Daily Current Affairs Updates: 18 March 2015

1) Benjamin Netanyahu's party won Israel Parliamentary elections:

--> Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party swept past its main rival, the centre-left Zionist Union, after nearly all votes were counted in Israel's election on 18 March 2015.

--> Official results gave Likud 29 seats compared with 24 for Isaac Herzog's Zionist Union in the 120-member parliament, a gap wider than the one projected in exit polls and likely to ease Netanyahu's way towards building a governing coalition.

--> A fourth term for Netanyahu would make him Israel's longest serving leader.

2) Gunmen stormed Tunisian museum, killed foreign tourists:

--> Gunmen wearing military uniforms stormed Tunisia's national museum, killing 17 foreign tourists and two Tunisians on 18 March 2015 in one of the worst militant attacks in a country that had largely escaped the region's "Arab Spring" turmoil.

--> The incident happened at Tunisia’s national museum named Barbo Museum.

3) South Africa defeated Sri Lanka by 9 wickets to enter WC semis:

--> South Africa beat Sri Lanka by 9 wickets to enter the semi finals after bundling out the Lankans for just 133 runs in the first quarterfinal of the ICC cricket World Cup in Sydney on 18 March 2015.

--> South African all-rounder JP Duminy became the 9th player to claim a hat-trick in the history of the World Cup.

--> He dismissed Angelo Mathews (19) with the final ball of the 33rd over and returned to send back Nuwan Kulasekara (1) and debutant Tharindu Kaushal (0) with the first two deliveries of the 35th.

4) Electronic Voting Machines will have photographs of candidates from 1 May 2015:

--> Election Commission has decided that ballot papers will also carry pictures of the contestants besides their names and party symbols.

--> An EC direction to all Chief Electoral Officers of states and UTs said that for elections to be held from May 1, 2015 onwards, the ballot papers, postal ballot papers and ballot papers to be displayed on EVMs will also carry the photographs of the candidates.

--> To allow CEOs add photographs to ballot papers, the EC has modified its existing directions issued under the Conduct of Election Rules.

--> The photograph will appear between the name of the candidate and his or her election symbol.

5) BJP's Kavinder Gupta elected J&K Assembly speaker:

--> Kavinder Gupta, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator, was on 18 March 2015 elected as the speaker of the Jammu and Kashmir legislative assembly.

--> Mr. Gupta is an MLA from Gandhi Nagar constituency of Jammu district.

--> Mr. Gupta replaces the Protem Speaker Muhammad Shafi of the regional National Conference.

6) NGT announced Rs 5000 fine for littering on railway property:

--> National Green Tribunal on 18 March 2015 announced a fine of Rs 5,000 on individuals spotted littering or throwing waste on the platforms and tracks.

--> A bench, headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar, passed a slew of directions to Railways and other authorities for maintaining cleanliness on railway tracks.

7) Air Marshal Sohail Aman appointed as Chief of Pakistan Air Force:

--> Air Marshal Sohail Aman, an accomplished fighter pilot, was on 18 March 2015 appointed as the chief of Pakistan Air Force.

--> The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) said in a statement that the new air chief will take over on 19 March 2015 after his predecessor Air Chief Marshal Tahir Rafique Butt retires.

8) Policy Portal launched by IT Minsiter Ravi Shankar Prasad:

--> Information and Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on 18 March 2015 launched Bharatniti.in, a public policy portal that attempts to put into perspective policy matters using an “ancient yet contemporary” approach.

9) WEF named Smriti Irani as Young Global Leader from India:

--> Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani was on 17 March 2015 named Young Global Leader from India by the World Economic Forum (WEF), which said she "rose from sweeping floors in a fast food restaurant to become a top politician in India".

--> Others who have been named Young Global Leader (YGL) in the past include British Prime Minister David Cameron, Alibaba Group chief Jack Ma, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, Google chief Larry Page, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.