Daily Current Affairs Updates: 24 March 2014

1) ‘World Tuberculosis Day’ observed: ‘World Tuberculosis Day’ is celebrated every year on March 24 to commemorate the discovery of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (the agent which causes TB) by Robert Koch in 1882. The day is designed to build public awareness about the global resurgence of tuberculosis and efforts to eliminate the disease. In 2014, the slogan for World Tuberculosis Day is "Reach the 3 million".

2) Supreme Court demolishes Aadhaar card: Judges rule card NOT mandatory for government subsidies-  The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Centre to immediately withdraw the instruction, if any, issued by it for making Aadhaar card mandatory for citizens to avail government services. "If there are any instructions that Aadhaar is mandatory, it should be withdrawn immediately" a bench of justices BS Chauhan and J Chelameswar said while staying the order of the Goa bench of the Bombay High Court directing sharing of data collected for issuing Aadhaar card to citizens with CBI for solving a rape case. The bench said biometric or any other data should not be shared with any authorities unless the accused gives consent in writing.

3) Britain Royal Mail issued a postage stamp of Noor Inayat Khan: Royal Mail in Britain issued a postage stamp of Noor Inayat Khan, World War II heroine of Indian origin, on 25 March 2014. She fought fascism and died in the Dachau concentration camp. The stamp issued was a part of a set of 10 stamps in the Remarkable Lives series which honoured Noor on her centenary year. Royal Mail commemorated Noor with a stamp to ensure that her sacrifice and bravery will not be forgotten. Other honoured in the set include actor Sir Alec Guinness, poet Dylan Thomas, Kenneth Moore, Joe Mercer, Barbara Ward and Joan Littlewood.

4) Jaswant Singh quits BJP, files nomination as an independent candidate from Barmer: The BJP’s bitter veteran Jaswant Singh filed his nomination as an independent candidate from his home turf of Barmer on Monday as he accused top leaders of the party of backstabbing him and said the BJP’s decision-making process was similar to the arrogance of the Emergency era. Although he did not openly attack the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, he took a dig at what he said was the “Namo, Namo chants” in the party.

5) Bharatiya Mahila Bank opens branch in Hyderabad: Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMB) opened its first branch in Andhra Pradesh on Saturday. Speaking at the inauguration, its Chairperson and Managing Director Usha Ananthasubramanian said the bank would close the current financial year with 25 branches. It also plans to add over 55 new branches next year.

6) T20 World Cup: South Africa wins last ball thriller against New Zealand: SA had Dale Steyn to thank as his four wickets helped the Proteas claim a thrilling two-run victory over New Zealand in Chittagong. After losing their opening Group 1 clash to Sri Lanka, South Africa were staring another defeat in the face with the Black Caps requiring just seven runs to win off Steyn's final over. But the pace king held his nerve brilliantly, dismissing Luke Ronchi and Nathan McCullum with his first five deliveries and then running out Ross Taylor with the final ball to spark wild celebrations from the men in gold and green.

7) Shikhar Dhawan to lead Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 7:  India opener Shikhar Dhawan will captain Sunrisers Hyderabad in the seventh edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) which starts April 16. West Indian allrounder Darren Sammy will be the vice-captain, the franchise announced on Monday.

8) Bank of India launched instant money transfer scheme: Bank of India, on Monday, launched IMT (Instant Money Transfer), which allows cardless cash withdrawal at its IMT-enabled ATMs, a first-of-its-kind initiative by any public sector bank. IMT is an innovative domestic money remittance facility that allows the customer to send money to a receiver only by using the receiver’s mobile number through the bank’s ATM and retail internet banking facility. The receiver can withdraw money from a Bank of India’s ATM without using a card.

9) Vodafone launched M-Pesa in Tamil Nadu: Augmenting the m-commerce platform, telecom service provider Vodafone launched its popular mobile money transfer and payment service M-Pesa partnering with private sector ICICI Bank. With the use of an M-Pesa account, mobile customers in Tamil Nadu and Chennai circles, can deposit and withdraw cash; transfer money to any mobile phone; remit cash to any bank account; and can also make payments to utility bills, Vodafone said in a statement.