1) SC quashed extension of OBC reservation to Jats:
--> Supreme Court on 17 March 2015 set
aside the notification to include Jats in the Central list of Other Backward
Classes (OBC) for according benefits of reservation to them.
--> The judgement, reserved on December
17, 2014, was pronounced by a bench of Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice
Rohinton Fali Nariman.
--> The bench also found fault with the
Centre's decision to overlook the findings of the National Commission for
Backward Classes (NCBC), stating that Jats need not be included in the Central
list of OBC as they don't form socio-economic backward class.
--> The decision to include Jats in OBC
was taken by erstwhile UPA government.
2) Union Cabinet cleared new bill on black money:
--> Cabinet on 17 March 2015 cleared
introduction of the black money bill later this week, including a provision to
allow the government to launch a one-time compliance scheme for those with
black money abroad to come clean before the new law kicks in.
--> The details of the compliance
scheme, including the penalty, are expected to be announced as part of the
rules.
3) Govt approved setting up of All India Yoga institute:
--> The government has approved setting
up of an All India Institute of Ayurveda, the first referral-cum-teaching
facility in the world's oldest health care system in Sarita Vihar, New Delhi.
--> "The Government has approved
for establishment of All India Institute of Ayurveda at Sarita Vihar in New
Delhi. The Institute has been conceived as an apex institute of Ayurveda with
200 bedded referral hospital for imparting education in the field of Ayurveda
at MD and Ph.D levels," Minister of State, AYUSH, Shripad Yesso Naik said
in a written reply in Rajya Sabha.
4) Indian researcher won woman of the year 2015 in New South
Wales:
--> A 56-year-old Indian pancreatic
cancer researcher in Australia has been named New South Wales Woman of the year
2015 for her contributions to medical research, tertiary education and the
Indian community.
--> Minoti Apate, researcher at
University of New South Wales (UNSW) received the award from NSW Premier Mike
Baird and Minister for Women Pru Goward during a reception at NSW Parliament
House recently.
5) HDFC Bank Launched Chillr Money Transfer App:
--> HDFC Bank on 17 March 2015 announced
the launch of Chillr, a mobile app which allows users to instantly transfer
money to any contact in their phone book.
--> HDFC has partnered with MobME, a
Kochi-based technology firm to launch this app, the bank officials said.
--> Chillr is a first of its kind
application that is linked directly to the customer's bank account, so there is
no need to worry about filling up a prepaid wallet, they said, adding that no
passwords are stored on the phone and it can be accessed only with M-PIN known
to the customer alone.
