Daily Current Affairs Update of 23 March 2015 | General Knowledge

Daily Current Affairs Update of 23 March 2015

1. Rating agency Fitch has forecasted that India’s gross domestic product (GDP) to grow at 8.0 per cent in 2015-16 and 8.3 per cent in 2016-17, based on the new data series. The forecasts according to the earlier series were 6.5 per cent and 6.8 per cent.

2. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been appointed as the new Chancellor of the Visva Bharati University. Modi replaces former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who stepped down recently.

3. Union Government launched Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) AcE Fund to accelerate growth of entrepreneurs in Biotechnology. It was announced by Minister of State (MoS) for Science and Technology (S&T) and Earth Sciences Y.S. Chowdary on the occasion of the third foundation day of BIRAC in New Delhi. The BIRAC AcE Fund aims to address the pressing needs of accelerating the growth of entrepreneurs, in the field of Biotechnology.

 

Daily Current Affairs Update of 23 March 2015 | General Knowledge

4. In Lawn Tennis, Indian duo of Ramkumar Ramanathan-Arun Prakash won the doubles title in the ITF Futures International Tennis tournament at Tiruchirapalli in Tamil Nadu. The third seeded pair defeated Anvit Bendre-Akash Wagh 3-6, 6-2, 10-6 in the doubles final.

5. Wipro signed a five year agreement with United States-based utility company, Greater Cincinnati Water Works (GCWW). Wipro will act as its IT partner to transform the utility’s CRM, Billing and Service Bureau operations. Greater Cincinnati Water Works provides about 133 million gallons of water a day to over 1 million people across the states of Ohio and Kentucky in the United States.

6. The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India (DFCCIL) for creation of logistic hubs with rail connectivity at Varanasi and other places on National Waterways. As per the MoU, IWAI and DFCCIL will collaborate for the project and also facilitate business development in the hinterland and its feeder routes.

7. The fourth National Photography Awards were conferred on 13 eminent photojournalists in New Delhi. The awards were conferred by Secretary (Information & Broadcasting) Bimal Julka. Life-Time Achievement Award was given to Surendra R. Patel.

8. The Union Cabinet approved 33 percent reservation for women in police forces of all Union territories (UTs) including Delhi police, through direct recruitment in non-gazetted posts like constables to sub-inspectors. The aim of the decision is to make police more gender-sensitive and increase representation of women in Police.

9. Karnataka retained the Irani Cup by defeating Rest of India by 246 runs. Karnataka won Irani Cup tournament consecutively for the second and a total for the sixth time.

10. Former Lok Sabha Meira Kumar’s book entitled “Indian Parliamentary Diplomacy – Speaker’s Perspective” was released. The book was released by Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan and its first copy was presented to the President Pranab Mukherjee. The book features an account of the parliamentary diplomacy and its role in furthering foreign policy and strengthening international relations.