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Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 22 March 2014

1200 March 24, 2014  March 2014 Current Affairs
  1. World Water Day was observed on 22 March 2014 with the theme Water and Energy to raise awareness of the inter-linkages between water and energy. In 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) recommended to celebrate an international day of freshwater. The UN General Assembly accepted the recommendation of UNCED and celebrated first World Water Day on 22 March 1993.
  2. RuPay Debit Cards launched by Karnataka Vikas Grameen Bank (KVGB). This bank is Dharwad based regional rural bank. Syndicate Bank is giving support to this bank.
  3. Jammu & Kashmir Bank has paid Rs 593 crores towards Advanced Tax for the last quarter of current financial year 2013-14. This amount is 18.36% higher than tax paid in the last financial year.
  4. Three officers, including an IAF officer who died while saving Uttarakhand flood victims, a naval officer who non-stop sailed around the world and an Army Major who killed three terrorists, were awarded the Kirti Chakra, the second highest peacetime gallantry award.
    • Wing Commander Darryl Castelino received the award posthumously for his role in Op Rahat in Uttarakhand where his Mi-17V5 chopper crashed with 20 personnel on board after he had helped in rescuing lives of more than 80 people.
    • Major Mahesh Kumar of Punjab Regiment got the award for his gallant acts in counter-insurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir where he eliminated four terrorists in three separate incidents. In one of the operations, he killed one of the two terrorists who were trying to run away on a cycle and tried to attack him with a grenade.
    • Commander Abhilash Tomy received the Kirti Chakra for completing world voyage on his sail ship non-stop and without any external support in 151 days.
  5. Air India to operate daily services between Delhi and Leh. These operations will start from 1 April 2014. Current only 3 flights were travelling in the week.
  6. Physicist Rajesh Gopakumar was selected for the 23rd G D Birla Award for scientific research for the year 2013. Gopakumar has been awarded for his important contributions on topics in Quantum Field Theory and String Theory. At present he is working as a theoretical physicist at Harish Chandra Research Institute, Allahabad. The G D Birla award for scientific research was instituted in 1991 to recognise significant scientific research undertaken by Indian scientists below the age of 50, working in India. The award carries a cash prize of 1.5 lakh rupees and a citation. The 2012 G D Birla Award was given to Prof. Nibir Mandal of Jadavpur University for his work in area of structural geology.
  7. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to utilise unclaimed bank deposits, which are estimated at 3,650 crore rupees for education and awareness of depositors. The apex bank has announced the Depositor Education and Awareness Fund Scheme for the purpose.
  8. Former Brazilian international footballer Hilderaldo Luiz Bellini died after a heart attack.
  9. The Reserve Bank came out with final guidelines for the non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) with regard to the early detection and recovery of bad loans. The guidelines will be effective from 1 April, 2014.
  10. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued notice to banks to take measures to counter the threat expected to arise from discontinuation of Windows XP from 8 April 2014. Microsoft, the developer of the Windows XP operating system will be withdrawing support for the operating system from 8 April 2014. Microsoft introduced Windows XP in October 2001. The withdrawal of Windows XP means that no updates and patches for bugs will be issued by the Microsoft. As a result, the banking system of India largely running on Windows XP may become vulnerable to viruses and other cyber attacks. However, Indian Banks Association (IBA) has said that banks are well prepared to tackle the threat arising from the discontinuation of Windows XP. Thus, neither branches nor cash vending machines will be shut down once Microsoft stops support to the system from April 8, 2014.
  11. The Election Commission (EC) to sign up Aamir Khan as its national icon next week. He will be part of EC’s voter awareness initiatives for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, and is expected to feature in print and audio-visual campaigns aimed at educating people about the importance of choosing the right candidate. The arrangement will be purely voluntary and non-commercial.
  12. First Airbus A320 of Air Asia India
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