Current Affairs Update – 9th March, 2015

• Global food prices fell to a nearly five-year low in February this year on increased supply of key food items and strong US dollar, according to the United Nations food agency FAO.
• Food prices averaged at 179.4 points in February, down from 181.2 points in January and 208.6 points in February 2014, the Food and Agriculture Organisation’s price index showed. 
• FAO’s Food Price Index is a trade-weighted index that tracks prices of five major food commodity groups on international markets. It aggregates price sub-indices of cereals, meat, dairy products, vegetable oils and sugar.

• National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the umbrella organisation for all retail payment system in India, has successfully linked 15 crore bank accounts with Aadhaar number.
• It is expected that soon the beneficiaries of all types of government subsidiaries/benefit transfers will be brought under the linkage programme. “The current focus is on linking the bank accounts of 17 crore DBTL (direct benefit transfer) beneficiaries with Aadhaar numbers, latest by June 30, 2015,” NPCI said in a statement.

• Tata Consultancy Services has been named as the top employer in Europe for the third consecutive year by a top employers certification agency, citing the Indian IT major as an “exceptional performer” in nine core human resources areas.
• TCS, the leading IT services, consulting and business solutions organisation, has been certified as top employer in eight European countries — the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark and Norway by Top Employers Institute.
• The company has been recognised as an exceptional performer across nine core human resources areas talent strategy, workforce planning, onboarding, learning and development, performance management, leadership development, career and succession management, compensation and benefits, and organisational culture.
• The TCS was ranked as the overall number one in a process that assessed 688 organisations across Europe.

• Wipro has been named the most ethical company by the Ethisphere Institute, one of the leading institutes in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices.
• This is the fourth consecutive year that Wipro has bagged this acclaim. The World’s Most Ethical Companies designation recognizes those organizations that have had a material impact on the way business is conducted by fostering a culture of ethics and transparency at every level of the company.

• Fast moving consumer goods major Emami Ltd has roped in actor Hrithik Roshan as one of the brand ambassadors for the ‘Fair and Handsome’ brand.
• Hrithik, already a brand ambassador for Emami’s “He” range of men’s deodorants, will now endorse the “fairness” face-wash (under the Fair and Handsome).
• The Fair and Handsome brand is pegged at Rs. 235 crore, a release issued by the company said.
• The brand portfolio, currently includes a “fairness” cream and the face-wash for men. While the cream was launched in 2005; the face-wash was launched last year.

• Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on 8 March 2015 launched a scheme for girl child - Aapki Beti Humari Beti. The scheme was launched with an aim to combat the problem of declining child sex ratio in the state. 
• The scheme was announced at a state-level function on the occasion of International Women’s Day at Panchkula. Khattar launched the scheme by giving away a cheque of 21000 rupees each to mothers of six female children born on or after 22 January 2015.

• Under the scheme, the first girl child born on or after 22 January 2015 in Schedule Caste (SC) and Below Poverty Line (BPL) families will be eligible to receive 21000 rupees.
• The second girl child born on or after 22 January 2015 of all families will also receive the same amount. 
• Families where twin girls or multiple girls are born will also get 21000 rupees per girl child.

• Haryana Kanya Kosh: for the welfare and development of girl child and women in the state
• Multi Sectoral Nutrition Programme: The programme will address the maternal and child nutrition in five districts namely Mewat, Fatehabad, Narnaul, Palwal and Kaithal. 

• While the government seeks to reform the land acquisition law this week, it has decided to fast-track 10 power projects worthRs 90,000 crore planned by state-owned companies led by NTPC, which have been held up by land-related issues, identified in the Economic Survey as the biggest hurdle for stalled public sector investments.
• In a bid to jumpstart economic activity through public investments, the power ministry last week turned to the cabinet secretariat's project monitoring group to help bring back on track stalled investments involving over 15,600 MW of capacity and critical transmission lines for states such as Jammu & Kashmir. 

• Solar Impulse, claimed to be the world's only solar-powered aircraft, will make a stop over in Ahmedabad tomorrow as a part of its maiden global journey.
• After making a landing here, the solar-powered aircraft's founders and pilots Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg are likely to stay in the city for two days before leaving for Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, the release said.
• The Swiss solar-powered aircraft's flight got delayed by a day due to bad weather conditions in the UAE. The aircraft was scheduled to land in Ahmedabad today, but now it will make a stop over here tomorrow, it said.
• Piccard and Borschberg, during their stay in the city, will reach out to the government, NGOs, universities and schools to spread the message of clean technologies.
• The aircraft is also likely to hover above Ganga river in Varanasi to spread the message of cleanliness and clean energy, an official associated with the project said.

• Kerala Tourism on 8 March 2015 won the silver prize of Golden Gate award at the Internationale Tourismus-Borse Berlin (ITB-Berlin) 2015, Germany. Kerala won the award for its global multimedia campaign to promote the backwaters of Kerala.
• The campaign was conceptualised by Kerala State’s Tourism Department’s creative and marketing agency Stark Communications.
• The Golden Gate award (Das Golden Stadttor) is presented every year at the ITB-Berlin and is dubbed as the Oscar in tourism communication. It is considered the ultimate recognition in global tourism communication.

• President of India, Pranab Mukherjee on 8 March 2015 presented Stree Shalti Puskars and Nari Shakti Puruskars for the year 2014. The awards were given on the occasion of International Women’s Day at a function at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
• The Stree Shakti puraskars are conferred on six women in the area of women’s endeavor and exceptional contribution each year. The award carries a cash prize of 3 lakh rupees and a citation.

1. Rani Lakshmibai Award - Seema Prakash, Madhya Pradesh - For working for the cause of vulnerable and marginalised Communities of Madhya Pradesh Since 2000 particularly for the Korku tribe of the state.
2. 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.
3. Mata Jijabai Award - Chandraprabha Bokey, Maharashtra - She is a social worker and is working in rural areas since 1960. Her field of work includes empowerment and rehabilitation of destitute, divorced, disabled women and rehabilitation of orphan children.

• The Nari Shakti Puraskars have been conferred for the first time in 2015 and the award carries a cash prize of one lakh rupees and a citation. They have been instituted by the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development to honour 8 women and recognize their individual contribution in specific areas.

• England were knocked out of the World Cup by a spirited Bangladesh who grabbed a quarter-final spot following a dramatic 15-run victory in a tight Pool A match in Adelaide on Monday.
• Put into bat, Mahmudullah struck Bangladesh's first World Cup century and starred in two key partnerships to lift Bangladesh to 275 for seven.
• Three-times finalists England made a mess of their chase on an Adelaide Oval track that held no demons and folded for 260 in the penultimate over.
• Bangladesh looked a bundle of nerves towards the end but Rubel Hossain (4-53) claimed two wickets in the 49th over to trigger wild celebrations among their fans.

Books For 2015 Banking/Insurance Exams