GYANM GENERAL AWARENESS ISSUE AUGUST 2015

GENERAL AWARENESS – AUGUST 2015 1
GENERAL AWARENESS
AUGUST 2015
Vol. 4, Issue 02
A PUBLICATION OF GYANM EDUCATION &
TRAINING INSTITUTE PVT. LTD.
SCO 13-14-15, 2ND FLOOR, SEC 34-A, CHANDIGARH
Contents
CURRENT AFFAIRS
APRIL TO JUNE 2015
01-36
BULLET NEWS
JAN TO MARCH 2015
37-53
SSC CORNER / QUIZ 54-60
LATEST 100 GK MCQs 61-66
SBI PRELIMS PAPER 67-77
6 MONTHS GK BYTES 78-100
FIGURES TO REMEMBER
REPO RATE (02.06.2015) 7. 25%
REVERSE REPO RATE 6.25%
MARGINAL STANDING
FACILITY RATE
8.25%
STATUTORY LIQUIDITY RATIO 21.5%
CASH RESERVE RATIO 4.00%
BANK RATE 8.25%
BASE RATE(s)
(of various banks)
9.70 to
10 %
INDIA’S RANK IN
Global Competitiveness 44th
In terms of Peace 143rd
Motherhood Index 140th
Environmental Democracy Index 24th
Human Capital Index 100th
Global Resilience Index 119th
Global E-Waste Monitor 5th
World Happiness Report 117th
Global Networked Readiness 89th
Social Progress Index 101st
Open Government Index 2015 37th
Press Freedom Index 2015 136th
Talent Competitiveness 78th
Travel and Tourism Index 65th
Corruption Perceptions Index 85th
The Web Index 2014 48th
Global Terrorism Index 2014 6th
Global Slavery Index 2014 1st
Gender Gap Index 114th
NATIONAL NEWS
JUNE 2015
INDIA BREAKS TWO GUINNESS RECORDS
Led by the Prime Minister himself, India broke two Guinness records – one for
the largest yoga assembly of 35,985 at a single venue and the other for
participation from 84 nationalities in a single event on the occasion of the
International Yoga Day at Rajpath, New Delhi.
The Department of Posts released a special stamp on yoga and the Finance
Ministry released coins of the denomination of Rs 10 and Rs 100 on the
occasion.
MODI VISITS BANGLADESH
Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached Dhaka on June 6 on a two-day visit to
Bangladesh. 22 agreements were signed between two countries during the
visit and a credit line of $2 billion was announced for the neighbouring country.
Mr Modi also received the “Bangladesh Liberation War Honour” on
behalf of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in recognition of his role
in the Bangladesh Liberation War.
The two countries agreed to start Kolkata-Dhaka-Agartala (466+152
kms) bus service and Guwahati – Dhaka (496 kms) bus services.
PRESIDENT VISITS SWEDEN
President of India visited Sweden on May
31 on his five- day visit to the country and
Belarus. This is first ever visit by an Indian
President to Sweden. Several agreements
were signed with Sweden to boost ties and
to find ways for investment in India’s
defence sector under the ambitious ‘Make
in India’ initiative.
INDIA, BELARUS SIGN SIX AGREEMENTS
During the visit of Indian President, the Belarus Goernment signed six
agreements in fields like textiles, double taxation, media etc. Besides, the
State University of Belarus conferred the Professor Honoris Causa degree on
the President. India has extended a USD 100 million line of credit to Belarus.

INDIA BEST CHOICE FOR FOREIGN INVESTMENT
As per the Baseline Profitability Index (BPI) compiled in
New York, USA, India has been ranked the best country
in terms of attracting foreign investors, in a study of 110
countries. China has secured the 65th position and the
U.S. is at the 50th place.
INDIA GOOD FOR INVESTMENTS
According to a World Bank report, India figures among
top five emerging economies for the highest investment
commitments in private sector, infrastructure sectors -
energy, transport and water. The top five countries are
Brazil, Turkey, Peru, Colombia and India.
DUTCH PRIME MINISTER VISITS INDIA
Mark Rutte, Prime
Minister of Netherland,
arrived in New Delhi on
a two-day visit to India.
The two countries
announced a joint
working group on
counter terrorism and
working closely in areas
such as extremism,
defence, maritime and
cyber security while the Dutch expressed interest in
supporting the Make in India and Clean India campaign.
MINIMAL ELDER ABUSE IN INDIA
A new global study reveals that elder abuse in India is
the lowest in Asia with an incidence of 14 per cent only
while it is the highest in China at 36 per cent. In other
countries, it varied from 2 percent in Ireland to 61
percent in Croatia.
Elder abuse includes psychological, physical and sexual
abuse, neglect and financial exploitation.
GITA MARKS ITS DEBUT IN CHINA
Bhagavad Gita, the
sacred ancient Indian
scripture, has made its
debut in China after its
Chinese version was
released during an
international yoga
conference held in
Dujiangyan in the south-
western Sichuan, China.
NATHU LA ROUTE OPENED BY CHINA
China opened the second land crossing in Tibet via
Nathu La in Sikkim, 4,000 metres above the sea level to
allow the first batch of Indian pilgrims undertaking the
arduous Kailash-Manasarovar Yatra. The route was
closed after the 1962 clash with China.
PRABHU ATTENDS G 20 MEET AT ISTANBUL
At the G-20 sherpa
meeting in Turkey, India
pressed for petroleum
pricing reforms globally
to ensure stability in the
energy sector. Railway
Minister Suresh Prabhu
represented India at the
meet.
'Sherpa' is a senior official responsible for preparing the
agenda for top leaders for a big meet.
E C SUSPENDS NATIONAL PEOPLE’s PARTY
The Election Commission has suspended the recognition
of former Lok Sabha speaker P.A. Sangma’s National
People’s Party because it failed to submit its poll
expenditure statement within the specified time frame
of 90 days since the general election last year.
IIT TO VENTURE INTO MEDICAL SCIENCE
Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur will soon
become the first engineering institute in India to
venture into medical education. The super-specialty
hospital named Dr BC Roy Institute of Medical Science &
Research is to become operational by 2017.
HEALTH AGREEMENT SIGNED WITH USA
India and USA have signed a series of agreements for
cooperation in health sector in areas like cancer
research, medical infrastructure development and
application of new diagnostic technologies etc.
TALKS HELD WITH JAPAN, AUSTRALIA
India, Australia and Japan held trilateral talks in New
Delhi to discuss a range of issues including the security
situation in the Asia Pacific as also infrastructure and
developmental projects.
INDIA SIGNS GLOBAL TAX TREATY
India has joined the Multilateral Competent Authority
Agreement (MCAA) on Automatic Exchange of Financial
Account Information by signing the pact in Paris. This
will enable India to access the data related to bank
accounts from across the world, including tax havens
that had refused to cooperate earlier.
54 countries have already joined the MCAA. India is
among the six countries that signed the pact, taking the
number to 60. The target is to reach 94 countries by 2017.
INDIA STILL LOW IN COMPETITIVENESS
India was ranked 44th in the annual global
competitiveness report by a Switzerland-based business
school, which cited problems like high corporate taxes
and a parallel economy for the low ranking. The USA
ranked number one in the study.

INDIA HOME TO 24% OF WORLD’S HUNGRY
India is home to the highest number of hungry people in
the world, at 194 million, surpassing China, according to
the United Nations annual hunger report - 'The State of
Food Insecurity in the World 2015' by FAO. India
accounts for over 24 per cent of the total 795 million
hungry people in the world.
INDIA RANKED 143RD IN TERMS OF PEACE
According to research by Australia-based Institute for
Economics and Peace (IEP), India ranked among 20
most violent places globally, standing at 143rd rank in
2014. Syria and Afghanistan were rated the least
peaceful countries in the world while Iceland held its
position as most peaceful, followed by Denmark.
INDIA RANKS HIGH IN CARBON EMISSIONS
Data released by the US based
World Resources Institute shows
that in terms of emissions of
climate - damaging greenhouse
gases, India ranks fourth in world,
accounting for roughly 7 per cent
of emissions.
The top three are China, USA and European Union.
However, in terms of per capita emissions, India ranks far
below at the 10th place.
 The three-day World Bangla Conference organized by
the Vishwa Bangla Sammelan was held in Nagpur,
Madhya Pradesh.
 India has emerged as Britain's third biggest job
creator in 2014 as it saw a 65% increase in FDI from
India, leading to 9,350 new jobs in 122 projects.
 India, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh signed a Motor
Vehicles Agreement for the regulation of passenger
and cargo vehicular traffic.
 India emerged the top donor country for Nepal by
pledging $ one billion aid for reconstruction of earth-
quake hit Nepal
 World Bank gave a $250 million loan for Jhelum and
Tawi Flood Recovery Project for reconstruction of
flood-affected infrastructure in J&K.
MAY 2015
MODI VISITS THREE NATIONS
Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a six day (May 14-
20) visit to three countries – China, Mongolia and South
Korea.
May 14 - Reached Xi'an city, home town of Chinese
President in Shaanxi province. Breaking the protocol,
President Xi Jinping received him in Xi’an city and
accompanied him on his local sightseeing. Modi visited
the famous Terracotta Warriors Museum, which has a
large collection of clay sculptures depicting the armies
of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China.
May 15- He met Chinese Premier (Prime Minister) Le
Keqiang. The two leaders launched the State and
Provincial Leaders’ Forum in Beijing. Mr Modi
announced to extend electronic tourist visas to Chinese
nationals.
India and China signed 24 agreements to strengthen
bilateral relationship in several fields including trade
and commerce, railways, education, skill development,
human resource and other areas.
May 16-17 - Arrived in Mongolian capital Ulaan Baator,
making the first ever visit by an Indian Prime Minister
to Mongolia. He met Prime Minister Chimed
Saikhanbileg and announced a $1-billion credit line to
Mongolia for infrastructure development. He received a
brown race horse named Kanthaka as gift.
President: Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj Currency: Togrog
Parliament: State Great Khural
May 18-20 - Arrived in Seoul, capital of South Korea. A
slew of agreements were signed, including one on
Double Taxation Avoidance Convention, cooperation in
shipping and logistics, audiovisual co-production,
transport, highways and electric power development in
new energy industries.
South Korea agreed to provide $ 10 billion to India for
infrastructure, development of smart cities, railways,
power generation.
President: Park Geun-hye
Parliament: National Assembly
Currency: South Korean Won

PRESIDENT VISITS RUSSIA
President Pranab Mukherjee visited Russia from May 7
to 10. He was conferred with honorary Doctorate by the
Russian Diplomatic Academy. He attended the
magnificent celebrations of the 70th Victory Day Parade.
Eight agreements in the field of science and
technology and higher education were signed during the
visit. The Institutions of higher learning in India and
Russia signed eleven Memorandum of Intent to
establish Network of Institutions of Higher Education
50 YEARS OF CONQUERING MOUNT EVEREST
Indian Mountaineering Foundation celebrated 50 years
of first climbing by Indian team, of Mt. Everest, the
world’s highest peak, on 20 May 1965. Indian team was
led by Captain Mohan Singh Kohli of Indian Navy and
team’s Sherpa, Nawang Gombu was the first person to
reach the peak.
DELHI AIRPORT RANKS FIRST IN WORLD
Indira Gandhi International Airport at New Delhi has
been adjudged the world's best airport for the year
2014, under the category of handling 25 to 40 million
passengers per annum by the Airports Council
International of Canada.
CABINET NOD FOR EXCHANGE OF ENCLAVES
The Parliament passed the Constitution (119th
Amendment) Bill 2013 to implement the land boundary
agreement (LBA) with Bangladesh. It is 100th
Amendment to the constitution and was approved by
President on May 28, opening the process for exchange
of identified territories (enclaves) between the two
countries. Enclaves are tiny landlocked territories that
each country has within the borders of the other nation.
SC BANS USE OF PHOTOS IN GOVT ADs
The Supreme Court issued guidelines to place a ban on
the use of photographs of ministers and party leaders in
the advertisements released by government institutions,
public sector undertakings, local bodies and other
autonomous bodies established under a statute to
prevent ruling politicians from misusing tax payers’
money to enhance their image or of their parties.
Further, official advertisements cannot carry the name
of any political party, political symbol, logo or flag.
The ban, however, would not cover late national leaders,
while the President, Prime Minister, Chief Justice of India
(CJI) were free to use or not to use their photographs in
such advertisements.
INDIA RANKS POOR IN ENVIRONMENT CARE
India has ranked 24th out of 70 countries in the first
Environmental Democracy Index that evaluates nations'
progress in enacting laws to promote transparency,
accountability and citizen engagement in environmental
decision making. Lithuania tops the list released by the
Washington-based World Resources Institute and
Access Initiative.
INDIA RANKS 140TH IN MOTHERHOOD INDEX
Save the Children's 'State of the World's Mothers' report
for 2015 shows that India ranks at 140th place in a study
of 179 countries to assess risk of maternal death, under-
five mortality rate, expected number of years of formal
schooling, the gross national per capita income and
participation of women in government.
Norway was ranked first, followed by Finland.
 India ranks 100th on 124 nations Human Capital
Index, which measures countries on development and
deployment of human capital. Finland topped the list.
 A commemorative coin released to mark the birth
centenary of Swami Chinmayananda to honour his
work in the field of education and social reform.
 World Bank to offer $ 250 million to Bihar govt as
part of a programme to help improve effectiveness of
elementary school teachers in the state
 India and Vietnam signed a Joint Vision Statement
on Defence Cooperation in New Delhi to promote
the mutual cooperation in maritime security.
 6th National Conference on Nuclear Energy was
held in New Delhi on 15 May 2015.
 The 10th World Hindi Conference will be held from
10 September to 12 September 2015 in Bhopal,
Madhya Pradesh.

APRIL 2015
NEPAL DEVASTATED BY EARTHQUAKE
A massive earthquake struck Nepal with a devastating
impact, killing over 5000 persons and injuring double
this number. The quake left several landmark sites, like
the Durabl square and the 203 feet high Dharahera
Towers completely flattened.
India responded quickly, under its “Operation Maitri” by
dispatching several National Disaster Response Force
(NDRF) teams, along with tonnes of relief supplies.
The earthquake was a typical Himalayan tremor caused
due to the “collision” of the Indian and the Eurasian
plates. The epicenter of the earthquake that measured
7.9 on the Richter scale lay at a depth of 30 km, at
Lamjung, around 80 km northwest of Kathmandu.
Tremors were also felt in several Indian states
especially Bihar, NCR, Punjab and Haryana.
17 AGREEMENTS SIGNED WITH FRANCE
During PM Modi’s 3-day visit to France, an agreement
was signed for the supply of 36 Rafale fighter jets in
flyaway condition as quickly as possible under a
government-to-government deal. An agreement was
also reached to promote the stalled nuclear power
project in Jaitapur in Maharashtra where French
company Areva, in collaboration with Indian company
Larsen and Toubro, is to set up six nuclear reactors with
a total power generation capacity of about 10,000 MW.
MODI INAUGURATES HANNOVER FAIR
During his three Germany visit, PM Modi jointly, with
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, inaugurated the
world’s largest industrial technology fair - Hannover
Fair in Hannover. He said India had a huge potential to
become a global manufacturing hub and invited the
whole world to partner with the fastest growing
economy in the ‘Make in India’ mission. He highlighted
the 3D strengths of India as under:
– Democracy ensuring fair and equal opportunity to
everyone
– Demography refers to the huge, young manpower in
the country
– Demand refers to the huge demand in the country for
almost anything
CANADA AGREES TO SUPPLY URANIUM
The Prime Minister during his three-day visit to Canada
inked 13 agreements on skill development with the host
country. Canada also agreed to supply 3,000 metric
tonnes of uranium to India from this year under a $254
million five-year deal. Only two other countries - Russia
and Kazakhstan supply uranium to India. PM Modi also
announced the inclusion of Canada in the list of nations
receiving a visa-on-arrival from India.
‘OPERATION RAHAT’ RESCUED 5600 PERSONS
The Indian Navy conducted ‘Operation Rahat’ for about
ten days to dramatically evacuate Indians and several
other persons from war-torn Yemen. Over 5,600
persons were evacuated, including 4,640 Indians and
about 960 foreigners from 41 countries.
People were evacuated from Aden, a port in Yemen and
brought safely to Djibouti (a nearby country) on board
ship INS Sumitra, from where the Indian Air Force and
Air India aircraft flew them to Mumbai and Kochi.
Yemen has been witnessing a fierce battle between the
Saudi-led coalition and Shiite rebels, who have battled
their way into various cities including capital town
Sana’a, the former stronghold of President Abedrabbo
Mansour Hadi, who has fled overseas.
“MODI INDIA’s REFORMER-IN-CHIEF” - OBAMA
PM Narendra Modi was featured in the Time magazine’s
list of 100 most influential people for this year with an
article by U.S. President Barack Obama, who titled it
‘India’s Reformer-in-Chief.’ “Today, he is the leader of
the world’s largest democracy, and his life story — from
poverty to PM — reflects the dynamism and potential of
India’s rise,” Mr. Obama wrote.
Dr. NASIM ZAIDI IS THE NEW CEC
The President has appointed Election Commissioner Dr.
Nasim Zaidi as the new Chief Election Commissioner of
India. He assumed charge after the present incumbent
Hari Shankar Brahma demitted office upon his
retirement. Zaidi will have tenure up to July, 2017 when
he attains the age of 65.
The CEC has tenure of six years, or up to the age of 65
years, whichever is earlier. He is appointed by the
President, on the recommendations of the Union
Government. He enjoys the same official status, salary and
perks as available to the Judges of the Supreme Court and
the High Courts.

FIRST PRIVATE BILL PASSED IN RAJYA SABHA
The Rajya Sabha has unanimously passed the Rights of
Transgender Persons Bill, 2014, which seeks to protect
the rights of the transgender community, making it the
first Private Member’s Bill to be cleared by the House in
46 years (the last private members bill was passed in
the year 1968). The bill now will be moved in the Lok
Sabha. The Bill envisages a comprehensive national
policy to ensure the development and welfare of the
transgender community.
Ms. SWARAJ VISITS INDONESIA
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj paid a 5-day
visit to Indonesia to attend the 60th commemoration of
the 1955 Asian-African Conference and to attend the
10th anniversary celebrations of the New Asian-African
Strategic Partnership.
INDIA ELECTED TO FOUR UN AGENCIES
India has been elected to four key subsidiary bodies of
the United Nations' Economic and Social Council
including the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).
The other three bodies are - Executive Board of the
World Food Programme, Commission on Crime
Prevention and Criminal Justice and Governing Council
of the UN Human Settlements Programme.
FREE TREATMENT FOR ACID VICTIMS
The Supreme Court has asked all private hospitals in
India to provide full free treatment to acid attack
victims, including medicines and expensive
reconstruction surgeries.
The order came on a public interest litigation petition
filed by Laxmi, an acid attack victim, following a nine year
fight for the rights of acid attack victims.
LAW COMMISSION REPORT ON LEPROSY
The 20th Law Commission headed by Justice (retd.) Ajit
Prakash Shah has submitted its report titled
‘Eliminating Discrimination against Persons Affected by
Leprosy’ to the Union Ministry of Law and Justice. It
recommended the repealing of The Lepers Act, 1898
and removal of the word ‘leper’ from various statutes as
it was considered ‘derogatory.’
INDIA LOW IN BUSINESS RESILIENCE
India has been ranked 119th out of 130 countries on
the 2015 FM Global Resilience Index which measures
business resilience based on economic, risk quality and
supply chain factors. Norway tops the index for being
the best suited for companies seeking to avoid
disruptions in their global supply chain.
INDIA 5TH IN PRODUCING E-WASTE
The ‘Global E-Waste Monitor 2014 report by the United
Nations University says that India is the fifth biggest
producer of e-waste in the world, discarding around 1.7
million tonnes of electronic equipment in 2014. The list
is topped by USA, followed by China, Japan, Germany.
INDIA RANKS BELOW PAK IN ‘HAPPINESS’
As per the 2015 World Happiness Report published by
the Sustainable Development Solutions Network of UNO,
India comes at the 117th spot out of 158 countries,
faring below even Pakistan (81) and Bangladesh (109).
The index takes into account per capita GDP, life
expectancy, social support and freedom to make life
choices as indicators of happiness. Switzerland claimed
the first rank, followed by Iceland, Denmark & Norway.
INDIA RANKS 89TH IN USAGE OF ICT
India has slipped six places to rank 89th in Global
Networked Readiness Index compiled by the World
Economic Forum, showing a "widespread" weakness in
its potential to leverage information and
communications technologies (ICT) for social and
economic gains.
INDIA BELOW NEPAL IN ‘SOCIAL PROGRESS’
Out of the 133 countries rated in the Social Progress
Index on indicators of well-being such as health, water
and sanitation, personal safety, personal freedom and
choice, India ranks at the 101st place. Even Nepal and
Bangladesh rank higher than India. Norway has bagged
the first rank on the index.

‘GREENPEACE’ FACES HEAT FROM THE GOVT
The government has frozen the bank accounts of the
international environment campaign group- Greenpeace
India for six months by invoking the Foreign
Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), accusing it of
encouraging “anti-development” protests in the country.
The Home Ministry said it was “a threat to national
economic security”.
It is suspected that foreign-funded NGOs were blocking
the expansion of nuclear power and the introduction of
genetically modified products.
 India Post released special commemorative stamps to
mark 50 years of Indo-French co-operation in space
research at a function held in Puducherry.
 Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, Afghanistan President
arrived in New Delhi on April 27 on a 3 day visit.
 The 5th meeting of the Health Ministers of SAARC
countries held in New Delhi in April 8.
NEWS FROM STATES
JUNE 2015
KERALA STARTS PUBLIC DIGITAL LOCKERS
Kerala Government launched the Digital locker system
‘Akshay’, under which the public can store important
records and certificates such as birth and marriage
certificates, pan card, school/ college transfer certificate,
passport etc. in the digital format. The records can be
downloaded as and when required.
RAJASTHAN TOPS IN SOLAR POWER
Data released by the Union Ministry of New and
Renewable Energy shows that Rajasthan, with an
installed capacity of 1147 megawatt for solar power,
topped the list of states commissioning grid connected
solar power projects in the country, followed by Gujarat
(1,000 mw).
HEMIS FESTIVAL HELD AT LADAKH
A two-day long annual Hemis festival dedicated to Guru
Padmasambha was held in Ladakh region of Jammu and
Kashmir the largest monastery of Ladakh - Hemis
monastery.
3 MORE DISTRICTS COME UNDER NCR
The Government has decided to include Muzaffarnagar
district of Uttar Pradesh and the Jind and Karnal
districts of Haryana as part of the urban conglomerate
of National Capital Region (NCR).
LIPULEKH PASS OPENED FOR BUSINESS
The 17,500-feet high Lipulekh Pass in Pithoragarh
district of Uttarakhand was opened for this year's India-
China trade and Kailash Mansarovar Yatra. The route
will remain open till October 31.
 Jaipur Metro, touted as one of the fastest built metro
systems in the country, has been thrown open to
public.
 India’s first of its kind Tier-I Oil Spill Response
Centre for Mumbai Port Trust, Jawaharlal Nehru
Port Trust and ONGC near Mumbai was inaugurated.
 Steffi Graf, Tennis legend from Germany, has been
appointed the brand ambassador for Ayurveda by
Kerala.
MAY 2015
BLUE WHALE FOUND NEAR MAHARASHTRA
A group of researchers has spotted for the first time,
two Blue Whales (mother-calf pair) and four Bryde’s
whales near Kunkeshwar off the Sindhudurg coast in
Maharashtra. This is for the first time after 100 years
that the Blue Whales were sighted off the coast of
Maharashtra.
 Punjab becomes first state to issue Soil Health Cards
to all its farmers. The cards will show the details of
the soil composition for every farm.
 In Gujarat, the number of Asiatic lions in Gir
sanctuary and its surrounding areas has gone up to
523, registering 27 percent increase since 2010.
 World’s largest solar power plant is to be set up at
Gurh tehsil in Rewa district of Madhya Pradesh
to produce 750 megawatt (MW) of electricity.
 Govt of Tripura withdrew on May 27 the Armed
Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), 1958 from the
remaining areas of the state with immediate effect.
 Among Indian states, Maharashtra attracts largest
number of foreign tourists followed by Tamil Nadu.

APRIL 2015
‘SUBODHAM’ PROJECT LAUNCHED IN KERALA
The Kerala government, supported by UNICEF, has
launched a major campaign Subodham, to wean people
away from liquor addiction. The project aims to free
one lakh persons each year from alcohol addiction,
through comprehensive, systematic awareness
campaigns.
GIFT CITY LAUNCHED IN GUJARAT
The Gujarat International Finance Tec-City, GIFT
City was inaugurated near Gandhinagar, Gujarat. It is
intended to be a global financial hub. The domestic
banks will be allowed to open, for the first time in India,
International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) as
offshore banking units. They will be exempted from the
SLR and CRR requirements and but will not be allowed
to handle cash transactions.
THANE WINS RENEWABLE ENERGY AWARD
An 11-member international jury has declared Thane, a
city in Maharashtra as the India’s National Earth Hour
Capital as it won the Earth Hour City Challenge held in
Seoul, South Korea.
Seoul was declared the Global Earth Hour Capital 2015.
The year-long competition among cities is aimed at
promoting renewable energy and preparations for
climate change.
20 WOOD SMUGGLERS SHOT DEAD IN ANDHRA
At least 20 labourers hired by suspected red sanders
wood smugglers were shot dead on in a violent
encounter with the task force of the Andhra
Pradesh police in the Seshachalam forests on the
outskirts of the temple town Tirupati, district Chitoor.
 The Andhra Pradesh government has decided to
name its new capital as Amravati, considering its
historic, mythological and spiritual significance.
 Punjab has launched ‘Padho Punjab-Khedo Punjab
Mission’ to provide school students a separate period
40-50 minute period exclusively for playing games.
 The Kudermukh National Park, Karnataka and Rajaji
National Park, Uttarkhand declared ‘tiger reserves’
by the National Tiger Conservation Authority.
 Assam to erect bio-fences with thickets of thorny
bamboos to replace the electric fences, to ward off
straying elephants.
GOVERNMENT
INITIATIVES
JUNE 2015
3 SCHEMES LAUNCHED FOR URBAN INDIA
Prime Minister launched three schemes to rejuvenate
the urban infrastructure in India.
Smart Cities Mission for applying smart solutions to
improve infrastructure and service delivery in the cities.
The Rs 48,000 crore mission aims to develop the overall
quality of life for citizens in 100 selected cities and make
them role models for others to follow.
Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban
Transformation-AMRUT: A Rs 50,000 crore project
for infrastructure development of 500 cities with
population of over one lakh, covering basic
infrastructure like sanitation, drinking water, solid and
waste management and transport.
Housing For All: To ensure decent houses for all the
needy, particularly the economically weaker sections
and low income group in all the 4041 notified towns
across the country. The scheme aims to construct 2
crores house for urban poor with central assistance of
Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2.3 lakh to promote slum-free cities.
NAND-GHAR YOJANA LAUNCHED
The government launched the first modernised
Anganwadi centre of India at Hasanpur village of
Sonepat in Haryana.. The centre has been set up as part
of Nand-Ghar Yojana of Union Government which aims
to transform the anganwadi centres.
JAL KRANTI ABHIYAN LAUNCHED
Ministry for water resources launched a Jal Kranti
Abhiyan from Jaipur on June 6 aimed at turning at least
one water stressed village in each district of the country
into a water surplus village.

HEALTH PHONE PROGRAMME LAUNCHED
Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP) in collaboration
with Ministry of Women and Child Development
launched the IAP Health Phone programme, the
world's largest digital mass education programme to
address malnutrition in women and children.
WEBSITE LAUNCHED FOR ‘MISSING CHILDREN’
The Women and Child Development Ministry has
launched a new website - www.khoyapaya.gov.in to
serve as a platform for people to not only report a
missing child but also track the efforts towards his or
her recovery. The website will answer all queries as to
what action is to be taken when a child goes missing.
APP LAUNCHED TO CLEAN GANGA
The Centre has started a mobile application, Bhuvan
Ganga, where the public can upload pictures of pollution
sources of the Ganga River for further action by the
authorities concerned. The app will be supported by
the National Remote Sensing Centre and ISRO.
EPFO MAKES ‘UAN’ MANDATORY
Employees Provident Funds Organisation - EPFO has
decided to make Universal Account Number (UAN)
mandatory for all employers covered under the EPF and
Miscellaneous Provisions Act 1952.
BILL TO REPLACE BIS ACT 1986
The government approved a new bill to replace the
existing Bureau of Indian Standards, BIS Act 1986 to
ensure supply of quality products and services to the
consumers. Currently, only products and systems come
under the ambit of standards and the bill proposes to
include services under the standardisation regime.
FREE WI-FI HOT SPOT AT TAJ MAHAL
Visitors to Taj Mahal will soon be able to access internet
through wi-fi hotspots with launched by the BSNL from
June 16. The service will be free of cost for 30 minutes
in 24 hours and shall be charged subsequently. BSNL
plans to set up 40,000 such Wi-Fi hotspots across the
country in three years at a cost of Rs. 6,000 crore.
INSURANCE POOL FOR NUCLEAR RISKS
The Union government has launched an insurance pool
of Rs. 1,500 crore, mandatory under the Civil Liability
for Nuclear Damage Act to offset the financial burden on
foreign nuclear suppliers in case of an accident. Under
the pool, nuclear operators’ liability and suppliers’
special contingency insurance policies will be offered.
WORKDAYS UNDER NREGA INCREASED TO 150
Govt. has decided to increase the number of workdays
under NREGA scheme from 100 days to 150 days, only
in drought affected areas. The scheme will be
applicable only to those households which complete 100
days of work.
SMS WEATHER ALERTS FOR FARMERS
The government has launched a web portal and weather
alert system for the benefit of farmers called Crop
Insurance Portal www.farmer.gov.in/insurance, which
will give information on adverse weather condition to
farmers through SMS. So far, one crore farmers have
registered with the portal for receiving SMS alerts.
APP LAUNCHED FOR BLOOD BANK LOCATION
Government has launched a mobile application for easy
access of information regarding the nearest blood bank
in the country. Prepared by the National Blood
Transfusion Council, it covers all the 2760 licensed
blood banks of the country.
RAILWAY TIES UP WITH AIRLINES
Railways have entered in to a tie-up with Spice Jet and
Go Air airlines to enable the train travellers whose ticket
is wait-listed to cancel the train ticket and instead get on
to a flight of either airline by paying some extra fare.
NEW INCOME TAX RETURN FORMS
Union Finance Ministry has introduced two new forms
for filing income tax returns (ITR) for the year 2014-15 -
ITR-2 and ITR-2A. Form ITR-2 is for individuals and
Hindu Undivided Families (HUF) having income from
more than one house property and capital gains. Form
ITR-2A is for individuals who have income from more
than one residence.
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 Individuals having income only from salary /
interest will fill Form ITR-1 (Sahaj) and those
having income from business will fill Form ITR-4S.
 The Govt has decided to rename Solar Energy
Corporation of India (SECI) as the Renewable
Energy Corporation of India (RECI).
 The Government has withdrawn the customs import
duties for drugs and test kits used to treat HIV and
AIDS infections.
 The Railway Ministry has decided to run Suvidha
trains from next month with dynamic fares to
address the rush during the peak travel season.
 The second border haat (rural market) opened at
Kamalasagar in Sipahijala district of Tripura
bordering Brahmanbaria district of Bangladesh.
 Indian Renewable Energy and Development
Agency has been awarded the Mini Ratna-I status
by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.
 Indian Railways has named Haridwar Mail running
between Ahmedabad-Haridwar as Yoga Express to
commemorate the International Yoga Day.
 The Railways has commenced the SMS alerts to
inform the passengers about the cancelled trains to
enable them to make alternative arrangements.
MAY 2015
‘KISSAN CHANNEL’ LAUNCHED FOR FARMERS
A farmer-centric 24 hour TV channel by Doordarshan
named DD Kissan was formally launched on May 26. The
channel programmes would focus on promoting
development of agriculture sector and rural India. It
will be mandatory for every cable and DTH operator to
relay this channel.
THREE SOCIAL SECURITY SCHEMES LAUNCHED
Prime Minister launched three social security schemes
at Kolkata on May 9. Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima
Yojana for accidental insurance cover of Rs two lakh for
a premium of Rs.12. Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima
Yojana for life insurance cover of Rs two lakh for a
premium of Rs. 330. Atal Pension Yojana to address old
age income security needs.
ANTI BLACK MONEY BILL PASSED
Seeking to unearth unaccounted funds
and assets stashed by Indians abroad,
Parliament on May 13th passed the
historic “Undisclosed Foreign Income and
Assets (Imposition of New
Tax) Bill, 2015”. For the first time,
unlawful, undisclosed income abroad has been taxed
under this law at a tax rate of 30 per cent with an
additional 30 percent penalty. Further, it provides for
120 % tax and penalty in addition to 10-year jail term.
LOK SABHA CLEARS GST BILL
The Goods and Services Tax Bill was passed by the Lok
Sabha on May 6, clearing its way to Rajya Sabha. The
GST is proposed to be implemented from 1st of April
next year. It seeks to create a new indirect tax regime
which will replace various central and state levies like
sales tax, excise and services tax except taxes on the
supply of alcohol for human consumption and
petroleum products.
WHAT GST IS ALL ABOUT
The government is set to introduce a bill in parliament to
amend the constitution to pave the way for the introduction
of the goods and services tax (GST), a levy that was to have
been in place five years ago. ET takes a look at what this
much-anticipated indirect tax reform is all about and why
you should
WHAT IS GST?
It is a tax levied when a consumer buys goods or services.
This is how what consumption is taxed in most developed
countries.
1) CUTTING THROUGH THE COMPLEXITY:
The goods we buy include a number of taxes. GST will
replace these taxes with a single levy. The taxes that will go
are:
CENTRAL TAXES
1) Central Excise Duty
2) Additional Excise Duties
3) Excise duty levied under the Medicinal and Tollet
Preparations (Excise Duties) Act. 1955
4) Service tax
5) Additional customs duty. Commonly known as
countervalling duty
6) Special additional duty of customs
7) Central surcharges and cesses that relate to the supply of
goods & services
STATE TAXES
1) Value added tax/sales tax
2) Taxes on lotteries, betting and gambling
3) Entertainment tax, excluding such taxes levied by local
bodies
4) Central sales tax, Octroi and entry tax, Purchase tax,
Luxury tax
5) State cesses and surcharges that relate to goods and
services

OTHER REQUIREMENTS
A constitutional amendment is needed to allow states and
the Centre to concurrently have powers to tax goods and
services and also make relevant laws. At present States
cannot tax services while the Centre cannot impose levies
similar to sales tax
ARTICLE 246A
The bill will introduce a new article that says Parliament,
and subject to some conditions, the legislature of every
state will have power to make laws with respect to goods
and services tax imposed by the Union or the state
2) WHO WILL ADMINISTER THE LEVY?
The bill provides for a GST Council, a joint body of the
states and the Centre for monitoring the implementation of
GST.
GST COUNCIL
Chairperson: Union Finance Minister
Other Member from Centre: Minister of State for Finance
Vice-Chairperson: One of the state finance ministers
Members: State finance ministers
VOTING STRENGTH IN COUNCIL
Centre: 1/3 vote in council
States: 2-3 weight in council
Decision to be taken by 75% vote support
3) SOME CONCERNS OF STATES
COMPENSATION TO MANUFACTURING STATES
1) GST will be levied on buyers of goods and services or
where the service is consumed
2) This means big consumer states such as Uttar Pradesh,
West Bengal and Kerala will get a high share of taxes
3) Manufacturing states such as Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra
and Gujarat fear they will lose revenues
4) The bill provides for 1 percentages point extra tax on
goods for at least two years
5) This extra revenue will go the state from which the goods
originated, or where it was manufactured
COMPENSATION FOR LOSS OR REVENUE
There are fears that states may lose some revenue because
of the introduction of GST. However, the bill allows for
compensation for revenue loss to states for a period of 5
years.
Source: Economic Times: 5th
May 2015
SOCIAL SECURITY FOR MNREGA WORKERS
The Centre has asked all the states to enroll all MNREGA
workers under the three newly-launched social security
schemes and open bank accounts for each worker under
the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana. The three schemes
include Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana,
Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana and Atal Pension
Yojana.
CABINET APPROVES SMART CITIES MISSION
Union Cabinet on April 29 approved the Smart Cities
Mission for development of 100 smart cities with an
outlay of Rs. 48,000 crore. It also approved the Atal
Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation
(AMRUT) for 500 cities with outlay of Rs. 50,000 crore
to replace the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban
Renewal Mission (JNNURM).
GOLD MONETISATION SCHEME LAUNCHED
The government on May 19 unveiled the draft of the
Gold Monetisation Scheme aimed at getting gold-
hoarding Indians to deposit their holdings with banks in
return for an interest payment. The finance ministry
has sought the comments from the public on the scheme
by June 2. A minimum 30 grams of gold could be
deposited and Banks will decide the rate of interest.
Minimum deposit period is one year, after which the
customer may ask for gold or cash.
GOVT TO START HIGHWAY RADIO
In a move to keep highway commuters updated about
road blocks, crashes, bad road condition and even
weather forecast, government plans to start Highway
Advisory Radio (HAR) system like a radio channel.
Besides broadcasting music/ songs, it will also provide
uninterrupted real-time information on traffic
condition, local points of interest, suggest alternate
routes etc.
USTAAD SCHEME FOR BANARAS WEAVERS
Union Government formally launched USTAAD
(Upgrading the Skills and Training in Ancestral
Arts/Crafts for Development) Scheme in Varanasi, Uttar
Pradesh in order to improve degrading conditions of
world famous Banarasi Saree weavers and other
artisans of the state.

20,000 CR FOR ‘NAMAMI GANGE’ PROGRAMME
The Union Cabinet approved a massive Rs 20,000 crore
budget for the ‘Namami Gange Programme’ for the next
five years. The amount is a five-fold increase over the
money spent in the last three decades towards the
conservation of the river. The government plans to
involve people living on the banks of the river to attain
sustainable results.
LOK SABHA PASSES JUVENILE JUSTICE BILL
After elaborate discus-
sions on the merits of
trying juveniles as adults
in case of grave offences
such as the 2012 Delhi
gang rape, the Lok Sabha
passed on May 7 the
controversial Juvenile
Justice (Care and
Protection of Children)
Bill, 2014 which allows
16 to 18 year old child
offenders in heinous
crimes to be tried like adults.
The law defines heinous offences as IPC offences with
minimum punishment of seven years. These include rape,
murder, dacoity, kidnapping, and even attempted murder.
LOK SABHA PASSES N I ACT AMENDMENT
The Lok Sabha passed the Negotiable Instruments
(Amendment) Bill, 2015, on May 13. The amendment
aims at easing the process of lodging court cases for
cheque-bouncing. Now all such cases can only be filed at
the place where the account of beneficiary is there i.e.
place where the cheque was deposited for clearance.
CHILDREN BELOW 14 ALLOWED TO WORK
The government has approved a proposal for allowing
children below 14 years of age to work only in family
enterprises or entertainment industry with certain
conditions, while completely banning their employment
elsewhere. It also says that children up to 18 years of
age will not be allowed to work in the hazardous
industries.
FIPB POWERS RAISED TO 3,000 CRORE
With an aim to expedite FDI clearance process, the govt
has enhanced FIPB's powers to recommend foreign
investment proposals of up to Rs. 3,000 crore, against Rs
1,200-crore limit at present. The FIPB recommended
proposals are cleared by the Finance Minister and any
investment beyond the new ceiling of Rs. 3,000 crore will
go to Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA)
headed by the Prime Minister.
FIPB: Foreign Investment Promotion Board
CHANGES TO COMPANIES ACT NOTIFIED
New amendments to the Companies Act have done away
with the norms of minimum capital requirement of Rs 1
lakh for private limited company and Rs 5 lakh in case of
a public sector unit. Besides, the concept of company
seal has also been done away with.
PAN CARD MUST FOR EXCISE REGISTRATION
Ministry of Finance has made quoting the Permanent
Account Number (PAN) mandatory for private firms
seeking central excise registration to facilitate efficient
online collection of excise duty. Applicant shall also
quote his or her e-mail address and mobile number in
the application form for quick and online
communication with the department.
 Govt launched “Kayakalp” scheme for awarding
public health facilities to encourage improvement in
keeping the facilities clean and hygienic.
 “Credit Enhancement Guarantee Scheme for SC”
launched to finance to the SC entrepre-neurs. The
scheme will be implemented by the IFCI Ltd.
 Doordarshan News has launched an app to enable
live streaming of DD news channel by lakhs of smart
phone users in the country.
 Govt approves continuation of minimum monthly
pension at not less than Rs 1000 for pensioners under
the Employees' Pension Scheme
 Amendments to the Prevention of Corruption Act,
1988 approved for enhancing the penalty under it to
a maximum of 7 years imprisonment from 5 years.
 A 10-member panel formed under Vijay Kelkar to
revisit and revitalise public private partnership mode
of infrastructure development.
APRIL 2015
P M LAUNCHES AIR QUALITY INDEX
In a concerted effort to tackle the menace of air
pollution, PM Modi has launched India's first Air Quality
Index. The index will provide information on the quality
of air / air pollution in 10 major cities in the country on
a daily basis.
Delhi's air pollution has been in focus in recent months, as
the city has surpassed Beijing as the most polluted city in
the world.

CABINET AMENDS JUVENILE JUSTICE ACT
The Union Cabinet has cleared a proposal to try
juveniles, who are 16 to 18 years and are accused of
heinous crimes, under the laws meant for adults. The
Juvenile Justice Board will have the power to assess
whether the perpetrator of a heinous crime aged
between 16 and 18 should be tried under the regular
laws or not.
‘E-SAMIKSHA’ LAUNCHED BY RAILWAYS
The Railways has launched a new web portal ‘E-
Samiksha’ to focus on Budget Review, Board Meetings,
Zonal Railway Review, Infrastructure Targets and
Project Implementation Review.
RSBY SHIFTED TO HEALTH MINISTRY
The Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) of the
Labour and Employment Ministry will now be
implemented by the Ministry of Health and Family
Welfare. The scheme provides IT-enabled and smart
card-based cashless health insurance, including
maternity benefit cover up to Rs. 30,000 per annum on a
family floater basis to the BPL families.
LAND RECORDS TO HAVE FIELD FOR ‘GENDER’
The government has asked the states to introduce a
"gender" field for land owners in their property records.
The move has been undertaken as part of the central
government's National Land Records Modernisation
Programme. Once the share of women in land
ownership is ascertained, the data will be used to direct
policy initiatives in this area.
NJAC ACT NOTIFIED
The Government has the notified the National Judicial
Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act, also known as
constitution (99th Amendment) Act, 2014, which will
replace the 23-year-old collegiums system for
appointment of judges to the Supreme Court and the
High Courts.
Under the Act, the SC and HCs will have judges appointed
by a six-member panel headed by the Chief Justice of India
and comprising two senior most SC judges, the Union Law
Minister and two eminent persons.
NEW ‘e-TOURIST VISA’ SCHEME LAUNCHED
The Ministry of Home Affairs has decided to change the
name of the scheme 'Tourist Visa on Arrival-Electronic
Travel Authorization' to 'e-Tourist Visa' (eTV). The
scheme will be extended to more countries and airports
in a phased manner.
GOVT TO PROMOTE ECO FRIENDLY VEHICLES
Union Government has launched Faster Adoption and
Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric vehicles (FAME) –
India Scheme. The scheme was launched as part of the
National Mission for Electric Mobility to boost eco-
friendly vehicle sales in the country.
RESTRICTIONS ON GIFTS TO IAS/IPS OFFICERS
According to the recently amended all India Services
Rules, the IAS and IPS officers now will have to take
prior permission from the Central Government before
accepting gifts worth more than Rs 5,000. They also
need to inform the government, if they accept gifts of
over Rs. 25,000 from their relatives or friends on
customary occasions like weddings, anniversaries,
birthdays etc.
APP LAUNCHED FOR RAIL TICKETS BOOKING
The Railway launched the ‘UTS on mobile’ (unreserved
ticket system) app to relieve suburban train passengers
from the serpentine queues for getting tickets. The new
service allows the travellers to produce e-tickets or
carry the ticket image on their mobile phones for
suburban train services.
P & S BILL PASSED BY THE PARLIAMENT
The payments and settlements systems amendment bill
2014 was passed by the Parliament on April 27. The bill
aims to address the problem of insolvency in the
payment and settlement system by increasing
transparency and stability.
TRANSPORT ALLOWANCE EXEMPTION RAISED
With effect from April 1, 2015, the transport allowance
exemption for employees has been raised to Rs 1600
per month from Rs 800 for the purpose of Income tax.
The exemption limit for the blind and orthopedically
handicapped employees has been raised to Rs 3200 per
month from the earlier Rs 1600.
 The Govt. has set up a task force chaired by B N
Navalawala to examine relevant issues to expedite
the work on the interlinking of rivers in the country.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS
JUNE 2015
GDP GROWS BY 7.3% IN 2014-15
According to the data released by the Central Statistics
Office (CSO), the Indian economy grew at 7.3 per cent in
2014-15 (base year 2011-12) due to improvement in
the performance of both services as well as
manufacturing sectors. It was 6.9 per cent in 2013-14.
The fourth quarter (January-March) of last fiscal saw the
economy grow at 7.5 per cent.
INDIA MAY GROW BY 8 %: NOMURA
Global brokerage firm Nomura said in a research note
that lower inflation, easier financial conditions, policy
efforts and rising profit margins are expected to back up
a cyclical recovery in Indian economy that may grow by
8 per cent this fiscal.
INDIA TO TOP IN GROWTH – WORLD BANK
The latest Global Economic Prospects report from the
World Bank says that India is expected to top the
growth chart in world, growing by 7.5 per cent this year,
surpassing China which is projected to grow at 7.1 per
cent this year.
OECD PUTS INDIA’s GROWTH AT 7.3%
Paris-based think tank Organisation for Economic
Cooperation and Development (OECD) has said that
India’s economic growth is projected to remain “strong
and stable” at 7.3% in 2015 on the back of revival in
investments even as more reforms are needed to reduce
uncertainties over taxation norms.
RBI LOWERS GDP GROWTH TO 7.6%
The Reserve Bank has lowered the economic growth
forecast for the year 2015-16 to 7.6 per cent from 7.8
per cent projected in April, citing various risks,
including poor monsoon and rising crude oil prices.
Both lower than average monsoon and higher food
inflation would lead to reduction in demand and hamper
growth.
TRADE DEFICIT SHRINKS TO $10.4 BILLION
India's exports dipped by 20.19 per cent in May to USD
22.34 billion mainly due to global slowdown and dip in
crude oil prices that impacted overseas shipments of
petroleum products. Imports, too, declined by 16.52 per
cent for the month to $32.75 billion. Trade deficit
narrowed to a three month low of $10.4 billion.
IIP GROWTH JUMPS BY 4.1 %
Growth in the country's industrial output, as measured
by the Index of Industrial Production, rose to a two-
month high of 4.1 per cent in April this year, mainly
lifted by the manufacturing sector.
 Shrinking for the second straight month, output of
eight core sector industries shrank 0.4 % in April this
year, due to poor performance by most sectors.
 India's foreign exchange reserves crossed $355 billion
for the first time, growing by $1.171 billion in the
week to June 19 to reach a level of $355.46 billion.
MAY 2015
UN REPORT PUTS INDIA’s GROWTH AT 8.1%
Indian economy is likely to clock 8.1 per cent growth in
the current financial year, spurred by strong consumer
spending amid low inflation, infrastructure projects and
government's reform measures, says a UN report.
INDIA TO GROW BY 7.5 % - MOODY’s
Global rating agency Moody's says that India will grow
at a strong pace of 7.5 per cent in 2015-16, the highest
among G20 economies, helped by the reforms drive and
lower oil prices.
AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION DOWN BY 5.25%
As per the third advance estimates released for 2014-
15, India’s foodgrain production is estimated to decline
by 5.25 per cent to 251.12 million tones. Production of
most of the Kharif crops fell because of the poor
monsoon last year and Rabi crops due to the recent
unseasonal rain and hailstorms. The country had
registered a record foodgrain production of 265.04
million tonnes in 2013-14 crop year.

APRIL 2015
M STANLEY PUTS INDIA’s GROWTH AT 7.9%
Multinational financial services corporation Morgan
Stanley says that India's economy will grow at 7.9 per
cent this fiscal and 8.4 per cent in financial year 2016-17
due to government's determined efforts to implement
policy actions, reviving productive investment and
cutting back less effective policies.
INDIA’s GDP SET TO GROW BY 7.5% - IMF
The International Monetary Fund, in its latest World
Economic Outlook says that India will overtake China as
the fastest growing emerging economy in 2015-16 by
clocking a growth rate of 7.5 per cent on the back of
recent policy initiatives, pick-up in investments and
lower oil prices.
MOODY’s UPGRADES INDIA’s RATING
Rating agency Moody's has raised the rating outlook for
India from stable to positive, saying that there is a
higher probability that the policy initiatives will
enhance the country's economic strength and, in turn,
the sovereign's financial strength in future.
ECONOMY & INDUSTRY
JUNE 2015
MSP FOR PADDY AND PULSES HIKED
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has
increased the minimum support price (MSP) of paddy
by Rs 50 to Rs 1,410 per quintal for this year, as per the
recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural
Costs and Prices (CACP).
Commodity
(Rs. per
quintal)
Commodity (Rs./quintal)
Paddy 1410 Ragi 1650
Paddy 1450 Tuar / Urad 4625
Jowar 1570 Moong 4850
Bajra 1275 Groundnut 4030
Maize 1325 Sunflower Seed 3800
Cotton Med. 3800 Cotton long 4100
TARGET FOR SOLAR ENERGY UP BY 5 TIMES
The Cabinet has approved stepping up of India’s solar
power capacity target under the Jawaharlal Nehru
National Solar Mission by five times, reaching 1,00,000
Mega Watt by 2022. The target will principally comprise
of 40,000 mega watt Rooftop and 60,000 mega watt
through Large and Medium Scale Grid Connected Solar
Power Projects.
TWO COMMITTEES FOR GST IMPLEMENTATION
Finance Ministry has set up two committees for
facilitating the implementation of Goods and Services
Tax from 1st of April next year. The first committee will
suggest tax rates and look into IT preparedness for the
new indirect tax regime. The second committee would
monitor the progress of IT preparedness of
GSTN/CBEC/Tax authorities.
LITTLE INDIAN MONEY IN SWISS BANKS
As per the latest data released by Switzerland's central
banking authority SNB (Swiss National Bank), Indians'
money in Swiss banks declined by over 10 per cent to
about 1.8 billion Swiss francs (USD 1.98 billion or Rs
12,615 crore) in 2014. India has moved down to the
61st place in terms of foreigners' money in Swiss banks,
having a share of just 0.123 per cent.
MEP HIKED FOR ONIONS
The government has hiked the Minimum Export Price
(MEP) of onion by 175 dollar per tonne to 425 dollar
per tonne to discourage exports and ensure adequate
supply in the domestic market and contain price rise of
the commodity
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LISTING NORMS RELAXED FOR STARTUPS
The Securities & Exchange Board of India has
announced relaxed listing norms and liberalized several
other terms to encourage the booming start-up industry
to tap the local market so that local investors can also
access to the dramatic growth opportunities offered by
such firms.
IPO NORMS REVISED BY SEBI
Investment in all IPOs (Initial Public Offering) opening
on or after 1 January 2016, has been made cheque-free
by SEBI by making ASBA (Application Supported by
Blocked Amount) mandatory for investors. Further, in a
bid to reduce the time period between the closure of an
IPO to its listing, the time allowed has been reduced
from the current 12 days to 6 days.
In the ASBA facility, the required amount is blocked in the
investor’s bank account and is debited only when the
shares are allotted to the investor. This helps in doing
away with the entire refund process that normally takes a
couple of days.
MUMBAI MOST EXPENSIVE IN INDIA
Luanda, capital of Angola has been rated as the world’s
costliest city to live in, as per Global HR firm Mercer’s
"Cost of Living Survey 2015". Mumbai was rated as the
most expensive city in India.
INDIA HAS GOOD NUMBER OF SUPER RICH
India is home to the fourth largest number (928) of
ultra-high-net-worth households that have more than
100 million dollars in private wealth, according to the
Boston Consulting Group's 'Global Wealth 2015 report.
USA stands at number one (5201), followed by China
(1037) and UK (1019).
VEDANTA TAKES OVER CAIRN INDIA
India’s largest private miner Vedanta, headed by
billionaire Anil Agarwal, decided to absorb oil firm Cairn
India in a $2.3-billion all-share deal to create India’s
largest diversified natural resources company.
IMPORT PRICE HIKED FOR ARECA NUTS
The government has decided to increase the Minimum
Import Price, MIP on import of Areca nuts from existing
Rs 110 per kilogram to Rs 162 with immediate effect in
order to protect local growers from the cheaper
imports.
PROJECT LAUNCHED FOR WATERWAYS
The 'Jal Marg Vikas' (National Waterway-1) project on
River Ganges, which envisages developing a 1620 kms
water way between Allahabad and Haldia stretch, has
taken off with a $3.5 million funding from World Bank.
 Bangladesh has granted permission to Life
Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India to do business
in the country
 India has agreed to be a partner country in Russia’s
major Industrial Fair named INNOPROM-2016 to be
held at Yekaterinburg, Russia in July 2016
 World Bank granted a $400-million loan for the
Tamil Nadu Sustainable Urban Development Project
to improve services in urban local bodies.
MAY 2015
NORTH EAST GETS ITS FIRST MEGA FOOD PARK
The first mega food park of the North East was
inaugurated on May 28 at Nathkuchi in Nalbari distt. of
Assam. The park has 27 food processing units spread
over 50 acre of land. The park will prevent wastage of
local farm produce and find ready customers.
NGT IMPOSES ‘SEWAGE CESS’ IN DELHI
The National Green Tribunal has directed every
household in Delhi that is generating sewage, to pay a
monthly charge proportionate to their property tax or
water bill and, in the case of unauthorized colonies, a
minimum of Rs.100 per family, on the polluters pay
principle. The collected funds shall be utilized for
cleaning of drains and Yamuna River.
MoU SIGNED WITH IRAN FOR CHABAHAR PORT
India and Iran have signed a Memorandum of
Understanding for the development of the strategically
important Chabahar Port in Iran. The port will be used
to ship crude oil and urea, saving India transportation
costs. India will get sea-land access route to Afghanistan
bypassing Pakistan.
BIG BAZAAR MERGES WITH BHARTI RETAIL
Owners of Big Bazaar retail chain, Future Retail Ltd have
agreed to merge its retail operations with rival Bharti
Retail Ltd to create one of India's biggest retail chain
with more than 570 stores across the country.

INFOSYS JOINS RE100 GROUP
The Climate Group, the global NGO working for climate
change has announced that Indian IT giant Infosys has
become the first Indian company to join RE100, a global
platform for corporates committed to use 100%
renewable power.
 SEBI has replaced the three colour risk code with a
'riskometer' that will help investors to better
understand the risks involved in mutual funds.
 Asian Development Bank signed a 31 million US
dollars loan agreement to boost water availability in
selected river basins in Karnataka.
 Government has cleared the lone bid of Airbus-TATA
consortium for replacing Indian Air Force's ageing
fleet of Avro transport aircraft for Rs 11,930 crore.
 P M dedicated the Rs 16,000-crore revamped IISCO
Steel plant at Burnpur, West Bengal to the nation. It
now has largest blast furnace in India.
 Govt decides to sell 10% stake in Indian Oil
Corporation and 5% in NTPC to mop up Rs 13,600
crore in this fiscal’s first disinvestment approval.
 Finance Ministry has clarified that LPG subsidy
received by individuals in their bank accounts will
continue to be exempt from income tax.
 Reliance Industries tops the 56 Indian companies
listed in the world's 2000 largest and most powerful
public companies list compiled by the Forbes.
APRIL 2015
FOREIGN TRADE POLICY ANNOUNCED
The government has announced its Foreign Trade Policy
(FTP) for the period 2015-20. The policy aims to push
manufacturing and services exports, simplification of
procedures, focus on the ease of doing business and
integrating programmes like Make in India with the
export push.
It aims to increase exports to USD 900 billion by 2019-20,
from USD 466 billion in 2013-14 and raise India's share in
world exports from 2 percent to 3.5 percent.
WOMEN DIRECTOR MUST FOR LISTED COs.
Taking to task the companies without a woman direc-
tor, the SEBI has announced a penalty of a minimum Rs
50,000 on such companies for non-compliance beyond
September, 2015. The fine will be levied by the stock
exchanges as it violates the Listing Agreement.
Around 1,000 companies on the BSE and nearly 200 on
the NSE are guilty of non-compliance with the rule. The
SEBI rules require every listed company to have at least
one woman director on their board.
MoC ON TRANSPORTATION WITH USA
India and USA have signed a Memorandum of
Cooperation on transportation to enable India to use the
world's latest technology available with the USA for
projects like development of waterways and multi-
modal hubs. It would cover highways, urban
transportation, safety and environmental protections,
vehicle and behavioral safety, fuel efficiency, rail
transportation and maritime shipping.
ROURKELA STEEL PLANT EXPANDED
The Prime Minister dedicated to the nation an
expansion and modernization project worth Rs 12,000
crore at Rourkela Steel Plant, Odisha.
It is the first Integrated Steel Plant of India set up in the
public sector. It was set up in the 1960s with German
collaboration.
TARGET SET FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY
The conference of Power, Renewable Energy and Mines
ministers of all states and union territories of India was
held in Guwahati. A target of generating 1 lakh 75
thousand megawatt of renewable energy in the next 5
years has been set by the Central Government
I GATE ACQUIRED BY CAPGEMINI
The Paris based IT giant Capgemini has acquired the
New Jersey-based IT company I-GATE, for $4 billion in
cash. The deal, one of the largest in the Indian
information technology sector, will see the exit of IGATE
co-founders Ashok Trivedi and Sunil Wadhwani.
PPF INTEREST RATE REMAINS 8.7%
The government has decided to keep the rate of interest
on General Provident Fund and Public Provident Fund
(PPF) contributions unchanged at 8.7 per cent for 2015-
16. The interest rates for senior citizens savings
schemes will now be 9.3 per cent and for the Sukanya
Samriddhi Account for the girl child, 9.2 per cent, w.e.f.
April, 2015
MOBILE TARRIFS REDUCED BY TRAI
Starting May, mobile calls made during roaming will be
cheaper by up to 23 per cent while a local SMS will cost
only 25 paise, a steep cut of 75% from the present Re 1,
as regulator TRAI has slashed ceiling tariffs.
TRAI: Telecom Regulatory Authority of India

INDIA NOT YET READY FOR E-COMMERCE
India has been ranked 83rd on a new index compiled by
the UN trade body UNCTAD for assessing the readiness
of countries for electronic commerce. In terms of the
number of complaints made against companies selling
online, India ranks pretty high at the 4th place.
 Snapdeal.com has picked up a majority stake in
digital financial products platform, RupeePower to
enter Rs 4,500 crore online financial services market.
 As per a World Bank report, India tops in receiving
remittances from its global migrant workforce,
receiving around $ 70 billion in 2014.
BANKING & FINANCE
JUNE 2015
RBI LOWERS REPO RATE TO 7.25%
Reserve Bank of India has cut the repo rate by 25 basis
points to 7.25 per cent from 7.5% in its first monetary
policy review on June 2. The Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR)
was kept unchanged at 4%.
This is the third reduction in rates during this
year aimed at boosting investment and growth. It is
expected that now the banks may lower the interest rate
on loans, leading to reduction in the amount of EMIs.
The new rates are as under: (w.e.f. 02.06.2015)
Repo Rate………………………7.25%
Reverse Repo…………………6.25%
Marginal Standing Facility…8.25%
Bank Rate…………………………8.25%
Statutory Liquidity Ratio…..21.5%
Cash Reserve Ratio……………4.0%
NEW DOCUMENTS FOR ADDRESS PROOF
Reserve Bank of
India has allowed
postpaid mobile
service, piped gas
and water supply
bills to be
submitted as proof
of address (not
more than 2
months old) for
opening bank account of low-risk persons. The
government has amended the Prevention of Money
Laundering (Maintenance of Records) Rules, 2005 for
providing these relaxations.
Some other documents approved as officially
valid documents (OVDs) for proof of address include
Bank/ post office account statement; pension or family
pension payment orders (PPOs), letter of allotment of
accommodation from official bodies.
NEW SAFER 100 RUPEE NOTE
The RBI has issued Rs 100 denomination bank notes in
Mahatma Gandhi Series - 2005 with new security
features. Now the numerals in both the number panels
of these bank notes will be in ascending size from left to
right, while the first three alpha0numeric characters
(prefix) will remain constant in size.
BANKS ALLOWED BORROWING FROM ABROAD
The Reserve Bank has allowed the banks to borrow
from global multilateral financial institutions for general
banking business. They can do so without seeking the
central bank’s approval. The objective is to make the
funding process easier.
RBI ALLOWS RUPEE LINKED BONDS OVERSEAS
RBI has permitted Indian corporates, eligible to raise
external commercial borrowings (ECBs), to issue rupee-
linked bonds overseas. The RBI has proposed that the
subscription, coupon payments and redemption might
be settled in foreign currency.
NEW RBI RULES FOR GOVT SECURITIES
The RBI has issued the final guidelines for the 6-year
and 13-year cash settled Interest Rate Futures (IRF) on
government securities with residual maturity of 4-8
years and 11-15 years, respectively, under the Interest
Rate Futures (RBI) Directions, 2015.
BANKS TO TAKEOVER LOANEE COMPANIES
The Reserve Bank has allowed the banks to take control
of debt-laden companies by converting loans into equity
if a debt restructuring fails to revive them within a
stipulated time frame. Allowing loan conversion will
now be a pre-condition for all debt restructuring deals.
In a first such case, IDFC has replaced the
promoters of SV Power and brought in a new equity
investor to revive the company that missed payment
schedules.
NSFR GUIDELINES ISSUED BY RBI
The Reserve Bank has issued the draft guidelines on the
net stable funding ratio (NSFR) under Basel III
framework on liquidity standards for banks and sought
comments from all stakeholders by June 26.
The NSFR is defined as the amount of available stable
funding relative to the amount of required stable funding.

PAYMENT NORMS FOR BANK DIRECTORS
The Reserve Bank has capped the remuneration of non-
executive director of private banks to Rs 10 lakh per
annum while the compensation of non-executive part-
time chairman will require a prior approval from the
RBI. Banks will have to disclose the remuneration paid
to the directors on an annual basis in their annual
financial statements.
CARD FREE PAYMENT APP FROM HDFC BANK
HDFC Bank has launched a mobile phone application,
PayZapp, for online payments and money transfer.
Customers would be able to make money transfers, e-
shopping, buy tickets, pay utility bills and recharge their
mobile and DTH connections with just one click and a
single PIN entry, without using debit / credit cards.
SBI TO PROMOTE ‘YOUTH FOR INDIA’
State Bank of India has selected 100 highly qualified
candidates for its 13-month fellowship programme
`Youth for India'. These candidates will work with one
of the seven NGOs that have a partnership with the bank
to work in rural areas.
PURI IS HIGHEST PAID CEO IN INDIAN BANKS
Aditya Puri, the Managing Director of HDFC Bank, has
again become the highest paid bank chief in the country,
earning a salary of Rs 7.39 crore compared to Rs 6.07
crore last year, up 21.74%. The next in line is Chanda
Kochhar, CEO ICICI Bank at Rs 5.85 crore, followed by
Shikha Sharma, CEO, Axis Bank at Rs 4.17 crore.
10 LAKH CARD SWIPE MACHINES FROM SBI
State Bank of India will install 10 lakh payment card
swipe machines (point of sales terminals) across the
country, which will double the number of places where
card payments are accepted. The bank will also launch a
huge campaign to make public aware about the cash
withdrawal of up to Rs 1,000 at these terminals to
reduce pressure on ATMs.
 The Department of Post (India Post) has signed a deal
with CMS Info Systems to personalise over 15 million
debit cards for its savings account holders.
 The RBI has extended the date for exchange of pre-
2005 currency notes by six months to December 31,
2015. The earlier deadline was to expire on June 30.
 Reserve Bank of India has allowed non-resident
Indians (NRIs) to invest in chit funds to encourage
flow of capital into the country.
 ICICI Bank became the first bank to partner with
Alibaba.com for providing trade finance to their
India-based sellers
 Kolkata-based micro lender Bandhan Financial
Services has been cleared by the RBI to start
functioning as Bandhan Bank from August 23.
 SBI has launched an internet-based platform ‘SBI
eforex’, to enable customers to book their foreign
exchange transactions online.
MAY 2015
BANKS TO HAVE THEIR OWN OMBUDSMAN
The Reserve Bank has asked all public sector banks and
large private and foreign banks to appoint internal
ombudsman for resolution of customer complaints. The
internal ombudsman would be designated Chief
Customer Service Officer (CCSO) and he should not be
from the same bank in which he is being appointed.
NFC PAYMENTS ALLOWED UP TO Rs. 2000
The Reserve Bank has relaxed the additional factor of
authentication (AFA) requirement for transactions by
cards up to Rs.2,000 per transaction to facilitate contact-
less payments (without PIN authentication) through
NFC (Near Field Communications technology). Further,
banks were free to facilitate their customers to set lower
per transaction limits.
‘EARLY WARNING SYSTEM’ FOR BANK LOANS
To check the rising instance of frauds in the banking
system, the Reserve Bank has asked banks to put in
place early detection and prompt reporting mechanism
in place. The early warning signals in a loan account
should immediately put the bank on alert regarding a
weakness or wrong doing which may ultimately turn
out to be fraudulent.
Besides, the central bank will set up a Central
Fraud Registry that can be accessed by all banks to
identify borrowers having committed frauds with any
bank in the past.
A new concept of a ‘Red Flagged Account’ (RFA)
is being introduced. An RFA is one where a suspicion of
fraudulent activity is thrown up by the presence of one
or more early warning signals.

NFC CARDS LAUNCHED BY SBI
State Bank of India has launched the contactless debit
and credit cards-SBIinTouch. These cards are more
secure and hassle-free to use at merchant outlets or
ATMs as they use the NFC technology to enable users to
make payments by waving or tapping the card near the
contactless reader instead of swiping or dipping it.
SBI LAUNCHES PLATINUM DEBIT CARD
State Bank of India in association with National
Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) launched ‘State
Bank RuPay Platinum Debit Card’ targeting the affluent
segment. It offers a range of value added benefits such
as 5 % cash-back on utility bill payments, up to one per
cent fuel surcharge waiver and complimentary airport
lounge access.
BANKS PENALIZED FOR VIOLATING KYC NORMS
RBI imposed a penalty of Rs 1.5 crore each on Bank of
Maharashtra, Dena Bank and Oriental Bank of
Commerce for violation of Know Your Customer (KYC)
norms and anti-money laundering norms.
 RBI has asked banks to issue only chip-based and
PIN-enabled debit/credit cards from September 1
onwards to protect customers from frauds.
 RBI has advised that the urban coop banks can issue
only general purpose cards to their customers and
not allowed to issue co-branded credit cards.
 The RBI has done away with the mandatory calendar
of reviews for boards of banks in order to make their
functioning of more effective.
 The Reserve Bank has dropped the condition of its
prior permission for distribution of mutual fund
products by non-banking finance companies (NBFCs).
 India’s largest private sector bank, ICICI Bank opened
its branch in Shanghai, China. It was inaugurated by
the Prime Minister Modi on May 16.
 Scheduled commercial banks' credit grew at 10.16%
to Rs 66.32 trillion in the fortnight ended May 15, and
deposits were up by 11.85% to Rs 87.39 trillion.
 ICICI Bank launched a service where customers can
make transactions using just their voice, without
using other means of authentication like a password.
 IDBI Bank plans to roll out e-huts to provide services
to people in rural areas. E-hut is a western concept
set up at relatively populated areas, such as malls.
APRIL 2015
PRIORITY SECTOR LENDING NORMS MODIFIED
The Reserve Bank has revised the Priority Sector
Lending norms and has asked the banks to give 8 per
cent of their total credit to small and marginal farmers.
It will be within the overall target of 18 per cent for
agricultural loans. Further, new segments like medium
enterprises, social infrastructure and renewable energy
firms have been brought under the ambit of priority
sector lending.
Housing loans to individuals, up to Rs. 28 lakh in metros
and up to Rs. 20 lakh in other centres will be covered
under priority sector lending, provided the overall cost
of the house does not exceed Rs.35 lakh and Rs. 25 lakh,
respectively.
The banks are required to give 40 per cent of their total
loans to the priority sector.
RBI MAKES NO CHANGES IN KEY RATES
The RBI has not changed any key policy rate in its first
bimonthly monetary policy statement in April. It
projected the GDP growth rate in 2015-16 at 7.8 per
cent, up from 7.5 per cent in 2014-15 and expected
retail inflation to be stabilize between 5 -5.5 per cent in
2015-16.
RBI TURNS 80 ON APRIL 1
Addressing the 80th anniversary celebrations of the RBI
in Mumbai, the Prime Minister asked the RBI to prepare
a 20-year road map for “financial inclusion” and asked
the banks to be considerate in giving loans to the poor.
DIFFERENTIAL INTEREST ON BANK DEPOSITS
The Reserve Bank has advised that now the banks will
have the discretion to offer differential interest rates for
term deposits of above Rs.15 lakh and these deposits
can be made without the option of premature
withdrawal as well. However, all term deposits of Rs.15
lakh and below should, necessarily, have premature
withdrawal facility.

KYC NORMS RELAXED FOR PROPRIETORS
The Reserve Bank has relaxed the Know Your Customer
norms for sole proprietor firms and has allowed them to
open accounts in co-operative banks by submitting a
single proof of their business. Earlier, they were
required to submit two such documents.
INTEREST SUBVENTION TO CONTINUE
The RBI has instructed the banks to continue the
existing interest subvention scheme till June 30.
Currently, an interest subvention of 2 per cent is
available for short-term crop loans up to Rs 3 lakh per
farmer, subject to conditions. Further, an additional
interest subvention of 3 per cent is available to the
farmers, who repay their loans on time.
PM LAUNCHES MUDRA BANK
PM Modi has launched the Pradhan Mantri Mudra
Yojana, wherein MUDRA (Micro Units Development and
Refinance Agency) with a corpus of Rs 20,000 crore. It
will give credit to small businesses and regulate micro-
finance institutions, to promote their growth and
creating more jobs.
The bank will have three main loan schemes - Shishu for
loans up to Rs 50,000; Kishor for loans above Rs 50,000
and up to Rs 5 lakh and Tarun for loans above Rs 5 lakh
and up to Rs 10 lakh.
ICICI LAUNCHES ‘TAP-N-PAY’ SERVICE
The ICICI Bank, in arrangement with Tech Mahindra has
launched a contactless payment service based on
the Near Field Communications (NFC) technology.
Called, ‘Tap n Pay’, it is a pre-paid facility open to all,
wherein the users need to just tap the NFC- enabled tag
or mobile phone at the merchant’s point-of-sale device
to make payments.
CENTRAL BANK WORST IN TERMS OF NPAs
The latest RBI data places the Central Bank of India on
the top of the public sector banks having a high
percentage of bad loans including restructured assets as
21.5 % of its total loans are NPAs. The other banks
suffering from high gross NPAs include the United Bank
of India - 19.04 %, Punjab & Sind Bank - 18.25% and
Punjab National Bank - 17.85 % as on December, 2014.
GOOD GROWTH IN BANK LOANS & DEPOSITS
Recent RBI data show that the Bank loans grew at a
healthy rate of 11.47 per cent to Rs 68,30,965 crore in
the fortnight ended April 3, from Rs 60,64,660 crore in
the same fortnight last year and the deposits rose 12.63
per cent to Rs 89,11,484 crore from Rs 79,01,619 crore
in the same period last year.
 To facilitate bank account opening by the
transgenders, RBI has directed banks to include a
column 'third gender' in their forms/ applications.
 The RBI has penalized 16 central co-operative banks
with a fine of 5 lakh rupees each for non-adherence to
‘KYC’ and ‘Anti-Money Laundering’ guidelines.
DEFENCE, SCIENCE
& TECHNOLOGY
JUNE 2015
INS VIKRANT COMPLETES FIRST PHASE
India crossed a major milestone in defence shipbuilding
when its first indigenous aircraft
carrier INS Vikrant was undocked on completion of
structural work at the Cochin Shipyard Ltd. The ship
will undergo a series of fitment and trial processes
before it is ready for induction in the Navy.
ARMY KILLS 50 MILITANTS IN MYANMAR
Indian Army, in coordination with the Air Force, carried
out surgical operations (cross-border operation) inside
Myanmar to target the militant groups responsible for
killing of 18 Indian soldiers. In this first-of-its-kind
cross-border operation, about 50 militants of groups
namely NSCN (K) and KYKL were killed.
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DEFENCE AGREEMENT SIGNED WITH USA
India and US have signed a new strategically important
10-year defence framework agreement setting the stage
for co-development of defence equipment
manufacturing and technology.
AJEYA WARRIOR, joint military exercise of India and
UK held from June 13 to 28 in UK. The exercise is held
biannually in the two countries, alternately.
CSIR SETS UP MAV TEST TUNNEL
Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has
set up a first-of-its-kind in India, Micro Air Vehicle
Aerodynamics Research Tunnel (MART) in Bengaluru to
test the fixed-wing, flapping-wing and rotary-wing
MAVs (Micro Air Vehicle).
ANDROID APP ‘SAKAAR’ LAUNCHED BY ISRO
ISRO has developed an android-based, augmented
reality application named ‘Sakaar’ to highlight the
achievements of the Department of Space during the
past one year.
Augmented Reality is a live, direct view of a physical,
real-world environment whose elements are augmented
(or supplemented) by computer-generated 3D models,
animations, videos etc.
COLOUR CHANGING SKIN INVENTED
Scientists led by an Indian-origin researcher in USA
have developed the world's first full-colour, flexible
ultra-thin nano-structured film that can change colours
by applying voltage. Traditional displays like those on a
mobile phone require a light source, filters and glass
plates but this new method doesn't need its own light
source. Rather, it reflects the ambient light around it,
just like colour changing by octopus and chameleons.
OPTION TO ‘UNDO’ SENT MAIL
Technology giant Google has now introduced an ‘Undo’
option that will help its users to cancel the delivery of
misdirected or inappropriate emails within 30 seconds
of hitting the send button.
GALAXY NAMED AFTER RONALDO
A team of European scientists has discovered the
brightest galaxy in the early universe – CR-7 that
contains the first generation of stars, and have
nicknamed it after popular Portuguese football player
Cristiano Ronaldo.
CHINA MAKES WORLD’s FIRST ELECTRIC PLANE
China has made the world's first electric passenger
aircraft that could be used in pilot training, tourism,
meteorology and rescue operations. Named BX1E, it can
carry a payload of up to 230 kgs. at an altitude of 3,000
meters. Its charging is completed within two hours,
allowing a flight time of 45 minutes to one hour, at a
maximum speed of 160 km per hour.
PHILAE WAKES UP TO SAY ‘HELLO EARTH’
The European space probe Philae woke up overnight on
June 13 after seven months-long sleep as it hurtled
towards the Sun on the back of a comet. "Hello Earth!
Can you hear me?" the tiny robot lab tweeted under the
hashtag #WakeUpPhilae.
The 100-kilogramme robot lab touched down on the
comet "67P /Churyumov-Gerasimenko” on November 12,
2014, after a 10-year trek piggybacking on space ship
Rosetta.
WATER BASED COMPUTER DEVELOPED
A computer that operates using the unique physics of
moving water droplets has been developed by Manu
Prakash, an Indian-origin scientist and his team at
Stanford University, California, USA.
Chinese researchers have successfully developed the
first ATM with facial recognition technology to reduce
the risk of frauds related to ATMs.
MAY 2015
MIRAGE 2000 LANDS ON HIGHWAY
In a first in the history of Indian Air Force, a Mirage
2000, supersonic fighter jet of Indian Air Force landed
successfully on Yamuna Expressway in U P on May 21as
part of developing road runway for emergency landing.
NAVY GETS NEW SUBMARINE–SINDHUKIRTI
INS Sindhukirti, the Russia made diesel electric
submarine of Indian Navy, was launched for sea trials on
May 21, after successful completion of retrofitting at
Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL) in Visakhapatnam.

JOINT NAVAL EXERCISE WITH SINGAPORE
Indian Navy along with The Republic of Singapore
Navy conducted the annual Singapore-Indian
Maritime Bilateral Exercise (SIMBEX), from 23 to 26
May in sea east of Singapore.
‘AKASH’ JOINS INDIAN ARMY
The Army inducted on May 5 its first regiment of the
indigenously-developed Akash surface-to-air missile
system, capable of targeting a multitude of aerial threats
up to a range of 25 km.
 INS Sardar Patel, new naval base commissioned in
Porbandar, Gujarat for better coordination of ships,
submarines deployed in coastal regions of Gujarat.
 Indian Navy's latest anti-submarine warfare class
stealth corvette, the INS Kavaratti was launched on
May 19 at Kolkata
ISRO MAKES INDIA’s GPS- ‘GAGAN’
ISRO and Airports Authority of India have implemented
the GPS Aided Geo Augmented Navigation-GAGAN
project as a Satellite Based Augmentation System
(SBAS) for the Indian Airspace. It will be also be useful
for intelligent transportation, maritime, highways,
railways, surveying, geodesy, security agencies, telecom
industry, personal users of position location
applications etc
LHC CREATES NEW WORLD RECORD
The world’s largest particle smasher- the Large Hadron
Collider [LHC] broke the record for energy levels on May
20 when it successfully collided protons at the record-
breaking energy of 13 TeV for the first time. The LHC’s
previous highest energy for collisions was 8TeV,
reached in 2012.
NEW SUPER METAL DISCOVERED
Scientists in Japan have discovered a new state of
matter called the ‘Jahn-Teller-metal’ that appears to be
an insulator, superconductor, metal and magnet all
rolled into one. The research could help develop new
molecular materials that are superconductors at even
higher temperatures.
SCIENTISTS LOCATE FARTHEST GALAXY
Astronomers have found the most distant exceptionally
luminous galaxy, EGS-zs8-1, located some 13.1 billion
light-years away from Earth. This is the largest distance
ever measured between Earth and another galaxy.
The light from distant galaxies we see via today's
advanced telescopes travels for billions of years before it
reaches us - so we're seeing what those galaxies looked
like billions of years ago.
‘MESSENGER’ CRASHES IN TO MERCURY
NASA's Messenger spacecraft has ended a four-year
mission to Mercury by crashing into the planet after
running out of fuel. Messenger (an acronym for MErcury
Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and
Ranging) was launched in 2004 and travelled more than
6½ years before it started orbiting Mercury in March,
2011. It was the first spacecraft to orbit the planet
closest to the sun.
FIRST FULLY WARM-BLOODED FISH
Researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, USA, discovered the world’s first fully
warm-blooded fish species named Opah. These fish are
found in the deep waters off the US, Australia and
several other countries.
 India has reached to sixth position, up from 10th last
year, in terms of publishing scientific research papers
in different journals in the world.
 Microsoft launched Edu-Cloud, a cloud computing-
based offering to enhance digital learning and
teaching in schools and higher education institutions.
APRIL 2015
JOINT INDO-FRENCH NAVAL EXERCISE
The 14th Indo-French Naval Exercise named VARUNA-15
commenced off the coast of Goa. The French Navy will
be led by the Aircraft Carrier Charles de Gaulle and the
Indian Navy by the Aircraft Carrier INS Viraat.
INS VISAKHAPATNAM LAUNCHED
INS Visakhapatnam,
the Indian Navy's most
powerful indigenously
built stealth destroyer
was launched into
water at Mazagaon
Dock in Mumbai. The
Kolkata class warship
will be inducted in Navy for operations in 2018.
INDIA TO TAKE PART IN TALL SHIPS’ RACE
INS Tarangini, the sail training ship of the Indian Navy
left Kochi on an eight-month-long voyage through
Europe to participate in the annual Tall Ships’ Races and
other events organised under the aegis of Sail Training
International.

AKRAMAN II CONDUCTED IN RAJASTHAN
The Chetak Corps of the Army held its major battle
exercise “Akraman-II” in the deserts of Rajasthan, along
with the contingents of Indian Air Force to test the new
generation of weapons and weapon platforms.
BSF GETS HI TECH Mi-17 V5 HELICOPTERS
Two Russian-made Mi-17 V5 military helicopters,
capable of withstanding small arms fire and operating in
a nuclear disaster, were inducted into the Border
Security Force. The helicopters will be used mainly in
operations in the Maoist-affected areas and along the
India-China border.
INDIA GETS ITS FIRST ‘SCORPENE’ SUBMARINE
The first of the six India-France joint venture Scorpene
stealth submarines was launched for sea trials from the
Mazagon Docks Limited in Mumbai. It has been named
INS Kalvari, after a deep sea tiger shark. It will be
formally inducted into the Indian Navy in 2016.
 India test-fired its nuclear-capable surface-to-surface
Agni-III ballistic missile, with a range of over 3,000
km, from the ITR near Chandipur in Odisha.
 India successfully test-fired the nuclear-weapon
capable Dhanush missile for its full range of 350
kms, off the Odisha coast.
 An integrated Indian Army-Air Force operational war
exercise code named ‘Bramhshira’ was conducted in
the Suratgarh area in Rajasthan in last week of April.
 Japan's state-of-the-art Maglev train clocked a new
world speed record in a test run, smashing through
the 600 kilometre per hour mark it had made earlier.
INTERNATIONAL
JUNE 2015
S KOREA SUFFERS ATTACK OF MERS
Hundreds of schools
were closed in South
Korea as officials
struggled to ease
growing panic over an
outbreak of the MERS
(Middle East Respir-
atory Syndrome) virus
that had infected 181
persons and claimed
over 31 lives.
MERS has now infected 1,161 people globally, with 436
deaths in more than 20 countries, with most cases in
Saudi Arabia. The virus found in Arabian Dromedary
camels, has no known cure or vaccine and, thus, is
considered a deadly disease.
AGREEMENT SIGNED FOR FORMING AIIB
57 countries, including India, signed an agreement in
Beijing for the formation of China sponsored Asian
Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). The bank will
have an authorised capital of $100 billion. The bank is
expected to be operational by the end of this year.
800 YEARS OF MAGNA CARTA
On June 15, Britain marked the 800th anniversary of the
historic charter Magna Carta.
The Magna Carta, Latin for 'Great Charter' that was also
an inspiration for the US Constitution, is hailed as the
cornerstone of parliamentary democracy. On June 15,
1215, King John had met disgruntled barons and agreed
to a list of basic rights under which the foundations of
parliamentary democracy, human rights and the
supremacy of the law over the crown were first enshrined.
G-7 SUMMIT HELD IN GERMANY
The leaders of G-7 countries held their 41st summit at
Schloss Elmau, southern Germany. Russia is no more a
member of this elite group as it has been accused of
forced annexation of Crimea.
G-7 is a group of seven most industrialized nations of the
world and includes the European Union also.
26 AFRICAN STATES SIGN TRADE AGREEMENT
African leaders have agreed to create the continent's
largest free trade zone, covering 26 countries in an area
from Cape Town, South Africa to Cairo, Egypt. The deal
named as The Tripartite Free Trade Area, aims to ease
the movement of goods across member countries which
represent more than half the continent's GDP.
US TOPS IN OIL PRODUCTION
The United States has overtaken Saudi Arabia as the
world's biggest oil producer in 2014 by producing 11.6
million barrels of oil per day to topple Saudi Arabia's
11.5 million bpd production. Russia with 10.8 million
bpd oil production was placed third.
WORLD’s LONGEST FREIGHT TRAIN LAUNCHED
China launched the world’s longest freight train route,
linking the city of Harbin in northeast China with the
German city of Hamburg, via Russia’s Trans-Siberian
line, covering a distance of 9820 km passing through
Mongolia, Russia, Belarus and Poland in 15 days.

OPCW DESTROYS 90% CHEMICAL WEAPONS
The world's chemical weapons watchdog Organisation
for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has declared
that it has succeeded in destroying 90 per cent of the
global chemical weapons stockpile, calling it a "major
milestone". The stockpiles included caches containing
chemicals needed to make deadly nerve agents like
Sarin.
USA SANCTIONS SAME SEX MARRIAGES
In a landmark judgment, the US Supreme Court ruled
that same-sex couples can marry nationwide,
establishing a new civil right and handing gay rights
advocates a historic victory.
USA FREEDOM ACT PASSED BY US SENATE
The US Senate passed the USA Freedom Act, making it
the first time in over thirty years that both houses of
Congress have approved a bill placing real restrictions
and oversight on the National Security Agency’s
surveillance powers.
‘JURASSIC WORLD’ CREATES RECORD
The fourth installment in the Jurassic Park series-
Jurassic World has become the first film to have
collections of more than 500 million dollars at the box
office in its opening weekend. It was the most popular
screening in all 66 countries where it was released.
The 25th African Union summit was held at Pretoria,
South Africa on 7-8. The summit is being held with the
theme, "Year of Women Empowerment
and Development towards Africa's Agenda 2063."
The International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit
Trafficking observed globally on 26 June, 2015 with the
theme “Let’s Develop our Lives, our Communities, our
identities without Drugs”.
 China plans to form a huge gold investment fund of
about 100 billion Yuan (over $16 billion) aiming to
bolster Beijing's role in global gold trade.
 Global wealth intelligence agency Wealth-X in a
survey of self made billionaires has ranked the Bill
Gates at number one, with $86 billion of wealth.
 President of Sri Lanka dissolved the Parliament 7,
paving the way for fresh parliamentary elections in
mid August, eight months ahead of the schedule.
 France has put a ban on wearing earphones while
driving a vehicle and riding a cycle, w.e.f. July 1, 2015.
 Parliament of Japan has lowered the age of voters
from 20 to 18.
MAY 2015
USA TOPS IN COMPETITIVENESS
A study of 61 countries by the Swiss business school
IMD on the parameters of competitiveness shows that
the USA continues to enjoy top position, followed by
Hong Kong, Singapore and Switzerland. The rankings
were based on four aspects - Economic performance,
government efficiency, business efficiency and
infrastructure.
IRELAND APPROVES SAME SEX MARRIAGE
The Republic of Ireland became the first country in the
world to legalise same-sex marriage through popular
vote, passing a referendum on May 23 on the issue with
a resounding 62.1 per cent ‘Yes’, despite the fact that 84
percent of country’s population is Catholic.
U K GETS ITS 4th HEIR TO THE THRONE
Prince William of UK Royalty was blessed with his
second baby as his wife Kate Middleton, the Duchess of
Cambridge gave birth to a baby girl on April 2 at a
London hospital. The new baby is fourth-in-line to the
throne, behind her grandfather Prince Charles, father
Prince William and brother Prince George. The baby
named Charlotte Elizabeth Diana will be known as Her
Royal Highness Princess Charlotte of Cambridge.
JAPAN TO INVEST $100 BILLION IN ASIA
Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has announced a
$110 billion investment plan for infrastructure projects
in Asia in an apparent counter to China's move to launch
a new development bank - Asian Infrastructure
Investment Bank.
A PAINTING SOLD FOR Rs 1,155 CRORE
A painting from Pablo Picasso set a world record for
auction of a work of art, selling for $179.4 million (about
Rs. 1,155 crore) at an auction by Christie’s at New York.
The oil painting is a vibrant, cubist depiction of nude
courtesans

WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY
May 3 is observed every year as the “World Press
Freedom Day” to assert that freedom of the press and
freedom of expression are fundamental human rights.
This year’s theme is “Let Journalism Thrive!”
 China overtook the United States as the world's top
importer of crude oil for the first time in April, and its
purchases are expected to grow further.
 The 68th World Health Assembly held in Geneva,
Switzerland from 18 to 27 May, 2015. India was
given the Presidency of the Assembly.
 Seychelles, an archipelago of 115 islands, 1500 kms
east of African mainland, became the 161st member
of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
 NATO forces launched the Arctic Challenge Exercise
in the Arctic sea north of Europe on May 26, involving
115 fighter planes & 3600 troops from nine countries.
 The United States economic growth slowed sharply in
the first quarter of the year to just 0.2% due to the
slowdown by unusually foul winter weather.
 68th Cannes Film Festival held at Cannes, France
from 13 to 24 May
 World Asthma Day observed on 5 May 2015. This
year’s theme is “You Can Control Your Asthma”
APRIL 2015
LANDMARK IRAN NUCLEAR DEAL SIGNED
After marathon talks in Lausanne, Switzerland, world
powers and Iran have agreed on the framework of a
historic deal aimed at curbing Iran’s nuclear drive.
It marks a major breakthrough in a 12-year standoff
between Iran and the Western powers that have long
feared of Iran wanting to build a nuclear bomb.
Iran agreed to the deal in return for lifting tough
sanctions. The outline agreed now has to be finalized in a
highly complex agreement by June 30.
W B TO FOCUS ON AIR POLLUTION CONTROL
The World Bank launched Pollution Management and
Environmental Health (PHEM) program on Global
Citizen Earth Day (April 18) to focus primarily on air
quality management in countries facing rapid
urbanization and on tackling water and land pollution.
EBOLA CLAIMS 10,800 LIVES
The World Health Organisation has said that more than
26,000 people have been infected with Ebola since the
outbreak began in December, 2013 and more than
10,800 have died, almost all of them in Guinea, Liberia
and Sierra Leone.
GLOBAL FINANCIAL INCLUSION REACHES 62%
As per Global Findex, a global database to study
financial inclusion, the percentage of adults with an
account increased from 51 per cent to 62 per cent
between 2011 and 2014, a trend driven by rise in
account ownership in developing countries and the role
of technology.
WORLD TRADE TO GROW BY 3.3%
A World Trade Organization (WTO) forecast says that
the global goods trade will grow by 3.3 percent in the
year 2015 and by 4.0 percent in 2016, mainly due to
sluggish economic growth caused by falling oil prices,
currency volatility and the slowdown in major emerging
economies.
 World Haemophilia Day was observed globally on
17th April, 2015 with the theme ‘Building a Family of
Support’.
 Air Canada to resume direct flights between Toronto
and Delhi from the coming winter season. The flights
were discontinued in 2005.
 Chinese President Xi Jinping was honoured with the
Nishan-e-Pakistan, highest Pak civilian award, during
his recent official visit to Pakistan.
 Around 900 illegal migrants trying to reach Europe
were feared killed after their boat capsized in the
Mediterranean sea, off the Libyan coast.
 Official data released by China shows that the
country’s GDP grew at its slowest pace in six years in
the first quarter of 2015, at just 7 per cent.
 Palestine formally joined the International Criminal
Court (ICC), raising hopes of a possible prosecution of
Israelis for alleged war crimes.
PERSONS IN NEWS
JUNE 2015
BENO ZEPHINE: The 25-year-old woman from Chennai
became the first ever 100 per cent visually-challenged
person to get selected for the prestigious Indian Foreign
Service.
NIKESH ARORA: India-born former Google executive
has been appointed the president of Japan’s
telecommunications giant SoftBank Corp that paid the
“rising star” a whopping $135 million for the financial
year 2014, making him the highest paid executive in the
world.
Dr BIMAL K ROY: Director of Indian Statistical Institute
(ISI) was in news as he was removed from office by the
Union Ministry of Statistics and Programme
Implementation on charges of indiscipline just one-and-
a-half months before the end of his term.

GYANM GENERAL AWARENESS ISSUE AUGUST 2015

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