Current Affairs Update – 6th and 7th March, 2016

Hello and welcome to ExamPundit. Here are the Important Current Affairs of 6th and 7th March, 2016.
Current Affairs at a Glance – 6th and 7th
March, 2016
  1. ICICI Bank has launched iWork@home an initiative that allows women
    employees to work from home for up to one year
    . The technology platform for
    this programme has been developed in-house by ICICI Bank in partnership with
    students from Indian Institute of
    Technology (IIT), Delhi
    .
  2. Bajaj Power Generation Company has signed an agreement with the Railways for electrification of the Lalitpur-Udaipura
    rail section
    under the public private partnership (PPP).
  3. Haryana is likely to become the first state to enter into a
    partnership with the Ministry of
    Railways to create railway infrastructure in the state
    .
  4. Germany will partner with India
    to develop Kochi, Bhubaneswar and Coimbatore as smart cities.
  5. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will share FDI-related information
    with the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and Research
    and Analysis Wing (RAW)
    — to check black money from entering the country.
  6. National carrier Air India today said it flew the “world’s
    longest” all-women operated and supported flight from the national capital
    to San Francisco
    .
  7. A two-day National Conference of Women Legislators held in New Delhi from 5 March to 6 March 2016 with theme Women
    Legislators-Building Resurgent India.
  8. Yes Bank Ltd has informed BSE that the Board of Directors of the
    Bank have on March 5, 2016 approved the appointment
    of Mr. Ashok Chawla as Additional (Non-Executive) Director of the Bank
    with
    immediate effect.
  9. Indian cricket team led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the Asia Cup for
    the record sixth time
    . 2016 Asia Cup was played from 24 February to 6 March
    2016.
  10. Renowned Dogri poetess and writer Padma Sachdev was 6 March 2016
    was awarded Krutitava Smagra Samman for
    the year 2015
    .
  11. Prof. Sirshendu De, Head of the Chemical Engineering department of
    the IIT, Kharagpur on 4 March 2016 was selected for the Innovation Award 2016 given by the Indian Desalination Association
    (IDA), South Zone.
  12. Raymond Samuel Tomlinson, the
    inventor of E-mail and the man who picked @symbol for addresses
    , passed
    away in Washington on 6 March 2016. He was 74. He was an American computer
    scientist who became a cult figure for his invention in 1971 of a program for APRANET, the internet predecessor that
    allowed people to send person to person messages to other computer users on
    other servers.

Finance/RBI/Banking –
ICICI Bank launches one year work-from-home for women staff

  • ICICI Bank has launched
    iWork@home an initiative that allows women employees to work from home for up
    to one year. Chanda Kochhar, MD & CEO, ICICI Bank explained that this could
    be extended for more than one year based on the requirements. This initiative allows
    female employees to have access to their required operating systems in a safe
    and secure manner, that creates a seamless office-like environment.
  • The technology platform for this
    programme has been developed in-house by ICICI Bank in partnership with
    students from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi. Kochhar added that
    women in a particular lifestage that makes them quit the organisation will now
    be enabled to still work with the Bank by creating a work atmosphere and
    ecosystem at their homes as well. To ensure that data security and privacy is
    upheld, there will be a facial recognition technology used that scans the face
    to ascertain there is no intruder into the office system.
  • Women in all roles, except those
    in direct customer facing roles, would be eligible for this initiative based on
    their lifestage needs. These would include young mothers, expectant mothers,
    those suffering from medical conditions among others. Kochhar said that the aim
    was to give a stronger support system to manage the challenge.

Bajaj Power signs agreement with Indian Railways
  • Bajaj Power Generation Company
    has signed an agreement with the Railways for electrification of the
    Lalitpur-Udaipura rail section under the public private partnership (PPP).
  • The Railways would complete the
    electrification work in a year’s time under its customer funding scheme, which
    would cost nearly Rs 47 crore.
  • The electrified rail section is
    expected to facilitate uninterrupted coal supply to its plant and also help
    running of fast passenger trains in the area.
  • BPGC is setting up a 1,980
    megawatt (mw) thermal power plant in Lalitpur district of Uttar Pradesh.

Haryana first state to partner Centre for rail infra

  • Haryana is likely to become the
    first state to enter into a partnership with the Ministry of Railways to create
    railway infrastructure in the state.
  • Union Railway Minister Suresh
    Prabhu, while addressing the state’s maiden investment summit organised in
    Gurgaon today, said that a Special Purpose Vehicle would be formed to tap the
    syneries of states across India for accelerating the growth of railway
    infrastructure. Haryana is the first to give consent to this initiative.
  • Inviting both, domestic investors
    and those from countries like China, Japan and
    Korea, Prabhu said 400 railway stations in India need upgradation and
    the participation of private sector was imperative to achieve the targets of
    infrastructure development.

Germany to develop Kochi, Coimbatore, Bhubaneswar as smart cities

  • Germany will partner with India
    to develop Kochi, Bhubaneswar and Coimbatore as smart cities.
  • “Germany would contribute to
    India’s smart city programme and will help develop the cities of Kochi(Kerala),
    Bhubaneswar (Odisha) and Coimbatore(Tamil Nadu) as smart cities,” State
    Secretary in Germany’s Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation, Building
    and Nuclear Safety, Gunther Adler, told reporters here.
  • The three cities are among the 20
    cities which are to be developed as smart cities, announced by Urban
    Development Ministry in January this year.
  • Germany had earlier set up a
    six-member joint committee with India to identify the cities which it could
    develop as smart cities.
  • The committee had two
    representatives of Urban Development Ministry, one from the Ministry of Housing
    and Urban Poverty Alleviation, and three from Germany.
  • Germany is India’s second largest
    bilateral donor with a record commitment of €1.5 billion (Rs 11,0000 crore)
    agreed last year, Ney said.
  • Meanwhile, India and the US have
    also agreed on formulating action plans for development of smart cities in Allahabad,
    Ajmer and Visakhapatnam.

CBDT sets up dedicated structure for monitoring taxpayer services

  • The Central Board of Direct Taxes
    (CBDT) has set up a dedicated structure for delivery and monitoring of tax
    payer services in the income tax department.
  • Two separate directorates
    –Directorate of Tax Payer Services I (‘TPS-I’) and Directorate of Tax Payer
    Services II(‘TPS-II’) have been set up by the CBDT.
  • Member (Revenue and Tax payer
    services) in the CBDT will oversee the delivery and monitoring of taxpayer services
    under the new structure.
  • Together, these Directorates will
    be responsible for delivery and monitoring of taxpayers services in the field
    offices and e-services deliverable through various electronic platforms of the
    Department.
  • They will oversee and co-ordinate
    all matters relating to grievances of taxpayers and ensure their timely
    redressal.
  • These Directorates will report to
    the Member (R and TPS), CBDT through the Principal Director General of Income
    Tax (Administration), an official release said.

To check black money flow, RBI to share FDI-related info with IB, RAW

  • The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
    will share FDI-related information with the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and
    Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) — to check black money from entering the
    country.
  • The decision was taken during a
    recent meeting of a government group, headed by Revenue Secretary, to check
    economic crimes. The move comes after Cabinet Secretariat expressed concern
    over companies in tax havens investing in the country, official sources said.
  • The Cabinet Secretariat suggested
    that Central Economic Intelligence Bureau (CEIB) under the Finance Ministry
    should maintain a database of such entities and investments, a move which was
    later rejected, they said.
  • During the meeting of “Working
    Group on Intelligence Apparatus”, representatives of the IB felt that it is
    important to have the information. It was decided that the RBI should share
    with the IB and Cabinet Secretariat, information on FDI, which actually enters
    the country, the sources said.

Thomas Cook India inks pact with Western Union, DCB Bank
  • Travel solutions provider Thomas
    Cook India has inked a pact with Western Union Business Solutions and DCB Bank
    to facilitate international trade payments by small-and medium-sized
    enterprises.
  • Western Union Business Solutions
    is a business segment of the Western Union Company.
  • Thomas Cook India aims to assist
    small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in India with their trade payments
    across borders, the company said.

India –


Air India operates ‘world’s longest all-women flight

  • National carrier Air India today
    said it flew the “world’s longest” all-women operated and supported
    flight from the national capital to San Francisco.
  • The flight, which travelled a
    distance of around 14,500 kilometre in close to 17 hours, was operated as part
    of International Women’s Day celebrations.
  • The non-stop Delhi-San Francisco
    flight took off from here on March 6.
  • The flight was under the command
    of Kshamta Bajpayee and Shubhangi Singh, along with First Officers Ramya Kirti
    Gupta and Amrit Namdhari.
  • The carrier has about 3,800 women
    employees, including pilots, cabin crew, engineers, technicians, doctors, security
    personnel and executives.

Two-day National Conference of Women Legislators held
  • A two-day National Conference of
    Women Legislators held in New Delhi from 5 March to 6 March 2016 with theme
    Women Legislators-Building Resurgent India.
  • The conference organised by the
    Parliament was inaugurated by the President Pranab Mukherjee. Speaker of
    Bangladesh Shirin Chaudhary attended the conference and was the Chairperson of
    the Plenary Session.

President Mukherjee presented Standard to 119 HU & Colours to 28 ED
of IAF
  • President of India and the
    Supreme Commander of Indian Armed Forces Pranab Mukherjee on 4 March 2016
    presented President’s Standard to 119 Helicopter Unit (HU) and President’s
    Colours to 28 Equipment Depot (ED) of the Indian Air Force. The awards were given
    away at Air Force Station in Jamnagar, Gujarat.
  • Indian Air Force’s operational
    squadrons become eligible for award of Presidential Standard after completion
    of 18 years of service to the Nation. The selection is based on the unit’s
    performance and achievements during peace as well as hostilities. The honour is
    an acknowledgement of the meritorious service rendered by the units.

Appointments –
Yes Bank appointed Ashok Chawla as Non-executive Director

  • Yes Bank Ltd has informed BSE
    that the Board of Directors of the Bank have on March 5, 2016 approved the
    appointment of Mr. Ashok Chawla as Additional (Non-Executive) Director of the
    Bank with immediate effect.
  • The Board of Directors have
    further approved the proposal to seek approval from Reserve Bank of India for
    appointment of Mr. Ashok Chawla as future Non-executive, Part-time Chairman of
    the Bank, upon expiry of term of the current Chairperson in October 2016.

Sports –
India won Asia Cricket Cup for record Sixth time

  • Indian cricket team led by
    Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the Asia Cup for the record sixth time. 2016 Asia Cup
    was played from 24 February to 6 March 2016.
  • To win the trophy, India defeated
    Bangladesh by eight wickets in the final played at Sher-e-Bangla National
    Cricket Stadium in Mirpur, Bangladesh.
  • Batting first, Bangladesh made
    120 runs by losing 5 wickets in rain truncated 15 over while India chased down
    the target by losing two wickets and seven balls to spare.
  • Shikhar Dhawan was adjudged Man
    of the Match for his 44-balls 60 runs.
  • This was the first time that Asia
    Cup was played in T20 format and the countries that played in 2016 Asia Cup
    were India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and United Arab Emirates (UAE).
  • Sri Lanka has won the Asia Cup
    title five times including the 2014 Asia Cup and Pakistan has won it two times.

Awards & Honors –
Renowned Dogri poetess Padma Sachdev awarded Krutitava Smagra Samman

  • Renowned Dogri poetess and writer
    Padma Sachdev was 6 March 2016 was awarded Krutitava Smagra Samman for the year
    2015.
  • The award was given by
    Bharatiya’s Bhasha Parishad in Kolkata for her outstanding contribution in
    literature and great service to Dogri Language.
  • She was presented with the award
    by the West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi. The Award carries an amount
    of one lakh rupees, a shawl and citation.

Sirshendu De selected for Innovation Award 2016 for developing laterite
based arsenic water filter

  • Prof. Sirshendu De, Head of the
    Chemical Engineering department of the IIT, Kharagpur on 4 March 2016 was
    selected for the Innovation Award 2016 given by the Indian Desalination
    Association (IDA), South Zone.
  • He was selected for the award for
    developing an ultra low-cost eco-friendly laterite based arsenic water filter.
  • The cost-effective filter would
    provide safe drinking water in areas contaminated with arsenic. The indigenous
    filter, made from naturally occurring red laterite soil, is capable of
    absorbing arsenic to the extent of 32mg per gram.

Obituaries –
Ray Tomlinson, the inventor of E-mail inventor passed away

  • Raymond Samuel Tomlinson, the
    inventor of E-mail and the man who picked @symbol for addresses, passed away in
    Washington on 6 March 2016. He was 74.
  • He was an American computer
    scientist who became a cult figure for his invention in 1971 of a program for
    APRANET, the internet predecessor that allowed people to send person to person
    messages to other computer users on other servers.
  • He was working at Bolt Beranek
    and Newman – now Raytheon BBN Technologies – when he made his email
    breakthrough

Prince of Tides author, Pat Conroy, died
  • US novelist Pat Conroy, who wrote
    several acclaimed novels and memoirs, died on 4 March 2016 in Beaufort, South
    Carolina. He was 70.
  • He was suffering from pancreatic
    cancer.
  • Two of his novels, The Prince of
    Tides and The Great Santini, were made into Oscar-nominated films. He is
    recognized as a leading figure of late-20th century Southern literature.

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