Current Affairs 14th March 2016

Important Points : 

• Name the Indian and Indonesia joint training exercise began at Magelang - Garuda Shakti IV
• Who has won Santosh Trophy of Football - Services
• Who has won All England Badminton title - Lin Dan
• Who has won 2016 Global Teacher Prize - Palestinian Hanan Al Hroub
• Where did the 4th World Congress of Biosphere Reserves inaugurated - Lima
• Maritime India Summit 2016 will be held in - Mumbai
• Which unmanned spacecraft to Mars, launched jointly by Russia and Europe - ExoMars 2016
• Who has been chosen for IAA Editor of the Year - Sanjay Gupta
• Which ballistic missile has been successfully test-fired by India - Agni-I 

Details : 

Name the Indian and Indonesia joint training exercise began at Magelang - Garuda Shakti IV

Among the important Defence Current Affairs, On 10th March 2016, Garuda Shakti, fourth edition of the joint exercise between India and Indonesia began at Magelang, Indonesia.

Characterstics of Garuda Shakti IV

• The objective is to build and encourage positive relations between both the armies and to strengthen the ability of the armies to undertake joint tactical level operations in a Counter Insurgency environment under United Nations Charter.
• It includes the ambit of identifying areas of expertise/specialization of each other, evolution of combat tactical drills for conduct of tactical Counter Insurgency operations and to undertake combined training for neutralization of insurgency threat.
• The scope surrounds purpose of insurgency related crisis situation in rural/urban setting in Counter Insurgency environment, learn each other's Counter Insurgency doctrines, tactics and share experience of Counter Insurgency operations.

Who has won Santosh Trophy of Football - Services

Among the important Sports Current Affairs, On 13th March 2016, the Santosh Trophy National Football Championships title was won by Services after defeating Maharashtra in the finals at SEC Railway Stadium in Nagpur.

Services was awarded with a cash prize of 5 lakh rupees while Maharashtra was awarded 3 lakh rupees for finishing runners-up.

Santosh Trophy

Initiated in the year 1941, Santosh Trophy is an annual Indian football tournament organized by government institutions and states. 

Who has won All England Badminton title - Lin Dan

Among the important Sports Current Affairs, On 13th March 2016, All England badminton title was won by China’s Lin Dan after defeating Tian Houwei.

He is a double Olympic champion and five times world champion.

Earler he had won this title in 2012, 2009, 2007, 2006 and 2004.

On the other hand, Nozomi Okuhara of Japan defeated two-time champion Wang Shixian of China.

Who has won 2016 Global Teacher Prize - Palestinian Hanan Al Hroub

Among the important International Current Affairs, On 13th March 2016, one million dollar Global Teacher Prize was won by Hanan Al Hroub, a Palestinian primary school teacher from a refugee camp for her outstanding contribution to the profession.

Pope Francis announced the 2016 Winner of the Global Teacher Prize in a ceremony held at the Atlantis Palm Hotel in Dubai.

Top ten finalists for the award included

• Robin Chaurasiya from India
• Ayub Mohamud from Kenya
• Richard Johnson from Australia
• Colin Hegarty from United Kingdom
• Joe Fatheree from Unites States of America
• Kazuya Takahashi from Japan
• Maarit Rossi from Finland
• Hanan Al Hroub from Palestine
• Aqeela Asifi from Pakistan
• Michael Soskil from Unites States of America

About The Global Teacher Prize

It is a 1 million US dollar award presented annually to an exceptional teacher for their remarkable contribution.

Where did the 4th World Congress of Biosphere Reserves inaugurated - Lima

On 14th March 2016, 4th World Congress of Biosphere Reserves was inaugurated at Lima in Peru to address the Post 2015 Development Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The Congress will discuss on human migrations and protection of natural resources, the economic viability of nature conservation systems, education for sustainable development etc.

Main objectives of The 4th World Congress of Biosphere Reserves are:

• Action Plan for Biosphere Reserves for 2016-2025 will be developed and launched.
• Implementation of the Madrid Action Plan for Biosphere Reserves 2008-2013, the Statutory Framework of 1995 and the Seville Strategy will be reviewed.

Maritime India Summit 2016 will be held in - Mumbai

From 14th to 16th April 2016, the maiden flagship initiative of the Union Ministry of Shipping, Maritime India Summit 2016 (MIS 2016) will be organised at Bombay Convention and Exhibition Centre, Mumbai. Republic of Korea is the partner country for MIS 2016.

It will provide a unique global platform for investors to explore potential business opportunities in the Indian Maritime Sector.

The conference aims to encourage interaction between stakeholders through G2B and B2B meetings. 

It will also highlight investment opportunities in the Indian Maritime States and Union Territories.

The Summit will showcase exciting investment opportunities in:

• Dredging
• Lighthouse Tourism and Cruise Shipping
• Inland Waterways and Coastal Shipping for Cargo and Passenger movement
• Port Modernization and New Port Development
• Port-based Industrial Development, Port-based Smart Cities and Maritime Cluster Development
• Hinterland Connectivity Projects and Multi-Modal Logistics Hubs
• Other Maritime Sector related services (Financing, Legal, Design etc.)
• Renewable Energy Projects in Ports
• Shipbuilding, Ship Repair and Ship Recycling 

Which unmanned spacecraft to Mars, launched jointly by Russia and Europe - ExoMars 2016

On 14th March 2016, an unmanned spacecraft, named ExoMars 2016, the first of a two-phase Mars exploration was launched by Russia and Europe to smell Mars' atmosphere for gassy proof that life once existed on the Red Planet, or may still be.

It was lifted from Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on a Russian Proton rocket.

The main objective of the mission is to analyse methane, a gas which on Earth is created in large part by living microbes.

About ExoMars

It is a joint attempt between the Russian space agency, Roscosmos and European Space Agency (ESA).

Which ballistic missile has been successfully test-fired by India - Agni-I 

On 14th March 2016, Agni-I, indigenously built nuclear-capable intermediate range ballistic missile was successfully test fired by India from launch pad-4 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Abdul Kalam Island (Wheeler Island).

It was as part of training exercise by the Strategic Forces Command (SFC) of Indian Army.

During the test it covered 700 km distance within 9 minutes and 36 seconds.

About Agni-I ballistic missile

• It was developed by Advanced Systems Laboratory, the premier missile development laboratory of DRDO in association with Defence Research Development Laboratory and Research Centre Imarat and integrated by Bharat Dynamics Limited, Hyderabad.
• The missile weighed 12 tonnes and is 15-metre-long equipped with advanced navigation system which enables it to reach the target with a high degree of accuracy.
• It is a single-stage missile powered by solid propellants capable of hitting a target at a distance of 700 kilometers.

Who has been chosen for IAA Editor of the Year - Sanjay Gupta

On 12th March 2016, the Editor of the Year award at the 4th Indian Advertising Association (IAA) Awards was presented to Sanjay Gupta, the Jagran Group CEO and Dainik Jagran.

Union Minister of State (Home Affairs) Kiren Rijiju presented the award to him.

Other awards announced on the occasion include

• CEO of the year: Kumar Mangalam Birla
• Brand Endorser of the Year: Varun Dhawan, a Bollywood actor
• Media Person of the Year: Raj Nayak of Colors
• TV Anchor of the Year award: Rajat Sharma of India TV