14th March 2016

A.PM Narendra Modi inaugurates three major railway projects in Bihar 

1.Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated three major railway projects in Bihar at an estimated cost of 7000 crore rupees.

2.Three projects are Rail-cum-road bridge at Patna over the River Ganga: It is 4.56 km long. Rail-cum-road bridge at Munger.

3.Additional bridge at Mokama over the River Ganga: It is double line Railway Bridge.

4.These three bridges will provide connectivity to north and south Bihar and further help in development of North Bihar.

5.Currently there are three bridges over the entire 460 km length of the river Ganga in Bihar. They are road bridge at Naugachia, a rail-cum-road bridge at Mokama and road bridge Mahatma Gandhi Setu at Patna.

6.The inadequate number of bridges had become one of the reasons hindering the development of Bihar which is one of the most populous state in the country.

B.Allahabad High Court celebrates 150th foundation year

1.The Allahabad High Court celebrated its 150th foundation day on 14th March 2016. President Pranab Mukherjee was the Chief Guest of the celebrations.

2.Chief Justice of India (CJI) TS Thakur and Union Law Minister DV Sadananda Gowda were some of the dignitaries who attended the function.

3.On this occasion, CJI Justice Thakur dedicated digitization centre of Allahabad High court. Reserve bank of India (RBI) also released a 10 rupees coin.

4.Postal department released a postage stamp and a Souvenir of the High court. About Allahabad High Court Allahabad High Court was established in 1866 after seat was shifted from Agra to Allahabad in 1869.

5.It had replaced the old Sadr Diwani Adalat. At that time, it was known as the High Court of Judicature for the North-Western Provinces and was renamed as Allahabad High Court in 1919.

6.It is one of the first high courts to be established in India. It is fourth-oldest High Court in India after Calcutta, Madras and Bombay established under Indian High Courts Act 1861.

7.Currently it is the highest judicial body of Uttar Pradesh and it has also a bench in Lucknow. Several political and legal luminaries were part of this historic court.

C.China to set up International Maritime Judicial Centre

1.China’s Supreme Court has decided to set up its own International Maritime Judicial Centre (IMJC) to handle territorial disputes and protect its sea rights.

2.It was announced by China’s Supreme Court Chief Justice Zhou Qiang at the annual meeting of the national legislature National People’s Congress (NPC).

3.This move will help China to bolster its claims in the disputed South and East China seas and also help it become a maritime power.

Background

1.Presently China is locked in disputes with its neighbours over claims in the resource-rich South China Sea.

2.The tensions have risen recently over China’s aggressive land reclamation continues to build artificial islands, airport runways and facilities on disputed reefs.

3.Usually International maritime disputes between countries are usually brought before the United Nation’s International Court of Justice (ICJ).

4.Earlier Philippines had filed an arbitration case against China over their competing claims in the South China Sea. But China has refused to participate.

D.Lin Dan wins 2016 All England Badminton title

1.Lin Dan from China has won the prestigious 2016 All England Badminton title in the men’s singles category.

2.In the final match played at Birmingham, England he defeated Chinese teammate Tian Houwei by 21-9, 21-10 score.

3.It was his overall sixth All England badminton title and earlier he had won it in 2004, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012.

4.Other category winners Women’s singles category: Nozomi Okuhara (Japan) won the title by defeating Wang Shixian (China) by 21-11, 16-21 and 21-19 score.

5.Men’s Doubles category: Russian pair Vladimir Ivanov and Ivan Sozonov won the title by defeating Japanese pair Hiroyuki Endo and Kenichi Hayakawa by 21-23, 21-18, 21-16 score.

6.Women’s Doubles category: Japanese pair Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi won the title by defeating Chinese pair Tang Yuanting and Yu Yang by 21-10 and 21-12 score.

7.Mixed Doubles category: Indonesian pair Praveen Jordan and Debby Susanto won the title by defeating Denmark pair Joachim Fischer Nielsen and Christinna Pedersen by 21-12 and 21-17 score.

About All England Open Badminton Championships

1.All England Open Badminton Championships is one of the oldest as well as the prestigious badminton tournaments of the world.

2.The first tournament was held in 1898 in Guildford, since then it is played annually. Initially the championship was started in only three categories- Men’s Doubles,

E.Services wins 70th Santosh Trophy football title 2016

1.Services has won the 70th edition of Santosh Trophy Football Championships title 2016 by defeating hosts Maharashtra.

2.In the final match played at SEC Railway Stadium, Nagpur (Maharashtra), the Services defeated host team Maharashtra by 2-1 goal score.

3.For the winning team two goals were score by Tudu in the space of 11 minutes (26th and 37th). For Maharashtra, the single goal was scored by Mohammed Shabaz in the 15th minute.

4.With this win, Services has retained that title and has won it for fifth time in year 1961, 2012, 2013 and 2015.

About Santosh Trophy

1.It is an annual Indian football tournament played in India. Founded: 1941. Trophy is named after the late Maharaja Sir Manmatha Nath Roy Chowdhary of Santosh (that is now in Bangladesh).

F.Nuclear-capable surface-to-surface Agni-I ballistic missile test fired

1.Indigenously developed nuclear capable surface-to-surface ballistic missile Agni-I was successfully test-fired off the Odisha coast.

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

3.The missile was fired from mobile launcher at launchpad-4 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Abdul Kalam Island (Wheeler Island) off the Odisha coast.

4. About Agni I Missile:Agni-I is the first missile of the Agni series launched in 1983 by the DRDO as part of Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP) in India.

5.Developed by: Advanced Systems Laboratory, the premier missile development laboratory of DRDO in collaboration with Defence Research Development Laboratory, Research Centre Imarat and was integrated by Hyderabad based Bharat Dynamics Limited.

6.Powered by: Both solid and liquid propellants and can be fired from road and rail mobile launchers.

Features:

It weighs around 12 tonnes and is 15-metre-long. Payloads: Designed to carry both conventional and nuclear payload of about 1000 kg.

Speed and Range:

It can travel at a speed of 2.5 km/s and can destroy targets ranging between 700 and 1250 kms away.

Advance Technology:

It is equipped with sophisticated navigation system which helps to navigate missile to hit the target with a high degree of accuracy and precision.

Induction:

The Agni I missile already has been inducted into armed forces and claimed to be a part of the India’s minimum credible deterrence under No first to use policy. The first trial of Agni-I was conducted in 1989 and the last user trial was conducted in November 2015 from Dr. Abdul Kalam Wheeler Island.

G.Palestinian Hanan Al Hroub wins 2016 Global Teacher Prize

1.Palestinian teacher Hanan Al Hroub from a refugee camp has been awarded prestigious one million dollar 2016 Global Teacher Prize.

2.She was presented with the award at a ceremony held in Dubai for her outstanding contribution to the profession.

3.She beat nine other finalists to bag the award including India’s Robin Chaurasiya, who runs a not-for-profit school in Mumbai for girls from the city’s red light district of Kamatipura.

About Hanan Al Hroub
1.She runs the Samiha Khalil High School in Al-Bireh, Palestine.

2.She uses a specialist approach in her school to overcome tense environments of the region under the shadow of the Israel-Palestine conflict.

3.Hroub’s approach has led to a decline in violent behaviour in schools where it was a frequent occurrence.

4.It has been detailed in her book ‘We Play and Learn’ She also has inspired her colleagues to review the way they teach and their classroom management strategies.

About Global Teacher Prize

1.The Global Teacher Prize was set up by Sunny Varkey, Kerala-born entrepreneur and educational philanthropist in 2014.

2.Every year it recognizes one exceptional teacher who has made an outstanding contribution to the profession. It also considers teachers important role played in the society.