1st March 2016 - Important Current Affairs updates

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International Affairs

• Today (1st March) is Zero Discrimination Day.
• This is an annual worldwide event that promotes diversity and recognizes that everyone counts.
• Theme of 2016 : Stand Out
• China's Navy today launched its first self-propelled floating dock as a part of its efforts to modernise the Navy. 
• The floating dock will allow the Navy to repair warships away from the coast and repair restore damaged ships even in combat zones.
• The 7th Indo-Seychelles joint training exercises, aiming to improve interoperability between both armies in counter-insurgency operations, today concluded at Victoria, Mahe Island in Seychelles.
• Focused on interoperability in drills pertaining to counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism, a number of activities and exercises were conducted during the joint training.

National Affairs

• Today is 26th Foundation Day of NASSCOM.
  
• NASSCOM - National Association of Software and Services Companies
• 7th day International Yoga festival commenced in Rishikesh.
• Delhi today became the first state in the country to launch the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine as a public health programme for school children. 
• Important Points to Note : 
• HPV is known for causing cervical cancer. 
• India recorded over 90,000 cervical cancer cases in 2013.
• Mumbai is likely to get a CBI branch for probing cyber crime offences.
• As of now, such a branch is only in the headquarters (Delhi).
• CBI Director : Anil Sinha 
• India's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has advised pregnant women or women who are trying to become pregnant to defer or cancel travelling to areas affected by the Zika virus. 
• The advisory also asked women who have returned from affected countries to report to the nearest health facility if they fall sick within two weeks of their return.

Business & Economy

• Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad today announced that mobile phone production in India had more than doubled to 11 crore in 2015-16, against 5.4 crore units manufactured in 2014-15. 
• The government has so far received proposals worth ₹1,20,294 crore for electronics manufacturing in India, out of which projects worth ₹18,000 crore have been given in-principal approval.
• In an effort to boost the economy, China’s central bank cut banks’ required reserve ratio by 0.5%. 
• Banks will have to keep less of their money in cash and will be able to lend more to people and businesses thereby injecting money into the financial system. 
• The move could reportedly put further devaluation pressure on China’s currency, the yuan.
• The government today announced that the PPF withdrawals will continue to be fully exempt from tax and only interest accruing after April 1 on 60 per cent of the contributions made to Employee Provident Fund will be taxed.
• All contributions and interest accrued to employee provident fund (EPF) before April 1, 2016, will not attract any tax on withdrawal. 
• Withdrawal of principal amount contributed to EPF after April 1 would also remain exempt from any tax.

Awards & Honors

• Bollywood actor Randeep Hooda was felicitated in Australia with an achievement award for making his mark in the film industry. 
• He was honoured by the members of non-profit organization South Asian Public Affairs Council. 
• Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) has been named as the world's number 1 position for the second consecutive year in 25-40 Million Passengers Per Annum (MPPA) category.
• The airport, on February 29, 2016, received three international awards, including one for the best airport by size in the Asia Pacific region. 
• The rankings were announced by the Airports Council International (ACI) for the 2015 Airport Service Quality (ASQ) Awards.
• The two other awards for IGIA are for best airport by size and region Asia Pacific (25-40 MPPA), and the second best airport by region (Asia Pacific).

New Appointments

• Vice-Admiral H C S Bisht took over as the Flag officer commanding-in-chief, eastern naval command, from vice-admiral Satish Soni who retired today.
• Former SpiceJet Chief Operating Officer (COO) Sanjiv Kapoor today joined TATA-Singapore Airlines run Vistara as its Chief Strategy and Commercial Officer. 
• Kapoor succeeds Giam Ming Toh, who is returning to Singapore Airlines on completion of his deputation with Vistara. 

Deaths

• Academy Award-winning actor George Kennedy (91) passed away. 
• Born in 1925 in New York, Kennedy won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 1968 for his role in 'Cool Hand Luke'. 
• His other popular films include 'The Dirty Dozen', 'The Naked Gun' and 'Earthquake'.

Sports

• Former Indian captain, Rahul Dravid has been named as the Mentor of Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise, Delhi Daredevils. 
• Dravid had previously been the mentor of the now-suspended Rajasthan Royals side for the 2014 and 2015 seasons.
• Paddy Upton, who was with Dravid at the Royals, has been named as the Head Coach of the Daredevils.
• Ace driver Armaan Ebrahim was honored with the Motorsports Man of the Year award  by the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI) here.
• B.I. Chandhok received the lifetime achievement award for his immense contribution to the field of motorsports in the country.
• Former National 6Reds runner-up Rahul Sachdev clinched his maiden title by winning the 1st All India Open Invitational Snooker Championship.

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