Gyanm general awareness_february_2016_issue

GENERAL AWARENESS – FEBRUARY 2016 1

GENERAL AWARENESS

FEBRUARY 2016 Vol. 4, Issue 08

A PUBLICATION OF GYANM EDUCATION & TRAINING INSTITUTE PVT. LTD.

SCO 13-14-15, 2ND FLOOR, SEC 34-A, CHANDIGARH

Contents

CURRENT AFFAIRS OCT TO DECEMBER 2015 01-40

BULLET NEWS JULY TO SEPTEMBER 2015 41-59

LATEST 100 GK MCQs 60-66

SSC CORNER 67-75

6 MONTHS GK BYTES 76-104

FIGURES TO REMEMBER

REPO RATE (29.09.2015) 6.75% REVERSE REPO RATE 5.75% MARGINAL STANDING FACILITY RATE

7.75%

STATUTORY LIQUIDITY RATIO 21.5% CASH RESERVE RATIO 4.00% BANK RATE 7.75% BASE RATE(s) (of various banks)

9.30 to 9.70%

INDIA’s RANK IN

Ease of Doing Business (Forbes) 97th

Human Development Index 130th

ICT Development Index 131st

Rank in Brand Value 7th

Legatum Prosperity Index 99th

Global Terrorism Index 06th

Financial Secrecy Index 45th

Ease of Doing Business (World Bank) 130th

Number of Startups 03rd Global Competitiveness Index, WEF 55th Protection of Minority Investors 08th Global Innovation Index 81st Global Competitiveness 44th In terms of Peace 143rd Motherhood Index 140th Environmental Democracy Index 24th Human Capital Index 100th Global Resilience Index 119th Global E-Waste Monitor 5th World Happiness Report 117th Global Networked Readiness 89th

NATIONAL NEWS

DECEMBER 2015

MODI VISITS RUSSIA AND AFGHANISTAN Prime Minister Modi visited Russia on Dec 23-24 to attend the 16th India-Russia annual summit. President Vladimir Putin gifted him an 18th century sword from Bengal and a page from Mahatma Gandhi's diary containing his handwritten notes.

Russia and India signed 16 pacts. The agreements include joint manufacture of Kamov 226 multipurpose helicopters and construction of 12 atomic plants in India. PM Modi visited Afghanistan on Dec 25 to meet President Ashraf Ghani. He inaugurated the Parliament building which has been constructed by India. He made a surprise brief halt in Pakistan also to meet his counterpart Nawaz Sharif. INDIA RANKS 130TH IN HDI As per the Human Development Index (HDI) compiled by the UNDP, India ranked a lowly 130th in the list of 188 nations. It is up by five ranks from last year's 135, thanks to higher life expectancy and gross national income. Stagnancy in education, women's empowerment and poverty continue to drag India down. Norway topped the ranking. HDI is a summary measure to assess long-term progress in three basic dimensions of human development -a long and healthy life, access to knowledge and a decent standard of living. INDIA 97TH IN ‘DOING BUSINESS’ India has ranked a low 97th out of 144 nations on Forbes' annual list of the best countries for doing business in 2015, scoring poorly on issues like trade and monetary freedom and response to challenges like corruption and violence. Denmark topped the list. As per World Bank data, India ranks 130th. MARGINAL IMPROVEMENT IN FOREST COVER According to the India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2015, the total forest and tree cover is 79.42 million hectare, which is 24.16 percent of the total geographical area, up from 24.01 per cent in 2013. Of this, the forest cover is 7,01,673 sq km covering 21.34 per cent area. The total forest cover of the country has increased by 3, 775 Square kilometre and the tree cover has gone up by 1,306 Square kilometre. The maximum increase in forest cover has been observed in Tamil Nadu, followed by Kerala and Jammu & Kashmir.


WORLD BANK LOAN FOR SANITATION

The World Bank has approved a USD 1.5 billion loan for the ambitious clean India campaign to support the government in its efforts to ensure all citizens in rural areas have access to improved sanitation and end the practice of open defecation by 2019. ACID VICTIMS TO BE UNDER DISABLED QUOTA The Supreme Court has directed all the State and UT Governments to consider acid-attack victims under the disabled quota to enable them to get reservations in government jobs as well as education benefits. INDIANS HIGHLY IGNORANT - SURVEY A survey conducted by a London-based market research firm found people in Mexico and India were most inaccurate in perceptions on issues such as obesity, non-religious population, immigration, female employment, rural living and Internet access. Survey in 33 countries for ‘Index of Ignorance’ placed Mexico as most ignorant, followed by India. People in South Korea were found to be most accurate in their perceptions, followed by Ireland.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made a 3 day visit to India. He attended Ganga Aarti at Dasaswamedh Ghat, Varanasi.

Panos Kammenos, Greek Defence Minister arrived in India on a three day visit. The two countries decided to enhance bilateral defence ties.

National Veda Convention and Vedic Conference held in Kozhikode, Kerala.

The Lok Sabha passed the Bureau of Indian Standards Bill, 2015 to establish the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) as a National Standards Body.

India and South Korea have inked a new MoU on suspension of collection of taxes during pendency of mutual agreement procedure.

The ICT (information, communication and technology) Development Index places India a lowly 131st among 167 countries. South Korea tops the index.

NOVEMBER 2015

‘CONSTITUTION DAY’ ON NOV 26 The ‘Constitution Day’ of India was observed on 26th November to spread awareness of Indian Constitution and its architect Dr. B R Ambedkar, Chairman of the Drafting Committee of Constituent Assembly. On this day in 1949, Constitution of India was adopted which came into force on January 26, 1950 marking the beginning of a new era in the history of free India. MODI VISITS UK Prime Minister Mr. Modi visited England on November 12 for a three day trip. He became the first serving Prime Minister of India to address the UK's Parliament. India signed a civil nuclear pact with United Kingdom during his visit. The two countries announced deals worth 9-billion pound in the field of defence and cyber security and railways. Britain announced 2017 as the UK-India Year of Culture to mark the 70th Anniversary of Indian Independence. NUCLEAR DEAL FINALIZED WITH AUSTRALIA India and Australia have announced the completion of procedures for bringing the two-nation nuclear deal into force. The announcement was made at the bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi with his Australian counterpart Malcolm Turnbull in the G-20 Summit at Antalya in Turkey. CHINESE VICE PRESIDENT VISITS INDIA Li Yuanchao, the Vice-President of China visited India to review cooperation on better river water management and cultural exchanges. The two countries signed a MoU on smooth sharing of hydrological data related to the common Himalayan Rivers. INDIA STANDS 7TH IN TERMS OF BRAND VALUE

As per the annual report on world's most valuable nation brands compiled by Brand Finance, India has moved up one position to become the world's seventh most valued nation brand with an increase of 32 per cent in its brand value to 2.1 billion dollars. The US remains on the top with a valuation of 19.7 billion dollars, followed by China and Germany at the second and the third positions.


MODI IS 9TH MOST POWERFUL IN WORLD Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been ranked as the world's ninth most powerful person by Forbes magazine in a 2015 list which is topped by Russian President Vladimir Putin. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is at the second spot followed by US President Barack Obama (3rd) and Pope Francis (4th) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (5th). INTERNET BOOM IN INDIA

According to a report by Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and IMRB International, the number of internet users in India is expected to touch 402 million by December 2015, a 49 per cent jump over last year, making India home to the second largest online user base after China. SALARY BONANZA FOR GOVT EMPLOYEES 7th Central Pay Commission headed by Justice AK Mathur submitted its report to the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Nov 19. It recommended 23.55 percent hike in pay and allowances of government employees. The pay will go up by 16 percent, allowances by 63 percent and pension by 24 percent. It has suggested a minimum basic pay of 18 thousand and maximum of Rs 2.5 lakh per month. The pay revision will come into effect from January 2016. INDIA 99TH IN TERMS OF PROSPERITY India has been ranked 99th in Legatum Prosperity Index 2015 out of 142 countries. The report is based on the results of eight sub-indices - economy, entrepreneurship and opportunity, governance, education, health, safety and security, personal freedom, social capital. INDIA FARES POORLY IN GENDER EQUALITY The Global Gender Gap Report 2015 released by the World Economic Forum (WEF) ranked 145 economies according to how well they are leveraging their female workforce. Iceland topped the list, followed by Norway and Finland. India ranked low at 108th rank while Pakistan was second last. INDIA 6TH WORST HIT BY TERRORISM As per the Global Terrorism Index 2015, India ranks 6th in list of 162 nations most impacted by terrorism in 2014. Islamic State and Boko Haram are now jointly responsible for more than half of all global fatalities from terrorist attacks. The other top five countries worst hit by terrorism are Iraq, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Pakistan and Syria.

INDIA INTERNATIONAL SCIENCE FESTIVAL First India International Science Festival, a joint event of Ministry of Science and Technology and Ministry of Earth Sciences, is being organized at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi from Dec 4 to 8. The festival aims to provide a platform to young scientists from all over the country to share and spread their scientific ideas, achievements and inventions. 46th International Film Festival of India, IFFI

began in Panaji, Goa with the screening of ‘The Man Who Knew the Infinity’, a biopic based on the life of mathematical wizard Srinivas Ramanujan, was the opening film.

Prime Minister Mr. Modi visted Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to attend Asean-India meet, Asean summit and the East Asian Summit.

Prime Minister Mr. Modi visited Singapore for two days, Nov 23-24 and signed 10 agreements on mutual co-operation.

Hamid Ansari, Vice President visited Indonesia on Nov 2. Agreements in the field of cultural exchange and renewable energy were signed with Indonesia.

Francois Hollande, President of France will be the chief guest at the 2016 Republic Day celebrations.

Bhutan's Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay visited India to preside over the 'India Ideas Conclave' in Goa.

The Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, ranked 99th in a list of top 100 institutions by the ‘Times Higher Education Rankings for Engg. & Technology’.

A report by global consultancy firm KPMG says that India has emerged as the top country when it comes to corporate responsibility reporting.

India re-elected on the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) for a period of six years.

Seven Indian celebrities including Asha Bhosle, Sania Mirza and veteran actress Kamini Kaushal have made it to BBC's list of 100 most aspirational women.


Telephone subscriber base in India reached 102.26 crore at the end of September while fixed line base continued to fall, as per data compiled by TRAI.

As per the global Financial Secrecy Index released by Tax Justice Network of UK, India ranked 45th among 92 countries in terms of financial transparency.

11th National Tribal Crafts Mela ‘Aadishilp’ held in New Delhi.

First international film festival for the persons with disabilities (IFFPD) will be held in Delhi from 1 to 3 December 2015.

Second World Congress on Disaster Management was held in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, from 19 to 22 November.

Global Cancer Summit held at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru from Nov 18 to 20.

The 17th Asia Pacific Youth Forum meet was held in Kozhikode, Kerala to share ideas for the empowerment of youth to protect the Earth.

9th Regional Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas (RPBD) was held at Los Angeles, California, USA on the 14th and 15th November 2015.

According to a global survey of 26 countries, India is the fourth most vacation-deprived nation with 65% saying they feel very or somewhat vacation-deprived.

Militant outfit National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Khaplang), declared as a terrorist organization under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.

The National Milk Day was observed on 26 November to mark 94th birth anniversary of the Father of the White Revolution - Dr Verghese Kurien.

The British Government has selected Pune and Amravati from Maharashtra and Indore from Madhya Pradesh for developing them as 'Smart City'.

OCTOBER 2015

INDIA TOPS IN GLOBAL ENERGY LISTINGS India has emerged as the country with the best representation on the 2015 Platts Top 250 Global Energy Company Rankings. The top three Indian companies in the list are Reliance Industries-14th, ONGC-17th and Coal India-38th.

THE 3RD INDIA-AFRICA FORUM SUMMIT This summit was held in New Delhi from Oct 26 to 29. Heads of States and Representatives of all 54 African countries participated in it. India also announced a $ 10 billion Line of Credit at a concessional rate for Africa for a period of five years for development related and capacity building projects.

‘DOORDARSHAN’ IS MOST VIEWED CHANNEL As per the All India viewership data released by the Broadcast Audience Research Council, public broadcaster Doordarshan has emerged as the most watched Hindi channel in terms of time spent per viewer, ahead of top General Entertainment Channels.

INDIA 130TH IN ‘EASE OF DOING BUSINESS’

India has improved its position to 130 from 142 in 2015 in the World Bank's 2016 rankings in terms of ease of doing business. Improvement in two indicators, 'starting a business and getting electricity' pushed India up the ladder. However, it still takes 29 days and over 12 procedures to begin a new venture in India. Singapore claimed the top rank.

1.85 LAC MILLIONAIRES IN INDIA Global Wealth Report by The Credit Suisse Research Institute shows that only 3% of India's adult population falls into the middle class wealth band and the number of millionaires, persons with surplus of one million dollar or more, stands at 185,000.

INDIA RANKS 3RD IN NUMBER OF STARTUPS India has emerged as the youngest startup nation in the world where over 72 per cent of founders are less than 35 years old. With the presence of more than 4,200 startups, the country has also become the third largest startup base, after the U.S. and the U.K.

PRESIDENT VISITS MIDDLE EAST President Pranab Mukherjee made a six-day visit to Jordan, Palestine and Israel from Oct 10 to15. He became the first Indian President to visit Israel and address their Parliament Knesset. In Palestine he met President Mahmoud Abbas and offered him a cheque for $ 5 million as budgetary support. India also committed $17.79 million for five projects in the Palestinian territory.

INDIA TO HOST 2018 G20 SUMMIT The prestigious annual summit of Heads of G20 nations for 2018 will be hosted by India in New Delhi. The 2016 summit will be hosted by China and the 2017 summit will be hosted by Germany. The G20 operates as a forum and not as an organisation. Therefore, it does not have any permanent secretariat or management and administrative structure. One of the G20 countries is selected to hold the Chair in rotation, also known as ‘G20 Presidency’.


GERMAN CHANCELLOR VISITS INDIA Angela Merkel, German Chancellor, came to New Delhi on an official visit to take part in the third Inter-Governmental Consultations (IGC) between India and Germany. 18 important MoUs were signed between the two countries during the visit. INDIA RANKS 55TH IN COMPETITIVENESS India has moved up 16 positions, from 71st in 2014 to 55th place on the Global Competitiveness Index 2015-16 compiled by the World Economic Forum for the world’s most competitive economies. Switzerland tops the index for the 7th year. INDIA RANKED 8TH FOR MINORITY INVESTORS When it comes to protection of minority investors, India ranks 8th, ahead of many developed economies including the US, Germany and Japan, as per a study conducted by the World Bank. It reflects the reforms carried out by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) and the Ministry of Corporate Affairs in Capital market. S C ALLOWS LIMITED USE OF ‘AADHAAR’ The Supreme Court has allowed the use of Aadhaar cards for all central and state schemes, including Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA), Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana and employee provident fund and pension schemes, on voluntary basis. NJAC ACT HELD NULL & VOID BY S C The Supreme Court has rejected the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act and the 99th Constitutional Amendment which sought to give politicians and civil society a final say in the appointment of judges to the highest courts. It held that the collegium system, as it existed before the NJAC, would again become “operative.”

The Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) Conference 2016 will be held in New Delhi from 8 to 10 January, 2016.

The 19th International Children's Film Festival, India is to be held in Hyderabad from November 14-20

India and France signed a MoU to conserve, develop and publicize written heritage at the National Library in Kolkata.

The Environment Ministry has approved annual plans for Kerala, Mizoram, Manipur and Jharkhand under the National Mission for a Green India (GIM).

Portugal became the first European and 17th overall country to sign the MoU on the establishment of Nalanda University in Bihar.

The Union Cabinet has approved Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement with Israel and Vietnam.

India signed Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement with Israel.

NEWS FROM STATES

DECEMBER 2015

PER CAPITA INCOME HIGHEST IN DELHI According to Delhi Government's Delhi Statistical Hand Book, the state recorded the highest per capita income among all the states in the country at Rs 2,40,849 during financial year 2014-15. The Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) of Delhi, at current prices, in 2014-15 stood at Rs 4.51 lakh crore, up by 15.35 per cent over the previous year. DELHI IS MOST POLLUTED CITY IN WORLD

Green Peace India released a report on National Air Quality Index (NAQI) for 17 countries, covering top 20 most polluted cities. As per the report, Delhi was the most polluted city in the world, while 13 Indian cities figured in the 20 most polluted cities in the world. NO TO DIESEL VEHICLES IN DELHI The National Green Tribunal has directed that no new or old diesel vehicle be registered in Delhi till Jan. 6, with a view to curb pollution in capital. It also directed all the govt departments to not to purchase any new diesel vehicle and make plans to phase out the existing ones. The Konark Festival, the five-day festival of classical

dances of India, was held in Konark, Odisha, in the back drop of the famous Sun Temple. The International Sand Art Festival 2015 was also held along with.

For the first time, two Indian cities, Varanasi and Jaipur, have been selected in the Creative City Network of the UNESCO in the categories - City of Music and City of Crafts and Folk Art, respectively.

The Maharashtra legislature becomes the first legislature to launch an online mechanism for its members to send questions and move different motions in the House.

The Odisha state launched Anwesha scheme to provide free education to scheduled caste and scheduled tribe students in the state.


The Bihar government has banned 15-year-old diesel vehicles from its capital's roads in a bid to control air pollution.

India’s fourth and North India’s first cable-stayed bridge was inaugurated at Basohali in Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir, over river Ravi.

West Bengal Government has approved formation of five new districts in the state, bringing the total districts to 25.

Mumbai’s iconic boulevard Marine Drive, also called the Queen’s Necklace completed 100 years on Dec 16.

Maharashtra has started the country's biggest Wildlife Rescue Centre at Gorewada near Nagpur to take care of sick, injured and rescued animals.

Losar, the biggest Tibetan Buddhist Festival began on 12 December 2015 in Ladakh, J&K. The festival marks the beginning of New Year for Buddhists.

Uttar Pradesh has launched International festival on Birds in National Chambal Sanctuary to promote state as an international bird-watching destination.

Hornbill Festival celebrated in Kohima, Nagaland from Dec 1 to 10 to highlight state’s rich cultural heritage.

Himachal Pradesh has become the first state to launch Rotavirus vaccination for controlling the child mortality rate (under 5 years of age) due to diarrhea.

NOVEMBER 2015

TAMIL NADU LASHED BY HEAVY RAINS In Tamil Nadu, heavy rains by north east monsoon claimed over 102 lives. The rains threw normal life out of gear in almost all parts of the state with coastal and northern districts bearing the brunt. INDIA’s 1ST BLIND FRIENDLY RLY. STATION

Mysuru Railway Station in Karnataka has become the first blind-friendly Railway Station in India. Train schedules and over 400 metal signages have been installed in Braille for the benefit of visually handicapped persons. S. AUSTRALIA TIES UP WITH RAJASTHAN South Australia state has signed a historic 'sister-state agreement' with Rajasthan to pave new ways to boost export and investment opportunities between the two states based on a two-way exchange of research and technical capabilities.

CHHATH OBSERVED IN BIHAR-U P Chhath festival was celebrated in different parts of the country on Nov 17-18 with great religious fervour and gaiety. Large number of devotees offered prayers to the rising sun at the banks of rivers and other water bodies. It is one of the most popular festivals of Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh.

MIGRATORY GUESTS ARRIVE IN CHILKA

Migratory birds mostly from Northern Eurasia, the Caspian region, Siberia, Kazakh and remote areas of Russia and Southeast Asia have started arriving in Chilka Lake, Odisha.

Annual Hundred Drums Wangala Festival held near Tura, Meghalaya. It is the thanksgiving post-harvest festival of the Garo tribes of North East India.

APJ Abdul Kalam Amrut Yojna launched in Maharashtra to provide at least one cooked meal for pregnant and lactating women in the tribal areas.

The Thiruvananthapuram International Airport has been adjudged the best-maintained international airport in the country

Northeast’s first exclusive hospital for elephants has been established at the Kaziranga National Park, Assam.

Norway reopened its Consulate General office in Mumbai after four decades of closure in 1973.

Karnataka launched the ‘Tourist Mitra’, a 175-member friendly force, to reinforce smooth and secure experiences for tourists.

OCTOBER 2015

ALL POLICE STATIONS ON-LINE IN ODISHA In Odisha, all the 531 police stations in the state have been computerized to allow online filing of FIR from anywhere in the state under its 'e-FIR' system under the Centre-sponsored Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) project. Mission ‘Abaas’ launched in Odisha to provide (EWS),

Low Income Groups (LIG) and slum dwellers. Megastar Amitabh Bachchan has been appointed

Maharashtra’s brand ambassador for Tigers District Court in Khunti, Jharkhand became county's

first solar powered district court.


GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES

DECEMBER 2015

APPS LAUNCHED TO PROMOTE HEALTHCARE Govt has launched 4 new Information Technology-based initiatives to provide citizen-centric health services. They include three applications:

Kilkari:An audio-based mobile service that delivers weekly audio messages to families about pregnancy, child birth and child care.

Mobile Academy: For providing training services to 9 million ASHA workers.

M-Cessation: Counselling helpline to help tobacco users to quit tobacco.

Toll free number 1800-11–6666 to provide round the clock counselling and treatment support services to TB patients

NO LPG SUBSIDY FOR THE RICH Government has announced that taxpayers with an annual income of more than Rs 10 lakh will not get subsidised LPG cylinders from January, 2016. Over 20 lakh persons have reported annual income of over Rs. 10 lakh. At present, all households are entitled to 12 cylinders of 14.2-kg each at subsidised rate of Rs 419.26, while the market price of each cylinder is Rs 608. MOBILE APPS LAUNCHED FOR FARMERS

Govt. has launched two mobile apps for farmers. The app - Crop Insurance - will help farmers find out complete details about insurance cover available in their area. The other app called Agri Market Mobile can be used by farmers to get the market prices of crops in the mandi within 50 km radius of the device.

‘STARTUP INDIA, STANDUP INDIA’ Prime Minister has announced that on January 16, 2016, the government will launch the complete action plan of the project ‘Startup India, Standup India’ in collaboration with all the IIMs, IITs, NITs and Central Universities.

6 NEW IITs & 5 NEW IISEs TO BE SET UP The Union Cabinet has approved setting up of six new Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) at an overall cost of over Rs 1,400 crore in Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Jammu, Kerala and Karnataka. Approval was also given for setting up of five Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research at Kolkata, Pune, Mohali, Bhopal and Thiruvananthapuram. ‘AIM’ AND ‘SETU’ FOR ENTERPRENEURS Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship is developing an entrepreneurship development scheme wherein entrepreneurship activities in innovative and cutting edge technology areas will be aligned with initiatives such as Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) and Self Employment Talent Utilisation (SETU). INJECTABLE POLIO VACCINE LAUNCHED The government has launched an injectable polio vaccine – Inactivated Polio Vaccine (IPV) – which will be administered in addition to oral polio drops in the routine immunization programme. IPV injection will be given to children aged below one year along with the third dose of the oral polio vaccine (OPV), free of cost to double the immunity. LOK SABHA NOD FOR 101 WATERWAYS Lok Sabha passed a bill to develop 101 new waterways across the country aimed at providing a cheaper mode of transport and reducing traffic burden on roads. At present, there are only five National Waterways. NEW GUIDELINES ON FRAUDS Government has now made it mandatory for the auditors to report any suspected corporate fraud amounting to Rs 1 crore or more to the Corporate Affairs Ministry with a view to effectively curb the misdoings in corporate sector.


NEW DESIGNATION FOR GOVT CLERKS Govt has decided to rename the posts of UDC (Upper Division Clerk) and LDC (Lower Division Clerk) under Central Secretariat Clerical Service (CSCS) as Senior Secretariat Assistant and Junior Secretariat Assistant, respectively. NEW DATE FOR BS V-VI STANDARDS

The government has advanced the date for implementation of the Bharat Stage (BS) V and VI norms for emission standards for four-wheelers by 3 years to April 1, 2019 and April 1, 2021, respectively.

The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Bill, which provides for lowering the age for trial of juvenile from 18 years to 16 years, has been passed by Rajya Sabha. The bill was passed by Lok Sabha earlier. Govt has asked the states and UTs to start Operation

Smile-II from 1 to 31 January 2016 to rehabilitate / rescue the missing children.

Global Initiative of Academic Networks Scheme launched to boost the quality of higher education through international collaboration.

Central Board of Secondary Education has rolled out its latest mobile application E-CBSE for providing e-learning material for students and teachers.

With a view to provide relief to 3.7 lakh jute mill workers, the govt has approved mandatory use of jute packaging material for foodgrains and sugar.

Union govt. proposes to launch a $1-billion equity fund, with seed capital from public sector units, to support renewable energy companies.

NOVEMBER 2015

UDAY SCHEME TO HELPOUT DISCOMS

The government launched Ujjwal Discom Assurance Yojna (UDAY) to improve the ability of power distribution companies (DISCOMs) to procure power at a much lower capital cost. The scheme allows DISCOMs to convert their debt into state bonds and to launch measures to improve efficiency at power plants.

10 SCHEMES FOR THE BENEFIT OF DISABLED Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment launched 10 schemes for the benefit of disabled persons. The schemes are: DISHA: Early Intervention and School Readiness

Scheme VIKAAS: Day Care Scheme SAMARTH: Respite Care Scheme GHARAUNDA: Group Home for Adults Scheme NIRAMAYA: Health Insurance Scheme SAHYOGI: Caregiver training scheme GYAN PRABHA: Educational support Scheme PRERNA: Marketing Assistance Scheme SAMBHAV: Aids and Assisted Devices Scheme BADHTE KADAM: Awareness and Community

Interaction Scheme

FUND FOR TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT

Government has launched the Technology Acquisition and Development Fund (TADF) under the National Manufacturing Policy, 2011 to facilitate acquisition of clean, green and energy efficient technologies. It will also catalyse the manufacturing growth in Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector with an aim to contribute to ‘Make in India’ initiative. The scheme will be implemented through Global Innovation and Technology Alliance (GITA), a joint venture company. GOVT TO IMPLEMENT CCTNS AND ICJS With a view to revamp criminal justice system in the country, the govt has approved implementation of two systems - Crime and Criminals Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) and Integrated Criminal Justice System (ICJS) Project. The two systems aim at bringing online all the police stations of the country and integrating them with online judicial system to ensure speedy settlement of offences and disputes. ACCESSIBLE INDIA CAMPAIGN The government has launched Accessible India campaign under which 27 international airports and 75 railway stations in India will be surveyed to identify the areas that need to be improved to make them disabled-friendly.


ACTION PLANS APPROVED FOR 81 CITIES

Govt has approved State Annual Action Plans (SAAP) of 81 mission cities in 5 states-Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha and Mizoram under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) for 2015-16. Earlier, SAAPs were approved for 89 cities in Gujarat, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh in October 2015. SCHEME FOR INTERNATIONAL TOURISTS The Union Ministry of Tourism launched the National Mission on Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Augmentation Drive (PRASAD) and Swadesh Darshan schemes to achieve 1% share of international tourist arrivals by 2016-17 from the present 0.68 %. USE OF PLASTIC WASTE ‘MUST’ IN ROADS The government has made it mandatory for road developers to use waste plastic along with bituminous mixes for road construction to overcome the growing problem of disposal of plastic waste in India's urban centres. The rule will applyfor constructing bitumen roads within 50 km of periphery of any city that has a population of over five lakh. ‘AMRIT’ OUTLET AT AIIMS, NEW DELHI Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has launched the Affordable Medicines and Reliable Implants for Treatment (AMRIT) pharmacy outlet at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi. FIPB POWERS HIKED TO Rs 5,000 CRORE To expedite FDI clearance process, the government has enhanced the monetary limit to approve foreign investment proposals of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board – FIPB to Rs 5,000 crore, from Rs. 3,000 crore at present. 3 NEW EDUCATIONAL WEB PORTALS Govt has launched three web portals / apps - e-Pathshala for educational resources, Saaransh for educational improvements and National Programme on School Standards and Evaluation Framework (Shala Siddhi) for online evaluations.

The deadline for completion of Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana for rural connectivity through all- weather roads, reduced from 2022 to 2019.

Agriculture Ministry to launch ‘Blue Revolution: Integrated Development and Management of Fisheries’ for growth and development of fisheries.

Govt has allowed German language to be taught as additional foreign language in Kendriya Vidyalayas as per the National Education Policy, 1986.

From November 12, a railway ticket could be booked online up to 30 minutes prior to the departure of a train as Railways has modified their booking system.

Govt to continue 90% central funding for the core Centrally Sponsored Schemes in the 8 northeastern states, while 10% will be borne by the states.

OCTOBER 2015

IITs WAIVE FEE FOR HANDICAPPED The highest decision-making body of Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) – IIT Council has decided to waive full fee (Rs. 90,000/- at present) for the physically challenged students from the current academic session in all the 15 IITs for all the semesters. E-SAHYOG LAUNCHED FOR TAX PAYERS Govt has launched an e-Sahyog pilot project of Income-Tax Department aimed at reducing compliance cost, especially for small taxpayers and provide an online mechanism to resolve mismatches in Income-tax returns of the assesses whose returns have been selected for scrutiny. A NEW FUND FOR VARIOUS VICTIMS Government has launched Central Victim Compensation Fund with an initial amount of 200 crore rupees to support the victims of various attacks, such as rape, acid attacks, human trafficking and women killed or injured in the cross border firing. ‘CLIMATE CHANGE’ SPECIAL TRAIN LAUNCHED

Government has launched the 'Science Express Climate Action Special' exhibition train from Delhi, aimed at spreading awareness about the effects of climate change and to make the science behind it easier to understand. The train will run till May 7, 2016, covering 64 stations, all over India.


TRANSFER OF BLOOD ALLOWED

The Union Health Ministry has permitted transfer of blood from one blood bank to another, a step that will help in transferring blood to the hospitals that face scarcity. Further, an exchange value of Rs 1600 per litre of plasma has also been fixed to benefit the blood banks with surplus plasma. BONUS CEILING RAISED TO Rs 7,000 Govt has decided to raise the wage ceiling for calculating bonus to Rs 7,000 for factory workers and establishments with 20 or more workers. Further, all industrial workers drawing a monthly salary up to Rs 21,000 will be eligible for bonus, as opposed to the current ceiling of Rs 10,000. DD TO TELECAST - HUNARBAAZ National channel of Doordarshan will telecast a ten-episode Programme on Apprenticeship Training Scheme - Hunarbaaz, from Oct 18. The programme is aimed at generating public awareness about Apprenticeship Training Scheme and its utilities in building skill in the country, especially for the youth. ‘NEERANCHAL’ LAUNCHED FOR IRRIGATION The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved implementation of the World Bank assisted National Watershed Management Project Neeranchal with a total outlay 2142.30 crore rupees for promoting effective irrigation in nine states.

APP FOR HAILSTORM CROP DAMAGE To expedite payment of crop insurance claims to farmers, the govt has launched a pilot programme - Kisan, which will use satellite and drone-based imaging and other geospatial technology to get timely and accurate data on crop yields. Also, to access large-scale damage to standing crops, it launched an Android-based app for collection of data of hailstorm.

RULES NOTIFIED FOR MID-DAY MEALS The Central Government has notified ‘Mid Day Meal Rules, 2015’under the National Food Security Act, 2013 for improved administration and efficiency of the scheme. New rules set nutritional standards of 450 calories and 12 gm of protein for primary and 700 calories and 20 gm protein for upper primary students and provides for payment of food security allowance in case food is not served due to any reason.

HEALTH INSURANCE FOR DISABLED Govt has signed a MoU with the New India Assurance Company to provide Swavlamban Health Insurance Scheme, for the Persons with Disabilities in the age group of 18 to 65 years with family annual income of less than Rs. 3,00,000. It provides health insurance cover up to Rs. 2,00,000 per annum as family floater. ONLINE SUBMISSION OF FORM 15 G & H The Central Board of Direct Taxes, CBDT has simplified the format and procedure for self declaration by individuals in 15G and 15H forms. These forms are filed by persons whose incomes are below the taxable threshold to seek exemption from TDS on interest. GOVT GOES FOR GREENER HIGHWAYS Government has launched Green Highways policy to promote greening of Highway corridors with participation of farmers, private sector and government institutions for creating clean, green, and pollution free India. One per cent of the total project cost of all highways projects will be kept aside for the highway plantation and its maintenance. NIRF TO RANK EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS Government has unveiled ‘National Institutional Ranking Framework’ (NIRF) -- a framework for annual ranking of engineering and management institutes of the country. It would enable parents, students, teachers, educational institutions and other stakeholders to rank institutions on the basis of a set of objective parameters.

Government has eased the penal provisions for undeclared or mis-declared baggage that will attract arrest or prosecution, from Rs 5 lac to Rs 20 lac.

To enable Indians living abroad to access old age income security, RBI has allowed NRIs to subscribe to the National Pension System (NPS) of PFRDA

India's first community reserve to protect the endangered Gangetic River Dolphins will come up on River Hooghly in West Bengal.

Govt has approved setting up of three new AIIMS at Nagpur in Maharashtra, Manglagiri in Andhra Pradesh and at Kalyani in West Bengal

Govt has launched Green Highways (Plantation, Transplantation, Beautification & Maintenance) Policy-2015 to promote greening of Highways.

The Union cabinet has approved construction of a National War Memorial and Museum near the famed India Gate in the national capital.

Govt plans to spend around 70,000crore rupees in 12 major ports in the next 5 years under Sagarmala Project for port-led development in coastal areas.

Govt has formed a Committee headed by Justice RV Easwar, former Judge of Delhi High Court to suggest simplifications in the Income Tax Act, 1961.


ECONOMIC INDICATORS

DECEMBER 2015

GDP GROWTH MOVES UP TO 7.4% Data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) shows that country’s economic growth increased to 7.4 percent in the July-September quarter against 7 per cent achieved in the April-June quarter this year. Though we overtook China as the fastest growing major economy, yet, the growth rate is lower than the 8.3 achieved in the same quarter last year.

GDP GROWTH RATE LOWERED TO 7-7.5% India lowered its GDP growth projection for the current year to between 7 - 7.5 per cent against the earlier forecast of 8.1 - 8.5 per cent. Lowering of rate was necessitated due to slowing of GDP growth rate in the first half of the year (from April to September) to 7.2 % from 7.5 % in the corresponding period last year. RBI RETAINS GROWTH RATE AT 7.4% Considering areas of robust growth in manufacturing such as capital goods and passenger cars and counter effect of weak rural and external demand on overall growth, RBI retained its projection of GDP growth rate at 7.4 per cent for the current fiscal. INDIA TO GROW BY 7.9% - GOLDMAN SACHS Global financial analysts Goldman Sachs have said that India’s GDP is expected to grow by 7.9 per cent next fiscal driven by rising domestic demand and higher capital spending by the government, even though the global economy will remain anaemic. INDIA TO GROW BY 7.4% - S&P Standard & Poor's Ratings Services in its 'India Credit Spotlight' newsletter has noted that India's economy will grow at 7.4 per cent in the current fiscal, which will further improve to over 8 per cent in 2016-17 as significant reforms are required with Indian corporates and banks currently facing a weak operating environment.

INDIA TO GROW BY 7.3% - UN REPORT The United Nations World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) 2016 report says that India would record a 7.3% growth in 2016 and 7.5% in 2017. It will continue to be the fastest growing economy in the world in 2016 and 2017 amid volatile global financial conditions that will see diminished trade flows and stagnant investment, the report said. FITCH KEEPS INDIA AT ‘BBB’ GRADE International ratings agency Fitch Ratings has announced that India’s investment rating would remain at ‘BBB-’ -- the lowest investment grade -- with a stable outlook, saying that strong medium-term growth outlook and favourable external finances will balance out weak structural features, including its business environment. EXPORT IMPORT CONTINUE TO SHRINK Contraction in exports continued for the 12th month in a row in November as outward shipments shrank 24.43% to $20.01 billion amid a global demand slowdown. Imports too declined 30.26% to $29.79 billion in November over the same month last year. Fall in imports has impact on the trade balance as deficit fell to $9.78 billion. India's foreign exchange reserves fell by $1.4 billion

to $351.106 billion in the week to Dec 18 on account of fall in Foreign Currency Assets, as per the RBI data.

The growth rate of eight core sectors industries decreased to 3.2 percent in October on account of decrease in crude oil and steel production.

The industrial production as measured by the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) grew by 9.8% in October as compared to same month last year.


NOVEMBER 2015

Moody's Investors Service has said that the Indian economy would grow at 7.5 per cent in the current fiscal and improve marginally in the following year.

Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development has said that the Indian economy is expected to grow by 7.2 per cent this fiscal.

OCTOBER 2015

INDIA TO GROW BY 7.5% - WORLD BANK A latest report from the World Bank says that India is expected to overcome the global slowdown and its GDP growth is projected to increase to 7.5 per cent despite a weak export recovery.

The World Economic Outlook Update from the IMF says that India's growth is expected to strengthen from 7.3 per cent this year to 7.5 per cent next year.

ECONOMY & INDUSTRY

DECEMBER 2015

INDIA TO MAKE SHIPS FOR LNG

Cochin Shipyard has become the first shipyard in India to get the nod to build LNG (liquefied natural gas) transporting ships, making India fourth such country in world, after South Korea, Japan and China. The most critical part of an LNG ship is its cryogenic containment and handling system as the LNG has to be carried at a temperature of -163 degrees. LNG occupies 1/600th space of gaseous form. MORE TRANSACTIONS UNDER PAN The government has made it mandatory to quote PAN (permanent account number) for all transactions in excess of Rs.2 lakh to curb black money. This includes all payments made through cash, cheques or debit or credit cards. The new rule, effective from January 1, will cover purchases of all goods or services, such as say gold jewellery or furniture.

JAPAN TO SUPPORT BULLET TRAIN

During recent visit of Japan’s Prime Minister, India and Japan signed a number of pacts in key areas of defence and nuclear energy as well as building of first bullet train network between Mumbai- Ahmadabad at a cost of about Rs 98,000 crore. IMPROVEMENT IN ‘EASE OF DOING BUSINESS’ The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has informed that as a result of many steps taken to improve the ‘ease of doing business’ in the country, the average number of days taken for incorporation of a company has come down significantly to 4.51 days in November 2015 from 9.57 days in December 2014. CHANGI TO GUIDE A’BAD & JAIPUR AIRPORTS Government has signed an agreement with Singapore for using the services and expertise of the Singapore airport developer Changi for taking up operations and management of the Ahmadabad and Jaipur airports. ONGC JOINS ‘ZERO ROUTINE FLARING’ The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd has become the first oil company from India to join the global initiative ‘Zero Routine Flaring by 2030’ by World Bank to curb routine gas flaring at oil production sites around the world by 2030. SEBI ISSUES GUIDELINES FOR ‘GREEN BONDS’ The SEBI has released concept paper for issuance of Green Bonds. A green bond is like any other bond where a debt instrument is issued by an entity for raising funds from investors but the funds are 'ear-marked' for use towards financing ‘green’ projects only. INDIA TOPS IN INWARD REMITTANCES World Bank has said that India is the largest recipient of inward remittances receiving over 72 billion US dollars in 2014, followed by China at 64 billion US dollars. Of this, largest amount came from USA, $56 billion. INDIA GOT MOST FDI FROM SINGAPORE Singapore has replaced Mauritius as the top source of foreign direct investment into India during the first half of the current fiscal. During April to September period, India attracted $6.69 billion FDI from Singapore while from Mauritius, it received $3.66 billion only.


WORK BEGINS ON TAPI GAS PIPELINE

Leaders of four Asian countries met in Mary, Turkmenistan to join hands for the beginning of construction of 1800 kms long Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline project which will provide energy-hungry India gas for its power plants. The pipeline will carry 90 million standard cubic metres a day of natural gas from Turkmenistan of which India and Pakistan will get 42 per cent each, while Afghanistan will get the remaining 16 per cent. PHRMA-OIL BARTER WITH VENEZUELA The government is considering a 'medicines for oil' barter system with Venezuela where Indian pharma exporters are facing problems to repatriate their sales proceeds due to restrictions imposed in that country. Venezuela is the third largest country in terms of oil imports into India. RELIANCE LAUNCHES 4G SERVICES Reliance Jio launched 4G telecom service providing data services with a speed up to 1 gigabyte per second. It offers a unique combination of telecom, high speed data, digital commerce, media and payment services. ‘PROJECT LEAP’ FROM BHARTI AIRTEL Country’s largest telecom services provider, Bharti Airtel will invest Rs.60,000 crore over the next three-years in ‘Project Leap’ to upgrade its networks to provide quality services to meet increasing competition. GOOGLE STARTS YOU TUBE SPACES IN INDIA

Google’s YouTube has collaborated with Whistling Woods International, a production house owned by Subhash Ghai, to open its first video production studio called YouTube Spaces in the country.

India received its first uranium consignment for its nuclear power reactors from Canada, after a gap of over four decades.

The first Goa to Mumbai double-decker Shatabdi train was flagged off from Panjim, Goa on Dec 6.

NOVEMBER 2015

MSP OF RABI CROPS HIKED The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved a hike of Rs. 75 a quintal to Rs. 1575 per quintal in the Minimum Support Price of wheat, the main rabi crop for season 2015-16. A bonus of Rs 75 per quintal, over and above MSP, for the two dals has also been approved.

Rs./Qtl CROP MSP CROP MSP Wheat 1525 Rapeseed / Mustard 3350 Barley 1225 Masoor 3325

Safflower 3300 Grams 3425 E-COMMERCE PORTAL FOR SMALL UNITS The Confederation of All India Traders has launched an e-commerce portal, ‘e-lala’ to promote interests of 5.77 crore small businesses in the context of rapid expansion of e-commerce. It will enable physical stores to have their own online stores to generate more business. TRIM GENDER GAP TO BOOST GDP - IMF As per a recent IMF study, India's GDP can expand by 27 per cent if the number of women workers increases to the same level as that of men. The gender gap is around 50 per cent in India, compared with an average gap of 12 per cent in OECD countries. 0.5% SWACHH BHARAT CESS IMPOSED Government has announced the levy of a Swachh Bharat cess of 0.5% on all services liable for service tax (14%) from November 15. This means a tax of 50 paisa on every Rs 100 worth of taxable services like mobile bills, eating out, saloon services etc.

With Cotton production estimated at around 400 lakh bales, India is expected to emerge as the largest cotton producer in the world in 2015-16.

35th India International Trade Fair,IITF was held at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi. The theme of the fair this year is Make in India

CCEA has approved 10% stake sale in Coal India Ltd to mop up around Rs 20,000 crore. Govt has targeted Rs 69,500 crore disinvestment in this fiscal.

France has committed to invest over 2 billion Euros for Smart City projects in India with special focus on Chandigarh, Nagpur and Puducherry.

India and Brazil have signed a MoU to cooperate for raising productivity of cattle and buffaloes

World Bank granted $75 million loan to the Andhra Pradesh for its Rural Inclusive Growth project aimed at enhancing agricultural incomes of small farmers.

Asian Development Bank to give $ 273 loan for improving rural roads in Assam, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal.


OCTOBER 2015

INDIA NO. ONE IN ATTRACTING FDI India has emerged as the top destination for foreign direct investment (FDI) as compared with China and United states in the first half of 2015. A report published in London's Financial Times has mentioned that India has attracted roughly 31 billion US dollar ahead of 28 billion dollar of china and 27 billion of United States.

INDIA BEST FOR MAKING INVESTMENTS India has been ranked as the most attractive investment destination in the world for the next three years, followed by China, Southeast Asia and Brazil. This was revealed in a survey released by Global consultancy firm, Ernst and Young.

NEW GOLD COINS FOR INVESTMENT Government plans to bring out 5 and 10 gram India Gold Coins — which are being manufactured by Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India. They will be sold through banks, post offices and offices of MMTC at a rate slightly lesser than the market rate.

PHONE SUBSCRIBER BASE CROSSES 101 CRORE Data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India shows that the subscriber base has touched 101 crore (or 1,014.70 million) in August this year in the country, driven by growth in mobile phone users, increasing by 0.53 per cent over the July figure.

S C IMPOSES ENVIRONMENT CESSS The Supreme Court has imposed 'Environment Compensation Charge' of Rs 700 and Rs 1300 on commercial vehicles entering Delhi from November 1 for 4 months. The money will be collected by toll operators and handed over to the Delhi govt on every Friday. The funds will be used to clean up Delhi's air.

MUMBAI CHEAPEST CITY FOR BUSINESS A study by the Savills World Research shows that t Mumbai has emerged as the world's cheapest city to live and work in, among 12 top metropolitan cities of the world. London, Hong Kong and New York are the world's most expensive cities for companies to accommodate their employees.

SIN TAX TO BE PART OF GST Govt plans to include Sin Tax in the proposed Goods and Services Tax (GST) law that will be effective from 1 April 2016. Sin tax is an excise tax levied on products and services like alcohol, tobacco and gambling considered bad for health or society. GERMANY TO FINANCE GREEN CORRIDORS India and Germany have signed two loan agreements worth 125 million Euros for financing Green Energy Corridor project in Himachal Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. The project seeks to facilitate the flow of renewable energy into the national grid.

Anil Baijal committee submitted its report for developing suitable methodologies for monitoring CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) provisions and suggested measures for their evaluation.

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has made it mandatory for telecom operators to compensate consumers by Rs.1 for call drops with effect from 1 January, 2016.

Railways would soon start country's first-ever double decker Shatabdi Express that would ply between Mumbai and Goa.

The Ministry of Environment has granted environment clearance for the greenfield international airport at Mopa in Goa.

Railway plans to launch Vikalp scheme from 1st of November to give passengers the option of journey by another train if they decide to do so.

National Green Tribunal has directed all trucks etc, entering Delhi, to pay an environmental compensation charge in addition to the toll tax.

The Export Import Bank of India has extended a Line of Creditof $87 million to Zimbabwe for renovation and up-gradation of Bulawayo Thermal Power Plant.

The World Bank has promised $30 billion financial assistance to the Railways for its forthcoming infrastructure projects.

ADB has agreed to give a $123.51 million loan to upgrade tourism infrastructure and services in Punjab, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.

Bajaj Auto has launched ‘Qute’, the quadricycle RE60 for export to 16 countries in Latin America, Africa, Europe and Asia at price of around $2000.

Future Group has entered into a partnership with Baba Ramdev-promoted Patanjali Ayurved to sell the latter's FMCG products through its Big Bazaar stores.

Real estate developer Tata Housing has tied-up with social networking firm Facebook to sell its affordable homes online.


BANKING & FINANCE

DECEMBER 2015

BANKS TO HAVE UNIFORM BASE RATE RBI has said that from April 1 next year, all banks will have to follow a new and uniform methodology to calculate base rate as per the marginal cost of funds. All new loans and renewals will now be priced with reference to the Marginal Cost of Funds based Lending Rate (MCLR) which will be the internal benchmark for such purposes. Banks will have to publish MCLR of five maturities every month - overnight rates, one month, three months, six months and one year. Like base rate, banks will not be allowed to lend below MCLR, except for few categories, like loans against deposits, loans to bank’s own employees. RBI TO CUT SLR TO 20.50%

The RBI has decided to lower the banks’ investment in government securities, also known as statutory liquidity ratio (SLR), to 20.5% by January 2017 from 21.5% at present. As per the new time table, SLR would be reduced to by 25 basis points to 21.25% as on April 2, 2016; 21% by July 9, 2016, 20.75% by October 1, 2016 to 20.75% and the last round of reduction would be January 1, 2017 to 20.50 per cent. BANKS CAN’T DENY INFO ON BORROWERS-SC The Supreme Court has ruled that the RBI and commercial banks cannot hide routine information, such as the names of top defaulters, the losses suffered by banks and details of action taken against erring banks, sought by the public under the Right to Information Act. Till now, banks denied such information on the ground that it was information held in a fiduciary capacity and could not be revealed to the public at large. PRIORITY LENDING NORMS HIKED FOR RRBs RBI has hiked Priority Sector Lending (PSL) norms for Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) from 60 per cent at present to 75 per cent of their total lending with effect from 1 January 2016. As on March 2015, there were 56 RRBs operating in the country with a network of 20059 branches.

SBI FIRST TO ISSUE EMV CARDS State Bank of India has become first major bank in India to issue EMV chip and pin based debit cards to its new customers to ensure enhanced secure transactions. EMV stands for Euro–Maestro–Visa. YES BANK GETS BRITISH AWARD Yes Bank, India's fifth largest private sector bank has bagged the prestigious 'Bank of the Year' award conferred by Britain’s 'The Banker' magazine. The awards are widely regarded as the Oscars for the banking Industry. HSBC QUITS PRIVATE BANKING IN INDIA Global banking major Britain’s HSBC (Hong Kong, Shanghai Banking Corporation) announced shutting down of its private banking business in India that offers wealth management services, from first quarter of 2016. They may continue their retail banking operations. Tech Mahindra has launched ‘MoboMoney’, India’s first ‘Tap N Pay’ contactless digital payment solution in the form of a prepaid wallet based on NFC (Near Field Communication) technology. Axis Bank has partnered with e-Mudhra to introduce ‘eSign’ – an online electronic signature service which facilitates an Aadhaar holder to digitally sign a document at the click of a button. Announcing the 5th Bi-Monthly Monetary Policy

review on Dec 2, RBI Governor did not change any of the key policy rates.

RBI has granted in principle approval to the National Payments Corporation of India to function as the Central Unit for Bharat Bill Payment System.

Banks opened a whopping 19.52 crore accounts under the Prime Minister's Jan Dhan Yojana till the first week of December, 2015.

RBI has extended the deadline for exchanging pre-2005 currency notes by another six months to June 30, 2016. It was to expire on Dec 31, 2015.

RBI has asked banks to make changes in ATM switches by March 31, 2016 to help customers register for mobile banking services from the ATM itself.

Govt released two commemorative coins of Rs.125 and Rs.10 as part of the 125th birth anniversary year celebrations of Babasaheb Bhim Rao Ambedkar.

ICICI Bank has tied up with railway’s e-ticketing platform IRCTC to sell rail tickets through its website.


NOVEMBER 2015

3% INTEREST SUBVENTION ON EXPORT LOANS

With a view to boost exports, the government has approved three per cent interest subvention scheme to allow exporters to avail loans from banks at a lower rate. The scheme will be applicable from April 1, 2015 for next five years.

RUPAY CARD USAGE CONDITION RELAXED Government has extended RuPay card usage condition of at least one transaction in 45 days to 90 days for filing a claim under in-built accident insurance cover under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana with effect from November 25, 2015.

RBI RESTRICTS SHARE HOLDING IN BANKS RBI has made it mandatory for individuals and companies to take its prior approval before acquiring shares or voting rights in a private bank for increasing the aggregate holding to 5 percent or more. The decision has been taken to ensure that only the genuine persons enter the banking sector.

SBI LAUNCHES ‘NEEV’ FUND State Bank of India launched the country's first low-income state infrastructure equity partnership (or the Neev fund) in London. The fund aims at providing equity partnerships for small infrastructure development in sectors like water and sanitation, clean energy and urban infrastructure.

INDIAN CORPORATES’ ‘MASALA BONDS’ Some of the top rated companies like housing finance major HDFC, state-owned NTPC and India Railways Finance Corporation (IRFC) are firming up plans to raise fund by issuing rupee-denominated ‘masala bonds’ in foreign capital markets. Masala bonds are Indian rupee denominated bonds issued in overseas capital markets by Indian corporates.

SOVEREIGN GOLD BONDS ISSUE OPENED Recently introduced Sovereign gold bonds were opened for public subscription from November 5-30. Bonds will earn interest at rate of 2.75 per cent. Investors will have a choice to buy bonds worth 2 grams of gold, up to a maximum of 500 grams.

COOP BANKS ALLOWED NET BANKING RBI has allowed state and district central co-operative banks to offer internet banking to its customers subject to certain conditions. Only those cooperative banks that have implemented Core Banking Solution and migrated to Internet Protocol Version 6 will be allowed to offer ‘view only’ internet banking. View only facility means the customers can only use online services such as balance enquiry, balance viewing, account statement download and request for supply of cheque books. TRADE RECEIVABLES DISCOUNTING SYSTEM RBI has granted an "in-principle" approval to three companies to set up and operate a new Trade Receivables Discounting System (TReDS). This will allow small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to post their receivables on the system and get them financed, bringing in much needed transparency to the trade receivable system. HDFC BANK FIRST TO USE MUSICAL LOGO HDFC Bank has become the first Indian bank to launch Sonic branding (Musical Logo) to be used across multiple touch points like ATMs, phone banking, mobile banking and the bank's website. It will help the bank to create distinct brand imagery and recall among various stakeholders INDIA's BANKING ‘STABLE’ - MOODY's Moody's Investors Service has upgraded its outlook for India's banking system to 'stable' from 'negative' on expectation that a gradual improvement in the operating environment for lenders will lead to slow down in bad loans in future BARTER TO END ON MYANMAR BORDER Indo-Myanmar border is perhaps one of the few places on the earth where barter trade still exists. However, with the improvement in banking presence in the border, the RBI has now decided to officially stop the barter system - trading of goods without exchange of money, from December 1.


The RBI has allowed foreign investors to buy default non-convertible debentures and bonds provided their maturity is for three years or more.

RBI has decided that a foreign bank in India can deploy a maximum of four expatriates for each branch and not more than six for their Head Office functions.

OCTOBER 2015

FINANCIAL INCLUSION FUND BY RBI

The RBI has decided to create a new Financial Inclusion Fund- FIF with a corpus of 2,000 crore rupees by merger of two different funds - Financial Inclusion Fund and Financial Inclusion Technology Fund into a single Fund to support 'developmental and promotional activities' of banking services. The new Fund will be maintained by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development - NABARD. CHEAPER LOANS FOR SC COMMUNITY RBI has advised that the condition of up to only 4 per cent variance between minimum and maximum interest rates on loans given by micro finance lenders will not be applicable on sections belonging to scheduled castes living below double poverty line (i.e. annual income below Rs. 40,000/- in rural areas and Rs. 55,000/- in urban areas) MOVE TO CURB NPAs With a view to curb the incidence of non-performing assets (NPAs) in banks, the government has made it mandatory for all financial institutions to obtain an affidavit from auditors who sign balance sheets of companies applying for loans. 100% FDI ALLOWED IN WLAs Govt has decided to allow foreign investment up to 100 per cent in White Label ATM operations under the automatic route to promote financial inclusion. The Reserve Bank has revised downwards its real GDP forecast for 2015-16 to 7.4 per cent from earlier expectation of 7.6 per cent, saying that growth is expected to pick up in the latter part of the fiscal.

QR CODE BASED PAYMENTS BY ICICI BANK ICICI Bank has become the first bank in the world to launch mVisa - a card-less and device-less payment solution. It has incorporated the mVisa application in its Pockets app, which allows payments to be made by scanning a static QR code and entering the amount.

UCO BANK WORSE IN NPAs Recent RBI data shows that among public sector banks, the UCO Bank had highest ratio of NPAs at 8.5 per cent of its loans in 2014-15, followed by Indian Overseas Bank (8.30) and Bank of Maharashtra (6.18). State Bank of India has received in principle approval from the RBI to set up a subsidiary to frame and implement a uniform policy for all the real estate properties owned or rented by the bank. Schedule commercial banks' credit increased by 9.54% to Rs 67.8 billion while deposits increased by 11.25% to Rs 91.6 billion in the fortnight ended October 16, according to RBI data.

RBI has said that the banks will be free to set interest

rate on Gold Deposit Schemes and principal and interest of the deposit will be denominated in gold.

Reserve Bank of India has opened its sub-office in Imphal in Manipur.

The RBI has granted permission to the Indian corporate to issue rupee bonds outside India. These bonds would be exempted from capital gains tax.

The Reserve Bank has signed a MoU with Bangladesh Bank for exchange of supervisory information.

The government plans to bring down its stake in the IDBI Bank to 49 per cent, from 76.5 per cent at present with a view to make it more efficient.

HDFC Bank has automated its personal loan approvals through their ATMs that would track the customer's history and authorize a loan accordingly.

HDFC Bank has been rated 27th safest bank in the world, according to the Bank Safety Ranking done by the international financial magazine 'The Banker’.


DEFENCE, SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

DECEMBER 2015

DEF. SERVICES MEET ON INS VIKRAMADITYA

An annual Defence Services event called Unified Commanders Conference, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was held on board Navy’s aircraft carrier - INS Vikramaditya, about 50 kms off Kochi coast. This is for the first time when the conference was held outside New Delhi. The 8th edition of INDRA NAVY-15, a bilateral maritime joint naval exercise between the Indian and Russian navies, started off the coast of Visakhapatnam in the Bay of Bengal. NEW ‘ISLAMIC MILITARY ALLIANCE’ FORMED 34 Islamic nations have agreed to form a new “Islamic military alliance” led by Saudi Arabia to fight terrorism with a joint operations center based in Riyadh, capital of Saudi Arabia. Alliance includes a number of African countries but does not include Iran, Iraq and Syria.

INS Godavari, the country's first indigenously designed and built warship was decommissioned at Mumbai on Dec 24 after 32 years of service.

Israeli military has successfully tested from a ship an advanced surface-to-air supersonic missile – Barak 8, co-developed with India. It has a range of 100 kms.

Govt has approved the purchase of S-400 Triumf air defence missile systems from Russia.

Cochin Shipyard Ltd launched the Fast Patrol Vessel ‘ICGS Atulya’ for induction in Indian Coast Guard.

Indian Coast Guard has commissioned interceptor boat ‘ICGS C-422’ to further enhance its vigil along Pondicherry and South Tamil Nadu coast.

India test-fired the indigenously built nuclear-capable Agni-I missile having a hitting range of 700 km, from a test range off the Odisha coast.

Pakistan successfully test-fired nuclear capable ballistic missile Shaheen 1A with a range of 900 kilometres & Shaheen-III which can carry nuclear warheads up to 2,750 kms

PSLV – C29 LAUNCHED SUCCESSFULLY The ISRO successfully demonstrated its ability to launch multiple payloads in vastly different altitudes using a single flight of the rocket when it launched PSLV-C29 rocket carrying six satellites of Singapore. They included main satellite TeLEOS-1 and five mini satellites that were placed at an altitude of 550 kms. FALCON 9 LANDS ON EARTH US space company SpaceX created history on Dec 21 when its powerful Falcon 9 rocket landed back on earth within 10 minutes of its launch from the Cape Canaveral in Florida, after placing 11 satellites in orbit. This means that now it is possible to make rockets as reusable as airplanes, leading to huge savings in costs of sending satellites in space. ATLAS V CARRIES SUPPLIES TO ISS The Atlas V rocket of NASA, carrying much needed US supplies blasted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, USA, toward the International Space Station. The Cygnus capsule carried by the rocket contained more than 3,500kg of food, clothing, computer gear, spacewalk equipment and other supplies.

Scientists of the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) have discovered a new species of eel named Bengal moray eel along the Digha coast in West Bengal.

China launched its first space telescope- the Dark Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE) Satellite to study the mysterious dark matter.

China has approved commercial production of its first domestically developed electricity-powered aircraft known as RX 1E.

NOVEMBER 2015

LRSAM SUCCESSFULLY TESTED BY DRDO The Long Range Surface to Air Missile (LRSAM), jointly developed by the Israel Aerospace Industry and Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), was successfully flight tested from the Israel Naval Platform for the first time on Nov 26.


‘DHANUSH’ TESTED SUCCESSFULLY

The nuclear-capable ballistic missile Dhanush was successfully test fired from warship INS Subhadra, off the Puri coast of Odisha in the Bay of Bengal. It is the naval variant of the Prithvi – II missile, having a strike range of 350 kilometres. ARMY TESTS ‘BRAHMOS’ SUCCESSFULLY Indian Army successfully test-fired the land attack variant of the 290-km range BrahMos supersonic cruise missile at the Pokhran test range in Rajasthan. BrahMos, a joint effort between India and Russia, is the fastest and only supersonic cruise missile in the world capable of flying at 2.8 times the speed of sound and can be launched from land, sea and air. Agni-IV, the nuclear-capable ballistic missile, tested

for a range of 4,000 kms from Abdul Kalam Island (formerly Wheeler Island), off the Odisha coast.

India test-fired its indigenously developed nuclear capable Prithvi-II missile, which has a strike range of 350 kms from the test range off the Odisha coast.

The DRDO test-fired an Advanced Air Defence (AAD) interceptor missile from Abdul Kalam Island in Odisha’s Balasore district.

DRDO has developed Advanced Torpedo Defence System “Maareech” and “Vaarunaastra” for use by the Indian Navy

INS Kadmatt, the second of the four indigenously built stealth Anti-Submarine Warfare corvette, was formally handed over to the Navy on Nov 26.

INS Vishwakarma, a premier training establishment of the Indian Navy for the shipwrights commissioned in Vishakhapatnam.

ICGS Arinjay, a Fast Patrol Vessel was commissioned in Indian Navy at Kochi. ICGS – Indian Coast Guard Ship

‘Indra-2015’, the seventh edition India-Russia Joint Military Exercise held in Bikaner district of Rajasthan.

China has displayed its strongest combat and reconnaissance drone CH – 5 that can fly with a weight of 3,000 kg and carry 900 kg of equipment and weapons.

GSAT-15 TO AUGMENT COMMUNICATIONS India’s latest communication satellite GSAT-15 was successfully launched by the European Ariane rocket from Kourou in French Guiana. It will augment telecommunication, Direct-to-Home and radio navigation services. The satellite will be navigated and controlled by the ISRO’s Master Control Facility at Hassan in Karnataka. GOOGLE TO LAUNCH ‘PROJECT LOON’ IN INDIA Google is working with the Indian government on a pilot project for providing Internet connectivity by using large balloons. Under its ‘Project Loon’, Google is using big balloons floating at a height of 20 kilometres above earth surface for transmission of Internet services. EARLY WARNING SATELLITE BY RUSSIA Russia has launched its first early warning system satellite named EKS or Integrated Space System. Its official name is Kosmos 2510 (Tundra 11L). It is designed to restore Moscow's capability to identify and track worldwide missile launches from space. WORLD’s FASTEST SUPERCOMPUTER

China’s Tianhe-2 supercomputer has emerged as the world’s most powerful supercomputer system for the sixth consecutive time, performing calculations with processing speed of 33.86 petaflops per second. Second on list is Titan of the USA, performing @ 17.59 Pflop/s. FIRST EVER ‘POROUS’ LIQUID DISCOVERED In a breakthrough, scientists in U K have developed the world's first 'porous' liquid that can potentially be used to capture and dissolve unusually large amounts of harmful carbon gas emissions to prevent its absorption in the Earth's atmosphere.

Facebook has partnered with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL) to create 100 Wi-Fi hotspots in rural areas of western and southern India.

A new species of the Dracula ant, likely to be of Stigmatomma group of predaceous ants, was discovered by scientists in the Western Ghats of Kerala.


China's first lunar rover, Yutu, set a record for the longest stay on the Moon by completing almost two years stay, landing on moon on Dec 14, 2013.

Japan conducted its first commercial satellite launch on August 24, with an H-IIA rocket carrying a Canadian communications spacecraft, Telstar 12V, into orbit.

China launched a civil communication satellite ChinaSat-2C from the Xichang space center in Sichuan province.

OCTOBER 2015

INS KALVARI RELEASED FOR SEA TRIALS Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders released the first Scorpene category submarine INS 'Kalvari' for sea trails at the Naval Dockyard Mumbai. After successful completion of all the rigorous trials and tests, it will be formally inducted in Indian Navy later in 2016. JOINT NAVAL OPERATION – MALABAR

The navies of India, United States and Japan began a five-day joint operation-'Malabar exercise' on October 14 on the eastern coast in Bay of Bengal, in which several warships, aircraft carriers and fast attack submarine participated. INDIA SRI LANKA CONDUCT ‘SLINEX’ The Indian and Sri Lankan Navies conducted the 4th edition of Sri Lanka-India Exercise (SLINEX) in Bay of Bengal, off the Trincomalee coast in Sri Lanka, from October 27 to November 1. ‘MITRA SHAKTI’ HELD WITH SRI LANKA

A 14-day joint training exercise 'Mitra Shakti 2015', involving military contingents from India and Sri Lanka, was held in Pune from Sep 29 to Oct 12 to secure a better understanding of the modern day warfare requirements. MICRO-LIGHT AIRCRAFTS FROM SLOVENIA India has signed a deal with Slovenia for supply of 194 Pipistrel micro-light aircraft to be used by Indian Air Force, the Navy and the National Cadet Corps (NCC). The Indian version of the aircraft will be renamed as Garud.

Indigenously built naval warship INS Kochi, the stealth guided missile destroyer, was inducted in the Indian Navy on Sep 30.

The Defence Ministry has approved the induction of women officers into the combat stream of IAF, allowing them for first time, to fly fighter aircrafts.

The Indo-Tibetan Border Police, for the first time, has decided to deploy women in combat duties at its high-altitude posts along the Indo-China border.

Fast patrol Vessel (FPV) ICGS Anmol was inducted in the Coast Guard Region (North East) in Kolkata.

India’s first indigenously built torpedo launch and recovery vessel - INS Astradharini, inducted in Indian Navy on Oct 6 at Vishakhaptnam.

5th Indo-China Joint Military Training Exercise- HAND-IN-HAND conducted at Kunming Military Academy, Yunnan, China from 12 to 23 October.

A joint maritime exercise of naval patrol vessels - Coordinated Patrol (CORPAT) between India and Indonesia began on 3 Oct in the Andaman Sea.

ISRO PLACES ASTROSAT IN ORBIT India’s first dedicated astronomy research satellite Astrosat was successfully launched on Sep 28 by the Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV-C30 from Sriharikota. The satellite weighing 1531 kg was placed in an equatorial orbit at about 650 kilometre height. With this launch, India has joined a select league of nations having their observatories in space. INDIA SETS NEW CLIMATE TARGETS In a climate-change policy statement released ahead of a UN climate summit in Paris in December, 2015, India has decided to cut the carbon produced per unit of GDP growth by 33-35 per cent by 2030 from what it was in 2005. It also committed to generate 40 percent of cumulative installed power capacity from non-fossil fuel sources by 2030. India is the world's third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases.


‘CIPS’ LAUNCHED TO PROMOTE YUAN China has launched the first phase of “China International Payment System (CIPS)” to promote Yuan’s global usage and furthering cross-border clearing of its currency from the Chinese mainland instead of offshore centres abroad. ‘MAGIC CUBE’ – CHINA’s SUPER OMPUTER China plans to employ a special $ 14 million "magic cube" super computer as tall as a two-storey building in its quest to know the earth's future and calculate the potential changes to the climate and biological systems. MICROSOFT AND GOOGLE BURY THE HATCHET

Microsoft Corp and Google Inc have agreed to bury all patent infringement litigation against each other, settling 18 cases in the United States and Germany. In another sign of the winding down of the global smart phone wars, the companies said the deal puts an end to court fights involving a variety of technologies, including mobile phones, wi-fi and patents used in Microsoft's Xbox game consoles and other Windows products.

NASA scientists claimed to have found the strongest

ever evidence of liquid water on Planet Mars that could help sustain future manned missions.

INTERNATIONAL

DECEMBER 2015

THE 10th WTO MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE The 10th WTO (World Trade Organisation) Ministerial Conference was held in Nairobi, Kenya from Dec 15 to 19. The meet adopted the Nairobi Package containing six issues aimed at benefitting organization’s poorest members. India was represented by the Union Commerce & Industry Minister, Ms. Nirmala Sitharaman.

Afghanistan was admitted as WTO’s 163rd member.

Director-General: Roberto Azevêdo ,

HQ: Geneva, Switzerland

ASIAN INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT BANK China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in which India holds 8.52 % share, along with other 56 countries, was formally established in Beijing on Dec 25. With an authorised capital of $100 billion and subscribed capital of $50 billion, the bank will invest in sectors like energy, transportation, urban construction, education and healthcare. ZIMBABWE TO ADOPT YUAN AS ITS CURRENCY Zimbabwe plans to adopt the Chinese Yuan as its currency with a view to cancel the debt worth 40 million dollars from China. Zimbabwe dumped its own currency in 2009 due to deep recession. China has become the largest investor in Zimbabwe, which has been shunned by the West over its human rights record OIL PRICES CRASH TO 11 YEARS LOW Global crude oil prices fell to an over 11-year low to around $ 36 a barrel. Oil prices have halved over the past year. One main reason behind the fall is higher exports from USA as half of their fuel needs are now being met by shale gas. Lifting of sanctions from Iran has led to increase in its oil exports. Overall, global slowdown has reduced the demand for oil. US LIFTS OIL EXPORT BAN United States has lifted a 40-year ban on oil exports, marking a historic shift for the booming US oil industry. The ban was first imposed in 1975 as the United States was reeling from the 1973-1974 Arab oil embargo. ‘STAR WARS’ CREATES BOX OFFICE RECORD In the United States and Canada, the newest film in the Star Wars series has set a box office record collecting over $ 238 million in first week, breaking previous record of $208 million by Jurassic World. UNSC RESOLVES AGAINST ISIS The UN Security Council (UNSC) has adopted a resolution to increase sanctions against the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq (ISIS) group and other terrorist groups. The resolution seeks to cut off revenue flows including ransom payments to these groups, by all means. WOMEN ALLOWED VOTING IN SAUDI ARABIA

In Saudi Arabia, at least 20 women won municipal council seats (roughly 1 percent of total) in the historic local elections in which females were

allowed to cast votes and run for office for the first time in the country's history.


PARIS CLIMATE SUMMIT

200 NATIONS SIGN ‘PARIS AGREEMENT’ Nearly 200 nations adopted the first global pact to fight climate change on Dec 12 at COP 21 meet by UNFCCC at Le Bourget, France, calling on the world to collectively cut and then eliminate greenhouse gas pollution but imposing no sanctions on countries that don't.

COP - Conference of the Parties

UNFCCC - United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

The nations agreed on following issues: A long-term goal of keeping the increase in global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels;

Aim to limit the increase to 1.5°C, since this would significantly reduce risks and the impacts of climate change.

To undertake rapid reductions in emission levels in accordance with the best available scientific methods.

Developed countries to continue their existing collective goal to mobilise USD 100 billion per year until 2025 when a new collective goal will be set.

NEW CLIMATE INITIATIVE BY UNO The United Nations has launched a new initiative titled Anticipate, Absorb, Reshape to build climate resilience in the world’s most vulnerable countries. It will strengthen the ability of countries to anticipate hazards, absorb shocks, and reshape development to reduce climate risks. INDIA COMMITS LOWER EMISSIONS Outlining India's initiatives and stand on climate issues at Paris climate meet, Prime Minister Modi said that India will reduce its emissions intensity by 33 percent of its GDP by 2030, on the basis of 2005 levels and 40 percent of country’s installed power capacity would be by non fossil fuels by 2022. INTERNATIONAL SOLAR ALLIANCE LAUNCHED At the Climate Summit in Paris, Prime Minister Modi initiated the idea of the international solar alliance to harness solar power as a major step to mitigate carbon gas emissions. This also aims at achieving the objective of keeping global warming below 2 degree Celsius between now and 2100. India has already submitted its Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) in which India has committed to generate 100 giga watt solar power by 2022.

PARIS PACT ON WATER AND CLIMATE CHANGE A wide geographic coalition of national and cross-border river basin organisations, governments, funding agencies, local governments, companies and civil society have adopted the Paris Pact on Water and Climate Change Adaptation in Paris. It encompasses individual commitments to implement adaptation plans, strengthening water monitoring and measurement systems in river basins and promoting financial sustainability and new investment in water systems management. 'MISSION INNOVATION' FOR CLEAN ENERGY World leaders from 20 countries, including India and global investors lead by Bill Gates, launched Mission Innovation at the COP21 in Paris for accelerating clean energy revolution across the world and to promote the use of renewable energy resources.

SOME CLIMATE CHANGE RELATED NEWS

SOUTH AMERICA REELS UNDER EL NINO The El Nino weather phenomenon in South Atlantic Ocean caused very heavy downpour in countries like Paraguay, Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil, leading to massive flooding their major rivers, forcing lakhs of persons to flee from their homes.

In the Chinese Capital, Beijing, the government has issued its first red alert on pollution, the highest level in the system, ordering schools to close for four days due to hazardous air quality.

Thousands of people were forced to flee their homes in northern England hit by “unprecedented” flooding. Army was called in to support local authorities.

A string of powerful tornado storms wreaked havoc across southern United States, killing scores of persons and causing extensive damage to houses and vehicles.

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BRAZIL SLIPS INTO DEEP RECESSION Brazil's economy shrank by 1.7% in the third quarter of the year compared with the second quarter, deepening the country's worst recession in 25 years. Compared with a year ago, the economy is 4.5% smaller. The drop in economic activity was largely due to a drop in investment, which fell by 15% compared with a year ago, leading to massive unemployment. US FED HIKES RATES AFTER A DECADE The Federal Reserve of USA hiked interest rates by 25 basis points to 0.50 on Dec 16, for the first time since 2006, reflecting its confidence in the stable growth of U.S. economy. The Fed strongly believes that the US economy had largely overcome the wounds of the 2007-2009 financial crisis. It also raised its projection for its economic growth next year slightly, from 2.3 percent to 2.4 percent. Rates in the US have been at near-zero since 2008. Shortly after the Fed's announcement, major banks began announcing that they were raising their prime lending rate from 3.25 percent to 3.50 percent. FACEBOOK CEO DONATES 99% SHARES Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg while announcing the birth of his first child pledged to give away 99 per cent of his company shares, currently worth a whopping $45 billion, to make the world a “better place” for daughter Maxima and other children. YUAN APPROVED AS SDR CURRENCY The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has decided to include the Chinese currency, the Yuan, in its Special Drawing Rights (SDR) basket effective from October 1, 2016, besides the US dollar, the euro, the Japanese yen and the British pound. WORLD TSUNAMI AWARENESS DAY – NOV 5 The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution to observe November 5 every year as World Tsunami Awareness Day for raising awareness about the dangers of tsunami and the importance of early warning systems for minimising damage.

The World AIDS Day was observed on 1 December 2015 across the world with the theme “Getting to zero, End AIDS by 2030”.

Mexico has approved the use of the first-ever vaccine against dengue fever - Dengvaxia, manufactured by French pharma major Sanofi Pasteur.

The Philippines became the first Asian country to approve the sale of the world's first-ever dengue vaccine, Dengvaxia.

Gambia, a tiny West African country has decided to become an Islamic republic because Islam is the religion of the majority of its citizens.

The first media summit of countries belonging to the Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa (BRICS) grouping held at Beijing on Dec 1.

Food and Agriculture Organization of UNO launched International Year of Pulses on 10 November with the theme ‘nutritious seeds for a sustainable future’.

2nd World Internet Conference was held at Wuzen in Eastern China from Dec 16 to 18.

New Zealanders chose a new flag design featuring silver fern and red stars on a black and blue background. The new design will be confirmed by vote in March.

NOVEMBER 2015

ISIS MILITANTS ATTACK PARIS In one of the worst gruesome terrorist attacks, over 129 people were killed and more than 300 were wounded in multiple ISIS terrorists’ shootings in Paris and explosions outside the national stadium - Stade de France. Nations around the world have joined hands to fight back ISIS.

UNSC ADOPTS RESOLUTION AGAINST ISIS The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) unanimously adopted a France sponsored resolution calling all nations to take all necessary measures to prevent and suppress the terrorist acts of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and other extremist groups. NEPAL REELS UNDER MADHESI AGITATION Several persons, including policemen have been killed in Terai region of Nepal due to ongoing Madhesi agitation. The violence comes as the landlocked country, heavily dependent on India for supplies of essential goods, continues to reel under acute shortage of fuels, medicines and other items for over two months now, due to roads blocked by Madhesis.

Madhesis, the Indian-origin inhabitants of the Terai region, have been protesting against division of their ancestral homeland in the new Constitution. They are also demanding proportionate representation in government mechanism, allocation of Parliament seats on the basis of population and re-demarcation of the federal provinces.


G-20 SUMMIT HELD IN ANTALAYA A two day summit of Heads of G-20 nations was held in Antalaya, Turkey to dwell on inclusive economic growth and climate change. A special resolution was also passed to condemn the

gruesome terrorist attack in Paris and make united efforts to eliminate terrorism across the globe. Prime Minister Modi represented India at the meet. APEC SUMMIT HELD IN MANILA Leaders of economies which account for nearly half of the world's trade and about 57 per cent of global gross domestic product met in Manila for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. This year, the theme of the summit is Building Inclusive Economies, Building a Better World. ASEAN DECLARES FORMATION OF AEC Leaders of the ASEAN group of nations have declared the establishment of an EU-style regional economic bloc, ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), a single market with a free flow of goods, capital and skilled labour in the region. It will integrate Southeast Asia's diverse economies, a region with 620 million people and a combined gross domestic product of $2.6 trillion. MYANMAR VOTES TO END MILITARY RULE Free General elections were held in Myanmar after a gap of almost 25 years. Voters came out in very heavy numbers to exercise their right. The pro-democracy party National League for Democracy, led by its charismatic leader Aung San Suu Kyi is expected to form the government after a decades-long struggle against army dictatorship. WORLD’s SECOND BIGGEST DIAMOND FOUND The world's second-largest gem quality diamond has been discovered in Botswana in southern Africa. It is the biggest diamond to be found in more than a century. The 1,111 carat gem is only second in size to the 3,106 carat Cullinan diamond, which was unearthed in South Africa in 1905. AN EMOJI IS 2015 WORD OF THE YEAR For the first time, Oxford Dictionary has chosen an emoji pictograph, commonly referred to as an emoticon, as its 2015 Word of the Year after it made history due to its popularity on social media and instant messaging. This was the most commonly used emoji in 2015.

ISIS MILITANTS DOWN RUSSIAN PLANE Russia suspended all its flights to Egypt after one of its aircraft suffered mid-air bomb blast soon after take-off from Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, killing all 224 people on board. It is suspected that a bomb blast in the aircraft caused the crash.

The International Day for Tolerance observed globally on 16 November with an aim to educate people about the need for tolerance in society and help them understand the negative effects of intolerance.

WIDESPREAD DOPING IN RUSSIA A report from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) outlined systematic doping in Russian athletics. As a result, Russia was provisi-onally suspended from all international track and field events by International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). 27th ASEAN summit (Association of Southeast Asian

Nations) was held in Kuala Lumpur on November 21. The 10th East Asia Summit was held in Kuala

Lumpur, Malaysia on Nov 22, under the theme Our People, Our Community, Our Vision.

UNESCO rejected Kosovo's bid for membership as it failed to receive the support of two-thirds of the UNESCO’s member nations.

Islamist militants laid siege to the Radisson Blue Hotel in Bamako, capital of Mali killing at least 27 persons from different nations.

The World Health Organisation on 16 November 2015 launched the World Antibiotic Awareness Week with the theme Antibiotics: handle with care.

Operation Inherent Resolve is the name of US military operation against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in Iraq and Syria.

The World Meteorological Organisation has said that global average temperatures this year are likely to be the warmest on record.

Young supporters of Hong Kong's democracy movement, known as 'Umbrella Soldiers', won few seats in the elections dominated by pro-Beijing forces.

Sierra Leone has been declared Ebola-free by the WHO, prompting nationwide celebrations tinged with sadness over the loss of 4,000 victims to the disease.

Global pharma major Pfizer and Botox maker Allergan have entered into a $ 160 billion merger agreement, the biggest ever deal in pharma sector.

China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba created a new record in online sales netting $14.33 billion on the annual Singles Day on Nov 13.


OCTOBER 2015

POORS’ POPULATION TO BE LESS THAN 10 % As per the latest World Bank report on global poverty, the number of people living in extreme poverty is likely to fall for the first time below 10% of the world’s population in 2015. Around 702 million people or 9.6% of the world’s

population will be living in extreme poverty in 2015, down from 902 million or 12.8% in 2012.

India had largest number of poor in 2012, but its poverty rate at 21.2 per cent is one of the lowest among developing countries.

The World Bank has revised its benchmark poverty from living on or below $1.25 a day to $1.90 a day.

OPERATION SOPHIA BY EU TO NAB REFUGEES

The European Union has started a new operation termed Operation Sophia to actively intercept boats smuggling refugees. Now the EU officials will be able to board, search, seize and divert vessels suspected of being used for human smuggling or trafficking on the high seas, in line with international law. PAK-AFGHANISTAN HIT BY EARTHQUAKE A powerful 7.5 magnitude earthquake killed over 400 persons in Pakistan and Afghanistan and left over 1600 as injured. The epicentre of the earthquake was near Jurm in northeast Afghanistan. V-20 GROUP OF NATIONS FORMED Finance Ministers of 20 nations vulnerable to climate change launched the V-20 Group on 8 October 2015 in Lima, Peru. The Group aims to pool resources for their fight against the impact of global warming and is a counterpoint to the G20 group of leading industrialised and emerging economies. UNO CELEBRATES 70TH ANNIVERSARY To commemorate the 70th anniversary of the United Nations on October 24, more than 200 landmark monu-ments in 60 countries from the Pyramids in Egypt to the Eiffel Tower in Paris and the Empire State Building in New York will be lit up in blue- the official colour of UNO.

INDIA RECEIVED OVER $70 BILLION IN 2014 A report from the World Bank says that the remittances to India are projected to increase by 2.5 per cent this year even as weak economies in Europe, especially Russia, are slowing the growth of remittance flows. In 2014, India is estimated to have received remittances worth $70.3 billion.

NATO CONDUCTS ‘TRIDENT JUNCTURE – 2015’ NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) forces conducted their massive field exercise TRIDENT JUNCTURE 2015 from October 3 to November 6 in 16 locations across Italy, Spain and Portugal to train, exercise and learn from one another. Over 36.000 troops – from air, land and maritime forces – from more than 30 Allied and Partner Nations took part. UNCTAD PUTS WORLD GROWTH RATE @2.5% The Trade and Development Report 2015 by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) says that the growth rate for world in 2015 is expected to remain more or less unchanged from last year, at 2.5 per cent. However, India’s GDP is expected to grow at 7.5% in 2015 compared to China’s 6.9%. USA SIGNS TRADE DEAL WITH 11 COUNTRIES 11 Pacific Rim nations, including Canada and Chile to Japan and Australia have agreed to sign with USA, the largest regional trade accord in history, The Trans-Pacific Partnership for global commerce and worker standards, forming over 40 per cent of the world’s economy. INTERNATIONAL DAY OF OLDER PERSONS This day was observed on October 1 to raise awareness about issues affecting the elderly and to appreciate the contributions that older people make to society. The theme this year is, 'Sustainability and Age Inclusiveness in the Urban Environment'.


WORLD’S HIGHEST HYDRO POWER STATION

China has operationalised the world’s highest mega hydropower station at Zam in Tibet, built on Brahmaputra River which has raised concerns in India over the likelihood of disrupting water supplies of River.

China has announced the end of its hugely controversial 45 years old one-child policy. Now, all couples would be allowed to have two children.

China's GDP decelerated to 6.9 per cent in the third quarter of this year, posting its worst growth since the 2009 global financial crisis

China successfully launched the Tianhui-1C mapping satellite into its designated orbit from Jiuquan satellite launch centre

Senior executives of IMF and World Bank Group held their annual three-day meeting in Lima, Peru to address current challenges facing the world economy.

The World Trade Organization, WTO, has lowered 2015 global trade forecast to 2.8 percent in the face of a slowdown in the economies of emerging countries.

PERSONS IN NEWS

DECEMBER 2015

SHAH RUKH KHAN: Bollywood megastar has been ranked as the country’s top-earning celebrity with estimated earnings of Rs. 257.5 crore this year, pushing Salman Khan to the second position (202.75 crore) in the latest Forbes India Celebrity List for 2015. KATY PERRY: Global pop singer from USA is on top of Forbes magazine's list of highest-paid musicians of 2015, with $135 million in earnings. ANGELA MERKEL: German Chancellor has been named as the "Person of the Year" by the Times Magazine for her role in Europe's crises over migration and Greek debt. LAIMDOTA STRAUJUMA: Latvia’s first female Prime Minister announced her resignation after political squabbles within her center-right ruling coalition and dissatisfaction about her leadership.

NOVEMBER 2015

PAWAN MUNJAL: Managing Director of Hero MotoCorp, was the highest paid director with a remuneration of Rs.43.91 crore during the 2014-15 financial year. ARUNDHATI BHATTACHARYA: Chairperson of country's largest bank SBI remains the most powerful woman in the Indian business sector, according to Fortune India’s latest rankings of Indian business women. ICICI Bank's Chanda Kochhar and Shikha Sharma of Axis Bank follow at the second and third place, respectively. LIONEL MESSI: International iconic Football star has been picked up by the Tata Motors as their global brand ambassador for their passenger vehicles. VICTOR PONTA: Romanian Prime Minister was in news as he announced his resignation bearing moral responsibility for a nightclub blaze that killed 32 people.

OCTOBER 2015

NAYANTARA SAHGAL, ASHOK VAJPAYEE: Several noted writers returned their Sahitya Akademi Awards in protest against what they called the “vanishing space” for diversity. It was with reference to the recent killings of rationalists and writers M.M. Kalburgi, Narendra Dabholkar and Govind Pansare and of Dadri resident Mohammad Akhlaq, who was lynched on suspicion of consuming beef.

NAINA LAL KIDWAI: Chairperson of HSBC India since 2009 will retire by the end of this year, having completed 58 years of age.

JERRY SEINFELD: He has been named as the world’s highest paid comedian by Forbes. The 61-year-old comedian earned $ 36 million between June 1, 2014 and June 1, 2015.

APPOINTMENTS

DECEMBER 2015

R.K. MATHUR: Appointed the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC), breaking away from the convention of appointing the head from among the serving information commissioners. He is former union defence secretary. GAUTAM H BAMBAWALE: Appointed as the High Commissioner of India to the Pakistan ARUN KUMAR JAIN: Appointed Chairman of Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT).


SIR VENKATRAMAN RAMAKRISHNAN: Nobel laureate in Chemistry, assumed Presidency of the Royal Society in London for a period of five years. It is one of most prestigious body of scientists.

ROCH MARC CHRISTIAN KABORE: Elected as the President of the West African country Burkina Faso.

NOVEMBER 2015

JUSTICE T S THAKUR: New Chief Justice of India (43rd), succeeding Justice HL Dattu.

NITISH KUMAR: Elected as the new Bihar Chief Minister

SYED AKBARUDDIN: 1985 batch officer of Indian Foreign Service has been appointed as the next Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations at New York.

NAVTEJ SINGH SARNA: Veteran diplomat, an IFS officer of 1980 batch, has been appointed as India’s next High Commissioner to the United Kingdom.

VIJAY KESHAV GOKHALE: Senior diplomat has been appointed as India’s Ambassador to China.

RAGHURAM RAJAN: Governor RBI has been elected Vice-Chairman of the Bank of International Settlement (BIS) at Basel, Switzerland.

SUBIR GOKARAN: Former RBI Deputy Governor has been appointed as an Executive Director on the board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He will represent India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Bhutan.

MAHESH KUMAR JAIN: MD and CEO of Indian Bank. R K TAKKAR: MD and CEO UCO Bank

J K GARG: Managing Director of Corporation Bank SURESH N PATEL: Appointed as the Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer of Andhra Bank. T.S.R. SUBRAMANIAN: Former Cabinet secretary has been appointed chairperson of a committee set up by the Human Resource Development Ministry to draft the new education policy.

HARSHAVARDHAN NEOTIA: Elected as the President of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) for the year 2016. He is the Chairman of Ambuja Neotia group of industries. SUNIL KANORIA: Appointed as the President of The Associated Chamber of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM). He is the Vice Chairman of the SREI Infrastructure Finance Ltd. Ms. ZARIN DARUWALA: Appointed as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Standard Chartered Bank, India.

JUSTICE AJIT PRAKASH SHAH: Appointed as the ethics officer (ombudsman) of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

MAURICIO MACRI: elected as the new President of Argentina. He is expected to be Argentina’s most economically liberal leader since the 1990s. He defeated the incumbent Mrs. Cristina Fernández de Kirchner.

JOHN POMBE MAGUFULI: Elected as the new President of Tanzania

OCTOBER 2015

ARUN JAITLEY: chosen as Finance Minister of the Year, Asia by London-based publication Emerging Markets.

SHEKHAR BASU: Renowned scientist has been appointed as the Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission.

SHASHANK MANOHAR: New President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India

NAJIB SHAH: Appointed as Chairman of Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC)

VIDYA DEVI BHANDARI: Noted Nepali Communist leader elected as Nepal’s first woman President by the Parliament.

K P SHARMA OLI: Veteran Communist party leader elected as Nepal's new Prime Minister

JIMMY MORALES: elected as the President of Guatemala

ALPHA CONDE: Re elected as the President of Guinea

JUSTIN TRUDEAU: Newly elected Prime Minister of Canada from Liberal Party.

ALEXANDER LUKASHENKO: re elected as the President of Belarus

PEDRO PASSOS COELHO: Newly elected Prime Minister of Portugal

JIOJI KONROTE: elected as new President of the Pacific island mini country Fiji.


AWARDS & HONOURS

DECEMBER 2015

THE GOLDEN PEACOCK: Award for best feature film at the 46th International Film Festival of India won by the Colombia film ‘Embrace of The Serpent’ directed by the Ciro Guerra. The award carries cash prize of Rs 40 lakh.

Col. C.K. Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award: Syed Kirmani, India's former wicket-keeper batsman who played 88 Tests and 49 ODIs between 1976 and 1986. The award is given by the BCCI in the honour of India’s first test cricket captain, Col C K Naidu.

Garwood Award for ‘Outstanding Global Leader in Open Innovation’: The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee was conferred this award by the UC Berkeley-Haas School of Business, California, USA.

NATIONAL SCIENCE MEDAL (USA): Indian-American tumour scientist Prof. Rakesh Jain has been selected for this top US science award.

SOUTH EAST ASIA WRITE AWARD: Won by Singapore based Indian origin writer J M Mali for his contribution to Tamil literature. Started in 1979, these awards are presented annually to poets and writers from ASEAN countries.

MAILER PRIZE FOR LITERATURE, USA: India-born author Salman Rushdie has been selected for this prestigious award that honours writers who fully exercise their freedom of creativity and thrive on dialogue and debate.

QUEEN's YOUNG LEADERS AWARD – 2016: Two Indians, Kartik Sawhney and Neha Swain, have won this prestigious award in the United Kingdom for their work in transforming the lives of others and making a lasting difference in their communities.

Miss Universe 2015: Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach of the Philippines

Miss International 2015: Edymar Martínez of Venezuela

Miss Earth 2015: Angelia Ong from Philippines

Miss Intercontinental 2015: Valentina Rasulova from Russia

Miss World 2015: Mireia Lalaguna from Spain

NOVEMBER 2015

THE INDIRA GANDHI PRIZE FOR PEACE, DISARMAMENT AND DEVELOPMENT- 2015: Awarded to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in recognition of its “immense contributions” in assisting millions of refugees and for working under difficult circumstances to bring about changes to reduce the flow of refugees.

KIREN RIJIJU: Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, was designated as the Disaster Risk Reduction Champion for the Asia Region by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR). He is the first Indian to be conferred with this honour.

RAMNATH GOENKA LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: Kuldip Nayar, a veteran journalist, columnist and author for his contribution to journalism.

KALA SHIKHAR AWARD: Santoor maestro Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma for lifetime achievement.

NEW YORK GLOBAL LEADERS DIALOGUE HUMANITARIAN AWARD: Bindeshwar Pathak, Social Activist and founder of Sulabh International, for his contribution to improving the quality of life for millions of manual scavengers.

INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN’S PEACE PRIZE: awarded to Abraham Keita (17) of Liberia for his “tireless campaigning” to end violence against minors.

OCTOBER 2015

SASTRA Ramanujan Prize 2015: Jacob Tsimerman of the University of Toronto, Canada. The age limit for the prize has been set at 32 because Ramanujan achieved so much in his brief life of 32 years. MAN BOOKER PRIZE FOR LITERATURE 2015: won by Jamaican author Marlon James for his novel A Brief History of Seven Killings inspired by the attempted assassination of famous music icon of Jamaica Bob Marley in the 1970s.

Best Short Film Award at the 2015 London Film Festival won by an Indian short film of 11 minutes, An Old Dog’s Diary.

CONFUCIUS PEACE PRIZE (China): Robert Mugabe, the Zimbabwean President, for “injecting fresh energy” into the global quest for harmony.

HARVARD HUMANITARIAN OF THE YEAR AWARD: Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi has been selected for the prestigious award given by the Harvard University,

European Parliament's Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought has been awarded to the Saudi blogger Raif Badawi, whose flogging sentence for causing insult to Islam invited global criticism.


BOOKS & AUTHORS

DECEMBER 2015

The Bose Brothers and Indian Independence – An Insider’s Account by Madhuri Bose, the grand-niece of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.

On My Terms: From the Grassroots to the Corridors of Power, an autobiography of Sharad Pawar

This Unquiet Land by Barkha Dutt

Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney.

See Me by Nicholas Sparks.

Rogue Lawyer by John Grisham.

NOVEMBER 2015

Combating Hunger and Achieving Food Security by M.S. Swaminathan

Chronicles of Time and Chance by Raymond Francis Isar

Because We Say So by Noam Chomsky

Why India Is Not A Great Power (Yet) by Bharat Karnad

My Gita by Devidutt Pattnaik

The Mare's Trap by Wendy Doniger.

What Happened to Netaji by Anuj Dhar

Rebooting India: Realizing a Billion Aspirations by Nandan Nilekani and Viral Shah

India-Myanmar Relations by Rajiv Bhatia.

OCTOBER 2015

The Clintons' War on Women by Roger Stone and Robert Morrow

Mrs Funnybones by Twinkle Khanna

To the Brink and Back: India’s 1991 Story by Jairam Ramesh.

A Children’s History of India by Subhadra Sen Gupta.

The Country of First Boys by Amartya Sen

Baat Niklegi toh Phir by Sathya Saran

Dreaming Big: My Journey to Connect India – an autobiography of Sam Pitroda, noted technocrat who brought telecom revolution in India.

The Chinar Leaves by veteran Congress leader and close aide of the Gandhi family M L Fotedar

Neither a Hawk nor a Dove: An Insider’s Account of Pakistan’s Foreign Policy by Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri, ex Foreign Minister of Pakistan.

The Courage to Act - A Memoir of a Crisis and Its Aftermath by Ben S. Bernanke. The author is the ex governor of the Federal Reserve of USA and the book is about the lessons learnt from the recessions like 2008 Financial Crisis.

OBITUARY

DECEMBER 2015

SADHANA (Shivdasani/Nayer): Veteran actress, who mesmerised audience with her beauty and powerful performances in timeless hits like “Hum Dono”, “Love in Simla” and “Waqt”, died in Mumbai after a brief illness. She was 74. She will always be remembered for her iconic fringe hair on forehead, famous as ‘Sadhna cut’.

SHARAD JOSHI: Renowned agro-economist, founder of Shetakari Sangthana, crusader for farmers’ rights and a former Rajya Sabha member, died at Pune at the age of 81.

MAM RAMASWAMY: Industrialist, founder of Chettinad Group, former parliamentarian passed away in Chennai at the age of 84 after prolonged illness.

USTAAD SABRI KHAN: Renowned sarangi player died at age of 88 due to breathing problems. He was decorated with Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan.

DR. ROBERT L. SPITZER: Veteran psychiatrist who gave psychiatry its first set of rigorous measuring standards to describe mental disorders, providing a framework for drawing the line between normal and abnormal behaviour, died in New York. He was 83.

ELDAR RYAZANOV: Russian legendary film Director died in Moscow at the age of 88. He directed some of the most popular and beloved comedies such as Irony of Fate, The Garage and Office Romance.


NOVEMBER 2015

RAM KRISHNA TRIVEDI: Former Gujarat governor, Chief Election Commissioner of India and Central Vigilance Commissioner, passed away after prolonged illness. He was 94. He is credited with the introduction of the voter ID cards in Indian Elections.

K. SANKARAN NAIR: Former Chief of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) passed away in Bengaluru. He was 94. Decorated with Padma Bhushan, he was the main strategist of the 1971 Bangladesh liberation war.

ASHOK SINGHAL: Veteran patron of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) passed away in Gurgaon due to a prolonged illness. He was 89. He served as the international working president of the VHP organisation for over 20 years.

BRIJMOHAN LALL MUNJAL (92): Hero Motocorp Ltd founder died in Delhi after prolonged illness.

SAEED JAFFREY: Veteran Bollywood actor died in London. He was 86. He was known for his roles in movies like Gandhi, Shatranj Ke Khilari, Henna, and Masoom. T R GOVINDARAJAN: Senior football administrator and veteran referee from Tamil Nadu, died after a brief illness. He was 90.

MAHIP SINGH: Noted writer and journalist passed away in Gurgaon, after a brief illness. He was 85.

HELMUT SCHMIDT: Former West German Chancellor, who led the country for eight years (1974-82) at the height of the Cold War, died at the age of 96.

OCTOBER 2015

RAVINDRA JAIN: Veteran music director-singer-lyricist passed away in Mumbai. He was 71. Though blind, he gave music for hit films like Chor Machaye Shor, Geet Gaata Chal, Chitchor and Ankhiyon Ke Jharokhon Se, in the 70s and was associated with epic TV serials like Ramayana and Mahabharata. SYED ZAHOOR QASIM: Renowned marine biologist considered as the founder of Polar Biology in India, passed away in New Delhi. He was 88. He was part of the first Indian expedition to Antarctica in 1981-82.

K S L SWAMY: Renowned Kannada filmmaker, producer, actor and playback singer passed away in Bengaluru. He was 77.

ASHWANI KUMAR: Ex DGP of Border security Force and ex President of the Indian Hockey Federation, passed away at 95.

LABH JANJUA: Noted Punjabi singer, famous for chartbusters like “London Thumakda” and “Jee karda bi jee karda”, died untimely in Mumbai

MANORAMA (Achhi): Legendary Tamil comedian and actress, who had starred in over 1,000 southern films, died at 78 in Chennai.

GAJANAN PENDHARKAR: Chairman of world famous ayurvedic cosmetics company – Vicco Laboratories, died in Mumbai. He was 81. He is credited with introduction of Vicco Vajradanti Toothpaste and Vicco Turmeric ayurvedic cream.

Dr. SYED AHMED: Governor of Manipur passed away at Mumbai. He was 73. He was a senior Congress leader.

HENNING MANKELL: Best-selling Swedish crime writer, whose detective character Kurt Wallander became a worldwide phenomenon, died at 67 after a battle with cancer.

PLACES IN NEWS

DECEMBER 2015

KANNUR: Town in Kerala was in news as the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) excavated 35,950 cannon balls at the historic Fort St Angelo in the town. The cannon balls made of iron, weighing 800 gms to 10 kg. were unearthed when workers were digging the earth to lay a cable channel for a light and sound show at the Fort.

JAZAN: Port city in southwestern Saudi Arabia was in news as a fire in its general hospital killed 31 people and injured 107.

SHENZHEN: In China, more than 90 persons were killed due to a landslide caused by the collapse of a huge mound of waste construction mud in Shenzhen industrial area in south China.

SAN BERNARDINO: A city in California, USA was in news as gunmen opened fire on a holiday party at a social services agency, killing 14 people and wounding 17 others. Two gunmen were killed later on.

TYPHOON NONA (Melor): Hundreds of thousands of people were evacuated from the central Philippines as a typhoon with winds of up to 150 kph made landfall, causing heavy rains leading to massive flooding and landslides.

NOVEMBER 2015

MOUNT RINJA: In Indonesia, hundreds of tourists were stranded for a third day as volcanic ash from eruptions from Mount Rinja forced the closure of airports in three Indonesian islands.


OCTOBER 2015

DADRI: Small town in Uttar Pradesh was in news due to mob lynching of 52-year-old Mohammad Akhlaq Saifi in village Bisara on Sep 28 on rumors that he killed a cow for consuming beef. The incident led to strong reactions all over India as a strong example of surging ideological intolerance, particularly in context of religion, leading to return of government honours by several eminent intellectuals. KOTKAPURA: Town in district Faridkot, Punjab witnessed widespread violent protests by Sikhs against the alleged desecration of a 'bir' of Guru Granth Sahib in Bargari village. Later, the protests spread to several other towns, even in certain places in UK and Canada. CHANG LA: Situated about 80 km east of Leh (J&K), the place was in news as the world’s highest research station, established by the DRDO at an altitude of 17,500 ft became functional there. The station would be used for extreme altitude bio-medical, material and agro-animal researches and conservation of endangered species of plants. BIR BILLING: Place in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh was in news as the first Paragliding World Cup of South East Asia started there from October 16. SUNPERH: village in district Faridabad of Haryana was in news as a Dalit family of four was set afire inside their house, killing two babies, allegedly by members of the Rajput community to revenge the killing of three Rajputs by Dalits, last year. The incident led to widespread agitation by the Dalit families. HURRICANE PATRICIA struck Mexico's Pacific coast on 23 October, forcing thousands to flee homes and beach front resorts. TYPHOON KOPPU attacked the northeastern Philippines on October 18 with fierce winds, displacing 16,000 villagers and knocking out power in entire provinces. SANTA CATARINA PINULA: A small town in Guatemala, a mini country south of Mexico, was in news s at least 171 persons were killed there in sudden mudslides that smashed into a nearby village. BAGHDAD: The heavily fortified Green Zone in the capital of Iraq has been opened to the public for the first time in 12 years as a part of a reform drive. ARCH OF TRIUMPH: A historical monument built about 2,000 years ago in Palmyra, Syria was in news as it was blown up by the ISIS terrorists.

SPORTS WORLD

DECEMBER 2015

NATIONAL P V Sindhu has won the Macau Open Grand Prix Gold Badminton tournament for the third consecutive time, beating Minatsu Mitani of Japan.

Thakur Anoop Singh won the Mr. World title in the World Bodybuilding and Physique Championships in Bangkok, Thailand.

Deborah Herold has become the first Indian female cyclist to be ranked fourth in the World Elite Women Ranking for the 500m time trial event.

Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy won the doubles title in the Mexico Open Grand Prix Badminton tournament in Mexico City.

Gujarat won their maiden Vijay Hazare Cricket Trophy by beating Delhi in the finals played in Bengaluru.

18th Asian Luge Championship: Shiva Keshavan of Manali, HP won a silver medal at Nagano, Japan.

Indonesian Masters Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament: India’s K Srikanth suffered a very narrow defeat from Tommy Sugiarto who won the finals in Malang, Indonesia.

59th National Shooting Championship, New Delhi. Vijay Kumar, Olympic medalist won gold in the men's 25-metre centre fire pistol Apurvi Chandela won Gold medal in the 10-metre Air Rifle event Chain Singh won the Gold in the 50-metre Rifle event Elizabeth Susan Koshy won the Women's 50m Rifle Gold

The 68th National Track Cycling Championship held at Ludhiana, Punjab.

The 22nd National Cricket Tournament for the visually impaired was held in New Delhi.

2nd Indian Super League Football tournament: Chennaiyin FC defeated FC Goa in the finals played in Goa.

Commonwealth Table-Tennis Championships were held in Surat, Gujarat. India topped the medal tally with 16 medals.

All India Football Federation has named midfielder Eugeneson Lyngdoh and striker Bala Devi as the Player-of-the-Year and woman Footballer - of - the - Year, respectively.


Senior National Weightlifting Championships, Patiala: Haryana's Deepak Lather won gold medal in the men's 62kg category and set a new national record. Vikas Thakur of Services created a new national record as he won the gold medal in the 85kg category.

12th National Ice-Skating Championship held in Gulmarg, J&K from Dec 30 to Jan 03, 2016.

Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) awarded Player of the Year title for the PGTI Order of Merit to Bengaluru’s S Chikkarangappa as he won the McLeod Russel Tour Championship at Kolkata.

India won four-match Test series against South Africa, 3-0, played in India.

Pro Wrestling League: Mumbai Garuda outclassed Haryana Hammers to clinch the inaugural title in New Delhi.

Two new teams, Pune and Rajkot have become the new franchises in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for a period of two years, replacing the suspended teams of Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals.

Hockey World League: Australia defeated Belgium to lift the title at Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel Stadium, Raipur, Madhya Pradesh. THE 12TH SOUTH ASIAN GAMES will be held in Guwahati and Shillong from February 6 to 16, 2016. A replica of a rhinoceros calf, named Tikhor has been selected as the mascot of the games. The highly endangered one-horned rhinoceros is the state animal of Assam.

INTERNATIONAL Robert Lewandowski, Polish professional footballer’s nine-minute, five-goal haul for German Football Club Bayern Munich against Wolfsburg earned him Guinness World Record for fastest three, four and five goals. Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg won the 2015 Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Underdog Tyson Fury shocked the boxing world by giving a stunning defeat to the reigning world heavy weight boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko of Ukraine on Nov 28, becoming the first Briton to hold a world heavyweight crown since 2011. BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2015 award won by tennis star Andy Murray of UK Dan Carter, winner of Rugby World Cup from New Zealand, has been named 2015 Sports Personality of the Year.

Chen Long of China and Carolina Marin of England were declared Male and Female Player of the Year, respectively, by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) in Dubai.

CRICKETER OF THE YEAR - 2015: Australian batsman Steve Smith has been selected for this prestigious award by the ICC. He was also named ‘Test Cricketer of the Year. ODI Cricketer of the Year 2015: South Africa's ODI captain batsman AB de Villiers

The International Tennis Federation announced following rankings for 2015:

Men’s World Champion - Novak Djokovic (Serbia)

Women’s World Champion - Serena Williams (the USA)

Men’s Doubles World Champions - Jean-Julien Rojer & Horia Tecau Women’s Doubles World Champions: Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis

FIFA Club World Cup: Barcelona (Spain) won the cup by beating River Plate (USA) in finals played in Yokohama, Japan.

Great Britain won the Davis Cup for the first time since 1936 after the British Andy Murray beat Belgium's David Goffin in Ghent, Belgium.

Brendon McCullum, New Zealand cricket captain announced on Dec 22 his retirement from all forms of international cricket.

Ethics Committee of football's global governing body FIFA has banned its President Sepp Blatter and European football chief Michel Platini from all football-related activities for eight years on corruption charges.

NOVEMBER 2015

Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis lifted their ninth trophy of the season, winning BNP Paribas WTA Finals in Singapore Pankaj Advani, India's most successful cueist won the record 15th world title by winning the IBSF World Snooker Championship in Egypt, defeating Zhua Xintong of China. Heena Sidhu has won Gold in 10 metre Air Pistol event at 13th Asian Shooting Championships in Kuwait. Jitu Rai won silver medal

Shiva Thapa, top Indian boxer was ranked number 2 in the latest international rankings in the 56 kg category. Siril Verma, 16 year old shuttler from India won the silver medal at the BWF World Junior Championships held in Lima, Peru.


8th Men’s Junior Asia Hockey Cup: India’s junior men’s team won the cup at Kuantan, Malaysia by defeating Pakistan.

69th senior National Aquatic Championships 2015: Mana Patel (women) and Virdhawal Khade (men) were declared the best swimmers, at Rajkot, Gujarat.

Surjit Hockey Tournament: Railways defeated Indian Oil in the finals played in Jalandhar.

Wasim Jaffer became the first player in Ranji Trophy history to notch up 10,000 runs. He reached the milestone playing against Bengal in Kolkata.

Anju Bobby George, former long jump world champion has been appointed as the chairperson of the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS).

Shashank Manohar, BCCI President was authorised to represent BCCI in ICC (International Cricket Council) as its Chairman.

China Open Superseries Premier Badminton tournament: Xuerui Li of China beats Saina Nehwal to win the Women's Singles title at Fuzhou, China.

World number one Novak Djokovic has become the first player to win the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals for the fourth consecutive time by beating Roger Federer in the finals played in London. Swiss Indoors Basel Tennis title: Won by Roger Federer by defeating Rafael Nadal Agnieszka Radwanska, of Poland, won the BNP Paribas WTA Finals title at Singapore, beating Petra Kvitova

Nico Rosberg of Germany won the Mexican Grand Prix F1 championship in Mexico City and the Brazilian Formula One Grand Prix at Sao Paulo, Brazil.

The Czech Republic won the prestigious women’s team tennis trophy - Fed Cup after beating Russia in final played in Prague, capital of Czech Republic.

FIFA Under 17 Football World Cup: Nigeria defeated Mali to win the championship held in Chile.

The Rugby World Cup: New Zealand lifted the cup beating Australia in the Final played in London

Mitchell Johnson, Australia’s most devastating fast bowler of his era, retired from all international cricket on Nov 17.

The first ever day-night Test match in the history of cricket started as the third Test between Australia and New Zealand at the Adelaide Oval in Australia.

Belgium moved to the top of the FIFA world ranking list in football for the first time, leaving behind giants like Argentina and world champions Germany. India ranks pretty low at 172nd place.

OCTOBER 2015

HIGHER DIET MONEY FOR SPORTSPERSONS Ministry of Sports has decided to enhance the diet allowance for national level sports persons. The athletes competing in the power games under Category ‘A’ (boxing, judo, taekwondo, weightlifting and throw events in athletics) will receive Rs. 700 per day against Rs. 320 at present. Athletes under Category ‘B’ (sprint and team events) will get Rs400 per day, while sportspersons under Category ‘C’ (golf, shooting and archery) will be entitled for Rs. 300 per day. Indian archer Abhishek Verma created history by winning a silver medal in the Archery World Cup Final held in Mexico City, becoming the first ever Indian to bag Archery World Cup Final medal. Deepika Kumari also bagged a silver medal.

Deborah Herold, 20 year old Indian cyclist became the first ever Indian to win a gold medal, three silver and one bronze medal in women's elite section in the in Taiwan Cup Track International Classic in Taiwan.

Anirban Lahiri won the Hilton Asian Tour Golfer of the Month award at Singapore

Yuki Bhambri achieved a career-best rank of 99, becoming the first Indian tennis player to come under 100 since 2010 in the ATP world rankings.

Shweta Rathore became the first Indian female bodybuilder to win a silver medal in the 49th Asian championship held in Uzbekistan

Urvashi Rautela won the Yamaha Fascino Miss Diva 2015 title to become India’s representative for the Miss Universe pageant.

Saketh Myneni, India’s tennis player won the Vietnam Open trophy in the finals played at Ho Chi Minh City.

Amit Kumar, Indian para-athlete bagged silver in men's club throw F51 event in the IPC Athletics World Championships in Doha


Zaheer Khan, one of India's greatest fast bowlers, bid adieu to international cricket, admitting that he could no longer handle the rigours of the game.

Ajay Jayaram won the men’s Badminton title at the Dutch Open Grand Prix at Almere (The Netherlands).

Pankaj Advani won the IBSF World Billiards Championship in Adelaide, Australia.

Abhinav Bindra clinched gold in the men's 10 metre Air Rifle event of the Asian Air Gun Championships in New Delhi.

Heena Sidhu clinched a Gold medal in the 10-metre air pistol event of the Asian Air Gun Championships in New Delhi.

Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis won their seventh title together on Oct 3 by winning the Wuhan Open women’s doubles title at Wuhan, China. Earlier, they also won the Guangzhou Open on Sep 26.

The Indian teams won five out of six team events in the Commonwealth Youth, Junior & Senior weightlifting championships held in Pune, Maharashtra.

Virender Sehwag, one of the world’s most destructive batsmen to have played the game, announced his retirement from international cricket and the Indian Premier League, bringing an end to an illustrious career spanning 14 years.

Vijender Singh, India’s Olympian boxer made a smashing professional debut by knocking out Britain's Sonny Whiting in the middleweight category at Manchester, UK.

The 12th SAF (South Asian Games) games will be held from February 6 to 16 in 2016 in Guwahati and Shillong.

VIJAY KUMAR MALHOTRA: Govt of India has appointed veteran sports administrator as the President of the All India Council of Sports.

The 16th National Women Boxing Championship was held at Bongaigaon in Assam

REFUGEES ALLOWED IN OLYMPICS The International Olympic Committee has announced that refugee athletes will be allowed, for the first time, to take part in next year's Olympics. They will compete under the Olympic flag. Until now, such athletes have been unable to participate, because they could not represent their home country.

Novak Djokovic beats Rafael Nadal to win men’s title in the China Open at Beijing, China. Spain’s Garbine Muguruza won the women's singles title

Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis won their eighth title of the season by lifting the women’s doubles title.

Cristiano Ronaldo of The Real Madrid won the record fourth Golden Boot for scoring highest – 48 goals in the season.

China’s Xuerui Li won the Denmark Open Badminton Title in the women’s single category, defeating P V Sindhu of India at Odense, Denmark.

Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia clinched the French International Badminton title in Paris.

Sultan of Johor Cup (Hockey): Great Britain defeated Indian junior men's team to lift the cup in Malaysia.

Sergey Karjakin of Russia won the World Cup Chess Championship, defeating compatriot Peter Svidler in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Lewis Hamilton of Britain won the Formula 1 Russian Grand Prix at Sochi, Russia, Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka, Japan and U S Grand Prix in Austin, Texas.

Luis Leao Pinto of Portugal won the Asia’s premier mountain biking race to get the crown of ‘King of the Himalaya’. He took time of 27:29:22 to complete the 600 km long 7 stages biking race.

Women’s European Volleyball Championship was won by Russia at Rotterdam, Russia.

China won the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) Asia Championship by defeating the Philippines at Changsha, China.

Some 2,000 athletes from many indigenous ethnic groups from 30 countries took part in the first World Indigenous Games held in Palmas, Brazil.

ALL THE NEWS ITEMS IN THIS MAGAZINE HAVE BEEN SOURCED FROM VARIOUS NEWS PAPERS AND GOVT. PRESS RELEASES


DAYS AND DATES

DECEMBER BSF Raising Day, World AIDS Day 01st Dec. International Day for Abolition of Slavery (UNO) 02nd Dec.

International Day of Disabled Persons, World Conservation Day 03rd Dec.

Navy Day 04th Dec. Armed Forces Flag Day 06th Dec. International Civil Aviation Day 07th Dec. National Immunization Day 09th Dec. Human Rights Day 10th Dec. UNICEF Day 11th Dec. National Energy Conservation Day 14th Dec. Vijay Divas (1971 Pak Victory) 16th Dec. Minorities Rights Day 18th Dec. Mathematics Day 22nd Dec. Kisan Day (Birthday of Ch. Charan Singh) 23rd Dec. National Consumer Day 24th Dec. X-Mas Day 25th Dec. International Day for Biological Diversity 29th Dec.

JANUARY National Youth Day( B’day of Swami Vivekanand)

12th Jan.

Army Day 15th Jan. Desh Prem Divas (B’day of Neta ji Subash Chandra Bose)

23rd Jan.

National Girl Child Day ( Day Indira Gandhi became PM of India )

24th Jan.

National Voters Day ( Establishment of Election Commission)

25th Jan.

International Customs Day 26th Jan. Martyrs' Day ( Death of Mahatma Gandhi) 30th Jan.

FEBRUARY World Cancer Day 04th Feb World Radio Day 13th Feb Valentine’s Day 14th Feb Arunachal Pradesh Foundation Day 20th Feb Central Excise Day 24th Feb National Science Day 28th Feb

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GOODS AND SERVICES TAX WHAT IS GOODS AND SERVICES TAX (GST)?

The proposed levy GST will be a single tax that will cover all levies at the Centre and the State level, including entry tax. It is a value-added tax, which means a levy at each stage of production, sale or consumption that will be set off against the taxes paid in the previous stage. Through a system of tax credits, those in the intermediate stages of a chain of production will get credits or refunds for whatever levies they have paid. This avoids cascading of taxes for the end consumer. Unlike the existing VAT, the GST will also include services. The government is hoping for its nationwide roll-out from April 2016. WHY WAS IT HELD UP? When the system was first discussed, there was great enthusiasm. But, the slowly states started raising objections. One reason is that finance ministers would lose control over the taxation system and be unable to give discretionary concessions. The other area of concern is the potential loss of revenue from cash cows such as petroleum, which makes up for almost half the revenue for some states. There was also an element of bargaining in the states' objections. WHAT'S THE CURRENT STATUS? The Lok Sabha has approved a Bill to amend the Constitution so that the Centre can levy the tax. However, its fate remains uncertain due to the NDA's lack of majority in the Upper house, but the government is confident that it will be able to secure the Rajya Sabha's approval. The Centre has assured the states that it will compensate them for revenue loss due to GST roll-out, besides providing flexibility on entry tax and

taxing the oil products. Once the Constitution is amended, several other gaps need to be filled, including the rate of tax, which may be in the region of 11-12% for basic necessities. HOW WILL THE GST IMPACT HOUSEHOLDS? Ultimately, it should result in a lower burden on consumers as the levy will be at the point of sale and central and the state taxes will be merged into one levy. HOW DOES THE CORPORATE SECTOR GAIN? The incidence of tax in sectors such as real estate is expected to come down by 25% since the companies will be able to claim credits or set-offs for taxes they pay on goods and services. In addition, the refund mechanism for taxes paid across the country is expected to be more efficient, thanks to the proposed IT backbone. Currently, industry complains that refunds and credits are tough to claim and even more difficult to get. HOW DO THE GOVERNMENT AND THE ECONOMY GAIN? The tax system is expected to become more efficient, which should help boost the economy and hence improve the revenue collections. Some estimates say that the impact on the GDP growth rate could be between 0.9 and 1.7 percent.


CURRENT AFFAIRS

CLIMATE CHANGE

THE PRESENT SCENARIO This time, it's a hotter, wilder Earth that the world leaders are trying to save. The last time that the nations of the world struck a binding agreement to fight global warming was 1997, in Kyoto, Japan. As leaders gathered for a conference in Paris to do more, it was clear that things had changed dramatically over the past 18 years. Some differences can be measured: degrees on a thermometer, trillions of tons of melting ice, a rise in sea level of a couple of inches. Epic weather disasters, including punishing droughts, killer heat waves and monster storms, have plagued Earth. As a result, climate change is seen as a more urgent and concrete problem than it was last time. At the time of Kyoto, if someone talked about climate change, they were talking about something that was abstract in the future. But now, we're talking about changing climate, something that's happening now. You can point to event after event that is happening in the here and now that is a direct result of changing climate. Other, nonphysical changes since 1997 make many experts more optimistic than in previous climate negotiations. For one, improved technology is pointing to the possibility of a world weaned from fossil fuels, which emit heat-trapping gases. Businesses and countries are more serious about doing something, in the face of evidence that some of science's worst-case scenarios are coming to pass. We are quite stunned by how much the Earth has changed since 1997. In many cases e.g. Arctic sea ice loss, forest die-off due to drought, climate change is proceeding even faster than we thought it would two decades ago. Some of the cold numbers on global warming since 1997: The West Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets have lost 5.5 trillion tons of ice, or 5 trillion metric tons, according to NASA and the European satellite data. The five-year average surface global temperature for January to October has risen by nearly two-thirds of 0.36 degrees Celsius, between 1993-97 and 2011-15, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. In 1997, the Earth had set a record for the hottest year, but it didn't last. New records were set in 1998, 2005, 2010 and 2014, and it has happened again in 2015, according to the WMO. The average glacier has lost about 12 metre of ice thickness since 1997, according to the World Glacier Monitoring Service, Switzerland. With 1.2 billion more people in the world, carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels climbed nearly 50 per cent between 1997 and 2013, according to the US Department of Energy. The world is spewing more than 100 million tons of carbon dioxide a day now.

The Paris Agreement is a bridge between today's policies and climate-neutrality before the end of the century.

ISSUES RESOLVED AT PARIS SUMMIT

All the nations agreed on following common objectives

Reducing Greenhouse Emissions keeping the increase in global average temperature well

below 2°C above the pre-industrial levels; to limit the increase in temperature to 1.5°C, since this

would significantly reduce the risk and the impact of climate change;

to undertake rapid reductions thereafter

Transparency and Stocktaking to come together every 5 years to set more ambitious

targets as required by science; to report to each other and the public on how well they

are doing to implement their targets; track the progress towards long-term goals through a

robust transparency and accountability system. Adaptation strengthen the societies' ability to deal with the impact of

climate change; provide continued and enhanced

international support for adaptation to developing countries.

Loss and Damage recognises the importance of averting, minimising and

addressing the loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change;

acknowledges the need to cooperate and enhance the understanding, action and support in different areas such as early warning systems, emergency preparedness and risk insurance.

Support Mechanism The EU and other developed countries will continue

to support climate action to reduce emissions and build resilience to climate change impacts in developing countries.

Other countries are encouraged to provide or continue to provide such support voluntarily.

The developed countries intend to continue their existing collective goal to mobilise USD 100 billion per year until 2025 when a new collective goal will be set.

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( JULY – SEPTEMBER 2015 )

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NATIONAL NEWS

SEPTEMBER 2015

The “World Wealth Report 2015” showed that there were 1.98 lakh High Net worth Individuals in India in 2014, earning 11th rank in the world.

The IISC Bangalore and the IIT Delhi have been placed 147 and 179 respectively in the Quacquarelli Symonds’ list of top 200 universities for 2015-16.

India's ranking has slipped further down to 81 in the list of Global Innovation Index, compared to 76 in 2014

India-Belarus Inter-govt Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation meet held in Minsk, Belarus.

The first ever count of India's leopards, has put the spotted cat population at 7,910 in and around tiger habitats across the country.

A two day Disaster Mitigation conference of SAARC nations was held in New Delhi

Maharashtra govt has acquired the house in London where Dr B R Ambedkar lived in 1921-22 when he was studying at London School of Economics.

Government has decided to shift the administrative control of the Unique Identification Authority of India the Ministry of Communication & IT.

Prime Minister Modi addressed the Sustainable Development Summit at the UN Headquarters in New York on Sep 25.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached Dublin, capital of Ireland on Sep 23 to have bilateral talks with his Irish P M Endy Kenny.

Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari had a four-day visit to the South East Asian countries of Cambodia and Laos.

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe arrived in New Delhi on Sep 14 to have delegation level talks on various important bilateral issues.

A two day Hindu-Buddhist Conference was held at Bodhgaya, Bihar on Sep 5-6.

All India Radio released the digital version of the grand epic Ramcharitmanas as a set of digital CDs produced by its old recordings.

India and Indonesia have signed a treaty for repatriation of wanted prisoners and cooperate in all criminal matters.

The three-day Vishwa Hindi Sammelan (World Hindi Conference) was held in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, Sept. 10-12.

AUGUST 2015

Census 2011 data shows that the proportion of

Muslims has registered 0.8 per cent growth from 2001 to 2011 to reach 14.23 per cent, numbering 17.22 crore. Hindus population share showed a decline by 0.7 per cent to reach 79.80 per cent at 96.63 crore.

Pahal (Pratyaksh Hanstantrit Labh) for LPG has made it to the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's largest cash transfer plan for households.


Bengaluru has been ranked as the cleanest among capital cities in India and Mysuru as the most clean city as per the Swachh Bharat rankings.

India and China opened their fifth border meeting point on August 1 at Daulat Beg Oldie in northern Ladakh for local military commanders meetings.

On July 31, 51 Bangladeshi enclaves in Coochbehar, West Bengal merged with India, while 111 Indian enclaves in Bangladesh merged with that country.

7th August will be celebrated every year as National Handloom Day to promote quality handloom products in international markets

World Bank has agreed to provide $ 412.40 million assistance for the National Cyclone Risk Mitigation Project- I & II

Prime Minister Modi made a two day visit to the strategically-important UAE on August 16-17. He is the first Indian PM to visit UAE after 34 years.

James Alix Michel, President of the Seychelles came to New Delhi on 25 August on a three-day visit to India.

Filipe J Nyusi, President of Mozambique arrived in India on August 5 on a five day visit. The two countries signed MoU on expanding cooperation in energy sector.

Adam Gilchrist, former Australian cricketer has been appointed Australia's first education ambassador to India.

India has started the hotlines between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Barack Obama and their national security advisers.

Govt released a commemorative postal stamp of Rs 5 on August 24 on emperor Ashoka who ruled the Indian subcontinent from 269 BC to 232 BC.

Latest release from the Census 2011 data shows that only 6.8 crore Indians (8.15%) have qualification of graduation and above.

The 18th Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) started functioning from its temporary campus at Palakkad, Kerala.

Second summit of Forum for India Pacific Island Countries (FIPIC) was held in Jaipur on August 21.

India signs tax information exchange agreement with Seychelles to curb generation of black money.

JULY 2015

The World Bank has ranked three social welfare schemes as the biggest in the world:

MGNREGA as the world's largest public works programme

Mid-day Meal Scheme as the biggest school feeding programme covering 10.5 crore beneficiaries.

The Janani Suraksha Yojna, with 7.8 crore beneficiaries, in the category of social security programme

The World Bank has agreed to provide $250-million financial assistance for the Andhra Pradesh Disaster Recovery Project

Modi visited Russia and five Central Asian countries from July 6-13, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

The six cities – Guwahati, Jorhat, Kohima, Dimapur, Itanagar and Agartala will be developed under the Development of Solar Cities Programme.

Digging work over for the 9-km long Patnitop tunnel between Chenani and Nashri, the longest in South Asia.

President has nominated 2 members of Anglo-Indian Community to Lok Sabha as per the provisions of Article 331 of Indian Constitution.

They are – Prof. Richard Hay, Economist from Kerala and George Baker, noted film actor from West Bengal.

On the World Population Day (July 11), at 5 pm, the number of Indians hit 127, 42, 39, 769, which is 17.25 per cent of the global population

Yogi Adityanath panel has sought doubling of the existing Rs 50,000 salary of MPs and increasing their pension from Rs 20,000 to Rs 35,000.

The Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC) data released on July 3 shows that there were total 24.39 crore households in country.

Of this, 17.9 crore – 73% were rural households, of which 2.37 crore or 13% still live in houses with only one room, kuccha walls and kuccha roof.

Manual casual labour is the main source of income for 51% of rural households, followed by cultivation, pursued by 30% of households.

Govt has sanctioned Rs.1,000 crore for a 15-km India-Bangladesh railway project from Agartala in Tripura to Akhaura in Bangladesh.

ADB to give a loan of $ 300 million to India for improving road connectivity in the North Eastern Region.

India and Kazakhastan issued a joint statement - Tej Kadam highlighting the continuation of strategic partnership between the two nations.

Government has decided to give Cabinet minister’s rank to the Vice-Chairman of NITI Aayog, Arvind Panagariya.

Asian Development Bank to provide $ 300 million loan to support the Government’s flagship program, the National Urban Health Mission.

India and Georgia signed an MoU in New Delhi for cooperation in election management and administration.

26th July was celebrated as the Kargil Vijay Diwas as the 16th anniversary of the Indian victory in the 1999 Kargil war.


Of the 31 countries which produce power from nuclear sources, India is 12th, producing 5308 MWe. The list is topped by USA producing 98639 MWe.

National Broadcasting Day was observed on 23 July. It is on this day in 1927, the Indian Broadcasting Co. started first radio broadcasting from Bombay.

Government has announced that 14 States and Union Territories have achieved or exceeded the literacy rate of 80 percent.

NEWS FROM STATES

SEPTEMBER 2015

Andhra govt has successfully linked two of its major

rivers - Godavari and Krishna towards making the state "drought-proof".

A World Bank's report on ease of doing business in states ranks Gujarat at number one, followed by Andhra Pradesh

AUGUST 2015

Birth centenary celebrations of freedo fighter Rani Gaidinliu were inaugurated in Nagaland on August 24.

Gujarat witnessed widespread violent clashes after the massive rally on August 25 for demanding special job reservation for Patel community.

Cochin International Airport, Kochi on August 18 became the first airport in the world to operate completely on solar power.

Maharashtra government has accorded the status of adventure sport to the art of forming ‘human pyramids’ in Dahi Handi festival.

Two war memorials were inaugurated in Jaisalmer and Longowal in Rajasthan in the honour of war heroes of 1965 and 1971 Indo Pak war, respectively.

Telangana govt has signed a MoU with the Department of Posts for sale of stamp papers at post offices from September 1 to avoid fraud and forgery.

Kerala would be the first fully digital state in the country by March 2016 by utilising e-governance to deliver efficient and transparent services.

JULY 2015

The 5th Youth Delphic Games for cultural events will be held in Goa in February 2016.

Bangalore has been ranked 12th in the list of top 20 technology-rich cities of world, as per a survey by Jones Lang LaSalle.

The "Abar Souchagar" project in West Bengal's Nadia district, has won the UN Public Service Award for becoming the first 'Open Defecation Free' district

Vadodara in Gujarat and China's Xinjinag province have signed a MoU to enhance infrastructure growth and development between the two regions.

U P State Road Transport Corporation has become the first transport corporation to have a vehicle tracking system for it’s over 9600 inter-city buses,

A report by NSDC says that Haryana tops in automobile production, accounting for 50% of total passenger cars and two-wheelers produced in India.

The Haryana government has launched the ‘Mhara Gaon Jagmag Gaon’ scheme to ensure 24-hour power supply to the villages

The Home Ministry has declared Nagaland a “disturbed area” under section 3 of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act 1958

Kerala Tourism has won Pacific Asia Travel Association award for its Muziris Heritage Conservation Project in Heritage & Culture category.

Uttarakhand became the first state in India to successfully install an Earthquake Warning System to detect earthquakes and disseminate warnings.

Chennai is 6th city in India to have the Metro train. The first train covered an overhead stretch between Koyambedu and Alandur for 10 km.

The Tripura government has introduced a pension scheme for transgenders allowing them a pension of Rs 500 per month.

GOVT INITIATIVES

SEPTEMBER 2015

Govt has approved the Sovereign Gold Bond and the Gold Monetisation Scheme.

The govt announced to roll out the welfare measure under One Rank One Pension-OROP for Armed Forces personnel from July 1, 2014.

The govt has identified 305 cities/towns across nine states for implementation of 'Housing for All' scheme, named 'Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana.

Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojana launched for the welfare of people and areas affected by mining related operations.

Govt has approved Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission to transform rural areas into economically, socially and physically sustainable spaces.


Govt to provide additional 50 work days in 2015-16 in drought-hit areas under MGNREGA to provide relief to farmers

EPFO has increased the maximum amount assured under its Employees' Deposit inked Insurance Scheme to Rs 6 lakh, from current Rs 3.6 lakh.

The Deptt of Industrial Policy and Promotion has implemented an electronic payment system to become the first govt department to have 100 per cent cashless transactions.

Union Cabinet has approved the setting up of Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre (ISLRTC) at New Delhi.

Life Insurance Corporation of India has created a platform where policyholders may avail of electronic KYC norms linked to the Aadhar card.

Railways has launched a paperless unreserved ticketing mobile application for the passengers travelling from New Delhi to Palwal Section.

AUGUST 2015

The Centre declared the names of 98 cities for its smart cities project. U P leads by getting 13 cities, followed by Tamil Nadu-12

The Government launched a health service called SEHAT (Social Endeavour for Health And Telemedicine) in collaboration with the Apollo Hospitals

Government has launched the web portal "Vidya Lakshmi” (www.vidyalakshmi.co.in) for the benefit of students seeking educational loans.

India has ratified the International Seafarers’ Identity Documents Convention, 2003 to provide a globally recognised identity document to its seafarers.

Online beneficiary registration system, ‘On-line On-Site’ launched to provide assistive aids to persons with disabilities.

Government has decided that from this year onwards, IAS probationers will start their career from New Delhi before joining their respective states

Govt has launched Suraksha Bandhan Yojna through banks and insurance companies to facilitate enrolment under two social security schemes –

Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana and Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana

Govt launched a new national scheme Nai Manzil from Patna to address educational and livelihood needs of minority communities

Sendai framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 adopted to increase preparedness for response and recovery in case of disaster.

This framework was adopted during the third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction held in Sendai, Japan in March 2015.

A peace accord was signed with the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-NSCN (Isak-Muivah group), to end two decades old insurgency problem.

Ministry of Rural Development has launched ‘SAMANVAY’ web portal to monitor progress of the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana.

Government has extended e-Tourist Visa facility to China, Hong Kong and Macau with effect from 30 July 2015.

The Union Cabinet has approved direct benefit transfer to beneficiaries of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS).

Government has launched the School Nursery Yojana, to bring students closer to nature by involving them in raising of saplings in school nurseries.

Govt proposes to rename the present Agriculture Ministry as 'Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare Ministry’ to focus on the welfare of farmers.

JULY 2015

Govt has launched E-kisan portal to allow the farmers to showcase their farm produce on the Internet for wholesalers to bid remotely.

Govt has launched a web portal for online submission of applications for Environment Clearance by State Environment Impact Assessment Authorities

The government has launched the 'Digital India' initiative for digital delivery of all essential services online to citizens

The government has launched the National Career Counseling Portal to coordinate all government-run employment exchanges.

Govt launched an All India Railway Helpline number, 1512, to allow passengers to lodge a complaint in both, running trains and stations in India.

The National Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana(HRIDAY) launched for development of 12 historical cities across India.

The National Floor Level Minimum Wage has been increased to Rs. 160 per day from the existing Rs. 137 effective from July 1 this year.

Govt plans to provide skill development training to 10 crore youth over the next five years under the National Skill Development Mission.

Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana launched for power sector reforms in rural areas to ensure round the clock electricity supply


The govt will give national awards with a cash prize of Rs 1.5 lakh to 3 best rag-pickers and 3 associations for their contribution to keeping India clean.

The govt has launched the Surakshit Khadya Abhiyan to create mass awareness and capacity building for safe and hygienic food.

The govt has decided to start an exhibition train— Science Express to sensitise the people, especially children and the youth, about Climate Change.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana with an outlay of Rs. 50000 crore.

The retirement fund body Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation, EPFO, has launched a public outreach initiative by the name ‘Nidhi Aapke Nikat'.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

SEPTEMBER 2015

As per CSO data, GDP for April to June this year rose by 7 percent compared to a growth rate of 7.1 percent for the same period in last fiscal.

The ADB has cut India’s growth forecast to 7.4% on concerns of delay in reforms, weak demand, external slowdown and weak monsoon.

AUGUST 2015

Moody's Investors Service has reduced India's

growth forecast for 2015-16 to around 7% from 7.5 % projected earlier, citing below-normal rainfall.

JULY 2015

Global rating agency Fitch says that India is expected to grow at 7.8 per cent in 2015.

IMF has retained India's growth forecast for current year at 7.5%, which is higher than China's 6.8%.

ECONOMY

SEPTEMBER 2015

Govt has announced that the minimum alternate tax

(MAT) will not be applicable on capital gains made by FIIs prior to April 1, 2015.

The Food Ministry has notified mandatory export of four million tonne of sugar for the 2015-16 sugar season starting October 1.

From 28 September 2015, the commodities market regulator Forward Markets Commission (FMC) has become part of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

NTPC achieved record highest single-day electricity generation of 733.12 million units on August 27 from its 33 power plants

Govt has banned the sale of Diclofenac drug in multidose vial. Henceforth, it will be sold only in single-dose vial packaging for human use.

The real estate major Dalian Wanda Group of China plans to invest around Rs. 66,000 crore in Haryana to develop an industrial zone and township.

The Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry launched SAHAJ scheme for online booking of LPG connections

The West-Central Railway zone, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh has become the first Railway Zone to eliminate all unmanned level crossings.

The World Federation of Exchanges has confirmed that the Bombay Stock Exchange has the highest number of listed companies in the world - 5689.

Asian Development Bank to provide $ 500 million loan for better management of essential urban services and financing of water supply in Rajasthan.

ADB to extend a loan of $ 200 million to Jharkhand for upgrading roads in next four years.

AUGUST 2015

Three Indian companies have been named among the world’s 100 most innovative companies list compiled by Forbes magazine of USA.

These companies are Hindustan Unilever, Sun Pharma Ind. and Tata Consultancy Services. The list is topped by Tesla Motors of USA.

Foodgrains production in India in 2014-15 was 252.68 million tonnes, down by 12.36 million tonnes (4.9%) from last year’s production of 265.04 million tonnes.

India plans to spend $1.5 billion in the next three years to help farmers grow oil palm trees to make the nation self-sufficient in edible oils.


The country's most popular scooter - the Honda Activa - has set a new record by crossing the one crore unit sales landmark.

Rajesh Exports Ltd. Bengaluru, has acquired Switzerland based Valcambi gold processing company to become world’s largest gold jewellery manufacturer

Union Cabinet has approved setting up of National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) to support new and delayed projects.

The Union Cabinet has approved construction of petroleum products pipeline from Raxaul (Bihar) in India to Amlekhgunj in Nepal.

Kolkata Port adjudged as the best ‘Major Port of the Year’ in the country for the year 2014-15 on basis of its turnover, efficiency and customer satisfaction.

The government's 10 %stake sale in Indian Oil Corporation on Aug 24 fetched around Rs. 9300 cr.

Taiwanese electronics giant Foxconn to invest $5 billion in Maharashtra to set up large scale research & development and manufacturing facilities.

JULY 2015 Seven Indian companies are among the world's 500

largest companies, according to a list compiled by Fortune Magazine, USA, lead by IOC at 119th rank.

The government has decided to cap the subsidy on kerosene at Rs 12 per litre.

The marine product exports from India crossed all previous records in quantity, rupee value and dollar terms in 2014-15

The National Dairy Development Board has launched a mobile app ‘Pashu Poshan’ to help dairy farmers in raising milk yield and cutting feed cost.

The Indian Army and Railways are among the world’s biggest employers, employing 1.4 and 1.3 million, respectively, securing 7th and 8th rank.

ICRISAT and Telangana have collaborated to launch the Green Phablet for farmers in Telangana to provide online weather alerts.

The World Bank has approved an additional loan of $650 million for the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor

EPFO has proposed that an employee be allowed to withdraw only 75% of the overall kitty, instead of 100% as permitted under the existing rules.

The Life Insurance Council has engaged CIBIL to detect duplication of death claims under the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojna.

The Electronic Toll Collection system was launched on the Chennai-Bengaluru corridor on July26, aiming to help road-users save time and money.

BSNL, along with Andhra Bank and Pyro, has launched a mobile VISA prepaid card SPEEDPAY to allow users to do cash transactions up to Rs 1 lakh.

The government plans to import 5,000 tonnes of Urad dal to improve domestic supply and check price rise.

India and Thailand signed the Double Taxation avoidance treaty and the extradition treaty for seeking extradition of fugitive offenders.

BANKING

SEPTEMBER 2015

In its 4th bi-monthly monetary policy review announced on Sep 29, RBI cut the benchmark repo rate by 50 basis points, from 7.25 to 6.75 per cent. Consequently, the reverse repo becomes 5.75%

and the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate becomes 7.75%.

RBI plans to put into circulation high security banknotes in the denominations of 500 and 1000 rupees incorporating three new/revised features: Ascending size of numerals in the number

panels, introduction of bleed lines and enlarged identification mark.

Banks to conduct Mega Credit Campaigns to generate easy availability of credit to Micro Enterprises under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY). Mudra has been established as a subsidiary of

SIDBI to provide refinance to all banks seeking refinancing of small business loans under PMMY.

The Reserve Bank has declared State Bank of India and ICICI Bank as Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-SIBs). Systemically Important means anything or

feature which is important for entire system. Seeking to promote financial inclusion, the RBI has

granted in principal approval to 10 entities to set up small finance banks. These banks will focus on unbanked sections

such as small farmers, micro business enterprises, micro and small industries etc.

The RBI has permitted banks to offer loans below base rate to their whole time directors and CEOs.

RBI has allowed banks to change the ownership of an errant corporate even before the loan account turns 'bad' or non performing asset – NPA.

RBI has asked concurrent auditors of commercial banks to submit their review of non-performing loans directly to the banks


They will discontinue the practice of submitting it to the statutory auditors who conduct quarterly and half yearly review of bank accounts.

India is joining the UN-based 'Better Than Cash Alliance', which promotes transition from cash to digital payments.

RBI has inked a MoU with the Nepal Rastra Bank for Supervisory Cooperation and Exchange of Supervisory Information.

Two commemorative coins of Rs 125 and Rs 10 were released on the eve of Teachers' Day in the memory of former President Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan.

The Reserve Bank of India will shortly put into circulation Rs 5 coins to commemorate golden jubilee of Indo-Pak War 1965.

The RBI has liberalised external commercial borrowing norms for NBFCs, allowing them to use the foreign funds to finance domestic equipments.

RBI plans to permit domestic companies to borrow money from pension funds, sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) and insurance funds as part of the ECBs.

Axis Bank has rolled out a full-fledged mobile app ‘Lime’ that enables shopping, making payments and banking, all under one window.

Indian Bank has launched IndPay mobile app service to enables its customers to operate bank accounts anytime from anywhere.

AUGUST 2015

The Reserve Bank of India gave in principle approval for 11 entities on August 19 to set up payments banks. Concept of payment banks was proposed by the

Nachiket Mor committee. They differ from conventional banks as they

cannot give loans nor can they accept time deposits.

Balance in deposit accounts cannot exceed Rs 1 lakh.

They can issue debit cards but not credit cards. They will need to invest 75 percent of their funds

in government securities RBI has allowed banks to extend repayment period

of farm loan upto 5-years if 50 percent or more of crop is damaged due to drought or flood.

R Gandhi committee has recommended allowing UCBs to exit from the ambit of the Multi State Co-operative Societies Act and come under the Companies Act.

The RBI has asked banks to provide 2% subvention on short term farm loans upto Rs. 3 lacs provided they charge not more than 7% to farmers.

Further, additional subvention of 3% will be available to farmers who repay such loans in time.

IRDAI has allowed banks to tie up with insurers to sell three products each from life, non-life and standalone health insurance segment.

SIDBI launched SIDBI Make in India Loan for Enterprises (SMILE) for providing soft loans to MSMEs. It also launched The India Aspiration Fund to

create 7.5 lakh jobs in five years. Bandhan Bank began operations on August 23 as a

full-fledged bank with 501 branches and 1.43 crore accounts across the country.

SBI launched a mobile wallet application, SBI Buddy, in collaboration with Accenture and Mastercard.

ICICI Bank has launched the first of its kind fully automated digital locker named 'Smart Vault'.

Project “Indra-dhanush” launched to lay down the framework for the revival of public sector banks. It aims to provide immediate capital support,

create a Bank Board Bureau, improve governance standards and focus on the quality of the business

Kotak Mahindra Bank has launched ‘Kotak Bharat’ app to provide mobile banking services to customers without using internet support.

RBI to transfer its surplus profit of Rs 65,896 crore to the Centre, which is about 25% more than the amount given last year.

RBI to issue 10 rupee coins to commemorate Inter-national Yoga Day. The coins will have image of lion capital on one side and logo of Yoga Day on the other.

Govt has notified that the second and fourth Saturday of every month would be a holiday for banks, with effect from September 1, 2015.

NABARD has been accredited by the Green Climate Fund of UNO as an implementing entity for undertaking climate change related projects in India.

HDFC Bank has launched ‘Dhanchayat’, an educational film to raise awareness on the dangers of borrowing money from unorganised sources.

ICICI Bank has announced ‘Saral-Rural Housing Loan’ up to Rs. 15 lakh with a special interest rate equal to its base rate which is currently at 9.70 %.

JULY 2015 The Reserve Bank has permitted the banks without

ATM network to collaborate with bigger banks to issue debit cards

The Union Cabinet has agreed to continue the interest subvention of three per cent on short-term crop loans of up to Rs. 3 lakh to farmers


RBI has asked banks to use Central Repository of Information on Large Credits – CRILC data to verify the credit history of their customers.

HDFC Bank's digital banking offering christened Go Digital has designed a 30-minute auto loan and 15-minute two-wheeler loan for loan seekers

The United Bank of India has topped the list of public sector banks with 21.5% of its loans classified as NPA.

SBI has launched 'Project Tatkal' to attract home loan seekers by offering them the loan within 10 days after the receipt of application

SBI has launched an app State Bank Rewardz to give reward points to all its customers for almost every banking transaction done with the bank.

RBI has allowed Mass Transit System operators such as Mumbai Metro, Delhi Metro, Indian Railways and even local buses to issue their pre-paid cards.

Axis Bank to get $200 million loan from the Asian Development Bank for extending customized and affordable agriculture credit to farmers.

Axis bank has launched 'Touch ID' - a one touch authentication for doing transactions through its mobile app using Apple iPhone 5s and above.

The State Bank of India plans to offer up to 3% of its annual profit to employees as part of a talent retention and motivation initiative.

RBI has set up a committee headed by Deepak Mohanty to work out action plan to spread the reach of financial services to unbanked population.

Corporation Bank has launched the country’s first MUDRA (Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency) card based on the RuPay platform.

The Reserve Bank has signed a currency swap agreement with the Central Bank of Sri Lanka to let it draw up to $ 1.1 billion for up to 6 months.

DEFENCE, SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

SEPTEMBER 2015

Govt to purchase 15 Chinook helicopters that will lift heavy loads and 22 AH-64D Apache advanced attack helicopters from USA.

India and the US have created a "joint challenge coin" to symbolise their unique partnership in creating a next-generation aircraft carrier for Indian Navy. One side of the coin reads "Chale Chalen Saath

Saath" and the other reads “Forward Together We Go".

Indian Navy has established its largest missile storage and replenishment facility named INS Vajrakosh at Karwar base in Karnataka

Indian Coast Guard has commissioned two new ships named Fast Patrol Vessel ICGS Apoorva and Interceptor Boat C-421.

India to buy 10 Heron TP armed drones capable of firing missiles, from Israel to enhance our cross-border military strike capability.

The first bilateral maritime exercise between Australia and India ‘Ausindex-2015’ began on Sep 12 off the shores of Vishakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.

On 16 September, International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer was observed across the world.

The theme and the slogan for the year 2015 are 30 Years of Healing the Ozone Together and Ozone: All there is between you and UV, respectively.

Hinduja business group has launched Hits (Headend-in-the-Sky) digital broadcasting platform - NXT Digital to provide over 500 TV channels to cable operators

China has successfully launched a newly-developed satellite launch rocket Long March-6 (Chang Zheng-6).

Google and Indian Railways are planning to work jointly on Project Nilgiri to set up free Wi-Fi hotspots across 400 select railway stations.

Facebook has decided to rebrand its Internet.org programme to 'Free Basics' for providing more services and stronger security measures.

Study by researchers at the Yale University, USA shows that there are over 3 trillion trees on Earth, based on ground survey data and satellite pictures.


AUGUST 2015

Ten day bi-lateral air exercise between Indian and British Air forces named Indradhanush concluded in Britain.

Mahindra Defence Systems Ltd and Europe’s Airbus Helicopters set up a joint venture to manu-facture military helicopters for the first time in India.

India’s first Integrated Underwater Harbour Defence and Surveillance System was commissioned in Kochi, Kerala to beef up coastal security.

ISRO launched its 25th home-made communications satellite GSAT-6 on August 27, using the Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-D6)

A global satellite for earth observation and disaster risk reduction -- GlobalSat for DRR under UN framework, will be named as “UN Kalam GlobalSat”

A new Science and Innovation Museum called 'Navachara Kaksh' was inaugurated at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on August 5.

Google has reorganized itself into a multiple company organization under a new umbrella company called Alphabet. Google will now be the biggest company in the

fold of Alphabet. Google India launched in Mumbai, a special

programme named Internet Saathi in collaboration with Tata Trust on July 3 to bring more women online.

NASA’s Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) has confirmed the presence of glowing neon gas in the moon’s atmosphere.

A new vaccine against the Ebola virus disease ‘rVSV-ZEBOB’, developed by the Public Health Agency of Canada has shown 100 % efficiency in a trial run.

Microsoft has rolled out its new operating system Windows 10 with a host of new features like Cortana, an Xbox app and Microsoft Edge.

Asia’s biggest multi-application solar telescope (MAST) has been started in the Udaipur Solar Observatory in Rajasthan.

JULY 2015

INS Viraat, the oldest aircraft carrier in the world, will soon be converted into a museum, at the shores of Kakinada port on Andhra coast

The ingeniously-developed supersonic surface-to-air missile "Akash" was formally inducted into the Indian Air Force in Gwalior.

The USA has agreed to provide technological support to India for building the next aircraft carrier and the Light Combat Aircraft jet engine.

India and Russia have agreed to jointly manufacture 200 military helicopters in India.

India test-fired its indigenously developed anti-tank guided missile ‘Helina’ in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. It can hit a target up to seven km away from a helicopter.

The indigenously-built Inshore Patrol Vessel (IPV) ICGS Rani Durgavati was commissioned by the Indian Coast Guard in Vishakhapatnam.

The ISRO successfully test-fired the first indigenous high-thrust cryogenic rocket engine for more than its full duration

The PSLV C-28 successfully put into orbit five British satellites It was ISRO’s biggest and the heaviest commercial launch till date.

Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan launched to train govt schools by IITs, IIMs and Universities etc. to inculcate a spirit of inquiry, creativity and love for science

China is about to complete construction of the world's largest single-aperture radio telescope FAST in 2016.

NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft has provided the closest-ever pictures of the Pluto, showing the details of its geology.

NASA has found a planet which is 'the closest twin to Earth', named Kepler-452b, located about 1,400 light years away in the constellation Cygnus.

June 30 this year will officially be a bit longer than usual because an extra second, or 'leap' second, will be added to the day.

The world's first malaria vaccine Mosquirix has got a green signal from the European drugs regulators.

eMudhra Ltd of Bengaluru became the first company in India to launch online electronic signature service called eSign.


Nearly 2,000 scientists gathered in Paris for a four day conference to deliberate on curbing the greenhouse gas emission levels.

A tiny butterfly species has been discovered in the forests of Changlang, Arunachal Pradesh. It has been named Banded Tit (Hypolycaena Narada).

Facebook has launched a new version of its app- Facebook Lite, lighter version optimised for slower data connections for Android phones in India.

INTERNATIONAL

SEPTEMBER 2015

U N General Assembly formally adopted on Sep 25

the new global 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) They aim to end poverty, hunger, assure gender

equality, and build a life of dignity for all, over the next 15 years.

These goals cover three important aspects - economic growth, social inclusion and environmental protection.

Indians in USA have launched "Mission 2022" in partnership with the Confederation of Indian Industries to promote business between two countries.

Nepal's parliament has approved a new constitution, which will come into effect from Sep 20

Nepal’s Constituent Assembly rejected the demand for converting the country in to a Hindu state, sparking violent protests across the nation.

The US Defence headquarters Pentagon has established a first-ever country special cell-India Rapid Reaction Cell to strengthen its defence ties with India

The G-20 meet of Finance Ministers in Ankara, Turkey, launched a new grouping – W20 (women 20) aimed at boosting the role of women in economic growth.

Canada, world's 11th-biggest economy has fallen into a recession, dragged down by falling energy prices and economic troubles in China.

In recently concluded 2015 Singapore General Elections, People’s Action Party (PAP) led by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has emerged victorious.

Two-day Conference of G-20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors held in Ankara, Turkey on September 4 and 5.

As per the new secular constitution of Nepal, Cow has been declared as the National Animal of Nepal.

AUGUST 2015

The IAEA and Kazakhstan have signed an agreement to create the world's first internationally-controlled bank of low-enriched uranium to ensure nuclear fuel supplies for power stations and preventing its use for weapons.

Bangladesh has become the first country to receive funds from UNFCCC for solar home systems to cut carbon emissions by reducing use of kerosene

List of Top 20 Wealthiest People Under 35 ranks Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg as the wealthiest individual with assets of $ 41.6 billion.

The Hollywood star Robert Downey Jr was ranked as the world's top-earning actor by Forbes, earning $ 80 million during 2014-15.

City of Hiroshima in Japan observed on August 6 the 70th anniversary of the first atomic bomb being dropped by a US aircraft.

Singapore marked 50 years of independence on August 9 with nationwide celebrations.

Bangladesh's Grameen Bank has found a place in Fortune's inaugural 'Change the World List' for creating economic opportunities for the poor.

Japan’s leading financial media house - Nikkei to buy the noted European financial paper - Financial Times from UK’s Pearson in a $1.3 billion deal.

As per the U N report ‘World Population Prospects: The 2015 Revision’, India is likely to become the most populous nation by 2022, surpassing China.

After a run of poor economic data, China devalued the Yuan on August 11, guiding the currency to its lowest point in past three years.

JULY 2015

The seventh BRICS summit was held at Ufa in Russia. The theme of the summit was “BRICS partnership - a powerful factor for global development”.

The BRICS group launched its New Development Bank (NDB) in Shanghai. The bank is seen as an alternative to the World Bank.

India to contribute $18 billion to the $100 billion foreign-exchange reserve pool being set up by the BRICS to help each other.

PM Modi attended the SCO – Shanghai Cooperation Organization meet at Ufa. The SCO decided to include India and Pakistan as a full member.

The World Trade Organization on July 24 finalised a list of 201 information technology products to be freed from import tariffs.

Trial run of the Egypt's second Suez Canal went off successfully on July 25. The 72km (44 mile) route allows two-way traffic


A landmark nuclear agreement was finalized between Iran and USA in Vienna to allow the UN inspectors to visit Iranian military sites

The World Population Day was observed on July 11. This year’s theme was 'vulnerable populations in emergencies'.

The ministerial conference of The Regional Integrated Multi-hazard Early Warning Systems (RIMES) nations was held in New Delhi

France’s vineyards in Champagne, famous for sparkling wine Champagne, have been included in UNESCO ‘World Heritage’ sites.

The World Trade Organisation has admitted Kazakhstan as its 162nd member.

PERSONS IN NEWS

SEPTEMBER 2015

ARVIND PANAGARIYA: Vice-chairman of Niti Aayog, has been appointed as the sherpa for G20 negotiations. ANUPAM KHER: Bollywood actor was in news as he was conferred with the Honoured Guest of Texas award in Houston, USA for his contribution to the cinema and the world of art. CHANDA KOCHHAR and Arundhati Bhattacharya have been ranked as top two in a list of most powerful business women in Asia-Pacific, prepared by the global magazine Fortune. They head ICICI Bank and State Bank of India, respectively. INDRA NOOYI: PepsiCo CEO is the sole Indian-origin executive in Fortune's list of 50 most powerful women in business (placed 2ND), which has been topped by General Motors CEO Mary Barra. JHUMPA LAHIRI: Noted Indo American novelist was honoured with the prestigious National Humanities Medal by the American President in recognition of her works highlighting human relation-ships. QUEEN ELIZABETH II: The 89 year old Queen of Great Britain reached a major milestone on Sep 8 by becoming the longest-reigning monarch (since Feb 02, 1952) in Britain’s history GENNADY PADALKA: Russian astronaut was in news as he created the record for having spent the most time in space. His latest mission lasted 168 days, bringing his total to 879 days in space over five trips.

AUGUST 2015

SUNDAR PICHAI: India-born technocrat has been named as the new CEO of the technology giant Google at an reported annual package of $ 50 million.

ANUPAM KHER: Bollywood actor has been named an advocate for the UN’s campaign on gender equality.

HARDIK PATEL: 21 year old firebrand youth leader from Gujarat was in news as he engineered a massive (and violent) state wide agitation in Gujarat demanding job reservation for Patel community in the OBC quota.

AMITABH BACHCHAN: Bollywood megastar has been appointed as ambassador for promoting tiger tourism in Maharashtra. ADNAN SAMI: Pakistani singer has been allowed to stay in India for an indefinite period following his appeal to legalise his stay on humanitarian grounds. NOVAK DJOKOVIC: World’s top ranked tennis player appointed as the Goodwill Ambassador of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)

JULY 2015

BENOY BEHL: Noted documentary maker won the Best Documentary Producer award at Madrid International Film Festival for his documentary film titled Indian Roots of Tibetan Buddhism.

MANISH S. SHARMA: A senior IPS officer of the Madhya Pradesh cadre was in news as the Mayor of San Diego, California, proclaimed July 20, 2015, as “Manish S. Sharma Day” in recognition of his contribution towards enhancing India-U.S. relationship. MILIND SOMAN: Bollywood actor-model aged 50, has won the Ironman title at a triathlon held in Zurich in Switzerland. The triathlon includes a .8-km swim, 180.2-km cycle ride and 42.2-km run, to be completed in 16 hours. VICTOR PONTA: Romania's Prime Minister resigned as he battled corruption charges against him.

APPOINTMENTS

SEPTEMBER 2015

RATAN P WATAL: New Union Finance Secretary

RAJIV MEHRISHI: Appointed as the new Union Home secretary.

DEEPAK GUPTA: Appointed as Chairman of Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).

J MANJULA: Director General, Electronics & Communication Systems cluster of the DRDO. She is the first woman DG of a DRDO cluster.

Ms. STUTI NARAIN KACKER: Appointed as the Chairperson of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR).


ALEXIS TSIPRAS: Re-elected as the Prime Minister of Greece. He had resigned last month.

SHERIF ISMAIL: Elected as the new Prime Minister of Egypt

MALCOLM TURNBULL: New Prime Minister of Australia.

AUGUST 2015

OM PRAKASH RAWAT: Appointed as the second Election Commissioner of India.

ACHARYA DEV VRAT: New Governor of Himachal Pradesh

RAM NATH KOVIND: New Governor of Bihar

ASHWANI LOHANI: Appointed as the Chairman and Managing Director of Air India.

USHA ANANTHASUBRAMANIAN: New Managing Director & CEO of Punjab National Bank

KISHOR PIRAJI KHARAT: Managing Director and CEO of IDBI Bank

MELWYN REGO: Managing Director and CEO of Bank of India

P S JAYAKUMAR: MD and CEO of Bank of Baroda*

RAKESH SHARMA: MD and CEO of Canara Bank* *This is for the first time that persons from the private sector have been given top positions in the public sector banks.

AJIT KUMAR SETH: Former Cabinet Secretary has been appointed as the Chairman of the Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB)

RANA KAPOOR: YES Bank co-founder has been approved by RBI for re-appointment as MD and CEO of the bank for 3 years.

SEBASTIAN COE: President, International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF)

RANIL WICKREMESINGHE: Elected as the new Prime Minister of Sri Lanka as his United National Party won the general elections.

JULY 2015

R. S. SHARMA: Appointed as the new Chairman of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India for three years.

PRASHANT PATHRABE: Appointed Director, Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) SRIRAM KALYANARAMAN: New Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer (CEO of the National Housing Bank (NHB), the national regulator for housing finance. JIN LIQUN: Former Finance Minster of China was nominated the first President of the Beijing-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).

AWARDS & HONOURS

SEPTEMBER 2015

SKOCH AWARD (India) FOR SMART GOVERNANCE: Won by Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) for its initiatives on Universal Account Number (UAN) Programme. VYAAS SAMMAN FOR 2014: Noted Hindi writer Dr Kamal Kishore Goenka for his work 'Premchand ki Kahaniyon ka Kaal Kramanusaar Adhyayan' GANDHI PEACE PRIZE-2014: Awarded to ISRO for its contribution in nation’s development through satellite based education, health care facilities. UNESCO ‘Award of Excellence’ 2015: Won by India for the remarkable conservation efforts of the majestic Sree Vadakkunnathan Temple in Kerala Indian film Angry Indian Goddesses, a story about a group of Indian girls in Goa gone wild, was voted as the first runner-up at the 40th Toronto International Film Festival in Canada.

AUGUST 2015

CROSS OF ORDER OF THE MERIT, GERMANY: Indian socio biologist Raghavendra Gadagkar was awarded with the Germany's highest civilian honour for his contribution in strengthening research cooperation between India and Germany. ICTP RAMANUJAN PRIZE 2015: Mathematician Dr. Amalendu Krishna; the prize is given to a mathematician below the age of 45 by the ICTP, Italy. ICTP: International Centre for Theoretical Physics STOCKHOLM JUNIOR WATER PRIZE 2015: Perry Alagappan from USA for inventing a filter through which toxic heavy metals from electronic waste can be removed from water. SOLIDARITY HUMAN RIGHTS AWARD: Awarded to Zhanna Nemtsova, the journalist daughter of slain Russian democracy advocate Boris Nemtsov. SUNHAK PEACE PRIZE (first): Noted Indian agricultural scientist Modadugu Vijay Gupta. He is joint winner of the prize along with President of Kiribati Islands Anote Tong.

ORDER OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE (OBE): Ameetpal Gill, PM David Cameron's Indian-origin adviser and speech writer. This is highest civil honour of UK.


JULY 2015 RAMON MAGSAYSAY AWARD: Whistleblower bureaucrat Sanjeev Chaturvedi and human rights activist Anshu Gupta, the founder of NGO Goonj, are among five persons selected for Asia’s coveted award.

28th MOORTI DEVI AWARD 2014: The prize was presented to veteran Writer Vishwanath Tripathi for his book Vyomkesh Darvesh, a lifetime story of veteran literateur Acharya Hazari Prasad Dwivedi.

The Prem Bhatia Awards for Journalism: Suhasini Haider of The Hindu for political reporting and Priyanka Kakodkar, The Times of India, for excellence in environmental and development reporting.

G.D. BIRLA AWARD FOR SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH: Prof. Sanjeev Galande from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune.

NELSON MANDELA PRIZE: awarded for the first time by UNO to Helena Ndume of Namibia and Jorge Sampaio of Portugal for their extraordinary service to humanity.

Grand Prix World Press Cartoon Award-2014: Noted Telugu cartoonist Pamarthy Shankar for his sketch of Nelson Mandela. ROYAL SOCIETY’s COPLEY MEDAL: World’s oldest scientific prize awarded to Nobel Prize winner Peter Higgs for his pioneering work on the theory of the Higgs boson (God Particle) which was discovered in 2012.

SAYED HAIDER RAZA: Noted modern Indian artist, has been conferred with the highest French civilian honour, the Commandeur de la Legion d'Honneur (the Legion of Honour) for his peerless achievements.

WORLD FOOD PRIZE: Sir Fazle Hasan Abed of Bangla Desh. It is the most prominent global award given by the World Food Foundation of the USA for individuals whose breakthrough achievements help to alleviate hunger and promote global food security.

Global Confederation for Higher Education Associations for Agriculture and Life Sciences World Agriculture Prize: Indian-American professor R Paul Singh for inventing food-processing equipment for a manned mission to the Mars.

OBITUARY

SEPTEMBER 2015

JAGMOHAN DALMIYA: President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), hailed as the architect of India's rise as the game's financial superpower, passed away in Kolkata.

AADESH SHRIVASTAVA: Noted Bollywood music composer passed away at a young age of 51 as he was suffering from cancer. M M KALBURGI: 77 year old Kannada scholar and ex Vice Chancellor of Kannada University was shot dead by two men at his Dharwad home in Karnataka. JACKIE COLLINS: Popular British-American romance novelist passed away in California, United States. She wrote 32 novels, all of which appeared on The New York Times bestsellers list. YOGI BERRA: Legendary Baseball player from USA, whose humorous quotes made him one of America's most beloved sports icons, died at the age of 90

CHANDRA BAHADUR DANGI: verified by the Guinness Book of Records as the world's shortest man - at 21.5 inches (54.6cm) - died of an undisclosed illness in American Samoa. He was 75 and was ill for long.

AUGUST 2015

SUVRA MUKHERJEE: wife of President Pranab Mukherjee passed away. She was an accomplished dancer, painter and lover of Rabindra Sangeet. OM PRAKASH MUNJAL: Co-Chairman of Hero Cycles Ltd and a leading industrialist passed away in Ludhiana on August 13. He was 87. Hero cycles is the world’s largest bi-cycle manufacturing unit.

JULY 2015

APJ ABDUL KALAM: Former President of India, great scientist and philosopher, popular as ‘Missile Man’ breathed his last on July 27. B K Handique: Senior Congress leader, six times Lok Sabha member from Jorhat, Assam, passed away on 26 July. He was 82. R.S. GAVAI: Former Governor of Kerala, Sikkim and Bihar, MP and a veteran associate of Dr Ambedkar passed away on July 25. SARDAR ANJUM: Renowned revolutionary poet, Urdu lyricist and a Padma Bhushan awardee, passed away in Panchkula, Haryana.

M S VISWANATHAN: One of the most popular music composers of south Indian cinema, having over 750 movies to his credit, passed away in Chennai.

Y K SABHARWAL: Former Chief Justice of India has passed away. BASHAR NAVAAZ: Noted Urdu poet and critic passed away in Aurangabad, Maharashtra.


TOM MOORE: Noted cartoonist who brought to life the escapades of Riverdale residents in Archie comics, passed away in his home town El Paso, Texas, USA. ALEX ROCCO: The US actor best known for his role in The Godfather, passed away in California, USA. ALCIDES E GHIGGIA: The Uruguayan soccer legend, died following a heart attack. He was 88 years old. OMAR SHARIF: Noted Hollywood film actor from Egypt, best known for his portrayal of Doctor Zhivago in the hit 1966 film and for his work in “Lawrence of Arabia”, died in Cairo at the age of 83.

MATTI MAKKONEN: The man who invented the idea of short messaging service (SMS) technology, died in Finland. He was 63.

PLACES IN NEWS

SEPTEMBER 2015

PETALWAD, JHABUA: Small town in Madhya Pradesh was in news as around 100 people were killed and many more injured after a massive blast caused by mining explosives stored in a building ripped through a crowded market area.

MINA: Holy place for Muslims, near Mecca was in news as over 720 people were killed and over 860 others injured there in a stampede as Haj pilgrims jostled their way to perform symbolic stoning of the devil, marking the culmination of the annual Haj pilgrimage.

MECCA: Muslims’ holiest place in Saudi Arabia was in news as at least 107 persons were killed and over 200 injured in an accident caused by crane collapsed on Sep 11 during the annual hajj pilgrimage.

COQUIMBO, CHILE: Area in Northern Chile was in news as more than 9,000 people were left homeless after it was struck by a 8.3-magnitude quake on September 16.

MOUNT ASO: One of the largest volcanoes on Japan's main southern island of Kyushu, erupted on Sep 14, sending a plume of black smoke 2 km high, but there were no reports of damage or injuries.

AUGUST 2015

KOCHI: has become the first Indian city to become a member of Beijing-headquartered World Tourism Cities Federation (WTCF) Council.

HARDA: Over 30 passengers were killed and many others injured when several coaches of two trains derailed over a railway bridge and plunged into the swollen Machak River in Harda, Madhya Pradesh

JULY 2015 CONAKRY: The capital of the Republic of Guinea, was named as the World Book Capital for 2017 by UNESCO. DINANAGAR: Town in Gurdaspur district of Punjab was in news as it suffered a terrorist attack that killed seven people including one SP and 3 policemen. PUDUCHERRY: City’s application for smart city became the first nomination to be received by the Urban Development Ministry for the Smart City Mission. VARANASI: has been selected by the UNESCO as the "City of Music" under the Creative Cities Network. MOUNT RAUNG: The volcano in East Java (Indonesia) suddenly started eruption in the first week of July, spewing clouds of ash into the air, forcing temporary closure of six airports.

SPORTS WORLD

SEPTEMBER 2015

YOGA GIVEN SPORTS STATUS The Sports Ministry has decided to recognize Yoga as a sports discipline and place it in the Priority category. Fencing has also been upgraded from others to General category, based on the past performance in major international events.

Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award

NAME SPORTS 1. Jot Singh (ITBP) Mountaineering 2. Arunima Sinha Mountaineering 3. Wg. Cdr. Paramveer Singh Aqua sport 4. Col. Satish Chander Sharma Mountaineering 5. Lt. Col Satyendra Verma Sky diving

The Indian wushu team fetched a rich haul of 1 gold, 4 silver and 7 bronze medals at the 5th International Pars Wushu Cup in Tehran, Iran.

Deepak Lather won a gold in the 62 kg category in weight lifting in the fifth Youth Commonwealth Games in Apia, Samoa. India stood fifth in the final medal tally in the Commonwealth Youth Games.

Anil won the gold medal in the 50 kg freestyle category at the Cadet Wrestling World Championships at Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina.

OP Jaisha and Sudha Singh finished 18th and 19th respectively in the women's marathon at the World Athletics Championships in Beijing. Jaisha, however, set a new national record by registering a time of two hours, 34 minutes and 43 seconds.


Manpreet Kaur of Railways created a new national record in shot-put throwing, claiming a distance of 17.96 meters at the 55th National Open Athletics Championship at Kolkata. Apurvi Chandela clinched the silver medal in women’s 10m air rifle event of the ISSF Rifle and Pistol World Cup Finals in Munich, Germany. Ravi Shastri to continue as the Team Director of the Indian cricket team till the 2016 T20 World Cup to be held in India. 55th National Open Athletics Championship started at SAI Complex in Kolkata on Sep16. The 42nd World Bridge Teams Championships opened in Chennai on Sep 26. U.S. OPEN TENNIS ENDS AT NEW YORK Men’s Singles: Novak Djokovic won the title beating Roger Federer Women’s Singles: Flavia Pennetta won the title by beating Roberta Vinci, both from Italy. Flavia announced her retirement after winning the title. Men’s mixed doubles: won by Leander Paes and Martina Hingis. Paes becomes the player to have won highest number, of mixed doubles grand slams (Nine). Women’s doubles: Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis won the title.

Sebastian Vettel from Germany won 2015 Singapore Grand Prix of Formula One car race

Lewis Hamilton won the Italian Grand Prix F1 championship at Monza, Italy.

Shane Watson: Australia's veteran all-rounder announced his retirement from Test cricket on September 6, playing his last match in Cardiff, UK.

The 2022 Commonwealth Games will be held in Durban, South Africa, for the first time.

Hangzhou, capital city of Zhejiang Province in East China, has been chosen by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) to host the 2022 Asian Games.

AUGUST 2015

SANIA HONOURED WITH KHEL RATNA Iconic tennis player Sania Mirza has been honoured with the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award for 2015. The award carries a medal and cash award of Rs. 7.50 lacs.

DRONACHARYA AWARDS announced for excellence in coaching. Award carries a statue & cash prize of Rs. 5 lakh.

Sr. No. NAME SPORTS 1. Naval Singh Athletics Para-sports 2. Anoop Singh Wrestling 3. Harbans Singh Athletics 4. Swatantar Raj Singh Boxing 5. Nihar Ameen Swimming.

DHYAN CHAND AWARDS (For Lifetime Achievement) declared. Award carries a statue & cash prize of Rs. 5 lakh.

Sl. No. Name Discipline 1. TPP Nair Volleyball 2. SP Misra Tennis 3. Romeo James Hockey

ARJUNA AWARDS announced. The Award carries a statue and cash prize of Rs 5 lakh.

S. No. Name of the sportsperson

Discipline

1. Naib Subedar Sandeep Kumar

Archery

2. Ms. M.R. Poovamma Athletics 3. Mr. Kidambi Srikanth

Nammalwar Badminton

4. Mr. Mandeep Jangra Boxing 5. Mr. Rohit Sharma Cricket 6. Ms. Dipa Karmakar Gymnastic 7. Mr. Sreejesh P.R. Hockey 8. Mr. Manjeet Chhillar Kabaddi 9. Ms. Abhilasha S Mhatre Kabaddi

10. Mr. Sawarn Singh Rowing 11. Mr. Anup Kumar Yama Roller Skating 12. Mr. Jitu Rai Shooting 13. Shri S. Sathish Kumar Weightlifting 14. Mr. Bajrang Wrestling 15. Ms. Babita Kumari Wrestling 16. Ms. Yumnam S. Devi Wushu 17. Mr. Sharath M.

Gayakwad Para-Swimming

SAINA NEHWAL, ace Indian shuttler regained the world no. 1 rank on August 20. She also became the first Indian to win silver in the World Badminton Championship. IBSF World 6-Red Snooker Championship: Pankaj Advani won the title outplaying Chinese Yan Bingtao at Karachi, Pakistan on August 11. Dutee Chand won the gold medal in the 200m at the 13th Federation Cup Junior Athletics Championship in Hyderabad


Anirban Lahiri finished 5th at the US PGA championship at Whistling Straits, USA, claiming the highest position ever won by an Indian at a Golf Major.

Aditi Chauhan, India’s international football goalkeeper became the country’s first woman to play English league football when she made her debut for English third tier club West Ham United Ladies.

Ace Indian golfer Aditi Ashok became first woman and youngest (17 years) player from India to win the prestigious Ladies British amateur stroke-play Championship 2015 at Leeds, United Kingdom.

Ajinkya Rahane became the first fielder in Test history to take eight catches in a single match, achieving the feat in the first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle, Sri Lanka.

Abhishek Verma won the gold medal in the men’s compound individual category in the Archery World Cup in Wroclaw (Poland).

World Archery Championships, Copenhagen, Denmark: Indian women's recurve team won the silver medal on August 2.

Special Olympic World Summer Games 2015 Indian contingent won 173 medals (47gold, 54 silver and 72 bronze) in the games held in Los Angeles, USA.

Sneha Verma, (21) suffering from Down syndrome, won gold medal in the 50m freestyle swimming event.

Prabhroop Sekhon (14) won gold medals in 300 metre and 500 metre Roller Skating event.

KUMARA SANGAKKARA: Sri Lanka’s ace batsman and wicketkeeper announced his retirement from the international Cricket. He played his last match at Colombo, against India.

Lewis Hamilton won the Belgian Grand Prix F1 championship at Spa, Belgium on August 23.

The 15th WORLD ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIPS held in Beijing, China

Usain Bolt (Jamaica) finished the 100 meters sprint in 9.79 seconds to emerge as world’s number one.

Shelly-Ann Fraser, also from Jamaica, retained gold in Women’s 100 meters.

Usain Bolt also claimed his fourth consecutive world 200 metre title

CINCINNATI OPEN 2015: Roger Federer beats world no 1 Novak Djokovic to win the title on August 23 in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. Serena Williams won the women’s singles title by defeating Simona Halep of Romania.

ROGERS CUP MASTERS TOURNAMENT, Montreal, Canada: Andy Murray won the men’s title by beating world number one Novak Djokovic. Women’s title was won by 18 year old Belinda Bencic of Switzerland by beating world number two Simona Halep

The world governing body of athletics, the International Association of Athletics Federations - the IAAF, has chosen the British former Olympic racing champion Sebastian Coe as its new President.

The International Olympic Committee has granted recognition to the sport of flying disc, commonly known as "frisbee" as an Olympic sport.

Beijing has become the first city in the world to have hosted both the Summer and Winter Olympics after it was chosen to stage the 2022 Winter Games. It hosted the summer Olympics in 2008.

JULY 2015

NATIONAL 10-year old Indian Golfer Shubham Jaglan scripted history as he became the first Indian to win the International Junior Golf Academy's World Stars Junior Golf Tournament played at Las Vegas, USA.

Sania Mirza has become the first woman tennis player from India to become top-seeded in a grand slam in the Wimbledon tournament in London. Rajat Chauhan created a new national record in archery by scoring 711 points in the Senior National Ranking Archery Tournament held at Patiala, Punjab. Skipper Mithali Raj scripted a new chapter in the history of Indian women's cricket as she became the first Indian and the second globally to reach the 5000-run milestone in one-day internationals.

Grandmaster Abhijeet Gupta won the 19th Commonwealth Chess Championship in Mumbai.

Ajinkya Rahane was captain of the Indian team for the Zimbabwe tour held in July.

Jwala Gutta and Ashwni Ponappa won the women's doubles title of the Canada Open Badminton tournament in Calgary, Canada.

Indian wrestlers secured 16 medals, including three gold, at the Junior Asian Freestyle, Greco-Roman and Female Wrestling championship at Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar.

India won the three-match One Day International (ODI) Series against Zimbabwe 3-0 played in Harare, capital of Zimbabwe.

The finals of the 2016 World Twenty20 cricket tournament will be held in the iconic Eden Gardens ground in Kolkata on April 3, 2016.

Considering the declining interest of the fans and popularity, the BCCI has decided to scrap the Champions League Twenty 20 (CLT20) with immediate effect.

The BCCI has decided to scrap the Duleep Trophy due to packed schedule.


TWO IPL TEAMS SUSPENDED FOR TWO YEARS The Justice R M Lodha Committee appointed by the Supreme Court to probe the IPL spot fixing and betting scandal, has submitted its report. It suspended the Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals teams from the Indian Premier League (IPL) for two years. Former CSK team official Gurunath Meiyappan and Royals co-owner Raj Kundra were suspended for life from any cricketing activity undertaken by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) as they were found guilty of betting.

INTERNATIONAL

WIMBLEDON Finals played in London, 2015 Men’s singles: Novak Djokovic of Serbia beat Roger Federer of Switzerland Women’s singles: Serena Williams of United States beat Garbine Muguruza of Spain Women’s doubles: Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis beat Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina Mixed doubles: Leander Paes and Martina Hingis beat Timea Babos and Alexander Peya Boys doubles: Sumit Nagal with Nam Hoang Ly of Vietnam won the title. He is the sixth Indian to win a Grand Slam junior title.

CHRIS FROOME of Britain won the three week multiple stage bicycle race - Tour de France at Champs Elysees in Paris on July 26.

Veselin Topalov won the Norway Chess 2015 title in Stavanger, Norway by defeating the Indian grand master Viswanathan Anand.

Sebastian Vettel, German driver won the Hungarian Grand Prix at Budapest, Hungary on July 26.

Roelant Oltmans of Netherlands has been appointed chief coach of the Indian hockey team till the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Genezebe Dibaba of Ethiopia created a new world record in the women’s 1500m, clocking a time of 3:50:07, shattering old world record of 3:50:46 set in 1993 by China’s Qu Yunxia.

Amelie Mauresmo, a former number one tennis player of France, was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. She is also the first woman to coach a top male tennis player – Andy Murray.

FLOYD MAYWEATHER: International boxer was in news as he was stripped by the World Boxing Organization (WBO) of the Welterweight World title which he had won two months ago, as he had failed to pay $200,000 fee required by the WBO after he won the richest fight of all time, earning $220 million.

The 9th World Youth Athletics Championship was held in Cali, Colombia.

FIFA Women's World Cup: United States lifted the cup for the third time, beating Japan. In the Final played at Vancouver, Canada.

Copa America Football Tournament: Chile defeated Argentina on penalties on July 5 to end their 99-year wait for this prestigious crown. Finals were played in Santiago, capital of Chile.

British Grand Prix F1 won by the reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton of UK on July5 at Silverstone circuit, UK.

South Asian Basketball Championship: India won by beating Sri Lanka in Bengaluru.

World University Games, Gwangju, South Korea: Inderjeet Singh won the gold in shot-put event on July 8.

2015 World Police and Fire Games held in Fairfax County, Virginia, in the United States.

The first day-night test match under lights will be played in Australia against New Zealand at the Adelaide Oval in November this year.

Canada Open Badminton Tournament: Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia and Michelle Li of Canada won the men's and women’s singles title, respectively in Calgary, Canada.

To end the undue advantage to batsmen, the ICC has decided to scrap the batting power–plays and allow five fielders outside the 30-yard circle in the last ten overs in one-dayers to be played from July 5.

BOOKS & AUTHORS

BOOK AUTHOR

The Outsider: My Life in Intrigue

an autobiography of Frederick Forsyth, noted

thriller novelist. Two Years Eight Months and Twenty Eight Days

Salman Rushdie.

The Monsoon War: Young Officers Reminisce 1965 India-Pakistan'

Capt Amarinder Singh and Lt. Gen. Tajindar

Shergill The Curse of Surya Dev Prasad. Hubris: Why Economists Failed to Predict the Crisis and How to Avoid the Next One

Meghnad Desai.

The Power of Meow David Michie Muslim Cosmopolitanism in the Age of Empire

Seema Alavi

Portrait of a Serial Killer Khushwant Singh (edited by Mala Dayal)


Making India Awesome Chetan Bhagat Combating Hunger and Achieving Food Security

Prof. M. S. Swaminathan

The Country of First Boys Amartya Sen The Devil take Love Sudhir Kakar R. D. Burman: The Prince of Music

Khagesh Dev Burman

Locale, Everyday Islam and Modernity

M. Raisur Rahman

Ghosts of Calcutta Sebastian Ortiz India Former Union

Environment and Forest Minister, Jairam Ramesh.

Green Signals: Ecology, Growth, and Democracy in

India Central Asia Relations: The Economic Dimension

Amiya Chandra

‘Kashmir: The Vajpayee Years’

A S Dulat. He was the Chief of Research and

Analysis Wing (RAW) and Special Advisor on

Kashmir in Vajpayee's PMO after his retirement.

The Making of Miracles in Indian States

Arvind Panagariya and M Govinda Rao

Who Will Cry When You Die Robin S Sharma Conflict Resolution in Multicultural Societies — The Indian Experience

Jhumpa Mukherjee

Chaos of the Senses Ahlem Mosteghanemi Flood of Fire Amitav Ghosh Men Explain Things to Me Rebecca Solnit The Crown Prince, the Gladiator and the Hope: Battle for Change

Ashutosh

Super Economies: America, India, China and the Future of the World

Raghav Bahl

Green Signals: Ecology, Growth and Democracy in India

Jairam Ramesh, ex Union Minister for environment

At Home in India- The Muslim Saga

Salman Khurshid

The Past Before Us Romila Thapar Your Dreams are Mine Now Ravinder Singh World’s Best Boyfriend Durjoy Datta Unbelievable – Delhi to Islamabad

senior Advocate Prof. Bhim Singh

More Bad Time Tales Humra Quraishi

India–Central Asia Relations Amiya Chandra Gandhi at First Sight Thomas Weber Vanessa and Her Sister Priya Parmar Me Hijra Me Laxmi Laxminarayan Tripathi,

autobiography of a transgender, a crusader

for rights of LGBT community

A Practitioner’s Diary Pradip Baijal Water, Peace, and War— Confronting the Global Water Crisis

Brahma Chellaney

No Free Left — The Futures of Indian Communism

Vijay Prashad

KP: The Autobiography Kevin Pietersen. India Shastra— Reflections on the Nation in Our Time

Shashi Tharoor

Secularism, Identity, and Enchantment

Akeel Bilgrami

At The Helm— A Memoir V. Krishnamurthy The Girl on the Train Paula Hawkins Mightier Than the Sword Jeffrey Archer On Religion Late Khushwant Singh God's Bankers: A History of Money and Power at the Vatican

Gerald Posner

Prince of Gujarat Rajmohan Gandhi Sahib: the British Soldier in India

Richard Holmes


Latest MCQs ON CURRENT AFFAIRS

DECEMBER GK TEST – 01 1. Choose the correct sentence out of the five

given below. A. KYC norms are not applicable to schemes under the Financial Inclusion programme. B. For a given purpose, loans can be granted to different customers at different rates C. Home loans are not useful for the public. D. NRI customers are not profitable for the banks. E. Online marketing is very costly.

2. The second World Congress on Disaster Management was held in A. Chennai B. Kolkata C. Vishakapatnam D. Mumbai E. New Delhi

3. Which among the following banks has got an in-principle approval from the RBI to set up a Trade Receivables Discounting System (TReDS)? A. Kotak Mahindra Bank B. ICICI Bank C. Axis Bank D. HDFC Bank

E. ICICI Bank 4. Savings Bank Accounts can be opened by

A. All individuals fulfilling KYC norms B. All tax payers C. All individuals above the age of 18 D. All businessmen E. All students below the age of 18

5. Which organisation has declared 2015 as the warmest year on record? A. United Nations Environment Programme B. World Health Organization C. World Tourism Organization D. World Meteorological Organization E. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

6. The UNICEF has released a report titled “Unless We Act Now” which details how

millions of children worldwide are at risk from A. Hunger B. Poverty C. Climate Change D. Harassment E. Child labour

7. Which organization has released a report titled “The Human Cost of Weather-Related Disasters”? A. United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction B. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change C. United Nations Industrial Development Organization D. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs E. World Meteorological Organization

8. In a Savings Bank Account, the deposits can be made A. On a monthly basis B. As per the depositor's convenience C. On an annual basis D. In lump sum E. On a quarterly basis

9. Recently, who was conferred with the Master Dinanath Mangeshkar Award for his outstanding contribution to theatre, films and music? A. Anil Kapoor B. Dilip Prabhavalkar C. Prashant Damle D. Lata Mangeshkar E. Ravinder Jain

10. What was the venue for the Conference of the Parties (COP) 21 summit held in November 2015? A. London B. Paris C. Dhaka D. Madrid E. Lima

11. Which of the following terms is not related to banking? A. Repayment B. Outstanding principal C. NPA

D. Standard risk E. Compounding


12. The government has approved the creation of NIIF. What does NIIF stand for? A. National Infrastructure and Infusion fund

B. National Infusion and Investment Fund C. National Infrastructure and Investment Fund D. National Investment and Infrastructure Fund E. National Institute for Investment and Infrastructure

13. A Technology Acquisition and Development Fund (TADF) under the National Manufacturing Policy has been launched to boost the ……. sector. A. Banking B. MSME C. Telecom D. IT E. Agriculture

14. What does the letter 'L' stands for in the term LAF commonly used in financial/economic news? A. Liquidity B. Least C. Liabilities D. Long E. Liquid

15. The 2015 Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace has been conferred on the A. UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) B. UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) C. UN High Commission for Refugees (UNCHR) D. UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) E. Bachpan Bachao Andolan

16. The Oxford Dictionary has announced which emoji as its “Word of the Year" for 2015? A. Flushed Face B. Face with Stuck-Out Tongue C. Face with Tears of Joy D. Face with Cold Sweat E. Face with One Eye Closed and a Tongue Stuck out

17. The warning system satellite EKS Kosmos-2510 has been successfully launched by which country into a Tundra orbit? A. China B. America C. Russia D. Japan E. France

18. What is the definition of extreme poverty to be used by the World Bank? A. Living on 1 dollar a day or less B. Living on 1.25 dollar per day or less C. Living on less than $ 1.4 per day D. Living on a daily diet of 2,200 calories or less E. None of the above

19. "Project Rainbow" is related to A. Climate Change B. Privatization of state-owned banks C. Strengthening the defence forces D. Resurgence of state-owned banks E. Creating a friendly society for the LGBT community

20. The Indian banks keep the statutory liquidity ratio as 1. Cash 2. Gold 3. Government securities 4. Shares A. 1, 2 B. 1, 2, 3 C. 1 and 4 D. 1and 2 E. All of these

21. In which of these countries was a woman elected president for the first time ever? A. France B. Germany C. Nepal D. Bangladesh

E. North Korea 22. The Nobel Economics Prize was started in

_______ and is awarded by_______. A. 1970, the Nobel Committee B. 1969, Riksbank C. 1955, the Nobel Committee D. 1969, the Nobel Committee E. All the above options are incorrect

23. In the acronym FPV, P stands for A. Police B. Public C. Patrol D. Panel E. Political

24. "Astradhaarini" is related to the A. Indian army B. Indian Air Force C. Navy D. Border Security Force E. Indian Tibetan Border Force

25. The acronym PPP can be expanded as A. Public Private Pact B. Public Private Partnership C. Public, Police and Politics D. Protecting Particular Politicians E. Public Private Performance

26. Which of the following is NOT a "Green Fuel"? A. Petrol B. Unleaded gas C. Compressed gas D. Natural gas E. All of these are green fuels


27. Select the mismatched pair: A. NGT: Environmental protection B. CBE C: Education C. TRAI: Telecommunications D. NASSCOM: Software companies E. BCSBI: Service levels in banks

28. Which film has won the prestigious Golden Peacock award at the IFFI 2015? A. Mustang B. The Measure of a Man C. Embrace of the Serpent D. Einstein E. Masaan

29. Eldar Ryazanov, who passed away recently, was related to A. Physics B. Cinema C. Sports D. Architecture E. Sports

30. Which organisation has launched an initiative titled “Anticipate, Absorb, Reshape” to build climate resilience in vulnerable countries? A. G20 B. Greenpeace C. United Nations D. BRICS E. V20

31. Which of the following banks is the world’s largest bank in terms of assets? A. Bank of America B. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) C. BNP Paribas D. Industrial Bank of China & Co E. Bank of Japan

32. For which purpose has the GIAN scheme been launched by the Union Government? A. To boost higher education B. To boost rural health C. To boost telecom sector D. To boost solar sector E. To boost primary education

33. India has developed Barak-8 missile in collaboration with A. Brazil B. Indonesia C. Israel D. France E. Russia

34. The International Monetary Fund has decided to add the ----- --- to its SDR basket. A. Chilean Peso B. Chinese Yuan C. Comoro Franc D. Croatian Kuna E. Japanese Yen

35. Sir Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 2009, has been appointed the president of the A. Royal Society of England B. Nobel Committee C. IMO D. American Science Academy E. International Union for Climate Change

36. The insurance cover for bank deposits in our country is provided by the A. RBI B. Government of India C. GIC D. LIC E. DICGC

37. Ustad Sabri Khan, who passed away recently, was a well-known A. Sarod player B. Violin player C. Classical dancer D. Poet E. Sitar player

38. Which state recently hosted the Hornbill festival to promote unity in diversity? A. Nagaland B. Manipur C. Assam D. Mizoram E. Sikkim

39. Which of the following has been designated as the BWF (BWF) Female Player of the Year 2015? A. Martina Hingis B. Maria Sharapova C. Serena Williams D. Saina Nehwal E. Sania Mirza

40. The theme of the 27th ASEAN Summit held in Kualalumpur was A. Our People, Our Community, Our Vision B. Our People, Our Community C. One World, Many Problems D. One Earth, One Life E. Our People, Our Earth

41. Which modern Indian saint's statue was unveiled in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia by PM Narendra Modi during his visit? A. Swami Dayanand B. Swami Vivekananda C. Mahatma Gandhi D. Swami Tejomaynanda E. Mother Teresa

42. The IBSF World Snooker Championship was won by A. Janeshar Khan B. Geet Sethi C. Pankaj Advani D. Irina Brar

E. None of these


43. The acronym FCCB implies A. Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds B. Foreign Currency Collateralized Bonds C. Foreign Countries Convertible Bonds D. Factorization, Conversion and Collateralization Board E. Fully Constructed and Checked Building

44. Under the Public Provident Fund scheme (PPF), the minimum duration before which the entire proceeds CANNOT be withdrawn is A. 5 years B. 3 years C. 6 years D. 15 years E. 10 years

45. The world's tallest building Burj Khalifa is situated in A. Syria B. Abu Dhabi C. Teheran D. New York

E. Dubai 46. The loan-to-value (LTV) ratio is a financial

term used by the lenders to A. Express the ratio of a loan to the value of an asset purchased B. Decide how much loan amount the borrower is eligible for C. To decide the repayment term for a loan D. Compute the rate of interest chargeable on a loan E. None of these

47. The FRBM Act is related to A. Amendment in Income Tax laws in India B. Direct taxes in India C. Black money in India D. Monetary policy management E. Fiscal management

48. The RBI has replaced the 'no-frills' accounts with A. Basic Savings and Deposit Accounts B. Basic Savings Accounts C. PM's Jan Dhan Yojana D. Basic Accounts E. RuPay Accounts

49. An angel investor provides A. Soft loan for a new, unproven business idea

B. Capital for a new, unproven business idea C. Technology for new companies

D. Bank guarantee for a new, unproven business idea E. Both A and B

50. In the United States, the ………. is in charge of its monetary policy. A. Federal Reserve B. Federal Bank C. State Bank of America D. American World Bank E. American Central Bank

DECEMBER GK TEST – 02 1. Which of the following is NOT a primary

function of a Bank? A. Granting Loans B. Collecting Cheques/Drafts of customers C. Facilitating import of goods D. Issuing Bank Drafts E. Selling Gold/Silver Coins

2. The Ministry of Urban Development has approved sanctioned Rs. 3120 crore for basic urban infrastructure in 102 cities under the A. Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation B. Jawahar Lal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission C. Smart City Project D. Housing for All E. None of these

3. The government has decided to advance the target year for achieving complete rural road connectivity under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) from A. 2022 to 2019 B. 2022 to 2017 C. 2025 to 2019 D. 2022 to 2018 E. 2020 to 2017

4. Which state is to be developed as the Bamboo State of India? A. Mizoram B. Nagaland C. Sikkim D. Assam E. Manipur

5. Who among the following defeated Wladimir Klitschko to become the world new heavyweight champion? A. Tyson Fury B. Floyd Mayweather C. Manny Mayweather D. Tyson Mayweather E. Manny Picaqio

6. India’s internet user base will become the second-largest after China by 2015 by touching the …. mark. A. 40 Crore B. 60 Crore C. 20 Crore D. 80 Crore E. 30 Crore

7. The theme of the World Antibiotic Awareness Week observed by the WHO recently was A. Antibiotics: Handle with Care B. Antibiotics: Caution Is The Key C. Antibiotics: One at a Time D. Antibiotics: Consult Your Doctor E. Antibiotics: Saviours to Killers


8. SAMBHAV is the name of a new government initiative launched for A. Slum dwellers B. Illiterate women C. Those with a physical handicap D. Youth E. Handicapped sportspersons

9. Which city/ town will host the first International Qawwali Festival ‘Taali Ho’ in February 2016? A. Saifai B. Lucknow C. Delhi D. Varanasi E. Mumbai

10. Usha Ananthasubramanian is the CEO of A. Panjab National Bank B. Axis Bank C. State Bank of India D. Bandhan Bank E. Oriental Bank of Commerce

11. The modified GAAR guidelines are to be implemented from A. April, 2016 B. 2020 C. April, 2019 D. Their implementation has been cancelled E. Their implementation has been postponed indefinitely

12. Which of the following defines Money Laundering most appropriately? A. Evading taxes on the income earned in India B. Depositing illegal money in banks abroad C. Financial dealings involving huge cash transactions D. To make it appear as if the money comes from a legitimate source i.e. is "clean" money E. None of these

13. With effect from the financial year 2015-16, those having a taxable income of more than Rs 1 crore a year will have to pay a surcharge of A. 10% B. 2% C. 20% D. 0.5% E. 5%

14. Core Banking refers to A. A group of networked bank branches B. The banking operations of the Reserve Bank

C. The World Bank's operations D. Routine operations in retail banking E. None of these

15. The term soiled note means a note A. With illegible printing B. Which has been officially declared out of circulation C. Which is fake as per RBI guidelines D. Which has dirt deposited on it E. which has become dirty with usage and also a two-piece note, with the pieces forming a complete note

16. On the occasion of the 69th Independence Day, while speaking from the ramparts of the Red Fort, the Prime Minister announced the beginning of A. Start Up India, Stand Up India B. Swachh Bharat Abhiyan C. Jan Dhan Yojana D. Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan E. Make In India

17. The International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Italy and the International Mathematics Union have jointly awarded the Ramanujan Prize to A. Dr. Amlendu Krishna B. Dr. Asoke Sen C. Prof. CNR Rao D. Dr. MS Swaminathan E. Dr. RA Mashlekar

18. According to a report released by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which country is the world's third-largest economy at $ 6 trillion? A. India B. Brazil C. Russia D. Japan E. UK

19. The central government has decided to celebrate …… as the National Unity Day. A. October 31 B. November 14 C. May 19 D. January 12 E. None of these

20. The acronym NSEL refers to A. National Stock Exchange Ltd. B. National Securities Exchange Ltd. C. National Spot Exchange Ltd. D. National Stock Exchange Liability E. New Spot Exchange Ltd.

21. The acronym BCSBI refers to an organization which is a A. Watchdog to monitor and ensure that the banks follow the prescribed service standards B. Watchdog to monitor that the banks follow the prescribed standards for financial reporting C. Complaint redressal forum for consumer complaints regarding banks D. Forum to decide disputes involving bank loans recovery E. Government body meant to select CEOs and Board Directors for public sector banks in India.

22. As per the latest data, which country has the world's largest economy at $ 17.6 trillion in terms of Purchasing Power Parity (PPP)? A. The USA B. Brazil C. Japan D. China E. India


23. As projected by the United Nations World Population Survey, India's population is likely to top the world charts by the year A. 2022 B. 2050 C. 2025 D. 2040 E. 2060

24. The amount of FDI allowed in private banks in India is A. 49% B. 74% C. 26% D. 100% E. 51%

25. Legendary cricketer Kumar Sangakkara, who retired from cricket in 2015, belongs to A. Sri Lanka B. Bangladesh

C. West Indies D. India E. Australia

26. The new year festival Losar is celebrated in A. J & K B. Assam C. Tamil Nadu D. Meghalaya E. Kerala

27. The minimum paid up capital required for a banking license in India is A. 500 Crore B. 1000 Crore C. 200 Crore D. 2000 Crore E. 1500 Crore

28. Which Indian cricketer in 2015 set a world record of most catches as a non-wicketkeeper in a Test match? A. Ajinkya Rihane B. Virat Kohli C. Shikhar Dhawan D. Yograj Singh E. Harbhajan Singh

29. A Green Bond is defined as one which raises money A. From across the world B. For an indefinite period C. At a low rate of interest D. For environment-friendly projects E. None of these

30. Which of the following banks in India are known as nationalized banks? 1. Bank of India 2. Allahabad Bank 3. United Bank of India 4. State Bank of India A. 1, 4 B. 1, 2 C. 1, 3, 4 D. 1, 2, 3, 4 E. 1, 2, 3

31. The term primary market in the context of shares means A. Initial Public Offer B. Stock exchange C. Buyback of shares D. Retail investors E. Out-of-market share transactions

32. To obtain their Net Demand and Time Liabilities, the banks subtract ……. from their Gross Demand and Time Liabilities. A. The money lying as Cash Reserve Ratio B. The money lying in inter-bank deposits C. The money lying in Recurring Deposits D. The amount of staff loans E. The money lying in Current Accounts

33. The UN-sponsored Climate Conference in Paris has resolved to limit the increase in the earth’s average temperature to …… by the year 2100. A. 1 degree Celsius B. 1.5 degree Celsius C. 3 degree Celsius D. 4 degree Celsius E. 2 degree Celsius

34. Bad money drives out good money --- This is popularly known as A. Pareto's principle B. Murphy's law C. Giffin's rule D. Gresham's law E. Moore's law

35. India’s largest National Cancer Institute is being set up in which of the following states? A. Andhra Pradesh B. Haryana C. Gujarat D. West Bengal E. Punjab

36. Which of the following countries has successfully test-fired the nuclear-capable Shaheen-III missile? A. Iran B. Saudi Arab C. Pakistan D. Syria E. Afghanistan

37. The treasury bills in India are issued by the A. Government of India B. Corporates C. Commercial banks D. Development finance institutions E. Municipal bodies

38. UNCITRL is an abbreviation related to A. Diplomatic conduct B. International trade law C. Nuclear weapons D. Climate change E. Women's welfare

39. Elizabeth Susan Koshy is related to which of the following sports? A. Swimming B. Cricket C. Chess D. Shooting E. Cricket

40. For a bank, a Savings Deposit represents a kind of A. Time liability B. Asset C. Demand liability D. Both A and C E. None of these


41. The devaluation of a country’s currency makes its ……… costlier and its …….. cheaper. A. imports, exports B. goods, services C. imports, domestic production D. domestic production, exports E. exports, imports

42. Who has been named by Time magazine as the ‘Person of the Year 2015’? A. Angela Merkel B. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi C. Donald Trump D. Hassan Rouhani E. Valdimir Putin

43. The No Tobacco Day is observed on A. May 31 B. March 8 C. June 5 D. December 1 E. May 1

44. Who among the following is the founder of popular social networking site Twitter? A. Larry Page and Sergei Brin B. Jack Dorsey C. Mark Zuckerberg D. Vinton Cerf E. None of these

45. Inflation is usually computed on the basis of A. WPI B. CPI C. Both A and B D. IIP E. Nominal GDP

46. Who among the following has been honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2015 Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF)? A. Sanjay Leela Bhansali B. Shyam Benegal C. Naseerudin Shah D. Lata Mangeshkar E. Anupam Kher

47. The Banking Ombudsman appointed by the Reserve Bank is can be considered similar to ……….. in terms of functions and powers. A. Consumer Forum B. CBI C. Police D. RAW E. Chief Complaints Redressal Officer

48. ‘On My Terms: From Grassroots to the Corridors of Power,’ is the autobiography of A. Lalthan Hawla B. Ram Jethmalani C. Sharad Pawar D. Okram Ibobi Singh E. Narendra Modi

49. Open Market Operations are conducted by the A. Reserve Bank of India B. Primary market dealers C. Merchant bankers D. Securities Exchange Board of India E. None of these

50. Which country will give India a Rs. 81, 000 crore soft loan, apart from the technical knowhow, to start a bullet train between Mumbai and Ahmedabad? A. The UK B. France C. The USA D. Japan E. China

ANSWER KEY TEST – 01

Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. 1 B 2 C 3 C 4 A 5 D 6 C 7 A 8 B 9 C 10 B

11 D 12 D 13 B 14 A 15 C 16 C 17 C 18 C 19 D 20 B 21 C 22 B 23 C 24 B 25 B 26 A 27 B 28 C 29 B 30 C 31 B 32 C 33 B 34 A 35 A 36 E 37 A 38 A 39 A 40 A 41 B 42 C 43 A 44 D 45 E 46 A 47 E 48 A 49 B 50 A

ANSWER KEY TEST – 02

Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. 1 E 2 A 3 A 4 A 5 A 6 A 7 A 8 C 9 C 10 A

11 A 12 D 13 A 14 A 15 E 16 A 17 A 18 A 19 A 20 C 21 A 22 A 23 C 24 B 25 A 26 A 27 A 28 A 29 D 30 E 31 A 32 B 33 E 34 D 35 B 36 C 37 A 38 B 39 A 40 C 41 A 42 A 43 A 44 B 45 C 46 C 47 E 48 C 49 A 50 D


SSC CORNER

THE HUMAN EYE

The human eye reacts to light and has several purposes. As a sense organ, the eye allows vision. Rod and cone cells in the retina allow conscious light perception and vision including color differentiation and depth perception. The human eye can distinguish 1 crore colours. Similar to the eyes of other mammals, the human eye's photo-sensitive ganglion cells receive light signals which affect adjustment of the the pupil, regulation and suppression of the hormone melatonin and the body clock. The human eye belongs to a general group of eyes found in nature called "camera-type eyes." Just as a camera lens focuses light onto the film, a structure in the eye called the cornea focuses light onto a light-sensitive membrane called the retina.

STRUCTURE OF THE EYE The cornea is a transparent structure found in the very front of the eye that helps to focus incoming light. Situated behind the pupil is a colorless, transparent structure called the crystalline lens. A clear fluid called the aqueous humor fills the space between the cornea and the iris.

Behind the cornea is a colored, ring-shaped membrane called the iris. The iris has an adjustable circular opening called the pupil, which can expand or contract to control the amount of light entering the eye. Ciliary muscles surround the lens. The muscles hold the lens in place but they also play an important role in vision. When the muscles relax, they pull on and flatten the lens, allowing the eye to see objects that are far away. To see closer objects clearly, the ciliary muscle must contract in order to thicken the lens. The interior chamber of the eyeball is filled with a jelly-like tissue called the vitreous humor. After passing through the lens, light must travel through this humor before striking the sensitive layer of cells called the retina.

THE RETINA The retina is the innermost of three tissue layers that make up the eye. The outermost layer, called the sclera, is what gives most of the eyeball its white color. The cornea is also a part of the outer layer. THE CHOROID The middle layer between the retina and sclera is called the choroid. The choroid contains blood vessels that supply the retina with nutrients and oxygen and remove its waste products. Embedded in the retina are millions of light sensitive cells, which come in two main varieties: rods and cones.


RODS AND CONES Rods are used for monochrome vision in poor light, while cones are used for color and the detection of fine detail. Cones are packed in a part of the retina behind the retina called the fovea, which is meant for sharp central vision.

When light strikes either the rods or the cones of the retina, it's converted into an electric signal that is relayed to the brain via the optic nerve. The brain then translates the electrical signals into the images a person sees.

THE OUTER PARTS OF THE EYE The eye is a fused two-piece unit. The smaller frontal curved unit, called the cornea is linked to the larger white unit called the sclera. The cornea and sclera are connected by a ring called the limbus. The iris is the colored circular structure surrounding the centre of the eye, the pupil, which appears to be black. The eye is made up of three coats, enclosing three transparent structures. The outermost layer fibrous tunic is composed of the cornea and sclera. The middle layer vascular tunic consists of the choroid, ciliary body, and iris. The innermost is the retina, which gets its circulation from the vessels of the choroid as well as the retinal vessels.

THE LENS Within these coats are the aqueous humour, the vitreous body, and the flexible lens. The aqueous humour is a clear fluid contained in two areas: the anterior chamber between the cornea and the iris, and the posterior chamber between the iris and the lens. The lens is suspended to the ciliary body by the suspensory ligament made of fine transparent fibres. The vitreous body is a clear jelly much larger than the aqueous humour behind the lens, and the rest is bordered by the sclera, zonule, and lens. They are connected via the pupil. The eye includes a lens similar to lenses found in cameras and the same principles can be applied. The pupil is its aperture; the iris is the diaphragm that serves as the aperture stop. Refraction in the cornea causes the effective aperture to differ slightly from the physical pupil diameter.

VISUAL PROCESSING The visual system in the human brain is too slow to process information. Thus, to be able to see while moving, the brain must compensate for the motion of the head by turning the eyes. Frontal-eyed animals have a small area of the retina with very high visual acuity, the fovea. To get a clear view of the world, the brain must turn the eyes so that the image of the object falls on the fovea.

Having two eyes allows the brain to determine the depth and the distance of an object. Both eyes must point accurately enough do that the image falls on corresponding points of the two retinas; otherwise, double vision occurs.

ACCOMMODATION Accommodation by changing the curvature of the lens is carried out by the ciliary muscles surrounding the lens. They narrow the diameter of the ciliary body, relax the fibres of the suspensory ligament, and allow the lens to relax into a more convex shape. A more convex lens refracts light more strongly and focuses divergent light rays onto the retina allowing for closer objects to be brought into focus.

***


How much well-equipped are you with vocabulary to express yourself in different situations? Take the quiz below to find out for yourself and also learn some new words as a BONUS! Directions: Given below are certain words printed in BOLD letters, followed by four choices in each case. Find out the choice which best conveys the meaning of the word in question. You will find the detailed solution to this exercise in this issue only. 1. MAJESTIC

A. Beautiful B. Rich C. Like a queen D. Royal

2. CONTINENCE

A. Complication B. Self-control C. Moderation D. Inclusion 3. MOLLIFY

A. Pacify B. Present a gift C. Obey D. Violate

4. HORRIBLE

A. Full of anger B. Knowledgeable C. Horrific D. Pleasant

5. DEFER

A. Regard B. Prefer C. Neglect D. Give

6. LUCID

A. Shining B. Clear C. Transparent D. Loud

7. NEOPHYTE

A. Child B. Experienced C. Immature D. New coin

8. PENANCE

A. Sermon B. Atonement C. Punishment D. Explanation 9. DITHER

A. Unable to grasp B. See-saw C. Discover D. Release

10. ETHEREAL A. Delicious B. Simple C. Old D. Heavenly

11. BENEVOLENT

A. Wealthy B. Inactive C. Having no concern D. Showing mercy

12. POTENT

A. Fighting B. King C. Royal D. Powerful

13. CULPABLE

A. Legal B. Sensible C. Related to books D. Guilty

14. TRANSIENT

A. Related to transistors B. Permanent C. Radical D. Short-lived

15. VOCIFEROUS

A. Loud B. Pleasing sound C. Corrupt D. Reactive

KEY

1. D 2. B 3. A 4. C 5. A 6. B 7. C 8. B 9. B 10. D 11. D 12. D 13. D 14. D 15. A

MY SCORE RATING 0-3 Get going! 4-7 Work hard! 8-11 Great, you’re almost there! 12-15 Wow! 1. MAJESTIC: adjective: impressive, royal

Popular synonyms: magnificent, regal Examples: A. The majestic-looking tower

enchanted the visitors at the first glance. B. She looked really majestic in a designer

lehenga. 2. CONTINENCE: noun: self-control (brahmcharya)

Popular synonyms: abstinence Examples: Practicing continence is an old,

accepted tradition for sanyasis in Hinduism.


3. MOLLIFY: verb: soothe, pacify

Popular synonyms: please, calm Examples: A. Reenu tried to mollify her angry boss by offering a lame excuse for not doing the work in time. B. The government tried to mollify the angry protestors by announcing a relief package.

4. HORRIBLE: adjective: Scary, creating fear,

fearsome Popular synonyms: horrid, horrific, horrendous Examples: A. The horrible killings done by the ISIS in Syria, Iraq and other countries deserve the strongest condemnation. B. The slum-dwellers were prone to many diseases as the slum suffered from a horrible lack of cleanliness

5. DEFER: verb: postpone, regard, respect

Popular synonyms: consider Derivation: deferral, deferment Examples: A. The tax deferral scheme is designed to benefit the businessmen, who are starting an industry for the first time. B. The new policy has been cancelled in deference to the opposition demand.

6. LUCID: adjective: clear, easily to understand

Popular synonyms: pellucid, comprehensible Derivation: lucidity Examples: A. The lucid explanation given by the professor cleared all my doubts. B. The lucid style of the book explains its popularity among the students.

7. NEOPHYTE: noun: newcomer, inexperienced

Popular synonyms: callow, tyro Examples: A. She, being a neophyte in the field, was put to intensive training for six months. B. I know the ins and outs of this field; do not mistake me for a neophyte.

8. PENANCE: noun: atonement, remorse

Popular synonyms: penitence Examples: A. Sajjan, the thug, realized his big mistake and decided to do penance for his wrong deeds. B. As a penance for her black past, she became a saint for life.

9. DITHER: verb: unable to take a decision, in a

dilemma, caught between opposing ideas Derivation: Dithering Popular synonyms: Waver, dilly dally

Examples: A. It is high time the government stopped dithering on terrorism and took strong action. B. Such dithering on important issues will only result in further wastage of time.

10. ETHEREAL: adjective: heavenly, out of the

world Popular synonyms: divine Examples: A. Her ethereal beauty left everyone spell-bound. B. Watching the light and sound was an ethereal experience which gave a huge applause at the end.

11. BENEVOLENT: adjective: kind, merciful,

generous Derivation: benevolence Popular synonym: magnanimous Examples: A. The benevolent saint donated all his wealth to a charitable cause. B. Only a benevolent soul can think of helping out such poor souls.

12. POTENT: adjective: powerful, strong, convincing

Derivation: potency, potential, potentate, impotent Popular synonyms: virile, manful Examples: A. Antibiotics are potent remedies for infections of all kinds. B. The logic of his argument was not potent enough to convince the audience.

13. CULPABLE: adjective: guilty, deserving blame

Derivation: culpability Examples: A. If you hit back someone in retaliation, you are as culpable as the other person. B. His culpability in this crime will be difficult to prove, given the lack of evidence.

14. TRANSIENT: adjective: temporary, short-lived

Derivation: transience Popular synonyms: transitory, momentary Examples: A. Given the transient nature of human life, we can never be sure of waking up the next morning. B. The transient pleasures in her otherwise sad life were enough to sustain her will to live.

15. VOCIFEROUS: adjective: loud, vocal

Popular synonym: strident, clamorous Examples: A. The opposition made a vociferous demand for the Prime Minister’s resignation over the scandal. B. There was a vociferous protest by the local people against the police excesses.


Profit And Pleasure

ON CHEMICAL IN DAILY LIFE

Profit and Pleasure not only tickles your nerve cells but also makes you learn interesting facts about the world. This time around, we are focusing on some chemicals and their use (and misuse) in daily life. Here we go! 1. The name of this chemical weapon brings images of

untold destruction of property, human life and horror. It is very easy to make, store and use but in terms of the misery it brings, its negative reputation is unparalleled till date. Made of a gel-like substance mixed with petrol, it sticks to the human skin when exploded and burns with a high temperature, causing third-degree burns. It was used by the USA against Japan during the Second World War before it could drop the notorious atomic bomb and also in the Vietnam War in the early 1970s. What is the popular name given to this dangerous mixture, now banned by UN conventions?

2. This chemical is commonly used by orthopedic surgeons to fix fractured bones. Once the paste is applied to the affected part, it hardens soon into a strong surface, which has to be removed forcefully by skilled hands later. Which popular chemical are we talking about here?

3. Typically, this Sodium compound is used by Indian housewives to soften hard lentils (dal) so as to make them easily digestible. Its chemical cousin is used at home to wash clothes, too. Can you identify the chemical compound in question?

4. Goldsmiths and jewellers routinely use this metal to harden gold ornaments and give them a brilliant finish. Consequently, the usually worn gold jewellery has a slight tinge of red in its appearance. Which commonly used metal is being talked about here?

5. Nuclear power plants use a moderator called Heavy Water to slow down the neutrons produced during the uranium fission reaction. Heavy water slows down their speed so that the speed of the reaction is in control and does not cause a nuclear explosion. What is the chemical name given to this moderator?

6. The Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPF) used in homes is a mixture of many hydrocarbons, which do not give off any odour. But to make a gas leak easily detectable, a pungent chemical with a strong smell is added to the LPG. Can you identify this additive chemical used in LPG?

7. Cosmetic surgeons commonly use this expensive injection to bring about the desired changes in the shapes of lips, nose, cheeks or any other facial feature. The procedure is quite painful, too. Which chemical are we referring to above?

8. Most sweeteners used by diabetes patients contain this chemical, which tastes sweet but does not have any sugar in it. Hint: No, we are NOT talking of saccharine here. Can you recall the name of this chemical?

9. Most painkiller drugs (analgesics) suppress the pain centre in our brain to numb our perceptions i.e. make us insensitive to the feeling of pain though it is there. The job is done by a popular chemical compound used in almost all painkillers. Can you identify it?

10. The entire world is worried about the serious consequences of the ozone layer depletion in the atmosphere. So much so that the use of certain chemicals has been banned to ensure that the layer is not depleted further. Which chemicals have been banned, as discussed above?

SOLUTIONS

1. Napalm (Naphthalene + Palmitic acid)

2. Plaster of Paris (Hydrated Calcium Sulphate)

3. Sodium Bicarbonate (Baking Powder)

4. Copper

5. Deuterium Oxide (D2O)

6. Ethyl Mercaptan

7. Botox

8. Aspartame

9. Acetyl salicylic acid

10. Choloro Fluoro Carbons (CFCs)


GYANM QUIZ - 09 How much do you know about the world around you? Take the quiz below to find out for yourself and WIN some exciting prizes as rewards. 1. Buddhism had started as a reaction against

A. Hinduism B. Christianity C. Jainism D. Islam

2. Human intestines contain an acid for digestion called A. Acetic Acid B. Carbolic Acid C. Hydrochloric Acid D. Nitric Acid

3. Which region on the earth has the least bio-diversity? A. The equatorial zone B. Australia C. The Mediterranean zone D. The Antarctica

4. “A little knowledge is a dangerous thing” was said by A. Oscar Wilde B. William Shakespeare C. Dr. Samuel Johnson D. Alexander Pope

5. Which place was called a “paradise on the earth” by the Mughal emperor Shahjahan? A. Kashmir B. Ootacammund C. Mussourie D. Himachal Pradesh

6. One can vote in parliamentary elections in India at a minimum of A. 18 years B. 21 years C. 20 years D. 25 years

7. Which of the following celebrated its 50th Independence Day in 2015? A. Singapore B. Taiwan C. Hong Kong D. The Vatican

8. The last census in India was conducted in A. 2001 B. 1991 C. 2014 D. 2011

9. Boats have a typical bird-like shape to ensure A. More friction B. Elasticity C. Streamlined action D. Lesser gravitational pull

10. Which of the following was set up last of all? A. Reserve Bank of India B. Punjab National Bank C. Allahabad Bank D. HDFC Bank

Heartiest congratulations to the winners of Gyanm Quiz-08! 1. Abhilash – Varanasi 2. Jugal Rana – Palampur

The winners are being informed by post. Name: ______________________________________ Address: ____________________________________ ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ PIN: _____________________ Mobile: ___________________________________ _ My answers to Gyanm Quiz - 09 are: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Signature _______________

TERMS AND CONDITIONS 1. Please send your responses to the quiz, along with

your COMPLETE ADDRESS and PIN CODE, by 25th January, 2016. The responses can be sent By e-mail to [email protected] OR On Whatsapp mobile number 09646888377 OR By post to Gyanm College of Competitions, SCO 13-15, 2nd Floor, Above Domino’s, Sector 34-A, Chandigarh-160034

2. ONLY the residents of India are eligible to participate.

3. In case of multiple correct entries, a draw will be held to decide the winner/s.

3. The Prize/s CANNOT be exchanged for cash. 4. The decision of the jury shall be FINAL and

BINDING on all the participants. 5. The winners’ names shall be announced in the

March, 2016 issue.


Financial Glossary

…… continued from previous issue

BANK ACCOUNTS

The two major activities in banking are --- accepting deposits and giving loans. Accordingly, almost all bank accounts can be broadly classified into two categories – Deposit Accounts and Loan Accounts. All deposit accounts, as a norm, show a credit balance, indicating that this amount has to be repaid to the customer. On the other hand, all loan accounts show a debit balance, indicating that the amount has is recoverable from the borrower. The holders of deposit accounts are called “depositors” and those of loan accounts are called “borrowers”. All deposits are classified as liabilities of the bank and loans as assets of the bank. The total deposits of a bank are also referred to as Gross Demand and Time Liabilities (DTL). After deducting inter-bank deposits, the net deposits are called Net Demand and Time Liabilities (NDTL).

TYPES OF BANK ACCOUNTS DEPOSIT ACCOUNTS LOAN ACCOUNTS

Demand Deposits

Time Deposits

Demand Loans

Term Loans

Savings Accounts

Recurring Deposit Account

Cash Credit Account

Housing Loan,

Vehicle Loan, Loan

for Machinery

Current Accounts

Fixed Deposit

Over Draft Account

DEPOSIT ACCOUNTS

The Deposit Accounts of a bank can be classified into two types: Demand Deposits and Time Deposits.

DEMAND DEPOSITS These accounts are running accounts and their tenure is not fixed. They can remain in operation as long as the customer maintains them satisfactorily. The customer can make repeated deposits and withdrawals in these accounts. Also, the facility of a cheque book is available in these accounts. But these accounts come with the condition of maintaining a minimum prescribed balance, the violation of which invites a monetary penalty. These deposits are of two types: - Savings Account and Current Account.

SAVINGS ACCOUNT Also known as Savings Bank Account or SB Account in short, it is the most popular bank account. These accounts are primarily meant for parking and safekeeping the savings of “individual” depositors. As their primary role is to encourage savings, there is a restriction on the number of withdrawals/debits allowed. Usually, most banks do not allow more than fifty withdrawals in a six months period and beyond this limit, a penalty is charged to the customer. The Savings Accounts may be opened by businessmen for personal use but cannot be used for business purposes. Only individuals, one or more, are allowed to open the SB accounts. Institutions, firms, organizations etc. (except those permitted by the RBI) are not allowed to open the Savings Accounts. SALIENT FEATURES Can be opened by individuals only for personal use.

Business transactions not allowed.

Limited number of transactions allowed.

Interest is payable on the daily balance.

Rate of interest is decided by the respective banks.

Minimum balance has to be maintained except in

Basic Savings Bank Account and Small Account

Cheque book facility available SAVING BANK ACCOUNT FOR MINORS The recent RBI guidelines permit children who are 10 years and above to open savings account in their name and allow them to operate it independently. Banks have the options to issue them debit card / cheque books. BASIC SAVINGS ACCOUNT The RBI has asked the banks to rename the existing ‘No Frill Accounts’ as Basic Savings Bank Accounts. These accounts can be opened with zero balance without any restrictions on the number of deposits. But such accounts allow not more than four withdrawals, including ATM withdrawals, in a month. However, KYC norms must be fulfilled for these accounts also.


SMALL ACCOUNT To facilitate financial inclusion, the RBI has introduced these simple accounts to be opened with relaxed KYC norms, merely on the basis of a NREGA or Aadhaar card. To avoid the misuse of these accounts, there are three conditions: i) The balance at any time not to exceed Rs 50,000. ii) The sum of credits in 12 months not to exceed Rs 1 lac. iii) Total withdrawals per month not to exceed Rs. 10,000. INTEREST ON SB ACCOUNTS The Savings Accounts earn interest and the banks are free to fix their own interest rate, with no minimum or maximum limits. Most banks pay interest between 4 and 7 percent per annum. With effect from 1.4.2010, the interest payable on such accounts is calculated on the daily balance maintained in the account and may be paid at less than quarterly intervals. In practice, most banks pay interest at half yearly intervals. Interest upto Rs. 10,000 per annum is exempt from income tax. CURRENT ACCOUNT These accounts are primarily for business purposes but there is no restriction on individuals opening current accounts for personal use. In a Current Account, there are no restrictions on the number of transactions. Besides, the facility of overdraft is permissible only in a current account and not in a savings account. INTEREST ON CURRENT ACCOUNTS As per the RBI guidelines, the banks are not allowed to pay any interest in these accounts. On the contrary, the banks recover service charges from the customer for maintaining these accounts.

Cheque books are allowed in both --- savings and current accounts. CASA DEPOSITS The funds lying in savings and current accounts are one of the cheapest sources of funds for the banks as no interest is payable on current account deposits while the savings account deposits carry the minimum interest payment liability. Thus, to minimize their cost of funds, the banks make all efforts to collect as much deposits as possible in their current and savings accounts. Put together, they are called CASA (Current Account / Savings Account) Deposits.

COMPARISON OF SAVINGS AND CURRENT ACCOUNTS

Feature Savings Account Current Account

Who can open Only Individuals

No restrictions, Anybody /

Institutions / Firms /

Companies etc.

Purpose

For Personal Use only; Business

transactions not allowed

No restrictions, All type of

transactions allowed

No. of Transactions Limited Unlimited

Interest Payable Not payable Rate of Interest

No restrictions, Banks are free to

decide their own rate

Interest not allowed

Method of Calculation

On daily balance basis at monthly

intervals Payment of

interest May be paid at less

than quarterly intervals; usually paid at half yearly

intervals Minimum

balance Has to be maintained;

except in zero balance accounts

Has to be maintained

Use of cheque book

Allowed Allowed

TIME DEPOSITS

Unlike demand deposits, time deposits carry a fixed tenure, usually not exceeding ten years. Usually, the rate of interest increases with the maturity period i.e. the higher the maturity period, higher the interest and vice versa. No cheque book is issued in these accounts. RATE OF INTEREST ON TIME DEPOSITS The banks are free to decide their own interest rates for these accounts. These rates are decided by the Asset Liability Committees (called ALCO) of the banks. The interest payable is compounded every quarter.

There are two types of time deposits - Recurring Deposits and Fixed Deposits. RECURRING DEPOSITS In these accounts, usually a fixed sum is deposited every month for a fixed period from six months to 10 years. At the end of the period, the total amount, along with interest, is returned to the depositor. In case some installments are defaulted, a penalty is charged.

…………To Be Continued SOURCE: FINANCIAL GLOSSARY,

A GYANM PUBLICATION


Latest G.K. Bytes

DECEMBER – 2015 1) The international solar alliance was recently

launched by Prime Minister Modi at which place: Paris

2) The international solar alliance aims at achieving the objective of keeping global warming below _____ degree Celsius between now and 2100: 2

3) At the Paris climate summit, India has committed to generate _____ giga watt solar power by 2022: 100

4) Developed nations are expected to keep their pledge to provide $______ billion a year by 2020 to support climate control by the developing nations: 100

5) Eldar Ryazanov, legendary film Director who died recently, was from which country: Russia

6) Eldar Ryazanov was famous for which kind of films: Comedies

7) Name the Indian player who has won the Macau Open Grand Prix Gold Badminton tournament for the third consecutive time: P V Sindhu

8) Macau Open Grand Prix Gold Badminton tournament was hosted by which country: Japan

9) Davis Cup 2015 was won by ________ after a gap of 79 years: Great Britain

10) _______ was the ace tennis star credited with victory of Britain in Davis Cup: Andy Murray

11) Diary of a Wimpy Kid is a book written by ___________: Jeff Kinney

12) Who is the author of the book Rogue Lawyer: John Grisham

13) ___________ won the world heavy weight boxing championship by beating Wladimir Klitschko: Tyson Fury

14) Which international bank recently announced shutting down of its private banking business in India: HSBC (Hong Kong, Shanghai Banking Corporation)

15) Bharat Stage (BS) V and VI norms have been prescribed for what purpose: Emission standards for four-wheelers

16) Government has decided to enforce Bharat Stage (BS) V norms by which date: April 1, 2019

17) Government has decided to enforce Bharat Stage (BS) VI norms by which date: April 1, 2021

18) India successfully test-fired the indigenously built nuclear-capable _______ missile, capable of hitting a target at a distance of 700 km: Agni-I

19) Barak 8 is the name of which defence equipment:

Advanced surface-to-air supersonic missile 20) India has developed the Barak 8 missile in

collaboration with which country: Israel 21) Union govt. proposes to launch a $1-billion equity

fund to support companies in which sector: Renewable Energy

22) RBI has approved which organization to function as the Central Unit for Bharat Bill Payment System: National Payments Corporation of India

23) _____________won the 2015 Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix: Nico Rosberg

24) The govt. has launched IPV for what purpose: For immunity against polio

25) What is the full form of IPV: Inactivated Polio Vaccine

26) The Golden Peacock award for best feature film is associated with which international film festival: International Film Festival of India

27) The Golden Peacock for 2015 was won by which film: Embrace of the Serpent

28) Who is the director of the award winning film Embrace of the Serpent: Ciro Guerra

29) The Golden Peacock award carries a cash prize of Rs. ____________ lac: 40

30) Data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) shows that country’s economic growth increased to ____percent in the July-September quarter: 7.4

31) By achieving a growth rate of 7.4% in July – Sept quarter, India overtook which major economy to become fastest growing economy: China

32) The 7.4% growth in July – Sept quarter was _______ basis points higher than the growth achieved in the April-June quarter this year: 40

33) At the Paris climate meet, India has committed to reduce its emissions intensity by _____ percent of its GDP by 2030: 33

34) The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has decided to include which new currency in its Special Drawing Rights (SDR) basket effective from October 1, 2016: Chinese currency, the Yuan

35) Apart from Yuan, how many currencies are there in the special drawing rights basket of IMF: Four

36) Anticipate, Absorb, Reshape is a new initiative launched by which organization to build climate resilience in the world’s most vulnerable countries: UNO

37) The first media summit of BRICS nations was held


at which place: Beijing 38) Which Indian telecom major plans to invest

Rs.60,000 crore over the next three-years in ‘Project Leap’ to upgrade its networks: Bharti Airtel

39) Which organisation has commissioned interceptor boat ‘ICGS C-422’ to further enhance its vigil along Pondicherry and South Tamil Nadu coast: Indian Coast Guard

40) 20 countries, including India, launched Mission Innovation in Paris for what purpose: For accelerating clean energy revolution across the world

41) In the 5th Bi-Monthly Monetary Policy review on Dec 2 by RBI, which policy rate was increased: None

42) In the 5th Bi-Monthly Monetary Policy review on Dec 2 by RBI, which policy rate was decreased : None

43) In the 5th Bi-Monthly Monetary Policy review on Dec 2 by RBI, it retained its projection of GDP growth rate at ______ per cent for the current fiscal: 7.4

44) With which country the government is considering a 'medicines for oil' barter system: Venezuela

45) Why the govt. is considering a ‘medicines for oil’ barter system with Venezuela: Because Indian pharma exporters are facing problems to repatriate their sales proceeds

46) What is the name of the five-day festival of classical dances of India held in December every year: The Konark Festival

47) Which state hosts the Konark Festival: Odisha 48) Name the famous temple associated with the

Konark Festival: Sun temple 49) Which Indian state hosted the International Sand

Art Festival 2015: Odisha 50) Robert Lewandowski, who earned recently three

Guinness World Record for fastest three, four and five goals is associated with which sports: Football

51) The World AIDS Day observed on which date: December 1

52) What is the international theme for this years World AIDS Day: Getting to zero, End AIDS by 2030

53) Ustaad Sabri Khan, a veteran musician died recently. He was master of which instrument: Sarangi

54) Ustaad Sabri Khan was decorated with which two national honours: Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan

55) Roch Marc Christian Kabore has been elected as the President of which West African country: Burkina Faso

56) This Unquiet Land is a book written by Barkha Dutt. She is a famous name in which field: TV

Journalism 57) Thakur Anoop Singh who recently won a world

title, is associated with which sports discipline: Body building

58) The World Bodybuilding and Physique Championship was held in which city: Bangkok, Thailand

59) Name the global IT giant who pledged to give away 99 per cent of his company shares in charity: Mark Zuckerberg

60) Govt has decided to setup 11 higher education institutes, 6 in technology sector and 5 in management sector. Name these institutes: 6 Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and 5 Indian Institute of Management (IIM)

61) Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) has launched GIAN scheme recently. What is full form of GIAN: Global Initiative of Academic Networks

62) Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) has launched GIAN scheme for what purpose: To boost the quality of higher education in India through international collaboration

63) Sir Venkatraman Ramakrishnan is a Nobel laureate in which field: Chemistry

64) Sir Venkatraman Ramakrishnan assumed the presidency of which prestigious global science body: Royal Society, London

65) BRICS nations are known for their good growth rate. However, recently one of them slipped into recession. Name this country: Brazil

66) According to the India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2015, forests and trees cover _________ % of the total geographical area: 24.16

67) The Lok Sabha passed the Bureau of Indian Standards Bill, 2015 to establish the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) as which new organization: National Standards Body of India

68) Google’s YouTube has collaborated with which production house in India to open its first video production studio called YouTube Spaces in the country: Whistling Woods International

69) What is the name of the China’s first domestically developed electricity-powered aircraft: RX 1E

70) The recently released ICT (information, communication and technology) Development Index ranks which country at the top: South Korea

71) As per the ICT Development Index 2015, India ranks a lowly __________ in the list of 167 countries: 131st

72) MAM Ramaswamy, Industrialist, founder of Chettinad Group, former parliamentarian passed away recently. He was from which State: Tamil Nadu

73) Which Indian bank bagged the prestigious 'Bank of


the Year' award conferred by Britain’s 'The Banker' magazine: Yes Bank

74) Hornbill Festival is the popular cultural festival of which state: Nagaland

75) _________________has become the first state of India to launch Rotavirus vaccination: Himachal Pradesh

76) What is the purpose of Rotavirus Vaccination: Controlling the child mortality rate (under five years of age) due to diarrhea

77) The Atlas V rocket belongs to which country: USA 78) USA utilized services of the Atlas V rocket recently

for what purpose: To carry supplies to the International Space Station

79) As per recent data, India attracted maximum FDI during April to September period from which country: Singapore

80) A survey in 33 countries for ‘Index of Ignorance’ has placed __________ as the country having highest percentage of ignorant population: Mexico

81) As per the index of ignorance, India is ranked at number ___________ in the survey of 33 countries: Two

82) RBI has hiked Priority Sector Lending norms for Regional Rural Banks from 60 per cent at present to _______ per cent of their total lending with effect from 1 January 2016: 75

83) As on March 2015, there were _____RRBs operating in the country with a network of 20059 branches: 56

84) From which country India received its first uranium consignment of about 2730 tonnes, after a gap of over four decades: Canada

85) Govt released two commemorative coins of Rs.125 and Rs.10 as part of the 125th birth anniversary year celebrations of which great Indian political figure: Babasaheb Bhim Rao Ambedkar

86) The 8th edition of INDRA NAVY-15, a bilateral maritime joint naval exercise between the Indian and _____________ navy was conducted recently: Russian

87) The 8th edition of INDRA NAVY-15, a bilateral maritime joint naval exercise was conducted in which area: Off the coast of Visakhapatnam in the Bay of Bengal

88) The first Goa to Mumbai double-decker Shatabdi train was flagged off from which city: Panjim, Goa

89) Which state launched International festival on Birds in National Chambal Sanctuary: Uttar Pradesh

90) The Hockey World League Cup was lifted by which country: Australia

91) Finals of the Hockey World League Cup were held in which Indian city: Raipur, Madhya Pradesh

92) In which international event Indian shuttler K Srikanth lost the title with very narrow margin: Indonesian Masters Grand Prix Gold badminton

tournament 93) International ratings agency Fitch Ratings has

announced that India’s investment rating would remain _________, the lowest investment grade: BBB

94) What do we call a bond the funds are 'ear-marked' for use towards financing ‘green’ projects only: Green Bond

95) In which city China has issued its first red alert on pollution, the highest level in the system, ordering schools to close for four days due to hazardous air quality: Beijing

96) In which country the Storm Desmond wreaked havoc, flooding vast areas: Northern England

97) Name the who new teams that have become the new franchises in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for a period of two years: Pune and Rajkot

98) Cochin Shipyard Ltd launched the Fast Patrol Vessel ‘ICGS Atulya’ for induction in which wing of Indian defence forces: Indian Coast Guard

99) Which European country's first female Prime Minister resigned recently: Latvia

100) India won four-match Test series in December 2015 against which country: South Africa

101) Govt. has launched Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) and Self Employment Talent Utilisation (SETU) schemes for what purpose: For Entrepreneurship development

102) Which Indian State has recorded highest per capita income of Rs. 240,849 during 2014-15: Delhi

103) Which state legislature has become the first in the country to launch an online mechanism for its members to send questions and move different motions in the House: Maharashtra

104) The Supreme Court has directed all the State and UT Governments to consider ________victims under the disabled quota to enable them to get reservations in government jobs as well as education benefits: Acid-attack

105) Chen Long of _____ and Carolina Marin of _______were declared Male and Female Player of the Year, respectively, by the Badminton World Federation (BWF): China, England

106) The ______________________has become the first oil company from India to join the global initiative ‘Zero Routine Flaring by 2030: Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd

107) Name the iconic leader who has been named as the "Person of the Year" by the Times Magazine: Angela Markel

108) Name the Chinese city that posted the second World Internet Conference: Wuzhen

109) Name the global pop singer from USA who is on top of Forbes magazine's list of highest-paid musicians of 2015: Katy Perry

110) India has signed agreement with which international airport to take up operations and


management of the Ahmadabad and Jaipur airports: Changi, Singapore

111) For which two items, the government has approved mandatory use of jute packaging material: Foodgrains and sugar

112) World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) 2016 report has been brought out by which international body: UNO

113) Name the Japanese Prime Minister who arrived in New Delhi on Dec 11 for a three day visit to India: Shinzo Abe

114) The Japanese Prime Minister attended the Ganga Aarti at which ghat in Varanasi: Dasaswamedh Ghat

115) Which country has approved the use of the first-ever vaccine against dengue fever – Dengvaxia: Mexico

116) Name the politician whose autobiography’s title is “On My Terms: From the Grassroots to the Corridors of Power”: Sharad Pawar

117) Which national body has directed that no new or old diesel vehicle be registered in Delhi till Jan. 6 to curb the pollution: National Green Tribunal

118) Mailer Prize for Literature is given in which country: USA

119) Name the India born author who has been selected for this year’s Mailer Prize for Literature: Salman Rushdie

120) Ballistic missile Shaheen-III belong to which country: Pakistan

121) South East Asia Writer Award is given annually to poets and writers from which group of countries: ASEAN – Association of South East Asian Nations

122) Which Indian celebrity has been ranked as the country’s top-earning celebrity with estimated earnings of Rs. 257.5 crore this year: Shah Rukh Khan

123) The 59th National Shooting Championships were held in which city: New Delhi

124) The first proposed bullet train in India will connect Mumbai with which other city: Ahmadabad

125) Nearly 200 nations adopted the first global pact to fight climate change on Dec 12 at COP 21 meet by UNFCCC. What is full form of COP and UNFCCC: Conference of the Parties, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

126) The "Paris agreement" aims to keep global temperatures from rising by _______ degree Celsius between now and 2100: Two

127) Name the four Asian countries that have joined hands to construct 1800 kms long TAPI gas pipelines: Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India

128) What is the ratio of sharing between Pakistan, Afghanistan and India in gas carried by TAPI gas pipeline: 42% each by Pakistan and India and

16% by Afghanistan 129) As per the Human Development Index (HDI)

compiled by the UNDP, India ranked a lowly _____ in the list of 188 nations: 130th

130) What are the three basic parameters on which the countries are ranked in the human development index: A long and healthy life, access to knowledge and a decent standard of living

131) 34 Islamic nations have agreed to form a new “Islamic military alliance” led by _________to fight terrorism: Saudi Arabia

132) Thousands of people suffered under the impact of severe typhoon Nona (Melor) in which country: Philippines

133) In which middle east county, women were allowed to cast votes and run for office in the local elections for the first time in the country's history: Saudi Arabia

134) Vijay Kumar, Chain Singh, Apurvi Chandela recently won gold medal in the National Championship of which event: Shooting

135) Sharad Joshi, a former Rajya Sabha member and founder of Shetakari Sangthana was associated with which field: Crusader for farmers’ rights

136) Which Indian city will host the 12th South Asian Games in February 2016: Guwahati and Shilong

137) Which animal has been selected as the mascot of the 12th South Asian Games: A rhinoceros calf

138) What is the name of the mascot of the 12th South Asian Games: Tikhor

139) Name the West African country that has decided to become an Islamic republic because Islam is the religion of the majority of its citizens: Gambia

140) Which is the first major bank in India to issue EMV chip and pin based debit cards to its new customers: State Bank of India

141) Abbreviation of EMV stands for what: Euro-Maestro-Visa

142) The Federal Reserve of USA was in news recently for what reasons: It hiked interest rates by 25 basis points to 0.50 on Dec 16, for the first time since 2006

143) As per the National Air Quality Index (NAQI) for 17 countries, which is the most polluted city in the world: Delhi

144) The Supreme Court has ruled that the RBI and commercial banks cannot hide routine information on which issue: Names of top defaulters, the losses suffered by banks

145) With which rocket ISRO successfully launched multiple payloads in vastly different altitudes using a single flight: PSLV-C29

146) The PSLV-C29 rocket recently placed in space six satellites of which country: Singapore

147) The World Bank has approved a USD 1.5 billion loan for supporting which major Indian campaign:


Clean India Campaign 148) The government has made it mandatory to quote

PAN for all transactions in excess of Rs.___ lakh to curb black money: Two

149) The Unified Commanders Conference, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was held at which place: Onboard INS Vikramaditya

150) What type of ship is INS Vikramaditya: Aircraft Carrier

151) Who has been appointed as the Chairman of Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT): Arun Kumar Jain

152) Losar, the biggest Tibetan Buddhist Festival is celebrated in which area: Ladakh, J & K

153) What is the significance of Losar festival: It is the beginning of New Year for Buddhists

154) For the first time, two Indian cities, ____________, have been selected in the Creative City Network of the UNESCO: Varanasi and Jaipur

155) Which Indian city has been selected as the city of Music by UNESCO: Varanasi

156) Which Indian city has been selected as the city of Crafts and Folk Art by UNESCO: Jaipur

157) _____________has become the first Indian female cyclist to be ranked fourth in the World Elite Women Ranking: Deborah Herold

158) Union Government has requested the states and Union Territories (UT) to start _________from 1 to 31 January 2016 to rescue/rehabilitate the missing children: Operation Smile-II

159) In which country public chose a new flag design featuring silver fern and red stars on a black and blue background: New Zealand

160) India has ranked a low _____out of 144 nations on Forbes' annual list of the best countries for doing business in 2015: 97th

161) The RBI has decided to lower the banks’ investment in government securities, also known as statutory liquidity ratio (SLR), to _____by January 2017: 20.5%

162) As per RBI decision, first cut of 25 basis points shall be made in SLR on which date: April 2, 2016

163) The UN Security Council (UNSC) has adopted a resolution to cut off revenue flows including ransom payments to which category of organizations: ISIS and other terrorists group

164) RBI has asked banks to follow a new and uniform methodology for calculation of which rate: Base Rate

165) Banks will have to follow new system of base rate calculation from which date: April 1, 2016

166) What is the formal name of the new proposed base rate for the banks: Marginal Cost of Funds based Lending Rate (MCLR)

167) Banks will have to publish their MCLR in how many maturities: Five

168) What are the five prescribed maturities for which

banks have to publish their MCLR: Overnight rates, one month, three months, six months and one year

169) Banks are required to publish their MCLR at what interval of time: Monthly

170) Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) excavated 35,950 cannon balls at the historic Fort St Angelo in Kannur. It is in which State: Kerala

171) Country's biggest Wildlife Rescue Centre has been established in which state: Maharashtra (Gorewada)

172) The 22nd National Cricket Tournament for the visually impaired was held in which place: New Delhi

173) The Bose Brothers and Indian Independence – An Insider’s Account is a book written about which noted freedom fighter: Subash Chandra Bose

174) Govt has approved the purchase of _______air defence missile systems from Russia: S-400 Triumf

175) The 10th WTO (World Trade Organisation) Ministerial Conference was held in which city: Nairobi, Kenya

176) Who represented India in the 10th WTO (World Trade Organisation) Ministerial Conference: Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Commerce and Industry Minister

177) Who is the present Director General of WTO: Roberto Azevedo

178) There are how many member countries in the WTO: 163

179) Which country joined the WTO in Dec 2015 as its 163rd member: Afghanistan

180) India lowered its GDP growth projection for the current year to between ______ % against the earlier forecast of 8.1 - 8.5%: 7 - 7.5

181) Name the former union defence secretary who has been appointed as the new Chief Information Commissioner (CIC): R K Mathur

182) Name the Greek Defence Minister who arrived in India on a three day visit in December: Panos Kammenos

183) World Bank has said that ______ is the largest recipient of inward remittances receiving over 72 billion US dollars in 2014: India

184) Which country has lifted a 40-year ban on its oil exports: USA

185) Dan Carterhas been named 2015 Sports Personality of the Year. He is from which field: Rugby

186) Which city hosted the 68th National Track Cycling Championship: Ludhiana, Punjab

187) The iconic boulevard Marine Drive, also popularly called the Queen’s Necklace completed 100 years on Dec 16. It is in which city: Mumbai

188) Which Indian statesman received Garwood Award for ‘Outstanding Global Leader in Open Innovation’ from UC Berkeley-Haas School of Business: Shri


Pranab Mukherjee 189) 2nd World Internet Conference was held at Wuzen

in which country: China 190) Shenzhen industrial area in south China was in

news due to what reasons: More than 90 persons were killed there due to a landslide

191) Which Hollywood film has set a box office record for an opening weekend, collecting over $ 238 million: Star Wars

192) Which Indian company has become the first shipyard in India to get the nod to build LNG transporting ships: Coaching Shipyard

193) What is the full form of LNG: Liquefied Natural Gas

194) 2nd Indian Super League Football tournament was won by which team: Chennaiyin FC

195) Name the team that lifted the prestigious FIFA Club World Cup: Barcelona

196) Finals of the FIFA Club World Cup were played in which city of Japan: Yokohama

197) Name the Indian boy who has become world no. 1 won Junior Squash player: Abhay Singh

198) Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach of the Philippines has won which international beauty crown for 2015: Miss Universe

199) Mireia Lalaguna, the winner of Miss World 2015 title is from which country: Spain

200) Which city in India hosted the Commonwealth Table Tennis Championship: Surat, Gujarat

201) Which country won 16 medals in the Commonwealth Table Tennis Championship to emerge as No. 1: India

202) Name the ex-President of FIFA, who was banned by Ethics Committee of FIFA for alleged financial irregularities: Sepp Blatter

203) Axis Bank has partnered with e-Mudhra to introduce an online electronic signature service. What its name: eSign

204) Which state Government has approved formation of five new districts, bringing the total districts to 25: West Bengal

205) Which UN organization has launched International Year of Pulses on 10 November: FAO (Food & Agriculture Organization)

206) What is the theme of the international year of pulses: Nutritious seeds for a sustainable future

207) Name the New Zealand cricketer who announced on Dec 22 his retirement from all forms of international cricket: Brendon McCullum

208) Who has won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2015: Andy Murray

209) Which organization has named midfielder Eugeneson Lyngdoh and striker Bala Devi as the Player-of-the-Year and woman Footballer-of-the-Year, respectively: All India Football Federation

210) Govt has decided to rename the posts of UDC

(Upper Division Clerk) as what: Senior Secretariat Assistant

211) Govt has decided to rename the posts of LDC (Lower Division Clerk) as what: Junior Secretariat Assistant

212) Government has now made it mandatory for the auditors to report any suspected corporate fraud amounting to Rs ______or more to the Corporate Affairs Ministry: One Crore

213) The Reserve Bank has asked banks to make changes in ATM switches To help customers register for which service: Mobile Banking Services

214) What is the name of the mobile app launched for farmers to get the market prices of crops in the mandi within 50 km radius of the device: Agri Market Mobile

215) North India’s first cable-stayed bridge was inaugurated at ___________in Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir: Basohali, on river Ravi

216) Indian-American tumour scientist Prof. Rakesh Jain has been selected for which top US science award: National Science Medal

217) Reserve Bank has extended the deadline for exchanging pre-2005 currency notes of various denominations by another six months to _________: June 30, 2016

218) Name the Australian Batsman who has been named as “Cricketer of the Year 2015” and “Test Cricket of the Year” by the ICC: Steve Smith

219) ____________ has been selected as the “ODI Cricketer of the year 2015” by the ICC: AB de Villiers

220) The International Tennis Federation has named ________ and ________ as the Women’s Doubles World Champions: Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis

221) Name the Indian players who won the doubles title in the Mexico Open Grand Prix Badminton tournament in Mexico City: Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy

222) Which port city in southwestern Saudi Arabia was in news as a fire in its general hospital killed 25 people and injured 107: Jazan

223) Which state government has banned 15-year-old diesel vehicles from its capital's roads in a bid to control air pollution: Bihar

224) Name the country's first indigenously designed and built warship that was decommissioned at Mumbai on Dec 24 after 32 years of service: INS Godavari

225) What is the highlight of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Bill passed by Rajya Sabha: Age of Juvenile for trial purposes has been lowered from 18 years to 16.

226) Which bank has tied up with railway’s e-ticketing platform IRCTC to sell rail tickets through its website: ICICI Bank

227) Gautam H Bambawale has been appointed as the


High Commissioner of India to which country: Pakistan

228) The ____________became the first Asian country to approve the sale of the world's first-ever dengue vaccine, Dengvaxia: Philippines

229) Which state launched Anwesha scheme to provide free education to scheduled caste and scheduled tribe students: Odisha

230) China launched the Dark Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE) Satellite for what purpose: To study the mysterious dark matter

231) Name the global financial institution started recently with base in Beijing: Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank

232) What is the share of India in the capital of AIIB: 8.52%

233) AIIB has been started within authorized capital of $_________ billion and subscribed capital of $ ___________ billion: 100, 50

234) Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank has been promoted by 56 countries led by which country: China

235) Russia has agreed to manufacture which helicopter in India: Kamov 226

236) Kamov 226 are which category of helicopters: Medium Multipurpose

237) Prime Minister Modi visited which country while returning from his recent visit to Russia: Afghanistan & Pakistan

238) PM Modi inaugurated which building complex in Afghanistan: Parliament

239) Col. C.K. Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award is given in which field: Cricket

240) Who has been honoured with the Col. C.K. Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award for 2015: Syed Kirmani

241) Syed Kirmani excelled in which aspect of Cricket: Wicket Keeping

242) Name the veteran actress, who mesmerised audience with her beauty and powerful performances in timeless hits like “Hum Dono”, “Love in Simla” and “Waqt”: Sadhana

243) How many pacts were signed between Russia and India during PM Modi's recent visit to Russia: 16

244) Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has rolled out its latest mobile application named ________for providing e-learning material for students and teachers: E-CBSE

245) Name the weather phenomenon in South Atlantic Ocean which caused very heavy downpour in countries like Paraguay, Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil: El Nino

246) National Veda Convention and Vedic Conference was held in which city: Kozhikode, Kerala

247) In which European country thousands of people were forced to flee their homes due to

“unprecedented” flooding: England (Northern) 248) In which country a string of powerful tornado

storms wreaked havoc across much of its southern area: USA

249) Name the team that won the India's first pro wrestling league championship: Mumbai Garuda

250) Deepak Lather and Vikas Thakur created new national records recently in which field: Weight Lifting

251) Senior National Weightlifting Championships were held at which city of India: Patiala

252) S Chikkarangappa won the player of the year title for which sports: Golf

253) Name the Indian sports person who won silver medal at the 18th Asian Luge Championship: Shiva Keshavan

254) Dr. Robert L. Spitzer, veteran psychiatrist who gave psychiatry its first set of rigorous measuring standards was in news for what reasons: He passed away

255) Which company has launched ‘MoboMoney’, India’s first ‘Tap N Pay’ contactless digital payment solution: Tech Mahindra

256) Kilkari, Mobile Academy and M-Cessation are the names of Mobile Apps linked with which field: Health Care

257) Govt. proposes to launch on January 16, 2016 the project "Startup India, Standup India" for what purpose: To promote culture of "Startup Ventures" in India

NOVEMBER – 2015 258) Indian Vice President visited which South-East

Asian country in first week of November: Indonesia

259) Chilka Lake of India is famous for receiving thousands of migratory birds from Siberia region. It is located in which state: Odisha

260) In terms of brand value of nations, India ranks ______ in world: 7th

261) In terms of brand value of nations, which country enjoys the top rank: U.S.A

262) Swiss Indoors Basel Tennis title was won by which sports person: Roger Federer

263) BNP Paribas WTA Finals were held in which country: Singapore

264) Women’s doubles title at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals was won by which couple: Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis

265) The Rugby World Cup was hosted by which city: London

266) Name the country which won the Rugby World Cup: New Zealand

267) Brijmohan Lall Munjal, a famous industrialist passed away recently. He was founder of which company: Hero Motocorp Ltd

268) _______Veteran diplomat, an IFS officer of 1980


batch, has been appointed as India’s next High Commissioner to the United Kingdom: Navtej Singh Sarna

269) India-Myanmar Relations is a book written by which author: Rajiv Bhatia

270) Name the gold scheme that was opened for public subscription from November 5-30: Sovereign Gold Bonds Scheme

271) John Pombe Magufuli has been elected as the new President of which country: Tanzania

272) Lunar rover, Yutu, set a record for the longest stay on the Moon by completing almost two years stay. It is from which country: China

273) Name the Indian who has been honoured by the New York Global Leaders Dialogue Humanitarian Award: Bindeshwar Pathak

274) Social activist Bindeshwar Pathak is famous for which contribution: Establishment of Sulabh Shochalayas

275) With Cotton production of around 400 lakh bales, which country is likely to become largest cotton producer in the world in 2015-16: India

276) Which Global rating agency has upgraded its outlook for India's banking system to 'stable' from 'negative': Moody’s Investors Service

277) As per Legatum Prosperity Index 2015 of 142 countries, India has been placed at _______ place in terms of overall prosperity: 99th

278) Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been ranked as the world's ______ most powerful person by Forbes magazine in a 2015 list: 9th

279) As per the Forbes list of most powerful persons in world in 2015, president of which country has been ranked as number one: Russia, Vladimir Putin

280) Which IT giant is working with the Indian government on a pilot project for providing Internet connectivity by using large balloons: Google

281) What is the purpose of ‘Project Loon’ being implemented in India: Providing Internet Services

282) Recent news line in paper was – ‘core sector shows improvement in September’. It refers to improvement in which sector: Industrial production

283) Volcanic ash eruptions from Mount Rinja in which country paralysed the tourism industry there as it led to cancellation of several flights: Indonesia

284) Name the Indian shooter who won silver medal in the 13th Asiald in n Shooting Championship: Jitu Rai

285) 13th Asian Shooting Championship was held in which city: Kuwait City

286) Who has been appointed as the new Chief Justice of India (43rd), succeeding Justice HL Dattu: Justice T S Thakur

287) Prime Minister of which country announced his resignation bearing moral responsibility for a nightclub blaze that killed 32 people: Romania

288) Which state has launched APJ Abdul Kalam Amrut Yojna: Maharashtra

289) What is the purpose of APJ Abdul Kalam Amrut Yojna: to provide at least one full hot cooked nutritious meal to pregnant and lactating women in the tribal areas

290) _______ Railway Station in Karnataka has become the first blind-friendly Railway Station in India: Mysuru

291) 69th senior National Aquatic Championships 2015 were held in which place: Rajkot Gujrat

292) Virdhawal Khade has won the National Title in which sports: Swimming

293) First international film festival for the persons with disabilities (IFFPD) will be held in _______ from 1 to 3 December 2015: Delhi

294) Which social networking company has partnered with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL) to create 100 Wi-Fi hotspots in rural areas of western and southern India: Facebook

295) ICGS Arinjay, a Fast Patrol Vessels was commissioned in Indian Navy at Kochi. What is the full form of ICGS: Indian Coast Guard Ship

296) Which city hosted the 11th National Tribal Crafts Mela ‘Aadishilp’: New Delhi

297) Which international iconic Football star has been picked up by the Tata Motors as their global brand ambassador for their passenger vehicles: Lionel Messi

298) Who has been appointed chairperson of a committee set up by the Human Resource Development Ministry to draft the new education policy: T.S.R. Subramanian

299) Nico Rosberg won the Mexican Grand Prix F1 championship in Mexico City. He is from which country: Germany

300) Shiva Thapa was ranked number 2 in world in the latest international rankings in the 56 kilogram category of which sports: Boxing

301) Which country reopened its Consulate General office in Mumbai after four decades of closure in 1973: Norway

302) A new species of the Dracula ant, likely to be of Stigmatomma group of predaceous ants, was discovered by a group of citizen scientists in which part of Kerala: Western Ghats

303) Which country has committed to invest over 2 billion euros for Smart City projects in India with special focus on Chandigarh, Nagpur and Puducherry: France

304) According to the global Financial Secrecy Index report released by Tax Justice Network of UK, India ranked ________ in the list of 92 countries in 2015 in


terms of financial transparency: 45th 305) Suresh N Patel has been appointed as the Managing

Director & Chief Executive Officer of which Bank: Andhra Bank

306) _______ Kumar Jain has been appointed MD and CEO of Indian Bank: Mahesh

307) _______ has been appointed MD and CEO UCO Bank: R K TAKKAR

308) J K Garg has been appointed as the Managing Director of which Bank: Corporation Bank

309) RBI has allowed to offer ‘view only’ internet banking to which category of banks: State and district central co-operative banks

310) Which government authority fixes the minimum support prize for various crops: Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs

311) The Minimum Support Price of wheat, the main rabi crop for season 2015-16 has been fixed at Rs ______ per quintal: 1575

312) The government launched Ujjwal Discom Assurance Yojna (UDAY) to improve the performance of which companies: Power distribution companies.

313) Government has announced the levy of a Swachh Bharat cess of ______ % on all services liable for service tax (14%) from November 15: 0.5

314) Swachh Bharat cess means a tax of ______on every Rs 100 worth of taxable services: 50 paisa

315) Surjit Hockey Tournament was won by which team: Railways

316) Li Yuanchao from China visited India to review cooperation on better river water management and cultural exchanges. Who is he: Vice President of China

317) ________ has won Gold in 10 metre Air Pistol event at 13th Asian Shooting Championships in Kuwait: Heena Sidhu

318) Which country moved to the top of the FIFA world ranking list in football for the first time, leaving behind giants like Argentina and world champions Germany: Belgium

319) Russia suspended all its flights to which country after one of its aircraft suffered mid-air bomb blast soon after take-off from Sharm el-Sheikh: Egypt

320) Name the authors of the book ‘Rebooting India Realizing a Billion Aspirations’: Nandan Nilekani and Viral Shah

321) Free General elections were held in which neighbouring country, after a gap of almost 25 years of Military rule: Myanmar

322) The pro-democracy party National League for Democracy, led by its charismatic leader ______ won the recent general elections in Myanmar: Aung San Suu Kyi

323) The RBI has decided to officially stop the barter system - trading of goods without exchange of

money, from December 1 on which international border: Indo-Myanmar border

324) Indian Army successfully test-fired the land attack variant of the 290-km range supersonic cruise missile named ______: BrahMos

325) ________ became the first player in Ranji Trophy history to notch up 10,000 runs: Wasim Jaffer

326) Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma has been honoured with Kala Shikhar Award for lifetime achievement in which field: Playing Santoor

327) What Happened to Netaji is a book written by which person: Anuj Dhar

328) Name the nuclear-capable ballistic missile which was tested successfully for a range of 4,000 kms: Agni-IV

329) Which international financing agency has agreed to give $ 273 loan for improving rural roads in Assam, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal: Asian Development Bank

330) UNESCO rejected which country’s bid for membership as it failed to receive the support of two-thirds of the UNESCO’s member nations: Kosovo

331) OECD has said that the Indian economy is expected to grow by 7.2 per cent this fiscal. What is the full form of OECD: Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development

332) According to Fortune India’s latest rankings of Indian business women, _________ has been ranked as the most powerful business woman: Arundhati Bhattacharya

333) ________ defeated Mali to win the FIFA Under 17 Football World Cup: Nigeria

334) The FIFA Under 17 Football World Cup was hosted by which country: Chile

335) Britain has announced _______ as the UK-India Year of Culture to mark the 70th Anniversary of Indian Independence: 2017

336) Name the venue in London where Prime Minister Modi addressed a massive gathering of over 60 thousands persons: Wembley Stadium

337) Which country was provisionally suspended from all international track and field events by International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) due to widespread doping in its athletes: Russia

338) India’s satellite GSAT-15 was successfully launched by the European Ariane rocket from Kourou in French Guiana. It will work in which field: Communications

339) Some of the top rated companies are firming up plans to raise fund by issuing ‘masala bonds’. What are they going to do: Issuing rupee-denominated bonds in foreign markets

340) Bhutan's Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay visited India to preside over the 'India Ideas Conclave' in


which city: Goa 341) Northeast’s first exclusive hospital for elephants

has been established at the Kaziranga National Park in which state: Assam

342) Name the former RBI Deputy Governor who has been appointed as an Executive Director on the board of the International Monetary Fund: Subir Gokaran

343) Name the only Indian institute that has secured a place in a list of top 100 institutions compiled by the ‘Times Higher Education Rankings for Engineering & Technology: The Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore

344) Helmut Schmidt, a veteran and famous statesman passed away recently at the age of 96. He was from which country: Germany

345) _________ won the International Children’s Peace Prize for 2015 for his “tireless campaigning” to end violence against minors: Abraham Keita, (17)

346) Which global e-commerce company created a new record in online sales netting $14.33 billion on the annual Singles Day on Nov 13: Alibaba

347) Which International Airport has been adjudged the best-maintained international airport in the country for the third quarter commencing July this year: Thiruvananthapuram

348) Raghuram Rajan, Governor RBI has been elected Vice-Chairman of which international financial institution: Bank of International Settlement

349) Headquarters of the Bank of International Settlement are located at which place: Basel, Switzerland

350) What was the name of the seventh edition India-Russia Joint Military Exercise held in Bikaner district of Rajasthan: Indra – 2015

351) Justice Ajit Prakash Shah has been appointed as the ethics officer (ombudsman) of which national sports body: Board of Control for Cricket in India

352) India has been re-elected on the UNCITRAL for a period of six years. What is the full form of UNCITRAL: United Nations Commission on International Trade Law

353) In the eight north-eastern states, government has decided to contribute _________per cent funds in the centrally sponsored Schemes: 90

354) The government has enhanced the monetary limit to approve foreign investment proposals of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board – FIPB to Rs ________ crore, from Rs 3,000 crore at present: 5,000

355) In which city of France, over 129 people were killed and more than 300 were wounded in multiple terrorists’ shootings: Paris

356) Which city hosted the 35th India International Trade Fair: New Delhi

357) DRDO has developed Advanced Torpedo Defence System “Maareech” and “Vaarunaastra” for use by

which wing of defence forces: Navy 358) INS Vishwakarma, a premier training establishment

of the Indian Navy for the shipwrights is located at which place: Vishakhapatnam

359) With which country India has announced the completion of procedures for bringing the two-nation nuclear deal into force: Australia

360) Government has declared which militant outfit of Nagaland as a terrorist organization under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967: National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Khaplang), NSCN (K)

361) As per a recent IMF study, India's GDP can expand by 27 per cent if the number of women workers increases to _______ as that of men: Same level

362) Leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) group held their annual summit at which place: Manila

363) Ace badminton player Saina Nehwal clinched which rank at the China Open Superseries Premier Badminton tournament: Second

364) Name the veteran Bollywood actor who recently died in London. He is remembered for his outstanding performance in films like Gandhi, Shatranj Ke Khilari and Masoom: Saeed Jaffrey

365) A two day summit of Heads of G-20 nations was held in ______Turkey to dwell on inclusive economic growth and climate change: Antalaya

366) Nico Rosberg won the Brazilian Formula One Grand Prix at _________Brazil: Sao Paulo

367) Hundred Drums Wangala Festival, the thanks giving post-harvest festival is celebrated in which state of India: Meghalaya

368) The Union Ministry of Tourism launched the National Mission on Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Augmentation Drive (PRASAD) and Swadesh Darshan schemes for what purpose: To increase the arrival of foreign tourists in India

369) World Bank granted $75 million loan to which Indian state for its Rural Inclusive Growth project aimed at enhancing agricultural incomes of small and marginal farmers: Andhra Pradesh

370) The International Day for Tolerance was observed globally on ________ November with an aim to educate people about the need for tolerance: 16

371) Name the veteran patron of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) who passed away in Gurgaon due to a prolonged illness: Ashok Singhal

372) Govt has approved State Annual Action Plans (SAAP) of 81 mission cities in 5 states-Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha and Mizoram under AMRUT Scheme for 2015-16. Write the full form of AMRUT: Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation

373) Name the 1985 batch officer of Indian Foreign Service who has been appointed as the next


Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations: Syed Akbaruddin

374) Which country won the prestigious women’s team tennis trophy - Fed Cup after beating Russia in final played in Prague: The Czech Republic

375) Name the 16 year old shuttler from India who won the silver medal at the BWF World Junior Championships held in Lima, Peru: Siril Verma

376) What is the objective of the Accessible India campaign recently launched by government of India: To make international airports and major railway stations disabled friendly

377) In a breakthrough, scientists in U K have developed the world's first 'porous' liquid that can potentially be used to capture and dissolve unusually large amounts of which harmful gas: Carbon Gas

378) Name the Australia’s most devastating fast bowler of his era who retired from all international cricket on Nov 17: Mitchell Johnson

379) Global Cancer Summit was held in which city of India from Nov 18 to 20: Bengaluru

380) Ms. Zarin Daruwala has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of which foreign bank in India: Standard Chartered Bank

381) With a view to boost exports, the government has approved ___________ per cent interest subvention scheme to allow exporters to avail loans from banks at a lower rate: Three

382) Government has launched the Technology Acquisition and Development Fund (TADF) for what purpose: To facilitate acquisition of clean, green and energy efficient technologies

383) Government plans to link all the police stations of the country online under the CCTNS. What is full form of CCTNS: Crime and Criminals Tracking Network and Systems

384) Which Indian city hosted the Second World Congress on Disaster Management from 19 to 22 November: Visakhapatnam

385) Tianhe-2 supercomputer has emerged as the world’s most powerful supercomputer system for the sixth consecutive time. It has been developed by which country: China

386) Name the former Chief of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) who passed away in Bengaluru: K. Sankaran Nair

387) Name the Indian Minister who has been designated as the Disaster Risk Reduction Champion for the Asia Region by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction: Kiren Rijiju

388) Govt has allowed ________language to be taught as an additional foreign language in Kendriya Vidyalayas in conformity with the National Education Policy, 1986: German

389) The World Health Organisation (WHO) on 16 November 2015 launched the World Antibiotic

Awareness Week. What was its theme: Antibiotics handle with care

390) 7th Central Pay Commission headed by Justice AK Mathur submitted its report to which union ministry: Finance Ministry

391) Ram Krishna Trivedi, Former Gujarat governor passed away recently. He also held a very important national office. Name this office: Chief Election Commissioner

392) The world's second-largest gem quality diamond has been discovered in which country in southern Africa: Botswana

393) Recently the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution to take action against which terrorist organisation: Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS)

394) The Indira Gandhi Prize For Peace, Disarmament And Development- 2015 has been Awarded to which International Organisation: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

395) As per the Global Terrorism Index 2015, India ranks __________ in list of 162 nations most impacted by terrorism in 2014: 6th

396) As per the Global Terrorism Index 2015, which country is worst affected by the terrorism: Iraq

397) The Global Gender Gap Report 2015 ranks India at _________ place in terms of utilisation of its female work force: 108th

398) Which country tops The Global Gender Gap Report 2015: Iceland

399) In which country Islamist militants laid siege to the Radisson Blu Hotel, killing at least 27 persons from different nations: Mali

400) Which ministry plans to launch Blue Revolution Integrated Development and Management of Fisheries for growth and development of fisheries: Agriculture Ministry

401) Which Indian city hosted the 17th Asia Pacific Youth Forum meet: Kozhikode, Kerala

402) _________ has been elected as the new Chief Minister of Bihar: Nitish Kumar

403) 27th summit of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was held in _________on November 21: Kuala Lumpur

404) Vijay Keshav Gokhale has been appointed as India’s Ambassador to which country: China

405) Government plans to mobilise around Rs. 20,000 crore by selling 10% of its stake in which public sector undertaking: Coal India Ltd

406) Harshavardhan Neotia has been elected as the President of the FICCI for the year 2016. Who is he: Chairman of Ambuja group of industries

407) 46th International Film Festival of India began in Panaji, Goa with the screening of The Man Who Knew the Infinity. It is a biopic of which famous mathematician: Srinivas Ramanujan


408) Name the two South-East Asian nations visited by Prime Minister Modi in the 3rd week of November: Malaysia and Singapore

409) Name the India's most successful cueist who won the record 15th world title by winning the IBSF World Snooker Championship in Egypt: Pankaj Advani

410) Who has become the first player to win the ATP World Tour Finals for the fourth consecutive time: Novak Djokovic

411) Leaders of the ASEAN group of nations have declared the establishment of an EU-style regional economic bloc. Give its name: ASEAN Economic Community (AEC)

412) Name the President of France who will be the chief guest at the 2016 Republic Day celebrations: Francois Hollande

413) The DRDO test-fired an Advanced Air Defence (AAD) missile from Abdul Kalam island. What kind of missile is it: Intreceptor missile

414) Which South-American country has elected Mr.Mauricio Macri as its new President: Argentina

415) In which country, the young pro-democracy voters are known as Umbrella Soldiers: Hong Kong

416) Name the India’s neighbour which is experiencing hardships due to ongoing Madhesi Agitation: Nepal

417) Madhesis, the Indian-origin inhabitants of Nepal are found in which part of Nepal: Terai region

418) In a $ 160 billion merger agreement, the biggest ever deal in the healthcare sector, pharma major Pfizer Inc has acquired which other big pharma company: Allergan Plc

419) The Confederation of All India Traders has launched an e-commerce portal, ‘e-lala’ for what purpose: To promote bussiness of 5.77 crore small units

420) The 8th Men’s Junior Asia Hockey Cup at Kuantan, Malaysia was won by which country: India

421) Ramnath Goenka Lifetime Achievement Award is given for excellence in which field: Journalism

422) Who is the recent winner of Ramnath Goenka Lifetime Achievement Award: Kuldip Nayar

423) Which country has launched its first early warning system satellite named EKS or Integrated Space System: Russia

424) Name the three Indian cities selected by the British government for developing them as 'Smart City': Pune, Amravati (Maharashtra) and Indore (MP)

425) Rajasthan government has signed a ‘sister-state agreement’ with which state of Australia: South Australia

426) Which international organization has said that global average temperatures this year are likely to be the warmest on record: World Meteorological Organisation

427) Name the naval variant of the Prithvi – II missile,

having a strike range of 350 kilometers that was tested successfully recently: Dhanush

428) Mahip Singh, who passed away passed away in Gurgaon, after a brief illness was a noted figure from which field: Literature & Journalism

429) Japan conducted its first commercial satellite launch on August 24, with which launch vehicle: H-IIA rocket

430) Government has reduced the deadline for completion of Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana for rural connectivity through all- weather roads from 2022 to which year: 2019

431) Which state has launched the ‘Tourist Mitra’ to ensure a smooth and secure experience for tourists: Karnataka

432) The 10th East Asia Summit was held in which city of Malaysia: Kuala Lumpur

433) Name the former long jump world champion who has been appointed as the chairperson of the Target Olympic Podium Scheme: Anju Bobby George

434) Why The National Milk Day is observed on 26 November: To mark 94th birth anniversary of the Father of the White Revolution - Dr Verghese Kurien

435) T R Govindarajan, distinguished football administrator and veteran referee who died recently at the age of 90, was from which state: Tamil Nadu

436) What is the US military operation name for the intervention against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in Iraq and Syria: Operation Inherent Resolve

437) Which union ministry recently launched 10 schemes for the benefit of disabled persons: Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment

438) Who is the author of the book “Because We Say So”: Noam Chomsky

439) “Why India Is Not A Great Power (Yet)” is a book written by which author: Bharat Karnad

440) INS Kadmatt the indigenously built stealth ASW corvette, was formally handed over to the Navy on Nov 26. What is ASW: Anti-Submarine Warfare

441) In the naval language what is a corvette: A small war ship

442) The first ever day-night Test match in the history of cricket started in last week of Nov. at which place: Adelaide Oval in Australia

443) The Long Range Surface to Air Missile (LRSAM), jointly developed by the ______________ and DRDO was successfully tested: Israel Aerospace Industry

444) The RBI has allowed foreign investors to buy default non-convertible debentures and bonds provided their maturity is for _____ years or more: Three

445) Name the highest paid director of the Indian


Corporate world for the year 2014-15: Pawan Munjal of Hero Moto Corp

446) ______________ has been appointed as the President of The Associated Chamber of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM): Sunil Kanoria

447) India successfully test-fired its indigenously developed nuclear capable Prithvi-II missile. What is its strike range: 350 kms

448) India observes ‘Constitution Day’ on which date: November 26

449) RBI has allowed three companies to start Trade Receivables Discounting System (TReDS). This will benefit which category of enterprises: Small and Medium Enterprises – SMEs

450) The government has made it mandatory for road developers to use __________ along with bituminous mixes for road construction: Waste Plastic

451) Which country has developed world’s strongest combat and reconnaissance drone CH – 5 that can fly with a weight of 3,000 kg: China

452) First India International Science Festival will be hosted by which educational institution: Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi

453) Government has extended RuPay card usage condition of at least one transaction in 45 days to ____ days for filing a claim under PMJDY: 90

454) Which Indian bank has become the first Indian bank to launch Sonic branding (Musical Logo): HDFC Bank

OCTOBER – 2015 455) What is the name of the India’s first dedicated

astronomy research satellite recently launched by ISRO: Astrosat

456) Astronomy research satellite Astrosat has been placed in which orbit: Equatorial

457) Senior congress leader, Dr. Syed Ahmed passed away recently. He was governor of which State: Manipur

458) The Japanese Grand Prix F1 race at Suzuka, Japan was won by _________: Lewis Hamilton

459) Name the Indian who won the IBSF World Billiards Championship in Adelaide, Australia: Pankaj Advani

460) Abhinav Bindra clinched gold in the men's 10 metre Air Rifle event of which championship: Asian Air Gun Championship, New Delhi

461) What is the name of the stealth guided missile destroyer which was inducted in the Indian Navy on Sep 30: INS Kochi

462) Naval warship INS Kochi is the stealth guided missile destroyer. What is meant by Stealth: Ability to avoid detection by Radars

463) Government has unveiled ‘National Institutional Ranking Framework’ (NIRF) for what purpose: For annual ranking of engineering and management

institutes of the country 464) Government has launched Green Highways policy

for what purpose: To promote plantation of more trees along Highways

465) With USD 31 billion of foreign capital inflows in the first half of 2015, India ranks at which place in world in attracting FDI: First

466) The repo rate from Sept 29 stands at which value: 6.75 per cent

467) The recent cut in Repo Rate may have what impact on investment and industrial growth in the country: It may go up

468) The recent cut in Repo Rate may have what impact on the rate of interest of bank loans: It is likely to come down

469) The recent cut in Repo Rate may have what impact on EMIs of housing / car loans: It is likely to come down

470) The recent cut in Repo Rate may have what impact on Interest rate of bank deposits: It is likely to come down

471) The recent cut in Repo Rate may have what impact on volume of bank loans in general: It is likely to go up

472) NASA scientists claimed recent that they have found the strongest ever evidence of liquid water on which Planet : Mars

473) “The Country of ________” is the title of the recent book authored by Amartya Sen: First Boys

474) “Baat Niklegi toh Phir”, a book written by Sathya Saran is about which celebrity: Jagjit Singh

475) SASTRA Ramanujan Prize is given for excellence in which field: Mathematics

476) SASTRA Ramanujan Prize 2015 has been won by Jacob Tsimerman. He is from which country: Canada

477) International day of Older Persons is observed on which date: October 1

478) Microsoft Corp has agreed to bury all patent infringement litigation against which major IT giant: Google Inc.

479) ___________ clinched a Gold medal in the 10-metre air pistol event of the Asian Air Gun Championships in New Delhi: Heena Sidhu

480) Name the German Chancellor who came to New Delhi on an official visit to take part in the third Inter-Governmental Consultations (IGC) between India and Germany: Angela Merkel

481) Which city of Iraq the heavily fortified Green Zone was opened to the public for the first time in 12 years as a part of a reform drive: Baghdad

482) Pedro Passos Coelho has been elected Prime Minister of which country: Portugal

483) Arch of Triumph, a historical monument built about 2,000 years ago in Palmyra, Syria was in news for what reasons: It was blown up by the ISIS


terrorists 484) Which global organization has lowered 2015 world

trade forecast to 2.8 percent in the face of a slowdown in the economies of emerging countries: World Trade Organization (WTO)

485) Who has been elected as the new President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI): Shashank Manohar

486) Luis Leao Pinto of Portugal won which Asian sports event to get the crown of ‘King of the Himalaya’: Mountain Biking Race

487) “Mrs Funnybones” is a recent _________ by Twinkle Khanna: Book

488) Which Indian organization has started the world’s highest research station at an altitude of 17,500 ft at Chang La: DRDO

489) The 2016 G-20 summit will be hosted by which country: China

490) _________ will host the 2017 G-20 summit: Germany 491) Which country will host 2018 summit of G-20

nations: India 492) In the Global Competitiveness Index 2015-16

compiled by the World Economic Forum for the world’s most competitive economies, what is the rank of India: 55th

493) In the Global Competitiveness Index 2015-16 compiled by the World Economic Forum, which is the best country: Switzerland

494) 495) A 14-day joint training exercise 'Mitra Shakti 2015',

involving military contingents from India and________, was held in Pune from Sep 29 to Oct 12: Sri Lanka

496) Which Indian State has computerized all its 531 police stations to allow online filing of FIR from anywhere: Odisha

497) Which Indian Bank has become the first bank in the world to launch mVisa - a card-less and device-less payment solution: ICICI Bank

498) A joint maritime exercise of naval patrol vessels - Coordinated Patrol (CORPAT) between India and __________ began on 3 October 2015 in the Andaman Sea: Indonesia

499) Nobel Prize (half) for medicine for 2015 has been won by William Campbell (Ireland) and Satoshi Omura (Japan) for which achievement: For discovering a new drug to treat infections caused by roundworm parasites

500) Govt plans to spend around 70 thousand crore rupees in 12 major ports in the next five years under _______Project, aimed at port-led development in coastal areas: Sagarmala

501) Henning Mankell, a noted crime writer, whose detective character Kurt Wallander became a worldwide phenomenon, died at 67. She was from which country: Sweden

502) The Trans-Pacific Partnership for global commerce and worker standards has been formed by 11 Pacific Rim nations with which country: USA

503) Govt has signed a MoU with the New India Assurance Company to provide Swavlamban Health Insurance Scheme, for which category of persons: Persons with Disabilities

504) As per the latest World Bank report on global poverty, the number of people living in extreme poverty line is likely to fall for the first time below _____ % of the world’s population in 2015: 10

505) The World Bank has revised its benchmark poverty from living on or below $1.25 a day to $_____ a day: 1.90

506) The Central Government has notified ‘Mid Day Meal Rules, 2015’ under which Act for improved administration and efficiency of the scheme: The National Food Security Act, 2013

507) The new mid day meal rules prescribe ___calories and ____ gm of protein for primary class students: 450, 12

508) The new mid day meal rules prescribe ___calories and ____ gm of protein for upper primary class students: 700, 20

509) Which country won the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) Asia Championship by defeating the Philippines at Changsha, China: China

510) Nobel Prize of Physics for 2015 has been given to scientists for discovering which elusive subatomic particles, opening a new window onto the fundamental nature of the universe: Neutrinos

511) Govt has decided to allow foreign investment up to ______ per cent in White Label ATM operations under the automatic route to promote financial inclusion: 100

512) India has decided to cut the carbon produced per unit of ________ by 33-35 per cent by 2030 from what it was in 2005: GDP growth

513) Naina Lal Kidwai, noted Indian banker will retire by the end of this year from the headship of which international bank in India: Hongkong Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC)

514) The government plans to bring down its stake in which bank to 49 per cent, from 76.5 per cent at present with a view to make it more efficient: IDBI Bank

515) Sergey Karjakin, who won the World Cup Chess Championship in Baku, Azerbaijan, is from which country: Russia

516) Name the India’s first totally indigenously designed and built torpedo launch and recovery vessel (TLRV) that has been inducted in Indian Navy: INS Astradharini

517) The Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) Conference 2016 will be held in _____ from 8 January to 10 January 2016 to mark the contribution of the


overseas Indian community to the development of India: New Delhi

518) The Clintons' War on Women is a book written by: Roger Stone and Robert Morrow

519) The Union cabinet has approved construction of a National War Memorial and Museum near which historical monument in New Delhi: India Gate

520) IIT Council has decided to waive full fee for which category of students in all the 15 IITs for all the semesters: Physically Challenged Students

521) Three scientists have won the Nobel Prize 2015 in which field for working out how cells repair damaged DNA, providing new ammunition in the war on cancer: Chemistry

522) Which celebrity has been appointed Maharashtra’s brand ambassador for Tigers: Amitabh Bachchan

523) The Courage to Act - A Memoir of a Crisis and Its Aftermath is a book written by Ben S. Bernanke on which mega event of financial world: 2008 Financial Crisis in USA

524) A report by UNCTAD says that the growth rate for world in 2015 is expected to be around 2.5 per cent. What is Full form of UNCTAD: United Nations Conference on Trade and Development

525) NGT has directed all commercial vehicles, including trucks, entering Delhi to pay an environmental compensation charge in addition to the toll tax. What is NGT: National Green Tribunal

526) Govt has approved setting up of three new AIIMS In which cities at a cost of 4949 crore rupees: Nagpur, Manglagiri and Kalyani

527) Name the Indian cyclist who became the first ever Indian to win a gold medal, three silver and one bronze medal in women's section in the in Taiwan Cup Track International Classic in Taiwan: Deborah Herold

528) Svetlana Alexievich of Belarus has won the Nobel Prize for literature for 2015 for her portrayal of life of women in which country: The former Soviet Union

529) India's first community reserve to protect the endangered Gangetic River Dolphins will come up on River ______ in West Bengal: Hooghly

530) Gajanan Pendharkar, Chairman of world famous ayurvedic cosmetics company passed away recently. Name his company: Vicco Laboratories

531) Baba Ramdev-promoted Patanjali Ayurved has entered into a partnership with which chain of mega retail store to sale its product: Big Bazaar

532) The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved implementation of the World Bank assisted Neeranchal project for promoting effective irrigation in nine states. What is its formal name: National Watershed Management Project

533) Name the veteran blind music director-singer-lyricist who passed away in Mumbai: Ravindra

Jain 534) President Pranab Mukherjee made a six-day visit to

which three countries from Oct 10 to 15: Jordan, Palestine and Israel

535) Mr. Mukherjee became first Indian President to visit Israel and address their Parliament. What is the name of their parliament: Knesset

536) Shekhar Basu, renowned scientist has been appointed as the Chairman of which national organization: Atomic Energy Commission

537) Finance Ministers of 20 nations vulnerable to climate change launched which group on 8 October 2015 in Lima, Peru: V20

538) The European Union has started a new operation termed Operation Sophia to actively intercept boats smuggling of_________: Refugees

539) Which committee has submitted its recommendations for developing suitable methodologies for monitoring CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) provisions: Anil Baijal

540) What is the name of 5th Indo-China Joint Military Training Exercise 2015 that was conducted at Kunming Military Academy of Yunnan province in China from 12 to 23 October: Hand in Hand

541) China has launched the first phase of “China International Payment System (CIPS)” to promote which item: Yuan

542) Which city in India has emerged as the world's cheapest city to live and work in, among 12 top metropolitan cities of the world: Mumbai

543) _______ defeated Rafael Nadal to win men’s title in the China Open at Beijing, China: Novak Djokovic

544) Spain’s Garbine Muguruza won the women's singles title in which international tennis event: China Open

545) Name the legendary Tamil comedian and actress, who had starred in over 1,000 southern films, died at 78 in Chennai: Manorama (Achhi)

546) Name the veteran communist party leader elected as Nepal's new Prime Minister: K P Sharma Oli

547) Dutch Open Grand Prix Badminton singles titles in men’s category was won by which Indian player: Ajay Jayaram

548) Neither a Hawk nor a Dove is a book written by Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri. Who is he: Ex Foreign Minister of Pakistan

549) Which state has launched Mission ‘Abaas’ to provide affordable houses to Economically Weaker Sections (EWS), Low Income Groups (LIG) and slum dwellers: Odisha

550) Jioji Konrote has been elected as new President of which Pacific island mini country: Fiji

551) Alexander Lukashenko has been re elected as the President of which country: Belarus

552) 2015 Nobel Prize for Economics has been won by Angus Deaton for his work on which topic:


Consumption, poverty and welfare 553) 2015 Nobel Prize for Economics has been won by

Angus Deaton. He is from which country: UK 554) India has signed a deal with which country for

supply of 194 Pipistrel micro-light aircraft to be used by Indian Air Force: Slovenia

555) To which country India offered a cheque for $ 5 million as budgetary support: Palestine

556) The Supreme Court has imposed 'Environment Compensation Charge' of Rs 700 and Rs 1300 on commercial vehicles entering which metro city: Delhi

557) Man Booker Prize For Literature 2015, won by Jamaican author ______ for his novel A Brief History of Seven Killings: Marlon James

558) Shweta Rathore became the first Indian female _______ to win a silver medal in the 49th Asian championship held in Uzbekistan: Bodybuilder

559) With the presence of more than 4,200 startups, India has also become the ______largest startup base in world: 03rd

560) The navies of which countries began a five-day joint operation-'Malabar exercise' on October 14 on the eastern coast in Bay of Bengal: India, USA and Japan

561) National channel of Doordarshan will telecast a ten-episode Programme on Apprenticeship Training Scheme. What is its name: Hunarbaaz

562) Harvard Humanitarian Of The Year Award – 2015 has been won by which Indian: Kailash Satyarthi

563) Name one of India's greatest fast bowlers who bid adieu to international cricket: Zahir Khan

564) Name the star player of The Real Madrid who won the record fourth Golden Boot for scoring highest – 48 goals in the season: Cristiano Ronaldo

565) China has operationalised the world’s highest mega hydropower station at Zam in Tibet, built on which river: Brahmaputra

566) Fast Patrol Vessel (FPV) ICGS Anmol was inducted in which paramilitary force of India: Indian Coast Guard

567) Data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India shows that the subscriber base has crossed _______ crore by the end of Sept. 2015: 101

568) The RBI has decided to create a new Fund with a corpus of 2,000 crore rupees for promotion of financial inclusion. What is its name: Financial Inclusion Fund

569) Real estate developer Tata Housing has tied-up with which social networking firm to sell its affordable homes online: Facebook

570) Which bank has automated its personal loan approvals by deploying an analytics engine on their ATMs that would track the customer's history and based on that, automatically authorize a loan: HDFC Bank

571) Which bank has received in principle approval from the RBI to set up a subsidiary to frame and implement a uniform policy for all the real estate properties owned or rented by the bank: State Bank of India

572) As per a new notification by the Union Health Ministry, what has been now allowed to the blood banks: Transfer of blood from one blood bank to another blood bank

573) Govt has decided to raise the wage ceiling for calculating bonus to Rs. _______ for factory workers and establishments with 20 or more workers: 7,000

574) The Supreme Court has given what decision with regards to the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act: It has rejected formation of NJAC

575) After rejection of NJAC, what system will be adopted for selection of High Court / Supreme Court judges: Through collegium system

576) As per recent RBI guidelines, interest rate on Gold Deposit Schemes will be decided by which authority: Banks themselves

577) Which country has offered $15 billion long term soft loan along with technology for starting the Bullet Train between Ahmadabad and Mumbai: Japan

578) First World Indigenous Games were held in Palmas in which country: Brazil

579) Name the noted Punjabi singer, famous for chartbusters like “London Thumakda” and “Jee karda bi jee karda”, who died untimely in Mumbai: Labh Janjua

580) Who is M L Fotedar, author of the book The Chinar Leaves: Veteran Congress leader and close aide of the Gandhi family

581) Name the ex DGP of Border security Force and ex President of the Indian Hockey Federation who passed away at 95: Ashwini Kumar

582) ____ has been elected as the new Prime Minister of Canada from Liberal Party: Justin Trudeau

583) Name the Indian golfer who won the Hilton Asian Tour Golfer of the Month award at Singapore: Anirban Lahiri

584) Name the India’s ace batsman who announced his retirement from international cricket and the Indian Premier League: Virender Sehwag

585) Jerry Seinfeld has been named as the world’s highest paid ____ by the Forbes Magazine: Comedian

586) Robert Mugabe, the Zimbabwean President has been awarded which global honour for “injecting fresh energy” into the global quest for harmony: Confucius Peace Prize

587) Typhoon Koppu attacked the northeastern part of which country on October 18 with fierce winds,


displacing 16,000 villagers: Philippines 588) ‘Science Express Climate Action Special’ train has

been started from______ , as part of its initiative to sensitize the masses, especially children and the youth about climate change: Delhi

589) Name the new fund started to support the victims of various attacks, such as rape, acid attacks, human trafficking and women killed or injured in the cross border firing: Central Victim Compensation Fund

590) An Indian short film of 11 minutes, An Old Dog’s Diary has won prestigious Best Short Film Award at the 2015 ______ Film Festival: London

591) Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has made it mandatory for telecom operators to compensate consumers by Rs._____ for call drops with effect from 1 January 2016: One

592) India was placed at which position in the Sultan of Johor Cup (Hockey): Second

593) Name the winner Sultan of Johor Cup: Great Britain

594) __________ was the host country for Sultan of Johor Cup: Malaysia

595) Saketh Myneni, India’s ace _______ player won the Vietnam Open trophy in the finals played at Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam: Tennis

596) P. V. Sandhu, Indian badminton star was placed at which rank in the Denmark Open Badminton Title: Second

597) ______ of China won the Denmark Open Badminton Title: Xuerui Li

598) Govt of India has appointed _____, veteran sports administrator as the President of the All India Council of Sports: Vijay Kumar Malhotra

599) NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) forces conducted their massive field exercise from October 3 to November 6. What was its name: Trident juncture 2015

600) Name the sportsperson who became the first Indian tennis player to come under 100 since 2010 in the ATP world rankings: Yuki Bhambri

601) Alpha Conde has been reelected as the President of which country: Guinea

602) Bir Billing, place in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh was in news for what reasons: First Paragliding World Cup of South East Asia started there

603) Reserve Bank of India has opened its sub-office recently in which city in North East India: Imphal in Manipur

604) Which apex global organization celebrated its 70th anniversary on October 24: United Nations of India - UNO

605) The Defence Ministry has approved, for the first time in the history of Indian Air Force what role for its women officers: They will be allow to fly fighter aircraft

606) Dreaming Big: My Journey to Connect India is the autobiography of which noted telecom icon of India: Sam Pitroda

607) Hurricane Patricia, one of the most powerful storms on record stuck which country recently: Mexico’s Pacific coast

608) Jimmy Morales has been elected as the _____ of Guatemala: President

609) __________ won the United States Grand Prix Formula 1 Championship in Austin, Texas: Lewis Hamilton

610) Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia clinched which men’s singles international badminton title recently: French International

611) Government has hiked the limit for penal provisions for undeclared or mis-declared baggage that will attract arrest or prosecution, to Rs. ______ from Rs 5 lac at present: Rs 20 lac

612) Govt has launched an e-Sahyog pilot project of Income-Tax Department for what purpose: To reduce compliance cost, especially for small taxpayers

613) India has improved its position to ______ from 134 in 2015 in the World Bank's 2016 rankings in terms of ease of doing business: 130

614) Which state hosted the 16th National Women Boxing Championship: Assam

615) The Indian and Sri Lankan Navies conducted the 4th edition of SLINEX in Bay of Bengal, off the Trincomalee coast in Sri Lanka. What is form of SLINEX: Sri Lanka-India Exercise

616) Which Paramilitary Force has decided to deploy women personnel in combat duties at its high-altitude posts along the Indo-China border: Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP)

617) Railways plans to start country's first-ever double decker Shatabdi Express between which two stations: Mumbai and Goa

618) What do we call the excise tax levied on products and services like alcohol, tobacco and gambling considered bad for health or society: Sin Tax

619) Name the Indian who created history by winning a silver medal for the first time in the Archery World Cup Final held in Mexico City: Abhishek Verma

620) With which country RBI has signed a MoU for exchange of supervisory information: Bangladesh

621) Which country has launched the Tianhui-1C mapping satellite: China

622) Railway plans to launch Vikalp scheme from 1st of November to give passengers which new option: Choice to travel by an alternate train

623) The 12th SAF (South Asian Games) games will be held from February 6 to 16 in 2016 in which place: Guwahati and Shillong

624) Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders released the first Scorpene category ________ INS 'Kalvari' for sea trails at the Naval Dockyard Mumbai: Submarine


625) Name the noted Nepali Communist leader who has been elected as Nepal’s first woman President by the Parliament: Vidya Devi Bhandari

626) Govt has formed a Committee headed by Justice RV Easwar (Retd.), former Judge of Delhi High Court for what purpose: To suggest simplifications in the provisions of the Income Tax Act, 1961

627) ________ has been appointed as Chairman of Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC): Najib Shah

628) With which country India signed a MoU to conserve, develop and publicize written heritage at the National Library in Kolkata: France

629) In the 2015 Platts Top 250 Global Energy Company Rankings, which are the top 3 Indian companies: Reliance Industries-14th, ONGC-17th and Coal India-38th

630) Which country has announced an end to its 45 years old policy of allowing only one child per family: China

631) The Ministry of Environment has granted environment clearance for the greenfield international airport at Mopa in which state: Goa

632) As per the GFMS Gold Survey 2015, ______ is the largest consumer of gold in world: India

633) Exim Bank has extended a Line of Credit of $87 million to which country: Zimbabwe

634) __________ has been ranked as the safest bank of India, and 27th in world by the ‘The Banker’ magazine: HDFC Bank

635) RBI has allowed which new category of persons to subscribe to the National Pension System (NPS) of PFRDA: Non Resident Indians (NRIs)

636) Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought is awarded annually by which international body: European Parliament

SEPTEMBER – 2015 637) The Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry has

launched SAHAJ scheme for what purpose: Online booking of LPG connections

638) Maharashtra govt recently acquired the house where Dr. B. R. Ambedkar lived in 1921-22. It is in which city: London

639) Anil won the gold medal at the world championship of which sport: Wrestling

640) OP Jaisha finished 18th in which sports in the world athletics championship, creating a new national record: Women’s Marathon

641) Who has been appointed as the new Union Home secretary: Rajiv Mehrishi

642) All India Radio released the digital version of which grand epic as a set of digital CDs produced by its old recordings: Ramcharitmanas

643) As per the data released by the Central Statistics Office, what was the GDP growth rate for the 2015 April – June quarter: 7%

644) M M Kalburgi, 77 year old Kannada scholar and ex Vice Chancellor of Kannada University was in news for what reasons: He was shot dead in Dharwad, Karnataka

645) ‘Portrait of a Serial Killer’ is a book written by which famous author: Khushwant Singh

646) The Reserve Bank declared which two banks, for the first time, as D-SIBs: SBI and ICICI Bank

647) What is the full form of D-SIBs: Domestic Systemically Important Banks

648) What is the meaning of Systemically Important: Any thing or feature which is important for entire system

649) Tenzing Norgay National Sports awards are given in which field: Adventure Sports

650) Which bank has launched IndPay mobile app service to enables its customers to operate bank accounts anytime from anywhere: Indian Bank

651) The government has identified how many cities and towns across nine states for implementation of its ambitious 'Housing for All' scheme: 305

652) What is the formal official name of the ‘Housing for All’ scheme: Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana

653) The Reserve Bank has asked all banks to be prepared for the implementation of due diligence and reporting standards under FATCA. What is the full form of FATCA: Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act

654) The Sports Ministry has decided to recognize ______ as a sports discipline and place it in the Priority category: Yoga

655) Name the govt. department which has implemented an electronic payment system to become the first government department to have 100 per cent cashless transactions: Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion

656) India is joining the UN-based 'Better Than Cash Alliance' for what purpose: For promotion of transition from cash to digital payments

657) The Reserve Bank has proposed a new formula to calculate the base rate for lending wef April 1, 2016. What is Base Rate: The interest rate below which a bank is not allowed to lend

658) Govt has announced that the MAT will not be applicable on capital gains made by Foreign Institutional Investors prior to April 1, 2015. What is MAT: Minimum Alternate Tax

659) Jhumpa Lahiri, noted Indo American author has been honoured with National Humanities Medal by which country: USA

660) The Reserve Bank of India will shortly put into circulation Rs. 5 coins to commemorate golden jubilee of which important national event: Indo-Pak War 1965

661) Which historical monument in Kerala has won the prestigious UNESCO Award of Excellence 2015:


Sree Vadakkunnathan Temple 662) The highest mountain of North America - Mt

McKinley has been renamed as _________ by the US President: Denali

663) The 2022 Commonwealth Games will be held at which place in South Africa: Durban

664) Name the first Railway Zone in Indian Railways, which has eliminated all un-manned level crossings in its area: West Central Railway Zone

665) Name the erstwhile commodities market regulator which has been merged with SEBI: Forward Markets Commission

666) Two commemorative coins of Rs 125 and Rs 10 were released recently on which important occasion: Teachers’ Day

667) Name the new group launched by G-20 nations for boosting the role of women in global economic growth: W20 (Women – 20)

668) As per the first ever count of India’s leopards, which state is at rank No. 1 with around 1817 leopards: Madhya Pradesh

669) Name the 89 year old Queen of Great Britain, who reached a major milestone on Sep 8 by becoming the longest-reigning monarch (since Feb 02, 1952) in Britain’s history: Elizabeth II

670) Apurvi Chandela won the silver medal at the international championship in which sports: 10 m air rifle shooting

671) Deepak Lather won a gold in which sports in the fifth Youth Commonwealth Games in Apia, Samoa: Weight lifting

672) ‘The Power of Meow’ is a famous book written by which author: David Michie

673) Name the new gold scheme launched by govt. with a view to reduce the regular demand for the gold, usually for investment purpose: Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme

674) Name the new gold scheme launched by govt. with a view to mobilize part of around 22,000 tonne gold lying in Indian households: Gold Monetisation Scheme

675) The Union Cabinet has allowed 100% foreign direct investment (FDI) under the automatic route for installing which type of ATMs: White Label ATMs

676) The three-day Vishwa Hindi Sammelan (World Hindi Conference) was held at which place: Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh

677) Name the lady scientist who has been made the first women Director General in the DRDO: J Manjula

678) Which Indian stock exchange has the highest number of listed companies in the world, numbering 5689: Bombay Stock Exchange

679) Men’s singles title at the US Open Tennis was won by __________: Novak Djokovic

680) Women’s singles title at the US Open Tennis was

won by __________: Flavia Pennetta (Italy) 681) Name the Indian tennis player who won the men’s

mixed doubles title at the US open: Leander Paes 682) Name the Indian tennis player who won the

women’s doubles title at the US open: Sania Mirza 683) Indian Navy has established its largest missile

storage and replenishment facility named _______ at Karwar base in Karnataka for warships operating in the western coast: INS Vajrakosh

684) Name the prestigious national award recently won by ISRO for its contribution to nation’s development through satellite based education: Gandhi Peace Prize

685) ___________ to continue as the Team Director of the Indian cricket team till the 2016 T20 World Cup to be held in India: Ravi Shastri

686) Name the first bilateral maritime exercise held between Australia and India off the shores of Vishakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh: Ausindex–2015

687) With which country India recently signed a treaty for repatriation of wanted prisoners and cooperate in all criminal matters: Indonesia

688) Who is Mary Barra, declared as the most powerful business women in the world by the Fortune magazine: CEO of General Motors, USA

689) Name the writer of the popular book ‘The Curse of Surya’: Dev Prasad

690) As per the World Bank's ranking on ease of doing business in Indian states, _______ ranks at no. 1: Gujarat

691) Parliament of which erstwhile Hindu country has rejected the proposal for declaring the country a Hindu state: Nepal

692) Gennady Padalka who created the new record for having spent the most time in space, totaling into 879 days in over five trips, is from which country: Russia

693) Which political party won the recently concluded general elections in Singapore: Peoples Action Party

694) Which business women has been ranked no. 1 in India in a list compiled by the global business magazine Fortune: Chanda Kochhar, CEO ICICI Bank

695) Name the Sri Lankan Prime Minister who visited India on Sept 14: Ranil Wickremesinghe

696) _________ has been elected as the new Prime Minister of Australia: Malcolm Turnbull

697) Which international IT company plans to work with Indian Railways on Project Nilgiri to set up free Wi-Fi hotspots across 400 select railway stations: Google

698) In terms of no. of High Net Worth Individuals (HNWIs), India has been placed at _______ rank in the World Wealth Report – 2015: 11th

699) Government has approved the purchase of 10


Heron TP armed drones capable of firing missiles, from which country: Israel

700) 55th National Open Athletics Championship started at SAI Complex in which city: Kolkata

701) The RBI has granted in principal approval to how many entities to set up small finance banks: 10

702) The Small Banks will focus on financing of which category of borrowers: Small farmers and micro business enterprises

703) Andhra govt. has successfully linked which two of its major rivers towards making the state "drought-proof": Godavari and Krishna

704) International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer was observed on __ across the world: 16 Sept.

705) Govt has approved which scheme to transform rural areas into economically, socially and physically sustainable spaces: Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission

706) The 2022 Asian Games will be hosted by which city of China: Hangzhou

707) Manpreet Kaur of Railways created a new national record in which game, claiming a distance of 17.96 meters at the 55th National Open Athletics Championship at Kolkata: Shot-put throwing

708) Which neighbouring country of India recently adopted a new constitution, after years of political wrangling: Nepal

709) Hinduja business group plans to launch a digital broadcasting platform under the brand name NXT Digital for what purpose: For providing over 500 TV digital channels to cable operators

710) Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has increased the maximum amount assured under its insurance scheme to Rs. _______: 6 lac

711) The Government has launched which scheme for the welfare of people and areas affected by mining related operations: Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojana (PMKKKY)

712) In the Global Innovation Index 2014 compile for 141 countries, India has been placed at which rank: 81st

713) India and the US have created a "joint challenge coin" to symbolise their unique partnership in which field: Creating a next-generation aircraft carrier for the Indian Navy

714) Government has decided to shift the administrative control of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to which ministry: Ministry of Communication and Information Technology

715) The Food Ministry has notified mandatory export of four million tonne of which food item for the 2015-16 season: Sugar

716) The RBI has permitted banks to offer loans below which rate to their whole time directors and CEOs: Base Rate

717) Name the President of BCCI, hailed as the architect of India's rise as the game's financial superpower, who passed away in Kolkata on Sep 20: Jagmohan Dalmiya

718) Name the country in South America which recently suffered a massive 8.3 magnitude earthquake: Chile

719) What is the title of the recent book written by Salman Rushdie: Two Years Eight Months and Twenty Eight Days

720) What is the topic of the book ‘The Monsoon War’ written by Capt Amarinder Singh and Lt. Gen. Tajindar Shergill: 1965 Indo-Pak war

721) The Singapore Grand Prix 2015 of Formula One car race was won by which sports person: Sebastian Vettel

722) Jackie Collins, popular British-American novelist passed away in California, United States. She was known as queen of ________ novels: Romantic

723) Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has banned the sale of Diclofenac drug in multi-dose vial for what reasons: Its traces in dead animals are harmful for vultures

724) Sherif Ismail has been elected as the new Prime Minister of which country: Egypt

725) Which country has successfully launched a newly-developed satellite launch rocket Long March-6 (Chang Zheng-6): China

726) Deepak Gupta has been appointed as the head of which important national organization: UPSC – Union Public Service Commission

727) As per the new secular constitution of Nepal, ______ has been declared as the National Animal of Nepal: Cow

728) RBI plans to put into circulation banknotes in the denominations of _____ and _____ rupees incorporating three new security features: 500, 1000

729) What type of helicopter is Chinook: A heavy load carrier

730) What type of helicopter is Apache: Advanced Attack helicopter

731) India's first AAI Paragliding World Cup 2015 will be held in October at which place in Himachal Pradesh: Bir Billing

732) Which bank has rolled out a full-fledged mobile app ‘Lime’ that enables shopping, making payments and banking, all under one window: Axis Bank

733) Which Indian film has been selected to officially represent India at the 88th Oscars next year in the Best Foreign Film category: Court

734) ‘The Outsider: My Life in Intrigue’ is the autobiography of which popular thriller novelist: Frederick Forsyth

735) Union Cabinet has approved the setting up of Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre


(ISLRTC) at which place: New Delhi 736) Vyaas Samman is given for excellence in which

field: Hindi Literature 737) Who is the winner of 2014 Vyaas Samman: Dr.

Kamal Kishore Goenka 738) _________ has been re-elected as the Prime Minister

of Greece, a position that he quit just 8 months back: Alexis Tsipras

739) The Indian ‘wushu’ team won 12 medals at the 5th International Pars Wushu Cup in Tehran, Iran. What type of sports is wushu: Chinese Martial Arts

740) CEO of which major global auto giant resigned in the wake of a massive scandal of manipulating data of exhaust emissions tests in millions of diesel cars: Volkswagen

741) RBI has allowed domestic companies to borrow funds from overseas SWFs. What is the full form of SWFs: Sovereign Wealth Funds

742) Name the recently approved security system for the Air Force which aims at integrating and automating all air and ground sensors use by the Air Force: Integrated Air Command and Control System

743) Ms.Stuti Narain Kacker has been appointed as the Chairperson of which important national body: National Commission for Protection of Child Rights

744) Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Ministry has come out with a one-page Udyog Aadhaar Memorandum for what purpose: To simplify registration procedure for entrepreneurs

745) United Nations General Assembly formally adopted on Sep 25 which new global 17 goals that aim to end poverty, hunger, assure gender equality, and build a life of dignity for all, over the next 15 years: Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

746) Which Indian film, was voted as the first runner-up at the 40th Toronto International Film Festival in Canada: Angry Indian Goddesses

747) What is the new name for the internet.org programme of the Facebook: Free Basics

AUGUST – 2015 748) What is the name of the new operating system

rolled out by Microsoft on July 30th: Windows 10 749) Union Cabinet has approved setting up of National

Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) for what propose: To support new and delayed projects

750) Name the India’s neighbour that has been granted e-tourist visa facility w.e.f. 30 July, 2015: China

751) National Handloom Day is observed on which date: 7th August

752) 'Sleeping on Jupiter' is a book written by which author: Anuradha Roy

753) What is the name of the agreement as per which

India and Bangladesh have agreed to exchange some disputed land pockets: Land Border Agreement

754) A new vaccine named ‘rVSV-ZEBOB’, developed by the Public Health Agency of Canada has proved effective to fight which dreaded virus: Ebola virus

755) Name the ten day bi-lateral air exercise that took place between Indian and British Air forces in UK: Indradhanush

756) Special Olympics World Summer Games were held at which place: Los Angeles, USA

757) What type of sports persons take part in the Special Olympics World Summer Games: Persons suffering from some mental disability

758) Name the Indian who won gold medals in 300 metre and 500 metre Roller Skating at the Special Olympics World Summer Games: Prabhroop Sekhon

759) The International Olympic Committee has granted recognition to which new game as an Olympic sport: Frisbee (Flying Disc)

760) Which bank has launched ‘Dhanchayat’, an educational film to raise awareness on the dangers of borrowing money from unorganised sources: HDFC Bank

761) India’s first Integrated Underwater Harbour Defence and Surveillance System (IUHDSS) has been commissioned at which place: Kochhi, Kerala

762) With which militant group of Nagaland, Govt. of India has signed a landmark peace accord on August 3: National Socialist Council of Nagaland-NSCN (Isak-Muivah group)

763) The 18th Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) started functioning from its temporary campus at which place: Palakkad, Kerala

764) Asia’s biggest multi-application solar telescope (MAST) has been started in which place in India: Udaipur

765) World’s most prestigious award in the field of human rights – Solidarity Human Rights Award is given in which country: Poland

766) Latest release from the Census 2011 data shows that only ___________ per cent Indians have qualification of graduation and above: 8.15%

767) ICTP Ramanujan Prize 2015 is given for excellence in which field: Mathematics

768) ICTP Ramanujan Prize 2015 is given for excellence in Mathematics to person below which age: 45 years

769) Which Union Ministry has launched ‘SAMANVAY’ web portal to monitor progress of implementation of the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana: Union Ministry of Rural Development

770) India signed a MoU with Mozambique on August 5 for cooperation in new and renewable energy sector. It lies in which continent: Africa


771) Which Indian company has signed an agreement with Europe’s Airbus Helicopters to manufacture military helicopters for the first time in India: Mahindra Defence Systems Ltd

772) RBI has allowed banks to shift, merge or close branches, except in ________ areas, at their own discretion: Rural

773) A report says that banks in India need an additional core capital of Rs 2.5 trillion under ________ guidelines. Basel-III

774) Suraksha Bandhan scheme aims at paying the premium for which two social security schemes: Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana and Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana

775) Government has launched the School Nursery Yojana, to bring students closer to nature by involving them in which activity: Raising the saplings in school nurseries

776) Acharya Dev Vrat has been appointed new Governor of which state: Himachal Pradesh

777) ___________ has been appointed as the new Governor of Bihar: Ram Nath Kovind

778) A global satellite for earth observation and disaster risk reduction under the UN framework is to be named after which great Indian statesman: APJ Abdul Kalam

779) Which capital city has been ranked as the cleanest under a survey done by the Urban Development Ministry: Bengaluru

780) ___________ has been ranked as the cleanest city in India in a recent govt. survey of 476 cities: Mysuru

781) What are the two parameter of cleanliness on the basis of which Urban Development Ministry selected the cleanest city from the top 476 cities in India: Solid waste management and eradication of open defecation

782) Name the India-born technocrat who has been named as the new CEO of the technology giant Google: Sundar Pichai

783) Dutee Chand won the gold medal in the 200m at the 13th Federation Cup Junior Athletics Championship held at which place: Hyderabad

784) Which Bank has announced ‘Saral-Rural Housing Loan’ up to Rs. 15 lakh with a special interest rate equal to its base rate: ICICI Bank

785) Which Indian film was screened at the National Museum of Ethnology in Osaka, Japan to mark its 20th anniversary: Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (DDLJ)

786) World Biofuel Day is observed every year on 10th August in the memory of which great scientist: Sir Rudalph Diesel

787) For what purpose Government proposes to infuse Rs 70,000 crore in public sector banks in next four years: For capital infusion to meet Basel III requirements

788) Which Indian organization has been accredited by the Green Climate Fund of UNO as an implementing entity for undertaking climate change related projects in India: NABARD

789) Which Indian organization planted more than 4 lakh saplings at its head quarters and units across the country on August 12 between 10 to 10.30 am: Border Security Force (BSF)

790) IT giant Google has reorganized itself into a multiple company organization under a new umbrella company. Name this company: Alphabet

791) Name the Indian who won the IBSF World 6-Red Snooker Championship in Karachi, Pakistan: Pankaj Advani

792) For which Indian states World Bank has agreed to provide $ 412.40 million assistance for the National Cyclone Risk Mitigation Project: All coastal states

793) Which actor was ranked as the world's top-earning actor by Forbes, with earnings of $ 80million during 12 months ending June 2015: Robert Downey Jr.

794) Gas subsidy scheme PAHAL has entered Guinness Book as the largest cash transfer plan in world. What is full form of PAHAL: Pratyaksh Hanstantrit Labh

795) The official name for PAHAL initiative is DBTL. What is full form of DBTL: Direct Benefit Transfer for LPG

796) RBI has announced interest subvention of __________ per cent on short term farm loans (crop loans): Two

797) Short term farm loans upto what amount are eligible for subvention of 2%: Rs. 3 lacs

798) Name the Co-Chairman of Hero Cycles Ltd and a leading industrialist who passed away in Ludhiana on August 13: Om Prakash Munjal

799) Name the Chinese city which suffered massive explosions in the port, killing 121 persons and causing huge loss of property: Tianjin

800) The Union Cabinet has approved construction of pipeline from Raxaul (Bihar) in India to Amlekhgunj in Nepal to transport which item: Petroleum Products

801) Sh. Om Prakash Rawat has been appointed to which important constitutional office of India: Election Commissioner

802) What is the recent direction given by the central govt. in contest of services of newly recruited IAS officers: They have to serve for first three months in Delhi in central govt. offices

803) Name the project that has been launched by the govt. to lay down the framework for the revival of public sector banks: Indradhanush

804) Prime Minister Modi visited which middle east country on August 16-17: United Arab Emirates - UAE


805) For the first time, govt. has appointed executives from private sector as MD and CEO of how many public sector banks: Two

806) Rogers Cup Masters Tournament is related to which sports: Lawn Tennis

807) Name the Indian who finished 5th at the US PGA championship at Whistling Straits, USA, claiming the highest position ever won by an Indian at a Golf Major: Anirban Lahiri

808) Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal became the first Indian to win silver medal on August 17 in which international competition: World Badminton Championship

809) World Badminton Championship was held in ________ Indonesia: Jakarta

810) Abhishek Verma won the gold medal in the men’s compound individual category in the __________ World Cup in Wroclaw (Poland): Archery

811) Who has been appointed as the Chairman of the Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB): Ajit Kumar Seth

812) Which ministry has launched an online beneficiary registration system - ‘On-line On-Site’ for persons with disabilities: Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment

813) Name the multipurpose mobile wallet application launched by SBI recently: SBI Buddy

814) Which bank has launched the first of its kind fully automated digital locker named 'Smart Vault': ICICI Bank

815) India observed its _____ Independence Day: 69th 816) India plans to spend $1.5 billion in the next three

years to help farmers grow_____________ to make the nation self-sufficient in edible oils: Oil Palm Trees

817) The India Aspiration Fund with corpus of Rs 2,000 crore has been launched by which financial institution to create 7.5 lakh jobs in five years: SIDBI

818) A 10,000 crore rupees fund named SIDBI Make In India Loan For Enterprises (SMILE) has been launched for providing soft loans to which sector: MSMEs (Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises)

819) High Court in which state has directed that children of all public servants should go to govt. schools only: Uttar Pradesh

820) Usha Ananthasubramanian has been appointed new Managing Director & CEO of which bank: Punjab National Bank

821) What is the new name proposed by the Prime Minister for the Agriculture Ministry: Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare Ministry

822) Which international credit rating agency on August 18 reduced India's growth forecast for 2015-16 to around 7 per cent from 7.5 per cent projected earlier, citing below-normal rainfall: Moody’s Investors Service

823) Name the wife of President Pranab Mukherjee who passed away on August 18: Suvra Mukherjee

824) Ranil Wickremesinghe has been elected as the new prime minister of which country: Sri Lanka

825) Name the political party that won the recently held General Elections in Sri Lanka: United National Party

826) The Reserve Bank of India gave in principle approval for_____ entities on August 19 to set up payments banks: 11

827) Concept of payment banks was proposed by which committee: Nachiket Mor committee

828) Payment banks can accept only demand deposits and are not allowed to accept which deposit: Time deposits

829) Which major bank activity cannot be undertaken payment banks: Lending

830) Balance in demand deposits accounts opened by payment banks cannot exceed what limit: Rs. 1 lac

831) Which company tops the world’s 100 most innovative companies list compiled by Forbes magazine of USA: Tesla Motors

832) How many sports persons has been given Arjun Awards in the year 2015: 17

833) Sebastian Coe has been elected as the new President of the International Association of Athletics Federations. He is from which sports: Athletics (Runner)

834) Name the Bollywood actor who has been named an advocate for the UN’s campaign on gender equality: Anupam Kher

835) ‘Making India Awesome’ is a book written by which author: Chetan Bhagat

836) Sneha Verma, a 21-year-old girl suffering from Down syndrome, won gold medal in which sports at the Special Olympics World Summer Games: Swimming

837) Aditi Chauhan, India’s international football goalkeeper became the country’s first woman in what way: To play English league football

838) __________, former Australian cricketer has been appointed Australia's first education ambassador to India: Adam Gilchrist

839) What is the main recommendation of R Gandhi committee on urban cooperative banks: They should be allowed function as regular banks

840) Name the web portal launched by the govt. for the benefit of students seeking educational loan: www.vidyalakshmi.co.in

841) Which Indian international airport became the first airport in the world to operate completely on solar power: Kochi

842) _________ has become the first country to receive funds from UN for solar home systems: Bangladesh

843) Solar home systems are helping Bangladesh cut


carbon emissions by reducing use of ________ in rural areas: Kerosene

844) RBI has allowed banks to extend repayment period of farm loan upto 5-years in case _________percent or more of crop is damaged due to natural calamities like drought and flood: 50

845) The World Athletics Championships were held in end of August in which place: Beijing, China

846) From September 1 2015, which two days will be observed as public holiday every month: Second and Fourth Saturday

847) Dhyan Chand awards in sports are given by the govt. for what purpose: Life time achievement awards

848) NASA’s Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer has confirmed the presence of which glowing gas in the moon’s atmosphere: Neon

849) Name the new bank that began operations on August 23 as a full-fledged bank with 501 branches and 1.43 crore accounts across the country: Bandhan Bank

850) James Alix Michel, President of the ____________ came to New Delhi on 25 August on a three-day visit to India: Seychelles

851) _____________ confirmed his position as fastest man on earth by winning the 100 m sprint in 15th IAAF World Championships: Usain Bolt

852) Lewis Hamilton won the Belgian Grand Prix championship in which sports: F1 racing

853) The government's 10 per cent stake sale in which public sector company on August 24 fetched around 9,300 crore rupees: Indian Oil Corporation

854) Name the Sri Lanka’s ace batsman and wicketkeeper who announced his retirement from the international Cricket: Kumara Sangakkara

855) Aditi Ashok became first woman and youngest (17 years) player from India to win the prestigious Ladies British amateur stroke-play Championship of which sports: Golf

856) Name the Indian shuttler who regained the world no. 1 rank on August 20: Saina Nehwal

857) A commemorative postal stamp of rupees five was released on August 24, on which great Indian king.: Ashoka

858) According to 4th Advance Estimates, the food grain production for the year 2014-15 in India is expected to be: 252.68 million tonnes

859) As per 2011 census data, which religious community has recorded highest growth rate of 24.6% during 2001-11: Muslims

860) The Government launched a health service called SEHAT in collaboration with the Apollo Hospitals: SEHAT stands for: Social Endeavour for Health And Telemedicine

861) Which Bangladeshi bank has found a place in

Fortune's inaugural 'Change the World List' for creating economic opportunities for the poor: Grameen Bank

862) On August 27, ISRO launched which satellite successfully: GSAT-6

863) What is the purpose of launching GSAT-6 satellite: To provide Special secure lines of communication to India’s defence forces

864) Global financial giant Wealth-X has ranked which person as the richest “Under 35” person in the world: Mark Zuckerberg

865) Name the tennis player who has been appointed as the Goodwill Ambassador of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF): Novak Djokovic

866) Central govt. has approved four communities to be included in the Central List of OBCs in which two states: Gujarat and Uttarakhand

867) Which Indian port has been declared as the best major port of 2014-15: Kolkata

868) Birth centenary celebrations of freedom fighter Rani Gaidinliu were inaugurated on August 24 in which State: Nagaland

869) Recently two war museums were opened at which stations in Rajasthan: Jaisalmer and Longewala

870) The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has decided to create the world's first internationally-controlled bank of low-enriched uranium in which country: Kazakhstan

JULY – 2015 871) One extra second was added this year on June 30th

due to slowing of earth’s rotation. This extra second is given what name: Leap second

872) The "Abar Souchagar" (toilet for all) project in Nadia district, has won the prestigious United Nations Public Service Award for making Nadia first ‘Open Defecation Free’ district in the country. It is in which State: West Bengal

873) Jwala Gutta and Ashwni Ponappa won the women's doubles title at an international championship of which sports: Badminton

874) The Wimbledon Tennis Championships, famous for its grass courts, began in which city on June 28: London

875) With a view to end undue advantage to batsmen, the ICC has decided to scrap which feature in the ODIs: Batting power plays

876) Name the player who captained the Indian Cricket Team for its Zimbabwe tour: Ajinkya Rahane

877) The Moorti Devi Award is given for excellence in which field: for books on Indian philosophy and literature

878) ___________ became the 6th city in India to start the Metro train services on June 29: Chennai

879) India and Thailand signed the extradition treaty for what purpose: For seeking extradition of fugitive


offenders 880) __________ won the Norway Chess 2015 title in

Stavanger, Norway defeating Indian grand master Viswanathan Anand: Veselin Topalov

881) Rajat Chauhan created a new national record on June 29 in which sports: Archery

882) Name the oldest aircraft carrier in the world, presently with Indian Navy that will soon be converted into a museum: INS Viraat

883) The controversial book ‘Kashmir: The Vajpayee Years’ has been written by which author: A S Dulat

884) A panel, headed by BJP MP_____ , has sought doubling of the existing Rs 50,000 salary of MPs: Yogi Adityanath

885) Which is the only Indian city that has been included in the list of top 20 technology-rich cities in the world: Bengaluru

886) According to latest World Bank data, India’s GDP crossed USD _______ trillion mark in 2014: Two

887) During his visit to Central Asian countries, PM Modi attended which two important summits: BRICS and CSO

888) Which agency has been assigned the work of detecting duplication of death claims under the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojna: Credit Information Bureau India Ltd (CIBIL)

889) FIFA Women's World Cup was held at which place: Vancouver, Canada

890) Name the country that won the FIFA Women's World Cup for the third time, beating Japan: USA

891) Government has decided to give __________ rank to the Vice-Chairman of NITI Aayog, Arvind Panagariya: Cabinet Minister

892) Champagne vineyards where the world’s famous sparkling wine Champagne is produced have been included in UNESCO ‘World Heritage’ sites. They are in which country: France

893) Copa America Football Tournament was held in __________ capital of Chile: Santiago

894) Which country won the popular Copa America Football Tournament after a wait of 99 years: Chile

895) British Grand Prix F1 was won by the reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton. He is from which country: Britain

896) ________ has become the first woman tennis player from India to be ranked as top-seeded in any grand slam, by reaching this spot in the ongoing Wimbledon at London: Sania Mirza

897) World Food Foundation of USA gives which prestigious prize to individuals whose breakthrough achievements alleviate hunger and promote global food security: World Food Prize

898) The World Food Prize 2015 has been awarded to Sir Fazle Hasan Abed. He is from which country: Bangladesh

899) The World Bank has approved an additional loan of

$650 million for EDFC for faster delivery of goods between the northern and eastern parts of the country. What is the full form of EDFC: Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor

900) Eastern Dedicated Freight corridor runs between which two places: Ludhiana to Kolkata

901) The Union Urban Development Ministry organized a six day competition "Mera Shahar Mera Sapna" from June 15 to20 at New Delhi what purpose: To encourage citizens to contribute their ideas for improving Indian cities

902) Name the web portal that Ministry of Agriculture plans to launch to allow farmers to showcase their farm produce on the Internet for wholesalers for online bidding: E-Kissan

903) Reserve Bank provides relevant data for all big borrowers on CRILC for use by various banks for better credit appraisal. What is full form of CRILC: Central Repository of Information on Large Credits

904) World Bank has ranked which Indian social welfare scheme as the world's largest public works programme, providing social security net to almost 15 per cent of the country's population: Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Gurantee Act (MGNREGA)

905) Which Indian scheme has been classified as the biggest school feeding programme by the World Bank, covering 105 million beneficiaries: Mid- day meal

906) As per a recent UN report, India has achieved the goals for reducing poverty and hunger by half, under MDGs. What is MDGs: Millennium Development Goals

907) ICRISAT- and Govt of Telangana have collaborated to launch the Green Phablet for farmers to provide online information and weather alerts to farmers. What is ICRISAT: International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics

908) Which union ministry has launched on July 2 a web portal for online submission of applications for Environment Clearance for Category ‘B’ projects: Ministry of Environment and Forests

909) Name the govt initiative launched on July 1 to digitally deliver all the essential services online to citizens: Digital India

910) Govt plans to provide Aadhaar card based online facility wherein one can store all documents issued by the government, such as birth/death certificates, various permissions, registrations etc. Name this facility: Digital Locker

911) As per a study by the W.E.F. ____ and ____ are among the world’s biggest employers, employing 1.4 and 1.3 million, respectively, securing 7th and 8th rank :Indian Army and Indian Railways

912) Which bank has created a dedicated payments


gateway for the mobile banking transaction which will enable much faster transactions for its customers: ICICI Bank

913) The National Floor Level Minimum Wage (NFLMW) has been increased to Rs. _______per day from the existing Rs. 137 effective from July 1 this year: 160

914) __________ has been nominated by China to be the first President of the Beijing-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank: JIN LIQUN

915) Which bank has launched Go Digital scheme offering the 30-minute auto loan and 15-minute two-wheeler loan: HDFC Bank

916) President Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated 'Nakshatra Vatika' on July 6 in which city: Hyderabad

917) Name the cricketer who became the first women from the country and second in world to reach the 5000-run milestone in one-day internationals: Mithali Raj

918) Name the solar aeroplane which created new world records for longest distance covered and time spent in air in its flight from Nagoya, Japan to Hawaii- 7,200km in 118 hours: Solar Impulse

919) The Home Ministry has recently declared which state as a “disturbed area” under section 3 of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act 1958: Nagaland

920) Which city in Gujarat has signed a MoU with China's Xinjinag province to enhance infrastructure growth and development between the two regions: Vadodara

921) Sriram Kalyanaraman has been appointed as the new Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer of which national bank: National Housing Bank

922) World University Games were held at which place in South Korea: Gwangju

923) The National Dairy Development Board has launched a mobile application named ______ to help dairy farmers in boosting their income by raising milk yield and cutting feed cost: Pashu Poshan

924) Who is the author of the book - India Central Asia Relations: The Economic Dimension: Amiya Chandra

925) Which Bank launched country’s first MUDRA (Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency) card based on the RuPay platform: Corporation Bank

926) South Asian Basketball Championship was held at which place: Bengaluru, Karanataka

927) Name the country that won the South Asian Basketball Championship: India

928) The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the PMKSY with an outlay of Rs. 50000 crore rupees over a period of next five years. Write full form of PMKSY: Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana

929) Name the Bengaluru firm that became first company in India to launch online electronic signature service called eSign: eMudhra Ltd

930) Government plans to start an all India exhibition train to sensitise people, especially children and the youth, about the Climate Change. What is its name: Science Express

931) The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV C-28 successfully put into orbit five satellites of which country on 10th July: Britain

932) In the abbreviation PSLV C-28, the digits 28 denote what: 28th successful launch

933) What was the special feature of the July 10 launch of PSLV C-28: It was the ISRO’s biggest and heaviest commercial launch till date

934) What is the theme of the this year’s World Population Day observed on July 11: Vulnerable populations in emergencies

935) Ministerial conference of The Regional Integrated Multi-hazard Early Warning Systems (RIMES) nations was held in _________ on July 10: New Delhi

936) The ingeniously-developed supersonic surface-to-air missile _________ was formally inducted in the Indian Air Force at Gwalior on July 10: Akash

937) A tiny butterfly species has been discovered for the first time in the science in the forests of Changlang in which State: Arunachal Pradesh

938) Finals of the grand slam of tennis – Wimbledon were played at which place: London

939) ___________ won the Men’s singles title in the Wimbledon 2015: Novak Djokovic

940) Women’s singles title in the Wimbledon 2015 was won by which player: Serena Williams

941) Sania Mirza won the Wimbledon 2015 women’s doubles title. Who was her partner: Martina Hingis

942) Name the Indian boy who became the sixth Indian to win a Grand Slam junior title in tennis: Sumit Nagal

943) In which State construction of the longest tunnel in South Asia, running 9 kms is in the final stage: J & K

944) Total users of which public utility crossed the record 1 billion mark in May, reaching 1,002.05 million: Telephone Connections

945) India test-fired it’s indigenously developed anti-tank guided missile named ________ in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan: ‘Helina’ (Nag)

946) N am e t h e N A S A ’s spacecraft which has provided the closest-ever pictures of Pluto, showing details of its geology: New Horizons

947) Name the 10-year old Indian Golfer who scripted history as he became the first Indian to win the International Junior Golf Academy's World Stars Junior Golf Tournament played at Las Vegas, USA: Shubham Jaglan


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9 4 8 ) Name the former Union Environment and Forest Minister who wrote the book Green Signals: Ecology, Growth, and Democracy in India: Jairam Ramesh

949) Under which mission the government has set a target to provide skill development training to 102 million youth over the next five years: National Skill Development Mission

950) M S Viswanathan, a prominent film personality of South Indian cinema, passed away recently. He was master of which field: Film Music

951) Simhastha Kumbh Mela, one of the largest religious congregations on the earth, began in July in which city: Nashik

952) The Junior Asian Freestyle, Greco-Roman and Female Wrestling championship was held at _____________, Myanmar: Nay Pyi Taw

953) HRIDAY was launched from Amritsar in Punjab for development of 12 historical cities in the country. What is the full form of HRIDAY: National Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana

954) A committee headed by ____________ suspended the Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals teams from the Indian Premier League (IPL) for two years: Justice R M Lodha

955) Considering the declining interest of the fans and popularity, the BCCI has decided to scrap which T-20 tournament: Champions League Twenty 20

956) The Reserve Bank has set up a committee headed by ______________ to work out a five-year action plan to spread the reach of financial services to unbanked population: Deepak Mohanty

957) The Prem Bhatia awards are given for excellence in which field: Journalism

958) Which bank plans to offer up to 3% of its annual profit to employees as part of a talent retention and motivation initiative: State Bank of India

959) What is the four digit All India Railway Helpline number recently launched by the govt.: 1512

960) Which Indian city has been selected by the UNESCO as the "City of Music" under the Creative Cities Network: Varanasi

961) Name the noted modern Indian artist who has been conferred with the highest French civilian honour, the Commandeur de la Legion d'Honneur (the Legion of Honour) for his peerless achievements: Sayed Haider Raza

962) Genezebe Dibaba created a new world record in the women’s 1500m, clocking a time of 3:50:07. She is from which country: Ethiopia

963) Which Indian organization has signed a currency swap agreement with the Central Bank of Sri Lanka to let it draw up to 1.1 billion dollars for a maximum period of 6 months: RBI

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