Current Affairs Monthly Magazine - March, 2015 - Exam Pundit

Monthly Current Affairs Magazine
March 2015
Disclaimer
If you have any doubt regarding any news kindly verify it. If you find any Typing Error,
Repeated News then our Apologies for that.
This magazine is important for Bank of Baroda Exam, as well as NICL Assistant Exam.
A separate Magazine for NICL Assistant will be provided.
I can't change the direction of the wind,but I can adjust

my sails to always reach my destination.
- Jimmy Dean
Table of Contents
Finance, RBI & Banking/Insurance
Business Deals & MoUs
News related to India
News Around the World
Appointments - India
Appointments - World
Awards & Honors
List & Indexes
Sports News
Days in March
Obituaries
ICC Cricket World Cup 2015
Books in March
62nd National Awards
4/6/2015
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News Related to Finance/Banking/Economy

Gross bank credit grew by 10.1 per cent in the December quarter as against 14.2 per cent growth
registered in the year-ago period, according to the RBI data.
Aggregate deposits grew 10.9 per cent in the period which was slower than 15.4 percent
registered in the year-ago quarter.
Metropolitan branches, constituting 53.1 per cent of aggregate deposits and 64.2 percent of
gross bank credit, recorded the highest credit-deposit (CD) ratio at 92.3 per cent, it said. For
other population groups, CD ratio was lower than the national level of 76.4 percent.
The CD ratio was the highest for Tamil Nadu (121.1 per
cent) followed by Chandigarh (114.9 per cent), Andhra
(109.3 per cent) and Telangana (106.4 per cent).
RBI RATES
Bank Rate - 8.50%
Cash Reserve Ratio
State-run oil firms including Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) will
invest over Rs. 76,565 crore on the project expansion during 201516, up 5 per cent over the previous fiscal.
ONGC, the nations most profitable company, will see its

capital expenditure rise to Rs. 36,249.37 crore as compared
with Rs. 34,813 crore in the current fiscal, according to the
Budget 2015-16 document.
World Bank approved USD 500 million loan for its MSME Growth
Innovation and Inclusive Finance Project to improve access to
finance for Indian small and medium enterprises in manufacturing
and services sector.
(CRR) - 4 %
Statutory Liquidity
Ratio (SLR) - 21.5 %
Repo Rate - 7.50 %
Reverse Repo Rate 6.50 %
Marginal Standing
Facility (MSF) - 8.50 %
The Project will support MSMEs through direct financing by the Small Industries Development
Bank of India (SIDBI) and Participating Financial Institutions (PFIs) across three components.
Countrys third largest software services firm Wipro has partnered with the World Economic Forum
(WEF) to develop a cyber-value-at-risk (VAR) framework that will allow organisations to assess threat
landscape, the nature of assets needed protection and quality of defenses.
4/6/2015
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has refused to share its banks' inspection reports on alleged money
laundering laws and other violations with Central Economic Intelligence Bureau (CEIB), citing legal
hurdles.
The RBI was required to share relevant extracts of inspection reports with law enforcement
agencies and CEIB, an apex intelligence agency under the Finance Ministry, to check black
money and other financial crimes where gross violations of Know Your Customer (KYC)
guidelines and Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) are noticed, official sources said.
RBI reduced Repo rate by 25 basis points to 7.5 percent
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 4 March 2015 reduced the repo rate by 25 basis points to
7.5 percent with immediate effect.
This is the second time since January 2015 that RBI reduced the repo rate by 25 basis points.
With this, the reverse repo rate under the LAF stands adjusted to 6.5 percent, and the
marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the Bank rate to 8.5 percent.
The RBI reduced the repo rate outside the bi-monetary policy review cycle taking into account the
following developments:
1. The new Consumer Price Index (CPI) rebased to 2012 was released on 12 February 2015. As per
this, inflation in January 2015 stood at 5.1 percent which was well within the target of 8 percent
for January 2015.
2. The prices of vegetables and inflation excluding food and fuel reached a new low indicating that
disinflation is evolving along the path set out by the RBI in January 2014 and at a faster pace
than earlier envisaged.
3. The recently-released GDP estimates based on base year 2011-12 by Central Statistical Office
(CSO) pictures a steadily recovering economy which appears to be right.
4. In Union Budget 2015-16, many important and valuable structural reforms has been included.
This will help improve supply over the medium term and help achieve fiscal consolidation.
5. The rupee remained strong relative to peer countries, thus, creating disinflationary impulses.
To make it easier for new individual investors, market regulator SEBI announced a 'Saral' or simplified
account opening form for such persons and eased the process for submitting address proof documents.
The move comes in the backdrop of the government and the regulator making efforts to attract new
retail investors to the market especially for the disinvestment share sales through Offer For Sale (OFS)
and other routes.
4/6/2015
Insurance Bill passed by Lok Sabha The long-pending Insurance bill, a key economic reform legislation
providing for raising foreign investment cap to 49 per cent, was passed by Lok Sabha with the
government insisting that the measure is crucial for expanding the penetration of insurance in the
country.
The controversial Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, which seeks to replace an ordinance, also
provides for imprisonment of up to 10 years for selling policies without registration with the
regulator IRDA.
The proposed legislation will also allow PSU general insurers to raise funds from the capital
market and provides for increased penalty to deter multilevel marketing of insurance products.
The bill, one of the key reform legislations, has been pending since 2008.
Lok Sabha passed the Coal Mines bill to allow e-auction of coal blocks after the Supreme Court
cancelled their allocation leading to uncertainty in the coal sector, amid opposition by Left and some
other opposition parties.
The Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Bill, 2015, would replace two ordinances issued by the
government - - the first on October 21 last year and the other in December, after the apex court
cancelled the allocation of 204 blocks.
Replying to a debate on the bill, Coal and Power Minister Piyush Goyal said its passage would
ensure "transparent and honest" process of auctioning of coal blocks.
Highlighting the necessity of passing the bill, he warned that if the Bill is not passed, then there
could be a crisis in the coal sector with the closure of these mines.
Union Government and RBI signed an agreement on Monetary Policy Framework
Union Government and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) signed an agreement on Monetary Policy
Framework. The agreement was signed on 20 February 2015 but was made public on 2 March
2015.
The agreement empowers the RBI to go for inflation targeting that is common in developed
countries and it also empowers RBI to monitor its monetary policy framework.
As per the agreement, RBI will aim to bring down the inflation below six percent by January
2016 and inflation target for 2016-2017 and subsequent years will be 4 percent +/-2 percentage
points.
Features of the agreement that empowers RBI to monitor its framework
4/6/2015
Indias monetary policy framework will be operated by the RBI.
Indias monetary policy framework will aim to maintain price stability while keeping in mind
the objective of growth.
If the RBI fails to meet the target, then it will have to report to the Union Government the
reasons for the failure to achieve the target.
It will also provide the remedial action to take and estimate of the time period within which the
target would be achieved.
It will put in place a framework of a modern monetary policy to meet the challenges of an
increasingly complex economy.
The RBIs Governor will determine the countrys key interest rates or any measures needed to
achieve that inflation target.
It binds the Union Government to take proactive measures for price control.
The agreement will provide a predictable policy stance on inflation, helping investors, especially
in the debt market
The agreement was signed in line with the recommendations of the RBIs Urjit Patel committee. The
committees recommendation will smoothen the monetary policy scene in the country. At present, the
Union Government and the RBI provides inflation estimates but dont set any targets for it.
Union Ministry of Shipping on 3 March 2015 signed an agreement with Toyota for export of automobile
units. The export of automobile units will be done through Kamarajar Port Limited (KPL).
Giving a boost to affordable housing, the RBI eased the norms for home loans for up to Rs 10 lakh by
allowing banks to include stamp duty and registration charges to the cost of a unit. These charges form
around 15 per cent of the cost of the house and place a burden on borrowers. As per the current
practice, banks do not include stamp duty, registration and other documentation charges in the cost of
housing property.
Global food prices fell to a nearly five-year low in February this year on increased supply of key food
items and strong US dollar, according to the United Nations food agency FAO.
Food prices averaged at 179.4 points in February, down from 181.2 points in January and 208.6
points in February 2014, the Food and Agriculture Organisations price index showed.
4/6/2015
FAOs Food Price Index is a trade-weighted index that tracks prices of five major food
commodity groups on international markets. It aggregates price sub-indices of cereals, meat,
dairy products, vegetable oils and sugar. FAO HQ Rome, Italy.
National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the umbrella organisation for all retail payment system
in India, has successfully linked 15 crore bank accounts with Aadhaar number.
The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) net dollar purchases from the spot market rose to a near seven-year
high in January 2015 to $12.14 billion, a level last seen in January 2008 amounting to $13.63 billion.
In a bid to keep comfortable liquidity in the system in the fourth quarter, RBI had started making
dollar purchases more from the spot market than what they were doing earlier. Net dollar
purchases of RBI stood at $6.74 billion in December 2014.
Railways, LIC sign MoU to set up projects worth Rs. 1.5 trillion
Just within fifteen days of presenting the Railway Budget 2015-16, the Minister of Railways
Suresh
Prabhu fulfilled yet another commitment of his Budget announcement by achieving the highest
ever funding of Rs 1.5 lakh crore for Railways.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Ministry of Railways and
Life Insurance Corporation (LIC). Under this MoU, LIC will make available to the Ministry of
Railways/its entities a Financial Assistance with a limit of 1,50,000 crore over the next five years
for implementing Railway projects. The Financial Assistance will be available from the Financial
Year 2015-16.
Terming Indian economy a "bright spot" on the global economic landscape, IMF raised its growth
forecast for the current fiscal to 7.2 per cent, even as it called for steps to revitalise the investment
cycle and accelerate structural reforms in the country.
EPFO trustees approve raising age limit under pension scheme to 60
At present, a formal sector worker covered under the EPS-95 can make contributions towards
pension scheme till the age of 58 years and can claim pension thereafter.
4/6/2015
After the amendment to the pension scheme, a formal sector worker can choose to contribute
towards it till 60 years of age. This will provide him a benefit of 4 percent enhanced pension per
year.
India and Mauritius will work together to avoid the "abuse" of double taxation avoidance convention,
Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared, as the two countries agreed to push negotiations for a long
pending revision of the treaty.
Often corporates have been accused of laundering money through the "Mauritius route" for
channelling FDI in India and the two governments have been in negotiations to curb this
practice. Negotiations to amend the bilateral tax treaty have been hanging fire for a long time
amid India's apprehensions
that it is being misused to
About the Sukanya Samridhi Account
route black money and
1. AS PER THE DETAILS OF THE SCHEME, 'SUKANYA
evade taxes.
Reserve Bank of India has agreed

for a $1.5-billion currency swap
agreement with the Sri Lankan
central bank to help the island
nation keep its currency stable. At
the current valuation, one Indian
rupee is equivalent to 2.12 Sri
Lankan rupees. It has lost almost
three per cent value in comparison
to the Indian rupee so far in 2015.
Arjuna Mahendran Governor of
Central Bank of Sri Lanka.
SAMRIDHI ACCOUNT' CAN BE OPENED AT ANY TIME

FROM THE BIRTH OF A GIRL CHILD TILL SHE ATTAINS THE
AGE OF 10 YEARS, WITH A MINIMUM DEPOSIT OF RS
1,000. A MAXIMUM OF RS 1.5 LAKH CAN BE DEPOSITED
DURING THE FINANCIAL YEAR.
2.
THE ACCOUNT CAN BE OPENED IN ANY POST OFFICE OR

AUTHORISED BRANCHES OF COMMERCIAL BANKS.
3.
THE ACCOUNT WILL REMAIN OPERATIVE FOR 21 YEARS

FROM THE DATE OF OPENING OF THE ACCOUNT OR
MARRIAGE OF THE GIRL CHILD AFTER ATTAINING 18
YEARS OF AGE.
4.
TO MEET THE REQUIREMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION

EXPENSES, PARTIAL WITHDRAWAL OF 50 PER CENT OF
THE BALANCE WOULD BE ALLOWED AFTER THE GIRL
CHILD HAS ATTENDED 18 YEARS OF AGE.
1.8 lakh accounts opened under

Sukanya scheme in 2 months of
launch
As many as 1.80 lakh accounts have been opened under 'Sukanya Samridhi Scheme' in less than
two months of launch of the special programme for girl child, with the maximum number of
accounts in Karnataka and the least in Bihar.
On January 22, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched a small deposit scheme for girl
child, as part of the 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao' campaign. The deposits would fetch an interest
rate of 9.1 per cent and provide income tax rebate as well.
As per data available with the Finance Ministry, 56,471 accounts have been opened in
Karnataka, followed by 43,362 accounts in Tamil Nadu and 15,877 accounts in Andhra Pradesh.
4/6/2015
However, Bihar accounted for the least number of accounts opened at just 204, followed by
Kerala 222 and West Bengal 334, the data showed.
National Capital Delhi saw 2,054 accounts being opened, 4,177 accounts in Haryana while 7,620
accounts have been opened in Uttar Pradesh.
Falling for the fourth straight month, wholesale price inflation showed negative growth of 2.06 per cent
in February from a year ago. It had declined -0.39 per cent in January and was 5.03 per cent in February
2014. Food prices rose 7.74 per cent, according to official data released in March. Inflation in prices of
onions, pulses and protein-rich food items such as egg, meat and fish rose and declined in prices of
vegetables, fruits and milk during February.
Social networking giant Facebook on 14 March 2015 acquired the shopping search engine TheFind.
With the acquisition, Facebook has moved into the e-commerce. Both Facebook and TheFind cast the
acquisition as a way to lift the digital advertising business of Facebook.
India's third largest IT services exporter Wipro Ltd. announced the appointment of appointment of
former TCS top executive Mr. Abid Ali Neemuchwala as the Group President and Chief Operating
Officer of the company.
HDFC Bank launched Chillr, a mobile app that allows users to instantly transfer money to any contact in
their phonebook.
The bank has partnered with MobME, a Kochi-based technology firm, to launch this app. Chillr is
a first-of-its kind application that is linked directly to customers bank accounts.
With Chillr, the banks customers can transfer money to any person in India once they download
the app and register.
The app works on the Android and iOS operating systems and will soon be launched for the
Windows phone as well.
The app is useful for college students and young professionals. Parents whose children study in
other cities can transfer money via the app.
Soon users will also be able to pay utility bills and various merchants via the mobile, HDFC Bank
said in a statement.
Each transaction will be charged Rs. 3.50.
There is a limit of 10 transactions of Rs. 5,000 and a maximum of Rs. 50,000 in a month,
according to company officials.
4/6/2015
The ongoing dispute between Sahara and Mirach took a new turn with the latter announcing a $400million defamation suit against the Sahara Group and a news outlet for attempting to discredit Mirach
and its CEO in the court of public opinion.
IAS officer D K Ravi who 'exposed tax frauds' and took on land mafia in Karnataka found dead.
The Union Cabinet on 17 March 2015 approved the Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets (Imposition
of Tax) Bill, 2015 to deal with cases relating to black money stashed away in other countries.
Important provisions of the Bill
Concealment of income and assets and evasion of tax in relation to foreign assets will be
prosecutable with punishment of rigorous imprisonment up to 10 years.
Penalty for such concealment of income and assets at the rate of 300% of tax shall be levied
The government will give a short window to those stashing black money abroad to declare their
wealth, pay taxes and penalty, and escape prosecution under the proposed law.
Non filing of return or filing of return with inadequate disclosure of foreign assets will be liable
for prosecution with punishment of rigorous imprisonment up to 7 years.
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.
To encourage investment in research and entrepreneurial activities in the biotechnology field, the
government has asked the RBI to declare it as a priority sector to make lending easy for start-ups.
In keeping with his Budget announcement, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu constituted the Kayakalp
Council and appointed industrialist Ratan Tata as its head. In, perhaps, a first, the Minister also included
two key employee representatives in the council. The Railways has about 1.55 million employees and is
considered one of the worlds largest employers.
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.
4/6/2015
Security and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Board on 22 March 2015 approved the SEBI (Issue and
Listing of Debt Securities by Municipality) Regulations, 2015. The regulations will enable the resources
starved municipalities across the country to mobilise financial resources from capital market.
New norms for listing and trading of municipal bonds
1. An issuer making a public issue shall only issue revenue bonds. In case of private placements, an
issuer may issue general obligation bonds or revenue bonds
2. Issuers contribution for each project shall not be less than 20 percent of the project costs,
which shall be contributed from their internal resources or grants
3. Mandatory credit rating, which has to be investment grade rating in case of public issuances
4. The tenure of these bonds will be of 3 years
5. Municipality should not have defaulted in repayment of debt securities or loans obtained from
6. Banks/Financial Institutions, during the previous 365 days
The capital market regulator, Security and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Board on 22 March 2015
approved SEBI (International Financial Services Centres) Guidelines, 2015. The guidelines for IFSCs aim
to provide an enabling environment for setting up of capital market infrastructure like stock exchanges,
clearing houses, depository services, etc., in such centres.
Guidelines for International Financial Services Centres (IFSC)
1. Any Indian stock exchange by the SEBI or a foreign stock exchange recognized by the originating
countrys market regulator can set up subsidiaries in IFSC.
2. A stock exchange can be set up with 25 crore rupees capital, against the normal requirement of
100crore rupees. However, this will have to be raised to 100 crore rupees within three years.
Such exchanges will also be given three years to complete de-mutualisation.
3. A Clearing Corporation can be set up, with 50 crore rupees capital, against the norm of 300
crore rupees, which will have to be achieved within three years of establishment.
Kerala Finance Minister K M Mani has been appointed as the Chairman of the Empowered Committee
of State Finance Ministers on Goods and Services Tax (GST). The GST, an indirect tax regime, is to be
rolled out from April 2016. Earlier on March 20, the GST Empowered Committee met Union Finance
Minister Arun Jaitley wherein state Finance Ministers asked him to select the new Chairman.
The Reserve Bank of India has rejected a proposal made by Tata Sons', the holding company of all Tata
group firms, to buy NTT DoCoMo's stake in joint venture Tata Teleservices Ltd (TTSL) for about Rs.
7,250 crore. In April last year, NTT DoCoMo, Japans biggest telecom operator by subscribers, said it will
sell its entire 26.5 per cent stake in TTSL, thus exiting India five years after it entered the market. The
plans to exit came after the Indian company failed to achieve certain performance targets specified in
the agreement between the two companies.
4/6/2015
10
The RBI signed a $400-million currency swap agreement with the Central Bank of Sri Lanka for three
years that will allow the island nation to draw the amount in dollars or euros in multiple tranches. The
agreement, which will be valid for three years, is expected to further economic co-operation between
the two countries, it added.
Indian Railways on 24 March 2015 launched its own RuPay pre-paid card. The card will enable
passengers to book their Rail tickets and do shopping using RuPay pre-paid debit cards. Card can be
availed from either the Union Bank or the IRCTC.
The Ministry of Railways appointed Ajay Shankar committee on 25 March 2015 to review the
performance of the Public Private Partnership (PPP) cell functioning under the Railway Board.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) released the Asian Development Outlook (ADO) on 24 March 2015.
The report is titled Financing Asias Future Growth.
The ADO report projected that India will overtake China in terms growth rate in Financial Year
(FY) 2015, and 2016.
India is forecasted to grow at the rate of 7.4 percent in FY 2014, 7.8 percent in FY 2015 and 8.2
percent in 2016 compared to Chinas growth rate of 7.4 percent in FY 2014, 7.2 percent in FY
2015 and 7.0 percent in FY 2016.
The Union Ministry of Finance and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on 26 March 2015 signed a loan
agreement for 300 million US dollars to improve road connectivity along the North Bengal-North Eastern
(NB-NE) Region. The agreement was signed in New Delhi.
Union Ministry of Finance on 26 March 2015 sanctioned 250 crore rupees to Andhra Pradesh to set up
Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for the implementation of the Polavaram Multi Purpose Irrigation Project.
The Union Minister of State for Textile Santosh Kumar Gangwar on 25 March 2015 announced a 430
crore rupees project for production of the Geo-textiles in the North Eastern region. The announcement
was during the laying of foundation stone for first ever modern Apparel and Garment Manufacturing
Centre in Gangtok, Sikkim.
The Reserve Bank of India has almost finalised the structure of Central Fraud Registry and will soon
come up with guidelines to enable quick sharing of information about unscrupulous borrowers and help
banks fight bad loans.
4/6/2015
11
Corporation Bank and Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India signed a memorandum of understanding
(MoU) in Mangaluru for implementing Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY), the central
governments scheme to bring the entire nation under the ambit of insurance coverage. Under PMJJBY,
Corporation Banks Aadhar-linked savings account holders will be eligible for life insurance up to 2 lakh
for a premium of 330 (plus service tax) per annum.
Max Life Insurance and Lakshmi Vilas Bank have entered into a 5 year bancassurance tie-up for
distribution of the formers life insurance products through the 400 branches of the private sector bank.
Insurance Australia Group Ltd (IAG) on 26 March 2015 announced that it will raise its stake in SBI
General Insurance (SBIGI) from 26 percent to 49 percent. IAG decided to increase its stake in SBIGI in
the backdrop of the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2015 which was passed in the Parliament in
March 2015. The bill seeks to increase foreign investment limit in local insurers to 49 percent from 26
percent.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) plans tougher rules for takeovers involving non-banking financial
companies (NBFCs), according to draft guidelines published, outlining a demand that all substantial
deals seek its prior approval. In its latest effort to boost transparency and strengthen its grip on the
alternative lenders that account for a large part of the domestic shadow-banking sector, the RBI said any
purchase of a stake of 26 per cent or more in a company, or a change in more than 30 per cent of its
directors, would need the central banks permission.
The Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has signed two agreements worth $500 million
and $43 million with the World Bank, which will immensely benefit the MSMEs of the country.
Business Deals / MoUs

Ola on March 2, 2015 acquired TaxiForSure for $200 million in a cash and equity deal, signaling
consolidation in the $11 billion taxi industry. Ola and TaxiForSure will continue to operate as separate
entities.
Anil Ambani-led Reliance Infrastructure Ltd on 4 March 2015 announced the acquisition of
management control of Pipavav Defence and Offshore Engineering Company Ltd (PDOE) for 2082.3
crore rupees. With this acquisition, Reliance Infrastructure Ltd will foray into the emerging business of
defence production.
4/6/2015
12
Forbes magazine on 3 March 2015 released Global Billionaires 2015 annual list. Bill Gates co-founder of
Microsoft topped the global billionaires list of Forbes magazine with worth of 79.2 billion US dollars for
the 16th time. The United States topped the list with 536 rich people, followed by China at 213 rich
people, Germany at 103 rich people and India at 90 rich people.
Among Indian women, Savitri Jindal and family was ranked 283 on the list with a net worth of
$5.3 billion in 2015, up from $4.9 billion in 2014.
Sun Pharma Group's promoter Dilip Shanghvi moving ahead of Reliance Industries' Mukesh Ambani to
become the richest Indian. Excluding Ranbaxy's valuation (its merger with Sun Pharma is yet to be
completed), Shanghvi's net worth after recent gains was Rs 1.4 lakh crore. Ambani's net worth was Rs
1.3 lakh crore.
Flipkart on 6 March 2015 acquired mobile ad network AdiQuity. The acquisition is aimed at increasing
advertising muscle of Flipkart.
Tata Motors-owned Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is set to build its first all-electric car in Austria. The luxury
car-makers Jaguar brand could begin production of the vehicle next year.
Tata Consultancy Services has been named as the top employer in Europe for the third consecutive
year by a top employers certification agency Top Employers Institute, citing the Indian IT major as an
exceptional performer in nine core human resources areas.
Fast moving consumer goods major Emami Ltd has roped in actor Hrithik Roshan as one of the brand
ambassadors for the Fair and Handsome brand. Hrithik, already a brand ambassador for Emamis He
range of mens deodorants, will now endorse the fairness face-wash (under the Fair and Handsome).
With e-commerce business growing in India, realty major DLF has tied-up with online market place
Snapdeal to sell its apartments and would offer 1 per cent discount to potential home buyers. DLF will
offer on Snapdeal about 50 flats in eight housing projects across the country in a price range of Rs 34
lakh to Rs 3 crore.
Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs on 10 March 2015 released data of top ten Corporate of 2014. The
pack of top ten corporate comprises of eight public sector undertakings and two private sector
undertakings.
4/6/2015
13
In term of assets, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) is the largest corporate with assets worth 3.68
lakh crore rupees. RIL is followed by state-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) with assets worth
2.52 lakh crore rupees and mortgage lender Housing Development Finance Corp (HDFC) with
assets worth 2.25 lakh crore rupees.
Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) signed a

Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with
Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National
University of Singapore (NUS) on 19 March
2015 to improve Indias rating on ease of doing
business.
Kraft Foods Group Inc, the maker of Velveeta

cheese and Oscar Mayer meats, will merge
with ketchup maker H.J. Heinz Co, owned by
3G Capital and Berkshire Hathaway Inc, to
form the world's fifth-largest food and
beverage company.
MOST IN NEWS
BRITISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION
(BBC) ON 4 MARCH 2015 RELEASED A
DOCUMENTARY FILM INDIA'S DAUGHTER.
THE DOCUMENTARY FILM HAS BEEN
DIRECTED BY LESLEE UDWIN.
Reliance Power commissioned the sixth and final 660-Mw unit of the 3,960-Mw Sasan Ultra Mega
Power Project (UMPP). With this, all of Sasan UMPP units have successfully been commissioned, 12
months ahead of the power-purchase agreement (PPA) schedule. The first five units of 660 Mw each,
totalling 3,300 Mw, had been commissioned in about 12 months. The Sasan UMPP is the largest
integrated power-plant-cum-coal-mining project at a single location in the world.
News Related to India

In order to facilitate last mile connectivity to passengers and tourists, the IRCTC has launched concierge
services at New Delhi railway station. The service aims to facilitate train passengers at the station in
hiring a porter, getting information regarding running status of the trains, and arranging a taxi for
dropping the passenger to his residence or hotel, a senior IRCTC official said.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) on 3 March 2015 launched National Electoral Roll Purification
and Authentication Programme (NERPAP) throughout India. The programme was launched with the
prime objective to bring a total error-free and authenticated electoral roll. During the NERPAP,
Electronic Privacy Information Centre (EPIC) data of electors will be linked with Aadhar data of UIDAI
for the purpose of authentication.
4/6/2015
14
President Pranab Mukherjee on 2 March 2015 gave his assent to the Maharashtra Animal Preservation
(Amendment) Bill 1995. This amendment bans slaughter of bulls and bullocks in Maharashtra. President
gave his assent to the Bill as per the provisions in Article 201 of the Constitution of India.
Features of the amendment
If anyone is found selling beef or in possession of it can be jailed for five years and fined up to
10000 rupees.
The new act will however allow slaughter of water buffaloes, which provides carabeef, generally
seen as inferior quality meat (that makes up only 25 percent of the total beef market in the
state).
Worlds largest and tallest Indian national flag was unfurled on 3 March 2015 at Town Park in
Faridabad, Haryana. The flag was unfurled by BJP president Amit Shah, Haryana CM ML Khattar and
Bollywood actor Ranbir Kapoor.
The flag has dimension of 96 feet by 64 feet and weighs 48 kilograms. Flag was hoisted at the
height of 250 feet (75 meters). Thus, making it the worlds largest and the highest hoisted
Indian flag in the world.
The unfurling event was organised by Nav Chetna Trust which is formed to work on social issues
like Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Campaign and Swachh Bharat Mission.
Another such flag is located at the Central Park in Connaught Place, New Delhi. This flag is 60
feet in width and 90 feet in length and is hoisted at the height of 207 feet.
National Building Construction Corporation Ltd (NBCC) and Delhi Development Authority (DDA) on
March 4, 2015 signed an MoU for the first smart sub-city to come up at Karkardooma in East Delhi. The
30-hectare DDA land will be developed by NBCC as the first transit oriented development (TOD) smart
city in Delhi -- East Delhi Hub Project.
Union Minister Raosaheb Dadarao Danve, who was made Maharasthra BJP president a few months
back, resigned from the Council of Ministers over the principle of one-man, one-post. Mr. Danve, who
held the portfolio of Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, quit the
Council of Ministers over the principle of one-man, one-post, the sources said.
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Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar completed his SAARC Yatra of four nations on 4 March 2015. His SAARC
Yatra started on 1 March 2015 and ended on 4 March 2015. He undertook the SAARC Yatra with an aim
to firm up Indias ties with members of the grouping while reviewing regional and bilateral cooperation.
During the Yatra, he visited four countries namely Afghanistan on 4 March 2015, Pakistan on 3 March
2015, Bangladesh on 2 March 2014 and Bhutan on 1 March 2015.
Jaishankar visit to Afghanistan: During the visit, he called on Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and
CEO Abdullah Abdullah and held extensive talks focusing on India's development projects and
the security situation in the war-torn country.
Jaishankar visit to Pakistan: During the visit, he held Foreign Secretary level talks with his
Pakistani counterpart Aizaz Chaudhary, which was cancelled in July 2015. He also met with
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his Advisor on Foreign Affairs and National Security Sartaj Aziz.
He handed over a letter from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Pakistan Prime Minister Sharif.
Jaishankar visit to Bangladesh: During the visit, Jaishankar met with Prime Minister of
Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina in Dhaka. He also met with Bangladesh Foreign Minister Abul Hassan
Mahmud Ali and Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque. He held foreign secretary level
talks in Dhaka.
Jaishankar visit to Bhutan: During the visit, he met with Bhutanese Prime Minister Tshering
Tobgay and held discussions on SAARC co-operation and bilateral ties. He also met with the 4th
King of Bhutan Jigme Singye Wangchuck.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been named among the 30 most influential people on the
internet by Time magazine. The list also features President Barack Obama. Time said Prime Minister
Modi roughly has 38 million followers on social networking sites.
The Kathmandu-Varanasi-Kathmandu bus service was on 5 March 2015 flagged off jointly by India and
Nepal. Nepal Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Bimalendra Nidhi and Ambassador of
India to Nepal Ranjit Rae flagged off the bus service.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 5 March 2015 inaugurated two units of 600 Mega Watt (MW) each
of Shree Singaji Thermal Power Project at Dongliya village in Khandwa district of Madhya Pradesh. The
first phase of Shree Singaji Thermal Power Project with 1200 MW capacity has been developed by
Madhya Pradesh Power Generation Company Limited (MPPGCL) at an expense of 7820 crore rupees
With the commissioning of two plants, the total thermal power generation capacity of the State
increased to 4500 MW.
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British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) on 4 March 2015 released a documentary film India's
Daughter.
The documentary film has been directed by Leslee Udwin.
The film is based on the Delhi gang rape and murder of the 23-year-old female named Nirbhaya
that took place on 16 December 2012. The film was simultaneously released in Denmark,
Sweden, Switzerland, Norway and Canada.
The documentary includes an interview conducted by British filmmaker Leslee Udwin and BBC
of Mukesh Singh, the driver of the bus. Mukesh has made derogatory statements against
women.
India and Spain on 5 March 2015 signed an agreement on Mutual Protection of Classified Information
to provide the framework for enhanced bilateral cooperation in areas of defence research,
development and technology cooperation. The agreement was signed by the Defence Minister Manohar
Parrikar and Defence Minister of Spain Pedro Morenes Eulate. It was signed during the official visit of
Defence Minister of Pedro Moremes to India.
Subway opened an all-women operated outlet in Mumbai.
National Research Development Corporation (NRDC) and Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences
(CCRAS) on 5 March 2015 signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) to commercialise ayurvedic
medicines and technologies developed at CCRAS. The MoA was signed by Abhimanyu Kumar, Director
General of CCRAS and H Purushotham, Chairman & Managing Director of NRDC. The MoA provides
Intellectual Property Rights services to CCRAS in India and abroad.
The government has decided to recruit young female officers in the force and deploy them at select
locations like Nathula Pass along the Indo-China frontier. This is a maiden initiative undertaken for
women empowerment in the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP). Till now, women could only don the
combat uniform in the officer cadre in all central security forces like the Central Reserve Police Force
(CRPF), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and the border guarding forces Border Security Force
and Sashastra Seema Bal, except ITBP.
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on 8 March 2015 launched a scheme for girl child Aapki
Beti Humari Beti. The scheme was launched with an aim to combat the problem of declining child sex
ratio in the state.
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The scheme was announced at a state-level function on the occasion of International Womens
Day at Panchkula. Khattar launched the scheme by giving away a cheque of 21000 rupees each
to mothers of six female children born on or after 22 January 2015.
Key Characteristics of the Scheme
Under the scheme, the first girl child born on or after 22 January 2015 in Schedule Caste (SC)
and Below Poverty Line (BPL) families will be eligible to receive 21000 rupees.
The second girl child born on or after 22 January 2015 of all families will also receive the same
amount.
Families where twin girls or multiple girls are born will also get 21000 rupees per girl child.
Other schemes that were launched during the function
Haryana Kanya Kosh: for the welfare and development of girl child and women in the state
Multi Sectoral Nutrition Programme: The programme will address the maternal and child
nutrition in five districts namely Mewat, Fatehabad, Narnaul, Palwal and Kaithal.
Maharashtra Government on 8 March 2015 launched Bhagyashree scheme for girl child. The scheme
replaced Sukanya scheme. As per the scheme, the state government will deposit an amount of 21200
rupees in bank for a girl child born in a Below the Poverty Line (BPL) family. The Bhagyashree scheme
aims at providing one lakh rupee on maturity after the girl completes 18 years of age. The scheme was
launched by the Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis in the presence of Bollywood actress
Bhagyashree. Bollywood actress Bhagyashree is the brand ambassador of the scheme.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 9 March 2015 launched the first indigenously developed Rotavirus
vaccine named Rotavac. This is the third such vaccine, besides GSK Rotarix and Mercks RotaTeq
available globally against Rotavirus.
First Kisan Call Centre (KCC) of North-East was opened on 9 March 2015 in Agartala, Tripura. The KCC
was launched by the Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar. KCC was financed by the Tripura
government. It will be run by a private enterprise with experts of agriculture, horticulture, fisheries and
animal husbandry.
Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla, ex-coal secretary P C
Parakh and three others were summoned as accused by a special court in a coal scam case pertaining to
the allocation of Talabira-II coal block in Odisha in 2005 and asked to appear before it on April 8. Special
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CBI Judge Bharat Parashar summoned the six accused on April 8 for the alleged offences punishable
under Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant, or by
banker, merchant or agent) of the IPC and under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act
(PCA).
The Supreme Court (SC) of India on 24 March 2015 declared Section 66A of the Information Technology
(IT) Act, 2000 as unconstitutional and struck it down. The section empowers law enforcement agencies
to arrest those who post objectionable content online and provides for a three-year jail term. The land
mark judgment of Shreya Singhal vs. Union of India was delivered by a SC bench of Justices J
Chelameswar and RF Nariman on a batch of petitions challenging the Section 66A of the IT Act, 2000.
Parliament gave nod to a Bill seeking to pave the way for plying of e-rickshaws on the roads of the
national capital region, with the government considering a proposal to provide credit to buy these
battery- operated vehicles. The Rajya Sabha passed the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2015 to
amend the 1988 Act by a voice vote. The measure was adopted by the Lok Sabha on March 3.
WWF India and Tata Capital Housing Finance Ltd have announced a partnership to support
conservation programmes for three critically endangered species the great Indian bustard, greater
one-horned rhinoceros, and red panda.
India, Seychelles Sign Four Pacts to Boost Security Cooperation Narendra Modi visited Seychelles
Seeking to expand its footprint in the strategic Indian Ocean, India agreed to help Seychelles in
mapping its hydrology reserves under four agreements signed during the visit of Prime Minister
Narendra Modi who launched a coastal surveillance radar project to boost security cooperation
with the island nation.
The Prime Minister also announced that India will give a second Dronier aircraft to Seychelles
and provide free of cost visas for three months for its citizens and making it available to them on
arrival.
After one-to-one and delegation-level talks with Seychelles President James Alix Michel, Modi,
the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Seychelles in 34 years, also said they underlined the
importance of comprehensive cooperation in the Indian Ocean region.
About Seychelles
The 115-island country, whose capital is Victoria, lies 1,500 kilometres (932 mi) east of mainland
Southeast Africa.
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The currency of Seychelles is Seychellois rupee.
The President of Seychelles is James Michel.
India and Mauritius inked five MoUs to give impetus to bilateral relations Narendra Modi visited
Mauritius
India and Mauritius inked 5 Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) on 11 March 2015 to give
new impetus to bilateral co-operation between the two nations. The MoUs were signed in Port
Luis in presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Mauritian counterpart Sir Anerood
Jugnuth.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on a five day official tour of three ocean nations, namely
Seychelles, Mauritius and Sri Lanka. The journey started on 10 March 2015 and will conclude on
14 March 2015.
This is the first visit to Mauritius by an Indian Prime Minister in over three decades.
The five MoUs which were signed between the two nations include
1. MoU in the field of Ocean Economy: The agreement provides for mutually beneficial
cooperation for exploration and capacity development in the field of marine resources, fisheries,
green tourism, research and development of ocean technology, exchange of experts and other
related activities
2. MoU on Programme for Cultural Cooperation for the year 2015-18: The programme will help to
enhance bilateral cooperation and will also enhance greater people-to-people participation
between the two countries.
3. MoU on the Protocol for the importation of fresh mango from India: The aim of this Protocol is
to facilitate importation of fresh mango fruits from India by Mauritius to enable the Mauritian to
relish the flavor of the world-renowned Indian mangoes.
4. MoU for the Improvement in Sea and Air Transportation Facilities at Agalega Island of
Mauritius: This will help in betterment of the condition of the inhabitants of this remote Island.
These facilities will enhance the capabilities of the Mauritian Defence Forces in safeguarding
their interests in the Outer Island.
5. MoU on Cooperation in the field of Traditional System of Medicine and Homeopathy: This
MoU will promote cooperation in the field of traditional system of health and medicine between
the two countries. It envisages exchange of experts, supply of traditional medicinal substances,
joint research and development and recognition of the traditional systems of health and
medicine in both countries. It also aims at promotion and popularization of the various Indian
traditional systems which fall under AYUSH.
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Modi commissions India-built Mauritian naval patrol ship Barracuda
Barracuda which has automatic 30 mm Rapid Fire Gun and 12.7 mm Heavy Machine Guns as
part of its ammunition was handed over to Mauritius in December 2014 by Kolkata-based
Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd (GRSE).
About Mauritius
Capital of Mauritius is Port Louis.
Currency of Mauritius is Mauritian rupee.
The president and prime ministers are Kailash Purryag(President) and Anerood Jugnauth(Prime
Minister).
India, Sri Lanka sign four agreements Narendra Modi Visited Sri Lanka
India and Sri Lanka signed four agreements during Narendra Modis maiden visit to the country,
the first bilateral tour by an Indian Prime Minister in 28 years, with the PM announcing a slew of
measures aimed at resetting ties with the strategic neighbour.
Prime Minister Modi, who arrived here this morning on the final stop of his three-nation tour of
Indian Ocean island nations, met Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena and discussed bilateral
and issues of regional importance.
The two sides signed four agreements on visa, customs, youth development and building
Rabindranath Tagore memorial in Sri Lanka.
About Sri Lanka
President - Maithripala Sirisena
Prime Minister - Ranil Wickremesinghe
Capitals: Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, Colombo
Currency: Sri Lankan Rupee
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Olympic medal winning boxer MC Mary Kom is being appointed as the brand ambassador of the
Northeast to showcase the potential of the region which offers Rs. 2.4 trillion business opportunities
across various sectors.
The Haryana Government has imposed a complete ban on the sale of beef in any form and proposed to
provide for 10 years rigorous imprisonment for cow slaughter, but ruled out equating it with murder.
The city of New Delhi got its name on December 31, 1926, according to archival documents of the
period at the National Archives of India (NAI).
New city 'NAINA' to come up over 600 square km near Navi Mumbai airport.
After severe floods in Jammu and Kashmir and cloudburst in Uttarakhand, the government said it has
formulated a Himalayan Meteorology Programme for better understanding of weather in the
mountainous States.
Agras tourist attraction Taj Mahal has emerged as the most popular in Asia for global virtual
travelers, according to Google. Google Street View is a technology featured in Google Maps and Google
Earth that provides panoramic views from positions along many streets in the world.
Facebook restricted access to nearly 6,000 pieces of information on its website in India during JulyDecember 2014 period, the highest for any country, following requests from government and other
agencies to act against hate-content on the social media platform.
The Supreme Court of India (SC) on 17 March 2015 quashed the Union Governments decision to include
Jats in the Central Other Backward Classes (OBC) list.
India and Kyrgyzstan signed a memorandum of understanding, seeking to strengthen the bilateral
cooperation between the two nations in the textile sector.
Wildlife Management of Palvancha on 18 March 2014 announced eco-restoration project for Kinnersani
Sanctuary in Telangana.
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National Green Tribunal (NGT) on 18 March 2015 directed the Indian Railways to impose a fine of 5000
rupees on individuals spotted littering or throwing waste on the railway platforms and railway tracks.
The order was given with an aim to implement the genesis of Swacch Bharat Abhiyan and was passed by
a bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar.
Indigenously developed Beyond Visual Range (BVR) air-to-air missile, Astra, was successfully test fired
at the Integrated Test Range (ITR), Chandipur in Odisha on 18 March 2015. It was test-fired aboard a
Sukhoi-30 fighter aircraft.
Maharashtra Government on 18 March 2015 announced to rename Girgaum Chowpatty as Swaraj

Bhoomi to honour veteran freedom fighter Bal Gangadhar Tilak.
RBI to issue Rs. 5 coins to mark 125th Jawaharlal Nehru anniversary.
In a first, the country's largest border guarding force-- BSF-- will have a woman IPS officer. The officer,
who has broken the proverbial glass ceiling in the paramilitary force tasked to secure two of the most
important Indian borders with Bangladesh and Pakistan, is 1996-batch Himachal Pradesh cadre Satwant
Atwal Trivedi. Trivedi, who has been posted as the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) in the 50 year-old
force, is at present serving as IG (crime and cyber security) in Himachal Pradesh. She also holds the
distinction of being the first women IPS officer in the hill state.
The Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) in Hyderabad clocked 10 million passengers in the financial
year 2014-15. Bhanu Khannan who arrived at the airport from a Chennai bound flight emerged as the 10
millionth passenger at the airport.
Megastar Amitabh Bachchan on 13 March 2015 was roped in as the brand ambassador for Union
Governments campaign against Hepatitis B, a critical public problem in India. Bachchan was roped in as
the brand ambassador for Indias fight against Hepatitis B after his successful stint as UNICEFs
goodwill brand ambassador of pulse polio campaign in India.
The Union Cabinet on 20 March 2015 approved 33 percent reservation for women in police forces of all
Union territories (UTs) including Delhi police, through direct recruitment in non-gazetted posts like
constables to sub-inspectors.
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The Andhra Pradesh Government is considered naming the new capital city planned near
VijayawadaGuntur region as Amaravathi, based on the historical Buddhist site along Krishna river.
Madhya Pradesh Governor Ram Naresh Yadavs son Shailesh, who was named as an accused in the
multi-crore Vyapam scam, was found dead under mysterious circumstances at his fathers official
residence.
Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi launched his ambitious multi-purpose and multi-modal
platform PRAGATI (Pro-Active Governance And Timely Implementation).
PRAGATI is a unique integrating and interactive platform. The platform is aimed at addressing
common mans grievances, and simultaneously monitoring and reviewing important
programmes and projects of the Government of India as well as projects flagged by State
Governments.
It is a three-tier system (PMO, Union Government Secretaries, and Chief Secretaries of the
States).
Prime Minister will hold a monthly programme where he will interact with the Government of
India Secretaries, and Chief Secretaries through Video-conferencing enabled by data and geoinformatics visuals;
The first such programme was launched on 25th March, 2015 (Wednesday) at 3.30 PM;
Now onwards, it will be held once in every month on Fourth Wednesday at 3.30 PM-to be
known as PRAGATI Day.
Union Government on 24 March 2015 launched new platform named Twitter Samwad that facilitates
direct communication between leaders, government agencies and citizens. This platform was launched
in association with social networking service Twitter.
Through this, the government bodies can have a direct communication with citizens on a daily
basis via Tweets and SMS on their mobile devices. The service was launched by Prime Minister
Narendra Modi during his meet with Twitter Chief Executive Dick Costolo in New Delhi. The
service is aimed to boost the nation's e-governance plans.
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.
The thirteenth state level philatelic exhibition of Gujarat postal circle or Gujpex-2015 was inaugurated
by the Gujarat Governor O.P. Kohli at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Memorial in Ahmedabad on
24 March 2015.
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The Union Cabinet approved the Appropriation Acts (Repeal) Bill, 2015 on 20 March 2015. The bill is
intended to repeal 758 Appropriation Acts passed by the Parliament.
State Government of Maharashtra on 23 March 2015 announced that those involved in the sale of
gutka in the state will be booked under Section 328 of Indian Penal Code (IPC), that is, sale of gutka will
be made a non-bailable offence.
India and Qatar inked six agreements to increase commercial and economic exchanges
India and Qatar on 25 March 2015 signed six agreements to increase commercial and economic
exchanges between India and Qatar. The deals have a special focus on the Make in India initiative.
These six agreements were inked in New Delhi in presence of Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad
Al-Thani and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani was on a two day official visit to India on 25 March and
26 March 2015.
The six Agreements which were inked includes
Agreement on Transfer of Sentenced Persons: 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 his home country to serve their sentence.
MoU for Cooperation in the field of Information and Communication Technology: This MoU would
provide enhanced business opportunities for Indian IT industry in Qatar. Qatar has embarked on an
ambitious programme for overall development as part of their Qatar 2030 vision and has created a
dedicated Ministry of Information and Communication Technology for capacity building in ICT.
MoU between Ministry of Earth sciences and Qatar Meteorological Department for Scientific and
Technical cooperation: The scientific collaboration between India and Qatar will be beneficial to
improve atmospheric & Oceanic capacity in both the countries.
MoU between Diplomatic Institute of MOFA, Qatar and Foreign Service Institute, MEA: This MoU
would help in exchange of trainees, students, faculty members and experts between India and Qatar to
enhance their skills and improve the training programme in both the countries.
MoU for cooperation in the field of Radio and Television: This MoU intends to encourage regular
exchange of radio and TV programmes and material between Prasar Bharati of India and Qatar Media
Cooperation.
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Agreement for Mutual Cooperation and Exchange of News: The agreement between Qatari News
Agency and United News of India is to enhance and develop bilateral cooperation in the field of
exchange of English-language news on daily basis and free of charge.
Union Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi
approved the National Super Computing Mission on 25 March 2015.
The mission aims at bringing the High Performance Computing (HPC) facilities within the reach
of the scientific community by augmenting indigenous supercomputing infrastructure.
The mission will be implemented at an estimated cost of 4500 crore rupees over a period of
seven years.
The mission will be jointly implemented by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and
Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) through the Centre for
Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc),
Bangalore respectively.
The Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on 27 March 2015 flagged off the first goods train from Lumding to
Silchar in Assam. He flagged off the train through video conferencing at a function in New Delhi.
Mizoram Governor Aziz Qureshi, who has had a running feud with the Centre and even approached the
Supreme Court against attempts to ease him out, was sacked.
India is set to operationalise its own navigational system with the successful launch of IRNSS-1D, the
fourth in the series of seven navigational satellites, onboard PSLV-C27 on March 28.
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao recently laid the foundation stone for the Manuguru
thermal power plant in Khammam district . The Bhadradri thermal power plant, with a 1,080-MW
capacity, is developed by TS Genco in partnership with BHEL, its EPC contractor, and finance from Rural
Electrification Corporation and Power Finance Corporation.
CPI re-elected S Sudhakar Reddy as the general secretary for the second three-year term and elected
senior leader Gurudas Dasgupta as deputy general secretary on the concluding day of its 22nd Congress.
The Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani laid the foundation stone for setting up three premier educational
institutions IIT, IIIT, IISER in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh.
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The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) removed partys internal Lokpal Admiral L. Ramdas and Prashant Bhushan
as the chief of National Disciplinary Committee, a day after the latter and senior leader Yogendra Yadav
were expelled from the National Executive (NE).
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.
Virbhadra Singh, the Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh on 30 March 2015 launched part one of
eVidhan Mobile app.
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 25 March 2015 gave its approval for
the Approach and Key Components of e-Kranti: National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) 2.0.
Objectives of e-Kranti
To redefine NeGP with transformational and outcome oriented e-Governance initiatives.
To enhance the portfolio of citizen centric services.
To ensure optimum usage of core Information & Communication Technology (ICT).
To promote rapid replication and integration of eGov applications.
To leverage emerging technologies.
To make use of more agile implementation models.
Key principles of e-Kranti
Transformation and not Translation

Integrated Services and not Individual Services
Government Process Reengineering (GPR) to be mandatory in every Mission Mode Projects
(MMPs)
ICT Infrastructure on Demand
Cloud by Default
Mobile First
Fast Tracking Approvals
Mandating Standards and Protocols
Language Localization
National GIS (Geo-Spatial Information System)
Security and Electronic Data Preservation
The Union Cabinet approved the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) on 19 March 2015
with an outlay of 1500 crore rupees. The programme aims to impart skill training to youth with focus on
first time entrants to the labour market and class 10 and class 12 drop outs.
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Cipla launched generic of drug Sofosbuvir under the brand name Hepcvir for treating Hepatitis C
News Around the World

US blogger and creator of Mukta-Mona, Avijit Roy was hacked to death in Bangladesh.
Australia, Malaysia, Indonesia to trial new flight tracking system.
NASA's Dawn spacecraft on 6 March 2015 completed its Orbit around Dwarf Planet Ceres. By doing so,
it became the first spacecraft to orbit around a dwarf planet.
Sri Lankan Government on 5 March 2015 temporarily suspended construction work of Chinas port city
project in Colombo with immediate effect.
The world's oldest person Misao Okawa, a mother of three, grandmother of four and greatgrandmother of six, turned 117 in western Japan.
Connaught Place in the national capital has become the world's fifth most expensive office location,
beating the central business districts of Russia, Japan and China, according to property consultant
Cushman & Wakefield. London's West End is the most expensive office market for the third
consecutive year globally. Connaught Place or CP -- developed as a showpiece of Lutyens' Delhi -- was
ranked seventh in the 2013 list. Its ranking has improved on account of renewed demand and
strengthening economic environment. Connaught Place has been commanding a rental value of Rs 412
per sq ft a month and has seen a rental value increment of less than 1 per cent over the previous year.
Solar Impulse, claimed to be the world's only solar-powered aircraft, made a stopover in Ahmedabad.
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Pakistan test-fired its surface-to-surface ballistic missile Shaheen III, which is capable of carrying
nuclear and conventional warheads upto a range of 2750-kilometers.
India 14th among most popular destinations for Muslim travellers. Singapore took the top spot for the
non-OIC destinations. Malaysia topped the list for OIC countries, which also included Turkey, the UAE,
Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
Google Launches Virtual Tour of Nepal's Everest Region.
NASAs Hubble Space Telescope has found strong evidence of a massive saltwater ocean under the icy
crust of Jupiters largest moon Ganymede that could potentially support life.
In a breakthrough, Japanese researchers have successfully transmitted electric power wirelessly to a

pinpoint target using microwaves, an advance that brings space-based solar power closer to reality.
According to Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or Jaxa, the researchers were able to transform 1.8
kilowatts of electric power into microwaves and transmit it with accuracy into a receiver located 55
metres away.
Pakistan successfully tested its first indigenous all-weather armed drone and a laser guided missile
that can strike its targets with pinpoint accuracy. The drone, named Burraq, has the ability to fly in all
types of weather conditions and strike its targets with pinpoint accuracy. Pakistan also tested its laser
guided missile named Barq.
The Times Higher Education on 13 March 2015 released the World Reputation Rankings 2015. This year
rankings show that the United Kingdom boasts 12 of the 100 most renowned higher education
institutions in the world.
Top 5 Universities
1. Harvard University (US)
2. University of Cambridge (UK)
3. University of Oxford (UK)
4. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US)
5. Stanford University (US)
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In a major development, former Maldivian president Mohamed Nasheed was sentenced to 13- year
imprisonment by a criminal court here under the anti-terrorism laws. Capital of Maldives Male.
A California-based institution Zaytuna College has become the US' first officially recognised Muslim
college after receiving formal academic accreditation.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has overtook Chinese President Xi Jinping to secure the top rank in
handling domestic and international affairs in a global survey conducted by a Chinese firm.
In the 'China's National Image Global Survey 2014, conducted in nine countries the US, UK,
Australia, Japan, South Africa, India, Russia, Brazil and China Modi's handling of domestic and
international affairs has won him the top rank while Xi figured second.
China has raced ahead of Germany to become the world's third largest arms exporter, a Stockholm
based think tank said in a report. Exports of major arms from the world's second largest economy grew
143 percent between 2010 and 2014. In the preceding five year period China had ranked ninth globally,
the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said in a report.
Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani was named Young Global Leader from India by the World Economic
Forum (WEF). In the list of 187 YGLs for 2015 from across the world, Irani is accompanied by 10 other
Indians, including Gaurav Gogoi, an MP and son of Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi.
Japan government signed agreements with four Indian non-profit organisations, under which the Asian
nation will financially aid them to improve infrastructure and expand their humanitarian activities.
India will host the seventh Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (AMCDRR) in 2016.
Five middle-income countries (MICs) which displayed strong economic growth in 2014 India, Brazil,
China, Mexico and Indonesia account for 363 million, or a half, of the worlds hungry, according to a
report released by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
The first global conference on Dalit rights will be held in US to increase awareness about injustices
faced by nearly 260 million people across the globe including in India due to caste-based discrimination.
Kerala to host its first global conference on gender equality.
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The world's first hydrogen-powered tramcar has rolled off the assembly line in China's eastern
Shandong Province.
Nobel laureate Sir Venkatraman Ramakrishnan on 18 March 2015 was named as the President of
Britain's prestigious Royal Society, a communion of the many of the world's most distinguished
scientists.
Republican US Senator Ted Cruz confirmed he will run for president in 2016, the first major candidate to
officially declare a bid in the next race for the White House.
Pakistan holds first national day parade for seven years on March 23. The ceremony marks the
anniversary of a 1940 resolution calling for a separate homeland for Muslims in India.
Scientists have discovered a 400 km-wide impact zone from a huge meteorite in central Australia which
is the largest asteroid impact zone ever found on Earth. A team led by Andrew Glikson from the
Australian National University (ANU) found the impact zone from a huge meteorite that broke in two,
moments before it slammed into the Earth in central Australia.
Utah became the first U.S. State to reinstate execution by firing squad amidst a spiralling crisis due to
lethal drug shortages faced by U.S. prisons, even as the States Governor was on the record describing
the procedure as a little bit gruesome.
Japan's Maritime Self-Defence Force on Wednesday took delivery of the biggest Japanese warship since
World War Two, the Izumo, a helicopter carrier as big as the Imperial Navy aircraft carriers that battled
the United States in the Pacific
Lufthansa plane Germanwings Airbus A320, a lowcost subsidiary of Lufthansa with 150 on board
crashed into French Alps.
The FBI has issued a 'wanted notice' against a 42-year-old Indian-origin man believed to have fled the US
to India after being found guilty of cyber crimes. Shivraj Singh Dabi fled from Sacramento County,
California, after he was found guilty of charges related to accessing the computers of his previous
employer and deleting and purposely damaging the computer data on those computers, a felony,
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Amitav Ghosh emerged as the only Indian author among 10 finalists for this years Man Booker
International Prize for his contribution to the English language writing. Kolkata born, 58-year-old Mr.
Ghosh had narrowly missed out on the Booker Prize back in 2008 when he was shortlisted for his work
Sea of Poppies.
NASA's Opportunity rover has completed the first-ever Mars marathon, clocking in with a winning time
of 11 years and 2 months.
President Barack Obama has nominated an Indian-American, a former official at its Embassy in New
Delhi, as the next US ambassador to Sri Lanka and Maldives. Obama yesterday announced the
nomination of Atul Keshap, a career foreign service official, as the next US ambassador to Sri Lanka and
Maldives along with Alaina Teplitz as the next ambassador to Nepal.
NRI industrialists G P Hinduja and S P Hinduja 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 Eiffel Tower went dark briefly to mark Earth Hour, the campaign to raise awareness about climate
change.
A Japanese robot that acts as a friendly companion to astronauts onboard the International Space
Station has set two Guinness World Records. Kirobo, a small android able to have conversations in
Japanese, has set records for First Companion Robot in Space and Highest altitude for a robot to have a
conversation following an 18-month stay onboard the ISS.
Blogger Washiqur Rahman hacked to death in Bangladesh. The killing took place nearly one month after
Avijit Roy, a prominent Bangladeshi-American blogger, known for speaking out against religious
extremism was hacked to death in Dhaka by unidentified assailants.
Opposition challenger Muhammadu Buhari has won Nigeria's presidential election with 15.4 million
votes against incumbent Goodluck Jonathans 13.3 million.
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Appointments
India
1. Mufti Mohammed Sayeed took oath as J&K Chief Minister.
2. Nirmal Singh Appointed J&K Deputy CM.
3. Jagmohan Dalmiya unanimously elected as President of BCCI.
4. FICCI appointed Arvind Virmani as Economic Mentor.
5. Baldev Sharma appointed as chairman of National Book Trust.
6. Arun Singh has been appointed as Indias ambassador to the U.S. succeeding S. Jaishankar, who
was named the Foreign Secretary in January. Prior to this he was Indias Ambassador to France.
7. Pramod Kumar Gupta has been appointed as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to Minister of State
for Textiles, Santosh Kumar Gangwar. Officer on Special Duty (OSD) is an IAS officer who in on
central deputation and works in a particular ministry.
8. 1998 Asian Games gold-medallist Dingko Singh on 10 March 2015 was included in National
Boxing Selection panel. The goal of the panel will be to pick a bunch that can deliver medals at
the Olympics.
9. IPS officer M Akhaya has been appointed as the Chief Vigilance Officer in the Department of
Telecommunications.
10. Credit Rating Information Services of India Limited (CRISIL) on 16 March 2015 announced to
appoint Ashu Suyash as the Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the
company.
11. Vice Admiral Sunil Lanba took over as Commanding-in-Chief of Southern Naval Command.
12. Justice Ashok Bhushan sworn in as Chief Justice of Kerala HC.
13. Senior Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer and noted novelist Vikas Swarup of Slumdog
Millionaire-fame book Q&A will be the new spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs.
World
1. Indian-American Sunil Sabharwal re-nominated as Alternate Executive Director at IMF by the
US.
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2. U.S. President Barack Obama has nominated veteran diplomat David Hale as the next
ambassador to Pakistan. A career foreign service official, Mr.Hale is currently the U.S.
Ambassador to Lebanon, a position he has held since 2013.
3. Visit Britain, the National tourism agency of Britain on 10 March 2015 roped in Bollywood actor
Saif Ali Khan to promote an India-centric campaign, Bollywood Britain.
4. Google Inc appointed Ruth Porat as Chief Financial Officer.
5. Former Army Chief Sarath Fonseka became first Field Marshal of Sri Lanka.
6. Indian-American Renu Khator on 18 March 2015 was elected as the Chairperson of the Board of
Directors of the American Council on Education (ACE).
Awards & Honors

National
Legendary Singer Lata Mangeshkar on 20 March 2015 was presented with the Laadli Voice of the
Century award. She was awarded at the sixth edition of the National Media and Advertising Awards for
Gender Sensitivity held at Mumbai, Maharashtra.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was the chief guest at the awards ceremony.
Winners of the National Media and Advertising Awards in different category
Laadli Voice of the Century award Lata Mangeshkar
Best movie award Queen
Laadli Grand Prix award advertising agency Ogilvy and Mather for its advertisement, Titan
Raga tum nahi badle
Laadli extraordinaire award Charu Khurana, she won a landmark judgment in the Supreme
Court regarding Bollywoods bias against women make-up artistes
1. Indian-American physician Rahul Jindal selected for Fulbright Nehru Distinguished Chair.
2. Rani Mukerji awarded by National Institute of Gender Justice for representing the cause of
women.
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3. L. Subramaniam, Roshan Kumari Receive Hafiz Ali Khan Award.

4. Former Union Minister and senior Congress leader M. Veerappa Moily on 9 March 2015 was
selected for the prestigious Saraswati Samman for 2014 for his Kannada poem Ramayana
Mahanveshanam.
5. Padma Shri Award winner and senior Naga litterateur Temsula Ao was named for the
prestigious Kusumagraja National Literature Award.
6. Dolly Shivani Cherukuri became the youngest Archer to enter India Book of Records.
7. MP Govt honours Hindi poet Gopal Das Neeraj with Rashtriya Kavi Pradeep Award.
8. Dr Swati Tiwari has received the 'National Ladli Media and Advertising Award for Gender
Sensitivity' for her book on the lives of widows of the Bhopal gas tragedy named Aj bhi Zinda
hain.
9. Atal Bihari Vajpayee receiveed Bharat Ratna.
10. Madan Mohan Malviya received Bharat Ratna posthumously.
President of India, Pranab Mukherjee on 8 March 2015 presented Stree Shalti Puskars and Nari Shakti
Puruskars for the year 2014.
Rani Lakshmibai Award - Seema Prakash, Madhya Pradesh - For working for the cause of
vulnerable and marginalised Communities of Madhya Pradesh Since 2000 particularly for the
Korku tribe of the state.
Rani Rudramma Devi Award - Astha Sansthan (NGO), Rajasthan - For protecting womens
rights, gender mainstreaming, issues relating to violence against women tribal rights, food
security, transparency and right to work and others.
Mata Jijabai Award - Chandraprabha Bokey, Maharashtra - She is a social worker and is working
in rural areas since 1960. Her field of work includes empowerment and rehabilitation of
destitute, divorced, disabled women and rehabilitation of orphan children.
The Nari Shakti Puraskars have been conferred for the first time in 2015 and the award carries a cash
prize of one lakh rupees and a citation.
The President of India Pranab Mukherjee on 23 March 2015 awarded Certificate of Honour to eminent
scholars of Sanskrit, Pali/Prakrit, Arabic and Persian. He also conferred the Maharishi Badrayan Vyas
Samman to young scholars for the year 2014.
The Certificate of Honour for Sanskrit (International) was awarded to Prof. Pierre-Sylvain Filliozat.
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CNN IBN announced Indian of the Year Award 2014
Narendra Modi - Indian of the Year 2014

Arun Jaitley - Indian of the Year 2014: Politics
Jitu Rai - Indian of the Year 2014: Sports
IPS Officer P Vijayan - Indian of the Year 2014: Popular Choice
Kangana Ranaut - Indian of the Year 2014: Special Achievement
Pankaj Advani - Indian of the Year 2014: Special Achievement
Kailash Satyarthi - Indian of the Year 2014: Outstanding Achievement
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) - Indian of the Year 2014: Lifetime Achievement
The legendary Balbir Singh Senior, member of three Olympic gold medal winning teams, was honoured
with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the inaugural Hockey India Awards.
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on 27 March 2015 won Gandhi Peace Prize 2014. The award
was selected by the jury under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Aditi Arya of Delhi won the fbb Femina Miss India 2015 title on 28 March 2015 at the 52nd edition of
the beauty contest held at Yash Raj Studio in Mumbai. She was crowned with the title by Koyal Rana,
Femina Miss India 2014.
The Union Minister of Communications & Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad on 25 March
2015 felicitated the winners of the 2014 Web Ratna awards.
List of award and awardees
Kerala Tourism has been conferred the national Web Ratna Award for 2014 for exemplary e-governance
initiative through the Internet.
Official website www.keralatourism.org won the Golden Icon award in the outstanding content
category of the Web Ratna Awards.
Comprehensive Web Presence State category:
Platinum Award: Maharashtra
Gold Award: Tamil Nadu
Silver Award: Uttarakhand
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International
1. Namibian President Hifikepunye Pohamba won 2014 Mo Ibrahim Prize for African Leadership.
2. U.S. economist Stephen Ross wins Deutsche prize for pricing models. The last recipient, in 2013,
was Raghuram Rajan, governor of the Reserve Bank of India and former chief economist at the
International Monetary Fund.
3. Three South Asian women, namely Niloofar Rahmani, Nadia Sharmeen and Tabassum Adnan
on 3 March 2015 were selected for the prestigious International Women of Courage Award for
the year 2015 given by the US Secretary of State.
4. Kerala Tourism on 8 March 2015 won the silver prize of Golden Gate award at the
Internationale Tourismus-Borse Berlin (ITB-Berlin) 2015, Germany. Kerala won the award for its
global multimedia campaign to promote the backwaters of Kerala. The Golden Gate award (Das
Golden Stadttor) is presented every year at the ITB-Berlin and is dubbed as the Oscar in
tourism communication. It is considered the ultimate recognition in global tourism
communication.
5. Indian-Origin Educator Ganasen Reddy Gets Lifetime Achievement Award In South Africa.
6. Indian Researcher Minoti Apte Wins Woman of the Year 2015 in New South Wales, Australia.
7. Rajendra Singh, an eminent environment activist known as Water Man, has been conferred
the prestigious Stockholm Water Prize this year for his innovative water restoration efforts and
extraordinary courage to empower communities in Indian villages.
8. Artist Bharti Kher conferred with the Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters of France.
9. Indian-American Author Akhil Sharma Wins UK Literary The Folio Prize for his novel Family Life.
10. Indian ecologist Madhav Gadgil and US Scientist Dr. Jane Lubchenco were on 23 March 2015
named for the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement 2015.
11. Scientist Murty Kambhampati chosen for U.S. Presidential Award for Excellence in Science,
Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM).
12. Cyrus Vandrevala, Jasminder Singh bag Asian Business Award.
13. Amitabh Bachchan Felicitated at 'India by the Nile' Festival in Egypt.
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List/Indexes
Fortune released the list of 2015 roster of the Worlds 50 Greatest Leaders Fortune Magazine on 26
March 2015 has released the list of 2015 roster of the Worlds 50 Greatest Leaders.
The list included Prime Minister of India at 5th rank and Nobel Prize winner Kailash Satyarthi at
the 28th rank.
The list was topped by Apple CEO Tim Cook. Others are European Central Bank President Mario
Draghi at the second rank, followed by Chinese President Xi Jingping at third Rank, Pope Francis
at fourth rank and General Motors CEO Mary Barra at ninth rank.
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 been ranked a lowly 83rd on a new index compiled by the UN trade body UNCTAD for
assessing the readiness of countries for electronic commerce and it has the fourth largest number of
complaints made against companies selling online.
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development's (UNCTAD) new Business-toConsumer (B2C) e-commerce -- businesses selling to the general public -- index, which surveyed
130 economies,
Globally, the top four countries with highest readiness for electronic commerce are
Luxembourg, followed by Norway, Finland and Canada.
Though China is 63rd in the UNCTAD-formulated index, it is already the world's largest B2C
market measured both by the revenue and the number of online buyers.
World Justice Project (WJP) in the third week of March released the Open Government Index 2015.
Out of the 102 countries assessed in the 2015 Index, Sweden topped the list in terms of
openness in the government. It is followed by New Zealand and Norway at second and third
place respectively. The other countries in the top ten are: Denmark, Netherlands, Finland,
Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and Republic of Korea.
India has been placed at the 37th position in the 2015 Index. India is placed at the top among
the South Asian countries followed by Nepal (40), Sri Lanka (52), Bangladesh (73), Pakistan (83)
and Afghanistan (89).
News related to Sports

Spanish tennis ace, Rafael Nadal on 2 March 2015 won the Argentina Open title of Tennis. In the
summit clash, Nadal defeated Juan Monaco of Argentina in straight sets 6-4, 6-1 in Buenos Aires. This
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was the 65th career title for Nadal. As a result, Nadal moved onto fifth place in the Open era all-time list
led by Jimmy Connors of the US who had won 109 titles.
Olympic medalist pugilist MC Mary Kom on 2 March 2015 announced that she will quit boxing after the
2016 Rio Olympic Games. She decided to retire after the Olympic Games as her body would not be able
to cope with the rigours of the sport any further.
Swiss Tennis ace, Roger Federer on 28 February 2015 won the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships
title. To lift his seventh Dubai Championship title, Federer defeated world number one Novak Djokovic
of Serbia 6-3, 7-5. This was 126th ATP final for Federer of which he had won 84th career title. He also
passed 9000 aces in singles matches, the fete achieved only by three other players since 1991.
Three-time Grand Slam winner Sania Mirza of India has decided to team up with former World No. 1
Martina Hingis of Switzerland in the US-leg of the WTA Tour circuit after parting ways with women's
doubles partner Hsieh Su-wei of Chinese Taipei with whom she featured in the doubles final of the just
concluded Doha Open championship.
Olympic bronze medalist Saina Nehwals quest for becoming the first Indian woman to win the most
prestigious All England badminton championship ended in agony after she suffered a heart-breaking
loss to Spains Carolina Marin in the summit clash. Olympic bronze medallist, Saina, thus, failed to
emulate her long-time coach Pullella Gopichand (2001) and legendary Prakash Padukone (1980), who
had won the prestigious title in the past.
Karnataka won eighth Ranji Trophy title by defeating Tamil Nadu.
India beat Nepal 2-0 in 1st leg of 2018 World Cup Qualifiers.
Young Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth clinched the Swiss Grand Prix Gold championship title after
overcoming a strong challenge from Viktor Alexson in a hard-fought men's singles final.
Putting up a dominating show, India scored in three of the four quarters to outplay Poland 3-1 to win
the FIH World Hockey League Round 2 at Major Dhyan Chand stadium. India skipper Ritu Rani then
celebrated her 200th International appearance by finding the net in the 59th minute to seal the title for
her side.
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Services on 15 March 2015 won the 69th edition of Santosh Trophy of football which is also called
Senior National football championship. In the final played at Guru Nanak Stadium in Ludhiana, Punjab, it
defeated hosts Punjab 5-4 via tie-breaker.
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain on 15 March 2015 won the 2015 Formula 1 Rolex Australian
Grand Prix at Albert Park, Melbourne, Australia. Only 11 cars were able to take the chequered flag.
Karnataka retained Irani Cup 2015. Karnataka became only the second state team to bag back-to-back
Irani Cups after wrapping up a 246-run win over Rest of India with 50 minutes remaining on the fourth
day.
Indian recurve mixed team of Sanjay Boro and Madhu Vedwan beat Indonesia 20-19 in a shoot off to
win the gold at Asia Cup Stage 2 archery competition.
Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis won the women doubles title of BNP Paribas Tennis Open.
Australia defeated New Zealand to win 5th World Cup.
Kumar Sangakkara became only the second batsman after Indian icon Sachin Tendulkar to score
14,000 Oneday International runs when the Sri Lankan veteran reached the landmark against
Australia in a World Cup Pool A match. He also became the first batsman to score hundreds in three
consecutive World Cup matches. On 11 March 2015 he entered the record books by scoring four
consecutive centuries in a Cricket World Cup. He achieved the feat when he scored 124 runs against
Scotland in the Pool A match of the 2015 Cricket World Cup in Hobart, New Zealand. With this, he also
became the first cricketer to achieve this feat in the One Day Internationals (ODI) history.
England were knocked out of the World Cup by a spirited Bangladesh who grabbed a quarter-final spot
following a dramatic 15-run victory in a tight Pool A match in Adelaide on March 9th.
MS Dhonis team betters West Indies Clive Lloyd outfit's record with 10th straight WC win. Dhoni is
also credited with most wins (13) by an Indian captain in World Cups. He has overtaken 1983 World
Cup-winning skipper Kapil Dev (11), Mohammed Azharuddin (10) and Sourav Ganguly (9). Now, the
Men in Blue stand second only to Ricky Pontings Australian side that had registered a staggering 24
consecutive victories in the showpiece event.
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Mahendra Singh Dhoni achieved the memorable milestone of recording 100 ODI wins as captain after
leading India to a resounding victory against Bangladesh in the cricket World Cup quarterfinals. Dhoni is
the first non-Australian captain to achieve the feat in his 178th ODI as he got past South Africas
Hansie Cronje, who won 99 ODIs for his side. Ricky Ponting, with 165 ODI wins as captain, and Allan
Border (107) are the two Australian greats leading the chart in the 50-overs format.
Martin Guptill, the batsman of New Zealand cricket team, on 21 March 2015 scored the highest-ever
score of 237 not out in Cricket World Cup history.
All-rounder Jean-Paul Duminy became the first South African bowler and ninth overall to notch up a
World Cup hat-trick.
Sri Lankan players Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara retired from ODI cricket.
Pakistani Batsman and Captain Misbah Ul Haq and Pakistani All Rounder Shahid Afridi took retirement
from ODI cricket.
Novak Djokovic of Serbia on 22 March 2015 won his fourth Indian Wells Open Tennis Mens Singles
title. In the final clash, Djokovic defeated Roger Federer of Switzerland 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-2. This win at
Indian Wells Open was the 50th tour-level title for Djokovic. With this fourth title in Indian Wells, he also
became the 12th player in the Open Era to win 50 titles, surpassing his coach, Boris Becker, of 49
trophies.
Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis, the Indo-Swiss women pair of Tennis, on 21 March 2015 won the
women doubles title of BNP Paribas Open. In the title clash played at Indian Wells, USA, the duo
defeated the Russian pair of Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina 6-3, 6-4.
Saina Nehwal created history as she became the first Indian woman shuttler to attain the world No.1
ranking after her closest challenger for the spot, Spains Carolina Marin, lost in the India Open Super
Series semi-final. Prakash Padukone had the distinction of being the No. 1 mens badminton player but
Saina became the first Indian woman to achieve this feat.
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For the first time since it came into existence in 1950, BFI got a woman as its president when Poonam
Mahajan was unanimously elected as the head of this 65 year old federation the governing and
controlling body of basketball in India.
Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth rounded up a brilliant Sunday for Indian badminton winning their
respective $275,000 India Open Superseries titles at the Siri Fort Sports Complex in New Delhi.
Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel won the Malaysian Grand Prix to end Mercedes long Formula One
winning streak and make the 2015 season look like a genuine contest between the two teams.
Azhar Ali Set became New Pakistan ODI captain.
Hockey India conferred inaugural Hockey India Annual Awards
The Dhruv Batra Award for Player of the Year (Men and Women) awarded to Birendra Lakra and
Vandana Katariya.
Jaman Lal Sharma Award for Invaluable Contribution (for coaches and support staff) awarded to
Harendra Singh.
Hockey India President Award for Outstanding Achievement conferred to One Thousand Hockey
Legs for its exceptional contribution towards the sport.
Important Days
1. Zero Discrimination Day celebrated on March 1. This year's theme Open Up, Reach Out.
2. The World Wildlife Day was observed on 3 March 2015. The 2015 theme of the day is Wildlife
crime is serious, lets get serious about wildlife crime.
3. International Women's Day is celebrated on 8th March. This years theme, Empowering
Women - Empowering Humanity: Picture It!".
4. World Kidney Day (WKD) was observed globally on 12 March 2015. The theme for the year 2015
is Kidney Health for All.
5. World Consumer Rights Day 2015 observed on 15 March with the theme Helping consumers
choose healthy diets.
6. 22nd World Water Day celebrated on 22nd March with the theme 'Water and Sustainable
Development'.
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7. International Day of Forests observed on 21st March with the theme Forests and Climate
Change.
8. World Sparrow Day observed on 20 March with the theme I Love Sparrows.
9. The World Meteorological Day (WMD) 2015 was observed across the world on 23 March 2015.
The theme for the WMD 2015 is Climate Knowledge for Climate Action.
10. World Tuberculosis Day (WTD) 2015 was globally observed on 24 March 2015. Theme: Reach
the 3 Million.
Obituaries
Ornithologist and naturalist KS Lavkumar Khachar died on 3 March 2015. He was 84. Khachar was
among the pioneers of nature conservation in India. He worked to spread awareness about ornithology,
nature and wildlife conservation. He had a long association with the Bombay Natural History Society
(BNHS) and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) India. He was awarded several prestigious awards that
include The Salim Ali-Loke Wan Tho Lifetime Award for Excellence in Ornithology for his pioneering
work in ornithology and on the Nanda Devi National Park.
Veteran journalist and author Vinod Mehta passed away after prolonged illness in the Capital on March
8th. Mr. Mehta, 72, who had founded the Outlook Magazine and served as its Editor-in-Chief, last held
the post of editorial Chairman of the publication. An eminent political commentator, Mr. Mehta was
served as the editor of several publications, including The Pioneer, The Sunday Observer, The
Independent and The Indian Post. Some of his recent books include, Lucknow Boy: A Memoir (2010) &
Editor Unplugged (2014).
Veteran sports journalist K Baskaran, who had carved a niche for himself in covering Indian football for
four decades, died. He also authored a book on football, Wills Book of Football.
Noted Gandhian and former Chancellor of Gujarat Vidyapith, Narayan Desai, died. Desai was also
associated with Vinoba Bhave's Bhoodan (land gift) movement and Jayprakash Narayan's 'total
revolution' movement. He was popular for reciting 'Gandhi-Katha'(narratives on the life of Mahatma
Gandhi) across the world which he began in 2004.
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Lia Van Leer, an Israeli cinema pioneer and Israel Prize laureate, has died in a Jerusalem hospital aged
90. Born in Romania, Van Leer moved to Israel and studied at Hebrew University where she met her
future husband, Dutch filmmaker and engineer Wim van Leer. They founded Israel's first cinema club in
the 1950s. The two travelled extensively, collecting movies from around the world, which led to her
founding the Israel Film Archives. In 1973, she created the Jerusalem Cinematheque and, 10 years later,
started the Jerusalem Film Festival. Van Leer was awarded the Israel Prize in 2004 for her life's
achievements and the President's Medal last year.
Marathi folk legend Shahir Krishnarao Sable died on 20 March 2015 in Mumbai, Maharashtra. He was
92.
Lee Kuan Yew, the founding father of Singapore died.
Former Mizoram Chief Minister Brig Sailo Died.
Freedom fighter, former chief of Seva Dal and former Congress MP Manubhai Patel passed away due to
old age-related problems.
The Indian Navy Dornier that crashed during a night sortie had claimed the life of a woman officer. The
body of Lieutenant Kiran Shekhawat - the first Indian woman officer to die in the line of duty.
2015 Cricket World Cup

The 2015 Cricket World Cup was the 11th Cricket World Cup, jointly hosted by Australia and New
Zealand from 14 February to 29 March 2015.
This was the second time when the tournament was held in Australia and New Zealand, with the first
being the 1992 Cricket World Cup which was won by Pakistan.
Sachin Tendulkar was named as the 2015 Cricket World Cup Ambassador by the ICC for the second
time, after 2011 Cricket World Cup where he was the ambassador.
Australia won the Cricket World Cup for the fifth time.
Man of the Series: Mitchell Starc
Man of the Match: James Faulkner
Most Runs: Martin Guptill
Most Wickets: Mitchell Starc & Trent Boult
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Teams Played in 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
India (Defending Champion)

Australia (Hosting nation)
Pakistan
South Africa
New Zealand (Hosting Nation)
West Indies
Sri Lanka (Runners up of 2011)
Bangladesh
Zimbabwe
United Arab Emirates
Scotland
England
Ireland
Afghanistan(First in World Cups)
S.Ravi of India was in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 Umpire panel.
Key Highlights from World Cup Matches:
Kumar Sungakkara (SL) became the second highest run scorer in ODIs.
The match between Australia vs England ended when James Anderson was run out straight
after James Taylor was given out lbw. As Taylor's decision was reviewed and overturned, the ICC
later admitted that the ball should have been declared dead (according to Article 3.6a of
Appendix 6 of the Decision Review System Playing Conditions), and so Anderson was incorrectly
given out.
Four players were dismissed for golden ducks during Scotland's innings against New Zealand,
the first such instance in World Cups.
Shakib Al Hasan became the first Bangladeshi cricketer to achieve 4000 ODI runs.
Brendon McCullum (NZ) scored the fastest fifty in World Cup history (18 balls), the third-fastest
overall and the fastest ODI fifty by a New Zealander.
Kumar Sungakkara became the fourth cricketer to play 400 ODI matches.
Dilshan's score of 161 not out was the highest individual score in an ODI without hitting a six.
The Chappell-Hadlee Trophy, the trophy which is usually the prize in any stand-alone ODI series
between Australia and New Zealand.
Lahiru Thirimanne became the youngest Sri Lankan player to score a century at a World Cup.
Joe Root became the youngest English player to score a century at a World Cup.
Australia's score of 417/6 against debutant Afghanistan is the highest in World Cup history.
Dawlat Zadran (Afg) became the third bowler in World Cup matches to concede 100 runs or
more in an innings. Australia's victory margin of 275 runs is the highest in World Cup history.
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Kyle Coetzer scored Scotland's first ever World Cup century and the highest score by an
associate nation player in World Cups.
In Australia vs Sri Lanka, Glenn Maxwell scored his first century in an ODI, the second fastest in
World Cups, and the fastest by an Australian in a World Cup (51 balls). Tillakaratne Dilshan hit
six fours off an over, bowled by Mitchell Johnson, the first time this has happened in World Cup
history.
Kumar Sungakkara became the second player to score 14,000 ODI runs, and scored a record
third consecutive World Cup century.
Mahmudullah Riyad became the first Bangladesh player to score two consecutive World Cup
centuries.
Chris Gayle became the first batsman to score a Double Century in a World Cup match and the
first ever non-Indian batsman to score an ODI Double Century. Gayle's Double Century was also
the fastest Double Century in ODI cricket. Gayle's 16 sixes in his innings equalled the ODI record
jointly held by Rohit Sharma and AB de Villiers.
The first time Pakistan defeated South Africa in a World Cup match.
Jean Paul Duminy (SA) became the first South African to take a World Cup hat-trick.
AB de Villiers now holds the records for the most sixes in one World Cup tournament (20) and
the most sixes in all World Cup matches (36).
Martin Guptill became the first player to score two consecutive centuries for New Zealand in a
World Cup.
The highest successful run-chase in a World Cup knockout match came for New Zealand against
South Africa in the Semi Finals.
The first time New Zealand qualified for a World Cup final.
Indian Highlights at the World Cup 2015
India defeated Pakistan for the 6th Time in A Row in World Cups.
For the first time India defeated South Africa in a World Cup match.
MS Dhoni's 100th ODI win as India captain came against Bangladesh. The first non-Australian
captain to won 100 ODI matches, and first Indian captain to achieve the mark. He is also the
third captain to won 100 matches, after two Australians, Ricky Ponting, and Allan Border.
A record seventh consecutive match in which India bowled the opposition out.
During India vs Banlgadesh the umpires received widespread criticism after some controversial
decision-making in that match. International Cricket Council President Mustafa Kamal said that
Bangladesh would appeal against the decisions of the umpires in ICC's board meeting.
India lost to Australia as a result Australia never lost a World Cup Semi Final. As a result of this
match, no Asian team qualified for World Cup final, for the first time since 1987.
4/6/2015
46
Retirements from ODIs:
MichaelClarke
Daniel Vettori
ShahidAfridi
Misbah-ul-Haq
MahelaJayawardene
KumarSangakkara
KhurramKhan
BrendanTaylor
Australia
New Zealand
Pakistan
Pakistan
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
United Arab Emirates
Zimbabwe
The Team:
Martin Guptill (New Zealand),

Brendon McCullum (New Zealand, captain),
Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka, wicketkeeper),
Steven Smith (Australia),
AB de Villiers (South Africa),
Glenn Maxwell (Australia),
Corey Anderson (New Zealand),
Daniel Vettori (New Zealand),
Mitchell Starc (Australia),
Trent Boult (New Zealand),
Morne Morkel (South Africa),
Brendan Taylor (Zimbabwe, 12th man)
Books & Authors in March, 2015

1. Food for All: International Organizations and the Transformation of Agriculture written by
Uma Lele was in news in March 2015.
2. Gods Bankers authored by Gerald Posner
3. Vice president released book title Faces and Places written by Prof. Deepak Nayyar
4. Indian Parliamentary Diplomacy- Speaker's Perspective written by Meira Kumar released
5. Q&A Vikas Swarup
6. Flood of Fire Amitav Ghosh
4/6/2015
47
62nd NATIONAL AWARDS

62nd National Film Awards were announced on
24 March 2015. The awards are annually
presented by Directorate of Film Festivals to
honour the best films of the previous in the
Indian cinema. The award ceremony will be
held on 3 May 2015.
Best Films in different languages
The list of winners
Best Actress: Kangana Ranaut for

Queen
Best Supporting Actress: Baljinder Kaur
for Pagdi The Honour (Haryanavi)
Best Supporting Actor: Bobby Simhaa
for Jigarthanda (Tamil)
Best Actor: Vijay for Nanu Avanalla
Avalu (Kannada)
Best Direction: Srijit Mukherji for
Chotushkone (Bengali)
Best Music Direction: a) Songs - Haider
(Hindi); and b) Background Score Nineteen Eighty Three (Malayalam)
Best Choreography: Bismil for Haider
Best Writing on Cinema: Silent Cinema:
(1895-1930)- Pasupuleti Purnachandra
Rao
Best Writing on Cinema: G.
Dhananjayan for Pride of Tamil Cinema
(Special Mention)
Best Costume Designer: Dolly Ahluwalia
for Haider
Best Female Playback Singer: Uttara
Unnikrishanan for song Azhagu in
Saivam (Tamil)
Best Male Playback Singer: Sukhwinder
Singh for song Bismil from Haider
Best Hindi Film: Queen

Best Assamese Film: Othello
Best Bengali Film: Nirbashito
Best Kannada Film: Harivu
Best Konkani Film: Nachom - IA
Kumpasar
Best Malayalam Film: Ain
Best Marathi Film: Killa
Best Odiya Film: Aadim Vichar
Best Punjabi Film: Punjab 1984
Best Tamil Film: Kuttram Kadithal
Best Telugu Film: Chandamama Kathalu
Best Rabha Film: Orong
Best Haryanvi Film: Pagdi The Honour
Best Films in different categories
Best Educational Film: Komal & Behind

the Glass Wall
Best Exploration/Adventure: Film Life
Force - India's Western Ghats
Best Investigative Film: Phum Shang
Best Animation Film: Sound of Joy
Best Short Fiction Film: Mitraa
Best Film Critic: Tanul Thakur
Best Film On Environment
Conservation/ Preservation: Ottaal
(Malayalam)
Best Popular Film Providing
Wholesome Entertainment: Mary Kom
Indira Gandhi Award For Best Debut
Film Of A Director: Asha Jaoar Majhe
(Bengali)
Best Feature Film: Court (Marathi, Hindi,

Gujarati & English)
4/6/2015
48

Current Affairs Monthly Magazine - March, 2015 - Exam Pundit

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