6th April 2016 - Important Current Affairs updates

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International Affairs

• Today (6th April) is International Day of Sport for Development and Peace.
• This day was initiated by the United Nations (UN), to recognize the power of sport in promoting peace and erasing cultural barriers worldwide.
• This day promotes healthy lifestyles and emphasizes the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) focus on giving as many people as possible access to sport. 
• According to a Human Rights Watch report, nearly 20 million people in Bangladesh continue to drink water poisoned with high levels of arsenic. 
• The HRW blamed it on nepotism in the government, neglect by rich countries and NGOs losing sight of the problem. 
• Note : According to latest estimates, around 43,000 people die in Bangladesh every year from arsenic-related diseases.
• Myanmar's (Burmese) Parliament has passed a bill that gives Aung San Suu Kyi a role similar to that of Prime Minister.
• The Lower House passed the bill to create the post of State Counsellor.
• This bill now requires the approval of President Htin Kyaw.
• The US Senate approved Defend Trade Secrets Bill. 
• The legislation provides greater legal protection to companies for their commercial secrets. 

National Affairs

• Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) 36th Foundation Day today.
• The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has constituted High-Level committee to suggest ways to tighten security along India-Pakistan border. 
• It will suggest ways to strengthen the security along the India-Pakistan Border and address the issue of gaps and vulnerability in border fencing. 
• The committee will be headed by : Madhukar Gupta (former Union Home Secretary)
• Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) is planning to establish ‘safe and easily accessible two-wheeler rentals’ for tourists visiting Maharashtra. 
• The service will start in the hill station of Mahabaleshwar followed by other tourist destinations across the state. 
• The tourists will need to provide an identity proof for availing the service.

Deaths

• Senior BJP leader LK Advani's wife Kamla Advani passed away. 
• Kamla, who worked with India Post for over 17 years, was in her early eighties. 

New Appointments

• Dominica’s Patricia Scotland has taken over as the first woman Secretary-General of the 53-member Commonwealth, succeeding India’s Kamalesh Sharma.

Awards & Honors

• A statue of Punjab's Maharaja Ranjit Singh will be installed in the French town of Saint-Tropez, the birthplace of the Maharaja's Army General Jean-Francois Allard, this September.

Science & Technology

• The Indian space agency ISRO and US space agency NASA will join hands for the first time to launch a Satellite that will help study earthquake and its patterns.
• Important Note : The satellite is called NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar).
• This will be designed to observe and take measurements of some of the earth's most complex processes, including ecosystem disturbances, ice-sheet collapse, and natural hazards such as earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes and landslides.
• India and US are also collaborating in a major way in the Mars Mission project.

Sports

• Five-time champions India defeated Japan 2-1 in their opening match of the 25th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Malaysia. 
• Indian men have won the 2016 Asian Nations Cup Chess tournament by defeating Vietnam in the final round by 3-1 score played in Abu Dhabi.

Read more Daily Current Affairs updates from here

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