GA- 1 September 4 weeks ago 19 Comments 5085 view(s) GA- 1 September 1. RBI names SBI, ICICI as systemically important The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday designated India’s top two banks by assets — State Bank of India (SBI) and ICICI Bank Ltd. as Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-SIBs). Systemically important banks are perceived as banks that are ‘Too Big To Fail (TBTF)’. This perception of TBTF creates an expectation of government support for these banks at the time of distress. Due to this perception, these banks enjoy certain advantages in the funding markets. The D-SIB framework requires the Reserve Bank to disclose the names of banks designated as D-SIBs every year in August starting from August 2015.In July 2014, the RBI had said four to six domestic lenders would be labelled “systemically important” and it created a framework to safeguard the interests of public. According to the RBI, while SBI will have to set aside 0.6 per cent of the loan as capital buffer, ICICI Bank will have to keep 0.2 per cent of loan as capital buffer. This means that if SBI and ICICI Bank were each setting aside Rs 1 earlier, they will now have to set aside Rs 1.60 and Rs 1.20, respectively. Banks will be plotted into four different buckets and will be required to have additional Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) capital requirement ranging from 0.2 per cent to 0.8 per cent of risk weighted assets, depending upon the bucket they are plotted into. The RBI also said that a foreign bank designated as a Global Systemically Important Bank (G-SIB) and having branch presence in India, will have to maintain additional CET1 capital surcharge in India as applicable to it as a G-SIB, proportionate to its Risk Weighted Assets (RWAs) in India. 2. Infrastructure sector growth slows to 1.1% in July Infrastructure sector growth slowed to 3-month low of 1.1% in July as output of crude oil, natural gas and steel contracted. According to the data released by the Commerce and Industry Ministry on Monday, output of crude oil, natural gas and steel contracted by 0.4%, 4.4% and 2.6% respectively in July this year. Growth in output of coal, cement and electricity slowed to 0.3%, 1.3% and 3.5% respectively last month. However, refinery products and fertiliser production grew by 2.9% and 8.6% respectively. In March and April this year, the eight sectors had contracted by 0.1% and 0.4% respectively. However, in May and June the infrastructure sector had expanded by 4.4% and 3%. These numbers come on the back of a strong performance in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) in June. The IIP for June was at 3.78 per cent, up from 2.5 per cent in May. This improvement was mostly driven by manufacturing, which grew 4.6 per cent in June. However, the poor showing in July of the eight core industries in total could imply July IIP coming in lower than the June figures. The eight core industries comprise a weightage of nearly 38 per cent in the IIP. The overall growth of eight core industries in the entire 2014-15 fiscal stood at 3.5% against 4.2% in the previous fiscal. 3. April- June quarter GDP Growth Gross domestic product (GDP) grew 7% during April-June slower than the previous quarter’s 7.5% expansion amid worrying symptoms of weak investment and consumer spending. The Gross Value Added (GVA), a new concept introduced by CSO to measure the economic activity, also slipped during the first quarter to 7.1 percent, from 7.4 percent a year ago. The nominal GDP and GVA at current market price showed a steep decline in the quarter under review. The nominal GDP slipped to 8.8 percent in Q1 from 13.4 percent a year ago while the GVA growth rate nearly halved to 7.1 percent from 14 percent a year ago. Manufacturing sector grew at 7.2% during the first quarter of 2015-16, slower than the 8.4% expansion in the previous quarter as also in April-June last year. Agriculture grew 1.9% during the June quarter. Trade, hotel, transport and communication was the only sector to grow in double digits at 12.8%. The job-generating construction sector grew 6.9% while financial services grew 8.9% during the quarter. The electricity sector was a major drag on the growth numbers as power generation decelerated to 3.2% in the June quarter. Investment demand in the economy as represented by gross fixed capital formation (GFCF) showed some signs of recovery, with GFCF picking up to grow 4.8% in the June quarter against 4.1% in the March quarter. 4. Zero Accident Mission The Railways is going to launch a zero-accident mission envisaging renewal of tracks, more railway bridges, better signalling and rolling out of accident-proof coaches and engines. The plan has come amid an increase in number of railway accidents in recent months. Railwyas Minister, Mr Suresh Prabhu said that train accidents, delay of trains and deterioration of service, which is seen today, all are happening because of the underinvestment in the past. The ‘zero-accident mission’ is an expensive proposition, but that is the only way to have safe travel. The Ministry has planned an investment of Rs 8.5 lakh crore in the next five years. Funds will come through fares and freights and also Railways is planning to prudentially

borrow from institutions such as the LIC, the World Bank and other multilateral agencies, which would be repaid in the next 30-40 years through an increase in revenues. Reformed accounting system- It will not just be a commercial accounting system but beyond that, going from budgeting to outcomes. Note: Commercial accounting was one of the key recommendations of the Bibek Debroy panel on railway restructuring. Information technology (IT) platform to take care of operations and A Management Information System. 5. Rajiv Mehrishi, New Home Secretary Outgoing Finance Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi, who was due to retire on Monday, was appointed Union Home Secretary, replacing L C Goyal who had completed only around seven months of a fixed tenure of two years at the job. Meanwhile, Mehrishi, a 1978-batch Rajasthan cadre officer who was serving as Secretary of the Department of Economic Affairs under the Finance Ministry, has become the third Home Secretary appointed by the Central government in 15 months. Ratan Watal will be the new Finance Secretary in place of Rajiv Mehrishi. 6. Raghav Chandra as new NHAI Chief Former Additional Secretary and financial advisor to the department of agriculture and cooperation, Raghav Chandra assumed charge as Chairman, National Highways Authority of India. 7. Sakhi, one stop center for women Haryana Women and Child Development Minister Kavita Jain on 31 August 2015 inaugurated state’s first One Stop Centre, known as Sakhi, at Karnal. The center will play a role in helping the women in distress. This is the second such centre in the country after Chhattisgarh. The Center would provide help to sexually, mentally and emotionally harassed women and others. Earlier a day before the Rakshabandhan, the state government opened women police stations in all the 21 districts of the state. Haryana is the second state in the country to have women police stations. These women police stations were opened with an aim to provide security to women. 8. Mt McKinley now Denali On Sunday, the Obama administration announced that the peak formerly known as Mount McKinley (The highest mountain of North America) will henceforth be known as “Denali,” its traditional Native Alaskan name. The mountain was officially named after President William McKinley in 1917, a gesture originally proposed by an Alaska gold prospector in recognition of McKinley’s support for the gold standard. The Denali name is widely supported by Alaskans regardless of ethnicity. Politicians from McKinley’s home state of Ohio are leading the opposition to the change.  

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GA- 2 September 3 weeks ago 6 Comments 3773 view(s) GA- 2 September 1. Smart National Common  Mobility Card The Ministry of Urban Development has launched a Smart National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) model to enable seamless travel by different metros and other transportation systems across the country besides being used for shopping as well. The government had earlier tied a similar model but had not succeeded. After an extensive study of different models used globally, the committee has recommended the EMV Open Loop Card with stored value. C-DAC will develop the standards and hardware for metro gates/validators along with related ecosystems for which the government has approved funding of Rs 4.47 crore. Certification and authentication mechanism will be developed by NPCI or any other government agency. 2. Vadakkunnathan temple wins UNESCO award India has won the top UNESCO prize ‘Award of Excellence’ 2015 for the remarkable conservation efforts of the majestic Sree Vadakkunnathan Temple in Kerala. The award recognises the remarkable conservation effort undertaken at the sacred site which employed age-old rituals and conservation techniques drawn from Vastu Sastra focussing on architecture and construction. Sdaring Xieng Thong Temple in Luang Prabang won the Award of Merit and became the first project in Lao People’s Democratic Republic to receive the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Award. 3. Durban: First African host of Commonwealth Games Durban was officially named as host of the 2022 Commonwealth Games making it the first African city ever to stage the sporting spectacular. South Africa’s third largest city was the only candidate for the 2022 hosting rights after Canada’s Edmonton withdrew in February, citing cost concerns. The Games would finally be held in Africa after 85 years. The four-yearly, multi-sport event was first staged in 1930, when it was known as the British Empire Games. Britain has hosted six editions, Australia and Canada four apiece, New Zealand three, and Jamaica, Malaysia and India one each. Africa has always missed out but sports officials have been buoyed by South Africa’s successful hosting of the world’s three biggest single-sport events, the

football, cricket and rugby union World Cups. The Durban Games will open on July 18, 2022, a national holiday marking the birthday of South African icon Nelson Mandela, who died in 2013 aged 95. The Games will run for 12 days. 4. Union Govt releases 2000 crore rupees to EPS-95 The Union Government on 1 September 2015 released 2000 crore rupees to Employee Pension Scheme, 1995 (EPS-95) as its contribution for the year 2015-16. This contribution is in addition to the Rs 250 crore contributed by the government as grant-in-aid in the Employees’ Pension Scheme, 1995 for providing minimum pension of Rs 1,000 to pensioners under the scheme. The contribution of central government is calculated at a rate of 1.16 per cent of the monthly wages of the members contributing to the scheme. It is in addition to the contribution made by employers covered under the Act. Employers contribute 8.33 per cent of the monthly wages of the scheme members. Since last September, EPS pensioners have been assured of a guaranteed minimum pension of Rs 1,000 per month and it has been necessary to infuse additional amount as grants-in-aid by the Centre to sustain the continuance of the minimum pension. Employee Pension Scheme (EPS)-95 came into effect on 16 November 1995 and the scheme was launched under the Employees’ Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952.  It applies to the employees of all factories and other establishments to which the Employees’ Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 applies. 5. Yoga as a sports discipline The Sports Ministry decided to recognize Yoga as a sports discipline and place it in the Priority category. The Ministry also decided to upgrade Fencing from ‘Others’ to ‘General’ category, based on the past performance in major international events. It has also been decided to place ‘University Sports’ in the ‘Priority’ category. It has now been decided by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports that sports disciplines included in the multidiscipline mega events like Olympics, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games etc and which have obtained a ranking upto 8th in individual events and upto 10th in team events in Olympics/Asian Games/CWG or their respective Asian and World Championships shall be placed in ‘General’ category. Financial assistance for this category will be as under: National Championships are to be funded, One international event in India in a year, can be funded and a Maximum of one foreign exposure each in Senior and Junior categories can also be funded during a year. 6. India wins test series against Sri Lanka India on 1 September 2015 won the three-match cricket test series against Sri Lanka, 2-1. In the third and final match of the series, India defeated the host with an emphatic 117-run. With this win, India also ended a 22-year long drought of a win over Sri Lanka on Sri Lankan soil. Player of the series – Ravichandran Ashwin of India It was Virat Kohli’s first test series win as a Test captain. The second match will be remembered for being the last Test of Kumara Sangakkara, the gentleman cricketer from Sri Lanka, and a role model for many around the world.  

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GA- 3 September 3 weeks ago 8 Comments 3511 view(s) GA- 3 September 1. Govt to auction small oil fields to private companies The government will auction 69 idle oil and gas fields of state-owned ONGC and Oil India to private firms on a new revenue sharing model, which will give the bidders pricing and marketing freedom. The 69 small and marginal fields, which hold 89 million tonne of oil and gas resources worth Rs 70,000 crore at current rates, will be given to explorers offering the maximum revenue from hydrocarbon produced to the government. This is a paradigm shift from the controversial and cost recovery model to a more equitable revenue sharing model that protects government interest in both low oil and high oil price scenarios.This production sharing contract (PSC) model was criticised by CAG, which said it encouraged companies to keep raising cost so as to postpone higher share of profits to the government. The successful bidders of the fields on auction would be free to sell crude oil or natural gas at market-determined prices, without any government interference. Companies operating these new fields will be able to sell gas to any customer of their choice and not be bound by the government’s allocation policy. Unified Licences: Companies will be able to exploit any and all hydrocarbons (oil, gas, shale oil, shale gas and so on) found in the field, unlike the current system which requires a separate licence for each. 2. FMC to merge with SEBI on Sept 28 The government has issued a notification to merge the Forward Markets Commission (FMC) with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), with effect from 28 September. Forward

Contracts Regulation Act, 1952 gets repealed and regulation of the commodity derivatives market will shift to Sebi under the Securities Contracts Regulation Act, 1956 with effect from 28 September 2015. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, in his Budget speech, had announced the merger of FMC with the capital market regulator Sebi to strengthen the regulation of commodity futures market. A unified regulator for commodities and capital markets will help streamline monitoring of commodity futures trading and curb wild speculations. In the wake of a Rs 5,500-crore payment crisis at the National Spot Exchange Ltd, FMC was brought under Finance Ministry in 2013. In the beginning, FMC was only regulating regional commodity exchanges and its role was expanded after the emergence of national electronic trading platform in early 2000. Currently, there are three national and six regional bourses for commodity futures in the country. 3. West-Central Railway zone free of Unmanned level crossings The West-Central Railway Zone has become the first zone in Indian Railways to eliminate all unmanned level crossings from its system by August 31, 2015. Out of total 118 unmanned level crossings falling on West-Central Railway region as on April 1, 2014, 80 were eliminated in the financial year 2014-15 and the remaining UMLC were eliminated in current financial year by August 31. Unmanned level crossings have been one of the reasons for increase in train accidents. 4. India-UN’s Better Than Cash Alliance for PMJDY  Indian Government on 1 September 2015 partnered with the United Nations’ (UN) Better Than Cash Alliance to share success stories from the financial inclusion programme Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana(PMJDY). By joining the Better Than Cash Alliance, the Indian Government will have a research, technical, and policy partner as it continues to create a digital financial economy. The partnership is an extension of Indian Government’s commitment to reduce cash in its economy. Digital financial services lower the cost of providing financial services and make it more convenient for poor people to access their accounts. The Better Than Cash Alliance is made up of governments, companies and international organizations. Under PMJDY in one year, 175 million new accounts have been opened, with deposits totaling more than 3.4 billion US dollars (223 billion Rupees). 5. IP Facilitation centre at Lucknow To encourage and nurture innovative activities in the MSME sector, an Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Facilitation Centre for MSMEs was inaugurated at Lucknow on yesterday. The Centre was inauguated by Dr. Anup K. Pujari, Secretary (MSME) in the presence of Shri Alok B. Shriram, President, PHDCCI and Shri Vishwanath, Chairman, Committee on MSME, PHDCCI. This centre will be located in the Office of PHDCCI in Gomti Nagar. PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) is a New-Delhi based multi-state agency engaged in the promotion of industry, trade and entrepreneurship. The functions of the IPFC are: IPR Protection Facilitation, IP Capacity Building: Awareness & Training, IP Information Services and IP Counselling & Advisory Services. 6. Railway Ministry launches three IT Initiatives The Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu on 1 September 2015 launched three IT initiatives developed by Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS), IT arm of Ministry of Railways. These initiatives are: 1. Paperless unreserved ticketing mobile application This will eliminate the need for printing of Unreserved Tickets on ATVMs at the stations. User can download App from Google Play Store or Window Store. The application has now been implemented on complete suburban area of Chennai & Mumbai Western Railway suburban section which covers 125 stations over 295 kms distance. Presently, about 1600 tickets are being booked daily by the passengers through this application. The application is now being implemented on the New Delhi-Palwal section of Northern Railway covering 11 stations over 57 kms distance.Cash/Smart 2. Card Operated Ticket Vending Machine  Cash/Smart Card operated Ticket Vending machine is an unmanned self-operated kiosk which can be used by passengers themselves to buy unreserved tickets through Currency/Coins as well as smart cards. These kiosks have easy graphical interface for ticket transaction so that the user can operate these machines. The kiosk accepts currency or coin of all denominations of 5 rupees and above. The machine does not accept soiled, cut, glued, taped or colored notes and accepts currency notes of Gandhi series. 3. PARICHAALAN, Real Time Decision Making In Freight Operations Parichaalan is a mobile application, conceptualized and developed by CRIS, to make decision making on freight operations absolutely easy and user friendly by providing mapped movement of freight trains and powerful search tools, removing the need to sift through voluminous tabular data.

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GA- 4 September 3 weeks ago 1 Comments 3338 view(s) GA- 4 September 1. G20 finance ministers meet in Turkey G20 ministers and governors at the meeting in Ankara on September 4-5 will exchange views on the recent global economic developments, challenges and collective measures to address them as well. Reserve Bank of India’s Governor Raghuram Rajan and FM Jaitley will participate in the meet. Other members of the grouping include Argentina, Brazil, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, South Africa, Turkey, the UK, the US and the European Union. The meeting will be attended by the Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors of the G20 members, invited countries, and the heads and senior representatives of various international organisations such as IMF and World Bank. The ministers and governors will review the progress in monitoring and adjustment of G20 growth strategies and evaluate the way forward for G20 investment strategies. They would also discuss the international financial architecture issues, financial regulation, international tax agenda and climate finance issues. On the margins of this gathering, G20 Ministers and Governors will also also hear the B20 representatives’ perspectives on the 2015 B20 agenda and draft B20 recommendations to the G20 in the run up to the G20 and B20 Summits during a working dinner. B20 is an informal grouping of business leaders from the G20 countries. 10th G-20 Summit will be held in Antalya, Turkey and 11th will be held in Hanzhou, China in 2016.   2. 11th Session of India-UAE Joint Commission 11th session of the India-UAE Joint Commission Meeting for Technical and Economical Cooperation was held on 2 September to 3 September 2015, in New Delhi. The UAE team had reiterated its commitment to undertake extensive investments in India. Al-Nahyan co-chaired the meet of the Joint Commission with External Affairs Minister. The meet was held during the visit of His Highness Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs of United Arab Emirates to India. Al-Nahyan also led a delegation of senior officials and captains of leading UAE business houses to India. The two sides agreed to increase the bilateral trade by 60 percent over the next five years. Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry will sign a memorandum of understanding with the UAE Chambers of Commerce to provide institutional support for promoting business opportunities An India-UAE Joint Business Council was inaugurated by the two Foreign Ministers. India is also looking at resuming free trade agreement (FTA) talks with the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) of which the UAE is a member. The talks have been stalled for five years and the UAE has indicated that this would be a good time to restart the negotiations. The GCC comprises Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman. It was established in Riyadh, Saudia Arabia, in May 1981. UAE is the sixth largest source of India’s oil imports and hosts a 2.6 million-strong Indian Community. 3. RBI: Rs 5 coin on golden jubilee of 1965 Indo-Pak war The Reserve Bank of India will shortly put into circulation Rs 5 coins to commemorate golden jubilee of Indo-Pak War 1965. The coins will be legal tender as provided in The Coinage Act 2011. Existing coins in this denomination will also continue to be legal tender. The new coin in the obverse will bear Lion Capital of Ashoka Pillar in the centre with Satyamev Jayate inscribed below it, the release said. On the reverse it will bear image of ‘Amar Jawan’ monument along with the design of olive leaves branch on its left and right sides at the center, with the inscription “veerata aur balidan” in Devnagri script on the left upper periphery and “VALOUR AND SACRIFICE” in English on the right upper periphery. The year “2015” is written below the image of the monument. GOLDEN JUBILEE 1965 OPERATIONS” in English on the lower periphery will also be written on this face of the coin. 4. SAARC countries’ conference on disaster mitigation A conference of SAARC countries to chalk out and undertake joint efforts on various issues related to disaster mapping and mitigation in the member nations begins in New Delhi. The conference, including the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and National Disaster Response Force, is being held keeping in mind the prevalent geo-climatic conditions as well as increased frequency of natural calamities in the SAARC region, especially in the wake of the recent earthquake in Nepal in April. India has taken the lead to begin the process of simulation exercises on disaster management in the region coined as “South Asian Annual Disaster Management Exercise” (SAADMEx) and has requested the participation of all SAARC countries for augmenting current levels of individual and joint preparedness for rescue, relief and

response efforts during disaster situations. The exercise will be conducted in two phases. In the first phase,  the current advance coordination conference is being held with representatives from member countries on September 3-4 here to discuss the modalities and requirements of the main exercise. The main exercise will be held from November 23-26 in the National Capital Region and will consist of three components, namely the Table Top Exercise (TTx), the Field Training Exercise (FTx) and the After Action Review (AAR). This will be followed by a a day-long SAARC Workshop on sharing Best Practices on “Disaster Risk Reduction” scheduled on November 27. 5. Haryana bags Skoch Order-of-Merit National Award  Haryana has bagged the Skoch Order-of-Merit national award in implementation of six e-Governance and IT initiatives in the state. The award will be presented to the state government on September 22-23. Haryana Government has notified 163 e-Governance services which would be delivered to the citizens at their doorsteps with a view to provide time-bound and hassle-free services. Skoch Order-of-Merit national award Bestowed upon top performing government organisations and private organisations working with the government. It is given by Skoch Consultancy Services Private Limited, a strategy and management consulting firm founded in 1997 and it recognises the best practices and governance models that aim for excellent and efficient implementation of programmes and services delivery. 6. ICICI Lombard, CSB in tie-up ICICI Lombard General Insurance has tied up with Catholic Syrian Bank( CSB) for sale of its products through 431 branches of the bank. Through the bancassurance tie-up, the company will able to offer general insurance solutions to the bank’s customer base in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Maharashtra. The 94-year-old Kerala-based bank has a strong presence in the southern and western parts of the country. The bank had distribution network of 431 branches across 15 state .. 15 states and 4 union territories as on December 31, 2014. ICICI Lombard would be able to offer its risk solutions to the bank’s customer base of 16 lakh clients (as on December 31, 2014). The bank’s focus is on the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and retail client segments apart from NRI customers. ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited is a joint venture between ICICI Bank Limited, India’s second largest bank and Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited, a Canada based diversified financial services company engaged in general insurance, reinsurance, insurance claims management and investment management. ICICI Lombard GIC Ltd. is the largest private sector general insurance company in India Bancassurance is a French term referring to the selling of insurance through a bank’s established distribution channels.   In other words, we can say Bancassurance is the provision of insurance  (assurance) products by a bank. The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDA) on August has allowed banks to tie up with a maximum of nine insurers from three segments —life, non–life and standalone health insurers — as part of the new bancassurance guidelines. 7. India to Launch Indonesian LAPAN A2/Orari Satellite India will launch a second multi-spectral remote sensing Indonesian satellite that will help the country to monitor land-use, natural resource and in disaster mitigation. The indigenously-made LAPAN A2/Orari satellite is a successor to LAPAN A1/Tubsat, which was also launched in India in 2007. The satellite will be shipped to India tomorrow to be launched at the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota. LAPAN A2/Orari will function as a tool to monitor land usage, ship movements, sea resources and fishing explorations. The satellite will orbit the Earth along the equator with an altitude of 650 kilometers, and travel at 7.5 kilometers per second – enabling it to circle the Earth 14 times a day. 8. Punjab Government: Special MGNREGA cell A special National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) cell has been set up here in Punjab with an aim to effectively implement it. An outlay of Rs 233 crore has been provided under this project. The centre has decided to fix the wage rate under the NREGA on the basis of Consumer Price Index which will be implemented on April 1 every year and will be applicable for the whole financial year. From the outlay of Rs 247.50 crore, an expenditure of Rs 210.54 crore was incurred during the last financial year, he said. All the districts of the state are being covered under NREGA with effect from April 1, 2008 and the recent wage rate has been revised from Rs 202 to Rs 210 with effect from April 1, 2015. The government has also decided to transfer wages to the beneficiaries in their bank accounts from September 15, 2015.

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GA- 5 September 3 weeks ago 4 Comments 3864 view(s) GA- 5 September 1. 5th September: National Teachers Day 5th September is observed as National Teachers Day. This day commemorates the birthday of India’s first Vice President and second President Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan. Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was born on 5 September 1888 in Thiruttani in then Madras Presidency of British India. He was an Indian philosopher and statesman and one the best known scholars in the field of comparative religion and philosophy in India in the 20th century. He had tremendously contributed towards the new contemporary Hindu identity in the eyes of the ill-informed Westeners. He held great respect for teachers and always believed that  teachers are real nation builders and thus should always be the best minds in the country. He was the first Vice President of India (in office from 1952–1962), Second President of India (in office from 1962 to 1967). He was honoured with Bharat Ratna (1954), British Royal Order of Merit (1963) etc. World Teachers day is celebrated on 5th October every year. 2. ONGC buys 15% stake in Russia’s 2nd-largest oil field  ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL), the foreign arm of state-owned petroleum explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has signed a definitive agreement to acquire up to 15 per cent stake in CSJC Vankorneft, which owns Russia’s second-largest oil and gas field, Vankor, in eastern Siberia. Rosneft, Russia’s national oil company, holds 100 per cent stake in Vankorneft. For years, OVL has been in talks with Rosneft to acquire stake in the field. Following the deal, OVL will get two positions on Vankorneft’s board of directors. Rosneft would create an operator company to allow more efficient management of both the Vankor field and the company’s other assets in that region, the Russian company stated. The transaction will enhance OVL’s presence in Russia. The company already holds 20 per cent stake in the Sakhalin-I oil and gas field in eastern Russia. In 2009, it had acquired the Siberian fields of Imperial Energy for $2.1 billion. The Vankor field produces about 442,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil, four per cent of Russia’s overall crude oil production. After ONGC acquires stake in the field, its daily production would stand at about 66,000 bpd. OVL is present in 36 projects across 17 countries, including 13 producing assets in Russia, Syria, Vietnam, Sudan, Myanmar and Azerbaijan. Sitting on total oil and gas reserves of 647 million tonnes of oil equivalent, the company produces 167,000 barrels of oil and oil equivalent gas a day. In the past two years, it has invested about $4 billion in acquisitions. These include acquisition of Hess Corporation’s 2.72 per cent stake in the Guneshli Fields in Azerbaijan, 12 per cent stake in a deep-water block in Brazil and six per cent in the Rovuma Area-I offshore block in Mozambique from Videocon. It had also acquired 10 per cent stake in the same area from Anadarko in February 2014. 3. Jhumpa Lahiri: National Humanities Medal Indian-American Pulitzer Prize winner Jhumpa Lahiri has been selected for the prestigious 2014 National Humanities Medal which would be presented to her by US President Barack Obama next week. Jhumpa, 48, has been selected for the award for enlarging the human story. National Humanities Medal is an annual award given by US President. The first National Humanities Medal was awarded in 1996. Since then, there have been 175 recipients, 163 individuals and 12 organisations, including this year’s. Jhumpa is an Indian-American author who was born as Nilanjana Sudeshna but goes by her nickname (or in Bengali her “Daak naam”) Jhumpa. Her debut short story collection ‘Interpreter of Maladies’ won the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and her book ‘The Lowland’ was a nominee for the Man Booker Prize. She is currently a professor of creative writing at Princeton University.   4. Commemorative coins in honour S Radhakrishnan Prime Minister Narendra Modi released two commemorative coins of Rs 125 and Rs 10 in the memory of former President Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan on Friday. On the eve of Teachers’ day, Prime Minister Modi released the coins at a function ahead of his interaction with central school students at Zorawar hall, Manekshaw Centre in New Delhi. Teachers Day celebrates the birthday of India’s second President and scholar Dr Radhakrishnan. 5. Former Goa CM Dr Wilfred de Souza passes away Former Goa chief minister Dr Wilfred de Souza passed away, after a brief illness, at a Dona Paula-based hospital on Friday morning. He was 88. De Souza was born to Alina Ana Maria de Souza and Dr Tito Fermino de Souza in Kampala, Uganda, on April 23, 1927. By profession he was Doctor/surgeon and was one of Goa’s most skilled surgeons. He was double Fellow of Royal College of Surgeons of Britain. By profession he was Doctor/surgeon and was one of Goa’s most skilled surgeons. He was double Fellow of Royal College of Surgeons of Britain. The brilliant surgeon was conferred with several awards including Dr B C Roy Award as ‘Eminent Medical Man & Statesman’ from the Medical Council of India.

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GA- 6 & 7 September 3 weeks ago 14 Comments 3840 view(s) GA- 6 & 7 September 1. Govt announces OROP Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar announced the implementation of the long delayed One Rank One Pension (OROP) for ex-servicemen. The scheme will be effective from July 1, 2014 with arrears that will be paid in four half-yearly installments. Widows and war widows will get arrears in a single installment. The base year for calculating the pension has been fixed at 2013. But the government will stick to revision of pension every five years and not the one, or maximum two years as demanded by the veterans. Also, military personnel who will retire voluntarily will not be eligible for the new pension structure. However, government sources have clarified that ex-servicemen who have taken premature retirement so far will be covered under the scheme. The estimated cost to implement OROP would be Rs. 8,000 – 10,000 crore and the arrears alone would cost Rs. 10,000 – 12,000 crore. The government has proposed to take the average of the maximum and minimum pension paid per rank in 2013, while protecting those who earn above average pensions in their rank. The Defence Minister also announced that a one-member judicial committee will be set up to work out details of OROP and will submit its report in six months The veterans and the government had been involved in negotiations for months. The Prime Minister’s Office stepped in last month after the strike escalated into a hunger-strike. OROP was a key promise made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he was campaigning for last year’s national election. OROP will give the same pension to ex-servicemen who retired many years ago as that which soldiers of the same rank retiring now draw. The scheme will benefit three million veterans. But the veterans are not satisfied, The major issues are They want the scheme to be effective from April, 1 2014 but the Govt want it from July 1, 2014. They want the base for calculation should be maximum of the pension scale in 2013 and the Govt says it will be average of minimum and maximum pension scale in 2013. They want it to be revised every one or two years but the Govt wants it to be revised every 5 years. They want a five member team under Defence Minister  to submit the report in one month. They want it to be applicable for VRS but the govt says it will not apply to employees taking Voluntary retirement. We will provide all the details of OROP under All you want to know soon. 2. Bodh Gaya as ‘Spiritual Capital’ Terming Bodh Gaya as the “land of enlightenment”, PM Modi said that  his government would develop the site as the ‘spiritual capital’ for it to serve as a civilisational bond between India and the Buddhist world.  Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced it while addressing delegates from 90 countries on the concluding day of the International Buddhist Conclave held at Bodh Gaya. Prime Minister called Gautam Buddha as India’s crown jewel and called Bodh Gaya as the land of enlightenment. Bodh Gaya is famous as it is the place where Gautama Buddha is said to have obtained Enlightenment under what became known as the Bodhi Tree. Mahabodhi Temple, located in Bodh Gaya, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 3. G-20 Members Launch W-20 to Empower Women The world’s 20 leading economies have launched a new grouping aimed at boosting the role of women in global economic growth. The W-20 — a grouping of female leaders — was launched on Sunday in the Turkish capital Ankara, where finance ministers and central bank governors from the Group of 20 were meeting for talks on the global economy. The group aims to work toward empowering women and ensuring their participation in economic growth. The W20 group — having 20 women leaders from G20 nations — would host its first summit next month in Istanbul after all member countries appoint their nominees. At the official launch event, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said the prosperity of a country can be best understood by the smile of women from that country and it is very important to empower them in the economic growth process. W20’s newly appointed President Gulden Turktan said it would work as an outreach group and seek to promote gender inclusiveness in economic growth process by empowering women. 4. Pakistan, China joint air drill: Shaheen “Shaheen (Eagle)-4,” a joint drill between the air forces of China and Pakistan, began on Sunday in China. The joint exercise is part of a series of military exchange programs between the two air forces The first such drill was held in Pakistan in March 2011, the second in China’s western Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region in September 2013, and the third was held in Punjab, Pakistan, in May last year. 5. Lewis Hamilton wins Italian Grand Prix  Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain

won 2015 Italian Grand Prix of Formula One. This was his seventh victory of the season. Till now he has won Australian Grand Prix, Chinese Grand Prix, Bahrain Grand Prix, Canadian Grand Prix, British Grand Prix and Belgian Grand Prix in 2015 season. 6. Aadesh Shrivastava passes away Bollywood singer and music composer Aadesh Shrivastava died on 5 September 2015 at the Koliaben Dhirubhai Ambani hospital in Mumbai. He was undergoing treatment for cancer for the last five years. Aadesh Shrivastava born on 4 September 1966 was a music composer and singer of Indian music. Over the course of his career, he had composed music for over 100 Hindi films. He has composed music for films like Chalte Chalte, Baabul, Baghban, Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham, Rajneeti and others. 7. World’s shortest man passes away Chandra Bahadur Dangi, the world’s shortest man – at 21.5 inches (54.6cm) – died in American Samoa. He was suffering from Pneumonia. Dangi, a Nepalese man with primordial dwarfism born in 1939, earned his title of the “World’s Shortest Man” in 2012 after rumors circulated that he was shorter than the original record holder, a 23.5-inch man in the Philippines.  The 75-year-old Dangi lived in a remote village around 400km (248 miles) from Kathmandu, and travelled the world after he was officially declared the world’s smallest man in 2013.

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GA- 8 September 3 weeks ago 7 Comments 4570 view(s) GA- 8 September 1. September 8: International Literacy Day The theme of International Literacy Day 2015 is Literacy and Sustainable Societies. This year’s celebration of International Literacy Day, therefore, will be dedicated to exploring critical links and synergy between literacy and the future Sustainable Development Goals which will be adopted during the 70th session of the United Nations General Assembly in September 2015. As in previous years, International Literacy Day 2015 is celebrated worldwide, bringing together governments, multi-and bi-lateral organizations, NGOs, the private sectors, communities, teachers, learners and experts. A main global celebration will take place at UNESCO Headquarters, where a two-day event on Literacy and Sustainable Societies (8-9 September 2015) will be organized to prepare the ground for renewed literacy efforts by countries and partners in the post-2015 era. On 8 September, 2015 a ceremony will be held to award the 2015 UNESCO International Literacy Prizes  September 8 was proclaimed International Literacy Day by UNESCO on November 17, 1965. It was first celebrated in 1966. Its aim is to highlight the importance of literacy to individuals, communities and societies. On International Literacy Day each year, UNESCO reminds the international community of the status of literacy and adult learning globally. Celebrations take place around the world. 2. PM Modi meets India inc The high-level consultative meeting on the agenda — ‘Recent Global Events: Opportunities for India’ — would also be attended by RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan and Niti Aayog Vice-Chairman Arvind Panagariya. The agenda for the meeting is ‘Recent Global Events – Opportunities for India.’ The country is better placed than other emerging markets in the midst of the global meltdown and the government believes the Chinese economic crisis presents opportunities for India. As many as 27 business leaders, bankers and economists have been invited for the meeting to deliberate on the recent developments in the global economy and the opportunities they present for India. Finance Secretary Ratan P Watal, Commerce Secretary Rita Teaotia, Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das and Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian will be present at the meeting. The Prime Minister would hear the stakeholders as to how India can take the baton from China and lead global growth. Rajan’s presence assumes significance in the context of the recent inflation-deflation debate and his views on global economy. This is the PM’s second meeting with India Inc in two months and is being held at a time of turbulence in global markets due to a slowing Chinese economy. The Sensex slipped under 25,000 for the first time in 14 months on Monday. The meeting also comes as the US prepares to raise interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade. A rate hike in the US could trigger capital outflows from emerging markets like India.  A worried India Inc is also expected to bring up at today’s meeting, its concerns about the slow pace of reforms in the country and weak GDP numbers. The PM had last met business leaders on June 30 to hear their grievances on issues ranging from high capital cost to ease of doing business and taxation matters. 3. NPCI’s e-payment literacy initiative National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), a central infrastructure for various retail payments in India, has announced the launch of nationwide e-

payment literacy workshop on the occasion of World Literacy Day on September 8. M. Balachandran, Chairman, NPCI said the workshop would be held across 56 regional rural banks at 120 centres. This is a first of its kind e-payments workshop to be held where participants will be familiarised on various issues, including ATMs and their features, he said. NPCI has planned a series of new launches, including a co-branded RuPay debit card with MUDRA Bank, a credit card and tie-ups with international payments solutions network providers in the next one year, he said. The co-branded card with MUDRA Bank, which provides loans at low rates to microfinance institutions and non-banking financial institutions, is mainly for micro entrepreneurs. There is a similar card for farmers called Kisan card. NPCI is in the final stages of discussions with China Union Pay (CUP) and Japan Credit Bureau (JCB) for use of each other’s payment networks. The tie-up will allow RuPay credit card holders to withdraw money at ATMs or transact through a point-of-sale (POS) machine abroad. Visitors to India using CUP and JCB cards will be able to transact through the NPCI network. National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) was incorporated in December 2008 and the Certificate of Commencement of Business was issued in April 2009. It works as the central infrastructure for various retail payment systems, the NPCI is promoted by the Indian Banks’ Association and 10 banks, including six public sector banks, two private banks and two foreign banks. NPCI is increasing the capacity of its payment ‘switch’ to handle nearly 100 million transactions daily. At present, NPCI handles around 20 million transactions a day and will expand it to 40 million in two months. The increase in volume will be mainly to facilitate government subsidy transactions, including those based Aaadhar. Some of the products of NPCI National Financial Switch (NFS) Immediate Payment Service (IMPS)  National Automated Clearing House Aadhaar Payments Bridge System (APBS) Cheque Truncation System (CTS)  Aadhaar-enabled payment system (AEPS) RuPay – Domestic Card Scheme 4. Goldman Sachs: “Q & A on GST” Wall Street firm Goldman Sachs, in a note ‘India: Q&A on GST — Growth Impact Could Be Muted’, has put out estimates that show that the Modi Government’s model for the Goods & Services Tax (GST) will not raise growth, will push up consumer prices inflation and may not result in increased tax revenue collections. Reasons for sub-optimal results will be- The decision to exclude from the GST items such as tobacco, alcohol and electricity, it will restrict revenue gains. And, another reason for restricted revenue gains is the Centre’s offer to compensate the state governments for five years for any revenue shortfalls. one-per cent additional tax over and above GST if fixed at 20 per cent, the GST rate would increase headline consumer price inflation by about a percentage point in the year that the tax is implemented. Its analysis suggests that that about a third of the basket of products in the consumer price inflation index would come under the GST. The rate of price-rise for services would go up by more than a percentage point if the Centre and States settle for a GST rate of 20 per cent as against the existing service tax rate of 14 per cent. Inflation in goods could be lower by about 0.3 percentage point against the current average tax on consumer goods works out to about 22 per cent. The estimate of the impact on GDP is ‘significantly lower’ than that of the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER). The NCAER in 2009 estimated that moving to the GST can increase India’s growth by 0.9 percentage point to 1.7 percentage point. Goldman Sachs reasons: Why NCAER estimates may not be right-metric NCAER uses the 2003-04 input-output table for its calculations, which is outdated. The implementation of the VAT since then has already captured the state-level productivity gains in goods that were part of the study’s estimate. The study assumed the GST had more comprehensive coverage, including petroleum products, which are not being considered by the Modi Government for its proposed GST. The study assumed a much lower revenue neutral rate than currently being considered. NCAER study does not capture the distortions which could arise from the 1-percent additional tax for inter-state movement of goods proposed by the Centre. The GST is a nation-wide integration of goods and services tax in India. It combines about 16 types of taxes such as central excise and service tax, states’ VAT, entertainment and luxury tax, and various surcharges into a single tax. National Council of Applied Economic Research or NCAER is a non-profit policy think tank. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is an American multinational investment banking firm that engages in global investment banking,securities, investment management, and other financial services primarily with institutional clients. 5. WEF Report: Inclusive Growth and Development Report A new study by World Economic Forum (WEF) has ranked India very low globally on most of the parameters for inclusive growth and

development. However it fares much better internationally when it come to business and political ethics. WEF said that the new study, which was conducted over the past two years, seeks to identify the various ways policymakers can drive economic growth and equity. India has mostly been ranked in the bottom half of the 38 countries that make up lower middle income bracket. However, India does demonstrate leadership in some area, while naming areas like corruption and rents where it comes 8th. For business and political ethics, India ranks 12th, while it ranks 11th on the Financial intermediation of real economy investment pillar, which suggests that money invested in the economy generally gets directed towards productive uses. WEF said that another area that policymakers in India would need to prioritise improvement would be ‘Asset building and entrepreneurship’, in particular the Small business ownership, where India ranks bottom among its peers at 38th place. WEF said its first Inclusive Growth and Development Report present a new framework for assessing countries’ efforts to foster economic growth that raises the living standards of entire societies WEF Report overs 112 economies. 6. Aerospace manufacturing facility for Airbus  The aerospace manufacturing facility was inaugurated by defence minister Manohar Parrikar. Situated on the 250-acre Aequs Special Economic Zone (SEZ), the facility is dubbed as the country’s largest aerospace machining centre for Airbus Group. The facility will generate employment for over 1,000 skilled professionals during the period in five years. The biggest chunk of ‘Make in India’ can come from defence. There is a distant possibility of making $8-10 billion products per year from India for the next five years, if some of the deals in the pipeline go through,” said Parrikar. Airbus Group SE is a European multinational aerospace and defence corporation. Seated in Toulouse, France, the group consists of the three business divisions Airbus, Airbus Defence and Space, and Airbus Helicopters. 7. Ramesh Chand appointed as Niti Aayog member Renowned farm expert Professor Ramesh Chand has been appointed as new member of Niti Aayog. Mr Chand has been working as Director of National Institute of Agricultural Economics and Policy Research (NIAP) in New Delhi since 2010. He is also a member of a task force on agriculture development under Niti Aayog. The task force headed by Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Arvind Panagriya, which was formed in March this year, is mandated to recommend strategies for re-invigorating agriculture in all its aspects and to formulate strategies for reforms, innovation and technology diffusion. Besides Mr Chand, economist Bibek Debroy and former DRDO chief V K Saraswat are other two full-time members. 8. Digital version of Mahatma Gandhi’s collected work Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitleypaid rich tributes to Mahatma Gandhi and said it was hard to imagine another person with his stature, vision and inspiration. Speaking at a function after releasing an e-version of the collected works of Mahatma Gandhi, Mr Jaitley said the Publications Division had in 1994 published the collected works of Mahatama Gandhi in book form with an edition of it in Hindi as well. The digital version is a collector’s item and can also be accessed on the internet for people around the world to use as a resource for reference. 9. MoU: RDL & Abu Dhabi Ship Building Reliance Defence Ltd. (RDL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Anil Ambani-led Reliance Infrastructure Ltd. has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Abu Dhabi Ship Building (ADSB) to explore an opportunity to set up a strategic partnership for the construction of naval ships including frigates, destroyers and other specialised vessels to address the needs of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) over the next 10 years. ADSB is a leading provider of construction, repair and refit services for naval, military and commercial vessels in the GCC region. Both RDL and ADSB are believed to be incorporating a joint venture, which will encompass both construction of new naval vessels as well as maintenance, repair and overhaul and refit opportunities of existing commercial and naval vessels in the region. Reliance Defence will be the majority partner in this proposed joint venture with 51 per cent stake, according to people familiar with the development. The MoU signing follows the joint statement issued during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to UAE on August 18, which highlighted ‘co-operation and manufacture of defence equipment in India’.  The programmes include Combat Management Systems (CMS), Integrated Bridge Solutions (IBS), Combat System Integration (CSI), Integrated Platform Management Systems (IPMS) and staff training and development. ] Reliance Group has entered into half a dozen pacts with foreign collaborators to build up capability in defence equipment production in India. 10. Sixth Indo- Maldives Joint training exercise The sixth Indo-Maldives joint Training Exercise commenced on 31 Aug 2015 with an impressive opening ceremony at Pangode Military Station, Trivandrum. Aim of the

Joint Exercise is to acquaint both the forces with each other’s operating procedure in addition to increased understanding and interoperability between the two Armies. A total of 45 soldiers each from the Maldivian National Defence Force and the Indian Army (BIHAR Regiment) will take part in this exercise. Varied training activities are being conducted to enhance interoperability and jointness between the two defence forces.  The joint training will conclude with a tactical exercise. The closing ceremony is scheduled on 13 Sep 15 and would involve cultural displays by various military display teams besides aerial acrobatics display by Sarang Team. 11. Forbes Asia’s new list of philanthropists Seven Indians, including three Infosys co-founders and a Dubai-based education entrepreneur, feature in the latest Forbes Asia edition in a new group of philanthropists from 13 countries for their noteworthy contributions. Infosys co-founders Senapathy Gopalakrishnan, Nandan Nilekani and SD Shibulal feature in the Forbes Asia’s 9th list of philanthropists in the Asia-Pacific region for their individual contributions to health and education sectors. Rohan, son of Infosys co-founder NR Narayana Murthy, also feature in the list. He donated a whopping USD 5.2 million to Harvard University Press for promoting ancient Indian literary classics. He represents his father as a philanthropist. Kerala-born entrepreneur Sunny Varkey also features in the list. In June 2015, Varkey was in the news for his pledge to donate half his fortune worth USD 2.25 billion as charity in response to the Giving Pledge Initiative, led by Bill Gates and Warren Buffet. Based in Dubai, Varkey is the founder of GEMS Education, a chain of 70 private schools in 14 countries. He has already been featured in Forbes’ list of top Indian philanthropists. The two others are India-born brothers Suresh Ramakrishnan and Mahesh Ramakrishnan. Both are London-based entrepreneurs and are founders of Whitcomb & Shaftesbury Tailors on London’s Saville Row. 12. Signature spice outlets in foreign markets The Spices Board India has decided to go global by opening premium retail outlets abroad to sell around 30 of the choicest spices and value added products under the “Spices India” and “Flavourit” brand names as a part of broadening its brand-building exercise beyond the nation’s boundaries. The products will be sold through signature stalls set up in overseas market in partnership with private investors. It is expecting that those stalls would help the board to gain access to more international markets and further promote the popularity of Indian spices abroad. The Spices Board is the Indian government regulatory and promotion agency for Indian spices. The board is headquartered in Kochi. Dr. Jayathilak, IAS is the current chairman of Spices Board. 13. BSNL: Minimum 2 Mbps speed from Oct. 1 Starting October 1, over one crore BSNL landline broadband users will be able to surf the Internet at a minimum speed of 2 megabits per second (2Mbps), at no extra cost. At present, the company offers minimum broadband speed of 512 Kbps. The move, which could also trigger a drop in data speed tariffs of private telecom operators. This move is a part of BSNL’s revival plan. BSNL is losing customers in mobile as well as landline to private operators. The company lost about 1.78 crore wireless and over 20 lakh wireline subscribers between March 2014 and March 2015. The losses for the firm stood at Rs 7,600 crore.  Other initiatives are free roaming and free night calling on landlines for its users. 14. Ahmed Javed: New Mumbai Police chief Mumbai Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria has been promoted to Director General (DG) Homeguard. Ahmed Javed was appointed the new Mumbai police commissioner. Ahmed Javed will take over from Rakesh Maria. Maria belongs to the 1981 batch of the Indian Police Service. His first posting was as assistant superintendent of police in Akola, and then Buldhana, in the interiors of Maharashtra. He came to Mumbai in 1986. He was the Deputy Commissioner Police (Traffic) in 1993.He was appointed the Commissioner of Mumbai Police on 15 February 2014. Rakesh Maria was much in the news these day due to Mumbai Police’s ongoing investigations in the Sheena Bora murder case.

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GA- 9 September 2 weeks ago 23 Comments 4349 view(s) GA- 9 September 1. IOB launches Rupay MUDRA Debit Card The Indian Overseas Bank launched MUDRA Card under Prime Minister Mudra Yojana. According to the scheme, the micro units can utilise the card for meeting working capital requirements. In MUDRA card, 20 per cent of the total working capital limit would be available and could be used like other debit cards in the POS machines, ATMs and E-Commerce. Other banks has also launched Mudra Card like Corporation Bank, Karnataka Bank and Andhra Bank. MUDRA Card is

an innovative credit product wherein the borrower can avail of credit in a hassle free and flexible manner It will provide a facility of working capital arrangement in the form of CC/OD to the borrower. ( CC- Cash Credit and OD- Overdraft) Since MUDRA Card will be a RuPay Debit Card, it can be used for drawing cash from ATM or Business Correspondent or make purchase using Point of Sale machine. Facility is also there to repay the amount as and when surplus is available, thereby reducing the interest burden. 2. Philips unveils web-enabled lighting in India Philips Hue is an intelligent web-based LED lighting solution with Internet of Things concept, which allows users to control home lighting anytime, anywhere. Philips Hue allows users to create and control home lighting using their smartphone or tablet and works seamlessly across both iOS and android mobile platforms. Users can easily set, and automate the lamps to dim, or increase the light intensity depending on your mood. That’s not all, you can pick an image and have your living room shaded with the same colours. You can also connect it to IFTTT to get you a gentle notification when it is raining outside, and similar things. The Philips Hue range for India includes Hue starter kit, which includes the bridge and three hue lamps starting at Rs.16,995. It’s targets are  upper middle class and middle class in India. What is The Internet of Things (IoT) The Internet of Things (IoT) is a computing concept that describes a future where everyday physical objects will be connected to the Internet and be able to identify themselves to other devices. This includes everything from washing machines, headphones, lamps, jet engine of an airplane or anything. If it has an on and off switch then chances are it can be a part of the IoT i.e. anything that can be connected, will be connected. 3. EY Report on bad loans The EY survey, aimed at uncovering the elements which contributed to the NPA issue. The EY survey is based on the responses of over 110 respondents from public, private, foreign and co-operative banks during November 2014 to March 2015. 87 per cent of the respondents stated that diversion of funds to unrelated business via fraudulent means is one of the root causes for the non-performing asset (NPA) crisis. 72 per cent of bankers believe that borrowers are misusing the restructuring norms set by the authorities,” EY said. 91 per cent of bankers stated forensic audit should be made mandatory to check the borrower intent and further 54 per cent respondents said that this would help in weeding out ‘wilful defaulters’ from genuine borrowers. 86 per cent of the respondents stated that existing monitoring procedures such as internal audits and concurrent audits alone were not enough to verify adequate functioning of the NPA mechanism. Only 15 per cent of the respondents seemed optimistic and felt that NPA numbers will be curbed due to regulatory changes and increase supervision by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The report also said that periodic independent audits on borrowers have revealed diversion of funds or wilful default leading to stress situations while corporate borrowers have repeatedly cited the economic slowdown as the primary factor responsible for rising NPAs.  An analysis by rating agency ICRA also predicts rise in bad loans. It said last week in a webinar that the banking sector is likely to end the current fiscal with increased gross NPAs at 5.3-5.9%, primarily due to the withdrawal of the regulatory forbearance on restructured advances by the Reserve Bank of India from this April. Stressed asset percentages have consistently been a cause of concern over the last few years. As on March 2015, gross NPAs of the banking sector stood at 4.6 per cent of advances as compared to 4.1 per cent in the previous year. Further, gross NPAs of public sector banks stood at 5.17 per cent of advances as of March-end 2015 while the stressed assets (NPAs and restructured loans) were 13.2 per cent. 4. UBS & Moody’s  cuts India’s growth forecast UBS Swiss brokerage UBS has revised downwards India’s GDP growth projection for the current fiscal to 7.1 per cent, from 7.5 per cent earlier and for financial year 2016-17 to 7.6 per cent from 8.3 per cent earlier. Weaker external demand prospects and slow progress on balance sheet repair leads us to curtail our growth forecast despite lower oil prices which were expected to provide a boost to Indian growth. Moody’s  Moody’s Investors Service said India’s current account deficit is likely to remain low supported by declining oil prices but a slow recovery in industrial output and investment would drag economic growth to 7 per cent in the current fiscal. CAD is the difference between the inflow and outflow of foreign exchange. It lowered the projection for India to 7% in 2015 and 7.5% in 2016, from 7.5% and 7.6% based on high frequency indicators suggesting that the recovery in industrial output and investment is slow, and bank credit growth still subdued India’s GDP growth rate slipped to 7 per cent in the April-June quarter of 2015-16. The government expects economy to grow at 8-8.5 per cent in the fiscal ending March 2016. 5. Target of 100 % literacy in villages by Mar 2016 The government

has set a target of achieving 100% literacy in villages adopted under the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana by March 2016. The HRD ministry is collaborating with the MPs who have adopted villages located in 410 districts. It has made an appeal to state and district representatives to take pledge for their respective operational areas. Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana: It is a village development project under which each Member of Parliament will take the responsibility of developing physical and institutional infrastructure in three villages by 2019. The goal is to develop three Adarsh Grams or model villages by March 2019, of which one would be achieved by 2016. Thereafter, five such Adarsh Grams (one per year) will be selected and developed by 2024. The Project was launched on the occasion of birth anniversary of Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan.  6. Andhra Pradesh rechristens APSEA as e-Pragati Andhra Pradesh  government has rechristened the AP State Enterprise Architecture (APSEA) as ‘e-Pragati.’  APSEA is a comprehensive architecture to leverage the latest advances in e-governance tools. Developed in association with technology giant Wipro in a span of eight months, ‘e-Pragati’ is a comprehensive framework for implementing e-governance and provides e-services to citizens of Andhra Pradesh, according to an official release. With e-Pragati, Andhra Pradesh becomes the first state in India to conceive and execute a state-wide enterprise architecture.  e-Pragati extends to 33 secretariat departments and over 300 government agencies in AP. It seeks to provide a bouquet of 745 services in the government to customer (G2C), government to business (G2B), government to enterprise (G2E) and government to government (G2G) areas. It consists of 72 projects grouped into 14 packages whose estimated outlay is Rs.2,358 crore which will be funded and implemented over a three-year period. Of this, the government will invest Rs.1,528 crore and balance the rest of the amount through PPP mode. 7. Tamil Nadu CM Launches Amma Baby Care Kit Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa launched the Amma Baby Kit Scheme that she announced last year. Babies born in government hospitals would receive the kit worth Rs. 1,000 with 16 items including a dress, mosquito net, soap, shampoo, hand santiser, baby rattle, nail clipper among others. The kit will also have a mix for mothers to increase lactation. The project would cost Rs. 67 crore to the state exchequer. 68 per cent of child births in the state take place in government hospitals and the project would benefit 6.7 lakh newborns.” Ms Jayalalithaa had earlier launched Amma Unavagams popularly known as Amma canteens, which serve high quality subsidised food. Other includes  Amma Pharmacies, Amma Water and Amma Cement to supply essential items at cheaper price. Recently, she had launched Amma Master Health Check-Up for less than Rs. 1000. 8. Deepak Lather: Gold in Commonwealth Youth Games Indian weightlifter Deepak Lather won a gold in the 62 kg category in Commonwealth Youth Games held in Apia, Samoa.  This was India’s second gold in weightlifting after Jamjang Deru stood atop the podium in the 56 kg category on the opening day of the event. The 15-year-old Deepak finished with a total of 258 kg with 120 kg in snatch — new CYG record — and 138 kg in clean and jerk. India are being represented by 25 athletes in eight disciplines out of the nine being competed in the CYG. This is the fifth edition of CYG. It happens every four years. 9. Queen Elizabeth: UK’s longest-reigning monarch Queen Elizabeth becomes Britain’s longest-reigning monarch. Aged 89 is also the nation’s oldest ever monarch. Her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria spent on the throne.63 years, 7 months, 2 days, 16 hours and 23 minutes that She was 25 when she ascended to the throne on Feb. 6, 1952, following her father’s death. That made her the 40th monarch in a royal line that traces its origin back to Norman King William the Conqueror who claimed the throne in 1066 with victory over Anglo-Saxon Harold II at the Battle of Hastings.

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GA- 10 September 2 weeks ago 8 Comments 4446 view(s) GA- 10 September 1. Govt clears two gold schemes The Union Cabinet approved two schemes — the Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme and the Gold Monetisation Scheme — that could bring an estimated 20,000 tonnes of idle gold lying with Indian consumers into the economy and also reduce India’s dependence on gold imports. Gold monetisation scheme Individuals and institutions can open a gold savings account with a bank and deposit at least 30 grams of gold bullion or jewellery after certification from a hallmarking centre for short, medium or long term. Term:  1- 15 years Earn interest and get tax exemptions including exemption from wealth tax, capital gains tax and tax-free interest income. Redemption: It will be at the

prevailing market value at the end of the tenure of deposit. short term: in gold or cash medium: only cash long term: only cash WHY? Government Fish out idle gold resources with households. Gold will be allowed to be sold to jewellers in order to boost domestic supply It will also help to mobilise RBI’s gold reserves and also to use it for making coins. Sovereign gold bond scheme Individuals and institutions can purchase bonds in denominations of 5,10,50,100 grams of gold instead of physical gold assets and earn interest on it. Gold bonds which will be relatable to the weight of gold. Term: 5 to 7 years Cap of 500 grams that a person can purchase in a year. Department of revenue to provide tax exemptions in next Budget including indexation benefit on transfer of bonds and also exemption from long-term capital gains tax at redemption. The government plans to exempt capital gains made at the time of redemption of gold under the Gold Bond Scheme. Redemption: in rupee amount on maturity WHY? Government can cut down on demand for gold and its imports. Will be used in lieu of government borrowing. Other Decisions Dearness Allowance The Union Cabinet  approved an additional dearness allowance (DA) of six per cent for central government employees from July 1, which has now been raised to 119 per cent of basic pay as compared to 113 per cent earlier. This hike will benefit 50 lakh government employees and 56 lakh pensioners. FDI in White Label ATMs The Union Cabinet also permitted 100 per cent FDI under the automatic route for white label ATM operations. This decision will ease and expedite foreign investment inflows in the activity and thus give a fillip to the government’s effort to promote financial inclusion in the country, including the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna. 2. National Offshore Wind Energy Policy The Union Cabinet has given its approval to the National Offshore Wind Energy Policy. With this approval, the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) has been authorized as the Nodal Ministry for use of offshore areas within the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the country and National Institute of Wind Energy (NIWE) has been authorized as the Nodal Agency for development of offshore wind energy in the country and to carry out allocation of offshore wind energy blocks, coordination and allied functions with related ministries and agencies. The approval paves way for offshore wind energy development including, setting up of offshore wind power projects and research and development activities, in waters, in or adjacent to the country, up to the seaward distance of 200 Nautical Miles (EEZ of the country) from the base line. Preliminary assessments along the 7600 km long Indian coastline have indicated prospects of development of offshore wind power. With the introduction of the National Offshore Wind Energy Policy, the Government is attempting to replicate the success of the onshore wind power development in the offshore wind power development.  India has achieved significant success in the onshore wind power development, with over 23 GW of wind energy capacity already installed and generating power. The policy will provide a level playing field to all investors/beneficiaries, domestic and international. All the processes would be carried out in a transparent manner by NIWE. The development would help the country in moving forward towards attaining energy security and achievement of the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) targets. To increase energy security and diversify supply reliance beyond coal, hydro, nuclear, and natural gas, India wants to expand its renewable power capacity to 175 GW by 2022, including 100 GW of solar, 60 GW of wind power, 10 GW of biomass, and 5 GW of small hydropower. The country’s current installed renewable capacity stands at 34 GW. 3. South Asian Sub-Regional Drug Focal Point  The Narcotics Control Bureau is organizing the Sub-Regional Drug Focal Point Meeting and Drug Demand Reduction (DDR) Expert Group Consultation, South Asia under the Colombo Plan Drug Advisory Programme (CPDAP) from 9th to 11th September, 2015. The Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh will be the Chief Guest on this occasion. About 40 delegates from various participating countries namely Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Iran, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka and observer countries namely USA and Myanmar are expected to participate in the meeting. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) representative from Regional Office for South Asia, New Delhi will also participate in this meeting. The main objective of the meeting is to review the progress of the Drug Demand and Supply Reduction activities in the region. 4. Gandhi Peace Prize for ISRO President Pranab Mukherjee gave Gandhi Peace Prize 2014 to Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in recognition of its services in transforming India through the use of space technology and space based services. ISRO chairman AS Kiran Kumar received the honour which carries Rs. one crore in cash, a plaque and a citation. Mr Mukherjee praised ISRO for scripting

space history on September 24, 2014 by successfully placing the Mars Orbiter around Mars. India is the only country in the world to achieve this feat in its first attempt and ISRO the fourth space agency in the world to reach Mars. Gandhi Peace Prize, whose secretariat is provided by Culture Ministry, is presented annually by the President. This award is given to individuals and institutions for their contribution towards social, economic and political transformation through non-violence and other Gandhian method. 5. Himalaya Diwas celebrated in Uttarakhand Himalaya Diwas on 9th September was celebrated in Uttarakhand with noted environmentalist Sundarlal Bahuguna administering an oath to children to conserve the Himalayas. On this occasion, Chief Minister Harish Rawat also announced his decision to keep the Himalayas in the centre of state government’s policies. In 2010, there was an environment activists meet that decided that September 9 would be celebrated as Himalay Diwas and Chief Minister Harish Rawat in 2014 officially declared September 9 as ‘Himalaya Diwas’ – a day which would be celebrated across the State to spread the message of conservation of the Himalayan ecosystems. 6. Min. qualification in Panchayati Raj polls Haryana Assembly has passed Haryana Panchayati Raj (Amendment) Bill, 2015 that seeks to fix matriculation as minimum educational qualification for elections to Panchayati Raj institutions (PRIs). Haryana becomes second state in India after Rajasthan to fix educational and other qualifications for the candidates contesting Panchayat elections. General candidates contesting the Panchayat elections should have class X certificates i.e. matriculation as essential qualification. For Women (general) and Scheduled Caste candidates’, class VIII mark-sheet is mandatory. The educational qualification for SC candidates for the post of ‘panch’ is class V. Mandatory for the candidates contesting PRI elections to have functional toilets and payment of power bills. Candidates should not have been charge-sheeted by any court of law and must not be loan defaulters. 7. India & Indonesia Pact on criminal matters India and Indonesia have signed a pact for repatriation of each other’s wanted prisoners and cooperate in all criminal matters, including gathering evidence. Union Ministry of Home Affairs has issued an official gazette notification for service or execution of summons or warrant in relation to criminal matters in both countries. Under the agreement, India will execute summons to an accused person or to any person requiring to attend and produce documents or a search-warrant issued by an Indonesian court. Indonesia will reciprocate with similar action if there is any request from any Indian court. The Home Ministry made it clear that such summons or warrant shall be sent to its Internal Security Division-II for transmission to the central authority, that is, the Ministry of Law and Human Rights of Indonesia. 8. India, Belarus to expand trade India and Belarus have set a trade target of $1 billion to achieved by 2018. This target was decided at the Seventh Session of the India-Belarus Inter-Governmental Commission that was held in Belarus capital Minsk on Monday. Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman co-chaired the Seventh Session of the India-Belarus Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation.The Belarusian delegation was led by Vitali Mikhailovich Vovk, the Minister for Industry in the Government of Belarus. During the meeting of India-Belarus Inter Governmental Commission at Minsk, it was agreed by both the sides that the present level of trade at $400 million did not reflect the true depth of engagement between the two countries. It was agreed to set a target of $1 billion by the year 2018.

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GA- 11 September 2 weeks ago 8 Comments 4294 view(s) GA- 11 September 1. Tenth World Hindi Conference The Tenth World Hindi Conference has begun in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh with the theme of Hindi Jagat-Vistar and Sambhavnaye. The 3-day event is organised by the Ministry of External Affairs in cooperation with the Madhya Pradesh government in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. PM Modi inaugurated the 10th Vishwa Hindi Sammelan (World Hindi Conference) at Lal Parade ground. Mr Modi called for steps to preserve endangered languages and pointed to concerns voiced by scholars that 90 per cent of the 6,000 languages world-over face the risk of becoming relics from the past. Mr Modi also said that English, Chinese and Hindi — will be influential in the digital world and cautioned that if we forget Hindi, it will be a loss to the country. First World Hindi Conference held from 10 to 12 January 1975 in Nagpur. Seewoosagur and was inaugurated on 10 January 1975 by

then Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi. The decision to organize the 10th edition of the Conference in India was taken at the 9th World Hindi Conference held in Johannesburg, South Africa in September 2012. 2. 21st Law Commission of India The Cabinet approved the constitution of the 21st Law Commission of India, for a period of three years with effect from September 1. The Commission will consist of a full-time chairperson and four full-time members (including a member-secretary) among others. It will undertake research in law and review existing laws to make the necessary reforms, and enact new legislations and it shall also undertake studies and research for bringing reforms in the justice delivery systems for elimination of delay in procedures, speedy disposal of cases, reduction in cost of litigation etc. The Law Commission of India is a non-statutory body constituted by the Government of lndia from time to time. The Commission was originally constituted in 1955 and is re-constituted every three years. The various Law Commissions have been able to make important contribution towards the progressive development and codification of laws of the country. Law Commissions have so far submitted 262 reports. The term of the 20th Law Commission headed by former Delhi High Court Chief Justice A P Shah ended on 31 March 2015. 3. National web portal for apprenticeship training The Government has launched a national web portal to promote a national apprenticeship scheme for graduates, diploma holders, 10+2 pass-outs, and vocational certificate holders. The multilingual portal ensures seamless connectivity with all stakeholders including students, establishments, and technical institutions across the country for transparent administration. Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani also released a logo and a slogan ‘Sashakt Yuva, Samarth Bharat’ for the portal. The Ministry implements the apprenticeship training scheme for one year through the Board of Apprenticeship Training (BOATs)/ Board of Practical Training (BOPT) located at Mumbai, Chennai, Kanpur and Kolkata. This portal enables door-step delivery of service, streamlines processes, and saves time for students, Irani said. 4. INS Vajrakosh in Karwar Defence minister Manohar Parikkar commissioned INS Vajrakosh, the latest establishment of the Indian Navy in Karwar, Karnataka. Together with INS Kadamba, 20 km, away, it is now the world’s largest naval base east of the Suez Canal. Spread out over 1000 acres, the new naval base would be the home base for a bulk of the Indian Navy’s strength on the western coast. Indian Naval Station Vajrakosh – which loosely translates to ‘Thunder Chest’ – was constructed as the second phase of Project Seabird, which was initiated by the Centre in 1985. INS Kadamba had been commissioned earlier. INS Vajrakosh alone is spread out over 600 acres. At the new naval base, The Indian Navy will be positioning two aircraft carriers – INS Vikramaditya and the indigenously built INS Vikrant – over 20 submarines in underground pens and 47 warships. Besides this, it will also have a Naval air station that will base the Boeing P-8i, an advanced maritime surveillance aircraft that is known as ‘Poseidon’. The facility will also feature a helicopter base. The Karwar base will cost the Indian exchequer Rs. 25000 crore. The Karwar Base – an exclusive Naval harbour – will be prove to be major advantage for the Navy. The Bombay, Cochin Harbours – the two major Naval stations in the Western Sea Board – are over-crowded with commercial traffic. 5. Homo Naledi Scientists say they’ve discovered a new member of the human family tree, revealed by a huge trove of bones in a barely accessible, pitch-dark chamber of a cave in South Africa. Researchers named the creature Homo naledi (nah-LEH-dee). That reflects the “Homo” evolutionary group, which includes modern people and our closest extinct relatives, and the word for “star” in a local language. The find was made in the Rising Star cave system. The site, about 30 miles northwest of Johannesburg, has yielded some 1,550 specimens since its discovery in 2013. The fossils represent at least 15 individuals. These species could have lived in Africa up to 3 million years ago. They have a tiny brain, a primitive pelvis and shoulders. They have more progressive human like body shape of its skull and have relatively small modern-looking teeth, primitive fingers, modern-looking feet and characteristic long legs.

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GA- 12 September 2 weeks ago 30 Comments 5343 view(s) GA- 12 September 1. IIP grows 4.2% in July A higher-than-expected 4.2% growth in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) or factory output number for July compared to 4.4% (revised from 3.8%). The General Index for the month of July 2015 stands at 180.3, which is 4.2% higher as compared to the level in the month of July 2014. The Indices

of Industrial Production for the Mining, Manufacturing and Electricity sectors for the month of July 2015 stand at 117.7, 190.7 and 190.3 respectively, with the corresponding growth rates of 1.3%, 4.7% and 3.5% as compared to July 2014. The cumulative growth for the period April-July 2015-16 over the corresponding period of the previous year stands at 3.5%. 3.The cumulative growth in the three sectors during April-July 2015-16 over the corresponding period of 2014-15 has been 0.6%, 4.0% and 2.6% respectively. Reasons Manufacturing sector posted a growth of 4.7 per cent compared to a contraction of 0.3 per cent during July 2014-15, capital goods production stood at an impressive 10.6 per cent compared to a contraction of 3 per cent during the same period last year. The mining sector also witnessed some improvement, growing 1.3 per cent. What is IIP? The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) is an index for India which details out the growth of various sectors in an economy such as mining, electricity and manufacturing. The all India IIP is a composite indicator that measures the short-term changes in the volume of production of a basket of industrial products during a given period with respect to that in a chosen base period. It is compiled and published monthly by the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) six weeks after the reference month ends. The level of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) is an abstract number, the magnitude of which represents the status of production in the industrial sector for a given period of time as compared to a reference period of time. The base year was at one time fixed at 1993-94 so that year was assigned an index level of 100. The current base year is 2004-2005. As IIP shows the status of industrial activity, you can find out if the industrial activity has increased, decreased or remained same. Following table shows the items & weightage of the items in the item basket comprising Manufacturing, Mining and Electricity. Sector Weight (Weightage in %) Items Manufacturing 755.27 (75.527%) 620 Mining 141.57 (14.157%) 61 Electricity 103.16 (10.316%) 1 total 1000 682 The items included in the new series of IIP are categorized into various use-based categories i.e., Basic goods, Capital goods, Intermediate goods, Consumer durables and Consumer non-durables. The summary of different use-based categories is given in Table Serial no. Use based category No. of item groups Weight 1 Basic goods 88 456.82 2 Capital goods 73 88.25 3 Intermediate goods 106 156.86 4 Consumer goods 132 298.08 4(i) Consumer durables 43 84.60 4(ii) Consumer non durables 89 213.47   2. CAD shrinks to 1.2 % India’s current account deficit (CAD) narrowed to $6.2 billion (1.2 per cent of GDP) in April-June, 2015-16, from $7.8 billion (1.6 per cent of GDP) a year ago. Quarter CAD (Amount)( Bn $) CAD ( as % of GDP) Apr- Jun 2015 6.2 1.2 Jan- Mar 2015 1.3 0.2 Oct- Dec 2014 8.3 1.6 July- Sep 2014 10.2 2.1 Apr- Jun 2014 7.8 1.6 Jan- Mar 2014 1.2 0.2 Reasons The merchandise trade deficit ($34.2 billion during Q1 of 2015-16) which contracted on a year-on-year (y-o-y) basis due to a larger absolute decline in merchandise imports relative to merchandise exports. Higher net earnings through services  Lower outflow on account of primary income (profit, dividend and interest) Other points Private transfer receipts, mainly representing remittances by Indians employed overseas, amounted to $16.2 billion, a marginal decline from their level a year ago Net inflows of foreign direct investment were higher on a y-o-y basis, however, portfolio investment declined sharply, almost entirely in the debt segment Current Account Deficit: A measurement of a country’s trade in which the value of goods and services it imports exceeds the value of goods and services it exports. The current account also includes net income, such as interest and dividends, as well as transfers, such as foreign aid, though these components tend to make up a smaller percentage of the current account than exports and imports. The current account is a calculation of a country’s foreign transactions Along with capital account is a component of a country’s balance of payment.   3. Rajasthan: 1st to submit plan under AMRUT Rajasthan became the first state in the country to submit its annual action plan under the newly launched Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) targeting universal coverage in respect of water supply connections and sewerage connections to all urban households in the state. The State Government has proposed projects under these two categories worth 1087 crore rupees for approval by the Union Urban Development Ministry during the financial year 2015-16. The AMRUT projects are proposed to be taken up in 13 of the 28 AMRUT cities in Rajasthan, which include Alwar, Beawar and Nagaur in which both water supply and sewerage projects will be taken up. Water supply projects will be taken up in seven other cities of Baran, Bhiwar, Bhilwara, Chittorgarh, Dhaulpur, Ganganagar City and Sujangarh. In Bhiwadi, Sikar and Udaipur, only sewerage and septage management projects will be taken up. These cities/towns have been

identified by the state government in line with the principles of prioritisation suggested in the mission guidelines. The state government has proposed Rs 555 crore to be spend on six sewerage and septage management projects and Rs 344 crore on 10 water supply projects. The state government will implement some mandatory reforms under AMRUT. It will create one website for each city, transfer all 18 functions to urban local bodies, revise building bye-laws, set up single window clearance for building permissions, ensure 90% coverage of tax revenue, undertake energy and water audit and migration to double entry accounting system in the next 6 to 12 months. After broad scrutiny of the state annual action plans, the union urban development ministry will release the first installment of 20% of project costs to the states. AMRUT Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) is the new avatar of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). The purpose of Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) is to (i) ensure that every household has access to a tap with assured supply of water and a sewerage connection; (ii) increase the amenity value of cities by developing greenery and well maintained open spaces (e.g. parks); and (iii) reduce pollution by switching to public transport or constructing facilities for non-motorized transport (e.g. walking and cycling). All these outcomes are valued by citizens, particularly women, and indicators and standards have been prescribed by the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) in the form of Service Level Benchmarks (SLBs).   4. Rakesh Sharma: MD and CEO of Canara Bank Rakesh Sharma was on 11 September 2015 appointed as Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Bengaluru-headquartered Canara Bank. Prior to this appointment, Sharma was the MD and CEO of Lakshmi Vilas Bank since March 2014.   5. Indra Nooyi, 2nd most powerful women Indra Nooyi, CEO of food and beverage giant PepsiCo is the sole Indian-origin executive in 2015 edition of Fortune’s list of 50 Most Powerful Women in Business. India-born Nooyi was placed at second position in this year’s list and has moved up by single position from her previous third position in year 2015. This edition of the list was topped by General Motors CEO Mary Barra. She heads United States largest auto-maker and it is her second year as head.   SPORTS NEWS 6. Paes-Hingis win US Open mixed doubles title Leander Paes created history by winning the U.S. Open mixed doubles title with Swiss partner Martina Hingis and surpassed compatriot and former partner Mahesh Bhupathi’s record. The 42-year-old Paes now has won nine Grand Slam mixed doubles titles, against Bhupathi’s eight. The fourth seeded India-Swiss pair, edged past unseeded Americans Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sam Querrey 6-4 3-6 10-7 in a tricky final to win their third Major title together this season. Paes is now only behind legendary Martina Navratilova, who won 10 mixed doubles trophies. Of those 10, two came with Paes, when they won Australian Open and Wimbledon in 2003. With this win, Paes and Hingis, who also won Australian Open and Wimbledon titles early this season, have become the first mixed doubles team since 1969 to win three Grand Slam mixed doubles titles in the same year. It was Paes’ 17th Grand Slam title overall and Hingis’ 19th. Hingis has won four Grand Slam titles and all of them have come with Indians. 7. Abitha M Manuel & Anamika Das: Bronze at CYG Abitha Mary Manuel and Anamika Das on 9 September 2015 won bronze medals at the 5th Commonwealth Youth Games (CYG) in Apia in Samoa. Manuel won the medal in girls 800m race, while Das won it in shot put event on the third and final day of athletics competitions. 8. Vikas: Silver in Asian Boxing Championships Indian boxer Vikas Krishan (75kg) won the silver medal in the 2015 Asian Boxing Championships. In the summit clash at Bangkok, Thailand, Vikas was defeated 0-2 by reigning Youth Olympic champion Bektemir Melikuziev of Uzbekistan. With Vikas’ silver, India finished their campaign with one silver and three bronze medals. L Devendro Singh (49kg), Shiva Thapa (56kg) and Satish Kumar (+91kg) won the bronze medals. 9. Lahiri: 1st Indian to qualify for Presidents Cup Anirban Lahiri becomes the first Indian golfer to qualify for a Presidents Cup. He will be part of the International Team in the 2015 championship. The championship is scheduled to be held at Incheon in South Korea between 2 October and 4 October 2015. Lahiri has  received the Arjuna Award that recognizes achievement in national sports in September 2014 Presidents Cup is a series of men’s golf matches between a team representing the USA and an International Team representing the rest of the world minus Europe. Europe competes against the USA in a similar but considerably older event, the Ryder Cup.

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GA- 13 & 14 September 2 weeks ago 6 Comments 4319 view(s) GA- 13 & 14 September 1. Defence to tie up with Private sector The Govt plans to build “strategic partnerships” with the private sector and has appointed a committee to formulate the guidelines for forging such partnerships in an effort to speed up defence procurements and build domestic expertise in critical areas. A committee has been appointed under the chairmanship of VK. Aatre, former chief of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), to formulate the guidelines in six critical areas and is expected to submit its report in 3-4 weeks. The idea is to have one or two domestic firms with expertise in each critical area which includes submarines, aircraft, missiles, electronic warfare systems, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) and critical materials and components. Once a domestic partner is selected talks will be initiated with foreign technology provider or FDI partner to bring in the technology. Defence  Minister Manohar Prrikar stressed  the need of selecting a right partner rather than the lowest bidder. He said that through lowest bidder, you may end up with someone who is not capable. There won’t be repetition. If an X group has been taken in as a strategic partner in one segment, it will not be considered for another segment. It can participate in partnership for other products. 2. AUSINDEX15 begins Inaugural bilateral maritime exercise between India and Australia AUSINDEX15, commenced off coast of Visakhapatnam. The exercise would start with a ‘Harbour Phase’, encompassing briefings and practical demonstrations along with professional interactions. This would progress to a ‘Sea Phase’ which would include fleet manoeuvres, gun firings as well as coordinated anti-submarine exercises. From Australia, Anzac class frigate, HMAS Arunta, oiler HMAS Sirius, and Collins class submarine HMAS Sheean will participate in the exercise while the Indian Navy would be represented by INS Shivalik (stealth frigate), INS Ranvijay (guided missile destroyer) and INS Shakti (fleet tanker). In addition, one Royal Australian Air Force P3C Orion Surveillance Aircraft and the Indian Navy’s P8I Maritime Patrol Aircraft will operate from Chennai during the exercise AUSINDEX15 naval exercise between navies of both countries is held in line with the Framework for Security Co-operation. The framework was announced by the Australian and Indian Prime Ministers in 2014. 3. Dr G Satheesh Reddy, Royal Aeronautical Society Silver Medal DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation) scientist Dr G Satheesh Reddy in the first week of September 2015 was conferred with the Silver Medal of the prestigious Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS). Dr Reddy was conferred with this medal in recognition of his contributions as one of the leading navigation and avionics experts of the Indian Defense research establishment. 4. US open 2015 The 135th US Open was played on outdoor hard courts at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Men’s Singles Title World number one Novak Djokovic beat Roger Federer in four dramatic sets to win his second US Open and 10th Grand Slam title. Women’s Singles Title Italy’s Flavia Pennetta has lifted the Women’s Singles trophy of the US Open. Pennetta defeated compatriot Roberta Vinci (Italy). She is the first Italian to win the US Open. Men’s Doubles Title French pair of Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut won the Men’s Doubles trophy of the US Open. In the final match, they defeated, Jamie Murray (United Kingdom) and John Peers (Australia) pair by 6–4, 6–4 score. Women’s Doubles Title Sania Mirza (India) and Martina Hingis (Switzerland) pair won the Switzerland women’s Doubles trophy of the US Open. In the final match, they defeated, Casey Dellacqua (Australia) and Yaroslava Shvedova (Kazakhstan) pair by 6–3, 6–3 score. Mixed Doubles Title Leander Paes (India) and Martina Hingis (Switzerland) pair won the Mixed Doubles trophy of Final Grand Slam of the US Open. Obituary 5. Ramaswamy Iyer passes away Renowned water policy expert Ramaswamy R. Iyer passed away in New Delhi following a severe bout of viral fever. He was instrumental in drafting India’s first National Water Policy in 1987. Ramaswamy R. Iyer was born in October 1929 in Thakkalai district of Tamil Nadu. He was best known for producing a rich body of commentary on water policy and environmental issues. 6. Kalamandalam Sathyabhama passes away Classical dancer (Mohiniyattam) Kalamandalam Sathyabhama passed away in Palakkad district of Kerala.S She was regarded as a matriarch of Mohiniyattam and was well-known for her experimental reforms in this classical dance form which helped to preserve and popularise the traditional art form. She also was the first woman Vice Principal of Kerala Kalamandalam and later, became its Principal till she retired in 1992. She was also well versed in other classical dances of Kerala Mohiniyattam is a classical dance form from Kerala and is considered as a very graceful form of dance meant to be performed as solo recitals by women. Believed to have originated in 16th century AD. It is one of the

eight Indian classical dance forms recognized by the Sangeet Natak Akademi.

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GA- 15 September 2 weeks ago 13 Comments 4222 view(s) GA- 15 September 1. Gujarat: Most investor-friendly State Gujarat has come out on top in the World Bank’s first ever ranking of States on the ease of doing business in India. The report, prepared on the request of the Modi government, gains importance by coming before the World Bank’s annual Doing Business report, which ranks nations and is expected to be released next month. States were assessed on the implementation, over a six-month period from January to June, of a 98-point reforms agenda. Chief Secretaries of States participating in the “Make in India” workshop inaugurated by Prime Minister Modi in New Delhi last December finalised this action plan on “Ease of Doing Business”. It was decided later to evaluate States to assess progress by June 2015. Gujarat implemented 71.14 per cent of the reforms, according to the assessment. Andhra Pradesh came second with a score of 70.12 per cent, Jharkhand third at 63.09 per cent, Chhattisgarh fourth with 62.45 per cent and Madhya Pradesh fifth with 62 per cent. The largest recipients of foreign investments, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, are ranked eighth and twelfth with less than 50 per cent scores. Other points The rankings reflect the ease of doing business in these States by the small and medium enterprises rather than foreign investors. The Union Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, the Confederation of Indian Industry, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (CII) and KPMG were involved in the exercise. The rankings of States will be released annually. The focus of the study is on eight key areas. Here is the list with the best states in each area.: The setting up of a business- Punjab allotment of land and obtaining construction permit- Madhya Pradesh complying with environment procedures- Gujarat complying with labour regulations- Jharkhand obtaining infrastructure-related utilities- Maharashtra registering and complying with tax procedures- Karnataka carrying out inspections-  Jharkhand enforcing contracts- Maharashtra 2. WPI contraction The official Wholesale Price Index for All Commodities (Base: 2004-05=100) for the month of August, 2015 declined by 0.5 percent to 176.7 (provisional) from 177.5 (provisional) for the previous month. The annual rate of inflation, based on monthly WPI, stood at -4.95% for the month of August, 2015 (over August, 2014) as compared to -4.05% for the previous month (July 2015). WPI Components 1. Primary Articles (Weight 20.12%)- rose by 1.7 percent Food Articles- The index for Food Articles group rose by 2.6 percent due to higher price of fruits & vegetables (10%), arhar (6%), gram and urad (3% each), bajra, pork and maize (2% each) and masur, ragi, wheat, barley and condiments & spices (1% each). However, the price of poultry chicken (6%), beef & buffalo meat (3%) and moong, tea and jowar (1% each) declined. Non- food articles- The index for Non-Food Articles group rose by 0.8 percent due to higher price of flowers (29%), copra (coconut) (8%), fodder and niger seed (7% each), safflower (kardi seed) and cotton seed (3% each), castor seed and groundnut seed (2% each) and mesta, sunflower and rape & mustard seed (1% each). However, the price of raw silk (12%), gaur seed (11%), raw rubber (8%), soyabean (6%), gingelly seed (sesamum) (3%) and linseed and raw cotton (2% each) declined. Minerals group- The index for Minerals group declined by 4.4 percent due to lower price of phosphorite (9%), crude petroleum (7%), sillimanite and copper ore (5% each) and iron ore (2 %). However, the price of zinc concentrate (8%) and chromite (2%) moved up. 2. Fuel & Power (Weight= 14.91%)-  declined by 4.5 percent  due to lower price of furnace oil (12%), aviation turbine fuel (11%), high speed diesel (9%), petrol (3%) and bitumen (1%). 3. Manufactured Products (Weight=64.97%)- declined by 0.4 percent Food Products group- declined Beverages, Tobacco & Tobacco Products group-  rose Textiles group -declined Wood & Wood Products group -rose Paper & Paper Products group – rose Leather & Leather Products group -rose Rubber & Plastic Products group -declined Chemicals & Chemical Products group -declined Non-Metallic Mineral Products group -rose Basic Metals, Alloys & Metal Products group -declined Machinery & Machine Tools group -declined Transport, Equipment & Parts group -declined 3. 20 % safeguard duty on steel for 200 days Finance minister Arun Jaitley on Monday announced the government’s decision to impose a 20 per cent safeguard duty on steel imports with immediate effect. The duty on specific steel products will be valid for 200 days. This is perhaps the first time in nearly two decades that the government is taking a

series of moves to “protect” the domestic steel industry since it was liberalised in the early 90s. Safeguard duty is a WTO-compatible temporary measure that is brought in for a certain timeframe to avert any damage to a country’s domestic industry from cheap imports. These duties are levied on the commodities by domestic governments/authorities to ensure that imports in excessive quantities do not cause injury to the domestic industry. Safeguard duties are temporary measures in defense of the Domestic Industry which is injured or has potential threat of injury due to sudden surge in imports. WHY?  In a bid to protect the domestic steel sector that is grappling with problems of low demand. Domestic steel producers including the Steel Authority of India Ltd, Essar Steel and JSW Steel had complained of a surge in imports of steel products like hot-rolled steel and other variants from China, Korea, Japan and Russia. According to DGS, the market share of domestic producers has been declining since 2013-14 and is likely to fall from 45 per cent to 37 per cent in 2015-16. China, Japan and Korea accounted for 76 per cent of total imports which almost doubled to 7 mt from 3.8 mt. Imports of Chinese steel grew by 232 per cent, Japan by 18 per cent and Korea by 46 per cent, according to steel ministry data. During April-June 2015, steel imports from China and Korea went up by 49 per cent and 105 per cent from Japan, as per data from Joint Plant Committee. STEPS Safeguard duty will be the latest in a series of steps taken by the NDA government to provide relief to the steel industry. Earlier this year, basic customs duties on steel were raised twice — in June and in August — by 2.5 per cent each time. However, in June an anti- dumping duty of up to $316 per tonne was slapped on imports of hot rolled steel from China and other countries. In 2013, a safeguard duty of 20 per cent was imposed on stainless steel (304 series) from China. 4. Andhra Pradesh unveils new tourism policy The Andhra Pradesh government today unveiled a new tourism policy. The policy’s objectives are to facilitate investments in the tourism sector to the tune of Rs 10,000 crore, raise its contribution to 7 per cent of the state GDP and create 5 lakh additional jobs by 2020. The policy aims to develop AP as one of the most preferred tourist destinations through sustained investments, robust infrastructure projects and services, and provide world-class tourist experience. On first day of the policy implementation, leading tour operators from across the country signed MoUs with the state government entailing Rs 3,845 crore of investments or fund infusion on operations in AP. Under the new policy, the TDP-led government has decided to set up a single desk for all tourism sector-related clearances, which would be provided within 21 days. If a department fails to follow guidelines or clear applications within the stipulated period, the officials concerned would be fined and face action. All projects with investment above Rs 200 crore, irrespective of the location, will be treated as mega tourism projects. Additional incentives and concessions on a case-to- case basis may be granted with nod from agencies concerned. The document provides for incentives like reduction in VAT (from 14 to 5 per cent), reimbursement of land registration charges, waiver of entertainment tax for three years and lower rate of electricity tariff, among others, for tourism plans. The government will set up two bodies – Green & Landscape Corporation and Swachh Andhra Corporation – to improve forest cover and promote cleanliness. 5. QS World University Rankings 2015-16 QS World University Rankings 2015-16 was released on 15 September 2015. It was the 12th edition in the series of annual global university ranking list. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) of the USA was adjudged as the top university in the world and Harvard the second. Indian Institute of Science-Bangalore (IISc-B) and the Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi (IIT-D) were ranked 147 and 179 respectively. The six performance indicators with corresponding weightages: Academic reputation (40%), Employer reputation (10%), Student-to-faculty ratio (20%), Citations per faculty (20%), International faculty ratio (5%) and international student ratio (5%). Among Asian universities National University of Singapore topped the list with the 11th position. List of Indian University with Rankings- Here is the list of top 7 Universities University Rankings IISc-Bangalore 147 IIT-Delhi 179 IIT-Bombay 202 IIT-Madras 254 IIT-KANPUR 271 IIT-KHAGRAPUR 286 IIT-ROORKEE 391   6. Additional 50 days’ work under MGNREGA The government has decided to provide an additional 50 days of manual work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in the current financial year in those regions where drought has been declared. The MGNREGA otherwise provides 100 days of assured work to each rural family. This will enable states to provide additional wage employment to rural poor in drought-affected areas. The poorest rural households will benefit from this, as it will help in immediate absorption of rural seasonal

unemployment, and reduce rural distress. Earlier, the government had announced diesel subsidy scheme for farmers to help save standing crops. It also enhanced ceiling on seed subsidy to compensate the farmers in the drought affected districts for the for the additional expenditure incurred in the re-sowing. The government has also announced appropriate input support measures to rejuvenate water-stressed horticulture crops in drought-hit areas. It has also decided to provide assistance for additional interventions for production of fodder for mitigating adverse impact of drought on livestock in drought-hit blocks. That apart, the Centre has made flexible allocation under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana and other centrally sponsored schemes. It has put in place crop contingency plan for 600 districts. 7. RBI, Nepal Rastra Bank for supervisory info exchange Reserve Bank inked an agreement with Nepal Rastra Bank on exchange of supervisory information. The Reserve Bank of India signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on ‘Supervisory Cooperation and Exchange of Supervisory Information’ with the Nepal Rastra Bank(NRB). The Reserve Bank has so far entered into Memorandum of Understanding with supervisors of 27 countries and Letter for Supervisory Co-operation and Statement of Co-operation with supervisors of one country each to promote greater co-operation and share supervisory information. 8. Tony Abbot ousted as Aus PM  Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott was  ousted from the power as leader of the ruling centre-right Liberal Party. He was ousted after he lost to challenger Malcolm Turnbull in an internal party leadership ballot. In the ballot, Abbott received 44 votes while Turnbull received 54 votes. With this, Turnbull, the former Communication Minister of Australia, became Australia’s fourth prime minister since 2013 and overall he is the 29th Prime Minister of Australia. This internal party leadership ballot was an outcome of the leadership challenge posed by Turnbull claiming that Tony Abbott was incapable of providing the economic leadership the country needs. 9. Hormusji N Cama: Chairman of PTI Hormusji N Cama was unanimously elected as the new chairman of the Press Trust of India (PTI). He is the Managing Director of Bombay Smachar, which is the oldest continuously-published newspaper in India from 1855. Riyad Mathew was unanimously elected as the Vice Chairman of the PTI. Cama and Mathews were elected to the post during the meeting of the Board of Directors following the PTI’s 67th Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in New Delhi. Press Trust of India (PTI) was registered in 1947 and started functioning in 1949. It is India’s premier news agency, having a reach as vast as the Indian Railways. Currently, PTI commands 90 per cent of new agency market share in India.

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GA- 16 September 1 week ago 6 Comments 3715 view(s) GA- 16 September 1. Exports slide for ninth straight month Trade deficit widened to $12.47 billion with import of the metal shooting up by 140 per cent in August from a year ago. However, the deficit has narrowed as compared with July, when the figure stood at $12.81 billion. Exports fell for the ninth consecutive month, dipping by 20.66 per cent in August to $21.26 billion on the back of a steep decline in engineering and petroleum shipments. Imports, too, declined by 9.95 per cent to $33.74 billion. The data revealed that gold imports increased to $4.95 billion in the month under review from $ 2.06 billion in August last year. The main sectors which reported decline in exports include petroleum products (47.88 per cent), engineering (29 per cent), leather (12.78 per cent), marine products (20.83 per cent) and carpet (22 per cent). Oil imports also dropped 42.59 per cent in August to $7.35 billion. Non-oil imports grew by 7.01 per cent to $26.38 billion. During the first five months (April-August) period, exports are down 16.17 per cent at $111.09 billion. Imports, too, have declined by 11.61 per cent to $168.6 billion, resulting in a trade deficit of $57.5 billion. 2. SBI Card Launches SimplyCLICK SBI Card, one of India’s leading credit card issuers, announced a strategic partnership with 7 of India’s biggest e-commerce players for its newest offering, the SimplyCLICK SBI Card. The collaboration is with the leading players in the e-commerce industry – Amazon India, BookMyShow, Cleartrip, FabFurnish, Food Panda, LensKart and Ola Cabs – all front runners in their respective categories. This latest offering from SBI Card is a tailor made credit card for the generation that is always online and comes with many features to ensure the best and most productive online shopping experience for the consumers. It is the country’s 1st ever credit card that focuses on online shopping across diverse

categories. With this new product, SBI Card is poised to leverage the popularity of online shopping and e-commerce in of online shopping and e-commerce in India. Customers can self-service their SimplyCLICK SBI Card accounts through technology platforms such as the SBI Card Mobile App, website and pull SMS channel The SimplyCLICK SBI Card will offer accelerated reward points to the tune of 5X on all online spends made by customers. Additionally, the card will offer reward points to the tune of 10X to cardholders on purchases made on partner sites. While the card offers one on-going benefits via accelerated rewards, it has various annual milestones to reward customers for their loyalty and extensive online spending behavior. A customer can get up to INR 4,000 worth of vouchers by spending just Rs.2 Lakh annually via the online medium. It comes with a nominal fee of INR 499 and will reward customers with an Amazon e-gift welcome voucher worth INR 500. The cardholders will receive reversal of the renewal fee on crossing annual spends of INR 1 Lakh. SimplyCLICK SBI Card can also be used at all merchant outlets within India and worldwide. Extending the card’s value proposition to offline retail spends, SBI SimplyCLICK SBI Card will offer fuel surcharge waiver of 2.5% across all petrol pumps in India. SBI Cards and Payment Services Private Limited (SBI Card) It is a joint venture between State Bank of India and GE Capital to offer Indian consumers extensive access to a wide range of world-class, value-added payment products and services. The partners have set up two joint venture companies to develop a credit card business in India — SBI Cards & Payment Services Pvt. Ltd., which focuses on the marketing and distribution of SBI Card and GE Capital Business Processes Management services pvt ltd , which handles the technology and processing needs of SBI Card. 3. FedBook Selfie from Federal Bank Finance Minister Arun Jaitley launched Federal Bank’s FedBook Selfie, India’s first mobile app for bank account opening. Federal Bank has introduced this unique bank account opening app as an upgrade to FedBook, its e-passbook app, which was a trendsetter at the time of its launch two years ago. To open an account, one has to download the FedBook on the mobile phone and carry out the following steps — take a selfie, scan the Aadhaar and PAN cards. The app verifies the Aadhaar card in real-time and opens the account at the click of a button. Once the account is opened, the app turns itself into the digital passbook for the customer. 4. Bangladesh PM wins UN Award  Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been selected for the United Nations Champions of the Earth award. UN Environment Programme (UNEP) has chosen her for this prestigious award in recognition of her country’s initiatives to address climate change. The awards will be presented to her at a special ceremony to be held on September 27, 2015 at closing ceremony of United Nations Sustainable Development Summit 2015. Bangladesh is first developing country to have a Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan which was prepared in 2009. It is also the first country to set up its own Climate Change Trust Fund which is supported by nearly 300 million US dollars from 2009-2012. 5. Sunjeev Sahota shortlisted for 2015 Man Booker Prize Indian-origin author Sunjeev Sahota has been short-listed for the prestigious 2015 Man Booker Prize for Fiction. Sunjeev Sahota’s novel The Year of the Runaways has been shortlisted which deals with the life experience of illegal immigrants from the Indian subcontinent in Britain. He is among the 6 authors who have been short-listed for this edition of prize by judges’ panel chaired by Michael Wood. Other short-listed authors are: Tom McCarthy (Britain), Anne Tyler (US), Marlon James (Jamaica), Hanya Yanagihara (US) and Chigozie Obioma (Nigeria).

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GA- 17 September 1 week ago 10 Comments 3823 view(s) GA- 17 September 1. 10 Small banks Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday granted ‘in principle’ approval to 10 companies to set up small finance banks aimed at giving loans to farmers and small businesses. The selected applicants are: Au Financiers (Jaipur), Capital Local Area Bank (Jalandhar), Disha Microfin (Ahmedabad), Equitas Holdings (Chennai), ESAF Microfinance and Investments (Chennai), Janalakshmi Financial Services (Bengaluru), RGVN (Northeast) Microfinance (Guwahati), Suryoday Micro Finance (Navi Mumbai), Ujjivan Financial Services (Bengaluru) and Utkarsh Micro Finance (Varanasi). What they will do? The small finance bank will primarily undertake basic banking activities of acceptance of deposits and lending to unserved and underserved sections including small business units, small and

marginal farmers, micro and small industries and unorganised sector entities. There won’t be any restrictions in the area of operations of small finance banks. The minimum paid-up equity capital for small finance banks shall be Rs 100 crore. The promoter’s minimum initial contribution to the paid-up equity capital of such a small finance bank should at least be 40 per cent and gradually brought down to 26 per cent within 12 years from the date of commencement of business of the bank. Process The RBI selected these ten applicants after three different committees contributing to the final decision, backed by detailed case study for each applicant. A preliminary scrutiny of all the applications involving prima facie eligibility including the ability to raise the minimum initial capital and the status of ownership and control by residents as per the guidelines was carried out by the RBI team. The findings of the preliminary scrutiny were presented to an External Advisory Committee (EAC) constituted under the chairmanship of Usha Thorat, former deputy governor of the RBI. The detailed scrutiny involved assessment of financial soundness, proposed business plan, fit and proper status based on due diligence reports received from the regulators, investigative agencies and banks. An important factor was proposed reach into unbanked areas and underserved sections of the population. The “in-principle” approval granted to the ten small banks will be valid for 18 months to enable the applicants to comply with the requirements under the guidelines and fulfil other conditions as may be stipulated by the RBI. On being satisfied that the applicants have complied with the requisite conditions, the RBI would consider granting them a licence for commencement of banking business under the Banking Regulation Act, 1949. Earlier steps for the Financial inclusion agenda The RBI had granted approval to 11 entities for launching payments banks in August 2015. It had given approval to IDFC and Bandhan to start universal banks last year. 2. Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission  Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission (SPMRM) with an outlay of Rs 5142.08 crore.In an ambitious bid to transform rural areas to economically, socially and physically sustainable spaces, the Union Cabinet chaired by The Mission aims at development of rural growth clusters which have latent potential for growth, in all States and UTs, which would trigger overall development in the region. These clusters would be developed by provisioning of economic activities, developing skills & local entrepreneurship and providing infrastructure amenities. The Rurban Mission will thus develop a cluster of Smart Villages. These clusters would be well delineated areas with planned layouts prepared following the planning norms (as laid down in the State Town and Country Planning Acts/similar Central or State statutes as may be applicable), which would be duly notified by the State/UTs. These plans would be finally integrated with the District Plans/Master Plans as the case may be. The State Governments would identify the clusters in accordance with the Framework for Implementation prepared by the Ministry of Rural Development. The clusters will be geographically contiguous Gram Panchayats with a population of about 25000 to 50000 in plain and coastal areas and a population of 5000 to 15000 in desert, hilly or tribal areas. There would be a separate approach for selection of clusters in Tribal and Non-Tribal Districts. For the selection of clusters, the Ministry of Rural Development is adopting a scientific process of cluster selection which involves an objective analysis at the District, Sub District and Village level, of the demography, economy, tourism and pilgrimage significance and transportation corridor impact. The mission aims to create 300 such Rurban growth clusters over the next 3 years, across the country. The funding for Rurban Clusters will be through various schemes of the Government converged into the cluster.     3. India, Cambodia sign two MoUs Vice-President Hamid Ansari  signed two Memorandums of Understanding — on tourism, and on the Mekong-Ganga Cooperation Initiative — with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen following a session of delegation-level talks. The Mekong-Ganga MoU related to five ‘quick impact projects’, one of which was a $50,000-grant to Cambodia for the upgradation of an Entrepreneurship Development Centre. The other four projects included two in healthcare, especially to do with malaria, one on agriculture and one on women’s empowerment. The tourism MoU was aimed at boosting tourist movement between the two countries. Mr Ansari will visit the famous Angkor Wat temple at Siem Reap in Cambodia and then travel to Vientiane, the capital of Laos. 4. International Day for Preservation of Ozone Layer 16 September: International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer 21st International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer was observed across the world on 16 September 2015. The theme and the slogan for the year 2015 are 30 Years of Healing the Ozone Together and Ozone: All there is

between you and UV respectively. The Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone layer was signed on March 22, 1985 and the Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the Ozone layer was signed on September 16, 1987. India became Party to the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer on March 18, 1991 and the Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the Ozone layer on June 19, 1992. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Vienna Convention for the protection of the Ozone layer, an important milestone for the protection of the Ozone layer. Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer was signed on 16 September 1987. It has been recognized as the most successful international environment treaty in history, which has received universal ratification; all countries in the world have now ratified this landmark agreement. 5. Manpreet Kaur breaks national record Railways shot putter Manpreet Kaur on 16 September 2015 shattered an 18-year-old national record at the 55th National Open Athletics Championship at Kolkata. Patiala-based shot putter broke the record of Harbans Kaur of 17.43 metres that came in 1997 by throwing 17.96 metres in her second attempt to claim the gold medal, a hat-trick of titles at the National Open. With this, Manpreet Kaur (25) also qualified for the Rio 2016 Olympics that is scheduled to be held from 5 August to 21 August 2016. The IAAF entry standard for 2016 Rio Olympics in women’s shot put is 17.80m, while the top three in London 2012 Olympics threw 20m plus.     6. Aqeela Asifi:  2015 Nansen Refugee Award Afghan refugee teacher Aqeela Asifi was on 15 September 2015 awarded with the 2015 Nansen Refugee Award by United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Asifi dedicated her life to bring education to refugee girls in Pakistan. UNHCR’s Nansen Refugee Award recognizes extraordinary humanitarian work on behalf of refugees, internally displaced or stateless people.  The award includes a commemorative medal and a 100000 US dollars monetary prize. This prize money is further used by  the laureate to fund a project that complements their existing work in consultation with UNHCR. UNHCR was established on 14 December 1950 by the United Nations General Assembly. 7. Hangzhou to host 2022 Asian Games Capital city of Zhejiang Province Hangzhou in East China has been chosen by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) to host the 2022 Asian Games.  It’s the third Chinese city to host the Asian games following Beijing in 1990 and Guangzhou in 2010. Asian Games also known as Asiad is a pancontinental multi-sport event (44 sports events) among athletes from all over Asia. It is held every four years and regulated and organized by the OCA since 1982. It was first held in 1951 in New Delhi, India Incheon, South Korean city had hosted last Asian Games in 2014, while Indonesia’s Jakarta will host it in 2018 Asian Games.

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GA- 18 September 1 week ago 10 Comments 4078 view(s) GA- 18 September 1. 8th Edition of Global Innovation Index 2015 India’s ranking has slipped further to 81 in the list of Global Innovation Index, compared to 76 in 2014, on account of factors like consistently poor performance in ease of doing business, slow pace of policy decision-making and changing political environment. Over the last four years, India has witnessed a reduction in its overall GII ranking, which dropped from 62nd place in 2011 to 76th in 2014. Switzerland, the UK, Sweden, the Netherlands and the US are the world’s five most innovative nations, according to the Global Innovation Index 2015, while China, Malaysia, Vietnam, India, Jordan, Kenya, and Uganda are among a group of countries outperforming their economic peers. The study, which ranked 141 economies across the world on their innovation capacity and efficiency said that India has outperformed its peers in the Central and Southern Asian Region (CSA) and positioned itself as innovation achiever in the lower-middle income category. Top-scoring middle-income economies on innovation quality are China, Brazil and India with China increasingly outpacing the others. Who Prepares? Cornell University- Research university located in Ithaca,New York. INSEAD France- INSEAD is a graduate business school. World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)-  World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is one of the 17 specialized agencies of the United Nations. WIPO was created in 1967 “to encourage creative activity, to promote the protection of intellectual property throughout the world.” WIPO currently has 188 member states, administers 26 international treaties, and is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. 2. Godavari, Krishna Rivers formally interlinked Godavari River was formally interlinked with the Krishna River at Ibrahimpatnam near Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh. 3,000 TMC of the Godavari’s flood

waters flows into the Bay of Bengal every year. Successive Andhra Pradesh governments have been trying to harness at least 10 per cent of this water and divert some of it into the Krishna, whose delta faces an acute shortage of water for irrigation from June to August. While the plan is to eventually divert water from the Polavaram dam, since the dam is still under construction and will take at least 4 to 5 years to be ready, the Chandrababu Naidu government decided to divert Godavari water from the Pattiseema Lift Irrigation Scheme. The stored water by interlinking rivers at Prakasam Barrage in Vijayawada will be diverted to irrigate paddy crop on 7 lakh acres in the Krishna, West and East Godavari districts, which are often called the rice bowl of the country. 3. Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojana  The Central Government announced the launch of the Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojana. (PMKKKY). This is a new programme meant to provide for the welfare of areas and people affected by mining related operations, using the funds generated by District Mineral Foundations (DMFs). Minister of Mines and Steel Shri Narendra Singh Tomar said, PMKKKY is a revolutionary and unprecedented scheme of its kind, which will transform the lives of people living in areas which are affected directly or indirectly by mining. The objective of PMKKKY scheme will be to implement various developmental and welfare projects/programs in mining affected areas that complement the existing ongoing schemes/projects of State and Central Government to minimize/mitigate the adverse impacts, during and after mining, on the environment, health and socio-economics of people in mining districts to ensure long-term sustainable livelihoods for the affected people in mining areas. Care has been taken to include all aspects of living, to ensure substantial improvement in the quality of life. High priority areas like drinking water supply, health care, sanitation, education, skill development, women and child care, welfare of aged and disabled people, skill development and environment conservation will get at least 60 % share of the funds. For creating a supportive and conducive living environment, balance funds will be spent on making roads, bridges, railways, waterways projects, irrigation and alternative energy sources. The Mines and Minerals (Development & Regulation) Amendment Act, 2015, mandated the setting up of District Mineral Foundations (DMFs) in all districts in the country affected by mining related operations. 4. NXT DIGITAL – Headend-In-The-Sky platform Shri Arun Jaitley, Union Minister of Finance, Corporate Affairs and Ministry of Information & Broadcasting today launched the Headend In The Sky (HITS) digital platform initiative, under the brand name NXT DIGITAL promoted by Hinduja Group. The NXT DIGITAL Broadcast Centre is a state-of-the-art next-generation MPEG-4 facility that has been designed and purpose-built to provide a variety of services to the cable distribution fraternity and their customers all across India. The technology is future-proof and would offer enhanced television experiences for the subscriber whilst allowing the cable fraternity to manage their networks effortlessly using new-age cloud solutions, with a minimal investment. The back-end technology systems are based on sophisticated and complex architectures that can even deliver unique services like television access on mobile devices and tablets as well as information dissemination services to laser-targeted localities by various agencies for Emergency Alerts etc. 5. Chanderpaul receives Icon Award Veteran Test cricket left-hander Shiv Chanderpaul has been honoured with the Icon Award by the Indo-Caribbean Alliance. In a ceremony held in New York recently, the 41-year-old was given the New York City-based organisation’s highest award and was one of four persons honoured in a five-hour-long ceremony in Flushing, reports CMC. Chanderpaul has been one of the most prolific run-scorers in West Indies cricket, amassing 11,867 runs from 164 Tests at an average of 51. He is only second to Brian Lara in aggregate. 5. Perumanna: First Panchayat in Kerala to declare a Water Policy In Kerala, Perumanna Grama Panchayat in Kozhikode district has become the first Panchayat in the State, to declare a water policy on the lines of the State government’s water policy declared in 2008. The water policy of Perumanna was drafted with the help of the Centre for Water Resources Development and Management, Kunnamangalam, after a detailed study of water resources and usage in the Panchayat over the last two years. The Panchayat has drafted a 13-point action plan to ensure proper utilisation and conservation of water in its 18 wards. Thepolicy is to increase water literacy in the panchayat through extensive water conservation and awareness programmes. The policy also seeks to make panchayat garbage free by 2020, thus eliminating water pollution completely. Under the policy, Water conservation committees will be formed at ward level as well as panchayat level.

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GA- 19, 20 & 21 September 5 days ago 2 Comments 2618 view(s) GA- 19, 20 & 21 September 1. PM Narendra Modi launches IPDS Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched here the Rs 45,000-crore Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS) which will strengthen distribution networks and ensure 24X7 power supply to all by 2022. To start the scheme in Varanasi, PM laid foundation stone of two power substations and Union Government will provide 572 crore rupees to implement it. The IPDS will cover works relating to strengthening sub-transmission and distribution system, including provisioning of solar panels, metering of distribution transformers/feeders/consumer in urban areas and IT enablement of distribution sector. The Prime Minister also announced that two sub-stations will be set up in Varanasi to help improve power distribution infrastructure in the city. Modi also appealed to the people of Varanasi to replace incandescent bulbs with energy efficient LED lamps saying this would bring revolution in the country. 2. E Sreedharan to serve UN High Level Advisory Group on Sustainable Transport Metro Man’ E Sreedharan has been invited to the United Nations’ High Level Advisory Group on Sustainable Transport (HLAG-ST). The service is for a period of three years and Sreedharan has accepted the offer. Under his leadership, Konkan Railway and the Delhi Metro projects were completed on time. He is known as Metro Man by the Indian media for his grand success in executing the completion of the Delhi Metro on time and with stipulated budget. 4. National Tourism Awards 2013-14 President Pranab Mukherjee on 18 September 2015 presented the National Tourism Awards 2013-14 at a function held at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi. The National Tourism Awards are presented annually by Union Ministry of Tourism to various segments of the travel, tourism and hospitality industry. These awards are being given since the early 1990s. The awards are awarded to State Governments, Union Territories, hotels, travel agents, tour operators and individuals in recognition of their performance in their respective fields. Winners The state of Gujarat was awarded for the Best State/UT for Comprehensive Tourism Development Heritage City Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh as the Best Heritage City Municipal Council of Maheshwar (Distt.Khargone) in Madhya Pradesh for Best Civic Management of a Tourist Destination in B Category. Gujarat has been awarded as the Best Film Promotion Friendly State/Union territory. Department of Tourism of Kerala received the award for Most Innovative use of Information technology. The Great backwaters of Kerala by Kerala Tourism has been awarded the Best Tourism Film. 5. Vettel wins Singapore Grand Prix Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel from Germany has won 2015 Singapore Grand Prix of Formula One. It was overall fourth victory for Vettel in Singapore Grand Prix as he had earlier won in 2011, 2012 and 2013. Earlier he had won Malaysian Grand Prix and Hungarian Grand Prix. Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) of Red Bull and Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) of Ferrari were fourth and fifth respectively. 6. 21 Sept: International Day of Peace The International Day of Peace was observed on 21 September 2015 across the world to recognise the efforts of those who have worked hard to end conflict and promote peace. The theme of International Day of Peace for the year 2015 is Partnerships for Peace- Dignity for All. The International Day of Peace is observed around the world on 21 September every year. The United Nations General Assembly has devoted this day to strengthen the ideals of peace, both within and among all nations and peoples. The International Day of Peace was established in 1981 by resolution 36/67 of the United Nations General Assembly to coincide with its opening session, which was held annually on the third Tuesday of September. The first Peace Day was observed in September 1982. In 2001, the General Assembly by unanimous vote adopted resolution 55/282, which established 21 September as an annual day of non-violence and cease-fire. 7. Ajay Jayaram: Silver in Korea Open India’s Ajay Jayaram has won silver medal in 2015 Korea Open Badminton tournament in the Men’s singles category. In the final match played at Seoul, he lost to World no. one Cheng Long of China by 14-21, 12-21 score settling to silver medal. With this Ajay Jayaram became first Indian badminton player to win a medal in Korea Open Badminton tournament. The last time Jayaram made it to the last-four stage of a Superseries was in 2012 – in the China Masters. Thereafter, he lost the race for the London Olympics berth to Parupalli Kashyap, suffered injuries and was out of action for most part of the last three years. 8. BCCI President Jagmohan Dalmiya passes away Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President Jagmohan Dalmiya

passed away in in Kolkata, West Bengal. He became BCCI president in 2001 for the first time and continued till 2004. For second time, he became President of BCCI in March 2015. Dalmiya also had served as President of the International Cricket Council (ICC) from 1997 to 2000. He was first Indian and first Asian to head the ICC. He was also instrumental in organising cricket World Cups to the Indian sub-continent in 1987 and 1996. 9. Jackie Collins passes away Jackie Collins, the bestselling author of dozens of novels including Hollywood Wives that dramatised the lives of the rich and treacherous, died Saturday. Collins died of breast cancer in Los Angeles. She was 77. In her four decades of writing career, she had written more than 32 novels, all of them had appeared on The New York Times bestsellers list.  

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GA- 22 September 4 days ago 2 Comments 2063 view(s) GA- 22 September  1. Fast patrol and interceptor vessels Two Coast Guard Ships — Apoorva and C-421 — were commissioned into the service here today by Vice Admiral SPS Cheema, Flag Officer, Commanding-in-Chief, Western Naval Command. ICGS Apoorva and C-421 have been designed and built by M/s Cochin Shipyard Limited and L&T Limited, Surat, respectively. ICGS Apoorva, 14th in the series of 20, is a 50-meter long Fast Patrol Vessel which displaces 317 tonnes and can achieve a maximum speed of 33 knots. The ship is commanded by Commandant (JG) Dinesh Dogra with a complement of 5 officers and 34 ranks. It is well-equipped to undertake close-coast surveillance, interdiction, search and rescue and medical evacuation missions. Commissioned over one month ahead of the schedule, it will be based in Goa. ICGS C-421 is an interceptor boat with 27.8 meter length and displaces 106 tonnes. The ship is commanded by Deputy Commandant Rohit Kulkarni with a complement of one officer and 13 ranks. It is a water jet propelled vessel, 27th in the series of IBs constructed by L & T Limited and can achieve a maximum speed of 45 knots. The ship is being commissioned nearly two years ahead of schedule. Fitted with medium range armaments, the ship is designed for close coast and shallow water operations. The vessel is based at Androth (L&M Islands). Vice Admiral Cheema in his speech termed the Fast Patrol Vessels as the workhorses of the Indian Coast Guard. 2. Shamim Hanfi: Jnangarima Manad Alankaran award Renowned Urdu scholar Shamim Hanfi was honoured with the Jnangarima Manad Alankaran by Bharatiya Jnanpith in New Delhi. The award was declared at the annual Kavita Samay, an evening of poetry recitation by authors in Hindi and Urdu. The scholar is best known for his books on criticism like, Ghazal Ka Naya Manzarnama, Jadidiyat ki Falsafiyani Asas and Infiradi Shaoor aur Ijtemai Zindagi.  Bharatiya Jnanpith instituted the Jnangarima Manad Alankaran award in 2015 to commemorate 70 years of the institution. The Bharatiya Jnanpith was founded in 1944 to undertake systematic research and publication of Sanskrit, Prakrit, Pali and Apabhramsha texts and covers subjects like religion, philosophy, logic, ethics, grammar, astrology and poetics. It annually publishes books in Hindi (both original and translated works) and other languages, and also presents the literary awards, the Jnanpith Awards and the Moortidevi Award, besides awards for upcoming writers. 3. Nepal adopts new Constitution Nepal has adopted new Constitution marking the country’s transition to a secular and democratic republic. The new Constitution was unveiled by Nepalese President Ram Baran Yadav. arlier the Parliament had unanimously adopted the new Constitution by a 507-25 votes in the 601 seat Constituent Assembly (CA) after seven years of painstaking deliberations. The new constitution defines the Nepal, a majority Hindu nation as a secular republic divided into seven federal provinces. The new Constitution has been drafted by second Constituent Assembly (CA) which was elected in 2013. Chairman of CA was Subash Nemwang. The first CA established 2008 after the abolishment of the Himalayan country’s 240-year-old Hindu monarchy was not able to finish its task despite four extensions. Proclaimed in the name of Nepali people, the new constitution has 35 parts, 308 articles and nine schedules. 4. Cow Becomes National Animal of Nepal Cow, which is sacred to Hindus, has been declared the national animal of Nepal in the country’s newly-unveiled secular Constitution. With this, the animal has constitutional protection and cow slaughter has also been banned. 5. Alexis Tsipras wins Greece General Election Alexis Tsipras led left-wing Syriza party has emerged as the largest party in the general (snap) elections to the Greece’s Parliament. In this election, Syriza party won 144 seats in the 300 seat Parliament by securing 35

percent of total votes. While the Conservative New Democracy Party has emerged second largest party by winning 75 seats and Golden Dawn has emerged third largest party by winning 18 seats. With about a quarter of votes counted, Tsipras’s Syriza party was on course to claim 35.3 percent of the vote, easily seeing off his main conservative challengers New Democracy on 28.1 per cent. He called the election last month when his party split over his reversal on the 86 billion euro bailout, which he had accepted despite having won a referendum mandate to reject similar terms. 6. Egypt’s new PM Sherif Ismail Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi today sworn-in a new government, a week after the previous Cabinet resigned following a corruption scandal. Sherif Ismail, who was Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources in the earlier government, took oath of office as the new Prime Minister in the 33-member Cabinet that consists of three women and 16 new members Former premier Ibrahim Mahlab’s government resigned on September 12, days after the arrest of Agriculture Minister Salah Helal as part of a corruption probe that is investigating several officials for allegedly receiving over $1 million in bribes. Egypt’s governments in the past have been mired with corruption allegations and has been in turmoil since the 2011 uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak.

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GA- 23 September 3 days ago 6 Comments 2003 view(s) GA- 23 September 1. ADB revises India’s growth rate The Asian Development Bank slashed India’s growth forecast to 7.4 per cent in 2015-16 from its earlier projection of 7.8 per cent in March Reasons given: Weak monsoons Stalled structural reforms Continued economic slowdown in developed economies. The ADB also revised India’s GDP growth projection for next fiscal to 7.8 per cent from its earlier estimate of 8.2 per cent. It also scaled down China’s growth forecast to 6.8 per cent in 2015 on the back of weak exports and slowdown in investments. Other cuts Just to remind you so that you don’t forget the previous news. Global Agency 2015 2016 S&P 7.9 (from 6.2) 8.2 ( from 6.6) FITCH 7.8 (from 8) 8.1 (from 8.3) MOODY’S 7 (from 7.5) 7.5 (from 7.5) In February, Standard & Poor’s sharply raised India’s growth forecasts for the next several years to reflect a recent change in how gross domestic product is calculated by the government, and said the economy should be a “bright spot” in Asia. They also cited well rising investment and low oil prices. But that was back in February. Lately, Fitch and Moody’s lowered the growth forecast. Why they lowered the forecast? FITCH_ The reasons given Deficient rains Lack of pick up in capital expenditure Weak Rural and export demand MOODY’S _ The reasons given Below average monsoon Slow pace of reforms of the Modi Govt Moody’s also said The economic activity will continue to strengthen on the back of reforms that foster domestic and foreign investment. Fall in inflation would lead to income gains resulting in consumption growth. And now ADB is the latest that has lowered the growth rate.   2. FSSAI chief moved to NITI Aayog Yudhvir Singh Malik, who presided over the ban of Nestlé India’s Maggi noodles as chief executive officer of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) in June, has been transferred to NITI Aayogas additional secretary of the NITI Aayog. Malik is a Haryana cadre Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the 1983 batch. 3. SEBI’s highest penalty The Sebi imposed a penalty of Rs 7,269.5 crore on Pearls Agrotech Corporation Limited (PACL) and its four directors. WHAT DID PACL DO? PACL collected Rs 49, 100 crore  from 5.85 crore customers over 15 years. They mobilised funds from the general public through illicit collective investment schemes including in the name of purchase and development of agriculture land. And this huge illegal mobilisation of money, lead to consequent profit to the tune of over Rs 2,423 crore in a short span of less than one year. Thus they duped the common man PENALTY Under Sebi norms, it can impose a penalty of Rs 25 crore or three times of the profit made by indulging in fraudulent and unfair trade practices and in the present case the regulator has imposed a fine equivalent to three times of the illicit gains. Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said the company deserved “maximum penalty” for duping the common man. BACKGROUND The penalty follows another order by Sebi last year wherein PACL was asked to refund Rs 49,100 crore it had collected through illicit schemes over a 15-year period. The refund order was also upheld last month by the Securities Appellate Tribunal, where PACL had filed an appeal. NOTE: This is the biggest-ever amount, as also the largest number of investors, so far involved in a

case found to be running illegal money pooling scheme. The amount concerned is twice that collected by the Sahara Group, which is said to have mobilised Rs 24,000 crore. 4. 24th Vyaas Samman: Hindi writer Dr Kamal Kishore Goenka Eminent Hindi writer Dr Kamal Kishore Goenka was conferred with 24th Vyaas Samman for the year 2014 on 22 September 2015. He was awarded for his work ‘Premchand ki Kahaniyon ka Kaal Kramanusaar Adhyayan’. The award was instituted in 1991 by the KK Birla Foundation. It is presented to an outstanding literary work in Hindi published during the last 10 years. Vishwanath Tripathi received the award for the year 2013 for his memoir ‘Vyomkesh Darvesh’ that is a biography of the noted Hindi scholar Acharya Hazari Prasad Dwivedi. 5. Nooyi, Bhartia: 2015 Global Leadership Award PepsiCo Chairman Indra Nooyi and Hindustan Times Group chairperson Shobhana Bharatia have been presented with the 2015 Global Leadership Award of the US India Business Council, for their commitment to driving a more inclusive global economy and their roles as women leaders. Ms Nooyi and Ms Bharatia were honoured with this prestigious annual award last evening during the annual gala of the USIBC, the top advocacy group for India and American companies in the US. Renowned Indian-American artist, Natvar Bhavsar who is known for his abstract expressionism and “color-field” painting was awarded the Artistic Achievement Award. 6. National Health Profile (NHP)-2015 Union Health and Family Welfare Minister J P Nadda, released the National Health Profile (NHP)-2015 prepared by the Central Bureau of Health Intelligence (CBHI). The E-book (digital version) of the annual document, which has been prepared for the first time, was also released. The National Health Profile covers demographic, socio-economic, health status and health finance indicators, along with comprehensive information on health infrastructure and human resources in health. The CBHI has been publishing National Health Profile every year since 2005. This is the 11th edition. The NHP highlights substantial health information under six major indicators – Demographic, Socio-Economic, Social, Economic, Employment, Housing and Amenities, Drinking Water and Sanitation and Health Status.

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GA- 24 September 2 days ago 2 Comments 2028 view(s) GA- 24 September 1. Bank of Maharashtra launches MUDRA Card Bank of Maharashtra has launched Mudra card to meet the credit requirements of micro and small entrepreneurs. The card was launched by the Chairman-cum-Managing Director, S Muhnot, on the occasion of the bank’s 81st foundation day celebrations today. Issued as a Rupay debit card, the Mudra card is a flexible credit product that meets the working capital needs of micro and small entrepreneurs as cash can be withdrawn from any ATM or merchandise purchased using POS machine. The Mudra scheme was launched by the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, with an aim to fulfill the needs of micro/small entrepreneurs engaged in all non-farm sector income-generating activities such as manufacturing, trading and services whose credit needs are up to Rs. 10 lakh. Bank of Maharashtra is offering Mudra loans at base rate and no processing charges are levied for loans up to Rs. 5 lakh. Other banks has also launched Mudra Card like Corporation Bank, Karnataka Bank and Andhra Bank. MUDRA Card is an innovative credit product wherein the borrower can avail of credit in a hassle free and flexible manner It will provide a facility of working capital arrangement in the form of CC/OD to the borrower. ( CC- Cash Credit and OD- Overdraft) Since MUDRA Card will be a RuPay Debit Card, it can be used for drawing cash from ATM or Business Correspondent or make purchase using Point of Sale machine. Facility is also there to repay the amount as and when surplus is available, thereby reducing the interest burden. 2. NITI forms expert panel on land lease  Government think-tank NITI Aayog has constituted an expert group on land leasing, headed by former CACP chairman T Haque, besides extending the task force on agriculture development up to October, 2015. The 10 member committee will have representation from Andhra Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Maharashtra, Assam, Rajasthan, Meghalaya and Joint Secretary H S Meena from the Department of Land Resources. J P Mishra, Adviser (Agriculture) in NITI Aayog will be the member secretary. The terms of the reference of the expert committee are to review the existing agricultural tenancy laws of states, including hilly states and schedule areas, to examine the distinctive features of land system in erstwhile zamindari, ryotwari and mahalwari areas. Besides, it would suggest appropriate amendments, keeping in view the need to legalise and

liberalise land leasing for much needed agricultural efficiency, equity, occupational diversification, and rapid rural transformation. It will also prepare a model agricultural land leasing act in consultation with states. NITI extend Task force report The task force on agriculture constituted on March 16, 2015, headed by NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Arvind Panagariya, was earlier expected to finalise its report by August 31. The task force is to frame policy recommendations in areas such as land, national common market, crop prices, fertiliser use, seeds and genetically modified (GM) technology, and agrarian distress. 3. “Court” is India’s official entry to Oscars Chaitanya Tamhane’s debut Marathi movie Court, a courtroom drama which won a National Film Award, was chosen as India’s official entry for the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 88th Academy Awards. Featuring impactful performances by actors Vivek Gomber, Vira Sathidar, Geetanjali Kulkarni, Pradeep Joshi, Usha Bane and Shirish Pawar, the movie did its fair share of rounds at foreign movie galas after premiering at the 71st Venice International Film Festival last year. Last year, “Liar’s Dice“, a road drama starring Geetanjali Thapa and Nawazuddin Siddiqui in lead roles, was selected as India’s official entry to the Best Foreign Film category of Oscars, but it failed to make it to the top five at the Academy Awards. The 88th Academy Awards ceremony will be held on 28 February, 2016. 4. Mukesh Ambani tops Forbes India rich list Industrialist Mukesh Ambani has been named India’s richest for ninth year in a row with a net worth of $18.9 billion even as his wealth dipped by $4.7 billion in a year, while ecommerce giant Flipkart’s founders made their debut on the country’s top 100 rich list. As per Forbes magazines latest India rich list released, Ambani was followed by Sun Pharma’s Dilip Shanghvi as the second richest with a net worth of $18 billion, while Wipro’s Azim Premji retained his third place with $15.9 billion. Flipkart’s co-founders Sachin and Binni Bansals made their debut at 86th position with a net worth of $1.3 billion each. The combined wealth of India’s 100 richest persons remained largely unchanged at $345 billion, compared with $346 billion in 2014, Forbes said. The magazine said the Indian economy was estimated to grow 7 percent this year, but the wealth of many of India’s 100 richest has declined due to the fall in the stock markets and depreciation of the rupee over the past one year. In the top ten, Hinduja brothers were ranked 4th with $15.9 billion, followed by Pallonji Mistry at $14.7 billion, Shiv Nadar ($12. 9 billion), Godrej family ($11.4 billion), Lakshmi Mittal ($11.2 billion), Cyrus Poonawala ($7.9 billion) and Kumar Mangalam Birla ($7.8 billion). 5. Lalita Prasid wins award at Google Science Fair Lalita Prasida Sripada Srisai, a class IX student from Damanjodi in Koraput district in Odisha won the ‘Community Impact Award’ at the prestigious Google Science Fair in California. This student of DPS Damanjodi developed a low-cost bio-absorbent based water purifier which uses waste corn cobs as key ingredient. She has won the award in 13-15 years age group. The winners of the fifth annual Google Science Fair were announced live from Google Headquarters in Mountain View, California. As part of this award, Lalita received 10,000 US dollars as prize money. Lalita will be further supported for one year by the organisation to build on her project.

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GA- 25 September 1 day ago 4 Comments 1783 view(s) GA- 25 September 1. MEA Team reshuffle Syed Akbaruddin, an Additional Secretary in the MEA, has been made the Permanent Representative of India (PMI) at the United Nations in New York. Gautam Bambawale, India’s ambassador to Bhutan, will take over from TCA Raghavan as high commissioner to Pakistan when the latter retires in December. Navtej Sarna, presently secretary (west) in MEA will be India’s next high commissioner to London. Anil Wadhwa, secretary (east), will go to Rome, which has become more prominent given the level of Indian economic interests. 2. Sourav Ganguly: CAB president Former Indian Cricket team captain Sourav Ganguly has been appointed as President of Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB). Sourav Ganguly will succeed Jagmohan Dalmiya. The post had fallen vacant after the sudden demise of Dalmiya at the age of 75 on 20 September 2015. Prior to this appointment, Ganguly was the Joint-secretary of the CAB. 3. EPFO gets Skoch Awards for smart governance initiatives The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has received the SKOCH Award for smart governance for its initiatives on UAN programme and transformation of social security agenda in India. Congratulating EPFO for the fifth award in the last two years, Minister of State (Independent Charge) Labour and Employment Bandaru Dattatreya expressed hope that this will motivate EPFO to launch further e-

governance initiatives for the welfare of various stakeholders. The EPFO was also awarded two SKOCH Order-of-Merit, one for launching the UAN for EPFO members and another for transformation of Social Security Agenda in India. The Employees’ Provident Fund came into existence with the promulgation of Employees’ Provident Fund ordinance and then was replaced by employees provident fund act, 1952. The Organisation came into being in 1952, following the Employees’ Provident Funds & Miscellaneous Provisions Act (EPF & MP Act), 1952. Later on many additions and alteration were done for enhancing the situation on employees. The EPFO head office is located in New Delhi. EPFO is vested with the responsibility of implementing the scheme framed under this act namely Employees’ Provident Fund Scheme Employees’ Pension Scheme Employees’ Deposit linked Insurance Scheme EPFO works unde4r the administrative control of Ministry of Labour and Employment. 4. Arvind Pangariya to be the new sherpa for the G20 Talks Government has decided to appoint NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Arvind Panagariya as the sherpa for G-20 talks, replacing Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu. As per the practice, the Deputy Chairman of the erstwhile Planning Commission used to be the sherpa for G-20 talks. During the decade long UPA regime, former Deputy Chairman of the Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia was the sherpa for G-20 talks. The next G20 Leaders’ Summit is scheduled on November 15-16 at Antalya in Turkey. 5. Facebook rebrands internet.org as “Free Basics by Facebook” Facebook has renamed what it had termed its internet access enabling platform, “internet.org” as Free Basics by Facebook. Internet.org will remain as a wide and overarching entity, which includes the provision of free basic services apart from other projects such as enhancing connectivity (through its Connectivity Lab) and an innovation lab. The announcement of an open platform for websites and services on internet.org had already been made in May 2015 by CEO Mark Zuckerberg. The open platform and the new services offered on them are going live with the re-launch of Free Basics by Facebook which is available as a downloadable app as well as a mobile website. Facebook has an ongoing tie-up with Reliance Communications in India to provide services through internet.org. Facebook’s Strategic Partnerships Director Ime Archibong said that some of the new free and basic services that have added via the open platform in India include websites that cater to healthcare (Meradoctor), farming (mKisan), English learning (Englishdost), weather forecasting (Skymet) etc. Facebook’s internet.org had come under widespread criticisms in India because of concerns about violations of net neutrality. 6. Uninor rebrands as Telenor Telecom service provider Uninor has rebranded itself as Telenor in India. The company also has changed its tag to ‘Ab life full paisa vasool’ from ‘Sabse Sasta’. The company will be spending around Rs. 100 crore on the rebranding exercise Norway-based Telenor entered India in 2009. Initially it had a joint venture with realty major Unitech, which however exited in 2012. The company subsequently started operating with the name of Telewings, and in 2014, Telenor bought 100 per cent stake in the company. India contributes 6 per cent of the global revenue of the company and 12 percent of the Asian revenue. 7. Volkswagen CEO Winterkorn resigns Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn resigned, taking responsibility for the German carmaker’s rigging of U.S. emissions tests in the biggest scandal in its 78-year history. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said Volkswagen could face penalties of up to $18 billion for cheating emissions tests on some of its diesel cars.

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GA- 26 September 5 hours ago 0 Comments 769 view(s) GA- 26 September 1. UN adopts agreement on Sustainable Development Goals United Nations on 25 September 2015 unanimously adopted an ambitious agreement on the outcome document New Sustainable Development Agenda for the next 15 years i.e. till 2030. The document in this regard was adopted in 70th session of United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and was announced by its President Mogens Lykketoft at the UN headquarters in New York. The document, titled “Transforming our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,” outlines 17 broad goals and sets 169 specific targets. These are non-binding goals. It succeeds the eight Millennium Development Goals adopted by world leaders 15 years ago in Rio 20+ summit of United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development. Only one of those has been achieved: halving the number of people living in extreme poverty. At least one other is

close — cutting in half the proportion of people without access to clean water — and there are still three months until the goals expire. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) outlines broader sustainability agenda dealing with ‘five Ps’ people, planet, prosperity, peace, and partnership. The new goals include ensuring “healthy lives” and quality education for all, clean water, sanitation and reliable modern energy, as well as making cities safe, reducing inequality within and among countries, and promoting economic growth and good governance Critics: SDGs are too broad, lack accountability and will lead to disenchantment among those most in need of hope. 2. UK hosts first ‘Bhagvad Gita’ conference A first-of-its-kind conference on the contemporary relevance of the ‘Bhagvad Gita’ was held in the UK, during which Indian and British experts came together with an aim to seek answers to the innumerable questions that exercise and confound all of us today. The ICCR (Indian Council of Cultural Relations) and the High Commission of India organised the conference in collaboration with the Department of the Study of Religions at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. Experts and historians from India and Britain got together for the two-day sessions which included aspects such as ‘Bhagvad Gita and Yoga’, ‘Impact of Bhagvad Gita on Modern Sanskrit Writings’ and ‘The Bhagvad Gita – Timeless Values for Today.’ The initiative of bringing together the delegation for the London conference was led by Suryakanthi Tripathi, former Indian ambassador to Spain. 3. Graphic booklet on Sardar Post Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh released a graphic booklet depicting the valour and sacrifice of the CRPF personnel during the epic battle of Sardar Post, Rann of Kutch in the 1965 lndo-Pak War. On 9th April, 1965, at the Sardar Post in the Rann of Kutch, two companies of CRPF stood their ground and repulsed the attack of a full-fledged Pakistani Infantry Brigade inflicting heavy casualties. The retaliation by the CRPF men was such a profound shock to the Pakistani Army that they left behind 34 dead bodies including 02 officers. Four Pakistani soldiers were taken as prisoners. Six CRPF men made supreme sacrifice for the cause of the nation. CRPF plans to publish a series of graphic booklets depicting various tales of valour and sacrifice of the Force. The aim is to instill patriotism and nationalism in the young generation and also to let the people know about the gallantry and sacrifice of the unsung heroes of CRPF. The force also plans to raise funds through marketing of these booklets, which will be spent on the welfare of the families of martyrs. 4. Volkswagen AG appoints Matthias Mueller as new CEO German auto maker Volkswagen AG has appointed Matthias Mueller as its new chief executive officer (CEO). Prior to this appointment, he was serving as CEO of Volkswagen’s subsidiary Porsche AG. He will succeed Martin Winterkorn who had resigned from office following an emissions cheating scandal described as a moral and political disaster. The scandal had damaged the reputation of world’s largest car manufacturer’s in terms of sales and had threatened its business. Currently, US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) is investigating into Volkswagen over the Diesel Dope scandal. 5. US Baseball legend Yogi Berra passes away Baseball legend Yogi Berra from United States has passed away. He was  90. His humorous quotes had made him one of America’s most beloved sports icons. He also had inspired the famous cartoon character of Yogi Bear. He is one of only five players to win the American League Most Valuable Player Award for three times. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest catchers in baseball history. He was also elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

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