2014 CURRENT AFFAIRS-MARCH

• 4 March 2014 : Union Ministry of Minority Affairs launched Nalanda Project for Minorities Higher Educational Institutions on 4 March 2014. Nalanda Project is an innovative Faculty Development Program of Union Ministry of Minority Affairs. The Nalanda Project is being taken up at Aligarh Muslim University, a premier Minority University of world fame. The Aligarh Muslim University is also a Nodal Staff College of University Grant Commission.
• 5 March 2014 : Nicolás Maduro, the President of Venezuela, severs diplomatic and political ties with Panama, accusing Panama of being involved in a conspiracy against the Venezuelan government.
• 8 March 2014 : Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, a Boeing 777 airliner en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur, disappears over the Gulf of Thailand with 239 people on board. The aircraft is presumed to have crashed into the Indian Ocean.
• 16 March 2014 : A referendum on the status of Crimea is held.
• 21 March 2014 : Russia formally annexes Crimea after President Vladimir Putin signed a bill finalizing the annexation process.
• 24 March 2014 : During an emergency meeting, the United Kingdom, the United States, Italy, Germany, France, Japan, and Canada temporarily suspend Russia from the G8.
• 27 March 2014 : The United Nations General Assembly passes Resolution 68/262, recognizing Crimea within Ukraine’s international borders and rejecting the validity of the 2014 Crimean referendum.
• 31 March 2014 : The United Nations International Court of Justice rules that Japan's Antarctic whaling program is not scientific but commercial and forbids grants of further permits.