28th March 2016 - Important Current Affairs updates

sponsored links

International Affairs

• Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has cancelled his official trip to the United Kingdom after a suicide bomb attack at a park in Lahore. 

National Affairs

• President Pranab Mukherjee has given the final clearance to the Aadhaar Bill, which will now allow the government to make the 12-digit unique identity number compulsory to access government services and benefits. 
• Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar today inaugurated the 9th edition of the DefExpo, which showcases land, naval and Internal homeland security systems, at Naqueri-Betul village in Goa. 
• The four-day event will host companies from 47 countries along with official delegations from 44 countries and 750 business delegations. 
• Parrikar also unveiled the Defence Procurement Policy at the event.
  
• The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's recommendation to make 112 the number for all emergency services such as Police, Ambulances, and the Fire Brigade in India was today accepted by the Telecom Commission. 
• An SMS facility will also be available on this number. The new number will reportedly be rolled out within months.
• All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has announced that private educational institutes operating under it would have to lower their fees to comply with the National Fee Committee's recommendations. 
• The committee headed by Justice BN Srikrishna had submitted its report in August. 
• The institutes failing to comply with the orders by the next academic session will face legal proceedings.
• The Haryana government has launched Project Salamati, making it the first state to implement the use of injectable contraceptives towards family planning. 
• The facility will be available at all primary health centres, community health centres, sub-divisional and district hospitals, free of cost. 
• The Power Ministry has announced that during the current fiscal year, it has electrified 7,012 villages, meeting its target. 
• The ministry had earlier said that the electrification of over 7,000 villages will be completed by March end this year. 
• Note : The Centre has set a target of electrifying 18,452 un-electrified villages within 1,000 days by May 1, 2018.

Business & Economy

• Delhi govt presents Rs.46,600 crore annual budget for Delhi
• Key Highlights of the Budget
• Plan outlay pegged at Rs.20,600 crore
• Rs.10,690 crore allocated for education sector: Manish Sisodia
• Budget for municipal corporations hiked by Rs.1,000 crore
• Delhi govt to start Aam Aadmi canteen, Rs.10 crore allocated for this purpose
• Rs.763 crore to be given to Delhi metro
• Value-added tax on sweets,snacks, footwear, schoolbags, readymade garments cut to 5% from 12.5%
• Govt to provide drinking water through pipeline in every colony by December 2017—Rs.676 crore set aside for this purpose
• According to a report released by the government organisation National Savings Institute, West Bengal, with a gross collection of ₹32,713 crore into small savings schemes, topped the collection in India for the financial year 2014-15. 
• Uttar Pradesh was second in the list followed by Gujarat, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. 
• Note : The nation wide collection in 2014-15 rose 19.1% year-on-year to ₹2.47 lakh crore.
• India sent its first direct container vessel to Bangladesh from Andhra Pradesh's Krishnapatnam port today, as a part of a coastal shipping agreement signed in November between both the countries. 
• Earlier the ships from Indian ports to Bangladesh were routed through Colombo or Singapore. 
• The government has revived the trade agreements signed in 1974 by former PM Indira Gandhi.

Awards & Honors

• Pallavi Fauzdar, a 35-year-old woman from Agra has entered into the Limca Book of Records for becoming the first woman solo motorcyclist to ride across Mana pass (5,545 meters) in Uttarakhand. 
• Note : She was also the first woman motorcyclist to ride across eight mountain passes lying above 5,000 meters in one trip, covering Leh, Ladakh and Kashmir valley terrains.

New Appointments

• The Nationalist party of Taiwan has chosen Hung-Hsiu-chu as its first female leader after ousting her as its presidential candidate.

Science & Technology

• Microsoft has revealed to have built a special government-approved version of Windows 10 for China. 
• Officially called "Zhuangongban", the version does not have the same apps and services that come with Windows 10 in other locations, and is equipped with additional device management and security controls. 
• Note : China is known for being strict about security and censorship of its technology services.

Sports

• The Delhi Daredevils have appointed former Indian pacer Zaheer Khan as their captain for the 2016 season of the Indian Premier League. 
• Virat Kohli is currently the highest T20I run-scorer in successful chases with 737 runs. 
• He is followed by New Zealand's Martin Guptill with 611 runs, Australia's Shane Watson with 601 runs and West Indies' Chris Gayle with 577 runs. 
• Note : Kohli recorded match-winning 82 runs against Australia in the ICC World T20 group stage on Sunday.
• In a bid to generate students' interest towards mathematics in Romania, the country's national football team has decided to use numerical equations in place of normal squad numbers on their jerseys in their friendly encounter against Spain. 
• Note : Romania has European Union's one of the worst school drop-out rate of 18% (as of 2014).

Read more Daily Current Affairs updates from here

sponsored links