Current Affairs and GK Capsule for IBPS Exam

BANKING NEWS: Current RBI Rates a. CRR 4% b. SLR 23% c. Repo Rate 7.5% d. Reverse Repo 6.5% e. MSF 9.5% f. Bank Rate 9.5%

Important Fact and news of RBI: 3. RBI started Plastic Money Project on Trial Basis in 5 cities of India with the denomination of 10 rupees and will continue with other small denominations depending upon the success of these notes. 4. The Union Government and RBI on 12 March 2013 decided to introduce one billion pieces of 10 Rupees bank notes made of plastic on a field trial basis in five cities of Kochi, Mysore, Jaipur, Bhubhaneswar and Shimla. 5. RBI guide lines for the clearance of all the cheques is 2 days. 6. RBI hiked the investment limit in government securities by FIIs and long-term investors $25 billion from $20 billion and in corporate bonds $50 billion from $45 billion. 7. Under the 'Basic Savings Bank Deposit Account (BSBDA) scheme, any individual, including poor or those from weaker section of the society, can open zero balance account in any bank (including foreign banks). 8. RBI permitted the premature encashment of 8% savings (Taxable) Bonds for individual investors who are 60 years and above in age. 9. RBI issued norms for currency swap window for fresh foreign currency non-resident bank- FCNR(B) deposits mobilized for a minimum tenor of 3 years. 10. RBI allowed the Non-Resident Investors including NRIs to buy Shares under FDI Scheme. Till now, the FIIs (Foreign Institutional Investor), QFIs (Qualified Foreign Investors) and NRIs were eligible to invest and acquire the shares on the recognized stock exchanges of India in compliance with the FEMA (Foreign Exchange Management Act) regulations. But the NRIs were not allowed to acquire shares on exchange (bourses) under the FDI Scheme. 11. The RBI said, min paid-up equity of 25 % should be held directly by the lender. Also, repayment of the principal will commence only after completion of minimum average maturity of 7 years and no prepayment will be allowed before maturity. 12. RBI opens special dollar window for 3 oil marketing firms: the central bank has activated the forex swap window, whereby it will undertake sell/buy of dollar-rupee forex swaps for a fixed period with Indian Oil Corporation, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum through a designated bank. 13. The RBI imposed restrictions on banks and NBFCs for providing loans against gold coins as well as units of gold ETFs and mutual funds to curb demands for gold. Also banks were asked to ensure that the amount of loan to any customer against gold ornaments, gold Jewellery and gold coins (weighing up to 50 grams) should be within the board approved limit. 14. UAE Exchange, one of the largest foreign exchange firms in the United Arab Emirates, has applied to RBI for a banking license in India. 22. Karur Vysya Bank wins best banker award.

ECONOMIC FACTS: 1. FDI Limits: Sr no. List of Limits in Various Sectors (In %) Defence Pension Insurance Print Media Civil Aviation Public Sec. Banks Private Sec. Banks Multi Brand Single Brand Tourism Pharmaceutic als FM Radio Telecommuni cation Asset Reconstructio n companies 26 49 49 26 49 49

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

7.

74

8. 9. 10. 11.

51 100 100 100

12. 13.

26 100

14.

100

2. India ranking in different Indexes for 2013: a) Global Hunger Index- 66. b) Global Peace Index 141 c) Human Development Report 136 d) Global Corruption Index 94 e) Global Competitiveness Index-60 for 2013 (Switzerland top in this report) f) Gender Inequality Index - 132nd (UN Human Development (Index) Report) g) In List of High Net worth Individuals (5th acc to the Knight Frank Wealth Report 2013)

h) In The List of Spam Spewing Nation in the World- 3rd (after US and China): as per the new report of Sophos Labs. i) India has been ranked as the 119th freest country in the world out of 177 in the 2013 index of economic freedom.

Important News 6. Faced with a weakening rupee, the Reserve Bank announced it will sell government bonds worth Rs 22,000 crore every Monday to check volatility in the forex market. 7. Muthoot Fincorp, which is actually a part of Muthoot Pappachan Group, announced launching 100 crore Rupees nonconvertible debenture (NCB) issue in order to fund the expansion of microfinance as well as small and medium enterprise (SME) business 8. According to the World Bank India is Largest Recipient of Remittances in the World, receiving 69 billion US Dollars in 2012. India is followed by China (60 billion US dollars), the Philippines (24 billion US dollars), Mexico (23 billion US dollars) and Nigeria and Egypt (21 billion US dollars each) are Other large recipients include Pakistan, Bangladesh, Vietnam, and Lebanon. 11. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh released a commemorative stamp of Rs 5 in memory of freedom fighter and veteran journalist Lala Jagat Narain. Nagaland became the first state to use the high-tech voter recording system 'Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail' (VVPAT) with Electronic Voting Machines for the by-elections to Noksen Assembly constituency. 12. Chhattisgarh has been selected for this year's prestigious National Literacy Award for the first time since its formation in November 2000. The award was presented on the International Literacy Day celebrated on September eight. 13. Aditya Birla Group ( Ultra Tech Cement) to acquire Gujarat cement for Rs 3,800 crore. 14. Retirement fund body EPFO is likely to announce an interest rate of 8.5 percent from 8% on provident fund deposits for 201314. 15. Tata Communications Payment Solutions (TCPS), a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Communications, is the first company to launched first white label ATM (WLA) at Chandrapada, a tier-V town near Mumbai. It has been branded 'Indicash' by the company. TCPS has got the license from Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to launch white label ATM operations last month under scheme B of the central bank. 16. The Karnataka State government sanctioned Rs 100 crore for Rajiv Gandhi Panchayat Sashaktikaran Abhiyan for strengthening gram panchayats and gram sabhas by providing training to members. 18. Andhra Pradesh Grameena Vikas Bank (APGVB) has opened about 1.5 lakh no-frills accounts in eight districts of the State on a single day as part of Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) initiative. 19. Central Bank of India and Suvidhaa launched a prepaid (Channel) card for retailers that will enable people to pay their utility bills, taxes and book tickets by going to the nearest Suvidhaa outlets. 20. India to buy $4.3 billion worth of World Bank bonds: The government announced it decision to invest $4.3 billion (Rs 27,000 crore) the World Bank's special private placement bonds (SPPBs) so that the country could remain eligible for the global lender's low-cost funding for various domestic infrastructure projects. 21. The Central Government raised customs duty on gold, silver and platinum to 10 percent in a bid to curb the surging imports and burgeoning Current Account Deficit (previously gold 8% and silver 6%). 22. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Centre signed an agreement for US $300 million additional loan to upgrade 254 kilometres of deteriorated highways in northern and southern Bihar.

23. India has signed a loan agreement of 100 million US dollar with the World Bank for its Low Income Housing Finance Project.The objective of the project is to provide access to sustainable housing finance for low income households to purchase, build or upgrade their dwellings. 24. ICICI Bank Ltd, Indias largest private sector bank, has launched ICICI Bank Carbon in partnership with Visa. 25. India extends US$144mn credit line to Liberia of power transmission and distribution projects to reduce the gap of power shortage in Liberia. 26. India tops BRICS in super-rich membership : World Ultra Wealth report 2013. 27. Import Duty on Gold, Silver & Platinum hiked to 10 Percent by Central Government in a bid to curb the surging imports and burgeoning Current Account Deficit. 28. India, Japan to enhance currency swap arrangement to USD 50 billion a development that is likely to bring stability in financial markets in the country. 29. The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has sanctioned Rs 113.70 crore to Karnataka under Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF). 30. Maharatna status for BHEL and GAIL. 31. Govt. postponed the implementation of GAAR by 2 years to April 1, 2016. 32. Govt. granted an aid of 41 Crore Rs. to protect Pashmina Goats. 33. The government signed a $60 million loan agreement with the World Bank to improve watershed operations in seven districts of Karnataka. 34. Centre to set up country's 1st geothermal power project in Ladakh. 35. SBI launches pre-paid card for for blue collar employees and students named 'State Bank of India smart payout card'. i. "The new product will bring a large number of workers, contract labourers and dependent family members, who don't have access to the basic banking facilities within the ambit of financial inclusion. ii. The pre-paid card can be loaded with Rs 10,000 at a time with a monthly cap of Rs 25,000. iii. This can also be used as an add on card for the existing account holders. iv. The bank will charge Rs 102 as fees for issuing the card with a validity of 10 years. v. This card can be used by students, who normally carry the debit cards of their parents while studying outside of their native place, Also, employers can give such cards to their workers for salary payment". 36. SEBI has introduced electronic IPOs from January 1, 2013. 37. The Indian tea industry has finally reached the 1 billion kg-mark in production. 38. SBI opened its 2nd branch in China (Tianjin), While 1st in Shanghai. 39. Govt. postponed GAAR implementation by 2 years to 2016. 40. Madhya Pradesh is the first State to fully utilize tourism plans funds. 41. ICICI Bank Opened 101 Gramin Branches across Villages in 6 States

42. Former RBI Governor Y V Reddy will be the Chairman of 14th Finance Commission; the 13th Finance Commission was headed by former Finance Secretary Vijay Kelkar. 43. India and Pakistan have agreed to allow two banks each from both, the countries to set up branches across the border. The two Indian banks are SBI and Bank of India and two Pakistani banks are National Bank of Pakistan and United Bank Ltd. 44. Indian banks would need Rs 3,90,000-5,00,000 crore capital over the next six years in the wake of Basel III capital regulations announced by the RBI. 45. Bank of India opened its 1st Branch in South Africa. 46. LIC Housing Finance has launched a new home loan product called Bhagyalakshmi for women home seekers. 47. ADB gave 100 Million US Dollar Loan to Uttarakhand for the urban infrastructure programme. 48. The ADB has offered $150 million loan for the expansion of railway tracks and to improve overall service in the country. 49. ADB announced to provide $74.8 million loan to improve road connectivity in the North East states. 50. ADB to provide $300 million loan to Chhattisgarh for overhauling roads 51. ING Vysya Life is now subsidiary of Exide Industries 52. India is 4th largest energy consumer in the world: According to a Report by US Energy Information Administration (EIA), India has emerged the fourth largest energy consumer of the world after the US, China and Russia, but its per capita energy consumption remains lower than that of developed countries. 53. SIDBI signs tripartite MoU with Egyptian body, World Bank: Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has signed a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Social Fund for Development (SFD) Egypt and the World Bank. According to Sushil Muhnot, Chairman & Managing Director, SIDBI, under the MOU, SIDBI and its associates will provide consultancy for three year period to SFD and establish credit guarantee system for micro, small and medium enterprises in Egypt. 54. Moneylender-free village: Canara Bank has taken move by declaring Kunjupannai village in Nilgiris district of Tamil Nadu a moneylender free village. 55. Revised Food Bill proposes uniform 5 kg per head foodgrain subsidy: Nearly 67 per cent of population will get 5 kg of foodgrain per month at subsidised prices, once the National Food Security Bill (NFSB) gets approval from Parliament. The price for providing foodgrains will be initially valid for the first three years of implementation of the Act and after that it will be linked to Minimum Support Price. There is no change of entitlement for 2.43 crore poorest of poor families under the Antyodaya Anna Yojana, which is 35 kg per household per month. The Bill aims to cover 75 per cent of r ural population and 50 per cent of the urban population. 56. Agricultures share in GDP may fall to 13.7% in FY13: on account of higher growth in the non -farm sectors. The contribution of agriculture and allied sector to the Gross Domestic Product of the country declined from 14.6 per cent in 2009-10 to 14.5 per cent in 2010-11 and further to 14.1 per cent in 2011-12. 57. Card related complaints are highest number of complaints which were reported to the Banking Ombudsmans 58. Minimum net-owned funds of Rs 50 lakh must for money transfer business: According to the Reserve Bank of India, Indian agents intending to get into the money transfer business will need to have minimum net-owned funds of Rs 50 lakh. Further, collateral equivalent to three dayss a verage drawings or $50,000, whichever is higher, may be kept by the Overseas Principal in favour of the Indian Agent with a designated bank in India. 59. The National Manufacturing Policy, aims at enhancing the share of manufacturing in GDP to: 25 per cent within a decade. 60. 5 kg per head food grain is to be given at subsidized price as per revised Food Bill.

61. Urban cooperative banks to implement CBS by: Dec 31,2013. 62. RBI asks urban cooperative banks to implement CBS by Dec 31: RBI has asked Urban Co-operative Banks (UCBs) to implement core banking solutions (CBS) in all their branches by December 31, 2013. 63. MNREGA workers to get more wages: From April 1, the maximum daily wage of Rs 214 has been fixed for Haryana, while Bihar, Sikkim, Tripura, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh will get the minimum of Rs 135. The MNREGA wage rate is linked to the Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labour (CPIAL) from April 1 every year. 64. Minimum net-owned funds for money transfer business: Rs 50 lakh. Furt her, collateral equivalent to three dayss average drawings or $50,000, whichever is higher, may be kept by the Overseas Principal in favour of the Indian Agent with a designated bank in India. 65. Share of Indias goods exports in GDP in 2011 -12: 17.7% of GDP 66. India Mortgage Guarantee Corporation is subsidiary of: National Housing Bank (NHB). 67. Direct Benefit Transfer Scheme will be expanded to 78 districts from July 13. 68. The State Bank of Travancore launched a new service for its customers - doorstep banking.The minimum pick- up will be Rs. 5 lakh and the maximum would be Rs. 20 million. 69. The government has approved private sector lender Yes Bank's proposal to increase foreign holdings in the company to 60 percent that is likely to result in overseas equity inflow of Rs. 2,650 crore. 70. Govt released National Cyber Security Policy 2013 with an aim to protect information and build capabilities to prevent cyber attacks and to safeguard both physical and business assets of the country. 71. Govt aimed to bring e-governance at grass root level for transparency under e-district scheme and govt has decided to cover 339 of around 620 districts by March 2014 by a system under which govt. services can be accessed through instruments like mobile phones.The initiative is a part of e-Bharat programme for which government has received a financial support of around Rs 700 crore from World Bank. 72. Mahatma Gandhi Pravasi Surakhsa Yojna, MGPSY ,a pension scheme for blue-collar Indian workers was launched in the Gulf. The MGPSY is aimed at helping the workers to save money for their retirement, their return to India and resettlement and provides life insurance cover against natural death during the period of coverage.Under the scheme, Government contributes Rs.1,000 per annum for men and Rs. 2000 for women subscribers of MGPSY who save between Rs.1,000 and Rs.12,000 per year in NPS-Lite. 73. Ratings agency Crisil Friday assigned 'AAA' ratings to India Infradebt Limited, the country's first infrastructure debt fund under the non-banking finance company structure.The fund, jointly promoted by ICICI Bank, Bank of Baroda, Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) and Citicorp Finance (India), awarded its first sanction letter to a road project. 74. The Bank International Indonesia (BII) launched its operations in India by opening a branch in Mumbai. 75. Anna Bhagya programme launched in Karnataka.The programme entitles distribution of 30 kg rice a t one rupee per Kg to over 98 lakh BPL and Antyodaya card holders in the state.The state Government will distribute over two lakh 78 thousand metric tonne of rice with a subsidy of 4400 crore every month. 76. State Bank of India, in partnership with a non-banking finance company, UAE Exchange and Financial Services, has launched a card which will enable the holder to receive the remittance directly on the card.The card State Bank Xpress Money Card can be loaded with up to Rs 50,000. A maximum of 30 remittances can be loaded during a calendar year.Prepaid cards are beneficial to customers as there is no need to open a bank account in State Bank of India. 77. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved disinvestment of government stake in State Trading Corporation (STC) and ITDC, which would fetch around Rs.30 crore to the exchequer.

78. HAUSLA Scheme launch for Family Health Campaign in U.P.HAUSLA (meaning spirit or determination), the campaigns twin goals include galvanizing state health systems to deliver high-quality, accessiblehealth programs and services, while also increasing awareness and utilization of services by families and communities across the states 75 districts.The HAUSLA campa ign theme song, Mujhse Bada Mera Hausla, is sung by popular Bollywood singer Shaan. 79. In a major upgrade of powers given to Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the government has allowed it to pass orders like search and seizure, attachment of properties, arrest and detention of defaulters and pass disgorgement directions to recover the wrongful gains made in contravention of laws. 80. The Delhi High Court introduced online payment of court fee, the first such facility in the country which will save litigants from standing in long queues at the counter. 81. India ranked 3rd in Global Consumer Confidence Index. Indonesia emerged as the most optimistic country with 124 points followed by Philippines with 121 points and India came third with 121 points. 82. Government has approved Free Trade LPG Scheme for selling five Kilogram LPG cylinders through Company Owned Retail Outlets of Oil Marketing Companies. 83. Assam government would roll out Food Security scheme from November to cover about 2.25 crore people in the state. 84. Rampur become the first city of North India where ATM facility will be available for people maintaining accounts in cooperative banks. 85. AADHAR platform must be only channel for DBT payments says Chidambaram and he has asked all public sector banks to approach beneficiaries of Direct Benefit Transfer, DBT, and scheme to link AADHAR number with their bank accounts. 86. The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation, EPFO, has started registration of digital signatures of employers for online transfer of Provident Fund accounts.The system is aimed at making the fund transfer process transparent, efficient and comfortable for employees. 87. Reliance Power said its 45-MW wind power project at Vashpet in Maharashtra has commenced operations. 88. Public sector banks have been asked by RBI to set up ATMs in all branches by March, 2014 to enable customers in rural pockets to do banking round-the-clock 89. Telecommunication major Vodafone India in association with ICICI bank has started a unique money transfer and payment service M-Pesa in Bihar and Jharkhand where banking network and financial penetration is inadequate, particularly, in rural areas. 90. Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide about 6 billion dollars loan to India to maintain its lending level to India. 91. The Union Cabinet approved Women Self Help Groups to Get Low Interest Loans at 7% with the objective of removing poverty in rural areas by empowering women. Till now this rate was 11.5 to 14 %. 92. National Stock Exchange(NSE) launched the countrys first Debt Trading Platform 93. WPI Inflation eased to 4.89 percent in April 2013. 94. LPG subsidy in bank accounts in 18 districts from 1st june under this cooking gas (LPG) consumers will get Rs 435 in their bank accounts when they book an LPG cylinder via direct benefit transfer programme 95. India and Myanmar set 3 billion dollar trade target by 2015 during the meeting of Indias energy minister Anand Sharma with his Myanmar counterpart U Than Htay in New Delhi held on 6 June 2013. 96. Axis Bank launched co-branded credit card that offers a blend of insurance and a number of travel benefits for international frequent flyers, available in 2 versions, viz. World Select and World.

97. World Bank will provide USD 255 million (Rs 1,499.6 crore) loan to India for National AIDS Control Project (NACP-IV)' to promote safe behaviour among high risk groups. was signed in New Delhi on Tuesday between India and the World Bank. 98. Reliance Capital became the first company to suspend gold sales. 99. Exim Bank approved $300 million loan to Ethiopia for the construction of a railway line linking this landlocked country in the Horn of Africa to a port city in neighbouring Djibouti. 100. President inaugurated Rs 9000 crores first Gas -based Power Plant powered by ONGCTripura Power Corporation (OTPC) at Palatana in Tripura, which would produce 363.3 MW in the first phase. 101. China, Britain set up currency swap line. 102. Reliance Capital has roped in Japanese financial behemoths Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank and Nippon Life Insurance as minority partners to boost its quest for banking license. 103. The top three Expensive markets are: i.Hong Kong (Central) with annual occupancy costs of $ 235.23 per sq ft topped the most expensive list for the third consecutive time. ii. Londons West End, Beijings Finance Street iii. Beijings Jianguomen. 104. India and Afghanistan have pledged to enhance bilateral cooperation across various sectors, particularly in the field of education. India is currently one of the largest providers of education scholarships to Afghan youth under various programmes. 105. Cabinet approved Mumbai Metro Line 3. The estimated cost for the metro project has been pegged at Rs 23,136 crore. The Metro project will be completed by March 2019. It will have 27 stations connecting business and industrial districts such as Nariman Point, Worli, Dadar, BKC, MIDC and SEEPZ. The daily ridership is expected to be 13.87 lakh by 2025 and 16.99 lakh by 2031. 106. The roll out of white-label automated teller machines (ATM) may still take a long time as most of the successful applicants are not still unready to start operations and ATMs are teller machines that don't have a label of a particular bank as these machines are installed and operated by non-bank entities. In simple words, these machines offer services to customers of all banks.Tata Communications has already started the launch of white-label ATMs. The company aims to launch as many as 50,000 ATMs by the year 2016. 107. In its first ever loan to private agri-business in India, Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide $ 18.4 million to Champion Agro to set up cold storage facilities for fruits and vegetables focusing on Gujarat. 108. The Union Cabinet approved the proposal for setting up of the Bharat Rural Livelihood Foundation (BRLF) as an independent charitable society under the Societies Registration Act, 1860. 109. ICICI Bank, the countrys largest private sector bank, launched its Branch on Wheels to offer basic banking services in remote areas which have so far been devoid of banking facilities. 110. Paradip Port was conferred with the Major Port of the Year award for its excellent performance in the year 2012-13. 111. The Government has decided to set up two new major ports one each at Sagar in West Bengal and the other at Dugarajapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. 112. For the first time, an innovative Explosive Detection Kit developed by Indian scientists of DRDO will be manufatured in the United States and sold globally 113. IRDA penalty of over 3cr on Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance for violations Market regulator SEBI has allowed mutual funds to trade directly on debt platforms of recognised stock exchanges.

114. During the meeting with the ASEAN countries Ministers at Brunei India and ASEAN decided to set a target of $100 billion turnover for the bilateral trade by 2015 between the two entities and reviewed the completion of legal scrubbing of India-ASEAN agreements on Trade in Services and Investment.

5. IMPORTANT POINTS TO REMEMBER a. MOU Signed by India: 1. India and Japan signed a currency swap agreement for up to 50 billion dollars today to address short-term liquidity problems. The bilateral swap arrangement (BSA) has been inked between the Reserve Bank of India and the Bank of Japan. 2. Germany will provide USD 1.3 bn for renewable energy in India. 3. India signed an agreement with Belgium for the modernization of the Indian Railways. 4. India and Russia signed pacts on Economic Ties for $2 billion Investment Fund. 5. India signs $70 million loan pact with World Bank for Karkataka Health Systems Development, Reform Project. 6. India and China sign 11 pacts to enhance trade and economic ties. 7. India and World Bank Signed 500 Million Dollar Deal for Shiksha Abhyan. 8. Trade between South Asian countries crosses $2 billion following the implementation of South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) 9. India and Ukraine signed 5 agreements to enhance cooperation including in areas of defence, Nuclear energy, Science and Technology and also to remove barriers for trade. 10. India and Sweden sign pact to enhance cooperation on social security. 11. India and Japan signed an Earths Pact that will enable the latter to import the rare Earth minerals from India. 12. India and ASEAN signed the free trade agreement (FTA) in services and investments to boost trade to $100 billion by 2015. 13. India, Mauritius met to review bilateral Double Taxation Avoidance Convention. 14. India and Bangladesh Decided to increase Rail Link Projects. 15. India, Bangladesh to set up Joint Inspection team for successful implementation of Border Trade. 16. India and Bangladesh signed Agreements on Extradition and Visa Regime. 17. India & Mauritius sign MoU in textile sector. 18. India & Austria ink social security pact. 19. India and Bangladesh signed MoU on Health. 20. India and France concluded negotiations on the Short Range Surface to Air Missile nearly worth USD 6 billion. 21. India and UK Signed MoU on in Earth Sciences. 22. India and Germany inked 6 key MoUs including that for putting together 7 million for next 4 years towards joint research in the field of higher education, for strengthening the green energy corridor, to promote German as a foreign language.

23. India and Sri Lanka signed two agreements. a) Combating International Terrorism, illegal Drug and Human Trafficking. b) An agreement on Avoidance of double taxation and prevention of fiscal evasion Japan to close embassy in Mali over worsening security situation. 24. 7 key pacts in the areas of cyber security, Information technology, services, electronics, small and medium enterprises, manufacturing, fertilizers, and renewable energy was signed between India & Egypt. 25. India and Liechtenstein signed the Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) at Bern, Switzerland. 26. India, Myanmar & Thailand decided to implement Trilateral Connectivity Project by 2016. 27. India offered Telecom Support to Turkmenistan. 28. India & Azerbaijan inked 3 key pacts for creating the necessary legal framework in areas of extradition. 29. India and Malta signed the new DTAA (The Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement) at Valetta. 30. India and Nepal agreed on Cooperation in Tourism: The both side also suggested joint promotion and development of Buddhist Tourism sites in both the countries. 31. The Andhra Pradesh Government signed a MoU with the Google India under its Education Initiative. 32. Andhra Pradesh signed an MOU with the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for better education. 33. India and Myanmar set three billion dollar trade target by 2015. 34. Exim Bank approves $300 million loan to Ethiopia for Railway Link: 35. India, Hungary join hands for gas monitoring system. 36. India, China in its 16th round of border talks discussed the Maintenance of peace and tranquility in the border areas in Beijing. 37. NTPC set agreement for the 2 x 250 MW Sampur power project in Trincomalee in Sri Lanka . 38. India inked a $252-million loan agreement with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for continued improvement of rural roads in Assam, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal. 39. NTPC and Power Development Bangladesh signed 3 Pacts in Dhaka which were i. Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), ii. Implementation Agreement (IA) & iii. Supplementary Joint Venture Agreement (SJVA). The most important pact was signed for setting up of the biggest ever joint venture project of 1320 Megawatt Coal based power plant, which is to be developed over an area of 1834 acres of land near Mongla Seaport in Rampal Upazila at an expense of 1.6 billion US dollars. 40. India, China signed a series of (MoUs) on pharmaceuticals, buffalo meat and fisheries and an agreement on feed and feed ingredients to address the growing trade deficit. The trade deficit has increased from $1.08 billion in 2001-02 to $40.77 billion in 2012-13. 41. India, Hungary joined hands for gas monitoring system.Gujarat Info Petro Ltd, a subsidiary of Gujar at State Petroleum Corporation, has signed an agreement with Cason Engineering Plc, Hungary, in pursuant to the MoU signed during the Vibrant Gujarat Summit-2013, for a gas monitoring system. 42. India, Azerbaijan ink three key pacts for the legal framework in areas of extradition.

43. India & Thailand signed seven MOU's in different areas of MoUs covering space, extradition, IT, education, and financial intelligence units to check money laundering. 44. NTPC inked pact for for the execution of the proposed 2X250 MW Sampur power project in Trincomale, Sri Lanka. 45. India, China discuss border issue; eight pacts signed in a Delegation level talks held in New Delhi between PM Manmohan Singh & china PM Li Keqiang. 8 pacts were signed including one on Brahmputra river data sharing , Trade and economic cooperation 46. India and UAE signed an MoU on Air Services as a follow up of the two day bilateral negotiation at Abu Dhabi. With this the number of seats between India and Abu Dhabi has been increased to 50000 passengers per week. 47. India and Netherlands signed MoU in the Field of Urban Planning 48. The Election Commission of India and the National Literacy Mission Authority, Ministry of Human Resource Development signed a MoU on Electoral Literacy and Greater Participation for a Stronger and Inclusive Democracy in New Delhi. 49. India, at present, is the second largest producer of rice. Thailand is the largest producer of rice in the World. 50. India-Chile to Enhance Cooperation in Renewable Energy: India plans to add over 30 GW of renewable energy to its energy mix in the next 5 years alone. 51. Two MOUs were inked, including one on energy cooperation in oil and gas exploration. 52. China and Sri Lanka have agreed to boost bilateral economic and trade cooperation in education, culture, tourism, media and other areas. 53. Indonesia, Pakistan sign free trade pact: Indonesia and Pakistan have signed a free trade agreement (FTA) and expect to take their bilateral trade to $2 billion by next year. 54. India and Afghanistan signed memorandam of understanding (MoUs) in Kabul for implementing 60 projects in ten Afghan provinces under the Small Development Projects (SDP) scheme. 55. Indian multinational oil and gas company, Oil & Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) has signed an agreement to explore hiring Reliance Industries' unutilised production facilities on the east to quickly bring to production its gas finds in the Krishna Godavari basin. 56. The Ministry of Rural Development signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Pradan, a non-governmental organization.The NGO will serve as a resource and support organisation for the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM), with specially focusing on Naxal-affected districts. 57. The Union Government of India and Government of Albania signed an Agreement for Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to the Taxes on Income and on Capital (DTAA).which also includes exchange of banking information and supply of information without recourse to domestic interest. 58. India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives have entered into a tripartite agreement on maritime cooperation to secure sea routes in the Indian Ocean region. 59. India and Iraq on signed a pact to enhance co-operation in energy security, bilateral trade & commerce, infrastructure and others.As per the agreement, Iraq will supply more crude oil to India to meet the growing needs of energy in the country. 60. India and Tanzania have signed agreements on bilateral cooperation in several sectors including agriculture, health and education, mines and minerals. The Tanzanian President assured his country's support for India's aspiration for a permanent seat in a reformed United Nations Security Council. 61. India and Nigeria signed an agreement in Abuja to locate sites for solar power plants in Niger state. The agreement will provide additional energy for Nigeria's national grid. It would be the first of a series of power plant deals With this agreement in

place, Bharat Heavy Electricals will begin preliminary studies for setting up independent solar-powered plants in selected locations in Niger. 62. India and Belarus signed a protocol to enhance trade ties during the sixth session of the Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation held in New Delhi. 63. India and Senegal have signed a three-year pact to further expand cultural exchanges. The Executive Programme for Cultural Cooperation seeks exchange of experts in the field of theatre and publications on cultural heritage. 64. The second triangular partnership programme involving India, the US and African nations, which aims to improve agricultural productivity and support market institutions in Kenya, Liberia and Malawi was launched in Jaipur. 65. Prasar Bharati and the Australian Network signed an agreement to strengthen the partnership between the two public broadcasters.With the agreement, ABC International will be available on DD Direct plus from 1 November 2013. It will allow the channel to be shown along with 59 other channels on Doordarshan's DTH platform 66. Runa Laila, the SAARC Goodwill Ambassador for HIV/AIDS visited India from and the objective of the visit was to extend support to the cause of HIV/AIDS especially on the issues of Stigma and Discrimination related to People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV). 67. India signed a Protocol amending the India Morocco Double Taxation Avoidance Convention (DTAC).It provides for effective exchange of information including banking information between tax authorities of the two countries. 68. India assured Bhutan of assistance in financing, executing and monitoring its 11th Five Year Plan in a proficient and effective way. 69. Moussa Faki Mahamat, Minister for Foreign Affairs and African Integration of Republic of Chad, visited India. The visit was aimed at increasing bilateral cooperation between the India and Chad. 70. The Export-Import Bank of India has extended a $125 million Line of Credit (LOC) to the Government of Sudan for financing the Mashkour Sugar Project in Sudan. 71. India and Bangladesh signed a Memorandum of Understanding to further enhance cooperation in the textiles sector.Under the MoU signed, India has offered cotton security for Bangladesh Mills. 72. India and Iraq signed MoUs during the visit of Nouri al-Maliki to India.MoU in the field of Energy between the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas of the Republic of India and the Ministry of Oil of the Republic of Iraq. 73. Ministry of Tourism of India agreed to a proposal from the visiting Tourism and Travel delegation from Nepal for joint publicity of India and Nepal as Tourist destinations in other countries. 74. US Vice President, Joe Biden visited India and had a meeting on Trade and economic ties, defence cooperation, energy and climate will be focus of his engagements with Indian leaders.

b. Scheme & Plan Launched by Union & state Government: 1. Main Points of Food Security Bill 2013: a) The food security bill approved is directed towards giving the right to food to around 67 per cent of India's 120-crore population (including 75% rural and 50% urban). b) While families in the poorest of the poor will continue to get 35 kg of grains per month. c) Rice will be made available at 3 Rupees per Kg.

d) Wheat will cost 2 rupees a kg and cereal will be sold for 1 Rupees per kg. e) The Food Security programme will be the biggest in the world with the government spending estimated at Rs. 1,25,000 crore annually on supply of about 62 million tonnes of rice, wheat and coarse cereals to 67 per cent of the population. f) About 2.43 crore poorest of the poor families covered under the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) scheme under PDS (Public Distribution System) would continue to get 35 kg of food grains per family per month but with legal entitlement. g) In Union Budget 2013-14, Rs 10,000 crore set aside for incremental cost for National Food Security Bill. h) The scheme will be linked to the Aadhar scheme which provides every citizen with a unique identification number that's linked to a database that includes the biometrics of all card-holders. i) C Rangarajan is the head of the committee for examination of the Food Security Bill. j) Chhattisgarh the first state to pass legislation on food security. The state legislative assembly passed the Food Security Bill 2012 that confers legal rights to the beneficiaries to receive food grains and food items at highly subsidized prices. 2. E-stamping launched in Delhi on 28 June of all denominations. 3. Chhattisgarh became the first state in the country to bring legislation on food security. 4. Arunachal Pradesh became the First State to Introduce e-GPF. 5. Odisha became the 1st Indian state to commence e-payment facility for government employees. 6. Second all-woman employees post office inaugurated at the Delhi. 7. Union government launched Direct cash transfer scheme in 20 districts, It will cover 26 schemes such as educational scholarship for SC/ST and OBC, and widow pension. 8. Union Minister for Social Justice & Empowerment, Kumari Selja on 5 April 2013 launched a Website (http://www.jagjivanram.nic.in/) on Babu Jagjivan Ram on the occasion of his 106th Birth Anniversary. 9. Govt. launched Child health Screening service in Maharashtra. 10. HRD Ministry Launched Sanskrit Caravan. 11. The official online portal http://intraips.gov.in of INTRA-IPS was launched by S. Jayaraman (Special Secretary-Internal Security), Minister of Home Affairs at New Delhi. 12. Rajiv Gandhi Jeevandayee Arogya Yojana (health insurance scheme) was launched in Maharashtra. 13. Andhra Pradesh on occasion of Ugadi Festival launched a new scheme named Amma Hastham (mother's hand) to supply nine essential food items to poor at subsidized rates. 14. Haryana Govt. decides to implement e-pension scheme system. 15. Haryana bags Krishi Karman Award for highest wheat production. 16. Odisha decided to set up the first public health university under Public-Private Partnership mode at Gramadiha village in Jatni tehsil on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar with the colaboration State Health Department and Asian Institute of Public Health in Bhubaneshwar. 17. M.P. announced Mukhyamantri Yuva Swarozgar Yojna for provinding bank guarantee & loans t o youths to set up their own industries or business of worth up to 25 lakh rupees and 5% loan subsidy for 5 years. 18. Madya Pradesh starts new scheme Sampark Setu.

19. M.P. govt launched Atal Jyoti scheme in Bhopal district under the scheme 24 hour power is supplied in the rural areas. 20. M.P. govt decided to declare Malkhamb as the State Sport. 21. Nirmal Bharat Campaign had started in Sevagram, Maharashtra. 22. India's first automatic toll collection system launched in Maharashtra. 23. Maharashtra Govt. creates special bank account for drought relief. 24. U.P started Ashirwad Bal Swasthya Guarantee Yojna under NRHM. 25. UP govt. launched unemployment allowance scheme. 26. UP Government launched the Samajwadi Swasthya Seva in the state. 27. Uttar Pradesh CM Akhilesh Yadav launched free laptop scheme for intermediate pass. 28. Uttarakhand govt to strictly implement 'no work no pay' rule. 29. Kerala Govt. Raised Age Limit (18 to 21 ) for Buying and Selling Liquor. 30. Rajasthan Govt will establish Kisan Service Centers and Village Knowledge centers at all Panchayat headquarters. 31. West Bengal to give fixed Salary to ASHA workers. 32. MP leads in growth rate with Gross State Domestic Product for 2012-13 is likely to be 14.28 % and agriculture growth rate about 10.02%. 33. Cairn India has said it has made the 26th oil discovery in its prolific Rajasthan block, the discovery follows allowing the company to explore for oil on block well after expiry of the exploration phase. 34. Govt decided to transfer cash subsidy to domestic cooking gas (LPG) consumers under its ambitious Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme from LPG from May .LPG consumers will get about Rs 4,000 per annum in cash from the government, and they will have to then buy LPG at a market price of Rs 901.50 per 14.2-kg cylinder. 35. The official online portal of INTRA-IPS (http://intraips.gov.in) was launched by S. Jayaraman (Special Secretary-Internal Security), Minister of Home Affairs at New Delhi. The online portal will facilitate information about the Indian Police Service Civil List, Immovable Property Returns, Latest notifications/circulars, Rules, Police Medal Awardees list etc. related to all IPS officers all over India. 36. Vocational education, services and e-governance network, AISECT launched a job portal called RojgarMantra.com which will cater mainly to people in rural and semi urban India. AISECT is planning to have over 10 lakh job seekers and an equal number of jobs registered with Rojgar Mantra in the next 5 years. 37. Cairn India makes new oil discovery in Rajasthan block. 38. Goa Government launched Krishi Card for Farmers which is supposed to help farmers in making use of benefits such as subsidies and loans given by the State Government 39. A unique scheme, Golden Girl (Bangaru Talli) launched in Andhra Pradesh, to protect girl child and ensure her education.

cation and nutrition needs of the girls who born in a BPL family right from their birth.

rn, mother will be given 2,500 Rs at the delivery time. be paid 1000 Rs and 2000 Rs every year till she completes fifth standard. ar till she completes 8th class and 3000 rupees till 10th class.

expenses and it will be one lakh rupees if she opts marriage after graduation. 40. Puducherry Government launched Dairy Development Scheme to promote dairy activities and to enhance socio-economic status of the farmers in the Union Territory, As per the scheme, each farmer is supposed to get 50000 Rupees to launch a minidairy project with three milch cows. 41. Union Government of India decided to launched DBTL (Direct Benefit Transfer for LPG) scheme in 20 high Aadhaar coverage districts on 1 June 2013. 42. Centre set up National Skill Development Agency (NSDA) to meet the growing need for skilled work force in both the public and private sectors. 43. Centre launched skill development and job placement scheme 'Roshini' for rural youth and women in maoist affected 24 districts in 9 states. 44. Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna (RSBY) launched for BPL families in Assam. The scheme is being implemented in 24 districts. 45. IIFCL Mutual Fund launched Infrastructure debt fund (IDF) with the support of Canara Bank and HUDCO being the strategic investors and Corporation Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce & IIFCL being the other investors. 46. Army launched website on Uttarakhand relief: suryahopes.in. 47. The Rajasthan government launched a unique scheme called Mukhyamantri Bijli Bachat Lamp Yojna for energy conservation. The State government will provide 2 CFL bulb free of cost to all electricity consumers of villages and BPL consumers in urban areas. This unique scheme will continue till August 2013. 48. Govt. launched medi claim facility for farmers holding kisan Credit cards issued by Dena Bank. Launching the scheme, Finance minister P Chidambaram handed over medi claim policies and ID cards to six farmers of different states holding KCC of the bank. He said it is an innovative and noble scheme for the benefit of farmers at large. 49. Vodafone India, along with ICICI Bank, launched its mobile money transfer and payment service, targeting mainly migrant workers Called M-Pesa, the service was launched across the eastern states of India that include West Bengal (including Kolkata), Bihar and Jharkhand. 50. The Union Cabinet has given nod to the proposal to divest 10% government stake in Indian Oil Corporation (IOC). 51. Singapore Finance minister M Shanmugam visited India

52. Railways launched ticketing through SMS with two dedicated numbers - 139 and 5676714 - for the servic. 53. HP launched Officejet Pro X 500 series world's fastest desktop printer that can deliver professional documents at up to 70 pages per minute

54. Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) launched broad-based Islamic Equity Index.) on 30 April 2013 based on the wide-measure S&P BSE 500 index. It will provide a new benchmark for Islamic investors in one of the world's largest stock exchanges. 55. Valuemart Gold and Jewels launched 1 lakh Gold coins (each of 10 grams) bearing Sachin's face, signature 56. Britain launched Super Priority same-day visa service for urgent Travellers from India. 57. Rahul to launched scheme Umeed for poor women in J&K, this scheme is launched to help the women organised into Self Help Groups and then form federations of such groups. The programme planned to include nine lakh women and cover about two-third of the state's rural households. It has a budget of Rs 755 crore that will be shared 90:10 by the Centre and the state government. 58. Rail link to Kashmir launched on June 26. Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi jointly flagged off the first train on the 18-kmlong section between Banihal in Jammu and Qazigund in Kashmir. The Banihal-Qazigund section, which includes an 11-km-long tunnel, will reduce the distance from 35 km (by road) to 18 km. It has been constructed at a cost of Rs 1,691 crore. 59. The West Bengal Government decided to set up a holding company to bring all state corporations marketing different products under the MSME sector under a single umbrella. Also clear ed allocation of Rs 492 crore for Kanyashee project to be launched on October 1 this year to benefit the girl child. 60. Government will soon launch Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY) to make the country Slum Free. This programme will cover all towns, cities 61. Punjab State Govt launch bed and breakfast scheme for tourists. To give a boost to tourism and provide a home -like affordable accommodation to visitors, the Punjab government is set to promote high-end bed and breakfast scheme.and urban agglomerations in the country during its implementation phase. 62. The Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation has proposed to launch a National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NULM) in 12th Five Year Plan, which will replace the existing Swarna Jayanti Shahari R ozgar Yojana (SJSRY).The NULM would focus on organizing urban poor in self help groups, creating opportunities for skill development leading to market-based employment and helping them to set up self-employment ventures by ensuring easy access to credit. 63. LIC Housing Finance Ltd has launched a public deposit scheme Sanchay whereby it will offer the highest interest rate of 9.5 per cent on five-year deposits.The term period for deposits ranges from one to five years with the minimum amount of deposit being Rs 10,000 and thereafter in multiples of Rs 1,000 64. Bhumi Sena Scheme launched in UP for transformation of Barren Land. The scheme would help in increasing cultivation area in the state. 65. In Punjab, fearing trouble from some anti-social elements, Stri Shakti, an NGO providing mid-day meal in six districts has decided to wind up their operations. 66. P. Chidambaram launched the National Skill Certification and Monetary Reward Scheme in New Delhi. This scheme is likely to benefit about one million young men and women in the next 12 months.This scheme will set the curriculum and standards for training in different skills and any institution or body may offer training courses. Upon completion the candidate then has to take a test conducted by authorised agencies.upon passing the test, the candidate will be given a certificate as well as a monetary reward of an average of 10,000 rupees per candidate. 67. 50,000 girl students in Tripura living below the poverty line would get a bicycle each free as an incentive to reduce the school drop out rate. Girl students in Class XI and XII with a family income less than 1.25 lakhs per annum would get the benefit. 68. The Parliament has passed the historic Companies Bill 2012.The new law will facilitate business-friendly corporate regulation, improve corporate governance norms, enhance accountability on the part of corporates/ auditors, raise levels of transparency and protect interests of investors, particularly small investors.

69. Delhi government is all set to launch food security programme and it is first state in India to launch Union governments food security programme. 70. Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma launched a Centre for Adaptation to Climate Change which aims to engage government departments and civil societies to address the issue of climate change. 71. The Union government of India planned to launch Bharat Mobile Scheme under which one member of every rural household who has completed 100 days of work under MGNREGA can get free mobile device. 72. A free insurance scheme covering nearly 3 lakh drivers of public transport vehicles run on Compressed Natural Gas-CNG was launched in the national capital.The Indraprastha Gas Limited Suraksha Yojana was jointly launched by Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister M Veerappa Moily and Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit.A sum of 1.5 lakh rupees will be paid to the nominee of the driver in case of death. An additional amount of 25,000 rupees per child will be paid towards education allowance, subject to a maximum of 50,000 rupees. 73. The National Teeka Express was launched by Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad, Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare at Alwar, Rajasthan.It has been launched to protect children from life-threatening childhood diseases. 74. under the Ksheera Bhagya scheme launched in karnataka over 65 lakh school children in 51,000 Government schools and 39 lakh children in anganwadi centres across the State will now receive 150 ml of milk three times a week 75. To ensure availability of loans at affordable rates for farmers, the government has approved a scheme for providing shortterm crop loans at concessional rate of 7 percent, "This scheme has already been extended to crop loans borrowed from private sector scheduled commercial banks in respect of loans given within the service area of the branch concerned 76. A modern and sophisticated breast milk bank, stated to be the first in India in the public sector, was inaugurated at the premier state-run SSKM hospital in kolkata. The bank was being funded by the National Health Renewal Mission and equipment procured and the recruitment process done.

6. INFORMATION BASED ON AGRICULTURE AND CULTURE: a) Top 5 production states and countries: Wheat: states : Uttar Pradesh(34%),Punjab(22%), Haryana(13%), Madhya Pradesh(10%), Rajasthan(9%), Bihar(6%),Gujarat(2%). Countries: China, India, USA, Russia, France, Pakistan Rice: states: West Bengal, Andhra pradesh, Utter pradesh, Punjab, Orissa Countries: China, India, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Vietnam Sugarcane: States: Uttar pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamilnadu, Karnataka, Andhra pradesh Countries: Brazil, India, China, Thailand, Pakistan Pulses: States: Madhya pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Uttar pradesh, Karnataka

Milk: States: Uttar pradesh, Rajasthan, Andhra pradesh, Gujarat, Punjab Countries: India, USA, China, Pakistan, Russian federation b) Revolutions in the field of agriculture in India: - Petroleum Production ion - Fish Production - Leather/non-conventional(India)/Cocoa production - Jute Production - Fruits/Overall Horticulture development/Honey Production - Food grains rey Revolution - Fertilizer - Onion production/Pharmaceutical (India)/Prawn production - Meat & Tomato Productio - Potato - Cotton - Egg/Poultry Productio - Milk/Dairy production - Oil Seeds production - Overall development of Agriculture . c) Crop Seasons: Rabi Crop:The term Rabi means "spring" in Arabic, and the rabi crops are grown between the months mid November to April.

Sowing season: October - December Harvesting season: February - April Important Crops: Wheat, Barley, Gram, Linseed, Mustard, Masoor, Pea and Potatos Kharif crop refers to the planting, cultivation and harvesting of any domesticated plant sown in the rainy (monsoon) season and it starts in June and to end in October

Sowing season: May - July Harvesting season: September to October Important Crops: Jower, Bajra, Rice, Maize, Cotton, Groundnut, Jute, Hemp, Sugarcane, Tobacco etc Zaid crops On the Indian sub-continent, the crops grown on irrigated lands which do not have to wait for monsoons, in the short duration between Rabi and Kharif crop season, mainly from March to June, are called Zaid crops (also written as Zayad crops). The main produce are seasonal fruits and vegetables.

Sowing season: August - September Harvesting season: December - January Important Crops: Rice, Jowar, Rapeseed, Cotton, Oilseeds Zaid rabi crops:Zaid Rabi crops are sown in Februry - March Harvesting is in April - may Important Crops: Water melon, Toris, Cucumber, leafy and Other vegetables

d) Top 5 dams and hydro power plants in India: Tehri Dam: on Bhagirathi River, Uttarakhand Bhakra nangal Dam: on Sutlej River, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh Hirakud Dam: On Mahanadi River, Orissa Nagarjuna sagar Dam: on Krishna River, Andhra Pradesh Sardar Sarovar Dam: on Narmada River, Gujarat

e) Nuclear power plants in India: - Narora, UP

- Tarapur, Maharashtra - Kakarpar, Gujarat er plant - Kalpakkam, Tamilnadu - Kaiga, Karnataka

f) Wind power plants: - Tamilnadu - Maharashtra d Park - Karnataka - Madhya pradesh - Kerala

g) Thermal power plants: - Madhya pradesh - Orissa - Andhra pradesh r plant - Chhattisgarh - UP - MP - West Bengal

h) Folk dances in India Bathukamma :A folk dance of Andhra Pradesh. Bhangra: This is a folk dance from the Northwest Indian state of Punjab. It is a lively, powerful dance. Bihu: Bihu is a folk dance from Assam. It is a very brisk and aggressive dance performed by both boys and girls. Changu: The changu dance is a folk dance found in Odissa and Andhra Pradesh. It derives its name from the changu, which is a simple tambourine (daf) that is used to accompany this dance. Dandaria: A folk dance of Andhra Pradesh. Dhamal: 1) A folk dance of Punjab. 2) A folk dance of Andhra Pradesh Gair: This is a dance of Rajasthan. It is performed by groups of dancers moving in and out with an almost military precision. Garba: This is a folk dance from Gujarat. It is traditionally danced at marriages and during the time of Navaratri.

Gatka: A folk dance utilising swords, daggers, or sticks performed in the Punjab Ghoomar: This is a folk dance of Rajasthan. It derives its name from its characteristic pirouettes. Gobbi: A folk dance of Andhra Pradesh. Karagam: This is a folk dance of Tamil Nadu. It is played with a pot balanced on the head. Raas: This is a folk dance from Gujarat. It is traditionally danced at marriages and during the time of Navaratri. Yaksha Gana: This is a folk theatre from the south Indian state of Karnatika Dumhal: A folk dance of Kashmir. Padayani: Padayani is one of the most colorful and popular dances of Southern Kerala. Padayani is associated with the festival of certain temples, called Padayani or Paddeni. Dollu Kunitha: Dollu Kunitha is a popular drum dance of Karnataka state. Lavani: Lavani is a folk dance of Maharashtra.

Kathak: Kathak is a dance form basically from Uttar Pradesh. Bharatnatyam: It is the purest form of dancing in india, originated in tamil nadu. These three concepts cpome into play in bharatnatyam dance; bhava, thala and raga. Kuchipudi: It is a form of classical and folk dance that originated in Andhra Pradesh. Kathakali: Classical dance of kerela. Odissi: Folk dance performed in Orissa. Chau: A popular dance performed in Orissa, bihar and west Bengal Kalbelia, chari, fire, kacchi: Popular dance forms in Rajasthan. Dindi dance: performed in Maharashtra.

7. OTHER INFORMATION: 1. Pakistani girl Malala Yousafzai has given her first public speech in New York on her 16th birthday on July 12, a day that would now be marked as 'Malala Day'. 2. A New Variety of Mango was named Nirbhaya after Delhi Rape Victim at Uttar Pradesh's famous mango centre Malihabad. 3. The Central Information Commission (CIC) in a landmark judgement held political parties are answerable under the Right to Information Act, setting a new bench mark in transparency in politics. 4. First all-women police station opened in Arunachal. 5. The Tourism Ministry has roped in ONGC to maintain cleanliness and hygiene at 6 tourist destinations across the country, as part of its Clean India campaign. According to the action plan finalised by the Ministry, ONGC will adopt 6 monuments - Taj Mahal at Agra, Ellora Caves and Elephanta Caves in Maharashtra, Red Fort in Delhi, Golkonda Fort in Hyderabad and Mahabalipuram in Tamil Nadu. 6. India proposed China to be principal guest country at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) 2014. 7. Government constituted a Committee headed by JS Mathur to revise Newspaper Advertisement Rates. 8. The Union Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD) has been set up a committee headed by WCD Additional Secretary K. Ratna Prabha to finalize modalities for a media campaign against indecent portrayal of women in mass media. 9. Canara Bank to open MSME branches in Tiruchi, Perambalur. 10. The 7th Regional Pravasi Bhartiya Divas will be held in Sydney from the 10th to 12th of November this year. The aim of the Regional Pravasi Bharatiya Divas or Overseas Indian Conference - is to connect India with its vast Indian Diaspora and bringing their knowledge, expertise and skills together. 11. Pipavav Port the first private sector port of India located in Saurashtra, Gujarat Regained Top Position in Seafood Exports on the basis of quantity. 12. The Assam government has decided to promote religious tourism in the state and In "Ambubachi Mela" at the famous Kamakhya Temple is the first step in this direction.

13. The worlds tallest twisted tower Infinity Tower was launched in Dubai Marina on 10 June 2013,Bollywood actor Ajay Devgn, Bangladeshi singer Runa Lailaand Oscar-winning Pakistani filmmaker. Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy have been named as SAARC Goodwill Ambassadors for HIV/AIDS. 14. India Proposed Hydrocarbon Pipeline from Kazakhstan like TAPI. 15. AirAsia ties up with TATA to start Airline in India. 16. Ajmal Kasab hanged and buried in Pune's Yerwada Jail. 17. Mangalam village became the first village in India where all households were provided banking facilities, it is situated in Pondicherry. 18. Indias First River-lake link project launched In Bundelkhand. 19. Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne released a book titled "Victory India - A Key to Quality Military Leadership" authored by Colonel Vinay B Dalvi (Retd) at the Air Headquarters. 20. Jaipur Literature Festivals theme is Buddha in literature. Spritual leader Dal ai Lama will be the chief guest at the festival. 21. Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari did 4 day visit to Uzbekistan. 22. Afghan President Hamid Karzai arrived on a three day visit to India to discuss Various issues of bilateral and regional concerns 23. Japanese PM Abe on historic visit to Myanmar (the first visit by a Japanese head of government since 1977) for strengthening economic ties on agenda. 24. Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa arrived in China on 6th China visit. 25. The Foreign Minister of Cuba, Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla paid an official visit to India from 25 May 2013 to 27 May 2013. 26. New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully visited India on an official visit. 27. Argentinian Foreign Minister, Hector Marcos Timerman visite India on 4-day visit. 28. Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in India on 3-day visit onto participate in the 4th round of Indo-US strategic dialogue. 29. President Pranab Mukherjee was Chief Guest at the 45th Mauritius Independence Day celebrations on the 12th march. India and Mauritius signed several agreements in areas of health and medicine, tourism and welfare of senior citizens and the disabled. 30. Arun Jaitley, Karan Singh and Sharad Yadav Selected For Parliamentarian Award for 2010, 2011 and 2012 respectively. 31. Union minister Kapil Sibal launched (a web based) Electronics Project Proposal System (e-PPS) in march 2013, which will Support Online submission of project proposals, Evaluation of proposals by experts, Project recommendations, Project Monitoring. 32. The Communications and Information Technology Minister, Kapil Sibal has inaugurated India's First All Women Employees Post Office at Shastri Bhawan in New Delhi on the occasion of the International Women's Day, All the counters of this Post Office will be manned by women employees only. 33. Postage Stamp Released on the Commemorative Sahir Ludhianvi (a renowned Urdu poet)by the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee on 8 March 2013 on occasion of his birth anniversary. 34. UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi laid the foundation stone of a residential, educational-cum- vocational training centre ANANDA for persons with autism spectrum disorders at village Gairatpur Bass in Gurgaon. the centre will be developed by an NGO named Action for Autism on about 10 acres of land.

35. S. Venkata Mohan a scientist of the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology for his contributions towards developing technologies for production of clean bio-fuels from waste, won the National Bioscience Award for 2012 in Hyderabad. 36. Rajasthan celebrated its 63rd foundation day On 30th March, it was formed on 30th March 1949. 37. Odisha celebrated its 77th foundation day on 1st april. 38. New tough anti-rape law comes into force, it will now be called the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013. 39. Wi-Fi, internet facility in Howrah Rajdhani launched. 40. Param Yuva II - India's fastest supercomputer and the 62nd fastest supercomputer in the world. 41. PM of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong visited India. 42. London became no.1 Fashion City of the world (earlier it was Paris) 43. Smiling Armadillo to be the official Mascot of 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil 44. Japan unveils plan to phase out nuclear power by 2030. 45. South Korea Became first country in Asia to Order Chemical Castration of Child Rapist. 46. Iran and Pakistan launched Gas Pipeline Project of 7.5 billion dollar gas pipeline project which will link Iran's gas pipeline to that of Pakistan. 47. Japan Became First Country in the World to Extract Natural Gas from Methane Hydrate by March 2013. 48. World Celebrates Earth hour on 23 March With the ongoing theme will if you will " to save the planet earth & Save energy, the fuels, the bills over the fuels and reduce Carbon emissions for a cleaner and better tomorrow is the message from Earth Hour. 49. Kuwait is the fattest country in the world, with the highest average body mass index or the BMI. The Men in Kuwait have BMI of 27.5 while the women have a BMI of 31.4. 50. MoU Signed Between Mysore Zoo and Leipzig Zoo in Germany for Transporting Four Sloth Bears. 51. North Korea declares 'state of war' with South Korea and warned that any provocation would swiftly escalate into a nuclear conflict. 52. The most powerful ever seen cyberattack in history "bazooka" slowed down traffic on internet. 53. United Arab Emirates (UAE) Inaugurated Worlds Largest Solar Power Plant of cost 600 -million dollar project named Shams 1 at Madinat Zayed by the President of UAE and the Ruler of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan on 17 March 2013 which is aimed at providing electricity to 20000 homes. 54. World's Largest Private Yacht named Azzam Launched by German Shipyard With 94000 horsepower generated from two gas turbines ad two diesel engines, the Azzam can reach speeds of over 55.5kph, which makes it one of the fastest yachts in the world. 55. India's first interoperable RIFD-based (interoperable Radio Frequency Identification Device) electronic automatic toll collection system launched in Maharashtra at Charoti Toll Plaza, Dahanu in Thane District, system was rolled out on the Ahmedabad-Mumbai National Highway.," 56. Courts in Pakistan have disqualified former president Pervez Musharraf for contesting parliamentary elections for suspending the constitution and imposing emergency in 2007 during his rule. 57. Croatia becomes 28th EU member state .

58. According to UN report India is on track to meet the United Nations' Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of poverty reduction by 2015 59. The European Union has officially approved Latvia as the 18th member of the eurozone, which uses the blocs common currency. Latvia will adopt the euro on January 1, 2014. 60. The Union Cabinet approved setting up of two National level universities in Uttar Pradesh. The Rajiv Gandhi National Aviation University and Indira Gandhi National University for Women, IGNUW, will be set up in Rae Bareli district. will be the first university in the country exclusively for women. 61. The 163-year old telegram service in the country comes to an end. Started in 1850. 62. The city of Incheon in South Korea has been named World Book Capital for the year 2015 by an international committee of experts representing the book industry and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). 63. UNESCO included the writings of Cuban Revolution leader Ernesto Che Guevara in its Memory of the World Register. 64. Ford Motor Company became First Automaker to Participate in the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Programme in India.Voluntary reporting enables a complete transparency in terms of the carbon dioxide emissions. 65. Bollywood actor and UNICEF (United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund) Goodwill Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan joined the UN and its humanitarian partners to promote The World Needs More global campaign. 66. Group of Twenty (G-20) summit was held at St. Peters burg in Russia.The summit will focus on issues pertaining to the economic growth throughout the developed world. 67. In defiance of the United States, two Latin American countries Venezuela and Nicaragua offered asylum to Edward Snowden, leaker of the US secretive surveillance programme. 68. Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, Europe's longest-serving leader that he would step down over a scandal involving the secret services, who allegedly indulged in a spate of misconduct on his watch 69. The Union Health Ministry announced former Indian cricket team captain Rahul Dravid as brand ambassador for its National Tobacco Control Campaign. 70. China seeks to boost military ties with Bangladesh 71. London will host the ninth World Islamic Economic Forum in October 72. For the first time, the Election Commission used the paper trail system along with the Electronic Voting Machines in the Nagaland by-election.The system, called the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail system (VVPAT), will accompany the Electronic Voting Machines (EVM). 73. DRDO developing chilli-spray for women's self-defence 74. INS Arihant nuclear reactor activated 75. The insurance arm of Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group has announced its entry into India's agriculture insurance business, saying it would offer farmers insurance cover for their crops against adverse weather conditions. 76. The state-owned iron National Mineral Development Corporation Power Ltd. signed an Mou with the IL&FS Energy Development Ltd to set up a 500-MW power plant at Gonda in Uttar Pradesh. 77. Tata Steel was adjudged the Best Performing Integrated Steel Plant in the country for the year 2011-12 78. Kudankulam to start generating 1,000 MW of power by the end of October

79. Yahoo beats Google in US with 197 million visitors in July

8. NEW APPOINTMENTS IN INDIA 1. Justice P Sathasivam - next (40th) Chief Justice of India (CJI) (by suceeding Altamas Kabir). 2. K N Shanth Kumar - PTI Chairman (succeeded R Lakshmipathy) 3. K R Kamath Re-Elected - Chairman of Indian Banks' Association (IBA). 4. Rami Hamdallah - New Prime Minister of Palestine. 5. Sudha Sharma - New CBDT chief. 6. Thomas Mathew - New Chairman Of LIC succeeded D K Mehrotra, retired on 31 May. 8. S Gopalakrishnan - new President of CII. 10. Deepak Sandhu - first woman Chief Information Commissioner (replaced Satyananda Mishra). 11. Rahul Dravid - Brand ambassador for Tobacco control campaign. 12. Rakesh Sood - Prime Ministers Special Envoy for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation. 13. Anil Goswami - New Union Home Secretary (by replacing R.K Singh). 14. Shashi Kant Sharma - New CAG (Comptroller and Auditor General) of India (by succeeding Vinod Rai) 15. Radha Krishna Mathur - Indian Defence Secretary (succeeded Shashikant Sharma). 16. V Hariharan - Secretary of the All India chess federation. 17. Mittu Chandilya - chief executive of AirAsia India. 18. Lt. Gen. Nirbhay Sharma - new Governor of Arunanchal Pradesh. 19. Siddaramaiah - C.M. of Karnataka. 20. Aruna Bahuguna - First Women Special DG of CRPF. 21. Nirbhay Sharma - Governor of Arunachal Pradesh. 22. Krishna Kumar Natrajan (CEO and Director of Mindtree) - New Chief of NASSCOM (replaced N Chandrasekaran). 23. PJ Kurien - Chairman of Asian forum of Parliamentarians (replaced Yasuo Fukuda, former P M of Japan) 24. Vinod Rai - Re-Elected As Chairman of UN Panel of External Auditors. 25. Sidharth Birla (Chairman of Xpro India Ltd and Digjam Ltd) - Senior Vice-President of FICCI. 26. Justice D.K. Jain - new Chairman of Law Commission. 27. Shyamala Gopinath - New Clearing Corporation of India Ltd (CCIL) Chairperson. 28. Jawahar Sircar - New CEO of Prasar Bharti.

29. Rajiv Takru - Secretary of Financial Services in the Finance Ministry replacing Dinesh Kumar. 31. Asoke Kumar Mukerji - Next Permanent Representative of India to the UN. 32. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan as International Goodwill Ambassador UNAIDS (UN Programme on HIV/AIDS). 33. Mary Kom - Brand Ambassador of Super Fight League (SPL) . 34. Rajan Bharti Mittal - president of International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) India. 35. Gregg Clark - Coach of the Junior Hockey Mens National Team 36. K K Paul - Meghalaya governor replacing Ranjit Shekhar Mooshahary. 37. Sunil Soni - Director General of Bureau of Indian Standards 38. Shriniwas Patil - new governor of Sikkim. 39. R. Chandrasekhar (the former Secretary Department of Telecommunications (DoT)) - Nasscom President, succeeding current Nasscom President Som Mittal, whose tenure expires in January 2014 40. Hazem El-Beblawi - new Prime Minister of Egypt by the Interim President Adly Mansour. 42. Hemant Soren (Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader) - Chief Minister of Jharkhand. 43. Abdul Rahim Rather (Jammu & Kashmir Finance Minister) - new Chairman of the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers on GST. 46. Sujatha Singh - Indias new foreign secretary. Sujatha Singh is the third woman to head the Foreign services after Chokila Iyer and Nirupama Rao. 48. Rajeev Rishi - Chairman and Managing Director of Central Bank of India. 49. Arundhati Bhattacharya MD and chief financial officer of State Bank of India(SBI). She is the first female managing director at SBI she succeeded Diwakar Gupta 50. Rakesh Sethi - Executive Director of the Union Bank of India. 51. Dilip Trivedi - new chief of CRPF. 53. Shri Ratan Thiyam - Chairperson of the National School of Drama Society. 54. Deepak Sandhu - first woman Chief Information Commissioner of the Central Information Commission. She succeeded Satyananda Mishra.

9. NEW APPOINTMENT IN WORLD 1. Sunil Bharti Mittal - Vice Chairman of International Chamber of Commerce 4. Roberto Azevedo - Head of W.T.O. (replaced Pascal Lamy of France). 5. Susan Elizabeth Rice - National Security Adviser to Obama ( replaced Tom Donilon) 6. Ratan Tata - Chief Advisor of AirAsia India 7. James Comey - next FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) Director of US.

10. Takehiko Nakao new President of ADB (Asian Development Bank) ( succeeded Haruhiko Kuroda) 14. The new Argentine pope Jorge Mario Bergoglio (76) - new Pope becomes the 266th pontiff. 15. Thomas Bach (Germany) - 9th President of IOC ( succeeded Jacques Rogge of Belgium.) 17. Elbegdorj Tsakhia New Mongolia president. 20. Samantha Power - US ambassador to United Nations. Samantha Power succeeded Susan Rice 22. Mamnoon Hussain - 12th President of Pakistan and replace incumbent Asif Ali Zardari. 23. Hassan Rouhani - Iran's seventh President 24. Robert Mugabe President of Zimbabwe

10. PERSONS IN NEWS 1. Arunima Sinha a National-level volleyball player with an artificial limb geared up to climb the world's highest peak - the Mt Everest, accompanied by Sushen Mahto. 2. Xi Jinping takes - new China's President (succeeded Hu Jintao). 3. Li Keqiang - China's new Premier (succeeded Wen Jiabao). 4. Park Geun-hye - President of S. Korea (1st women president). 5. Uhuru Kenyatta- President of Kenya 6. Abdul Hamid - Bangladesh President. 7. Nicolas Maduro - New President of Venezuela 9. Giorgio Napolitano - re-elected as Italy's president. 10. Khil Raj Regmi (Chief Justice of Nepal) - Nepal's new Prime Minister to head an interim government 11. Rafael Correa - Ecuadors President re-elected for a Third Term. 12. Shinzo Abe - New PM of Japan. 13. Tony Abott New Australian PM 14. Abdul Hamid - Bangladesh's new president. 16. Millionaire Horacio Cartes wins Paraguay presidency. 18. Pop Benedict XVI resigned due to poor health. 21. Bhanu Athaiya First Indian to win Oscar decided to return her trophy. 22. Michael Hussey (Australian Cricketer)- announced Retirement from Test Cricket. 23. Rahi Sarnobat - first Indian Pistol Shooter to clinch a gold medal in the ISSF World Cup in Changwon, Korea.

11. ORBITUARY 1. Margaret Thatcher- Britain's first female PM 2. K P Bhaskar - Indian Classical Dance Maestro 3. Prof Bratindra Nath Mukherjee(Padma Shri Awardee) - the renowned historian and an epigraphy expert 4. Dr Hilary Koprowski - Developer of First Successful Oral Vaccination for Polio. 5. Shakuntala Devi (The Indian Mathematician also known as mental calculator and human computer) 6. Profulla Chandra Borua - Veteran journalist 7. ATP chairman Brad Drewett - Veteran journalist. 8. Lalgudi Jayaraman - Renowned Violinist and Composer Died at 82 9. Shamshad Begum - Legendary Singer 10. Rituparno Ghosh - National Award Winning Filmmaker 11. Uttanur Rajamma - veteran Bandaya Writer 12. Ray Harryhausen - the Master of Visual Effects 13. Ustad Zia Fariduddin Dagar - Dhrupad Vocalist 14. Surendra Tiwari - Hindi story writer and playwright 15. Anand Shetty - Former International Sprinter 16. Baleshwar Aggarwal -the veteran journalist 17. Jetti Veera Raghavulu - Telugu music director and playback singer 18. V C Shukla - Veteran Congress leader 19. Indias only Women Chief Election Commissioner Ramadevi 79 (Former Governor of Karnataka) Died. 20. Padma Shree Awardee Madhubani painting artist Mahasundari Devi died 21. Douglas Engelbart, the U.S. inventor who was known as the father of the computer mouse died. 22. H.A.B. Parpia (91), renowned food scientist and former Director of the Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI), passed away 23. Eminent Carnatic musician Nukala Chinna Satyanarayana passed away,a recipient of Padma Bhushan and several other prestigious awards 24. The winner of Dadasaheb Phalke Award and a veteran actor Pran died on About Pran Kishan Sikand 25. Veteran Tamil lyricist Vaali passes away at the age of 82 in Chennai. 26. British Indian actor Paul Bhattacharjee, who played the role of a doctor in James Bond film 'Casino Royale', has been found dead. 27. Veteran Communist leader Samar Mukherjee died in Kolkata.

28. L Brojeshori Devi, the Olympian judo player passed away at Coimbatore 29. National Research Prof at the National Centre for Biological Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) Obaid Siddiqi, died. 30. Noted producer T.S. Narasimhan, who filled life to the fictional Malgudi created by novelist R.K. Narayan through Malgudi Days, directed by Shankar Nag, died. 31. Former Union Minister Arun Nehru passed away on 32. Veteran music director V Dakshinamoorthy passed 33. The Indian classical singer and music director, Pandit Raghunath Panigrahi passed away. 34. R P Goenka - Industrialist. 35. Zao Wou-ki - abstract Chinese painter. 36. Kamala Sadagopan - eminent Tamil Novelist and Writer. 37. Robert Edwards - Test-tube baby pioneer. 38. Professor Bratindra Nath Mukherjee - Renowned Historian 39. Leslie Claudius - Legendary hockey player and one of India's greatest Olympians, passed away in Kolkata. 40. SK Varma - the former news editor of The Indian Express. 41. Hari Shankar Singhania, - the leading industrialist of India. 42. Radhakishan Malviya - the former Union Minister and Rajya Sabha Member from Madhya Pradesh 43. Shanu Lahiri - Shanu Lahiri, the Renowned Bengali PainterPasses away 44. P.Shanmugam. - Veteran Congress leader and former Puducherry Chief Minister P Shanmugham died. in his Karaikal residence. 45. Jasuben Shilpi - Renowned sculptor Jasuben Shilpi, popularly known as The Bronze woman of India, passed away in Gujarat. 46. M S Goplakrishnan- Violin maestro: 47. M.S. Udayamurthy Tamil Writer. 48. Ravi Shankar- Music Composer. 49. Gerda Lerner - Founder member of National Organization for Woman. 50. Haradhan Bandopadhyay - Bengali Actor. 51. Koto Okubo - Worlds Oldest Female died at 115. 52. Norman woodland- Inventor of Barcode. 53. Ruth Prawer Jhabvala - Oscar and Booker Prize winner writer. 54. K Venukuttan Nair - a well known theatre personality as well as the Malayalam film actor.

55. Anthony Lewis - Pulitzer Prize-winner. 56. Kallam Anji Reddy - Dr Reddy's Laboratories Founder. 57. Actor Richard Griffiths - the Renowned Vernon Dursley of Harry Potter. 58. Pietro Mennea - Italian Athlete. 59. Prof Veer Bhadra Mishra - Noted Environmentalist. 60. B Satyanarayana Reddy-Freedom fighter and former Governor of Uttar Pradesh 61. Yash chopra-Film Maker 62. Jaspal Bhatti-Comedian and satirist 63. Pt.Ravi Shankar- Music Composer 64. Joy Mukherjee- Film Actor 65. Mrinal Gore-Social Activist 66. Ranganath Misra -Former Chief Justice of India 67. Brajesh Mishra First National Security Advisor of India 68. A.M. Govindarasu Veteran communist leader & Freedom Fighter

12. SPORTS 1. Tennis Australian Open 2013: - Novak Djokovic(Serbia) bt Andy Murray(Britain). -Victoria Azarenka bt Li Na( china) le- Bob & Mike Byan bt Robin haase & Igor Sijsling. - Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci(Italy) bt Ashlegh Barty and Casey Dellaqua

Wimbledon 2013

Womens Single: Marion Bartoli (France) defeated Sabine Lisick (Germany)

French Open 2013:

2. Summer Olympics will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2016. 3. Sudirman Cup China defeated South Korea 4. PV Sindhu won Malaysia Badminton Grand Prix Title Gu Juan of Singapore. 5. Brazil beats Spain to win Confederations Cup 2013 6. Ace discus thrower Vikas Gowda clinched the first gold for India in the 20th Asian Athletics Championships in Pune 7. Chris Martin, the fast Bowler of New Zealand has announced his retirement from all forms of cricket. 8. K Srikanth clinched defeated Boonsak Ponsana to clinch the Thailand Open Grand Prix Badminton 2013 9. Sebastian Vettel defeated Ferraris Fernando Alonso to win Canadian Grand Prix 10. 4th Kabaddi World Cup will be held in Punjab in November 2013 14. Ragala Venkat Rahul bags three Golds in Asian Youth Weightlifting 15. MS Dhoni becomes first captain to win all ICC trophies 17. Bolt won Jamaican 100 title to reach World Championships 21. Prasanna new Grand Master : V Vishnu Prasanna celebrated his new Grandmaster status by outwitting seasoned GM Boris Chatalbashev of Bulgaria 25. V Vishnu Prasanna celebrated his new Grandmaster status by outwitting seasoned GM Boris Chatalbashev of Bulgaria 27. Rupesh Shah clinched the 12th Asian Billiards championship title after beating compatriot Alok Kumar in the final 28. Preeti Beniwal won gold in 2013 Senior National Women's Boxing Championship 29. ICC Womens World Cup 2013 - Australia defeated West Indies at Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai. 31. Irani Trophy 2013 Rest of India defeated Mumbai to clinch the title. 32. National Weightlifting Championship 2013 - Manpreet Kaur. 37. India wins 8 medals at the first Asian Grand Prix Archery Championship at Bangkok. 39. Anita Chanu wins bronze in Asian Judo Championships by defeating the judokas from Korea, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. 40. Prayag Chauhan wins Asian Junior Boxing event by beating local boy Azat Ilyubayev in the lightweight category (60kg) in Kazakhstan. 41. Thomas Cup, Uber Cup finals to be held in India. 44. PV Sindhu won Malaysia Badminton Grand Prix Title by defeating lower seed, Gu Juan of Singapore. 45. Men's National Hockey Championship for the Rangaswamy Cup hosted by Karnataka.

46. Indian Women's Compound Team which comprised Gagandeep Kaur, Trisha Deb, and P Lily Chanu won Bronze in Archery at Shanghai. 50. The 3rd Hockey India senior men's national championship held in Pune at the Shiv Chattrapati Sports Complex and Major Dhyan Chand Hockey stadium in nearby Pimpri town from 28th May to 10th June. 51. England will host 2019 Cricket World Cup. 54. K Srikanth clinched the Thailand Open Badminton 2013 by defeating Boonsak Ponsana in Bangkok. 55. Red Bulls Sebastian Vettel wins Canadian Grand Prix by defeating Ferraris Fernando Alonso in Montreal. 56. Asian Athletic Championship held in Pune from 3rd to 7th July. 57. ICC to hold its 1st World Test Chship in Eng in 2017. 58. Top seeded Indian Grand Master Parimarjan Negi won the Continental Chess Association Open title. 61. Indian woman shooter Lajja Goswami has bagged a silver medal in 50 meter riffle three position in I S S F, World Shooting Championship in Spain. 62. Shiva Thapa reaffirmed his status as the rising star of Indian boxing as he became the youngest pugilist to clinch a gold medal in the 56 kg category at the Asian Championships in Amman, Jordan.The silver medals came through L Devendro Singh (49kg) and Mandeep Jangra (69kg), while the bronze was bagged by Manoj Kumar (64kg). 63. The International Cricket Council has announced that the ace Leg spinner Shane Warne will be inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame 64. Grandmaster and former world junior champion Abhijeet Gupta has won the Commonwealth Chess Championship title. 65. Devendra Jhajharia became the first differently-abled Indian to win a gold at the IPC Athletics World Championships by winning the javelin throw at the sixth edition of the event in Lyon, France and he will be rewarded Rs five lakh by the Railways 69. Grandmaster Parimarjan Negi, the chess player from India won the Denmark's Politiken Cup at Copenhagen, Denmark 70. Russian tennis player Maria Sharapova topped the Forbes list of highest-paid female athletes for the ninth straight year. 71. Star Sports appointed Indian cricket team captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni as brand ambassador to promote Premier League football in India. 72. India's rising shuttler P V Sindhu settles for bronze medal in World Championship 77. Asian Games will be held in Incheon, South Korea in September 2014 80. Lewis Hamilton won the Hungarian Grand Prix from pole position to clinch his first victory of a frustrating season.

13. AWARDS 1. Dadasaheb Phalke Award 2013 Pran Krishan Sikand (Bollywood actor, mostly known as Pran). 2. Saraswati Samman (2013) Sugathakumari, ( the Malayalam poetess for the poetry collection Manalezhuthu, which means The Writing on the Sand in English. 4. Bihari Puraskar (2012) Hariram Meena for his hindi novel Dhooni Tape Teer 5. Vyas Samman (2012) Narendra Kohli for his novel Na bhooto na bhavishyati

6. Indira Gandhi International Award - Ellen Johnson Sirleaf for 2012(president of Liberia) 8. The Oscars 2013 (ceremony was held at Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California). Life of Pi, with 4 awards a) Best Directing: Ang Lee for Life of Pi e) best film award ;Argo (with 3 awards) f) best Actor award :Daniel Day-Lewis wins for 'Lincoln'. g) best Actoress award: Jennifer Lawrence for 'Silver Linings Playbook' 9. 'Women of courage award' - The US State Department awarded one of the 2013 International Women of Courage Awards to Nirbhaya posthumously 14. Madhya Pradesh bagged two national tourism awards: One for the best civic management of a tourist destination and other for the most innovative and unique tourism project in the 23rd National Tourism Award. 16. 44th Dada Saheb Phalke Award (2013)- Legendary actor, Pran Krishan Sikand. 17. First timr an Indian-Origin Economist Raj Chetty the professor in the Department of Economy at the Harvard University Won John Bates Clark Medal For 2013, which is also called Baby Nobel. 19. Ravuri Bharadwaja, 86, the Telgu writer was selected for the prestigious Jnanpith Award 2012 for his contributions to Telgu Literature. 23. Jenita Mary a young woman scientist from Meghalaya has been selected for this year's ISRO Young Scientist Award. 24. The Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai (15), UNA-USA's Global Leadership Award called Champion for Global Change Award for 2013. 25. The Madhya Pradesh Governments Cottage and Village Industry Department has bagged United Nations Public Service Award for year 2013 26. Kerala CM Oommen Chandy won UNs Public Service Award for 'mass contact programme'on the occasion of UN P ublic Service Day ceremonies held from 24th to 27th June, 2013 in Bahrain. 27. Pratibha Ray Conferred With the 47th Jnanpith Award for the Year 2011 in may 2013 at Balyogi Auditorium in New Delhi. The award includes cash prize of 11 lakh Rupees, a citation as well as bronze replica of Goddss Saraswati. 28. In recognition of her work with Adivasi (Indigenous) communities in India, Dayamani Barla was chosen by Cultural Survival, an Indigenous Peoples rights organization, as the winner of the 2013 Ellen L. Lutz Indigenous Rights Award. 29. A short film based on the project- affected people of Tarapur Atomic Power Station has won the 'Yellow Oscar' award at the Uranium Film Festival at Rio-de-Janeiro, Brazil. 30. NTR Literary Award which carries a cash prize of 1 lakh Rupees and citation presented to Noted Oriya writer Manoj Das for contribution to literature, both in Odiya and English. 31. American writer Lydia Davis has won the 5th Man Booker International Prize. 32. Chief Minister Oommen Chandys won the prestigious United Nations Public Service Award for 2013. 33. Former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam was conferred with the US-based National Space Societys (NSS) Wernher von Braun Memorial Award in San Diego.

34. Sathwik Karnik Wins National Geographic Bee Contest 35. Asom Ratna Award (posthumously) to Late Smt. Indira Goswami. 36. Srimanta Shankardeva Award to Smt. Sharmila Tagore, she is said as a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF. 37. Anupam Kher Won 3rd Asian Award for his performances in movies like Silver Linings Playbook, Bride & Prejudice, and Bend it Like Beckham. 38. Triple Emmy Award winning actor James Gandolfini dies after a heart attack. 39. India bagged 3 top awards including the Best Feature Film (Paan Singh Tomar), the Best Director (Tigmanshu Dhulia ) and Special Jury Certificate of Recognition (Kaushal Oza for his documentary Afterglow )at the third SAARC Film Festival in Colombo. 40. Kevin Barry, the Irish author won 100000 Euro International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award for his debut novel, City of Bohane. 41. Huga Chavez was posthumously awarded Venezuela journalism prize. 42. Healthcare Economist Dr Mukesh Hariawala was recently conferred the prestigious Indian Healthcare Visionary of the Decade award for Unveiling a unique and novel customized universal health insurance model for all 1.2 billion Indians calling it Womb to Tomb, concept. 43. The International Data Group (IDG) Computer world Honours Program, Computer world Honors Laureate has honored Government of India initiative UIDAI with 21st Century Achievement Award 2013 under the category Economic Development. 44. Adam Johnsons novel The Orphan Masters son won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2013. 45. The 3 times World Formulae One champion Red Bulls Sebastian Vettel from Germany won the Bahrain Grand Prix 2013 on 21 April 2013 by defeating Lotus drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean. 46. Djokovic won the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters Tournament by defeating Nadal. 47. Assam Topped the Medal Tally of 20th National Archery Championship by claiming four gold medals. 48. Rupesh Shah Won ONGC 12th Asian Billiards championship at Indore Tennis Club, Indore on 7 April 2013. 49. Singer Hariharan Conferred With the Lata Mangeshkar Samman Alankaran 2013. 50. American writer Lydia Davis won 5th Man Booker International Prize 2013. 51. US singer-songwriter Carole King Became the First Woman to Receive the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. 52. Indian-origin boy Sathwik Karnik, 12 from Massachusetts has won National Geographic Bee contest after grueling rounds testing his geographic knowledge about lions in Botswana, mountain ranges in Asia and port cities in England. National Geographic Bee is an annual geography contest sponsored by the National Geographic Society since 1989. 53. Tan Twan Eng, the Malaysian author was declared as the winner of Walter Scott Prize 2013 for his English fiction novel The Garden of Evening Mists. 54. Former CAG Vinod Rai received Manappuram award under the category of civil servant achieving excellence in public administration. 55. Russian Film the Major won Golden Goblet for best feature film at the 16th at Shangahi International Film Festival. 56. Vandana Gandhi became the first ever Indian woman to receive Dubai Government's coveted Emirates Woman Award for business excellence in June 2013.

57. IIFA 2013: a) Vidya Balan got the Best Actress Award at for Kahaani. b) Ranbir Kapoor was named Best Actor for Barfi c) The best debut actors are Yami Gautam and Ayushmann Khurrana. d) 'English Vinglish' helmer Gauri Shinde bagged the best debut director award. e) Former couple Ranbir and Deepika Padukone won best Jodi award. f) Gangs of Wasseypur won two awards, one for Best Action (Shyam Kaushal) and the other for Best Dialogue (Zeishan Quadri, Akhilesh, Sachin Ladia and Anurag Kashyap) was shared with Juhi Chaturvedi for Vicky Donor. g) The award for Best Editing was won by Kahaani (Namrata Rao) and Best Choreography went to Ganesh Acharya for Agneepath. h) Ek Tha Tiger won the award for Best Special Effects (Pankaj Khanopur, Sherry Bharda and Vishal Anand). 58. Noted Maestro Zubin Mehta has been named for the Tagore Award For Cultural Harmony for the year 2013 in recognition of his outstanding contribution to cultural harmony. 59. Shalini Singh, a Deputy Editor with The Hindu, has bagged the prestigious Prem Bhatia Award for Political Reporting-2013. She has been selected for her excellent coverage of several key issues, particularly her reporting of the telecom and Coalgate scandals. 60. Afghanistan's first and only female governor and a humanitarian worker from the Kachin minority in Myanmar, Habiba Sarabi, is among this year's recipients of the Ramon Magsaysay Award.Sarabi was honoured for helping build a functioning local government and pushing for education and women's rights in Afghanistan's Bamyan province despite discrimination and poverty. 61. Indian American author Jhumpa Lahiris The Lowland has been listed among 13 novels longlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2013. 62. Edward Snowden, the former NSA contractor who exposed the widest US global surveillance operations, was awarded German Whistleblower Prize 2013 worth 3900 Dollars in absentia.Snowden has exposed the substantial and unsuspecting monitoring and storage of communication data by US and other western intelligence agencies, which cannot be accepted in democratic societies. 63. Four Indian-American Professors Kannan Soundararajan, Rajeev Alur, Salil P Vadhan and Senthil Todadri in fourth week of July 2013 won Simons Investigators Awards 2013. Apart from these, 9 other mathematicians, theoretical physicists and theoretical computer scientists were also selected for the Simons Investigators Awards for their cutting edge research. 64. "Metro Man" E. Sreedharan has been selected for the prestigious Lokmanya Tilak award for 2013 for his outstanding contribution to society. 65. Sarod maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan will be honoured with the 21st Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavna Award for promotion of communal harmony peace and goodwill. 66. Vinod Prakash Sharma an eminent scientist won the Gujar Mal Modi Award for Science and Technology 2013. He received award for his contribution in the field of basic and applied research of malaria and vector biology. 67. Professor of economics, conservationist and mountaineer Harshwanti Bisht was selected to receive the Sir Edmund Hillary Mountain Legacy Medal. 68. Asian Award: Indian homeopath Mukesh Batra has been honoured with Asia's "most promising leader" award at a recent function in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for pioneering work in healthcare, using natural medicine.

69. Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan was the guest of honour at a reception hosted by British Prime Minister David Camerons wife, Samantha Cameron at their official residence for a charity (Silver Star.) initiative for diabetes. 70. Kapil Parakh, an Indian-origin cardiologist chosen for White House fellowship programme. A Zambia University graduate, Parakh is the director of heart failure at the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Centre and assistant professor in the Departments of Medicine, Epidemiology, and Health Behaviour and Society.

14. BOOKS AND AUTHORS 1. Ahmev Radha, Ahmev Krishnah - Gulab Kothari (Chief Editor of Hindi newspaper Rajasthan Patrika) 2. An Uncertain Glory: India and its Contradictions - Jean Dreze and Amartya Sen. 3. A Brush with Life- Satish Gujral 4. A Bend in the river- V.S. Naipaul 5. God of Small things- Arundhati Rai 6. Inheritance of Loss- Kiran Desai. 7. Joseph Anton- Sulman Rushdie (Autobiography) 8. Khushwantnama-The Lessons of My Life Khushwant singh 9. Lajja- Taslima Nasrim. 10. My Unforgettable Memories-Mamata Banerjee 11. "Muslim in Indian cities- Christophe Jaffrelot & Laurent Gayer 12. My country My Life- L.K.Advani 13. My Music My Life- Pt Ravi Shankar 14. Revolution 2020- Chetan Bhagat 15. Runs in Ruins Sunil Gavaskar 16. Satenic versus- Salman Rushdi 17. True Colours Adam Gilchrist 18. The Heritage of Sikhs Harbans Singh 19. The Jewels of Happiness Indian spiritual guru Sri Chinmoy. 20. The Things About Thugs Tabish Nair

21. The Test of My Life'- Indian cricketer Yuvraj singh 22. Those were the Day and then-The Life & Times of Lal Krishna Advani-Mira Govind Advani 23. Turning Points-APJ Abdul Kalam

24. What Young India Wants Chetan Bhagat 25. Ye Jo Hai Pakistan'- Shivendra Kumar Singh. 26. Smritiyan - Garima Sanjay 27. My Journey: Transforming Dreams into Actions - former President of India, Dr. Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam (APJ 28. How Not to Make Money -Raj Kundra, the millionaire businessman.

15. IMPORTANT ORGANIZATION AND SUMMIT 1. New Member Total 193 (Last South Sudan) Total 159 (Last - Tajikistan) Total 188 (Last South Sudan) Total 28 (Last- Croatia)

1. UN Human Rights forum held in Beijing (CHINA) 2. World Economic Forums summer Davos meeting held in the north -eastern Chinese city of Dalian ( China). 3. The 7th India-Laos Joint Commission Meeting on bilateral cooperation was held in Vientiane. 4. 31st meeting of Health Ministers of WHO South-East Asia countries held in India. 5. Sixth Global Skills Summit held in New Delhi. The Theme of the Summit is Industry Leads. New Zealand is the country partner this time for the Summit. 2. Nuclear security summit nd Summit 2012 Seoul (South Korea), rd Summit 2014(Next) : Netherland 3. BRICS summit -Africa. th Summit 2012: New Delhi th Summit 2013 : South Africa: the Durban International Convention Centre (ICC).

and Industrialisation.

currencies are particularly encouraging and progress in finalising these.

4. G 8 Summit:

th Summit 2012 :David camp, USA th Summit 2013: United Kingdom th Summit (next 2014): Russia G-8 Countries: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, Britain and the US 5. G 20 Summit: th Summit 2012 Los Cabos, Mexico th G-20 Leaders Summit held in St. Peters burg (Russia). -20 Labour Summit held in Mosscow (Russia). 6. NAM Summit: th Non-Aligned Movement Summit 2012- Tehran(Iran) th Summit(Next)-In 2015-Caracus (Venezuela) -31 August at Attended By(India): Prime Minister

-Fiji, Azerbaijan 7. ASEAN Summit: th ASEAN Meeting April 2012 Phnom penh (Cambodia). st ASEAN Summit Nov 2012 - Phnom Penh (Cambodia ). nd ASEAN Summit 2013 Brunei 8. SCO Summit: th Summit 2013-Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) Attended by:Salman Khurshid(Forgien Minister) th Summit 2012-Beijing Attended by:SM Krishna(Forgien Minister) 9. National youth Festival: th-Mangalore (Karnataka) th Patna(12-16) January

10. NATO Summit- 2010 Summit- Lisbon (Portugal) 2012 Summit- Chicago (United States) 11. SAARC Summit: 2013- Indore. Kathmandu (Nepal)

th SAARC Summit 2011- Addu City (Maldives) - Kathmandu (proposed) 12. Arab league Summit 2013 - Doha. 13. 6th IBSA Summit2013 New Delhi 14. 10th BASIC Summit - New Delhi 15. Earth Summit(2012) : -Rio de Janeiro 16. United Nation conference on Sustanable Devlopment(2012)- Rio de Janeiro 17. The international biodiversity meet Hyderabad 18. UN biodiversity meet in 2014 -South Korea 19. 58th Commonwealth Parliamentarian conference (2012) held in Colombo. Johannesburg, South Africa (2013). 20. Organization of Islamic Co-operation (OIC) summit (2013) Cairo (Egypt) 21. 14th Meet of Environment Ministers of BASIC countries - Chennai 22. 13th India-Russia Annual Summit New Delhi 23. 11th Pravasi Bhartiya Divas(2013) Kochi(Kerala), Theme- 'Engaging diaspora: The Indian growth story' 24. 18th National Level Meeting b/w Myanmar and India (2012) New Delhi 25. 4th World Telugu Conference - Tirupati. (Inaugurated by President Pranab Mukherje) 26. 3 day long International Buddhist Conference Patna. 27. 11th Meeting of India-Canada Joint Working Group on Counter Terrorism 2012 held in New Delhi and the 12th meeting of the Joint Working Group will be held in Canada in 2013 28. United Nations Conference on Climate Change in Doha extends the Kyoto Protocol till 2020.. 29. UN Conference on Climate Change get held at Doha. 30. 14th North East Book Fair held in Guwahati. Fair is dedicated to Poet Hiren Bhattacharya. 31. 2014 Mrs India International will be held place in Kolkata. 32. Fourth meeting of India-Mongolia Joint Committee held in New Delhi 33. 3 days Dubai World Conference on Consumer Rights (DWCCR) held at the World Trade Center in Dubai. 34. 'India Calling China Business Partnership Summit' held in China from April 7 to 12 this year. 35. The 8th India-Yemen Joint Committee Meeting for Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation (JCM) took place in New Delhi. 36. Microfinance India Summit 2013 to be held at New Delhi. 37. 3rd SAARC ministerial meet on poverty alleviation held in Nepal on 5th April 2013 38. WTTC (World Travel and Tourism Council) Global Summit held in UAE Abu Dhabi 2013.

39. Two Day India-China Counter-Terrorism Dialogue on Afghanistan ended on 12 April 2013 in Beijing China. 40. The 8th World Chambers of Congress held at Qatar in Doha under the theme, Opportunities for all. 41. 8thIndia-Seychelles Joint Commission Meet concluded at New Delhi 42. Indonesia moves Miss World final to Bali after protests. 43. The 63rd edition of the Miss World pageant opened in Indonesia 44. Foreign Minister of Nicaragua,Samuel Santos Lopez visited India, to participate in the India-SICA (Central American Integration System) Foreign Ministers' meeting. 45. 3rd India-Republic of Korea Foreign Policy and Security Dialogue held in Seoul. 4th India-ROK Foreign Policy and Security Dialogue will be held at New Delhi at a mutually convenient time in 2014.

16. IMPORTANT GOVERNMENT SCHEMES 1. BHARAT NIRMAN: - 2009), (2009 - 2012), (2012- 2014) ored scheme for the rural development of India started in September 2005.

Objectives: a) To provide all weather road connectivity to the village which have more than 1000 population in plain areas and 500 population in hilly areas. b) To bring 10 million hectares of land under irrigation facility and to make 1.4 million hectares of additional land for arable land (for the use of agriculture). c) To provide clean drinking water to all villages by the end of 2012 under Rajiv Gandhi payjal yojana. d) To electrify 1, 76,000 villages by the end of 2012 under Rajiv Gandhi Vidyutikaran yojna. e) To construct Pakka houses for BPL house- holds under Indira Awas Yojana (Now from April 1st 2013 cash assistance Rs. 70000 for plain areas and Rs. 75000 for hilly areas) previously it was Rs. 40000 for plain areas and Rs. 45000 for hilly areas. f) To provide telephone connectivity to all villages and all BPL holders by 2012. g) Note: All these objectives are extended till 2014. 2. JNNURM: Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission - 2012), (2012 - 2014) free.

a) To construct pakka houses for urban poor dwelling in squatter under Rajiv Awas yojana. b) To make transportation system faster and greener.

3. NRHM: National Rural Health Mission th April 2005 to enhance the health facilities in rural areas.

health and hygiene conditions as well as to guide people regarding conservation of water. 4. MGNREGA: Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act nd Feb 2006 to provide minimum 150 days from 1st April 2013 (previously its is 100 days) of employment to BPL house hold. Rural areas. nd Oct 2009. -AL (Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers) which is calculated by the state government on the basis of their Per capita Income. 5. UIDAI: Unique Identification Authority of India.

ar.

6. NFSM: National Food Security Mission

7. IGNOAPS: Indira Gandhi National Old age Pension Scheme

Rs. 400 per month (Central govt + State govt = Rs. 200 + Rs. 200) will be provided by both Central government and State government who aged between 65 80 years. more than 80 years. 8. IGNWPS: Indira Gandhi National Widow Pension Scheme -64 years in this scheme. cular person. 9. NFBS: National Family Benefit Scheme

family (he/she) of BPL households.

10. ANNAPURNA: kg of food grains are provided to BPL households free of cost every month.

17. ORGANISATIONS & THEIR HEAD Sn. 1. Organisation RBI Heads Raghuram Govinda Rajan U.K. Sinha Prakash Bakshi Naina Lal Kidwai K.R. Kamath Alok Joshi Saiyad Ashif Ibrahim Ranjeet Sinha

2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

SEBI NABARD FICCI IBPS RAW IB CBI

11. 12. 13.

UGC Indian Army Indian Airforce

Ved Prakash Gen. Bikram Singh Air Chief Marshal N A K Browne Admiral D.K. Joshi Subhash Joshi Dr. K. Radhakrishnan Krishna kumar Natrajan Rana Kapoor Avinash Chander Arundhati Bhattacharya T.S.Vijayan

14. 15. 16. 17.

Indian Navy BSF ISRO NASSCOM

18. 19. 20.

ASSOCHAM DRDO SBI

21.

IRDA

22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29.

TRAI CCI World Bank IMF IFC WHO WTO National Stock Exchange Bombay Stock Exchange CBDT National Security Council National Security Advisor Chief Economic Advisor Attorney General of India PM Economic Advisor CAG Chief Election Commissionor National Commission for women National Innovation Commission Press Council of India

Rahul Khullar Ashok Chawla Jim Yong Kim Christane Legarde Jim Yong cai Margrate Chan Roberto Azevedo Chitra Ramkrishna

30.

Ashish Chauhan

31. 32.

Sudha Sharma Yakov Amridor

33.

Shivashankar Menon

34.

Raghuram Raja

35.

G.E. Vahanvati

36. 37. 38.

C.Rangrajan Shashi Kant Sharma V.S.Sampath

39.

Mamta Sharma

40.

Sam Pitroda

41.

Marandey Katju

18. IMPORTANT COMMITTEES 1. Parthasarathi Shome. for Tax Administration Reform Commission (TARC), Suggest a system to enforce better tax compliance 2. B. Shivraman Committee - Nabard

3. Suma Verma Committee - to update, and revise the Banking Ombudsman Scheme, 2006 4. Damodran Committee: on improvement of customer services in banks 5. Shri M. Narasimham Committee: on Banking Sector Reforms 6. Shri Raghuram Rajan Committee: on Financial Sector Reforms, 7. Shri B. Mahapatra Committee: to review the existing prudential guidelines on restructuring of advances by banks/financial institutions 8. Shri Aditya Puri Committee: Dissemination of Credit Information 9. Shri K.U.B. Rao Committee: recommended aligning gold import regulations 10. K M Chandrasekhar committee : for rationalization of foreign investment norms 11. Shri Pulak Kumar Sinha Committee: to study the feasibility of Aadhaar as an additional factor for authentication of card present transactions 12. Mukul Mudgal Committee: looking into US giant Walmart's lobbying activities to enter India 13. MBN Rao Committee: to prepare the blueprint of Indias first womens bank 14. Arvind Mayaram Committee for giving clear definitions to Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and Foreign Institutional Investment (FII), 15. Committee Set Up On Uttarakhand Floods: The committee will be headed by AK Ganju (Chairman, Ganga Flood Control Commission, Patna) 16. JS Mathur committee : to revise Newspaper Advertisement Rates. 17. K. Ratna Prabha : Committee on indecent depiction of women in media 18. Mukul Mudgal Committee: looking into US giant Walmart's lobbying activities to enter India 19. Mukul Mudgal Committee: to look at process of film clearance 20. MBN Rao Committee: to prepare the blueprint of Indias first womens bank 21. SK Srivastava Committee: to formulate a policy on public-private partnership model to raise coal output 22. K M Chandrasekhar Committee for rationalization of foreign investment norms 23. Arvind Mayaram Committee for giving clear definitions to Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and Foreign Institutional Investment (FII) 24. Janakiraman Committee - To investigate the security transactions of the bank 25. MS Ahluwalia committee - to evaluate aspects related to set up of Nalanda University 26. Sitakant Mahapatra committee - for inclusion of Bhojpuri language in eighth schedule of constitution 27. N R Narayana Murthy committee - for evaluation of corporate sector participation in Higher Education. 28. C Rangarajan committee - for poverty scale estimates in the country 29. MB Shah committee - for inspection of illegal mining activities

30. N Rangachary committee - to examine taxation policies for I.T. sector 31. Parthasarathi Shome committee - implementation of GAAR (General Anti Avoidance Rule) 32. Deepak Parekh committee for Financing Infrastructure sector 33. Naresh Chandra committee - 14 member task force on security issues 34. Bhandari Committee - Reconstruction of RRBs 35. RS Gujral Committee - suggest measures to boost MSME exports.

19. DEFENCE & TECHNOLOGY 1. Missiles in use of Indian Army: a) Prithvi I - 150km b) Prithvi II - 350km c) Prithvi III - 350km - 600km d) Agni I - 700km -1250km e) Agni II - 2000km -3500km f) Agni III - 3500km -5000km

g) Agni IV - 3000km -4000km (test fired only) h) Agni V - 5500km -5800km i) Agni VI - 8000km -3500km j) Akash- 30 km 2. NASA Spacecraft "Voyager 1" Drifted Into Unknown Region of the Space 3. China became the World's Fifth-Largest Arms Exporter. 4. Indian Navy successfully test-fired the 290-km range Brahmos Supersonic Cruise Missile, capable of carrying a conventional warhead of 300 kg, from a warship off the Goa coast. 5. Pakistan test fired cruise missile Babur with a range of 700km 6. Iran has tested Fateh 110 missiles (Range - 300 km). 7. Naval Offshore Patrol Vessel INS Saryu inducted into Indian Navy. 8. Cochin Shipyard launched Aadesh the First Fast Patrol Vessel for Coast Guard.. 9. K-5 ballistic missile(strike range around 1500 kms) successfully test fired from an underwater platform in Bay of Bengal.

10. Indian Army gets its first indigenously-made Rudra attack chopper. 11. ISRO has launched Indo-French satellite 'SARAL'(410-kg) with the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV-C20 from Sriharikota. It will support in marine meteorology and sea state forecasting, operational oceanography, seasonal forecasting, climate monitoring, ocean, earth system and climate research.

12. "EKUVERIN 2012" an India-Maldives joint military training exercise organized in Belgaum. 13. ISRO launches its 100th space program named PSLV C21 from Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh) 14. US and South Korea did Joint Annual Military Drills called Key Resolve on 11 March 2013. apart from Key Resolve, another joint drill called Foal Eagle was on its way since the starting of March 2013. 15. Nepal & United States Conducted joint Military Exercises called Shanti Prayas-2 or Peace Initiatives in Panchkhal, 50 km east of Kathmandu from 25 March 2013 to 7 April 2013, India also participated in it. 16. Pakistan successfully test-fired the nuclear-capable Hatf-IV ballistic missile of range of 900 km. 17. The medium range nuclear capable surface-to-surface 20-metre long missile Agni-II was successfully test-fired with a strike range of more than 2,000 km from the Wheeler Island off Odisha coast. It has a launch weight of 17 tonnes and can carry a payload of 1,000 kg over a distance of 2,000 km. 18. Pakistan Successfully Test-Fired Nuclear-Capable Hatf-IV Ballistic Missile on 10 April 2013. The missile has a range of 900 km Strategic Plans Division chief Lt Gen (retired) Khalid Ahmed Kidwai witnessed the launch of Hatf-IV missile. 19. Indo-Russian INDRA 2013 military exercise is scheduled to take place in October 2013 at Mahajan field firing range of Rajasthan. 20. French Nuclear of Areva Reactors will be 1st Tested in China before supplying the production to Jaitapur in Maharashtra. 21. Russia launched European telecom satellite SES-6 from Kazakhstan's Baikonur space centre. 22. Warfare aircraft MiG-29K fighter planes (Black Panther squadron) commissioned into Navy. 23. China launches a communications satellite, Zhongxing-11 24. Federal Space Agency Roscosmos, Russia launched the worlds only returnable satellite called Bion -M1 on 20 April 2013. 25. Indian National Defence University for training and research in military studies will be set up in Gurgaon. 26. India's first International regional navigational satellite IRNSS -1A launched from Satish Dhawan Space centre. 27. 50,000 crore deal for supplying 126 Rafale combat aircraft Signed b/w India and French.The 126 medium-multirole combat aircraft deal is the biggest focus of the two sides at the moment. 28. India's Multi Barrel Rocket Launcher System , the PINAKA , developed by DRDO. Pinaka can fire a salvo of 12 rockets in 44 seconds from a launcher with a strike range of 40 km. 29. India launched its first indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant, joining the elite club of nations with the capability of designing and building a warship of this size and capability. 30. The Indian space agency called off the launch of its heavy rocket geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle (GSLV-D5) due to leak in the second-stage engine.

31. Japan unveiled Izumo, its biggest warship sinc e World War II amid tensions with China following maritime skirmishes between the two nations over disputed islands.The ship is nearly 250 meters (820 feet) long, is designed to carry up to 14 helicopters. 32. Indias first defence satellite GSAT -7 launched from Kourou spaceport in French Guiana on Friday. GSAT-7 is Indias first dedicated spacecraft for Defence applications. 33. China to launch 3rd lunar (Change-3) mission this year 34. DHRUVA-3, a high performance computing system developed by Indian defence scientists. DHRUVA-3, developed by ANURAG, one of the labs under the Defence Research and Development Organisation, will be useful in computational fluid dynamics design for aircraft and air-borne systems, simulation of complex systems and stress analysis of materials.

20. ORGANIZATIONS % HEADQUARTERS International Organizations UNO (United Nations Org) UNICEF UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade & Development) WHO (World Health Org) ILO (International Labour Org) WTO (World Meteorological Org) World Intellectual Property Org International Standards Org. IMF (International Monetary Fund) World Bank UNESCO (United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Org) OECD (Org. for Economic Cooperation and Dev.) UNIDO (United Nations Industrial Dev. Org) Headquarters New York New York Geneva

Geneva Geneva

Geneva

Geneva

Geneva Washington DC

Washington DC Paris

Paris

Vienna

IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) Amnesty International Commonwealth of Nations IMO (International Maritime Organization) ICJ (International Court of Justice) FAO (Food and Agricultural Organization) NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) Transparency International SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Coop.) ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Forum) Organization of Islamic Cooperation

Vienna

Vienna

London London London

The Hague

Rome

Brussels

Berlin Kathmandu

Jakarta

Singapore

Jeddah

21. IMPORTANT DATES & DAYS: Sr. no. 1. DATE 12th January DAY National Youth day (Birthday of Vivekananda). Army day. National Girl Child Day. National tourism day/ Voters day

2. 3. 4.

15th January 24th Jan 25th January

5.

30th January

National Martyrs day & World anti Leprosy Day World Cancer Day. National science day International women day World Kidney day World Consumer rights day , (the theme for 2013 is, Consumer Justice Now). World Sparrow Day & International Happiness Day. World Forestry day World water day (For the year 2013, the theme is Water Cooperation). World Meteorological day World T.B. day World Autism Awareness Day World Health day Civil service day World Earth day World Books day Panchayat Divas International Labour day National Technology day Anti Terrorism day (Death day of Rajiv Gandhi) Anti Tobacco day (No smoking day) World Environment day Doctors day

6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

3rd Feb 28th Feb 8th March 9th March 15th March

11.

20th March

12. 13.

21st March 22nd March

14. 15. 16.

23rd March 24th March 2 April

17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24.

7th April 21st April 22nd April 23rd April 24th April 1st May 11th May 21st May

25.

31st May

26. 27.

5th June 1st July

28. 30 31. 32. 33.

11th July 6th August 9th August 12th August 29th August

World population day Hiroshima day Nagasaki day International youth day National Sports day (Birthday of Dhyan Chand) Teachers day World Literacy day Hindi Divas Engineers day Ozone day International Nonviolence day Air force day World post day United nation day Students day Adults day Citizens day National law day AIDS day Navy day Human Rights day National consumers day & National Energy Conservation Day.

34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39.

5th September 8th September 14th September 15th September 16th September 2nd October

40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50.

8th October 9th October 24th October 17th November 18th November 19th November 27th November 1st December 4th December 10th December 14th December

1. World health day - 7 April 2013, UNDER the theme was high blood pressure for this year. 2. 66th Himachal Day celebrated on 15 April 2013 at Dhalpur Ground, Kullu , Himachal Pradesh came into existence on 15 April 1948 with the merger of 30 princely states. 3. World Hemophilia Day observed on 17th April. 4. World Heritage Day observed on the 18th April , it is Also known as "International Monuments and Sites Day". The International Council of Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) has decided a theme "Heritage in Education" and its " Expressions in Diverse Geo-cultural Contexts" for World Heritage Day 2013.

5. Earth Day being celebrated on 22 April. This year's theme is "the face of climate change". 6. World Asthma day being observed 7 may under the theme for this year is "You Can Control Your Asthma." 7. Anti Terrorism Day Observed on 21 may. 8. World Hypertension Dayon 17 may. 9. National Technology Day is being observed on 11 may. 10. World Day against Child Labour observed 12 June under the theme is - "No to Child Labour in Domestic Work". 11. World Music Day observed on 21 June. It is also called Fte de la Musique. 12. World Refugee Day marked on 20th June under the theme Take One Minute to Support a Family Forced to Flee. 13. 7th Statistics Day observed on 29th june under the theme Labour & Employment Statistics. 14. World Malaria Day being observed on 25th April. The global campaign theme for 2013 and the coming years is Invest in the future Defeat malaria as given by the World Health Organization. 15. World Intellectual Property Day is being observed 26 April, under thr theme Creativity - The Next Generation 16. International Dance Day celebrated on 29thApril. The aim of the International Dance Day Message is to revel in the universality of this art form that crosses all political, cultural and ethnic barriers. 17. Today is International Museum Day on 18th may under the theme for this year Museum Memory + Creativity = Social Change. 18. World Oceans Day observed 8th june under the theme for this year and 2014 is:Together we have the power to protect the ocean 19. World Population Day that seeks to raise awareness about global population issues, is an annual event observed on 11th July. The theme for 2013 is Adolescent pregnancy with an aspiration of safe childbirth and that each pregnancy is wanted. 20. A special meeting of the UN General Assembly will mark the Nelson Mandela International Day on 18th July. 21. UN Declared 19 November as World Toilet Day 22. UN Declared 12 July as World Malala Day 23. Kargil Vijay Diwas observes on 26th July in honour of the Kargil War's Heroes. 24. World Tiger Day observed on 29th July 25. World Hepatitis Day was observed across the world on 28 July 2013.The theme for the year 2013 is This is Hepatitis, Know it, Confront it. 26. August 9 is the 71st anniversary of the Quit India Movement, which Mahatma Gandhi called the biggest struggle of his life. In August 1942, Gandhiji launched the Quit India Movement (Bharat Chhodo Andolan). 27. International Youth Day is being observed today across the globe on 12th august.The theme this year is-- Youth Migration: Moving Development Forward. 28. World Humanitarian Day is observed on the 19th of August every year to recognise those people who have lost their lives working for humanitarian causes.The theme for this year is - The World Needs More. 29. The French government announced 19 August as the World Photography Day.

30. Rajiv Gandhi Sadbhavana Divas is being observed today on the 20th August. 31. April 6 declared International Sports Day. 32. World No-Tobacco Day observed on 31st May under the theme is "Ban tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship" for this years. 33. World Environment Day being observed 5 June under the theme Think.Eat.Save. for this year.

22. ABBREVIATION IN NEWS 1. BSBDA - Basic Savings Bank Deposit Account 2. FCNR(B) - Foreign Currency Non-Resident Bank 3. TARC - Tax Administration Reform Commission 4. ITEs: Intra-Group Transactions and Exposures 5. LCR: Liquidity Coverage Ratio 6. NSFR: Net Stable Funding Ratio 7. LRMT: Liquidity risk monitoring tools 8. CBS: Core Banking Solution 9. DEAF: Depositor Education and Awareness Fund 10. CRAR: Capital to Risk-weighted Assets Ratio 11. External Commercial Borrowings (ECB) 12. SWIFT: Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication 13. FSLRC: Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission 14. MIBOR: Mumbai Inter-Bank Offer Rate 15. LIBOR: London Inter-Bank Offer Rate 16. LAF Liquidity Adjustment Facility 17. GIRO - Government Internal Revenue Order 18. EEFC - Exchange Earner's Foreign Currency 19. FRBMA: Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act 20. ALM- Asset Liability Management 21. AMFI- Association of Mutual Fund in India. 22. TIEA Tax Information exchange Agreement

23. CAR Cash Adequacy Ratio 24. CCEA Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs 25. CECA - Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement 26. CEPA Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement 27. DTAA Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement 28. DTC Direct Tax Code 29. ECBs - External Commercial Borrowings 30. EEFC - Exchange Earner's Foreign Currency 31. EFSF European Financial Stability Facility 32. FEMA- Foreign Exchange Management Act 33. FII Foreign Institutional Investor. 34. FINO- Financial Inclusion Network Operation 35. FIPB Foreign Investment Promotion board 36. FSLRC Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission 37. FTA- Free trade agreement 38. GAAR - General anti avoidance rule 39. GSLV - Geo-Synchronous Launch Vehicle 40. MSF-Marginal Standing Facility 41. NBFC-Non Banking Finance Companies 42. NCTC - National Counter-Terrorism Centre 43. NEFT - National Electronic Funds Transfer 44. NSG Nuclear Suppliers Group 45. PPP Public Private Partnership & Purchasing Power parity 46. PSLV Polar Satellite Launch vehicle 47. RTGS - Real Time Gross Settlement 48. SLR-Statutory Liquidity Ratio 49. TAPI - Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India. 50. QFI -Qualified Foreign Investors 51. VVPAT -'Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail' 52. Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA)