General Awareness : In The News - March, 2015

(General Awareness For Bank's Exams) In The News

March- 2015

Meira Kumar

Former Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar’s book entitled “Indian Parliamentary Diplomacy – Speaker’s Perspective” has been recenlty released by the present Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan.
The book features an account of the parliamentary diplomacy and its role in furthering foreign policy and strengthening international relations.
Meira Kumar was the first unopposed elected woman Speaker of Lok Sabha and served from 2009 to 2014. Kumar was also 5 time Member of Parliament and was elected to 8th, 11th, 12th, 14th and 15th Lok Sabha.

Venkatraman to head Royal Society of UK

India-born Nobel laureate Sir Venkatraman Ramakrishnan has been confirmed as president elect of Britain’s prestigious Royal Society.
Dr. Ramakrishnan is the first India-born scientist to be elected President of the Royal Society. Dr. Ramakrishnan will take over his new appointment on December 1, 2015, replacing the eminent geneticist Sir Paul Nurse.
Earlier in the year 2009 he won Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on the structure and function of the ribosome, the molecular machine that synthesises proteins inside cell; and on the action of antibiotics on the process.
The Royal Society is a self-governing fellowship of many of the world’s most distinguished scientists drawn from all areas of science, engineering, and medicine, set up to support excellence in science, and to encourage its use for the benefit of humanity.

Yusuf kechery

Veteren Malyalam poet Yusuf Kechery, recently died at private hospital. He left a deep impression in Kerala’s cultural realm as a lyricist.
Kechery known for his mystic lyrics on Hindu Gods, particularly Lord Krishna.
He dominated Malayalam films along with ONV and P Bhaskaran as a top-notch lyricist, had written hundreds of songs known for their mystic and romantic charm with the semi-classical touch.
His lyrics in Dhwani, composed by renowned musician Naushad Ali, are considered as one among the best works of him.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni

Mahendra Singh Dhoni has become first Indian Cricket team Captain to register the 100 One Day International (ODI) match wins. This acievement came after indian team defeated bangladesh in the 2015 ICC World Cup quarter final matchby 108 run in Asutralia.
He is the only third captain in the history of cricket world who got this title, prior to Dhoni the other two cpatain who achieve this feat are Allan Border (107) and Rickey Ponting (165) both from Australia.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni assumes Indian captancy in the year 2007 after Rahul Dravid Put off this. Since then under his captaincy, Indian Cricket team has won 2007 World Twenty20, CB Series of 2007-08, Asia Cup 2010, ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, Champions Trophy 2013.
It is important to note here that former Indian Captain Mohammad Azharuddin had recorded 90 wins in ODIs, followed by Sourav Ganguly with 76 wins.

Katharine Viner

Katharine Viner has been appointed the editor-in-chief of the Guardian. She became the first woman to run the newspaper in its 194-year history. Viner will become only the 12th editor since the paper was founded in May 1821.
Viner, currently deputy editor of the Guardian and editor-in-chief of Guardian US, will take up the role in the summer from incumbent Alan Rusbridger, who is to stand down after 20 years.
Viner joined the Guardian in 1997 and has been a deputy editor of the title as well as editing the Saturday edition of the newspaper from 2008 until 2012. She has held a wide range of roles including editor of G2, deputy women’s editor, and editor of Weekend magazine.

Sohail Aman

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has appointed Air Marshal Sohail Aman as new air chief, after promoting him to the rank of air chief marshal.
Earlier, outgoing Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Tahir Rafique Butt called on PM Nawaz in Islamabad. The premier lauded the services of the outgoing chief of air staff for national defense and the role of PAF in the ongoing war against terrorism.
Air Marshal Sohail Aman, who is an accomplished fighter pilot, was commissioned in the GD (P) Branch of Pakistan Air Force in November,1980. During his remarkable career in PAF, he has flown various fighter and training aircrafts in PAF’s inventory.
Aman remained on various important staff appointments including director operations, director plans and assistant chief of the air staff (operations) at Air Headquarters, in addition to air officer commanding, central air command and deputy chief of the air staff (training).

Kavinder Gupta

Jammu & Kashmir Lagislative Assembly has unanimously elected BJP MLA Kavinder Gupta Speaker of the 12th Assembly.
Basharat Bukhari, Minister of Law and Parliamentry Affairs moved the motion in the Assembly seeking his election to the post.
kavinder Gupta, an MLA from Gandhinagar constituency in Jammu district, was elected with voice vote with no one vote against the motion. Mr. Gupta replaces the Protem Speaker Muhammad Shafi of the regional National Conference.

Narayan Desai

Vetrent Gandhian of our country Narayan Desai, who known for his rendition of Gandhi Katha — stories on the Mahatma’s life — passed away at a private hospital in Surat.
He is son of Mahatma Gandhi’s personal secretary and biographer Mahadev Desai.
In 2004, Desai started a lecture series on Gandhi called ‘Gandhi Katha’, which he took across the world and received much acclaim for it.
Desai served as the Chancellor of Gujarat Vidyapith from July 23, 2007 to November 2014 .
Desai has won several award for his work which include the Sahitya Akademi Award for Gujarati in 1993 and the Jamnalal Bajaj Award in 1999 and the UNESCO-Madanjeet Singh Prize for the Promotion of Tolerance and Non-Violence in 1998. He was also associated with anti-nuclear activism.

Marry Kom

Union Government has selected five time world’s Boxing Champion and Olympic medallist boxer M.C. Mary Kom as the brand ambassador for north-east India to promote the region in the rest of the country and abroad.
It was announced by Union Minister of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) Jitendra Singh while adressing the 10th North East Business Summit in New Delhi. MC Mary Kom was selected to showcase the potential of the North East region which can offer Rs. 2.4 trillion business opportunities across various sectors.
Mary, 32, who hails from Manipur is only woman boxer to have won a medal in each of the six world championships. She recently announced in Imphal that she would quit the sport after the Rio de Janeiro Olympics next year.
The cultural tradition of Manipur is sports-oriented and the state, as a result, has produced many athletes. Mary Kom cemented the north-eastern state’s position as a powerhouse of talent with her 2012 Olympic bronze. Winning medals in many international and national meets, the Hindi film industry made a movie based on her life, starring actor Priyanka Chopra.

Sir Terry Pratchett

Sir Terry Pratchett creator of the Discovered series and author of more thatn 70 novels has recently passed away in London.
In his 44 years long career, Pratchett had written more than 70 books which were translated in 37 languages. His debut novel, The Carpet People was published in 1971 and his first Discworld novel, The Colour of Magic was published in 1983.
Pratchett has sold more than 85 million books worldwide was the UK’s best-selling author of the 1990s and later surpassed by Harry Potter author J K Rowling.
He has won several award for his distinguish work which includes Knighted by the Queen Elizabeth II in 2009 for his services to literature and in year 2010, he was awarded the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement.
In the year 1998 he was appointed as officer of Order of the British Empire (OBE).

Vinod Mehta

Senior journalist and Outlook Group’s editorial chairman Vinod Mehta passed away at the AIIMS in New Delhi on Sunday.
He had worked with several publications including Debonair, Sunday Observer, Pioneer and Indian Post.
Born in Rawalpindi, Mehta has authored a biography of Meena Kumari and Sanjay Gandhi. His much-talked-about memoir, Lucknow Boy, was published in 2011.
He was conferred with Yash Bharti Samman (2015) by Uttar Pradesh government.

Ram Sunder Das

Former Bihar Chief Minister and senior JD(U) leader Ram Sundar Das has died, he was 95. He was chief minister of Bihar as the head of the Janata Party government in 1979.
Earlier in the Lok Sabha election of 2009, he has defeated Ram Vilas Oaswan in the Hajipur, but in the parliamentary polls last year, had lost to the latter.
Present Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, announced two days of state mourning as a mark of respect for the senior JD(U) leader.