Forbes magazine releases Global Billionaire’s 2015 annual list

Forbes magazine on 3 March 2015 released Global Billionaire’s 2015 annual list. Bill Gates has been declared the richest man in the world for the 16th time. He’s worth $79.2 billion.

  • There are a record 1,826 billionaires in the world, Forbes said, an increase of 181 in the past 12 months.
  • The United States topped the list with 536 billionaires, followed by China (213), Germany (103), India (90) and Russia (88).
  •  Top 5 billionaires: Bill Gates ($79 billion), Mr. Carlos Slim Helu ($77.1 billion), Mr. Warren Buffett ($72.7 billion), Mr. Amancio Ortega ($64.5 billion) and Mr. Larry Ellison ($54.3 billion).
  • Among the 90 Indians on the Forbes Rich List 2015, published today, Mukesh Ambani (39th globally with worth of $21 billion.) is closely followed by pharmaceuticals business tycoon Dilip Shanghvi (44th rank with networth of $ 20 billion) and Azim Premji (48th with $ 19.1 billion).

National electoral roll purification programme launched

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on 3 March 2015 launched National Electoral Roll Purification and Authentication Programme (NERPAP) throughout India. The programme was launched with the prime objective to bring a total error­ free and authenticated electoral roll. NERPAP will focus on improving image quality of electors along with sorting issues like corrections of errors etc. Electors have been provided the facility to feed their respective Aaadhar number through SMS, email, mobile application and National Voters Service Portal (NVSP) using web services through election commission website. The programme will end on 15 August 2015.

Centre, RBI sign agreement to keep inflation below 6% and provide price stability with growth

Union Government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) have signed an agreement on Monetary Policy Framework in order to move towards the RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan’s view of inflation targeting. According to this agreement government has set a target for RBI to bring down inflation below 6% (4% for financial year and all subsequent years with band of +/‐ 2 %) by January 2016.

World Wildlife Day observed globally

The World Wildlife Day was observed on 3 March 2015. The 2015 theme of the day is “Wildlife crime is serious, let’s get serious about wildlife crime”. The day is celebrated as an opportunity to celebrate the varied forms of wild fauna and flora and to raise awareness of the multitude of benefits that conservation provides to people. The day also reminds us of the urgent need to step up the fight against wildlife crime, which has wide-­ranging economic, environmental and social impacts.

Beef banned in Maharashtra; can draw jail term of 5 years & fine upto Rs 10,000

Beef has been banned in Maharashtra with President Pranab Mukherjee giving his assent to the Maharashtra Animal Preservation Amendment Bill 1995. The new law not only prohibits sale and purchase of cows, bulls and bullocks for slaughter, but also possession and transport of their meat. Now, anyone found guilty can be jailed for five years and fined Rs 10,000. The new act will however allow slaughter of water buffaloes, which provides carabeef, generally seen as an inferior quality meat.

Mary Kom decides to quit boxing after Rio Olympics

Olympic medalist pugilist MC Mary Kom said she has decided to quit boxing after the 2016 Rio Olympic Games as her body would not be able to cope with the rigour of the sport any further. For her precious contribution to the sport of boxing (sports), she has been conferred with Padma Bhushan (2013), Padma Shree (2010) and Arjuna Award for Boxing (2003).