FreeJobAlert.Com Current Affairs

INTERNATIONAL

Htin Kyaw is Myanmar’s First Elected Civilian President
Myanmar’s Parliament on 15 March elected Htin Kyaw as the first civilian president to lead the country after 53 years of military rule. Army took power in a 1962 coup.He is a close aide and adviser of Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of National League for Democracy (NLD) party. He was elected with 360 of the total 652 votes casted while, military-nominated Myint Swe received 213 votes and stood second followed by the other NLD candidate, Henry Van Thio, who got 79 votes.Kyaw will replace Thein Sein who will step down at the end of March 2016 after five years of army-backed rule.

China To Set Up International Maritime Judicial Centre
China’s Supreme Court has decided to set up its own International Maritime Judicial Centre (IMJC) to handle territorial disputes and protect its sea rights. It was announced by China’s Supreme Court Chief Justice Zhou Qiang at the annual meeting of the national legislature National People’s Congress (NPC). This move will help China to bolster its claims in the disputed South and East China seas and also help it become a maritime power.

China To Build Second Railway Line Into Tibet
China will build a second railway line to Tibet, linking capital Lhasa with the south-western city of Chengdu. The new railway was announced in a draft of China’s new five-year development plan. In 2006, China opened a railway line to Lhasa as part of government development efforts. It passes through the spectacular Tibetan highlands, at altitudes as high as 5,000 metres (16,400ft) above sea level.

US FAA certifies China’s ‘Y-12F’ Regional Liner
The Chinese aircraft Y-12F, a new third regional Y-12 series, manufactured by the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) has received certification from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The means aircraft has met high industry standard and global sales.The Y-12F aircraft has take-off weight of 8.4 tonnes, cruising speed of 400 km per hour and a longest cruising range of 2,255 km. Over 30 countries 200 units of the Y-12 series are delivered.

Hashim Thaci Elected as President of Kosovo
Hashim Thaci has been elected as the President of Kosovo by the Parliament of the country in the third round. He will succeed Atifete Jahjaga. With this, Hashim Thaci becomes fourth President of Kosovo after the country had unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in 2008.

INDIA & WORLD

India – Australia Signed Social Security Agreement
India has signed a pact with Australia under which the employees deputed to Australia from India and viceversa need not make double social security contribution. This agreement provides the exception to the employees who have been deputed on a short term basis say less than 60 months from paying social security contribution to both the countries. With this, Australia has become the 14th country with which India has a social security agreement in force.

India – Bangladesh signed $2 billion Line of Credit
India has signed the second line of credit (LOC) agreement extending 2 billion dollars in development financing to Bangladesh for underta king various development projects. This credit line will be provided through Export Import Bank of India (Exim Bank), India’s external lending arm. It is Exim Bank’s biggest ever LOC facility given to another country. The development financing will be used in the infrastructural projects like power sector, road transportation, railways, shipping, information and communication technology (ICT) and social sector projects like health and technical education.

India At 90th Rank In Terms Of Energy Security, Access
World Economic Forum (WEF) on 2 March released the fourth edition of the Global Energy Architecture Performance Index Report 2016 (EAPI) compiling 126 countries. India has been ranked at the 90th place in a list of 126 countries on the basis of their ability to deliver secure, affordable and sustainable energy. Top 10 countries in GEAPI Report: Switzerland (1st), Norway (2nd), Sweden (3rd), France (4th), Denmark (5th), Austria (6th), Spain (7th), Colombia (8th), New Zealand (9th) and Uruguay (10th).

India-World Bank Signed Credit Agreement for MPHEQIP
Union Government, Madhya Pradesh government and the World Bank have signed $300 million credit agreement on 1 March for Madhya Pradesh Higher Education Quality Improvement Project (MPHEQIP). The credit will be provided by the International Development Association (IDA), World Bank’s concessionary lending arm with a maturity of 25 years, including a five-year grace period.

India To Host BRICS Friendship Cities Conclave
India is going to host BRICS Friendship Cities Conclave in Mumbai (Maharashtra), financial capital of India from April 14 to 16, 2016. It will be attended by the top Urban Policy makers and Planners from BRICS Nations viz. Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The conclave will be joint initiative of Union Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and Government of Maharashtra. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the conference which will be attended by representatives of at least two cities from each of the BRICS nations.

India Ranks 118th On UN’s World Happiness Index 2016
India ranked 118th out of 157 countries on the United Nations’ World Happiness Index (WHI) 2016. It was revealed by the fourth World Happiness Report 2016 published by the Sustainabl e Development Solutions Network (SDSN), a global initiative for the UN. Key Highlights of Report Top 10 countries – Denmark (1st), Switzerland (2nd), Iceland (3rd), Norway (4th) and Finland (5th), Canada (6th), Netherlands (7th), New Zealand (8th), Australia (9th) and Sweden (10th).

NATIONAL

SC allows photos of CMs, Governors in Govt Ads
The Supreme Court has allowed publication of photographs of Governors, Chief Ministers and the Ministers of the department concerned in government advertisements. Ruling in this regard was on 18 March given by a SC bench headed by Justice Ranjan Gogoi on pleas by Union Government and states which had sought review of the Supreme Court judgement. This ruling of Supreme Court has modified its earlier 2015 order which only had permitted photographs of President, Prime Minister and Chief Justice of India (CJI) in the government advertisements.

National Waterways Bill Passed By Parliament
Parliament on 9 March passed the National Waterways Bill, which provides for declaring certain inland waterways as national waterways with the Rajya Sabha giving its nod to the legislation. The bill, passed by Lok Sabha in December 2015, also repeals the five acts on the existing national waterways, which will not be covered under this bill. Under it, 106 additional inland waterways will be added to the list of national waterways, taking the number to 111.

Union Govt Announces To withdraw Tax Proposal on EPF
The Union Finance Ministry has announced to withdraw its proposal to tax Employee Provident Fund (EPF) withdrawals. It was announced by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on 8 March in the Lok Sabha clarifying NDA government’s stand on the issue. However, government has not changed its plan to tax National Pension Scheme (NPS) withdrawals. Earlier in the Union Budget 2016-17, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had proposed to tax EPF and NPS withdrawals with an effect from 1 April 2016. It was announced that 60 percent of the amount deposited in EPF account of the employee would be taxed at the time of withdrawal and remaining 40 percent would be tax free.

PM Narendra Modi Launches ‘Setu Bharatam’ Project
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 4 March launched Rs 50,000-crore “Setu Bharatam” Project to make all national highways free of railway cross-ings by 2019. This project will be implemented by the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. 208 places have been identified for construction of rail over-bridges (ROB) or underpasses under the project. Around 1,500 bridges that are over 50 to 60 years old or of the British era will be overhauled and will be rebuilt. More than 50 thousand crore rupees will be spent on the project.

Swachh Paryatan app Launched
The Swachh Paryatan mobile app on 22 March launched by Union Tourism Ministery Mahesh Sharma to Facilitate public, to complaint about Unclean area and Garbage piles in and around tourist places. Initially 25 Adarsh Monuments identified by Archaeological Survey are included in app. The app enables to take Photograph of garbage and Upload with a remark to ASI of concern Nodal officer.This app is available for only Android Phones.

STATES

Exercise Iron Fist 2016
The Indian Air Force (IAF) has conducted its flagship day-night exercise ‘Iron-fist 2016’ on 18 March at Pokhran firing range in Rajasthan. The day-night exercise demonstrating IAF’s combat and fire power was conducted in the presence of Hon’ble President Shri Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The event comprised 6 packages depicting 6 different themes in which more than 180 aircraft, including fighters, transport and helicopters of IAF participated. The event mainly showcased more than 22 types of platforms and Weapons Systems of IAF.

India Signed $35 million Loan Agreement with WB for MP project
India on 19 March signed loan agreement of 35 Million dollars with the world bank for Madhya Pradesh citizen access to responsive services project. The objective of the project is to improve access and quality of public services in the state. The loan has been sanctioned by the World Bank’s concessionary lending arm International Development Association (IDA). The project size is 50 million dollars, of which 35 million dollar will be financed by the World Bank and the remaining amount will be funded out of State Budget.

UP Cabinet Approved Senior Citizen Policy
Uttar Pradesh Government on 14 March approved a policy for senior citizens. Under the policy the state government will set up old age homes and also announced increase in monthly pension by 100 rupees, that is, monthly pension will increase from existing 300 rupees to 400 rupees.

Maharashtra Cabinet Approved Prohibition of Social Boycott Bill
Maharashtra Cabinet on 1 March approved the Maharashtra Prohibition of Social Boycott Bill, 2016. The bill provides for the prohibition of social boycott of a person or group of persons including their family members by an individual or a group like Caste Panchayat. Once the bill is approved by the State legislature, Maharashtra will become the first State in the country to enact a law against social boycott.

Tamil Nadu CM Launches ‘Amma Health ‘ Scheme
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on 1 March launched a host of healthcare initiatives, including master health checkup scheme under the brand ‘Amma’ and unveiled some new government hospital buildings. She launched “Amma Master Health Checkup” and “Amma Women Special Master Health Checkup” Schemes worth Rs.10 crore and inaugurated the “Amma master health checkup” centre at the Government General Hospital in Chennai through video-conferencing from the Secretariat.

CONFERENCES

First World Sufi Forum
First World Sufi Forum was held from 17-20 March in New Delhi. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated World Sufi Forum in New Delhi. The meeting was organized by All India Ulama and Mashaikh Board (AIUMB), the apex body of Sufi Dargahs in India.

SAARC Foreign Ministerial Meeting
The 37th foreign ministerial meeting of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries concluded in Nepal’s Pokhara on March 17 with the declaration to convene the 19th Summit in Pakistan on 9-10 November 2016.

Advancing Asia Conference
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the “Advan-cing Asia Conference” in Delhi organized by the Govern-ment of India and the International Monetary Fund(IMF). The conference was held from 11-13 March 2016.During the conference, India and International Monetary Fund (IMF) have decided to set up South Asia Regional Training and Technical Assistance Centre (SARTTC) in New Delhi. In this regard, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Christine Lagarde, Managing Director, International Monetary Fund (IMF) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

National Conference of Women Legislators
President Pranab Mukherjee on 5 March inaugurated a National conference on ‘Women Legislators: Building Resurgent India’ in New Delhi. The conference was held on 5- 6 March 2016. The National Conference of Women Legislators adopted a resolution to work for transparent, accountable and inclusive governance and to contribute the task of building a ‘Resurgent India’.The resolution was adopted by conference participants in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan and former president Pratibha Patil.

India To Host International Geological Congress
India will host the 36th International Geological Congress in March 2020 for which the Union Cabinet on 2 March approved setting up of a society which will also strive to promote geoscience in the Indian subcontinent. The society, “36th International Geological Congress” will be established under the Indian Society Registration Act, 1860, for organising the event in 2020 and promoting geoscience in Indian subcontinent. The event will be held in NCR, Delhi, in March 2-6, 2020.

AWARDS & HONOURS

Geetakshi Arora Won Noor Inayat Khan Prize
An Indian student Geetakshi Arora has been awarded the inaugural Noor Inayat Khan Prize for her excellent dissertation on “Goddess Myths in Graphic Novels: Reimagining Indian Feminity”. Currently, Geetakshi is a post-graduate student of the South Asia Institute at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. The award has been instituted in the memory of Noor Inayat Khan, famous World War II heroine. The award was established by Noor Inayat Khan Memorial Trust that promote the message of peace, non-violence and religious and racial harmony The award consists of 1,000 pounds and certificate. Noor Inayat Khan (also known as “Nora Baker” and “Madeleine”) was of Indian Sufi origin and believed in non-violence and religious harmony.

Hanan Al Hroub won 2016 Global Teacher Prize
A Palestinian primary school teacher from a refugee camp, Hanan Al Hroub, on 13 March won one million dollar Global Teacher Prize. She was awarded for her outstanding contribution to the profession. Hroub, who runs the Samiha Khalil High School in Al-Bireh, Palestine, defeated nine other finalists from around the world, including India’s Robin Chaurasiya to win the award. The 2016 Winner of the Global Teacher Prize was announced by Pope Francis in a ceremony held at the Atlantis Palm Hotel in Dubai.

President’s Standard Awarded To 119 Helicopter Unit
President Pranab Mukherjee presented the President’s Standard to 119 Helicopter Unit and colours to 28 ED of Indian Air Force on 4 March. President Mukherjee visited Jamnagar district of Gujarat on March 3 and 4 and gave the President’s Standard to Indian Airforce at the Airforce base.

Mehta Conferred with “Cross of Order of Merit” Award
The Indian chemical scientist, researcher and Padma Sri award winner Mehta was conferred with Germany Prestigious “Cross of Order of Merit” (Bundesverdien stikrevz) award presented by Achim Fabig, German council gerneral, in chennai,Tamil Nadu.He served as director of IISC,Bengaluru, president of Indian national science Academy (INSA) and Present he is working in National Research Professor and Lilly-Jublant. He has authored more than 400 research papers.

Mahindra Received France’s Highest Civilian Award
Mahindra & Mahindra Chairman and Managing Director (MD) Anand Mahindra was conferred with Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur (Knight of the Legion of Honour) by French Government. He was presented with this award by Francois Richier, Ambassador of France to India in recognition of his outstanding national and international achievements.

SPORTS & GAMES

Lin Dan won All England Badminton Title
Lin Dan from China has won the prestigious 2016 All England Badminton title in the men’s singles category. In the final match played on 13 March at Birmingham, England he defeated Chinese teammate Tian Houwei. It was his overall sixth All England badminton title and earlier he had won it in 2004, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012. Nozomi Okuhara (Japan) won the women’s singles title by defeating Wang Shixian (China).

Services Won Santosh Trophy
Services has won the 70th edition of Santosh Trophy Football Championships title 2016 by defeating hosts Maharashtra. In the final match played on 13 March at SEC Railway Stadium, Nagpur (Maharashtra), the Services defeated host team Maharashtra by 2-1 goal score. With this win, Services has retained that title and has won it for fifth time in year 1961, 2012, 2013 & 2015.

Rest of India Won Irani Cup
Rest of India on 10 March won the Irani Cup Cricket title 2015-16. In the match played in Mumbai, Rest of India defeated 41-time Ranji Champions Mumbai by four wickets.

Sachdev Won Invitational Snooker Championship
Rahul Sachdev has won the first All India Open Invitational Snooker Championship 2016 held at Aurangabad in Maharashtra. In the final match, Rahul defeated Pushpender Singh of Indian Railways by 5-3 score. It was his maiden title and is considered as major breakthrough in his career after winning this title.

India Won 2016 Asia Cup T20 Trophy
India has won the 2016 Asia Cup T20 trophy for a record sixth time after beating Bangladesh by 8 wickets in the final.In the final match played at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium,Mirpur Indian team overhauled the chasing target of 121 runs set by Bangladesh by seven balls to spare.2016 Asia Cup was played from 24 February to 6 March.Man of the Match-Shikhar Dhawan. Man of the series-Sabbir Rahman (Bangladesh).

ECONOMY

4 Oil Psus Signed Pacts To Raise Stake In Russian Oil Field
The national Oil Giants namely ONGC Videsh Ltd, Oil India Ltd, Indian Oil Corporation Ltdand Bharat Petro Resources — and Russia’s Rosneft have signed two separate memorandums of understanding, one Heads of Agreement, and one sale purchase agreement worth $2 billion to increase India’s participation in the Siberian oil and gas fields. The first MoU was signed between ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL), the overseas investment arm of ONGC, and Rosneft that would enable the Indian company to raise its stake in Vankorneft, the operator of the Vankor oil and gas field in Siberia, to 26 per cent from the existing 15 per cent.

India – IMF Signed Agreement To Set Up SARTTC
India and International Monetary Fund (IMF) have decided to set up South Asia Regional Training and Technical Assistance Centre (SARTTC) in New Delhi.A memorandum of understanding (MoU) to set up the centre was on 12 March signed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley & IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde in presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi.

India Ranks Third In World In Issuing Passports
India now ranks third in the world after China and the US in issuing passports with the number having doubled since 2010. The number of passports issued went up from around 60 lakh five years ago to 1.2 crore in 2015.

India Ranks 54th In International Policy Support
According to US based Information Technology and Information Foundation (ITIF) India ranks 54th position out of 56 countries in supporting to global innovation It is made based on percapita on Economic and trade policies.Indonesia and Argentina are with 55th and 56th Rank. The First and second ranked European countries Finland and Sweden are named as Schumpeterian and Advanced Asian Tiger For Singapore that present in 4th position.

TCS recognized as Top Global Employer
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), a leading IT services, consulting and business solutions organization has been recognized as a Top Global Employer by the Top Employers Institute. This makes it one in only eight organizations worldwide to have achieved this status. In the Top Employers Institute’s assessment of 1,072 companies worldwide.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Astronomers Discovered Largest Sample of 9 monster Stars
British astronomers have discovered largest sample cluster of nine monster stars named as R136 using NASA/ ESA Hubble Space Telescope. The cluster is the largest group of very massive stars ever identified. The R136 cluster of monster stars have masses over 100 times and are 30 million times brighter than of our Sun in the star cluster located about 170,000 light-years away. It is located in the Tarantula Nebula within the Large Magellanic Cloud – a satellite galaxy of our own Milky Way. The young cluster hosts many extremely massive, hot and luminous stars whose energy is mostly radiated in the ultraviolet (UV).

Four Giant Exoplanets Discovered
A group of Scientists led by Matias Jones of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile have discovered four enormous planets with masses from 2.4 to 5.5 times that of Jupiter, orbiting stars much bigger than our Sun. The newly detected worlds have very long orbital periods ranging from nearly two to slightly more than four Earth years. They used the 5 m telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory and the 2.2 m telescope at La Silla observatory in Chile, and the 3.9 m Anglo- Australian telescope in Australia.

ISRO Successfully Launched IRNSS-1F
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) on 10 March launched the country’s sixth Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS)-1F, on board the trusted launch vehicle PSLV C-32. The lift off took place from the second launch pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre(SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikotta, India’s spaceport. Satellite XL version of PSLV was used in PSLV-C32 and it was the twelfth time that the ‘XL’ configuration was flown.

Indian scientists Develop Herbal Medicine For Dengue
Indian scientists for first time have claimed to have developed herbal medicine against mosquito borne dengue fever using traditional Indian medicine system Ayurveda. The herbal dengue medicine was developed using alcoholic extract of Cissampelos pariera Linn (Cipa extract) derived from velvetleaf, a species of flowering plant. The drug has proved to be potent inhibitor to all four types (strains) of dengue virus. The project jointly undertaken by Department of Biotechnology (DBT), under the Union Ministry of Science and Technology. International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology.

Ballistic Missile ‘Agni-I’ Successfully Test-Fired
Indigenously developed nuclear capable surface-to-surface ballistic missile Agni-I was successfully test-fired off the Odisha coast on 14 March. It was conducted as part of training exercise by the Strategic Forces Command (SFC) of Indian Army. It weighs around 12 tonnes and is 15-metre-long. It can travel at a speed of 2.5 km/s and can destroy targets ranging between 700 and 1250 kms away.

PERSONS IN NEWS

A). APPOINTMENTS

Michelle Yeoh Appointed UNDP Goodwill Ambassador
American actress Ashley Judd has been appointed as United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Goodwill ambassador on 17 March. The New ambassador will focus on raising awareness and mobilising support for the recently propelled Sustainable Development Goals. Yeoh will pursue her longstanding passion for global development issues,including gender equality and the eradication of poverty.

Fazle Kabir Appointed Governor of Bangladesh Bank
Fazle Kabir on 15 March was appointed the 11th Governor of the Bangladesh Bank, the central bank of Bangladesh. Kabir replaced Atiur Rahman, who had resigned after taking moral responsibility over electronic theft of 101 million US dollars from the central bank’s account with the New York Federal Reserve Bank.

AirAsia India Appoints Amar Abrol as new CEO
AirAsia India on 17 March announced the appointment of Amar Abrol as its chief executive officer with effect from 1 April 2016. Abrol will succeed Mittu Chandilya, who led AirAsia India from 1 June 2013 and ends his contract on 31 March 2016.

BS Chauhan named Law Commission Chairman
Union Government on 10 March appointed former Supreme Court judge Justice Balbir Singh Chauhan as the chairperson of the 21st Law Commission. The post was vacant since September 2015 when the commission was constituted. At present, Justice Chauhan is heading the Cauvery River Water Disputes Tribunal. He was a judge of the Supreme Court from May 2009 to July 2014. Earlier from July 2008 to May 2009, he served as the Chief Justice of Orissa High Court.

Gianni Infantino Elected as President of FIFA
A global governing body of football elected Switzerland Gianni Infantino as new President of Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). He won 115 of the 207 eligible votes in the 2016 FIFA Extraordinary Congress held in Zurich, Switzerland. Infantino has became the third President of FIFA after Sepp Blatter who headed for 40 years from.he is also working as General Secretary of UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) since 2009. FIFA in English International Federation of Association Football governing football, futsal and beach football.

B). RESIGNS

Vijay Mallya Resigned as Director of RCSPL
The Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on 17 March intimated Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) that Vijay Mallya had resigned from his post as the Director of Royal Challengers Sports Private Limited (RCSPL).

Bangladesh Central Bank Governor Resigned
Bangladesh’s central bank Governor Atiur Rahman resigned on 15 March after hackers stole over USD 100 million from the nation’s foreign reserves in what is believed to be the world’s biggest ever bank theft that embarrassed the government. Atiur Rahman resigned over after a meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

C). DEATHS

Nobel Prize Winner Economist Stowell Died
Lloyd Stowell Shapley, an American mathematician and Nobel Prize-winning economist, died on 12 March 2016. He was 92. He was awarded 2012 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences along with Alvin E. Roth for the theory of stable allocations and the practice of market design.

E-mail Inventor Ray Tomlinson Died
Raymond Samuel Tomlinson, the inventor of E-mail and the man who picked @symbol for addresses, passed away in Washington on 6 March. He was 74. He was an American computer scientist who became a cult figure for his invention in 1971 of a program for APRANET, the internet predecessor that allowed people to send person to person messages to other computer users on other servers. He was working at Bolt Beranek and Newman – now Raytheon BBN Technologies – when he made his email breakthrough. In 2000, he received the George R. Stibitz Computer Pioneer Award from the American Computer Museum. In 2012, Tomlinson was inducted into the Internet Hall of Fame by the Internet Society. He was born on 23 April 1941 in Amsterdam in New York, Unites States (US).

Former Lok Sabha Speaker PA Sangma Died
Purno Agitok(PA)Sangma, who was Speaker of the Lok Sabha from 1996 to 1998, passed away in Delhi on 4 March.He was 68 years old. He was the sitting Lok Sabha member for Meghalaya’s Tura constituency. Sangma Born as Purno Agitok Sangma on September 1, 1947 in Chapahati village in the West Garo Hills District of Meghalaya. For first time he was elected to Lok Sabha in 1977 from Tura (Lok Sabha constituency) and remained a member of the Lok Sabha until 14th Lok Sabha except for the 9th Lok Sabha. Sangma was a 9 time member of Lok Sabha and the Speaker in the 11th Lok Sabha from 1996 to 1998. He had served in the Union government as Cabinet Minister for Information and Broadcasting. He also served as Minister of State of Home Affairs, Labour, Commerce and Coal. He served as the Chief Minister of Meghalaya from 1988 to 1990. He was one of the founding members of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).In January 2013, he had formed the National People’s Party. He had unsuccessfully had contested 13th Presidential election in 2012 against incumbent President of India Pranab Mukherjee.

Former NZ cricket Captain Martin Crowe Died
Former New Zealand cricket captain Martin Crowe passed away on 3 March in Auckland, New Zealand. He was 53. Crowe was widely regarded as one of New Zealand’s best ever batsman and had represented the country from the early 1980s until his retirement in 1996. In his cricket career, he had played 77 Test matches, 143 One Day Internationals (ODIs) and 247 First-class matches. He was right-handed batsman. He had played 77 test matches and had scored 5444 runs at an average of 5.36. It comprised of 17 centuries and 18 fifties and his highest score was of 299 runs.He had played 143 ODI matches and scored 4704 runs at an average of 38.55. It comprised of 4 centuries & 34 fifties and highest score was 107 runs. He was captain of New Zealand team from 1990 to 1994 including 16 Test matches. He was inducted into theICC Cricket Hall of Famein March, 2015.

D). VISITORS

Nepal PM Sharma Oli Visited India
Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli visited India. During the visit, India and Nepal signed nine agreements following dele-gation level talks led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Nepalese counterpart K.P. Sharma Oli. These include agreements on utilisation of Indian grant of $250 million for post-earthquake reconstruction, improving of road infrastructure in Nepal’s Terai area, cultural cooperation, transit between Nepal and Bagladesh through Kakarbitta-Banglabandh corridor, operationalisation of Vishakapatnam port& rail transport to and from Vishakapatnam.

E). MISCELLANEOUS

Narendra Modi To Join World Leaders In Wax At Madame Tussauds
The Indian Prime Minister Naren dra Modi is set to join the league of the most prominent world leaders at the World famous Wax Museum Madame Tussauds in London. Recently, Modi figured in the Time Magazine’s Person of the Year’s list which gives him enough support to figure in the museum. He is currently the second most followed politician on twitter after President Obama also confirms the intense interest the public have in him.

Narendra Modi on TIME’s ’Most Influential People On Internet’
TIME magazine on 16 March unveiled its second annual 30 Most Influential People on the Internet list. The list has been topped by the artist and entrepreneur Kanye West. India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi boasting more than 18 million Twitter followers and over 32 million Facebook likes stood at 15th in the list.

UN suspends Maria Sharapova as Goodwill Ambassador
The United Nations (UN) has suspended Russian tennis player Maria Sharapova as Goodwill Ambassador of the organisation after she was tested positive on doping allegations. She was suspended by New York based UN Development Programme (UNDP) until the outcome of the investigation into her case is known. However, UNDP has mentioned that they are grateful to Maria Sharapova for her support to their work, especially around the Chernobyl nuclear disaster recovery.

Pope Announced Mother Teresa To Be Granted Sainthood
Pope Francis on 15 March announced that Mother Teresa will be made a saint of the Roman Catholic Church at a ceremony on 4 September 2016. 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.

PLACES IN NEWS

Mumbai, Bangalore Among Cheapest Cities In World
Mumbai and Bangalore are among the cheapest cities in the world, according to a top London-based forecast group that named Singapore as the most expensive city. Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) ranked Singapore as the priciest ahead of Zurich, Hong Kong, Geneva& Paris.

World’s Costliest Train Station Opens In New York
United States on 3 March opened a train station at New York at the site of the World Trade center which was destroyed 14 years ago in the 9/11 attacks.Named as Oculus, is the world most expensive train station which took 12 years in the completion. Initially budgeted at $2 billion, it has spiraled to $3.85 billion which makes it world’s most expensive train station. The space measures 350 feet (107 meters) long by 115 feet (35 meters) at its widest point.

Vienna Named World’s Top City For Quality of Life
According to 18th Mercer International survey on quality of life Austria capital Vienna is selected as best place in world to live from 230 cities. The was made by considering political stability, health care, education, crime, recreation and transport, social & economic condition etc. From India Hyderabad topped with 139 rank followed by Pune(144), Bangalore(145), Chennai (150), Mumbai (152), Kolkata (160) and Delhi (161).The top five positions are occupied by Vienna (Austria), Zurich (Switzerland), Auckland (New Zealand), Munich (Germany) and Vancouver (Canada).The Banghdad Iraq capital at bottom of live ability.

ABBREVIATIONS

AAFI – Amateur Athletics Federation of India
ASWAC – Airborne Surveillance Warning and Control
BARC – Bhabha Atomic Research Centre
MISA – Maintenance of Internal Security Act
PSLV – Polar. Satellite Launch Vehicle
SIDBI – Small Industries Development Bank of India

Books in News

Prashant Kishor’s ‘The Election Game’
Prashant Kishor, a key strategist in the landslide victories of Narendra Modi and Nitish Kumar, in his debut book, The Election Game, analyses Indian voters, their aspirations, what influences them and their demands. This book basically talks about how to win and lose elections. ’The Election Game’ to be published by Juggernaut Books will be co-authored by journalist Sankarshan Thakur. It will hit the stands by the end of this year.

Arun Jaitly Released Year Books ‘India-2016’
Arun Jaitly Union Minister for Information and Broad casting Released the print and digital versions of Annual Reference Books ‘India 2016’and ‘Bharat2016’ that contain information for all stake holders which provides Information on various schemes and projects of government and various department, with competitive Exams, Functioning of government and economy. The Electronic Version is cheaper and easier to store and priced at 75% of book print cost was launched for First time.

COMMITTEES

Committee Formed For Evolution of New Education Policy
The Government of India has Framed Committee for Evolution of the New Education Policy to evolve New Education policy by considering Various suggestions received from online portal, various educational pioneers and Experts. The Committee chaired by T.S.R. Subramanian, Former Cabinet Secretary and Includes four members from NCT of Delhi former Chief Secretary, Smt. Shailaja Chandra and former Home Secretary, Shri Sevaram Sharma,former Chief Secretary, Gujarat Shri Sudhir Mankad,and former Director, NCERT as members, Prof. J.S. Rajput,.

Committee on Jat quota
The Jat people,traditionally agricultural community makes a disturbances in Haryana by demanding to declare as OBC which will help them in Jobs and Educa-tion. To prevent peace in Haryana the Home minister Rajnathsing made committee headed by M.Venkatesh Naidu with Union minister Mahesh Sharma,Sanjeev Baliyan & Party leaders satpal Malik and Avinash RaiKhanna in Haryana The committee will prepare a comprehensive report on Jat reservation Report will be submitted to the Haryana govt.

IMPORTANT DAYS & DATES

March 3 : World Wild Life Day
March 3 : National Defence Day
March 8 : International Women’s Day
March 15 : World Consumer Rights Day
March 15 : World Disable Day
March 16 : National Vaccination Day
March 21 : International Day for Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
March 21 : International Day of Forests
March 22 : World Water Day
March 24 : World Tuberculosis Day

Responses to “March 2016 Current Affairs Study Material”