16th March 2015 - Important Current Affairs updates

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International Affairs

• IMF Chief Christine Lagarde’s two-day India visit began today.
• She called on President of India Pranab Mukherjee and PM Narendra Modi today.
•  The Indian economy, whose size is $2 trillion as of now, is poised to overtake the combined GDP of Japan and Germany in the next four years on the back of recent policy reforms and improved business confidence in the country, she said.
• U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif met in Switzerland today for crucial talks to secure an agreement on Iran's controversial nuclear program.
• The meeting comes before an end-of-March deadline for the framework of a deal that would curb Iran's nuclear ambitions in exchange for relief from international sanctions.

National Affairs

• Clearing all doubts about the validity of Aadhaar card to avail of government subsidies, the Supreme Court today confirmed that the Aadhar card is not compulsory, and further, officials who insist on them will be taken to task.
• Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley inaugurated the 5th National Community Radio Sammelan at Delhi today.
• He also presented the National Community Radio Awards.
  
• The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) is planning to launch an all-women cab service in areas under its jurisdiction in view of the increasing number of crimes against women in buses and taxis.
• This cab service named as "Shakti".
• NDMC has also decided to recruit women drivers for all the buses ferrying children to the schools run by it. 
• The women drivers with commercial licenses have been already selected and they will also begin working from next month.
• Delhi airport’s terminal 1D is all set to get India’s first body scanner. 
• United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) will be giving a ‘millimetre wave scanner’ to Indira Gandhi International Airport which will be installed in the coming weeks. 
• It will then be tested for “Indian conditions” by Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) which will look at its health and privacy concerns. 

New Appointments

• Riva Ganguly Das, currently Joint Secretary in the Ministry, has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to Romania.
• India's third largest software firm Wipro has named former TCS back-office business head Abid Ali Neemuchwala as its first ever Chief Operating Officer.

People in news

• PM Narendra Modi today met Abhishek Kumar Sharma, a youth who is undertaking a nationwide cycle yatra to generate awareness about the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.
• Abhishek has so far traveled 4500 kilometers across 8 states, talking to people on the subject of cleanliness.

Deaths

• Disgraced former People’s Liberation Army No 2 Xu Caihou died of  bladder cancer today in China. 

Awards & Honors

• Indian Army’s Corps of Signals 'Daredevils' Display Team achieved Guinness World Record of the most people (56) on one moving motorcycle at Dumna Airport, Jabalpur today.
• The men rode a single 500 cc Royal Enfield Bullet motorcycle a distance of 1,100 metres.

Sports

• World Cup 2015
• England's Ian Gould and Pakistan's Aleem Dar have been appointed the on-field umpires for the World Cup quarter-final between India and Bangladesh to be played in Melbourne on March 19.
• Steve Davis has been named the third umpire for the game, while Paul Reiffel has been appointed the fourth umpire.
• Roshan Mahanama will act as the match referee.
• The appointments for semi-finals and the final will be done later.
• Lewis Hamilton wins the Australian Grand Prix

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