Special Gk Updates June Bankersadda

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GKPowerCapsule–June2014(TheHinduReview)

1. Reserve Bank of India, in its second bi‐monthly

monetarypolicy statement reduced the StatutoryLiquidity Ratio (SLR) by 50 basis points to 22.5per centwith effect from the fortnight beginningJune 14. This measure is likely to infuse aroundRs.40,000croreintothebankingsystem.NewRatesare:‐i.RepoRate–8%(Unchanged)ii.ReverseRepoRate–7%(Unchanged)iii.CashReserveRatio–4%(Unchanged)iv.StatutoryLiquidityRatio–22.5% (Decreased0.5%)v.BankRate–9%(Unchanged)vi.MarginalStandingRate–9%(Unchanged)

2. AdditionalsecretaryA.K.DubeywasappointedasChairmanofCoal India Limitedwith immediateeffect.

3. RajeevTopnowasappointedasPrivateSecretarytoPrimeMinisterNarendraModi.

4. United Nations General Assembly approved thenameofZeidRa’adZeidal‐Hussein tohead theOffice of High Commissioner for Human Rights(OHCHR)oftheUN.

5. Shaktikanta Das was appointed as the newRevenueSecretary.

6. Lt Gen Amit Sharma was appointed as theCommander‐in‐Chief of Strategic ForcesCommand.

7. Indian scientistRasikRavindrawaselectedas amember of theUNCommission on the Limits ofContinentalShelf(UNCLCS).

8. Vishal Sikka was appointed as Chief ExecutiveOfficer(CEO)ofInfosys.

9. Senior advocate Ranjit Kumar was appointed astheSolicitorGeneralofIndia.

10. PK Mishra was appointed as the additional

PrincipalSecretary toPrimeMinister,NarendraModi.

11. State government of Madhya Pradesh appointed

Madhuri Dixit as the brand ambassador ofmaternal and child health campaign, MamtaAbhiyan.

12. SanchezCerenwassworn‐inasthePresidentofElSalvador.

This GK Capsule has been prepared by Career Power Institute Delhi (Formerly Known as Bank Power). This has

been prepared on the basis of news and events appeared in The Hindu Newspaper in the month of June 2014.


13. Chandrashekhar Rao was sworn‐in as the firstChief Minister of Telengana, which became the29thstateofIndianUnion.

14. Former Intelligence Bureau ChiefAjitDovalwasappointedastheNationalSecurityAdviser.

15. Japanesenational,HiroshiNakawasappointedasthe Vice President and Auditor General ofWorldBank.

16. Mukul Rohatgi was appointed as the 14th

Attorney‐General of India. He will succeedGulamVahanvati.

17. Nripendra Misra, former Chairman of TelecomRegulatory Authority of India (TRAI) wasappointed as the Principal Secretary to thePrimeMinister.

18. Shekhar Dutt, the Governor of ChhattisgarhtenderedhisresignationtoPranabMukherjee,thePresidentofIndia.

19. BL Joshi, the Governor of Uttar Pradeshresigned from his post. The President gave theadditional chargeofUP toUttarakhandGovernorAzizQureshi.

20. Indian‐origin judgeVKRajah was appointed as8thAttorney‐GeneralofSingapore.

21. ChungHungWonwasretainedasPrimeMinsterofSouthKorea.

22. Former TATA Group Chairman Ratan Tatareceivedanhonorarydoctorof lawsdegree fromYorkUniversityinToronto,Canada.

23. Gro Harlem Brundtland was awarded with thefirst Tang Prize in sustainable development. TheTang Prize was given to her by the Tang PrizeFoundationon18June2014.

24. India‐bornPratishthaKhannawashonouredwithChampionsof Changeby theWhiteHouse. She isoneof10localChampionsofChangehonouredfortheirexemplaryleadershipintheircommunities.

25. India‐born Mexican plant scientist, SanjayaRajaramwill behonouredwith theWorldFoodPrizefortheyear2014.

26. Kathleen Stephens took charge as US interimAmbassadortoIndia.

27. Union Transport Minister Nitin Jairam Gadkariwas given additional charge of the Ministries ofRural Development, Panchayati Raj andDrinkingWaterandSanitation.

28. Lieutenant General (retired) Abhijit Guha ofIndian Armywas appointed asmember of aUNExpert Panel onTechnology and Innovation inUNpeacekeeping.

29. PrimeMinister of India NarendraModimade hisfirstforeigntourtoBhutan.

30. WangYi,theForeignMinisterofChinawasonatwo‐daylongvisittoIndia from8Juneto9 June2014.

31. Ramanarayanan,Tamilfilmdirectorandproducerdied.

32. Gary Gilmour, a former all‐round cricketer ofAustraliadiedinSydney.

33. FormerBrazilianstriker,FernandoLuciodaCostadied in a helicopter crash in central Brazil at theageof36.

34. Union Rural Development Minister, GopinathMunde of BJP died in a road accident in Delhi.Munde was sworn‐in as the Cabinet Minister forPanchayatiRaj,DrinkingWaterandSanitationandRuralDevelopment.

35. OkavangoDelta inBotswanabecamethe1000thsite to be included in the UNESCO WorldHeritageSiteList.The38thsessionoftheWorldHeritageSiteCommitteeatDoha,Qatar endorsedthe Okavango site as the NaturalWorld Heritagesite.

36. Ancient Pyu Cities became the first site fromMyanmartobe inscribedontheUNESCO’sWorldHeritage Site List. The Ancient Pyu Cities includethreecitiesHalin,BeikthanoandSriKsetra.

37. 40 Indian workers were reported to be missingfrom Mosul, Iraq. Former ambassador to IraqSuresh Reddy was sent to Mosul to ensure thesafetyofIndianplacedinIraq.

38. TikritinIraqwasinnewsbecauseitwascapturedbytheMilitantsbelongingtoIslamicStateof IraqandGreaterSyria(ISIS)group.Tikrit is thehometownofformerdictatorSaddamHussein.


39. JinnahInternationalAirportofKarchiwasinnewswhenTerroristbelongingtoTehreek‐e‐Talibanon8June2014attackedit.

40. 24engineeringstudentsofVigyanJyothiInstituteofEngineeringandTechnologyofHyderabadweredrowned in Beas River in Kullu district ofHimachalPradesh.

41. Three‐day Uttarakhand Assembly session held atGairsain inChamoli from9 June to11 June2014.TheassemblysessionofUttarakhandwasheldforthe first time outside the capital city, Dehradun,sinceitsformationin2000.

42. Heart Province in Afghanistan was in newsbecausean Indianaidworker andCatholicpriestAlexisPremKumarwasabductedon2June2014.

43. Union Water Resources Minister, Uma Bhartilaunched a nationwide tree plantation drive andpublicawarenessprogrammetosaverivers.

44. InstituteforEconomicsandPeacereleasedGlobalPeaceIndex(GPI)2014inLondon.TheGPI2014measuredpeace for162countriesonthebasisof22 indicators. Among these 162 countries, Indiahasbeenranked143rd.

45. Stockholm International Peace Research Institute(SIPRI) released its annual nuclear forces data.There are nine states namely the United States,Russia, theUnitedKingdom, France, China, India,Pakistan,IsraelandNorthKoreaaroundtheglobewhichpossessednucleararsenals.

46. German Chancellor, Angela Merkel topped theForbes annual list of Most Powerful Women2014 in theworld. Five Indianwomenhave alsofeatured in Forbes 100 most powerful womenList.ChiefofPepsico,IndianbornIndraNooyiwasranked 13th and Chief Technology and StrategyOfficerofCiscoPadmasreeWarriorisranked71stin the list. Other Indianswhomade in to the listare State Bank of India Chairperson ArundhatiBhattacharya(36th)ICICIBankManagingDirectorChandaKochhar(43rd)andBioconfounderKiranMazumdar‐Shaw(92nd).

47. SAARC Monsoon Initiative Programme NationalWorking Group meet was organised in Bhopal,MadhyaPradesh.

48. Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflictwas launched at ExCel London. The four‐daySummit was launched by Hollywood actress andUN Special Envoy Angelina Jolie and UK ForeignSecretaryWilliamHague.

49. 6th International Nuclear Energy ForumATOMEXPO‐2014washeldfrom9to11June2014inMoscow.

50. 40th G‐7 summit 2014 was held in Brussels,

Belgium.51. UKfirmEastIndiaCompanyissuedanexclusive

legal tender gold coins in honour of SachinTendulkar.

52. 15peoplewerekilledand20injuredinablastinGasAuthority of India Limited (GAIL) pipeline atNagaramVillageinAndhraPradesh.

53. Delhi‐Dibrugarh Rajdhani Express derailed nearChhaprainBiharinwhichfourpeoplewerekilledandeightwereinjured.

54. Indian sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik won thePeople'sChoiceprizeattheWorldCupofSandSculpting‐2014heldintheAtlanticCityoftheUS.He won prize for his work Save Tree, Save theFuture.

55. France announced to honour Shahrukh Khanwith Officer of the Legion of Honour for hiscontributiontoCinema.

56. Noted Hindi poet Kedarnath Singhwas chosenfor the 49th Jnanpith award for 2013.He isknownforhisworkAbhibilkulabhiandYahansedekho.

57. Salman Rushdie, the India‐born Booker Prizewinningauthorwasnamedasthewinnerof2014PenPinterPrize.

58. Indian origin physicist Tejinder Virdee washonoured knighthood Bachelor by QueenElizabeth II.Hewasawarded forhisworkon theHiggsBosontheory.

59. Lord SwrajPaul, the leading NRI industrialwashonouredwiththeLifetimeAchievementAwardbyaUK‐basedbusinessassociation.


60. CRadhakrishnan,theeminentMalayalamscientist‐turned‐writerwasselectedfortheprestigiousMoortideviAwardfor2013.HehasbeenselectedforhisnovelTheekkadalKatanhuThirumadhuram.

61. Kolkata Airport won the Airport Service QualityAward by Airport Council International in thecategory of the best improved airport in AsiaPacificRegion.

62. SomasundaramofAirportsAuthorityofIndiawasconferred with the prestigious Bharat Ratna JRDTataAwardfor2013.

63. Kamal Nath a leader of Congress party wassworn‐in as the pro tem Speaker of 16th LokSabha.

64. Mahindra Group Chairman Anand G Mahindrabecame the first Indian to receive theprestigiousHarvardMedal.

65. IndianArmytest‐firedsurface‐to‐airAkashmissilefrom an IntegratedTest Range (ITR) inBalasore,Odisha.

66. NarendraModidedicatedINSVikramadityatothenation.

67. India successfully test fired the supersonic cruisemissileBrahMos from indigenous INSKolkata offthecoastofKarwarinKarnataka.Ithasarangeof290‐km.

68. The Indian Navy Submarine, INS Sindhurakshakthat sank in the Mumbai Harbour due to anaccident killing 18 sailors was raised from thewatersbyasalvagefirm.

69. The Indian Air Force and French Air Forcecommenced the bilateral exercise Garuda V atJodhpurAirBase.

70. SupersonicAkashairdefencemissilessuccessfullyintercepted the target Lakshya (pilotless targetaircraft).ThethreeAkashmissileswere launchedfromtheIntegratedTestRange(ITR),Balasore,offthecoastofOdisha.

71. ChandrababuNaidu took oath as the first chiefminister of the residuary state of AndhraPradesh.

72. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj helddiscussions with United States Secretary of StateJohn Kerry on the two countries’ shared

commitment to boost trade and economic ties to$500billion.

73. RelianceIndustriesLimited(RIL)willtakecontrolof popular television news channels CNN‐IBN,IBN7,CNBC‐TV18,Lokmat,andanentireclutchofETVchannelswithamassive infusionofRs4000croreintoNetwork18MediaandTV18BroadcastLtd.

74. SenioradvocateRanjitKumarwillbethenextSolicitorGeneralandsucceedMohanParasaran.

75. PrimeMinisterNarendraModi resigned from theVadodaraLokSabhaconstituency inGujaratafterchoosing to retain the Varanasi seat in UttarPradesh. Similarly, the Samajwadi Party leader,MulayamSinghYadav,decidedtoretainAzamgarhand quit from his traditional stronghold ofMainpuri.

76. NigerianPresidentGoodluckJonathanvowedtotalwaragainstterrorismfollowinglastmonth’smassabductionofschoolgirlsbyBokoHaramIslamists.

77. Russia,BelarusandKazakhstanhaveagreedtosetupafull‐fledgedeconomicblocthatshouldactasabridge between Europe and Asia and acounterweight to Western integration unions.When the Eurasian Economic Union comes intoforceonJanuary1,2015,itwillcreateamarketof170million people,with a combined annualGDPof$2.7 trillionandaquarterof theworldenergyresources.

78. In a step to help public sector banks to recoverbad loans, the Finance Ministry has asked theIncome Tax Department to share details ofdefaulters’ wealth tax returns with public sectorbanksiftheyaskforsuchinformation.Thetop30non‐performing assets (NPAs) of state‐ownedbanksaccountfor40.2percentoftheirgrossbadloans.

79. United Bank of India (UBI) has served ‘wilfuldefaulter’ notices to Vijay Mallya and otherdirectorsoftheKingfisherAirlines(KFA).

80. Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singhsaid that Pradhan Mantri Gram Sinchai Yojanawould be introduced so that more agriculturallandisirrigated.


81. Afterpushingvulturestothevergeofextinctioninthe country, the veterinary painkiller and anti‐inflammatorydrug,Diclofenac,isturningouttobeaseriousthreattoeaglesaswell.

82. Smart farm sector growth spurred India’seconomy to grow 4.7 per cent in 2013‐14,according to the gross domestic product (GDP)provisional estimates released. The GDP growthrate inthepreviousyearwasadecade‐lowof4.5percent.

83. Lowcost carrierAirAsiahas chosen to launch itsmaiden flight under Indian operations onBangalore‐Goa route on June 12 with anintroductoryall‐inclusivefareofRs.990perticket.

84. Signalling a break from the past, the NarendraModigovernmentannouncedthe“abolition”ofallGroups of Ministers (GoMs) and EmpoweredGroups of Ministers (EGoMs) “for greateraccountabilityandempowerment.”

85. With President’s rule ending by the midnight ofJune1andTelanganaStatecoming intoexistenceonJune2undertheStateReorganisationAct.

86. WaterResourcesMinisterUmaBhartiwillchairanapexcounciltosupervisethewaterprojectsontheKrishnaandtheGodavari.ThepanelwillhavetheChiefMinistersofAndhraPradeshandTelanganaasitsmembers.

87. SouthKoreanpopphenomenonPsygalloped intotherecordbooksashis“GangnamStyle”megahitsmashed through the two‐billion mark onYouTube.

88. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife,PriscillaChan,aredonating$120milliontopublicschoolsintheSanFranciscoBayArea.

89. K. Chandrasekhar Rao, was sworn in first ChiefMinisterofTelangana.

90. The Supreme Court stayed the execution of thedeath sentence of Yakub Abdul Razak Memon,“mastermind”ofthe1993Mumbaiserialblasts.

91. Odisha ChiefMinister Naveen Patnaikmet PrimeMinister Narendra Modi and demanded specialcategorystatusforhisStatebutremainedevasiveonhispartyallyingwith theNationalDemocraticAlliance.

92. The Special Investigating Team on black moneyheld its first meeting under the chairmanship ofJusticeM.B. Shah, a former judge of the SupremeCourt.

93. Minister for Women and Child DevelopmentManekaGandhisaidthatrapecrisiscentreswouldsoon be set up to offer protection and care forvictims.

94. The fifth Indo‐French bilateral air exercise —

Garuda‐V—beganattheJodhpurAirBase.95. SriLankanPresidentMahindaRajapaksaordered

thereleaseof29Indianfishermen.96. The aviation industry ismarking100 years since

the first scheduled commercial flight took off,making a 23‐minute journey across Florida’sTampaBay.

97. The two main Palestinian factions, Fatah andHamas,formedunitygovernment.

98. Russiahas lifted itsembargoonarmssupplies toPakistan and is holding talks on supplyingIslamabadwithcombathelicopters.


99. TheUnitedStatesproposedorderingcutsofupto30 per cent in carbon emissions from powerplants in President Barack Obama’s mostambitiousactionyetonclimatechange.

100. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has beenappointed on the Board of Governors of thePhilippines‐basedAsianDevelopmentBank.

101. R.K.MalhotrahasbeengivenadditionalchargeasChairmanofIndianOilCorporation.

102. Start‐up carrierTata‐SIAAirlines,which is yet togetaflyingpermit,willacquireat least20Airbusaircraft on lease from a Singapore‐based firm tolaunchitsoperationsinIndiabythiswinter.

103. The United States and the United Nations havebeensharpintheircondemnationoftherapeandhanging of two girls in Badaun district of UttarPradesh.

104. Chief Justiceof IndiaR.M.Lodhahassuggestedto

the Chief Justices of the High Courts that courtsfunctionall365daysayear.

105. Under‐13swillnowbeable to joinFacebook,butwiththeirparents’nod.

106. Germanprosecutorshaveopenedaninvestigationinto the alleged monitoring of Chancellor AngelaMerkel’s cell phone by the U.S. National SecurityAgency (NSA). Documents provided by NSAwhisleblower Edward Snowden indicated inOctoberthattheU.S.wasmonitoringMs.Merkel’scell phone conversations, as well as those of 35otherforeignleaders.

107. Iranian authorities refused to fuel the aircraft ofPakistan PrimeMinister Nawaz Sharif during hisvisit to Tehran lastmonth tomake the state‐runPIAclearitsduesamountingtojustover$5000.

108. TheFinanceMinistry isconsideringaproposal toset up a National Asset Management Company,whichmay act as anodal agency, for taking overbad loans of banks and help revive sick units.GrossNPAsof banks increased to 4.4per cent ofadvances at the end of December last from 3.84per cent at the end ofMarch, 2013. Bad loans of

PSU banks rose by 28.5 per cent to Rs.1.83 lakhcrore in March, 2013, over the precedingSeptember.

109. Coal India Ltd has decided to alter itsmemorandum of association to get into thebusiness of producing fertilizers and chemicalsusingcoalgas.

110. The European health regulator lifted thesuspension imposedonexportofdrugsproducedat the Ranbaxy’s Toansa plant to the EU, statingmedicines produced at the site posed no risk topublic health despite having a number ofmanufacturingdeficiencies.

111. Everyrecognisedschool,includingprivateones,isbound to the Right to Information (RTI) Act, theCentralInformationCommissionhassaid.

112. Over 10,000 extra paramilitary personnel wouldbedeployedinChhattisgarhbytheendofthisyearaspartofalong‐termplantoplugthe“gaps”andintensifytheoffensiveagainsttheNaxals.

113. PakistansuspendedGeoNews,thecountry’smostpopular television channel over a row with theInterServicesIntelligence(ISI)spyagency.

114. IndiaandChinahavesetatargetof$100billioninbilateraltradeayearby2015.

115. The Election Commission has ordered summaryrevision of electoral rolls in Haryana, Jharkhandand Maharashtra, where Assembly elections aredueinthenextfewmonths.

116. The first unit at the Kudankulam Nuclear PowerProject(KKNPP)reacheditsfullpowergenerationcapacityof1,000MWe.Withthis,the21stnuclearpower reactor in the country has become thesingle‐largest power generating unit in thecountry.

117. Association of Mutual Funds in India has statedthat the mutual fund industry's assets undermanagementhavecrossedRs.10lakhcrore‐markinMay.

118. TheIndiangovernmentwillbuildaculturalcentreinJaffna.

119. Customersneed to submitonlyonedocumentaryproof of address— either current or permanent— while opening a bank account or whileundergoingperiodicupdation,theReserveBankof


Indiasaid. “Incase theaddressmentionedasper‘proofofaddress’undergoesachange,freshproofofaddressmaybesubmittedtothebranchwithinsixmonths,”theRBIsaidinanotificationtobanks.

120. Amitabh Bachchan and Aamir Khan launchedlegendary actor Dilip Kumar’s biography inMumbai. The book, titled ‘The Substance andTheShadow’,isauthoredbyUdayTaraNayar.

121. Information technology and communicationdevices maker Pantel Technologies Pvt. Ltd. hastiedupwithIndiaPosttotakeitslow‐costfeaturephonetoruralareasatRs.1,099.

122. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)receivedanother shot in thearm in its ambitiousMarsOrbiterMissionwhenitsgroundcontrollerssuccessfully corrected the spacecraft’s trajectory.ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV‐25)put the Mars Orbiter in its initial orbit onNovember5,2013.

123. The Centre asserted that the appointment ofLt.Gen.DalbirSinghSuhagasthenextArmyChiefwas“final.”

124. PrimeMinister SheikhHasinahasunderlinedherwillingness todeepenher country’s strategic andeconomic engagement with China, signing majoragreements for theconstructionof roads, railwaylinesandpowerplantsonathree‐dayvisit totheChinesecapital.

125. The Reserve Bank of India has kicked off a pilotproject that will allow a few mobile paymentproviders to test cash withdrawal facilities for asmall portion of their semi‐closed mobile walletusers.Initsenderandbeneficiary’swalletwillbeseeded with Aadhaar number. When the moneytransferhappens,thereceiver,whodoesnothaveabankaccount,canwalktoamRUPEEoutletandreceive the cash after authenticating his identitywith the biometric [fingerprint scanning]. TataTeleservices’mobilewalletpayment‐basedservicemRUPEEisoneoftheeightparticipantsintheRBIpilot.

126. World Bank feels that the world’s third‐largesteconomy could achieve a growthrateof5.5percent this year as compared to 4.7 per cent lastyear.

127. NarmadaControlAuthoritygaveitsnodtoGujaratfor raising theheight of theNarmadadam to thefull reservoir level of 138.72 metres from thepresent121.92metres.

128. Kerala Monorail Corporation Ltd. (KMCL), theSpecial Purpose Vehicle set up to execute theRs.5,581‐crore monorail project inThiruvananthapuramandKozhikode.

129. Social media giant Twitter has set an ambitious

targetofreachingouttoeverycitizenofIndia.130. The European Union (EU) will allow member

countriestomaketheirowndecisionsongrowinggenetically modified (GM) food in a compromisedealthatfollowedyearsoffraughtdiscussions.

131. The rate of growth of retail inflation ConsumerPrice Index in May easedmarginally to 8.28 percentfrom8.59percentinApril.

132. TheMaharashtraLegislaturepassedaBillbanningdance bars. The ban will be extended from beerbars to three and five star hotels, which weresparedearlier.

133. The Telangana Assembly passed a unanimousresolutionurgingSpeakerS.MadhusudhanaCharytotakestringentactionagainstTV9newschannelfor running a programme using abusive andderogatory language against the members of theAssembly.

134. The Food Processing Ministry will prepare aNationalFoodMapthatwillshowcaseagricultureandlivestockproduceforsuitableinterventionsinvulnerableareas.A ‘BrandIndia’willbelaunchedfor exports in the food processing sector andState‐specific brands will be developed for thedomesticmarket.

135. Alexander Stubb is set to become Finland’snewPrimeMinisterafterwinningavotetoheadtherulingconservativeparty.

136. Dozens of Indians, including 46 nurses fromKerala, remain stranded in the Iraqi towns ofMosulandTikrit,nowcontrolledbyfightersofthe


Sunni‐militant Islamic State ofIraqand the Syria(ISIS).

137. In compliance with a Delhi High Court order on

prima facie violation of the Foreign Contribution(Regulation)ActbytheBharatiyaJanataPartyandthe Congress, the government has initiated stepsto “relook and reappraise the receipts of thepolitical parties and identify the contributionsreceivedfromforeignsources.”

138. Union Minister Ramvilas Paswan said only fiveStates had fully implemented the National FoodSecurityAct, 2013 and sevenothers haddone sopartially so far. Chhattisgarh, Haryana,Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Punjab have fullyimplementedasper theprovisionsof theCentralAct. Seven other States, including Bihar, Delhi,Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka and ChandigarhhaveimplementedtheActpartially.Hesaidasperthe Act, all States are required to identify thenumber of beneficiaries by July 4, but only 12Stateshavedonesothusfar.

139. Former Formula One champion MichaelSchumacher has emerged from a coma that wasmedically induced following his devastatingaccidentinDecember.

140. Wholesaleprice inflationhit a five‐monthhighof6.01percentinMay.

141. Tax Administration Reform Commission, headedby Parthasarathi Shome, has suggested abolitionof the post of Revenue Secretary, merger of theCentral Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and theCentralBoard of Excise andCustoms (CBEC) andbroaden the use of Permanent Account Number(PAN).

142. Following an IntelligenceBureau (IB) report thatalleged foreign‐funded NGOs were creatingobstacles to India’s economic growth, the HomeMinistry has clamped down on Greenpeace, aninternational campaign group present in 40countries.

143. ThecrisisattheWorldTradeOrganisation(WTO)talks in Geneva has deepened with the UnitedStates demanding that India and China becategorised as ‘emerging’ rather than as‘developingeconomies’.Indiaisresistingthemovewhich, if it materialises, will halve WTO capsapplicable to India’s food subsidies. It will alsorequireIndiatograntmarketaccesstotheU.S.

144. SureshReddy,themanIndiahaschosentosendtoBaghdadasitscrisismanager.

145. RelianceIndustriesLtd(RIL)hasannouncedplanstoinvestRs.1.80lakhcrore($30billion)inthreeyears in petrochemicals, refining, retail andbroadband businesses with an aim to be amongtheFortune50companiesbythetimeitcompletes40yearsofcorporatejourneyin2017.

146. Online marketplace Flipkart has signedamemorandumof understandingwithFederationofIndianMicroandSmallandMediumEnterprises(FISME) and National Centre for Design andProductDevelopment(NCDPD).

147. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reconstitutedsix important Cabinet committees, including theAppointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC),Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) and theCabinetCommitteeonPoliticalAffairs.


148. Indians’ money in Swiss banks has risen to overtwo billion Swiss franc (nearly Rs.14,000 crore),despite a global clampdown against the famedsecrecy wall of the Switzerland banking system.The funds held by Indians with banks inSwitzerlandrosebyover40percentduring2013.

149. The Reserve Bank of India permitted residentsand non‐residents, except Pakistanis andBangladeshis, to carry up to Rs.25,000 in Indiancurrencynoteswhile leaving the country.Earlier,Indianstravellingabroadwerepermittedtocarryonly up to Rs.10,000, while foreigners were notallowedtocarryIndiancurrencywhileleavingthecountry.

150. A committee headed by senior Congress leaderA.K. Antony will begin the official task ofintrospectionandanalysisoftheCongressparty’sworsteverelectoralshowingsinceIndependence.

151. Glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau— the source ofriverssuchastheBrahmaputra—haveshrunkbyasmuchas15percent,retreatingby8,000squarekilometressince1980,accordingtoanewChinesegovernment‐backedstudy.

152. Russia has signalled that its proposed giant gaspipelinetoChinacouldbeextendedtoIndia.

153. Committee headed by Finance Secretary ArvindMayaram said that Foreign investment of 10 percent or more in a listed company will now betreatedasforeigndirectinvestment.FDIsubjecttotheconditionthattheFDIstakeisraisedto10percent or beyondwithin one year from the date ofthe firstpurchase. If the stake isnot raised to10per cent or above, then the investment can betreated as portfolio investment. Panel hassuggested that foreign investment in an unlistedcompanymaybetreatedasFDI.

154. India has decided to enhance transparency of itsnuclear infrastructure by ratifying an AdditionalProtocol with the International Atomic EnergyAgency(IAEA).

155. Rani‐ki‐Vav, a 11th century stepwell in thePatan area of Gujarat, was approved forinscriptionontheWorldHeritagelistbyUNESCOatthemeetingofitsWorldHeritageCommitteeinDoha. Three other sites that were inscribed are:

Namhansaneong in SouthKorea, theGrandCanalrunning from Beijing to Zhejiang province inSouthern China, and the Silk Roads network ofChang’an‐TianshanCorridor.

156. India has moved up to 58th rank in terms offoreignmoneylyingwithSwissbanks.

157. Hong Kong citizens cast their ballots in an

unofficialreferendumondemocraticreform.HongKong’s leader is currently appointed by a 1,200‐strongpro‐Beijingcommittee.Chinahaspromiseddirect elections for the next chief executive in2017,buthasruledoutallowingvoterstochoosewhichcandidatescanstand.

158. ThefirstBudgetoftheNarendraModigovernmentwill be presented on July 10. Parliament will beconvenedon July7 for a session thatwill last tillAugust14.TheRailwayBudgetwillbepresentedon July 8, while the Economic Survey will bereleasedonJuly9.

159. TheGreatHimalayanNationalPark (GHNP) inKullu district of Himachal Pradesh was accordedtheUnescoWorldHeritageSitestatus.

160. Bollywood star Aamir Khan, who has beenchampioning social issues, met Prime MinisterNarendraModi todiscuss theproblemswhichhehighlightsinhisTVprogramme‘SatyamevJayate’.

161. The Government is keen on running India’s firsthigh‐speed train (HST) between Ahmedabad andMumbai.PrimeMinisterNarendraModiwantsthetraintoberunningbytheendof2017.

162. ImportdutyonSugarhikedfrom15percentto40per cent, Ethanol (a by‐product of sugarmanufacturing) blending in petrol hiked from 5per cent to 10 per cent as also the extension ofexportincentivestoSeptember2014.

163. Moving to a time‐defined process, the ReserveBank of India fixed schedules for variousregulatory approvals. It released ‘Timelines forRegulatory Approvals’ and ’Citizens’ Charter’ fordeliveryof serviceson theRBI’swebsite.Depositaccounts department should issue cheque book


within 20 minutes and demand draft should beissued in an hour, among others. Besides,refinance facility and disbursement of loansshould take place in the same day of applicationwhileclearingshouldbecompletedbythreedays.An applicant for private bank licence should begivenin‐principleapprovalwithin90days.

164. Mobile Seva, a nationwide initiativeconceptualised, funded and implemented by theDepartment of Electronics and InformationTechnology (DeitY), is among the second‐placewinnersofthe2014UNPublicServiceAwards.

165. In a pioneering move, Gujarat Chief Minister

Anandiben Patel announced 33 per centreservationforwomeninthepoliceforce.

166. Government took two decisions — a six‐monthextensiontotheexcisedutycutsannouncedbytheUPA government in (Till December 31) FebruaryandapprovaltosignanMoUwiththeChineseforsettingupanindustrialparkhere.extendthemforsixmonthstillDecember31.

167. Four passengers were killed and several injuredwhen a dozen bogies of the Delhi‐DibrugarhRajdhani Express derailed close to Golden GanjrailwaystationnearChaprainBihar.

168. Petroleum andNatural GasMinisterDharmendraPradhan said the current rate of $4.2 permillionBritish thermal units for domestic natural gaswould continue till September‐end. The new ratewastobecomeeffectivefromApril1.

169. Congress‐Nationalist Congress Party governmentinMaharashtracleared16percentreservationforthe powerfulMaratha community and 5 per centreservation for Muslims. The State currently has52 per cent reservation in government jobs andeducational institutions. This decision will raisethequotalimitto73percent.TheSupremeCourthadearliercappedquotasat50percent.

170. Indiawasnamedtoan‘InternationalPiracyWatchList’byaU.S.governmentpanelthatis lookingto

highlightcountriesthataredoinglittletoaddresshighratesofdigitalpiracy.

171. The Centre has given the go‐ahead for setting aminimum export price of $450 per tonne forpotato todiscourageexportsandchecktherisingpriceofthetuber.

172. Kerala formally began a 218‐day countdown forthe 35th National Games, which is to be heldacrosssevendistrictsoftheStatefromJanuary31toFebruary14nextyear.

173. ThenewRailwayNationalTimeTable“TrainsataGlance”andZonalRailwayPublicTimeTablewillnow come into effect from September 1, 2014insteadofJuly1,2014.

174. TheCentreextendedbythreemonthsthedeadlinebywhichStatesshouldrollouttheNationalFoodSecurityAct.UndertheAct,StatesweregiventimetillJuly4toimplementtheAct.

175. Union Minister of State for Commerce andIndustry, Nirmala Sitharaman, has been electedunopposedtoRajyaSabhafromAndhraPradesh.

176. BCCIpresident‐in‐exileN.SrinivasanwasformallyappointedthefirstChairmanoftheICC.

177. Expenditure Observers of the ElectionCommission have recommended disqualificationof BJP MP from Banswara Maanshankar Ninamaforover‐spendingduringhiselectioncampaign.

178. The government has clarified that licences won’tbe required for manufacturing items for thedefence sector except those used in thebattlegroundsuchastanksandwarships.

179. India has decided to relax visa restrictions forBangladeshi nationals above the age of 65 andbelowtheageof13.

180. U.S.SupremeCourtruledthatpolicemustobtainawarrant before searching the cell phone of asuspect.

181. Delhi University relented and announced that itwould replace the controversial four‐yearundergraduate programme (FYUP) with the oldthree‐yearundergraduateprogrammethatwasinplacetilllastyear.

182. TheRBIhassaidIndiaandtheUShaveagreedtoimplementaForeignAccountsTaxComplianceAct (FATCA) and asked banks and financial


institutions to register by this year‐end to reportaccountsandassetsheldbyUScitizens.

183. The government announced Rs 50 per quintalincreaseintheminimumsupportpriceofpaddytoRs1,360toencouragefarmerstocultivaterice.

184. To boost sagging sentiments in steel andminingsectors, the government began the process ofsettingupsingle‐windowmechanismtofast‐trackclearances for variousprojects and create specialmining zones to ensure rawmaterial security forexistingandupcomingsteelplantsinthecountry.

185. Indian Railways increased passenger fares by asteep14.2%acrossclassesandfreightchargesby6.5%tomopupsomeR8,000croreoverayear.

186. InthelatestannualrankingofGlobalPeaceIndex,Indiahasbeenrankedat143rdpositionoutof162countries surveyed. While India has slipped twopositions, Iceland continues to top the list as theworld's most peaceful place. However, Syria hasreplacedAfghanistanasthemostviolentplace.

187. TheNDA government has selected eight cities aspotential electronics manufacturing hub. ThesewouldbeatGhaziabadinUttarPradesh,Vadodaraand Gandhinagar in Gujarat and four cities inMaharashtra: Nagpur, Nasik, Aurangabad andThane.

188. India has notified its decision to exempt Bhutanfrom any ban or quantitative restriction onexports of five food items ‐ milk powder, wheat,edibleoil,pulsesandnon‐basmatirice.

189. Crisis‐hit NSEL said investors who traded in e‐seriescontractsinmetalslikegoldandsilverhaveso far redeemedRs 237 crore out of the totalRs440crore.

190. Small airports, a Diamond Quadrilateral of high‐speed trains and 'Sagar Mala' project to connectportstothehinterlandwouldbethefocusareasofthenewPMNarendraModi'sgovernment.