1) Daniel Vettori announced retirement from international
cricket:
--> New Zealand cricketer and former
captain Daniel Vettori has announced his retirement from international cricket.
--> He made this announcement after
playing last match in ICC World Cup 2015 Final against Australia.
--> Earlier in 2011, he had retired from
Tests and Twenty-20s cricket format.
--> In his 18-year-old career, the
36-year-old played 113 tests and 295 ODIs.
2) Snapdeal acquired majority stake in RupeePower:
--> Jasper Infotech, which owns and
operates online marketplace Snapdeal.com, has picked up a majority stake in
digital financial services platform RupeePower.com as part of its plans to
create a financial services marketplace.
3) Govt announced interest rates for various Small Savings
Schemes:
--> Investments in Sukanya Samriddhi
Account, the special deposit scheme for girl child, will earn higher interest
rate of 9.2 per cent, while the rate on popular tax saving Public Provident
Fund has been retained at 8.7 per cent for 2015-16.
--> At the same time, rate for senior
citizens savings scheme (SCSS) has been enhanced to 9.3 per cent from existing
9.2 per cent. The above rates will be effective from 1 April 2015," a
finance ministry statement said.
--> Kisan Vikas Patra interest earning
has also been retained at 8.7 per cent.
--> Savings Deposit will continue to
earn 4% interest.
4) 18-hour-old baby becomes India's youngest patient to
undergo an open heart surgery:
--> An 18 hour-old baby from Mathura
defied all odds and emerged as the youngest patient in India to undergo an open
heart surgery.
--> Mayank was born in Mathura and
within minutes of his birth was declared to have severe breathing difficulty,
TAPVC, a critical heart condition, which stops the normal flow of blood from
lungs to the heart.
--> The local doctors unable to treat
the baby advised the family to rush the child to a multi-super specialty
hospital in Delhi.
--> The challenge was immense but the
doctors at Fortis Escorts Heart Institute accepted it and performed an
extremely difficult surgery.
5) Muhammadu Buhari elected as President of Nigeria:
--> Former military ruler Genral
Muhammadu Buhari won the Presidential election in Nigeria.
--> He defeated incumbent President
Goodluck Jonathan by more than two million votes.
--> With this historic win, Buhari
became the first opposition candidate in history of Nigeria to win a
presidential election.
6) India launched Operation Raahat to evacuate Indian
nationals from Yemen:
--> India launched a massive air and sea
operation named Operation Raahat to evacuate over 4000 Indian nationals from
Yemen.
--> The operation started after India
got permission to dock its offshore patrol vessel INS Sumitra at the Aden
harbor of Yemen.
--> The complete rescue operation was
overseen by Minister of State for External Affairs General (retd.) VK Singh.
7) Kotak Mahindra-ING Vysya merger gets RBI approval:
--> Kotak Mahindra Bank has received the
Reserve Bank of India’s approval for acquiring ING Vysya Bank, making Kotak the
fourth largest private lender in the country.
--> Happy to share that the RBI has
approved merger of ING Vysya Bank with Kotak Mahindra Bank effective April 1,
2015,” Uday Kotak, Executive Vice-chairman and Managing Director of Kotak Group
said.
--> An RBI statement said, “All the
branches of ING Vysya Bank will function as branches of Kotak Mahindra Bank
with effect from April 1, 2015.”
8) Rajasthan govt. opened mother’s milk bank:
--> Rajasthan’s first State-run human
milk bank, “Jeevan Dhara”, was inaugurated by Health Minister Rajendra Rathore
at the Mahila Chikitsalaya.
--> The first mother’s milk bank in the
State was started by a non-governmental organisation in a government hospital
in Udaipur.
9) Gujarat assembly passed controversial anti-terrorism and
organized crime bill:
--> Gujarat assembly on 31 March 2015
passed by a majority vote the controversial Control of Terrorism and Organised
Crime Bill (GCTOC) which allows police to intercept and record telephonic
conversations and submit them in court as evidence.
--> The bill, which was earlier returned
by the President thrice to the state government for reconsideration when Narendra
Modi was CM, was passed by a majority vote amid stiff resistance from
opposition Congress, which walked out of the House over its controversial
provisions.
--> The state government re-introduced
the Gujarat Control of Organised Crime (GUJCOC) Bill in the assembly after
renaming it.
