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Contents

Topic Page Number

MOU/Agreement Countries 3-4

MOU Industry/States/Others 4-6

Appointments and Resignations 6-13

Awards and Recognitions 13-19

Conference and Summits 20-22

International News 22-27

National News 27-35

State News 35-42

Finance and Banking News 42-48

Business News 48-53

Economy News 53-57

Science & Technology 57-58

Defence News 58-60

Sports News 60-68

Committee 68-69

Rankings of Countries 69-70

Rankings (Persons and Organisations) 70-73

Loans from Banks 73-74

Deadlines 74

Books and Authors 75-76

Obituaries 76-80

Nobel Prize Winners 2018 80-81

Important Days 81-86








MOU/Agreement Countries

Indian Railway Station Development Corporation (IRSDC) entered into a tripartite agreement with French National

Railways (SNCF) and French Development Agency (AFD), under which a grant of up to 7 lakh euros will be provided

to boost capacity building for railway station development program in India.

India has partnered with Portugal to set up a national maritime heritage museum at Lothal in Gujarat.

Japan has decided to invest about Rs 13,000 crore in several ongoing as well as new projects in different states of

the north-eastern region.

India has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Japan’s largest egg producer, ISE Foods, in a bid to improve

the quality of eggs, waste management and disease diagnosis in poultry farms across the country. The ISE’s egg

production process, almost fully automated, is considered most hygienic in the world.

India has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural

Development Consultancy Service (NABCONS) for setting up the India-Africa Institute of Agriculture and Rural

Development (IAIARD) in Malawi, a landlocked country in southeastern Africa.

India and Sri Lanka have agreed to increase cooperation in security and defence spheres in several areas, including

regional security, curbing drug smuggling and human trafficking. The issues came up for discussion when Defence

Secretary Sanjay Mitra called on Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirsena in Colombo during his official visit.

India and Sweden launched a joint programme that will work towards addressing a range of challenges around

smart cities and clean technologies among others.

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, was apprised about an MoU signed in

February, 2019 between India and Republic of Korea. Department of Posts, Ministry of Communications,

Government of India and The Ministry of Science and ICT (Korea Post), Government of the Republic of Korea have

mutually agreed to jointly issue Postage Stamps on the theme “Queen Hur Hwang-ok of Korea”.

India joined hands with Japan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to implement 2 projects in Africa as it seeks to

extend its footprint on the continent where strategic rival China has made deep inroads.

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave its ex-post facto approval to the Memoranda of

Understanding (MoU) between India and Bolivia on cooperation in the field of geology and mineral resources and

traditional systems of medicine and homeopathy. The MoUs were signed in Bolivia in March 2019.

India will collaborate with Bhutan, Nepal, Indonesia and Malaysia to increase the population of three species of

Asian rhinos, including the Greater one-horned rhinoceros found in the Indian sub-continent. The five rhino range

nations signed a declaration ‘The New Delhi Declaration on Asian Rhinos 2019’ for the conservation and protection

of the species at the recently held Second Asian Rhino Range Countries meeting in New Delhi.

The Indian Council of Medical Research and the African Union (AU) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)

which formalised the India-Africa Health Sciences Collaborative Platform (IAHSP) by establishing a framework.

French Space Agency CNES signed an agreement with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to set up a

maritime surveillance centre in the country.

India signed a $3.3 billion deal with Russia for leasing the third nuclear-powered Akula class attack submarine. An

Inter Governmental Agreement (IGA) was signed between the two countries in New Delhi. The submarine, to be

called Chakra -3, will be delivered in 2025 for a 10-year period.

National space agency ISRO and its French counterpart The National Centre for Space Studies (CNES) sealed an

agreement to set up a joint maritime surveillance system in the country in May. The two nations will explore

putting up a constellation of low-Earth orbiting satellites that will identify and track movement of ships globally and

in particular those moving in the Indian Ocean region where France has its Reunion Islands.








Experts from the University of Birmingham and policy makers and researchers from India announced a

collaboration to jointly develop strategies to resolve health, social and economic issues linked to air pollution in

Delhi.

Maldives finance ministry has signed an agreement with India’s Export-Import bank (EXIM) for line of credit (LOC)

of 800 million US dollars to finance the new government’s infrastructure projects. The agreement with EXIM Bank

was signed in presence of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj two-day visit to Male. The concessional loans will be used

to provide water and sewerage services on several islands.

The Union Cabinet gave ex-post facto approval for the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between

India and Maldives for the establishment of passenger and cargo services by sea.

MOU Industry/States/Others

Bharat Heavy Electricals and Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI), an autonomous body affiliated to the

Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises have signed an MoU for cooperation on various projects related

to e-mobility.

IT services firm Tech Mahindra and French digital content publishing firm Rakuten Aquafadas signed an MoU to

collaborate on building enhanced customer experience offerings.

On the occasion of World Telecom Day on 17 May, state-run telecom major BSNL has partnered with Google to

increase access to its WiFi footprint in the country. With the launch of this service, people across the country will be

able to enjoy BSNL’s free WiFi services.

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Guwahati has signed an MoU with The Indian Space Research Organisation

(ISRO) to set up an IITG-ISRO Space Technology Cell (STC) at the institute where Assam Governor Jagdish Mukhi

inaugurated a new academic complex and research and development building.

Hinduja Group flagship firm Ashok Leyland has partnered with Suryoday Small Finance Bank for vehicle loans.

Under the pact, the bank will provide end-to-end financial solutions to Ashok Leyland’s customers for auto loans

across India.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed between the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) and the

Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for data exchange between the two regulatory organisations.

ECL Finance, the flagship non-banking financial company of Edelweiss Group, and Bank of Baroda, India’s second

largest public sector bank, signed an agreement to form a strategic partnership to explore co-lending opportunities.

The Railway Ministry release said that the Indian Railways signed the MoU with RailTel Enterprises Ltd (REL), a

wholly-owned subsidiary company of RailTel Corporation of India Ltd, for modernization of signalling system on

four sections, which includes Automatic Train Protection System with Long Term Evolution (LTE) based Mobile Train

Radio Communication System (MTRC), together with provision of Electronic Interlocking (indoor) wherever

required.

IT firm Tech Mahindra has signed a multi-year contract with Airbus for cabin and cargo design engineering with an

aim to capitalise on the specialised skills and competencies in the growing cabin engineering business over the next

few years.

Indian Army signed an MoU with National Hydroelectric Power Corporation Limited (NHPC) to construct tunnels on

borders with China and Pakistan for storage of ammunition and other war-related equipment.

BSE and India International Exchange (India INX) have signed a memorandum of understanding with Moscow

Exchange (MOEX) to connect investor community and companies in both countries besides allowing a capital

formation platform.








Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Indian Institute of

Technology (IIT) Delhi to collaborate in the field of standardisation and conformity assessment. This partnership is

aimed at making the process of standardization more effective.

The Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT-M) announced its collaboration with American conglomerate

General Electric (GE) to set up a lab that will develop advanced services technology for aircraft engine components.

The ‘Cold Spray’ SMART (Surface Modification and Additive Research Technologies) Laboratory is the first-of-its-

kind being installed in any academic institute in India.

BSE (formerly Bombay Stock Exchange) announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with

HDFC Bank to spread awareness about the benefits of listing on BSE Startups platform.

The country’s largest power producer NTPC has signed a term loan agreement for Rs 2,000 crore with Canara Bank.

The loan facility is extended at an interest rate linked to three months MCLR of the Bank. This loan has a door to

door tenure of 15 years and will be utilised to part finance the capital expenditure of the NTPC.

Karnataka Bank has entered into a memorandum of understanding with Bharti AXA Life Insurance Company to

distribute the latter’s life insurance products. The bank will be able to provide a wide choice of life insurance

products to its customers across 836 branches, supported by the products of Bharti AXA Life Insurance Company.

Tata Consultancy Services has partnered with Google Cloud to build industry-specific cloud solutions. TCS’ solutions

on Google Cloud Platform (GCP) will help enterprises build secure, cloud-native analytics platforms that enable high

levels of personalization, and are cost effective, easy to maintain, and future ready.

Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML) and Syndicate Bank, one of the oldest and leading public sector bank, have

signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for financing Earth Moving & Construction Equipment

manufactured by BEML.

Wirecard, the global innovation leader in digital financial technology, announced an expanded partnership with RBL

Bank to promote financial inclusion in India.

Niti Aayogs Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) and Unicef India signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) to provide an open

platform to promote participation, skilling and empowerment among young children across different communities.

The plan will be implemented through Atal Tinkering Lab initiative to orient the burgeoning innovation ecosystem

towards achieving Sustainable Development Goals with a focus on child rights.

Government think tank NITI Aayog partnered with software major Adobe to develop creative skills and spread

digital literacy among school children in India. The Statement of Intent (SOI) signed by NITI Aayog and Adobe as

part of the Atal Innovation Mission will open Digital Disha Programme across 100 schools under the Atal Tinkering

Labs (ATL).

The National Health Authority (NHA), the apex body implementing the Ayushman Bharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan

Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) has inked an MoU with Uber.

Maharatna public sector units GAIL India Ltd and Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) have inked a memorandum of

understanding (MoU) for cooperation in the development of solar power projects.

HP Inc India has signed a pact with with Andhra Pradesh Innovation Society (APIS) and Andhra Pradesh Economic

Development Board (APEDB) to build a Center of Excellence (CoE) that would 3D printing technology work.

Indian IT apex body Nasscom said it has entered into a partnership with Xuzhou city in Jiangsu province to develop

an IT corridor in eastern China. The new corridor will facilitate partnerships between Indian and Chinese firms as

part of Nasscom’s efforts to evangelise IT development in newer geographies.








Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) and National Health Agency (NHA) will set up a

joint working group for better implementation of Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY).

The working group will do a comparative study of packages and define standards for quality healthcare.

The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the

Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for effective implementation of the new bankruptcy law.

ICICI Lombard and Mobikwik announced a strategic partnership to provide cyber-insurance cover. The relationship

aims to provide protection against unauthorised and fraudulent transactions online, across bank accounts, debit &

credit cards and mobile wallets.

In a bid to curb fake news during the general elections, WhatsApp and NASSCOM Foundation came together to

impart digital literacy training. As part of the partnership, WhatsApp and NASSCOM Foundation will train nearly

1,00,000 Indians to spot false information and provide tips and tricks to stay safe on WhatsApp.

Infosys would open a digital innovation centre at Bucharest in Romania to develop software for clients based on

cloud, big data, artificial intelligence and machine learning. The $11-billion outsourcing firm also tied up with the

University of Bucharest and the University Politehnica Bucharest for innovation and Romanian workforce

development, including joint training courses, scholarships and research.

Ola, one of the world’s largest ride-hailing platforms, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the

Government of Telangana, to support their efforts towards strengthening the traffic infrastructure in Hyderabad

city.

The Ministry of Human Resource Development signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Higher

Education, Afghanistan to work on Digital Education Initiatives that will include many programs developed by

Indian Institutes of Technology. IIT Madras will also be a part of the collaborations.

The IIT Kharagpur has signed an MoU with Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) to set up a

Petaflop high performance computing facility and data center funded under the National Supercomputing Mission.

Jio and Facebook have joined hands to announce ‘Digital Udaan’ – a digital literacy program in India which is aimed

at first-time internet users.

The State Bank of India has signed a memorandum of understanding with National Investment and Infrastructure

(NIIF) Fund to boost availability of capital for infrastructure projects.

ICICI Bank has tied up with NBFC IndoStar Capital for vehicle financing for small and medium fleet owners to buy

new as well as old commercial vehicles.

The Centre has inked pact with IBM India for undertaking a pilot study to utilise Artificial Intelligence (AI) and

weather technology solutions in agriculture in one district each in three states.

Appointments and Resignations

Name Post Other Info

The Centre has extended the tenure of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Deputy Governor N S Vishwanathan by one

year.

Nagaland Governor Padmanabha Balkrishna Acharya has been given additional charge of Manipur in absence of

Najma Heptulla.

Former IFS officer S. Jaishankar created history as he became the first former Foreign Secretary to become

External Affairs Minister.

Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant will head the National Mission on Transformative Mobility and Battery Storage,

which is being set up to promote clean and sustainable mobility initiatives in the country.








Narendra Modi 15th Prime Minister of India

Jagan Mohan Reddy Andhra Pradesh CM

Naveen Patnaik Odisha CM for the fifth consecutive

term

Prem Singh Tamang,

popularly known as PS Golay

Sikkim Chief Minister

K. Natarajan Director-General of the Indian Coast Guard (ICG)

M Nageswar Rao Additional Director of CBI as the Director General

of Fire Services, Civil Defence and Home Guard

Birender Singh Dhanoa Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC) Succeeds Sunil Lanba

Karambir Singh Navy Chief

Atul Kumar Jain Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief (FOC-in-C),

Eastern Naval Command (ENC)

Succeeds Karambir Singh

Maj Gen A K Dhingra First Special Operations Division Commander

Dr. Krishnamurthy

Subramanian

Member of Advisory Council of 15th Finance

Commission

He is the Chief Economic

Advisor to Central

government

Anton Aditya Subowo (from

Indonesia)

President of Badminton Asia

A.K. Sikri Chairperson of the News Broadcasting Standards

Authority (NBSA)

Rama Subramaniam Gandhi Additional director on the board of Yes Bank He is former deputy

governor

Nitin Chugh MD and CEO of Ujjivan Small Finance Bank

Dinesh Pangtey CEO of LIC Mutual Fund

Bimal Dayal Chief Executive Officer after merger of Indus

Towers and Bharti Infratel

Hemant Ruia will be the

Chief Financial Officer

Sanjiv Puri Chairman of ITC Ltd.

Sandeep Patil Managing Director of Truecaller India former Flipkart executive

Ajoy Mehta Chief Secretary of Maharashtra

Parveen Pardeshi Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation Chief

Jayshree Vya Director of BSE (Bombay Stock Exchange) BSE’s first independent

woman director

Virat Kohli and Anushka

Sharma

1st Brand Ambassadors of Flipkart-owned fashion

e-commerce platform Myntra

Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant Brand Ambassadors of Himalaya MEN

Salman Khan Brand Ambassador of BharatPe

Rakesh Sharma Vice-President of International Motorcycle

Manufacturers Association (IMMA)

HQ - Geneva

Himanta Biswa Sarma Vice President of the Badminton Asia Council

(BAC)

Gauri Sawant India’s 1st Transgender Election Ambassador from

Maharashtra

Madhusudan Mistry Election observer for Maharashtra








Vivek Dube Central Police Observer for West Bengal and

Jharkhand

K.K. Sharma Central Police Observer for Andhra Pradesh and

Telangana

M K Das Central Police Observer for Tripura and Mizoram

Gopal Mukherjee Special Expenditure Observers for Andhra Pradesh

and Telangana

D.D. Goel Special Expenditure Observers for Arunachal

Pradesh and Nagaland

Madhu Mahajan Special Expenditure Observers for Karnataka and

Tamil Nadu

Shailendra Handa Special Expenditure Observers for Maharashtra and

Gujarat

Girish N. Gowda (paralympic

high jumper)

Election Ambassador for Karnataka

Subhash Chandra Garg Finance Secretary

Hasmukh Adhia Chancellor of Gujarat Central University Former Finance Secretary

Vice Admiral Karambir Singh Chief of Naval Staff After Sunil Lanba retires in

May 2019

Pramod Sawant 11th Chief Minister of Goa

Vijai Sardesai and Manohar

Ajgaonkar

Deputy CMs of Goa

Vipul Agarwal Interim Chief Operating Officer of investment

information and rating agency ICRA

P.K. Purwar Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Bharat

Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL)

Justice D.K.Jain Ethics Officer of the Indian cricket board on an ad-

hoc basis

He is BCCI Ombudsman

P Venkata Ramesh Babu Director General of the National Archives of India

MA Hampiholi Director General Naval Operations (DGNO)

Nagendra Nath Sinha NHAI Chief NHAI - National Highways

Authority of India

Sanjeev Ranjan Road Transport Secretary Former Supreme Court

judge

Pinaki Chandra Ghose India’s 1st Lokpal

Ajit Singh 1st Lokayukta of Odisha

C Lalsawta 1st Lokayukta of Mizoram

Bhagwan Lal Sahni Chairman of the National Commission for Backward

Classes

Ajay Narayan Jha 15th Finance Commission Member Replaces Shaktikanta Das

P K Bezbaruah Chairman of Tea Board

Hasmukh Adhia Non-Executive Chairman of Bank of Baroda. He is former Finance

Secretary

Ravneet Gill Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer

(CEO) of Yes Bank

Takes over from Rana

Kapoor








Rakesh Makhija Non-executive, part-time, chairman of Axis Bank

Ashu Khullar Citibank India CEO

MR Kumar Chairman of Life Insurance Corporation (LIC)

Vipin Anand and TC Suseel

Kumar

Managing Directors of Life Insurance Corporation

(LIC)

Ajit Kumar Mohanty Director of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre

Virender Sehwag Brand Ambassador of PolicyX.com

Aamir Khan PhonePe’s Brand Ambassador

Aditya Kumar Misra Chairman of the Agricultural Scientific Recruitment

Board (ASRB

S S Mundra Non-Executive Chairman, Acuite Ratings and

Research

Former deputy RBI

governor

Ritu Beri Cultural and Tourism Ambassador of Uzbekistan in

India

Indian fashion designer

K.M. Mammen Chairman Of Automotive Tyre Manufacturers’ Association (ATMA)

K. Govindaraj President of the Basketball Federation of India (BFI)

Anil Kumble Chairman of the ICC Cricket Committee

Randhir Singh Chairman of the Coordination Committee of the

2022 Hangzhou Asian Games

Soumya Swaminathan Chief Scientist of the WHO (World Health

Organisation)

Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-

Sabah

President of Olympic Council of Asia

Veselin Matic (from Serbia) Head coach of the Indian men’s basketball team

Padma Lakshmi Goodwill Ambassador of United Nations

Development Programme (UNDP)

Gargi Kaul Defence Finance Secretary, India

David Malpass 13th president of the World Bank Group

LV Subrahmanyam Chief Secretary of Andhra Pradesh

Vikram Nath First Chief Justice of the newly-constituted Andhra

Pradesh High Court

Chandra Shekhar Rajan Managing Director of IL&FS

Keshav Murugesh Chairman of Nasscom

Sana Dua Brand Ambassador of Jammu and Kashmir election

department for general polls

She is Femina Miss India

2017 runner up

Rajendra Kumar Nayak 52nd Controller General of Defence Accounts

(CGDA)

Graham Reid Chief Coach of the Indian men’s hockey team Former Australian field

hockey player

Praful Patel First Indian to be elected as a member of FIFA

Executive Council

Vikramjit Singh Sahney President of International Chamber of Commerce

(ICC) – India

Shiv Das Meena Chairman cum Managing Director (CMD) of








National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC)

Padmaja Alaganandan Chief People Officer of PwC

Sanjay Manohar Managing Director of McAfee India

Manish Maheshwari Managing Director of Twitter India

Mayoori Kango Google India industry head

Manu Sawhney International Cricket Council (ICC) Chief Executive

Romanian Doru Isac Technical Director of All India Football Federation

(AIFF)

Rajesh Kumar Yaduvanshi Punjab National Bank Executive Director

Karnam Sekar MD and CEO of Indian Overseas Bank From July 1

Vipin Anand Managing Director of LIC of India

Vijay Chandhok MD and CEO of ICICI Securities

Kaushik Shaparia CEO of Deutsche Bank India

Gursimran Singh Vice President of the Delhi Hockey Association

(DHA)

Rajan Anandan Managing Director of Sequoia Capital India He was former Google’s

Vice President for South

East Asia and India

Jitendra Chaddah Chairman of India Electronics and Semiconductor

Association

M.S. Dhoni Ambassador of redBus

Najma Akhta First woman vice-chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia

University (JMI)

Gagandeep Kang First Indian woman to be elected to the Fellow of

the Royal Society (FRS)

Mukesh Kumar Judo Union of Asia general secretary

Bibhu Kalyan Nayak Chair of International Hockey Federation (FIH)

Health and Safety Committee

First Indian to be

appointed to this position

Rima Das Ambassador of Toronto International Film Festival’s

‘Share Her Journey’ She is Assamese

Filmmaker

Former Cricketer Ravi

Shastri

Corporate Ambassador to the Indian Business

Community of Dubai based Ras Al Khaimah

Economic Zone (RAKEZ)

Vikas Khanna (Chef) Brand Ambassador of Indo-American Arts Council

(IAAC)

Gen.(Retd.) Dalbir Singh

Suhag

India High Commissioner To Seychelles He is former Army Chief

Anita Bhatia UN Deputy Executive Director Appointed by UN

Secretary General Antonio

Guterres

Sanjay Mitra Defence Secretary He is a 1982-batch IAS

officer of the West Bengal

cadre.

Admiral Karambir Singh 24th Chief of the Naval Staff

Ajit Doval National Security Advisor








Om Birla 17th Lok Sabha Speaker

Sonia Gandhi Leader of the Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP)

Smriti Irani Minister of Women and Child Development Constituency- Amethi,

Uttar Pradesh

Thawarchand Gehlot Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment Constituency- Shajapur,

Madhya Pradesh

Rajiv Mehrishi External auditor of the World Health Organization

(WHO)

He is the Comptroller and

Auditor General of India

Rakesh Makhija Chairman of Axis Bank

Sachin Bansal Director of Ujjivan Small Finance Bank He is the Founder of

Flipkart.

Nayib Bukele President of El Salvador

Mrutyunjay Mohapatra Chief of the India Meteorological Department

(IMD)

Rajiv Kumar Vice Chairman of the National Institution for

Transforming India (NITI) Aayog

Azim Premji will retire as Executive Chairman of Wipro

Tijjani Muhammad-Bande President of the General Assembly

Gianni Infantino President of football’s international governing body

FIFA

Sarada Kumar Hota Managing Director of National Housing Bank (NHB)

Sharad Kumar Saraf President of Exporters body Federation of Indian

Export Organisations (FIEO)

N Gopalaswami BCCI’s electoral officer He is a former Chief

Election Commissioner of

India

Shefali Juneja India’s representative in the council of International

Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO)

Samant Kumar Goel Head of foreign intelligence agency, Research and

Analysis Wing (RAW),

Arvind Kumar Director of Intelligence Bureau

Krishnaswamy Natarajan Director general of Indian Coast Guard

Sharad Kumar Acting Central Vigilance Commissioner

Virendra Kumar Protem Speaker of the 17th Lok Sabha

U Venkateswarlu Chief Secretary of Tripura

Thawar Chand Gehlot Leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha

Nripendra Mishra Principal Secretary to Prime Minister Narendra

Modi

Rajnath Singh Deputy Leader in the Lok Sabha

I V Subba Rao Secretary to Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu

Laxman Narasimhan Chief Executive Officer of British consumer goods

giant Reckitt Benckiser

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev President of Kazakhstan

Tiger Shroff Brand ambassador for G-Shock Watches

David Lipton (US economist) Interim leader of the International Monetary Fund








Mueenul Haq High Commissioner to India Pakistan has appointed

Jeffrey Rosen US’ Deputy Attorney General

Scott Morrison Prime Minister of Australia

PM Boubou Cisse Prime Minister of Mali

James Marape Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea

Laurentino Cortizo President of the Republic of Panama

Stevo Pendarovski President of North Macedonia

Cyril Ramaphosa South African President

Joko Widodo President of Indonesia 2nd Term

Volodymyr Zelenskiy President of Ukraine

Peter Mutharika President of Malawi

Muhammadu Buhari President of Nigeria

Zuzana Caputova Slovakia’s first female President

Prayuth Chan-ocha Thailand’s New Prime Minister

Mohamed Ould Ghazouani President of Mauritania

Benjamin Netanyahu Prime Minister of Israel for 5th term

Jean Michel Lapin Prime Minister of Haiti

Mohammed Ishtaye Prime Minister of Palestinian

Abdelkader Bensalah Interim President of Algeria

Volodymyr Zelenskiy President of Ukraine

Mohammad Shtayyeh Prime Minister of Palestine

Kaja Kallas Prime Minister of Estonia First female PM of Estonia

Macky Sall President of Senegal

Azali Assoumani President of Comoros

Zuzana Caputova President of Slovakia

India has been re-elected as an observer to intergovernmental forum Arctic Council (HQ - Tromsø, Norway).

RESIGNATIONS:

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Deputy Governor Viral Acharya told that he has quit his role, six months before the

end of his tenure.

The Principal Advisor to Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation (LMRC) Padma Vibhushan E. Sreedharan has submitted

his resignation citing health issues.

Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev resigned from his position after nearly 30 years in power.

Jet Airways Chairman Naresh Goyal stepped down from his position.

Kummanam Rajasekharan resigned as Mizoram Governor, Jagdish Mukhi given additional charge.

Leading industrialist Rahul Bajaj will step down as the Chairman and Non-Executive Director of Bajaj Finserv.

Japan’s new emperor, Naruhito, has formally ascended to the Chrysanthemum Throne, replacing his father,

Akihito, who had abdicated recently.

Bhushan Patil, president at Paytm, quit the company.

Debt-laden and grounded Jet Airways’ Chief Financial Officer and Deputy Chief Executive Officer Amit Agarwal

resigned.

Jet Airways CEO Vinay Dube resigned.

British Prime Minister Theresa May announced resignation from her post.

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika stepped down from his post

Kirstjen Nielsen, the US secretary of homeland security, stepped down from his post.








Mali’s Prime Minister Abdoulaye Idrissa Maiga and his cabinet resigned

Assocham Secretary General U K Varma resigned

Uber Asia Pacific Head Amit Jain has resigned from the company after a four-year stint at the US-based ride-

hailing company.

Shaji Farooq, president of Wipro’s banking financial services and insurance (BFSI) business unit, has stepped

down

Japan’s emperor Akihito abdicated

Awards and Recognitions

Award Name Person/Institution Extra Knowledge

Zayed medal Narendra Modi Got award by President of the UAE

Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan

‘Order of St Andrew the Apostle’ Narendra Modi Awarded by Russia

Croatia’s highest civilian order, the

Grand Order of the King of Tomislav

President Ram Nath Kovind

“Orden Mexicana del Aguila

Azteca” (Order of the Aztec Eagle)

Ex-President Pratibha Patil This is the highest civilian award

of Mexico given to foreigners.

World Health Organisation (WHO)

award

Rajasthan health department for contribution in the field of

tobacco control.

J.C. Daniel Award Veteran actress Sheela This award is the Kerala

government’s top film award for a

film veteran

President’s award for utilisation of

Corporate Social Responsibility fund in

social development

National Aluminium Company

Limited (NALCO)

Global Leadership Awards 2019 Google’s India-born CEO Sundar

Pichai and Nasdaq president

Adena Friedman

Women’s prize for fiction American novelist Tayari Jones For her novel “An American

Marriage”.

Nishan Izzuddeen, the Maldives’ highest honour

Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Gold Award for Automobiles in South

Africa

Automobile major Mahindra

Tony Award Ali Stroker

Prestigious Prix Liberté Award Greta Thunberg This award is designed to honor a

young person ‘engaged in a fight

for peace and freedom’ Distinguished Alumni Award Finance Minister Nirmala

Sitharaman and External Affairs

Minister Dr S Jaishankar

54th Jnanpith award Amitav Ghosh

Danny Kaye Humanitarian Award by Priyanka Chopra








UNICEF

Femina Miss India World 2019 Suman Rao from Rajasthan

BBC World Service Global Champion

Award

Akshaya Patra, a non-profit

organisation

Save Water Hero Award Makarand Tilloo Received award for his efforts to

raise awareness about water

conservation in Pune

2019 Commonwealth Secretary

General’s Innovation for Sustainable

Development Award in the “People”

category in London.

Nitesh Kumar Jangir

‘Innovative Research Excellence

Award 2019’ at Asian Leadership

Summit, Bhutan

Dr Gaurav Nigam

Miss Universe Australia title for 2019 India born Priya Serrao

Japan’s ‘Order of the Rising Sun’ award

Former foreign secretary Shyam

Saran

FICCI Claims Excellence Award Bharti AXA Life Insurance

UNSDG 10 Most Influential People in

Healthcare Award

Patanjali Group of Institutions

27th P.C. Chandra Puraskaar Dr Devi Prasad Shetty

2019 V K Krishna Menon award G D ‘Robert’ Govender

Joan Miro Prize for 2019 Indian contemporary artist

Nalini Malani

Malani, who is the winner of the

seventh edition of the prize, was

awarded for her impressive body of

work that gave a voice to “the

silenced and the dispossessed all

over the world, most particularly

women”.

Sasakawa Award 2019 for Disaster

Risk Reduction

Dr. Pramod Kumar Mishra By United Nations Office for

Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR)

‘Order of St. George’ award by Kerala

Award

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Desert Storm 2019 TVS Racing Held in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan

Booker International Prize Jokha Alharthi Author from Oman for “Celestial

Bodies”.

She is the first Arabic-language

writer to take the prize.

Swansea University International

Dylan Thomas prize

Guy Gunaratne (British-Sri

Lankan writer)

For ‘In Our Mad and Furious City’

Honorary Doctorate in Philanthropy

by The University of Law, London

Shah Rukh Khan

Asian Tour For Contribution To Golf In

Asia

Dr Pawan Munjal He is Chairman of Hero MotoCorp

‘D. Litt in Astrology’ by National

American University, USA

Dr Sohini Sastri He is Indian Astrologer








Saraswati Samman 2018 Telugu Poet K Siva Reddy for his collection of poetry titled

Pakkaki Ottigilite

Pandit Govind Ballabh Pant Award Sunil Kumar Gautam for his book titled ‘Samvidhan

Kavya‘ World Summit on the Information

Society (WSIS) awards of the United

Nations

“Utkarsh Bangla” and “Sabooj

Sathi”

These are two schemes of the

West Bengal government

Freedom of the City of London Alice G Vaidyan She is Chairman and Managing

Director of the General Insurance

Corporation (GIC) of India

Celent Model Bank 2019 Award Fincare Small Finance Bank (SFB)

Gold Award for ‘Digital Marketing

Excellence in Financial Service’ Bajaj Finance Ltd. Awarded for its Fixed Deposit

digital campaign at DIGIXX 2019

Awards by Adgully

‘The Economic Times Best Brands

2019’ award

Max Bupa

AIMA Managing India Award 2019 for

outstanding PSU of the year.

Indian Oil Corporation (IOC)

‘Global Slag Company of the Year’ award

Tata Steel

Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Nobel Award

(Best Digital Agency of the Year 2019)

Sudhanshu Kumar (Digital

Sukoon founder)

“Public Water Agency of the Year” by

Global Water Intelligence at the

Global Water Summit in London

National Mission for Clean

Ganga (NMCG)

Next Billion Edtech Prize 2019 India’s education technology

startup, Dost Education

2019 Citi Journalistic Excellence

Award

Teena Thacker

Rabindranath Tagore Literary Prize

2019

Rana Dasgupta For his 2010 novel “Solo” which is a

tale of estrangement and the

ultimate failure of material

existence.

National Intellectual Property Award

for 2019

Benny Antony Category - Top Individual for

Patents and Commercialization

John Dirks Canada Gairdner Global

Health Award

Vikram Patel

71st World Press Freedom Hero

award

Cyril Almeida He is an assistant editor and

columnist at Pakistani daily ‘Dawn’ BusinessLine Changemaker Of The

Year award

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Over successful implementation of

the Goods and Services Tax (GST)

1st AB Vajpayee Life Time

Achievement Award

Thanga Darlong He is from Tripura. He is thelast

tribal musician to play Rosem a

bamboo made a flute-like musical

instrument

Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award Dr. Rajendra Kumar Joshi Theme of 2019 Pravasi Bharatiya








Divas convention was ‘Role of

Indian Diaspora in building New

India.’ First prize of DD Mahila Kisan Award

for 2018-19

Swati Shingade

Nari Shakti Puraskar’ award Kathak dancer Seema Mehta For her contribution towards

women empowerment over the

last 15 years.

Yashwantrao Chavan National Award

2018

Raghuram Rajan Ex-RBI Governor

Chameli Devi Jain Award for an

Outstanding Woman Journalist for the

year 2018

Priyanka Dubey (BBC journalist)

Golden Peacock Innovative Product

Award – 2019

ACKO General Insurance

‘Non-Life Insurer of The Year Award

2019 by the Assocham

Bharti AXA General Insurance

Sulabh Sculpture Award Phani Bhushan Biswas

“Kusumagraj” national award for

literature

Film director and novelist Ved

Rahi

Param Vishisht Seva Medal Chief of Army Staff Bipin Rawat

Commonwealth Youth Award for the

Asian region

Padmanaban Gopalan Founder of No Food Waste.

Awarded for his work towards

achieving the UN’s Sustainable

Development Goal (SDG) of Zero

Hunger with his innovative system

of recovering excess food to

distribute to those in need.

Gollapudi Srinivas Award C Prem Kumar with Vijay

Sethupathi and Trisha

For his Tamil Film ‘96’

Vyas Samman 2018 Noted Hindi writer Leeladhar

Jagudi

For his collection of poems ‘Jitne

Log Utne Prem.’ Windham-Campbell Prize Journalist and writer Raghu

Karnad

For his debut book, The Farthest

Field: An Indian Story Of The

Second World War

Oxford University’s Bodley Medal Amartya Sen

Martha Farrell award 2019 Manu Gulati (Delhi govt. school

teacher)

Awarded for promoting gender

quality and women’s

empowerment

2019 National STEM (Science,

Technology, Engineering and Math)

Education Award

Kavya Kopparapu Indian-American teenager

Hans Kilian Award 2019 Ashis Nandy He is Indian political psychologist

2019 Abel Prize U.S mathematician Karen

Keskulla Uhlenbeck

2018 Turing Award, known as the Yoshua Bengio, Geoffrey Hinton, Awarded for their work developing








“Nobel Prize of computing” and Yann LeCun the AI subfield of deep learning

‘Blue Plaque’ Honour Noor Inayat Khan Britain’s World War II spy. First

Indian-origin woman to be

honoured

Pritzker Prize Japanese architect Arata Isozaki

2019 Global Teacher Prize Kenyan science teacher Peter

Tabichi

2019 Templeton Prize Marcelo Gleiser He is Brazilian physicist and

astronomer

2019 Peabody Career Achievement

honour

Rita Moreno

Aparna Kumar becomes first IPS officer to complete Seven Summit challenge by scaling Mt Denali. Mt Denali is

the tallest mountain in North America.

A 22-year-old youth from Imphal East, Manipur, Zonel Sougaijam was recognized by the social media giant —

Facebook for discovering and reporting a WhatsApp bug.

Rachna Khaira of The Tribune has bagged the prestigious RedInk Award for ‘Journalist of the Year’ for her

expose during 2018 on the functioning of the UIDAI and its Aadhaar data cache.

Nia Tony, an 8-year old Indian girl honoured in UAE’s waste recycling campaign.

Veyil Marangal, directed by Dr Biju, has received the Outstanding Artistic Achievement Award at the Shanghai

International Film Festival, one of the largest fests in East Asia.

Iconic Pakistani playback and Qawwali singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan has been awarded with an honourary degree

at the prestigious Oxford University.

The Pakistani singer was presented with the degree of Doctor of Music at a ceremony.

Spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has been conferred with an honorary doctorate degree by Russia-based Ural

Federal University for his contribution to the development of inter-cultural friendship between India and

Russian Federation.

IIT Kanpur honours India’s chief national badminton coach Pullela Gopichand with honorary doctorate on the

occasion of their 52nd convocation.

Comedian-actor Kapil Sharma has been acknowledged as the most viewed stand-up comedian in India and

abroad by the World book of Records London.

6 grassroots environmental activists received the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize. Known as the

Green Nobel Prize, the Goldman Prize honors environmental activists from each of the 6 continental regions:

Europe, Asia, North America, Central America and South America, Africa and islands and island nations.

The winners of the award are Alfred Brownell, Bayarjargal Agvaantseren, Ana Colovic Lesoska, Jacqueline Evans,

Alberto Curamil, Linda Garcia.

Rapper Drake set a record with the most wins ever, taking home 12 honours at the Billboard Music Awards. The

ceremony took place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas with singer Kelly Clarkson as the host.

Actresses Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Deepika Padukone and Sara Ali Khan have won Instagrammers of the Year

2019, which acknowledges Instagram’s most engaging community members across the country.

Bollywood diva, Priyanka emerged as the ‘Most Followed Account’ this year. Star cricketer Virat Kohli has

emerged as the most ‘Engaged Account of the Year’. Former ISRO chairman A S Kiran Kumar was conferred with France’s highest civilian award Chevalier de l’Ordre

national de la Lgion d’Honneur for his contribution to India-France space cooperation.

The article titled ‘Coalgate 2.0’ authored by Nileena M S and published in The Caravan magazine in March last

year has won the ACJ Award for Investigative Journalism, 2018.

American golfer Tiger Woods was bestowed with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, US’ highest civilian








honour, by President Donald Trump

The Kings, a hip-hop dance crew from Mumbai, has found international glory with their victory on American

reality television show “World of Dance”, taking home a cash prize of $1 million.

IPS officer Chhaya Sharma, who led the investigation team of the infamous Nirbhaya gang-rape and murder

case, has been awarded the 2019 McCain Institute Award for Courage and Leadership.

A team from Georgia Institute of Technology, including an Indian-American student, has won “Hearthstone

Collegiate Championship”, part of the first-ever ESPN Collegiate Esports Championship. Shiv Chopra along with

two Georgia Tech teammates swept off Minnesota team 3-0 in the finals in Houston.

Indian YouTuber Ajey Nagar has been named by Time magazine among its ‘Next Generation Leaders 2019’, a list

of only 10 young people from around the world who are forging new paths in politics, music and other spheres.

South African mountaineer Saray Khumalo became the first black woman from the continent to reach Mount

Everests summit.

Sunny Pawar has bagged the Best Child Actor award for ‘Chippa’ at the 19th New York Indian Film Festival.

Antano and Harini – Legacy Accelerators received the ‘Award of Honour’ from the Ministry of Social Justice and

Empowerment, Government of India for the unprecedented work they have been doing to help people change

the trajectory of their lives and help people create a personal legacy in compressed time.

Actor Anil Kapoor felicitated by the Council of European Chambers of Commerce (CEUCC) in India.

Aarohi Pandit, 23, made history when she landed in to become the world’s first woman pilot to cross the

Atlantic Ocean in a light sport aircraft (LSA). The Mumbai girl landed at Iqaluit Airport.

The 49-year-old Sherpa climber Kami Rita scaled Mount Everest for the 23rd time, breaking his own record of

the most successful ascents of the world’s highest peak. Breaking his own record of 22 successful ascents of

Everest, Kami Rita now became the only man on the planet to climb Everest for 23 times.

Just a week after breaking his own record for the most number of summits on Mt Everest, Kami Rita Sherpa yet

again climbed the world’s highest mountain. By achieving this feat, Sherpa has become the only Mountaineer in

the world to hold the record for most Everest summits.

Indian filmmaker, Achyutanand Dwivedi’s film, “Seed Mother”, won the third prize in the international section

of Nespresso Talents 2019 in Cannes.

In an international competition ‘Elsevier Foundation-ISC3 Green and Sustainable Chemistry Challenge’, a project

idea by Ankur Patwardhan from Pune has bagged the second prize of €25,000. His project named ‘Butterfly

attractant for pollination and ecosystem health’ is about the relation between chemistry and ecosystem.

Bengaluru-based medical doctor Hema Divakar was honoured with the ‘Global Asian of the Year 2018-19’ award

in Dubai recently for her yeomen services and contributions to the women’s healthcare ecosystem, in India.

Flight Lieutenant Mohana Singh, one of India’s first female fighter pilots, scripted history as the first ever

woman pilot to become operational on Hawk advanced jet aircraft.

Indian writer Annie Zaidi was announced as the 2019 winner of the USD 100,000 Nine Dots Prize, a prestigious

book prize created to award innovative thinking that addresses contemporary issues around the world. For -

‘Bread, Cement, Cactus’ Chandrani Murmu, a tribal woman, has made history after winning the Lok Sabha seat from Keonjhar in Odisha.

She has become the youngest Member of Parliament (MP) at the age of 25 years and 11 months.

Priyanka Mohite, the 26-year-old Satara based mountaineer, has become the first Indian woman to successfully

scale Mount Makalu — the fifth-highest mountain in the world at 8,481 metres.

Flt Lt Bhawana Kanth adds another feather to her cap by completing Day Operational syllabus on MiG-21 Bison

aircraft. She is the first women fighter pilot to be qualified to undertake missions by day on a fighter aircraft.

The haunting image of a little girl crying helplessly as she and her mother are taken into custody by US border

officials won the prestigious World Press Photo Award.

Dr A K Singh, director at Life Sciences, DRDO has been honoured with Lifetime Achievement Award 2019 during








4th APJ Abdul Kalam Innovation Conclave at Chandigarh University, Mohali.

Jailed Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo won a Pulitzer Prize for international reporting for

uncovering Rohingya killings in Myanmar’s Rakhine state.

The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal were awarded Pulitzer Prizes for their separate investigations

of President Donald Trump and his family. The Times won the prestigious journalism award for explanatory

reporting for its probe of the Trump family’s finances that “debunked his claims of self-made wealth and

revealed a business empire riddled with tax dodges.

A total of 150 Indian peacekeepers serving with the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) have received medals

of honour for their dedicated service and sacrifice. The medals were given to the 150 Indian peacekeepers

serving in United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) in Malakal during a ceremony filled with parades

and performances by a piped band.

Malayalam film Bhayanakam (Fear) directed by Jayaraj won the best cinematography award at the Beijing

International Film Festival. The cinematography was done by Nikihil S Praveen.

Prominent scientist and businessman Yusuf Hamied is among a host of Indian-origin experts honoured in the

2019 list of new fellows of the UK’s Royal Society.

All India Radio, Publication Division and Children’s Film Society of India were given Swacchta Pakhwada Awards-

2019

With an aim to honour renowned India-born economist Amartya Sen, the London School of Economics and

Political Science, has announced a Chair in Inequality Studies in his name.

National Award-winning filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar, popular scriptwriter Salim Khan and yesteryears

dancing diva Helen were honoured with the prestigious Master Deenanath Mangeshkar Award at a ceremony in

Mumbai.

Master Deenanath Mangeshkar Award for music and art has been given to classical dancer Sucheta Bhide-

Chapekar

Derek C Lalchhanhima, Mizoram Boy Who Tried To Save A Chicken Receives PETA India’s ‘Compassionate Kid’ Award 2019

The Ministry of Tourism has won the First Prize in the category of TV Cinema Spot at the prestigious

international Golden City Gate Tourism Awards 2019.

Indore in Madhya Pradesh bagged the title of India’s cleanest city in the central government’s cleanliness survey

for the third consecutive year. New Delhi Municipal Council area got the cleanest small city award while

Uttarakhand’s Gauchar was adjudged Best Ganga Town in the survey.

Former England skipper Alastair Cook officially received the knighthood for his services to cricket at an

investiture ceremony in Buckingham Palace.

Public sector Indian Bank has bagged the Best Bank Award from the Tamil Nadu government for meeting the

needs of women’s self-help groups (SHGs).

TVS Motor Company recently bagged the ‘Green Era Award for Sustainability’ at Lisbon in Portugal.

Union Ministers Piyush Goyal and Dr Harsh Vardhan are among the 7 Indians who have been named in the

‘World’s 100 Most Influential People in Climate Policy for 2019’ for taking steps in order to combat climate

change. Piyush Goyal has led the fast track electrification of nearly 18,000 unelectrified villages while Harsh

Vardhan launched the anti-plastic bag campaign in Delhi and the “Green Shopper Campaign”, which promotes

business partnerships with manufacturing of environment-friendly products.

Vice President Venkaiah Naidu was conferred with an Honorary Doctorate by the University for Peace founded

by the United Nations Organisations (UNO) for his contribution “to the Rule of Law, democracy and sustainable

development in India”.

Gymnast Dipa Karmakar was honoured by ‘Barbie’ in celebration of their 60th anniversary and was presented a








doll modelled after her. She was part of the ‘Shero’ program launched in 2015 by the company.

Conference and Summits

Summit Place Extra Knowledge

World Food India New Delhi To be held from November

1-4

WTO Ministerial Meeting of Developing Countries New Delhi

5th Smart Cities India 2019 Expo New Delhi

Army Commanders’ Conference New Delhi

4th Resilient Cities Asia-Pacific Congress 2019 New Delhi

Naval Commanders’ Conference of 2019 New Delhi

Construction Technology India-2019 Expo-cum-

Conference

New Delhi

NITI Aayog’s FinTech Conclave New Delhi

34th edition of AAHAR – International Food and

Hospitality fair

New Delhi

3rd Indo-Japan Workshop on Disaster Risk

Reduction

New Delhi

India International Cooperatives Trade Fair (IICTF) New Delhi in October 2019

2-day national convention of War Decorated India Manekshaw Auditorium in

Chandimandir, the

headquarters of the

Western Command in

Chandigarh

8th edition of Home Expo India 2019 Greater Noida, Uttar

Pradesh

National Cardiology Conference 2019 Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh

Intersessional meeting of Kimberley Process (KP) Mumbai, Maharashtra

SWIFT India and South Asia Conference Mumbai

International Seed Testing Association (ISTA)

congress

Hyderabad, Telangana

Meeting of Regional Heads of Customs

Administration of Asia Pacific Region of WCO

(World Customs Organization)

Kochi, Kerala

India, Brazil and South Africa (IBSA) Sherpas

meeting

Cochin, Kerala

10th National Science Film Festival Agartala, Tripura To be held in 2020

Festival of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Gandhinagar, Gujarat

4th Internet of Things India Congress Bengaluru To be held in August 2019

1st BRICS Sherpa meeting Curitiba, Brazil

4th session of the UN Environment Assembly

(UNEA-4)

Nairobi, Kenya

Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s (SCO) RATS

Council Meeting

Tashkent, Uzbekistan








Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) meeting Abu Dhabi, UAE India attended the OIC

meet for the first time that

too as guest of honor.

Theme: 50 years of Islamic

cooperation: the roadmap

for prosperity and

development

OIC Headquarters: Jeddah,

Saudi Arabia

Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership

(RCEP) inter-sessional ministerial meeting

Cambodia

Annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank

(ADB) in 20121

Colombo, Sri Lanka

Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Foreign

Minister’s meet

Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic

Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI)

meeeeting

Turkmenistan

5th Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) Media

Summit on Climate Action and Disaster

Preparedness

Kathmandu, Nepal Theme - “Media Solutions

for Sustainable Future:

Saving Lives, Building

Resilient Communities”.

2020 UN Ocean Conference Lisbon, Portugal Theme – “scaling up ocean

action based on science

and innovation for the

implementation of Goal 14:

stocktaking, partnerships

and solutions”

G20 summit Osaka, Japan

Indo-French cyber dialogue 2019 Paris, France

5th Conference on Interaction and Confidence

Building Measures in Asia (CICA) Summit 2019

Dushanbe, Tajikistan

14th summit of the Organisation of Islamic

Cooperation (OIC)

Mecca, Saudi Arabia The summit was hosted by

Saudi King Salman bin

Abdul Aziz Al Saud.

OIC Headquarters: Jeddah,

Saudi Arabia

Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) Bangkok, Thailand

G20 Finance Ministers’ Meeting Japan

2nd Global Disability Summit Buenos Aires, Argentina

16th Asia Media Summit Siem Reap Province,

Cambodia

17th International Association of Athletics

Federations(IAAF) Council Meeting

Monaco

Artificial Intelligence Summit Dubai, UAE Theme - Media Solutions

for Sustainable Future:








Saving Lives, Building

Resilient Communities

5th Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) Media

Summit on Climate Action and Disaster

Preparedness

Kathmandu, Nepal

Nepal-India Franchise Investment Summit Kathmandu, Nepal To be held in May 2019

World Economic Forum (WEF) on the Middle East

and North Africa (MENA) 2019

Jordan

2020 G20 summit Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

International News

India has pledged to contribute USD 5 Million in 2019 to the UN Palestine refugee agency. The Indian Government

is assisting 150 Palestinian professionals every year under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation

programme.

In a bid to promote tourism, Nepal Tourism Board is organising a program “Visit Nepal 2020” here in India to

highlight the country’s many tourist destinations.

The Mahatma Gandhi IT and Biotechnology Park in Cote d’Ivoire, a dedicated free trade zone built with India’s

assistance to build development capacities, has been inaugurated.

The MGIT-BP is being built with India’s assistance through EXIM Bank Lines of Credit of USD 20 million.

The UAE debuted the world’s largest single solar plant, Noor Abu Dhabi, boasting a production capacity of nearly

1,177 MW.

Noor Abu Dhabi is comprised of over 3.2 million solar panels, capable of providing enough capacity to 900,000

people.

The UK has unveiled a green finance strategy, setting out plans to increase investment in sustainable projects and

infrastructure.

China lowered its economic growth target for this year to between 6 per cent and 6.5 per cent.

Taking the Yoga Day initiative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the next level, the Overseas President of BJP for

Hong Kong & China, Sohan Goenka conducted a Japan Auction House Guinness World Record in Yoga.

American Kylie Jenner was named the youngest self-made billionaire of all time by Forbes magazine.

In a bid to reduce energy demand and provide emergency backup power to trains in Japan, Tesla has claimed to

develop its largest power storage system in Asia.

Norway’s capital Oslo will become the first city in the world to install wireless charging systems for electric taxis,

hoping to make recharging quick and efficient enough to speed the takeup of non-polluting cabs.

Indian Navy‘s frontline anti-submarine warfare (ASW) corvette INS Kadmatt reached at Langkawi in Malaysia, on a

seven-day official visit, to participate in Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace (LIMA) Exhibition.

The world’s largest e-waste recycling facility has opened in Dubai.

Bangladesh celebrated the 49th Independence Day on 27th March.

Italy joined China’s signature foreign policy Belt and Road initiative (BRI), making it the first G7 country to officially

do so.

The campus building for India-funded Siddheshwar Education Public Campus in Bamti Bhandar of Ramechhap

district, Nepal inaugurated.








The Indian word for underpants – chuddies – has become the latest entry to the Oxford English Dictionary.

Identifying it is an Indian English word in origin, the entry for chuddies in the Oxford English Dictionary provides its

meaning: “Short trousers, shorts. Now usually: underwear; underpants.”

Kazakhstan’s parliament voted to rename the country’s capital Astana as Nursultan in honour of longtime ruler

Nursultan Nazarbayev, a day after he resigned as president. Astana is now officially renamed Nursultan.

Kazakhstan’s new interim president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev proposed renaming the capital.

Malaysia has become a member of the International Criminal Court. Becomes 124th member.

Pakistan has been elected deputy chairman of the PUIC’s general body on the first day of its four-day conference

being held in Rabat, Morocco.

Kane Tanaka, a 116-year-old Japanese woman has been honoured as the world’s oldest living person by Guinness

World Records.

India has extended a grant assistance of up to USD 250 million to Nepal for the reconstruction of infrastructures in

the areas of housing, education, health and cultural heritage that was destroyed during the devastating April 2015

earthquake which saw the death of over 9,000 people.

Google has unveiled its Cloud gaming service called Stadia at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San

Francisco.

Highlighting the close maritime proximity between India and Indonesia, Indian Coast Guard Ship ‘Vijit’ became the

first-ever Coast Guard ship to visit Sabang, Indonesia.

The Embassy of India in Kathmandu awarded 200 Golden Jubilee Scholarships to meritorious Nepali students for

continuing their studies in various undergraduate courses at different universities and colleges across Nepal for the

academic year 2018-19.

The UK’s Royal Mint unveiled a new commemorative 50 pence coin inspired by the late legendary British physicist

Stephen Hawking’s seminal work on black holes.

The African Development Bank (AfDB) would provide 2.5 trillion shillings ($25 billion) over the next 5 years to help

in the global fight against climate change. The bank currently provides 34 per cent of its overall lending portfolio to

projects aiming to boost the fight against climate change. Headquarters: Tunis, Tunisia

Cyclone Idai, which carried heavy rains and winds of up to 177 km/h (106 mph), made landfall at the port city of

Beira.

The UK parliament became the first national legislative body in the world to declare a climate change “emergency”.

The historic move closely follows Extinction Rebellion protests that blocked traffic in key parts of central London.

US President Donald Trump has said he will withdraw his country from the International Arms Trade Treaty. The

agreement, signed by Barack Obama in 2013, aims to regulate the sale of weapons between countries.

A Japanese aerospace startup funded by a former internet maverick has successfully launched a small rocket into

space. Interstellar Technology Inc. says the unmanned MOMO-3 rocket has exceeded 100 kilometers (60 miles) in

altitude before falling into the Pacific Ocean.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) launched the Action Plan for Healthy Oceans and Sustainable Blue Economies

for the Asia and Pacific region at the 52nd Annual Meeting of ADB’s Board of Governors in Fiji.

A Nepali teenager danced continuously for 126 hours to set a Guinness World Records on “Longest Dancing

Marathon by an Individual”, a feat previously hold by an Indian.

Senegalese lawmakers approved a constitutional reform to scrap the post of prime minister, the first initiative of

President Macky Sall‘s second term in office. The government approved the measure last month before sending it

to the parliament where the presidential party enjoys a majority.

Singapore’s parliament passed the Protection from Online Falsehood and Manipulation Act (POFMA), a move to

tackle the spread of online fake news. The bill was passed after two days of debate in the parliament.








Qantas flight F739 from Sydney to Adelaide was the first commercial flight to produce no landfill waste. About 1000

single-use plastics were replaced with alternative solutions or removed altogether from the flight, including Qantas

staples like individually-packaged servings of milk and Vegemite.

WHO (World Health organization) collaborated with the International Food and Beverage Alliance (IFBA) to

eliminate industrially produced trans fat (iTFA) from food supply worldwide by 2023. Trans fat-intake leads to

coronary heart disease, due to which globally 5,00,000 deaths occur every year.

In a bid to help countries ensure secure and verifiable voting, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has announced

“ElectionGuard” a free open-source software development kit (SDK). It will enable end-to-end verification of

elections, open results to third-party organisations for secure validation, and allow individual voters to confirm

their votes were correctly counted

Ireland has become the second country in the world to declare a climate and biodiversity emergency. Ireland

followed in the footsteps of the United Kingdom.

India and China top a list of countries where illegal sand mining has become a major environmental problem,

according to a report released by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). While we cannot do without

sand, responsible mining should be incentivised, said the report, ‘Sand and Sustainability: finding new solutions for

environmental governance of global sand resources’. The Saudi government has approved for the first time a scheme that gives permanent residency to certain

expatriates, allowing them to own real estate in the kingdom and reside with their families without a Saudi

sponsor.

Taiwan became the first Asian-nation to legalise same-sex marriage.

Joining the Competition Commission of India (CCI) and the European Union (EU), Italy’s antitrust authority has

become the latest international regulatory body to launch an anti-competition investigation against Google.

The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank) and Commonwealth Bank (CBA) have

enabled secondary market trading recorded on blockchain for bond-i (blockchain operated new debt instrument),

making this the first bond whose issuance and trading are recorded using distributed ledger technologies.

Russia launched the world’s largest nuclear-powered icebreaker, which would open up commercial opportunities

for the country in the northern sea route. With the ceremonial launch of ‘Ural’, Russia’s Rosatom Atomic Energy

Corporation, which is the main equipment supplier for India’s Kudankulam nuclear power plant, has completed

another step towards ensuring all-year round navigability of the Northern sea route.

The World Health Organization has certified Algeria and Argentina as malaria-free, following three consecutive

years where no new cases of the deadly disease have been reported.

A-56 year-old Gopal Shrestha from Pokhara in Nepal became first HIV infected climber to ascend world’s highest

peak, the Mount Everest.

Puerto Williams, a growing hamlet draped in snow-covered peaks on the remote southern tip of the South American

continent, has been upgraded to the category of “city” by Chilean authorities, making it the world’s southernmost

city.

The UN Security Council has extended an arms embargo and sanctions on South Sudan for a year, despite resistance

from African countries, Russia and China.

In an effort to defuse rising trade tensions between the United States and Mexico, Mexican Economy Minister

Graciela Marquez met with US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in Washington.

American Jay-Z has been named the world’s first billionaire rapper in a new Forbes cover story.

The first US lunar lander in the 21st century will be designed in India, the result of NASA’s new willingness to

outsource production of its space vehicles.








Razorpay, India’s first converged payments solution company, announced that it now supports 100 currencies for

international digital payments – including all popular currencies such as U.S. Dollar (USD), European Dollar (EUR),

British Pound (GBP), Arab Emirates Dirham (AED) and Singapore Dollar (SGD).

In Russia, the first tourist train traveling through Russia’s Arctic region and on to Norway set off from St. Petersburg

station with 91 passengers aboard for the inaugural trial journey.

The Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia organised a “Gandhi cycle rally for peace” in Riyadh on 7th June to

commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

Vietnam has been elected unopposed to the Security Council on behalf of the Asian countries in an election that

could reshuffle the dynamics of the UN’s highest body that is already paralyzed on many important issues like Syria,

Yemen and Venezuela.

Hong Kong held the annual dragon boat festival with teams competing to race the traditional craft.

Sri Lankan Airlines, the flag carrier of the island nation, has been named the ‘World’s Most Punctual Airline’ for the

second consecutive time with over 90 per cent of its flights in May being “on time”.

Singer Rihanna has been named as the “World’s Richest Female Musician” by the Forbes magazine with an

estimated fortune of $600 million with the bulk of that coming from her Fenty beauty range.

India handed over NPR 1.6 billion as reimbursement of part payment of the first and second tranches of housing

reconstruction in Nuwakot and Gorkha, among the areas affected in the devastating 2015 earthquake.

In an effort to curb pollution of oceans, the Canadian government announced that it will ban single-use plastics as

early as 2021.

Facebook, the social networking giant on Tuesday announced a digital wallet subsidiary called ‘Calibra’ that would

launch Blockchain-powered cryptocurrency ‘Libra’ next year to help nearly one billion people globally who don’t have a bank account but do have a mobile phone.

Composer, Bhushan Kumar has been felicitated with an official certificate from Guinness World Records as T-Series

became the first YouTube channel to reach 100 million subscribers.

Social networking giant Facebook announced its first interactive game show, titled “Confetti”in India.

The National Geographic Society has announced the successful installation of the world’s highest operating weather

stations on Mount Everest to provide researchers, climbers, and the public with near real-time information about

mountain conditions.

Ali Stroker made history by becoming the first actor in a wheelchair to win a Tony Award. The 31-year-old won best-

featured actress in a musical award for her outstanding role as Ado Annie in Rogers and Hammerstein’s ‘Oklahoma!’ WHO offers a new tool “AWaRe” to contain rising antimicrobial resistance and make antibiotic use safer and more

effective.

AWaRe classifies antibiotics into three groups:

“Access” specifies which antibiotics to use for the most common and serious infections.

“Watch” specifies which ones should be available at all times in the healthcare system.

“Reserve” are those that must be used sparingly or preserved and used only as a last resort.

Bangladesh has emerged as the fastest growing economy among the 45 countries of the Asia-Pacific region

according to Asian Development Bank (ADB).

According to a report released by BloombergNEF, nearly half the world’s electricity will come from renewable

energy by 2050 as costs of wind, solar and battery storage continue to plummet.

India has extended USD 15 million assistance to Niger for organising the African Union (AU) summit scheduled to be

held in Niamey early next month.








Sri Lanka’s first satellite ‘Ravana-1’, designed and developed by two local engineers, was successfully launched into

orbit this week from the International Space Station (ISS) along with two other BIRDS 3 satellites from Japan and

Nepal.

The US overtook China to once again become India’s top goods trading partner in 2018-19, official data shows. Also,

India’s trade surplus with the US declined to $16.8 billion from $21.2 billion a year ago.

Saudi Arabia became the first Arab country to get full membership of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). With

this, the number of permanent members in the group accounted to 39.

The UAE has become the first country in the Gulf to launch ‘goAML’, a new anti money laundering reporting

platform developed by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to curb organised crimes.

The bronze statue of Maharaja Ranjit Singh was unveiled at Lahore fort near Maharani Jinda haveli at Lahore on

180th death anniversary of Ranjit Singh.

China sent a new data relay satellite into orbit from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in Sichuan Province. The

Tianlian II-01 satellite was launched by a Long March-3B carrier rocket.

Japan has unveiled the name of the new imperial era that will begin when Prince Naruhito becomes head of the

world’s oldest hereditary monarchy next month. Reiwa, comprising of two Chinese characters that can be read

“order” and “peace”, replaces Heisei (“achieving peace”), the title of the current era under Naruhito’s father,

Emperor Akihito.

Chicago has created history by electing an African-American woman as its mayor for the first time. Lori Lightfoot, a

56-year-old former federal prosecutor and practicing lawyer who has never before held elected office, won the city’s

mayoral race by a huge margin. She will also be Chicago’s first openly gay mayor.

South Korea launched the world’s first fully-fledged 5G mobile networks.

London became the first city in the world to implement a special Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) that would charge

an entry fee for older vehicles if they do not meet the emission standards. In an attempt to reduce air pollution and

protect public health, the ULEZ will be operational for 24 hours and seven days a week.

China has successfully tested the world’s first armed amphibious drone boat which the Chinese military analysts

claimed could be used in land assault operations and is capable of forming a combat triad with aerial drones and

other drone ships.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank have together launched a private blockchain with a

pseudo-token. The new token, called “Learning Coin” and only accessible within the IMF and World Bank, has a

purpose to teach relevant individuals within the organizations about blockchain.

Global IT spending is projected to total $3.79 trillion in 2019, an increase of 1.1 per cent from 2018, the latest

forecast by Gartner Inc. said recently.

NepaliSat-1, Nepal’s first satellite has been launched into space, which will soon start rotating around the Earths

orbit to collect information about the country’s topography and Earths magnetic field.

Sri Lanka’s first satellite ‘Raavana-1’ was launched into space today from NASA’s Flight Facility on Virginia’s east

shore. ‘Raavana 1’ weights around 1.05 kg and the lifespan of the satellite is around one and a half years.

NASA astronaut Christina Koch is set to spend the longest duration in space by a woman, surpassing the previous

record of 288 days in spaceflight by astronaut Peggy Whitson.

Asian Tea Alliance (ATA), a union of five tea-growing and consuming countries was launched in Guizhou, China.

The world’s first malaria vaccine has been launched in Malawi after concerted efforts of over 30 years to protect

children from the deadly disease that claims over 435,000 lives globally every year.








Israel said it would name a new community on the Golan Heights after U.S. President Donald Trump as an

expression of gratitude for his recognition of its claim of sovereignty over the strategic plateau.

Iran and Pakistan have agreed to set up a joint border “reaction force” following a number of deadly attacks by

militant groups on their frontier, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani announced after talks with visiting Pakistani

Prime Minister Imran Khan.

The UAE’s flag carrier Etihad Airways has become the first airline in the Gulf region to operate a flight without any

single-use plastics on board, in a bid to raise awareness about pollution on Earth Day. According to the Abu Dhabi-

based national airline of the UAE, the flight EY484 landed in Brisbane on April 22, Earth Day.

Russia has successfully tested the world’s first floating nuclear power plant (NPP), Akademik Lomonosov, a

subsidiary of Rosatom nuclear corporation stated.

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena used his emergency powers to issue an order to ban burqa, veil or covering

of face in public places in any manner which prevents anyone from being identified.

Despite strong economic growth in 2018, undernourishment rose for the third year in a row, with 821 million people

in the world now facing chronic food deprivation, says 2019 Global Food Policy Report prepared by US-based

International Food Policy Research Institute.

India’s decision to skip the Belt and Road Forum (BRF) may have led to the exclusion of the Bangladesh- China- India-

Myanmar (BCIM) Economic corridor from the list of projects covered by the China-led Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)

umbrella.

If no action is taken, drug-resistant diseases could cause 10 million deaths each year by 2050 and damage to the

economy as catastrophic as the 2008-2009 global financial crisis, a new report by United Nations (UN) has warned.

National News The Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Yury Trutnev addressed a gathering of businesspersons and industrialist in

Mumbai and invited Indian Investments in the Russian Far East.

Prime Minister of Republic of Guinea Ibrahima Kassory Fofana arrived on a ten-day visit to attend the 14th edition

of CII-EXIM Bank conclave on ‘India-Africa Project Partnership.’ India has achieved an 84 per cent reduction in tuberculosis deaths among people living with HIV by 2017. According

to the Joint United Nations Programme on the UNAIDS, it is the highest recorded decline among over 20 nations

and it is also three years ahead of the 2020 deadline.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the “One Nation, One Card” programme to ensure seamless travel across

the country. The card can be used for payments across different segments, including Metro, bus, suburban

railways, toll, parking and retail purchases.

‘One Nation One Ration Card’ scheme will be available across the country from July 1, 2020. The scheme will allow

portability of food security benefits according to which the poor migrant workers will be able to buy subsidised rice

and wheat from any ration shop in the country as long as their ration cards are linked to Aadhaar.

Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan said that the government has set a target to raise health services expenditure to

2.5 per cent of the country’s GDP by 2025.

The South Central Railway (SCR) has added yet another feather in its cap by commissioning the longest electrified

tunnel of 6.6 km built at a total cost of ₹460 crore between Cherlopalli and Rapuru stations. The tunnel is part of

the recently completed Obulavaripalli-Venkatachalam new railway line.








India’s first Design Development Center ‘Fashionova’ was launched in the Textile city Surat recently to promote the

city in the field of the fashion design sector.

The Prayagraj Kumbh Mela 2019 has secured place in the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest crowd

management, largest sanitation drive and largest painting exercise of public sites.

RailTel Corporation of India Ltd, a Mini Ratna CPSU under the Ministry of Railways, has successfully completed work

of turning 1000 railway stations across the country into Free Wi-Fi zone. RailTel started the project in January 2016

from Mumbai Central station in Maharashtra. It was the first station to have the fast and free RailWire Wi-Fi and in

a span of two years and three months. The Reay Road station of the suburban line of Central Railways in Mumbai is

the 1000th station to go live with Wi-Fi.

Union Minister Harsh Vardhan launched an anthem as a part of a campaign to make India plastic-free by 2022, and

stressed on strengthening plastic waste management and recycling ecosystem in the country. The ”Plastic Waste-

Free India” has been anthem, prepared and produced by Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya Smriti Manch (PDUSM), a

non-profit organisation which claims to be working on various social and environmental issues.

The anthem has been launched in 7 languages- Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telegu, Malyalam and Kannada.

Shri Jual Oram, Union Minister of Tribal Affairs launched the ambitious scheme of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Van

Dhan, the scheme for Minimum Support Price (MSP) for Minor Forest Produce Scheme (MFP) and Development of

Value Chain of MFPs at a National Workshop organized by Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation

of India Limited (TRIFED) under Ministry of Tribal Affairs.

The Union Cabinet approved promulgation of an ordinance for establishing the New Delhi International Arbitration

Centre (NDIAC) to create an independent and autonomous regime for institutionalised arbitration.

The Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister, Prakash Javadekar launched STARS – Scheme for

Translational and Advanced Research in Science to fund science projects. The ministry has approved funds worth Rs

250 crore for the scheme.

The Pradhan Mantri JI-VAN (Jaiv Indhan- Vatavaran Anukool fasal awashesh Nivaran) Yojana was approved by the

Union Cabinet for providing financial support to Integrated Bioethanol Projects using lignocellulosic biomass and

other renewable feedstock. The JI-VAN Yojana will be supported with total financial outlay of Rs 1969.50 crore for

the period from 2018-19 to 2023-24.

The Union Cabinet approved the proposal for setting up of a Centre for Disability Sports at Gwalior, Madhya

Pradesh.

The Union Cabinet approved an expenditure of Rs 1,450 crore for purchase of the Reserve Bank of India-held shares

in the National Housing Bank (NHB). The RBI currently holds 100 per cent stake in the NHB.

The Centre has given approval to the establishment of new All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at

Manethi in Haryana’s Rewari district at a cost of Rs. 1299 crore. It was announced in the Union Budget 2019-20.

A National Conference on “Deendayal Disabled Rehabilitation Scheme (DDRS)” was inaugurated by the Union

Minister of Social Justice & Empowerment Thaawarchand Gehlot. The “7th Guinness Book of World Record” has

been created by the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD), at Bharuch, Gujarat.

India’s food processing ministry is working on a new scheme Gram Samridhi Yojana to bolster the unorganised food

processing sector concentrated in rural areas. Gram Samridhi Yojana also aims to provide common facility centres

and business incubators in rural areas.

The Rs 3,000 crore scheme funded by the World Bank and the Centre will help cottage industry, farmer producers’ organisation and individual food processors to increase capacity.








Bengaluru-based fabless semiconductor company, Signalchip, unveiled India’s first semiconductor chips for 4G/LTE

and 5G NR modems, which would enable high-speed wireless communication. These chips put India into an elite

group of countries that own this widely used fundamental technology.

The alumnus and researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi have created a laptop for visually-

impaired. In what they claim to be a first in the country, the laptop has an interface in form of dots or Braile instead

of a visual one. The researchers have named it ‘DotBook’. State-run Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced the launch of its Young Scientist programme to

train class 9 students in space technology and its applications. ISRO has launched the special programme for school

children ‘Yuva Vigyani Karyakram’ (Young Scientist programme) to impart basic knowledge on space technology,

space science and applications to the young ones to arouse their interest in space activities.

The Geological Survey of India (GSI) launched 22 permanent global positioning system (GPS) stations across India to

identify seismically hazardous zones and encourage mapping activities.

The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) created the Guinness World Record for ‘longest single line bicycle

parade (moving)’ at the Yamuna Expressway, Noida.

Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), a defence public sector undertaking, presented SWAGAT – the Automatic Fare

Collection Gating System. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the system as part of the inaugural of Phase I of

the Ahmedabad Metro.

India has been designated as the guest of honour at the Paris Book Fair in 2020, while France will be the guest

country at the New Delhi World Book Fair (NDWBF) in 2022.

Tucked away deep in trans-Himalayas, Tashigang, a small Himachal Pradesh village at an altitude of 15,256 feet, is

now the highest polling station in the world.

A yarn bank has been set up at the Mysore Powerloom Silk Manufacturers Cooperative Society on Avenue Road to

benefit the state’s weavers.

Indian Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba commissioned a state-of-the-art “Nuclear, Biological, Chemical Training

Facility – ABHEDYA”, at INS Shivaji in Lonavla.

Vijayawada railway station, one of the busiest railway junctions in the country, has received Gold Rating by the

Indian Green Building Council.

Social-networking site Facebook launched 2 new India-specific tools “Candidate Connect” and “Share You Voted” to

boost civic engagement on its platform during the general elections that commence in April.

For the first time in the world, researchers at the GRAPES-3 muon telescope facility in Ooty have measured the

electrical potential, size and height of a thundercloud that passed overhead on December 1, 2014. At 1.3 gigavolts

(GV), this cloud had 10 times higher potential than the previous record in a cloud.

The Indian Railways said that 100 summer special trains would be run to handle extra rush of passengers during

this season. These special trains will be run from March 28. A superfast weekly special train between Chhatrapati

Shivaji Maharaj Terminus and Gorakhpur will make a total of 26 round trips between the two stations every Friday

from April 12 to July 5.

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) launched a new podcast app ‘Shiksha Vani’. This app will

disseminate crucial information to students and parents in a timely manner.

The National Annual Rural Sanitation Survey, NARSS 2018-19 has found that 96.5 per cent of the households in

rural India have access to a toilet. The survey was conducted by an Independent Verification Agency under the

World Bank support project to the Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen).








Google launched a free app called “Bolo” that parents can download to help primary grade children improve their

Hindi and English reading skills. Launched in India first, the app is designed to work offline and comes with a built-in

reading buddy, “Diya“, who encourages, aids, explains, and corrects the child, as they read aloud.

Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Puri launched e-Dharti app where all the three modules- Conversion,

Substitution and Mutation related to properties have been made online.

The country’s 500th Passport Kendra has been made operational at Pratapgarh in Rajasthan.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has given its approval for extension of time and scope for revival and

development of unserved and underserved air strips of state governments, Airports Authority of India (AAI), civil

enclaves, central public sector undertakings (CPSUs), helipads and water aerodromes at the total cost of Rs 4,500

crore with the budgetary support of government of India.

LPG connections distributed under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana touched the 7 crore mark with Geeta Devi

becoming the seventh crore beneficiary of the scheme. Launched in 2016, the flagship scheme has achieved this

“milestone” in just 34 months.

The Sundarban Reserve Forest (SRF) in India, located within the largest mangrove forest in the world, the

Sundarbans, is now a Wetland of International Importance, making it the largest protected wetland in the country.

A mobile application to cope with exam related stress and anxiety for students and their parents has been

developed by Indian Institute of Public Health Gandhinagar, Gujarat, (IIPHG) in collaboration with National Mental

Health Program, Department of Health and Family Welfare, Government of Gujarat. The mobile application is

called ‘Conquer Exam, Be a Warrior.’ Defence Ministry cleared a major project for the Indian Army for the acquisition of 10 lakh ‘Made in India’ multi-

mode hand grenades.

The Indian Department of Post released a ‘special stamp cover on Ice Stupa’. Ice Stupa site at Gangles Village in

Leh.

The Supreme Court appointed senior advocate P.S. Narasimha, who is assisting the apex court as an amicus curiae

in the BCCI matter, as mediator for resolving various disputes related to cricket administration in the country.

The government has constituted an inter-ministerial panel for monitoring, sanctioning and implementation of

projects under the Rs 10,000-crore FAME-II programme, aimed at incentivising clean mobility. The Rs 10,000-crore

programme under the second phase of the FAME India scheme will be implemented over a period of three years

with effect from April 1, 2019.

Geographical Indication (GI) tags have been granted to Coorg Arabica Coffee, Wayanad Robusta Coffee,

Chikmagalur Arabica Coffee, Araku Valley Arabica Coffee and Bababudangiris Arabica Coffee, by the Geographical

Indications Registry.

The Election Commission launched mobile application “Observer App” that will help poll observers to submit

reports timely. Over 1800 IAS, IPS and IRS officials, officials of Central services will be deployed as observers in the

upcoming Lok Sabha election 2019 and State Assembly elections.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved changes to the Prime Minister’s Scholarship Scheme for wards of

deceased defense personnel under the National Defence Fund. The quota of new scholarships for children of state

police officials will be 500 in a year. The rates of scholarship have also been increased from Rs. 2000 per month to

Rs. 2500 per month for boys and from Rs. 2250 per month to Rs. 3000 per month for girls.

Assam government has waived admission fees for students taking admission up to Post Graduate level whose

parental income is less than 2 lakh rupees per year.

Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) has organized two-day workshop for Population Research

Centres (PRCs) in New Delhi to highlight various features off its fagship schemes for concurrent management.








A Two-day Yoga Mahotsava, a Curtain Raiser for International Day of Yoga (IDY) 2019 was inaugurated by the

Vice-Chairman, NITI AAYOG Rajeev Kumar at New Delhi. On this occasion Secretary, Ministry of AYUSH Vaidya

Rajesh Kotecha announced two Applications ‘Yoga Locator’ and ‘Bhuvan App’ related to International Day of Yoga

2019. ‘Yoga for Heart’ was the themevfor IDY 2019.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh visited Siachen Glacier and reviewed the security situation along the borders with

Pakistan. The Defence Minister was accompanied by Army Chief General Bipin Rawat.

Government has responded to the decision by the United States of America to withdraw India’s GSP benefits with

effect from 5th June 2019.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has ruled that all animals are legal persons entitled to legal rights like human

beings.

Ahead of the International Yoga Day on June 21, the AYUSH ministry has launched a mobile application ‘Yoga

Locator’to enable people locate yoga events and centres providing training.

Delhi Metro has become the first ever project in the country to receive power generated from a waste-to-energy

plant.

Bancha in Betul district, Madhya Pradesh is the first village in India to have zero wooden stoves and almost no use

for LPG cylinders with all its 75 houses relying on solar-powered stoves to meet their cooking needs.

Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar launched a people’s campaign #SelfiewithSaplingurging all to join and

plant a sapling and post the selfie with the sapling on social media.

Woman in Delhi can soon travel free on public transport, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced.

L&T Financial Services’ (LTFS) ‘Digital Sakhi’, an educational programme aimed at digital financial inclusion of rural

women, was launched in 20 villages of Villupuram district in Tamil Nadu.

In a bid to spur investment and create new employment opportunities, Prime Minister Narendra Modi set up two

Cabinet committees to deal with the two crucial issues. Both the panels, respectively on Investment and Growth

and on Employment and Skill Development, will be headed by the prime minister.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi surprised markets by naming Nirmala Sitharaman, formerly the country’s defence

minister, as the next finance minister at a time when Asia’s third-largest economy is stuttering.

Indian construction market is expected to grow on an average by 7.1% each year and it would become the third

largest by 2025.

For the first time in India, National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj (NIRDPR), has launched an

initiative to improve the adaptive capacity of the rural poor engaged in farm-based livelihoods to cope with climate

change.

Chaukhandi Stupa, an ancient Buddhist site located in Sarnath, Uttar Pradesh, has been declared as a Monument

and protected area of national importance by Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the New Delhi International Arbitration

Centre Bill which will be introduced during the upcoming session of parliament.

According to the annual report on internet trends by venture capitalist Mary Meeker, India accounts for 12%

world’s internet users.

The U.S. Embassy organised its fifth annual ‘Student Visa Day’ and launched ‘EducationUSA India’. It is a mobile

application to provide Indian students with “current, comprehensive and accurate information about studying in

the U.S.”

HCL Technologies is all set to roll out “Tech Bee” programme, a company initiative under which it trains and hires

students who have completed XII th standard, across several states.

Software giant Microsoft launched Artificial Intelligence (AI)-enabled digital labs in collaboration with 10 higher

educational institutions in India.

Celebrated mango grower, Haji Kalimullah, popularly known as ‘Mango Man’, has named a new variety of mango

after Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been invited to attend the G-7 Summit this year as a Special Invitee by French

President Emmanuel Macron, confirmed the Ministry of External Affairs.








Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a 200 million dollar line of credit to Kyrgyzstan after wide-ranging talks

with Kyrgyzstan President Sooronbay Jeenbekov in Bishkek.

Shri Prahlad Singh Patel, Minister of State (I/C) of Culture & Tourism, Government of India inaugurated the

exhibition titled “Astitva: The Essence of Prabhakar Barwe”, at National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi.

India has been designated as the Guest of Honour at the 33rd Feria Internacional del Libro de Guadalajara

(Guadalajara International Book Fair), in Mexico, the National Book Trust announced.

Indian Navy’s first Naval Air Squadron 550 celebrated its Diamond Jubilee at naval base Kochi after Completing 60

glorious years of yeoman service to the nation.

The recent report of NITI Ayog on groundwater level says 21 Indian cities including Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai and

Hyderabad – will run out of groundwater by 2020, affecting around 100 million people.

According to the President of India, construction or upgradation of about 35,000 kilometres of national highways

are to be undertaken by 2022 under the ‘Bharatmala Project’. Minister of State (I/c) for Civil Aviation inaugurated the Air Traffic Flow Management Central Command Centre in

New Delhi.

Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Human Resource Development has launched Integrated

Scheme for School Education i.e. Samagra Shiksha effective from 2018-19. Self Defence training for girls is an

activity under Samagra Shiksha. Keeping in view, the rising number of crimes against girls and women in the

country and to ensure safety and security of girls, Self Defence training is imparted to girls of class VI to XII

belonging to Government Schools.

Kerala took the top spot among larger states for overall performance on health indicators in a NITI Aayog report,

followed by Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, while Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Odisha languish at the bottom.

The Centre has approved Rs 13,343 crore for the National Animal Disease Control Programme for Foot and Mouth

Disease (FMD) and Brucellosis for the next five years. The amount of Rs 2683 crore is proposed for the Financial

Year 2019-20.

Power distribution company BSES Yamuna Power Limited (BYPL) has tied up with several private organisations to

launch a slew of initiatives including a ‘behavioural energy saving app’ to reduce electricity consumption. The app

— Susthome — developed by BYPL and TERI to bring about a behavioural change in how consumers use electricity,

will track energy consumption patterns.

The Vice President, M. Venkaiah Naidu released a postage stamp to commemorate the 750th birth anniversary of

Sri Vedanta Desikan in New Delhi.

Indian government had earlier proposed a special green-coloured number plate for all electric vehicles in the

country. Putting the year old plan in action, the Central government has now asked the state transport

departments to make it mandatory for all EVs to use the green number plates, irrespective of the year in which

they were bought.

Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) recently launched the Malaria Elimination Research Alliance (MERA)-

India and organised the Stakeholders’ Meeting at ICMR headquarters, New Delhi to have vibrant discussions on the

roadmap of the Alliance.

The government has hiked the customs duty on wheat to 40 per cent from 30 per cent to curb imports and protect

the domestic industry.

The Indian Institute of Technology Delhi has announced that they will be introducing a new Centre of Excellence for

Waste to Wealth Technologies. This step has been taken as a way to celebrate Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th Birthday.

The initiative is a joint effort of IIT-D and Government of India’s Principle Scientific Advisor (PSA).








The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) held a brainstorming session for all stakeholders in the

renewable energy industry. This ‘chintan baithak’ was the first of its kind organised by MNRE.

The Indian Army is commemorating this year as the ‘Year of Next of Kin’ and plans to reach out to the next of kin of

battle casualties, ex-servicemen and serving soldiers to inform them of entitled financial benefits, welfare schemes

and help resolve pension related problems.

The Indian Navy’s first full-fledged Services Selection Board (SSB) was inaugurated by Navy Chief Admiral Sunil

Lanba at Diamond Harbour near Kolkata. The SSB (Kolkata) is located at a place that was previously occupied by a

Naval Coastal Battery.

The website of the Lokpal www.lokpal.gov.in has been launched. It was inaugurated by Chairperson Justice Pinaki

Chandra Ghose in presence of all the Members of Lokpal in New Delhi.

The Lokpal is the first institution of its kind in independent India, established under the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act,

2013 to inquire and investigate into allegations of the corruption against public functionaries who fall within the

scope and ambit of the above Act

At 47.8 deaths per 1,000 live births, India in 2015 had more deaths among children under five than any other

country, new research has found.

The highest mortality rate, in Assam, a state in northeastern India, was more than seven times that in the western

state of Goa.

India signed the ‘Christchurch Call to Action’ in Paris. The agreement came in the backdrop of the attacks on

mosques in March and is aimed at stopping the abuse of the Internet by extremists.

India has been unanimously chosen as co-chair of the Consultative Group (CG) of Global Facility for Disaster

Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) for the fiscal year 2020.

India delivered the first pair of replacement Mi-24 attack helicopters to Afghanistan. India had first delivered the

Mi-24 Helicopters to Afghanistan in December 2015.

With 400 young Indian men participating across the country to learn laundry lessons to share the responsibility of

cleaning clothes along with the female members of their homes, India achieved the Guinness World Records

certificate for the largest laundry lesson recently.

The NITI Aayog has drawn up a plan for creating an institutional framework for artificial intelligence (AI) in the

country. It has circulated a cabinet note to provide Rs 7,500 crore in funding for creation of cloud computing

platform called AIRAWAT and research institutes.

UN Environment India and Wildlife Crime Control Bureau of India launched an awareness campaign ‘Not all animals

migrate by choice’ to be displayed at major airports across the country ahead of the International Day of Biological

Diversity celebrated on 22 May.

A 41-year-old orangutan at Odisha’s Nandankanan Zoological Park died following a prolonged illness. ”Binny”, the

country’s lone orangutan passed away due to old-age related ailments followed by respiratory tract infection.

In its first meeting, the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi decided to give monthly pension of

Rs 3,000 to all small and marginal farmers across the country, small traders, businessmen, and shopkeepers after

they attain the age of 60 years.

All small shopkeepers and self-employed persons as well as the retail traders with Goods and Services Tax (GST)

turnover below Rs 1.5 crore and aged between 18 and 40 years can enroll themselves for the scheme.

As the World Environment Day is approaching, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change launched a

theme song ‘Hawa Aane De’ on air pollution. The song was launched in the national capital. The aim is to spread

awareness regarding protecting the environment. Secretary of Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change








launched the song in the presence of actor Shekhar Suman and singer Shaan. World Environment Day is celebrated

on June 05.

The Trump administration removed India from its currency monitoring list of major trading partners, citing certain

developments and steps being taken by New Delhi addressing some of its major concerns. Switzerland is the other

nation that has been removed from the list. However, the list includes China, Japan, South Korea, Germany, Italy,

Ireland, Singapore, Malaysia, and Vietnam among others.

India has been elected to the Executive Board of the first UN-Habitat Assembly, announced by Ministry of Housing

and Urban Affairs. India has been elected to the Executive Board of the first UN-Habitat Assembly at the Plenary

Session of the Assembly being held in Nairobi.

ISRO Chairman K Sivan flagged off the shipment of India’s largest liquid hydrogen storage tank at the VRV Asia

Pacific’s manufacturing plant at Sri City in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh.

WhatsApp launched an India-focused fact-checking feature to combat fake news and rumours starting with the

run-up to the Lok Sabha elections. The messaging platform said that its Indian users, numbering more than 200

million, can now report uncertain information or rumours they have received to a WhatsApp number (+91-9643-

000-888) and check its authenticity.

The response will indicate if information is classified as ‘true’, ‘false’, ‘misleading’, ‘disputed’ or ‘out of scope’, and

include any other related information. WhatsApp will review pictures, video links or texts in Hindi, Telugu, Bengali,

Malayalam and English.

This tip line feature has been developed by WhatsApp in collaboration with India-based media skilling startup

PROTO.

A small village, Phayeng, in the North Eastern state of Manipur, has been tagged as India’s first carbon-positive

settlement. It is a first of its kind project in the South Asian country.

UAE announced that India will be the Guest of Honour country at the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair, ADIBF

2019, held from 24th to 30th of April.

The Union Cabinet approved the ongoing GSLV continuation programme phase 4 consisting of five GSLV flights

during 2021-24. This will enable the launch of 2-tonne class of satellites for geo-imaging, navigation, data relay

communication and space sciences.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, has approved a proposal to extend the duration of New Urea Policy-

2015, from April 1 till further orders.

India was a net importer of steel during the 2018-19 fiscal year, the first time in three years, as the country lost

market share among its traditional steel buyers and imports jumped on demand for higher-quality steel

domestically.

The Election Commission (EC) launched a new mobile application for near-realtime availability of voter turnout

during elections across the country. The beta version of the “Voter Turnout” app, available on Android Playstore,

currently shows the state-wise and constituency-wise voter turnout in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.

The 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy which killed thousands of people is among the world’s “major industrial accidents” of

the 20th century, a UN report has said, warning that 2.78 million workers die from occupational accidents and

work-related diseases each year.

From 2020, the CBSE students with visual impairment will be allowed to use magnifying glasses and portable video

magnifiers during the Class X final examination.








Indonesia released a special commemorative stamp on the theme of Ramayana to mark the 70th anniversary of

diplomatic ties with India. The stamp, designed by renowned Indonesian sculptor Padmashri Bapak Nyoman Nuart,

features a scene from Hindu epic Ramayana in which Jatayu valiantly fought to save Sita.

BuyUcoin, which is the second oldest Cryptocurrency Exchange in India, announces the launch of a new and unique

platform for wholesale cryptocurrency trading which allows its users to trade on a large scale with low price

fluctuations.

Taking a cue from European languages, several of which have the same (Roman letter–based) script, Srinivasa

Chakravathy’s team at IIT Madras has, over the last decade, developed a unified script for 9 Indian languages,

named the Bharati script. The team has now gone a step further since developing the script: it has developed a

method for reading documents in Bharati script using a multi-lingual optical character recognition (OCR) scheme.

Indian Army claimed that one of its teams spotted mysterious footprints of mythical creature “Yeti” close to Nepal’s

Makalu Base Camp. During an expedition, the Mountaineering Expedition team came across mysterious marks

measuring 32X15 inches, which the Army believed are of the mythical beast Yeti.

Cyclone ‘Fani’ intensified into a ‘severe cyclonic storm’ and headed towards the Odisha coast.

State News

Andhra Pradesh

In a first, The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) opened a visitors’ gallery with 5,000 capacity at Andhra

Pradesh’s Sriharikota island. The gallery has a clear line of sight to two launch pads and large screens to explain

launcher and satellite features.

The National Green Tribunal has slapped an interim penalty of Rs 100 crore on the Andhra Pradesh government for

inaction to prevent illegal sand mining in the state. A bench, headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar

Goel, directed the chief secretary of Andhra Pradesh to forthwith prohibit all unregulated sand mining.

HP Inc India has signed a pact with with Andhra Pradesh Innovation Society (APIS) and Andhra Pradesh Economic

Development Board (APEDB) to build a Center of Excellence (CoE) that would 3D printing technology work.

Arunachal Pradesh

The Geological Survey of India (GSI) in its report said that about 35% of India’s total Graphite reserves are found in

Arunachal Pradesh. This is the highest found in the country.

Assam

Assam government has waived admission fees for students taking admission up to Post Graduate level whose

parental income is less than 2 lakh rupees per year.

Assam government will set up a Skill University at the cost of 850 crore rupees at Darrang district. This will be

perhaps the first skill university of the country with a capacity of 10 thousand seats.

Centre has approved setting up of e-Foreigner Tribunal (e-FT) in Assam.

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal inaugurated the Ambubachi Mela in Guwahati.

A district in western Assam is going the digital way to attract the first-time voters towards the election process and

ensure their participation. The district administration of Bongaigaon has developed a ‘Sankalp’ mobile phone

application to especially reach out to the first-time voters.

The Guwahati Railway Station has become the first ever railway station in the Indian Railways to get an ISO

certification from the National Green Tribunal (NGT) for “providing passenger amenities in a clean and green

environment.”








Assam’s most awaited festival the Rongali Bihu, also known as ‘Bohaag Bihu’ which marks the beginning of the new

Assamese calendar year was celebrated.

‘Rice Knowledge Bank – Assam’, an agriculture web portal dedicated to enhancing knowledge on rice production

techniques and technologies, best production practices and state agriculture facts, was launched as part of the

World Bank funded project- Assam Agri-business and Rural Transformation (APART).

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated the BOLD-QIT (Border Electronically Dominated QRT Interception

Technique) under Comprehensive Integrated Border Management System (CIBMS) on Indo-Bangladesh border in

Dhubri district of Assam.

Assam Chief Electoral Officer Mukesh Sahu launched the Enajori initiative in Guwahati. It is a special initiative for

persons with disabilities with an aim that ‘No Voter to be Left behind’. It is a joint initiative of CEO Assam and Social

Welfare Department with an objective to make Lok Sabha Elections accessible to Persons with Disability, PwD

voters.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated the project BOLD-QIT (Border Electronically Dominated QRT Interception

Technique) on India-Bangladesh border in Dhubri District of Assam.

The Assam government in collaboration with the Singapore-based ITE Education Services (ITEES) set up the North

East Skill Centre (NESC) in Guwahati.

Bihar

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar launched the Mukhyamantri Vriddha Pension Yojna for poor people above 60

years of age in the state.

The Government of Bihar recently banned felling of trees, citing increasing pollution as well as a fatal heatwave.

Trees on private land, however, can be felled in the absence of a tree-protection Act in Bihar.

Chandigarh

A new centre to repair Russian helicopters of Mi-17V-5 type will be operational in Chandigarh by the end of 2019,

according to Russian Helicopters Deputy Director General Igor Chechikov.

Chhattisgarh

A museum exhibiting Sikh culture and tradition has opened in the heart of state’s capital city Raipur.

The Chhattisgarh government has set up a hi-tech ‘integrated command and control centre’ in Raipur for better

traffic management and surveillance in the city.

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel inaugurated ‘Jan Choupal’ programme in Raipur. Under this

programme, public meetings will be held once every week to discuss the issues of the people.

Delhi

Woman in Delhi can soon travel free on public transport, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced.

The Aam Aadmi Party government’s flagship CCTV project, which is started from 8th June in the national capital,

has the deadline of April next year, while the city government has set September 2020 to be the deadline for

providing free WiFi facility to Delhiites, according to the Outcome Budget.

Delhi Metro has become the first ever project in the country to receive power generated from a waste-to-energy

plant.

Shri Prahlad Singh Patel, Minister of State (I/C) of Culture & Tourism, Government of India inaugurated the

exhibition titled “Astitva: The Essence of Prabhakar Barwe”, at National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi.

Union Minister of Social Justice & Empowerment flagged off “17th Run Against Drug Abuse” on the occasion of

“International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking” in New Delhi.








In a bid to become world’s first 100 per cent green energy metro rail network, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation

(DMRC) started its operations through the support of solar energy on Violet line in between the Jawaharlal Nehru

Stadium metro station to Central Secretariat station.

The ‘Azaadi ke Diwane’ museum dedicated to the unsung heroes of the country’s freedom struggle was

inaugurated at the Red Fort premises.

Textiles Minister Smriti Irani inaugurated the refurbished Handloom Haat at Janpath in New Delhi.

Delhi government launched a common mobility app ‘One Delhi’ to allow users plan more efficiently their journey

with Delhi Metro and all city buses.

Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep S. Puri, in New Delhi, inaugurated state-of-the-art India Urban

Observatory, which would plug into the myriad sources of data from cities, both real-time and archived.

Gujarat

Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on the World Environment Day launched the country’s first emissions trading

scheme (ETS) to encourage and incentivize the industrial units to cut air pollution.

India’s first Dinosaur Museum cum Park was inaugurated in Gujarat’s Mahisagar district and is set to give visitors

the true Jurassic Park feel.

Haryana

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has ruled that all animals are legal persons entitled to legal rights like human

beings.

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has approved the construction of six nursing colleges at a cost Rs

194.30 crore in the state so as to overcome the shortage of trained and qualified nursing personnel.

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar announced an annual financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh to “loktantra

senanis” or their spouse.

India’s first-of-its-kind ‘Voter Park’ was inaugurated in Gurugram, aimed at increasing voter awareness and

educating people about the electoral process.

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar announced the “Mukhyamantri Parivar Samman Nidhi” scheme for

farmers of the state cultivating up to 5 acres of land and families having income less than Rs. 15,000 per month.

Under the scheme, each beneficiary family would be eligible for a financial assistance of Rs. 6,000 every year and

each family will have to nominate a member to avail this benefit.

Himachal Pradesh

The Himachal Pradesh government makes mandatory for trekkers to carry a GPS device so that they can be

provided all possible help in case of any emergency. Kullu and Dalhousie have been identified for installation of

early warning system.

Himachal Pradesh will develop 100 trout farms for production of carp fish this year.

Jammu & Kashmir

The annual ‘Mela Kheer Bhawani’, the most important festival of Kashmiri pandits, associated with Hindu

Goddess Ragnya Devi was Monday celebrated with religious fervor and gaiety at Tulmulla area of central

Kashmir’s Ganderbal district and Kupwara with thousands of Pandith devotees participated in the function.

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, has formally approved 120 crore rupee Cancer

Institute at Government Medical College, Jammu for strengthening the tertiary level cancer services in the State.

Karnataka

Namma Kolhapuri chappal has earned Geographical indication tag from Intellectual Property India. The approval for

GI tag was jointly received by Karnataka and Maharashtra.








Mangaluru City Police has launched an all-women police patrol unit in the city. Flagging off the ‘Rani Abbakka

Force’ in Mangaluru, Sandeep Patil, Commissioner of Police, said the Karnataka police is giving utmost importance

to the protection of women and children.

Defence Space agency to come up at Bengaluru.

‘Jalamrutha’, an ambitious water conservation scheme was launched by Karnataka chief minister, H D

Kumaraswamy at a programme organized by rural development and panchayat raj department at Dr B R Ambedkar

Bhavan in Bengaluru. On the occasion the CM also announced the year 2019 as ‘Jalavarsha (year of water)’. Arecanut (also known as supari or betel nut) is the latest entrant in the list of agricultural produce with a GI

(geographical indication) tag. The Registrar of Geographical Indications, Government of India, accorded a GI tag,

‘Sirsi Supari’, to arecanut grown in Sirsi, Siddpaur and Yellapur taluks of Uttara Kannada district in Karnataka.

Kerala

Kerala became the first state to tap into masala bond market by listing the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund

Board (KIIFB)’s masala bond worth of USD 312 million (Rs 2,150 crore) in London Stock Exchange (LSE)’s

International Securities Market (ISM).

India’s future forward real estate company, Talenmark announced that their ambitious and iconic structure

deemed to be “The Biggest Cultural Center of India” is under construction in Calicut, Kerala.

The Marayoor Jaggery, the traditional and handmade product from Idukki district of Kerala received the

Geographical Indication (GI) tag from the Central Government.

IT major Wipro Ltd opened its centre of excellence for Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) in Kochi in Kerala.

Madhya Pradesh

The government in Madhya Pradesh is coming up with 300 “smart gaushalas” in the state and has signed a contract

with a foreign company for the construction and development of these cow shelters.

Madhya Pradesh government will run “Save Water” campaign with the suggestions and involvement of common

people. A state level “Water Cell” has also been constituted for the purpose.

The Centre has approved a proposal to change the name of a village in Madhya Pradesh from ‘Durjanpur’ to

‘Shivdham’. Indore’s Devi Ahilya Bai Holkar airport has been declared as an international airport.

‘National Institute of Mental Health Rehabilitation’ to be set up at Sherpur Village in District Sehore, Madhya

Pradesh.

Ancient tribal language Gondi to be taught in tribal districts of MP

The Congress government in Madhya Pradesh has appointed self-styled godman Namdev Tyagi, also known as

Computer Baba, as chairman of a river trust in the State.

Maharashtra

Namma Kolhapuri chappal has earned Geographical indication tag from Intellectual Property India. The approval for

GI tag was jointly received by Karnataka and Maharashtra.

A pilot project aimed at providing smoke-free environment in the kitchen for women will be launched by the

Maharashtra government.

The project, named “Chullah (wood-fired stove)-free and smoke-free Maharashtra”, will target the women who

have not benefited under the Ujjwala or any other LPG distribution scheme.

The Rahimatpur police station in Satara district in Maharashtra has emerged as the State topper in a survey based

on the ‘SMART’ policing concept.








India’s first foreign interactive and exotic world park was inaugurated by EsselWorld in Mumbai.

Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu announced that an aircraft components manufacturing hub would be set up

in Maharashtra’s coastal Konkan region and would boost employment opportunities for the local youth.

An ultra-modern and high-tech gems and jewellery park will be developed at a cost of Rs 14,467 crore on a 21-acre

complex in Navi Mumbai. It is likely to be ready by 2022.

The Mumbai-based company Linkus Infratech has launched a hyper-local connectivity app called “Bhonga” to

connect users to people in their neighbourhood in the city even without an Internet connection. “Bhonga” is a

word in Marathi language that translates to meaning megaphone or loudspeaker.

The Maharashtra government launched a special scheme for construction workers in the state. The scheme, “Atal

Aahar Yojna,” will provide good quality and hygienic food to construction workers at a highly subsidised rate.

In Maharashtra, Election Commission has come up with a mobile application called ‘PWD’ for making voting easier

and implement the poll body’s slogan of Accessible Elections for over two lakhs Divyang voters across the state

Manipur

Japan gifts Manipur a “Peace Museum” which is built on the memories of one of the fiercest battles of the Second

World War.

Mizoram

The Tripura and Mizoram governments have undertaken an ambitious plan for afforestation in the two

Northeastern states.

Meghalaya

In a major move towards enhancing the growth of eco-tourism, the Institute of Bio-Resources and Sustainable

Development (IBSD) opened the first ever state-of-the-art orchidarium in Upper Shillong.

Nagaland

In an attempt to set a new Guinness World Records in the category of ‘largest traditional Konyak dance display,’ around 5,000 Konyak community women, all decked up in colourful traditional attire, danced to the tune of a

ceremonial song at Nagaland, coinciding with the Aoleang festival. The theme of this year’s Aoleang, also called

Mini Hornbill festival, was ‘Empowering women for cultural heritage.’ The Centre has given its consent for changing the name of a village in Nagaland, taking to nearly two dozens the

number of name-change proposals, including those of towns and railway stations, to be cleared in the past one

year. The ODL Mangkhi village in Tuensang district of the northeastern state will be known as Mungankhun village.

Odisha

‘Kandhamal Haldi’, a variety of turmeric indigenous to southern Odisha, has earned the Geographical indication (GI)

tag from Intellectual Property India, an organisation functioning under the auspices of the Union ministry of

commerce & industry.

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik launched the ‘Mukhya Mantri Karigar Sahayata’ scheme in Bhubaneswar. The

state government will provide Rs 800 monthly allowance to craftsmen with over 10 years of experience and annual

income below Rs 1 lakh under the ‘Mukhya Mantri Karigar Sahayata’ scheme.

The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), one of country’s leading think-tanks, will set up an industrial incubation

facility of TERI-Deakin Nanobiotechnology Research Centre, in Odisha.








Odisha’s gross state domestic product (GSDP) grew by 8.4 per cent during 2018-19 compared to 7.4 per cent in

previous financial year, highlighting that it has grown at a faster rate than states like Haryana, Punjab, Kerala,

Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Jharkhand.

Punjab

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh announced to make the state the country’s basketball hub.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has ruled that all animals are legal persons entitled to legal rights like

human beings.

Rajasthan

Male applicants will get Rs 3,000/month, while the women and differently-abled will get Rs 3,500/month under

Chief Minister Yuva Sambal Yojana from February this year.

Hero Future Energies Global (HFE), the clean energy arm of Hero Group, will invest around $200 million in a solar

project in Rajasthan. The project will be supported by International Finance Corporation (IFC), which will invest around

$43.3 million (Rs 300 crore).

Home Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated a training centre of the Central Reserve Police Force at Paladi Khinchiyan

village in Jodhpur.

Sikkim

The 14th edition of the annual Sino-Indian border trade opened at Nathu La in Sikkim.

Tamil Nadu

A unique ‘Tree Ambulance’ service – an initiative to provide care to trees besides spread green cover, was launched

by Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu in Chennai.

The service launched for the first time in the state, aims at providing first aid treatment to trees, uprooted tree

planting, seed bank, seed ball distribution, plant distribution, aiding tree plantation, shifting trees, survey of trees

and removal of dead trees. The ambulance can be availed through the helpline number – 9941006786. People can

register themselves as volunteers in their website- www.treeambulance.org.

The Tamil Nadu government has renamed the iconic Chennai Central Railway Station as Puratchi Thalaivar Dr MGR

Central Railway Station. The station was renamed after the receipt of ‘no objection’ from the Union Home Ministry.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the Chennai Central Railway Station will be renamed after former

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MG Ramachandran, popularly known as MGR.

After an eight-year-long process, Erode turmeric (of Tamil Nadu) finally got a Geographical Indication (GI) tag from

the Geographical Indication Registry.

Tamil yeoman (Cirrochroa thais) butterfly has been declared the state butterfly of Tamil Nadu. These butterflies are

also known as Tamil Maravan, which means warrior, are found mainly in the hilly areas.

Telangana

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has entered into an agreement with the Government of

Telangana to offer MeeSeva portal users the option to pay using UPI Collect Request, RuPay Debit and Credit Cards

for the services on the portal.

Along with the Kaleswaram Lift Irrigation project, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao also inaugurated

the world’s biggest pumphouse at the Medigadda.






http://www.treeambulance.org/



Telangana’s Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) has grown 15 per cent in the financial year ended March 31,

2019 at ₹8,66,875 crore as against ₹7,53,804 crore in the previous year.

This is the highest ever growth of GSDP after the formation of Telangana State.

For the second successive year, Telangana has been ranked first in e-learning training programme of Department of

Personal and Training (DoPT) of the Government India. During the financial year 2018-19, Dr MCR HRD Institute

enrolled over 20,000 field staff in different districts of the State to impart training on 12 soft skill modules and

three domain-specific modules on RTI, office procedures, finance and accounts, apart from sustainable

development goals.

The Telangana Governmet launched a MSME networking portal, Telangana State Global Linker in Hyderabad to

digitise over 2.3 million MSMEs of the state. The portal is, ts-msme.globallinker.com.

Tripura

The Tripura and Mizoram governments have undertaken an ambitious plan for afforestation in the two

Northeastern states.

After Guwahati and Imphal, the Agartala airport is set to become the third international airport in the northeastern

region by the end of this year or by early 2020.

Garia Festival celebrated in Tripura

Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Dharmendra Pradhan said that Tripura is country’s number one gas

producing point and every poor household in the state will have LPG connection in 2019.

In a bid to improve the educational status of Tripura, the state government announced ‘Notun Disha’ (New

Direction), an initiative aimed at assessing the academic level of students between class III-VIII.

Uttarakhand

The Uttarakhand government has decided to set up a centre of excellence for Himalayan fibre in Almora district of

Kumaon.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat launched the Mukhyamantri Anchal Amrit Yojana in Dehradun,

under which 2.5 lakh children at 20,000 Anganwadi kendras in the state will be given 100 ml milk twice a week for

free.

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee in Uttarakhand said it tied up with the Indian Space Research

Organisation (ISRO) to set up a Space Technology Cell at its campus.

The Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat inaugurated an Indian Coast Guard recruitment centre in

Kuanvala.

Uttar Pradesh

India has opened its first specialised hydrotherapy treatment for elephants suffering from arthritis, joint pain and

foot ailments in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh.

The Yogi Adityanath government approved a loan of Rs 2,000 crore to expedite the construction of the Purvanchal

expressway.

AYUSH Minister Shripad Yesso Naik laid the foundation stone for National Institute of Unani Medicine at Ghaziabad

in Uttar Pradesh.

Indo-Russia Rifles Ltd. plant at Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) Korwa in Amethi was inaugurated by Prime Minister

Narendra Modi.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, CCEA has approved the investment approval for a 1320 megawatt

Khurja Super Thermal Power Plant (STPP) in Bulandshahar of Uttar Pradesh.








Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath launched a 24×7 toll-free helpline to allow people from across the state to register

their grievance via a phone call on number 1076 instead of travelling all the way to Lucknow.

West Bengal

West Bengal government has announced a crop insurance scheme in collaboration with the Agriculture Insurance

Company of India (AIC), for the 2019 kharif season. The scheme called Bangla Shashya Bima (BSB) is applicable for

farmers in 15 districts.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee announced a grant of 1 lakh to graduates of the state’s 214

polytechnics and Industrial Training Institutes (ITI), to set up small businesses. The CM introduced the scheme,

Yuvashree Arpan, in Howrah district.

The Japanese government announced a donation of some Rs 22 lakh ($31,800) to the Rabindra Bharati Museum in

Kolkata in a bid to strengthen historical and cultural ties with India.

Finance and Banking News

The Reserve Bank of India will shortly issue Rs. 20 denomination banknotes in the Mahatma Gandhi (New) Series,

bearing the signature of Shri Shaktikanta Das, Governor, Reserve Bank of India.

The new denomination has the motif of Ellora Caves on the reverse, depicting the country’s cultural heritage. The

base colour of the note is Greenish Yellow. The dimension of the banknote will be 63 mm x 129 mm.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) cut repo rate for the third consecutive time this year to 5.75 per cent from the

current 6 per cent amid falling economic growth and uncertain global scenario.

Repo Rate: 5.75%

Reverse Repo Rate: 5.50%

SLR (Statutory Liquidity Ratio): 19.00%

CRR (Cash Reserve Ratio): 4.00%

MSF(Marginal Standing Facility) Rate: 6.00%

Inflation: 2.86%

In an effort to boost digital payments, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) scrapped charges levied on Real Time Gross

Settlement (RTGS) and National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) transactions.

Fincare Small Finance Bank and Kookmin Bank have been included in the second schedule of the Reserve Bank of

India Act, according to RBI notifications.

Paytm Payments Bank has received a target of 501.16 crore digital transactions for the financial year 2019-20 from

the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), higher than the targets set for major banks

including HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Punjab National Bank.

The share of e-Money in India’s payment systems grew to 21.5 per cent in 2017 from 0.8 per cent in 2012,

according to a new report from the Reserve Bank of India.

In February 2018, the RBI had issued a framework on the resolution of stressed assets under which banks were

asked to initiate resolution or restructuring of loans worth Rs 2,000 crore or more even if there was a single day of

default. The RBI has now revised the circular and said that a lender should initiate a resolution plan before the

loan default.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) directed banks to withdraw the charges levied on the National Electronic Funds

Transfer (NEFT) and Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) transactions with effect from July 1.

IDBI Bank Ltd. and Max Bupa, a standalone health insurer (SAHI), signed a Bancassurance corporate agency

agreement on June 1, 2019. It is the first time that IDBI Bank has been on-boarded as a corporate agent for a SAHI

partner under open architecture.








Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das launched “Complaint Management System (CMS)”, a

software application to facilitate RBI’s grievance redressal processes.

With an aim to ease high-value fund transfers, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced an extension of timings

for customer transactions through Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) by one and half hours.

Customers can now transfer money through RTGS mode till 6 pm instead of the existing 4:30 pm.

The change will come into effect starting June 1.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has directed banks to enhance the housing loan limits for eligibility under priority sector

lending (PSL) to Rs 35 lakh in metropolitan centres (with population of ten lakh and above) and Rs 25 lakh in other

centres. In order to bring the RRBs and SFBs at a level playing field with other Scheduled Commercial Banks, it has

now been decided to enhance the housing loan limits for eligibility under PSL.

Reserve Bank of India has released a vision document‘Payment and Settlement Systems in India: Vision 2019 –

2021’, with its core theme of ‘Empowering Exceptional E-payment Experience’ for ensuring a safe, secure,

convenient, quick and affordable e-payment system.

India’s largest bank State Bank of India has moved to a new interest rate regime on large savings account deposits

as well as short-term loans. In March, SBI had announced that it will link its interest rate on savings account with

balance above Rs. 1 lakh and short-term loans like overdraft and cash credit facility to Reserve Bank of India’s repo

rate, effective 1 May 2019.

The State Bank of India (SBI) has announced a strategic partnership with the FMCG arm of The Art of Living — Sri Sri

Tattva. Under this partnership, YONO users can avail a discount of 15 per cent on the entire range of products

offered by Sri Sri Tattva such as food, personal care, healthcare, homecare, BYOGI apparels and Shankara skincare

products.

Canara Bank and its life insurance partner Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance launched

’Webassurance’ to enable its customers to purchase life insurance in a convenient and hassle-free way.

National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) approved the merger of private sector lender IndusInd Bank with Bharat

Financial Inclusion (BFIL), a microfinance company.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based HR solutions provider Talocity would provide Yes Bank its AI-supported “touchless”

technology for the bank’s hiring process and human resource (HR) operations.

India Ratings has downgraded Yes Bank‘s long-term issuer rating from ‘IND AA plus’ to ‘IND AA minus’ with a

negative outlook.

To give a fillip to digital lending, Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI)has put together a pilot scheme

to extend financial assistance of up to Rs10 crore to new-age fintech non-banking finance companies (NBFCs)

engaged in financing small businesses and other income-generating activities.

A Reserve Bank of India-appointed committee headed by Aadhaar architect Nandan Nilekani has submitted its

suggestions on promoting digital payments to Governor Shaktikanta Das.

In January, the RBI had set up the five-member panel on deepening digital payments with a view to encouraging

digitisation of payments and enhance financial inclusion through digitisation.

HDFC Capital Advisors, a wholly-owned subsidiary of HDFC Ltd, launched a new initiative called ‘HDFC Affordable

Real Estate and Technology Program (HeART). It aims to mentor, partner and invest in real estate technology

companies that drive innovation and efficiencies within the affordable housing ecosystem.

Private sector lender Karnataka Bank launched a new savings bank product called “KBL SB Salary” for salaried class

with three variants of Executive, Prime and Classic.








Corporation Bank has launched ‘Corp SME Suvidha’, a product for GST-registered MSMEs. The product has been

designed as part of the bank’s efforts to provide the best products to the MSME sector.

Bank credit to infrastructure sector grew by 18.5 per cent to Rs 10.55 lakh crore as of 2018-19, the highest since

2012-13 fiscal, RBI data showed.

As per data from the Reserve Bank of India, debit card swipes on Point of Sales (PoS) terminals jumped more than

27% in March 2019 compared to corresponding period last year. In contrast, ATM withdrawals grew at a slower

pace of 15%.

Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) has announced that it has launched ‘Bank on Wheels’ facility in 14 of its lead districts in

Tamil Nadu and Kerala, besides Vijayawada. The mobile van facility will enable the public, especially senior citizens,

conveniently get door-step banking facility available at identified locations of the lead districts.

RBI stated that all non-deposit-taking non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) with an asset size of Rs 5,000 crore

and above, and all deposit-taking NBFCs irrespective of their asset size, have to maintain a liquidity buffer in terms

of a Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR).

The Reserve Bank of India is the first central bank in the Asia-Pacific region to begin an explicit interest rate easing

cycle buoyed by benign food inflation and easier global financial condition.

Bank of Baroda will acquire Vijaya and Dena Bank to create India’s second largest public sector bank behind State

Bank of India (SBI) effective from April 1. This is the first threeway merger of banks in India. The combined bank will

have a geographical reach of more than 9,500 branches, more than 13,400 ATMs with 85,000 employees serving

120 million customers.

The government in September last year announced the first-ever three-way consolidation of banks in India, with a

combined business of Rs 14.82 lakh crore, making it the third-largest bank after State Bank of India (SBI) and HDFC

Bank.

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), which runs the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) network, has

slashed usage fees for small transactions to expand the system’s adoption among banks and payment service

providers (PSPs).

For UPI transactions up to Rs. 1,000, the charge has been cut to 10 paise from 25 paise. The charge for transactions

above Rs. 1,000 has been retained at 50 paise.

Private sector Kotak Mahindra Bank recently became the first lender to inform its customers that UPI transactions

of more than 30 in a month will incur charges. For transactions up to Rs. 1,000, the cost will be Rs. 2.5 per

transaction and Rs. 5 for those above Rs. 1,000.

SBI General Insurance has launched a product to protect businesses from financial and reputational losses due to

cyber attacks. In the initial phase, the focus will be on SMEs and mid-market businesses, but later the product can

cater to larger business conglomerates as well.

Kotak Mahindra Bank (Kotak) announced the launch of an industry-first debit card-based authentication solution

on NPCI’s e-Mandate API platform. Kotak has become the first Destination Bank to go live with both Net Banking

and Debit Card-based e-mandate authentication.

Bank of Maharashtra got Rs 205 crore capital from govt

The Bimal Jalan panel examining the RBI’s policy of distributing its reserves may suggest a guiding principle for

surplus transfers as well as a specific timeframe for its application while keeping in mind the public policy mandate

of the RBI. These surplus reserves account for about 28 per cent of the central bank’s total assets.

HDFC Bank ranked No. 1 in India by Forbes

RBL Bank has partnered with credit profiler CreditVidya to improve the lender’s customer experience. Through this

partnership, the private sector lender will be able to gain significant insights into its customer base.








PAISALO Digital Limited signed the first co-origination loan agreement with State Bank of India, the first agreement

of its kind in the country that State Bank of India has signed. Introducing a platform for the last mile customer, the

loan ticket is designed at Rs 10,000 to 2 lakh.

The Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology (IDRBT), an arm of Reserve Bank of India, has

launched a 5G Use Cases Lab for banking and financial sector. The 5G technology, along with blockchain, will be

progressively adopted by banks.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued Rs 50 denomination banknotes bearing the signature of Governor

Shaktikanta Das. The design of these notes is similar in all respects to Rs 50 banknotes in Mahatma Gandhi (new)

series.

ACI Worldwide, a global provider of realtime electronic payment and banking solutions, announced that Canara

Bank has successfully rolled out major new functionality to support EMV card acquiring across its ATM network and

Aadhaar Authentication, leveraging ACI’s UP Retail Payments solution to achieve market firsts.

Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) has partnered with M1Xchange Trade Receivables Discounting System (TReDS)

platform for MSME bill discounting.

India’s largest app for financial services, ETMONEY announced that it has integrated unified payment interface

(UPI) as a payment method on its platform as it looks to double its monthly user base by the end of the year.

Srei Equipment Finance Ltd (SEFL) and India’s third-largest lender Bank of Baroda have inked a co-lending

arrangement for infrastructure equipment.

State-owned Allahabad Bank said the government has increased its authorised capital by Rs 5,000 crore to Rs 8,000

crore.

The total deposits in bank accounts opened under the Jan Dhan scheme, which was launched about five years ago

by the Modi-government, are set to cross Rs 1 lakh crore soon. The total balance in the Jan Dhan accounts, which

has been steadily rising, was at Rs 97,665.66 crore as on April 3, as per the latest government data. The total

number of Jan Dhan accounts have crossed 35.39 crore.

Money Loji, a modern money lending platform, has launched its App, which offers quickest and the most secure

loans to salaried professionals for an immediate requirement with flexible repayment options starting from 7 days

to a maximum of 90 days.

State Bank of India announced the country’s first ‘Green Car Loan’ (Electric Vehicle) to encourage customers to buy

electric vehicles. The new scheme will offer loan at 20 basis points lesser than the interest rate on the existing car

loan schemes.

The banking ombudsman received 24.9% more customer complaints in FY18 over the previous year, said the

Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is said to have recommended stringent norms on opening and running of current

accounts of corporate borrowers in an attempt to check fund diversion. Current accounts can “only be opened”

with the main bank in a lending consortium while other lenders having collection accounts will have to transfer

funds at the end of the day to the current account with the consortium lead.

With investigations into Nirav Modi scam in full swing, Punjab National Bank (PNB) has unearthed yet another

default from its London branch. The bank has moved the Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) against Tarapur Textiles

Park for defaulting an amount worth $13 million.

Fraud-hit Punjab National Bank has been ranked first among public sector banks in the implementation of ‘reforms

agenda’, followed by Bank of Baroda and State Bank of India. The BCG-IBA report – EASE Reforms for Public Sector

Banks measures performance of each PSB.








The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) offered a $5-billion swap facility to banks to aid liquidity before the end of the

financial year. The auction will happen on March 26 and the buy/sell swap will run up to March 28, 2022, or for a

three-year duration.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) named State Bank of India (SBI), ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank as Domestic Systemically

Important Banks (D-SIBs), which in other words mean banks that are too big to fail.

The net direct tax collection figure has crossed the Rs 10 lakh crore mark helped by the fourth and final installment

of tax payment. The net direct tax collection during April-January of this fiscal stood at Rs 7.89 lakh crore as against

Rs 12 lakh crore targeted for the entire fiscal of 2018-19.

Bank of Baroda has become one of the first public sector banks to launch a creche/child daycare facility for children

of its employees.

SBI has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Bank of China, third-largest bank in the world by

capital size and one of the major players in the Chinese banking sector, to enhance business synergies between

both the banks. This MoU will facilitate the clients of both the banks to access banking products and services of

each other, which will lead to a mutually beneficial relationship.

State Bank of India (SBI) has launched doorstep banking service for senior citizens over 70 years of age and

differently-abled customers. Eligible customers can avail this service at a nominal fee of Rs. 100 per transaction for

financial transactions and Rs. 60 for non-financial transactions.

In a first-of-its kind move that will ensure faster monetary transmission, the nation’s largest lender State Bank of

India announced linking of its savings deposits rates and short-term loans to the RBI’s repo rate. The new rates

linked the external benchmark rate of the repo rate, will be effective May 1.

State Bank of India launched ‘YONO Cash’ for cardless withdrawal of cash at over 16,500 SBI ATMs across the

country. With this facility, customers can initiate the cash withdrawal process on the YONO app and set a six-digit

YONO Cash pin for the transaction. This feature on YONO is designed to help its users withdraw cash without a

physical debit card.

Business organisations using Aadhaar services will now have to pay Rs. 20 for each customer verification and 50

paise for authentication of each transaction carried out by the entities, the Unique Identification Authority of India

(UIDAI) said.

IDBI Bank has been categorised as a private sector lender following acquisition of majority stake by Life Insurance

Corporation. In January, LIC completed the process of picking up a controlling 51 per cent stake in the nearly

crippled IDBI Bank.

IDBI Bank and Life Insurance Corporation of India have signed a bancassurance agreement under which the lender

will offer LIC’s insurance products at its branches.

United Bank of India has signed a bancassurance deal with private life insurer HDFC Life Insurance Company.

IFFCO Tokio General Insurance Company announced the launch of Bank Locker Protector Policy, which is the first

policy in the industry to protect the contents of a bank locker such as jewellery and other valuables.

Singaporean lender DBS is set to convert its India operations into a wholly-owned subsidiary, and the transition will

have no impact on the services and benefits extended to existing customers. The Asian bank, which presently

operates 12 branches in the country as a franchise, incorporated locally as DBS Bank India Ltd on March 1.

DCB Bank announced the launch of its Open Banking Platform, a significant step towards creating a collaborative

ecosystem with enterprises, fintechs and app developers, and enhancing customer-service delivery.

LIC Housing Finance (LICHFL) partnered with India Mortgage Guarantee Corporation (IMGC) to offer home buyers

enhanced loan eligibility and easy loans.








The Reserve Bank has imposed a monetary penalty of 2 crore on Dena Bank and 1 crore on IDBI Bank for non-

compliance with various directions. Dena Bank said the Reserve Bank has imposed a penalty of Rs 20 million on it

for non-compliance with the directions.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has levied a penalty of Rs 4 crore on Karnataka Bank for delayed implementation of

four “Swift” related operational controls.

The RBI has slapped a penalty of Rs 2 crore on Punjab National Bank (PNB) for non-compliance of regulatory

directions with regard to SWIFT operations. SWIFT is a global messaging software used for transactions by financial

entities.

Ahead of its merged entity operation, Bank of Baroda will receive Rs 5,042 crore fund infusion from the

government. The merged entity also involving Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank will start operation from April 1.

Public sector lender Bank of Baroda said it will develop an agri-digital platform called ‘Baroda Kisan’ in order to

provide solutions for all major agricultural requirements.

ICICI Prudential announced launched the ICICI Prudential Bharat Consumption Scheme. The Scheme aims to benefit

from the Indian consumption story, considered as one of the fastest growing consumption markets globally.

Xiaomi launched Mi Pay, its very own Unified Payments Interface (UPI) based payments service in India. The app is

already available in China and was first introduced in India last December in beta mode.

AU Small Finance Bank Ltd. , a Fortune India 500 company and one of India’s fastest growing banks, announced its

partnership with a new age insurtech company, Acko General Insurance Limited. Partnering with Acko, India’s first

digital insurer, AU bank is now set to provide customized insurance products to its customers.

The labour ministry said that the income tax exemption limit on gratuity has been doubled to Rs 20 lakh from the

existing Rs 10 lakh, a move that will benefit employees who are not covered by the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972.

In a first, the government has announced new Rs 20 coin which will be shaped like a 12-edged polygon

(dodecagon). The outside diameter of new Rs 20 coin will be 27mm (millimeters) and it will weigh 8.54 grams.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi released the new series of “visually impaired friendly circulation” coins (Re 1, Rs 2,

Rs 5, Rs 10 and Rs 20). Except for the Rs 20 coin, the rest of the denominations will be round in shape.

The face of the coin will bear the Lion Capitol of Ashoka Pillar with the legend “Satyamev Jayate” inscribed below,

flanked on the left periphery with the word “Bharat” in Hindi and on the right periphery with the word “INDIA” in

English.

Aviva Life Insurance has announced the launch of ‘Wings’, a specially designed mentorship program to empower

the female workforce. The program is an initiative of the SHE division of the company, for mentoring all the women

employees.

Karnataka Bank Ltd has launched the web tool – ‘Vasool So-Ft’ (Vasool So-Fast) – for digitalising the NPA (non-

performing asset) recovery process of the bank.

The Reserve Bank of India has advised all Scheduled Commercial Banks to adopt Education Loan Scheme, formulated by

Indian Banks Association. Salient features of the Scheme includes:

Loan upto Rs 10 lakh for study in India and upto Rs 20 lakh for studyabroad.

Collateral free loans upto Rs 7.5 Lakh under the Credit Guarantee Fund Scheme for Education Loans (CGFSEL).

No Margin for loan up to Rs 7.50 Lakh.

Repayment period of 15 years

One Year Moratorium for repayment after completion of studies in allcases.








Moratorium taking into account spells of unemployment/under-employment, say two or three times during the life

cycle of theloan

Moratorium for the incubation period if the student wants to take up a start-up venture after graduation.

Business News ONGC, India’s top oil and gas producer, has toppled Indian Oil Corp (IOC) to regain crown of being the

country’s most profitable public sector company.

Air India Express, India’s first international budget airline created a unique record which is a dream for any airline in

the world. The airline recorded a perfect 100% load factor on its international flights into Indian destinations as all

seats on all of its flights into India were sold and not even a single seat was vacant.

India’s leading fashion company, Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Limited began a new chapter in its growth story

with 100 per cent acquisition of ‘Jaypore’; an Indian online and offline retailer, that offers curated collections of

handmade, handwoven and handcrafted apparel, jewellery, home textiles and accents, based on craft forms, from

all over India.

According to global market research agency Kantar in its 2019’s ‘100 Top BrandZ Report’, US retail giant Amazon

has moved past hi-tech titans Apple and Google to become the world’s most valuable brand.

Indian IT major Infosys has been selected by Finnish postal service Posti as a strategic partner for the digital

transformation of its business and IT services.

According to a report released by brand analytics firm TRA Research, “Dell” has emerged as the most trusted brand

in India in 2019.

Blackstone (Asset management company) announced that private equity funds managed by it have acquired a 97.7

per cent stake in Aadhar Housing Finance Limited (Aadhar), including the entire stake held by the existing

controlling shareholders, Wadhawan Global Capital Limited (WGC) and Dewan Housing Finance Limited.

To review codes, Microsoft-owned GitHub has acquired a US-based start-up called Pull Panda that makes

collaboration tools for software teams at an undisclosed amount.

Online mutual fund investment platform FundzBazar announced the release of its new feature called ‘Selfiewala

KYC’ for first-time mutual fund investors.

IDBI Bank has entered a bancassurance corporate agency agreement with Tata AIG. This is to provide the general

insurer’s products to the bank’s two crore customers through its 1,850-plus branches.

Private sector lender IndusInd Bank and Bharat Financial Inclusion Ltd (BFIL) said their merger will be effective from

July 4.

Indiabulls Housing Finance said that the Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved its proposed merger

with Lakshmi Vilas Bank.

Based on the feedback that the existing margin requirements in the derivatives segment is pushing up cost of

trading while not managing risk in the most efficient manner, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has

decided to review the current framework of margins in the futures and options segment.

The capital markets regulator has set up a working group, headed by NSE Clearing Ltd., to look into the issue and

submit its recommendations to the Secondary Market Advisory Committee.

Maruti Suzuki India said it has joined hands with Bank of Baroda to support dealer inventory financing and

customer auto loans. The company has signed a memorandum of understanding with Bank of Baroda, under which

the bank will become a preferred financier.

Health insurance provider Max Bupa partners with fintech platform MobiKwik to promote bite sized group health

insurance products for MobiKwik’s 107 million customers across the country.








Bharti AXA General Insurance said it will sell policies through social media messaging platform WhatsApp and has

tied up with web aggregator Wishfin Insurance for speedy delivery of two-wheeler cover.

Iraq has become India’s top crude oil supplier for the second consecutive year, meeting more than one-fifth of the

country’s oil needs in the 2018-19 fiscal year.

Wipro Consumer Care and Lighting (WCCL), the consumer care business of software provider Wipro Ltd, has

acquired the Philippines-based personal care maker Splash Corporation for an undisclosed amount to enter the

country which has a consumer base of around 100 million.

PayPal India has launched its One Touch instant payments feature for Android devices in the country.

LIC Housing Finance (LIC HFL) has launched ‘Udyam’, a skilling centre in Bengaluru. It was launched in association

with Lok Bharti Education Society, the implementing partner.

State-owned telecom firm BSNL has become the first operator to start optical fibre-based high-speed broadband

service in Pulwama with the launch of ‘Bharat Fibre’. This is the first such FTTH (fibre-to-the-home) service

deployment in the (Kashmir) Valley under this unique revenue share model.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) directed the National Stock Exchange (NSE) to disgorge Rs 625

crore, along with interest at 12 per cent per annum since 2014, for lapses at its co-location (colo) facility, which

allowed unfair access to certain brokers. The regulator also barred the exchange for a period of six months from

accessing the securities market.

Bilateral trade between India and the United States in goods and services grew 12.6 per cent from USD 126 billion

in 2017 to USD 142 billion in 2018.

Max Life Insurance Co Ltd, one of industry’s foremost life insurance companies, announced that it will dedicate 6th

day of every calendar month as ‘Protection Day’ towards driving awareness around the concept of financial

protection.

As a part of the initiative the Company will also drive a “Super Customer Week”, where customers across the board

will be educated about various aspects of financial protection.

Bharti Airtel and Hughes Communications India announced an agreement to combine their VSAT operations in

India and leverage the demand for secure connectivity in a rapidly growing digital economy.

BharatPe – India’s first Fintech start-up enabling payments for merchants through interoperable UPI QR codes, has

announced its foray into merchant services with a new app. The app allows merchants to record their cash/credit

(Udhar) sales customer wise, request accounts receivable from customers via SMS payment links, and keep track of

accounts payable to suppliers, among other services.

Samsung Electronics Co introduced the world’s highest-resolution image sensor, with 64 megapixels for

smartphones, to meet the growing demand for mobile devices with better image quality.

In a bid to become a dominant player in the global toy retail industry, Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries

Limited (RIL) announced it has acquired iconic British toy retailer Hamleys from Chinese fashion wear firm C Banner

International for an undisclosed sum.

Facebook has chosen London as the centre for the global roll-out of WhatsApp pay, before the social media giant

launches its digital payments service on the mobile messaging platform in India.

HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company, India’s third-largest non-life insurance provider in the private sector,

announced the launch of ‘Mosquito Disease Protection Policy’. IBM India has tied-up with HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company, India’s third-largest non-life insurance provider

in the private sector, to co-create new Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based solutions.








Bharti Airtel and HDFC Life Insurance have tied up to offer life cover for customers who get a prepaid recharge

done. Airtel’s new Rs. 249-prepaid bundle which will include 2 GB data, unlimited calls across networks, and 100

SMSes per day will also offer a cover worth Rs. 4 lakh from HDFC Life.

Paytm has introduced a new credit, called Paytm First Card, in partnership with Citibank. The company is touting

that the new card will offer customers 1 percent of universal cashback along with zero restrictions on earning

categories. This will be auto-credited to the card every month.

Housing finance major HDFC Limited has partnered with the India Mortgage Guarantee Corporation (IMGC) to offer

a mortgage-guaranteed home loan product. The partnership aims to make it possible for HDFC to further penetrate

the home loan market and access an enlarged customer base, helping them to own a home of their choice.

Doordarshan has launched an online souvenir store for its viewers on Amazon India so that one can easily access it.

A. Surya Prakash Chairman, Prasar Bharati launched DD souvenir store on Amazon India.

ICICI Bank announced the launch of a co-branded multi-currency card with online travel booking portal Goibibo.

Anyone travelling abroad, whether they hold an ICICI Bank savings account or not, can apply for the Goibibo ICICI

Bank Travel Card on the Goibibo website and mobile app.

In a move to enrich the customer experience of millions of the homegrown ride hailing platform’s users, Ola has

partnered the state-run SBI cards to launch Ola Money SBI Credit Card for the country’s first such co-branding

initiative in the segment.

Reliance Infrastructure promoted Mumbai Metro One announced a tie-up with payment gateway ‘Instamojo’ to

enable card payments aimed at boosting cashless travel.

Bajaj Finserv said it has launched a specialised insurance cover for passengers travelling in local trains in country’s

financial capital Mumbai. The travellers will get an insurance cover of Rs 1 lakh against a payment of Rs 399 per

annum.

Leading stock exchange BSE said it has launched ‘BSE StAR MF’ app to enable more participation and help mutual

fund distributors process transactions faster. “BSE StAR MF mobile app supports real-time client registration and

paperless transactions, creates and uploads mandate for SIPs, generates the basket of multiple orders, tracks and

allows the distributor to analyse his business at his fingertips.

Vodafone Idea Business Services (VIBS), the enterprise arm of telecom major Vodafone Idea, announced a strategic

partnership with datacentre service provider CtrlS for information and communications technology (ICT) solutions,

including cloud computing.

Global software major Infosys has completed the acquisition of majority (75 per cent) equity stake in the Stater

N.V. subsidiary of the Netherlands-based ABN AMRO Bank.

The HDFC group has overtaken the 151-year-old Tata group to emerge as India’s most valuable by way of market

capitalization (m-cap).

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDAI)

have announced initiatives to encourage tech startups, especially fintech, by making data and systems available to

them through the regulatory sandbox (RS).

SEBI has proposed an ‘Innovation Sandbox’ which would be a testing environment where fintech firms and entities

not regulated by SEBI.

Rating agency ICRA downgraded the long-term rating of private lender IDFC First Bank on the back of weak earnings

profile and increase in provisions due to unanticipated fresh stressed exposures identified by the bank. The ratings

was bought down a notch from to AA from AA+ with stable outlook.








Reliance Nippon Life Asset Management (RNAM) joined hands with Google to enable the customers of Reliance

Mutual Fund to carry out voice-based financial transactions. RNAM becomes the first company in India, to provide

a conversational interface that would help customers regarding funds transactions.

IT major HCL Technologies said that its acquisition of US-based Strong-Bridge Envision has been completed.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) said that it has approved the acquisition of up to 66.15 per cent of the

total equity shareholding of Mindtree by Larsen and Toubro Limited (L&T).

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has given approval to Paytm Money the investment and wealth

management platform of the mobile payments company to start offering broking services. It had applied for the

licence in October last year.

Google parent Alphabet has beat Amazon to launch one of the first commercial drone delivery businesses.

Alphabet made its first delivery in Canberra after getting approval from the country’s civil aviation authority.

Google has introduced a new open platform called “Anthos” to run and manage apps from anywhere. Based on the

Cloud Services Platform that Google announced in 2018, “Anthos” lets users run applications on existing on-

premise hardware investments or in the Public Cloud.

Amazon India has joined hands with Mumbai-based crowdfunding company Ketto to help its sellers raise funding

for business expansion, product development and even for medical assistance. Under this initiative, Amazon will

solicit interest from sellers to apply to Ketto for participation in the program.

As a part of the programme named “Amazon Wings” to empower the sellers in India, the company will allow its

sellers to use Ketto’s platform and raise small ticket funds beginning from INR 50K at a subsidized fee for initiating

fundraisers.

Global ride-sharing major Uber launched “Uber Vouchers” for businesses globally including in India. Developed on

the “Uber for Business (U4B)” platform, the “Vouchers” are now being made available in most countries where

Uber operates.

Bharti Airtel has confirmed that it has received in-principal approval from the telecom department on the merger

of Tata Teleservices (TTSL) with Airtel.

Aiming to make Google Pay more useful for Indian users, Google announced its partnership with MMTC-PAMP

India for buying and selling gold through the application. MMTC-PAMP India is an internationally recognised metal

and mining service provider.

PayU, an online payment service provider and Naspers’ fintech arm, announced the acquisition of Wibmo, a Silicon

Valley startup that works on digital payment security and payment enablement on smartphones. The deal was

valued at around $70 million.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has given 12 years to Life Insurance Corp to reduce its stake in IDBI Bank.

Bharti Airtel in collaboration with FICCI Ladies Organisation (FLO) launched a mobile app, My Circle, to help women

in case they face any problem or a panic situation.

Bajaj Finserv through its lending arm Bajaj Finance Ltd. has launched a unique proposition through its campaign

#BijliOnEMI wherein customers buying air-conditioners on EMI can avail an Insta Credit loan in their Bajaj Finserv

Wallet which they can use to pay their electricity bills on EMI.

Google and Apple have blocked the download of TikTok from Play Store and App Store respectively in India,

following a request from the government to ban access to the Chinese short video-sharing app that has been

downloaded over 230 million times in the country.

Kolkata-based Bandhan Bank said it has received approval of the Competition Commission of India (CCI) for the

proposed acquisition of Gruh Finance.








Cholamandalam MS General Insurance Company Limited has been certified with ISO 31000. ISO 31000:2018 is an

international risk management standard. The standard provides guidelines, principles, framework, and a process

for managing risk.

Indiabulls Life Insurance Company, a subsidiary of Indiabulls Integrated Services, received preliminary approval

from insurance regulator IRDAI to foray into the life insurance business.

Airtel Payments Bank announced a two-wheeler insurance policy in partnership with Bharti Axa General Insurance.

Customers can also avail towing services at no extra cost on claim intimation in the event the insured vehicle breaks

down.

Tata Technologies has inked a pact with China’s FutureMove Automotive to develop connected mobility solutions

for automotive manufacturers in China and other markets.

India Post has partnered with IT services firm Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to become a multi-service digital hub,

modernize the delivery of mail and packages, enhance customer experience and launch innovative services.

Reliance retail has become the first Indian retail company to clock more than Rs 1 lakh crore in annual revenues.

In a bid to enable financial inclusion and ease of buying for the Indian masses, Aegon Life Insurance, pioneer of

digital insurance in India and MobiKwik, India’s leading FinTech Company; have joined hands to launch an Rs 20

smart digital insurance product.

Max Bupa, one of India’s leading standalone health insurance players, and HDFC Bank, one of India’s leading private

sector banks, announced the launch of ‘digital first’ propositions for the bank’s 40+ million customers, spread

across its 5,000+ branches.

ICICI Bank said it has acquired 9.9 per cent stake in non-banking finance company Kisan Finance for cash

consideration of Rs 17.82 crore.

The IDBI Bank has received government nod to handle import and export transactions with Iran, a move which

would help in promoting two-way trade amid US sanctions on the Persian Gulf nation.

State Bank of India (SBI) and Hitachi Payment Services Pvt Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hitachi Ltd, launched

their merchant-acquiring joint venture, SBI Payment Services Pvt Ltd (SBIPSPL), in Mumbai, for establishing a digital

payments platform for India and other countries in the region.

Reliance Jio is reportedly acquiring Mumbai-based Haptik one of the world’s largest conversational Artificial

Intelligence (AI) platforms for over Rs 200 crore.

Global software major Infosys said its consulting arm would buy 75 per cent equity stake in Starter N.V., a

subsidiary of the Dutch-based ABN AMRO Bank for Rs 999 crore ($144 million) in cash for strategic partnership in

The Netherlands.

Uber has confirmed that it is acquiring its Middle East rival Careem in a deal worth USD 3.1 billion.

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) said that it has recorded cargo movement of more than 200 million

metric tonnes (MMT) at nine ports along the east and west coasts, becoming the first Indian port operator to

achieve the milestone.

Bandhan Bank said it has received no objection from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for the proposed acquisition of

Gruh Finance.

Apple Inc. announced a new credit card in partnership with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Mastercard Inc.

Cardholders receive a titanium card that has no card number, security code, or expiration date printed on the

physical card.

After acquiring a majority stake in REC Ltd (formerly Rural Electrification Corporation Limited), center backed Power

Finance Corporation (PFC) become India’s second largest Govt-owned Financial Firm after State Bank of India (SBI),

based on market capitalization.








India signs Rs 200 crore anti-tank missile deal with Russia.

HCL Technologies has completed the planned acquisition of select IBM products for security, marketing, commerce

and digital solutions.

Airtel Payments Bank has partnered with Bharti AXA Life Insurance to offer the Bharti AXA Life POS Saral Jeevan

Bima Yojana through banking points across India.

Bharti Airtel and Bharti Hexacom announced the merger of the consumer mobile businesses (CMB) of Tata

Teleservices (TTSL) and Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) (TTML) with the two Bharti Group companies.

Economy News Developing economies across Asia are among the most vulnerable to natural disasters and have suffered damages

estimated at 644 billion dollars since 2000, according to Asian Development Bank (ADB). Of these, weather-related

hazards caused the greatest share at 507 billion dollars (or 79 per cent) while geophysical hazards accounted for

the remaining 137 billion dollars (or 21 per cent), as per a recent ADB report titled ‘Asian Development Outlook

2019: Strengthening Disaster Resilience.’ India’s current account deficit (CAD) totalled 4.6 billion dollars or 0.7 per cent of the GDP in the fourth quarter

(January to March) of 2018-19, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said.

The Reserve Bank of India injected a total liquidity of Rs 2.98 lakh crore in the market in 2018-19.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) lowered its global growth forecast for 2019 to 3.3 per cent from the

previous level of 3.5 per cent in its latest World Economic Outlook (WEO).

The RBI lowered the GDP growth forecast for the current fiscal to 7.2 per cent from the earlier estimate of 7.4 per

cent amid probability of El Nino effects on monsoon rains and uncertain global economic outlook.

Indian economy to grow at 7.2 pc in FY 19 due to rising consumption: ADB. Growth is expected to inch up further to

7.3 per cent in FY 2020

India’s GDP expected to accelerate moderately to 7.5% in 2019-20: World Bank. The real GDP growth is estimated

at 7.2 per cent in FY18/19

Fitch Ratings kept India’s sovereign rating unchanged at the lowest investment grade of BBB– with a stable outlook.

Fitch expects growth of 6.8 per cent in the fiscal year ending March 2020 (FY 20) and 7.1 per cent in FY 21

India Ratings and Research marginally lowered country’s GDP growth projection for 2019-20 fiscal to 7.3 per cent

mainly due to below normal monsoon prediction and loss of momentum in industrial output.

The Asia-Pacific region is expected to power ahead growing at 5.7% this year: Asian Development Bank

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said in its Economic Outlook: India’s economic

growth will regain strength and approach 7.5% by 2020

Gross domestic product (GDP) growth in India is projected to strengthen to close to 7.25% in FY19 and close to

7.5% in FY20.

UN’s World Economic Situation and Prospects report: India’s growth rate for the current fiscal year to be 7%. And

7.1% in the fiscal year 2020.

World growth of 2.7% this year and 2.9% in 2020.

The country’s economic growth in the fourth quarter ended March 2019 is expected to moderate to 6.1-5.9 per

cent, which could pull down growth rate for the entire fiscal 2018-19 to below 7 per cent, according to a report by

SBI.

India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) said that it expects India’s GDP growth rate during 2018-19 to be 6.9 per cent

as against the advance estimate of 7 per cent.








The country’s median GDP is forecast at 7.1 per cent for FY20 and 7.2 per cent for FY 21. The industry

body FICCI’s economic outlook survey said that the minimum and maximum growth estimate stood at 6.8 per cent

and 7.3 per cent, for 2019-20.

Fitch Ratings saw India’s growth for FY 2019-20 at 6.6 per cent and 7.1 per cent in 2021-22.

India is projected to overtake China as the world’s most populous country around 2027, according to a UN report,

‘The World Population Prospects 2019: Highlights’. India lost its spot as the fastest growing major economy to China in the January-March quarter for the first time in

one-and-a-half years, government data showed. India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate slowed to 5.8%

in the quarter, compared to China’s 6.4%

Growth rates in low-income countries are expected to rise to 6 per cent in 2020 from 5.4 per cent this year, but

that is still not enough to substantially reduce poverty, according to the World Bank (WB)..

World Bank slashed its global growth forecast for 2019 to 2.6 per cent as opposed to 2.9 per cent announced in

January this year.

The World Bank retained its forecast of India’s growth rate at 7.5 per cent for the current financial year.

The Government of India said joblessness in the country was 6.1 per cent of total labour force during 2017-18, the

highest in 45 years.

DBS Bank has revised India’s GDP growth for fiscal year 2020 downwards to 6.8 per cent year-on-year (YoY) from 7

per cent projected earlier, citing headwinds for exports amidst challenging trade outlook.

L&T Finance, a subsidiary of L&T Finance Holdings, launched ‘Sabse Khaas Loan’ for two-wheeler customers.

Tata Mutual Fund has announced plans to introduce segregated portfolios (side pockets) in three schemes hit by

the DHFL debt crisis – Tata Corporate Bond Fund, Tata Medium Term Fund and Tata Treasury Advantage Fund.

The Reserve Bank of India lowered the economic growth forecast for the current fiscal to 7 per cent due to

slowdown in domestic activities and escalation in global trade war.

The Reserve Bank raised the retail inflation forecast marginally to 3-3.1 per cent for the first half of the current

fiscal, tracking uptick in food prices – mainly vegetables, albeit expectations of a normal monsoon this year.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) in services sector grew 36.5 per cent to $9.15 billion in 2018-19, according to the

Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).

American brokerage Goldman Sachs pegged the Indian GDP growth to accelerate to 7.2 per cent in 2019-20 on

lower oil prices, political stability and removal of infrastructure bottlenecks.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has raised economic growth forecasts for the US to 2.6 per cent this year

and 2 per cent in 2020.

Global Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flows declined by 13 per cent in 2018 to $1.3 trillion from $1.5 trillion in

2017, the UNCTAD’s World Investment Report 2019 said.

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in India grew by 6 per cent to $42 billion last year, according to the UN Conference

on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

India’s largest and fastest growing consumer lending technology company, ZestMoney, announced a partnership

with Digit Insurance to offer EMI insurance to the company’s five million customers.

The Government of India has taken a historic decision to reduce the rate of contribution under the ESI Act from

6.5% to 4%.

Over 6,800 cases of bank fraud involving an unprecedented Rs 71,500 crore have been reported in 2018-19, the

Reserve Bank of India has said.

The Reserve Bank of India it will infuse Rs 15,000 crore into the financial system through bond purchases. It further

said there is an overall aggregate ceiling of Rs 15,000 crore for all the securities in the basket put together and

there is no security-wise notified amount.

The Reserve Bank relaxed the leverage ratio (LR) to 4% for Domestic Systemically Important Banks (DSIBs) and 3.5%

for other banks. This has been done to help them boost their lending activities.








The Reserve Bank of India has allowed Asset Reconstruction Companies (ARCs) to buy financial assets from other

ARCs. The transactions must be settled in cash between the 2 enitities.

In 2018, MICE tourism in India was pegged at Rs 25,000 crore with 8 per cent growth year-on-year, said the report

titled ‘India Inbound Tourism: Unlocking the Opportunity’: FICCI-Yes Bank report

Food inflation in the country is likely to go up to 2 per cent in the financial year 2019-20 from the 0.7 per cent

estimated for FY19. The low food prices have been one of the prime factors which has aided the RBI to be more

accommodatory in its rate setting recently.

Bank credit grew by 13.2% in financial year 2018-19 as compared to 10.3% in the previous financial year, mainly

aided by loans to services and retail sector. Deposit growth also gained momentum, growing by 10% as compared

to 6.7% a year ago.

India’s exports in April 2019 grew 1.34 per cent to 44.06 billion US dollars while imports jumped 4.53 per cent to

52.83 billion US dollars in the year-on period.

Wholesale Price Index (WPI)-based inflation for April 2019 eased to 3.07%, from 3.62% in April 2018.

The Indian economy will grow at 7 per cent range in the current fiscal powered by the effects of the strong

structural reforms such as bankruptcy laws, Goods and Services Tax (GST), crackdown on shell companies and the

fiscal prudence undertaken in the last five years, Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) Krishnamurthy V. Subramanian said

recently.

Bad loan recoveries in the last fiscal effected through the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) route was at Rs

70,000 crore, posting a recovery rate of 43 per cent, and was twice the Rs 35,500 crore recovered through previous

resolution mechanisms like the Debt Recovery Tribunal and Lok Adalat, as per a report by ratings firm Crisil.

Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection scales record high of Rs 1.13 lakh crore in April, highest ever collection

since GST implementation.

In a first in recent history of tax filings, income tax e-filings in FY 2019 have dropped by more than 6.6 lakh, a trend

that analysts said was surprising as tax base was expected to increase post demonetisation.

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) announced a Rs 700-crore venture capital fund

for equity investments in agriculture and rural-focused startups. NABARD has been contributing to other funds till

now and this is the first time that the rural development bank has launched a fund of its own.

Total sanctions under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) loan scheme for micro industries are likely to

cross Rs 3 lakh crore in the current fiscal.

Government data for the scheme for the last fiscal, till March 22, 2019, put the figure of Mudra sanctions at Rs 2.82

lakh crore to 541.27 lakh borrowers.

As per the data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO), the economic growth rate for the financial year

2018-19 stood at a five-year low of 6.8 per cent.

As per the data released by Controller General of Accounts (CGA), India met its fiscal deficit target for 2018-19,

which came in at 3.39 per cent of GDP, slightly lower than 3.4 per cent estimated in the revised estimates of the

Budget, on the back of an increase in non-tax revenue and lower expenditure.

The country’s median GDP is forecast at 7.10 percent for Financial Year 2020 and 7.20 percent for Financial Year

2021. The industry body FICCI’s economic outlook survey stated that the minimum and maximum growth estimate

stood at 6.80 percent and 7.3 percent for 2019-20.

India has retained its spot as the world’s top remittance recipient with its diaspora sending $79 billion back home in

2018, the World Bank has said in its report, World Bank’s Migration and Development Brief.

Banks close FY19 with 13.24% credit growth, deposits up 10.03%








Gross revenue on account of Goods and Services Tax (GST) in March totalled Rs 106,577 crore, marking 15.6 per

cent growth over the revenue in same month of previous year.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in consultation with the government of India has set the limits for Ways and Means

Advances (WMA) for the first half of the financial year 2019-20 (April 2019 to September 2019) at Rs.75000 crore.

The Reserve Bank of India came out with guidelines for banks to set up new currency chests, which include

minimum area of 1,500 square feet for strong room. For those situated in hilly/ inaccessible places, the strong

room/ vault area of at least 600 sq ft.

In a bid to further improve the cash position of banks, the RBI provided additional 2 per cent liquidity window to

the lenders by tweaking liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) norms. The LCR indicates the proportion of highly liquid

assets held by banks to ensure their ability to meet short-term obligations.

The government has retained the interest rate for General Provident Fund (GPF) and other related schemes at 8

per cent for the April-June quarter. The rate is in line with that of Public Provident Fund. The interest rate on GPF

was at 8 per cent in the January-March quarter of 2018-19.

The Finance Ministry is believed to have met the revised fiscal deficit target of 3.4 per cent in the last fiscal 2018-19

largely by cutting expenditure, withdrawals from small savings accounts to meet the food subsidy and higher GST

collections.

The automobile industry produced a total 3.09 crore vehicles during April to March 2019 as against 2.9 crore in the

corresponding period of previous year, marking a growth of 6.26 per cent, the Society of Indian Automobile

Manufacturers (SIAM) said.

The travel spend in India is expected to grow at 13 per cent to a total of $136 billion by 2021, said a new report by

Bain & Company and Google India. According to the “How Does India Travel” report, the Indian traveller spent

around $94 billion in 2018 on around 2 billion domestic and international trips, thus, helping India’s travel and

tourism industry achieve unprecedented scale.

India’s population grew at an average annual rate of 1.2 per cent between 2010 and 2019 to 1.36 billion, more than

double the annual growth rate of China, according to a report by the United Nations Population Fund. India’s

population in 2019 stood at 1.36 billion, growing from 942.2 million in 1994 and 541.5 million in 1969.

The Reserve Bank of India, which added 6.5 tonnes of gold to its reserves in January, taking its total holding forming

part of its foreign exchange reserves to 607 tonnes, is set to become the tenth largest holder of the metal

worldwide, displacing the Nerherlands.

India’s data consumption is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 72.6 per cent

to 10,96,58,793 million MB by 2022, according to the Assocham-PwC study.

India has been one of the fastest growing large economies in the world, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has

said. India has of course been one of the world’s fastest growing large economies of late, with growth averaging

about 7 per cent over the past five years.

Central Statistics Office (CSO) which operates under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation: The

economic growth of India slowed to a low of 6.6 per cent in October to December period of current fiscal year

2018-19.

Moody’s in its Global Macro Outlook for 2019 and 2020: India to grow at 7.3% for next 2 years.

Global rating agency Fitch has cut its India’s economic growth forecast to 6.8 per cent for 2019-20 from the earlier

estimate of 7 per cent due to weak momentum in manufacturing and agriculture. However, it said India economic

growth forecast is expected to be 7.1 per cent in 2020-21.

The OECD cut forecasts again for the global economy in 2019 and 2020: The Organisation for Economic Co-

Operation & Development forecast in its interim outlook report that the world economy would grow 3.3 percent in

2019 and 3.4 percent in 2020.








Ratings Agency Icra: Housing Finance Companies (HFCs) are expected to report a 13-15% credit growth in FY19,

which will inch up to 14-16% in next fiscal year.

India’s February jobless rate climbed to 7.2%: Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE)

Indian Incense Industry witnesses 8-10 percent growth in FY 2018-19.

SpiceJet has joined global airlines’ grouping IATA as a member, becoming the first Indian low-cost carrier to get the

membership.

5 varieties of Indian coffee have been awarded Geographical Indication (GI), a move that will enhance their visibility

globally and allow growers to get the right value. While Coorg Arabica coffee is grown specifically in Kodagu district

of Karnataka, Wayanaad Robusta coffee is from Wayanad district in east Kerala, Chikmagalur Arabica coffee from

Chikmagalur district in Deccan plateau of Karnataka, Araku Valley Arabica coffee from hilly tracks of Visakhapatnam

district in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha region, and Bababudangiris Arabica coffee from central portion of

Chikmagalur district.

Monsooned Malabar Robusta Coffee was also given GI certification.

The GoI has reduced interest rates for small savings schemes by 10 basis points for the July-September quarter of

the 2019-20 financial year. Current Rates are

Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) – 7.6% and mature in 113 months

National Savings Certificate (NSC) – 7.9%

Public Provident Fund (PPF) – 7.9%

Sukanya Samriddhi Account – 8.4%

Senior Citizens Savings Scheme – 8.6%

Science & Technology In one of the most ambitious projects ever undertaken by India, the country is planning to launch its own space

station, Indian space agency ISRO chief K Sivan said. India is targeting 2030 as the date to launch a 20 tonne space

station, which will most likely be used to conduct microgravity experiments.

India is to launch Aditya-L1, its first mission to study the sun, in 2020, Indian Space Research Organisation Chairman

K. Sivan informed.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s robot named Bumble became the first Astrobee robot to fly under

its own power in space. Astrobee is a free-flying robot system that will help researchers test new technologies in

zero gravity and perform routine work alongside astronauts aboard the International Space Station.

NASA spacecraft to hit an asteroid in 2022.

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Director K Sivan inaugurated the Young Scientist Programme (YUVIKA).

The programme is aimed at imparting basic knowledge of science and space technology to school-going students

from different states and Union Territories (UT) of the country in order to arouse their interest in space related

activities.

The participants will be attending a residential training programme at 4 ISRO centres – Vikram Sarabhai Space

Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram; U R Rao Satellite Centre (URSC), Bengaluru; Space Applications Centre (SAC),

Ahmedabad, and North Eastern Space Applications Centre (NESAC), Shillong.

India successfully placed into orbit a radar imaging earth observation satellite RISAT-2B in a text book style. PSLV-

C46 has successfully injected RISAT-2B in precise orbit.

According to Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), India’s new earth observation satellite up in the sky will

send good clarity images which will be used for agriculture, forestry and disaster management support.

This was the 72nd launch vehicle mission from the Sriharikota Range.








NASA unveiled the calendar for the “Artemis” programme that will return astronauts to the Moon for the first time

in half a century, including eight scheduled launches and a mini-station in lunar orbit by 2024. Artemis : The original

lunar missions were named for Apollo – Artemis was his twin sister in Greek mythology, and the goddess of

hunting, wilderness, and the Moon.

The Indian Space Research Organisation placed Defence Research Development Organisation-developed electronic

intelligence satellite Emisat and 28 foreign satellites in orbits. Emisat, weighing 436kg, is meant for helping the

military locate hostile radars. This comes days after India test-fired an anti-satellite (ASAT) missile in the Mission

Shakti operation.

PSLV-C45 carrying Emisat, 28 foreign satellites and three scientific instruments lifted off from the second launch

pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. This will be the 71st launch vehicle mission for Sriharikota. The

satellite that weighs 436 kg will monitor and provide locations for enemy radar sites deep in their territory.

After plans to land American astronauts on the Moon by 2024, four years ahead of its previous schedule, NASA now

proposes to put humans on Mars by 2033. At a congressional hearing on NASA’s budget in fiscal year 2020, NASA

administrator Jim Bridenstine cited the goal of putting astronauts on Mars by 2033.

Scientists have detected the most ancient type of molecule in our universe in space for the first time ever. Helium

hydride ion (HeH+) was the first molecule that formed when, almost 14 billion years ago, falling temperatures in

the young universe allowed recombination of the light elements produced in the Big Bang.

A site containing the 220-million-year-old fossilised remains of nearly a dozen dinosaurs has been discovered in

western Argentina. According to Martinez, of the University of San Juan, the fossils are approximately 220 million

years old, belonging to “an era of which we know little”.

India successfully conducted an anti-satellite (A-SAT) missile test, becoming the fourth country to do so by

successfully destroying a low earth orbit satellite in space by using a missile which covered a distance of 300 km to

engage the target. The US, Russia and China are the only other country to have tested an A-SAT weapon previously.

Mission Shakti operation was a difficult target to achieve and was completed successfully within 3 minutes of

launch.

Defence News India successfully test-fired Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle (HSTDV) off Odisha coast. It was test-

fired from launch pad number-4 of Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Abdul Kalam Island in Balasore district at 11.22

a.m.

The armies of India and Myanmar carried out a three-week-long coordinated operation from May 16 in their

respective border areas named ‘Operation Sunrise 2’. Indian Navy launched Operation Sankalp in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman to reassure Indian flagged vessels

safe transit through the area. INS Chennai and INS Sunayna have been deployed in the region to undertake

maritime security operations.

Indo-French joint naval exercise, Varuna 19 was conducted in two phases. 1st phase ‘ Varuna 19.1’ - Goa coast

from 1 to 10 May 2019. 2nd phase ‘ Varuna 19.2’ - May end in Djibouti.

8th Indo-Myanmar Coordinated Patrol (IMCOR) held in Port Blair.

Completing its journey of 36 years, INS Ranjit, a Rajput class destroyer was decommissioned at Naval Dockyard,

Visakhapatnam recently. Commissioned on 15 September 1983 by Captain Vishnu Bhagwat in erstwhile Union of

Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), the ship was used for yeoman service.

Scorpene class submarine Vela, equipped with modern machinery and technology to guard the seas, was launched

in Mumbai.








INS Vela was first commissioned on August 31, 1973 in the Indian Naval service and continued to serve for 37 years.

It was the oldest submarine of the country when it was decommissioned.

Defence ministry has approved the procurement of 10 Kamov Ka-31 Airborne Early Warning and Control

helicopters for the Indian Navy. The cost of the deal would be around Rs 3,600 crore and the 10 helicopters would

be deployed on the aircraft carriers and warships of the Navy including the INS Vikrant and Grigorovich-class

frigates.

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) conducted a successful flight test of ABHYAS high-speed

expendable aerial target (HEAT) from Interim Test Range, Chandipur in Odisha.

INS Kolkata and INS Shakti of the Indian Navy participated in a 3-day Asia Pacific naval and maritime event titled the

International Maritime Defence Exhibition Asia (IMDEX Asia-2019) held in Changi Exhibition Centre, Singapore.

Indian Coast Guard Ship Vigraha Decommissioned.

After 29 glorious years of service from 1990 to 2019, the ship was decommissioned at the coast guard jetty in

Visakhapatnam.

Australia concluded a seven-nation Indian Ocean military exercise in Sri Lanka where China has invested in strategic

ports and loaned huge amounts to build other infrastructure. Some 1,000 Australian security personnel in four

naval ships and a military aircraft participated in the biggest joint exercise yet with their Sri Lankan counterparts,

Canberra’s top envoy in Colombo.

India and the US have set up the first ever secure communication link between the naval headquarters in New

Delhi and the US Central as well as Pacific Naval Commands under the landmark Indo-US COMCASA pact reached

last year. The US has also activated the Selective Availability Anti-Spoofing Module GPS system in some of C-130

and C-17 transport aircraft as a result of the implementation of the COMCASA (Communications, Compatibility &

Security Agreement).

Military forces of India and Singapore got together to participate in a joint exercise in Babina Cantonment in Jhansi.

The three-day exercise, ‘Bold Kurukshetra–2019’, is being conducted to develop military technology, boost

maritime security and bolster the nations’ fight against terrorism.

In a major boost to India’s firepower, country’s first indigenously designed and developed Dhanush artillery gun

was inducted in the Indian Army. The Dhanush gun system is based on the designs of the Bofors howitzer which

was inducted in the Army in the 1980s and would be the third type of artillery gun to be inducted into the force

after the K-9 Vajra and the M-777 ultra-light howitzers.

The 16th edition of the joint military exercise between Morocco and the United States named “African Lion 2019”

was held from March 16 to April 7, 2019 in southern Morocco in the cities of Agadir, Tifnit, Tan-Tan, Tata, and Ben

Guerir near Marrakech.

NIRBHAY, the long-range, sub-sonic, cruise missile was successfully tested with a sharper ‘terrain hugging

capability’. The indigenously developed missile was test-fired from the ITR, Chandipur, off the Odisha coast.

Chief of Army Staff General Bipin Rawat commissioned the Indian Coast Guard Ship Veera at a ceremony held at

Naval Jetty at the dockyard in the city. Veera, third in the series of offshore patrol vessels of the Coast Guard, was

built by L&T at its shipbuilding facility at Kattupalli in Chennai.

The Indian Navy undertook the second edition of the bilateral maritime exercise between the Indian Navy and

Vietnam Peoples’ Navy, (IN – VPN BILAT EX) at/ off Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam. Conduct of the bilateral exercise on an

annual basis would give a further fillip to the existing strong bilateral relation between the two countries.

Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba launched the third ship of Project 15B, a guided missile destroyer Imphal, at

Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders, Mumbai.








The Indian Navy ships Kolkata and Shakti arrived at Qingdao in China to participate in the International Fleet Review

(IFR) as a part of the 70th anniversary celebrations of People Liberation’s Army (PLA-Navy).

India has rebuilt Chhyoiphel Kundeling Monastery in Nepal. Shyalpa Tenzin Rinpoche inaugurated newly

reconstructed Monastery at Lisankhu village in Sindhupalchok district

Border Security Force (BSF) and Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) concluded a three-day ‘Mainamati Maitree

Exercise 2019’ as a part of ‘Confidence Building Measures’ between the two border guards in Agartala, Tripura.

As part of the ongoing India Bangladesh defence cooperation, a joint military exercise Sampriti-2019 was

conducted at Tangail, Bangladesh from 2nd March to 15 March.

6th edition of joint military exercise “Mitra Shakti” between India and Sri Lanka held in Diyatalawa, Badulla District,

Sri Lanka.

33rd edition of India, Indonesia Coordinated Patrol (Ind-Indo Corpat) commenced at Port Blair, Andaman & Nicobar

Islands.

Exercise Al Nagah III, third in the series of bilateral joint exercise between India and Oman began at Jabel Al Akhdar

Mountains in Oman.

The first ever High-Level Dialogue on Indo-Pacific Cooperation (HLD-IPC) was held in Jakarta, capital of Indonesia.

The indigenously developed Pinaka guided rocket system was successfully test fired at Pokhran desert in Rajasthan,

in a boost to artillery capability of the Army. The weapon system is equipped with state-of-the-art guidance kit

comprising of an advanced navigation and control system.

Indian Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba will preside over the debrief of the recently-commenced annual Theatre

Level Readiness and Operational Exercise (TROPEX 19) at Kochi, besides holding deliberations on the road map for

future operations.

A man-portable anti-tank guided missile (MPATGM) was successfully test-fired in Rajasthan desert. The missile has

been developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). The indigenously developed,

low-weight missile operates on a “fire and forget” principle, which means it does not require guidance after the

launch.

The inaugural Africa-India Field Training Exercise-2019 for India and African nations called AFINDEX-19 started with

a grand opening ceremony at Aundh Military Station, Pune.

Abu Dhabi to host first ISA’s (International Security Alliance) joint security exercise ISALEX19.

The Indian and French Air Force has started Garuda VI exercise at Mont de Marsan in France. The exercise is

scheduled to take place from 1 July to July 12, 2019, in France.

Sports News

Tournament Winner Runner Up

UEFA Champions League Title Liverpool Tottenham

Cantor Fitzgerald U21 International 4-Nations

title(Women)

India Ireland

SAFF Women’s Championship 2019 India Beat Nepal

2019 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup South Korea Beat India

Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy Karnataka Defeated Maharashtra

Held at the Holkar Cricket

Stadium in Indore

Bombay Gold Cup Hockey crown Indian Oil Defeated Punjab and Sind








Bank (PSB)

I-League championship 2019 Chennai City FC

Indian Super League Bengaluru FC With this win, Bengaluru FC

have become the first team to

win both the I-League and the

ISL titles.

2019 Super Cup title FC Goa Beat Chennaiyin FC

Santosh Trophy 2019 Services Beat Punjab

Women’s French Open title 2019 Ashleigh Barty Marketa Vondrousova

U-19 title at the Asian Junior Squash

Championship

Veer Chotrani (India)

WBC Asia Silver Welterweight Champion Vaibhav Yadav (India)

Poznan Athletics Grand Prix Hima Das

Men’s French Open title 2019 Rafael Nadal Dominic Thiem

2019 Pacific International Snooker

Championship

Sourav Kothari

2019 Pacific International Billiards Championship Peter Gilchrist (New Zealand)

17th National Squash Title Joshna Chinappa

2019 Asian Continental Chess Championship Nihal Sarin

Sub-Junior Girls’ National Football Championship Jharkhand Best Arunachal Pradesh

Asian Snooker Championship Pankaj Advani

Asian Wrestling Championships with a gold in

the 65kg freestyle category

Bajrang Punia

Asian Boxing Championships (81-kg weight

category)

Pooja Rani Held in Bangkok, Thailand

Asian Boxing Championships (52-kg weight

category)

Amit Panghal

Asian Snooker Tour title Pankaj Advani

20th Victor Dutch Badminton International title

2019

Mumbai shuttler Harsheel Dani

Gold in 10m Air Pistol Mixed Team event at the

ISSF World Cup in Beijing

Manu Bhaker and Saurabh

Chaudhary

2019 Masters title Tiger Woods

FIH (International Hockey Federation) Women’s

Series Finals Hiroshima 2019

India Beat Japan

Indian Women’s League trophy Sethu FC Manipur Police

4th IPL title Mumbai Indians Defeat Chennai Super Kings

India Open International Boxing Tournament Mary Kom (51 kg)

India Open International Boxing Tournament Amit Panghal (52 kg)

India Open International Boxing Tournament Shiva Thapa (60 kg)

Indian Grand Prix series 2019 Dutee Chand Won gold medal in 200m

women’s race

Indian Wells Masters Canadian Bianca Andreescu

India Open 2019 Viktor Axelsen (Denmark) Beat Kidambi Srikanth

Gold in Women’s discus throw event in Kamalpreet Kaur








Federation Cup in Patiala

Dan Kolov-Nikola Petrov Tournament

(Wrestling)

Bajrang Punia (gold medal in 65

kilogram freestyle)

Held in Ruse, Bulgaria

Dan Kolov-Nikola Petrov Tournament

(Wrestling)

Pooja Dhanda (gold in the 59kg

category)

Held in Ruse, Bulgaria

Sir Richard Hadlee Medal for Men’s Player of the

Year at the New Zealand Cricket (NZC) awards

Kiwi captain Kane Williamson

Dubai Tennis Championship Roger Federer With this, he won his 100th

tour-level title

Acapulco International in Mexico Australian Nick Kyrgios

Sekisui Open title Mahesh Mangaonkar

2019 Sudirman Cup China Beat Japan

Asia-Pacific Diamond Cup Japan’s Yosuke Asaji

Premier League title 2019 Manchester City

Halle Open title Roger Federer

Italian Open 2019 men’s title Karolina Pliskova (Czech) Johanna Konta

Italian Open 2019 women’s title Rafael Nadal (Spain) Novak Djokovic

Madrid Open 2019 Novak Djokovic

Barcelona Open 2019 Dominic Thiem

Malaysia Open (men’s singles title) Lin Dan

ATP Miami Open title 2019 Roger Federer He is from Switzerland

Monterrey Open title Spain’s Garbine Muguruza

Geneva Open Germany’s Alexander Zverev

French Grand Prix 2019 Lewis Hamilton

Monaco Grand Prix 2019 Lewis Hamilton

Bahrain Grand Prix 2019 Lewis Hamilton

Chinese Grand Prix 2019 Lewis Hamilton

2019 Canadian Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton

Australian Grand Prix 2019 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes team Formula One

(F1) driver

Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2019 Valtteri Bottas

Austrian Grand Prix 2019 Max Verstappen

Stuttgart’s Porsche Grand Prix 2019 Petra Kvitova

Sports International Cricket Council (ICC) has joined hands with Interpol to fight corruption in sport

International Cricket Council (ICC) Cricket for Good in partnership with UNICEF announced #OneDay4Children, a

tournament-wide campaign focussed on bringing the world of cricket together as one team to help build a better

world for every child, at the World Cup.

Chandigarh hosted the 18th Asian Billiards, the 20th Under-21 Asian Snooker Championship and the 3rd Ladies

Asian Snooker Championship from April 27 to May 3.

India’s Bajrang Punia has regained the world number one spot in the men’s 65-kilogram freestyle category

rankings. The rankings were released by United World Wrestling.








Arjuna awardee and star Indian golfer Gaganjeet Bhullar won the outstanding achievement as a player award at the

fourth edition of the annual India Golf Industry Association (GIA) awards

India have retained the International Cricket Council (ICC) Test Championship Mace as they secured the number

one spot on the ICC Test Team Rankings while New Zealand have ensured second place.

The Indian football team moved up 2 places to 101 in the latest FIFA rankings released recently.

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) skipper Virat Kohli became only the second Indian player after Suresh Raina to

score 8,000 runs in T20 cricket during the Indian Premier League match against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the

M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

Indian skipper Virat Kohli has been named as the ‘leading cricketer of the year’ for the third year in a row by the

Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack for his performance in the 2018 English summer.

Indian Women team batter Smriti Mandhana was named as the ‘leading women cricketer in the world’. Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan was named as the ‘leading T20 cricketer of the year’ for the second consecutive

year.

Rio Paralympics silver medallist Deepa Malik has been named as the recipient of the New Zealand Prime Minister’s

Sir Edmund Hillary Fellowship for 2019.

Saurav Ghosal became the first Indian male squash player to enter the top 10 in the latest PSA world rankings.

Indian women squash players Joshna Chinappa and Dipika Pallikal had earlier reached top-10 in the world rankings.

Roland-Garros, BNP Paribas and BIGBEN announced Rohit Thakur as the winner of second edition of India leg of the

Roland-Garros eSeries, an e-sport competition played on the Tennis World Tour video game.

Meena Kumari Maisnam continued her fine run to win gold medal in the 54 kg at the Boxing World Cup in Cologne.

Indian women’s cricket team captain Mithali Raj has been named the goodwill ambassador of Team India at the

Street Child Cricket World Cup (SCCWC).

Bajrang Punia became the first wrestler from India to fight at the iconic Madison Square Garden in New York.

Indonesian Eni Nuraeni was named by Asian Athletic Association (AAA) as the best athletic coach in Asia for short-

haul run category this year.

Australia’s Claire Polosak became the first woman to officiate in a men’s one-day international in the World Cricket

League Division 2 final match between Namibia and Oman in Windhoek.

France’s Stephanie Frappart became the first woman to referee a French Ligue 1 match.

Isaak Hayik of Or Yehuda, Israel, has set a new world record as the oldest active player in a professional soccer

match after tending the goal for Ironi Or Yehuda in game against Maccabi Ramat Gan.

Asian champion shot putter Manpreet Kaur has been banned for four years by the National Anti-Doping Agency

(NADA) for flunking four dope tests in 2017.

Papua New Guinea (PNG) gained their ODI status and a place in the ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 after a

comprehensive victory against the already-qualified Oman.

The United States of America sealed One-Day International status for the very first time with a third straight victory

at the World Cricket League Division Two event in Namibia.

India dropped 3 places to be the fifth-ranked team in T20Is.

The inaugural issue of world’s first exclusive women’s cricket magazine ‘Criczone‘ was released in Jaipur with Indian

team vice-captain Smriti Mandhana featuring as the cover story.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) released its official song ‘Stand By’ for the forthcoming Men’s Cricket World

Cup 2019, that begins on May 30 in England and Wales.








The world body governing Badminton, BFA, has launched two new formats of the game —AirBadminton and Triples

with new dimensions of the court and an innovative shuttlecock called Airshuttle. Traditional competitive

badminton has been an indoor game.

Top seeds Anirudh Chandrasekar and Niki Poonacha won the 2019 International Tennis Federation (ITF) men’s

Futures tennis tournament title in Kampala, Uganda.

Archery Association of India named its senior vice president Sunil Sharma as its acting president to start the ball

rolling for its polls after the Supreme Court’s order to set aside the national body’s election last year and

subsequent resignation of its president.

The Volleyball Federation of India appointed Serbian Dragan Mihailovic as head coach of the men’s national team in

a move linked to the long term goal of Olympic Games qualification.

The technical committee of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) picked up Igor Stimac as India’s new national

team manager.

Croatian World Cupper Igor Stimac was appointed head coach of the Indian football team for a two-year term.

India skipper Virat Kohli has bagged the International Cricketer of the year award while

Smriti Mandhana was honoured with the International women cricketer of the year award during the CEAT

International Cricket Awards 2019.

Former India women cricketer GS Lakshmi became the first female to be appointed to the ICC International Panel of

Match Referees.

World number one Bajrang Punia has become the first Indian to win gold at the Ali Aliev wrestling tournament after

defeating Viktor Rassadin of Russia in the 65 kg freestyle in Kapiisk, Russia.

Shooter Apurvi Chandela became the world number one in women’s 10m Air Rifle category with 1,926 rankings

points, according to the latest rankings released by International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) recently.

Apurvi Chandela won the gold in women’s 10m air rifle at the ISSF World Cup

Rahi Sarnobat clinched gold in the women’s 25m pistol at the season’s third International Shooting Sport

Federation World Cup in Munich, Germany.

India’s 17-year-old shooter Saurabh Chaudhary broke his own junior and senior world record to win his second gold

medal in 10m Air Pistol event in ISSF Gold Cup 2019.

Gaurav Solanki and Manish Kaushik won a gold medal each in the XXXVI Feliks Stamm International Boxing

Tournament in Warsaw, Poland

Ace Indian squash players Saurav Ghoshal and Joshna Chinappa won their respective Asian Individual Squash

Championship titles in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) off-spinner Harbhajan Singh became the third Indian to claim 150 wickets in the Indian

Premier League (IPL).’ Delhi’s Amit Mishra and Kolkata Knight Riders’ Piyush Chawla are the other two Indians who have taken 150

wickets in the IPL.

India’s racing sensation Jehan Daruvala created history during the Spanish F1 Grand Prix, scoring a dramatic victory

in the inaugural round of the all-new FIA Formula 3 Championship in Barcelona.

Juventus star striker Cristiano Ronaldo was awarded the ‘Serie A Player of the Year’ award. This is a remarkable feat

for the Portuguese international as he has won the award in his very first season in Italy.

Former South Africa all-rounder Jacques Kallis has been honoured with the Order of Ikhamanga in the Silver

Division. The national honour is bestowed by the President of South Africa on citizens who have made significant








Former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara has been appointed as the first non-British president of the

Marylebone Cricket Club. Sangakkara will be the first overseas MCC president in the organization’s 233-year

history.

Pakistan off-spinner Sana Mir has become the most successful women’s ODI spinner in history after she took her

147th wicket, highest ever by any spinner in One-day International (ODI) cricket.

Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk has been named Premier League Player of the Season. By doing so, he became

the first defender to win the Player of the Season award in seven seasons, after Manchester City’s Vincent

Kompany in 2011-12.

The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) in its meeting in Singapore reasserted its decision to host the 2020 Asia Cup to

Pakistan, casting serious doubts on the participation of defending champions India.

Third seed Sidharth Rawat outplayed Rio Noguchi of Japan 7-5, 6-0 to clinch his maiden title in the $25,000 ITF

men’s Futures tennis tournament.

China was confirmed as the host of the AFC Asian Cup 2023 at the AFC Extraordinary Congress in Paris.

FIFA has appointed Qatar as the host of the FIFA Club World Cup in 2019 and 2020 to function as test events for the

next FIFA World Cup in 2022.

Sunil Chhetri became the most capped India player by surpassing Bhaichung Bhutia’s 107 international matches.

Rohit Sharma has become the fastest Indian to go past 2000-run mark against Australia in ODIs after he knocked 57

in the ongoing ICC Men’s World Cup match between the two sides at the Oval.

India’s hero during the 2011 World Cup, Yuvraj Singh, announced retirement from all forms of cricket after

spending 25 years in and around the 22 yards and almost 17 years of international experience.

Cancer-hit Malaysian badminton star Lee Chong Wei announced his retirement.

Virat Kohli, ranked 100th, remains the sole Indian in the Forbes list of world’s highest-paid athletes with estimated

annual earnings of $25 million.

India skipper Virat Kohli rose to the challenge against Pakistan and added another feather to his cap by becoming

the fastest player in the history of the game to cross the 11,000-run mark in ODIs.

Virat Kohli has become the fastest cricketer to score 20,000 international runs. The India captain reached the

milestone when he reached the score of 37 against West Indies at Old Trafford.

Afghanistan leg spinner Rashid Khan recorded the worst bowling figures in a ICC World Cup Match after conceding

110 runs in 9 overs against England.

The IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations) Council approved the global governing body’s new

name ‘World Athletics’ and logo at the 217th IAAF Council Meeting in Monaco.

World Archery appointed Abhinav Bindra as an independent person to sort out the ongoing mess in the Archery

Association of India (AAI).

Ashleigh Barty becomes world No.1 women tennis player after winning the Birmingham Classic by defeating Julia

Goerges by 6-3, 7-5.

The spanish footballer Fernando Torres who was a part of 2010 World Cup Winning Team of Spain has announced

his retirement from football.

Former England star Marcus Trescothick announced he would retire at the end of the season, bringing down the

curtain on a 27-season career with county side Somerset.

Barcelona midfielder Xavi Hernandez has announced that the 2018/19 season will be his final one as a professional

footballer.

Former Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure has announced his retirement from football.

Germany‘s double Olympic biathlon champion Laura Dahlmeier announced her retirement at the age of just 25

after struggling with health issues.








American Dave Bautista retires from wrestling

Former Australian player Shane Watson has announced his retirement from the Big Bash League (BBL) as he wants

to spend more time with his family.

Odisha Government is set to host the 21st Commonwealth Table Tennis Championship at the Jawaharlal Indoor

Stadium in Cuttack, scheduled for July 17 to 22.

Jaipur will host the 8th Asian Youth Women Handball Championship.

China has become the sole contender to host Asian Cup Football tournament in 2023 after South Korea has

announced to withdraw its bid to host the game.

Italian cities Milan and Cortina will host the Olympic Winter Games 2026.

In Boxing, India’s junior women pugilists clinched seven medals, including five gold, while the team was adjudged

the best of the tournament in the Black Forest Cup in Villingen, Schwenningen, Germany.

Amul has been announced as the principal sponsor of the Afghanistan cricket team for the upcoming World Cup,

slated to be held in England and Wales from May 30.

India got their 61st Grandmaster when 16-year-old P. Iniyan, hailing from Erode, won at the Noisiel Open in France.

Saina Nehwal named as Telangana Sports Journalists Association (TSJA) sports person of the year.

PV Sindhu was named the Outstanding Performer of the Year (female),

Pullela Gopichand was awarded the Coach of the Year

The Indian badminton team was named the Team of the Year

The Badminton Association of Telangana was awarded the Association of the Year.

Indian captain Virat Kohli and fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah have retained their respective number one positions in

the ICC ODI player rankings.

World Fame 100: Virat Kohli only Indian in top 10 (begged 7th position), MS Dhoni in 13th spot

K L Rahul was the lone Indian to feature in the top 10 batting list in the latest ICC T20 International Players Rankings

released recently.

Suresh Raina added another feather to his illustrious cap in Chennai as the Chennai Super Kings’ (CSK) batsman

became the first in the Indian Premier League (IPL) history to amass 5,000 runs.

West Indies’ 39-year-old opener Chris Gayle has become the first ever batsman to smash 500 sixes in international

cricket and the second batsman to slam 300 ODI sixes.

India’s Shashank Shekhar won the 10 kilometre race of Nepal’s Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Open Marathon and Run

for Fun held in Kathmandu.

China won the 2019 badminton Asia mixed team championships by defeating Japan 3-2 in the final in Hong Kong.

Former India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has become only the fourth Indian batsman to complete 13,000 runs

in List A cricket.

India’s Kidambi Srikanth has been placed at the eighth spot in the men’s singles list in the latest BWF world rankings

release recently. Kento Momota of Japan is at the top spot.

Diksha Dagar becomes youngest Indian woman to win on Ladies European Tour (LET) in Cape Town, South Africa.

National record holder K.T. Irfan became the first Indian from athletics to qualify for the next year’s Olympics while

finishing fourth in the 20 km event of the Asian Race Walking Championships in Nomi, Japan.

Denmark’s Joachim Persson (badminton player) has been banned for 18 months for offences linked to betting and

match-fixing.

Malaysia’s Tan Kim Her has stepped down from his post as India’s doubles badminton coach.

VRV Singh, the Indian pacer has announced his retirement.

Two-time world boxing champion James DeGale(British) announced his retirement 10 years after his professional

debut.

Veteran leg-spinner Imran Tahir would retire from one-day international cricket after the World Cup in England and

Wales, which ends on July 14.








Australian football legend Tim Cahill officially announced retirement.

Argentine striker Gonzalo Higuain has announced his retirement from international football.

Actress-wrestler Nikki Bella has announced her retirement from the WWE.

Conor Mcgregor, the Irish UFC star, announced his retirement from Mixed Martial Arts (MMA).

WWE legend Kurt Angle has announced he will retire at WrestleMania 35 in April 2019.

Ambati Rayudu, the Indian middle-order batsman announced his retirement from all forms of cricket.

Arjen Robben, the former Bayern Munich and Netherland forward, announced his retirement from football.

India returned with 368 medals, including 85 gold, at the Special Olympics World Summer Games which was held at

Abu Dhabi, UAE from March 14 to 21. The Indian team of 284 athletes also clinched 154 silver and 129 bronze

medals in its highly successful campaign at the prestigious event.

Indian youth team finish second in the overall medals tally with a total of 26 medals including eight gold, nine silver

and nine bronze medals. China topped the overall medals tally with 31 medals that included 12 gold, 11 silver and

eight bronze medals.

31-year-old Hopman Cup replaced by new ATP ((Association of Tennis Professionals)) Cup

2019 Asean School Games to be held in July in Indonesia’s Semarang city.

The United World Wrestling (UWW) has taken away the hosting rights from India for the junior Asian

Championship, to be held in Thailand now.

India lose Jr. Davis and Fed Cup hosting rights, to be held in Bangkok now.

The Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi will be the new home of T10 cricket for the next five years, starting with

the 2019 season.

India will host the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in 2020

Argentina and Colombia have been selected as the host nations for the upcoming edition of Copa America football

tournament, to be held in 2020.

Special Olympics World Games 2019 held at Abu Dhabi in UAE.

The Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Rajasthan Royals launched its first cricket academy in the UK. The Star

Cricket Academy based at Reed’s School in Surrey joined hands with Rajasthan Royals to relaunch the facility as the

‘Rajasthan Royals Academy’. The torch design for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games was unveiled exactly a year before the flame is

due to arrive in Japan from Greece. The theme of the pink gold torch centres on ‘sakura’ or cherry blossom in

Japan, which arrives every spring to much fanfare, and it was designed with input from children from the areas

most severely damaged by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

In an effort to develop coaches from the grassroot level and enable them to meet the requirements and the ever-

growing demands of international hockey, the sport’s governing body in India launched the Hockey India Coaching

Education Pathway.

Rajasthan Royals signed BookMyShow as exclusive ticketing partner.

GoDaddy partnered with ICC as official sponsor for Cricket World Cup 2019

Kavinder Singh Bisht wins gold at the 38th GeeBee Boxing Tournament in Helsinki, Finland

The 23rd edition of the Asian Athletics Championship concluded in Doha, Qatar.

Tejinder Pal Singh Toor won Gold in Men’s shot put event, Gomathi Marimuthu won Gold in Women’s 800m event

and PU Chitra won Gold in Women’s 1500m race event.

ISSF World Cup held in Beijing, China

For India, while Anjum Moudgil and young Divyansh Singh Panwar started the medal hunt with a gold in the 10m








Air Rifle Mixed Team competition, the teenaged pair of Manu Bhaker and Saurabh Chaudhary backed them up with

another yellow metal in the 10m Air Pistol Mixed Team Pistol event.

Helo, India’s social media platform, has announced its partnership with the Indian Wheelchair Cricket Association

as the team sponsor for Team India during the Asia Cup 2019, which is scheduled from May 15 in Nepal.

12th Asian Airgun Championships 2019 in Taiyuan, Taipei

Gold Medal

10m Air Rifle Men Individual: Divyansh Singh Panwar

10m Air Rifle Men Team: Divyansh Singh Panwar,Ravi Kumar,Deepak Kumar

10m Air Pistol Men Team: Saurabh Chaudhary, Ravinder Singh & Abhishek Verma

10m Air Rifle Women Individual: Elavenil Valarivan

10m Air Rifle Women Team: Elavenil Valarivan, Apurvi Chandela, Meghana Sajjanar

10m Air Pistol Women Individual: Manu Bhaker

10m Air Pistol Mixed Team: Manu Bhaker & Saurabh Chaudhary

10m Air Rifle Men Junior Team: Yash Vardhan, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar,Keval Jashvantbhai Prajapati

10m Air Rifle Men Junior Individual: Yash Vardhan

10m Air Pistol Men Junior Individual: Sarabjot Singh

10m Air Pistol Men Junior Team: Sarabjot Singh, Arjun Singh Cheema,Vijayveer Sidhu

10m Air Rifle Women Junior Individual: Shreya Agrawal

10m Air Rifle Women Junior Team: C Kavi Rakshna, Shreya Agrawal, Mehuli Ghosh

10m Air Pistol Women Junior Individual: Esha Singh

10m Air Pistol Mixed Team Junior: Esha Singh, Vijayveer Sidhu

10m Air Rifle Mixed Team Junior: Shreya Agrawal, Yash Vardhan

Sports Journalists Federation of India 2019 Awards

SJFI Medal (Highest Honour): Prakash Padukone (Badminton).

Sportsperson of the Year Award: Pankaj Advani (Billiards and Snooker) and Bajrang Punia (Wrestling).

Emerging Talent of the Year Award: Saurabh Choudhary (Shooting).

Team of the Year Award: Vidarbha Cricket Team.

Committee

Head of Committee Purpose V. G. Kannan Review the ATM interchange fee structure

M K Sharma The Central Public Works Department (CPWD) has constituted a seven-member core

group to prepare a roadmap for implementation of a five-year “vision document” as

directed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Bibek Debroy The Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister set up a Beekeeping Development

Committee under the Chairmanship of Bibek Debroy to identify ways of advancing

beekeeping in India.

Ramesh Chand A working group has been constituted for the revision of current series of Wholesale








Price Index (base 2011-12) under the chairmanship of NITI Aayog Member Ramesh

Chand.

M K Sharma The Central Works Public Department (CPWD) has constituted an expert committee to

formulate a design policy for building construction and infrastructure development.

T. N. Manoharan, Chairman

of Canara Bank

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) constituted a task force on development of secondary

market for corporate loans.

Harsh Vardhan RBI announced the setting-up of a committee to work for the development of housing

finance securitisation market in the country

Chander Shekhar The Government of India (GoI) has set up a tribunal, headed by Justice Chander Shekhar

of the Delhi High Court, to adjudicate if there exists sufficient cause to ban the Jama’at-

e-Islami Jammu and Kashmir (JeI) and the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front – Yasin

Malik (JKLF-Y) faction.

Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel The National Green Tribunal formed a committee to look into the alleged erosion of

Yamuna floodplain due to movement of heavy vehicles in Haryana’s Sonipat district.

Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel The NGT has formed a Central Monitoring Committee to prepare and enforce a national

plan to make over 350 river stretches across the country pollution free as it has caused

serious threat to safety of water and environment. The NGT directed the Central

Monitoring Committee to give its report by July 31.

Suresh Mathur The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) set up to review

regulatory framework on micro insurance, and to recommend measures to increase

demand for such products.

Usha Thorat The RBI announced a task force headed by its former deputy governor Usha Thorat to

examine issues related to offshore rupee markets and recommend policy measures to

ensure stability of the external value of the domestic currency.

Nandan Nilekani To further deepen digital payments and enhance financial inclusion through Fintech.

Alok Srivastava (Legal

Affairs Secretary)

To examine issues related to framing of a structured scheme for providing insurance

cover to advocates.

Jasmine Shah The Delhi government’s Dialogue and Development Commission (DDC), a think-tank

that advises the government on key issues, has set up a 17-member high-level

committee to “reform higher education” in the capital.

Aruna Sundararajan Union Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad constituted a committee chaired by

Telecom Secretary Aruna Sundararajan to spell out revival plans for Telecom sector.

Devendra Fadnavis Prime Minister Narendra Modi constituted a high-powered committee of chief

ministers for the transformation of agriculture and raising farmers’ income.

Tapan Ray The Reserve Bank of India has set up a working group to review the regulatory and

supervisory framework for core investment companies (CIC).

Rankings

Index India’s Rank Other Information Global Consumer Confidence

Survey

1st

Global Energy Transition Index 76 1st – Sweden.








Index compiled by Geneva-based World

Economic Forum (WEF).

UN World Happiness Report-

2019

140 1st – Finland.

IMD World Competitiveness

Rankings

43 1st - Singapore

Kids Right Index 117 1st - Iceland

Global Gender Equality Index

2019

95 Top- Denmark

Bottom- Chad

Global Peace Index 2019 141 Top- Iceland

Bottom- Afghanistan

FIFA Rankings 101 Top- Belgium

2019 Index of Cancer

Preparedness (ICP)

19 1st – Australia.

Prepared by Economist Intelligence

Unit (EIU)

World Press Freedom Index 2019 140 1st – Norway.

Henley Passport Index 2019

(Most Powerful Passport index

2019)

86 Top – Japan and Singapore.

India ranked 20th among the top capital importing countries: Knight Frank. Top – UK

India is now the forerunner in producing solar power at lowest cost globally and is far ahead of other nations in low

average production costs, a report by International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) said. Beating countries like

China, which usually is the cheapest manufacturer of everything, India has also left behind the US, UK, Canada and

France among others.

India 4th Biggest Military Spender in 2018: SIPRI (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute) Report. India’s

military spending went up by 3.1 per cent to $66.5 billion. 1st – USA.

India rose to 17th position in global startup ecosystem in 2019, up from the 37th spot in 2017, as per StartupBlink.

The country list was topped by the US, followed by the UK and Canada.

Saudi Arabia has now become the largest importer of arms in the world, having pushed India to the second spot,

according to the premier Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). In its report on ‘Trends in

International Arms Transfers 2018’ released recently, the institute identified Saudi Arabia, India, Egypt, Australia

and Algeria as the 5 top arms importing countries and the United States, Russia, France, Germany and China as the

5 top arms exporting nations.

India was ranked 16th in the world in terms of highest number of impacted species in biodiversity-rich zones (also

known as hotspots) due to human actions. In India, 35 species affected on an average in biodiversity-rich zones.

Malaysia ranks first among countries with highest number of impacted species (on an average 125 species).

Money parked in Swiss banks: India slips one place to 74th, UK remains on top

Rankings (Persons,Cities,Organisations and Others)

Mumbai had the worst traffic congestion in 2018, an analysis of 403 cities across 56 countries on six continents in

‘Traffic Index-2018’, compiled by location technology specialist TomTom, has found. Mumbai was followed by

Colombia’s Bogota, Peru’s Lima and Delhi in traffic congestion.








Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT), Bombay, IIT Delhi and Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore have found a

place among the top 200 in the prestigious Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings released

recently. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) of USA has been ranked first in the list.

Mumbai is India’s most expensive city and among the top 20 costliest cities surveyed in Asia for expatriates, with

residential housing prices among the highest in the world, according to a survey by global consulting leader Mercer.

NSSO Survey - Nagaland has the highest unemployment rate among the states with the percentage of 21.4%. It is

followed by Goa (1 3.9%) and Manipur(1 1.6%)

Meghalaya has the lowest rate at 1.5%.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has become the second most-followed politician in the world with a social media

audience of 110,912,648 million on platforms including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, a study by online

visibility management and content marketing SaaS platform SEMrush said recently.

The most-followed politician globally was former US President Barack Obama, who has 182,710,777 followers on

his Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter accounts.

Rajiv Gandhi International Airport has been declared as the eighth best airport in the world. In the 2019 annual

rating report by AirHelp, an organization that specializes in air traveller rights, Doha’s Hamad International Airport,

Tokyo Haneda International Airport, and Athens International Airport have retained their top three positions in the

list.

Reliance Industries has toppled state-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) to become the country’s biggest company

by revenue. The Mukesh Ambani-led conglomerate, in the 2018-19 fiscal year that ended March 31, reported a

turnover of Rs 6.23 lakh crore.

Huawei Technologies Co. overtook Apple Inc. to claim the No. 2 spot in smartphones in the first quarter, moving a

step closer to its avowed ambition of displacing Samsung at the top of the market.

The Netherlands has emerged as the 3rd largest Foreign Direct investor in India for the years 2017-2018 with

investments valued at US$ 2.67 billion across variety of sectors such as services, trading, automobile industry,

fermentation industries, chemicals and water management.

Mumbai topped the 15-city list of the most vulnerable cities to cyberattacks in 2019, followed by Delhi, Bengaluru

and Kolkata, Quick Heal Security Labs revealed. The ‘Annual Threat Report 2019’ put Maharashtra, Delhi and West

Bengal as the top three states at most risk.

Arunachalam Muruganantham, known as the maker of low-cost sanitary napkins in India with his invention of

cellulose-based pads, has made it to Fortune magazine’s 2019 list of the world’s greatest leaders. Muruganantham

ranks 45th in the list released by the American publication.

Shanghai claimed that it has become the world’s first district using both 5G coverage and broadband gigabit

network as China seeks to establish lead over the US and other countries in the race to develop next generation

cellular mobile communications.

The Indian Institute of Technology(IIT), Madras, topped the national ranking of higher institutes released by the

ministry of Human Resources Development (HRD). The Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, and IIT-Delhi

were ranked second and third in the list respectively. Of the top 10 institutes, seven are IITs.

India’s asset management companies (AMCs) own assets under management (AUM) worth Rs24.46 trillion

according to data released by the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI).

The quality of air in Varanasi, is positioned 3rd on the WHO’s (World Health Organisation) list of 15 most polluted

cities in the world, by the ‘Political Leaders Position and Action on Air Quality in India 2014-2019’ report, released

by Climate Trends. Kanpur (in Uttar Pradesh) is the most polluted city in the world and is positioned 1 on the list.








Hong Kong’s equity market has overtaken Japan to be the world’s third largest in value, behind only the U.S. and

mainland China.

Reliance Industries (RIL) Chairman Mukesh Ambani has featured in the TIME magazine’s list of 100 most influential

people. Arundhati Katju and Menaka Guruswamy, who led the legal battle for LGBTQ rights in India, also featured

in the list. The “Time 100 Most Influential People 2019” named the world’s most influential pioneers, leaders,

titans, artists and icons of the year.

Watches and jewellery maker Titan Company is the fourth fastest growing luxury company in the world with a

compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19.7 per cent during the financial years 2015-2017, a Deloitte report said

recently. Titan is a joint venture between the Tata Group and state-run Tamil Nadu Industrial Development

Corporation (TIDCO).

UK Based Skytrax World Airport Awards: Singapore’s Changi Airport has been crowned the world’s best aviation

hub for the seventh time in a row, while New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport featured at number

59

World airport traffic rankings for 2018 released by the Airports Council International (ACI): Indira Gandhi

International Airport (IGIA) has now become the world’s 12th busiest airport. Dubai International world’s busiest

named.

Airports Council International (ACI) in the Airport Service Quality (ASQ) Programme for 2018: Indira Gandhi

International (IGI) airport in New Delhi has been adjudged as the best airport in the category of over 40 million

passengers per annum (MPPA) in Asia Pacific.

2018 Airport Service Quality (ASQ) award: The Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) in Bhubaneswar has won

the award as the leading airport in size and region.

Manipal Academy of Higher Education achieved another milestone, as it became the only private University in India

to be featured in the QS World rankings in the areas of Medicine and Pharmacy. This is the third consecutive year

that MAHE is the highest ranked private University in the country.

Delhi has topped the list of the most polluted cities in the world in a recent study conducted by environment NGO

Greenpeace India. New Delhi was ranked first among 62 polluted cities in the report, Global Air Pollution 2018.

Assam’s Hailakandi district has shot up to number one from the 52nd position, among the aspirational districts of

the country, a new report released by the Niti Aayog said.

Mumbai, the financial capital of the country, is the 16th most expensive prime residential market in the world, a

Knight Frank report said. The Maharashtra capital is the only Indian city to feature in the global top 20 list of

expensive prime residential markets recorded in The Wealth Report 2019. Philippines’ capital Manila topped the

global list

The phenomenal growth of Reliance Jio, backed by its ultra-cheap data plans that has transformed the telecom

scenario in India, has helped Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani move six places up to rank 13th in US

magazine Forbes’ “World’s Billionaire list 2019”. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos continued to remain the world’s

richest man.

In terms of 4G availability, Dhanbad in Jharkhand has topped the list of 50 cities in India, London-based wireless

coverage mapping company OpenSignal’s “India Mobile Network Experience” report said.

Integral Coach Factory (ICF), the rail coach manufacturing factory at Chennai, which became famous for

manufacturing Train 18, has become the single largest rail coach manufacturer in the world surpassing top Chinese

manufacturers.








Reliance Industries chairman and Asia’s richest man Mukesh Ambani recently topped Forbes’ The World’s Richest

Sports Team Owners 2019 list. With a total net worth of about $50 billion, Ambani topped the list.

Mercer’s 2019 Quality of Living Ranking: The Austrian capital Vienna has topped Mercer’s index of most liveable

cities for the 10th year in a row. Baghdad ranked last.

Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu is ranked at 105 and is the number one city from India.

Paris, Singapore and Hong Kong are most expensive cities in the world while Delhi, Chennai and Bengaluru are

among the cheapest places to live, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit’s 2019 Worldwide Cost of Living

Survey.

Tata, Reliance and Airtel emerged as the top three Indian brands of 2019, according a report published by

Interbrand, part of the Omnicom Media Group, an advertising and public relations conglomerate. Tata continued to

hold the top position in the best Indian Brands ranking as its brand value grew by 6%, mainly due to Tata

Consultancy Services (TCS).

Maharashtra achieves first rank in NITI Aayog launched “Agricultural Marketing and Farmer Friendly Reforms Index

(AMFFRI)”.

Loans from Banks

From To Amount Purpose

Asian

Development

Bank (ADB)

Chhattisgarh USD 350

million

Road project

Asian

Development

Bank (ADB)

India $26 million Loan as additional financing for improving drainage

infrastructure in Dibrugarh town of Assam under the ongoing

Assam Urban Infrastructure Investment Program.

ADB India $926

million

To operationalise two lines for the Mumbai metro rail system.

Asian

Infrastructure

Investment Bank

(AIIB)

India $455

million

To finance the Andhra Pradesh Rural Roads Project, which will

connect about 3,300 habitations with a population of more than

250, and benefit around two million people.

World Bank Tamil Nadu $287

million

Health System Reform Programme

World Bank Jharkhand $147

Million

To provide basic urban services to the people of Jharkhand and

help improve the management capacity of the urban local

bodies (ULBs) in the State.

World Bank India $400

Million

To help treat and eliminate Tuberculosis from the country.

World Bank India $25.2

Million

Loan Agreement to support Chhattisgarh Public Financial

Management and Accountability Program.

World Bank India $96 Million Agreement for additional financing of Uttarakhand Disaster

Recovery Project.

The World Bank has been supporting the State Government

since 2014 to restore housing and rural connectivity and to build

the resilience of communities.








World Bank India $137

Million

Representatives of 5 States (Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh,

Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Uttarakhand) of Government of India

and Implementing Agencies signed in New Delhi the Loan

Agreement for Additional Financing for the Dam Rehabilitation

and Improvement Project (DRIP).

World Bank India $250-

million

Agreement for the National Rural Economic Transformation

Project (NRETP) focused on promoting “women-owned and

women-led” farm and non-farm enterprises.

World Bank Andhra

Pradesh

Rs 2,200-

crore

($328-

million)

Project aimed at strengthening the state’s overall healthcare

systems.

Korea Exim Bank India Rs 4,100

crore

Loan for Visakhapatnam Metro Rail project.

Exim Bank supported line of credit of USD 150 million to Ghana and USD 95 million to Mozambique for agricultural

and railway projects.

Exim Bank has provided soft loans of USD 266.60 million to Rawanda for various projects.

The Government of India, Government of Kerala and World Bank signed a loan agreement of $250 million (Rs 1,725

crore) for the First Resilient Kerala Programme to enhance the state’s resilience against the impact of natural

disasters and climate change.

Asian Development Bank (ADB) has signed an agreement to provide long-term financing of $750 million equivalent

in Indian rupees — the largest single non-sovereign loan ever committed by ADB — to the Indian Railway Finance

Corporation (IRFC), to fund the Railways track electrification project.

Asian Development Bank (ADB) has given in-principle nod for financing 4 metro rail projects and a Rs 30,000 crore

rapid rail corridor between Delhi and Meerut as part of its effort to improve urban transport system in India.

Deadlines/ Important Dates

The government has developed a National Strategic Plan with the goal of ending Tuberculosis (TB) by 2025. India

accounts for 27.4 lakh estimated new TB cases annually, which is the highest in terms of absolute numbers.

Union Minister for Jal Shakti, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, announced that the flow of raw sewage into the Ganga river

will be fully halted by 2022.

All trains coming to Delhi to be on electric traction from December 2019

The government extended the deadline for linking PAN with biometric ID Aadhaar by 6 months till

September 30. This is the sixth time the government has extended the deadline for individuals to link their

Permanent Account Number (PAN) to Aadhaar.

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said that that Railways will install Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras in over 7,020

coaches of mainline passenger trains during Phase-I which is targeted to complete by March 2021. They are already

installed in 1,300 coaches of mainline passenger trains.








Books

Book Author Other Info Cricket World Cup: The Indian

Challenge

Ashis Ray

Lessons Life Taught Me, Unknowingly Auto-Biography of Anupam Kher

My Life, My Mission Auto-Biography of Baba Ramdev Co-authored by senior journalist

Uday Mahurkar

Data Sovereignty: The Pursuit of

Supremacy

Vinit Goenka

The New Delhi Conspiracy (Novel) Meenakshi Lekhi

A Prime Minister to Remember Sushil Kumar

Game Changer Former Pakistan skipper Shahid

Afridi’s autobiography

In it, he has lashed out explosively

at India’s former southpaw and

winner of two World titles Gautam

Gambhir, taking their decade-old

on-and-off-field spat to another

level.

Darkness to light Former American basketball player,

Lamar Odom

Coming Round the Mountain Ruskin Bond

Kundan: Saigal’s Life & Music Sharad Dutt Biography of K L Saigal

Ashakiranam Autobiography of noted social worker

Sankurathri Chandrasekhar

Penned by Dr. Chandrasekhar in

English with title ‘A Ray of Hope’ the autobiography was translated

into Telugu by Godavarthi

Satyamurthy.

Politics of Jugaad: The Coalition

Handbook

Saba Naqvi

Designing Destiny: The Heartfulness

Way

Kamlesh Patel, popularly known as

Daaji

Indian Fiscal Federalism N.K. Singh (He is Chairman of 15th Finance

Commission of India)

Every Vote Counts Navin Chawla Former Chief Election

Commissioner of India

The Great Disappointment: How

Narendra Modi Squandered a Unique

Opportunity to Transform the Indian

Economy

Salman Anees Soz

Designing Destiny: The Heartfulness

Way

Kamlesh Patel, popularly known as

Daaji

One of India’s homegrown startup publishing houses Garuda Prakashan is all set to launch its next 2 books ‘#Modi

Again’ and ‘Saffron Swords – Centuries of Indic Resistance to Invaders’ after the success of its recently launched








books – ‘Urban Naxals’ by Vivek Agnihotri and ‘Thank you India’ by Maria Writh.

Aabhas’ “#Modi Again: Why Modi is right for India, An Ex-Communist’s Manifesto” is the story of someone who

was raised on communist ideology but grew to question the dogmas he was taught in the education system.

Manoshi’s “Saffron Swords: Centuries of Indic Resistance to Invaders” is another book of timeless tales. It fills in the

gap in the current education system which treats invasions of India as one long saga of defeat for Indian people.

Saffron Swords’ is a book on 52 unsung warriors of India from the last 1300 years. It celebrates the glory of our

ancestors who offered stiff resistance, won battles and fought till their last breath against Islamic invaders and

British.

Obituaries

Name Profession Other Info Grumpy Cat, the Internet’s most popular cat and one of its first viral memes, has passed away at age seven. Grumpy

Cat, whose real name is Tardar Sauce, had feline dwarfism.

Basant Kumar Birla Businessman Chairman of the B K Birla

Group of companies

Santosh Rana Politician One of the foremost leaders

of the Communist Party of

India (Marxist-Leninist)

Barun Haldar Newsreader Veteran Newsreader of All

India Radio

Satya Brata Singh Former Supreme Court judge

Darryl D’Monte Senior journalist and environmental

activist

Prafulla Rajguru Journalist

Vinod Kashyap Veteran Hindi Newsreader

Haku Shah Indian artist

Vinjamuri Anasuyadevi Noted folk artist, music director and

writer

Manohar Gopalakrishna Prabhu

Parrikar

Politician Goa Chief Minister

Venur Dhananjay Kumar Politician

C.S. Shivalli Politician From Karnataka

Balwant Singh Politician From Punjab

Virendra Kataria Politician Former Puducherry Lieutenant

Governor

Binapani Devi Matua community matriarch Popularly known as ‘Boro Ma’ (elder mother)

HS D’Lima Civic activist from Andheri Gaothan,

Mumbai

Ghulam Nabi Rathe Social Activist

Muni Hitruchivijayji One of the last disciples of Acharya

Ramchandrasurishwarji








Ashita Malayalam writer and poet

L.V. Sharada Kannada Actor

Chinmoy Roy Bengali Actor

M.N. Samant 1971 India-Pakistan war hero

Rama Sengupta Paul Mountaineer She led the first successful all-

women expedition to

Kedarnath Dome in Garhwal

Himalaya

Dr SK Shivakumar Scientist Renowned space scientist and

former Indian Space Research

Organisation Satellite Center

(ISAC) director

Viharidas Gopaldas Patel Economist and ‘Father of

Entrepreneurship Movement’

Pradeep Choubey Hindi Poet

Pungam Kannan Former Indian Footballer

D Babu Paul Eminent scholar, writer and former

additional chief secretary

B. A. Sanadi Kannada writer

Silamboli Su Chellappan Tamil scholar and orator

Dilip Sarkar Politician

K M Mani Politician From Kerala

Drupad Borgohain Politician From Assam

Chaudhary Vidyasagar Politician From Himachal Pradesh

HK Khan Former Chief Secretary of Gujarat

Paripooranand Painuli Politician and freedom fighter

JK Ritheesh Actor and former politician

Navtej Hundal Actor

Anandavally Malayalam film actress and dubbing artist

J. Mahendran Tamil Director

Kartik Rath Dramatist Eminent theatre organiser and

playwright

Colonel Raj Kapoor Director The director who introduced

Shah Rukh Khan with the

television show Fauji

Amar Paul Bengali folk singer

S. Muthiah Historian, Writer Chronicler of Chennai history,

cartographer and journalist

N.R. Madhava Menon Father of ‘legal education’ Baidyanath Mishra Economist

Kirpal Singh Sikh historian

Vijaya Mulay Filmmaker

Kadavoor Sivadasan Politics








V. Vishwanatha Menon Politics Former CPI-M Kerala Finance

Minister

Rajendra Tiwari Madhya Pradesh Advocate

General and Senior Advocate

MB Balakrishnan Swimmer Ace Tamil Nadu swimmer and

South Asian Games gold-

medalist

Derek Sippy Former billiards player, coach and

administrator

Thoppil Mohamed Meeran Author (Tamil)

Maramraju Satyanarayana Rao Writer and academician

Surya Prakash Painter

Roshan Taneja Acting Guru Founder and former head of

the acting department at the

Film and Television Institute of

India (FTII), Pune.

Known to many as the

‘pioneer of method acting’ in

India

Veeru Devgan Action and Stunts directors

Benu Mishra Assam’s noted artist and former senior art

adviser

Rallapalli Venkata Narasimha Rao Actor (Telugu)

Master Hirannaiah Actor (Kannada) Kannada theatre and film

personality

Mrinal Mukherjee Actor (Bengali)

Eranholi Moosa Mappilapaattu singer

Nebburu Narayana Hegde Yakshagana ‘bhagawatha’ (singer)

Hiralal Yadav Bhojpuri Singer

Adiraja Sultana Fathima Muthu Beevi Head of erstwhile Arakkal

royal family

Yogi Deveshwar Businessman ITC group Chairman

Murray Gell-Mann American physicist

Negasso Gidada Former Ethiopian President

Bob Hawke Former Australian Prime Minister

Prem Tinsulanonda Thailand’s former Prime Minister

John Singleton American film director Academy Award-nominated

filmmaker best known for

directing “Boyz N the Hood”

and “Poetic Justice”

Peter Mayhew English-American Actor

Clement Von Franckenstein British-American Actor

Peggy Lipton American Actress

Doris Day American actress-singer

Tim Conway American comedian








Sammy Shore American actor, stand-up comedian

Terry Rawlings British film and sound editor

Seymour Nurse West Indies batsman

I.M. Pei Chinese-American architect He designed the glass and

metal pyramid at the Louvre

Museum in Paris

Niki Lauda Austrian Formula One driver

Sultan Ahmad Shah Malaysia’s seventh King and football

veteran

Carmine Caridi Actor He is best known for

portraying Carmine Rosato in

The Godfather: Part II Movie.

Ruma Guha Thakurta Actor-singer

Brij Mohan Khaitan Veteran industrialist and Williamson

Magor Group (WMG) patriarch

Dinyar Contractor Veteran model, comedian, theatre and

film actor

Prakash Pant Finance Minister of Uttarakhand

Lennart Johansson Champions League football Architect

Jiggs Kalra Celebrated chef and culinary revivalist

Laldingliana Sailo Former Doordarshan and All India Radio

News Editor

Malcolm John Rebennack Jr/ Dr John Grammy award winning singer and

songwriter

E Gopinath Veteran journalist and Tamil Nadu Chief of

news agency ANI

Girish Karnad Veteran actor, playwright and director

Crazy Mohan Renowned Tamil writer, actor and comedy

giant

R V Janakiraman Former Puducherry Chief Minister

Sheetal Jain Megastar Amitabh Bachchan’s longtime

secretary and film producer

Pazhavila Ramesan Poet and lyricist

Rajnath Singh ‘Surya’ Former BJP Rajya Sabha MP and senior

journalist

Ahmed Essop Renowned author and educationist

Madan Lal Saini Politician

Mohan Ranade Freedom fighter from Goa

Vijaya Nirmala Tollywood actress and director

Shyam Sundar Mitra Former Bengal captain

Jharna Dhara Chowdhur Eminent Social Activist and Gandhian

Abburi Chaya Devi Telugu story writer

Babu Narayanan Malayalam director

Jerrie Cobb NASA’s 1st female astronaut candidate








Ian Cognito (Paul Barbieri) British comedian

Lorraine Warren American paranormal investigator and

author

Nadja Regin Serbia-born actress Worked in James Bond films

Bibi Andersson Swedish actress

Sydney Brenner Pioneer of molecular biology

Elriesa Theunissen-Fourie Former South Africa Women all-rounder

Con de Lange Cricketer Represented Scotland

Arie Irawan Malaysian professional golfer

Alan B. Krueger US Economist

Jerry Merryman Electrical Engineer (Co-Inventor of the

Pocket Calculator)

From USA

Ranking Roger British musician (Beat singer)

Shahnaz Rahmatullah Bangladeshi Singer

Dick Dale American guitarist

Bharat Mohan Adhikari Former Deputy Prime Minister of Nepal

Andre Previn American-German pianist. Oscar-winning

music composer

Zhores Ivanovich Alferov Russian physicist. Nobel Prize in physics

Valery Bykovsky Russian space pioneer

Bill Playle Former New Zealand Cricketer

Luke Perry American Actor

Scott Walker American-British singer-songwriter

Rafi Eitan Israeli Spy He led the operation to

capture the architect of the

Holocaust, Adolf Eichmann,

has passed away aged 92.

Bruce Yardley Former Australian spin bowler, coach and,

commentator

King Kong Bundy American professional wrestler

Lee Iacocca Businessman US auto industry legend

Carlin Dunne Professional motorcycle racer From USA

Nobel Prize Winners 2018

CHEMISTRY:

One half awarded to Frances H. Arnold (USA) "for the directed evolution of enzymes", the other half jointly to George P.

Smith (USA) and Sir Gregory P. Winter (UK) "for the phage display of peptides and antibodies."








PHYSICS:

Awarded "for groundbreaking inventions in the field of laser physics" with one half to Arthur Ashkin (USA) "for the optical

tweezers and their application to biological systems", the other half jointly to Gérard Mourou (France) and Donna

Strickland (Canada) "for their method of generating high-intensity, ultra-short optical pulses."

PHYSIOLOGY or MEDICINE:

James P. Allison of the US and Tasuku Honjo of Japan "for their discovery of cancer therapy by inhibition of negative

immune regulation."

LITERATURE:

No one was awarded Nobel Prize in Literature. The Swedish Academy has said it will postpone this year's Nobel Prize in

Literature but plans to award it next year.

PEACE PRIZE:

Denis Mukwege (Congo) and Nadia Murad (Iraq) "for their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and

armed conflict."

The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel:

William D. Nordhaus (USA) “for integrating climate change into long-run macroeconomic analysis” and Paul M. Romer

(USA) “for integrating technological innovations into long-run macroeconomic analysis”

Important Days

March 2019

Date Day Extra Info 1 March World Civil Defence Day Theme 2019: “Children’s safety, our

responsibility”

1 March Zero Discrimination Day Theme 2019: “Act to change laws that

Discriminate”

3 March National Defence Day

3 March World Wildlife Day Theme 2019: “Life below water: for people

and planet”

3 March World Hearing Day Theme 2019: “Check your hearing””

4 March National Security Day

4 March National Safety Day

4 March World Day of Fight Against

Sexual Exploitation

March 4-10, 2019 National Safety Week Theme 2019: “Cultivate and Sustain a Safety

Culture for Building Nation”

7 March Janaushadhi Diwas








8 March International Women’s Day Theme 2019: “Think Equal, Build Smart,

Innovate for change: BalanceForBetter”

10 March CISF Raising Day

14 March 2019 World Kidney Day Theme 2019: “Kidney health for everyone,

everywhere”

15 March 2019 World Sleep Day Theme 2019: “Healthy Sleep, Healthy Aging”

15 March World Consumer Rights Day Theme 2019: “Trusted Smart Products”

16 March National Vaccination Day

18 March Ordnance Factories Day

18 March Global Recycling Day Theme 2019: “Recycling into the Future”

20 March International Day of Happiness Theme 2019: “Share Happiness and be Part of

Something Amazing”

20 March World Sparrow day Theme 2019: “I Love Sparrows”

21 March International Day for the

Elimination of Racial

Discrimination

Theme 2019: “Mitigating and countering rising

nationalist populism and extreme supremacist

ideologies”

21 March International Day of Forests Theme 2019: “Forests and Education – Learn

to Love Forests”

21 March World Poetry day

21 March World Down Syndrome Day

22 March World Water day Theme 2019: “Leaving no one behind”

23 March World Meteorological Day Theme 2019: “The Sun, the Earth and the

Weather”

23 March Martyr’s Day

24 March World Tuberculosis Day Theme 2019: “It’s TIME”

25 March International Day of Solidarity

with Detained and Missing Staff

Members

25 March International Day of

Remembrance of the Victims of

Slavery and the Transatlantic

Slave Trade

Theme 2019: “Remember Slavery: The Power

of the Arts for Justice”

27 March World Theatre Day

30 March, 2019 2018 Earth Hour 1th edition [8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m]

It is a global initiative of the World Wide Fund

for Nature India or WWF-India.

30 March World Piano Day

April 2019

Date Day Extra Info 1 – 7 April Prevention of Blindness Week

2 April World Autism Awareness Day Theme 2019: “Assistive Technologies, Active

Participation”








4 April International Day for Mine Awareness

and Assistance in Mine Action

Theme 2019: “United Nations Promotes SDGs

– Safe Ground – Safe Home”

5 April National Maritime Day Theme 2019: “Indian Ocean-An Ocean of

opportunity”

6 April International Day of Sport for

Development and Peace

7 April World Health Day Theme 2019: “Universal Coverage: Everyone,

Everywhere”

7 – 13 April World Allergy Week 2019

10 April World Homoeopathy Day

11 April National Safe Motherhood Day Theme 2019: “Midwives for Mothers”

12 April International Day of Human Space Flight

14 April Ambedkar Jayanti or Bhim Jayanti

17 April World Hemophilia Day Theme 2019: “Reaching out – connect to your

community”

18 April World Heritage Day (International Day

For Monuments and Sites)

Theme 2019: “Rural Landscapes”

18 April World Liver Day

21 April World Creativity and Innovation Day

21 April National Civil Services Day

22 April International Mother Earth Day Theme 2019: “Protect Our Species”

23 April World Book and Copyright Day Theme 2019: “Share a story”

24 April National Panchayati Raj (PR) Diwas

25 April World Malaria Day Theme 2019: “End Malaria for Good”

26 April World Intellectual Property Day (WIP) Theme 2019: “Reach for Gold: IP and Sports”

26 April International Chernobyl Disaster

Remembrance Day

28 April World Day for Safety and Health at Work

Theme 2019: “Safety and Health and the

Future of Work”

29 April International Dance Day Theme 2019: “Dance and Spirituality”

29 April Day of Remembrance for all Victims of

Chemical Warfare

30 April International Jazz Day

24 – 30 April World Immunization Week Theme 2019: “Protected Together: Vaccines

Work!”

May 2019

Date Day Other Info

1 May International Labour Day Theme 2019: "Sustainable Pension for all: The

Role of Social Partners"








2 May World Tuna Day

2 May 2019 (1st

Thursday of May) World Password Day

3 May World Press Freedom Day

Theme 2019: "Media for Democracy:

Journalism and Elections in Times of

Disinformation"

5 May International Midwives’ Day Theme 2019: "Midwives: Defenders of

Women’s Rights"

6 May - 12 May United Nations Global Road Safety

Week Theme 2019: "Leadership for road safety"

7 May 2019

(1st Tuesday of May) World Asthma Day Theme 2019: "STOP for Asthma"

7 May World Athletics Day

8 May World Red Cross Day Theme 2019: "#Love"

8 May International Thalassaemia Day

Theme 2019: "Universal access to quality

thalassaemia healthcare services: Building

bridges with and for patients."

11 May National Technology Day

11 May 2019 (2nd

Saturday of May and

October)

World Migratory Bird Day Theme 2019: "Protect Birds: Be the Solution to

Plastic Pollution!"

11 May 2019

(2nd Saturday of

May)

World Fair Trade Day Live Fair, One Product at a Time

12 May International Nurses Day Theme 2019: "Nurses – A Voice to Lead –

Health for All"

12 May 2019

(2nd Sunday of May) International Mothers’ Day

15 May International Day of Families Theme 2019: "Families and Climate Action:

Focus on SDG13"

16 May National Dengue Day

16 May International Light Day

17 May World Hypertension Day Theme 2019: "Know Your Numbers"

17 May World Telecommunication and

Information Society Day

Theme 2019: "Bridging the standardization

gap"








17 May

International Day Against

Homophobia, Transphobia and

Biphobia

Theme 2019: "Justice and Protection for All"

18 May International Museum Day Theme 2019: "Museums as Cultural Hubs: The

Future of Tradition"

18 May World AIDS Vaccine Day

20 May World Metrology Day Theme 2019: "The International System of

Units – Fundamentally better"

20 May World Bee Day

21 May Anti-Terrorism Day

21 May World Day for Cultural Diversity for

Dialogue and Development

22 May International Day for Biological

diversity

Theme 2019: "Our Biodiversity, Our Food, Our

Health"

23 May World Turtle Day

25 May International Missing Children's Day

25 May World Thyroid Day

28 May International Day of Action for

Women’s Health

29 May International Day of United Nations

Peacekeepers

Theme 2019: "Protecting Civilians, Protecting

Peace"

29 May World Digestive Health Day Theme 2019: "Early Diagnosis and Treatment

of GI Cancer"

31 May World No-Tobacco Day Theme 2019: "Tobacco and Lung Health"

June 2019

Day Date Theme Global Day of Parents June 1 Honor Your Parents!

Financial Literacy Week June 3-7 Farmers

World Milk Day June 1

World Bicycle Day June 3

World Environment Day June 5 “Air pollution”

International Day for the Fight June 5








against Illegal, Unreported and

Unregulated Fishing

World Food Safety Day June 7 “Food Safety, everyone’s business”

World Oceans Day June 8 “Gender and Oceans”

World Day Against Child Labour June 12 ‘Children shouldn’t work in fields, but on

dreams!’ International Albinism

Awareness Day

June 13 “Still Standing Strong”

World Blood Donor Day June 14 ‘Safe Blood For All’ World Elder Abuse Awareness

Day

June 15 “Lifting Up Voices”

International Day of Family

Remittances (IDFR)

June 16

World Day to Combat

Desertification and Drought

June 17

World Refugee Day June 20 “Step With Refugees — Take A Step on World

Refugee Day.”

International Day of Yoga June 21 “Yoga for Heart”

World Music Day June 21

International Olympic Day June 23

United Nations Public Service

Day

June 23

Day of the Seafarer June25

International Day against Drug

Abuse and Illicit Trafficking

June 26

Micro, Small and Medium sized

Enterprises Day

June 27

Statistics Day June 29 “Sustainable Development Goals”

International Day of the Tropics June 29








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