Current Affairs Update – 6-7th March, 2015

• Flipkart on 6 March 2015 acquired mobile ad network AdiQuity. The acquisition is aimed at increasing advertising muscle of Flipkart.
• The deal amount was not disclosed by both the companies. The deal marked the online retailer's first acquisition in 2015 so far.
• AdiQuity has a history of mobile innovations and extremely valuable experience in the ad space. The company was started in 2006 as a search engine. It has raised 15 million US dollar so far from Sequoia Capital and Sandstone Capital. The company profile includes video ads, geography-based targeting and interactive ads.

• Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been named among the 30 most influential people on the internet by Time magazine. The list also features President Barack Obama.
• The list, which was analyzed on the basis of social media followings, site traffic and overall ability to drive news, also includes British author J.K. Rowling of the Harry Potter series fame and singers Taylor Swift and Beyonce.
• Time said Prime Minister Modi roughly has 38 million followers on social networking sites.

• The Kathmandu-Varanasi-Kathmandu bus service was on 5 March 2015 flagged off jointly by India and Nepal. Nepal Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Bimalendra Nidhi and Ambassador of India to Nepal Ranjit Rae flagged off the bus service.
• The bus service was launched under the ambit of Motor Vehicle Agreement signed between India and Nepal during the 18th SAARC Summit.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 5 March 2015 inaugurated two units of 600 Mega Watt (MW) each of Shree Singaji Thermal Power Project at Dongliya village in Khandwa district of Madhya Pradesh.
• The first phase of Shree Singaji Thermal Power Project with 1200 MW capacity has been developed by Madhya Pradesh Power Generation Company Limited (MPPGCL) at an expense of 7820 crore rupees
• With the commissioning of two plants, the total thermal power generation capacity of the State increased to 4500 MW.

• India and Spain on 5 March 2015 signed an agreement on Mutual Protection of Classified Information to provide the framework for enhanced bilateral cooperation in areas of defence research, development and technology cooperation.
• The agreement was signed by the Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and Defence Minister of Spain Pedro Morenes Eulate. It was signed during the official visit of Defence Minister of Pedro Moremes to India.

• Quick service restaurant chain Subway on 6 March 2015 opened an all-women operated outlet at Andheri, Mumbai to mark the International Women's day on 8 March.
• With the new outlet opening in suburban Andheri, the Connecticut-based company's store count has now reached 500 in India.
• Subway entered India in 2001. It operates in 70 cities across the country and has plans to take its total number of stores to 1000 by 2018. It is targeting tier II, tier III cities to fuel its growth plans.

• National Research Development Corporation (NRDC) and Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS) on 5 March 2015 signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) to commercialise ayurvedic medicines and technologies developed at CCRAS.
• The MoA was signed by Abhimanyu Kumar, Director General of CCRAS and H Purushotham, Chairman & Managing Director of NRDC. The MoA provides Intellectual Property Rights services to CCRAS in India and abroad.

• NASA's Dawn spacecraft on 6 March 2015 completed its Orbit around Dwarf Planet Ceres. By doing so, it became the first spacecraft to orbit around a dwarf planet.
• The spacecraft was approximately 38000 miles (61000 kilometers) away from planet Ceres when it was captured by the dwarf planet’s gravity.

• Sri Lankan Government on 5 March 2015 temporarily suspended construction work of China’s port city project in Colombo with immediate effect.
• The decision was taken in Cabinet meeting chaired by Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe based upon the Interim Report submitted by a cabinet sub-committee. The committee was appointed by the Sri Lankan Government to review the project.

• Sunil Sabharwal, an independent Indian-American investor, was re-nominated as an Alternate Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) by the United States (US) on 4 March 2015. He was re-nominated for the post by US President Barack Obama.
• For the first time, he was nominated as an Alternate Executive Director at IMF in April 2014.

• The green baize game of snooker, played with multi-coloured balls, has been short-listed among three sports to be included in the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, according to Captain P V K Mohan, president of the International Billiards and Snooker Federation (IBSF).
• "For the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, snooker is being considered seriously. The Games organisers had approached the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association to send in an application to be included in the programme and it has been done. Snooker and two other sports have been short-listed," said Mohan today at the media conference for the 2nd Indian Open Snooker, scheduled here from March 10.
• The Japan Olympic Association and WCBS (World Confederation of Billiards Sports) are pursuing it.

• After the Lok Sabha debacle when Aam Aadmi Party saw a series of desertions and senior leaders like Yogendra Yadav questioning the "supremo style" of functioning within the party, Arvind Kejriwal broke down in the National Executive meeting and had even offered to quit.
• This was revealed by AAP leader Ashutosh, convenor of AAP's Delhi unit and a confidante of Kejriwal in his book The Crown Prince, The Gladiator and The Hope.
• The National Executive was held from June 6-8 last year at Prashant Bhushan's residence in Jangpura to discuss party's debacle in the Lok Sabha. But a few weeks after the party's drubbing, Kejriwal was sent to jail for refusing to furnish a bond in a defamation case by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari.

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