Important Current Affairs March 2015 xaam Compilation PDF

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Arun Singh
- Arun Singh has been appointed as India’s ambassador to the U.S. succeedingJaishankar, who was named the Foreign Secretary in January, the External Affairs Ministry announced on 8th of March.
Vinod Mehta
- Veteran journalist and author Vinod Mehta passed away after prolonged illness in the Capital on Sunday.
- Mehta, 72, who had founded the Outlook Magazine and served as its Editor-in-Chief, last held the post of editorial Chairman of the publication.
- An eminent political commentator, Mr. Mehta was served as the editor of several publications, including The Pioneer, The Sunday Observer, The Independent and The Indian Post.
Kumar P Barve
- Kumar P Barve, the first Indian- American to be elected to a US state legislature, has decided to run for the US Congress in the 2016 elections.
Patrick Pichette
- Google Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Patrick Pichette on 8th of March announced his plans to retire from the global tech giant.
Sir Venkatraman Ramakrishnan
- Nobel Laureate Sir Venkatraman Ramakrishnan has been confirmed as President Elect of the Royal Society.
- Sir Venki studies how genetic information is translated by the ribosome to make proteins, and the action of antibiotics on this process. He received the Nobel Prizefor Chemistry in 2009 with Tom Steitz and Ada Yonath and was awarded aknighthood in 2012.
- Royal Society is a self-governing fellowship society of the world’s most distinguished scientists drawn from all areas of science, medicine and engineering.
- There have been 60 Presidents of the Royal Society since it was founded in 1660. Previous Presidents of the Royal Society have included Christopher Wren, Samuel Pepys, Isaac Newton, Joseph Banks, Humphry Davy, and Ernest Rutherford.
Satwant Atwal Trivedi.
- In a first, the country’s largest border guarding force– BSF— will have a woman IPS officer. The officer, who has broken the proverbial glass ceiling in the paramilitary force tasked to secure two of the most important Indian borders with Bangladesh and Pakistan, is 1996-batch Himachal Pradesh cadre Satwant Atwal Trivedi.
JRD Tata
- JRD Tata was a visionary who established civil aviation in India for the benefit of its people, Tata Sons Chairman Emeritus Ratan Tata said after unveiling an AirAsiaIndia aircraft with JRD Tata livery.
Meira Kumar
- Former Lok Sabha Meira Kumar’s book entitled “Indian Parliamentary Diplomacy – Speaker’s Perspective” was released.
- The book features an account of the parliamentary diplomacy and its role in furthering foreign policy and strengthening international relations.
- She was the first unopposed elected woman Speaker of Lok Sabha and served from 2009 to 2014.
Mustafa Kamal
- ICC President Mustafa Kamal has ruled out resigning from his post in protest against what he had called “poor umpiring” in his country”s defeat to India in the cricket World Cup, terming reports of his possible quiting as “rumour”.
Katherine Viner
Katherine Viner has been appointed as editor-in-chief of The Guardian newspaper. She will be 12th editor-in-chief and the first woman to run the newspaper in its 194-year history.
The Guardian newspaper is a British national daily founded in 1821. Till 1959 it was called as The Manchester Guardian.
The newspaper has won Pulitzer Prize 2014.
Shashi Kapoor
- Actor-filmmaker Shashi Kapoor, who has starred in over 100 Hindi films and best known for his powerful portrayals in hits like “Namak Halaal”, “Deewar” and “Kabhie Kabhie”, was today chosen for the prestigious Dada Saheb Phalke award, the highest official recognition for film personalities in India.
- He is the 46th Dada Saheb Phalke Award
- For his contribution to cinema, he has been conferred many awards including National Film Award for Best actor for the film New Delhi Times (1986), Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award (2010),Padma Bhushan (2011).
- Established in 1969 to commemorate the birth centenary year of father of Indian cinema Dadasaheb Phalke.India’s highest award in cinema. The award consists of a Swarn Kamal (Golden Lotus), a cash prize of Rs. 10 lakhs and a shawl.
Lee Kuan Yew
- Singapore’s founding father, Mr Lee Kuan Yew, has died, leaving behind the unlikely nation that he and his colleagues fostered and built over five decades as his lasting legacy.
- Lee is described as the ‘founding father’ and ‘architect’ of modern Singapore. He is also considered as pioneer for transforming the island country from a small port city into a wealthy global hub after its independence from United Kingdom and separation from Malaysia.
- Lee co-founded the People’s Action Party (PAP) and was its first Secretary-General.
- He was elected as First Prime Minister of Singapore in 1959. Since then he had served as PM of country for 31 years and had stepped down in 1990.
Amitav Ghosh
- Amitav Ghosh emerged as the only Indian author among 10 finalists for this year’sMan Booker International Prize for his contribution to the English language writing.
- The international version of the popular literary prize, to be held in London on May 19, is awarded every two years to a living author who has published fiction either originally in English or whose work is generally available in translation in the English language.
Ruth Porat
- Morgan Stanley Chief Financial Officer Ruth Porat is leaving the bank to joinGoogle Inc in the same position.
- Jonathan Pruzan, co-head of Morgan Stanley’s global financial institutions group in investment banking, will become CFO after Ms. Porat leaves on April 30.
- Porat, 57, will replace Patrick Pichette, who said on March 10 that he planned to retire.
Yukiya Amano
- IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano visited India and make a tour of theRajasthan Atomic Power Plant (RAPS) here.
- The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) serves as the world’s central intergovernmental forum for scientific and technical co-operation in the nuclear field.
Jack Ma
- Looking to expand its presence in India, Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba”sChairman Jack Ma met PM Narendra Modi, as he came on a visit to India.
Muhammadu Buhari
- Nigeria”s opposition leader Muhammadu Buhari earned a massive victory in the key northern state of Kano, beating his rival, President Goodluck Jonathan, by nearly 1.7 million votes, official presidential election results have said.
Daniel Vettori
- Daniel Vettori has confirmed his retirement from international cricket, declaring that the World Cup final against Australia was his last game for New Zealand. The New Zealand players landed in Auckland after loss at the MCG and Vettori announced that his 18-year international career was over.
- He had started his international cricket career in 1996–97 at the age of 18. He was the youngest player to represent New Zealand in Test cricket.
- He was considered as New Zealand’s most-capped test cricketer.
  Vettori had captained New Zealand’s International cricket team from 2007 to 2011.
  Vettori led New Zealand in 32 Test matches and 82 ODIs.
- He also appeared in 34 T20 internationals and collected 38 wickets.
- He also had bowled in 277 ODI innings and took 305 wickets.

National Affairs

PDP veteran Mufti Mohammed Sayeed was on 1st of March sworn-in as Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir heading a coalition with BJP which, in a clear departure from its earlier stand, agreed to maintain status quo on Article 370 in the common agenda for governance.
- Jammu and Kashmir Governor N N Vohra appointed BJP’s Nirmal Singh as Deputy Chief Minister in the Mufti Mohammad Sayeed government.
- Sajjad Gani Lone, younger son of People’s Conference leader Abdul Gani Lone who was assassinated in 2002 in Srinagar, has crossed yet another threshold with his swearing in as a minister in PDP-BJP Government since he broke ranks with separatists nearly a decade ago in Jammu and Kashmir.
Jaitley flagged ‘Nai Manzil’ as a scheme that “will be launched this year’’ to enable minority youth who do not have a formal school-leaving certificate to obtain one and find better employment.
- It was billed as a “bridge course to bridge the academic and skill development gaps of the deeni Madrasa pass outs with their mainstream counterparts.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated to the nation two units each of 600 MW of Shree Singaji Thermal Power Plant in Khandwa district of P.
India unveiled its indigenously developed and manufactured Rotavirus vaccine,‘Rotavac’ claimed to be the world”s cheapest at the rate of around Rs 60 per dose and aimed at boosting efforts to deal with Diarrhoea that kills upto 80,000 children under 5 every year.
- Bharat Biotech India Limited that was involved in the development and production of the vaccine was selected in 1997-1998 by the India-US Vaccine Action Programme and the standard government procedures.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 10th of march saluted the “bravery” and “sense of duty” of CISF personnel on force’s 46th Raising Day.
- The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) came into existence in 1969 to provide integrated security cover to public sector undertakings and at present has a strength of around 1.4 lakh personnel.
- The force is responsible for securing critical infrastructure installations like nuclear installations, space establishments, airports as well as the Delhi Metro.
An India-built naval 1,300-tonne patrol vessel ‘Barracuda’ presented to Mauritius that will help in better policing its vast exclusive economic zone was commissioned on 12thmarch by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who said it will make the Indian Ocean “more safer and secure.”
The government launched a dedicated portal to help consumers register their grievances against misleading advertisements.
- On a pilot basis, ‘Grahak Suvidha Kendra’ was also launched in six cities including Delhi and Ahmedabad.
To avoid confusion in the minds of the electorate in constituencies where namesakes are contesting, the Election Commission has decided that ballot papers will also carry pictures of the contestants besides their names and party symbols.
- Election Commission has announced that Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and ballot papers will carry photographs of candidates from 1 May 2015.
India”s indigenously developed Beyond Visual Range (BVR) air-to-air missile, Astra, was successfully launched from a Sukhoi-30 fighter aircraft on 18th of march.
- The test was undertaken at the Integrated Test Range located at Chandipur in Odisha.
- Missile’s all subsystems like propulsion, navigation, guidance and separation from the aircraft were also successfully tested.
- The all-weather, state-of-the-art missile developed by DRDO can engage and destroy enemy aircraft at supersonic speed ( 1.2 Mach to 1.4 Mach) in head-on (up to 80 km) and tail-chase (up to 20 km) modes.
- The 3.8 metre tall Astra is the smallest of the DRDO-developed missiles and can be launched from different altitudes.
- It can reach up to 110 km when fired from an altitude of 15 km, 44 km when launched from an altitude of eight km and 21 km when fired from sea level.
- The missile can be integrated with fighter aircraft including Sukhoi-30 MKI, Mirage-2000, MiG-29, Jaguar and the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA).
The Lok Sabha cleared Warehousing Corporations (Amendment) Bill, 2015. The Bill seeks to amend the Warehousing Corporations Act, 1962.
- A Bill seeking to absolve the government of its responsibilities as a guarantor of the Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) was passed by Lok Sabha, with Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan ruling out any move to privatise the mini-ratna company.
- The bill put to end the Central Government’s responsibility of being a financial guarantor to the CWC in order to follow the criteria to be a Mini-Ratna enterprise status.
- Central and state warehousing corporations are established under the Warehousing Corporations Act, 1962 for the purpose of warehousing agricultural produce and other commodities.
Noted industrialist Ratan Tata will head a new innovative council of Indian Railways, called ‘Kaya Kalp’, formed to turn around the ailing state-run rail network.
- Apart from Tata Group’s chairman emeritus, the Kaya Kalp council will also have two railway union leaders Shiv Gopal Mishra and M Raghuvaiah.
- Tata will head the Kaya Kalp council, while general secretaries of All-India Railwaymen Federation, Shiv Gopal Mishra and National Federation of Indian Railwaymen, M Raghuvaiah will also be the members of the council, according to railway .
- The other committee, under former DIPP(Department Of Industrial Policy & Promotion) secretary Ajay Shankar, has been set up to revamp ministry’s PPP (public private partnership) cell to get private investment.
The Minister of State for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences Shri Y.S. Chowdaryannounced launching of–“BIRAC ACE Fund”. The Equity Fund is aimed at addressing the pressing needs of accelerating the growth of entrepreneurs, in the field ofBiotechnology.
- BIRAC was established under the aegis of the Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science & Technology, Government of India as a Public Sector Undertaking three years ago and is mandated to foster and promote innovation research in biotech industries specially start-ups and SMEs.
- Today, BIRAC has more than 100 Young Entrepreneurs, nearly 250 companies and start-ups and 15 incubators supported as an important part of the Innovation ecosystem of the country.
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, gave its approval for the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) with an outlay of Rs.1500 crore.
- This will be the flagship scheme for skill training of youth to be implemented by the new Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship through the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC). The scheme will cover 24 lakh persons.
With the passing of the Coal Mines( Special Provisions) Bill 2015 by the Rajya Sabha , the Bill gets the approval of the Parliament. Earlier the Lok Sabha had passed this Bill on 04th March, 2015.
The objecives and salient features of the Coal Mines( Special Provisions) Bill,2015 are as follows :
- To provide for allocation of coal mines and vesting of the right, title and interest in and over the land and mine infrastructure to successful bidders and allottees with a view to ensure continuity in coal mining operations and production of coal.
- To take immediate action to auction or allot coal mines to minimise impact on core sectors such as steel, cement and power, which are vital for the development of the nation.
- To amend the Coal Mines (Nationalization) Act, 1973 and the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 thereby removing the restriction of end use from the eligibility to undertake coal mining except in the case of certain specified coal blocks.
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, gave its approval for making reservation of 33 percent for women, horizontally and in each category (SC/ST/OBC and others) in direct recruitment in non-gazetted posts from Constables to sub-inspector in the police forces of all Union Territories, including Delhi Police
Parliament has passed the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) (Amendment) Bill, 2015.
- The Amendment removes discretion in the grant of mineral concessions. All mineral concessions are granted by the respective State Governments. They will continue to do so but all grants of mineral concessions would be through auctions, thereby bringing in greater transparency and removing discretion.
- The Amendment Bill makes it mandatory to establish a District Mineral Foundation (DMF) in all districts where mining takes place. This is designed to address a long time grievance of civil society that people affected by mining are not cared for.
- The Amendment proposes to setup a National Mineral Exploration Trust created out of contribution from the mining lease holders.
- All offences under the Act will now be subject to a maximum punishment of 5 years imprisonment or fine of Rs. 5.00 lakhs per hectare.
The Ministry of Railways decided to restrict the number of tickets that an individual can book via the e-ticketing platform, in a single login session.
- However, this restriction will be applicable only while booking of e-ticket between 0800 and 1200 hours. It will also not be applicable while booking onward journey/return journey e-tickets, the release said.
- The Ministry of Railways has also decided to upwardly revise the rate of platform ticket to Rs 10/- per ticket from Rs 5/- per ticket. The revised rate of platform ticket will be charged on platform ticket to be issued from 01.04.2015.
The country”s low-cost Mars mission, that completed six months of rendezvous with the red planet, has been extended by another six months due to surplus fuel, a senior ISROofficial said.
Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi launched his ambitious multi-purpose and multi-modal platform PRAGATI (Pro-Active Governance And Timely Implementation).
- PRAGATI is a unique integrating and interactive platform.
- The platform is aimed at addressing common man’s grievances, and simultaneously monitoring and reviewing important programmes and projects of the Government of India as well as projects flagged by State Governments.
- The PRAGATI platform uniquely bundles three latest technologies: Digital data management, video-conferencing and geo-spatial technology.
- It also offers a unique combination in the direction of cooperative federalism since it brings on one stage the Secretaries of Government of India and the Chief Secretaries of the States.
- With this, the Prime Minister is able to discuss the issues with the concerned Central and State officials with full information and latest visuals of the ground level situation. Such an effort has never been made in India.
- It is also an innovative project in e-governance and good governance.
Key features of the PRAGATI application are as follows:
- It is a three-tier system (PMO, Union Government Secretaries, and Chief Secretaries of the States);
- Prime Minister will hold a monthly programme where he will interact with the Government of India Secretaries, and Chief Secretaries through Video-conferencing enabled by data and geo-informatics visuals.
- Now onwards, it will be held once in every month on Fourth Wednesday at 3.30 PM-to be known as PRAGATI Day.
- The system has been designed in-house by the PMO team with the help of National Informatics Center (NIC)
Three premier institutions of IIT Kharagpur, IIM Kolkata and Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) Kolkata, have come together for the first time to offer a joint course in business analytics.
- Starting from this session, the Post Graduate Diploma in Business Analytics(PGDBA) will allow students the rare opportunity to become students of all the three institutions at the same time and study one semester at each of them.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal launched the e-ration service through which people can apply and obtain ration cards and check availability of food grains and their costs, making Delhi the first in the country to launch the facility.
- Anyone can avail the facility of e-ration card on the Department of Food Supplies and Consumer Affairs website (www.Nfs.Delhi.Gov.In).
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated scientists for the successful launch of IRNSS-1D satellite.
- With the successful launch of IRNSS-1D, the fourth in the series of seven navigational satellites today, India is set to operationalise its own navigational system on part with the GPS of the United States.
- IRNSS-1D will provide navigation, tracking and mapping service and has a mission life of 10 years.
- It is the fourth in the constellation of seven satellites, planned by ISRO to constitute IRNSS, which would be on par with US-based GPS once the full complement of spacecrafts are launched.
- IRNSS is a navigation system that will cover India, and also extend 1,500 kms from its boundaries.
The government sanctioned a Rs 5,113 crore project to develop a next-generationAirborne Warning and Control System (AWACS), which will act as a 360-degree ”Eye in the Sky”, and also approved purchase of two Airbus A330 aircraft for the same.

International Affairs

China has launched a massive USD 79.8 billion infrastructure project in the northwest province of Gansu which will facilitate trade and people exchanges between China and central Asia as part of its ambitious Silk Road plan.
Unveiling plans to make it a “maritime power”, China hiked defence budget by 10.1 per cent this year to about USD 145 billion aimed at developing high-tech weapons amid unease among its neighbours over its growing military might and territorial ambitions.
China scaled back its growth target to around seven per cent after posting a 24-year low GDP rate of 7.4 per cent last year, signalling that the downward spiral of the world”s second largest economy would continue with “formidable” difficulties ahead.
China has invited Japan to join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), a brainchild of the Communist nation for which 27 countries including India have signed up to be its founding members.
- India has joined the initiative to set up the Bank floated last year by China to step financing of infrastructure projects in the region.
- The bank to be headquartered in Beijing is expected to be operational this year.
- The authorised capital of AIIB is $ 100 billion and the initial subscribed capital is expected to be around $ 50 billion.
- The bank together with BRICS Development Bank and $ 40 billion Silk Road development fund established by China was expected to fund large number of infrastructure projects in the region.
Pakistan successfully test launched Shaheen-III’ a surface-to-surface ballistic missile capable of carrying nuclear and conventional warheads to a distance of 2,750 kilometres, bringing most Indian cities under its range.
In a stunning victory against all odds, PM Benjamin Netanyahu secured a 3rd straight term in Israel’s election following a last-minute shift on Palestinian statehood.
Republican US Senator Ted Cruz confirmed he will run for president in 2016, the first major candidate to officially declare a bid in the next race for the White House
NASA”s Opportunity Mars rover has become the first human-made vehicle to complete a marathon on another planet a feat accomplished in a record time of no less than 11 years.
Pakistan’‘s indigenously-developed armed drone ”Burraq’‘ has been tested in live combat against militants in the strategic Tirah Valley region of Khyber tribal district near Afghan border and killed senior commanders of the insurgents, according to a media report.
The IMF has approved giving USD 6.64 billion to Pakistan over three years to support the country’s economic reforms and growth, saying it has “abundant potential” despite the challenges it faces, according to a media report today.
- The approval enables an initial disbursement of about USD 544.5 million while the remaining amount will be evenly disbursed over the duration of the programme, subject to the completion of quarterly reviews.
The ninth edition of Earth Hour kicks-off, people across the globe show their growing concern over Climate change by switching off the lights for an hour.
- Earth Hour is an annual campaign started by the WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature/World Wildlife Fund), to raise awareness for the need of sustainable energy.
- Earth Hour™ Global is a registered Charity under the Charities Act in Singapore and company limited by guarantee. Even though this is an opensource campaign, the Earth Hour brand is legally trademarked worldwide and licensed for use by WWF delivering the Earth Hour movement.
Saudi-led coalition warplanes pounded Yemen”s Shiite rebels for a sixth day today, destroying missiles and weapons depots and for the first time using warships to bomb the rebel-held airport and eastern outskirts of the port city of Aden.

Economy

The Union budget has proposed an additional tax deduction of Rs.50,000 for investments in National Pension Scheme (NPS) under Section 80 CCD. This will be over and above the deduction of Rs.1.5 lakh available under Section 80C of the Income-Tax Act.
- The government has, however, not made investments in NPS tax-free at the time of withdrawal.
The government on 1st of March said Atal Pension Yojna (APY), announced in the Budget, will be launched on June 1 and will focus on all citizens in the unorganised sector entitling them to a pension of up to Rs 5,000 per month after 60 years of age.
Country”s leading taxi service aggregator Ola Cabs has acquired its rival TaxiForSure in a cash and equity deal worth USD 200 million.
India is home to the fourth largest number of billionaires across the world, while the UStops the charts followed by China and Germany.
- The number of Indian billionaires has increased to 90 with a total wealth of $ 294 billion
- In comparison, the US has as many as 536 billionaires, followed by 213 from China and 103 from Germany.
To discourage premature withdrawal of provident fund by subscribers, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has proposed a tax on such early closures.
- A new provision in his budget papers that allows for tax deduction at source (TDS) on provident fund withdrawal before five years of continuous service.Such withdrawal will attract tax at the rate of 10 per cent.
- The new proposal of TDS deduction, however, will not be applicable if the provident fund withdrawal is less than Rs. 30,000.
- The move is clearly aimed at promoting long-term saving. These changes will come into effect from June 1, 2015.
Five public sector undertakings (PSUs) will be closed down by the government, which has included some of the best known state-run enterprises like Air India, MTNL andHindustan Shipyard, in the list of 65 sick PSUs, Lok Sabha was informed on Tuesday.
- The minister said there were 65 units in the list of sick PSUs as of March 31 last year.
- The reasons for their sickness vary from enterprise to enterprise and included obsolete plants and machinery, heavy interest burden, resource crunch, surplus manpower and shortage of working capital.
In the biggest ever funding for Indian Railways, state-run insurance behemoth Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) on 11th of march committed Rs 1.5 lakh crore for development of various railway projects over the next five years.
- LIC is a leading financial institution with assets under management of Rs 15 lakh crore. One of the major activities of LIC is to provide long term finance to various entities.
The government on 18th of march launched a Rs 200 crore scheme to set up a network of technology and incubation centres to accelerate entrepreneurship and promote start-ups for innovation and entrepreneurship in Agro-industry.
- The scheme envisages creation of a framework for start-up promotion throughSmall Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) by using innovative means of finance like equity, quasi-equity, angel fund, venture capital fund, impact funds and challenge funds.
The Narendra Modi government has directed regional rural banks to become slim by cutting jobs and outsource non-core functions such as IT maintenance, cash remittance and house-keeping.
- The move is aimed at improving productivity and profitability of RRBs. The move is based on the recommendations of SK Mitra committee on HR policy for RRBs
- The nation’s banking system has 56 RRBs with 19400 branches and a collective business volume of Rs 4.50 lakh crore.
Telecom major Bharti Airtel announced partnership with Amazon Web Services to offer its cloud computing services to customers in India.
- Cloud computing services offer software and other facility on pay as per use basis without customers requiring to buy entire product.
- Amazon Web Services offers facility like website hosting, data storage and other softwares required to run or manage businesses.
- An Airtel official explained that under this partnership customer will get commitment from the company on dedicated connection between their premise and AWS data centres –the facility which was not available earlier.
India has overtaken the US to become the third-largest steel producer in the world with a production of 14.56 million tonnes (MT) in first two months of the year. It was revealed in the Data compiled by World Steel Association (WSA).
- India has been the fourth-largest steel producer for the past five years, behind China, Japan and the US.
- China tops in steel production and accounts for nearly half of the global steel production. During this period China has produced 65 MT steel.
Market regulator Sebi has launched a major SMS campaign to create awareness among the public about fraudulent schemes claiming ‘big profits in less time’.
- Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), in the current fiscal, has busted more than 150 cases of frauds against gullible investors involving close to Rs 13,000 crore.
- Beside, Sebi has already launched investor education and awareness programmes through newspapers.
Tweets of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as also that of seven state chief ministers and some government departments, can now reach mobile users free of cost through SMSes following the launch of a new ”Twitter Samvad” service today.
- As of now, 16 government offices, including the ministry of railways, the Bengaluru police and the chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal are participating in Twitter Samvad, which is powered by Bengaluru-based ZipDial, which was recently acquired by Twitter.
- The event comes on the day the Supreme Court upheld the social media users’ freedom of expression as guaranteed by the constitution, by striking down section 66 A of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
- Section 66 A gives power to government authorities to issue directions to block public access of any information through any computer resource.
- Section 66 A also allows authorities to arrest a person for posting allegedly offensive content on websites and imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and with fine.
India has contributed USD 260,000 for a permanent memorial The ‘Ark of Return’designed by American architect of Haitian descent Rodney Leon unveiled at the UN headquarters here to honour the victims of slavery and transatlantic slave trade.
- The memorial was unveiled on the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade commemorated on March 25, with the theme this year being ‘Women and Slavery’.
The Agriculture Ministry approved setting up of Price Stabilisation Fund (PSF) with a corpus of Rs 500 crore to support market interventions for price control of perishable agri-horticultural commodities.
- The fund will be used to advance interest free loan to state governments and central agencies to support their working capital and other expenses on procurement and distribution interventions for such commodities.
- For this purpose, the states will set up a revolving fund to which Centre and states will contribute equally (50:50).
- Initially the fund is proposed to be used for onion and potato only.
Tech giant Yahoo will buy back additional shares worth USD 2 billion as it looks to return more value to shareholders.
- In 2013, the US-based company had announced a share repurchase programme worth USD 5 billion.
- Market insiders said the exercise is not only to provide more gains to shareholders, but also to shore up the value of its stocks and assure investors about the future growth and stability of the firm.
E-commerce major Snapdeal has picked up majority stake in digital financial products platform, RupeePower, for an undisclosed amount through a stock and cash deal.
- ŸSnapdeal’s entry into online Financial Services is a first for an e-commerce company in India. Following the deal, the SoftBank-backed Snapdeal will offer consumer loans through the RupeePower network. The online financial services market in India is estimated at Rs 4,500 crore.
- ŸFounded in 2011, RupeePower has partnered 12 banks, including the State Bank of India, and non-banking financial companies. This network will be expanded after the acquisition. RupeePower does not lend on its own. The platform will have financial services such as personal loans, educational loans, credit cards, automobile loans, home loans, and extended warranties.

Banking & Finance

A Monetary Policy Framework Agreement, signed by the Centre and the Reserve Bank of India on February 20 but made public on march 2nd, veers round to Raghuram Rajan’s view that India too should move towards inflation targeting, which is common in developed economies.
- Now, the Framework Agreement says, “the Reserve Bank will aim to bring inflation below 6 per cent by January 2016. The target for financial year 2016-17 and all subsequent years will be 4 per cent with a band of +/- 2 per cent.” ●The agreement also said the Governor and in his absence the Deputy Governor (in charge of monetary policy) will determine the policy rate, as well as any other monetary measures, to achieve the target.
RBI on 4th of march slashed key policy (repo) rate by 0.25 per cent to 7.5 per cent, the second such surprise rate cut outside regular policy review in less than two months.
- The RBI’s decision to cut its policy or repo rate to 7.5 per cent – after another cut from 8 per cent to 7.75 per cent on January 15.
- Cash reserve ratio (percentage of deposits kept in government securities) has been left unchanged at 4 per cent.
- The cut in the policy rate by RBI will help in lowering interest rate for individual and corporate borrowers and give a boost to the economy.
- Repo rate is the rate at which the central bank of a country (Reserve Bank of India in case of India) lends money to commercial banks in the event of any shortfall of funds. Repo rate is used by monetary authorities to control inflation.
- Inflation measured by the wholesale price index (WPI) was at 0.11 per cent in December.
The country’s umbrella body for all retail payments system, National Payments Corporation (NPCI), has reached a new milestone with successful linking of as many as 15 crore bank accounts with the Aadhaar numbers, moving closer to map the overall 17 crore DBT accounts before June 30.
- The Reserve Bank-promoted NPCI agency’s chief A P Hota today said it expects that all beneficiaries of all government subsidies/benefit transfers will be brought under the linkage programme.
After a gap of over 20 years, Re 1 note has been released in the country and it bears the signature of Finance Secretary of India Rajiv Mehrishi.
- Incidentally, the note was released at Shrinathji temple at Nathdwara in north Indian state of Rajasthan, on March 6 by Mehrishi.
- Other currency notes in India bear the signature of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor.
- The re-launched one rupee notes will be made up of 100 per cent cotton rag content. It will weigh 90 grams per square metre and have thickness of 110 microns.
- As watermarks, it will bear Ashoka Pillar symbol in the window without words ‘Satyamev Jayate’, carry a hidden numeral in the centre while hidden word Bharat (in Hindi) will be on the right hand side of the note.
- The colour of one Rupee Currency Note is predominantly pink green on obverse and reverse in combination with others.
The government on 11th of march approved appointment of nine Executive Directors (EDs) in various public sector banks, including BoB, BoI and Canara Bank.
- R P Marathe, a General Manager with Bank of Baroda, has been appointed as Executive Director in Bank of India.
- The government also cleared appointment of Kishore Piraji Kharat as Executive Director of Union Bank of India.
- Harideesh Kumar B, at present a General Manager with Vijaya Bank, will take over as Executive Director at Canara Bank.
- Union Bank of India’s R C Lodha has been appointed as Executive Director atCentral Bank of India, while N K Sahoo will assume charge as ED in Allahabad Bank.
- The government also appointed Charan Singh Executive Director in UCO Bank.
- Pawan Kumar Bajaj will be the new ED at Chennai-based Indian Overseas Bank.
- Ravi Shankar Pandey has been appointed as Executive Director of Syndicate Bank.
RBI has asked banks to do reporting of the `Sukanya Samriddhi’ scheme transactions directly through the Government account at its central account section (CAS) in Nagpur on a daily basis.
- Launched in January, `Sukanya Samriddhi’ is a small savings scheme meant for the girl child. Under the plan, investments, accrual and proceeds will be tax free in the hands of an investor under Section 80C of Income Tax Act.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi has Launched Sukanya Samridhi Yojna’ (girl child prosperity scheme) with the vision to provide for Girl Child Education and Her Marriage Expense.
- Sukanya Samriddhi Account Scheme is a small deposit scheme for girl child, as part of ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ campaign, which would fetch yearly interest rate of 9.1 per cent and provide income tax deduction Under section 80C of the Income Tax Act,1961.
- The account under this scheme a saving account can be opened by the parent or legal guardian of a girl child of less than 10 years of age (born on or after: 02-December-2003; For FY 2014-15) with a minimum deposit of 1,000/- in any post office or authorised branches of commercial bank.
Xpress Money, global money transfer service provider launched a new service to help consumers send money directly to any bank account in the country.
- The company has tied up with Axis Bank to offer this service.
- The company offers services in the UK, Greece, Belgium, Ireland, Romania, Cyprus, Italy, Spain, Denmark, Sweden, France, Malta, Turkey, Germany, Netherlands, Gibraltar and Norway.
- Once the transaction has been processed, the amount would be credited to beneficiaries’ accounts within 24 to 48 hours.
The National Stock Exchange launched ‘Quality 30’ index to capture the performance of stocks selected on quality parameters.
- The index aims to reflect performance of stocks of top 30 quality companies chosen from a pool of 100 large and liquid companies listed on the NSE.
- Quality companies are identified on the basis of quality score, which is based on high return on equity, low debt-to-equity ratio and year-on-year growth in profit after tax over the last three years.
RBI signed a USD 400 million currency swap agreement with the Central Bank of Sri Lanka for three years that will allow the island nation to draw the amount in dollars or euros in multiple tranches.
- The swap arrangement is intended to provide a backstop line of funding for theSAARC member countries to meet any balance of payments and liquidity crises till long-term arrangements are made.
- In May 2012, Reserve Bank of India had announced in the SAARCFINANCE Governor’s meeting, held in Nepal, that it would offer swap facilities aggregatingUSD 2 billion, both in foreign currency and rupee to SAARC member countries.
- The facility is available to all South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) member countries. Besides India, other members of SAARC are: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lan ..
Railway passengers can now book their tickets, do shopping and pay service bills usingRuPay pre-paid cards, as the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), launched the debit card service here.
- The service was launched by the IRCTC in collaboration with Union Bank of Indiaand the National Payment Corporation of India.
- RuPay is India’s own card payment gateway network like Visa and Master Card, and provides an alternative system for banks to provide a debit card service.
- Cards can be made available from UBI offices or through IRCTC online. Initially the service will be available for booking tickets and later on shopping and bill payments will be added.
- One can have the card with a loading limit of Rs.10,000 with partial KYC detail or Rs.50,000 loading limit with full KYC.
- The transaction charge would be Rs.10 per ticket for booking a ticket through the card on the portal.
National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) said it has enabled all 56 Regional rural banks under its central payment systems network with RuPay cards and access to National Automated Clearing House service.
- With this, 12 crore customers at 19,000 bank branches of all 56 regional rural banks (RRBs) would be part of the national network of electronic payment systems, according to a release issued here.
- NPCI, which was set up in 2009 as infrastructure for various retail payment systems in the country, was envisaged by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as the payment utility for all banks in the country.
Just two days before the end of this fiscal year, the Reserve Bank of India has issued guidelines that would help banks show better profit numbers for fiscal year 2014-15. The central bank has allowed lenders to draw half the countercyclical buffer to make provision against bad loans. This will help them report reduced losses against such loans.
- Countercyclical provisioning buffer is created in good times. It can be utilised during economic downturns when banks are often required to make unusually high badloan provisions. Until now, banks were allowed to draw only up to a third of this pool and floating provisions against bad loans.

Sports

Jagmohan Dalmiya was on 2nd of march unanimously elected BCCI prez but N Srinivasan camp suffered a huge setback with rival faction”s Anurag Thakur beating Sanjay Patel for the post of Secretary at Board’s AGM.
M S Dhoni achieved the milestone of recording 100 ODI wins as captain after a resounding victory against B’desh in the cricket World Cup quarter-finals here today.
- Rohit Sharma blasted a strokeful century as defending champions India stormed into the semi-finals of the ICC Cricket World Cup by thrashing a hapless Bangladesh by 109 runs in a lop-sided contest.
Indian recurve mixed team of Sanjay Boro and Madhu Vedwan beat Indonesia 20-19 in a shoot off to win the gold at Asia Cup Stage 2 archery competition.
Martin Guptill bludgeoned his way to the highest individual World Cup knock as New Zealander rode on the opener’s swashbuckling 237 to record an imposing 393 for six against West Indies in the fourth quarterfinal match of the mega event.
Sania Mirza and Swiss legend Martina Hingis began their partnership with a title win as they overcame Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina 6-3 6-4 in the summit clash of the BNP Paribas Open, here.
- It was second title of the season for Sania and 24th overall.
Indian Wells Masters
- The Indian Wells Masters, also known by its current sponsored name the BNP Paribas Open, is an annual tennis tournament held in Indian Wells, California, United States.
Men’s Singles Title Winner
- Novak Djokovic defeated Roger Federer 6-3, 6-7 (5/7), 6-2 to successfully defend his Indian Wells crown and claim his 50th career ATP title on Sunday.
- The 27-year-old world number one from Serbia also captured his fourth Indian Wells crown and is now tied with world number two Federer for the most men’s titles in the California desert.
Women’s Singles Title Winner
- Romania’s Simona Halep has won the Indian Wells Open Tennis Women’s Singles Title. In the final match she defeated Serbia’s Jelena Jankovic by 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 score .
Men’s Double Title Winner
- Vasek Pospisil and Jack Sock captured their third team title together on Saturday as they triumphed at the BNP Paribas Open with a tense 6-4, 6-7(3), 10-7 victory over Australian Open champions Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini.
Women’s Double Title Winner
- Sania Mirza (India) and Martina Hingis (Switzerland) pair have won Indian Wells Open Tennis Women’s Doubles Title. In the final match they defeated Russian pair Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina by 6-3, 6-4 score.
- Sania Mirza jumped to her career-best rank of three in the doubles, following her stupendous title win at the BNP Paribas Open with Swiss great Martina Hingis.
Saina Nehwal today scripted history by becoming the first Indian woman shuttler to attain the number one spot in world rankings, reaffirming her status as the country’s most consistent performer in the international circuit.
- The 25-year-old zoomed to the top after her closest challenger for the position, Spain’s Carolina Marin, lost in the India Open Super Series semifinal here.
- Saina takes over the reins from China’s Li Xuerui, thereby ending the Chinese stranglehold over the world rankings for many years.
- Saina thus becomes only the second Indian overall to be world number one afterPrakash Padukone had the distinction of being the numero uno men’s badminton player.
- The London Olympic Bronze-Medallist has won a staggering 14 international titles in her glorious career and most recently she became the first Indian woman to make the finals of the prestigious All England Championships in Manchester.
- She was the first to be a Junior world champion, besides being the first to clinch a Super Series title.
- The path-breaker was awarded the country’s highest sporting honour — the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award — in 2010.
Australian captain Michael Clarke on 29th of march dedicated his team’s World Cuptriumph to Philip Hughes, who tragically lost his life in a freak on-field accident, saying that the late “teammate and little brother” was considered part of the squad through the tournament.
- Australia has won the World Cup in a canter, beating New Zealand by seven wickets at the Melbourne Cricket Ground for the country’s fifth world title.
- The match was wrapped up in the 34th over after a brilliant innings by retiring skipper Michael Clarke (74), ably supported by Steve Smith (56 not out), saw Australia easily chase down New Zealand’s modest total of 183.
- James Faulkner, who was adjudged Man-of-the-match for his brilliant bowling effort of 3/36, said that he might not have been here today due to injury.
- Player-of-the-Tournament Mitchell Starc, who picked up 22 wickets with his left-arm fast bowling, said that his fine show was a result of hard works over the past few months.
- Previously, Australia had won the Cricket World Cup in 1987, 1999, 2003 and 2007. It was first time of New Zealand to enter final of Cricket World Cup.
Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth won their respective India Open Super Seriestitles at the Siri Fort Sports Complex in New Delhi on 29th of march.
- Women’s singles top seed Saina Nehwal trumped former World ChampionRatchanok Intanon in the final to win 21-16, 21-14 in 49 minutes.
- Later, 22-year-old Srikanth had a contrasting victory but made sure that he made it a double for Indian badminton by defeating Danish World No.6 Viktor Axelsen 18-21, 21-13, 21-12 in 55 minutes.
- This is the Hyderabadi’s second title of the year after winning the India Grand PrixGold in January in Lucknow.
- Both Saina and Srikanth took home $20,625 each for the title wins.

Report

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been named among the 30 most influential people on the internet by Time magazine in a list which also features US President Barack Obama.
- The list, which analysed social-media followings, site traffic and overall ability to drive news, also includes British author of the Harry Potter series J K Rowling and singers Taylor Swift and Beyonce.
- Time said the Indian Prime Minister has roughly 38 million followers on social networking sites Twitter and Facebook, putting him ahead of any other leaders in the world except Obama .
- The list also includes reality star Kim Kardashian, singer Justin Beiber, actress Gwyneth Paltrow, Chinese actress Yao Chen, singer Shakira, photographer behind the hugely popular blog Humans of New York Brandon Stanton and TV personality Jimmy Fallon.
The 2015 Forbes Billionaires List: Facts And Figures
- Technology guru Bill Gates has once again topped as the world’s richest person on Forbes’ 29th annual ranking of the world’s billionaires. He has topped the list for 16 of the last 21 years, with a current net worth of $79.2 billion, up from $76 billion in 2014.
- Gates has managed to beat out telecom mogul Carlos Slim Helu who came in at number 2.
- Warren Buffett moved up one slot to number 3, with a net worth of $72.7 billion, ahead of Spanish clothing retailer Amancio Ortega came in at number 4.
- Oracle’s Larry Ellison remained in the fifth spot as his net worth increased to $54.3 billion.
- Compared to last year’s list, Mark Zuckerberg, with a net worth of $33.4 billion, made it into the top 20 for the first time at number 16.
- The most recognizable athlete of all time, Michael Jordan at number 1741, is new to the billionaires list,
- Mukesh Ambani holds the spot as the richest Indian with a fortune of $21 billion.
- The new number 2 and this year’s biggest gainer among Indians, is pharma tycoonDilip Shanghvi with $20 billion.
- This year there are 90 Indians on the Forbes Rich List 2015, Ambani (39th globally) is closely followed by pharmaceuticals tycoon Dilip Shanghvi (44th rank, with a networth of $ 20 billion) and Azim Premji (48th with $ 19.1 billion).
- Five Indian women have made it to the Forbes list of the world’s billionaires.
- Of the total 1,826 billionaires, 197 are women.
- Among Indian women, Savitri Jindal and family was ranked 283 on the list.
- Indu Jain who chairs media conglomerate Bennett, Coleman & Co, was placed at the 603 rank globally.
- Anu Aga regained her billionaire status on a jump in shares of engineering firm Thermax, in which she owns 62 per cent. Ms. Aga was ranked 1,312 on the list with a fortune of $1.5 billion.
- Vinod Gupta ranked 1,533 with a fortune of $1.2 billion. Wife of Qimat Rai Gupta,
- Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, the founder of Biocon — India’s largest publicly traded biopharma firm which she built from a garage startup into a maker of drugs for diseases such as cancer and diabetes — was placed at the 1,741 rank with a fortune of $1 billion.
- Globally, Christy Walton, who inherited a stake in retailer Wal-Mart, retained the title of world’s richest woman at $41.7 billion.
India has been ranked 37 out of 102 countries in the Open Government Index,that measures the government openness based on the general public’s experiences and perceptions.
- The WJP Open government index uses four dimensions to measure government openness. Publicised laws and government data, right to information, civic participation and complaint mechanisms.
- The WJP Open Government Index 2015 is produced by the World Justice Project, an independent, multidisciplinary organisation working to advance the rule of law around the world.

Fortune’s World’s Greatest Leaders

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi have been named among the 50 greatest leaders in the world by Fortune magazine in its annual list of “extraordinary” men and women transforming business, government and philanthropy.
- Modi is ranked 5th on the 2015 roster of ‘World’s Greatest Leaders’ with Satyarthicoming in at the 28th spot.
- The list has been topped by Apple CEO Tim Cook. A notable exclusion from the list is US President Barack Obama, who has not been named in the list for a second year in a row.
- The list includes European Central Bank President Mario Draghi at the second spot, followed by Chinese President Xi Jingping (3), Pope Francis (4), General Motors CEO Mary Barra (9), Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz (17), Bill and Melinda Gates (18), Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg (25), J P Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon (38) and Uber CEO Travis Kalanick (44).
- The list also includes Indian-origin CEO of nonprofit Last Mile Health Raj Panjabion the 34th spot. Panjabi, a native of Liberia, is working with Liberia’s government to launch a national community health worker programme.

Awards

Kusumagraj National Literature Award 2015
- Veteran writer from Nagaland, Temsula Aao, chairperson of the Nagaland Women”s Commission, was honoured with the prestigious Kusumagraj National Literature Award 2015 here today.
- The award carries a cash purse of Rs 1 lakh, a memento and a citation
62nd National Film Awards, 2014:
- The 62nd National Film Awards 2014 were announced today by the Chairpersons of the three juries on Feature Films, Non Feature Films and Best Writing on Cinema.
- The awards in the various categories are as follows:
  - Best Feature Film –Court (Marathi, Hindi,Gujarati & English)
  - Indira Gandhi Award For Best Debut Film Of A Director -Aditya Vikram Sengupta for Asha Jaoar Majhe (Bengali).
  - Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment -Mary Kom(Hindi)
  - Best Film On Social Issues -Chotoder Chobi (Bengali) directed by Kaushik Ganguly
  - Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration – Chotoder Chobi (Bengali) directed by Kaushik Ganguly.
  - Best Writing on Cinema- Silent Cinema: (1895-1930) authored by Pasupuleti Purnachandra Rao.
  - Best Actor- Vijay for Nanu Avanalla Avalu (Kannada)
  - Best Actress- Kangana Ranaut for Queen (Hindi).
  - Best Direction- Srijit Mukherji, Director of Chotushkone (Bengali).
  - Best Supporting Actor- Bobby Simhaa for film Jigarthanda (Tamil).
  - Best Supporting Actress- Baljinder Kaur for film Pagdi The Honour (Haryanavi).
  - Best Children’s Film- Kaakkaa Muttai (Tamil) and Elizabeth Ekadashi (Marathi).
  - Best Child Artist- Vignesh & Ramesh for Kaakkaa Muttai (Tamil).
  - Special Jury Award- Bhaurao Karhade, Director of Khwada (Marathi).
  - Best Cinematography- Sudeep Chatterjee for film Chotushkone (Bengali).
Stockholm Water Prize-2015
- Rajendra Singh, an eminent environment activist,who is widely popular as the‘Water Man’, has been conferred the prestigious Stockholm Water Prize this year for his innovative water restoration efforts and extraordinary courage to empower communities in Indian villages.
  - He has already won Ramon Magsaysay award in 2001 for his work on community-based water harvesting and water management.
  - He also had played important role in rejuvenating Arvari River to become perennial river and was awarded ‘International River Prize’.
  - He was also member of National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) from 2009-12
  - The Stockholm Water Prize is a global award founded in 1991 and presented annually by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) to an individual, organisation or institution for outstanding water-related achievements
  - The Stockholm Water Prize Laureate receives USD 150,000 and a specially designed sculpture.
- Amnesty International has given its top 2015 human rights award to both Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei, a fierce critic of Beijing, who has been banned from leaving China after an 81-day detention in 2011, and U.S. folksinger Joan Baez.
  - The Ambassador of Conscience Award recognises “those who have shown exceptional leadership in the fight for human rights, through their life and work”, Amnesty said in a statement.
  - Previous winners include Pakistani teenager Malala Yousafzai, Nelson Mandela and Myanmar’s opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Folio Prize 2015
- Novelist Akhil Sharma’s 2014 novel Family Life has won the Folio Prize 2015. The 43-year old novelist beat writers like Irish novelist Colm Toibin and Scottish writerAli Smith Coilm to win the £40,000 prize.
- Family Life, Mr. Sharma’s second novel, took him 13 years to write and was selected by The New York Times as one of their Top Ten Books of the Year for 2014.
- The Folio Prize recognises the best English-language fiction from around the world, published in the U.K. during a given year, regardless of form, genre or the author’s country of origin.
Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters
- Indian contemporary artist Bharti Kher was awarded with France’s highest cultural award Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters (Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres).
- She was awarded for her contribution in contemporary art landscape. Kher’s artworks span several mediums like painting, sculpture and installation.
- She is renowned for her remarkable experimentation with Bindis which is recognised as her signature style.
- The French government distinction Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres (Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters) is conferred on persons who have distinguished themselves by their creativity in the field of art, culture and literature or for their contribution to the influence of arts in France and throughout the world.
National Kavi Pradeep Samman
- Noted Hindi poet Gopaldas Neeraj has received the first National Kavi Pradeep Samman at a function held here at Bhopal.
- The award has been instituted by the Madhya Pradesh government in the memory of Kavi Pradeep, the renowned poet and songwriter who is best known for his patriotic song ‘Aye Mere Watan Ke Logo’ written as a tribute to the soldiers who had died defending the country during the Sino-Indian War.
- Award carries a cash prize of Rs 2 lakh, a shawl and a citation.
Gandhi Peace Prize – 2014
- The Centre on Friday announced that prestigious Gandhi Peace Prize for the year 2014 be awarded to Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
  - It was announced by the jury for the Prize which had met under the Chairmanship of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
  - The ISRO recently sent its satellite to Mars (Mars Orbit Mission), becoming the fourth country to reach Mars’s orbit, and first nation to do so in first attempt.
  - Set up in 1969, the space agency has its head quarters in Bangalore. By launching several satellites it has contributed to the nation’s development through satellite based education, health care and connectivity to community activities for sustainable economic development.
  - The Gandhi Peace Prize for social, economic and political transformation through non-violence was instituted in the year 1995.
  - The award comprises an amount of Rupees One crore and a citation. Awarded annually to individuals and institutions for their contributions towards social, economic and political transformation through non-violence and other Gandhian methods.
  - Some of the previous awardees have been Dr. Nelson Mandela, Vaclav Havel, Dr. Julius K. Nyerere, Baba Amte, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Grameen Bank of Bangladesh, Bharatiya Vidya Bhawan and Ramkrishna Mission.
Bharat Ratna
- Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, a statesman who endeared himself to people across the political spectrum, was today conferred with Bharat Ratna, the country’s highest civilian award at a special function at his residence.
  - Atal Bihari Vajpayee was born on 25 December 1924 at Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh.
  - Vajpayee became a close follower and aide to Shyama Prasad Mookerjee, founder of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS), BJP‘s predecessor.
  - In his six decade long political career, five of which in Parliament, Vajpayee was elected to Lok Sabha 10 times and twice to Rajya Sabha.
  - Vajpayee first became Prime Minister in 1996 after four decades in opposition. He lasted only 13 days as Prime Minister for lack of numbers.
  - The lack of a stable majority ended his second stint in power from 1998 after 13 months.
  - He was reelected in 1999 at the head of a more stable coalition that lasted its full term.
  - Union government led by Narendra Modi has declared his birthday as Good Governance Day.
Abel Prize
- Princeton University Mathematician John Nash receives the 2015 Abel Prize by theNorwegian Academy of Science and Letters.
  - Nash is a 1994 Nobel Prize laureate in Economics publicly known for his work in game theory which was played up in the 2001 film “A Beautiful Mind” in which he was portrayed by actor Russell Crowe.
  - It is his seminal work in partial differential equations – which is used to describe the basic laws of scientific phenomena.
  - Nash, a Princeton senior research mathematician, will share the Abel Prize with longtime colleague Louis Nirenberg, a professor emeritus at New York University’s Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences.
- The Abel Prize is an international prize presented once a year by the King of Norway to one or more outstanding mathematicians.
  - The Prize is named after Norwegian mathematician Niels Henrik Abel (1802-1829), the award was established in 2001 by the Government of Norway and complements the Holberg Prize in the humanities.
  - The Abel Prize has been expressed as the mathematician’s “Nobel Prize”competing in that respect with the much older Fields Medal. It comes with a monetary award of 6 million Norwegian kroner (NOK) approximately US 1 million dollar.

Femina Miss India 2015
- Gurgaon girl Aditi Arya was crowned Femina Miss India 2015 at the 52nd edition of the beauty pageant here at Yash Raj Studio.
  - The Top 5 finalists – Afreen Racheal Vaz, Tanya Hope, Vartika Singh, Aditi Arya and Deeksha Kaushal, were escorted on the ramp by popular TV actors including Gautam Gulati, Karan Tacker amongst others.
  - This year the pageant featured 13 city auditions, three regional auditions and two pageants.
Major Dhyan Chand Lifetime Achievement Award of Hockey India
- The legendary Balbir Singh Senior, member of three Olympic gold medal winning teams, was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the inaugural Hockey India Awards here on Saturday.
- Click Here to Download Xaam March 2015 Current Affair Compilation