Current Affairs Update – 26-28th March, 2016

Hello and welcome to ExamPundit. Here are the Important Current Affairs of 26, 27 and 28th March, 2016.

• The Reserve Bank of India Monday
  asked market participants interested in subscribing to special securities under
  UDAY scheme through private placement route to approach it by March 30.
• Power Ministry had launched the
  Ujjwal Discom Assurance Yojana (UDAY) in November last for revival of debt
  ridden power distribution companies (DISCOMs) in different states.
• The special securities under UDAY
  are being issued by governments of Bihar, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand,
  Punjab and Rajasthan.
• “RBI has asked market
  participants who are interested in subscribing to the special securities under
  UDAY Scheme through private placement route to approach the Internal Debt
  Management Department, RBI, Central Office latest by March 30, 2016,” the
  central bank said in a statement.
• Under the scheme, the Centre
  allows state governments, which own the discoms, to take over 75% of the debt
  as of September 30, 2015 in two years and pay back lenders by selling bonds.
  For the remaining 25% dues, discoms have been allowed to issue bonds.
• The scheme is expected to help
  discoms save around Rs 1.8 lakh crore in the next three years. The cumulative
  debt of discoms is Rs 4.37 lakh crore.

• The Asian Development Bank (ADB)
  and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) on Monday
  signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate on supporting India’s
  expansion plans for clean energy infrastructure.
• Under the terms of the MoU, USAID
  will align the components of its technical assistance with ADB’s current and
  planned investments in renewable energy.
• Teresa Kho, Country Director for
  ADB in India, signed the MoU for ADB.
• The Department of Economic
  Affairs in the Finance Ministry had requested ADB to provide financing up to $
  500 million each to support rooftop solar, and expansion of the transmission
  network to connect solar parks in multiple states under the Ministry of New and
  Renewable Energy (MNRE) solar park programme.
• USAID, through its Partnership to
  Advance Clean Energy Development (PACE-D) programme, will work with ADB to
  assist MNRE and select states in the design and development of public private
  partnership (PPP) investment models for solar parks.

• Wipro on Monday announced a
  five-year partnership with the country’s top food service company Jubilant
  FoodWorks to deliver energy management services and help reduce energy and
  operational costs.
• The EcoEnergy business of Wipro
  rolled out its multi-year Managed Restaurant Energy Services (MRES) programme
  last year which ensures effective sustenance of energy cost reduction, Wipro
  said.
• The remaining 600 plus
  restaurants would be rolled out in the coming months, a Wipro statement quoted
  him as saying.
• Jubilant is part of Jubilant
  Bhartia group and India’s largest food service company, with a network of 1,004
  Domino’s Pizza restaurants across 230 cities as of February 11, the statement
  said.

• The World Bank Board on 25 March
  2016 approved a 250 million US dollar Development Policy Loan (DPL) for
  Rajasthan. The loan was granted to support the government of Rajasthan in
  improving the performance of its electricity distribution sector under the
  State’s 24×7 Power for All program.
• The First Programmatic
  Electricity Distribution Reform Development Policy Loan for Rajasthan will be
  the first in a series of two operations for a comprehensive turnaround of
  Rajasthan’s electricity distribution sector.

• Strengthening governance in the
  distribution sector in the state by giving more operational autonomy to the
  utilities
• Establishing targets for reducing
  the gap between the cost of supply and revenue recovery
• Providing incentives to employees
  for improving performance

• Snapdeal-owned digital payments
  platform FreeCharge has partnered with a payment gateway CCAvenue, as it gains
  access to over one lakh online merchants across sectors like hospitality,
  retail and education.
  
• It will also help them access
  real-time,multi-currency online payment services, FreeCharge said in a
  statement Saturday.
• This association would allow
  CCAvenue e-merchants use FreeCharge as a payment option.
• FreeCharge directly competes with
  payment e-wallets like Alibaba-backed Paytm, and Flipkart’s recently launched
  Flipkart Money.
• Founded in 2001, CCAvenue is a
  payment gateway service provider offering real-time, multi-currency payment
  solutions to businesses in hospitality, education, online retail and other major
  industry verticals.

• Taxi-hailing application, Ola,
  has partnered with private general insurer Bajaj Allianz General Insurance to
  provide motor insurance solutions to its driver partners. Through this tie-up,
  the driver-partners will have easy access to availing motor insurance with a
  host of value-added services and add on covers like depreciation shield and
  engine protector provided by Bajaj Allianz.
• The two companies are also
  working together to create a digital infrastructure that will bring insurance
  transactions like purchase or claims, fully online. Pranay Jivrajka, COO at Ola
  said that driver entrepreneurs are key stakeholders to the growth of mobility
  in India and they are building a robust ecosystem for them through initiatives
  like these, enabling them to grow professionally and personally.
• In the past two years, Ola has
  announced several social and financial benefits for its drivers. The company
  had recently announced its partnership with Indifi to offer personal loans to
  its drivers.

• Power equipment manufacturer
  Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has commissioned second 40 Mw
  hydropower generating unit at the Teesta low dam hydro electric project (HEP)
  stage-IV in West Bengal, the company said on Monday.
• A run-of-the-river greenfield
  project, located in Darjeeling district of the state, is being set up by
  National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC). The order was placed with the
  heavy engineering company by NHPC.
• The order for the electrical
  & mechanical (E&M) work of four units of 40 MW each was given to BHEL.
• The company’s Bhopal, Jhansi,
  Rudrapur, Mumbai and Bengaluru facilities are supplying equipment for the
  project while the execution of work on site is being carried out by its power
  sector eastern region. The remaining two units of the project are also in
  advanced stages of execution, the company said.

• The Government of Mizoram and the
  Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) on 24 March 2016 signed a MoU on
  Capacity Enhancement on Sustainable Agriculture and Irrigation Development in
  the State.
• The Memorandum of Understanding
  was signed in the presence of State Chief Secretary Lalmalsawma and Satoru
  Fujita, Team Leader and Deputy Director, Rural Development Department, JICA.

• As part of the MoU, JICA will
  undertake technical cooperation project in 4 rural develop blocks in Aizawl,
  Kolasib, Serchhip and Champhai districts.
• It is primarily a technical
  cooperation project under which training programmes on sustainable agriculture
  and irrigation development
• The training programmes will take
  place for three times between October 2016 and September 2021 in Japan.
• The entire project will be based
  on a development study that was conducted by JICA between 2013 and 2015, under
  which a 20-year master plan was prepared

• The Union Cabinet on 23 March
  2016 gave its ex-post facto approval for a MoU between India and the United
  Arab Emirates (UAE) to mobilise long term investment into the National
  Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF).
• The Memorandum of Understanding
  was signed on 11 February 2016 to maximize economic impact mainly through
  infrastructure development in commercially viable projects in India.

• It seeks to mobilize funds to
  develop commercially viable projects including greenfield, brownfield and
  stalled projects.
• It will facilitate establishment
  of a transparent and high-level framework and collaboration platform for smooth
  flow of investments for this purpose.

• Union Health and Family Welfare
  Minister J P Nadda on 26 March 2016 launched the rotavirus vaccine as part of
  the Universal Immunization Programme (UIP) of the country.
• The vaccine is being introduced
  initially in four states, which are Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh
  and Odisha and will be expanded to the entire country in a phased manner.
• The rotavirus vaccine was
  developed indigenously, under a public-private partnership by the Ministry of
  Science and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
• Apart from the rotavirus vaccine,
  three new vaccines are also being introduced as part of UIP including
  Inactivated Polio Vaccine (IPV), Measles, Rubella (MR) vaccine and Adult
  Japanese Encephalitis (JE) vaccine.

• President Rule was imposed in
  Uttarakhand on 27 March 2016 following the approval of the recommendation of
  the Union Cabinet by the President Pranab Mukherjee. The Cabinet recommended
  president rule in the state citing a constitutional breakdown.
• President signed the proclamation
  under Article 356 of the Constitution dismissing the Congress government headed
  by Harish Rawat and placing the Assembly under suspended animation.
• Under suspended animation, the
  legislative assembly though is not dissolved but the legislative power of the
  state is taken over by the parliament from the declaration of the president
  rule. An assembly remains in this state until further notice from the
  president.

• The 63rd National Film Awards
  were announced on 28 March 2016.
• The awards will be presented by
  Directorate of Film Festivals of India to honour the best films of 2015 in the
  Indian cinema. The award ceremony will be held on 3 May 2016.

1. Best Feature Film – Baahubali:
   The Beginning
2. Indira Gandhi Award for Best
   Debut Film Of A Director – Neeraj Ghaywan for Masaan
3. Best Popular Film Providing
   Wholesome Entertainment – Bajrangi Bhaijaan
4. Best Children’s Film – Duronto
5. Best Direction – Sanjay Leela
   Bhansali for Bajirao Mastani
6. Nargis Dutt Award for Best
   Feature Film on National Integration – Nanak Shah Fakir
7. Best Film on Environment /
   Conservation / Preservation – Valiya Chirakulla Pakshikal
8. Best Film on Social Issue –
   Niranayakam
9. Best Actor – Amitabh Bachchan for
   Piku
10. Best Actress – Kangana Ranaut for
    Tanu Weds Manu Returns
11. Best Supporting Actor –
    Samuthirakani for Visaranai
12. Best Supporting Actress – Tanvi
    Azmi for Bajirao Mastani
13. Best Child Artist – Gaurav Menon
    for Ben
14. Best Hindi Film -Dum Laga Ke
    Haisha

• Indian-origin law professor,
  Surya Deva was appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) as
  an Adviser on human rights and multinationals and businesses.
• Deva’s appointment to the
  position was approved on 24 March 2016 in Geneva by the UNHRC.
• After the appointment, Deva will
  serve as a member of the four-member Working Group on the issue of human rights
  and transnational corporations and other business enterprises.

• Indian-American Nandita Bakhshi
  was appointed as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Bank of the West,
  a unit of French banking giant BNP Paribas. Her appointment was announced by
  the bank on 16 March 2016.
• She will take over the roles of
  President and CEO-designate effective from 1 April 2016 and will assume the
  role on 1 June 2016.
• Bakhshi succeeded Michael
  Shepherd who will take on the role of Chairman of BNP Paribas USA, the new
  holding company for all BNP Paribas subsidiaries in the US. Shepherd will
  continue to serve as Chairman of BancWest Corporation and of Bank of the West.

• Pakistan and Iran on 25 March
  2016 signed 6 Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) to strengthen bilateral cooperation
  in health, commerce, finance and foreign services..
• The MoUs were signed in Islamabad
  during Iranian President Dr Hassan Rouhani’s visit to Pakistan. This was the
  first visit by an Iranian head of state in 14 years to Pakistan and also the
  first visit after lifting of international sanctions on Iran.

• The World Bank on 27 March 2016
  agreed to provide concessional 100 million US dollar loan to Jordan for
  creating one lakh jobs for Jordanians and Syrian refugees. The loan will be
  provided at rates usually reserved for the poorest countries.
• The announcement was made by
  World Bank President Jim Yong Kim during a joint visit of Kim and United
  Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to Jordan.
• The long-term loan is part of an
  attempt by the international community to improve conditions for refugees in
  overburdened host countries Jordan and Lebanon.
• More than 4.8 million Syrians
  have fled their country since the start of the Syria conflict in 2011. Jordan
  hosts about 640000 registered Syrian refugees and Lebanon more than one
  million.

• The International Theatre
  Institute (ITI) Centres and the international theatre community across the
  world celebrated the World Theatre Day (WTD) on 27 March 2016.
• The Russian Dramatist Anatoly
  Vasiliev was the World Theatre Day International Message Author 2016. Vasiliev
  is a noted Russian theatre director and one of the leading European
  contemporary stage directors.
• World Theatre Day was initiated
  in 1961 by the ITI. Various national and international theatre events are also
  organized to mark the occasion. 
• One of the most important of these is the
  circulation of the World Theatre Day International Message through which, at
  the invitation of ITI, a figure of world stature shares his or her reflections
  on the theme of Theatre and a Culture of Peace. 
• The first World Theatre Day
  International Message was written by Jean Cocteau (France) in 1962.

• The International Day for the
  Right to the Truth Concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity
  of Victims was observed on 24 March 2016 across the world.
• To mark the occasion, all Member
  States of the UN, international organizations and civil society organizations
  conducted awareness programmes on the importance of protection of human rights.

• Hockey India on 26 March 2016
  conferred the Hockey India 2nd Annual Awards 2015 in Bengaluru, Karnataka.
• The Late Captain Shankar Laxman
  won the coveted Major Dhyan Chand Lifetime Achievement Award. P.R Sreejesh and
  Deepika won the Dhruv Batra Player of the Year Award for Men and Women respectively,
  at the awards ceremony.

• The United Nations Environment
  Programme (UNEP) in the fourth week of March 2016 released the Global Trends in
  Renewable Energy Investment 2016.
• The report, which was prepared by
  the Frankfurt School-UNEP Collaborating Centre for Climate and Sustainable
  Energy Finance and Bloomberg New Energy Finance, assessed investment trends in
  the renewable energy sector across the world in 2015.
• The report further revealed that
  within the developing-economy category, the “big three” of China, India and
  Brazil saw investment rise 16 percent to 120.2 billion US dollars in 2015.
• 2015 produced a new record for
  global investment in renewable energy. The amount of money committed to
  renewables excluding large hydro-electric projects rose 5 percent to 285.9
  billion US dollars, exceeding the previous record of 278.5 billion US dollars
  achieved in 2011.

• The book entitled Anything But
  Khamosh: The Shatrughan Sinha Biography was in news in the fourth week of March
  2016. The book was authored by Bharathi S Pradhan.
• The book describes film actor
  Shatrughan Sinha’s journey from Patna to Film Institute of India (now FTII) in
  Poona and his tryst with the celluloid in Mumbai.
• This Pradhan’s work also traces
  Sinha’s political journey. In 2003, Sinha set a record as the first film star
  to be sworn-in as a Union Cabinet Minister.

Regards

Team ExamPundit

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