19-20 march

Haryana Government decided to issue UIDAI-like numbers for cows

State Government of Haryana in third week of March 2015 decided to introduce Special Identification Tags with unique identification numbers for Haryana cows, an indigenous breed found in the state.

These special identification tags and unique identification numbers will be like the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) format.

The scheme aims to establish identity of cows, their security and provide them benefits of health schemes.

Features of this initiative
• Each cow will have a 12-digit identification number and an ID card which will be fixed as tags around its neck
• A booklet will be provided to the owners of the cow in which they can fill cows’ data everyday
• The database of the scheme of special identification tags will record certain details of the cows like photographs, race, complexion, body structure and age

This programme will begin under the National Dairy Programme. On an experimental basis the project will start at few blocks from April 2015.

Sri Lankan duo Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara retired from ODI cricket

Veteran cricketers of Sri Lanka Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara on 18 March 2015 retired from the One Day International (ODI) format of Cricket.

The two veteran cricketers retired after the World Cup quarter-final match against South Africa played at Sydney Cricket Ground, Australia. In the quarter-final, Sri Lanka lost the match by 9 wickets to South Africa.

Both the much celebrated cricketers of Sri Lanka had earlier announced that 2015 World Cup would be their final ODI. Sangakkara and Jayawadene were part of the Sri Lankan cricket team that reached the final of the World Cup 2003 and 2007 but lost the final.

Sangakkara played 404 ODIs and scored 14234 runs at an average of 41.98. In the current session of 2015 World Cup of cricket, he created a record of four consecutive ODI hundreds.

Sangakkara who scored 541 runs in 7 matches of this edition of the World Cup is still the highest run-scorer of the tournament so far. He is the sixth player to score 500 runs in the World Cup.

Earlier on 8 March 2015, Sangakkara had announced his retirement from Test Cricket. He will retire after playing the three-match Test series against India in August 2015. In his Test match career till date, he has scored 38 centuries in 130 matches and 51 half-centuries in 129 matches.

Jayawardene, on the other hand, played 448 ODIs and scored 12650 runs at an average of 33.37. He retired from the Test Cricket on 18 August 2014. In his Test match career, he scored 11814 in 149 matches.

Sri Lankan duo Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara retired from ODI cricket

Lupin to acquire additional 40 percent stake in S Aftrica's Pharma Dynamics

Lupin on 18 March 2015 inked a pact to acquire an additional 40 per cent stake in South Africa's Pharma Dynamics. The company did not disclose financial details of the transaction.

With this acquisition, Lupin has 100 per cent stake in the company. Pharma Dynamics will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lupin.

Earlier, Lupin had acquired 60 per cent stake in the South African (SA) firm in September, 2008.

As per the agreement, the founders of Pharma Dynamics will exercise their put option before 31 March 2015 for the 40 per cent equity stake they currently hold in the company.

The move would add an additional global muscle to Pharma Dynamics' operations and support the next phase of growth for the company.

Cape Town-based Pharma Dynamics was founded in 2001. It distributes a range of branded, generic prescription medicines and over-the-counter (OTC) products in South Africa as well as other key markets across the African continent.

Lok Sabha passed Repealing and Amending Bill, 2014

Lok Sabha passed the Repealing and Amending Bill, 2014 with a voice vote on 18 March 2015. The bill seeks to repeal 35 archaic laws either partially or entirely as they have ceased to be in force or have become obsolete.

Out of the 35 acts, three acts will be repealed entirely. These include The Indian Fisheries Act, 1897, The Foreign Jurisdiction Act, 1947 and The Sugar Undertakings (Taking over of Management) Act, 1978. Lok Sabha passed the Repealing and Amending Bill, 2014 with a voice vote on 18 March 2015. The bill seeks to repeal 35 archaic laws either partially or entirely as they have ceased to be in force or have become obsolete.

Out of the 35 acts, three acts will be repealed entirely. These include The Indian Fisheries Act, 1897, The Foreign Jurisdiction Act, 1947 and The Sugar Undertakings (Taking over of Management) Act, 1978.

Lok Sabha passed the Warehousing Corporations (Amendment) Bill, 2015

The Lok Sabha on 18 March 2015 passed the Warehousing Corporations (Amendment) Bill, 2015. The Bill seeks to do away with the Union Government’s responsibility as a financial guarantor to the Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC).

The Warehousing Corporations (Amendment) Bill, 2015 was introduced in the Lok Sabha by Ram Vilas Paswan, the Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution on 3 March 2015. The bill seeks to amend the Warehousing Corporations Act, 1962, which established central and state warehousing corporations for the purpose of warehousing agricultural produce and other commodities.

As per the Bill’s Statement of Objects and Reasons, the Union Government needs to do away with its role of financial guarantor to the CWC as it is a Mini-Ratna Public Sector Enterprise.
One of the criteria for awarding the Mini-Ratna status to a public sector enterprise is that there should be no financial support from the government.

However, as per the Warehousing Corporations Act, 1962, the Union Government guarantees the repayment of the principal and annual minimum dividend payments on shares to the CWC.

Further, the amendments to the Warehousing Act in no way dilute the 55 percent shareholdings of the government in the CWC.

Air-to-Air missile Astra successfully test fired from ITR Chandipur in Odisha

Indigenously developed Beyond Visual Range (BVR) air-to-air missile, Astra, was successfully test fired at the Integrated Test Range (ITR), Chandipur in Odisha on 18 March 2015. It was test-fired aboard a Sukhoi-30 fighter aircraft.

The present test was a part of the series of tests planned to test the missile’s subsystems like propulsion, navigation and guidance and the smooth separation of the missile from the aircraft, etc.

Further, the test was intended to prove the missile’s manoeuvring capability against a simulated target and also to validate various subsystems.

The previous test was conducted on 04 May 2014 from a Naval Range in the Western Sector.

Astra is a beyond visual range air-to-air missile (BVRAAM) that is capable of engaging its target at ranges of 37 km or beyond. Astra missile has operational range of 60km.

NGT directed Indian Railways to impose a fine of 5000 rupees for littering on railway property

National Green Tribunal (NGT) on 18 March 2015 directed the Indian Railways to impose a fine of 5000 rupees on individuals spotted littering or throwing waste on the railway platforms and railway tracks. The order was given with an aim to implement the genesis of Swacch Bharat Abhiyan and was passed by a bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar.

The Bench said that maintaining clean environment and hygiene at the stations and tracks is the prime duty of the Railway authorities and it cannot shift the burden in this regard to any other department.

The bench passed a slew of directions to Railways and other authorities for maintaining cleanliness on railway tracks. The directions are as follows:

• Place dustbins after identifying exact locations for collection of garbage in 46 slum clusters adjoining railway tracks.

• For collection and disposal of municipal solid wastes, it directed the Railways to collect, transport and treat the waste at the treatment plants instead of directly releasing the garbage into sewer system.

• Install mobile toilets near slum clusters in order to control pollution caused by plastic products and human defecation around railway tracks.

The NGT Bench issued the directions while hearing a petition filed by lawyers Saloni Singh and Arush Pathania seeking a blanket ban on use and sale of plastic products on railway platforms across the country besides a ban on open defecation by people around tracks.

Air Marshal Sohail Aman appointed as Chief of Pakistan Air Force

Air Marshal Sohail Aman was on 18 March 2015 appointed as the Chief of Pakistan Air Force. Also he was promoted to the rank of Air Chief Marshal from Air Marshal.

His appointment was approved by the Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz sharif and he will take the charge immediately from incumbent Air Chief Marshal Tahir Rafique Butt.

At the time of his appointment as Chief of Pakistan Air Force, he was serving as Deputy Chief of the Air Staff (Operations) at Air Headquarters, Islamabad.

Air Marshal Sohail Aman was commissioned in the GD (P) Branch of Pakistan Air Force in November, 1980 and his career encompasses a wide range of operational, training and command assignments.

In recognition of his meritorious and exceptionally dedicated services, he was decorated with the award of Hilal-i-Imtiaz, Sitara-i-Imtiaz and Tamgha-i-Imtiaz.

Bihar Budget 2015-16: Highlights

State Government of Bihar led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on 12 March 2015 presented the state budget for the financial year 2015-16.

The overall size of the budget is 120685.32 crore rupees that includes plan expenditure of 57437 crore rupees and non-plan expenditure of 63259 crore rupees.

Key Highlights of the Budget 2015-16
• After registering double-digit growth rate in the past few years, the growth rate of Bihar declined to 9.92 percent of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) in 2014-15. GSDP estimate is 455451 crore rupees for the year 2015 -16.
• The State has Revenue Surplus of 11980.95 crore rupees during 2015 - 16 which is 2.63% of GSDP.
• The Fiscal Deficit has been estimated at 13584.46 crore rupees which is 2.98% of GSDP for the year 2015-16.
• The Outstanding Public Debt is estimated at 89239.87 crore rupees in 2015-16 which is 19.58% of GSDP.
• The percentage of Development expenditure and Non-Development expenditure in total expenditure is 68.28 and 31.72 respectively
• The percentage of Revenue and Capital expenditure in total expenditure is 75.58 and 24.42 respectively.
• The percentage of Non-Plan and Plan Expenditure in total expenditure for 2015-16 is 52.42 and 47.58 respectively
• A Consolidated Sinking Fund making provisions for repayment of loans has been created since 2008-09. It shall help the State in times of crisis to meet the debt obligations. In the year 2015-16, 491.84 crore rupees is proposed to be invested in the Fund.

Department wise allocation for State Plan in Budget 2015-16

Name of Department	Plan Outlay (rupees in crore)	Percentage total outlay
Education	10950.14	19.16
Rural Works	5612.30	9.82
Rural Development	5420.13	9.49
Rural Construction	4856.22	8.50
Social Welfare	4132.77	7.23
Energy	4058.60	7.10
Health	2372.00	4.15
Agriculture	2342.35	4.10
Food and Consumer Protection	2121.63	3.71
BC & MBC Welfare	1970.03	3.45
Others	13301.45	23.28
Total	57137.62	100.00

Budget Estimates of 2015-16 in Brief:
• Total Expenditure: 120685.32 crore rupees
• Total Plan Size: 57425.73 crore rupees
• Total Non-Plan size: 63259.59 crore rupees
• Revenue Surplus: 11980.95 crore rupees (2.63% of GSDP)
• Fiscal Deficit: 13584.46 crore rupees (2. 98% of GSDP)
• State Own Tax Revenue:
a) Commercial Tax: 21375.00 crore rupees
b) Excise Duty: 4000.00 crore rupees
c) Stamp and Registration: 4000.00 crore rupees
d) Transport: 1200.00 crore rupees
e) Land Revenue: 300.00 crore rupees
• State's main Non-Tax Revenue
a) Receivable from Jharkhand State due for pension share's liabilities: 1600.00 crore rupees
b) Mines: 1000.00 crore rupees
c) Interest receipts: 312.13 crore rupees
d) Irrigation: 34.00 crore rupees
e) Other Non Taxes: 449.73 crore rupees
• Committed Expenditure
a) Salary - (i) Non-Plan: 17757.90 crore rupees (ii) Plan: 776.85 crore rupees
b) Pension: 12979.67 crore rupees
c) Interest: 7220.77 crore rupees
d) Repayment of Public Debt: 3895.28 crore rupees

Maharashtra Government announced to rename Girgaum Chowpatty as Swaraj Bhoomi

Maharashtra Government on 18 March 2015 announced to rename Girgaum Chowpatty as Swaraj Bhoomi to honour veteran freedom fighter Bal Gangadhar Tilak.

Girgaum Chowpatty is the oldest and most famous beach of Mumbai, Maharashtra. It remains one of the best spots from which to see the sunset in Mumbai.

The demand was raised by the Lokmanya Tilak Gaurav Samiti. They demanded that the spot at Chowpatty where Lokmanya Tilak was cremated, and where a garden stands now, should be called Swaraj Bhoomi. He died on 1 August 1920.

Why it was called Chowpatty

The Girgaum beach was called Chau-pati because of four channels of water that existed there. According to the 1917 book Bombay Place Names and Street Names, this describes the inroads made by the tide before the western foreshore was reclaimed.

In 1865, the summit of Malabar Hill was excavated to provide filling for the Chaupati reclamation and the sea-face road which runs to Malabar Hill. The name is similar to Satpaty, a village in the Mahim taluka of Thane district, which is approached by a channel containing seven streams.

Haryana Budget 2015-16: Highlights

Haryana government led by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on 17 March 2015 presented its state Budget for the fiscal year 2015-16.

The state budget was presented in the state assembly by Finance Minister of Haryana Capt. Abhimanyu.

The overall size of the state budget is 68985.87 crore rupees that includes 52312.10 crore rupees of revenue expenditure and 16673.77 crore rupees of capital expenditure. The receipts are pegged at 12877.81 crore rupees for the fiscal year 2015-16.

Key Highlights of the Budget 2015-16
• For the sake of environment and soil health, the VAT on bio-fertilisers as bio-feritilser was removed.
• Rate of VAT on LED lights, pipe fittings and pre-fabricated steel structures was reduced to 5 percent from 12.15 percent. This was done to encourage the use of these in the context of development strategy.
• Revenue Expenditure in 2015-16 was increased by 12.52 percent over the Revised Estimates for 2014-15.
• Capital Expenditure in 2015-16 was increased by 11.33 percent over the Revised Estimates 2014-15.
• Proposed Annual Plan 2015-16 with an overall outlay of 25743.46 crore rupees which includes central assistance of 5106.21 crore rupees for centrally sponsored schemes.
• The budget puts strong focus on capital expenditure and infrastructure development. It has prioritised skill development and job creation.
• The budget rectifies disparities amongst social groups and regions and increases the emphasis on social sector.
• It proposed to continue in 2015-16 with the present devolution pattern determined on the recommendation of the 3rd State Finance Commission (SFC).
• It also proposed to constitute the 5th SFC soon to recommend the devolution pattern for the period 2016-17 to 2020-21.
• Allocations for completion of Metro train link in Faridabad by April 2015 and Bahadurgarh link by April 2016 for the residents of NCR was made.
• Apart from setting up of Gau Raksha Board and a board to revive Saraswati River, the budget also promised maize and bajra at the rate of 1 rupee per kilogram for BPL families.
• Proposed to connect about 4000 villages of Haryana with 100 Mbps internet connectivity by September 2015.
• Allocated 17331.08 crore rupees, including Plan outlay of 5793.65 crore rupees to the economic infrastructure sector. This is 7.56 percent higher than the Revised Estimates of 2014-15.

Eco-restoration project for Kinnerasani Sanctuary in Telangana announced

Wildlife Management of Palvancha on 18 March 2014 announced eco-restoration project for Kinnerasani Sanctuary in Telangana. The project will be implemented in 716 hectares of land under the Kinnerasani Wildlife Sanctuary limits in Kothagudem Mandal with an estimated cost of 60 lakh rupees.

The objective of the project is to reverse the damage caused to ecology due to human intervention and restore the degraded ecosystem in the sanctuary.

In order to restore the ecology of Kinnerasani Sanctuary, a total of 26 deer had been shifted from three different deer parks to the eco-restoration project site and are being released into the wild in a phased manner in strict adherence to the safety precautions and rules in force.

Also, a plan is on the anvil to shift a few more deer from Kinnerasani Deer Park to the project site at Chintonichelka in view of the excess population of deer in the park beyond its stipulated capacity.

About Kinnerasani Sanctuary

Kinnerasani Wildlife Sanctuary is located in Khammam district, Telangana. The wildlife sanctuary is spread over an area of 635.40 km2 (157,010 acres) with the picturesque Kinnerasani Lake with densely forested islands in the middle of the sanctuary.

The sanctuary is the homeland for animals like Cheetal, Chinkara, Chousinghas, Sambar, Wild Boars, Gaurs, Hyena, Jackals, Panthers, Sloth Bear, Tigers and Black Bucks. The varieties of birds like Peafowl, Jungle Fowl, Quails, Partridges, Teals, Nuktas, Spoonbills and Doves are the common birds in the sanctuary.

20-MARCH-2015

Indian Railways roped in Ratan Tata to lead Kaya Kalp council

Ratan Tata, chairman emeritus of Tata Sons Ltd on 19 March 2015 was roped in by Union Government to head Kaya Kalp, a council formed to suggest innovative ways to transform the Indian Railways.

Earlier, the Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on 26 February 2015 in his first Railway Budget 2015-16 announced that a permanent council will be formed to transform Indian Railways.

Features of the innovation council called Kaya Kalp
• It was designed with an aim for business re-engineering and introducing a spirit of innovation in railways
• The Council was set up to turn around the ailing state-run railway network
• The Council will recommend ways to reform the creaking public service transporter that ferries some 23 million passengers a day

Other members of the council will include representatives of All Indian Railwaymen’s Federation (AIRF) and National Federation of Indian Railwaymen (NFIR), which represent railway employees.

Sir Venkatraman Ramakrishnan named as President of Britain’s Royal Society

Nobel laureate Sir Venkatraman Ramakrishnan on 18 March 2015 was named as the President of Britain's prestigious Royal Society, a communion of the many of the world's most distinguished scientists.

Ramakrishnan, who will take up the post on the 1 December 2015, will succeed geneticist Sir Paul Nurse, also a Nobel Laureate.

Nicknamed as Venky, the scientist is based at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge.

About Sir Venkatraman Ramakrishnan
• He studied how genetic information is translated by the ribosome to make proteins and the action of antibiotics on this process.
• The Indian-American scientist Venkatraman Ramakrishnan received the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 2009 with Tom Steitz and Ada Yonath.
• He was awarded a knighthood in 2012
• He has a B.Sc in physics from Baroda University, India and a PhD from Ohio University in the USA.
• He studied biology at the University of California, San Diego and worked as a post-doctoral fellow at Yale University.
• Subsequently, he was a biophysicist at Brookhaven National Laboratory and professor of biochemistry at the University of Utah before he moved to the UK in 1999.
• He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2003, and is also a member of the US National Academy of Sciences, Leopoldina (the German Science Academy) and a Foreign Member of the Indian National Science Academy.

About Britain’s Royal Society
The Royal Society is a self-governing Fellowship of many of the world’s most distinguished scientists and was founded in 1660. Since establishment, the Society has seen 60 Presidents and some of them included Christopher Wren, Samuel Pepys, Isaac Newton, Joseph Banks, Humphry Davy and Ernest Rutherford.

The Society’s fundamental purpose, reflected in its founding Charters of the 1660s, is to recognise, promote, and support excellence in science and to encourage the development and use of science for the benefit of humanity.

Hyderabad International Airport handled record 10 million passengers in 2014-15

The Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) in Hyderabad clocked 10 million passengers in the financial year 2014-15. Bhanu Khannan who arrived at the airport from a Chennai bound flight emerged as the 10 millionth passenger at the airport.

This was informed through a press statement issued by the airport authorities on 19 March 2015. The press statement also mentioned the airport’s impressive growth in the passenger traffic and freight volumes.

During the 2014-15 financial year, the airport had witnessed a traffic growth of 20 percent over last financial year (2013-14) led by 22 percent growth in domestic passenger traffic and 15 percent growth in international traffic. The traffic growth numbers were higher than the average growth witnessed by other major Indian airports.

On the cargo front, the airport is well poised to reach the 100000 tonnes mark during the financial year 2014-15. The cargo facility at the airport was built with a capacity for 150000 tonnes per annum. While air freight volumes in India have grown at a Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 7 percent, RGIA recorded a 15 percent growth in 2014-15.

About the RGIA Airport
• The airport was commissioned on 14 March 2008 and commercial operations began on 23 March 2008 with an initial capacity of 12 million passengers per annum (MPPA). It has the flexibility to increase capacity to accommodate over 40 MPPA. The Airport is designed to handle New Large Aircrafts (NLA), including the Airbus A380.
• The airport was build by the GMR group in Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode. It is a joint venture promoted by the GMR Group (63%) in partnership with Government of India (13%), Government of Telangana (13%) and Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (11%). It is the first Greenfield airport built by a private company in the country.
• 15 international and 5 domestic airlines operate from the airport that connect Hyderabad to over 16 international and 25 domestic destinations.
• The airport has been rated amongst the top three airports in the world in the 5-15 million passenger categories as per the Airport Service Quality (ASQ) survey conducted by Airports Council International (ACI) for 2014. RGIA has retained its position among the top three airports in its category for the 6th consecutive year.
• RGIA won two awards as Best Airport and Excellence in Airport Operation & Management at Aviation Awards 2014 during the India Aviation Show at Hyderabad on 13 March 2014.

Ramachandran appointed as vice-chair of International Relations Commission of ANOC

Indian Olympic Association (IOA) President N Ramachandran on 17 March 2015 was appointed as a vice-chair of the International Relations Commission of the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC).

He will serve as a vice-chair of ANOC International Relations Commission for 2015.

The decision of appointment of Ramachandran as a member of ANOC was announced by ANOC President Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah.

Ramachandran will be the only Indian on the 14-member Commission, which comprises 205 National Olympic Committees recognised by the International Olympic Committee. ANOC It was established in 1979 and has its headquarters in Lausanne in Switzerland.

Snapdeal acquired logistics firm GoJavas to strengthen its delivery operations

Snapdeal on 19 March 2015 acquired logistics firm GoJavas to strengthen its delivery operations in the country. The deal is estimated to be about 200 crore rupees.

The company has invested in setting up fulfilment centres to smoothen its delivery operations.

Currently, it has 50 such centres across 20 cities and plans to expand this to 75 in 30 cities in the next few months.

Snapdeal has been scouting for acquisitions in mobile technology and supply chain space. Snapdeal counts global eCommerce giant eBay, Temasek, Myriad, Tybourne, Blackrock Inc and Premji Invest among its investors.

GoJavas works with e-Commerce firms like HealthKart, Jabong, Yepme and Lenskart, covers over 2500 pincodes in the country.

Snapdeal was founded in 2010. It has over 25 million registered users and more than 50000 business sellers. Currently, it does not have a captive delivery arm and relies on third-party logistics.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni became first Indian Captain to register 100 ODI wins

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the Captain of Indian One Day International (ODI) Cricket team on 19 March 2015 became the first Indian captain and third in the history of the game, to lead his country to 100 ODI wins. He reached the milestone of 100 wins in 178th ODI.

By achieving this fete, he joined the Australian pair of Ricky Ponting (165 wins) and Allan Border(107 wins). Dhoni achieved the fete after India defeated Bangladesh by 109-run in their 2015 ICC World Cup quarter-final match in Melbourne Cricket Ground.

With the win, Indian cricket team led by Dhoni became the first ever side to take 70 wickets in seven consecutive World Cup games.

The quarter-final win over Bangladesh also helped India to register a record ninth knock-out win in ICC tournaments, which included the 2007 World T20, 2011 World Cup and 2013 Champions Trophy titles.

The 33-year-old wicketkeeper batsman in 2007 took over the ODI captaincy from Rahul Dravid and led the team to its first-ever bilateral ODI series wins in Sri Lanka and New Zealand.

Dehradun-Varanasi Janta Express derailed near Rae Bareli district of Uttar Pradesh

Bachhrawan railway station: Two coaches of Dehradun-Varanasi Janta Express derailed

Dehradun-Varanasi Janta Express on 20 March 2015 derailed at Bachhrawan railway station near Raebareli district of Uttar Pradesh in which at least 36 people were killed and over 150 were injured.

Brake failure was reported to be the cause of the accident.

Due to derailment, two coaches and the engine of the train were affected. The train was on its way to Varanasi when the derailment took place.

An ex gratia of 2 lakh rupees each for the next of kin of the deceased and 50000 rupees to the severely injured and 20000 rupees for those with minor injuries was announced. The railways ordered a probe into the accident.

Former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser died

Former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser died on 20 March 2015 due to a brief illness. He was 84.

He was the 22nd Prime Minister of Australia and the Leader of the Liberal Party from 1975 to 1983.

He won the largest majority in two subsequent Elections of 1977 and 1980 in Australian political history. He came to power after the dismissal of Gough Whitlam’s Labor government – having first triggered a constitutional crisis by engineering deadlock in the Senate.

He continued many of Labor’s progressive reforms. In 1976 he established the family court of Australia and federal court of Australia, granted the Northern Territory self-government, passed the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act, created the position of federal ombudsman and established the ABC’s FM radio service. The next year, he established the National Aboriginal Conference and SBS.

In 1979 the Fraser government established the Australian Refugee Advisory Council to advise it on the settlement of refugees.

He became a Member of Parliament (M.P) in 1955 at the age of 25. Fraser was first appointed to the Cabinet in 1966. After rising to become Minister for Defence in 1969, he was regarded as a contender for the leadership of the Liberal Party following their defeat in 1972, but he lost that contest to Billy Snedden.

Fraser challenged Snedden in 1975 and was elected Leader of the Liberal Party, becoming the Leader of the Opposition.

Fraser was appointed as caretaker prime minister in November 1975 by the Governor-General of Australia, Sir John Kerr, following the controversial dismissal of the Whitlam Government in which he played a key role. He was defeated by Bob Hawke in 1983 and left politics a short time later

Indian Parliamentary Diplomacy- Speaker’s Perspective written by Meira Kumar released

Indian Parliamentary Diplomacy-Speaker’s Perspective : Meira Kumar

A Book Indian Parliamentary Diplomacy- Speaker’s Perspective written by Meira Kumar was released on 19 March 2015. Meira Kumar is a former Speaker of Lok Sabha.
President of India Pranab Mukherjee received first copy of the book from Sumitra Mahajan, Speaker, Lok Sabha who formally released it.

The book contains number of lessons from the observations of former Speaker Meira Kumar.

The book is an account of the role of parliamentary diplomacy in furthering foreign policy and strengthening international relations. The volume is a collection of reports and select speeches of Lok Sabha Speaker and leader of Indian Parliamentary Delegations delivered at international conferences and during her visits abroad.

Cher Wang Co-founder of HTC Corporation takes over as CEO

Cher Wang Co founder of HTC Corporation on 19 March 2015 takes over as Chief Executive Officer (CEO). She succeeded Peter Chou.

Peter Chou will remain at HTC and will start a new role as the head of the HTC Future Development Lab, a new division of the company responsible for coming up with new products.

Cher Wang co-founded HTC in 1997. She is considered one of the most powerful and successful women in technology.

As of 2014, she is listed as the 54th most powerful woman in the world by Forbes.

About HTC

HTC Corporation formerly High-Tech Computer Corporation, is a Taiwanese manufacturer of Smartphones and tablets headquartered in New Taipei City, Taiwan.

HTC was founded in 1997. It began as an original design manufacturer and original equipment manufacturer, designing and manufacturing devices such as mobile phones, touchscreen phones, and PDAs based on Windows Mobile OS.

Union Ministry of Environment to launch National Air Quality Index in April 2015

Union Ministry of Environment on 19 March 2015 announced to launch National Air Quality Index in April 2015.

The National Air Quality Index is a simple, composite, and easy to understand measure of air quality.

The index will measure the eight major pollutants that impact health - particulate matter (PM 10 and PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide, ozone, carbon monoxide, ammonia and lead - and disseminate information on associated health risks through a colour-coded easy to identify format.

Each colour will indicate a level of the index. There are six levels: Good, Satisfactory, Moderately polluted, Poor, Very Poor and Severe.

Further, Pollution monitoring stations would be set up on 66 cities having population of 10 lakh or more. At present there are 46 stations with continuous monitoring capabilities in 16 cities.

The launch of the index will be an important step towards creating greater awareness among people about the true nature of the city's air quality. The level of pollutants in the air of Delhi exceeds the limits set by the World Health Organization.

NYU announced Prison Education Programme to Educate US Prisoners

New York University (NYU) on 19 March 2015 announced Prison Education Programme (PEP) to Educate US Prisoners.

Indian-American New York University (NYU) Professor Nikhil Pal Singh will heads programme. The programme is a new initiative of New York University to bring college education to the inmates of a medium-security prison in New York State.

The programme offers credit-bearing, university courses that will enable students to earn an Associate of Arts (AA) degree from the university.

The programme was backed by a 500000 US dollar grant from the Ford Foundation. The NYU programme aims to help redress inequities that result from the fact that the United States incarcerates more people than any other nation in the world.

The course will begin in the spring 2015 semester. Classes will be taught by NYU faculty and offer both intensive liberal arts study and introductory courses from NYU's professional schools.

36 men will take one of two NYU classes taught at the Wallkill Correctional Facility in New York State's Ulster County, with up to three additional courses offered during the summer of 2015.

The programme will expand access to a university education to incarcerated students. This initiative will also include providing educational and employment counselling, community support for families, and other services such as legal assistance to address human rights, housing, and employment issues.

Once released from prison, students enrolled in programme may seek to continue their college education at NYU or by transferring credits to another institution.