3 March 2015 Current Affairs
Govt To Launch Atal Pension Yojna (APY) On 1 June
Atal Pension Yojna (APY), announced in the Budget, will be launched on 1st of June 2015 and will focus on all citizens in the unorganised sector entitling them to a pension of up to Rs 5,000 per month after 60 years of age. The existing subscribers of Swavalamban Scheme would be automatically migrated to the APY pension scheme, unless they opt out. The minimum age of joining APY is 18 years and maximum age is 40 years. Therefore, minimum period of contribution by the subscriber under APY would be 20 years or more. The benefit of fixed pension would be guaranteed by the government. The central government would also co-contribute 50 per cent of the subscriber’s contribution or Rs 1,000 per annum, whichever is lower, to each eligible subscriber account, for a period of 5 years.
Renowned Ornithologist KS Lavkumar Khachar Died
Eminent ornithologist and naturalist K.S. Lavkumar Khachar died in Rajkot. He was 84. Khachar, who belonged to the erstwhile princely family of Jasdan in Gujarat, worked closely with another stalwart of the field, the late Salim Ali, and had a long association with the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) India. He organized and led several environmental education activities in Gujarat especially conservation work in the Gulf of Kutch islands and Gir forest, famous for Asiatic Lions. He served as director of the Nature Discovery Centre of the Centre for Environment Education (CEE) in 1984. He produced Sixty Indian Birds book along with RS Dharmakumarsinhji in 1981. He was awarded several prestigious awards that include The Salim Ali-Loke Wan Tho Lifetime Award for Excellence in Ornithology for his pioneering work in ornithology and on the Nanda Devi National Park. He was also awarded the Venu Menon Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004.
World’s Largest and Tallest Indian Flag Unfurled In Faridabad
The largest and tallest Indian flag was unfurled on 3 March by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah and actor Ranbir Kapoor in Faridabad, Haryana.The flag has dimension of 96 feet by 64 feet and weighs 48 kilograms. Flag was hoisted at the height of 250 feet (75 meters). Thus, making it the world’s largest and the highest hoisted Indian flag in the world.