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General Awareness Updates (March 2015)

GA Updates (March 2015) Page : 1

National: Government announces new IIT, IIMs

The government has announced the setting up of an IIT in Karnataka along with IIMs in Jammu and Kashmir and Andhra Pradesh. IIMs (Indian Institute of Management) will be setup in Jammu and Kashmir and Andhra Pradesh. In Kerala, it has been proposed to upgrade the existing National Institute of Speech and Hearing to a university of Disability Studies and Rehabilitation. The finance minister also proposed three new National Institutes of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, one each in Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.

India to launch fourth navigation satellite on March 9, 2015

India will move closer to its own satellite navigation system with the launch of its fourth satellite tentatively slated for March 9. Weighing 1,425 kg, the fourth of the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) satellite-IRNSS-1D would be flown into space in an Indian rocket called Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-XL. After its successful launch and commissioning IRNSS-ID is expected to make India among select group of countries having its own satellite navigation system. The satellite has a life span of around 10 years. Currently India is knocking at the door step of an exclusive space club - navigation satellite system owing club - that has the US, Russia, China and Japan as members. Though the full system comprises of nine satellites - seven in orbit and two on the ground as stand-by - the navigation services could be made operational with four satellites, ISRO officials had said earlier. Each satellite costs around Rs.150 crore and the PSLV-XL version rocket would cost around Rs.130 crore. The seven rockets would involve an outlay of around Rs.910 crore. The entire IRNSS constellation of seven satellites is planned to be completed by 2015. The first satellite IRNSS-1A was launched in July 2013, the second IRNSS-1B in April 2014 and the third one October 16, 2014. The IRNSS will provide two types of services -- standard positioning service and restricted service. The former is provided to all users and the latter is an encrypted service for authorised users.

Foreign Secretary begins his 4-nation SAARC Yatra with a visit to Bhutan

Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar began his 4-nation SAARC Yatra with a visit to Bhutan. He called on Bhutanese Prime Minister TsheringTobgay soon after reaching Thimpu. The Foreign Secretary held discussions on SAARC co-operation and bilateral ties. The Foreign Secretary is visiting the capital cities of SAARC nations to review various initiatives for the region, including SAARC satellites and regional university, as proposed by Prime Minister NarendraModi during his visit to Nepal for the SAARC Summit in 2014.

Senior IFS officer Arun Singh to be India's Ambassador to US

India has named senior Indian Foreign Service officer Arun Singh, currently its Ambassador to France, as its next top envoy to the US. A 1979-batch IFS officer, Mr Singh will be replacing S. Jaishankar, who was appointed as Foreign Secretary on January 28, 2015. Government was looking at Mohan Kumar, Indian Ambassador to Bahrain as a possible replacement of Mr Singh. India has already sent an agreement to the US government naming Mr Singh as its next Ambassador and was awaiting a response from the Obama administration.

Mufti Mohammed Sayeed took oath as CM of J & K for the second time

PDP leader Mufti Mohammed Sayeed took oath as the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir for the second time. Nirmal Singh of BJP was made the Deputy Chief Minister. This is for the first time that BJP has become a part of government in J&K.

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Visa on arrival now for 150 countries India will provide visa on arrival (VoA) to visitors from 150 countries -- a sharp rise from the 43 countries now, Finance Minister ArunJaitley announced. The government had eased Indian tourism visa regime through the expansion of VoA enabled by Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) and extended this facility to tourists from countries like the US, Israel, Palestine and Japan to boost tourism sector. This hassle-free process has given a fillip to Indian tourism whose share in world tourism is a paltry 0.6 percent of international tourist arrivals compared to 7.8 percent in France and 6.4 percent in the US. The tourists are allowed to enter and depart from nine international airports - Bengaluru, Chennai, Kochi, Delhi, Goa, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai and Thiruvananthapuram.

Beef banned in Maharashtra; can draw jail term of 5 years & fine uptoRs 10,000 Beef has been banned in Maharashtra with President Pranab Mukherjee giving his assent to the Maharashtra Animal Preservation Amendment Bill 1995. Now anyone found to be selling beef or in possession of it, can be jailed for five years and fine upto 10,000 rupees. The new act will however allow slaughter of water buffaloes, which provides carabeef, generally seen as inferior quality meat. Beef traders however claimed that the move will not only vendor thousand jobless but will also drive up the cost of other meats.

Shanghvi is richest Indian: Forbes DilipShanghvi of Sun Pharmaceuticals, with a net worth of $21.5 billion, surpassed MukeshAmbani as the world’s richest Indian after the Reliance Industries Ltd. chief was ranked India’s wealthiest for the eighth consecutive year. A real-time update by the business magazine Forbes reworked the rankings. On the global rich list, Mr. Shanghvi moved up to the 37th position, while Mr. Ambani slipped to the 43rd. AzimPremji of Wipro was ranked 48th, from which he has moved up one place now.

Hyderabad best city to live in India: Study In what is yet another jewel in its crown, the `City of Pearls' has emerged as the numerouno city in India when it comes to offering the best quality of living standards in Mercer's Quality of Living Report 2015.Ranked 138th globally by the Mercer report, Hyderabad beat Pune (145th) to the top spot in India and left India's IT hub Bengaluru (146th), Chennai (151st), commercial capital Mumbai (152nd) and India's political capital New Delhi (154th) behind in the quality of living sweepstakes.

Fewer children born each year; child sex ratio worsens The number of children born every year is declining rapidly in India, but the slowdown is faster for baby girls as against baby boys, according to new data from the 2011 Census.While India’s poor sex ratio for children under the age of six is well-known, data released by the office of the Registrar-General of India gives an indication of the situation at the time of birth. Just under 2.1 crore children were born in 2010, the year before the latest Census was conducted. In the year 2000 in comparison, 1.98 crore children were born. However, the growth in the number of male children born was higher at 5.44 per cent, while the growth in the number of girls born was far lower at 4.69 per cent. The sex ratio at birth as a result was slightly worse in 2011 than it was in 2001.

Maharashtra scraps Muslim quota The Maharashtra government has officially scrapped the five per cent reservation for Muslims in educational institutions, despite a Bombay High Court ruling in its favour. It, however, said admissions in educational institutions and jobs already granted under the quota would be protected.

Mufti orders release of political prisoners Senior separatist leader MasaratAlam was released from prison just days after Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed directed the police to release political prisoners against whom no criminal charges had been registered. Head of the Muslim League in the State, MrAlam was among the main

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organisers of pro-Azadi protests in the Valley in 2010. He was arrested along with several other leaders after those protests and remained one of the few senior leaders still behind bars. Arrested under the Public Safety Act (PSA) — a preventive detention law in J&K which gives a Deputy Commissioner the authority to take anyone in his district into preventive custody for up to two years without trial if he feels the person poses a threat to the security of the State — Mr. Alam has been in various prisons for more than four years now.

Celebrating India’s unwritten languages “The home for writers”, as SahityaAkademi defines itself, has announced that its annual literary festival ‘Sahiotsav’ or Festival of Letters, the six-day festival, will be special as the Akademi completes 60 years of existence on March 12. The festival has for the first time included dance and song performances based on folk and poetic legacies of the country, a symposium on unwritten languages of India and several programmes.

Sunderbans losing green cover and land mass, says ISRO study Mangrove and other forest cover depleted by 3.71 per cent. The study shows that about 95.14 per cent of the green cover has not undergone gone any change, while fresh vegetation has come up in 1.1 per cent of the entire area. The satellite mapping, which has not gone into the details of the reason for loss of green cover, says the depletion may be due to natural and anthropogenic (human intervention) processes.

End of an era in journalism With Vinod Mehta’s death after a long illness, an era in journalism came to an end. Vinod Mehta came to journalism from the world of advertising. In his early years in Mumbai, when he launched Debonair, everyone was fair game. But when he moved to newspaper journalism with The Indian Post first and then to The Independent and finally The Pioneer , he gradually learnt over the years, to his cost, that newspaper proprietors were not always willing to risk hurting the fragile egos of politicians. But till the end, he never quite lost his irreverence. He attracted some of the most talented journalists, created great teams, and then gave them the freedom to work. It was only at the Outlook, the last organization he launched in Delhi, that he lasted 17 years, creating a rival to India Today.

INS Alleppey decommissioned INS Alleppey , one of the six Ponchicherry class coastal minesweepers purchased from the erstwhile USSR in the 1970s, was decommissioned after nearly 35 years of service under the Western Naval Command. After INS Alleppey’s decommissioning, the Indian Navy will be left with five other operational minesweeper vessels. INS Alleppey was the last ship from the first batch of minesweepers purchased by India from the erstwhile USSR between 1978 and 1980. The ship was built in 1979 at Leningrad and was handed over to the Indian Navy on June 10, 1980. The ship was designed to detect and destroy underwater mines near the harbour.

Gandhian Narayan Desai passes away Noted Gandhian Narayan Desai, known for his rendition of Gandhi Katha – stories on the Mahatma’s life – passed away at the age of 90. In 2004, Mr. Desai started a lecture series on Gandhiji called ‘Gandhi Katha,’ which he took across the world and received much acclaim for it. Mr. Desai won the SahityaAkademi Award for Gujarati in 1993 and the Jamnalal Bajaj Award in 1999 and the UNESCO-Madanjeet Singh Prize for the Promotion of Tolerance and Non-Violence in 1998. He was also associated with the anti-nuclear movement.

Jaitley presents NRI award to G P Hinduja Finance minister ArunJaitley has presented leading industrialist G P Hinduja with the inaugural NRI Foundation Award for achievements in the field of business. The co-chairman of the Hinduja Group was honoured for establishing a global presence across 10 different sectors and his philanthropic work in Britain and India. The other NRI Foundation Award winners included the Asian Media and Marketing Group, publishers of the 'Garavi Gujarat' magazine, Lloyds Banking Group's Head of Responsible Business KamelHothi and the UK government's Dealmaker for India Alpesh Patel.

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India remains world's largest arms importer India continues with its embarrassing trudge on the world stage as the largest arms importer, which also makes it strategically vulnerable. India's weapons imports are now three times larger than its neighbours China and Pakistan as well as cash-rich Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The latest data on international arms transfers released by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) shows India accounted for 15% of the global arms imports from 2010 to 2014. Between 2005-2009 and 2010-2014, India's arms imports increased by 140%. In 2005-2009, India's imports were 23% below China's and just over double those of Pakistan. The three largest suppliers to India are Russia (70%), the US (12%) and Israel (7%).

India ranks 28 on UN's Disaster Risk and Age Index A Disaster Risk and Age Index launched at the United Nations' third world conference on disaster risk reduction has ranked India 28th among 190 countries that are worse on most parameters of providing their elderly a secure environment. Somalia has ranked first, followed by Central African Republic, Afghanistan, Sudan and Iraq among others. All these countries are affected by civil war and ongoing conflict. However, in countries like India, it has been other factors like lack of social security to its aging population, their vulnerability to natural disasters and absence of a resilient network that has majorly weighed against it and has lowered its ranking among 190 UN member countries. When it comes to taking care of its elderly, India is worse than even Nepal, Zimbabwe, Cambodia, Guatemala and even Papua Guinea — all of them ranking better than India. Pakistan has been ranked 16th on this index while Bangladesh has been at 25th. Malta has been ranked the best at 190, followed by Finland, Sao Tome e Principe, Singapore, Norway, Sweden, Luxembourg, Denmark and Netherlands. Japan ranked 133, US at 142, Italy-146, Australia 150 and France 163 among some of the major countries.

Increase in induction age in IAS, IPS, IFS for state cadre officers In good news for state cadre officers, age limit for induction in all-India services like the IAS and IPS has been increased from 54 to 56. The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) has notified new rules for three all-India services -- Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Police Service (IPS) and Indian Forest Service (IFS) -- in this regard. As per rules, a Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) committee is responsible for making selection to IAS, IPS and IFS from state services. Earlier, the maximum age limit for consideration of officers from states services into IAS, IPS and IFS was 54 years, as on January 1 of the year for which the select list is prepared.

India to Host First Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction

India will host the first Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction of the post-2015 era. The Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh announced during the 3rd UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction being held in Sendai, Japan from March 14-18. He said the Indian government will take lead in hosting the conference in 2016 in collaboration with the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction.

Astra test-fired successfully against simulated target

The indigenously developed Beyond Visual Range (BVR) air-to-air missile, Astra, was successfully launched from Sukhoi-30 fighter aircraft to hit a simulated target at the Integrated Test Range, Chandipur in Odisha. The missile was tested to prove the manoeuvring capability against a simulated target and also to validate various subsystems. All the subsystems like propulsion, navigation, guidance as also the smooth separation of the missile from the aircraft were proved. 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.

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NGT announces Rs 5,000 fine for littering on railway property

National Green Tribunal (NGT) has announced a fine of Rs 5,000 on individuals spotted littering or throwing waste on the railway platforms and tracks. A bench, headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar, passed a slew of directions to the Railways and other authorities for maintaining cleanliness on railway tracks. The green bench also asked the concerned authorities to install mobile toilets near slum clusters in order to control pollution caused by plastic products and human defecation around railway tracks.

India gives $250,000 to cyclone-ravaged Vanuatu

India has given a cash assistance of USD 250,000 to Vanuatu which has been hit by a massive tropical cyclone leading to loss of lives and widespread destruction of property. The government is deeply saddened by the tragedy caused by the category 5 Tropical Cyclone Pam, which struck Vanuatu from March 13, 2015, leading to loss of lives and widespread destruction of property. Vanuatu is an Oceanian island nation located in the South Pacific Ocean.

Survey ranks PM Modi as world's best leader in handling domestic, intl affairs

Prime Minister NarendraModi has been ranked by a survey as the best world's leader in handling domestic and international affairs. Chinese President Xi Jinping has been ranked the second by the China's National Image Global Survey 2014, which was released in Beijing. The survey was conducted in nine countries - the US, UK, Australia, Japan, South Africa, India, Russia, Brazil and China. The survey, which polled 4,500 respondents from the nine countries, was conducted by the Centre for International Communication Studies of China Foreign Languages Publishing Administration and market research organisations, Millward Brown and Lightspeed GMI.

Ratan Tata to head railway's Kaya Kalp council

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. Ratan Tata will head the Kaya Kalp council, while general secretaries of All-India Railwaymen Federation and National Federation of Indian Railwaymen will also be the members of the council.

Cabinet approves PradhanMantriKaushalVikasYojana

The Union Cabinet has approved the PradhanMantriKaushalVikasYojana to provide skills training to youth across the country. The scheme will be implemented by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship through the National Skill Development Corporation with an outlay of 1, 500 crore rupees.

The Cabinet cleared introducing of the Appropriation Acts Repeal Bill, 2015

This Bill aims at repealing 758 Appropriation Acts. The decision has been taken in keeping with the Prime Minister NarendraModi's commitment to bring reform in the country’s legal system to make it more accessible to the common man.

India to become first country to have no duplicacy in voters' list

India is set to become the first country in the world to have biometric data and no duplicacy in the voters' list after linking of Aadhar card with voter identity card. Chief Election Commissioner HS Brahma said once the Aadhar number is mentioned in the electoral rolls then individual voters can also change their address online because Aadhar will be the basic identity. It will remove all allegations of duplicacy in the voters list and harassment to voters in changing their address, he said adding that so far 85 crore Indians have got their Aadhar numbers.

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Paramilitary forces to have 33 p.c. women

Thirty-three per cent posts in Central paramilitary forces will be reserved for women, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said. At present, the total strength of women personnel in the paramilitary forces is less than five per cent. There are seven paramilitary forces, also called the Central armed police forces, in the country. The CRPF, the BSF, the CISF, the ITBP, the SSB and the NSG have women armed contingents while the Assam Rifles does not have women in combat duties. The total strength of all paramilitary forces is around 8 lakh.

ShashiKapoor gets DadasahebPhalke Award

Charming ShashiKapoor, whose nuanced acts in memorable films like “Deewar”, “Satyam ShivamSundaram”, “Trishul” and “KabhiKabhie” captivated Hindi film buffs, will be conferred the DadasahebPhalke Award for 2014. The veteran actor-producer, 77, is the 46th winner of the honour, conferred by the government for outstanding contribution to the growth and development of Indian Cinema. Third Padma Bhushan and third Phalke award in the family. PrithvirajKapoor and Raj Kapoor were the other recipients. In 2011, he was honoured with the Padma Bhushan, and he is also a proud recipient of three National Film Awards. The DadasahebPhalke Award entitles him to a Swarn Kamal (Golden Lotus), a cash prize of Rs.10 lakh and a shawl.

Andhra's capital to be named Amaravathi

With the State Government considering naming the new capital as Amaravathi, the spotlight turned on the temple town located on the banks of River Krishna at a distance of 35 k.m. away from Guntur and 40 k.m. from Vijayawada. Named after AmareswaraSwamy Temple, one of the Pancharamas, in the southern region, this small village and the neighbouringDharanikota, were once the seat of power during the rule of Satavahana, who ruled during 2nd century BCE and 3rd century BCE.

Sale of Gutka to be non-bailable offence in Maharashtra

Maharashtra government has said that those involved in the sale of Gutka will be booked under non-bailable sections regarding the offence. The manufacture and sale of Gutka is banned in Maharashtra, but it is not implemented effectively as there are no such restrictions in neighbouring states due to which the tobacco-laced chewing products are smuggled in. Directives have been given to the police to book the accused under section 328 of the IPC, which is non-bailable.

MadhavGadgil wins Tyler Prize

Ecologist MadhavGadgil has been chosen for the prestigious Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement for 2015. The prize, instituted in 1973, is awarded by the Tyler Prize Executive Committee with the administrative support of the University of Southern California. Dr. Gadgil, who was chairman of the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP), will share the $200,000 cash prize with American marine ecologist Jane Lubchenco for their work in changing policy and especially for their “leadership and engagement in the development of conservation and sustainability policies in the United States, India and internationally. The winners will receive the prize and a gold medallion in Los Angeles, on April 24.

Govt launches mega campaign on immunization drive

Ahead of launching its ambitious child immunization programme 'Mission Indradhanush', the health ministry has unveiled a major campaign to create awareness on immunization. Depicting seven

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colours of the rainbow, 'Mission Indradhanush' aims to cover by 2020 all such children, who are either unvaccinated or are partially vaccinated against seven vaccine-preventable diseases -- diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, polio, tuberculosis, measles and hepatitis B. Under the programme, a total of 201 high-focus districts will be taken up for implementation in the first phase. Of these, 82 districts are in just four states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan and nearly 25 percent of the unvaccinated or partially vaccinated children are in these districts.

Twitter Samvad launched for direct communication between Government and citizens

Union government has launched a new platform ‘Twitter Samvad’ in association with social networking service Twitter to facilitate direct communication between leaders, government agencies and citizens. Twitter Chief Executive Dick Costolo said that India is one of the fastest-growing markets and will remain the centre of innovation for the company. The service is aimed to boost the nation's e-governance plans. Through this, the government bodies can have a direct communication with citizens on a daily basis via Tweets and SMS on their mobile devices. As of now, 16 government offices, including the Prime Minister's Office, Ministry of railways, the Bengaluru Police and the Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal are participating in Twitter Samvad, which is powered by Bengaluru-based ZipDial, which was recently acquired by Twitter.

Supreme Court strikes down Section 66A of IT Act

The Supreme Court has declared Section 66A of Information Technology Act as unconstitutional and struck it down. This section had been widely misused by police in various states to arrest innocent persons for posting critical comments about social and political issues and political leaders on social networking sites. The court, however, upheld the validity of section 69B and the 2011 guidelines for the implementation of the I-T Act that allowed the government to block websites if their content had the potential to create communal disturbance, social disorder or affect India's relationship with other countries. The Bench turned down a plea to strike down sections 69A and 79 of the Act, which deal with the procedure and safeguards for blocking certain websites and exemption from liability of intermediaries in certain cases, respectively.

Amitav Ghosh among 10 finalists for International Booker prize

Indian author AmitavGhosh is among the 10 finalists for this year's Man Booker International Prize. The finalists were announced at the University of Cape Town in South Africa by writer and academic Professor Marina Warner, chair of the five-person judging panel. The international version of the popular literary prize, which will be held in London on May 19th, 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. Kolkata-born, 58-year-old Ghosh had narrowly missed out on the Prize in 2008 when he was shortlisted for his work, 'Sea of Poppies'. AmitavGhosh emerged as the only Indian author among 10 finalists for this year’s Man Booker International Prize.

Akhil Sharma wins Folio Prize

Novelist Akhil Sharma’s 2014 novel Family Life has won the Folio Prize 2015. The 43-year old novelist beat writers like Irish novelist ColmToibin and Scottish writer Ali 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. It was one among the eight books shortlisted from 80 works of fiction and chosen as the best fiction published in the U.K. in 2014 by the 235 writers and critics who constitute the Folio Academy. Mr. Sharma was born in Delhi

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and immigrated with his family to the USA in 1979. His first novel, An Obedient Father, won the 2001 Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award. The Folio Prize recognises the best English-language fiction from around the world, published in the U.K.

Chhattisgarh to get country's first Skill University

Chhattisgarh will have India's first National Skill Development University. This was stated by Union Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Rajiv Pratap Rudy in Raipur.

Queen’s KanganaRanaut wins Best Actress at 62nd National Film Awards:

Best Feature Film: ‘Court’, the multi-lingual film in Marathi, Hindi, Gujarati & English depicts flaws in the judicial process and reflects the insensitivity of institutional structures.

Best direction: SrijitMukherji for Bengali film Chotushkone. The film also won best cinematography and best screenplay.

Best actor: Vijay for Kannada film NanuAvanallaAvalu in which he played the role of a woman trapped in a man’s body.

Best actress: KanganaRanaut for Hindi film Queen.

Best Supporting Actor: Bobby Simhaa for Jigarthanda (Tamil) in which he played the role of a dreaded Mafia don.

Best Supporting Actress: BaljinderKaur for Haryanvi film Pagdi The Honour.

Best Child Artist: Shared by J Vignesh& Ramesh for Tamil film KaakkaaMuttai where they played the role of siblings living in a slum popular film for providing wholesome entertainment

Indira Gandhi Award for best debut film of a director: AshaJaoarMajhe (Bengali) directed by AdityaVikramSengupta

Best children’s film: Shared by Tamil film KaakkaaMuttai& Marathi film Elizabeth Ekadashi

Best Film on Social Issues: ChotoderChobi (Bengali)

Best Film on Environment Conservation/ Preservation: Ottaal (Malayalam)

Special jury Award: Khwada (Marathi) The film depicts the harsh realities of a nomadic shepherd community in search of stability.

‘Mary Kom’ was named the best popular film providing wholesome entertainment. KanganaRanaut had won her first National award, as best supporting actress, for “Fashion” in 2010. The National Awards will be handed out by President Pranab Mukherjee on May 3 in New Delhi.

Railways increased train reservation period from 60 to 120 days

Railway has decided to increase the Advance Reservation Period for booking of tickets in trains from the existing 60 days to 120 days. The revised norms will come into effect from 1st April 2015. Accordingly, booking in trains from originating stations will open and remain available for 120 days. It also said, however, there will be no change in case of certain day time Express trains like Taj

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Express, Gomti Express and other special trains where lower time limits for advance reservations are at present in force. There will also be no change in case of 360 days limit for foreign tourists.

India, Qatar sign prisoner exchange deal

In a deal of particular significance for the large expatriate community, India and Qatar signed an agreement on transfer of sentenced persons, allowing Indian convicts in Qatar to complete their remaining sentence in India and vice versa. The agreement was one of the six signed during the State visit of Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Emir of Qatar, in New Delhi. Under this agreement, Indian prisoners convicted in Qatar can be brought to India to serve the remaining part of their sentence. Similarly, Qatari Citizens convicted in India can be sent to their home country to serve their sentence. This will immediately benefit the 96 Indians currently lodged in Qatar jails. The six-lakh-strong Indians are the largest expatriate group in Qatar.

India 37th among 102 in government transparency index

India ranks 37 out of 102 countries on the Open Government Index 2015, which ranks countries on how transparent their governments are and the ease with which citizens can hold their government accountable. The report, released by Washington-based World Justice Project, is a perception survey on a random sample in three cities in each country, and has also interviewed experts in the field of transparency. Those that topped the list were high income countries such as Sweden, New Zealand, Norway, Denmark and Netherlands. This is evident when one compares India with China. While China is on the list of upper middle income countries and India is on the list of lower middle income countries, India outperforms China by 50 ranks when it comes to transparency in governance, with China ranking 87 on the list. Incidentally, US ranked 11 on the index, despite it facing heat over spying on its citizens. Of the four parameters used to rank countries, India ranked 27 for publicized laws and government data. But it ranked 66 on Right to Information index.

VikasSwarup is new MEA spokesperson

The External Affairs Ministry announced a “change of face” with its spokesperson, Syed Akbaruddin, being promoted as Additional Secretary and VikasSwarup, famous for his book on which the Oscar-winning film Slumdog Millionaire was based, replacing him. Mr. Swarup is expected to assume charge on April 18, after Prime Minister NarendraModi returns from Europe and Canada. Mr. Akbaruddin will be the chief coordinator for the India-Africa summit in October in New Delhi.

Rajasthan govt. opens mother’s milk bank

Rajasthan’s first State-run human milk bank, “JeevanDhara”, was inaugurated by Health Minister RajendraRathore. He said the government would set up such banks across the State. The first mother’s milk bank in the State was started by a non-governmental organisation in a government hospital in Udaipur. “JeevanDhara” has been started in collaboration with the Norwegian government and JK Lon Hospital, and aims to collect excess breast milk from lactating mothers and provide it to infants deprived of it. The bank would follow international guidelines to ensure safety in the collection and supply of breast milk. The infant morality rate in Rajasthan is 47 per 1,000 live births, which is expected to come down substantially when infants get breast milk.

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.Centre grants Rs 250 cr to Polavaram project in Andhra Pradesh

The Union government has extended support under Section 90 of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014 to provide 250 crore rupees as financial assistance for setting up a special purpose vehicle for the Polavaram project. An allocation of 100 crore rupees was made for Polavaram project in the Union Budget for a project of the magnitude of Polavaram.

Veteran Assamese film actor IndraBania dies

Veteran Assamese film and stage actor IndraBania passed away in Guwahati. He was 73. Bania had shot into fame in JahnuBarua’s ‘HalodhiyaChoraiyeBao-dhanKhay’ (The Catastrophe) that had also won the Swarna-kamal for the best film in 1988. IndraBania was chosen for the Silver Leopard Best Actor’s award at the prestigious Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland, only Indian actor who won that award.

President confers Bharat Ratna on Vajpayee

Veteran Parliamentarian and former Prime Minister AtalBihari Vajpayee, founder member of the BharatiyaJanata Party who is held in high esteem across the political spectrum, was conferred with Bharat Ratna, the country’s highest civilian award, by President Pranab Mukherjee. The event, which was attended by Vice-President Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister NarendraModi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh along with some close family members.

Gandhi Peace Price for 2014 goes to ISRO

The ISRO has been selected for the Gandhi Peace Prize for the year 2014. The decision to this effect was taken by the Jury for the Prize which met under the Chairmanship of the Prime Minister NarendraModi. The ISRO is engaged in making space technology a catalyst of development to bring about societal transformation. In the process it has become one of the six largest space agencies of the world. The Gandhi Peace Prize for social, economic and political transformation through non-violence was instituted in 1995. The Award comprises an amount of Rs. one crore and a citation.

PM Modi, KailashSatyarthi among world's greatest leaders

Prime Minister NarendraModi and Nobel laureate KailashSatyarthi 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. MrModi is ranked 5th on the 2015 roster of World's Greatest Leaders with MrSatyarthi coming 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.

India has highest number of deaths of children under five years of age

India accounts for the highest number of deaths of children under-five years of age with 50% of such deaths caused mainly due to malnutrition. The paper, prepared by Forum for Learning and Action with Innovation and Rigour (FLAIR), estimates more than 15 lakh children below five years of age died in India. Flair is a non-government organization engaged in policy research and analysis. According to the Unicef report, about half of under-five deaths occur in only five countries: India, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Pakistan and China. While India accounts for 22% of the total under-five children death worldwide, Nigeria contributes 13%. Lack of basic sanitation in India is seen as a key reason for severe child malnutrition burden. The policy paper suggests states like

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Kerala, Manipur, Mizoram and Sikkim, where 80% or more of the rural population have access to toilets, have the lowest levels of child malnutrition in India. However, child malnutrition rates are high in states like Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand where most households are without toilets.

Katrina Kaif’s wax statue unveiled in London

Katrina Kaif became the latest Indian star to join the Bollywood line-up at Madame Tussauds in London. Kaif unveiled the wax statue and joined the new Bollywood setting as part of the popular wax-work museum’s “15 years of Bollywood” celebration. The 31-year-old British-Indian actress has become the seventh Bollywood actor to be honoured with a figure at Madame Tussauds London and joins Amitabh Bachchan (2000), AishwaryaRai (2004), Shah Rukh Khan (2007), Salman Khan (2008), HrithikRoshan (2011) and Madhuri Dixit-Nene (2012). Katrina’s figure was created by a team of 20 sculptors and artists over a four-month period and cost ₤150,000 to create.

ISRO to launch navigational satellite IRNSS 1-D

The Indian Space Research Organisation, ISRO will launch the navigational satellite IRNSS 1-D. It was launched through the PSLV C-27 (XL) vehicle from the SatishDhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. The 1,425-kg IRNSS 1-D is the fourth in a series of seven satellites that form the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS). With the objective to be self reliant in the use of technology which has the merits of a brilliant satellite system in the region, ISRO is already proud of acknowledging data from the designated orbital slots. IRNSS comprises of a space segment and a ground segment which will provide standard positioning service and restricted service for authorised users for users in India as well as for the region extending upto 1500 km from its boundary.

Mizoram Governor Qureshi sacked

The National Democratic Alliance government, which is all set to announce names for filling gubernatorial positions in several States, announced the removal of Dr. Aziz Qureshi as Governor of Mizoram, the sixth to go from the State in the last nine months.

DRDO to develop indigenous AWACS

The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), chaired by Defence Minister ManoharParrikar, approved the development of an indigenous Airborne Warning and Control Systems (AWACS) by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).The council allocated Rs. 5,113 crore for two systems based on the A-330 aircraft, which will be procured from Airbus. Eventually, six systems will be built for use by the Air Force. In all, the DAC cleared deals estimated at Rs.7,400 crore.

Centre’s nod for Rs. 500 cr. Corpus

The Union Agriculture Ministry approved the setting up of a price stabilisation fund (PSF) that had been announced by Finance Minister ArunJaitley in his July 2014 budget. The fund, with a corpus of Rs. 500 crore, will be used to support market interventions for managing prices of perishable agri-horticultural commodities. Initially, the fund is proposed to be used for onion and potato only. Losses incurred, if any, in the operations will be shared between the Centre and the States.

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BJP becomes largest political party in the world

The ruling BJP has become the largest political party in the world with its enrolment drive in the past five months taking its membership to 8.80 crore. The Communist Party of China was until now considered the largest party with about 8.60 crore members.

President confers Bharat Ratna on Malviya

President Pranab Mukherjee on March 30 conferred the Bharat Ratna posthumously on PanditMadan Mohan Malviya and the Padma Vibhushan on veteran BJP leader L.K. Advani. Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal was also honoured with Padma Vibhushan.

Tiruchi adjudged best non-major airport

The Tiruchi international airport has been declared the best among “non-major” airports in the country, according to a nationwide survey conducted in 2014.Various parameters were taken into account during the course of the survey of airport services quality conducted twice last year. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) had commissioned two independent agencies to carry out the annual survey at all the airports across the country. While one agency was entrusted with the task of carrying out the survey at major airports, the other agency was asked to carry out the exercise at non-major airports.

Badal first CM to be conferred Padma Vibhushan

Parkash Singh Badal became the first chief minister to be conferred the second highest civilian honour Padma Vibhushan. The five-time chief minister, who is one of the oldest to head the state at 87, was conferred the award by President Pranab Mukherjee at a civil investiture ceremony held in RashtrapatiBhavan in Delhi.

India, France to co-develop naval missile

The Defence Acquisition Council has approved the ‘Maitri’ project for the co-development of a Short Range Surface-to-Air Missile (SR-SAM) by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) with MBDA of France.

Centre allows pre-paid mobile for 2 years in J&K, northeast

Pre-paid mobile services in Jammu and Kashmir and the northeastern States will be allowed to continue for two more years. The license of the telecom operators for providing pre-paid services in these areas expires on April 1.

International: Vazquez sworn in as Uruguay president

Cancer doctor Tabare Vazquez was sworn in as Uruguay`s new president, returning to office a decade after first leading the left to power. Vazquez took the oath of office in the National Assembly before a crowd that included Brazilian President DilmaRousseff, Cuban President Raul Castro and other regional leaders.

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Villarrica volcano erupts in southern Chile

One of South America's most active volcanoes erupted in southern Chile, spewing heavy smoke into the air as lava surged down its slopes, prompting authorities to evacuate thousands of people. Glowing in the dark amid heavy smoke and rivers of lava. Authorities worried that mudslides caused by melting snow could endanger nearby communities. The 9,000 foot (2,847-meter) volcano in Chile's central valley, 400 miles (670 kilometers) south of Santiago, sits above the small city of Pucon, which has a population of about 22,000 people.

IS destroys ancient site

Activists, officials and historians have condemned Islamic State (IS) for the destruction of the ancient Assyrian archaeological site of Nimrud in Iraq. The head of UNESCO condemned the destruction, saying it amounted to a war crime. The site’s destruction is the latest assault by IS against the ancient heritage of minorities that have coexisted in the Middle East for millennia.

France mourns Argentine crash deaths

Olympic gold medallist among 10 killed as helicopters filming reality show crash. France was plunged into mourning after three well-known sports stars, including an Olympic champion swimmer and one of the world’s best sailors, died in a helicopter crash in Argentina while filming a reality TV show. It was the worst accident in the history of reality television.

Fantasy author Terry Pratchett dead

British author Terry Pratchett, creator of the science fantasy Discworld novels, died aged 66 after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. Mr. Pratchett, who sold over 85 million books worldwide, won worldwide fame. He wrote more than 70 books over the course of his career.

Former Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed sentenced to 13-year imprisonment

Former Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed was sentenced to 13-year imprisonment by a criminal court under the anti-terrorism laws. In a court hearing in Male, Nasheed, the country's first democratically elected leader who was arrested on February 22 over the detention of a judge in 2012, was charged under the Anti-Terrorism Act 1990. 47-year-old Nasheed resigned as the Maldives' leader in February 2012 after a mutiny by police and troops that followed weeks of protests over the arrest of judge Abdullah Mohamed on corruption allegations.

China now world's third-biggest arms exporter

China has overtaken Germany to become the world's third-biggest arms exporter, although its 5 per cent of the market remains small compared to the combined 58 per cent of exports from the US and Russia. China's share of the global arms market rose 143 per cent during the years from 2010-2014, a period during which the total volume of global arms transfers rose by 16 per cent over the previous five years, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said. Its share of the world market was up from 3 per cent in the period of 2009-2014, when China was ranked ninth among exporters of warplanes, ships, side arms and other weaponry. China supplies weapons to 35 countries, led by Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar. The US retained a 31 per cent share of the global arms market, exporting to at least 94 recipients, SIPRI said. Countries in Asia and Oceania took 48 per cent of US exports, followed by the Middle East with 32 per cent and Europe at 11 per cent. Russia was second with a 27 per cent global share, 39 per cent of which went to India, the world's largest arms importer overall. China took 11 per cent of Russia's exports, followed by Algeria.

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Indian-American RenuKhator elected head of US education body

Indian-American RenuKhator has been elected chair of the Board of Directors of the American Council on Education (ACE), the major coordinating body for US colleges and universities. Uttar Pradesh born Khator, University of Houston President and System Chancellor since 2008 became board chair during ACE's 97th Annual Meeting in Washington DC. She succeeds James H Mullen, Jr, president of Allegheny College, Pennsylvania, and will serve for one year. Before becoming ACE Board chair, Khator served as vice chair.

Year 2015 being observed as 'Visit India Year' in China

The year 2015 is being observed as the "Visit India Year" in China. The activities include advertising in the local print, online, and outdoor media, participation in travel fairs and exhibition, organizing road shows, "know India" seminars, and offering joint advertising and brochure support and inviting opinion makers to visit India under the hospitality programme of the ministry. In 2012, 1, 68,952 Chinese tourists visited the country and their number rose to 1,74,712 in 2013.

Benjamin Netanyahu sweeps Israel election

Deflating the claims made by an array of exit polls, Benjamin Netanyahu was on way to become the longest-serving prime minister of Israel, smoothly clinching a win over the much-touted rivals – the Zionist camp parliamentary elections. Exit polls in Israel had predicted it to be a knife-edge election with some giving the Zionist camp a lead over Netanyahu's Likud. Netanyahu's Likud Party has won over 30 seats in the 120-member Knesset, while the Zionist Union led by Isaac Herzog remains languishing at 24 seats. The second runner up was the Joint List of Arab parties, which got 13 seats. Netanyahu, who is Israel's ninth PM, has been retaining the post since March 2009 and will now become the longest-serving leader of Israel.

Nobel Laureate Ramakrishnan to head Royal Society of Britain

Indian-American scientist VenkatramanRamakrishnan, whose pioneering work in molecular biology won him the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, will head Britain's prestigious Royal Society, a communion of the many of the world's most distinguished scientists. DrRamakrishnan, who will take up the post on December 1, 2015, will succeed geneticist Sir Paul Nurse, also a Nobel Laureate. DrRamakrishnan shared the 2009 chemistry Nobel Prize for discovering the precise structure of ribosomes - the molecular machines that manufacture proteins inside all living cells - with Thomas Steitz, of Yale University, and Ada Yonath, of the Weizmann Institute of Science, Jerusalem.

Stockholm Water Prize for ‘Water man’

Noted water activist Rajendra Singh was named the winner of the Stockholm Water Prize 2015, the fifth Indian to win the prestigious global award that is being given since 1991. Rajendra Singh, who had won the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 2001, is well known for his community-based water conservation and water management efforts in Rajasthan.

Puerto Rico sets course to recognize same-sex marriage

Puerto Rico said it will no longer defend laws banning gay marriage in the US territory, in a major reversal for the socially conservative Caribbean island.

Founding father of Singapore Kuan Yew passes away

Lee Kuan Yew, the statesman and founding father of Singapore, who transformed Singapore from a small port city into a wealthy global hub, has died at the age of 91. Mr Lee served as the city-state's prime minister for 31 years and continued to work in government until 2011.

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Germanwings Airbus A320 crashes in French Alps killing 150

The black box of the ill-fated Airbus A320 German wings plane has been found. The plane crashed in a remote and mountainous area of southern France killing all 144 passengers and six crew members on board. Authorities recovered a black box from the crash site, where rescue efforts were being hampered by the mountainous terrain. The Airbus A320 operated by Germanwings, a budget subsidiary of Lufthansa, was less than an hour from landing in Duesseldorf on a flight from Barcelona when it unexpectedly went into a rapid descent. The pilots sent out no distress call and had lost radio contact with their control center, France’s aviation authority said, deepening the mystery.

Saudi Arabia launches military operation against Houthi rebels in Yemen

Saudi Arabia and a coalition of regional allies have launched a military operation in Yemen against the Houthi rebels, who drove out the Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. A coalition consisting of 10 countries, including the Gulf Cooperation Council launched the strike. The operation was launched to defend and support the legitimate government of Yemen and prevent the radical Houthi movement from taking over the country.

Russia, Australia, Netherlands to join AIIB

A late surge among top European countries, including Germany, France, Britain, and now Russia along with Australia to join the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), has imparted a new sense of realism to Beijing’s Silk Road plans. If implemented, they are likely to shift the global balance of economic power towards Eurasia. Russia, Australia and the Netherlands, announced its decision to join the China-led AIIB. The decision of key European powers along with South Korea to join the bank, overriding strong objections from the United States, has split the Atlantic Alliance on this issue.

Science and Technology: Oldest primitive animal fossil found in China

Scientists have discovered the “earliest and most credible” primitive animal fossil in 600-million-year-old rocks in southwest China. The research led by Chinese scientists described a well-preserved, rice grain-sized primitive sponge fossil in the Guizhou Province. As per the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology , “It’s the world’s earliest and most credible fossil record of primitive animal bodies.” The discovery will help remove doubts whether animals have emerged on earth 600 million years ago. The fossilized animal, slightly more than 1.2-mm wide and 1.1-mm tall, displays many characteristics of modern adult sponges, an analysis based on advanced imaging techniques found. The specimen is composed of hundreds of thousands of cells, and has a structure consisting of three adjacent hollow tubes sharing a common base.

Sports: Martin Crowe honoured

New Zealand great Martin Crowe was inducted into Cricket’s Hall of Fame, the cancer-stricken former batsman describing it as a “great honour” and prompting a standing ovation from 40,000 fans at Eden Park. Known as one of the game’s most stylish batsmen, the 52-year-old became the third New Zealander behind Sir Richard Hadlee and Debbie Hockley, and 79th in the world, to receive the honour.

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JagmohanDalmiya elected President of BCCI unanimously

JagmohanDalmiya has been elected as President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India,BCCI, unanimously in Chennai. He has been an unanimous candidate after the present incumbent N.Srinivasan and its former chief SharadPawar had quit the race earlier. Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Chief Anurag Thakur got elected as its Secretary. Of the five Vice Presidents, three were elected unopposed. CK Khanna and TC Matthews were elected for the other two positions of Vice President. Jharkhand State Cricket Association Chief AmitabhaChoudhary became Joint Secretary of the apex Cricket body and Haryana's AnirudhChoudhary its Treasurer.

Historic Win

SainaNehwal scripted history by becoming the first Indian woman to reach the finals of the All-England Badminton Championship with a straight-game victory over Sun Yu of China in the women’s singles competition.

Saina stumbles at the final hurdle

Olympic bronze medallistSainaNehwal’s quest for becoming the first Indian woman to win the prestigious All England badminton championship ended in agony after she suffered a heart-breaking loss to Spain’s Carolina Marin in the summit Clash.

Lewis Hamilton wins Australia Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton dominated the Australian Grand Prix to get his world title defence off to the perfect start. He drove a measured race, controlling the gap to his Mercedes team mate NicoRosberg throughout as the team left the rest of the field behind. Ferrari's improved form was confirmed as new signing Sebastian Vettel took third, beating Williams's Felipe Massa.

Services lift Santosh Trophy football title

Services have lifted the Santosh Trophy football title. In a nail-biting summit clash in Ludhiana, they edged out hosts Punjab 5-4 via tie-breaker. During the tie-breaker all the five players including Captain Anthony, Vibin, Francis Zonuntulnga, ArunTudu and Rakesh Singh scored goal for the winners. Services have now won the title for the fourth time besides finishing runners up on five occasions.

KidambiSrikanth wins Swiss Open title

Continuing his rapid rise in the world of badminton, KidambiSrikanth dethroned Viktor Axelsen of Denmark to become the first Indian man to win the $120,000 Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold. The top seed defeated defending champion and second seed Axelsen 21-15, 12-21, 21-14 to clinch his third international title in 21 months. Down with a hamstring injury, suffered in January, the world No.4 missed dozens of practice sessions coming into the European circuit.

India's new hockey coach Paul van Ass takes charge

The Netherlands' Paul van Ass has resumed duties as Indian men's hockey team's chief coach as the eight-time Olympic champions underwent their first practice session under the Dutchman. Van Ass officially took charge of the team, supervising a two-hour long practice session of 30 players held in preparation for the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup to be held in Ipoh, Malaysia from April 5-12. Van Ass, known for his outspoken and controversial nature, had replaced Australian Terry Walsh under whom India won the Incheon Asian Games to qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympics. Van Ass had been handed a contract till the 2018 World Cup.

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Kalmadi inducted as Asian Athletics Association Life President Tainted Indian sports administrator Suresh Kalmadi has been made Life President of the Asian Athletics Association for his "work in the development of athletics in the continent" during his 13-year tenure as the head of organization from 2000. Kalmadi's reign as the head of AAA ended when he lost the presidential election to current chief Dahlan Al-Hamad of Qatar in a close contest in July 2013 in Pune. Thailand will host all three legs of Asian Grand Prix series 2015 starting with June 22 at PathumThani followed by Ayuthaya on June 25 and Bangkok will host final leg on June 29. Election of IAAF president will take place in Beijing during IAAF World Championship in Athletics in August 2015.

2022 Football World Cup final to be played in Qatar The governing body of World Football, FIFA, has announced the date of 2022 World Cup final. It will be played in Qatar on the 18th of December. The event will be held in the winter to avoid the hot temperatures in June and July. FIFA has chosen France to host the 2019 women's World Cup ahead of South Korea. France will also stage the Under-20 women's tournament in 2018.

American tennis player Wayne Odesnik banned for 15 years American tennis player Wayne Odesnik has been banned for 15 years after a second doping violation. The International Tennis Federation said the 29-year-old Odesnik tested positive for several banned substances, including steroids, during tests in December 2014 and January 2015. The ban was back-dated to January 30 and will run until January 29, 2030.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni becomes first Indian Captain to register 100 ODI wins Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the Captain of Indian Cricket team, has become the first Indian captain and third in the history of the game to lead his country to 100 ODI wins. He reached the milestone of 100 wins in 178th ODI.

Guptill's 237 powers New Zealand to defeat West Indies by 143 runs Martin Guptill became the latest batsman to make Cricket World Cup history with an innings of 237 not out in a total of 393 which led unbeaten New Zealand to a 143-run win over the West Indies in lop-sided quarterfinal. Guptill’s innings, compiled from 163 balls and including 11 sixes and 24 fours, was the highest by an individual in a World Cup match, surpassing the 215 that Chris Gayle amassed against Zimbabwe on February 24, and the second-highest in all one-day internationals after Rohit Sharma’s 264 for India in November 2014. It was the first double-century by a New Zealander in ODIs, beating the record high score of 189 he set himself, and made Guptill the first New Zealander to score centuries in consecutive World Cup innings after having made 105 against Bangladesh.

Sania-Hingis beat Makarova-Vesnina; Lift BNP Paribas Open Tennis trophy SaniaMirza and Swiss legend Martina Hingis have won the the BNP Paribas Open Tennis trophy. They beat the duo of Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina 6-3, 6-4 in the title clash in Indian Wells in California, USA. It was the second title of the season for Sania and 24th overall.

Two-year-old toddler enters record books for archery feat

Two-year-old girl CherukuliDalliShivani from Vijaywada has achieved a stunning feat by setting a new record in Archery and entering her name into the India Book of Records. She became the youngest Indian to score 200 points over five and seven-metre distances. She shot 36 arrows each from five metres and seven metres to score 388 points. Shivani is the kid sister of late Indian coach and international archer Cherukuri Lenin who had died in a road accident soon after 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games. India Book of Records representative Vishwajit Ray and Sports Authority of India representative P Rama Krishna declared that the girl has entered the India Book of Records.

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Platini wins third term as UEFA president Michel Platini was re-elected by acclamation as UEFA president for a third term and immediately told Congress delegates not to believe everything they heard about the confederation's relationship with FIFA. The former France international, who has been president since 2007, was handed another four-year term by delegates of the 54-member nations after standing unopposed.

Surya SekharGanguly wins International Grandmasters chess title City-based GM Surya SekharGanguly outwitted Cuban GM Isan Reynaldo Ortiz Suarez in a battle of nerves to win the second International Grandmasters Chess Tournament. Surya, who was in the lead with Nigel Short and Lu Shanglei, opened up the kingside in a Sicilian defence and his two bishops ensured an attack which fetched him a pawn after which it was a matter of time as the Indian GM finished the winner with 7.5 points. On the top board, Short and Shanglei had a quiet affair after both the players opted for a Catalan set up. Short, Shanglei, Deep Sengupta and SandipanChanda finished tied second but the British GM was adjudged runner-up on better Buchole tie breaking points. Chinese GM Shanglei and Deep Sengupta were declared third and fourth respectively.

Saina seals World No. 1 spot SainaNehwal’s ascent to the World No. 1 ranking transcended everything that happened in the $275,000 India Open badminton championship.

Clarke to retire from ODIs Michael Clarke will retire from One-Day International cricket at the end of the World Cup final.The Australian captain made the announcement at his pre-match press conference, bringing an end to the speculation around his future. However, he will continue to lead Australia in Test cricket.

Australia crush New Zealand to win their fifth World Cup title

Australia clinched the World Cup for the fifth time, thrashing New Zealand by seven wickets to provide a perfect farewell gift to skipper Michael Clarke, who played a key role with a 74-run knock in his final ODI appearance.

Saina breaks a ‘jinx’

SainaNehwal broke her ‘jinx’ in the $275,000 India Open badminton championship and K. Srikanth doubled India’s joy.In what turned out to be a repeat Indian ‘double’ as seen in the China Open last November, Saina and Srikanth reinforced their status among the strongest non-Chinese players in the world. As though to mark her newly-acquired stature as the World’s No. 1-in-waiting, Saina blitzed past former World champion RatchanokIntanon 21-16, 21-14 for her ninth BWF Superseries title and first National Open before a packed house at the Siri Fort Sports Complex.

Business & Economy: Indian stock markets best performer after China

After China, Indian stock markets emerged as the best performer with a return of 30 percent to investors during April-December period of the current fiscal, according to Economic Survey for 2014-15. China's Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index gave an impressive return of about 53 percent to investors during the period under review. Indian benchmark indices --BSE Sensex and NSE's Nifty-- gave a return of 29.9 percent and 31.4 percent respectively during April-December period of 2014-15. Besides, some of the major markets like England, Korea, Brazil and France gave negative returns. Among other markets, US equities gave 11.4 percent, return, Japan 7.1 percent, Singapore 6.2 percent, Germany 2.7 percent and Hong Kong 1.3 percent.

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Bill Gates tops Forbes magazine's annual list of world's richest people

Bill Gates stands atop Forbes magazine's annual list of the world's richest people. Gates' net worth rose to 79.2 billion dollars from 76 billion dollars a year earlier, putting the Microsoft Corp co-founder at the top for the 16th year in the last 21. Mexico telecommunications mogul Carlos Slim Helu ranked second, worth 77.1 billion dollars, while Berkshire Hathaway Inc chief Warren Buffett was third, at 72.7 billion dollars. Facebook Inc's Mark Zuckerberg joined the top 20 and basketball star Michael Jordan plowed new air by making the list for the first time. The United States had the most billionaires, with 536, followed by China at 213, Germany at 103 and India at 90.

Centre, RBI sign agreement to keep inflation below 6% and provide price stability with growth

The government and the Reserve Bank of India have signed an agreement on Monetary Policy Framework whereby the government has set a target for RBI to bring down inflation below six per cent by January 2016. The Agreement, which was signed on February 20 but made public yesterday, veers round to RBI Governor RaghuramRajan’s view that India too should move towards inflation targeting, which is common in developed economies. Currently, the Centre and the RBI give inflation estimates, but don’t set targets. As per the agreement, If the RBI fails to meet the target, it will have to report to the government the reasons for the failure to achieve the target, what remedial action it proposes to take and estimate of the time period within which the target would be achieved.

MukeshAmbani richest Indian for 8th year; Gates on top globally

MukeshAmbani has retained his position as the richest Indian for the eighth year in a row with a networth of $21 billion, while moving up one place on the global rich list that has been topped once again by software czar Bill Gates. Among the 90 Indians on the Forbes Rich List 2015, published on March 2, 2015, Ambani (39th globally) is closely followed by pharmaceuticals business tycoon DilipShanghvi (44th rank with networth of $20 billion) and AzimPremji (48th with $19.1 billion). Gates with a networth $79.2 billion tops Forbes Rich List. This is for the 16th time in the past 21 years the software czar is topping the list.

RanjanDhawan gets additional charge of Bank of Baroda CEO

The government has given additional charge of Managing Director and CEO of Bank of Baroda to RanjanDhawan, the senior most Executive Director at the bank.

RBI cuts interest rate by 25 basis points

The Reserve Bank of India has cut the key policy rate by 25 basis points, setting the tone for a reduction in lending rates by banks. This will prod banks to drop interest rates on home and car loans. The policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) is cut by 25 basis points to 7.5 per cent from 7.75 per cent. The reduction will come into effect immediately. The RBI has, however, kept the cash reserve ratio (CRR) of scheduled banks unchanged at 4 per cent of net demand and time liabilities (NDTL). It will continue to provide liquidity under overnight repos at 0.25 per cent of bank-wise NDTL at the LAF repo rate and liquidity under seven-day and 14-day term repos of up to 0.75 per cent. It has also decided to continue with daily variable rate repos and reverse repos to smooth liquidity. Consequently, the reverse repo rate under the LAF stands adjusted to 6.5 per cent, and the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the bank rate to 8.5 per cent.

SEBI eases account opening norms for individual investors

To make it easier for new individual investors, the Securities and Exchange Board of India announced a ‘Saral’ or simplified account opening form for such persons and eased the process for submitting address proof documents.

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Lending norms eased for affordable housing

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has eased lending norms for buyers of affordable housing. Banks are now allowed to include stamp duty, registration fee and other documentation charges in the cost of a housing property for the purpose of calculating LTV (loan to value) ratio. There is a rider, though. The cost of such a dwelling unit should not exceed Rs.10 lakh. The RBI also relaxed rules relating to loan disbursal to housing projects sponsored by government/statutory authorities. Banks are also allowed to disburse loans to such projects “as per the payment stages prescribed by such authorities, even where payments sought from house buyers are not linked to the stages of construction, provided such authorities have no past history of non-completion of projects.”

China scales down growth guidance to reset economy

China has decided to scale down its 2015 growth rate target to 7 per cent as part of an effort to gradually reset its economy along a sustainable, eco-friendly and corruption free path. China’s economy grew 7.4 per cent last year, the slowest in 24 years. Investors rue absence of triple E status for NPS

With a view to giving a major boost to the new pension scheme, 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. This is a welcome move to rope in more investors into NPS. However, investors are disappointed. For, the accumulated investment in NPS will continue to be taxable at the time of withdrawal.

Six Indian women make it to Forbes list

Six Indians find place in Forbes top-50 list of ‘Asia’s Power Businesswomen 2015’. A businesswoman from Chennai too figures in this illustrious list. AkhilaSrinivasan, Managing Director, Shriram Life Insurance Company Ltd., joins the list that includes leading names in the banking field such as Arundhati Bhattacharya, Chairman and Managing Director of State Bank of India, and ChandaKochhar, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of ICICI Bank. The other three are: KiranMazumdar-Shaw, Founder, Biocon; Shikha Sharma, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Axis Bank; and UshaSangwan, Managing Director of LIC of India. Forbes recognises 50 powerful businesswomen in Asia, who are driving change across diverse industries.

Spectrum auction garners bids worth Rs. 77,000 cr.

The government of India has garnered bids worth around Rs. 77,000 crore at the end of three days of spectrum auction as telecom operators continued to bid aggressively. The Department of Telecom (DoT) added the auction of spectrum in 2100 MHz, 1800 MHz, 900 MHz and 800 MHz bands recommenced and 6 rounds of bidding were completed. Most of the spectrum put up for auction is presently held by Airtel, Vodafone, Idea Cellular and Reliance Telecom. Their licenses are expiring in 2015-16. In all, eight bidders are in fray.

NPCI links 15 cr bank accounts with Aadhaar

National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the umbrella organization for all retail payments system in India, said that it reached a major milestone of successfully linking 15 crore bank accounts with Aadhaar number. Beneficiaries of all types of government subsidies /benefit transfers are expected to be brought under the linkage programme very soon. Such a framework of electronic benefit transfer will not only be unique but also be one of the largest in the world. The extent of leakage prevented due to this unique system will be visible on completion of running the scheme for about a year.

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After 20 years, RBI to put Re 1 note into circulation

One rupee notes are all set to come back into circulation as the government has decided to restart printing the currency after more than two decades. The Reserve Bank of India will soon put in circulation currency notes in one rupee denomination. The notes will be printed by the Government of India. In November 1994, printing of one rupee note was stopped mainly due to higher cost and for freeing capacity to print currency notes of higher denomination. Printing of two and five rupee notes too were discontinued in 1995. Since then, only coins have been issued for these denominations. Older notes are still in circulation and remain legal tender. Other paper currency notes currently being printed are Rs 10, Rs 20, Rs 50, Rs 100, Rs 500 and Rs 1,000.

Mark Zuckerberg tops world’s wealthiest people under 40 list; India’s ArunPudur at No 10

Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg, 30, tops the list of the world’s top 10 richest individuals under 40, reveals a Wealth-X survey. The list also includes Indian billionaire ArunPudur, currently the Chief Executive Officer of Celframe Technology Group of Companies, who has a net worth of $4 billion. Pudur, a graduate of the University of Bangalore, is an established entrepreneur. Apart from ICT industries, he has invested in the precious minerals and mining industry in various parts of the world.

ECB launches trillion-euro stimulus

The European Central Bank (ECB) has hit the launch button on its 1.1 trillion euro ($1.2 trillion) stimulus programme by starting to buy government bonds. The chief monetary authority for the 19 countries that use the euro confirmed that it had begun the purchases, which aim to make credit cheaper, boost growth and raise inflation.

India allows more foreign ownership in insurance

In a major economic policy reform, the Rajyasabha passed the Insurance Law (Amendment) Bill, agreeing to increase the limit of foreign ownership in local insurance to 49% from the existing 26%. The legislation which was stuck in the pipelines for over 6 years will allow global insurers to enter the Indian market and own greater shares in insurance companies.

I-T Department slaps 20,495 crore Rupees tax notice on Cairn India Ltd

The Income Tax Department has slapped 20,495 crore Rupees tax notice on Cairn India Ltd. The notice was served for failing to deduct withholding tax on alleged capital gains made by its erstwhile promoter, Cairn Energy Plc. In its reply Cairn India said it does not agree with the tax demand and will pursue all possible options to protect its interest. Earlier, the I-T Department had slapped 10,247 crore rupees tax demand on Cairn Energy Plc for an alleged 24,500 crore rupees worth capital gains it made in 2006 while transferring all its India assets to a new company, Cairn India, and getting it listed on the stock exchanges. The company is latest to join a slew of multinational firms, including Vodafone and Royal Dutch Shell, to face tax demand owing to a retrospective tax law.

Ready to relax electronic payments norms only for 'card present' transactions

In order to make electronic payments easier, the Reserve Bank has said that it is ready to relax the norms only for 'card present' transactions where near-field communication (NFC) technology is used. In a draft circular issued from Mumbai, RBI said it has decided to relax the extant instructions relating to the need for additional factor of authentication requirements for small-value card-present transactions only. The regulator has set a limit of Rs 2,000 per transaction even for contact-less cards. At present, a customer has to key-in the personal identification number (PIN) for authenticating every transaction. If this draft circular gets implemented, customers using contact less cards will not have to key in the PIN for transaction up to Rs 2,000. RBI has advised banks to explain their customers the NFC technology, its use, risks and also the maximum liability devolving on the customer. At present, only ICICI Bank has a contact less card offering.

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Crisil announces AshuSuyash as MD & CEO

Crisil, said that AshuSuyash would be the next Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the rating agency. Ms. Suyash succeeds RoopaKudva, who has been the Managing Director and CEO of CRISIL since 2007. Ms. Suyash has over 26 years of experience in the Indian financial services industry. She moved to her current role as CEO of L&T Investment Management Ltd.

Govt to reduce holding in public sector banks to 52%

Union government has decided to bring down its holding in public sector banks (PSBs) to 52 per cent in a phased manner to ensure that capital needs of banks are taken care of. In 2014-15, the criteria of return on assets (RoA) and return on equity (RoE) was used to encourage banks to be more efficient in their operations so that internal accruals increase. The government has approved enlargement of six of the identification mark by 50 per cent and introduction of angular bleed lines in banknotes of Rs 100, 500 and 1,000 denominations. As per the database of World Bank, India is the world's largest recipient of remittances and was estimated to have received $71 billion in 2014.

PAN mandatory for service tax registration

Permanent Account Number (PAN) is now mandatory for private firms for getting service tax registration besides email and mobile number. Applicants, who are not government departments shall not be granted registration in the absence of PAN. The registration shall mandatorily require that the PAN number of the proprietor or the legal entity being registered should be quoted in the application except for government departments.

Govt launches Rs 200 cr scheme for innovation in agro-industry

The Union government has 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 is designed to provide necessary skill set for setting up business enterprises and also to facilitate the market linkages available to entrepreneurs and to provide hand holding for a critical period to ensure self sustainability.

Niraj Parekh to be Citi's finance head for Indian subcontinent

American bank Citi said that it has appointed Niraj Parekh as the head of finance for its operations in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Parekh, the India subcontinent cluster financial officer, replaces AbhijitSen, who has retired from service. He will be reporting to its country head for India, PramitJhaveri, and also Mark Hart, the regional chief financial officer for Asia-Pacific.

ICICI Bank exits Russia; sells subsidiary IBEL

Country's largest private sector lender ICICI Bank said it has sold its profit making Russian subsidiary ICICI Bank Eurasia Limited Liability Company (IBEL) to Sovcombank — marking its exit from Russia. With this sale, ICICI Bank has exited from Russia and will be left with operations in 18 countries including India.

HDFC, ICICI Banks launch m-pay apps

Commercial banks are entering the mobile payments space, a market that was incubated by Airtel Money, but which since then has seen a host of players including Vodafone m-pesa, Paytm, MobiKwik and Oxigen. HDFC Bank has just launched Chillr, a third party app platform that enables users to transfer money to anybody in their phone book contacts. The user only needs to know the phone number of the person to whom he/she is transferring. But the transfer happens directly from and to bank accounts. For now, only an HDFC Bank account holder can send money, but can do so to any bank account holder. Chillr expects to sign up more

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banks soon. ICICI Bank launched the Pockets app. Pockets is a wallet model like Paytm and MobiKwik. You don't have to be an ICICI Bank account holder to use it, but account holders can use it with their internet banking credentials. The app uses a virtual Visa card and users can choose to add a zero balance savings account to it.

NSE launches Quality 30 index

The National Stock Exchange has launched ‘Quality 30’ index to capture the performance of stocks selected on quality parameters. India Index Services & Products Ltd (IISL), a NSE group firm, has launched a quality parameter-based ‘NSE Quality 30’ index, adding to the existing suite of its strategy based indices. 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.

Stake sale in 4 PSUs to swell government's purse by Rs 22,547 crore

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved sale of equity in four state-owned companies including ONGC and NMDC which may fetch the exchequer Rs 22,574 crore. The government has cleared 5 per cent stake sale in ONGC which could yield Rs 13,217 crore. Based on the market price of shares on March 16, 2015, the 10 per cent stake sale in NMDC and Nalco each would fetch the government approximately Rs 5,038 crore and Rs 1,190 crore respectively. The government has received Rs 24,200 crore from disinvestment of shares in state-owned companies in the 2014-15 financial years.

India overtakes US as 3rd biggest steel producer

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. India has been the fourth-largest steel producer for the past five years, behind China, Japan and the US. Data compiled by World Steel Association (WSA) showed that the country's production growth was the highest during the January-February period at 7.6 per cent as compared to the global average of just 0.6 per cent at 127.6 MT. Production in China, which accounts for nearly half of the global steel production, fell during the period by 1.5 per cent. It produced 65 MT steel during the period. Japan, the second-largest producer, reported a total output of 17.4 MT, but production in the country fell 2.2 per cent. The US, which was the third-largest steel producer since 2010, produced 13.52 MT during the January-February period, giving away its position to India.

India's GDP to grow at 8.3% in FY'17

Indian economy and it is expected to clock a growth rate of 7.4 per cent in the current financial year, which is likely to improve further to 8.3 per cent by 2016-17, says an HSBC report.

Sebi approves IFSC norms

Almost three weeks after finance minister, ArunJaitley, announced that the regulations for setting up International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) in GIFT city in Gujarat will be out in March, the board of Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has approved the IFSC guidelines, 2015 that allows Indian as well as foreign stock exchanges, clearing corporations and depositories to set up subsidiaries to undertake their business in IFSC. Under the IFSC guidelines that will regulate financial services relating to securities market in an International Financial Services Centre, Sebi relaxed the shareholding and net worth requirement norms for intermediaries setting up their subsidiaries. Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT) would be the country’s first IFSC and the BSE and NSE have already signed MoUs for setting up international exchanges. The move is expected to capture an estimated Rs 1,334 crore per day or Rs 2 lakh crore per year worth of trading in rupee derivatives that currently goes to locations outside India.

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SEBI bars three companies from mobilising public money

Clamping down on illegal money pooling activities, capital markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has barred three companies from raising funds from the public, with immediate effect. Besides, the companies and their respective directors have been restrained from the securities market. SEBI said these companies collectively garnered over Rs. 29 crore from close to 12,000 investors through issuance of securities and prima facie violated various provisions of the Companies Act. The firms — EverlightRealcon Infrastructure Ltd, Tresty Securities Ltd and Real Vision International Ltd —— issued securities to over 50 persons each, which under the rules made it a public issue.

Financial SEZs: move for capital a/c convertibility

India will allow greater capital account convertibility in financial special economic zones (SEZs). The first such notified SEZ to benefit from the reform will be the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City), coming up near Ahmedabad. The proposal is based on the Percy Mistry Committee report in 2007, which had recommended a slew of reforms to enable India to set up financial districts on the lines of those in London and New York.

Government to roll out 40-year bonds to raise funds

For the first time, the government will launch 40-year bonds to raise funds and help pension funds and insurance company’s park long-term resources. The move came along with the finalization of the first half borrowing calendar for 2015-16 with the government expected to raise Rs 3.6 lakh crore, which is a little over 60% of the gross borrowings budgeted at Rs 5.92 lakh crore. Typically, the Centre frontloads the borrowings and completes around two-thirds of its market fund-raising between April and September.

ADB projects India's growth rate to 7.8% in 2015-16

The Asian Development Bank, has projected India's growth rate to surpass China and improve to 7.8 per cent in 2015-16. It also forecast in 2016-17, India's growth rate would be 8.2 percent. India's growth and investor confidence will improve on the back of government's structural reform agenda and improved external demand. As regards China, the ADB projected the economic growth to decelerate from 7.4 per cent in current fiscal to 7.2 percent next fiscal and 7 per cent in 2016-17.

Passengers can book Rail tickets & shop using RuPay pre-paid debit cards

Passengers can book their Rail tickets and do shopping using RuPay pre-paid debit cards. Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), the Railways' tourism and catering arm, in collaboration with the Union Bank of India, launched its own RuPay pre-paid card service. IRCTC also signed a MoU with the Union Bank in the presence of Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu. RuPay is India's own card payment gateway network and provides an alternative system for banks to provide debit card service. The card can be used for booking tickets and shopping. Card can be availed from either the Union Bank or the IRCTC. The transaction charge will be 10 rupees per ticket for booking a ticket through the card on the IRCTC portal. As an opening offer, the transaction charge will not be levied six months for purchasing tickets on the IRCTC's website. The initial value of the card is 10,000 rupees, which can be recharged.

World Bank sanctions Rs 100 cr for development of Sagar Island in WB

The World Bank has sanctioned 100 crore rupees for all round development of Sagar Island in South 24 Parganas District of West Bengal. The scheme includes electrification of villages, training to local women for their self reliance and improvement of the area centering Kapilmuni Temple.

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11 PIOs in Forbes's list of best venture capitalists

Eleven influential Indian-American investors feature in Forbes magazine's annual list of the 100 best venture capitalists with the "Midas". The Forbes 2015 Midas List represents the world's 100 smartest technology investors with valuations greater than $1 billion and a total of 766 deals. Jim Goetz of Sequoia Capital maintained the number 1 spot for the second year in a row due to WhatsApp, the mobile messaging company acquired by Facebook for $22 billion. Leading the Indian-Americans on the list is 49-year old AneelBhusri, CEO and Cofounder of Workday, ranked 17th on the list and has a net worth of $1.22 billion. The other Indian-Americans on the list are SalilDeshpande (24), AsheemChandna (36), Accel partner Sameer Gandhi (37), GauravGarg (38), NavinChaddha (42), Deven Parekh (57), NeerajAgrawal (58), VenkyGanesan (86) and SatishDharmaraj (90).

RBI signs $400 mn currency swap pact with Sri Lanka

The Reserve Bank of India has signed a 400 million US Dollars currency swap agreement with the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. RBI said that the agreement will allow the Central Bank of Sri Lanka to make withdrawals of US Dollar or Euro in multiple tranches up to a maximum of USD 400 million or its equivalent. The agreement will be valid for a period of three years. The Central bank also informed that the swap arrangement is intended to provide a backstop line of funding for the SAARC member countries to meet any balance of payments and liquidity crises till long-term arrangements are made.

Govt approves 10 FDI proposals worth Rs.2857.83 cr

Government has approved ten Foreign Direct Investment, FDI proposals amounting to around 2857.83 crore rupees. The proposals was approved on the recommendations of Foreign Investment Promotion Board. The approved proposal includes Ostro Energy, pharma firm IPCA Laboratories, Mumbai, Air Works India (Engineering) Private Limited, Mumbai and LuvenusJewellery Private Limited.

EU imposes anti-dumping duties on China, Taiwan steel

The EU said it has decided to impose anti-dumping duties for six months on flat-rolled stainless steel imports from China and Taiwan. The decision is the latest in a series of rows between Brussels and Beijing over alleged dumping of products ranging from wine to solar panels. Duties ranging from 10.9 percent to 25.2 percent for the companies targeted will take effect. Chinese and Taiwanese companies that cooperated with the EU investigation are excluded from the duties.

Govt announces Rs 430 cr project for production of Geo-textile in North East

The Union Minister of State for Textile Mr.Santosh Kumar Gangwar has announced a 430 crore rupee project for production of the Geo-textile in the North Eastern region. Laying the foundation stone for first ever modern Apparel and Garment Manufacturing Centre in Gangtok, his Ministry has also sanctioned around five crore rupees for several other schemes in Sikkim. Geo-textile is very helpful in protecting the infrastructure like roads, especially in the regions like the North East which receive excessive rain.

Insurance Australia Group to raise stake in SBI General to 49 per cent

Within days of Parliament clearing the Insurance Bill, the Insurance Australia Group (IAG) has decided to increase its stake in State Bank of India’s general insurance arm to 49 per cent from 26 per cent. This is the second foreign insurer to announce raising its stake in the Indian venture from 26 per cent to 49 per cent, the maximum permissible foreign participation in the Indian joint venture. SBI General is a 74:26 joint venture between State Bank of India and IAG of Australia has begun its operation in 2010. Parliament had passed the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2015, which seeks to increase foreign investment in private sector companies to 49 per cent from the existing 26 per cent, among other things.

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Hinduja brothers top UK's 'Asian Rich List'

NRI industrialists G P Hinduja and S P Hinduja have emerged as the richest Asian-origin entrepreneurs in Britain for the third consecutive year with an estimated personal fortune of 15.5 billion pounds. The India-born brothers topped the 'Asian Rich List 2015' released in London and the annual rankings showed that they had added 2 billion pounds to their personal fortune in a year to be worth an estimated 15.5 billion pounds. The Hinduja brothers, who head the Hinduja Group global conglomerate spread across defence, banking, automotive and power sectors, are also the richest men in the UK. The 'Asian Rich List' assesses the total wealth of Britain's top 101 richest Asians and is compiled by UK-based publishing house Asian Media and Marketing Group (AMG). Most notably steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal's net worth dropped 2.7 billion pounds to a total of 9.7 billion pounds due to the plummeting share price of his company ArcelorMittal. Mittal is ranked second in this year's tally. Plastics tycoon PrakashLohia, is now the UK's third richest Asian with an increase in net wealth of 1 billion pounds, taking his fortune to 3 billion pounds. Bobby and Robin Arora come in at fourth with 2.1 billion pounds, with London Stock Exchange listed Vedanta Group chief Anil Agarwal completing this year's top 5 with an estimated wealth of 1.5 billion pounds.

RBI revises NBFCs' prudential norms, makes ratings mandatory

The Reserve Bank has revised regulations for non-banking finance lenders by directing them to get themselves rated by March 2016, and those failing to achieve investment grade ratings should not accept fresh deposits or renew older ones. RBI said, those asset finance companies (AFCs) that do not get a minimum investment grade rating by the end of March 2016, shall not renew existing deposits or accept fresh deposits thereafter. Till March 2016, unrated companies or those with a sub-investment grade, have been allowed to only renew existing deposits on maturity, but barred from accepting fresh deposits. In such an event, all existing deposits should runoff to maturity and NBFCs should report to the concerned RBI's Regional Offices within 15 days. The RBI has also tweaked rules in respect of net-owned funds, and pegged the mandatory requirement at Rs 2 crore for all NBFCs and has given time till April 2017 to comply.

BEL gets Rs. 1,605 cr. defence order for radars

The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) cleared the procurement of 30 weapon-locating radars from Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) for Rs.1,605 crore.Each system is mounted on two high mobility vehicles.The DAC has also sanctioned two other projects for the Army.

India makes first crude oil purchase for strategic reserve

India has bought the first oil for its strategic petroleum reserve (SPR), marking the start of a round of purchases by the world's fourth-biggest oil consumer to build up emergency stockpiles. Oil prices have almost halved in the past year due to excess global production, leaving traders looking for any signs of new demand to help absorb the surplus.

Corporation Bank, LIC sign MoU on PMJJBY

Corporation Bank and Life Insurance Corporation of India, have signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) for implementing "PradhanMantriJeevanJyotiBimaYojana (PMJJBY)", central government's ambitious scheme to bring entire nation under the ambit of insurance coverage. Under PMJJBY, Bank's Aadhar-linked savings account holders will be eligible for life insurance uptoRs 2-lakh for nominal premium of Rs 330 plus service tax per annum.

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CURRENT AFFAIR QUESTIONS

1. Who among the following has been appointed as the new President of BCCI? (1) JagmohanDalmiya (2) Anurag Thakur (3) AmitabhaChoudhary (4) AnirudhChoudhary (5) Rajiv Shukla 2. Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) has approved buying of 38 more Pilatus trainer aircraft. Pilatus trainer

aircraft are from which of the following countries? (1) United Kingdom (2) Switzerland (3) France (4) Sweden (5) Norway 3. Panjshir Valley on 1st March 2015, was hit by avalanches. This valley is located in (1) Nepal (2) Bhutan (3) Afghanistan (4) Pakistan (5) Iraq 4. According to Forbes magazine’s 29th Annual World billionaires list released on March 3, 2015, who is the

World’s top richest Billionaire with worth of 76 billion dollars? (1) Bill Gates (2) Carlos Slim Helu (3) Amancio Ortega (4) Warren Buffett (5) Mark Juckerberg 5. Baldev Sharma has been appointed as the chairman of (1) National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) (2) National Book Trust (NBT) (3) Press Council of India (4) PrasarBharti (5) NSE 6. The World Wildlife Day was observed on (1) March 3 (2) March 4 (3) March 5 (4) March 6 (5) March 8 7. A documentary film named ‘India's Daughter’ which has been directed by LesleeUdwin was recently

released by: (1) Fox TV (2) BBC (3) Discovery (4) NGC (5) History Channel 8. Which among the following days has been designated as Zero Discrimination Day? (1) March 5 (2) March 3 (3) March 1 (4) March 6 (5) March 15 9. Prime Minister NarendraModi has inaugurated two units of 600 Mega Watt (MW) each of Shree Singaji

Thermal Power Project in which of the following states? (1) Chhattisgarh (2) Madhya Pradesh (3) Rajasthan (4) Gujarat (5) Karnataka 10. Bharat-Nepal Maitri Bus Seva will connect: (1) Kathmandu’s Pashupatinath Temple with Varanasi’s KashiVishwanath Temple (2) Lucknow to Kathmnadu (3) New Delhi to Kathmandu (4) Kolkata to Kathmandu (5) Gorakhpur to Pokhra

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11. Which of the following countries created the World Cup record for highest-ever score of 417? (1) Ireland (2) South Africa (3) New Zealand (4) Australia (5) India 12. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 4 March 2015 reduced the repo rate by 25 basis points to: (1) 7.5 % (2) 6.5 % (3) 7.0 % (4) 8.0 % (5) 7.75% 13. As per the World Reputation Rankings 2015 report, released by The Times Higher Education, which

among the following Universities ranked 1st position in the world? (1) Oxford University (2) Cambridge University (3) Harvard University (4) Stanford University (5) Princeton University 14. Which among the following states won Ranji Trophy title of cricket 2015? (1) Karnataka (2) Tamil Nadu (3) Maharashtra (4) Uttar Pradesh (5) Mumbai 15. Name the first cricket player who scored four consecutive centuries in a Cricket World Cup history? (1) Sachin Tendulkar (2) Kumar Sangakkara (3) Chris Gayle (4) Brian Lara (5) A B Devilliers 16. Which country won the bid to host 17th Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup 2019? (1) Saudi Arabia (2) Kuwait (3) UAE (4) China (5) South Korea 17. As per the data released by Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs, which of the following is the largest

corporate with assets worth 3.68 lakh crore rupees? (1) Reliance Industries Ltd (2) Indian Oil Corporation (3) HDFC (4) NTPC (5) GAIL 18. First Kisan Call Centre of North-East opened recently in: (1) Imphal, Manipur (2) Agartala, Tripura (3) Dispur, Assam (4) Shillong, Meghalaya (5) Gangtok, Sikkim 19. Solar powered plane Solar Impulse-2 took off to round-the-world odyssey from: (1) Abu Dhabi (2) New York (3) London (4) Tokyo (5) Sharjah 20. As per the Bhagyashree scheme, which state government will deposit an amount of 21200 rupees in bank

for a girl child born in a Below the Poverty Line (BPL) family? (1) Rajasthan (2) Madhya Pradesh (3) Maharashtra (4) Haryana (5) Punjab 21. Who has been selected for SaraswatiSamman 2014 for his/her poem 'Ramayana Mahanveshanam'

published in 2007? (1) Govind Mishra (2) VeerappaMoily (3) Sugathakumari (4) Lakshmi Nandan Bora (5) BalachandraNemade 22. With an aim to combat the problem of declining child sex ratio in the state, which state government has

launched ‘AapkiBetiHumariBeti’ scheme? (1) Haryana (2) Punjab (3) Rajasthan (4) Madhya Pradesh (5) Bihar

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23. Who has been awarded ‘Rani Lakshmibai Award’ of Stree Shakti Puruskar 2014? (1) RashmiAnand (2) SeemaPrakash (3) Sister Mariola (4) Nandita Krishna (5) SushmitaSen 24. Name the former Maldivian President who has been sentenced to 13-year imprisonment by a criminal

court under the anti-terrorism laws? (1) Mohammed Waheed Hassan (2) Mohamed Nasheed (3) Maumoon Abdul Gayoom (4) Abdulla Yameen (5) None of the above 25. As per the latest data, released by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) , which

country is the world's largest arms importer? (1) Pakistan (2) India (3) China (4) Iran (5) Saudi Arabia 26. What is the rank of India on UN's Disaster Risk and Age Index among 190 countries that are worse on

most parameters of providing their elderly a secure environment? (1) 28th (2) 25th (3) 20th (4) 21st (5) 37th

27. Which among the following football teams won the 69th edition of Santosh Trophy 2015? (1) Services (2) Punjab (3) Mizoram (4) Railways (5) West Bengal 28. Name the veteran Gandhian, winner of the 18th Moortidevi Award 2004 for his famous work ‘Maroon

JeewanAj Mari Vaani’ which is based upon the life, philosophy and work of Mahatma Gandhi and who died recently

(1) Mahadev Desai (2) Narayan Desai (3) GhelubhaiNaik (4) NirmalaDeshpande (5) MadhavendraShastri 29. World Consumer Rights Day is observed on: (1) March 21 (2) March 15 (3) March 17 (4) March 20 (5) March 1 30. Who is the winner of Formula-1 Australian Grand Prix 2015? (1) NicoRosberg (2) Fernando Alonso (3) Sebastian Vettel (4) Lewis Hamilton (5) None of the above 31. 3rd UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction held recently in which city of Japan? (1) Kobe (2) Sendai (3) Yokohama (4) Kushiro (5) Tokyo 32. In which of the following countries the year 2015 is being observed as the "Visit India Year"? (1) Mauritius (2) Japan (3) China (4) Sri Lanka (5) Bangladesh 33. Name the Indian-American scientist, winner of Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 2009 with Tom Steitz and Ada

Yonath, who has been named as the President of Britain's prestigious Royal Society? (1) VenkatramanRamakrishnan (2) RangaswamySrinivasan (3) Thomas Zacharia (4) AnirvanGhosh (5) Ramesh Shah

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34. In the financial year 2014-15, which among the following Airports has registered highest growth in passenger traffic and cargo volume among all the international airports in the country?

(1) Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (2) Indira Gandhi International Airport (3) Mangalore International Airport (4) ChhatrapatiShivaji International Airport (5) NetajiSubhash Chandra Bose International Airport 35. Which Indian badminton player won the men’s singles Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold title of the

championship 2015? (1) KidambiSrikanth (2) ArvindBhat (3) Ajay Jayaram (4) ParupalliKashyap (5) None of the above 36. What is the percentage of reservation recently approved by the Union Cabinet for women in police forces

of all Union territories including Delhi police, through direct recruitment in non-gazetted posts like constables to sub-inspectors?

(1) 33 percent (2) 30 percent (3) 50 percent (4) 25 percent (5) 20 percent 37. Who among the following Bollywood actors has been roped in as the brand ambassador for Union

Government’s campaign against Hepatitis B? (1) Amitabh Bachchan (2) Aamir Khan (3) Salman Khan (4) Shahrukh Khan (5) Rishi Kapoor 38. Which of the following cricket captains recently became the third captain in the history to record the 100th

ODI wins? (1) Mahendra Singh Dhoni (2) Michael Clarke (3) Brendon McCullum (4) AB de Villiers (5) MisbahUlHaq 39. Rajasthan’s first state-run human milk bank, “JeevanDhara” has been inaugurated in which of the

following districts? (1) Udaipur (2) Dungarpur (3) Barmer (4) Jaipur (5) Kota 40. Name the novelist who won the Folio Prize 2015 for his novel ‘Family Life’. (1) Miriam Toews (2) Akhil Sharma (3) ColmToibin (4) Ali Smith (5) Rajeev Khandpaul 41. What is the rank of India out of 102 countries in government transparency index 2015? (1) 36th (2) 35th (3) 37th (4) 32th (5) 49th 42. Ministry of Railways recently has constituted a committee to review the performance of the Public Private

Partnership cell under the chairmanship of: (1) Ajay Shankar (2) AmitMitra (3) Anil Kakodkar (4) BibekDebroy (5) E Shridharan 43. Who among the following female Bollywood actors won Best Actress award at 62nd National Film

Awards? (1) Alia Bhatt (2) KanganaRanaut (3) DeepikaPadukone (4) Priyanka Chopra (5) ShraddhaKapoor

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44. Name the former Prime Minister of Singapore, the statesman and founding father of Singapore, who died recently.

(1) Lee Kuan Yew (2) GohChok Tong (3) Wong KanSeng (4) Lee HsienLoong (5) Hieuen Nee Tsang 45. Who has been named as the 2015 Stockholm Water Prize Laureate? (1) John Briscoe (2) MadhavAtmaramChitale (3) Rajendra Singh (4) BindeshwarPathak (5) MadhavGadgill 46. Who won the women’s doubles BNP Paribas Open Tennis Tournament 2015? (1) Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina (2) Martina Hingis and SaniaMirza (3) Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur (4) Elena Vesnina and SaniaMirza (5) Martina Navaratilova and Venus Williams 47. Who of the following has been chosen for the prestigious Tyler Prize 2015 for environmental

achievement? (1) Simon A. Levin (2) Diane H. Wall (3) MadhavGadgil (4) M. S. Swaminathan (5) DevendraAcharaya 48. Which state government has decided recently that the sellers of Gutka will be booked under non-bailable

sections regarding the offence? (1) Maharashtra (2) Rajasthan (3) Uttar Pradesh (4) Haryana (5) Punjab 49. Who among the following has been selected for the Dada Sahib Phalke Award 2014? (1) Gulzar (2) AshaBhosle (3) ShashiKapoor (4) Dilip Kumar (5) VinodKhanna 50. Which among the following High Courts has become the first court in India to set up commercial courts for

speedy disposal of cases? (1) Delhi High Court (2) Bombay High Court (3) Madras High Court (4) Calcutta High Court (5) Allahabad High Court

BankTest Prep



Answer Key

1 1 2 2 3 3 4 1 5 2 6 1 7 2 8 3 9 2 10 1

11 4 12 1 13 3 14 1 15 2 16 3 17 1 18 2 19 1 20 3

21 2 22 1 23 2 24 2 25 2 26 1 27 1 28 2 29 2 30 4

31 2 32 3 33 1 34 1 35 1 36 1 37 1 38 1 39 1 40 2

41 3 42 4 43 2 44 1 45 3 46 2 47 3 48 1 49 3 50 1

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