1. law, govt and politics
2. government

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GK Booster of March 2015
1. 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.
2. 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 government‘s scheme to bring the entire nation under the ambit
of insurance coverage.
Under PMJJBY, Corporation Bank‘s 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.
3. Insurance Australia Group Ltd (IAG) announced that it will raise its stake in SBI General
Insurance (SBIGI) from 26 percent to 49 percent.
4. Book titled God's Bankers: A History of Money and Power at the Vatican authored by Gerald
Posner was released
5. Vice Admiral Sunil Lanba took over charge as the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of
Southern Naval Command.
6.Daniel Vettori, the cricketer of New Zealand retired from all forms of International Cricket.
The veteran spinner officially announced his retirement after the final match of the 2015 Cricket
World Cup.
7.Himachal Pradesh Vidhan Sabha became the first state assembly in the country to launch eVidhan Mobile app. This e-Vidhan system will help the state to save about 8 crore rupees per
annum that is spent on the paper.
8. The Gujarat Assembly passed the controversial anti-terror bill, the Gujarat Control of
Terrorism and Organised Crime Bill, 2015, amid strong objection from the Opposition
Congress. The bill was passed as the Opposition staged a walk-out as a mark of protest.
9. The Centre sanctioned Rs. 200 crore for immediate rescue and relief operations in flood-hit
Jammu and Kashmir.
10 The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has signed an agreement with the
Government of India here on Monday to provide a 33,959 million yen (₹ 1,800 crore
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approximately) Japanese Official Development Assistance (ODA) loan to increase irrigated area
in Phase 2 of the Rengali Irrigation Project in Odisha.
11. Former SEBI Whole time Member MS Sahoo has joined the Competition Commission of
India as a Wholetime Member.
12. SBI Cards and Payment Services (SBI Card) today launched its SimplySAVE SBI credit
card with features designed to complement the spending habits of credit card users.
13. Max Life Insurance and Lakshmi Vilas Bank have entered into a 5 year bancassurance tieup for distribution of the former‘s life insurance products through the 400 branches of the private
sector bank.
14. Katsushi Inoue was on 30 March 2015 appointed as President and Chief Executive Officer
(CEO) of Honda Cars India Limited (HCIL).
15. Freedom fighter and educationist, Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya on was conferred the
highest civilian award of the country Bharat Ratna (posthumous). Former PM Ataul Bihari
Vajpayee also receives Bharat Ratna
16. Hockey India conferred Major Dhyan Chand Lifetime Achievement Award on legendary
Balbir Singh Senior.
17. Australia Win Fifth Cricket World Cup Title by beating New Zealand .
Mitchell Starc named player of the tournament
James Faulkner was named man-of-the-match
18. Prime Minister Narendra Modi today met Israel President Reuven Rivlin and discussed the
bilateral relations and the ways to take it forward. Both Modi and Rivlin are in Singapore to
attend the state funeral service of Singapore‘s first Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew who had died
19. Delhi Government launched India‘s first e-ration card service. The service was launched by
the Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal.In this service, E-ration card will be linked with
Aadhaar cards and it would enable the beneficiaries of Public Distribution System (PDS) to get
the cards online from the government‘s web portal without hassles.
20. ISRO's reliable power horse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-C27 carrying navigation satellite
IRNSS-1D at Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota.
It was the first launch for the new ISRO Chairman AS Kiran Kumar who took charge on
January 1 and first launch for ISRO this year.
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The satellite is the fourth in the series of seven navigation satellites that the space agency is
planning to launch to put in place the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS). The
first three satellites in the IRNSS series were launched from Sriharikota on July 1, 2013, April 4
and October 16 last year respectively.
21. 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, Spain‘s Carolina
Marin, lost in the India Open Super Series semi-final
22. An Indian-American biology professor is among 15 scientists, who have been selected for a
prestigious U.S. presidential award for excellence in the field of science, mathematics and
engineering mentoring.
23. Mizoram Governor Aziz Qureshi discharge from his duties.
24. Russia has decided to join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), the latest
country to sign up as the application deadline draws close
25. Investor Cyrus Vandrevala and hotelier Jasminder Singh were the prominent winners at an
Asian Business Awards ceremony in London.
26. India‘s foreign exchange reserves increased by $4.26 billion to $339.99 billion for the week
ended March 20, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data showed.
27. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on 27 March 2015 won Gandhi Peace Prize
2014.
28. International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave
Trade 2015 was observed globally on 25 March 2015. The theme for the year 2015 is Women
and Slavery.
29. The Union Ministry of Finance and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed a loan
agreement for 300 million US dollars to improve road connectivity along the North BengalNorth Eastern (NB-NE) Region. The agreement was signed in New Delhi.The funds will be
utilized to improve road connectivity and efficiency of the international trade corridors by
expanding roads in NB-NE region of the country.
30. Delhi High Court (HC) became the first court in India to set up dedicated commercial courts
within it to ensure speedy disposal of cases.
Chief Justice of Delhi HC G Rohini designated four benches to act as commercial courts.
31. Kerala Finance Minister KM Mani was appointed as the Chairman of the Empowered
Committee of State Finance Ministers on Goods and Services Tax (GST) by the Union Finance
Ministry . The post was vacant since the former Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) Finance Minister
Abdul Rahim quit the position after the defeat of National Conference in the J&K Assembly
elections held in December 2014.
32. 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.
33. The Vice President of India M Hamid Ansari released a book titled Faces and Places written
by Prof. Deepak Nayyar, noted economist and former Vice Chancellor of Delhi University.
34. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Pro-Active Governance and Timely
Implementation (PRAGATI) platform. PRAGATI is a multi-purpose and multi-modal platform
aimed at addressing grievances of common man. PRAGATI aims at simultaneously monitoring
and reviewing Union Government programmes and projects as well as projects flagged by State
Governments.
35. Google Inc appointed Ruth Porat as Chief Financial Officer (CFO).
She succeeded Patrick Pichette who announced his retirement on 10 March 2015. Currently, she
is working as Chief Financial Officer at Morgan Stanley.
36. Justice Ashok Bhushan was today sworn in as Chief Justice of Kerala High Court.
37. State Bank of India has decided to dilute its state in SBI General Insurance from 76 per cent
to 51 per cent in favour of joint venture partner IAG.
38. India and Qatar 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.
The six Agreements which were inked includes
• Agreement on Transfer of Sentenced Persons:
• MoU for Cooperation in the field of Information and Communication Technology:
• MoU between Ministry of Earth sciences and Qatar Meteorological Department for Scientific
and Technical cooperation:
• MoU between Diplomatic Institute of MOFA, Qatar and Foreign Service Institute, MEA:
• MoU for cooperation in the field of Radio and Television:
• Agreement for Mutual Cooperation and Exchange of News:
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39. Saudi Arabia launched a military operation including airstrikes in Yemen against the Houthi
rebels, who drove out the Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. It launched the operation
in coalition with nine other countries of the region.
40. Bangladesh has won the Women in Parliaments Global Forum (WIP) Award as a pioneering
country in reducing gender discrimination.
The theme of the WIP Summit 2015 is ―New Leadership for Global Challenges‖.
41. India‘s first Polar Remotely Operated Vehicle (PROVe) was successfully operationalised for
research in North Antarctica . PROVe has been indigenously built by National Institute of Ocean
Technology (NIOT) under the Union Ministry of Earth Sciences.
42. Indian-American author Akhil Sharma won The Folio Prize 2015 for his novel Family Life.
He was presented with the winner trophy by Jean-Marc Rathe of The Folio Society and a cheque
of 40000 pound at the awards ceremony held in London.
43. Three-year-old archer Dolly Shivani Cherukuri of Andhra Pradeshentered the India Book
of Records. She entered the list of records by scoring 388 points in the recurve segment in two
distances, seven and five meters, at the Volga Archery Academy in Vijayawada.
44. Artist Bharti Kher of India was conferred with the Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters
(Chevalier dans l‘Ordre des Arts et des Lettres). This is the highest cultural award of France.She
was awarded for her contribution in contemporary art landscape. Kher's artworks span several
mediums like painting, sculpture and installation.
45. Indian author Amitav Ghosh was shortlisted for the 2015 Man Booker International Prize.
He is the only Indian among the 10 finalists shortlisted for the prize.
46. 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.
47. 18th round of talks between the Special Representatives of India and China on the Boundary
Question was held in New Delhi. The India was represented by National Security Adviser Ajit
Doval and China was represented Yang Jiechi, State Councillor of China
48. Noted Hindi poet Gopaldas Neeraj has received the first National Kavi Pradeep Samman.
49. The Maharashtra government has given a go ahead to disburse Rs 2,000 crore compensation
to farmers affected by drought during the 2014 Kharif season.
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50. Union Government 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
51. Axis Bank, India‘s third largest private sector bank, has partnered Max Life Insurance, to
launch a financial planning app to facilitate better life insurance purchasing experience to
customers.
52. Indian ecologist Madhav Gadgil and US Scientist Dr. Jane Lubchenco were named for the
Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement 2015.They were named for the award for their
leadership and engagement in the development of conservation and sustainability policies in the
United States, India and internationally.
53. World Tuberculosis Day (WTD) 2015 was globally observed on 24 March 2015. The
theme for the year 2015 is continuation of the 2014 theme Reach the 3 Million. The main subtheme and message for the year 2015 is Reach, Treat, Cure Everyone.
54. The Union Government announced that Shashi Kapoor was selected for the Dadasaheb
Phalke Award for the year 2014. The 77-year-old the veteran film actor and producer is the
46th Dada Saheb Phalke Award winner.
55. Syeda Salva Fatima is going to be the first woman pilot from her community in the Old City
of Hyderabad to take a commercial pilot course.
56. Railway passengers can now book their tickets, do shopping and pay service bills using
RuPay pre-paid cards, as the IRCTC launched the debit card service. The service was launched
by the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) in collaboration with the
Union Bank of India and the National Payment Corporation of India.
57. State Government of Maharashtra announced that those involved in the sale of gutka in the
state will be booked under Section 328 of Indian Penal Code (IPC)
58. Sania Mirza jumped to her career-best rank of three in the doubles, following her stupendous
title win at the BNP Paribas Open with Swiss great Martina Hingis.
59. Novak Djokovic of Serbia won his fourth Indian Wells Open Tennis Men‘s Singles title. In
the final clash, Djokovic defeated Roger Federer of Switzerland 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-2.
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60. Sarath Fonseka, the former Army Chief of Sri Lanka was conferred with the country's
highest military rank of Field Marshal. He was awarded the honorary title by President
Maithripala Sirisena for achieving victory over terrorism.
61. The Andhra Pradesh Government is considering naming the new capital city planned near
Vijayawada-Guntur region as Amaravathi, based on the historical Buddhist site along Krishna
river.
62. Lee Kuan Yew, the statesman and founding father of Singapore died
63. XLRI, Jamshedpur, has conferred the ‗Sir Jehangir Ghandy Medal for Social and Industrial
Peace‘ on Mallika Srinivasan, Chairman & CEO, TAFE (Tractors and Farm Equipment Ltd)
during its 59th annual convocation
64. World‘s largest asteroid impact zone discovered in Australia
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.
65. Katherine Viner will be the next editor-in-chief of The Guardian, the Pulitzer prize-winning
newspaper and website that is widely read and respected for its independent voice and
investigative strengths.
The first woman to run the paper, and the 12th editor of the publication that was founded in 1821
66. Rajendra Singh, environmental activist based in Rajasthan, has been conferred the
prestigious Stockholm Water Prize this year for his innovative water restoration efforts and
courage to empower communities in Indian villages.
67. WWF- India, along with eBay India, have come together to work on a project that aims to
light-up 1,000-odd households in the Sundarbans region.
68. Telecom major Bharti Airtel announced partnership with Amazon Web Services to offer its
cloud computing services to customers in India.
69. Basel-III norms, that will come into effect in India by March 31, 2019, is a reinforcement of
the existing Basel-II ones, according to RN Kar, the regional director (East) of the Reserve Bank
of India (RBI).
70. World Water Day, observed on 22 March every year to celebrate water and raise
awareness of water-related issues.
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71. 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.
72. Renowned Malayalam poet Yusufali Kechery, who left a deep impression in Kerala's
cultural realm as a lyricist, died at a private hospital
73. The Union Cabinet 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.
74. Martin Guptill, the batsman of New Zealand cricket team, scored the highest-ever score of
237 not out in Cricket World Cup history.
He achieved the feat in 2015 World Cup quarter-final match against West Indies played at
WestpacTrust Stadium, Wellington.
75. The 1st Counter-Terrorism Conference 2015 was held in Jaipur for three days from 19
March 2015 to 21 March 2015.
76. Legendary Singer Lata Mangeshkar 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.
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 Bollywood‘s bias against women make-up artistes
77. Shahir Sable was an accomplished singer, writer, playwright, performer, Loknatya (Folk
Theater) producer-director.
78. 21 March: International Day of Forests. International Day of Forests was observed with
the theme Forests and Climate Change
79. Pakistani cricketers, Misbah-ul-Haq and Shaid Afridi retired from the One Day International
(ODI) format of cricket.
They retired after the World Cup quarter-final match against Australia played at Adelaide,
Australia.
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80. Megastar Amitabh Bachchan was roped in as the brand ambassador for Union
Government‘s campaign against Hepatitis B, a critical public problem in India.
81. 20 March: World Sparrow Day. The World Sparrow Day was observed globally with the
theme I Love Sparrows.
82. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will shortly put into circulation Rs. 5 coins minted by the
Government of India to commemorate 125th birth anniversary of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.
83. Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the Captain of Indian One Day International (ODI) Cricket team
became the first Indian captain and third in the history of the game, to lead his country to 100
ODI wins. He
reached the milestone of 100 wins in 178th ODI. By achieving this fete, he joined the Australian
pair of Ricky Ponting (165 wins) and Allan Border (107 wins)
84. Astra, country‘s indigenous Beyond Visual Range (BVR) air-to-air missile integrated by
HAL on Su-30 MKI aircraft was successfully launched from Chandipur, Odisha.
85. Tech Mahindra has tied up with Hong Kong-based Gao Feng Advisory Company, a
management consultancy firm, to provide technology services to clients in China and other
countries.
86. Karnataka Bank launched the ‗e-Lobby 24X7 banking services‘ at three locations in
Bengaluru.
87. Maharashtra Government announced to rename Girgaum Chowpatty as Swaraj Bhoomi to
honour veteran freedom fighter Bal Gangadhar Tilak.Girgaum Chowpatty is the oldest and most
famous beach of Mumbai, Maharashtra.
88. Wildlife Management of Palvancha announced eco-restoration project for Kinnerasani
Sanctuary in Telangana.
89. Nobel laureate Sir Venkatraman Ramakrishnan was named as the President of Britain's
prestigious Royal Society, a communion of the many of the world's most distinguished scientists.
90. Indian Olympic Association (IOA) President N Ramachandran was appointed as a vice-chair
of the International Relations Commission of the Association of National Olympic Committees
(ANOC).
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91. Veteran cricketers of Sri Lanka Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara retired from
the One Day International (ODI) format of Cricket.
The two veteran cricketers retired after the World Cup quarter-final match against South Africa
played at Sydney Cricket Ground, Australia
92. State Government of Haryana in third week of March 2015 decided to introduce Special
Identification Tags with unique identification numbers for Haryana cows, an indigenous breed
found in the state.
93. India will host the seventh Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction
(AMCDRR) in 2016. This was announced by Home Minister of India Rajnath Singh at the Third
UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction held in Sendai, Japan.
94. Xpress Money, global money transfer service provider, added a new mode of money transfer
for its customers sending money to India.
The ‗Direct Account Credit‘ service allows customers to send money directly to any bank
account in India.
95. Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment
Bank (AIIB) was in news in third week of March 2015. It was in news as it was reported that
France, Germany and Italy have agreed to join the AIIB after the United Kingdom (UK) decided
to join the bank.
96. Air Marshal Sohail Aman, an accomplished fighter pilot, was appointed as the chief of
Pakistan Air Force.
97. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator Kavinder Gupta on 18 March 2015 was elected as
the speaker of 12th Legislative Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir
98. The government has foregone Rs. 27,956 crore revenues during the last three financial years
to boost exports from special economic zones (SEZs)
99. Microsoft India has launched Cloud Accelerator Programme that will act as a catalyst to
accelerate the adoption of cloud services.
100. The government launched a Rs 200 crore scheme to set up a network of technology and
incubation centres to accelerate entrepreneurship and promote start-ups for innovation and
entrepreneurship in agro-industry.
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101. India's government plans to take away the Reserve Bank of India's regulatory powers over
government bonds, but leave the central bank in charge of other money market instruments,
102. Citi India has appointed Niraj Parekh as India Subcontinent Cluster Finance Officer to
overlook the finance functions across India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
103. Rajya Sabha passed the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2015 by voice vote. The bill
seeks to increase foreign investment limit in local insurers to 49 percent from 26 percent.
104. Union Ministry of Finance appointed Chairmen for the Allahabad and Chennai bench of
Debts Recovery Appellate Tribunal (DRAT).
VK Mathur was appointed as the Chairman of Allahabad bench of DRAT while Girija Shankar
was appointed as Chairman of Chennai bench of DRAT.
105. Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain won the 2015 Formula 1 Rolex Australian
Grand Prix at Albert Park, Melbourne, Australia.
106. 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..
107. Ajit Kumar Rath has joined Andhra Bank as an Executive Director.
108. The ‘Jan Aushadhi’ scheme which seeks to provide quality medicine at affordable price, is
being revisited to expand its reach across the country
109. Credit Rating Information Services of India Limited (CRISIL) announced to appoint Ashu
Suyash as the Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company.
CRISIL is an Indian unit of Standard & Poor.
110. The Haryana Assembly unanimously passed a bill under which cow slaughter and the sale
of beef have been banned in the state. The new law will also promote conservation and
development of indigenous breeds of cows and establish institutions to keep, maintain and take
care of the infirm, injured, stray and uneconomic cows.
111. Facebook acquires shopping search engine TheFind.com. TheFind.com is a search
engine that provides discovery services to its online visitors who are looking for products on
sale.
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112. Vodafone India, in collaboration with Adharva Associates, has introduced post-paid bill
payment facility through computerized post offices in Kerala.
This first of its kind initiative has been launched at post offices in order to make bill payments
easy and secure and for customers irrespective of their location.
113. Indian women beat Poland to win Hockey World League Round 2. 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.
114. Wipro Ltd. (NYSE:WIT), a leading global information technology, consulting and business
process services company announced the appointment of Abid Ali Neemuchwala as the Group
President and Chief Operating Officer of the company, effective April 1, 2015
115. Services are crowned champion of Santosh Trophy 2014-15.
They beat Punjab in the final of 69th edition of this premier football tournament to clinch their
4th overall title
116. The 22-year-old Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth won the Swiss Open Grand Prix
GOLD title of Badminton. The final was held at Basel in Switzerland
117. The World Consumer Rights Day (WCRD) 2015 was observed on 15 March 2015. The
theme for the WCRD 2015 is Helping consumers choose healthy diets.
118. Online marketplace major SNAPDEAL is in talks to acquire logistics firm GoJavas in a
deal estimated to be about Rs. 150-200 crore
119. The Government is pinning its hopes on the new refinance mechanism, MUDRA Bank, for
providing organised credit at reasonable rates to informal enterprises
120. K.V.Rama Moorthy, on Monday, has assumed charge as executive director of Bank of
Baroda
121. Singapore-based low-cost carrier Tigerair has tied up with Axis Bank, India‘s third largest
private sector bank, to announce a special ‗Pay to go, return for free‘ offer exclusively for the
bank‘s credit and debit cardholders.
122. Overseas investors have pumped in nearly Rs. 14,000 crore into the Indian capital markets
within a fortnight of this month, taking the total inflow to around Rs. 72,000 crore since the
beginning of the year.
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123. Central Government employees may get to visit some SAARC nations barring Pakistan
under new Leave Travel Concession (LTC) rules being finalised by the Centre.
124. One of the country‘s noted Gandhians, Narayan Desai, known for his rendition of Gandhi
Katha — stories on the Mahatma‘s life — passed away at a private hospital in Surat
125. Lia van Leer, pioneer of Israeli cinema passed away in Jerusalem, Israel. She was 90.
126. 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.
127. A historic bronze statue of Mahatma Gandhi was unveiled today at the Parliament Square in
London in a rare honour bestowed by the British government which had been a staunch adversary
of the iconic leader during its colonial rule in India.
128 Pakistan today successfully tested its first indigenous all-weather armed drone and a laser
guided missile.
129. Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off a train service at the north-western Sri Lankan
town of Talaimannar — the closest point to India — restored after decades of civil war,
completing the reconstruction of the entire Northern Province Railway Line.
130. Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS), India‘s largest software services exporterhas
appointed Aarthi Subramanian as an executive director on the board of directors of the company
for a period of three years.
131. Japan and France signed a deal on military equipment and technology transfers in a move to
drive cooperation and joint development of defence gear, as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
strengthens security ties with major powers.
132. Renowned fantasy author Sir Terence David John Pratchett (Terry Pratchett) passed away
in London
133. NASA‘s Hubble Space Telescope has found strong evidence of a massive saltwater ocean
under the icy crust of Jupiter‘s largest moon Ganymede that could potentially support life.
134. Ganasen Reddy, an Indian-origin South African educator, was awarded with KwaZuluNatal 2015 National Teachers Awards at the annual National Teaching Awards held in
Johannesburg
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135. The Union Minister of Chemicals & Fertilizers Ananth Kumar launched the Pharma Jan
Samadhan scheme. It is a web enabled system for redressal of consumers‘ grievances relating to
pricing and availability of medicines.
The system was created by National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA). The ministry
also released Compendium of Ceiling Prices of Essential Medicines 2015 prepared by NPPA.
136. World Kidney Day (WKD) was observed globally on 12 March 2015. The theme for the
year 2015 is Kidney Health for All.
137. Defending champions Karnataka won their eighth Ranji Trophy title of cricket. In the title
clash played at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai, Karnataka defeated Tamil Nadu by an innings
and 217 runs.
138. Congress legislator and deputy speaker N Shakthan was elected as the speaker of the
Kerala Assembly.
139. Harvard University retains top position in Times‘ World Reputation Rankings 2015
America's Harvard University remains number one in a ranking of 100 most prestigious
education institutions across the world
140. Union Government appointed Nine Executive Directors in Public Sector Banks.
List of appointments
• Charan Singh – Executive Director of UCO Bank
• K Venkata Rama Moorthy –Executive Director of Bank of Baroda
• RP Marathe – Executive Director of Bank of India
• Harideesh Kumar B – Executive Director, Canara Bank
• NK Sahoo – Executive Director of Allahabad Bank
• Pawan Kumar Bajaj - Executive Director of Indian Overseas Bank
• Ravi Shankar Pandey - Executive Director of Syndicate Bank
• Kishore Piraji Kharat - Executive Director of Union Bank of India
• RC Lodha - Executive Director of Central Bank of India.
141. India signed four agreements with the Indian Ocean island nation Seychelles to boost
security and maritime partnership. The agreements were signed during the visit of Prime
Minister Narendra Modi to Seychelles.
The four agreements were signed in following categories:
• Cooperation in hydrography
• Cooperation in renewable energy
• Cooperation in Infrastructure development
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• Cooperation in Sale of navigation charts and electronic navigational charts
142. Indian Railways signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Life Insurance
Corporation of India (LIC) to augment its resources for speedier execution of projects.
143. The United States (US) President Barack Obama nominated veteran diplomat David Hale
as next Ambassador to Pakistan.
144. Sri Lanka‘s batsman Kumar Sangakkara entered the record books by scoring four
consecutive centuries in a Cricket World Cup.
145. Aditya Birla Retail acquired Total Hypermarket. Total Hypermarkets is owned by
Jubilant Retail.
146. Google's Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Patrick Pichette announced his retirement from the
office citing personal reasons.
147. The RBI said it has included Macau and Hong Kong in the list of countries whose citizens
are prohibited from acquiring/transferring immovable property in India under the Foreign
Exchange Management Act
148. First Kisan Call Centre (KCC) of North-East was opened in Agartala, Tripura. The KCC
was launched by the Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar.
149. Visit Britain, the National tourism agency of Britain roped in Bollywood actor Saif Ali
Khan to promote an India-centric campaign, Bollywood Britain.
150. Maharashtra Government 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.
About Bhagyashree scheme
(i). The Bhagyashree scheme aims at providing one lakh rupee on maturity after the girl
completes 18 years of age.
(ii). The scheme was launched by the Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis in the
presence of Bollywood actress Bhagyashree.
(iii). Bollywood actress Bhagyashree is the brand ambassador of the scheme.
(iv). The Bhagyashree scheme would be linked to the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme of Union
Government.
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151. United Arab Emirates (UAE) won the bid to host Asian Football Confederation (AFC)
Asian Cup 2019.
152. Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs o 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.
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)
153. ICICI Prudential Life Insurance has launched ICICI Pru Smart Life.
The savings product is designed to provide financial protection and enable building a corpus over
long-term
154. ICICI Bank, India‘s largest private sector bank, has tied up with SADAD Electronic
Payments WLL to offer remittance service for NRIs based in Bahrain, enabling them to transfer
money instantly to India from the latter‘s kiosks spread across the Kingdom of Bahrain
155. 46th Raising Day of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) observed on 10 March
156. Maharashtra could become a drought-free State by 2019 with the Government kick-starting
a new programme called ‗Jalyukta Shivar Abhiyan’.
157. Former Union Minister and senior Congress leader M. Veerappa Moily 5 was selected for
the prestigious Saraswati Samman for 2014 for his Kannada poem Ramayana Mahanveshanam.
158. Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (MoHRD) released Digital Gender Atlas
for Advancing Girls Education, a web-based tool for advancing girls education. It was unveiled
by the Department of School Education and Literacy.
159. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the first indigenously developed Rotavirus
vaccine named Rotavac
160. The country‘s largest two-wheeler manufacturer Hero MotoCorp appointed Ashok Bhasin
as Head of Sales, Marketing and Customer Care function.
161. All England Championships Chen Long & Carolina Marin win singles World champion
Chen Long of China beat Jan Jorgensen in the final of the All England Championship in
Birmingham.In the women's final, world champion Carolina Marin of Spain fought back from a
set down to beat India's Saina Nehwal 16-21 21-14 21-7.
162. Online market place SNAPDEAL has entered into a partnership with IndiVillage, a
business process outsourcing (BPO) company focusing in rural areas, to promote skill
development and employment opportunities in rural communities.
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163. Axis Bank, India‘s third largest private sector bank, announced a partnership with
MasterCard and Vayana Network to launch ‗Invoice to Payment‘- an end-to-end digital
invoicing and payment solution.―This solution aims to simplify B2B payments in India,
estimated at over $95 billion annually
164. Kerala Tourism won the silver prize of Golden Gate award for promoting the backwaters
of Kerala The campaign was conceptualised by Kerala State‘s Tourism Department‘s creative
and marketing agency Stark Communications.The Golden Gate award (Das Golden Stadttor) is
presented every year at the ITB-Berlin and is dubbed as the Oscar in tourism communication.
165. The first Indo-Nepal Friendship Motor Rally concluded at India Gate in New Delhi. The
rally aimed at strengthening bilateral relations between India and Nepal and spreading the
message of road safetyThe rally was flagged off at Puri, Odisha
166. Tata Consultancy Services has been named as the top employer in Europe for the third
consecutive year by a top employers certification agency, citing the Indian IT major as an
―exceptional performer‖ in nine core human resources areas.
167. Aapki Beti Humari Beti scheme launched in Haryana The aim of scheme is to combat
the problem of declining child sex ratio in the state.The scheme was announced at a state-level
function on the occasion of International Women‘s 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.
168. Stree Shakti Puraskars 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 women‘s
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.
Kannagi Award- Dr. P Bhanumati, Kerala- For founding Association for Mentally
Handicapped Adults (AHMA) working for welfare of the poor destitute mentally challenged
adults since 1996.
Rani Gaidinliu Zeliang Award- Sister Mariola, Rajasthan - For working with the inmates at
Ajmer Jail, Rajasthan since 1997 and has been lobbying for Prisons Without Walls.
Devi Ahilyabai Holkar Award- Anyay Rahit Zindagi (NGO), Goa- The organisation works
towards combating trafficking of persons subjected to commercial sexual exploitation since
1997.
169. World's first Solar-propelled plane Solar Impluse-2 (Si2), landed at Ahmedabad's Sardar
Patel International Airport
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170. Tata Motors-owned Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is set to build its first all-electric car
in Austria.JLR‘s electric debut would be the latest in a string of launches after its new XE ―baby
Jag‖ and F-Pace sports utility vehicle, as well as a new factory in China and one under
construction in Brazil.
171. Japan forms ‘ninja council‘ the ninja,is a martial-arts master and stealth agent of feudal
times - to encourage tourism.It sees local authorities forming an alliance with tourism agencies to
thrust ninjas - usually known for their ability to become nearly invisible - into the spotlight.
172. Air Costa today celebrated International Women’s Day on 8 March operating special
flights, Bengaluru-Hyderabad-Tirupati-Hyderabad-Bengaluru, with all Women Crew (both
cockpit and cabin) on Board.Air Costa is a scheduled regional airline and has recently completed
one year of commercial operations. It currently has 34 daily flights and connects 9 cities with
Embraer E170 (67 seats) and E190 (112 seats) Jets.
173. Islamic State 'demolishes' ancient Hatra site in Iraq Hatra was founded in the days of the
Parthian Empire over 2,000 years ago.Militants have recently bulldozed ruins at the Assyrian
city of Nimrud and destroyed museum artefacts in Mosul.
174. India ranks third lowest in the proportion of business leadership roles held by women, at 15
per cent; falling below the global average, reveals an annual survey from Grant Thornton,
conducted ahead of International Women‘s Day (March 8). Japan which sits at the bottom of the
global rankings at 8 per cent
175. Vinod Mehta, distinguished Editor and commentator who successfully launched a number
of newspapers and magazines, passed away after prolonged illness. He was 73. Mehta, who was
Editorial Chairman of ‗Outlook‘ magazine which he had founded. He wrote the best selling
autobiography ‘Lucknow Boy’ in 2011 He recently published another book ‘Editor
Unplugged’
176. SEBI to launch media campaigns to safeguard investors .SEBI is stepping up efforts to
make the public aware about the grievance redressal mechanism available to them and
safeguards against high-return claims.
177. Kshatrapati Shivaji appointed as Chairman and Managing Director of The Small
Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI). Prior to this appointment, Shivaji - a
Maharashtra cadre IAS officer--was Principal Secretary, FINANCE (Expenditure), in
Government of Maharashtra Shivaji has already assumed charge of his new role.
178. Walmart India appoints Ashwin Mittal as new Chief Financial Officer and Javier Rojo as
head of Real Estate and Business Development.Mittal will replace Jill Anderson, currently the
CFO of Walmart India, who will soon repatriate back to Walmart in US.
179. Gujarat has reported 80 per cent penetration of the Direct Benefit transfer of LPG (DBTL)
scheme Pratyaksh Hanstantrit Labh (PaHaL) of the total active LPG consumers in the state. As
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per the latest figures about 79.7 per cent or 4.8 million active LPG consumers have joined the
PaHaL scheme in Gujarat.
180. The green baize game of snooker, played with multi-coloured balls, has been short-listed
among three sports to be included in the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, according to Captain
P.V.K. Mohan, president of the International Billiards and Snooker Federation (IBSF).
181. NASA's Dawn Spacecraft completed its Orbit around Dwarf Planet Ceres .Dawn's mission
is managed by NASA‘s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) for Science Mission Directorate in
Washington. Dawn is a project of the directorate's Discovery Program, managed by NASA's
Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. University of California, Los Angeles
(UCLA) is responsible for overall Dawn mission science.
182. UST Global has launched women safety App iSafe. It is a mobile-based app for women‘s
safety. The app was launched ahead of the International Women‘s Day on 8 March.The App was
launched for the Thiruvananthapuram City Police. Through the app, women will be able to send
instant alerts to the police control room by using the panic button or just by the long press of
volume rocker (down) key of their mobile phones
183. Kerala Assembly speaker G Karthikeyan passed away. Karthikeyan was a member of
Indian National Congress party in Kerala. He had started his political career through Kerala
Students Union (KSU), the student outfit of Congress. Later, he was appointed state president of
KSU and Youth Congress.
184. Muthoot Finance has bagged MoneyGram’s ‘Best Sub-Agent in South Asian Region‘
for the third consecutive year. The award was presented to George Alexander Muthoot,
Managing Director, Muthoot FINANCE Ltd. Muthoot Finance‘s Money transfer service is the
largest payout centre in India with two million transfers being executed annually. With 20 lakh
transactions worth Rs. 3,500 crore across all its branches last year.
185. US tech giant Apple will join the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Index replacing telecom
company AT&T, S&P Dow Jones Indices. The inclusion of the iPhone and iPad maker in the
elite list of 30 top companies comes long after Apple had become the biggest US company by
MARKET capitalisation, now with a value of more than $730 billion
186. National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) links 15 crore bank accounts with Aadhar
―The current focus is on linking the bank accounts of 17 crore DBTL (direct benefit transfer)
beneficiaries with Aadhaar numbers by June 30, 2015 Such a framework of electronic benefit
transfer would not only be unique but also be one of the largest in the world.
187. PJ Joseph has taken over as the Chairman and Managing Director of Kolkata-headquartered
National Insurance Company. He will hold responsibility as the CMD of Agricultural Insurance
Company. Joseph has over 35 years experience in the insurance sector.
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188. RailYatri app for local trains launched. Passengers of local trains will now be able to see
train schedules on their mobiles. RailYatri app has the largest network of trains covering all local
and national trains. Manish Rathi, co-founder and CEO, RailYatri.in.
189. British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) 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.
190. Fomer Bihar Chief Minister Ram Sundar Das passesd away in Patna due to age-related
problems. He was 95.Das was chief minister of Bihar as the head of the Janata Party government
in 1979
191. Sunil Sabharwal, an independent Indian-American investor has been re-nominated as the
Alternative Executive Director at International Monetary Fund (IMF), by the US President
Barack Obama.President Obama sent his decision to the Senate to re-nominate Sabharwal on
March 4, 2015, as the nomination was waiting for the approval of the upper house
192. Australian cricket team created the World Cup record for highest-ever score of 417 for 6 in
a match against Afghanistan in Perth. It defeated Afghanistan by 275 runs which was the biggest
winning margin in the tournament‘s history.The record was created with the help of David
Warner‘s 178 runs, Steve Smith‘s 95 runs and Glenn Maxwell‘s 88 runs.
193. Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar completed his SAARC Yatra of four nations .namely
Afghanistan on 4 March 2015, Pakistan on 3 March 2015, Bangladesh on 2 March 2014 and
Bhutan on 1 March 2015. He undertook the SAARC Yatra with an aim to firm up India‘s ties
with members of the grouping while reviewing regional and bilateral cooperation.
194. State Government of Maharashtra scrapped the resolution that provided five percent
reservations to Muslims in Maharashtra government jobs. The resolution was announced by the
erstwhile Congress-NCP government just before Assembly polls in 2014.
194. Union Ministry of Shipping signed an agreement with Toyota for export of automobile
units. The export of automobile units will be done through Kamarajar Port Limited (KPL)The
port has a General Cargo Berth (GCB) under its control to handle automobile units. It is RORO
berth (Roll on Roll off) where the cars are directly driven into the vessel.
195. Union Ministry of Shipping, Road Transport & Highways launched a website Shipping
Samvad The objective of the website :- is to invite innovative ideas and suggestions from general
public and experts related to Indian maritime sector for improvements in the shipping, ports and
inland waterways sector.
196. Bank of Baroda (BOB) has donated ₹ 5.31 crore towards Prime Minister National Relief
Fund to help the victims of floods in Jammu & Kashmir. This donation represents encashed
value of one day privilege leave of the bank‘s staff.
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197. Federal Bank has offered its consumers an attractive ‗Apna Gold Loan‘ facility. Unlike the
gold deposit scheme unveiled in the Budget, Federal Bank does not melt the jewellery or gold
deposited with it. Customers can deposit gold coins (up to 50 gm) and jewellery with the bank,
just like putting it in a bank locker. The advantage in this case is that the bank locker comes
practically free of cost.
198. The Reserve Bank of India cut the repo rate from 7.75 per cent to 7.50 per cent. Repo rate
is the interest rate at which RBI provides short-term liquidity to banks.
199. Bollywood actress Rani Mukerji was awarded with the National Award for the Best
Representation of the Cause of Safety, Security and Protection of Women and Girl Child by
National Institute of Gender Justice (NIGJ). Rani is the first ever film personality to be felicitated
with this prestigious award.
200. Indian-American physician Rahul Jindal was selected for the prestigious Fulbright-Nehru
Distinguished Chair.
201. Ornithologist and naturalist KS Lavkumar Khachar died He was 84. Khachar was among
the pioneers of nature conservation in India.
202. Kirket, a Hindi film based on former Indian cricketer Kirti Azad‘s life was launched , 56year-old, Kirti Azad is the actor of the film which is based on his cricket journey.
203. The World Wildlife Day was observed on 3 March 2015. The 2015 theme of the day is
Wildlife crime is serious, let‘s get serious about wildlife crime.
204. Hifikepunye Pohamba, outgoing Namibian President, won the Mo Ibrahim prize for
achievement in African leadership for year 2014.
205. The Union Railways Minister Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu launched a Customer Complaint
Web Portal and Mobile Application.
This Customer Complaint-cum-Suggestion portal and mobile App can be freely downloaded and
will be useful to track the status of the complaints registered on this portal with the help of
mobile App.
206. eBay India has partnered with SMEcorner.com, an online platform for Small and Medium
Enterprises. SMEcorner.com offers accessibility to loans in six online steps, which helps combat
challenges of follow–ups, documentation, unprofessional intermediaries and other such issues.
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207. Union Ministry of Human Resource Development appointed Baldev Sharma as chairman
of National Book Trust (NBT).
208. IAS officer Kewal K Sharma was appointed as Chief Secretary of Delhi. His appointment
was approved by Union Home Ministry.
209. Forbes magazine released Global Billionaire‘s 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.
210. The world's largest and tallest Indian tricolour was unfurled at Town Park in Faridabad
211. Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) launched two new plans- Jeevan Sangam a savings cum
protection single premium plan and a new children‘s money back plan.
LIC‘s Jeevan Sangam is a participating, non-linked, savings cum protection single premium plan
wherein the risk cover is a multiple of single premium.
212. Arun Singh, India's envoy to Paris, will take over the ambassadorial assignment in
Washington DC, replacing S Jaishankar
213. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has entrusted Ranjan Dhawan, Executive
Director, Bank of Baroda (BoB), additional charge of the Managing Director & CEO of the
public sector bank for a period of three months.
214. Spanish top seed Rafael Nadal defeated local player Juan Monaco to win the Argentina
Open, lifting his first title in 2015.
215. Two-wheeler manufacturing major Hero MotoCorp Ltd (HMCL) has signed on southern
superstar Allu Arjun as its first regional brand ambassador.
216. Insurance behemoth LIC has increased its stake in Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries
Ltd by 2.09 per cent after buying 6.78 crore shares in the open market.
217. SpaceX rocket lifts off with world's first all-electric satellites: Mission launches 'two for the
price of one' thanks to cheaper fuel A SpaceX rocket has lifted off from Cape Canaveral in
Florida carrying the world's first all-electric satellites
218. BlackBerry Ltd plans to offer a cloud-based version of its device management platform
BES12, a move that will make the service more accessible to small- and medium-sized
businesses that need to secure devices on their own networks.
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219. The Government and the Reserve Bank of Indian have agreed on the target of 2 to 6 per
cent for inflation from 2016-17 and onwards
220. A 49-year-old Indian-origin lawyer has been appointed as a Judicial Commissioner to
Singapore's Supreme Court bench for two years.
221. Roger Federer beat world number one Novak Djokovic 6-3 7-5 to win his seventh Dubai
Championship title.