1. Russia tops ranking of countries in terms of highest percentage of women in senior business roles

(i) According to, “Women in Business” survey by the U.S. based audit and tax firm Grant Thornton, Russia once again topped the international ranking of countries with the highest percentage of women in senior business roles.

(ii) With 45 per cent of senior management positions held by women, Russia topped the survey, closely followed by Philippines and Lithuania. The report, which was released earlier this March attributed this factor to the legacy of communism in Russia.

(iii) It added, globally, only a quarter of senior management positions are held by women, up from 22 percent a year before.

(iv) Japan remained at the bottom of the list with just 7 percent of senior leadership roles held by women. Germany and India ranked slightly better, with 15 percent and 16 percent of women in senior management, respectively.

2. Ministry of women and child development launches Mahila e-Haat for women entrepreneurs

(i) The Ministry of women and child development (WCD) with a view to strengthen Indian women entrepreneurs launched Mahila e-Haat, an online marketing platform recently.

(ii) The portal was launched ahead of the International Women’s Day on March 8th, with an investment of under Rs.10 lakh from the Rashtriya Mahila Kosh, an autonomous body under the WCD ministry for the socio-economic empowerment of women.

(iii) The portal allows sellers to register their products on the platform without any listing fee and there is to be no fee till December 2016 however after which the Ministry may charge a one-time nominal fee.

(iv) As per the Ministry, “On the day of the launch, about 125,000 beneficiaries under 10,000 self-help groups registered themselves on the portal.”

3. Maharashtra and Telangana ink historic water sharing pact on Godavari water project

(i) Chief Ministers of Telangana and Maharashtra K. Chandrasekhar Rao and Devendra Fadnavis, recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) at Mumbai to set up an an inter-state water board on Godavari projects.

(ii) This MoU put an end to decades of discord between the two states over water-sharing of the Godavari water and its tributaries. As per reports the two states will jointly work out mutually-agreeable specifications on the construction of Medigadda barrage, 20 km downstream of Kaleshwaram in Warangal District.

(iii) The barrage will allow irrigation of 16.4 lakh acres in Telangana and over 50,000 acres in some tribal areas of Maharashtra with the help of four small lift irrigation schemes.

4. Ikea to invest Rs 2,000 crore in Haryana 

(i) Ikea, which is the world’s largest furniture retailer recently announced its plans to invest about Rs.2,000 crore in Haryana to establish its retail presence.

(ii) Ikea, which is a swedish retail company is expected to employ about 1,000 people directly through these retail outlets in Haryana.

(iii) This announcement followed after the company signed an agreement to this effect with the state government of Haryana on the second day of the Happening Haryana Global Investors Summit.

5. ICICI rolls out iWork@home initiative for women employees

(i) In a recent announcement, ICICI bank Ltd. announced its latest initiative which would allow its 21,000 women workforce to work from home for up to a year and even take their children and care-giver on business trips.

(ii) This move by the bank was announced on March 8th, international women’s day, with the view to retain its talent.

(iii) In a survey conducted by the bank two years ago, it was revealed that those women employees who quit job primarily did so because of child care responsibilities, and long commutes.

(iv) Taking a note of this problem, ICICI rolled out of its iWork@home initiative on a pilot basis early this year, which enabled employees to work from home for up to a year initially and it can be extended further.

(v) ICICI bank which is headed by Chanda Kochhar has about 70,000 employees, 30% of whom are women.

6. DIPP approves 12 industrial licences of Anil Ambani led Reliance Defence

(i) In a recent development, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) gave approval for 12 industrial licences to Anil Ambani led Reliance Defence.

(ii) Reliance Defence is involved in manufacturing of a wide range of defence equipment and this licence approval for strategic business units (SBUs) of Reliance Defence is aimed at addressing defence programmes in India and overseas.

(iii) In a statement, one of the senior officials of the company informed, “The foray of Reliance into these areas will give added traction to the Indian government’s Make in India and Skill India initiatives.”

(iv) With this, the Reliance Defence is expected to meet the defence equipment needs of Indian Navy, Army and the Air Force, and it also plans to target the global market of $7 billion to manufacture night vision devices (NVDs) and surveillance ones.

7. March 8th observed as International Women’s Day

(i) Every year March 8th is observed as the International Women’s Day. This year’s theme for international women’s day is “Planet 50-50 by 2030”.

(ii) The United Nation (UN) first began celebrating the day in 1975, and each year it has concentrated on improving women’s status around the globe.

(iii) The current goals are well within the framework of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and aims for empowerment of women and girls as core means of tackling underperformance, poverty and global over-population.

8. Russian Tennis Player Maria Sharapova fails drug test

(i) In a recent development, Russian tennis player Maria Sharapova, five time grand slam winner accepted complete responsibility for her failed drug test ahead of the Australian Open.

(ii) Sharapova in a press conference said that she had started taking Meldonium, a drug that is prescribed for angina and heart failure but can improve endurance and aerobic capacity in athletes, in 2006.

(iii) Post this revelation, Sharapova has been sharply criticised, the World Anti-Doping Agency’s first president D Pound hit out at her post the announcement labelling it “reckless beyond description”.

(iv) Maledonium, which Sharapova took for health reasons since 2006 was banned on January 1, 2016 As per the International Tennis Federation (ITF), Sharapova will be provisionally suspended from 12 March. In addition, she faces up to a four-year ban.

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