• National

India Ranks 16th In Terms of Highest Number of Impacted Species in Hotspots

• A recent study published in PLOS Biology found that human impacts on species occur across 84% of the earth’s surface and India ranks 16th in such impacts, with 35 species impacted on an average.
• Malaysia ranks 1st among the countries with the highest number of impacted species (125).
• Southeast Asian tropical forests, including those in India’s Western Ghats, Himalaya, and north-east, are among the ‘hotspots’ of threatened species.
• However, these very areas are also ‘cool-spots’ (the world’s last refuges where high numbers of threatened species still persist).

• Sports

Supreme Court set aside ban on Sreesanth

• The Supreme Court has set aside the life ban on cricketer S Sreesanth, imposed by the BCCI.
• The disciplinary committee of the BCCI may reconsider within three months the quantum of punishment to be given to Sreesanth.
• The disciplinary committee of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, BCCI imposed the ban on Sreesanth for his alleged involvement in the 2013 IPL spot-fixing scandal.

• Sports

Dipa Karmakar qualifies for vault finals in Artistic Gymnastics World Cup

• India’s Dipa Karmakar (25-year) has made it to the Vault Finals after finishing third in the qualifying round of the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup at Baku in Azerbaijan.
• The, who had finished fourth in the event at the 2016 Rio Olympics, performed a higher difficulty Hand front 540 vault for the first time in the competition.
• Dipa had claimed a bronze at the vault event of the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup in Cottbus, Germany in November 2018.

• Awards

Padmanaban won Commonwealth Youth Award

• Padmanaban Gopalan, the founder of No Food Waste, was named the winner of the Commonwealth Youth Award for the Asian region in London.
• His initiative runs a geo-mapping platform, which allows users to drop food at located ‘hunger spots’.
• It has so far recovered over 650,000 meals across 14 cities and the platform has been used by over 12,000 volunteers.

• Resignation

Rahul Bajaj Resigns as Bajaj Finserv Chairman

• Bajaj Finserv’s Chairman and Non-Executive Director Rahul Bajaj has resigned and will take over as the Chairman Emeritus from May 2019.
• Bajaj, 80, has tendered his resignation which will be effective from the conclusion of the board meeting scheduled for May 16, 2019.

• Appointments

Supreme Court Appoints PS Narasimha as Mediator to Resolve Disputes Within BCCI

• The Supreme Court appointed senior advocate PS Narasimha as a mediator for resolving various disputes related to cricket administration within the cricket body, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
• Narasimha will hear the BCCI’s position, and then make recommendations to the Committee of Administrators (CoA).
• Narasimha is assisting the apex court as amicus curiae in the BCCI matter.
• The court restrained all other courts in India from entertaining any matter pertaining to BCCI and state cricket associations.

• Important Days

World Consumer Rights Day being observed today

• The World Consumer Rights Day is celebrated globally on 15th March to promote basic rights of all consumers.
• The theme for this year is ‘Trusted Smart Products’.
• The first World Consumer Rights Day was observed in 1983 and become an important occasion for mobilizing citizen action.
• In India. we also observe the National Consumer Day on the 24th of December every year.

• Important Days

15th March: The world sleep day

• The world sleep day 2019 observed on 15th March to celebrate healthy sleep and draw attention towards its related issues including medicine, education and social aspects.
• The theme for this year is ‘Healthy Sleep, Healthy Aging’.
• The day is observed annually on the Friday before the March Equinox on the Earth.

• Defence

U.S. Special Forces hold an exercise with NSG in Hyderabad

• The United States Special Forces Group stationed in Japan involved in a joint exercise with India’s National Security Guard (NSG) in Hyderabad.
• The US forces are from the 1st Battalion, 1st Special Forces Group stationed out of Okinawa in Japan.
• The overall aim of the program was to enhance professionalism and the ability to operate together during times of crisis.

• Miscellaneous

WEF recognised Naresh Lokesh as Young Global Leader for 2019

• According to the World Economic Forum (WEF), Andhra Pradesh IT minister ‘Nara Lokesh’ has been recognised as the Young Global Leader,
• The list has 127 of the world’s most promising social activists, business leaders, public servants, artists and technologists under the age of 40.
• The individuals are expected to take part in the five year-programme that will help them to identify new ways to learn new ideas.

• Agreements

MoHUA partners with Microsoft for Swachh Bharat e-Learning Portal

• Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has partnered with Microsoft India to use the platform Project Sangam of Microsoft on its Swachh Bharat e-Learning Portal.
• Now MoHUA has trained more than 110,000 municipal functionaries on best sanitation practices across 4,000 plus cities in India.
• With this partnership, the MoHUA has increased the features on the Swachh Bharat e-Learning Portal.