March-15

>>Today is viswa Upabhokta Adhikar Diwas(World Consumer Rights Day)

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

>> Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth lifted Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold at St. Jakobshalle, Basel. 

• First time some Indian male player has won this title, though Saina Nehwal has already won this title for two times in 2011 and 2012. 
• Kidambi Srikanth defeated Viktor Axelsen in finals. 

>>Noted Gandhian Narayan Desai passed away. He was 90 years old.

• He was best known for his rendition of Gandhi Katha i.e. stories on the Mahatma Gandhi's life.
• Sahitya Akademi Award for Gujarati in 1993 and the Jamnalal Bajaj Award in 1999 and the UNESCO-Madanjeet Singh Prize for the Promotion of Tolerance and Non-Violence in 1998 are the few awards he was honoured with.

>>NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has spotted massive saltwater ocean under the icy crust of Jupiter’s largest moon Ganymede.

• Scientists believe that this finding could potentially support life.
• The finding was based on the results obtained after analyzing Ganymede’s magnetic field and aurorae created and controlled by it and its interaction with Jupiter’s magnetic field
• This ocean is 100 kms thick. 10 times deeper than Earth’s oceans. It is buried under a 150-kilometre crust of mostly ice.

About Ganymede:

 Ganymede is the largest moon in our solar system. It is also the only moon with its own magnetic field. The magnetic field causes aurorae, which are ribbons of glowing, hot electrified gas, in regions circling the north and south poles of the moon.

>>Researchers have found Endophytic alga belonging to Ulvella leptochaete species thriving in the Indian Ocean.

• This species of alga is originally inhabitant to the seas around the British Isles and the East China Sea.
• Researchers had collected samples of green seaweeds, Cladophora glomerata from Calicut, Kerala and red seaweeds, Laurentia obtusa from Mandapam, Tamil Nadu.

Advantages:

• It has a disease resistance.
• It contains anticancer compounds such as Taxol and can be used for treatment of many cancers including ovarian cancer, breast cancer, lung cancer and pancreatic cancer.

>>Powerful cyclone PAM  hit the south Pacific archipelago of Vanuatu. 

• The cyclone Pam is category five tropical storm and has brought destructive 270 kilometre-per-hour winds and torrential rain. The cyclone was followed by flooding, landslides, sea surges and very rough seas which has caused massive destruction in the small Pacific nation.
•  Cyclone Pam had caused damage to other Pacific islands including Kiribati and the Solomon Islands.
•  Vanuatu is located north east of Australia to south west of Hawaii Islands. It has population of 267,000 spread over 65 islands and about 47,000 people live in its capital Port Vila.

>>Union Government has merged Green India Mission (GIM) with the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) Scheme. 

• By merging GIM with MGNREGA Scheme government seeks to increase 10 million hectares of forest cover.
• Currently, green works such as water harvesting, afforestation and farm foresty are undertaken under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme implemented by Rural Development Ministry.
•  “To further synergise these efforts and to collectively address the climate change concerns, the government has come out with convergence guidelines after consulting both Environment and Rural Development Ministries,” a senior government official said.
• The convergence guidelines sets out the approach to be adopted to strengthen co-ordination at field-level for developing forest cover and improving forest-based livelihoods for about three million households.
• According to the guidelines issued by the Environment Ministry, all lands including village common lands, community lands, revenue wastelands, shifting cultivation areas, wetlands and private agricultural lands will be eligible for afforestation under this convergence.
• Under MGNREGA, forest works such as pre-plantation, pit digging, planting and watering, fencing, plant support and protection activities, weeding, mulching and manuring the plants among others can be undertaken for afforestation.

>> Pioneer of Israeli cinema, Lia van Leer passed away on 13 March 2015 in Jerusalem, Israel. She was 90. She was the founder of Israel Film Archive, Jerusalem Cinematheque, Haifa Cinematheque and the Jerusalem Film Festival.

>>Haryana Govt is going to introduce teaching of Bhagavad Gita in Schools across the state.

  It also going to introduce ‘cow slaughter protection bill’ in the ongoing budget session of the assembly.