1) Odisha govt launches 181 helpline for distressed women
•Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has launched 24*7 helpline number 181 to assist women in distress on the occasion of International Women’s Day (8th March 2017).
•A woman from any part of the Odisha can dial 181 to get immediate assistance. The helpline will extend prompt response to women affected by violence, provide information about women-related government schemes and programs and a range of other services.
2) Tamil Nadu launches Rs 1,580 crore housing scheme
•Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami launched a housing scheme estimated at Rs 1,580 crore.
•The scheme was being implemented by the state government with Central assistance for the economically poor. In the year 2016-17, concrete houses will be constructed for 50,170 beneficiaries in town panchayat limits.
•To mark the launch of the scheme Palaniswami gave away work orders to five beneficiaries.
3) 10th International Conference on Theory and Practice of Electronic Governance (ICEGOV)
•The 10th edition of the International Conference on Theory and Practice of Electronic Governance (ICEGOV 2017) was held in New Delhi from March 7-9, 2017.
•The theme is 'Building Knowledge Societies-From Digital Government to Digital Empowerment'.
•The Objective of ICEGOV 2017 is focused on the use of technology to transform relationships between government and citizens, businesses & civil society.
•It was inaugurated by the Union Minister of Electronics & Information Technology and Law & Justice Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad.
4) India-Belgium signs Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement and Protocol
•India and Belgium have signed an agreement to amending the existing Agreement and Protocol between the two countries for avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income in New Delhi.
•The agreement was signed in the presence of Sushil Chandra, Chairman CBDT and Jan Luykx, Ambassador of Belgium to India.
•During the financial year 2016-17, India has signed a protocol with Switzerland, Mauritius, Cyprus, Japan, Republic of Korea, Kazakhstan, Singapore and Austria during the financial year 2016-17.
5) RBI to introduce New Rs. 10 notes with more security features
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday said that it will soon issue Rs 10 denomination notes with enhanced security features for the circulation. Earlier last month Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das clarified that the government has no plans to introduce new currency notes of Rs 1,000 denomination. In a tweet, he added that the focus presently is on production and supply of Rs 500 currency notes and those of lower denomination. Let’s look at five security features which the Central Bank plans to introduce:
1) The banknotes in the Mahatma Gandhi series-2005 are to carry inset letter ‘L’ on both number panels, bearing the signature of Governor Urjit Patel.
2) The year of printing, 2017, will be on the reverse of the note.
3) Numerals on both the panels will be in ascending size from left to right.
4) The first three alpha-numeric characters (prefix) will remain constant in size.
5) “All the banknotes in the denomination of Rs 10 issued by the Bank in the past will continue to be legal tender,” the central bank said.
To replace old notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000, the RBI had issued new notes of Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 which carried new designs, better security features and the picture of Mangalyaan on the back of the notes. The new notes were issued to replace Rs 15.44 lakh crore worth of demonetised currency notes.
6) ICC appoints Sachin as ambassador for ICC Women’s World Cup 2017
•Indian cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar was announced as the official ambassador of Women's Cricket World Cup 2017 by the International Cricket Council (ICC) yesterday, on the occasion of International Women's Day.
•"Women's participation in any sport is really important. I think that it has always been 'women for sport and sport for women. Thus, here I am, to extend all my support to them and advice them to enjoy the competitiveness,” Tendulkar said.
•"All the teams participating in the tournaments are competitive, but my heart is with India," quipped the legend, when asked about which teams can make it big in the world event. “There are in fact a couple of players which I know and have interacted with in the past- Jhulan Goswami, Mithali Raj, who are expected to get the best out of the game."
•ICC also released a video of Sachin speaking about the tournament.
