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.

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