Current Affairs Daily Digest – March 06 2020
1. Chapchar Kut, the biggest and most joyful festival of Mizos, being celebrated today
In Mizoram, the biggest and most joyful festival of Mizos, Chapchar Kut is being celebrated across the state today. The Chapchar Kut is also regarded as the most popular spring festival to the people of the state. The gaiety and fervour of Chapchar Kut shines through with plenty of dancing and music to keep everyone in good spirits. This festival is a public holiday in the state.
2. PUMA signs Bollywood icon Kareena Kapoor Khan as brand ambassador
PUMA announced Kareena Kapoor Khan as their latest brand ambassador in India. She joins the company’s roster of dynamic women personalities like MC Mary Kom, Dutee Chand, Sara Ali Khan, Selena Gomez among others. The brand aims to ignite a stronger women’s narrative in India through their association with Kareena.
3. Sikh ruler Maharaja Ranjit Singh voted ‘Greatest Leader of All Time’ in BBC poll
The 19th century Sikh Empire ruler Maharaja Ranjit Singh has been named the “Greatest Leader of All Time” in a poll conducted by ‘BBC World Histories Magazine’. Over 5,000 readers participated in the poll which also had nominees like former British PM Winston Churchill and former American President Abraham Lincoln. Singh was nominated for forming a modern empire of tolerance.
4. Bimal Julka appointed Chief Information Commissioner
Information Commissioner Bimal Julka was on Friday appointed the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC). President Ram Nath Kovind administered the oath of office to Julka at a ceremony held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Chief Information Commission had been functioning without a head after Sudhir Bhargava retired on January 11 and is at a reduced strength of six information commissioners.
5. Indira Gandhi named TIME magazine’s ‘Women of the Year’ for 1976
Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and freedom fighter Amrit Kaur have been named by the TIME magazine among the world’s 100 powerful women who defined the last century in a new project that “spotlights influential women who were often overshadowed”. The profile said that in 1976, Gandhi, “‘Empress of India’ had become India’s great authoritarian.”
6. International Conference on Nano-Science and Nano Technology held in Kolkata
Department of Science of Technology operating under Ministry of Science and Technology organized an International Conference on Nano-Science and Nano Technology (ICONSAT) at Kolkata. The Conference is to be held between March 5, 2020 and March 7, 2020.
7. What is BHOG of FSSAI?
The Tamil Nadu Food Safety and Drug Administration recently asked the administrators of temples to obtain BHOG certificate from FSSAI (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India). This was launched in 2018.
BHOG is Blissful Hygiene Offering to God. These are certificates issued by FSSAI. The BHOG certificates ensure quality of food offered to devotees and deities as well. It was launched as a precautionary measure to maintain hygiene of foods at the temples.
8. Lok Sabha passed Direct Tax Vivad Se Viswas Bill, 2020
Lok Sabha passed the Direct Tax Vivad Se Viswas Bill, 2020. The bill aims to reduce the number of litigation that are associated with direct tax payments. The Direct Tax Vivad Se Viswas concept was introduced by the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman during the Union Budget 2020-21.
9. Cabinet Approval: To amend Companies Act, 2013
Union Cabinet approved 72 changes to the Companies Act, 2013. The main aim of the amendment is to decriminalize the provisions in the act.
The amendment aims to recategorize 23 offences and omit 7 compoundable offences. Under the amendment, the companies with Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) obligation of less than Rs 50 lakhs need not constitute a CSR committee.
10. CRISPR (CaS9)-The Gene Editing Tool used to treat blindness for the first time
The Gene Editing Tool called CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) has been used for the first time to treat blindness. However, doctors claimed that it will take a month to check if the vision of the patient has restored. This has been achieved at the Oregon University,Portland, USA.
11. GoI clears Genome India Project
The Department of Biotechnology operating under Ministry of Science and Technology has cleared Genome India Project. More than 20 leading institutions including IISc Bengaluru are to participate in the project.
12. Amita Pandove was sworn in as Information Commissioner of CIC
Smt Amita Pandove was sworn in as the Information Commissioner, Central Information Commission (CIC). The oath of office was administered by the Chief Information Commissioner, Shri Bimal Julka.
With her induction, the total number of Information Commissioners in the Central Information Commission, including Chief Information Commissioner, has gone up to 7.
13. Gairsain was made the new summer capital of Uttarakhand
Gairsain was made the new summer capital of Uttarakhand. The announcement was made by Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat at the assembly session convened in Gairsain. It partially fulfilled an over two-decade demand by statehood. CM dedicated the announcement to the people who sacrificed themselves for the formation of Uttarakhand state.
14. Fourth Edition of Global Ayurveda Festival 2020 from May 16 to 20
Researchers from Raman Research Institute (RRI), an autonomous institution under the Department of Science & Technology, have devised a new test for fairness of quantum coin or ‘qubit’ (the basic unit of information in a quantum computer) using entanglement theory.
