GK Digest LIC AAO Exam 2016 Exam

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GK DIGEST for LIC AAO 2016 Exam

Dear readers,
This GK Digest is a complete docket of important news and events that occurred in last 5 months (September
February 2016). The GK Digest is important and relevant for all competitive exams like - LIC AAO 2016 Exam,
Railway Recruitment 2016 Exam, SSC CGL 2016, Insurance and UPSC Exams.
Banking, Economics & Financial News

RBI in the News
1. RBI Keeps interest rate unchanged - On 2nd February 2016, the Reserve Bank of India in its 6th bi monthly policy
review, key policy interest rates were kept unchanged on the basis of an assessment of the current and evolving
macroeconomic situation in the country.
Current Policy & Reserve Rates:

1.Repo Rate
6.75%
(unchanged)
2.Reverse Repo
5.75%
(unchanged)
3.CRR(Cash Reserve ratio)
4.00%
(unchanged)
4.SLR (Statutory Liquidity Ratio)
21.50% (unchanged)
5.MSF (Marginal Standing Facility)
7.75%
(changed)
6.Bank Rate
7.75%
(changed)
Basis points - one Basis Point is a unit equivalent to 0.01% i.e. 1/100th of a percent.
2. Raghuram Rajan conferred with the Central Banker of the Year Award 2016 - The Reserve Bank of India Governor, Dr.
Raghuram Rajan conferred with the Central Banker of the Year Award (Global and Asia Pacific) for 2016 by The Banker, a
monthly publication of the Financial Times Group focussing on banking.
3. Urjit Patel reappointed as RBI deputy governor for 3 years - The Government of India re-appointed Dr. Urjit R. Patel as
the Deputy Governorof the Reserve Bank of India, for a further period of three years.
He is the fourth deputy governor, the other three being HR Khan, R Gandhi and SS Mundra.
4. Reserve Bank of India increased its shareholding in National Housing Bank by contributing Rs 1,000 crore towards the
paid capital, thereby increasing its shareholding in theNHB from Rs 450 crore to Rs 1,450 crore.
5. RBI seeks additional 26k cr for PSU banks - The RBI has sought an additional 26,000 crore from the government by
2018 for capital infusion into Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) banks for implementing Basel-III norms in the banks. The
government has already pledged 70,000 crore for the purpose by the end of FY19.
6. RBI Governor Dr Raghuram Rajan elected as Vice-Chairman on BIS Board - With this, he became the first Indian to be
elected to this position in the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).
Note: At present, Jens Weidmann is the Chairman of the Board of Directors. He is also the head of Bundesbank, the
German banking regulator.
7. RBI imposes Rs 1 crore fines on State Bank of Travancore - Reserve Bank has imposed a penalty of Rs. 1 crore on an
SBI associate bank, State Bank of Travancore, for violation of some of its instructions.
8. Deepak Singhal appointed Executive Director of Reserve Bank of India - The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) appointed
Deepak Singhal as the Executive Director (ED). He replaced K K Vohra who will now look after the Deposit Insurance and
Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC).
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9. RBI proposed marginal cost of funds methodology to calculate Base Rate

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) proposed a new methodology to calculate Base Rate (Base Rate). It is based on marginal
cost of funds methodology. The new methodology is aimed at bringing uniformity among BRs of banks so that they will
be more sensitive to any changes in policy rates of the RBI like Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR), Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR),
etc.
Under the proposed methodology, the components of Base Rate will include cost of funds, negative carry on CRR/SLR,
un-allocable overhead costs and average return on net worth. It will be effective from 1 April 2016.
Base Rate
It is defined as the minimum interest rate of a bank below which it is not viable to lend.
It was introduced on 1 July 2010 by the RBI.
It replaced the benchmark prime lending rate (BPLR), the interest rate which commercial banks charged their most
credit worthy customer.
10. Banks are free to fix interest rates on gold deposit scheme: Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has allowed banks to fix their
own interest rates on gold deposits under the Gold Monetisation Scheme.
Key points
(i) As per the RBI guidelines, Banks are free to set interest rate such as principal and interest on the deposit denominated
in gold.
(ii) Designated banks will accept gold deposits under the Short Term Bank Deposit (1-3 years), Medium (5-7 years) and
Long term (12-15 years) Government Deposit Schemes.
(iii) Short term bank deposits will be applicable cash reserve ratio (CRR) and statutory liquidity ratio (SLR).
(iv) There is no bar for maximum gold deposit but the minimum deposit at one time should be raw gold equivalent to 30
grams of 995 fineness standard.
(v) The raw gold should be in the form of coins, bars, jewellery excluding stones and other metals Individual banks will
determine the provision for premature withdrawal subject to a minimum lock-in period and along with the penalty.
11. RBI declared Priority Sector Lending norms for Regional Rural Banks
Key points of the norms:
(i) Priority Sector Lending (PSL) target was increased to 75 percent of total outstanding from the existing 60 percent.
(ii) The revised target will be effective from 1 January 2016.
(iii) Medium enterprises, social infrastructure and renewable energy were included under PSL category.
(iv) Agri-Loans: Loans to individual farmers, for the purpose of PSL, was increased to 50 lakh rupees from the present 10
lakh rupees against pledge/ hypothecation of agricultural produce (including warehouse receipts) for a period not
exceeding 12 months.
(v) Aggregate limit loan was doubled to 2 crore rupees per borrower in the case of loans, among others, to corporate
farmers, farmers producers organisations/ companies of individual farmers, farmers partnership firms/ co-operatives
engaged in agriculture and allied activities.
(vi) Housing Loans: The RBI has lowered the quantum of loans that will qualify as PSL. Against the earlier limit of 25
lakh rupees, loans to individuals up to 20 lakh rupees only are considered as PSL as per revised guidelines.
Note: As on March 2015, there were 56 RRBs operating in the country with a network of 20059 branches. They cover 644
notified districts in 26 states and the Union Territory of Puducherry.
12. RBI formed Financial Inclusion Fund with 2000 crore rupees corpus: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) formed a single
Financial Inclusion Fund (FIF) with a corpus of 2000 crore rupees. The fund was formed by merging the Financial
Inclusion Fund (FIF) and Financial Inclusion Technology Fund (FITF). This fund will support the developmental and
promotional activities covered under the financial inclusion initiatives.
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13. RBI to Issue Rs. 500, Rs. 1000 Bank Notes with Enhanced Features - The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will issue Rs. 500
and Rs. 1,000 bank notes with additional features to aid the visually impaired in identification. To help visually impaired
person in easy identification of bank notes, RBI decided to add two more features in Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 bank notes.
14. RBI to issue Rs 5 coin on golden jubilee of 1965 Indo-Pak war - The Reserve Bank of India will shortly put into
circulation Rs 5 coins to commemorate golden jubilee of Indo-Pak War 1965. "The coins will be legal tender as provided in
The Coinage Act 2011.
15. RBI granted 'in-principle' approval to set up Small Finance Banks & Payment Banks
Small Finance Banks The purpose of the small banks will be to provide a whole suite of basic banking products
such as deposits and supply of credit, but in a limited area of operation. The aim of small banks is to increase financial
inclusion in the country. The small bank shall be registered as a public limited company under the Companies Act,
2013.
Committee on Small Banks - Usha Thorat
RBI granted 'in-principle' approval to the 10 applicants to set up Small Finance Banks.
Names of selected applicants
Au Financiers (India) Ltd., Jaipur
Capital Local Area Bank Ltd., Jalandhar
Disha Microfin Private Ltd., Ahmedabad
Equitas Holdings P Limited, Chennai
ESAF Microfinance and Investments Private Ltd.,
Chennai
Janalakshmi Financial Services Private Limited,

Bengaluru
RGVN (North East) Microfinance Limited,
Guwahati
Suryoday Micro Finance Private Ltd., Navi Mumbai
Ujjivan Financial Services Private Ltd., Bengaluru
Utkarsh Micro Finance Private Ltd., Varanasi
The in-principle approval granted will be valid for 18 months to enable the applicants to comply with the
requirements under the Guidelines and fulfill other conditions as may be stipulated by the RBI.
Eligibility - Resident individuals with 10 years of experience in banking and finance, companies and Societies will be
eligible as promoters to set up small banks.
Key points
Capital requirement - The minimum paid-up capital requirement for small banks is Rs. 100 crore.
As per the guidelines, the promoters' initial minimum contribution will be at least 40 % of the minimum capital, to be
locked in for a period of 5 years.
Small banks will offer both deposits as well as loan products.
They cannot set up subsidiaries to undertake non-banking financial services activities.
The maximum loan size and investment limit exposure to single/group borrowers/issuers would be restricted to 15
per cent of total capital funds.
Loans and advances of up to Rs 25 lakhs, primarily to micro enterprises, should constitute at least 50 per cent of the
loan portfolio.
For the first three years, 25 per cent of branches should be in unbanked rural areas.
The foreign shareholding in the bank would be as per the extant FDI policy.
For the initial three years, prior approval will be required for branch expansion.
Payment Banks The main objective of payment banks is to increase financial inclusion in the country via a primary
focus on domestic payments services by providing small savings accounts. Payments banks will be used only for
transaction and deposits purposes. Unlike small banks, payments banks cannot lend money.
Committee on Payment Banks - Dr. Nachiket Mor
RBI granted 'in-principle' approval to 11 Payment Banks applicants.
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List of 11 Payment Banks applicants 1.

2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Aditya Birla Nuvo Limited

Airtel M Commerce Services Limited
Cholamandalam Distribution Services Limited
Department of Posts
Fino PayTech Limited
National Securities Depository Limited Director G.
V. Nageswara Rao
7. Reliance Industries Limited - Joint ventured with SBI

8. Sun Pharma - Dilip Shanghvi, Managing Director of
Sun Pharmaceuticals.
9. Paytm Founder of Vijay Shekhar Sharma
10. Tech Mahindra Limited
11. Vodafone m-pesa Limited
Key Points:
Capital requirement - The minimum paid-up capital requirement for payments banks is Rs. 100 crore.
The Reserve Bank grants a license for commencement of banking business under Section 22(1) of the Banking
Regulation Act, 1949.
RBI's in-principle nod will be valid for a period of 18 months, during which time the applicants have to comply with
the requirements under the Guidelines and fulfill the other conditions as may be stipulated by the Reserve bank.
As per the guidelines, the promoters' initial minimum contribution will be at least 40 % of the minimum capital, to be
locked in for a period of 5 years.
The payments bank will need to invest 75 percent of its funds in government securities.
Payments banks can open small savings accounts and accept deposits of up to Rs.1 lakh per individual customer and
provide remittance services. Hence, the balance at the close of business on any day should not exceed Rs.1 lakh per
customer.
Payments banks can issue debit cards but they are not eligible to provide credit card facilities.
Payments Banks are allowed to set up their own ATMs (automated teller machines).
Payments banks will have to invest in government securities with a maturity of up to 1 year.
Difference between Small & Payment Banks
(i) Small banks can accept all types of deposits like a commercial bank ( savings, current, fixed deposits, recurring
deposits etc) on the other hand
Payment banks can take deposits only on current & savings account. These cannot offer credit cards, NRI account, &
time deposits( FD & RD).
(ii) Small banks cannot give depositors money as loan to others ( big industries) , but for small area of operation.
Payment banks cannot give loans but can invest in G securities ( as most of the depositors are poor people. so, banks
cannot take a risk).
(iii) For small banks - - - NBFC's , any individual with 10 years of experience in banking can apply for licenses.
For payment banks - - - Indian post, telecom companies can apply for licenses.
(iv) Target for small banks are MSME's, business man.
For Payment banks, poor people.
16. RBI extends deadline to exchange pre-2005 notes to June 30, 2016 - Reserve Bank extended the deadline for
exchanging pre-2005 currency notes of various denominations, including Rs 500 and Rs 1,000, by another six months to
June 30, 2016 from earlier date December 31, 2015.
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Government approves conversion of MUDRA into bank

Government of India recently converted MUDRA Ltd into MUDRA Bank. MUDRA Bank thus created is a wholly-owned
subsidiary of SIDBI, which will be known as MUDRA (SIDBI) Bank.
Along with this, a Credit Guarantee Fund for MUDRA Units (CGFMU) will also be set up. In the Budget of 2015-16,
Credit Guarantee Fund has been allocated with funds worth Rs 3000 Crore.
As per budget 2015-16, MUDRA Bank is to be set up with refinance corpus of Rs 20,000 Crore.
Functions / Roles of Mudra Ltd
The major role of MUDRA Ltd would be in refinancing and developing Micro Enterprises.
It will provide funds to Non-corporate small business sector.
It will also partner with State/Regional level financial intermediaries to provide finance to small/micro business
enterprises.
MUDRA Bank will not be the regulator of the micro finance institutions. (As RBI as a regulator for the MFIs registered
as the non-banking finance companies)
MUDRA loans are available in three categories For small business
Loans up to Rs. 50000/ is available under the Shishu category
Loans beyond Rs. 50,000 and up to 5 lakh under the Kishor category
Loans beyond Rs. 5 lakh and up to Rs. 10 lakh under the Tarun category
Note: Maximum Loan Mudra Bank can grant is Rs. 10 lakh.
Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank launched by Chinese President
Chinese President Xi Jinping officially launched Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in Beijing. The opening
ceremony of AIIB is attended by representatives of 57 member countries.
Key Facts
With authorised capital of $100 billion and subscribed capital of $50 billion, Beijing-based AIIB will invest in sectors
including energy, transportation, urban construction, and logistics as well as education and healthcare.
The bank was formally established in Beijing on December 25, 2015.
The headquarter of AIIB is located in Beijing, China.
Chairman - Chinese Finance Minister, Lou Jiwei,
First President of AIIB- Chinas former Finance Minister, Jin Liqun
In all 57 countries have joined as founding members, while the US and Japan have stayed out.
Largest shareholders of AIIB China 30.34%, India - , 8.52%, Russia - 6.66%
Their voting shares of China - 26.06%, India -7.5 %, Russia - 5.92 %.
Based on the shareholding, India is expected to get the Vice-Presidents post.
The AIIB will work together with multilateral development banks, including the World Bank and the Asian
Development Bank, to facilitate Asian infrastructure construction and sustainable development.
India elected to new AIIB Banks First Board - Dinesh Sharma, Additional Secretary of Ministry of Finance elected
to the 12-member board.
Union Finance Minister of India Arun Jaitley is the designated governor of the AIIB from the country.
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SBI Bank in News

1. SBI launches FlexiPay Home Loan Scheme for
Professionals - State Bank of India introduced a new
home loan scheme SBI FlexiPay Home Loan for young
working professionals/executives.
Under the scheme, borrowers will get higher loan
amount compared to their loan eligibility under
normal home loan schemes and they will also have
the option of step-up monthly repayments.
2. SBI opens first branch in South Korea - Indias
largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) today said it
has opened its first branch in Seoul, South Korea.
SBI is second Indian bank after Indian Overseas

Bank to have branch in South Korea. SBI already had a
representative office in Seoul.
3. SBI Launches First Dedicated Branch For Startups
InCube - The State Bank of India, has launched first
exclusive startup bank branch SBI InCube in
Bangalore. It is a specialised branch to understand
and address banking needs of startups.
4. SBI Card launches SimplyCLICK credit card for online
shopping - in association with seven partners including
Amazon India, BookMyShow and Cleartrip.
ICICI Bank in News

1. ICICI Bank opens its first branch in South Africa ICICI Bank inaugurated its first full service branch at
Sandton in Johannesburg becoming the first Indian
private sector bank to open a branch in the African
continent.
2. ICICI Bank has launched Smart Vault first of its kind
fully automated digital locker facility in India.
3. ICICI Bank has launched ICICI Bank Saral-Rural
Housing Loan Scheme for weaker sections of society.
Housing loan will be provided at the ICICI Bank Base

Rate (known as I-Base) which is currently at 9.70%.
4. ICICI Bank launched its first branch in China:
India's largest private sector bank, ICICI bank has
launched its first branch in Shanghai, China, which was
inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Other Banking & Financial News 5. India gets more voting rights in IMF reforms International Monetary Funds (IMFs) longpending 2010 Quota and Governance Reforms
have finally become effective and came into effect
on 27 January 2016.
Indias voting rights increased by - 0.3% from
the current 2.3% to 2.6%.
Chinas voting rights increased by - 2.2% from
current 3.8% to 6 %.
China will have the 3rd largest IMF quota and
voting share after the US and Japan.
6. Govt revises down 2014/15 GDP growth to 7.2%
y/y - Government revised down its annual economic
growth for the fiscal year that ended in March 2015 to
7.2 percent from 7.3 percent reported earlier.
7. HDFC Bank to sell loans to non-customers through
ATMs.
8. TranServ launches Indias first social mobile wallet
Udio - TranServ, a leading digital payments company,
has launched Indias 1st Social Mobile Wallet, Udio.
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Udio Wallet integrates a social, community-driven

aspect with anytime, anywhere accessibility to digital
P2P (peer-to-peer) transactions via its secure and
seamless payment structure, creating a ubiquitous
ecosystem for both consumers and brands.
9. India to be fastest growing economy at 7.3% in
2016: United Nations.
10. Tech Mahindra launches contactless wallet
MoboMoney - Tech Mahindra has announced the
launch of MoboMoney, a first of its kind Tap N Pay
contactless digital payment solution for the Indian
masses.
MoboMoney is a prepaid wallet issued in the form of a
NFC (Near Field Communication) contactless tag that
could be used to Tap N Pay for goods and services.
11. YES Bank commits $5 bn for climate action in India
- YES Bank, Indias fifth-largest private sector bank, has
announced mobilisation of $5 billion towards its
commitment to climate finance in India.
12. Banks need $140 billion to comply with Basel III
norms by FY19: Fitch
Indian Banks will need about $140 billion to ensure

full compliance with the Basel III norms by 2018-19,
Fitch Ratings said.
13. SBT launches new initiative for faster release of
wages under MGNREGS - State Bank of Travancore
(SBT) has launched an electronic fund management
system for direct and faster release of wages under the
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment
Guarantee Scheme.
This scheme has been introduced in the country
for the first time and Kerala has been chosen for
the pilot project.
System (NeFMS) will enable direct and immediate
credit of wages into the accounts of the 21 lakh
beneficiaries (90% women) of MNREGS in all
districts of Kerala. Out of the above, about 50% of
the beneficiaries maintain accounts with SBT.
14. BankBazaar.com launches One Loan Two Homes
program - BankBazaar.com, an online financial
marketplace, has launched a new One Loan Two
Homes program to help the flood-affected citizens of
Chennai.
15. ADB to fund $840-m corridor between Vizag,
Chennai - The Asian Development Bank will extend a
$625 million loan to the proposed $840 million
Visakhapatnam-Chennai Industrial Corridor.
16. Chinas Yuan included in IMFs SDR Basket
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) decided to
include the Chinese Yuan in the basket of its elite
reserve currencies which is used to calculate the value
of the special drawing rights (SDRs).
Note: The Yuan, also known as the Renminbi, will
join the US dollar, euro, Japanese yen and British
pound next year from October 2016.
About Special Drawing Rights (SDR)
SDRs are supplementary foreign exchange reserve
assets defined and maintained by the International
Monetary Fund (IMF). Their value is based on a basket
of key international currencies reviewed by the IMF
every five years.
Note:
(i) SDR basket help countries defend against exchange
rate fluctuations. After inclusion of the Yuan, the SDR
will consist of five currencies viz., US dollar (41.73
percent weightage), euro (30.93), pound sterling
(8.09), Japanese yen (8.33) and Chinese Yuan (10.92
percent).
(ii) The weightage assigned to each currency in the
SDR basket are adjusted to take into account their
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current share in international trade and national

foreign exchange reserves.
Why IMF Include Yuan in SDR Basket?
(i) China is the worlds second largest economy and its
share in global trade is rising.
(ii) The inclusion of the Renminbi will enhance the
attractiveness of the SDR by diversifying the basket
and making it more representative.
(iii) Due to various steps taken by the Chinese officials
like relaxing controls on foreign institutional investors
buying Chinese securities, easing restrictions on
interest rates and the exchange rate, allowing capital to
flow freely into and out of the just-launched Shanghai
Free Trade Zone and efforts to develop Chinas money
and bond market.
(iv) China now has five offshore Yuan trading centres
viz., Hong Kong, London, Singapore, Taiwan and
Sydney.
(v) In 2013, the Yuan overtook the euro as the worlds
second-most used currency in traditional trade
finance.
(vi) Recently, HSBC estimated that the amount of
bonds denominated in Yuan sold outside China has
doubled each year since 2008.
17. Singapore replaced Mauritius as top source of FDI
into India
Singapore replaced Mauritius as top source of Foreign
Direct Investment (FDI) into India during AprilSeptember of 2015-16 financial year.
Note: As per the data, between 15 April and 15
September 2015, India received 43096 crore rupees as
FDI from Singapore. In the same period FDI from
Mauritius was 23490 crore rupees.
18. Arvind Subramanian-led panel recommended
standard rate for GST at 17-18 % The Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian led
panel submitted its report on Possible Tax rates under
Goods and Services Tax (GST) to Finance Minister Arun
Jaitley.
The commission recommended standard rate for GST
at 17 to 18 percent, the rate at which most products
would likely be taxed.
19. ONGC joined World Banks Zero Routine Flaring by
2030 Initiative
The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited joined
Zero Routine Flaring by 2030 Initiative of the World
Bank on the sidelines of Conference of Parties-21
(COP-21) of UNFCCC in Paris.
Note: With this joining, ONGC has become the first
oil company from India to join the global initiative
that is aimed at curbing routine gas flaring at oil

production sites around the world by 2030.
20. Farhan Akhtar appointed new brand ambassador of
IndusInd Bank.
21. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has been chosen as
'Finance Minister of the Year, Asia' by London-based
publication Emerging Markets.
22. EPFO raises maximum insurance cover to Rs 6 lakh
- Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO)
substantially increased the maximum amount assured
under its Employees' Deposit Linked Insurance
Scheme (EDLI) to Rs 6 lakh from the existing Rs 3.6
lakh.
23. Cabinet allows 100 per cent FDI under automatic
route for white label ATMs operations, a move that is
aimed at promoting financial inclusion.
24. Axis Bank launched LIME app, a mobile phone
application offering wallet, shopping, payments and
banking facilities.
25. Gujarat tops in ease of doing business in India:
Gujarat has been placed to top position in World
Banks first ever ranking of States on the ease of doing
business in India.
Top 5 States: Gujarat (71.14%), Andhra Pradesh
(70.12%), Jharkhand (63.09%), Chhattisgarh (62.45%)
and Madhya Pradesh (62.00%).
26. ADB (Asian Development Bank) lowered Indias
Growth Forecast for 2016 from 7.8% to 7.4%
27. Union Government has decided to set up a Bank
Board Bureau (BBB) to monitor key performance
indicators of two dozen public sector banks (PSBs)
It was announced by Union Finance Minister Arun
Jailtley as part of a seven-pronged revamp plan for
PSBs dubbed as Indradhanush (rainbow) plan.
Key points
(i) Bank Board Bureau (BBB) will start the functioning
from next financial year i.e. from 1st April 2016 and
the selection of its member will start in the next six

months.
(ii) It will replace existing system Appointments Board
in which appointments for top level jobs at PSBs are
made by an appointments committee led by the
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor.
(iii) Composition: The BBB will be a body of eminent
professionals and shall consist of only one government
official. It will be six members body with at least 3
former bankers, 2 professionals and secretary,
department of financial services representing
government.
(iv)The board will give recommendations for
appointment of full-time Directors as well as nonExecutive Chairman of PSBs.
28. Axis Bank has launched the first Contactless Debit,
Credit and Multi-Currency Forex Card in association
with VISA payWave in the country.
29. Meghalaya achieves 100% financial inclusion
under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna.
30. New Bank Note Paper Line unit inaugurated by
Finance Minister Arun Jaitely in Hoshangabad,
Madhya Pradesh.
31. World Bank has approved an additional loan of 650
million dollars for Indias Eastern Dedicated Freight
Corridor (DFC) Project. DFC Project aims at the faster
delivery of goods between the northern and eastern
parts of the country.
32. Axis Bank launched Ping Pay service for instant
money transfer: With the help of this service, Axis
bank customer can transfer or ask for cash, through
various social media channels like Whatsapp,
Facebook, Twitter, Email list and phone contact list.
The transaction limit is at Rs50,000 per day.
Indias GDP growth rate projected by different organisations for FY16

1. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) 7.4%
2. United Nation 7.5%
3. World Bank 7.8%
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4. IMF 7.3%
5. ADB (Asian Development Bank) 7.4%
6. Central Statistics Organisation (CSO) 7.6%
CURRENT AFFAIRS
New Appointments/ National
New Delhi Police Chief Alok Kumar Verma
New Chairman of Chairman of The Energy and
Resources Institute (TERI) - Ashok Chawla. He
replaces B V Sreekantan.
New Secretary of Department of Industrial Policy and
Promotion (DIPP) - Ramesh Abhishek
New Executive Vice-Chairman of The Energy and
Resources Institute (TERI) - Rajendra K Pachauri
New Chief Justice of Bombay High Court - Justice
Dhirendra Hiralal Waghela
New DG of Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) - Archana
Ramasundaram
Note: She became the first woman to head a
paramilitary force.
New DG of CRPF - K. Durga Prasad.
New DG of BSF - K.K. Sharma.
New Census Commissioner of India Sailesh. He
replaces C Chandramauli.
Achyuta Samanta elected as General President of
105th Indian Science Congress
New Chairman of Internet and Mobile Association of
India (IAMAI) Kunal Shah.
New Chairman of Central Board of Direct Taxes
(CBDT) - Atulesh Jindal. He replaces A K Jain.
New Mumbai Police Commissioner - Datta
Padsalgikar. He succeeds Ahmed Javed, who was
appointed as Ambassador to Saudi Arabia.
New Chief Commissioner for Persons with
Disabilities - Kamlesh Kumar Pandey.
New Chairman & Managing Director (CMD) of
National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) Limited.
- Gurdeep Singh
New Telecom Secretary J. S. Deepak. He replaces

Rakesh Garg.
New CEO of NITI Aayog - Amitabh Kant. He replaces
Sindhushree Khullar.
New CMD of BHEL - Atul Sobti
New DG of Police of Uttar Pradesh - Javed Ahmed
New CEO of Wipro - Abid Ali Neemuchwala.
New ambassador of Incredible India campaign Amitabh Bachchan
New Chairman of Competition Commission of India Devender Kumar Sikri
New DG of National Centre for Good Governance Dr Gyanendra D Bandgaiyan
Sam Pitroda appointed Technical Advisor to Odisha
government
New CEO of Flipkart - Binny Bansal
New Tata SIA Airlines Chairman - Bhaskar Bhat. He
replaced Prasad Menon
New MD & CEO of Tata Motors Ltd - Guenter
Butschek
New MD of Corporation Bank - J K Garg
New Chief Minister of Bihar - Nitish Kumar.
Senior JDU leader Nitish Kumar was sworn-in as Chief
Minister of Bihar for the fifth time.
New Chief Information Commissioner - R K Mathur.
He succeeds Vijai Sharma.
New Chief Justice of India - Justice Tirath Singh (TS)
Thakur sworn in as 43rd Chief Justice of India. He
succeeded incumbent Justice H L Dattu.
New President of FICCI - Harshavardhan Neotia. He
succeeds Jyotsna Suri.
New Lokayukta Appointed

New Lokayukta of Uttar Pradesh Sanjay Mishra.
New Lokayukta of Delhi - Justice Reva Khetrapa
Ambassador (Envoy)
New Australias Envoy to India - Harinder Sidhu

New Indian Ambassador to Mexico - Muktesh Kumar Pardeshi.
New Indian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Ahmed Javed (Mumbai Police Commissioner)
New Indian ambassador to Pakistan - Gautam Bambawale. He replaced TCA Raghavan.
New Indian ambassador to United Kingdom - Navtej Sarna. He succeeded Ranjan Mathai.
New Indian ambassador to China - Vijay Gokhale. He replaces Ashok Kantha.
10 | P a g e
Governor of States of India 1. Jammu & Kashmir N.N. Vohra (Narinder Nath
Vohra)
2. Arunachal Pradesh - J P Rajkhowa
3. Manipur - V Shanmuganthan gets additional charge of
Manipur. Present Governor of Manipur Syed Ahmed
passed away.
4. Tripura - Keshari Nath Tripathi.
5. Bihar Ram Nath Kovind.
6. Uttar Pradesh Ram Naik

7. Himachal Pradesh - Acharya Dev Vrat.
8. Arunachal Pradesh - J P Rakkhowa
9. Meghalaya - V Shanmuganthan
10. Mizoram - Nirbhay Sharma
11. Jharkhand - Draupadi Murmu.
She is the first woman Governor of Jharkhand
Appointments/ International
Prime Minister
New PM of Burkina Faso's - Paul Kaba Thieba
New PM of Georgia - Giorgi Kvirikashvili
New PM of Canada - Justin Trudeau (second
youngest prime minister to serve Canada)
New PM of Nepal KP Sharma.
New PM of Greece - Alexis Tsipras
New PM of Egypt - Sherif Ismail.

New Pm of Australia - Malcolm Turnbull.
President
1st female President of Taiwan - Tsai Ing-wen
New President of Portugal - Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa
New President of Argentina - Mauricio Macri Blanco
He succeeded Cristina Elisabet Fernandez de Kirchner

New President of Nepal - Bidhya Devi Bhandari
She is the first women president of Nepal.

New President of Tanzania - John Pombe Magufuli
First Female Vice President of Tanzania - Samia
Suluhu
Others Appointment
New Vice President of Asian Infrastructure
Investment Bank (AIIB) - DJ Pandian
Saroj Kumar Jha appointed as Senior Director in
World Bank.
New Director of the United Nations Information
Centre (UNIC) - Tamar Hahn
New Chairman of General Motors - Mary Barra. She
succeeds Tim Solso.
Indian-born Harjit Sajjan sworn-in as Defence
Minister of Canada
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He succeeded Conservative Defence Minister Jason

Kenney.
New Goodwill Ambassador for the UN childrens
agency, UNICEF - Novak Djokovic.
New CEO of Google - Sundar Pichai.
New Indias permanent representative in the UN Syed Akbaruddin. He replaces Asoke Mukerji.
International Meets & Summits

Summits held/to be held in India
1. 103rd Indian Science Congress held in Mysuru,
Karnataka
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the
103rd edition of the Indian Science Congress (ISC)
in Mysuru, Karnataka.
The theme of this edition of the Congress is
Science and Technology for Indigenous
Development in India.
2. 14th Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas (PBD) held in New

Delhi.
3. 10th World Hindi Conference held in Bhopal,
Madhya Pradesh.
Theme of the Conference is Hindi Jagat: Vistar avm
sambhavnai.
International
1. World Economic Forum 2016 meeting held in
Davos, Switzerland.
The official theme of the 2016 meeting is
Mastering the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
2. 15th G -20 Summit 2015 Antalya, Turkey
Women G20 Summit 2015 Istanbul, Turkey
The focus of the W20 is to enhance the role of
women in business.
Gulden Turktan was appointed as the first
president of the group.
She is one of the founders and President of the
Women Entrepreneurs' Association in Turkey
(KAGIDER), and is currently a member of its
Executive Board.
16th G -20 Summit 2016 - China
17th G -20 Summit 2017 - Germany
G20 Members: Argentina, Australia, Brazil,
Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia,
Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South
Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom,
the United States of America and European Union.
3. 7th BRICS Summit 2015 Ufa, Russia.
Theme of the summit - BRICS Partnership a
Powerful Factor of Global Development.
8th BRICS summit 2016 - New Delhi, India
Note: BRICS nations include - Brazil, Russia,
India, China and South Africa.
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4. Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit

2015 held in Ufa, Russia
Note:
India and Pakistan to become full member of
Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) by
2016.
Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Head office
Beijing, China
Members countries - China, Russia, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.
5. 41st G7 Summit 2015 - Elmau, Germany. Theme of
the summit - Think Ahead. Act Together.
Note:
G 7 nations include - Canada, France, Germany, Italy,
Japan, U.K., US, and the European Commission (EC).
EC is a permanently welcome participant in all
meetings and decision-making since 1981.
Future Summits to be held in
The 42nd G7 Summit 2016 Japan
The 43rd G7 Summit 2017 Italy
The 44th G7 Summit 2018 Canada
6. 19th SAARC Summit 2016 - Islamabad, Pakistan.
Note: 18th SAARC Summit held in Kathmandu, Nepal
in 2014. .
7. 4thNuclear security summit 2016 United States.
India ranking in various sectors

1. India largest recipient of World Bank loans over 70
years
According to the Banks lending report, India is the
largest recipient of loans from the World Bank,
amounting to $102.1 billion, between 1945 and
2015 (as on July 21, 2015).
India is followed by Brazil ($58.8 billion), China
($55.6 billion), Mexico ($54 billion) and Indonesia
($50.5 billion).
2. India ranks first in business optimism: Report
India ranks first in business optimism, according
to Grant Thornton International Business Report,
a quarterly global survey of 2,580 business
leaders across 36 nations.
India was followed by Ireland (88%) and the
Philippines (84%).
3. India home to 2.36 lakh millionaires: report
According to the Asia Pacific 2016 Wealth Report,
by New World Wealth, India was ranked among
the top five Asia-Pacific countries in terms of the
number of high net worth individuals (HNWIs).
India is home to the fourth largest population
of millionaires in the Asia-Pacific region, with
2.36 lakh such high net worth individuals, while
Japan topped the list with 12.60 lakh people.
China ranked second with 654,000 HNWIs and
Australia was at the third place had 290,000.
4. India among top 5 most promising markets
globally
According to the annual Global CEO survey of
consultancy giant PwC, India has emerged as one
of the five most promising markets for businesses
globally as it offers one of the best opportunities
for both domestic as well as global companies.
The top five markets considered as most
important for overall growth prospects by the
respondents are USA, China, Germany, the UK
and India.
5. India ranks 97th on Forbes best countries for
business list
India ranked 97th out of 144 nations, on Forbes

annual list of the best countries for business in 2015,
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scoring poorly on metrics like trade and monetary

freedom and tackling challenges like corruption and
violence.
Note:
Denmark topped the list of the 144 nations on the
Best Countries of Business in 2015 list by Forbes.
The US ranked 22nd continuing a six-year descent
since 2009 when it had ranked second overall.
The United Kingdom ranked at no. 10, Japan at No
23.
Germany ranked 18th and China ranked 94.
6. India ranked 130 out of 189 in ease of doing
business: World Bank
The 2016 report titled, Measuring Regulatory
Quality and Efficiency says that more than 60
percent of Worlds Economies improved their
business
rules
in
2015.
Note: The report ranked Singapore as first on
ease of doing business while Eritrea has been
ranked last at 189th position.
Top 5 countries - Singapore (1), New Zealand
(2); Denmark (3); Republic of Korea (4); Hong
Kong SAR, China (5);
7. India is Worlds largest remittance recipient:
World Bank
World Bank announced that India is the Worlds
largest remittance recipient. It was revealed in
the Migration and Development Brief that
conveyed recent trends in remittance flows and
migration across the world.
As per the report, remittances to India are
projected to increase by 2.5 percent in 2015, well
above the 0.6 percent increase in 2014.
8. India becomes worlds 7th most valued nation
brand: Report
India was placed at 7th position in worlds most
valuable nation brands report among the 100
assessed nations. It was revealed in recently
released annual report compiled by Brand
Finance.
Top 7 countries: United States, China, Germany,
United Kingdom, Japan, France and India.
Indias rank in different indexes

1. Consumer Confidence Index 2016 1st
India maintains top spot in Consumer Confidence
Index. India was followed by the Philippines, Indonesia
and Thailand.
2. US Chamber Intellectual Property index
India is placed at a poor second last position at
37/38 in the US Chamber of Commerces latest IP
index.
Venezuela finished last and United States ranked
first in the annual index.
3. 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index 76th.
(Denmark is the worlds least corrupt country).
4. Global Talent Competitiveness Index 89th
(Switzerland topped the list)
5. World Human Development Index 2015 130 (Norway
tops the list)
6. Global Competitiveness Index 2015 55
Note: Switzerland, Singapore and the US are at the top

of the Global Competitiveness Index, which profiles
140 economies.
7. Investor Protection Index 8th
8. Environmental Democracy Index 2015 24
Note: The index is topped by Lithuania at the first
position, Latvia at the second and Russia at the third
position.
9. World Press freedom Index 2015 136
Note: Finland on the first position followed by Norway
and Denmark.
10. FM Global Resilience Index 2015 119 (Norway
topped the index.)
11. World Hunger List 2015 - India tops in World Hunger
List.
12. World Happiness index 2015 117
Note: Switzerland topped the index and followed by
Iceland, Denmark, Norway and Canada.
Syria ranked last (158), making it the least happy
country in the world.
Important Committees
1. Kamlesh Chandra Committee - to examine the wage
structure, service conditions of the Gramin Dak Sevaks
(GDS) in the Department of Posts (DoP).
2. Adam Lewis Panel - to safeguard integrity in
International tennis.
3. Shyam Benegal Committee - to look into revamp the
film certification nuances by Central Board of Film
Censors (CBFC).
4. RM Lodha Committee - on the IPL betting scandal.
5. Dr T K Viswanathan Committee - on Bankruptacy
Law Reforms
6. A P Shah committee - to look into the dispute
between Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited
(ONGC) and Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) on
Krishna Godavari (KG) gas fields.
7. L Narasimha Reddy Committee - to look into the
implementation of One Rank One Pension (OROP)
scheme for the ex-servicemen.
14 | P a g e
8. Arvind Subramanian Committee - on Possible Tax

rates under Goods and Services Tax (GST)
9. MB Shah Committee - on Black Money
10. RV Easwar Committee - to simplify the provisions of
the Income Tax Act, 1961.
11. T Haque committee - NITI Aayog constituted T Haque
Expert Group on Land Leasing
12. R Gandhi committee - recommended conversion of
Urban Cooperative Banks (UCBs) with business size of
20,000 crore rupees or more into regular banks.
13. Deepak Mohanty committee to frame action plan on
financial inclusion.
14. A P Shah committee A high level committee on the
controversial issue of payment of Minimum Alternate
Tax (MAT) by foreign institutional investors.
15. Vijay Kelkar committee: on Revisiting and
Revitalizing the Public Private Partnership (PPP)
Model of Infrastructure Development.
16. AK Bhargava committee: to look into the issues of
"Net neutrality".
National News
1. Mysuru Indias cleanest city among 73 cities
Msuru has emerged as the cleanest city for the
second year in a row while Chandigarh,
Tiruchirapalli , the New Delhi Municipal
Council and Visakhapatnam make up the top five.
The other in the dirty list included Dhanbad,
Asansol, Patna, Meerut, Raipur, Ghaziabad,
Jamshedpur, Kalyan Dombivilli and Itanagar.
Top 5 cleanest cities in India
1. Mysuru
2. Chandigarh
3. Tiruchirapalli 4. New Delhi Municipal Council
5. Visakhapatnam
2. India sets target to eliminate malaria by 2030 India has set a target to eliminate malaria disease
by 2030 and will allocate infrastructure and
financial resources towards this task.
Launching the National Framework for Malaria
Elimination (NFME) 2016-2030, which outlines
Indias strategy for elimination of the disease by
2030.
3. Vizag to be first major port to run on solar energy
Vizag port in Andhra Pradesh is set to run its
entire operations on solar power from next
month thus it will be the first to run operations on
solar energy.
VPT, which has recently commissioned 2MW
solar power plants with in investment of 60
crore, will be adding another 8 MW capacity in
about a month from now.
4. Gujarat to have Indias first disabled-friendly
beach
Gujarat has launched its latest project on making
beaches more inclusive for the disabled. The
Tithal beach in Valsad district is all set to become
the first disabled-friendly beach in India.
The Tithal Beach is the most popular tourist spot
in Gujarat with an average of thousand visitors on
a weekly basis. People with disability were
missing out on the experience, as it is an arduous
task to negotiate a wheelchair on sand.
5. Maharashtra tops Internet readiness index: report
Maharashtra has emerged as the top ranking
state in terms of the overall Internet readiness
index, followed by Karnataka, Gujarat,
Telengana and Tamil Nadu, according to a
report released by the Internet and Mobile
Association of India (IAMAI).
15 | P a g e
Among the smaller states, Delhi has emerged

as the topmost state in terms of Internet
readiness index, followed by Puducherry and
Goa.
Among the Union Territories, Chandigarh is
ranked at the top in terms of Internet readiness
index.
6. India records highest Milk production worldwide India has retained its position as the worlds highest
milk producing country.
7. National Deworming Day observed on 10th
February.
8. IRCTC awarded national innovation award IRCTCs new version of the Next Generation eTicketing System (NGET) was awarded gold national
award for e-governance 2015-16 in the category of
Innovative Use of ICT by Central Government PSUs.
9. National Arogya Fair-2016 held at Dehradun in
Uttarakhand.
10. Govt approves over Rs 4,087 crore aid to seven
drought-hit states Government approved central
assistance of over Rs 4,087 crore to seven states
affected by drought.
The committee approved over Rs 1177 crore for
Rajasthan, 17,73 crore for Tamil Nadu, Rs 280
crore for Andhra Pradesh, 337 crore for
Jharkhand, 332 crore for Assam, 170 crore for
Himachal Pradesh and Rs 16 crore for Nagaland.
11. Abu Dhabi Crown Prince arrives in India - Crown
Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander
of UAE armed forces Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayad Al
Nahayan arrived India.
12. Indias first aviation park to open in Gujarat
India is set to open its first ever aviation park in
Gujarat which will include an airstrip, training
school, helipad and space for setting up small
manufacturing units among others.
13. IIT M tie up with Nokia for rural net connectivity The Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-M), has
tied up with Nokia for three years to create technology
solutions which, in turn, will help enhance broadband
connectivity in rural India.
14. National Organic Farming Research Institute to be
set up in Sikkim
The Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers
Welfare decided to set up the National Organic
Farming Research Institute in Sikkim.
The setting up of the institute is of primary

importance for Sikkim as it was declared as the
first organic farming State in the country in
January 2016 by the Prime Minister Narendra
Modi.
15. Indias first fully solar-powered educational
institute opened in Puducherry.
16. CSIR launched Indias first ayurvedic anti-diabetic
drug BGR-34
The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research
(CSIR) launched the countrys first anti-diabetic
ayurvedic drug for type two Diabetes mellitus.
The drug was launched by Senior Principal
Scientist, CSIR-NBRI, Dr A K S Rawat in at a
function in Kozhikode, Kerala.
The drug BGR-34 is developed jointly by National
Botanical Research Institute (NBRI) and Central
Institute for Medicinal and Aromatic Plants
(CIMAP), the Lucknow-based research units of
CSIR.
17. India Develops Worlds First Zika Vaccine
Bharat Biotech, Hyderabad based vaccines and
bio-therapeutic manufacturer, claimed to have
achieved a breakthrough in developing a vaccine
to fight the dreaded mosquito-borne Zika virus,
which causes serious birth defects in children.
Note: Zika virus is spread by mosquitoes of the
Aedes genus, which can breed in a pool of water
as small as a bottle cap and usually bite during the
day. The mosquito-transmitted infection is
related to Dengue, Yellow Fever and West Nile
virus.
18. TCS becomes worlds most powerful IT Services
brand
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Indias top IT
services and consulting company said that it has
been rated as the worlds most powerful brand in
IT Services by Brand Finance, the worlds leading
brand valuation firm.
TCS emerged as the IT services industrys most
powerful brand with a score of 78.3 points
earning it an AA+ rating.
Across all industries, Disney was rated as the
most powerful brand and Apple as the most
valuable brand for 2016.
19. India becomes worlds largest exporter of Rice India has overtaken Thailand as the worlds largest
rice exporter in 2015, shipping 10.23 million
16 | P a g e
tonnes in the year 2015 as compared to

Thailands 9.8 million tons.
Vietnam was ranked third largest rice exporter
with 6.4 million tonnes.
In terms of imports, China remains the number
one importer of rice.
20. Govt. releases list of 20 smart cities
The Union government announced the names of
the first 20 urban areas that will be developed as
smart cities.
Budget of Rs 50,802 crores has been proposed in
selected smart cities and towns during the fiveyear period.
There are five capital cities among the 20 smart
cities chosen which are as follows
1. Bhubaneswar
2. Pune
3. Jaipur
4. Surat
5. Kochi
6. Ahmedabad
7. Jabalpur
8. Vishakapatnam
9. Sholapur
10. Davangere
11. Indore
12. New Delhi (New Delhi municipal council area)
13. Coimbatore
14. Kakinada
15. Belagavi
16. Udaipur
17. Guwahati
18. Chennai
19. Ludhiana
20. Bhopal
21. India Celebrates 67th Republic Day India celebrates its 67th Republic Day with
President Francois Hollande as the chief guest
It was the fifth time a French president has been
chief guest, the biggest honour India can bestow on
a foreign leader.
Army dogs march after 26 years in R-day.
First time an All-women stunt contingent - For the
first time, all women CRPF contingent performed
at Republic Day parade. They showed their
motorcycle stunts.
French army first foreign contingent
participate at R day - Soldiers of French Armys
35th Infantry Regiment, which was Led by Lt Col
Paul created history by marching down the
Rajpath during the Republic Day parade, becoming
the first foreign military contingent to take part in
the celebrations.
22. Indias first blind friendly train flagged off from
Mysuru to Varanasi.
Note:
The Mysuru-Varanasi Express will be the first in
the country where all reserved coaches have
embedded Braille signage.
Mysore Railway station is the first blind friendly

station.
23. Prime Minister Narendra Modi becomes the second
most followed Indian on Twitter. His following of
17.4 million stands close to Amitabh Bachan, who has
18.9 million followers. Shah Rukh Khan takes the third
spot with his 17,351,100 followers.
24. Google Launches First Public Wifi Service in India
Google, in partnership with Indian Railways,
launched its first free high-speed public WiFi
service in the country at the Mumbai Central
Railway Station.
The service will be made available next in
Allahabad, Patna, Jaipur, and Ranchi.
25. Andhra Pradesh tops in implementing MGNREGA
for 2014-15 - Andhra Pradesh has topped in the
country in implementing the Mahatma Gandhi National
Rural Employment Guarantee Act for the 2014-2015 in
category of transparency and accountability.
26. Indias largest and tallest tricolour hoisted at Ranchi,
Jharkhand.
27. In Maharashtra, the first Solar Power operated MiniWater Supply Plant in the state has been
commissioned in Hingna village of Mouda Taluka in
Nagpur district.
28. 11th World Hindi Day observed on 10 January
29. Coca Cola to launch dairy drinks in India - Coca-Cola
beverage giant announced that it will launch milk
based beverages under the brand name Vio.
30. The Government signed an 80million US dollar loan
agreement with the Asian Development Bank (ADB)
to continue improving infrastructure in Agartala and
Aizwal.
31. IRCTC announces new rule for online ticket
booking - Railway Ministry announced a new rule for
booking of online tickets through the IRCTC website,
further reducing the maximum number of ticket
bookings allowed by an individual user to 6 from the
current 10 in a month.
32. Govt bans zero duty import of capital goods for
power plants - The government today banned dutyfree import of capital goods for power generation and
transmission projects under the EPCG Scheme.
The Export Promotion Capital Goods (EPCG) scheme
allows import of capital goods for pre-production,
production and post-production at zero Custom duty.
33. Umaid Bhawan Palace in Jodhpur is the worlds
best hotel
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According to travel website TripAdvisor, Umaid

Bhawan Palace in Jodhpur is the worlds best hotel
of 2016.
Top 5 hotels for 2016 according to TripAdvisor
members:
Umaid Bhawan Palace Jodhpur Jodhpur, India
Shinta Mani Resort Siem Reap, Cambodia
Bellevue Syrene Sorrento, Italy
Hanoi La Siesta Hotel & Spa Hanoi, Vietnam
Achtis Hotel Afitos, Greece
34. Kerala becomes 1st state to achieve 100% primary
education - This has been achieved through the
primary education equivalency drive of the state
literacy mission Athulyam.
35. PayPal ties-up with Shopmatic for cross-border
transactions - Digital payments firm PayPal has tied up
with ecommerce platform solutions provider
Shopmatic to enable its merchants to expand their
sales globally. This is PayPals first tie-up with an
Indian partner.
36. Central Institute for Research on Buffaloes (CIRB) in
Hisar becomes Indias second centre to produce a
cloned buffalo Cirb Gaurav.
37. Telangana become the first State in the country to
introduce compulsory gender education at the
graduate level.
Note: In this regard, state government has introduced
bilingual textbook titled Towards a World of Equals
on a pilot basis in engineering colleges. These
engineering colleges are affiliated to the Jawaharlal
Nehru Technological University (JNTU-Hyderabad).
38. Sikkim becomes Indias first organic state. Sikkim
has become Indias first fully organic state by
implementing organic practices on around 75,000
hectares of agricultural land.
39. Govt. of India signs loan agreement with WB for
watershed project
The government signed a loan agreement with the
World Bank for the Rs 2,142 Crore Neeranchal
National Watershed Project, which is expected to
increase the productivity of agriculture in the
country.
The project to be implemented by the Ministry of
Rural Development over a six-year period from
2016 to 2021 will support the Pradhan Mantri
Krishi Sinchayi Yojana in hydrology and water
management, agricultural production systems,
capacity building and monitoring and evaluation.
The loan credit will support the watershed

activities of the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee
Yojana (PMKSY) in selected sites in 9 states. These
states are Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh,
Telangana, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Maharashtra,
Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Rajasthan.
40. MP state govt. inks MoU with IFC for Worlds
largest Solar Plant
The Madhya Pradesh government has inked a pact
with International Finance Corporation (IFC),
member of the World Bank Group, to set up the
worlds largest solar energy plant with a capacity
of 750 MW.
The Rewa Ultra-Mega Solar Power Project will be
set up in Gurh tehsil of Rewa district over an area
of 1,500 hectares at an estimated cost of Rs 4,500
crore.
41. BHEL commissioned the second 660 MW
supercritical unit of Lalitpur Super Thermal Power
Project (STPP) in Uttar Pradesh.
Note: Last month, BHEL has successfully
commissioned the first unit of 3660 MW Prayagraj
Super Thermal Power Project (STPP) at Bara in
Allahabad district of Uttar Pradesh.
42. World Bank to fund a zoo in Andhra Pradesh In Andhra Pradesh for the first time World Bank
will be funding a zoo.
Hudhud-ravaged Indira Gandhi Zoological Park in
Visakhapatnam will be funded seven million
dollars for restoration and development as a
world-class international ecological park by the
World Bank.
43. Somnath Temple to invest in Gold Monetisation
Scheme - Somnath Temple Trust is all set to become
first temple from Gujarat to deposit its idle gold in the
Gold Monetization Scheme.
44. Indias first radio taxi service for the Lesbian Gay
Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) community, Wings
Rainbow, was flagged off in Mumbai.
45. Mumbai, Delhi figure in worlds top-30 super
cities
Two Indian cities Delhi and Mumbai have
made it to a top-30 list of the worlds most
powerful, productive and connected cities.
Indias financial capital Mumbai has been ranked
22nd while the national capital Delhi is placed at
24th.
The list is topped by Tokyo, which along with
New York, London and Paris, make the top four
18 | P a g e
super cities These four were the destination of

over 50 per cent of all foreign capital invested in
the Global Top 30 cities.
46. Arunima Sinha, the amputee mountaineer who set a
record by climbing the Mount Everest, has added
another feather in her cap by conquering Mount
Aconcagua in Argentina.
47. Friendship bus service between India-Nepal
resumes - A friendship bus service between India and
Nepal was flagged off via Champawat district in
Uttarakhand after a gap of 27 years.
48. Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs to merge with
MEA
Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the longawaited merger of the Ministry of Overseas Indian
Affairs (MOIA) with the Ministry of External Affairs
(MEA).
49. Ministry of Railways flagged off first double decker
Goa-Mumbai train
Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu flagged off the first
Goa to Mumbai double-decker Shatabdi train through
video conference from Panaji, Goa.
The fully air-conditioned double-decker train is the
first-of-its-kind in India.
50. First India International Science Festival began at
IIT-Delhi
51. Union Government approved setting up of 6 new
IITs
The Union Cabinet approved setting up of six new
Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) in Andhra
Pradesh, Chhatisgarh, Goa, Jammu, Kerala and
Karnataka.
52. Union Finance Ministry launched E-Sahyog Pilot
Project to facilitate Taxpayers
The Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley launched the
e-Sahyog pilot project of the Income-Tax Department
to facilitate taxpayers by reducing their need to
physically appear before tax authorities.
53. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has laid the
foundation stone of fourth terminal of countrys
largest container port Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust
(JNPT) in Mumbai.
54. The World Bank approved a 1.5 billion US dollar
loan for the ambitious Clean India Campaign (Swachh
Bharat Mission).
The loan was granted to support the government in its
efforts to ensure all citizens in rural areas have access
to improved sanitation and end the practice of open
defecation by 2019.
55. Hetero became first Indian company to receive

DGCIs approval for hepatitis C drug
Hyderabad-based Hetero Drugs announced that it
received the approval of Drug Controller General of
India (DCGI) to launch fixed-dose combination therapy
Ledipasvir-Sofosbuvir. The product will be available
under the brand name Ledisof in India.
With this approval, Hetero became the first
company in the country to get approval from DGCI
to launch hepatitis C medicines.
56. Asias biggest telescope Multi-Application Solar

Telescope (MAST) inaugurated at the Udaipur Solar
Observatory in Rajasthan.
57. Union Cabinet gives nod to 3 new AIIMS 3 AIIMS will be established at Nagpur (Maharashtra),
Manglagiri (Andhra Pradesh) and Kalyani in West
Bengal.
International News -
1. Sindh becomes first Pakistan province to adopt

Hindu Marriage Bill
Pakistans Sindh Assembly passed the Hindu
Marriage Bill making the province the first in the
country to allow the minority community to
register their marriages, amid calls from a leading
Hindu group to remove a controversial clause in
the landmark bill.
The bill fixes the minimum age of marriage at 18.
2. Worlds largest concentrated solar plant opened
in Morocco The Noor Ouarzazate Solar Complex, worlds
largest solar power plant opened in the SoussMassa-Dra area in Morocco.
The plant holds the capacity to produce enough
energy to power over one million homes by 2018
and reduce carbon emissions by an estimated
760000 tons per year.
3. France became first country in the world to ban
supermarket food waste
The French Senate unanimously passed a law to
ban large food stores from throwing away food
that is approaching its expiration date.
The National Assembly, Frances other
legislative chamber, had unanimously voted on
the same measures in December 2015.
4. India become the second largest smartphone
market India has surpassed the US to become the
largest smartphone market in the world after
China, by number of units sold, as the availability
of 4G handsets fueled demand, a new report has
revealed.
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5. India becomes Associate Member of EMBO

India officially became the Associate Member
State of European Molecular Biology Organisation
(EMBO).
India is second country outside the European
region to be an Associate Member State of EMBO.
First one being Singapore which had signed such
agreement with European Molecular Biology
Conference (EMBC) in 2015.
Note:
EMBO is a professional organization of life
scientists in Europe, which was founded in
1964 and its head office located at Heidelberg,
Germany.
It promotes research in life science and
enables international exchange of scientific
information between scientists.
6. World Cancer Day observed on 4th February 2016.
The day was observed with years theme We can. I
can.
7. WHO declares Zika virus outbreak as
International Emergency
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has
declared an international public health
emergency over the explosive spread of the
mosquito-borne Zika virus.
WHO has predicted that around four million
people may be infected with Zika virus in the
Americas (South and North America).
Zika virus is a mosquito-borne virus transmitted
by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes.
It is close cousin of other other vector-borne
diseases like Dengue, Chikungunya and Yellow
Fever transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes .
The virus was first identified in 1947 in Uganda

and its name has been derived from Zika Forest.
8. Vietnam inaugurated the worlds longest threerope cable car system in Lao Cai province. With a
total length of 6,292.5 metres, the system was
recognized by the Guinness World Records as the
worlds longest three-rope cable car route, and also
the worlds biggest height gap between its departure
and arrival stations of 1,410 metres.
9. Vietnam lifted ban on import of Indian groundnut.
10. Priyanka Chopra to present at the Oscars Bolywood actress Priyanka Chopra is all set to
present at the upcoming 88th Academy Awards.
Priyanka becomes the sole representative of India at
this years Oscar ceremony. The countrys official
entry in the best foreign film category for the Oscars
2016, Court could not make it to the final five.
11. Alphabet becomes The Most Valuable Public
Company in the World
Googles parent company Alphabet surpassed
Apple to become the most valuable U.S. traded
company in the world.
Alphabet became the most valuable publiclytraded company in the world coming in at a
market cap $558 billion after jumping about 8%
after the company reported its fourth-quarter
earnings, and passing Apple, which sits at a
market cap of $535 billion.
12. Denmark is the worlds least corrupt country.
Denmark has emerged as the least corrupt country in
the world for a fourth consecutive year, according to
the non-governmental organisation Transparency
International.
Finland and Sweden ranked second and third
respectively on the 2015 Corruption
Perceptions Index, while North Korea and
Somalia were named the most corrupt out of 196
nations.
India rank at 76th spot on the list.
13. Bill Gates is the richest person on earth - According
to new Wealth-X data on the worlds 50 richest people
Bill Gates is the richest person in the world with a
net worth of $87.4 billion.
The 5 Richest People in the World
1. Bill Gates
2. Amancio Ortega 3. Warren
Buffett
4. Jeff Bezos 5. David Koch
14. Germany the best country in the world. Germany
is the best country in the world, according to new
20 | P a g e
analysis unveiled at the World Economic Forum in

Davos.
The first-ever Best Countries report awarded
Germany the top spot in part because of its
strong economy, world influence and its focus on
key global issues, such as the migrant crisis and
eurozone unity.
The top 5 countries in the world
Germany
Canada
United Kingdom
United States
Sweden
Australia
Best place to start a career
China
Germany
U.S.
Best place to start a business
Thailand
Malaysia
Philippines
Best place to invest in
India
Singapore
Vietnam
15. Denmark named worlds best country for women Denmark is the best country in the world for women
to live in, according to a survey conducted by
American media company US News and World
Report.
List of Top 5 countries - Denmark, Sweden, Canada,
the Netherlands and Australia
16. PM Modi Second most popular world leader on FB
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi has become the
second most popular leader on the social networking
website Facebook. PM Narendra Modi has over 31
million fans on his personal Narendra Modi page.
Note: US President Barack Obama is the most
popular leader in the world. The US President has
over 46 million likes on his Facebook page.
17. Worlds largest blue star sapphire discovered in Sri
Lanka.
18. Chinas country code domain .cn becomes worlds
largest - Chinas country code domain .cn has
become the worlds most commonly used in the
internet with 16.36 million users, surpassing
Germanys .de domain.
19. Nepal elected as UNICEFs executive board term
member for 2016-2018 - Nepal has been elected to
the UNICEF Executive Board, representing the group
of Asia-Pacific countries for the term 2016-2018.
Nepals Ambassador and Permanent Representative
to the UN Durga Prasad Bhattarai, has also been
unanimously elected as Vice-President to the Bureau
of the Executive Board, according to Nepals

Permanent Mission to the UN in New York.
20. 2016 to be China India Tourism Year: China - The
China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) has
announced 2016 as the China India Tourism Year
in India.
21. Indra Nooyi becomes Yales biggest alumni donor
- Indra Nooyi, the Indian-born PepsiCo Chairperson &
CEO, has become the Yale School of Managements
biggest alumni donor with a landmark gift to endow
the deanship at her alma mater.
22. UN launched 2016 International Year of Pulses
Under the slogan nutritious seeds for a sustainable
future, the United Nations, led by its Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO), launched the 2016
International Year of Pulses.
The aim is to raise awareness about the protein
power and health benefits of all kinds of dried beans
and peas, boost their production and trade, and
encourage new and smarter uses throughout the food
chain.
23. Philippines became first Asian country to approve
worlds first-ever dengue vaccine
Philippines became the first Asian country to approve
the sale of the worlds first-ever dengue vaccine,
Dengvaxia.
The Philippines Food and Drug Administration
approved the dengue vaccine for the prevention of
disease caused by all four dengue types in individuals
from 9 to 45 years old living in endemic areas.
Note:
(i) Earlier Dengvaxia, manufactured by French
pharmaceutical giant Sanofi, secured its first
regulatory approval in Mexico.
(ii) Sanofi is a French multinational pharmaceutical
company headquartered in Paris, France.
24. Zimbabwe adopt Chinese Yuan as legal currency
after debt cancellation
Zimbabwe has announced that it will adopt the
Chinese currency as legal tender. The announcement
came after China cancelled $40-million (U.S.) in
Zimbabwean debt earlier this week.
25. List of Fortune 500 Indian companies 2015
announced
Indian Oil Corporation has retained its position
on the top spot for the sixth consecutive year
which is followed by Reliance Industries in the list
of Fortune 500 Indian companies 2015.
IOC tops the chart with an annual revenue of Rs
4,51,911 crore, while Mukesh Ambani-led RILs
full-year revenue is Rs 3,82,565 crore.
List of Top 5 Indian companies
(i) IOC
(ii) Reliance Industries Ltd.
(iii) Tata Motors
(iv) SBI
21 | P a g e
(v) Bharat Petroleum
26. PM Narendra Modi inaugurates new building of

Afghanistan Parliament in Kabul
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the
new building of Afghanistan Parliament in the
capital city Kabul built by India.
It was inaugurated during Narendra Modis first
official visit to Afghanistan after becoming Prime
Minister.
He also named one block of Parliament as Atal
Block after former Prime Minister Atal Bihari
Vajpayee.
Prime Minister also handed over 4 Mi-25 attack
helicopters to Afghanistan Air Force symbolising
a shift in Indias position on supplying offensive
equipment.
27. India to build Naval Base on Seychelles Island
Seychelles government allowed India to build its first
Naval Base on the Assumption Island in the Indian
Ocean region (IOR) as a joint project between both
countries.
Note: Indias first Naval Base project has acquired
significance following China acquiring its first African
naval base in Djibouti (near Horn of Africa) in
November 2014.
28. TIME Magazine named German Chancellor Merkel
as 2015 Person of the Year
German Chancellor Angela Merkel was named as
2015 Person of the Year by Time Magazine. The
magazine cited her role in Europes crisis over
migration and Greek debt.
29. World Trade Organisation (WTO) approved
Afghanistans membership terms to join as 164th
member
30. 1st December: World AIDS Day
The theme for year 2015 is Getting to zero, End
AIDS by 2030.
31. Google officially becomes Alphabet Inc.
Internet Search engine giant Google has officially has
converted into new parent company Alphabet Inc.
32. Mexico Government approves worlds 1st Dengue
fever vaccine named Dengvaxia
Note: Dengvaxia has been manufactured by French
pharmaceutical manufacturer Sanofi Pasteur.
33. Myanmar launched its first UNESCO Biosphere
Reserve Inle Lake
34. Myanmar inaugurated Yangon Stock Exchange
35. Myanmar inaugurated a new stock exchange, named
Yangon Stock Exchange (YSX), with plans for six
companies to start trading in March 2016.
36. UNESCO designated Varanasi and Jaipur as
members of Creative Cities Network
Varanasi and Jaipur made it to the network in the
categories, City of Music and City of Crafts and Folk
Art respectively.
37. 10 November: World Science Day for Peace and

Development
The theme for 2015 is Science for a Sustainable
Future.
38. Forbes list of World's Most Powerful People 2015
released
1. Russian President Vladimir Putin
2. German Chancellor Angela Merkel
3. US President Barack Obama
9. Indias Prime Minister Narendra Modi
39. Punjabi became third most common language, after
English and French in Parliament of Canada
40. Nepal signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)
with China in order to ease fuel crisis in the country
by importing all kinds of fuel.
41. Luxembourg became the 10th country to ratify
Articles of Agreement (AoA) of Asian Infrastructure
Investment Bank
42. PM Narendra Modi is world's 13th most influential
person: Bloomberg
Note: The list of 50 most influential people is topped
by Federal Reserve chairperson Janet Yellen,
followed by Chinese President Xi Jinping on the
second position with Apple CEO Tim Cook
occupying the third slot.
43. Germany offers India 2 billion euros for solar energy
projects and clean energy corridor.
44. Cow becomes national animal of Nepal

Theme 2015 - Social Protection and Agriculture.
45. 11 October: International Day of Girl Child
2015 theme: The Power of the Adolescent Girl:
Vision for 2030.
46. World Egg Day - 9 October 2015
47. September 21: International Day of Peace
The theme for the year 2015 is Partnerships for
Peace- Dignity for All.
48. India to be worlds most populous country by
2022: UN: According to the report, India will surpass
China to become the most populous nation in the
world by 2022.
49. Worlds first malaria vaccination approved: The
shot, called RTS,S or Mosquirix, would be the first
licensed human vaccine against a parasitic disease
and could help prevent millions of cases of malaria in
countries that use it. The vaccine was developed by
British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) in
partnership with the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative.
50. Bangladesh became first country to receive funds
from UN for Solar Home Systems.
News around the States

Andhra Pradesh
1. AP Govt. launched Giriputrika Kalyana Pathakam
Scheme for tribal people - The Andhra Pradesh
Government launched Giriputrika Kalyana Pathakam
Scheme to support the tribal women in their quest for
livelihood. It is designed to provide a onetime financial
assistance of 50000 rupees to each tribal woman who
gets married.
2. AP Govt. signed MoU with Microsoft India on
technology initiatives
Government of Andhra Pradesh signed a
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with
Microsoft India on a range of technology initiatives.
The purpose of the MoU is to improve use of
information and communication technologies,
drive digital inclusion and provide IT-based
decentralised citizen services.
3. Countrys first underwater tunnel to be come up in
Andhra Pradesh
Indias first underwater tunnel to be come up in
Andhra Pradesh.
The proposed riverfront capital city of Andhra
Pradesh is all set to get an underwater tunnel in
river Krishna.
22 | P a g e
As per the detailed master plan for the upcoming

capital Amaravati, the transparent road tunnel will
connect the administrative capital with
Vijayawada.
4. Four new Greenfield Airports to come up in Andhra
Pradesh & Gujarat The Centre has given its clearance for four greenfield
airports three in Andhra Pradesh and an
international airport at Dholera in Gujarat.
Three of the total four greenfield airports will be
set up in Andhra Pradesh. Bhogapuram, a town
around 40 kilometre from Andhra Pradeshs
capital Visakhapatnam, will host one such airport.
Two other airports will come up in Kurnool and
Nellore districts in Andhra Pradesh.
5. Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd, BHEL has
commissioned a 520-MW coal-based thermal power
unit in Andhra Pradesh.
6. Andhra Pradesh became the first state of India to
join the Union Governments Ujwal Discom
Assurance Yojana (UDAY).
The scheme aims at reviving debt-stressed power
distribution companies.
Other states to join UDAY scheme are Jharkhand
(second state) and Rajasthan (third state).
7. Andhra Pradesh launches e-Pragati scheme to bring all

government services under one roof.
Arunachal Pradesh
1. President rule imposed in Arunachal Pradesh.
Assam
1. PM inaugurates petrochemical plant in Dibrugarh
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated the
Brahmaputra Cracker and Polymer Limited (BCPL)
at Lepetkata, Assam.
It is the first ever petro-chemical plant located in
the entire North-Eastern region of Indian. It has
been built at cost of 10000-crore rupees and shall
be producing raw material for manufacturing
plastic
Bihar
1. Bihar Cabinet approved 35 % reservation for
women in govt. jobs - The Bihar Cabinet formally
approved 35 percent reservation for women in all
government jobs in the state. The 35 percent
reservation for women will be applicable to in all
government jobs including reserved and unreserved
category.
2. Toilets made mandatory to contest Panchayat polls in
Bihar.
Himachal Pradesh
1. The Nati folk dance of Kullu district of Himachal
Pradesh listed in the Guinness Book of World Records
as the largest folk dance in the world.
2. Himachal Pradesh has become the first state in the
country to start Rotavirus vaccination project under
the Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP).
Haryana
1. 30th Surajkund International Crafts Mela started at
Faridabad. This year Telangana will be the Theme
State, which is showcasing its unique culture and rich
heritage and the two focus countries are China and
Japan.
2. Haryana bagged Skoch Order-of-Merit national
award for implementation of six e-Governance and IT
initiatives in the state.
Jammu & Kashmir
Governors Rule imposed in Jammu and
Kashmir - Narinder Nath Vohra is the current
governor of the Indian state of Jammu and
Kashmir.
23 | P a g e
Jharkhand
1. Jharkhand first state to sign up for UDAY reforms.
2. Jharkhand Government inaugurated land bank web
portal. Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das
inaugurated the states land bank web portal,
jharbhoom.nic.in, that will help investors know landrelated information.
Kerala
1. Perumanna Grama Panchayat in Kozhikode district
of Kerala has become the first Panchayat in the State,
to declare its own water policy.
2. Kerala Govt declares state as "Digital State" - Kerala
Government has declared state totally digital, thus
becoming first state in the country to achieve it.
3. Kerala Government inaugurated a 12 MW solar power
project at Cochin International Airport.
Note: With this project, Cochin airport became the
first airport in India to run on solar power. This
project is estimated to generate approximately 50000
units of electricity daily. Through this project, the
airport will technically become grid power neutral.
Madhya Pradesh
1. 1st Mega Food Park (MFP) of Madhya Pradesh
inaugurated at Panwa village in Kasarwad tehsil of
Khargone district.
2. Madhya Pradesh Government declared 33 percent
quota for women in government jobs
3. Madhya Pradesh Government launches M-ShikshaMitra mobile app for teachers
4. Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL)
commissioned a 500 MW coal-based power plant unit
at Vindhyachal Super Thermal Power Station (STPS) in
Vindhyanagar, Singrauli district of Madhya Pradesh.
5. Shree Singaji Thermal Power Plant (600 MW) launched
in Khandwa district of Madhya Pradesh.
Odisha
1. Now free education to SC/ST students under
Anwesha - The state government of Odisha has
launched a scheme named Anwesha which aims to
provide free education to scheduled caste and
scheduled tribe students from remote areas in urban
area public schools.
As per the scheme, 5 thousand children would be
enrolled in class-I every year. At present around 3.5
lakh SC and ST students are availing the residential
facility in the state.
2. Tata Steel has commissioned the first phase of its
integrated steel plant at Kalinganagar steel plant in
Jajpur district of Odisha
Rajasthan
1. Rajasthan has become the first state in the country
to submit State Annual Action Plan under Atal Mission
for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation
(AMRUT).
Tamil Nadu
1. Tamil Nadus first Global Investors Summit (TNGIM
2015) held in Chennai.
2. World Bank offers $400 million loan to the Tamil Nadu
government for its Sustainable Urban Development
Project.
Telangana
1. Kakatiya thermal plant commissioned in
Telangana The 600-MW Kakatiya thermal power plant
commissioned at Bhoopalapally in Warangal
district of the State.
This is the first major power plant to be
commissioned after the formation of the new State
of Telangana in June 2014.
2. e-Vahan Bima Scheme launched by Telangana State
Govt.
Government of Telangana launched e-Vahan Bima
Scheme to issue motor insurance policy in digital
form in the state.
With the launch of this scheme, Telangana became

the first state in the country to legally accept motor
vehicle insurance policy in digital form.
Uttar Pradesh
1. Union Government launched Ganga Gram at Village
Puth in Hapur district of Uttar Pradesh (UP). Under
the scheme, 1600 villages of UP situated along the
banks of river Ganga will be developed.
2.
3. BHEL commissions Prayagraj power project unit in
Uttar Pradesh
State-run Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL)
has commissioned a 660 MW unit of Prayagraj
Super Thermal Power Project at Bara town in
Allahabad district of Uttar Pradesh.
This is the first supercritical thermal unit to be
commissioned in the state to achieve capacity
addition on attaining full load.
It is Greenfield thermal power project is owned
by Prayagraj Power Generation Company Limited
(PPGCL), a subsidiary company of Jaiprakash
Power Ventures Limited.
4. UP launches helpline number for journalists with
number 1880.
Important Agreements/ MoU Signed/ Deals: India & Abroad

1. India seeks investment from UAE in energy sector
UAEs Adnoc to store crude oil in India
Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) has
agreed to store crude oil in Indias maiden
strategic storage and give two-thirds of the oil to it
for free.
India is building underground storages in
Visakhapatnam and Mangalore and Padur in
Karnataka to store about 5.33 million tonnes of
crude oil to guard against global price shocks and
supply disruptions.
2. India & France ink 14 pacts India and France have singed 14 pacts for
enhancing the bilateral cooperation various
fields including defence, space, railways,
education etc.
Some important signed Agreements are
Defence: MoU on purchase of 36 Rafale Aircrafts.
Space: Implementation Arrangement between
ISRO and CNES on hosting Argos-4 Payload
onboard Oceansat-3 satellite of India.
24 | P a g e
Railways: Joint Venture Shareholding Agreement

between Indian Railways and Alstom for
production of 800 electric locomotives in
Madhepura plant in Bihar.
Education: MoU between IIT Mumbai and Thales
Systemes Aeroportes for Industry Sponsored Ph.D
(Doctorate) Fellowship.
Airbus Group & Mahindra to manufacture
helicopters - As part of Make in India initiative,
an agreement was signed between Airbus Group
and Mahindra to manufacture helicopters.
To develop 3 smart cities of India this includes Chandigarh, Nagpur and Puducherry.
3. India and Armenia signed Protocol amending the

India-Armenia Double Taxation Avoidance Convention
in New Delhi.
4. Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERTIn) has signed cyber security agreement with its
counterparts in Malaysia, Singapore and Japan.
5. India to provide 300 MW to Nepal in 18 months India agreed to supply 300 MW of electricity to energy-
starved Nepal in the next one-and- a-half year as the

two sides decided to expedite construction of crossborder transmission lines and boost bilateral
cooperation including in power trade.
6. India exported six metro train coaches to Australia
- According to the Union Ministry of Shipping, India has
exported six metro coaches to Australia from Mumbai
port. The shipment was made as part of a deal with
Australian government to export 450 made-in-India
coaches in two and a half year period.
7. India and Afghanistan have signed an agreement for
visa-free travel for diplomatic passport holders of
the two countries.
8. India and the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA) entered into a partnership to
explore the environment of Ladakh under NASAs
Spaceward Bound programme.
Under the partnership, a team of scientists from NASA,
the Mars society Australia and the Birbal Sahni
Institute of Palaeobotany, Lucknow will undertake an
expedition to Ladakh in August 2016.
9. India and Japan inked three agreements for

cooperation in Railway Sector
Note:
(i) India and Japan signed a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) on cooperation and assistance in
the Mumbai Ahmedabad High Speed Rail Project
(Bullet Train project).
(ii) Both the countries also entered into two
comprehensive technological cooperation agreements
for modernization and upgradation of Indian Railways.
10. India, France launched International Solar Alliance. It
will function from the National Institute of Solar
Energy in India, Gurgaon.
Obituaries / Person Died

National
1. Aurobindo Mukherjee - Veteran film director
2. Nida Fazli - Noted Urdu Poet and well known
Bollywood lyricist
3. Sudhir Tailang - Noted Political cartoonist
4. S S Tarapore - Former deputy governor of the Reserve
Bank of India (RBI) and a noted economist
5. Intizar Hussain - Veteran Urdu writer, novelist,
columnist and poet
6. Balram Jhakar Yadav - Former Lok Sabha speaker
7. O N V Kurup - Malayalams renowned poet &
Jnanpith-winner
8. Sadhna - Veteran Bollywood actress.
9. Subir Sen - Viteran singer.
10. Rajesh Vivek - Lagan Actor passed away
11. Anil Ganguly Filmmaker
12. AB Bardhan - Veteran CPI leader
13. Sarosh Homi Kapadia - Former Chief Justice of India
14. Mufti Mohammad Sayeed - J & K Chief Minister
15. Ravindra Kalia - Noted Hindi writer and journalist
25 | P a g e
16. J.F.R. Jacob - Lieutenant General JFR Jacob (retired),

who negotiated the surrender of Pakistani troops in
Dhaka following the 1971 war, passed away.
17. V Rama Rao - Former Sikkim Governor
18. Manpreet Akhtar - Punjab folk Singer
She sang famous song Tujhe Yaad Na Meri Aye in
Bollywood movie Kuch Kuch Hota Hai.
19. Geethapriya - Kannada filmmaker & lyricist
20. Aroon Tikekar - Senior journalist and scholar
21. Mrinalini Sarabhai - Noted dancer, choreographer
22. Pt. Shankar Ghosh - Eminent Tabla player
23. Kalpana Ranjani - Noted Malayalam film actress
24. Ranbir Chopra - Former India basketball captain
25. Mahip Singh - Writer, Journalist
26. Sankaran Nair - RAW former Chief
27. RK Trivedi - Former Gujarat Governor
28. Ashok Singhal - Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader
29. Saeed Jaffrey - Veteran Bollywood actor
30. Ravindra Jain - Renowned music director and lyricist
International
1. Sushil Koirala - Former Prime Minister
2. Edgar Mitchell - US astronaut Edgar Mitchell, who was
the sixth man to walk on the Moon, has died aged 85.
3. Marvin Minsky - Pioneer in Artificial Intelligence
4. Maria Teresa de Filippis - First female Formula One

driver
5. David Bowie - British singer-songwriter
6. Alan Rickman - Harry Porter actor passed away
New Books & Authors

1. Book titled Jawaharlal Nehru and The Indian Polity in
Perspective- by Prof (Dr) P J Alexander
2. The Z Factor, a book written by Subhash Chandra
- The book is the autobiography of the promoter of
Essel/ Zee Group Subhash Chandra.
3. Book titled MARU BHARAT SARU BHARAT (My India
Noble
India)
written
by Jain
Acharya
Ratnasundersuriswarji Maharaj.
4. Book titled Nathuram Godse The Story of an Assassin
- authored by Anup Ashok Sardesai
5. Former President APJ Abdul Kalams book
Transendence launched in Johannesburg, South
Africa
6. The Bose Brothers and Indian Independence An
Insiders Account authored by - Madhuri Bose (the
grand-niece of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose)
7. Life On My Terms: From the Grassroots to the
Corridors of Power: an autobiography of Sharad
Pawar
8. What Happened to Netaji? authored by former
journalist Anuj Dhar
9. Rebooting India: Realizing a Billion Aspirations:
authored by Nandan Nilekani and Viral Shah
10. Interlinking of Indian Rivers authored by Radha
Kant Bharati
11. Dreaming Big: My Journey to Connect India: Sam
Pitroda
26 | P a g e
12. Two Years Eight Months and Twenty Eight Nights:

Salman Rushdie
13. The Courage to Act - A Memoir of a Crisis and Its
Aftermath authored by Ben S. Bernanke
14. Dreaming Big: My Journey to Connect India: auto
biography of Sam Pitroda written with the help of
David Chanoff, an American author.
15. Two Years Eight Months and Twenty Eight Nights
authored by the British Indian novelist Salman Rushdie
16. To the Brink and Back: India's 1991 Story written by
former Union Environment & Forest Minister
(Independent Charge) Jairam Ramesh.
17. Making India Awesome written by Chetan Bhagat
18. Green Signals: Ecology, Growth, Democracy in India
written by Jairam Ramesh
19. Uniki written by CH Vidyasagar Rao, Governor of
Maharashtra.
20. The China Model written by Daniel A Bell.
21. Recasting India written by Hindol Sengupta.
22. Sourav Ganguly: Cricket, Captaincy and Controversy
written by Saptarshi Sarkar.
23. Flood of fire written by Amitav Ghosh.
24. India Central Asia Relations: The Economic
Dimension authored by Amiya Chandra.
25. Kashmir: The Vajpayee Years authored by AS Dulat
and Aditya Sinha.
26. 37 Bridges and Other Stories authored by noted
Pakistani author Aamer Hussein.
Awards & Honours

National
1. Sahitya Academy Puraskar - Noted Odia writer
Shakuntala Baliarsingh has been nominated for this
years Kendriya Sahitya Academy Puraskar. The award
has been awared to Shakuntala for her illustrious piece
of translation literature Kaberi Bhali Jhiyatiye.
2. Kerala Award - Bollywood actress Vidya Balan has
been awarded with the Pride of Kerala Award by the
World Malayalee Council and Kairali TV.
3. Golden Beaver Award - Nagaland is changing,
But...a film on conservation efforts by villagers won
the Golden Beaver Best Film Award in the institutional
category at the 6th National Science Film Festival and
Competition in Mumbai.
Gurmeet Sapal is the director of the film.
4. Infosys Prize 2015 - The Infosys Science Foundation
(ISF) announced the winners of the Infosys Prize 2015
across six categories: Engineering and Computer
Science, Humanities, Life Sciences, Mathematical
Sciences, Physical Sciences and Social Sciences.
The winners are
(i) Engineering and Computer Science - Prof. Umesh
Waghmare
(ii) Humanities Prof. Jonardon Ganeri
(iii) Life Sciences Dr. Amit Sharma
(iv) Mathematical Sciences Prof. Mahan Mj
(v) Physical Sciences Prof. G Ravindra
(vi) Social Sciences Dr. Srinath Raghavan
5. Bhimsen Joshi Award - Sarangi maestro Pandit Ram
Narayan was selected for the prestigious Bharat Ratna
Pandit Bhimsen Joshi Classical Music Award for 20152016.
6. Golden Conch Award at MIFF
Manipuri documentary film Phum Shang won the
coveted Golden Conch Award for the best
documentary at the 14th Mumbai International
Film Festival (MIFF).
Directed by Hao Bam Pabankumar
7. Yash Chopra Memorial award conferred on
Bollywood actress Rekha.
8. K Veeramani award - Bihar Chief Minister Nitish
Kumar has been selected for K Veeramani award for
social justice by the Periyar International.
9. V Shantaram Award - Veteran wildlife filmmaker
Naresh Bedi honoured with the V Shantaram Lifetime
Achievement Award.
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10. Neerja Bhanot Award - Bengaluru-based activist

Subhashini Vasanth conferred with the award.
11. 51st Jnanpith Award for 2015 Noted Gujarati writer Raghuvir Chaudhary has
been chosen for the Jnanpith award for 2015.
12. Sangita Kalanidhi 2015 Award
Sangita Kalanidhi 2015 Award conferred on South
Indian classical vocalists Sanjay Subrahmanyam.
13. EPFO bags National Award on e-Governance - The
Employees Provident Fund Organisation has won the
National Award on e-Governance 2015-16 for
launching the Universal Account Number (UAN).
14. The Hindu Prize, 2015 - Easterine Kire, a poet,
novelist and childrens writer from Nagaland won
The Hindu Prize, 2015.
She won the award for her novel When the River
Sleeps, a book about a lone hunter seeking a heart
stone in a faraway sleeping river and fighting all odds
to get it.
15. 2016 DSC Prize - Indian author Anuradha Roy won
the prestigious DSC Prize for South Asian Literature
for her novel Sleeping on Jupiter at the Galle
Literary Festival in Sri Lanka.
16. 61st Filmfare Awards announced List of the Awards
Best Actor: Ranveer Singh for Bajirao Mastani
Best Actress: Deepika Padukone for Piku
Best Film: Bajirao Mastani
Best Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali for Bajirao
Mastani
Lifetime Achievement: Moushumi Chatterjee
Best Debut Director: Neeraj Ghaywan for Massan
Best Debutant (Male): Sooraj Pancholi for Hero
Best Debutant (Female): Bhumi Pednekar for Dum
Laga Ke Haisha
Best Story: V Vijayendra Prasad for Bajrangi
Bhaijaan
17. Azim Premji the most generous Indian in Hurun
India Philanthropy List 2015 - Wipro Chairman Azim
Premji has emerged as the most generous Indian in
the Hurun India Philanthropy List 2015, a ranking of
the most generous individuals from India.
18. 2015 Harikrishna Devsare Baalsahitya Award Veteran Hindi poet Balkrishna Garg conferred with
the 2015 Harikrishna Devsare Baalsahitya Award in
New Delhi.
19. Colombian film Embrace of The Serpent adjudged
best film of 46th IFFI
Colombian film Embrace of The Serpent has been
adjudged as the best film of the 46th International
Film Festival of India (IFFI) Directed Ciro Guerra of
Embrace of The Serpent was bestowed with the Golden
Peacock award and the cash prize of 40 lakh rupees.
20. Legendary actor Dilip Kumar conferred with Padma
Vibhushan Award.
Note: Dilip Kumar Autobiography: The Substance

and the Shadow written by author and former
journalist Udaya Tara Nayar.
21. 2015 Uttar Pradesh Ratna Award - Indian-American
entrepreneur and philanthropist Frank Islam
22. 2015 Aditya Vikram Birla Kala Shikhar Award Santoor maestro Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma awarded
with Aditya Vikram Birla Kala Shikhar Award for life
time achievement by Maharashtra government.
23. Miss Diva 2015 - Urvashi Rautela.
24. 2015 Hridaynath Mangeskar Award Music
composer AR Rehman.
25. Kolkata Port adjudged as the best 'Major Port of
2014-15'.
26. Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna 2015 Sania Mirza (Tennis)
Padma Awards Padma Awards, one of the highest civilian Awards of the country, are conferred in three categories, namely, Padma Vibhushan,
Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri. The awards are announced on the occasion of Republic Day every year.
The list comprises of 10 Padma Vibhushan, 19 Padma Bhushan and 83 Padma Shri Awardees
List of Padma Vibhushan awardees
Ms. Yamini Krishnamurthi Art- Classical dance Delhi

Shri Rajinikanth Art-Cinema Tamil Nadu
Smt. Girija Devi Art-Classical Vocal West Bengal
Shri Ramoji Rao Literature & Education-Journalism
Andhra Pradesh
Dr. Viswanathan Shanta Medicine- Oncology Tamil
Nadu
Shri Shri Ravi Shankar Others-Spiritualism

Karnataka
Shri Jagmohan Public Affairs Delhi
Dr.Vasudev Kalkunte Aatre Science & Engineering
Karnataka
Shri Avinash Dixit (Foreigner) Literature & Education
USA
Late Shri Dhiru Bhai Ambani (Posthumous) Trade &
Industry Maharashtra
List of Padma Bhushan awardees
Noted actor Anupam Kher

Singer Udit Narayan,
Former CAG Vinod Rai,
Chairperson of media group Bennett, Coleman & Co.
Indu Jain,
Spiritual leaders late Swami Dayanand Saraswati,
List of some Padma Shri Award awardees

Senior lawyer Ujjwal Nikam,
Actors Ajay Devgn
Actress Priyanka Chopra
Actor the late Saeed Jaffrey,
CEO of MasterCard Ajaypal Singh Banga,
Bharatanatyam dancer Prathibha Prahlad,
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Industrialist Pallonji Shapoorji Mistry,

Maruti Suzuki chairman R C Bhargava
Eminent architect Hafeez Contractor
Swami Tejomayananda and former US Ambassador to
India Robert Blackwill are among the 19 eminent
people chosen for Padma Bhushan.
Gujarati folk musician Bhikhudan Gadhvi,

Goas musician Tulsidas Borkar and scientist Onkar
Nath Srivastava were among those who were named
for Padma Shri awards.
Padma awards for sports
Sania Mirza and ace shuttler Saina Nehwal - Padma Bhushan,

while archer Deepika Kumari was chosen for the Padma Shri .
International
1. Best First Foreign Film award
Titli has bagged the Best First Foreign Film Award
conferred by the French Syndicate of Cinema Critics
2016 (FSCC). Kanu Behl is the director of the film
Titli.
69th BAFTA Awards 2016 announced - This year
saw the 69th British Academy Films Awards (BAFTAs)
being announced on 14 February 2016, which was held
at the Royal Opera House in London. The awards were
announced to honour the best British and international
contributions to film in 2015.
Mad Max: Fury Road won four awards for its return
to the big screen: Costume Design, Production Design,
Make Up & Hair and Editing.
List of Awards
Best Film The Revenant

Best Outstanding British Film Brooklyn
Best Leading Actor Leonardo DiCaprio for The
Revenant
Best Leading Actress Brie Larson for Room
Best Director Alejandro G. Irritu for The
Revenant
Outstanding debut by a British writer, director or
producer Naji Abu Nowar (Writer/Director) &
Rupert Lloyd (Producer)
Best Animated Film Inside Out
Best British Short Animation Edmond
Best British Short Film Operator
Best Documentary Amy
EE Rising Star (voted for by the public) John Boyega
2. Rahul Thakkar wins Oscar for groundbreaking
design
Rahul Thakkar, a computer engineering graduate
from Mumbai University, has won an Oscar for
technical achievement. He will be sharing the
award with his mentor Richard Chuang.
3. Australias highest civilian honour - Three Indianorigin persons have been awarded Australia's highest
civilian honour for their contribution in the fields of
physics, engineering and medicine.
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4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
For physics Chennupati Jagadish [eminent

professor at Australian National University
(ANU)]
For engineering Jay Chandra, an eye doctor in
New South Wales.
For medicine - Sajeev Koshy, a dentist in
Melbourne.
Amnesty International Human Rights Award 2016
Indian lawyer and human rights defender Henri
Tiphagne selected for the 8th Human Rights
Award by Amnesty International Germany.
2015 Prince Mahidol Award - Morton Mower (US),
Sir Michael Marmot (UK) have won the prestigious
2015 Prince Mahidol Award for their outstanding
achievements in the international healthcare
sector.
2015 eASIA Award - DAVA or Drug Authentication
and Verification Application Project won the 2015
eASIA Award under Trade Facilitation categoy.
An Indian-origin cancer research expert Harpal
Singh Kumar received a Knighthood from Queen
Elizabeth II for his influential work on prevention
and treatment of cancer.
Miss Universe 2015 Award
Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach of Philippines won the Miss
Universe 2015 title.
The final of 64th edition of Miss Universe held in
Las Vegas, the USA.
Miss World 2015 Award Mireia Lalaguna Royo of Spain won the Miss
World 2015.
The final of Miss World 2015 was held at the
Beauty of Crown Theater in Sanya, China.
She is the first Miss World from Spain.
10. 2015 National Medal of Science of the United

States
Indian American professor Dr. Rakesh K. Jain
selected for 2015 National Medal of Science of the
United States.
Rakesh K. Jain is currently working as professor
at Harvard Medical School and also is the director
of tumour biology laboratory at Massachusetts
General Hospital.
11. Costa novel award Kate Atkinson has won the Costa novel award for
the second time, for her novel for A God in Ruins.
12. Priyanka Chopra wins Peoples Choice Award for
Quantico
Bollywood star Priyanka Chopra has bagged the
favourite actor in new TV series honour at the
2016 Peoples Choice Awards for her
performance of an FBI recruit on American show
Quantico.
Priyanka becomes the first Indian actor to
register a win at the Peoples Choice Awards
List of Golden Globe Awards 2016 winners - The 73rd
Golden Globe Awards honored the best in film and
American television of 2015.
The Winners List for MOTION PICTURES
Best Picture, Drama: The Revenant.

Best Picture, Musical or Comedy: The Martian.
Best Actor, Drama: Leonardo DiCaprio, for The
Revenant.
Best Actress, Drama: Brie Larson for Room.
Best Director: Alejandro Inarritu for

Revenant.
Best Foreign Language: Son of Saul.
Best Animated Film: Inside Out.
The
13. 2015 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought

Saudi blogger Raif Badawi awarded Sakharov Prize
for Freedom of Thought for the year 2015.
Note: Badawi, author of the website Free Saudi
Liberals, was convicted of insulting Islam in 2012
and was sentenced to 10 years in jail and 1000 lashes.
16. United Nations Champions of the Earth Award
2015 - Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina
conferred with the award.
17. 2015 Humanitarian of the Year Award - Nobel
laureate Kailash Satyarthi
Note: In 2014, this award was conferred on UN
Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon.
18. 2015 Man Booker Prize for Fiction - Marlon James
Note: He won the 2015 Man Booker Prize for Fiction
for his novel A Brief History of Seven Killings. With
this, James became the first Jamaican author to win the
prize in its 47-years of history.
Schemes/ Policy launched by State/ Union Govt. of India

1. Highlights of Start up India Stand up India Scheme
Startup India Standup India was first mentioned by PM Narendra Modi on August 15, 2015 while addressing the
nation on Independence Day. However the scheme was formally launched on January 16, 2016 in New Delhi by PM
Modi.
The scheme aims to push for Entrepreneurship in the country by providing enabling environment for the
entrepreneurs.
The features of the Action Plan are as follows:
Funds of Fund worth Rs 10,000 Crore will be created, for development and growth of innovative enterprises.
Credit Guarantee Fund Rs 500 Crore per year over next 4 years.
Profits of Start-up units will be tax-free for 3 years.
No labour Inspection for 3 years instead self-certification based regime to be followed.
Quicker and subsidized (i.e. 80%) patent clearance mechanism to be evolved.
New mobile App to register Start-ups & apply for Online Clearances will be operational from April 1, 2016.
Provision of easier exits (within 90 days) for failed ventures under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Bill, 2015.
500 sector specific incubators, including 5 new Bio clusters will be established across the country.
Under this, 35 new incubators, 7 new research parks, 31 innovation centers will be set up at the National institutes
under the public private partnership mode.
Under Atal Innovation Mission, seeds fund and Pre- incubation training will be given.
Capital gains tax to be exempted for venture capital investments. The exemption,however, will be applicable only
when only when the proceeds are invested in another startup.
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An innovation programme will be launched in 5 lakh schools across the country to nurture innovation among 10 lakh
children.
To protect intellectual Property Rights, a new scheme will be developed.
Impact of this policy in the long run:

This policy will encourage entrepreneurship.
It will create new employment opportunities for the unemployed.
It will also promote entrepreneurship among SC/ST and Women Entrepreneurs.
It is expected to benefit at least 2.5 lakh borrowers.
It will restrict the role of state and facilitate ease of doing business.
Current Statistics for startups:
With 4200 startups registered in India, India ranks 3rd globally.
Indian startups draw $18 billion during 2010-15 including $9 billion in 2015 alone.
9 Indian startups have been valued at more than a billion dollars.
Increase in number of incubators: 80 in 2014, 110 in 2015; 50% outside Delhi, Bengaluru, and Mumbai.
2. Stand Up India Scheme - The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, approved the Stand Up
India Scheme to promote entrepreneurship among SC/ST and Women entrepreneurs.
It provides for Refinance window through Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) with an initial amount
of Rs. 10,000 crore.
The details of the scheme are as follows:
Focus is on hand holding support for both SC/ST and Women borrowers.
The overall intent of the approval is to leverage the institutional credit structure to reach out to these under-served
sectors of the population by facilitating bank loans repayable up to 7 years and between Rs. 10 lakh to Rs. 100 lakh
for greenfield enterprises in the non farm sector set up by such SC, ST and Women borrowers.
iii. The loan under the scheme would be appropriately secured and backed by a credit guarantee through a credit
guarantee scheme for which Department of Financial Services would be the settler and National Credit Guarantee
Trustee Company Ltd. (NCGTC) would be the operating agency.
iv. Margin money of the composite loan would be up to 25%. Convergence with state schemes is expected to reduce
the actual requirement of margin money for a number of borrowers. Over a period of time, it is proposed that a
credit history of the borrower be built up through Credit Bureaus.
3. Pradhan Mantri Fasal Beema Yojna (New Insurance Crop Scheme)
The Cabinet approved Pradhan Mantri Fasal Beema Yojna, a crop insurance scheme aimed to ensure farmers welfare.
The new crop insurance scheme has been proposed to replace the existing National Agricultural Insurance Scheme
(NAIS) and Modified National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (MNAIS).
There will be a uniform premium of 2% to be paid by farmers for all kharif crops and 1.5 % for all Rabi crops.
The premium for all horticulture crops will be 5%. At present, premiums charged in crop insurance schemes go up to
25% of the sum insured.
The budget for Crop Insurance will be substantially increased from 2823 crore rupees in 2015-16 to 7750 crore
rupees in 2018-19.
4. PM launches 3 gold schemes and national gold coin
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched three gold related schemes(i) Gold Monetisation Scheme (GMS),
(ii) Gold Sovereign Bond Scheme and the
(iii) Gold Coin and Bullion Scheme
India has surpassed China as the world's largest gold consumer, buying 562 tonnes of yellow metal so far this year,
against China's 548 tonnes
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Scheme highlights:
Gold Monetisation Scheme (GMS), 2015 - The GMS will replace the existing Gold Deposit Scheme, 1999. However,
the deposits outstanding under the Gold Deposit Scheme will be allowed to run till maturity unless the depositors
prematurely withdraw them.
Few things to know about the scheme
Who can make deposit under the scheme

Resident Indians (individuals, HUF, trusts, including mutual funds/exchange traded funds registered under Sebi
norms) can make deposits under the scheme.
Minimum Limit - The minimum deposit at any one time will be raw gold (bars, coins, jewellery excluding stones and
other metals) equivalent to 30 grams of the precious metal of 995 fineness.
Maximum limit - There is no maximum limit for deposit under the scheme and the metal will be accepted at the
Collection and Purity Testing Centres (CPTC) certified by the Bureau of Indian Standards.
Interest Rate - Gold Monetisation Scheme can earn up to 2.50 per cent interest rate on their idle gold.
Note: Interest rate on Medium and Long Term Government Deposit (MLTGD) are 2.25 per cent and 2.20 per cent,
respectively.
Tenor - The tenor of medium term would be between 5-7 years while long term would for 12-15 years tenure.
Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme

Few things to know about the scheme
Instead of buying gold in physical form investors can park their money in bonds which are backed by gold. The bonds
will be available both in demat and paper form.
Sovereign Gold Bond has more or equal advantage against the physical gold. The bond will be issued by RBI on behalf
of the Government of India.
Maximum Limit - The bond would be restricted for sale to resident Indian entities and the maximum allowable
limit is 500 grams per person per year.
Rate per gram - The RBI has fixed the public issue price of sovereign gold bonds at Rs 2,684 per gram.
Denominations - These bonds will be issued in denominations of 5, 10, 50 and 100 grams of gold or other
denominations.
Know-your-customer (KYC) norms will be the same as that for purchase of physical gold. KYC documents such as
Voter ID, Aadhaar Card/PAN or TAN /Passport will be required.
Gold coins and Bullion Scheme - The coins will be available in denominations of 5 and 10 grams. A 20 gram bar or
bullion will also be available. About 15,000 coins of 5 gm, 20,000 coins of 10 gm and 3,750 gold bullions will be
made available through MMTC outlets.
5. President launches IMPRINT India initiative of IITs and IISC

President Pranab Mukherjee launched Impacting Research Innovation and Technology (IMPRINT) India to boost
research in the country. The initiative is joint venture of Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and Indian Institute of
Science (IISC).
Key facts
IMPRINT India initiative seeks to develop a roadmap for research in order to solve major engineering and technology
challenges in 10 identified technology domains.
These 10 domains are: Health Care, Computer Science and ICT, Advance Materials, Water Resources and River
systems, Sustainable Urban Design, Defence, Nano-technology Hardware, Environmental Science and Climate Change
and Energy Security.
6. Union Cabinet launched UDAY for financial turnaround and revival of DISCOMS
(i) The Union Cabinet gave its nod to Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojna (UDAY), a new scheme proposed by the Ministry of
Power.
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(ii) The scheme aims at alleviating the financial crunch faced by Power Distribution companies (DISCOMs) that has
impaired their ability to buy electricity.
(iii) The scheme targets the revival of DISCOMs. It will also ensure a sustainable permanent solution to the problem.
How UDAY will revive the DISCOMS?
UDAY will empower DISCOMs with the opportunity to break even in the next 2-3 years through four initiatives:
Improving operational efficiencies of DISCOMs.
Reduction of cost of power.
Reduction in interest cost of DISCOMs.
Enforcing financial discipline on DISCOMs through alignment with state finances.
Key features of UDAY
States will take over 75 percent of DISCOM debt as on 30 September 2015 over two years.
Union Government will not include the debt taken over by the states n the calculation of fiscal deficit of respective states in
the financial years 2015-16 and 2016-17.
States will issue non-SLR including SDL bonds in the market or directly to the respective financial institutions holding the
DISCOM debt to the appropriate extent.
States will take over the future losses of DISCOMs in a graded manner.
States accepting UDAY and performing as per operational milestones will be given additional/priority funding through
schemes of Ministry of Power and Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.
States not meeting operational milestones will be liable to forfeit their claim on IPDS and DDUGJY grants.
7. Green Indian Mission (GIM) Plans Approved for 4 States - National Mission for a Green India (GIM) falling under the
Environment Ministry has approved annual plans for Kerala, Mizoram, Manipur and Jhakhand.
Note: GIM, which is one of the eight Missions outlined under National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC),
acknowledges the influence forests have on environmental amelioration through climate change mitigation, food security,
water security, biodiversity conservation and livelihood security of forest-dependent communities.
8.
SEHAT scheme - The Union government launched a telemedicine initiative 'Sehat' in collaboration with Apollo
Hospitals to provide healthcare facilities in rural areas. The initiative was launched by Union Communication and IT
Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad at a function in New Delhi.
9. PAHAL scheme enters into Guinness Book of world records

Key Points
Union Governments ambitious Pratyaksha Hastaantarit Laabh (PAHAL) scheme has been acknowledged as the
worlds largest cash transfer program (households) by the Guinness Book of World Records.
The scheme was formally launched as Direct Benefit Transfer Scheme for LPG subsidy in 2013 in 291 districts
under the aegis of Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.
It was modified and christened as PaHal in November 2014 and was launched in 54 districts. Later it was
extended nationwide on 1 January 2015.
Under the scheme, subsidized liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders are sold at market rates and consumers
are entitled to receive LPG subsidy directly into their bank accounts.
10. Housing For All: Centre identifies 305 cities, towns Key points
The housing ministry has identified 305 cities and towns across 9 states to start building houses for the poor in
urban areas.
The government has set the target to provide houses to two crore families belonging to the economically weaker
section (EWS) in urban areas by 2022.
11. Union Government releases Rs 2,000 crore for Employees Pension Scheme
Key points
Union Government has released 2,000 crore rupees to Employees Pension Scheme (EPS), 1995 as its contribution for
the year 2015-16.
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This contribution is in addition to the 250 crore rupees contributed by the government as grant-in-aid in the EPS in
order to provide minimum pension of 1,000 rupees to pensioners under the scheme.
12. e-Pragati to pave way for Digital Andhra Pradesh Key points
Andhra Pradesh State government is now rechristening the AP State Enterprise Architecture (APSEA) as e-Pragati.
APSEA is a comprehensive architecture to leverage the latest advances in e-governance tools.
e-Pragati extends to 33 secretariat departments and over 300 government agencies in AP.
It seeks to provide a bouquet of 745 services in the government to customer (G2C), government to business (G2B),
government to enterprise (G2E) and government to government (G2G) areas.
13. Union Government has launched the Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojana (PMKKKY) for the welfare of
people affected by mining related operations.
14. Union Cabinet approves Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission to drive economic, social and infrastructure
development in rural areas.
Note: In this regard, Union Government has earmarked an outlay of Rs. 5142.08 crores rupees for the mission to develop
300 clusters over next three years across the country.
15. Union Government launches 2nd phase of Mission Indradhanush
Key points
Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare launched the second phase of Mission Indradhanush to achieve full
immunization of children below two years.
In the second phase, the week-long programme will be implemented in 352 districts of the country.
Mission Indradhanush depicts 7 colours of the rainbow which aims to cover all those children by 2020 who are
either unvaccinated or are partially vaccinated against 7 vaccine preventable diseases.
These 7 diseases are Diphtheria, Whooping cough, Tetanus, Polio, Tuberculosis, Measles and Hepatitis B.
WHO (World Health Organisation), UNICEF, Rotary International and others are donor partners for Mission
Indradhanush.
Note: The mission was launched in December 2014 on the occasion of National Good Governance Day. The first phase
drive was started in April 2015 in 201 districts covering 45 lakh children and immunising 20 lakh children.
16. PM Narendra Modi launches IPDS in Varanasi to ensure 247 power supply to every house
Key points
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched National Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS) in Varanasi, Uttar
Pradesh to provide 247 power supply to every house.
To start the scheme in Varanasi, PM laid foundation stone of two power substations and Union Government will
provide 572 crore rupees to implement it.
Apart from launching IPDS, PM also laid the foundation stone of seven other developmental projects in Varanasi. He
also formally inaugurated the biggest Trauma centre of the country in Banaras Hindu University.
17. Union Government launches SAHAJ scheme for online release of new LPG connections
Union Government has launched SAHAJ scheme for online release of new LPG connections for the consumers as parts
of its consumer friendly initiative.
It was launched by Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan at a function held in New Delhi.
18. Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) - Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Housing for All by 2022 scheme,
also known as the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) in New Delhi. The Housing for All scheme will replace all
previous government housing schemes such as the Rajiv Awas Yojana.
Two other schemes were also launched as complementary to the affordable housing scheme, a scheme for development of
Smart Cities across the country and the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) that allows
for urban renewal and upgradation of infrastructure in the major urban tracts of the country.
I. Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched
AMRUT mission aimed at transforming 500 cities and towns into efficient urban living spaces, with special focus on a
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healthy and green environment for children. The Cabinet approved Rs 50,000 crore for this mission which is to be spent
over the next five years.
Note: Rajasthan has become the first state in the country to submit State Annual Action Plan under Atal Mission for
Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT).
II. Smart Cities Mission - Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Smart Cities Mission, focus on developing 100 select
Smart cities by focusing on optimising efficiencies in urban services and infrastructure management, with proactive use
of technology and people participation. The Cabinet approved of Rs 48,000 crore outlay to be spent on the project over
the next five years.
19. Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana - Union Government launched Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana
(DUGJY) in Patna, Bihar. The flagship scheme was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with an aim to provide
247 uninterrupted electricity supply to each rural household across the country by 2022.
Key points
(i) This scheme replaces Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY), which was launched by previous UPA
government led by then PM Manmohan Singh.
(ii) The scheme is one of the flagship programmes of the Power Ministry.
(iii) It also seeks to strengthen Micro grid and off grid distribution network of rural electrification.
20. HRIDAY - Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana Union Ministry of Urban Development launched the
National Heritage Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY) for 12 cities in the country from Amritsar, Punjab.
The scheme was launched by Union Minister of Finance, Corporate Affairs and Information & Broadcasting Arun Jaitley.
Key points (i) The scheme seeks to preserve and rejuvenate the rich cultural heritage of the country in the 12 selected cities in the
country.
(ii) With a duration of 27 months (completing in March 2017) and a total outlay of INR 500 Crores, the Scheme is set to be
implemented in 12 identified Cities namely, Ajmer, Amaravati,(Andhra Pradesh), Amritsar, Badami, Dwarka, Gaya,
Kanchipuram, Mathura, Puri, Varanasi, Velankanni and Warangal.
21. Skill India campaign 2015 - Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Skill India campaign at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi
on first ever World Youth Skills Day on 15th July 2015.
Key points
(i) The campaign aims to converge and monitor skill development schemes across the country as well as provide
subsidized loans to students for vocational training.
(ii) A Skill Loan has been launched, where loans from 5,000 to 1.5 lakh rupees will be available to over 34 lakh youth,
over the next five years.
22. Mobile app Disha launched in Bihar - Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad launched a new mobile app named Disha
to promote digital literacy in Bihar.
23. Grama Jyothi scheme launched in Telangana - Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao launched a flagship
programme Grama Jyothi across the state.
24. RISHTA project launched in Himachal Pradesh - Himachal Pradesh Government launched the Rajiv Gandhi
Illuminating Scheme for Hill Town Advancement (RISHTA) project, an efficient smart LED based street lighting project.
With this, Himachal Pradesh became the first state in North India to do so.
Key points
(i) The scheme is also known as Centralized Control and Monitoring System (CCMS) Smart Street Lighting Scheme
for Urban Local bodies which implements LED based street lighting project.
25. Namami Gange Program - Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the flagship Namami
Gange Program. It has a budgetary outlay of 20000 crore rupees for 2015-20. It will be implemented National Ganga
River Basin Authority (NGRBA) with the help of State Program Management Groups (SPMGs).
26. Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) - Agriculture Irrigation Scheme.
Key points:
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Scheme aims at providing irrigation facilities to every village in the country by converging ongoing irrigation schemes
implemented by various ministries.
Budgetary allocation: 1,000 crore rupees for fiscal year 2015-16.
Funding Pattern: Centre- States will be 75: 25 per cent. In case of north-eastern region and hilly states it will be 90:10.
27. Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana: It is a small deposit scheme for the girl child.
Key points of the scheme
In one family, a maximum of two accounts can be opened for two girl children. The account can be transferred
anywhere in India from one Post office/Bank to another.
Age Limit: The upper age limit of the girl child for opening this account is 10 years. The govt. has given a relaxation of
one year in the upper age limit for those opening accounts till December 1, 2015.
Documents required - 1. Birth Certificate of the girl child. 2. Address proof. 3. Identity proof.
Minimum & Maximum deposit: The minimum deposit under the scheme is Rs. 1000/-. The maximum deposit is Rs.
1.5 lakhs. There is no limit on the number of investments one can make in an account either in a month or in a year.
Interest rate: The government will announce the interest rate of the scheme every year. However, the government of
India has increased the rate of interest from 9.1% (2014-15) to 9.2% (2015-16) for this financial year.
Maturity period: The maturity period of the scheme is 21 years from the date of account opening, though deposits
need to be made only for the first 14 years.
The minimum lock-in in period under the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana is 11 years.
28. Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY):
The scheme aims to impart skill training to youth with focus on first time entrants to the labour market and class 10
and class 12 drop outs.
The scheme will be implemented by the Union Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship through the
National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC). I
t will cover 24 lakh persons and skill training would be based on the National Skill Qualification Framework (NSQF)
and industry led standards
29. Bhagyashree scheme: It is girl child scheme was launched in Maharashtra. Bollywood actress Bhagyashree is the brand
ambassador of the scheme.
Key points of the scheme:
The state government will deposit an amount of 21200 rupees in bank for a girl child born in a Below the Poverty Line
(BPL) family.
The scheme aims at providing one 1 lakh rupees on maturity after the girl completes 18 years of age.
The scheme would be linked to the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme of Union Government.
30. Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan (RAA): Former President of India Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam launched the Rashtriya Avishkar
Abhiyan (RAA) in New Delhi. The abhiyan aims to inculcate a spirit of inquiry, creativity and love for Science and
Mathematics in school children. Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan is a concept developed by the Ministry of Human Resource
Development. RAA is an effort to take forward the Prime Minister Narednra Modis vision of Digital India, Make in India
and Teach in India.
31. Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY): It is a low premium insurance scheme which will link with the
Pradhan Mantri Jhan Dhan Yojna.

Eligibility: Minimum 18 years and maximum 50 years and have bank account are eligible for the scheme. If the account
is opened before attaining the age of 50 years, the life cover would remain intact up to the age of 55 years, if premium is
paid regularly.
Premium - Rs.330 per year i.e. less than Rs.1 per day.
Risk coverage - Rs.2 Lakh in case of death for any reason.
The premium paid will be tax-free under section 80C and also the proceeds amount will get tax-exemption u/s 10(10D).
32. Atal Pension Yojana (APY): It is a scheme mainly for workers in unorganised sector. The scheme will be administered by
the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) and replace the previous government's Swavalamban
Yojana NPS Lite.
36 | P a g e
The subscribers who will joined the scheme would receive the fixed pension of Rs. 1000 per month, Rs. 2000 per
month, Rs. 3000 per month, Rs. 4000 per month, Rs. 5000 per month, at the age of 60 years, depending on their
contributions.
Age limit: minimum 18 years and maximum age is 40 years.
A subscriber can contribute for minimum period of 20 years or more and pension payment will start at the age of 60
years.
The government of India has decided to co-contribute 50% of the subscriber's contribution or Rs. 1000 per annum,
whichever is lower, to each eligible subscriber account, for a period of 5 years, i.e., from 2015-16 to 2019-20, who join
the NPS before 31st December, 2015 and who are not income tax payers.
33. Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY): It is an insurance scheme which covers death or disablement of the
policyholder caused due to accident or accidental injuries.
Age limit: Minimum 18 yrs and maximum 70 years.
The scheme will be a one year cover, renewable from year to year and would be administered through the Public
Sector General Insurance Companies in collaboration with Banks.
Risk coverage: Rs. 2 Lakh and for partial disability cover of Rs. 1 Lakh.
Premium: Rs.12 per annum. The premium will be directly auto-debited by the bank from the subscribers' account.
34. Kisan Vikas Patra Saving scheme relaunched by government of India.
Key points
(i) Money will be doubles in 8 years 4 months (100 months). Thus the applicable interest rate is 8.7%
(ii) KVP will be available in denominations of Rs.1,000, Rs. 5,000, Rs. 10,000, and Rs. 50,000.
(iii) There will be no upper ceiling on investment.
(iv) Minimum lock-in period is 2 years and 6 months.
(v) KVP can be encashed in eight equal monthly installments after the lock-in period.
(vi) No KYC norms would be applicable at the time of purchase of KVP, PAN details will not be required.
35. Public Provident Fund (PPF) Saving scheme.
Key points
(i) An individual can open account with Rs. 100/- but has to deposit minimum of Rs. 500/- in a financial year and
maximum Rs.1.5 lakh.
(ii) Maturity period is 15 years but the same can be extended within one year of maturity for further 5 years and so on.
(iii) Interest rates - 8.70% per annum (compounded yearly).
(iv) Account can be opened by cash/cheque and In case of cheque, the date of realization of cheque in Govt. account shall
be date of opening of account.
Sports News
Cricket News
ICC World Cup Cricket Venues:
ODI
1. England 2019
2. India 2023
37 | P a g e
Test
1. England - 2017
2. India 2021
T20
1. India -2016
2. Australia 2020
Cricket news1. ICC U19 Cricket World Cup - West Indies defeated
India to lift their maiden ICC Under-19 Cricket World
Cup title. The final played at Mirpur, Bangladesh.
2. De Kock of South Africa became fastest cricketer to
make 10 ODI centuries - Quinton de Kock, the
wicketkeeper-batsman of South Africa, the fastest
cricketer to make 10 One Day International (ODI)
centuries. He took mere 55 innings to reach as many
centuries.
3. Rahul Dravid has been named in ICCs newly
appointed Anti-Corruption Oversight Group as part of
the recommendation from its Integrity Working Party
of the parent body.
4. BCCI bans Pakistani umpire Asad Rauf for 5 years Pakistani umpire Asad Rauf banned for five years by
the BCCI after its disciplinary committee found him
guilty of corrupt practices and bringing the game into
disrepute.
5. Virat Kohli becomes No.1 T20 batsman.
6. India reaches to No.1 spot in ICCC T20 ranking.
7. Allan Border Medal 2016 - David Warner wins the
award.
8. Blind T20 Asia Cup - India defeat Pakistan in first
Blind T20 Asia Cup.
9. Virat Kohli becomes fastest to score 24 tons in
ODIs - Indian batsman Virat Kohli became the fastest
to register 24 hundreds in one-day cricket, surpassing
the twin milestones in just his 161st innings.
10. Virat kohli fastest to reach 7,000 runs in ODIs Virat Kohli has become the fastest man to score 7000
runs in One-Day International cricket.
Fastest to reach 7000 ODI runs
Virat Kohli (India) 161 innings
AB de Villiers (South Africa) 166 innings
Sourav Ganguly (India) 174 innings
Brian Lara (West Indies) 183 innings
Desmond Haynes (West Indies) 187 innings
11. BCCI imposed a life ban on Haryana off-spinner Ajit
Chandila for his involvement in the 2013 IPL spotfixing scandal.
12. Steve Smith wins ICC Cricketer of the Year Award
2015
He was also adjudged the ICC Test Cricketer of the
Year.
Other awards
ICC ODI Cricketer of the Year AB de Villiers
(South Africas ODI captain)
ICC Womens ODI Cricketer of the Year Meg
Lanning (Australia womens captain)
ICC Womens T20I Cricketer of the Year award
Stafanie Taylor (West Indies womens captain)
ICC Emerging Cricketer of the Year award Josh
Hazlewood (Australia fast bowler)
38 | P a g e
ICC Spirit of Cricket Award Brendon McCullum

(New Zealand captain)
ICC T20I Performance of the Year Faf du Plessis
(South Africa)
ICC Umpire of the Year (David Shepherd Trophy)
Richard Kettleborough
13. Syed Kirmani selected for C.K. Nayudu Lifetime

Achievement Award
14. Justin Langer to coach Australian ODI team in 2016. He
replaces Darren Lehmann.
15. Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy - Uttar Pradesh defeat
Baroda in the final to win its Syed maiden Mushtaq Ali
T20 Trophy.
16. Gujarat won maiden Vijay Hazare title - Gujarat beat
Delhi by 139 runs to win their maiden Vijay Hazare
Cricket Trophy.
17. V S Laxmans masterly innings of 281 against
Australia at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata has been
rated as the greatest Test performance of the last 50
years.
18. Pranav Dhanawade hits world record 1009 runs at
school level tournament.
Pranav Dhanawade a 15-year-old cricketer of Smt
KC Gandhi School, Kalyan team from Mumbai,
smashed an unbeaten 1009 not out off 327
deliveries to notch up the highest individual score
in minor cricket, breaking a 117-year-old record.
19. Virat Kohli wins Polly Umrigar Award 2015 16
20. South African Graham Xavier Ford was named as the
chief coach of the Sri Lankan Cricket team.
21. Colin Munro hits 2nd-fastest 50 in T-20 - New
Zealands Colin Munro has blasted second-fastest fifty
just 14 balls in T-20 Internationals against Sri Lanka.
22. ICC announces MoneyGram as Event Partner - The
ICC and MoneyGram International, a leading global
provider of money transfer services, today announced
an eight-year deal which confirms MoneyGram as an
event partner for ICC events from 2016-2023.
23. MRF becomes global partner for ICC - MRF Ltd
becomes a global partner for International Cricket
Council (ICC) by signing a four-deal with the council
that includes this years ICC World Twenty 20 in India,
next years ICC Champions Trophy and ICC Cricket
World Cup in 2019.
24. West Indies batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul
announced his retirement from international cricket
almost 22 years after making his debut.
25. Pakistan Cricketer Imran Farhat retired from
International Cricket.
26. Chris Gayle Equals Yuvraj Singhs Fastest T20 Fifty
Record - Chris Gayle hit a 12-ball 50 for Melbourne
Renegades against Adelaide Strikers in a Big Bash
League semifinal to equal Yuvraj Singhs record, set at
the 2007 World Twenty20. Gayles innings included

seven sixes and two fours.
27. Rajkot franchise IPL team name as Gujarat Lions Intex Technologies, which owns the newly formed
Rajkot IPL team, announced its official name as

Gujarat Lions. The team also announced Suresh Raina
as its captain.
Football News
FIFA (Football) World Cup Venue
1. Russia 2018
FIFA U 17 World Cup

Venues
1. Chile - 2015
2. Qatar - 2022
2. India 2017
FIFA 2015 World Rankings announced - India rank at 163rd spot in the latest FIFA rankings Top 5 teams in the latest FIFA rankings
Belgium (1)
Argentina (2)
Spain (3)
Germany (4)
Chile (5)
1. Lionel Messi wins Worlds best Football player
Award for 5th time. Real Madrids Cristiano Ronaldo
was second, while Messis Barcelona teammateNeymar was third.
2. Brazilian football legend Ronaldinho Gaucho
inaugurated the Nagjee International Club Football
Tournament, which is being revived after a gap of 21
years, at a function in Kozhikode.
3. Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan bestowed
honorary life membership of the citys famed soccer
outfit Mohammedan Sporting which is celebrating its
125th anniversary this year.
4. Chennaiyin FC clinch ISL Champions 2015 title
Chennaiyin FC defeated FC Goa by 3-2 in the final
to clinch the 2nd Indian Super League Football
tournament 2015 title.
Mendoza, who finished as the tournaments
highest scorer with 13 goals, bagged the Golden
boot as well as the Hero of the League award.
5. Barcelona lifted FIFA Club World Cup 2015
Barcelona defeated River Plate by 3-0 in the final
and clinched the Fifa Club World Cup for a third
time.
This is the fifth trophy of Barcelona in year 2015.

6. Suspended FIFA President Sepp Blatter and European
football chief Michel Platini have been banned from
all football-related activities for eight years.
7. India beat Afghanistan to lift SAFF Cup title for 7th
time.
8. World footballs governing body, FIFA, has dismissed
Secretary General Jerome Valcke. He was
provisionally suspended from football for his alleged
involvement in a scheme to profit from the sale of
World Cup tickets.
9. Nigeria defeated Mali 2-0 to won 2015 FIFA U-17
World Cup
Note: India will host the bi-annual championship in
2017
10. Real Madrid Cristiano Ronaldo wins a record 4th
Golden Boot
11. (SAFF) under-16 title - Bangladesh Under-16 team
won their first-ever South Asian Football Federation
(SAFF) under-16 title. In the title clash the hosts
defeated defending champions India 4-2 in penalties.
12. 2015 Womens Fifa World Cup - USA defeated Japan
to win Women's FIFA World Cup for the third time.
Hockey News
Hockey World Cup venue
Venue
Year
1. India (Mens)
2018
2. England (Womens) 2018
39 | P a g e
1. 26th Lal Bahadur Shastri Hockey tournament - Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) defeated Indian Railways by
3-0to won the 26th Lal Bahadur Shastri Hockey tournament.
2. Bjorn Isberg appointed Tournament Director of 2016 Hockey India League.
3. Sultan of Johor Cup 2015 - Great Britain defeated Indian junior men's hockey team and captured Sultan of Johor Cup
(SOJC).
4. Punjab National Bank won Beighton Cup of Hockey, defeated Indian Oil Corporation in the final.
5. Senior India hockey player Gurbaj Singh suspended for 9 months for indulging in groupism and creating disharmony
within the team.
6. Hockey India appointed Roelant Oltmans as coach of Mens national team
Tennis News
Category
Mens single
Womens single
Women's double
Australian Open Title - 2016

Winner
Novak Djokovic
Angelique Kerber (Germany)
Sania Mirza & Martina Hingis
Runner up
Andy Murray
Serena Williams
Andrea Hlavackova
Lucie Hradecka
&
Note:
Novak Djokovic wins sixth Australian Open title 2016. He also draws level with tennis greats Bjorn Borg and Rod
Laver on 11 Grand Slam titles.
Angelique Kerber is the first German to win a major singles title since Steffi Graf at the 1999 French Open.
This is the third consecutive Grand Slam title for Sania and Martina, having won the Wimbledon and US Open in the
2015 season. Sania and Martina have now extended their unbeaten run to 36 matches, winning eight titles in a row.
ITF announced winners of 2015 World Champions - International Tennis Federation (ITF) announced the winners of 2015
World Champions
List of Awards
Mens World Champion Novak Djokovic (Serbia)
Womens World Champion Serena Williams (the USA)
Mens Doubles World Champions Jean-Julien Rojer (Netherlands) & Horia Tecau (Romania)
Womens Doubles World Champions Womens Doubles World Champions
ITF Junior World Champions Dalma Galfi (Hungary) & Taylor Fritz (the USA)
ITF Wheelchair World Champions Jiske Griffioen (Netherlands) & Shingo Kunieda (Japan)
1. 2016 St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy - Sania Mirza and
her Swiss partner Martina Hingis won the 2016 St.
Petersburg Ladies Trophy in St. Petersburg, Russia.
They defeated Russian-Czech team of Vera Dushevina
and Barbora Krejcikova by 6-3 6-1 in the womens
doubles final.
2. Roger Federer is first man to win 300 Slam
matches - Swiss legend Roger Federer becomes first
male tennis player to win 300 Grand Slam matches. He
achieved this feat by defeating Grigor Dimitrov of
Bulgaria by 6-4 3-6 6-1 6-4 in the third round of
Australian Open.
3. Sania Mirza & Martina Hingis maintains top spot in
WTA double ranking
40 | P a g e
4. Qatar Open Title 2016 - Novak Djokovic defeated

Rafael Nadal in the final.
5. Brisbane International Title 2016 womens singleVictoria Azarenka defeated Angelique Kerber in the
final.
6. Brisbane International title 2016 womens double Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis beat Angelique Kerber
and Andrea Petkovic of Germany.
7. Brisbane International title 2016 mens single Milos Raonic of Canada beat Roger Federer of
Switzerland in the final.
8. Sydney International Title 2016 - Sania Mirza and
Martina Hingis defeat Caroline Garcia and Kristina
Mladenovic in the final.
9. Marat Safin of Russia inducted Into International

Tennis Hall of Fame. With this, he become first
Russian national to be inducted in the International
Tennis Hall of Fame.
10. Chennai Open title - Stanislaus Wawrinka beat
Borna Coric by teenager 6-3, 7-5 in the final to win
third consecutive Chennai Open title. This is the fourth
Chennai Open title for the Swiss player and the third
consecutive win, who first won it in 2011.
11. Hopman Cup 2016 - Australia beat Ukraine to win
Hopman Cup for 1st Time in 17 Years.
12. Andy Murray named 2015 BBC Sports Personality of

the Year Award.
13. Singapore Slammers wins IPTL Title 2015
The Singapore Slammers won the Indian Premier
Tennis League (IPTL) 2015 title by defeating
Micromax Indian Aces in the final.
14. Yan Dhanda has become the first player of Indian
heritage to sign a professional contract with English
football powerhouse Liverpool.
15. 2015 Davis Cup tennis title - Great Britain defeated
Belgium to win
Commonwealth Games (CWG)

1. CWG - 2022 Durban, South Africa.
2. CWG - 2018 Gold Coast, Australia.
Olympics Games Venue
Summer Olympics Games
(i) Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 2016
(ii) Tokyo, Japan 2020
Winter Olympics Games

(i) Pyeongchang, South Korea 2018
(ii) Beijing, China 2022
1. 2024 Summer Olympics - International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced name of five cities namely Los Angeles,
Hamburg, Paris, Rome and Budapest as candidates to host the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Asian Games Venue
The 2018 Asian Games to be held in Jakarta, Indonesia
2022 Asian Games to be held in - Hangzhou City of China.
Note: Asian Games were held every 4 years. In 2014 Asain Games was held in Incheon, South Korea.
Badminton News
1. Ace Indian shuttler K. Srikanth clinched the Mens Singles title of the Syed Modi International Grand Prix Gold
Badminton Championships.
2. PV Sindhu wins Malaysia Masters Grand Prix Gold Badminton title.
3. Siril Verma tops junior badminton rankings
Indias Siril Verma occupy the number one spot in junior mens singles category in the Badminton World Federation
(BWF) rankings.
4. Delhi Crowned Premier Badminton League Champion - Delhi Acers beat Mumbai Rockets in the final.
Formula 1 winner
1. 2015-16 MRF Challenge Formula 2000 - Pietro
Fittipaldi (Brazilian racing driver)
2. Lady Wigram Trophy - Jehan Daruvala (Sahara Force
India Academy racer)
Note: The Lady Wigram Trophy is a New Zealand
motorsport race trophy.
3. Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2015 - Nico Rosberg
(Mercedes driver)
41 | P a g e
4. Brazilian Grand Prix 2015 - Nico Rosberg (Mercedes

driver)
5. United States Grand Prix title 2015 - Lewis Hamilton
(Mercedes driver)
Mexican Grand Prix 2015 - Nico Rosberg (Mercedes
driver)
Other Sports News

1. South Asian Games: India finishes on top with 308
medals
The 2016 South Asian Games, officially the XII
South Asian Games, is a major multi-sport event
which took place from 5 February to 16 February
2016 in Guwahati and Shillong, India.
Total 8 countries participate Afghanistan,
Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal,
Pakistan & Sri Lanka
India finishes on top with 308 medals including
188 gold, 90 silvers, 30 bronze medals.
Sri Lanka, placed second in the table featuring
eight SAARC countries, came nowhere close to
India in the medals tally list. The Lankans bagged a
total of 186 medals (25 golds, 63 silvers and 98
bronze medals).
Ranking
1. India
2. Sri
Lanka
3.
Pakistan
Gold
188
25
Silver
90
63
Bronze
30
98
Total
308
186
12
37
57
106
2. Kerala wins 61st National School Athletics

championship
Kerala has won the 61st National School Athletics
championship which was held in Kozhikode.
This is for the 19th consecutive time Kerala
becomes the champions in the event. Tamil Nadu
came second.
Kerala, the host of the championship got 306
points winning 39 gold, 29 silver and 17 bronze
medals. Tamil Nadu, who came second, got 116
points winning 11 gold, 8 silver and 13 bronze
medals.
Maharahtra with 101 points gained the third
position. Kerala won 10 meet records out of 20
records which were reported in the meet.
3. Hilton Asian Tour Golfer of the Year award - Indias
Anirban Lahiri has been voted as the Hilton Asian Tour
Golfer of Year by fans in an online poll.
4. Fukuoka to host 2021 World Aquatics
Championships - The International Swimming
Federation (FINA) announced that the Japanese city of
Fukuoka will host the 2021 World Aquatics
Championships. And the Qatar capital Doha will host
the 2023 event.
42 | P a g e
5. Aditya Mehta defeated Manan Chandra 6-3 in the final

to won the 83rd Senior National Snooker
Championship held in Indore, Madhya Pradesh.
6. Apurvi Chandela bags tournaments best shooter
award
Apurvi Chandela won the second gold medal and
emerged as the Shooter of the Tournament in the
Swedish Cup Grand Prix.
7. Miguel Tabuena of Philippines has been voted as the
Hilton Asian Tour Golfer of Month for December 2015.
8. 12th South Asian Games to be held in Guwahati &
Shillong.
9. Denmarks sportsperson of 2015 - Rene Holten
Poulsen
10. Vijender Singh becomes first Indian to score ProBoxing hat-trick
Indian boxer Vijender Singh defeated Samet
Hyuseinov of Bulgaria at Pro Boxing tournament
held in Manchester.
11. Abhay Singh lifted U-19 Singapore Squash Open
Abhay Singh has lifted Under-19 Singapore Squash
Open 2015 title.
He defeated Alwin Chai of Malaysia by 11-8, 11-3,
11-8 in the final played at Singapore.
12. Bajrang Punia in Mens 65kg and Ritu Phogat in
womens 48kg Freestyle categories won gold medals
on the first day of the Senior National Wrestling
Championship in New Delhi.
13. Indian cyclist Deborah Herold became World No. 4
Cyclist
14. Indian Golfer Anirban Lahiri wins Order of Merit
crown of Asian Tour
15. Rory McIlroy bagged European Tour Golfer of the
Year award
16. Australia defeated Belgium to win Hockey World
League 2015 Final
17. Indias Thakur Anoop Singh won gold medal in
World Bodybuilding and Physique Championships
18. Robert Lewandowski awarded with four Guinness
World Record certificates for scoring five goals in
nine minutes
19. New Zealand defeated Australia to won Rugby
World Cup for record third time
20. 2015 FIDE World Chess Cup - Russias Sergey
Karjakin defeated Peter Svidler by 6-4 in the final to
won the title.
Joint Militiary Exercise

1. LAMITYE 2016 India & Seychelles joint military
exercise
2. Surya Kiran IX - India-Nepal Military Exercise
3. Shakti-2016 - Indo-French military exercise
4. Sahayog Kaijin 2016 - India & Japan joint Coast
Guard Exercise
5. Joint Naval Exercise SLINEX 2015 - India & Sri Lanka
6. Indra - Indo-Russia bilateral naval exercise
7. Malabar Exercise 2015 India, US & Japan.
8. Mitra Shakti 2015 India Sri Lanka
9. Hand in Hand India & China
10. EKUVERIN 2015 India Maldives
11. AUSINDEX-15 India Australia (Bilateral Maritime

Ex.)
12. Indradhanush India UK (Bilateral Air Ex.)
13. Varuna Exercise 2015 - India - France Naval Exercise.
14. Surya Kiran VIII Indo- Nepal joint military exercise.
15. HADR Exercise - Indian Navy conducted a large scale
Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR)
exercise in the Lakshadweep Islands (Karavati, Aggatti,
Kalpeni and Androth).
16. Shaheen (Eagle)-4 - China and its strategic partner
Pakistan have launched a joint air exercise called
Shaheen (Eagle)-4 in China.
Science | Defence | News

1. North Koreas National Aerospace Development
Administration (NADA) launched the
Kwangmyongsong-4 satellite.
2. Japan unveiled its first stealth fighter aircraft X-2.
Japan becomes the fourth nation to test fly its own
stealth jet after US, Russia & China.
3. Indias first Defence Industrial Park gets nod by
DIPP - Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion
(DIPP) of Union Government have given its final
approval to Kerala Governments approval to set up
Indias first Defence Industrial Park at Ottappalam.
4. Anti-submarine warfare (ASW) corvette INS
Kadmatt commissioned in the Indian Navy at naval
dockyard in Visakhapatnam.
5. LRSAM successfully test-fired from INS Kolkata Long Range Surface-to-Air Missile (LRSAM), the missile
co-developed by India and Israel, successfully testfired on the Western Sea Board.
6. ISRO launches 5th navigation satellite IRNSS-1E RNSS-1E is the fifth navigation satellite in the IRNSS
space system, comprising seven satellites, which would
be on par with US-based GPS once the full complement
of spacecraft is launched.
7. ISRO & Kuwait Institute ink cooperation in space
exploration
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO)
and Kuwait Institute of Scientific Research (KISR)
signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on
cooperation in the exploration and use of outer
space for peaceful purposes.
43 | P a g e
8. India to build satellite tracking station in Vietnam India will set up a satellite tracking and imaging centre
in southern Vietnam that will give Hanoi access to
pictures from Indian earth observation satellites that
cover the region, including China and the South China
Sea.
9. Akash missile successfully test fired - Indigenouslybuilt surface-to-air Akash missile successfully test fired
from complex-3 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at
Chandipuri in Odisha. Akash missile is a mid-range
surface-to-air missile (SAM).
10. American aerospace company SpaceX successfully
launched Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
11. Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar inaugurated the
first cable-stayed bridge of north India in Kathua
district at Jammu & Kashmir, which will provide close
connectivity between the three states of Jammu and
Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab.
Note: The Basohli bridge is fourth of its kind in India.
The other three cable-stayed bridges are, Hooghly
Bridge at Kolkata, Naini Bridge in Allahabad and Rajiv
Gandhi Sea Link in Mumbai.
12. Reliance Defence signs pact with Russian arms firm
Almaz-Antey - Reliance Defence had signed a $6
billion deal with Russias Almaz-Antey, whose air
defence system is likely to be bought by the Indian
defence forces.
13. Indias first indigenously designed warship INS
Godavari decommissioned after 32 years of service.
14. China launches Gaofen-4 observation satellite China successfully launched its most sophisticated
observation satellite, Gaofen-4, as part of the countrys

high-definition earth observation project.
15. ISRO successfully launches 6 Singapore Satellites
onboard PSLV-C29 - Indian Space Research
Organisation (ISRO) has successfully placed six
commercial satellites from Singapore in their
dedicated orbits. These satellites were launched using
Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C29) from the
first launch pad of Satish Dhawan Space Centre in
Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.
16. Indigenously developed Communication satellite
GSAT-15 successfully launched from French Guiana
17. Japan successfully launches its first commercial
satellite - TELSTAR 12V
18. Indias 1st dedicated satellite for astronomy
research ASTROSAT launched. The satellite was
launched from the first launch pad of Satish Dhawan

Space Centre at Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh by Polar
Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C30). PSLV-C30 is the
tenth flight of PSLV in its 'XL' Configuration.
19. Indias
first
Harbour
Defence
System
commissioned in Kochi, Kerala. Designed by Israel
Aerospace Industries (IAI).
20. India has gifted its former Indian Coast Guard (ICG)
Ship Varaha to Sri Lanka.
21. DRDO inaugurated worlds highest Research
Centre in Ladakh - The Defence Research and
Development Organisation (DRDO) inaugurated an
Extreme Altitude Research Centre at Chang La, Ladakh
in Jammu and Kashmir at 17600 feet above mean sea
level. It is the worlds highest terrestrial research and
development centre.
Cabinet Ministers and their Constituencies

1.
2.
3.
4.
Narendra modi- Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh)

Rajnath singh- Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh)
Ramvilas paswan- Hajipur (Bihar)
Arun jaitley- Gujarat (Rajya sabha). Lost from Amritsar
constituency in 2014 elections
5. Venkaiah naidu- Karnataka (Rajya sabha)
6. Nitin gadkari- Nagpur (Maharashtra)
7. Sushma swaraj- Vidisha (Madhya Pradesh)
8. Dr.Harsh vardhan- Chandani chowk (Delhi)
9. Dr. Najma heptullah- Madhya pradesh(Rajya sabha)
10. Kalraj mishra- Deoria(Uttar Pradesh)
11. Narendra singh tomar- Gwalior (madhya pradesh)
12. Maneka gandhi- Pilibhit (Uttar Pradesh)
13. Ananth kumar- Bangalore south(Karnataka)
14. Ravi Shankar prasad-Bihar(Rajya sabha)
15. Ashok gajapathi raju - Vizianagaram (Andhra Pradesh )

16. Anant geete- Raigad (maharashtra)
17. Harsimrat kaur- Bathinda(Punjab)
18. Suresh prabhu- Rajapur(Maharashtra)
19. Jagat prakash nadda- Bilaspur(Himachal pradesh)
20. Smriti irani- Gujarat (Rajya sabha)
21. Jual oram- Sundargarh (Odisha)
22. Radha Mohan singh-Purvi champaran(Bihar)
23. Thawar chand gehlot- Madhya Pradesh (Rajya sabha)
24. Manohar parrikar- Panaji(Goa)
25. Sadananda gowda-Bangalore north (Karnataka)
26. Ch. Birender singh- Uchana kalan (Haryana)
27. Uma bharti- Jhansi (Uttar Pradesh)
Best wishes for your exams!
44 | P a g e
45 | P a g e

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