Important Current Affairs of March 29, 2016

IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF MARCH 29, 2016

• On 27th March2016 World Theatre Day (WTD) was observed.
• This day was initiated in 1961 by the International Theatre Institute.
• Malaysian Prime Minister NajibRazak announced that the country will set up its first counter-messaging centre in a bid to curb the influence of the Islamic State in the cyber world.
• At least 53 people were killed and 100 were injured after a bomb exploded outside a public park in Pakistan's Lahore On March 27, 2016. 
• Following the blast, an emergency was declared in all hospitals of the city and security was put on high alert.
• A 5 member Joint Investigation Team (JIT) from Pakistan On March 27, 2016 arrived in New Delhi to carry out a probe into the terror attack at the Indian Air Force base Pathankot.
• The team will visit Pathankot tomorrow for the probe into the attack carried out by Pakistan-based terror group on 2nd of January.
• China has launched its first cybersecurity public organisation aimed at better safeguarding national cybersecurity and guiding internet companies in perform their duties.
• The CyberSecurity Association of China, launched in Beijing consists of academic institutes, individuals and internet companies including Tencent and popular internet security company Qihu 360.
• The Centre has imposed President's Rule in Uttarakhand on grounds of "breakdown of governance". 
• This comes a day before CM Harish Rawat is to take floor test in the Assembly on March 28.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the government is constructing five lakh 'farming pools' to tackle the problem of water shortage in some parts of India. 
• He also asked the farming community to reduce the use of fertilisers and adopt water conservation methods like building small water reservoirs.
• Gujarat CM Anandiben Patel has announced that the State is going tol set up the country's first university focusing exclusively on organic farming and research. 
• A total of ₹10 crore has been allotted towards the university in the 2016-17 state budget. 
• The Centre has planned 17 waterway projects to improve links between North-East India and the adjoining states.
• Further, one or two of the projects would link the Brahmaputra in Assam with the Bay of Bengal. 
• This move comes after the Parliament passed the National Waterways Bill to convert 106 inland waterways into transport waterways.
• Pakistan and Iran have signed 6 Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs)to strengthen bilateral cooperation in health, commerce, finance and foreign services.
• The MOUs signed were, 
• MoU to enhance cooperation between Pakistan’s Foreign Service Academy and Iran’s School of International Relations
• MoU for cooperation and information exchange between the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan and the Central Insurance of Iran
• MoU on Five Year Strategic Trade Cooperation Plan: This is the key agreement among the 6 MoUs signed. It sets an ambitious target of 5 billion US dollars per annum bilateral trade in 5 years from the current 250 million US dollars.
• MoU for cooperation on health research, training, medicine and medical technology
• MoU on extending cooperation between the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry and the Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture of Iran.
• MoU on cooperation between the Institute for Political and International Studies of Iran and Karachi Council on Foreign Relations (KCFR) of Pakistan
• The Delhi government has announced that the Value Added Tax (VAT)collection in the ongoing fiscal has crossed ₹20,000 crore. 
• The government had set ₹24,000 crore as the target but later reduced it to ₹21,000 crore on the grounds of unsteady collection. 
• Around ₹18,500 crore was collected as VAT in 2014-15. 
• NOTE : VAT accounts for over two-thirds of the Delhi government’s revenue.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced that the Centre's policy of directly transferring the subsidy on LPG gas cylinders in consumers' bank accounts has saved the government ₹15,000 crore last year. 
• Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has directed theDepartment of Telecom (DoT) to build a communication network on Andaman and Nicobar, and Lakshadweep islands. 
• It also recommended that the islands, dependent on satellites for communication, be connected using undersea cables.
• The Mother's Wax Museum in Kolkata has unveiled a wax statue of pop icon Michael Jackson as a part of its expansion plans. 
• Note : Mother's wax museum, inaugurated in November 2014, is reportedly India's first wax museum. 
• Former Malaysian PM Abdullah Ahmad Badawi named as an adviser for state oil firm Petroliam NasionalBhd (Petronas).
• The UN Human Rights Council has appointed India-born academician Surya Deva as an advisor to its working group on human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises.
• Europe's largest floating solar farm has been built in London on the Thames river, featuring 23,046 solar panels and measuring 57,500 square metres or the size of eight football pitches. 
• Built at a cost of over $8 million, it will generate enough power to light 1,800 houses.
• Around 61,000 floats and 177 anchors are used to keep the panels afloat.
• NASA is sending scientists on an around-the-globe mission to study climate change and the impact humans have on it. 
• In the next six months, researchers will undertake eight new campaigns in locations ranging from the ice sheets of Greenland to coral reefs of the South Pacific. 
• They will also undertake three airborne research campaigns over the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.
• The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) of the US Department of Defense has launched a Grand Challenge for developing artificial intelligence-powered radios. 
• Such radios will automatically cooperate with each other to avoid wireless congestion. 
• The competition will start in 2017 and pick a winner in 2020, who will be awarded a prize money of $2 million.
• Hanle village in Ladakh was short-listed as a prospective site to house theWorld's largest telescope named 'Thirty Metre Telescope International Observatory', estimated to be worth around ₹98.26 crore. 
• After the permit for the same was cancelled for a site in Hawaii, first choice for the observatory, the board decided on two prospective sites – Hanle and another in Chile.
• Veteran BJP leader and Politician Lal Muni Chaubey (73) passed away.
• Actor Peter Brown (80), who was famous for his role as  Deputy Johnny McKay in legendary Western TV show Lawman passed away.
• Lawman, which was aired from 1958-62 and was an extraordinarily popular western on ABC.
• Ravichandran Ashwin became the first Indian bowler to collect 50 T20I wickets after picking David Warner's wicket against Australia. 
• He stands 12th in the all-time highest T20I wicket-takers list, which is led by Pakistan's Shahid Afridi, Umar Gul and Saeed Ajmal, with 97, 85 and 85 wickets respectively.
• PM Narendra Modi announced that India will host the FIFA under-17 World Cup next year.