National
• India will supply 18 metre-gauge 1350 HP Diesel Electric Locomotives to Myanmar to help the country bolster its railway transportation system.
• Union Government’s premier think-tank NITI Aayog has launched the Women Transforming India initiative.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated three major railway projects in Bihar at an estimated cost of 7000 crore rupees.
• The Allahabad High Court celebrated its 150th foundation day on 14th March 2016. President Pranab Mukherjee was the Chief Guest of the celebrations.
• Union Government has announced that out of 96,000 animal species found in India more than 50 animals have been assessed as critically endangered (CR) and 310 as endangered (EN).
• The Union Government has notified maximum sale price (MSP) of Bt cotton seed for the year 2016-17.
• Indigenously developed nuclear capable surface-to-surface ballistic missile Agni-I was successfully test-fired off the Odisha coast.
• Recently, power generation unit 1 at Kakrapar Atomic Power Station (KAPS) in Gujarat was shut down for indefinitely period after leakage of heavy water.
• Mother Teresa, a Roman Catholic religious sister and missionary will be elevated to Sainthood i.e. will be made a saint of the Roman Catholic Church on September 4, 2016.
• Rajya Sabha has passed the Sikh Gurdwaras (Amendment) Bill, 2016 without any discussion.
• Lok Sabha has passed Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2016 to include certain communities in the list of Scheduled Castes (SC) from 4 states.
• Parliament passed the controversial Aadhaar Bill, 2016, after acrimonious debates in both Houses. Hours after the Opposition succeeded in pushing through five amendments to the Bill in the Rajya Sabha, they were rejected in the Lok Sabha.
• The India Aviation 2016, an international exhibition and conference on civil aviation kicked off in Hyderabad, Telangana.
•Time Magazine has named Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi among the 2016 edition list of 30 most influential people on the internet. He was placed at 15th position.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated World Sufi Forum in New Delhi. The four-day event is being organized by All India Ulama and Mashaikh Board (AIUMB), the apex body of Sufi Dargahs in India.
• Union Government has launched Depot Online System of state run Food Corporation of India (FCI) to bring transparency and minimise storage losses of foodgrains.
• The India Meteorology Department (IMD) has indigenously developed Drishti, an instrument that will provide real time visibility information to pilots.
• Punjab Government has notified swine flu (H1N1) under the Epidemic Disease Act to prevent the spread of disease in the state.
• The Supreme Court has allowed publication of photographs of Governors, Chief Ministers and the Ministers of the department concerned in government advertisements.
• Goa government has classified Feni, country liquor as the heritage spirit of the state.
• As per recently published survey of Indian Railways Surat (Gujarat) was declared the cleanest railway station in the country.
• The Union Ministry of Railways and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) have signed a MoU for Effective use of Space Technology in Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System (GIS) based Governance Application for Indian Railways.
• The Indian Air Force (IAF) has conducted its flagship day-night exercise ‘Iron-fist 2016’ at Pokhran firing range in Rajasthan.
• The Union Government has unveiled a Model Building Bye-Laws, 2016 for granting permission for construction of buildings.
International
• 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.
• An unmanned spacecraft named ExoMars 2016 was successfully launched jointly Europe and Russia to search for biosignatures on Mars (or Martian life) in past or present.
• India ranked 118th out of 157 countries on the United Nations’ World Happiness Index (WHI) 2016.
Business and Economy
• Country’s largest private sector lender ICICI Bank has tied up with marquee sports car maker Ferrari to launch co-branded credit card.
• Reserve Bank has asked banks to pay interest on savings banks account on quarterly basis or shorter duration, a move which will benefit crores of savings account holders.
• Gulf Oil Lubricants India Ltd. (GOLIL) announced that its parent company Gulf Oil International, a part of the Hinduja Group, has entered into its largest single long-term partnership with Manchester United to become its global sponsor and official lubricant-cum-fuel retail partner till 2019.
• India’s largest private sector lender ICICI Bank has launched new contactless mobile payment solution Touch & Pay based on Near Field Communication (NFC) technology.
• Haryana’s New Secretariat Building in Chandigarh has become first building in the country to have an early Earthquake Warning and Security system (onsite).
• Union Government has imposed anti-dumping duty of up to 44.7 per cent on import of plastic-processing machines from Chinese Taipei, Malaysia, Philippines and Vietnam for five years.
• India has signed loan agreement of 35 million dollars with the World Bank for Madhya Pradesh citizen access to responsive services project.
• The government slashed interest rates on small-savings schemes, including the Public Provident Fund and Kisan Vikas Patra.
Sports
• Lin Dan from China has won the prestigious 2016 All England Badminton title in the men’s singles category.
• Services has won the 70th edition of Santosh Trophy Football Championships title 2016 by defeating hosts Maharashtra.
• 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.
Awards
• Kerala Tourism’s campaign titled ‘New Worlds’ has won the prestigiousGolden City Gate Award at the at the Internationale Tourismus-Börse Berlin (ITB-Berlin) 2016.
• Palestinian teacher Hanan Al Hroub from a refugee camp has been awarded prestigious one million dollar 2016 Global Teacher Prize.
• British mathematician Andrew Wiles (62) was named as the winner of the prestigious 2016 Abel Prize.
• The 10th edition of Asian film Awards, one of the Asia’s leading film awards was held in the Venetian Casino and Hotel in Macau, China.
• 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”.
• Union urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation and Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu has been conferred with the Skoch Lifetime Achievement Award.
New Appointments
• Justice Ajit Singh was sworn in as Chief Justice (CJ) of the Gauhati High Court. He was administered the oath of office by Assam Governor P B Acharya as per the provisions of the Article 129 of Constitution.
• Noted Indian scholar and plant physiologist H Deep Saini (60) has been appointed as the fifth Vice Chancellor of the prestigious University of Canberra.
• Myanmar’s Parliament elected Htin Kyaw (69) as the first civilian (non-military) President of the country after 53 years of military rule.
• The central bank scam that has exploded into a financial earthquake in Bangladesh has claimed a major victim with its Governor Dr. Atiur Rahman resigning. The government has also appointed former finance secretary Fazle Kabir as the new Governor of the Bangladesh Bank.
• President Barack Obama has nominated veteran appeals court judge Merrick Garland (63) to be the next US Supreme Court Justice.
• United States (US) Air Force General Lori Robinson has been selected as the next head of the US military’s Northern Command.
• Acclaimed humanitarian, actor, writer and political activist Ashley Judd from US has been appointed as Goodwill Ambassador of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
Death
• Renowned American mathematician and Nobel Prize-winning economist Lloyd Stowell Shapley passed away on 12 March 2016. He was 92.
• Renowned British author and art historian Anita Brookner passed away. She was 87.
• Eminent Shehnai exponent Ustad Ali Ahmad Hussain Khan passed away following prolonged illness in Kolkatta, West Bengal. He was 77.
• Former Director of Israel’s intelligence agency Mossad Meir Dagan passed away due to liver cancer. He was 71.
Science and Technology
• British astronomers have discovered largest sample cluster of nine monster stars named as R136 using NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.
• The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has scrapped repeat tests on animals for drugs which already have been approved by other countries.
Special Days of the Week
• Every year World Consumer Rights Day (WCRD) is being observed on 15 March for celebration and solidarity within the international consumer movement.
• The world sparrow day is being observed every year on March 20 to raise awareness of the house sparrow and other common birds to urban environments and threats to their populations.
Current Affairs 21st March, 2016 Highlights of Union Budget 2016-17 Highlights of Railway Budget 2016
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