17 March 2013 Current Affairs
Sultan Azlan Shah hockey Tournment
Australia extended its domination in the Sultan Azlan Shah hockey tournament, by bagging its their seventh title, after a 3-2 win over host Malaysia in the summit clash in Ipoh on 17 March 2013.Malaysia got the Silver medal.South Korea beat New Zealand 2-1 to clinch the bronze medal.India defeated arch-rivals Pakistan 4-2 in a thrilling encounter and avoided the wooden spoon in the fifth-sixth place classification match of the Sultan Azlan Shah hockey tournament on 17 March 2013.So, India got fifth place in Sultan Azlan Shah hockey Tournment.
Lotus’s Kimi Raikkonen wons Australian Grand Prix 2013
Kimi Raikkonen, the Australian driver of Formula One team Lotus won the season-opening Australian Grand Prix 2013 on 17 March 2013.Raikkonen surpassed the World Champion, Practice and qualifying round No.1,Sebastian Vettel(redbul) and a former world champion Fernando alonso (Ferrari).He reached the goal in 12.4 against and 12.12sec. against Fernando alonso.While most teams followed a three-stop strategy, Kimi Raikkonen and the Lotus team decided to make just two pit stops.
Poetess Sugathakumari Selected For Saraswati Samman Award
On 17 March Sugathakumari, the Malayalam poetess was selected for the Saraswati Samman 2012 for the poetry collection Manalezhuthu, which means The Writing on the Sand in English. The Saraswati Samman is constituted by K. K. Birla Foundation.Saraswati Samman is awarded annually for outstanding literary work in any Indian language in past 10 years.Sugathakumari is also the passionate environmentalist.She was also the head of Kerala’s State Women’s Commission.
UAE Inaugurated World’s Largest CSP Solar Power Plant
On 17 March United Arab Emirates (UAE) President Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan inaugurated the 100-megawatt solar plant “Shams 1 ” in the desert of Abu Dhabi, the world’s largest concentrated solar power plant in operation.Covering an area of 2.5 square km, the 600-million-U.S. dollars project incorporates the latest in parabolic trough technology and features more than 258,000 mirrors mounted on 768 tracking parabolic trough collectors, capable of delivering green electricity to 20,000 homes.