Notes:
Malaysia has become the 124th member of the International Criminal Court (ICC) after ratifying the Rome Statute. It joined the ICC because of the following reasons: Firstly, the downing of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 in Ukraine and the Rohingya crisis. Secondly, the May 2018 election of Mahathir Mohamad for his 2nd stint as Prime Minister has brought a significant shift in the relationship between the Malaysian government and monarchy. Thirdly, the election of Mahathir and appointment of a new Attorney General, Tommy Thomas, has seen the main legal obstacles to ratification removed. Finally, Malaysia’s decision to ratify the Rome Statute has also been driven by Mahathir’s stated ambition to see his country “play a more active role” in ASEAN and the United Nations. Hence, it is third country of the 10 member states of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), to ratify Rome Statute after Cambodia and Philippines. However, Philippines has announced its withdrawal from the ICC and it is set to take effect from 19th March 2019. Earlier, Burundi became the first country to quit the court in 2017.

Notes:
The US space agency NASA has recently announced that it will carry out first all-female spacewalk at the International Space Station (ISS) on 29th March 2019. Astronauts – Christina Koch and Anne McClain -will walk outside the ISS on a mission to replace batteries installed last summer. They will get ground support from Canadian Space Agency flight controller Kristen Facciol at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. In addition to two space walkers and the flight controller, Mary Lawrence will take the helm as lead flight director and Jackie Kagey will be the lead flight controller. Earlier, Soviet cosmonaut Svetlana Savitskaya became the first woman to carry out a spacewalk on 25 July 1984.

Notes:
The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) and the National Health Authority (NHA) have formed a Joint Working Group (JWG) to curb fraud in the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY). The 11-member group, with NHA Deputy CEO Dinesh Arora as the chair and lRDAl Executive Director Suresh Mathur as the co-chair, would submit a report within 6 months on how to detect and deter fraud through a common repository and capacity-building. The JWG will develop standards for field verifications and investigations besides guidelines to “name and shame” fraudsters. It will also take up a comparative study of packages and their rates, besides defining standards. Additionally, it will suggest common IT infrastructure for health insurance claims management to increase efficiency and transparency among stakeholders. The AB-PMJAY is the health insurance scheme for availing secondary and tertiary care, cashless treatment at empanelled private and public hospitals across the country to families listed in SECC (Socio-Economic Caste Census) 2011. Eligible families get Rs 5 lakh per year.

Notes:
Indian-American television personality and internationally acclaimed food expert, Padma Lakshmi has been appointed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as its newest Goodwill Ambassador on the eve of International Women’s Day (IWD-2019). In this new role, Lakshmi will mobilise support for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with a focus on fighting inequality, discrimination and empowering the disenfranchised.

Notes:
The International Women’s Day (IWD) is celebrated every year on 8th of March 8 to celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The purpose of the 2019 theme “Think Equal, Build Smart, Innovate for Change” is to achieve gender equality by putting innovation by women and girls, for women and girls, at the heart of efforts. The Campaign theme of 2019 IWD “#BalanceforBetter” would provides a unified direction to guide and galvanize continuous collective action with campaign’s activity reinforced and amplified all year.