MARCH-2015 COMPLETE CURRENT AFFAIRS

1.  Retirement fund body EPFO (Employees' Provident Fund Organisatio) raised age limit for vesting (Means to Avail Benefits) of pension by to 60 from 58 Years.
2. 10 Mar, 2015- 46th Foundation day of Central Industrial Security Force.
3. 100th year of Albert Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity celebrated across the world on 20-03-2015.
4. 11 Mar, 2015 - 30th Foundation day National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).
5. 12 Mar - Independence Day of Mauritius. Indian PM Narendra Modi Visited Mauritius on this occasion.
6. 12 March - World Kidney Day (Second Thursday of March).
7. 14th Finance Commission Report -
1. Main Suggestions Include -
1. Rising share of states in central taxes from 32% to 42% to allow greater fiscal policy space to states, even at the cost of leaving less revenue for centr's schemes and programmes.
2. Tax Devolution to be based on Area, Populcation, Demography, Income Distance & Forest Cover
1. 50 % weight is to be given to distance from highest per capita income district, followed by population (1971 census) at 17.5 %, demography (2011 census) at 10 %, area at 15 % and forest cover at 7.5 %
3. Fiscal deficit should come down to 3.6 % of GDP in 2015-16 from projected 4.1 % in 2014-15 and then 3 % in following year and kept at that for three more years.
4. Centre's debt To come down from 45.4 % of GDP in FY15 to 43.6 % in FY16 and 36.3 % by FY20.
5. States should empower local bodies to impose Advertisement tax to augment their revenues
6. States be taken away from operation of NSSF with effect from next financial year.
8. 15 March - World Consumer Day. Theme for the WCRD 2015 is Helping consumers choose healthy diets.
9. 15th African Ministerial Conference on Environment held in Cairo (Egypt)
10. 15th National Para-Athletic championships held in Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh).
11. 18th round of Boundary issues talks between India and China on held in New Delhi with National Security Adviser Ajit Doval representing India and China represented by Yang Jiechi, State Councellor of China.
12. 1998 Asian Games gold-medallist Dingko Singh included in National Boxing Selection panel. Arjuna awardee Gopal N Devang will be head of the 10-member selection panel that will remain in office till 2016.
13. 1st Counter-Terrorism Conference held in Jaipur (Rajasthan), organised by India Foundation and Sardar Patel University of Police Security and Criminal Justice. Conference's Central theme was Integrated Approach to Counter-Terrorism and CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear) Terrorism was one of the sub-themes.
14. 20 March - Iran celebrated start of new year’s festival of Iran Caleld Nowruz, a holiday having its roots in pre-Islamic traditions.
15. 20 March - World Oral Health Day.
16. 20 March - World Sparrow Day.  Theme for 2015 is I Love Sparrows.
17. 21 March - International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
18. 21 March - International Day of Forests. 2015 theme is Forests and Climate Change.
19. 21 March - World Forestry Day. 2015 theme is Forests and Climate Change.
20. 21 March - World Poetry Day. It and was declared by UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) in 1999.
21. 22 March - Formation day of State of Bihar. On this day British carved out bihar state from Bengal Presidency in 1912.
22. 22 March - World Water Day.
23. 24 March - World TB (Tuberculosis) Day.
24. 26 March - Independence Day of Bangladesh.
25. 29th India Carpet Expo inaugurated in Pragati Maidan (Delhi).
26. 3 -year-old archer Dolly Shivani Cherukuri of Andhra Pradesh entered Indian Book of Records by scoring 388 points in the recurve segment in seven and five meters distances. 
27. 3 March - World Wildlife Day.
28. 3 March -National Day of Bulgaria (Southeast European Country).
1. Mar 3, 1878 - Liberation of Bulgaria from Ottoman Empire.
29. 30th Aahar International Fair 2014 organized by ITPO (Indian Trade Promotion Organization) started in Pragati Maidan, Delhi.
30. 3rd United Nations World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction summit held in Japan From March 14-18, 2015. Home Minister Rajnath Singh to attend on India's Behalf.
31. 44 Armoured Regiment of Indian Army honoured by President’s Standards for meritorious and distinguished service for over 30 years.
32. 46th Dada Saheb Phalke Award given to Actor Shashi Kapoor.
33. 62nd National Film Awards -
1. Best Feature Film:Court (Marathi, Hindi, Gujarati & English)
2. Indira Gandhi Award for Best Debut Film of a Director: Asha for Jaoar Majhe
3. Best Direction: Srijit Mukherji for Chotushkone (Bengali)
4. Best Actress: Kangana Ranaut for Queen
5. Best Actor: Vijay for Nanu Avanalla Avalu (Kannada)
6. Best Supporting Actor: Bobby Simhaa for Jigarthanda (Tamil)
7. Best Supporting Actress: Baljinder Kaur for Pagdi The Honour (Haryanavi)
8. Best Child Actor: Kaakkaa Muttai(Tamil)
9. Best Female Playback Singer: Uttara Unnikrishanan for Azhagu, Saivam (Tamil)
10. Best Dialogues: Vishal Bhardwaj for Haider
11. Best Lyrics: NA. Muthukumar for Azhagu, Saivam (Tamil)
12. Best Music Direction Songs:Haider
13. Best Choreography: Sudesh Bismil, Haider
14. Best Films (Language Wise)
1. Hindi :Queen
2. Assamese : Othello
3. Bengali : Nirbashito
4. Rabha : Orong
5. Haryanvi : Pagdi The Honour
6. Punjabi : Punjab 1984
7. Tamil : Kuttram Kadithal

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8. Telugu : Chandamama Kathalu
9. Malayalam : Ain
10. Marathi : Killa
11. Odiya : Aadim Vichar
12. Kannada : Harivu
13. Konkani :Nachom - IA Kumpasar
33. 8 March - International Women's Day. Theme - Make it Happen.
34. A new land customs station inaugurated at Indo-Myanmar border trade centre in Champhai district of Mizoram.
35. Actor Amitabh Bachchan is appointed as brand ambassador by Government for campaign against Hepatitis B.
36. Actress Rani Mukerji has been honored by National Award for the Best Representation of the Cause of Safety, Security and Protection of Women and Girl Child by National Institute of Gender Justice (NIGJ).
37. Aditi Arya of Delhi won fbb Femina Miss India 2015 title. First runner-up was Aafreen Rachel Vaz of Karnataka and second runner-up was Vartika Singh of Uttar Pradesh.
38. Admiral Sir George Zambellas, First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff, Royal Navy of United Kingdom visited India.
39. Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh attended BRICS farm meet in Brazil from Mar 11-13, 2015.
40. Agriculture Ministry approved setting up of price stabilisation fund (PSF) with corpus of Rs. 500 crore to be used to support market interventions for managing prices of perishable agri-horticultural commodities.
1. Initially, fund will be used for onion and potato only. Losses will be shared between the Centre and States
2. PSF will be used to advance interest-free loans to State governments and Central agencies to support their working capital and other expenses on procurement and distribution for such commodities.
3. Commodities will be procured directly from farmers and will be made available at reasonable prices to consumers.
41. Akram Chehayeb, Agriculture Minister of Lebanon Visited India.
1. On this occasion, India Invites Entrepreneurs From Lebanon to Invest in Mega Food Parks and Cold Chain.I
42. Arun K Singh has been appointed as India's Ambassador to USA.
43. As per Data by World Steel Association (WSA), India has overtaken USA as third-largest steel producer in the world after China and Japan with production of 14.56 million tonnes (MT) in first two months of 2015.
44. Ashok Kumar Angurana appointed as Secretary in Department of Animal Husbandry in Ministry of Agriculture.
45. Ashu Suyash is appointed as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (MD&CEO) of Credit rating agency Crisil
46. Asian Development Bank (ADB) released Asian Development Outlook (ADO) report titled Financing Asia’s Future Growth.
1. As per ADO report, India will overtake China in terms growth rate in Financial Year (FY) 2015, and 2016.
2. China’s Foracasted growth rate -
1. 7.4 % in FY 2014
2. 7.2 % in FY 2015
3. 7.0 % in FY 2016.
3. India's forecasted growth rate
1. 7.4 % - FY 2014
2. 7.8 % in FY 2015
3. 8.2 % in 2016
4. Developing Asia will grow at a steady 6.3% in 2015 and 2016—the same pace as 2014.
47. Assam state Assembly passed a resolution urging the Centre to continue the special status for the state for being a backward and problems-ridden state with limited avenues for internal revenue generation.
48. Atal Pension Yojna (APY), announced in the Budget, will be launched on 01-06-2015 and will focus on all citizens in unorganised sector entitling them to pension of up to Rs 5,000 per month after 60 years of age.
49. Australia won ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 defeating New Zealand at Melbourne Cricket Ground (Australia).
1. Australian Captain Michael Clarke retired from ODI cricket
50. Australian National University Scientists found world’s largest asteroid impact zone in Warburton Basin of centrals Australia. 
51. Australian cricket team created World Cup record for highest score of 417 in a match against Afghanistan and broke Previous record of 413 runs made by India against Bermuda in CWC 2011. 
52. Baburam Bhattarai, former Prime Minister of Nepal Visited India.
53. Baldev Sharma has been appointed as chairman of National Book Trust.
54. Bharat Puri has been appointed as Chief of Pidilite Industries.
55. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar presented Bihar State budget for financial year 2015-16 with overall size 120685.32 crore rupees. It has plan expenditure of 57437 crores and non-plan expenditure of Rs. 63259 crore.
56. Book "Aatank Ke Saaye Men" has been authored by Documentary filmmaker Garima Sanjay.
57. Book Faces and Places is written by Deepak Nayyar.
58. Book Food for All is written by Uma Lele
59. Book God's Bankers: A History of Money and Power at the Vatican authored by Gerald Posner.
60. Book Indian Parliamentary Diplomacy- Speaker’s Perspective has been written by former lok sabha speaker Meira Kumar.
61. Britain's Cardiff is named as world’s first ‘sustainable fish city’.
62. British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) released documentary film India's Daughter directed by Leslee Udwin and is based on Delhi gang rape of the 23 year old Nirbhaya that took place on 16 December 2012.
63. British Irish Visa Scheme came into force in India that allows Indians to travel to United Kingdom (UK) and Ireland on a single-visit visa from either country.
64. CNN-IBN announced Indian of the Year Awards 2014 -
1. Indian of the Year 2014 - Narendra Modi
2. Politics - Arun Jaitley
3. Sports - Jitu Rai
4. Business - N Chandrasekaran
5. Entertainment - Chetan Bhagat
6. Public Service - Tongam Rina
7. Global Indian - Satya Nadella
8. Lifetime Achievement - ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization)
65. Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved launching Rs. 4,500-crore National Supercomputing Mission (NSM) with aim of bringing India into league of world class computing power nations.
66. China launched massive Silk Road Infrastructure project worth 79.8 billion USD in northwest province of Gansu as part of China’s ambitious Silk Route plan that will add more than 60000 kilometres of road network including 4070 km expressways over next six-years..
67. Christine Lagarde, chief of International Monetary Fund visited India.
68. Committee on Railway traffic optimization led by Mohd. Jamshed submitted its report to Ministry of Railways.
1. Committee Suggested Measures to Increase Passenger Traffic and use of Satellite Suggested for Operation and Safety Needs.
69. Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with National University of Singapore (NUS) to improve India’s rating on ease of doing business and bring it amongst the top 50 countries in the index.
1. India is currently at 142nd spot in index of Ease of doing business.
70. Cuba's Vice President Miguel Díaz-Canel Visited India.
71. Cyclone Pam Hit Vanuatu, an Oceanian island nation located in the South Pacific Ocean.
72. Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) approved buying 38 Pilatus trainer aircrafts from Switzerland at a cost of 1500 crore for training Indian Air Force fighter pilots.
73. Defence Minister Shri Manohar Parrikar Visited Japan.
74. Delhi Government launched India’s first e-ration card service that will be linked with Aadhaar cards to enable beneficiaries of Public Distribution System (PDS) to get cards online without hassles.
75. Delhi High Court (HC) became first court to set up dedicated commercial to ensure speedy disposal of cases and designated four benches to act as commercial courts.
76. Dick Costolo, CEO of Social Network Twitter, Visited India.
77. Earth Hour 2015 organised by World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) observed globally on 28 March 2015 from 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm Indian local time with tagline Climate Change. It was ninth edition of Earth Hour starting in 2007.
1. Earth Hour 2015 was observed across 172 nations and territories and around 1400+ iconic landmarks of the world switched off the lights.
78. Election Commission of India launched National Electoral Roll Purification and Authentication Programme (NERPAP) to bring an error free and authenticated electoral roll by Linking of Aadhar data with Electoral Database.
79. Famous Indian Boxer Mary Kom announced to retire from boxing after 2016 Brazil Olympics.
80. Famous Sports Journalist K Baskaran Passed Away.
81. Famous journalist Vinod Mehta Passed Away.
82. Filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan won Bishwaratna Bhupen Hazarika International Solidarity Award by Assam government.
83. Finance Ministry sanctioned 250 crore rupees to Andhra Pradesh to set up Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for the implementation of the Polavaram Multi Purpose Irrigation Project and 1500 Crore rupees for setting up new capital in Andhra Pradesh.
84. First Indo-Nepal Friendship Motor Rally concluded at India Gate in New Delhi aimed at strengthening bilateral relations between India and Nepal and spreading the message of road safety.
85. Flight 4U 9525 of Germanwings Airbus A320, budget carrier airline of Germany’s Lufthansa, crashed in French Alps.
86. Football Club Chelsea won the Football League Cup 2014-15 by defeating Tottenham Hotspur.
87. Forbes annual Global Billionaire’s 2015 list -
1. Bill Gates - co-founder of Microsoft topped the list for the 16th time with worth of 79.2 billion USD dollars.
2. United States topped list with 536 Billionaires, followed by China (213), Germany (103) rich people and India (90).
3. Carlos Slim Helu from Mexico telecommunications mogul ranked second with worth 77.1 billion USD and Warren Buffet, chief of Berkshire Hathaway Inc was ranked third with 72.7 billion USD.
4. Mukesh Ambani is ranked Richest Indian with 21 Billion USD Worth and overall rank 39.
88. Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar completed his SAARC Yatra and visited Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Bhutan.
89. Former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser passed away.
90. Former Bihar Chief Minister (CM) Ram Sundar Das passed away
91. Former Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed Sentenced To 13 year Imprisonment by country’s criminal court under the anti-terrorism laws.
92. Former Mizoram Chief Minister Brig Thenphunga Sailo died.
93. Former Union minister M Veerappa Moily has been selected for prestigious Saraswati Samman for 2014 for his famous Kannada poem ‘Ramayana Mahanveshanam’.
94. Fortune Magazine released list of 2015 roster of World’s 50 Greatest Leaders -
1. Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi at 5th rank and Nobel Prize winner Kailash Satyarthi at 28th rank.
2. List topped by Apple CEO Tim Cook, Followed by European Central Bank President Mario Draghi at second and Chinese President Xi Jingping at third Rank.
95. Fourteenth Multi-Parametric Geophysical Observatory (MPGO) inaugurated in Port Blair (Andaman and Nicobar Island) and Port Blair Magnetic Observatory inaugurated to monitor seismic activities.
96. Google appointed Ruth Porat as Chief Financial Officer (CFO).
97. Government appointed Kerala Finance Minister KM Mani as chairman of Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers as a key person for the Centre to roll out Goods and Services Tax (GST) on targeted date of April 1, 2016.
98. Government appointed New chairman for Various DRAT (Debt Recovery Appellate Tribunal) -
1. VK Mathur as Chairman of Allahabad bench of DRAT.
2. Girija Shankar as Chairman of Chennai bench of DRAT.
99. Government approved 33 % reservation for women in police forces of all Union territories (UTs) including delhi.
100. Government decided to hike Wages of Government owned Banks' Employees by 15% and decided to keep holiday on alternate saturday with other saturdays being fully working days unlike currently policy of half days work on each saturday in the month.
101. Government decided to move the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana from Labour and employment ministry to the Ministry of Health and family welfare.
102. Government gave in-principle approval for concept and institutional framework of Sagarmala Project aimed at development of ports and to provide infrastructure to transport goods to and from ports efficiently.
103. Government inaugerated work on an Apparel & Garment Making Centre and a Weavers’ Service Centre in Nagaland as part of NERTPS (North East Region Textile Promotion Scheme) with total outlay of Rs. 1038 crores in 12th Five Year Plan.
104. Government is setting up an Indian Culinary Institute (ICI) at Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh with a Northern Region Centre at Noida, Uttar Pradesh.
105. Government launched e-CPMP (Electronic Coal Projects Monitoring Portal) for tracking projects entailing investments related to coal.
106. Government set up task forces for development of Ajmer (Rajasthan), Allahabad (Uttar Pradesh) and Vishakhapattanam (Andhra Pradesh) as Smart Cities.
107. Government signed Memorandum of Understanding with Mauritius on Cooperation in Traditional Systems of Medicine and Homoeopathy to enhance bilateral cooperation in traditional medicines including medicinal plants.
108. Government will set up an Integrated National Waterways Transport Grid (INWTG) that covers five National Waterways.
109. Government’s Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao (Save Girl-child, Educate Girl-child) programme has been formally launched in Northeast and the Saiha District in Mizoram has been selected for this unique initiative. 
110. Growth of eight core sector industries (coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilizer, steel, cement and electricity) in India slowed to 1.8 % in January 2015 as compared to 3.7 % in 2014.
111. Gujarat Legislative Assembly passed Gujarat Control of Terrorism and Organized Crime (GUJCOC) Bill, 2015.
1. It was earlier returned by President of India thrice to the state government for reconsideration.
2. According to a controversial provision in the Bill, recording of phone calls intercepted by investigating agencies will be admissible in the court as evidence.
112. HRD ministry has launched a web-based digital gender atlas as a tool to map the progress on girl education throughout the country In order to monitor how various education programmes are working.
113. Handicrafts & Carpet Sector Skill Council has been launched on the occasion of 20th Handicrafts Export Awards Presentation to promote skill development among artisans, craft persons and workers in this sector.
114. Haryana Government decided to introduce Special Identification Tags with unique identification numbers for Haryana cows, an indigenous breed found in the state.
115. Haryana Government launched a scheme for girl child - 'Aapki Beti Humari Beti' with an aim to combat the declining child sex ratio in Haryana.
116. Haryana Government passed Haryana Gauvansh Sanrakshan and Gausamvardhan Bill on 16 March with two amendments, prohibiting the slaughter of cow and its progeny and providing punishment of up to 10 years with fine Between 30,000 - 1 lakh Rupees for any violation.
117. Haryana government presented state Budget for 2015-16.  Overall size of the state budget is 68985.87 crore rupees with 52312.10 crore revenue expenditure and 16673.77 crores of capital expenditure.
118. High Court of Delhi disclosed that office of the Attorney General of India falls under ambit of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005 as it is not merely a lawyer for the government, but also is a Constitutional Authority.
119. Himachal Pradesh became first state assembly in India to launch e-Vidhan Mobile app that could be accessed by all members 45 minutes before the question hours having information about the day business. It will save about 8 Crore rupees spent in an year on paper work.
120. Hindi poet Gopaldas Neeraj won Rashtriya Kavi Pradeep Samman for the year 2012-13 given by Department of Culture of Madhya Pradesh government.
121. Hockey India conferred Major Dhyan Chand Lifetime Achievement Award on legendary Balbir Singh Senior.
122. Hockey India gave first Hockey India Annual Awards -
1. Dhruv Batra Award for Player of the Year - Birendra Lakra (Male) and Vandana Katariya (Female).
2. Jaman Lal Sharma Award for Invaluable Contribution - Harendra Singh
3. Outstanding Achievement - One Thousand Hockey Legs for exceptional contribution towards the sport.
4. Jugraj Singh Award for Upcoming Player of the Year (Male) - Harmanpreet Singh
5.  Asunta Lakra Award for Upcoming Player of the Year (Female)) - Namita Toppo
6. Baljit Singh Award for Goalkeeper of the Year - PR Sreejesh
7. Pargat Singh Award for Defender of the Year - Deepika
8. Ajit Pal Singh Award for Midfielder of the Year - Manpreet Singh
9. Dhanraj Pillay Award for Forward of the Year - Akashdeep Singh
123. ISRO successfully launched IRNSS-1D, the fourth satellite in the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) from Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota by Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C27 as 28th consecutively successful mission of PSLV.
124. India Artist Bharti Kher conferred with the Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters, highest cultural award of France.
125. India Signed Loan Agreement of $300 Million with Asian Ddvelopment Bank for Improving Regional Road Connectivity along North Bengal-North Eastern Region (NER).
1. ADB is based in Manila (Philippines).
126. India and Kyrgyzstan signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation in the textiles sector on the occasion of Kyrgyzstan’s minister of energy and industry Kubanychbek Turdubaev visiting India.
127. India signed $43 million loan agreement with World Bank for Partial Risk Sharing Facility for Energy Efficiency (PRSF) project to help enterprises and Energy Service Companies (ESCOs) mobilize commercial finance for investments in energy efficiency initiatives. 
128. India signed US$ 500 million loan agreement with World Bank for Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) for MSME Growth Innovation and Inclusive Finance Project. 
129. India successfully tested indigenously developed Beyond Visual Range (BVR) air-to-air missile, Astra.
1. It is smallest of missiles developed by Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) with length of 3.8 metres with range of 110 KM.
130. India to host 7th Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (AMCDRR) in 2016.
1. It was declared by Home Minister Rajnath Singh on his visit to japan for third United Nations World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction organised in Sendai, Japan.
131. India to set up textile cluster in africa starting from Ethiopia (A country in Horn of Africa).
132. India voted in favour of a Russia-drafted resolution along with 42 Other Countries that proposed removing benefits for same-sex partners of UN staff. The resolution did not pass as 80 nations opposed it.
1. Fifth Committee of the General Assembly, dealing with administrative and budgetary issues, voted against the Russian proposal aimed to stop marital benefits given to UN employees with same-sex spouses.
133. India's space agency Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has been selected for Gandhi Peace Prize 2014 for social, economic transformation through non-violence means.
134. India-born Nobel laureate Sir Venkatraman Ramakrishnan has been elected as president of Britain's prestigious Royal Society.
1. Royal Society dates back to 1660 and its president is a key advocate for science in the UK and the world.
2. Ramakrishnan will succeed geneticist Sir Paul Nurse, also a Nobel laureate.
3. Venkatraman Ramakrishnan shared the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Thomas A. Steitz and Ada E. Yonath forstudies of the structure and function of the ribosome.
135. Indian IT Company TCS has been recognized as top employer in Europe for the third consecutive year by Top Employers Institute.
136. Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president N. Ramachandran has been appointed as vice-chair of the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) international relations commission.
137. Indian Open Badminton 2015 -
1. Men's Singles - Kidambi Srikkanth (India) won by defeating Viktor Axelsen (Denmark).
2. Women's Singles - Saina Nehwal (India) won by defeating Ratchanok Intanon (Thailand).
138. Indian PM Narendra Modi Among 30 Most Influential People On Internet in a Time's Survey.
139. Indian Panorama Film Festival 3rd Edition started in Shillong, Meghalaya.
140. Indian Player Kidambi Srikanth won men's singles title in Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold Badminton Tournament after beating Viktor Alexson of Denmark.
141. Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) Launched Ru-Pay debit card service in collaboration with Union Bank of India and the National Payment Corporation of India to enable Railway passengers to book tickets, do shopping and pay service bills using RuPay pre-paid cards.
1. RuPay is India’s own card payment gateway network like Visa and Master Card that provides alternative system for banks to provide a debit card service.
142. Indian Railways signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) to augment its resources for better execution of projects. LIC will make 1.5 Lakh C rore Rupees Financial Assistance to Indian Railways for implementing Railway projects over the next five years from Financial Year 2015-16.
143. Indian Saina Nehwal became first Indian woman Badminton Player to be ranked as world No. 1 Player.
144. Indian Wells Tennis 2015 (Held in California (USA))
1. Men’s Singles - Serbia’s Novak Djokovic won his fourth title by defeating Switzerland’s Roger Federer.
2. Women’s Singles - Simona Halep of Romania defeated Jelena Jankovic of Serbia
3. Women's Doubles - Sania Mirza (India) and Martina Hingis (Switzerland) defeated Russians Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina.
145. Indian author Amitav Ghosh shortlisted for the 2015 Man Booker International Prize among the 10 finalists for the prize. 
146. Indian ecologist Madhav Gadgil and US Scientist Dr. Jane Lubchenco were named winners of Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement 2015 for their engagement in development of conservation and sustainability policies
1. Tyler prize was started in 1973 and is awarded by International Tyler Prize Executive Committee with the administrative support of the University of Southern California in honor of exceptional work for environmental sciences and policy qualities for the cause.
147. Indian environmental activist Rajendra Singh, has been conferred the prestigious Stockholm Water Prize this year for his innovative water restoration efforts and courage to empower communities in Indian villages.
1. It is known as Nobel Prize for water has been given to Rajendra Singh for his efforts for bringing water water to 1,000 villages.
148. Indian-American Renu Khator elected as Chairperson of Board of Directors of the American Council on Education (ACE) which is a major coordinating body for US colleges and universities.
149. Indian-American Vijay Kumar has been appointed as Dean of USA's Pennsylvania State University.
150. Indian-American author Akhil Sharma won Folio Prize 2015 for his novel Family Life.
1. The Folio Prize was instituted in 2014 and recognises best English-language fiction from around the world, published in United Kingdom (UK) during the year.
151. Indian-American biologist Murty S Kambhampati won US presidential award for excellence in science, mathematics and engineering mentoring.
152. Indian-American physician Rahul Jindal has been selected for prestigious Fulbright-Nehru Distinguished Chair to India. The Ahmedabad-based HL Trivedi Institute of Transplantation Sciences will host Dr. Rahul Jindal for the duration of the chair. This Institute performs about 400 kidney transplants in a year and has developed innovative transplant tolerance models.
153. Indian-origin South African educator Ganasen Reddy has been awarded with KwaZulu-Natal 2015 National Teachers Award (Lifetime Achievement Award for teaching in South Africa) at the annual National Teaching Awards in South Africa. 
1. Other Indian Origin Awardess are Silas Pillay, Anneline Govender and Caryn Reddy.
154. Indian-origin lawyer Kannan Ramesh has been appointed as a Judicial Commissioner to Singapore’s Supreme Court bench for two years.
155. India’s first Polar Remotely Operated Vehicle (PROVe) started research in North Antarctica. It has been built by National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) under Union Ministry of Earth Sciences.
156. Injeti Srinivas has been appointed as chief of Sports Authority of India.
157. Insurance Australia Group Ltd (IAG) announced to raise its stake in SBI General Insurance from 26 to 49 %. 
158. International Energy Agency (IEA) released data for carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in 2014 and stated that emissions of CO2 from energy sector remained same in 2014 as they were in 2013.
1. Global emissions of CO2 were 32.3 billion tonnes in 2014, which is same as that in 2013.
2. Causes for halt in CO2 emissions incude changing patterns of energy consumption in China and Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries as these have been focusing on greater generation of energy from renewable sources, such as hydropower, solar and wind, and less burning of coal..
159. Islamic Republic of Iran celebrated the start of the new year’s festival of Iran Caleld Nowruz, a holiday that has its roots in ancient, pre-Islamic traditions.
160. Jack Ma, Chief of Chinese E-Commerce Giant Alibaba Visited India.
161. Jagmohan Dalmiya has been elected as President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
162. Japan and France signed a deal on military equipment and technology transfers for cooperation and joint development in defence sector.
163. Japan organised world's first Otaku Expo as a part of a special comic book fair held every five years.
1. Otaku is a Japanese term for people with obsessive interests, commonly animation.
164. Jugal Kishore Mohapatra is appointed as rural development secretary.
165. Karnataka won their eighth Ranji Trophy title of cricket defeating Tamilnadu.
166. Kathmandu-Varanasi-Kathmandu bus service flagged off jointly by India and Nepal.
167. Katsushi Inoue appointed as President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Honda Cars India Limited (HCIL).
168. Kavinder Gupta of Bharatiya Janata Party has been elected as speaker of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly.
169. Kerala Assembly speaker G Karthikeyan passed away
170. Kerala Tourism won silver Golden Gate award for its global multimedia campaign for promoting the backwaters of Kerala at Internationale Tourismus-Borse Berlin (ITB-Berlin) 2015, Germany.
171. Keshari Nath Tripathi, (Governor of West Bengal) is appointed as Governor of Mizoram after removing Aziz Qureshi as the Governor of Mizoram.
172. Kewal K Sharma has beene appointed as Delhi Chief Secretary.
173. Kumar P Barve, first Indian- American to be elected to a US state legislature, will run for the US Congress in the 2016 elections.
174. Lee Kuan Yew, Former Prime Minister of Singapore Passed Away.
175. Lok Sabha Passed Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Bill 2015 that provides for auction and allocation of coal mines through a bidding process.
176. Lok Sabha passed Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2015 that will replace Insurance Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 2014. Proposed amendments in the bill aim to bring improvements in existing laws relating to insurance business in India.
1. The Bill hikes Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) cap in the insurance sector to 49 % from 26 %.
177. Lok Sabha passed Land Acquisition (amendment) Bill, 2015 by voice vote.
1. The bill amends the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (RFCTLARR) Act, 2013.
2. Before being passed, Government made amendments in the Bill that was promulgated on 29 December 2014. Nine amended provisions which were accepted includes-
1. Removed exemptions for Social Infrastructure Projects in public-private-partnership mode
2. Land that will be acquired for industrial corridors will be limited to one kilometre on either side of highways and railway lines
3. Compulsory employment will be provided to one member of a farming family that is selling its land
4. hassle-free grievance redressal mechanism of land losers will be put in place
5. Farmers will get right to complain over land acquisition redressal of grievances at district level
6. Ceiling on land for acquisition in industrial corridors
7. Panchayat's nod may be mandatory for acquiring tribal land
8. Government may acquire land for government bodies, corporations
9. Land acquisition rehabilitation and resettlement Authority can now hold hearings where the acquisition can take place.
10. Term private entity was replaced with private enterprise
178. Lok Sabha passed Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2015 that seeks to amend Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 to bring e-rickshaws and e-carts into the ambit of the Act.
179. Lok Sabha passed Warehousing Corporations (Amendment) Bill, 2015 that will set the Centre free of responsibility of being a financial guarantor to Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC).
180. Lok Sabha passed the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2015 by voice vote. The Bill seeks to amend the Citizenship Act, 1955 which regulates the acquisition and determination of citizenship and details registration of Overseas Citizens of India and their rights.
181. Lok Sabha passed the Repealing and Amending Bill, 2014 that seeks to repeal 35 obsolete archaic laws.
182. Lom Sabha passed a Bill to include certain synonymous names of communities in Scheduled Castes category in Haryana, Karnataka, Odisha and Dadra and Nagar Haveli. It was passed by Rajya sabha on Feb 24.
183. Maharashtra Government announced to include sale of gutka under Section 328 of Indian Penal Code (IPC) to make it a non-bailable offence.
184. Maharashtra Government launched Bhagyashree scheme for girl child replacing Sukanya scheme.
1. State government will deposit 21200 rupees in bank for girl child born in a Below the Poverty Line family.
2. Bhagyashree scheme aims at providing one lakh rupee on maturity after the girl completes 18 years of age.
3. The scheme will be joined with Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme of government.
185. Maharashtra Government scrapped 5 % reservations to Muslims in government jobs in Maharashtra that was announced by the erstwhile Congress-NCP government just before 2014 Assembly polls.
186. Maharashtra government announced to rename Mumbai's Girgaum Chowpatty as 'Swaraj Bhoomi' in honour of freedom fighter Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak.
187. Maharashtra government approved issuing Aadhar-linked ration cards to check fake beneficiaries and bring in transparency in the Public Distribution System (PDS).
188. Maharashtra government started helpline 18002332688 for social, physical and psychological issues faced by adolescents.
189. March 23 - World Meteorological Day observed with theme Climate Knowledge for Climate Action.
1. World Meteorological Day is celebrated every year on 23 March to commemorate the entry into force in 1950 of the convention that created the World Meteorological Organization. Meteorology is the interdisciplinary scientific study of the atmosphere.
190. March 30 - Rajasthan Diwas (marking the unification of the erstwhile princely states in the region into the State of Rajasthan).
191. Marek Sawicki, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development of Poland, visited India.
192. Mass nesting of endangered species Olive Ridley sea turtles started in river Rushikulya in Ganjam district of Odisha.
193. Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) signed between Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS) and National Research Development Corporation (NRDC) to commercialise ayurvedic medicines and technologies developed at CCRAS.
194. Mercer’s Quality of Living Report 2015 -
1. Vienna, Austria’s capital is the city with the best quality of living in the world.
2. Singapore is highest-ranking Asian city
3. Dubai ranks first across Middle East and Africa
4. In South Asia - Colombo (132) ranks highest followed by Indian cities Hyderabad (138) and Pune (145).
195. Ministry Science & Technology and Earth Sciences launched BIRAC Ace Fund aimed at accelerating growth of entrepreneurs in Biotechnology. It will be operated by Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) a Public Sector Undertaking under Ministry of Science & Technology.
196. Ministry of AYUSH started weekly programe on Doordarshan named - ‘Ayushman Bharat’ aimed at popularising traditional Indian medicines through interaction with experts of Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy.
197. Ministry of Corporate Affairs released data of top ten Corporate of 2014 comprising eight public sector undertakings and two private companies.
1. In term of assets, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) is the largest corporate with assets worth 3.68 lakh crores
2. Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) is second with assets worth 2.52 lakh crores, Housing Development Finance Corp (HDFC) is third with assets worth 2.25 lakh crore rupees.
3. Other entities in the top ten are Power Finance Corporation, National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), Rural Electrification Corporation, Power Grid Corporation, LIC Housing Finance (music), Steel Authority of India Limited and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited.
198. Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) appointed Olympic Bronze medallist boxer MC Mary Kom as the brand ambassador of the North-East region.
199. Ministry of Health and Welfare launched Media Campaign for Mission Indradhanush including song composed by lyricist Javed Akhtar. The campaign was launched for creating awareness regarding the importance to fully immunize every child against all vaccine preventable diseases in the country.
1. Mission Indradhanush aims to cover all under vaccinated children by 2020 against seven vaccine preventable diseases that include diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, polio, tuberculosis, measles and hepatitis B.
200. Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas organised Urja Sangam 2015: Shaping India’s Energy Security, an international energy summit in New Delhi.
201. Ministry of Shipping, Road Transport & Highways launched website Shipping Samvad to invite innovative ideas and suggestions from public and experts of Indian maritime sector for improvements in shipping, ports and inland waterways.
202. Minoti Apte, Indian pancreatic cancer researcher in Australia has been named New South Wales (NSW) Woman of the year 2015 for her contributions to medical research, tertiary education and the Indian community.
203. Mr. Ramkumar Prasad Shah, the Chief Justice of Nepal, visited India.
204. Mufti Mohammed Sayeed of People's Democratic Party has been appointed as 12th Chief Minister of J&K.
205. Mumbai High Court directed Maharashtra government to set up a redressal mechanism for complaints filed by citizens against noise pollution levels.
206. Myanmar’s government and 16 ethnic rebel groups signed nationwide cease-fire agreement to end 65 years of civil unrest and armed conflict in the country.
207. N Shakthan elected as speaker of the Kerala Assembly replacing G Karthikeyan who died recently.
208. NASA's Dawn spacecraft completed Orbit around Dwarf Planet Ceres and became first spacecraft to orbit around a dwarf planet.
209. NTPC Ltd. Becomes First PSU to Issue Bonus Debentures. Government received 618.06 crore bonus debentures amounting to Rs. 7725.76 crore and Rs. 2060.75 crore as dividend distribution tax by virtue of its 74.96% shareholding in NTPC.
210. Namibian President Hifikepunye Pohamba won the world’s most valuable individual award, the Mo Ibrahim prize for African leadership. Award is worth $5m (£3.2m) award and given each year to a leader who governed well, raised living standards and then left office.
211. Narayan Desai, Noted Gandhian and former Chancellor of Gujarat Vidyapith passed away.
212. National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Committee sanctioned 2000 crore rupees to the drought affected areas in Maharashtra for year 2014.
213. National Green Tribunal (NGT) directed Indian Railways to impose fine of 5000 rupees for littering or throwing waste on the railway platforms and tracks.
214. National Institute of Immunology (NII) signed agreement various Delhi colleges for participation of its Scientists/ faculty in teaching of undergraduate students in these colleges under a programme titled as ‘Science Setu’. 
215. National Payments Corporation (NPCI), that manages retail payments system in India, has linked 15 crore bank accounts with Aadhaar numbers.

• Target is to link bank accounts of 17 crore DBT (Direct Benefit Transfer) beneficiaries with Aadhaar by 30 June 2015.
216. New Zealand cricketer Daniel Vettori retired from all forms of International Cricket.
217. New zealand's Martin Guptill scored highest-ever score of 237 in Cricket World Cup history, Playing against in South Africa.
218. New Executive Directors appointed for Governmenr Owned Banks -
• Charan Singh - UCO Bank
• Venkat Ram Murti - Bank of Baroda
• R P Marathe - Bank of India
• Harideesh Kumar - Canara Bank
• N K Sahoo - Allahabad Bank
• Pawan Kumar Bajaj - Indian Overseas Bank
• Ravi Shankar Pandey - Syndicate Bank
• Kishore Piraji Kharat - Union Bank of India
• R C Lodha - Central Bank of India
219. Nine Indian Americans Awarded $50,000 Sloan Research Fellowships among 126 US and Canadian researchers selected by The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation as recipients of the 2015 Sloan Research Fellowships.

0. Nandini Ananth, Prabal Dutta, Shyam Gollakota, Shantanu Jadhav, Hemamala Karunadasa, Neal Mankad, Suresh Naidu, Padmini Rangamani and Vivek Shende.
220. Online Retailer Flipkart acquired mobile ad network AdiQuity to increase advertising reach of Flipkart.
221. PC Vaish has been appointed as chairman-cum-managing director (CMD) of National Textile Corporation (NTC).
222. PM Narendra Modi Visited Indian Ocean island nation Seychelles and signed four agreements with the to boost security and maritime partnership.
0. Cooperation in hydrography, renewable energy, Infrastructure development and Sale of navigation charts and electronic navigational charts.
1. PM also launched the Coastal Surveillance Radar Project in Seychelles.
223. PM Narendra Modi announced setting up of Shaheed Bhagat Singh PG Institute for Horticulture Research and Education at Amritsar, Punjab on 84th Martyrdom Day at National Martyrs Memorial in Hussainiwala in Punjab.
224. PM Narendra Modi began his official Visit to Three island countries in Indian Ocean - Seychelles, Mauritius and Sri Lanka.
225. PM Narendra Modi inaugurated 2 units of 600 Mega Watt (MW) each of Shree Singaji Thermal Power Project Khandwa district of Madhya Pradesh. 
226. PM Narendra Modi launched first indigenously developed Rotavirus vaccine named Rotavac to boost India’s efforts to combat infant mortality due to diarrhea.
0. vaccine will be available at a price of 1 US dollar per dose making it the cheapest vaccine available for rotavirus globally.
227. PM Narendra Modi launched multi-purpose and multi-modal platform, PRAGATI (Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation), aimed at addressing common man’s grievances and monitoring important projects.
228. Pakistan successfully test fired first indigenously developed armed drone Burraq along with its laser guided missile Barq.
229. Pakistan successfully tested Shaheen-III surface-to-surface nuclear carrying ballistic missile with range 2,750 km.
230. Pedro Morenes, Defence Minister of Spain Visited India and signed an agreement on Mutual Protection of Classified Information to provide framework for cooperation in defence research and development.
231. Pradip Kumar Mohanty is appointed as chief justice of Odisha High Court.
232. President Pranab Mukherjee conferred the highest Indian Civilian Honor - Bharat Ratna to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Madan Mohan Malaviya was also posthumously awarded Bharat Ratna.
233. President Pranab Mukherjee gave his assent to Maharashtra Animal Preservation (Amendment) Bill 1995 (as per provisions in Article 201 of Constitution of India) that aims to ban slaughter of bulls and bullocks in Maharashtra.
234. President Pranab Mukherjee presented Stree Shakti puraskars and Nari Shakti Puruskars 2014 on the occasion of International Women’s Day.
0. Stree Shakti puraskars are conferred on six women in the area of women’s endeavor and exceptional contribution each year. Award carries a cash prize of 3 lakh rupees and a citation.
1. Awardees of Stree Shakti Prize 2014 -
1.  

Award	Winner	Cause
Rani Lakshmibai	Seema Prakash, Madhya Pradesh	Working for vulnerable and marginalised Communities of Madhya Pradesh Since 2000 (particularly Korku tribe)
Rani Rudramma Devi Award	Astha Sansthan (NGO), Rajasthan	For protecting women’s rights, gender mainstreaming, issues relating to violence against women tribal rights, food security, transparency and right to work and others.
Mata Jijabai Award	Chandraprabha Bokey, Maharashtra	working in rural areas since 1960 for empowerment and rehabilitation of destitute, divorced, disabled women and rehabilitation of orphan children.
Kannagi Award	Dr. P Bhanumati, Kerala	founding Association for Mentally Handicapped Adults (AHMA) working for welfare of the poor destitute mentally challenged adults since 1996.
Rani Gaidinliu Zeliang Award	Sister Mariola, Rajasthan	working with the inmates at Ajmer Jail, Rajasthan since 1997 and lobbying for Prisons Without Walls.
Devi Ahilyabai Holkar Award	Anyay Rahit Zindagi (NGO), Goa	Works for combating trafficking of persons for commercial sexual exploitation since 1997.

236. Prime Minister Narendra Modi appointed as chancellor of Viswa Bharati University for three years.
237. RBI accepted to focus on inflation targeting as a tool for Monetary Policy Framework as per an agreement between Government and Reserve Bank of India.
0. In Inflation targeting, central bank decides for a medium-term target inflation rate.
1. RBI will have to maintain Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based inflation targets below 6 % by January 2016 and 4 % from 2016-17 with 2 % plus/minus range.
2. New framework will make RBI more accountable as it will explain to government if it fails to meet inflation targets.
3. This transition from monetary targeting suggested by Chakravarty Committee (1988) to Inflation targeting suggested by Urijit Patel Committee is similar to the practice adopted by central banks in developed countries.
238. Rafael Nadal (Spain) won Argentina Tennis Open beating Juan Monaco (Argentina).
239. Railway minister Suresh Prabhu has set up two committees in line with the promises made in his maiden rail budget last month, including Innovation Council 'Kaya Kalp' headed by former Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata to suggest ways to turn around the ailing organisation. The other committee, under former DIPP secretary Ajay Shankar, has been set up to revamp ministry's PPP (public private partnership) cell to get private investment.
240. Rajya Sabha passed Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2015 that was passed by Lok Sabha on 2 March 2015. 

• Bill seeks to merge the Person of Indian Origin (PIO) and Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) schemes and provide 30-day break to person who applies for Indian citizenship if they leave Indian for some time.
240. Rajya Sabha passed Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2015 that seeks to increase foreign investment limit to 49 % from 26 %. The Bill was earlier passed in Lok Sabha on 4 March 2015.
241. Ranglal Jamuda appointed as Secretary in Ministry of Food Processing Industries
242. Renowned ornithologist K.S. Lavkumar Khachar Passed Away.

0. Ornithologist is someone who studies ornithology - the branch of science devoted to birds including bird songs, flight patterns, physical appearance, migration patterns and more.
243. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) reduced repo rate by 25 basis points to 7.5 %. This is the second time since January 2015 that RBI reduced the repo rate by 25 basis points. New Monetary Policy Rates Are
0. Repo Rate - 7.50 %
1. Reverse Repo - 6.50 %
2. Bank Rate - 8.50 %
3. Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) Rate - 8.50 %
4. CRR (Cash Reserve Ratio) - 4 %
5. SLR(Statutory Liquidity ratio) - 21.5 %
244. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) signed a 400 million USD currency swap agreement with Central Bank of Sri Lanka. 
245. Roger Federer (Switzerland) won Dubai Open for seventh time by defeating Novak Djokovic (Serbia).
246. Rupeee 1 note released after a gap of over 20 years with signature of Finance Secretary on it. The note was released at Shrinathji temple in Nathdwara, Rajasthan by Finance Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi.
247. S M Vijayanand is appointed as Secretary in Ministry of Panchayati Raj.
248. Security and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Board approved SEBI (International Financial Services Centres) Guidelines, 2015 aimed to provide an enabling environment for setting up of capital market infrastructure like stock exchanges, clearing houses, depository services, etc., in such centres.
249. Services won 69th Santosh Trophy Football Tournament beating Punjab in Punjab.
250. Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, the Emir of Qatar visited India.
251. Shipping Ministry signed an agreement with Toyota for export of automobile units through Kamarajar Port Limited (KPL).
252. Singer Lata Mangeshkar was presented with Laadli Voice of the Century award at the sixth edition of the National Media and Advertising Awards for Gender Sensitivity held in Mumbai.
0. Laadli Voice of the Century award – Lata Mangeshkar
1. Best movie award – Queen
2. Laadli Grand Prix award – advertising agency Ogilvy and Mather for its advertisement on Titan Raga
3. Laadli extraordinaire award – Charu Khurana for a landmark judgment in Supreme Court regarding Bollywood’s bias against women make-up artists.
253. Siraj Hussain appointed as Secretary in Department of Agriculture and Cooperation.
254. Social networking site Facebook acquired shopping search engine TheFind to move into e-commerce effectively.
255. Sohail Aman is Appointed as new Chief of Pakistan Air Force.
256. Spanish Carolina Marin won All England Badminton Championship beating India's Saina Nehwal.
257. Sri Lanka government conferred country's highest military rank of field marshal to former army chief Sarath Fonseka.
258. Sri Lanka suspended work on construction of a controversial USD 1.5 billion Chinese port city project in Colombo.
259. Sri Lankan Cricketer Kumar Sangakkara created record of centuries in four consecutive matches in Cricket World Cup.
260. Sri Lankan cricketer Kumar Sangakkara announced retirement from Test cricket
261. State Governments Budgets 2015 - 16 -
0. Assam -
1. 50% Power Subsidy for Below Poverty Line Families.
2. Rs. 100 crore for distribution of Yarn and Blankets to the Poor.
3. Rs. 10000 for BPL Families for conducting daughters' Marriages and Rs. 10000 for women self help groups in the state.
4. Exemption of Drugs from VAT (Value Added Tax).
1. Bihar -
1. Budget Size - 120685 Crore Rupeees
2. Planned Expenditure - 57437 Crores
3. Non-Planned Expenditure - 63259 Crores
2. Chhattisgarh -
1. Budget size - Rs. 67547 Crores
2. New Bio Control Laboratory in Raipur and 10 New Veterinary Hospitals across state.
3. Called it a Youth Oriented Budget with 16% of planned outlay dedicated to growth of Youth in the state.
3. Haryana -
1. Presented by Haryana Finance Minster Captain Abhimanyu.
2. VAT (Value added tax) removed from Bio-Fertilizers and VAT reduced to 5% on LED Lights, Pipe Fittings and Prefabricated Steel Structures.
4. Himachal Pradesh -
1. Presented by Himachal Pradesh Chief Minster Virbhadra Singh.
2. Budget size - Rs. 28339 Crores
3. Entry tax on Industrial Inputs charged on New industries will be reduced to 1% from 2%.
4. VAT on LED Bulbs will be reduced to 5% from 13.75% and 21 Lakh households will be provided 3 LED Bulbs at a rate of 150 each.
5. Jharkhand -
1. Presented by Chief Minster and Finance Minister Raghubar Das.
2. Budget size - Rs. 55492 Crores
3. State's First women engineering college to be established in Ramgarh.
4. 10927 Poshan Sakhi ( Women Health Workers) would be appointed.
5. Atal Gram Jyoti Yojana and Tikla Majhi Krishi Pump Yojana would be enacted in 2015-16.
6. Cow slaughter would be prevented through enacting a special act for it.
7. Tejaswini Scheme to be Introduced in 17 Districts to make the girls self reliant.
8. Dal Bhat Yojana to be empowered through opening of 370 New Centres.
9. Mukhya Mantri Vidya Laxmi Yojana to be introduced to promote Girls Education.
6. Karnataka -
1. Presented by Chief Minster K Siddaramaiah.
2. Budget size - Rs. 72600 Crores
3. VAT on Cigarettes, Cigars, Gutkha and other manufactured tobacco hiked from 17 % to 20 %
4. Sales tax rate increased by one % on petrol and diesel
5. Annabhagy, Runamuktha Scheme,Vasathi Bhagya and Pashu Bhagya scheme to be enacted soon.
6. Social and Education door-to-door survey to be done to assess the current scenario.
7. Maharashtra -
1. Presented by Maharashtra Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar.
2. Budget size - Rs. 72600 Crores.
3. Local Body tax to be abolished from August 1. Compensation of Revenue by enhancing VAT tax rate.
4. No VAT on Service Tax. Tax on LED Bulbs to be reduced to 5%.
5. Excise duty on country liquor to be 200 % of the manufacturing cost or Rs.120 / litre whichever is higher.
8. Telangana -
1. Presented by Telangana Finance Minister Eatala Rajendra.
2. Budget size - Rs. 115689 Crores.
9. Uttarakhand -
1. Presented by Uttarakhand Finance Minister Indira Hridayesh.
2. Budget size - Rs. 32310 Crores.
10. Punjab -
1. Presented by Punjab Finance Minister S Parimner singh dhindsa.
2. Budget size - Rs. 79314 Crores.
11. Rajasthan -
1. Presented by Rajasthan Finance Minister and Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje.
2. Mukhya Mantri Adarsh Gram Panchcyat Yojana to be enacted soon.
3. Under 'Digital Rajasthan and Good Governance' segment, - Primary Agriculture Credit Society (PACS), Large Agriculture Multipurpose Society (LAMS) and 15,000 E-Mitra centreswill be made business correspondents
4. New IT and e-governance policy, video conferencing at all ATAL Sewa Kendras, establishment of District Level Officer of IT
12. Uttar Pradesh -
1. Presented by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.
2. Budget size - Rs. 302687 Crores.
3. Agri Junction Scheme to be started for Helping Farmers and rural youth with agricultural knowledge self sufficient by setting up more than 1000 one stop shops in 2015-16.
4. Kanya Vidya Dhan and Laptop Distribution scheme to be relaunched.
13. Madhya Pradesh -
1. Presented by Madhya Pradesh Finance Minister Jayant Malaiya.
2. Budget size - Rs. 131199 Crores.
262. Sunil Sabharwal, an Indian-American investor has been re-nominated as an Alternate Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) by the United States (US).
263. Supreme Court (SC) of India declared Section 66A of the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000 as unconstitutional and struck it down.
0. The section empowers law enforcement agencies to arrest those who post objectionable content online and provides for a three-year jail term.
1. It declared Section 66A as unconstitutional because - It violates citizens fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression provided in the Article 19 (1)(a), not saved by Article 19(2), of Constitution of India. 
264. Sweden Based Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) released Trends in International Arms Transfers 2014 report and stated that India is world's largest importer of weapons and military equipment with 15 % of global imports, with Russia being its majority supplier. USA Is largest Exporter, followed by Russia and China.
265. Three South Asian women - Niloofar Rahmani (Afghanistan), Nadia Sharmeen (Bangladesh) and Tabassum Adnan (Pakistan) were selected for International Women of Courage Award for year 2015 given by US Secretary of State.
266. Three Support Vessels T-38, T-39 and T-40 commissioned into the Indian Navy.
267. Times Higher Education released World Reputation Rankings 2015. United Kingdom has 12 of 100 most renowned higher education institutions in the world.
0. Harvard University (US) is at 1st position followed by Cambridge University (UK) at 2nd and Oxford University on the third. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US) has slipped to 4th place in 2015 from 2nd place in 2014.
1. Germany is best-represented nation after US and UK, with six top 100 universities.
2. No Indian Institution has been given place in the top 100, Asia’s best performer is University of Tokyo (12th position).
268. Traditional tropical grass, Darbha, has been identified as an eco-friendly food preservative in a research by Centre for Nanotechnology and Advanced Biomaterials (CeNTAB) and Centre for Advanced Research in Indian System of Medicine (CARISM) of the SASTRA University, Thanjavur (Tamilnadu).
269. Tripura Biodiversity Board launched a project to link conservation to economic concerns.
0. The project will link conservation of bio-resources with livelihood and economic concerns of the owners through access benefit sharing.
1. Aim is to strengthen implementation of Biological Diversity Act, 2002 and Biological Diversity Rules, 2004 by creating awareness amongst the various stakeholders about real economic values of bio-resources.
270. Tripura Government launched Northeast India’s first Kisan Call Centre in Agartala to give immediate solutions and advisory to farmers regarding seed procurement, agro-metric, fertilizer, soil health, pesticides usage and marketing of the produces.
271. UK's Renowned fantasy author Terence David John Pratchett passed away.
272. US President Barack Obama nominated David Hale as Ambassador to Pakistan
273. US mathematicians John F Nash Jr and Louis Nirenberg have been named as joint winners of Abel Prize for 2015 for their contributions to mathematical sciences. The award is given by Norwegian Academy of Sciences and Letters.
274. UST Global launched Women’s Safety App iSafe for Thiruvananthapuram City Police.
275. Union Cabinet approved Approach and Key Components of e-Kranti: National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) 2.0 as an important pillar of Digital India programme and envisaged by the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY). 
276. Union Cabinet approved a Bill for putting harsh penalties for those having unaccounted money abroad.
0. The bill will give powers to tax authorities to track and deal with illegal wealth accounted abroad.
1. Offenders will not be permitted to approach the Settlement Commission.
2. Penalty will ne 300 % of taxes to be levied on the concealed amount, and 10 years imprisonment.
277. Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani has been named as Young Global Leader from India by the World Economic Forum (WEF).
278. Union Minister of Chemicals & Fertilizers Shri Ananth Kumar launched ‘Pharma Jan Samadhan’ scheme as a web enabled system for redressal of consumers’ grievances relating to pricing and availability of medicines.
279. Union Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Raosaheb Dadarao Danve resigned. 
280. Union Ministry of Environment launched National Air Quality Index in April 2015 as a measure to understand air quality by monitoring the eight major pollutants that impact health.
281. Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change revoked 3 year old ban on mining in Goa.
0. Iron ore extraction in 72 mines out of total 89 mines in the state will be resumed now, Remaining 17 mining areas are located within the one-kilometre radius of wildlife sanctuaries.
282. United Arab Emirates will host 17th Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup in 2019.
283. Vice Admiral P Murugesan appointed as Vice Chief of Naval Staff.
284. Vice Admiral SPS Cheema Takes Over as new Chief of Western Naval Command.
285. Vikas Swarup has been appointed as an official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs.
286. Visit Britain, National tourism agency of Britain choose Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan to promote an India-centric campaign, Bollywood Britain.
287. West Bengal Announces India’s First Transgender Development Board.
288. Wildlife Management of Palwancha announced eco-restoration project for Kinnerasani Sanctuary in Telangana.
289. Women's Advancement Index by MasterCard -
0. India has lowest score of 44.2 of the 16 Asia-Pacific countries though it has improved from the 38.1 score in 2007.
1. New Zealand has highest score of 77, followed by Australia (76), and the Philippines (72.6).
290. World Health Organization (WHO) in collaboration with Ministry of Health and Family Welfare announced launching of National Health Systems Resource Centre (NHSRC), as as first WHO Collaborating Centre in South East Asia Region for Priority Medical Devices and Health Technology Policy.
291. World Justice Project (WJP) released Open Government Index 2015. -
0. Out of 102 countries, Sweden topped the list in terms of openness in the government, followed by New Zealand and Norway at second and third places .
1. Cambodia, Iran, Myanmar, Uzbekistan and Zimbabwe are at last in the Index.
2. India has been placed at the 37th position in the 2015 Index.
292. World’s Largest and Tallest Indian Flag Unfurled In Faridabad (Haryana).
293. Yukiya Amano, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Visited India.