.
•    He began his academic career in Canada in 1982 when he joined the University of Alberta as a post-doctoral fellow.
•    He is currently a member of the NSERC's Biological Systems and Functions grant selection panel, the Associate Editor of the Canadian Journal of Botany.