Current Affairs March 2015

Veteran actor Shashi Kapoor named for Dadasaheb Phalke Award 2014

Veteran actor and film producer Shashi Kapoor has been named for the prestigious Dada Saheb Phalke Award 2014. He is the 46th film personality to receive this honour.

About Dadasaheb Phalke Award

• India’s highest award in cinema.
• Established in 1969 to commemorate the birth centenary year of father of Indian cinema Dadasaheb Phalke.
• The award is conferred annually by the Union Government to person for his lifetime contribution to Indian cinema.
• Award comprises a Swarna Kamal (Golden Lotus) medallion, a cash prize of 10 lakh rupees and a shawl.

About Shashi Kapoor

• He was born as Balbir Raj Prithviraj Kapoor on 18 March 1938 in Kolkata, West Bengal.
• Shashi Kapoor had started his acting career at the age of four, by acting in the plays directed by his father Prithviraj Kapoor. Since then he has appeared in 160 movies altogether, 12 being in English and the rest in Hindi.
• He is best-known for his performances in Hindi films like ‘Jab Jab Phool Khile’, ‘Deewar’ and ‘Kabhi Kabhie’.
• Apart from acting in movies, he also had worked as a film director, assistant director and film producer.
• Awards- For his contribution to cinema, he has been conferred many awards including

Winners of 2015 Indian Wells Open Tennis Titles (BNP Paribas Open

Men’s Singles Title

• Serbia’s Novak Djokovic has won the Indian Wells Open Tennis Men’s Singles Title. In the final match he defeated Switzerland’s Roger Federer by  6-3 6-7 (5-7) 6-2 score .
• With this win Djokovic won his fourth Indian Wells Open title and overall 50th tour-level title.

Women’s Singles Title

• Romania’s Simona Halep has won the Indian Wells Open Tennis Women’s Singles Title. In the final match she defeated Serbia’s Jelena Jankovic by 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 score .
• It was Halep’s third WTA titles in 2015 apart from Shenzhen Open and Dubai Open.

Women’s Double Title

• Sania Mirza (India) and Martina Hingis (Switzerland) pair have won Indian Wells Open Tennis Women’s Doubles Title. In the final match they defeated Russian pair Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina by 6-3, 6-4 score.
• It was Sania Mirza’s second title of the season 2015 and 24th overall.

Men’s Double Title

• Vasek Pospisil (Canada) and Jack Sock (US) pair have won the won Indian Wells Open Tennis Men’s Doubles Title. In the final match they defeated Italian pair Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini  6–4, 6–7 (3), 10–7 score.

Union Government reconstitutes SEAC-II in Maharashtra

Union Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change (MoEFCC) has reconstituted the second State Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC) in Maharashtra.

The reconstituted SEAC-II will assess projects falling in category 8 of the schedule of (Environment Impact Assessment) EIA notification 2006 in the Mumbai metropolitan region and Konkan division in Maharashtra.

SEAC-II will have seven members and will be headed by retired IAS officer Johny Joseph as Chairman. The term of the chairman and members of the committee will be till October 2016.

The state government will provide all logistic support and financial to the SEAC-II.

Background

• In Maharashtra, there are two SEAC-I and SEAC-II committees. Both the committees appraise projects for environment clearance in the state.
• The SEAC-I looks at projects from across the state, while the SEAC-II assess projects from the Mumbai metropolitan region and Konkan division.
• Both committees recommend either approval or rejection the projects to the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA).