1) World Consumer Rights Day 2021
•It is celebrated on 15 March across the world annually to spread awareness about the rights of consumers and their needs.
•A special message was sent by President John F Kennedy to the US Congress on 15 March, 1962 and so the day was inspired by him. In the message he formally addressed the issue of consumer rights. To do so, he was the first leader.
•The history behind the World Consumer Rights Day is that the first consumer movement was observed in 1983 and since then every year it is observed to mobilize an action on important issues and campaigns.
•The theme of World Consumer Rights Day 2021 is ‘Tackling Plastic Pollution’. It will raise awareness and engage consumers globally to adopt and promote more sustainable practices. The last year theme was ‘The Sustainable Consumer’. This year the campaign will also focus on the central role that consumer advocates governments and businesses can play in tackling the global plastic pollution crisis.
Who is a consumer and types?
•Consumer is one who purchase the product for his or her own need and consumes it. He or she can not resell the product or service but consumer it to earn his or her livelihood and self-employment.
Types of consumer:
•Commercial Consumer, Discretionary Spending Consumers, Extroverted Consumer and Inferior Goods Consumer
2) Supreme Court seeks govt.’s response on plea against Places of Worship Act
•The Supreme Court has asked the government to respond to a plea challenging the Places of Worship Act enacted in 1991.
•A notice is issued by a Bench led by Chief Justice of India Sharad A. Bobde to the Union Ministries of Home, Law and Culture on a plea filed by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay against various provisions of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act of 1991.
•The petition said Sections of the Act that dealt with the bar on legal claims were against the principles of secularism.
3) First project Genome Mapping in Indian Ocean will be launched
•In the Indian Ocean, the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) will launch the first-of-its-kind project of Genome Mapping.
•Indian Ocean covers about 20% of the Earths’s water surface and so is the third largest water bocy in the world.
•Its objective is to bather samples of genome mapping of microorganisms in the Indian Ocean.
•It is also necessary to understand the biochemistry and the response of the Ocean to climate change, nutrient stress and increasing pollution.
•The cost of the project and duration is Rs 25 crore and will take around three years to complete.
4) Odisha Farmer’s Solar Car Gets Thumbs-Up Online
•An Odisha farmer gained attention of people on social media by generating electric four-wheeler that runs on a solar powered battery.
•Sushil Aggarwal from Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district had built a four-wheeler powered by an 850 Watts motor and 100 Ah/54 Volts of battery.
•After fully charged the vehicle can travel up to 300 km. He told that he had built this car inside a workshop at his home during the COVID-19 lockdown.
•He told that the solar-powered battery took around 8 and a half hours to be fully charged. He further stated that “It is a slow charging battery. Such batteries have a long life, it will last 10 years.”
•All the work on his vehicle including motor winding, electrical fitting and chassis work were done in my workshop with the help of two other mechanics and a friend who advised me on electric works,” he added.
5) Ultimate Battle Founder- An Online eSports Platform
•Founder of Ultimate Battle is Tarun Gupta. It is an online eSports platform where gamers can test their mettle against others without paying a fee. India is still small in this segment, gamers need platforms that can give them competitive exposure to improve their skills.
•Therefore, Ultimate Battle invites and encourages players to try popular eSports titles of all kinds against other players. It is a complete product of India and it does not charge players money to participate in competitive gaming through the platform.
