Starred
Articles
62nd
National Film Awards
India
>
Cinema > Mar 25
The winners of the National
Film Awards were announced in Delhi yesterday, the ceremony for which
shall be held on May 3, 2015. Following are the prominent winners :
Best Hindi Film: Queen, Best Feature Film: Court (Marathi, Hindi,
Gujarati & English), Best Educational Film: Komal & Behind
the Glass Wall, Best Animation Film: Sound of Joy, Best Actor: Vijay
for Nanu Avanalla Avalu (Kannada), Best Actress: Kangana Ranaut for
Queen, Best Music Direction – Haider, Best Male Playback Singer:
Sukhwinder Singh for the song Bismil from Haider, Best Female
Playback Singer: Uttara Unnikrishanan for the song Azhagu in Saivam
(Tamil), Best Choreography: Bismil for Haider and Best Costume
Designer: Dolly Ahluwalia for Haider.
BJP
becomes largest political party in the world
Politics
and Government >
BJP > Mar 29
The Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) replaced the Communist Party of China as the largest political
party in the world after its total strength reached 8.80 crore
members on Sunday. BJP owes this title to the ambitious membership
drive launched by Amit Shah which helped the party hit the 8.80 crore
mark, beating the Communist Party of China's 8.60 crore members. The
speeding up of the membership drive comes amid hectic meetings and
tours by Shah to various states to step up the effort and hit the 10
crore mark by the end of this month.
Saina
Nehwal becomes 1st Indian woman to reach rank 1; wins Indian Open
Super series along with Kadambi Srikanth
Sports
>
Badminton > Mar 30
It was a double bonanza for
India on Sunday, 30th March, 2015 as both the women's and men's
singles titles of the Indian Open super series was won by Indians.
Just days after Saina Nehwal created history by becoming the first
Indian woman to become the number one women's badminton player, she
won the women's singles final of the Indian Open super series by
defeating former World Champion Ratchanok Intanon in the final.
Likewise, 22 year-old Kadambi Srikanth defeated Danish World No.6
Viktor Axelsen in 55 minutes to clinch the men's single title of the
same event.
Bharat
Ratna, Padma awardees 2015
Awards
> Bharat
Ratna, Padma Awards > Mar 31
Acclaimed educationist and
freedom fighter Madan Mohan Malviya and former Prime Minister Atal
Bihari Vajpayee were honoured with the Bharat Ratna, India’s
highest civilian award. BJP stalwart LK Advani and Punjab chief
minister Parkash Singh Badal were conferred with the Padma Vibhushan,
India’s second highest civilian honour. With this, Parkash Singh
Badal became the first chief minister to be conferred the Padma
Vibhushan. Bill Gates, Melinda Gates, Rajat Sharma, Satpal are some
of the prominent names who received Padma Bhushan. Padma Shri was
awarded to Prasoon Joshi, Jaya Kumari Chikkala, Nikhil Tandon,
Arunima Sinha and N. Prabhakar to name a few.
Others
Sania
Mirza – Martina Hingis win BNP Paribas Open women’s doubles title
Sports
>
Tennis > Mar 23
India’s Sania Mirza
secured her career-best rank of three in the doubles by winning the
BNP Paribas Open women’s doubles title with Swiss star Martina
Hingis. Presently, Italians Roberta Vinci and Sara Errani share the
number one position with 7,640 points each whereas Sania has 6,885
points. Sania expressed her delight at her elevation in the rankings
and thanked her fans for standing behind her.
3-year
old Dolly became the youngest Archer to enter India Book of Records
Sports
>
Archery > Mar 24
Dolly Shivani Cherukuri of
Andhra Pradesh entered the India Book of Records by making 388 points
at an archery trial at the Volga Archery Academy in Vijayawada. The
three-year old archer shot 36 arrows each from five metres and seven
metres to score 388 points in presence of judges from the India Book
of Records and the Archery Association of India (AAI). India Book of
Records adjudicator and chief editor Biswaroop Roy Choudary handed
over a trophy, medal and a certificate to Shivani.
Book
titled “Faces and Places” written by Deepak Nayyar released by
Vice President
Books
>
Faces and
Places > Mar 25
Prof. Deepak Nayyar's book
titled Faces and Places was released by the Vice President of India M
Hamid Ansari on 25 March 2015. Deepak Nayyar is a noted economist and
former Vice Chancellor of Delhi University. The book is a compilation
of photographs that have been taken by the author over the past four
decades. Its title captures the essential idea of its dual theme. The
focus is on people in their daily lives and on places that are of
interest to visitors.
Supreme
Court scraps section 66A of the IT act
India
>
Judiciary > Mar 25
The Supreme Court on
Tuesday, scrapped a controversial cyber law under the Section 66A of
the IT Act, which gave police the power to arrest anyone for posting
“annoying” or “offensive” comments online. The cancellation
of the act comes on the grounds that it robs a citizen of his/her
right to freedom of expression and speech. Any person found guilty
under the controversial act was previously liable for imprisonment up
to a period of three years. However, the court has said that posting
inflammatory and derogatory comments online would still be punishable
under the Indian Penal Code. The court also ordered that all
convictions made under the act should be dropped with immediate
effect.
SBI
to minimise stake in its general insurance venture
Banking
and Insurance >
State Bank of India > Mar 26
The State Bank of India
(SBI) has decided to reduce its stake in its insurance venture SBI
General. The SBI currently holds a 74% stake in the insurance
venture, while its foreign partner Insurance Australia Group (IAG)
holds a 26% stake. IAG is now all set to increase its stake from 26%
to 49%. The move comes after passing of the Insurance Laws Bill, 2015
in the parliament, which seeks to increase foreign direct investment
up to 49 % subject to the condition that the management control
remains with Indians. The insurer would most likely undergo a name
change to signify the revised share-holding pattern.
MFIs
unhappy about new regulator Mudra Bank
Banking
and Insurance >
Microfinance > Mar 27
Microfinance institutions
(MFIs) want the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to continue as their
regulator instead of the government appointed Micro Units Development
and Refinance Agency, or Mudra Bank. According to MFIs a new
regulator may weaken an industry that has just emerged from turmoil.
Moreover, according to MFIs, the bank being a service provider will
have a vested interest in providing a service to them, which will
give it an edge over the institutions and if the same bank becomes a
regulator, it might lead to a conflict of interest. Finance minister
Arun Jaitley had announced the bank in his Budget to regulate and
refinance MFIs. It will have a corpus of Rs 20,000 crore and a credit
guarantee corpus of Rs 3,000 crore.
International
Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic
Slave Trade observed on the 25th of March
Days
>
International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery > Mar 27
The International Day of
Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave
Trade 2015 was observed globally on the 25th of March, 2015 and had a
theme of Women and Slavery. The motive behind the theme was to pay a
tribute to the women who suffered and died during slave trade. The
United Nations (UN) unveiled a memorial named as 'The Arc of Return'
at its headquarters in New York. The memorial will be reminiscent of
the suffering African slaves had to go through and also the crucial
role the United Nations played in eradication of the slave trade. The
Remembrance Day, as it is known, was held for the first time in
December, 2007.
Book
titled 'Food for All: International Organizations and the
Transformation of Agriculture' written by Uma Lele
Books
>
Food for All: International Organizations and the Transformation of
Agriculture > Mar 27
Agriculture scientist Uma
Lele has written a book titled 'Food for All: International
Organizations and the Transformation of Agriculture', which surveys
the food and agricultural development assistance delivered by five
major international organizations since their establishment to gauges
their relevance, effectiveness, and impacts in the world today. The
five organisations being : the World Bank, the Food and Agriculture
Organization, the World Food Programme, the International Fund for
Agricultural Development and the Consultative Group for International
Agricultural Research. The book has resulted from a meeting at the
Bill and Melinda Gates foundation in 2010, where issues pertaining to
global food and agriculture were discussed. The book has compiled
data from research, evaluations, interviews, and the authors’
operational experience.
Australia
wins ICC Cricket World Cup '15
Sports
>
ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 > Mar 30
Four-time world cup winners
Australia defeated first time finalists New Zealand to win the World
Cup for a fifth time at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Sunday,
29th March, 2015. After winning the toss, New Zealand captain Brendon
Mccullum elected to bat first. New Zealand lost early wickets and
managed to make only 183 before losing all 10 wickets. James Faulkner
who picked up two crucial back to back wickets, was adjudged the
'player of the match'. In their reply, the Australians were
professional and lost only 3 wickets to get past the New Zealand
score of 183. Captain Michael Clarke top scored with a 72 ball 74.
Australian pacer Mitchell Stark, who took 22 wickets in the
tournament, was adjudged as the player of the tournament. Australia
is the only country to have won the World Cup 5 times.
Following the match,
Australian Skipper Michael Clarke retired from One-Day Internationals
(ODIs) and New Zealand great and one of the best left-arm spinners,
Daniel Vettori, also retired from all forms of international cricket.
Vettori finished his career with 305 wickets in 295 ODIs and 362 in
113 Tests. Michael Clarke has 7,981 runs from 245 matches with eight
centuries and 58 half-centuries.
