National
• Passengers can now rate thousands of trains and railway stations on safety, cleanliness, timeliness, services and other amenities through Online community network LocalCircles.
• The Union Government has launched an online marketing platform Mahila E-HAAT to facilitate women entrepreneurs to sell their products to buyers.
• Haryana Government has signed 11 Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) involving a total investment of Rs 18,159 crores with different companies in the presence of Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal on Happening Haryana Global Investors’ Summit-2016.
• India is going to host BRICS Friendship Cities Conclave in Mumbai (Maharashtra), financial capital of India from April 14 to 16, 2016.
• Indian Railways has formed a new Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to implement the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Bullet Train project. The entity has been named the National High Speed Rail Corporation (NHSRC) Limited.
• Germany has decided to partner with India’s smart city programme and will help developing Kochi (Kerala), Bhubaneswar (Odisha) and Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu) as smart cities.
• Telangana and Maharashtra Governments have signed Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) to set up an inter-state water board construct 5 barrages across Godavari and Pen Ganga rivers.
• Karnataka government has launched Mukhyamantri Santwana Harish Yojana to provide free medical treatment to road accident victims for the first 48 hours (2 days) in the nearest government or private hospital.
• The Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Bill, 2016, which amends the Enemy Property Act, 1968, was passed by voice vote amid the government’s assertion that the measure should not be seen from the prism of religion or caste.
• The first ever all girls National Cadet Corps (NCC) Mount Everest expedition was flagged off by Union Minister of State (MoS) for Defence Rao Inderjeet Singh in New Delhi.
• 57 countries are going to take part in the first Maritime India Summit 2016 scheduled to be held in April 2016 in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
• Parliament has passed Bureau of Indian Standards Bill, 2015 to establish Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).
• The fourth edition of the India-Indonesia Joint Training Exercise Garuda Shakti has begun at Magelang in Indonesia.
• The Union Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) for providing free of cost LPG (cooking gas) connections to women from BPL Households.
• Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully launched India’s sixth navigation Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS) 1F satellite.
• The Parliament has passed National Waterways Bill, 2015 to clear decks for the conversion of 106 rivers and creeks across India into transport waterways.
• The Union Cabinet has given its approval for signing and ratification of the Bay of Bengal Initiative on Multi Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) Convention on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters.
• The Rajya Sabha has passed the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill, 2015 to protect the interests of consumers and curb the malpractices in the real estate sector.
• Ministers in the Union and state cabinets are “public authorities” liable to answer public questions addressed to them under the Right to Information Act, the Central Information Commission has ruled.
• Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu launched an online clean my coachservice that allows travellers to get their compartments cleaned by sending an SMS or by using an app or a designated website.
• The Lok Sabha passed the Aadhaar Bill to provide a unique identity to residents and give legal teeth to the government in ensuring that its subsidies and services directly reach the beneficiaries in entirety.
• Union Power Ministry has announced name UJALA for the LED based Domestic Efficient Lighting Programme (DELP). UJALA is acronym for Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All.
International
• As per recently released report of International Labour Organization (ILO) titled-Women at Work: Trends 2016, gender equality still remains elusive in the workplace.
• India and Saudi Arabia have expressed keenness to elevate ties between the two countries to strategic level by boosting cooperation in key areas of trade, security and counter terrorism.
• Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has successfully test-fired several ballistic missiles from silos across the country.
• The Union Cabinet has given its approval for the MoU between India and United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Technical Cooperation in Cyber Space and Combating Cyber-Crime.
• Project Mausam aims to explore the multi-faceted Indian Ocean world for collating archaeological and historical research and not to counter China’s Silk Route strategy.
• India has signed the second line of credit (LOC) agreement extending 2 billion dollars in development financing to Bangladesh for undertaking various development projects.
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Bank of Israel (BOI) for exchange of information pertaining to banking supervision.
• India and United States have launched the Fulbright &ndash Kalam Climate Fellowship enabling Indian research scholars to work with American institutions in the field of climate change.
• The Arab League has declared Lebanese movement Hezbollah, a Shia political organisation a terrorist group. The move comes after the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) had adopted the same stance.
• India and International Monetary Fund (IMF) have decided to set up South Asia Regional Training and Technical Assistance Centre (SARTTC) in New Delhi.
Business and Economy
• Jalandhar based Capital Local Area Bank (CLAB) Limited became the first financial entity in India to get Small Financial Bank Licence by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
• National carrier Air India successfully flew the World’s longest all-woman operated and supported flight from the national capital New Delhi to San Francisco (United States).
• The Union Finance Ministry has announced to withdraw its proposal to tax Employee Provident Fund (EPF) withdrawals.
• India’s largest private sector lender ICICI Bank has rolled out iWork@Home programme for its women employees for up to a year.
• DIPP has approved 12 industrial licences to Reliance Defence, an arm of Reliance Infrastructure, for manufacturing of a wide range of defence equipment.
Sports
• Patna Pirates has won the third season of Star Sports Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) by defeating U Mumba.
• India has won the 2016 Asia Cup T20 trophy for a record sixth time after beating Bangladesh by 8 wickets in the final.
• Rest of India has won the Irani Cup Cricket Title 2015-16 by defeating Mumabi in the final match of the cup by four wickets.
Awards
• Renowned Dogri poetess and writer Padma Sachdev has been awarded prestigious Krutitava Smagra Samman for the year 2015.
• Dr Amrita Patel was conferred prestigious 2016 Mahindra Samriddhi India Agri Lifetime Achievement Award also known as the Krishi Shiromani Samman.
• 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.
New Appointments
• The Union Government has appointed former Supreme Court (SC) judge Justice Balbir Singh Chauhan (66) as Chairman of the 21st Law Commission of India (LCI).
• Veteran Egyptian diplomat Ahmed Abul Gheit (73) has been selected as Secretary General of the Arab League.
Death
• Renowned Malayalam actor Kalabhavan Mani passed away at Kochi, Kerala due to liver and kidney failure. He was 45.
• Internet pioneer and e-mail inventor Raymond Tomlinson passed away in Washington, United States. He was 74.
• Acclaimed Brazil musician Naná Vasconcelos passed away due to lung cancer in the northeastern Brazilian city of Recife. He was 71.
Science and Technology
• Researchers have discovered new species of burrowing snake named Melanophidium Khairei or Khaire’s Black Shieldtail in Northwestern Ghats.
• Indian scientists for first time have claimed to have developed herbal medicine against mosquito borne dengue fever using traditional Indian medicine system Ayurveda.
• India has signed ‘Raptor MoU’, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on conservation of birds of prey in Africa and Eurasia.
• Japanese researchers have successfully isolated a bacterium species Ideonella sakaiensis 201-F6 capable of breaking down plastic polyethylene terephthalate (PET) or polyester. Their results were published in the journal Science.
Days of the Week
• The International Women's Day is observed 8 March ever year since 1900s to celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women all across the globe. The theme for this year's women's day is Planet 50-50 by 2030: Step It Up for Gender Equality.
Current Affairs 14th March, 2016 Highlights of Union Budget 2016-17 Highlights of Railway Budget 2016
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