Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 21 March 2015

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 21 March 2015

:: National ::

‘Voice of Century’ award goes to Lata

  • Singer Lata Mangeshkar was presented the ‘Laadli Voice of the Century’ award during the sixth edition of the national Laadli Media and Advertising Awards for Gender Sensitivity. Queen won the best movie award, while advertising agency Ogilvy and Mather won the “Laadli Grand Prix” for its Titan Raga — ‘tum nahi badle’ advertisement.

  • The Laadli extraordinaire award went to Charu Khurana, who won a landmark judgment in the Supreme Court regarding Bollywood's bias against women make-up artistes.

  • Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was the chief guest at the awards ceremony.

  • Ms. Mangeshkar, who could not attend the function because of poor health, said the award held a special place for her. In her acceptance speech, which was read out by Harish Bhimani, she said that India would progress in the true sense of its term when every person valued the importance of the girl child. She dedicated the award to the women in the country, and said she would henceforth like to be called Lata Laadli, just as she is called ‘Lata didi.’ “I love the word ‘laadli’ because I was the ‘laadli’ of my father. Whatever I am today is because of him,” she said.

  • The award, which was handed over by Mr. Fadnavis, was accepted by Mr. Bhimani on her behalf. Legendary radio announcer Ameen Sayani, who was present, called Ms. Mangeshkar the “goddess of Indian light music”. A special CD consisting of 30 songs sung by Ms. Mangeshkar was released on this occasion. Renowned theatre personality Vijaya Mehta was present.

  • Mr. Bhimani, who received the award on her behalf, read out a couple of lines he composed for her. “You have transformed our moments of sorrow into sweet melancholy, and our happiness into ecstasy. Thank you for being Lata Mangeshkar,” he said. Mr. Bhimani has compered Ms Mangeshkar's music shows for 20 years.

  • Population First and UNFPA (United Nations Population First) also announced 13 national media awards and eight awards to advertising agencies.

  • Actor Lisa Haydon accepted the Laadli award on behalf of the cast and crew of Queen movie. Smita Bharti won the ‘best theatre award’ for her play ‘Jug Jug Jiyo.’

Women get 33 p.c. quota in UT police

  • The Union Cabinet cleared 33 per cent reservation for women in the direct recruitment for non-gazetted posts of constables to sub-inspectors in the police forces of all Union Territories, including Delhi.

  • The decision to recruit more policewomen is expected to instil confidence among women, especially in Delhi where crime against women is very high and often the victims are afraid to approach the police as they may have to deal with male police officers.

  • “It has been observed that many women do not approach the police, as they may have to confide or report an incident to a male police officer. This is particularly so in respect of sex-related crimes. A skewed police force with inadequate gender representation is a major practical barrier in effective implementation of legislations intended for the protection of women,” said a government release.

  • The decision has also been taken in the light of amendments brought about in the Criminal Procedure Code in the wake of the 2012 gang-rape case in Delhi which requires that reports of crimes against women as well as their statements must be collected by women officers only.

  • The Delhi Police currently has about 7,000 women police officers, which form merely 8 per cent of its total strength.

  • “About 20,000 more women will have to be recruited,” said the official.

  • Describing it as an important step towards the right direction of community policing, retired senior IPS officer Kiran Bedi told The Hindu : “It was absolutely needed to fill in the vacuum in policing. In this recruitment, sports, NCC and other such backgrounds should be given clear preference to ensure that we get more women who are mentally and physically strong.”

Black money Bill tabled in Lok Sabha (Register and Login to read Full News..)

:: International :

Ex-Australian PM Fraser dead

  • Malcolm Fraser, the former Australian Prime Minister who was notoriously catapulted to power by a constitutional crisis that left the nation bitterly divided, died on his office . He was 84.

  • “It is with deep sadness that we inform you that after a brief illness John Malcolm Fraser died peacefully in the early hours of the morning,” a statement from his office said.

  • “We appreciate that this will be a shock to all who knew and loved him, but ask that the family be left in peace at this difficult time,” it said.

  • Tributes poured in from members of the current conservative government, his contemporaries and from all walks of life.

  • Prime Minister Tony Abbott said Australia’s 22nd Prime Minister had “restored economically responsible government while recognizing social change.”

Thein Sein defends reform pace, army role (Register and Login to read Full News..)

:: Business and Economy ::

Renault Nissan appoints new MD

  • Renault Nissan Automotive India (RNAIPL), said it had appointed Colin Macdonald as the Managing Director with effect from April 1.

  • He began his career at Nissan in the Sunderland plant in 1991, and had been Deputy Managing Director of RNAIPL since January last year.

  • He will be responsible for the operations of the Renault-Nissan Alliance factory at Oragadam, near Chennai. The plant exports cars to more than a hundred countries.

Sundaram MF in pact with MF Utilities (Register and Login to read Full News..)

:: Science and Technology ::

DigiLocker gets good response

  • DigiLocker, the digital locker system launched by the government to securely store documents online, has received good response since its beta launch last month. The locker can be accessed by individuals, using their number.

  • According to available data, DigiLocker has around 58,698 users and about 53,016 documents online so far. Gujarat tops the user base with more than 9,526 users followed by Uttar Pradesh (8,299 users) and Maharashtra (6,711 users).

  • Technology companies such as Google and Dropbox offer storage space for users to store documents.

  • The users can store their documents such as insurance, medical reports, PAN card, passport, marriage certificate, school certificate and other documents in the digital format.

  • With this, the government is trying to create an electronic version of documents, which can be easily verified and stored in printable format.

  • The initiative was launched by the Department of Electronics and Information Technology, under the Ministry of Communications and IT under the leadership of R. S. Sharma, Secretary, Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY), who was also the Director-General and Mission Director of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).

  • “The launch of DigiLocker was part of Mr. Sharma’s plan to build an application based on Aadhaar for digitally storing documents. In this system, Aadhaar provides a unique identity verification platform for an individual. Aadhaar is a good technology platform, and we want an app ecosystem to be created to support the use of this platform,” said Pramod Varma, now Chief Architect and Technology Advisor to the Unique Identification Authority of India.

  • Apart from e-documents, DigiLocker can store Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) link of e-documents issued by various issuer departments.

  • At present, the digital locker gives 10MB of free space for individuals to store documents and links of government department or agency-issued e-documents. The government is also planning to subsequently increase the storage space to 1 GB.

HOW DOES DIGILOCKER WORK ?

  •  To sign-up for the DigiLocker, you need to have an Aadhaar and mobile number registered with .
  •  Type your Aadhaar number and the captcha code.
  •  After clicking signup button, an OTP (One Time Password) will be sent to the registered mobile number and email-id.
  •  Enter OTP and click on “Validate OTP” button to complete the sign up and login.

:: Sports ::

Australia rides out a whirlwind

  • Australia overcame a fiery spell from fast bowler Wahab Riaz to record an entertaining six-wicket win over Pakistan in the World Cup quarterfinals at the Adelaide Oval.

  • The co-host, chasing Pakistan’s modest 213 all out, was reduced to 59 for three in the 11th over before Steve Smith (65) and Shane Watson (64 not out) swung the match around with a fourth-wicket stand of 89.

  • Glenn Maxwell then smashed an unbeaten 44 off 29 balls as Australia recovered to coast home in the 34th over.

  • Watson hit the winning boundary after a tense start to Australia’s chase saw left-armer Wahab remove David Warner and skipper Michael Clarke in his first two overs. But two dropped catches cost Pakistan dearly.

  • Australia’s eighth consecutive win over Pakistan on its own soil set up an enticing semifinal clash against defending champion India at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Thursday.

  • Pakistan’s defeat ended the One-Day International careers of two veterans in captain Misbah-ul Haq and all-rounder Shahid Afridi.

  • Pakistan, which elected to bat, was shot out for 213, with one ball to spare, as fast bowler Josh Hazlewood grabbed four wickets and Mitchell Starc and Glenn Maxwell took two each.

  • Haris Sohail’s 41 was the top score. Three other batsmen settled down to reach 20 but were unable to build on their starts.

  • If Australia expected an easy chase, Wahab provided a rude shock with a hostile opening spell of two for 24 in six overs.

  • However, it was right-arm seamer Sohail Khan who gave Pakistan an opening by trapping Aaron Finch leg-before in the third over.

  • Wahab, brought into the attack in the ninth over as the fourth bowler, struck with his third legal delivery by having the dangerous Warner caught at third man.

  • Warner made 24 off 23 balls when he attempted to slash a short ball and Rahat Ali took a well-judged catch running in from the boundary.

  • Wahab removed Clarke in his next over as the Australian captain fended at a short ball and lobbed an easy catch to Sohaib Maqsood close to the wicket on the on-side.

  • Watson was greeted to the wicket with a barrage of short-pitched deliveries from the fired-up Wahab, one of which nearly cost him his wicket when he was on four.

  • The all-rounder hooked a bouncer high to fine-leg where Rahat got under the ball but dropped the catch to loud groans from the Pakistani fielders and supporters in the packed stands.

  • The pressure eased as a tiring Wahab was taken off after his sixth over, allowing Smith and Watson to build a partnership.

Click Here to Register for Full News

Click Here for Archive

Sources: Various News Papers & PIB

This is a Part of Online Coaching Programme for IAS Exam