11th March 2016 - Important Current Affairs updates

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International Affairs

• Singapore was ranked the world's most expensive city by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).
• It has held this title for the last three years.
• World's 10 most expensive cities in which to live in 2016
  
  • Singapore
  • Zurich, Switzerland
  • Hong Kong
  • Geneva, Switzerland
  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Copenhagen, Denmark 
  • Seoul, South Korea 
  • Los Angeles
• The Haj quota for India for this year has been fixed at 1,36,020 pilgrims, following an agreement signed with Saudi Arabia. 
• Of the quota, 1,00,020 pilgrims will come through the Haj Committee of India and the rest through private tour operators. 
• Note : Due to the expansion of Mecca's Grand Mosque, Saudi has reduced the quota for all countries by 20%.
• The Indian government and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are organising a three-day conference on 'Advancing Asia: Investing for the Future' at New Delhi from tomorrow.
  

National Affairs

• Railway Ministry launched Clean My Coach Service to ensure cleanliness in trains.
  
• This service allows travellers to get their compartments cleaned by sending an SMS or by using an app or a designated website.
• As per the scheme, for any cleaning requirement in the coach, the passengers will have to send an SMS on mobile number 58888.
• Passenger can also use android app Cleanmycoach Indian Railways’ or webpage ‘cleanmycoach.com’ for logging the request.
• The first ever pollution-free, fully electricity-operated bus was launched in New Delhi. 
• The Lok Sabha today passed the Aadhaar Bill 2016 as a 'money bill' to give legal sanction to the unique identification number programme for single-window transfer of welfare benefits. 
• The second tranche of 25 secret files on Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose will be released after the conclusion of Budget session of the Parliament, announced Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma today. 
• National Archives of India Deputy Director Sanjay Garg said that the organisation is converting the second set of files into digital form for the public.

Awards & Honors

• A five-day-old girl from Bihar, named Aashi, has become the youngest permanent account number (PAN) card holder in the country. 
• Note : Earlier, Rajasthan's Aryan Choudhary was the youngest PAN card holder, who received it when he was a seven-day-old.

New Appointments

• The government today appointed former Supreme Court judge Justice Balbir Singh Chauhan as Chairman of the 21st Law Commission.
• Veteran Egyptian diplomat Ahmed Abul Gheit has been selected as Secretary General of the Arab League. 
• He will succeed Nabil El-Araby, Egyptian diplomat whose term ends in July 2016 after he had rejected second five-year term. 
• Actress Kangana Ranaut has become the brand ambassador for the sports brand Reebok in India.

Business & Economy

• India's largest private sector lender ICICI Bank today launched a credit-linked subsidy scheme for home loans under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana ( PMAY).
• Under this scheme, individuals including women borrowers from the economically weaker section and low income group will be able to acquire and construct the first brick-and-mortar house of the family by paying significantly lower equated monthly installments ( EMIs).
• Note : ICICI Bank has signed an MoU with National Housing Bank ( NHB) to facilitate the credit-linked subsidy to eligible borrowers.
• The Cabinet has approved the signing of an MoU with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for it to set up the South Asia Regional Training and Technical Assistance Center (SARTTAC) in India. 
• Note : The SARTTAC will be a collaborative venture among the IMF, and member countries, including Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka, and several development partners.
• Yahoo has announced an update that lets users sign up for its services without having to specially create a new Yahoo e-mail address. 
• Users can now access Yahoo platforms through their existing e-mail addresses including Gmail and Outlook. 
• Note : The feature is currently operational for Yahoo Fantasy Sports and will soon roll out for Yahoo Finance, Yahoo News and Yahoo Messenger.

Science & Technology

• Scientists from Japan have discovered a new species of bacteria, called Ideonella sakaiensis 201-F6, that can eat plastic. 
• This is the first known organism that can completely degrade PET.

Books & Authors

• West Indies cricketer Chris Gayle today revealed the first look of his upcoming book ‘Chris Gayle…Six Machine – I don’t like cricket…I love it’. 
• Written by sports writer Tom Fordyce the book will feature Gayle's journey from his childhood in Kingston to international cricket. 
• The book, which is available for pre-order, is scheduled to release on June 2, 2016.

Sports

• The schedule for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2016 (9 April 2016 – 29 May 2016) was announced with the defending champions Mumbai Indians to play the opener against the Rising Pune Supergiants in Mumbai on April 9. 
• The tournament will feature a total of 60 matches with the final to be played on May 29 at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.
• Rest of India has won the Irani Cup Cricket title by beating Mumbai by four wickets.
• For the first time India's all-women frisbee team could participate in the upcoming Ultimate Frisbee World Championship to be held in June in London.

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