Sports - Current Affairs for March, 2016

Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani conferred a honorary degree to Olympian and 5 time boxing world champion MC Mary Kom. Degree of Doctor of Letters (honoris cause) of NEHU was awarded to Mary Kom in recognition of her massive achievement in sports

• The first lady UPSC chairman Rose Milliam Bathew was also honoured for contribution in the concerned field
• The degrees were conferred at the 23rd convocation of NEHU.

Indian cricketer Robin Uthappa has invested an undisclosed amount in a healthcare technology startup HealthEminds through the fund Caffeine Ventures. The company founded by Ankita Puri and Sunita Maheshwari focuses on tacking emotional and mental problems. Company has created online platform to counsel individuals through the platform.

• According to WHO, suicide is the third largest cause of death among 15 to 35 year olds in India
• Uthappa invested close to INR 1.5 crore in iTiffin

Union Cabinet chaired by PM Narendra Modi has approved the holding of the Federation Internationale de Football Association under 17 world cup in India in the year 2017. It will be held in September or October 2017.

HS Prannoy clinched his second Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament title by notching up straight game victory over Germany’s Marc Zweibler in a summit clash of the Swiss Open. Prannoy, seeded 13th outclassed 7th seeded German player in a 45 minute final. 23-year-old Prannoy also won the Indonesia Open Grand Prix Gold in 2014.

FC Barcelona star Lionel Messi has been named the global ambassador showcasing the brand’s alignment with people and demonstrating shared value of connecting greatness. Sports is a wonderful way to enrich lives and Huawei has been associated with numerous sports like cricket. It is the third largest player in the smartphone market.
The Indian government has amended its Drugs and Cosmetic Rules (DCR), 1945, and done away with the repeat tests on animals for drugs which have already been approved by the other countries.

Indian wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt has qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympics in the 65 kg in freestyle category. In the final of the Asian Qualifying tournament, he defeated Ju Song Kim and then Xuan Dinh Nguyen of Vietnam. In the final against Chinese’s Lee, he beat his opponent 7-0. Dutt was born in 1982 and hails from Haryana.

Indian Premier League franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore on March 17, 2016 announced to the Board of Control for Cricket in India that Vijay Mallya has resigned from his post as Director of Royal Challengers Sports Private Limited. An RCB official Russell Adams was named as the new RCSPL Director and also assumed the role of vice president of Commercial Operations and Cricket Academy at RCB. Mallya was the owner of RCB since 2008.

United Kingdom Anti Doping on 14th March 2016 was granted the role of organising a worldwide fight against performance enhancing drugs in a run up to the 2016 Olympic games at Rio. It was also appointed as the secretariat for the International Olympic Committee anti doping task force to standardise testing procedures. Announcement was come even as Russia has been banned by International Association of Athletics Federations following a report into mass doping violations. Russia’s own anti doping agency RUSADA was found to be non compliant at the World Anti Doping Agency code in March 2016.