CURRENT AFFAIRS – 1 st MARCH 2014 TO 5 th MARCH 2014 -Rail link - TopicsExpress

CURRENT AFFAIRS – 1 st MARCH 2014 TO 5 th MARCH 2014 -Rail link between Kilinochchi to Palai in North Sri Lanka was inaugurated. This link was reconstructed by IRCON. -Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met Sri Lankan President Rajapaksa on 4 March 2014. -Election Commission has announced the date of Assembly elections in Sikkim, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh to be held simultaneously with the LS polls. -Third BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) Summit was held in Myanmar. -Election Commission announced that Lok Sabha elections will be held from 7 April to 12 May 2014. Counting will be done on 16 May 2014. -Low-cost carrier SpiceJet appointed R.Neelakantan as its Chief Financial Officer (CFO) on 4 March 2014. -Graeme Smith announced that he will retire from international cricket at the end of the test match against Australia at Newlands. -Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Apple Inc Peter Oppenheimer announced his retirement on 4 March 2014. -US honoured Laxmi, the person who started the movement to end acid attacks in India with the prestigious International Women of Courage Award. -Assam is the first state in India to celebrate Child Protection Day -Government hiked interest rates on fixed deposit scheme offered by post offices by up to 0.2 percent and will come into effect from 1 April 2014. -Sheila Dikshit appointed as the Governor of Kerala. She will succeed Nikhil Kumar, who has tendered his resignation to the President of India. -Union Ministry of Minority Affairs launched Nalanda Project for Minorities Higher Educational Institutions -Union Ministry of Minority Affairs launched a new initiative Maulana Azad Sehat Scheme for the welfare of minorities. -Cairn Energy founder Sir Bill Gammell announced retirement from the post of non – executive chairman on 3 March 2014. -Bill Gates is the World’s top richest Billionaire according to Forbes magazine’s annual World billionaires list -Suspected militant Islamists group Boko Haram attacked a town in north-east of Borno State of Nigeria on 2 March 2014. -Union Health Ministry has issued new guidelines for treating rape victims and outlawed two-finger test performed saying it unscientific. -Hyderabad-based Natco Pharmaceuticals won a patent case against Teva Pharmaceuticals of Israel on 3 March 2014. -Hockey India has been accorded with the status of a National Sports Federation for governing the sport of hockey (both men and women) in India. -The Union Ministry of Sports decided to make Hockey India (HI) the sole body to be responsible for the promotion of the sport on 3 March 2014. -IFAW-WTI captured and translocated the seventh family of the Gibbons to Mehao Wildlife Sanctuary in Lower Debang Valley. -Jaswant Singh released a book entitled India at Risk – Mistakes, Misconceptions and Misadventures of security policy on 3 March 2014. -Arvind Bhat won the German Open Grand Prix title against Danish Hans-Kristian Vittinghus in the men’s singles in Germany -Retired Supreme Court judge K.T.Thomas refused to head the Lokpal Committee Search panel on 3 March 2014. -Defence Ministry ordered CBI investigation into purchase of jet fighter engines from Britain’s Rolls-Royce between 2007 and 2011 by Rolls-Royce. -RBI has extended date for exchange of pre-2005 banknotes to 1 January 2015 and advised banks to facilitate the exchange of these notes for full value. -TAQA led consortium, the international energy and Water Company decided to acquire two hydroelectric power plants for about 1.6 billion US dollar -Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry launched the DMIC chapter of Uttar Pradesh at Lucknow -Study suggested that Climate change contributed in collapse of Bronze Age Indus Valley Civilisation that spanned across present India and Pakistan. -Former Union Minister Bhuvnesh Chaturvedi died at a private heart hospital in Kota after protracted illness at the age of 85. -South Africa for the first time won the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup by defeating Pakistan by at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. -12 Years A Slave of Steve McQueen won the best picture award in the 86th Annual Academy Oscar Awards 2014. -282 mortal remains of Indian soldiers of 1857 mutiny were exhumed from the well at Ajnala in Amritsar district of Punjab. -President of India, Pranab Mukherjee Signed the Telangana Bill to carve out Telengana state. -Indian Navy successfully concluded TROPEX, one of its largest war drills spread over Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal region. -The President Pranab Mukherjee signed the proclamation to impose President Rule in Andhra Pradesh. -Union Cabinet cleared reservation for Jat community under the central list of OBC category in nine northern states. -Roger Federer defeated Tomas Berdych 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 on 1 March 2014 to win the Dubai Championships for the sixth time. -Vinegar can effectively kill mycobacteria, even highly drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis -Government raised the number of workdays under MNREGA from 100 days to 150 days. -The IIFA announced the winners of the technical categories of India’s most prestigious international awards, The Tata Motors IIFA Awards. -National Food Security Act came into force in Madhya Pradesh and will cover overall 75 percent total population of the state. -Vice President released book entitled Akbar – The Aesthete authored by Dr. Indu Anand. The book is a presentation of the miniatures of Mughal era. -India and Iran have agreed to take a decision on Chabahar port by March-end during meet of Salman Khurshid and Javad Zarif in New Delhi. -Union Cabinet approved for setting up a new rail coach manufacturing unit at Kolar, Karnataka.