Current Affairs Update – 23rd March, 2016

Hello and welcome to ExamPundit. Here are the Important Current Affairs of 23rd March, 2016. These are important for the upcoming NABARD Assistant Manager Exam.

Current Affairs at a Glance – 23rd March,
2016
  1. India and France have signed an MoU for the construction of six nuclear
    reactors at Jaitapur in Maharashtra,
    two months after the two countries
    decided to conclude the techno-commercial negotiations for the project by the
    year end.
  2. The Cabinet today approved signing of an MoU between India and
    Lithuania for cooperation in the agriculture sector
    .
  3. Bharti Airtel has entered
    into an agreement with American Tower
    Corporation (ATC)
    for the sale of about
    1,350 mobile towers in East African country Tanzania
    .
  4. Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare JP Nadda on 21 March
    2016 launched three new initiatives to
    combat Tuberculosis (TB)
    .
  5. The abbreviation CPGRMS was in news on 22 March 2016 as
    the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Dr Jitendra Singh initiated a
    telephone feedback mechanism under the CPGRMS
    for the first time.
  6. Chairperson of the National Human
    Rights Commission (NHRC) and former Chief Justice of India HL Dattu on 22
    March 2016 was appointed a member of the International Coordinating Committee
    of National Human Rights Institutions (ICC) Bureau in Geneva
    .
  7. Mukund Padmanabhan will be the new Editor for the The Hindu.
  8. World Poetry Day was observed across the world on 21 March 2016.
  9. The World Meteorological Day (WMD) 2016 was observed across the world
    on 23 March 2016
    . The theme for the WMD 2016 was Hotter, Drier, Wetter.
    Face the Future.
  10. Nepal on 22 March 2016 became a dialogue partner of the
    Beijing-based regional security grouping, Shanghai
    Cooperation Organisation (SCO).

Finance/Industry/Economy –
India, France sign MoU for construction of six nuclear reactors at
Jaitapur

  • India and France have signed an
    MoU for the construction of six nuclear reactors at Jaitapur in Maharashtra,
    two months after the two countries decided to conclude the techno-commercial
    negotiations for the project by the year end.
  • The pact was inked yesterday at
    the end of the two-day visit of a high-level delegation of Electricite de
    France (EDF – French public utility) to Mumbai for holding discussions with
    National Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) on the construction of the
    plants, diplomatic sources said.
  • French Ambassador to India
    Francois Richier, who was present on the occasion, reiterated his country’s
    commitment to working seamlessly with India through a collaborative approach to
    enable both sides to contribute collectively to the development of nuclear
    energy in India in the most economical manner.
  • The EDF visit was a follow-up on
    the State Visit of French President Francois Hollande to India in January,
    during which France and India drew up a cooperation roadmap for concluding
    techno-commercial negotiations for the Jaitapur project by the end of 2016.
  • EDF is France’s public
    electricity producer and supplier and has been designated by the French government
    for taking over AREVA NP.
  • EDF is now leading the
    negotiations for the French side, with the support of AREVA NP, for the
    Jaitapur nuclear park and supply of all equipment under EDF’s scope.

ReNew Power inks pact with OPIC for $250-mn debt facility

  • Sumant Sinha promoted ReNew Power
    Ventures said on Tuesday that it has signed an agreement to receive debt
    financing of up to $250 million from the Overseas Private Investment
    Corporation, the US Government’s development finance institution.
  • The company said that the funds
    will be utilised to construct 400 MW of new solar power projects across India.
  • ReNew Power has more than 2,400
    MW of clean energy assets. Its projects are in nine states – Gujarat, Haryana,
    Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh
    and Jharkhand. The company has investors like Goldman Sachs, Abu Dhabi
    Investment Authority, Asian Development Bank and the Global Environment Fund.
  • In the last one year, the company
    has signed power purchase agreements for four solar projects with a combined
    capacity of 286 MW in Telangana, won bids in Karnataka for 180 MW of solar
    power capacity and in Jharkhand for 522 MW of solar power capacity. The power
    purchase agreements with Karnataka and Jharkhand will be signed soon.

Cabinet okays MoU between India and Lithuania for agriculture

  • The Cabinet today approved
    signing of an MoU between India and Lithuania for cooperation in the
    agriculture sector.
  • The Memorandum of Understanding
    (MoU) provides for cooperation in the fields of agriculture production
    including horticulture, post-harvest management, organic farming, cold chain
    development and agri processing industry, animal husbandry, dairying and
    aquaculture among others.
  • The MoU is expected to help in
    capacity building, knowledge exchange between scientists and technicians,
    exchange of genetic resources, development of appropriate technologies and farm
    practices for enhancing agriculture productivity at farmer’s field, it added.

Airtel signs pact with ATC for tower sale in Tanzania

  • Bharti Airtel   has entered into an agreement with American
    Tower Corporation (ATC) for the sale of about 1,350 mobile towers in East
    African country Tanzania.
  • Under the agreement, ATC may
    acquire up to approximately 100 additional sites currently in development for
    an additional consideration, Airtel said in a BSE filing, without disclosing
    the financial details of the transaction.
  • Airtel will be the anchor tenant
    on the portfolio under a lease with a ten-year initial term, it said.

Union Government and Industry Association signed MoU for effective
redressal of consumer complaints

  • Department of Consumer Affairs
    under the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution on
    22 March 2016 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Industry
    Association for effective redressal of consumer complaints.
  • Under the MoU, the Industry
    Association comprising ASSOCHAM, CII, DICCI, FICCI and PHD Chamber of Commerce
    and Industry will implement six-point agenda to address consumer complaints.

The MoU will broadly cover the following areas under six-point
agenda:
  • Collaborative programmes on developing and
    implementing a self-regulated code of fair business practices
  • Establishing a Consumer Affairs
    division/vertical within the Industry Body

India –
Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare launched new initiatives to
combat Tuberculosis

  • Union Minister of Health and
    Family Welfare JP Nadda on 21 March 2016 launched three new initiatives to
    combat Tuberculosis (TB).
  • The initiatives were launched to
    mark the World Tuberculosis day that is observed annually on 24 March.

Details related to the new
initiatives
Bedaquiline Drug
  • The new anti-TB drug was launched to combat
    Drug Resistant TB as part of the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Program
    (RNTCP).

500 Cartridge Based Nucleic Acid Amplification Test (CBNAAT)
machines
  • These are in addition to the existing 121
    CBNAAT machines that are functional in the country.

Union Government used telephone feedback mechanism under CPGRMS for the
first time for grievance
redressal

  • The abbreviation CPGRMS was in
    news on 22 March 2016 as the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Dr
    Jitendra Singh initiated a telephone feedback mechanism under the CPGRMS for
    the first time.
  • Using this facility, feedback
    regarding the response given by the officials will be collected from the
    complainants who used the Centralized Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring
    System.

Features of the CPGRMS
  • The Centralized Public Grievance Redress and
    Monitoring System (CPGRAMS) is a web based portal to receive grievances from
    citizens on the functioning of Government.
  • It was launched in 2007 to improve public
    service delivery and making governments citizen-centric.
  • The portal also allows senior officials to
    monitor the progress of redressal of grievances at different levels.

Appointments –
Justice H L Dattu appointed as member of International Coordinating
Committee Bureau

  • Chairperson of the National Human
    Rights Commission (NHRC) and former Chief Justice of India HL Dattu on 22 March
    2016 was appointed a member of the International Coordinating Committee of
    National Human Rights Institutions (ICC) Bureau in Geneva.
  • NHRC, India will now be
    representing Asia-Pacific Region along with Mongolia, Qatar and Australia.
  • No other National Human Rights
    Institutions (NHRI) from the Asia Pacific region nominated a candidate against
    Dattu to fill the position of a member vacated by the representative of NHRI of
    South-Korea.

Mukund Padmanabhan appointed as new editor of The Hindu

  • Mukund Padmanabhan will be the
    new Editor for the The Hindu, one of the largest English dailies in the
    country. He will be the second non family member who hold this position in the
    125-year old Newspaper.
  • Since August 2012, Padmanabhan
    was the editor of The Hindu Business Line. He has been working with The Hindu
    for the last 15 years.
  • The decision to appoint him as
    the new editor was taken at Kasturi & Sons Ltd (KSL’s) Board meeting today,
    according to sources in KSL. Board of Directors and management officials were
    not available for comment immediately.

Days –
World Poetry Day 2016 observed globally

  • World Poetry Day was observed
    across the world on 21 March 2016. The main objective of the Day is to support
    linguistic diversity through poetic expression and to offer endangered
    languages the opportunity to be heard within their communities.
  • It is the occasion to honour
    poets, revive oral traditions of poetry recitals, promote the reading, writing
    and teaching of poetry, foster.
  • UNESCO first adopted 21 March as
    World Poetry Day during its 30th General Conference in Paris in 1999 to
    recognise the unique ability of poetry to capture the creative spirit of the
    human mind.

World Meteorological Day 2016 observed with the theme Hotter, Drier,
Wetter. Face the Future

  • The World Meteorological Day
    (WMD) 2016 was observed across the world on 23 March 2016. The theme for the
    WMD 2016 was Hotter, Drier, Wetter. Face the Future.
  • The theme of WMD 2016 tries to
    bring focus on the climate change that is disrupting the natural pattern of the
    seasons. The climate change is also increasing the frequency and intensity of
    certain extreme weather events, such as heatwaves, droughts and heavy rainfall.
    These ongoing changes provide a foretaste of a hotter, drier, wetter future.

World –
Nepal became Dialogue Partner of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation

  • Nepal on 22 March 2016 became a
    dialogue partner of the Beijing-based regional security grouping, Shanghai
    Cooperation Organisation (SCO).
  • Nepal was officially made a
    dialogue partner after a memorandum was signed during the Nepalese Prime
    Minister KP Sharma Oli visit to China.
  • As a dialogue partner, Nepal will
    be able to participate in the multi-field cooperation of the Organisation.
  • Beside Nepal, Azerbaijan also
    officially became a SCO dialogue partner on 21 March 2016 upon the signing of a
    similar memorandum.

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