Current Affair 18 March 2016 for Competition Exams

Airtel acquired Videocon's spectrum.
On 17 March 2016 Bharti Airtel Ltd., announced the acquisition of Videocon Telecommunications Ltd’s entire spectrum for 4428 crore rupees.
The deal gives Bharti Airtel the rights to use 2x5MHz spectrum in the 1800 megahertz (MHz) band in six licence areas, which are Bihar, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, eastern Uttar Pradesh, western Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat.
After the deal, Bharti Airtel’s 4G coverage will go up to 19 circles from the current 15.

Loan agreement for MP Citizen Access to Responsive Services Project.
India on 17 March 2016 signed loan agreement of 35 Million dollars with the World Bank for "Madhya Pradesh Citizen Access to Responsive Services Project". The objective of the project is to improve access and quality of public services in the state.
The project has been designed as a result based financing programme, under which funds will be released on achievement of agreed results.
The project size is 50 million dollar, of which 35 million dollar will be financed by the Bank, and the remaining amount will be funded out of State Budget. The duration of the project is five years.


UNESCO eAtlas of gender equality in education.
On 2 March 2016 The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Institute of Physics released the eAtlas of Gender Inequality in Education.
The eAtlas shows gender gaps from primary to tertiary education and educational pathways of girls and boys in more than 200 countries and territories.
Highlights of eAtlas of Gender Inequality in Education
• If the current trend continues, almost 16 million girls between the ages 6 and 11 will never get the chance to learn to read or write in primary school compared to about 8 million boys.
• Gender disparities are highest in the Arab States, sub-Saharan Africa and South and West Asia. Across sub-Saharan Africa, 9.5 million girls will never set foot in a classroom compared to 5 million boys.
• The gender gap is even wider in South and West Asia, where 80 per cent of out of schoolgirls will never enter formal education compared to 16 per cent of out-of-school boys.


World happiness report 2016.
The United Nations Social Development Network (UNSDN) on 17 March 2016 released World Happiness Report 2016 in Rome. The fourth edition of WHR was released ahead of the UN World Happiness Day, which will be observed on 20 March 2016.
According to the report, Denmark topped the list as the happiest place in the world, while Burundi was ranked at the bottom as the least happy nation.
In the report, India was ranked 118th out of 156 countries compared to 117th out of 158 countries in the 2015 World Happiness Report.


Swine flu notified as epidemic in Punjab .
The Department Of Health and Family Welfare, Punjab on 16 March 2016 notified the disease of swine flu (H1N1) under the Epidemic Disease Act. The notification stated that all government and private hospitals will have to inform the Department of Health about a case of ILI (Influenza like Illness) having chronic diseases.
It was observed that swine flu patients, who suffered from other chronic diseases, had a high mortality rate as compared to patients who did not have chronic diseases. It was also observed that patients who were treated by private doctors were referred to higher centres only when they became critical, thereby increasing the death rate.


India second largest investor in London.
London & Partners, the official promotional company for London, on 15 March 2016 announced that India has emerged as the second biggest investor in London after the US.
The company revealed that there has been a 117 per cent increase in Indian companies across all business sectors investing in London since 2005. Also, there has been a 133 per cent increase in tech companies investing in the city, which accounts for 46 per cent of all projects.


Ustad Ali Ahmed Hussain Khan passed away.
Famous Shehnai player Ustad Ali Ahmad Hussain Khan died on 16 March 2016 in Kolkata. He was 77. Ustad Khan was known as one of the best-known players of the instrument after the legendary Bismillah Khan (1916-2006).

Time most influential people on the Internet 2016.
TIME magazine on 16 March 2016 revealed its second annual 30 Most Influential People on the Internet list. The list has been topped by the artist and entrepreneur Kanye West.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi stood at 15th in the list.

Sikh Gurdwaras (Amendment) Bill, 2016.
Rajya Sabha on 16 March 2016 passed the Sikh Gurdwaras (Amendment) Bill, 2016 to exclude Sehajdharis from voting in Sikh body polls. The Bill envisages amending certain provisions of the Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925 retrospectively with effect from October 2003.