Monthly GK

Capsule
For All Exams (Specially For Banking Exams)

July 2015
Banking Awareness
By- Varun Prakash

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 Daily GK Update - 1st July 2015
1. Digital India huge opportunity for
health, education: Anil Agarwal
i. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Digital
India' drive will open up huge
opportunities in health and e ducation fo r
rural areas, creating a large number of
jobs.
ii. The initiative aims to digitally deliver
all the essential services to citizens and
transform India into a digitally
empowered society and knowledge
economy by leveraging IT.
iii. Agarwal, who heads the mining giant
Vedanta Resources Plc, is the Non-
Executive Chairman of Sterlite
Technologies Ltd which is involved majorly
in laying the optical fibre network to
connect 2.5 lakh gram panchyats.
iv. It is undertaking Fibe r-to-the-Home
(FTTH) deployment in India to enable high
speed broadband connectivity and is
developing several transmission
infrastructure projects spanning over
5,000 Circuit Kms across India.
2. World Bank approves $650 mn loan
for Eas tern Freight Corridor
i. The World Bank said on Wednesday it
had cleared a $650 million loan for a
huge Indian freight rail corridor that will
span 1,840 kms (1,140 miles) across the
northern heartland of the country.
ii. Construction of the Easte rn Dedicated
Freight Corridor will help speed up the
carrying of goods between Ludhiana in
the western region and Kolkata in the
east, and is part of a series of new
freight lines the World Bank says India
needs to ease congestion on its network.
iii. The loan is the third from the World
Bank to help fund the freight corridor.
Last year the bank approved a $1.1
billion outlay and in 2011 $975 million.
iv. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's
government, banking on big investment in
infrastructure to boost the economy,
approved a $137 billion investment plan
for the railways in February.
3. BHEL commissions Sudan's larges t
power project
i. State-owned power equipment maker
Bhel today said it has commissioned
Sudan's largest power plant.
ii. Bhel has executed this project on
Engineering, Procurement and
Construction (EPC) basis. It has designed,
manufactured, supplied and installed the
complete power project (4 units of 125
MW each) including associated civil
works.
iii. The project uses crude oil from South
Sudan as fuel, for which Bhel has
designed special boilers. All the major
equipment for the project -- boilers,
steam-turbines, generators, Controls &
Instrumentation (C&I), transformers --
have been manufactured in-house.
iv. The company has also constructed a
canal from the White Nile River to supply
water for the project. The project is
funded by the India's Line of Credit of
USD 350 million.
v. The Kosti plant is Bhel's largest oil-fired
thermal power pl ant in the overseas
market. It is also Bhel's first crude oil fired
thermal power plant in Africa and comes
on the heels of the successful completion
of Bhel's 28 MW Nyaborango Hydro
project in Rwanda.
4. SBI partners with MakeMyTrip for
travel biz
i. In its series o f digital initiatives and tie-
ups, State Bank of India, countrys largest
bank, partnered with online travel
company MakeMyTrip.com to capitalise
on the business opportunities of the
booming e-commerce and m-commerce
ecosystem.
ii. The alliance includes partnership with
personal banking unit for consumer facing
propositions including EMIs on purchase
of holidays & international travel,
customized travel products like Forex
cards and travel products that inspire SBI
customers to travel.
iii. It also includes partnership with SME &
Acquiring Business -- MMT suppliers, such
as 2-3 star hotels, franchisees, Trade &
Travel partners will ge t access to SBI
products, loans, bank guarantees, PoS
payment instruments at preferential rate s
and partnership with cards for promoting
card usage which will help in pushing the
agenda of a less cash economy.
iv. MakeMyTrip constitutes about 46% of
the bookings in the online space and a lot
of product work is being done in the $22-
23 billion travel industry ecosystem.
5. Shimla Rs 643 Cr water scheme
cleared for World Bank funding
i. Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh here
disclosed that a Rs 643 crore project fo r
augmenting the water supply to the
growing hill city had been approved by
the union government.
ii. The project got the union finance
ministry nod yesterday (29.6.2015) and
it would be placed before World Bank
for funding purposes, said a government
spokesman. PC Dhiman, additional chief
secretary, on behalf of the state
attended the meeting.
iii. The loan component would be Rs 514
crore and the state government would be
contributing Rs 129 crore for funding the
project.
iv. The new project involves lifting wate r
from Kol Dam reservoir on River Satluj
and it would meet the wate r needs of
Shimla municipal corporation as well
suburban are as under the special
planning area.
6. Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu
Inaugurates Integrated Security Sys tem
in Mumbai
i. Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu
inaugurated the Integrated Security
System (ISS) at 6 railway stations in
Mumbai, Maharashtra. The system was
inaugurated Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus
(CST), Dadar, Kurla and Lokmanya Tilak
Terminus (LTT), Kalyan and Thane.
ii. The ISS is advanced security systems
that aim s at improving security on
Railway premises and also ensure safety
of the people and avert terror attacks in
extreme case. The system has a total of
118 CCTV cameras. They will beam the
live images of railway stations under its
coverage on six monitors.
iii. In the first of the project which was
completed in June 2015 it covered four
stations CST, Dadar, Kurla and LTT.
iv. The second phase is expected to be
completed by December 2016. Apart
from this, he also inaugurated a modified
foot over bridge (FOB) to facilitate
passenger movement at Diva.
7. Matti Makkonen, Father of SMS
technology passes away
i. Finnish telecom engineer and father o f
messaging service (SMS) technology Matti
Makkonen passed aw ay following serious
illness.
Daily GK Update - 2nd July 2015
1. Union Government hiked national
floor-level minimum wage to 160
rupees per day
i. The Union Government in June 2015
increased the national floor-level
minimum wage (NFLMW) to 160 rupees
per day from 137 rupees per day. The
new rate will be effective from 1 July
2015.
ii. If states revise their minimum wages as
per the new NFLMW, the decision is
expected to benefit millions of workers in
the scheduled employments in the
respective state jurisdictions.
iii. It was im plemented for the first time in
1996 on the basis of the
recommendations of the National
Commission on Rural Labour (NCRL) under
the Minimum Wages Act, 1948.
iv. It is a non-statutory measure and afte r
every revision, the State Governments
are persuaded to fix minimum wages
such that in none of the scheduled
employments, the minimum wage is less
than NFLMW.
2. Greece becomes first developed
nation to default IMF debt
i. Greece has become the first developed
nation to default on International
Monetary Fund (IMF) debt. It has
defaulted on a 1.7 billion dollars
payment to IMF.
ii. He was 63. In 1984, he had pioneered
the idea of sending messages via mobile
networks but failed to patent it was
merely idea and was not actual
implementation.
iii. Matti Makkonen was bo rn on 16 April
1952 in Suomussalmi, Finland. He had
graduated as an electrical engineer from
the Oulu technical college in 1976.
iv. He had served as vice president of PTL
and was actively involved in the
development of the GSM-technology
from 1984 to 1988. In 1989, he was
appointed as President of the mobile
communication unit which was later
renamed as Telecom Finland.
v. he was awarded The Economists
Innovation Award in the computing and
telecommunications category.
8. Abhijeet Gupta wins 19th
Commonwealth Chess Championship
i. Former world junior champion and
Grandm aster Abhijeet Gupta won the
19th Commonwealth Chess Championship.
ii. The deadline for debt payment was
missed by Greece after Eurozone Finance
Ministers refused to extend its bailout.
They had refused the bailout afte r
Greece rejected the proposal given
International Monetary Fund (IMF),
European Central Bank (ECB) and the
European Commission (EC). Apart from
this, ECB also has frozen its liquidity
lifeline to Greek banks.
iii. It should be noted that Greece is now
formally in arrears and there are fears
that this could put Greece at risk of
shifting back to its old currency Drachm a
by leaving the Euro. This may increase in
the cost of impo rts of Greece leading to
increase inflation further worsening its
economic crisis.
iv. The Greece crisis may depreciate the
value Euro which may led investors to
invest in Gold and Dollar to be on the
safer side. In this case it may appreciate
value of dollar and make it stronger as
compared to Indian rupees.
3. Prof. Sanjeev Galande selected for G
D Birla Award for Scientific Research
2014
ii. He won the gold medal after settling
for a quick draw with his opponent
Arghyadip Das in the ninth and final
round played at Mumbai, Maharashtra.
iii. In this Chess Championship, Arghyadip
Das came second winning the silver medal
and M R Lalith Babu won the bronze
medal in mens section.
iv. In the womens section, Padmini Rout
won the gold medal. While S
Vijayalakshmi and S Meenakshi won
silver and bronze medal respectively. In
this championship both Vijayalakshmi and
Meenakshi had won the last six games.
i. Prof. Sanjeev Galande has been
selected for the prestigious G D Birla
award for Scientific Research 2014. He
has been selected for his significant
contribution and his pioneering research
in the field of Epigenetics and Molecular
Cell Biology.
ii. Presently, he is a professor at the
Indian Institute of Science Education and
Research (IISER), Pune and also leading a
team of scientists in studying various
aspects of gene
iii. Galande had obtained doctorate in
biochemistry from Indian Institute o f
Science (IISc), Bangalore in 1996. He is
also a postdoctoral fellow at the
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
in the US. He is pioneer for establishing
the Centre of Excellence in Epigenetics at
IISER.
4. Cuba becomes first nation to
eliminate mother-to-child HIV and
syphilis: WHO
i. Cuba has become the first country in the
world to eliminate mother-to-child
transmission of HIV and syphilis. It was
announced by the World Health
Organisation (WHO).

ii. Cuba was able to achieve this
milestone with the help and efforts of
WHO and the Pan American Health
Organisation (PAHO).
iii. Since 2010, WHO/PAHO are working
with partners in Cuba and o ther American
countries to implement a regional
initiative to eliminate mother-to-child
transmission of HIV and syphilis.
iv. Services under this initiative were
provided as part of an equitable,
accessible and universal health system. It
included services like maternal and child
health programs and integrated
programs for HIV and sexually
transmitted infections.
5. 'Mhara Gaon - Jagmag Gaon'
scheme launched in Haryana
i. Haryana government today announced
to launch a voluntary scheme 'Mhara
Gaon - Jagm ag Gaon', aimed at
providing 24-hour uninterrupted power
supply to rural domestic consumers and
improving electricity bill collections in
order to reduce "huge" accumulated
losses of power utilities.
Daily GK Update - 3rd July 2015
1. Govt releases socio -economic and
caste census for better policy -making
i. The socio-economic and caste census
(SECC) 2011 on Friday painted a grim
picture of rural India, indicating that one
out of three families living in villages is
landless and de pends on manual labour
for livelihood.
ii. The SECC 2011, also the first
paperless census conducted on hand-held
electronic devices by the government,
said 23.52% rural families have no
literate adult above 25 years, suggesting
a poor state of education among rural
masses.
iii. The census, carried out in 640 districts
under the aegis o f the rural development
ministry, was released jointly by finance
minister Arun Jaitley and rural
ii. Announcing the scheme here, Haryana
Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said
the state has become first in the country
to launch such an "innovative" scheme.
iii. Explaining the scheme, the Chief
Minister said at present rural consumers
were being supplied electricity for only
12 hours daily.
iv. The consumers in these 310 village s
falling under these 83 feeders would now
be urged to install their meters outside
their houses and ge t their old electricity
wires replaced with insulated wires, the
chief minister said.
6. Dr Anup K Pujari joins as Secretary,
MSME
i. Dr Anup K Pujari has been appointed
Secretary of Ministry of Small and
Medium Enterprise s (MSME) here on
Wednesday.
ii. He succeeds Shri Madhav Lal who
superannuated on June 30, 2015. Before
joining the Ministry of MSME, Pujari was
holding the charge of Secretary, Mines.
iii. Born in 1956, Pujari is a post-
graduate from the University of Boston,
and a Doctorate in Economics. He has
development minister Chaudhary
Birendra Singh.
iv. According to the census, there are a
total number of 24.39 crore households in
the country, of which 17.91 crore live in
villages. Of these, 10.69 crore
households are considered as deprived.
2. Nationwide Mobile Number
Portability goes live
i. The countrywide Mobile Number
Portability (MNP) has become a reality
today. This means mobile subscribers can
now keep their existing mobile phone
numbers even while shifting between
states and circles.
ii. The move lays the first stone for the
government's 'One nation, One number'
served the Central and Karnataka
Government in various capacities.
iv. Shri Balvender Kumar took over the
charge from Dr. Anup K Pujari IAS (KN:
1980) who is now the Secretary Ministry
of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises.
7. NASA unveils prototype of plane to
fly on Mars
i. NASA has unveiled a boomerang-
shaped aircraft that could be the first to
take flight on Mars to look for potential
landing sites for future m anned mission to
the red planet.
ii. The Prandtlm will be released at
about at 100,000 feet altitude, which will
simulate the flight conditions of the
Martian atmosphere, said Al Bowers,
NASA Armstrong chief scientist and
Prandtlm programme manager.
iii. The tests could validate how the
aircraft works, leading to modifications
that will allow it to fold and de ploy from
a 3U CubeSat in the aeroshell of a future
Mars rover.
plan and is sure to benefit millions of
people across the country.
iii. Earlier, the deadline to rollout full
MNP was May 2, 2015. This was,
however, extended by two months afte r
the Cellular Operato rs Association of
India asked for an extension from the
telecom department.
iv. With about 3 million intra-circle MNP
requests every month, more than 157
million subscribers have ported to other
operators as of April, according to Trai
data.
3. Airbus to build military choppers in
India with Mahindra
i. Europe's Airbus Group and India's
Mahindra Group have struck a deal to
build helicopters jointly as they bid to win
an expected w ave of orders from the
country's armed forces, the companies
said in a statement on Friday.
ii. The two groups will form a joint venture
in the coming months, aiming to become
the first private manufacturer of
helicopters in India, the statement said. It
did not say how much the two will invest.
iii. India is in the midst of a huge upgrade
of its armed forces analysts forecast it
will spend $250 billion over the next
decade and P rime Minister Narendra
Modi wants to encourage more
indigenous manufacturing to end India's
position as the world's largest arm s
importer.
iv. Airbus Helicopters, part of Airbus
Group, is joining forces with Mahindra
afte r talking to several Indian companies
that are investing hundreds of millions of
dollars to capitali se on the government's
push to build arms at home.
4. SBI launches initiative to speed up
home loan applications
i. Country's largest lender State Bank of
India today launched an initiative to
provide doorstep se rvices and expedite
home loans application process.
ii. The initiative known as 'Project Tatkal'
will help get the loan within 10 days
afte r receipt of application form and
relevant supporting documents, the bank
said in a release.
iii. The implementation will be done at
large centres with sizable home loan
business.
iv. The bank has also recently introduced
an online customer acquisition solution
(OCAS) for instant e-approval of home
loan applications.
5. Indian-American professor R Paul
Singh named for 2015 World
Agriculture Prize laureate
Daily GK Update - 4th July 2015
1. Guinness Book R ecognises Madhya
Pradeshs World Record in Washing
Hands
i. The Guinness Book of World Records
has recognised a record created in
Madhya Pradesh on World Hand
washing Day in 2014.
ii. The mega hand washing event was
held on 15 Octobe r 2014 to create
awareness about hygiene by washing
hands with soap.
iii. It was organised in all the 51 districts
of Madhya Pradesh in over 13 thousand
places. In it more than 12 lakh 78
thousand students had washed their hand
simultaneously.
i. R Paul Singh, Indian-American professo r
has been selected for 2015 World
Agriculture Prize laureate.
ii. The award w as announced at the
annual Global Confederation for Higher
Education Associations for Agriculture and
Life Sciences (GCHERA) conference held
at the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik,
Lebanon.
iii. Singh is known for niche research
areas of agricultural sector such as
freezing preservation, energy
conservation, post-harvest technology and
mass transfer in food processing.
iv. He had earned a bachelors degree in
agricultural engineering fo rm Punjab
Agricultural University. He had comple ted
his docto rate from Michigan State
University, US.
6. Indian-American teacher Darshan
Jain receives US Pres idential Award
i. Darshan Jain, an Indian-American
teacher has been selected for prestigious
Presidential Aw ard for Excellence in
Mathematics and Science Teaching.
ii. He was named for the award by
President Barack Obam a along with 107
Mathematics and Science teachers across
US. All of them were chosen for shaping
iv. This record broke the earlier the world
record which was jointly held by
Argentina, Peru and Mexico. The joint
record in three countries was created on
October 14, 2011 in which 7,40,870
people had washed their hands
simultaneously at different locations.
Americas success through their passion
for Math and Science.
iii. Presently Darshan Jain is director o f
mathematics at Adlai E. Stevenson High
School in Lincolnshire, Illinois. Previously,
he had taught mathematics at this institute
for eight years.
iv. US Presidential Award is aw arded
annually to outstanding science and
mathematics teachers from across US
from K-12 (kindergarten through 12th
grades). The award carries monetary
prize of US 10000 dollars.
7. Union Government launches web
portal for issuing green clearance
Category B projects
i. Union Government has launched a web
portal for online submission of
applications for environment clearance
by State Environment Impact Assessment
Authorities (SEIAA) for Category B
projects.
ii. It was launched by Union Minister o f
State for Environment, Forest and Climate
Change Prakash Javadekar in New Delhi
on the occasion of Digital India Week.
Soon after the launch of the web portal,
nineteen states instantly have joined it.
iii. The environment clearance web portal
raises the levels of transparency and
accountability as the clearances will be
monitored and carried out effectively on
a real time basis. It will also help to
reduce pendency for maintaining the
rigours of Environment Clearance process.
iv. It should be noted that applications fo r
Environment Clearances under Category
B projects unde r EIA notification, 2006
comes under State government for
approval purpose.
2. President of India receives first copy
of book 'Uniki'
i. The President of India, Shri Pranab
Mukherjee received the first copy of the
book 'Uniki' in Hyderabad today (July 3,
2015). The book has been written by Shri
Ch Vidyasagar Rao, Governor of
Maharashtra. The President received the
book from Shri K Chandrashekar Rao,
Chief Minister of Telangana who formally
released it.

ii. Speaking on the occasion, the President
appealed to the people of both the
states of Andhra Prade sh and Telangana
to work in close harmony, so as to ensure
sustainable development and bette rment
of the people of the country and help it
earn its rightful place in the comity of
nations. He said that we all belong to
India.
iii. He stated that we need to remember
that we can choose our friends but cannot
choose our neighbours. Therefore, it is us
for decide whether we should live in
harmony and peace with our neighbours.
iv. He stated that the title, 'Uniki', which
means Existence, evokes a philosophical
view of the issues and events that have
been written about in this book.
3. C D Balaji took charge as Director of
the Aeronautical Development Agency
i. Commodore C D Balaji (Retd) on 3 July
2015 took charge as the Director of the
Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA)
and Programme Directo r of the Light
Combat Aircraft (LCA).
ii. He succeeded P S Subramanyam,
Distinguished Scientist, who
superannuated on 30 June 2015.
iii. Prior to this appointment, Balaji, an
outsatnding scientists, was Project Directo r
of the LCAs naval version. He was
commissioned into the Indian Navy's
engineering branch in September 1978
and since then, he has specialised in the
Naval Aviation Arm.
iv. He served as an Air Engineer Office r
of INAS 310 (Alize aircraft) for about 3
years embarking the Aircraft Carrier
Vikrant. He joined ADA on deputation in
2002 to work on the development of a
naval version of the light fighter. In
December 2006, he left the Navy and
fully moved to ADA.
v. Based in Bengaluru, ADA is the premier
multi-agency body spearheading the
development of combat aircraft for the
Air Force and the Navy- among them is
the LCA and the proposed Advanced
Medium Combat Aircraft AMCA.
4. BSNL rolls out pre-paid card linked
mobile wallet
i. BSNL launched a pre-paid card linked
mobile wallet service on Friday which
allows customers to transfer cash, pay fo r
services as well as withdraw cash of up to
Rs 1 lakh.
ii. The wallet service, Speed Pay, allows
a customer to load money even if he does
not have a bank account. The money
loaded in the wallet can be transferred
to an account and even withdrawn at
branches or at BSNL outlets.
iii. Loading money into a mobile wallet
from a bank account is an option. BSNL
customers who don't have bank accounts
can also load money at any BSNL retail
outlet and ask the retailer to recharge
their mobile wallet account and pay for
various services.
iv. There will be one-per cent transaction
charge if money from the wallet is
transferred to other bank accounts or a
there is cash withdrawal.
5. 4 Indian-Americans honoured with
Great Immigrants award 2015 in United
States
i. Four Indian-Americans have been
honoured withprestigious Great
Immigrants, The Pride of America award
2015. They are among 38 distinguished
personalities from more than 30 countries
around the world who have been
honoured with this years award.
ii. The award is given by New York-
based Carnegie Corporation on the
occasion of Independence Day of United
States i.e. 4th July.
Preet Bharara: US Attorney, Southern
District of New York.
Rakesh Khurana: Dean of Harvard
College and Marvin Bower Professor o f
Leadership and Development.
Madhulika Sikka: Vice President and
Executive Editor of .Mic.
Abraham Verghese: Physician, Professor
and Author.
6. Solar Impulse completes epic flight to
Hawaii
i. Solar Impulse, the aeroplane that is
powered only by the sun, has landed in
Hawaii after making a historic 7,200km
flight across the Pacific from Japan.
ii. The distance covered and the time
spent in the air - 118 hours - are records
for manned, solar-powered flight. The
duration is also an absolute record for a
solo, un-refuelled journey.
iii. Mr Borschberg's time betters that of
the American adventurer Steve Fossett
who spent 76 hours aloft in a single-
seater jet in 2006.
iv. Solar Impulse's slow speed, light
weight and 72m wingspan put significant
constraints on the type of weather the
vehicle can handle, and that first sortie
was aborted after just one day in the air
because of a fast developing cold front
ahead of it.
7. Former CJI Y K Sabharwal passes
away
i. Former Chief Justice of India Y K
Sabharwal passed aw ay here last
evening. 73-year-old Justice Sabharw al
is survived by two sons Chetan and Nitin.
The cremation will take place today.
ii. Justice Sabharwal was CJI from
November 1, 2005 to January 13, 2007.
iii. He was elevated as an additional
judge of the Delhi High Court in 1986
and became its permanent judge in April
1987.
iv. From Delhi High Court, he went to
Bombay High Court as chief justice
before being appointed as a judge of
the SC on January 28, 2001.
v. Justice Sabharwal delivered several
important judgements including the
verdict in January 2006, that held the
dissolution of Bihar Assembly as illegal
and unconstitutional.
 Daily GK Update - 5th and 6th July 2015
1. C-DO T launches solar powered, long
distance WiFi hotspots
i. As part o f the 'Digital India Week',
Centre for Development of Telematics (C -
DOT) on Monday launched four new
products including solar powered Wi -Fi
and long distance Wi-Fi.
ii. The solar powered Wi-Fi ho tspo ts can
be used for smart cities, rural schools or
panchayats, extending broadband
connectivity remote/ unconnected places.
It can also be used in ship to ship
communications in deep seas.
iii. The state-of-the-art telecommunication
technology developer that launched long-
distance Wi-Fi, said such technology can
be used for operator sharing, support to
link redundancy in case of failure of one
radio/ link.
iv. Apart from these, C -DOT also
launched Next Generation Network
solution that will address the needs of the
changing telecom scenario and would
enable smooth transition from Time
Division Multiplexing (TDM) to Voice over
Internet Protocol (VoIP).
2. Uttar Pradesh first to have vehicle
tracking system
i. Uttar Pradesh S tate Road Transport
Corporation (UPSRTC) has become the
first State transport corpo ration to have a
vehicle tracking system for inter-city
buses, which has led to a reduction in
accidents and deaths as drivers are wary
of crossing the speed limits.
ii. In a passenger-friendly IT initiative,
UPSRTC is also in talks with Delhi
Transport Corporation and State
transport undertakings in Haryana,
Rajasthan and Himachal to have a
common bus travel card, apart from Delhi
Metro Rail Corporation.
iii. This is to ensure that the smart cards
used by UPSRTC passengers (issued by
State Bank of India and ICICI Bank)
become interoperable with these Metro
rail systems and buses, said Meshram at
a PHDCCI event here.
3. India womens hockey team arrive to
grand welcome
i. Having all but booked a berth in next
years Rio Olympics, Indian womens
hockey team arrived in New Delhi early
morning to a grand welcome amidst
beating of drum s and loud cheers.
ii. India womens teams lone Olympic
appearance was at Moscow in 1980.
Effectively, Indias fifth spot should secure
them an Olympic Games ticket when the
countdown to allocate spots takes place.
iii. Indian womens team skipper Ritu Rani
said they will begin their preparations fo r
the Olympics instantly even though they
still aw ait an official confirmation from
the International Hockey Federation (FIH)
iv. Three teams The Netherlands, South
Korea and Australia have secured their
Rio de Janeiro tickets, but South Korea
have already earned an Olympic slot by
winning the Asian Games gold medal.
4. Tata Teleservices appoints Anuraag
Srivastava as CFO
i. Telecom service provider Tata
Teleservices today announced the
appointment of Anuraag Srivastava as its
Chief Financial Officer with immediate
effect. Prior to taking up the new role,
Srivastava served Indus Towers as Senior
Vice-President of Internal Audit and
Assurance.
ii. He brings with him over 20 years o f
experience as a finance professional with
leadership roles in finance and consumer
goods and telecom businesses across
multiple geographies, including India, the
US and South Asia.
iii. Tata Teleservices has established itself
as a trusted and one of the most relied
upon innovative telecom brands in the
country and is rapidly scaling its
businesses across the markets, Srivastava
said.
5. E-filing of ITR: Aadhaar can be linked
for eas ier processing
i. Last week, the finance ministry
announced the commencement of the
electronic filing of income tax returns fo r
2015-16. The department had notified
the revised forms two weeks back, afte r
the earlier forms were criticised fo r
seeking unwieldy additional details on
taxpayers' fo reign travel and dormant
bank accounts.
ii. starting this time, the ITR forms now
have a space for Aadhaar card holders
to provide their Unique Identification
Numbers.
iii. The tax department has also
introduced the new three-page simplified
form called ITR-2A for those who may
own more than one residential property ,
but do not have any capital gains.
iv. Most of these sites have a freemium
model, where the basic ITR-1 filing is
free. However, for the more complicated
filings such as for small businesses and
personal CA assistance, you'll have to
pay.
6. Lewis Hamilton wins 2015 Birtish
Grand Prix of F1
i. Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of
Britain won 2015 Birtish Grand Prix of
Formula One (F1). This was his fourth
victory of the season and his second of
Birtish Grand Prix.
ii.
With this victory Hamilton became second
British F1 driver to win Birtish Grand Prix
two times after David Coulthard.
iii. The drivers ranking after B ritish Grand
Prix 2015
Lewis Hamilton (Britain) of Mercedes.
Nico Rosberg (Germany) of
Mercedes.
Sebastian Vettel (Germany) of
Ferrari.
Felipe Massa (Brazil) of Williams.
7. US wins Womens FIFA World Cup
for 3rd time
i. United S tates (US) won the 2015 FIFA
Womens World Cup. It is overall third
world cup title of US. In the World Cup
final match played at Vancouver,
Canada US defeated Japan by 5-2
goals score.
ii. US captain and skipper Carli Lloyd
scored three goals. Lauren Holiday and
Tobin Heath scored one goal each.
iii. The important awards in women world
cup :
Golden Ball Award: Carli Lloyd (US),
Amandine Henry (France), Aya Miyama
(Japan).
Golden Boot Award: Celia Sasic
(Germany), Carli Lloyd (US), Anja Mittag
(Germany).
Daily GK Update - 7th July 2015
1. ICRISAT unveils $300 phablet for
farmers
i. Farmers now can have customised tips
on their phablet on the kind of
agricultural inputs they might require fo r
their field.
ii. Based on the specific soil health of their
small chunks of lands, scientists at the
International Crops Research Institute for
Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and
Government of Telangana would send
timely messages to the farmers through
the phablet.
iii. The Hyderabad-headquartered
ICRISAT launched the Green Phablet,
priced at $300 (about Rs. 18,600), for
farmers in Telangana. The institute would
maintain servers to safe keep the
information. And even if a user loses his
device, he would be able to get back the
information in no time.
iv. ICRISAT Director-General David
Bergvinson signed a tripartite agreement
on Tuesday with the Departments o f
Agriculture and Information Technology to
collaborate in transforming agriculture
using digital technologies.
v. Addressing a gathering later,
Telangana IT Minister KT Rama Rao said
that there was a need to bring down the
cost of the device to Rs. 10,000 to make
it affo rdable for farmers.
2. Rajasthan might emulate
Maharashtra's 'Jal Yukt Shivar
Abhiyan'
i. Impressed with the progress of
Maharashtra's 'Jal Yukt Shivar Abhiyan,'
Rajashtan may also adopt the state's
flagship water conservation and
Integrated wate r management scheme.
Golden Glove Award: Hope Solo (US).
8. Chile wins Copa America title 2015
of football for first time
i. Chile won South Americas most
prestigious football trophy, the Copa
America title 2015 for the first time. It is
Chiles first ever international trophy in
Football. In the final match played at
Santiago de Chile, the hosts defeated 14
times champion Argentina by 4-1 goals in
the penalty shootout as regular match
had ended in a goal-less draw.
ii. In the penalty shootout Matas
Fernndez, Arturo Vidal, Alexis Sanchez
and Charles Arnguiz of Chilean team
scored 1 goal each. While from
ii. Aiming to learn more about the state's
water conservation programme, a
delegation from Rajasthan, comprising a
minister and senior bureaucrats are on
Maharashtra tour and will visit a few site s
where the project is currently underway.
iii. "Jalyukta Shivar Abhiyan is an
ambitious program o f Chief Ministe r
Devendra Fadnavis and he has toured
almost each and every district to visit the
project site s," Pankaja Munde, minister for
water conservation said.
iv. Meanwhile, after successfully involving
people in implementing the scheme,
Munde is considering to organise a
'Jalchetana Yatra' across the state from
2nd October.
3. Inshore patrol vessel Rani Durgavati
joins Indian Coast Guard
i. Inshore patrol vessel Rani Durgavati
was inducted into the Coast Guard here
on Friday at a ceremony where the Flag
Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the
Eastern Naval Command, Vice-Admiral
Satish Soni, was the chief guest.
ii. Vice-Admiral Soni said coastal security
had undergone a sea change afte r
26/11, and added that all agencies
were important partners in preparedness.
However, the Coast Guard was the most
important one in coordinating with various
Argentina team only Lionel Messi scored
goal in the penalty shoot.
iii. The Copa America (means America
Cup in Spanish and Portuguese) title is an
annual international football
competition.It is played between the
mens national football teams of South
American Football Confederation
(CONMEBOL).
agencies. He described Rani Durgavati as
"another arrow in the quiver of the Coast
Guard.
iii. Rani Durgavati, the third in a series o f
five inshore patrol vessels of the Coast
Guard, is named after the legendary
Gond Queen who defeated the army of
Baz Bahadur of the Mughal Army.
iv. Hindustan Shipyard Ltd which had built
174 ships and repaired 2,000 vessels
across the range, including submarines.
4. Pres ident Pranab Mukherjee
Inaugurates 'Nakshatra Vatika'
i. President Pranab Mukherjee today
inaugurated a 'Nakshatra Vatika' in the
gardens of Rashtrapati Nilayam in
Hyderabad, one of the Presidential
Retreats. He took a round of the garden
and wate red a plant representing 'Surya'
or the Sun God.
ii. He was accompanied by Governor of
Telangana and Andhra Pradesh E S L
Narasimhan and Telangana De puty Chief
Minister Mohammad Ali, an official
release said.
iii. The garden will be open to public
along with other gardens of the Nilayam
in the first week of January 2016. The
layout of 'Nakshatra Vatika' has been
developed in various geometrical
combinations corresponding to the Sree
Chakra of Vedic astrology on a 0.91
acre plot.
iv. Each square is planted with a
particular tree or plant variety that
represents the respective planet and is
placed as per the astronomical direction.
The first inner circular band is divided in
12 small circles at parts of 30A each
corresponding to the 12 Rashi (zodiac
sign). Each has a plant that represents the
particular zodiac sign.
5. India skipper Mithali Raj completes
5000 runs in women's ODIs
i. Skipper Mithali Raj scripte d a new
chapter in the history of Indian women's
cricket as she became the first from the
country and overall second to reach the
5000-run milestone in one-day
internationals.
ii. Her stylish unbeaten knock of 81 in
Bengaluru on Monday guided the team to
an eight-wicket victory over New
Zealand, thereby leveling the five-match
series 2-2.
iii. With the help of her pivotal innings,
India chased down the target of 220 only
in 44.2 overs. Before Mithali, only English
woman Charlotte Edw ards had
completed 5000 runs in ODIs.
iv. Mithali fabulous innings was decorated
with 10 well-timed boundaries. However,
Harmanpreet Kaur's fireworks of 32 runs
in 25 balls, with the help of four
boundaries and two giant sixes, also
entertained the crowd. Harmanpreet
ended the match with a straight six off
spinner Leigh Kasperek.
6. IDBI signs refinance agreement with
Mudra Bank
i. State -run IDBI Bank today said it has
signed an agreement with Mudra Bank
Daily GK update: 8 July 2015
1. According to World Bank Report
"MGNREGA" worlds largest public
works programme
i) World Bank has ranked the Mahatma
Gandhi National Rural Employment
Gurantee Act (MGNREGA) as the worlds
largest public works pro gramme.
ii) It was revealed in recently released
World Bank Groups report titled The
State of Social Safety Nets 2015.
Report Highlights MGNREGA (under
Ministry of Rural Development) provides
social security net to 182 million
beneficiaries i.e. almost 15 per cent of
the Indias population.
for re financing of loans given to sm all
enterprise s.
ii. As per the agreement, the Bank will
offer credit facilities up to Rs 10 lakh to
micro enterprises, at a compe titive
interest rate under Pradhan Mantri
Mudra Yojana (PMMY) and Mudra will
be providing refinance assistance to the
bank for eligible sanctioned loan cases.
iii. The refinance scheme will be
implemented through all the branches of
the lender.
iv. Last week, Bank of Maharashtra had
also signed an agreement with Mudra
Bank for refinancing of loans given to
new entrepreneurs and small businesses.
7. China nominated Jin Liqun, former
Chinese Finance Minster, for the post of
AIIB President
i. Former Finance Minster of China Jin
Liqun was in news as on 6 July 2015 he
was nominated by China to be the first
president of the Beijing-backed Asian
Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).
ii. At present, Jin (65) is Secretary
General of AIIB 's interim secretariat.
Earlier, he has held positions at the
World Bank and was the first Chinese
national to serve as a vice president at
the Japan-controlled Asian Development
Bank (ADB).
iii. Before joining AIIB in 2014, Jin was
chairman of China International Capital
Corporation, one of the mainland's
largest investment banks. He holds a
iii) Mid-day meal scheme (under Ministry
of Human Resource Development) has
been classified as biggest school feeding
programme. It benefits around 105
million beneficiaries.
iv) Janani Suraksha Yojna (Under Ministry
of Health and Family Welfare) is top -
most social security programme with
conditional cash transfers. It has 78
million beneficiaries.
v) Indira Gandhi National Old Age
Pension Scheme (under Ministry of Rural
Development) is the second-largest
unconditional cash transfer social security
progamme in the world. Five middle-
income countries running the worlds
largest social safe ty net programmes are
India, China, South Africa and Ethiopia.
2. UGC grants heritage status to 19
colleges
master's degree in English Literature from
the Beijing Foreign Studies University and
was a Hubert Humphrey Fellow in Boston
University's economics graduate
programme.
iv. The nominations for the post o f
president can be sent by the regional
members by 31 July 2015 and the name
of the president-designate will be
finalised at the 6th Chief Nego tiato rs'
Meeting of the AIIB founding members in
August 2015.
8. Renowned Urdu novelist Abdullah
Hussain passed away
i. Renowned Urdu novelist from Pakistan
Abdullah Hussain died on 4 July 2015 in
Lahore after battling with blood cancer.
He was 84.He is survived by his wife, a
son and a daughter.
ii. He authored the bestseller and
critically acclaimed novel Udas N aslain, it
is considered as a masterpiece of Urdu
literature. His other famous novels are
Baagh, Nadaar Loag and short sto ries
Faraib and Nashaib. Hussain was also
awarded with the Prime Ministe r's
Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015 fo r
his work.
iii. Hussai w as born as Mohammad Khan
on 14 August 1931 in Gujrat, Punjab
Province of Pakistan. He did his schooling
and graduation from Zameendar College
of Pakistan.
i) UGC has approved for financial
assistance to 19 colleges for conserving
campuses and specialised courses related
to heritage
ii) The colleges which have been granted
the status include St.Xaviers College,
Mumbai; CMS College Kottayam; St
Joseph College, Trichy; Khalsa College,
Amritsar; St Bedes College, Shimla, Christ
Church College in Kanpur, Old Agra
College, Agra; Meerut College, Meerut
and Langat Singh College in Bihars
Muzaffarpur.
iii) Others which have figured in the list
are Govt.Brennan College, Kerala;
University College in Mangalore, Cotton
College in Guwahati, Midnapo re college
in West Bengal, Govt Medical Science in
Jabalpur, Deccan Education Societys
Fergusson College in Pune, Hislop college
in Nagpur, Govt. Gandhi Memorial
Science College in Jammu, Kanya
Mahavidyalya in Jalandhar and S t
Xaviers College in Kolkata.
3. Infosys signs multi-year agreement
with Deutsche Bank.
i) Infosys, Indias second largest IT
services exporter, on Wednesday
announced that it has signed a multi-year
agreement with Deutsche Bank.
ii) Under the terms of the deal, Infosys
will provide services like development,
application maintenance, digital and
mobility, package implementation and
testing services across the Deutsche Bank
Group, Infosys press release said.
iii) Deutsche Bank is committed to
applying innovative technology to
enhance its efficiency and service to
clients. Working with Infosys will help the
bank to achieve these go als, Kim
Hammonds, Global Chief Inform ation
Officer, Deutsche Bank said.of the
company unless it is required by law.
iv) Deutsche Banks Supplier Partnership
Program was successfully launched in
June 2014 to concentrate the most
strate gic vendors based on business
impact across all categories of the bank.
Daily GK Update - 9th July 2015
1. eMudhra launches eSign Services
i. eMudhra Limited, a leading certifying
firm in the country for digital signature s
launched first of its kind eSign services in
the country as part of the Digital India
Vision.
ii. ESign is an online electronic signature
service which can facilitate an Aadhaar
holder to digitally sign a document within
seconds. The signatures generated by
eSign are legally valid and secure under
the Information Technology Act, 2000
4. BRICS Central Banks Sign Forex
Reserves Pool Pact.
i) The five major emerging national
economies, known by the acronym BRICS,
were a step closer to setting up a $100
billion pool of mutual reserves by signing
an operational agreement
ii) The pool would be drawn on by the
central banks of Brazil, Russia, India,
China and South Africa whenever they
suffered a shortage of dollar liquidity,
helping them maintain financial stability,
Russias central bank said.
iii) The Bank of Russia in Moscow. The
central banks of Brazil, Russia, India,
China and South Africa have signed an
operational pact to se t up a pool of
foreign exchange reserves.
iv) Financial stability has been Moscows
sore point over the past year as the
Russian economy has slipped into
recession, while the country has lost access
to global capital markets, due to
Western sanctions, and has had to drain
billions of dollars from its reserves.
5. Ashok Haldia appointed MD and
CEO of PTC India Financial Services
i) PTC India Financial Services said on
Wednesday that Ashok Haldia was
appointed the companys new Managing
Director and Chief Executive Officer.
ii) Haldia has been a part of the
companys board as a whole-time
director for the last seven years. Prior to
joining PTC India Financial Services,
Haldia served as a Secretary in the
Institute of Chartered Accounts of India.
He has also been a member of several
Central Government committees.
iii) Dr. Ashok Haldia is Whole Time
Director of PTC India Financial Services
Limited. A member of the Institute of
Chartered Accountants of India, Institute
of Company Secretaries of India and the
Institute of Cost and Works Accountants
iii. As part of the Digital India Vision,
Prime Minister launched eSign services in
the country on July 1st.
iv. ESign can "revolutionise" the way
business and governance is conducted in
the country and pave the way for a
digital transformation into a paperless
environment, eMudhra said in a
statement.
v. By using eMlocker along with eSign,
one can store documents such as PAN
cards, Aadhaar cards, electricity bills or
any other documents electronically.
2. Satish Pillai, new MD & CEO of CIBIL
of India. Dr. Ashok Haldia has diversified
experience of project financing and
industrial financing policy, public sector
policy reforms, evaluation and
management, power sector reform,
restructuring and financing.
6. K7 Computing signs pact with ICT
Academy
i) K7 Computing Pvt. Ltd, a Chennai-
based provider of safe and secure
computing experience, has signed a
memorandum with ICT Academy of Tamil
Nadu to jointly conduct 12 power
seminars across the state and ICT
awareness week in six cities.
ii) The seminar will be held in Chennai,
Coimbatore, Madurai, Tiruchirapalli,
Salem and Tirunelveli and will highlight
the importance of cyber security and the
latest developments within that spectrum,
says a pre ss release from K7.
iii) The academy, a Government of India,
Government of Tamil Nadu and Industry
initiative, has introduced a platfo rm for
all the stakeholders to discuss improving
the industry-institute interaction on the key
issues.
7. India, Kazakhstan launch firs t
drilling at Satpayev oil block of O VL
i) India and Kazakhstan launched the first
exploratory drilling at Satpayev oil block
owned by Indias ONGC Videsh Limited
(OVL) and Kazakhstan company
KazMunaiGaz. It was jointly launched by
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and
Kazakhstan premier Karim Massimov in
Astana, Kazakh capital.
ii) Satpayev oil block is an offshore field
located in the Northern Caspian Sea. It
has potential reserves estim ated at 1.8
billion barrels crude oil and natural gas.
i. Credit Information Bureau India Ltd
(CIBIL), Indias leader in credit
information, has appointed Satish Pillai as
its new Managing Director and Chief
Executive Officer on Thursday.
ii. Pillai succeeds Arun Thukral who retire s
this year after a decade. Satish Pillai has
been serving CIBIL in the capacity of
Chief Operating Officer for more than
four years where he was responsible fo r
product development and bureau
operations.
iii. Earlier, Pillai led TransUnions
operations in India overlooking the
creation of the solutions team that
supported generic and custom analytics
and decisioning technologies, including
the launch of the CIBIL TransUnion Score-
Indias first generic sco ring model, CIBIL
said in a statement.
iv. CIBIL, Indias largest credit inform ation
bureau, maintains credit information on
more than 406 million consumer accounts
and 22 million business accounts and has
a membership base of over 1400 banks
and credit institutions.
3. Lord Kamlesh Patel becomes firs t
British-Asian appointee to ECB Director
i. Professor Lord Kamlesh Patel has
become the first British Asian to be
appointed as Director of England and
Wales Cricket Board (ECB).
ii. He succeeds Lord Mo rris o f
Handsworth, who had stepped down
afte r 11 years as an ECB Director. Lord
Patel was born to Indian parents in
Nairobi, Kenya. He later had moved to
United Kingdom. He hails from Bradford
and is a leading voice on health, social
care and community cohesion in UK.
iii. Presently, he is Labour Peer in the
House of Lords and professor at the
University of East London. He is also Chair
of the Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS
Foundations Trust and is a fo rmer
Chairman of the Mental Health Act
Commission.
iv. He had played cricket for number o f
local clubs and was allrounder. He had
retired in 1998 from cricket afte r taking
all 10 wickets in a league game. He
formerly had worked for the Yorkshire
Cricket Academy as a part-time coach.
4. Union Government appoints Sriram
Kalyanaraman as MD and CEO of NHB
i. Union government has appointed
Sriram Kalyanaraman as the Managing
Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer
(CEO) of National Housing Bank (NHB)
for a period of five years.
ii. With this he became the first person
from private sector to be appointed as
head of a public sector financial
institution.
iii. Presently, Kalyanaram an is director -
business development Equifax Credit
Information Services. Prior to joining
Equifax, he was Director, Business Clients
and Asset Products at Deutsche Bank
India.
iv. NHB is apex regulator for housing
finance sector and a wholly owned
subsidiary of Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
5. Indian Railways launches Mobile
ticketing app for suburban commuters
in Mumbai
i. Indian Railways launched a mobile
ticketing application for unre served
tickets for commuters in Western Railway.
It was launched by Union Railway
Minister Suresh Prabhu. This mobile
ticketing service will cover 35 stations
between the 123 km long Churchgate -
Dhauroad and facilitate a hassle free
travel for lakhs of daily passengers in
Mumbai.
ii. The app is based for both Android and
Windows platforms and it can be
downloaded from Google Play Store or
Windows Store by the user.
iii. The app provides necessary on-screen
alerts to guide the passenger during the
booking process. Payment for booking
the ticket can be done through railway
wallet feature in the App. Passenger will
get ticke t confirmation screen afte r
booking the ticket.
6. Sanjeev Nandan Sahai appointed as
Delhi's new Home Secretary
i. Senior IAS officer Sanjeev Nandan
Sahai was today appointed as the new
Home Secretary of Delhi, ending a bitter
tussle between Lieutenant Governor
Najeeb Jung and the AAP government.
ii. The order appointing Sahai, a 1986
batch Union Territory cadre officer, was
issued by Union Home Ministry, official
sources said.
iii. Sahai's name was zeroed in as a
compromise candidate for the high post
afte r continuous tussle between the LG
and the Arvind Kejriwal-led government.
iv. Pal was removed by the AAP
government after he signed a notification
appointing Joint Commissioner of Delhi
Police M K Meena as new chief of Anti -
Corruption Branch (ACB) following Jung's
order.
7. Essar Oil signs pact to sell 49% stake
to Russia's Rosneft
i. Russian oil firm Rosneft will buy 49 per
cent stake in Essar Oil, the firm that owns
India's second biggest oil refinery, for an
undisclosed amount, the Ruia-owned firm
said on Thursday.
ii. The proposed transaction is conditional
upon various factors such as due
diligence, determination of the
transaction price, execution of definitive
transaction documents and receipt of
requisite approvals
iii. Also, a Long Term Crude Oil Supply
Agreement by the two firms in was signed
in Ufa, Russia for import of 10 million
tonnes a year of crude oil for a period of
10 years.
iv. This contract has been signed in
pursuance to the Key Terms executed
between the two companies in December
2014 at New Delhi.
8. Indian athletes win more than 150
medals at World Police & Fire Games
i. Indian athletes put up an impressive
show at the 2015 World Police & Fire
Games which concluded here on Sunday,
winning more than 150 medals.
ii. Hosts United States won by far the
most medals, 1,777, including nearly 700
golds. Canada finished second with
nearly 430 medals.
iii. The Indian athletess tally included 89
golds and 50 silvers. They competed in
only seven sporting categories: athletics,
wrestling, boxing, judo, archery,
swimming and shooting.
iv. Kaur, an assistant sub inspector with
Punjab Police, earned 5 gold medals in
the track and field events, winning every
event she competed in. CRPFs Mishra,
who was taking part in her fifth Police &
Fire Games, won an impressive 6 golds
and 2 silvers in swimming events.
 Daily GK Update: 10th July 2015
1. India gets full membership of
Shanghai Cooperation Organisation
i. India today bagged the full
membership of the Shanghai Cooperation
Organisation (SCO) along with Pakistan.
ii. Prime Minister Narendra Modi
congratulated P akistan on joining the
SCO.
Modi is on a three-day visit to Russia to
attend the BRICS and SCO summits
iii. Indian PM Narendra Modi has
accepted an invitation from his Pakistani
counterpart Nawaz Sharif to attend a
regional summit in Islamabad next year.
2. Bharat Electronics-made Akash
inducted into Indian Air Force
i) Defence PSU Bharat Electronics made
Akash inducted into Indian Air Force.
ii) BEL, the nodal agency and supplies
major sub-systems, today at a ceremony
held at Air Force Station, Gwalior,
handed over the missile system.
iii) Akash is a great success story of the
Make in India initiative and Bharat
Electronics Limited is proud to be a part
of it. Barring a few electronic
components, every bit of Akash has the
Made in India' tag. Almost 92 pe r cent
of the total cost of inputs is source d within
India.
iv)The induction of Akash into the Indian
Air Force was marked by the symbolic
handing over of the key of the weapon
system by S K Sharma, Chairm an and
Managing Director, BEL, to the Defence
Minister, Manohar Parrikar, who in turn
handed over the key to Air Chief Marshal
Arup Raha, Chief of the Air Staff. S
Christopher, Director General, DRDO,
was present. The ceremony was also
attended by senior dignitaries of the
Ministry of Defence, Indian Air Force,
DRDO and Defence PSUs.
3. Russian cosmonaut Gennady
Padalka sets record for spending
longest time in space
i. Russian co smonaut Gennady Padalka
has se t a Guinness World Record fo r
spending longest time in space with a
total of 804 days as on July 2015. With
this he broke the previous record of 803
days, nine hours and 41 minute s set by
Russian cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev (now
retired) across six missions from 1998 to
2005.
ii. Gennady Padalka was selected as a
cosmonaut candidate at the Gagarin
Cosmonaut Training Center in 1989.
iii. Currently, he is the commander of the
International Space Station (ISS) which is
orbiting the Earth. He is associated with
ISS from 2000 and had taken part in
various space expeditions.
iv. Padalka is going to return to Earth in
September 2015. When he will return to
Earth, he would have spent record total
877 days or around 2.5 years in space.
4. Uttarakhand gets Indias firs t
earthquake early warning system
i. Uttarakhand became first Indian state
to install a system to detect earthquakes
and disseminate warnings. The first
system has been installed in its capital
Dehradun which will issue warnings 1 -40
seconds before earthquakes of
magnitude 5 or more occur.
ii. The system is designed and
manufactured by Italian firm, Space
Dynamics which already has installed it in
Japan, Italy and US.
iii. The system is incorporated with sensors
which are capable to detect P (Primary)
and S (Secondary) waves generated
during an earthquake. It is capable to
detect the harmless P w ave, which travels
faster than the S wave for advance
warning.
iv. The second system will be established
at Pithoragarh in the Kumaon region of
Uttarakhand. According to the Bureau of
Indian Standards (BIS), Uttarakhand falls
under seismic zone V i.e. High-Risk Seismic
Zone. Apart from it, Jammu and Kashmir,
Himachal Pradesh, Rann of Kutch
(Gujarat), Northern Bihar and Andam an
& Nicobar Islands also fall under this
seismic zone.
5. State Bank of Travancore (SBT) has
launched the SBT NRI Family Card'
i. State Bank of Travancore (SBT) has
launched the SBT NRI Family Card, a
prepaid card for resident Indians
family member/dependent/acquaintance
of NRIs.
ii. The prepaid card can be used for cash
withdraw als through ATM, online
payments and POS (point of sale)
payments at merchant establishments.
Jeevandas Narayan, Managing Director,
launched the card at a function held at
the NRI Premium Banking Branch of the
bank here.
iii. A card holder in India can now easily
receive remittances from an NRI by way
of periodic recharge through the NRIs
internet banking account.
6. Exim Bank, BRICS member
development banks ink MoU with New
Development Bank
i. Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank)
today said it has signed a multilateral
agreement to cooperate with New
Development Bank (NDB) along with
other member development banks o f
BRICS nations.
ii. New Development Bank (NDB) is
promoted by the BRICS nations -- B razil,
Russia, India, China, and South Africa. The
agreement was signed between Exim
Bank Chairman and Managing Directo r
Yaduvendra Mathur and Chairpersons or
Presidents of other member development
banks of BRICS in Ufa, Russia during the
BRICS Summit 2015, a bank release said.
iii. Exim Bank also signed a cooperation
agreement with Brazilian Development
Bank (BNDES).This MoU is aimed at
sharing of knowledge, information and
best practices; capacity building of
personnel, including project development
skills; promotion of joint events, research
and programmes; development of
effective and sustainable financing
solutions for projects of mutual interest,
7. PM Modi proposes Das Kadam: Ten
Steps for the Future for BRICS nations
The 10 steps (10 kadam) suggested by
PM Modi are:
1. Trade fair
2. Railway Research Centre
3. Cooperation among supreme audit
institutions
4. Digital Initiative
5. Agricultural Research Centre
6. State/Local Government's Forum
7. Cooperation amongst cities in field o f
Urbanisation
8. BRICS Sports Council
9. Annual Sports Meet
Daily GK update: 11th July 2015
1. Isro's PSLV rocket powers five British
satellites into orbit
i. India ferried five British satellites into
orbit on its space warhorse PSLV-C28
that blasted off from Isros Satish Dhawan
Space Centre at Srikarihota in Andhra
Pradesh on Friday night.
ii. The rocket blasted off sharp at 9:58pm
from the first launch pad with five
satellite s together weighing around
1,440kg, marking the space agency's
heaviest commercial mission so far.
iii. The five international satellites were
launched as part of the arrangement
entered into between DMC International
Imaging (DMCii), a wholly owned
subsidiary of SSTL, UK and Antrix
Corporation Limited.
iv. These satellites can image any target
on the Earth's surface every day. Major
application areas include surveying the
resources on earth and its environment,
managing urban infrastructure and
monitoring disasters.
v. The last such major launch by Isro was
on June 30, 2014 when France's SPOT 7
satellite weighing 714kg w as carried by
a PSLV rocket.
2. On World Population Day, Indians
number 1,274,234,538
i. On World Population Day, Indians
numbered 1,274,234,538 at 2.30 p.m.
on Saturday, constituting an estimated
17.23 percent of the overall global
inhabitation of humans, as per data
available with an independent socio-
economic statistical organisation.
ii. According to Indiastat.com, which
compiled secondary level socio-economic
statistical information on India based on
official figures, the numbers were based
on data from the National Commission on
Population and the US Census Bureau.
iii. India has been forecast to overtake
China as the most populous country by
10. BRICS film festival India will be
hosting the 8th BRICS summit in 2016.
2028, as per official estim ates. But the
government also says that population
growth rate of the country has declined
significantly from 21.54 percent for the
decade of 1991-2000 to 17.64 percent
during 2001-11.
iv. Out o f 36 states and Union te rritories,
24 have reached population stabilisation.
3. Nationwide model science labs
programme launched by Dr A P J Abdul
Kalam
i. To inculcate scientific temperament
among students, government has
proposed to set up model science labs
across the country, beginning with the
North East region. The labs aim to ignite
passion and nurture spirit of enquiry and
creativity for mathematics and science in
students between 6-18 years of age.
ii. The initiative would be launched
through the Department of Science and
Technology, HRD Minister Smriti Irani said
while addressing a gathering of students
through video- conferencing during the
launch the Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan
programme in New Delhi. Let us begin
with North East by setting up one model
lab for school children.
iii. Former President APJ Abdul Kalam
launched the programme in the presence
of Minister of State of HRD Ram Shankar
Katharia, Minister of State fo r
Development of North Eastern Region
and Department of Space Jitendra Singh,
Science and Technology Minister Harsh
Vardhan.
4. MPEDA launched mobile-based
applications to help farmers capture
data through mobile
i. The Marine Products Export
Development Authority (MPEDA) on 9 July
2015 launched two mobile based
applications to help farmers get prices on
shrimp and capture data on aquaculture
through mobile. Moreover, MPEDA also
revamped its website and launched an
online registration portal for exporters.
ii. MPEDA is a nodal agency for
promotion of marine exports from India
under Union Ministry of Commerce and
Industry.
iii. With this application, MPEDA will
provide price related m arket inform ation
of Vannamei shrimp and BT shrimp to
farmers over SMS on a missed call to a
predetermined number. On receipt of the
missed call, information on price o f
Vannamei shrimp and BT shrimp for
different grades in major markets like
Japan, USA and EU will be provided by
SMS.
iv. The authority also launched a mobile
applications named mKRISHI that will
provide an easy tool for book keeping,
advisory services and weather
informations. It is an Android mobile
application which has been developed by
MPEDA and TCS Innovation Lab, Mumbai
(as part of its CSR initiative).
5. Prince Saud al-Faisal, Worlds longes t
serving Foreign Minister passes away
i. Prince Saud al-Faisal, former foreign
minister of Saudi Arabia passed aw ay in
United States. He was 75. He was the
Saudi kingdoms foreign minister for 4
decades (from 1975 to 2015). He had
retired in April 2015 and w as succeeded
by Adel al-Jubeir.
ii. He had served under four Saudi kings
and had advanced the kingdoms foreign
policy, especially after the 9/11 attacks
in US. It should be noted that he was
worlds longest-serving foreign minister.
iii. Saud al-Faisal was son of King Faisal
and was born on 2 January 1940 in Taif
near Mecca. In the 1960s, he started his
career as consultant for Petroleum
Ministry of Saudi Kingdom.

6. Famous Hollywood actor Umer Sharif
passed away
i. Actor Omar Sharif, famous for his title
role as Doctor Zhivago in the Oscar-
winning film, has died at the age of 83.
Egyptian state television reported.
ii. Sharifs agent also confirmed his death
revealing that the actor, who played a
wide range of dashing and dignified
characters, had been suffering from
Alzheimers disease.
Daily GK update: 12-13th July 2015
1. India, Kyrgyzstan ink 4 pacts during
Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit
i. India and Ky rgyzstan have signed 4
pacts/ agreements to enhance bilateral
cooperation between the two nations.
These agreements were inked during the
two-day visit of Prime Minister Narendra
Modi to Kyrgystan as part of his official
visit to 5 Central Asian countries and
Russia.
ii. Agreement on Defence Cooperation: It
was signed to deepen cooperation
between both countries in matters relating
to security, defence, military education
and training. It also covers provisions to
conduct of joint military exercises,
exchange of military instructors,
exchange of experience and information
and observers etc.
iii. MoU and Cooperation in the field of
Elections: It was signed to deepen
cooperation in matters relating to
legislation on elections and referendums.
It also covered rights of elections process
stakeholders, modern systems and
technologies as well as other issues of
election administration.
iv. MoU on cooperation in the sphere of
Standards: Seeks to strengthen and
enhance technical cooperation in the
fields of conformity assessment,
standardization and sharing of expertise
on mutual trade.
v. Agreement on Cooperation in Culture:
To deepen cultural cooperation between
both countries in are as such as
preservation of cultural heritage, theatre,
youth festivals and organisation of folk
arts.
iii. Sharif was one of the few Arab actors
who succeed to make it to Hollywood. He
won international fame and an Oscar-
nomination for best supporting actor fo r
his role in the 1962 film Lawrence of
Arabia with Peter OToole.
7. Record-breaking Rabada helps
Proteas crush Bangladesh
i. Kagiso Rabada became only the
second man in history to claim a hat trick
on debut as South Africa thrashed
Bangladesh by eight wickets in a rain-hit
first one-day international in Dhaka on
Friday.
ii. Rabada finished with 6-16, the best
ever one-day haul by a debutante, as
Bangladesh were folded 160 in 36.3
overs after the hosts opted to bat first on
2. India, Turkmenistan ink 7 pacts to
enhance regional cooperation & conferred
connectivity
i. India and Turkmenistan have signed 7
pacts/ agreements to enhance bilateral
cooperation between the two nations.
These agreements were inked during the
two-day visit of Prime Minister Narendra
Modi to Turkmenistan as part of his
official visit to 5 Central Asian countries
and Russia.
ii.Following are the list of agreements :
MoU on Supply of Chemical Products: It
was signed be tween the Indias Rashtriya
Chemicals and Fertilizers Limited and the
Turkmenistans Turkmenhimiya.
MoU on Foreign Service Institute s of both
nations and it was signed between
Foreign Service Institute of the Ministry of
External Affairs of India and Institute of
International Relations of the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan.
Agreement on Cooperation in the field o f
Sports: It was signed between Union
Ministry of Youth Affairs And Sports of
India and State Committee for Sport o f
Turkmenistan.
Programme of Cooperation In Science
And Technology: It was signed between
both governments for the period of two
years viz. 2015-2017.
MoU on Cooperation in Yoga and
Traditional Medicine: It was signed
between respective entities of bo th
governments. MoU on Cooperation in the
Field Of Tourism: It was signed between
respective entities of both governments.
Agreement in the field of Defence: It was
signed between respective entities o f
both governments.
a rain-soaked pitch at the Sher-e-Bangla
National Stadium.
iii. Rabada, selected ahead of
experienced Morne Morkel, struck in the
third ball of his second over when he sent
the off-stump of opener Tamim Iqbal
cartwheeling.
3. Tata Steels West Bokaro Division
with Golden Peacock
Environment Management Award 2015
i. Tata Steel's West Bokaro Division was
on 11 July 2015 conferred with the
Golden Peacock Environment
Management Aw ard (GPEMA) 2015 in
New Delhi. It was pre sented by the Union
Environment, Forest and Climate Change
Minister Prakash Javadekar to Sanjay
Rajoria, General Manager of West
Bokaro, Tata Steel of Jharkand.
ii .Tata Steel won the coveted award for
its responsible environmental practice s
and resource management while
upgrading the skills of employees through
training as new technologies evolve.
iii. GMR Hyderabad International Airport
Ltd has been declared as the winner of
Golden Peacock Environment
Management Aw ard (GPEMA) for the
year 2015 for achievements in the field
of environment management at Rajiv
Gandhi International Airport.
iv. Golden Peacock Environment
Management Award is annual award
and presented for attaining significant
achievements in the field of Environment
Management during the previous year. It
is awarded to manufacturing as well as
service organizations both in the Public
and Private domain located in India.
v. Krishnapatnam Port , recognized as
one of India's largest ports and ranked
amongst world's finest po rts connecting
the eastern and western parts of the
world, has been bestowed with the
Golden Peacock Environment
Management Award.
vi. Yes Bank received the 2014 award.
4. SBI partners with bankbazaar.com
i. State Bank of India (SBI), the largest
bank in India, has partnered online
financial product aggregato r
bankbazaar.com along with the banks
subsidiary SBI CAP Securities.
ii. Under this arrangement, the bank will
be able to display its home loan products
on bankbazaar.com, generate leads and
provide door-step delivery, thus
improving the response time.
Bankbazaar.com offers end to end
solutions to the home loan seekers from
getting the customised quotes, comparison
of the offers and submission of online
application to SBI
iii. This partnership will help the bank to
provide yet ano ther online platform to
the prospective tech savvy home loan
borrowers to apply for SBI Home Loans
online. iv. The tie up with
bankbazaar.com also highlights SBIs
strate gy to augment its Home Loan
portfolio by leveraging digital channels
and increasing its presence in the
digital/online space, it added.
5. Miss USA 2015: Miss Oklahoma
Olivia Jordan Wins the Crown!
i. Miss Oklahoma, Olivia Jo rdan, won big
at the 2015 Miss USA pageant on
Sunday, July 12, beating out 50 women
to win the crown.
ii. Jordan, 26, made it through the fierce
rounds of the competition, sliding into the
Top 15 after preliminary events and
captivating viewers as she worked it in
the live show's bikini and evening gown
rounds.
iii. The Oklahoma native impressed
during the question portion of the
competition, which was held in Baton
Rouge, La. She spoke first on the issue of
race relations in the United States,
stre ssing the need for improved dynamics,
and later went on to name Oprah and
Harrie t Tubman as two women she would
like to see on the $10 bill.
iv. Jordan was followed in the top five by
first runner-up Miss Texas Ylianna
Guerra, second runner-up Miss Rhode
Island Anea Garcia, third runner-up Miss
Nevada Brittany McGowan, and fourth
runner-up Miss Maryland Mam Adjei.
6. Green Signals: Ecology, Growth, and
Democracy in India written by Jairam
Ramesh
similar systems. Civil Aviation Ministe r
i. The book Green Signals: Ecology,
Growth, and Democracy in India was in
news in the second week of July 2015. It
was written by former Union Environment
and Forest Minister (Independent Charge)
Jairam Ramesh.
ii. It unveils the story of environmental
policy making in India from the
perspective of a pivotal decision maker.
iii. It chronicles India's environmental
decision-making since the 1991
movement, telling the story of how, for
the first time, the doors of the
environment ministry were opened to
voices, hitherto unheard, into the policy-
making process.
iv. At present, Jairam Ramesh is Chair of
the Future Earth Engagement Committee,
a research platform on global
sustainability. He is also a member of the
Rajya Sabha from Andhra Prade sh.
7. Indigenously developed Nag anti -
tank missile tested from helicopter
platform
i. In fresh trials, India has te st-fired its
indigenously developed Nag anti-tank
guided missile, which can hit a targe t
upto seven km, from a helicopter at a
firing range in Jaisalmer in Rajasthan.
ii. Three-round trial of helicopter-
launched Nag (HeliNa) missile were
conducted yesterday at the Chandhan
firing range.
iii. HeliNa is a helicopter-launched version
of Nag and has been developed by the
Defence Research and Development
Organisation (DRDO) under the
Integrated Guided Missile Development
Programme (IGMDP).
iv. The missile was aimed at hitting
targets at varied distances of upto 7 km.
8. Isro's Gagan Satellite-Based
Navigation System Launched
i. India on Monday launched its satellite -
based air navigation services, thereby
joining a select league comprising the US,
Europe Union (EU) and Japan which have
Ashok Gajapati Raju dedicated the
services to the nation in a ceremony in
New Delhi.
ii. The system - known as Gagan or
global positioning system (GPS) aided
geo-augmented navigation system - is
intended to provide accurate navigation
services over the Bay of Bengal, South
East Asia, Indian Ocean, Middle East, and
African regions.
iii. Gagan works by augmenting and
relaying data from GPS satellites with
the help of two augmentation satellite s
and 15 earth-based refe rence stations.
iv. Gagan also fills a vital gap between
EU's "European Geostationary Navigation
Overlay Service" (EGNOS) and Japan's
"Multi-functional Satellite Augmentation
System" (MSAS) coverage areas.
9. Mumbai Ranji cricketer Hiken Shah
suspended by BCCI
i. Mumbai Ranji cricketer Hiken Shah has
been suspended by the BCCI with
immediate effect after being found guilty
of breaching BCCIs Anti -Corruption
Code. His involvement in any form of
cricket, affiliated with the BCCI stands
suspended till the time the disciplinary
committee of the BCCI passe s
appropriate orders.
ii. The BCCI press release says that Hiken
Shah made a corrupt approach to one of
his colleagues - Pravin Tambe of IPL
franchise Rajasthan Royals befo re the
2015 edition of the IPL.
iii. Tambe had immediately informed the
incident to his franchise team. Rajasthan
Royals followed the process of info rming
the incident to the Anti Corruption Unit of
the BCCI. Based on the information, BCCI
President, Mr. Jagmohan Dalmiya,
instructed ACU to conduct an immediate
inquiry into the matter.
iv. Hiken Shah has played 37 First-class
matches in which he has scored 2160 runs
at 42.35 with six hundreds and eight
fifties. He has played six ODIs and T20Is
each and averages 15 and 32.40
respectively. Last year, he lost his place in
the Mumbai Ranji side and earlier this
year in January, he was unhappy with his
omission.
 Wimbledon Open 2015
The 2015 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament which took place at the All England Lawn Tennis and
Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom, from 29 June to 12 July 2015.
It was the 129th edition of the cham pionships, the 48th in the Open Era and the third Grand Slam tournament of the year, play ed
on grass courts and part o f the ATP World Tour, the WTA Tour, the ITF Junior Tour and the NEC Tou r. They were organised by the
All England Lawn Tennis Club and the International Tennis Federation.
Novak Djokovic of Serbia won his third Wimbledon title in men's singles, defending his championship from 2014. Petra Kvitov of
the Czech Republic was the defending champion in women's singles, but she lost to Jelena Jankovi in the third round.
Serena Williams won her sixth Wimbledon and 21st major title, defeating first-time finalist Garbie Muguruza in the final, 64, 6
4. She also achieved her second non-calendar year Grand Slam after winning the 2014 US Open, 2015 Australian Open and
2015 French Open. With this win, Williams also became the oldest woman to win a Grand Slam title in the Open Era at 33 ye ars
and 289 days old, beating Martina Navratilova, who won the 1990 Wimbledon Championships at 33 years and 263 days old.
One of the most interesting tournament and The Grand Slam i.e. "Wimbledon 2015"
wrapped up yesterday. This time the compete tion was more fierce and everyone was
fighting for the honour. There were many contenders for the final but the one who
performed best at that point of time won the tournament. It clearly indicates that pressure
can consume any big name and the one who maintain their composure can ge t through
barrier.

Novak Djokovic defeated Roger Federer 7-6, 6-7, 6-4, 6-3 winning his third Wimbledon
singles title in a match that re ached sublime heights before ending on a somewhat anti -
climatic note. Tackling the Federer serve with ferocious and intimidating deep returns,
and relying on his own serve to pull him out of trouble time and again, Djokovic looked
the much stronger player after two breathtaking first sets, where the two were locked
eyeball to eyeball in a contest where there was little to choose between one or the
other.

Serena Williams kept her calendar year Grand Slam alive on Centre Court with a
straight sets 6-4, 6-4 win over Spains Garbine Muguruza for her sixth Wimbledon
title.The world number one has now won all three Grand Slam s events in Australia, Paris
and London and as she won the last Grand Slam of 2014, the US Open, she holds all
four titles. Muguruza, playing in her first Grand Slam final, only occasionally raised her
game throughout to fo rce the American into rallies with her heavy ground strokes. It was
Williamss inconsistency that largely allowed her opponent into the match.But as the
Williamss famous serve warmed the games came more easily. She broke Muguruza in
the first se t to level at 4-4 and again in the 10th game to take the set 6-4. From that
stage the points and games and almost the second set fell to Williams as Muguruza all
but imploded as the Centre Court hushed for what appeared to be another culling.The
33-year-old snapped out of her head funk and easily broke her opponents serve in th e
next game, a wide forehand from Murguruza on match point floating wide.

In another interesting match, Indias Sania Mirza and Switzerlands Martina Hingis had
won their first m ajor as a pairing in womens doubles, somehow overcoming a 5-2 hole in
the deciding third set to beat Russian duo Ekate rina Makarova and Elena Vesnina 5-7,
7-6, 7-5. After a disappointing French Open campaign, the number one seeds had won
at Wim bledon, tennis most iconic event. The deciding set was an epic struggle, with
Mirza and Hingis trailing for much of the match and struggling to dictate against the
worlds number two ranked pair. They fought back with resilience and eventually their
class told during an incredible last five games when the pairs shot-m aking simultaneously
caught fire and magical strokes continually ensued.

This wimbledon was a success from India's prospective with three Indians being the part
of final winners. And the win becomes more important fo r Sumit Nagal, who won boys
doubles. He can be the rising star and we can expect more tremendous performence in
future. 17-year-old N agal and his eighth seed Vietnamese partner overcame the fourth
seeds Reilly Opelka and Akira Santillan 7-6(4), 6-4 in the title clash that lasted 63
minutes. Yuki Bhambri was the last Indian to taste success at the top level in j
unior tennis when he won the Australian Open boys singles title in 2009.

This was not it. A vintage Leander Paes clinched his 16th Grand Slam trophy, winning the
mixed doubles event of the Wimbledon Championship with legendary Martina Hingis
afte r a dominating win over Alexander Peya and Timea Babos. Seventh seed Indo -Swiss
pair drubbed the fifth seed Austrian-Hungarian team 6-1 6-1 in the lop-sided summit
clash which was over in just 40 minutes. For Hingis, it was second title in as many days,
having won the women's doubles with Sania. Overall it was 18th Major title for the Swiss
and third in mixed doubles.
Some interesting facts about Wimbledon
Wimbledon is the only Grand Slam that is played on grass courts.
Wimbledon began in the year 1877, at the All England Club, in the London suburb of Wimbledon.
Wimbledon starts on the Monday falling between 20 and 30 June, which is six weeks before the first Monday in August.
Martina Hingis became the youngest player to win a Wimbledon title, at the age of 15 years, 282 days, by winning doubles
championship in 1996.
Wimbledon logo consists of green and purple color circular symbols, with two rackets crossed over them.

Important wins in Wimbledon 2015

Match Winner Runner Up

LADIES' SINGLES Serena Williams G. Muguruza

LADIES' DOUBLES Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis E.Makarova and E.Vesnina

GENTLEMEN'S SINGLES Novac Djokovic Roger Federer

MIXED DO UBLES L.Paes and M.Hingis A.Peya and T.Babos

BOYS' DO UBLES N.Ly and S.Nagal R.Opelka and A.Santillan

Vyapam (Scam) - Description for SBI PO Mains

Dear Readers,
You all must be hearing about a word "VYAPAM" on all the news channels and might be seeing it on the cover pages of the
newspapers as well. You don't need to wonder at all. You might get this topic in the upcoming descriptive exam like SBI PO Mains.
Being recently in news, it is one hot topic fo r discussion. It's seriousness got elevated once the unseen page s of VYAPAM got turned
by special Task Force constituted by Court Authority. Now the first question that might arise in your mind is "What is Vyapam?"
The answer is, the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board (MPPBP), the government body responsible for conducting
several entrance te sts in the State, is popularly known as Vyapam (Hindi acronym for Vyavsayik Pareeksha Mandal). These
entrance tests are used for recruitment to government jobs and admissions to educational institutes in the State.
The scam, which has been in the news recently, is an admission and recruitment scam involving politicians, senior government
officials, business-persons and others in Madhya Pradesh. In it, undeserving candidates bribed politicians and MPPEB officials,
through middlemen, to get high ranks in the entrance tests or secure jobs. Many of those who discovered these sordid facts
whistleblowers and journalists responsible fo r unearthing the details have died in a spate of suspicious incidents. The three main
whistleblowers social activists Dr Anand Rai and Ashish Chaturvedi, and IT consultant Prashant Pandey have been receiving
death threats.
According to varied reports from whistleblowers , the following tricks were used by those involved in the scam:
i. All the information of the candidate remained the same, except the photograph. The candidates photograph was replaced by
that of the impersonator and afte r the exam, it was changed back to the o riginal. Obviously, the im personators were brilliant
students and they received huge sums to keep their mouths shut.
ii. A person was strategically made to sit in front of the candidate in question. The person let them copy from his sheet or
exchanged the sheet with them at the end of the exam.
iii. The candidates in question were asked to leave their answer sheets blank and were given high marks in the exam. Or they were
supplied with solved OMR sheets before they took the exam.
While complaints against irregularities came trickling in from the mid-2000s, the Vyapam issue turned murkier from 2007 -08
onwards. However, it was only in 2013 that the lid was blown.

The Opposition claims that over 77 lakh candidates have paid bribes to secure s eats and jobs. Heres how it all began:
2007: This was the year when the scent of a scam was sniffed. The MP Local Fund Audit office found financial and administrative
irregularities in Vyapam.
2009: Activist and doctor from Indore Anand Rai filed a public interest litigation (PIL) with the MP High Court, alleging foul play in
the recruitments and admissions.
2011: Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan set up an enquiry committee to look into the matter.
2013: Anand Rai made startling revelations that led to a series of arrests. On the intervening night o f July 6 and 7, the police
arrested 20 pe rsons who were to impersonate candidate s scheduled to appear on July 7 for the MPPEB. On July 12-13, the
kingpin of the racket, Jagdish Sagar, was arrested. A list confiscated from him revealed the names of 317 candidates. MPPEBs
exam controller, Pankaj Trivedi, who vouched for students who had fraudulently answered the exam, sending letters to institution
heads to accept them, was later arrested and removed from his post. A Special Task Force of the MP Police began handling the
investigation. The Congress requested the High Court to conduct a CBI probe.
2014: The MP High Court rejecte d the demand for a CBI Inquiry by the Congress and other parties. In April, 27, students from
MGM Institute of Health Sciences were expelled for fraudulently clearing the medical test back in 2012.
2015: Accused, witnesses and investigators have been dropping like flies this year. So far, around 1,900 are in jail. According to
latest developments, though the State Government of Madhya Pradesh w anted to hand over investigation to the CBI, the MP High
Court quashed the request, stating it will not take a decision till the Supreme Court weighs in on the matter.
 Now after all of this, the matter is still under investigation and the final decision is still to be taken. It has to go a lo ng way and
many pages of this book is still unturned. We have to w ait and w atch untill some concrete steps is to be taken by the authority . In
this country where unemployment is one of the burning issues, such kind of incident will not only demotivate the young genera tion
but will adversely affect the output.

REVERSE MORTGAGE LOAN: A Helping Hand for Senior Citizens

Today we are providing you some small but important concepts of reverse mortgage loan. This is one of the important topics. S o
below are the details.
The scheme of reverse mortgage has been introduced for the benefit of senior citizens owning a house but having inadequate
income to meet their needs. Some important
Features of reverse mortgage are:
a) A homeowner who is above 60 years of age is eligible for reverse mortgage l oan. It allows him to turn the e quity in his ho me
into one lump sum or periodic payments mutually agreed by the borrower and the banker.
b) NO REPAYMENT is required as long as the borrower lives, Borrower should pay all taxes lating to the house and mainta in the
property as his primary residence.
c) The amount of loan is based on several factors : borrowers age, value of the property, current interest rates and the specific
plan chosen. The valuation of the residential property is done at periodic intervals and it shall be clearly specified to the borrow ers
upfront. The banks shall have the option to revise the periodic / lump sum amount at such frequency or intervals based on
revaluation of property.
Settlement - The loan shall become due and payable only when the last surviving borrower dies or would like to sell the home, or
permanently moves out. On death of the home owner, the legal heirs have the choice of keeping or selling the house. If they d ecide
to sell the house, the proceeds of the sale would be used to repay the mortgage, with the remainder going to the heirs.
As per the scheme formulated by National Housing Bank (NHB), the m aximum period of the loan period is 15 years. The residual
life of the property should be at least 20 years. Where the bo rrower lives longer than 15 years, periodic payments will not be
made by lender. However, the borrower can continue to occupy.

Greece Debt's Crisis

When Greece joined the euro in 2001, confidence in the Greek
economy grew and a big economic boom followed. But after
the 2008 financial crisis, everything changed. Every country in
Europe entered a recession, but because Greece was one of the
poorest and most indebted countries, it suffered the most. The
unemployment rate reached 28 percent in 2013, worse than the
United State s suffere d during the Great Depression.

If Greece wasn't in the euro, it could have boosted its economy
by printing more of its currency, the drachma. This would have
lowered the value of the drachma in international markets,
making Greek exports more competitive. It would also lower
domestic interest rates, encouraging domestic investment and
making it easier for Greek debtors to service their debts.
But Greece share s its monetary policy with the re st of Europe.
And the German-dominated European Central Bank has given
Europe a monetary policy that's about right for Germany, but
so tight that it has thrust Greece into a depression.
So Greece is squeezed between a crushing debt burden 177
percent of GDP, about twice the level in the United S tates
and a deep depression that m akes it difficult to raise the money
it needs to make its debt payments.
For the last five years, Greece has been negotiating with
European Commission, the European Central Bank, and the
International Monetary Fund (dubbed "the Troika") for financial
assistance with its debt burden. Since 2010, the Troika has been
providing Greece with loans in exchange for tax hikes and
spending cuts.
Rich European nations such as Germany believe they're simply
insisting that Greece live within its means. But the austere terms
of the bailouts have caused resentment among Greeks and
contributed to crisis-level unemployment and poverty. In
January, they elected a new left-wing prime minister, Alexis
Tsipras, who promised to reject the previous bailout deal and
secure a more favorable agreement.
But he has very little leverage. In 2010, Greek debt was widely
held by private banks, so a Greek default could trigger a
financial panic. But since then, this debt has been consolidated in
the hands of rich European governments, greatly reducing the
risk of a financial crisis if Greece defaults.
So Greece faces a hard choice: it can accept the Troika's
demands for further austerity. Or it can defy the Troika, which
would likely lead to a defaul t on Greek debt and possibly a
Greek exit from the euro. The Greek government is holding a
referendum on July 5 to let voters choose between these bad
options.

In the meantime, the Greek economy is melting down. Knowing

that Greek euro deposits could soon be transfo rmed into
devalued drachma deposits, Greek people have been rushing
to ATMs to withdraw as much cash as they can. That has forced
the Greek government to close the banks and limit withdrawals
to 60 per day.

Winners of French Open 2015

The 2015 French Open was the 114th edition of the French Open and was held at Stade Roland Garros in Paris.
The tournament is an event run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is part o f the 2015 ATP World Tour and the 20 15
WTA Tour calendars under the Grand Slam category. The tournament consists of both men's and women's singles and doubles
draw s as well as a mixed doubles event.
There is a singles and doubles events for both boys and girls (players under 18), which is part of the Gra de A category of
tournaments, and singles and doubles events for men's and women's wheelchair tennis players as part of the UNIQLO tour under
the Grand Slam category. The tournament was played on clay courts and took place over a series of 22 courts, including the three
main showcourts, Court Philippe Chatrier, Court Suzanne Lenglen and Court 1.
Winners of Roland Garros that is played on clay court. French open commonly known as Roland Garros is held over two weeks
between late May and early June at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France.
The French Open 2015 began on Sunday, May 24 and ended on Sunday, June 7
Brazil

Womens Lucie Safarova of

Doubles Czechoslovakia and
Bethanie
Mattek-Sands of
USA

Mixed Mike Bryan and

Doubles Bethanie
Winners of French Open 2015 Mattek-Sands of
Mens Stan Wawrinka of USA
Singles Switzerland

Womens Serena Williams of

Singles USA

Mens Ivan Dodig of

Doubles Croatia and
Marcelo Melo of

Daily GK update : 14th July 2015

1. IPL scam: Apex court suspends
Rajasthan Royals, C SK for two years.
i. The Supreme Court-appointed Justice
R.M. Lodha Committee on Tuesday
suspended Indian Premier League (IPL)
teams Chennai Super Kings (CSK)and
Rajasthan Royals (RR) from the League
for two years.
ii. The committee on Tuesday also committee's findings and held Mr.
imposed sanctions on Gurunath Meiyappan and Mr. Kundra guilty of
Meiyappan, and Raj Kundra who were betting.
the face of these IPL franchises
respectively and were found to have 2. Legendary music composer MS
indulged in be tting activities. It declared Viswanathan passes away.
them ineligible for participation from
cricket activities for life.
iii. The committee has stressed that the
betting activities of these individuals had
brought the game of cricket, BCCI and IPL
into disrepute.
iv. The Lodha committee was formed by
the Supreme Court in its judgment in the i. Legendary music director MS
IPL betting case on January 22. This Viswanathan, who had scored music for
judgment confirmed the Supreme Court- over 1,000 film s, passed aw ay at his
appointed Justice Mukul Mudgal
residence early this morning following
illness.
ii. 88-year-old Viswanathan w as being
treated at a private hospital here for
geriatric problems. The music director is
survived by four sons and three
daughters.
iii. Born in Palakkad in Kerala,
Viswanathan had scored music for over
1,000 films, some of them in association
with his partner Ramamurthy. Later they
parted ways.
3. Noted artist Sayed Haider Raza
conferred with Frances de la Lgion
dHonneur.
i. Noted artist Sayed Haider Raza was
conferred with highest French Civilian
Award Commandeur de la Lgion
dHonneur (the Legion of Honour).
ii. Raza was bestowed with this award
for his peerless achievements in
transcending all boundaries, forging ties
between France and India and for
continuing artistic quest straddling nations,
religions, cultures and philosophies.
iii. Born in 1922 in Madhya Pradesh. He
starte d his artistic career at the age of
12.
iv. la Lgion dHonneur (the Legion of
Honour) is the highest civilian award
given by the French Government.
4. India and Georgia signed MoU for
cooperation in field of Election
Management
i)India and Georgia on 13 July 2015
signed a Memorandum of Understanding
(MoU) for cooperation in the field of
election management and administration.
The MoU was signed by Chief Election
Commissioner of India Nasim Zaidi and
Tamar Zhvania, Chairperson, Central
Election Commission, Georgia.
ii) Till now, Election Commission of India
has signed twenty MoUs with Election
Management Bodies and international
organizations across the world.
iii) Major purpose of the MoU between
India and Georgia:
a) Promotion of exchanges of knowledge
and experience in electoral processes
b) Exchange of information, materials,
expertise and training of personnel
c) Production and distribution of materials
pertaining to electoral systems, voting
technology, voters education and
awareness
d) Participation of women and minorities
in electoral process.
5. IT department launched OTP to e-file
Income Tax
i) The Income Tax (IT) Department on 13
July 2015 launched One Time Password
(OTP) based e-filing verification system
for taxpayers. This OTP will help in
ending the practice of sending pape r
acknowledgement, called ITR-V, through
post to the I-T Central Processing Centre
(CPC) based in Bengaluru.
ii) The facility can be accessed using
internet banking, Aadhaar number, ATM
and email.Central Board of Direct Taxes
(CBDT) in its notification said that any
taxpayer, whose income is 5 lakh rupees
or below per annum and has no refund
claims, can straightaw ay generate the
'Electronic Verification Code' (EVC) for e-
filing and validating their Income Tax
Return (ITR) through their registe red
mobile number and e-mail id with the
department.
iii) Once logged in on the banking portal,
the taxpayer will be sent the EVC to his
mobile number provided in the official e -
filing web portal of the department which
they will put in their ITR for final
submission.
6. MoD and MSDE signed MoU to
increase employability of ex -
servicemen.
i)The Union Ministry of Defence (MoD)
and Union Ministry of Skill Development
and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) on 13 July
2015 signed a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) to facilitate
strate gic partnership on skill development
and entrepreneurship.
ii) The MoU was signed by the Defence
Secretary Shri G Mohan Kumar and his
counterpart from MSDE Shri Sunil Arora.
The MoU will provide impetus to use the
skills of servicemen for the country when
they retire from the Armed Forces.
iii) The MoU will be a harbinger of skill
development in the country that will align
the Armed Forces and the civilian field.
7. Lt General Man Mohan Singh Rai
appointed as Vice-Chief of Indian Army
i) Lieutenant General Man Mohan Singh
Rai was on 13 July 2014 appointed as
the Vice-Chief of the Indian Army. Rai will
succeed Lt Gen Philip Campose, who will
superannuate the office on 31 July 2015.
ii) Presently, Rai is working as the Eastern
Army Commander. He is from the Corps
of Engineers and is an alumnus o f
National Defence Academy,
Khadakwasla. He was commissioned from
the Indian Military Academy (IMA),
Dehradun, on 15 December 1976.
8. Former BSFI president Pashupatinath
Roy died.
i)Former Billiards and Snooker Federation
of India (BSFI) President Pashupatinath
Roy died on 13 July 2015 following a
cardiac arrest at a private hospital in
Kolkata. He was 76.
ii) Roy was also the president of West
Bengal Badminton Association for more
than five decades afte r he toook over
charge from his father B K Roy in late
1960's.
iii) He also served BSFI in various
capacities. He was the secre tary and
advisor at BSFI for some time and later
went on to join the Asian body of the
game as Secretary and President.
9. Operation Talaash for missing
Dornier ends.
i) Thirty-five days after a Coast Guard
aircraft on a surveillance sortie
disappeared o ff the Chennai coast with
three crew, the search operation has
been terminated after recovery of
human remains, parts of the plane and
personal effects.
ii)Eighty per cent of the aircrafts parts
have been retrieved, beside s human
bones and wrist watches from the sea
bed, I G Coast Guard S P Sharma said iii) The authorities have called the families collecting the remains and personal
here today, adding the search operation of the crew for carrying out DNA tests fo r effects.
was terminated last night. identification of the deceased and

Recent Banking and Financial Developments in India

Here are some recent developments in the financial and
banking realms.
K.V. Kamath noted banker of India was on 11 May
2015 appointed as the first President of the $100 -billion New
Development Bank (NDB) of the BRICS countries, to be based in
Chinas financial hub Shanghai.
Lok Sabha on 13 May 2015 passed The Negotiable
Instruments (Amendment) Bill, 2015 by a voice vote. The Bills
amends the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 in order to make
cheque-bounce filing of cases more convenient for check payees
(person who receives the cheque).
According to the data released by the Reserve Bank of
India (RBI), the number of outstanding credit cards at the end of
December was 20.29 million.
Mangaluru -headquartered Corporation Bank recently
dropped plans to take over the assets and liabilities of a
Maharashtra-based cooperative bank namedRupee co-
operative bank license was cancelled by the RBI in 2013.
Private-sector Federal Bank on 18 May 2015
ventured into credit card segment with the launch of a co -
branded credit card with SBI.
The new Gold Monetisation Scheme (GMS) was
announced in the Union Budget 2015 -16 with the aim of
replacing both the pre sent Gold Deposit and Gold Metal Loan
Schemes. The new scheme will allow the depositors of gold to
earn interest in their metal accounts and the jewellers to obtain
loans in their metal account.
The Union Finance Ministry announced that it was able
to contain the fiscal deficit for 2014-15 at 4% of GDP against
4.1% set to be achieved in the Union Budget.
The revenue deficit was estimated at 2.8% of the as
against the revised estimate of 2.9% of GDP, marking a sharp
improvement over 3.2% for 2013-14.
The Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2014 was passed by
the Rajya Sabha on 13 May. The amendments to the
Companies Act, 2013, which came into effect from 1 April
2015, are designed to address some issues raised by
stakeholders.
Indias large st banking entity State Bank of India (SBI)
has launched Online Customer Acquisition Solution (OCAS),
an online platform to apply for loans.
Indias largest private sector lender Industrial Credit
and Investment Corporation of India (ICICI) Bank has
launched voice password facility for users.
Indias largest public sector lender, State Bank of
India (SBI) has signed memorandum of understanding (MoU)
with e-commerce giant Amazon. The MoU seeks to identify and
tap the potential areas of collaboration for payments and
commerce solutions between both signatory parties.
ICICI Banks first branch in China was inaugurated in
Shanghai, a major global financial hub. It was inaugurated by
Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the presence of ICICI Banks
MD and CEO Chanda Kochhar. Earlier in 2003, ICICI Bank had
opened a representative office in China.
Indias largest lender, State Bank of India (SBI) has
launched contact-less credit and debit cards sbiINTOUC H.
sbiINTOUCH is based upon latest near-field technology (NFC)
that enables customer to transact using the card by just tapping
or waving it against the reader of the POS. SBI is also proving
a fraud liability cover of 1 lakh rupees on these cards.
According to a latest repo rt of the World Bank, 43 %
of Indias bank accounts were lying dormant in 2014.

Daily GK Update: 15th July 2015

1. PM Modi launches 'Skill India'
campaign
i) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on
Wednesday launched the 'Skill India
Mission' in the national capital. The Prime
Minister will form ally launch the National
Skill Development Mission, unveil the new
National Policy for Skill Development and
Entrepreneurship 2015 and roll out on
all-India flagship scheme.
ii) Narendra Modis ambitious Skill India
Mission targe ts 40.2 cro re workers by
2022 .Pushing ahead with its ambitious
Skill India mission, Prime Ministe r
Narendra Modi will launch 'Pradhan
Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana' on
Wednesday to create skilled manpower
at grass-root level by providing them
vocational, technical and skill
development education.
iii)These include a redesigned Model Skill
Loan Scheme, Skill Card fo r persons
certified under Pradhan Mantri Kaushal
Vikas Yojana and the new National
Policy for Skill Development.
2.Boeing, Tata Advanced Systems ink
aerospace partnership deal.
i) A collaboration in aerospace and
defence manufacturing and potential ii) The framework agreement was signed
integrated systems development by Shelley Lavender, President of Boeing
opportunities has been inked between Military Aircraft, and Sukaran Singh,
Tata Advanced Systems Ltd (TASL) and Managing Director and Chief Executive
Boeing. The deal will include unmanned Officer of TASL.
aerial vehicles. iii) Tata Advanced Systems is a wholly-
owned subsidiary of Tata Sons, focused
on providing integrated solutions fo r
aerospace, defence, and homeland
security.
iv) TAL has also provided ground support
equipment for the C-17 Globemaster III
strate gic airlifter.

3. Indias first railway-line built under
PPP model inaugurated in Gujarat
i) Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhu on
14 July 2015 inaugurated the broad -
gauge railway-line between
Gandhidham and Tuna-Tekra Port in
Gujarat by flagging off a goods train.
ii) The rail line is Indias first railway-line
built with private secto r participation
under Non-Government Railway (NGR)
Policy 2012 of Indian Railways. The rail
line has been built at a cost of approx
185 crore rupees for M/s Kandla Port
Trust (KPT) to bring about better and
faster rail connectivity to Port of Tuna &
Tekra.
iii) The rail-line between Gandhidham, a
town in Kutch district o f Gujarat, and
Tuna-Tekra Port, a port 20-km west of
Kandla in Gulf of Kutch, w as funded by
M/s Kandla Port Trust (KPT) and Western
Railway Zone of Indian Railways
coordinated and pioneered it.
4. Maharashtra assembly passed
Guarantee of Public Services Bill, 2015
i)Maharashtra legislative assembly on 14
July 2015 passed the Maharashtra
Guarantee of Public Services Bill, 2015.
The bill was unanimously passed by the
assembly in the absence of Congress and
NCP members.
ii)Features of the Bill
It empowers citizens to avail their rights
in stipulated time with less effo rts and
cost.
It will pave way for curbing corruption,
bringing transparency and empowering
citizens.
It ensures essential services are
delivered in a time-bound manner and at
nominal charges.
Daily GK update: 16th July 2015
1. RBI constitutes Deepak Mohanty
Committee to frame action plan on
financial inclusion
i. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has
constituted a committee to prepare a 5
year action plan to spread the reach o f
financial services acro ss country to
In case of failure in delivery in the
stipulated time, the government employee
will be penalized for default, which
ranges between 500 rupees to 5000
rupees.
iii) It provides for three-tier Appellate
Authorities with first two being
Government Officials or Designated
Officers and third will be a Right to
Service Commission.
5. Skill Development Ministry inks pact
for using Railway infra for training.
i)Ahead of the Prime Ministers launch of
the Skill India Mission on Wednesday, the
Railways has tied up with the Ministry of
Skill Development to offer sparable
space for training in its infrastructure, such
as wayside stations, railway training
centres, railway schools and institutes.
ii)An agreement in this regard was signed
here on Tuesday between the Railway
Ministry and the Skill Development
Ministry. Our schools can be made
available and our employees can teach
as part of their social duties, said
Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, adding
that the Railways otherwise will have a
limited role to play.
iii) The Railways already has 300
training centres and 150 schools, of which
about 70 per cent have optical fibre
cable network connections
6. Andromeda acquires apnapaisa.com
in stock and cash deal.
i) Andromeda, one of the country's
largest loan distributors, has acquired the
apnapaisa.com, an online loan solutions
space in a stock and cash deal, the
company said.
ii) Apnapaisa.com, promoted by Harsh
Roongta, a personal finance professional,
has worked with several financial lending
institutions.
iii) Andromeda's acquisition of apnapaisa
is in line with the increasing trend o f
digitization and the tech-edge that
unbanked population. The committee will
be headed by RBI executive director
Deepak Mohanty and comprise total o f
14 members
apnapaisa brings would drive the growth
of Andromeda
7. Krishnapatnam Port receives Golden
Peacock award for environment
management
i)Krishnapatnam Port in Andhra Pradesh
has been aw arded Golden Peacock
environment management award for its
achievements and initiatives in the field of
environment. The award was presented
during the 17th World Congress on
Environment Management to C Sasidhar,
Managing Director of Krishnapatnam Port
by Union Minister of State for
Environment Prakash Javadekar in New
Delhi.
ii) Green initiatives of Krishnapatnam Port
are Plantation of over 20 lakhs trees
within the po rt and more than 50,000
trees in the surrounding villages,
Installation of solar lights in the port and
solar water heaters in the employee
colony, Establishing gas connections for
villagers so as to discourage them from
cutting of mangroves as fuel wood.
8. Iconic musician Joan Sebastian
passed away
i) Iconic Mexican musician Joan Sebastian
passed aw ay on 13 July 2015 afte r
battling bone cancer for more than 15
years in Juliantla, Mexico. He was 64. He
was also known as El Rey del Jaripeo (the
King of Mexican Rodeo).
ii) Born as Jose Manuel Figueroa, he was
best known for his sentimental love songs
such as Secreto de Amor and Tatuajes On
Billbords Regional Mexican Albums chart,
he placed 10 hit albums at No 1 position,
second only to Vicente Fernandez with 15
hit album s. He was also honoured by
Billboard multiple times, first with Hall of
Fame honors at the 2006 Billboard Latin
Music Awards and then Voice Award at
the 2013 Billboard Mexican Music
Awards.
iii)He won seven Latin Grammy Awards
and five Grammy Awards, m aking him
the most aw arded Mexican performer in
Grammy's history.

ii. It will review the existing policy of
financial inclusion, including customer
protection framework and suppo rtive
payment system. In this regard it will take
into account the recommendations made
by various committees set up earlier.
iii. Suggest a monitorable medium-term
action plan for financial inclusion. It will
cover various components including
payments, cre dit, de posit, social security
transfers, pension and insurance.
Articulate the underlying institutional and
policy framework for financial inclusion.
Cover financial literacy and consumer
protection, as well as delivery mechanism
of financial inclusion.
iv. For this the committee will encompass
both households and small businesses,
with more emphasis on rural inclusion
including group-based credit delivery
mechanisms.
2. Kumbh Mela Begins in Nashik,
Thousands Take Holy Dip
i. Simhastha Kumbh Mela, the largest
congregation of faith in the world, began
today with the traditional ceremony of
hoisting of flags and thousands of people
taking a holy dip in Kushawart and
Ramkund in Godavari river in the two
towns.
ii. The festival, known as the largest
peaceful gathering, occurs once in 12
years as per Hindu calendar and is
marked by participation of 'sadhus' from
different denominations (akhadas), and
lakhs of devotees. Kumbh is also known
for the religious pomp and colourful
processions.
iii. The festival will last for 58 days till
August 11. On the occasion of flag -
hoisting at Trim bakeshwar, a Naval
chopper showered rose pe tals on the sea
of humanity that has gathered for the
mega event.
iv. After the ceremony, thousands o f
people who have come to Nashik from
different parts of the country took a dip
at Kushavart teerth (pond) located near
the temple of Lord Shiva.
3. Varanasi chosen as 'city of music' by
UNESCO
i. In a development set to tremendously
boost its age -old traditions, Varanasi has
joined the global bandw agon of
UNESCO "Cities of Music" under the
Creative Cities Network.
ii. It has been chosen in the music
category under UNESCO's "field o f
excellence" plan. The fields of excellence
are classified into catego ries of literature,
film, music, craft and folk art, de sign,
media arts and gastronomy
iii. The inclusion in the network has also
paved way for repre senting the cultural
heritage of the holy city on the world
stage through the UNESCO project. It will
not only provide a fillip to tourism, but
will also give a chance to local artists and
musicians to visit countries that are a part
of this network
iv. Nine cities Glasgow in the UK,
Hanover and Mannheim in Germany,
Ghent in Belgium, Hamamatsu in Japan,
Brazzaville in the Republic of Congo,
Bogota in Columbia, Seville in Spain and
Bologna in Italy are a part of
UNESCO "Cities of Music".
4. FM Arun Jaitley tries to improve BJP-
SAD ties , launches HRIDAY for 12 cities
in Amritsar
i. Jaitley choose Amritsar to launch the
"National Heritage City Development
and Augmentation Yojana " ( HRIDAY) for
12 cities in the country.
ii. Government of India has sanctioned ` .
69.31 crore as 100% grant for Am ritsar
city.
iii. The Union Finance Minister said that
Punjab, being a cradle of Indian
civilization, was all set to lead the country
in the arena of agriculture and defense
for which it was aptly known as the sword
arm and granary of the nation.
iv. Making a strong case for the farmers,
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said
that it w as the high time to redress the
grievances of beleaguered peasantry,
which was on cross roads due to the
apathy of the previous Congress
governments at the Centre.
5. Agri Ministry launches 3 portals
i. The Centre launched three new websites
for farmers here on Wednesday aimed
at making organic farming certification,
fertiliser quality checks and disbursal o f
soil health cards easier. The portals,
developed by National Informatics
Centre, are part of the existing schemes.
ii. The Participatory Guarantee System
portal will help small and m arginal
farmers engaged in organic farming to
secure certification after checks fo r
compliance to standards are carried out.
iii. The Soil Health Card portal has been
developed to register soil samples and
record tests results along with fertilise r
recommendations to create a national
database on soil health for future use in
research.
iv. The Fertiliser Quality Control System
portal will collate results of drawn
samples of imported fertilise rs helping
both consumers and importers with
analysis reports.
6. Net neutrality report: Fate of Airtel's
zero rating plan left to TRAI
i. Airtel had launched Airtel Zero under
which it offered a platform for content
owners, e-commerce players, and start-
ups to offer free data access to users.
This was seen to be against the principles
of net neutrality by some sections as it
allowed free access to only those
companies which had resources to partner
with Airtel.
ii. The Committee, after consideration of
all opinions expressed by Net Neutrality
proponents and network o perators, feels
that there are a multitude of possibilities
in designing tariff plans and it would not
be possible to either pre-think all
possibilities or determine its validity with
respect to Net Neutrality principle s.
iii. The Committee proposed that tariff
plans (including zero rating plans) be
dealt with in the following ways: (i) Ex-
ante determination Before a licensee
launches any tariff plan, the same would
need to be filed before TRAI within a
reasonable period prior to the launch of
the plan. TRAI would examine each such
tariff filing carefully to see if it conform s
to the principles of Net Neutrality and
that it is not anti-competitive by distorting
consumer markets.
iv. Such a filing requirement would
include a deemed approval clause, if the
regulator does not decide within a
reasonable period. This would ensure
balance of interests, pro tecting the liberty
of service providers to design specific
tariff plans attuned to specific customer
demands and at the same time ensure
that the principles of Net Neutrality are
not breached.
 Daily GK Update: 17th July 2015
1. India and Canada s ign MoU in the
field of Civil Aviation.
i. The Union Cabinet, chaired by the
Prime Minister Shri NarendraModi, has
approved the signing of Memorandum o f
Understanding (MoU) betweenIndia and
Canada in the field of Civil Aviation.
ii. MoU will help in deepening the
bilateral cooperation and enhancing
theexperience and technical knowledge
in the field of Civil Aviation between
Indiaand Canada.
iii. The two countries shall have a
cooperation programme in the areas o f
safe tyof aircraft operations and related
issues that will provide more up-to -
dateknowledge to the Directorate
General of Civil Aviation to make it
familiar withbest international practice s
and latest International Civil
AviationOrganisations safety oversight
programme requirements.
2. IBM, IIM-B, Catalys t complete
womens leadership development
programme.
i. IBM on Friday today announced the
graduation of the first group of students
from Tanmatra, an innovative, cross-
industry women's leadership development
program conducted in collaboration with
The Indian Institute of Management,
Bangalore ( IIM-B) and Catalyst India
WRC.
ii. Thirty high-potential women from
industrie s including IT, banking, pharma,
and manufacturing completed Tanmatra
(which means potential in Sanskrit). The
10-month program was open to
organisations across the country and
trained a select group of women with at
least 12 years of work experience, IBM
said in a press statement.
iii.This course helps prepare women for
leadership in the Indian business
community and offers a common platform
to network with industry leaders.
3. Brand ambassador Parineeti Chopra
divides Haryana government.
i. A day after Haryana named Parineeti
Chopra as its brand am bassador fo r
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pet 'Beti
Bachao-Beti Padhao' campaign to
promote the cause of girl child.
ii. Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao' campaign,
aimed at ensuring survival, protection and
empowerment of the girl child, was
launched by Prime Minister Modi from
Haryana's Panipat in January this year.
The state has one of the worst sex ratios
in the country.
4. India inks $250-million loan pact
with World Bank for Andhra Pradesh
Disaster Recovery project.
i. India has inked a financing agreement
with World Bank (WB) to raise US 250
million dollars financial assistance fo r
Andhra Prade sh Disaster Recovery
Project (APDRP).
ii. The motive of this project is Objective:
To restore, enhance re silience and
improve public services, livelihoods and
environmental facilities in targe ted
communities of Andhra Pradesh.
iii. It also seeks to increase the capacity
of the state to promptly and effectively
respond to crisis or emergency.
iv. It includes approximately 3 million
populations in 4 heavily impacted districts
of state viz. Srikakulam, Visakhapatnam,
Vizianagaram and East Godavari.
5. Union Cabinet gives nod to
redevelop 400 major railway stations.
i. Union Cabinet meeting chaired by
Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved
the redevelopment of 400 major railway
stations.
ii. This approval will enable the Union
Ministry of Railways to accelerate the
redevelopment of A-1 and A category
railway stations across the country. These
stations generally are located in m ajor
cities, metro s, pilgrimage centres and
important tourist destinations.
iii. These major railway stations will be
redeveloped under a new a unique
method which is form of public
procurement of ide as called the Swiss
Challenge. It will also encourage
innovative ideas from interested parties
without any additional extra cost from
the Railways.
iv. Under this initiative, major stations will
be redeveloped by leveraging real
estate development of land and air
space in and around the stations. It also
includes permitting commercial
development of real estate by the Zonal
Railways.
6. ICC ODI Rankings: India retain 2nd
spot after clean sweep over Zimbabwe
i. India have retained their 2nd position in
the latest ICC ODI Rankings which were
released today.
ii. its 3-0 se ries victory over Zimbabwe,
India has maintained its second place
ranking and still remains 14 points adrift
of Australia who leads the field on 129
points
Daily GK update: 18th July 2015
1. India and Myanmar to strengthen
defence ties
i. India and Myanmar have announced
plans to strengthen their defence
cooperation during a joint consultative
commission (JCC) meeting held in New
Delhi. This meeting was chaired by Union
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj
and Myanmars Foreign Minister Wunna
Maung Lwin.
ii. Both countries to work together on
effective border management especially
on the issue of cross-border insurgency
and terro rism. India has reaffirmed to
provide defence assistance program as
part of its Goodwill Diplomacy to
Myanmar in order to modernise their
Armed Forces.
iii. Investments of Indian companies in
sectors like power, ports, agro-industries,
mining, forest products, construction
industry, highways, consumer goods, oil
and gas, manufacturing, plantation,
hospitality and ICT will be encouraged.
iv. Recently, defence cooperation
between both neighbours has grown afte r
changes in political reform s of Myanmar
under President Thein Sein, which has
made them less reliant on China.
2. EU approves 7 Billion Euro Short-
Term Loan to Greece
iii. Australia retained the top notch in ICC
ODI Rankings.
7. Neeraj Kumar appointed chief
security advisor for ICC World T20
2016.
i. Former Delhi Police Commissioner
Neeraj Kumar was appointed as the
Chief Advisor of Security and anti
corruption unit (ACSU) of BCCI for next
years T20 World Cup to be hosted by
India.
i. European Union (EU) has approved a
short-term loan of 7.16 billion euros to
Greece after it was backed by the 28
member states. This loan will allow
Greece to pay its huge debt to European
Central Bank (ECB) and the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) till new bailout plan
is ratified.
ii. The loan will be given through the
European Financial Stabilisation
Mechanism (EFSM) which is a rescue fund
set up during the first time bailout of
Greece in 2010. But presently it covers
the whole of the 28 EU member nations
and not just the 19 eurozone members.
iii. This loan fund will be officially fo r
three months, but looking at present debt
crisis of Greece it can be sustained until
20 August 2015.
3. RBI, Central Bank of Sri Lanka ink
currency s wap agreement
i. Reserve Bank of India has signed a
special currency swap agreement with the
Central Bank of S ri Lanka (CBS). Under
this agreement, Sri Lankan bank can
draw up to 1.1 billion dollars for a
maximum period of 6 months. It was
signed with an intention to mitigate the
possible currency volatility in the spirit of
strengthening bilateral relations and
economic ties of India with Sri Lanka.
ii. Kumar was already roped in by the
BCCI for a one-year period in the anti-
corruption unit during the IPL.
iii. The Board of Control for Cricket in
India announced the names of the
organising committee for the mega event
with Dr M V Sridhar as the General
Manager for Cricket Operations, the
BCCI said in a statement.
ii. It should be noted that, this special
arrangement was signed in addition to
the existing Framework on Currency
Swap Arrangement for the SAARC
member countries.
iii. Earlier in March 2015, RBI had signed
similar Currency Swap Agreement with
Sri Lankan bank for 400 million dollars
under the SAARC Currency Swap
Framework within the overall limit of 2
billion dollars.
iv. This Currency Swap Framework is
signed between SAARC member
countries. It seeks to provide a backstop
line of funding to member countries in
order to meet any balance of payments
and liquidity crise s.
4. India's first private air freight station
all set to open in Chennai
i. Indias first air freight station in the
private sector has come up at
Irungattukottai near Chennai. The first
AFS in the country was set up in 2007
inside Central Warehousing Corporation
in the city.
ii. Set up by the city-based Indev Logistics
at a co st of Rs.50 crore, the AFS will
reduce congestion at the gateway
airports and the carrier operators can
choose the AFS as a final destination for
cargo delivery.
iii. The major advantages of the AFS
include faster evacuation of cargo from
the major gateway airports; an
integrated supply chain, minimised
transaction logistics cost; and tracking o f
the mobility and movement of the cargo.
iv. All activitie s, including Custom
documentation and examination, cargo
acceptance check, security checks, cargo
palletisation and warehousing will be
carried out at the AFS, said Xavier Britto,
Chairman, Indev Group, at the soft launch
of the AFS on Friday.
5. Veteran Telugu playback singer V
Ramakrishna passes away
i. Veteran Telugu playback singe r
Vissam raju Ramakrishna passed away
due to cance r. He was 68. He had sung
many memorable songs for legendary
south Indian actor turned politician N T
Rama Rao and other top stars.
ii. He had sung about 5,000 songs in his
nearly 4 decades long career. His debut
movie song as playback singer was
Daily GK update: 19th and 20th July 2015
1. Kerala Tourisms Muziris Heritage
Project wins 2015 PATA Award
i. Kerala Tourism has won 2015 Pacific
Asia Travel Association (PATA) award in
the Heritage & Culture category for its
Muziris Heritage Project.
ii. The award bestowed in recognition
project efforts which aim at restoring and
conservation of historical and cultural
significance of the ancient town and its
uniqueness and impact on local community
located in stretches from Ernakulam to
Kodungalloor in Thrissur district of Kerala.
iii. Muziris was an ancient seaport and
urban centre which dates from at least
the 1st century BC and located at the
mouth of the Periyar River in present
south Indian state of Kerala. It was a key
centre for trade in ancient times between
southern India on one side and Egyptians,
Phoenicians, Greeks and Roman Empire
on the other side.
iv. Muziris Heritage Project is an
ambitious tourism venture of Tourism
Department of Kerala in order to
Vayase Oka Poolathota in Vichitra
Bandham (1972). He was also has sang
number of popular devotional songs.
iii. His famous songs are in Andala
Ramudu, Mutyala Muggu and Alluri
Sitaram a Raju films. His songs in N T
Rama Raos film, Pothuluri
Veerabrahmendra Swamy Charitra were
a runaway success.
6. CCI imposes Rs 671 crore penalty on
four state-run insurance companies
i. The Competition Commission of India
(CCI) has imposed a penalty of Rs 671
crore on four public sector insurance
companies-National Insurance Co, New
India Insurance Co, Oriental Insurance Co
and United India insurance company for
indulging in anti-competitive practices.
ii. The competition regulator these
insurance companies guilty of rigging a
tender floated by the Government of
Kerala in 2009 for selecting insurance
service provider for implementation of
the 'Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna'.
iii. The case was taken up by the
Commission suo moto pursuant to an
anonymous information alleging
reinstate the historical and cultural
significance Muziris. It was started in
2006 and also covers various other
historically significant sites and
monuments in central Kerala.
2. Indian-origin doctor Shiv Pande
receives honorary fellowship in UK
i. Shiv Pande, an Indian origin doctor has
been award with honorary fellowship by
prestigious University of Central
Lancashire of United Kingdom. He was
award with this fellowship in recognition
of his contribution to the community as a
general practitioner and medical
educator.
ii.
Pande was born and educated in India
and had obtained his MBBS and Ms
(General Surgery) degrees. Later in
1971 he had move to the UK in 1971.
iii. Till 1974, he had worked in cardio-
thoracic surgery at London Chest
Hospital, Fazakerley Hospital and Broad
Green Hospital, Liverpool. Earlier, he was
cartelization by four public secto r
insurance companies in relation to a
tender issued by the Government of
Kerala for the implementation of RSBY
and CHIS schemes.
7. Jules Bianchi: F1 driver dies from
Suzuka crash injuries
i. French Formula 1 driver Jules Bianchi
has died, nine months afte r suffering
severe head injuries in a crash at the
2014 Japanese Grand Prix.
ii. Bianchi, 25, had been in a coma since
crashing his Marussia into a recovery
vehicle at October's rain-hit race.
iii. He is the first F1 driver to die from
injuries sustained in a Grand Prix since
Brazilian triple world cham pion Ayrton
Senna was killed at Italy's Imola circuit in
1994.
iv. Bianchi made his F1 debut with
Marussia in 2013 and was also a
member of the Ferrari young driver
academy after previously working as a
test driver for the team.
honoured with the award at Preston
Guildhall by The University of Central
Lancashire (UCLan) for his contribution to
medical services.
iv. In 1989 for his community work Pande
was presented with a Member of the
Order of the British Empire (MBE) by the
Queen Elizabeth II.
3. India, Russia sign customs pact to
boost trade
i. India and Russia have signed a customs
and liberalize business visas agreement
to boost trade be tween both countries to
remove the hindrances and boost
commerce. This pact will help to rapid
clearances of impo rted goods at the land
and sea ports and addresses the issues
related to the non-tariff barriers.
ii. Both countries also have fixed a targe t
of US 30 billion dollars to be achieved
by 2025. This agreement will play
important role proposed International
North-South freight corridor (INSTC) for
trade from India to Russia to central Asia
through Iran.
iii. Presently, bilateral trade between
both nations is extremely low and it was
just 9.51 billion dollars. In Ufa, Russia
prior to BRICS ministerial meeting Prime
Minister N arendra Modi and his Russian
counterpart President Vladimir Putin had
discussed ways to increase bilateral
trade.
iv. Both countries also had reached an
agreement on setting up a Joint S tudy
Group which will recommend contours o f
a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between
India and Eurasian Economic Union (EEU)
comprising Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus
and Armenia.
4. Indo-Bangla joint survey in LBA
enclaves over nationality preference
concludes
i. The official nationality preference
survey in recently swapped 162 enclaves
on India- Bangladesh border under the
Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) has
ended. The survey was conducted by the
Enclaves Exchange Co-ordination
Committee (EECC) of both countries fo r
ascertaining the nationality preference of
over 50,000 enclave-residents.
ii. On Bangladeshs side it is found that
1,027 out of around 37,369 had opted
for Indian nationality from the recently
swapped 111 Indian enclaves now
located in Bangladesh. In case of Indias
side, over 14,000 residents in 51
Bangladeshi enclaves transferred to India
have opted to relocate to Bangladesh.
iii. The nationality preference survey was
conducted by 75 joint-teams of EECC
under the modalities of the LAB. The
agreement came in to effect after Prime
Minister N arendra Modis visit to
Bangladesh in June 2015.
iv. India had swapped around 111
enclaves to Bangladesh, while the
counterpart had had swapped 51
enclaves. As per LBA, all 162 enclaves
will stand transferred to the two
respective countries on midnight of 3 1
July, 2015.
5. Nelson Mandela International Day
was observed across the world on 18
July 2015 to honour the former South
African President and Nobel Peace
Prize laureate Nelson Mandela (1918 -
2013)
Daily GK update : 21th July 2015
i. Nelson Mandela International Day was
observed across the world on 18 July
2015 to honour the former South African
President and Nobel Peace Prize
laureate Nelson Mandela (1918-2013).
ii. The overarching objective of the
Mandela Day is to inspire individuals to
take action to help change the world fo r
the bette r, and in doing so build a global
movement for good.
iii. For the first time the day was
celebrated on 18 July 2010 as per a UN
General Assembly resolution of
November 2009. The UN created the
Mandela Day to recognize his
contribution to end the discriminatory
apartheid system in South Africa.
iv. the day also presents an occasion to
remember his contribution to the struggle
for democracy inte rnationally and the
promotion of a culture of peace
throughout the world.
6. Godfather actor Alex Rocco dies at
79
i. Alex Rocco, the US actor best known for
his role in crime drama The Godfather,
has died of cancer aged 79.
ii. Rocco played Moe Greene, the casino
boss who angrily resisted a takeover
attempt from rising mafia boss Michael
Corleone and paid for it with a bullet
through his eye.
iii. In a career spanning half a century,
Rocco won an Emmy for his role in 1990s
sitcom The Famous Teddy Z. He also
voiced the studio boss behind Itchy and
Scratchy in The Simpsons.
iv. Rocco made his debut in cult director
Russ Meyer's 1965 film Mo tor Psycho. Six
years late r, he won a part in what was to
become regarded as one of the best
films ever made.
7. Uruguayan soccer legend Alcides
Edgardo Ghiggia died
i. Alcides Edgardo Ghiggia, the
Uruguayan soccer legend, died on 16
July 2015 following a heart attack. He
was 88. Coincidentally, 16 July 2015
marked the 65th anniversary of the
Maracanazo match in which Ghiggia won
the goal in a stunning 2-1 victory over
Brazil in the final game of the 1950 FIFA
World Cup.
ii.
Ghiggia gave Uruguay its second World
Cup title in the Maracanazo match when
Brazilians were expected to win but the
loss is still known in Brazil. He was the last
surviving Uruguayan player from the
match.
iii. Ghiggia started his professional
career with the famous Uruguay club
Penarol. He played for both Uruguay
and Italy's national team s in his career.
He played 12 international matches fo r
Uruguay and sco red four goals, all o f
which came in the 1950 tournament.
8. Amelie Mauresmo inducted into the
International Tennis Hall of Fame
i. Amelie Mauresmo, the two-time Grand
Slam winner and former number one
tennis player of France, was on 18 July
2015 inducted into the International
Tennis Hall of Fame.
ii. Mauresmo was unable to travel to the
ceremony on Bill Talbert Center Court at
the Hall of Fame because she 's in her
third trimeste r of pregnancy.
iii. The Frenchwoman is one of 21 players
in the history of the WTA to rise to No.1,
spending a total of 39 weeks there in the
2004 and 2006 seasons. She won two
Grand Slam titles in 2006 season, first at
the Australian Open and then at
Wimbledon (beating Justine Henin in both
finals). She won 25 singles titles and was
a silver medalist at the 2004 Athens
Olympics.
iv. At present, she coaches Scottish
professional tennis player Andy Murray.
She is also the first woman to coach a top
male tennis player.
1. BRICS bank launched in China as
alternative to World Bank, IMF
i. A new USD 100 billion bank floated by
BRICS nations, including India, as an
alternative to the World Bank and IMF to
boost infrastructure funding in the
emerging economies and offer them
tailor-m ade services w as launched here
today.
ii. The opening ceremony of the New
Development Bank (NDB) was held here
in Chinas financial capital. Chinese
Finance Minister Lou Jiwei, Shanghai
Mayor Yang Xiong and the banks
President K V Kamath attended the
opening ceremony.
iii. Kamath, 67, who will be the banks
President for the first five years, said he
was confident to deliver peoples
expectation of the new bank.
iv. BRICS economies Brazil, Russia, India,
China and South Africa launched the
multi-billion dollar development bank at
the 7th BRICS summit held in the Russian
city of UFA on July 8 amid efforts to
finance infrastructure projects, m ainly in
member countries.
2. Union Government launches
National Career Counselling portal
i. Union Government has launched
National Career Counselling Portal in a
bid to modernize all government-run
employment exchanges.
ii. It was launched by Prime Ministe r
Narendra Modi under the aegis o f
National Career Service (NCS) project o f
Union Ministry of Skill Development and
Entrepreneurship.
iii. The web portal will be a one-stop
platform for both job providers and job
seekers where registration can be done
online. It will provide basic platform fo r
searching and applying for jobs on the
portal.
iv. It will also provide candidates career-
related counseling either by its helpline
numbers or visiting these centres along
with other facilities like job posting,
aptitude assessment, job matching,
training providers, skill courses and
guidance on self-employment and
entrepreneurship.
3. Bhanu Pratap Sharma appointed as
Chairperson of FSSAI
i. Union Government has appointed
Bhanu Pratap Sharma as Chairperson
Food Safety and Standards Authority o f
India (FSSAI).
ii. Presently, he is Health and Family
Welfare Secretary was given additional
charge of FSSAI for three months. Sharma
is an IAS officer of 1981 batch from
Bihar cadre.
iii. FSSAI is a nodal statutory agency
responsible for protecting and promoting
public health in India through the
regulation and supervision of food safety.
FSSAI was established under the Food
Safety and Standards Act, 2006 and
operates under aegis of Union Ministry of
Health & Family Welfare.
iv. FSSAI has been established to lay
down science based standards for various
food products in order ensure availability
of safe and wholesome food for human
consumption. It also regulates the
manufacture, storage, distribution, sale
and import of food products fo r human
consumption.
4. Indian Railways and Odisha
Government signed MoU for Dasappla -
Bolangir Railway Line
i. The Union Railways Ministry and the
Odisha Government on 20 July 2015
signed Memorandum of Understanding
(MOU) for implementation of Dasapalla -
Bolangir segment of Khurda Road -
Bolangir New Broad Gauge Railway Line
on cost sharing basis.
ii. The agreement was signed by Ved
Parkash Dudeja, Executive Directo r
(Works) Ministry of Railways and Sanjay
Rastogi, Commissioner-cum-Secretary,
Commerce & Transport Department,
Odisha Government.
iii. The project will be completed in three
years of time after handing over of the
land by the state. This Railway line
running across the state from east to west
will usher the six districts- Khurda, Puri,
Nayagarh, Boudh, Subarnapur and
Bolangir into a new era of development.
iv. The signing of MoU by Odisha
Government will help in accelerating the
development in the districts falling on
Khurda-Bolangir line and will help create
job opportunities in this nax al-affected
state.
5. VICE PRESIDENT RELEASES THE
BOOK 'LOCALE, EVERY DAY ISLAM
AND MODERNITY'
i. The Vice President of India Shri M.
Hamid Ansari released a book entitled
Locale, Everyday Islam and Mode rnity
authored by Shri M. Raisur Rahman at a
function here today.
ii. Dissolving the distinctions between
centre and periphery, this book presents
the Qasbahs of colonial India as vital and
vibrant centres of intense intellectual and
cultural activity.
iii. The book demonstrates that the
emergence of modernity among Muslims
was a process during their colonial
encounter in which Qasbah residents were
active agents, and the Islam that
emerged was that of everyday living.
6. Now an exclusive mobile app for
Vat, GST and Service Tax
i. The rapidly changing indirect tax ation
system in India has made it essential fo r
every businessman or professional to be
conversant in the basics of the indirect
taxation. In the current high tech era,
everyone is a tech savvy so it is more
convenient to use a smart phone and
browse the info rmation rather than
searching the information from the pile of
books.
ii. Keeping in mind the above, CA Atul
Kumar Gupta along with his team has
made an endeavor to acquaint the
common man apart from the
professionals, regarding the dynamic
indirect taxation system, through mobile
application TAXO.
iii. The idea behind TAXO is to update
and educate not just the tax ation
professionals but every one on ongoing
basis by providing prompt and live
access to the changing business
environment in India.
iv. TAXO is a platform where the general
public can get an insight into the basic
fundamentals of Indirect Taxation.
7. At 50, model-actor Milind Soman
wins Ironman title in toughest
triathlon in Zurich
i. Model-actor Milind Soman, who turns
50 in November this year, has won the
Ironman title at a triathlon held in Zurich
in Switzerland on July 19 in which over
2,000 participants this year included
seven Indians.
ii. The triathlon, organised by World
Triathalon Corporation, includes a 3.8-km
swim, 180.2-km cycle ride and 42.2-km
run and is widely regarded as the worlds
toughest race, which has to be comple ted
in 16 hours by participants for an iv. The event saw seven-time reigning
Ironman title. champion Ronnie Schildknect taking his
iii. Of the seven Indians who participated eighth title and declared the overall
in the race this year, five completed the winner.
race. Successfully leading the contingent
was 11-time winner of Ironman title,
Punes Dr Kaustubh Radkar, who
completed the race in 12 hours and 32
minutes. This is Dr Radkars 12th Ironman
title which now qualifies him for the
Hawaii Ironman World Championship to
be held in 2017.

Greek debt crisis: Essay

Essay on GREEK DEBT CRISIS which is burning topic of this hour across the world. There is much anticipation of this topic to be
in the exam. This topic is crucial from the point of view as an Essay as well as General Awareness.
Since, Greece is the current interesting issue in the world and the downfall of its economy h as been discussed. The financial crisis
affected the entire economy, thus the topics are interrelated to each other. Hence the crisis affects all the sectors in the country.
Thus the reasons for the crisis and its impact have been outlined in this article.

Greece became the tenth member of the European Union in 1981 which ushered the period of remarkable sustainable growth in
the country. The country aimed to raise their standard of living to unprecedented levels which would be achieved by widesprea d
investments in industries, growing revenues from tourism and shipping. The country then adopted the Euro in 2001. In 2004
Greece hosted the Olympics games.
The roots of Greece's crisis are simple. Before Greece joined the Eurozone, investors treated it as a mi ddle-income country with
poor governance which is to say, a credit risk. After Greece joined the Eurozone, investors thought that Greece was no longer a
credit risk they figured, if push came to shove, other Eurozone members like Germany would bail Gre ece out. They were
wrong. After joining of Greece as the Eurozone member, investors began lending to Greece at about the same rates as they lend to
Germany. Faced with this sudden availability of cheap money, Greece began borrowing like crazy. And then, wh en it couldn't pay
back its debts, it turned out financial markers were wrong: Germany and other Eurozone nations weren't willing to simply bail
Greece out. That led the market to panic around 2010, and you can see interest rates on Greek debt spike once again. Those high
interest rates make it basically impossible for Greece to borrow, and that makes it impossible for Greece to pay its debts.
The result: Greece is insolvent and the Eurozone isn't as tight a union as the financial markets and maybe the Eurozone's
member states believed. That's the crisis.
Greece's debt-to-GDP ratio is an insane 172%, It's much higher than any other country in the Eurozone. But making matters worse
is the fact that the financial markets no longer see Greece as debt-worthy. No one wants to lend to Greece at reasonable rates, and
so Greece can't keep paying to service its current debts while carrying out basic government functions.
The latest round of the Greek crisis began when Greece rejected its two main political parties in favor of the far-left Syriza. The
main reason? Syriza promised to free Greece from the grinding austerity that was leading to such widespread human misery. The
only problem? Syriza had no actual plan for freeing Greece from austerity; they tried to ren egotiate the terms of the Eurozone's
support for Greece and came away basically empty handed. And so Syriza is asking the Greek people to vote on whether to accept
the Eurozone's terms and, by proxy, to remain in the Eurozone. The vote is basically a fin al, desperate ploy for leverage, and
one that's likely to fail. Either the Greek people endorse more of the same, which Syriza doesn't want, or they reject the Eu rozone's
offer, and basically have to leave the Eurozone, which would also be a disaster.
Over the past six years, Greece has experienced an economic depression on the scale of that experienced by the United States in
the 1930s. Its economy has contracted by around 25 percent, its unemployment rate has exceeded 25 percent, and its youth
unemployment has risen to over 50 percent.
At the same time, despite five years of budget austerity and a major write -down of its privately owned sovereign debt, Greece's
public debt to GDP ratio has risen to 180 percent. At the heart of Greece's economic collapse has been the application of draconian
budget austerity within a Euro straitjacket. That straitjacket has precluded exchange rate depreciation or the use of an independent
monetary policy as a policy offset to the adverse impact of budget belt-tightening on aggregate demand.
In other words, the debt crisis destroyed Greece's economy, which in turn destroyed Greece's ability to pay back its creditors or
employ its people, which in turn forced Greece to beg the Eurozone and IMF for help and the austerity measures they demanded
destroyed Greece's economy even more.
The Greek government now faces the challenge in the economy of restructuring the reforms and to ensure that the economic
policies continue to enhance economic growth and increase Greece standard of livi ng and development in the economy.
Pursuing a strong fiscal policy which is combined with public-sector borrowing and the lowering of interest rates has been the
challenge for Greece. The Central bank of Greece is also making efforts to increase borrowings at low interest rest in order to
stabilize the economy.
The Government should reduce its expenditure and hence domestic products need to be encouraged. As the excess of exports
would enable finance the deficit in the economy. Also it will lead to rise in GDP thereby leading to decline in rate on unemployment.
Bitcoins
In the recent days, we are hearing a lot about a new type of
currency, "Bitcoin". It is basically a "virtual currency", which is
making quite hype in market today. There are various myths
and speculations surrounding this currency. So, here we are
presenting to you the brief about "Bitcoins". Hope you like the
post!!!
What is Bitcoin?
Bitcoin is a distributed peer-to-peer digital currency that can be
transferred instantly and securely between any two people in
the world. It's like electronic cash that you can use to pay
friends or merchants.
Who created bitcoins?
According to various newspaper article, a 64-year-old
Japanese-American physicist Satoshi Nakamoto is speculated
as the creater of Bitcoin.
What are bitcoins?
Bitcoins are the unit of currency of the Bitcoin system. A
commonly used shorthand for this is BTC to refer to a price or
amount (e.g. 100 BTC). There are such things as physical
bitcoins, but ultimately, a bitcoin is jus t a number associated
with a Bitcoin Address. A physical bitcoin is simply an object,
such as a coin, with the number carefully embedded inside.
See also an easy intro to Bitcoin.
How can I get bitcoins?
The entire bitcoins currency is generated by algorithms, it is
very easy to make sure that once the 21 million mark is
reached there are no more bitcoins to be issued. Bitcoins, their
issue and their maximum circulation have been predetermined
from the beginning and therein lies its innate value.
You can obtain Bitcoins by purchasing them from someone
else using regular currency or by earning them through a
system called Bitcoin Mining. Bitcoins are stored in Bitcoin
wallets which also manage addresses from which you can send
and receive payments. New and different addresses can be
generated for different transactions and can be done as many
times as required.
How does it work?
As a new user, you can get started with Bitcoin without
understanding the technical details. Once you have installed a
Bitcoin wallet on your computer or mobile phone, it will
generate your first Bitcoin address and you can create more
whenever you need one. You can disclose your addresses to
your friends so that they can pay you or vice versa. In fact, this
is pretty similar to how email works, except that Bitcoin
addresses should only be used once.
Balances - block chains - The block chain is a shared public
ledger on which the entire Bitcoin network relies. All confirmed
transactions are included in the block chain. This way, Bitcoin
wallets can calculate their spendable balance and new
transactions can be verified to be spending bitcoins that are
actually owned by the spender. The integrity and the
chronological order of the block chain are enforced with
cryptography.
Transactions - private keys - A transaction is a transfer of value
between Bitcoin wallets that gets included in the block chain.
Bitcoin wallets keep a secret piece of data called a private key
or seed, which is used to sign transactions, providing a
mathematical proof that they have come from the owner of the
wallet. The signature also prevents the transaction from being
altered by anybody once it has been issued. All transactions
are broadcast between users and usually begin to be
confirmed by the network in the following 10 minutes, through a
process called mining.
Processing - mining - Mining is a distributed consensus system
that is used to confirm waiting transactions by including them in
the block chain. It enforces a chronological order in the block
chain, protects the neutrality of the network, and allows
different computers to agree on the state of the system. To be
confirmed, transactions must be packed in a block that fits very
strict cryptographic rules that will be verified by the network.
These rules prevent previous blocks from being modified
because doing so would invalidate all following blocks. Mining
also creates the equivalent of a competitive lottery that
prevents any individual from easily adding new blocks
consecutively in the block chain. This way, no individuals can
control what is included in the block chain or replace parts of
the block chain to roll back their own spends.
How do we do business? Using bitcoins!
You offer to pay me for my services via bitcoins and I accept
the same. Why bitcoins? Because bitcoins are anonymous and
are not traceable by anyone. They are the perfect way for
people to do business with each other without revealing
identities. They don't leave any digital footprints like credit card
records, bank transactions, etc.
So let's say that we agree to a 'deal' and you agree to send me
bitcoins in advance to pay me for my job. I set the price at 3
bitcoins for my work. The current rate is about Rs 38,000 per
bitcoin. So, you are paying me about Rs 1.15 lakh for this
covert operation.
Why are bitcoins so valuable?
The absolute brilliance of bitcoins is that only 21 million bitcoins
will ever be made available in the market. (So far 13 million are
in circulation and 8 million more will be gradually released into
the system by the end of 2140). Given that the entire bitcoins
currency is generated by algorithms, it is very easy to make
sure that once the 21 million mark is reached there are no more
bitcoins to be issued.
Does Bitcoin guarantee an influx of free money?
Since Bitcoin is a new technology, what it is and how it works
may be initially unclear. Bitcoin is sometimes presented as
being one of three things:
A. Some sort of online 'get-rich-quick' scam.
B. A loophole in the market economy, the installation of which
guarantees a steady influx of cash.
C. A sure investment that will almost certainly yield a profit.
In fact, none of the above is true.
Is Bitcoin a 'get-rich-quick' scheme?
If you've spent much time on the Internet, you've probably seen
ads for many 'get-rich-quick' schemes. These ads usually
promise huge profits for small amounts of easy work. Bitcoin is
in no way similar to these schemes. Bitcoin doesn't promise
windfall profits. There is no way for the developers to make
money from your involvement or to take money from you.
Bitcoin is an experimental, virtual currency that may succeed or
may fail.
As an investment, is Bitcoin a sure thing?
Bitcoin is a new and interesting electronic currency, the value
of which is not backed by any single government or
organization. Like other currencies, it is worth something partly
because people are willing to trade it for goods and services.
Its exchange rate fluctuates continuously, and sometimes
wildly. It lacks wide acceptance and is vulnerable to
manipulation by parties with modest funding. Anyone who puts
money into Bitcoin should understand the risk they are taking
and consider it a high-risk currency.
In a Ponzi Scheme, the founders persuade investors that theyll
profit. Bitcoin does not make such a guarantee. There is no
central entity, just individuals building an economy.
A ponzi scheme is a zero sum game. Early adopters can only
profit at the expense of late adopters. Bitcoin has possible win-
win outcomes. Early adopters profit from the rise in value. Late
adopters, and indeed, society as a whole, benefit from the
usefulness of a stable, fast, inexpensive, and widely accepted
p2p currency.

How are new bitcoins created? Facts about Bitcoin

New bitcoins are generated by the network through the process
of "mining". In a process that is similar to a continuous raffle
draw, mining nodes on the network are awarded bitcoins each
time they find the solution to a certain mathematical problem
(and thereby create a new block). Creating a block is a proof of
work with a difficulty that varies with the overall strength of the
network. The reward for solving a block is automatically
adjusted so that, ideally, e very four years of operation of the
Bitcoin network, half the amount of bitcoins created in the prior
4 years are created.
Blocks are mined every 10 minutes, on average and for the first
four years (210,000 blocks) each block included 50 new
bitcoins. As the amount of processing power directed at mining
changes, the difficulty of creating new bitcoins changes.
Is Bitcoin a Ponzi scheme?
- Bitcoin is a real currency that fluctuates in price and which
can be exchanged to conduct real business.
- The business of transacting bitcoins and earning bitcoins in
return is really the nerve centre of this esoteric currency, and
this is what makes it unique.
- Bitcoin is a work of not one but many geniuses. Satoshi
Nakamoto may have been the chief blueprint architect whose
master design many other super clever architects used to build
on.
- Bitcoins will get harder and harder to earn. Hence they will
only keep growing in value as the years roll by.
- Bitcoin is vulnerable despite being proclaimed as a digital
currency with a permanent trace. But its theft only points to the
fact that it is potentially very valuable.
- Bitcoin is here to stay. It may have its share of troubles, but its
acceptability is growing leaps and bounds.

Daily GK update : 22nd July 2015

1. Union Government launched
Surakshit Khadya Abhiyan
i. Union Minister of Consumer Affairs,
Food and Public Distribution Ram Vilas
Paswan on 21 July 2015 launched the
Surakshit Khadya Abhiyan, a countrywide
campaign, to create mass awareness and
capacity building for safe and hygienic
food.
ii. The initiative complements the widely
popular multi-media campaign Jago
Grahak Jago which empowers the
consumers of its rights and demands. This
campaign, planned by CII and Consumer
Organization VOICE, and National
Association of Street Vendors of India
(NASVI), is an effort towards building a
culture of food safety in the country.
iii. Under the campaign, nationwide
sensitisation sessions on cleaning, hygiene
& sanitation for safe food, Walkathons
and Media dissemination programmes fo r
Consumers, Street Food Industrie s will be
organized across the country.
iv. The ministry also launched a website
and a logo of the campaign and also
signed a pledge for adopting safe food
practices.
2. DD Kisan ropes in Amitabh Bachchan
for Rs 6.31 crore
i. In what is claimed to be his most
expensive endorsement ever, Bollywood
star Amitabh Bachchan was roped in by
Doordarshan officials to endorse Prime
Minister Narendra Modis pet project DD
Kisan for a whopping Rs 6.31 crore.
ii. The channel was launched by Modi on
26 May at a time when debt-ridden
farmers were committing suicide.
Bollywood stars like Ajay Devgan, Kajol
and Salman Khan were considered as
endorsers, Hindu reported. Bachchan is
already the brand ambassador of
Gujarat.
iii. E-mails and documents with The Hindu
show how Lintas India Pvt Ltd, an agency
empanelled with Doordarshan, drove a
hard bargain with the channels officials
to have Bachchan endorse the channel for
Rs 6.31 crore after initially agreeing to a
sum of Rs 4.02 crore (Rs 40.2 million)
towards the to tal co st of celebrity
endorsement.
3. NRIs can invest in NPS: PFRDA
i. Non-resident Indians (NRIs) can invest in
National Pension System (NPS) to get a
social security cover.
ii. While RBI has communicated to PFRDA
about NRIs being eligible to make such
investments, the government will shortly
come out with a clarification on Foreign
Exchange Management Act (FEMA)
guidelines to facilitate non-resident
Indians to invest in National Pension
System (NPS).
iii. Highlighting the importance of NPS
scheme for Non-Resident Indians (NRIs),
he said such residents especially living in
the Middle-East are not having any
mandato ry social security benefit.
iv. The Pension Fund Regulatory and
Development Authority (PFRDA) is in talks
with lenders such as SBI, HDFC Bank,
Canara Bank, Indian Bank and several
other south India-based banks to tap
potential of NRIs.
4. United Nations Security Council
adopts resolution endorsing Iran
nuclear deal
i. The United Nations Security Council
(UNSC) unanimously adopted a resolution
for endorsing the historic deal on Irans
nuclear program. It was supported by all
15 representatives of countries on the
Security Council and opened path to lift
nuclear-related economic sanctions on
Iran.
ii. It also paved the way for establishing
a monitoring system for Irans nuclear
programme. UNSCs passed resolution
marks the endorsement of the Joint
Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)
which had find out the final histo ric
diplomatic solution for Iranian nuclear
issue in Vienna, Austria on 14 July 2015.
iii. There was a decade long deadlock
between Iran and Western countries over
the issue of Irans Nuclear Programme
and safety concerns of uranium
enrichment. Western Countries especially
US, had alleged that Irans Nuclear
Programme may be used by them to
produce enriched uranium to develop
nuclear warheads.
5. Naomi Klein wins 2015 American
Book Award
i. Noted Canadian author Naomi Klein
has won the 36th edition of American
Book Award 2015. She has won this
award for her environmental work This
Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the
Climate published in 2014.
ii. Apart from her, 14 others also have
won the award. Some of them are
Marlon James (A Brief History of Seven
Killings), Carlos Santana (The Universal
Tone) etc. Poet Anne Waldman was
honoured with lifetime achievement
award in this edition of prize.
iii. American Book Award honours persons
for their excellence in American literature
Daily GK Update: 23rd July 2015
1. Puducherry city firs t to get Smart city
nomination
i. Puducherry city has emerged as the first
nomination to be received by the Urban
Development Ministry for a Smart City
Mission. In this regard, Government of
Union Territory of Puducherry has
nominated its capital city for inclusion in
the Union Governments flagship 100
Smart Cities Mission.
ii. It also has forwarded the nomination
along with all the forms and documents as
required in the Stage-1 of City
Challenge competition.
without restriction to sex, race, ethnic
background or genre. The aw ards do no t
have any individual categories and since
2000, Lifetime Achievement award is also
given.
6. Pipavav Defence inks pact with
Russian firm Zvyozdochka to refit
submarines
i. Anil Ambani-led Reliance Groups
Pipavav Defence and Offshore
Engineering (PDOE) inked a multi-crore
agreement with Russian firm
Zvyozdochka, JSC Ship Repairing Centre.
ii. The agreement was signed in lines with
Make in India initiative for the Medium
Refits and Life Certification of 877 EKM
Submarines in India. With this, Reliance
Group became the first private secto r
Indian company to refit of submarines in
India.
iii. Both entities will execute the
programme under a joint venture (JV)
company with an indicative value of
11,000 crore rupees in which PDOR will
have 51 per cent stake.
iv. As per the agreement, Zvyozdochka
will provide complete technical support
and assistance to the JV Company. It will
also provide the enhancement of
infrastructure at the PDOC facilities in
Gujarat and training of engineers.
7. Ananth Narayanan appointed as
Chief Executive Officer of Myntra
i. Former McKinsey director Ananth
Narayanan on 21 July 2015 was
appointed as the Chief Executive Officer
(CEO) of the Flipkart-owned fashion store
Myntra. He will assume the charge on 1
October 2015.
iii. The nomination was forwarde d based
on the recommendations of the High
Powered Steering Committee (HPSC)
constituted as pe r the guidelines of
mission. It was headed by Chief
Secretary of UT and had overseen the
ii. He will succeed Myntras co-founder
Mukesh Bansal who is presently serving as
the head of Flipkart's commerce platfo rm.
iii. Prior to this appointment, he was
leading McKinseys product development
in Asia and its Automotive Practice in
India. He has worked with McKinsey for
15 years across four office s, namely
Chicago, Shanghai, Taipei and Chennai.
iv. The acquisition of Myntra by Flipkart
for more than 300 million US dollars in
May 2015, the company in June 2015
also roped in Google Chromecast head
Ambarish Kenghe as Senior Vice
President and Head of Product.
8. India and Singapore signed
agreement to enhance maritime
cooperation
i. India and Singapore on 21 July 2015
signed Technical Agreement (TA) on
sharing white-shipping inform ation to
enhance maritime cooperation between
the two navies. The agreement was
signed during the visit of Navy chief
Admiral R K Dhowan to Singapore.
ii. The White-shipping refe rs to
commercial shipping information about
movement of cargo ships.
iii. The Singapore Navy and the Indian
Navy conduct the Singapore-India
Maritime Bilateral Exercise (SIMBEX)
together annually. In 2015, the SIMBEX
was held in May, this was the 22nd in the
series.
iv. Both navies also interact regularly
through high-level visits, dialogues, joint
military training, courses and other
professional exchanges.
process of first stage intra-state
competition.
Since 2011, Puducherry Municipal
Corporation (PM) has achieved 18 pe r
cent improvement in provision of
household sanitary latrines. Internal
revenue generation has continuously
increased by 14 pe r cent over the past
three year period of 2012-13 to 2014-
15.
2. 14 States, UTs achieve literacy rate of
80%: Government
i. Union Government has announced that
14 States and Union Territo ries (UTs)
have achieved or exceeded the literacy
rate of 80 percent. It was announced by
Union Human Resource Development
Minister Smriti Irani in a w ritten reply to
the Lok Sabha.
ii. 14 States and UTs are: Kerala,
Lakshadweep, Mizoram, Goa, Tripura,
Daman and Diu, Andaman and Nicobar
Islands, NCR of Delhi, Chandigarh,
Puducherry, Himachal Pradesh,
Maharashtra, Sikkim and Tamil Nadu.
iii. Union Governments flagship scheme
of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan has helped to
improve literacy rate. For implementing
the scheme, Centre has helped the States
and UTs. The literacy of adults has been
covered under the Saakshar Bharat
Programme.
iv. It was also announced that 10 State s
and UTs have also been able to reduce
gender gap to 10 per cent or less. These
states are Punjab, Chandigarh,
Nagaland, Mizoram, Tripura,
Meghalaya, Goa, Lakshadweep, Kerala
and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
3. National Broadcasting Day observed
across the country
i. National Broadcasting Day was
observed on 23 July 2015 across the
country. It is on this day in 1927, the
Indian Broadcasting Company started
radio broadcasting from Bombay station.
ii. To mark the day, All India Radio (AIR)
organized a symposium on the subject
Creation of New India and B roadcasting
Medium in New Delhi.
iii. Colonel Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore,
the Minister o f State for Information and
Broadcasting, speaking at the symposium,
highlighted the role of Prasar Bharati in
taking news of public inte rest to the
length and breadth of the country and
said that government is committed to the
autonomy of Prasar Bharati.
iv. Broadcasting in India began in July
1923 with programmes by the Radio
Club of Mumbai. According to an
agreement of 23 July 1927, the private
Indian Broadcasting Company LTD (IBC)
was authorized to operate two radio
stations; the Mumbai station began on 23
July 1927, and the Calcutta station
followed on 26 August 1927.
4. Conakry named as World Book
Capital for 2017 by UNESCO
i. Conakry, the capital of the Republic of
Guinea, was on 21 July 2015 named as
the World Book Capital for 2017 by
United Nations Organization for
Education, Science and Culture
(UNESCO). The decision was made by an
international committee of experts on 30
June 2015 during a meeting.
ii. The selection committee singled out
Conakry for the quality and diversity o f
its programme, in particular for its focus
on community involvement as well as for
its well-structure d budget and clear
development goals with a strong
emphasis on youth and literacy.
iii. The World Book Capital is selected
every year by the international
organizations that represent the three
major sectors of the book industry:
The International Publishers
Association (IPA)
The International Booksellers
Federation (IBF)
The International Federation of
Library Associations and Institutions
(IFLA)
The year for awarding World Book
Capital starts on 23 April, which is
celebrated as World Book and
Copyright Day.
5. CCEA extends CCTNS deadline to
March 2017
i. Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs
(CCEA) has extended the deadline for
implementation of Crime and Criminals
Tracking network and Systems (CCTNS)
project till March 2017.
ii. Decision in this regard was taken by
CCEA meeting chaired by Prime Ministe r
Narendra on the proposal forwarded by
Union Ministry of Home Affairs. CCEA
also approved additional five years
phase for operation and maintenance of
the CCTNS up to March 2022.
iii. It is an ambitious online system and
central citizen portal that will link all
state-level citizen websites under single
platform which will provide a number o f
citizen friendly services. The services will
include reporting a crime, police
verification for passports, linkages with
UIDAI, transport database and National
Population Register.
iv. By computerising the functioning of
police stations, prosecution directo rates,
prisons and fo rensic laboratories. It will
also ensure smooth data exchange
among these various systems along with
e-court sy stems which are already
functioning throughout the country.
6. World University Games no-show:
AIU hands three-year ban to archers
and coach, wants money back
i. Cracking the whip on the three archers
who missed the bronze medal play-off
during the recently-concluded World
University Games, the Association of
Indian Universities has banned them and
their coach for three years, beside s
asking them to return the money spent on
them.
ii. The compound team trio did not turn up
at the bronze medal play-off against
Italy in the July 3-14 World University
Games at Gwangju in South Korea,
thereby forfeiting the match.
iii. The inquiry report was examined, it
was found/observed that athle tes and
official of the Indian contingent failed to
turn up for participation in the prestigious
event.
iv. the AIU did not furnish the reason why
the athletes could not reach the archery
competition venue on time. The AIU had
also asked for a report from R K Sharm a
who had accompanied the Indian
contingent to Korea.
7. Finger lickin' train food: KFC partners
with IRCTC to start delivery system for
passengers
i. The fast food chain has tied up with the
IRCTC to start a delivery system fo r
passengers. From 20 July onwards, a
person travelling on train can order KFC
meal, while booking ticket through IRCTC,
under e-catering service initiatives, KFC
said in a statement.
ii. this facility is available only on 12
trains passing through New Delhi railway
station. However, it will be expanded to
Vishakhapatnam, Hyderabad
(Kacheguda) and Bangalore
(Yeshwantpur) stations over the next 10
days, the statement added.
iii. Consumers will have to visit the IRCTC
website or call on 18001034139 (Toll
Free) to place their order. A password
will then be sent by KFC to the consumers
mobile phone which will have to be
mentioned at the time of delivery.
iv. IRCTC is looking to expand its culinary
network by attempting to get joints such
as Cafe Coffee Day, Barista and even
Subway in the fold. IRCTC in its effort to
offer be tter fare at stations is talking to
Cafe Coffee Day, Pizza Hut, Barista
Coffee, Subway and Jumboking
Vadapav, urging them to open eate ries
at stations.
8. Archie Comics cartoonist Tom Moore
dies at 86
i. Tom Moore, the cartoonist who brought
to life the escapades of Riverdale
residents in Archie comics has passed
away. He was 86.
ii. Moore, who began drawing cartoons
while in the US Navy during the Korean
War, died early Monday morning while
in ospice care in his hometown of El Paso,
Daily GK Update: 24th July 2015
1. Earth 2.0: What we know about
Kepler 452b, the most Earth-like planet
ever discovered
i. Nasa scientists have announced the
discovery of Kepler 452b, also known as
'Earth 2.0', an earth -like planet in our
galaxy.
ii. Over the course of years of data-
gathering by the Kepler space telescope
and even more analysis and work here on
Earth, scientists confirmed the existence of
the distant exoplanet, which is the most
earth-like plane t ever discovered.
iii. A year on the newly-discovered planet
- the time it takes to orbit its star, Kepler
452 - lasts for 385 days, only 20 days
longer than a year here on Earth.
iv. Kepler 452b has been the perfect
distance from its star for many billions of
years. According to Jon Jenkins, the
Kepler data analysis lead at NASA's
Ames Research Centre, this means it's
possible that it hosts life on its surface, o r
at least could have at some point in its
history.
2. Maharashtra cabinet approved
scheme for development of villages
around Tiger reserves
i. Maharashtra Cabinet on 23 July 2015
approved Shyamaprasad Mukherjee Jan
Van Vikas Scheme. The scheme proposed
by Forest Minister Sudhir Mungantiw ar in
the states annual budget 2015-16 aim s
at creation of comprehensive
his son Lito Bujanda-Moore told The
Associated Press yesterday.
when the music world celebrated the 76th
iii. Moore drew Archie Andrews and his
friends on and off from 1953 until he
retired in the late 1980s. Annual sales o f
the comic regularly surpassed half a
million during the 1960s, according to the
El Paso Times.
iv. After retiring, Moore kept tabs on
Archie, and disagreed when the comic
book company decided to kill off the
character. The El Paso Museum of Art
displayed some of Moore's work and his
vast comic collection about 20 years ago.
9. R.D. Burman: The Prince of Music
written by Khagesh Dev Burman
development of villages in the buffer
zones of tiger reserves and around them.
ii. Its objectives are to reduce the man -
animal conflict and achieve sustainable
development of these villages. The
scheme also aim s at reducing the
dependence of villagers on the forest.
iii. The scheme will seek to boost the
supplementary businesses to farming
activities and create alternative
employment possibilities in these areas.
The scheme will be launched on project
basis from 2015-16 to 2019-2020.
3. Reliance Group, Augur Overseas
Operation signed MoU to manufacture
Aerostats and Airships
i. Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group
through its entity Reliance Unmanned
Systems on 23 July 2015 signed a
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)
with Augur Overseas Operation of
Singapore to m anufacture Aero stats and
Airships in India.
ii. As per the MoU, both the parties will
collaborate on new technologies for the
civil and military market as part of the
Make in India initiative of Union
i. Book titled R.D. Burman: The Prince of
Music authored by Khagesh Dev Burman
was released on 27 June 2015, the day
birth anniversary of Rahul Dev Burman.
ii. The author through the book has tried
to look into almost every aspect of R.D
Burman like his childhood in Kolkata, his
failure in studies, his beginning as an
assistant to his father SD Burman as well
as his rise as a musician. It also looks into
his downfall due to ill-health and some
bad decisions.
iii. The book also reveals the fact about
number of songs and tunes of Burman,
which remained unused. It says that there
are songs which remained unreleased o r
shelved films, like two songs in unreleased
film Raj and two songs of the unreleased
Abhi Abhi remained shelved.
Government. The two companies have
agreed to form a joint venture (JV) firm
with Reliance having 51 percent stake as
per Governments policy.
iii. The joint venture will be involved in
development, production, sales,
modification and life suppo rt for different
sizes of Aerostats and Airships. This JV
will address the requirements of domestic
market and also addressable
regional/global markets.
iv. The Aerostat radars are deployed
extensively in the surveillance,
reconnaissance and communication roles
by the army. These are also useful in
detecting low-flying fighter aircraft.
4. CSC, HCL form joint venture to
provide technology services, solutions
to banks
i. IT companies CSC and HCL
Technologies have signed an agreement
to form a banking software and se rvices
company to provide technology services
and solutions to the banking industry.
ii. The joint venture will invest in platform
modernisation and product functionality
enhancement and will capitalise on the
proven capabilities of both companies in
addressing the multi-billion-dollar, global
core banking software market.
iii. CSC, which serves over 100 premier
banking and financial services clients in
15 countries, will provide its core
banking, cards, payments and default
management industry talent, so ftware
and product development expertise.
iv. HCL will provide capital investment, its
experience in product engineering and
application implementation services, as
well as banking sales and client
engagement expertise.
5. T K Chand appointed as CMD of
National Aluminium Company
i. T K Chand has been appointed as the
new chairman-cum-managing directo r
(CMD) of National Aluminium
Company(Nalco). Chand who has been
Director (Commercial) of Rashtriya Ispat
Nigam Limited (RINL), will take up his new
position on Monday, July 27, 2015.
ii. The Public Enterprises Selection Board
recommended his name for appointment
as CMD of the Nalco in November last
year afte r short-listing 11 candidates.
The Department of Personnel issued the
appointment order earlier this week.
iii. His appointment fills in a key
leadership role at the country's largest
Daily GK Update: 25th July 2015
1. WTO slashes tariffs on IT goods but
implementation held up.
i. The World Trade Organization
finalised a list of 201 inform ation
technology products to be freed from
import tariffs in a $1.3 trillion deal on
Friday, but said it was still short of the
critical mass of countries needed to put it
into force.
ii. Valued at $1.3 trillion in annual trade,
the products include new generation semi-
conductors, GPS navigation, medical
equipment, as well as machine tools fo r
manufacturing printed circuits,
telecommunications satellites and touch
screens, Xinhua news agency reported.
iii. Eliminating tariffs on trade of this
magnitude will have a huge impact. It will
support lower price s, including in many
other sectors that use IT products as
inputs, it will create jobs and it will help
to boost GDP growth around the world,"
Azevedo said.
2. Ajay Mathur appointed as Director -
General of TERI.
state-owned aluminium company, almost
three months after the previous incumbent
Ansuman Das superannuated on April 30,
2015.
6. Suresh Narayanan appointed new
Nestle India MD after Maggi scare
i. Swiss food group Nestle has replaced
the head of its Indian operations as the
company battles its worst ever public
relations crisis in the country, following a
food scare that forced it to withdraw its
popular instant noodles.
ii. Nestle has been at the centre of Indias
worst food scare in a decade, after a
regulator in the northern state of Uttar
Pradesh in May found excess lead in a
sample of its hugely popular Maggi
noodles.
iii. Criticised for its slow response to
consumer worries over safety, the
company withdrew the noodles from the
shelves of Indian stores last month. It has
since challenged the findings of Indias
i. Ajay Mathur, the newly designated
director general of TERI, is not as visible
as R K Pachauri but no less illustrious. The
current head of the Bureau of Energy
Efficiency, a government body under the
Ministry of Power, is a technocrat who has
been active on the climate change circuit
for several years now.
ii. A chemical engineer from Roorkee,
Mathur is the man behind the energy
efficiency programme of the government.
iii. Incidentally, he had started his career
at TERI in 1986 and was last associated
with it in 1999.
3. Peter Higgs receives Copley Medal,
worlds oldest scientific prize.
i. Nobel prize winner Peter Higgs has
joined the ranks of Charles Darwin and
Albert Einstein by winning the worlds
oldest scientific prize, the Royal Societys
Copley Medal, for his pioneering work on
the theory of the Higgs boson, which was
discovered in 2012.
food safe ty authority in court. (Reporting
by Nivedita Bhattacharjee; Editing by
Clara Ferreira Marques and Susan
Fenton)
7. Shubham Jaglan won IJGA World
Stars of Junior Golf event 2015
i. 10-year old Shubham Jaglan on 22
July 2015 won the IJGA World Stars o f
Junior Golf event in Las Vegas. Jaglan is
the son of a milkman from rural Haryana,
India.
ii. He shot a three round score of 106
winning by a five-stroke margin, ahead
of two Americans Justin Dang and Sihan
Sandhu and Thailand's Pongsapak
Laopakdee for the Boys 9-10 years
category title.
iii. He also scripted a scintillating one-
stroke win at the Junior Wo rld Golf
Championships that was held at Welk
Resort Fountain Course in California.
ii. 86-year-old Higgs received the
Copley Medal for his fundamental
contribution to particle physics with his
theory explaining the origin of mass in
elementary particles, confirmed by the
experiments at the Large Hadron
Collider.
iii. The Copley medal was first aw arded
by the Royal Society in 1731, 170 years
before the first Nobel Prize.
iv. It is awarded for outstanding
achievements in scientific research and
has most recently been awarded to
eminent scientists such as theoretical
physicist Stephen Hawking, DNA
fingerprinting pioneer Alec Jeffreys and
Andre Geim, for his discovery of
graphene.
v. In 1964, Higgs propo sed a theory
about the existence of a particle that
explains why these other particles have a
mass.
4. PM launches new scheme for power
reforms in rural areas .
i. Prime Minister Narendra Modi today
launched the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya
Gram Jyoti Yojana for power secto r
reforms in rural areas with a view to
ensuring round the clock electricity supply
to farmers and rural households.
ii. The new power scheme focuses on
feeder separation (rural households and
agricultural) and strengthening of sub-
transmission and distribution
infrastructure, including metering at all
levels in rural areas.
iii. The scheme is one of the flagship
programmes of the Power Ministry and
will facilitate 24x7 supply of electricity.
iv. The scheme has an outlay of Rs.
76,000 crore for implementation of the
projects under which the Centre shall
provide grant of Rs. 63,000 crore.
5. President nominates 2 members of
Anglo-Indian Community to Lok Sabha.
i. President Pranab Mukherjee has
appointed 2 members of Anglo-Indian
Community to Lok Sabha as per the
provisions of Article 331 of Indian
Constitution.
ii. Professor Richard Hay: He hails from
Daily GK Update: 26-27th July 2015
1. PM launches new scheme for power
reforms in rural areas.
i. Prime Minister Narendra Modi today
launched the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya
Gram Jyoti Yojana for power secto r
reforms in rural areas with a view to
ensuring round the clock electricity supply
to farmers and rural households.
ii. The new power scheme focuses on
feeder separation (rural households and
agricultural) and strengthening of sub-
transmission and distribution
infrastructure, including metering at all
levels in rural areas.
iii. The scheme is one of the flagship
programmes of the Power Ministry and
will facilitate 24x7 supply of electricity.
iv. The earlier scheme for rural
electrification, Rajiv Gandhi Grameen
Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY), which
was launched by previous UPA
government, has been subsumed in the
new scheme as its rural electrification
component.
Kerala. Presently, he teaches economics in
various academic institutes in India as
well as abroad.
iii. George Baker: He hails from West
Bengal and is actor by profession. Since
1970s, he has acted in several Assamese
and Bengali movies.
iv. His notable film was Chameli
Memsaab which had won national film
award in 1975.
v. Presently, he is member of Bhartiya
Janta Party (BJP). He had unsuccessfully
contested for 2014 Lok Sabha election on
BJP ticket from Howrah in West Bengal
afte r he had joined BJP in 2014.
6. Lupin acquires US pharmaceutical
firm Gavis.
i. Indian pharmaceutical major Lupin has
acquired US based Gavis
Pharmaceuticals in cash-free and de bt-
free transaction fo r 880 million dollars
(around 5,606 crore rupees).
ii. In this regard, Lupin has entered into
definite agreement with Gavis
Pharmaceuticals LLC and its subsidiary
Novel Laboratories Inc.
v. The scheme has an outlay of Rs.
76,000 crore for implementation of the
projects under which the Centre shall
provide grant of Rs. 63,000 crore. A
total of Rs. 14,680 crore worth projects
have already been approved out o f
which projects amounting to Rs. 5,827
crore have been approved for Bihar
state.
2. Chris topher Froome rides to victory
in 100th Tour de France.
i. Chris Froome became the first Briton to
win the Tour de France twice when he
safely reached the finish line in Paris at
the end of the three-week race.
ii. Exceptionally, the 100th Tour treated
itself to a nighttime finish on the
ChampsElysees. The famous avenue
and the Arc de Triomphe at the top of it
were bathed in yellow light emphasizing
the canary yellow of Froomes famous
jersey.
iii. In two years, Britain has now had two
different winners- Bradley Wiggins in
iii. This acquisition will help the Indian
company to expand and deepen its
presence in US and enter into niche
generics areas such as de rmatology and
controlled substance s along with o ther
high-value areas.
7. Indian-American Amitoj Chhabra
wins junior title at US Powerlifting
Championships .
i. 20 year old Indian-American Amitoj
Chhabra has won the Junior Title at the
US Powerlifting Association National
Championships 2015.
ii. He won this title after he lifted a total
of 1,383 pounds in the junior title
Championship which was held at the
Golden Nugget Casino in Las Vegas.
iii. He is son of a Punjabi father and a
Nepali mother. He had started
powerlifting in 2013 and began
competing at various championships in
May 2014. Presently, he is undergoing
Adam Lauritzen of Silverback Strength
and Conditioning in Reno.
2012 and then Froome, a cooler, calmer,
more understated but no less de termined
character than his Sky teammate with
famous sideburns.
iv. Froome rode into Paris in style- Riders
pedaled up to him to offer
congratulations; he sipped from a flute of
champagne; a Tour organizer stuck an
arm from his car window to shake
Froomes hand. He dedicated his victory
to his late mother, Jane, who died in
2008.
3. Vettel wins classic Hungarian GP,
Lewis Hamilton sixth.
i. German driver Sebastian Vettel
delivered an emotional high-speed
tribute to his late colleague Jules Bianchi
on Sunday when he stormed to victory for
Ferrari in a dramatic and incident-filled
Hungarian Grand Prix.
ii. The four-time world cham pion claimed
his second victory of the season and 41st
of his career -- drawing him level with the
late Brazilian legend Ayrton Senna in
equal third on the all-time list -- afte r
leading from the start to dominate a
thrilling and unpredictable contest.
iii. The Red Bull pair of Russian Daniil
Kvyat and Australian Daniel Ricciardo
finished in second and third respectively..
4. Nation commemorates valour of
Indian soldiers in Kargil War.
i. The sixteenth anniversary of the Indian
victory in the 1999 Kargil war was
celebrated across the country on 26th
July.
ii. Functions are being held in all army
cantonments and by citizen groups across
the country. The primary function,
however, is being held in Dras under the
aegis of 8 Division that bore the
maximum brunt of the war.
iii. July 26, 1999, was a fateful day
when the Indian Army put paid to yet
another audacious misadventure by
Pakistan in the unforgiving heights of the
Kargil and the Batalik sectors.
iii. July 26, 1999, was a fateful day
when the Indian Army put paid to yet
another audacious misadventure by
Pakistan in the unforgiving heights of the
Kargil and the Batalik sectors.
iv. The Kargil war, that witnessed fighting
in heights up to 18,000 feet with
extremely low temperatures, culminated
with the comple te routing of the enemy
and physical re-possession of the ground
that had been occupied by steal th and
deceit.
5. Axis Bank signs $200-mn loan
agreement with ADB.
i. Axis Bank today signed a USD 200-
million, seven-year bilateral loan
agreement with the Asian Development
Bank.
ii. The loan will help bolster Bank's effo rts
to improve farm efficiency by extending
customised and affordable agriculture
credit, that will help leverage its semi-
urban and rural branch network to
deliver agriculture credit, the city -
headquartered lender said in a
statement.
iii. Axis Bank treasury and transaction
banking head Sidharth Rath said "this
commitment from ADB will strengthen our
rural lending and microfinance initiatives,
which we regard as an integral
component of its overall strategy."
6. ONGC to inves t $8.8 billion in KG oil
and gas discoveries.
i. State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp
(ONGC) plans to invest over USD 8.8
billion in bringing to production its much -
touted KG-basin oil and gas discoveries
by 2018-19.
ii. ONGC has divided 12 oil and gas
finds in the block KG-DWN-98/2 or KG-
D5 and gas discovery in an adjacent G-4
block the Bay of Bengal into three clusters
to quickly bring them to production, a
senior company official said.
iii. The 7,294.6 sq km deepsea KG-D5
block has been broadly categorised into
Northern Discovery Area (NDA - 3,800.6
sq km) and Southern Discovery Area (SDA
- 3,494 sq km).
iv. ONGC plans to develop the
discoveries in the block in three clusters --
14.5 million standard cubic meters pe r
day of gas for 15 years from Cluster-1
comprising of D&E finds of NDA in KG -
D5 block and G-4 find in the a
neighbouring area.
7. Maharashtra govt to develop six
solar cities targeting solar capacity of
7,500 MW.
i. Maharashtra government has placed a
comprehensive plan to develop six solar
cities in orde r to add solar capacity of
7,500 MW in the state.
ii. To enhance solar capacity in country
Centre has planned to develop 55 solar
cities acro ss the country among them six
are from Maharashtra these are
Nagpur, Thane, Aurangabad, Kalyan -
Dombivli, Shirdi and Nanded.
iii. The selection of these cities was done
on basis of the population and other
criteria and would be developed through
the joint funding from Centre and State
Government.
iv. To meet the increasing demand fo r
power Maharashtra government has
targeted to add 14,400 MW through
renewable energy source. Out of this
target nearly 7,500 MW will be added
through solar energy projects, over 5,000
MW will be added through wind and rest
from other sources like industrial and
domestic waste.
8. CSC and HCL forms joint venture to
provide technology services, solutions
to banks.
i. Computer Science Corporation (CSC)
and Hindustan Computer Limited (HCL) to
big IT companies have signed an
agreement to form a new company to
provide technology services and solutions
to the banking industry.
ii. In the joint statement the partners said
that their main focus will be on platform
modernisation, product functionality
enhancement and to capitalise their
capabilities in addressing global core
banking softw are market.
iii. According to the agreement CSC that
serves in 15 countries with 100 premier
banking and financial services clients, will
provide its core banking expertise fo r
software and product development.
iv. Whereas, HCL will provide funds, its
banking sales and client engagement
expertise and also its experience in
product engineering and application
implementation services in o rder to
modernise the banking industries.
9. BEL bags Dun Bradstreets Indias Top
PSUs Awards 2015.
i. The Defence PSU Bharat Electronics Ltd
(BEL) became the front runner in the Dun
& Bradstreets Indias Top PSUs Awards
2015 in the category of electrical and
electronic equipment sector.
ii. The award was received by Chairman
and Managing Director of BEL Mr. S K
Sharma along with Anandi Ramalingam
the General Manage r-National
Marketing fo r BEL.
iii. This award sponsored by The Dun &
Bradstreet an US public company to
acknowledge the critical role played by
the PSUs in the development of the Indian
economy.
iv. BEL was declared winner in electrical
and electronic equipment category fo r
providing electrical equipment and
electronic services to the Indian Defence
Services. It has provided night vision,
critical communication systems, and
electronic warfare and radar systems to
the Indian Defence services for last 60
years.
10. Anand Krishnamurthy appointed
CEO and MD of CSB bank.
i. Anand Krishnamurthy is now the new
MD and CEO of Catholic Syrian Bank
(CSB) replacing Rakesh Bhatia who had
quit due to personal reason.
ii. This appointment was done by the
board of directors of CSB among the
three named sent to RBI.
iii. Mr. Anand has previously worked with
HSBC for 22 years and also headed the
Wholesale Banking and Treasury of CSB
for last one year. He was responsible fo r
corporate banking, integrated treasury
operations of the Bank and SME business
for CSB.
iv. The Catholic Syrian Bank is 94 year
old private sector bank founded on 26th
November 1920. It has its strong base in
Kerala along with significant presence in
Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and
Maharashtra. Recently it has filed for an
IPO for 400 crore rupees.
11. Indian women wrestling team wins
silver medal in the Kazakhstan
Presidential Cup.
i. Indian womens wrestling team has won
the silver medal after finishing second in
the fifth Senior International Wrestling
Daily GK Update: 28th July 2015
1. Former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam
passes away.
i. Former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam,
widely acclaimed as the peoples
President, passed away after collapsing
during a lecture at the Indian Institute of
Management in Shillong.
ii. Mr. Kalam (83), who was President
between 2002 and 2007, took the lead
in the conduct of Indias nuclear te sts in
May 1998 and was later fielded as the
National Democratic Alliance candidate
by then Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee.
iii. Mr. Kalam, the countrys 11th
President, was one of Indias most eminent
scientists, and had the unique honour of
receiving honorary doctorate s from 30
universities and institutions.
iv. He has been awarded the coveted
civilian awards - Padm a Bhushan (1981)
and Padm a Vibhushan (1990) and the
highest civilian award Bharat Ratna
(1997). He is a recipient of several o ther
awards and Fellow of many professional
institutions.
v. As scientific adviso r to the Defence
Minister from July 1992 to December
1999, the former President led the
weaponisation of strategic missile
Tournament (also known as Cup of the
President of Republic of Kazakhstan).
ii. The eight-member team bagged a
silver medal at the July 23-26 event held
in Kazakhstans capital Astana. Team
members who won the match are Vinesh
(48kg), Lalita Sehrawat (55kg) and Anita
(63kg) in their respective weight
categories. Sakshi Malik lost just one fight
in 58kg division which resulted with silver
medal for Indian team.
iii. For this victory, Indian team received a
prize money of US 10,000 dollars along
with a trophy and medals. Ho st country
Kazakhstan won the gold medal, while
Mangolia won the bronze medal.
12. Rajesh Exports buys world's larges t
gold refining company Valcambi for Rs
2,560 cr.
systems and the Pokhran-II nuclear tests in
collaboration with Department of Atomic
Energy.
vi. One of his pet themes was PURA or
the Provision of Urban Amenities in Rural
Areas a theme he referred to often in
his travels abroad.
2. ADB to give $ 300 m loan to India.
i. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will
extend a loan of $ 300 million to India
for improving road connectivity and
increasing the domestic and regional
trade along the North BengalNorth
Eastern Region (NER).
ii. The loan is the first tranche under $
500 million multi tranche South Asian
Subregional Economic Cooperation
(SASEC) Road Connectivity Investment
Programme. Under this programme,
about 500 km of roads will be
constructed.
iii. The project will improve road
connectivity and efficiency of the
international trade corridors by
expanding roads in NER of the country.
iv. The investment on the last mile
connectivity will contribute to achieve the
objective of regionally balanced and
inclusive growth of remote and
i. Jewellery company Rajesh Exports Ltd
on Monday said that it has bought
Valcambi, the worlds largest gold
refining company, in an all-cash deal
worth $400 million ( Rs 2560 crore).
ii. The company was selected after a
global search by Valcambis existing
owners led by Newmont Mining Corp, the
worlds largest gold jewellery maker
said.
iii. The deal will help it secure raw
material supplies and will add to
earnings per share, the company said.
iv. India is the worlds biggest consumer
of gold, with annual demand hovering
around 900 tonnes per year.
economically lagging regions, said Tarun
Bajaj, Joint Secretary in the Ministry.
3. Centre approves Rs 1,000 cr for
India-Bangladesh rail link.
i. The Indian government has sanctioned
around Rs.1,000 crore for a 15-km India-
Bangladesh railway project, an official
said on Sunday.
ii. The union government on Saturday
communicated to Tripura that it had
sanctioned Rs.580 crore to lay the rail
tracks and acquire required land in
Tripura, Transport Secretary Samarjit
Bhowmik said.
iii. Bhowmik told IANS: "The alignment
and other technicalities of laying the
15.06 km track to link Agartala with
Bangladesh's Akhaura railway station has
been changed by top engineers and
railway officials."
iv. The 1,650-km distance between
Agartala and Kolkata would be reduced
to 515 km once the rail track is
constructed through Bangladesh.
4. Physicis t P. Hariharan passes away.
i. Eminent physicist P. Hariharan died on
Sunday in Berkeley, California. He was
89.
ii. Dr. Hariharan was the son o f Prof. H.
Parameswaran (H. P. W aran) of
Presidency College and the son-in-law of
Alladi Krishnaswamy Iyer. He was born
on December 24, 1926.

iii. He worked at the National Physical
Laboratory (NPL), New Delhi from 1949
to 1951 and then at the National
Research Council, Ottawa from 19 51-
1954. On returning to NPL, Dr. Hariharan
received a PhD for his work on
photographic resolving power.
Subsequently, he held key posts at
several scientific institutes and
organisations and was also an honorary
visiting professor at the University o f
Sydney.
iv. Dr. Hariharan's research contributions
include the design of a new three-beam
interferometer, the double-passed Fabry -
Perot interferometer, and the first
practical radial -shear interferometer. He
was also the first to apply digital phase -
shifting techniques to holographic
interferometry for measurements o f
vector displacements and strains. Dr.
Hariharan has published more than 200
papers and has authored four books. Dr.
Hariharan was a recipient of several
awards, including the Joseph Fraunhofer
Medal of the Optical Society of America,
the Thomas Young Medal of the Institute
of Physics, London and the Walter Boas
Medal of the Australian Institute o f
Physics.
5. IT Secretary R S Sharma appointed as
TRAI chairman.
Daily GK Update: 29th July 2015
1. Sanjeev Chaturvedi, Anshu Gupta
win Ramon Magsaysay Award.
i. Whistleblower bureaucrat Sanjeev
Chaturvedi and human rights activist
Anshu Gupta are among five persons
from India, Laos, Myanmar, and the
Philippines who will receive Asias
coveted Ramon Magsaysay Award.
ii. The 2002-batch Indian Forest Service
officer, who is currently embattled in a
protracted battle with the Centre over
alleged harassment for his tough stance
on graft, was the former Chief Vigilance
Officer (CVO) at the AIIMS in New Delhi.
i. Information Technology Secretary Ram
Sevak Sharma on Monday was
appointed chairm an of the Telecom
Regulatory Authority of India (Trai).
ii. Sharma was set to retire in September
as secretary of department of electronics
and information technology. A 1978 -
batch IAS officer of the Jharkhand cadre,
he was a probable choice because of his
familiarity with the telecom and IT sector.
iii. Sharma holds a Masters degree in
mathematics from Indian Institute of
Technology, Kanpur, and a Masters in
computer science from the University of
California, USA, according to his profile
on the department of electronics and IT
website.
iv. Among the other candidates short-
listed for Trai chairman were Power
Secretary P K Sinha, Information and
Broadcasting Secre tary Bimal Julka,
Commerce Secretary Rajeev Kher, former
telecom secretary M F Farooqui, and
former Reserve Bank of India deputy
governor Subir Gokarn.
6. Mexico Defeat Jamaica 3-1 in Gold
Cup Final.
iii. According to the foundation, Mr.
Chaturvedi has been awarded for his
exemplary integrity, courage and
tenacity in uncompromisingly exposing
and painstakingly investigating corruption
in public office, and his resolute crafting
of program and system improvements to
ensure that government honorably serves
the people of India.
iv. Anshu Gupta, the founder of NGO
Goonj, the statement said, is being
recognised for his creative vision in
transforming the culture of giving in India,
i. Andres Guardado became the first
player to score in three Gold Cup finals
and Mexico defeated Jamaica 3-1 on
Sunday, stre tching their record trophy
total to seven.
ii. Andres Guardado was the star of the
match once again as he scored the
opener for Mexico.
iii. But the "Reggae Boyz" could not stop
the Mexicans from capturing their third
title in the past four attempts at the
biennial North American regional football
tournament.
7. Renault India Ropes in Ranbir
Kapoor as Brand Ambassador.
i. Automobile manufacturer Renault India
on Monday announced that it has roped
in actor Ranbir Kapoor as its brand
ambassador.
ii. Renault is celebrating its fourth year
anniversary in India this July and is
progressing towards a new and dynamic
phase of growth. This association will
leverage the versatility and legacy of
both Renault and Ranbir, as he represents
the underlying brand promise of Renault -
- 'Passion For Life'.
iii. Sumit Sawhney, country CEO and
managing director, Renault India
Operations, said Ranbir is the perfect
match because he "ideally portrays.
his enterprising leadership in treating
cloth as a sustainable development
resource for the poor, and in reminding
the world that true giving always respects
and preserves human dignity.
v. Goonj is a non-governmental
organisation based in Delhi, which works
in 21 states across India in disaster relief,
humanitarian aid and community
development. It has converted 1,000
tonnes of used clothes, household goods
and other urban discards into usable
resources for the poor.
vi. The other awardees are Kommaly
Chanthavong, from Laos who is being
recognised for her efforts to develop the
ancient Laotian art of silk weaving,
Ligaya Fernando-Amilbangsa from the
Philippines for her single -minded
crusade in preserving the endangered
artistic heritage of southern Philippines".

2. Dr. Suniti Solomon, Pioneering Indian
HIV/AIDS Res earcher, Dies at 76.
i. Indias foremost HIV/AIDS researcher
Dr. Suniti Solomon, who documented the
nations first HIV case before se tting up
the first voluntary testing and counseling
center for the disease, died Tuesday at
her home in the southern city of Chennai.
ii. Indias foremost HIV/AIDS researcher
Dr. Suniti Solomon, who documented the
nations first HIV case before se tting up
the first voluntary testing and counseling
center for the disease, died Tuesday at
her home in the southern city of Chennai.
iii. In 1986, her discovery of the infection
in six blood samples collected from
female sex workers in southern India
generated headlines internationally.
iv. Trained in the U.K., the U.S. and
Australia, Solomon won a string of
awards for her HIV/AIDS work.
3. Gujarat makes voting compulsory in
local body polls.
i. Gujarat became the first state to have
a provision for compulsory voting with the
state government on Monday putting out
a notification in this regard.
ii. Besides making vo ting mandatory in
the local body polls, the communiqu,
dated July 17, announced the reservation
of 50 per cent seats for women in
municipal corporations, municipalities, and
village panchayats.
iii. With the government notifying the
Gujarat Local Authorities Act(Amendment)
2009, a voter in the state would now
invite punitive action in case he or she
fails to vote in the local body elections
without any acceptable reason.
4. World Hepatitis Day observed with
theme Prevent hepatitis. Act now'.
i. World Hepatitis Day was observed
across the world on 28 July 2015 with
the theme Prevent hepatitis. Act now. The
day acts as a significant global platform
for raising awareness about hepatitis and
influence real change in disease
prevention, testing and treatment.
ii. The theme highlights the fact that
infection through transmission can be
prevented through proven and effective
interventions. It is important for everyone
to be aware of hepatitis and to learn
how they can protect themselves from
being infected.
iii. The observance of the day in 2015
focuses particularly on Hepatitis B and C.
These two combined cause
approximately 80 percent of all liver
cancer deaths and kill close to 1.4 million
people every year.
iv. In 2015, WHOs flagship event to
mark the day will take place in Egypt,
which has one of the worlds highest
hepatitis burdens. It is estimated that 10
percent of the Egypts population
between 15 and 5 9 years is chronically
infected with hepatitis C.
5. World Tiger Day infographic: India
home to 70% of world's tigers .
i. World Tiger Day is an annual
celebration to raise awareness fo r tige r
conservation, held every year on 29 July.
It is a day to promote a global system
for protecting the natural habitats o f
tigers and to raise public awareness and
support for tiger conservation issues.
ii. The tiger population in the country is
estimated to be around 2,226, which
represents a rise of over 30 percent since
the last count in 2010, according to the
latest census report released in January.
iii. The total number of tigers was
estimated to be around 1,706 in 2010,
afte r dipping to an alarming 1,411 in
2006, but it has improved since then,
reported PTI.
iv. India is now home to more than 70
percent of the world's tiger population.
Releasing the countrywide tige r
assessment report for 2014, Environment
Minister Prakash Javadekar termed it as
a "success story" and noted that while the
tiger population is falling in the world, it
is rising in India.
6. Former South African cricketer Clive
Rice passes away.
i. Former South African all-rounder
cricketer Clive Rice passed away in
Johannerburg, South Africa. He was 66
and was suffering from brain tumour.
ii. He was one of the best all-rounders o f
his era alongside Kapil Dev, Imran Khan,
Ian Botham and his county team-mate
Richard Hadlee.
iii. Rice had started his cricket career in
1969 with Transvaal (first-class cricke t
team). He had played most of his cricke t
during South Africas 2 decade long
isolation from the international games. He
mostly had played for Nottingham shire
County Cricket Club from 1975 to 1987
and was captain of the club from 1979
to 1987.
7. GM to invest $1 bn in India; to
launch 10 Made-in-India vehicles over
5 years.
i. General Motors, as part of Chevrolet's
global growth strategy, on Wednesday
said it will invest Rs. 6,400 crore ($1
billion) in India to strengthen its marke t
here over the next five years.
ii. The India investment is part of the
announcement made yesterday by the
company to make investment of $5 billion
to strengthen its business in global growth
markets.
iii. Through such investments, the company
will develop all-new vehicle family that
will meet rapidly changing demands of
customers in Brazil, China, Mexico and
India, Mary Barra, Chief Executive
Officer, GM, told reporters here.
 Daily GK Update: 30th July 2015
1. Kalam buried with full state honours.
i. The mortal remains of former President
APJ Abdul Kalam, who passed away on
Monday, was laid to rest with full state
honours, including a 21-gun salute at his
native island town, Rameswaram, in Tamil
Nadu on Thursday afternoon.
ii. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Tamil
Nadu Governor K. Rosaiah, Chief
Ministers of neighbouring States, Union
Ministers, and State Ministers were
among thousands who took part in the
funeral.
iii. After a guard of honour given by the
tri-forces, the Prime Minister laid a
wreath and paid his last respects to the
11th President of the country. He was
followed by Mr. Rosaiah, Union Ministers
Venkaiah Naidu, Manohar Parikkar and
MoS Pon. Radhakrishnan.
2. Anuradha Roys 'Sleeping on Jupiter'
shortlis ted for Man Booker Prize.
i. Indian writer Anuradha Roy's latest
work on the malaise of sexual abuse in
India has been shortlisted for the Man
Booker Prize 2015.
ii. Her book 'Sleeping on Jupiter' that tells
the story of Nomi and is set in Jarmuli - a
city of temples and a centre of healing on
the edge of the ocean has m ade it
among the 13 books selected for the
50,000 literary prize.
iii. Announced by a panel of five judge s
who picked 13 books from over 150, the
longlist also features Man Booker Prize-
winning Irish author Anne Enright and the
Pulitzer Prize-winning American author
Anne Tyler, among others. The shortlist of
six books will be revealed on September
15 and the final winner on October 13.
3. Procter & Gamble (P&G) appoints
David Taylor as its new CEO.
i. Procter & Gamble (P&G) has
appointed its company veteran David
Taylor as the new CEO by replacing A G
Lafley on 29 July 2015.
ii. The worlds largest household products
maker P&G has appointed new CEO in
wake of sluggish sale s in developed
countries. And recently has also
announced to sell off its 40 brands to the
perfume maker Coty Inc for USD 12.5
iii. David Taylor is with the P&G for last
35 years, who had joined in 1980. He
has been the group president for global
health & grooming business since 2013
and has served the company as in
managerial role across the globe.
4. Kalyani Group partners with Israels
Rafael to make Spike Missile.
i. Indias Kalyani Group and Israels
Rafael have partnered to produce Spike
Anti-Tank Guided Missiles (ATGM) in
India.
ii. In this regard both the entities have
formed a manufacturing Joint Venture
(JV) and this move is considered to
deepen India-Israel strate gic
cooperation.
iii. The manufacturing JV will be as pe r
the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)
guidelines which means that the 51%
ownership stake in JV will hold by the
Kalyani Group.
iv. The FDI proposal in this regard was
cleared by Defence Acquisition Council
(DAC) in October 2014 which was
chaired by then Defence Minister Arun
Jaitley. The FDI deal was worth 3,200
crore rupees and comprises order of 300
plus launchers and 8,000 plus Spike
ATGM missiles.
v. Spike Anti-Tank Guided Missiles
(ATGM): It is a 3rd generation, man -
portable, fire-and-forge t, anti-tank
missile. Designed and developed by
Israeli company Rafael Advanced
Defense Systems.
5. Kotak bank launches Kotak Bharat
mobile banking app for un-banked
regions.
i. Kotak Mahindra Bank (KMB) launched a
mobile banking app Kotak Bharat
aiming to provide mobile banking
services to customers in the remotest
regions of India.
ii. The Android-based app is specifically
designed to provide banking service to
customers in the under-banked and un -
banked regions with provision to use
service in their preferred language.
iii. Initially the service will be provided in
Hindi and English language and would
also be available in Marathi, Gujarati,
Tamil and Kannada in few months.
iv. Customers can manage their
savings/current accounts and credit cards
through this app. Initially will be launch in
prominent Hindi belt centre starting from
Lucknow and will spread its service in
other state in few months.
v. The app is compatible on SMS banking
keyword process platform where
customers could download the app on
their registered mobile number without
any separate registration process.
6. Gates Foundation worlds wealthies t
private charitable organisation.
i. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
has toppe d the list of the worlds
wealthiest private foundations
established by living ultra high net worth
(UHNW) individuals, according to a
Wealth-X report.
ii. With total assets of USD 43.4 billion,
the Gates Foundation accounts for more
than half of the combined asse ts of the
10 charitable foundations on the list, the
global wealth intelligence and
prospecting firm has said.
iii. Li Ka Shing Foundation, founded in
1980 by Hong Kong business magnate Li
Ka-Shing, ranked second with USD 8.1
billion in assets followed by Gordon and
Betty Moore Foundation (USD 6.4 billion)
and Bloomberg Philanthropies (USD 5.4
billion) in the third and fourth place,
respectively.
iv. Collectively, the 10 foundations have
total asse ts of USD 83.1 billion,
equivalent to 29.7 per cent of combined
net worth of the UHNW individuals who
established them.
7. Flipkart launches India Art House
for handicraft lovers.
i. E-commerce major Flipkart on July 30
launched India Art House, an exclusive
online store offering sellers a platform to
promote regional products.
ii. With over seven million artisans, India
is globally known for its unique artifacts
and traditional products. India Art House
aims at bringing products from artisans
under one roof and offer them access to
a wide set o f customers across
geographies.
Daily GK Update: 31st July 2015
1. Centre to put Rs 20,000 crore more
as capital infusion in public sector
banks this year.
i. The government has decided to infuse
capital to the tune of Rs 20,000 crore in
public sector banks, Financial Services
Secretary Hasmukh Adhia said. 50%, or
Rs 10,000 crore of this money will find its
way to "weak" banks.
ii. This money is likely to strengthen
balance sheets of banks reeling with high
non-performing assets and bad loans. In
his union budget for the fiscal presented
in February, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley
had said that the government has
earmarked slightly under Rs 8000 crore
for capital infusion purposes for the
current year.
iii. The finance ministry is setting up a
rating system for public sector banks
where their performance will be
measured. Still in the planning stage,
some of the criteria that are under
discussion for the rating are the number
of Jan Dhan accounts and financial
inclusion programmes that banks have
implemented, and the quantum of retail
advances undertaken by them against
their corporate advances.
iv. Under this method, a higher rated
bank will enjoy equity support from the
government unlike the practice earlier
when government used to support the
weaker banks with equity erosion.
2. Rajendra Srivastava of Singapore
Management Univ to be next dean of
ISB.
i. Rajendra Srivastava, the Provost and
Deputy President and Professor of
Marketing at Singapore Management
University, will be the next Dean of Indian
iii. With over 10,000 hand-made and
traditional handicrafts products in the
store, customers will now be able to
browse and shop for skilled crafts from
specific regions of their choice.
8. Paytm bags BCCI sponsorship rights .
i. Mobile marketplace and payments site
Paytm has bagged the title sponsorship
rights of BCCI (Board of Control for
Cricket in India) for Rs. 203 crore.
School of Business (ISB) with effect from
January 1, 2016.
ii. This was announced by Adi Godrej,
Chairman of the ISB Board, here on
Friday. Srivastava will succeed Ajit
Rangnekar, the outgoing Dean, who has
held this position since January 2009.
iii. This was announced by Adi Godrej,
Chairman of the ISB Board, here on
Friday. Srivastava will succeed Ajit
Rangnekar, the outgoing Dean, who has
held this position since January 2009.
iv. Prior to SMU, he held distinguished
research chairs and senior management
positions at the University of Texas at
Austin and Emory University in Atlanta. He
has an MBA and PhD (Business
Administration) from the University of
Pittsburgh, an MS in Industrial Engineering
from the University of Rhode Island, and
a B.Tech (Mechanical Engineering) from
the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur.
3. BHEL signs three MoU in Kazakhstan
for power projects.
i. Bharat Heavy Electronics Limited (BHEL)
has signed three strategic agreements
with Kazakhstan companies in o rder to
deepen its roots in Central Asia.
ii. BHEL will work with JSU on projects of
mutual interest; JSU is the national power
ii. Shankar Nath, Senior Vice-President,
Paytm told Business Line that the
sponsorship rights were acquired for all
the 84 series India will play till 2019.
Paytm will pay Rs. 2.42 crore for every
international match hoste d by BCCI. The
first home series will be against South
Africa starting September.
iii. The Alibaba-backed company, owned
by One97 communications and founded
by Vijay Shekhar Sharma, won the bid
against home-grown mobile handset
maker Micromax, which paid Rs. 2.02
crore per match.
utility of Kazakhstan having a m ajor
share in the Kazakh power sector.
iii. BHEL will work with KUS in the energy
sector for design and construction of
power plants. KUS is one of the largest
utility companies in the Kazakh power
sector specifically work in power
generation; transmission and sale of heat
and electricity. It is owned by the $ 9
billion assets Ordabassy Group.
iv. BHEL will work with Kaznex Invest for
co-operation in executing projects in
Kazakhstan. Kaznex Invest works unde r
the Ministry of Investments and
Development of Kazakhstan, it is national
export and investment agency of
Kazakhstan.
4. Indias 10 companies in Forbes As ia
Fabulous 50 list.
i. Forbes Asia Fabulous 50 list released
on the eve of its 10th Anniversary has
listed 10 Indian companies which stands
second after China in terms of number of
companies listed.
ii. This years list was also dominated by
Chinese companies, over 25 Chinese
companies made to the list against 16
last year.
iii. Chinas Tencent continued to be at the
top on chart, which now worth $ 176.5
bn. South Korea has third highest number
of companies with four firms after China
and India, whereas Malaysia, Singapore,
and Philippines have two firm s each and
Japan, Indonesia have one firm each on
the list.
iv. Indian companies that made to the list
are: HDFC Bank, Tata Consultancy
Services, HCL Technologies, Aurobindo
Pharma, Lupin, Sun Pharma Industries,
Motherson Sumi Systems, Tech Mahindra,
Tata Moto rs and Titan.
v. Among the fifty companies HDFC Bank
was named as Asia Fab 50s brightest
star as it has made to the list nine times
that is more than any other company in
the list.
vi. Forbes selects The Fab 50 companies
from the pool of 1,116 firms that have at
least $ 3 billion in annual revenue or
market cap.
5. Japans Nikkei buys Financial Times
in $1.3-bn deal.
i. The two leading financial news
operations from Europe and Asia are
now together, as Nikkei Japanese media
group is going to buy the Financial Times
from Britains Pearson in a $1.3 billion.
ii. Financial Times acquisition is a triumph
for Nikkei as this is the biggest acquisition
ever by any Japanese media
organisation.
iii. This acquisition has brought an
opportunity to Nikkei newspaper to
expand its readers outside its home
market.
iv. Pearson a 171-year-old international
media company sold FT as it wanted to
expand its education business. Pearson
owned FT for nearly 60 years.
6. DIPP accepts ADB, JICA plans on
industrial corridors.
i. Department of Industrial Policy and
Promotion (DIPP) has given nod to Asian
Development Banks (ADB) and Japan i. India is going to become the most
International Cooperation Agency (JICA)
for their conceptual development plan
(CDP) report on Vizag Chennai Industrial
Corridor (VCIC) and Chennai-Bengaluru
Industrial Corridor (CBIC) respectively.
ii. On 22 April 2015, Andhra Pradesh
government approved to take loan
assistance from ADB for the development
of proposed Visakhapatnam-Chennai
Industrial Corridor (VCIC) project. The
conceptual development plan report was
in pipeline to receive nod from DIPP to
carry forw ard its on ground
development.
iii. VCIC is envisaged from Kolkata to
Tuticorin (in Tamil Nadu) also known as
East Coast Economic Corridor (ECEC).
ECEC in its first phase focuse s on the
Vizag-Chennai section which runs from
Vishakhapatnam (Vizag), Andhra Pradesh
to Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
iv. The recent report sanctioned by DIPP
includes development of three industrial
nodes in first phase they are;
Krishnapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), Tumkur(
Karnataka) and Ponneri ( Tamil Nadu).
7. India to surpass Chinas population
by 2022: UN Report.
populous nation in the world by
surpassing China in 2022.
ii. It was revealed in recently released
United Nations report titled World
Population Prospects: The 2015 Revision
indicating Indias population growth
within next seven years.
iii. India will become most populous
nation, six years earlier than it was
previously forecasted and will retain the
top spot till year 2100.
iv. At present, China which is worlds
populous country with approximately
1.38 billion population while, India has
1.31 billion.
v. Indias population around and afte r
2022, is projected to grow for several
decades. It will be around to 1.5 billion in
2030 and 1.7 billion in 2050.
 Digital India: Key Features
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Digital India Bharat Net programe as a high -speed digital highway to
week on Wednesday in the pre sence of senior ministerial connect all 250,000 gram panchayats of country -- the
colleagues and top industry honchos, a move that aims to give a world's largest rural broadband project using optical fibre.
digital push to governance and jobs. Right from his first day in BSNL's Next Generation Network to replace 30-year old
office, the Prime Minister has alw ays exhibited interest in a telephone exchanges to manage all types of services like
digitizing campaign for India, something which he feels would voice, data, multimedia and o ther types of communication
bridge the gap between government initiatives and its services.
beneficiaries. With increasing internet penetration in India, a BSNL's large scale deployment of Wi-Fi hotspots throughout
digital India campaign is the need of the hour. the country.
"Broadband Highway s' as one of the pillars of Digital India
to address the connectivity issue while enabling and
providing technologies to facilitate delivery of services to
citizens.
Outsourcing Policy to create such centres in different
northeastern states and in smaller towns across the country.
Electronics Development Fund to promote innovation,
research and product development to create a resource
Digital locker system to minimize usage of physical pool within the country as also a self-sustaining eco-system
documents and enable their e-sharing via registered of venture funds.
repositories. National Centre for Flexible Electronics to promote
MyGov.in as an an online platform to engage citizens in research and innovation in the emerging area of flexible
governance through a "Discuss, Do and Disseminate" electronics.
approach.
Centre of Excellence on Internet on Things (IoT) as a joint
Swachh Bharat Mission Mobile app to achieve the goals set initiative of the government agencies and private institutions
by this mission. such as Nasscom.
e-Sign framework to allow citizens to digitally sign Digital India promises to transform India into a connected
documents online using Aadhaar.
knowledge economy offering world-class services at the click of
e-Hospital system for important healthcare services such as a mouse and will be implemented in a phased manner.The
online registration, fee payment, fixing doctors' government feels that open access to "broadband highw ays"
appointments, online diagnostics and checking blood across cities, towns and village s would give a fillip to trade
availability online. across the country. "The other important benefit we see is surge
National Scholarship Portal for beneficiaries from in e-commerce. The intention is to bring down net electronics
submission of application to verification, sanction and imports to zero by 2020, from about $100 billion now, a move
disbursal. which will help the country control its current-account deficit. As
Digitize India Platform for large-scale digitization of things stand, net annual electronics imports could rise to $400
records in the country to facilitate efficient delivery of billion by 2020, outgrowing oil imports.
services to the citizens.
Narendra Modis Prime Ministerial Visits (Central Asian Countries)
Since we all are acquainted with the recent visits of our Hon'ble Prime Minister Shri N arendra Modi to the five Central
Asian states in July this year. This visit which is reminiscent of former Prime Minister Jaw aharlal Nehrus 1955 ground -breaking trip,
Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Russia and five Central Asian states this year. Since several Banking Exams are in the stre ak,
hence from exam point of view this visit is very crucial, we can find at least 2 -3 questions from this topic. This Compilation of the
visit is prepared by one of our fervent readers Pradosh . We wish you luck for all your future endeavours.

1. Uzbekistan (6 July) Agreements Signed (7):

President Islam Karimov 1. Economic and Strate gic ties : Enhance strategic, economic and energy ties along with
PM Shavkat Mirjyoyev reviewing key regional issues including the situation in Afghanistan.
Capital Tashkent 2. Joint Working Group on Counter Terrorism : To intensify security cooperation and
Currency Uzbekistan Som exchanges for combating terrorism, promoting regional integration and advancing
stability in the region.
3. Defence and cyber security : Enhance cooperation in the fields of defence and cyber
security.
4. Uranium supply contract: Implement the contract which was signed in 2014 for supply of
2,000 metric tonnes of the Uranium from mineral rich Uzbekistan to India.
5. Strengthening cooperation : In the areas of information technology, agriculture and
energy.
6. International North South Transport Corridor (INSTC): India asked Uzbekistan to be part
of INSTC similar to Ashgabat Agreement which is s a transit pact between Uzbekistan,
Iran, Turkmenistan and Oman established in 2011.
7. It should be noted that INSTC is a ship, road and rail route fo r moving freight be tween
India, Iran, Russia, Europe and Central Asia.

2. Kazakhstan (7th July): PM: Karim Massimov

President: Nursultan Nazarbayev Capital: Astana
Currency: Tenge Agreements Signed (5) :
1. Agreement on Defence and Military : Both nations will form join t working group (JWG)
on counter terrorism, defence training, exercise and production of defence equipment.
2. MoU on Cooperation on Physical Cultural and Sports : It was signed be tween Indias
Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and Kazakhstans Ministry of Culture and Sports.
3. MoU on Technical Cooperation in the field of Railways : It was signed between Indias
Ministry of Railways and Kazakhstan Temir Zholy.
4. Agreement on Transfer of Sentenced Persons : It will facilitate sw apping to prisoners
from both countries to serve their remaining sentence in home country.
5. Agreement on supply of Uranium to India : Kazakhstan the worlds largest producer of
uranium will supply a total of 5,000 tonnes of the natural uranium to India during the
2015-19.
# Apart from signing these agreements, India has also shown interest in :
1. Fertilizer sector in Kazakhstan due to abundance availability of Natural Gas.
2. Hydro carbon secto rs of Kazakhstan for drilling and production of crude oil

3. Turkmenistan (10-11 July) Agreements Signed (7) :

President: Gurbanguly 1. MoU on Supply of Chemical Products : It was signed be tween the Indias Rashtriya
Berdimuhamedow Chemicals and Fertilizers Limited and the Turkmenistans Turkmenhimiya.
PM: Akja Nurberdiyewa 2. MoU Foreign Service Institutes o f both nations: It w as signed between Foreign Service
Capital: Ashgabat Institute of the Ministry of External Affairs of India and Institute of International Relations
Currency: Turkmen New Manat of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan.
3. Agreement on Cooperation in the field of Sports: It was signed be tween Union Ministry
of Youth Affairs And Sports of India and State Committee for Sport of Turkmenistan.
4. Programme of Cooperation In Science And Technology: It was signed between both
governments for the period of two years viz. 2015-2017.
5. MoU on Cooperation in Yoga and Traditional Medicine: It w as signed be tween
respective entities of both governments.
6. MoU on Cooperation in the Field Of Tourism: It w as signed between respective entities
of both governments.
7. Agreement in the field of Defence: It w as signed between respective entities of both
governments.

4. Tajikistan (12 July): Agreements Signed (2) :

President: Emomalli Rahmon 1. Programme of Cooperation (POC) in the field of Culture : It was signed between
PM: Kokhir Rasulzoda Ministrie s of Culture of India and Tajikistan for the years 2016-18. It envisages
Capital: Dushanbe cooperation in the field of culture between both nations through exchange of expertise for
Currency: Somni protection, preservation and promotion of cultural heritage. It also seeks to exchange of
information and experts and organization of cultural days for greater cultural
understanding between the countries.
2. Exchange of Note Verbale (NV) on setting up of Compute r Labs : It conveys the
intention of India to set up computer labs in 37 schools in Tajikistan. With this initiative
Indias seeks to support Tajikistan in human resource and skill development efforts.

#Besides signing these pacts, bo th leaders Prime Minister N arendra Modi and his
counterpart Emomali Rahmon, President of Tajikistan agreed to promote the International
North South transport corridor (INSTC). Both nations also pledged to further deepen their
cooperation to fight the menace of radical terrorism and agreed to step up defence ties
besides boosting trade and investment

5. Kyrgyzstan (12 July): Agreements Signed (4) :

President: Almazbek Atambayev 1. Agreement on Defence Cooperation: It w as signed to deepen cooperation be tween
PM: Temir Sariyev both countries in matters relating to security, defence, military education and training.
Capital: Bishkek . It also covers provisions to conduct of joint military exercises, exchange of mi litary
Currency: Som instructors, exchange of experience and information and observers etc.
2. MoU and Cooperation in the field of Elections: It was signed to deepen cooperation in
matte rs relating to legislation on elections and referendums. It also covered rights of
elections process stakeholders, modern systems and technologies as well as other issues of
election administration.
3. MoU on cooperation in the sphere of Standards: Seeks to strengthen and enhance
technical cooperation in the fields of conformity assessment, standardization and sharing
of expertise on mutual trade.
It also aims at exchanging necessary inform ation and expertise in this regard be tween
the two parties. Signatory parties are Ministry of Economy of Kyrgyzstan and Bureau of
Indian Standards (BIS).
4. Agreement on Cooperation in Culture: To deepen cultural cooperation between both
countries in areas such as preservation of cultural heritage, theatre, youth festivals and
organisation of folk arts.
 It also seeks to boost cooperation in literature, culture, sports and physical exchange of archival materials, geography, history
of publishing and translation of etc.
Bit coins
In the recent days, we are hearing a lot about a new type of
currency, "Bitcoin". It is basically a "virtual currency", which is
making quite hype in market today. There are various myths
and speculations surrounding this currency. So, here we are
presenting to you the brief about "Bitcoins". Hope you like the
post!!!
What is Bitcoin?
Bitcoin is a distributed peer-to-peer digital currency that can be
transferred instantly and securely between any two people in
the world. It's like electronic cash that you can use to pay friends
or merchants.
Who created bitcoins?
According to various newspaper article, a 64 -year-old
Japanese-American physicist Satoshi Nakamoto is speculated as
the creater of Bitcoin.
What are bitcoins?
Bitcoins are the unit of currency of the Bitcoin system. A
commonly used shorthand for this is BTC to refer to a price or
amount (e.g. 100 BTC). There are such things as physical
bitcoins, but ultimately, a bitcoin is just a number associated with
a Bitcoin Address. A physical bitcoin is simply an o bject, such as
a coin, with the number carefully embedded inside. See also an
easy intro to Bitcoin.
How can I get bitcoins?
The entire bitcoins currency is generated by algorithms, it is very
easy to make sure that once the 21 million mark is reached
there are no more bitcoins to be issued. Bitcoins, their issue and
their maximum circulation have been prede termine d from the
beginning and therein lies its innate value.
You can obtain Bitcoins by purchasing them from
someone else using regular currency or by earning them through
a system called Bitcoin Mining. Bitcoins are stored in Bitcoin
wallets which also manage addresses from which you can send
and receive payments. New and different addre sses can be
generated for different transactions and can be done as many
times as required.
How does it work?
As a new user, you can get started with Bitcoin without
understanding the technical details. Once you have installed a
Bitcoin wallet on your computer or mobile phone, it will
generate your first Bitcoin address and you can create more
whenever you need one. You can disclose your addresses to
your friends so that they can pay you or vice versa. In fact, this
is pre tty similar to how email works, except that Bitcoin
addresses should only be used once.
Balances - block chains - The block chain is a shared public
ledger on which the entire Bitcoin network relies. All confirmed
transactions are included in the block chain. This way, Bitcoin
wallets can calculate their spendable balance and new
transactions can be verified to be spending bitcoins that are
actually owned by the spender. The integrity and the
chronological order of the block chain are enforced with
cryptography.
Transactions - private keys - A transaction is a transfer o f value
between Bitcoin wallets that gets included in the block chain.
Bitcoin wallets keep a secret piece of data called a private key
or seed, which is used to sign transactions, providing a
mathematical proof that they have come from the owner of the
wallet. The signature also prevents the transaction from being
altered by anybody once it has been issued. All transactions
are broadcast between users and usually begin to be confirmed
by the network in the following 10 minutes, through a process
called mining.
Processing - mining - Mining is a distributed consensus
system that is used to confirm waiting transactions by including
them in the block chain. It enforces a chronological order in the
block chain, protects the neutrality of the network, and allows
different computers to agree on the state of the system. To be
confirmed, transactions must be packed in a block that fits very
strict cryptographic rules that will be verified by the network.
These rules prevent previous blocks from being modified
because doing so would invalidate all following blocks. Mining
also creates the equivalent of a competitive lottery that
prevents any individual from easily adding new blocks
consecutively in the block chain. This way, no individuals can
control what is included in the block chain or replace parts of
the block chain to roll back their own spends.
How do we do business? Using bitcoins!
You offer to pay me for my services via bitcoins and I accept
the same. Why bitcoins? Because bitcoins are anonymous and
are not traceable by anyone. They are the perfect way for
people to do business with each other without revealing
identities. They don't leave any digital footprints like credit card
records, bank transactions, etc.
So let's say that we agree to a 'deal' and you agree
to send me bitcoins in advance to pay me for my job. I set the
price at 3 bitcoins for my work. The current rate is about Rs
38,000 per bitcoin. So, you are paying me about Rs 1.15 lakh
for this covert operation.
Why are bitcoins so valuable?
The absolute brilliance of bitcoins is that only 21 million bitcoins
will ever be made available in the market. (So far 13 million
are in circulation and 8 million more will be gradually released
into the system by the end of 2140). Given that the entire
bitcoins currency is generated by algo rithms, it is very easy to
make sure that once the 21 million mark is reached there are no
more bitcoins to be issued.
Does Bitcoin guarantee an influx of free money?
Since Bitcoin is a new technology, what it is and how it works
may be initially unclear. Bitcoin is sometimes presente d as being
one of three things:
A. Some sort of online 'get-rich-quick' scam.
B. A loophole in the market economy, the installation of which
guarantees a steady influx of cash.
C. A sure investment that will almost certainly yield a profit.
In fact, none of the above is true.
Is Bitcoin a 'get-rich-quick' s cheme?
If you've spent much time on the Internet, you've probably seen
ads for many 'get-rich-quick' schemes. These ads usually promise
huge profits for sm all amounts of easy work. Bitcoin is in no way
similar to these schemes. Bitcoin doesn't promise windfall pro fits.
There is no way for the developers to make money from your
involvement or to take money from you. Bitcoin is an
experimental, virtual currency that may succeed or may fail.
As an investment, is Bitcoin a sure thing?
Bitcoin is a new and interesting electronic currency, the value of
which is not backed by any single government or organization.
Like other currencies, it is worth something partly because
people are willing to trade it for goods and services. Its
exchange rate fluctuates continuously, and sometimes wildly. It
lacks wide acceptance and is vulnerable to manipulation by
parties with modest funding. Anyone who puts money into Bitcoin
should understand the risk they are taking and consider it a
high-risk currency.
How are new bitcoins created?
New bitcoins are generated by the network through the process
of "mining". In a process that is similar to a continuous raffle
draw, mining nodes on the network are awarded bitcoins each
time they find the solution to a certain mathematical problem
(and thereby create a new block). Creating a block is a proof
of work with a difficulty that varies with the overall strength of
the network. The reward fo r solving a block is automatically
adjusted so that, ideally, every four years o f operation of the
Bitcoin network, half the amount of bitcoins created in the prior
4 years are created.
Blocks are mined every 10 minutes, on average and for the first
four years (210,000 blocks) each block included 50 new
bitcoins. As the amount of processing power directed at mining
changes, the difficulty of creating new bitcoins changes.
Is Bitcoin a Ponzi scheme?
Important Five Year Plans in India
First Plan (1951-1956)
The first Indian P rime Minister, Pandit Jaw aharlal Nehru
presented the First Five-Year Plan to the Parliament of India
and needed urgent attention. The First Five-year Plan was
launched in 1951 which mainly focused in development of the
primary sector. The First Five-Year Plan was based on the
HarrodDomar model with few modifications.
The total planned budget of Rs.2069 crore(2378 crore later)
was allocated to seven broad areas: irrigation and energy
(27.2%), agriculture and community development
(17.4%),transport and communications (24%), industry (8.4%),
social services (16.64%), land rehabilitation (4.1%), and for
other sectors and services (2.5%). The most important feature of
this phase was active role of state in all economic sectors. Such
a role was justified at that time because immediately after
independence, India was facing basic problems deficiency of
capital and low capacity to save.
The targe t growth rate was 2.1% annual gross domestic
product (GDP) grow th; the achieved growth rate was 3.6% the
Second Plan (1956-1961)
The Second Plan was particularly in the development of the
public sector. The plan followed the Mahalanobis model, an
economic development model developed by the Indian
statistician Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis in 1953. The plan
attempted to dete rmine the optimal allocation of investment
between productive sectors in order to maximise long-run
economic growth. It used the prevalent state of art techniques of
operations research and optimization as well as the novel
applications of statistical models developed at theIndian
Statistical Institute. The plan assumed a closed economy in which
the main trading activity would be centred on importing capital
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net domestic product went up by 15%. The monsoon was good
and there were relatively high crop yields, boosting exchange
reserves and the per capita income, which increased by 8%.
National income increased more than the per capita income due
to rapid population growth. Many irrigation projects were
initiated during this pe riod, including the Bhakra Dam and
Hirakud Dam. The World Health Organization (WHO), with the
Indian government, addressed children's health and reduced
infant mortality, indirectly contributing to population growth.
At the end of the plan pe riod in 1956, five Indian Institutes of
Technology (IITs) were started as m ajor technical institutions. The
University Grants Commission (UGC) was set up to take care of
funding and take measures to strengthen the higher education in
the country. Contracts were signed to start five steel plants,
which came into existence in the middle of the Second Five -Year
Plan. The plan was quasi succe ssful for the government.
Hydroelectric power projects and five steel plants at Bhilai,
Durgapur, and Rourkela were established. Coal production was
increased. More railway lines were added in the north east.
The Tata Institute of Fundamental Research was established as a
research institute. In 1957 a talent search and scholarship
program was begun to find talented young students to train for
work in nuclear power.
The total amount allocated under the Second Five-Year Plan in
India was Rs.48 billion. This amount was allocated among
various sectors: power and irrigation, social service s,
communications and transport, and miscellaneous.
The target growth rate was 4.5% and the actual growth rate
was 4.27%. 1956-industrial policy.
 Third Plan (19611966)
The Third Five-year Plan stre ssed agriculture and improvement
in the production of wheat, but the brief Sino-Indian War of
1962 exposed weaknesses in the economy and shifted the focus
towards the defence industry and the Indian Army. In 1965
1966, India fought a War with Pakistan. There was also a
severe drought in 1965. The war led to inflation and the
priority was shifted to price stabilisation. The construction of
dams continued. Many cement and fertilizer plants were also
built. Punjab began producing an abundance of wheat.
Many primary schools were started in rural areas. In an effort
to bring democracy to the grass-root level, Panchayat elections
were started and the states were given more development
responsibilities.
Fourth Plan (19691974)
At this time Indira Gandhi was the Prime Minister. The Indira
Gandhi government nationalised 14 major Indian banks and the
Green Revolution in India advanced agriculture. In addition, the
situation in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) was becoming dire
as the Indo-Pakistan War of 1971 and Banglade sh Liberation
War took funds earmarked for industrial development. India
also performed the Smiling Buddha underground nuclear te st in
Fifth Plan (19741979)
The Fifth Five-Year Plan laid stress on employment, poverty
alleviation (Garibi Hatao), and justice. The plan also focused on
self-reliance in agricultural production and defence. In 1978 the
newly elected Morarji Desai government rejected the plan. The
Electricity Supply Act was amended in 1975, which enabled the
central government to enter into power generation and
transmission.
Rolling Plan (19781980)
The Janata Party government rejected the Fifth Five-Year Plan
and introduced a new Sixth Five-Year Plan (1978-1980). This
plan was again rejected by the Indian National Congress
government in 1980 and a new Sixth Plan was made.The
Rolling Plan consists of three kind of plans that were proposed.
The First Plan is for the present year which comprises the annual
budget and Second is a plan for a fixed number of years,
which may be 3, 4 or 5 years. Plan number two is kept
changing as pe r the requirements of the Indian economy. The
Third Plan is a perspective plan which is for long term s i.e. for
10, 15 or 20 years. Hence there is no fixation of dates in for
Sixth Plan (19801985)
The Sixth Five-Year Plan marked the beginning of economic
liberalisation. Price controls were eliminated and ration shops
were closed. This led to an increase in food prices and an
increase in the cost of living. This was the end of Nehruvian
socialism.
Family planning was also expanded in o rder to prevent
overpopulation. In contrast to China's strict and binding one -
child policy, Indian policy did not rely on the threat of force.
Seventh Plan (19851990)
The Seventh Five-Year Plan m arked the comeback of
the Congress Party to power. The plan laid stre ss on improving
the productivity level of industries by upgrading of technology.
The main objectives of the Seventh Five-Year Plan were to
establish grow th in areas of increasing economic productivity,
production of food grains, and generating employment.
State electricity boards and state secondary education boards
were formed. States were made responsible for secondary and
higher education. State road transportation corporations were
formed and local road building became a state responsibility.
The target growth rate was 5.6%, but the actual growth rate
was 2.4%.
Due to miserable failure of the Third Plan the government was
forced to declare "plan holidays" (from 196667, 196768,
and 1968 69). Three annual plans were drawn during this
intervening period. During 1966-67 there was again the
problem of drought. Equal priority was given to agriculture, its
allied activities, and industrial sector. The main reasons for plan
holidays were the war, lack of resources, and increase in
inflation.
1974, partially in response to the United States deployment of
the Seventh Fleet in the Bay of Bengal. The fleet had been
deployed to warn India against attacking West Pakistan and
extending the war.
The target growth rate was 5.6%, but the actual growth rate
was 3.3%.
The Indian national highway system was introduced and many
roads were widened to accommodate the increasing traffic.
Tourism also expanded. It was followed from 1974 to 1979.
The target growth rate was 4.4% and the actual growth rate
was 5.0%.
the commencement and termination of the plan in the rolling
plans. The main advantage of the rolling plans is that they are
flexible and are able to overcome the rigidity of fixed five
year plans by mending targets,the object of the exercise,
projections and allocations as per the changing conditions in the
countrys economy. The main disadvantage o f this plan is that if
the targets are revised each year, it becomes very difficult to
achieve them which are laid down in the five-year period and it
turned out to be a complex plan. Frequent revisions make them
resulted in instability of the economy which are essential for its
balanced development and progre ss.
More prosperous areas of India adopted family planning more
rapidly than less prospe rous areas, which continued to have a
high birth rate.
The Sixth Five-Year Plan was a great success to the Indian
economy. The target growth rate was 5.2% and the actual
growth rate was 5.4%. The only Five-Year Plan which was done
twice.
As an outcome of the Sixth Five-Year Plan, there had been
steady growth in agriculture, controls on the rate of inflation,
and favourable balance of payments which had provided a
strong base for the Seventh Five-Year Plan to build on the need
for further economic growth. The Seventh Plan had strived
towards socialism and energy production at large. The thrust
areas of the Seventh Five-Year Plan were: social justice,
removal of oppression of the weak, using modern technology,
agricultural development, anti-poverty programmes, full supply
of food, clothing, and shelter, increasing productivity of small-
and large-scale farmers, and making India an independent
economy.
Based on a 15-year period of striving towards steady grow th,
the Seventh Plan was focused on achieving the prerequisites of
self-sustaining growth by the year 2000. The plan expected the
labour force to grow by 39 million people and employment was
expected to grow at the rate of 4% per year.
Some of the expected outcomes of the Seventh Five -Year Plan
India are given below:
Balance of payments (estimates):
Export 330 billion (US$5.2 billion),
Imports 540 billion (US$8.6 billion),
Annual Plans (1990-1992)
The Eighth Plan could not take off in 1990 due to the fast
changing political situation at the centre and the years 1990 -91
and 1991-92 were treated as Annual Plans. The Eighth Plan
Eighth Plan (19921997)
198991 was a period of economic instability in India and
hence no five-year plan was implemented. Between 1990 and
1992, there were only Annual Plans. In 1991, India faced a
crisis in foreign exchange (forex) reserves, left with reserves of
only about US$1 billion. Thus, under pressure, the country took
the risk of reforming the socialist economy. P.V. Narasimha Rao
was the tenth Prime Minister of the Republic of India and head
of Congress Party, and led one of the most important
administrations in India's modern history, overseeing a major
economic transformation and several incidents affecting national
security. At that time Dr. Manmohan Singh (later Prime Minister
of India) launched India's free market reforms that brought the
nearly bankrupt nation back from the edge. It was the
beginning of privatisation and liberalization in India.
Modernization of industries was a major highlight of the Eighth
Plan. Under this plan, the gradual opening of the Indian
economy was undertaken to correct the burgeoning deficit and
foreign debt. Meanwhile India became a member of the World
Ninth Plan (1997-2002)
The Ninth Five-Year Plan came after 50 years of Indian
Independence. Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister of
India during the Ninth Five-Year Plan. The Ninth Five-Year Plan
tried primarily to use the latent and unexplored economic
potential of the country to promote economic and social grow th.
It offered strong support to the social spheres of the country in
an effort to achieve the complete elimination of poverty. The
satisfactory implementation of the Eighth Five-Year Plan also
ensured the states' ability to proceed on the path of faster
development. The Ninth Five-Year Plan also saw joint efforts
from the public and the private sectors in ensuring economic
development of the country. In addition, the Ninth Five -Year
Plan saw contributions towards development from the general
public as well as governmental agencies in both the rural and
urban areas of the country. New implementation measures in the
form of Special Action Plans (SAPs) were evolved during the
Ninth Five-Year Plan to fulfil targets within the stipulated time
with adequate resources. The SAPs covered the areas of social
infrastructure, agriculture, info rmation technology and Water
policy.
Budget
The Ninth Five-Year Plan had a total public sector plan outlay
of 8,59,200 cro res. The Ninth Five-Year Plan also saw a
hike of 48% in te rms of plan expenditure and 33% in te rms of
the plan outlay in comparison to that o f the Eighth Five-Year
Trade Balance 210 billion (US$3.3 billion)
Merchandise exports (estimates):
606.53 billion (US$9.6 billion)
Merchandise imports (estimates):
954.37 billion (US$15.1 billion)
Projections for balance of payments : Export
607 billion (US$9.6 billion),
Imports 954 billion (US$15.1 billion),
Trade Balance- 347 billion (US$5.5 billion)
Under the Seventh Five-Year Plan, India strove to bring about a
self-sustained economy in the country with valuable contributions
from voluntary agencies and the general populace.
The target growth rate was 5.0% and the actual growth rate
was 6.01%.
was finally launched in 1992 after the initiation of structural
adjustment policies.
Trade Organization on 1 January 1995. This plan can be
termed as, the Rao and Manmohan model of economic
development. The major objectives included, controlling
population growth, poverty reduction, employment generation,
strengthening the infrastructure, institutional building, tourism
management, human resource development, involvement of
Panchayati rajs, N agar Palikas, NGOs, decentralisation and
people's participation.
Energy was given priority with 26.6% of the outlay. An
average annual growth rate of 6.78% against the target
5.6%[6] was achieved.
To achieve the target of an average of 5.6% per annum,
investment of 23.2% of the gross domestic product was
required. The incremental capital ratio is 4.1. The saving for
investment was to come from domestic sources and foreign
sources, with the rate of domestic saving at 21.6% of gross
domestic production and o f fo reign saving at 1.6% of gross
domestic production.
Plan. In the total outlay, the share of the centre was
approximately 57% while it was 43% for the states and the
union territories.
The Ninth Five-Year Plan focused on the relationship between
the rapid economic growth and the quality of life for the
people of the country. The prime focus of this plan w as to
increase grow th in the country with an emphasis on social justice
and equity. The Ninth Five-Year Plan placed considerable
importance on combining growth oriented policies with the
mission of achieving the desired objective of improving policies
which would work towards the improvement of the poor in the
country. The Ninth Five-Year Plan also aimed at correcting the
historical inequalities which were still prevalent in the society.
Objectives
The main objective of the Ninth Five-Year Plan w as to co rrect
historical inequalitie s and increase the economic growth in the
country. Other aspects which constituted the Ninth Five-Year
Plan were:
Population control.
Generating employment by giving priority to agriculture
and rural development.
Reduction of poverty.
Ensuring proper availability of food and water for the
poor.
 Availability of primary health care facilities and other
basic necessities.
Primary education to all children in the country.
Empowering the socially disadvantaged classe s like
Scheduled castes, Scheduled tribes and other backward
classes.
Developing self-reliance in terms of agriculture.
Acceleration in the growth rate of the economy with the
help of stable prices.
Strategies
Structural transformations and developments in the Indian
economy.
New initiatives and initiation of corrective steps to meet the
challenges in the economy of the country.
Efficient use of scarce resource s to ensure rapid growth.
Combination of public and private support to increase
employment.
Enhancing high rates of export to achieve self-reliance.
Providing services like electricity, telecommunication,
railways etc.
Special plans to empower the socially disadvantaged
classes of the country.
Involvement and participation of Panchayati Raj
institutions/bodies and N agar Palikas in the development
process.
Performance
The Ninth Five-Year Plan achieved a GDP growth rate of
5.4% against a target of 6.5%
The agriculture industry grew at a rate of 2.1% against the
target of 4.2%
The industrial growth in the country was 4.5% which was
higher than that of the target of 3%
The service industry had a growth rate of 7.8%.
An average annual growth rate of 6.7% was reached.
The Ninth Five-Year Plan looks through the past
weaknesses in orde r to frame the new measures for the overall
socio-economic development of the country. However, for a
well-planned economy of any country, there should be a
combined participation of the governmental agencies along with
the general population of that nation. A combined effort of
public, private, and all levels of government is essential for
ensuring the growth of India's economy.
The target growth was 7.1% and the actual growth was 6.8%.

Tenth Plan (20022007)

The main objectives of the Tenth Five-Year Plan were: Reduction in gender gaps in literacy and wage rates by at
Attain 8% GDP growth per year. least 50% by 2007.
Reduction of poverty rate by 5% by 2007. 20-point program was introduced.
Providing gainful and high-quality employment at least to Target growth: 8.1% - growth achieved: 7.7%
the addition to the labour force. Expenditure of 43,825 crores for tenth five years
(Out of total plan outlay Rs 921,291 crore (57.9%) was for central government and R s 691,009 crore (42.1%) was for state s and
union territories.)

Eleventh Plan (2007-2012)

Rapid and inclusive growth.(Poverty reduction)
Emphasis on social sector and delivery of service therein.
Empowerment through education and skill development.
Reduction of gender inequality.
Environmental sustainability.
To increase the growth rate in agriculture,industry and
services to 4%,10% and 9% respectively.
Reduce Total Fertility Rate to 2.1
Provide clean drinking water for all by 2009.
increase agriculture growth to 4%.

Twelfth Plan (20122017)

The Twelfth Five-Year Plan of the Government of India has
decided for the growth rate at 8.2% but the National
Development Council (NDC) on 27 Dec 2012 approved 8%
growth rate for 12th five-year plan.
With the de teriorating global situation, the Deputy Chairman of
the Planning Commission Mr Montek Singh Ahluwalia has said
that achieving an average growth rate of 9 pe rcent in the next
five years is not possible. The Final growth targe t has been set
at 8% by the endorsement of plan at the National Development
Council meeting held in New Delhi.
"It is not possible to think of an average of 9% (in 12th P lan). I
think somewhere between 8 and 8.5 percent is feasible, Mr
Ahluwalia said on the sidelines of a conference of State
Planning Boards and departments. The approached pape r for
the 12th Plan, approved last year, talked about an annual
average growth rate of 9%.
When I say feasible... that will require major effort. If you
dont do that, there is no God given right to grow at 8 percent. I
think given that the world economy deteriorated very sharply
over the last year...the growth rate in the first year of the 12th
Plan (2012-13) is 6.5 to 7 percent.
He also indicated that soon he would share his views with other
members of the Commission to choose a final number (economic
growth targe t) to put before the countrys NDC for its approval.
The government intends to reduce poverty by 10% during the
12th Five-Year Plan. Mr Ahluwalia said, We aim to reduce
poverty estimates by 9% annually on a sustainable basis during
the Plan period. Earlier, addressing a conference of State
Planning Boards and Planning departments, he said the rate of
decline in poverty doubled during the 11th Plan. The commission
had said, while using the Tendulkar poverty line, the rate of
reduction in the five years between 200405 and 200910,
was about 1.5%points each year, which was twice that when
compared to the period between 1993 -95 to 2004-05.
 International Organizations - Headquarters and their Chiefs
Important (51)
Organization Name Headquarters Name of Chief
United Nations
John Ashe (Antigua and
UN General Assembly
Barbuda)
UN Security Council Gary Quinla n (USA)
New York
Martin Sajdik
UN Economic and Social Council

UN Secretariat Ban Ki-moon (South Korea)

International Court of Justice Ther Hague (Netherlands) Peter Tomka (Slovakia)
Food and Agriculture Organization Rome (Italy) Jose Graziano da Silv a
International Labour Organization Geneva (Switzerland) Guy Ryder
International Maritime Organization London (UK) Koji Sekimizu
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) New York (USA) Anthony Lake
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Paris (France) Irina Bokova
Organization (UNESCO)
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Nairobi (Kenya) Achim Steiner
World Health Organization Geneva (Switzerland) Margaret Chan
World Intellectual Property Organization Geneva (Switzerland) Francis Gurry
World Food Programme Rome (Italy) Ertharin Cousin
World Tourism Organization Madrid (Spain) Taleb Rifai
United Nations Development Programme New York (USA) Helen Clark
United Nations Capital Development Fund New York (USA) Marc Bichler
United Nations Industrial Development Organization Vienna (Austria) Li Yong
Environmental
Julia Marton-Lefvre (Director
International Union for Conservation of Nature Gland, Switzerland General), Zhang Xinsheng
(President)
Arms Control
Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons The Hague, Netherlands Ahmet Uzumcu
Energy
International Energy Agenc y Paris (France) Maria van der Hoeven
Masdar City (United Arab
International Renewable Energy Agenc y Adnan Amin
Emirates)
Nuclear Energy Agenc y Paris (France) William D. Magwood, IV
International Atomic Energy Agenc y Vienna (Austria) Yukiya Amano
Economic Institutions
Washington, D.C.( United
International Monetary Fund Christine Lagarde
States)
Asian Development Bank Manila (Philippines) Takehiko Nakao
International Fund for Agricultural Development Rome (Italy) Kanayo F. Nwanze
African De velopment Bank Ivory Coast Donald Kaberuka
Bank for International Settlements Basel, Switzerland Jaime Caruana
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Paris (France) Jose Angel Gurria
Development (OECD)
President - Diezani Alison-
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Vienna (Austria) Madueke,Secretary General -
Abdalla h el-Badri
World Bank Group
International Bank for Reconstruction and De velopment Jim Yong Kim
International Development Association Washington, D.C. (United Jim Yong Kim
International Finance Corporation States) Jin-Yong Cai
Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agenc y Keiko Honda
International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes Meg Kinnear
Miscellaneous
World Customs Organization Brussels (Belgium) Kunio Mikuriya
World Trade Organization Geneva (Switzerland) Roberto Azev do
International Criminal Court The Hague (Netherlands) Song Sang-Hyun
European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker
European Parliament Martin Schulz
European Council Herman Van Rompuy
Council of Europe Strasbourg (France) Thorbjorn Jagla nd
European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) Meyrin (Switzerland) Rolf-Dieter Heuer
European Space Agenc y Paris (France) Jean-Jacques Dordain
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Jakarta (Indonesia) Le Luong Minh
South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Kathmandu (Nepal) Arjun Bahadur Thapa
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Brussels (Belgium) Jens Stoltenberg
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Singapore Alan Bollard
African Union Commission Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma
African Union Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz

Semi-Important (34)
Organization Name Headquarters Name of Chief
United Nations
United Nations Development Fund for Women New York (USA) Ins Alberdi
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Geneva ( Switzerland) Antnio Guterres
Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS Geneva ( Switzerland) Michel Sid ib
United Nations Population Fund New York (USA) Babatunde Osotimehin
United Nations Human Settlements Programme Nairobi (Kenya) Joan Clos
United Nations Volunteers Bonn (Germany) Richard Dictus
United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the New York (USA) Phumzile Mla mbo-Ngcuka
Empowerment of Women
United Nations University Japan David M. Malone
Environmental
World Wide Fund For Nature Gland, Switzerland Yolanda Kakabadse (President)
Marco Lambertini (Director
General)
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Rajendra K. Pachauri
Global Environment Facility Washington (USA) Naoko Ishii
Migration
International Organization for Migration Geneva, Switzerland William Lacy Swing
Maritime
International Hydrographic Organization Monaco
Arms Control
Nuclear Suppliers Group Czech Republic (Current
Chair), Argentina will be next
chair in 2014-2015
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Vienna (Austria) Lamberto Zannier
Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization Vienna, Austria
Fisheries
International Whaling Commission Impington (England)
International Seabed Authority Kingston (Jamaica)
Economic Institutions
International Bureau of Weights and Measures Sevres (France) M.J.T. Milton
African De velopment Bank Ivory Coast Donald Kaberuka
Bank for International Settlements Basel, Switzerland Jaime Caruana
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Paris (France) Jose Angel Gurria
Development (OECD)
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Vienna (Austria) President - Diezani Alison-
Madueke,Secretary General -
Abdalla h el-Badri
Nordic Investment Bank Helsinki (Finland)
Islamic Development Bank and Orga nisation of Islamic Jeddah(Saudi Arabia) Ahmad Mohamed Ali Al-
Cooperation Madani
Miscellaneous
Energy Community Vienna (Austria) Janez Kopac
European Science Foundation Strasbourg, France Marja Makarow
European Southern Observatory Garching (Germany) Tim de Zeeuw
Collective Security Treaty Organization Moscow (Russia) Nikolai Bordyuzha
Economic Cooperation Organization Tehran (Iran) Shamil Aleskerov
Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) President - Desi
Bouterse, Secretary General -
Ernesto Samper
Central American Parliament Guatemala
Commonwealth of Nations UK SG - Kamalesh Sharma,
Chairperson-in-Office -
Mahinda Rajapaksa
Arab League Cairo (Egypt) Nabil Elaraby

Regular (21)
Organization Name Headquarters Name of Chief
Migration
International Centre for Migration Polic y Development Vienna (Austria) Peter Widermann
Maritime
Antarctic Treaty Secretariat Buenos Aires, Argentina
International Council for the Exploration of the Sea Copenhagen, Denmark
Fisheries
Asia-Pacific Fishery Commission Thailand
Indian Ocean Tuna Commission Victoria (Seychelles)
Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission California (USA)
Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization Canada
North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization UK
Pacific Salmon Commission Columbia Susan Farlinger
Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center Thailand
Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission USA Charles Karnella
Energy / Nuclear Energy
International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis Vienna (Austria)
Miscellaneous
European Free Trade Association Geneva (Switzerland) Kristinn F. Arnason
European Patent Organisation Munich (Germany)
Council of the Baltic Sea States Stockholm (Sweden) Jan Lundin
Southern African De velopment Community Gaborone (Botswana)
Economic Community of West African States John Dramani Mahama
Organization of American States Washington, D.C. Jos Miguel Insulza
Caribbean Community Georgetown (Guyana) Secretary-General - Irwin
LaRocque, Chairman
Gaston Browne
Association of Caribbean States Port-of-Spain (Trinidad) Alfonso Munera Cavadia
Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States Saint Lucia Chairman - Roosevelt
Skerrit, Director General -
Didacus Jules
 Awards and Honours in India 2015
Awards and Honours in India for the year 2015 :-

Miami Open 2015

Mens Single
Novak Djokovic(Serbia)
Womens Single
Serena Williams(USA)

Mens Double
American Bob Bryan (USA) and Mike Bryan (USA)
Womens Double
Sania Mirza (India) and Switzerlands Martina Hingis

French Open 2015

Mens Single
Stan Wawrinka (Switzerland),
Runner Up Novak Djokovic (Serbia)
Womens Single
Serena Williams (USA),
Runner Up Lucie afov (Czech Republic)

Rome Master 2015

Mens Single
N. Djokovic
Womens Single
Maria Sharapova
Womens Double
Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic
Mens Double
P. Cuevas and D. Marrero

Olympics Games 2014 (winter)

Host City
Sochi (Russia)
Winner in Medal Telly
Russia
Venues
2016 Summer: Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)
2018 winter: Pyeongchang (South Korea)
2020 summer: Tokyo (Japan)

Wimbledon Open 2015

Mens Single
Novak Djokovic(Serbia)
Womens Single
Serena Williams(USA)
Mens Double
Jean Jullien Rojer of Netherlands and HoriaTecau of Romania
Womens Double
Sania Mirza (India) and Switzerlands Martina Hingis
Mixed Doubles
Leander Paes of India and Martina Hingis of Switzerland

Cricket World Cup 2015

Winner
Australia
Runners up
Newzealand
Most Runs
Martin Guptill (New Zealand) 547 runs.
Man of the finals
James Faulkner (Australia)
Most wickets
Mitchell Starc (Australia) 22 wickets and Trent Boult (Newzealand) 22 wickets.
Man of the tournament
Mitchell Starc (Australia) Melbourne, Australia
Final Match played at

IPL 2015
Winning Tea, & Runner Up
Mumbai Indians
Runner Up Chennai Super Kings
Orange Cap
David Warner
Emerging Player
Shreyas Iyer
Most Number of Sixes
Chris Gayle
Highes t Individual Score
AB De Villiars
Purple Cap
Dwayne Bravo

IIFA 2015 Winner

Best Actor
Shahid Kapoor for Haider
Best Actress
Kangna Ranaut for Queen
Best Director
Rajkumar Hirani for PK
Best Movie
Queen

62nd Nation Film Awards

Best Actor
Sanchari Vijay for Nanu Avanalla Avalu
Best Actress
Kangna Ranaut for Queen
Best Director
Srijit Mukherji
Best Feature Film in Hindi
Court
Best Feature Film
Queen
Dada Saheb Phalke Award
Shashi Kapoor

Schemes Launched by Narendar Modi

AMRUT MUDRA Bank Yojana
Housing For All Digital Locker
Smart City E- Basta
Jan Dhan Yojana Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY)
Digital India Skill India
Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao
Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana One Rank One Pension
Atal Pension Yojana Sukanya Samriddhi
 AMRUT
UPA's (JNNURM) Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission renamed as AMRUT '
Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation. The Govt. has sanctioned
Rs.50000 Cr. for constructing 2 Crore houses in all the 40411 statuto ry towns and cities .It
will provide basic infrastructure like water & electricity supply, sewerage, transport and
green space park .
Ensure basic infrastructure and sanitation
Focus on water supply and sewerage
Promoting Public Transport
Enabling walking, cycling, greenery and open spaces
Improving Urban governance through reforms
Capacity Building

Housing for All

Affordable House for Urban Poor Household
2 Crore houses to be built for Urban Poor
Central assistance ranging from Rs.1 Lakh to Rs.2.30 Lakh per house
Promote slum free cities
Promote slum free cities
House in the name of woman or with jointly with husband

Smart Cities Mission

The govt. has planned to invest Rs.48000 for 100 Smart cities which will going to choose
through 'City Challenge Compe tition' followed by 'Intra State' and 'Inter S tate'
Competition. 20 cities that meet the criteria will be going to fund for the first year of
implementation, followed by 40 each over the next two years.
High quality core infrastructure
Application of smart solution for better services
Enhanced quality of living
Drives economics growth benefiting all section
Promotes clean and sustainable environment
Selection of cities through competition

Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna (PMJDY) - Scheme Details

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on 15-august 2014 announced a financial inclusion
scheme known as Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojna (PMJDY).This scheme was formally
launched on 28-Aug- 2014, through this scheme financial inclusion is taken as mission
mode.
In order to achieve financial inclusion various initiatives were taken by previous
governments and RBI like expansion of bank branches network, opening of no frills
account,mandatory financial inclusion plans by banks ,adoption of business correspondent
model (BC) but still vast section of our country out of reach of financial services, So to
provide basic financial services like saving account, Remittance, Credit, Insurance ,Pension
in an affordable manner to common man PMJDY was launched.

How PMJDY is different from previous Financial Inclusion schemes

PMJDY focus on opening bank account in every family where as previous scheme focus on
providing Banking services with population more than 2000.
PMJDY focus on rural and urban area as same where as previous scheme concentrate
more on rural areas.
Thrust of this scheme is on providing not just account opening but also addition services like
insurance ,overdraft facility, remittance s, RuPay debit card. USSD based mobile banking
to be utilized where as in previous scheme there is not use of mobile banking .
Financial literacy is focus in PMJDHY where as in previous scheme financial literacy was
neglected.
In PMJDY, KYC needed to open bank account was made simpler.

PMJDY envisages provis ion of affordable financial services within

reasonable distance. It comprises of the following s ix pillars
1. Universal access to banking services-It aim s at providing banking services to all
inhabitants with in reasonable distance of 5 k.m. by 14th-Aug-2015.
2. Providing Basic Banking Accounts, RuPay debit card and overdraft facility to all
households
3. Financial Literacy Programme
Financial literacy is integral part of
PMJDY. By providing financial
literacy people will be able to judge
right financial product for them.
4. Creation of Credit Guarantee fund
It propose the creation of credit
guarantee fund to cover the defaults
in overdraft accounts.
5. Micro insurance To provide micro
insurance to all willing and eligible
persons by August2018
6. Unorganised sector Pension
Schemes like Swavalamban but
August-2018.
PMJDY will be implemented in two
phases
Phase I
(from 15-August-2014 to 14-August
2015)- In this phase first three pillars
of PMJDY will be implemented ,this include
Universal access to banking facilities
Providing basic bank account with RuPay debit card with inbuilt accidental insurance
cover of 1lakh.
Financial literacy programmes
Phase II
(from 15th-Aug-2015 to 14th -Aug-2018)-In this last three pillars of PMJDY will be
implemented this include:
Creation of credit guarantee fund
Micro Insurance
Overdraft facility
Unorganized sector Pension Schemes like swavalamban.
PMJDY is highly successful. Provision of social security by pension and insurance cover is a
significant policy intervention. RuPay enable debit card provides transaction security and
overdraft facility , subsidies transfer to bank account will provide economic security.
Enthused by the success the target for opening basic account target has been revised form
7.5 Crore to 10 Crore by January 26 and this target is also met and banks have issued
7.28 Crore RuPay debits cards. So will combine efforts of GOI,RBI ands Banks, PMJDY will
able to provide financial inclusion to every section of our society.

Digital India - The blue print of a Futuristic India

Tell me what on earth is Digi India? shouts my
exhasperated sister, appearing from under the mountains of her
CLAT books, Is Modi coming up with these things just to make
the life of examinees tough?! Every week there is something!
I hear you lil sister, as do I hear the collective groan of hundred
others obsessing over current affairs does it feel like the new
Government is giving us extra homework with all these schemes
Well anyway this brings us to our new-est currently-
making-news topic :
DIGITAL INDIA
Prime Minister Modis vision The Department of Electronics
and Information Technology of the Government of Indias pet
project Old Generations bane and the Next
Generations boon we present to you Deegee Indiah! (I
hope that was dramatic enoughdrumrolls and all!) As put in
words by the Ministry, Digi India is a programme to transfo rm
India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge
economy. When we think of Digi India key words like
broadband, digital, e-Courts, mobile, banking, e-Police etc
should come to mind these are the unique selling points of the
whole thing! So,
What is Digi India?
We know the basic premises of Digital India India finally
going 21st Century with informations technology (IT).
It is nothing but Indias coming of age where IT will be in the
daily lives of common people and not only of the IT people of
Silicon Valley (Bangalore!). Imagine everything online!
Everything happening at the touch of your keypad and click of
you mouse with broadband speed imagine government
services being rendered to you like that and
that de ar friends is the vision of Digital India.
Laying down all the specs:-
Very important for the current affairs so high speed
specifications coming up take note
Project proposed to be completed by 2019. It is a top priority
project.
Every Indian to have a smartphone by 2019 I hear ya!
Slogan going around these days IT + IT = IT; which means
India Today + Information
Technology = India Tomorrow.
Expected to generate more than 5 crore jobs!
The projects estimated cost minimum is 1 lakh crores !
The three Ds digital services, digital infrastructure and
digital literacy.
A little elaboration is warranted here
The aim of this ginormous project is to bring the whole of India
under the IT umbrella and provide all government services
through the internet for which there will be massive need for
an IT infrastructure covering the whole of India (rural India
being the most important area for immediate development) and
encouraging the masses to utilize and embrace these changes
by educating them about the technology, its benefits, the
processes etc.
Services/ USPs can be listed as follows:
1. High Speed Internet to all and everywhere which means
rural India too.
2. All Banking services by all banks via the internet.
3. All Government serves by all Government Departments
via the cyber space less paperwork no queues or lesser of
those anyways!
4. All citizen documents details apart from the usual PAN/
AADHAR etc. to be available online.
Nine Pillars of Digital India movement:
(1) Broadband Highways rural, urban by 2017.
(2) Universal Access to Phones mainly to get the rural
people on the loop 42300 villages are still uncovered est
time of completion 2018 integration of State Wide Area
Networks (SWANs) and National Knowledge Networks (NKNs)
(3) Public Internet Access Programme National Rural Internet
Mission with Post Offices becoming multi-services centres.
(4) E-Governance all Government services routed through the
internet no or lesser paperwork all processes within the
Government automated records will be held in databases and
not in physical dusty files! easy and simple user interface to
government portals etc.
(5) E-Kranti delivery of services electronically if you are
patient you can ge t your health reports and insurance coverage
informations online if you are a farmer you can get your
queries, market prices and trends online, payment m aking,
ordering of inputs etc all online for students free wifi in ALL
schools (ermok!) also we have e-Police, e-Courts, e-
Prosecution and e-Jails in perfect e-orde r!
(6) Information for all two way communication between
government and people and like it says information far all.
(7) Electronics manufacturing in India Make in India +
empowerment of domestic manufaturing units = zero imports by
2020! (Team India all the way!)
(8) Jobs = jobs = jobs = India really needs this one!
(9) Early harvest programmes huh? this one is actually
well it means ge tting some 9 -10 particular programmes/
initiatives quickly done and delivered to the people early
harvest! (Mentioned below)
Services required for Digital India
First one is get the mass messaging application ready and
working, so that the Government can reach people via emails.
Second one is to ready the e-Greeting templates done
Governemnts personalise greeting cards to the common man!
Third is secured inter-Government, inter-Government
Department e-mailsystem designing of common Government
template this is important too.
Social Security Schemes launched by Narendra Modi Summary
On his first visit to West Bengal after
becoming Prime Minister of India,
Narendra Modi surprised financial
analysts by declaring three social
security schemes for 1.25 billion
people. Now accidental insurance is
available at mere Rs.12 fo r a
coverage of Rs.200,000. Read
summary of schemes :-
Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojna
Eligibility
18 to 70 years of age
Having a savings account with a public sector bank
Insurer allows auto withdrawal for the payment of annual
premium
Fourth one is bio-metric attendance counter fo r all
Government employees you know finger print access
running of the card keys before entering offices all very high
tech!
Fifth is to get the Univers ities and Colleges to have WiFis I
ask where was Modi in my time?!
Sixth is public Wifi hotspots seriously where was Modi in my
time?!
Seventh is to have all school books converted into PDFs! That
is to have e-books, so that any student from anywhere can
access any book.
Eigth is to have e-weather reports and national natural
calamities alert messages.
Ninth is to have an online portal for lost and found
children this I vehemently support!
Phew! This is a lot to take in one article and in one day even I
cant. What Ive put u p here in this article is just the facts of the
Digi India Programme that anyone ought to know of the top of
their head.
This topic should be on your finger tips But there are a lo t more
information to cover on this one and Ill follow it up with another
article s giving the numbers and some more facts and some
current developments etc. All the computer hardware and
software companies Intel, Microsoft, Adobe and Google are
going to play a big role to make "Digital India" a reality.
Policy cost and coverage
Rs.12 per subscriber for a coverage of Rs.2,00,000
Maturity
Death due to accident or total physical disability due to
accident
Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Yojana
Eligibility Policy cost and coverage
18 to 50 years of age Rs.330 per subscriber for a coverage of Rs.2,00,000
Having a savings account with a public sector bank
Insurer allows auto withdrawal for the payment of annual Maturity
premium Death due to any reason

Atal Pension Yojana

Subscriber should have saving account

Eligible age for entering into scheme - 18 to 40 years
Provides subscribers a fixed minimum pension of Rs.1,000, Rs.2,000, Rs.3,000, Rs.4,000
or Rs.5,000 per month starting at the age of 60 years
Period of contribution by subscriber should be equal to or more than 20 years
Central government will contribute 50% of the contribution by subscriber or Rs.1000 per
annum, whichever is lower for 5 years.

Mudra Bank Yojana

supporting them particularly those members who belongs from
scheduled caste s and scheduled tribes.
MUDRA Bank will also register MFIs(Micro Finance
Institutions) and will be responsible for accreditation and
rating of MFI.
It will also make proper last mile practices to be followed by
MFI to provide proper client protection and to prevent from
indebtedness.

AIM -
The finance ministry said measures to be taken up by the
MUDRA are targeted m ainly on young, educated or skilled
workers and entrepreneurs including women entrepreneurs.
Basically small entrepreneurs and small businessm an are often
cut from banking system because of limited branch presence, so
MUDRA bank will partner with local coordinators and provide
finance to small and micro businesses.

IMPORTANT FIGURES ABO UT MUDRA BANK

The bank will be se t up with the initial corpus of Rs.20000 Cr
and a credit guarantee corpus of Rs.3000 Cr.
What is Mudra Bank? The bank have categorized the amount o f loan to be given in
three different categories-
MUDRA means Micro Units Development and Refinance
SHISHU- This is the first stage and in it the loan will be given
Agency(known as the MUDRA bank)
for upto 50000 Rs.
Mudra bank is being set up through a statutory enactment and
KISHOR- In the second stage a loan amount will be ranging
will be responsible for developing and refinancing through a
from 50,000 to Rs.5 lakh.
PradhanMantri Mudra Yojna.
TARUN- This is last category which will provide upto Rs 10
It is first set up as a subsidiary of the Small Industries
lakh.
Develpoment Bank of India(SIDBI). It will later be converted
into full-fledged bank through an act of the parliament. The bank will cater to 5.77 Crore small business units that
spread all across India who currently find it difficult to access
MUDRA Bank is a public sector financial institution in India, It
credit from the regular banking system.
provides loan at low rates to small entrepreneurs.
According to Mr. NARENDRA MODI the bank would help over
OBJECTIVE - 6 Cr families out of which 65% of them belongs to scheduled
caste and scheduled tribe s.
It was launched in 8th April 2015 with the objective of
regulating micro and small enterprise financing business, and
 Digital Locker
Digi Locker is yet another Digital India initiative launched by the
Government of India in February 2015. Released by the
Department of Electronics & Information Technology (DEITY),
Ministry of Communications & IT, Digi Locker is actually an e -
locker to save your official and other documents.
A secured personal online storage space where you can store
your documents.
A service open to all Indian citizens with Aadhaar cards
You will be allotted a storage space o f 1 GB linked with his or
her Aadhaar number.
You can not only sto re your official documents like mark sheets,
Pan cards, Passports,
certificates, voter id cards, etc. but also store Uniform Resource
Identifier (URI) link of the edocuments
issued by various departments.
You can digitally sign e-documents with the e-sign facility
provided by this system.
Section within the Digital Locker
My Certificates :
(a) Digital Documents: This contains the URIs of the documents
issued to the user by the various government departments or
other agencies.
(b) Uploaded Documents: This subsection contains all the
documents uploaded by the user. Each file should not be more
than 1 MB in size. Only pdf, jpg, jpeg, bmp, gif, png file types
can be uploaded.
My Profile: The users complete profile is seen here.
My Issuer: The issuers names and the documents issued to the
user are available here.
e-Basta: New Portal for Students to Download School Books
e-Basta
The Government of India has now extended a helping hand to
the students of India in the form of the eBasta platform. This is a
collaborative platform where students, teachers and book
retailers can come together and help each other.
How it works?
The stakeholders of eBasta are the students, teachers, eBasta
app, and the publishers.
The eBasta app has to be installed to get access to the portal.
My Requester: The re questers names and the documents
requested by the requesters are available here.
Directories : Complete list o f registered issuers and requesters
along with their URIs are available here.
Signing Up Process: How Does it Work?
In the text box Enter Aadhaar Number, type your Aadhaar
number. For user authentication, there are two options to choose:
Use OTP (One Time Password) and Use Fingerprint.
OTP
If you choose OTP, the password will be sent to the mobile
number and email-id registered with your Aadhaar. Once the
OTP is entered, click on Validate OTP button. Once the OTP is
validated, the user can complete sign up by setting his username
and password.
Fingerprint
If you choose fingerprint, you will have to put the thumb print on
the finger print device. If it is valid, your identification is
authenticated and you can set your own username and
password to complete the sign up. Using Social Media You can
also sign in using your Gmail ID or Facebook ID.
Using Social Media
Advantages of Digi Locker System
Empowers the citizens digitally.
Ensures easy availability of documents online.
Reduces the use of physical documents and fake documents.
Offers authenticity of the e-documents.
Provides a secured acce ss to documents issued by the
government.
Reduces administrative costs of government departments and
agencies.
Provides fast access to documents anytime and from
anywhere.
Enables easy sharing of documents acro ss departments and
agencies.
Ensures complete privacy of residents data.
The school/teachers customise the contents of the eBasta for the
students.
The publishers upload the content as pe r the requirement of the
eBastas.
The students, with the help of the app, can acce ss the portal and
download content of interest.
Features of eBas ta
Basta in Hindi means a school bag. As the name suggests,
eBasta is literally a digital schoolbag with the digital version of
school books and study material. The various features of eBasta
are as follows:
This programme will make all school books available in the
digital format and can be accessed on laptops and table ts.
Resources available in the digital form include text, simulation,
animations, audio books, and videos among many other
features.
Web based applications will be available to access and
navigate the framework of eBasta.
Teachers or the school can log on to the portal and customise
the eBasta contents according to the requirement, standard, and
syllabus of their students.
 Students can access the content included by the teachers or the
school on the same portal. They can use eBasta application by
downloading them on their computers or android phones.
The android app is like a eBook reader. Once the student has
access he/she will haventhe content as required by the teachers.
The content is easily transferable.
eBasta is also beneficial for the publishers. It will be easier for
them to penetrate into schools and students in every nook and
corner of India and sell books in the digital fo rmat. All they
need to do is register on to the eBasta portal.
Benefits of eBasta for Students and Publishers
Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana : Skill Development Scheme
What is Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana
a key measure to impart skills-based training to young men
and women, making them capable of earning and supporting
the nations anti-poverty endeavours.
Indian society which has the worlds largest youth population
that require s employable skills (356 million population between
10 and 24 years of age The Hindu, Nov 2014).
Earlier this year, on 20 March 2015, the government of India
implement the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY)
through the National Skill Development Corporation.
With a total outlay of about INR 1,500 Crore, the PMKVY is
likely to impart skills training to 24 lakh youth of the country,
focusing on the Class X/XII dropouts and lower income groups.
The scheme was developed over a pe riod of almost three
months and its implementation started in select states (primarily
Bihar) by early June 2015.
The scheme will be launched in all states of the country on 15
July National Skills Day. Indias unemployment rate averaged
about 4.9 percent by early 2014. This scheme should bring that
number down by a reasonable measure.
Skills Needs Assessment
One of the key objectives of the scheme was to cover the skills
training of about 24 lakh people.
The specific skills imparted would be decided based on the
National Skill Qualification Framework (NSQF) and on the basis
of feedback from the various industries that would potentially
employ the trainees.
The publishers and the students both benefit because
feedback on the online material available online comes directly
and thus, any action required concerning the content will also be
more prompt.
Thanks to DRM (Digital Rights Management), the publishers do
not have to worry about piracy of the content that they upload.
Even though this platform has been newly launched, there are
many eBooks available on the portal. With an increase in
demand and popularity, this initiation of the Government is
surely going to achieve success, and thus benefit the future
generation of India.
The specific skills trainings to be imparted have been assessed
by the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) on the
basis of demand in recent skills gap by a study for 2013-17
period.
Central ministries and state governments departments were
consulted and the inputs of various industry and business heads
were also considered. Skills needed to implement various other
flagship schemes such as Digital India were also assesse d.
Currently, about 428 job roles are being catere d to by the skills
training imparted under the scheme.
Enrollment Process
The government has partnered with various telecom operators
to create awareness about the PMKVY. After the nationwide
launch telecom operators are likely to send out mass SMS about
the scheme and will provide po tential candidates a number to
call. Candidates need to give a missed call to this toll free
number, following which they shall receive an automated call
back connecting them to an IVR. The potential candidate will, at
this stage, need to input his/her details into the system. These
details will be recorded, and screened. Candidates eligible to
enroll for the training programmes will be provided details of
the nearest training centre and will be asked to report on the
training dates.
Implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana
In keeping with the draft plan, the scheme was launched (in
Bihar) and the NSDC partnered with about 24 sector skill
councils.
As of 1 July 2015, about 1,17,564 people from all parts of the
country have already enrolled for skills training. Training has
commenced for some 1,07,080 trainees already. The schemes
implementation is being undertaken by NSDCs training
partners. The NSDC has some 187 listed training partners with
2300 training centres spread out in almost all the state s of
India. While the scheme is on a pilot mode in select state s, a
nation-wide launch is expected by mid-July. The to tal outlay
planned for the scheme is over INR 1,500 crore, of which INR
1120 crore is likely to be allocated towards the skill training of
some 14 lakh youth. Additionally, INR 220 crore will be spent
towards the recognition of prior learning. The scheme budget
includes INR 67 crore that shall be spent on spreading
awareness and encouraging enrolment. This includes
implementation of the website and running awareness
campaigns. In this effort to create awareness about the PMKVY,
the NSDC will partner with state governments and municipal
organisations and use the administrative machinery extensively
to mobilise candidates from the grassroots level. The NSDC has
also partnered with various business houses and corporates in
an effort to garner mentorship for the candidates and to secure
placements once their training is completed.
The government has allocated INR 67 Crore towards this. The
scheme has the youth of the North Eastern region of India in
special focus. This region has been traditionally neglected and
hence a separate allocation of INR 150 Crore has been made
towards the training of youth in this region.
Apart from training, the candidates shall also go through an
assessment at the end of the training schedule. A certificate of
merit shall also be issued to candidates at the end of this
training period based on the assessment. Third party
assessment bodies have been roped in by the NSDC to assess
the candidates on the skills acquired and a monetary incentive
or reward is given to exemplary candidates. The average
monetary reward that each successful candidate is likely to get
is about INR 8000. The scheme has placed much focus on the
Skill India : A New Programme to be Launched in March 2015
After Digital India and Make in India, the NaMo Government designing, banking, tourism and various other sectors, where skill
is to launch yet another programme. This one is a revised
version of programmes launched earlier under the skill
development policy. This new programme, called Skill India, is
supposed to be a multi -skill programme. It will be launched in
March 2015. Like all other programmes, Skill India too is a
dream project of Narendra Modi and the work to launch this
programme has already been initiated.
Objective
The main goal is to create opportunities, space and scope for
the development of the talents of the Indian youth and to
develop more of those sectors which have already been put
under skill development for the last so many years and also to
identify new sectors for skill development. The new programme
aims at providing training and skill development to 500 million
Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao Scheme To Ensure the Rights of the Girl Child
After the successful implementation of innovative schemes like
the Jan Dhan Yojana, Make in India and Swachh Bharat
Abhiyan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi now launched one more
scheme, Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao (save the girl child, educate
the girl child), on January 22 in Panipat in Haryana. With an
training partners. These partner institutions have been studied
and assessed before enrolment. Digital training facilities and
able instructors are highly valued by the NSDC for the training
sessions. The curriculum developed is highly relevant and
efficient in practical employability. Training sessions and the
training institutes will be constantly monitored by state
government agencies and by the sector skill councils. Feedback
from the candidates themselves will also be sought.
youth of our country by 2020, covering each and every village.
Various schemes are also proposed to achieve this objective.
Features
The emphasis is to skill the youths in such a way so that they
get employment and also improve entrepreneurship.
Provides training, support and guidance for all occupations
that were of traditional type like carpenters, cobblers, welders,
blacksmiths, masons, nurses, tailors, weavers etc.
More emphasis will be given on new areas like real estate,
construction, transportation, textile, gem industry, jewellery
development is inadequate or nil.
The training programmes would be on the lines of
international level so that the youths of our country can not only
meet the domestic demands but also of other countries like the
US, Japan, China, Germany, Russia and those in the West Asia.
Another remarkable feature o f the Skill India programme
would be to create a hallmark called Rural India Skill, so as to
standardise and certify the training process.
Tailor-made, need-based programmes would be initiated for
specific age groups which can be like language and
communication skills, life and po sitive thinking skills, personality
development skills, management skills, behavioural skills,
including job and employability skills.
The course methodology of Skill India would be innovative,
which would include games, group discussions, brainstorming
sessions, practical experiences, case studies etc.
initial corpus of Rs 100 crore, the scheme has been launched in
a hundred districts across the country. In Haryana where the
child sex ratio (CSR) has been dismally low, 12 districts have
been chosen: Rewari, Mahendergarh, Bhiwani, Jhajjar, Ambala,
Kurukshetra, Sonepat, Rohtak, Karnal, Kaithal, Panipat and
Yamuna Nagar. The scheme aims at making girls independent
both socially as also financially through education. This
approach of the Government can facilitate in generating
awareness and improving the efficiency of delivery of welfare
services meant for the women.
Why the scheme?
The latest census of 2011 reveals a declining trend in CSR in the
age group of 0 to 6 years, the figure for girls having gone
down to 919 per 1,000 boys, from what it was in the 2001
census 927. The practice of aborting female foetus has
become more rampant with the availability of modern
diagnostic tools for sex determination of the unborn. With the
social biases favouring the male child on consideration of
economic advantages and the deep-rooted attitude of labelling
the girl child as more of a liability, the sex ratio in the country
has been skewed. The process of elimination continues even
afte r birth in various form s of discrimination in matters of health,
nutritional and educational needs of the girl child.
Therefore, it has been rightly stated that womens
disempowerment begins even before birth. Concomitantly, the
fact remains that empowerment of women leads to allround
progress and emancipation from backwardness of beliefs and
unscientific practices in the society. And towards driving this
home among the rural folks confined to superstitious beliefs and
practices, the new media and communication methods need to
be fully utilised. The BetiBachao, BetiPadhao, campaign has
been launched to achieve this objective, of bringing about the
awareness and the change.
What Modi said
Lamenting that we have an 18th century mindset, the Prime
Minister called for an end to the discrimination between sons
and daughte rs. He said this is the key to ending female
foeticide.
Modi reminded the medical fraternity which also contributed to
female foeticide, that their medical education had been for the
purpose of saving lives, and not killing daughters. The Prime
Minister also launched the Sukanya Samriddhi Account for the
benefit of the girl child. He released a stamp on the theme of
One Rank One Pension
The Indian government has come up with the One Rank One
Pension (OROP) in what is being seen as a final effort to get the
attention of the defence community of the country at the
present moment there are 14 lakh soldiers and officers serving
in various capacities in different wings of the national armed
forces. There are also in excess of 25 lakh military officers in
India who have retired. Incidentally, this has been demanded
for a long time now and has also been promised but till now it
had not been implemented. This is also being regarded as an
Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao, and administered the Beti Bachao,
Beti Padhao pledge on the occasion. Today the society as a
whole needs to change the attitude towards the girl child to end
female foeticide. The practice is prevalent among every strata
of the society. Although there was a healthy sex ratio in the
north-eastern region and tribal areas, in many parts of the
country the incidence of female foeticide is high. The
Government has initiated this innovative scheme to save the lots
of the girl children.
Scheme is boon not only for girls but also for society
In this scheme, the Ministry of Women and Child Development is
functioning in collaboration with various other Ministries like
Education Ministry and Health Ministry. It can be a boon not just
for the girl children but also for the whole society. Moreover,
Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao yojana comes at a time when the
nation is confronted with problems associated with womens
safe ty like rape and other forms of assault. The Government
also projected Rs.150 Crore to be spent by the Ministry of
Home Affairs on a scheme to extend the security of women in
large cities. The Union budget has also allocated to the Ministry
of Road Transport and Highways R s.50 Crore for pilot schemes
to safeguard the safe ty of women on public road transport.
That may be a welcome step as this can facilitate to restore
womens faith in the system. The formidable project can
embrace a number of the most effective practices for be tter
initiation and implementation. For example,
West Bengal has a system for enabling money transfers at
periodic intervals for the childs education.
In Punjab, pregnant girls are registered in their first trimester
in order that the authoritie s may follow up and monitor cases of
foeticide.
Another example is Tamil Nadus Amma Baby Care Kit.
However, the initiative although sensible has been for the most
part criticized by many people. Its not enough to allot funds
and fo rmulate schemes, it is said. There is need to amend the
laws and penalise those who harm the girl children. Theres also
need to educate the grass roots about the rights of the girl child
to exist.
important step taken by the ruling government before the
national assembly elections come calling a few months later.
Recent Developments
According to government sources, the long-pending OROP
scheme is likely to be rolled out ahead of the Bihar assembly
polls.
On 15 June 2015, a group of about 55 ex-servicemen who
belong to Jalandhar district began their relay-hunger strike at
Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, demanding the government to
announce a date to introduce the OROP policy.
On 10 June 2015, a group of ex-servicemen met Finance
Minister Arun Jaitley and expressed their concerns regarding
the delay in the OROP scheme which is likely to
benefit as many as 22 lakh retired defence personnel.
On 3 June 2015, a group of ex-servicemen led by Maj Gen
Satbir Singh (re td) met Dalbir Singh Suhag and discussed about
the early implementation of one rank one pension scheme.
 Sukanya Samriddhi Account : New Scheme for a Girl Child in India
Save for every girl child in India. Reinforcing this idea, Prime
Minister N arendra Modi launched Sukanya Samriddhi Account
Scheme, a small savings scheme as a part of the Beti Bachao
Beti Padhao campaign. It is also considered a part of the
governments initiative to increase the percentage of domestic
savings, which has reduced from 38% of the GDP in 2008 to
30% in 2013. This scheme will encourage parents to save for
the education and future of their girl child.
How to Open the SukanyaSamriddhiAccount ?
Guardian to open the account: The account can be opened
only by parents or legal guardians fo r upto two girl children. In
case of twins or triplets, an exemption will be made on
production of a certificate from authorised medical institutions.
Age Eligibility: A Sukanya Samriddhi account can be opened
for a girl child till she attains theage of 10. The scheme started
from 2 December, 2014. An initial grace period of one year
has been announced for convenience. A girl child, who is bo rn
between 2 December, 2003 and 1 December, 2004, can open
account by 1 December, 2015.
Account in the name of the beneficiary: Sukanya Samriddhi
Scheme can only be opened in the name of the girl child. The
REVERSE MORTGAGE LOAN: A Helping Hand For Senior Citizens
Features of reverse mortgage are:
a) A homeowner who is above 60 years of age is eligible for
reverse mortgage loan. It allows him to turn the equity in his
home into one lump sum or periodic payments mutually agreed
by the borrower and the banker.
b) NO REPAYMENT is required as long as the borrower lives,
Borrower should pay all taxes lating to the house and maintain
the property as his primary residence.
c) The amount of loan is based on several factors : borrowers
age, value of the property, current intere st rate s and the
depositor (guardian) will be an individual, who deposits amount
in the account on behalf of the minor girl child.
One Girl One Account: Only one account can be opened per
girl child.
Where to open Account: Sukanya Samriddhi account can be
opened in Post Office s or authorised Banks (State Bank of India,
Bank of Baroda, Punjab National Bank, Bank of India, Canara
Bank, Andhra Bank, UCO Bank, and Allahabad Bank, to name
the few).
More Information on Sukanya Samriddhi Account
Account Transferability: The account can be opened with an
amount of Rs.1000. It can be transferred from the original
location to anywhere in India as the girl child relocates.
Minimum Contribution: A minimum contribution of Rs.1000 per
account has to be deposited per year. A maximum of Rs.1,
50,000 per account can be deposited. There is no limit in the
number of deposits in a financial year. The money can be
deposited through cash, cheque or draft.
Penalty: A penalty of Rs.50 will be imposed if the account is not
credited with the minimum amount.
Rate of Interes t: The scheme is offering an interest rate of 9.1%
per year. However, it will be revised in April every year and
the change will be communicated subsequently. The interest will
be compounded yearly and directly credited to the account.
Term Period: The guardian is expected to deposit amount in the
account only till the completion of 14 years. No deposits after
that is required till the maturity of the account.
Withdrawal: A premature withdrawal (at the end of the
previous financial year) of 50% of the accumulated amo unt is
allowed after the girl child turns 18.
Closure of Account: The account can be closed only after the
child turns 21. If the money is not withdrawn even after that, it
will continue to earn the interest
Taxation: As per Section 80C o f Income Tax Act, the investment
(up to Rs.1.5 lakhs) under the scheme, all the payments including
the interest payment and the total maturity amount will be fully
exempted from taxation.
What are the Documents Required Opening Account
Birth Certificate of the girl child. Address and photo identity
proof (PAN Card, Voter ID, Aadhar Card) of the guardian..
specific plan chosen. The valuation of the residential prope rty is
done at periodic intervals and it shall be clearly specified to the
borrowers upfront. The banks shall have the option to revise the
periodic / lump sum amount at such frequency or intervals
based on revaluation of property.
Settlement - The loan shall become due and payable only when
the last surviving borrower dies or would like to sell the home,
or permanently moves out. On death of the home owner, the
legal heirs have the choice of keeping or selling the house. If
they decide to sell the house, the proceeds of the sale would be
used to repay the mortgage, with the remainde r going to the
heirs.
As per the scheme formulated by National Housing Bank (NHB),
the maximum period of the loan period is 15 years. The
residual life of the property should be at least 20 years. Where
the borrower lives longer than 15 years, periodic payments will
not be made by lender. However, the borrower can continue to
occupy.
 Reserve Bank of India - Facts you need to know
RBI is the central Bank of India.It established on 1st April 1935 CRR (Cash Reserve Ratio)
under RBI Act 1934with the recommendation of Hilton Young Every Bank need to maintain in the form cash
Commission . 4 % of NDTL ( Net Demand & Time Liability )
RBI Governor : Raghu Ram Rajan ( 5th Sept,2013 - 4 SLR (Statutory Liquidity Ratio)
Sept,2016)
21.50 % of NDTL
Deputy Governors : 4 In the form of Gold, Govt. Securities which are easily
1. H. R . Khan converted into cash.
2. K. C. Chakrabarty
3. Dr. Urjit Patel Repo Rate
4. R Gandhi When bank lends money from RBI certain interest has to
pay by bank.
Facts about RBI 7.25%
1. Indias central banking institution/authority For Short Term\more than 2 days upto 90 days
2. Controls Monetary policy of the Indian rupee There will be always minimum difference between Repo
3. Est. 1 Apr,1935 during the British Raj under RBI ACT 1934 Rate & Reverse Repo Rate is 1%
4. Nationalized in 1st Jan,1949
5. Member bank of the Asian Clearing Union Reverse Repo Rate
6. Providing license to New Banks When bank deposit surplus amount with RBI certain interest
7. It regulate, control & inspects the bank in India has to paid by RBI.
8. Share capital fully paid initially owned by private 6.25%
shareholders
9. It plays an important part in the development strategy of Marginal Standing Facility (MSF)
the govt. of India Same as Repo Rate ( Scheduled Bank borrow funds
10. Consist of 21 members overnight from RBI)
1 Governor Short term upto 90 days
4 Deputy Governor upto 2 % of NDTL
2 Finance Ministry Representative
10 Govt. nominated directo rs to represent important Bank Rate
elements from India's economy long term
4 Directors to represent local boards Same as Repo Rate
Base Rate
Public Sector Bank Fixed by RBI
Those Bank in which Govt. share is 51% or above that is Below it No loan can provided by any Bank
called Public Sector Bank. PLR(Prime Lending Rate)
Example : SBI, Allahabad Bank, Bank Of Baroda, Bank of India Fixed by Bank
Loan provided by banks to his customers
Private Sector Bank
In which private Individual or Group of Private individual's
share is 51% or above.
Example : ICICI

Foreign Bank
Head office locate outside and Branches comes in India.
Example: FB, BOA , Catholic Bank

Types of foreign currency accounts

Public Sector Bank (PSB)
1969 's 14 Bank nationalised
1981 's again 6 Bank nationalised
1993 2 merge bank Bank of India & PNB
19 + IDBI + SBI + 5 Associate Of SBI + Bhartiya Mahila
Bank
Subsidiary of RBI
Fully owned by Govt.
national Housing Bank (NHB)
Insurance Credit & Depository
(NBARD) National Bank of Agric. & Rural Development

Monetary Policy
made by RBI
Main function of RBI
Monetary Policy review after 45 days
 List of Committees in India 2015
List of important Committees in India during 201 4 and 2015.
1. Ajay Shankar Committee : To review functioning of PPP
Cell
2. Prof. NR Madhava Menon Panel : Reported guidelines
for regulating expenditure and content of advertisement
in govt. adds
3. H Devaraj Commitee : Reported most deemed university
4. H R Khan Panel : To evaluate unclaimed PPF and Post
Office Savings
5. V V Daga Committee : To conduct forensic audit of NSEL
6. Sivaramakrishnan committee : Submit Report to build
the capital city for Andhra Pradesh
7. Ramanujam committee : To avoid obsolete laws
8. Bimal Jalan : To head the Expenditure Management
Commission
9. Hari Gautam Committee : To review the status of UGC
10. Justice SB Sinha (One Member Commission):To Probe
2006 Meerut Fire Tragedy
11. Suresh Prabhu Committee: To review gas pricing
formula
12. R S Sharma Expert Committee : To review the Company
(Cost Records and Cost Audits) Rules 2014
13. Justice MB Shah : On Black Money
14. Deepak Mohanty Committee : Data and Information
Management in the RBI
15. Arvind Mayaram Committee : To clear definition to the
FDI and FII
16. Nachiket Mor Co mmittee : To permit NBFC's to work as
Business correspondence
17. P J Nayak Committee : Governance of Boards of Bank
in India
18. Bibek Debroy : for Restructuring the railway
19. Justice CS Dharmadhikari Committee: recommended
complete ban on dance bars in hotels and restaurants.
20. Pratyush Sinha : To asse ss compensation for coal blocks.
21. Jairam Ramesh : On sustainable development
22. T.K. Vishwanathan committee: To provide Bankruptcy
code for small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
23. K.V. Kamath panel: to examine the financial architecture
for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector.
24. Gopalakrishna Committee: on Capacity Building in
Banks and non-Banks
25. G N Bajpai Committee: Guidelines for national pension
system (NPS) schemes in private sector.
26. Scientist Raghunath Anant Mashelkar panel: To
recommend best technologies for Prime Minister
Narendra Modi's "Swachh Bharat" national sanitation
campaign.
27. T S R Subramanian Committee: To review five key
green laws concerning protection and conservation of
environment, forest, wildlife, water and air among others.
Various Committees in News :~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. Bibek debroy - restructuring of Indian Railway.
2. Anil Baijal - suggesting a framework to assess CSR activities
done by corporates under companies law.
3. TSR subramanium - review laws and acts of the Ministry of
Environment, Forests, and climate change.
4. Pratyush Sinha - coal blocks allocation.
5. TK Vishawanathan - to provide bankruptcy's code for SME.
6. KV Kamath - to financial architecture to MSME.
7. Gopalakrishnan - capacity building in banks and non banks.
8. GN bajapai - to review national payment system in private
sectors.
9. Scientist Raghunath Anand Mashelkar - to recommend best
technologies in PM "Swach Bharat" mission.
10. H Devaraj - reported that most of the deemed universities
are not fit for being a university.
11. Bimal Jalan - head the expenditure management
commission.
 Important Books and Authors 2015
IMPORTANT B OOKS FOR THE YEAR 2015

Two Years Eight Months and Twenty -Eight

Nights Neither a Hawk nor a Dove -
1st Indian to receive the Booker prize (British The R ed Sari - Javier Moro Khurshid M Kasuri ( Pakistans Ex-
citizen) Foreign Minister )

Indian Parliamentary Diplomacy :

Faces and Places - Prof Deepak Nayyar Editor Unplugged : Media, Magnates, Speakers Perspective - Meira Kumar
Netas and Me - Vinod Mehta

Farishta - Kapil Isapuri

( Published : 2013, In News : Jan,2015) China : Confucius in the Shadows -
Super Economies - Raghav Bahl
Poonam Surie

Flora of Guntur City Andhra Pradesh Kiran Bedi : Kaise Bani Top Cop
(Comic Book) - Kiran Bedi
Delhi to Islamabad- Bhim Singh
 Fragile Frontiers: The Secret History of Go Set a Watchman - Harper Lee
Family Life - Akhil Sharma
Mumbai Terror Attacks - Saroj Kumar Rath

Gods Bankers: A History of Money and

Power at the Vatican - Gerald Posner Education of Muslims: Islamic
Lucknow Boy: A Memoir - Late Vinod Perspective of Knowledge and
Mehta Education - J.S. Rajput

Ahmedabad : A city in the world :

Amrita Shah
Flood of Fire - Amitav Ghosh

IMPORTANT B OOKS FOR THE YEAR 2014

Half Girlfriend - Chetan Bhagat

The Narrow Road To the Deep North - The 3 mistake of my Life
Richard Flangan The L ives of Others - Neel Mukherjee 2 States
(Winner of Man Booker Prize 2014) ( short - listed for Booker 2014 ) Revolution 2020
One Night @ the Call Center
 Playing It My Way - Sachin Tendulkar
Final Test: Exit Sachin Tendulkar
Unbreakable - M.C. Mary Kom
And Then One Day : Naseerudin Shah
(Autobiography)

The Substance and the Shadow

I am Malala (Autobiography) - Malala
(Biography of Dilip Kumar ) - Uday
Yousafzai Born Again On the Mountain - Arunima
Tara Nayar
Sinha

Crusader or Conspirator - P.C. Parakh

Hard Choices (Autobiography) - Hillary The Accidental Prime Minister - The
(Former Coal Secretary ) making and unmaking of Manmohan
Clinton
Singh

Not Just an Accountant - Vinod Rai The Making of the Great Indian Election
(CAG) 2014 The Election that changed India - : Y Quraishi , Ex- Election
Rajdeep Sardesai Commissioner

A Bad Character - Deepti Kapoor Getting India Back on Track : Bibek

Debroy A Stamp is Born - C.R. Pakrashi
IMPORTANT B OOKS FOR THE YEAR 2013

The God of Small Thing - Arundhati Roy Strictly Personal Manmohan Singh and
The Test of My Life - Yuvraj Singh 1st Indian woman (and also first Indian Gursharan Kaur - Daman Singh
citizen) to receive the Booker prize

The Dramatic Decade - Pranab My Journey: Transforming Dreams into

The Lowland - Jhumpa Lahiri
Mukherjee(President of India ) Actions - APG Abdul kalam
Wings of Fire ( Shortlisted for Man Booker Prize 2013 )
Turning Points

One Life is Not Enough - E. Natwar

Playing to Win - Saina Nehwal
Singh Train to Pakistan - Khushwant Singh

My Unforgettable Memories - Mamata

Banerjee Inheritance of Loss - Kiran Desai Narendra Modi : A Political Biography -
Andy Marino
 An Uncertain Glory: India and its Warrior State Pakis tan in the
Contradictions - Amartya Sen My Years with Rajiv and Soniya - R D Contemporary World - TV Paul
Pradhan

Munger Through the Ages - Late

Davendra Prasad Yadav
India at Risk - Jaswant Singh Half a Rupee Stories - Gulzar

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2017 Mens ICC Test Championship England and Wales 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup Chile
2021 Mens ICC Test Championship India 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup India
2016 ICC Mens World Twenty20 India 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup Russia
2020 ICC Mens World Twenty20 Australia 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup Canada
2016 ICC Womens World Twenty20 India 2015 AFC Asian Cup Australia
2019 AFC Asian Cup UAE
Olympics 2015 Copa America Chile
2016 Summer Olympics & Paralympics Rio de Janeiro, 2019 Copa America Brazil
Brazil 2023 Copa America - Ecuador
2020 Summer Olympics & Paralympics Tokyo, Japan 2016 Copa America Centenarian (100 years) USA
2018 Winter Olympics & Paralympics Pyeongchang, South UEFA Euro 2016 France
Korea UEFA Euro 2020 Pan Europe
2015 Special Olympics World Summer Games Los
Angeles, USA
2014 Summer Youth Olympics Nanjing, China Hockey
2018 Summer Youth Olympics - Buenos Aires, Argentina 2018 Men's Hockey World Cup Bhubaneswar, India
2016 Winter Youth Olympics - Lillehammer, Norway 2018 Women's Hockey World Cup London, England
2016 Men's Hockey Champions Trophy Argentina
Asian_ Games 2018 Men's Hockey Champions Trophy Netherlands
2018 Asian Games Jakarta, Indonesia 2016 Women's Hockey Champions Trophy United kingdom
2017 Asian Winter Games Sapporo, Japan 2018 Women's Hockey Champions Trophy Argentina.

Commonwealth_Games
2018 Commonwealth Games Gold Cost, Queensland,
Australia
2022 Commonwealth Games Durban, South Africa (Yet to
be confirmed)