Current Affairs of 15 March 2016

1. India Post selected Deloitte as consultant for payments bank
1.India Post in the second week of March 2016 selected Deloitte to advise it on setting up a payments bank. An agreement between the two was signed .
2. The Public Investment Board (PIB) has already approved the 800-crore rupees proposal of India Post. The proposal will be sent to the Union Cabinet within two weeks for final approval.
3. India Post payments bank will largely target unbanked and under-banked customers in rural, semi-rural and remote areas, with a focus on providing simple deposit products and money remittance services.
4. The pilot for the payments bank is set to start from January 2017 and the full-fledged operations may start by March 2017.
5.The Reserve Bank of India had granted payments bank permit to India Post, which is already into providing financial services and has 1.55 lakh branches across the country.

2.Mauritania ratified 2014 Protocol to the Forced Labour Convention
1. Mauritania became the second African country to ratify the 2014 Protocol to the Forced Labour Convention 1930.Prior to Mauritania, Niger (Africa), Norway (Europe) and the United Kingdom (Europe) ratified the protocol.
2. The protocol requires States to take effective measures for prevention of forced labour, protection of victims and ensuring their access to justice and compensation.
Background
3. The ILO estimates that about 21 million men, women, and children are in forced labour – trafficked, held in debt bondage, or working under slave-like conditions.

3. 59th Session of Commission on Narcotic Drugs inaugurated in Vienna
1. The 59th Session of Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) was inaugurated in Austria’s capital Vienna.
2. The 9-day long session seeks to promote a comprehensive understanding of the world drug problem and evolve appropriate strategies to deal with it.
3. Around 1500 delegates representing Member States, inter-governmental organizations, and civil society will be participating in the session. During the session, the Commission will discuss 10 draft resolutions and hold 74 side events and over 25 exhibitions

4. Pope Francis announced Mother Teresa to be granted Sainthood
1. Pope Francis announced that Mother Teresa will be made a saint of the Roman Catholic Church at a ceremony.
2. The pope cleared the way for sainthood to Mother Teresa, who was famed for her lifetime of service to the poor, establishing shelters for homeless, orphanages, soup kitchens and clinics around the world.
3. The Vatican credited her with the 2008 cure of a Brazilian man who had been suffering from brain tumors.
4. The first step toward making her a saint took place in 2002 when Mother Teresa was credited with the healing of a Bengali woman who suffered from tuberculosis and cancer.
The process of Cannonisation
Originally, individuals were recognized as saints without any formal process. Later, different processes, such as those used by the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church were developed.
There are four steps to canonization that the saints have to go through:
Servant of God → Venerable → Blessed → Saint

5. 60th Session of Commission on the Status of Women inaugurated in New York
1. The 60th Session of Commission on the Status of Women was inaugurated . The 11-day long session will take place at the United Nations headquarters in New York, the USA.
During the session, the Commission will discuss on its priority theme - Women’s empowerment and its link to sustainable development.
2. It will evaluate progress in the implementation of the agreed conclusions from the fifty-seventh session (2013) on ‘The elimination and prevention of all forms of violence against women and girls’.
3. The session will be attended by the representatives of UN Member States, UN entities, and ECOSOC-accredited non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from all regions of the world.
45 member States of the UN, including India, were chosen as the members of the session.
1. India Post selected Deloitte as consultant for payments bank
1.India Post in the second week of March 2016 selected Deloitte to advise it on setting up a payments bank. An agreement between the two was signed .
2. The Public Investment Board (PIB) has already approved the 800-crore rupees proposal of India Post. The proposal will be sent to the Union Cabinet within two weeks for final approval.
3. India Post payments bank will largely target unbanked and under-banked customers in rural, semi-rural and remote areas, with a focus on providing simple deposit products and money remittance services.
4. The pilot for the payments bank is set to start from January 2017 and the full-fledged operations may start by March 2017.
5.The Reserve Bank of India had granted payments bank permit to India Post, which is already into providing financial services and has 1.55 lakh branches across the country.

2.Mauritania ratified 2014 Protocol to the Forced Labour Convention
1. Mauritania became the second African country to ratify the 2014 Protocol to the Forced Labour Convention 1930.Prior to Mauritania, Niger (Africa), Norway (Europe) and the United Kingdom (Europe) ratified the protocol.
2. The protocol requires States to take effective measures for prevention of forced labour, protection of victims and ensuring their access to justice and compensation.
Background
3. The ILO estimates that about 21 million men, women, and children are in forced labour – trafficked, held in debt bondage, or working under slave-like conditions.

3. 59th Session of Commission on Narcotic Drugs inaugurated in Vienna
1. The 59th Session of Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) was inaugurated in Austria’s capital Vienna.
2. The 9-day long session seeks to promote a comprehensive understanding of the world drug problem and evolve appropriate strategies to deal with it.
3. Around 1500 delegates representing Member States, inter-governmental organizations, and civil society will be participating in the session. During the session, the Commission will discuss 10 draft resolutions and hold 74 side events and over 25 exhibitions

4. Pope Francis announced Mother Teresa to be granted Sainthood
1. Pope Francis announced that Mother Teresa will be made a saint of the Roman Catholic Church at a ceremony.
2. The pope cleared the way for sainthood to Mother Teresa, who was famed for her lifetime of service to the poor, establishing shelters for homeless, orphanages, soup kitchens and clinics around the world.
3. The Vatican credited her with the 2008 cure of a Brazilian man who had been suffering from brain tumors.
4. The first step toward making her a saint took place in 2002 when Mother Teresa was credited with the healing of a Bengali woman who suffered from tuberculosis and cancer.
The process of Cannonisation
Originally, individuals were recognized as saints without any formal process. Later, different processes, such as those used by the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church were developed.
There are four steps to canonization that the saints have to go through:
Servant of God → Venerable → Blessed → Saint

5. 60th Session of Commission on the Status of Women inaugurated in New York
1. The 60th Session of Commission on the Status of Women was inaugurated . The 11-day long session will take place at the United Nations headquarters in New York, the USA.
During the session, the Commission will discuss on its priority theme - Women’s empowerment and its link to sustainable development.
2. It will evaluate progress in the implementation of the agreed conclusions from the fifty-seventh session (2013) on ‘The elimination and prevention of all forms of violence against women and girls’.
3. The session will be attended by the representatives of UN Member States, UN entities, and ECOSOC-accredited non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from all regions of the world.
45 member States of the UN, including India, were chosen as the members of the session.