20 March 2015 Current Affairs
World Sparrow Day was Observed Across The World
World Sparrow Day was observed on 20 March 2015. The theme for World Sparrow Day 2015 is “I LOVE Sparrows”. The theme has been inspired by the hope that more and more of us will celebrate the relationship between People and Sparrows. The day is observed to create awareness about the House Sparrow and other common birds and the need for their protection. The First World Sparrow Day was celebrated in 2010. World Sparrow Day is observed on 20 March annually. It is an international initiative of Nature Forever Society of India in collaboration with the Eco-Sys Action Foundation (France) and many national and international organisations. World Sparrow Day aims to provide a meeting ground for people from different parts of the world to come together to play an important role in advocacy and in spreading the awareness on the need of conserving common biodiversity or species.
Air Marshal Sohail Aman Appointed as new Chief of Pakistan Air Force
Air Marshal Sohail Aman has been appointed as the Chief of Air Staff of the Pakistan Air Force. He replaces the incumbent Air Chief Marshal Tahir Rafique Butt. Air Marshal Sohail Aman is a graduate of the Combat Commanders’ School, Air War College and Kings College (London). He has also served as air officer commanding of a regional air command and Deputy Chief of Air Staff (training) at the Air Headquarters in Islamabad. He is a recipient of the Hilal-i-Imtiaz (Military).
Nine Indian Americans Awarded $50,000 Sloan Research Fellowships
Nine Indian Americans are among the 126 US and Canadian researchers selected by The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation as recipients of the 2015 Sloan Research Fellowships. Awarded annually since 1955, the fellowships honor early career scientists and scholars whose achievements and potential identify them as rising stars, the next generation of scientific leader. Fellows receive $50,000 to further their research. Past Sloan Research Fellows have gone on to notable careers and include such intellectual luminaries as physicist Richard Feynman and game theorist John Nash. The 9 Indian Americans are:–
* Nandini Ananth, Cornell University, Chemistry
* Prabal Dutta, University of Michigan, Computer Science
* Shyam Gollakota, University of Washington, Computer Science
* Shantanu Jadhav, Brandeis University, Neuroscience
* Hemamala Karunadasa, Stanford University, Chemistry
* Neal Mankad, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chemistry
* Suresh Naidu, Columbia University, Economics
* Padmini Rangamani, University of California, San Diego, Computational and evolutionary molecular biology
* Vivek Shende, University of California, Berkeley, Math
very knowledgeable