1. RIL, Vedanta, M&M, Tata Motors and Wipro among top 10 Indian sustainable companies: CII Survey

(i) In a recent Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) survey, corporate majors like RIL, Vedanta, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Motors and Wipro are among the nation’s top 10 sustainable companies. These companies are followed by ITC, Tata Power, Tata Chemicals, Hindustan Zinc and ACC.

(ii) As per the CII-ITC Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development survey, of the 100 companies profiled across 20 sectors, only 18 responded to the Information Request (IR). The remaining firms (mostly from media, transportation and financial services sectors) either did not respond or refused to participate.

(iii) A ‘Sustainable Plus’ tag across three levels-platinum, gold, bronze-was accorded to companies based on their responses. They were graded on parameters like governance and social and environmental initiatives. Companies that received the Sustainable Plus Platinum are India’s most sustainable firms. Seven companies got Sustainable Plus Gold, and the remaining 83 got Sustainable Plus Bronze.

(iv) The survey revealed that sustainability was high in terms of governance vis-à-vis environmental and social parameters.

2. Mumbai tops the list of cities on administration, ability to deliver better quality of life

(i) As per the findings of the recent Annual Survey of India’s City-Systems by Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy, Mumbai tops the list of 21 big cities on the capability of a city administration and ability to deliver better quality of life over the medium and long term.

(ii) New Delhi slipped to the sixth position from the previous fifth in 2014. Thiruvananthapuram retained its second position.

(iii) Other cities which made progress from their previous ranking include Hyderabad, which has moved up to 9th place from previous 17th and Kanpur which was ranked 14th in 2014 has moved up by 6 spots.

3. Bangladesh central bank chief Atiur Rahman resigns

(i) The head of Bangladesh’s central bank Atiur Rahman recently resigned after money worth over $100 million was robbed from the country’s foreign currency reserves. Rahman submitted his resignation to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina after unidentified hackers stole the money from Bangladesh’s bank account with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

(ii) As per reports, Rahman did not inform the Bangladesh government of the theft which actually took place in February this year.

(iii) Media reports suggest that the gang responsible for the theft used stolen credentials to make cash transfer requests look legitimate. The transfers were only stopped after the volume of money requested raised suspicion at other banks. 

4. India and US launch Fulbright-Kalam Climate Fellowship

(i) India and the US recently launched the Fulbright-Kalam Climate Fellowship to advance bilateral cooperation on climate change.

(ii) The fellowship aims to encourage Indian scholars to carry out research on climate along with US institutions. The fellowship, jointly funded by both the governments, will enable up to 6 Indian PhD students and post-doctoral researchers to work with US host institutions for a period of 6-12 months.

(iii) The fellowship is named after late Indian President Dr A P J Abdul Kalam and is part of the commitment made by the US President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to address climate change-related issues in both the countries.

5. Anand Mahindra conferred with France’s highest civilian award

(i) Recently, Mahindra & Mahindra Chairman and Managing Director Anand Mahindra was conferred with the Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur (Knight of the Legion of Honour), which is France’s highest civilian award.

(ii) It conferred on Anand Mahindra for his remarkable national and international achievements and initiatives as the head of the Mahindra Group. As one of India’s company most prominent business groups, Mahindra & Mahindra has helped forge productive partnerships between French and Indian industries.

6. Lt. Gen N P S Hira appointed as Deputy Chief of Army Staff

(i) Recently, Lt Gen N P S Hira was appointed as the Deputy Chief of Army Staff and he took charge on March 14. He was previously posted as the Chief of the Army’s Northern Command in Udhampur.

(ii) Defence spokesman, Col S D Goswami informed, “He commanded the Battalion in Assam (Op Rhino) during high violence period. The unit bagged 32 gallantry awards and COAS citation under his command.”

(iii) He added, “Lt. Gen. N P S Hira also commanded 12 Infantry Brigade deployed on the Line of Control in Uri sector. The Brigade earned an Ashok Chakra, Kirti Chakra, Shaurya Chakra and many more gallantry awards during his command.”

7. Nobel laureate Llyod S Shapley passes away

(i) The American mathematician Lloyd S. Shapley, who shared the 2012 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science, passed away at the age of 92. He shared the Nobel with Harvard professor Alvin E Roth for his work on game theory.

(ii) Shapley, a mathematician and emeritus professor at UCLA, was considered one of the fathers of game theory which explains the choices that competitors make in a situation that requires strategic thinking. While Shapley analysed match-making in markets and created with formulas to match supply and demand in markets where prices don’t do the job, Roth applied Shapley’s formulas to real-world problems.

(iii) He introduced the concept of “Shapley Value” using which the benefits of cooperation can be proportionally divided among participants based on their relative contribution.

(iv) In 1981, he was conferred with the John von Neumann Theory Prize, which is presented to individuals who make ground-breaking theoretical contributions in operations research and the management sciences.

8. Man Booker Prize-winning British author Anita Brookner passes away

(i) Recently, the Man Booker Prize-winning British author Anita Brookner passed away, aged 87. Brookner, who authored over 25 books was also a renowned art historian.

(ii) She won the Booker Prize for fiction in 1984 for her novel Hotel du Lac. She was the first woman to be the Slade Professor of Fine Art at the University of Cambridge from 1967 to 1968.

(iii) A Start in Life, The Bay of Angels, Latecomers, Undue Influence, etc. are some of her other works.

9. Sachin Tendulkar to launch premium apparel brand True Blue

(I) Recently, cricketer Sachin Tendulkar announced his decision to launch his premium menswear apparel and accessories brand named True Blue in a joint venture with Arvind Fashion Brands. The plan is to launch 25-30 stores across India, with the first offline store coming up in Mumbai in May 2016.

(ii) Tendulkar said that the brand will offer a range of apparels that will have “Indian elements with a modern artistic touch to it”. The apparel range will showcase 300 styles and is priced at Rs.1,199 onwards.

(iii) CEO of Arvind Fashion Brands Rajiv Mehta said, “Our expertise combined with Sachin’s unmatched love for anything Indian boosted our decision and that brought into play this significant joint venture partnership.”

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