de Villiers enters World Cup top-10 scorers’ list
(i) South African cricket captain AB de Villiers continued to script statistical history at the ongoing World Cup as he on Thursday entered the top-10 of all-time scorers’ list besides breaking the tournament record for most sixes by a player.
(ii) With his 99-run knock against the UAE in a pool B match, de Villiers took his total score at the World Cups to 1,142, which placed him seventh on the overall list topped by retired Indian icon Sachin Tendulkar (2,278 runs).
(iii) During the course of his 82-ball knock on Thursday, de Villiers hit four sixes, which took his overall World Cup count to 20, breaking the record of 18 set by former Australian opener Matthew Hayden in 2007.
Coalgate: Congress likely to approach Supreme Court
(i) The Congress is likely to challenge in Supreme Court, the summons issued to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as an accused by a Special CBI court in a case relating to irregularities in allocation of coal blocks to Hindalco.
(ii) The party is meanwhile studying the 75 page court order.
(iii) On Wednesday evening, Ms. Gandhi held a preliminary meeting at her residence at which Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjuna Kharge, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad and former union ministers Kapil Sibal and Ashwini Kumar.
(iv) Mr Kumar told The Hindu, "We are studying the order and even on a first reading there appears to be gaping illegal irregularities.
(v) Despite the CBI saying that there is no prosecutable evidence, such an order has been passed. This itself is a major ground for challenging the order.
‘Time to replace 13th Amendment with a more dynamic system’
(i) It is time the 13th Amendment was replaced with a more dynamic system of devolution of powers, according to Sri Lanka’s Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran.
(ii) Speaking to The Hindu days ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Sri Lanka, the former Supreme Court judge said: “[The] 13th Amendment can never be the final solution.
(iii) “We would recommend to him that it is time to reconsider the 13th Amendment which was a fallout from the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord of 1987 and to replace it with a more dynamic system that would ensure maximum power sharing for the North and East,” he said responding to The Hindu’s questions via email.
South Korea cuts key interest rate to record low of 1.75 pc
(i) South Korea’s central bank unexpectedly lowered its key policy rate on Thursday to a record low of 1.75 per cent from 2 per cent, joining efforts to fight sluggish domestic spending and aid economic growth.
(ii) The quarter of a percentage point cut was the first interest rate cut by the Bank of Korea’s policymakers in five months.
(iii) The rate cut comes as South Korea’s consumer prices gained less than 1 per cent for the last three months despite government’s efforts to boost consumption and investment in the private sector.
(iv) Consumer prices edged up just 0.5 per cent in February, marking the lowest inflation rate in years.
Shivani: A prodigy at just 35 months
(i) Dolly Shivani Cherukuri, the kid sister of late Indian coach and international archer Ch. Lenin who died in a road accident soon after the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games, who is already a promising archer from the stable of Volga Archery Academy.
(ii) Shivani is all set enter the India Book of Records, when she gears up to register 200 points in the five-meter and seven–metre distances on March 24.
(iii) “This will be a world record attempt as no one has achieved this feat. She will be firing 72 arrows in 24 attempts with two minutes duration for three arrows for both distances.
(iv) She is already scoring more than 400 points during practice sessions,” says the tiny tot’s mentor Chandrasekhar Laguri, a recurve coach from Jharkhand.
IMF raises India growth forecast to 7.2 % this fiscal :IMF
(i) The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has forecast India will grow 7.5 per cent in 2015-16, up from 7.2 per cent in the current year, a projection less optimistic than that of the Modi government.
(ii) In the Union budget 2015, the government estimated growth of up to 8.5 per cent in 2015-16.
(iii) The Indian economy is the bright spot in the global landscape, becoming one of the fastest-growing big emerging market economies in the world, the IMF said in an official statement.
(iv) “New investment project announcements have started to pick up, particularly in the power and transport sectors,” said IMF Mission Chief for India Paul Cashin.
(v) He also noted that bolstering financial sector health and further financial inclusion would support growth going forward.
Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson resigns
(i) Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson resigned on Wednesday, the latest official in the Missouri city to step down in the wake of a scathing Justice Department report on police abuses, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper reported on Wednesday.
(ii) Protesters have called for his removal since the fatal shooting of an unarmed black teenager last summer, which led to the Justice Department report that found widespread racially biased practices in his department.
(iii) Mr. Jackson would follow Ferguson City Manager John Shaw, who resigned on Tuesday, and Municipal Judge Ronald Brockmeyer, who quit on Monday.
(iv) Last week, three police department employees were fired for offensive emails cited in the Justice Department report.
Mangaluru gets new Mayor
(i) Jacintha Vijaya Alfred (45) and Purushothama Chitrapura (44) were elected as the Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Mangaluru in an election conducted on Thursday.
(ii) Both would be in office till March 11, 2016. The election was presided over by S.S. Pattanashetty, Regional Commissioner, Mysuru.
(iii) Ms. Jacintha, who contested from Congress, defeated Roopa D. Bangera of the BJP by 38-20 votes. Mr. Purushothama was elected over K. Rajesh of the BJP by 37-20 votes.
(iv) In the Congress led 60-member Mangaluru City Corporation council the Congress has 35 seats followed by the BJP with 20 seats.
(v) The JD (S) has two seats and the Communist Party of India (Marxists), Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) and an Independent has a seat each.
N. Sakthan elected Kerala Assembly Speaker
(i) N. Sakthan of the Congress has been elected Speaker of the Kerala Legislative Assembly.
(ii) Mr. Sakthan defeated his rival P. Aysha Potty of the CPI(M) by 74 to 66 votes.
(iii) He replaces G. Karthikeyan, who died on March 7. Mr. Sakthan was Deputy Speaker of the Assembly and had resigned on Tuesday.
(iv) Pro tem Speaker Dominic Presentation announced Mr. Sakthan's election as Speaker after a polling lasting nearly 50 minutes.
(v) Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Leader of the Opposition V.S. Achuthanandan led Mr. Sakthan to the Chair immediately after the announcement of the poll result.
A.P. to add 1,650 MW investing Rs.4,360 cr.
(i) Andhra Pradesh Finance Minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu, announcing a Rs.4,360-crore provision in 2015-16 budget for energy sector, said the State is on course to achieve the programmed capacity additions in current fiscal.
(ii) The total capacity addition during 2014-15 will be 1,650 MW, he said, adding that two hydel units of Nagarjuna Sagar Tail Pond Dam are set to be commissioned in March.
(iii) The APGENCO, he said, had planned to add 1,650 MW in the current financial year consisting of two units of Sri Damodaram Sanjeevaiah Thermal Power Project, Krishnapatnam, Nellore district with supercritical technology.
(iv) Speaking on the renewable energy sector, the Minister said that the government had already “announced comprehensive wind and solar power policies to attract investments.
(v) ”It is also developing 2,500 MW capacity solar power parks in Ananthapuram, Kurnool and Kadapa districts.
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