Current Affairs 21st March 2015

Current Affairs 21st March 2015 - Important Points

• CII signed agreement with NUS to - improve India’s rating on ease of doing business

• Indian Parliamentary Diplomacy - Speaker’s Perspective written by Meira Kumar released

• Who has taken over as CEO of HTC Corporation - Cher Wang, Co-founder of HTC Corporation

• Who will launch National Air Quality Index in April 2015 - Union Ministry of Environment

• NYU announced Prison Education Programme to - Educate US Prisoners

• What was the theme of World Sparrow Day 2015 - I Love Sparrows

• Who has approved 33% women reservation in police forces of all Union Territories - Union Cabinet

• Who has approved Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) to - Union Cabinet

Current Affairs 21st March 2015 - Details

CII signed agreement with NUS to - improve India’s rating on ease of doing business

Among the important National Current Affairs, On 19th March 2015, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore (NUS) to improve India’s rating on ease of doing business.

The MoU aimed to enhance the ease of doing business and bring the rating of India amongst the top 50 countries from the present 142nd slot as per World Bank Report. The MoU was inked during the CII Conference on Make in India: Focus North oragnised by CII as part of CII Northern Region’s Annual Regional Meeting.

CII and NUS will run joint state level research across 11 parameters including starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, land acquisition and registration of property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, resolving insolvency and labour market regulations.

Later, this MoU would be followed by individual tripartite MoUs between the CII, NUS and respective state governments to in turn create state-wise Master plan for ease of doing business and then prepare a comprehensive state-level action plan.

Indian Parliamentary Diplomacy - Speaker’s Perspective written by Meira Kumar released

On 19th March 2015, A Book Indian Parliamentary Diplomacy- Speaker’s Perspective written by Meira Kumar was released. Meira Kumar is a former Speaker of Lok Sabha. President of India Pranab Mukherjee received first copy of the book from Sumitra Mahajan.

The book contains number of lessons from the observations of former Speaker Meira Kumar. The book is an account of the role of parliamentary diplomacy in strengthening international relations and furthering foreign policy. The book is a collection of reports and select speeches of Lok Sabha Speaker and leader of Indian Parliamentary Delegations delivered at international conferences and during her visits abroad.

Who has taken over as CEO of HTC Corporation - Cher Wang, Co-founder of HTC Corporation

Among the important International Current Affairs, On 19th March 2015, Cher Wang Co founder of HTC Corporation takes over as Chief Executive Officer (CEO). She has replaced Peter Chou.

Peter Chou will abide at HTC and will start a new role as the head of the HTC Future Development Lab, a new division of the company responsible for coming up with new products.

HTC was founded by Cher Wang in 1997. She is appraised as one of the most powerful and successful women in technology. She was listed as the 54th most powerful woman in the world by Forbes in 2014.

Who will launch National Air Quality Index in April 2015 - Union Ministry of Environment

Among the important National Current Affairs, On 19th March 2015, Union Ministry of Environment announced to launch National Air Quality Index in April 2015. The index will measure the eight major pollutants that impact health - particulate matter, carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide, ozone, nitrogen dioxide, ammonia and lead - and disseminate information on associated health risks through a colour-coded easy to identify format.

Level of the index will be indicated by colors. There are six levels: Good, Satisfactory, Moderately polluted, Poor, Very Poor and Severe. Further, Pollution monitoring stations would be set up on 66 cities having population of 10 lakh or above. Currently, there are 46 stations with continuous monitoring capabilities in 16 cities.

The launch of the index will be an important step towards creating greater awareness among people about the true nature of the city's air quality. The ratio of pollutants in the air of Delhi exceeds the limits set by the World Health Organization.

NYU announced Prison Education Programme to - Educate US Prisoners

On 19th March 2015, New York University (NYU) announced Prison Education Programme (PEP) to Educate US Prisoners. Indian-American Nikhil Pal Singh of New York University (NYU) Professor will lead the programme. The programme is a new act of New York University to bring college education to the inmates of a medium-security prison in New York State.

The programme offers university courses that will enable students to earn an Associate of Arts (AA) degree from the university. The Ford Foundation granted 500000 US dollar for the programme. The aim of the NYU programme is to help redress inequities that result from the fact that the United States incarcerates more people than any other nation in the world.

The programme will expand access to a university education to imprisoned students. This programme also include providing employment and educational counselling, community support for families and other services such as legal assistance to address employment, housing, and human rights issues. Once released from prison, students enrolled in programme may seek to continue their college education at NYU or by transferring credits to another institution.

What was the theme of World Sparrow Day 2015 - I Love Sparrows

Among the important International Current Affairs, On 20th March 2015, The World Sparrow Day was observed globally with the theme "I Love Sparrows". The theme has been chosen by the hope that more and more of us will celebrate the relationship between People and Sparrows.

The day is designated to raise awareness of the house sparrow and other common birds to urban environments, and of risk to their population. The day is observed in almost 50 nations and involves leading ornithology institutions and bird organisations.

The Sparrow Day is an international initiative by the Nature Forever Society of India in collaboration with the Eco-Sys Action Foundation (France) and numerous other national and international organisations worldwide. The first World Sparrow Day was celebrated in 2010 in different parts of the world.

The objective of World Sparrow Day is to provide a meeting ground for people from different parts of the world to come together to play an important role in advocacy and in spreading the awareness on the need of conserving common biodiversity or species of lower conservation status.

Who has approved 33% women reservation in police forces of all Union Territories - Union Cabinet

On 20th March 2015, The Union Cabinet approved 33% reservation for women in police forces of all Union territories (UTs) including Delhi police, by 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. The reservation will also cover reserved categories like OBCs, SCs and STs. The quota would apply to all existing vacancies in police forces of the UTs and any vacancy arising later.

The commitment was done in the Union Cabinet meet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the backdrop of the rising demands for concrete actions to curb crimes against women, more so after the 16 December 2012 Delhi Gangrape case.

Who has approved Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) to - Union Cabinet

Among the important National Current Affairs, On 20th March 2015, The Union Cabinet approved the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) with an outlay of 1500 crore rupees. The objective of the programme is to impart skill training to youth with focus on first time entrants to the labour market and class 10 and class 12 drop outs.

Features of the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKY)

• The programme aims to impart skill training to youth with focus on first time entrants to the labour market and class 10 and class 12 drop outs.
• The scheme will extend over 24 lakh persons and skill training would be based on the National Skill Qualification Framework (NSQF) and industry led standards.
• The programme will be implemented by the Union Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship through the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) training partners.
• In addition, State and Central Government affiliated training providers would also be used for training purposes.
• Skill training would be on the foundation of skill gap studies conducted by the NSDC for the period 2013-17.
• The training will focus on improved curricula, better pedagogy and better trained instructors.
• Training would include personal grooming, soft skills, good work ethics, behavioral change for cleanliness.
• Third party assessment bodies will give monetary reward to trainees on assessment and certification. The monetary reward would be around 8000 rupees per trainee.