Current Affairs in Short: 8 March 2021

Flight operations launched at Bareilly Airport with Alliance Air's maiden flight with all-women crew

•  Bareilly airport has begun its operations from today, March 8, 2021. Air India's subsidiary company Alliance Air operated maiden flight from Delhi to Bareilly with an all-women crew to celebrate International Women's Day. 
•  Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri announced the inaugural flight virtually. He thanked all the stakeholders who were involved in starting the Bareilly flight under the 'Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik' (UDAN) scheme."
•  Under the regional connectivity scheme, flights between Delhi and Bareilly will be operated by Alliance Air from today every Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday and later by IndiGo.The regional airport will soon be connected to Lucknow as well. 

Google unveils USD 25 million in grants for women empowerment in India

•  Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced a range of programmes on March 8, 2021 and a grant of USD 25 million to nonprofits and social enterprises working on empowering girls and women in India. 
•  The grant aims to support non-profits and social enterprises doing important work to help women address systemic barriers, economic equality and more.
•  Pichai announced that they are launching Google's new global Impact Challenge for women and girls. It is a new commitment to allow 1 million women in the rural villages to become entrepreneurs, through business tutorials, tools, and mentorship. 
•  Google.org is going to invest an additional USD 1 million to help underserved women in India. Even though India is the world's second-largest internet market, women make up a small percentage of online users in the country.

World Test Championship Final to be played at Ageas Bowl, Southampton

•  The World Test Championship (WTC) final between India and New Zealand will be played at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton. 
•  The WTC final will be played from June 18 to 22 and June 23 has been kept as the reserve day.
•  This was confirmed after Team India stormed into the final of the inaugural edition of the World Test Championship after a thumping 3-1 series win over England at home. 
•  India finished at the top of the WTC Points Table with 72.2 percentage points, followed by New Zealand that was the first team to secure its place in the finals with 70 percentage points. 
•  While Australia ended third with 69.2 percentage points, England ended at fourth place with 61.4 percentage points. 

India's 75th Independence Day to celebrate spirit of freedom struggle: PM Modi

•  India's 75th Independence Day celebrations this year will celebrate the spirit of the freedom struggle, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 8, 2021. 
•  PM Modi said that this year's Independence Day will celebrate the spirit of freedom struggle and reflect the feeling of sacrifice. He said that there should be a tribute to the martyrs of the country and a resolve to build an India of their dreams.
•  He said that the day will have a glimpse of the pride of Sanatan India and the glow of modern India as well. The Prime Minister said this while speaking at the committee meeting to mark 75 years of India's Independence.
•  PM Modi also stated that the festival of 75 years of independence will be celebrated while taking along 130 crore countrymen with us. 

Indian Navy deploys women officers on warships after 23 years

•  In a major move, the Indian Navy deployed four women officers onboard its warships recently after a gap of almost 23 years. 
•  Two women officers have been posted on aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya, while two others have been deployed on tanker ship INS Shakti. 
•  Women officers started getting deployed on warships for the first time in 1998 but the decision was changed later due to logistical and other issues.
•  The Indian Navy also deployed a lady officer as the first women defence attache posted abroad. She is Lieutenant Commander Karabi Gogoi who has been posted at Moscow as naval attache.