Gyanm General Awareness Issue May 2016

GENERAL AWARENESS – APRIL 2016 1

GENERAL AWARENESS

MAY 2016 Vol. 4, Issue 11

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

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

Contents

CURRENT AFFAIRS JAN TO MARCH 01-39

BULLET NEWS OCT TO DEC 2015 40-60

LATEST 100 GK MCQs 61-67

QUIZ & SSC CORNER 68-74

FOUR MONTHS GK BYTES 75-100

FIGURES TO REMEMBER

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

7.75%

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

9.30 to 9.70%

INDIA’s RANK IN

World Happiness Index 118th

Intellectual Property Index -2016 37th

Overall Growth Prospectus 5th

Global Talent Competitiveness Index 89th

Nuclear Security Index 21st

Ease of Doing Business (Forbes) 97th

Human Development Index 130th

ICT Development Index 131st

Rank in Brand Value 7th Legatum Prosperity Index 99th Global Terrorism Index 06th Financial Secrecy Index 45th Ease of Doing Business (World Bank) 130th Number of Startups 03rd Global Competitiveness Index, WEF 55th Protection of Minority Investors 08th Global Innovation Index 81st Global Competitiveness 44th In terms of Peace 143rd Motherhood Index 140th

NATIONAL NEWS

MARCH 2016

INDIA TO HOST 8TH BRICS SUMMIT India will host the eighth annual summit of BRICS from October 15-16 in Goa, in its capacity as chair of the influential bloc comprising five countries — Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa. The logo for the summit is a lotus with colours from all the five member-countries and a traditional ‘namaste’ in the centre. MODI GOES FOR A THREE COUNTRY TRIP Prime Minister Narendra Modi left for a three - nation tour to Belgium, the US and Saudi Arabia from March 30 to April 2. He attended India-EU summit in Brussels. In USA, he attended the fourth Nuclear Security Summit in Washington D.C. Before returning to India, he stopped in Saudi Arabia to hold talks with their leaders.

WORLD CULTURE FESTIVAL AT YAMUNA BANK

The first World Culture Festival, a three-day event celebrating cultural diversity and Art of Living's 35 years of service to humanity, was held on Yamuna bank in New Delhi on March 11-13. Over 36,000 artists from 155 countries took part in the event. The Art of Living is a global spiritual movement founded by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.

NEW SHIPPING SERVICE TO BANGLADESH A new beginning was made in maritime trade and bilateral cooperation between India and Bangladesh with the launch of direct shipping service between Krishnapatnam in Nellore, Andhra Pradesh and Chittagong in Bangladesh. The new service will lower the transportation cost thereby boosting the exports.

COURT ALLOWS PHOTOS OF LEADERS IN ADs Supreme Court has now allowed use of pictures of Chief Ministers, Governors and Cabinet ministers in the government's media advertisements. Earlier, in May 2015, court had imposed a ban on publishing such photos treating it as misuse of public funds.

GENERAL AWARENESS – MAY 2016 2

WORLD’s LONGEST ALL WOMEN FLIGHT

Air India on March 6 flew the “world’s longest” all-women operated and supported flight, nonstop, from New Delhi to San Francisco, USA. The flight covered a distance of around 14,500 km in close to 17 hours. It was operated as part of International Women’s Day celebrations.

FOREIGN MINISTRY HOLDS RAISINA DIALOGUE The Raisina Dialogue, a joint initiative of the Ministry of External Affairs and a leading think tank, Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi on March 2. The summit is seen as India’s flagship conference of geopolitics and geo-economics, designed to explore prospects and opportunities for Asian integration.

PAK BETTER THAN INDIA IN HAPPINESS When it comes to happiness quotient, India lags behind neighbors like China, Pakistan and Bangladesh, ranking 118th in a study of 156 nations, according to The World Happiness Report 2016, prepared on behalf of the United Nations. Denmark takes the top spot displacing Switzerland. The report takes into account GDP per capita, life expectancy, social support and freedom to make life choices as indicators of happiness.

INDIAN WOMEN LAG BEHIND IN BUSINESS As per the Grant Thornton’s Women in Business 2016 report of 36 countries, Russia held the top spot with 45 percent of senior-business roles occupied by women; and Japan held the lowest spot at 7%. India faired very poorly in this regard, being ranked at a lowly 34th spot. BANGALORE, MUMBAI ARE MOST INEXPENSIVE

In a list compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit that compares the cost of a basket of goods in 133 cities across the world, the cheapest were Lusaka, the capital of Zambia, followed by Bengaluru and Mumbai in India. Singapore is most expensive, followed by Zurich, Hong Kong, Geneva and Paris.

INDIA DISAPPOINTS IN ENERGY SECTOR Global Energy Architecture Performance Index compiled by the WEF for 126 countries to assess their ability to deliver secure, affordable and sustainable energy, placed India pretty low at 90th rank. Top rank was secured by Switzerland followed by Norway.

IMF TRAINING CENTRE IN DELHI India and the IMF (International Monetary Fund) have signed an agreement to set up a South Asia Regional Training and Technical Assistance Centre (SARTTAC) in Delhi for training officials in dealing with macro-economic and financial issues on behalf of IMF. Meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the South Asian

Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) nations was held Pokhara, Nepal.

Union Ministry of Shipping will host ‘Maritime India Summit’ at Mumbai from 14 to 16 April, with Republic of Korea as the partner country.

India hosted a three-day conference in New Delhi with IMF on the theme of 'Advancing Asia: Investing for the Future' from March 12 to 14.

6th National Community Radio Sammelan held in New Delhi. The theme of the conference is ‘Community Radio in India: Towards Diversity and Sustainability’.

National Conference of Women Legislators held in New Delhi, March 5-6, with theme Women Legislators-Building Resurgent India.

India signed a MoU with Bahrain on cooperation for prevention of human trafficking, especially in women and children, their repatriation and rehabilitation.

India has signed an agreement with Maldives for avoiding double taxation of income from international air transport.

First meet of World Sufi Forum was held in New Delhi from March 17-20. Sufi leaders from over 20 countries took part in it.

The India Aviation 2016, an international exhibition on civil aviation held in Hyderabad, Telangana with over 200 participants from across the globe.

Parsi Zoroastrians of India celebrated their Navroz festival on March 21to mark beginning of their new year.

Germany has assured its support for developing three Indian cities as smart cities. The selected cities are - Kochi, Bhubaneswar and Coimbatore.

Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi has been declared as the world’s number one airport in 25-40 million passengers per annum (MPPA) category by the Airports Council International.


FEBRUARY 2016

MYSURU IS THE CLEANEST CITY

Swachh Survekshan-2016 conducted by the Quality Council of India to rank the Indian cities on the basis of cleanliness has ranked Mysuru at number one, followed by Chandigarh and Tiruchirapalli. The least clean cities included Dhanbad (Jharkhand), Asansol (West Bengal). Among the cities in the Smart City Mission, Bhubaneswar has emerged as the top. ANSARI VISITS BRUNEI, THAILAND Vice President Hamid Ansari paid a five day (Feb 1-5) visit to South East Asia covering Brunei and Thailand to boost the bilateral relations and trade prospects. Agreements were signed with Brunei in the fields of defence, health and sports. ABU DHABI PRINCE VISITS INDIA Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan visited India. The two countries signed nine agreements covering cooperation in the fields of currency swap, culture, investments in the infrastructure sector, renewable energy, space research, insurance supervision, cyber security, skill development and commercial information sharing. NATIONAL AROGYA FAIR HELD IN DEHRADUN The 4-day National Arogya Fair organised by the central and state government in collaboration with CII was held in Dehradun, Uttarakhand to showcase and promote the strengths, efficacy and affordability of the AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy) systems of medicines. Rs.580 CRORE FOR BANGLA RAIL LINK The Indian government has finally sanctioned Rs.580 crore for the vital Agartala (India)-Akhaura (Bangladesh) rail link, a project that was finalized in January 2010. This project will reduce rail distance between Kolkata and Agartala from 1700 kms (via chicken neck) at present to 350 kms.

NATIONAL DEWORMING DAY – FEB 10 India observed the first National Deworming Day on Feb 10 in schools and preschools (anganwadis) to combat parasitic worm infections among children. Free Albendezole deworming tablets were provided to children across the country. INDIA ASEAN HOLD DELHI DIALOGUE The eighth Delhi Dialogue was held in New Delhi to discuss politico-security, economic and socio-cultural engagement between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and India. The theme for this year's dialogue is ASEAN-India Relations: A New Paradigm. ANTI-LEPROSY DAY – 30TH JANUARY Anti-Leprosy Day was observed on 30 January nationwide in the memory of Mahatma Gandhi, who attained martyrdom on 30 January 1948, to honour his selfless efforts to care for the people affected by this infectious disease. COINS IN MEMORY OF LAJPAT RAI Ministry of Culture released a commemorative coin of 150 rupees and a circulation coin of 10 rupees on the occasion of 150th birth anniversary of great freedom fighter Lala Lajpat Rai. ROAD TO RESILIENCE PROGRAMME The Road to Resilience, an initiative of the World Bank to survey the entire Indian coastline was completed on 15 February 2016. It aims to implement support for six coastal disaster management and climate resilience projects covering all ten coastal states of India. GREAT BACKYARD BIRD COUNT IN INDIA Birdwatchers from all over India took part in four day annual Great Backyard Bird Count and shared the information online. With more than 7,000 lists, totaling 735 species, India has second rank in world. House crow, common myna, Asian koel and black drongo were the most common species reported in India.


3 INDIANS IN TOP 50 RICHEST IN WORLD

Three Indians — Mukesh Ambani (Reliance Group), Azim Premji (Wipro) and Dilip Shanghvi (Sun Pharma) —have made it to a global list of 50 wealthiest people at 27th, 43rd and 44th place, respectively. The list compiled by Wealth-X in collaboration with Business Insider is topped by Bill Gates. JNU STIRRED BY ANTI NATIONAL SLOGANS Nation’s prestigious university caught attention of intellectuals around the world, although for non academic reasons. A group of students of Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi staged a demonstration and raised anti national slogans leading to arrest of Kanhaiya Kumar, President of JNU students union and two other student leaders on charges of sedition. The issue raised a storm in the country with different groups favouring and opposing the charge of sedition against the students. INDIA HAS 111 BILLIONAIRES The total number of billionaires from India has risen to 111, consolidating the country's third position after China and the US, according to Hurun Global Rich List 2016. The list is topped by Bill Gates while Mukesh Ambani is the richest Indian at 21st rank. INDIA VERY POOR IN PROTECTING IPR In a survey of top 38 countries to assess the protection of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), India ranked 37th on the 2016 Intellectual Property Index released by the Global Intellectual Property Centre, USA. The top rank was secured by USA, followed closely by UK, Germany and France while Venezuela was ranked last – 38th.

Nepal Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli arrived in New Delhi on Feb 19 on a six-day visit to India. The two countries signed 7 agreements for cooperation.

India and Afghanistan have agreed to allow visa-free travel for diplomatic passport holders of the two countries.

India has extended one million dollars assistance to cyclone-hit Fiji. The category five cyclone Winston had wind speed of upto 325 km per hour.

Global brand valuation firm Brand Finance has rated Tata Consultancy Services as the World’s Most Powerful Brand in IT Services.

The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) completed ten years in first week of February.

Banaras Hindu University (BHU) founded by Freedom fighter Pt Madan Mohan Malviya has turned 100 years on 13th February 2016.

The 42nd Khajuraho Dance Festival, a world famous annual classical dance festival, was held in the temple town of Khajuraho in Madhya Pradesh.

The biennial automotive show Auto Expo was held in Greater Noida in the National Capital Region.

The 47th two-day Conference of Governors of all Indian states and Lt. Governors of UTs was hosted by the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.

India and Pakistan have agreed to extend the rail communication agreement by mutual consent for three years from 19 January 2016.

The 6th National Science Film Festival & Competition was held at Nehru Science Center in Mumbai.

13th World Spice Congress was held in Ahmedabad from Feb 27-29 with the theme 'Target 2020: Clean, Safe and Sustainable Supply Chain'.

JANUARY 2016

HOLLANDE PRESIDES OVER REPUBLIC DAY President of France, Francois Hollande arrived in Chandigarh on Jan 24 for a three–day visit to India. He was the honourable Chief Guest at the 67thRepublic Day Parade at New Delhi. An agreement was signed to provide technical and financial assistance for developing Puducherry, the erstwhile French protectorate, Chandigarh and Nagpur as a smart city. Besides, 16 other agreements, including one for purchase of 36 Rafale advanced fighter aircrafts, were also signed. He also inaugurated the interim secretariat of the International Solar Alliance - ISA and laid the foundation stone of its headquarters in Gurgaon, Haryana.

FRENCH FORCES IN REPUBLIC DAY PARADE For the first time, a military contingent of a foreign country will take part in the Republic Day Parade on January 26. A contingent of the French army, which is already in India for a joint military exercise, will take part in the parade along with Indian armed forces.

INDIA 5TH BEST COUNTRY FOR GROWTH According to the annual global CEO survey of consultancy giant PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers) the top five markets considered as most important for overall growth prospects are USA, China, Germany, the UK and India. CEOs in India are showing much more confidence than their global counterparts when it comes to revenue growth for their companies.


US HAS LARGEST NUMBER OF INDIANS India sends the largest number of engineers and scientists to the US with about 950,000 immigrant scientists and engineers coming from the country, according to a report. The number of scientists and engineers residing in the US rose from 21.6 million to 29 million from 2003 to 2013. INDIA IMPROVES ITS CORRUPTION STATUS In the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI)-2015 by the anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International (TI), India has been ranked at 76th position in public sector corruption out of 168 countries, improving its slot from 85 in 2014 and 94 in 2013. The Index is topped by Denmark, followed by Finland, Sweden and New Zealand. NATIONAL VOTERS’ DAY

6th National Voters’ Day was celebrated across the country on Jan 25. The theme for this year was ‘Inclusive and Qualitative Participation’. It was on this day in 1950 that the Election Commission came into existence. FIRST BLIND FRIENDLY TRAIN The Mysuru-Varanasi Express has become the country’s first blind friendly Braille-embedded train. It has been provided with metallic Braille signage indicating berth numbers, location of alarm chains, toilets, and emergency windows.

INDIA HAS LARGEST DIASPORA India’s diaspora population is the largest in the world with 16 million people from India living outside their country in 2015, according to a latest survey conducted by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs. India is followed by Mexico, Russia and China.

20th NATIONAL YOUTH FESTIVAL The 153rd birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda was observed as National Youth Day across the country. Main event was the five day 20th National Youth Festival held in Naya Raipur, the new capital city of Chhattisgarh. The theme for the festival was "India Youth for Skill, Development and Harmony". The mascot for the event was Wild Buffalo, the state animal of Chhattisgarh and named as 'Sangi', which means "friend".

‘JALLIKATTU’ – CENTRE ALLOWS, S C BANS The Union Government has allowed the conduct of the traditional bull-taming sports, ‘Jallikattu’, in Tamil Nadu. It is celebrated around Pongal in Tamil Nadu. However, on Jan 12, Supreme Court stayed the Central government notification allowing ‘Jallikattu’. MUMBAI 22ND, DELHI 24TH BEST CITY According to a study conducted by international real estate consultancy JLL, India’s financial capital Mumbai has been ranked 22nd, while the National Capital is placed at number 24 in the top-30 list of the world’s most powerful, productive and connected cities. The list is topped by Tokyo, followed by New York and London.

N E INDIA STRUCK BY EARTHQUAKE A strong 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck northeast India on Jan 4. The epicentre of the earthquake was at Tamenglong, 33 kilometres away from Imphal in Manipur. Several persons were killed and many a buildings collapsed in Tamenglong.

GOVT TO SIGN RAPTOR AGREEMENT The government has approved the signing of the Raptor MoU which aims at promoting internationally coordinated actions to conserve and reverse the decline of birds of prey such as eagles, kites, vultures, hawks and owls. India will become the 54th country to sign this agreement. INDIA TO MAKE BRIDGES IN MYANMAR The Union Cabinet has approved the construction of 69 bridges on the Tamu-Kyigone-Kalewa (TKK) road section of the trilateral highway in Myanmar. This will facilitate all season movement of goods from Imphal to Mandlay in Myanmar and further entering Thailand. WORLD BANK LOAN FOR MINORITY YOUTH World Bank will provide a $ 50 million loan for ‘Nai Manzil'–Education and Skills Training for Minorities. Youth in BPL category in the age group of 17-35 years will be the main beneficiaries of the project. WORLD BANK LOAN FOR ZOO IN ANDHRA In a global first, the World Bank has agreed to provide $ 20 million assistance to reconstruct the Indira Gandhi Zoological Park, Visakhapatnam (Andhra) which got devastated during cyclone Hudhud in October 2014. INDIA RANKS LOWLY 89TH IN TALENT HUNT The Global Talent Competitiveness Index compiled by the INSEAD Business School, France to rank the 103 countries on the basis of their ability to attract talent, has placed India at 89th rank, 11 steps below its rank last year. The index is topped by the Switzerland, followed by Singapore.


INDIA RANKS LOW IN NUCLEAR SAFETY A Nuclear Security Index compiled by the Nuclear Threat Initiative of USA for 176 countries to assess global nuclear security conditions, for both – weapon grade nuclear material and possibility of sabotage, has placed India low at 21st rank among the 24 countries having one kg or more of the weapon grade nuclear material. Australia has been ranked as the safest country.

‘BHARAT PARV’ HELD IN DELHI A four day cultural festival 'Bharat Partv' was held at the Red Fort lawns in Delhi from Jan 26-29 to highlight the rich cultural and ethnic heritage of India, including cuisine and handicrafts from across the country. INDIA TO SHARE CLIMATE INFORMATION The World Meteorological Organisation has nominated India as the Regional Climate Centre to provide information to other South Asian countries on temperature and monsoon, including that about El Nino.

Ministry of Commerce and Industry is organising “Make in India Week” in Mumbai during February 13-18, 2016 to hold investors meet for the manufacturing sector.

India’s share in IMF has increased to 2.75% from 2.44%, making it the eighth-largest shareholder in the Fund. Its voting rights now will rise to 2.6% from 2.34%.

The World Bank will give $ 250 million loan for Jhelum and Tawi Flood Recovery Project for reconstruction and recovery support in flood-affected areas.

India and Armenia signed an amended Double Taxation Avoidance Treaty (DTAA) to share information on banking and financial transactions.

The largest tricolour (66 x 99 feet) in the country was hoisted atop the Pahari Mandir in Ranchi, Jharkhand on the tallest pole – standing 293 foot.

Union Ministry of Finance released the draft report of Justice R V Easwar (Retd) Committee to simplify the provisions of Income-tax Act, 1961.

The child sex ratio in India now stands at 918 (per thousand male babies), dipping further from 927 in 2001, and reaching the lowest level since 1961.

Govt has decided to merge the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs with the Ministry of External Affairs to avoid duplication of work and to improve efficiency.

India-Nepal Bus Service between Banbasa border in Uttarakhand and Kanchanpur in Nepal started on 4th January, after a gap of 27 years.

The 14th Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas (PBD) was held on 9 January 2016 in New Delhi. It was a limited edition as now it will be organised once in two years.

National Conference on e-Governance held in Nagpur, Maharashtra.

India’s first World Music Festival will be held in Udaipur on Feb 12-13. Over 100 artistes from over 12 countries will take part in the festival.

103rd Indian Science Congress held at University of Mysore, Karnataka. Theme for this year was "Science & Technology for Indigenous Development in India".

International Kite Festival held at Sabarmati River front in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

The Jaipur Literature Festival held at Hotel Diggi Palace, Jaipur (Rajasthan) from January 21 to 25.

NEWS FROM STATES

MARCH 2016

PRESIDENT RULE IMPOSED IN UTTRAKHAND Central government recommended to the President to invoke Article 356 in Uttarakhand to impose the President’s rule in the state as the present government led by Harish Rawat lost the majority support. On March 18, the state govt failed to secure majority vote for passing the bill. This caused a constitutional crisis as no state govt can spend money from April 1 based on a failed Appropriation bill. UNESCO SELECTS AGASTHYAMALA BIOSPHERE

UN’s top cultural body UNESCO has included Agasthyamala biosphere reserve in its World Network of Biosphere Reserves. Located in the Western Ghats, in the states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, the Agasthyamala is home to 2,254 species of higher plants and has three wildlife sanctuaries.

ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS ANNOUNCED Election Commission has announced the schedule for the forthcoming Assembly elections in April in four States and one UT - Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam and Puducherry. The Counting for all five will be held on 19th of May.

MUZIRIS HERITAGE PROJECT India’s largest heritage conservation project - Muziris Heritage Project (MHP) was inaugurated by the President at Trissur in Kerala. It is the ancient port city dotted with monuments up to 3000 years old.


KERALA GOES FULLY DIGITAL

Kerala has been declared as the first digital state of India for achieving digital connectivity of all villages and panchayats. The state has achieved 100 per cent mobile connectivity and 75 per cent Internet literacy. Delhi has become the first state in the country to

launch the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccine as a public health programme for school children. The HPV vaccine protects people against the

group of 150-odd HPVs, some of which can cause cervical cancer.

Surat, Rajkot railway stations in Gujarat stood first and second in terms of cleanliness, as per a survey conducted by the Ministry of Railways.

Allahabad High Court in Uttar Pradesh is celebrating 150 years of its existence.

Kerala has started India’s first Gender Park, an autonomous institution to promote the gender equity in development to promote participation of women.

Kerala has taken first of its kind initiative by launching the Air Ambulance in the state.

FEBRUARY 2016

HARYANA SINGED BY JAT AGITATION Prosperous state of Haryana suffered big loss due to widespread violent agitation by its Jat community demanding reservation for Jats in government jobs. The stir claimed around 30 lives, leaving over 300 as injured. The Supreme Court had rejected inclusion of Jats into the Central OBC list on ground that National Commission of Backward Castes does not consider them socially and economically backward in Haryana. LONGEST RAIL BRIDGE TO COME UP AT KATNI Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved construction of India’s longest railway bridge on Katni – Bina route in Madhya Pradesh. This 14 kms long bridge is three and half folds longer than the present longest Vembanad rail Bridge 4.6 Km in length, in Kerala.

HARYANA TO CONDUCT AQUIFER MAPPING Haryana to become the first state in the country to have aquifer mapping done for its groundwater resources by May 2016. An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing rock, from which groundwater can be extracted. VARANASI HAS WORST AIR QUALITY Central Pollution Control Board released its National Air Quality Indices (NAQI) for 24 cities. The index has a colour code and a numerical value to help in comparing pollution levels in different cities. Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh and Muzzafarpur in Bihar topped the list for the worst air quality.

30th Surajkund International Crafts Mela began at Surajkund in Faridabad, Haryana on Feb 1. Telangana is the Theme State this time.

The World Bank to give $ 35 million credit for the Citizen Access to Responsive Services Project of Madhya Pradesh.

Haryana and the Province of Ontario in Canada have signed a MoU for enhancing commercial and cultural ties between the two states.

JANUARY 2016

‘FREE’ WI-FI AT MUMBAI RLY STATION Mumbai Central has become the first ever railway station in India to have free high-speed Internet facility for thousands of its passengers. Railway plans to extend this facility to 400 stations in near future. The service has been rolled out by Indian Railway’s telecom arm, RailTel in collaboration with Google. SIKKIM BECOMES FULLY ‘ORGANIC’ Sikkim has become India's first fully organic state by converting around 75,000 hectares of agricultural land into sustainable cultivation. Organic cultivation is free of chemical pesticides and chemical fertilisers as it tries to strike a harmonious balance with a complex series of ecosystems.


KULLU NATI DANCE CREATES WORLD RECORD

In Himachal Pradesh, the Nati folk dance of Kullu district has made a world record by entering the Guinness Book of World Records as the folk dance by largest number–9,892 women. The dance was arranged last year on 26th October during International Dussehra festival. GANGA GRAM YOJANA TO START FROM U P

Govt has launched Ganga Gram Yojana from Village Puth in Hapur district of Uttar Pradesh (UP). Under the scheme, 1600 villages of UP situated along the banks of river Ganga will be developed to minimize/stop

pollution of the river from these villages. For the first time, a study by the World Wide Fund-

India has captured on camera evidence of the highly endangered species Snow Leopard inhabiting the high mountains of northern Sikkim.

The 14th edition of Mumbai International Festival for Documentary, Short and Animation Films was held in Mumbai from Jan 28 to Feb 03.

The Ardh Kumbh mela formally started at Haridwar on Jan 12.

Kerala has become the first Indian state to achieve 100 per cent primary education (up to class iv) by implementing the programme ‘Athulyam’.

World Bank to provide $ 250 million loan for the Bihar’s Kosi Basin Development Project.

Bihar government has decided to give 35% reservation for women in all state government jobs.

Bihar govt has announced that no one can contest the panchayat elections scheduled in 2016 in the state, without having a toilet at their home.

Telangana has become the first state in the country to officially accept electronic motor insurance policies by the name ‘e-Vahan Bima’.

GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES

MARCH 2016

NEW COLOUR SCHEME FOR POLLUTION LEVELS Govt has launched the new four colour scheme for re-classification of industries based on the Pollution Index (PI) scores.

Pollution Category

P I Score No. of industries

covered Red 60 and Above 60

Orange 41 to 59 83 Green 21 to 40 63 White Up to 20 36

The purpose of the categorization is to ensure that the industry is established in a manner which is consistent with the environmental objectives. ONE CRORE HOUSES IN RURAL AREAS The Union Cabinet has approved the construction of one crore houses in next three years in rural areas under ‘Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana – Gramin’ to achieve the objective of ‘Housing for All’. The scheme replaces be earlier Indira Awas Yojana.

A financial assistance of Rs.1.20 lakh will be provided for construction of pucca houses to homeless families in plain areas and Rs. 1.30 lakh in hilly and difficult areas. The beneficiary will also be entitled to 90 days of unskilled labour from MGNREGA. STUDENTS TO ACT AS ‘PARYATAK MITRA’ Union Ministry of Tourism has launched the ‘Paryatak Mitra’ (tourist’s friend) programme to inculcate appropriate tourism traits and knowledge amongst the college students enrolled in NCC/NSS to enable them to act/work as Tourist Facilitators.


WOMEN CONQUER ITBP FORTE ALSO Government has allowed women to be inducted as officers in combat roles in the Indo-Tibetan Border Force (ITBP), the last paramilitary force to do so. The four other paramilitary forces – CRPF, CISF, BSF and SSB have already been allowed to recruit women officers in the combat roles. WOMEN TRANSFORMING INDIA INITIATIVE The NITI Aayog has launched the Women Transforming India initiative in partnership with the UN in India and MyGov. It will invite success stories from women making efforts for empowerment of women, to encourage and recognize them. BRIGHT DAYS AHEAD FOR HOUSE BUYERS

The Rajya Sabha passed the landmark Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill, 2015 on March 10 to address corruption and inefficiency in the sector. The bill aims to protect house buyers from the widely prevalent opaque and fraudulent practices in the real estate sector. Lok sabha has already passed this bill. GOVT STARTS HEALTHCARE ATMs Union Health Ministry has started, on trial basis, five healthcare ATMs in four states — Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. The ATMs combine telemedicine with a rudimentary free drugs programme.

Each ATM will be manned by a multipurpose public health worker (MPHW) or an auxiliary nurse midwife (ANM) armed with a multi-parameter patient vital monitor and other devices required for checking basic health parameters. AADHAAR BILL PASSED BY PARLIAMENT The Aadhaar (Target Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Bill, 2016 has been passed by the Parliament to provide a legal back up to the usage of Aadhaar card for various social welfare schemes. It will empower the states to distribute resources to deserving people and save the resources that undeserving people get

‘UJALA’ SCHEME FOR LED BULBS Govt has announced the ‘UJALA' scheme for the LED based Domestic Efficient Lighting Programme, which is currently running successfully in over 120 cities across India to replace incandescent bulbs with LED bulbs. UJALA is an acronym for Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All. PRADHAN MANTRI UJWALA YOJANA The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved the Pradhan Mantri Ujwala Yojana for providing 5 crore free LPG connections to women from below poverty line (BPL) households at a cost of Rs 8,000 crore. ‘SETUBHARTAM’ - CROSSING FREE HIGHWAYS Govt has launched the Setubharatam project on Mar 4 to make all national highways free of railway crossings by 2019. Some 208 such points have been identified for construction of rail over-bridges or underpasses. UNIVERSITIES TO HAVE WEB PAGE FOR SC/ST The University Grants Commission (UGC) has asked varsities and colleges across the country to launch a special page on their websites for checking discrimination against SC/ST students.

The move comes amidst the debate on the issue of alleged discrimination in higher educational institutions in the aftermath of Rohith Vemula's suicide at Hyderabad Central University. UNRESERVED TICKET VALID FOR 3 HOURS As per new rules, from March 1, an unreserved train ticket for travelling up to 199 kms will no longer be valid after 3 hrs of purchase of the ticket, or up to the departure of first train for the destination, whichever is later. ENEMY PROPERTY ACT, 1968 AMENDED Lok Sabha passed a bill to amend the Enemy Property Act, 1968. The properties covered by the Bill are those left behind by people who became Chinese or Pakistani nationals, after leaving India in the wake of wars fought with these countries. The new bill also ensures that the law of succession does not apply to enemy property.

Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has launched the 'Clean Street Food Project' in Delhi to sensitise the street food vendors about health and hygiene aspects of food.

Railways launched an online “clean my coach” service that allows travellers to get their compartments cleaned by sending an SMS to 58888 or by using an app or a designated website.

Government has decided to digitally connect all the Post Offices in rural areas by March 2017. There are about 1,55,000 Post Offices in the country.


The Telecom Commission has approved the idea of having a common number for emergencies such as police, fire, ambulance, etc. all over India. The proposed number is 112.

FEBRUARY 2016

20 SMART CITIES ANNOUNCED Central government has announced the names of the first 20 urban areas that will be developed as smart cities. The selected cities will be equipped with basic infrastructure, efficient urban mobility and public transport, IT connectivity and e-governance mechanisms. The 20 selected cities are from 11 states and UT of Delhi.

1. Bhubaneswar 2. Pune 3. Jaipur 4. Surat 5. Kochi 6. Ahmedabad 7. Jabalpur 8. Vishakapatnam 9. Sholapur 10. Davangere 11. Indore 12. New Delhi 13. Coimbatore 14. Kakinada 15. Belagavi 16. Udaipur 17. Guwahati 18. Chennai 19. Ludhiana 20. Bhopal RURBAN MISSION LAUNCHED IN DONGARGARH The ambitious Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban (rural-urban) Mission was launched from Chhattisgarh's Dongargarh block. It aims to draw an investment of over Rs 5,000 crore in three years to transform rural areas to economically, socially and physically sustainable spaces aimed at minimising rural migration to cities through skill development programmes. GOVT TO SET UP AIM AND SETU The Union Cabinet has approved establishment of Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) and Self Employment and Talent Utilisation (SETU) in NITI Aayog to encourage innovations and entrepreneurship in the country. APP LAUNCHED FOR CLEAN TOURIST CENTERS Ministry of Tourism has launched a mobile app ‘Swachh Paryatan’ to facilitate the public to communicate their complaints about any unclean area/garbage piles in and around 25 listed prime tourist destinations.

E-TOURIST VISA FOR 37 MORE COUNTRIES Govt has decided to extend E-Tourist visa facility to 37 more countries from Feb 26, making the total count of countries under the scheme 150. The new countries include Austria, Brunei, Denmark, Greece, South Africa, Switzerland and Tajikistan.

EPFO COVERAGE FOR 10 WORKER UNITS The Union Labour Ministry has decided to halve the threshold for coverage of firms under the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) from 20 at present to 10 workers. This will benefit over 50 lakh workers.

YOU TUBE CHANNEL FOR FINANCE MINISTRY Finance Ministry has launched its official YouTube channel with a view to disseminate information to the public on a real-time basis. The channel showcases videos featuring schemes like Jan Dhan Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana, Insurance schemes, among several others.

PROJECT SUNRISE LAUNCHED TO FIGHT AIDS Government has launched Project Sunrise for prevention of AIDS in the 20 districts of eight North-Eastern states. The project seeks to improve interventions against human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) among people who inject drugs (PWID).

24x7 TOLL FREE TOURIST INFOLINE Union Ministry of Tourism has launched the 24x7 Toll Free Tourist Infoline in 12 International Languages including Hindi and English in New Delhi. It will assist the callers, particularly those who know little about India, with advice on action to be taken during times of distress while travelling in India to ensure a hassle free comfortable journey.

TATA TO HEAD RAIL RESEARCH TEAM Government plans to set up a dedicated, cross functional team called Special Unit for Transportation Research and Analytics (Sutra) headed by veteran industrialist Ratan Tata for carrying out detailed analytics leading to optimised investment decisions and operations in railways.

NDRF RAISES ‘DOG SQUAD’

In a maiden initiative, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has raised a squad of 162 dogs to aid its personnel in rescuing people trapped under debris in the aftermath of natural calamities like earthquake.


India’s first-ever Aviation Park will come up near Bagodara village in Ahmadabad to strengthen the aviation sector. The park will promote special units to manufacture spare parts for aircrafts.

National Framework for Malaria Elimination 2016-2030 released to define the strategy for elimination of the disease by 2030, in a phased manner.

The National Wildlife Action Plan 2017-2031 unveiled by the environment ministry to focus on rehabilitation of threatened species of wildlife.

JANUARY 2016

“START-UP INDIA, STAND-UP INDIA”

Govt. has started a 19 point Start-up Action Plan with a Rs. 10,000 crore fund for funding of Start-ups. The new ventures will be exempted from paying income tax on their profit and visit of inspectors for 3 years. They will enjoy 80 per cent exemption in patent fee. An Atal Innovation Mission will be launched to give a boost to innovation.

NEW CROP INSURANCE FOR FARMERS Government has launched the “Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana", under which the premium will be paid by Central and state govt and the farmers will have to pay only a token premium of 2 per cent for kharif, 1.5 per cent for rabi and 5 per cent for commercial crops. 33% WOMEN IN PARA FORCES Govt has approved 33% reservation for women in Central Armed Police Forces such as CRPF and CISF at constable–level positions and 14-15% reservation at the constable level in border guarding forces such as BSF, SSB and ITBP. HYBRID ANNUITY MODEL FOR HIGHWAYS The government has approved the hybrid annuity model as one of the modes for implementing highway development projects. Under this model, 40% of the project cost is provided by the government during construction and the balance 60% is paid as annuity (installments) payments later on.

E-TENDERS MUST FOR OVER 2 LAKH DEALS With a view to bring transparency in government purchases, it has been decided that all central ministries and public sector units will have to float e-tenders for procuring goods and services exceeding Rs 2 lakh. At present the limit is Rs 5 lakh. 61 MORE DISTRICTS UNDER ‘BETI BACHAO’ The Government has decided to extend the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme to 61 more districts this year to improve skewed child sex ratio. The programme was launched in January 2015 in 100 districts with poor sex ratio across the country. SOCIAL SECURITY PACT WITH AUSTRALIA A new social security agreement signed between India and Australia has come into operation enabling people of both nations to avail retirement benefits in each other's country, a pact likely to boost bilateral business linkages.

GAVI TO PROMOTE VACCINATION IN INDIA To improve the quality and coverage of vaccination in India, Union Health Ministry has decided to use the expertise of Global Vaccine Alliance (GAVI), a global NGO working for promotion of vaccination in poor countries. Operation Green Hunt refers to an all-out offensive

by India’s paramilitary forces against the Naxalites in the Naxal affected five states.

River Information System - the first of its kind in India launched to facilitate safe and accurate navigation on National Waterway-1 (Ganga River).

Union Govt in coordination with the Jammu and Kashmir Govt has launched an initiative ‘Wattan ko Jano’ to familiarize the local youth with the development of the country in other states.

Sahaj Scheme launched for online booking of LPG cylinders through the unified web portal www.mylpg.in, available in 13 languages.


Government has decided to institute a new award category under the National Film Awards titled The Most Film–Friendly State/UT.

The Union Ministry of Shipping has started Project Green Ports to make Major Ports across India cleaner and greener.

Eight states have agreed to implement direct benefit of transfer of subsidy in kerosene in 26 districts w.e.f. April 1, 2016.

Finance Ministry to organise the India Investment Summit from Feb. 4 in New Delhi to attract global investors to promote Indian infrastructure sector.

The government has constituted a committee headed by noted film-maker Shyam Benegal to look into revamp of Censor Board.

A new luxury super fast express train 'Mahamana Express' named after Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya has been started between Varanasi to Delhi.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

MARCH 2016

IMF PROJECTS INDIA’S GROWTH AT 7.3%

Bullish on India, the International Monetary Fund has projected a robust growth rate of 7.3 per cent for the country this fiscal, picking up to 7.5 per cent next year. The growth is based on recent measures aimed at increasing public infrastructure spending, rationalising subsidies, creating more flexible labour and product markets as well as enhancing financial inclusion. FITCH PUTS INDIA’s GROWTH AT 7.5% Fitch Ratings has lowered India’s economic growth forecast for next fiscal to 7.7 per cent, but maintained the GDP projection for current fiscal at 7.5 per cent. The improvement is based on expectations of higher real disposable income, assuming a normal monsoon after two years of below-average rainfall and a substantial wage increase for Central government employees. INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION DOWN BY 1.5% As per the data released by Central Statistics Office (CSO), industrial production measured in terms of Index of Industrial Production (IIP), contracted for the third straight month by 1.5% in January, 2016. It is feared that the fragile recovery of manufacturing is going to impact the overall economic growth.

EXPORTS CONTINUE TO DIP Exports dipped for the 15th month in a row, down by 5.66% in February at $20.73 billion, due to contraction in shipments of petroleum and engineering goods. Imports too dipped 5.03% to $27.28 billion in February, leaving a trade deficit of $6.55 billion.

The country’s foreign exchange reserves rose to an all time high of $355.94 billion for the week ended March 18, on the back of sustained inflows in the equity market.

FEBRUARY 2016

INDIA RECORDS 7.3% GROWTH IN OCT-DEC QR According to the Central Statistics Office (CSO), growth of the Gross Domestic Product is estimated at 7.3% in the October-December 2015 quarter. The economy is projected to record a five-year high growth rate of 7.6% in 2015-16 with consumption supporting growth and manufacturing being a surprise performer.

GDP GROWTH TUNED DOWN TO 7.2% The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has marginally revised downward the GDP growth for 2014-15 to 7.2% from the earlier estimate of 7.3% after factoring in the latest data on agriculture and industrial production. The real GDP or GDP at constant prices (2011-12) for the year 2014-15 stands at Rs 105.52 lakh crore. The per capita Net National Income at current prices is estimated as Rs 79,412 and Rs 86,879, respectively for the years 2013-14 and 2014-15. For 2015-16, the Net National Income at Current Prices is expected to be Rs. 93,231.00

MOODY’s PUTS INDIA’s GROWTH AT 7.5% Moody’s Investors Services has projected that Indian economy will grow at 7.5% in 2016 and 2017 as it is relatively less exposed to external headwinds like China’s slowdown and will benefit from lower commodity prices.

JANUARY 2016

INDIA TO GROW BY 7.8% - WORLD BANK The Global Economic Prospect by the World Bank has projected a robust 7.8 per cent growth for the Indian economy in the current year based on strong investor sentiment in India and the positive effect of the recent fall in oil prices.

UNCTAD says that Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows into India nearly doubled to $ 59 billion in 2015 as against 36 per cent rise at the world level.


ECONOMY & INDUSTRY

MARCH 2016

100% FDI ALLOWED IN E-COMMERCE The government has allowed 100% foreign direct investment (FDI) in the marketplace format of e-commerce via the automatic route but not under the inventory led model. This means that companies such as Amazon and Alibaba can set up an online marketplace legally now where sellers can hawk their products. ‘NO’ TO ‘WILLFUL DEFAULTERS’ – SEBI To curb the menace of willful defaulters, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has barred them from making a public issue or acquiring another listed entity. The RBI defines a willful defaulter as an entity that defaults on its payment obligations even if it has the capacity to pay back debts. INDIAN LOCOMOTIVES FOR MYANMAR

Railways have signed a contract to supply eighteen Meter Gauge 1350 HP Diesel Electric Locomotives to Myanmar Railways. The engines will be manufactured by the Diesel Locomotive Works, Varanasi. URIDASHI MASALA BONDS LAUNCHED BY IFC International Finance Corporation (IFC) launched its first Uridashi Masala Bonds (Japanese bonds) to mobilise Rs 30 crore from Japanese retail investors. The proceeds will be used for promoting private sector development in India. Masala bonds are rupee-denominated instruments sold only to foreign investors. INDIA HIKES QUOTA IN IMF The government has decided to invest Rs. 69,575 crore towards increasing India’s quota in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from 2.44% to 2.75% to have increased voting rights of 2.6% from the previous 2.34%.

INDIA’s BIGGEST EVER CREDIT LINE India signed its biggest ever overseas credit line, extending $2 billion loan facility to Bangladesh, repayable over 20 years. Managed by the Exim Bank, the funds will be used for development of infrastructure and social sector. ALTO FIRST CAR TO CROSS 3 MILLION SALES Maruti’s hatchback Alto has achieved cumulative sales of three million units in the Indian market. It has taken 15 years and 6 months to achieve this record and is the only Indian auto brand to cross this milestone. Around 2.50 lakh Alto are sold annually. MAHINDRA ONLINE TRACTOR RENTING India’s number one tractor producer, Mahindra& Mahindra plans to launch Trringo – a digital app, to start online tractor rental business. It will offer a digital platform to connect those looking to hire tractors and those willing to rent their self-owned machines. CALL DROPS NOT TO EXCEED 2% - S C The Supreme Court has asked telecom operators to give an undertaking that they have not exceeded the two percent threshold limit of call drops as mandated in the regulations of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the A have signed a MoU to provide $ 848 million to develop solar parks across India.

As per the Brand Trust Report, e-retailer Amazon has been ranked as India's most trusted online shopping brand, followed by Snapdeal and Flipkart.

The World Bank to provide $250 million loan for improving the performance of electricity distribution in Rajasthan.

The government has formally withdrawn the recognition of Delhi Stock Exchange (DSE) after it was de recognised by SEBI "serious irregularities".

The govt has relaxed FDI norms for the insurance sector to allow 49% foreign stake in local insurance companies without prior approval, as against 26% earlier.

Railways have tied up with the ISRO to use space technology for providing the passenger information in all trains and to explore new route alignments.

India and France have signed a MoU for construction of six nuclear reactors at Jaitapur in Maharashtra.

World Bank to provide $ 35 million loan for Madhya Pradesh citizen access to responsive services project.

World Bank to grant $ 300 million loan for the Madhya Pradesh Higher Education Quality Improvement Project


FEBRUARY 2016

‘MAKE IN INDIA WEEK’ INAUGURATED Prime Minister Mr. Modi inaugurated the Make in India Week on Feb 13 in Mumbai. He told representatives from 68 countries participating in the event that India was blessed with Democracy, Demography, and Demand, and his government has added 4th D – Deregulation, making it a four-dimensional India waiting for foreign investment and manufacturing companies. The week attracted investment commitments of over Rs.15 lakh crore. 10,000 Cr FUND FOR ELECTRONICS INDUSTRY In a bid to kick start manufacturing in the electronics sector, government has launched a Rs. 10,000-crore Electronic Development Fund. It will provide risk capital to companies developing new technologies in electronics, nano-electronics and information technology. 15.27 LAKH COMPANIES IN INDIA As per the latest data released by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, the total number of companies registered in the country rose to more than 15.27 lakh in January 2016. However, only 10.76 lakh of them were active ones. G I TAG FOR BASMATI OF 7 STATES The Intellectual Property Appellate Board has directed Geographical Indications Registry, Chennai to issue ‘Geographical Indication’ tag for basmati rice to 7 states in the Indo-Gangetic Plains. These states are Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, parts of Uttar Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir. This tag will help to preserve the unique identity of India’s aromatic basmati rice in the international market.

FIRST PETROCHEMICAL PLANT IN NORTH EAST

Brahmaputra Cracker and Polymer Limited (BCPL) started the Assam Gas Cracker project, the first ever Petrochemical project in entire North East India. The plant at Lepetkata near Dibrugarh, Assam will produce High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) and Linear Low Density polyethylene (LLDPE) totaling 2, 20,000 Tonnes per Annum (TPA) and 60,000 TPA of Polypropylene (PP) for downstream plastic processing industries.

TRADE FACILITATION AGREEMENT APPROVED Union Cabinet has approved (TFA) of the World Trade Organization (WTO), becoming 71st country to do so. The TFA seeks to ease customs procedures to boost commerce.

eKYC LAUNCHED FOR MUTUAL FUNDS India’s leading transfer agency for most of the mutual funds-CAMS (Computer Age Management Services) has launched Aadhaar-based eKYC app using OTP (one-time password) authentication to make mutual fund account opening and transactions a paperless and presence less process through the app myCAMS at www.camsonline.com . PARADIP REFINERY STARTS PRODUCTION Indian Oil Corporation’s latest oil refinery in Paradip, Odisha started production of petrol from the Rs. 34,555-crore facility that took over 14 years to complete. The Refinery, largest on the eastern coast, will primarily be producing BS-IV fuels for local consumption and for exports. With this refinery, IOC has now become country’s largest refiner, overtaking Reliance Industries Ltd. TRAI RULES IN FAVOUR OF ‘NET NEUTRALITY’ The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has barred telecom service providers from charging differential rates for data services, effectively prohibiting Facebook’s Free Basics and Airtel’s Airtel Zero platform. TRAI said a fine of Rs. 50,000 would be levied per day, subject to a maximum of Rs. 50 lakh, for any violation of these regulations by the service providers. INDIA TO GIVE $150 MN FOR CHABAHAR PORT India has approved a $150 million credit line for the development of Iran’s Chabahar port. The port in southeast Iran will allow direct trade with Iran, avoiding Pakistan and open up a new route to Afghanistan. INS VIKRANT REBORN AS ‘V’ MOTOR BIKE Bajaj Auto has launched a 150-cc motor bike named ‘V’ that contains metal sourced from India’s first aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant. The ship was decommissioned in Jan 1997 and was sold as scrap in November 2014.

For the first time, 6 metro coaches, each 75 feet long, were shipped to Australia from Mumbai port as the first installment of 450 such coaches.

Govt has cut interest rates by 0.25% on short-term post office deposits, Kisan Vikas Patras and other small saving schemes below five years of maturity.

Govt to set up the National Organic Farming Research Institute in Sikkim as the state is country's first organic farming State.


Govt about Rs 5,030 crore from sale of its 5% stake in the Maharatna PSU National Thermal Power Corporation-NTPC, through OFS (offer for sale).

South Arabia emerged as the largest exporter of crude oil to India in Jan. 2016, exporting 9.4 lac barrels per day, followed by Iraq at 9.3 lac bpd.

Apprehensive of the name Zika, the virus, Tata Motors have decided to rename their latest hatchback model as Tiago instead of Zika.

Asian Development Bank will provide a $80 million loan for improving the infrastructure in the two North-Eastern cities of Agartala and Aizawl.

JANUARY 2016

2.36 LAKH MILLIONAIRES IN INDIA India is home to the fourth largest population of millionaires in the Asia Pacific region, with 2.36 lakh such high net worth individuals, while Japan topped the list with 12.60 lakh people, according to the Asia Pacific 2016 Wealth Report. HNWIs (millionaires) were defined as those individuals with net assets of USD 1 million or more.

HALDIA TO GET WATERWAYS HUB

The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) is planning to set up a modern Indian Waterways Hub at Haldia, West Bengal to attract more investment in the state. The Haldia Dock Complex (HDC) is the main gateway for import and export of cargo destined or originating from Eastern, North Eastern and Northern parts of the country as well as landlocked countries like Nepal and Bhutan.

GOVT SAYS ‘GOODBYE’ TO HMT WATCHES Govt has decided to close down three loss-making subsidiaries of HMT Ltd, (Hindustan Machines Ltd) namely HMT Watches Ltd, HMT Chinar Watches Ltd, and HMT Bearings Ltd.

BS VI NORMS FROM APRIL 1, 2020 With a view to minimize the air pollution from vehicles, Govt has decided to implement strict emission norms of Bharat Stage (BS) VI from April 1, 2020, by skipping BS-V altogether. Bharat Stage (BS) emission norms, introduced in 2000, are standards that have been set up the Centre to regulate the output of air pollutants from internal combustion engine equipment, including motor vehicle.

WORLD BANK LOAN FOR ‘NEERANCHAL’ World Bank has agreed to provide Rs 1071 crore funding for the Neeranchal National Watershed Project which will benefit all the states in India by supporting their various irrigation projects.

India has overtaken Thailand as the world's largest rice exporter in 2015, shipping 10.23 million tonnes as against 9.8 million tonnes by Thailand.

The Asian Development Bank to extend a $625 million loan for the proposed $840 million Visakhapatnam-Chennai Industrial Corridor.

BANKING & FINANCE

MARCH 2016

BANKS TO PAY Q’LY INTEREST ON SB A/Cs

RBI has asked banks to pay interest on savings accounts on a quarterly basis or a shorter duration, a move which will benefit crores of savings account holders. At present, the interest is credited in savings bank accounts on a half-yearly basis. Banks are free to decide rate of interest on savings bank accounts. It is calculated on the daily balance basis. SMALL SAVINGS RATES SLASHED The government has reduced interest rates payable on small savings including Public Provident Fund, National Savings Certificate and Kisan Vikas Patra to align them closer to market rates. From 1st of April, PPF and NSC will earn 8.1 per cent and KVP 7.8 per cent.


BANKERS MEET ‘GYAN SANGAM’ IN GURGAON

The two day meet of public sector banks and insurance companies and other financial institutions with the government officials - Gyan Sangam, was held in Gurgaon, Haryana on March 5-6 to discuss their performance with particular focus on mergers, bad debts (NPAs) and credit growth. It was indicated that the government may go in for the consolidation of banks, led by 6-10 major public sector banks acting as ‘anchor banks’, to strengthen weak banks. ACCOUNT AGGREGATOR NBFCs RBI has come out with a draft regulatory framework for new kind of Account Aggregator Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFC) which would act as an account aggregator to help people view their accounts across financial institutions in a common format. ICICI BANK STARTS ‘WORK FROM HOME’ Keeping in mind the difficulties faced by the women who very often opt to drop out from the workplace at key life stages, ICICI Bank has announced an initiative called iWork@home that uses technology to enable women employees to work from home for an extended period of time depending on their needs.

NPCI, issuer of Rupay card, plans to venture into the credit card space by September 2016. It plans to issue 100,000 such cards in the first year.

The RBI has signed a pact with Bank of Israel for exchange of information pertaining to banking supervision.

The Reserve Bank granted the first license for the Small Finance Bank on 4 March to the Capital Local Area Bank Ltd to start operations as India’s first SFB.

Indian Overseas Bank has become the first bank to commence the sale of Indian Gold Coin. The coins are available in the 5, 10 and 20 gram category.

FEBRUARY 2016

NO RATE CHANGE BY RBI The Reserve Bank maintained a status quo in its sixth bi-monthly monetary policy review for year 2015-16 announced on Feb 2 by not changing any of the policy rates. Stating that current momentum of growth is reasonable, RBI maintained the FY 16 growth at 7.4 per cent, with downward bias.

BANKS TO FOLLOW ‘IND AS’ NORMS The Reserve Bank has advised that banks should follow accounting standard ‘Ind AS’ converged with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) from April 1, 2018. Ind AS implementation is likely to significantly impact the financial reporting systems and processes such as profit planning and budgeting, taxation, capital planning, and impact on capital adequacy.

P G APTE REPORT RELEASED ON IROs The Reserve Bank of India has released the Report of the Working Group (Chairperson: Prof. P.G. Apte) on Introduction of Interest Rate Options in India. The report recommends liberalization of the interest rate derivatives market by allowing simple call and put Options, caps, floors and collars.

PUBLIC SECTOR BANKS HIGH ON NPAs Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance headed by M. Veerappa Moily, a senior Congress MP submitted the report on the Net Non performing Assets (NPAs) of Public Sector Banks (PSBs). As per the report, NPAs in the country’s PSBs were around 205,024 crore rupees till September 2015 and the Gross NPAs during the same period were around at 369,990 crore rupees.

S C ASKS RBI TO DISCLOSE BIG DEFAULTERS The Supreme court has asked the Reserve Bank of India to submit within six weeks a list of the companies which are in default of loans by the banks and financial institutions in excess of Rs 500 crore or whose loans have been restructured under corporate debts restructuring scheme. The list is to be furnished in a sealed cover to maintain confidentiality about the identity of defaulters.

INCOGNITO VISITS TO CHECK CUSTOMER CARE Reserve Bank has decided to undertake ‘incognito visits’ by its officials to bank branches to check culture towards customer complaints and how banks have implemented Charter of Customer Rights. FDI RULES RELAXED FOR START UPS The Reserve Bank has relaxed several rules including foreign direct investment norms to boost start-up activity in the country. Now the start-ups are allowed to receive foreign funds irrespective of the sector in which they operate. SBI LAUNCHES "FLEXIPAY HOME LOAN" State Bank of India launched a new home loan scheme "FlexiPay Home Loan", offering higher amount and up to five years of interest moratorium to young professionals in the age group of 21 to 45 years. Borrowers will have the option of paying only interest during the moratorium (pre-EMI) period and thereafter pay moderated EMIs.


Govt to infuse Rs 5,000 crore as capital in the public sector banks to strengthen their balance sheet for compliance of Basel III capital norms.

RBI has extended the $2 billion currency swap arrangement to SAARC nations till mid-November 2017 to enhance economic cooperation.

State Bank of India has started an exclusive ‘Japan Desk’ as a single nodal point for attracting FDI worth $30 billion from Japan.

JANUARY 2016

NEW 100 AND 500 RUPEE NOTES Continuing its efforts to deter counterfeiting activities, the Reserve Bank of India, RBI, will soon introduce new banknotes of 500 rupees and 100 rupees denominations with enhanced security features. These notes will have ascending size of numerals in the number panels, bleed lines and enlarged identification mark. MASTER DIRECTIONS FROM RBI Reserve Bank has started the process of issuing 'Master Directions' on various regulatory issues in its bid to simplify the communication process. To begin with, 17 such Master Directions were issued covering foreign exchange transactions. ALL BIG VILLAGES TO HAVE BANK BRANCHES Reserve Bank has asked banks to ensure that every village with a population over 5,000 should have a bank branch by March 2017 and asked the State Level Bankers' Committees (SLBCs) to identify such villages in their state.

BANKS TO SELL ‘INDIA GOLD COINS’ Reserve Bank has permitted banks to sell India Gold Coins (IGC) with Ashok Chakra minted by Metals and Minerals Trading Corporation of India (MMTC) through their branches. Coins are available in denominations of 5 and 10 grams while a 20 gram bar is also being manufactured by MMTC. INCENTIVE FOR GOLD MONETISATION SCHEME RBI has advised that the government will pay 2.5% commission to banks for attracting more gold in the Gold Monetisation Scheme, as it has received very poor response from banks and customers. Only a few kilograms gold could be mobilized by the banks from the massive 2,000 tons of gold stashed in Indian households.

Under the current scheme, citizens are encouraged to deposit jewellery, bars or coins with banks so it can be refined to meet fresh demand and cut the need for imports. The consumer would earn interest and, at the end of the deposit term, get the gold back in the form of bars. LOANS FOR WOMEN SHGs The RBI has asked banks to provide loans of up to Rs 3 lakh at 7 per cent interest rate to Women Self-Help Group (SHG) under the National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) Aajeevika scheme during 2015-16. RBI IMPOSES FINE ON SBT RBI imposed monetary penalty of one crore rupees on State Bank of Travancore for violation of its instructions including non–reporting of data to Central Repository of Information on Large Credits (CRILC).

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GOVT CHEQUES TO BE PAID THROUGH CTS RBI has decided to dispense with the requirement of physically forwarding paid central government cheques to the departments for clearance. From Feb 1, 2016, cheques will be paid through Cheque Truncation System (CTS) facilitating the presentation and payment of cheques without their physical movement.

DECKS CLEARED FOR MUDRA BANK The Union Cabinet has approved conversion of MUDRA Ltd, an NBFC, into MUDRA Bank. It was also decided to set up a Credit Guarantee Fund for MUDRA Units (CGFMU) for guaranteeing loans - sanctioned under the Pradhan Mantri Micro Units Development Refinance Agency (MUDRA) Yojana.

RBI has granted operational freedom to banks to offer all their products and services through the ATM channels provided technology permits the same.

RBI has hiked its shareholding in National Housing Bank by contributing Rs 1,000 crore towards the paid capital, bringing the total capital to Rs 1450 crore.

RBI has asked banks not to issue such 1000 rupee notes which, by mistake, were printed without security thread.

State Bank of India has become the first public sector bank to launch wealth management service ‘SBI Exclusif’ to cater to fast-growing affluent segment of the country.

The country's largest private sector lender ICICI Bank became the first private bank to achieve the milestone of Rs 1 lakh crore in housing loan.

DEFENCE, SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

MARCH 2016

‘FORCE 18’ HELD IN PUNE

The multinational mega Military Exercise Force 18 was held in Pune, Maharashtra from March 2 to 8. Hosted by Indian Army, it included 18 forces from ASEAN and several other countries. The theme of the exercise was `Humanitarian Mine Action’ (HMA) and `Peacekeeping Operations’ (PKO).

ICGS Arnvesh, the Fast Patrol Vessel (FPV) built by the Cochin Shipyard was commissioned in the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) in Visakhapatnam. Iron Fist 2016 - Indian Air Force conducted its biggest fire power combat exercise at Pokhran in Rajasthan on March 18. Indian army test-fired indigenously built nuclear-capable Agni-I ballistic missile with a range of 700 kms from the Abdul Kalam Island on the Odisha coast. Garuda Shakti, the 4th edition of joint army training exercise between India and Indonesia was held at Magelang, Indonesia, from March 11 to 23. Defence Ministry has issued the order for purchase of transport helicopters CH-47 Chinook and attack helicopter AH-64 Apache, from the Boeing Corp of USA. NATIONAL SCIENCE DAY – FEB 28 It was observed Feb 28 with the theme “Scientific Issues for Development of the Nation”. The day is observed to mark the discovery of the Raman Effect (phenomenon of scattering of photons) by Indian physicist Sir C V Raman, Nobel laureate on 28 February 1928. ISRO PUTS UP SPACE RESEARCH RADAR A new 30MHz radar system, Gadanki Ionospheric Radar Interfereometer (GIRI), second largest in the world, has been established at National Atmospheric Research Laboratory (NARL) at Gadanki in Andhra Pradesh for ionospheric, meteor and space weather research in a comprehensive way. NARL functions under ISRO. ISRO LAUNCHES 6TH IRNSS SATELLITE The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) on 10 March launched the country’s sixth Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS)-1F, on board its launch vehicle PSLV C-32 from Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. IRNSS is a set up of seven satellites to serve as GPS (global positioning system) of India. ‘EXOMARS’ LAUNCHED TO STUDY MARS ExoMars 2016, an unmanned spacecraft was launched jointly by Europe and Russia on a Russian Proton rocket from Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to study the Mars' atmosphere for gassy evidence that life once existed on the Red Planet. Australian scientists have created the world’s thinnest lens which is 2,000 times thinner than human hair, a breakthrough set to revolutionise nanotechnology.


FEBRUARY 2016

FLEET REVIEW OF NAVY HELD IN VIZAG Indian President and the Prime Minister inspected one of the largest maritime events in the recent past – the International Fleet Review 2016 held on 4 Feb to 8 Feb at Visakhapatnam coast. The theme of event was United through Oceans and mascot concept was Dolphin. Close to 75 Indian warships and 52 from Navies across the globe took part in the grand event. INS ARIHANT BECOMES OPERATIONAL

The Indian Navy's first locally developed nuclear submarine INS Arihant is now ready for full fledged operations after passing a number of deep sea diving drills as well as weapons launch tests. INS VIRAAT TO RETIRE IN JUNE 2016 After nearly 60 years of sailing across the oceans, the Indian Navy's warhorse aircraft carrier, the INS Viraat is destined to be decommissioned in June, 2016. It was inducted in Indian Navy in May 1987 as refitted British warship – HMS Hermes. Government of Andhra Pradesh has agreed to base the ship off Visakhapatnam coast, converting it into a luxury hotel for promotion of tourism in the State. INDIA LARGEST IMPORTER OF ARMS A study by the Stockholm-based think-tank SIPRI states that India continues to be the world’s largest importer of arms, accounting for 14% of global arms imports in the period 2011–15. China ranks second with 4.7%, followed by Australia (3.6%), Pakistan (3.3%). PRITHVI II TESTE SUCCESSFULY Indigenously developed Prithvi-II missile, capable of carrying 500 kg to 1000 kg of warheads up to 350 kms, was tested successfully as part of a user trial by the Army from a test range near Chandipur, Odisha. INDIA HOLDS JOINT NAVAL FEAT - IBSAMAR The fifth edition of 'Exercise IBSAMAR' (India, Brazil, South Africa Maritime) between the navies of Brazil, India and South Africa was held off the Goa coast from Feb 19 t0 29. This is for the first time that India is hosting this exercise.

LIGHT REVOLVER ‘NIDAR’ LAUNCHED India’s first indigenously developed lightest revolver Nidar, weighing just 250 grams, was launched under the "Make In India" initiative by the state-run Ishapore Rifle Factory in West Bengal. ‘COBRA GOLD 2016’ Indian Army participated in the ‘Cobra Gold 2016’ – the biggest multilateral military exercise hosted by Thailand, along with its counterparts from 35 countries, including USA, China and Pakistan. “SINO-INDIA COOPERATION 2016’’ Focusing on humanitarian aid and disaster relief, the Indian and Chinese troops held their first joint tactical exercise “Sino-India Cooperation 2016’’ in Chushul-Moldo area of Ladakh border with China. MAHINDRAS TO M 777 HOWITZERS IN INDIA Leading gun-maker BAE Systems, the UK based multinational company has announced selection of Mahindra as its Indian partner for the around $700-million deal for the supply of 145 M777 ultra light howitzers to the Indian Army—the first new artillery guns after the Bofors scandal. The gun, with a strike range of 25 km, will form the backbone of the Mountain Strike Corps, being raised by the government for the mountainous borders with China.

LAMITYE 2016, the 7th joint military training exercise between the Indian Army and the Seychelles People’s Defence Forces (SPDF) was held in Seychelles.

The 9th edition of India-Nepal Combined Military Exercise ‘Surya Kiran IX’ was held in Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand.

The Ministry of Defence to locally produce 106 upgraded Light Combat Aircraft “Tejas Mark 1-A” jets to replace the ageing fleet of MiG fighter aircraft.

The 4th India-Myanmar Coordinated Patrol was conducted jointly by both navies along the International Maritime Boundary Line in the Andaman Sea.


Japan joined the US, Russia, and China as one of the only countries to produce its own fifth-generation stealth fighter jet- X-2-‘Shinshin’

Saudi Arabia launched a massive military exercise – ‘North Thunder’ that included troops from 20 nations in King Khalid Military City in Saudi Arabia.

‘KSHEER-SCANNER’ TO DETECT MILK PURITY Government has launched a device developed by the CSIR –CEERI, Pilani, Rajasthan, named ‘Ksheer-Scanner’ that instantaneously detects the adulterants like urea, salt, detergent, soda etc in milk. YOUTUBE RED LAUNCHED YouTube has launched its YouTube Red service. The original movies and show are part of Google parent Alphabet Inc's efforts to offer more to customers on YouTube Red, the $10-a-month service that allows viewers to watch videos across YouTube without ad breaks. ELUSIVE GRAVITATIONAL WAVES DISCOVERED

After decades of search for Scientists working with the gigantic optical instruments in the LIGO [Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory], USA, have detected for the first time, signals of gravitational waves emanating from two merging black holes 1.3 billion light years away. These ripples in space-time were predicted by Albert Einstein, some 100 years ago. NOD FOR GRAVITATIONAL WAVE DETECTOR Union Cabinet has given ‘in principle’ approval for a proposal to have a gravitational wave detector in India under LIGO-India Project. It would cost at least Rs. 1,200 crore and may take at least eight years to be operational.

JAPANESE SATELLITE TO STUDY BLACK HOLES The Japanese space agency has successfully launched a new X ray astronomy satellite – Astro–H to study the origin of black holes. The satellite has four telescopes that will enable the space agency to peer into far off galaxy clusters, providing data on how they were formed. 5 NEW JUPITER LIKE PLANETS DISCOVERED Scientists have discovered five new Jupiter-like planets having similar characteristics to the biggest planet in our solar system and orbit very close to their host stars. Newly discovered planets have been named as WASP-119 b, WASP-124 b, WASP-126 b, WASP 129 b and WASP-133 b.

Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has launched the country's first anti-diabetic ayurvedic drug BGR -34 for Diabetes type 2 patients.

Hyderabad-based biotechnology research company Bharat Biotech has announced that it has developed the world’s first vaccine for Zika virus.

Mobile messaging app WhatsApp crossed the one billion user milestone globally on Feb 02.

JANUARY 2016

‘RUDRA’ SHOWS UP AT R. DAY PARADE Indigenously designed and built advanced light helicopter (ALH) — “Rudra” made its debut at the Republic Day parade. This multirole attack helicopter is produced by the Defence Ministry’s unit Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for Indian Army. BARAK MISSILE TESTED BY INS KOLKATA Indian Navy warship INS Kolkata successfully test-fired long-range surface-to-air missile (LRSAM) Barak NG against a remotely piloted flying target over the Arabian Sea. Developed in collaboration with Israel, it has a range of over 80 kms. THE 68TH ARMY DAY was observed on 15 January, all over India. On this day in 1949, Lt.–Gen. (later Field Marshal) K M Cariappa became the first Indian Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army. ‘SAHAYOG-KAIJIN 2016’ The 15th edition of bilateral exercise by the Indian Coast Guard and its Japanese counterpart began off the coast of Chennai, Tamil Nadu in the Bay of Bengal. The DRDO successfully test-fired Nag anti-tank

missile at the Mahajan Field Firing Range in Rajasthan. It is a third generation fire-and-forget anti-tank missile and can be fired during night as well.


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India will host a joint military exercise at Pune in March, 2016. Ten member countries of the ASEAN and its eight dialogue partners will take part in the exercise.

INS Kadmatt, the second indigenous stealth Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) Corvette, was inducted in Indian Navy in Visakhapatnam.

India and France began their eight-day counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency joint exercise ‘Shakti-2016’ in Rajasthan.

India has supplied three Mi-25 gunship helicopters to Afghan Air Force.

NEW THRUSH BIRD FOUND IN NE INDIA Scientists have found a new variant of Thrush bird named as the Himalayan Forest Thrush in the northeastern India and parts of Tibet, Nepal and China. The scientific name of the bird is Zoothera Salimalii after the name of the great Indian ornithologist Salim Ali. NEW BREED OF TREE FROG DISCOVERED A class of frogs that grows in tree holes who as tadpoles feed on eggs laid by their mother, has been discovered in the north-east region. It has been named as Frankixalus Jerdonii. FIRST 3D PRINTED LIVER A Bengaluru-based technology startup has developed India’s first artificial liver tissue with the help of 3-D printing technology. This is a major step forward in the on-demand manufacturing of 3D printed human organs. NETFLIX STARTS SERVICES IN INDIA Global streaming pioneer Netflix (of USA) has launched its service in India, allowing viewers to access unlimited TV and cinema content online at prices starting Rs 500 a month. It has over 70 million members in over 190 countries watching over 125 million hours of content. FALCON 9 ROCKET FAILS AGAIN TO LAND BACK The NASA successfully launched Falcon 9 rocket made by SpaceX Company, from California to place ocean monitoring satellite Jason-3 in orbit. However, the rocket that was supposed to land back on a floating platform failed in its attempt and ended up in a blast due to crash landing. MOST ENERGETIC LIGHT EVER DETECTED Scientists have discovered the most energetic light ever detected in the universe from the centre of a supernova known as ‘Crab pulsar’ which is situated 6,500 light years away from Earth. It is surrounded by a region of intense magnetic field 10 thousand billion times stronger than that of the Sun.

LARGEST SOLAR SYSTEM FOUND Astronomers have discovered the largest known solar system, consisting of a large planet that takes nearly a million years to orbit its star. The gas giant is one trillion kilometres away, making its orbit 140 times wider than Pluto's path around our Sun. CHEMISTRY GETS FOUR NEW ELEMENTS The periodic table of elements in Chemistry now has its seventh row completed with the introduction of four new chemical elements - 113, 115, 117 and 118, discovered by scientists in Japan, Russia and US. The new additions were formally verified by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) on December 30, 2015. New elements can be named after a mythological concept, a mineral, a place or country, a property or a scientist. The first true iteration of the table was done by Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev in 1869. HUMAN LIKE ROBOT CREATED Scientists in Singapore have developed a human-like social robot named ‘Nadine’, with soft skin and flowing brunette hair, which is capable of autonomously expressing emotions and gestures like shaking hands and conversing.

China successfully launched Gaofen-4 Earth Observation Satellite toward a geostationary orbit from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in Sichuan, China.

INTERNATIONAL

MARCH 2016

USA STARTS NEW CHAPTER WITH CUBA

US President Barack Obama scripted history by becoming first US President to visit its island neighbour Cuba, after 88 years of strained relations. The US snapped ties with Cuba in 1959 when the Cuban revolutionaries led by Fidel Castro ousted a pro-American government.


USA TOPS IN INNOVATIONS According to the latest figures released by the Geneva-based World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the US continued to dominate the world of innovation and inventions by filing 57,385 international patent applications last year, followed by Japan and China. In comparison India lagged behind by filing for only 1423 patents. In terms of companies, Huawei Technologies of China with 3,898 applications was at top. UN TO SET UP ‘BLUE DOTS’ FOR REFUGEES The United Nations has decided to set up 20 child and family support hubs known as "Blue Dots" from Turkey, through Greece all the way to Slovenia as special support centres for migrant children and families along the most travelled route in Europe. The centres will be looked after by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and the United Nations Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF). WORLD’s COSTLIEST RAILWAY STATION

The World Trade Center Transportation Hub was opened to public on March 3 at New York. Built at a cost of $ 4 billion, it took 12 years to complete. It' will serve 250,000 daily commuters and 11 subway lines. GATE CONTINUES TO BE RICHEST Microsoft’s co-founder Bill Gates continues to be the world’s richest person with a net worth of $75 billion, according to Forbes’ annual ranking of billionaires. Ranked 36th, Mukesh Ambani, with a net worth of $20.6 billion, leads the pack of 84 Indian billionaires in the list. WORLD CONGRESS OF BIOSPHERE RESERVES was held at Lima in Peru from 14-17 March 2016 to address different issues related to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for promotion of biosphere reserves across the world.

According to a new law in Uganda, parents who fail to vaccinate their children will face six months in jail. It also requires children to have an immunisation card to allow them to go to school.

9th International Abilympics started at Bordeaux in France.

Abilympics is coined from 'Olympics of abilities' of persons with disabilities. It is a global work skills competition held every four years.

Changi Airport in Singapore has been voted the World’s Best Airport for the fourth year in a row at the 2016 World Airport Awards

The 59th Session of Commission on Narcotic Drugs was held in Vienna, Austria to prepare for the UN General Assembly Special Session on the World Drug Problem to be held in April 2016.

World's first fully electric double decker bus service was launched by London's transport authority. The buses have been made by China automaker BYD.

China's National People's Congress has set the country's growth target for 2016 in a range of 6.5 to 7 per cent.

FEBRUARY 2016

DAWN OF DEMOCRACY IN MYANMAR Myanmar embarked upon a new democratic era on Feb 1 as the MPs of National League for Democracy party lead by the democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, took their seats in the parliament, marking end to the military rule since 1962.

A RAY OF HOPE IN SYRIA A landmark UN-backed ceasefire came into effect in Syria at midnight of 26 Feb, supported by both – USA and Russia. This is the first major truce in five years of civil war that has claimed more than 2.7 lakh lives. BRITAIN TO HOLD REFERENDUM ON ‘BREXIT’ Britain is facing a big debate these days on the issue of ‘Brexit’–Britain’s exit from the European Union. Opinions are widely divided. Leaving EU has its own pros and cons. To decide the issue, it has been decided to conduct a referendum on June 23, 2016.


WHO DECLARES ZICA EMERGENCY World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared Public Health Emergency of International Concern over the explosive spread of the mosquito-borne Zika virus, which is linked to birth defects in the Latin American countries like Brazil, Mexico and even USA. ONE HUMANITY: SHARED RESPONSIBILITY United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon has released a report called 'One Humanity: Shared Responsibility' which has called for a global campaign to prevent the destruction of humanitarian laws and to protect civilians in conflict. The report is a part of the World Humanitarian Summit to be held in May, 2016. FRANCE BANS WASTING OF FOOD

France has become the first country in the world to legally ban supermarkets from throwing away or destroying unsold food, forcing them instead to donate it to charities and food banks. Non compliance will attract fines and jail up to two years. WORLD GOVERNMENT SUMMIT IN DUBAI The three day annual World Government Summit was held in Dubai. 4500 participants from more than 130 countries participated to discuss challenges and opportunities before present and future governments worldwide. WORLD’s LARGEST SOLAR POWER PLANT The Noor Ouarzazate Solar Complex, world’s largest solar power plant’s first phase started operations on February 4 in the Souss-Massa-Drâa area in Morocco. The plant holds the capacity to produce 580 MW to power over one million homes by 2018 and reduce carbon emissions by an estimated 760000 tons per year. WORLD’s LONGEST TRAIN ROUTE OPENS The first cargo train under Beijing led-Belt and Road connectivity initiative along the New Silk Road from China to Iran completed its first journey from Yiwu near Shanghai on China’s eastern coast to Bander Abbas port in Iran. The 10,400 kms trip took just 14 days, a full 30 days shorter than the maritime voyage from Shanghai’s port to the Iranian port.

HISTORICAL MEET OF TWO CHRISTIAN HEADS Nearly 1,000 years after the Eastern and Western branches of Christianity split apart, a first ever meeting between a Roman Catholic Pope and a Russian Orthodox patriarch took place on Feb 12 in Havana, Cuba. Pope Francis, head of Roman Catholics and Orthodox Patriarch Kirill embraced and kissed each other and issued a global appeal for the protection of Christians under assault in the Middle East. USA LEADS HISTORICAL TRADE DEAL The Trans-Pacific Partnership deal, lead by USA, one of the biggest trade deals in history, was signed in New Zealand on Feb 4. The deal aims to eliminate nearly all tariffs among the 12-member nations, accounting for about 40 per cent of the global economy. BANK OF JAPAN IMPOSES -IVE INTEREST RATE In a historic measure intended to boost the growth of the world's third largest economy, Bank of Japan has imposed, for the first time, a negative interest rate of minus 0.1 per cent for certain bank deposits placed with it. The decision, which penalises financial institutions for storing excess funds, aims to stimulate investment and credit and is meant to force a reduction of interest rates applied by banks. ALPHABET IS MOST VALUABLE COMPANY Alphabet, the company that owns Google, has overtaken rival Apple Inc in terms of value of market capitalisation on Feb 1 to emerge as the most valuable company of the world, having a market cap of $ 547.1 billion, higher than Apple's $529.3 billion. MERCER PLACES VIENNA AT THE TOP The survey of 230 cities for assessing quality of life by the global consulting firm Mercer has placed Austria’s capital Vienna at the top, followed by Zurich, Switzerland and Auckland in New Zealand. The worst life quality was in Baghdad, Iraq. New Delhi was placed at 142nd rank.

Finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of 20 major rich and developing economies began a two-day meeting in Shanghai on Feb 26.

A two day summit between leaders from the ASEAN and The United States was held in California to dwell upon maritime security in the South China Sea.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union (EU) have signed an agreement to improve cooperation in cyber defense.

Apple notched a record $18.4 billion in profit for the quarter ending 31st Dec 2015, the largest ever profit recorded by a single company in world's history.

A Twin Otter plane of Tara Air crashed on Feb 24 in Dana of Myagdi district of Nepal, killing all 23 people aboard.


On Feb 23, Pakistan’s parliament became the world’s first parliament to run fully on solar power.

World Radio Day was observed globally by UNESCO on 13 February 2016 with the theme ’Radio in Times of Emergency and Disaster’.

The United Nations' (UN) World Day of Social Justice observed on February 20 to encourage people to look at how social justice affects poverty eradication.

World Cancer Day was observed across the world on 4th February. This year’s theme was – We can, I can.

JANUARY 2016

EASTERN USA BURIED UNDER 3 FEET SNOW

A monster blizzard named ‘Snowzilla’ paralysed the entire US East Coast on Jan 24 with hurricane-force winds and record snow, killing over 25 persons and hitting some 85 million others, prompting up to 10 states to declare a state of emergency. The storm left as much as three feet of snow, paralysing transport links in New York and Washington DC. Several other parts of world in South Korea, Eastern China and Hon Kong also reeled under record breaking severe cold.

FIRST ‘BEST COUNTRY REPORT’ RELEASED A joint team of U.S. News & World Report, BAV Consulting and Wharton School of Business has compiled a ‘Best Country Report’ to rank countries on 75 factors such as sustainability, adventure, cultural influence, entrepreneurship and economic influence.

A survey of more than 16,200 business leaders, highfliers and other members of the public was carried out in 60 countries to select the best country in various categories. Germany was ranked as the best country, followed closely by Canada, U K, USA and Sweden. India was placed at the 22nd place.

Some other winners are: Most modern country – Sweden Best Country to Raise Kids – Sweden Best Nation for Green Living - Sweden Best Country for Women - Denmark Most powerful country - USA No. 1 upcoming economy - India No. 1 nation to visit - Brazil

CHINA’s GROWTH SLIPS TO 25 YEARS LOW The data released by China's the National Bureau of Statistics shows that China's economy grew 6.9 per cent in 2015, the slowest pace in last 25 years. GDP in 2015 reached about $10.3 trillion. ZIKA ATTACK IN SOUTH AMERICAN COUNTRIES Countries like Brazil, Colombia and El Salvador are facing the threat of the Zika virus spread by mosquito bite. It is highly infectious and may also cause death. It is particularly harmful for pregnant ladies as it affects the foetus growth adversely.

The Zika virus is transmitted by Aedes species mosquitoes, which also spread dengue and chikungunya viruses. But in pregnant women, the virus can spread to the foetus and cause microcephaly, a condition involving brain shrinkage that severely limits a child's intellectual and physical development or death. HYDROGEN BOMB TESTED BY N KOREA North Korea conducted a powerful Hydrogen bomb test in a defiant and surprising move as there is a UN ban on testing and development of nuclear weapons. The test has drawn grave criticism from all major countries of the world, terming it as a ‘serious threat to the international peace and security’. A Hydrogen bomb is much smaller and easy to make than an Atom bomb but is far more destructive. CRUDE PRICES FALL TO 12 YEARS LOW Global crude oil prices plunged to 12 year low at $ 29.93 a barrel, plagued by abundant oversupply and the ongoing row between key producers Iran and Saudi Arabia dimming prospects for production cuts. Also, falling prices have prompted some producers to maximize output to prevent income falling too rapidly and to keep market share. EURO 2 BILLION TO SAVE FRENCH ECONOMY French President has announced what he called "a state of economic and social emergency" involving a Euro 2 billion plan to revive job creation and catch up with the world’s economy. The plan includes training half a million jobless workers, greater use of apprenticeships, and 2,000 Euro aid for small businesses. CHINA DEVALUES YUAN AGAIN China weakened the value of its Yuan currency by 0.51 percent to 6.5646 against the US dollar on January 7, its lowest value since 2011. It triggered a selloff in global markets, bringing alive the fears of competitive devaluation among emerging economies.


THE WORLD'S LARGEST BLUE STAR SAPPHIRE The stone that weighs 1404.49 carats was discovered in a mine in Sri Lanka. Named as ‘The Star of Adams, its estimated cost is $100 million but could fetch much more when auctioned. WORLD DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2016 Digital Dividends, a report by the World Bank explores the impact of the internet, mobile phones, and related technologies on economic development in the world. THE WORLD TOURISM BAROMETER Released by the U N World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), it states that the international tourist arrivals grew by 4.4 per cent in 2015 to reach a total of 1184 million in 2015. THE NUMBER OF INTERNATIONAL MIGRANTS — persons living in a country other than where they were born — reached 244 million in 2015 for the world as a whole, a 41 per cent increase compared to 2000.

World Economic Forum’s prestigious annual meeting held at Davos, Switzerland, from January 20 to 23.

The World Health Organization has declared Liberia free of Ebola virus. Now there is no other country officially reporting Ebola cases.

Asia's largest underground railway station, covering a total area of 147,000 square metres, opened in Futian in Shenzhen city in south China.

Toyota continues to be the world’s biggest automaker selling 10.15 million vehicles in 2015, closely followed by Volkswagen and General Motors.

World Economic Forum’s prestigious annual meeting held at Davos, Switzerland, from January 20 to 23.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens became the world's fastest film to make one billion dollars at the global box office.

PERSONS IN NEWS

MARCH 2016

ARVIND KEJRIWAL has been ranked 42nd among the world’s 50 greatest leaders by Fortune magazine. He is the sole Indian on the list, topped by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. PM NARENDRA MODI is among “The 30 Most Influential People on the Internet” list compiled by the Time magazine, USA, describing him as an ‘Internet star’ who often uses social media to conduct diplomacy.

MOTHER TERESA: The Nobel Laureate who spent 45 years serving the poor and sick on the streets of Kolkata in her Missionaries of Charity, till her death in 1997, was in news as the Pope Francis, religious chief of Christians, has announced to confer Sainthood on her on September 4, 2016. ATIUR RAHMAN: Governor of Bangladesh Bank, country’s beleaguered central bank, resigned after hackers stole over $100 million from its accounts maintained with the Federal Reserve Bank, New York. AMAR SINGH: An Indian-origin Sikh has become the Police Commissioner of Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur, the first Sikh to achieve the top police post in the Muslim-majority country. 3SCOTT KELLY: The commander of the International Space Station, returned to earth on March 1, completing 340 days stay in space, becoming the American with longest stay in space. Record for longest stay in space is held by Russia’s Valeri Polyakov, 437.7 days.

FEBRUARY 2016

U K SINHA: The government has extended Sinha's term as the Chairman of Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) till March 01, 2017. He took over as Sebi chairman in 2011. SAMEER ANJAAN: Bollywood’s popular lyricist has made into the Guinness Book of World Records for writing the most number of songs for Bollywood films. He wrote 3,524 songs for 650 Bollywood movies, as verified on December 15, 2015. NEYMAR: Iconic football player from Brazil was in news as Courts in Brazil issued warrants to freeze his assets worth almost $ 50 million, including a yacht, a jet and several properties, on charges of tax evasion of around $ 16 million. GEN. RAJENDRA CHETTRI: Nepalese Army Chief was conferred the honorary rank of General of the Indian Army by the President Pranab Mukherjee.

JANUARY 2016

RAGHURAM RAJAN: RBI Governor was named ‘Global and Asia-Pacific Central Bank Governor of the Year 2015’ by the prestigious UK magazine The Banker for stabilising the Indian rupee, initiating key reforms to attract much needed foreign capital in the country and reining in a runaway price appreciation.


AZIM PREMJI: Chairman of Wipro has been ranked as the most generous Indian of the year for the third time in a row with donations worth Rs. 27,514 crore, mainly in the education sector, as per the Hurun India Philanthropy List 2015. APARNA KUMAR: An IPS officer of the Uttar Pradesh cadre, has successfully climbed the Mount Vinson Massif, the highest peak in the Antarctic sub-continent. She is the first woman officer of any All-India Services to have done so SHEIKH NIMR AL-NIMR: A prominent Shia cleric, highly critical of the ruling Al Saud dynasty, was executed by the Saudi Arabian govt for his alleged involvement in shooting policemen. His execution sparked widespread angry protests in eastern Saudi Arabia and in neighbouring Shia dominated Iraq and several other Shia territories.

APPOINTMENTS

MARCH 2016

VINOD RAI: Former Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has been appointed as the first Chairman of Banks Board Bureau (BBB). BBB will start functioning from April 1, 2016 to approve the appointments of banks’ top executives and improve their governance. JUSTICE BALBIR SINGH CHAUHAN: appointed as the chairperson of the 21st Law Commission. He is a former Supreme Court judge. HTIN KYAW: elected as the first civilian President of Myanmar to lead the country after 53 years of military rule. He is a close aide of the iconic crusader of democracy Aung San Suu Kyi. H DEEP SAINI: Noted Indian scholar and plant physiologist has been appointed as the Vice Chancellor of the prestigious University of Canberra, Australia. ASHLEY JUDD: The American actor and activist has been appointed as the Goodwill Ambassador of the United Nations Population Fund - UNFPA, (formerly the United Nations Fund for Population Activities). MICHELLE YEOH: Famous action heroine of Malaysia-China has been appointed as United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Goodwill Ambassador. AHMED ABUL GHEIT: Veteran Egyptian diplomat and former Foreign Minister has been named as new Secretary General of the Arab League.

ALI MOHAMED SHEIN: Re-elected as the President of Zanzibar. MAHAMADOU ISSOUFOU: Re elected as the President Niger for a second term HASHIM THACI: Elected as the President of Kosovo, a tiny country in southeastern Europe.

FEBRUARY 2016

JUSTICE H L DATTU: Former Chief Justice of India has been appointed as the Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission. RAJENDRA SINGH: Appointed as the new Director General of the Indian Coast Guard. KALYAN SINGH: Governor of Rajasthan given the additional charge of Governor of Himachal Pradesh.

K N VYAS: Appointed new Director of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Mumbai AMIT MITRA: West Bengal Finance Minister has been appointed as the new chairman of the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers on Goods and Services Tax (GST). KALIKHO PUL: New CM of Arunachal Pradesh. PARAMESHWARAN IYER: Appointed as the new Secretary of the Drinking Water and Sanitation Department to steer the Swachh Bharat Mission. He is the World Bank’s water and sanitation specialist. ARUNA SETHI: Appointed as the first women head of the Indian Cost Accounts Services


D J PANDIAN: Former chief secretary of Gujarat has been appointed vice-president and chief investment officer of the newly formed Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). JAI KUMAR GARG: appointed MD and CEO of Corporation Bank ARCHANA RAMASUNDRAM, IPS: Appointed as the Director General of Sashastra Seema Bal, SSB. She is the first woman to head a paramilitary force. SSB guards Indian borders with Nepal and Bhutan. K DURGA PRASAD, IPS: Appointed Director General of Central Reserve Police Force. K K SHARMA, IPS: Appointed Director General of the Border Security Force. GURDEEP SINGH: Appointed as the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of NTPC Ltd. For the first time a Maharatna company chief has been selected through a search committee route. Amitava Bhattacharyya, IAS, Bimal Julka, IAS and D P Sinha, IPS have been appointed as the Information Commissioners in the Central Information Commission GIANNI INFANTINO: Elected as the new President of world Football body –FIFA. He is a Football administrator from Switzerland and is Chief of European Football body UEFA. FAUSTIN ARCHANGE TOUADERA: Elected as the new President of Central African Republic (CAR) YOWERI MUSEVENI: Elected new President of Uganda, for the fifth time.

ALBERT PAHIMI PADACKE: New Prime Minister of the Central African country Chad.

CHRISTINE LAGARDE: Re-appointed as the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund for a second five-year term.

JANUARY 2016

SAILESH: A senior IAS officer, appointed as the new Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India.

AMIT SHAH: Re-elected unopposed as the President of the Bharatiya Janata Party - world’s largest political party, for a three-year term.

ATULESH JINDAL: Appointed as the Chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT)

DINESH SHARMA: Elected to the 12-member board of directors of the China-sponsored Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).

DEVENDER KUMAR SIKRI: Appointed as Chairman of fair-trade regulator Competition Commission of India

AMITABH KANT: Given additional charge of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NITI Aayog. He is Industry Secretary at present.

URJIT PATEL: Reappointed as Deputy Governor of Reserve Bank of India, for a second three-year term.

Dr. GYANENDRA D BANDGAIYAN: Appointed as the Director General of the National Centre for Good Governance.

MARCELO REBELO de SOUSA: Elected as the new President of Portugal

PAVEL FILIP: Appointed as the Prime Minister of Moldova, small poorest European country

TSAI ING-WEN: Elected as the new President of Taiwan

GIORGI KVIRIKASHVILI: Elected as the Prime Minister of Georgia, Europe.

AWARDS & HONOURS

MARCH 2016

63rd NATIONAL FILM AWARDS

Best Feature Film: Baahubali - The Beginning by S S Rajamouli Best Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali for 'Bajirao Mastani'

Best Actor: Amitabh Bachchan for 'Piku'

Best Actress: Kangana Ranaut for 'Tanu Weds Manu Returns'

Best Hindi Film: Dum Laga Ke Haisha by Sharat Katariya

Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment: Bajrangi Bhaijaan by Kabir Khan

Most Film- Friendly State Award: Gujarat DADA SAHEB PHALKE AWARD - 2015: Awarded to veteran actor and film maker Manoj Kumar who played the patriotic Indian in most of his films, becoming famous as ‘Bharat Kumar’. His superhit movies included Upkaar, Purab aur Pashchim, Kranti. The award is the highest official recognition in Indian cinema from the govt. It consists of a golden lotus, a cash prize of Rs 10 lakh and a shawl.


‘KRISHI KARMAN AWARD’: Given to Himachal Pradesh for its landmark achievement in showing highest production of food grains in year 2014-15, despite adverse weather conditions and rain-fed farming in the state. CHAMELI DEVI JAIN AWARD: Priyanka Kakodkar and Raksha Kumar won the award for 2015-16 for their excellent work in journalism to highlight social issues. The award is given only to women journalists. SKOCH LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: Union Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu for his contributions to inclusive growth and towards poverty alleviation in India. ‘KAYAKALP’ AWARD: The Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research bagged the top government award for best hospital cleanliness and infection control, winning prize money of Rs 5 crore while AIIMS, New Delhi, came second and got a reward of Rs 3 crore.

88TH OSCAR AWARDS Los Angeles, USA, Feb 29, 2016

Given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, USA to recognize excellence in cinematic achievements, they are regarded as the highest recognition in world of cinema.

Best Picture: Spotlight by Tom Mc Carthy Best Director: Alejandro Iñárritu (The Revenant) Best Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant) Best Actress: Brie Larson (Room)

ABEL PRIZE (for maths): Sir Andrew Wiles, an Oxford University professor has won the 5,00,000 pounds prize for cracking a 300-year-old mystery mathematical theorem. The prize, popular as the Nobel of Mathematics, is given by the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters. GOLDEN CITY GATE AWARD: Prestigious award from the world's leading travel trade show Internationale Tourismus-Borse Berlin (ITB-Berlin) 2016 won by Kerala Tourism's campaign on responsible tourism. GLOBAL TEACHER PRIZE: The one million dollar prize for innovative teaching has been won by Hanan Al Hroub for her innovative approach in teaching to overcome tense environments of the region under the shadow of the Israel-Palestine conflict. She is a Palestinian teacher from a refugee camp in Al-Bireh, Palestine Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur: (Knight of the Legion of Honour), one of the highest civil honour by the French government was conferred upon Anand Mahindra, CMD, Mahindra & Mahindra.

FEBRUARY 2016

ARYABHATA AWARD 2013: The prestigious honour by Astronautical Society of India given to Dr Avinash Chander, former Scientific Adviser to Defence Minister and ex-DRDO chief. Bharat Ratna Pandit Bhimsen Joshi Classical Music Award for 2015-2016: (by Maharashtra government) won by Sarangi maestro Pandit Ram Narayan, a Padma Vibhushan awardee.

130/- 150/-

NEW


Khuswant Singh memorial prize for poetry: awarded to Arundhathi Subramaniam for her poetry book 'When God is Traveller'. E&Y ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR 2015: Won by Vinita Gupta, CEO and Nilesh Gupta, MD of Lupin Ltd, a leading Pharma company of India. GOLDEN CONCH AWARD: (for the best documentary film) won by Manipuri documentary film Phum-Shang about the environmental problems of Loktak Lake, at the 14th Mumbai International Film Festival V SHANTARAM LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: Conferred upon veteran wildlife filmmaker Naresh Bedi BEST FIRST FOREIGN FILM AWARD: won by Titli, a feature film by Kanu Behl. Award is given by the French Syndicate of Cinema Critics. GREEN BOND PIONEER AWARD: won by Yes Bank for being the ‘Pioneers in Emerging Markets-India’. Yes Bank had issued India’s first ever ‘Green Infrastructure Bonds’ for Rs. 1000 crore in 2015 CROSS OF THE ORDER OF MERIT: Germany’s prestigious honour conferred upon Goverdhan Mehta, renowned researcher in Chemical Sciences. HUMAN RIGHTS AWARD: (by Amnesty International) won by Indian lawyer and human rights defender Henri Tiphagne, founder of NGO People’s Watch. Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur: (Knight of the Legion of Honour), one of the France's highest civilian honour was given to Fashion designer Manish Arora from New Delhi. ORDER OF FRIENDSHIP: Russia's top civilian awards given to Ramayah Shanmuga Sundar, Director of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant. CRYSTAL BEAR AWARD: Best film award in children category at the Berlin film festival won by Malayalam film Ottaal (The Trap) directed by Jayaraj Rajasekharan. GOLDEN BEAR AWARD: Berlin film festival’s top prize won by the Italian film Fuocoammare (Fire at Sea), a harrowing documentary about Europe’s refugee crisis. DIRECTORS GUILD OF AMERICA AWARD: (for best feature film) won by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu for the film The Revenant

58th GRAMMY AWARDS, Los Angeles, USA, Feb 15 These are the highest awards given in the field of music. Category Album Artist

Record of the year

Uptown fund Mark Ronson

Album of the year 1989 Taylor Swift Song of the year Thinking Out

Loud Ed Sheeran & Amy Wadge

Best Rock Performance

Don't Wanna Fight

Alabama Shakes

Best World Music Album

Sings Angelique Kidjo

Best Music Video Bad Blood Taylor Swift

69th BAFTA AWARDS, London, Feb 14

British Academy of Film and Television Awards are the top film awards for Films screened in Europe. Best Film: The Revenant Best Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio for The Revenant Best Actress: Brie Larson for Room Best Director: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (Mexico) - The Revenant Outstanding British film: Brooklyn

JANUARY 2016

PADMA AWARDS ANNOUNCED India's highest civil awards after Bharat Ratna for the year 2016 were announced on the eve of Republic Day (25th January). These awards carry no cash component. Total 112 awards were announced which included 10 Padma Vibhushans, 19 Padma Bushans and 83 Padma Sris. Some of the famous winners are given below:-

PADMA VIBHUSHAN - 10

Sr. No.

Person Field From

1 Tamil Superstar Rajinikanth,

Art-Cinema Tamil Nadu

2 Founder of the Reliance empire late Dhirubhai Ambani,

— Trade & Industry —

Maharashtra

3 Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Others-Spiritualism —

Karnataka

4 Cinema baron Ramoji Rao

Literature & Education-

Journalism —

Andhra Pradesh

5 Former Jammu and Kashmir Governor

Jagmohan,

Public Affairs —

Delhi

6 Former DRDO chief VK Aatre,

Science & Engineering —

Karnataka


7 Cancer specialist and chairperson of Adyar Cancer Institute Dr V

Shanta

Medicine-Oncology —

Tamil Nadu

8 Eminent Bharatnatyam and Kuchipudi dancer

Yamini Krishnamurthi

Art-Classical dance —

Delhi

9 Classical vocalist Girija Devi

Art-Classical Vocal —

West Bengal

10 Indian-American economist Avinash

Dixit

Literature & Education —

USA

PADMA BHUSHAN - TOTAL 19

Sr. No.

Person Field From

1 Anupam Kher Art-Cinema Maharashtra 2 Udit Narayan Jha Art-Playback

Singing Maharashtra

3 Ram V Sutar Art-Sculpture UP 4 Vinod Rai Civil Service Kerala 5 Dr. Barjinder

Singh Hamdard Literature & Education - Journalism

Punjab

6 Hafeez Contractor

Others-Architecture

Maharashtra

7 R C Bhargava Public Affairs UP 8 Ms Saina Nehwal Sports-Badminton Telangana 9 Ms Sania Mirza Sports-Tennis Telangana

10 Pallonji Shapoorji Mistry (NRI/PIO)

Trade & Industry Ireland

PADHMA SRI – TOTAL 83

Sr. No.

Person Field From

1 Ajay Devgn Art-Cinema Maharashtra 2 Ms Priyanka

Chopra Art-Cinema Maharashtra

3 S S Rajamouli Art-Film Direction and Production

Karnataka

4 Madhur Bhandarkar

Art-Film Direction and Production

Maharashtra

5 Dhirendra Nath Bezbaruah

Literature & Education

Assam

6 Prof Pushpesh Pant

Literature & Education-Journalism

Delhi

7 Piyush Pandey Others-Advertising & Communication

Maharashtra

8 Ujjwal Nikam Public Affairs Maharashtra 9 Ms Deepika

Kumari Sports-Archery Jharkhand

10 Dilip Sanghvi Trade & Industry Maharashtra

ASHOKA CHAKRA: Nation's highest peacetime gallantry award, , has been awarded posthumously to Lance Naik Mohan Nath Goswami of 9 Para (Special Forces) for his acts of most conspicuous gallantry in

eliminating 10 terrorists in 11 days before laying down his life in the line of duty in Sep 2015 in Kupwara sector of Jammu & Kashmir. JNANPITH AWARD FOR 2015: Noted Gujarati writer Raghuveer Chaudhari became the 56th writer to be conferred with India's highest literary honour. His most noted works include novels 'Amruta' and 'Uparvas’.

61ST FILMFARE AWARDS DECLARED Best Actor: Ranveer Singh for Bajirao Mastani Best Actress: Deepika Padukone for Piku Best Film: Bajirao Mastani Best Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali for Bajirao Mastani Lifetime Achievement: Moushumi Chatterjee THE HINDU PRIZE, 2015: (for best novel) won by Easterine Kire, poet, novelist and children’s writer from Nagaland, for her novel When the River Sleeps. DSC Prize for South Asian Literature: Anuradha Roy for her novel Sleeping on Jupiter. YASH CHOPRA MEMORIAL AWARD: Given to veteran actress Rekha for her contribution to the film industry. KNIGHTHOOD HONOUR IN UK: conferred upon Dr Harpal Singh Kumar, an Indian-origin cancer research expert for his influential work on prevention and treatment of cancer. Lorenzo Natali Media Prize for 2015 (Asia-Pacific): Ankita Anand journalist for sensitive portrayal of life for young women facing the threat of the diktat of khap panchayats in Haryana.

WINNERS OF 73RD GOLDEN GLOBES 2016 Held on Jan 10 at Los Angeles, California, USA

Best Motion Picture (Drama): ‘The Revenant’ Best Actor (Drama): Leonardo DiCaprio, ‘The Revenant’ Best Actress (Drama): Brie Larson for Room Best Director: Alejandro Inarritu - The Revenant.


THE ORDER OF AUSTRALIA: The highest civilian honour of Australia conferred upon three Indians -- Sajeev Koshy, a Keralaite dentist settled in Melbourne for his service to dentistry in Victoria, C Jagadish, an eminent professor at Australian National University, Canberra and Jay Chandra, an eye doctor in New South Wales. Danny Kaye Humanitarian Leadership Award: David Beckham, famous footballer from Britain, for his tireless work to save and improve the lives of children around the world. PEN - Allen Foundation Literary Service Award (USA): Won by the Harry Potter author J K Rowling for her support for free expression and charitable causes.

BOOKS & AUTHORS

MARCH 2016

East of Suez by Alice Perrin

Buddhist Biology by David P. Barash

Standing Guard—A Year in Opposition by P Chidambaram.

Our Impossible Love by Durjoy Dutta

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

Life Mantras by Subrata Roy Sahara

Gandhi: An Illustrated Biography by Pramod Kapoor

Fixed: Cash and Corruption in Cricket by Shantanu Guha Ray

Who Was Shivaji by Govind Pansare

Indigo —Selected Stories by Satyajit Ray

A Handbook for My Lover by Rosalyn D’Mello.

FEBRUARY 2016

‘Playing It My Way’ - Sachin Tendulkar’s autobiography, has entered the Limca Book of Records in the category of best-selling books, with 1,50,289 copies sold. An Economist In The Real World by Kaushik Basu

Bullets and Bylines by Shyam Bhatia, noted journalist Lal Bahadur Shastri: Netritva ke Sutra by Anil Shastri and Pawan Chowdhary Dial D for Don — Inside Stories of CBI Case Missions by Neeraj Kumar, former Police Commissioner of Delhi Ancestral Affairs by Keki Daruwalla.

Why We Love the Way We Do by Preeti Shenoy The Bestseller She Wrote by Ravi Subramanian In Other Words by Jhumpa Lahiri Nathuram Godse - The Story of an Assassin by Anup Sardesai Transendence – a book by Former President APJ Abdul Kalam based on his spiritual experiences with Pramukh Swami Maharaj.

JANUARY 2016

‘Azad Bachpan ki Aur’ by Kailash Satyarthi, Nobel Peace prize winner

The Turbulent Years – 1980-1996 by Pranab Mukherjee, President of India

India’s Foreign Policy by Muchkund Dubey, a former Indian Foreign Secretary

The Z Factor: My Journey as the Wrong Man at the Right Time – an autobiography of Subhash Chandra, media moughal, founder of Zee TV.

Maru Bharat Saru Bharat (My India Noble India) written by Jain Acharya Ratnasundersuriswarji Maharaj. This is the 300th book written by Maharaj ji.

A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson - The book won the novel-of-the-year prize at Britain's Costa Book Awards 2015.

Go Set a Watchman, the second novel by Harper Lee, topped the US bestseller list in 2015, selling 1.6 million copies.

'Anything But Khamosh' – biography of Shatrughan Sinha written by Bharathi S Pradhan.

OBITUARY

MARCH 2016

PARAMESH KRISHNAN NAIR: Indian film archivist and film scholar died on 4 March 2016. He was 82. He was the founder and former director of the National Film Archive of India. P A SANGMA: Former Lok Sabha Speaker passed away at the age of 68. He was co-founder of the Nationalist Congress Party and remained Chief Minister of Meghalaya from 1988 to 1990. KUMARIMUTHU: Famous Tamil Comedy actor died in Chennai. He was 77. Ustad Ali Ahmad Hussain Khan: Eminent Shehnai exponent died in Kolkata. He was 77.


LLOYD S. SHAPLEY: Veteran Mathematician from USA, winner of Nobel Prize in Economics for his study of strategic decision-making called “game theory,” died in Tucson, USA. He was 92. JOHAN CRUYFF: The Netherland's soccer legend died of lung cancer in Barcelona, Spain. He was 68. He is credited with some of the greatest triumphs of the famous Barcelona Football Club. GEORGE HENRY MARTIN: The legendary music producer, popular as the "Fifth Beatle", passed away in England. He was 90. Winner of 6 Grammy Awards, he held Guinness World Records for the most successful producer ever with more than 50 Numbers. PAT CONROY: US novelist whose best-selling novels include 'Prince of Tides' and 'Water is Wide', died at the age of 70 in South Carolina, USA. RAY TOMLINSON: inventor of E-mail, passed away in Washington, USA at the age of 74. He invented direct electronic messages between users on different machines on a certain network in 1971. MARTIN CROWE: Pioneering cricketer, widely acknowledged as New Zealand’s greatest batsman who laid the foundations for Twenty20 cricket, died of cancer at the age of 53.

FEBRUARY 2016

USTAD ABDUL RASHID KHAN: The oldest performing vocalist of Hindustani Music, Padma Bhushan awardee, a descendant of Tansen, passed away in Kolkata at the age of 107 years. GEN. K V KRISHNA RAO: Former Army Chief who played a key role in the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, died of a cardiac arrest in New Delhi. He was 92. JASWANT SINGH RAJPUT: Two time Olympic gold winner in Hockey, passed away at the age of 90 years. O N V KURUP: Jnanpith award winning, very popular and most respected Malayalam poet from Kerala passed away at the age of 84. He was honoured with Padma Sri in 1998 and Padma Vibhushan in 2011. SUDHIR TAILANG: Well-known cartoonist, passed away in New Delhi at the age of 55. He was suffering from brain cancer. He worked for leading national news papers and was awarded Padma Sri in 2004. NIDA FAZLI: Renowned poet and lyricist, who enthralled several generations with his soul-stirring compositions like Kabhi kisi ko mukamil jahan nahi milta and Hosh waalon ko khabar kya, died in Mumbai due to heart failure. He was 78.

S.S. TARAPORE: Former Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, died at Mumbai at the age of 80.

BALRAM JAKHAR: Veteran Congress leader and former Lok Sabha Speaker, four times M P, passed away in New Delhi. He was 92.

AKBAR KAKKATTIL: Noted Malayalam novelist and short story writer passed away at the age of 62.

HARPER LEE: One of America's most celebrated novelists whose 1960 masterpiece "To Kill a Mockingbird" was read by millions worldwide, died at the age of 89. Equally popular was his second novel – Go Set a Watchman, published in 2015. In fact, it was the original manuscript of her first novel.

BOUTROS BOUTROS-GHALI: Former UN Secretary General, the Egyptian diplomat who became the first Secretary General from Africa in 1992, died in Cairo. He was 93.

SUSHIL KOIRALA: Former Prime Minister of Nepal and President of Nepali Congress passed away in Kathmandu after prolonged illness. He was 78.

EDGAR MITCHELL: NASA astronaut, who was the sixth man to walk on the Moon from Apollo 14 mission in Feb 1971, died in West Palm Beach, Florida at age of 85.

JANUARY 2016

MRINALINI SARABHAI: Veteran dancer and Padma Bhushan recipient passed away in Ahmedabad. She was 97. One of the most celebrated Indian classical dancers; she was proficient in Bharatanatyam, Kathakali and Mohiniyattam. Lt–Gen. J F R JACOB (retd): Ex Governor of Goa and Punjab and war hero of 1971 Bangladesh war, passed away in New Delhi after a brief illness. He was 92. He wrote his memoirs by the title “An Odyssey in War and Peace.” GENERAL O P MALHOTRA: Former Punjab Governor and ex-Chief of Army Staff passed away in Gurgaon due to old-age complications on Dec 29. He was 93. V. RAMA RAO: Veteran Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former Sikkim Governor passed away in Hyderabad after prolonged illness. He was 80. RAJESH VIVEK UPADHYAY: Noted film/ TV artist died in Hyderabad. He was 66. Rajesh was mainly known for his roles in films like Lagaan (Guran) and Swades. MUFTI MOHAMMAD SAYEED: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister breathed his last at the All–India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi. He was 79. He founded the Peoples Democratic Party in J&K in 1998.


SAROSH HOMI KAPADIA: Former Chief Justice of India, 68, passed away in Mumbai.

A.B. BARDHAN: Veteran Communist Party of India leader, 92, passed away after a long illness at New Delhi.

DAVID BOWIE: One of the most influential recording artists of all time in UK, passed away due to throat cancer. He was 69.

MARVIN MINSKY: Noted mathematician and the computer scientist, pioneer of artificial intelligence, died at the age of 88 in Boston, USA.

NATALIE COLE: Grammy-winning US singer passed away in Los Angeles. She was 65. She gave super hits like Our Love and This Will Be.

HASKELL WEXLER: Oscar – winning US cinematographer died in California. He was 93. He was one of the America’s most influential cinematographers.

YASUTARO KOIDE: The world’s oldest man died in Nagoya, Japan at the age of 112

PLACES IN NEWS

MARCH 2016

BAGHMARA: The first-ever auction of a gold mine in the country was held in Baghmara, Chhattisgarh. The auction was won by Vedanta ltd., a unit of global mining giant Vedanta Resources.

PALMYRA: The famed ancient city of Syria was in news as the Syrian troops backed by Russian forces recaptured it from the Islamic State group on March 27, in a major victory over the jihadists. The city captured by the IS forces in May, 2015 was reduced to ruins by them.

BRUSSELS: A series of bombings ripped through Brussels airport and the Maelbeek metro station in Belgium, killing around 38 people and injuring 130 others. Terror group - Islamic State claimed the responsibility for the attacks.

FEBRUARY 2016

KUMBAKONAM: Temple town of Thanjavur district in Tamil Nadu was the venue for the famous Mahamaham festival on Feb 22. The event occurs once in 12 years and is also referred to as the Kumbh Mela of the South. ELEPHANTA ISLAND: Located near Mumbai, a UNESCO world heritage site, famous for its Hindu cave sculptures depicting the cult of Shiva, was in news because the island, which was dependent upon diesel-powered generators for electricity until now, will be completely electrified by August, 2016.

MURUD-JANJIRA BEACH: A picnic along the Arabian Sea went horribly wrong for a group of collegians from Pune when 13 of them drowned off the Murud-Janjira beach in Maharashtra’s Raigad district.

CYCLONE WINSTON: One of the most powerful storms recorded in the southern hemisphere tore through the Pacific island nation Fiji, killing over 44 persons, flattening remote villages and cutting off communications.

JANUARY 2016

PATHANKOT: A group of 6 suspected Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terrorists attacked the Pathankot Air Force base in Punjab in the wee hours of January 2, engaging security forces in a fierce gunbattle lasting two days. All the attackers were killed but not before 7 defence personnel attained martyrdom. KALIACHAK: A small town 25 kms southwest of Malda in West Bengal was in news as more than a dozen policemen were injured and police station was set on fire in mob fury in an incident of communal violence. UMAID BHAWAN PALACE: in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, has been adjudged the best hotel in the world based on reviews and opinions collected by travel site Trip Advisor for its ‘Travellers’ Choice awards for Hotels'. CHARSADDA: At least 25 persons were killed and several other were seriously wounded when Taliban suicide attackers stormed the prestigious Bacha Khan University in Charsadda, near Peshawar in Pakistan. MAZAR-e-SHARIF: City in Afghanistan was in news as the Indian Consulate there was attacked by the heavily armed terrorists. An intense 25-hour gun-battle between security forces and terrorists ended in the killing of all attackers.

RAMADI: City in Iraq was declared liberated from the Islamic State group after clinching a landmark victory against the jihadists. The city was lost to IS in May, 2015.

SPORTS WORLD

MARCH 2016

Gurmeet Singh created history by becoming the first Indian athlete to clinch a gold medal in the Asian 20 km Race Walk Championships in Nomi, Japan.

S S P Chawrasia, ace Indian golfer won the European Tour Hero Indian Open title in Delhi. Dhruv Sitwala won the Asian Billiards Championship held at Colombo, Sri Lanka.


Indian shooter Jitu Rai clinched the 50m pistol gold at the ISSF World Cup in Bangkok,Thailand. Deepika and PR Sreejesh won the Dhruv Batra Player of the Year Award for Women and Men respectively at the Hockey India Annual Awards. Santosh Trophy National Football Championships: Services retained the title after beating hosts Maharashtra in the summit clash in Nagpur. Irani Cup Cricket championship: Rest of India team won the title by beating Mumbai team in the finals played in Mumbai. India clinched the Asia Cup T20 trophy for a record sixth time after beating Bangladesh by eight-wickets in the final at Mirpur, Bangladesh. Col C K Nayudu Trophy won by Mumbai by beating Madhya Pradesh in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. Nayudu was the first Indian captain of Indian test match team 1st All India Open Invitational Snooker Championship won by Rahul Sachdev in Aurangabad, Maharashtra. National Race Walking Championships, Jaipur: Gurmeet Singh and Khushbir Kaur won the gold in 20kms event for men and women, respectively. Pro Kabaddi League Season 3: Patna Pirates beat the U Mumba to emerge as Champions in the finals played in Delhi. Russia’s Sergey Karjakin won the World Chess candidates tournament in Moscow Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold Badminton Tournament: won by India's H S Prannoy in Basel, Switzerland. World Table Tennis Team Championship: China defeated Japan in both, men’s and women’s category, to win both the championships at Kuala Lumpur. In the second division, both, men's and women's team titles were bagged by Indian teams. All England Open Badminton Championship: Lin Dan of China won the finals by beating his own teammate Tian Houwei in the finals played in Birmingham, UK. BNP Paribas Open Tennis Tournament: Novak Djokovic of Serbia and Victoria Azarenka of Belarusia won the men’s and women’s singles title, respectively, in the finals played at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Southern California. UCI Track Cycling Championship 2016 held in London.

Dubai Tennis Championships: Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland won the title by defeating Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus MARIA SHARAPOVA: Former world number one tennis star failed a drugs test at the Australian Open. As a result, the 28 year old Russian star, a five time Grand Slam champion, was suspended from sports, pending further action.

FEBRUARY 2016

Dutee Chand, ace sprinter set a new national record in the 60m dash in 7.28 seconds at the 7th Asian Indoor Athletics Championships in Doha. Kidambi Srikanth won the Men's Singles title of the Syed Modi International Badminton Championships held in Lucknow, U P. Anirban Lahiri, India’s top golfer has been voted as the Hilton Asian Tour Golfer of Year by fans in an online poll. Rishabh Pant, Wicketkeeper-batsman in India U-19 team created world record for fastest 50 playing against Nepal in the ICC U-19 World Cup in Mirpur, Bangladesh. Sania Mirza and her Swiss partner Martina Hingis won the St. Petersburg Ladies Doubles Trophy. 12th South Asian Games came to an end on Feb 16 at Guwahati. India finished at the top with a record 308 medals - 188 Gold, 90 Silver and 30 Bronze. Shooter Chain Singh won record 6 Gold medals. Hosted city was Shillong and Guwahati. 13th SAG will be hosted by Nepal in Kathmandu in 2019. Ranji Trophy: Mumbai won the prestigious cricket championship defeating Saurashtra in Pune, Maharashtra.


The Indian women's cricket team lead by Mithali Raj won the three-match Twenty20 International series against Sri Lanka 3-0 in Ranchi, Jharkhand. Hockey India League: Jaypee Punjab Warriors won the championship by beating Kalinga Lancers in Ranchi, Jharkhand. 36th National Chess team Championship was won by the Indian Railways in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. Punjab defeated Mizoram to lift the Dr BC Roy Trophy for the National Junior Football Championship at Hoshiarpur, Punjab. 34th Senior National Rowing Championship held at Hussainsagar Lake, Hyderabad. 83rd Senior National Snooker Championship: Aditya Mehta won the title by defeating Manan Chandra in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. Kerala won the 61st National School Athletics championship held in Kozhikode, Kerala India achieved a rare 3-0 clean sweep in the T20 International against Australia in Sydney to emerge on the top of the ICC T20 rankings. The Indian women’s cricket team made history on Jan 29 by clinching its maiden T20 series win over three-time world champions Australia in Melbourne. Fittipaldi of Brazil won the MRF Challenge Formula 2000 race in Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu. AUSTRALIAN OPEN concludes in Melbourne, Australia. First of the four grand slams of tennis

Men’s Singles: World Number One Novak Djokovic of Serbia beats Andy Murray of Britain Women’s Singles: Germany's Angelique Kerber got her maiden grand slam title by beating defending champion world no 1, Serena Williams of USA Men’s Doubles: Jamie Murray of UK and Brazil’s Bruno Soares won the title Women’s Doubles: Sania Mirza of India Martina Hingis of Switzerlandwon the title Quinton De Kock, batsman from South Africa became the quickest and the youngest batsmen to score 10 centuries in ODIs. He notched it up in just 55 innings, beating the record of Hashim Amla who had notched up 10 tons in 57 innings. He scored his 10th century in Centurion, SA, playing against England. Brendon McCullum, New Zealand Skipper has smashed the fastest ever Test century in just 54 balls, playing against Australia at Christchurch.

Bradman Young Cricketer of the Year: won by Sean Abbott, the bowler from Australia. ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup: The West Indies won the cup for the first time, beating three time champions India in Mirpur, Bangladesh. Badminton Asia Team Championships: China and Indonesia won the women’s and men’s categories, respectively, in Hyderabad. 2021 World Aquatics Championships will be hosted by Fukuoka city of Japan and by Doha, Qatar in 2023. The first ever Asia Cup in its T-20 format started from February 24th in Bangladesh. The ICC Women's Cricket World Cup 2017 will be hosted by England in June 2017. Helmet for Umpires: Concerned about the safety of its on-field officials, the ICC has decided to provide specially designed helmets to umpires in the upcoming World T20 in India to ensure their safety.

JANUARY 2016

DHANWADE SCORES RECORD 1009 RUNS Mumbai teenager Pranav Dhanawade scripted history by becoming the first batsman ever to notch up a four-figure score by smashing an unbeaten knock of 1009 including 59 sixes and 129 fours in 6 hours 35 minutes. The 15-year-old, playing for KC Gandhi Higher Secondary School, reached the gigantic score in just 323 deliveries with a jaw-dropping strike rate of 312.38 in the game against Arya Gurukul in the Bhandari Cup inter-school tournament organised by the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA). Ravichandran Ashwin, India’s off-spinner was ranked as the No. 1 Test bowler in the ICC rankings for 2015. PV Sindhu won the Malaysia Masters Grand Prix Gold Badminton title beating Scotland's Kirsty Gilmour in the final at Penang, Malaysia. Jehan Daruvala of India won the New Zealand's most popular motor race the Lady Wigram Trophy. Siril Verma, young Indian badminton player was declared number one in junior men's singles category in the Badminton World Federation (BWF) rankings. APURVI CHANDELA broke the world record on 5 January 2016 to grab a gold medal in the women's 10 metre air rifle event with a score of 211.2 at the Swedish Cup Grand Prix in Savsjo, Sweden. Later, she won her second gold in 10 metre tri series event, thereby also winning the title of ‘Shooter of the Tournament’


V V S Laxman's classy innings of 281 against Australia at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata in 2001 has been rated as the greatest Test performance of the last 50 years in an online survey by the ‘Cricket Magazine’.

ONGC won the Lal Bahadur Shastri Hockey tournament by beating Railways in New Delhi.

Rakhi Haldar and Kavita Devi won gold in their respective weight categories in the Senior National Weightlifting Championships held in Patiala, Punjab.

Arunima Sinha, the amputee mountaineer who set a record by climbing the Mount Everest, conquered Mount Aconcagua in Argentina, the highest mountain outside Asia, at 6960.8 metres.

India won the first T20 Asia cup Cricket for Blind beating Pakistan by 44 runs in the finals held at Kochi, Kerala. Delhi International Chess Tournament started in Delhi on Jan. 9 BCCI ANNUAL HONOURS 'Cricketer of the Year' - Men: Virat Kohli, Indian Test captain 'Cricketer of the Year' - Women: Mithali Raj, 1st Indian woman and 2nd in world to complete 5,000 runs in ODI India beat defending champions Afghanistan 2-1 in the final of the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Cup in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.

Chennai Open Tennis: Stanislaus Wawrinka (Swiss) won the cup for the third time in row, beating Borna Coric of Croatia.

The 76th All-India Inter-University Athletics Championship was held in Patiala and the Punjabi University emerged as the overall champions for the sixth year in a row.

Senior National Wrestling Championship, New Delhi Gold won by Bajrang Punia in Men's 65kg and Ritu Phogat in women's 48kg Freestyle categories. Priyanka Phogat won the gold in the women’s 55kg category. Overall championship was won by Railways in men’s category and by Haryana in women’s category.

Vijay Merchant (U-16) Trophy: Punjab won the cricket trophy after beating Mumbai in Bengaluru.

Premier Badminton League: Delhi Acers won the title by beating Mumbai Rockets in New Delhi.

Indian women boxers won 4 gold, 9 silver and 9 bronze medals at the 5th Amateur International Boxing Association (AIBA) Nations Cup in Ruma, Serbia.

The 61st National School Athletic Meet held at Kozhikode, Kerala from Jan 29.

Justice (Retd) R M Lodha committee appointed by the S C to look into the affairs of BCCI has recommended sweeping reforms that include a bar on ministers from occupying positions, putting a cap on the age and tenure of the office-bearers and legalising betting.

Japan's Izumo Takuto and Hong Kong's Zhu Chengzhu won the boys' and girls' table tennis titles, respectively, in the 11Even Sports 2015 ITTF World Junior Circuit Finals in Indore, Madhya Pradesh.

FIFA Ballon d'Or award: Lionel Messi of Argentina won the World Player of the Year Award for the fifth time.

FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year: Carli Lloyd, US midfielder claimed her first award.

INTERNATIONAL HOCKEY FEDERATION ANNUAL AWARDS 2015 Player of the Year (men): Robert Van der Horst, The Netherlands Player of the Year (women): Lidewij Welten, The Netherlands World champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway won the Qatar Masters Open Chess Tournament.

Ronnie O'Sullivan of Britain won his sixth World Snooker Masters title after defeating Barry Hawkins in London.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul: The West Indies batsman announced his retirement from international cricket

Veteran tennis star Marat Safin became the first Russian player to enter the prestigious International Tennis Hall of Fame, USA.

2015 BRISBANE INTERNATIONAL Tennis Tournament at Brisbane, Australia. Men’s Singles: Milos Raonic of Canada defeated Roger Federer Women’s Singles: Victoria Azarenka (Belarus) beats A Kerber Men’s Doubles: Henri Kontinen & John Peers Women’s doubles: Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis Australia has declined to take part in forthcoming Under-19 World Cup Tournament in Bangladesh citing security reasons.


DAYS & DATES

UNAIDS observed the ‘Zero Discrimination Day’ on March 1 with various activities to celebrate everyone’s right to live a full life with dignity regardless of age, gender, sexuality, nationality, ethnicity, skin color, height, weight, profession, education, and beliefs.

UNAIDS: The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS

World Wildlife Day was observed on 3 March across the world. This year’s theme was “The future of wildlife is in our hands”, with African and Asian elephants being the main focus of global campaigns.

National Safety Day was observed across India on 4 March. The day is organised annually by the National Safety Council to commemorate its establishment and enhance the safety awareness among people.

International Women's Day was observed across the world on 8 March 2016. This year's theme for the Day is “Planet 50-50 by 2030: Step It Up for Gender Equality”.

World Kidney Day was observed globally on March 10 with the theme “Kidney Disease & Children - Act Early to Prevent It” to enlighten parents and caretakers about the incidence of kidney ailments in children.

The World Consumer Rights Day was observed on 15 March with the theme ‘Antibiotics off the Menu’ to make people aware of risk of antibiotics in food items.

March 20 observed as The World Sparrow Day with the theme Rise for the Sparrow-Experience the power of one.

March 20 was observed as the United Nations appointed Red, the leader of the “Angry Birds” mobile game characters as an envoy to inspire climate action toward a sustainable and happier future for all.

March 21 was observed as the World Forestry Day across the world to promote the importance of forests and trees in our lives. It is also known as UN International Day of Forests. This year’s theme is “forests and water”.

March 22 was observed as the World Water Day with the theme Water and Jobs. It may be noted that three out of four of the jobs worldwide are water-dependent.

World Meteorological Day was observed on March 23 with the theme “Hotter, Drier, Wetter. Face the Future”. Climate change is disrupting the natural pattern of the seasons, and it is increasing the frequency and intensity of certain extreme weather events, such as heat waves, droughts and heavy rainfall.

March 23 was celebrated as Shahidi Diwas to pay homage to great freedom fighters - Bhagat Singh,

Rajguru and Sukhdev on their martyrdom day. It was on this day in 1931 that they were martyred in Lahore jail and cremated on the banks of Satluj River at Hussainiwala in Ferozpur district of Punjab.

March 24 was observed as the World Tuberculosis Day. Govt launched the new anti-TB drug Bedaquiline to combat Drug Resistant TB as part of the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Program (RNTCP).

Theatre community across the world celebrated the World Theatre Day on March 27.

ALL THE NEWS ITEMS IN THIS MAGAZINE HAVE BEEN SOURCED

FROM VARIOUS NEWS PAPERS AND GOVT. PRESS RELEASES

MARCH World Wildlife Day 03rd March International Women’s Day 08th March No Smoking Day 13th March World Disabled Day 15th March St. Patricks Day 17th March World Sparrow Day 20th March World Poetry Day 21st March World Water Day 22nd March World Meteorological Day 23rd March World Stage Artists Day 27th March World Earth Hour (8:30 pm to 9:30 pm) 29th March Financial Year Ending 31st March

APRIL April Fool’s Day 1st April National Maritime Day 05th April World Health Day 07th April World Heritage Day 18th April Civil Service Day 21st April World Earth Day 22nd April World Books Day 23rd April World Maleria Day 25th April World Intellectual Property Day 26th April

MAY World Labour Day, Maharashtra Day 01st May International Energy Day, World Asthma Day 03rd May Coal Minor's Day 04th May World Midwives Day 05th May World Red Cross and Red Cresent Day 08th May National Technology Day 11th May International Family Day 15th May World Telecom Day 17th May National Anti Terrorism Day 21st May World No Tobacco Day 31st May



NATIONAL NEWS

DECEMBER 2015

India has ranked a low 97th out of 144 nations on Forbes' annual list of the best countries for doing business in 2015

As per the Human Development Index (HDI) compiled by the UNDP, India ranked a lowly 130th in the list of 188 nations.

Prime Minister Modi visited Russia on Dec 23-24 to attend the 16th India-Russia annual summit.

PM Modi visited Afghanistan on Dec 25 to meet President Ashraf Ghani. He inaugurated the Parliament building which has been constructed by India.

According to the India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2015, the total forest and tree cover is 79.42 million hectare, which is 24.16 percent of the total geographical area

The Supreme Court has directed that acid-attack victims should be considered under the disabled quota to enable them to get reservations in govt jobs.

The World Bank has approved a $ 1.5 billion loan for the clean India campaign to ensure all citizens in rural areas have access to improved sanitation

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

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

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

The Lok Sabha passed the Bureau of Indian Standards Bill, 2015 to establish the Bureau of

Indian Standards (BIS) as a National Standards Body.

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

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

NOVEMBER 2015

The ‘Constitution Day’ of India was observed on

26th November to spread awareness of Indian Constitution and its architect Dr. B R Ambedkar.

P M visited England on November 12 for a three day trip. He became the first serving Prime Minister of India to address the UK's Parliament.

India and Australia have announced the completion of procedures for bringing the two-nation nuclear deal into force.

Li Yuanchao, the Vice-President of China visited India to review cooperation on better river water management and cultural exchanges.

As per the annual report on world's most valuable nation brands compiled by Brand Finance, India is world's 7th most valued nation brand.

The US remains on the top with a valuation of 19.7 billion dollars, followed by China and Germany

P M Modi has been ranked as the world's ninth most powerful person by Forbes magazine, Russian President Vladimir Putin is at no one.

According to a report, the number of internet users in India is expected to touch 402 million by December 2015, a 49 per cent jump over last year.

India has been ranked 99th in Legatum Prosperity Index 2015 out of 142 countries.

Bullet News (OCT – DEC 2015) For details visit – www.gyanm.in


7th Central Pay Commission headed by Justice AK Mathur submitted its report to the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Nov 19.

It recommended 23.55 percent hike in pay and allowances of government employees.

The pay will go up by 16 percent, allowances by 63 percent and pension by 24 percent.

The pay revision will come into effect from January 2016.

The Global Gender Gap Report 2015 has ranked Iceland at top, followed by Norway and Finland. India ranked low at 108th rank.

As per the Global Terrorism Index 2015, India ranks 6th in list of 162 nations worst hit by terrorism in 2014. Iraq tops the list, followed by Afghanistan.

First India International Science Festival was held at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi

46th International Film Festival of India, IFFI began in Panaji, Goa with the screening of ‘The Man Who Knew the Infinity’.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

OCTOBER 2015

India has emerged as the country with the best representation on the 2015 Platts Top 250 Global Energy Company Rankings.

The 3rd India-Africa Forum Summit was held in New Delhi from Oct 26 to 29.

Doordarshan has emerged as the most watched Hindi channel in terms of time spent per viewer

India has improved its position to 130 from 142 in 2015 in the World Bank's 2016 rankings in terms of ease of doing business.

India has emerged as the youngest startup nation in the world where over 72 per cent of founders are less than 35 years old.

President Pranab Mukherjee made a six-day visit to Jordan, Palestine and Israel from Oct 10 to15.

G-20 summit 2018 will be hosted by India in New Delhi. The 2016 summit will be hosted by China and the 2017 summit will be hosted by Germany.

Angela Merkel, German Chancellor, came to New Delhi on an official visit to take part in the third Inter-Governmental Consultations (IGC)

India has moved up 16 positions, from 71st in 2014 to 55th place on the Global Competitiveness Index 2015-16 compiled by the World Economic Forum

In terms of protection of small investors, India ranks 8th, ahead of the USA, Germany and Japan, as per a study conducted by the World Bank.

The Supreme Court has allowed the use of Aadhaar cards for all central and state schemes, including MNREGA and Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana


The Supreme Court has rejected the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act and the 99th Constitutional Amendment

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

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

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

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

NEWS FROM STATES

DECEMBER 2015

Delhi recorded the highest per capita income among all the states in the country at Rs. 2,40,849 during financial year 2014-15.

Green Peace India released the National Air Quality Index covering top 20 most polluted cities in world and Delhi was the most polluted city

The National Green Tribunal has directed that no new or old diesel vehicle be registered in Delhi till Jan. 6, with a view to curb pollution in capital.

The Konark Festival, the five-day festival of classical dances of India, was held in Konark, Odisha, in the back drop of the famous Sun Temple.

The International Sand Art Festival 2015 was held in Konark, Odisha.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

NOVEMBER 2015

In Tamil Nadu, heavy rains by north east monsoon claimed over 102 lives. The rains threw normal life out of gear in almost all parts of the state

Mysuru Railway Station in Karnataka has become the first blind-friendly Railway Station in India.

South Australia state has signed a historic 'sister-state agreement' with Rajasthan to pave new ways to boost export and investment opportunities

Chhath festival was celebrated in different parts of the country on Nov 17-18 with great religious fervour and gaiety.

Migratory birds mostly from Northern Eurasia, Siberia, Kazakh and remote areas of Russia and Southeast Asia have arrived in Chilka Lake, Odisha.

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

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

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

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

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

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

OCTOBER 2015

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan has been appointed Maharashtra’s brand ambassador for Tigers


In Odisha, all the 531 police stations in the state have been computerized to allow online filing of FIR from anywhere in the state

Mission ‘Abaas’ launched in Odisha to provide (EWS), Low Income Groups (LIG) and slum dwellers.

District Court in Khunti, Jharkhand became county's first solar powered district court.

GOVT INITIATIVES

DECEMBER 2015

Govt has launched 4 new Information Technology-based initiatives to provide citizen-centric health services. They include three applications: Kilkari:An audio-based mobile service that

delivers weekly audio messages to families about pregnancy, child birth and child care.

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

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

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

Government has announced that taxpayers with an annual income of more than Rs 10 lakh will not get subsidised LPG cylinders from January, 2016.

Six new Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) will be set up in Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Jammu, Kerala and Karnataka.

The government has launched an injectable polio vaccine – Inactivated Polio Vaccine (IPV) – which will be administered in addition to oral polio drops

Lok Sabha passed a bill to develop 101 new waterways across the country aimed at providing a cheaper mode of transport

Govt has made it mandatory for the auditors to report any suspected corporate fraud of Rs 1 crore or more to the Corporate Affairs Ministry

Govt has decided to rename the posts of UDC and LDC as Senior Secretariat Assistant and Junior Secretariat Assistant, respectively.

Date for implementation of the Bharat Stage (BS) V and VI emission standards for 4 wheelers extended by 3 years to April 1, 2019 and April 1, 2021, respectively.

The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Bill, which lowers the age for trial of juvenile from 18 to 16 years, has been passed by parliament.

Govt has asked the states and UTs to start Operation Smile-II from 1 to 31 January 2016 to rehabilitate / rescue the missing children.

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

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

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

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

NOVEMBER 2015

The government launched Ujjwal Discom Assurance Yojna (UDAY) to improve the ability of power distribution companies (DISCOMs)

Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment launched 10 schemes for the benefit of disabled persons.

Govt has launched the Technology Acquisition and Development Fund (TADF) to facilitate acquisition of clean and energy efficient technologies.

To revamp criminal justice system in the country, the govt has approved implementation of two systems –

CCTNS - Crime and Criminals Tracking Network and Systems and ICJS - Integrated Criminal Justice System

Accessible India campaign launched at 27 international airports and 75 railway stations to make them disabled-friendly.

Govt has approved State Annual Action Plans (SAAP) of 81 mission cities in 5 states under AMRUT for 2015-16.


National Mission on Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Augmentation Drive (PRASAD) and Swadesh Darshan schemes launched to achieve 1% share of international tourist arrivals by 2016-17.

Govt has made it mandatory to use waste plastic in bituminous mixes for road construction to overcome the problem of disposal of plastic waste

Monetary limit to approve foreign investment proposals of the FIPB hiked to Rs 5,000 cr, from Rs. 3,000 cr at present.

Govt launched 3 web portals/apps in education field: –e-Pathshala: for educational resources, –Saaransh: for educational improvements, and –Shala Siddhi: National Programme on School Standards and Evaluation Framework for online evaluations.

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

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

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

From Nov. 12, a railway ticket could be booked online up to 30 minutes prior to the departure of a train

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

OCTOBER 2015

The IIT Council has decided to waive full fee (Rs. 90,000/-) for the physically challenged students from the current academic session in all the 15 IITs

Govt has launched an e-Sahyog pilot project of Income-Tax Department aimed at reducing compliance cost, especially for small taxpayers.

Govt has launched Central Victim Compensation Fund to support the victims of various attacks, such as rape, acid attacks, human trafficking etc.

Govt launched the 'Science Express Climate Action Special' exhibition train from Delhi, for spreading awareness about effects of climate change

The Union Health Ministry has permitted transfer of blood from one blood bank to another to help out needy hospitals.

Govt to raise the wage ceiling for calculating bonus to Rs 7,000 and workers drawing a monthly salary up to Rs. 21,000 will be eligible for bonus.

Doordarshan will telecast a programme on Apprenticeship Training Scheme - Hunarbaaz, from Oct 18.

Govt has approved the World Bank assisted National Watershed Management Project Neeranchal for promoting effective irrigation in nine states.

Govt has launched a pilot programme - Kisan, which will use satellite imaging to get accurate data on crop yields and collection of data of hailstorm.

Govt has notified ‘Mid Day Meal Rules, 2015’ under the National Food Security Act, 2013 for improved administration and efficiency of the scheme.

Govt has signed a MoU with the New India Assurance Company to provide Swavlamban Health Insurance Scheme, for the Persons with Disabilities In the age group of 18 to 65 years with family

annual income of less than Rs. 3,00,000. Health insurance cover up to Rs. 2,00,000 per

annum as family floater. The Central Board of Direct Taxes, CBDT has

simplified the format and procedure for self declaration by individuals in 15G and 15H forms.

Government has launched Green Highways policy to promote greening of Highway corridors with participation of farmers and public sector. One per cent of the total project cost of all

highways projects will be kept aside for the highway plantation and its maintenance.

Government has unveiled ‘National Institutional Ranking Framework’ for annual ranking of engineering and management institutes in the country.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


ECONOMIC INDICATORS

DECEMBER 2015

Global financial analysts Goldman Sachs have said that India’s GDP is expected to grow by 7.9 per cent next fiscal driven by rising domestic demand

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services in its 'India Credit Spotlight' newsletter has noted that India's economy will grow at 7.4 per cent in the current fiscal

The United Nations World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) 2016 report says that India would record a 7.3% growth in 2016 and 7.5% in 2017.

NOVEMBER 2015

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

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

OCTOBER 2015

World Bank says that India is expected to overcome the global slowdown and its GDP may grow by 7.5 per cent despite a weak export recovery.

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

ECONOMY

DECEMBER 2015

Cochin Shipyard has become the first shipyard in India to get the nod to build LNG (liquefied natural gas) transporting ships, making India 4th such country

The government has made it mandatory to quote PAN for all transactions in excess of Rs.2 lakh to curb black money.

During visit of Japan’s Prime Minister, Japan agreed to support building of India’s first bullet train network between Mumbai- Ahmadabad

The average number of days taken for incorporation of a company has come down to 4.51 days in November 2015 from 9.57 days in December 2014.

Singapore airport developer Changi will take up the operations and management of the Ahmadabad and Jaipur airports.

The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd has become the first oil company from India to join the global initiative ‘Zero Routine Flaring by 2030’

The SEBI has released concept paper for issuance of Green Bonds. In a green bond funds are 'ear-marked' for use towards financing ‘green’ projects only.

World Bank has said that India is the largest recipient of inward remittances receiving over $ 72 billion in 2014, followed by China at $ 64 billion.

Singapore has replaced Mauritius as the top source of foreign direct investment into India during the first half of the current fiscal.

Four Asian countries have agreed to start construction of 1800 kms long Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline project

The pipeline will carry natural gas from Turkmenistan of which India and Pakistan will get 42% each and Afghanistan will get the remaining 16%

The govt is considering a 'medicines for oil' barter system with Venezuela where Indian pharma exporters are facing problems to repatriate their sales proceeds

Reliance Jio launched 4G telecom service providing data services with a speed up to 1 gigabyte per second

Bharti Airtel will invest Rs. 60,000 crore over the next three-years in ‘Project Leap’ to upgrade its networks

YouTube has tied up with Whistling Woods Int owned by Subhash Ghai, to open its first video production studio called YouTube Spaces in India.

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

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

NOVEMBER 2015

MSP OF RABI CROPS HIKED Rs./Qtl CROP MSP CROP MSP Wheat 1525 Rapeseed / Mustard 3350 Barley 1225 Masoor 3325

Safflower 3300 Grams 3425 The Confederation of All India Traders has launched

an e-commerce portal, ‘e-lala’ to promote interests of 5.77 crore small businesses

As per a recent IMF study, India's GDP can expand by 27 per cent if the number of women workers increases to the same level as that of men.


Government has announced the levy of a Swachh Bharat cess of 0.5% on all services liable for service tax (14%) from November 15.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

OCTOBER 2015

The S C has imposed 'Environment Compensation Charge' of Rs 700 and Rs 1300 on commercial vehicles entering Delhi from Nov 1 for 4 months.

A study by the Savills World Research shows that Mumbai is world's cheapest city to live and work among 12 top metropolitan cities of the world.

Govt plans to include Sin Tax in the proposed Goods and Services Tax (GST) law.

Sin tax is an excise tax levied on products and services like alcohol, tobacco and gambling considered bad for health or society.

India and Germany have signed two loan agreements worth 125 million Euros for financing Green Energy Corridor project in H P and Andhra.

Anil Baijal committee submitted its report for developing suitable methodologies for monitoring CSR provisions

TRAI has made it mandatory for telecom operators to compensate consumers by Rs.1 for call drops with effect from 1 January, 2016.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

BANKING

DECEMBER 2015

The RBI has decided to lower the banks’ investment in SLR to 20.5% by January 2017 from 21.5% at present. SLR would be cut by 25 basis points to 21.25%

as on April 2, 2016; 21% by July 9, 2016, 20.75% by Oct 1, 2016 to 20.75% and 20.50 % by Jan 1, 2017.

The Supreme Court has ruled that the RBI and commercial banks cannot hide routine information about the top defaulters, etc.

RBI has hiked Priority Sector Lending (PSL) norms for Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) from 60 per cent at present to 75 per cent of their total lending

RBI has said that from April 1 next year, all banks will have to follow a new and uniform methodology to calculate base rate as per the marginal cost of funds. All new loans and renewals will now be priced

with reference to the Marginal Cost of Funds based Lending Rate (MCLR)

Banks will have to publish MCLR of five maturities every month-overnight rates, one month, three months, six months and one year.


Like base rate, banks will not be allowed to lend below MCLR, except for few categories, like loans against deposits, loans to bank’s own employees.

State Bank of India has become first bank in India to issue EMV chip and pin based debit cards to ensure enhanced secure transactions.

EMV stands for Euro–Maestro–Visa. Yes Bank has bagged the prestigious 'Bank of the

Year' award conferred by Britain’s 'The Banker' magazine.

HSBC (Hong Kong Shanghai Banking Corporation) announced shutting down of its private banking business in India

Tech Mahindra has launched ‘MoboMoney’, India’s first ‘Tap N Pay’ contactless digital payment solution in the form of a prepaid wallet

Axis Bank has partnered with e-Mudhra to introduce ‘eSign’ – an online electronic signature service which facilitates an Aadhaar holder to digitally sign a document at the click of a button.

Announcing the 5th Bi-Monthly Monetary Policy review on Dec 2, RBI Governor did not change any of the key policy rates.

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

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

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

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

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

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

NOVEMBER 2015

3% interest subvention scheme launched to allow exporters to avail loans from banks at a lower rate.

RuPay card usage condition of at least one transaction in 45 days hiked to 90 days for filing a claim under accident insurance cover in PMJDY accounts

State Bank launched the country's first low-income state infrastructure equity partnership (or the Neev fund) in London.

Indian corporates plan to raise fund by issuing rupee-denominated ‘masala bonds’ in foreign capital markets.

Masala bonds are Indian rupee denominated bonds issued in overseas capital markets by Indian corporates.

Sovereign gold bonds were opened for public subscription from Nov 5-30 for min 2 grams of gold, up to a maximum of 500 grams.

RBI has allowed state and district central co-operative banks to offer ‘view only’ internet banking to its customers.

‘View only’ means that customers can use online services such as balance enquiry, a/c statement and request for supply of cheque books.

RBI has granted an "in-principle" approval to three companies to set up and operate a new Trade Receivables Discounting System (TReDS).

HDFC Bank has become the first Indian bank to launch Sonic branding (Musical Logo) to be used across ATMs, phone banking, mobile banking

RBI has decided to stop the barter system - trading of goods without exchange of money at the Indo-Myanmar border, from December 1.

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

RBI has decided that a foreign bank in India can deploy a max of 4 expatriates for each branch and not more than 6 for their H O functions.

OCTOBER 2015

The RBI has decided to create a new Financial Inclusion Fund- FIF with a corpus of 2,000 crore rupees by merger of two different funds. The 2 fund are - Financial Inclusion Fund and

Financial Inclusion Technology Fund Govt has decided to allow foreign investment up to

100 per cent in White Label ATM operations under the automatic route to promote financial inclusion.


ICICI Bank has become the first bank in the world to launch mVisa - a card-less and device-less payment solution.

Recent RBI data shows that among public sector banks, the UCO Bank had highest ratio of NPAs at 8.5 per cent of its loans in 2014-15

SBI receives RBI nod to set up a subsidiary to frame and implement a uniform policy for all the real estate properties owned or rented by the bank.

RBI has said that the banks will be free to set interest rate on Gold Deposit Schemes and principal and interest of the deposit will be denominated in gold.

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

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

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

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

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

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

DEFENCE, SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

DECEMBER 2015

Unified Commanders Conference, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was held on board Navy’s aircraft carrier - INS Vikramaditya,

34 Islamic nations have agreed to form a new “Islamic military alliance” led by Saudi Arabia to fight terrorism with a joint operations center based in Riyadh,

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

The 8th edition of INDRA NAVY-15, a joint naval exercise between Indian and Russian navies, started off the coast of Visakhapatnam in the Bay of Bengal.

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

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

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

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

Pakistan tested nuclear capable ballistic missile Shaheen 1A, range of 900 kms & Shaheen-III which can carry nuclear warheads up to 2,750 kms

The ISRO launched PSLV-C29 rocket carrying six satellites of Singapore. They included main satellite TeLEOS-1 and five mini satellites

US space company SpaceX created history on Dec 21 when its Falcon 9 rocket landed back on earth within 10 minutes of its launch from the Cape Canaveral

The Atlas V rocket of NASA, carrying the supplies for the International Space Station, blasted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, USA,

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

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

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

NOVEMBER 2015

The Long Range Surface to Air Missile (LRSAM),

jointly developed by the Israel and DRDO successfully flight tested from the Israel Naval Platform

The nuclear-capable ballistic missile Dhanush was successfully test fired from warship INS Subhadra, off the Puri coast of Odisha

Indian Army successfully test-fired the land attack variant of the 290-km range BrahMos supersonic cruise missile at the Pokhran test range in Rajasthan.

Agni-IV, the nuclear-capable ballistic missile, tested for a range of 4,000 kms from Abdul Kalam Island (formerly Wheeler Island), off the Odisha coast.

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

India’s latest communication satellite GSAT-15 was successfully launched by the European Ariane rocket from Kourou in French Guiana.

Under its ‘Project Loon’, Google is using big balloons floating at a height of 20 kms for transmission of Internet services in India

Russia launched its first early warning system satellite named EKS or Integrated Space System. Its official name is Kosmos 2510 (Tundra 11L).

China’s Tianhe-2 supercomputer has emerged as the world’s most powerful supercomputer system for the sixth consecutive time.

UK Scientists have developed the world's first 'porous' liquid that can be used to capture and dissolve large amounts of harmful carbon gas emissions

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

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

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

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

OCTOBER 2015

Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders released the first Scorpene category submarine INS 'Kalvari' for sea trails at the Naval Dockyard Mumbai.

The navies of India, United States and Japan began a five-day joint operation-'Malabar exercise' on October 14 on the eastern coast in Bay of Bengal

4th Sri Lanka-India Exercise (SLINEX) of two navies was held in Bay of Bengal, off the Trincomalee coast in Sri Lanka, from October 27 to November 1.

A 14-day joint training exercise 'Mitra Shakti 2015', involving military contingents from India and Sri Lanka, was held in Pune from Sep 29 to Oct 12

India has signed a deal with Slovenia for supply of 194 Pipistrel micro-light aircraft to be used by Indian Air Force, the Navy and the.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

India’s first dedicated astronomy research satellite Astrosat was successfully launched on Sep 28 by the PSLV-C30 from Sriharikota.

Microsoft Corp and Google Inc have agreed to bury all patent infringement litigation against each other, settling 18 cases in USA and Germany.

NASA scientists claimed to have found the strongest ever evidence of liquid water on Planet Mars that could help sustain future manned missions.

INTERNATIONAL

DECEMBER 2015

The 10th WTO (World Trade Organisation) Ministerial Conference was held in Nairobi, Kenya from Dec 15 to 19.

United States has lifted a 40-year ban on oil exports, marking a historic shift for the booming US oil industry.

China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), ajoin effort of 56 countries, was formally established in Beijing on Dec 25. It has an authorised capital of $100 billion and

subscribed capital of $50 billion India holds 8.52 % share in the capital It will invest in sectors like energy,

transportation, urban construction, education and healthcare.


Zimbabwe plans to adopt the Chinese Yuan as its currency with a view to cancel the debt worth 40 million dollars from China.

The UN Security Council (UNSC) has adopted a resolution to increase sanctions against the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq (ISIS) group and other terrorist groups.

In Saudi Arabia, females were allowed to cast votes and run for office for the first time in the country's history.

Nearly 200 nations adopted the first global pact to fight climate change on Dec 12 at COP 21 meet by UNFCCC at Le Bourget, France, COP - Conference of the Parties UNFCCC - United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

The United Nations has launched a new initiative titled Anticipate, Absorb, Reshape to build climate resilience in the world’s most vulnerable countries.

India has initiated the idea of the international solar alliance to harness solar power as a major step to mitigate carbon gas emissions.

World leaders from 20 countries, including India and global investors lead by Bill Gates, launched Mission Innovation at the COP21 in Paris

Mission Innovation aims at accelerating clean energy revolution across the world and to promote the use of renewable energy resources.

Brazil's economy shrank by 1.7% in the third quarter of the year compared with the second quarter, deepening the country's worst recession.

The Federal Reserve of USA hiked interest rates by 25 basis points to 0.50 on Dec 16, for the first time since 2006, assuming stable growth of U.S. economy.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg pledged to give away 99% of his company shares worth $45 billion, to mark the birth of his daughter Maxima

IMF has decided to include the Chinese currency, the Yuan, in its Special Drawing Rights (SDR) basket effective from October 1, 2016

The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution to observe November 5 every year as World Tsunami Awareness Day

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

NOVEMBER 2015

In one of the worst gruesome terrorist attacks, over 129 people were killed and more than 300 were wounded in multiple ISIS terrorists’ shootings in Paris

Several persons, including policemen were killed in Terai region of Nepal due to Madhesi agitation leading to acute shortage of fuels and medicines

Madhesis, the Indian-origin inhabitants of the Terai region, have been protesting against division of their ancestral homeland in the new Constitution.

A two day summit of Heads of G-20 nations was held in Antalaya, Turkey to dwell on inclusive economic growth and climate change.

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit was held in Manila.

Leaders of the ASEAN group of nations have declared the establishment of an EU-style regional economic bloc, ASEAN Economic Community (AEC)

For the first time, Oxford Dictionary has chosen an emoji pictograph, commonly referred to as an emoticon, as its 2015 Word of the Year

Russia suspended all its flights to Egypt after one of its civil aircraft was blown up in mid air by militants soon after take-off from Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt

The International Day for Tolerance observed globally on 16 November with an aim to educate people about the need for tolerance

27th ASEAN summit (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) was held in Kuala Lumpur on November 21.

The 10th East Asia Summit was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Nov 22, under the theme Our People, Our Community, Our Vision.

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

OCTOBER 2015

A World Bank report says that the number of people living in extreme poverty is likely to fall for the first time below 10% of the world’s population in 2015. Around 702 million, 9.6% of the world’s

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

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

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

The European Union has started a new operation termed Operation Sophia to actively intercept boats smuggling refugees.

Finance Ministers of 20 nations vulnerable to climate change launched the V-20 Group on 8 October 2015 in Lima, Peru.

To commemorate the 70th anniversary of UNO on Oct 24, more than 200 monuments in 60 countries will be lit up in blue- the official colour of UNO.

NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) forces conducted their massive field exercise TRIDENT JUNCTURE 2015 from Oct 3 to Nov 6

UNCTAD says that the growth rate for world in 2015 is expected to remain more or less unchanged from last year, at 2.5 per cent.

11 Pacific Rim nations, including Canada and Chile to Japan and Australia have agreed to sign with USA, the largest regional trade accord in history.

China has operationalised the world’s highest mega hydropower station at Zam in Tibet, built on Brahmaputra River

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

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

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

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

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

China has launched the first phase of “China International Payment System (CIPS)” to promote Yuan’s global usage

PERSONS IN NEWS

DECEMBER 2015

SHAH RUKH KHAN: has been ranked as the country’s top-earning celebrity with estimated earnings of Rs. 257.5 crore this year, pushing Salman Khan to the second position (202.75 crore) in the latest Forbes India Celebrity List for 2015.


KATY PERRY: Global pop singer from USA is on top of Forbes magazine's list of highest-paid musicians of 2015, with $135 million in earnings. ANGELA MERKEL: German Chancellor has been named as the "Person of the Year" by the Times Magazine for her role in Europe's refugee crises and Greek debt.

NOVEMBER 2015

PAWAN MUNJAL: Managing Director of Hero MotoCorp, was the highest paid director with a remuneration of Rs.43.91 crore during the 2014-15 financial year. ARUNDHATI BHATTACHARYA: Chairperson of SBI remains the most powerful woman in the Indian business sector, according to Fortune India’s latest rankings of Indian business women. LIONEL MESSI: International iconic Football star has been picked up by the Tata Motors as their global brand ambassador for their passenger vehicles.

VICTOR PONTA: Romanian Prime Minister was in news as he announced his resignation bearing moral responsibility for a nightclub blaze that killed 32 people.

OCTOBER 2015

NAINA LAL KIDWAI: Chairperson of HSBC India since 2009 will retire by the end of this year, having completed 58 years of age. JERRY SEINFELD: He has been named as the world’s highest paid comedian by Forbes. The 61-year-old comedian earned $ 36 million between June 1, 2014 and June 1, 2015.

APPOINTMENTS

DECEMBER 2015

R.K. MATHUR: Appointed the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) GAUTAM H BAMBAWALE: Appointed as the High Commissioner of India to the Pakistan ARUN KUMAR JAIN: Appointed Chairman of Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT). SIR VENKATRAMAN RAMAKRISHNAN: Nobel laureate in Chemistry, assumed Presidency of the Royal Society in London for a period of five years.

NOVEMBER 2015

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

NITISH KUMAR: Elected as the new Bihar Chief Minister

SYED AKBARUDDIN: Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations at New York. NAVTEJ SINGH SARNA: Veteran diplomat, an IFS officer of 1980 batch, has been appointed as India’s next High Commissioner to the United Kingdom.

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

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

SUBIR GOKARAN: Former RBI Deputy Governor has been appointed as an Executive Director on the board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

MAHESH KUMAR JAIN: MD and CEO of Indian Bank. R K TAKKAR: MD and CEO UCO Bank SURESH N PATEL: Appointed as the Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer of Andhra Bank. T.S.R. SUBRAMANIAN: Former Cabinet secretary has been appointed chairperson of a committee set up by the HRD Ministry to draft the new education policy.

HARSHAVARDHAN NEOTIA: Elected as the President of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) for the year 2016. SUNIL KANORIA: Appointed as the President of The Associated Chamber of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM).

Ms. ZARIN DARUWALA: Appointed as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Standard Chartered Bank, India.

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

MAURICIO MACRI: elected as the new President of Argentina.

JOHN POMBE MAGUFULI: Elected as the new President of Tanzania

OCTOBER 2015

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


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

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

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

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

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

JIMMY MORALES: elected as the President of Guatemala ALPHA CONDE: Re elected as the President of Guinea

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

ALEXANDER LUKASHENKO: re elected as the President of Belarus

PEDRO PASSOS COELHO: Newly elected Prime Minister of Portugal

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

AWARDS & HONOURS

DECEMBER 2015

THE GOLDEN PEACOCK: Award for best feature film at the 46th International Film Festival of India won by the Colombia film ‘Embrace of The Serpent’ directed by Ciro Guerra. The award carries cash prize of Rs 40 lakh. GARWOOD AWARD for ‘Outstanding Global Leader in Open Innovation’: The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee was conferred this award by the UC Berkeley-Haas School of Business, California, USA. NATIONAL SCIENCE MEDAL (USA): Indian-American tumour scientist Prof. Rakesh Jain has been selected for this top US science award.

SOUTH EAST ASIA WRITE AWARD: Won by Singapore based Indian origin writer J M Mali for his contribution to Tamil literature.

MAILER PRIZE FOR LITERATURE, USA: won by India-born author Salman Rushdie QUEEN's YOUNG LEADERS AWARD – 2016: Two Indians, Kartik Sawhney and Neha Swain, have won this prestigious award in the United Kingdom for their work in transforming the lives of others

Miss Universe 2015: Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach of the Philippines

Miss International 2015: Edymar Martínez of Venezuela

Miss Earth 2015: Angelia Ong from Philippines

Miss Intercontinental 2015: Valentina Rasulova from Russia

Miss World 2015: Mireia Lalaguna from Spain

NOVEMBER 2015

THE INDIRA GANDHI PRIZE FOR PEACE, DISARMAMENT AND DEVELOPMENT-2015: Awarded to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for its “immense contributions” in assisting millions of refugees

KIREN RIJIJU: Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, was designated as the Disaster Risk Reduction Champion for the Asia Region by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR).

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

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

NEW YORK GLOBAL LEADERS DIALOGUE HUMANITARIAN AWARD: Bindeshwar Pathak, Social Activist and founder of Sulabh International INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN’S PEACE PRIZE: awarded to Abraham Keita (17) of Liberia for his “tireless campaigning” to end violence against minors.

OCTOBER 2015

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

Best Short Film Award at the 2015 London Film Festival won by an Indian short film of 11 minutes, An Old Dog’s Diary. CONFUCIUS PEACE PRIZE (China): Robert Mugabe, the Zimbabwean President, for “injecting fresh energy” into the global quest for harmony.


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

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

OBITUARY

DECEMBER 2015

SADHANA (Shivdasani/Nayer): Veteran actress, who mesmerised audience in timeless hits like “Hum Dono”, “Love in Simla” and “Waqt”, died in Mumbai after a brief illness. She was 74. She will always be remembered for her iconic fringe hair on forehead, the ‘Sadhna cut’. SHARAD JOSHI: Renowned agro-economist, founder of Shetakari Sangthana, crusader for farmers’ rights and a former Rajya Sabha member, died at Pune at 81.

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

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

DR. ROBERT L. SPITZER: Veteran psychiatrist who gave psychiatry its first set of rigorous measuring standards to describe mental disorders, died in New York. He was 83.

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

NOVEMBER 2015

RAM KRISHNA TRIVEDI: Former Gujarat governor, Chief Election Commissioner of India and Central Vigilance Commissioner, passed away at 94.

K. SANKARAN NAIR: Former Chief of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) died in Bengaluru at 94.

ASHOK SINGHAL: Veteran patron of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) passed away in Gurgaon due to a prolonged illness. He was 89.

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

SAEED JAFFREY: Veteran Bollywood actor died in London. He was 86. He was known for his roles in movies Gandhi, Shatranj Ke Khilari, Henna and Masoom.

T R GOVINDARAJAN: Senior football administrator and veteran referee from Tamil Nadu, died after a brief illness. He was 90.

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

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

OCTOBER 2015

RAVINDRA JAIN: Veteran music director-singer-lyricist passed away in Mumbai. He was 71. Though blind, he gave music for hit films like Chor Machaye Shor, Geet Gaata Chal, Chitchor and Ankhiyon Ke Jharokhon Se, in the 70s and was associated with epic TV serials like Ramayana and Mahabharata. SYED ZAHOOR QASIM: Renowned marine biologist considered as the founder of Polar Biology in India, passed away in New Delhi. He was 88. K S L SWAMY: Renowned Kannada filmmaker, producer, actor and playback singer passed away in Bengaluru. He was 77. Dr. SYED AHMED: Governor of Manipur passed away at Mumbai. He was 73. He was a senior Congress leader. ASHWANI KUMAR: Ex DGP of Border security Force and ex President of the Indian Hockey Federation, passed away at 95.

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

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

GAJANAN PENDHARKAR: Chairman of world famous ayurvedic cosmetics company – Vicco Laboratories, died in Mumbai. He was 81.

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

PLACES IN NEWS

DECEMBER 2015

KANNUR: Town in Kerala was in news as the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) excavated 35,950 cannon balls at the historic Fort St Angelo there.


SHENZHEN: In China, more than 90 persons were killed due to a landslide caused by the collapse of a huge mound of waste construction mud in Shenzhen industrial area in south China. SAN BERNARDINO: A city in California, USA was in news as gunmen opened fire on a holiday party at a social services agency, killing 14 people and wounding 17 others. Two gunmen were killed later on. TYPHOON NONA (Melor): Hundreds of thousands of people were evacuated from the central Philippines as a typhoon with winds of up to 150 kph made landfall, causing heavy rains leading to massive flooding and landslides.

NOVEMBER 2015

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

OCTOBER 2015

DADRI: Small town in Uttar Pradesh was in news due to mob lynching of 52-year-old Mohammad Akhlaq Saifi in village Bisara on Sep 28 on rumors that he killed a cow for consuming beef. The incident led to strong reactions all over India as a strong example of surging ideological intolerance, particularly in context of religion, leading to return of government honours by several eminent intellectuals.

KOTKAPURA: Town in district Faridkot, Punjab witnessed widespread violent protests by Sikhs against the alleged desecration of a 'bir' of Guru Granth Sahib in Bargari village. Later, the protests spread to several other towns, even in certain places in UK and Canada.

CHANG LA: Situated about 80 km east of Leh (J&K), the place was in news as the world’s highest research station, established by the DRDO at an altitude of 17,500 ft became functional there.

BIR BILLING: Place in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh was in news as the first Paragliding World Cup of South East Asia started there from October 16.

HURRICANE PATRICIA struck Mexico's Pacific coast on 23 October, forcing thousands to flee homes and beach front resorts.

TYPHOON KOPPU attacked the north eastern Philippines on October 18 with fierce winds, displacing 16,000 villagers and knocking out power in entire provinces.

SANTA CATARINA PINULA: A small town in Guatemala, a mini country south of Mexico, was in news s at least 171 persons were killed there in sudden mudslides that smashed into a nearby village.

BAGHDAD: The heavily fortified Green Zone in the capital of Iraq has been opened to the public for the first time in 12 years as a part of a reform drive.

ARCH OF TRIUMPH: A historical monument built about 2,000 years ago in Palmyra, Syria was in news as it was blown up by the ISIS terrorists.

SPORTS WORLD

DECEMBER 2015

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

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

Deborah Herold has become the first Indian female cyclist to be ranked fourth in the World Elite Women Ranking for the 500m time trial event. Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy won the doubles title in the Mexico Open Grand Prix Badminton tournament in Mexico City.

Col. C.K. Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award: Syed Kirmani, India's former wicket-keeper batsman who played 88 Tests and 49 ODIs

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

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

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


59th National Shooting Championship, New Delhi. Vijay Kumar, Olympic medalist won gold in the men's 25-metre centre fire pistol Apurvi Chandela won Gold medal in the 10-metre Air Rifle event Chain Singh won the Gold in the 50-metre Rifle event Elizabeth Susan Koshy won Women's 50m Rifle Gold The 68th National Track Cycling Championship held at Ludhiana, Punjab.

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

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

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

All India Football Federation has named midfielder Eugeneson Lyngdoh and striker Bala Devi as the Player-of-the-Year and woman Footballer - of - the - Year, respectively. Senior National Weightlifting Championships, Patiala: Haryana's Deepak Lather won gold medal in the men's 62kg category and set a new national record. Vikas Thakur of Services created a new national record as he won the gold medal in the 85kg category.

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

Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) awarded Player of the Year title for the PGTI Order of Merit to Bengaluru’s S Chikkarangappa as he won the McLeod Russel Tour Championship at Kolkata. India won four-match Test series against South Africa, 3-0, played in India. Pro Wrestling League: Mumbai Garuda outclassed Haryana Hammers to clinch the inaugural title in New Delhi. Two new teams, Pune and Rajkot have become the new franchises in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for a period of two years, replacing the suspended teams of Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals. Hockey World League: Australia defeated Belgium to lift the title at Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel Stadium, Raipur, Madhya Pradesh.

Robert Lewandowski, Polish professional footballer’s nine-minute, five-goal haul for German Football Club Bayern Munich against Wolfsburg earned him Guinness World Record for fastest three, four and five goals.

Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg won the 2015 Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

Underdog Tyson Fury shocked the boxing world by giving a stunning defeat to the reigning world heavy weight boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko of Ukraine on Nov 28, becoming the first Briton to hold a world heavyweight crown since 2011.

BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2015 award won by tennis star Andy Murray of UK

Dan Carter, winner of Rugby World Cup from New Zealand, has been named 2015 Sports Personality of the Year.

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

CRICKETER OF THE YEAR - 2015: Australian batsman Steve Smith has been selected for this prestigious award by the ICC. He was also named ‘Test Cricketer of the Year.

ODI Cricketer of the Year 2015: South Africa's ODI captain batsman AB de Villiers

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

The International Tennis Federation announced following rankings for 2015:

Men’s World Champion - Novak Djokovic (Serbia)

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

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

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

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

NOVEMBER 2015

Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis lifted their ninth trophy of the season, winning BNP Paribas WTA Finals in Singapore

Pankaj Advani, India's most successful cueist won the record 15th world title by winning the IBSF World Snooker Championship in Egypt, defeating Zhua Xintong of China.


Heena Sidhu has won Gold in 10 metre Air Pistol event at 13th Asian Shooting Championships in Kuwait. Jitu Rai won silver medal Shiva Thapa, top Indian boxer was ranked number 2 in the latest international rankings in the 56 kg category. Siril Verma, 16 year old shuttler from India won the silver medal at the BWF World Junior Championships held in Lima, Peru. 8th Men’s Junior Asia Hockey Cup: India’s junior men’s team won the cup at Kuantan, Malaysia by defeating Pakistan.

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

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

Wasim Jaffer became the first player in Ranji Trophy history to notch up 10,000 runs. He reached the milestone playing against Bengal in Kolkata. Anju Bobby George, former long jump world champion has been appointed as the chairperson of the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS).

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

OCTOBER 2015

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

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

Deborah Herold, 20 year old Indian cyclist became the first ever Indian to win a gold medal, three silver and one bronze medal in women's elite section in the in Taiwan Cup Track International Classic in Taiwan. Yuki Bhambri achieved a career-best rank of 99, becoming the first Indian tennis player to come under 100 since 2010 in the ATP world rankings.

Shweta Rathore became the first Indian female bodybuilder to win a silver medal in the 49th Asian championship held in Uzbekistan Urvashi Rautela won the Yamaha Fascino Miss Diva 2015 title to become India’s representative for the Miss Universe pageant. Saketh Myneni, India’s tennis player won the Vietnam Open trophy in the finals played at Ho Chi Minh City. Amit Kumar, Indian para-athlete bagged silver in men's club throw F51 event in the IPC Athletics World Championships in Doha

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


Ajay Jayaram won the men’s Badminton title at the Dutch Open Grand Prix at Almere (The Netherlands). Pankaj Advani won the IBSF World Billiards Championship in Adelaide, Australia. Abhinav Bindra clinched gold in the men's 10 metre Air Rifle event of the Asian Air Gun Championships in New Delhi. Heena Sidhu clinched a Gold medal in the 10-metre air pistol event of the Asian Air Gun Championships in New Delhi. Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis won their seventh title together on Oct 3 by winning the Wuhan Open women’s doubles title at Wuhan, China. The Indian teams won five out of six team events in the Commonwealth Youth, Junior & Senior weightlifting championships held in Pune, Maharashtra. Virender Sehwag, one of the world’s most destructive batsmen to have played the game, announced his retirement from international cricket and the Indian Premier League, bringing an end to an illustrious career spanning 14 years. Vijender Singh, India’s Olympian boxer made a smashing professional debut by knocking out Britain's Sonny Whiting in the middleweight category at Manchester, UK. The 12th SAF (South Asian Games) games will be held from February 6 to 16 in 2016 in Guwahati and Shillong. VIJAY KUMAR MALHOTRA: Govt of India has appointed veteran sports administrator as the President of the All India Council of Sports.

The 16th National Women Boxing Championship was held at Bongaigaon in Assam REFUGEES ALLOWED IN OLYMPICS The International Olympic Committee has announced that refugee athletes will be allowed, for the first time, to take part in next year's Olympics. Novak Djokovic beats Rafael Nadal to win men’s title in the China Open at Beijing, China. Spain’s Garbine Muguruza won the women's singles title

Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis won their eighth title of the season by lifting the women’s doubles title. Cristiano Ronaldo of The Real Madrid won the record fourth Golden Boot for scoring highest – 48 goals in the season.

China’s Xuerui Li won the Denmark Open Badminton Title in the women’s single category, defeating P V Sindhu of India at Odense, Denmark. Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia clinched the French International Badminton title in Paris. Sultan of Johor Cup (Hockey): Great Britain defeated Indian junior men's team to lift the cup in Malaysia. Sergey Karjakin of Russia won the World Cup Chess Championship, defeating compatriot Peter Svidler in Baku, Azerbaijan.

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

Luis Leao Pinto of Portugal won the Asia’s premier mountain biking race to get the crown of ‘King of the Himalaya’.

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

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

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

BOOKS & AUTHORS

NOVEMBER 2015

BOOK AUTHOR The Bose Brothers and Indian Independence – An Insider’s Account

Madhuri Bose, the grand-niece of Netaji Subhas

Chandra Bose. On My Terms: From the Grassroots to the Corridors of Power

an autobiography of Sharad Pawar

This Unquiet Land Barkha Dutt Diary of a Wimpy Kid Jeff Kinney See Me Nicholas Sparks Rogue Lawyer John Grisham Combating Hunger and Achieving Food Security

M.S. Swaminathan

Chronicles of Time and Chance

Raymond Francis Isar

Because We Say So Noam Chomsky Why India Is Not A Great Power (Yet)

Bharat Karnad


My Gita Devidutt Pattnaik The Mare's Trap Wendy Doniger. What Happened to Netaji Anuj Dhar Rebooting India: Realizing a Billion Aspirations

Nandan Nilekani and Viral Shah

India-Myanmar Relations Rajiv Bhatia The Clintons' War on Women

Roger Stone and Robert Morrow

Mrs Funnybones Twinkle Khanna To the Brink and Back: India’s 1991 Story

Jairam Ramesh.

A Children’s History of India Subhadra Sen Gupta. The Country of First Boys Amartya Sen Baat Niklegi toh Phir Sathya Saran Dreaming Big: My Journey to Connect India

– an autobiography of Sam Pitroda, noted

technocrat who brought telecom revolution in

India. The Chinar Leaves veteran Congress leader

and close aide of the Gandhi family M L

Fotedar Neither a Hawk nor a Dove: An Insider’s Account of Pakistan’s Foreign Policy

Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri, ex Foreign Minister of

Pakistan. The Courage to Act - A Memoir of a Crisis and Its Aftermath by

Ben S. Bernanke. The author is the ex governor of the Federal Reserve of

USA and the book is about the lessons learnt from

the recessions like 2008 Financial Crisis.

The Outsider: My Life in Intrigue

an autobiography of Frederick Forsyth, noted

thriller novelist. Two Years Eight Months and Twenty Eight Days

Salman Rushdie.

The Monsoon War: Young Officers Reminisce 1965 India-Pakistan'

Capt Amarinder Singh and Lt. Gen. Tajindar

Shergill The Curse of Surya Dev Prasad. Hubris: Why Economists Failed to Predict the Crisis and How to Avoid the Next One

Meghnad Desai.

The Power of Meow David Michie Muslim Cosmopolitanism in the Age of Empire

Seema Alavi

Portrait of a Serial Killer Khushwant Singh (edited by Mala Dayal)

.....

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Latest MCQs ON CURRENT AFFAIRS

MARCH GK TEST – 01 1. Who is the first ever lyricist with the most

number of songs to enter the Guinness Book of World Records? A. Gulzar B. Javed Akhtar C. Sameer Anjaan D. Anand Bakshi E. Majrooh Sultanpuri

2. The Bank Board Bureau has been set up with to A. Help with top level appointments and strategic management in public sector banks B. Grant new bank licenses in India C. Make top level appointments in banks D. Suggest ways to handle the problem of rising NPAs in banks E. Both A and D

3. The total budget outlay for the financial year 2016-17 has been pegged at A. 29, 78, 000 Crore B. 17, 77, 000 Crore C. 22, 77, 000 Crore D. 19, 78, 000 Crore E. 18, 97, 000 Crore

4. The National Rurban Mission was started in A. Assam B. Madhya Pradesh C. Chhattisgarh D. Uttar Pradesh E. Uttar Pradesh

5. Who is the new Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh? A. Tai Tagak B. Gegong Apang C. Kalikho Pul D. Paido Richo E. Pawan Kumar Chamling

6. I am a male and if I start earning salary income during the financial year 2016-17, my income upto ________ would be totally exempt from income tax. But if it crosses this threshold, I need to pay slab-wise income tax @ ________ on my income, as is the case. A. 3 lakh, 10%, 20%, 30% B. 3 lakh, 5%, 20%, 30% C. 2.5 lakh, 10%, 20%, 30% D. 2.5 lakh, 10%, 15%, 20% E. 3.5 lakh, 10%, 20%, 30%

7. Christine Lagarde has been reappointed the Managing Director (MD) of

A. International Finance Corporation B. European Central Bank C. World Bank D. International Monetary Fund E. World Trade Organization

8. Which two new cesses have been imposed over and above the service tax? 1. Beti Padhao cess 2. Swachh Bharat cess 3. Krishi Kalyan cess 4. Mahila Suraksha cess A. 2, 4 B. 2, 3 C. 1, 2 D. 3, 4 E. 1, 4

9. Which of the following is/are NOT a revenue expenditure item/s in the Union Budget? 1. Law and order services 2. Interest payments 3. Roads and highways 4. Salaries and pensions A. 3 B. 2, 4 C. 3, 4 D. 1 E. 1, 3

10. As per the Union Budget 2016-17, the biggest tax collections come from A. Corporate tax B. Income tax

C. Service tax D. VAT E. Excise duty

11. Which cricketer has broken the record for the fastest century in a test match? A. S.P.D. Smith B.D.A. Warner

C. Brendon McCullum D.H.M. Amla E. AB de Villiers

12. India’s first ever Gender Park has been inaugurated in A. Odisha B. Assam C. Kerala D. Tripura E. Goa

13. The tropical Cyclone Winston had recently hit A. Fiji B. Malta C. Malaysia D. Myanmar E. The Phillipines

14. The new Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) is A. Cyriac Joseph B. HL Dattu C. K.G. Balakrishnan D. Krishna Reddy E. Leela Seth


15. Which country’s Parliament is the first one in the world to run entirely on solar power? A. Ukraine B. Germany C. Portugal D. Pakistan E. Afghanistan

16. The new President of FIFA is _________, who has replaced __________. A. Sheikh Salman, Sepp Blatter B. Sepp Blatter, Prince Ali C. Jerome Champagne, Sepp Blatter D. Gianni Infantino, Sepp Blatter E. Sepp Blatter, Gianni Infantino

17. Which city tops the Mercer’s Quality of Living Ranking 2016? A. Singapore B. Vienna C. Damascus D. Zurich E. Sydney

18. Which campaign has been launched by Twitter for women empowerment in India? A. #StrengthOfWomen B. #WomenInUnity C. #PositionOfStrength D. #UnityOfWomen E. #WomenForWomen

19. The Khajuraho Dance Festival was celebrated recently in A. Rajasthan B. Uttar Pradesh C. Madhya Pradesh D. Chhattisgarh E. Uttrakhand

20. Which of the following new train services will NOT be introduced by Indian Railways this year? A. Humsafar B. Tejas C. UDAY D. Deendyal E. Confirmed reservation on demand

21. According to the Hurun Global Rich List 2016, which city is the new “Billionaire Capital of the World”? A. London B. Beijing C. Tokyo D. Paris E. New York

22. __________ has won the first ever Green Bond Pioneer Award 2016. A. State Bank of India B. Bank of Baroda C. Punjab National Bank D. Yes Bank E. ICICI Bank

23. Who among the following has been conferred with Germany’s prestigious ‘Cross of the Order of Merit’? A. Arun Joshi B. Narendra Singh Rathore C. Goverdhan Mehta D. Sushmita Sharma E. Baba Kalyani

24. Who is the first Chairperson of the Bank Board Bureau (BBB) recently constituted by the government? A. KJ Udeshi B. Anil K Khandelwal

C.Vinod Rai D. H N Sinor E. R Gandhi

25. Which one of these is India’s first digital state having 100% tele-density and 60% broadband coverage? A. Odisha B. Tamil Nadu

C. Kerala D. Karnataka E. Goa

26. The National Science Day was/will be celebrated this year on A. March 1 B. April 21 C. February 28 D. June 23 E. March 8

27. Which movie won the award for the Best Movie at the 88th annual Academy Awards ceremony2016? A. The Revenant B. Spotlight C. Bridge of Spies D. Mad Max: Fury Road E. None of these

28. The Muziris Heritage Project is a new tourism project in A. Tamil Nadu B. Karnataka C. Kerala D. Odisha E. Haryana

29. Refer to the following news headline published recently in all popular newspapers. Govt’s Nod to LIGO in India The acronym LIGO implies A. a social welfare programme B. a retirement solution plan C. a scientific research laboratory D. international accounting standards E. a new learning assessment tool for school children

30. Which corporate has created a new global record of earning the maximum profits for a single quarter? A. Google B. Facebook C. General Electric D. Apple E. Shell Oil

31. Which new change has been incorporated in respect of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) used in India? A. The EVMs will have a paper trail audit receipt system to resolve any potential disputes B. The EVMs will now be able to accommodate a maximum of 500 candidates in a constituency C. The EVMs have been discontinued D. The EVMs have been made mandatory in all Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. E. None of these

32. Please study the following news item published recently. India 37th, fares poorly in IPR In the above acronym IPR, the letter I stands for A. Intellectual B. Indian C. Internal D. International E. Interest


33. Which prominent university was in news recently due to some incidents of anti-national sloganeering and student unrest? A. Osmania University B. Banaras Hindu University C. University of Delhi D. Calcutta University E. Jawahar Lal Nehru University

34. Which of the following is a set of negotiable instruments? A. Currency notes, fixed deposits, demand drafts

B. Bills of exchange, debentures, cheques C. Bills of exchange, currency notes, cheques D. Bills of exchange, currency notes, share certificate E. None of these

35. Donald Trump, who has been creating headlines with his weird public utterances, is a candidate fighting the A. US Presidential elections B. UK Prime Ministerial elections C. French Presidential elections D. German Chancellory elections E. US Presidential elections

36. Which car brand recently crossed the 30-lakh unit sales mark in India? A. Maruti 800 B. Swift Dzire C. Chevrelot Beat D. Hyundai i10 E. Maruti Alto

37. Which of the following pairs is mismatched in respect of the 88th annual Academy Awards (Oscar Awards) 2016? A. Best Picture: Spotlight B. Best Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio C. Best Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu D. Best Actress: Brie Larson E. Most Awarded Film: The Revenant

38. Pick the odd one out. A. Gender Park: Kozhikode B. First Fully Digital State: Goa C. First Private Goldmine: Chhattisgarh D. Most Expensive Railway Station: New York E. All these pairs are correctly matched

39. Hiralal Bhanwarlal Jain, who passed away recently, was a pioneer of ………… in India. A. Trade union activism B. Farmers’ rights C. Drip irrigation technology D. Food processing technology E. Dry agriculture technology

40. Which of these is NOT a legal tender in India? A. 50 paise coin B. 1000 /- note C. 500 /- note D. 50 /- note

E. 100 /- note 41. The southernmost point of India’s territory is

A. Puducherry B. Kanyakumari C. Rameshwaram

D. Indira Point E. None of these 42. Pick the odd one out.

A. Kolkata: Hoogly B. Lucknow: Gomti C. Guwahati: Narmada D. Ayodhya: Saryu E. Satluj: Ferozpur

43. Force18 is a A. New military aircraft bought by India B. Joint military exercise held in Pune C. New drug launched by CSIR D. New motorcycle launched by Hero E. New motorcycle launched by Bajaj Auto

44. Which of the following is a term/ acronym NOT related to banking in India? A. KYC B. Amortization C. Shadow balance D. Breakeven Point E. CBS

45. India is NOT a full-fledged member of which international grouping? A. SAARC B. ASEAN C. UNO D. WTO E. G20

46. Which company is working on developing the first-ever driverless car? A. Toyota B. Microsoft C. Porsche D. Ford E. Google

47. Jashn-i-Rekhtaa, held in Delhi recently, was A. An annual Urdu literary festival B. A qawwali festival C. A drama festival D. A sufi music summit E. A poetic concert (mushaira)

48. Which country recently passed a law, seeking to ban the wastage of food? A. Germany B. Pakistan C. The USA D. France E. The UK

49. __________ created a new record for scoring the fastest ODI century by smashing the earlier one held by _________. A. Quinton de Kock, Virat Kohli B. AB de Villers, Quinton de Kock C. Virat Kohli, Quinton de Kock D. Virat Kohli, AB de Villers E. Quinton de Kock, AB de Villers

50. PK Nair, widely known as the Celluloid Man of India, was a pioneering A. Film archivist and preservationist B. Cinematographer C. Film screenplay writer D. Film critic E. Film producer


MARCH GK TEST – 02 1. Which of the following is NOT related to small

industries in India? A. Reserved list B. MUDRA C. MSME D. SIDBI E. All of these are related to small industries

2. The debt-to-equity ratio implies the ratio of A. Paid up capital to authorized capital B. Loan of share capital to capital C. Loan amount to share capital D. Rate of interest to dividend rate E. Share capital to loan amount

3. The acronym TAM is used in the context of A. Corporate profitability B. Print media readership C. Internet readership D. Television audiences E. Rate of return on capital employed by the banks

4. Pick out players who have been involved in doping scandals. 1. Lance Armstrong 2. Maria Sharapova

3. Sebastian Vettel 4. Tiger Woods A. 1, 2, 3, 4 B. 1, 2

C. 1, 3 D. 1, 2, 3 E. 2, 4

5. The terms call and put options are used in A. Telecom B. Banking C. Mutual funds D. Computing

E. Stock markets 6. Rajat Gupta, an Indo-American, who was in

news recently, is/ was A. Advisor to US President Barack Obama

B. An ex-CEO convicted in an insider trading case C. A candidate for US Presidency

D. A recipient of the US Medal of Freedom E. None of these

7. Martin Crowe, who died recently, was a star cricketer from A. New Zealand B. Australia C. South Africa D. West Indies E. England

8. Which organization has launched its first Uridashi Masala bonds? A. International Monetary Fund (IMF) B. International Finance Corporation (IFC) C. Asian Development Bank (ADB) D. BRICS E. World Bank

9. Which of these signifies a demand loan? A. Durable loan B. Home loan C. Cash Credit Limit D. Personal loan

E. Education loan 10. The Setu Bharatam project has been launched

A. To create an app for Swachh Bharat Mission

B. To make all national highways free of Railway crossings C. To make bridges on all rivers D. To encourage entrepreneurship among youth E. To make a land bridge connecting Sri Lanka and India

11. Who has been chosen the next chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC)? A. Justice H L Dattu B. Justice Altamas Kabir C. Justice RM Lodha D. Justice SH Kapadia E. Justice KG Balakrishnan

12. Baghmara (Chhattisgarh) was in news as A. India’s first uranium mine was opened here B. It witnessed a huge Naxalite ambush C. It became India’s first gold mine to be auctioned D. ISRO’s newest satellite master control room was established here E. The biological diversity-rich forest has been declared a UNESCO heritage site

13. Which state was declared country’s first digital state by President Pranab Mukherjee? A. Sikkim B. Kerala C. Telangana D. Andhra Pradesh E. Goa

14. The Art of Living’s World Culture Festival was held in A. New Delhi B. Mumbai C. Kolkata D. Hyderabad E. Chennai

15. Examine the following statements in the context of World Happiness Index 2016. 1. India ranks 118 globally as compared to its last year’s rank of 111 2. Denmark tops the list comprising 156 nations. 3. Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal are ahead of India on this ranking. The set of wrong statements is A. 3 Only B. 2, 3 C. 1, 2 D. 2 Only E. All these statements are correct

16. Who was conferred with the France’s Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur recently? A. Ratan Tata B. Aditya Birla

C. Anand Mahindra D. Cyrus P Mistry E. Narayan Murthy

17. What is the approximate contribution of real estate to India’s GDP? A.7% B. 9%

C.11% D. 15% E. 19%

18. Internet search giant Google launched a customized search engine for children named A. Bugle B. Cuddy C. Kiddle D. Kiddy E. Tintin


19. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, who passed away recently, was the A. Secretary General of the United Nations (UN) B. Secretary General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) C. Chairman, South-South Commission D. President of Egypt E. Chairman, World Bank

20. ONV Kurup, the Jnanpith Award winner, was a celebrated poet in which language? A. Tamil B. Malayalam C. Telugu D. Kannada E. Hindi

21. The 2016 South Asian Games (SAG) concluded in Guwahati. The top three countries in the medals tally were A. India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan B. India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka C. India, Pakistan and Bangladesh D. India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh E. India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh

22. The newly elected President of Myanmar is A. Henry Van Thio B. Htin Kyaw C. Myint Swe D. Aung San Suu Kyi E. The military junta has refused to have any President in the country

23. Lloyd Shapley, who died recently, had won the 2012 Nobel Prize for A. Physics B. Economics

C. Literature D. Medicine E. Peace

24. The World Consumer Rights Day (WCRD) was observed on A. February 12 B. March 15 C. January 16 D. April 9 E. March 8

25. The properties owned by the Kingfisher Airlines’ owner Vijay Mallya are being auctioned under the SARFAESI law by the lending banks to recover their dues. The letter S in the acronym SARFAESI stands for A. Sustainable B. Secure C. Securitization D. Statutory E. Security

26. Which of the following best exemplifies a footloose industry? A. Nanotechnology B. Coal

C. Cement D. Oil refinnery E. Steel 27. Match the following pairs.

1. Templeton Prize P. Sports coaching 2. Abel Prize Q. Mathematics 3. Dronacharya Award R. Journalism 4. Chameli Devi Jain Prize S. Spirituality 5. Magasasay Award T. Public service A. 1 -S, 2-Q, 3-P, 4-R, 5-T

B. 1 -S, 2-Q, 3-P, 4-R, 5-T

C. 1 -P, 2-S, 3-P, 4-R, 5-T D. 1 -S, 2-P, 3-Q, 4-R, 5-T E. 1 -S, 2-T, 3-P, 4-R, 5-Q

28. The government has recently banned 344 popular drugs in view of A. The fact that they had turned ineffective B. Their misuse and long-terms effects on the body’s natural resistance C. An international agreement in this regard D. The recommendations of the World Health Organization E. Their unaffordability

29. Among the following types of money supply, the broadest measure of money is A. M2 B. M1 C. M4 D. M0 E. M3

30. If a cheque is returned with the remarks “insufficient funds”, its issuer is liable for prosecution under the A. Payment and Settlement Systems Act B. Banking Regulation act C. Payment Instruments Act D. Reserve Bank of India act E. Negotiable Instruments Act

31. The LED-based Domestic Efficient Lighting Programme (DELP) will now be known as A. Jyoti B. Ujala C. Disha D. Prakash E. Amar Ujala

32. …………, who passed away recently, was the pioneer of …………. technology. A. Vinton Cerf, artificial intelligence B. Ray Tomlinson, e-mail C. Edgar Mitchell, artificial intelligence D. Ray Minsky, e-mail E. None of these pairs is correct

33. Who among the following is to be conferred with the 47th Dadasaheb Phalke Award for 2015? A. Rishi Kapoor B. Jaya Bachhan C. Manoj Kumar D. Kamal Hassan E. KJ Yesudas

34. Which of the following are the major problems highlighted by Gyan Sangam, an annual bankers’ meet on banking in India? 1. Under-capitalization 2. Rising NPAs 3. Unnecessary competition among banks 4. Falling assets A. 1, 2, 3, 4 B. 2, 3 C. 1, 2, 3 D. 3, 4 E. 1, 4

35. The first Raisina Dialogue 2016 was hosted by the A. Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Labour B. Ministry of Health


C. Ministry of External Affairs D. Ministry of Finance E. Ministry of Defence

36. India’s first Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccination programme has been launched by A. Kerala B. Rajasthan C. Uttar Pradesh D. Delhi E. Haryana

37. The tropical cyclone Vinston had created havoc in A. Indonesia B. The Phillipines C. Malaysia D. Japan E. Fiji

38. Which of these acronyms is NOT associated with banking in India? A. FATCA B. LoP C. CASA D. LAF

E. BCSBI 39. Examine the following statements labeled A

and B. Assertion (A): Rainforests contain the maximum biological diversity available anywhere on the earth. Reasoning (R): Abundant rainfall, humidity, sunlight and appropriate temperature facilitate the continued existence of a variety of animals and plants. A. Both A and R are correct and R correctly explains A. B. Both A and R are correct but R does not correctly explain A. C. A is correct but R is wrong. D. R is correct but A is wrong. E. Both A and R are wrong

40. The atmospheric layer responsible for the transmission of FM waves is the A. Exosphere B. Troposphere C. Mesosphere D. Stratosphere

E. Ionosphere 41. Andrew Wiles has received this year’s Abel

Maths Prize, the topmost mathematical honour, for his A. Solution to Fermat’s Last Theorem B. Discovery of 4-D structures C. Explanation of black hole theory D. Work on string theory E. A new interpretation of Einstein’s relativity theory

42. Find the odd one out. A. Mudgal Committee: IPL match-fixing B. C Rangrajan Panel: Poverty line in India C. Apte Panel: Interest rate options D. Gandhi Committee: Infrastructure E. Narsimhan Committee: Financial sector reforms

43. Administered pricing regime refers to a system of

A. Prices which allow the seller a certain minimum profit margin B. Free market pricing C. Pricing which is not based on any economic logic D. Differential pricing for different categories of buyers E. Price controls by the government

44. The Simhasth Kumbh Mela is being held this year in A. Bihar B. Uttar Pradesh C. Uttrakhand D. Maharashtra E. Madhya Pradesh

45. India’s Current Account Deficit has shown a falling trend in the past few months because A. Both its imports and exports are falling B. Both its imports and exports are rising C. Its imports are rising but its exports are falling D. Its imports are falling but its exports are rising E. None of these

46. The Real Estate Regulatory Authority Act, passed by Parliament recently, does NOT contain provisions on which of the following? A. Transparency in providing information on pricing to customers B. 3 years in jail for delayed project execution by builders C. Compulsory registration for all property agents D. Opening a special account for depositing the customers’ money E. Compulsory registration of all residential projects measuring 500 sq. mt. and above

47. The MCLR proposed by the Reserve Bank is related to A. Interest rates on bank loans B. Liquidity norms followed by the banks C. Capital adequacy D. Cash reserve ratio to be maintained by the banks E. Interest rates on bank deposits

48. As per the latest RBI directives, the interest payable on savings bank accounts would be credited on a A. Weekly basis B. Daily basis C. Monthly basis D. Yearly basis E. Quarterly basis

49. Pyramid-type, get-rich-quick schemes are banned by the Reserve Bank as per the A. Money Circulation Schemes Act B. Negotiable Instruments Act C. RBI Act D. Chit Fund Companies Act E. Banking Regulation Act

50. The Turbulent Years is an autobiography authored by A. AB Vajpayee B. Pranab Mukherjee C. LK Advani D. Sonia Gandhi E. Amit Shah


ANSWER KEY TEST – 01

Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. 1 C 2 E 3 D 4 C 5 C 6 C 7 D 8 B 9 A 10 A

11 C 12 C 13 A 14 B 15 D 16 D 17 B 18 C 19 C 20 E 21 B 22 D 23 C 24 C 25 C 26 C 27 B 28 C 29 C 30 D 31 A 32 A 33 E 34 C 35 A 36 E 37 E 38 B 39 C 40 A 41 D 42 C 43 B 44 D 45 B 46 E 47 A 48 D 49 A 50 A

ANSWER KEY TEST – 02

Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. 1 E 2 C 3 D 4 B 5 E 6 B 7 A 8 B 9 C 10 B

11 A 12 C 13 B 14 A 15 E 16 C 17 C 18 C 19 A 20 D 21 A 22 B 23 B 24 B 25 C 26 A 27 A 28 B 29 C 30 E 31 B 32 B 33 C 34 C 35 C 36 D 37 E 38 B 39 A 40 E 41 A 42 D 43 E 44 E 45 A 46 B 47 A 48 E 49 A 50 B

280/-


SSC CORNER

CELL STRUCTRUE AND FUNCTION IMPORTANT EVENTS 1665 AD - Robert Hooke looked at cork under a microscope. Called the chambers he saw "cells".

1665 - 75 AD Anton van Leeuwenhoek, the inventor of the microscope, studied organisms living in pond water. He called them "Animalcules." 1830 - German scientists Schleiden and Schawann summarized their finding that all living organisms are made of cells. This forms the basis of the Cell Theory of Biology. THE CELL THEORY OF BIOLOGY All organisms are composed of cells. The cell is the structural and functional unit of life -

units smaller than cells are not alive. Cells arise by the division of pre-existing cells. PROPERTIES OF CELLS Cells are complex and highly organized They contain numerous internal structures Some are membrane bound (organelles) while

others are not. Cells contain a genetic blueprint and machinery to

use it. Genes are instructions for cells to create specific

proteins.

All cells use the same types of information. The genetic code is universal. The machinery used

for synthesis is interchangeable. However, for this to function properly, information transfer must be error-free. Such errors are called mutations.

CELL STRUCTURES Plasma membrane - separates the cell from the

external environment Cytoplasm - fluid-filled cell interior Nuclear material - genetic information stored as

DNA Cytoplasm- semi-fluid cell interior, no membrane-

bound organelles, location for metabolic enzymes

NUCLEUS A. Double membrane with pores B. Nuclear matrix - protein-containing fibrilar network C. Chromosomes - protein and DNA complexes

GOLGI APPARATUS Form secretory vesicles to transport proteins to different parts of the cell


MITOCHONDRIA A. Found in ALL eukaryotic cells

B. Site of aerobic respiration - Sugars + O2 - - > ATP + CO2 + H2O

C. Powerhouse of the cell - Site of energy generation

D. Site of mitochondrial protein synthesis CELL DIVISION Cells arise from the division of other cells Daughter cells inherit the genes from the mother

cells Mitosis - the genetic complement of each daughter

cell is identical to the other and to the mother cell. This is asexual reproduction.

Meiosis - the genetic complement of each daughter cell is reduced by half and each daughter cell is genetically unique. This is used in sexual reproduction.

Daughter cells inherit cytoplasm and organelles from the mother cells i.e. Asexual organelles from mother cell and Sexual organelles predominately from one parent.

CELL AND ENERGY Cells acquire and utilize energy Plant cells undergo photosynthesis Convert light energy and CO2 to chemical energy

(ATP and glucose) Most cells respire Release energy found in organic compounds / convert organic compounds to CO2 and O2 Make ATP, the source of energy

Cells can perform a variety of chemical reactions Transform simple organic molecules into complex

molecules (anabolism) Break own complex molecules to release energy

(catabolism) (Metabolism = all reactions performed by cells) CELLS CAN ENGAGE IN MECHANICAL ACTIVITIES A. Cells can move B. Organelles can move C. Cells can respond to stimuli D. Chemotaxis - movement towards chemicals,

Phototaxis - movement towards light REGULATION OF ACTIVITIES Cells can regulate activities Cells control DNA synthesis and cell division Gene regulation - cells make specific proteins only

when needed Turn on and off metabolic pathways

SELF-QUIZ

1. How do you define a cell?

_________________________________________________________________ 2. What are the major parts of a cell?

_________________________________________________________________ 3. Elucidate the major functions of a cell?

_________________________________________________________________


GYANM QUIZ - 12 How much do you know about the world around you? Take the quiz below to find out for yourself and WIN some exciting prizes as rewards. 1. Who among the following was a

contemporary of Akbar? A. Kabir B. Mirza Ghalib

C. Goswami Tulsidas D. Amir Khusro 2. The proposed bullet train in India will run on

A. Petrol B. Diesel C. Magnetic power D. Electric power

3. A nuclear reactor uses ……….. as fuel.

A. Heavy water B. Uranium C. Enriched Uranium D. Cadmium

4. The Saint of Gutters is a title given to

A. Abdus Sattar Eidhi B. Mother Teresa C. Florence Nightingale D. Maid of Orleans

5. In the acronym ATM, the letter T stands for

A. Time B. Transaction C. Technology D. Teller 6. For luxury goods, the demand for a product

usually ….…… with a rise in prices. A. falls B. fluctuates C. remains unchanged D. rises

7. The backwaters are located in

A. Kerala B. Tamil Nadu C. Maharashtra D. Himachal Pradesh 8. Which of these countries is NOT a part of

NAFTA? A. Mexico B. Canada C. Argentina D. The USA

9. The active ingredient in hooch is

A. Ethyl alcohol B. Propyl alcohol C. Acetic Acid D. Methyl alcohol

10. Which country is struggling with the

migration of lakhs of its people, triggering a refugee crisis? A. Iraq B. Rwanda C. Greece D. Syria

Heartiest congratulations to the winners of Gyanm Quiz-11!

1. Kalyan Singh– Ahemdabad 2. Gurleen – Nagpur

The winners are being informed by post. Name: ______________________________________ Address: ____________________________________ ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ PIN: _____________________ Mobile: ___________________________________ _ My answers to Gyanm Quiz - 12 are: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Signature _______________

TERMS AND CONDITIONS 1. Please send your responses to the quiz, along with

your COMPLETE ADDRESS and PIN CODE, by 25th April, 2016. The responses can be sent By e-mail to [email protected] OR On Whatsapp mobile number 09646888377 OR By post to Gyanm College of Competitions, SCO 13-15, 2nd Floor, Above Domino’s, Sector 34-A, Chandigarh-160034

2. ONLY the residents of India are eligible to participate.

3. In case of multiple correct entries, a draw will be held to decide the winner/s.

4. The Prize/s CANNOT be exchanged for cash. 5. The decision of the jury shall be FINAL and

BINDING on all the participants. 6. The winners’ names shall be announced in the June,

2016 issue.


Profit And Pleasure

ON DEVELOPMENTS IN MODERN SCIENCE

Profit and Pleasure not only tickles your nerve cells but also makes you learn interesting facts about the world. This time around, we are focusing on some interesting developments in modern science. Here we go! 1. This ambitious, decades-long scientific mission can

be called one of the most influential in the history of modern biology. The massive experiment, led by Craig Venter, sought to uncover the blueprint of all human genes so as to identify which gene does what. Its findings have the potential to change the way doctors treat illnesses, find cures for many diseases and alleviate human sufferings. Can you identify the famous scientific venture referred to above?

2. This 50-year long search for an elusive fundamental particle finally bore fruit when thousands of scientists at CERN, Geneva made the watershed announcement of the much-awaited discovery in 2013 (It earned the scientists concerned a Nobel in Physics). With this, the Standard Model in modern physics is now complete. Does it ring a bell somewhere?

3. This unmanned NASA mission to the Mars aimed to look for the possibility of life on the red planet and send back pictures. It delivered on its promise by sending vivid images of the terrain there. Do you recall the landmark space mission narrated above?

4. Using this technology, you can create replicas of virtually any physical object. So much so that some doctors have created an artificial liver using this technology to help people with a malfunctioning liver. What is the name given to this fast-growing, revolutionary technology?

5. In a confirmation of Einstein’s relativity theory, some scientists in the USA have recently discovered clinching evidence of the existence of black holes by recording the sound of their collision. The discovery of “space-time ripples” creates new ways to understand the universe and unravel many other scientific mysteries. Do you remember the famous American laboratory where this discovery was made?

6. The development of this path-breaking technology called test-tube baby, has brought hope and succor to lakhs of infertile mothers. In this technique, the

sperm and the ovum are fertilized outside the mother’s body and the zygote is transplanted to the mother’s womb later. The first such baby Louis Brown was born in England in 1978 while in India, the first such baby Indira was born in 1986 in the then Bombay. What is the scientific name given to this technology?

7. The World Health Organization has raised a red flag over its common incidence in India these days in case of several patients. These patients do not respond to even the highest doses of the best antibiotics given to them in hospital emergency rooms. According to the apex body, if the dire situation is not addressed urgently, the problem may get out of hands. Which new medical challenge are we talking about here?

8. Many scientists have been trying to achieve nuclear fusion at room temperature, though none of them has succeeded so far. It has been a long-cherished dream, which, if realized, would solve all the energy-related problems in one go. What is the scientific name given to the process of nuclear fusion at room temperature?

9. These seeds developed for cotton, brinjal and other crops are not only disease-resistant but also give a bumper yield. But their entry in India in the 1990s was quite controversial, with many doubts over their usefulness and long-term effects but the experience so far has been quite positive. Which newly-developed seeds are we talking about here?

10. This humble chip has been at the heart of the entire computer revolution as it is used to make circuits. There is no major computer hardware which does not use it (In fact, there is an area in the USA named after it). Can you identify the material being referred to in the above lines?

SOLUTIONS

1. Human Genome Project 2. God Particle (The Higgs Boson) 3. Curiosity, The Mars Rover 4. 3D Printing a.k.a. additive manufacturing 5. LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave

Observatory) at CalTech, Louisiana and Hartford 6. In Vitro Fertilization and Embryo Transplant 7. ABR (Antibiotic Resistance) 8. Cold Fusion 9. Genetically Modified (GM) seeds 10. Silicon


How much well-equipped are you with vocabulary to express yourself in different situations? Take the quiz below to find out for yourself and also learn some new words as a BONUS! Directions: Given below are certain words printed in BOLD letters, followed by four choices in each case. Find out the choice which best conveys the meaning of the word in question. You will find the detailed solution to this exercise in this issue only. 1. Spartan

A. Simple B. High C. Spicy D. Reserved

2. Beneficent

A. Wealthy B. Inactive C. Having no concern D. Showing mercy

3. Calligrapher

A. Who writes on stone B. Developing photos C. Having beautiful handwriting

D. Who paints on stone 4. Vacillate

A. Unable to grasp B. See-saw C. Discover D. Release

5. Alleviate

A. Lay B. Change shape C. Move slowly D. Reduce pain

6. Dirge

A. Romantic song B. Song of praise C. Long poem D. Sorrowful poem

7. Potent

A. Fighting B. King C. Royal D. Powerful

8. Culpability

A. Legalese B. Sensibility C. Related to books D. Guilt

9. Equable

A. Balanced B. Equal C. Divided equally D. Anxious

10. Horrific A. Full of anger B. Knowledgeable C. Horrible D. Pleasant

11. Genocide

A. Mass killings B. Killing of a king C. Killing of wife D. Selective killings

12. Fructification

A. Flowering B. Respiration C. Gardening D. Fruit 13. Transitory

A. Related to transistors B. Permanent C. Radical D. Short-lived

14. Vocal

A. Loud B. Pleasing sound C. Corrupt D. Reactive

15. Retaliate

A. To apply force B. To rotate C. To speak slowly D. Take revenge

KEY

1. A 2. D 3. C 4. B 5. D 6. D 7. D 8. D 9. A 10. C 11. D 12. D 13. D 14. A 15. D

SOLUTION 1. Spartan: adjective: economical, frugal, consuming little

Popular synonyms: moderate, self-denying Example: A. It was quite surprising that despite

having so much wealth, he sued to lead a very spartan life. 2. Beneficent: adjective: kind, merciful

Derivation: beneficence Popular synonym: generous Examples: A. The beneficent saint donated all his

wealth to a charitable cause. B. Only a beneficent soul can think of helping out

such poor souls.


3. Calligrapher: noun: Having beautiful handwriting Examples: A. A calligrapher was highly valued until the printing press appeared on the scene. B. The emergence of computers has meant the death of the calligrapher’s art.

4. Vacillate: verb: unable to take a decision, dither,

caught between opposing ideas Derivation: Vacillating Popular synonyms: Dither Examples: A. It is high time the government stopped vacillating on terrorism and took strong action. B. Such vacillating tactics on important issues will only result in further wastage of time.

5. Alleviate: verb: reduce suffering, lessen, palliate

Popular synonym: Mitigate Examples: A. The leader tried to alleviate the sufferings of the minority community after the communal riots. B. Morphine is often used to alleviate the pain of cancer patients.

6. Dirge: noun: sad song, song of death, poem

expressing sorrow Popular synonyms: threnody, elegy, requiem Example: The dirge sung on the death of the great hero moved many to tears.

7. Potent: adjective: powerful, strong, convincing

Derivation: potency, potential, potentate, impotent Popular synonyms: virile, manful Examples: A. Antibiotics are potent remedies for infections of all kinds. B. The logic of his argument was not potent enough to convince the audience.

8. Culpablity: adjective: guilt, blame

Examples: A. If you hit back someone in retaliation, your culpability is the same as the other person’s. B. His culpability in this crime will be difficult to prove, given that there is little evidence.

9. Equable: adjective: calm, composed, balanced

Derivation: equability Popular synonyms: equanimous, poised Examples: A. Maintaining an equable mind during such a crisis is indeed very difficult. B. Even such sharp criticism could not affect his equable mind.

10. Horrific: adjective: Scary, creating fear, fearsome

Popular synonyms: horrid, horrible, horrendous

Examples: A. The horrific killings by the ISIS deserve the strongest condemnation. B. The slum-dwellers were prone to many diseases as the slum suffered from a horrific lack of cleanliness.

11. Genocide: noun: selective killings (a race,

religion, language or community), extermination Derivation: genocidal Examples: A. Hitler, guided by his desire to create a Nazi-dominated world, ordered a genocide of the Jews. B. The LTTE often accused the Sri Lankan government of launching a genocide against the Tamils there.

12. Fructification: noun: result, final outcome

Popular synonyms: fruition, culmination Examples: A. His grand plans did not come to fructification for want of money. B. In order to fructify our projects, we need to make great efforts.

13. Transitory: adjective: temporary, short-lived

Popular synonyms: transient, momentary Examples: A. Given the transitory nature of human life, we can never be sure of waking up the next morning. B. The small transitory pleasures in her otherwise sad life were enough to sustain her will to live.

14. Vocal: adjective: loud, vociferous

Popular synonyms: strident, clamorous Examples: A. The opposition made a vocal demand for the PM’s resignation over the scandal. B. There was a vocal protest by the local people against the police excesses.

15. Retaliate: verb: take revenge

Popular synonyms: reprisal Examples: A. The terrorist groups often retaliate against any action taken by the security forces. B. Shahid Udham Singh’s action was in retaliation as he was quite perturbed over the atrocities committed in the Jallianwala Bagh episode.



Latest G.K. Bytes

MARCH – 2016 1) Indigo —Selected Stories is a collection of stories

by which famous film maker: Satyajit Ray 2) 88TH Oscar Awards, 2016 were held in which city

of USA: Los Angeles 3) The Oscar for the best director was won by the

film ‘The Revenant’. Name the director: Alejandro Iñárritu

4) Film ____________ won the 2016 Oscar for the best feature film: Spotlight

5) The Oscar for the best actor has been won by ___________ for the film ‘The Revenant’: Leonardo DiCaprio

6) Gurmeet Singh and Khushbir Kaur won the gold in the national championship for which event: Race Walking

7) The National Race Walking Championships was held at which place: Jaipur

8) According to Forbes’ annual ranking of billionaires, __________ has been ranked at No. 1 in the world with a net worth of $75 billion: Bill Gates

9) __________ has been declared as the world’s number one airport in its category by the Airports Council International: Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi

10) Hashim Thaci has been elected as the President of Kosovo. Where is Kosovo: In southeastern Europe

11) Rahul Sachdev recently won the all India championship in which event: Snooker

12) Defence Ministry has issued an order worth Rs 22,000 crores for purchase of Chinook and Apache helicopters from which country: USA

13) What type of helicopter is CH-47 Chinook: Heavy transport

14) What type of helicopter is AH-64 Apache: Multirole Attack

15) Vinod Rai, Former Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) was in news recently for what reasons: He has been appointed as the first Chairman of Banks Board Bureau

16) What is the basic objective of the newly formed organization Banks Board Bureau: To approve the appointment of banks’ top executives and improve their governance

17) Stanislas Wawrinka of ___________won the Dubai

Tennis Championships title: Switzerland 18) Kumarimuthu, famous Tamil ______ actor died in

Chennai: Comedy 19) On which date we celebrate National Science Day:

Feb 28 20) The National Science Day is observed on Feb 28

as on this day discovery of __________ was made in 1928: Raman Effect

21) Name the Indian scientist who won the Nobel prize for discovery of Raman Effect: Sir C. V. Raman

22) ________ has been declared as the first digital state of India for achieving digital connectivity of all villages and panchayats: Kerala

23) India’s largest heritage conservation project - Muziris Heritage Project is located at which place: Trissur, Kerala

24) Martin Crowe, one of the greatest batsman of New Zealand was in news for what reasons: He passed away

25) Govt. has launched _________ project to make all national highways free of railway crossings by 2019: Setubharatam

26) The UGC has asked varsities and colleges to launch a special page on their websites for checking discrimination against which category of students: SC/ST students

27) RBI has plans to start new kind of Account Aggregator NBFC for what purpose: to help people view their accounts across financial institutions in a common format

28) Name the former Lok Sabha Speaker and co-founder of the Nationalist Congress Party who passed away recently: P A Sangma

29) Which Indian car has achieved cumulative sales of three million units in the Indian market: Maruti Alto

30) What was the name given to the two day meet of public sector banks and insurance companies and other financial institutions with the government officials held at Gurgaon: Gyan Sangam

31) Which Union Ministry organized The Raisina Dialogue, a project to explore prospects and opportunities for Asian integration: Ministry of External Affairs

32) Name the mega military exercise that was held jointly by Indian and armies of ASEAN countries: Force 18


33) Mega military exercise Force 18 was held at which place: Pune, Maharashtra

34) World Bank has agreed to grant $ 300 million loan for the Higher Education Quality Improvement Project in which state: Madhya Pradesh

35) In a recent study of energy effectiveness of the countries, India was placed at 90th rank. Which was the best country: Switzerland

36) Name the veteran actor and film maker who has been awarded Dada Saheb Phalke Award – 2015: Manoj Kumar

37) Manoj Kumar is popularly famous as _______ Kumar: Bharat

38) What is the amount of cash prize given to the winner of Dada Saheb Phalke Award: Rs. 10 lac

39) Col C K Nayudu Trophy is associated with which sports: Cricket

40) ___________ won the 2016 C K Nayudu trophy: Mumbai

41) Finals of C K Nayudu trophy were held in ___________, Madhya Pradesh: Indore

42) ____________ hosted the UCI Track Cycling Championship 2016 : London

43) Assembly elections will be held in April and May in _______ States and _____ UT: Four, One

44) Name the only UT in which Assembly elections will be held in April: Puducherry

45) Out of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, West Bengal and Assam, in which state Assembly elections have not been announced: Karnataka

46) Indian shooter ___________clinched the 50m pistol gold at the ISSF World Cup in Bangkok,Thailand: Jitu Rai

47) World’s costliest railway station was opened to public on March 3 in which city: New York

48) ‘Who Was Shivaji’ is a book written by which author: Govind Pansare

49) The United Nations has decided to set up 20 ‘Blue Dots’ in Europe for what purpose: As child and family support hubs for refugees

50) Which two UN organizations have been given the task of lookin after of ‘Blue dots’: UNHCR and UNICEF

51) On March 03 we celebrate which day associated with the wild animals: World Wildlife Day

52) Which animal is the main focus of 2016 World Wildlife Day: Elephant

53) Which UN body organizes the Zero Discrimination Day on March 1 across the world: UNAIDS

54) What is the full form of UNAIDS: The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS

55) P K Nair, a noted film scholar died on March 4. He was specialist in which field: Film Archivist

56) India observes National Safety Day on March 04

to promote which aspect of life: Safety awareness among people

57) Uridashi Masala Bonds are issued in which country: Japan

58) Which Indian state has taken first of its kind initiative by launching the Air Ambulance in the state: Kerala

59) Ray Tomlinson, a veteran IT expert of USA passed away recently. He is known for invention of which IT application: E-mail

60) ___________ in Malaysia hosted the World Table Tennis Team championship: Kuala Lumpur

61) Which country won the both, men’s and women’s category in the World Table Tennis Team championship: China

62) __________ won the Asia Cup T20 trophy for a record sixth time: India

63) Pat Conroy, a popular novelist who died recently was from which country: USA

64) National Conference of Women Legislators held in___________ from March 5 to 6: New Delhi

65) Which country has agreed to promote three Indian as smart cities: Germany

66) Germany has assured help for promoting which 3 cities as smart city in India: Kochi, Bhubaneswar and Coimbatore

67) Air India on March 6 flew the “world’s longest” all-women operated and supported flight, nonstop, from New Delhi to____________, USA: San Francisco

68) In terms of women occupying top positions in business in 36 countries, what was India’s rank: 34th

69) __________ occupies the top spot in terms of women occupying top positions in business: Russia

70) Name the former world number one tennis star who failed a drugs test at the Australian Open: Maria Sharapova

71) Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur is one of the top civil honour of which country: France

72) Name the Indian industrialist who has been honoured with Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur: Anand Mahindra, CMD

73) Pro Kabaddi League Season 3 was won by _________beating the U Mumba team: Patna Pirates

74) International Women's Day was observed across the world on which date: 8 March

75) _________ is the first bank to get the licence for the small finance bank: Capital Local Area Bank Ltd.

76) India’s first Small Finance Bank-Local Area Bank Ltd. is based in which part of India: Jalandhar, Punjab

77) Govt has launched the new ____ colour scheme for re-classification of industries based on the


Pollution Index (PI) scores: Four 78) In the context of score on pollution index, ______

colour shows the highest level of pollution: Red 79) In the context of score on pollution index, ______

colour shows the lowest level of pollution: White 80) In a recent survey of 133 cities for cost of living,

which two Indian cities figure among the most in expensive cities: Bengaluru and Mumbai

81) ___________won the Asian Billiards Championship held at Colombo, Sri Lanka: Dhruv Sitwala

82) The RBI has signed a pact with Bank of __________ for exchange of information pertaining to banking supervision: Israel

83) Lok Sabha passed a bill to amend the Enemy Property Act, 1968. It relates to properties of which persons: People who became Chinese or Pakistani nationals, after leaving India in the wake of wars fought with these countries

84) ISRO launched IRNSS – 1 F satellite for what purpose: To provide GPS facility

85) Indian GPS system-IRNSS is a setup of _________ satellites: Seven

86) India signed its biggest ever overseas credit line, extending $2 billion loan facility to which country: Bangladesh

87) Which Indian bank will look after the $2 billion loan line to Bangladesh: Exim Bank

88) Scott Kelly who returned to earth on March 1, completing 340 days stay in space, created which record: American with longest stay in space

89) As per new rules, unreserved train ticket for travelling upto 199 kms will no longer be valid after _____ hours of purchase of the ticket: Three

90) India has signed an agreement with ________for avoiding double taxation of income from international air transport: Maldives

91) The first-ever auction of a gold mine in the country was held in Baghmara. It is in which state: Chhattisgarh

92) India’s first gender park has been started in which state to promote the participation of women in development: Kerala

93) __________ has become the first state in the country to launch the HPV vaccine as a public health programme for school children: Delhi

94) What is the full form of HPV: Human Papilloma Virus

95) March ___ is commemorated as National Security Day to praise the work of security forces: 4

96) Ahmed Abul Gheit, veteran Egyptian diplomat has been named as new Secretary General of which international body: The Arab League

97) Irani Cup is associated with which sports: Cricket 98) Irani Cup 2016 was lifted by __________ team by

beating Mumbai: Rest of India

99) Govt. has launched Pradhan Mantri Ujwala Yojana for what purpose: To provide free LPG connections to women in BPL households

100) Justice __________ Chauhan has been appointed as the chairperson of the 21st Law Commission: Balbir Singh

101) What is the purpose of setting up the law commission: To review the existing laws for improvement

102) India signed a MoU with ___________on cooperation for prevention of human trafficking: Bahrain

103) Govt has announced the ________ scheme for the LED based Domestic Efficient Lighting Programme: Ujala

104) What is full form of UJALA: Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All

105) High Court of which state is celebrating 150 years of its existence: Uttar Pradesh

106) __________ High Court is celebrating 150 years of its existence: Allahabad

107) India hosted a three-day conference in ____________ with International Monetary Fund from March 12 to 14: New Delhi

108) Lok Sabha passed the Aadhaar Bill on March 11 with what objective: To provide a legal back up to the usage of Aadhaar card for various social welfare schemes

109) The government has decided to invest Rs 69,575 crore towards increasing India’s quota in which international organization: IMF-International Monetary Fund

110) Garuda Shakti was the joint army training exercise between ________ and India: Indonesia

111) Garuda Shakti joint military exercise was hosted by which country: Indonesia

112) Govt. has started which new technological initiative for primary health care in four states: Healthcare ATMs

113) George Henry Martin, popular as the "Fifth Beatle", passed away in England. He was a prominent figure from which field: Music

114) Name the bill recently passed by the Parliament that aims to protect house buyers from the widely prevalent opaque and fraudulent practices in the real estate sector: Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill, 2015

115) What is the name of the online service launched by the railways to facilitate passengers for cleaning of their coaches: Clean My Coach

116) Railways have signed a contract to supply 18 Meter Gauge 1350 HP Diesel Electric Locomotives to which country: Myanmar

117) The one million dollar prize for innovative teaching- Global Teacher Prize has been won by Hanan Al Hroub. She is from which country: Palestine


118) Santosh trophy is associated with which sports: Football

119) Santosh Trophy 2016 was won by _________ team: Services

120) All England Open Badminton Championship was hosted by which city in UK: Birmingham

121) ___________ of China won the All England Open Badminton Championship: Lin Dan

122) Government has recently allowed women to be inducted as officers in combat roles into which paramilitary force: ITBP

123) What is the full form of ITBP: Indo-Tibetan Border Force

124) SEBI has disallowed which type of borrowers from making a public issue or acquiring another listed entity: Willful defaulters

125) Indian army successfully test-fired indigenously built nuclear-capable Agni-I ballistic missile. What is its range: 700 kms

126) Golden City Gate Award is given for excellence in which field: Tourism

127) Which Indian body won the Golden City Gate Award-2016: Kerala Tourism

128) Union Ministry of _________ will host ‘Maritime India Summit’ at Mumbai from 14 to 16 April: Shipping

129) 4th World Congress of Biosphere Reserves was held at Lima in ______from 14-17 March: Peru

130) Union Ministry of Tourism has launched the ‘Paryatak Mitra’ (tourist’s friend) programme to enroll which category of persons: NCC/NSS College Students

131) ________ elected as the first civilian President of Myanmar to lead the country after 53 years of military rule: Htin Kyaw

132) ExoMars 2016, an unmanned spacecraft has been launched jointly by Europe and Russia for what purpose: To study the Mars' atmosphere

133) FSSAI has launched the 'Clean Street Food Project' in Delhi to sensitise the street food vendors about health and hygiene aspects of food. What is FSSAI: Food Safety and Standards Authority of India

134) World's first fully electric double decker bus service has been launched in which international metro: London

135) Governor of the Central Bank of which country recently resigned as the bank's account in USA were hacked causing a loss of over $100 million: Bangladesh

136) In which country an Indian-origin Sikh has become the Police Commissioner of its capital: Malaysia

137) Meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) nations was held__________, Nepal: Pokhara

138) Gandhi: An Illustrated Biography is a book written by which author: Pramod Kapoor

139) Chameli Devi Jain Award are given for excellence in which field: Journalism by women

140) Which bank has launched a contactless mobile payment solution ‘Touch & Pay’: ICICI Bank

141) What was the theme of this year's World Consumer Rights Day: Antibiotics off the Menu

142) The World Consumer Rights Day is observed across the globe in March on which date: 15

143) World Kidney Day is observed globally on which date: March 10

144) The 59th Session of Commission on Narcotic Drugs was held in________, Austria: Vienna

145) Which global prize is famous as Nobel for Mathematics: Abel Prize

146) Abel prize is given by which country: Norway 147) In a study of 156 nations in the World Happiness

Report 2016, India has been ranked as ________ place: 118th

148) As per the World Happiness Report 2016 which country is the happiest in the world: Denmark

149) Indian Air Force conducted its biggest fire power combat exercise at Pokhran in Rajasthan on March 18. What was its name: Iron Fist 2016

150) The Pope Francis, religious chief of Christians, has announced to confer Sainthood on the social worker who spent 45 years serving the poor and sick on the streets of Kolkata. Name her: Mother Teresa

151) Name the hospital that bagged the top government award ‘Kayakalp’ for best hospital cleanliness and infection control, winning a prize money of Rs. 5 crore: PGIMER, Chandigarh

152) Michelle Yeoh has been appointed as United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Goodwill Ambassador. Who is she: Famous action heroine of Malaysia-China

153) Name the American actor and activist who has been appointed as the Goodwill Ambassador of the UNFPA: Ashley Judd

154) What is the full form of UNFPA: United Nations Population Fund

155) The India Aviation 2016, an international exhibition and conference on civil aviation was held in_______, Telangana: Hyderabad

156) Which Indian city hosted the first meet of World Sufi Forum: New Delhi

157) Which railway station has stood first in India in terms of cleanliness, as per a survey conducted by the Ministry of Railways: Surat, Gujarat

158) The Time Magazine recently described which Indian leader as ‘Internet star’ who often uses social media to conduct diplomacy: Narendra Modi


159) The government has reduced interest rates payable on small savings w.e.f. April 01, 2016. Name two small savings schemes: Public Provident Fund, National Savings Certificate

160) __________Airport in Singapore has been voted the World’s Best Airport for the fourth year in a row at the 2016 World Airport Awards: Changi

161) Railways have tied up with which organization to leverage the space technology for providing the passenger information in all trains: ISRO

162) Name the city that hosted the 6th National Community Radio Sammelan: New Delhi

163) Which Union Minister has been honoured with Skoch Lifetime Achievement Award: M Venkaiah Naidu, Union Urban Development Minister

164) Ustad Ali Ahmad Hussain Khan, eminent _________exponent died in Kolkata at the age of 77: Shehnai

165) Parsi Zoroastrians of India celebrated their ___________festival on March 21to mark beginning of their new year: Navroz

166) Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament was held at ________, Switzerland: Basel

167) Name the Indian badminton star who won the Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold Badminton Tournament: H S Prannoy

168) Who created history by becoming the first Indian athlete to clinch a gold medal in the Asian 20 km Race Walk Championships: Gurmeet Singh

169) Name the ace Indian golfer who won the European Tour Hero Indian Open title in Delhi: S S P Chawrasia

170) UNESCO has included Agasthyamala biosphere reserve in its World Network of Biosphere Reserves. Where is it in India: In the Western Ghats

171) Which Bank has become the first bank to commence the sale of Indian Gold Coin (IGC) in the domestic market: Indian Overseas Bank

172) What are the three weight categories in which India Gold Coins are available: 5, 10 and 20 gram

173) With which country India has signed an agreement to avoid double social security contribution: Australia

174) US President Barack Obama scripted history by becoming first US President by visiting which country after 88 years of strained relations: Cuba

175) March ___________ was observed as the International Day of Happiness: 20

176) The United Nations appointed 'Red' as an envoy to inspire climate action toward a sustainable and happier future for all. Who is 'Red': Leader of the "Angry Birds" mobile game characters

177) The government has relaxed FDI norms for the insurance sector to allow overseas companies to

buy ________percent stake in domestic insurance companies without prior approval: 49

178) March 21 was observed as the ___________ day across the world to promote the importance of forests and trees in our lives: World Forestry Day

179) BNP Paribas Open Tennis Tournament was held in California, USA. What is BNP Paribas: A multinational bank based in France

180) March 22 was observed as the __________ day with the theme Water and Jobs: World Water Day

181) The World Sparrow Day is observed across the world on which date: March 20

182) Which European capital city recently was rocked by a series of bombings at its airport and metro station: Brussels

183) The World Meteorological day is observed on March 23 for what purpose: To spread awareness about climate change

184) ____________reelected as the President Niger for a second term: Mahamadou Issoufou

185) 9th International Abilympics started at Bordeaux in France. Who are the participants in this: Skilled persons with disabilities

186) Which Indian city will host the eighth annual summit of BRICS from October 15-16: Goa

187) Which flower has been selected in a symbolic form as the logo for the 8th Brics Summit: Lotus

188) _________ won the Krishi Karman Award for its landmark achievement in showing highest production of food grains in year 2014-15: Himachal Pradesh

189) The government has formally withdrawn the recognition of which Stock Exchange after it was de recognised by SEBI: Delhi

190) Govt has launched the new drug Bedaquiline to combat drug resistant form of which disease: Tuberculosis (TB)

191) _______was observed as the World Tuberculosis day: March 24

192) Subrata Roy Sahara, promoter of Sahara Group who is in Tihad Jail, has written a book about his experiences. What is the name of this book: Life Mantras

193) The Girl on the Train is a famous novel written by ___________: Paula Hawkins

194) ICGS Arnvesh the Fast Patrol Vessel (FPV) was recently inducted in which defence force of India: Indian Coast Guard

195) Which country signed a MoU for construction of six nuclear reactors at Jaitapur in Maharashtra: France

196) Name the govt. scheme that aims to achieve the objective of ‘Housing for All’: Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana


197) A financial assistance of Rs.__________ lakh will be provided for construction of pucca houses to homeless families in plain areas: 1.20

198) A financial assistance of Rs.__________ lakh will be provided for construction of pucca houses to homeless families in hilly and difficult area: 1.30

199) RBI has asked banks to pay interest on savings accounts on a ______basis or a shorter duration: Quarterly

200) Rate of interest on savings bank accounts in banks in India is decided by which authority: Banks themselves

201) India’s number one tractor producer, Mahindra& Mahindra plans to launch Trringo – a digital app for what purpose: To start online tractor rental business

202) Which country has made a law to jail the parents who fail to vaccinate their children: Uganda

203) Who is the only Indian leader in the world’s 50 greatest leaders list compiled by Fortune magazine: Arvind Kejriwal

204) Name the Netherland's soccer legend who died of lung cancer in Barcelona, Spain: Johan Cruyff

205) RuPay, the domestic card payment service provider by NPCI plans to issue which new type of card: Credit Card

206) Which Indian state was put under President's rule in last week of March, 2016: Uttarakhand

207) Name the famous ancient city of Syria that was recently recaptured by Syrian troops: Palmyra

208) ISRO has establish world's second largest Ionospheric Radar at which place in Andhra Pradesh: Gadanki

209) Who is the director of the film 'Baahubali' that won the national award for best feature film: S S Rajamouli

210) The film Bajrangi Bhaijaan won the national award for best film in which category: Most popular film

211) Name the three countries visited by prime minister modi in the last week of march: Belgium, USA and Saudi Arabia

212) India has started a new direct shipping service to Chittagong in Bangladesh from which port in India: Krishnapatnam in Nellore, Andhra Pradesh

213) The World Bank has agreed to provide $250 million loan for improving the performance of electricity distribution in which state: Rajasthan

214) H Deep Saini, noted Indian scholar and plant physiologist has been appointed as the Vice Chancellor of which global university: University of Canberra, Australia

215) Which bank has announced an initiative called iWork@home that uses technology to enable women employees to work from home for an

extended period: ICICI Bank 216) The first World Culture Festival, a three-day event

celebrating cultural diversity was held on the bank of which river: Yamuna

217) The World Cultural Festival was organized by which organization: Art of Living

218) Lloyd S. Shapley, veteran Mathematician from USA, winner of Nobel Prize in Economics died recently. He was famous for which theory: Game Theory

219) Which e-retailer has been ranked as the most trusted online shopping brand in India: Amazon

220) According to the latest figures released by the Geneva-based World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), ___________ is the top most country in filling patents: USA

221) Deepika and PR Sreejesh won the Dhruv Batra Player of the Year Award for Women and Men, respectively, in which sports: Hockey

222) The Telecom Commission has approved which number as a common number for emergencies such as police, fire, ambulance, etc. all over India: 112

223) The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Asian Development Bank have signed a MoU to provide $ 848 million for which purpose: To develop solar parks across India

FEBRUARY – 2016 224) Name the two South East Asian countries

recently visited by our Vice President: Brunei and Thailand

225) First Grand Slam of Tennis 2016 was held at which place: Melbourne, Australia

226) _____________ won the Men’s Singles title of Australian Open: Novak Djokovic

227) _____________ won the Women’s Singles title of Australian Open: Angelique Kerber

228) Angelique Kerber, winner of Women’s title in Australian Open, is from which country: Germany

229) Which Union Ministry has decided to reduce the threshold for coverage of firms under the EPFO: Labour Ministry

230) What is the full form of EPFO: Employees’ Provident Fund Organization

231) The threshold for coverage of firms under the EPFO has been reduced to _________ workers from 20 at present: 10

232) ICC has decided upon what new measures for the safety of the umpires: They will be provided by specially designed helmets

233) The Indian women’s cricket team made history by clinching its maiden T20 series against which country: Australia

234) Name the author of the book Why we love the


way we do: Preeti Shenoy 235) Nathuram Godse - The Story of an Assassin is a

book written by which author: Anup Sardesai 236) What is the name of the book by Former

President APJ Abdul Kalam based on his spiritual experiences with Pramukh Swami Maharaj: Transendence

237) What is the name of the indigenously developed Light Combat Aircraft which is about to replace the MiG fighters: Tejas Mark 1-A

238) The GDP growth for 2014-15 has been scaled down to 7.2% from the earlier estimate of 7.3%, by which Government organization: Central Statistics Office (CSO)

239) As per latest CSO data, per capita income during 2015-16 is likely to be above ________ thousand rupees: 77

240) As per a list compiled by Wealth-X in collaboration with Business Insider, _______ is the 2nd richest person in India: Ajim Premji

241) Central government has selected how many cities in the first phase for development as smart cities: 20

242) ADB will provide a $80 million loan for improving the infrastructure in which two North-Eastern cities: Agartala and Aizawl

243) Henri Tiphagne, founder of NGO People’s Watch was recently awarded which international honour: Human Rights Award

244) Human Rights Award is given by which global organization: Amnesty International, Germany

245) A commemorative coin of 150 rupees and a circulation coin of 10 rupees was released on the occasion of 150th birth anniversary of which great freedom fighter: Lala Lajpat Rai

246) 34th Senior National Rowing Championship was held at Hussainsagar Lake in which city: Hyderabad

247) Anti-Leprosy Day is observed on 30 January in the honour of which national leader: Mahatma Gandhi

248) Name the player who won the 83rd Senior National Snooker Championship: Aditya Mehta

249) Which city hosted the 83rd Senior National Snooker Championship: Indore, MP

250) Gurdeep Singh has been appointed as the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of which Maharatna company: NTPC Ltd.

251) What is the full form of NTPC Ltd: National Thermal Power Corporation Ltd.

252) Indian railways, for the first time, has exported six metro coaches to which country: Australia

253) Which country has produced the fifth-generation stealth fighter jet- X-2-‘Shinshin’: Japan

254) Growth of core sector was mere 0.9% December, 2015. How many industries are there in core sector: Eight

255) In its sixth bi-monthly monetary policy review for year 2015-16 announced on Feb 2, RBI changed which of its policy rates: None

256) Which paramilitary force of India has appointed, for the first time a woman as its Director General: Sahastra Seema Bal

257) Name the newly appointed Director General of Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB): Archana Ramasundaram

258) Sahastra Seema Bal looks after the security of which part of border of India: Nepal and Bhutan

259) K Durga Prasad, a senior IPS officer has been appointed Director General of which paramilitary force: CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force)

260) __________ has been appointed as the Director General of Border Security Force: K K Sharma

261) UN initiative for peace talks to resolve the civil war issue in Syria was held in which place: Geneva

262) Which global social networking application recently crossed the one billion user milestone: WhatsApp

263) Which of India’s neighbour country has agreed to allow visa-free travel for diplomatic passport holders of India: Afghanistan

264) MPs led by democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, took their seats in the parliament, marking end to the military rule since 1962 in which country: Myanmar

265) President of India recently conferred the honorary rank of General of the Indian Army to Chief of Army of which country: Nepal

266) 61st National School Athletics championship were hosted by which city: Kozhikode, Kerala

267) Which state won the 61st National School Athletics championship: Kerala

268) Dial D for Don is a book written by former Police Commissioner of Delhi. Name him: Neeraj Kumar

269) Ancestral Affairs is a book written by which author: Keki Daruwalla

270) World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared Public Health Emergency of International Concern over the explosive spread of which disease: Zika Virus

271) As per recent market reports, which is the largest company of the world in terms of market capitalization: Alphabet

272) The World Bank has agreed to give $ 35 million credit for the Citizen Access to Responsive Services Project of which state: Madhya


Pradesh 273) Jai Kumar Garg has been appointed MD and

CEO of which public sector bank: Corporation Bank

274) 2021 World Aquatics Championships will be hosted by _______city of Japan: Fukuoka

275) Which company has launched a 150-cc bike named ‘V’ that contains metal sourced from India’s first aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant: Bajaj Auto

276) Men’s Singles Title in the Syed Modi International Badminton Championships was won by which player: Kidambi Srikanth

277) Name the veteran wildlife filmmaker who won the V Shantaram Lifetime Achievement Award: Naresh Bedi

278) Name the Indian film that won the Best First Foreign Film Award given by the French Syndicate of Cinema Critics: Titli

279) D J Pandian, former Chief Secretary of Gujarat has been appointed vice-president and chief investment officer of which newly formed global financial institution: Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank

280) Which govt organization has launched the country's first anti-diabetic ayurvedic drug BGR -34 for Diabetes type 2 patients: Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)

281) For what purpose the Government has decided to infuse about 5,000 crore rupees capital in the public sector banks: To strengthen their balance sheet for compliance of Basel III capital norms

282) Hyderabad-based biotechnology research company Bharat Biotech has announced that it has developed the world’s first vaccine against which major disease: Zika Virus

283) Name the major employment scheme run by govt. that completed 10 years in February: Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA)

284) Name the state that won the Dr BC Roy Trophy for the National Junior Football Championship: Punjab

285) The Trans-Pacific Partnership deal, led by ______, one of the biggest trade deals in history, was signed in New Zealand on Feb 4: USA

286) The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has barred telecom service providers from charging differential rates for data services. This is in promotion of which concept: Net neutrality

287) Indian President and the Prime Minister inspected one of the largest maritime events in the recent past – the International Fleet Review 2016 at which place: Off the Visakhapatnam

coast 288) The eighth Delhi Dialogue was held in New

Delhi to discuss politico-security, economic and socio-cultural engagement between the ________ and India: Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)

289) Name the former UN Secretary General, the Egyptian diplomat who became the first Secretary General from Africa in 1992: Boutros Boutros-Ghali

290) Reserve Bank has decided to undertake which step to check handling of customer complaints and how banks have implemented Charter of Customer Rights: Incognito visits to bank branches

291) Which country won the highest number of medals in the 12th South Asian Games: India

292) India emerged number one in the 12th South Asian Games by winning total _______ medals: 308

293) Name the ace Indian Shooter who won record six medals in the 12th South Asian Games: Chain Singh

294) 13th SAG will be hosted by Nepal in Kathmandu in which year: 2019

295) As per Swachh Survekshan-2016 conducted by the Quality Council of India to rank the Indian cities on the basis of cleanliness, _________ has been ranked no. one: Mysuru

296) Central Bank of which major economy has imposed, for the first time, a negative interest rate of minus 0.1 per cent for certain bank deposits placed with it: Japan

297) BAFTA awards 2016 were given away in London on Feb 14. What is the full form of BAFTA: British Academy of Film and Television Awards

298) Which film won the BAFTA award for the best film: The Revenant

299) The two opposing sect heads of Christians met nearly after 1000 years. What is the name of the minority sect: Russian Orthodox

300) Name the iconic football player from Brazil was in news as Courts in Brazil issued warrants to freeze his assets worth almost $ 50 million: Neymar

301) Supreme court has directed RBI to submit a list of defaulter companies whose bank dues are more than Rs. ___________ crorers: 500

302) World’s longest train route, running for 10,400 kms, starts from and ends at which place: Yiwu (China) and Bander Abbas (Iran)

303) What is the formal name given to this 10,400 kms rail route: Belt and Road connectivity initiative

304) Name the Jnanpith award winning, very


popular and most respected Malayalam poet from Kerala, who passed away at the age of 84: O N V Kurup

305) Prime Minister Mr. Modi inaugurated the Make in India Week on Feb 13 in which city: Mumbai

306) Mr. Modi has been highlighting the 4D blessings of Indian economy. What are these 4Ds: Democracy, Demography, Demand and Deregulation

307) World famous Grammy Awards are given for excellence in which field: Music

308) 58th Grammy Awards ceremony was held on 15th February at which place: Los Angeles, USA

309) Grammy for Record of the Year was won by Uptown Funk by which artist: Mark Ronson

310) Taylor Swift won the Grammy for the Album of the Year. What is the name of the Album: 1989 Taylor Swift

311) 36th National Chess team Championship was won by the _____________in Bhubaneswar, Odisha: Indian Railways

312) ‘Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur’ is one of the highest civilian award of which country: France

313) Name the Indian fashion designer who was conferred above award in February 2016: Manish Arora

314) Lamitye 2016, the 7th joint military exercise was conducted by Indian army with which other country’s army: Seychelles

315) Which country hosted the ICC under–19 Cricket World Cup-2016 : Bangladesh

316) ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup-2016 was won by which country: West Indies

317) The three day annual World Government Summit was hosted by which city: Dubai

318) In a survey of top 38 countries to assess the protection of IPR, India ranked 37th. What is the full form of IPR: Intellectual Property Rights

319) In a recent survey of countries for assessing protection of IPRs, which country was placed at top: USA

320) What is the title of the latest book written by Shyam Bhatia, noted journalist: Bullets and Bylines

321) Leading gun-maker BAE Systems, the UK based multinational company has selected which Indian corporate as their partner for manufacturing M777 howitzers in India: Mahindra’s

322) M777 howitzer guns will be used as major weapon by which proposed army formation: Mountain Strike Corps

323) Govt. proposes to assign the security of which border area to Mountain Strike Corps: Mountainous borders with China

324) Which Indian bank has launched an exclusive ‘Japan Desk’ as a single nodal point for Japanese corporates: State Bank of India

325) National Arogya Fair was organized to showcase and promote the strengths, efficacy and affordability of the AYUSH. What is the full form of AYUSH: Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy

326) First phase of world’s largest solar power plant, with a capacity to produce 580 mw was started in which country on Feb 4: Morocco

327) Name the batsman from South Africa who became the quickest and the youngest batsmen to score 10 centuries in ODIs: Quinton De Kock

328) Which global organization has released a report called 'One Humanity: Shared Responsibility': UNO

329) India observed the first National Deworming Day on which date: Feb 10

330) What is the objective of the National Deworming Day: To combat parasitic worm infections among children

331) Which deworming tablet is provided free to school and pre-schools children who fight worm infections: Albendezole

332) The Reserve Bank of India has released the Report of the Working Group (Chairperson: Prof. P.G. Apte) on which topic: Introduction of Interest Rate Options in India

333) Name the Indian Navy's aircraft carrier which is destined to be decommissioned in June, 2016: INS Viraat

334) Which state has decided to convert INS Viraat into a luxury hotel for promotion of tourism in the State: Andhra Pradesh

335) What is the name of the 9th edition of India-Nepal Combined Military Exercise: Surya Kiran IX

336) Surya Kiran IX military exercise was held in which area: Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand

337) Indian and Chinese troops held their first joint tactical exercise “Sino-India Cooperation 2016’’ for what purpose: For joint operation on humanitarian aid and disaster relief

338) Sino-India Cooperation 2016 - joint tactical exercise was held in which part of China border: Ladakh

339) Which ministry has launched the 24x7 Toll Free Tourist Infoline in 12 International Languages to facilitate tourists: Union Ministry of Tourism

340) ______________ has become the first country in the world to legally ban supermarkets from throwing away or destroying unsold food,


forcing them instead to donate it to charities and food banks: France

341) As per the National Air Quality Indices for 24 cities by Central Pollution Control Board, __________ is the city with worst air quality: Varanasi

342) Government has launched ____________for prevention of AIDS in the 20 districts of eight North-Eastern states: Project Sunrise

343) Indian Oil Corporation’s latest oil refinery started production in Paradip in which state: Odisha

344) Government has decided to set up the National Organic Farming Research Institute in which state: Sikkim

345) Indian Army participated in the ‘Cobra Gold 2016’– the biggest multilateral military exercise. It was hosted by which country: Thailand

346) Golden Conch Award is given for excellence in which field: Documentary Films

347) Golden Conch Award is given at which film festival: Mumbai International Film Festival

348) World Cancer Day was observed across the world on which date: 4th February

349) What was this year’s theme for the World Cancer Day: We can, I can

350) In a global survey by Brand Finance for brand power, which Indian firm has been rated as the World’s Most Powerful Brand in IT Services: TCS – Tata Consultancy Services

351) Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has launched the BGR-34, country's first ayurvedic drug for treatment of which major disease: Diabetes type - II

352) In the anti-diabetic drug, acronym BGR stands for what: Blood Glucose Regulator

353) Aruna Sethi has been appointed as the first women head of the which all India administrative service: Indian Cost Accounts Services

354) Pandit Bhimsen Joshi Classical Music Award for 2015-2016 was conferred on Pandit Ram Narayan. He is a master player of which instrument: Sarangi

355) Haryana and the Province of Ontario in ___________have signed a MoU for enhancing commercial and cultural ties between the two states: Canada

356) Parameshwaran Iyer, a World Bank’s water and sanitation specialist has been selected by the Indian govt. to head which major national mission: Swachh Bharat Mission

357) Which union ministry has launched its official YouTube channel with a view to disseminate information to the public on a real-time basis:

Finance Ministry 358) The app myCAMS has been launched for what

purpose in context of mutual fund business: To facilitate paperless eKYC

359) Edgar Mitchell, a NASA astronaut passed away in February in USA. What was his special achievement: He was the sixth man to walk on the Moon.

360) National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has raised a special squad of which animal to boost its rescue efforts in earthquake hit areas: Dogs

361) Geographical Indications Registry, Chennai has issued ‘Geographical Indication’ tag for which item to 7 states in the Indo-Gangetic Plains: Basmati Rice

362) The first ever Petrochemical project in entire North East India was started in February in Dibrugarh in which state: Assam

363) The ICC Women's Cricket World Cup 2017 will be hosted by ________________ in June 2017: England

364) The Indian government has finally sanctioned Rs.580 crore for the vital Agartala-Akhaura rail link with which country: Bangladesh

365) India’s first-ever Aviation Park will come up near Bagodara village in which state: Gujarat

366) What is the objective of setting up aviation park: To promote special units to manufacture spare parts for aircrafts

367) The National Wildlife Action Plan 2017-2031 has been unveiled by which ministry: The environment ministry

368) __________________, India’s top golfer has been voted as the Hilton Asian Tour Golfer of Year by fans in an online poll: Anirban Lahiri

369) _______________________founded by Freedom fighter Pt Madan Mohan Malviya has turned 100 years on 13th February 2016: Banaras Hindu University (BHU)

370) World Radio Day is observed globally on 13th February by which UN organization: UNESCO

371) What was the theme of this year’s World Radio Day: ’Radio in Times of Emergency and Disaster’

372) Scientists have detected for the first time, signals of ________________waves emanating from two merging black holes 1.3 billion light years away: Gravitational

373) Prediction about gravitational waves was made about 100 years ago by which great scientist: Albert Einstein

374) The gravitational waves have been discovered after decades of research by scientists at LIGO, USA. Expand LIGO: Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory



375) CEO and MD of which corporate entity have been selected as the E&Y ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR 2015 from India: Lupin Ltd.

376) U K Sinha, the Chairman of Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) was in news for what reasons: He has been given extension for one year

377) Albert Pahimi Padacke, has been elected as the new Prime Minister of which Central African country: Chad

378) Name the India’s first indigenously developed lightest revolver weighing just 250 gms: Nidar

379) Light revolver Nidar has been developed by which public sector undertaking: Ishapore Rifle Factory in West Bengal

380) A two day summit between leaders from the ASEAN and The United States was held in California to dwell upon which global issue: Maritime security in the South China Sea

381) Ustad Abdul Rashid Khan, the oldest performing ____________of Hindustani Music, died at the age of 107 years: Vocalist

382) Union Cabinet has approved Trade Facilitation Agreement of WTO for what purpose: To ease customs procedures to boost commerce

383) Name the Bollywood’s popular lyricist who made into the Guinness Book of World Records for writing the most number–35-24 of songs for Bollywood films: Sameer Anjaan

384) The Reserve Bank has advised banks to follow ‘Ind AS’ norms for which function: Accounting

385) Government has launched a Rs. 10,000-crore Electronic Development Fund for what purpose: To promote manufacturing in the electronics sector

386) Which country launched a massive military exercise – ‘North Thunder’ that included troops from 20 nations: Saudi Arabia

387) The massive military exercise – ‘North Thunder’ was held at which place: King Khalid Military City in northeastern Saudi Arabia

388) What is the purpose of the recently conducted four day Great Backyard Bird Count exercise: To conduct a kind of census of birds in India

389) _____________ has been appointed as the new Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh: Kalikho Pul

390) Scientists have discovered five new planets having characteristics similar to which planet in our solar system: Jupiter

391) Name the America's celebrated novelist whose 1960 masterpiece "To Kill a Mockingbird" was read by millions worldwide: Harper Lee

392) Christine Lagarde, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund was in news recently for what reasons: She has been re-

appointed for a second five-year term 393) Amit Mitra has been appointed as the new

chairman of the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers on GST. Who is he: West Bengal Finance Minister

394) Name the New Zealand cricketer who smashed the fastest ever Test century in just 54 balls: Brendon McCullum

395) _____________, ace sprinter set a new national record in the 60m dash in 7.28 seconds at the 7th Asian Indoor Athletics Championships in Doha: Dutee Chand

396) _____________, has been appointed as the new Director of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Mumbai: K N Vyas

397) What is the title of the recent book by Jhumpa Lahiri: In Other Words

398) An Economist in the Real World is a book written by the Chief Economist of the World Bank. Name him: Kaushik Basu

399) Who has been elected new President of Uganda, for the fifth time: Yoweri Museveni

400) Crystal Bear Award is given for excellence in which field: Children’s films

401) Crystal Bear Award is given in which international film festival: Berlin Film Festival

402) Name the Indian film that won the 2016 Crystal Bear Award: Ottaal (The trap)

403) Berlin Film Festivals top prize for the best feature film is named as ______________: Golden Bear Award

404) The Golden Bear Award for 2016 was won by an Italian film. What was its name: Fuocoammare (Fire at sea)

405) The term ‘Brexit’ is very much in news these days, particularly in Europe. What does this mean: Britain’s Exit from the European Union

406) The women’s and men’s title in the Badminton Asia Team Championships were won by which country: China and Indonesia, respectively

407) The Mahamaham festival, celebrated once in 12 years, also known as Kumbh Mela of South is held at which place: Kumbakonam

408) Kumbakonam is located in which state: Tamil Nadu

409) The book ‘Playing It My Way’ has entered the Limca Book of Records in the category of best-selling books, with 1,50,289 copies sold. This is the autobiography of which person: Sachin Tendulkar

410) Faustin Archange Touadera has been elected as the new President of which African country: Central African Republic (CAR)

411) The ambitious Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban (rural-urban) Mission was launched from


Dongargarh in which state: Chhattisgarh 412) The Khajuraho Dance Festival, a world famous

annual classical dance festival is held in which state: Madhya Pradesh

413) Government has launched a device developed by the CSIR –CEERI, Pilani, Rajasthan, named ‘Ksheer-Scanner’ for what purpose: To detect adulteration in milk

414) The Road to Resilience, a survey of the entire Indian coastline for promoting six coastal disaster management projects is an initiative of which global organization: World Bank

415) The survey of 230 cities for assessing quality of life by the global consulting firm Mercer has placed _____________at the top: Austria’s capital Vienna

416) Top Indian city in the Mercer survey was _______ placed at 142nd rank: New Delhi

417) Name the former Chief Justice of India who has been appointed as the Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission: Justice H L Dattu

418) Mobile app ‘Swachh Paryatan’ has been launched by which ministry to promote cleanliness of prime tourist destinations: Ministry of Tourism

419) As per a global study, India is the top importer of arms. Which is at the 2nd rank: China

420) Parliament of ___________ has become the world’s first parliament to run fully on solar power: Pakistan

421) India has approved a $150 million credit line for the development of Chabahar port in which country: Iran

422) RBI has extended the $2 billion currency swap arrangement to __________nations till mid-November 2017 to enhance economic cooperation: SAARC

423) The fifth edition of 'Exercise IBSAMAR' was conducted between the navies of India and which two other countries: Brazil and South Africa

424) What is the full form of the term IBSAMAR: India, Brazil, South Africa Maritime

425) Government raised about Rs 5,030 crore from sale of its 5% stake in which Maharatna PSU: National Thermal Power Corporation-NTPC

426) A report by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance headed by M. Veerappa Moily, a senior Congress MP, highlighted which weak functional aspect of public sector banks: High Level of NPAs

427) Govt has decided to extend ___________visa facility to 37 more countries from Feb 26: E-Tourist

428) Finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of 20 major rich and developing

economies began a two-day meeting in __________on Feb 26: Shanghai

429) The Indian Navy's first locally developed nuclear submarine _____________is now ready for full fledged operations: INS Arihant

430) Who has been appointed as the new Director General of the Indian Coast Guard: Rajendra Singh

431) Aryabhata award 2013, the prestigious honour by Astronautical Society of India has been conferred upon which scientist: Dr. Avinash Chander, former chief of DRDO

432) Goverdhan Mehta, renowned researcher in Chemical Sciences, has been honoured with the prestigious Cross of the Order of Merit by which country: Germany

433) Which Indian bank has won the Green Bond Pioneer Award for promoting Green Infrastructure Bonds: Yes Bank

434) In which country, a landmark UN-backed ceasefire came into effect at midnight of 26 Feb, supported by both – USA and Russia: Syria

435) 13th World Spice Congress was held in __________from Feb 27-29: Ahmedabad

436) _________ has been elected as the new President of world Football body –FIFA: Gianni Infantino

437) __________won the prestigious Ranji trophy cricket championship defeating Saurashtra: Mumbai

438) In which country a Twin Otter plane of Tara Air crashed on Feb 24, killing all 23 people aboard: Nepal

439) The Indian women's cricket team lead by Mithali Raj won the three-match Twenty20 International series 3-0 against which team: Sri Lanka

440) Government plans to set up a dedicated, cross functional team called Special Unit for Transportation Research and Analytics (Sutra) for improvement in which area: Railway

441) The innovative team Sutra is proposed to be headed by which person: Ratan Tata

442) The Union Cabinet has approved establishment of AIM and SETU in which organization to encourage innovations and entrepreneurship in the country: NITI Aayog

443) The acronyms of AIM and SETU stands for: Atal Innovation Mission and Self Employment and Talent Utilisation

JANUARY – 2016 444) Name the former Punjab Governor and ex-Chief

of Army Staff who passed away in Gurgaon on December 29, 2015: General OP Malhotra

445) Jnanpith Award is given for excellence in which field: Literature


446) Jnanpith Award is given for excellence in literature in which language: All 22 Indian languages approved by the Constitution

447) Name the winner of the Jnanpith Award 2015: Raghuveer Chaudhary

448) Shri Raghuveer Chaudhary is a noted novelist of which language: Gujarati

449) Vijay Hazare Trophy is associated with which sports: Cricket

450) Name the team that won the Vijay Hazare Trophy for 2015: Gujarat

451) Government has announced that taxpayers with an annual income of more than Rs. ______ lakh will not get subsidised LPG cylinders from January, 2016: Ten

452) Dr. Harpal Singh Kumar was conferred with Knighthood Honour in UK for what achievement: For his influential work on prevention and treatment of cancer

453) Senior National Wrestling Championship was held at which place: New Delhi

454) Bajrang Punia, Ritu Phogat and Priyanka Phogat are the prominent players of which sports: Wrestling

455) Which is the last country to be declared free of deadly Ebola disease by WHO: Liberia

456) Who has been named as the 'Cricketer of the Year' - Men for 2015 by the BCCI: Virat Kohali

457) Who has been named as the 'Cricketer of the Year' - Women for 2015 by the BCCI: Mithali Raj

458) Scientists in which country have developed a human-like social robot named ‘Nadine’, with soft skin and flowing brunette hair: Singapore

459) _____________ has been named as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NITI Aayog: Amitabh Kant

460) Haskell Wexler, an Oscar winning cinema celebrity from USA died recently. He was from which field of cinema: Photography

461) Which country recently launched Gaofen-4 Earth Observation Satellite: China

462) The government has approved the signing of the Raptor MoU for what purpose: To conserve and reverse the decline of birds of prey such as vultures, eagles etc

463) Dr. Gyanendra D Bandgaiyan has been appointed as the Director General of which national organization: National Centre for Good Governance

464) Giorgi Kvirikashvili has been elected as the Prime Minister of which European country: Georgia

465) Rakhi Haldar and Kavita Devi won gold in their respective weight categories at the National level in which sports: Weight lifting

466) National Weightlifting Championships held in which city: Patiala

467) RBI has notified that from Feb 1, 2016 all govt cheques will be paid through ________________system: Cheque Truncation System

468) Reserve Bank has asked banks to ensure that every village with a population over __________ should have a bank branch by March 2017: 5,000

469) RBI has asked SLBCs to ensure that every village with a population over 5,000 should have a bank branch by March 2017. What is SLBCs: State Level Bankers Committees

470) The government has constituted a committee headed by noted film-maker ____________ to look into revamp of Censor Board: Shyam Benegal

471) World Bank has agreed to provide a $ 50 million loan funding of ‘Nai Manzil' project for what purpose: Education and Skills Training for Minorities in BPL category

472) Name the India’s star off-spinner who was ranked as the No. 1 Test bowler in the ICC rankings for 2015: R. Ashwin

473) World champion Magnus Carlsen won the Qatar Masters Open Chess Tournament. He is from which country: Norway

474) Name the Mumbai boy who created cricket history by scoring 1009 runs not out: Pranav Dhanawade

475) Reserve Bank has started the process of issuing composite instructions under the title _________ on various regulatory issues in its bid to simplify the communication process: Master Directions

476) South Asian Football Federation Cup was won by India by defeating which country: Afghanistan

477) South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Cup was hosted by which Indian city: Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala

478) Name the important document of Chemistry which now has its seventh row completed with the introduction of four new chemical elements: The periodic table of elements

479) Name the veteran Communist Party of India leader who passed away after a long illness at New Delhi: A. B. Bardhan

480) Which university won the overall trophy in the 76th All-India Inter-University Athletics Championship: Punjabi University

481) 'Anything But Khamosh' is an autobiography of which prominent celebrity politician: Shatrughan Sinha

482) A classy performance by which Indian cricketer in 2001 has been rated as the greatest Test


performance of the last 50 years: VVS Laxman's

483) Name the famous novel by Harper Lee that topped the US bestseller list in 2015, selling 1.6 million copies: Go Set a Watchman

484) bidali Neemuchwala has been appointed new Chief Executive Officer of which IT corporate: Wipro

485) Which educational institute hosted the 103rd Indian Science Congress: University of Mysore, Karnataka

486) Apurvi Chandela broke the world record by earning highest ever score of 211.2 in which event: 10 meter air rifle shooting

487) Name the indigenous stealth Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) Corvette that was recently inducted in Indian Navy: INS Kadmatt

488) _________________became the fastest film to take one billion dollars at the global box office: Star Wars the Force Awakens

489) Name the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister who breathed his last at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi: Mufti Mohammad Sayeed

490) Govt has decided to implement norms of Bharat Stage (BS) VI from April 1, 2020 for what purpose: To minimize the air pollution from vehicles

491) The counter-insurgency joint exercise ‘Shakti-2016’ was held at which place: Rajasthan Desert

492) Shakti 2016 - joint military exercise was held by which two countries: India and France

493) Name the Indian badminton player who was declared number one in junior men's singles category in the Badminton World Federation (BWF) rankings: Siril Verma

494) Which country was in news for conducting a powerful Hydrogen bomb test in a defiant and surprising move as there is a UN ban on testing and development of nuclear weapons: North Korea

495) The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) is planning to set up a modern Indian Waterways Hub at________, West Bengal: Haldia

496) Union Health Ministry has decided to use the expertise of Global Vaccine Alliance (GAVI) in which field: To improve the quality and coverage of vaccination in India

497) Urjit Patel, Deputy Governor of Reserve Bank of India, was in news for what reasons: He has been reappointed for a second three-year term

498) As per the Hurun India Philanthropy List 2015, _____________ has been ranked as the most generous Indian of the year: Azim Premji

499) Golden Globe Awards are given in which country: USA

500) Golden Globe Awards are given for excellence in which field: Cinema

501) The Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture (Drama) was won by which movie: The Revenant

502) With which country India has signed an agreement for enabling people of both nations to avail retirement benefits in each other's country: Australia

503) International Kite Festival was held at which city in India: Ahmadabad, Gujarat

504) Chennai Open Tennis cup was lifted by which tennis star: Stanislaus Wawrinka

505) India will host a joint military exercise with 18 members countries of East Asian Summit in March, 2016 at which place: Pune, Maharashtra

506) Eight Indian states have agreed to implement direct benefit of transfer of subsidy in _________in 26 districts w.e.f. April 1, 2016: Kerosene

507) _____________has become the first state in the country to officially accept electronic motor insurance policies by the name ‘e-Vahan Bima’: Telangana

508) Justice (Retd) R M Lodha committee was appointed by the Supreme Court for what purpose : To look into the affairs of BCCI

509) Name the amputee Indian mountaineer who

conquered Mount Aconcagua in Argentina, the highest mountain outside Asia: Arunima Sinha

510) The novel 'A God in Ruins' which won the novel of the year prize in Britain is written by whom: Kate Atkinson

511) ______________won the Lal Bahadur Shastri Hockey tournament by beating Railways in New Delhi: ONGC

512) From which place in India, a bus service for Nepal was started after a gap of 27 years: Banbasa border in Uttarakhand

513) Stand Up India Scheme has been approved by the Union Cabinet for what purpose: To promote entrepreneurship among SC/ST and women entrepreneurs by facilitating easy bank finance for them

514) Which country declined to take part in forthcoming Under-19 World Cup Tournament in Bangladesh citing security reasons: Australia

515) National Waterway-1 has been developed on which river: Ganga

516) In which state an initiative ‘Wattan ko Jano’ has been launched to familiarize the local youth with the development of the country in other


states: Jammu & Kashmir 517) Raghuram Rajan, RBI Governor was named

‘Global and Asia-Pacific Central Bank Governor of the Year 2015’ by the prestigious magazine The Banker in which country: Britain

518) Name the senior IAS officer who has been appointed as the new Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India: Sailesh

519) _________________appointed as Chairman of fair-trade regulator Competition Commission of India (CCI): Devender Kumar Sikri

520) 'Operation Green Hunt' refers to an all-out offensive by India’s paramilitary forces against which group: Naxalites

521) Govt has decided to merge the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs with which bigger ministry: Ministry of External Affairs

522) The 14th Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas (PBD) was held on 9 January 2016 in which city: New Delhi

523) Govt has decided to change the frequency of hosting the Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas to what interval: Once in two years

524) The 11th World Hindi Day was celebrated on __________ January 2016 in all Indian embassies around the world to promote the usage of Hindi as official language: 10

525) The world's largest blue star sapphire that weighs 1404.49 carats was discovered recently in which country: Sri Lanka

526) Govt has launched Ganga Gram Yojana for what purpose involving 1600 villages of UP situated along the banks of river Ganga: To minimize / stop pollution of the river from these villages

527) 'Maru Bharat Saru Bharat' is a book written by a noted Saint of which religion: Jainism

528) RBI imposed a one crore penalty on a bank for non reporting of data to CRILC. Write the full form of CRILC: Central Repository of Information on Large Credits

529) Tennis star Milos Raonic is from which country: Canada

530) Name the star football player who won the World Player of the Year Award - FIFA Ballon d'Or for the fifth time: Lionel Messi

531) Name the US mid fielder who won the FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year: Carli Lloyd

532) Naya Raipur is the capital city of which state: Chhattisgarh

533) Birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda is celebrated in India as which day: National Youth Day

534) What was the theme of this year's National Youth Festival: India Youth for Skill, Development and Harmony

535) In Himachal Pradesh, the ______folk dance of Kullu district has made a world record for the folk dance by largest number: Nati

536) Which global financial body has agreed to provide a $625 million loan for the Visakhapatnam - Chennai Industrial Corridor: Asian Development Bank

537) Name the new crop insurance scheme for farmers under which the premium will be paid by Central and state govt: Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana

538) As per the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, Farmers have to pay a token premium of ____ per cent for Kharif, ____per cent for Rabi and _____ per cent for commercial crops: 2, 1.5, 5

539) ___________ has become the first Indian state to achieve 100 percent primary education (up to class iv): Kerala

540) ____________ has become India's first fully organic state by converting around 75,000 hectares of agricultural land into sustainable cultivation: Sikkim

541) __________________has become the first public sector bank to launch wealth management service ‘SBI Exclusif’: State Bank of India

542) As per a recent report, India sends the largest number of engineers and scientists to which country: USA

543) As per a UN study, people from which country are the largest community living outside their country: India (16 million)

544) Tsai Ing-Wen has been elected as the new President of which country: Taiwan

545) The coveted The Hindu Prize, 2015 for best novel has been won by Easterine Kire for which novel: When the River Sleeps

546) Noted novelist Anuradha Roy won which prize for her novel 'Sleeping on Jupiter': DSC Prize for South Asian Literature

547) 'Flood of Fire' is a book written by which author: Amitav Ghosh

548) Name the famous footballer from Britain who won the Danny Kaye Humanitarian Leadership Award recently: David Beckham

549) Naval exercise named 'Sahyog-Kaijin 2016' was held jointly by which two countries: India and Japan

550) Rajesh Vivek Upadhyay a noted film and TV actor died recently. Which was his most popular film: Lagaan (Guran)

551) World Bank has agreed to provide Rs 1071 crore funding for the Neeranchal National Watershed Project for what purpose: For augmentation of various irrigation projects across the country

552) The 2015 Filmfare Award for best actor was


won by which artist: Ranveer Singh for Bajirao Mastani

553) Which film won the 2015 Filmfare award for the best film: Bajirao Mastani

554) Name the newly launched mobile based programme which aims to deliver 72 free weekly audio messages about pregnancy and child care to the beneficiary: Kilkari

555) Union Ministry of Health has launched mobile based programme M-Cessation to help which target group: Persons willing to quit tobacco use, through SMS support

556) Name the anti-tank missile recently successfully test fired by the DRDO: Nag

557) Why Army Day is observed on January 15: On this day in 1949, Lt. Gen. (later Field Marshal) K M Cariappa became the first Indian Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army

558) Name the rocket developed by the SpaceX company of USA which is capable of landing back on earth: Falcon 9

559) RBI has contributed Rs. 1000 crores for the equity of which of its organization: National Housing Bank

560) Which is the first private sector bank to achieve the milestone of Rs 1 lakh crore in housing loan: ICICI

561) World Economic Forum’s prestigious annual meeting held at _____________ from January 20 to 23: Davos, Switzerland

562) 563) Name the India's representative on the Board of

Directors of the China-sponsored Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB): Dinesh Sharma

564) Union Ministry of Finance released the draft report of Justice R V Easwar (Retd) Committee for what purpose: To simplify the provisions of Income-tax Act, 1961

565) Ronnie O'Sullivan won his sixth World Snooker Masters title. He is from which country: Britain

566) In a global first, the World Bank has agreed to provide $ 20 million assistance to reconstruct the Indira Gandhi Zoological Park. Where is it located: Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh

567) ISRO successfully launched the IRNSS 1 - E, fifth satellite of the total seven satellites in the system. What is IRNSS: Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System

568) What is the main function of IRNSS: To provide navigation, tracking and mapping services to the Indian sub continent

569) The Union Ministry of Shipping has started Project Green Ports for what purpose: To make Major Ports across India cleaner

and greener 570) What is the rank of India in the Global Talent

Competitiveness Index: 89th 571) The World Tourism Barometer report is

released by which international organization: UN World Tourism Organization

572) Government has decided to institute which new award category under the National Film Awards: The Most Film Friendly State/UT

573) Name the Indian who won the New Zealand's most popular motor race the Lady Wigram Trophy: Jehan Daruvala

574) Which major European country recently declared a state of economic and social emergency: France

575) As per the annual global CEO survey done by PwC which country tops in terms of overall growth prospects: USA

576) As per the annual global CEO survey done by PwC for growth prospects in countries, India has been placed at which rank: 5th

577) As per recent data release by NASA, year _______ has been declared as the warmest year since 1880: 2015

578) In context of rising global warming, experts say the record temperatures are due to a combination of ______ and_______: El Niño, human-induced warming

579) RBI has advised that the government will pay ______ commission to banks for attracting more gold in the Gold Monetisation Scheme: 2.5%

580) What is the name of the new luxury super fast express train started between Varanasi to Delhi: 'Mahamana Express'

581) Government has decided to extend the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme to 61 more districts this year. On what basis these districts have been selected: Districts with poor sex ratio (of girl child)

582) The dreaded Zika virus is spread by which animal: Aedes mosquito

583) Countries in which part of the globe have recently suffered wide spread attack of Zika virus: Latin America

584) The RBI has asked banks to provide loans of up to Rs 3 lakh at 7 per cent interest rate to which category of self help groups: Women Self-Help Group (SHG)

585) Name the public sector undertaking responsible for minting the India gold coins: Metals and Minerals Trading Corporation of India - MMTC

586) Name the UN agency which says that Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows into India nearly doubled to $ 59 billion in 2015: UNCTAD

587) What is the full form of UNCTAD: United


Nations Conference on Trade and Development

588) ________ has been appointed as the Chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT): Atulesh Jindal

589) Name the two major components of Direct Taxes: Corporate Tax and Income Tax

590) The Z Factor: My Journey as the Wrong Man at the Right Time - an autobiography of which noted personality of Indian media: Subhash Chandra, founder of Zee TV group

591) A Nuclear Security Index compiled by the Nuclear Threat Initiative of USA for 176 countries ranks India at which place: 21st

592) In a recent global survey, which Indian hotel has been adjudged as the best hotel in the world: Umaid Bhawan, Jodhpur, Rajasthan

593) A new Thrush bird found in northeast India has been named 'Zoothera Salimalii' scientifically after which great Indian ornithologist: Salim Ali

594) World Bank will provide $ 250 million loan to which Indian State for the Kosi Basin Development Project: Bihar

595) Pavel Filip has been appointed as the Prime Minister of Moldova. Where is Moldova: Located between Ukraine and Romania

596) Which global report has said that India will be the world's fastest growing large economy at 7.3 per cent in 2016: United Nations World Economy Report

597) ___________ has become the first ever railway station in India to have free high-speed Internet facility: Mumbai Central

598) Indian Railway’s telecom arm, RailTel is collaborating with which IT giant company to provide free wifi services in railway stations: Google

599) RBI plans to introduce new banknotes of which denominations with enhanced security features: Rs. 100 & Rs. 500

600) Which city hosted the National Conference on e-Governance: Nagpur, Maharashtra

601) As per a recent 'Best Country Report', _________ has been ranked as no. 1 country: Germany

602) As per a recent 'Best Country Report', India has ranked at which place: 22nd

603) France has signed MoU with India for the development of which three Indian cities as Smart City: Chandigarh, Nagpur and Puducherry

604) Headquarters of global body International Solar Alliance are to be located at which place in India: Gurgaon, Haryana

605) International Solar Alliance is a group of 121 countries for what purpose: For increasing

utilisation and promotion of solar energy 606) What is the criterion to include 121 countries in

the International Solar Alliance: They are located between the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn

607) National Voters Day is observed on which date: January 25

608) Why National Voters Day is observed on January 25: This is the foundation day of Election Commission (1950)

609) What is the theme for this year's national voter day: ‘Inclusive and Qualitative Participation'

610) Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa has been elected as the new President of which European country: Portugal

611) Name the Indian Badminton player who won the Malaysia Masters Grand Prix Gold Badminton title: P V Sindhu

612) India won the first T20 Asia Cup Cricket for Blind by beating which country: Pakistan

613) The first T20 Asia Cup Cricket for Blind was held at which place: Kochi, Kerala

614) Who has been re-elected as the president of world's largest political party - BJP: Amit Shah

615) Name the indigenously designed and built advanced light helicopter that made its debut at the Republic Day parade: Rudra

616) In which state capital India's largest national flag was hoisted on the tallest pole: Ranchi, Jharkhand

617) A four day cultural festival 'Bharat Parv' was held at which place: Delhi

618) __________ hosted the 61st National School Athletic Meet: Kozhikode, Kerala

619) Name the brave heart decorated with the Nation's highest peacetime gallantry award- Ashok Chakra: Lance Naik Mohan Nath Goswami

620) Lance Naik Mohan Nath Goswami was decorated with Ashok Chakra for which act of gallantry: Eliminating 10 terrorists in 11 days before laying down his life in the line of duty in Sep 2015 in Kupwara sector of Jammu & Kashmir

621) India’s Foreign Policy is a book written by Muchkund Dubey. Who is he: India's former Foreign Secretary

622) Vijay Merchant (U-16) Trophy was won by ______________ by beating Mumbai: Punjab

623) Name the highest civilian honour of Australia that has been conferred on three Indians in January 2016: The Order of Australia

624) Name the scheme launched for online booking of LPG cylinders: Sahaj Scheme

625) India has overtaken ____________ as the world's


largest rice exporter in 2015: Thailand 626) In the Corruption Perceptions Index–2015 by

the Transparency International, what is the rank of India: 76th

627) __________ has been declared as the least corrupt country in the world by the Transparency International: Denmark

628) Aparna Kumar has successfully climbed the Mount Vinson Massif, the highest peak in the Antarctic sub-continent. Who is she: An IPS officer of the Uttar Pradesh cadre

629) As per latest data of car sales, which company is the No. 1 in world selling 10.15 million vehicles in 2015: Toyota

630) PEN - Allen Foundation Literary Service Award is given in which country: USA

631) The Harry Potter author J K Rowling won the PEN - Allen Foundation Literary Service Award for which novel: None, it is for her support for free expression and charitable causes

632) ________________has become the country’s first blind friendly Braille-embedded train: Mysuru-Varanasi Express

633) IHF has declared ___________ as the player of the year (Male) for 2015: Robert Van der Horst, The Netherlands

634) IHF has declared ___________ as the player of the year (Female) for 2015: Lidewij Welten, The Netherlands

635) Name the Bollywood celebrity who won the Yash Chopra Memorial Award in January 2016: Rekha

636) Marvin Minsky, noted mathematician and the computer scientist, pioneer of artificial intelligence who passed away recently was from which country: USA

637) In which part of India the highly endangered species Snow Leopard has been captured for the first time on camera: Northern Sikkim

638) Govt has made E-tendering compulsory for all govt purchases exceeding Rs. ____________: 2 lacs

639) The government has approved the hybrid annuity model as one of the modes for implementing which type of projects: Highway development projects

640) The World Meteorological Organisation has nominated_________ as the Regional Climate Centre to provide information to other South Asian countries: India

641) Which state has decided to give 35 per cent reservation for women in all kind of state government job: Bihar

642) Asia's largest underground railway station, covering a total area of 147,000 square metres has been opened in Futian in which country: China

643) Veteran tennis star ___________ became the first Russian player to enter the prestigious International Tennis Hall of Fame, USA: Marat Safin

644) Why World Braille Day is observed on January 4: It is the B'day of Louis Braille, inventor of Braille language for blinds

645) The child sex ratio in India at present is at lowest level since 1961. What is its value: 918 per 1000 male babies

646) RBI has granted operational freedom to banks to offer all their products and services through which new channel: ATM

647) The Union Cabinet has approved conversion of MUDRA Ltd, an NBFC, into which new outfit: MUDRA Bank

648) Name the Nobel Peace Prize winner author of the book 'Azad Bachpan Ki Aur': Kailash Satyarthi

649) India’s share in IMF has increased to 2.75% from 2.44%, making it the ___________largest shareholder in the Fund: Eighth

650) Name the book recently released by the Indian President narrating his memoires: The Turbulent Years – 1980-1996

DECEMBER – 2015 651) The international solar alliance was recently

launched by Prime Minister Modi at which place: Paris

652) The international solar alliance aims at achieving the objective of keeping global warming below _____ degree Celsius between now and 2100: 2

653) At the Paris climate summit, India has committed to generate _____ giga watt solar power by 2022: 100

654) Developed nations are expected to keep their pledge to provide $______ billion a year by 2020 to support climate control by the developing nations: 100

655) Davis Cup 2015 was won by ________ after a gap of 79 years: Great Britain

656) _______ was the ace tennis star credited with victory of Britain in Davis Cup: Andy Murray

657) Diary of a Wimpy Kid is a book written by ___________: Jeff Kinney

658) Who is the author of the book Rogue Lawyer: John Grisham

659) ___________ won the world heavy weight boxing championship by beating Wladimir Klitschko: Tyson Fury

660) Which international bank recently announced shutting down of its private banking business in India: HSBC (Hong Kong, Shanghai Banking Corporation)


661) Government has decided to enforce Bharat Stage (BS) VI norms by which date: April 1, 2021

662) India successfully test-fired the indigenously built nuclear-capable _______ missile, capable of hitting a target at a distance of 700 km: Agni-I

663) Barak 8 is the name of which defence equipment: Advanced surface-to-air supersonic missile

664) India has developed the Barak 8 missile in collaboration with which country: Israel

665) Union govt. proposes to launch a $1-billion equity fund to support companies in which sector: Renewable Energy

666) RBI has approved which organization to function as the Central Unit for Bharat Bill Payment System: National Payments Corporation of India

667) The govt. has launched IPV for what purpose: For immunity against polio

668) What is the full form of IPV: Inactivated Polio Vaccine

669) The Golden Peacock award for best feature film is associated with which international film festival: International Film Festival of India

670) The Golden Peacock for 2015 was won by which film: Embrace of the Serpent

671) Who is the director of the award winning film Embrace of the Serpent: Ciro Guerra

672) The Golden Peacock award carries a cash prize of Rs. ____________ lac: 40

673) At the Paris climate meet, India has committed to reduce its emissions intensity by _____ percent of its GDP by 2030: 33

674) The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has decided to include which new currency in its Special Drawing Rights (SDR) basket effective from October 1, 2016: Chinese currency, the Yuan

675) Apart from Yuan, how many currencies are there in the special drawing rights basket of IMF: Four

676) Anticipate, Absorb, Reshape is a new initiative launched by which organization to build climate resilience in the world’s most vulnerable countries: UNO

677) The first media summit of BRICS nations was held at which place: Beijing

678) Which Indian telecom major plans to invest Rs.60,000 crore over the next three-years in ‘Project Leap’ to upgrade its networks: Bharti Airtel

679) 20 countries, including India, launched Mission Innovation in Paris for what purpose: For accelerating clean energy revolution across the world

680) With which country the government is considering a 'medicines for oil' barter system: Venezuela

130/- 150/-

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681) Why the govt. is considering a ‘medicines for oil’ barter system with Venezuela: Because Indian pharma exporters are facing problems to repatriate their sales proceeds

682) What is the name of the five-day festival of classical dances of India held in December every year: The Konark Festival

683) Which state hosts the Konark Festival: Odisha 684) Name the famous temple associated with the

Konark Festival: Sun temple 685) Which Indian state hosted the International

Sand Art Festival 2015: Odisha 686) Robert Lewandowski, who earned recently

three Guinness World Record for fastest three, four and five goals is associated with which sports: Football

687) The World AIDS Day observed on which date: December 1

688) What is the international theme for this years World AIDS Day: Getting to zero, End AIDS by 2030

689) Ustaad Sabri Khan, a veteran musician died recently. He was master of which instrument: Sarangi

690) Roch Marc Christian Kabore has been elected as the President of which West African country: Burkina Faso

691) This Unquiet Land is a book written by Barkha Dutt. She is a famous name in which field: TV Journalism

692) Thakur Anoop Singh who recently won a world title, is associated with which sports discipline: Body building

693) The World Bodybuilding and Physique Championship was held in which city: Bangkok, Thailand

694) Name the global IT giant who pledged to give away 99 per cent of his company shares in charity: Mark Zuckerberg

695) Govt has decided to setup 11 higher education institutes, 6 in technology sector and 5 in management sector. Name these institutes: 6 Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and 5 Indian Institute of Management (IIM)

696) Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) has launched GIAN scheme recently. What is full form of GIAN: Global Initiative of Academic Networks

697) Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) has launched GIAN scheme for what purpose: To boost the quality of higher education in India through international collaboration

698) Sir Venkatraman Ramakrishnan is a Nobel laureate in which field: Chemistry

699) Sir Venkatraman Ramakrishnan assumed the

presidency of which prestigious global science body: Royal Society, London

700) BRICS nations are known for their good growth rate. However, recently one of them slipped into recession. Name this country: Brazil

701) According to the India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2015, forests and trees cover _________ % of the total geographical area: 24.16

702) The Lok Sabha passed the Bureau of Indian Standards Bill, 2015 to establish the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) as which new organization: National Standards Body of India

703) Google’s YouTube has collaborated with which production house in India to open its first video production studio called YouTube Spaces in the country: Whistling Woods International

704) What is the name of the China’s first domestically developed electricity-powered aircraft: RX 1E

705) The recently released ICT (information, communication and technology) Development Index ranks which country at the top: South Korea

706) As per the ICT Development Index 2015, India ranks a lowly __________ in the list of 167 countries: 131st

707) Which Indian bank bagged the prestigious 'Bank of the Year' award conferred by Britain’s 'The Banker' magazine: Yes Bank

708) _________________has become the first state of India to launch Rotavirus vaccination: Himachal Pradesh

709) What is the purpose of Rotavirus Vaccination: Controlling the child mortality rate (under five years of age) due to diarrhea

710) The Atlas V rocket belongs to which country: USA

711) USA utilized services of the Atlas V rocket recently for what purpose: To carry supplies to the International Space Station

712) As per recent data, India attracted maximum FDI during April to September period from which country: Singapore

713) A survey in 33 countries for ‘Index of Ignorance’ has placed __________ as the country having highest percentage of ignorant population: Mexico

714) As per the index of ignorance, India is ranked at number ___________ in the survey of 33 countries: Two

715) RBI has hiked Priority Sector Lending norms for Regional Rural Banks from 60 per cent at present to _______ per cent of their total lending with effect from 1 January 2016: 75

716) As on March 2015, there were _____RRBs


operating in the country with a network of 20059 branches: 56

717) From which country India received its first uranium consignment of about 2730 tonnes, after a gap of over four decades: Canada

718) Govt released two commemorative coins of Rs.125 and Rs.10 as part of the 125th birth anniversary year celebrations of which great Indian political figure: Babasaheb Bhim Rao Ambedkar

719) The 8th edition of INDRA NAVY-15, a bilateral maritime joint naval exercise between the Indian and _____________ navy was conducted recently: Russian

720) The first Goa to Mumbai double-decker Shatabdi train was flagged off from which city: Panjim, Goa

721) Which state launched International festival on Birds in National Chambal Sanctuary: Uttar Pradesh

722) The Hockey World League Cup was lifted by which country: Australia

723) What do we call a bond the funds are 'ear-marked' for use towards financing ‘green’ projects only: Green Bond

724) Name the who new teams that have become the new franchises in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for a period of two years: Pune and Rajkot

725) Govt. has launched Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) and Self Employment Talent Utilisation (SETU) schemes for what purpose: For Entrepreneurship development

726) Which Indian State has recorded highest per capita income of Rs. 240,849 during 2014-15: Delhi

727) Which state legislature has become the first in the country to launch an online mechanism for its members to send questions and move different motions in the House: Maharashtra

728) The Supreme Court has directed all the State and UT Governments to consider ________victims under the disabled quota to enable them to get reservations in government jobs as well as education benefits: Acid-attack

729) Chen Long of _____ and Carolina Marin of _______were declared Male and Female Player of the Year, respectively, by the Badminton World Federation (BWF): China, Spain

730) The ______________________has become the first oil company from India to join the global initiative ‘Zero Routine Flaring by 2030: Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd

731) Name the iconic leader who has been named as the "Person of the Year" by the Times Magazine: Angela Markel

732) Name the Chinese city that posted the second World Internet Conference: Wuzhen

733) Name the global pop singer from USA who is on top of Forbes magazine's list of highest-paid musicians of 2015: Katy Perry

734) For which two items, the government has approved mandatory use of jute packaging material: Foodgrains and sugar

735) World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) 2016 report has been brought out by which international body: UNO

736) The Japanese Prime Minister attended the Ganga Aarti at which ghat in Varanasi: Dasaswamedh Ghat

737) Which country has approved the use of the first-ever vaccine against dengue fever – Dengvaxia: Mexico

738) Name the politician whose autobiography’s title is “On My Terms: From the Grassroots to the Corridors of Power”: Sharad Pawar

739) Mailer Prize for Literature is given in which country: USA

740) Name the India born author who has been selected for this year’s Mailer Prize for Literature: Salman Rushdie

741) South East Asia Writer Award is given annually to poets and writers from which group of countries: ASEAN – Association of South East Asian Nations

742) The first proposed bullet train in India will connect Mumbai with which other city: Ahmadabad

743) Nearly 200 nations adopted the first global pact to fight climate change on Dec 12 at COP 21 meet by UNFCCC. What is full form of COP and UNFCCC: Conference of the Parties, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

744) Name the four Asian countries that have joined hands to construct 1800 kms long TAPI gas pipelines: Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India

745) What is the ratio of sharing between Pakistan, Afghanistan and India in gas carried by TAPI gas pipeline: 42% each by Pakistan and India and 16% by Afghanistan

746) As per the Human Development Index (HDI) compiled by the UNDP, India ranked a lowly _____ in the list of 188 nations: 130th

747) What are the three basic parameters on which the countries are ranked in the human development index: A long and healthy life, access to knowledge and a decent standard of living

748) 34 Islamic nations have agreed to form a new “Islamic military alliance” led by _________to fight


terrorism: Saudi Arabia 749) Vijay Kumar, Chain Singh, Apurvi Chandela

recently won gold medal in the National Championship of which event: Shooting

750) What is the name of the mascot of the 12th South Asian Games: Tikhor

751) Name the West African country that has decided to become an Islamic republic because Islam is the religion of the majority of its citizens: Gambia

752) Which is the first major bank in India to issue EMV chip and pin based debit cards to its new customers: State Bank of India

753) Abbreviation of EMV stands for what: Euro-Maestro-Visa

754) The Federal Reserve of USA was in news recently for what reasons: It hiked interest rates by 25 basis points to 0.50 on Dec 16, for the first time since 2006

755) As per the National Air Quality Index (NAQI) for 17 countries, which is the most polluted city in the world: Delhi

756) The Supreme Court has ruled that the RBI and commercial banks cannot hide routine information on which issue: Names of top defaulters, the losses suffered by banks

757) The PSLV-C29 rocket recently placed in space six satellites of which country: Singapore

758) The World Bank has approved a USD 1.5 billion loan for supporting which major Indian campaign: Clean India Campaign

759) The government has made it mandatory to quote PAN for all transactions in excess of Rs.___ lakh to curb black money: Two

760) What type of ship is INS Vikramaditya: Aircraft Carrier

761) Losar, the biggest Tibetan Buddhist Festival is celebrated in which area: Ladakh, J & K

762) What is the significance of Losar festival: It is the beginning of New Year for Buddhists

763) For the first time, two Indian cities, ____________, have been selected in the Creative City Network of the UNESCO: Varanasi and Jaipur

764) Which Indian city has been selected as the city of Music by UNESCO: Varanasi

765) Which Indian city has been selected as the city of Crafts and Folk Art by UNESCO: Jaipur

766) _____________has become the first Indian female cyclist to be ranked fourth in the World Elite Women Ranking: Deborah Herold

767) Union Government has requested the states and Union Territories (UT) to start _________from 1 to 31 January 2016 to rescue/rehabilitate the missing children: Operation Smile-II

768) India has ranked a low _____out of 144 nations

on Forbes' annual list of the best countries for doing business in 2015: 97th

769) As per RBI decision, first cut of 25 basis points shall be made in SLR on which date: April 2, 2016

770) The UN Security Council (UNSC) has adopted a resolution to cut off revenue flows including ransom payments to which category of organizations: ISIS and other terrorists group

771) RBI has asked banks to follow a new and uniform methodology for calculation of which rate: Base Rate

772) Banks will have to follow new system of base rate calculation from which date: April 1, 2016

773) What is the formal name of the new proposed base rate for the banks: Marginal Cost of Funds based Lending Rate (MCLR)

774) Banks will have to publish their MCLR in how many maturities: Five

775) What are the five prescribed maturities for which banks have to publish their MCLR: Overnight rates, one month, three months, six months and one year

776) Banks are required to publish their MCLR at what interval of time: Monthly

777) Country's biggest Wildlife Rescue Centre has been established in which state: Maharashtra (Gorewada)

778) The 22nd National Cricket Tournament for the visually impaired was held in which place: New Delhi

779) The Bose Brothers and Indian Independence – An Insider’s Account is a book written about which noted freedom fighter: Subash Chandra Bose

780) Govt has approved the purchase of _______air defence missile systems from Russia: S-400 Triumf

781) The 10th WTO (World Trade Organisation) Ministerial Conference was held in which city: Nairobi, Kenya

782) Who represented India in the 10th WTO (World Trade Organisation) Ministerial Conference: Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Commerce and Industry Minister

783) India lowered its GDP growth projection for the current year to between ______ % against the earlier forecast of 8.1 - 8.5%: 7 - 7.5

784) Name the former union defence secretary who has been appointed as the new Chief Information Commissioner (CIC): R K Mathur

785) Name the Greek Defence Minister who arrived in India on a three day visit in December: Panos Kammenos

786) World Bank has said that ______ is the largest recipient of inward remittances receiving over


72 billion US dollars in 2014: India 787) Which country has lifted a 40-year ban on its oil

exports: USA 788) Dan Carterhas been named 2015 Sports

Personality of the Year. He is from which field: Rugby

789) Which city hosted the 68th National Track Cycling Championship: Ludhiana, Punjab

790) The iconic boulevard Marine Drive, also popularly called the Queen’s Necklace completed 100 years on Dec 16. It is in which city: Mumbai

791) Which Indian statesman received Garwood Award for ‘Outstanding Global Leader in Open Innovation’ from UC Berkeley-Haas School of Business: Shri Pranab Mukherjee

792) 2nd World Internet Conference was held at Wuzen in which country: China

793) Which Indian company has become the first shipyard in India to get the nod to build LNG transporting ships: Coaching Shipyard

794) What is the full form of LNG: Liquefied Natural Gas

795) Name the Indian boy who has become world no. 1 won Junior Squash player: Abhay Singh

796) Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach of the Philippines has won which international beauty crown for 2015: Miss Universe

797) Mireia Lalaguna, the winner of Miss World 2015 title is from which country: Spain

798) Which country won 16 medals in the Commonwealth Table Tennis Championship to emerge as No. 1: India

799) Name the ex-President of FIFA, who was banned by Ethics Committee of FIFA for alleged financial irregularities: Sepp Blatter

800) Axis Bank has partnered with e-Mudhra to introduce an online electronic signature service. What its name: eSign

801) Which state Government has approved formation of five new districts, bringing the total districts to 25: West Bengal

802) Which UN organization has launched International Year of Pulses on 10 November: FAO (Food & Agriculture Organization)

803) What is the theme of the international year of pulses: Nutritious seeds for a sustainable future

804) Govt has decided to rename the posts of UDC (Upper Division Clerk) as what: Senior Secretariat Assistant

805) Govt has decided to rename the posts of LDC (Lower Division Clerk) as what: Junior Secretariat Assistant

806) Government has now made it mandatory for the

auditors to report any suspected corporate fraud amounting to Rs ______or more to the Corporate Affairs Ministry: One Crore

807) The Reserve Bank has asked banks to make changes in ATM switches To help customers register for which service: Mobile Banking Services

808) What is the name of the mobile app launched for farmers to get the market prices of crops in the mandi within 50 km radius of the device: Agri Market Mobile

809) North India’s first cable-stayed bridge was inaugurated at ___________in Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir: Basohali, on river Ravi

810) Indian-American tumour scientist Prof. Rakesh Jain has been selected for which top US science award: National Science Medal

811) Reserve Bank has extended the deadline for exchanging pre-2005 currency notes of various denominations by another six months to _________: June 30, 2016

812) Name the Australian Batsman who has been named as “Cricketer of the Year 2015” and “Test Cricket of the Year” by the ICC: Steve Smith

813) ____________ has been selected as the “ODI Cricketer of the year 2015” by the ICC: AB de Villiers

814) The International Tennis Federation has named ________ and ________ as the Women’s Doubles World Champions: Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis

815) Which state government has banned 15-year-old diesel vehicles from its capital's roads in a bid to control air pollution: Bihar

816) What is the highlight of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Bill passed by Rajya Sabha: Age of Juvenile for trial purposes has been lowered from 18 years to 16.

817) Which bank has tied up with railway’s e-ticketing platform IRCTC to sell rail tickets through its website: ICICI Bank

818) Gautam H Bambawale has been appointed as the High Commissioner of India to which country: Pakistan

819) Which state launched Anwesha scheme to provide free education to scheduled caste and scheduled tribe students: Odisha

820) China launched the Dark Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE) Satellite for what purpose: To study the mysterious dark matter

821) Name the global financial institution started recently with base in Beijing: Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank

822) What is the share of India in the capital of AIIB: 8.52%


823) AIIB has been started within authorized capital of $_________ billion and subscribed capital of $ ___________ billion: 100, 50

824) Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank has been promoted by 56 countries led by which country: China

825) Russia has agreed to manufacture which helicopter in India: Kamov 226

826) Col. C.K. Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award is given in which field: Cricket

827) Who has been honoured with the Col. C.K. Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award for 2015: Syed Kirmani

828) Syed Kirmani excelled in which aspect of Cricket: Wicket Keeping

829) Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has rolled out its latest mobile application named ________for providing e-learning material for students and teachers: E-CBSE

830) National Veda Convention and Vedic Conference was held in which city: Kozhikode, Kerala

831) Name the team that won the India's first pro wrestling league championship: Mumbai Garuda

832) Deepak Lather and Vikas Thakur created new national records recently in which field: Weight Lifting

833) Chilka Lake of India is famous for receiving thousands of migratory birds from Siberia region. It is located in which state: Odisha

834) In terms of brand value of nations, India ranks ______ in world: 7th

835) In terms of brand value of nations, which country enjoys the top rank: U.S.A

836) Women’s doubles title at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals was won by which couple: Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis

837) The Rugby World Cup was hosted by which city: London

838) Name the country which won the Rugby World Cup: New Zealand

839) Brijmohan Lall Munjal, a famous industrialist passed away recently. He was founder of which company: Hero Motocorp Ltd

840) _______Veteran diplomat, an IFS officer of 1980 batch, has been appointed as India’s next High Commissioner to the United Kingdom: Navtej Singh Sarna

841) Name the gold scheme that was opened for public subscription from November 5-30: Sovereign Gold Bonds Scheme

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