Here are Top GKToday’s News Headlines for 15 March, 2020
INDIA
- Home Ministry to treat coronavirus disease (COVID-19) as a “notified disaster”; states can now spend more funds from SDRF (State Disaster Response Fund) to fight the pandemic
- NMCG (National Mission for Clean Ganga) organises “Ganga Amantran Abhiyan” rafting and kayaking expedition from Devprayag (Uttarakhand) to Gangasagar (West Bengal)
- 2020 Chameli Devi Jain Award for outstanding woman journalist jointly awarded to Arfa Khanum Sherwani of The Wire and Bengaluru-based freelancer Rohini Mohan
- Prachi Salve of IndiaSpend and Pradeep Dwivedi of Dainik Jagran jointly awarded first prize on road safety reporting by New Delhi-based Centre for Media Studies (CMS)
- UP Cabinet passes ordinance for recovery of damage to public property during violent protests
- Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has isolated COVID-19 virus strain: Director General Balram Bhargava
- Recruitment in railways, banks and lower levels of Central government to be done through Common Eligibility Test (CET) from 2021, National Recruitment Agency (NRA) to conduct this online test
- Malayalam scholar and Sahitya Akademi award winner Puthussery Ramachandran dies at 91 in Thiruvananthapuram
GST COUNCIL MEETING
- GST Council meeting chaired by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in New Delhi
- GST rate on mobile phones and specific parts raised from 12% to 18%
- One rate of GST at 12% for both hand-made (5% earlier) and machine-made matchsticks (18% earlier)
- GST rate on Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) services for aircrafts reduced from 18% to 5%
ECONOMY & CORPORATE
- Special excise duty on petrol and diesel hiked by Rs. 2, road cess on both fuels raised by Rs. 1; no impact on retail prices
- Justice Bansi Lal Bhat appointed as the officiating chairperson of NCLAT (National Company Law Appellate Tribunal)
- Bandhan Bank to invest Rs 300 crore for equity stake in troubled Yes Bank under RBI’s reconstruction scheme
- New website of Ministry of New and Renewable Energy launched; has additional portals such as ‘Akshay Urja Portal’ and ‘India Renewable Idea Exchange’ (IRIX)
- ‘WINGS INDIA 2020′ Exhibition and Conference being organised by Civil Aviation Ministry and FICCI at Begumpet Airport, Hyderabad from March 12 to 15
WORLD
- World Health Organisation declares Europe as epicentre of coronavirus pandemic
- 90% of all people have ‘a deeply ingrained bias’ against women: UNDP Gender Social Norms Index
SPORTS
- ATK (previously known as Atlético de Kolkata) win Indian Super League (ISL) football title in Margao, Goa