- Current Affairs March 2018
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Current Affairs Mar 2018 - Resignations
1 - Hope Hicks resigned as White House communications director
US President Donald Trump's Communications Director Hope Hicks has planned to resign and leave the White House.
The announcement of resignation came a day after Hicks testified before the House Intelligence Committee on allegations related to the Russian interference during the 2016 presidential campaign. Hicks is a trusted adviser and counsellor, and did a tremendous job overseeing the communications for the President’s agenda, including the passage of historic tax reform.
2 - Gary Cohn resigned as Trump's top economic advisor
White House’s top economic adviser Gary Cohn resigned over his differences with US President Donald Trump on trade policy.
Cohn, who is a Former Goldman Sach executive resigned as the White House National Economic Council director, after differences with the decision of Trump to impose a 25 per cent tariff on import of steel and 10 per cent on Aluminium. During his stay at the White House, he led coordination of Trump’s pro-growth domestic and global economic policy agenda, including the passage of historic tax cuts and reforms in December 2017.
3 - Ashok Gajapathi Raju and Y S Chowdary resigned from Union Cabinet
Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju and Minister of State for Science and Technology Y.S. Chowdary of the Telugu Desam Party resigned from the Union Council of Ministers.
The TDP has been demanding special category status for Andhra Pradesh while the Union Government is of the opinion that after the recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission, the concept of special category status was abolished and hence AP could not be given the special category status.
4 - Bhagwant Mann resigned as President of AAP's Punjab state unit
Aam Aadmi Party MP, Bhagwant Mann has resigned from the post of party’s Punjab Chief after Delhi Chief Minister and AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal tendered an apology to former Punjab Minister Bikram Singh Majithia for levelling unfounded allegations relating to his involvement in drugs trade. AAP Punjab unit co-president Aman Arora also resigned.
In May 2016, Majithia had filed a criminal defamation case against Kejriwal and other AAP leaders who had made allegations against him.
5 - Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico resigned
Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico resigned after weeks of public protests over the murder of an investigative journalist who reported on tax evasion and fraud among Slovak businesses. Deputy Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini will form the new government.
Jan Kuciak and his fiancée, Martina Kušnírová, were found dead in Kuciak's apartment with bullet wounds. Kuciak had been investigating an alleged connection between Italy's 'Ndrangheta crime syndicate and high-ranking officials in the Slovak government.
6 - Goa Congress President Shantaram Naik resigned
Goa Pradesh Congress Committee President Shantaram Naik resigned from his position inspired by Mr Rahul Gandhi’s appeal at the party plenary meeting to make way for young leaders. He thus became the first senior Congress leader to resign after Rahul Gandhi's announcement.
Seventy-one-year-old Naik was appointed as the head of Goa Congress on July 7, 2017. Mr Naik was elected to Lok Sabha in 1984 from North Goa constituency and twice to Rajya Sabha later.
7 - Myanmar's President U Htin Kyaw resigned
Myanmar's President U Htin Kyaw has resigned after two years in office due to health reasons. Mr Kyaw became the President in 2016 following landmark elections that saw the end of decades of military leadership in the country. According to the country's constitution, Vice President Myint Swe will move into the role until a new President is in place.
Htin Kyaw was the first Myanmar president since the 1962 coup to have no connections to the military.
8 - Kevin Pietersen announced retirement from professional cricket
England batsman Kevin Pietersen announced his retirement from all forms of professional cricket. Pietersen has 8,181 runs in 104 tests, 4,440 runs in 136 ODIs and 1,176 runs in 37 Twenty20 internationals.
Pietersen played his last game for the Quetta Gladiators in the 2018 edition of the Pakistan Super League. He scored 23 centuries in 104 Test matches. Pietersen is England's second-highest run-scorer of all time across all three formats of the game.
9 - Darren Lehmann announced resignation as head coach of Cricket Australia
Darren Lehmann has announced his resignation as head coach of Cricket Australia's men's team. The fourth Test against South Africa at the Wanderers was his last Test.
Lehman was cleared of any wrongdoing by Cricket Australia investigation in the ball-tampering scandal. Lehmann was appointed head coach just weeks out from the 2013 Ashes series in England after CA sacked South African Mickey Arthur. Lehman was the coach of the Australian team when they won the 2015 World Cup.