1- IS militants demolishes ancient Hatra site in Iraq

Ancient Hatra site

Islamic State (IS) militants have destroyed the ruins at the ancient city of Hatra located in south-west of Mosul in Northern Iraq.

City of Hatra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site was founded 2,000 years ago, in the days of the Parthian Empire. It is home to numerous temples and sculptures dedicated to gods including Apollo and Poseidon. It is also famous for its striking pillared temple which blends Graeco-Roman and eastern architecture.

Earlier, IS militants had bulldozed the ancient city of Nimrud, an Assyrian city founded in the 13th Century BC.

It should be noted that, the destruction of ancient cities comes in the city of Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city which is in control of IS since June 2014 including nearby areas. This region has nearly 1,800 of the Iraq’s 12,000 registered archaeological sites.

IS militants are destroying these heritage Islamic Arab cities as part of its extremists propaganda.

2- Kumar Sangakkara announces retirement from Test cricket

Kumar Sangakkara

Former Sri Lankan cricket captain and ace batsman Kumar Sangakkara on 8 March 2015 announced that he will retire from Test cricket after playing three-match series against India in August 2015.

Sangakkara already has retired from One-Day International (ODI) and Twenty-20 cricket. He had retired from Twenty-20 cricket format after Sri Lanka won the T20 World cup in 2014.  While, he had announced to retire from ODI cricket format after ongoing ICC World Cup 2015.

At present, Sangakkara is fifth highest run scorer in Test cricket. He has scored 12,203 runs in 130 Test matches at an average of 58.66.  Other four top scorers in Test cricket are Sachin Tendulkar (15,921), Ricky Ponting (13,378), Jacques Kallis (13,289) and Rahul Dravid (13,288).

In his Test matches career till date, he has scored 38 centuries and 51 half-centuries. Sangakkara is also second-highest run-scorer in ODI matches to score 14,000 ODI runs after Sachin Tendulkar.

In ICC World Cup 2015, Kumar Sangakkara created a record by becoming first batsman to score hundreds in three consecutive World Cup matches.

3- Stree Shakti Puraskar 2014

Mr. Pranab Mukherjee

President of India Mr. Pranab Mukherjee on 8 March 2015, awarded Stree Shakti Puraskar 2014 to six illustrious women on International Women’s Day for their distinguished services for the upliftment of women.

The award was given in six categories named after eminent women personalities in the Indian history. They are Kannagi, Rani Gaidinliu Zaliang, Rani Ahilyabai Holkar, Rani Lakshmibai, Rani Rudramma Devi and Mata Jijabai. These women are famous for their personal courage and integrity.

Awardees of Stree Shakti Puraskar 2014 are

• Rani Gaidinliu Zeliang Award:Sister Mariola (Rajasthan).
• Rani Lakshmibai Award:Seema Prakash (Madhya Pradesh).
• Rani Rudramma Devi Award:Astha Sansthan- NGO (Rajasthan).
• Mata Jijabai Award:Chandraprabha Bokey (Maharashtra).
• Kannagi Award: Bhanumati (Kerala).
• Devi Ahilyabai Holkar Award:Anay Rahit Zindagi- NGO (Goa).

About Stree Shakti Puraskar

• Objective:To recognize the spirit of courage of women in difficult circumstances, who has established this spirit of courage in her personal or professional life.
• It also recognizes pioneering contribution of an individual in empowering women and raising women’s issues.
• Awarded by Union Ministry of Women and Child Development and conferred by the President of India on occasion of International Women’s Day i.e. 8th March every year at Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi.
• Cash award:300,000.

4- Senior Journalist Vinod Mehta passes away

Vinod Mehta

Senior Journalist and Outlook Group’s editorial chairman Vinod Mehta passed away on 8 March 2015 at the age of 72. He was one of the India’s most influential editors, fine journalist & writer.

 About Vinod Mehta

• Vinod Mehta was born on May 31, 1942 in Rawalpindi, West-Punjab region of undivided India (now in Pakistan).
• As an influential editor he had launched number of successful publications including the Sunday Observer, Indian Post, The Independent, The Pioneer (Delhi edition) and Outlook.
• He has authored a biography of Meena Kumari (movie actress and poet) and Sanjay Gandhi-The Sanjay Story (2012).
• His other acclaimed work includes memoir Lucknow Boy published in 2012, Mr Editor,How close are you to the PM? (1999) and Bombay: A Private View (1971).
• Awards-He was conferred with Yash Bharti Samman (2015) by Uttar Pradesh government.

5- Carolina Marin wins Women’s Singles Title in All England Open Badminton Championships 2015

Carolina Marin Martin of Spain has won the prestigious Women’s Singles Title in the All England Open Badminton Championships 2015. In the final match she defeated India’s Saina Nehwal by score of 14-21, 21-16, 21-7. With this victory, Carolina Marin became the first Spanish player to win this prestigious title.

It should be noted that Saina Nehwal is first Indian woman badminton player to reach finals of All England Badminton Championship. In the semifinal match she had defeated China’s Sun Yu in straight-game by score of 21-13, 21-13.

All England Open Badminton Championships

• All England Open Badminton Championships is one of the oldest as well as the prestigious badminton tournaments of the world.
• The first tournament was held in 1898 in Guildford. Since then it is played annually.
• Initially the championship was started in only three categories- Men’s Doubles, Women’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles. But in 1900 individual Men’s Singles and Women’s Singles titles were added.
• Indian badminton legends Prakash Padukone (in 1980) and P Gopichand (in 2001) have won this prestigious title in Men’s Singles category.

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