2015

Career Anna GK 2015 March Fact Sheet

Career Anna

Indian Government and Politics

1.

Madhya Pradesh has been chosen for the 10th national award for excellent work in
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act-MGNREGA by the
Central Government

2.

Four founding members of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), including senior leaders
Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan, have been removed from the party's
national executive after a party's national council meeting held on 28th March on
New Delhi

3.

India successfully launched its fourth navigation satellite IRNSS-1D from Sriharikota
in Andhra Pradesh on 28th March

4.

President Pranab Mukherjee has removed Mizoram Governor Aziz Qureshi from his
post

5.

Kerala Finance Minister KM Mani has been appointed as the Chairman of the
Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers on Goods and Services Tax (GST)
by the Union Finance Ministry

6.

Railways Ministry has formed a new Committee under former IAS officer Ajay
Shankar to review the existing Public Private Partnership (PPP) Cell in the Railway
Board

7.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched ambitious multi-purpose and multi-modal

platform PRAGATI (Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation) in New
Delhi on 26th March with the aim of addressing common man's grievances and
concerns

8.

Kerala Tourism won the national Web Ratna Award for 2014 for exemplary egovernance initiative through the Internet.' The Official website of Keral
Tourism www.keralatourism.org won the Golden Icon award in the outstanding
content' category of the Web Ratna Awards

9.

Senior Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer and famous novelist Vikas Swarup,
author of novel Q&A' on which Slumdog Millionaire movie was made, has been
appointed as new spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs

10. Justice Ashok Bhushan was sworn in as Chief Justice of Kerala High Court on 26th
March. He was administered the oath of office by Kerala Governor P Sathasivam.
Before that, he was serving as acting chief justice of the high court
11. In a landmark judgement, the Supreme Court has struck down a provision in the
cyber law known as Section 66A of the Information Technology Act which provides

power to arrest a person for posting allegedly 'offensive' content on websites in

order to protect freedom of expression
12. The environment ministry will launch the National Air Quality Index in April this
year which will be a simple, composite, and easy to understand measure of air
quality
13. The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved the
Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) to provide necessary skills training
to youth across the country
14. The Andhra Pradesh Government may announce the new capital city planned near
Vijayawada-Guntur region as Amaravathi, based on the historical Buddhist site
along Krishna river
15. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been appointed as the new chancellor of Visva
Bharati University of Shantiniketan for the next three years
16. The government of India has appointed Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan as
the brand ambassador for its drive against hepatitis B. Amitabh Bachchan was a
brand ambassador for the Polio Eradication Campaign since 2005 after the number
of cases peaked in the nation in year 2002
17. The Supreme Court has set aside the notification issued by the erstwhile UPA
government to include Jats in the Central list of Other Backward Classes (OBC) for
according benefits of reservation to them in a ruling yesterday
18. Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani was named Young Global Leader from India by the
World Economic Forum (WEF)
19. Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari launched a web portal
www.inampro.nic.in on 10th March to monitor the supply of cement and ease
the order process by prospective users
20. Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar launched a new scheme for girl child
named as "Aapki Beti Humari Beti" in the state with the key aim to combat the
problem of declining child sex ratio in the state
21. Time Magazine has ranked Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi among the list of
30 most influential people on the internet. As per Time magazine, he has around 38
million followers on social networking sites Twitter and Facebook
22. World's largest and tallest Indian national flag was unfurled at Town Park in
Faridabad in the presence of BJP president Amit Shah, Haryana CM ML Khattar and
Bollywood actor Ranbir Kapoor

23. The Government of Maharashtra has banned the beef in the state. As per the new
rule, if a person is found to be selling beef or in possession of it, he can be jailed for
five years and fined up to Rs 10,000
24. The government has appointed former Panchajanya editor Baldev Sharma as the
new chairman of the National Book Trust on 2nd March
25. PDP (People's Democratic Party) party leader Mufti Mohammed Sayeed was sworn
in as the new Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir on 1st March. He is leading a
historic alliance with the BJP, which has become part of a government in the state
for the first time
26. Central Government has appointed Arun Singh, currently its Ambassador to France,
as its next ambassador to the US. Arun Singh, a 1979-batch IFS officer, will succeed S
Jaishankar

Business and Economy

27. FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry) has appointed
famous economist Arvind Virmani as the new Economic mentor for Ficci's public
policy and economic work
28. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has given Executive Director of Bank of
Baroda Ranjan Dhawan additional charge of the Managing Director & CEO of Bank of
Baroda for a period of three months
29. Online cab booking company Ola has acquired its competitor TaxiForSure for USD
200 million in a cash and equity deal. Post this deal, both the companies will
continue to operate as separate companies
30. Microsoft Founder Bill Gates has been ranked as the richest man in the world for the
second consecutive year by business magazine Forbes in its annual ranking of global
billionaires. Bill Gates (worth of USD 79.2 billion) secured No1 rank followed by
Carlos Slim (worth of USD 77 billion), Warren Buffett (worth of USD 72.7 billion)
31. Global tech company Hewlett-Packard has announced to acquire wi-fi network
systems maker Aruba for USD 3 billion. This acquisition will help HP to compete in
the university and office campus networking market
32. Indian-American physician Rahul Jindal was selected for the prestigious FulbrightNehru Distinguished Chair
33. Walmart India has appointed Ashwin Mittal as the new Chief Financial Officer and
Javier Rojo as head of Real Estate and Business Development.

34. Hyderabad has been ranked as the top Indian city in the quality of living ranking, as
per the Mercer's Quality of Living Report 2015. Hyderabad has been ranked at 138
globally with Pune holding the second position among Indian cities at 145th
35. India's largest real estate company DLF has tied-up with e-commerce marketplace
Snapdeal to sell its apartments. As per deal, it will also offer 1% discount to
potential home buyers
36. Social networking giant Facebook acquired shopping search engine TheFind' in
order to enter into e-commerce market
37. Online marketplace major Snapdeal announced that it plans to acquire logistics firm
GoJavas for nearly Rs. 150-200 crore in order to strengthen its delivery operations
in the country
38. CRISIL announced that Ashu Suyash, current CEO of L&T Investment Management,
as its next Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer
39. Indian IT Services Company Wipro Ltd has appointed Abid Ali Neemuchwala as its
Group President and Chief Operating Officer effective from next financial year
40. India has replaced US to become the third-largest steel producer in the world. India
produced 14.56 million tonnes (MT) in first two months of the current year
41. Suresh Krishna has been appointed Chairman of TV Sundram Iyengar & Sons Ltd,
the holding company of the TVS group
42. India's indigenously developed Beyond Visual Range (BVR) air-to-air missile Astra
was successfully tested from a Sukhoi-30 fighter aircraft at the Integrated Test
Range located at Chandipur in Odisha
43. Famous Indian businessperson and Tata Group's Chairman Emeritus, Ratan Tata
has been appointed as the head of Indian Railways Innovative Council called 'Kaya
Kalp
44. Kraft Foods Group Inc will merge with ketchup maker H.J. Heinz Co, owned by 3G
Capital and Berkshire Hathaway Inc, as per the latest announcement. This combined
entity will be the world's fifth-largest food and Beverage Company with the
combined revenue of around USD 28 billion
45. Ruth Porat has been appointed as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of world's largest
search engine giant Google
46. Japanese auto major Honda has been appointed Katsushi Inoue slated as its new
President & CEO of its Indian operation Honda Cars India Ltd from April this year

Entertainment
47. Actor Shashi Kapoor has been awarded with this year's Dadasaheb Phalke Award
just after his 77th birthday, India's highest honour in cinema
48. Vikas Bahl's Queen has been named the Best Hindi film at the 62nd National Film
Awards while Kangana Ranaut has been awarded with the Best Actress for her
performance in the same film
49. Indian American Author Akhil Sharma has been presented with the Folio Prize 2015
for his novel Family Life' by Jean-Marc Rathe of the Folio Society at the awards
ceremony held in London
50. Famous writer and columnist Zachariah has been selected for CV Kunhuraman
Literary Prize 2015. The prize comprises a cash component of Rs 10,001 and a
statuette designed by artist BD Dathan
51. Famous Hindi poet Gopaldas Neeraj has been awarded with first National Kavi
Pradeep Samman. He was presented the award by Madhya Pradesh Culture Minister
Surendra Patwa at a function in Bhopal

Sports
52. BJP Leader Poonam Mahajan was unanimously elected as the President of
Basketball Federation. With this, she became the first woman President of the
Basketball Federation ever since it was established in 1950.
53. Saina Nehwal won her maiden India Open Super Series Women's singles title after
defeating former world champion Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand by 21-16 21-14 in
the final match held in New Delhi.
54. The other Indian shuttler K. Srikanth defeated Viktor Axelsen of Denmark by 18-21,
21-13, 21-12 to win the India Open Super Series Badminton Men's Singles title.
55. Australia defeated New Zealand by 7 wickets in the final match of the ICC Cricket
World cup to list the Cricket World Cup for the record fifth time in Melbourne.
56. James Faulkner was adjudged man of the match while Mitchell Starc won the man of
the series award after finishing the tournament with 22 wickets.

57. Australia captain Michael Clarke retired from ODIs after this win and joining the list
of Australia's World Cup winning captains which include Allan Border, Ricky
Ponting and Steve Waugh.
58. Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel won the Malaysian Grand Prix 2015 held on 29th
March. Lewis Hamilton finished second and Nico Rosberg finished third in the same
race.
59. Jagmohan Dalmiya has been elected as the new President of the Board of Control for
Cricket in India
60. Former New Zealand cricket captain Martin David Crowe was inducted into the ICC
Cricket Hall of Fame
61. Olympic bronze medallist and Indian badminton player Saina Nehwal suffered a loss
to Spain's Carolina Marin in the final match of women's singles at the prestigious All
England badminton championships in Birmingham
62. Former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi has been removed as the Rajasthan Cricket
Association president. A no-confidence motion was passed against him by office
bearers of the rival Amin Pathan group in an Extraordinary General Body Meeting in
Jaipur
63. Sri Lankan batsman Kumar Sangakkara created history by becoming the first
batsman to score four consecutive centuries in ICC World Cup
64. Lewis Hamilton won the Australian Grand Prix 2015
65. The government of India has appointed world boxing champion and Olympic medal
winner Mary Kom as a Brand Ambassador for the North East states. She was
selected for the promotion of culture and tourism in the North East states of India
66. Indian badminton player K. Srikanth won the Swiss Grand Prix Gold championship
title after defeating Viktor Axelson by 21-15, 12-21, 21-14 in a hard-fought men's
singles final
67. Sania Mirza and her partner Martina Hingis won the the BNP Paribas Open Tennis
trophy after defeating Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina by 6-3, 6-4 in the final
match of the Women's doubles title in Indian Wells, USA.
68. Dolly Shivani Cherukuri became the youngest archer to be added in the India Book
of Records at 3 years age
69. Indian famous shuttler Saina Nehwal wrote history on 28th March after becoming
the first Indian woman to reach World number one ranking in Badminton World
Federation Rankings

International News and Global Awards

70. 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)
71. Harvard University retained No 1 rank in the World Reputation Rankings 2015
published by Times Higher Education this week which published the top 100
universities across the world
72. U.S. President Barack Obama has nominated diplomat David Hale as the next
ambassador to Pakistan
73. Pakistan has successfully tested nuclear capable surface to surface missile ShaheenIII
74. China has become the world's third largest arms exporter after the US and Russia, as
per a new report published by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
(SIPRI)
75. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu won closely-fought general election to
be re-elected as the Prime Minister again
76. Delhi girl Aditi Arya was crowned FBB Femina Miss India World 2015 at a ceremony
held at Yashraj Studios in Mumbai. Afreen Racheal Vaz was chosen as first runnerup while Vartika Singh was chosen as second runner up
77. Nobel Laureate John F Nash Jr. has been awarded with the Abel Prize 2015 for his
work on partial differential equations. The prize was announced on 25th March by
the Norwegian Academy of Sciences and Letters
78. Environmental activist Rajendra Singh has been awarded with the prestigious
Stockholm Water Prize this year for his innovative water restoration efforts and
courage to empower communities in Indian villages

Miscellaneous
79. Indian author Amitav Ghosh has been shortlisted among 10 finalists for this year's
Man Booker International Prize for his contribution to the English language writing

80. Renowned ecologist Madhav Gadgil has been selected for the 2015 Tyler Prize for
Environmental Achievement. He will share the USD 200,000 worth cash prize with
famous American marine ecologist Dr. Jane Lubchenco
81. World Tuberculosis Day is observed today (24th March) across the world to create
awareness on the global epidemic and on efforts to eliminate the disease
82. Martyr's Day was observed today (23rd March) across the country today to honour
the sacrifice of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev who were hanged to death on
this very day in 1931
83. The World Consumer Rights Day (WCRD) was observed on 15th March across the
world to promote the basic rights of all consumers. The theme of year 2015 was
'Helping consumers choose healthy diets'
84. International Women's Day was observed on 8th March across the world to mark
the political, economic and social achievements of women