Current Affairs March 2014

• South Africa for the first time won the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup by defeating Pakistan by at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
• Vice President released book entitled Akbar – The Aesthete authored by Dr. InduAnand. The book is a presentation of the miniatures of Mughal era.
• National Food Security Act came into force in Madhya Pradesh and will cover overall 75 percent total population of the state.
• Union Cabinet approved for setting up a new rail coach manufacturing unit at Kolar, Karnataka.
• 12 Years A Slave won Annual Academy Oscar Awards 2014 for best picture, Gravity bags 7 Oscars.
• President of India, Pranab Mukherjee Signed the Telangana Bill to carve out Telengana state.
• The President Pranab Mukherjee signed the proclamation to impose President Rule in Andhra Pradesh.
• Government raised the number of workdays under MNREGA from 100 days to 150 days.
• Roger Federer defeated Tomas Berdych 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 on 1 March 2014 to win the Dubai Championships for the sixth time.
• Former Union Minister Bhuvnesh Chaturvedi died at a private heart hospital in Kota after protracted illness at the age of 85.
• Jaswant Singh released a book entitled India at Risk – Mistakes, Misconceptions and Misadventures of security policy on 3 March 2014.
• Arvind Bhat won the German Open Grand Prix title against Danish Hans-Kristian Vittinghus in the men’s singles in Germany.
• Retired Supreme Court judge K.T.Thomas refused to head the Lokpal Committee Search panel on 3 March 2014.
• Reserve Bank of India (RBI has extended date for exchange of pre-2005 banknotes to 1 January 2015 and advised banks to facilitate the exchange of these notes for full value.
• Study suggested that Climate change contributed in collapse of Bronze Age Indus Valley Civilisation that spanned across present India and Pakistan.
• Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Apple Inc Peter Oppenheimer announced his retirement on 4 March 2014.
• Sheila Dikshit appointed as the Governor of Kerala . She will succeed Nikhil Kumar, who has tendered his resignation to the President of India.
• Union Ministry of Minority Affairs launched Nalanda Project for Minorities Higher Educational Institutions.
• Union Ministry of Minority Affairs launched a new initiative Maulana Azad Sehat Scheme for the welfare of minorities.
• Cairn Energy founder Sir Bill Gammell announced retirement.
• Bill Gates is the World’s top richest Billionaire according to Forbes magazine’s annual World billionaires list.
• Hockey India has been accorded with the status of a National Sports Federation for governing the sport of hockey (both men and women) in India.
• Indian acid attack victim, Laxmi won International Women of Courage Award.
• Assam is the first state in India to celebrate Child Protection Day.
• Government hiked interest rates on fixed deposit scheme offered by post offices by up to 0.2 percent and will come into effect from 1 April 2014.
• Election Commission announced that Lok Sabha elections will be held from 7 April to 12 May 2014. Counting will be done on 16 May 2014.
• Spicejet appointed R. Neelakantan new CFO.
• Graeme Smith announced that he will retire from international cricket at the end of the test match against Australia at Newlands.
• The Punjab Cabinet approved the Backward Class (BC) status for the Jat and Jat Sikhs of the State on 5 March 2014.
• India and Nepal army has started a joint military exercise Ex-Surya Kiran Drills VI at Saljhandi in Rupandehi district of Nepal.
• Current Account Deficit (CAD) declined to 0.9 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Quarter 3 (October – December) of 2013-14.
• Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports inaugurated National Cycling Academy at Indira Gandhi Sports Complex.
• World on 6 March 2014 observed the World Dentist Day to raise awareness about dental health.
• Indian-American scientist Anil Jain on 6 March 2014 developed the first 3D model of a human fingerprint called Phantom.
• Tom Albanese was appointed as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Vedanta Resources.
• Authorities in Crimea voted to accelerate secession from Ukraine and unanimously backed a law to be part of the Russian Federation on 6 March 2014.
• Bharti Airtel and Etisalat signed a pact to set up a multi-service regional network infrastructure node in India.
• Technology firm Avaya on 6 March 2014 appointed Priyadarshi Mohapatra as Managing Director for its India and SAARC operations.
• Saudi Arabia on 7 March 2014 declared Muslim Brotherhood with other three militant group as Terrorist Group.
• International Women Day is being observed across the world on 8 March 2014.
• President of India conferred Stree Shakti Puruskar to six women in recognition of their achievements in to mark International Women’s Day.
• Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 7 March 2014 announced to set up a committee under the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC).
• New India Assurance announced Asha Kiran a health insurance cover for girl child.
• Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 vanished from radar screens over South China Sea with 239 people on board on its route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
• Indian Writer Pankaj Mishra won Windham Campbell Literature Prize 2014.
• Mizoram won the 68th Santosh Trophy for senior National football championship by defeating Railways 3-0 at Kanchenjungha Stadium in Siliguri, West Bengal.
• Vice President of Afghanistan Marshal Mohammad Qasim Fahim died on March 9, 2014.
• Kush Sharma, an Indian-American student won the National Spelling Bee Competition in the US in a verbal duel after defeating Sophia Hoffman.
• Veteran Actress, Sheila MacRae died at 92.
• Pooja Ghatkar, Indian shooter won the gold medal in women’s air rifle event at the 7th Asian Championship in Kuwait.
• Prime Minister of New Zealand, John Key on 10 March 2014 announced the plan to hold a referendum on changing the National Flag by 2017.
• Joe McGinniss, author of Fatal Vision died on March 10, 2014.
• Nokia launched Nokia’s first Android phone named Nokia X in India.
• Heena Sidhu and Chain Singh won Gold at 7th Asian Air Gun Championship.
• The Election Commission on 11 March 2014 created a multi-agency grid of revenue and security intelligence agencies.
• The French company Airbus launched its wholly owned subsidiary in India called Airbus India on 11 March 2014.
• Financial Planning Standards Board India (FPSB) appointed retired Justice BN Srikrishna as its Chairman. He has succeeded Dhirendra Swarup.
• World Economic Forum released Young Global Leaders 2014 list.
• Michelle Bachelet was been sworn-in as the President of Chile after winning election over her conservative rival Evelyn Matthei.
• Government of India (GOI) announced to provide 4500 crore rupees Assistance Package to Bhutan for its 11th Five Year Plan.
• Soma Mondal on 12 March 2014 was appointed as the first woman director (commercial) of National Aluminium Company Ltd (NALCO).
• Ali Zeidan, the Prime Minister of Libya was sacked by the countries Parliament after a tanker loaded with crude oil of rebels escaped from navy.
• Rakesh Sethi is appointed as Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Allahabad Bank.
• President Pranab Mukherjee on 12 March 2014 presented the President’s Standard and Colours Award.
• Nagaland and Assam first states to get Plastic Photo Identity Card for elections in India.
• The IRDA on 12 March 2014 ordered a CBI probe into alleged fraud in four government-sponsored insurance schemes.
• World Kidney Day was observed annually on the second Thursday in March. The theme of World Kidney day of 2014 is Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) and aging.
• SBI Life Insurance Company on 12 March 2014 announced that it will appeal against the order of Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA).
• The Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on 13 March 2014 ruled that no airline can refuse to fly physically challenged person.
• Reserve Bank of India (RBI) hiked the trade related remittance limit from 2 lakh rupees to 5 lakh rupees per transaction.
• CCI imposed Penalty of 18.38 Crore on Bengal Chemist and Druggist Association.
• Former president and leader of Sierra Leone, Ahmad Tejan Kabbah died in Freetown at the age of 82.
• Nandan Nilekani resigned as chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India.
• India has offered 1 billion US dollar line of credit to Bangladesh for development of trade facilities and infrastructure.
• Novak Djokovic won Indian Wells final by defeating Roger Federer.
• Tomas Halik won the Templeton Prize for 2014.
• Sachin Tendulkar has voted as the Cricketer of the Generation by a 50-member by beating Shane Warne and Jacques Kallis.
• T C Teli, former Arunachal Pradesh Minister died.
• GK Pillai resigned as Chairman of MCX-SX and will be succeeded by Thomas Mathew T.
• SIPRI in its data on international arms transfers claimed India as largest importer of weapon systems, which is three times more than Pakistan and China.
• Indian Oil Corp (IOC) on 17 March 2014 announced to set up 30000 crore rupees refinery at Mundra in Gujarat with 15 million tones capacity.
• Gyan Correa bagged the Gollapudi Srinivas National Award 2013.
• European Parliament on 17 March 2014 passed a law to develop a common charger for all mobile phones sold in the continent of Europe.
• Department of Telecommunications (DoT) on 17 March 2014 released guidelines to tackle the threats of cyber attacks and hacking of websites.
• UK to honour the Indian soldiers (participants of World War I) through a series of events to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the war.
• Andrew Marchese, student of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on 17 March 2014 developed a robot that can swim like fish.
• India ranked fourth among the countries sending out spam e-mails with malicious content report released by Microsoft.
• Hsieh Su-Wei and Peng Shuai won BNP Paribas Open 2014.
• Karnataka won the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2013-14 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 19 March 2014 extended the 80:20 scheme to import gold to five private banks.
• SEBI inaugurated its local office at Ranchi, Jharkhand.
• SEBI has notified new set of norms to ease the process of KYC for investors by allowing market entities to get details from the centralized KYC agencies.
• Crimean and Russian leaders inked agreement for accession of Crimea to Russia.
• The Union health ministry on 19 March 2014 revoked the ban on painkiller and anti-pyretic drug Analgin.
• World Sparrow Day was observed on 20 March 2014.
• The renowned author and journalist Khushwant Singh died on 20 March 2014 at the age of 99 in Delhi. He was mainly famous as the best storyteller.
• Aditi Khanna became first women President of Indian Journalist’s Association.
• Deputy Governor of RBI, Dr KC Chakrabarty resigned from the office on 20 March 2014 three months ahead of the completion of the term.
• International Day of Forests was observed by the United Nation on 21 March 2014.
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued notice to banks to take measures to counter the threat expected to arise from discontinuation of Windows XP.
• World Poetry Day observed on 21 March 2014.
• The Government of India divested its 9 percent stake in Axis Bank on 21 March 2014.
• Physicist Rajesh Gopakumar selected for G D Birla Award 2013.
• Former Brazilian international footballer Hilderaldo Luiz Bellini died on 21 March 2014 after a heart attack.
• World Water Day observed on 22 March 2014 with the theme Water and Energy.
• Stuart Oliver of Castrol Vecton team won the inaugural Tata T1 Prima Truck Racing Championship at Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida.
• Rationalised Roman for Kashmiri written by Dr. R L Bhat released.
• The book titled Narendra Modi: A Political Biography was published on 24 March 2014. The biography was written by Andy Marino.
• Big Hoss is the World largest TV unveiled for the first time at the Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth.
• Ebola Virus causing haemorrhagic fever was detected on 23 March 2014 in Guinea.
• Adolfo Suarez, the first elected Prime Minister of Spain died on 23 March 2014.
• Book The Wrong Enemy: Revealed facts about 2008 Indian embassy attack in Kabul.
• EPFO on 24 March 2014 announced to provide Universal Account Number (UAN) to its five crore subscribers from 1 October 2014.
• Bank of India on 24 March 2014 launched Instant Money Transfer (IMT) scheme in Mumbai.
• SC directed the Centre to withdraw the instruction issued by centre for making Aadhaar card mandatory for citizens to benefit government services.
• Tata Communications Payment Solutions Ltd. (TCPSL) launched the white label Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) network.
• Nanda, the veteran actress of Hindi and Marathi films died on 25 March 2014 in Mumbai at the age of 75.
• Govind Mishra to given the Sarawasti honour for year 2013 for his book Dhool Paudho Par. He will be the second person to receive this award.
• India defeated Pakistan in the final to win the 3rd South Asian Handball Championship title at Genesis Global School in Noida.
• Shigeru Ban, Japanese architect won the Pritzker Architecture Prize 2014.
• Aditya Puri headed RBI Panel submitted its report titled Data Format for Furnishing of Credit Information to Credit Information Companies (CICs).
• Britain’s Royal Mail issued a postage stamp of Noor Inayat Khan, World War II Indian origin heroine.
• Bhaag Milkha Bhaag screened at seventh Asian Film Festival 2014 in Saudi Arabia.
• Third Nuclear Security Summit was held in The Hague, Netherlands from 24 to 25 March 2014.
• Saugata Gupta chief executive officer (CEO) of Marico on 25 March 2014 was promoted as Managing Director (MD).
• Japan signed an agreement to remove highly enriched Uranium and separated plutonium to US.
• Rusi Dinshaw, the only Pakistani cricketer of Parsi Community died in Karachi. He was suffering from schizophrenia.
• The book titled Lal Bahadur Shastri: Lessons in Leadership written by Pavan Choudary released.
• Uttrakhand Government ordered deployment of SDRF on Char Dham route.
• Indian Ordinance factory has launched a light-weight revolver named Nirbheek, designed especially for women to defend themselves from assault.
• Rajiv Takru, the Financial Services Secretary has been appointed as the new Revenue Secretary. He succeeds Sumit Bose, who will retire on 31 March 2014.
• SEBI announced on 25 March 2014 to release the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) compliance norms in the fiscal year 2014-15.
• The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) on 26 March 2014 detected a Smartphone Virus called Dendroid.
• Jammu and Kashmir became the first state in the country to declare all election booths as No Smoking Areas.
• WHO-India has launched a programme named IRV 2020 programme with an aim to increase population of rhinoceros listed as vulnerable on IUCN Red list.
• Facebook on 26 March 2014 decided to acquire two year old virtual reality technology firm Oculus VR for 2 billion dollar.
• Actor Arjun Kapoor on 27 March 2014 was named as the brand ambassador of the Earth hour 2014.
• West Zone defeated North Zone to win the Deodhar Trophy of Cricket 2014 in Visakhapatnam by a margin of 133 runs.
• The WHO has certified India as a Polio Free country making it one of the 11 countries of South-East Region to be free from polio virus.
• Supreme Court directed all the states and UTs to implement Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013.
• General Sedki Sobhi has sworn-in as the new Defence Minister and Army Chief of Egypt. He is the successor of Field Marshal Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
• C-130 J Super Hercules aircraft of Indian Air Force crashed in Karoli district of Rajasthan killing five crew members including four officers.
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) extended the timeline for full implementation of the Basel III capital regulations by a year to 2019.
• President Barack Obama on 27 March 2014 announced National Security Agency (NSA) reform plan.
• Tata Teleservices limited (TTL) on 27 March 2014 launched new Wi-Fi business in Chennai.
• A Japanese court on 27 March 2014 ordered the release and a retrial of Iwao Hakamada.
• Spices Board’s released figures say that export of spices of India from April to December 2013 has increased by 41 percent in terms of rupees.
• Military Government of Fiji declared to hold democratic elections on 17 September.
• Sunil Gavaskar was appointed as the interim president of BCCI board by the Supreme Court on 28 March 2014.
• Jens Stoltenberg was appointed as the Secretary General of North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).
• Saudi King Abdullah issued a decree of appointed his half-brother Moqren as the next heir to the throne of the world’s largest exporter of crude oil.
• Charkilo named miniature planet with two rings of ice and pebbles was discovered by astronomers between Saturn and Uranus.
• Heena Sidhu won silver medal in 10m Air Pistol Women final of ISSF World Cup.
• Earth Hour observed across the world on 29 March 2014.
• Ambar Srivastava of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi developed the TrueHb Hemometer to test haemoglobin.
• Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) has launched SMS based service named Polling at your Fingertips in Shillong, Meghalaya.
• The University of Chicago on 30 March 2014 opened an academic centre in Connaught Place, Delhi.
• Indonesian Simon Santoso won the Malaysia Grand Prix gold against Sourabh Varma in Men’s Single.
• IPCC released Fifth Assessment Report on climate impacts on human and natural systems. The report warned that the increasing magnitude of global warning will
• have severe, pervasive and irreversible impact on the climate.
• The Supreme Court on 30 March 2014 uphold the age of juvenile to 18 years.
• Renowned music director and concert conductor Zubin Mehta on 30 March 2014 won the special jury award of Times Now NRI Awards 2014.
• The Supreme Court gave a series of judgments overhauling the Board of Cricket of India (BCCI) case.
• IMF agreed to provide worth up 18 billion dollars of loan to Ukraine’s economy for next two years.
• Supreme Court had issued a notice to the Central Government seeking its response on selection process of Chairperson and members of the Lokpal.
• The Competition Commission of India (CCI) imposed a fine of 1 crore rupees on Google.
• Lewis Hamilton won the Malaysian Grand Prix by beating his teammate Nico Rosberg by 17.3 seconds.
• The Supreme Court commuted the death sentence of Devinderpal Singh Bhullar to the life imprisonment.
• BHEL signed a contract 125 crore rupees from Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited.
• President Pranab Mukherjee on 30 March 2014 cleared the re-promulgation of the SEBI Ordinance Securities Laws (Amendment) Bill 2013.
• Scientists have created the first artificial chromosome for complex cell organisms.
• Russia and the US have failed to break the deadlock over the process to proceed on Ukraine crisis during the meet of John Kerry and Sergey Lavrov.
• Novak Djokovic won his fourth Miami Masters crown on 30 March 2014 by defeating Rafael Nadal 6-3, 6-3.
• President Francois Hollande on 31 March 2014 appointed Interior Minister Manuel Valls as next prime minister of France.
• Nancy Powell resigned as the US Ambassador to India.