Current Affairs Update – 22nd March, 2016

Hello and welcome to ExamPundit. Here are the important Current Affairs of 22nd March, 2016
Current Affairs at a Glance – 22nd
March, 2016
  1. Terming agriculture as
    “absolutely critical to the country’s economy”, Union Finance
    Minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday launched the “Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana” and “Unified Package Insurance Scheme
    here.
  2. The government has further relaxed the norms for the Atal Pension
    Yojana
    to give an option to the spouse to continue to contribute for the
    balance period on premature death of the subscriber. The spouse of the subscriber will
    receive the same pension amount
    as that of the subscriber until the death
    of the spouse.
  3. A Committee on Taxation of e-commerce constituted by the Central
    Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) to examine the business models for e-commerce
    submitted its report on 21 March 2016. The 8-member committee was headed by Akhilesh Ranjan, Joint Secretary
    (FT&TR-I), CBDT, Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance.
  4. Ashok Leyland Defence Systems (ALDS), a division of Hinduja Group
    flagship company Ashok Leyland, today said it has selected US-based Lockheed Martin to develop light specialist vehicle and
    light armoured multi-purpose defence vehicles for armed forces.
  5. The Union Ministry of Finance on 21 March 2016 constituted a Sub-Committee under the aegis of the High Level Committee
    (HLC) to review issues related to excise duty
    . The committee will be headed
    by former Chief Economic Advisor Dr
    Ashok Lahiri
    and will review excise duty imposed on different jewellery articles in Budget 2016-17.
  6. The Government of Telangana on 20 March 2016 signed a Memorandum of
    Understanding (MoU) with Aero Campus Aquitaine and Bordeaux Metropole to set up
    aviation training institute in Hyderabad
    .
  7. India will host the eighth annual Summit of BRICS from October 15-16 in
    Goa
    in its capacity as chair of the influential bloc comprising five
    countries with 42 per cent of the world population and combined GDP of over USD
    16 trillion.
  8. World Water Day (WWD) 2016 was globally observed on 22 March 2016 with
    the theme Water and
    Jobs.
  9. US Defence Secretary Ash Carter
    announced on 18 March 2016 that President Barack Obama has nominated General Lori Robinson
    to lead the United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) and NORAD. This will
    make her the first woman to command a major Unified Combatant Command
    .
  10. Zanzibar Electoral Commission (ZEC) on 21 March 2016 declared the incumbent President Ali Mohamed Shein of
    Tanzania ruling party Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM
    ) as winner of the
    presidential elections.
  11. The Union Minister for Finance,
    Corporate Affairs and Information & Broadcasting Arun Jailey on 21 March
    2016 presented 5th National Photography
    Awards
    in New Delhi. Bhawan Singh
    received Life Time Achievement Award.
  12. World No 1 Novak Djokovic of Serbia and Victoria Azarenka of Belarusia
    on 20 March 2016 won men’s and women’s singles titles of the BNP Paribas Open at the
    Indian Wells Tennis Garden
    in Southern California.
  13. Indian wrestler Hardeep Singh on 20 March 2016 won silver medal in the Asian Olympic
    Qualification Tournament held in Astana, Kazakhstan. With this win, Hardeep became the first Indian in 12 years
    to get an Olympic berth in the Greco-Roman category
    .
  14. The Hinduja Brothers, G P
    Hinduja and S P Hinduja topped the Asian Rich List 2016, which was released on
    18 March 2016 in London.
  15. Andrew Grove, former
    Chairman and CEO of Intel, passed
    away on 21 March 2016. He was 79.

Finance/Economy/Industries –
Arun Jaitley launches “Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana” and
“Unified Package Insurance Scheme”

  • Terming agriculture as
    “absolutely critical to the country’s economy”, Union Finance
    Minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday launched the “Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima
    Yojana” and “Unified Package Insurance Scheme” here.
  • He said the revamped insurance
    schemes now launched have the potential to reduce distress in the farm sector
    and would be rolled out in a “mission mode” from April 1 to cover
    Kharif crops.
  • Though the country had crop
    insurance schemes in the past, they were partially successful as they were
    mainly linked to crop loans, Jaitley pointed out.
  • While the farmers’ premium would
    be 2 percent for Kharif food grain and oilseeds, it would be 1.5 percent for
    Rabi crops, and in the event of a crop failure, the farmers would be paid more.
  • The government plans to cover 50
    percent of the farmers in the country, mostly those dependent on rain-fed
    agriculture, and this would be a significant step to making India an
    “insured and pensioned society”, Jaitley said.
  • Noting that agriculture will have
    to grow faster for the country to get rid of poverty and push the overall GDP,
    Jaitley said after two successive monsoons, poor rainfall this year (2016)
    could put the systems to test.

Govt further relaxes Atal Pension Yojana norms

  • The government has further
    relaxed the norms for the Atal Pension Yojana to give an option to the spouse
    to continue to contribute for the balance period on premature death of the
    subscriber.
  • The spouse of the subscriber will
    receive the same pension amount as that of the subscriber until the death of
    the spouse. After the death of both the subscriber and the spouse, the nominee
    of the subscriber will receive the pension wealth, as accumulated till the age
    of 60 years of the subscriber.
  • Under current provisions of the
    scheme, the spouse is handed over the lumpsum amount accumulated in case of
    death of the subscriber before he or she reaches 60 years of age.

Akhilesh Ranjan Committee on Taxation of E-Commerce submitted report to
Union Government

  • A Committee on Taxation of
    e-commerce constituted by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) to examine
    the business models for e-commerce submitted its report on 21 March 2016.
  • The Report of the Committee was
    received by the Government of India and taken into consideration in the
    preparation of Finance Bill, 2016.
  • The Report provides the view of
    the Committee on issues related to taxation of e-commerce and recent
    international developments in this area.
  • The Committee included officers
    of the CBDT, representatives from the industry, the Institute of Chartered
    Accountants of India and tax experts. The 8-member committee was headed by
    Akhilesh Ranjan, Joint Secretary (FT&TR-I), CBDT, Department of Revenue, Ministry
    of Finance.

Key recommendations of the committee are:
  • Equalization Levy may be imposed
    on payments to non-residents for specified services by a separate chapter in
    the Finance Act, 2016.
  • The Equalization Levy should be
    chargeable on any sum that is received by a non resident from a resident in
    India or a permanent establishment in India as a consideration for the
    specified digital services.
  • The rate of Equalization Levy may
    be between 6 to 8 percent of the gross sum received.
  • Equalization Levy should not be
    charged unless the consideration received for specified services in a year from
    a person in India is more than one lakh rupees.

Ashok Leyland to partner with US firm to develop defence systems

  • Ashok Leyland Defence Systems
    (ALDS), a division of Hinduja Group flagship company Ashok Leyland, today said
    it has selected US-based Lockheed Martin to develop light specialist vehicle
    and light armoured multi-purpose defence vehicles for armed forces.
  • Ashok Leyland would serve as the
    prime contractor and provide “cost effective” manufacturing hub for global
    requirements of the vehicles, it said.
  • As a licensed manufacturer of
    CVNG, the association with Lockheed Martin opens up a huge opportunity towards
    exports of vehicle platform as a Made in India product, it added.

Ashok Lahiri Committee constituted to review excise duty imposed on
different jewellery articles in
Budget
2016-17

  • The Union Ministry of Finance on
    21 March 2016 constituted a Sub-Committee under the aegis of the High Level
    Committee (HLC) to review issues related to excise duty.
  • The committee will be headed by
    former Chief Economic Advisor Dr Ashok Lahiri and will review excise duty
    imposed on different jewellery articles in Budget 2016-17.
  • Before finalising its report the
    committee will interact with trade and industry on tax laws.

Telangana, French aviation companies signed MoU to set up training
centre in Hyderabad
  • The Government of Telangana on 20
    March 2016 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Aero Campus
    Aquitaine and Bordeaux Metropole to set up aviation training institute in
    Hyderabad.
  • The MoU was signed on the
    sidelines of the India Aviation Show 2016 and in the presence of Jupally
    Krishna Rao, Minister for Industries and the representatives of the two
    companies.

Features of the MoU
  • As part of the MoU, the two
    French firms will set up an aviation training institute at the Begumpet Airport
    in Hyderabad.
  • The facility will be used to
    train in aviation and aerospace sectors. The training modules will also include
    the maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) segment.
  • In a year, at least 1000 students
    will be offered courses that will be of various durations from few weeks to one
    year. The students will be offered residential facilities also.

India –
India to host 8th BRICS Summit in October in Goa

  • India will host the eighth annual
    Summit of BRICS from October 15-16 in Goa in its capacity as chair of the
    influential bloc comprising five countries with 42 per cent of the world
    population and combined GDP of over USD 16 trillion.
  • External Affairs Minister Sushma
    Swaraj made the announcement today during a function where she also unveiled a
    logo and a website of the Summit.
  • India assumed chairmanship of
    BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa) from Russia on February 15 and
    it will last till December 31.
  • The External Affairs Minister
    said India’s core-theme during BRICS chairmanship will be building responsive,
    inclusive and collective solutions for the grouping.
  • The logo for the Summit is a
    lotus having colours from all the five member countries and a traditional
    ‘namaste’ in the centre.

Days –
World Water Day 2016 observed with the theme Water and Jobs

  • World Water Day (WWD) 2016 was
    globally observed on 22 March 2016 with the theme Water and Jobs. The theme for
    the WWD 2016 talks about how water links to jobs as three out of four of the
    jobs worldwide are water-dependent.
  • In fact, water shortages and lack
    of access may limit economic growth in the years to come.
  • On the occasion of the WWD, the
    report titled 2016 United Nations World Water Development Report, Water and
    Jobs, was launched in Geneva.

Appointments –
Lori Robinson nominated as first US female Combatant Chief

  • US Defence Secretary Ash Carter
    announced on 18 March 2016 that President Barack Obama has nominated General
    Lori Robinson to lead the United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) and
    NORAD. This will make her the first woman to command a major Unified Combatant Command.
  • The position is one of the most
    senior in the US military and must be confirmed by the Senate. If approved by
    the Senate, US Air Force General Lori Robinson will be the new North command
    chief and will be responsible for any missile threats against the homeland.

Ali Mohamed Shein declared winner of Presidential Elections of
semi-autonomous region Zanzibar

  • Zanzibar Electoral Commission
    (ZEC) on 21 March 2016 declared the incumbent President Ali Mohamed Shein of
    Tanzania ruling party Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) as winner of the presidential
    elections. He won with 91.4 percent of the votes.
  • The presidential elections held
    on 20 March 2016 was the re-run of the elections held in October 2015, which
    were cancelled by the ZEC on grounds of fraud.

Awards & Honors –
M Sukumaran chosen for CV Kunhiraman Literary Prize

  • Renowned Malayalam writer M
    Sukumaran in the third week of March 2016 was chosen for the CV Kunhiraman
    Literary Prize.
  • The prize consists of 10001
    rupees in cash, a citation, and a statuette designed by artist BD Dathan.
  • The themes of all of his writings
    deal with the plight of the dispossessed and advocate an armed struggle for the
    liberation of the oppressed.

5th National Photography Awards presented

  • The Union Minister for Finance,
    Corporate Affairs and Information & Broadcasting Arun Jailey on 21 March
    2016 presented 5th National Photography Awards in New Delhi.
  • The annual awards are meant to
    honour and recognize those creative professionals who defined moments in
    history through their creative pictorial mastery.

Recipients of major awards
  1. Bhawan Singh – Life Time
    Achievement Award
  2. Javed Ahmed Dar – Professional Photographer
    Award
  3. Himanshu Thakur – Amateur
    Photographer

Sports –
Novak Djokovic and Victoria Azarenka won BNP Paribas Open titles

  • World No 1 Novak Djokovic of
    Serbia and Victoria Azarenka of Belarusia on 20 March 2016 won men’s and
    women’s singles titles of the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis
    Garden in Southern California.
  • Novak Djokovic defeated Milos
    Raonic of Canada 6-2, 6-0 in the men’s final while Victoria Azarenka defeated
    top seed Serena Williams 6-4, 6-4.
  • Djokovic won his fifth Indian
    Wells title and third in a row. He equaled Rafael Nadal’s 27 ATP Masters
    titles.
  • On the other hand, Victoria
    Azarenka lifted her second BNP Paribas Open crown and her 19th singles title.

Wrestler Hardeep Singh won silver medal in Asian Olympic Qualification
Tournament
  • Indian wrestler Hardeep Singh on
    20 March 2016 won silver medal in the Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament
    held in Astana, Kazakhstan.
  • Even before the win, by virtue of
    reaching the final in the 98 kg category, he was qualified for participation in
    the Rio Olympics 2016 in Greco-Roman category and joined other two Indian
    wrestlers.
  • Earlier, Yogeshwra Dutt and
    Narsingh Yadav qualified for the Olympics in men’s freestyle category.
  • With this win, Hardeep became the
    first Indian in 12 years to get an Olympic berth in the Greco-Roman category.
    The previous participation was that of Mausam Khatri in 2004 Athens Games.

Lists & Indexes –
Hinduja Brothers topped Britain’s Asian Rich List 2016

  • The Hinduja Brothers, G P Hinduja
    and S P Hinduja topped the Asian Rich List 2016, which was released on 18 March
    2016 in London.
  • The Hinduja Brothers emerged as
    the richest Asian-origin entrepreneurs in Britain for the fourth consecutive
    year with an estimated personal fortune of 16.5 billion pounds.
  • Steel tycoon Lakshmi Niwas Mittal
    was ranked second in the list, which was released by the Indian high
    commissioner to the UK Navtej Sarna.
  • Sri Prakash Lohia, chairman of
    the Indorama Corporation, was listed 3rd richest with fortune worth 3 billion
    pounds.
  • The Arora Brothers, Simon, Bobby
    and Robin, owners of discount retail chain were listed as the 4th richest with
    a fortune worth 2.1 billion pounds.
  • Cyrus Vandrevala, with 2 billion
    pounds, stood at number five in the list.

Obituaries –
Former Intel Chairman and CEO Andrew Grove died
  • Andrew Grove, former Chairman and
    CEO of Intel, passed away on 21 March 2016. He was 79.
  • Grove became Intel’s President in
    1979 and CEO in 1987. He served as Chairman of the Board from 1997 to 2005.

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This post was last modified on July 20, 2019 10:16 am