1. 12 states ban e-cigarettes, health ministry urges all to follow

• 12 states in India have banned Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS).
• States of Punjab, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Jharkhand have taken steps to ban the use of ENDS.
• Naming 'e-cigarette' is a tactic used by the industry to fool public by giving it a tubular shape and putting a red LED at the tip which lights up when the tube is sucked to mimic cigarette smoking.

2. Russia releases coin commemorating annexation of Crimea

• Russia's central bank has issued a new coin featuring the Crimea, or Kerch Strait, Bridge to commemorate Crimea's "reunification with Russia”.
• Two million new five ruble (about $0.08, €0.07) coins were pressed which also show an outline of the peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014.
• This is second commemoration of Crimea, the first being a 200 ruble note released in 2015 and depicted the desire of the people of Russia to see these symbols on notes.

3. India gets first TIR shipment via Chabahar Port from Afghanistan

• The first shipment on ‘Transports Internationaux Routiers’ (TIR) from Afghanistan to India through Iran Chabahar Port arrived at the port of Nhava Sheva, Mumbai .
• The convention allows goods to be outlined in a TIR carnet and sealed in load compartments. Customs verify the carnet and check the seals, with no need for physical checking of the contents, enabling shipments to pass through countries without being opened at borders.
• This enables a facilitative and non-intrusive environment for multi-modal transport of goods through several countries.

4. RBI categorises IDBI Bank as private sector lender

• RBI categorises IDBI Bank as private sector lender.
• This followsLife Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) acquiring 51 per cent of the total paid-up equity share capital of the bank.
• In April 2005, IDBI Bank was categorised under a new sub-group, ‘other public sector banks,’ by the RBI.

5. World Kidney Day 2019: kidney Health for Everyone Everywhere

• The World Kidney Day 2019 was observed on March 14, 2019, the second Thursday of March, with an aim to raise awareness of the importance of our kidneys.
• The theme of World Kidney Day 2019 was “Kidney Health for Everyone Everywhere”.
• The theme calls for Universal Health Coverage (UHC) for prevention and early treatment of kidney disease.

6. Indian social entrepreneur wins Commonwealth award

• A social entrepreneur from Tamil Nadu bagged the Commonwealth Youth Award for the Asian region from among hundreds of nominations for his technology-based food rescue organisation.
• Padmanaban Gopalan, founder of No Food Waste, was named the winner of the award worth 3,000 pounds at a ceremony at the Commonwealth Secretariat in London.
• The awards recognise their outstanding initiatives in line with the SGDs with a focus on poverty, gender, clean water, education, health and climate change.

7. Pakistan Successfully Test-fires 'Smart Weapon' From JF-17 Fighter Jet

• Pakistan Air Force has announced successfully test-firing an indigenously developed "smart weapon" from a JF-17 Thunder fighter jet to provide it a very potent day and night capability to engage a variety of targets with pinpoint accuracy.
• The successful trial has provided JF-17 Thunder a very potent and assured day and night capability to engage variety of targets with pinpoint accuracy.
• The JF-17, which was previously referred as FC-1 Xiaolong, a single-engine multi-role light fighter was being jointly produced by Pakistan with China for several years with engines supplied by Russia.