Daily Current Affairs Updates: 08 March 2014

1) International Women Day celebrated: International Women Day was celebrated across the world on 8 March 2014 with the theme INSPIRING CHANGE. United Nations organized many programmes to celebrate the 2014 Women day. International women’s day is also called Working women’s day. Thousands of events occur to mark the economic, political and social achievements of women. Organisations, governments, charities, educational institutions, women's groups, corporations and the media celebrate the day. Each year International Women's Day (IWD) is celebrated on 8 March. The first International Women's Day was held in 1911. Read more about the day from here.

2) 239 feared dead as Malaysia Airlines plane goes missing: A Malaysia Airlines flight carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew members went missing over the South China Sea on Saturday, presumed crashed, as ships from countries closest to its flight path scoured a large search area for any wreckage. Vietnamese state media, quoting a senior naval official, had reported that the Boeing 777-200ER flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing had crashed off south Vietnam, but Malaysia’s transport minister later denied any crash scene had been identified. 

3) Congress released first list of LS candidates; Nilekani, Kaif  get tickets: After much dilly-dallying, the Congress finally came out with its first list of candidates for the Lok Sabha elections on Saturday, with party president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi leading the big names. Infosys co-founder-turned-Aadhaar-chairman Nandan Nilekani will take on the BJP’s sitting MP Ananth Kumar in Bangalore South, as was widely expected. A surprise pick is cricketer Mohammad Kaif, who will try his luck from Phulpur, a constituency once represented by Jawaharlal Nehru.

4) Reliance Jio’s innovation head Arvind Rao quits: Arvind Rao, Reliance Jio Infocomm's head of innovation, has quit, a person with knowledge of the matter said. This is the first high-profile resignation from the Mukesh Ambani-promoted company that is set to shortly begin offering highspeed broadband services on mobile phones.

5) Avaya appointed Priyadarshi Mohapatra as Managing Director for India and SAARC: Technology firm Avaya on 6 March 2014 appointed Priyadarshi Mohapatra as Managing Director for its India and SAARC operations. A 17 year veteran of the industry, Mohapatra will provide strategic direction to India operations. He will manage business priorities and will enhance Avaya's position as a leading business communications company.

6) Mizoram to meet Railways in Santosh Trophy final: Mizoram scored two goals in extra time to upstage a strong Tamil Nadu 3-1, and enter the final, for the first time, of the 68th National football championship for the Santosh Trophy. In the second semifinal, Ehtesham Ahmed saved two shots to help Railways down Maharashtra 5-3 via the tie-breaker after the teams were locked 1-1 at the end of 120 minutes of regulation and extra-time.

 

7) Sri Lanka won Asia Cup title for fifth time: Pakistan failed to defend the Asia Cup title as they were defeated by Sri Lanka in the final of the 12th edition Asia Cup at the Shere Bangla National Stadium Mirpur on Saturday. Chasing 261, Sri Lanka completed their well-deserved five-wicket victory with 22 balls left to snatch the title from Pakistan who had won the previous tournament also held in Bangladesh in 2012. Sri Lanka won the Asia Cup championship for the fifth time, equaling the record held by India. Lahiru Thirimanne made his 3rd ODI ton and became the top scorer of the tournament with 279 runs in 5 matches. He was thus awarded Man of the Series.