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1 RBI / BANKING/ BUSINESS NEWS THIS MONTH 30 March: ICICI, HDFC Bank Cut Bulk Deposit Rates, Fixed deposit rate of maturity between days has been revised downward to 8 per cent from 8.25 per cent earlier. 30 March : RBI Gives Lenders More Flexibility to Cover Bad Loans. Lenders can now divert as provision against bad loans a bigger share of the capital cushion required to be set aside to guard themselves against an economic downturn. 30 March: RBI relaxes bad loans provisioning rules for banks 28 March: NBFCs' Prudential Norms Revised, Ratings Made Mandatory 28 March: I Moves To Cut Bank Exposure To Corporate Loans. Under the proposal, banks would only be allowed to lend up to 25 per cent of their core capital 27 March: The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Friday issued detailed and relaxed set of guidelines for establishing international financial services centres. 26 March: Australia's IAG to Up Stake in Insurance Venture with SBI 26 March: RBI bars Lucknow-based Pioneer Urban Cooperative Bank from doing business 23 March: Don't Outsource Loan Processing Tasks: RBI to Bankers 23 March: Bank of Baroda Cuts Deposit Rate for a Select Maturity by 0.1% 24 March: PNB raises Rs 1,800 crore from bonds to fund infra projects 23 March: RBI to Issue Strategic Debt Restructuring Norms for Bad Loans 24 March: Japan Tops in Technology Transfer Pacts: RBI 20 March: Axis Bank cuts deposit rates by up to 0.25% 16 March: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday asked non-bank financial companies (NBFCs) to appoint a senior person for ensuring compliance with the obligations under the prevention of money laundering regulations. 15 March: European Investment Bank to Set Up Office in India. 15 March: UK-based re-insurer Llyod's has initiated talks with the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) for starting operations in India and opening offices here. 11 March: Indian Banks Late in Passing on Lending Rate Cuts: IMF

2 NATION THIS MONTH 31 March: Union Ministry of Home Affairs proposed initiatives for women security under Nirbhaya Fund. 31 March: Union Cabinet gave its approval for the Approach and Key Components of e-kranti. 30 March: Department of Agriculture and Cooperation approved the creation of Price Stabilisation Fund Scheme. 30 March: Union Cabinet gave approval for the concept and institutional framework of Sagarmala Project. 27 March: Supreme Court stayed AFT's decision to quash Army's 2009 Promotion Policy. 27 March: Union Ministry of Coal launched Electronic Coal Projects Monitoring Portal (e-cpmp). 26 March: PRAGATI is a multi-purpose and multi-modal platform aimed at addressing grievances of common man. It aims at simultaneously monitor and review Union Government programmes and projects as well as projects flagged by State Governments. 25 March: Union Ministry of Food Processing Industries sanctioned 17 Mega Food Parks. 25 March: Twitter Samvad launched for direct communication between Government and Citizens. 24 March: Union Ministry of Health and Welfare launched Media Campaign for Mission Indradhanush. 24 March: Union Cabinet approved the Appropriation Acts (Repeal) Bill, March: Supreme Court declared Section 66A of Information Technology Act, 2000 as unconstitutional. 21 March: National Action Plan for Skill Training of Persons with Disabilities launched in New Delhi. 21 March: Union Cabinet approved Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) to impart skill training to youth. 21 March: Union Cabinet approved 33% women reservation in police forces of all Union Territories. 20 March: Union Ministry of Environment to launch National Air Quality Index in April March: Hyderabad International Airport handled record 10 million passengers in March: Lok Sabha passed the Warehousing Corporations (Amendment) Bill, March: Lok Sabha passed Repealing and Amending Bill, March: Rajya Sabha passed Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2015 by voice vote. 18 March: Union Cabinet approved the Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets (Imposition of Tax) Bill, 2015

3 17 March: Supreme Court quashed the Union Government s decision to include Jats in the Central OBC list. 17 March: Supreme Court cautioned government officials not to insist on Aadhaar. 16 March: Development officers working in LIC are not workmen under Industrial Disputes Act, 1947: SC 13 March: Union Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers launched Pharma Jan Samadhan scheme. 13 March: High Courts cannot entertain plea against Armed Forces Tribunal: Supreme Court 12 March: Indian Railways signed MoU with LIC for implementing Railway projects. 11 March: Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs released the data of top ten Corporate of March: Land Acquisition (amendment) Bill, 2015 passed in Lok Sabha. 11March: Attorney General is a public authority under the RTI Act, 2005: High Court of Delhi. 10 March: Prime Minister launched India s first indigenously developed rotavirus vaccine Rotavac. 10 March: Union Government released Digital Gender Atlas for Advancing Girls Education. 7 March: NRDC, CCRAS signed Memorandum of Agreement to commercialize ayurvedic medicines. The MoA provides Intellectual Property Rights services to CCRAS in India and abroad. 7 March: Rajya Sabha passed Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, March: Lok Sabha passed Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Bill, March: Lok Sabha passed Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, March: Union Ministry of Shipping, Road Transport & Highways launched a website Shipping Samvad. 4 March: Lok Sabha passed Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, March: ECI launched National Electoral Roll Purification and Authentication Programme. 3 March: Union Railways Ministry launched Customer Complaint Web Portal and Mobile Application. 3 March: Lok Sabha passed Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, March: Defence Acquisition Council approved buying of 38 Pilatus trainer aircraft for Indian Air Force. INDIAN ECONOMY THIS MONTH 27 March: RBI signed Currency Swap Agreement with Central Bank of Sri Lanka. 24 March: Indian Railways launched RuPay pre-paid debit cards

4 23 March: SEBI Board approved SEBI (International Financial Services Centres) Guidelines, March: SEBI Board approved SEBI (Issue and Listing of Debt Securities by Municipality) Regulations, March: RBI eased the norms for Housing Loans 5 March: CCEA gave nod to extend PDS Kerosene, Domestic LPG Subsidy Scheme 4 March: RBI reduced Repo rate by 25 basis points to 7.5 percent 4 March: Union Government and RBI signed an agreement on Monetary Policy Framework 3 March: Core sector growth of India declined to 13-month low in January March: Union Budget : Vision GLOBE-TROT THIS MONTH 31 March: China and Sri Lanka inked five agreements during visit of Maithripala Sirisena to China 28 March: Fortune released the list of 2015 roster of the World s 50 Greatest Leaders. The list included Prime Minister of India at 5th rank and Nobel Prize winner Kailas Satyarthi at the 28th rank. 27 March: ADB released Asian Development Outlook March: India and ADB signed 300 million US dollar loan agreement to improve connectivity in NE Region 26 March: Saudi Arabia launched military operation against Houthi rebels in Yemen 26 March: India and Qatar inked six agreements to increase commercial and economic exchanges 25 March: 18th Round of Talks between India and China on the Boundary Question held in New Delhi. 25 March: US agreed to keep 9800 troops in Afghanistan through the end of March: Benjamin Nethanyahu of Likud Party won the Israel Elections March: NYU announced Prison Education Programme to Educate US Prisoners 20 March: CII signed agreement with NUS to improve India s rating on ease of doing business 17 March: SIPRI released Trends in International Arms Transfers 2014 report 13 March: Times Higher Education released The World Reputation Rankings March: British Irish Visa Scheme came into force in India 12 March: India and Mauritius inked five MoUs to give impetus to bilateral relations 12 March: India and Seychelles signed four agreements to boost security cooperation

5 7 March: Sri Lanka temporarily suspended Colombo Port City Project of China. The project was inaugurated in September 2014 by Chinese President Xi Jinping. 7 March: India and Spain signed an agreement on Mutual Protection of Classified Information. 7 March: Kathmandu-Varanasi-Kathmandu bus service flagged off. 4 March: Istanbul Civil Court of Peace fined Turkish President for calling Monument to Humanity a Monstrosity. 3 March: Royal Mint unveiled new Coinage Portrait of the Queen Elizabeth II. 3 March: Forbes magazine released Global Billionaire s 2015 annual list and Bill Gates topped. 3 March: Egyptian court declared Hamas as terrorist group. 2 March: China launched Silk Road Infrastructure project in Northwest Province of Gansu. This project will facilitate exchange of trade and tourism between China and central Asian Countries. APPOINTMENTS/ RESIGNATIONS THIS MONTH 27 March: Vikas Swarup appointed as MEA spokesman.swarup will replace incumbent Syed Akbaruddin and will take the charge on 18 April 2015, a day after the return of Prime Minister Narendra Modi from his tour to France, Germany and Canada. 26 March: KM Mani appointed as chairman of the Empowered Committee of State FM S on GST 20 March: Sir Venkatraman Ramakrishnan named as President of Britain s Royal Society. 20 March: Indian Railways roped in Ratan Tata to lead Kaya Kalp council. 19 March: Air Marshal Sohail Aman appointed as Chief of Pakistan Air Force. 18 March: Union Government appointed VK Mathur, Girija Shankar as Chairmen of Allahabad, Chennai bench of DRAT. 12 March: N Sakthan elected as Speaker of Kerala Assembly. 12 March: Union Government appointed Nine Executive Directors in Public Sector Banks. 11 March: US President Barack Obama nominated David Hale as Ambassador to Pakistan. 7 March: Indian-American Sunil Sabharwal re-nominated as Alternate Executive Director at IMF by the US. 3 March: IAS officer Kewal K Sharma appointed as Delhi Chief Secretary. 3 March: Baldev Sharma appointed as chairman of National Book Trust. 2 March: Kannan Ramesh appointed as Judicial Commissioner to Supreme Court Bench of Singapore 18 March: Anil Kakodkar resigned from the post of Chairman of Board of Governors of IIT Bombay

6 AWARDS/HONOURS/WORLD TITLES/NEW DISCOVERIES THIS MONTH 30 March: Balbir Singh Senior conferred with Major Dhyan Chand Lifetime Achievement Award of Hockey India. 30 March: Madan Mohan Malaviya posthumously awarded Bharat Ratna. 30 March: Aditi Arya won the fbb Femina Miss India 2015 title. 28 March: President presented Bharat Ratna award to Atal Bihari Vajpayee. 28 March: ISRO won Gandhi Peace Prize March: Nobel Laureate John Nash won Abel Prize 2015 for work on partial differential equations. 27 March: CNN IBN announced Indian of the Year Award 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi won the Indian of the Year Award 2014 while Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley won the award in Politics category and N Chandrasekaran, CEO, Tata Consultancy Services, won the award in Businness category. 26 March: Dalal Street Investment Journal (DSIJ) presented the awards to fifteen PSUs under various catergories in recognition of performance excellence and their contribution to the economy. 26 March: Renowned Hindi poet Gopaldas Neeraj won the Rashtriya Kavi Pradeep Samman for the year March: Usha International Limited won the Gold award at 6th Flame Awards March: Union Government felicitated the winners of the third Web Ratna Awards. 25 March: Indian-American author Akhil Sharma won The Folio Prize 2015 for novel Family Life. 25 March: Artist Bharti Kher conferred with the Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters of France. 25 March: Amitav Ghosh among the 10 finalists shortlisted for 2015 Man Booker International Prize. 24 March: 62nd National Film Awards announced.

7 24 March: Madhav Gadgil and Dr. Jane Lubchenco won Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement March: President s award for Sanskrit, Pali/Prakrit, Arabic and Persian language conferred. 24 March: Shashi Kapoor selected for the Dadasaheb Pha lke Award March: Rajendra Singh, the Water Man of India, named as the 2015 Stockholm Water Prize Laureate. 21 March: Lata Mangeshkar won the Laadli Voice of the Century award. 13 March: Indian-origin Ganasen Reddy awarded with KwaZulu -Natal 2015 National Teachers Awards. 10 March: Veerappa Moily selected for Saraswati Samman March: President presented Stree Shakti Puraskars and Nari Shakti Puruskars for the year March: Three South Asian women selected for International W omen of Courage Award. 4 March: Rani Mukerji awarded by National Institute of Gender Justice for representing the cause of women. 4 March: Indian-American physician Rahul Jindal selected for Fulbright Nehru Distinguished Chair. 3 March: Namibian President Hifikepunye Pohamba won 2014 Mo Ibrahim Prize for African Leadership.

8 SPORTS NEWS THIS MONTH 31 March: Daniel Vettori retired from all forms of International Cricket. 30 March: Hockey India conferred inaugural Hockey India Annual Awards. 30March: Michael Clarke retired from ODI cricket. 30 March: Australia defeated New Zealand to win ICC Cricket World Cup March: Saina, Srikant won India Open Super Series Badminton Women's & Men's Singles titles. 23March: Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis won the women doubles title of BNP Paribas Tennis Open. 23 March: Novak Djokovic won Indian Wells Open Tennis Men's Singles title. 21 March: Martin Guptill scored the highest-ever score of 237 in Cricket World Cup history. 21 March: Pakistani cricketers Misbah-ul-Haq, Shaid Afridi retired from ODI cricket. 20 March: Mahendra Singh Dhoni became first Indian Captain to register 100 ODI wins. 20 March: Ramachandran appointed as vice-chair of International Relations Commission of ANOC. 19 March: Sri Lankan duo Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara retired from ODI cricket. 18 March: Lewis Hamilton of Britain won Australian Grand Prix of Formula One. 16 March: Services won the 69th edition of Santosh Trophy of Football. 16 March: Kidambi Srikanth won the Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold title of Badminton. 13 March: Karnataka clinched eighth Ranji title of cricket. 11 March: Kumar Sangakkara created history by scoring four successive centuries in a Cricket World Cup. 11 March: United Arab Emirates won the bid to host AFC Asian Cup March: Sri Lankan cricketer Kumar Sangakkara announced retirement from Test cricket. 5 March: Australia created the record for highest ever score of 417 in Cricket World Cup. 3 March: Mary Kom to quit boxing after 2016 Rio Olympics. 3 March: Roger Federer won the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. Roger Federer defeated Novak Djokovic 6-3, 7-5 to win the Dubai Championship title of Tennis. This was 7th title in Dubai for Federer. 2 March: Rafael Nadal of Spain won the Argentina Tennis Open. 2 March: Jagmohan Dalmiya unanimously elected as President of BCCI. EULOGIES THIS MONTH 23 March: Lee Kuan Yew, the founding father of Singapore died. 20 March: Marathi Folk legend Shahir Krishnarao Sable died.

9 20 March: Former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser died. 13 March: Pioneer of Israeli Cinema Lia van Leer died. 14 March: Veteran Gandhian Narayanbhai Desai died. 12 March: Veteran fantasy author Sir Terence David John Pratchett passed away. 11 March: Veteran sports journalist K Baskaran died. 9 March: Industrialist Deepak Khaitan died. 10 March: Former Lok Sabha member Sadashivrao Dadoba Mandlik died. 7 March: Kerala Assembly speaker G Karthikeyan passed away. 6 March: Former Bihar Chief Minister Ramsundar Das died. 3 March: Ornithologist KS Lavkumar Khachar died at 84. MISCELLANEOUS NEWS THIS MONTH 31 March: Port Blair Magnetic Observatory inaugurated to monitor seismic activities. It is a part of network of observatories called as Multi-Parametric Geophysical Observatories (MPGO), established by the Indian Institute of Geomagnetism (IIG). 30 March: ISRO successfully launched IRNSS 1-D Navigational Satellite. The satellite is the fourth of the seven satellites constituting the Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS). 26 March: NASA's Curiosity rover discovered biologically useful Nitrogen on Mars. 26 March: Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved the National Super Computing Mission. 25 March: Scientists at ANU found the world s largest asteroid impact zone in Warburton basin, Australia.

10 19 March: Air-to-Air missile Astra successfully test fired from ITR Chandipur in Odisha 10 March: Solar powered plane Solar Impulse-2 took off to round-the-world odyssey from Abu Dhabi RECURRING TERMS IN NEWSPAPER THIS MONTH (1) Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) approved new bonds called Muni Bond- The SEBI on 22 March approved a new set of norms for listing and trading of municipal bonds on stock exchanges. Municipal bonds, also to be known as Muni Bonds, would allow authorities to raise funds including for setting up of smart cities, by raising funds from the public and from the institutional investors. The municipal authorities, desiring of issuing these bonds, would need to have a strong financial track record and such bonds would be listed on the stock exchanges. To deepen markets and help raise funds for business and infrastructure projects, Sebi today announced a slew of measures including for listing of municipal bonds and for setting up of a global financial hub within India on the lines of Singapore and Dubai. These bonds products are very popular among investors in many developed nations, especially the United States, where they have attracted investments totalling over $500 billion and are among preferred avenues for household savings. Besides, Sebi also announced a roadmap for the new fiscal, beginning next month, with regard to new norms to help young entrepreneurs raise funds through listing of startups and crowd-sourcing, while it would streamline and strengthen its enforcement process for better efficiency. (2) Jan Dhan Yojana, Aadhar, Mobile numbers (JAM): Govt's tool to promote welfare A day after Economic Survey talked of JAM trinity Jan Dhan Yojana, Aadhar, Mobile numbers the BJP government on Saturday announced that it would work towards creating a universal social security scheme for the poor through a slew of medical and accident insurance schemes and a Senior Citizen Welfare Fund. The JAM trinity is to be used to to expand welfare policies. Finance minister Arun Jaitley said a large proportion of India s population is without insurance of any kind health, accidental or life.

11 Worryingly, as our young population ages, it is also going to be pension-less. Encouraged by the success of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, I propose to work towards creating a universal social security system for all Indians, especially the poor and the under-privileged, he said. The soon-to-be-launched Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojna will cover accidental death risk of Rs 2 lakh for a premium of just Rs 12 per year. Similarly, the government will also launch the Atal Pension Yojana, which will provide a defined pension. To encourage people to join this scheme, the government will contribute 50 per cent of the beneficiaries premium limited to Rs 1,000 each year, for five years, in the new accounts opened before 31 December 2015, he said. The third social security scheme that I wish to announce is the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana which covers both natural and accidental death risk of Rs 2 lakh. The premium will be Rs 330 per year, he said. Noting that there are unclaimed deposits of about Rs 3,000 crore in the PPF, and approximately Rs 6,000 crore in the EPF corpus, he said he proposes the creation of a Senior Citizen Welfare Fund for appropriation of these amounts to a corpus. (3) Indian Railways' Kaya Kalp council Under Chairmanship of Ratan Tata Union Ministry of Railways has constituted Kaya kulp Council, an innovation council for Indian Railways. Kayakalp literally means transformation. The council was constituted by Union Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhu in order to fulfill the promise made in the Railway Budget Speech.The council also seeks to re-engineer business and introduce a spirit of innovation in Indian Railways. The council will act as a standing body and will interact with all stakeholders and other interested parties. Objective of the Council- To recommend innovative methods and processes for the improvement, betterment and transformation of the Indian Railways. Members- the Council initially will have following members, Shiv Gopal Mishra, General Secretary of All Indian Railwaymen s Federation (AIRF). M. Raghavaiah, General Secretary of National Federation of Indian Railway men (NFIR). While the other members of the Council will be announced in due course. The Railway Ministery also constituted another committee, under former DIPP secretary Ajay Shankar, to revamp ministry's PPP (publicprivate partnership) cell to get private investment. The PPP Cell is critical for the growth of Indian railways since getting funds for new projects has become a challenge.

12 (4) Twitter Samvad launched for direct communication between Government and Citizens 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 Zip Dial, which was recently acquired by Twitter. (5) Parliament passed Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Orders Amendment Bill, 2015 The Parliament has passed Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Orders Amendment Bill, 2015.This bill was first passed in Rajya Sabha on February 24, 2015 and later in Lok Sabha on March 17, It was unanimously passed by a voice vote in both the houses. The amendment bill seeks to ammend the list of Scheduled Castes in three states- Haryana, Karnataka, Odisha and one Union Territory- Dadra and Nagar Haveli. Suggested Amendments- The Bill amends the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950 and the Constitution (Dadra and Nagar Haveli) Scheduled Castes Order, The Bill proposes to add the following communities to the list of Scheduled Castes: Haryana: Kabirpanthi, Julaha. Karnataka: Bhovi, od, odde, Vaddar, Waddar. Odisha: Dhoba, Dhobi, Dom, Dombo, Duria Dom, Katia, Kela, Nalua Kela, Khadala and Turi. Dadra and Nagar Haveli: Chamar. The bill was introduced in Parliament as per the provisions of Article 341 of the Constitution. Article 341 empowers Parliament to include or exclude castes from the list of Scheduled Castes in the notification. It also empowers the President to specify castes which will be deemed as Scheduled Castes through a notification. ABBREVIATIONS THIS MONTH NABARD- National Bank for Agricultural & Rural Development RTGS- Real Time Gross Settlement NEFT- National Electronic Fund Transfer

13 NAV- Net Asset Value NPA- Non Performing Asset ASBA- Account Supported by Blocked Amount BIFR- Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction CAMELS- Capital Adequacy, Asset Quality, Management, Earnings, Liquidity, Systems & Controls BCSBI- Banking Codes & Standard Board of India BIS Bank for International Settlement BCBS Basel Committee on Banking Supervision BOP- Balance of Payment BOT- Balance of Trade BPLR Benchmark Prime Lending Rate CCIL Clearing Corporation of India Ltd. CIBIL- Credit Information Bureau of India Ltd. CRISIL- Credit Rating Information Services of India Ltd. CBLO- Collateralised Borrowing & Lending Obligation CPI- Consumer Price Inde ADR American Depository Receipts GDR Global Depository Receipts ALM- Asset Liability Management ARC Asset Reconstruction Companies FINO- Financial Inclusion Network Operation CTT- Commodities Transaction Tax CRM- Customer Relationship Management KYC-Know Your Customer R-Statutory Liquidity Ratio CRR-Cash Reserve Ratio MSF-Marginal Standing Facility REPO-Repurchase Option NBFC-Non Banking Finance Companies OSMOS- Off-Site Monitoring & Surveillance IFSC- Indian Financial System Code BSE-Bombay Stock Exchange NSE-National Stock Exchange SWIFT- Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication FSLRC Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission LAF Liquidity Adjustment Facility DRT Debt Recovery Tribunals IMPORTANT DAYS THIS MONTH March 3 National Defence Day March 4 National Security Day March 8 International Women's Day

14 March 9 March 12 March 15 March 16 March 21 March 22 March 23 March 24 CISF Raising Day Mauritius Day; Central Industrial Security Force Day World Consumer Day, World Disabled Day National Vaccination Day World Forestry Day World Day of Water World Meterological Day World TB Day SPECIAL FEATURES OF THE MONTH (1) PM launches PRAGATI: a multi-purpose, multi-modal platform for Pro-Active Governance And Timely Implementation Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi launched today his ambitious multipurpose 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 man s grievances, and simultaneously monitoring and reviewing important programmes and projects of the Government of India as well as projects flagged by State Governments. Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister said the whole world is now observing India keenly. It is imperative that governance in India becomes more efficient and responsive. He said the PRAGATI platform was a step in this direction. The PRAGATI platform uniquely bundles three latest technologies: Digital data management, video-conferencing and geo-spatial technology. It also offers a unique combination in the direction of cooperative federalism since it brings on one stage the Secretaries of Government of India and the Chief Secretaries of the States. With this, the Prime Minister is able to discuss the issues with the concerned Central and State officials with full information and latest visuals of the ground level situation. Such an effort has never been made in India. It is also an innovative project in e-governance and good governance. Immediately after assuming office, the Prime Minister had shown his keenness to design a credible mechanism for redressal of Public Grievances. He was equally keen to see that programmes and projects launched by the Central and State Government(s) are monitored properly for timely implementation and desired outcome. With that spirit and for holistic development of the country, it was also felt necessary to facilitate from the Union Government level the projects of the States. Accordingly, with the three objectives of: Grievance Redressal, Programme Implementation and Project Monitoring, an IT-based redressal and monitoring system has been designed. It will combine Data Management and Analysis, Geo-spatial Applications as well as Video-conferencing. The application will be accessible to the Secretaries of the Government of India and the State Chief Secretaries. Key features of the PRAGATI application are as follows:

15 1. It is a three-tier system (PMO, Union Government Secretaries, and Chief Secretaries of the States); 2. 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 geo-informatics visuals; 3. The first such programme was launched on 25th March, 2015 (Wednesday) at 3.30 PM; 4. Now onwards, it will be held once in every month on Fourth Wednesday at 3.30 PMto be known as PRAGATI Day. 5. Issues to be flagged before the PM are picked up from the available database regarding Public Grievances, on-going Programmes and pending Projects; 6. The system will ride on, strengthen and re-engineer the data bases of the CPGRAMS for grievances, Project Monitoring Group (PMG) and the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. PRAGATI provides an interface and platform for all these three aspects. 7. It will also take into consideration various correspondences to PM s office by the common people or from high dignitaries of States and/or developers of public projects; 8. The issues flagged are uploaded seven days prior to the PRAGATI day (i.e. on third Wednesday of every month). 9. These issues can be viewed by the Union Government Secretaries and Chief Secretaries after entering into the application; 10. User ID and Password for each of the Union Government Secretaries and Chief Secretaries have been created and made available; 11. Union Government Secretaries and Chief Secretaries will be able to see the issues pertaining to their Department /State; 12. Union Government Secretaries and Chief Secretaries have to put their comments and updates about the flagged issues within three days (i.e. by next Monday); 13. One day Tuesday is available to the PMO team to review the data entered by the Union Government Secretaries and Chief Secretaries; 14. The design is such, that when PM reviews the issue he should have on his screen the issue as well as the latest updates and visuals regarding the same; The system has been designed in-house by the PMO team with the help of National Informatics Center (NIC). As the name suggests, it is aimed at starting a culture of Pro- Active Governance and Timely Implementation. It is also a robust system for bringing e- transparency and e-accountability with real-time presence and exchange among the key stakeholders. (2) ISRO to Launch Fourth Navigational Satellite IRNSS-1D by March-End SRIHARIKOTA, ANDHRA PRADESH: India today successfully launched a navigation satellite using the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle or PSLV from Sriharikota. With this launch, the Indian Space Research Organization or ISRO says it can start operations of India's own version of the Global Positioning System or GPS, useful in everyday life for

16 navigation. This Indian technology is most needed by India's armed forces for precision guidance. India's PSLV lifted off at 5.19 pm from Sriharikota; within 20 minutes India joined a select club of six that have the indigenous capability of generating their satellite-based navigation signals. "India today successfully placed its navigation satellite in orbit - a big achievement for the country," said Dr Kiran Kumar, Chairman, ISRO. This navigation system has an accuracy of less than 20 meters, which is comparable to the best in the world. " Today, most Smart phones are equipped to help in navigation but most people do not know that the signals on these handsets are generated using satellites controlled by America, useful for civilian applications. But, in times of war and hostility India could not have relied on foreign vendors. As a consequence, the country developed a regional navigation satellite system which will totally be in India's control helping the country's strategic forces in precision guidance of ammunition and missiles. With today's successful launch, the Indian space agency says very soon India's own 'GPS' system will become operational, a useful addition for the common man, but most needed by the Indian armed forces as it will give them the much needed strategic depth. (3) The 2015 Cricket World Cup was the 11th Cricket World Cup, jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand from 14 February to 29 March 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 asthe 2015 Cricket World Cup Ambassador bythe ICC for the second time, after 2011 Cricket World Cup where he was the ambassador. Important Stats: 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 Kumar Dharmasena of Sri Lanka was the umpire in World Cup Final. He is the only player to play in a World Cup Final(1996) and umpire in one(2015). Teams Played in 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup 1. India (Defending Champion) 2. Australia (Hosting nation) 3. Pakistan 4. South Africa 5. New Zealand (Hosting Nation)

17 6. West Indies 7. Sri Lanka (Runners up of 2011) 8. Bangladesh 9. Zimbabwe 10. United Arab Emirates 11. Scotland 12. England 13. Ireland 14. Afghanistan(First in World Cups) 15. S.Ravi of India was in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 Umpire panel. 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 thefirst time since 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.

18 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 standalone 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. Kyle Coetzer scored Scotland's first ever World Cup century and the highestscore 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 hattrick. 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 fornew Zealand in a World Cup. The highest successful run-chase in a World Cup knockout match came fornew Zealand against South Africa in the Semi Finals. The first time New Zealand qualified for a World Cup final. (4) Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank 3 European Powers Say They Will Join China-Led AIIB Germany, France and Italy has announced that they would follow Britain and join the Chinese-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. With joining of these countries, the total number of the bank's member states including India has gone up to 30.

19 The AIIB is one of a number of new institutions launched by China, apparently in frustration at the failure of the existing international order to accommodate its speedy rise. In recent past efforts to reform the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are stalled in the American Congress. America retains its traditional grip on the management of the World Bank. The Asian Development Bank remains based in Manila but directed by a succession of Japanese bureaucrats. China has proposed not just the AIIB, but also a New Development Bank launched with its BRICS partners Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa and a Silk Road development fund to boost connectivity with its Central Asian neighbours. All respond to the need for massive investment in infrastructure to support development. (5) Actor Shashi Kapoor to get Dada Saheb Phalke Award Veteran actor and film producer Shashi Kapoor has been named for the prestigious Dada Saheb Phalke Award He is the 46th film personality to receive this honour.the actor who turned 77 on the 18th of this month is known for his performances in films like Jab Jab Phool Khile, Deewar and Kabhi Kabhie. He stepped into the world of acting at the age of four, when

20 he used to perform in plays directed by his father Prithviraj Kapoor. Shashi Kapoor has got the National Award for best actor for the film New Delhi Times in 1986, National Film Award Special Jury Award / Special Mention (Feature Film) for Muhafiz (1993) and the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi (as Producer) for Junoon in It is India s highest award in cinema.it was established in 1969 to commemorate the birth centenary year of father of Indian cinema Dadasaheb Phalke.The award is conferred annually by the Union Government to person for his lifetime contribution to Indian cinema. The Award comprises a Swarna Kamal (Golden Lotus) medallion, a cash prize of 10 lakh rupees and a shawl. (6) 62nd National Film Awards 2015: The 62nd National Film Awards were announced in New Delhi today. The National Film Awards is the most significant film award ceremonies in India. The Directorate of Film Festivals set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Govt. of India organizes national and international film festivals in India and also presents the National Film Awards. The awards are- Best Feature Film: Court (Marathi, Hindi, Gujarati & English) Best Popular Film for Providing Wholesome Entertainment: Mary Kom Indira Gandhi Award for Best Debut Film of a Director: Asha for Jaoar Majhe Special Jury Award: Khwada (Marathi) Best Direction: Srijit Mukherji for Chotushkone (Bengali) Best Actress: Kangana Ranaut for Queen Best Actor: Vijay for Nanu Avanalla Avalu (Kannada) Best Supporting Actor: Bobby Simhaa for Jigarthanda (Tamil) Best Supporting Actress: Baljinder Kaur for Pagdi The Honour (Haryanavi) Best Child Actor: Kaakkaa Muttai (Tamil)