1) INS
Alleppey to be decommissioned this year:
--> INS Alleppey, one of the seven mine
sweepers of the Indian Navy, will be decommissioned this year, leaving 14 ports
- of which 12 are identified as key - to be covered by just six ships.
--> Mine sweepers perform the critical
job of keeping shipping lines and ports open by detecting and defusing mines
planted by the enemy by sea or air.
--> The Indian Navy had acquired 12 mine
sweeper vessels from Russia between 1978 and 1988. Of these, four have been
decommissioned. INS Alleppey, a Russian Natya Class Mine Sweeper, has been in
use since 1980.
--> No mine sweeper vessel has been
acquired since 1988.
2) Jagmohan
Dalmiya unanimously elected as the new President of the BCCI:
--> Jagmohan Dalmiya has been
unanimously elected the president of the BCCI, more than a decade after he last
held the position, at the board's AGM in Chennai on 2 March 2015.
--> Anurag Thakur, who was
joint-secretary before has become the new secretary after edging out Sanjay
Patel.
--> Amitabha Chodhary was elected the
Joint Secretary beating Goa's Chetan Desai, while Haryana's Anirudh Choudhary
won the treasurer's position by defeating Rajiv Shukla.
3) Ola
acquired India's second-largest cab aggregator TaxiForSure for $ 200 mn:
--> Ola (formerly Olacabs), a mobile app
for personal transportation, on 2 March 2015 said it has acquired TaxiForSure,
India's second largest cab aggregator, for $200 mn in a cash and equity deal.
--> With this deal, Ola, which has over
1 lakh vehicles on its platform for personal transportation, has further
deepened its footprint with TaxiForSure's operator led model.
--> Ola and TaxiForSure will continue to
operate as separate entities.
4) Ficci
roped in Arvind Virmani as Economic Mentor:
--> Noted economist, Arvind Virmani, who
served as the country’s Chief Economic Advisor and Principal Advisor in the
Planning Commission, will now mentor Ficci’s public policy & economic work.
5) World’s
first electric satellites successfully lifted off by SpaceX rocket:
--> World’s first electric satellites
were successfully lifted off by a Space Exploration (SpaceX) Technologies
rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, United States.
--> The rocket was carrying two
all-electric commercial satellites built by Boeing.
--> The satellites are owned by the
French satellite provider Eutelsat and Asia Broadcast Satellite (ABS).
6) Bill
Gates named world's richest person again:
--> Bill Gates has been declared the
richest man in the world for the 16th time by Forbes magazine's annual ranking
of global billionaires.
--> The Microsoft founder once again
beat Mexican businessman Carlos Slim to the top spot.
--> Legendary US investor Warren Buffett
regained third place in the list with a net worth of $72.7bn
7) Chelsea
won Tottenham to win League Cup:
--> John Terry set Chelsea up for a 2-0
victory over Tottenham Hotspur in League Cup final held on 1 March 2015 as Jose
Mourinho claimed the first trophy of his second stint as manager.
--> It was Mourinho's first title since
he returned to Stamford Bridge in 2013 and his third League Cup after previous
successes with the club in 2005 and 2007.
8) Lok
Sabha passed Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2015:
--> Lok Sabha on 2 March 2015 passed the
Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2015 by voice vote.
--> The Bill seeks to amend the
Citizenship Act, 1955 which regulates the acquisition and determination of
citizenship and details registration of Overseas Citizens of India and their
rights.
9) Namibia
President Pohamba won Mo Ibrahim prize:
--> The outgoing Namibian President
Hifikepunye Pohamba has won the world's most valuable individual award, the Mo
Ibrahim prize for African leadership.
--> The $5m (£3.2m) award is given each
year to an elected leader who governed well, raised living standards and then
left office.
--> But the previous award was the
fourth in five years to have gone unclaimed.
10) Rafael
Nadal defeated Juan Mónaco at Argentina Open:
--> Rafael Nadal won a record-equalling
46th clay-court title and his first on any surface since last June by brushing
aside Juan Mónaco in the final of the Argentina Open.
11) Sania
Mirza to team up with Martina Hingis:
--> Three-time Grand Slam winner Sania
Mirza of India has decided to team up with former World No. 1 Martina Hingis of
Switzerland in the US-leg of the WTA Tour circuit after parting ways with
women's doubles partner Hsieh Su-wei of Chinese Taipei with whom she featured
in the doubles final of the just-concluded Doha Open championship.
