CURRENT AFFAIRS
Mar – 5th April) of 2015
(30th
GNXX CALC X13A EN15
THE NATION
SUPREME COURT STRIKES DOWN 66(A) OF THE IT ACT
Chronology of events
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UPA Govt. amended the IT Act 2000 in the year 2008 by adding section 66(A).
As per this amendment, posting “allegedly objectionable content” on the internet is punishable up to three years in Jail.
Supreme Court now struck down section 66(A) declaring that the section is unconstitutional in its entirety.
The Supreme Court also felt that the section is arbitrary, excessive and disproportionately invades the right of freedom of speech and
expression under article 19(1)a.
 The court however, turned down the plea to strike down the section 69(A), which gives the right to block certain websites.
 However, standard penal laws under section 153(A) (defamation and hate speech) and Section 295(A) (religious incitement) will continue to
apply.
 The IT Act pertains to year 2000.
 Based on this provision, till date, several persons were arrested for posting allegedly objectionable
content on the internet / social media platforms.
MANMOHAN SINGH CHALLENGES SUMMONS ISSUED BY THE TRIAL COURT IN SUPREME COURT
HISTORY
 Recently, CBI Court has summoned Dr. Manmohan Singh, along with Kumar Mangalam Birla and P C Parakh in the allocation of Talabira
coal mines in 2005.
 In this connection, all the three moved the Supreme Court against the orders of the trial court.
 Shri. Kapil Sibal, senior advocate will represent the case.
 Dr. Singh approached Supreme Court on the grounds--• Alleged “Non application of mind” while issuing the orders
• Administrative decision was taken based on the representation of the Odisha Government
• Criminal conspiracy cannot be attributed to Administrative decisions.
“URJA SANGAM – 2015” REDUCE 10% OIL IMPORTS IN THE NEXT 7 YEARS … SAYS PM
 The PM stated that
• For oil and gas, our imports are at present 77% of our requirement.
• By 2022, we should reduce them to 67%.
• By 2030, we should aim to reduce to 50%.
 PM says “Energy Diplomacy is the new area of global relations”.
 PM launched a campaign “give it up” i.e., to give up subsidy on gas cylinders by those who can afford.
• India has approx. 15 crore
LPG customers.
• 2.8 lakh consumers have
recently given up subsidy of
LPG, which resulted in a
saving of Rs. 100 cr.
VETERAN ACTOR, PRODUCER SHASHI KAPOOR IS 46th WINNER OF DADASAHEB PHALKE AWARD
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Shashi Kapoor, veteran actor, got the prestigious award.
He was awarded Padma Bhushan in 2011.
His father Prithviraj Kapoor and his brother Raj Kapoor were also awarded the Padma Bhushan and Dadasaheb Phalke awards.
He is the third in the family to get both the awards.
He acted in several memorable films like…
• Deewar, Satyam Shivam Sundaram, Trishul, Kabhi Kabhi
 He setup his own production house “Film Valas” and produced films like Junoon (1978), Kalyug (1981), Vijeta (1982) and Utsav (1984).
 He also produced and directed a fantasy film “Ajooba” with Amitabh Bachchan and Rishi Kapoor in lead roles.
• Born in 1938
• He made his debut as the leading actor in 1961 film “Dharmputra”
• He is the well known actor and producer from famous Kapoor family
DADASAHEB PHALKE AWARD
 It was instituted in the year 1969
 The award for the year 2014 is the 46th
 It carries
• A Swarn Kamal (Golden Lotus)
• Cash prize of Rs. 10 lakhs
• Shawl
• Dhundiraj Govind Phalke popularly known as Dadasaheb Phalke was born in the
year 1870
• Known as the father of Indian cinema
• He made 95 movies and 26 short films in his career spanning 19 years
• A postage stamp, bearing his face, was released by India Post to honour him in 1971.
62nd NATIONAL FILM AWARDS ANNOUNCED
“COURT”…BEST FEATURE FILM
 This film was made in four languages
 Hindi, English, Marathi & Gujarati
 Directed by Chaitanya Tamhane
“HAIDER”
The jury was headed by P. Bharathiraja, Tamil Filmmaker
 It got five awards
• Best Music Direction (Vishal Bhardwaj)
• Best Dialogue Writer (Vishal Bhardwaj)
• Best Male Play Back Singer (Sukhwinder singh)
• Best Choreography
• Best Costumes
 This is based on Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”
 BEST ACTOR … Sanchari Vijay (Kannada film Actor For the film Nanu Avanalla Avalu)
 BEST ACTRESS … Kangana Ranaut (For the film QUEEN Directed by Vikas Bahl)
 BEST POPULAR FILM FOR WHOLESOME ENTERTAINMENT…Mary Kom (Starring Priyanka Chopra and Directed by Omung
Kumar)
LAUNCHING OF IRNSS
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PSLV C-27 launched IRNSS-1D.
IRNSS is Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System.
While the US GPS is global, IRNSS covers locally i.e. South Asia.
This is the fourth of the seven satellites of IRNSS.
Out of seven, four will be positioned in geosynchronous orbit and three will be in geostationary orbit.
AROUND THE WORLD
AIR STRIKES ON HOUTHI REBELS IN YEMEN
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Saudi Arabia led 10 nation coalition started air strikes on Houthi’s.
President Abd Rabbu Mansur Hadi,
Houhti’s occupied northern part of the country, including capital Sanaa.
backed by 10 nation coalition led by Saudi Arabia.
The country is badly hit by civil war.
4000 Indians, most of them from Kerala stranded and Govt. is planning to airlift them.
LEE KUAN YEW , FOUNDING FATHER OF SINGAPORE DEAD
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Lee Kuan Yew, the founding father and the first Prime Minister passed away on March 23.
He was credited with the transformation of Singapore into one of the wealthiest and least corrupt countries in Asia.
He became the Prime Minister in 1959 when Singapore gained full self government from British.
During the next 31 years, he was the Prime Minister and driving force behind the transformation of Singapore in to World Class Financial
Centre.
 He was credited with the following qualities.
President Abd Rabbu Mansur Hadi,
• Efficiency
backed by 10 nation coalition led by Saudi Arabia.
• Unsentimental
• Uncorrupt
• Forward looking and
• Pragmatic
 However, he was criticised for suppressing freedom.
LEE KUAN YEW – BUILDER OF MODERN SINGAPORE
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Lee Kuan Yew, born in Singapore in 1923 in a middle class Chinese family.
Formed Peoples Action Party in 1954.
Singapore gained self government with autonomy in the year 1959.
He became the first Prime Minister of Singapore on June 3, 1959.
Malaysia was formed merging Malaya, Singapore and North Borneo and Sarawak regions in 1963.
Singapore exited Federation of Malaysia and became The Republic of Singapore in the year 1965.
Lee stepped down in 1990 after leading the PAP to victory in 7 elections.
He was the Minister Mentor up to 2007.
AIR CRASH IN FRANCE… 150 DEAD
 Budget airline, Germanwings of Germany’s Lufthansa crashed in France.
 It crashed in a remote area in French Alps killing all 150 on board.
 This is the worst disaster in France in decades.
The Germanwings plane that crashed was Airbus A-320
.
 The plane carrying 144, mainly from Germany and Spain including two babies and six crew members, was travelling from Barcelona in spain
to German city of Dusseldorf.
 Black box was recovered and co-pilot Andreas Lubitz crashed the plane, with an intention to commit suicide.
 This is the first fatal accident in the history of Germanwings.
 It is the deadliest on the French main land since 1974 crash of Turkish Airlines killing 346 people.
ECONOMY
ALL THE 56 REGIONAL RURAL BANKS BROUGHT UNDER “CENTRAL PAYMENT SYSTEM” WITH RUPAY CARDS
…. SAYS NPCI
NPCI stated that
 Now all the RRB’s are brought under CBS Platform.
• RRB’s were established in 1975
 ALL RRB’s can access NACH (National Automated Clearing House) Services.
• At present there are 56 RRB’s
 RuPay cards were given to the customers.
• Approx. 19,000 branches
 NPCI is the umbrella organisation for all retail payments across all the branches.
• 12 crore customers
 Govt. also stated that it will strengthen RRB’s.
• Under PMJDY, RRB’s opened approx. 2.2 cr.
accounts
SPECTRUM AUCTION COMPLETED … GOVT. MOPS UP RS. 1.10 LAKH CRORE
 Spectrum auction completed in
• 2100 Mhz
• 1800 Mhz
• 900 Mhz and
• 800 Mhz bands
 Overall, Govt. got Rs. 1,09,875 cr.
 This is over a period of 20 years.
 As Govt. got more than the expected base price, there is every possibility that telecom charges may increase slightly.
 The total debt of telecom companies is in the range of Rs. 2.0 to 2.5 lakh crores.
SPORTS
AUSTRALIA WINS THE ICC WORLD CUP FOR THE 5th TIME
AUSTRALIA LIFTS THE CUP BY DEFEATING NEW ZEALAND
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6 weeks
14 teams
49 matches
Final at MCG, Melbourne
Australia won 5 out of 11 World Cups.
Won in 1987, 1999, 2003, 2007 & 2015 in five different continents.
It is one sided final.
New Zealand all out for 183 in 45 overs & Australia reached the target in 33.1 overs by losing 3 wickets.
Player of the match is James Faulkner.
Player of the tournament is Mitchell Starc of Australia for 22 wickets.
DO YOU KNOW?
 Next ICC World cup will be held in England
in 2019 with 10 teams only.
SAINA NEHWAL… WORLD’S NO.1
RANKINGS BY BWF
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Saina Nehwal reached no. 1 position in BWF rankings.
First Indian woman to reach first rank.
Since December 2012, China’s Li Xuerui held the position.
Saina Nehwal is the Olympic bronze medalist.
Saina became world’s no.2 in Dec 2010.
She attributed her success to coach Vimal Kumar.
Prakash Padukone World’s No. 1In Men’s category 35 years ago
INDIA OPEN BADMINTON CHAMPIONSHIP
INDIA WON BOTH MEN’s & WOMEN’s SINGLES
India Open Badminton Championship
• $ 2,75,000 prize money
• Held at Siri Fort Sports Complex, Delhi
 K. Srikanth Defeated Viktor Axelsen of Denmark by 18-21,21-13 & 21-12
 Saina Nehwal Defeated Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand 21-16 & 21-14
 9th BWF Super Series Title
 First National Open
MISCELLANEOUS
WORLD COULD SUFFER SERIOUS WATER CRISIS … SAYS UN REPORT
 Serious water crisis within 15 years due to
• Population growth
• Increasing use of underground water for Agriculture, Industries etc.
 Water demand will go up by 55% by 2050.
 By 2030, world will have only 60% of water it needs.
 Some of the North African countries will have absolute scarcity.
50 GREATEST LEADERS AS PER FORTUNE MAGAZINE … TIM COOK AT FIRST POSITION
 Fortune magazine announced annual list of “Extraordinary” men and women transforming Business, Governments and Philanthropy.
 TIM COOK CEO, Apple ( 1st Position)
 MARIO DRAGHI President, ECB (2nd Position)
 XI JINPING President, China (3rd Position)
 POPE FRANCIS Pope, Catholic Church (4th Position )
 NARENDRA MODI Prime Minister, India (5th Position)
 KAILASH SATYARTHI Children's Rights Activist (28th Position)
NOTABLE EXCEPTION IS BARRACK OBAMA
HAVE YOU HEARD ABOUT RAJ PANJABI?
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Liberia born
CEO of non-profit “Last Mile Health”
Working with Liberian Govt. to launch Nationwide Community Health Worker Program.
34th Position as per Fortune Magazine
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MADHAV GADGIL SHARES THE TYLER PRIZE
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Dr. Madhav Gadgil is a famous ecologist.
Associated with National Bio-diversity Act 2002.
He was the Chairman of the Western Ghat Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP).
The award was given for a report on the preservation of Unique Eco-system of the Western Ghats.
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RARE ARTIFACTS DAMAGED IN THE INDIAN MUSEUM IN KOLKATA
 Two artifacts were irretrievably damaged. They are
• 2nd century BC statue of Yakshi
• “Lion Capital of Rampurva”, a unique specimen of Mauryan culture
 ASI reports blamed the callous Museum Staff for the damage.
 A report in this regard has been sent to Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi.
It was instituted in 1973.
Given for fighting against the
environmental issues.
It was instituted with the support
of University of Southern
California
Monetary prize of US $ 2,00,000
and a golden medallion is
awarded.
• It was founded in 1814
• First in the Asia-Pacific
• Renowned for its collection of rare artifacts
AKHIL SHARMA WINS FOLIO PRIZE FOR “FAMILY LIFE”
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Shri Akhil Sharma got the award for “Family Life”.
It took 13 years to write this Novel.
It described the account of family’s life across Continents and Cultures.
It was one among the eight books short listed from 80 works.
Sharma‘s first novel was an “Obedient Father” which won the 2001 Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award.
He was born in Delhi and migrated with his family to the USA in 1979.
• Folio Prize recognises the best English language fiction around the world published in UK.
• This is given by Folio Academy in London.
• Prize money is £ 40,000.