Indias Premier Banking / SSC Institute

SINCE 1993

SINCE 1993

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Indias Premier Banking / SSC Institute

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Economy
Automobiles

The govt has constituted a panel for introducing certain

safety features in new vehicles, and is taking steps
towards harmonising safety norms for cars followed
globally. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways
has formed a dedicated panel for introducing safety
features in new vehicles under Bharat New Vehicle
Safety Assessment Programme which will be voluntary
from Oct 2017 and mandatory by Oct 2020.

Aviation

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Vistara, the Tata-Singapore Airlines joint venture fullservice carrier that received its air operators permit
(AOP) on 15 Dec, is expected to begin operations in
India in the second week of Jan.

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Banking

The Reserve Bank of India on 27 Nov issued final

guidelines for payments and small banks that aim to take
banking services to more people and small businesses.
Earlier, the draft guidelines for both were released on 17
Jul.
Payments banks
The central bank defines a payments bank as one
that will be allowed to take deposits, issue debit
cards, offer remittances up to a small limit (`1 lakh
currently) and distribute financial products such
as insurance and mutual funds to its customers but
cannot lend money.

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In the case of payments banks, entities ranging from

telecom companies and prepaid payment instrument
issuers (PPIs) to supermarket chains and nonbanking finance companies (NBFCs) can apply.
A promoter can also choose to have a joint venture
with an existing scheduled commercial bank to set
up a payments bank.
Promoter/promoter groups should be fit and proper
with a sound track record of professional experience
or of running their businesses for at least a period
of five years in order to be eligible to promote
payment banks.
The minimum paid-up equity capital for these banks
will be ` 100 cr.
The promoter contribution has been set at a
minimum of 40 per cent at the start.
Promoters are no longer needed to bring down their
shareholding from 40 per cent to 24 per cent over 12
years, as was suggested in the draft norms.
Foreign shareholding limit will be at par with private
banks, currently set at 74 per cent.
Payments bank will initially be restricted to holding
a maximum balance of ` 1,00,000 per individual
customer.
They can offer payments and remittance services
and issue ATM/debit cards, but not credit cards.
It can contract outside liabilities (deposits) but not
exceeding 33.33 times (against 20 times in the draft
guidelines) its net worth.
As per final guidelines, apart from amounts
maintained as cash with the central bank (defined
by the cash reserve ratio, or CRR), payments banks
1

Indias Premier Banking / SSC Institute

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Application process
Applications for these new kind of banks will be
accepted till 16 Jan 2015.
Applications will be screened by an external advisory
committee comprising bankers, chartered
accountants and finance professionals.
The validity of the in-principle approval issued by
the Reserve Bank will be eighteen months.

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Small Banks
A small finance bank will operate in a similar fashion
to a normal bank (by taking deposits, offering
withdrawals as well as offering loans) but with a
focus on small, un-served and under-served areas
of the country.
The small banks are intended to provide savings
products and credit to small businesses, and small
and marginal farmers.
Small banks will be required to maintain a minimum
capital adequacy ratio of 15 per cent of the loans on
a continuous basis.
Unlike in the draft norms, there will be no
geographical restriction on the area of operation
for such banks.
However, as a way to ensure that only those serious
about the business set up such banks, RBI has said
that 75 per cent of loans must be to the so-called
priority sector which includes agriculture and small
businesses.
Half the loan portfolio of the banks should be loans
and advances of up to ` 25 lakh in an attempt to
ensure that the borrowers are small businesses.
Individuals with 10 years of experience in banking
and finance and companies and societies controlled
by Indian residents together with NBFCs, microfinance institutions and local area banks (LABs)
can opt for conversion into small banks.
The minimum paid-up equity capital for small banks
is also ` 100 cr, lower than the `500 cr for new fullfledged private banks.
These banks will have to maintain the mandatory 4
per cent of their deposits as CRR and hold 22 per
cent of their deposits in govt securities.
Promoters of small banks must own 40 per cent
equity in the new venture initially, but will need to
bring this down to 26 per cent within 12 years from
the date of commencement of business.

Foreign shareholding in these banks has been

capped at 74 per cent just like in existing private
banks.
If the small finance bank aspires to transit into a
universal bank, such transition will not be automatic,
but would be subject to fulfilling minimum paid-up
capital/net worth requirement as applicable to
universal banks, its satisfactory track record of
performance as a small finance bank and the outcome
of the Reserve Banks due diligence exercise.

will be required to invest at least 75 per cent of their

demand deposits in statutory liquidity ratio (SLR)eligible govt securities or treasury bills with maturity
up to one year.
The remaining 25 per cent of their fixed deposits can
be parked with other scheduled commercial banks
for operational purposes and liquidity management.
Payments banks can accept deposits current and
savings bank from individuals, small businesses
and other entities. However, they cannot accept nonresident Indian deposits.

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SINCE 1993

The banking regulator RBI has allowed the players to

expand area of operations by allowing the usage of
international credit, debit and prepaid cards. The White
Level ATM (WLA) operators and private banks have
been asking for a hike in interchange fees, which currently
is `15 per transaction.
The first three transactions at other ATMs are free
and after this, the bank can choose to pass on the cost
to the consumer. But as per the RBI order, banks cannot
charge consumers more than `20.
While allowing prepaid and international cards may
expand the number of transactions, restricting the ATM
usage further at non-home bank ATMs from Nov 1 will
end up reducing the number of transactions, making
breakeven tougher for WLA operators. RBI has allowed
banks to limit the number of free transactions at nonhome bank ATMs to three from five in the metros. Players
believe that they need about 120-140 transactions on a
daily basis for an ATM to break even.
WLAs were introduced to increase the network of
these machines in semi-urban and rural areas. Companies
in this segment are mandated to open 67 per cent of their
ATMs in rural locations (tier III-VI) and 33 per cent in
urban ones (tier I and II cities).
ICICI Bank, one of the largest private lenders in the
country, is calibrating its global ambitions, selling its
subsidiary in Russia, repatriating capital from its UK and
Canada arms, and shrinking its international balance
sheet. ICICI Bank said it had decided to sell its

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SINCE 1993

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has charged Standard

Chartered Bank (SCB) and Tamilnad Mercantile Bank
(TMB) and its officials with violating the Foreign
Exchange Management Act (FEMA) while transferring
TMB shares to a group of non-resident Indians in 2007.

To promote electronic payments, the Reserve Bank of

India has increased the Real Time Gross Settlement
(RTGS) business hours to 12 hours from 8 am to 8 pm on
weekdays which will came into effect from 29 Dec.

The World Bank has committed over USD 1-bn loan to

Bangladesh which would benefit over 36 mn people by
improving quality of primary education, building coastal
communities resilience to natural disasters, and
increasing the nutritive and cognitive development of
children from the poorest households.

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) on 18 Dec said it would

impose negative interest rates on cash held by other
banks at the central bank, seeking to discourage safehaven buying by investors anxious about the crisis in
Russia and oils slide.

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PSL target for banks in India

At present, Indian banks are required to achieve
PSL target of 40 per cent of aggregate advances,
with 18 per cent sub-limit for the farm sector.
The same applies to wholly owned subsidiaries
(WOS) of foreign banks.
Foreign lenders with 20 or more branches in India
are being brought on par with local banks in PSL
targets, in a phased manner over five years starting
Apr 2013.
For foreign banks with less than 20 branches, the
overall target is fixed at 32 per cent.

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The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed a monetary

penalty on ICICI Bank (`50 lakh) and Bank of Baroda
(`25 lakh) for violation of its instructions on Know Your
Customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML)
norms. It also cautioned State Bank of India, Axis Bank
and State Bank of Patiala for these violations.

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Highlights
The RBI has allowed lenders to restructure existing
loans above ` 500 cr to infrastructure and core
industries projects.
According to Union finance ministry data, the
stressed loan books of commercial banks were 12.57
per cent of the total of loans as of end-Sep.
Non-performing assets (NPAs) had a share of 5.32
per cent and restructured assets were 7.25 per cent.
While giving the flexibility, the banking regulator
has attached some riders, to ensure the exercise
happens within a framework of prudential norms.
Banks can fix a fresh loan repayment (amortisation)
schedule for existing project loans once during their
lifetime.
This could be done only after the date of
commencement of commercial operations, based on
the reassessment of project cash flows.
The exercise will not be treated as a restructuring,
provided it is a standard loan as on the date of
change of the repayment schedule. The Net Present
Value of the loan should remain the same before and
after the change in repayment schedule.
Refinancing can be done by existing lenders, a new
set of lenders or a combination of both or by issuing
corporate bonds. Such refinancing can be repeated
till the end of the repayment schedule.

shareholding in ICICI Bank Eurasia (its Russian

subsidiary) to Sovcombank.

Indias Premier Banking / SSC Institute

Banks have started appointing environmental specialists

and social experts to appraise loan proposals before
sanctioning big-ticket advances. The move is aimed to
reduce the scope of delinquencies arising from lack of
environmental clearances or employee unrest.

The amount recovered from cases decided in 2013-14

under DRTs was `30,950 cr, while the outstanding value
of debt sought to be recovered was `236,600 cr.
In other words, recovery was only 13 per cent of the
amount at stake.There are only five Debt Recovery
Appellate Tribunals in the country.

As India continues its pursuit of suspected black money

stashed abroad, an international think tank has ranked
the country third globally with an estimated $94.76 bn
(nearly `6 lakh cr) illicit wealth outflows in 2012.
As a result, the cumulative illicit money moving out
of the country over a ten-year period from 2003 to 2012
has risen to $439.59 bn (` 28 lakh cr), as per the latest
estimates released by the Global Financial Integrity
(GFI). Russia is on the top with $122.86 bn, followed by

As a step to ease the pressure on stressed assets, the

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has allowed lenders to
restructure certain loans to infrastructure and core
industries projects.

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SINCE 1993

Indias Premier Banking / SSC Institute

Cash reserve ratio (CRR) unchanged at 4 per cent

Statutory Liquidity Ratio retained at 22 per cent to
unlock banking funds
GDP growth for current fiscal estimated at 5.5 per
cent
Projects retail inflation at 6 per cent by Mar 2015end
Projects retail inflation to lower in Nov, rise again in
Dec
Weak revenue realisation a threat to fiscal deficit
target
Next bi-monthly policy statement on Feb 3

Messages on bank transactions and slips in ATM

machines may soon come up in Hindi if a proposal of the
Home Ministry is accepted by the PSU banks, as part of
the efforts to popularise the language in official business.

The central bank in Jan 2014 had advised that after Mar
31, 2014, it will completely withdraw from circulation all
banknotes issued prior to 2005. Later, the Reserve Bank
of India (RBI) extended the date for exchanging those
banknotes to Jan 1, 2015. After the deadline is over, the
public will be required to approach banks for exchanging
these notes. Currency notes issued before 2005 do not
have the year of printing on the reverse side. In notes
issued after 2005, the year of printing is visible at the
bottom on the reverse. The Finance Ministry recently
said the withdrawal exercise was in conformity with the
standard international practice of not having multiple
series of notes in circulation at the same time. The banks
have already been asked by the RBI not to issue pre2005 series notes over the counter or through ATMs.

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Russias central bank raised its key interest rate to 17

per cent from 10.5 per cent on 16 Dec in an emergency
move to halt a collapse in the rouble as oil prices decline
and the countrys sanctions-hit economy slides towards
recession.

The State Bank of India (SBI) has launched two indices,

namely the SBI Monthly Composite Index and the SBI
Yearly Composite Index, that will primarily track
manufacturing activity and offer a forward-looking
economic trends.
Currently, Markers at present depend on HSBC India
Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) and HSBC India
Services Business Activity Index to get clues about
economic trends.

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China at the second position ($249.57 bn) in terms of the

quantum of black money moving out of a country for
2012.

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The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has said that it is

working on a system that would allow small-value
electronic transactions without a second level of
verification that is now required for most credit cards
transactions.

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China has eased rules which will provide market access

for foreign banks, in a move to further open up the
domestic banking sector. Previously, a foreign bank
would have to unconditionally allocate at least 100 mn
yuan (around $16.4 mn) or the same value in other freelyconvertible currencies.
The RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan on 2 Dec kept interest
rate unchanged but hinted that a cut may come early
next year if inflation continues to ease and govt acts on
the fiscal side.
Highlights
Short-term lending (Repo) rate unchanged at 8 per
cent

Capital Market

For the first time since its inception 20 years ago, the
Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on 18 Dec
ordered the imprisonment of a defaulter Vinod Hingorani,
non-executive chairman of Kolar Biotech and Adam
Comsof for failing to pay a penalty for making misleading
disclosures.

The e-commerce major Flipkart on 20 Dec filed with ACRA

Singapore for conversion to a Public Company.

Commission

The 14th Finance Commission, headed by former Reserve

Bank of India (RBI) governor YV Reddy, on 15 Dec
submitted its report to the Presidents office.
Highlights

As mandated by the Article 280 of the Constitution,

the Govt had constituted the Fourteenth Finance
Commission consisting of Dr YV Reddy, former
Governor Reserve Bank of India, as the Chairman
and four other members, namely Abhijit Sen,
Sushma Nath, M Govinda Rao and Sudipto Mundle.
Ajay Narayan Jha was the Secretary to the
Commission.

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SINCE 1993

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Energy

Committee

The govt has made it clear that Aadhaar number was not
mandatory for transfer of subsidy amount of LPG
cylinder. Under the Direct Benefit Transfer of LPG
(DBTL).

State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) has won

an offshore oil and gas exploration block in New Zealand,
the first by an Indian firm in that country.

The state-run Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) is the

countrys largest company in terms of revenue, followed
by Reliance Industries and Bharat Petroleum in the
second and third place respectively, according to the
Fortune 500 list of Indian companies for 2014.

Insurance

To steer restructuring of the Railway Board, Indian

Railways has set up a committee under Bibek Debroy,
economist and professor, Centre for Policy Research.
The committee will recommend steps to mobilise
resources for major projects and help set up a Rail Tariff
Authority.

Railway Ministry set up a committee under the

chairmanship of DK Mittal, former secretary, financial
services, to examine the existing revenue structure and
suggest ways and means for raising earnings of Indian
Railways. The first one was Debroy Committee,
announced to suggest restructuring in the Railway Board
and the second one the Sreedharan Committee to
recommend proper system and procedure to ensure
proper accountability and transparency at General
Manager (GM) level and at the level of other functionaries
for taking all commercial decisions.

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Kicking off its disinvestment drive on a positive note,

the govts share sale offer in steel major SAIL got oversubscribed on 5 Dec. The govt is selling 5 per cent stake
in SAIL through this one-day offer, which received bids
for more than 30 cr shares.

Inmates of Delhis high-security Tihar jail will soon get

life and accidental insurance cover as the prison
administration, in collaboration with Indian Bank, has
decided to get their accounts opened under the Jan Dhan
Yojna.

Investment

Japanese technology major SoftBank has become the

largest investor in the Indian e-commerce segment. With
its latest investment of $90 mn in Housing.com,
SoftBanks overall investment in Indian e-commerce
stands at about $1 bn.

The HDFC Bank and Ratnakar Bank (now known as RBL

Bank) on 19 Dec got clearance from the Foreign
Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) for their respective
foreign direct investment (FDI) proposals. Banks can
have up to 49 per cent foreign investment without
regulatory approval but require approval from RBI and
the FIPB if they want to increase the foreign investment
limit to 74 per cent.

Disinvestment

stake in PSUs. It has so far managed to raise only `1,700

cr, by divesting a 5 per cent stake in Steel Authority of
India (SAIL).

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The Commissions report covers a period of five

years commencing 1 Apr 2015.
The Commission shall make recommendations
regarding the sharing of Union taxes, principles
governing grants-in-aid to States and transfer of
resources to local bodies.
The panel was appointed on Jan 2, 2013 to give its
report by Oct 31 this year but was later extended by
two months till Dec 31. The panel had sought more
time to examine financial projections and carry out
consultations with the Andhra Pradesh and
Telangana govts.
The panel was also asked to look into the Goods
and Services Tax (GST). The commissions terms of
reference also included the pricing of public utilities
such as electricity and water in an independent
manner and the sale of non-priority public-sector
units.

Indias Premier Banking / SSC Institute

Power

The govt has an uphill task ahead of it of achieving the

target of raising ` 43,000 cr in 2014-15 through sale of

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State-run power equipment maker BHEL has announced

to have commissioned a hydro power project in African
country Rwanda.

SINCE 1993

The Delhi High Court has permitted Chinese mobile

phone maker Xiaomi to sell and import Qualcomm chipsetbased handsets till Jan 8, as a temporary measure.
Yu, the new brand from domestic handset maker
Micromax, on 18 Dec launched its first device named
Yureka.

Trade

An over-six-fold jump in gold imports in Nov has pushed

countrys trade deficit to one-and-a-half year high of
USD 16.86 bn in the month, causing fresh concerns for
economic policy makers. Although exports went by 7.2
per cent, the highest in the last four months, gold imports
soared by 571 per cent to USD 5.61 bn (over `35,000 cr)
in Nov to widen the trade gap.

A new model agreement was needed by the govt as there

had been a substantial increase in the amount of disputes
under bilateral investment protection agreement (BIPA).

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Highlights

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It will provide protection only to companies and

natural persons with substantial business activity
in their home country.
It would only entertain the claims of investors with
at least 50 per cent stake or the right to appoint a
majority of the directors or senior management
personnel.
It has also made it clear that tax measures will be
excluded from the BIT. In simple terms, this means
no tax measure introduced by the host country will
be subject to any dispute settlement under the BIT.
The new model clearly defines govt for the first time
to include only the central and state govts and not
activities of any local govt.
It also establishes a mechanism under which a host
country can pursue counter claims against foreign
investors for their illegal conduct.

Taxation

Goods and Services Tax:

Highlights

As the name suggests, the Goods and Services Tax

(GST) will be levied both on goods (manufacturing)
and services.
It will convert the country into unified market,
replacing most indirect taxes with one tax.
It would have a dual structure a Central component
levied and collected by the Centre and a state
component administered by states.
At the Central level, it will subsume Central excise
duty, service tax and additional customs duties.
At the state level, it will include value-added tax,
entertainment tax, luxury tax, lottery taxes and
electricity duty.
The Central Sales Tax (CST) will be completely
phased out.
Entry tax or octroi would be subsumed from the
start. But state taxes on petroleum products will
continue for a few years after GST is introduced.
State taxes on alcohol and tobacco would remain.
As with VAT, the tax will be charged on each stage
of value addition. At each stage, a supplier can offset
the levy through a tax credit mechanism. This means,
the consumer pays GST added on by only the last
dealer in the supply chain.
The rate for GST is as yet undecided, but it would
be in a range that would make exports competitive.
A sub-committee of the Empowered Committee of
state finance ministers had proposed revenueneutral rates (RNR) for the Central and State
components at 12.77 per cent and 13.91 per cent,
respectively, taking the effective GST rate to 26.88
per cent.
This is much stiffer than the 14-16 per cent in most
countries as well as the recommendation of a
taskforce of the Thirteenth Finance Commission of

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In what could be one of the largest launches in the

telecom services space, Reliance Jio Infocomm is set to
roll out its 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution) services in
800 Indian cities between Apr and Jun next year.

Telecom

The new model broadens the scope to include

protection of the environment, conservation of
natural resources, stability and integrity of the
financial system, public health and safety, and
improving working conditions, amongst others.
The proposed model would also balance investor
rights with their obligations under the domestic law.
So, it does not provide any protection to investors
who violate core obligations under the law.

The govt on 20 Nov approved ` 43,033-cr rural

electrification scheme Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti
Yojana. The scheme will replace the existing Rajiv Gandhi
Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY).

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Indias Premier Banking / SSC Institute

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SINCE 1993

Others
The Union Women and Child Development Ministry on
3 Dec set a target to cover at least 10 lakh women under
Rashtriya Mahila Kosh (RMK), a national credit fund for
women, over the next three years.

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India has not fared well in Forbes list of the best

countries for business this year, ranking 93rd out of 146
nations, behind countries like Mexico, Kazakhstan and
Sri Lanka as it cited challenges like poverty and
corruption that the country needs to address. Denmark
topped Forbes 9th annual ranking of the Best Countries
for Business, followed by Hong Kong, New Zealand,
Ireland and Sweden.

12 per cent (7 per cent for State GST and 5 per cent
for Central GST).

Indias Premier Banking / SSC Institute

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Nation

philanthropic contributions and Corporate Social

Responsibility (CSR) funds towards this cause.

Centre

Indian tea sector gets a welcome boost as the Centre has

approved the proposal for implementation of the Tea
Development and Promotion Scheme with an outlay of
` 1,425 cr during the the 12th Plan period (2012-17). The
scheme is aimed at supporting development of improved
varieties and technologies for increasing production,
productivity and quality of tea. It also aims at promoting
Indian tea in the overseas and domestic markets.
The govt has decided to decriminalise attempt to
suicide by deleting Section 309 of the Indian Penal
Code (IPC) from the statute book.

People seeking information under RTI Act may now be

able to use postal stamps as application fee if a
recommendation of the Central Information Commission
is accepted by the Centre. RTI users now have to pay a
fee of ` 10 either in cash, bank demand draft or Indian
Postal Order to get information.

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Eighteen new ayurveda colleges have received the

Centres nod this year, against permission for only one
such institution in the last three years as govt seeks to
promote traditional forms of treatment and integrate them
into the existing health care system.

In line with BJP-led govts stand not to demolish Ram

Sethu, the govt is in the process of exploring an
alternative route for the launch of Sethusamudram Ship
Canal Project (SSCP) through Pamban Pass without
affecting Ram Sethu/Adams Bridge.

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In order to streamline the system of auction and bring

transparency, the Maharashtra govt has made e-auction
mandatory from Jan 1 this year.

PM Narendra Modi had given a call on Independence

Day this year for turning the country into digital India
where governance would not be opaque to people. In
less than two years, Gujarat on 26 Nov set a standard for
other states when it crossed 100 cr e-transactions for
public services, a first for the country.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 10-day

long annual Hornbill festival in Nagaland on 1 Dec,
becoming the first Prime Minister to inaugurate a tribal
exposition in Nagaland where most of the people are
Christians.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje on 15 Dec

kicked off the distribution of the Bhamashah cards
among women belonging to BPL category in Ajmer to
ensure that they get monetary benefits of various govt
schemes.

Union Minister for Food Processing Industries

Harsimrat Kaur Badal inaugurated the first-of-its-kind
`136 cr Mega International Food Park at Dabwala Kalan.

The Andhra Pradesh govt unveiled a Land Pooling Policy

on 8 Dec, to secure about 30,000 acres of land in order to
construct a greenfield, riverfront capital city for the state
on the southern side of the Krishna river, close to
Vijayawada in the Guntur district.

The govt on 25 Nov formally launched the Swachh

Bharat Kosh (fund) to facilitate channelisation of

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Indias Premier Banking / SSC Institute

Powerful roar of white tigers will soon reverberate in

Madhya Pradeshs Vindhya region as the worlds first
White Tiger Safari would begin at Mukundpur in Rewa,
which was once home to this rare breed of the big cats.

The Andhra Pradesh Govt on 20 Dec introduced the

State Capital Region Development Authority Bill, 2014
in the State Assembly. The state govt has decided to
establish the AP Capital Region Development Authority
with the state Chief Minister as the Chairman while the
Municipal Administration and Urban Development
Minister as the vice-chairman.

In Sikkim, the retirement age of govt school teachers has

been reduced from 60 to 58.

Defence

The Lok Sabha on 18 Dec passed the Motor Vehicles

Amendment Bill, 2014 by voice vote. The bill intends
to regularise e-rickshaws and provide driving licences
for battery-operated vehicles to ply in the national capital
and other places of the country.

The Lok Sabha on 15 Dec passed a bill seeking to

expeditiously evict persons occupying unauthorised
public premises. Piloting the Public Premises (Eviction
of Unauthorised Occupants) Amendment Bill, 2014,
Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu said that
he would soon call a meeting of mayors to effectively
deal with the problem of unauthorised occupation of
public property.

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Highlights
The Bill redefines public premises to include
companies in which at least 51 per cent of the paidup share capital is held by the Central and State
govts, and which carries on the business of metro
railway.
Under the new provisions, the MPs would have to
vacate their official house within 60 days, including
the period of notice.
Such a law was needed to ensure development of
rapid transport and metro facilities and serve the
growing need for public transport in and around the
national capital.
In case states want to expeditiously get rid of
unauthorised occupation of public places, they
would have to pass such laws as land is a state
subject.

The Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on 15 Dec

flagged off first made-in-India nuclear-powered
submarine INS Arihant from Vizag for sea trials. India
will become one of only six countries in the world with
the knowledge of designing, engineering and operating
a nuclear submarine.

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Bills

in the Lok Sabha by the Power Minister Piyush Goyal on

19 Dec. The Bill seeks to improve the distribution system
by giving choice to the consumer, promotion of
renewable energy, maintenance of grid security,
rationalisation of tariff determination and strengthening
of Regulatory Commissions.

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India is on course to acquire a second nuclear-powered

submarine on lease from Russia to bolster its depleted
underwater combat arm as well as train its sailors in the
complex art of operating such vessels. India had inducted
the first Akula-II submarine, christened INS Chakra,
on a 10-year lease from Russia in Apr 2012. INS Arihant,
during its long-drawn sea trials, will also have to test-fire
its nuclear-tipped K-15 ballistic missiles before it can
become fully-operational. INS Chakra also serves as a
training platform for INS Arihant and its two follow-on
sister SSBNs (nuclear-powered submarines armed with
ballistic missiles) being built at the shipbuilding centre
at Vizag. The next SSBN, INS Aridhaman, is also now
ready for launch into water, while the third, called S-4,
is at an advanced fabrication stage in the building blocks.

Thirty-two years after the light combat aircraft (LCA)

project was sanctioned, IAF will finally get its first homegrown Tejas fighter in Mar 2015.

India will now export two warships to Sri Lanka after

delivering CGS Barracuda warship to Mauritius for the
first time.

India has tested a 1,000-kg indigenously-developed glide

bomb, which successfully hit a target 100 km away, in the
Bay of Bengal off the Odisha coast, making the country
self-reliant in guided precision bombs.

Judiciary

Over 1.25 cr cases across the country were on 6 Dec

disposed of by the second National Lok Adalat, which
also saw disbursal of `3,000 cr as compensation towards
motor accidents claims.

The Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2014 was introduced

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SINCE 1993

The Supreme Court has said that the money likely to be

arranged by Sahara Group from overseas to raise `10,000
cr for the release of its jailed chief Subrata Roy will come
into the country only after necessary clearances by RBI.
The court agreed that the transfer of money from
escrow account of foreign bank agent requires special
permission by competent authority under the Foreign
Exchange Management Act (FEMA).

A special court hearing the coal block case involving

industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla and others, on 16
Dec, asked CBI to record the statement of former Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh, who was then holding the
coal ministry portfolio.

Others

A Delhi court on 18 Dec awarded life imprisonment to

four convicts in the Former Railway Minister LN
Mishra murder case. Lalit Narayan Mishra was killed in
a bomb blast at a function at the Samastipur railway
station in Bihar in 1975.

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and withstood a heat of around 1,600 degrees

Celsius while it travelled towards the surface of the
Earth attracted by gravity.
During the test, the module separated from the rocket
at an altitude of 126 km and re-entered Earths
atmosphere (about 80 km from sea level).
The LVM3-X flight was powered by active S200 and
L110 propulsion stages and a passive C25 stage
with dummy engine. The 630-tonne three-stage
rocket carried active solid boosters, liquid core stage
and a passive cryogenic engine stage.
This rocket is capable of doubling the capacity of
payloads India can carry into space and it can
deposit up to four-tonne class of communication
satellites into space.
The cost of this experimental mission is ` 155 cr.
The heavy-duty cryogenic engine necessary for this
rocket is still under development by ISRO and a fullfledged launch of the rocket can be expected in a
few years. Cryogenic engines use fuels like oxygen
and hydrogen in liquid form stored at extremely low
temperatures to produce enormous amounts of
thrust per unit mass.
ISRO plans to send two astronauts into space at
some point as part of its human space flight
programme.
The GSLV now needs just one more test flight to
become commercially operational and enter the niche
market for four-tonne satellites, currently the
exclusive preserve of American space boosters and
the European Space Agencys Ariane rockets.
An operational Mk III will even give ISRO the
capability to build an orbiting space station.

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The Supreme Court on 3 Dec set up a special Social

Justice Bench to exclusively hear cases concerning
social issues, particularly those related to women,
children and underprivileged.

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Indias Premier Banking / SSC Institute

For the first time in the history of Indias dairy sector, all
the dairy majors joined hands to celebrate Nov 26 as
National Milk Day in the memory of Dr Verghese Kurien,
Father of Indias White Revolution. Globally, since 2001,
Jun 1 is annually celebrated as World Milk Day after
the day was designated by the United Nations Food and
Agriculture Organization (UN FAO).

The work on the integrated cryogenic engine

manufacturing (ICEM) facility, which will be a joint effort
by Defence PSU HAL and Indian Space Research
Organisation (ISRO), is soon to begin.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)s first

sub-orbital flight and Indias latest-generation launch
vehicle Geo-Synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle
Mark-III was successfully launched from the Sriharikota
space station near Chennai on 18 Dec.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken direct control

of a project-monitoring body to fast-track investments
worth almost ` 18 lakh cr ($300 bn) and revive
manufacturing in the country. By taking over the Project
Monitoring Group (PMG), which was previously in the
Cabinet Secretariat, the PM could help firms planning
coal, power, steel and infrastructure projects cut through
a maze of up to 180 clearances.

India on 16 Dec declared a ban on Islamic State, days

after having detained Mehdi Masoor Biswas from
Bengaluru for running a popular Twitter account extolling
the militant groups military campaign. India has the
worlds third-largest population of Muslims, but they
have largely shunned Islamist causes.

Highlights
The vehicle also carried the Crew Module
Atmospheric Re-entry Experiment (CARE). The
crew module can carry up to two to three astronauts

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Indias Premier Banking / SSC Institute

World

SINCE 1993

Bangladesh and Bhutan on 6 Dec inked a deal on trade

that would allow the two countries duty-free access to
90 of each others products.

The trial run of the bus service between Guwahati and

Dhaka in Bangladesh was flagged off 10 Dec by Assam
PWD Minister Ajanta Neog.

The US and NATO ceremonially ended their combat

mission in Afghanistan on 8 Dec. The coalition will
maintain a force of 13,000 troops in Afghanistan, down
from a peak around 140,000 in 2011.

Less than three months after Prime Minister Narendra

Modi proposed the idea, the UN General Assembly on
11 Dec adopted an India-led resolution declaring 21 Jun
as International Day of Yoga, recognising that yoga
provides a holistic approach to health and well-being.

In a historic decision, the US President Barack Obama

on 18 Dec announced a series of steps aimed at
normalising relations with communist-ruled Cuba, with
which the US had severed diplomatic ties decades ago,
imposing a series of sanctions on its island neighbour.

Denmark has presented a claim to the UN, arguing that

the area surrounding the North Pole is connected to the
continental shelf of Greenland, a Danish autonomous
territory. Canada and Russia have already asserted their
own sovereignty over the energy-rich Arctic territory.

The European Parliament overwhelmingly backed the

recognition of a Palestinian state in principle on 17 Dec.

Nepals Supreme Court (SC) has started e-judiciary

services aiming to provide better court services and to
ensure easy access to justice.

In an initiative to build a new silk road linking Asia and

Europe though Central Asia, China launched a cargo
train service connecting its worlds largest commodity
market in Yiwu with the Spanish capital Madrid, 13,000
km away.

The UN General Assembly has passed a resolution

asking Israel to pay Lebanon around USD 850 mn as a
compensation for the oil spill damages in 2006.

Pakistani authorities on 19 Dec executed two men

convicted for attacks on the Army headquarters and on
former military ruler Pervez Musharraf, days after Pakistan
lifted its moratorium on the death penalty.

The US President Barack Obama has signed a massive

annual defence policy bill which grants USD 1 bn to
Pakistan for the expenses made by its army in support
of the US military operations in war-torn Afghanistan.

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The US space agencys Orion capsule blasted off on 5

Dec on its first journey. It was a key test flight for a
vehicle that could carry people to deep space destinations
like Mars in the coming years.

The electronic voting system (e-Voting) was used during

21 Novs general elections at Namibia. With this, it has
become the first African nation to adopt the use of evoting.

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The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) on 3

Dec launched the Hayabusa2 probe from the
Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture,
beginning a six-year mission that will see the lander travel
to an asteroid 300 mn km from Earth in search of rock
samples.
The probe is expected to arrive at the asteroid in
mid-2018 and return with samples in 2020, the year Tokyo
hosts the Olympic Games. The mission should help
Japans space programme put a troubled past well behind
it.

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India and Japan have decided to cooperate in the fields

of cyber security and Green ICT (Information &
Communication Technology).

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cent, compared to global average growth of 2 per cent in

2013.

According to an International Labour Organisation

(ILO) report, average annual incomes in Asia rose 6 per

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SINCE 1993

Indias Premier Banking / SSC Institute

Died

Dineshwar Sharma: The special director in the

Intelligence Bureau has been appointed as the
Intelligence Bureau (IB)s new chief, succeeding Syed
Asif Ibrahim.
Shriti Vadera: The Indian-origin former minister in the
UKs finance ministry will join the board of Santander
UK Bank as joint deputy chairman.

Padmanabha Balakrishna Acharya: The Governor of

Nagaland to take additional charge as the Governor of
Assam until regular arrangements for the office are made.

Arun Majumdar: The Indian-American scientist along

with three others Peter Hotez, Jane Lubchenco and Geri
Richmond would serve as US envoys beginning Jan next
year.

Vivek Hallegere Murthy: The US Senate has confirmed

thirtyseven-year-old Indian-American physician as the
19th Surgeon General of the US.
He is the youngest person and first person of Indian
origin to hold the post.
Amit Priyavadan Mehta: The Indian-American has been
confirmed by the US Senate as a federal judge in the
District of Columbia, becoming the first Asian-Pacific
American to occupy this important position.

Anil Kumar Sinha: He has taken charge on 3 Dec as the

Director of the countrys premier investigating agency,
Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

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Nedunuri Krishnamurthy: The veteran carnatic vocalist

passed away.

S Narayanan: The chairman of India Motor Parts &

Accessories Ltd (IMPAL) passed away.

Murli Deora: The veteran Congress leader from

Maharashtra and former Petroleum Minister, has died
after prolonged illness.

Deven Verma: The veteran comedian of hindi cinema

died on 2 Dec.

AR Antulay: The former CM of Maharashtra and former

Union Minister passed away in a Mumbai.

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Appointed

Prakash Mishra: He has been appointed as the new

chief of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).

Rajinder Khanna: He has been appointed as the chief

of Research & Analysis Wing (R&AW).

L Sarita Devi: The International Boxing Association

(AIBA) has suspended former world champion and
multiple Asian winner from all levels of boxing activities
for one year.

Anerood Jugnauth: Mauritius president on 14 Dec named

the veteran politician as Prime Minister after the 84-yearold won a landslide victory taking nearly three-quarters
of seats in parliament.
Tabare Vazquez: He has won Uruguays presidential
election on 30 Nov.

Visited

Abdul Hamid: The Bangladeshi President paid a visit to

New Delhi on a six-day official visit.

Tulsi Gabbard: The lone Hindu lawmaker in the US who

represents Hawaiis second congressional district, came
on her first visit to India on a spiritual and political journey
on the invitation of PM Narendra Modi.

Others

Sunny Leone: For a third year, the Hindi film actor of

Indo-Canadian and American origin, remained the most
searched personality in India during 2014.

Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi: The Mumbai terror attack

accused has been granted bail by an Anti Terrorism Court
in Pakistan.

Banned

Persons in News

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Indias Premier Banking / SSC Institute

Narendra Modi: The Indian Prime Minister was placed

No. 2, behind Chinese President Xi Jinping, in a list of
30 top-performing world leaders by a Japanese market
research firm.

Obama (6.6) received middling marks, just ahead of British

Prime Minister David Cameron (6.5).

Irom Sharmila: Amidst a move by the Central Govt to

decriminalise attempt to suicide, international human

rights appealed to the Govt of India to release Manipurs

Iron Lady Irom Sharmila immediately and
unconditionally and also said that the Indian govts
decision to decriminalise suicide is in line with an
increasing global trend.

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SINCE 1993

Devyani Khobragade: Taking a serious view of her

unauthorised statements in the media, the MEA has taken
administrative steps against Indian diplomat.

Lima: The United Nations Climate Change Conference,

COP20 or CMP10, was held in the capital city of Peru,
from Dec 1 to 12, 2014. This was the 20th yearly session
of the Conference of the Parties (COP 20) to the 1992
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change (UNFCCC) and the 10th session of the Meeting
of the Parties (CMP 10) to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.

Geneva: The World Trade Organisation on 27 Nov 2014

adopted the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) during
the General Council meeting of 160-member WTO in this
city of Switzerland.

Kathmandu: The 18th summit of the South Asian

Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was
held in Kathmandu, Nepal on Dec 26-27.

Peshawar: As many as 145 people, mostly children, were

killed when heavily armed terrorists launched a brazen
attack on an army-run school in this Pakistans city.

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born cleric took some 30 people hostage and made several

demands, sending shockwaves across the country.

Maldives: The Indian Ocean archipelago, famous for its

pristine beaches and scuba diving, declared a state of
crisis after a fire at the capitals sole water sewage
treatment plant led to a shortage of drinking water.

Gurdaspur (Punjab): At least 60 persons lost their

eyesight after an operation at an eye camp organised by
an NGO in district.

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Places in News

Sydney: A 16-hour hostage crisis the first terror attack

in Australia ended on 16 Dec after police stormed Lindt
Chocolate Cafe in the heart of the city where an Iran-

Mendipathar (Meghalaya): Meghalaya on 27 Dec came

on the countrys rail map more than six decades after
Independence, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi
flagging off the first train named Mendipathar-Guwahati
passenger to the northeastern state. Mendipathar
became the first railway station of Meghalaya.

Philippines: A giant storm left the Philippines on 9 Dec

after killing at least 27 people and devastating remote
coastal towns, but the govt won praise for unprecedented
preparations that were credited for saving lives.

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Indias Premier Banking / SSC Institute

Sports

held at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. It is named

after Prof DB Deodhar, who is known as the Grand Old
Man of Indian cricket.

Macau Open:
Winner: PV Sindhu (India)
Runner up: Kim Hyo Min (South Korea)

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Badminton

Indias ace shuttler Saina Nehwal lost out to Tai Tzu

Ying of Chinese Taipei in the Semifinal of $1mn World
Badminton Super Series in Dubai.

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Indian pugilists S Sarjubala (48kg) and Saweety (81kg)

faltered at the final hurdle to settle for silver medals,
rounding off a decent campaign for the country in the
8th World Womens Boxing Championships in Jeju,
South Korea on 24 Dec.

Chess

Five-time chess world champion Viswanathan Anand

won his maiden London Classic title after defeating
British Grandmaster Michael Adams in the fifth and final
round in London on 15 Dec.

Seven-year-old Dev Shah of Mumbai has become the

youngest rated chess player from India. He has become
the world champion in the under-7 category in the World
Schools Chess Championships that concluded recently
at Juiz de Fora in Brazil.

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Magnus Carlsen asserted his supremacy over

Viswanathan Anand for the second year in running as
the Norwegian retained his World Championship title
after defeating the Indian Challenger in the 11th game, in
Sochi, Russia on 23 Nov.

Atletico de Kolkata defeated Kerala Blasters FC 1-0 in

the final to lift the Indian Super League (ISL) football
trophy at the DY Patil stadium, Mumbai on 20 Dec.
Chennaiyin FCs Elano Blumer and FC Goas goalkeeper
Jan Seda topped the list for Golden Boot and Golden
Glove awards respectively.

India has clinched the third South Asian Football

Federation (SAFF) Womens Championship in Islamabad.

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Golf

Mitchell Johnsons dramatic opening-hour spell and a

gusty half-century by opener Chris Rogers spurred
Australia to a four-wicket victory over India in the second
Commonwealth Bank Test at Gabba on 20 Dec. The win
gave Australia an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the four-Test
Border-Gavaskar Trophy series.
East Zone won the Deodhar Trophy 2014-15 by beating
West Zone by 24 runs on Dec 4. The final match was

Indian golfer Anirban Lahiri has finished joint second

behind Thailands Thaworn Wiratchant in the Kings
Cup golf tournament at Khon Kaen in Thailand.

Hockey

Olympic Champions Germany have lifted the Champions

Trophy hockey title. In the final at Bhubaneswar on 14
Dec, they defeated Pakistan by 2-0 margin.

Indian Oil has lifted the 119th Beighton Cup Hockey

tournament this year. In the final match played in Kolkata
on 4 Dec, Indian Oil defeated the Punjab National Bank
in a tie-breaker by 5-4.

Cricket

Jammu and Kashmir upset domestic cricket giants

Mumbai with a historic four-wicket win by chasing down
237 runs at the Wankhede Stadium. It was J&Ks first
win over the 40-time champions in Ranji Trophy 79-year
history.

Football

Boxing

SINCE 1993

Motorsports

Lewis Hamilton won the final race of the season to earn

his second world title as Nico Rosberg, who started on
pole, suffered mechanical problems and finished 14th.

Snooker

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Chinas 14-year-old Yan Bingtao on 28 Nov scripted a

sensational upset when he sent Pankaj Advani packing
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Table Tennis

Petroleum Sports Promotion Boards PSPB Abhishek

Yadav has won the boys singles title in the 76th Junior
National and Youth Table Tennis Championships. In the
final of the event at Alappuzha, Kerala, he beat his
teammate Sudhanshu Grover.

Tennis

with a 6-4 victory in the quarter-finals before winning

his semi-final game at the Seaways IBSF World Snooker
Championship. Then he defeated Pakistans Mohammed
Sajjad in the summit clash to become the youngest-ever
player to win the IBSF World Championship. Doing so,
he surpassed his compatriot Zhou Yuelong, who became
the world champion at the age of 15 last year.

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SINCE 1993

Roger Federer added to his legacy on 23 Nov by helping

Switzerland clinch its first Davis Cup trophy, one of the
few tennis jewels to have eluded him, against nine-time
former champion France.

The Nobel prizes are handed out on 10 Dec, the

anniversary of Alfred Nobels death in 1896.
Physics: Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano and Shuji
Nakamura (all the three from Japan) for the
invention of efficient blue light-emitting diodes
which has enabled bright and energy-saving white
light sources.
Chemistry: Eric Betzig (US), William E Moerner
(US) and Stefan Hell (Germany) for the
development of super-resolved fluorescence
microscopy.
Physiology or Medicine: John OKeefe (BritishAmerican), Edvard I Moser (Norway) and May-Britt
Moser (Norway) for their discoveries of cells that
constitute a positioning system in the brain.
Literature: Patrick Modiano (France) for the art
of memory with which he has evoked the most
ungraspable human destinies and uncovered the
life-world of the occupation.
Peace: Kailash Satyarthi (India) and Malala
Yousafzai (Pakistan) for their struggle against the
suppression of children and young people and for
the right of all children to education.
Economic Sciences: Jean Tirole (France) for his
analysis of market power and regulation

14 Dec. Miss Hungary, Edina Kulcsar, was judged the

runner-up and Miss United States, Elizabeth Safrit, came
third in the competition, contested by women from 121
countries.

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Awards

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Chinese pro-democracy activist Xu Youyu, who was

among key signatories of a 2008 manifesto seeking
sweeping political reforms in China, was awarded
Swedens Olof Palme human rights prize on 16 Dec.
Miss South Africa, Rolene Strauss, was crowned Miss
World 2014 at the 64th annual competition in London on

Jayprakash Panwar has won a mountain development

award in Kathmandu for promoting innovations and good
practices for environmental conservation in the Hindu
Kush Himalayan region. Jayprakash Panwar won the
award along with Avinash Jha and Sibjan Chaulagain of
Nepal, Suleman Mazhar of Pakistan and HELVETAS Swiss
Inter-cooperation.

The President of India, Pranab Mukherjee, presented

the National Awards for the Empowerment of Persons
with Disabilities on the occasion of the International
Day of Disabled Persons in New Delhi (Dec 3, 2014).
Since 1992, the International Day of Persons with
Disabilities is promoted by the United Nations on 3rd
Dec. The theme for the International Day of Persons
with Disabilities 2014 was Break Barriers, Open Doors:
for an inclusive society and development for all.

The Hyundai i20 Elite was announced the winner of the

Indian Car of the Year (ICOTY) 2015.

Indian film director Ritesh Batras The Lunchbox has

been named best first feature at the 18th annual Toronto
Film Critics Association (TFCA) awards in Toronto.

Sahitya Akademi has announced the names of 22 poets

and authors who will be conferred the prestigious Sahitya
Akademi Awards 2014.

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SINCE 1993

Awardees
Poets: Utpal Kumar Basu (Bengali), Urkhao Gwra
Brahma (Bodo), Adil Jussawalla (English), Shad
Ramzan (Kashmiri), Gopalkrushna Rath (Odia),
Jaswinder (Punjabi), Gope Kamal (Sindhi) and
Munawwar Rana (Urdu).
Novelists: Shailender Singh (Dogri), Ramesh
Chandra Shah (Hindi), Subhash Chandran
(Malayalam), Asha Mishra (Maithili) and Poomani
(Tamil).

Indias Premier Banking / SSC Institute

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Late Ashvin Mehta (Gujarati), GH Nayak (Kannada) and

Madhavi Sardesai (Konkani) have got the Award for their
books of essays. Arupa Patangia Kalita (Assamese),
Nanda Hankhim (Nepali) and Rampal Singh Rajpurohit
(Rajasthani) have got the Award for their books of short
stories. Jayant Vishnu Naralikar (Marathi) for his
autobiography, Jamadar Kisku (Santhali) for his play and
Rachapalem Chandrashekara Reddy (Telugu) for his
literary criticism have been honoured.

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Miscellany
International India Medical Tourism Congress was held
in Delhi starting 14 Dec. It aimed to promote countrys
medical tourism by creating awareness about it and create
international network opportunities.

The first Arabic translation of Indian Constitution has

been launched in Cairo, Egypt amid great appreciations
for its drafting and sustaining institutions of democracy.

India generates around four tonnes of nuclear waste per

gigawatt (GW) annually, which is similar to the amount
of waste generated internationally by other countries,
the govt has revealed.
The current installed nuclear power capacity is
around 4,780 MW and is expected to reach 10,080 MW
by 2019.

The Indian Railways has extended the e-ticketing facility

to differently abled persons in its bid to accord more
convenience to the passengers.

European Industrial Hemp Association (EIHA), Hemp

Foods (Australia) and Hemp Age. Hemp is the common
name for plants of the entire cannabis.

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Several scientists from SAARC countries assembled in

Andaman and Nicobar Islands capital Port Blair for a
five-day workshop that aimed to throw light on the impact
of climate change on coral reefs and protection of the
environment. Scientists from India, Bangladesh, the
Maldives and Sri Lanka participated in the event, which
concluded on 19th of Dec.

Indias first annual hemp conference was held in New

Delhi on Nov 30 at Indian Habitat Centre (IHC). The
conference was organised by Indian Industrial Hemp
Association (IIHA) in association with WASME (World
Association for Small and Medium Enterprises),

The Transparency International (TI) has ranked India

at 85th place in its Corruption Perception Index 2014
(CPI), which enlisted 178 countries. The top three
countries on the list are Denmark (92), New Zealand (91)
and Finland (89) while the bottom four countries are
Afghanistan (12), Sudan (11), North Korea (8) and
Somalia (8). Among Indias neighbours, Bhutan was
placed at 30th place, Sri Lanka at 85th rank along with
India, China at 100th, Pakistan and Nepal at 126th,
Bangladesh at 145th and Afghanistan was placed at
172nd rank. From 2012, the CPI methodology has been
updated to provide for year-over-year comparisons.

Russian film Leviathan has bagged the Golden Peacock

at the closing ceremony of the 45th International Film
Festival of India (IFFI). Marathi movie Ek Haazarachi
Note has bagged the centenary trophy for best film, ie
Silver Peacock. The Lifetime Achievement award was
presented to Hong Kong filmmaker Wong Kar-wai,
known for his films like. In the Mood for Love, Ashes of
Time and Chungking Express. The Best Actor award
was shared by Russian actor Alexel Serebriakov and
Indian actor Dulal Sarkar. The Best Actress award was
shared by two international stars Cuban actress Arina
Rodriguez and Israeli actress Sarit Larry.

War veterans and serving officers of the Indian and

Bangladeshi Armed Forces came together on the
occasion of the 43rd Vijay Diwas on 16 Dec to

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Indias Premier Banking / SSC Institute

Clean India, Green India is the theme of the new Govt

of India calendar 2015, which focuses on Prime Minister
Narendra Modis initiative, the Swachh Bharat Mission.

The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG)

has exposed major irregularities, compromise and
violations of rules in Indian Railways management of
its freight business.

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commemorate the sacrifices of Indian soldiers in the 1971

Bangladesh Liberation War.

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