Current Affairs, March 2015– Important Events

1^st  Mar. 2015:

• Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader Mufti Mohammad Sayeed takes oath as Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister.

• World’s first electric satellites were successfully lifted off by a Space Exploration (SpaceX) Technologies rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, United States.

2^nd  Mar. 2015:

• Jagmohan Dalmiya elected as the President of BCCI.

• Chelsea wins the League Cup at Wembley Stadium by defeating Tottenham.

• Hifikepunye Pohamba, outgoing Namibian President won the Mo Ibrahim prize for achievement in African leadership for year 2014.

3^rd  Mar. 2015:

• President of India Pranab Mukherjee has given formal consent to the Maharashtra Preservation (Amendment) Bill which bans the slaughter of calves and bullocks completely.

4^th  Mar. 2015:

• Lok Sabha passed the Coal Mines bill to allow e-auction of coal blocks.

5^th  Mar. 2015:

• According to Forbes, the founder of Sun Pharma Dilip Shanghvi becomes the India's richest billionaire ahead of Mukesh Ambani.

• Lok Sabha passed Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2015.

·      India and Spain signed an agreement on ‘Mutual Protection of Classified Information’ to provide the framework for an enhanced cooperation in the defence sector.

6^th  Mar. 2015:

• Former Bihar Chief Minister Ram Sundar Das passes away at Patna.

8^th  Mar. 2015:

• International Women's Day is celebrated across the world.

• Arun Singh has been appointed as India's ambassador to the US who will succeed S Jaishankar.

• Saina Nehwal defeated by Carolina Marin of Spain in All England badminton title final in Birmingham.

• According to the IHS company study report, Saudi Arabia overtook India to become the world’s biggest weapons importer in 2014.The top five importers in 2014 were Saudi Arabia, India, China, UAE and Taiwan.

• Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar launched a scheme for girl child – ‘Aapki Beti Humari Beti’ – with an aim to combat the problem of declining child sex ratio in the state.

• Maharashtra Government has launched ‘Bhagyashree Scheme’ for girl child from Below Poverty Line (BPL) families.’ Bhagyashree Scheme’ has replaced the state government’s previous ‘Sukanya Scheme’.

• Senior journalist and former editor of Outlook, Vinod Mehta died. He wrote the best-selling autobiography ‘Lucknow Boy’ in 2011. He has authored a biography of Meena Kumari (movie actress and poet) and Sanjay Gandhi- The Sanjay Story (2012).

9^th  Mar. 2015:

• After a gap of over 20 years, 1 rupee note re-launched today.

• Former Union minister M Veerappa Moily was selected for the prestigious Saraswati Samman for 2014 for his famous Kannada poem ‘Ramayana Mahanveshanam’

10^th  Mar. 2015:

• The Land Acquisition Bill passed in the Lok Sabha by voting after government proposed nine amendments.

• Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni registered most wins by an Indian captain in the history of the cricket World Cup after defeating Ireland in Hamilton.

11^th  Mar. 2015:

• CBI court summoned former PM Manmohan Singh over accusations of criminal conspiracy and corruption in the illegal award of a coal field.

• Sri Lankan batsman Kumar Sangakkara creates a new record by scoring four consecutive centuries in a Cricket World Cup.

• Indian Railways signed an MoU with LIC to raise Rs 1.5 lakh crore for financing the development of its various commercially viable infrastructure projects.

12^th  Mar. 2015:

• Karnataka team wins the Ranji Trophy final against Tamil Nadu at Wankhede Stadium.

13^th  Mar. 2015:

• Japan and France signed a agreement on military equipment and technology transfers.

• United Kingdom (UK) Chancellor George Osborne has launched the scholarships for Indian finance professionals who want to study in Britain.

14^th  Mar. 2015:

• Former Maldives president and opposition leader Mohamed Nasheed has been sentenced to 13 years in prison on a terrorism charge.

• British Prime Minister David Cameron and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley jointly unveiled bronze statue of Mahatma Gandhi at the Parliament Square in London.

15^th  Mar. 2015:

• Services win the Santosh Trophy after beating hosts Punjab at Ludhiana.

• Assam government has launched the “Momai Tamuli Barbaruah Krishak Bondhu Scheme” to increase agricultural production.

17^th  Mar. 2015:

• The Union cabinet has cleared the black money bill, which proposes to provide muscle to tax authorities dealing with illegal wealth stashed abroad.

• According to Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), India is the largest importer of arms with 15 per cent of global weapons imports between 2010 and 2014.

18^th  Mar. 2015:

• World's only 'no-fuel' solar-powered aircraft 'Solar Impulse-2' off for Varanasi from Ahmedabad.

19^th  Mar. 2015:

• India enters the semi final of 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup.

• M S Dhoni becomes the first Indian ODI captain and third in the World to wins 100 one-day international.

20^th  Mar. 2015:

• India-born scientist and Nobel Laureate Dr. Venkatraman Ramakrishnan will take over as the President of the prestigious Royal Society at the end of the year.

• Rajya Sabha passed the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Bill 2015.

21^st  Mar. 2015:

• Martin Guptill of New Zealand scores 237 not out against West Indies which is the highest individual score in World Cup history.

22^nd  Mar. 2015:

• World Water Day 2015 was globally observed with the theme Water and Sustainable Development.

23^rd  Mar. 2015:

• Veteran actor Shashi Kapoor will be conferred the Dada Saheb Phalke award this year for his contribution to Indian cinema.

• Singapore's founding father Lee Kuan Yew died.

24^th  Mar. 2015:

• The Supreme Court has scrapped Section 66(A) of the Information Technology Act, a law that was seen as a major infringement of the freedom of speech online because it allowed the arrest of a person for posting "offensive" content.

 • The 62nd National Film Awards for year 2014 was announced. Court directed by Chaitanya Tamhane was selected as the Best feature film. Mary Kom (Hindi) directed by Omung Kumar was selected as the Best Popular film providing wholesome entertainment. The 62nd National Film Awards in the various categories are as follows:-
* Best Actor – Vijay for Nanu Avanalla Avalu (Kannada).
* Best Actress – Kangana Ranaut for Queen (Hindi).
* Best Direction -Srijit Mukherji, Director of Chotushkone (Bengali).
* Best Hindi Film – Queen
* Best Children’s Film - Kaakkaa Muttai (Tamil) and Elizabeth Ekadashi (Marathi).
* Indira Gandhi Award for Best Debut Film of a Director  – Aditya Vikram Sengupta for Asha Jaoar Majhe (Bengali).
* Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration – Chotoder Chobi (Bengali) directed by Kaushik Ganguly.

• The World TB Day is celebrated today across the globe.

25^th  Mar. 2015:

• Former Footballer Michel Platini re-elected as the President of UEFA for the third time.

27^th  Mar. 2015:

• Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee receives India's highest civilian honour Bharat Ratna.

28^th  Mar. 2015:

• Saina Nehwal became the first Indian woman shuttler to attain the world number one ranking.

• India today launched its fourth GPS satellite IRNSS-1D from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota.

• Mizoram Governor Aziz Qureshi sacked from his post. Governor of West Bengal Keshari Nath Tripathi will take the additional charge of Mizoram.

29^th  Mar. 2015:

• Australia wins the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup after defeating New Zealand by 7 wickets in MCG.

• Delhi's Aditi Arya was crowned as Femina Miss India World 2015 at Yashraj Studios in Mumbai.

• Saina Nehwal wins her maiden India Open Super Series title after after defeating Ratchanok Intanon.

• Kidambi Srikanth wins the men's singles title at the India Open Super Series after defeating Denmark's Viktor Axelsen.

30^th  Mar. 2015:

• India's highest civilian award Bharat Ratna conferred posthumously upon educationist Madan Mohan Malviya at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

31^st  Mar. 2015:

• Former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari was elected as the president of Nigeria.

• The Gujarat Legislative Assembly passed Gujarat Control of Terrorism and Organized Crime (GUJCOC) Bill, 2015.

Miscellaneous

·         North Korea and Russia will mark 2015 as a year of friendship and step up bilateral exchanges in political, economic and cultural sectors.

·         Parliament passed the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2015. The bill seeks an amendment in the Citizenship Act, 1955 and to merge the Person of Indian Origin (PIO) and Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) schemes.

·         India’s first conference on Counter-Terrorism was held from 19 – 21 March 2015 in Jaipur, Rajasthan.

·         Rajendra Singh, an eminent environment activist, has been conferred the prestigious Stockholm Water Prize 2015 for his innovative water restoration efforts. He is popularly known as Water Man of India.