MAY 2015 CURRENT AFFAIRS

1. Eminent scientist and Bharat Ratna awardee Chintamani Nagesa Ramachandra Rao was conferred with Japan’s highest civilian award the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star. He was bestowed with this award for his outstanding contributions to science and Indo-Japanese science cooperation.

2. 14th edition of Indo-French naval exercise Varuna concluded on 2 May 2015 in Goa.

3. Haryana Government has launched seven IT based e-services in the State at Panchkula district. The service was launched by Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar.

4. Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) has been adjudged the world’s best airport for the year 2014.

IGIA is run by Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), a joint venture between the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and GMR Group-led consortium which include Fraport and Malaysia Airports

5. World Press Freedom Day is observed on 3 May every year across the world. The theme of 2015 year is: Let Journalism Thrive! Towards better reporting, gender equality and media safety in the digital age.

6. Rajasthan Forest department has allotted more than twelve crore rupees for a bird conservation programme, Project Great Indian Bustard (GIB). For this project Japan Bank is going to provide financial support of three crore rupees. Under the GIB Project, closures will be made at many places in Khudi rasla, Pokhran and Shahgarh of Jaislmer district for safe habitat of bird. In order to regularly monitor the bird information chips will installed. The Great Indian Bustard locally called as Godawan is also the state bird of Rajasthan. Status of the Great Indian Bustard The Great Indian Bustard presently is confined to only eight pockets in 6 Indian states- Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. The largest population is found in Jaisalmer, Barmer, and Bikaner districts of Rajasthan Great. It is listed as critically endangered species by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red data list.

7. Union Government has finally recognised motorsports as a sport in India.

9. Nepal’s devastating 7.9-magnitude earthquake on April 25 has partially damaged Swayambhunath Stupa located in Kathmandu which is believed to be the world’s oldest Buddhist shrine.

10. Cow-urine refinery for research on cow products was opened at Pathmera village in Jalore district of Rajasthan. The refinery was inaugurated by Rajasthan Health Minister Rajendra Rathore.

Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to this effect has been signed between Jodhpur’s Dr S Radhakrishnan Ayurveda University and the Rajasthan University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences located at Bikaner. At present, fibre obtained from cow dung is being used in Agra and Jalore, for running industries.

12. Syrian journalist and rights activist Mazen Darwish was honoured with UNESCO-Guillermo Cano

World Press Freedom Prize 2015.

13. World’s largest flag was unfurled at an event in Ong Jmel in the southern desert area of Tunisia.Tunisian national flag of the size of 19 football pitches was unfurled in a bid to set a Guinness World Record and promote patriotism in the face of Islamist extremism.

14. India’s top rifle shooters have won a rich haul of three gold and two bronze medals at the International Shooting Competition of Hannover in Germany. In this shooting event, Beijing Olympics Games gold medallist Abhinav Bindra won both the individual and team gold in his pet 10 metre air rifle event. Chain Singh won gold medal in the 50 metre men’s rifle and team gold in the 10 metre air rifle event. The Gold medal winning 10 metre air rifle team members included Abhinav Bindra, Chain Singh and Gagan Narang. While, Gagan Narang won the Bronze medal in the men’s 50 metre rifle 3 positions event and Apurvi Chandela won Bronze medal in women’s air rifle event.

15. Rajasthan Government has inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with National Health Mission (NHM), UNICEF and Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) to tackle the severe problemmalnourishment in the state. This MoU will help to implement the state government programme which was announced during the state budget. In this budget the state government had announced that special attention will be given to the children falling out of medical reach in state. This programme will be initially implemented in thirteen districts of state. In these districts more than 10, 000 children have been identified as malnourished. For this, a special management programme will be organised on the community basis so that malnourishment can be dealt. Currently, Rajasthan has 40 malnourishment treatment centres, which are equipped with ten thousand beds. It is also facilitated with 107 centres with six beds each. During the year 2014-15, around 9,891 were treated in these centres. With this kind of programme the state government has adopted the community-wise strategy to deal with the malnourishment menace.

16. Michael Blake, the Oscar-winning writer of ‘Dances With Wolves’ novel passed away in Tucson, Arizona, after a long battle with cancer. He was 69.

17. State owned National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) Limited has signed a pact with Jharkhand government to setup a 4,000 MW Patratu power plant in the state.

18. Lu Ping, Chinese diplomat who oversaw Hong Kong’s transition from British to Chinese sovereignty in 1997 passed away in Beijing. He was 87.

19. Akash missile is a medium range surface-to-air anti-aircraft defence system and India’s first indigenously designed and developed missile by DRDO as part of IGMDP. The missile is built by BharatDynamics Limited (BDL) and has strike range of 25 km and can carry a warhead of 60 kg. It has capability to target aircraft from a low altitude of 30 metres to maximum of up to 20 km. It is packed with a battery that can track and attack and engage several targets simultaneously in all weather conditions. An Air Force variant of Akash missile already has been inducted. It was inducted in 2009.

20. On 7th May 2015, the parliament of India has passed the 119th constitutional amendment bill 2013, which now after the assent of the President will enter in to the statue book [as Constitution 100th Amendment Act 2015]. Background:

India and Bangladesh share a 4,096 km land boundary covering West Bengal, Assam, Tripura, Meghalaya and Mizoram. This is largest among the international boundaries that India shares with its neighbours. On this boundary, some 50,000-100,000 people reside in so called Chitmahals or Indo-Bangladeshi enclaves. Inside those enclaves are also 28 counter-enclaves and one counter-counter-enclave, called Dahala Khagrabari. For the first time, a vision to solve this issue had been enshrined in the Indira-Mujib pact of 1972.Accordingly, the India Bangladesh Land Boundary Agreement was signed between the two countries in 1974. However, this agreement need ratification from the parliaments of the both countries as it involved exchange of the territories. While Bangladesh had ratified it as back as 1974 only, it was not ratified by Indian parliament till now. The 119th Amendment Bill 2013 The 119th constitutional amendment bill 2013 sought to ratify the land boundary agreement between the two countries. This amendment needed special majority in the parliament to get passed. The bill proposed to amend the 1st schedule of the constitution to exchange the disputed territories occupied by both the nations in accordance with the 1974 bilateral LBA. Key features of Land Boundary Agreement :The LBA envisages a notional transfer of 111 Indian enclaves to Bangladesh in return of 51 enclaves to India. The area transferred to India is less than that transferred by India to Bangladesh. In totality India incurs a net loss in terms of area occupancy. This remained a major concern of opposition from the north-eastern affected states and west Bengal. Also, most of the area concerned is occupied by the tribals of the NE states and hence the swapping takes away their land rights leaving them more vulnerable. Current Status The Constitution (119th Amendment) Bill : has been passed by the Parliament of India on 7th May 2015.While India will gain 510 acres of land, ten thousand acres of land will notionally go to Bangladesh. However, these are remote enclaves which India cannot access. This legislation will redraw India’s boundary with Bangladesh by exchanging enclaves in Assam, West Bengal, Tripura and Meghalaya. Implications It will secure the long stranded boundary and enable to curb the illegal migration, smuggling and criminal acts cross the border. It would help those stateless citizens by granting the citizenship from their respective countries. It would help settle the boundary dispute at several points in Meghalaya, Tripura, Assam, and west Bengal. It would improve the access to the underdeveloped north-eastern state and would further enhance the developmental works in the region. It would help to increase the connectivity with the south-east Asia as part of India’s North-eastern policy. All these could be achieved with the active support from Bangladesh. LBA and the Teesta water agreement are the two major setbacks for future cooperation, development and trade in the region and would damage India’s short and long-term national and security interest.

21. Lok Sabha has passed the Goods and Services Tax Bill, 2014 which is also known as Constitution (122nd Amendment) Bill. The Bill seeks to amend the Constitution in order to introduce the goods and services tax (GST). Consequently, the bill also seeks to carry out new indirect tax regime in the country that will subsume various central and state levies like sales tax, excise and service tax except taxes on the supply of alcoholic liquor for human consumption and petroleum products. Key features of GST bill : By inserting Article 279A in the constitution, the bill gives concurrent power to the Union and state governments to make laws on the taxation of goods and services. It empowers Union Government to levy and collect GST on supplies in the course of inter-state trade or commerce. GST collected will be divided between the Union and states in a manner to be provided by Parliament, by law based on the recommendations of the GST Council. The GST Council also aims at developing a harmonized national

market of goods and services. Union Government will also levy an additional tax which will not exceed 1% on the supply of goods in the course of inter-state trade or commerce. Provides for the compensation to the states for loss of revenue arising on account of implementation of GST. This compensation will be for a period of five years. The bill exempts taxes on the supply of alcoholic liquor for human consumption and petroleum products.

22. In recently released 2015 Mother’s Index in the State of the World’s Mothers (SOWM) report titled The Urban Disadvantage, India was placed at 140th position out of 179 countries. The report prepared by Save the Children and was launched by Union Minority Affairs Minister Najma Heptulla in New Delhi. Key facts from the report Top 5 countries as per 2015 Mother’s Index: Norway (1st), Finland (2nd), Iceland (3rd), Denmark (4th) and Swedan (5th).

23. Huge Lava Lake was spotted on Jupiter’s Moon Io by an extremely powerful telescope on Earth named Large Binocular telescope Interferometer (LBTI).

24. Lok Sabha passes Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Bill, 2014 for trying juveniles as adults. The bill has provision that allows trying of juveniles between the ages of 16 and 18 years as adults for heinous offences.

25. India and Iran have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the development of the strategically important Chabahar Port in Iran.

26. Nadia district in West Bengal has won the 2015 United Nations Public Service Award in the category of improving delivery of public services for the initiative ‘Sabar Shouchagar’

27. Noted Assam historian and social scientist Dr. Amalendu Guha passed away on 7 May 2015 in Guwahati, Assa, following age related ailments. He was 91. He was known for his extensive research related to the socio-economic history of North eastern state of Assam.

28. President Pranab Mukherjee has appointed Retired IAS officer Achal Kumar Jyoti as the Election Commissioner.

29. In the 2015 United Kingdom Parliamentary elections, Prime Minister David Cameron led Conservative Party has won the election. Conservative Party by winning 331 seats out of total 650 seats in House of Commons has emerged single largest party in this general election.

30. A record number of 10 Indian-origin Members of Parliament (MPs) were elected in recently concluded general election that elected 56th Parliament of the UK.

31. Arvind Saxena, becomes first RAW officer to be appointed as member of UPSC

32. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 9 May 2015 launched three mega social security schemes in Kolkata, West Bengal. Three schemes intend to widen the process of financial inclusion in the country include Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Yojana (PMJJBY). Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY). Atal Pension Yojana (APY). Atal Pension Yojana (APY) Under APY scheme, the pension subscribers will receive a fixed minimum monthly pension ranging from 1,000 rupees to 5,000 rupees at the age of 60 years. The fixed minimum monthly pension will be

depending on the contributions subscribers. Contribution: Union Government will co-contribute 50 percent of the total contribution of subscriber for a period of 5 years. Eligibility: Subscribers must have bank account and should not be members of any statutory social security scheme and or Income Tax payers. The minimum age of joining: 18 years and maximum age is 40 years. Focus of APY: To target unorganised sector workers. Coverage: The pension will also be available to the spouse on the death of the subscriber and thereafter, the pension corpus would be returned to the nominee. Subscriber and Enrolment Payment: It will auto-debited from the accounts account holders depending upon selected monthly pension range. Enrolment agencies: Subscribers will be enrolled through institutional architecture of National Pension System by all Points of Presence (Service Providers) and Aggregators under Swavalamban Scheme. Operational Framework of APY: It will be administered by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA). Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Yojana (PMJJBY) Under the PMJJBY, the insurance subscriber will get an annual life insurance in case of death. Eligibility: Available any person in the age group of 18 to 50 years having a bank account. Risk Coverage: 2 Lakh rupees in case of death due to any reason. Payment Mode of premium: 330 rupees per annum will be directly auto-debited by the bank from the subscribers account. Implementation of Scheme: Will be offered by Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) and all other life insurers who are willing tie-up with banks for the purpose of joining the scheme. Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) Under the PMSBY, the insurance subscriber will get annual life insurance in case of accidental death, partial disability or full disability. Eligibility: Available to any person in the age group 18 to 70 years. Any person having Aadhaar number linked bank account can join the scheme. He/she must give a simple form to the bank every year before 1st of June. In the form name of nominee also must be given. Risk Coverage: For accidental death and full disability– 2 Lakh rupees For partial disability – 1 Lakh rupees. Payment Mode of premium: 12 rupees per annum will be directly auto-debited by the bank from the subscribers account in case of long-term option. Implementation of Scheme: Will be offered by all Public Sector General Insurance Companies and all other insurers who are willing tie-up with banks for the purpose of joining the scheme

33. Haryana Government has decided to include Deaflympics in its Sports Policy in order to boost the morale of differently-abled sportspersons in the state.

34. Four MoUs were signed to give big push for investment of 24,000 crore rupees for infrastructure development in Chhattisgarh in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The signed MoUs are meant to enhance development of the state and covers investment in areas from railway lines, steel plants and pipelines List of the signed MoUs: MoU for 140 km rail line between Rowghat and Jagdalpur: MoU for 3 million ton Ultra Mega Steel Plant. MoU for Slurry Pipeline and 2MTPA Pellet Plant at Nagarnar in Bastar District MoU for setting up 1MTPA Pellet Plant at Dalli-Rajhara, Balod District Signed between Chhattisgarh Government and SAIL. Investment: 826crore rupees.

35.Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan has renominated Prof. Kuruppassery Varkey Thomas as Chairman of Public Accounts Committee (PAC) for a second term of one year.

About Public Accounts Commission (PAC) :PAC is one of the most important finance committees in the Parliament along with the Committee on Estimates and the Committee on Public Undertakings. It is constituted every year and consists of 22 members – 15 from Lok Sabha and 7 from Rajya Sabha. The members from Lok Sabha are elected from amongst its members according to the principle of proportional representation by means of single transferable vote. Members from Rajya Sabha elected by that House in like manner are associated withthe Committee. Speaker usually appoints the Chairman of the PAC. It should be noted that a minister cannot be elected to as member of Committee. Function of PAC: The key function of PAC is to examine annual audit reports of Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) after they are tabled in Parliament by President.

36. Veteran actor and film producer Shashi Kapoor has been conferred with prestigious Dada Saheb Phalke Award 2014.

37. Eminent banker Kundapur Vaman Kamath was appointed as first President New Development Bank (NDB) of BRICS nations. He will have of five year term after the bank becomes operational within one year. About Kundapur Vaman Kamath. Kamath is the Chairman of the India’s largest private sector bank, Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India (ICICI). About New Development Bank (NDB) BRICS group of nations comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa in 2014 had inked a pact to set up NDB and emergency reserve fund. This agreement was signed during the 6th BRICS Summit being held in Fortaleza, Brazil. To begin with, the bank will start operating with $50 billion in initial capital with the five BRICS contributing $10 billion each. According to the pact, the capital of the bank will be divided equally among the five participating nations and initially it will focus on infrastructure projects member countries. The headquarters of the bank will be located in Shanghai, China and it will have a regional office in Johannesburg, South Africa. The chairmanship of the bank will be rotational and its first President will come from India for the first 5 years followed by Brazil and Russia. Note: BRICS nations comprise 40 per cent of the world’s population and accounts for nearly US $ 16 trillion in GDP.

38. President Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated Namaste Russia, a festival of Indian culture in Moscow during the last leg of his tour in Russia.39. According to 2015 census report, the number of Asiatic lions in Gir sanctuary of Gujarat and its surrounding areas has gone up to 523. This 14th census lion census, has registered 27 percent increase in the number of Asiatic lions compared to 2010 census which had registered 411 Asiatic lions. As per recent census, There are 201 female, 109 male lions and 213 sub-adults as well as cubs in Gir sanctuary and other protected areas in Gir Somnath, Junagadh, Amreli and Bhavnagar districts of Saurashtra region of Gujarat. Note: Asiatic lions found in Gir sanctuary are only wild population of Asiatic lions in the world. They are categorised as endangered species in International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red list.

40. Dedicated E-Commerce Centre of India Posts, a government-operated postal system was launched in New Delhi to cater the e-commerce business enterprises.

41. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the modernised and expanded part of the IISCO Steel

Plant in Burnpur near Asansol distrct of West Bengal.

42. Lok Sabha on 11 May 2015 passed Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets (Imposition of Tax) Bill, 2015 by a voice vote.The bill seeks to deal with the menace of black money and to replace the Income Tax (IT) Act, 1961 for the taxation of foreign income. Penalties- For nondisclosure of foreign income or assets outside India, penalty will be equal to three times the amount of tax payable i.e. 90 percent of the undisclosed income in addition to tax payable at 30%. In case of failure to furnish return in respect to foreign income or assets, there will be of 10 lakh rupees. Prosecutions- For willful attempt to evade tax, the punishment will be rigorous imprisonment from 3years to 10 years and a fine. In case of failure to furnish a return of foreign assets the punishment will be rigorous imprisonment of 6 months to 7 years with fine.

44. Writer Neel Mukherjee’s novel The Lives of Others has won the United Kingdom’s Encore Award for the best second novel. The novel The Lives of Others reflects the political and social convulsions of an entire society and based upon story of one family living in Calcutta in 1960s.

45. Indian-origin Member of Parliament (MP) Priti Patel was appointed as Minister of State (MoS) for Employment in the David Cameron led United Kingdom Government.

46. President Pranab Mukherjee on 12 May 2015 appointed Governors in six states. Article 153: It says that there shall be Governor for each state. But 7th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1956 facilitated the appointment of the same person as a governor for two or more states. Article 156: Governor is appointed by President and hold office during the pleasure of President. It should be also noted that this article also mentions tenure of Governor. In this regard it says thatGovernor shall hold office for the term of 5 years from date he enters upon his office.

47. Uttar Pradesh Government has launched Samajwadi water ATM scheme at bus stations. The scheme was launched by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav. It seeks to provide potable water to bus passengers at reasonable price. In this regard, state government will install water ATMs at most of the bus stations which will provide potable water at the rate of 1 rupee per litre and cold water at 2 rupees per litre. Apart from this scheme, state government also lauched affordable ‘Lohia gramin bus seva’, with 25 per cent lower bus fares. This scheme will provide connectivity at affordable fare between cities and rural areas where there was no means of public transport is available. 149 self-operating inquiry services, super luxury air-conditioned bus service were also launched by the state government.

48. Union Government has constituted Committee headed by Justice A.P. Shah to look into the issue of Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) on Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs).

49. Union government has announced that, the current immunisation rate in rural areas is around 58 per cent while it is over 67 per cent in urban regions of the country.

50. Lok Sabha on 13 May 2015 passed The Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Bill, 2015 by a voice vote. The Bills amends the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 in order to make cheque-bounce filing of

cases more convenient for check payees (person who receives the cheque).

51. Union Cabinet has given its approval to Benami Transactions (Prohibition) (Amendment) Bill, 2015. The Bill seeks to amend the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act, 1988 by adding additional provisions that provides for stringent measures against violators in order to curb and check the generation of black money in the country.

52. Supreme Court (SC) on 13 May 2015 issued a slew of guidelines on regulation of public advertisements. . Guidelines set by Supreme Court Ban on the use of photographs of ministers and party leaders in the government advertisements released by government institutions and autonomous bodies. Only photographs of the President, Prime Minister (PM) and Chief Justice of India (CJI) can feature in the government advertisements with their prior approval. Besides, the photos of late national leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru can be used in these advertisements. Henceforth, official advertisements should not carry the name of any political party, political symbol, logo or flag. In order to regulate the issue of public advertisement and to keep check on framed guidelines to prevent its violation, Union government must constitute a three-member committee..

53. Punjab has become the first state in India to issue Soil Health Cards (SHCs), a Union Government initiative to all farmers in the state. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had formally launched the nationwide ‘Soil Health Card’ Scheme in Februrary 2015 in Suratgarh, Rajasthan.

54. Eminent Bengali writer Suchitra Bhattacharya passed away on 12 May 2015 following a cardiac arrest in Kolkata, West Bengal.

55. Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the flagship Namami Gange Program. The program integrates the efforts to clean and protect the River Ganga in a comprehensive manner by involving differed States and grassroots level institutions. It has a budgetary outlay of 20000 crore rupees for 2015-20. It will be implemented National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) with the help of State Program Management Groups (SPMGs). In order to improve implementation of the program, a three-tier mechanism has been proposed for project monitoring. It will comprise of At national level: High level task force chaired by Cabinet Secretary and assisted by NMCG. At national level: State level committee chaired by Chief Secretary and assisted by SPMG. At District level: District level committee chaired by the District Magistrate. Focus area of Program Pollution abatement interventions by interception, diversion and treatment of wastewater flowing through the open drains through bio-remediation. Use of innovative technologies for sewage treatment plants (STPs) and effluent treatment plant (ETPs). Rehabilitation and augmentation of existing STPs and immediate short term measures for arresting pollution at exit points on river front to prevent inflow of sewage etc. Union government will provide 100% funding for various projects under this program. For this Union Government will adopt Public Private Partnership (PPP) and Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) approach for pollution hotspots. In an attempt to bolster enforcement of this program and to check pollution and protect the river, Union government will establish a Territorial Army unit named 4-battalion Ganga Eco-Task Force.

56. Indian-origin councilor Harbhajan Kaur Dheer of Labour Party became the first Asian woman to be elected as mayor in United Kingdom.

57. Tejaswini Sagar from India won under-15 category of World School Chess Championships in her

maiden attempt. 58. Tolkappiyar Award for lifetime achievement in Classical Tamil was given to SV Shanmugam for year 2011-12 and R Krishnamurthi for year 2012-13.

59. Union Government formally launched Upgrading the Skills and Training in Traditional Arts/Crafts for Development (USTAAD) Scheme. It was launched by Union Minister of Minority Affairs Dr. Najma Heptullah in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh in order to improve degrading conditions of world famous Banaras Saree weavers who belong to minority communities. Facts about USTAAD Scheme : The Scheme aims at upgrading Skills and Training of minority communities by preservation of traditional ancestral Arts and Crafts. It also envisages boosting the skill of craftsmen, weavers and artisans who are already engaged in the traditional ancestral work. Under the scheme, assistance will be provided to traditional artisans to sell their products in order to make them more compatible with modern markets. It is fully funded by Union Government and Union Ministry of Minority Affairs is nodal agency in implementing it.

60. World’s first fully warm-blooded fish named Opah or moonfish was discovered recently. It was discovered by scientists at the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

61. Union Ministry of Finance has appointed M J Joseph as the Controller General of Accounts (CGA). He will succeed Jawahar Thakur, who was recently appointed as OSD (Accounting Reforms) in the office ofCGA.

62. India’s ace shooter Gagan Narang won the bronze medal in the 50m Rifle Prone Event of the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup.

63. It should be noted that, during the 2015 Paris conference, a new international framework replacing the 1997 Kyoto Protocol is to be discussed. The main reason considered to replace this anti-global warming treaty is due to its ineffective implementation because only rich countries (developed) wererequired to limit their emissions. The new framework will seek to bring poorer countries (developing) under its ambit and force them to make commitments under the new framework.

65. Sixth edition of National Conference on Nuclear Energy held in New Delhi. The theme of this edition was Nuclear Energy: a Clean Energy option.

India is on course of doubling its nuclear power generation capacity in five years i.e. till 2020 by more than 10,000 MW. At present 3.5% of India’s electricity is generated by Nuclear power plants. In future its share will be less than 10% even if the installed capacity is tripled.

66. ICICI Bank’s first branch in China was inaugurated in Shanghai, a major global financial hub

68. Ms. Draupadi Murmu was sworn in as the first woman and overall ninth Governor of Jharkhand since the state was granted statehood status after bifurcating from Bihar on 15 November 2000.

70. India assumed the presidency of the 68th World Health Assembly (WHA) held in Geneva after a gap of 19 years.

WHA is the world’s highest health policy setting body and the top decision-making body of the World

Health Organisation (WHO). It is governed by WHO’s 194 member state and generally composed of health ministers from member states. The first WHA assembly was held in 1948.

72. Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) MP Surendrajeet Singh Ahluwalia has been appointed chairman of a Joint Committee of Parliament that will look into the provisions of the Land Acquisition Amendment Bill, 2015.

74. INS Kavaratti, Indian Navy’s latest anti-submarine warfare class stealth corvette was launched on 19 May 2015 in Kolkata.

75. Researchers have discovered the driest location on Earth in the Atacama Desert in Chile. The site discovered is called as Maria Elena South (MES).

76. Meghalaya has achieved 100 percent success in implementing Union Government’s flagship scheme for financial inclusion-Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna (PMJDY). In the state, all eleven districts have been able to open at least one bank account of every household under the ambitious scheme. More than 5.53 lakh households have been covered with 1.55 lakh new bank accounts.

77. Indigenously-developed beyond visual range air-to-air Astra missile was successfully test fired at the Integrated Test Range, Chandipur, Odisha.

78. President Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated the 50th Anniversary of India’s first historic climb of Mt. Everest in 1965 at a function held at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

On this day in 1965, Indian team of 21 mountaineers led by Captain M S Kohli of Indian Navy had successfully climbed world’s highest peak Mt. Everest (8848 m) after a series of three unsuccessful attempts in five years.

80. Yamuna Expressway in Uttar Pradesh had become India’s first road runway after Indian Air Force (IAF) Mirage 2000 fighter jet successfully landed as part of trials to use national highways for emergency landing.

81. Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants have taken complete control of the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra. The city is a UNESCO designated World Heritage site and home to some of the world’s most magnificent ancient ruins.82. About Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) programme It was sanctioned by Union Government in 2008 to use PSLV as a workhorse vehicle to meet the country’s satellite launch requirements. The operationalisation of this programme has made India self-reliant in the launching capability of satellites for the purpose of earth observation, disaster management, space sciences and navigation. PSLV also has emerged as a versatile launch vehicle to carry out Geo-synchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO), Sun-Synchronous Polor Orbit (SSPO) and low inclination Low Earth Orbit (LEO) missions.

83. Union Cabinet has approved the revival of closed urea unit of Fertilizer Corporation India Limited (FICL) at Sindri in Jharkhand with an investment of 6000 crore rupees.

85. India has ranked 24th out of 70 countries in the first Environmental Democracy Index (EDI). The

index was recently released by Washington-based World Resources Institute (WRI) and Access Initiative.

86. Two strong 6.8 magnitude earthquakes had strike the Solomon Islands in Pacific Ocean on 23 May 2015.

87. Republic of Ireland on 23 May 2015 became first country in the world to constitutionally legalise same-sex marriage.

88. Two Indian peacekeepers have been chosen posthumously for United Nation’s Dag Hammarskjold Medal. They are Lance Naik Nand Ram and Raju Joseph.

89. China has set up a gold sector fund involving 65 countries along the ancient Silk Road.

90. Renowned American mathematician and Nobel laureate John Nash passed away on 24 May 2015. He was 86 and died in a car crash along with his wife Alicia Nash.

91. Mumbai Indians (MI) on 24 May 2015 won the eight edition of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2015 by defeating Chennai Super Kings (CSK).It has won IPL 2nd time.

92. India’s largest private sector lender Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India (ICICI) Bank has launched voice password facility for users.

93. Gujarat Government has initiated Sloth Habitat Project in Jessore wildlife sanctuary to provide better habitat to sloth bears.

95. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 26 May 2015 launched India’s first television channel DD Kisan dedicated to farmers in New Delhi.

96. Himachal Pradesh forest department has set up the satellite tracking system to check and find the forest fire incidents during summer season.

97. Tripura government has decided to withdraw the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), 1958 from the remaining areas of the state.

98. Abhinav Bindra has become the fourth Indian shooter to win a quota place for the 2016 Rio Olympics.

99. Scientists have discovered a new human ancestor species of Australopithecus deyiremeda in Afar region of Ethiopia.

100. Eminent scientist Dr. Selvin Christopher has been appointed as the Director General (DG) of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) along with the rank of a secretary

101. According to recently released United Nations (UN) annual hunger report titled The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2015, India was placed at top in the World Hunger list

102. United States (US) in a landmark decision has removed Cuba from its list of State Sponsor of Terrorism. In this regard US secretary of state John Kerry has signed an order removing Cuba from the

terrorism blacklist. This decision will pave the way for normalizing and strengthening ties between both countries which were frozen for half a century after the Cuban missile crisis in 1962.

103. Maharashtra Government has launched Swachhata Saptapadi scheme on the lines of Union Government’s flagship Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.

Under this scheme, state government will introduce the concept of a pledge to create awareness and seriousness about the Swachh Maharashtra Abhiyan. The objective of the scheme is to expedite the process of cleanliness drive complete with toilet every household by October 2, 2015 and 2016.

104. Sepp Blatter has been re-elected as the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) President for a fifth term.

105. World No-Tobacco Day (WNTD) is observed every year across the world on 31 May.

106. A case was lodged in Barabanki court in Uttar Pradesh against Nestle India over inadequate safety standards of its product Maggi. Earlier, Uttar Pradesh Food Safety and Drug Administration (UP FDA) had asked Nestle India to withdraw a batch of Maggi noodles from the market after they had found that it contained high level of lead and Monosodium glutamate (MSG), a taste enhancer. During these routine tests of UP FDA, it was found that packets of instant noodles of 2014 batch contained high lead concentration of 17.2 parts per million (ppm) which is nearly seven times more that the permissible limit of 0.01 ppm to 2.5 ppm. About Monosodium glutamate Monosodium glutamate is a kind of amino acid. It occurs naturally in many agricultural products. Monosodium glutamate is added artificially to packaged food to enhance flavour. Health impact: Large doses of MSG can cause headaches and other feelings of discomfort collectively known as Chinese Restaurant Syndrome.

107. Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley inaugurated the New Bank Note Paper Line unit of 6000 metric ton capacity at Security Paper Mill in Hoshangabad in Madhya Pradesh

JUNE 2015

1.Ace Indian archer Deepika Kumari has clinched the bronze medal in the women’s individual Women’s Recurve event at Antalya Archery World Cup held in Turkey.

2. Former Chairman of Union Carbide Corporation, Warren M Anderson died on 29th September 2014 at a nursing home in Vero Beach, Florida. He was 92. Anderson was blamed for the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy as he was Chairman and CEO of the Union Carbide Corporation at the time of the disaster. 3. Punjab government has announced that year 2015-16 will be will be observed as development year to give further fillip to the all-round development of the state. 4. Ace Indian shooter Gurpreet Singh has secured India a fifth quota place in shooting for the 2015 Rio Olympics. 6. Kolkata’s Mohun Bagan Football Club (FC) has won the I-League title by defeating Bengaluru Football Club. Mohun Bagan won the title after a 1-1 draw score against Bengaluru FC in their final game of the 2014-15 season played at the Kanteerva Stadium, Bengaluru. 7. President Pranab Mukherjee has given his assent to re-promulgation of land ordinance for third time as per provisions of Article 123 of Indian Constitution. 8. Researchers from China have successfully developed the first automated teller machine (ATM) with facial recognition technology. 9. Gatimaan Express is the first semi high-speed train service that will be launched between Delhi and Agra. The train will run at a maximum speed of 160 kmph and is expected to cover the 200-km distance between both destinations in about 105 minutes. 10. Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee will be conferred with Friends of Bangladesh Liberation War Award by Bangladesh government 11. Meena Hemchandra was appointed as the Executive Director of Reserve Bank of India (RBI). 12. Government of Mauritius has designated internationally renowned biodiversity scientist and biologist Ameenah Gurib-Fakim as their new President. 13. This the third time RBI has cut interest rates in 2015. RBI has reduced the rates in order to take advantage of subdued inflation and to give more support to an economy.

14. Facts about Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS):

MERS belongs to the family of coronaviruses which includes large family of viruses such as common cold and Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). It was discovered in 2012 and was mostly centred in Saudi Arabia. MERS is a betacorona virus derived from bats. Camels have shown to have antibodies to MERS, but the exact source of infection in camels has not been identified. It can be transmitted from infected person to others after close contact via a respiratory route. Symptoms: fever, breathing problems, pneumonia and kidney failure. Treatment: Till date there is no vaccine available to prevent it. However intensive medical care can help patient to breath. 15. Edward Snowden, former US security contractor and electronic surveillance whistleblower has been awarded a Norwegian prize for freedom of expression (also known as Bjornson Prize). 16. Union Government has launched Khoya Paya web platform for people to directly report, track and upload information on missing children. It was launched in New Delhi. Khoya Paya is joint initiative of the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD) and the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY). Khoya Paya website has three sections:

My child is missing- where citizens can report missing children. I have sighted a child- where citizens can report sightings and whereabouts of missing children without wasting much time. Search a missing child and the found children can also be reported on it. 17. Union Government has launched IAP HealthPhone programme, world’s largest digital mass education programme to address malnutrition in women and children. It was launched in New Delhi. Facts about IAP HealthPhone programme :

IAP HealthPhone aims to tackle the challenge of malnutrition in mothers and children across India. It is a public-private partnership (PPP) initiative that seeks to educate over 6 million girls and women between 13 and 35 years of age and their families on better health and nutrition practices by 2018 by leveraging penetration of mobile phones in the country. It will promote and distribute four re-edited videos from the Poshan (nutritional videos) series in 18 Indian languages, which are jointly produced by Union Ministry WCD and UNICEF. These videos addressed issues of status of women, care of pregnant women and children, breastfeeding. It also seeks to spread awareness and importance of balanced diet, health and simple changes in nutritional care practices to enhance nutritional levels. Vodafone India will encourage the viewing of the four videos by enabling its customers to view/download them for free. Vodafone India will also help for comprehensive communication campaign to promote the programme across the country via print and social media. The three-year intensive awareness campaign under IAP HealthPhone programme is expected to benefit to improve health of around 60 million children born by 2025 in India and also play important transformative role in India’s fight against malnutrition.

19. Jaipur Metro’s Phase-1 was inaugurated by Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje by flagging off the inaugural train. Phase 1 of Pink City’s Metro covers 9.6 km long route from Mansarovar to Chandpole with nine metro stations. Developed by Jaipur Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (JMRCL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Rajasthan Government. With this, Jaipur became the sixth city in India to have metro service. Other five cities are Delhi, Mumbai, Gurgaon, Bangalore, and Kolkata. 20. Renowned biochemist Irwin Rose who was awarded 2004 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for discovering molecule Ubiquitin passed away. He was 88. 21. World Bank has approved 250 million US dollars loan for Jhelum and Tawi Flood Recovery Project in Jammu & Kashmir (J&K). 22. India’s first of its kind Tier-I Oil Spill Response Centre (OSRC) for Mumbai Port Trust (MBT), Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) and ONGC’s facilities at Nhava and Uran was inaugurated on 5 June 2015. 23. Delhi Metro has received its first driver-less train from Republic of South Korea which is capable of running without a driver. 24. India’s first green police station was inaugurated on the occasion of World Environment Day at Maurice Nagar in north Delhi.

25. Doctors from Texas State of United States have done the world’s first partial skull and scalp transplant from a human donor. 26. Union Government launched nationwide Jal Kranti Abhiyan. It was launched by Union Minister of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejunivetion Uma Bharti in Jaipur, Rajasthan.

Jal Kranti Abhiyan aims at turning one water scared village in each district of the country into water surplus village water through a holistic and integrated approach by adopting conservation and management techniques. Under the nationwide campaign a village with acute water scarcity on a pilot project will be selected as Jal Gram. In this identified village a comprehensive integrated development plan will be framed and several water conservation activities will be launched. Activities proposed under the campaign include rain water harvesting, recycling of waste water, micro irrigation for using water efficiently and mass awareness program. Along with it, a cadre of local water professional Jal Mitra will be created and they will be given

training to create mass awareness. As pilot project, activities under this nation campaign will be run in one water stressed village in each 672 districts in the country. 27. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is a nodal statutory agency responsible for protecting and promoting public health in India through the regulation and supervision of food safety. 28. Cyclonic storm Ashobaa in Arabian Sea is the first tropical storm of the pre-monsoon season in the Indian seas. The cyclonic storm was formed after intensified deep depression (low pressure zone) was developed over east central Arabian Sea about 590 km west southwest of Mumbai, 470 km southwest of Veraval (Gujarat) and 960 km east-southeast of Masirah Island (Oman). 29. 16th edition of the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) informally known as the “Bollywood Oscars,” was held in Malaysia. The award ceremony was held in Putra Indoor Stadium Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 30. World’s first prosthetic (artificial) leg capable of simulating the feelings of a real limb and fighting phantom pain was unveiled by researchers in Vienna, Austria. 31. Haryana’s Jind, Karnal districts and Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar district have been added into the conurbation National Capital Region (NCR). With this inclusion the total districts in NCR has rose to 23 (including Delhi NCT) which covers a total area of 51,109 square km. 32. About Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 The Act defines bills of exchange, promissory notes, cheques and creates penalties for issues such as bouncing of cheques. It also specifies circumstances under which complaints for cheque bouncing can be filed. 33. Union Cabinet meet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the signing of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal (BBIN) Motor Vehicle Agreement. The agreement which is similar to the SAARC Motor Vehicle Agreement (MVA) seeks to regulate the vehicular traffic of passenger, personal and cargo amongst BBIN countries. The agreement will be signed on 15th June 2015 at the Transport Minister’s meeting in Thimpu, Bhutan.

Key Facts

BBIN agreement aims to promote safe, environmentally sound and economical efficient road transport in the sub-region of BBIN. It also seeks to help each member country to create an

institutional mechanism for regional integration. BBIN agreement will benefit member nations for mutual cross border movement of passenger and goods for overall economic development of the region. For implementation of this agreement each signatory member will bear its own costs. During the 18th SAARC Summit held in Kathmandu, Nepal SAARC MVA was not able to signed due to reservations of Pakistan. 34. Cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the only Indian to find place in the Forbes magazine’s list of 100 World’s Highest-Paid Athletes 2015 35. China has conducted the fourth successful test of a new Wu-14 hypersonic strike vehicle which is capable of delivering nuclear weapons. 36. As per recently published study, camels aged less than four years might be a major source of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS).

37. About International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA):

IRENA is an intergovernmental organization to promote adoption and sustainable use of renewable energy. It is a global hub for renewable energy cooperation and information exchange within its member nations. Founded in 2009 and its statute entered into force on 8 July 2010. Headquarters: Abu Dhabi. In total it has 140 Members. India is one of the 33 Permanent and founder members of IRENA. 38. The second border haat (rural market) was opened for common people at Kamalasagar in Sipahijala district of Tripura bordering Brahmanbaria district of Bangladesh. First border haat was inaugurated on Srinagar- Purba border area in January 2015 by Union Commerce and Industries Minister Nirmala along with her Bangladeshi counterpart Tofail ahmed. 39. Three day long tourism promotional Ladakh Singhey Khababs Sindhu (also known as Sindhu Darshan) Festival has begun in Jammu and Kashmir’s Ladakh region. 40. United States (US) became the world’s largest oil producer in 2014 surpassing Saudi Arabia. 41. China has launched a freight train service between its northeastern city of Harbin and Europe. The 9,820-km-long distance rail route will open new trade options for Chinese goods in the European Market. Harbin is capital of Heilongjiang province. The freight train will run once a week. Each single trip will take 15 days and it will transport goods from China, South Korea and Japan as well as goods from European countries such as Poland, Germany, Spain, France and

Italy. This train will pass through countries like Russia and Poland to reach its final destination in Hamburg, Germany. Several other Chinese cities like Changsha, Chengdu, Chongqing, Yiwu, Hefei and Suzhou have launched similar freight train services to Europe. 42. Migrant Resource Centre (MRC) was set up in Chennai by the Union Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) and Tamil Nadu state government. 43. Minister of State (MoS) for External Affairs V K Singh inaugurated first India-China Yoga College at Yunnan Minzu University in Kunming, China. 44. Bibek Debroy Committee on the restructuring of Indian Railways has submitted its final report to the Union Ministry of Railways.

Recommendations :

Establishment of an independent regulator Railway Regulatory Authority of India (RRAI) with a separate budget and to be independent of the Ministry. RRAI will decide on tariffs to revamp the cash-strapped railways. Railway Budget should be phased out with gross budgetary support to Indian Railways. There is need to improve the internal resource generation and explore varied methods of financing but also to improve utilisation of available resources. No privatisation of Indian Railway but allowed participation of private sector in the railway projects. Separation of activities like running of hospitals, schools, real estate development, catering, manufacturing of locomotives, coaches and wagons from the core business of running trains. State governments should be asked to entirely fund the Government Railway Police (GRP). General Managers should have the freedom to choose between private security guards and RPF for security on trains. The recommended changes should be implemented only by Union Railways ministry in the first five years including the resolution of the social cost issue. 45. Philae comet lander has taken on the surface of Comet 67P (Churyumov-Gerasimenko) from seven-month hibernation. It was announced by European Space Agency (ESA) after the comet lander managed to communicate with Earth for more than a minute. 46. Indian Railways has named Haridwar Mail as Yoga Express with an immediate effect. In this regard the train No 19031/19032 Ahmedabad-Haridwar-Ahmedabad famously known as Haridwar Mail has been christened as Yoga Express. 47. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows into the services sector grew by over 46 per cent to 3.25 billion dollars in 2014-15 fiscal. It was revealed by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP).

48. Mogens Lykketoft from Denmark was unanimously elected as President of United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

50. Union Government has launched Augmented Reality technology based mobile application named ‘Sakaar’ to highlight the achievements of the Department of Space. Augmented Reality (AR) technology is computer-generated 3D models, animations, videos that augments (or supplements) the live direct view of a physical, real-world environment. With the help of device’s camera the real time augmentation and information is overlaying takes place which enhances user’s current perception. Essentially AR requires three basic elements for its functioning. They are AR application, AR Markers and Android OS enabled mobile with back camera. 51. India’s greatest contemporary architect Charles Correa passed away in Mumbai following a brief illness. He was 84. 52. A comprehensive book in Dogri language on the Dogri literature of 20th century entitled ‘Beehmi Sadi Da Dogri Da Gadya Sahitya : Ik Jayzaa ’ was released in Jammu and Kashmir. Dogri is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in India and Pakistan. In India, it is chiefly spoken in states like Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and northern Punjab. It is one of 22 official languages mentioned in the Eighth Schedule of Constitution. It was inserted in this schedule by 92nd Constitutional amendment Act, 2003 along with Maithili, Santali and Bodo. 53. Researchers have created the world’s thinnest light bulb using graphene as filament. 54. Sunil Chhetri has become the first Indian footballer to score 50 international goals. 55. Bangladesh Supreme Court’s appellate bench upheld the death sentence of war criminal and Jamaat-e-Islami leader Ali Ahsan Muhammad Mujahid. 56. Union Cabinet approved increasing India’s solar power capacity target under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) to 1 Lakh Mega Watt (MW) by 2022. 57. Manipur State Forest Department has decided to translocate a section of critically endangered species of Brow Antlered (Sangai) deer with an aim to save it from extinction. The deer is endemic to Keibul Lamjao National Park (KLNP) will be translocated to Pumlen Pat which is close existing habitat to Loktak. 58. Japan has passed a law lower the voting age to 18 years from its current 20 years.

59. Punjab state is celebrating the 350th years of foundation of holy city Sri Anandpur Sahib. The holy city Sri Anandpur Sahib was founded in 1665 by the Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur, ninth Guru of Sikhs. Later in 1699, Khalsa Panth was created here by the Tenth Guru Sri Guru Gobind Singh. Anandpur Sahib is situated in a city in Rupnagar district (Ropar) of Punjab and located on the lower spurs of the Himalayas surrounded with the river Sutlej forming a border on the south west. 60. As per recently released Global Peace Index (GPI) for year 2015, India was placed at 143th rank out 162 countries. Iceland (1st) rank. It is an annual report published by the Sydney (Australia) based Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) since 2007.

61. Union Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved introduction of Bureau of Indian Standards Bill, 2015 in coming session of Parliament. The new bill seeks to replace the existing Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) Act, 1986 with an aim to bring in more products under the mandatory standard regime and end the inspector raj.

62. Union Government has launched NOWCAST weather alert system and Crop Insurance web portal for the benefit of farmers. The new initiatives were launched by Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh at a function held in New Delhi. NOWCAST weather alert system will provide free SMS service alerts on extreme weather conditions (ex-hailstorm) to over one crore registered farmers on their mobile phones. 63. India has been ranked third in Anti-Doping Rule Violations Report for year 2013 released by World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Russia was ranked first in this report with maximum number of doping athletes with 212 testing positive. 64. Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has given its approval for inclusion of Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand under the National Dairy Plan- I (NDP-I). About National Dairy Plan- I :

National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) had approved NDP-I in 14 milk potential through the EIAs. It was formulated with a total outlay of 2242 crore rupees for a period of 6 years from 2011-12 to 2016-17. At present NDP I is being implemented in 15 States which account for more than 90 per cent of the country’s total milk production and 98 per cent of the country’s fodder resources. They also account for over 87 per cent of the breedable cattle and buffalo population. 15 states are Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Gujarat, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra, Punjab, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and West

Bengal. 65. Translated Chinese version of Bhagavad Gita, a sacred ancient Indian scripture was released in China. 66. Advertising Standard Council of India (ASCI) has launched ASCIonline, a mobile application in a bid to address misleading advertisements. 67. Britain’s longest-serving Indian-origin MP Keith Vaz, has been re-elected as Chairman of Home Affairs Select Committee (HASC) in House of Commons of UK Parliament. 68. The world’s first electric passenger aircraft named BX1E was manufactured in China. 69. ISRO has announced to provide navigational support to Indian Railways through GPS Aided Geo Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) system. 70. Eminent Historian-writer Ramachandra Guha has been selected for Japan’s Fukuoka Prize 2015 in n the Academic category. 71. Jharkhand Government has imposed a ban on the sale of thermocol plates in the state. It was announced by Chief Minister Raghuvar Das. 72. Haryana Government has launched a Village Mentoring Project (VMP) in a bid to improve healthcare and education of the villagers with a special emphasis on girl child. 73. The idea of celebrating the International Yoga Day was pitched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in September 2014. In December 2014, UNGA had unanimously adopted India-led resolution to observe 21st June as ‘International Day of Yoga’. This resolution was adopted under the agenda of ‘Global Health and Foreign Policy’. 21st June was selected because it represents one of the two solstices and it is the longest day in the Northern Hemisphere which has special significance in many parts of the world. 74. Every year June 20 is observed as World Refugee Day to raise awareness of the situation of refugees throughout the world. The theme for year 2015 is With courage let us all combine. 75. One of the foremost south Indian classical vocalists, Sanjay Subrahmanyam has been selected for the ‘Sangita Kalanidhi’ award 2015. 76. A commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo was held in Belgium.

77. India has set two Guinness world records (GWR) in Rajpath yoga event held on the eve of first International Yoga Day led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Two records are :

Largest number of participants- 35,985 people had participated in largest yoga demonstration at a single venue i.e. Rajpath yoga event.

Most number of nationalities at a single event– People of 84 nationalities performed yoga at one place. 78. China has opened 2nd land border crossing in Tibet via Nathu La, Sikkim to allow the Indian pilgrims for Kailash-Mansarovar yatra. The new route is in addition and alternative to the existing Lipulekh Pass route located in Uttarakhand which was only route earlier. 79. India’s oldest and largest shipping trade union, National Union of Seafarers of India (NUSI) has been honoured with the ‘Best Welfare Organisation of the Year – 2015’ award. 80. Typhoon Kujira has made landfall in south China’s Hainan island province. It is the eighth typhoon of 2015 in this South-east Asian region. 81. Maharashtra has officially declared Blue Mormon species as State butterfly as part of state symbols. 82. India has emerged as the third largest Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) source for United Kingdom (UK) in 2014-15. 83. Maharashtra has topped in Patent filing in India during year 2013-14. While, the Bengaluru was the top city in IPR filing in the country. 84. Union Government has launched Bhuvan Ganga Mobile Application and Web Portal to aid flagship mission to Clean Ganga. The app and webportal was launched by Union Minister of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Uma Bharti in New Delhi. 85. Rajasthan has become number one state in the country in terms of total installed capacity of solar energy. 86. Former Pakistan cricket team captain Zaheer Abbas has been selected the new President of International Cricket Council (ICC) for one year term. 87. Union Cabinet has given nod to rename Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) as the

Renewable Energy Corporation of India (RECI). 88. India has topped in the regional inflow of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in South Asia region during year 2014, accounting for 34 billion US dollars investments. 89. India has become most attractive investment destination in world after it was ranked first among 110 countries in a ranking of destinations for attractiveness to foreign investors. The ranking was based on baseline profitability index (BPI) 2015. In this edition of China was placed at the 65th position and US was placed at the 50th. 90. Andhra Pradesh government has decided to form a Cabinet sub-committee named as Krishi Cabinet. 91. India is fourth largest carbon emitter in the world in terms of per capita emission accounting for 6.6 % of global emissions for the year 2012. It was revealed by the World Resources Institute (WRI) in its latest analyses of the country-wise carbon emissions of climate-damaging greenhouse gases (GHGs). 92. Nadia district in West Bengal has won the United Nations Public Service Award 2015 in the category of improving delivery of public services for or eliminating open defecation in the district. 93. Two Indian organizations, Indian Army and Indian Railways are among the world’s biggest employers. 94. Team of heart experts including an Indian-origin surgeon Dr. Joseph Vettukattil for first time have printed three dimensional (3D) anatomic heart model using multiple imaging techniques. 95. 50 founding nations including India have signed 60-article agreement of China-led multilateral Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). Headquarters:Beijing. It will be operational by end of 2015.

JULY 2015: 1. Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu inaugurated the Integrated Security System (ISS) at 6 railway stations in Mumbai, Maharashtra. 2. Former world junior champion and Grandmaster Abhijeet Gupta won the 19th Commonwealth Chess Championship. 3. National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) survey has pegged literacy rate in the rural areas at 71 per cent and 86 per cent in the urban areas in year 2014. It was revealed in NSSO’s 71st Round of survey. Literacy among the age group of 7 year and above: Male literacy rate- 83 percent, female literacy rate- 67 per cent. Adult literacy (age 15 years and above) rate: It was around 71 per cent. In rural areas- 64 per cent, urban areas- 84 per cent. 4. REGN3051 and REGN3048 are the two antibodies (drug candidates) which have shown ability to neutralise the MERS virus. 5. The population of elephants has increased to 1,954 in Odisha as per revealed in 2015 Elephant Census report. The population of elephants in state has marginally increased by 24 elephants in the terns of population in 2015 compared to 2012 Elephant Census. As per 2015 Elephant Census 1450 elephants were enumerated in three elephant reserves viz. Mayurbhanj, Mahanadi and Sambalpur. 6. Madhya Pradesh government has initiated the facility of e-registration of property documents in all the districts of state. The e-registration of property documentation will be done through software named Sampada. Under this facility, people can obtain e-stamp through internet banking or service provider. 7. Greece has become the first developed nation to default on International Monetary Fund (IMF) debt. It has defaulted on a 1.7 billion dollars payment to IMF. 9. Finnish telecom engineer and father of messaging service (SMS) technology Matti Makkonen passed away following serious illness. He was 63. The first text message was sent via the Vodafone network from a computer to a mobile device in December 1992. In 1994, Nokia became first mobile manufacturer to introduce phone i.e. Nokia 2010 to write and send SMS. 11. Union Cabinet meeting chaired by Narendra Modi approved Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) or PM’s Agriculture Irrigation Scheme. PMKSY is central scheme that aims at providing irrigation facilities to every village in the country by converging ongoing irrigation schemes implemented by various ministries. It will focus on ‘end-to-end solution’ in irrigation supply chain by implementing new programme in a “project mode” with decentralised state-level planning and execution. Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana Ensure access to some means of protective irrigation to all agricultural farms in the country in order to produce ‘per drop more crop’ to bring desired rural prosperity. Flexibility and autonomy: to states in the process of

planning and executing irrigation projects in order to ensure water to every farm. Irrigation plans: ensure that state and district irrigation plans are prepared on the basis of sources of availability of water and agro-climatic conditions in that region. Funding Pattern: Centre- States will be 75: 25 per cent. In case of north-eastern region and hilly states it will be 90:10. 12. Union Cabinet has approved setting up of an Online National Agriculture Market that will provide more options to farmers for selling their produce. For online national agriculture market, an online platform will be set up. On this platform farmers will be able to sell and buy vegetables, fruits and other produce from across the country. This online agriculture market will also focus on creating godowns and facilitate transportation of the farm produce after the online trade. Presently, farmers are restricted to sell their produce at traditional mandis or market committees which are charging various taxes on producers. This platform will also give choice to farmers to sell the farm produce both in traditional mandis or online platform and boost their incomes and improve availability, moderating price rise. 13. Cuba has become the first country in the world to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis. 14. Digital India Week was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 1 July 2015. It seeks to educate, inform and engage citizens about the ongoing initiatives of the Union government in the area of e-governance. 15. Haryana Government launched ‘Mhara Gaon, Jagmag Gaon’ scheme to provide 24 hour uninterrupted power supply for rural domestic consumers in a phased manner with their active participation. 16. Fazle Hasan Abed of Bangladesh has been named as the winner of the 2015 World Food Prize. 17. R Paul Singh, Indian-American professor has been selected for 2015 World Agriculture Prize laureate. 18. The Guinness Book of World Records has recognised a record created in Madhya Pradesh on ‘World Hand washing Day’ in 2014. 19. The death toll from Ebola virus in Liberia is on the rise once again after three new confirmed cases were reported. Earlier in May 2015, the World Health Organization (WHO) had declared the West African country Ebola free after no new cases were reported. 21. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) prohibited the foreign direct investment (FDI) in manufacturing of tobacco products. 22. Union Government released the first ever Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC) after 80 years on the lines of the 1931 census. It was released by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in New Delhi. The SECC findings reflect the state of poverty and deprivation as well as crucial social trends in rural India such as ownership of assets, marital status, gender dynamics educational and employment in rural India. According to the census :

There are 24.39 crore total number of households in the country, of which 17.91 crore live in villages. Of these, 10.69 crore households are considered as deprived. 50 percent or 5.37 crore deprived households in rural areas are landless and depends on manual labour for livelihood. House hold size: Average size of a rural Indian household is 4.93. Highest in Uttar Pradesh at 6.26. Lowest in Andhra Pradesh at 3.86. Male dominance: majority of 87 per cent households is male-headed. Nearly 13 per cent do have a female head. In rural areas of Rajasthan, around 91 per cent households are headed by men. In Kerala 26 per cent are women-headed households (highest among the states). Literacy: Over one-third of population living in rural areas is illiterate. Higher literacy in terms of percentage is in Kerala (88.62), Delhi (86.42), Goa (84.58), Sikkim (79.88) and Himachal Pradesh (77.95). Lowest literacy is in Rajasthan (58), Madhya Pradesh (44.19), Bihar (43.85), Telangana (40.42) and Chattisgarh (39.59). SC and ST Population:Large proportion of the households across the country belong to the SC and ST category i.e. about 30 per cent of rural households. Employment: Rural India is largely self-employed or employed in the unorganised sector. Around 10 per cent households are on salaried jobs of which the majority are in government jobs. 23. Japan’s Meiji-era (1868-1912) industrial revolution sites have received World Cultural Heritage status from United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). 24. Kasturirangan committee had recommended that about 37 per cent areas in the Western Ghats to be declared as an ESA, surpassing the recommendation of Madhav Gadgil report (2010). Madhav Gadgil report had recommended declaration of entire Western Ghats region as an ESA. 25. World Bank has ranked the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Gurantee Act (MGNREGA) as the world’s largest public works programme. It was revealed in recently released World Bank Group’s report titled ‘The State of Social Safety Nets 2015‘. Mid-day meal scheme (under Ministry of Human Resource Development) has been classified as biggest school feeding programme. Janani Suraksha Yojna (Under Ministry of Health and Family Welfare) is top-most social security programme with conditional cash transfers. Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme (under Ministry of Rural Development) is the second-largest unconditional cash transfer social security progamme in the world 27. Union Government has decided to develop all villages located within 10 kilometres vicinity of the international border on a priority basis. These villages will be developed under the Border Area Development Programme (BADP) with special emphasis on promotion of sports activities and rural tourism. Border Area Development Programme (BADP) has been implemented in 367 border blocks of 104 border districts in 17 states. 28. Kazakhstan the world’s largest producer of uranium 29. Union home ministry has declared entire Nagaland state as a ‘disturbed area’ for one year period with an immediate effect from June 30, 2015. This decision was taken after Naga rebel outfit, Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland- Khaplang (NSCN-K) had ambushed on Indian Army convoy killing 18 Army personnel in in Chandel district of

Manipur in June 2015. Indian Army had retaliated this attack with cross-border surgical strikes against NSCN(K) and allied outfits in Myanmar region near Indian border. 30. Vadodara district of Gujarat and China’s Xinjinag province has inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the development of twin cities. 31. eMudhra Limited is a statutory licensed Certifying Authority of India to issue digital signature certificates. 32. China has nominated its former finance Minister Jin Liqun as the Presidential candidate for $100 billion Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). 33. Uttarakhand became first Indian state to install a system to detect earthquakes and disseminate warnings. The first system has been installed in its capital Dehradun which will issue warnings 1-40 seconds before earthquakes of magnitude 5 or more occur. The system is incorporated with sensors which are capable to detect P (Primary) and S (Secondary) waves generated during an earthquake. It is capable to detect the harmless P wave, which travels faster than the S wave for advance warning. The system has the earliest detection among those currently in use worldwide. The second system will be established at Pithoragarh in the Kumaon region of Uttarakhand. According to the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), Uttarakhand falls under seismic zone V i.e. High-Risk Seismic Zone. Apart from it, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Rann of Kutch (Gujarat), Northern Bihar and Andaman & Nicobar Islands also fall under this seismic zone. 34. Prince Saud al-Faisal, former foreign minister of Saudi Arabia passed away in United States. He was 75. 35. Indigenously developed supersonic surface-to-air Akash Missile has been inducted in Indian Air Force (IAF). 36. India has been accorded full membership of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) along with Pakistan at its Ufa summit held in Russia. Technically, India and Pakistan will become the members of SCO by 2016 after completion of certain procedures. SCO is a Eurasian economic, political and military organisation. Headquarters: Beijing, China Established: 2001 in Shanghai by the leaders 6 countries viz. China, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Presently it as four observers Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Since 2005, India was having an Observer status of SCO and had applied for full membership in 2014. As Iran has observer status in the SCO, it will serve as a platform for India to boost trade through the Iranian ports of Bandar Abbas and Chabahar. These ports are considered as India’s gateway to Central Asia through International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC). SCO may also serve as guarantor for projects such as the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) and Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) pipelines. 37. The powerful Typhoon Linfa has hit the southern China after it made landfall on southern province of Guangdong 39. India and United States (US) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation to establish the PACESetter Fund in New Delhi. The PACESetter Fund seeks to support the Promoting Energy Access through Clean Energy (PEACE) track of the US-India Partnership to Advance Clean Energy

(PACE) 40. China has set up the world’s largest cancer registry system in a bid to fight the cancer diseases with more-targeted and evidence-based intervention programmes. 41. Indigenously developed Nag anti-tank guided missile was successfully tested from a helicopter platform. 43. Union Government has launched GPS-Aided Geo Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) system, for aviation navigation. It was launched in New Delhi. Facts about GAGAN system : Jointly developed by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Airports Authority of India (AAI). It will provide augmentation service for GPS over the India, Bay of Bengal, South-east Asia and Middle East along with expansion up to Africa. The system with the help of reference and uplink station will provide corrections to the GPS signal in order to improve air traffic management. It is 10 times more precise compared to GPS and radio navigation aids used for precision landing. Presently, GAGAN Payload is already operational through GSAT-8 and GSAT-10 satellites. The 3rd payload will be carried onboard GSAT-15 satellite to be launched October 2015. Benefits: It will make airline operations more efficient by increasing fuel savings, direct routes, ease of search and rescue operations, reduced workload of flight crew and Air Traffic Controllers and cost savings due to withdrawal of ground aids. With this launch, India became the fourth nation in the world to have inter-operable Satellite Based Augmentation System (SBAS) after US, Europe and Japan. It should be noted that GAGAN is the first SBAS system in the world to serve the equatorial region. 44. Krishnapatnam Port in Andhra Pradesh has been awarded Golden Peacock environment management award for its achievements and initiatives in the field of environment. 45. Two major Indian Premier League teams Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals were suspended from the cricket league for two years. 46. World’s largest religious congregation Sinhastha Kumbh Mela has begun at Trimbakeshwar, Nashik district of Maharashtra. 47. Scientists at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) have discovered a new class of exotic subatomic particles called the Pentaquarks 49. Champions League Twenty 20 (CLT20) of Cricket has been scrapped with immediate effect. 50. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved the creation of an Intra-state Transmission System (ISTS) in 7 states across the country. 7 States are: Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh. Key facts about Intra-state Transmission System : Under the project, the activities envisaged includes establishment of 48 new Grid sub-stations of different voltage levels. It will have total transformation capacity around 17,100 Mega Volt Ampere (MVA). It will also include installing over 7,800 Circuit Kilometres (ckt-kms) of transmission lines in these seven states. The project is proposed to be completed within a period of 3 to 5 years. Tapping renewable energy potential: These 7 states are having rich renewable resource potential with numerous large planned renewable power projects. Creation of this system will facilitate evacuation of renewable

power from generation stations to load centres. Funding: It will be created at an estimated cost of 8548 crore rupees. Of this total amount National Clean Energy Fund (NCEF) will contribute 3,419 crore rupees i.e. 40 per cent for this project. 51. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has constituted a committee to prepare a 5 year action plan to spread the reach of financial services across country to unbanked population. The committee will be headed by RBI executive director Deepak Mohanty and comprise total of 14 members 52. These major railway stations will be redeveloped under a new a unique method which is form of public procurement of ideas called the Swiss Challenge. Swiss Challenge: In this method, government agencies are required to invite bids for a public project such as a port or railways. Under this method the bid is invited from third parties to match or exceed or improve the existing bid. Finally, the original bidder gets to lower the bid or accept the new bid. 53. The International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) is considered as gateway for India to expand trade and investment links with Central Asia and Eurasia. Recently it gained importance in light of the evolving geopolitical developments of India after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to 5 Central Asian Countries viz Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) It is a multi-modal trade transport network that includes strategic rail, road, and water transport connecting India with Central Asian and Eurasia Countries. Route: It will connect Mumbai (India) via Chabahar and Bandar Abbas ports of Iran with Baku (Azerbaijan) to Moscow (Russia) and other countries in Central and Eastern Europe via the Caspian Sea. 55. India’s first defence industrial park will be set up at Ottappalam in Palakkad district of Kerala. 56. The annual Lord Jagannath Rath Yatra, largest-ever religious congregation in Odisha has begun at Puri district on 18 July 2015. This edition of yatra is the Millennium’s first Nabakalebar Rath Yatra meaning all the Lords of Puri Jagannath Temple will get new avatar after nineteen years. Thus, Nabakalebara marks the re-embodiment of deities. 57. Union Agriculture Ministry has launched 3 agricultural-portals namely Soil Health Card (SHC) portal, Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) and Fertiliser Quality Control System portal (FQCS). Soil Health Card (SHC) portal soilhealth.dac.gov.in is developed for recording test results of soil samples and generation of SHC along with registration of soil samples. It will provide crop wise fertiliser recommendations to farmers. Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) pgsindia-ncof.gov.in is web based platform to simplify the process of certifying organic products in accordance with the standards laid down for organic products for export purpose. Thus it seeks to curb third party certification. Fertilizer Quality Control System (FQCS) fqcs.dac.gov.in is a web-based and configurable workflow platform for processing of sample collection, testing and generation of analysis reports. It is developed by National Information Centre. 59. ISRO has successfully test-fired Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) Mark III project’s high-thrust cryogenic rocket engine. It is India’s first indigenously designed and developed high-thrust cryogenic rocket engine capable of generating a nominal thrust of 19 tonnes. Test: It was conducted at ISRO’s Propulsion Complex at Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu About high-thrust cryogenic rocket engine :

The engine operates on Gas Generator Cycle. It uses extremely low temperature propellants such as Liquid Hydrogen at -2530 C and Liquid Oxygen at -1930 C. 60. Union Government has launched National Career Counselling Portal in a bid to modernize all government-run employment exchanges. It was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi under the aegis of National Career Service (NCS) project of Union Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship. 61. Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has constituted IPL working group to study the verdict of the Justice RM Lodha Committee. Rajiv Shukla– IPL chairman Anurag Thakur– BCCI secretary Anirudh Choudhury- BCCI treasurer and Sourav Ganguly- former India Cricket team captain. 62. The New Development Bank (NDB) created by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) nations formally started its operations from its headquarters in Shanghai, China. Agreement for establishing NDB was signed during the 6th BRICS Summit being held in Fortaleza, Brazil in April, 2014. It was formally launched at the 7th BRICS summit held in Ufa, Russia in July 2015. 63. Union Government has launched a national campaign Surakshit Khadya Abhiyan in a bid to create awareness and capacity building on Safe and Hygienic food for all. It was launched in New Delhi. Facts about Surakshit Khadya Abhiyan Objective: Building a culture of food safety in the country. It will ensure the safe food to consumers apart from providing them Food security in order to address the food requirements. Initiated under the brand name of Jago Grahak Jago, which is mass awareness campaign which creates awareness of consumer rights and demands. Under this public campaign various awareness programmes will be undertaken across the country. It will include hygiene & sanitation for safe food, informative sessions on cleaning, walkathons and awareness by information dissemination through media programmes for consumers and street food industries. 64. Union Government has announced that 14 States and Union Territories (UTs) have achieved or exceeded the literacy rate of 80 percent. 14 States and UTs are: Kerala, Lakshadweep, Mizoram, Goa, Tripura, Daman and Diu, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, NCR of Delhi, Chandigarh, Puducherry, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Sikkim and Tamil Nadu. Union Government’s flagship scheme of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan has helped to improve literacy rate. The literacy of adults has been covered under the Saakshar Bharat Programme. It was also announced that 10 States and UTs have also been able to reduce gender gap to 10 per cent or less. These states are Punjab, Chandigarh, Nagaland, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya, Goa, Lakshadweep, Kerala and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. 65. Puducherry city has emerged as the first nomination to be received by the Urban Development Ministry for a Smart City Mission. 66. United Nations Organization for Education, Science and Culture (UNESCO) has named Conakry, the Capital city of the Republic of Guinea as the World Book Capital for year 2017.

67. As per recently published data, India has been placed at 12th position among the 31 countries in the world in terms of power (electricity) generation from nuclear source. 68. India has earned about US 100 million dollars by launching 45 commercial foreign satellites from 19 countries. 69. President Pranab Mukherjee has appointed 2 members of Anglo-Indian Community to Lok Sabha as per the provisions of Article 331 of Indian Constitution. Nominted Persons are Professor Richard Hay: and George Baker. Article 81 (1) which was inserted by 35th Constitutional Amendment Act, says that subject to Article 331, Lok Sabha shall consists of 530 directly elected representatives from states and 20 directly elected representatives from Union Territories. Thus, the total strength of Lok Sabha is 552 including two members of Anglo-Indian Community. Who is Anglo-Indian? Article 366(2) of the Indian Constitution defines Anglo-Indian as a person who is domiciled within the territory of India, whose father or any of his other male progenitors are in the male line are of European descent. 70. KFC and the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) have entered into partnership to launch a delivery system for commuters on trains. 71. Maharashtra Cabinet has approved Shyamaprasad Mukherjee Jan Van Vikas Scheme for for development of villages around tiger reserves. The scheme will be launched on project basis from 2015-16 to 2019-2020 and has been proposed by State Forest Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar. 72. GIFT City is in Gujarat. 73. China has successfully tested the power system of Long March-5, a fifth generation of carrier rocket belonging to China’s Long March family of rockets. 74. Union Government launched Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DUGJY) in Patna, Bihar. The flagship scheme was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with an aim to provide 24×7 uninterrupted electricity supply to each rural household across the country by 2022. 75. Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) along with the 3 state governments will soon start an artificial breeding programme of Great Indian Bustard (GIB). Under this integrated collaborative effort, 3 states viz. Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra will take part to boost the population of GIB, one of the critically endangered flying bird species in the world. 76. Union Government has constituted All India Council of Sports (AICS), as an advisory body to deliberate on matters relating to the development and promotion of sports in the country. 78. Nestle India’s MD Etienne Benet has step down from his post, he will be replaced by Nestle Philippines Chairman and CEO Suresh Narayanan. 79. Maharashtra government has placed a comprehensive plan to develop six solar cities in order to add

solar capacity of 7,500 MW in the state. 80. Former President of India A.P.J. Abdul Kalam passed away due to massive cardiac arrest in Shillong, Meghalaya. He was 83. He was widely acclaimed as the ‘People’s President’ and the ‘Missile man’ of India. He was was one of India’s most eminent scientists. About A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen (A.P.J) Abdul Kalam was born on 15 October 1931 in Rameswaram, Ramanathapuram District of Tamil Nadu. 81. Union Government has appointed former IAS officer Ashish Bahuguna as the chairman of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). He will have tenure of three years. 82. The population of Royal Bengal Tiger in Sundarbans region of Bangladesh has declined sharply to 106 from 440 in 2004. The Tiger Census was conducted by Bangladesh-India Joint Tiger Census Project. It was carried under the initiative of Strengthening Regional Cooperation for Wildlife Protection in Asia Project. 83. South Korea has declared the deadly outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreak in the country has over. 84. Kazakhstan, a member of the Russia-led economic blocks became 162th member of World Trade Organization (WTO). 85. Singapore Diamond Investment Exchange’ (SDiX) the first ever diamond exchange is all set to function from September 2015. 86. Punjab government has announced to release 15 Gharials in the Beas belt, near Harike Patan in order boost tourism. Protection Status: It is listed in Schedule I of Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. It is also listed as Critically Endangered in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Endangered Species. 87. India is going to become the most populous nation in the world by surpassing China in 2022. 88. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will soon issue 10 rupee denomination coins to commemorate International Yoga Day which is being observed every year on 21 June. 89. Cyclone Komen made landfall in Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh. The cyclone has caused heavy rains that inundated vast areas of the coastal towns of Bangladesh, West Bengal and Odisha. 91. Delhi Government has notified Witness Protection Scheme 2015, a policy regarding protection of witnesses with provisions for a protection fund. With this, Delhi becomes the first state/union territory in India to notify such policy to ensure protection of witnesses in crucial cases.

AUGUST 2015 1. India’s first Integrated Underwater Harbour Defence and Surveillance System (IUHDSS) was commissioned in Kochi, Kerala. 2. Union Government has conferred Arjuna Award on Indian cricket team off-spinner bowler Ravichandran Ashwin. 3. Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has recommended name of Indian Tennis legend Sania Mirza for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award 2015. 4. Union Cabinet approved Consumer Protection Bill, 2015 in order deal with the growing concern over the safety of consumer products and services. The new bill seeks to replace Consumer Protection Act, 1986 in order to deal with consumer protection and safety. It aims at simplifying the consumer dispute resolution process along with enhancing the pecuniary jurisdiction of the consumer grievance redressal agencies. 5. Pakistan was formally conferred Associate Membership status by European Organisation for Nuclear Research (also known as CERN). 6. Union Government has signed an historic and landmark peace accord with the Isaac Muivah faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN). 7. India will host second edition meeting of Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) on 21 August 2015 in Jaipur, Rajasthan. The meeting will be attended by the heads of 14 island nations from Indo-Pacific oceanic region. 8. Astronomers have discovered a new secret planetary system which has 3 super-Earths and one outer giant planet. 9. International Olympic Committee (IOC) has officially recognised ‘Frisbee’ as an Olympic sport. Frisbee is the sport of flying disc which became popular in the 1960s and 70s. 10. The first Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Kerala started functioning from a temporary campus at Palakkad district, scripting a new chapter in the higher education sector in the state. 11. National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) Limited has inked an agreement with Jharkhand Bijli Vitran Nigam Limited (JBVNL) to form a joint venture (JV) company for Patratu Power Plant. The agreement will help optimise utilisation of improve performance, assets and expand capacity of Patratu Thermal Power Station located in Ramgarh district of Jharkhand. 12. United Nations 193 member states have reached an agreement on the outcome document New Sustainable Development Agenda for the next 15 years i.e. till 2030. The new agenda

draft document called “Transforming our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” was built on the success of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The draft agreement outlines 17 non-binding goals with 169 specific targets that comprise different socio-economic issues. These goals will succeed 8 MDGs which was adopted in 2000. It has broader sustainability agenda dealing with ‘five Ps’ people, planet, prosperity, peace, and partnership. It seeks to address the universal need for development that works for all people and root causes of poverty. It calls for eradicating hunger and poverty, improving living standards, ensuring quality education, affordable and reliable energy, achieving gender equality and taking urgent action to combat climate change etc. This new global agenda will be formally adopted by UN member states at coming Sustainable Development Summit to be held at the UN headquarters in New York from 25 to 27 September 2015. Success of Millennium Development Goals: Global effort under this initiative has helped to lift more than one billion people out of extreme poverty in past 15 years. It also has helped to reduce gender disparity by enabling more girls to go to school than ever before. It has brought unprecedented results in fighting diseases such as HIV/AIDS. 13. Haryana Government launched Thari Pension, Thare Pass project to directly transfer pension into the bank accounts of beneficiaries. The project was launched by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar in Chandigarh. 14. Lok Sabha passed The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Bill, 2014 by voice vote. The bill seeks to amend parent law i.e. the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. It aims to prohibit the commission of offences against members of the SCs and STs and adds provisions for establishing special courts for the trial cases of such offences and the rehabilitation of victims. 15. Multi-Application Solar Telescope (MAST), Asia’s biggest telescope was inaugurated at the Udaipur Solar Observatory in Rajasthan. 16. Union Ministry of Rural Development has launched ‘SAMANVAY’ web portal to monitor progress and implementation of the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY) for development of Gram Panchayats. SAMANVAY web portal consist a compilation of all Government schemes of both Centra and State governments for Gram Panchayats. 17. Aprecia’s Spritam becomes first anti-epilepsy pill manufactured with 3D printer to get the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) approval. 18. Bihar Assembly has passed Bihar Public Grievance Redressal Bill, 2015. It was passed by a voice vote. The bill seeks to empower people of state and provide legal rights to them for redressal of their complaints within a time-frame. 20. Union Cabinet has approved the proposal of direct release of wages in to the accounts of the workers engaged under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).

21. During the 2015-16 time frame, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will be launching 9 nano/ micro satellites of United States (US). This will be the first time in ISRO’s history it will launch US satellites. In this regard the commercial arm of ISRO, Antrix Corporation Ltd has signed agreement to US. 22. The radical militants of Sunni Islamist militant group Islamic State (IS) have seized Qaryatain, a key town in central Syria 23. Egypt has launched a major expansion of the Suez Canal. It was inaugurated by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in a lavish ceremony held at port city of Ismailiya ( located on west bank of canal). Suez Canal is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt. It links the Mediterranean with the Red Sea through Isthmus of Suez. It was first opened in 1869 after a decade of construction. 24. Three more food processing industries in Odisha have been accorded the status of designated food parks by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) on 7 August 2015. The three industrial estates that got food park status are Agro Industrial Estate for maize, Nabarangpur, Jagatpur industrial estate in Cuttack and Mancheswar industrial estate in Bhubaneswar. 25. To commemorate the 1905 Swadeshi movement the Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced August 7 as ‘National Handloom Day’ at the function held in Chennai. 26. South Indian states have decided to constitute ‘Southern Forest Ministers’ Interstate Coordination Council (ISCC) to improve concerted collective efforts for protection of forests and wildlife of the region. 27. Government has decided to impose 10 per cent import duty on wheat to discourage wheat importers, applicable from 31 March 2016 after the gap of eight years. 28. Tripura Legislative Assembly has unanimously passed a resolution for abolishing death penalty and to provide imprisonment up to death in case of heinous crimes. 29. Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has developed a poly-herbal medicine by the trade name of Lukoskin for the treatment of Leucoderma. 30. Maharashtra government has declared the area along Thane Creek as Flamingo Sanctuary. 31. TurkmenGaz, a company owned by Turkmenistan government will lead the consortium for the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) natural gas pipeline. It is a proposed trans-country natural gas pipeline from Caspian Sea, Turkmenistan to India through Afghanistan and Pakistan. 32. An annual festival of Tendong Lho Rum Faat of the ethnic Lepcha tribe of Sikkim was celebrated with traditional devotion and fanfare across the state.

33. India has decided to boycott the 61st Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference (CPC) which is scheduled to be held in Islamabad in September 2015. 34. On 7 August Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) commissioned a 500 MW thermal unit of NTPC’s Vindhyachal Super Thermal Power Station (STPS) in Vindhyanagar, Singrauli district of Madhya Pradesh. 35. As per recently released data by US Department of Agriculture (DoA), India has emerged as world’s largest exporter of beef. 36. Union Government has launched Suraksha Bandhan drive in a Mission Mode through participating insurance companies and banks. The drive aims at taking forward Union Government’s objective of creating a universal social security system in the country, especially for the poor and the under-privileged sections. Key facts of Suraksha Bandhan : It will facilitate enrolment of these sections under social security schemes such as Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) and Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY). Participating Banks will be supported by the participating Insurance Companies. 37. Every year 10th August is observed as World Bio-Fuel Day in a bid to create awareness about non fossil-fuels (Green Fuels). Significance of Day: On this day in 1893, Sir Rudalph Diesel (inventor of the diesel engine) for the first time successfully ran mechanical engine with Peanut Oil 39. Union Government has launched the School Nursery Yojana in a bid to bring school students closer to nature by involving them in raising of saplings in school nurseries. 40. Kochi becomes first Indian city to be a member of Beijing headquartered, World Tourism Cities Federation (WTCF) Council and join its league of leading tourism cities across the world. 41. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on 10 August has fully commissioned and started commercial production at the first indigenous Titanium Sponge Plant at Chavara in Kerala. 42. Union Government launched new train services in the Northeast Indian states after the completion of Balipara- Bhalukpong (Arunachal Pradesh) and North Lakhimpur-Murkongselek (Assam) sections into broad-gauge. 43. Maharashtra government has roped Superstar Amitabh Bachchan as its new ambassador for the Tiger Conservation Project. His association will help to raise awareness about saving the tigers in the state. 44. Union Minister for Minority Affairs Dr. Najma Heptulla launched a new Central Sector Scheme Nai Manzil for empowering minorities. The scheme was launched to make innovative interventions in the field of education and skill development for improving the welfare of

minorities. 45. Union government has given nod to set up of All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) at Delhi. 46. Haryana Government has decided to constitute the Haryana Saraswati Heritage Development Board (HSHDB) in a bid to promote and preserve the various archeo-cultural facets of the Saraswati Heritage Area (SHA). 47. National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) got accredited by the Green Climate Fund as a national implementing entity for undertaking climate change related projects in India. 48. Thermal Powertech Corporation India Ltd (TPCIL) has synchronised the second 660 MW unit of its 1,320 MW coal-fired thermal power plant with the grid on 11 August. The power plant is situated at Krishnapatnam in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh 49. The Union Cabinet has approved a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Nepal for construction of petroleum products pipeline from Raxaul (Bihar) in India to Amlekhgunj in Nepal. 50. Central Government has revised the National Solar Mission target of Grid Connected Solar Power projects from 20,000 MW by 2022 to1,00,000 MW by 2022. 51. The Ministry for New and Renewable Energy sanctioned a 1,500-MW ultra mega solar power park for Andhra Pradesh. The 1,500 MW ultra mega solar park will be developed in Kadapa district by NTPC, which will the third mega park of over 1,000 MW to be taken up by the state. Earlier two mega parks of 1,000 MW each were executed by NTPC at Anantapur and Kurnool districts, respectively. 52. President Pranab Mukherjee has conferred prestigious literary award Saraswati Sammaan for the year 2014 to Dr. Marpadi Veerappa Moily in New Delhi. He was bestowed with this award for his Kannada poem ‘Ramayana Mahanveshanam’ which was first published in 2007. 53. Union Government’s ambitious Pratyaksha Hastaantarit Laabh (PAHAL) scheme has been acknowledged as the world’s largest cash transfer program (households) by the Guinness Book of World Records. The scheme was formally launched as Direct Benefit Transfer Scheme for LPG subsidy in 2013 in 291 districts under the aegis of Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. 54. India’s third largest private sector lender, Axis Bank has launched the first Contactless Debit, Credit and Multi-Currency Forex Card in association with VISA payWave in the country. 55. On the eve of celebration of 69th Independence Day at Red Fort Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a new campaign ‘Start-up India; Stand up India’ an initiative to promote bank finance for Start-ups (an entrepreneurial venture). The campaign was announced with an

aim to boost entrepreneurship among the youth and to create employment in India. As per the initiative PM urged 1.25 lakh bank branches to provide finance to at least one Dalit or Adivasi and at least one woman entrepreneur. The initiative is expected to open a new dimension to entrepreneurship and to set up a network of start-ups in the country. Other announcements: Government will rename the present Agriculture Ministry as ‘Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Ministry’ He announced to replace the current practice of ‘interview-based’ selections with online merit based recruiting for low-skilled government jobs. Under the Skill India and Digital India initiative government to provide package of incentives to manufacturing units. To provide houses and access to basic services to all and to make India a developed nation by 2022. Set deadline of 1000 days to connect 18,500 villages with electricity. 56. Assam state legislature has passed Assam Witch Hunting (Prohibition, Prevention and Protection) Bill, 2015. 57. Kerala Government has declared state totally digital, thus becoming first state in the country to achieve it. 58. Union Government has launched a seven pronged plan called Indradhanush Mission to revamp functioning of public sector banks (PSBs). It was launched by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in New Delhi. Facts about Indradhanush Mission The seven shades of Indradhanush mission include appointments, de-stressing PSBs, capitalisation, empowerment, framework of accountability and governance reforms. It seeks to achieve the objective of economic growth revival through improving credit and minimising the political interference in the functioning of PSBs. 59. Union Government has decided to set up a Bank Board Bureau (BBB) to monitor key performance indicators of two dozen public sector banks (PSBs). 60. The iconic Mughal monument Taj Mahal became the first historical monuments in the world to have a Twitter account of its own. 61. Badminton World Championship 2015: Saina Nehwal wins silver medal 62. Odisha state cabinet approved ‘Fisheries Policy, 2015’, with an objective to increase the productivity and production of fish from island, marine and brackishwater resources. India stands second in world in fish production after China .In India fisheries constitute about 1 per cent of its GDP and 4.75 per cent of agriculture GDP. Top five states in fish production are 1) Andhra Pradesh 2) West Bengal 3) Gujarat 4) Kerala 5) Tamil Nadu. 64. Kerala government has signed a MoU with Gautam Adani-led Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) for building 7,525 crore rupees Vizhinjam seaport project near Kovalam beach. 65. Maharashtra government has roped Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar as its new ambassador

for the Tiger Conservation Project. 66. As per the fourth advance estimate released by Agriculture Ministry on 17 August, the estimated foodgrain production have declined by 4.66 per cent to 252.68 million tonnes (MT) in 2014-15 crop year due to poor monsoon and unseasonal rains. 67. Queen Elizabeth II is set to become Britain’s longest-reigning Monarch in the history. 68. Tamil Nadu state has topped in organ donation in the country by harvesting organs of 683 persons and donating them to over 3000 beneficiaries. 70. India’s First Lady Suvra Mukherjee, wife of President Pranab Mukherjee passed away in New Delhi. She was 74. 71. Union Government has completed the demarcation of eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) around the Okhla Bird Sanctuary in the national capital region (NCR) of Delhi. Okhla Bird Sanctuary is situated in Noida Gautam Buddh Nagar district on Delhi-Uttar Pradesh state border. Location: Okhla barrage over Yamuna River at the point where the river enters Uttar Pradesh. It was designated a bird sanctuary in 1990 with an area of 3.5 square kilometres by the Uttar Pradesh Government of under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. 72. Union Government has announced 1.25 lakh crore rupees special package for poll bound Bihar as part of Prime Minister’s Bihar Package. 73. On 18 August Finance Minister Arun Jaitley launched two funds the India Aspiration Fund (IAF) and SIDBI Make in India Loan for Enterprises (SMILE) under Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) in line to carter funding for start-ups and to aid small enterprises in India. 74. Reserve Bank of India granted ‘in-principle’ approval to 11 applicants to start payments banks. RBI has given ‘in principle’ approval to these 11 applicants to set payment banks is valid for 18 month period. The payments banks will be able to take deposits and remittances, internet banking and other specified services but cannot undertake lending services. Their holding are restricted to a maximum balance of Rs 1 lakh per individual customer. They can issue ATM/debit cards but not credit cards and can also issue other prepaid payment instruments. They can distribute non-risk sharing simple financial products like mutual funds and insurance products. Non resident Indians will not be allowed to open accounts in payment banks. Finance Minister had directed RBI to create a framework for licensing payment banks so as to meet government’s financial inclusion target. It is mandatory for payment banks to hold minimum capital of Rs. 100 crore. FDI of 74 per cent is allowed in payment bank. 75. Union Tourism Ministry will soon confer the title of ‘Twin National Heritage Cities’ on the

temple towns of Rishikesh and Haridwar. 76. About Bharat Stage emission standards: Bharat stage emission standards also known as “Bharat Stage” are emission standards instituted by the Government of India in accordance with European regulation standard ‘Euro norms’ to regulate the output of air pollutants that vehicles emits. India adopted “Barat stage” in accordance with ‘Euro norms’ from year 2000 and stage wise introduced Bharat Stage compatible fuel and ungraded and modified vehicles throughout the country. Each stage specifies a certain limit on the pollutants released, Higher the Bharat Stage goes lesser it emits pollutants. The BS-IV complaint vehicles release less pollutants {Carbon Mono-oxide (CO), Hydrocarbon (HC), Oxides of Nitrogen (NOx) and Sulphur (SOx)} i.e. 0.025 Respirable suspended particulate matter (RSPM) as compared to its preceding Bharat Stage complaint vehicles. 77. Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL) of Kerala has become the first airport in the world to fully operate on solar power. 78. Bangladesh has become the first country in the world to receive funds from United Nations for its fast growing Solar Home Systems. 79. Himachal Pradesh Government has launched Rajiv Gandhi Illuminating Scheme for Hill Town Advancement (RISHTA) project, which is an efficient smart LED based street lighting project. With this Himachal Pradesh becomes first state in North India to do so. 80. On 20 August 2015, Government launched a web-based portal www.vidyalakshmi.co.in for the students seeking educational loans. 81. Pakistan and Russia have signed a landmark defence deal including the sale of 4 advance Mi-35 ‘Hind E’ combat helicopters to Pakistan. 82. Manipur Government has reached an agreement with the Joint Committee on the Inner Line Permit System (JCILPS) over the issue of implementation of Inner Line Permit (ILP) system. 83. Gujarat is set to become the first state in India to launch ‘Agro-Solar Policy’ to encourage the farmers to tap the solar energy. 84. Bandhan Bank has become the first micro-finance company in India to start operation as full-fledged scheduled commercial bank. 86. As per recently released 2011 census data on religion, the proportion Muslim population in India has increased by 0.8 per cent and Hindu population has declined by 0.7 per cent. This religion based data during 2001-2011 was released by the Registrar General and Census Commissioner. 87. Union Government has announced it plans to implement the Sendai framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 in letter and spirit.

88. Union Government has launched a telemedicine initiative dubbed as Sehat to provide healthcare facilities in rural areas in collaboration with Apollo Hospitals. 89. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 24 August 2015 inaugurated birth centenary celebrations of freedom fighter Rani Gaidinliu. On this occasion he launched commemorative coin of 100 rupees and circulation coin of 5 rupees of Rani Gaidinliu to mark her birth centenary celebrations. Rani Gaidinliu was a Naga political and spiritual leader who had led a revolt against British colonial rule in India. Her political struggle in present North east India was based on Gandhian principles of Satyagraha, non-violence, self-reliance. She also had played an important role in India’s wider freedom movement by spreading the message of Gandhi ji in Manipur region. 90. Union Cabinet has given its nod for amendments to the Arbitration and Conciliation Bill, 2015. These amendments seek to make of commercial disputes more user-friendly and cost effective which in turn will lead to expeditious disposal of cases. 91. Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has successfully placed communication satellite GSAT-6 into its intended geosynchronous transfer orbit. 92. National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog has launched the second version of an open source web based tool India Energy Security Scenarios 2047 calculator (IESS 2047). 93. What is CAMPA Fund? Levies are imposed on development projects that seek land inside a Reserved Forest or a Protected Area (PA) in a sanctuary or a national park. 94. President of Greece’s Supreme Court Vassiliki Thanou has been appointed as the first female Prime Minister of the heavily indebted country which is center of Eurozone crisis. 95. World Health Oraganistion (WHO) has officially declared India as Maternal and Neonatal Tetanus free country, i.e. mothers and newborns are free from tetanus at the time of birth. 96. Biggest harvest festival of Thiru Onam was celebrated by Keralites across the globe. 97. Pakistan has banned the Islamic State (IS) militant group which has undertaken vast stretches of Iraq and Syria in its control. India has already banned brutal terror group Islamic State under the provisions of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 and following the provisions of section two of the United Nations (Security Council) Act, 1947. India took this decision in December 2014 after UN has banned it under its sanctions regime of the Prevention and Suppression of Terrorism (Implementation of Security Council Resolutions) Order, 2007. 98. Union Government has launched SAHAJ scheme for online release of new LPG connections for the consumers as parts of its consumer friendly initiative. It was launched by Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan at a function held in New Delhi.

99. Union Government has identified 305 cities and towns across 9 states for implementation of its flagship ‘Housing for All’ scheme. Selected cities and towns are in these states: Chhattisgarh (36 cities and towns), Gujarat (30), Jammu and Kashmir (19), Jharkhand (15), Kerala (15), Madhya Pradesh (74), Odisha (42), Rajasthan (40) and Telangana (34).