1- India, Sri Lanka ink four agreements

India and Sri Lanka on 13 March 2015 signed four agreements. These agreements were signed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s maiden visit to the island nation as part of three-nation of Indian Ocean tour of Mauritius, Seychelles and Sri Lanka.

The four agreements signed are

• Agreement on visa.
• Agreement on customs.
• Agreement on youth development.
• Agreement on building memorial of Rabindranath Tagore in Sri Lanka.

Apart from this signing these agreements

• Both nations agreed to strengthen the economic relations between India and Sri Lanka.
• India to help Sri Lanka to develop a petroleum hub at Trincomalee city.
• Fresh Line of Credit (LOC) up to $318 million will be provided by India for the railways sector in Sri Lanka.
• Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Central Bank of Sri Lanka to enter into a Currency Swap Agreement of $1.5 billion in order to keep the Sri Lankan rupee stable.

2- Mass nesting of Olive Ridley turtles begins in Odisha

Olive Ridley turtles

The mass nesting of Olive Ridley sea turtles, an endangered species has begun at mouth of river Rushikulya in Ganjam district of Odisha. Over 10,000 female turtles have laid eggs on the first day, in the 3-km-long sandy beach from Gokharakuda to Podampeta.

Along with nesting sites at river Rushikulya mouth and Gahiramatha, the mouth of Devi River in Odisha is also famous for mass nesting.

The mass nesting season of Olive Ridley sea turtles is a unique phenomenon and each female turtle lays around 100-150 eggs. These eggs hatch after 45 to 50 days of the nesting. However, the mother turtles do not wait till hatching and baby turtles are left alone for their survival.

For the mass nesting, around 175 persons, including forest personnel, wildlife activists and nearby local villagers are engaged in protection of the Olive Ridley turtles and the eggs round the clock.

About Olive Ridley Turtles

• Scientific name: Lepidochelys olivacea.
• They are also known as the Pacific ridley sea turtle.
• Olive Ridley Turtles are generally found in warm and tropical waters, primarily in the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
• They are listed as vulnerable species in IUCN Red Data Book because of their few remaining nesting sites in the world.

3- 3rd Indian Panorama Film Festival begins in Shillong

Indian Panorama Film Festival

The third edition of Indian Panorama Film Festival has begun in Shillong, Meghalaya. The three day festival was inaugurated by Chief Minister of Meghalaya, Dr. Mukul Sangma.

The film festival kick-started by screening of Dr. Prakash Baba Amte: the Real Hero directed by Samruoddhi Porey.

The film festival is organized by the Directorate of Film Festivals of Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in collaboration with Meghalaya Department of Information and Public Relations. This edition of Indian Panorama Film Festival seeks to showcase films from the Northeast to encourage film production and talent in the region.

The festival will be held in Shillong from the 12th to the 14th of March and total of 12 films will be screened in this festival.

The films that will be screened during the festival are Drishyam (Malayalam), December 1 (Kannada), Kuttram Kadithal (Tamil), Ankhon Dekhi (Hindi), Othello (Assamese), Ri (Khasi), Teenkahon (Bengali) and Ranjana Ami Ar Ashbona (Bengali).

4- Renowned fantasy author Sir Terry Pratchett passes away

Sir Terry Pratchett

Renowned fantasy author and creator of the Discworld series Sir Terry Pratchett passed away on 12 March 2015 in London, United Kingdom. He was 66 and was being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.

In his 44 years long career, Pratchett had written more than 70 books which were translated in 37 languages.

His debut novel, The Carpet People was published in 1971 and his first Discworld novel,The Colour of Magic was published in 1983. He was well known for Discworld which include series of more than 40 interconnected comic novels.

Pratchett has sold more than 85 million books worldwide was the UK’s best-selling author of the 1990s and later surpassed by Harry Potter author J K Rowling.

Awards- He was knighted by the Queen Elizabeth II in 2009 for his services to literature and was appointed as officer of Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1998. In 2010, he was awarded the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement.

5- Harvard University retains top position in Times’ World Reputation Rankings 2015

Harvard University

Harvard University of United States (US) has again topped in World Reputation Rankings 2015 published by Times Higher Education. Times Higher Education in the rankings revealed the top 100 universities across the world.

Top 10 Universities in World Reputation Rankings 2015 are

• Harvard University (US).
• University of Cambridge (UK).
• University of Oxford (UK).
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US).
• Stanford University (US).
• University of California, Berkeley (US).
• Princeton University (US).
• Yale University (US).
• California Institute of Technology (US).
• Columbia University (US).

Key highlights of World Reputation Rankings 2015

• The top ten universities are all located in the US and United Kingdom (UK). US alone has 8 universities in the top ten rankings. While, UK has 2 universities in the top 10 ranking.
• 2015 reputation rankings shows that US alone has 43 higher education institutions in the top 100. While, United has 12 universities in the top 100.
• Germany is third best-represented nation in the ranking after the US and the UK. It has 6 universities in top 100.
• In case of Asian countries, University of Tokyo is placed at 12 position in the rankings.

 6- TCS appoints Aarthi Subramanian to board of directors

Aarthi Subramanian

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) Limited, India’s largest software services exporter has appointed Aarthi Subramanian as an executive director on the board of directors.

Subramanian has been appointed for period of three-years and with her appointment the TCS Board strength has become eleven, of which six are independent Directors.

About Aarthi Subramanian

• Subramanian holds Masters in Engineering Management degree from the University of Kansas, US and B.Tech degree in computer science from the National Institute Technology, Warangal.
• She has rich over 25 years of rich experience in the IT sector.
• Prior to this appointment, Subramanian was the global head of the company’s delivery excellence group and was responsible for governance of service delivery, compliance and risk management.

Like this post? Or have something to share? Comment here or Write to us: info@khichdionline.com

Also Read About

Current Affairs Day-wise – MARCH

Current Affairs Day-wise- FEBRUARY

Current Affairs day-wise- JANUARY