1st March 2016 - Important Current Affairs updates

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International Affairs

Today (1st March) is Zero Discrimination Day.
- This is an annual worldwide event that promotes diversity and recognizes that everyone counts.
- Theme of 2016 : Stand Out
China's Navy today launched its first self-propelled floating dock as a part of its efforts to modernise the Navy.
- The floating dock will allow the Navy to repair warships away from the coast and repair restore damaged ships even in combat zones.
The 7th Indo-Seychelles joint training exercises, aiming to improve interoperability between both armies in counter-insurgency operations, today concluded at Victoria, Mahe Island in Seychelles.
- Focused on interoperability in drills pertaining to counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism, a number of activities and exercises were conducted during the joint training.

National Affairs

Today is 26th Foundation Day of NASSCOM.
- NASSCOM - National Association of Software and Services Companies
7th day International Yoga festival commenced in Rishikesh.
Delhi today became the first state in the country to launch the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine as a public health programme for school children.
- Important Points to Note :
- - HPV is known for causing cervical cancer.
  - India recorded over 90,000 cervical cancer cases in 2013.
Mumbai is likely to get a CBI branch for probing cyber crime offences.
- As of now, such a branch is only in the headquarters (Delhi).
- CBI Director : Anil Sinha
India's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has advised pregnant women or women who are trying to become pregnant to defer or cancel travelling to areas affected by the Zika virus.
- The advisory also asked women who have returned from affected countries to report to the nearest health facility if they fall sick within two weeks of their return.

Business & Economy

Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad today announced that mobile phone production in India had more than doubled to 11 crore in 2015-16, against 5.4 crore units manufactured in 2014-15.
- The government has so far received proposals worth ₹1,20,294 crore for electronics manufacturing in India, out of which projects worth ₹18,000 crore have been given in-principal approval.
In an effort to boost the economy, China’s central bank cut banks’ required reserve ratio by 0.5%.
- Banks will have to keep less of their money in cash and will be able to lend more to people and businesses thereby injecting money into the financial system.
- The move could reportedly put further devaluation pressure on China’s currency, the yuan.
The government today announced that the PPF withdrawals will continue to be fully exempt from tax and only interest accruing after April 1 on 60 per cent of the contributions made to Employee Provident Fund will be taxed.
- All contributions and interest accrued to employee provident fund (EPF) before April 1, 2016, will not attract any tax on withdrawal.
- Withdrawal of principal amount contributed to EPF after April 1 would also remain exempt from any tax.

Awards & Honors

Bollywood actor Randeep Hooda was felicitated in Australia with an achievement award for making his mark in the film industry.
- He was honoured by the members of non-profit organization South Asian Public Affairs Council.
Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) has been named as the world's number 1 position for the second consecutive year in 25-40 Million Passengers Per Annum (MPPA) category.
- The airport, on February 29, 2016, received three international awards, including one for the best airport by size in the Asia Pacific region.
- The rankings were announced by the Airports Council International (ACI) for the 2015 Airport Service Quality (ASQ) Awards.
- The two other awards for IGIA are for best airport by size and region Asia Pacific (25-40 MPPA), and the second best airport by region (Asia Pacific).

New Appointments

Vice-Admiral H C S Bisht took over as the Flag officer commanding-in-chief, eastern naval command, from vice-admiral Satish Soni who retired today.
Former SpiceJet Chief Operating Officer (COO) Sanjiv Kapoor today joined TATA-Singapore Airlines run Vistara as its Chief Strategy and Commercial Officer.
- Kapoor succeeds Giam Ming Toh, who is returning to Singapore Airlines on completion of his deputation with Vistara.

Deaths

Academy Award-winning actor George Kennedy (91) passed away.
- Born in 1925 in New York, Kennedy won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 1968 for his role in 'Cool Hand Luke'.
- His other popular films include 'The Dirty Dozen', 'The Naked Gun' and 'Earthquake'.

Sports

Former Indian captain, Rahul Dravid has been named as the Mentor of Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise, Delhi Daredevils.
- Dravid had previously been the mentor of the now-suspended Rajasthan Royals side for the 2014 and 2015 seasons.
- Paddy Upton, who was with Dravid at the Royals, has been named as the Head Coach of the Daredevils.
Ace driver Armaan Ebrahim was honored with the Motorsports Man of the Year award by the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI) here.
- B.I. Chandhok received the lifetime achievement award for his immense contribution to the field of motorsports in the country.
Former National 6Reds runner-up Rahul Sachdev clinched his maiden title by winning the 1st All India Open Invitational Snooker Championship.