Current Affairs Daily Updates: 14th and 15th March 2018

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Current Affairs Daily Updates: 14th and 15th March 2018
1. President inaugurates World Hindi Secretariat in Mauritius:
  • Addressing the Indian diaspora in Mauritius, the President of India Shri Ram NathKovind has inaugurated World Hindi Secretariat building.
  • He also launched the World Hindi Secretariat’s logo apart from unveiling the foundation stones of social housing project and an ENT hospital being built with Indian assistance.
2. PM addresses the inaugural session of the “End TB” Summit:
  • Focusing upon India’s predetermined target of eliminating Tuberculosis by 2025, Prime Minister NarendraModi has addressed the inaugural session of the “End TB” Summit in New Delhi.
  • India has set the target for elimination of TB by 2025 against the global target of 2030.
3. Increased Budgetary allocation for NAM:
  • The Union Government has slightly increased the budgetary allocation for the National AYUSH Mission for the year 2018-19.
  • It has been raised to Rs.504.43 crore as compare to previous year allocation which was Rs.490.50 crore.
 4. Home Minister’s Medal for Excellence in Police Investigation:
  • The Government has given approval to the proposal for the Union Home Minister’s Medal for Excellence in Police Investigation.
  • The Name of the recipients will be declared every year on 15thAugust.
  • Officer from the rank of Sub-Inspector to Superintendent of Police will be eligible for this honor.
  • The aim for instituting this award is to promote high standards of investigation of crimes by the Central and State Investigating Agencies.
5. India, France co-hosts International Solar Alliance Summit:
  • India and France recently co-hosted the first International Solar Alliance Summit at the RashtrapatiBhavan Convention Centre in New Delhi.
  • The summit was co-hosted by President Ram NathKovind and the President of France, Emmanuel Macron.
  • The summit aims to provide financial assistance for promoting solar energy in member countries apart from transferring technology.
6. IBBI inks MoU with RBI:
  • The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for enhancing the cooperation in the effective implementation of insolvency laws.
  • The aim of the MoU is to address the issue of the huge amount of Non-Performing Assets (NPA) in India.
7. Government constitutes Tribunal to solve Mahanadi water dispute Between Odisha and Chhattisgarh:
  • With an aim to resolve the years long dispute between Odisha and Chhattisgarh over sharing of Mahanadi river water, the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and GangaRejuvination has constituted Mahanadi Water Dispute Tribunal.
  • The tribunal has been constituted under section 4 of the Inter-State Water Disputes Act, 1956.



8. Actor Sathyaraj to get :wax statue at Madam Tussauds Museum
  • Actor Sathyaraj, well known for playing the character of ‘Kattappa’ in Bahubali film, is set to get a wax statue at Madam Tussauds Museum.
9. Begum Hamida dies at 101:
  • Former RajyaSabha member and a supporter of women empowerment, Begum Hamida died at the age of 101. 
10. The first ever visit of an Indian President to Madagascar:
  • President of India Ram NathKovind has reached Madagascar as a part of his two nation state visit to Africa and Indian Ocean Region.
  • With this, he has become the first President of India to visit the country.
  • There he has received the ‘Grand Cross of the Second Class’ by the President of Madagascar which is the highest honor given to a non-citizen by the country.
  • Two bilateral agreements on defence and health were signed during the meeting.
11. Cabinet approval for continuing urea subsidy scheme beyond 12th FYP:
  • The Cabinet Committee on economic Affairs (CCEA) has given approval to a proposal given by the Department of Fertilizers to continue urea subsidy scheme up-to 2019-20.
  • Urea subsidy is a part of Central Sector Scheme of Department of Fertilizers and is completely funded by the Budgetary allocation.
  • The scheme was started with effect from 1st April 2017.
12. Cabinet approval for MoU on Traditional Systems of Medicine between India and Iran:
  • Taking a step ahead for improving India-Iran relations, the Union cabinet has approved the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two countries in the field of Traditional Systems of Medicine.
  • The Ministry of AYUSH has the responsibility to promote, propagate and globalize the traditional system of medicine including Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy.
13. KrishiUnnatiMela:
  • The Three-day annual KrishiUnnatiMelawill be organized between March 16 and March 18, 2018 at Pusa New Delhi.
  • The event aims to create nationwide awareness about the latest agricultural technological developments and receive feedback from the agricultural community that will help in designing and shaping the future research strategy of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).
14. 14th March-Pie Day:
  • Pi Day is observed on 14th March as an annual celebration of the mathematical constant Pi. 



15. International Police Conference on Cybercrime and Terrorism:
  • The 2 day Asia-Pacific Regional Conference of the International Association of Chiefs of Police will be held in New Delhi.
  • The theme for the event will be- “Challenges to Policing in 2020”.
16. GD Birla award for DrRajanSankaranarayanan:
  • DrRajanSankaranarayanan has received the 27thGD Birla award for Scientific Research for the year 2017.
  • By using X-ray crystallography, he has identified how Chiral checkpoints ensure that D-chiral amino acids are excluded from the translation machinery.
17. Scientist Stephen Hawking passes away:
  • Renowned scientist Stephen Hawking has died at the age of 76.
  • He will be known forever for shaping the modern cosmology.