Current Affairs Update – 17th March, 2015

Hello and welcome to ExamPundit. Here are the Current Affairs Update of 17 March, 2015.

• HDFC Bank on Tuesday launched Chillr, a mobile app that allows users to instantly transfer money to any contact in their phonebook.
• The bank has partnered with MobME, a Kochi-based technology firm, to launch this app.
• Chillr is a first-of-its kind application that is linked directly to customers’ bank accounts. With Chillr, the bank’s customers can transfer money to any person in India once they download the app and register.
• The app works on the Android and iOS operating systems and will soon be launched for the Windows phone as well.
• The app is useful for college students and young professionals. Parents whose children study in other cities can transfer money via the app. Soon users will also be able to pay utility bills and various merchants via the mobile, HDFC Bank said in a statement.
• Each transaction will be charged Rs. 3.50. There is a limit of 10 transactions of Rs. 5,000 and a maximum of Rs. 50,000 in a month, according to company officials.

• The ongoing dispute between Sahara and Mirach took a new turn with the latter announcing a $400-million defamation suit against the Sahara Group and a news outlet for attempting to discredit Mirach and its CEO in the court of public opinion.
• Mirach Capital and Sahara had earlier signed a $2-billion deal under which Mirach Capital, headed by Indian origin Saransh Sharma, had offered to extend a loan to the Sahara Group against hotels in New York and London. Sahara wanted to use a part of these funds to release its Chairman, Subrata Roy, who has been jailed in a case relating to non-repayment of investor money.
• However, Sahara later said that it had found out that the Bank of America letter, submitted by Mirach to the Supreme Court as a proof that it had set aside sufficient funds for the transaction, was forged. Following this allegation, Mirach pulled out the loan offer and proposed to buy out the assets.
• On Friday, March 13, the Supreme Court of India had extended Subrata Roy and the Sahara Group one final extension to secure a transaction for its assets to raise the necessary bail.

• Opposition parties in Karnataka on Tuesday made a strong demand for a CBI inquiry into the death of IAS officer DK Ravi as they alleged that it was a case of murder and not suicide as stated by police.
• Ravi, who had taken on the sand and land mafia, was found dead in his official residence on Monday. Bengaluru Police commissioner Reddi had said that forensic and medical evidence hinted that Ravi's death was prima facie a case of suicide.
• Ravi, a 2009 batch IAS officer, who had earned a reputation for being upright, had recently taken over as joint commissioner of Commercial Taxes.
• He was chasing builders in the city who had been evading taxes for years, one of his colleagues told HT on the condition of anonymity. The same source also said that Ravi had collected more than Rs 100 crore in outstanding tax dues from the builders.
• The 35-year-old had also taken on the sand mafia as deputy commissioner of Kolar district.

• The Supreme Court of India (SC) on 17 March 2015 quashed the Union Government’s decision to include Jats in the Central Other Backward Classes (OBC) list.
• The SC declared the Union government’s decision as null and void because of the following reasons:
• The National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) in its report on 26 February 2014 had rejected the Union government’s request for recommending inclusion of Jat community in the central list of backward classes because they do not form socio-economic backward class. However, the Union Government overlooked the commission’s recommendation and issued a notification on 4 March 2015 including Jats in the Central OBC list.
• As per the Mandal Commission’s recommendation though Caste is a prominent factor it cannot be the sole factor of determining the backwardness of a class.
• Inclusion of politically organised castes like the Jats in OBC list is not good for other backward classes.

• Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani was today named Young Global Leader from India by the World Economic Forum (WEF), which said she "rose from sweeping floors in a fast food restaurant to become a top politician in India."
• Others who have been named Young Global Leader (YGL) in the past include British Prime Minister David Cameron, Alibaba Group chief Jack Ma, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, Google chief Larry Page, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.
• In the list of 187 YGLs for 2015 from across the world, Irani is accompanied by 10 other Indians, including Gaurav Gogoi, an MP and son of Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi.
• Besides, Smriti Irani and Gaurav Gogoi, other Indians in the list include, IndiGo President Aditya Ghosh; Ashish Goyal Portfolio Manager at Bluecrest Capital; GMR Group's Kiran Kumar Grandhi; Krithi Karanth ED Centre for Wildlife Studies; Neha Kirpal Founder and Director India Art Fair and Shalini Puchalapalli CEO Lehar Foods (Pepsi).
• Other Indians on the list are Shweta Punj, Associate Editor India Today Group/Co-Founder at Whypoll; Bain and Company's Prashant Sarin and Ameera Shah Managing Director and CEO Metropolis Healthcare.

• A 56-year-old Indian pancreatic cancer researcher in Australia has been named New South Wales Woman of the year 2015 for her contributions to medical research, tertiary education and the Indian community.
• Minoti Apate, researcher at University of New South Wales (UNSW) received the award from NSW Premier Mike Baird and Minister for Women Pru Goward during a reception at NSW Parliament House recently.
• Apte, Professor of Medicine at the South Western Sydney Clinical School of the University of New South Wales, last year, was awarded the Order of Australia Medal (OAM) for her services to medical research, tertiary education and the Indian Community.
• She was the first in the world to develop a method to isolate pancreatic stellate cells, a technique which provided a much needed research tool for studying the path that pancreatic fibrosis (scarring of the pancreas) takes.
• She is currently leading pre-clinical studies that are primed to suggest new treatments for pancreatic cancer – the fifth leading cause of all cancer deaths in Australia.

• Credit Rating Information Services of India Limited (CRISIL) on 16 March 2015 announced to appoint Ashu Suyash as the Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company.
• Her appointment was confirmed by the Board of Directors of the Company.
• She will succeed Roopa Kudva and will take charge from June 2015. Rupa Kudva was the MD and CEO of CRISIL from 2007 to September 2014. She had joined CRISIL in 1992.

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