National:
National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2021
- The Parliament has passed the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2021. The Bill aimed to amend the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991.
The Bill amends certain powers and responsibilities of the Legislative Assembly and the Lieutenant Governor.
The Bill provides that the term ‘government’ referred to in any law made by the Legislative Assembly of Delhi will imply Lieutenant Governor, LG.
The Bill also prohibits the Legislative Assembly of Delhi from making any rule to enable itself or its Committees to consider the matters of day-to-day administration of the National Capital Territory of Delhi.
Book titled-"Battle Ready for 21st Century"
- A book titled “Battle Ready for 21st Century” was released by Gen Bipin Rawat, CDS and Gen Deepak Kapoor, Former Chief of the Army Staff, at Centre for Land Warfare Studies on 17 March 2021.
The book has been co-edited by- Distinguished Fellow of Centre for Land Warfare Studies, Lt Gen AK Singh and Visiting Fellow of Centre for Land Warfare Studies, Brigadier Narender Kumar.
ADG of PIB Odisha Region
- Shri Rajinder Chaudhry, a senior officer of the Indian Information Service (IIS) on 15 March 2021 assumed the charge of the Additional Director General (ADG) of Press Information Bureau (PIB), Odisha region. He will be heading both PIB Bhubaneswar and Regional Outreach Bureau (ROB), Bhubaneswar. He will also be acting as the Additional Press Registrar of RNI.
International:
1st Meeting of the BRICS Contact Group on Economic and Trade Issues
- The BRICS Contact Group on Economic and Trade Issues (CGETI) has organized the first meeting under the chairmanship of India from 9 to 11 March 2021.
The theme of BRICS this year is -“BRICS@15: Intra BRICS Cooperation for Continuity, Consolidation, and Consensus”. India, under its chairmanship in 2021, presented the calendar of events for BRICS CGETI 2021.
India-Finland Virtual Summit
- Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and Prime Minister of the Republic of Finland Ms Sanna Marin held a Virtual Summit on 16 March 2021. Both the leaders discussed the entire gamut of bilateral issues as well as other regional and multilateral issues of mutual interest.
The two leaders expressed their desire to further expand and diversify the relationship across sectors such as trade and investment, innovation, education, emerging technologies including Artificial Intelligence, 5G/6G, and quantum computing.
Prime Minister Modi invited Finland to join the International Solar Alliance (ISA) and the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI).
Important Day:
World Consumer Rights Day 2021
- World Consumer Rights Day is celebrated on 15th March every year, as a means of raising global awareness about consumer rights and needs.
The theme of the World Consumer Rights Day 2021 was ‘Tackle plastic pollution’.
Death:
- Kathakali maestro, “Guru Chemancheri Kunhiraman Nair” died in Koyilandy, north Kerala on 15 March 2021. He was 105.
He was conferred with the Padma Shri award in 2017.