ANDHRA PRADESH
- EC deploys I-T teams in AP to check poll expenditure
- The Election Commission has deployed several teams in the state to keep a tab on the amount of money candidates were to spend on the poll campaign.
- Consequently, the Income Tax department has set up a control room in Visakhapatnam and launched a toll free number where the officials concerned will deal with calls related to poll expenditure.
- The move comes in the wake of the fact that elections have always been an expensive affair in the state. Data reveal that AP stands out in the country for spending the most on elections.This year, the EC has marked 116 out of the 175 assembly constituencies as ‘highly expensive’.
INTERNATIONAL
- WHO released the Global Influenza Strategy 2019-2030
- World Health Organization (WHO) released a Global Influenza Strategy for 2019-2030 aimed at protecting people in all countries from the threat of influenza, one of the world’s greatest public health challenges.
- The aim of the strategy is to prevent seasonal influenza, control the spread of influenza from animals to humans, and prepare for the next influenza pandemic.
- Every year across the globe, there are an estimated 1 billion cases, of which 3 to 5 million are severe cases, resulting in 290000 to 650000 influenza-related respiratory deaths.
- WHO recommends annual influenza vaccination as the most effective way to prevent influenza, which is especially important for people at higher risk of serious influenza complications and for health care workers.
- The new strategy is the most comprehensive and far-reaching that WHO has ever developed for influenza and it outlines a path to protect populations every year and helps prepare for a pandemic through strengthening routine programmes.
- For more than 65 years, the Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System (GISRS), comprised of WHO Collaborating Centres and national influenza centres, have worked together to monitor seasonal trends and potentially pandemic viruses and this system serves as the backbone of the global alert system for influenza.
- Japan announced Rs 22 lakh for Kolkata museum
- The Japanese government announced a donation of some Rs 22 lakh ($31,800)to the Rabindra Bharati Museum, Kolkata in a bid to strengthen historical and cultural ties with India.
- Rabindranath Tagore, Asia’s first Nobel Prize recipient, visited Japan in 1916, 1924 and 1929, renewing relations between the countries as India’s leading cultural ambassador.
- World Consumer Rights Day 2019: 15 March 2019
- World Consumer Rights Day is celebrated every year on 15 March as part of an initiative by Consumer International, a membership organisation for consumer groups around the world.
- Theme: Trusted Smart Products
- The day is celebrated every year, to celebrate consumer rights and build a world where everyone has access to safe and sustainable products and services.
- World Consumer Rights Day was inspired by President John F Kennedy, who was the first leader in the world to address the issue of consumer rights in a special message sent to the US Congress on 15 March 1962.
NATIONAL
- The United States to set up six nuclear power plants in India
- India and the US said they have agreed to build six American nuclear power plants in India, in a boost to bilateral civil nuclear energy 47.8C117.2 448 288 448 288 448s170.8 0 213.4-11.5c23.5-6.3 42-24.2 48.3-47.8 11.4-42.9 11.4-132.3 11.4-132.3s0-89.4-11.4-132.3zm-317.5 213.5V175.2l142.7 81.2-142.7 81.2z"/> Subscribe on YouTube