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National:

Pranab Mukherjee receive top award in BangladeshPresident Pranab Mukherjee has been honoured by Bangaldesh government in recognition of hiscontribution to the struggle that led to the birth of this nation 42 years ago. The 'Bangladesh Liberation WarHonour Award' conferred on 77-year-old Mukherjee at a time when the trial of the Islamists for the crimes

they committed during the liberation war of the nation in 1971 triggered a mass uprising against religiousfundamentalism. President Zillur Rahman and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh conferred theaward on Mukherjee at the Presidential Palace. Former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi wasposthumously conferred the Bangladesh Swadhinata Sanmanona award in July, 2011. Congress PresidentSonia Gandhi had received the award in Dhaka.

New surrender policy for Maoists from AprilAlarmed over growing threats from Left Wing Extremism (LWE), the Union government is preparing a newsurrender policy where Maoists would be given enhanced compensation and financial support for theirrehabilitation. To be operational from April 2013, under the new surrender policy, a senior Maoist will receivean aid of Rs.2.5 lakh as one-time surrender payment and a monthly stipend of Rs. 3,000 for three years thatwould help support his self-employment efforts. Similarly, a junior Maoist will get a compensation of Rs.1.5lakh. For surrender of weapons, the government has decided on compensation ranging from Rs. 5,000 toRs. 30,000, depending upon the size and sophistication of the weapon. The funds for the scheme would

come from the Centres security related expenditure (SRE) scheme.

World 's largest magnet in design at BARCUnknown to many, the world's largest magnet, weighing 50,000 tonnes and slated to be several times biggerthan the one at the Compact Muon Solenoid detector at CERN, Geneva, is being designed at the BhabhaAtomic Research Centre (BARC). The massive magnet will play a major role in the Rs 1,500-crore India-based Neutrino Observatory coming up 4,300 feet below a cave in a mountain not far from Madurai in TamilNadu. It will be iron-based, weighing 50,000 tonnes while the weight of the one at CERN ranges between4,000 and 5,000 tonnes.

Hiked NREGA wages to b e paid starting Apri l 1Now, MNREGA workers will get more money with the Centre revising their daily wages from April 1. Underthe recent wage revision, workers will be paid the maximum daily wage of Rs 214 in Haryana, followed by Rs210 and Rs 209 in the Union Territories of Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Chandigarh, respectively. On the

lower side of the wage payment are states like Sikkim, Tripura, Nagaland, where MNREGA workers will bepaid Rs 135 per day. Workers in Bihar and Jharkhand will get a daily wage of Rs 138. Rural developmentminister Jairam Ramesh, specified the wage rate payable to unskilled manual workers working in variousschemes under MNREGA Act. The notification regarding revising wage rates is linked to the Consumer PriceIndex for Agricultural Labour (CPIAL) from April 1 every year.

Union cabinet approves National Institu te of Biotic Stress Management for ChhattisgarhThe Union cabinet has approved the proposal of the department of agricultural research and education underthe Ministry of Agriculture for the establishment of the National Institute of Biotic Stress Management(NIBSM) at Raipur, Chhattisgarh during the 12th Five Year Plan at a cost of Rs 121.10 crore. This will be thefirst institute to address the impact of biotic stress and harness potentials of emerging tools of biotechnologyin agriculture. The state government has allotted 105 acres of land for the institute in Baronda, about 25 kmfrom Raipur. The Union Government will allot Rs 250 crore for the first phase of setting up the institute. Theinstitute will be under Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).

Kerala Ayurveda awards annou ncedThe State governments Dhanwantari, Charaka, Aathreya, Vagbhada, and Ashtangaratna awards for BestAyurveda Doctors 2012, have been announced. The Dhanwantari award for the best all-round contributionsin clinical research was won by K. Muraleedharan Pillai. The Charaka award was given to Susan P. John.This award is given in recognition of clinical excellence, voluntary work, and promotion of Ayurveda. M.P.Easara Sharma was selected for the Aathreya award. The Vagbhada award was given to PathroseParathuvayal. The Ashtangaratna award, given for lifetime contributions in all areas of Ayurveda, has beenawarded to P. Lakshmanan.

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International:

Recluse behind Zara is now world's third richest manSpain's Amancio Ortega, elevated by Forbes to become the third richest person in the world, may havediscovered fashion's secret of eternal youth. The "fast fashion" tycoon's estimated net worth of $57 billion is

built on a formula of endless renewal, with dresses and blouses displayed in thousands of Zara storesworldwide for only a few days before they are taken off the rails and replaced with an even newer line ofmust-have garments. Ortega overtook U.S. investor Warren Buffett and luxury group chief Bernard Arnault ofFrance to become the third richest person on Forbes' 2013 annual ranking of billionaires. Ahead of Ortegaare Mexican telecoms boss Carlos Slim at No.1, followed by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.

Britain begins inquiry into Iraq abuse claimsBritain opened a judge-led public inquiry into claims that its soldiers murdered and abused civilians insouthern Iraq in 2004, some of the most serious allegations against British forces over the war andoccupation of the country. The al-Sweady Inquiry is investigating claims that up to 20 Iraqis were torturedand killed in May 2004 at a base in Maysan province after a battle between British troops and insurgents.The inquiry is named for one of the dead, Hamid al-Sweady (19). The British military denies abuse and saysall the dead were killed in battle after ambushing British troops.

Business & Economy:

Mukesh Ambani India's r ichest fo r 6th year, net worth $21.5 bnWith net worth of USD 21.5 billion, Mukesh Ambani has retained his title as India's richest person for sixthyear in a row, while Mexican business tycoon Carlos Slim has emerged as wealthiest in the world for thefourth consecutive year. In the overall rich list of world's billionaires, as per an annual ranking published bybusiness magazine Forbes, Mukesh Ambani is ranked 22nd, while the second-richest Indian Lakshmi Mittalis at 41st position with a networth of USD 16.5 billion. Slim has topped the rankings with a networth of USD73 billion, followed by Bill Gates (USD 67 billion), Spain's Amancio Ortega (USD 57 billion), Warren Buffett(USD 53.5 billion) and Larry Ellison (USD 43 billion) in top five. Among the Indians, Mukesh Ambani andLakshmi Mittal are followed by Azim Premji, Dilip Shanghvi, Shashi & Ravi Ruia, Kumar Mangalam Birla,Savitri Jindal, Sunil Mittal, Shiv Nadar, K P Singh and Anil Ambani. Globally, Anil Ambani is ranked 233rd

(USD 5.2 billion), while the global top-100 list has only three Indians Mukesh Ambani, Lakshmi Mittal andAzim Premji (91st position).

Rs. 1,000-crore tax-free bonds from Ennore PortEnnore Port Ltd. has launched a public issue of tax-free bonds to raise up to Rs.1,000 crore from the marketto meet its capital investment plans. The tax-free instruments are in the form of secured redeemable non-convertible bonds of the face value of Rs.1,000 each having tax benefits under Section 10(15) (iv) (h) of theIncome-tax Act, 1961. The bonds are being issued in two series. The Series I bonds have a coupon rate of7.01 per cent per annum and a tenure of 10 years. The Series II bonds have a coupon rate of 7.17 per centper annum and a tenure of 15 years.

Nasscom sets $300 bill ion target by 2020The National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom), the apex body of the Indianbusiness process outsourcing and software services industry, announced that it is targeting revenues of $300

billion by 2020, 177 per cent more than that earned in 2012. N. R. Narayana Murthy, Infosys ChairmanEmeritus, who headed an expert committee that deliberated on the ways and means of achieving the target,said revenues had traditionally come from four focus areas IT services, Indian operatives of MNCs,Business Process Management (BPM) and Engineering and R&D services.

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ONGC is No 1 profit-making PSU, BSNL worst performerONGC has retained the top position in the coveted list of 10 most profit-making PSUs, while BSNL was thebiggest loss-making state-run company in 2011-12, according to a government survey. ONGC, the country'slargest oil and gas producer, earned a net profit of Rs 25,122 crore in 2011-12. BSNL, on the other hand,suffered losses of Rs 8,850 crore in the same period, replacing Air India as the biggest loss-making PSU.Power major NTPC is the second biggest profit-making state-run company, the same position as in 2010-11survey. The world's largest coal producer Coal India jumped to third position in 2011-12 from seventh rank in

the previous survey, pushing Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) down to the seventh position. In 2010-11, IOC wasat the third position. Largest iron-ore producer NMDC was fourth, while Maharatna company BHEL rankedfifth.

Telecom Minister approves Rs 350 cr penalty on Bharti Air telTelecom Minister Kapil Sibal is learnt to have approved the recommendation of a Department of Telecomcommittee to impose Rs 50 crore penalty each on seven licences of Bharti Airtel that entered into 3Groaming agreements with other operators to offer services beyond permitted zones. Airtel won 3G spectrumin 13 out of 22 telecom circles in 2010 through auction and entered into a quid pro quo agreement with otherplayers who won the spectrum in other service area where it did not have spectrum to offer 3G services.

Microsoft launches latest versio n of Office 365Software giant Microsoft, has launched the latest version of its Office 365 solution for businesses in India,which will enable them to access emails and other productivity tools from a variety of devices. The new

Microsoft Office 365 is a comprehensive suite with Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook, OneNote and Access.It provides seamless sharing of data across multiple devices like desktops, laptops, mobiles and tablet PCsand since the solution is cloud-based, users can access their mails and files while on the move. The solutionalso includes the updated Microsoft Lync Online, Exchange Online and Yammer, which Microsoft acquired in2012. Office 365 can be installed on up to five devices for a single user under the Office 365 licensingguidelines.

Sport:

Indian women finish fifthGeeta Phogat stood out in an otherwise average performance by the Indian team, which finished fifth in thesenior womens wrestling World Cup in Mongolia. Geeta, who took part in the 59kg category for the first time,won all her bouts against her opponents from Japan, Canada, Mongolia and Belarus. India had qualified for

this eight-team event, which was held from March 1 to 3, for the first time. In its final engagement, India beatCanada 4-3 to finish third from its pool. In the fifth-sixth place classification match, India defeated Belarus 5-2for the fifth position. China won the gold while Mongolia and Japan settled for silver and bronze respectively.

World Cup chairman Strong deadProminent Australian businessman James Strong, the chairman of the organising committee for the 2015cricket World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, has died aged 68. The former Qantas chief executivepassed away in Sydney after complications following surgery. The ICC World Cup organising committee saidit was saddened.

Brett Lee appointed Kolkata Knight Riders' bowling mentorAustralian speedster Brett Lee, who spearheads Shah Rukh Khan's Kolkata Knight Riders' pace attack, hasreplaced Pakistan great Wasim Akram as the team's bowling mentor.